Cancer
"Mum? I'm not feeling well today" A scared Hermione told her mother one hot August morning.
"What's wrong dear?" Her mother replied, worry in her eyes.
"I just feel so tired, and that bruise on my leg I got in March hasn't gone away yet."
"Would you like me to take you to the doctors? Or maybe that wizard hospital, Saint Margo's?"
"First of all, it's saint Mungo's. And second, I think it would be better to go to the muggle doctors first… just so we can find out what's wrong, and if it's serious, then I can go to Saint Mungo's." Hermione told her mother, while getting her coat from her room.
It had been five months since her fall at school. At the time, she didn't think anything about it, thinking the bruise would go away on its own, without magic. But, as the month passed, turning into April, the bruise had been as pronounced as ever. She then tried to make it go away with magic, but it always came back. She also felt tired all the time, and hardly paid any attention in class, which wasn't like her at all. But still, she brushed it off, thinking she was just stressed about Voldemorts return, and the fear that he would invade Hogwarts. When the year was finally about to end, she thought they'd be safe, but she thought wrong. While Harry and Dumbledore were away looking for the second to last Horcrux, the death eater's came. What happened next, only the ones at the Astronomy tower that night truly know, but from what Harry had told her, Draco Malfoy had been fixing a vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement all year, and when he finally fixed it, the death Eaters came, but got intercepted by the Order of the Phoenix. But somehow Draco had managed to break through, and had tried to kill Dumbledore. Just when Draco looked like he was going to take the Headmaster's offer to keep him and his family safe, the other Death Eaters came, and so did Snape. Dumbledore had begged Snape not to kill him, when the unforgivable curse was shouted from her Potions teachers' mouth, and Dumbledore fell, and never got up again.
So much had happened that Hermione had forgotten about her bruise, and began to mourn her Teacher's murder. The day's leading up to Dumbledore's funeral were the worst one's in her entire life, as she and her friends talked about the following year. Harry didn't want to return to Hogwarts, wanting to find the last Horcrux, and destroy it, finally killing off Voldemort. Hermione reasoned with him, saying they had no clue where it could be, or what it was. After a few hours, she finally convinced him that his time would be best spent at school, helping protect it from Voldemort, at they thought up places the last Horcrux might be.
Thinking of where the last Horcrux might be had filled up most of her days, so she thought that was why she felt tired and sick all the time, lack of sleep did do that to some people. But it was finally catching up to her, after the fifth month of having the bruise and feeling so tired all the time, she had had enough. And this was why, on this hot morning of August, Hermione had given in, and went to the doctor for help.
After a long car ride, she finally made it to the doctor's office, and signed in. Realizing it would most likely take a while; she sat in one of the waiting room's chairs, and took out one of her favorite muggle books, Romeo and Juliet.
About half an hour had passed before the muggle nurse called Hermione back.
"Hermione Granger, you're next." The smiling nurse called at them.
"Well, here goes nothing." Hermione murmured, though no one heard her.
She had to wait a little while before the doctor came into see her, and when he did, Hermione told him what was wrong, and answered all of his questions with amazing accuracy. Despite all on her mind, she still managed to keep a memory bank of everything that happened to her, though she left out where she was when she fell, and what school she went to. As the appointment ended, she got some blood taken from her, telling her that she would hear back from them in a few days with the results.
The days passed slowly for Hermione, not only waiting for the blood test results, but waiting for her Hogwarts letter. It was already August 10th, and the letter was supposed to be there any day now. After looking towards the sky one final time that night, she went into her room, where she heard the telephone ring. She felt her heart jumped, like it always did when she heard the phone ring. She held her breath as she heard her mother's voice in the next room.
"Hello, Doctor Granger here, Uh-huh, and how soon do you want us to go in? Immediately?" Her mother paused for a few moments before talking again, "alright, we'll be there in thirty minutes, thank you Dr. Melvin, and good day to you to." Hermione released the breath she had been holding, waiting for her mother to come into her room to get her, or to call her out. A few minutes passed, when she heard a soft knock on her door.
"Come in" Hermione said.
"Hey honey, that was Dr. Melvin, he said he wants us to come in." Her mother replied, worry in her eyes.
"Alright mum, I'll be ready in a few minutes." Hermione got up from her chair, and walked around her bed, and picked up her favorite sweater, and went outside, and went over to her mother.
Hermione looked out the window, and saw the night life pass her by. She always thought muggle nightlife was silly, as she preferred reading to dancing anyway. Looking out the window kept her entertained for most of the car ride, but as they got closer to the hospital, she began to panic.
Why would they want me to come in so late, why couldn't it wait until tomorrow? She thought bitterly. She knew that if it indeed was something serious, she was going instantly to Saint Mungo's. Not that she thought the muggle doctor's weren't competent, but she knew if she wanted to get better, her best bet was Saint Mungo's. Suddenly, a horrible thought crossed her mind. What if she had a wizarding disease that the muggles had never heard of before? This thought played her mind as she stared out the window once more, lost in thought.
Once they got there and signed in, they didn't have much of a wait, since it was eight P.M. When she heard her name, her heart beat very fast. 'This is it' she thought, as she followed the nurse to the room. She waited a few minutes before the doctor came in, looking upset. Regarding her, Dr. Melvin sat down, and told her mother to do the same, before he told her the news."
"Ms. Granger, I am deeply saddened to tell you, that you have Leukemia. Now, the Leukemia you have is the most common in young children, but it seems it's the type you have. The survival rate is about 85% with Chemotherapy if the cancer has not spread, but your cancer has spread, and the chance of survival is around 25%. I'm deeply sorry." He said, looking right at Hermione. He said some more things about Chemotherapy, but she wasn't listening, her thoughts on what she had read about Leukemia, and she desperately hoped that in the wizarding world, she had a better chance of survival. She saw that Dr. Melvin had stopped talking, and she turned her attention on him, asking a question.
"Umm, excuse me, Dr. Melvin? When would I have to start the Chemo?" She asked.
"It would have to be very soon Ms. Granger, so the cancer doesn't spread."
"Alright, can we go now?"
"Of course, let me bring you some papers about Leukemia."
She took the papers he gave her, and went out to the car, followed by her silently sobbing mother. Hermione didn't even notice her mother was crying until she heard a small sniff behind her. When she turned around, she saw tears streaming down her mother's face. Hermione had been so lost in her thoughts, she didn't even think of her mother until now. So, she stopped, turned completely around, and gave her mom a hug, not showing her own emotions, just trying to comfort her mother. And so they walked to the car, not talking, but their arms were around each other, seeing as how they were about the same height. On the car ride home, Hermione was again deep in thought, hoping if the Wizard world did have a cure, or even a treatment, for Leukemia, it would be better than the muggle treatment, which would make her lose all her hair. And when they got home, she gave her mom one last hug, before closing her door, and collapsing on the bed, finally letting her tears flow.
It was a few weeks after she got her news at the muggle hospital. She was in her room, putting on her new wig, hoping it didn't look as ridicules ad she thought. This thought brought more tears to her eyes, as she remembered the day she went to Saint Mungo's, to see if they had better treatment than the muggles.
She was sitting with a healer, telling her about her illness.
"Is there any cure?" Hermione asked the healer, praying the answer was yes.
"Well, I don't know if you'd call it a cure, but there is a treatment, and you have a 90% chance of survival, but there are side effects." The healer answered
"Wh-what are the side effects?"
"You'll feel tired all the time, your memory might not be as good as it used to be, and… your hair will fall out."
"M-my hair? Isn't there some other way?"
"I'm afraid not, and you can't grow it back with magic, not until the treatment is over, but you could wear a wig, and we have a wide array of wigs for you to choose from."
"When does the treatment start?" Hermione whispered.
"It's best to start right away, before the cancer spreads more."
A few minutes later, another healer came in, and started the treatments.
So here she was, looking at herself in the mirror, trying on her new wig for the first time. Since she never went anywhere in the muggle world, she didn't have to wear the uncomfortable thing around the house. But when she was at Hogwarts, she would be noticed a lot more. If she didn't wear the wig, she knew she'd be teased by the Slytherins.
She heard a knock on her door, and when she opened it, her mother was standing there, holding her books for the next year. When she got her Hogwarts letter in the mail, she just handed it to her mother unopened, asking her to get the stuff for her, so she wouldn't have to be seen in public just yet. Hermione had gotten a shock when she'd finally opened the letter, seeing the red and gold badge showing her she'd been chosen as head girl. As her mother entered the room, she placed the books gently on the bed, and pulled her daughter into a hug.
"I got your books, are you sure you want to go back to school?" Her mother said as she looked at the girl in her arms.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I can't just hide in my room all my life." Hermione replied, a determined look on her face.
"Alright. I sent an owl to your headmistress a few days ago, asking her if you could skip the long train ride, and just apparate, or something else, and I just got the response back." Her mother said, handing her a letter with the Hogwarts crest on it.
Dear Dr. Granger,
I am deeply sorry to hear about Ms. Granger's illness, and I do agree the long train ride would not be best for her. I will connect the Floo network to your house on the first, and she can come by floo. I'll send an owl with the time she should come.
From,
Minerva Mcgonagall.
As she read this, Hermione's heart lifted a little. At least I won't have to tell everyone immediately. She thought.
The days passed a little too quickly for Hermione's liking. Before she knew it, it was the first, and there she was, already in her robes by the fireplace. The owl Mcgonagall had sent with the time told her she would be appearing by floo to come and get her at noon, so she could get ready before everyone else came. Hermione looked at the clock, which told her it was 11:59. A minute later, the fire roared, and out came Professor Mcgonagall, who walked up to Hermione.
"Everything ready?" The professor asked.
"Yeah." Hermione said, moving to her trunks, before Mcgonagall stopped her.
"I'll get your trunks, take some floo powder, and say Hogwarts clearly."
Hermione nodded, and went over to the fire. She looked around her house, before flooing [[A/N Don't know what else to call it]] away.
