Chapter 2

When Hermione came in for her shift the next night she was amazed to see that all of the men who brought Oliver to St. Mungos had come to visit him.

"Hello gentlemen," She announced herself walking in with Oliver's chart. "Mr. Wood it seems as though your concussion potion has worked and there is no lasting effects on your brain, you will need another two or three dosages of the mending potion however; which will be given to you tonight."

"Excuse me," Mrs. Jones was standing at the dividing curtain. "Sorry to interrupt but Craig heard some of you talking and he would like to know if you're from Puddlemere United."

The other players grinned wildly. "Yes, we are."

"My son is a huge fan, would you mind coming to visit him?" That was all it took for all of the players to walk over to the little boy. Hermione's eyes brimmed with tears as she realized this was a day Craig would never forget, nor his parents.

"Are you alright?" Oliver's voice had been so low she almost hadn't heard it. "What's wrong?" Wiping furiously at her eyes Hermione managed a sad smile. "He's not going to live long, is he?"

Oliver remained quiet after the question had been asked not needing to hear the answer to know it.

"As I was saying, Mr. Wood I will give you the potions tonight and in the morning you should be ready for some walking around and stretching your knee."

Hermione went to walk out of the room before Oliver stopped her. "Will you tell me how you ended up as a healer tonight as well?"

She had thought he hadn't heard that promise, but she knew Oliver Wood was more stubborn than she was. Nodding Hermione clicked the door shut and went on her rounds.

Oliver had asked for the curtain to be drawn so he could join in on the impromptu party with his room buddy. The way Hermione acted, he was likely to not live until the morning, but the kid seemed like nothing was wrong.

"Sometimes it's cool," He said lifting up his arm which looked just like Harry's arm his second year after Lockhart removed the bones. "I can bend my arm in half." The players all acted grossed out and covered their faces adding gagging noises into the mix.

Hermione had already returned once and given Oliver his mending potion. Jacob, one of the team chasers wandered back over to his captain's bed side. "I wouldn't mind taking her for a ride around the pitch if you get me."

Men were men, Oliver was hardly surprised. Hermione was a very good looking woman, they had all noticed it. "You should have seen her in school; you probably wouldn't be saying that." He knew that he had only seen Hermione in the first couple of years in Hogwarts, but the bushy hair sticking out over the top of a book had always given her away.

A few hours later the boys were kicked out of the room and Craig's parents went to the cafeteria to get some dinner. Oliver had promised to keep an eye on the kid.

"Hermione's great. I heard she was a war hero, but she doesn't seem like the fighting kind to me." Craig tried to wiggle the fingers on his right hand to no avail. "She eats dinner with me sometimes too, which is nice because she has funny stories to tell."

Oliver chuckled at the fighting comment, as far as he knew: Hermione had punched Malfoy in the mouth and constantly pulled her wand on people. She was as much a fighter as the Whomping Willow.

"She's also very pretty, I told her so the first time I saw her. It made her blush and she said I was gonna do well with the ladies when I got out of here." It was Oliver's turn to be sad and he was glad Hermione wasn't in the room. He didn't need any more crying. "I can't tell you how brilliant it is to have Puddlemere United's keeper in the same room as me!"

"I'm glad to share the room with you kid, I can tell we're going to have a fun time. My mates already like you." Craig's smile couldn't get any wider. Until Hermione walked in the door of course.

"Hey Hermione, Wood says that the guys on his team like me!"

The girls eyes brightened with every word. "That's amazing Craig, do you think they'll come back and visit you tomorrow?" The prospect alone made the boy elated and when his parents entered the room it was all he went on about. "How's your knee feeling?"

"Like hellfire and flea infestation central, thanks." Hermione laughed lightly. "It feels like I can move it a bit better now though, you think I'll be able to walk in the morning?"

"Let's try standing first, walking can come after. But yes, I think in the next two days you'll be walking and might possibly be out of here." Oliver smiled at the girl.

"Tell me how you got into healing."

It was late and her rounds were done for the next few hours, so Hermione pulled over a chair and said good night to Craig as his parents pulled the curtain. "After the war ended, I wanted to lay low for a while. Get everything sorted out and not have my emotions ravaged by every newspaper and magazine that was lucky enough to see me on the street prodding for an interview. I can only imagine what it was like for Harry." The long brown hair was in a braid tonight and swept over her right shoulder, Hermione was now playing with the end of it. "After the buzz of everything died down a little bit Harry and Ron were immediately allowed into the auror department as well as run the place. The boys were a little more than ecstatic at the idea of the three of us fighting crime or whatever their notion was, but it's not what I wanted. I had always been the brains of the operation during the war, always playing a minor role and never taking the spotlight and that's what I wanted to do with my career."

Oliver stopped the girl with a sharp laugh. "You were never a minor role Hermione, everyone knew your name. There were children named after you for what you did."

"Either way, I didn't want to keep chasing after everyone who had been a death eater at one point or another. So I went to healing classes and eventually ended up here. I tried my best to help those who were hurt in the war and now I'm helping anyone who is sick or hurt to the best of my ability."

"So you became a healer because you couldn't save everyone that was killed?"

Hermione's brown eyes had seen much more than Oliver could ever comprehend, just like how Harry and Ron were still chasing after murderers and evil wizards as they had always done, Hermione was still fighting her own demons and trying to make up for those they had lost. Without thinking about it Oliver reached out and grasped the small hand in his own.

"You were never in this alone."

Suddenly she looked frail, Oliver told himself it was a trick of the light because the look was gone when Hermione stood and left for her rounds saying a hushed good night.

A/N: Second chapter done! I don't know about you but I like where this whole relationship thing is starting….