The Blues Are Still Blue - Chapter 4


What Comes After The Blues

"My love lies bleeding."
Thomas Campbell

A/N: I would like to dedicate this chapter to Becca. She lifted my spirits when I really needed support, and after her reviews, this chapter just flowed out of my hands.

Have a nice read, and don't forget to read this story while listening to good music like "Dream on" by Aerosmith or "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap.

Hermione tried to block out the pain from her sore neck, anxiety making her heart beat faster. She had never dealt well with waiting, and sitting at the Healer's office expecting to be called was trying, to say the least. She could barely maintain any semblance of calm, and the fact that Ron was viciously gripping her hand did not help the façade.

"Mrs. Granger-Weasley, please report to office seven. Healer Thomas is waiting for you."

Ron got up and helped Hermione out of her seat. It wasn't as if she needed any help, but she knew that assisting her in little things kept Ron calm.

The pair slowly made their way to office seven, Hermione batting down the morning sickness that had knocked her off her feet full-force five weeks ago. It was her first Healer appointment, and she couldn't have been more anxious to start her prenatal care - something she had never gotten the chance to have the first time she had been pregnant.

The barely controlled fear she had been carrying around over the last couple of months had nearly paralyzed Hermione during this part of her pregnancy. She had been so terrified of being sabotaged by her own body once again that she could barely function, and was unable to get out of bed for fear of doing something wrong and thereby hurting the baby.

And Ron… He had been a saint, to put it mildly. With his quiet way of loving her, he made Hermione feel less nervous about the baby. He calmed her aching heart just by sitting with her, holding her and promising - with his head buried in her curls - that everything would work out for them this time.

His solicitude came across in how he would buy strange food at random hours for her, or in the way he kept insisting on buying the baby clothes Hermione wasn't quite sure they were going to use, and she would tremble with the emotions that those tiny shoes and shirts aroused in her.

Ron also talked to her abdomen when he thought she was asleep, and the conversations usually went like this:

"Hullo there, little guy. Your mum was a wreck today; she really wants you. We already love you so much, and if you could just do Daddy a favor, it would be great. Just hold on while you're in there, all right? Grab on as if it's your broomstick at the Quidditch World Cup, and do not let go until you hear your mummy scream like mad for you to leave. I love you, Bean. Try not to give your mum more trouble; this nausea thing murders my appetite in the mornings, and you know how your daddy loves breakfast."

Then Ron would kiss her belly and wrap one hand around it protectively before falling asleep. Hermione would then place a hand on top of his and cuddle into his already snoring form, praying for her baby to listen to his father like she used to listen to hers when she was a little girl.

Healer Thomas was already there when Hermione and Ron entered office seven, and it almost was the shock of Hermione's life when she saw him, Dean Thomas, their former classmate, who was also, apparently, their obstetrician!

"Ron, Hermione, it's a pleasure to see you here." His warm smile showed the truth in his statement.

"Dean, you're an ObGyn wizard?" Hermione was shocked beyond words. The last she had heard, Dean had been administrating Quidditich Supplies.

"Yes, and you're my first patient." Dean's sincere smile didn't falter at the sight of Ron's flabbergasted expression and Hermione's trembling hands. "I took night courses while I worked at Quidditch Supplies."

"I always reckoned only witches were midwives," Ron sniggered. "Isn't this a little bit of a joke?" Hermione elbowed Ron. How insensitive of him to tease Dean about his sexuality!

"Cormac told me the same thing when we first started dating, and you know how butch he can be." Dean winked at them, not at all affected by Ron's ribbing. "But the fact that I'm gay did help eliminate some of the prejudices that male ObGyns deal with."

"And we really are your first patients then?" Hermione asked, aware that her eyebrows were shooting up as they did when she was either skeptical or worried.

"First one flying solo," he announced proudly. Was that supposed to make them feel better? "There's no need to worry, Hermione. I don't have a diploma yet, but I take it you don't mind being my test case, do you?" Dean laughed at Ron and Hermione's expressions. "I'm messing with you, mates! Ron, I always thought you liked a laugh."

Not when it comes to my wife and my baby, I don't, Ron thought, but only said, "I see Seamus's sense of humor rubbed off on you, mate."

"Oh, it rubbed off, all right!" Dean and Ron laughed hysterically at their antics. "Merlin forbids Lavender from hearing this, though. Her mind is always in the gutter, bless her, but I guess that's why Seamus married her instead of prim and proper Padma."

Hermione suddenly feel very uncomfortable and changed positions in the plump chair. Dean snapped back into his professional demeanor immediately.

"Did you know I helped with Lavender's delivery? Her water broke while we were watching Puddlemere United play the Montroge Magpies. It pissed Seamus off, but the look on his face when Margo slipped out…" Ron grimaced and Hermione winced as he nearly crushed her hand.

"First prenatal consult, uh?"

Hermione nodded.

"This is a big deal, luv. Come; sit here on this bed." He motioned her to an adjoining room painted in soft blue and white hues, adorned with moving pictures of fetuses in several stages of development and a very graphic photo of a birth that made Ron's freckles stand out against the paleness of his face.

"How far along are you?"
"9 weeks. My last period was in the middle of January," Hermione informed Dean. "I was told to wait until I was nearly three months far along to do this."

"She reads far too many pregnancy books." Ron rolled his eyes, earning him a whack on the back of his head. Surprisingly, it had come from Dean, even though Hermione had meant to.

"Thank you, Dean," Hermione said with a satisfied smile.
"You're welcome, Mummy." Hermione beamed at him. "You read all the books you want. It's important to be informed, especially if it is your first pregnancy."

Hermione's smile faltered.

"It isn't. I miscarried on my first."

Dean's face fell. "I'm sorry," he said sympathetically. "How far along were you? Was it recent?"

"Not really; it was almost three years ago, and we've been trying ever since. It was right before the first checkup."

Ron squeezed her hand. The miscarriage was hard for her to talk about, but it was getting easier. Hermione knew the pain and the fear would never go away, but she knew that it would fade into the background when she finally got to hold Bean, as Ron called their baby.

"This is very important. We're going to pay special attention to this one, but it's a good sign that you've come this far along. You do know that, right?"

Hermione nodded, the smile slowly inching its way back up her face. She had hoped that the immediate danger was behind her, but she couldn't help but feel apprehensive until she knew for sure that everything was going as it was supposed to.

"Now, I'm going to perform an accuracy spell to learn the exact date you conceived and your estimated due date. You might feel your stomach warm up, but it's pleasant, so there's no need to worry. It won't hurt or bother the baby."

Dean performed complicated wand movements and Hermione saw a golden light shoot up from Dean's wand to her not-so-flat stomach. A little screen materialized in front of the bed she was lying on and a blurry image in black and white appeared.

Ron looked at her, amazed, and she could practically hear his thoughts. "We made this."

Hermione turned to Dean, searching his face for signs and saw his lips contract into a thin line. Her heart missed a beat and she saw his lips form an ominous word.

"Oh."

"What?" Ron gulped. Hermione could feel the tears coming, but she needed to remain in control before learning what was wrong. "What's the matter?"

"You said you were nine weeks along, right?" Dean asked, his eyes shining with…amusement?

"Yes. Dean, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, but he just shook his head. "Tell me what's wrong with my baby!"

"There's nothing wrong with her." He smiled softly. "You just miscalculated how far along you were. You are 16 weeks LMP, which actually means you're fourteen weeks into your pregnancy. The charm indicated that you conceived on December 31st, and your estimated due date is September 24th. The period you thought you had was just minor bleeding, which is common when the uterus suffers dilatation to make room for the embryo."

But Dean's words had stopped making any sense to Hermione.

"I'm fourteen weeks pregnant?" Hermione nearly shrieked at him.

"Her?"shouted Ron.

"You can't possibly ridicule a classical literary name like Cordelia, Ronald."

"Watch me, Hermione." She huffed and he re-positioned her feet on his lap while rubbing her swollen ankles. "Cordelia sound like a future Aunt Muriel in the making."

"What do you suggest, then, Mr. Dictionary-Of-Baby-Names?" she scoffed at him. "We should just keep calling her Bean, after your love of what? Food?"

"What about Ella?" Hermione purred as his skillful fingers alleviated the aching she had been feeling. "It's conventional, like you want it, and it's a pretty girl name."

"I want my daughter to be intelligent and hardworking, Ron. Prettiness is overrated. It didn't do Lavender any good."

"You just had to go there, didn't you?" Ron replied, laughing when she poked her tongue out at him. "That's mature, mother-to-be. What about Laura?"

"Veto. Sounds like the name of a haughty woman to me."

"You're just saying that because a girl named Laura bullied you at Muggle school."

"Maybe, but that doesn't make me any less right. What do you think about Beatrice?"

"Bloody hell, woman, why do you hate our child? Veto!"

"Fine! Desdemona?" Ron gave her an incredulous look. "No? Helena?"
"I can live with Helena, but isn't that the same name as the girl that caused a war in one of the books I had to read before you actually agreed to make an honest bloke out of me?"

"Not exactly. Helena is a variation of the girl's name, Helen. She left her husband for Prince Paris, which, according to mythology, provoked the Trojan War."

"Oi, that's right! In that case, veto!"

"Veto? Why?"

"I won't name my daughter after a scarlet woman!" Hermione let out an exasperated groan at Ron's scandalized face. "Do you have any idea how much my mother would nag us about that?"

"As if she would ever find out!"

"Believe me, Hermione, there's no secret safe from Molly Weasley."

"But Helena was also the name of one of the heroines in a Shakespearean play!"

"Do you really want our baby girl to be known as the cause of a bloody war that lasted for over a decade and murdered a whole nation, just because she couldn't keep her pants on?"

Hermione grimaced. Ron had a point; crude, but still valid.

"I'm waiting for an answer here, Hermione."

"Veto."

"Good girl," he said as he patted her leg. "I guess we're back to Bean then."

"No, Ron! We've been having this discussion for over a month now, and it's nearly the end of June. We have almost no time to spare because of this endless discussion."

Hermione rubbed her impressive belly. She couldn't possibly get any bigger, could she? Luna was only a little bigger than her before the birth of her own two boys. Ron and Hermione had managed to get away from attending the birth at the last minute by telling Luna and Rolf she was experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions. Hannah and Neville had attended it as their replacements, and they still claimed they couldn't quite meet the parents' eyes for over three weeks.

"I think we should really consider my first suggestion," said Hermione, somewhat tiredly.

"Ronalda?" Ron's mouth was agape in horror, but Hermione couldn't comprehend why the suggestion of naming their daughter after him could upset Ron so much. "I thought we had talked about this! What kind of childhood would our girl have if her name were Ronalda? Little Ronna? Do you even know George? Not in this lifetime, Hermione!"

"But, Ron, I-"

"This is our child we're talking about, not Voldie's spawn!" He scowled at her. "I won't torture this baby with the female version of my name. Imagine if I wanted our son to be named Hermiono!"

"Fine!" Hermione snapped. "Ronalda's out of question, then! Still, we're nowhere near to being decided on a name yet and this baby is due in September! We just barely have two months left to decide on the nursery, middle names, godparents, the christening, the baby shower, the maternity leave plan-"

"Luv, you've got to relax!" Ron interrupted, exasperated. "It's unlucky to decorate the nursery until we get much closer to the birth. The godparents will obviously be Ginny and Harry, no question about it, and I thought, for a middle name… Viviane." He took a short pause for breath and added, as a second thought, "And I thought we were giving birth just like Luna did, you know…Naked, chanting, under the moonlight…"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Hermione looked positively alarmed at the very thought. "Don't you dare suggest this nonsense!" Ron chuckled and Hermione tried to swat his arm, but her impossibly huge belly prevented the move. "Viviane…That's a rather beautiful name, Ron. Classic yet pretty. First-name material, even. Where did you hear it?"

"Viviane was my mum's older sister."

"How come I've never met her before?"

"She died when she was nineteen; Mum was fifteen, I think." Ron looked upset at the thought. "My mum told me Viviane was the one that raised her and her brothers after my grandmother died, and she had wanted to be a Medi-witch."

"That's awfully tragic. Do you think she would mind if we named Bean after her sister?" Hermione looked concerned, and a little bit distraught. "I love the name, but if it brings back bad memories, I would rather not even mention it."

"I dunno, but I think it'll please Mum more than it would upset her."

"Viviane Granger-Weasley has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does."

"Oh, Ron!" Molly Weasley gave her son a crushing hug and turned to Hermione to do the same, but since her belly stood in the way, Molly contented herself with kissing her daughter-in-law on the cheek. "Hermione! I couldn'tbe happier! Viviane! A beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

"For an intelligent girl too, Mrs. Weasley."

"I've told you many times before that it's Molly, dear." She kissed Hermione's cheeks again. "And of course she'll be gifted. She has a genius for a mother, doesn't she?"

"OI, MUM! What about me?"

"Shush, Ronald. Hermione's doing all the hard work; she can get the credit."

And with that, Molly Weasley waved them out of her kitchen and continued to cook, with Fleur and Audrey's help, the Sunday dinner.

"I saw it, Ron! Don't you lie to me!" Hermione was sobbing uncontrollably on her side of the door while Ron paced back and forth on his side. "You were flirting with Padma!"

"Hermione, will you stop with this rubbish already? I already told you that I wasn't flirting with Padma Patil!" Ron ran his hands through his hair, trying to control his rising temper.

"We were merely discussing the possibility of an interview for the Prophet about the new International Policy for Alliance and Cooperation Amongst Wizards that the Ministry is launching! You should know that! You were the one who participated in the commission to write it!"

"If you were indeed talking about IPACAW, Ronald-" Hermione's voice was as icy as she could muster through the tears, "-then why, in the sacred name of Merlin's pants, was she holding your arm and why were you touching her elbow?"

"You fancy her because you're repulsed by my whale-like figure! Admit it! I can't exactly blame you for this, you know!"

"It's nothing like that!" Ron groaned in frustration. "She tripped just before you spotted us, and she clutched my arm for support!" Ron banged his head against their bedroom door. "I was trying to help her regain her balance. It was completely innocent!"

"But you're repulsed by me, aren't you?"

"I never said that!" Ron's frantic denial reached Hermione's ears through the door. "I try to touch you every day, but you always say you're too uncomfortable for…that…now! Do you know how many times it rained last month? Five times, Hermione! Five! And we never got to made love in it once! You know how much I was looking forward to that… But did you once hear me complain about it?"

"No," Hermione said in a small voice.

"That's because I wouldn't risk your and Bean's health over that, or anything. I love you both too much, Mione." Ron's voice was got softer and gentler. "You're wonderful, and so beautiful. I only want you, only you. And the fact you're carrying my baby makes me fancy you even more."

"You mean it?" Hermione voice was just above a murmur.

"Of course I do." Ron rested his head against the door, tired from trying to accompany the carousel of emotions his wife had been experiencing since the beginning of her third trimester.

Just then, the door creaked open for Ron to find a very hormonal and seven-month pregnant Hermione clad only in the lacy black, maternity-friendly knickers and bra he had bought her for their anniversary in March. She had never looked sexier and Ron's skin was crawling from the urge to ravish her there and then.

"Then make me believe."

That was the only signal he needed before pouncing on her and trying in earnest to make his wife understand that she was gorgeous to him in every fucking way.

Hermione was sitting at the Gynecology-Obstetrics ward of St. Mungo's waiting for Dean to call her into his office. It was the end of July, and her next consult wasn't supposed to be until the middle of August. But lately she had been feeling very tired, her vision was sometimes blurry and she had been having some nasty headaches.

Astoria Greengrass entered the Maternity Floor with a beautiful blond boy in her arms. She talked to the attending Healer and when she turned around and noticed Hermione, a kind smile graced her features and she marched resolutely towards the pregnant woman.

"Hi, Astoria, I wasn't expecting to see you here." Astoria kissed Hermione on the cheek and settled a fuzzy Scorpius on her lap. "Your son is beautiful. He has your eyes."

"Doesn't he?" She beamed at Hermione. "Other than that, he looks just like his father."

The said child was staring unblinkingly into Hermione's brown eyes, his hazel ones looking like carbon copies of the eyes of the tall, lean woman sitting next to her. It was very bizarre to see a baby version of Malfoy, but Astoria's eyes on his face had somewhat softened the final result, making the baby's face look kinder and more innocent than Draco's face must've looked when he was that age.

"Hullo, Scorpius." Hermione tried to resist the urge to talk baby-talk to him. She and Astoria were on friendly terms as colleagues, but they weren't intimate. "How old are you?"

"He recently turned ten months old," offered Astoria with a proud smile. "I can hardly believe it. It feels like it was just the other day that I was at the birthing centre trying to push this little guy out while Draco laid at the floor of the delivery room, out cold with the Petrificus Totalus I sent his way. He was getting on my nerves with the whole 'breathe, push' technique he learned in some Muggle book."

Hermione laughed at the idea of Malfoy reading baby books – Muggle ones, nonetheless – and the image of the only heir of Lucius Malfoy lying on the floor of St. Mungos while his wife gave birth to their son.

Astoria's mellifluous laughter joined her own, and Hermione tickled Scorpius's soft tummy until he gurgled at her. She blew strawberries on his face and was awarded with the dimples she saw on his cheeks. What an endearing child! Who knew Draco Malfoy could reproduce this well? She would have to tell Ron about it.

The baby launched himself towards Hermione's lap, but Astoria held him back.

"No, love," she said. "Aunt Hermione is having a baby, and you're too big for her lap."

"No, it's okay," Hermione said. She was aching to cuddle him. "We'll work it out, won't we, Scorpius? The baby won't mind either."

Scorpius sat on Hermione's knees and she bounced them up and down to make him laugh. Her heart ached for this kind of interaction with her own child, and she felt as if she was sitting at the edge of her chair waiting excitedly, but terrified, for the moment she would get to hold her own little girl in her arms. Bean kicked her hard in the bladder and Hermione winced.

"Baby?" Scorpius asked, his tiny fingers poking her protuberant stomach. Hermione nodded, still trying to catch her breath. "Hi."

And he kissed her belly. Bean moved, calm, as if her outburst a second ago was purely out of temper. Ron's daughter, through and through, Hermione thought with tenderness. Her eyes glistened with tears at Scorpius's tender gesture and the baby's reception to it. She got goose bumps and if she believed in such thing, she would've thought, in years to come, that that, right then, was foresight.

"Mrs. Granger-Weasley, please meet Healer Thomas in office seven."

She said her goodbyes to Astoria and Scorpius before joining Dean in his office. She had a worrying feeling that something wasn't quite right with her body, and she needed to learn exactly what it was.

"Other than the migraines and blurry vision, have you been experiencing any other symptoms?"

"Nothing unusual, mostly pregnancy related discomforts."

"Such as…?"

"Nausea, mostly. Sometimes I have trouble catching my breath, but I think it's because I'm this wide. Lower-back pain. And my ankles are almost the size of bedposts."

"I've to run some more tests, but I'm suspecting that you're experiencing a condition called preeclampsia."

"Oh. I've read about that…" Her voice wavered. "It's dangerous, isn't it?"

"It can be very dangerous, Hermione." Dean squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her. "But if you follow my recommendations correctly, there's no reason to expect that this baby won't be born very close to its due date."

"What do I have to do?"

"First, immediate bed rest. You haven't taken your maternal leave yet, have you?"

"I was waiting to be a little closer to the end of my term. I didn't realize…"

"Hermione, don't blame yourself." Dean looked into her fretful eyes, understanding the cause of her nervousness. "You've done nothing wrong. Many mothers-to-be suffer from preeclampsia, and the stress you're putting on yourself will only serve to hurt you and your baby. You have to stay calm for your blood pressure to remain in check, okay?"

"Okay."

"Take three deep breaths now, luv." He patted her hand. "That's right. Feeling a little better?"

"Dean, if I take all necessary precautions, there's no reason to believe Bean won't be completely healthy, is there?"

"Nature will run its course, but we will make the most of it. We can try to keep this baby from being born too early, and there's a good chance we'll succeed. If we don't, the odds of your girl being born healthy are good too, since you're nearly there."

"Okay." Hermione let out another breath, forcing herself to remain calm for her daughter's sake. "Other than bed rest, what else do I have to do?"

"Ron, this is unacceptable." Upset, Hermione fidgeted helplessly in her favorite chair near the bookcase. "You cannot leave on this mission, not so close to Bean's birth."

"There's nothing I can do about it, luv." Ron sat by her, clutching her hands. "The chief is determined to have Harry and me in Washington for IPACAW's launch in America. I'll be back in a week. Bean will wait for her daddy to come home."

"Ron, it's the end of July! I'm due any second from September 3rd on!" Hermione sighed. "You'd better come home soon, Ronald Weasley. It's bad enough that you'll be missing my first weekly appointment on the 28th."

"I know, luv, I'm so sorry." He kissed her cheek, then her hands. A smile forced its way onto her lips and he burst into a happy-dance inside.

"It's not fair how you always try to distract me from arguments like this."

"Works every time, though." Hermione smiled sweetly and pinched his arse. "Oi! What was that for?"

"For being a prat!" she said with a laugh, and Ron kissed her indignation away. "A lovable prat."

"Since your mother's house is a forty-five minute ride from The Leaky Cauldron, your mum told me she would drive you there to meet Ginny, and then pick you up at five."

"I already know the plan, Ron," an annoyed Hermione told him as she packed her bags. "Then Ginny will Floo to St. Mungo's with me, and then Floo me back. It doesn't get much simpler than this. Why are you fretting so much about it?"

"I'm worried," Ron admitted. "It's just that we'll be oceans apart, and I have to leave you with your mother. She's great, but she keeps refusing to connect her house to the Floo Network for this week. What if you went into labor early?"

"Ron, I've been taking all the precautions Dean recommended." Hermione sat by Ron on their bed and grasped his hand, trying to make the frown on his forehead disappear.

"I'm resting a lot, keeping my blood pressure stabilized. Drinking lots of water, but not too much. Eating healthily, reading about what happens after the birth - the whole deal. Nothingbad is going to happen. Bean will wait for her daddy." She kissed his lips softly and placed his hand on her abdomen. "We deserve this gift, Ron. Our little blue, red and brown girl. She'll wait for her daddy. I promise you."

"Hermione," her mother asked, "how are magical babies born?"

She laughed, carefree. Her mother's questions about her magical granddaughter had streamed like waterfalls from the moment Hermione had stepped foot in her parents' house, four days ago.

"Exactly like every baby is born, Mum." Her mother smiled at her while driving, the light blue of her eyes shining with the excitement Hermione came to relate to when she talked about her daughter's baby. "Except that instead of anesthetic, we use potions to alleviate the pain."

"I can't wait to meet her," Hermione confessed. "I keep dreaming about what she'll look like. Will she have Ron's hair? My eyes? There are so many possibilities."

"It's terrifying, isn't it? But it's quite wonderful at the same time." Hermione nodded. That was exactly how she felt. "You were a pink baby."

"What?"

"When you were born, you were so pink. Rosy cheeks, pink complexion," Mrs. Granger said nostalgically. Hermione's mother was a practical and reserved woman, but she seemed to be feeling more emotional towards her daughter since she learned she was going to be a grandmother. "And you smelled like roses to Eddy and me. The loveliest baby we've ever seen."

"I'm sure every parent thinks that about their child," replied Hermione with a smile. However, it felt good to learn that her parents also thought that, once upon a time, she was the perfect baby. "That's why you always bought me those baths salts that smelled of roses?"

Her mother smiled at her kindly and nodded. Hermione felt comforted, and was happy that if she had to stay with someone while Ron was away, it was her mother. They used to drive each other mad, but those differences seemed so small compared to what was happening now in her life. Hermione hoped that the baby would help her mother heal the broken heart she had been nursing since Edward, her father, had died two years ago from leukemia.

"Thanks, Mum," said Hermione, squeezing her mother's hand, "for having me at your house, for taking care of me this whole week. It must've been hard, having to do everything by yourself while taking care of me."

"Don't talk nonsense child," her mother replied with a wink. "It was one of the best weeks of my life. You remind so much of Eddy-" Hermione blinked back tears. "- And it's comforting to have someone else to care for. It's been lonely for me."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said truthfully. "I wish I had known sooner. I'd have spent more time with you."

"Don't worry, dear." Her mother stopped at the red light. The Leaky Cauldron was already in sight. "You're doing your thing, and I think that's great. You'll be a great parent, Hermione. You and Ronald. I can see how much you love him. I couldn't have wished for someone better for you."

"Not even a nice regular dentist for a husband?"

"Not even the Prime Minister," her mother assured her. "There's no greater happiness than seeing your child achieve her goals and live a full life." Her mother put the Honda in drive. "Now, let's go get you checked out. And don't you forget to bring me back a sonogram picture of my granddaughter."

The light turned green, and her mother accelerated the car.

"Don't worry, Mum. I promise I won't forget."

That was the last thing Hermione said before the horror happened.

The truck appeared as if from nowhere and hit a nearby Fiesta's passenger side. The car turned over and knocked out Mrs. Granger's Honda Civic and a black Saab.

In the middle of the confusion, the deafening screams and the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, Hermione could only beckon up the energy to send a barely corporeal Patronus to Ginny before she succumbed to the darkness that called her seductively, with promises of protection from the pain that surely waited for her if she tried to stay awake.

"Sing with me, sing for the years,
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears.
Sing with me, if it's just for today,
Maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away"

Dream On - Aerosmith

A.N: Cliffhanger, for I'm evil just like that! Will this story stay close to canon or will I go AU on you guys? Wait and see insert evil wink here. Don't forget to let me know what you thought about this chapter!