Thank you all so much for the reviews, I always love reading them! I'm glad so many people are enjoying the story so far and I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Hermione was sitting in her usual chair in the waiting area of the ward. Today however, she was not facing the large bay window that looked out onto the gardens, she was staring at the doors, waiting for them to come. Her foot was tapping against the floor, her leg shaking with nerves. She'd taken a shower just that morning and tried to smooth her hair into a more put-together style, unfortunately, the one thing, perhaps that only thing, about her that hadn't changed was her untamable hair.
The doors opened and Hermione gripped the arm of the chair nervously, however, it was only the doctor, her doctor, Dr. Adams. She'd had a number of brief sessions with him to "discuss her struggle," as he put it. She still wasn't sure if she was fond of him or not. She felt he lacked eloquence in his manner, and he seemed to be consistently late.
He smiled at her as he walked over and slumped down into the chair in front of her, looking frazzled.
"Jesus, it's hot in here!" he exclaimed, tugging at the collar of his shirt.
Once again, Hermione noticed his aloof attitude, which she found distressing coming from a doctor. Nonetheless, she smiled back, but did not respond.
"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to our scheduled meeting yesterday, this bloody hospital is run by a bunch of monkeys I tell you."
Hermione irritatingly noticed how much he seemed to apologize to her. They were supposed to meet the day before so he could "prep" her for her friends' visit. Hermione didn't understand why she would need to be prepped to see her friends, but he'd insisted they do so.
"Alright…" he said with a sigh, smoothing out his tie and picking up his clipboard that he'd lain down, "you must be excited to see your family huh?"
Hermione gave him a quizzical look. The doctor must not have known that her parents had died. She was about to correct him but decided against it as she was afraid he might ask her to talk about them, and she still wasn't really ready to do that. Instead she nodded and smiled broadly.
"Are you afraid?" he asked in a low voice, as if he were speaking to a terrified child.
Hermione sighed loudly.
"To be honest, I just want to get the hell out of here," she said truthfully.
Dr. Adams smiled again and looked down at his clipboard for a moment before speaking again.
"I'm afraid that I have to tell you something else my dear, something that you have yet to be informed of about the… accident."
Hermione didn't like his tone.
"I was supposed to go over this with you yesterday to give you some time to absorb it, but as I said earlier, I'm sorry that didn't happen."
Hermione suddenly felt the urge to scream, 'just say it!' Anything to help him get the point that he needed to spit it out and spit it out quickly, lest he or the hospital waste any more of her time, if that was even possible.
"When the spell hit you, we realized it also knocked out about one year of your memory."
Hermione processed what he meant by this. Still being a quick thinker, it didn't take her long.
"One year… so that means my last memory was one year before I was cursed?"
"That's right," replied Dr. Adams.
Hermione nodded then suddenly realized just exactly what this meant. She'd missed a whole year of her life. What had happened in that year? She had a feeling that something huge was still missing, some piece was left somewhere. They hadn't told her the entire truth, not by a long shot.
"What happened in that year? What happened that I don't remember?" asked Hermione, looking at the doctor fearfully.
He looked down at the floor and Hermione felt her heart start to drop. Something bad must have happened. He looked up at her and seemed to be searching for the right words.
"I feel it's best that your family explain it to you…"
"You mean my friends," replied Hermione sharply, losing her patience.
It was all starting to blur together again. She closed her eyes and forced herself to breath slowly. She couldn't let him ruin her day. This day was going to be wonderful. She would see everyone again. This doctor would not ruin it, nothing could.
"I'm sorry," replied Dr. Adams, "I meant your friends. And I don't mean to upset you. That is the last of the terrible news I promise."
Hermione felt somewhat comforted by his words. As secretive as the hospital staff had been, she was confident that he would not lie to her. She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded her acceptance of his words.
"Sorry I snapped at you," said Hermione, feeling a tad guilty.
"That's alright," replied Dr. Adams, "it's in my job description you know."
Hermione laughed politely and felt herself relax. While they were doing a terrible job explaining things to her here, she knew that just a small conversation with Ron would undo all her confusion.
Suddenly, the door to the ward opened and both Hermione and Dr. Adams looked over to see Ron standing there, grinning at them. Hermione grinned back and the doctor looked to Hermione.
"Well, that's my queue to leave. Good luck Miss Granger," he said, standing up and walking out.
Hermione heard his words but was too focused on Ron to reply. They kept their eyes locked as Ron walked over and sat down in the now empty chair in front of her and took her hands.
"Hey," he said softly.
"Hey," replied Hermione, feeling shivers as she held her hands gently.
It was a moment before Hermione seemed to come to her senses.
"Where's everyone else?" she asked, in a bit of a hurt tone.
"Oh, they're just waiting out there. I wanted to talk to you alone first."
Hermione felt her heart beat faster when he spoke, knowing she was about to see her friends for the first time in ten years. She smiled exuberantly.
Ron suddenly looked quite somber and averted his eyes, making Hermione's heart drop once again.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I have to tell you something," he replied slowly, "actually… a few things."
Hermione swallowed nervously.
"Good things?" she asked hopefully.
Ron looked up at her then and smiled almost sadly.
"What I hope are good things," he replied.
Hermione waited for him to continue, her heart was now pounding so loudly inside her head that she could barely hear Ron's quiet voice.
"First of all, I want you to know that… you're allowed to have any reaction you want… and it's okay… I mean, I-I won't be hurt or anything. I understand that y-you're just trying to come to terms with all this and…"
"Ron," said Hermione, making him stop and look at her again, "just say it."
She said it to reassure him as she easily read his nervous reaction, however, she also couldn't take the wait any longer.
"We're married," Ron blurted out.
Hermione let go of Ron's hands and backed away slightly. It wasn't that she was horrified by the revelation, but just shocked. They were married. Married. Hermione kept repeating the word in her head, trying to grasp the idea. Married.
Ron was looking at her expectantly, waiting for a huge reaction, but Hermione wasn't done grasping. They were married. They were married and she didn't remember. It was like she'd missed it. In her mind, she desperately searched for an image, a clue, a glimpse, anything. But it was all blank. She had no engagement, no wedding, and no honeymoon. Before she could stop herself, Hermione burst in tears.
Ron looked like he'd just been hit with an unforgivable curse.
"Oh God Hermione, I'm so sorry! I was afraid this would happen. I'm sorry I'm not better. Please, don't hate me for this."
Hermione looked at him through her watering eyes to see his devastated reaction. He had his face in his hands and he was crying too. This image seemed to strike something inside of Hermione and she grabbed his hand quickly.
Ron pulled back, obviously fearing she was going to hit him, but still looked up at her.
"Ron…" choked Hermione, trying to find the words to express how she felt, "I'm not upset by that. I'm upset because I can't remember. I'm actually not even really that shocked... I mean, yes I'm shocked that we did actually get married since I have no recollection of it, but I'm not shocked it's you. I knew I was going to marry you since fourth year."
She said the last part slowly, allowed her emotion to fill her words heavily. Ron seemed to understand, but it took him a moment before he could speak.
"Oh," he said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve, "so… you… don't mind that we're married?"
Hermione smiled and shook her head vigorously. Ron seemed to accept her answer and smiled back before laughing lightly.
"Oh… haha… good."
Hermione laughed too, but then sobered up as she remembered how upset he had been. She felt guilt flood her heart and couldn't help the tears which continued mercilessly.
"I'm sorry I reacted that way," she said, sobbing.
"It's okay," replied Ron, moving forward again to hug her tightly.
"I love you so much," Hermione whispered.
"God, I love you too," Ron replied, squeezing her tighter.
Hermione slowly pulled away and Ron put a hand to her cheek, wiping away her tears. She sighed deeply, immediately comforted by his affectionate gesture.
"So," said Hermione, thinking for a moment, "I guess that makes me Mrs. Weasley."
"No," said Ron, making Hermione look at him curiously, "you kept your name."
Hermione was pensive for a moment before speaking.
"I think I'd like to change it now."
Ron gave her another huge smile.
"You don't have to, you know?" he said, suddenly looking at her seriously again.
"I know," replied Hermione, taking his hand, "but I'd like to."
Ron smiled at her again before leaning in to kiss her. Hermione felt her whole body tingle with excitement, just as it had the day before when he'd kissed her. He moved to kiss her more passionately, moving his tongue into her mouth and Hermione let out a small moan. She'd missed this so much.
Ron pulled back to smile at her smugly.
"I can't wait for you to come home again," he said in a low voice that filled Hermione with a deep longing.
She realized what he meant and felt her body tense up. It'd been ten years since they'd touched each other. They'd only made love once. Of course, then Hermione realized she was wrong. They'd gotten married, and so they must have made love, probably many times. She felt nervous. He would remember and she wouldn't.
Ron seemed to pick up on her anxiety and squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"We'll go slow, I promise. Nothing until you're ready."
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.
Hermione smiled shyly. She had a feeling with him being this way it wouldn't take long for her to feel ready again.
"Oh!" said Hermione, "what else did you want to tell me. You said you had a few things."
"Oh yeah," said Ron, looking more serious, "there's someone I'd like you to meet."
Oh! Who is it!? I bet you can all guess… but who knows! Reviews are always welcome and very much appreciated!