Author's Note: I don't Harry Potter. Any new characters introduced are my own, please don't steal them!

Happy reading!

AliceLupin

Chapter 7 – The Secret

As Healer Murphy said, Hermione started having symptoms exactly a week later. She woke up and stretched then immediately got up and ran to the bathroom to spill the contents of her stomach. Remus came up behind her moments later and rubbed her back comfortingly, while pulling her hair out of her face. Hermione reached up and flushed the toilet then leaned back on Remus' chest.

"Will you be okay by yourself today?" Remus asked. "It's Wednesday. I have classes all day long." Hermione nodded.

"I have to go to the Ministry today to take my N.E.W.T.s anyways. Can you get me the blue potion that's in the bedside table?" He nodded and kissed her forehead before he left the bathroom. Hermione stood up and splashed some water on her face. She felt like crap. Remus came back with the potion and she swallowed it in one quick gulp. She felt much better moments later when her stomach growled and she was suddenly starving.

They dressed quickly and went down to breakfast. Hermione sat down next to Ron and across from Ginny and Harry. She quickly began pilling her plate with food.

"Hungry much?" Harry asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"I feel like I haven't eaten in days!" She replied before shoving half a muffin in her mouth. Ron watched her in awe.

"Wow, 'Mione." He said. "I don't think I've ever seen you eat so much."

"Leave her alone guys." Ginny said, smacking Harry's arm. "She told us this would happen." Hermione ignored all of them and continued to eat.

"Geez Granger, is the werewolf starving you or something?" Came a drawl from behind Ginny and Harry. Hermione looked up and glared at Draco Malfoy. He stood behind Ginny and Harry, with his ever present smirk in place.

Hermione ignored him and swallowed the last of her orange juice. She stood up and grabbed her bag.

"I'm going to the library to study for my tests today. I'll see you guys-"

"He knocked you up, didn't he?" Malfoy said in shock. Hermione glared at him, subconsciously placing an arm across her stomach to protect it. "Isn't that illegal? Not to mention disgusting?" Harry stood up and turned to face him.

"Back off, Malfoy. That's my niece or nephew you're talking about." Malfoy smirked and looked over at Hermione again, who seemed frozen to the spot. Everything around her was blurry and she couldn't figure out why.

"You know Granger, if you were desperate enough to sleep with a werewolf you could have just come to me."

"Mr. Malfoy." Hermione's head snapped to her left and she saw Remus striding towards them. "I'll ask you not to make derogatory comments about staff members or your class mates. This is your first and only warning. If you are caught again you will be serving detention with me." He looked at Harry, with a slight smile. "Mr. Potter, I believe that if you grip your wand any tighter it will snap in half." Harry pulled his glare away from Malfoy and placed his wand back in his pocket. Remus finally turned to look Hermione. He frowned. "Ms. Granger? Are you alright?"

Hermione shook her head before the world around her exploded and everything went black.

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She woke at St. Mungo's sometime later. She kept her eyes closed and assessed how she felt. Her head was pounding and she felt nauseous. Someone's hand rested in her right hand. She could tell that she was dressed in a hospital gown and she briefly wondered how long she had been there. She slowly opened her eyes to a blessedly dark room. She looked to the right and smiled as she saw Remus asleep in a chair next to her. She squeezed his hand tightly.

"Remus?" He stirred awake.

"Hermione, are you okay? Do you need anything?" He asked quickly.

"Something for my head would be nice. And my morning sickness potion." He nodded.

"I'll be right back. I have to go get a Healer." He kissed her forehead gently and left the room, coming back moments later with Healer Murphy.

"Good evening Ms. Granger." She said, walking into the room. She turned the lights onto a low setting so as not to hurt Hermione's head. She handed her two potions, which Hermione quickly gulped down. "Do you know what happened?"

"All I remember is being in the Great Hall and getting really dizzy." Hermione replied.

"You were dehydrated and stressed. It caused you to fall unconscious." Healer Murphy said.

"How long have I been here?" Hermione asked.

"Only two days." Healer Murphy replied. Hermione groaned and collapsed back onto her pillows.

"I miss my N.E.W.T. tests." She said.

"Minerva contacted the Head of Education and explained everything. She said you can come in when you're released and take them." Remus said gently.

"I'm not sure that would be the best idea." Healer Murphy said. "Due to your collapse, I'm going to seriously advise bed rest for the next month. After that only minimal exercise until either the baby is born or your health comes up considerably." Remus nodded and Hermione frowned.

"But you said it was a mix of dehydration and stress. Shouldn't I be fine as long as I stay hydrated?" She asked. Healer Murphy hesitated before answering.

"Possibly. But if you have another collapse like this it could put the baby at risk. Which is why I highly recommend bed rest for at least the next month until the worst of your symptoms go away. Even pregnancy symptoms can cause unneeded stress." Healer Murphy paused. "Taking short walks wouldn't be a bad idea as long as you take a water bottle with you. But for the most part, I want you on bed rest with minimal stress at least until our next appointment. How are you doing with your potions? Do you have enough to last for the next three weeks?"

"We're a week short." Remus replied.

"I'll have Healer Mathson get you more before you leave in the morning. If you need anything, you know where to find me. Good night." Hermione turned on her side and faced Remus.

"Are you okay?" He asked. She nodded.

"I'm just tired." He handed her a potion and a cup of water.

"You need to drink this before you go back to sleep."

"What is it?"

"Hydration potion. Instead of drinking insane amounts of water, they gave you a two week supply of this. You have to take it once every other day with a glass of water." Hermione nodded and sat up, taking the potion.

"I'm glad you're keeping track of all this." She chuckled. "I know I wouldn't be able to right now." She swallowed the potion and drank her water then laid back down. "Lay down with me?" She asked. Remus enlarged the bed and crawled in next to her. He tucked a curl behind her ear and kissed her forehead.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." She rolled over on her other side and Remus placed his hand on her rounded stomach.

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Hermione was going insane. Remus wouldn't let her leave their bed. He woke up with her and had a house elf bring up some breakfast for them. They ate breakfast and dinner together and Harry, Ron and Ginny would usually come up and eat lunch with her. Ginny was busily planning her baby shower. It was to be held at The Burrow next month on a Saturday. Ginny had already approved it with Professor McGonagall and they all had permission to leave for the weekend.

The next weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend. Ginny had to practically beg Remus to let Hermione to go. He threatened her with a month's worth of detention and a letter to Molly if Hermione got sick again because of the trip. At 9am on Saturday, Hermione was dressed and ready to go.

"Remember to keep drinking lots of water. Especially if you're walking a lot." Remus said for the fifth time as she pulled her coat on. She turned towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I know, love." She said, placing a kiss on his lips to silence him. "We'll be back in no time. Ginny just wants to looks at baby things." He opened his mouth to say something and she cut him off. "And yes, I know. No heavy lifting, use a feather light charm or make the boys carry it." There was a knock on the door and Hermione gave him one last kiss. "I love you. We'll be back soon." She pulled the door open to reveal a squealing Ginny, and a tired Harry and Ron.

"Lets go, lets go, lets go!" She said quickly, grabbing Hermione's hand.

"SLOW, GINERVA!" Remus yelled after the girls.

"We'll keep an eye on her, Remus." Harry said. "Don't worry."

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Ginny led her to decoration store that was at the end of the cobblestone road.

"What color? Should we do a gender neutral color like yellow? Or we could do red and gold for Gryffindor? Or would you rather just wait until you know what the baby is?" Ginny asked quickly.

"Why don't we wait on decorations until we know what it is. We can still look and pick some things out but let's wait on the final decision for a few weeks."

"Ok. What theme do you want? We could do muggle rubber duckies. Or we could do Quidditch for a boy or potions or…" Hermione tuned her friend out and pulled out her water bottle, taking a few drinks. She glanced around the shop a few times. The boys were in the corner laughing over some wedding decoration.

"Hermione? Are you even listening?" Ginny asked, waving her hand in front of Hermione's face.

"What? Sorry. I zoned out a bit there." Ginny rolled her eyes and grabbed Hermione's hand.

"The decorations will wait. I want to go shopping." She said, pulling Hermione out of the store. The boys groaned but followed quietly. Ginny led Hermione down the street to a little shop that she'd never seen before.

"Madam Zelda's boutique?" Hermione asked. Ginny nodded excitedly.

"They just put it in. It's a clothing shop. They have a small maternity section with pretty cute clothes. My friend Maria told me about it." Ginny led Hermione into the shop and she looked around. They're clothes were pretty cute.

"Welcome to Madam Zelda." A woman said, coming up to them. "I'm Zelda. Is there anything I can help you find today?"

"Yes. Where's the maternity section?" Ginny asked.

"Back left corner." Zelda replied. "Let me know if I can help you with anything."

Ginny dragged her to the back of the store and Hermione quickly took a drink of water. She really did need some maternity clothes. Her jeans were starting to get too tight. She sighed and started looking through jeans.

"This is cute!" Ginny said from another rack. She came over with a purple t-shirt that said 'Cute things come from big bellies'. Hermione laughed and followed Ginny to the t-shirt rack. They had a bunch of funny maternity shirts. The jokes ran from 'Touch the belly and lose a hand' to 'I'm pregnant, what's your excuse?'. Hermione picked out a few different joke shirts, along with some tank tops, regular t-shirts and a few long sleeved. She grabbed a couple pairs of jeans and some pajamas and she went to pay for her items. "We'll have to ask McGonagall if we can get a weekend out to go buy more baby stuff." Ginny said as they headed back up to the castle. Harry and Ron were behind them, laden with bags of clothes.

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Hermione woke up the next morning to Remus getting dressed.

"Where are you going? It's Sunday morning." She asked.

"I ummm… Have some things to do today. I'll be back before dinner." He replied, pulling a shirt over his head. She frowned and sat up in bed.

"What do you have to do?" She asked, her curiosity triggered.

"Just some things." He turned around and smiled at her. "I'll be back before dinner, I promise." He walked over and kissed her gently. "Harry, Ron and Ginny should be here shortly to keep you company. Take it easy today. Yesterday was more than enough exercise for a while."

"I guess." She mumbled. She snuggled back down into the covers and watched him leave. What was he doing? Was he planning something? Was he hiding something? She decided to get some more sleep and worry about it later.

Harry, Ron and Ginny showed up before she could fall asleep. Ginny had her arms full of papers with ideas for the baby shower.

"Do you guys know what Remus went to do today?" Hermione finally asked. It was almost lunch time. Her three friends glanced at each other.

"We're not supposed to tell you…" Harry finally said. "But it's not anything bad."

"You'll like it." Ginny added.

"When will I find out?" She asked, fishing for information.

"Before the baby is born. Probably around the same time as the baby shower." Ginny told her. Hermione nodded, storing the information away for later. "So if it's a boy you want the generic blue and Quidditch. And for a girl you want purple butterflies?" Hermione and Ginny got lost in baby shower plans until Remus came back.

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Author's Note: Sorry it took so long guys! Hope you like this chapter.

AliceLupin