DISCLAIMER: Sorry to have to break your hearts, but I don't own Harry Potter

PLEASE READ THE ENTRY AT THE BOTTOM!

Tekau ma tahi

"Hermione…," he gasped, "she's…"

When his voice seemed to fail him, James took a hold of his lapels and gave him a little shake. "Pads? What's up with Hermione? She's what?"

"She's awake," Sirius gasped, placing his hands on James' shoulders with a childish grin. "She's awake and talking, James. That means she's going to be alright, right?"

"It means we can hope now," James said with a grin of his own and then turned and hugged his son tightly. "We can hope…"

"Can we go in and see her?" Harry asked his godfather, his eyes displaying his hope.

"Not right at this second, the Healers are checking her over to make sure she's alright. They practically shoved me out of the room."

"Sirius," Lily said, stepping forward to touch his arm, "is she really alright? What did she say? Was she in pain?"

Sirius hesitated ever so slightly and the adults, those who knew their history, understood that the brief exchange of words had been private. The children, however, did not know and thus proceeded to poke and prod him for more information.

"Perhaps someone should remove them until she is able to handle visitors," Lucius Malfoy smoothly interjected, drawing attention to himself. Harry noticed him for the first time and his face hardened visibly. "Relax, Potter, I'm not here to hurt you. I am merely here to make sure that Hermione is alright."

"Why would you care?" Harry practically hissed.

Lucius raised himself up to his very impressive height and glared down at Harry. "That is none of your business, boy."

"She's my best friend so it is my business." If it wasn't for the fact that he was going up against Lucius Malfoy, everyone would have been impressed. As it was, Harry was quite worn out from the battle- even if he would not admit it- and Lucius could easily hex him.

A malicious sneer appeared on the blond aristocrat's face and the adults instantly tensed up. "Did you ever think that she could have possibly had another best friend before you, Potter?"

Harry was quite torn between unbelievable anger and curiosity. First there was that little offhand comment from his father not ten minutes before hand and now Malfoy was implying…

Implying what? he asked himself. He thought back to the time when Hermione had thrown herself in front of Sirius during their fifth year to save him and the way his godfather had been devastated. It took Remus and James a long time to convince him that Hermione was going to be alright…

Then his mind reeled to the day when neither him or Ron could get Hermione to come out of her room. She had locked herself away and they had tried for a long time to get her to come out. Then, Sirius had merely showed up, ushered them away, and walked in. She hadn't kicked him out.

And then there was that incident yesterday morning when he found Sirius in Hermione's room. She had babbled off some nonsense about him coming in to make sure that she was awake and he had let it go merely because he was nervous. But now…

Now he wasn't so sure.

He turned his head to see that Sirius was gazing down the hall at the door of Hermione's room where Healers were bustling in and out. No, he wasn't so sure now.

"Harry," his mother urged, pressing his arm lightly to gain his attention, "I know that you're probably really confused right now and that…"

"Confused?" He gave a little laugh. "I don't know anything anymore. What I do know is that sometime in the past six years, Malfoy has suddenly reconciled all his differences with Hermione and is here, you all are keeping something important from us, and apparently there's some sort of connection between Hermione and Sirius."

The adults- most of them anyway- stared at him with their mouths slightly parted while the other half watched the activity down the hall. Finally James turned to his wife and said, "He's good."

"Of course I'm good," Harry scoffed, "I'm the bloody Boy-Who-Lived, or haven't you been listening to the rambling over the years?"

Rachel came up with Declan in tow and nudged her mum. "Can we go in and see Hermione yet?" she asked innocently. She had been the only one not present at the battle to see the state Hermione was in.

Lily placed one arm around her daughter's shoulders and hugged lightly, dropping a kiss on the top of her head while she was at it. "Not yet, sweetie. They're still trying to heal her. Hopefully it won't be too long, though."

"But mom," Rachel whined but stopped at a look from her mother. Declan and Harry both placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and Harry gave her a slight nod.

"You're falling asleep, kiddo," Harry said gently. "Why don't I take you and Declan back home so you can get some sleep and then I'll come back and get you later on? By that time, Hermione should be able to receive visitors."

Rachel looked dubious for a moment but Harry gave her a small smile and she calmed a bit. "Come on kiddo, Declan, I think the adults want to talk without us hearing anyway."

James and Lily both gave him a thankful smile as he led the other two out. They were thankful for Harry giving them about twenty good minutes to talk without having to censor their conversation.

As soon as they were out of hearing distance, Lauri rushed to Sirius' side. "So she was really talking, Sirius? Did she seem like she was going to be alright?"

"She only said a few words to me before she passed back out again, but in those few minutes she seemed alright," Sirius answered, rubbing his forehead a bit. "She's still quite pale, though. The Healers didn't let me stay in the room long after I called for them so I don't really know if she's going to be alright."

"She will be," Remus assured his friend. "This is Hermione we're talking about."

"She was older then, Lupin," Lucius snapped, hitting his cane lightly on the floor. "She knew a bit more and had others to back her up. We don't even know what is wrong with her now."

"It's not a matter of how much she knows or what she's faced," Sirius growled, his eyes narrowing on the blond aristocrat, "what matters is the fact that she is now lying in a hospital bed and we don't know what quite happened besides the fact that her and Voldemort went tumbling into that fissure."

James was shaking his head slightly off to the side. "I still don't understand how she got out of there. I saw it after you brought her here, Sirius, and that hole is deep."

"Magic works in mysterious ways," Dumbledore cajoled from where he was sitting. "Not everything has to be explained with simple logic."

Sirius stared at him for a moment or two before turning away with an aggrieved look on his face. "I just want her to be alright," he whispered softly. "I don't how she was saved or anything, I just can't lose her…not again."

Sirius fell into one of the seats and put his head in his hands. "How's Molly and Arthur doing?"

"They have suffered in this war too much," Lily said softly. "We should have stopped it; we knew that they were going to die just from what Hermione had told us and we could have stopped it."

"But you weren't supposed to," Dumbledore injected softly. "Everything happens for a reason."

"But we already stopped other things from happening," Lily argued weakly, James' arm around her waist supporting her. "What would one more life matter?"

"Quite a lot actually," Dumbledore said. "You would be surprised how much Hermione affected the timeline by dying for Harry that night."

"What would have happened?" Lauri inquired.

"To the best of my knowledge, only two people know the full extent of what would have happened- Hermione and Falco. The latter won't tell unless Hermione gives him permission to do so. Your only hope of finding out the truth would be to ask Hermione."

They all stared at Dumbledore explained it. Sirius then lowered his head once more into his hands.

"What if she dies?" The question was posed by Lucius and everyone, except for Sirius who simply stiffened, looked first at him then to Dumbledore. "What then? Everything would have been for naught."

Dumbledore didn't say anything for a few moments and then slowly leaned back in his seat. "It is in my opinion that Hermione is a fighter and I doubt she'd give up so easily when she has worked so hard to make things as they are now."

"She may not want to give up but I saw her, Dumbledore," Lucius hissed, "and I saw the shape she was in when she was blown out of that hole. She's weak at the moment."

"Damn you, Malfoy," Sirius growled. "She never gave up hope on you, you bastard, so don't you dare stand there and give up hope on her."

Lucius stared at him for a moment and it was as if years of hatred and feuding lifted for just a second. Then, surprisingly, Lucius bent his head slightly in acquiesce and took a seat near the door. Sirius didn't say anything from that moment on and merely put his head back into his hands.

There was a break in the conversation as everyone just sat there uncomfortably. Then, "I just wish they would tell us something."

"They're healers, they won't say anything until they absolutely have to." Lauri laid her head down on her husband's arm. "I say we trap one of them and get the information by force if necessary."

Lily smiled at her friend. "You always were too dramatic for your own good."

"It would get us some information," Lily replied, closing her eyes with a hearty sigh. "I never have liked hospitals. Too many doctors congregated together."

"I think that's the point of a hospital, love," Remus said with a teasing grin.

"Shut up," she muttered darkly.

James leaned over to peer into his wife's bag. "Hey Lily-bug, did you bring anything to snack on by chance?"

"James, I don't think you need food and if you do, you can wait. You've had something already," Lily answered. When he went to reach into it, she slapped his hand away.

"Hey! I was actually getting it for Sirius. We've had a snack but he hasn't ate anything yet."

"I'll be fine," came the reply from under a shaggy black mop, muffled by a hand.

"Starving yourself isn't going to help, Pads," James argued.

"Shut up."

"I don't want to…"

"No, really, shut up," Sirius said raising his head. "Do you not hear it?"

James looked about as confused as the others. "Hear what?"

"The silence," Sirius answered and then jumped to his feet quickly, moving to where he could better see Hermione's door. "They're no longer chattering about. It's quiet."

They listened for a few minutes. "You're right," Lauri said softly, moving forward to stand beside of him. "It's too quiet."

A young healer came stumbling out of the room and headed in their direction. He made the unfortunate choice of trying to pass discreetly on Sirius' side who decided Lauri's earlier plan was a good one. Reaching out quickly, he grabbed the young man by the scruff of his shirt and pressed him up against the wall, wand out and pointed dangerously.

"Listen youngster, I've been killing people all night so one more person isn't going to affect me in any way so either tell me how she is, or I will hex you into oblivion where not even the best doctors could save you."

The deep, echoing 'gulp' emitted from the healer showed just how scared he was, though he was still visibly shaking quite a lot. "I…I…I don't know whether…"

"Whether what?" Sirius growled, pressing himself closer.

Another gulp. "I can tell you anything," he whispered, almost scared.

"Too bad for you then," Sirius replied as he drew back his hand as if to strike. Harry came in right at that moment and caught his hand, stopping him from punching the young man.

"It's not going to help at all," Harry whispered into his godfather's ear.

Sirius seemed to take his words to heart, or else he just didn't want to be bothered with actually punching the man, and let him go. "Tell whoever can tell me anything to get down here. Now."

The young man scampered off down the hall, shooting furtive looks back towards Sirius as he hurried along. Sirius didn't even bother with staring at him as he ran and instead slumped against the wall. His eyes were sad as they gazed down the hall, hope beginning to flicker slightly.

Harry stepped closer to him and leaned towards him slightly. "There's something between you and Hermione, isn't there?"

Sirius didn't even show any sign of surprise at the question as he replied, "Yes."

Harry nodded once and bent his head slightly before lifting it back up to look at his godfather. "Do you love her?"

This time, Sirius raised his head up just slightly and turned it to look straight into Harry's eyes. Without hesitation, he answered with a resound, "Yes."

"Alright then," Harry replied with a nod.

A Healer approached Sirius at that moment, carrying a clipboard. "Mr. Black?"

"Yes?"

"We have stabilized Miss Granger and she's doing alright now. She's awake at the moment but we're going to give her some stuff to sleep for a little bit; rest will only speed up the healing process."

"May I go in with her now?" he asked hopefully.

The Healer paused, thinking about it. "Maybe just for a little bit. She might not let us give her something to sleep if you're going to be in there. She's been asking for you."

Sirius didn't need to hear another word and immediately headed off down the hallway. Harry stared after him and turned to the Healer. "Thank you."

"It's our job, Mr. Potter." The Healer stared at him for a moment. "Would you like me to fix up your wounds? I can do it rather quickly and have you back out."

Harry opened his mouth to refuse but Lily rushed in to say, "Yes, will you please and then can you make sure that someone heals Sirius as well? He refused healing until he heard whether Hermione was going to be alright or not."

The Healer smiled. "I will send someone to tend to him. Follow me, Mr. Potter."

Lily walked back to the group. "Hermione's stable. They let Sirius in to see her for a little bit and then they're going to give her something to sleep. They're fixing Harry up now and he told me that he would make sure that Sirius got some treatment."

"That's good," James nodded, patting the seat beside him for Lily to sit back down.

Dumbledore stood from his chair. "I think I would like a quick word to Miss Granger before they give her anything. Excuse me."

James went to say something to him to stop him but Lily laid a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Don't," she mouthed with a slight shake of his head. He nodded to her and turned to simply watch Dumbledore head down the hallway.

A few people stared at him in slight amazement as he went for the simple reason that he was supposed to be dead but other than that, no one questioned him. He smiled at a few that he recognized and nodded to those who he didn't.

The door to Hermione's room was cracked slightly and he stood outside for just a minute. Sirius was sitting on Hermione's bed stroking her forehead in a tender way. He smiled at her before bending to press a kiss to her forehead.

"You scared me," he whispered into her hair. "I don't want to lose you again, love."

She smiled back at him. Her smile faltered slightly as she stared at him. "You do think I did the right thing in changing the past, right?" she asked softly. "Tell me that I was right."

"Hermione, love, I can't tell you that because I don't know what happened before but I do know it had to be bad for you to change it. You made your choice for a reason so I can only assume it was choice."

Hermione rolled her head away and closed her eyes. "I just don't know anymore, Sirius, I just don't know." She sighed softly, and opened her eyes back up. "Ron's dead, Ginny's dead, what difference did I make?"

"You made a lot of difference," he comforted her, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. "We're together, love, and that's what you need to concentrate on."

Dumbledore chose that moment to knock on the door and enter. "Hello Sirius, Hermione. Sirius, I was wondering whether I could have a quick word with Hermione in private."

Sirius looked hesitant but Hermione squeezed his hand and said, "Go on. I need to talk to him anyway. I want to talk to you again before they give me those awful potions."

Sirius chuckled softly and dropped a kiss on her brow. "Alright, love. I'll talk to you in a bit."

Sirius left the room and Dumbledore took a seat on the chair beside Hermione's bed, scooting it up closer so that they could talk. He smiled at her. "I think I should start off by thanking you for bringing me back, Hermione. I'm glad that you remembered what I told you about the white phoenix."

"It's good to have you back, Headmaster."

"I'm not sure whether I'm going to do that anymore, but that's not the reason I wanted to talk to you. As you know, the Verus Fatum offered you a choice and you made your choice based on how your life went before."

"Yes."

"Well, now you have another choice. You now know how it can end up this way."

"Yes," Hermione said again, a bit confused.

"So now you have a choice to make." He paused and Hermione hated the dramatic effect. "You can go on with it like this or you can redo it. Which do you want to do."

With that, he pulled out the Verus Fatum and held it out to her. Hermione opened her mouth and then shut it, her eyes trained on the gold object.

Sorry my timing with the whole updating thing has been off...I don't have internet at my house so I have to go down to my Grandma Gertie's to get it...I'm warning you though, my updates will take a bit longer 'cause I just got a job that will take up most of my time, especially since I will not have a set schedule and will work odd hours that will torture me to no end... I'm deeply sorry about this but I need the money to pay off the buckoos of money that I owe the stupid institution that they call "college"...

Thanks for reading and staying with me...you guys are wonderful!!!