Chapter Eleven: Evestigatus
After a very long day at Hogwarts, Hermione was absolutely thrilled to be going back home. She had been helping Flitwick with his classes today and he seemed to have errand after errand for her to run in-between classes, none of which that seemed that important, and the students hadn't been any better. She realized that it was a Monday and that almost all the students usually acted up the most on Mondays, but today was worse then normal. Two students had gotten into a fist fight and she had to take them magically to there head of houses, who weren't exactly thrilled with the interruption from there own classes. Five different students managed to cause explosions, and another student had snuck in one of Fred and George's fireworks. Flitwick and she had a terrible time banishing it, normally she would have been upset over the time wasted, but honestly now she was just tired and really wouldn't have minded if it wouldn't have taken so much energy to banish it.
Her feet ached, she was tired, the books she was carrying were much heavier then she remembered and all she wanted was a nice scone. "If I'm like this now, I can only imagine how I'll be once I'm further along." Hermione thought out loud, glancing down at her stomach. "It can't get much wor--" She had collided with someone, having not been paying attention, and sent all of their books flying across the floor.
"Oh I'm so sorry Daniel." She said looking over there many books.
"It's alright, Hermione." He said starting to gather his books together. Once she was sure that he wasn't looking she carefully shifted so that she could bend down to collect her own.
"Oh here, let me help you." He said noticing her struggle. He quickly put his own books back down before picking up a few of hers.
"Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, Important Modern Magical Discoveries, Modern Magical History and Sites of Historical Sorcery," He said reading off the titles as he collected them, "Either you really enjoy history or you're hoping to take over the History of Magic class. Sorry to break it to you Hermione, but I don't think that post is going to be open anytime soon."
"Actually it's neither." She told him, "Dumbledore's having me start to prepare some of the fifth years for there O.W.L.s. Right now we're focusing on History of Magic. Half the time students don't know what's going on in that class, let alone what will be expected of them on their O.W.L.s, that's where I come in."
"That's a good idea." Daniel said, "I could have used that when I took my own. You should have seen me, begging my friends to let me copy their notes so I could study them along with my own."
"When do you start?" he asked reaching for another book. Before she could stop him he picked up the book of baby names she had brought to look over on her break. He quickly read and reread the title before turning back to her with a surprised look on his face.
"So their goes asking you out." He said unsuccessfully trying to break the tension.
"Daniel…"
"You don't have to explain anything Hermione." He told her, "I have nothing against secrets."
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Hermione hurried out of the fireplace looking around, trying to find Remus. He never did seem to be in the same place when she got home. "Remus!" She called not seeing him anywhere, "Remus are you here?"
She heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to see Remus coming down, his hair mused and his robes wrinkled. He had obviously been sleeping again.
"What's wrong Hermione?" he said quickly.
"You were sleeping in your robes again weren't you?" she asked avoiding the question, feeling foolish for waking him up over something like this. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?"
"It was purely accidental" he told her, "I feel asleep while reading. Now stop avoiding the question and tell me what's wrong."
"I ran into Daniel in the hall today."
"And?"
"No, I literally ran into Daniel in the hall today." She repeated.
"Are you hurt?" he asked quickly coming over to her, his eyes wandering over her body searching to see if anything was injured. "Is the baby hurt? Is everything alright?"
"Oh yes, everything's fine." She said hurriedly, "We just dropped our books; I didn't mean to startle you. But Remus, he picked up the books. All of them."
"Hermione, I'm sorry but I'm not following." He told her gently, "What's so bad about him picking up the books? It's normally considered the polite thing to do."
"No Remus, I mean yes it was." She amended, "But he picked up the book of names, he saw the book of baby names."
"Oh." He said finally realizing what she was talking about.
"You don't think he'd tell anyone, do you?" she asked panicked.
"I'm not sure." He said, "I've only met him once and that was very briefly. I didn't get the chance to really get to know what he was like. What do you think that he'll do?"
"I don't know." She said, "He was really sweet about it when he found out. He didn't even ask me to explain anything, he just accepted it."
"Then if I was to guess, I'd say you have nothing to worry about." He told her.
"Hermione?" he said after a pause. "Why are you so worried about what the staff or students are going to say? They've accepted you as a part of the staff. And even if they hadn't, it doesn't matter what they say."
"I guess, I guess that I've just been keeping this a secret for so long that it's scary to think about how they'll react. I know I'm making more out of it then I should, but…but once they know I can't take it back."
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"How about Pierce?" he asked looking over his list.
"No." Hermione said quickly shaking her head, "He'd need a better last name then Granger to pull that off."
"How about Anastasia?" she asked.
"Doesn't that mean resurrection?" he asked.
"Oh yeah," she said, "Scratch that."
"How about Landon?" she asked.
"That's an option." He told him, "What does that mean?"
"Long hill." She said, "Not that great of a meaning, but a good name just the same."
"Add it to the list."
"What do you think Gabrielle?" she continued.
"I like it." He said, "We could call her Gabby if she's anything like her mother."
"Hey!" She said smacking him on the arm, "I don't talk that much."
"Of course you don't" he told her, but it was clear he didn't mean it. "What about Julian?"
"No I dated a Julian," she told him, "It didn't end well. No need to constantly remind myself of that. What about Adrianna?"
"That's a pretty name." he said. "What about Morgan?"
"No, I don't think that she'd be a Morgan." She said.
"Okay, how about Isabella?" he asked, "We could call her Belle, or Ella, or Issy. There would be a lot of nickname potential."
"Maybe" she said, "Definitely keep it on the list."
"What about Heath?" he asked.
"I knew a Health once" he continued, "A nice fellow, a bit odd but nice. I wonder what ever happened to him…"
Hermione stayed silent as he talked, only half listening to what he had to say, as she thought about the last name that she had written down on her list. She wasn't sure if he would like the idea or not, but Sirius and him both talked about her so much and so beautifully, that it had made her want to have met her even more then before. It was different when Harry talked about her, having never really known her. When he talked it was more about what he thought she would be, what he wanted her to be, but when Remus and Sirius talked you heard about the good and the bad. They would tell stories about how she used to yell at them whenever she caught them pulling pranks, how she was the only one who could ever put James in his place, how she stood up for Severus even when he was cruel to her, of how happy she was when she found out she was going to have Harry...She would be lucky if her baby was anything like her.
"What do you think about the name Lilly?" she asked him quietly.
"You mean naming the baby Lilly?" he asked.
"Well, yes." She said, "I've always loved the name. And…And well I've heard the way you and Sirius talk about Harry's mum. I've heard the stories from other Order members. She seems like the type that should be honored by having her name carried on."
"But if you don't like the idea we don't have to do it, its still just a consideration… nothing final." She said quickly.
"I like that idea Hermione." He said moving his hand on top of hers, smiling broadly.
"Good because I do to—Oomph."
"What? What's wrong?" he asked seeing her hand fly to her stomach.
"Nothing." She said with a smile, "But apparently she liked the idea too. She just decided to injure my bladder to show her approval."
"She kicked?" he asked, his face lighting up in delight, "Really?"
"Yeah, I guess so." She said. "Would you like to feel?"
"You wouldn't mind?" he asked.
"Of course not." She said moving his hand over her stomach, "Trust me; I can feel it enough from the inside."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"It's horribly hot in here." Hermione said as she lowered the heat from the fire under the caldron.
"It's a surprisingly comfortable temperature in here Hermione," Severus told her looking over her shoulder to see the potion, "Stop complaining."
"Easy for you to say." She mumbled removing her outer robe. She had worn a wool sweater today, because it was so cold outside, but now she was beginning to regret it.
"I'm fat." She said looking down at her stomach.
"You're pregnant." He corrected her.
"Either way I'm a house." She said stirring the potion.
"How does one become a house?" he asked her confused at the muggle reference. She laughed, happy that he at least wasn't agreeing with her.
"Did you put in the asphodel root yet?" He asked scowling at her.
"Two minutes ago, just like I was supposed too." Hermione told him with a smug smile.
"You are spending too much time with Lupin and Black." He told her, "Their arrogance is beginning to rub off on you."
"Really?" she asked, "That's an odd thing for you to say, considering that Sirius was telling me just the other day that I spend too much time with you, because I was beginning to pickup your habit of smirking. However, I don't think either of you mean it as a compliment."
"Add the lacewing flies Miss Granger." He said avoiding her comment and turning back to the papers on his desk.
Hermione heard the sounds of feet shuffling and chairs scraping as students began to fill the classroom a few minutes later. Seventh year classes were about to begin.
Slowly the normally quiet students, who had learned better then to talk in Snape's class even when he wasn't there, were whispering and talking among themselves. She shared a surprised look with Severus, though his was much harder to read, before looking up to see the students staring back at them. No, not them. Her. They were staring at her. She gave Severus another confused look but this time he wasn't looking at her, his gaze was on something behind her. She turned and followed his gaze to her robe on a nearby chair, cringing in realization. She had just revealed to room full of Seventh years that she was pregnant.
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Stares and whispers followed her throughout the rest of the day, even after she had put her robe back on. Only about twenty students had actually seen her, but by the end of the day they all knew about it. Students at Hogwarts were never very good at keeping secrets from their friends.
Daniel had pulled her aside before lunch, to make sure that she knew that he wasn't the one who said anything. She just smiled and thanked him, telling him that it was her and her stupidity that landed her in this situation, not him. He gave her a reassuring smile and told her that everything would be okay as he walked her to class, saying that there was always safety in numbers.
Lunch was hard. Setting at the staff table gave her a much better view of all of the students who were talking about her, and it was not pleasant. Severus was next to her and from where she was setting she could clearly see Daniel who kept shooting her supportive smiles, so she felt a little more confident.
"I think we're low on lacewings flies, Hermione." He said, "Have you been keeping a record of how many you have been using?"
"Yes." She said shooting him a grateful smile for breaking the silence, "Its in your office, I'll show it to you after lunch."
It wasn't a vital conversation, or even that interesting of one, but it allowed her to take her mind off of the whispers and the rumors for at least that moment. The students weren't exactly subtle or quiet as they talked and even the teachers could be seen discussing it in hushed tones. So had even heard them talking about who the father was. Remus had been suggested on more then one occasion, along with Ron and Harry, despite the fact that he had Ginny, and she had even heard Trelawney talking about how she didn't even think that Hermione knew who the father was. She knew that they had never gotten along and that Trelawney had opposed her becoming a teacher's aid, saying that she didn't have the right outlook on life, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. She didn't like Trelawney but she would never tell a fellow co-worker what she really thought of her, and the fact that she didn't even have that much respect for her hurt, more then she would have imagined.
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Remus could tell something was wrong when she got home. She normally told him everything about her day, the good and the bad, but today when he asked she just told him that it was fine before going upstairs to change. She looked sad and almost defeated and yet she offered up no reason as to why.
"Hermione, what happened?" he asked setting down next to her.
"I did something stupid." She said not even trying to deny that something was wrong, as she normally did.
"What do you mean?" he asked gently.
"When I was helping Severus in potions today I took my work robes off because it was so warm with the caldrons. And then…and then I forgot to put them back on before the class came in, and now the entire school knows."
"What do you mean the entire school knows?" he asked.
"The students who saw told everyone." She continued, a tear trailing down her cheek, "And now there are rumors and whispers…Questions. And I haven't even come out and said whether they were right or wrong yet. I knew that I wouldn't be able to hide this much longer, but I thought I'd have a little more time… The idea of not being able to anymore…it, it scares me."
"Why?"
"Because its one thing to be here and know I'm going to have a baby. It's another to explain everything in front of the whole entire school." She said.
"Telling them makes it real." She continued, "Right now I can pretend that this is normal. That I'm not having his baby, I'm just having mine. But the minute I tell them there's going to be questions and there going to be expecting answers. Answers I might not have, or not want to give."
"Why do I get the feeling you're not talking about the school anymore?" He asked already knowing the answer.
"Because I'm not," She said, "Not entirely anyway."
"Hermione, I know this is hard for you." He said taking her hand in his own.
"But you've said so yourself," he said placing an envelope in her extended hand, "You can't hide this forever."
Her name was written on the letter in Mrs. Weasley's familiar handwriting. She opened the letter slowly; almost afraid of what it might say.
Dear Hermione,
It's been such a long time since we have seen you and we are all wondering how you've been. Ron said that you were at the Halloween ball at Hogwarts and that you got to talk there, but he said that you left early feeling sick. I do hope your okay dear; you know how I worry about you all. I especially worry about you; I don't want you working yourself to death. Remember you need to eat properly, and get enough sleep and remember to have a little fun.
The whole family agrees that we haven't seen you in the longest time and we were hoping that you could join us Christmas Eve. I've already invited Professor Lupin and Sirius, along with Tonks and a few other Order members you might remember; Charlie's even coming up from Romania for a few weeks. Please come, we'd love to have you there. You know we think of you as family, and it wouldn't be Christmas without you here too.
Molly Weasley
"Sirius and I both got the same invitation." He told her quietly, setting back down beside her, "We'd really like it if you would go with us."
"I understand if you're not ready, or if you decide you want to keep this to yourself for just a little while longer, but Hermione what happened today, what happened in the hallway with Daniel, things like that our bound to happen again. No matter how much you'd like too, no matter how much I'd like to help you too, you can't conceal this much longer."
A/N: The title means "Discovered"
I hope you guys liked the chapter, I'm not really thrilled with it but parts of it needed to be written to allow other things to happen, so it was necessary. Oklahoma was fun for the most part, and I managed to write a couple chapters. I'll try to post them soon but they need a lot of editing as I was hopped up on cold medicine when I wrote them and I don't even understand what I was talking about in parts.
Please take careful notice to the names they were throwing back and forth, I would love to get your guys opinions them. What you liked, what you didn't, any ideas of your own. I'm pretty sure I know what the baby's going to be and I have my favorite for that, but that might change, so I'd love suggestions for both boys and girls.
Thank you to all my reviewers, I love you guys. It's always nice to see that I've gotten a review; I always get excited, it's not good for the people around me, who usually shoot me strange looks trying to figure out what's wrong with me, but I enjoy them.
sUCH.a.pRETTY.bOAT: Thank You Thank you thank you. I loved your review, it was so nice. You'll just have to wait and see about the red hair, but I will tell you this, hair color is not the only trait that you get from your parents.
GabbyGal I'm sorry I didn't mean to insult Oklahoma. I like Oklahoma, honestly. I just wasn't thrilled with going on the trip on the first place, hence the sarcasm. It was a family obligation kind of thing. But I had a nice time for the most part other then it was kinda cold and I had a cold…
Kim: Thank you for your review, I really like your ideas of what you think is going to happen. At least one of them probably will be coming true pretty soon or at least play into the story soon anyways, and another one of your ideas keeps popping up in my head, so you might see one of them later on in the story too.
Werewitch: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad that you like the story. I agree Hermione needed to realize what she had just a little bit more, she always knew she was lucky to have him there helping her, but she just needed a little extra help to show her what she wanted things to be like. You'll just have to wait and see about Bill.
Nynaeve80 I'm glad you liked the chapter. I agree I thought Remus was really cute in the last chapter, it makes you want someone like him.
Moony's FireI'm sorry about being mean and not telling you about the baby, but it's for the plotline. There's going to be something a little later on that involves not knowing what the baby's going to be. I'll try to make the next four months go by fast, especially because I'm not positive on how I'm going to fill all of that space, but no promises.
Little Nadeshiko: Thanks for the review; I'm really glad you liked the chapter. I was worried it was a little too fluffy, and then I decided the heck with it they deserved a little fluff after everything I've put them through and everything that I will in the future. But there are most definitely problems ahead. Many many problems.
Cry of the Wolf Child: Thank you for your review. I'm glad that you liked the story so much and that I got you to read at least one Hermione/Remus story out there. I'm picky but there are some good ones out there. I'm glad you liked the chapter and I hope you like this one too.
Thanks to connieewingand Aljinon who reviewed too.
Review please! It makes me smile.
