Told you it wouldn't take that long to finish this chapter! :D (and I'm really glad I was right!)
14. Almost
Wet, muddy and freezing, Ron and Harry were on their way up to the castle after their Quidditch practise. "You were great today, Ron," Harry told him happily. "If you're only half as good during our match against Ravenclaw next weekend, we are going to win for sure."
"Only if you manage to catch the snitch in time," Ron pointed out, grinning from ear to ear. He didn't think he had ever felt happier in his life, he had the best best friend in the world, he finally was with Hermione, they were even having a baby soon, and he had saved every single Quaffle today. If he'd only be able to manage the three D's now, his life really couldn't get better.
"I can't wait to tell Hermione," he said enthusiastically, hoping she would be as proud of him as he was of himself right now. "Do you think she is back from Hogsmeade already?"
"Probably," Harry speculated. "I don't think she would hang around there very long all by herself."
"Guess you are right," Ron agreed. "Unless she found some 'interesting' books of course, then she might never come back at all."
Sniggering, they crossed the entrance hall. When they were about to climb the great staircase, they heard hurried footsteps behind them and soon after, McGonagall's voice called out for them. "Weasley, Potter!"
Confused but also curious, Ron and Harry came to a halt and turned around to wait for her to reach them.
"Mr Weasley," McGonagall repeated, trying to catch her breath. "There was an accident. Miss Granger was taken to the infirmary."
"Why? What is with Hermione?" Ron asked urgently, a worried expression on his face.
"I don't know anything specific yet," McGonagall informed them. "Only that your brothers found her unconscious near the Three Broomsticks.
"Unconscious," Ron whispered hoarsely while turning rather pale, but a second later he was already running towards the hospital wing. Harry following right behind him.
x
Ron was about to storm through the door of the infirmary when two sets of arms grabbed him from behind and hold him back.
"Let go of me!" he protested loudly, trying to shake his captors off.
"Sorry, can't do that," Fred said apologetically. "You would only distract them in there right now."
"Hermione is in the best hands, Ron," George added soothingly. "They do everything they can for her."
Ron stopped struggling and went kind of limp instead. After a while, when they were sure he wouldn't burst through the doors anymore, Fred and George let go of him.
Ron hadn't even noticed his brothers until now, but suddenly something McGonagall had said just moments ago made sense. "You found her," he realised. "What happened?"
"We are not entirely sure, but we overheard them say that she splinched herself," Fred said uneasily.
"Splinched herself," Ron repeated in a daze, feeling even more nauseated than when he first heard that something has happened to Hermione. Numbly, he sank against the wall next to the door and let himself slide along it to the ground. "She promised she would be careful," he said more to himself than anyone else.
Fred and George avoided looking at Ron, feeling totally helpless and overwhelmed with the situation.
Harry, although feeling helpless too, simply let himself sank to the floor right next to Ron, and after a while he soothingly put his arm around Ron's shoulders, glad that Ron accepted this gesture.
"You said they are tending to her. Who else is in there with Hermione besides Madame Pomfrey?" Harry asked the twins.
"Dumbledore, the guy that teaches apparition and …," George worriedly glanced at Ron, but Ron didn't seem to listen, "… and Snape."
Harry grimaced as he heard the last name, but figured that if he was able to help Hermione, he'd be okay with it.
They fell silent again, listening to anything that might happen inside the infirmary.
"This all is my fault," Ron suddenly said, sounding rather gloomy and jerking them all out of their stupor. "If I hadn't stopped her from attending the lessons, she wouldn't have become so obsessed with learning apparition all by herself."
"That's not true, Ron," Harry whispered shocked. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. Professor McGonagall said it was an accident."
"But she bloody doesn't know that, she wasn't there," Ron countered angrily.
"Hermione was okay when we met her earlier," George chimed in. "And she wanted to look for Christmas presents for the both of you when we left her."
For some reason that peace of information made the whole situation even more real to Ron. Hermione was hurt, she and their baby were fighting for their life right now and he couldn't do anything but wait.
"I know we didn't plan to have the child, but losing it again," Ron shook his head, "I couldn't deal with it, Harry. Or what if I lose them both …"
Harry sympathetically squeezed Ron's shoulders. "You won't lose them, Ron. Madam Pomfrey will get them both fixed in no time."
Ron didn't answer but only stared at some invisible spot on the floor in front of him. Silent tears were running down his cheeks, but if Ron even noticed them, he didn't care or bother to brush them away.
x
"What is taking them so long?" Fred asked after another hour of silence, pacing restlessly back and forth along the corridor. "It's been hours already."
As if on cue, they suddenly heard movement and muffled voices behind the closed doors. Ron, who hadn't moved once during the last hour or so, hopefully looked up, and Fred stopped his pacing at once.
They all stared expectantly at the door. After some excruciating long minutes the door actually opened and Dumbledore, Twycross, Snape and Madame Pomfrey stepped outside.
"How is she?" Ron asked immediately, scrambling shakily to his feet. "And what is with the baby?"
"It was a close call, but they are both going to be fine," Madame Pomfrey said.
Ron exhaled in relief and fell back against the wall, he bend over, his hands resting on his thighs just above the knees. Dumbledore patted him sympathetically on the shoulder as he and the others passed him as they left.
"Can I see her?" Ron asked hoarsely, looking up at Madame Pomfrey with pleading eyes.
"Yes, but just you," Madame Pomfrey agreed. "And only for a moment. Miss Granger severely splinched herself and she needs her rest."
Ron nodded and straightened up again to go inside.
"One more thing, Mr Weasley, I know what Miss Granger did was highly irresponsible, but don't you dare say something stupid that might upset her," Madam Pomfrey warned him. "First of all, she needs to rest right now and not to be lectured."
Ron glared at her disgusted, as if he would do something like that, lecturing her was the furthest away from his mind right now.
x
The room was dimly lit as he entered.
Slowly Ron approached the only occupied bed on the other side of the infirmary. Hermione was fast asleep and looked awfully pale. Ron leaned over her, tenderly brushed a strand of hair out of her face and lightly kissed her forehead. Then he sat down on the chair next to her bed.
After a few moments of simply watching her sleep, Ron anxiously put his hand on her belly, hoping that he might feel the baby's movement to assure himself that it was still there. At first he couldn't feel anything, but then he thought he felt the baby kick. It was barely noticeably though, and maybe he was just imagining it because he so badly wanted to feel it. Ron wasn't entirely sure but it calmed him somewhat down.
His gaze wandered back to Hermione's face and lingered there. Has she ever been that beautiful, he wondered. As he watched her, her eyes started to flutter.
"Hey!" Ron said, his voice raspy from lack of use.
"Hey!" Hermione whispered back nervously. She bashfully bit her bottom lip and tried to avoid his gaze.
"I'm so sorry, Ron," she said tearful. "I should have listened to you. I almost killed our baby."
Ron didn't say anything, his lips were tightly pressed together and his gaze was now fixed at some point on her blanket.
"Ron, say something," Hermione pleaded after a while when she couldn't stand his silence anymore.
"What do you want me to say?" he finally asked croakily.
"I don't know, yell, be angry with me, anything but don't be so … impassive!" Hermione requested.
"Impassive?" Ron grimaced and had to bite back a snappish reply.
"I just wanted to practise the right movement Ron, you have to believe me," Hermione begged. "I didn't even have my wand at hand, it was in my sleeve, I swear it."
"I honestly don't care about that right now," Ron said quietly. "I thought I'm going to lose you today. Both of you."
"I know, and I'm so sorry …" Hermione tried to apologise again, but Ron interrupted her. "Listen, Madame Pomfrey said you need to rest, so I better leave you alone now." He quickly stood up to leave the hospital wing without further ado. But as he reached the door, one hand already at the handle, he stopped and turned around. "Sleep tight, I'll see you tomorrow," he whispered and then hurried out of the room.
Hermione watched him go, feeling rather forlorn. She would have preferred if Ron had been angry with her. Anything really that would have given her an indication how he was feeling and what he was thinking about her right now. But his almost apathetic behaviour really scared her. What if he could never forgive her for what she had done?
x
Harry, Fred and George waited outside the infirmary for Ron. Although Madame Pomfrey had told them that Hermione and the baby would be fine, they wanted to hear it again from Ron. Finally, after what felt like several hours to them, the door opened and he came out. He looked exactly how Harry felt, tired and beaten. They were looking expectedly at him, but all Ron could do was nod, signalling them that everything was okay.
x
It was already 3am when Ron and Harry saw Fred and George off and went up to the Gryffindor tower. Ron still hadn't said anything when they reached their dormitory. As everyone else was already fast asleep, they undressed as quietly as possible and then climbed into their beds.
"Is really everything okay with Hermione?" Harry asked concerned after they were settled.
"I guess so," Ron said slowly.
"Then what is the matter with you?"
"I don't know, okay? It's just such a messed up situation," Ron sighed. "I'm so happy and relieved that they are going to be fine but … I … suddenly I couldn't stand being in the same room with her anymore, you know? Listening to her apologies and lame excuses … it was just too much and I had to get out of there."
Harry nodded in understanding, although Ron couldn't see that in the dark. He knew exactly how Ron was feeling because he felt so too even if probably not to the same extent as Ron. "But you two are going to be all right, aren't you?"
Harry waited in suspense for Ron's reply, but it never came. "Ron?" he asked tentatively. When he still got no answer, he slid out of his bed and went over to Ron, just to find him already fast asleep. Harry smiled and tiptoed back to his own bed.
xxx
The next morning when Hermione woke up, Ron was already there, holding her hand. And he even smiled at her.
"How are you?" he asked concerned.
"A little better, thanks."
"And our son?" Ron asked with a glint in his eyes.
"I think she is pretty angry with me, she kicked and punched me the whole night."
"Can't say I blame him." Ron's smile widened just to disappear again a moment later. "By the way, I'm sorry that I left you so suddenly yesterday," he said seriously. "It was just too much and I was afraid I could say something I later would have regretted."
"It's okay," Hermione whispered. "And you have every right to say whatever you want to."
"And risk upsetting you? No thanks, I don't think that would improve your current condition. Besides, it's also partly my fault."
Hermione frowned at him. "How is it your fault?"
"If I hadn't intervened with you taking part in the apparition lessons, you never would have tried to do it all by yourself."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Hermione admitted sheepishly. "I still might have been tempted to try out the movements. But you have to believe me that I honestly thought it would be safe if I stored the wand in my sleeve. I never would have expected that it works without holding it. But apparently it was enough that the wand touched my bare arm. Actually, Dumbledore thinks that made it even worse because I couldn't control the magic from the wand that way."
Ron nodded in understanding. "Makes sense, I guess. Luckily Fred and George were there to help you."
"Fred and George?" Hermione asked astounded.
"Yeah, they found you and brought you back to Hogwarts just in time," he explained and Hermione smiled, being rather fond of the twins all of a sudden. She would have to thank them later.
"Ah Miss Granger, you are awake. I hope you are hungry." Madame Pomfrey had turned up with a breakfast tray.
"Thanks," Hermione said as she accepted the tray from her. Ron's stomach growled loudly when he saw the food, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything since lunch the day before.
"You want something?" Hermione asked, pointing at her breakfast.
"Uh, no, thanks," Ron said a little embarrassed. "But I think I'll head down to the Great Hall now and have some breakfast of my own."
"All right, but you could really have a bit of mine, I'm not that hungry," Hermione offered.
"Nah, it's okay," Ron declined and got up. "Besides, Harry probably wants to know how you are too, so I'll meet him for breakfast and come back later. If that's fine with you?"
"Perfectly fine with me, see you later then. And say hello to Harry from me!"
"Will do!" Ron kissed her cheek and couldn't resist stealing a tiny piece of bacon from her tray before leaving the infirmary.
xxx
"RONALD!" A piercing voice called after Ron that distantly sounded like his sister's. He ignored her though and kept on walking towards the Gryffindor table.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me that Hermione is in the infirmary," Ginny screeched resentful into his ear as soon as she had reached him.
Ron stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her. "No offence Ginny, but informing you didn't cross my mind once last night."
Ginny glared at him. "You could have told me this morning then."
Ron sighed. "I had no opportunity to tell you, okay? I was with Hermione the whole morning until just a few minutes ago. But apparently someone has told you, so what's the fuss?"
Ginny dangerously narrowed her eyes at him. Once that might have been a scary sight to Ron, but he had already seen much better performances from Hermione, and so he only stared back at her, unblinking. "You want something else?" he asked coolly.
Indignant Ginny huffed and turned on her heel so fast that her hair whipped his face before she stormed off.
Ron groaned annoyed and went over to the Gryffindor table. "I assume you told her about Hermione?" he asked when he flopped onto the bench next to Harry, pointing after Ginny with his thumb.
"Yeah well, she wanted to know where the two of you are, so I had to tell her, hadn't I?" Harry defended himself.
Ron only shrugged his shoulders and reached for the toast. "I guess. Anyway, better you than me actually. I don't think I could have told anyone earlier what has happened. I first had to see her again."
Harry nodded in understanding. "Does that mean everything is fine?" he asked, meaning more than Hermione's medical condition.
"Yeah … I mean we talked, without fighting, and I even let her explain this time what exactly she did and … well, I'm still a bit mad with her to be honest for being so careless, but all in all we are good."
Harry smiled widely. "That's great Ron. Hey uhm, do you think I could visit her later too?"
"Sure, why not? She still needs to rest a lot, but I don't think Madame Pomfrey would mind if you come by later. As long as we don't upset her, Hermione should be okay."
xxx
Hermione had spent most of the Sunday sleeping, only occasionally interrupted by short visits from Ron, Harry and Ginny. Madame Pomfrey said she had to remain in the hospital wing for the rest of the week but by Monday she was already bored out of her mind with only idly staying in bed.
She really wanted to do something useful, like start studying for the final exams, or simply do the homework of this week, but she didn't dare asking Ron for her books. He probably would consider that as too much stress for her and she really didn't want to push her luck with him. She was already so happy and grateful that he didn't hate her for risking her and their baby's life.
Hermione was just debating if she should try to sleep a little bit more when she noticed Ron coming over to her.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Ron asked as he put his bag down next to the chair beside her bed and leaned over to kiss her.
"I'm fine," Hermione smiled, happy that he had decided to spend his lunch hour with her.
"And the little one?"
"Feel for yourself!" Hermione said and grabbed his hand to put it on her belly. Ron beamed when he felt the almost violent kicks and punches of his child. "Seems like someone is rather vibrant today."
"That's why I'm twice as happy to see you. Please calm her down!" Hermione begged.
"Hey! You there," Ron said, tipping lightly with his finger on her belly. "Give it a rest, will you? Your mother needs her sleep right now."
They both waited a moment expectantly. "I guess it's official then, we definitely have an unruly child," Hermione eventually determined when the baby continued to be rather active.
"Yeah," Ron said alarmed. "Do you think it's too late to give him to your parents?"
"We most certainly should keep that in mind," Hermione advised. "At least as a very last resort. They would deserve it."
They both started to giggle uncontrollably.
"Oh, I almost forgot, I brought you something," Ron said after they had calmed down again, and reached for his bag. He rummaged around it for a while and then extracted some quills, a few rolls of parchment, and two of her books. "I thought you might get bored soon, so I brought you your homework in case you'd like to keep up."
Hermione looked at him in disbelieving awe and Ron smiled at her confused. "That is if Madame Pomfrey is okay with it of course," he added as an afterthought.
"Here," Ron continued, showing her one of the parchments, when Hermione still wasn't responding besides looking at him strangely. "Professor Vector wrote down what you have to do for Arithmancy because I couldn't understand a word of what she was saying, and we have to write an essay about human transfiguration till next Monday."
Then suddenly Hermione grabbed Ron's head and kissed him passionately on the mouth. "Do you have any idea how much I love you?" she asked a baffled Ron, caressing his cheeks.
"Uh, I think I might have an inkling," Ron beamed and leaned back in to kiss her once more. They kept on doing that until they were interrupted by someone loudly clearing their throat next to them.
"I'm sorry to disturb you two, but Miss Granger needs to rest now and if I remember correctly Mr Weasley, your afternoon classes started 10 minutes ago."
"Oh bugger," Ron cursed, springing to his feet. "See you later 'mione!" He hastily grabbed his bag and run out of the infirmary. Snape was going to kill him for sure this time.
So what do you think? Don't hesitate and tell me ;)
Btw, is anyone interested in outtakes? I've got two scenes from the last two chapters that didn't make it into the story or that I replaced with another scene. If you want to read them anyway just send me a Private Message, or ask for them in a review, and I'll send them to you. Or I might add them after I finished the story if enough people are interested. Quasi as an epilog. Just let me know :)