All I Have To Give
A Harry Potter Tale
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I just like making the characters dance for my amusement, mwahahaha!
Last Chapter: Bill's desperate voice kept floating in and out of her mind as she slept, "Tell me how to fix it."
This chapter is titled after: Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan
20. Full of Grace
The next day, Hermione immediately got dressed. She realized that if she didn't act happy and chipper today, then everyone would want her to go back to Mungo's. Everyone had watched her carefully through dinner last night, waiting for some sign that she was still sick, so today was important for getting them to stop. She didn't need them to pay more attention to her then they already did.
She put on a pair of dark, straight leg, jean trousers and a black off the shoulder sweater. She added a choker that was a leather strap wrapped around four times with a red rose attached to it at the base. She gathered her hair into a medium high pony tail, letting a few tendrils out to frame her face. She put on black eyeliner and mascara with brown eyeshadow for depth. She used a deep red lipstick. She still wore the bracelet and ring that Bill had given her. She put on a pair of her boots, letting the pants fall over them. Looking in the mirror, she sighed. She looked better than she felt.
She grabbed a white faux fur lined jacket and her purse. She looked ready to go to London with Fleur and probably Ginny and Pansy as well. She looked down at the ring and bracelet on her hand. Fleur had one thing she still needed to get for the wedding, something that they had waited on over the summer because Fleur didn't want to risk Bill finding it. Her trouseau, the negligee for the wedding night. If they went out today, which was the plan, that's what they would be looking for.
Would she be able to look at all that lingerie? Would she be strong enough knowing that she was losing him to another woman? Silk and lace seemed oddly symbolic of her loss. Nail in the coffin, she supposed.
Taking in a deep breath and summoning all the Gryffindor courage that she could, she left her room and headed out of her room. When she got downstairs, the first thing she heard were four separate wolf whistles and a resounding "Oh, Merlin" from the boys sitting at the table. Harry had been the one invoking Merlin, while the whistles belonged to Fred, George, Charlie, and Draco. Bill was staring at her appreciatively. Fleur and Pansy gave her smiles, as well as Mrs. Weasley, who had turned around to see the what all the fuss was about.
"Feeling better, pet?" Draco asked, winking at her.
"Yes, thank you." Hermione said, giving him a smirk. "I take it that you all approve?" she asked, giving them a little turn.
"'Mione, marry me?" George asked, looking at her with a lax jaw.
"No! Marry me?" Fred said, giving her an identical look.
Charlie stood up and walked to her, wrapping his left arm around her waist and kissing her fully, catching her off guard. When he pulled back, he looked at her hungrily.
"Um, hi?" she said, looking at him like he was weird.
"Good morning, lil' bit." She stepped away from him, rolling her eyes at him and sitting down next to Harry, who was just laughing at all of them.
"I think you should be careful, Hermione. You may find yourself with a room full of mindless slaves." He joked.
"Apparently, but slaves...intriguing idea." She laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek. He chuckled lightly and looked at her. "How come you aren't acting like these idiots?" Each of them gave a protest at the word 'idiot'.
"Because I don't have to see you in a sexy outfit to know that you're beautiful." He told her, smiling at her. "I've always seen it."
"How exactly is a sweater and trousers sexy?" She asked, confused.
"Its not the outfit, love," Bill said from Harry's other side. "Its you in it."
She blushed and looked at the table. His voice was still the broken whisper. She hoped that it wouldn't last much longer. She couldn't bear the pain in his voice much longer. There was a murmur of agreement from the table to what Bill said.
"Hermione, Beel is right. You are always beautiful and you only enhance it." Fleur told her, presumably feeling that she needed a girl's opinion.
Hermione turned to her and smiled, "I was thinking that we could go to London, have a girl's day with Ginny and Pansy. We could go shopping like we were going to yesterday."
Fleur smiled brightly and nodded, "Yes, zat sounds perfect." Pansy agreed and went to get Ginny, who was in the living room.
It took them a grand total of ten minutes on the busy London streets to find a suitable lingerie store. She braced herself as she entered, dreading seeing the outfit that Fleur would pick out to wear the night that Hermione would lose Bill forever.
"Oh, Fleur, I got a great idea!" Ginny said while they were browsing the shelves.
"Oui?" Fleur asked, looking at her with a light in her impossible eyes.
"We should all pick out some lingerie! Then you won't have to pick it out alone and we could all wear them at the bachelorette party! You pick out two, of course, one for the party and one for the wedding night, but we'll pick out our own. Nothing to risque, but just enough for some flirty sexy fun!" Ginny said excitedly.
"Bon! What a fantastique idea, Ginny! I insist zat ze you each should get some today and we can tell ze ozers tonight!" Fleur agreed and Hermione groaned inaudibly. This was gonna suck. She hated lingerie, she hated the idea of wearing it, and she loathed the idea of anyone seeing her in it. Let alone an entire bachelorette party and the strippers that Ginny had already hired.
She was the last one still looking after ten minutes, Pansy and Ginny already had several options over their arm and Fleur had disappeared through the bridal options. She looked through a rack of red and blacks, lace and leather. Both ideas were intimidating and far too much for her. Finally, she found a pink and black lace bra and underwear set that was modest but still sexy. She found a sheer pink robe to go with it and decided that that would be what she would wear.
Before too long, Fleur was ready for them to show her what they'd picked out before they helped her decide on her wedding night wear. Pansy went first, showing off her pale curves in an intimidating leather corset with matching thong and a riding crop. She wore thigh high leather boots and fishnet tights with it. Fleur told her that she had to wear that one before looking at any others. Ginny came out second, sporting a red lace teddy and matching underwear, simple red heels to finish it. Then it was Hermione's turn. She'd grabbed a pair of silk flats to go with her set and walked out, receiving a gasp from all the girls.
"Is it bad?" She asked, looking down and covering herself with her hands.
"When did you get abs, 'Mione?" Ginny asked, walking up to her and untying the robe to show them to the other girls.
"Hermione, I zink you should just wear underwear from now on," Fleur said, a smirk on her face.
"Uh, yeah," Pansy agreed. "Why bother with clothes?"
Hermione blushed and returned to the dressing room, changing back into her regular undergarments and her outfit. She walked to the front and Fleur went back.
Hermione found it difficult to remain neutral when she watched Fleur's impossible beauty come out in all types of sexy lingerie. For her bachelorette party, she'd decided on a white leather corset and boy shorts, with white kitten heels. For the wedding night, she picked a long satin white dress with lace cut outs and a white lace bra that would accentuate her already perfect chest. She used simple white flats with it, nothing too complicated for the wedding night.
"Oh, Bill won't be able to wait to rip you out of that, Fleur." Pansy said, smiling at her.
"Ugh, do you mind, Pansy? Little sister, right here," Ginny said with mock disgust.
Hermione gave her a thumbs up, not trusting herself to speak. They made their purchases and left the store. Ginny and Pansy skipped a head of them, looking for a cafe where they could get lunch, while Hermione and Fleur walked.
Fleur let out a disappointed sigh and whispered, "You don't 'ave to take me to Mungo's."
Hermione looked at her. "Why not?" she asked, curiously.
"I am not pregnant. My 'friend' came. I zink it was just stress." Fleur said, sorrow coming off of her in waves.
"I'm sorry, Fleur." Hermione said in a sympathetic voice. She knew that Fleur wasn't pregnant, Bill had told her that he had been taking a Contraceptive Potion every night so that she wouldn't.
"It is okay," Fleur told her. "I would rather 'ave kids after we are married, but it was nice to zink it was possible for a while." She sighed again. "'e doesn't even seem interested in sex right now, though. Not since Christmas. 'e 'asn't even kissed me."
Hermione felt a wave of guilt rush over her. It was her fault that Bill wasn't being intimate.
"I zink 'e wants to save it for ze wedding. Isn't zat romantique?" Fleur continued. "I am a little sad, we only 'ave a few days togezer until you all return to school, but it will make zat night better." She looked whist-fully ahead at the other two girls, who had stopped in front of them.
As they reached them, Fleur said, "Did you find a place to eat?"
"Hello, Fleur," a familiar taunting voice drawled from around Pansy. Hermione's breath caught in her throat. "Getting some shopping done for the wedding?"
"Oui, Ronald. We were just 'eading 'ome, weren't we girls?" Fleur said, trying to get Ginny and Pansy to move. As they did, Hermione followed them, but Ron caught her arm and slammed her against the wall of a shop.
"Hello, Hermione. Have you missed me?" He said in a low, dangerous voice.
"Leave her alone, Ron!" Ginny shouted, trying to pull him away from Hermione. He threw his arm back, tossing Ginny roughly against a parked car.
"RON! Stop it!" Pansy yelled.
"No! You stop it, Pansy! I thought you were supposed to be my girlfriend, but I haven't seen you in a week." He yelled, not looking at anyone but Hermione.
"I would see you if you weren't being such an asshole!" Pansy said.
Ron's hand went around Hermione's throat. "Have you missed me? 'Mione?" he asked her, ignoring Pansy.
"Sure, Ron, I've missed your snide comments and abusive nature." She said, glaring at him. He squeezed her throat and knocked her head against the brick wall. She could feel the blood sliding down the back of her head.
"Pathetic, helpless, little mudblood." he whispered, taunting her. Quickly, she lifted her knee into his groin. He released his hold on her throat and backed away, doubled over in pain. When she was in range, she threw a kick into his face, making him pass out on the sidewalk.
"Let's go." She told the others, ignoring the pain at the back of her head and the bruising on her throat. They ran to the Leaky Cauldron and once inside, instantly Apparated back to The Burrow.
When they landed, Hermione ran up to the bathroom, ignoring the others and removed her choker. He had bruised her pretty good, shaped into his fingers how they had been clenched around her throat. She pulled her hair out of the rubber band and touched the back of her head. The cut was healed, no more blood than just a few drops, but it seemed that the baby was having difficulty healing the bruises.
"Come on, baby. Before Daddy sees it," she said, trying to goad her unborn child into healing it. But they didn't even fade. She groaned and knew that this was serious. When she was younger, seeing Ron in London had been a source of joy for her, a connection to the magical world that she missed when she was living in Muggle London. Now, she had bruises and a newly healed cut. She was lucky that that was it.
Trying to cover the bruises with her hair, she walked back down the stairs to see Mrs. Weasley healing Ginny's back. "Are you okay?" Hermione asked her.
"Fine, just a little sore. That car hurt. How are you?" Ginny returned.
Hermione shrugged. "Same. No permanent damage." she told her, skimming over any details.
"I can't believe it was Ron. Why would he purposefully hurt you and Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley asked, upset and near tears.
"He's not Ron any more, Mum. Whoever he is, we don't know him." Ginny said hugging her mother. Hermione walked over and hugged her as well. "Maybe someday, he'll be himself again."
"You can't know that, Ginny, but I am just grateful that you girls weren't hurt too badly." The older witch said, releasing them and returning to cooking their lunch. Ginny began helping her and Hermione drifted to the living room, where Pansy was telling Bill what had happened. Fleur wasn't any where to be seen.
"Where's Fleur?" Hermione asked.
"Upstairs, putting everything away. She said she just needs a few minutes alone." Pansy explained to her. "I'll go check on Ginny. Is she still in the kitchen?"
Hermione nodded and the blond witch left them alone. "Where is everyone?" Hermione asked casually, sitting down on the couch.
"Harry's at work, Draco's with Prue, Charlie is helping the twins at the shop." Bill listed off, getting up from the chair and sitting beside her on the couch. He moved her hair from around her neck and looked at the bruises. "I thought I saw something. Pansy said he threw you against a shop and held you by the throat. Are you okay? Is there anything else hurt?" He pulled back her hair, so he could see the entire bruise.
"No, its healed." she told him honestly.
He looked at her, knowing what she meant. "Why didn't he heal the bruise?" he asked, worriedly. He ran his hand gently across the bruising and took in a breath. "Never mind."
"What?" she asked, bringing her hand up to her neck.
He smiled at her and released her hair. His hand moved from her neck to her cheek and he ran his thumb against her cheek bone. "He just healed it. I think he wanted me to see it." he said, still grinning.
"Silly baby, trying to get me in trouble." She grumbled, looking down at her stomach.
"Good baby, making sure that Daddy knows that Mummy would try to hide this from him," Bill said, still running his thumb against her cheek. "I need to know when you are hurt, love. Don't hide from me."
Hermione looked at him. "I don't want you to do anything stupid because of him, Bill. I can take a few scrapes. Obviously the baby doesn't want anything bad to happen to me. But, you don't have that. If anything happened to you..."
"Nothing is going to happen to me." Bill promised. "I won't go track him down, no matter how much I want to kill him for hurting you. But I won't. I would never purposefully endanger myself and risk making you raise the baby by yourself."
Hermione felt her heart hurt. "You really want this, don't you?" she asked, looking at him in wonder.
"Yes, I do," he told her. "I didn't know how much I cared about you, or how much I wanted a baby, until all of this happened. In a way, I owe whoever poisoned you a lot. I wouldn't have you or a baby with so much power without that Black Dust Toxin."
She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her against him and began to sing in a low voice, "And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills, well maybe the landslide will bring it down." She felt a few tears drop and she kissed his neck affectionately. She pulled back and looked at him.
"You are too good for me." She whispered and she got up, leaving Bill behind on the couch.
Attention: OMG, I just watched the MOST epic movie starring Rupert Grint, Emily Blunt, and Bill Nighy. Its called Wild Target and its freaking HILARIOUS. British humor, of course, but its the best kind of humor! Anyway, Ron's a fudging DICK, isn't he? And how about the baby? Stubborn and wanting to make sure that Mummy has to tell Daddy everything? Cute, even in the womb.
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