He was in the middle of a very tense mediation when Harry's patronis reached him.
"Hermione's been hurt. She's alive but unconcious. They wont tell me anything but its a mad house here. It's bad Kiril. I think it's bad."
He felt his heart stop in his chest. The elders of both tribes had stopped in their arguments and were staring at him.
"I... I have to go." Iliyra rested her hand against her brothers arm, his own worry humming through her veins as strongly as her own.
"Please. If we could take a break. I do believe it will best for all to take a step back and think about this last week. My family has an emergency but we will return to meet with both of your tribes as soon as possible. Until then if we could just get an agreement to hold off on any further actions being taken." His father, ever calm and diplomatic took over. Kiril thought he might be ill.
He didn't hear the rest that was spoken, Harry's words had fully sunk in, Hermione was hurt, his almost wife was badly hurt. He began to run, out of the tent, through the traveling guards that had accompanied the tribe leaders to the apparition point.
He reached out without needing to look, Iliyra was only half a step behind him. As soon as thier hands grasped each other he apparated them to the nearest floo and ran for it, as soon as he arrived in Hogsmeade he grabbed her hand again and apparated them to the gates of Hogwarts, it would take to long to run, had taken to long to get here already.
They ran across the yard and burst into the school. Harry was right, the school was a mad house. Kiril ignored it all as her bolted for the infirmary.
Harry stopped him just outside the door. "I'm going in there." Kiril growled at him.
Harry nodded, his face pale, "She's ok." He nodded, "She's going to be ok. Madame Pomfry, she said she'll be ok. They have someone from St Mungos in now."
"Just give..." Kiril cut the new voice off with an almost animal growl as he spun on the wizard with his wand drawn.
"Of you've harmed her, if she isn't ok. I will kill you."
"It wasn't him." Ginny stepped forward calmly.
Iliyra rested her hand on his arm but spoke to Harry, "PLease, tell us what happened."
"She was in the forest with me." Remus spoke up again, "I was... it was amazing." He breathed.
"Hermione!" Kiril snapped, magic building up as fury inside of him through his fear.
"There were death eaters." Harry breathed. "Three of them."
Kiril thought his lungs were in a vice, "She could handle three." He tried to calm himself but in his mind he heard her laugh, saw her looking up at him her eyes full of love and sated passion. "She could handle three." He repeated as his heart constricted painfully.
"We... we trusted..." Harry fought back the lump in his throat, "She trusted... one of them."
"Who?" Kiril demanded. The wizard would die, painfully.
"Cormac McLaggen. A former Gryffindor." Ron spat hatefully.
The air crackled with the hate and magic induced anger around all of them.
"He's dead." Ginny whispered, her eyes meeting Kiril's. "He's dead, so is one of the others and the third is already on the way to Azkaban."
Kiril nodded, the knowledge did little to alleviate the pain, anger and fear filling him.
McGonagall stepped out of the room and motioned him inside, stopping the others from following.
Kiril stepped up to the bed, she looked so small lying there, so small and so pale.
"She's alright." Poppy smiled gently at the wizard. "She'll be just fine."
He looked from her to the Healer from the hospital.
"Healer Kirnwood." Kiril didn't care his name and so said nothing as he stared at the wizard. "Your fiance will be fine. We've put her under a magically induced coma so that her body can heal with the least amount of strain."
"Kiril." Poppy whispered, catching his attention. "SHe's pregnant."
THe air was sucked from his lungs. "Pregnant." He repeated.
"Only a couple weeks. Far to early to know if it will take but we're doing everything we can to save the fetus, that's what the coma is for. Hermione will be ok though, I promise you she has been through worse and come out better than most would have, she will come through this."
Kiril nodded at her and gently ran his hand over her forehead. "We'll give you a minute before letting the others in. I do think its best not to share the news until both the mother herself is informed and until we can be sure it will take." He nodded again absently as he took her hand, lifting it to kiss her wrist, next to the bracelet she always wore.
"Amstra." He whispered. A few minutes later he felt Iliyra's hand on his shoulder, "She's ok." He assured her, and himself.
It took three days before the Healer returned to remove the coma, with all of the gossip and reporters, supporters and fame seekers they had felt it best to keep her at Hogwarts, where only her 'family' could get to her. Kiril never left her side and Iliyra barely left his. Of course this brought Keo who rarely left Iliyra and the school was as much a buzz about a true elf being among them as it was about Hermione and the attack.
Harry and Ron took up residence in the infirmary as well, only coaxed to meals by Ginny and Amalie who had come from Beauxbaton to support Ron.
It was to this group that Hermione opened her eyes to, though over the day she was cried over by both Molly Weasley and Kalina Valko, hugged by both of their husbands, visited by the rest of the Weasley clan and her closest friends which included Draco, Blaise, Theo, Daphne, Astoria, Viktor, Remus, Lara, and their various significant others, the minister Kingsley himself also made an appearance to check on her.
Exhausted from the visits Hermione fell back to sleep, but not before convincing her husband to be to crawl onto the bed and hold her. After three days he looked as tired as she felt.
It was a week before Madame Pomfry was satisfied enough to let her go home.
"Kiril." Hermione laughed as he carried her inside to the couch. He just kissed her. Hermione sighed, "Kiril?"
"Yes Amstra?" He frowned at her now tentative tone.
"Poppy says I'm pregnant."
"I know." He nodded. "They were worried for the baby for a while but the fetus is healthy and growing."
"We're going to have a baby." She repeated it more to herself.
"Are you not happy Amstra?" Kiril asked sitting next to her on the couch.
"I am." She gave him a weak smile and then shook her head with a sigh, "It's just so fast. I'm not sure I'm ready." She snorted delicately, "I'm not sure I'm ready for marriage let alone to be a mother."
Kiril tucked a hair behind her ear, "You will make a wonderful mother and we will have many to help. I know it is much sooner than I had ever planned, for any of it but I cannot be unhappy to have created life with you and today or in ten years when I thought I might marry, it would still be you Amstra, so today or thirty years, it makes no difference, in my heart, you are my wife."
"I love you so much."
Kiril smiled at her and pulled her into his arms, "I love you too, always."
"Kiril?"
"Yes Amstra?"
"We're supposed to be married tomorrow."
He sighed, "Your Blaise will have our wedding and we will have his, when you are strong again."
"When?"
"August second."
"Do you think I'll be fat then?"
Kiril laughed and kissed her, "No, Amstra, you are only a few weeks now."
"Maybe we could wait to tell them all until after the wedding then?"
"I was giong to suggest it as well. They say it is still to early to know what will happen, its best to wait until nine or ten weeks and our wedding will be eleven."
"Kiril?"
"Amstra?"
"I am better now though and you know I read orgasms are good for healing."
Kiril laughed and kissed her, in full agreement with her proposed treatment plan, she was after all, an apprentice Healer.
Several hours later they lay in bed, sated and happy.
"How was the treaty mediation?"
"Not going very well. We left in the middle of a rather sore subject between the two tribes and will have to return, before they move to settle through combat."
"Soon?"
Kiril sighed and nodded, holding her closer to him, "Will you come with me?"
"Yes. I missed you."
The following day she sat with Iliyra discussing their work when Kingsley practically burst into the room with several men at his heals.
"Is it true?" One of them demanded.
Both girls stared at him in confusion, while Kiril glared at them for the intrusion, his wand in his hand from reflex action.
Remus laughed and stepped forward, "Forgive us. I was telling Harry about the full moon and we were overheard, as you can see its gotten a bit out of control."
"OH!" Hermione jumped up grinning and then spun to look at Iliyra, "It worked! It was almost perfect! I was human, I even pet him and when those Death Eaters showed up he tried to protect me!"
Iliyra laughed and jumped up, "It worked!" The two witches were hugging and talking to quickly for any of the others to understand.
"Ladies?" Kingsley reminded them.
"Right." Hermione blushed. "Iliyra and I have been working on helping werewolves, at first it was to improve wolfs bane, take away some of the pain of the transformation and hopefully the blood lust." Hermione frowned looking at Iliyra, "It's still very painful, it was awful to watch him."
"Better than it has ever been Hermione." Remus comforted her, his eyes shining with pride and affection.
"It could be better." She told him shaking her head, her mind already cataloging and discarding possibilities.
"We used a mix of Animagus meditation and spells, ancient runic wards and a version of wolfsbane." Iliyra explained.
"It worked." Hermione grinned. "it finally worked. He turned into a wolf, not a werewolf but a beautiful silver wolf."
"You cured him?!" Harry demanded, gasping in surprise.
Hermione shook her head with a sigh, "I wish, but no. He's still a werewolf and you can see it in his eyes, big and yellow instead of his own like an Animagus."
"You were human though? He didn't attack or become aggressive at all?" A wizard she didn't know demanded.
"I was human." Hermione nodded. "We were playing and I was distracted." Her face fell as she remembered the events that followed. Iliyra's hand went to her arm in comfort.
"I felt the urge to chase down some game, caught a rabbit, but there was no rage, no undeniable lust for blood and I knew her, completely, every memory of her and I would never hurt her."
"THe change was still painful." Hermione sighed, "It looked awful."
"Not so bad as it has been. Hermione, you should be proud, what you two have accomplished, its as close to a cure as any could ever hope for."
Iliyra and Hermione clasped hands, smiling at each other, "We did it." They breathed at the same time grinning.
"We'd like to test it." Another stranger asked. "I can't, well I can't afford to pay for it but if you would test it on our pack, we'd find a way to repay it."
Hermione nodded and grinned at him, "We still have so much testing to do, fine tuning and that."
The group all sat and began discussing the further research the girls wanted to do. They were shocked to find out they were being offered both an International Governement Council Grant and an offer from the first speaker Hermione didn't know, a Darrin Markbridge to provide any additional funds or supplies the girls might need. His twin brother was a werewolf and he was happy to hand over a large portion of his fortune to their continued research.
That night they celebrated. It was a dream come true for both girls and their families couldn't have been more proud. Unfortunately it meant Hermione wouldn't be able to travel with Kiril as much as she'd hoped. He was so proud of her all he did was encourage her further and when they were alone, he promised they would always make up for lost time, and then went about proving it.
As the weeks went by and again her wedding drew nearer, any misgivings or worries she'd had about marrying young or becoming a mother fled her mind. They still hadn't shared the news but Kiril had added a charm to her bracelet, a little stork carrying its bundle.
Kiril was convinced it would be a girl, as brilliant as her mother. Hermione just laughed at him and told him it could just as easily be a boy, but he ignored her, insisting they were having a daughter.
The cat that had adopted them, hissed at Ron disliking him on sight, though oddly the cat adored both Bill and Remus, Ron was sure it was disturbed and Harry got it in his head that the Death Eaters knew Hermione had been alone and then tested the cat as an Animagus, just in case. Hermione rolled her eyes at her friends when the cat turned out to be just that, a cat. He did turn out to have worms though so Hermione brought her to the vet. Hermione named him Onyx and let him sleep on the chair in her room, unless Kiril was away, then he'd sleep in a ball against her side or tummy.
July was hot and brought only more good news, Draco had met a muggle he liked through Molly, Ron and Amalie were engaged and all of her friends had scored well on their NEWTs.
All that was left was for Hermione and Kiril to marry and then she'd get to share with them the best news of all, her baby, though still small, was growing and healthy despite the rocky beginning of her creation and the effects of the crutiatus her mother had suffered.. They'd even gotten to hear her tiny heartbeat before Kiril had to leave on yet another liaison job for the International Council.