My apologies for the cliffhanger, I didn't realize the last chapter counted as one. I tend I write a lot of them I guess. Here's the next chapter to make up for it :)

Chapter 25 – The Healer's Mistake

"Fred, calm down." Hermione pleaded as he fussed over her in the crowded waiting room.

"Are you sure you don't want some water or something?"

"I want you to calm down." She had figured that he would get protective of her once she got pregnant, but she wasn't expecting this. "Please."

"Okay." He took a deep breath.

She kissed his cheek. "I love you, but if you don't calm down I'm going to ban you from going to the healer's with me." He gave her a hurt look. "I mean it."

"Weasley, Hermione?" Finally. She stood up, Fred behind her, and followed the nurse into the small examination room. "Healer Richardson will be with you in just a moment."

Healer Richardson took several moments to be with her, but Hermione was patient. When she did appear, she turned out to be a soft faced witch with warm hands. "Sorry for the wait, we're a little crowded today."

"We understand." Hermione said. "It must be a good year for your line of work."

"Very much so." She replied with a smile.

"Now, Hermione, is it?"

"Yes, and this is my husband, Fred."

The healer smiled and shook his hand. "It's nice to see husbands who are willing to be part of this process."

Hermione looked over at Fred, who still seemed a little overexcited. "He's more than willing."

"That's excellent. With this law in effect I see too many wives come in here alone. But anyway, you are here for a pregnancy test and possibly a prenatal vitamin prescription?"

"Exactly." Hermione smiled.

"Alright, I just need a couple questions answered before I run the test, Hermione, when was your last period?"

She thought for a moment. "A little more than two months ago. Two weeks before getting married."

"Alright, so you would be approximately seven to eight weeks along?"

She nodded. "I've taken a couple of home pregnancy tests, Muggle made ones, but they have come up negative."

"There's a large margin of error on them, they rarely work for witches. I'm assuming you're muggle-born then?"

"I am."

"My husband is too. We use some muggle inventions at home, makes life easier, don't you think?"

"I totally agree." Hermione said.

"Anyway, I've kept you waiting long enough, Hermione, if you'd be willing to either remove your shirt or pull it up for me, I need your stomach uncovered."

Hermione complied by taking off her shirt completely.

"I like your choice of bra today." Fred teased, walking over to hold her hand.

"I knew you'd appreciate it." She winked, entwining her fingers with his.

"They did a good job of pairing you two up." The healer chuckled. "Would you lie down please?"

Hermione did, and the healer said a quick incantation before touching her wand to Hermione's stomach. "I wouldn't suggest trying this spell at home, it's dangerous if performed incorrectly." The healer mentioned, and Hermione assumed she was waiting for something to happen. She looked up at Fred, who was even more impatient that she was. Healer Richardson frowned.

"Is something wrong?" Fred asked, his smiled fading.

She didn't answer, instead saying a new spell, tracing a circle on Hermione's stomach with the tip of her wand. It tickled. "Hermione, have you happened to have an acupuncture mishap or something recently?"

Her heart sank. "No. I was hit by a needling curse a couple of months ago."

"Were you treated for this?"

She nodded. "They said I might have some abdominal discomfort, but was fine."

The healer frowned. "It appears that they neglected to look at your reproductive organs. There's a lot of damage here." She pulled her wand away, and Hermione sat up.

"Is there any way of correcting this?" Fred asked, tightening his grip on her hand. She squeezed back.

"We can try." She replied hesitantly. "I can prescribe some potions that will help heal the damage, there's also specialized treatments you can do, you'll need to come in a couple times a week for those."

"Will that work?" Hermione asked.

"It might." She smiled weakly. It wasn't very comforting. "Needling curses rarely effect the reproductive organs, which is probably why the healers that treated you didn't look. Some of the damage seems to have healed from whatever treatment you received, but it's wasn't enough. It may have left you infertile."

Her words were a death sentence. If she was infertile, the ministry would nullify their marriage. She bit her lip to keep from crying. Fred let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I'll give your treatment information to the front desk and you can make appointments for those." She paused, scrawling something down on a prescription pad. "Here's the potions you'll need. They're rather difficult to brew at home, but you can pick them up in the pharmacy downstairs." She handed it to her.

"Thank you." Hermione said, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, both of you." The healer said. "I hope to see you both again under better circumstances."

Fred expected Hermione to burst into tears once they got home, but instead she was oddly silent, saying she was going upstairs to the study and she wanted to be alone.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me." He called as she headed for the stairs, but she didn't answer.

Fred wasn't sure what to do then. It had been a heartbreaking day. Part of him wanted to go see his twin, but he didn't want to leave in case Hermione needed him. Instead, he walked into the kitchen and started a batch of cookies.

"'Mione?" He heard the front door slam and Ginny call out while he was in the middle of pulling the first batch out of the oven.

"Just your weird brother." He called back. "I'm in the kitchen."

"Oh no." Ginny said, running into the kitchen. "Who died?"

He gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"You only bake cookies when there's something wrong. Where's Hermione?" She asked dramatically.
"Up in her study. Don't bother her."

"Are you two fighting?"

He shook his head. He wished that was the case. "She just wanted to be alone for a little while."

"Did the appointment not go well?"

"There was a bit of a problem."

"She's having an entire litter, isn't she? How many, five?"

Fred loved his sister, but she could be exceptionally thick sometimes. "She might not be able to have kids at all." He said softly.

"Oh. Oh no." Ginny looked even more distressed. She dropped into a chair. "You two have to have kids or the ministry will annul your marriage. You'll probably have to marry some she-troll instead."

"That's not going to happen." He turned away to start moving the cookies to the cooling rack.

"Are those chocolate chip?"

"Yes. Hands off, they're still hot." He snapped.

"Okay, mom."

"Ginny, just stop."

"You should take some of these up to Hermione."

"That was the plan." He tried to remind himself that she wasn't what was upsetting him but Merlin she got on his nerves.

"I think I'm going to go home for the weekend, if that's okay."

"Don't tell Mum what's going on."

"Why not?"

"I don't want her to worry. I mean it, not a word."

"Okay." She caught sight of his threatening look. "Okay. Don't get your wand in a knot. I won't say anything."

"Good. Thank you." He moved some of the still warm cookies to a small tray and poured a glass of milk. "You can have a cookie now." He said as he left the kitchen and headed up the stairs.

He quietly knocked on the study door. "'Mione? I've got cookies."

"You can come in, Fred."

He opened the door to find her curled up in her giant squashy armchair with a book. "You didn't have to bake me cookies."

"I know." He said, his voice softening. He set the tray down on the table beside her. "Apparently I bake when I'm upset."

"Apparently?"

He perched on the arm of her chair. "Ginny thought someone had died."

"Oh." She stuck what looked like an old inventory list in her book and closed it. "Well at least it wasn't that bad." She paused. "I read when I'm upset."

"I know." He smiled. "Have a cookie."

She picked one up and took a bite. "Will you teach me how to bake?" She asked.

"Of course."

"Sorry I was a bit cold earlier." She said. "I just … really needed to be alone."

"I understand." Fred smiled. "It's been a difficult day."

She was silent for a few moments, breaking her cookie into tiny pieces. "I should have killed Kingsley when I had the chance."

"Then you'd be in Azkaban instead of here with me."

"Do you think the treatment will work?"

"I don't think you should worry about it unless it doesn't." He replied.

"You're probably right." She fed him a piece of cookie.

"Not enough vanilla." He said.

She shook her head. "Biggest disappointment of my day, my husband is a pitiful cookie baker."

He sighed. "I'm sorry honey. Maybe one day I'll be good enough."

She kissed his cheek. "I love you anyway."

That night, Hermione couldn't sleep. She lie there for what seemed like hours, listening to the sound of Fred's heartbeat. Her fingertips traced patterns on his bare skin, gently, as not to wake him. His chest rose and fell, and her own breathing matched it. She loved him, she really did.

A tear escaped, sliding down to the arch of her nose. She reached up and wiped it away. This wasn't anything to worry about. She would get treated, then they could have all the children they wanted.

She only wished she could be that confident. We can try wasn't exactly very reassuring. She felt very inadequate, despite his reassurance.

She lay her hand on top of her husband's, which was resting on her hip, and carefully moved it so she could get up.

His fingers curled around her wrist as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"'Mione?" He murmured. His eyes were half open.

She leaned over and kissed him. "I'm just getting a glass of water."

"Mkay." He grunted, and closed his eyes again.

Hermione padded in her slippers to the kitchen and got a glass of water, sitting at the table to drink it. Outside the sliding glass door, she could see a great full moon above the red and gold leaved trees. Bats and owls swooped low in the darkness.

She heard footsteps in the hall, and she turned to see Fred leaning against the doorframe. "You're not allowed to stay up all night worrying."

She shook her head. "I'm not."

"Then come back to bed."

"I can't sleep." She admitted.

"Sitting out here isn't helping."

She drank the rest of her water and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. She was not going to worry, and she was certainly not going to cry. This was a small hitch in the plan. Hadn't she wanted to wait a while before having kids anyway?

He kneeled down and scooped her up, carrying her back to their bedroom. He lay her down gently on her side of the bed, curling up around her.

"You're a good big spoon." She whispered, snuggling closer to him. He held her tight.

"It helps that you're a good little spoon." He said, pressing his lips into her hair.

"I love you."

"I love you too." He replied softly. "Now please sleep."

She nodded, and closed her eyes. It was only then, with his warm breath on her skin and his arms wrapped around her, that she fell asleep, refusing to worry any more.

I hope this chapter is fluffy enough to make up for the pain. 3 Anyway... next chapter should be up soon, the next few chapters are mostly done so there should be little wait for them. Until then, I hope you enjoyed, and please be sure to review and tell me what you think!

-Zen