With Ron drifting back into a deep sleep, Hermione lay in the bed for what had to be a few hours, until the sun began to rise. She sighed and rolled off the bed and landed on the soft carpeted floor with a huff, having drastically underestimated the space between the bed and the floor. She grabbed her wand off the bedside table and lit it with a quietly whispered "lumos" before using it to guide the way to her beaded bag which sat on a nearby chair. Sticking her hand far down into the bag and feeling around, she grabbed a new phone book, settled down on the plush chair in the corner of the large room, cast a silencing spell around her, and set to work.
Hours went by, and Hermione found herself experiencing a cycle of emotions every few minutes: become excited yet nervous while dialing a new number, feel her heart in her throat when she inquired for a Dr. Wilkins, feel it sink to her stomach when the answer was no, then muster up enough energy to carry on and dial another number.
Eventually, Hermione let out a moan of frustration, slamming the book she was currently holding down on the ground, then hastily bending down to pick it up when she remembered it was borrowed. She sighed, relenting to taking a break for now, and gently placed the telephone book on a nearby table.
Turning to grab her beaded bag, she made her way to the loo in an effort to bathe before Ron woke. Immediately, her eyes sought out the spacious bathtub, and she quickly shut the door and began to strip her clothes off, suddenly feeling grimy in the clothing she had worn for more than 24 hours. She bent down to pick her trousers up and gasped.
For half a year, her body had been too malnourished; too traumatized to sustain another life. Too unhealthy. Put on hold until further notice. After being hit with an unforgivable curse more than twenty times, the possibility of remaining barren had pledged the back of her mind. Now, after so long, she had finally gotten her period.
This was a sign that maybe there was not as much damage as she had feared. Of course, there could still be a multitude of issues going on inside her body, but this confirmed that there was at least now a possibility of being able to carry another life inside of her someday. Bellatrix could not take that away from her. She could have children one day; half-blood children, something she knew the Death Eater would have an absolute deep repugnance for. That thought made it all the more satisfying.
Hermione felt herself welling up a bit as she walked back out into the room to retrieve her beaded bag. She stifled a giggle as she thought how absurd it was that she was almost crying tears of happiness over something she used to dread every month, but she didn't care. Finally, something normal was happening to her.
Maybe now, Ron would not insist she see a healer. If her body was finally working normally, there really would be no reason to. However, she shook that thought off quickly, knowing he would tell her this was only part of it; that they did not know anything for sure. He would be right, of course, though she did not like to admit it. And, she had promised him. That was really the crux of the matter. She could not take back her word now.
Hermione returned to the loo and turned the faucet on, allowing the bathtub to fill with warm water and doing the spell that would change it to different colors. She then stepped into the bath and sunk down slowly, reveling in the warmth around her tired muscles. Her head rested against the porcelain, and she stared up at the ceiling, trying to relax but ultimately giving in to her worrisome thoughts.
This whole mission was proving to be much more difficult and frustrating than she had anticipated. Of course, Hermione supposed it was a good thing that they were having difficulty finding her parents, because it meant the Death Eaters would have as well. However, she was growing increasingly impatient. They were so close. So close to ending this disaster that had been the past year of her life. If they could just find her parents and reverse the spell, then everything could be reset, could it not? Back to the way things were before. Almost as if nothing had happened…
Hermione quickly shook her head and chastised herself for thinking that way. It could never go back to the way it was before. Now, everything was irrevocably changed. Fred was gone, along with so many others. She would be going back to Hogwarts for the first time without Ron and Harry. And no matter what her parents' reaction was to what she had done to them, she could not take it back. It would always be looming over them as a family.
Of course, her long rambling thoughts eventually turned to Ron. At least she was happy about one of the changes. Ron had gone from her friend to her boyfriend in the past year, and she definitely did not want to reset that.
Hermione thought back to their activities last night, or was it early this morning? Either way, while it had been brilliant, she did not want to get too distracted. While Ron seemed to be able to compartmentalize different aspects of his life, she found that ability much harder to come by. She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about getting off with her boyfriend while on a mission to find her poor obliviated parents. Of course, Ron would not see it that way and would say she was barmy if she told him that.
After what she could only assume was the better part of an hour, she reluctantly rose from the tub, set on getting dressed and then waking Ron. She felt around in her beaded bag for her box of feminine products, rolling her eyes as she remembered how awkward Harry and Ron had been when they were digging through her bag for a vial of something or other last year and accidentally pulled it out. The two of them had sputtered and hastily shoved it back in, then proceeded to not make eye contact with her for the rest of the evening. She rolled her eyes again. Boys.
Just as she was finishing getting ready for the day, she heard Ron's voice through the door.
"Hermione? Hermione?" He sounded concerned. "Hermione, where are you? Hermione?"
She opened the loo door and waved at him, seeing the look of panic instantly wash away from his face.
"Bloody hell, Hermione. Don't scare me like that," he sighed, walking toward her.
"My using the loo scares you?" she teased.
"No, you not being next to me when I wake up scares me," Ron replied honestly, then kissed her forehead and rested the bottom of his chin on the top of her head. "With all the fucked up shite that's happened in the past year, I can't seem to rule anything out in my head until I see you; see proof you're okay."
Immediately, her mind went from a teasing mode to a serious mode. Had she not panicked when she had woken up one night to find Ron not there because he had gone to the loo? Suddenly, she understood what he saying.
"Don't worry; I'm fine," she said, rubbing his back gently. "Got a bit of work done before you woke, actually."
His eyebrows rose in interest. "Yeah? Find anything?"
She sighed in defeat, looking down at his large feet standing across from her much smaller ones. "No."
"Hey, look at me," Ron said softly, grabbing the bottom of her chin and gently pulling her head back up to meet his eyes. "We're gonna find them, okay?"
She nodded in response. "I know. We have to. I'm not leaving until we do."
"Me either," Ron replied. "Love, this is only our first full day here. Let me take a shower, we'll get some breakfast, then we'll get to work, alright?"
"Okay. You go ahead. I'll order room service," she said, motioning toward the spacious shower.
Ron looked perplexed. "Room service…?"
"Oh! Yes, well I suppose you wouldn't know. In muggle hotels, you can call down to the kitchen and order food to be delivered to your room."
Ron's eyes lit up. "That's brilliant! But you yell, all the way from here? How far away are the kitchens?"
She giggled. "No, Ron. You call them on the telephone. There should be a list of numbers for different areas of the hotel somewhere. I'll find it and call down. Now mind you, room service is usually very expensive… Mum and Dad hardly ever ordered it when we went away on holidays… but then again Kingsley did say to spare no expense…"
Ron shushed her. "Hermione, order everything in the kitchen if you want to. Those ignorant fucks at the ministry can bloody well pay for it."
"Ron!" she chastised.
"What? First they cut Dad's wages, then they fuck up our portkey? I say we spend as much as we want. Go use the telly-phone. I'll get washed up."
She gave him one more half-hearted chastising look before turning to walk out of the loo. Ron was already walking toward the spacious shower with a see through glass door, so she shut the door behind her and made her way to the telephone.
She ordered a simple meal for herself; just some toast with jam and some scrambled eggs. She didn't really have much of an appetite this morning, but she knew Ron would. He always did. Hermione stared at the menu with the ridiculously outrageous prices for a few seconds, before deciding to hell with it; she'd order almost everything on the menu. Ron was right; they did deserve this. And anyway, it's not as though the food would go to waste; he would most definitely eat everything.
She placed their order and laid her head down on the plush pillows, then gazed around the room. Simply put, it was beautiful. Pretty paintings hung on the walls and expensive furniture littered the floor. The thread count on the duvet alone must have been in the thousands. However, she much rather preferred Ron's quidditch posters, rotting old desk, and worn orange blanket.
Suddenly, the door swung open and Ron walked out, clutching a towel low on his hips. "Need your bloody beaded bag…" he was muttering, searching around for her bag.
Hermione blushed as she pointed to the nearby table, still unable to treat his near nudity with nonchalance. He must have noticed the color in her cheeks, because he wiggled his eyebrows at her and winked. She merely turned her head and stuck her nose up in the air with a huff, trying to maintain some of her dignity.
Ron chuckled and turned, walking back into the loo to change. He was back out not even a minute later, fully clothed this time, and hopped up to join her on the bed.
"Morning," Ron said, grabbing her head and lightly pulling her toward him, then placing a kiss on her lips. He gripped the back of her neck and tried to pull her down on top of him, but she resisted, trying to remain in a sitting position. This was valuable time that should be spent calling dentist offices, not snogging or anything else. Plus, she did not think she was comfortable with doing anything more than snogging when she was on this part of her cycle just yet. She saw him frown and pull her again, so she placed a hand on his chest and pulled away slightly.
"Ron, breakfast will be here soon…"
"Yeah, but it's not here yet. Let me just-"
A knock at the door cut him off. "Room service!" a female voice on the other side of the door called.
"See? There it is," Hermione said, jumping up and rushing to open the door. "Oh! I almost forgot to take down the protective enchantments!" Otherwise, the muggle would not be able to see them.
"Woah woah woah! Don't go taking them down just yet! We don't know who's on the other side of that door," Ron asserted.
"Ron, it's the maid with our breakfast," she replied, thinking this was just another part of room service he did not understand.
"How do you know?" Ron asked the question again.
"What do you mean? I ordered food for us."
"Yeah, but how do you know?" Ron asked the question more forcefully.
She paused, catching up with his line of thinking. "You think there's someone out for us on the other side of that door?"
"Probably not, but I wouldn't put it past those fuckers. Let me just make sure…"
She nodded, agreeing with Ron that it was better to be safe than sorry. He walked over to the door and bent his knees slightly to become eye level with the peep hole.
"Looks like a muggle woman…just to be sure… Accio wand!" Ron suddenly shouted, obviously not using Expelliarmus because if the woman was indeed a muggle he surely could not hit her with any sort of spell. Her wand flew from the bedside table across the room and into Ron's hand; Hermione assumed the woman did not have a wand on her because she did not hear anything bang against the outside of the door.
"Okay… should be alright. You go wait in the loo, I'll only take the enchantments down in this room just in case."
"What? No!" she yelled.
Ron sighed. "Fine, here. Just have your wand at the ready," he replied, handing her wand back to her. She nodded, motioning for him to open the door.
The maid pushed a large cart into the room, loaded with what must be, as Ron had suggested she order, the entire kitchen. The cart was overflowing with food.
"Will that be all, Mr. and Mrs. Smith?" the maid asked.
Hermione once again rolled her eyes at the name Kingsley had given them. "Yes, thank you." Hermione said politely, then quickly grabbed a few muggle bills out of her bag and handed it to the maid. The woman nodded and walked out of their hotel room, closing the door quietly behind her. She heard Ron sigh in relief.
"Hermione! This is fucking brilliant!" Ron exclaimed as he surveyed the cart. "Why did you give the muggle money?"
"It's customary to give hotel employees tips if they do things like carry your bags or bring you room service," she explained.
"Oh," Ron replied in understanding. "Let me do it next time, yeah?"
She was about to retaliate and say that she could contribute money as well, but bit her tongue again, remembering her promise to allow him to be more 'manly' as he called it.
"Sure," was her reply. The look of shock yet gratitude on Ron's face told her she had said the right thing. "Ron! Wait!" she suddenly screamed, as he picked up a piece of bacon and was about to put it in his mouth.
"What?" Ron asked, alarmed.
She smiled sheepishly. "Well, you know, because we're being cautious and everything, don't you think we might want to check the food? I mean, I know it's a long shot, but someone could have posioned it if they knew we were in this room."
Ron grinned at her. "I like the way you're thinking." She knew he wanted her to be more cautious about everything. Although she did not want to always assume the worst, Ron did have a point; why take any chances?
"Stand back," she ordered, raising her wand and pointing it at the food. "Posionus Revelio." Nothing happened. "It's safe," she informed him.
"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, diving back into the food and towering as much as he could on a plate.
As she munched on her toast, she put together a plan of action for the day.
"Alright, Ron. I say we each take a list of numbers, and start calling. I'll grab the telephone from the other room and bring it in here."
Their current domain was actually a large suite, with multiple rooms, televisions, and telephones. She shuffled into the next room over and grabbed the telephone that was plugged into the wall, then walked back to where Ron was still standing with all the food.
"Here, let me see you dial a number, just to make sure you are doing it right," she insisted, grabbing the book she had not finished with yet and setting it down on the bed.
Ron hesitated, then grabbed the phone from her hand and bravely, yet very carefully and slowly, pressed the combination of numbers she was pointing to. She could hear a faint ringing, and knew he had at least managed to call someone.
"HELLO?" he suddenly screamed, startling her.
"Ron! Shh! You're speaking entirely too loud!" she whispered harshly, and he smiled sheepishly at her before pressing his ear back to the phone carefully and speaking in a more normal tone of voice.
"Er, sorry 'bout that. So um, does a Dr. Wilkins work at this place...? Oh. Okay. Thanks anyway." He hung up and turned to her, shaking his head.
She strained her face in an attempt to not look forlorn. "It's okay. We'll just keep trying."
He nodded, and so they set to work, each of them sitting on the bed and calling number after number, only to come up short time and time again. Hermione was beginning to wonder just how many dentist offices there were in Australia.
Hours later, it was beginning to get dark outside, and Hermione suddenly realized that she and Ron had actually spent an entire day making phone calls. Grant it, it was not the worst day they had ever spent together, but it certainly was not the best.
She let out a groan of frustration, and jumped up, suddenly unable to concentrate any longer. "I have to take a break Ron. I need another bath," she mumbled, already stumbling toward the loo. She needed to relax and destress.
"Go ahead, love. I'm just gonna try a few more, then maybe I'll join you," he said with a wink.
"No, you most certainly will not! I haven't the faintest idea why you continue attempting to take a bath with me," she replied, trying to sound offended but failing miserably. Of course she knew why. And, if was she was being honest, she would most definitely be open to the idea of it happening someday. Someday being the key word.
"Fine by me; I'm just biding my time. When it does happen maybe you can throw in showing me one of those spells as well. Ya know, sort of a two for one deal?" he suggested, grinning at her.
Hermione blushed, and turned away from him before her face got too red. She scurried off to the loo, shutting the door quickly. She sat down on the edge of the porcelain bathtub, about to flick her wand to turn the water on when she heard it.
"Hermione?" Ron croaked from the other side of the room.
"Yes?" she answered, thinking she was in for another round of teasing.
"I...I think I found them."
She sat up so quickly that she tumbled off the side of the tub and onto the floor.
"What!? Ron, are you serious!?" she screamed from where she lay, overjoyed.
"Yeah… I mean… they say a Monica and Wendell Wilkins work here… so if it's not them then that's a pretty big coincidence."
"Oh, Ron!" she squealed, jumping up from where she was sprawled across the tiled floor and bounding into the bedroom, then leapt into his arms. Her hands flew around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist, and she snogged him with all her might, trying to put all of her feelings into a kiss.
She was still peppering his cheeks with tiny kisses as he thanked the receptionist on the other end of the phone.
"Ron! You're so brilliant! Thank you! Thank you!"
Ron shrugged. "It just as easily could have been you, Hermione."
"No!" she shouted, shaking her head. "See, I did need you to come with me! You found them!"
Ron smiled at her. "Well, glad I could do something."
"Something!? Ron, this is everything! Where is the office located!?"
Ron pointed at the address in the book. Her smile faltered a bit. "What's wrong, love?" he asked.
She sighed. "Oh, well, that location is halfway across the country…"
"So? We get another portkey, then."
"Yes, but we'll have to write to Kingsley to ask for that exact location… it could take few days…"
"Well, we could wait it out here. Reckon there's plenty of things we could do in the meantime…" he said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"But I don't want to wait! I want to get moving, now!" Honestly, she wanted to get going before she lost her nerve to finally find them and reverse the spell. "We could go by muggle transportation…"
Ron looked unsure. "I don't know, Hermione. What exactly do you have in mind?"
"Well, we could take an aeroplane-"
"One of those barmy muggle contraptions that flies in the air? No way," Ron said, shaking his head.
"Oh honestly, Ron, they're usually quite safe."
"Yeah, usually. What if someone finds out we bought tickets? I don't fancy the idea of us being trapped in some muggle box with a Death Eater a few thousand kilometers in the air. Why take any chances when a portkey is a one hundred percent guarantee?"
"Because I want to get going now, before I lose my nerve," she admitted.
Ron's face softened. "Well...alright. Is there anything other than an airy-plane? I don't trust it, Hermione. How the hell do the muggles get it to fly without magic?"
"With the help of great technological minds, and years of trial and error, that's how. It would be fine. But, if you're really uncomfortable with the idea, we could take a train."
"A train?" Ron's eyes lit up. "Like the Hogwarts Express?"
"Well, in a way, yes. But not magical, of course. There will be no trolley filled with chocolate frogs."
Ron frowned. "No trolley? What kind of a train is that?"
"A muggle train, Ronald. Now, are we agreed? I really want to set off tomorrow morning. I don't want to wait for the Ministry this time. And, I'd like to do something the muggle way as well."
Ron contemplated what she had said. "Alright. We can ride the muggle train. Even if it doesn't have any chocolate frogs."
"Thank you," she said, leaning in to kiss his nose. She realized they had had the entire conversation while Ron was still holding her in his arms.
"Of course. I'd do anything for you, Hermione. Except ride in one of those airy-planes. I don't trust those things," he said with a smirk.
She giggled. "Even though you're being ridiculous, I suppose I can accept your aversion to aeroplanes."
Ron smiled at her and walked them over to the bed, where he laid her down and got on top of her. They snogged for a few minutes, then he began to creep his hand up her leg.
"Ron, maybe we should get ready for bed and go to sleep."
Ron frowned at her. "Not that I'm opposed to you sleeping, Hermione, but you usually don't want to. What's going on?"
She sighed. "I'm starting to feel a bit… guilty."
Ron furrowed his brow. "Guilty? About what?"
"Well, it's just that… you know… we've been doing a lot together, and it has been wonderful… but is it right for us to be a couple of randy teenagers when my poor parents are out there with their minds wiped, with no clue as to who they are?"
"Hermione, one of those things has nothing to do with the other. That's bar-"
"Yes, barmy. I knew you would say that!"
"Well, it is! What's wrong with us having a bit of fun?"
"I don't know, Ronald. I'm starting to have trouble with separating the two things."
"Well, try not to. I don't think your parents would mind you enjoying yourself."
She smirked. "Oh really? So you think my father would be fine with everything we've done?"
Ron paled. "Bloody hell. Don't say shite like that, Hermione."
She giggled. "And, well, there's another reason I'm not exactly in the mood right now. Only, I didn't want to bother you with what the reason was."
Ron looked concerned. "What? What's going on?"
She nodded, giving in. "Well… remember how I said I was having those… 'woman problems' as you called them?"
He nodded slowly, still looking confused.
"Well, I don't have them anymore. I've started my cycle again."
Ron stared at her for a second, and just when she thought he was going to fervently tell her that he did not need to know about this, his face split into a grin. "Hermione… that's brilliant! Why didn't you tell me?"
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Well, it's not exactly something you announce. I've had my period around you many times throughout the years and never felt the need to tell you then."
"But this means your body systems are looking better than you thought, right? And it means you can, well, have children, right?"
"Yes. I think so. There's a much better chance now, anyway." She was trying to keep herself from crying. She knew if she spoke much more the dam would burst.
Ron must have seen the look on her face, because he spoke up with concern. "What's wrong, love?"
"N-nothing. I just…" Her voice cracked. "I t-thought that maybe I wouldn't be able to. I was trying to act like I didn't care, but I d-do, Ron. I d-didn't realize how much the idea of being a m-mother appealed to me until it was t-taken away," she said shakily, unable to keep the tears from falling.
"Shh," Ron said, wiping her tears and kissing the top of her head. "It's okay, Hermione."
She smiled at him even though she knew by this point her face must be all sorts of red and puffy.
"Well, I would say for once things are starting to look up for us," Ron said as he gently wiped more of her tears away.
"Yes...maybe they are," she conceded.
And for the first time in a long time, she actually believed it.
Author's note: thanks for continuing to follow and review, even though I've been scarce lately. I'm trying to get a degree so I can be a productive member of society and what not.
Chapter-wise, I just felt like this would be a good time to have a few things go right for them. Also, the whole Hermione possibly being barren thing was always something I thought about since the first time I read the torture scene. I mean, if Neville's parents went that insane, there's no telling exactly what the Crutiatus curse can do to you. Hermione is always the studious and hardworking type, but when it comes down to it I think she would have wanted to balance a career and a family. She has a very nurturing side that I think would have come to fruition when she had children. She is obviously very smart, so logically she knows exactly what it could have done to her. But then again, she is also human, and a woman. I think any woman finding out she can't have children, especially at such a young age, is most often very devestating. So, she has been coping with the possibility by not thinking about it too much, or trying to seem nonchalant, when she obviously does care. I wanted to add it to the story to reveal different layers of her personality, as well as add to the continuing struggle she has been facing, which is: what exactly does it mean to be a woman? Or, more importantly, what does being a woman mean to her?
Also, it seemed like a few people thought that Hermione was using sex as a weapon against Ron, which wasn't how I meant it to come off. I just wanted her to assert that she wanted to better their relationship by talking about their arguements before doing anything else, whether it be sexual or not. I thought that having her stop them in the middle of snogging would make for a bit of comic relief. Anyway, I always welcome critisism so definitly don't stop that just wanted to say my point of view.
Whew, that was a lot. If you read through all of that I applaud you, and encourage you to tell me what you think!
