The Austere Stonewall, Book 3: Hermione
Chapter 2: Exam
Poppy was not shy to hide her joy and relief at Hermione's request for a proper exam. She agreed to wait for Severus' free period and fretted to get everything she could do, done, to make sure the exam wasn't interrupted.
Hermione had not snuck out to run as she contemplated doing. She knew that Severus had her best interests at heart and so far he had not refused her anything reasonable. She missed her cottage but she knew that Severus was right so she tried not to whine about it. If only she had her piano here, not being able to run wouldn't be such a drag.
Her lunch didn't sit well in her stomach but she knew skipping another meal or even not finishing her meal would provoke her husband's ire. She choked it down under his watchful eye and then returned to the hospital wing where she felt queasy while studying her most recent reading assignment. She was thankful when Severus arrived and called out to Poppy that he was there.
She was guided into the private examination room that was used only when absolutely necessary. Severus himself cast the wards to keep out prying eyes and ears.
Nervously, she undressed from the waist down and sat on the cot with the thin sheet over her lap.
"First things first, standard spells to track your health," Poppy commented.
Her height, weight, age and a few other numbers appeared. Hermione was able to determine her blood pressure was good at 112/67 and that her temperature was 37.2 degrees Celsius. Her hemoglobin level was a little low at 9 and Poppy muttered that she needed to eat more iron in her diet, a comment she saw Severus make note of. She hadn't really learned the rest of the numbers or what they meant. Her heart rate at 120 seemed high to her but Poppy only mentioned that she was under 20 and that her heart rate would be faster than someone older than she was and that 120 wasn't elevated at all.
"Now is the less fun part. Have you done a pregnancy charm?"
"Yes," Severus answered for her. His face was like stone and gave nothing away.
"Okay, I'll need to cast it as well before we proceed as some of these spells are not conducive to a pregnancy," Poppy stated while doing the same that Severus had done the night before. The spell glowed a dull grey and Poppy ended it with no tell or indication of whether it was good or bad.
"Okay, this is where it gets invasive. I have to be touching your cervix to get this spell to function correctly. Since medi witches don't fancy cleaning their wands a lot from having them inside their patients, we have devised a device to protect the wand. It has to be inserted and then I'll be able to have access like I need. Feet up here," she indicated stirrups like at the muggle gyno office.
She laid back and put her feet up like she was told. Severus reached over to grasp her hand and she held it tightly.
"Scooch down a bit," was all Poppy said and she sat down on a stool at the end of the cot.
Scooting down was difficult when already lying down, even moreso when attempting to keep a sheet covering your half-naked body, Hermione discovered.
The sheet was left covered her as something cold and wet pressed against her sex. She breathed in deeply and held her breath as it was inserted. She felt a slight cramp-like feeling as the instrument was pressed against her cervix.
"Just be sure not to twitch or move so you don't hurt yourself," the mediwitch told her, all business.
She was still as Poppy fitted her wand inside the device and cast a few spells. There was a red glow and a ton of pink dots clumped in two different areas. Hermione looked at them and knew that those were eggs. With a chant, Madam Pomfrey withdrew her wand with a pink dot clinging to the tip. The dot was glowing but Hermione couldn't actually see the egg because it was so small, the naked eye could not see it. The glowing dot was deposited into a petri dish and then labeled L.
The whole process was repeated once more and labeled R before the contraption was withdrawn.
"So far I can tell you that you are due a period soon based on the uterine wall. It looks like it's going to be heavy so you should be prepared for it."
Swallowing, Hermione nodded.
"You have eggs in both ovaries. I will be checking their viability momentarily. If both sides contain viable eggs, then all I need to do is monitor you after your next period to determine which ovary releases an egg. The next time you have a period, we will check to see if you ovulate from the alternate side. If the eggs are indeed viable, then I think it likely that the damage we noted a month ago was damage to the ovary's capability to release the eggs from that side. If for some reason the eggs are viable and you are able to release them on that side, then I think it likely we should look for a cyst. It's likely not something to worry about but something we should check for in the event that your reproductive abilities are undamaged."
This made sense to Hermione and she gave a tentative smile.
Poppy began casting spells at the petri dishes while Hermione pulled her clothing back on under the sheets.
The next few moments were excruciating but after about five minutes, Poppy turned to her and smiled. "Your eggs are both viable. I think it unlikely that the spell damaged only some of them rather than all of them. We'll track your ovulation and see if you release them as your body should. From there, I think we'll check for a cyst."
Gnawing her lip, Hermione confessed, "My parents had a hard time conceiving me. I don't know the details, I just know there were a lot of miscarriages. Did she possibly pass a gene to me that would affect my ability to conceive?"
Poppy blinked. "It's a possibility. I don't want to delve any deeper currently as I don't want to do anything to put off your normal cycle nor do I want to jump ahead until we know your ovulation abilities. What we will do instead is have you take more iron in your diet. Your iron was low and you're about to bleed for a few days. You need to correct that. Low iron could be a contributing factor in your irregularity. Severus, you need to brew her a supplement for that. One every other day, perhaps?"
Severus kissed her quietly and went to his afternoon 5th year class while Hermione gathered her things and went to her office for her scheduled hours there before dinner.
When Poppy said she was due for a period soon, she meant it. Before dinner, Hermione was cramping and bleeding heavily. She apologized to the 3rd year who was there for tutoring when the cramps became too much. She struggled to lock up and leave her office with the intent of getting to her quarters to lay down.
Her menstrual cup had to be emptied twice since her bleeding had started and she was in tears balled up on the bed when Severus came into their quarters to find her for dinner. One look at her state was all it took for him to draw up a warm bath and strip her down. She didn't want to unball to allow it but her husband's hands were gentle as he coaxed her legs and arms to straighten out long enough for him to physically remove her robes and underthings.
He carried her to the bathroom and sat her on the toilet. She was horrified when he reached between her legs and pulled her cup out from her vagina. He dumped the contents and cast a cleansing spell at it before he set it aside.
Her speech was gone as he lifted her and placed her in the warm water. The water level was just high enough to cover her waist so she curled up again against the tub wall. Hands were cupping water to wash her before the water became dirty. A phial was pressed against her lips and she swallowed it without question.
"You should never ingest a potion without knowing what it is," Severus chided her softly and without malice.
"I trust you," Hermione mumbled, loving the warmth of his arm as he scooped water up over her shoulder and back.
He paused and then squeezed her hip. "It was a slight muscle relaxer for the cramps. I would prefer not to use it instead of a pain reliever but I fear that without it, you will be miserable even if you take a pain reliever. Your cramping is extreme right now."
She tried not to cry as the muscle relaxer slower eased her cramping. The warm water was helpful but she was embarrassed that the water was a little pink now.
Seeing her looking at the water and sitting up, Severus vanished the water from the tub and used the shower wand to rinse her body off.
She stepped out and looked at him cautiously as she picked up her menstrual cup.
"I'll bring you some clothing," Severus offered, allowing her to reinsert her cup.
Now she was laying on the couch in front of the fire with her head on Severus' lap. He was reading a book while waiting for Harry and Ron's arrival. She had dressed and left the bathroom to find a bowl of soup waiting for her along with an iron supplement.
Severus had said he wouldn't be present for the meeting and she was sure that if she asked him to, he'd leave. Neither of them said anything, though, and that was how Harry and Ron found them when they arrived by the floo, which Severus had connected to Grimmauld Place via Kingsley and Minerva.
Harry tumbled in first followed by Ron. They were both dirty so Hermione flicked her wand and cleared them both of grime but didn't stand to greet them.
"What's wrong," Harry asked with a frown.
"I'm okay but I've taken a muscle relaxer so I'm better off laying down rather than sitting up," Hermione said smoothly, very used to brushing aside the boys' questions and distracting them away from the topic.
"Have a seat," she offered.
"Yeah, okay, but why do you need a muscle relaxer? Did you get injured?" Harry persisted, his gaze glancing at Severus who continued to read.
"I'm not injured," Hermione reassured him. "Ron, it's good to see you again. It's been a while."
Her redheaded friend grinned and started to fill her in on auror training but Harry interrupted.
"If you're not injured, why do you need a muscle relaxer?" Harry demanded.
Hermione sighed. "You're not going to let me distract you from asking, are you?"
Harry shook his head, face serious.
"Girl problems," she stated while watching the boys' faces.
As predicted, Ron blanched and started stuttering about not needing to know that, earning a snort from her husband who was still reading even while listening to the conversation.
Harry, though, grimaced but nodded sympathetically. "Must be bad if you had to take that potion. Had that only once after I pulled my back muscle in that quidditch match 6th year."
Agreeing with a hum, Hermione said nothing more about it but she was proud of the growth Harry was showing. Ron's face was still red as he stared into the fire and wouldn't look her in the eyes.
"So, what do you reckon they want to know about? I assume they are interviewing everyone who had a part in the battle so they can record the locations and dates and names of everything they can. Kingsley's been too busy to come by the auror department lately so I've not been able to figure out what their motive is."
"Well," Hermione started, "I think that standard interviews with everyone will help them piece the story together, not just for the history books but also for the trials of anyone they haven't caught yet. Right now people may not care about protocol since people are still celebrating but years from now, it will matter. I think it's a CYA for Kingsley."
"CYA?" Ron turned and asked, over his earlier embarrassment.
"Cover. Your. Arse," Severus supplied behind his book. Hermione giggled, not sure why he was bothering to read rather than just admit that he was in the room by fully joining the conversation.
"Yeah," Ron agreed while casting odd looks at Snape. "I guess it's smart to do them now so that no one accuses him of bungling stuff later on."
The discussion from there included what information to give. It was agreed that no one aside from the four of them in that room, Minerva and Kingley needed to know about the horcruxes. It was here that Severus actually joined in the discussion, setting his book aside.
They agreed to let Severus meet with Kingsley and Minerva to explain the horcruxes so that the information that was missing from the interviews would be waved aside by him. They agreed that this information shouldn't be fully hidden, just regulated. Kingsley would record the information in the archives that only the Minister of Magic had access to. This would allow the future generation access to it should another dark wizard attempt the same thing.
"So we just stick to telling the counsel interviewing us that we had a mission to do something that would help us defeat Voldemort and leave it at that?" Harry asked doubtfully.
"Yes," Hermione was firm. "We tell them the Minister knows what we were doing and that it's classified. The less information we give, the better it is."
That much was agreed and they went over the details of their years at Hogwarts, trying to make sure they were all in agreement about what information was okay to release. Harry didn't want to tell anyone where the Chamber of Secrets was located but without a parselmouth alive to open it, it was relatively safe to tell but they were not going to give the exact location to anyone.
It was nearing 9 pm when they had figured it all out and were just chatting when Severus stood up, placing Hermione's head on a pillow where his lap had been.
"I trust you can see them out when you're done?" he asked her.
"I'll see you in a moment," she agreed.
Neither boy spoke as Severus left the room and closed the bedroom door behind him.
"Well," Ron started, "he seems different."
She grinned but said nothing.
"Married life going okay?" Harry asked innocently.
"Yes but Harry James Potter, you will not use my husband as a way to circumvent what I tell you. He is not a go between when you don't like what I say or do."
His hands were held up in surrender but he smiled. "Worth your ire to make sure you're okay."
She rolled her eyes and they spoke for a few more minutes before the boys went home. Ron was staying in Grimmauld Place with Harry now and training was going well for them both. They were stressed about the book part of their training and without Hermione, they admitted they were having to keep track of their own revisions which they did not like.
Ron had taken Lavender out for a date but hadn't spoken to her since then. He said he didn't know how he felt but Hermione thought maybe he just didn't want to settle for the first and only witch he'd ever dated.
After they were gone, Hermione made her way to their bedroom quietly. When she entered, she saw stealth was not needed. Severus was sitting up on his side of the bed, waiting.
She pulled her clothes over her head and tossed them aside, not really feeling like putting them away. She pulled on his shirt which was laying over the back of the chair. It still smelled like him from the day and she loved the masculine smell.
Crawling in bed, Hermione went straight to the center of the bed and turned her back to Severus. The lights were extinguished before she felt him sliding down in bed. He rolled to face her and wrapped an arm around her body. She sighed in comfort as he cupped her lower abdomen with his large palm.
"Mmm," she groaned, "that helps so much."
Severus was quiet but she knew that he was not the type to talk without having something important to say so she just soaked up his presence. Here he was lending her his warmth and strength to make her more comfortable. She really was in awe of how kind he was now that the war was over and he was free to do so.
The way he cared for her today was much more than she had any right to expect from him. If he'd simply married her, had sex with her once a week, left her alone in between, and allowed her to take care of herself for everything else, she would have been content. She would have found a husband to coexist with who would not make her miserable. Ron could never have taken care of her tonight the way Severus had. She hadn't even had to ask. The way Ron reacted to learning she was having a period compared to the way Severus had reacted was no contest.
Abruptly, she rolled over to face him. His arm was awkwardly caught between them so she pulled his hand up between them and kissed his knuckles.
"Severus? Thank you."
A pause. "For what, exactly?"
She smiled in the dark knowing his hand against her lips could feel it. "For being you? For surviving so you could be here with me? For taking care of me? I….I love you."
There was a moment of silence and Hermione rolled back over and brought his palm back to where her uterus was cramping. She settled her head on the pillow and relaxed.
"And thank you for being civil to the boys. Good night."
She was sure he understood that she didn't expect him to say anything back because he relaxed behind her. Before she fell asleep though, she felt him pull her closer to him and press a tender kiss below her ear and sigh in contentment.