Hello once again! Thank you for coming back to read the latest chapter of The Unexpected Baby. This one is a little longer than most, and it took a bit of a surprising turn. I had an idea when I started writing, but my fingers had a completely different idea. I hope it is an enjoyable read.
Disclaimer: I do not know Harry Potter
The Unexpected Baby
Chapter Twenty One: A Day in St. Mungo's
The sweat was dripping down his brow, and his breath came out in laboured bursts. He gritted his teeth as he jumped behind a large rock. His colleagues shouted and yelled to each other as they cast charm after charm at the rampaging dragon.
"Charlie! Aim for the eyes, we've got it distracted!"
Charlie gripped his wand tightly, ran a hand over his sweaty face and jumped out from behind the rock. The huge black and yellow dragon was aiming its huge spiked tail for a small group of Dragon Keepers. Smoke was billowing out of its mouth, partially obstructing his view of its eyes. He took aim and waited for the perfect moment.
"Now Charlie, do it!"
Charlie took his chance. He yelled the conjunctivitis curse as loudly and with as much power as he could and it hit the dragon squarely in the eyes. It roared in pain and lashed out at the Keepers. Numerous stunning charms flew threw the air, hitting it on its soft underbelly as it reared up once again. Charlie fought with his colleagues and aimed charm after charm. He ran to the right, just avoiding a stream of fire from the gaping maw of the creature. He slid underneath the spiked tail and sent charms careening into the back end of the dragon. With a final roar, the charms took effect and the dragon collapsed, stunned into silence.
"Good work everyone!" he shouted from his position. A loud cheer rang around the field and celebratory sparks flashed into the air from numerous wands.
"Let's get Silas secure so we can finally do his health check," he said as he walked around to the group of Dragon Keepers.
"He's a grumpy one," said a short, muscular man with a handlebar moustache. Charlie chuckled and nodded his head.
"Yeah, Silas is the most bad tempered Romanian Spike Tail I've ever met," Charlie stated as he clapped a hand on the short wizards back. The other witches and wizards shared a laugh and then went about securing the dragon.
As soon as the dragon was secure, Charlie instructed his colleagues on what needed to be checked in regards to the health of the creature. Once everyone knew their task, they ran about casting various spells and noting the results on pieces of parchment. After he healed the creature of the conjunctivitis charm, Charlie ran over to one of the dragon's clawed feet and started inspecting. He noted the beginnings of scale rot, not uncommon for a dragon the age of Silas, and recommended a particular potion be added to his meals. As he jotted down his notes, the dragon stirred beside him. Before Charlie could move out of the way, the dragon swatted him with its leg and sent him flying across the field. He landed on the ground with a sickening crack and everything went black.
Hermione grumbled to herself as she wandered through St. Mungo's hospital. Her back was killing her and she just knew her feet were starting to swell. She could feel it. She was just about 24 weeks pregnant and she was starting to feel more and more tired. Being a Healer, she knew this was normal, however when it was physically happening to her, she started to question how normal things like back pain, swollen feet and fatigue were.
"Good afternoon Healer Granger," said the elderly witch from the hospital bed. Hermione smiled and sat down in the seat next to her.
"Good afternoon Hilda, how are you today?" Hermione asked kindly as she handed a glass of water to the witch in the bed.
"I'm feeling a little better than yesterday after that potion you gave me," Hilda said with a brightness that did not match the dullness of her skin. Hermione made a mental note of this and reminded herself to tell one of the trainee Healers to get Hilda outside for a breath of fresh air.
"That's good to hear. Do you mind if I check your vitals?" she asked politely. The witch nodded her head and was silent while Hermione waved her wand over her body. As Hermione checked her general health, Hilda couldn't help but eye up her consultant.
"How many weeks now dear?" she enquired, pointing to Hermione's stomach. Hermione chuckled and glanced down.
"I'm just about 24 weeks," she said happily. Hilda gave her a toothy smile and sat up a little straighter in bed.
"Back pain then?" the elderly witch asked knowingly.
"Yes, more so in the past two days. It's quite uncomfortable," Hermione told her as she handed the witch the glass of water again for another drink.
"I remember when I was pregnant with my Harold. I had the worst back pain from the start. It didn't get any better until he was born, and he was a big boy! He was 11 pounds!" Hilda said dreamily as she reminisced. Hermione gasped and then laughed.
"Wow Hilda, he was a big boy. I'll be honest with you," Hermione began as she absentmindedly rubbed her stomach, "I've been having nightmares about having a 14 pound baby. At the rate my little boy is growing, I'm scared that I might!"
"Nonsense dear. Every mother has that fear, and it only becomes a reality for a very few witches. Sadly I was one of them. It wasn't a comfortable experience pushing out an 11 pound baby, but if my Winston hadn't been there, it would have been so much harder."
Hermione felt her stomach drop slightly as the elderly witch talked about her husband Winston. Hermione had met the man only once before, but from that one encounter, she could tell that he was devoted to his wife. Thinking about this made her think of Charlie, who was still in Romania. Not having him around for the past few weeks had been hard on her. He wrote to her constantly, but she hadn't heard anything from him in four days. In his last letter he'd told her about the dragon he was to do a health check on three days, and she hadn't heard from him since. She inwardly shook herself and tried not to worry about it. He was a trained professional, he was fine, he was simply busy.
"What about the father? Is he doing okay?" Hilda asked, snapping Hermione out of her worried train of thought.
"He's out of the country at the moment. He works in Romania as a Dragon Keeper," she explained as she wrote notes down on her clipboard.
"Does he work out there…permanently?" Hilda asked, unsure of her Healer's relationship with the father of her own child. Hermione screwed her mouth up a little and pondered whether she should explain herself more. Hilda was a lovely witch, but Hermione didn't want all of her patients knowing her business.
"He…does," she finally replied, ushering for the witch to take one last drink of water.
"How is that working for you dear?" Hilda asked, and Hermione found herself feeling irked. She cleared her throat and stood up.
"It's complicated but we're working on it," she replied bluntly and with that she bid the elderly witch goodbye and left her room.
Hermione grumbled to herself as she walked towards her office. She hated that she was feeling so riled up after such a simple question. Her situation with Charlie was her business and she would deal with it. Charlie was enquiring into getting a transfer to different dragon reserves that were all a little closer to home. She had even enquired about getting a transfer to another hospital, somewhere that would be closer to Charlie, however it wasn't that simple. They were both coming up against strong opposition from their bosses. Charlie was butting heads with the owner of his reserve, who was adamant that Charlie was the only man for the job he was currently in. No one else had a way with certain dragons. Hermione had been point blank refused by not only the senior Consultants but the board of governors as well. In their own words they would "be damned if they let the youngest and greatest Healing Consultant in an age leave for another hospital."
"Healer Granger?" Kelly called to her as she stormed into her office. Hermione slammed the door shut behind her and made to pack up her things to leave for the day.
"Healer Granger?" came Kelly's voice from the office door. Hermione ignored her and shoved her belongings into her handbag.
"Hermione?"
"What?" Hermione snapped, glaring at the receptionist. Kelly didn't flinch, but merely placed her hand on her hip.
"I've been told to tell you they've just brought Ginny Potter into the birthing unit. She's in labour."
Hermione could hear Ginny before she even pushed through the doors to the birthing unit of the hospital. The staff were in a fluster, not because Ginny was screaming so loudly, but because her husband was Harry Potter.
"I can't believe it's him!" said a young Mid-Healer as Hermione dashed past. She rolled her eyes and hurried as fast as her swollen feet would allow.
She burst through door that was Ginny's designated birthing room and gasped. Ginny was lying on the bed and had Harry by the scruff of his neck, screaming in his face.
"You did this you troll!" yelled Ginny, spit flying everywhere. Harry looked thoroughly confused but let Ginny's shake him. It seemed to be distracting her.
"I'm not letting you touch me again!" Ginny screamed. Hermione got to her side and grabbed her wrist.
"Ginny let him go!" she said forcefully, trying to get her to set Harry free.
After a bit of a struggle, Ginny finally let go of Harry and lay back on the bed, crying. Hermione told Harry to go and get himself a drink of water and come back as soon as possible. When he left the room, she could hear the flustered voices of the Healers commenting on every step he took.
"Ginny you have to calm down, the Mid-Healer will be here in a minute," Hermione said as soothingly as possible. Ginny rubbed at her eyes, trying to get the tears to stop. She snarled something about Harry and Hermione had to put her foot down.
"Your pain right now is not Harry's fault. It took two of you to make this baby and you knew from the beginning the pain you'd have to go through," she said tartly.
Ginny sniffed loudly and turned to look at Harry as he came back into the room. He had smoothed out the collar of his jumper and was holding two glasses of water in his hand. He tentatively approached his wife, handed her the glass and sat down beside her. Ginny held out her free hand and Harry took it in his own. He ran his thumb across her knuckles and smiled gingerly at her.
"I'll check on your Mid-Healer," Hermione said softly as she winked at Harry and left the room.
"Who is dealing with the Potter's?" Hermione asked one of the trainee Mid-Healers who was walking past with a parchment of names. The trainee looked at the parchment, which seemed to be magically updating itself every few minutes and pointed to Ginny's name.
"Mid-Healer Manning." Hermione groaned.
"You have to push Ginny, push!" said Mid-Healer Manning in a firm voice.
Harry was mopping Ginny's forehead with a damp cloth and was urging her to push as hard as she could. Ginny groaned loudly and gave it all she had. Hermione stood by the door to the room and was leaning all her weight against it.
"Let me in, I need to see my baby girl!" yelled Molly from the other side of the door.
"No Molly, the room is at capacity. You have to stay outside. Stop banging and pushing on the door or so help me, I will go against protocol and I will magically seal it shut," Hermione barked through the door.
"Then you leave and I'll take your place," Molly growled from the other side.
"No!" Ginny forced out, managing a quick look at Hermione. Hermione smiled at her and made a motion for her to breathe. Ginny tried to breathe as Harry gripped her hand.
"Ginny asked me to stay with her," Hermione informed the irate witch on the opposite side of the door.
"Molly step away from the door," came the voice of Arthur. Molly snapped something at him and Hermione winced.
"Who would you rather have in there Molly? The best Healing Consultant in the entire hospital, or you? You can barely keep yourself together, how do you think that would affect Ginny?"
Hermione quirked her brow, she didn't think Arthur would have spoken to Molly like that, ever. Not when it came to their children at least. The banging on the door stopped and all was still. Hermione stepped away from the door and went straight to Mid-Healer Manning.
"How're we doing Kendra?" she asked as she put a hand on Ginny's knee.
"We're almost there. Another few good pushed should do it," the Mid-Healer informed her. Hermione grabbed Ginny's chart and scanned down it for more information.
"It hurts!" Ginny moaned as Harry patted her face with the damp cloth. Hermione did one final check of the chart and then went to Ginny's side.
"You're going to have to push soon Ginny, so I'm going to give you what I can in terms of pain relief. You're not allowed much, but hopefully this will help," Hermione explained as she waved her wand over Ginny's body. She could see Ginny's shoulders relax ever so slightly, so she knew her charm must have had some effect.
"Here we go Ginny, we're going to try and make it all the way. Push!" instructed Healer Manning.
Hermione poked her head around the door and looked around the corridor. Molly and Arthur were sitting just beside the door and jerked their heads up at her. Molly's eyes were glassy and Arthur's cheeks were red. She gave them her best smile and ushered them into the room.
Ginny sat up in the bed, a sleepy, yet happy smile on her face. In her arms was wrapped a tiny baby. Harry stood over her, looking down into the face of his first-born child. He couldn't have been any happier even if he tried. Molly gave a small cry and raised her hands to her mouth as she walked slowly to the bed.
"Mum, dad, I'd like you to meet James," Ginny said proudly as she peeled the blanket back from the face of her son.
Hermione smiled to herself as she left the new family in peace. She'd already had her chance to see and hold James already, but she didn't want Molly to know that. She had told Ginny that she would go home for a while, rest and then come back to see her. As she left the room two identical wizards came running down the hall.
"Hermione, did we miss it? Is the baby here?" George asked breathlessly as he and Fred came to a halt in front of her.
"The baby is here, go in and find out if you have a niece, or a nephew," she said as she held open the door for them. They gave her quick hugs before they entered the room and as Hermione let the door close she couldn't help but chuckle at the twins awed reactions to the baby.
She walked towards her office again to collect her bag, which she had abandoned when she'd found out Ginny was in labour. She couldn't believe that had been six hours ago. Ginny had been a real trooper and in the end hadn't taken as much pain relief as her early shouting suggested she would require. Hermione rubbed her own stomach and found her thoughts drifting to Charlie again.
"Healer Granger, Healer Granger!" shouted a trainee healer as they ran up to her. Startled, Hermione asked the healer what the problem was.
"We've just had correspondence from an outside hospital. They're transferring over a wizard who was in a serious incident with a dragon," the trainee told her. Initially nothing triggered with Hermione and she enquired more into the situation.
"The incident happened yesterday. He was inspecting a sedated dragon and was hit by the dragon's leg. He was taken to the local hospital but they don't have the expertise. The wizard is from England so they asked to transfer him here."
A light started to flicker on in Hermione's mind. A man badly injured by a dragon, and the local, outside hospital was unable to deal with it. He was originally from England and so was being transferred to St. Mungo's. The incident happened yesterday. Her heart dropped and her mind scrambled.
"What is this wizard's name?" she asked hurriedly, grabbing the trainee by the overcoat. The trainee froze at her sudden reaction and stammered.
"C-Charlie W-w-Weasley," the frightened trainee said. Hermione let go of their coat and sprinted towards the emergency arrivals station.
The area was in a panic. Healers and trainees ran about everywhere. This was the nature of the emergency arrivals station. People came to this station via an emergency, medical portkey. These portkeys were different to regular portkeys, which jostled you about during the journey. A medical portkey had special charms placed upon it so that a person could be transported safely, without the risk of further damage to their health.
Hermione scanned her surroundings as the trainee who had been sent to get her, skidded to a halt by her side. Hermione quickly glanced at the trainee's name.
"Holly, what is the estimated time of arrival?" she barked, startling the trainee healer again.
"Two minutes," Holly informed her as she clutched on to her clipboard.
"Tell me more," she hissed as she pushed past people who got in her way. Holly trotted to keep up with her as they got closer to the arrival bay.
"Sever fractures to his ribs, pelvis and spine. One of the dragon's claws punctured his shoulder. The claws were poisonous and the antidote hasn't completely cured it. The fractures in the pelvis and ribs were healed however the spine has been difficult." Hermione gave short, sharp nods as she processed Holly's information. Somehow her mind had become clear and focused, even if her heart and stomach were telling her to cry and panic.
"Holly, the wizard arriving here has family in the hospital, in the birthing unit. You only inform the family of his arrival when I tell you, do you understand?" Hermione asked Holly sternly. Holly nodded her head and then jerked her head towards the arrivals bay. A portkey had just arrived.
Charlie was in bad shape, however not as bad as he could have been. Hermione examined every inch of him and waved her wand over the already healed ribs and pelvis. Charlie moaned and moved his head, but Hermione was quick to charm him back into sedation. She couldn't have him moving now and potentially doing even more damage. Her heart hammered in her chest as she looked up at the team around her.
"We need to heal his spinal column. He has fractured the T1 to T7 vertebrae and has fractures on the L4 and L5. The poison of the dragon's claw is what is preventing us from doing this quickly. It seems to be having a nulling effect on our charms. The ribs and pelvis were easy to do, but the more complicated bones in the spine require precision and slow work. The slow work means the nulling effect of the poison kicks in and stops us."
The team of healers around her nodded their heads and made notes on their clipboards. Holly was standing close to Charlie's head, and Hermione turned to her.
"Holly, I need you to keep him under sedation. Any unwanted movement could result paralysis, which would be much more difficult to heal. We need to avoid this," Hermione instructed authoritatively. She then turned her head to another qualified Healer.
"Healer Piper, go to the Pharma-Healers and get every antidote they have. Show them the antidote used by the other hospital and they can help you get more potions that might be able to assist it."
Healer Piper nodded her head and hurried out of the room. A trainee follower her muttering something about helping her transport the potions. Hermione turned back to Charlie and a thought popped into her head. She turned to another Healer.
"Healer Smyth, I need you to run interference for me," Hermione said in rather hushed tone. The Healer looked at her as if she'd just gone mad. She glowered at him.
"This wizard's family are in the hospital. His sister has just had a baby. It's a happy time for them at the moment and I don't want anything to make them worry. However, the reserve may have tried to contact his family to let them know the situation. I need you to make sure that if any other Weasley family member appears in this hospital they go to the birthing unit and the birthing unit only. If they ask about Charlie, you tell them Hermione has it under control," she said heatedly. The Healer furrowed his brow at her.
"Do you know this man Hermione?" Healer Smyth asked perplexedly.
"This is the father of my child Jason, now move!"
Hermione bit her lip as she waved her wand up and down Charlie's mid-section. Sweat tricked down her brow and onto her cheek. This was painstaking work, but she had to do this. Charlie needed to be healed, and only she could do it. She wouldn't allow anyone else to touch him, unless she instructed them to. Holly held her wand to Charlie's head, keeping him sedated.
"I've made another antidote," Healer Piper said as she brought another potion to the bed. Beside Hermione lay the empty containers of all of the other antidote potions they had tried to combat the nulling effect of the dragon's poison. So far nothing had worked.
"Give it to him," Hermione instructed, never breaking her focus as she hovered her wand over his body. The baby moved inside her and kicked somewhere that made the need to use the bathroom. She frowned and ignored the sensation.
"Do you think it's working now?" Healer Piper asked as she set down the empty flask. Hermione stopped what she was doing and waited for a minute.
After one tense minute had passed, Hermione held her wand over Charlie again and resumed her charm. The bones were exactly as she had left them, starting to heal. She hissed with happiness and looked up at Healer Piper.
"We cracked it. Make that exact same potion again using the exact same things I told you. Get a trainee to get you more ingredients if you need them," she said triumphantly. Charlie's bones were finally starting to heal, and the poison from the dragon would soon be cured. A commotion outside of the room alerted Hermione to the presence of people she didn't want.
"Please, you have to stay outside!" Healer Smyth said strongly as he tried to keep the people from forcing their way into the room. Nothing could hold them back and suddenly Ron and Bill erupted into the room.
"Charlie!" they both shouted, running towards the bed. Hermione snapped the fingers on her free hand and two trainee Healers stunned the two wizards.
As the trainee's put Ron and Bill into more comfortable positions, Hermione cleared her throat, which made them come to her side. They looked at her expectantly.
"Those two have partners, who will undoubtedly know about this. Healer Smyth will only be able to do so much before they manage to tell the rest of the family. You're with him now as he will need all the support he can get. Don't let anyone else into this room," Hermione told them. They nodded their heads and quickly left the room and took off with Healer Smyth.
Healer Piper appeared at Hermione's side with more antidote and as she administered it to Charlie she glanced at the Healing Consultant. Hermione could sense her gaze on her and rolled her eyes.
"What?" she asked in a resigned fashion.
"Is this man really the father of your baby?" the witch asked with a wry smile. Hermione rolled her eyes once again and nodded her head.
"Is this not killing you?" the Healer asked as she walked back to get more potion. Hermione paused for a fraction of a second and then resumed her methodical work.
"I honestly don't know how I'm keeping it together right now," Hermione said, keeping her wand hand steady and her charm flowing into him. She could tell the bones were healing up nicely now, and she knew he was going to be fine.
"The logical, healer part of your brain must have shut down the emotional part," laughed the other witch as she returned with the potion.
"It must have," Hermione replied seriously.
An hour had passed since they had started to administer the correct antidote to Charlie. Hermione was exhausted but she was nearly finished her work on Charlie's spine. The last bone was just about to heal. She looked to Holly who still had her wand on Charlie's head. The poor trainee had had to sit down, and swap hands several times. She was exhausted too. Healer Piper was also at the end of her rope, but was smiling at their success.
"I think you can remove your wand now Holly," Hermione informed the exhausted trainee. Holly sighed with relief and dropped her arm. She cradled it close to her and sat back in her chair.
"He's had enough sedation for one day. You can now inform his family. I also think you should go home early," she told the trainee with a smile. Holly thanked her and made to leave the room.
"What about those two?" Healer Piper asked as she pointed to Bill and Ron, who were still stunned in the corner of the room.
"Could you rouse them before leaving the room?" Hermione asked tiredly. She removed her wand and rubbed her elbow. She then raised it again and performed a quick, complicated flick and watched her clipboard. When the data appeared, she smiled happily and let her shoulders drop.
"He's healed," she said finally, placing her hand on top of his. As soon as her skin touched his, tears sprung to her eyes, and the fear that she had been denying since she found out he had been injured, came surging to the forefront of her mind.
A hand rested gently on her shoulder and she looked up at Healer Piper. The other woman smiled at her and handed her a tissue. Hermione took it gratefully and wiped her eyes.
"He's healed. You healed him. There' no point in crying now, you've nothing to cry about. You fixed it," Healer Piper told the emotional Consultant. Hermione smiled weakly and looked back at Charlie. She could see his eyes starting to twitch, a sign that he was coming out of his sedation.
Healer Piper left the room, not before awakening Ron and Bill from their stunned states. The two wizards rubbed their eyes and tried to focus on the room they were in. They saw Hermione sitting next to Charlie's bed, his hand in hers. Bill was the first to rise and make it to the bed. He looked panicked and a little disheveled. He turned to Hermione, expecting an answer.
"He's going to be fine. I fixed it," she murmured.
"Oh thank Merlin," Bill said with a gasp, placing a fist to his mouth. Ron muttered the same thing from his position on the ground as he tried to get up.
Hermione watched as Charlie's eyes flicked behind their closed lids. He'd been under sedation for a long time. She hoped it wouldn't have any lasting effects on him, even though she knew medically that was impossible. Simple sedation was perfectly safe. A small groan escaped his lips and Hermione squeezed his hand a little tighter. Bill and Ron leaned in closer to their brother, identical looks of worry on their faces.
"Hermione?" Charlie whispered, his eyes still closed.
"I'm here Charlie, I'm right here," she whispered back to him. She leaned in and stroked some hair off his forehead.
Charlie's eyes wavered open. His whole body felt like a lead weight. His vision was blurry and as he tried to focus, he found a face coming into view. He took in the shape of her face, the tint of her cheeks, the length of her eyelashes and the curve of her mouth. He tried to raise a hand to touch her cheek but he couldn't. He tried to smile and found that at least he could do that.
"Hi," he said weakly. Hermione let out a sob and leaned in and kissed him.
A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter was a little all over the place! Let me know what you thought in a review :)