Hermione brushed a few stray hairs angrily away from her forehead, but they stubbornly fell back into her face. She felt hot and sweaty and more than a little uncomfortable. She had been walking for hours and felt it in every limb. She paused in her forward motion and shrugged the pack off her back.
"You okay?" asked Sirius, secretly relieved that she had finally stopped to rest.
She nodded, not wasting energy on talking and searched her bag for her water bottle. She unscrewed the top and tipped half of its contents down her mouth. When her thirst had been diminished she took a breath and put the water bottle away.
She and Sirius sat together, catching their breath. "What do you say we let James and Lily catch up?" he asked.
"Okay," said Hermione. She had been setting an exhausting pace and was beginning to feel it in her body. They didn't have to wait too long. In a few minutes, James and Lily struggled over the dirt mound and collapsed next to Hermione and Sirius. Lily leaned heavily against her husband and closed her eyes.
"There has to be an easier way," gasped Lily. "We've been traveling for days."
"We're so close, I know we are," replied Hermione.
"I still don't see why we couldn't just fly to the Giant's encampment," said James.
"You know we can't risk being spotted and Voldemort will surely be watching the skies," replied Hermione.
"And there's no way we'd be able to get Hermione back onto a broom," teased Sirius, despite his exhaustion.
"I'd hit you if any of my muscles would cooperate," said Hermione. She took a few deep cleansing breaths and struggled to her feet.
Sirius looked up at her warily. "Hermione, how much longer do you intend to go on?"
"Until we find them," she said stubbornly, adjusting the pack on her pack.
He grabbed her arm and looked her straight in the eye. "We're lost," he said simply.
"No, we're not," she denied.
"We are, Hermione," piped up James. "Sirius and I knew it two hours ago."
"Then we'll find our way," insisted Hermione. She looked at everyone in turn. "I can do this by myself if I have to," she said quietly. She shrugged Sirius off and continued walking.
Lily struggled to her feet and began to follow her.
"Lily, where are you going?" asked James. "Didn't you hear what Sirius and I said?"
"I heard you," she said, slowing, but not stopping. "But I'm going wherever she leads."
"We're walking in circles?" Sirius argued. "We can't just follow her to the end of the earth. We'll never find him that way."
Lily whirled on them both. "Don't you ever say that again," she growled. "She will find him." She looked at her husband, "just like I would find you. Now get off your asses," she demanded, before stomping off after Hermione.
Hermione wasn't too far away. She waited for Lily to catch up. "Thanks," she said once Lily was in view.
"You heard?" asked Lily sheepishly.
Hermione nodded.
"They're scared," said Lily. "I know they hide it well, but…"
"I know they're scared," interrupted Hermione. "It's been three days and we haven't seen a trace of him. I know what they think we're going to find. I know that's why they don't want to go on."
"How are you doing?" asked Lily.
"I'm not thinking about anything but putting one foot in front of the other. I can't," she said, taking a deep breath. "If I do… If I stop…" tears welled up in her eyes.
"Come on you two," said Sirius from behind them. He approached Hermione and took her hand. "We can't stop," he said with a confident smile. Then he pulled her forward.
James took Lily's hand and followed.
For a short time, Hermione allowed Sirius to lead. She clung to his hand and even closed her eyes, knowing he would never let her stumble. The days had been so intense that she hadn't had a chance to stop and collect her thoughts.
After Snape had warned her Remus was in danger, she had immediately gone to her friends. They were all traveling within the hour. They knew their best chance of getting Remus and Hagrid out of there alive was to get to them before Voldemort did.
It was nearly night when suddenly Sirius stopped. Something had triggered his Auror senses and he pulled his wand out and raised it. The others followed quickly, listening and looking intently around them.
"What is it?" James risked whispering.
"I think we're being followed," Sirius replied, whispering so low they almost didn't hear him. "There, to the right," he said motioning almost imperceptibly.
"Stunners," said James, "on three." He raised his fist and counted off silently.
Just before he got to three, Sirius suddenly yelled, "watch out." He shoved Hermione hard and she fell to the floor. In almost the same instance, Hermione was shocked to hear, "Avarda Kedavra!"
Hermione didn't hesitate. She rolled, holding her wand out and tried to get cover. Already James and Sirius were shooting stunners in the direction the spell had come from. Hermione looked frantically, but she couldn't see Lily. Instant panic filled every pore. "Lily," screamed Hermione desperately.
"Hermione, stay down," yelled Sirius sharply, shooting another curse from his wand.
"Where's Lily," she called back. "I can't see her.
"Hermione, I'm here," she answered, breathlessly. "I'm okay."
"Would the two of you shut up," snapped James. "And stay down. Sirius, can you see anything?"
"No," Sirius replied. "You?"
There was a long pause and everyone strained to hear something in the silence. Then, like something out of a nightmare, Hermione felt the point of a wand in the small of her back. "Get up, girl," said the cold voice of Voldemort. "Not again," she groaned inwardly.
"Shit," yelled Sirius. "James." Both boys and Lily were instantly on their feet with their wands drawn. "Let her go, Voldemort," he demanded.
"Two times you've gotten in my way, girl," said Voldemort. "This is the third."
"As long as you keep coming after the people I love I'll keep getting in your way," said Hermione defiantly.
"Hermione, shut up," ordered Sirius.
"Listen to your friend, girl," said Voldemort.
"What do you want, Voldemort?" said James.
"I've already gotten what I came for. You four are just a minor annoyance."
Hermione stiffened. "If you hurt my husband," she began.
"The way I see things, Voldemort," said Sirius, cutting her off. "There are three of us pointing wands at only one of you. Let her go."
"That's brave talk, Black," said Voldemort. "Especially coming from people who know how far into their lives I can reach." He turned to James and Lily. "Your mother and father begged me for their lives," he taunted.
"Liar," growled James. Lily had to grab his arm in order to keep him from launching himself at Voldemort.
"As did your brother, Black," added Voldemort.
"Of that I have no doubt," answered Sirius, without emotion. "And trust us, the day will come when we even the score."
Voldemort ignored Sirius. "Your husband didn't beg," he said in a low voice, close to Hermione's ear. "I didn't give him the chance."
An inhuman rage filled Hermione and she whirled on Voldemort, clawing at his face. What occurred next happened so fast, Hermione wasn't sure how she avoided getting hurt. Someone yelled out, "Stupefy." Then she fell hard to the ground and several more voices yelled various curses. Then from out of nowhere a large tree trunk came hurtling toward Hermione and Voldemort. Hermione threw her arms over her head and screamed.
Then everything was quiet.
Hermione huddled on the ground whimpering. After a few seconds, something touched her shoulder. She reacted violently, swinging out. Her hand came in contact with someone's face and they fell backwards, landing hard on their back.
"Ow," he grunted. "Hermione."
She recognized that voice. She would recognize that voice in a crowd of voices. "Remus," she breathed, scrambling over to him.
"Did you have to hit me?" he groaned.
"He said you were dead," she cried, throwing herself over his body and hugging him.
He grunted when she bounced onto his chest. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"I thought you were dead," she said. She stroked his face and hair. "He said you were dead."
"He's a liar," said Remus. He cupped her face. "I'm right here. Don't cry."
"I can't help it," she sniffed. "I thought I'd lost you."
"You didn't," he assured her. "Now help me up."
"Remus, thank God," said James, coming up to them. "We were so worried." Lily and Sirius were close behind him.
"Where's Voldemort?" asked Remus. "Did he get away?"
James nodded. "I don't think he'll be coming back any time soon. Did you levitate that tree trunk and hurl it at him?" he asked. "That was some pretty impressive magic."
"That wasn't me," said Remus.
"Bloody hell. What are you lot doing out here?"
"Hagrid," gasped Lily.
"You four sure can land in a heap of trouble when you set yer minds to it," said Hagrid.
Remus looked away from his wife long enough to cast angry glares at his two best friends. The adrenaline from the fight had begun to wear off. "Do the two of you have any sense?" he asked.
Sirius grinned and looked at James. "That's thanks for coming all this way to save his butt." Already the quick encounter with Lord Voldemort was beginning to seem like a grand adventure.
James rolled his eyes. "We didn't have a choice. We had to come. Voldemort knew where you were. He was coming to stop you."
"Tell us something we didn't know," replied Remus.
"You knew?" asked Lily.
"Of course we knew," snapped Remus. "We've been hiding out in the woods for days."
"How did you know?" asked Hermione cautiously. She could see he was getting ready to lose his temper.
"That's not important," said Remus. He tucked his wand in his pocket and stood, pulling her up with him. "I seem to remember telling you to stay put and not try anything stupid."
"I had to come," she returned angrily.
"I'm glad you think that," said Remus. "We better hope Voldemort doesn't come back." He looked around the group, clearly aggravated. "Come on," he ordered. "We have to get moving. Every second we waste here adds to our danger. And I don't know about you two," he said addressing James and Sirius. "But I'd like to get all the pregnant women to safety." He took Hermione's wrist and led her forward.
"We're pregnant, not helpless," mumbled Lily, but low enough so Remus couldn't hear her.
"Did you get to the Giants then, Hagrid?" asked James, allowing Remus and Hermione to get a small distance ahead of them, before following.
"We did, not that it did a lot of good," said Hagrid.
"So they wouldn't join our side?" asked Sirius, feeling deflated.
"No," said Hagrid. "But they won't join up with Voldemort either. At least most of them won't."
"Why's that?" asked Lily.
"They're waitin' to see which side wins," replied Hagrid.
Up ahead, Remus and Hermione were walking in silence. She kept shooting glances at his face, but it was tight and clear of emotion. "Remus," she began cautiously.
"You should know that it is taking everything in me not scream at you for doing something so stupid. You could have been killed," said Remus through gritted teeth. "Are you sure you want to continue?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes and wrenched her hand free of his. "Don't take that tone with me, Remus Lupin. I am not a child."
"Well you sure couldn't tell by your actions," he snapped angrily.
"I already told you I had to come."
He laughed, but there was no joy in it. "You always say that."
"What was I suppose to do?" she asked. "Let Voldemort find you and kill you?"
"Better me than you," snapped Remus. "Besides, did it ever occur to you that I could take care of myself?" he asked.
She didn't answer.
"Your job right now is taking care of our child," he said. "Were you even thinking about the baby when you went running headlong into danger? Or Lily? What about your precious Harry?"
His last comment stung, but she wasn't about to let him guilt her. "Of course I thought about the baby. I thought, gee it would be a shame to raise him without a father," she said sarcastically. "I was thinking about our baby a hell of a lot more than you were. You're the one who abandoned us."
"Abandoned you," he yelled. "I didn't abandon you. We talked about this and you agreed…"
"You didn't give me any choice," she yelled back. "What could I do, but agree. Your bags were already packed."
"So you're the only one who gets to risk their life?" he asked. "Why are you constantly throwing yourself down one dangerous path after another? Do you get some kind of thrill out of it?"
"Oh yeah, it's a big thrill dodging curses and saving you all the time."
"If I remember correctly," said Remus. "You're the one who keeps getting captured by Death Eaters and Lord bloody Voldemort."
She rolled her eyes.
"Let's see," he continued. "There was that time at Hogwarts when Voldemort carried you out of Honeydukes."
"After putting a body binding curse on you," she interrupted.
"And then that time at James' house when Voldemort carried you away again."
"If I recall," she said, mimicking his tone. "You ended up in the cell right next to me."
"Don't even get me started," said Remus. "There was the ill conceived adventure to the Department of Mysteries, the secret meetings with Snape, in the middle of God knows where, getting thrown off a broom into a freezing lake, and let's not forget the first month you were here when you tried to take on six Slytherins all by yourself." His voice rose as he said each of the last three words.
"Are you finished?" she asked.
Remus stared at Hermione. Then with a loud suffering sigh his shoulders slumped and he took her into his arms. "You're going to be the death of me, Hermione," he sighed.
"Don't say that," she replied, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's not fair."
"Why couldn't you just stay put like I asked?" he moaned.
"I love you," she replied. "Isn't that enough of a reason."
"I…" he trailed off and pulled away from Hermione. "What was that?" he asked.
"What?" she said breathlessly, looking around. Their argument had gotten pretty loud and they hadn't exactly been paying attention to their surroundings.
Remus was staring at her midsection. "Your stomach moved," he said in shock.
"Oh," she laughed. "That. I'm getting used to it."
His head shot up and he looked into her face. "You're what?"
"Here, give me your hand," she said. She took his hand and placed it on her swollen belly. "There, did you feel it."
He nodded, unable to speak.
"It's the baby, Remus," she explained. "He's moving."
"The baby," he breathed. "Wow."
"I know," she said. "It happened for the first time a few days ago."
He looked into her face and she was surprised to see sadness. "I wish I had been there," he said sadly.
"Me too," she replied, but didn't add anything else.
Remus cupped her face in his hands and kissed her warmly. "Wow," he repeated. He held her close. "I'm sorry, honey."
She nodded. "Me too."
"I'm not going to take anymore away missions," he said. "I don't want to miss any more firsts."
"Thank you," said Hermione, hugging him tightly. "I hate being separated.
Remus put his arm around his wife's shoulders and they continued to walk.
"Are you two finished arguing?" called Sirius from behind them.
Remus and Hermione exchanged sheepish glances.
"Because if you are," continued Sirius. "I think now would be an excellent time to stop for the night."
"No," said Remus. "We should keep moving."
"It's late," insisted Sirius.
"I am tired," said Hermione softly. She wouldn't normally admit it, but now that she was touching Remus and knew he was safe, all the achy muscles and tension from the last few days that she had been keeping at bay were beginning to show themselves.
Remus hugged her closer, silently berating himself for not thinking of his wife. "All right," he answered Sirius. "Let's set up camp."
It was times like this when Hermione absolutely adored being a witch. Within half an hour camp was set up and they were all sitting around a roaring fire eating dinner. A few feet away were tents that revealed a master bedroom sized area, completely furnished, with bathroom facilities inside.
Hermione couldn't let Remus out of her sight. She kept him close through the making of camp and the preparation of dinner. Hermione barely finished dinner, before she was nodding off on hisshoulder.
"We should take shifts," said Remus quietly.
Sirius glanced first at Hermione and then over at his best friend who was lightly snoring open mouthed against his wife. "I'll take the first shift," he volunteered with a smirk.
"Thanks," said Remus. He rubbed Hermione's shoulder gently. "Come on, honey. Let's get some sleep."
She murmured something unintelligible and cuddled closer to him.
He smiled and carefully maneuvered, liftingher in his arms. He carried her into their tent and laid her down on the bed. The sudden softness of the comforter, woke Hermione.
"Where are we?" she asked sleepily, momentarily disoriented.
"We're going to bed," answered Remus softly. He kicked off his own shoes and then undid the lacings on Hermione's tennis shoes. He dropped her shoes to the floor and then unbuttoned her jeans and slowly pulled them down her legs. She half slept, half watched him as he prepared her for bed.
The night was only slightly chilly, but he left her in her T-shirt. He crawled in the bed next to her and she was immediately in his arms. He breathed in the heavenly sent of her hair and his body reacted to her. They hadn't been this close to each other in nearly six weeks and his body ached for her.
One hand roamed idly over her body, remembering all her curves and soft places. As a teenager he would never dream of taking advantage of a half conscious girl, but he wasn't a teenager anymore and she was his wife.
Even in her half sleeping state, she responded to his touch. She sighed and leaned into him, replying with a few tender caresses of her own.
Before he could get truly worked up and would need to wake her, he rested his searching hand on her midsection and fell into a contented sleep, feeling the small fluttering of their child, cocooned inside Hermione.
