A/N- Surprise! I know everyone was angry with me over the cliff hanger so here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter Nineteen: Hitting Home
Harry and Ron were amazed at the sight before them when they apparated to the outside of the hospital. Hundreds of people were outside on the lawn and down the street. Amongst them all were healers, nurses, interns, and assistants trying to help who they could. Harry scanned the area for Lily but couldn't see her anywhere. Ron spotted a fellow auror.
"Has the fighting stopped?" Ron asked.
"We think most of them got the heck out of here when we started showing up," the young auror explained. "The only ones left are either dead or injured badly."
"Have you seen my son, Jack Weasley?"
"Weasley…he's inside," the man said pointing to the doors. "Just in front with O'Connor and some others."
"And Lily Potter," Harry said loudly when he started to walk away. "Have you seen her?"
"No, I'm afraid I haven't," the auror called over his shoulder as he ran off.
"We'll find her, Harry," Ron assured as they took the stairs two or three at the time to reach the doors. They went through the doors to find the inside of the hospital in worse shape than the outside. The place was in shambles. They looked around and found Jack huddled in a group looking at what appeared to be hospital blue prints.
"Jack!" Ron called as they hurried over.
"I figured they'd call you," Jack said looking up at the two of them. "We think all of them are gone, or at least the ones that could get away. We've searched the whole hospital already and found nothing but bodies."
"Have you seen Lily?" Harry asked frantically.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked, now giving them his undivided attention. "She's supposed to be at Hogwarts!"
"She got called here just when all this was starting," Ron explained quickly.
"They called her here!" Jack exclaimed turning around to one of the hospital's administrators who was in their group.
"Its policy," the administrator explained, "Letters automatically go out when there is a crisis."
"Well congratulations, you may have only succeeded in getting more people killed," Jack said accusingly. He then turned to Dennis, "I have to go find her. I'll come back to help with all this when I know she's okay."
Dennis nodded, "Yeah go. We're okay here for the time being."
Harry, Ron, and Jack set off down the hall. They searched all the rooms in the emergency department one by one. The hospital had been changed dramatically since Harry had been here with Mr. Weasley in his fifth year. It had been partially destroyed during the war and had to be re-built.
"She might be helping out on one of the floors upstairs," Jack said when they found nothing. "They're starting to take the wounded up there."
"Let's check it out," Ron said leading the way up the stairs.
When they got up to the second floor it became clear that most of the fighting had happened on the first floor because everything upstairs was just as clean and sterile looking as it always was. They searched the first three floors and found nothing.
"She could be outside," Ron suggested as they climbed to the next floor.
"I looked for her out there when we came in," Harry responded. "She's not out there."
"You could have missed her, Harry, there were a lot of people out there," Ron reminded him.
They got to the next floor and went to the nurses' station. Everyone was running around trying to handle all the injured people that kept coming in. Jack found a nurse dressed in the traditional green scrubs and got her attention.
"Excuse me, we're looking for Lily Potter," he said clearly.
The nurse looked behind her at the board and muttered, "Room 403," before hurrying away again.
The three of them set off in the direction of room 403 with new determination. They found the room and Jack walked through the closed door without knocking. Harry and Ron followed. There were a number of people in the room crowding around the bed.
"You can't be in here," an assistant yelled at them impatiently. "You'll have to wait outside."
"No, I'm looking for Lily Potter. She's a healer intern," Jack said, fighting when the healer tried to push them back outside.
"Well she's not today," the assistant said smartly. "She's a patient."
"What!" Jack and Harry both exclaimed in unison. They looked back to the bed just in time to see a part in the crowd and catch a glimpse of Lily's ashen white face.
"You have to wait outside," the assistant said pushing them back.
"That's my fiancée! I have to know if she's alright!" Jack said trying to push forward.
"A healer will come speak with you when they're done," the assistant told them as she finally pushed them into the hallway and shut the door. The three of them stood there in disbelief for a few seconds.
"Oh Merlin," Jack mumbled, leaning heavily against the wall. "Why did she come here?"
"She just got a letter that said something had come up and she left," Ron said, leaving out the argument she had with Harry on her way out.
"They never should have called people back here to this!" Jack protested angrily.
"We can't do anything about that now, Jack," Ron told his son taking him by the shoulders. "Lily is going to pull through. You both have been through worse than this."
Harry stood and watched them both, unable to think of anything accept what was going on behind that door. The door opened and a man in white floor length healer robes immerged.
"Who's Jack?" The healer asked the three of them.
"I am," Jack answered quickly stepping forward.
"I'm Healer Brisko," the healer said holding his hand out to shake Jack's. "Would you mind coming in here with me? She keeps calling out your name. I think she's a little frightened and it might help if there is someone familiar there with her."
"What's wrong with her?" Jack asked after looking at Harry's worried expression.
"She's going to be fine," the healer said somewhat grimly. "She got hit with the Cruciatus Curse a number of times in a short time span. I found her downstairs in an exam room. It looked like she'd been engaging with some of those Death Eaters."
"So everything's fine?" Jack asked just to be sure. "She's going to be alright? No lasting damage?"
The healer looked at Jack with great sympathy in his eyes. He took a step forward and put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I'm sorry son, but we weren't able to save the baby."
Jack looked at the healer blankly. Had he heard him right? Baby? The world around him seemed to stop turning on its axis. He took several deep breaths but no matter what he did he couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs.
"Lily was pregnant?" Harry asked in disbelief. Ron had gone to his son and was trying to comfort him. But Jack didn't seem to notice his presence by his side.
"Yes," the healer confirmed. "I'm sorry…I thought you knew." He looked at Jack who looked up at him. He shook his head but said nothing.
"Do you know how far along she was?" Harry asked.
"Not very far. Only far enough where she would have been experiencing mild symptoms."
A nurse poked her head out of the door. "Sir, you'd better get one of them in here."
The healer looked to Jack but Jack wasn't really all that with it. Jack looked to Harry and shook his head. "Harry, I…ah…I don't think I can…"
"It's okay," Harry said putting a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I'll go. You come in when you've got yourself together."
The healer led the way and soon Harry found himself back in the small examination room. There were still two nurses and an assistant standing around the bed but things seemed to be less frantic than they had a few minutes ago. The healer took hold of Harry's arm and pulled him to stand on Lily's right side.
Looking down at her the first thing that he noticed was how off color she was. Her skin was almost transparent. She had some small scratches on her face and hands. Someone must have put her in a hospital gown because her healer uniform was gone.
"She's been sedated," Healer Brisko said behind him. "She'll probably wake up in a little while. Now don't be alarmed if she isn't all together when she wakes up. She might come in and out of consciousness for a while until the potions wear off."
Harry nodded and took her hand in his own. He'd never noticed how small her hands were in comparison to his.
The healer continued, "She's going to be weak for a while because of the curse. When someone his under the Cruciatus Curse for so long we worry about muscle deterioration. I think she will be in the clear in a few days though."
Harry found is voice finally and spoke softly, "Did she know…about the baby?"
"Yes," the healer confirmed, "She told me that she was pregnant when I was able to bring her around up once I got her up here."
"And…does she know that the baby didn't make it?" Harry asked, not even bothering to fight his tears.
Healer Brisko looked at him grimly, "Mr. Potter you're daughter has been training to be a healer for almost two years. She knows that a baby just doesn't stand a chance against the Cruciatus Curse."
"And are there any…lasting damage?"
"No, she should have no problem becoming pregnant in the future."
"Did she say anything? When she was awake…did she say…" he couldn't finish his thought. He didn't really know what he was hoping she'd said.
The healer nodded, "She asked for Jack several times. When I told her he wasn't here she asked me to tell him that she was sorry."
All Harry could do was look at her. He didn't ask anymore questions. He didn't even look up at the healer. He just held on to his daughters hand and stared at her. He'd been so stupid not to see it himself. She'd asked him how he'd reacted when Melissa told him she was pregnant. And then the way she acted today with Ginny…it had been right in front of his face all along. She'd been suffering in silence before his very eyes and he hadn't even known.
"Is there anyone else I can notify?" The healer asked.
"My wife, Ginny Potter," Harry told the man. "And Lily's godmother, Hermione Weasley. They're both at Hogwarts waiting for news."
"I'll send an owl along to them. I have to go and help out the other patients that are coming in. I'll try to come back and check on her later. I am truly sorry, Mr. Potter."
"Thank you," Harry managed to whisper.
"Jack, talk to me," Ron asked cautiously looking at his son after Harry disappeared behind the door.
Jack was pacing the hallway muttering, "Pregnant…she was pregnant…Oh God." This is all my fault, he thought to himself. I should never have…
"Son, you need to calm down," Ron advised. "Lily's going to need you and you're not going to be any help to her if you loose your cool."
Jack thought back to a few hours earlier and realization rolled over him like a tidal wave. "She tried to tell me. Today…she was trying to tell me something but then Dennis came and I had to leave. Why didn't I just stay with her! If I had I would have gone with her to the hospital and none of this would have happened."
"You can't worry about what might have been. You have to focus on what is."
"I can't do this," Jack said to himself. He turned back and started walking down the hall. Ron stood in disbelief for a second before he went after him.
"Jack! Don't walk away! Come back! She wants to see you!"
"They need me downstairs," Jack said over his shoulder. They had not made it all the way to the stairs and Jack raced down the flights.
"Lily needs you here now!" Ron yelled.
Jack turned around on the stairs to look up at his father. "Dad, I…I just need some time to process all this. Tell Lily I'll be back in a bit when things settle down."
"What is so important that you have to rush off down there?" Ron asked pointedly.
"People are hurt!"
Ron's voice sank back down to normal volume as he asked simply, "And are those people more important than the woman you love?"
Jack looked at him for a long minute and for a fraction of a second Ron thought he'd gotten through to him. But just as the expression was there it was gone. Jack's face hardened and he turned away continuing down the stairs.
"This is a mistake, Jack!" Ron yelled though he did not follow. "You're going to beat yourself up for this later!" His words fell on deaf ears. Jack was already gone.
"Harry, what happened?" Ginny asked as she and Hermione rushed into Lily's hospital room.
Harry struggled with how to tell them this, "She…was fighting some Death Eaters and she…"
Ginny took hold of his hand, the one that wasn't still clasped to Lily's. "It's okay, love. Just tell us what happened."
Harry took a deep breath and let it go. "She had a miscarriage."
Ginny and Hermione both gasped. Hermione walked around the bed and took hold of Lily's other hand. "Did you know she was pregnant?"
"No, Jack didn't either," Harry added because he knew that would be her next question.
"But where is Jack? I expected him to be in here?" Hermione stated.
"I left him with Ron outside."
"Neither of them are out there now," Ginny said.
Just then Ron walked into the room. He wore a gloomy expression and shook his head. "He's not taking this too well."
"Where is he?" Hermione asked, not leaving Lily's side.
"He's downstairs helping them out," Ron told her.
"He should be here," Hermione declared. "Has she asked for him?" She asked Harry.
"The healer said so," Harry confirmed. "She's been asleep the whole time I've been here."
"Maybe I should go talk to him," Hermione suggested.
"Give him some time," Ginny advised.
"If she wakes up and he's not here…what is she going to think?" Hermione asked, sending Lily a worried look.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Harry said softly.
They all looked down at Lily who was now moving her head from side to side and mumbling as if she was in some kind of dream. They all looked at each other; apparently the time was now to deal with Jack's absence. Harry leaned closer to hear what she was saying.
"Jack," she said faintly.
"Lily, honey, you're going to be alright," Harry assured her, brushing the hair off her face.
Her eyes remained close, probably because she was took weak to open them, but it became apparent that she in some semi-conscious state.
"Jack," she repeated, this time somewhat louder.
"It's Dad, sweetheart," Harry said leaning closer.
"Daddy…"
"Yes, I'm right here."
"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said miserably. A tear escaped the corner of her eye, breaking her father's heart in the process.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for," he told her. "Do you hear me, nothing."
"Are they okay?" Lily asked. She finally opened her eyes a bit but had to squint against the light.
"Who?" Harry asked in confusion.
"The people downstairs…I was trying to get them…out. In the room. There was some hospital staff. The Death Eaters had them trapped."
"I don't know, but I'll find out. You just go back to sleep."
"Where's Jack?" She asked looking around.
"He's…," Harry looked at Ron who was looking down at Lily regrettably. "He's just downstairs helping out."
"Does he know?" She asked, tears filling her eyes.
Harry nodded, "The healer told us outside."
"He hates me doesn't he," she stated. More tears rolled from her sad green eyes and onto the pillow beneath her head. Harry and Ron exchanged looks. Ron shook his head looking disgusted.
"He doesn't hate you," Hermione soothed quickly. "He could never hate you."
"He should," Lily whispered. "This is all my…"
Her eyes slid shut and they all waited for her to finish what she had been saying for a few seconds but it became clear that she'd slipped into unconsciousness again.
Ron's face hardened and he met Harry's eyes once more. "I'm going to go find him. He should be here."
"Don't be too hard on him," Harry cautioned.
This time it was Hermione and Ron who's eyes met. The look they exchanged was something Harry had never seen before. Such pain and suffering which he'd never known.
"I won't be," Ron said as he left the room quickly.
Hermione looked at Harry's confused face and figured she should explain. "I had a miscarriage before Ron and I got married."
Harry could have guessed that much by the look on their faces. "When?" He asked.
"It was towards the end of the war," Hermione remembered. "I was about as old as Lily is now."
"I never knew," Harry stated in shock. Surely he would have known something that important.
"I was so ashamed I made Ron promise me that he would tell anyone, even you. We were both pretty broken up about it."
"I'm sorry," Harry said honestly.
"It's okay." Hermione hurriedly wiped a tear from her cheek. "It was a long time ago."
For the first time since arriving, Ginny spoke up. "I'm sorry too, Harry. I should have known something was wrong when Lily came to check me over."
Harry let go of her hand and pulled her closer to his side by wrapping his arm around her waist. "This isn't your fault, love. I'm the one that should have seen it in her face when we had that argument in the hallway."
"What argument?" Hermione asked. "Why was Lily checking you over, Ginny? Are you ill?"
"You didn't tell her?" Harry asked in amazement.
"I thought you would want to tell her together," Ginny said, looking down at Lily sadly.
"Tell me what?" Hermione asked with a hit of excitement.
Harry took looked down at his daughter. "Not here," he said. He turned and led the way to the door. Once outside he pulled his wife into his arms and turned to his best friend, "Ginny's pregnant," he said with a smile.
Hermione squealed with delight and clapped her hands together. "Oh! I knew it! Ginny was telling me that she wasn't feeling well and I had a feeling! This is wonderful! I'm so happy for you two!" She ran to them and engulfed them in a hug Molly Weasley would have been proud of.
Ron scanned the emergency triage bay looking for his son. There were still people everywhere. Most of the people were aurors or other magical law enforcement. They were gathering evidence apparently. He caught a glimpse of Dennis and hurried over to him.
"Have you seen Jack?" He asked when Dennis looked up at him.
He nodded, "Yeah, he came back a few minutes ago. He looked kind of shaken up. Is everything okay?"
"No, everything is very far from okay," Ron said perhaps with more force than he originally intended. "Do you know where he is now?"
"I told him to go through the rooms in the back to help gather the bodies," Dennis informed him.
"I'm going to have to take him with me," Ron said grimly. "Whether he likes it or not."
"Is Lily okay?" Dennis asked putting the pieces together. "Did something happen to the baby?"
Ron blinked and stared at the man in astonishment. "You knew she was pregnant?"
"Yes," Dennis said uncertainly. "But only by default. I was dueling with her one day last week and she was pretty off. You know how a pregnant woman's magic can go wacky when she's in her first trimester. I told her to go see the healer when we were done because she had some scratches. She came to my office later that day and told me she wouldn't be able to be on active duty for a while."
"And what did you say to that?" Ron asked.
"You people really don't like me, do you," Dennis stated more than asked.
"No, we don't. Now did you take her off active duty or not?"
"Of course I did. She never came out and told me she was pregnant but that's just what I assumed. I've had her working on case files the last few days. Anyway she hasn't really been on active duty since the incident on the island. She's not one hundred percent yet."
"Look, I'm sorry if we're all a little edgy," Ron said, though his voice didn't really sound like he meant it. "I'm going to go find my son."
"Tell Lily she can take as much time off as she needs," Dennis said to Ron's retreating back as he walked away.
Ron spent fifteen minutes looking in every room he could find in the emergency department. Finally he came to the last room at the end of a hallway where he found Jack. He was standing in the middle of the dark room looking around. There were several dead bodies lying around. Some of them were Death Eaters and some were hospital staff.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ron asked harshly.
"This is where the healer said he found her," Jack said in a hollow voice. "He said she was lying over there," he pointed to a spot next to the wall.
Ron walked over and stood next to him. "I know this is hard for you. But you have to think about how Lily feels."
"She didn't even tell me. She knew and she never told me," Jack said bitterly.
"She may have only known for a few days."
"Well then she should have told me right away."
"Jack, I've seen how busy you've been. You've been gone more than she has. You're distant and sometimes cold, even to her. What do you think you would have done?"
Jack turned to face him aggressively. "Are you saying this is my fault?"
"No, I'm only saying that it may not have been easy for her to tell you," Ron said calmly.
"I do a lot of things in my life that aren't easy. Does she think it's easy for me to see her go through all that she goes through day in and day out? No man should see the woman he loves in so much pain!"
"You're right," Ron agreed. "I know this is difficult. And I know that sometimes it's hard to love someone who's constantly in harms way. Do you think it was easy for me to love your mother during the war? Well, it wasn't. It was hard on all of us."
"Then you should know how I feel."
"Merlin knows I've seen Lily hurt more times than I ever care to admit the past few years," Ron said looking Jack in the eye. "But today I saw something I've never seen before, something I never thought I'd see."
"Oh yeah, and what's that?" Jack asked when Ron didn't elaborate immediately.
Ron kept his son's gaze and hardened his face. "I saw you turn your back on her when she needed you the most. I saw you put tears in her eyes. Even if it was for a moment in comparison to everything else, you were the one hurting her today. And the only way you hurt her was by not being there."
"She woke up?" Jack asked, already looking ashamed of himself.
"For a few minutes," Ron confirmed. "You're name was the first word she spoke. She thinks you hate her."
"I don't hate her," Jack said in the most convincing voice he could muster.
"Jack, I know what it feels like to loose a child," Ron admitted solemnly. He ignored the staggered look Jack gave him and went on. "You're mother had a miscarriage during the war. I was about the same age you are now. It was hard but we got through it by sticking together. I can promise you that if you don't come with me now to see the girl you claim to love more than life itself then you're going to loose her."
Jack closed his eyes against the tears that threatened to spill over onto his cheeks. He nodded his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. "What am I supposed to say?"
Ron wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulders and led him to the door. "Just tell her how much you love her. Trust me, that's all she really needs to hear."
Father and Son walked in silence through the many hallways and up the many flights of stairs. Ron never took his arm off Jack's shoulders. He knew the days and weeks ahead would be some of the hardest Jack and Lily would face in their relationship. He remembered how hard it was for him to convince Hermione that the miscarriage wasn't her fault. He also remembered feeling guilty when the thought crossed his mind that perhaps it was better that they waited to bring children into the world until things settled down. Everything was so uncertain at that time. The war was raging and no one really knew what side would win out. He remembered being almost thankful for the miscarriage for a while after the initial shock wore off. It was one less thing he'd have to worry about. In all the years since then, he'd never forgiven himself for being relieved about the miscarriage. He would have loved that child just as he loved Jack and the other boys. He loved being a father.
By now they had rounded the corner and were walking down the hallway that led to Lily's room. Jack's pace slowed down when he saw Harry, Ginny, and Hermione standing outside of her room.
"Is Harry angry with me?" Jack asked.
"No," Ron assured him. "No one is angry with you."
Ginny was the first to turn around and spot Jack and Ron coming down the hallway. She pointed towards them and soon Harry and Hermione turned towards them as well. Hermione's eyes glazed when she saw the look of utter devastation on Jack's face. She walked to meet him and Ron halfway.
"Oh, Jack," she said engulfing him in a hug. Even thought Jack was now a foot taller than his mother he never tired of her warm hugs. He found comfort in them now just as much as he did when he was little. "Everything is going to be alright," she said soothingly.
"How?" Jack asked quietly. "How am I supposed to fix this?"
"It's not about fixing it, son," Ron answered from his side. "It's just about working through the loss together."
Jack nodded and the three of them walked to meet Harry and Ginny together. They all stood in a circle in complete silence for a second or two before Jack addressed Harry once he found his voice.
"Harry…I'm sorry--"
Jack was cut off by Harry raising his hand and shaking his head. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."
Jack followed Harry's eyes to the closed hospital door. "Was she asleep when you left her?"
"Yes," Harry nodded. "But she may not be now. We've been out here a few minutes and the healer said her sedation will be wearing off."
Jack took a deep breath and opened the heavy wooden door. He only held it open far enough to get himself inside before he closed it softly behind him. All the lights in the room had been turned off. The room was now bathed in the subtle glow of the moon shining through the window. He didn't know exactly what time it was, but judging by the position of the moon in the sky it must be very early in the morning.
A noise from the bed drew his attention and he looked to find that Lily was indeed awake. She was curled into a ball on her side facing away from the door. Even over all the noise coming from the hallway he could still hear the faint sounds of her broken sobs. He walked to her quickly, going around the bed so she would see he was there. She had her hands over her face and her hair had fallen over her eyes. She reminded him of a small frightened child curled up in her bed. The sight of her like this broke his heart in two. How could he have possibly left her to deal with this all on her own?
"Lily," he said loud enough for her to hear. He moved the hair out of her swollen eyes and gazed down at her. "I'm here," he assured her lovingly. She finally opened her eyes and looked up at him. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up."
She looked at him blankly for a second, and in that moment he thought she was going to yell at him. But soon more tears clouded her vision and she buried her face in her hands.
"I should be the one apologizing to you," she cried hoarsely. "This is all my fault."
"No, hey, that's not true. This is no one's fault other than the person on the other end of wand that cursed you." She didn't seem to be moved by his comfort as she continued to cry into her hands. "Lily bean, please don't cry. You know I can't stand it when you cry."
She looked up at him once more and her lips almost curled into a smile. "It's been a while since you called me that."
"Too long," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "Move over."
Lily slid over on the bed making enough room for him to get in next to her and lay on his back. Once he was situated he reached out to her and gently pulled her head down to his chest.
"Lily, listen to me," he began as he gently ran his hand up and down her back. "This is not your fault. We're going to get through this. We're going to be okay."
"You mean you don't hate me?" She asked innocently.
"No," he said sounding like the mere idea was absurd. "Nothing you could ever do would ever make me hate you."
"When you weren't here when I woke up…I thought that you…"
"I'm sorry about that, love. I should have been here. I was just shocked and hurt that you didn't tell me before hand."
"I only found out two weeks ago," she informed him. I knew something was wrong because I was so tired and then I missed my period. I tried to tell you so many times but I just…I just couldn't. I should have been more careful and none of this would have happened. I know you don't want children now and I--"
"What makes you think I don't want children now?" He asked cutting her off.
She turned her head to look at him uncertainly, "Well, I just figured…you're young and we aren't married yet and I just thought that you'd want to wait a little while."
"I know we're young. But I also know how much I love you. And having children with you has always been one of my dreams. I really don't care when we start."
"Really?" She asked timidly.
"Yes. I don't want you to ever be afraid to tell me something like that in the future. I know I haven't been the most personable person lately. And I know I'm hard to live with sometimes. I don't want you to ever forget that no matter what happens I will always love you. You will always be the most important thing in my life."
Lily sniffled and leaned up to kiss him briefly on the mouth. "I love you too," she said when she lied her head back down in the center of his chest. She could hear his heart beating beneath her and for a while she just listened to the gentle murmur.
Jack continued rubbing her back with one hand. He took hold of Lily's hand on his chest and used his free hand to intertwine their fingers. He looked down at where their hands rested on his chest and saw her diamond engagement ring sparkle up at him in the moonlight. His parents were right; they'd be fine as long as they remembered that they weren't alone. They had each other. For a few minutes he thought she'd drifted back off to sleep. That is until she spoke up in a voice that indicated she was indeed awake but very tired.
"Jack…"
"Yes, love."
"Will you do something for me?"
"Whatever you want," he replied kissing her forehead and waiting to tell her what it was she wanted him to do.
"Get me out of here," she said flatly.
"Has the healer released you?" He asked warily. He didn't want to take her against medical advice.
"Not really, but there are people hurt worse than me and they're going to need the bed. I just want to go home and get out of this place."
"Where's home?" He joked lightly. "My parents house, your dad's house, Hogwarts…?"
"Home is wherever you are," she said groggily. He could tell by the sound of her voice that she was on the edge of sleep.
"Okay, baby, I'll take you to Hogwarts," he told her sliding out from under her and onto the floor. He helped her sit up in bed and pull back the covers. He could tell her muscles were sore from the curse because she was very weak and he had to help her swing her legs over the edge of the bed. Instead of having her stand up, he hooked one arm under her knees and he placed his other hand on the small of her back so he could hold her up in his arms gracefully.
"You don't have to carry me," she protested lightly, even though her head fell back against his chest and her arm wrapped around his neck.
"No I don't. But, please just let me take care of you."
"Alright," she conceded closing her eyes and giving herself up to his care.
Jack walked to the door and with a small wave of his wrist the door swung open. He saw his parents, Harry and Ginny all standing out in the hallway just as he left them. They all walked forward with questions on their lips when they saw Jack and Lily emerge.
"She wants me to take her home," Jack said simply. No one seemed to have any objections. He looked down at Lily in his arms and saw her eyes were closed and she looked rather peaceful. Other than the obvious, she appeared to have come through the incident with little or no damage. She was just tired.
Jack walked a head of everyone to the nearest apparition point at the end of the hallway. Once he got there, he apparated downstairs to the fireplace connected to the floo network. He heard several loud POPs and looked behind him and turned to see everyone had followed. He and Lily went through the fire first. They arrived in their bedroom at Hogwarts both dusted in soot. They're fireplace in their dorm was connected to the floo because of their work with the auror department. It was sometimes easier to reach them that way.
Jack walked over to the bed and laid her down gently. He heard the arrival of the rest of their audience and turned to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione dusting themselves off. The fire roared to life again and a clearly disoriented Ginny stumbled out. Harry's arms shot out to catch her before she feel to the rug.
"All right there, Gin?" Ron asked holding in his laughter.
"Laugh it up, Weasley," Ginny growled under her breath as hair wiped the ash from her hair.
Ron continued to smile, "Oh Gin, it's only normal. Hermione was worse when she was--" he stopped short and looked to where Jack as sitting on the bed next to Lily.
"Are you pregnant, Aunt Gin?" Jack asked. He wasn't completely dumb when it came to pregnant woman. He remembered his Mum being pregnant with his brothers and he also had a number of aunts. This was why he was so shocked that he could have missed Lily's pregnancy. She must have really hide it well, that or he just wasn't paying very much attention.
Ginny looked at Harry and then nodded. "Yes, Lily just told me today."
"Oh," Jack said looking down at Lily, "Congratulations you two. I'm really happy for you."
Ginny opened his mouth to say something, "Jack--"
But Jack stood up and interrupted whatever she had intended on saying.
"Harry, would you sit with her while I go take a shower?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah sure."
"Thanks, I'll be out in a few," Jack said as he hurried into his bathroom and shut the door behind him.
"This is going to take some time," Hermione assured them when she saw the worried looks on Harry and Ginny's faces. "It will be especially hard for them to see you two have a baby."
"Is there anything we can do to help them?" Ginny asked, taking her husbands hand.
"We just need to keep them busy. The more time they have to sit and think about what happened the longer it will take for them to get over it. We just have to make sure to include them in things. Invite them for dinner, spend weekends with them, that kind of thing," Hermione explained.
"It seems like we should be doing more," Harry said absentmindedly.
This time is was Ron who spoke, "We can't take the pain of this away from them no mater how much we want to. Most of the healing is really up to them."
"Just be there," Hermione reiterated. They all nodded and made a silent promise to help in whatever way they could.