As the woman cradled Harry in her arms, the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance, steadily growing louder. When the paramedics had finally arrived, the woman refused to let go of Harry.
"Ma'am, the only way this man can receive help is if you let him go," one of the paramedics said, politely trying to loosen her grip.
"…I…." the woman continued to weep, unable to explain herself.
"Please, Ma'am…"
After a few minutes, the woman gave in and let the paramedics strap Harry to a backboard. As they lifted Harry into the ambulance, the woman cried out.
"Wait! Can I ride with him to the hospital?"
"Are of any relation or friend?" the paramedic asked.
"Yes, I'm…I'm…his sister…"
"All right, get in," the woman climbed in, took a seat next to Harry and took his hand in hers.
'Don't give in, Harry, stay strong…' she thought to herself, as the paramedic closed the doors.
"Alright, Matt, drive!" she heard the man cry.
The ambulance sprung to life and they were soon on their way.
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When Harry had finally awoken, he noticed a head of bushy, brown hair upon the bed. Harry wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not but he thought he's say something.
"Her-Hermione?" Harry tried to say.
The woman shuddered, woke, and sat up.
"Harry! You're alright!" she cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Hermione?" he asked, looking at her with wide eyes.
The woman glanced down at her appearance and realized that her hood had fallen off while she had been sleeping. She snapped her head back up and her hands flew to her mouth.
"Harry! I'm so sorry, but you know the laws of time travel! I wasn't supposed to say anything and now I blew it!" Hermione wept, turning her head away from him so that he wouldn't see her tears.
Harry lifted a hand and gently cupped her chin, turning her head towards him. She glanced at him then looked down at the floor.
"Hermione, look at me," Harry whispered, watching Hermione's eyes trail up the bed till she met his. "That is not important right now, I could care less, to be honest with you. Right now, I have questions and you have the answers, so you're going to have to cooperate with me, all right?"
Hermione stared at Harry before slowly nodding her head. Harry laid his hand back down and attempted to sit up.
"Urg…" Harry moaned as pain shot through him.
"Harry, be careful, your wounds are not healed yet!" Hermione cried.
"What happened to me…?" Harry asked, but then, the memories from the accident came flooding back to him. "Oh…"
"I can't believe you just threw yourself out there without thinking first…" Hermione said, helping Harry sit up against his pillow.
"You just wanted that little girl to die? I saved her life, doesn't that count for anything?" Harry shouted, glaring at Hermione.
"That's not what I meant, Harry. I'm glad you saved her life, her mother was so thankful...but she was shocked that you just leapt in front of that car to save a complete stranger."
"Is the little girl all right? OH! And what about the lady in the car, what happened to her! Is she all right!"
"Harry, clam down for a moment, please! The little girl had a few minor cuts and bruises…"
"And the other woman?" Harry asked, already dreading the answer.
"She…she died in the E.R. Harry. She died of internal bleeding two days ago…"
Harry's faced dropped when Hermione had finished her sentence but it was quickly replaced with a look of confusion.
"What, two days ago? How long have I been here?" he asked, looking at her in shock.
"A week, Harry."
"A week, but how? I've never been out that long for an injury like this…"
"This is a muggle hospital, Harry; things take a little longer here than they do in the wizarding world."
"A muggle hospital? Why am I here instead of elsewhere?"
"I couldn't just vanish with you in the middle of the street, now, could I? So I had to come here…" Hermione sighed.
Knock, Knock.
"Come in!" Hermione called towards the door.
Harry heard the door squeak open and, a few seconds later, a man rounded the corner, wearing a long white cloak and carrying a clipboard.
"Hello, Harry, how are we feeling today?" he asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs directly across from Harry.
"Good, I guess, but these wounds hurt…" Harry replied.
"They're going to, for a while, until they've completely healed. You're a very lucky man, Harry, you could have died. Saving that little girl was very brave…"
"Thanks, Dr...?" Harry fumbled, realizing he didn't know the man's name.
"Rodriguez, and you're welcome. Now, you're his sister, am I correct?" he asked Hermione, whose cheeks grew bright red.
"Sister?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione with an amused look.
"Are you saying she's not your sister?"
"No, no, no, she's my wife," Harry chuckled, "Who told you she was my sister?"
"She told the paramedics that she was your sister."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble…" Hermione apologized.
"There was no trouble, I was just going to say that Harry is free to go home, but you are to watch what he does. He should probably stay home for another week or so, then you can call and schedule a date to remove the stitches."
"Oh, all right, I'll make sure he stays in the house. Thanks, Dr. Rodriguez, for everything," Hermione mentioned, standing up to give him a handshake.
"You're both welcome," he said, shaking Hermione's hand, "Take care, Harry."
"I will, thanks," he muttered as Hermione helped him up into a standing position.
"Bye!" Dr. Rodriguez shouted as the door closed behind him.
"All right, Harry, let's get you to a healer and quick," Hermione said, before grabbing Harry's arm and vanishing.
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Harry and Hermione appeared a second later inside St. Mungo's waiting room. Hermione stopped and turned to Harry.
"Harry, you're going to have to do this yourself, I can't be seen by these people, it's already bad enough that you saw me…think of something and fast!" she whispered, glancing towards the front desk. "Harry, I'm going to apparate to our house, so that means your going to have to walk on your own."
"What? why? I'll fall over!" Harry cried, trying to be as quiet as he could.
"Then do that, it will get their attention. When you're done meet me back there! I'm letting go now, bye!" and Hermione was gone.
"What!" Harry cried out as he fell to the floor with a loud thud.
"What was that?" Harry heard one of the nurses say. "Look! Oh my god! Claire, go get help!"
Harry heard the sound of feet beginning to move and soon felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He was then lifted off the floor and onto a stretcher. As the nurse steered the stretcher with her wand, Harry heard Kenneth's familiar voice.
"What's going on?" Kenneth demanded, reaching them.
"This man collapsed on the floor just in front of the door! He's bleeding badly also!" she cried.
Kenneth looked down and his eyes opened wide. "Harry?"
All Harry could do was stare up at him as pain slowly swept through his body.
"Quick, get him to the closest room available!" Kenneth shouted, taking the stretcher from the nurse as she darted around looking for an empty room.
"Here!" she cried.
They entered the room with Harry in tow and carefully lifted him onto the bed. Kenneth then dismissed the nurse and proceeded to remove Harry's bloodstained shirt from his body.
"This might hurt a bit, but the pain will recede quickly," Kenneth stated, as a white light emerged from his wand and hit Harry in the torso.
"AHHHHH!" Harry cried out, crushing his eyes closed as shear pain shot through his body.
Harry soon relaxed as the pain faded, gone just as quickly as it had come. Blinking a couple of times, Harry sat up and stared down at his stomach. He was amazed to find that there was not even a scratch left.
"Thanks," Harry said, looking up into Kenneth's worried eyes.
"Harry, what happened? I told you to be careful, don't tell me you did something stupid…"
"Well, heh, you could say that," Harry laughed, scratching his head.
"What do you mean, Harry," he asked.
"Well, there was this little girl and then a car—"
"A car?"
"Yeah, the woman's brakes weren't working so she couldn't stop. The little girl was too frightened to move…and I pushed her out of the way…causing the car to hit me instead," Harry said, showing Kenneth a nervous smile.
"You dove in front of a moving car! Harry, I'm glad you saved the girl's life and all, but that doesn't mean putting yourself in danger to do it!"
"I KNOW!" Harry cried, raising his hands over his head in defense. "HER—"
"Her what, Harry?" Kenneth asked as Harry's hands flew to his mouth.
"Nothing," Harry replied quickly, "I have to be going!"
"Harry, wait!" Kenneth called out as Harry reached the door, "Hermione's getting worse, have you found the items yet?"
"Well, I have the first three, I was sidetracked at the fourth as you can tell," Harry sighed, leaning against the doorframe.
"Well, you'd better get moving then. Oh, I would stop by Hermione's room if I were you, your parents-in-law would love to see you," Kenneth muttered.
"Thanks," Harry said, nodding his head towards Kenneth before leaving the room.
Harry silently thanked Kenneth for his support and headed towards Hermione's room. When Harry arrived, he saw the Grangers sitting in a couple of chairs next to Hermione's sleeping form. Harry tried to hold back tears as he lifted his hand and knocked.
The sound startled the Grangers and when they went to look up; Harry could see relief spread threw them. Jane jumped to her feet and ran towards Harry who opened his arms for her.
"Oh, Harry, I'm so glad to see you!" she cried.
"How's she doing?" Harry asked, as Jane led him over to the bed.
"The doctor said she's getting worse…she's losing time…"
"I know, I got a little sidetracked, if that's what you call it," Harry muttered.
"Why are you here, Harry? No offense, but I thought you were out looking for the herbs…" Mr. Granger asked.
"Well, let's just say that I was being the hero that I am, and got wounded…"
"Wounded? How?" Jane asked, a worried expression upon her face.
Harry sighed and for the second time that day he retold them what had happened. When he'd finished, he found that Jane had sat down and was now holding her hand to her mouth in shock.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"I'm fine now, thanks to an American muggle doctor and Dr. Valenheart," Harry said, running a finger across Hermione's cheek. "But I think I'll get going, there's no time to waste…"
"You're right," Mr. Granger said, "Just promise us you'll be more careful?"
"I promise," Harry said, giving each of them a hug, "See you all later!"
"Bye, Harry, we love you!" Jane called.
"Thanks, I love you guys, too," Harry said and disappeared with a crack.
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Harry reappeared inside his living room and called out for Hermione.
"Hermione!"
"In here, Harry!" she called from the kitchen.
Harry walked through the door and saw Hermione seated at the table. As he looked at her, he felt tears run down his cheeks.
"Harry?"
"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled, sitting in a chair across for her, it's just weird seeing you lying in the hospital bed and then seeing you alive and well right in front of me."
"Oh, Harry," Hermione cried, moving to Harry and wrapping her arms around his chest.
Harry leaned against her and breathed in her scent. Harry stayed like that for a few moments before he spoke.
"Why did you come to past? I mean, how did you know where I was?"
"Harry, you told me everything, like you always do, though I pried this one out of you…"
"I told you?"
"Or you will tell me, if that sounds better," she said, laughing.
"Just a little, but is their anything that prompted you to help me?"
"Harry James Potter! You know I can't tell you everything!"
"Sorry, but please tell me…"
"Harry…"
"Please?"
Hermione signed as Harry lifted her onto his lap. She struggled to fight back the tears that were starting to surface, but she continued.
"Harry, if I hadn't come back to get you, you would have…have…" By this time, Hermione was in tears.
"It's okay, you can say it," Harry said, wiping away her tears and resting his hand on her cheek, which she touched with her own hand.
"You would have died, Harry! There, I said it! You would have died and I didn't want to go on without you with the Bab—" Hermione clapped her hands over mouth, watching as Harry's eyes shot wide open. "Damnit! I said too much!"
Hermione tried to climb off of Harry but he wouldn't let her go.
"Baby? Did you just say baby?" Harry asked, his heart thumping hard against his chest as he waited for her to answer.
Harry brought his hand up and gently placed it across her stomach. He smiled to himself then looked up at Hermione and waited patiently.
"Yes, a baby, Harry, we're going to have the family you've always wanted…" Hermione began to cry again and tried once more to move but was surprised when Harry leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.
"Mmmm!" Hermione mumbled, but soon found herself giving in.
Hermione relaxed and resituated herself so that she was now straddling his hips. She felt his tongue dart out across her bottom lip and moaned, leaning into him. Opening her mouth, she was immediately attacked by Harry's tongue as he deepened the kiss.
After a few minutes they broke from the kiss, breathing slightly heavy. Harry leaned his forehead against hers and looked up into her eyes.
"Hermione…"
"Harry, we should get going, we have very little time…"
"I love you…"
"I love you too…now lets get going," Hermione said as she attempted to get off of Harry. Harry stopped her and gave her one final kiss before finally letting go of her hand.
Harry stood and pushed his chair under the table and sighed.
"Oh, yeah, and when I tell you I'm pregnant, please act surprised!" Hermione added, giggling.
"I will, I promise. Now, we need to go back to Manhattan and retrieve that fourth item before we can do anything else…" Harry mentioned, walking up to stand beside Hermione.
"Well, then, let's get going, the faster we move the more time we have to save…me…"
"All right then, here we go," Harry said, grabbing Hermione's hand as they disappeared.