Chapter 15: The Problem Period
For the second time in as many months, Hermione found herself walking up confused in the Hospital Wing. This time, however, she did not return slowly, instead leaping out of her bed with a gasp of breath. This proved to be the wrong response when ribbons of pain suddenly lanced across her abdomen.
Her involuntary shout of pain echoed across the room, alerting all of the occupants that she had woken up. Hermione was in so much pain that she didn't notice the three startled heads that poked over the screen surrounding her bed, and instead curled into a feotal position, cradling the damaged area. It was only when the approaching Madame Pomfrey shooed them away that she grew aware of their presence and straightened out so as to look as if she were in less pain than she was.
"Miss Dumbledore! You weren't meant to be able to wake up yet!" Pomfrey tutted and handed Hermione a flask of liquid that she recognised as Dreamless Sleep Potion. Grimacing, Hermione raised herself up to a sitting position and placed it down on her bedside table, much to Pomfrey's displeasure.
"What time is it?" She winced as the words caused more echoes of pain to rip through her, searching around the infirmary for a clock.
"Much too early for you to be awake, young lady!" Was all the reply she got as she took in the large clock above the door that read 7:45, "You are recovering from a cracked rib and some bruising, which will continue to be painful whenever you breathe."
"What? How did I pass out from that? All I did was get pushed over, surely I couldn't have been hurt so much just from that?"
The other woman sucked in a burst of air through her teeth, tutting patronisingly, "It has come to my attention that you are quite smart so I will not bore you with simple physics. The fact of the situation is that you were moving very quickly, and the animal you collided with was also moving very quickly. Therefore you went flying and impacted the floor quite hard, it also didn't help that the animal landed heavily on top of you."
Hermione frowned, and reached for a small mirror on her bedside to see if there were any visible injuries, wincing at the slight movement, "That doesn't explain why I collapsed, surely I would have had so much adrenaline rushing through me that it shouldn't have been possible."
"No. Actually that was a result of you apparently skipping meals and not drinking enough water, or would you like to disagree with my diagnosis?" Pomfrey raised her eyebrow when Hermione began to open her mouth to make up an excuse, "It seems that the sudden exercise and fear of the situation was too much to handle."
Annoyed that she had been defeated by such a pointless reason, she sighed, remembering the wasted hours she had been spending attempting to become an animagus, "I was so busy studying yesterday that I must have forgotten."
"Well see that you take better care of yourself in future then, I have enough to worry about without picking up after children who can't sort themselves out."
After seeing the Nurse at the last Order meeting, Hermione knew that she knew that Hermione was likely no longer just a whining child, so she assumed the woman was just trying to get a rise out of her. Choosing to ignore the bait and instead infuriate her further, Hermione smiled at the matronly woman, "Please can you just give me a pain potion and a pepper up and I'll just get on with my day? After all, you are very busy, so I'll just get out of your hair."
"Of course not, you need bed rest for at least the rest of the day, the majority of which should be unconscious!" Hermione sighed, knowing that it would have likely been no use.
Choosing a different tactic, Hermione leveled her gaze at the older woman and explained in a lowered voice, "You and I both know that if so many students don't appear in classes on the day after the full moon that people are going to notice." This seemed to make the woman pause in shock, allowing Hermione the chance to raise the covers and swing her legs out of bed.
After getting over the shock that Hermione knew about Remus's condition, Promfrey cut in again, "Now there's no need to worry about that, I'm sure the Headmaster will sort it all out," She fussed over Hermione before the witch batted her hands away.
"If you don't help me with the potions, you know that I'll just sneak out and continue with my day without them." Hermione argued with a grin that rivaled the Marauders, sucking in a sharp breath when another stab of pain appeared. "In my time, I found quite a few ways of getting in and out of this room unnoticed over the years." Hermione was not concerned about revealing her time-travelling past with the woman because Dumbledore had added her to the short list of people that knew about it.
Pomfrey looked offended but Hermione could see the beginnings of her resolve crumbling in her eyes, "Were you always such a difficult patient back then? I can't imagine that an unproblematic girl like you would have had to come see me that often in the future?" She replied, her tone heavily laced with sarcasm.
Surprised at the older witch's rare use of humour, Hermione snorted, hiding the dark feeling that took over her as she remembered all of the close calls that Madame Pomfrey would have to address in the other timeline. Seeming to notice the shift in mood, Pomfrey raised a hand to her shoulder and rubbed, "I'll just go get the potions and a jar of Murtlap Essence, you have some nasty bruising my dear."
Hermione breathed out a sigh of relief as she walked off and turned to find a pile of yesterday's clothes, washed and dried at the foot of her bed. Disregarding the command to stay still until she returned, Hermione shuffled forward to get dressed. It was absolute agony, but she forced her lips together whilst listening out to the rest of the room.
"...get some food in you boys, Mr Lupin will be safe healing here for a couple of hours more. As I have just been reminded, you need to work extra hard today to make sure no one notices his absence." The hushed tones of Madame Pomfrey faded and were replaced by the retreating footsteps of people leaving the room. Hermione quickly sat down when she heard fast approaching steps.
The pale green curtains around her bed were sharply pulled to the side and she was left to guiltily smile at the enraged Nurse. "What did I say about moving? I have half a mind to keep you here out of spite, at least that way I can make sure that you are eating and drinking. If you collapse again after I discharge you, people will blame me! Now lie back and raise your shirt."
Hermione did as she was told and gladly gulped the two potions while the bruise paste was applied to her purple and blue abdomen, the fresh bruising mixing with the remnants of Dolohov's curse. It was hard to miss Pomfrey's frown, so Hermione redirected her attention by asking the question that had been bugging her. "How is Remus? Will he recover?"
It had been bothering her for as long as she had seen his body fall on the night before, heartbroken at the thought that her presence in this timeline could have resulted in even more pain for her friends. Pomfrey's voice and touch softened as she put the cap back on pot of salve, "He will be fine eventually, he just needs a few days of rest to recover," her eyes flicked to Hermione's, "He will stay here in secret while we tell everyone else that he has gone to a family member's funeral. I assume I don't need to worry about you revealing his secret?"
"Of course not," Hermione flinched at the vehemence in her tone, "I've known since I was 13 and that man has earned my trust many times over, so I'm not going to betray it now."
Pomfrey smiled, "That's good to hear dear, I'm sure he feels similar towards you considering that he came to your defence even in wolf form."
Hermione blushed at the other woman's tone, incorrectly assuming they had some sort of relationship going on, "Oh that's not…. What I mean to say…. Um… We're just friends."
The woman only patted her hand and helped her to stand, shooing her off towards the door, "Whatever you say, just make sure that you keep coming back every 4 hours for a top up and a check over your condition." Her tone became more stern when she noticed Hermione's grimace return at the movement of her still bruised torso, "If you miss an appointment it is well within my power to drag you back here, and don't worry, my excuse will be much more embarrassing than a tussle with two fully grown werewolves!"
Head full with possible illnesses that the Nurse could pretend she had, Hermione quickly scrambled for the door, briefly glancing at the bed furthest from her, completely encircled by thick curtains.
Pain wasn't the right word to use to describe how she was currently feeling. Sure, it was unpleasant and all encompassing, but it was more of a dulled ache, it only hurt when she moved, spoke, or breathed really. Yes actually; it was absolute agony.
When she had left the Hospital Wing, she was preoccupied with convincing Madame Pomfrey that she was healthy enough to spend the day out of bed. But by the time that she had made it down to breakfast, she had begun to feel the pain all across her torso, spreading outwards to her joints. She could feel it deep in her bones.
Momentarily ignoring the feeling of the bruising, Hermione smiled as she approached the Gryffindor table, sitting down in between both the girls and the boys. The boys in question were quite obviously staring at her in silence, trying to see if she would make a comment about the night before. Determined to act like nothing had happened, she focussed on the girls and sat down, a slight tightening of the jaw was the only sign of pain she exhibited.
"Hey Hermione, I didn't see you this morning, did you drop in for another early morning library session?" Alice said whilst not looking up from her copy of Witch Weekly.
Hermione nodded and reached for the Coco Pops, "Something like tha-"
"Oh no!" Marlene interrupted smiling smugly, "I'm sure she was off canoodling all night with a boy, she didn't even turn up for our run,"
Hermione groaned as this swiftly drew the attention of all of her friends, the girl's all gasped, before Lily flicked her eyes to the boys, noticing what day it was by the absence of Remus. Before they could cut in with their questions, Lily tried to distract them, "I'm sure whatever happened was great but it is none of our business."
"Oh get off your high horse Lils, you're not fooling anyone! We all know that you are as desperate as we are to find out who it is." Alice cut in, smiling gleefully at the chance of gossip.
"Yes who it could be is tricky considering the only boys you tend to hang out with are sat right with us…" Mary mentioned, glancing hesitantly towards the doorway in case Remus decided to join them.
"I wasn't with a boy."
"Oh that's what they all say!" Alice mumbled.
Hermione rolled her eyes before Marlene began naming all of the boys that they had seen Hermione talk to recently, counting them off on her fingers as she went along. "Well there's that Ravenclaw from Charms that you helped with his homework, oh, and Jack Finch who you insulted on Tuesday, he has been trying to catch your attention ever since. Not to mention…"
She ignored her blonde friend while she continued to eat, quickly shooting a look at the Marauders. They were all feigning nonchalance badly, while listening avidly to the conversation.
"Oh my God!" Marlene screeched, causing Hermione to jump and almost dribble milk down her front, "Please don't tell me you were shagging Severus Snape!"
It was this exclamation that caused Hermione to choke on her cereal. As she fought to swallow her mouthful, she hoped that her predicament would cover the red cheeks that had bloomed at the statement. Lily raised a comforting hand to rub her back to soothe her, and Hermione was glad she hadn't patted it because she didn't know if she could stand any more bruises.
"No!" Hermione said, almost too powerfully to be convincing, and was forced to endure the combined smiles of her roommates as they all shared a look.
"Oh come on Hermione, we've all noticed how well you get on in potions," Mary smirked and glanced over to the Slytherin table, "And even I can admit that he's been looking quite good lately now that he's sorted out his hair. I might even ask him what product he's using…"
"I can show you if you'd like," Hermione announced, trying and failing to divert the conversation towards hair care, "I gave him a hand."
Marlene burst into laughter and turned towards her friend, poking her playfully in the ribs, "I'm sure you did!"
The other's chortles at the double entendre were cut short when they noticed Hermione's gasp of pain. Unknowingly, Marlene had poked directly into the fleshy part of Hermione's torso that was currently covered with bruises. Without meaning to Hermione raised her head and clapped eyes with Sirius.
He knew. His piercing eyes regarded the area where she was protecting with her arms before clapping back onto her own. There was absolutely no doubt that he had connected the dots to discover that she remembered last night's events . Furthermore, thanks to the look they were now sharing, it was obvious that she knew about Remus's connection as well, or at least had some suspicions.
Hermione turned back to the girls who were all looking at her with shock, not knowing what could have caused such a vocal reaction. "I got my period." She grimaced and ignored the boys, going with the easiest and most plausible excuse, "That was the reason I wasn't in bed this morning, my cramps are absolute agony today and so I went to Pomfrey to get something to help. Sorry I didn't feel up to running, I'll let you know next time."
She directed the final part of the statement to Marlene who was looking contrite, "No need to apologize girl, I'm exactly the same on my first day, I barely want to leave my bed, let alone run around the Quidditch pitch."
Alice chuckled and contributed, "How you two are able to run every morning is a mystery to me, even when I'm not on my period I would take any other activity over exercise by choice. Sorry we kept pushing Hermione, we shouldn't have embarrassed you like that."
Hermione smiled and pretended to blush, thanks to Ginny and her lack of a filter, she had grown comfortable talking about this sort of stuff at an early age and often used to do it on purpose to make Ron and Harry go red. "You'll need to get over that if you want to join Frank in the auror training program, didn't you say that they made him do a five mile run the other day before breakfast!"
When Alice huffed and grumbled for a second, Hermione thought that she had got away with changing the topic. Unfortunately it seemed that they had come up on an even more embarrassing one, "Have you always had problems with your period Hermione?" Mary asked curiously, casting a hesitant eye towards the boys who had now started up a conversation amongst themselves, although Hermione knew they were likely still listening.
She sighed, realising the can of worms she had just opened and decided to tell them the truth, "They used to be fine, but ever since the attack-" she swallowed deeply, remembering Bellatrix's cackles, "-they have been very irregular; sometimes not coming at all and sometimes sticking around for weeks, it's bloody annoying and always painful."
"What do you mean?" Lily decided to ask the question they had all wanted to know the answer to, not used to being allowed an opening to talk about the circumstances surrounding how Hermione's 'family' had died.
"Well," Hermione began, regretting that she had opened her mouth in the first place as she stared hard at the grain of the table, "The cruciatus curse sort of messes with your internal organs after prolonged use, so it was a bit of a lottery what part of me would be messed up."
Unsurprisingly, the girls had gone silent, but she was bolstered when she felt Lily's warm hand encircle her own and squeeze. She raised her eyes and once again locked eyes with Sirius who had apparently decided to rejoin the conversation at the worst possible time. For some reason, his eyes didn't hold the pity that she expected or that covered everyone else's, instead, it was an unbridled fury that met her.
"So Alice…" James cut in, clearly trying to drag the attention away from Hermione, "...I hear that you are in need of some personal training, may I suggest my good friend and myself?" He gestured between himself and Sirius, "After all, we will undoubtedly all be buddies in the training program next year."
The girl rolled her eyes and began to trade insults with Lily's new boyfriend, "Purrrrlease! You just want to ensure that Lily will be watching to cheer me on when you're showing me how to work out. I would feel used if I didn't desperately need it."
James's attempt at a diversion appeared to have worked considering how they had all begun to joke amongst themselves about the bizarre training sequences that the jokers would no doubt make her perform. Alice groaned as she realised what she had got herself into, whilst Hermione smiled, ignoring the odd looks that Sirius was still shooting her way.
Up next is Chapter 16: Protective Prats