"You are not doing this."
"You have no voice in the matter."
"You are not doing this!"
"Remus, you have no right to decide what I do or don't do," Hermione said haughtily.
They'd been at it for hours. He just wouldn't see sense.
"I do when you're endangering the life of our child!" He replied, his hands clenching into fists and his voice shaking with anger.
"I have been waiting for months for this investigation to start and I'll be dammed if I let you ruin this!"
"Ruin it? You sound like this is some sort of adventure! When in reality you're hunting for a blood-hungry lunatic, whilst being profoundly pregnant!" he cried incredulously, throwing his hands in the air for dramatic effect.
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her rounded belly. He was right. She was showing a lot more than she had a month ago, but her pregnancy would not stop her from hunting down Malfoy.
"I will be surrounded by many other highly skilled Aurors," she said for what felt like the tenth time.
"I cannot understand why you insist on endangering yourself!"
"I swore I would eliminate Malfoy before our child is born. Surely, you can understand why I want to finish this as swiftly as possible?"
"No, I can't. And I can't because you are being impulsive and irrational. You are blinded by hatred!" Remus retorted, his hands raking through his hair, an obvious sign for agitation.
"Have I not every right to hate Lucius Malfoy?" she exclaimed indignantly.
"Of course you do! But that is no help in such a dangerous matter."
"You are not my father!"
"No, but I am the father of the child growing inside of your fucking uterus!" he shouted.
"How nicely put," she shot back sarcastically.
"Hermione, please, don't do this," he said, his voice much softer than it had been three seconds ago.
"Remus, I have to," she whispered, reaching for his hands.
He took a step away from her, his hands flying to his already tousled hair.
"If you do this..." he threatened weakly.
"Then what? What could happen, Remus?" she said, hating the way she was hurting him.
"Please," he begged, and she could see that tears were forming in his eyes.
She clenched her fists, forcing herself to stay resolute. She had to do this and she was sure that one day he would be able to understand her reasoning. They stood in heated silence, both of them unwilling to step down. She sighed, after what felt like an eternity of stillness.
"I have to go, Remus. I'll be back tonight, I promise," she said, grabbing her denim jacket from the rack.
She'd change into her Auror robes at the office. She hesitated slightly, then with a resigned sigh she headed towards the front door of Grimmauld Place.
"If anything happens to you today, don't you dare come to me for help! I've asked you not to do this and by doing it anyway you are ruining any trust we had in this relationship" he called after her, his voice breaking.
She froze at the door and glared at him.
"Seriously? That's how far you're willing to go?" she hissed, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"You leave me no choice," he replied simply, meeting her gaze with an equally intense stare.
"Fine!" she barked, slamming the door behind her with such force that she was sure she had woken Teddy.
Tears stung her eyes as she strode towards the corner of the street. Harry was going to meet her there and she would have to pull herself together before that. After all, Remus was right, she was dealing with one of the most dangerous wizards alive. A wizard who had nothing to lose.
"Duck!" Harry cried as he blocked yet another killing curse.
Hermione threw herself to the ground, her cheek scraping against the rough stone of the floor.
The location the Auror's had apparated too was an abandoned cottage at the edge of a cliff somewhere in Scotland. At first, it had seemed harmless, but as they kicked the front door down, they were met by a nasty surprise. Ten of Lucius' cronies had ambushed them. Their eyes had a haunting hollow look to them and their faces drooped slightly, a telling sign of the imperious curse.
"Move!" she screamed at Ginny, as a cruciatus curse sped her way.
With a flick of her wand, she disarmed the black-haired woman, a tinge of guilt tugging at her as she watched her fall to the ground, her head landing on the stone with a dull smack.
She looked around wildly, trying to place her next opponent, then,
suddenly she was being hauled to her feet, an arm snaking around her throat. She struggled, but the pressure on her windpipes only increased, so she stopped immediately.
"Hello," her captor spoke, his voice monotone.
She shuddered, and with mounting dread, she realised that she had dropped her wand. It lay motionless a few feet away from her. There was no point in crying for help, seeing as all of her colleagues were busy blocking hexes and curses. They wouldn't hear her anyway.
The arm tightened around her neck, making it increasingly difficult for her to breath. Her vision was fading, stars flashing before her eyes. Then, with one final burst of energy, she tore free from his grip and kneed him in the crotch. He yelled, and fell to the floor, cursing her to infinity and beyond.
"Granger, behind you!" she heard Kingsley yell, causing her to whirl around.
One of the assailants was hurtling towards her, his wand pointed directly at her chest. She dodged to the side just as he was beginning to utter yet another killing curse. He couldn't slow down anymore, and rushed against the wall with such force, that she thought he was going to tear through the wall. Instead, he fell to the floor. Presumably dead.
There was barely any left. Seven of them lay motionless on the floor, and she found herself hoping that they had been hit by nothing worse than a body binding hex.
Ginny was fighting off the one of the three left, eyes narrowed in concentration and red hair flying out behind her. Hermione turned on her feet, just in time to see Agatha fall to the ground, eyes closed and mouth slightly parted.
Don't be dead, she prayed desperately, stepping in front of her colleague's lifeless form. The attacker sneered at her with such venom that Hermione decided she had needed no Imperius curse to do this. Hermione eyed the woman, wand raised, ready to deflect.
"Crucio!" The woman shrieked, eyes wide with insanity.
Hermione blocked the curse with a small flick of her wand.
"Expelliarmus," she shouted, cursing furiously when her spell hit the wall instead of the woman.
She cackled manically, as Hermione tried to regain her focus.
"Stupefy-" Hermione yelled, but just as her incantation was about to hit her opponent, the woman retaliated.
"Protego!"
Hermione was pushed back with such force that her head hit the wall with a sickening thud. She slumped to the floor, wand rolling from her grip once more.
"Immobulus!" she heard Harry bellow, just before she fell into unconsciousness.
She came to a little while later and realised with a jolt that she was hovering in mid-air. As it turned out, that wasn't the case. She was actually being carried. She craned her neck drowsily and a slow smile crept across her face when she realised that she was in Harry's arms.
"Careful, Harry, don't make Ginny jealous," she tried to say, but it came out as a garbled mess.
Harry glanced down at her worriedly and suddenly she was giggling. Something was funny, she just didn't quite know what.
"Shit," Harry breathed, somehow not catching onto her good mood.
"Is she awake?" she heard a female voice ask anxiously.
"Yeah, but she's loopy as fuck," Harry replied.
"She did hit her head pretty hard," a different voice said.
They were moving slowly and the wind that whistled in her ears told her that they were outside. She enjoyed being outside. Fresh air was good.
"Where are we going?" she mumbled, a sense of weightlessness washing over her.
"We're going home," Harry replied, gripping her a little tighter when he realised that her eyes were closing again.
"Home?" she asked breathlessly, finding it increasingly difficult to stay conscious.
"Grimmauld Place," he replied.
Something was wrong. She couldn't go back there. Another small laugh escaped her lips, but her eyes were wide with unease.
"No, I can't," she exclaimed, becoming agitated.
"Stay with me, 'Mione," he murmured urgently, as her arms around his neck began to slacken.
"I can't... Remus," she muttered incoherently.
"Yes, Remus will be there."
"No," she breathed.
Then everything was dark once more.
"Bring her through!"
"Living room?"
"Yes, quickly, Harry," Remus said, his voice surprisingly calm.
Even in her comatose state, she cringed slightly as she remembered the way she had left him that day. He hadn't deserved to be treated that way and he had been right. She had been hurt. Silent tears streamed down her face, as she realised that their child might have been hurt in the process. Her tears, however, could also have come from the splitting headache that plagued her as she came back to her senses. The calming sense that had lapped over her like water just minutes before, had been replaced by a heaviness that seemed to reach every cell of her being. She was gently placed onto a leather couch, and a blanket was immediately pulled over her shivering body.
"How about you and Ginny go next door and make some tea to calm everybody's nerves?" Remus asked softly, but the authoritative undertone left no room for discussion.
Harry muttered something which she didn't quite catch and left the room with Ginny, closing the door behind them with a soft thud. She was alone with Remus and another wave of guilt washed over her. He had been right.
"I'm sorry," she breathed, fresh tears streaming down her face.
"Hush, it's Ok. It's Ok. You're going to be alright," he murmured, stroking her cheek with surprising gentleness.
She had been ready for his anger, his justified anger, and the tenderness in his voice surprised her.
"But it's not ok," she sobbed, a hint of hysteria creeping into her voice.
"Yes, it is," he said, propping her up slightly as he laid a fresh towel beneath her head.
She could feel hot, sticky blood pouring from the wound at the back of her head. It hurt. It hurt like hell.
"Hermione?" he asked quietly.
"Yes?" she replied softly, forcing herself to look him in the eye.
Those beautiful eyes. Blue with flecks of gold and amber. There was no adjective for the shade of his eyes. Hazel didn't even begin to describe the complexity of his irises. His steady gaze would keep her from sinking back into the darkness.
"I'm going to heal the wound, but it's going to hurt. You need to stay nice and still, can you do that for me?"
She nodded, her vision blurring slightly.
"Good," he murmured, pulling a small vial out of his pocket.
So, he just happened to carry a vial of Essence of Dittany with him? She would have laughed if she could.
Holding her gaze, he lifted her head so that he had better access to the back of her head. He brushed her hair to the side and began to pour the liquid onto the wound. She gritted her teeth, whimpering as the fire consumed her.
"You're doing wonderfully, my love."
She cried silently, her hands balling into fists.
"Can you forgive me?" she asked, through clenched teeth.
"There's nothing to forgive."
"I was so stupid. What if I hurt the baby?" she whimpered softly.
Remus didn't reply immediately, instead, he set her head back down, obviously pleased with the work the essence had done. Then he let one of his hands cup her face, his thumb stroking her tears away.
"Go to sleep, Hermione. I'll make an appointment for you at St. Mungo's first thing tomorrow morning."
She leaned into his touch and started to close her eyes when she abruptly remembered that she had one last thing to say.
"I didn't mean all of those things I said to you this morning."
"Neither did I," he replied softly.
"Truce?"
"Truce."
He placed a tender kiss on her cheek, then let himself sag against the sofa, his head resting gently on her thigh. She knew he'd stay there until she woke up again.
"Here's your tea-" Ginny said as she and Harry entered the room once more, a tray with several cups, a plate of biscuits and a teapot balanced in her hands.
But as they walked towards the sofa, they saw that Remus had fallen asleep beside Hermione, both of them breathing evenly, their hands intertwined.
"We should let them sleep," Harry murmured, pulling her sleeve gently.
"I guess," Ginny replied, popping a custard cream into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully.
They left the room as quietly as possible, glancing back at the sleeping couple every few seconds.
"I would not have believed you if you had told me three years ago that Hermione and Remus were going to become an item," Harry said when they were back in the hallway.
"An item? This isn't the 19th century. They're in love," Ginny shot back, swatting his arm playfully.
"But now I know that they were made for each other," he continued, ignoring Ginny's jibe.
A quiet snore from Remus reminded them that they were still in earshot and they retired to the kitchen shortly after.
"To love," Ginny said lifting her mug of tea towards Harry's when they were comfortably seated at the dining table.
"To love."