CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Summary: Hermione Granger, one of the brightest minds of her generation, makes a decision that will ultimately change her future plans. At twenty-three, she finds herself moving to a strange town that's a hell-mouth for supernatural beings, pregnant, and in way over her head. And the father of her unborn child? The tall, dark and handsome werewolf, Derek Hale. Rated M for a reason.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon events and characters, they belong to J.K Rowling and the creators of Teen Wolf and MTV. This is purely for entertainment purposes and I am not making a profit from the posting of this. This is set after Season 3, and everything from season 4 onwards doesn't happen; so no deadpool, Beast, Dread Doctors, Wild Hunt or Hunters. Allison still died, Liam will still be appearing, and there is no Kira or Malia. Derek is 22 and Hermione is 23. I'm fudging the time line a bit, too.
Page count: 8
Hermione's eyes fluttered open to bright lights and the distinctive smell of a hospital invading her nose. She blinked several times to get used to the light and turned her head to see a nurse with her back to her.
"Oh, you're awake, how are you feeling?"
Hermione turned her head to the side to see a second nurse stood beside her hospital bed with a pen and clipboard in hand and a kind smile on her face. Hermione thought she looked familiar. There was something about her brown eyes and brown hair that was pulled back into a braid, that she was sure she'd seen her before.
"Confused," Hermione replied, pushing herself until she was sitting up and the kind looking nurse helped her after putting the clipboard down.
"That's understandable," she said kindly. "You were found in the woods by your partner and brought to the hospital, from what we can tell you've fallen and bumped your head. Can you remember what happened?"
Hermione frowned in thought. "I think it was a deer, something must've startled it because it came out of nowhere and almost ran into me, I had to dive out of the way and I must've hit my head during the fall."
If the nurse was surprised by her accent, she didn't show it. Hermione lifted her hand to her head and winced at the sting before dropping her hand to her stomach and her eyes widened.
"There are no outwards signs of anything being wrong," the nurse said softly. "A nurse is retrieving the equipment so we can do an ultrasound and make sure all is well, she'll be back in a few minutes."
"Is Derek here? Can I see him?"
"Of course, I'll just let him know for you," she replied, before she left Hermione alone and she brought both hands up to her rest against her stomach protectively, hoping their baby was alright.
A few minutes later the curtain around her bed was thrown open and a worried looking Derek came into view. She smiled at him and he let out a wolf-like whimper before he crossed over to her, sat on the edge of her bed and carefully pulled her into him, hugging her as tightly as he could without hurting her, pressing his nose against her neck and taking in her scent and his hand slipped to her stomach.
"I'm fine, I promise," she assured him softly, also turning her face into his neck so she could nuzzle at his skin and breathe in his comforting scent.
"I was so worried, I found you unconscious, unresponsive and nearly freezing to death. What the hell happened?" He asked.
"I took Snowball out to see if he could fly," she said, and he'd thought she'd done so. "And he can. When he flew off I made my way back to the cottage but a noise startled me. A deer came out of nowhere and something must've frightened it as it didn't stop when it saw me so I had to jump out of the way, I must've banged my head when I fell," she explained.
"This is why I don't like you being out in the woods by yourself," he told.
"Derek, it's no one's fault, it was just an accident. I didn't even know there were deer in the woods. I've certainly never seen one before and I must've walked every inch of the woods by now."
"I don't want you going out by yourself again, Hermione. It's too dangerous, accident or not. If I hadn't found you who knows what would've happened to you or the baby? I can't lose you, you're too important to me."
"You're not going to lose us," she told him softly, her hand moving to lightly scratch at the back of his neck in a way that calmed him. "But now we're even."
"For what exactly?"
"The Maybelle Motel," she replied.
They heard footsteps approaching and Derek pulled back from her to see Melissa closing the curtain behind her as she wheeled the equipment over to Hermione.
"Alright, let's see what's going on with the little one," she said to Hermione, instructing her to lift her clothing and unbutton her jeans before lying back, while she readied the equipment.
"Have you had a scan previously?"
"No," Hermione shook her head. "I know I was supposed to have one around the three month mark but I've been so busy I've barely had time to breathe," Hermione lied.
In reality she hadn't gone for a scan because she didn't want to risk her magic having a reaction to the technology that would be used, and she hadn't seen a healer as she didn't trust that the information regarding her pregnancy wouldn't be sold to the press by anyone looking for a payday. It wouldn't be the first time her privacy had been breached by a health care professional.
She turned back around to face Hermione and she looked down at her stomach, a slight look of surprise on her face.
"How far along did you say she was?" She asked, looking specifically at Derek.
"Fifteen weeks," he replied. "Why?" He asked, eyeing her cautiously as he moved to wrap his larger hand around one of Hermione's much smaller ones.
"It's the size, isn't it?" Hermione said knowingly. "I thought my stomach was a little bigger compared to the photos I've seen in pregnancy books, especially given I'm not even mid-way through the pregnancy yet. I just assumed it was because I'm small in stature so it looks bigger than it actually is. It seemed to come out of nowhere, one day I barely had a bump and a week later it was a mountain."
The kind nurse chuckled at her, shaking her head lightly. "I have my suspicions regarding the reasoning for your size, and we'll see if they're correct."
She warned her of the coolness of the gel she put on her stomach, before the screen was switched on and the scanner was moved over her stomach. Hermione's and Derek's eyes were glued to the screen, watching and waiting for the first glimpse of their baby.
"Here we go, it seems my suspicions are correct and from what I can see they're both perfectly healthy and are looking a good weight and size, too."
"Both?" Hermione and Derek spoke together, turning their eyes to look at each other and then moving back to the screen.
The nurse smiled at them. "Yes, both," she confirmed.
She shifted the scanner slightly on Hermione's stomach and then she turned the screen to face them so they could better see it. And see it they did.
Two baby shaped figures lying side by side and facing each other. Not one, definitely two. Twins.
"Oh..." Hermione breathed out, unable to finish her sentence and she turned to look at Derek, seeing him staring wide eyed at the screen.
When she tugged on his hand he pulled his eyes away from watching their babies and down to look at her, raising an eyebrow and his mouth twitching when she thumped him in the arm with her other hand.
"I can't believe you," she scowled at him. "Not only did your super sperm knock me up, but it bloody gave me twins, too! What's wrong with you? You're the reason I'm going to be the size of a whale, look at me now! I'm not far off from that!"
Derek snorted at her. "Calm down, Little Witch, it takes two to make a baby," he reminded her.
"No, it's all your fault," she told him.
She turned her head when she heard a noise of amusement coming from the nurse, who looked more amused than uncomfortable with the situation, and the way she was looking at Derek had her assuming that she knew him and was quite enjoying seeing Hermione poking fun at him.
"And do you know what?" She said, looking back to Derek.
"What?" He asked, not bothering to hide his amused smirk.
"I want a chocolate milkshake."
"Of course you do," he replied, not sounding the least bit surprised. "We'll get you one as soon as you're free to leave," he said, turning to look at the nurse questioningly.
"We'd like to run a few more tests just to make sure we haven't missed anything, but if they come back clear you'll be free to leave," she responded, giving them a smile before she quickly arranged for them to receive a copy of the scan, and then she tidied up the equipment and Hermione readjusted her clothing.
"Melissa?" Derek spoke as the nurse was about to step out from the curtain and close it behind her, and she turned to look at him questioningly. "Thank you,"
She smiled at him. "It's no problem, and congratulations, with twins I have no doubt you'll be kept on your toes," she chuckled. "God knows Scott did with me."
"Scott?" Hermione frowned in confusion, before the light bulb went off. "You're Scott's mother?"
"I am, yes, I'm assuming you're the Hermione he's told me about," she replied.
Well, that certainly made sense to Hermione. Now she understood why she looked familiar, it was because Scott looked like her.
"So you're the one that wanted to steal my puppy?"
"Guilty," she chuckled. "I couldn't help myself, the moment I saw him I fell in love with him."
"Everyone does," Hermione nodded.
"Melissa, Scott doesn't know about Hermione and I being together, and he doesn't know about the baby - babies," Derek corrected. That was going to take some getting used to.
"Derek, it's none of my business, he won't hear it from me," she assured him. "As it is, patient confidentiality," she shrugged, before she left them alone and Derek moved to sit on the edge of the bed beside her.
"Merlin, twins!" Hermione said.
A large smile appeared on his face and she squeaked when he pulled her into a hug, his eyes falling to the little ultrasound scan that was sat on the mattress on the other side of Hermione.
"Thank you," he muttered.
"For what?" He could hear the frown in her voice.
"For giving me a pack again," he replied, feeling her relaxing into him and wrapping her arms around him in return. "Do you know how rare werewolf twins are? It's practically unheard of, I've only heard mention of three packs having twins born, and with one of the packs one of the babies died, and I've only met one set of werewolf twins myself."
"We don't have to worry about losing one of the babies," she told.
"Why not?"
"They're not just werewolves, but witches or wizards, too. They have magic and magic is what keeps us alive, it's our life force. The magic will protect them and ensure I carry to full term."
He pulled back from her and when he did, she was caught in the gaze of his bright blue eyes.
"Derek, your eyes," she muttered quietly, not wanting anyone to hear should they walk past. "They're blue."
"They are?" He questioned, sounding confused.
"Yes, they are," she replied, unable to tear her eyes from him.
He closed his eyes, took a breath and when he opened them again they were still blue.
"Still blue," she said. Derek frowned. "Maybe it's your wolf," she suggested. "Maybe he's so happy that he's unable to stop himself from showing. It can happen when you're angry, so why not when your overwhelmed, too, and learning we're not only having a baby, but twins, is certainly overwhelming."
"I suppose it's possible," he spoke.
"Well, I hate to say this and I love seeing you this happy about the babies, but I need you to be less happy and more broody." He chuckled at her. "You know what this means, right?" She said and he raised an eyebrow. "Not only do we have to pick out the perfect name for the baby and we need a name for both a boy and girl, but now we need two names for each gender."
He smiled at that. "Do you want to find out?"
She bit her lip. "I would've liked to have been surprised, but we're having twins. It's twice the preparation. What if we buy items for both genders but have two of the same? What if we buy for only one but have one of each, or two of the opposite gender? And I'm going to have to get a magical contractor out and see if they can add more rooms to the cottage, so I can make a start on the nursery and get the furnishings. This is something we can't leave until last minute."
"Relax," he muttered, a rumbling sound coming from his chest to calm her like it always did. "We'll wait a few days to give you a little time to get settled with the news of having twins, and then we'll make a start on everything that needs doing, between the two of us we can get it done."
She sighed and nodded. "Alright."
"Good, once you've had the tests ran and you're hopefully discharged we'll get you your milkshake and then we're going home and you're going straight to bed. No arguments."
~000~000~000~
By the time Hermione had been cleared to the leave the hospital and they'd gotten her a chocolate milkshake as well something for dinner, it was late evening. They'd returned to the cottage, and true to his word, Derek all but frog marched Hermione to her bedroom.
After Hermione changed into a pair of comfortable pyjamas, Derek pulled her into bed with him and he held her to him, his fingers tracing patterns on her stomach.
"Are you awake?" She asked him after a long while of silence.
"No, I'm sleeping," he replied. She huffed at him and smacked at his chest. He snorted at her. "What's up?"
He raised an eyebrow when she pulled herself back from him and sat up, her hand moving to grip at the necklace she never took off and her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. He pushed himself up and he was leaning back while his forearms propped him up.
"What is it?" He questioned after witnessing her nervousness.
"I have something for you," she told him, looking up at him through her lashes and he felt his mouth twitch into a smile.
She reached over for her wand which sat on the bedside table and she summoned a little velvet box before putting her wand back on the bedside table and she turned to face him with a nervous look on her face.
"I've been working on it for a while now, since the day you left to meet with James, actually. It's taken me time to actually get it finished and functional, and don't even get me started on the hours of research I had to do. It took five failed attempts until I was successful in this one."
"So you made it?"
"I created it, yes, and it wasn't easy, like I said I've been working on it for weeks and had many failed attempts until I finally got the results I wanted."
She held the box out for him and he pushed himself up and leaned back against the headboard of the bed, taking the small velvet box and opening it. He raised an eyebrow at what he saw inside and he looked to her.
"I'm not proposing," she rolled her eyes. "I just needed something that you could have with you at all times, that you wouldn't lose and that wouldn't be conspicuous or look suspicious. I needed something that could be hidden in plain sight."
"A ring's a good choice," he nodded his head in agreement.
"I had thought about a necklace or a cuff bracelet, possibly even a watch, but you run the risk of them breaking and getting lost, and it makes you a target of a mugging. I made sure to use pewter for the metal as not only can you not be near silver, but it looks cheap. No one's going to want to steal it or give it a second look."
"Smart," he complimented. "So I'm guessing it does something magical."
"You could say that," she replied. "I suppose it's a form of protection," she spoke, bringing her hand up to grip onto the metal disc that hung around her neck. "You've given me protection and I wanted to do the same for you."
When she felt his hand reach over to cover hers, she turned her head to look at him, getting caught in his gaze and noting the way his eyes flashed blue for all but a second before returning to normal.
"So what's this magical ring do?" He questioned.
She cleared her throat and turned her body to face him, folding her legs underneath her and leaning to the side slightly with one hand propping her up.
"Several things, the first being that it has runes carved on the inside, similar to the ones I have tattooed on my back. What you don't understand is that while ancient runes were once the language of magic, they do have some magic in them, particularly if a person pours some of their own magic into them, which is what I've done. If you ever feel as though I'm close by but you don't see, hear or smell me, it's my magic in your ring. Essentially you'll always have a part of me with you even when I'm not."
He blinked slowly in surprise. "Really? I'll be able to feel you?"
"Well you won't be able to feel me like you do now; it'll be more like a presence in the back of your mind, a ghost of a touch. The runes I've used are strength, power, protection, family and communication, and that brings me onto my next point. You once asked me if there was a way you could contact me without the need of a mobile phone, well now you can. I've connected your ring to my necklace and as long as we're both wearing them, we'll be able to communicate telepathically." He looked genuinely surprised, impressed and curious all at the same time. "Since it's untested I'm not sure what the distance limit is between us, so we'll have to do a few experiments when we get the chance. The next feature of the ring is that it's layered with over a couple of dozen Protection Charms that will deflect most common, simple spells."
"You won't be able to hex me," he smirked.
"I created it, I know my way around the charms," she replied and his smirk dropped into a frown. She rolled her eyes at him. "And the final feature..."
"Spit it out," he said when she trailed off.
She bit her lip nervously. "It contains a Locator Charm. After what happened to you with the other werewolf and with me getting hurt in the woods, I realised that we needed a quicker way to find the other should one of us be in danger. All we have to do is activate the charm and it will lock on to the other's location and lead you straight to them, no matter where in the world we are. Since you don't have magic like me, there's an activation code that must be spoken, and when it's been activated the other person will be alerted as their item will heat up. And of course, I must stress it's to only be used in emergencies and certainly not to intrude on each other's privacy, we'd both be aware if that were to happen."
"I can find you anywhere in the world?"
"Anywhere," she confirmed.
"That's brilliant. I can't believe you created something so..." He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.
"Does that mean you like it?" She asked nervously.
"I love it," he spoke, plucking the ring from the box and slipping it onto the finger of his choice, his right ring finger and he chuckled when the ring resized itself to fit perfectly. "Thank you," he said, reaching over to pull her against him and wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm glad you like it, if you didn't I probably would've hexed you in your sleep given how long I've spent creating it and all the research and effort I put in," she spoke. He chuckled at her, burying his nose against her neck. "Now you won't ever lose me."