September 29th

If Hermione never had to wake up inside another hospital room for as long as she lived, she would be happy. After the exciting events of the previous night, she'd been dosed with multiple potions to put her back into a deep, healing sleep. She cursed William Wood again. Without his interference, she likely would've been released already. The pain in her head was finally gone, but her throat still stung.

Antonin was asleep in the chair next to the bed again. Just as he was before. Somehow in the interim since they last repeated this same tableau, most of her anger dissipated to nothing. Later, when she was out of the damned hospital and no longer feared every sound was a homicidal lunatic returned to kill her, she would probably rediscover her anger and they could have another row. In that moment, however, she just wanted to appreciate the fact that she wasn't alone, that her husband came back to sit at her side.

She must've made too much noise when she woke up because it didn't take him long to open his eyes. A smile spread across her lips when their eyes met. Swallowing thickly, she spoke in a hoarse, scratchy voice that hurt her ears.

"This is beginning to be a habit with you. A girl might start to believe you still love her if you're not careful."

She regretted her teasing words for the briefest of moments when his dark brown eyes filled up with tears. Rarely did Antonin allow anyone, his wife included, see him in such a vulnerable state. He opened his mouth to speak and immediately closed it before a single sound came out. Emotional and overcome, when he finally could speak, the words didn't come out easily and he had to stop to rub his eyes. When he was ready, he spoke in a whisper, all he was able to manage.

"You sent me away and you almost died."

Her own eyes filled with tears at the pain in his voice. He had been so scared for her, so upset that he was going to lose her that she felt a tremendous amount of guilt for sending him away when she did. Both of them had their own guilt to process it seemed.

"I thought you would be safe here when I left."

Concerned that he was about to work himself up into an emotional frenzy, Hermione reached out to run her fingers through his dark brown waves. It worked almost instantly. She'd learned a few tricks over the years on how to calm him down. Though she was still mad at him, she didn't feel it so strongly anymore. They were both experts at causing the other pain.

"What happened? The Healers couldn't tell me. Said it all happened so quickly and they weren't able to catch or even see who did this to you."

She sighed. It would be a long story and she wasn't sure how much of it she could share with him without revealing some of the secrets of the past year she'd been trying to hide. All mention of being anywhere near the Resistance or their village had to be avoided. She didn't want to mention or even think about Ginny. If she did, she feared that she wouldn't be able to remain silent about what she witnessed. That was a subject and an argument for another day.

"It was William Wood. Do you know him?"

Antonin shook his head. One look in his eyes confirmed for Hermione that he didn't have the first clue who she was talking about. Evidently Ginny kept her illicit affair with her husband a close secret. And if Antonin was trying to form some sort of alliance with the Resistance, as she suspected he was, he was being deliberately kept away from Wood. It would make sense. The horrible man wouldn't want anything to do with the husband of his brother's murderer.

"That mission at the Hogsmeade Caves years ago when you said I first had to prove myself… the man you trapped in the cave for me to kill was William's younger brother."

She wasn't ready to admit the truth of their son's name. Likely she never would. Too many uncomfortable questions would come out of it. Even twelve years later when she was completely sober she wasn't sure what possessed her to offer up Oliver as a suitable name for their son. It was weird and not something Antonin would just brush off as unimportant.

"In January I tried to hide in Edinburgh."

"Hermione, that was…"

"Foolish, I know. It's not safe as the Resistance didn't hesitate to inform me. Wood is part of the Resistance. He found me sleeping in the back of a car and he dragged me out. Used a portkey, that I still have no idea how he got, to take me to a cellar and left me locked in there for over a day. Thought he was going to kill me, especially when I found out who he was."

Antonin was appropriately horrified by the rest of the tale she told him. She made it sound like the Resistance kept passing her path, not that she'd ever gone to them willingly. She explained how Wood almost caught her again in London and how he vowed to kill her one day.

"It's no more than I deserve."

"Don't talk like that, Hermione."

"No, it's the truth, Antonin. I killed his brother. Would you not want revenge if someone killed one of your brothers?"

He had to concede her point. If one of his brothers was murdered in cold blood, Antonin would do whatever was required to make the guilty party pay. Even if it was Aubin and he didn't even like his youngest brother. Blood was important to him. Sometimes too important.

"So he was almost successful. He came in and silenced me so I couldn't scream out. Tied me to the bed. If the monitors hadn't gone off when they did…"

"You would be dead."

The emotion was back in his voice. She ran her hand back through his hair, offering what little encouragement and support she could from her bed. Perhaps all was not lost between them. If he still cared that much about her even after he knew the secret she'd been keeping from him for so long, it was possible that he could eventually forgive her. And it wasn't as if she couldn't forgive him for fucking Ginny in the aftermath of that whole ordeal. She'd forgiven other affairs and he'd forgiven hers. Certainly not the healthiest of marriages, it worked for them. Maybe if they could get to Brazil to start their new life, they could actually make a go at monogamy. She wanted them to stop hurting each other. Hadn't they done enough of that? A new life would be a fresh start for them. They could put the past behind them where it belonged.

"I shouldn't have left you for even a moment. It's my fault all of this happened."

"No, Antonin, I was the one who told you to leave. Remember?"

"That's not what I was talking about. I meant…"

"Oh."

He was feeling guilty about telling her she no longer had a family and sending her out to face their enemies alone. There was a wealth of emotions, guilt foremost amongst them, splashed across his handsome face.

"You had every right to be angry with me. What I did was very wrong. If I didn't want to have more children, I should've made that perfectly clear to you."

"Please don't, Hermione. I don't want to talk about that right now."

Part of her was relieved that he didn't want to discuss that horrible night. Wounds were still fresh and if she allowed herself to be perfectly honest, she did tell Antonin that she didn't want any more children. More than once. He just chose not to hear it because he did. In his perfect world they would be happily in love and surrounded by children. As much as his brothers frustrated him at times, some more than others, he couldn't imagine life as an only child. It made him sad for Oliver even as Hermione didn't see anything wrong with it. She'd turned out just fine without any siblings, hadn't she?

"I don't blame you for Hannah's death."

Surprised by his confession, Hermione didn't know what to say in response. Even she could admit that she wasn't entirely innocent in the murder of one of their family's closest friends. She knew it was dangerous to leave the safety of Hannah's house and yet, for the briefest of moments, she wanted to be as sure in the goodness of people as her Hufflepuff friend was. It was not a mistake that she would make again. Human beings were nasty, disgusting creatures who didn't deserve such charitable thoughts.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel like I did. Hannah was..."

Antonin's voice broke with the intensity of his emotions. He was the sort of man who loved deeply when he allowed himself to love at all. Hannah was like the sister he'd never had, the one that he would've given his life to protect and save. Hermione felt her eyes fill up with the same tears at his vulnerable display. When would they each reach their breaking point? She didn't think either would have to wait long.

"It's all right, Antonin. I understand and honestly, I blame myself."

"No, you shouldn't. This was the work of one of our enemies. We just have to find them and make them pay."

Her body was too exhausted to stay awake much longer if they were going to keep talking. Pressing her palm gently against Antonin's cheek, he covered the outside of her hand with his to hold it in place. After a deep sigh, he brought her palm to his lips to kiss. Even though it was a simple affectionate gesture, it encouraged Hermione to not give up hope that all was lost. There was still a chance she wouldn't be stuck inside that country until she died.

"You should get some sleep. Your body is still healing."

"Will you stay here?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

She was relieved to hear him say so. It might have hurt her pride to admit it, but she was afraid to be left alone again. While she didn't think that Wood would be foolish enough to try to strike twice in the same place, she couldn't be positive. He had enough hatred inside of him towards her to be able to conjure up a worthwhile Avada Kedavra, even if he'd never cast one successfully before. She would be dead in a second. If he'd been smart enough to consider that option the first time, or if he simply didn't wish to make it a painful death, he would've been successful. And she would be nothing but a memory. Part of her was almost sad that he didn't succeed.

"Your Healer said that you can leave tomorrow. I'm going to stay here and take you back to the cottage."

Even though it wasn't where she really wanted to go, returning to the cottage was better than remaining where she was. She hated that they didn't have anywhere else they could hide. It had been so nice in Cornwall, but that would never be safe again.

"Just rest, Hermione. You're safe now."

He coupled his promise with a kiss to her forehead. Her eyes grew heavy enough that she couldn't keep them open a second longer. As she drifted off to sleep, she tried to ignore the worry in the pit of her stomach that they still weren't any closer to a suitable resolution to their troubles. But, at least she didn't have to worry about William Wood or any other psychopath who wanted her dead. For a single night, she could take advantage of her husband's protective presence.