A/N: Another chapter and this time on time! I didn't lose track of time this time around. Thanks once again for reading this fic and leaving comments, favouriting and liking, I really appreciate it!

Happy Yule everyone! I know it hasn't been the best year overall but try to enjoy the holidays as best as you can!

Enjoy ^^

Hermione opened her eyes. Her body felt heavy, sore, like she had been crushed over and over again. White, that's the only thing she saw. White ceiling, white walls. Where was she?

Suddenly everything came rushing back to her. Diagon Alley, the boys, Bellatrix. She shot upright, her body screaming in protest, her eyes frantically looking for someone, anyone.

"Calm down. It's okay, you're safe." It was Mrs Weasley. She was here.

"The boys? Are they okay?" Her voice left her throat croaky, tired, worry shining through.

Molly pushed her back down. "They're fine. Upset but fine." A sigh left the brunette, relieved.

She settled back on the bed before asking, "St. Mungo's?"

"Yes, you were injured pretty badly."

"What happened? How did I get here? The last thing I remember is the pain that followed after the cruciatus curse."

Molly gripped her hand in both of hers, holding her tight, worried. "Lily came back with the boys, using the floo. She was panicking, telling me what happened as best as she could. The boys were crying, they were a mess, worried and upset."

Molly took a breath, arranging her thoughts. "I immediately sent a patronus to Arthur, telling him you were in trouble and that he needed to get to you immediately. He sent a patronus to Fleamont and Alastor. They fought those death eaters and chased them away. They found you unconscious and brought you here."

"How long have I been here?"

"Almost a day."

"When can I go home?"

"Tomorrow, they want to check for any after effects of the cruciatus curse. Your cuts are healed, except for a few that will scar around your neck and your broken rib is fixed, though it might feel sore for a couple of days." So it wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be. There was a small pause until Molly broke it. Her voice was soft, a little teary. "You got yourself hurt to protect my boys."

Hermione was touched, getting a little teary herself. "I'd do anything for them. I'm part of the family now, right?"

"Yes, you are." She gave the brunette a careful hug. All the while she was thinking that she could have lost a daughter. The fact that she wasn't her own flesh and blood didn't matter, she cared for the young witch as if she was her own.

"Where are the boys? I'd like to see them."

"They're at home with Arthur. We didn't want them to see you hurt and I wanted to stay here to make sure everything was okay. I can send for them if you like."

"I would like that."

"In the meantime there are a few other people who want to see you." Receiving a questioning look, the matriarch elaborated. "Your friends have been waiting in the waiting room since you were brought in."

"How do they know what happened?"

"I don't know, dear. But I assume Lily must have told them. Should I let them in? Give you some alone time with them while I send a patronus home?"

"Uhm, yes. Thank you."

"No problem, dear." And with that she left the room. Not even two minutes later, Lily and the marauders walked in. Lily threw her hands around her neck in less than a second. She wasn't crying but a few tears had spilled from her eyes.

"I was so worried. Are you okay?" She pulled back, looking the brunette up and down.

"I'm fine. Sore but fine." Then she looked at the boys and asked, "How did you find out what happened?"

"When Mr Weasley sent my father a patronus we were there. Sirius and I heard everything. We filled in Remus and Peter."

Sirius remembered it very clearly, the moment the worry and panic set in. And he couldn't even do anything.

Mrs Potter was still in a festive mood – even though the festivities had passed – and planned to make something big and special for dinner. So being the good sons they were, they were helping her in the kitchen, a lot of preparation needed. They were just working, talking, goofing off when something entered the kitchen through the window. A patronus, a weasel patronus.

"Fleamont, I need you to come to Diagon Alley right away." He recognized that voice. It was Mr Weasley. He sounded worried, anxious. Why did he sound like that? "Hermione's in trouble. I'm already heading there, as is Alastor."

What did he say? Hermione was in trouble? What kind of trouble?

Mr Potter stood up, ready to apparate when Sirius stopped him. "Wait, I'll come with you."

"You can't, Sirius. You need to stay here."

"But she's my friend. I need to help her."

"There's nothing you would be able to do." He didn't mean it in a derogatory way. He just didn't want anything to happen to them, didn't want to involve them in this. Knowing what would happen next he turned to his wife and said, "Make sure they can't leave the house." And with that he was gone. Mrs Potter immediately waved her wand.

"Wait!" Sirius yelled after him, wanting to follow after him. But he couldn't. He couldn't apparate, couldn't leave the house. He looked at Mrs Potter, as if she had betrayed him in some kind of way. "I'm sorry but you're not leaving this house until the matter is settled. Neither of you."

It had taken a while before Mr Potter came back. And the entire time Sirius had been pacing, worried, agitated that he couldn't leave, couldn't help. When Mr Potter told them that they found her unconscious and had brought her to the hospital, he was gone before anything more could be said, James following right behind.

Seeing her now, finally, he felt some of the worry and anxiousness leave his body. He could see a couple of cuts and she looked tired but she seemed okay.

He hugged her carefully. "You okay? What happened?"

"Lily didn't tell you?"

"I didn't. I was so worried I could hardly get anything passed my lips. I'm glad I even managed to tell Mrs Weasley with the state me and the boys were in, honestly." Her voice was soft as if she was ashamed of herself. Hermione didn't say anything. She knew what it was like, what it felt like to be confronted with something like this for the first time. But now, on her first confrontation, Lily also had to take care of two small children. Yeah, she understood.

Just when she was about to open her mouth to explain, the door opened and in came the Weasley family. Charlie and Bill ran towards her, climbing on the bed, crushing her. They weren't exactly gentle and she was still sore but apart from a small twitch in her face she didn't let it show, didn't want to worry them. And even though the kids hadn't seen it, the others had.

"Boys, be calm. Hermione is still healing."

"It's okay, I don't mind," she informed the matriarch gently.

"Does it hurt?" Charlie asked.

"No, not at all. I'm just a little tired." They hugged her and she looped her arms around them, so very happy that they didn't get hurt. They clung to her, especially Bill. He always had been very attached to her. As she rubbed their backs she said, "It's okay. Everything is okay. I can even go back home tomorrow."

When visiting hours were over, her friends were shooed out, reluctant to leave. Sirius looked back at her, this look in his eyes. "Later," she replied. He nodded and followed the others.

The last few days before going back to Hogwarts were spent at the Burrow. Not that there was much to do. She knew her friends were still worried but she didn't want them to be gentle around her so she didn't invite them over and didn't visit them either. Around the house she couldn't do anything either, unless she wanted Molly's wrath thrown at her.

So she spend the days calmly, playing with the boys, reading. There wasn't a lot she could do and though she would usually protest, she didn't want to upset Molly. She was pregnant after all, no need to add more stress and worry than what she was feeling already.

Apart from playing and reading she also had a lot of time to do some thinking. Did Dumbledore know about what had happened? Probably. There had been a couple of wizards from the Order who had come to help her, one of them had surely informed him. And if Dumbledore knew, did all the other members of the Order also know? Well, there wasn't much she could do about it either way, whether they knew about it or not.

It was with mixed feelings that she was going back to Hogwarts. On the one hand she could do what she usually did without the constant vigilance of a worried mother breathing down her neck. Though she had to admit that it was nice, feeling like she had a mother again. And in a way she did. On the other hand she would miss the Weasleys immensely and she would need to focus back on the whole memory-information thing for the Order.

"It's the same as in September," she told the boys as she pulled back from her hug with Charlie to give one to Bill. "I'll be back home for Easter and in the meantime you can write to me as much as you want. Okay?"

He nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. "Okay."

"Good. Now come here." She tightened her grip and kissed his cheek before setting him back down.

"Promise to be careful," Molly said as she pulled the brunette in a hug.

"I will." And with a quick hug from Arthur, she boarded the train, waving at the redheaded family until she didn't see them anymore.