Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, I just like to play with them
Home
Hermione lay in the hospital bed, chewing on her lower lip. Everything happened awfully fast after she told her mother that she wasn't married. That was just under an hour ago but in that hour she was fed potions, questioned, poked and prodded.
The healers had given her a potion that might help her remember things more clearly, which she did. The problem was that it was the same point in time, just in shaper detail. There were no new memories unlocked for her as they all had hoped. It was the end of the year and she, Harry and Ron had just taken the carriage to the Hogwarts Express for the return home. She remembered the things they had talked about on the ride down, promises to write and see each other over the summer. Harry was already slipping into his end of year melancholy because he was returning to the Dursley's.
The memory ended with her stepping onto the train, not finding a seat or actually sitting down. Just getting on and then nothing…
If she concentrated too long or too hard on the memory she would feel an electric shock. Once when she was a little girl she had unplugged a lamp for her mother and accidently touch the plug before it was out of the socket, the buzz in her head felt just like that.
She could tell that something was there, she could practically feel the barrier in her head. It was frustrating knowing it was there and not having a way to access it. The worst bit was that after they discovered her memory loss everyone clammed up. They started asking her a whole lot of questions about when she thought it was, what her current living situation happened to be, where her last memory took place and on and on.
She knew with absolute certainty that her last memory was not the last event in her life because her mother had let her in on that little secret. She had also not forgotten about her mother and Mrs. Weasley making mention of a husband. This was the most disturbing fact so far. She could only assume that they were keeping him away because she hadn't seen anyone fitting that description. The only men who had been in to see her were Sirius and Remus and that was just laughable.
Her first guess was Ron but she knew that was wrong the second the thought ran through her brain. She sighed, wondering who her mystery man was. This was going to take some getting used to. Hermione couldn't seem to stop touching her wedding band. There was something oddly comforting about the band of gold on her left hand.
She had no choice but to be patient and wait for the details of her life to be meted out. It was frustrating and irritating. She could only assume that there was a good reason for all of this but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was. She knew that something catastrophic had happened to her, just not what that was exactly. She was putting her money on spell damage. She wondered if maybe she had been hurt in the war against Voldemort, however that too seemed wrong.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her mother and father, she smiled at them both and wondered if she would finally get some answers about her life.
"Hi, honey." Her mother took her seat, there was a worried expression on her face.
"Am I finally going to get some answers?" Hermione didn't bother to hide the irritation in her voice.
Her parents exchanged a look before proceeding. They felt bad about all the secrecy but they were trying to figure out just how much of her memory was lost.
"Yes, of course. We're not trying to hide anything, the healers were trying to assess how much memory you had lost." Her father didn't blame his daughter for feeling manipulated.
"So, how much time have I lost?" Hermione braced for the news.
Hermione's mother smiled a little sadly before she answered. "About six months, dear."
Hermione didn't think that sounded so bad. It could have been worse, she could have lost years. "Ok, to whom am I married?"
Sirius had asked her parents if he could be the one to tell her, to which they had agreed. He knew that the news was going to come as a shock. It wasn't that long ago that they'd had to marry to keep her safe and he still remembered how awkward and uncomfortable that had been.
"He'd like to be the one to tell you that." Her father finally sat down on the other side of the bed in a chair that Sirius had conjured.
Hermione gave her a father a look that said 'well, let's have a look at him.' As her father got back up the first wave of panic began to wash over Hermione. Her frustration and irritation had been pushing her attitude, she suddenly felt the bottom drop out of her bravado. She watched as he left, a moment later her father called her mother out of the room and Hermione started to feel slightly faint.
She was completely unprepared for when Sirius walked through the door.
Oh, god! Oh, god! Oh, god! Oh, god! Oh, god!
Sirius closed the door behind him and sat down. He was a lot less calm than he portrayed but he was pretty good at faking it. He braced for her to scream or cry or yell but none of that happened. Instead she started chewing her lower lip as she tried to decide which question to ask first.
"We're in love?" It was the only thing she could think of to ask. She had only lost six months and somewhere in that six months she had married Sirius Black. The only logical conclusion was that they had somehow fallen in love and gotten married.
Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise. It wasn't the question that he was expecting.
"Very much in love." Hermione believed him, he was looking at her with such intensity. It made her sad to think that she couldn't remember any of it.
"So, what you're saying then, is that you're in love with me?" Sirius had to fight to keep the grin off of his face, she was adorable when she was working something out.
"Yes. I love you." Hermione swallowed dryly.
"We live together?"
"We just got a home of our own." He realized she was going to go through a long list of questions, he relaxed in his chair a bit.
"When did we fall in love?"
"Sometime in November, seems like."
"And when is it now?"
"Just after the New Year. January the second."
That was fast.
"Oh, so when did we get married?"
"September the fifth." Hermione gave him an odd look.
"We got married and then fell in love?" Hermione cocked an eyebrow in question.
"Uh, huh." Now he couldn't suppress the grin.
"That doesn't make sense, Sirius."
"The ministry of magic passed a marriage law, the law stated that all muggleborn witches of age had to be married to a pureblood wizard or they faced a year in Azkaban. So we got married to keep you safe." Sirius watched her carefully for her reaction, he was worried she might not give him a chance, that maybe she would ask him for a divorce.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Sirius nodded his head in agreement, he had thought it was pretty ridiculous at the time.
"Thank you for that, Sirius. That had to be difficult for you." Hermione was completely floored that he would do something like that for her.
"Only at first. It has been utter joy being married to you, Hermione." She blushed at his words and dropped her eyes.
"So I guess that we have…um…um…" Sirius rescued her before she continued with her stutter.
"We have." Hermione was quiet for a few minutes as she tried to digest that. She had only kissed one boy and hadn't given sex a great deal of thought. She took a quick glance at him and saw an odd look on his face that made her skin feel warm. There was going to have to be a conversation about this but it was better saved for another day.
"What happened to me." Hermione braced, hoping she hadn't been through something too horrid.
Sirius took a deep breath and hoped she didn't try to hex him for this. "Well, as I said we got married and since it was only to keep you safe it seemed sort of silly to go through with a ceremony, so we skipped it. Then we fell in love and I wanted to give you an engagement ring and have the big day." Sirius' voice started to crack, just a little. "The Black family has a large collection of engagement rings and there was a really pretty one in particular that I wanted to give you." Sirius took a deep breath, he wasn't sure he could do this. He looked up at her and she could see the guilt written on his face.
"It was cursed, wasn't it?" Sirius felt like an idiot, even Hermione, muggleborn that she was could figure that out while he just plowed recklessly forward.
"It almost killed you," he whispered. Hermione could see the anguish on his face and felt the urge to wrap her arms around him and hug him close.
"But it didn't, Sirius." She couldn't remember any of this but two things were clear. One, he really was in love with her and two, this was an accident, a mistake. She reached her hand out and lay it on top of his.
"So, tell me what else is happening to me. I've had a headache since I woke up."
"They didn't give you anything for that?"
"They did but its coming back. I did mention it but I think they were more interested in trying to assess me."
Sirius swiftly stood and left the room, he returned with a somewhat frightened looking healer who brought a potion with him. His protectiveness touched something in her, it made her feel safe. The healer gave her some of the potion and she began to feel better immediately.
"So, I get headaches, what else?"
"Seizures…" She felt her stomach flip, that wasn't good news.
"That sounds rather unpleasant."
"You're probably going to have some trouble with your motor skills." It was clear to her that she was going to need an awful lot of help.
"Is any of this permanent?" Hermione held her breath.
"Only the memory loss." She let her breath out slowly, that was bad, bad news. "I'm so sorry, Hermione." She looked at him and saw the tears that were threatening, she had never seen him cry, didn't know that he could.
Hermione heaved a great sigh, her experience with Sirius over the years taught her that she could expect this sort of honesty from him. She didn't want the truth sugar coated or watered down, just the facts so that they could deal with the problem head on.
"So what is the plan?"
"Why don't we bring your parents back in for that?"
"Ok." Hermione nodded her head.
Sirius stood, he leaned over Hermione's bed and cupped her face gently with his large hand. He lay a chaste kiss on the top of her head. Hermione felt herself warm down to her toes. He left the room and returned with her parents and Healer Stromwell.
"Glad to have you back, Mrs. Black." Hearing her married name was startling to Hermione. "Well, I have good news. You wouldn't be as lucid as you are if you still needed treatment which means after I take a look at you, you can go home. Why don't we test your motor skills?"
Healer Stromwell helped Hermione off the bed and onto her feet. Hermione was unsteady and she had a little trouble maintaining her balance. She had difficulty getting one foot smoothly past the other and tripped. Before she hit the ground she felt strong hands around her waist, steadying her. Sirius' hard body was at her back and his warm breath tickled her neck, she felt a tingle low in her abdomen that made her shiver. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice her slight discomfort.
"Don't worry Mrs. Black, that will get better over time. You'll just need a little practice." Healer Stromwell sounded confident and it reassured Hermione. "You're going to need someone around while you recover though." She turned to Sirius. "Is there someone who can stay with her full time? In the beginning she is going to need quite a bit of help with getting around, bathing, dressing, things of that nature."
Hermione looked to her parents and realized that wasn't a possibility because of their dental practice. They couldn't be around all the time to ensure her safety. That only left Sirius who didn't work, she looked over at him and smiled shyly. Oh, this was going to take some getting used to.
"Do you mind?" The look on his face said it all, not only did he not mind, he seemed thrilled at the prospect of bringing her home.
"Of course not, baby."
That was going to take some getting used to as well.
Sirius felt his heart do a little back flip, although he felt terrible for her, he was elated for himself. He didn't mind taking care of her in the least because it meant he got to keep her. He thought of his prayer by the side of her bed and sent a little thanks to whoever had been listening.
With Sirius' help she got back onto the bed. She gave him a grateful smile.
"Sirius mentioned seizures."
"You're going to get those mostly at night, while you are falling asleep and waking up. You may occasionally have some in your sleep as well." Healer Stromwell liked the fact that Hermione delved right in and faced the problem.
"How should I deal with that?"
"Well, we have a potion for you to take every day. Your husband will need to keep a close eye on you as you fall asleep at night." Healer Stromwell was puzzled by the blush that was creeping up Hermione's face. She didn't know the timeline of their marriage. She turned to Sirius. "If she has a seizure during her sleep just wake her up and get her to walk around a bit, then give her this potion." She set a large glass bottle down on the table beside Hermione's bed. The large label on the front described the dosing instructions.
Oh, dear. That meant sharing a bed with Sirius.
Sirius picked the bottle up and read the label. He took a sideways glance at Hermione and noticed the blush. He turned his head away so she couldn't see his grin. He was a little ashamed for feeling so happy about all of this, another part of him was in rebellion, she was his wife. Why shouldn't he get to take care of her?
"What about the headaches?"
"Well, we're going to send you home with this potion," Healer Stromwell set down another large glass bottle with a big label. "You'll take this when the pain hits."
Sirius put the other potion bottle back on the bedside table and picked up the new one and read it carefully.
"The problems with your motor skills, the seizures and the migraines should go away over time. We'd like to see you back here in about three months for a check up. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about your memory." Healer Stromwell conjured a form, a quill and a pot of ink. "Mr. Black if you'll sign here we can release your wife, you can take her home today."
Sirius took the form and read it carefully and then let Hermione read it. She was being released because there was someone to take care of her. The other option, she assumed, was a lengthy stay at the hospital. She took a glance at Sirius, she had thrown her lot in with him once before. Why not do it again? She handed the form back to Sirius, he signed and then handed it back to the healer.
The healer walked out of the room and then reentered with a bag. "Here are your clothes, dear. You are going to need some help changing into them."
"I'll do it." Her mother smiled at her. She was hoping to get a moment alone with Hermione before she went home with Sirius. The healer, her father and Sirius filed out of the room and closed the door behind them.
"Well, I'm so sorry about all this honey." Her mother stroked her daughter's hair.
Now that she was alone with her mum she could feel the emotion threatening to overwhelm her, she had been hit with so much, so fast that she had been able to hold it together. "Oh, mum!"
Hermione's mother wrapped her daughter up in her arms and let her cry. Hermione sobbed for all that she had lost, she felt desolate and uncertain about her future. Her mother soothed her daughter and whispered to her that it would be alright, that she had herself and her father and Sirius to look after her. Hermione pulled back and sniffed, she wiped the tears out of her eyes.
"I can't believe that I'm married!" This was the hardest thing for her to grasp. She wished she could remember something of her life with Sirius.
"I know. We knew that would be the biggest shock for you. It was best to just get that out in the open though, don't you think?" She pulled a tissue out of her purse and handed it to her daughter.
"Yes, I wouldn't want something like hidden from me. Poor Sirius, this must be just awful for him." She looked at her mother to see if she could read her expression.
"He seems to love you very much, Hermione." Jean Granger sincerely hoped that things could work out for the best for Hermione and Sirius. They had a bit of struggle ahead of them.
"Were we happy, mum?" Hermione let her mother remove her dressing gown.
"You told me that you were." She pulled Hermione's jeans up, snapped the snap and zipped the zipper.
"Was I really in love with Sirius Black?" Her mother put the bra on her daughter and took a seat in the chair.
"You were and I want you to listen to me. You need to give him an honest chance. You are going to need him over the next few months." She looked her daughter in the eye, she needed her stubborn daughter to accept this.
Hermione nodded, she knew this and as much as she hated being dependant she really had no other option but to rely on him. "Wh-what about sex, mum?"
Jean Granger sighed inwardly, she had already had this talk with her daughter and that had been uncomfortable enough. "Well, you've already had sex with Sirius, dear."
"I-I know." Hermione blushed brightly. "What about now, though?"
"I think that you should let things take their natural course. You'll be alone with him a lot and you already have an attraction to him." She helped Hermione put her shirt on.
"I do?"
"Well, you fell in love with him once, didn't you?" She helped Hermione into her shoes and then sat in the chair once again.
"Oh, right." As nervous as the idea made her, her mother had a point. This had all already happened. Hermione shook her head to clear it.
"Are you ready?"
"I want to talk to you about Hogwarts, dear." Her mother was uncertain how her daughter was going to take the next thing that she had to say.
"I know, I have to drop out." Hermione had known this was coming.
"Well, Professor Dumbledore is here. We thought we could talk with him before Sirius took you home."
"Really? He's here?" Hermione wondered if he was here to see her.
"You're Headmaster met with some sort of accident and is recovering in the next room."
"Professor Dumbledore? What happened?"
"Something about a magical fire. We don't have all the details, he's doing much better now."
"Well, that's good."
"Well, we're going to talk with him and take care of that while we're here."
"Will they let me take the year over?"
"Sirius mentioned something about a library at your new home. He said you could study from home and maybe even by ready to take your NEWTs at the end of the year."
Hermione sighed, that was good news. It would give her something to fill her days with. Her mother left her on the bed and fetched Sirius. He helped her off the bed and with a firm arm around her waist he helped her to walk out of the room.
Hermione felt his warm body next to hers and realized there was something very familiar about it. His spicy masculine smell was comforting, the rumbling in his chest when he spoke was soothing. She knew this, she knew she did.
The four of them walked out into the hallway where she saw Ron, Harry, Remus, Tonks, Molly Weasley and Andromeda. She was rushed by the group but a dark look from Sirius had them keeping their distance. He told them all there would be plenty of time for this once they got her home. Molly told him they would wait for them at Sirius and Hermione's.
"Let me at least say hello, Sirius." Andromeda stood her ground. "I have to be leaving for home."
Sirius grunted his assent and let Andromeda hug his wife. She told Hermione how happy she was to see her up and around. With a parting dark look at Sirius, Andromeda left for home.
Harry, Ron and Tonks let themselves be herded away by Molly Weasley. Only Remus stayed behind as moral support for Sirius.
They moved on to the room next to hers and stood in the doorway. Dumbledore waved them all in, he was looking well thought Sirius.
"It is good to see you, my dear!" The bright, intelligent eyes regarded Hermione with a good deal of relief. He had heard she was doing much better but actually seeing it was a wonderful thing.
"I only just heard. What happened to you?" Hermione looked at her Headmaster with concerned eyes.
"Well, that is a story for another day. Right now we need to talk about your education." Dumbledore gave Sirius a significant look.
"I think that it's best if I dropped out, I have a long road of recovery ahead of me." This was the worst part of all for Hermione. Her education was extremely important to her.
"I must agree with you. I am sorry, you have always been one of my best students. I understand from Sirius that you are going to have a well stocked library in your new home. If I know you as well as I think I do you will be more than ready to take your NEWTs." Dumbledore knew that this was a compromise that she could live with.
"That's what mum told me as well." She felt Sirius give her body a little squeeze.
"Well, then its settled. You may visit the school whenever you wish. I know Harry and Ron are most anxious to see you well."
"Thank you, sir."
"We'll see you later, then?"
She smiled and nodded and then let Sirius take her home.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oA/N: Thank you for the reviews!
Oh, boy. I seem to be in a lot of trouble.
Come on…did you really want hearts and flowers and pink, fluffy kitty cats? Where's the fun in that? What's life without a little challenge?
Besides…I really, really enjoy torturing Sirius. It's an issue, I know.
I PROMISE to give him plenty of opportunity to try and win her heart, again.
Forgive me?
Please review!