No Time for Epilogues
Chapter 22
September 26, 1998, Friday
"Thanks Molly, I could have saved a bunch of time and trouble had I just came here first," Hermione said as Molly cuddled Adan.
All week she had tried to find something to get rid of the sap on Adan. She ended up snipping the leaves where they were stuck, but the sap still remained. She tried 4 apothecaries, everything her parents could think of, the library at the Ministry and Hagrid. She finally ended up at the Burrow, where Molly whipped out a bottle of "Mrs. Scower's Magical Mess Remover." Amazing! Not a drop of sap remained and Molly cooed at the kitten while she dried her.
"There's nothing I've found that this won't clean," she said, indicating the bottle. "And with the stuff the twins pulled, I've used a a lot of it over the years."
"And what stuff might that be?" George asked, entering the kitchen.
"Where do I start?" Molly replied.
"Going to the match tomorrow?" he asked Hermione.
"Wouldn't miss it," she said. Tomorrow was the first Quidditch match of the year at Hogwarts, with Ginny as team Captain against Ravenclaw.
The next morning, Hermione was setting the table for breakfast when Ron's distinctive pop of apparition was heard. She opened the back door and welcomed him in with a kiss. "Have a seat," she said, indicating the table. Hermione had prepared a huge fry-up in anticipation of Ron's arrival for breakfast. "It's almost ready."
"Good lord, just how many people are coming to breakfast?" Elizabeth asked when she saw Hermione cooking.
"Just Ron, mum," Hermione said and flipped a fried tomato.
"Looks great," Ron called from the dining room. She came into the dining room with a platter of kippers, tomatoes and a pitcher of juice. Ian said a brief blessing over the food and they enjoyed the fine breakfast.
Hermione, Harry and the Weasleys arrived at 8:30 a.m. for the 9 a.m. match to get good seats in the Staff and Alumni section of the stadium. Harry, Ron and Hermione greeted a dozen of their former classmates and caught up with each other's lives. Lavender Brown, now working at a new division of the Ministry, Financial Management, wriggled in between Hermione and Ron and draped her arms around the both of them.
"So, when's the wedding and do I get an invite?" she asked.
Ron looked to Hermione for help. Hermione cleared the bark of laughter that almost escaped.
"In June we think, and yes, you get an invite," Hermione answered.
Hermione had once thought Lavender a vain, silly little dingbat, but the pretty girl had mellowed after the final battle, especially toward Hermione, who had saved her from being attacked by Fenrir Greyback.
"How's the centaur thing coming?" Lavender asked.
"It's coming along well, thanks. And your...thing?" Hermione asked politely.
Lavender sighed dramatically. "It's going to take years to sort out the books, the...previous administration didn't do a very good job of it."
"They didn't do a good job of anything, did they?" Ron stated. "Look who was running it!"
"Well, now that your dad is in charge, it'll be in tip-top shape in no time," Lavender said, patting Ron's hand. Hermione felt a tingle, just a small tingle, of jealousy at Lavender's actions. Would that ever go away? Ron shot another help me! glance in her direction.
"Are you seeing anyone these days?" Hermione blurted.
"Why yes I am. As a matter of fact, he works in the same department as you," Lavender said.
"Really? I've only been there a few months, I only spend half the day in my office, and I don't know many people," Hermione said. Ron took the opportunity of Lavender's distracted attention and went to he other side of the stands to talk with anybody. Just before nine, the trumpeters from the Hogwarts Student Band heralded the fly-in of the teams. The cheering from the stands was deafening. The Ravenclaw team flew in a tight v-formation around the pitch, waving at friends and relatives until the trumpeters announced the Gryffindors, and what an entrance they made.
"Blimey, look at their uniforms!"
"Wow, they sure look sharp!"
"Look at their brooms!"
"Get a gander at Weasley, she's hot!"
The Gryffindors, with Ginny in the lead, flew into the stadium low to the ground in single file then shot into the air and diving back to the ground, flying in a tight circle until Madame Hooch arrived. Hermione and Ron cast a quick look at Harry, looking smugly pleased when he heard the "look at their brooms" remark, then positively murderous at the "Weasley she's hot" remark. The crowd whistled and hooted when McGonagall walked to the center of the field.
"Students and guests, welcome to the first Hogwarts Quidditch match of the year. Vendors will be roaming the stands with refreshments, with all proceeds going directly to the Hogwarts Benevolent Fund. With that, let the match begin!" she said and with a flourish of her wand, a stream of fireworks and confetti flew from her wand.
In just under a minute, the first goal was scored, by Ginny.
"That was fast," Hermione commented.
"Yeah, wasn't it?" Harry said proudly.
Gryffindor played like a team possessed, scoring eight goals (six by Ginny) in just forty minutes until the snitch was caught by Dennis Creevey, who wore a "CC" on his tunic in honor of his brother. At just under an hour, it was one of the shortest and most lop-sided scored match in Hogwarts' recent memory. Ravenclaw had scored just one goal.
"Bloody hell Harry, Ginny flies better than you!" Ron exclaimed. "She set a new Hogwarts record! The most goals by a single player in a match!"
A raucous victory celebration was held that night in the Gryffindor Common room, and Harry made sure a dozen congratulatory red roses arrived for Ginny during the party. Her classmates hooted and whistled when they arrived for her.
"Jealous gits!" she shouted.
"Yeah, we are!" Kathy Rooney called out and looked at her boyfriend pointedly.
"You should have seen Harper's face!" another student called out. Brandon Harper was the Captain of the Slytherin team that was predicted to come in dead last that year.
"Let's toast Harry Potter, aside from the roses for our Captain, generously supplied our brooms this year!" Dennis called out, hoisting his broom high. The team members lifted their mugs of Butterbeer in salute.
That night at Ron's flat, Hermione poked around the cupboards and ice-box to see if there were anything to prepare dinner. Ron was downstairs in the shop, looking over a delivery of charmed gift-wrap ribbon that arrived late in the afternoon. She spotted some caramels on top of the ice-box, ate one and resumed her search. Ron, like a lot of bachelors, didn't have a a lot of food but promised to remedy the problem if Hermione would just move in. She hiccuped when Ron walked in.
"Want me to grab something for dinner?" he asked. "The market's still open."
She nodded and he left, giving her a peck on the cheek before leaving. She suddenly felt very sleepy and sat down at the dining table, wondering what could have brought the tiredness on so quick. A lazy hiccup bubbled from her chest, she laid her head down on the table and was asleep in less than a minute. Ten minutes later, Ron returned later with "Hey love, look at these chops" and stopped when he saw her asleep at the table. He really didn't want to wake her to cook, but he would in fact burn them to a crisp if he tried.
He gently shook her shoulder. "Love, I'm back."
The only response he got was a barely discernible hiccup. He shook her shoulder harder. "Hermione?"
No response.
This was odd, she didn't sleep that hard. He glanced around the kitchen. Did she hit her head? Is she ill? A candy wrapper on the counter caught his eye. His heart thumping faster, he looked on top of the ice box to see not five, but four Hiccuping Caramels that were still in the experimental stage. Hermione had eaten one of the experimental candies! He quickly snatched one of the candies, gathered her in his arms and flooed to St. Mungo's.
Once there, Ron explained what he believed made Hermione so ill. "Is she in any...danger?" he asked.
"We don't think so. The candy or an element in the candy, has slowed down respiratory function, but it's not life-threatening. It would help if we knew what was placed in the candy to set off the hiccups. She may very well be allergic to the candy itself," the healer said, looking closely at the candy.
Frantic, Ron went to the Grangers and asked if she was allergic to any candy, caramels in particular and explained what had happened. That they knew of, she wasn't allergic to any food or drink. He raced to the Hogsmeade shop where George was taking inventory and told him what happened. He became as frantic as Ron and they both rushed back to St. Mungo's with the Hiccup Potion recipe in hand.
"It's diluted, very much, before we put it in the candy," George said. "We never put a full dose of anything in any of the sweets, cookies or beverages the shop sells."
"I'll just get this to the lab so they can configure an antidote," the healer said, holding the list George gave him.
"She's not in any danger now, but it's a good thing you got her here as quickly as you did."
With the assurance that she was going to be fine and that he would be notified when she woke, Ron went to the Granger's to let them know what was going on. They were concerned that she was in hospital, again, but weren't upset with anyone.
"She's gonna murder me," Ron said, running his hands through his hair in nervousness.
"It was an accident, we know that, and I'm sure she knows that too," Ian said.
Hermione woke during the early morning hours when the antidote purged the hiccup potion from her system. Mystified at her current surroundings, she sat up. "What in the world am I doing here?" she asked the empty room.
A nurse came into the room. She waved her diagnostic wand over her. "Good, I'll notify the healer on duty that you're awake."
A few minutes later, a healer strolled into the room. "Well Miss Granger, good to see you awake. How do you feel?"
"Tired, but fine. What am I doing here?"
"You ate a piece of candy that had a hiccup potion in it."
"Pardon?"
"Apparently, you ingested a dose of experimental hiccup potion that was in the candy, a product of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. We still don't know what element of the potion brought on unconsciousness, which almost led to the arrest of respiratory function."
Hermione slapped her forehead. "The caramels on the icebox!" I should have known better than to eat any sweets within a mile of the shop!
"Your fiancée as well as the other Mr. Weasley are quite distraught."
The Grangers themselves had never answered a floo call and were startled by the sudden face and voice that appeared in their fireplace.
"Is this the Granger residence?" the face asked.
"Yes, it is," Ian said, crouching down next to the fire.
"Miss Granger is awake and out of danger. She will be released in the morning, good day."
"Same to you miss," Ian said.
"Our first floo call, Hermione would be proud," Elizabeth said. "I'll ring Ron in case he doesn't know yet."
Months before, Hermione got Ron a mobile phone and added him to her calling plan. It really didn't cost that much more and it was the best way to keep in touch with him, if only to hear his voice whenever she wanted, if she were having a bad day. Ron was at the Burrow and jumped when the mobile attached to his belt sounded. Hermione programmed the mobile to play "It Had To Be You" (the original Frank Sinatra version) instead of a regular ring.
"Simply fascinating," Arthur commented. Ron saw the Granger home on the caller ID and answered.
"We just had a floo call from the hospital, she's awake and doing fine," Elizabeth said.
Ron sighed in relief. "I'm on my way there now."
St. Mungo's differed from a Muggle hospital in many ways, and one of them was that there were no limits on visiting hours, or rather they didn't have them. In their view, how could you restrict the time the spent with an ill, injured or dying loved one? Didn't the presence of loved ones help in recovery, or give them some measure of peace and comfort in the final moments of life? The practice of visiting hours seemed an inhumane, absurd idea.
Ron quickly made his way through the quiet corridors, arrived at her room and looked through the little window on the door. Hermione was asleep on her side, facing away from the door. He carefully opened the door and stepped in. She turned to face him, a sleepy smile on her face.
She's smiling at me, no murdering me...not today anyway.
"If you had something to eat in your flat, I wouldn't have resorted to eating whatever I could get my hands on, like experiments," she said. "Do mum and dad know?"
"Yeah, I rushed over there to see if you were allergic to anything after you were admitted. We feel terrible about it. George wants to do away with the whole Hiccup line."
"A whole line? The other hiccup products work fine, don't they?"
Ron nodded.
"I'll talk to him."
The next day, George begged for her forgiveness until she assured him that none were necessary.
"I'm not angry," she said.
"You should be," George said glumly and sighed. "Things just haven't been the same since..."
Hermione gave him a quick hug. "Maybe you should take some time off from the shop, I know you haven't since...the funeral. I know no one will ever replace Fred, but have you thought of someone to come in and perhaps...lighten the load? Help with research and development?"
"Mum said the same thing."
"I'll think about it. Ron offered to help, but his potions knowledge is-"
"Not his best subject?" Hermione offered.
"That's what he said, but he really is very good with new ideas and marketing. He and Ginny have their heads on straighter than mine at the moment, so business shouldn't suffer if I take a- what's the word- sabitackle?"
Hermione laughed. "It's sabbatical, and yes, you should."
;)