"Behind Closed Doors" By Kross
A/n: I don't own Harry Potter…I simply enjoy using the characters conjured up J.K. Rowling for my own sweet pleasure.
NOTE: There was some confusion in the last chapter for readers who had not gotten around to reading the fifth and sixth books. Kreacher is a house elf who Harry inherited from the Black family. Because Kreacher belongs to Harry, he has to obey his every command (like Dobby had to obey all of the Malfoys' demands). Additionally, Kreacher hates muggle-born or blood-traitor witches and wizards.
Pairing: Hermione/Ron and Hermione/Mystery man
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Yeah, I'm really dumb. I got so caught up in this story I forgot how tiny a 10-week pregnant belly is. Barely showing, no? Really Hermione just feels like she's "all belly", although she is literally like "no belly at all". Forgive my retard-o-ness.
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Between Remus' confession of love for her and his agreement to stay, Hermione's spirits could not have been higher. She had trouble sleeping because she was so excited, her mind simply would not slow down enough to allow REM to slink its way in. It was nearly dawn before her eyelids closed; the sun had begun to turn the sky pink and red.
Through her mind flit images of a Celtic wedding, daisy crown and all. She dreamt of being married in a field of a million wild flowers in the early morning, while the leaves were still decorated with dew drops and tiny spider webs. She could see Remus' face, once wrinkled and tired, lit up with a youthful smile. He beamed at her as she stepped through the thick grass towards him. She awoke too soon.
"Hermione!" Remus' voice rang out, loud and sharp.
Her eyelids opened and she looked up, feeling an enormous pain in her insides. His hands were dripping with blood, a look of sheer terror dressed his face. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Her back was hand-printed in blood.
"Wha…Where's this all from?" She yelped as he squeezed her and rocked her.
"Shhh…." He whispered, cooing into her ear. "Madam Pompfrey's on her way."
"Why?" She yelped again, trying to push him off of her, yet his body weight won. "What's happened?"
He moved back away from her, letting go of her with great resistance. Hermione stared at the pooling of blood on her covers. A thin stream of blood dripped to the wooden flooring, and her sheets were covered, as well.
"My babies?..." She half asked, half screamed. She learched forward on the bed, yanking up her covers. What she saw was a sea of blood emitting from her, a pooling of the death within her body.
"Quickly!" She heard Ginny call from the hallway, seeing the young red head dragging an older woman, Madam Pompfrey.
"Help…." Hermione cried, tears had begun to stream from her face. She clawed at the flesh of her belly. She wanted to tear herself open, she wanted to tear herself apart.
There was no more that Hermione could bear. A crowd was forming at her door, people peering in and asking "What is it?" She saw Harry looking in, eyes clouded with confusion. Ron thrust through the gathering, shoving the people aside. A deep angry growl escaped his throat when he saw the blood.
Madam Pompfrey commanded Hermione to lay still, she pulled out her wand and said she would take care of the blood before she could take her to the hospital wing. Everything seemed to slow as she saw Remus backing away, disappearing into the corner, sinking down and holding his knees. Ron fell to his knees, crying in great sobs.
Harry's eyes were blank, and he breathed in great gasps, chest rising and falling with a shake to it, like his ribs were loose and rattling.
"No!" Hermione struggled out, "No….you can't…" Hermione's hands began to rake the blood towards her as best they can, trying to gather it into one mass. She seemed to think that if she could hold it all together, she might be able to save her unborn children.
"Hermione, stop this!" Madam Pompfrey shrieked.
"Immobulus!" Ginny called out from next to Ron. Hermione was unable to move, falling back onto her four-poster bed, arms drenched in blood.
Remus lay curled in the corner, his fingers clenched around his ribs. He couldn't breathe at the sight of Hermione's sad, futile struggle to save what could not be saved. Ron had gone silent, fainted at Ginny's feet. The heart break had been too much for all three "parents". The sound of her sobbing could be heard in the common room, everyone had fallen silent and her tiny intake of air and pulsing tears echoed off the stone.
There would be no wedding, Remus thought. There would be no wilderness honey moon, no babies and the smell of diapers and infant shampoo. There would be no joy in his life from that moment on. There was nothing he had left. And the image of the cabin broke, crumbled into grains of sand. Picture frames of tiny ones on the mantle piece shattered, baby clothes that smelled like baby food drifted away with the blood. Hermione, in her wedding dress and ring-clad, drifted away with the glistening tears. Now, she would never have him, he feared. Nothing they had said meant quite the same thing now, now that circumstances had changed. How could she love a man who'd brought her so much pain? Had the joy of their future, of their babies, been enough to make it last? He wondered what would happen. He wondered if Hermione would even be able to live with him, live with herself, even. He knew she was strong, but this was beyond strength feeble reach.
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Please, please, please, DON'T hate me. I'll make it all better, I promise.
Please, R&R….tell me where you think I should go with this. I have an idea, but all ideas are subject to reader desire.
Meg