AN- Thanks for all your reviews! Some of the information I used in here I got from the Mugglenet Encyclopedia, but a lot of it I just created to fit the plot line. A special thanks to da ruth who proof read this chapter for me

Chapter 21

Healing

Two hours had passed since Harry had arrived with Hermione, and still, healers were swarming in and out of her room, in a very fast pace. When Harry had returned he tried to get one of their attention to ask what was going on, but most of them were just rushing right passed him, as if he was invisible. One of the rude healers actually yelled at Harry to get out of his way. All he wanted to do was just be in the room. If only he could be with Hermione, and hold her hand, tell her everything was going to be okay.

Pins and needles began to shoot through all of Harry's veins. He knew he had been sitting to long, and his legs were falling asleep. Standing up, he took a short walk across the hallway to Hermione's room. Making sure to stay out of the healers' way, he took a peak inside the window. There was his Hermione, still lying in the exact same position as she was the last time he looked on. Her face was a ghostly white color, just like before. Instead of her damp wet clothes, though, she was now changed into a gown. Harry hated seeing her like this, and he wished someone would just tell him what was going on.

The healers were way to busy to talk to Harry. Most of them were swarming around her in the room, wands pointed at her. Others kept entering and exiting, Harry hadn't a clue why. But he knew standing was going to help him get their attention, and they would probably just get more annoyed, so he walked back to the chair.

A weak sleep succumbed Harry as he sat in the waiting room. He slumped down in the chair, and a quiet snore escaped his lips.

A light tap was felt on Harry's shoulder and he started to stir in his sleep. He raised his arm and smacked at his shoulder, as if it was just a fly that needed to be swatted away.

"Mr. Potter," the head healer called out. He had been standing over the young man for quite a few minutes and the slumbering man would just not wake.

"Hmm?" Harry asked dreamily. Harry opened his eyes very, very slowly, as if each eye lid weighed a thousand pounds. The light from the hospital reached his retinas, and he wiped them roughly, exactly like his daughter did earlier that day. When his vision completely focused, he sat straight up, trying to act like the gentleman he was.

"Is there any news of Hermione's condition?" Harry asked.

"Yes sir," The healer commenced. "As of this second, Ms. Granger is doing fine. Her body is stable. We were able to flush all of the poisonous venom out of her blood stream."

Harry caught on to the Healer's words. "Poison?"

"Yes Mr. Potter," He agreed, affirming the he had just heard him correctly. "You see Ms. Granger was bitten by a Lethifold."

"A what?"

"A Lethifold, it's a certain type of creature that feeds off of humans. First, the Lethifold sets sights on its prey. Then, it bites it, sending poison throughout all of the victim's bloodstreams. This poison thickens the blood, making it much harder for the heart to pump. The heart begins to pump faster and faster, but the blood continues to thicken."

Harry just sat there intently, listening to every word that exited the healer's mouth, trying to understand exactly what happened to his lover.

"Soon," he went on, "The heart gets to tired and slows down. And, without the heart, as you should know, no part of the body can function. The breathing rate decreases and decreases until there is no oxygen inside the brain. Then the person is pronounced dead.

The younger man stayed in his seat, staring at the floor. He couldn't believe it; he could have lost his best friend and his lover.

"Normally, the Lethifold would come back after the person is dead, and devour them completely, leaving no trace of them behind. But luckily you got Ms. Granger just soon enough before…"

Harry knew what he was going to say, and he didn't want to hear it. He cleared his throat, hoping to still have a voice left.

"Can I see her?"

"Yes you may son." The healer told him.

Harry jumped out of his seat, as if he had the energy of a hippogriff. The healer placed his arm out in front of him, motioning him to stop; he wasn't finished talking to him yet.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger may not wake up while you are in there with her. A full blood transfusion is very hard on the body, even to someone as strong as she. She needs sleep right now, especially while the blood is getting use to her unique set of veins."

"Okay, thank you."

Walking over to the room, Harry took another quick peak inside the window; there was Hermione, sleeping like a baby. He smiled, it was going to be okay; everything was going to be okay.

Opening the door, he walked in, almost afraid of seeing Hermione this way, He was afraid that just entering the room might endanger her life. The door quietly swung closed behind him, and he inhaled deeply, trying to take in the sight around him in a calm fashion.

Inside the small, tight living corridors, there was only one small bed, and a chair next to it. A small night stand was set next to it, with Hermione's wand on top.

Harry's eyes wondered, and stopped directly at her. Scanning over every part of her body, he could now clearly see all of her injuries. Her lower back of her neck had a huge cut across it; Harry had a feeling this was where the Lethifold bite her. Her skin wasn't as pallid as it was when he had originally found her, but it didn't have its normal tint to it. Traces of dirt were found on her, as the healers obviously didn't clean her up from the mud she was laying in for who knows how long.

He continued on his journey across the room. Stopping short of Hermione's bed, he picked up the chair that was in his room and carried it closer to the bed. He sat down and relaxed, finally knowing that Hermione was okay.

"Harry?" A small, raspy voice called out, Hermione couldn't actually see who was sitting next to her, because something wasn't permitting her to move.

"Yes, it's me." Harry said. Her voice had immediately knocked him out of the dreamless sleep he was in. Getting out of the chair, he stepped over to her, that way she could see him, and he could get a better look at her face.

"Where am I?" she questioned. She really couldn't remember the last few hours, or maybe it was days.

"St. Mungo's, you were attacked by some strange animal. Probably should have paid a little more attentions in Hagrid's class, I suppose." He said, wanting to release some of the tension, but Hermione wasn't in the mood.

Reality had just begun to strike Hermione, and everything came rushing back to her, the fight, Ginny, Emily.

"Where's Emily?" she asked. She wasn't sure what happened to herself, but she needed to make sure her daughter was okay, and in good hands.

"Hopefully still sleeping. I left her with Ron." He answered.

"Oh," she responded. A pang of guilt began to touch her, as she replayed the last twenty four hours in her head. "Harry, I'm so sorry," she said, tears swimming up to the surface of her eyes.

"Why don't you get some sleep, and we'll talk about this when you're fully awake, and feeling better."

"But Harry…"

"No Hermione," he said, cutting her off. "You need sleep. I'll go and get Emily, and she'll be here when you wake, okay?"

"Mhm" Hermione agreed. Harry was right, she needed sleep. Her eye lids fluttered closed. Walking toward the door, he turned back and took one last glance at his sleeping beauty.

"Harry?" Hermione muttered, trying to figure out if he was still in the room.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Harry smiled, "I love you too."

"Emily, be quiet, honey, your mother's sleeping." Harry told his young daughter, who was sitting on his lap. She was very excited to see her mother again, and Harry was shocked that he could actually get her to sit still.

"I know, but I love my mommy." She announced to Harry. It wasn't like he didn't know, but the little girl just loved to declare her lover for her mother. "And I've missed her so much."

A little over a day had passed since Emily had seen her mother, fully alive and awake. Normally, a day wouldn't be that long, but Emily had never left her mother's side, never mind slept a whole night without her.

Hermione, who was still sound asleep on the bed, or so everyone thought, was awakened by the volume of her daughter's over anxious, squeaky voice. Within an instant she opened her eyes, and sat up into a sitting position, causing Harry, Ron and Emily all to jump in surprise from the sudden movement of this supposedly sleeping woman.

The blood from Hermione's head all came flowing down through her head, as if it was rushing away from it. A huge ache formed and pounded hard, making her head feel like it was a thousand pounds. Bringing her arm up to her pain, she placed it under trying to hold it up. This, in turn, relaxed her eyes, which were just starting to make her dizzy.

"Guess I shouldn't have done that," Hermione muttered stupidly.

"No, probably not." Ron said, smiling.

"Mommy!" Emily screamed. She jumped off of Harry's lap, not giving him a chance to help her. She then ran over to her mother's bedside. Clutching the sheets with her hands, she hoisted herself up. Kneeling, she entangled her arms around her mother, and tightened them. Hermione copied her daughter, hugging her back with the same force.

"I've missed you so much, Mommy."

Hermione felt a sting in her eye; a tear was forming. "I've missed you too, honey. Did you have fun with Ron and Har- your dad?"

"Yeah!" Emily said excitedly. "Me and Ron gots to play hide and go seek, but he didn't like it when I hid in the same place twice."

A smile crept across Harry's face; leave it up to a four year old to change the dark mood in the room.

"Ron's a really good hider and seeker, mom."

"Oh, is he?" Hermione asked. She loved discussing things with her daughter, and she was glad she wasn't shy around Harry and Ron. "Thanks for watching over her Ron."

"No problem," He responded. He walked toward the bed, away from the corner in which he was just standing in, where he was out of view from all of them. "Anytime you need me to watch her, I will, but only on one condition."

"What's that?" Hermione questioned.

"That Emily now calls me Uncle Ron."

Hermione grinned. "Deal"

AN- I probably won't be able to update again next weekend. First, I have this huge test that I have to take, called the MCAS, if anyone lives in MA they should know about it, but it's a test that all sophomores have to take in order to graduate when there seniors. Then, its Memorial Day weekend so I won't be home. I'll try to write in my spare time, that way I can give you an extra long chapter next time.

Please Review.

Kelly