Thanks, Mate

Chapter two; Muggle Illnesses

AN: hey! I'm soooo happy at the amount of reviews I got so quickly! Thanks to all who reviewed, and Tiffany, glad you like the idea! Lol, I thought it was quite a weird idea myself, but when the character is introduced, it will make more sense. The dementor is actually my favorite in this whole story to tell you the truth! And also, Jenni: Lee Jordan would be in his seventh year since they're all in their sixth, because he is a year older. Well anyways, to the chapter!

Disclaimer: ain't mine

Time Period - a couple of weeks since the beginning of term

Hermione groaned in her sleep, waking for what seemed the millionth time that night. Her face cringed in pain, and she sat up in bed as slow as she could without causing more. She breathed slowly, only speeding when she felt sharp pains in her stomach that left as fast as they came. Realizing that this was the fourth time she had awoken to this that one night, tears came to her eyes. When the worst of the pain was gone, she slowly got out of bed and pulled her robe around her, silently closing the dormitory door behind her.

As the pain got worse with every step she took, she began to cry. She tried to hold it at a low whimper, but to no avail. Even if Ron might be upset, she had to wake him up again. She just had to.

As quickly as she could, Hermione scurried to the boy's dormitories and entered the room that Harry, Ron, Seamus, Neville and Dean occupied, not bothering to close the door.

Falling to the side of his bed, Hermione shook Ron gently, her hands trembling. "Ron!" she hissed urgently. "Ron, wake up! Wake up!"

Ron groaned. "But, Mum, I didn't do it, honest. . ." he mumbled subconsciously.

Hermione sighed, shivering for a moment before continuing to shake him. "Get up, Ron!"

Suddenly, Ron yawned, opening his eyes halfway to see if it was urgent enough to stay awake. Seeing Hermione, he blinked a few times before yawning again. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

Hermione sniffed. "It hurts again." Ron moved over on the bed, pulling the covers back so she could climb in. He gently helped her lie down, his arms coming around her.

"It's alright. Just calm yourself. I'm right here." he cooed softly, and waited until the last of the whimpering left her. "You really ought to go to the hospital wing, Hermione. This is the third night this week." he suggested for the millionth time, and Hermione shook her head desperately.

"Please, Ron. . .please don't make me go! It'll go away soon, I just have to let it be, I promise. It's alright! Just don't make me go to the hospital wing."

Ron sighed and held Hermione's cold, shivering body closer to him as she began to mewl again. "Hermione, no. . . Don't cry again. Please don't. Look, I'll tell you what; I'll let it go for tonight, love, but if this happens again tomorrow, you have to promise I can take you without a big fuss over it." Hermione sniffed, well aware he wasn't finished reasoning. He hadn't added enough drama yet. "I don't want you to get sick. I love you too much for that. And if you love me half as much as I know you do, you'll give me your word." A moment of silence fell over them as Hermione thought through his debate.

Completely forgetting that Ron's eyes had such a strong power over her, she looked up into them, realizing her mistake as soon as she had made it. She slowly closed her eyes and lowered her head, muttering, "Damn those eyes of yours."

Ron chuckled. "Alright, then?" Hermione sighed and nodded. "Good. Now get some sleep, alright?" he said lovingly, snuggling her close to him. "I love you." Ron breathed in her ear.

Hermione pressed a gentle kiss to his lips and settled down again. "I love you too."

"Shite!" Ginny cursed, throwing her clothes on as fast as she possibly could, not particularly caring how sloppy she looked. "Hermione left without me again! What's her problem? Is it too much of a hassle to turn around and wake me up anymore?" Growling with frustration, Ginny threw her unfinished Transfiguration homework that she had awoken over into her bag, praying that McGonagall would forget she had assigned it. Realizing her slim chances of that happening, Ginny slammed the door behind her, walking down into the common room.

"Ginny!" Ginny spun around, still a bit angered, coming within visual range of Hermione. Ginny let out a sigh, knowing it wouldn't be pretty if she fought with her, so she tried to think of something that Ron wouldn't shove in her face later.

"Oh! Hermione!" she paused. "Um. . . So, you forgot to wake me up again. . ."

Hermione clasped her hand to her mouth, realizing she indeed had forgotten all about it. "Holy shite! Oh, Ginny. . . I'm so sorry! I was up with Ron again. . ."

"Oh!" Ginny sighed with relief, laughing slightly. "Don't worry about it then! I thought you just left without me, that's all! It's alright." Both girls let out a burst of laughter, relieved that they had reached an understanding on the situation.

When it had ended, Hermione looked around before whispering to Ginny, "Ginny. . . Can I ask you something?" Ginny raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Um. . . Muggle studies. . . Do you take it?"

She shook her head slowly. "Sorry, no." Hermione sighed.

"Do you know anyone who does?" Hermione asked anxiously. "In your year."

Unaware of Hermione's point, Ginny thought for a moment anyway. "Um. . . I dunno. . . I think Luna might."

"Luna! Great! Oh God. . . Thank youso much! You don't know how much I appreciate this, Ginny."

"No problem. . . but. . . Why in my year?"

"Well . . . The textbook for the fifth year in Muggle Studies is on the Muggles' immune system in comparison to ours and I. . ." Hermione stopped herself dead. "Um. . . just wanted to do a bit of extra studying."

Ginny nodded slowly. "I see."

Hermione smiled nervously and started walking backwards towards the door, still talking, "Great! Thanks again, Ginny! I owe you!"

Ginny sighed and walked towards her, stopping her from walking. "Hermione, are you alright?" She asked bluntly, as if Hermione had just come home from a mental clinic.

Hermione paused. "Um. . . Sure! I feel great! Haven't felt better in ages!" Hermione clapped her hands together. "Okay, then, So. . . When you see Ron, tell him I'm skipping breakfast, and I'll meet him and Harry at Potions. Alright?"

Ginny nodded, highly doubting she felt alright. "Ok, I'll tell them."

"Great! I gotta go catch Luna on her way out. . . Talk to you later, alright?" And with that, she was gone out the portrait hole.

Still thinking through Hermione's words, Ginny stood in the same spot, wondering of she had said something that she hadn't picked up. Then, out of nowhere, she jumped at the sound of her name. She spun around and sighed, hitting Harry in the shoulder for his amused expression. "You scared me, you bastard!"

Harry laughed. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself." Sighing from Harry's immature matter of thinking, Ginny let him circle his arms around her and kiss her temple.

When he noticed her distant expression, he changed his tone and asked, "What's wrong?"

Ginny shook her head. "Nothing. . . Just a strange conversation with Hermione."

Harry sighed. "Poor thing. She's getting really sick."

Ginny paused and looked up at him. "What?"

"She's been coming to our dorm every night this week. You mean you didn't know?"

"No. . . I mean, she did mention something about staying up with Ron, but I didn't think. . . You're not serious?"

"I am. She keeps saying her stomach hurts. She was crying last night for the longest time."

Ginny nodded slowly, taking it all in. "You won't believe this, but. . . she just asked me if I had a book on Muggle illness."

Harry's breath caught in his throat. "No. . . "

Ginny shook her head. "I'm dead serious." she paused. "Do you think we should tell Ron?"

Harry thought a moment. "Not yet. If she gets any worse, then we'll tell him. In the meantime, Hermione's strong. . . she can take care of herself."

Ginny nodded silently.

"Alright then. To breakfast?" Harry took her arm and started to direct her out of the portrait hole when she stopped him. "Now what?"

Ginny looked down at the ground. "Hermione. She said she's skipping breakfast too." Harry stared at her sympathetically, unaware of what to tell her. It was true that Hermione had skipped every meal the day before, but he couldn't imagine why she wouldn't eat even now. She had explained to Ron that it didn't make sense for her to eat, because she winds up throwing it up every time, and they had all thought of her as crazy for saying that.

Harry caught Ginny's gaze and instantly went to wipe her eyes when he saw tears. They just stood there for a moment, staring deeply at each other. It was like their own little way of talking to each other without having to use words, which helped at times like this when words could ruin all sorts of different views. It was then that Harry finally realized what she had been trying to say.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Hermione bit her lip. Still no luck. She had tried almost every sickness in the book, and just when the symptoms seemed to be a match, the last few didn't fit at all. She had been sitting there in a secluded corner of the library for hours just trying to find any clues. She wanted to know. shedesperately wanted to know what was wrong with her.

"That was the last one." she said quietly. "Okay, which ones did I skip?" Turning back to the folded pages, she ignored anything that was contagious, because then Ron would have been dreadfully sick as well. She ignored the cancers, just for the plain fact that there were too many of them to go through it all.

That was when she saw it; the one last page that could possibly be what was wrong with her. She thought for a moment. No, it couldn't be. But it was all that was left, and she wasn't about to deny having ever had any . . . contact. . . with Ron. She sighed and lowered her head to read it, in case anyone happened to be reading over her shoulder. She looked up as she wrapped her arms around the top of the book so no one could read the heading but her; "The Symptoms of Pregnancy."

When Hermione finally brought herself to reading it, her eyes grew wider with every symptom mentioned. Every single thing on that page was a match. Every single solitary thing. She shook as she saw the test at the bottom of the page, hurriedly closing the book in denial. She couldn't be pregnant. She couldn't be.

Only, she could be. . . and those were all the symptoms that matched perfectly.

Panting as she went, Hermione slowly opened to the fateful page again, staring down at the testing section on the bottom. As

Muggles have no other means, pregnancy is detected in Muggle women through traces in urine samples. However, in the reproduction of witches, pregnancy can be determined by simply having a hex spell cast on them. If the attacker's wand is unable to carry out the spell, the tip of the wand will appear to have turned blue, showing that the witch is indeed with child.

Hermione thought, debating whether or not she should take out her wand. She really did want to know, but she also didn't want to. She was scared. For the first time in her life, she was truly scared. Now she wish she really hadgone through all the kinds of cancer.

She was sitting there for a good 20 minutes when her human sense of curiosity took over her, and she shook as she retrieved her wand from her robes. Realizing that it had to be done, she breathed a deep breath and in one quick motion, she closed her eyes tight, pulled her wand out, tapped her wand to her wrist and muttered the firsthex that came to mind.

Opening her eyes again, she didn't even have to look at her wand. She hadn't been hexed; she was perfectly fine. She angrily stuffed her half- blue wand back into her robe, collapsed on the table and started to cry, completely oblivious to the fact that people were staring.

hey! hope ya like it! the next chapter will be up sometime this week, but until then, please review! Suki

formatting updated July 26, 2006