Chapter 21
Hermione felt herself fall through what felt like sheets of translucent silk, surrounding her on all sides until she hit the ground; hard. She could hear a commotion happening around her but couldn't concentrate long enough to focus on anything but the agonising pain coursing through her body. Thankfully she fell into unconsciousness.
When Hermione she was vaguely aware of someone screaming. The sound was wretched and violent as the person was under the cruciatus curse or even worse, if that were possible. Hermione could feel hands on her arms and legs, holding her down. All at once Hermione realised that the person screaming was her and for good reason too. The pain was suffocating and she was struggling, hoping to escape it somehow. She could hear faint voices telling her to calm down and to tell them where it hurt and what had happened but she couldn't think straight. Charlus hadn't told her that it was going to hurt this much. She might have to pay his grave a visit and kick it when she was better, if she got better. She faded out once more.
When Hermione came to once more she braced herself for the onslaught of pain once more but found she was pleasantly numb. This time she was even able to open her eyes, noticing that she was in St Mungo's, her room flooded with flowers of every kind and someone was asleep by her bed side, clutching at her hand as if they were never going to let go. The man had messy brown hair and Hermione let out a sigh of relief.
"James." She breathed, not quite in her right mind. The man sat up with a start, starting at her in wonder for a moment before running for a healer. The man who looked like James came back into the room with a severe, tall woman with caramel coloured skin.
"You're awake. This sure is a miracle." The woman said, her voice deep and husky. Hermione found the sound soothing and reminiscent of her mother's voice. Hermione didn't ask what happened to her, nor did she give an explanation, not that anyone asked for one immediately as the healer, whose name was Rose, checked her over and made sure everything was alright.
"Well it looks like that new potion worked wonders. Your system was in overload with all the pain you seemed to be in, though we couldn't pin point where it was coming from. It put you in a coma so that your body could heal without all the strain." She said and Hermione just nodded. The man was standing near the door, rocking from heel to toe anxiously and he hadn't yet said a word.
"How long have I been in a coma for?" She asked Rose and the woman's face softened slightly.
"Almost six months now. We didn't think you were going to wake up." The nurse said and Hermione laid stunned at the revelation.
"You'd been missing for a year before that. We thought you were dead Hermione." The man said in a soft voice, full of relief and happiness. Hermione snapped back to herself as she heard his voice, so much lighter and not as deep as James's.
"Harry." Hermione said, tears filling her eyes as she took in the man before her. When she left, he had been just a boy coming to terms with the war they had just won, but now he was all grown up. He was taller and he'd filled out with muscle lining his body and days old scruff on his jaw. He looked worn out and tired but happy and Hermione was crying now. She was really back in her own time. Charlus had done it.
"Harry." She said again, a smile lighting up her face and he rushed over to her side, gathering her up in a hug that she had longed for since she left.
"I'm so sorry Harry." She said into his shoulder.
"You're safe now Mione. I won't let anything like this happen to you again." He said and Hermione scrunched up her nose at that. What had they thought happened to her in the year she was gone?
"What do you mean?" She asked, sitting back as she reached for the bed control so that she could sit up.
"You were kidnapped Hermione." He said, looking at her like she was slightly dumb.
"Who by?" She asked, curious as to what he thought happened, wondering who had come up with that story and why it was being kept a secret that she had travelled to the past.
"The left overs of Voldemort's followers. Mcnair and a few others. They've been arrested and sentenced to Azkaban." He said.
"I don't remember." She said simply, because technically she didn't. She needed to speak with Sirius or Remus or just someone who she knew in the past. Surely they would remember her and set everything straight. But that could wait until later, first she needed to recover from her trip through the veil.
"You look so much like your father now Harry." She said, placing a hand on his cheek softly. He smiled at her cheekily as he covered her hand with his.
"Ginny certainly thinks so." He said with a wink.
"Oh? Did you finally make that official, did you?" Hermione asked him.
"We're engaged actually." He said and Hermione congratulated him. He filled her in on what had happened while she was away and Rose brought in some food for Hermione to eat as they talked.
He told her about his time as an Auror with Ron, Dean and Seamus. He told her all about Ginny's short lived Quidditch career that ended when she had a bad injury that made it impossible to fly and that now she was pursuing a career in journalism. He told her that Ron was dating a Slytherin; Bill and Fleur had had a child; Mr Weasley was the Minister of Magic; Charlie had moved back to England and opened a nursery in Wales; Luna was running the Quibbler with Ginny; Sirius was teaching Charms at Hogwarts and Remus had broken the curse on the Defence position; and on and on it went. It seemed as if time had gone on without her while she had been in the past.
"When can I go home?" She asked as Rose was checking on her again.
"It seems to me like you're all healed up dear. The potion should wear off in an hour or so. When I've checked you over again after that, if there aren't any problems, you should be fine to go home this evening." She said and Hermione sighed in relief. She turned to Harry once more.
"I can still live at Grimmauld Place right?" She asked him.
"Of course M. Sirius may have cleaned it up a bit and I'm sure once everyone knows you're awake Sirius will be bursting in here with an offer anyway." He said.
"I thought you would have sent out an owl by now." Hermione said.
"I didn't want to overwhelm you. Do you want me to?" He asked.
"Yeah, you probably should. Just tell them all that I'm awake and okay but that I want to get settled back in at home before I get any visitors." She said.
"I can do that. I do have to warn you that an Auror that isn't me or Ron is going to come and take a statement from you about your kidnapping though. Standard procedure." He said as he got up and went over to a bag that she hadn't noticed was sitting beside the door, fishing out a bit of parchment and a bic pen.
"That's fine." She dismissed though internally she was freaking out about it. What did she tell them? That she didn't remember anything from the morning in her room to when she woke up? Would they even by that story? She would just have to be convincing until someone told her what the hell was going on.
Hermione got to leave late that evening and she found out that it was December, nearly Christmas and that Remus and Sirius were on break from Hogwarts and would be at the house when Harry took her home. She was apprehensive about seeing them again, wondering if they would blame her for not changing anything and saving all their friends. It was agonising just thinking that Marlene, James, Lily and even Peter, are all gone. Alice and Frank were broken and in hospital. Hermione reminded herself to visit them when she was more orientated. She hadn't known them as well but they were kind to her.
Harry guided her to the floo and they did the thing and soon they were standing in the sitting room of Grimmauld Place. It was so different from what Hermione remembered. It seemed Sirius had gutted the entire house down to its bones and redid it in a modern way. The walls were painted a blinding white that was a stark contrast to the carpet which was black and the furniture were all mismatched vintage furniture that made the place look funky and interesting, just like Sirius. Hermione loved it instantly.
"This is fantastic." She said as she spun around to admire everything, but got dizzy and stumbled into Harry's side.
"Do you want me to take you straight up to your room or would you like to say hi to Sirius and Remus first. I think they're in the kitchen." He said.
"Kitchen first." Hermione said determined. They walked slowly, Hermione was still weak from being in a bed for months without moving though Rose had loaded her with replenishing potions and pain potions and nutrition potions and such to make sure she got back to top shape. Hermione briefly wondered how she didn't change on the full moon's when she was in the coma.
"The potion kept me in a stasis so while you did change, I was also in a coma and wasn't a hazard." Her wolf said and Hermione instantly felt at ease hearing her voice.
"Thank you." Hermione said the words lined with meaning. The wolf said no more.
When Hermione entered the kitchen the sound of chatter fell away as the two men took in the sight of her. Remus looked the same as she had left him that day and completely different from what she had left behind in the past all at once. The change was stunning but Hermione found that she still loved him. And the revelation that she had loved him; did love him was staggering. She tore her gaze away from the man to look at Sirius. He was as handsome as ever though she could see the lines on his face, a toll of the years he spent in Azkaban and the loss of his friends. Hermione felt like crying at the sight of them.
"I missed you both so much." She said as tears welled up in her eyes.
"We missed you too Hermione." Sirius said, a slightly confused look on his face as if he were trying to think of something that was on the tip of his tongue but just out of reach. Hermione let go of Harry, who had been holding her up and stumbled over to Sirius, throwing her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. She inhaled his scent, taking comfort in his familiarity, glad that this simple thing hadn't changed in the last twenty years. He returned the favour, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and hugging her hard back.
"Mia." He whispered in her hair, awe in his voice and tears streamed down her face.
"I didn't remember." He said as he loosened his grasp as she pulled back. He took her face in his hands, as if making sure she was real before pressing a kiss to her forehead and pulling her back into another hug. They stood there for a moment, just enjoying the comfort before someone cleared their throat. They untangled themselves slowly as if reluctant to let go of each other. Sirius gave her a look that she knew meant we'll talk more later and then Hermione turned to Remus. He looked confused as he watched how she interacted with Sirius.
"He does not remember us." Her wold said and Hermione was realising that this was true.
"Do I get a hug too?" He asked her, standing up from his place at the kitchen table where he had been reading a book. Hermione looked at him for a moment wondering if it was a good idea. He saw her hesitance and recoiled.
"I know that it was my fault. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like that. I didn't mean to make you run out like that. If I'd been just a bit more caring about it all then maybe you wouldn't have run out of the house and been kidnapped. Crap. I'm so sorry Hermione." He gushed, running his hand through his hair like he did when he was frustrated and Hermione was hit with an overwhelming urge to jump up into his arms like she'd done so many times before and kiss him senseless.
"It's not your fault Rem. I don't blame you at all." She said as she walked over to him slowly, unsteady on her feet. His face scrunched up in confusion at the nick name and Hermione fought the instinct to reach up and kiss his nose like she did every time he made that face. He seriously doesn't remember her. Hermione feels as her heart breaks into tiny pieces and then trampled by a heard of hippogriffs.
She wraps her arms around him anyway, because she doesn't have very good self-restraint and couldn't help herself. He hugs her back in full force and Hermione snuggles into it. It's so familiar to her and his smell is the same and Hermione cries into his chest. She pulls back and wipes her eyes and nose on her sleeve hastily turning away from the man and goes back to Harry who's looking at her like she needs to tell him what's going on because clearly he's missing something.
"I'm really tired. I think I'm going to head up to my room and rest. I'll see you all tomorrow." Hermione said curling herself around Harry's arm and tugging slightly, silently asking him to help her upstairs.
So this happened. Sorry, not sorry. There will be two more chapters. Shit's gonna go down. We'll find out why Sirius and Remus don't remember Hermione and some other stuffs. I'm so excited to nearly have this thing finished. Ahhh.
If you review, even if it's a smiley face, it'll make me update sooner just fyi.
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