Chapter 10 - Limbus
With a gasp, Hermione Granger woke up, she didn't recognise her surroundings but it felt familiar. There were benches, train tracks, she looked around, squinting against the bright white light that seemed to bathe the area.
"Hello Hermione." a voice behind her, a voice she recognised.
She turned around and looked with wide eyes, gaping at the man in front of her, "Remus!"
"Let's have a seat."
Together, they sat on one of the bench. They both remained silent for a while, until Hermione asked, "Where are we?"
"Where would you say that we are?" Remus retorted.
"It looks like King's Cross..." she inhaled a sharp breath, "Harry mentioned this place, he talked to Dumbledore here."
"He did, yes."
"Am I dead?" Hermione asked in a small voice.
"This is up to you." Remus answered.
Hermione hummed, "Why were you one the one to welcome me here?"
"Sirius tried to argue it should be him, but his personal brand of chaos might be too much for such a moment. Then Lucius tried to convince us he should come see you, but really all he wanted was to be able to say he's sorry to Draco so I agreed to pass on that message."
Hermione nodded with a small smile, "Tell him I'll pass the message along if I can.
Are you real? Or is this happening inside my head?" Hermione wondered.
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Hermione. But why should that mean that it is not real?"
"Death made you really vague." Hermione snarked, and Remus chuckled.
"I remember, Molly, she tortured me. It felt like the Manor all over again.
If I go back, will I still be me?" Hermione asked.
"As much as one can stay the same after such an event." Remus replied.
"I have to go back, don't I?"
"It's up to you."
"Would you have gone back if you could?" Hermione wondered.
"I don't know. I'd like to think so, for Teddy. Living without Dora though, I can't begin to imagine. Don't leave Bill alone."
"Are you at peace?"
Remus hummed, "I like to think so. I found James, Lily and Sirius again. Dora is with me. I watch over Teddy."
Hermione nodded, "I miss you, Tonks, Sirius, I miss all of you."
"We're watching over you, over Harry. Don't worry about the dead Hermione, worry about the living."
"I'm going back then, aren't I?" Hermione said.
"You are. Tell Harry I say hi."
Hermione nodded and stood up, with one last look at Remus, she boarded the train.
The first thing she felt was the cotton sheet around her body, then the pain came. A dull throbbing sort of ache deep within her bones, her muscles, everywhere she could feel. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes to only see darkness.
Then she felt a hand holding her own and fought the pain in her neck to look in its direction. Bill. Bill was here and holding her hand. She squeezed his hand.
"Hermione!" He shouted, and suddenly there was light and people all around her.
"Love, how are you feeling?" He asked.
Hermione tried to answer but her throat felt raw and dry, "Water, she needs water!" someone said and suddenly a straw was in front of her.
Once she had sipped the water, the pain had dulled enough, so she murmured "Hi" in a quiet voice.
A Healer came barrelling through then and once people had stepped away, he came to her bedside, "Hi Miss. Granger, I am Healer Abbott. I'm glad to see you awake, how are you feeling?"
"Hurts." Hermione managed to say, Healer Abbott nodded, "I'll up your dosage of pain potion then."
Once Hermione had time to absorb the additional pain potion and the healer had cast a multitude of diagnostic charms, he focused on her again.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Hermione Jean Granger."
"Can you tell me who is the Minister of Magic?"
"Kingsley Shacklebot."
"Do you know the date?"
"14 April 2005."
The Healer nodded, "Okay, the first two answers are correct. However, you have been in a coma for almost 3 weeks, today is 3 May."
"Am I okay?" Hermione inquired.
"Do you remember what happened?" The Healer asked, instead of replying.
"She cast the Cruciatus curse, I remember the pain but then I was back with Bellatrix..." Hermione trailed off, closing her eyes, not noticing the tears running down Draco's face in the corner, nor Narcissa's white knuckles grip on his hand.
"You were under the curse for almost 45 minutes. Your memory seems intact, so does your mind, although we'll need further testing to be completely sure.
However, this is your second time under the torture curse for an extended period of time, it's likely you will suffer from some muscle spams going forward. We do have some potions we will prescribe to alleviate it."
Hermione nodded, eyes still closed. "Alright, I'll let you rest. I'll come back in the morning for another check."
Once the Healer had left the room, Hermione opened her eyes again and turned to Bill, "I'm so sorry Bill."
"You have nothing to apologise for love, I'm just glad you're awake." Bill replied and kissed her lightly.
"What happened to Molly?" She asked in a quiet voice.
"She's in Azkaban for life, she can't hurt you anymore, so is Ron." Bill replied.
"Ron?" She inquired with a frown.
"He was there, he knew what was happening, it's wasn't random, they had plans... They were both on probation so the Wizengamot was harsh." Bill said.
Hermione nodded, "I'm sorry anyway, they're your family."
"No, they're not Hermione, you are." Fred said from his perch at the bottom of her bed.
"We all cut ties with them both, before the trial, even Percy." Charlie explained.
"You didn't have to do that." Hermione said.
"We did. What they did was abhorrent, what they planned was just sick. They mean nothing to us now." George told her.
"Fine, what's been happening for the last three weeks then?" Hermione asked, changing the subject.
"Well, we went and got matched, we matched with Angelina, soulmate." Fred told her with a wide smile.
"That's great! You've liked for ages!"
"Yeah, we've managed one date so far, it's going pretty well I say." George added, grinning.
"Adrian finally went to get his match, and I've been able to declare my undying love." Theo cut in with a smirk.
"Don't you mean unrequited crush?" Hermione teased.
"No, no, I mean undying love, since he seems to like me for some reason." Theo retorted.
"Anyone else?" Hermione wondered.
"Well, Golden Boy and Drake have reached hand-holding stage while maintaining their vigil over you, so there's progress there." Theo told her with a mischievous smile, ignoring Draco rolling his eyes in the background.
"Draco?" Hermione called, and he stood up to be next to her.
"Lucius says he's sorry." She told him.
"What the fuck?" Draco retorted immediately.
"You went to King's Cross, didn't you?" Harry asked knowingly.
Hermione nodded, "Yes, I was with Remus, he says hi."
"What the hell are you two on about?" Draco cut in, confused.
"It's the place I went to after Voldemort killed me, it's some sort of limbo, in-between, Dumbledore was there." Harry explained.
"And you saw my father?" Draco asked, looking at Hermione.
"No, I only saw Remus but Lucius knew I was there and asked him to pass the message along, to tell you he's sorry." Hermione explained.
Draco nodded shakily and Harry took his hand to pull him back on the couch where he buried his face in Harry's neck and let out some more tears at the unexpected closure.
"Well this is fun, in other news, Ginevra Prewett has been found and arrested two days ago." Theo said.
"I thought she was in Barbados?" Hermione asked.
"She was at first, after that Portkey she took, but she was found in Miami in the US, and MACUSA Aurors arrested her and portkeyed her back to London." Theo went on.
"What's going to happen to her?"
"Well, she was still on probation, so she's being sentenced to Azkaban for the remaining period, just below 9 years." Theo said.
"Right, any other news I missed?"
"Well, Marcus Flint was divorced a couple of months ago, and he matched with Astoria Greengrass who petitioned the Ministry for a divorce when the law passed, they got married right away." Theo said.
"Huh, that was quick." Hermione simply said.
"In a way, but they've known each other for years and they're both used to the concept of arranged marriages." Theo shrugged.
"Anyone else petitioned to divorce?" Hermione wondered.
By that time, Draco had put himself back together, and answered her, "Daphne did, she doesn't know her match yet though."
Hermione nodded, but started to feel tired so they let her back to sleep. She had finally woken up late at night so Luna and Neville went home, so did the twins and Charlie, Narcissa left Draco to go back to the Manor and after a while both Draco and Theo finally left, assuring Bill they'd be back soon.
Hermione woke up in the middle of the night and squeezed Bill's hand again, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"I'm okay, I just want you to come into the bed with me."
Bill nodded and cast a spell to enlarge the bed slightly before getting in and wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm so happy you woke up, I love you." Bill murmured.
"I love you too." Hermione whispered back before falling asleep again.
The next few days passed slowly, Healers came and went every day and Bill slept with his arms wrapped around every night, on Day three she was finally deemed mentally healthy. On Day four, the physical therapy started. Bill never left her side, he used the room's bathroom to shower each day and someone brought them things to read and entertain themselves between the Healers.
On Day 10, Hermione finally managed to walk the length of the corridor her room was on, unassisted. Bill picked her up and twirled her around to celebrate, and she was told she could leave the next day if she kept up with the physical therapist for the next few months.
So on Day 11, Hermione was discharged. Appointments made for the physical therapy and a prescription for the muscle relaxant. She went home with Bill and immediately went for a nap.
Weeks later, Hermione had regained much more of her energy and was able to stay awake the whole day, as well as walk without trembling. Bill had finally went back to work, and she was in the garden. Laying on the grass, she was cloud watching and truly relaxing for the first time since the attack. She finally felt okay, and able to move past it, especially knowing they couldn't hurt her anymore. She was wearing a simple white summer dress, admittedly light for June weather in Northern England but she was enjoying the slight chill.
Suddenly her cloud watching entertainment was cut off by a shadow. "Hello love, mind if I join you?" Bill asked.
They spent a couple of hours laying down, enjoying each other and a light conversation until the sun was about to set. As soon as it started dipping below the tree line, Bill stood up and took her hand to make her stand up as well.
Facing each other, Bill got down on one knee, "Hermione, love. I have known you for almost 11 years, I've met you as a brilliant fiery young witch and saw you become a beautiful, smart and exceptional woman. When we saw each other in Cairo, I knew if I'd be lost to you if you'd let me. Ever since you came back I have longed to be yours, to love you not from afar but right next to you. I've loved you for longer than I should, and I promise to love you for the rest of our lives, Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry me?"
"Yes! Of course I'll marry you!"
