Chapter 10
Friday had come a lot faster than she thought it would. And a lot slower. When Ginny had come over Wednesday night she’d told Hermione all about her encounter with Blaise; how she’d attempted to apologize and he had accused her of manipulating the ministry ruling to get a second chance with him. He’d then proceeded to tell her all about how he’d moved on from their "fling" a long time ago and they’d never have a real relationship. Of course, Ginny (ever the angry witch when crossed) had started swearing and letting him know exactly how much she hadn’t missed him, and how much she didn’t need him, and (apparently) when she’d been about to cast a wordless bat-bogey hex Hermione had shown up, inadvertently saving Blaise a clean shirt during their interview.
The poor girl’s day was almost bad enough to warrant Hermione’s forgiveness for yesterday. Almost.
Not only had Ginny and Harry gone at it most of the night (and Merlin did she wish they’d been fighting) but they’d also gone a couple of rounds on the couch during the dayas well. She’d been rightly livid. Harry and Ginny had sex a few times since Hermione had returned (a "friends with benefits" type arrangement according to Ginny) but she thought the two would have stopped now that they were affianced. Of course, when she confronted the two of them Harry sheepishly slunk off to his room to hide and Ginny (while eating Hermione’s frozen stockpile of Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream) had told Hermione everything they’d done wasn’t wrong in the least. The marriages hadn’t taken place yet so no one’s feelings could get hurt. And nobody really knew their fiance’s except by names so who cared? She’d then gone on to start describing all the ways Harry was better than Blaise in the bedroom (contradicting what she’d said a few days earlier in her angry). When she started talking about some Kamasutra move they’d tried called the ‘Pretzel-Dip’ Hermione had walked out of the room and stayed upstairs the rest of the day with her walk-man and her copy of Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory playing loudly on repeat.
Now, though, she couldn’t decide if she wanted to go forward with her day or if she’d rather just relive yesterday’s events. It was about 2:50 in the afternoon and she’d just arrived at St. Mungos for her fertility appointment. Harry had left for his own appointment around 2:15 so she was stuck sitting in the waiting room with her leg bouncing as she watched people come and go by herself. She dreaded what was going to happen.
When it was 2:54 and Malfoy still hadn’t arrived she was even more nervous. She wanted to get this done and over with as soon as possible, but if he wasn’t here she didn’t know what would happen. She doubted they’d let her go in without him. They’d probably make her sit out here and wait or reschedule them for tomorrow or something that was equally annoying and a waste of her time.
“Hey Hermione,” Harry called as he exited the hospital wing with Astoria Greengrass. “I’m gonna head home but I thought I should introduce you two before I did. Astoria, this is Hermione. Mione, this is Astoria.” he told the girls lamely as he scratched the back of his neck.
“It’s nice to finally meet you in person, my sister and her husband were always talking about you when we were at Hogwarts. Nice to finally have a face to go with the name.” Astoria said charmingly while shaking Hermione’s hand. “Obviously, I’ve seen your face before in Witch Weekly and the Daily Prophet. I meant seeing your face for the first time in person.”
“Oh, uh, nice to meet you too. I didn’t know Daphne was married,” Hermione replied embarrassed.
“I heard you hadn’t. She asked me to tell you, you know if I ran into you before she did,” Astoria said with a little giggle, “that she tried to send you an owl but she had no clue where you had ended up after graduation. She and Theo were pretty bummed you couldn’t be there but they’re dying to reconnect now that you’re back in town.”
“Theo? She ended up marrying Theo?” Hermione asked.
“Yes,” Astoria said with a small shrug.
“Sorry, that was a little rude of me. I’m just a little shocked they stayed together after school. Most couples break up after they graduate.”
“Nope,” Astoria smiled. “They’re still very much happy together. They actually have a baby on the way too.”
“Well, if anyone can make a school-year relationship work I’m not surprised it’s those two. From what I remember they were very well suited for one another. Tell them I say hi, and congratulations on the baby!” Hermione added with a smile.
“I’ll make sure to do that,” Astoria said with a laugh.
“I was telling Astoria before our treatment about your idea for tomorrow afternoon. All the dresses and things.” Harry added.
“Oh, yes! I would love to come and get to know everyone. And I’ll make sure to drag Pansy along as well. It will be nice to have an idea of Harry and his friends. I’m really hoping we can have a long and happy marriage so I want to gain your trust and respect as well since you’re one of his best mates.” Astoria told Hermione, at one point setting a hand on Harry’s arm.
“Great! We’re going to meet at Marina’s bridal shop around noon if that’s ok with you? I called yesterday and the salesperson said that they didn’t really have anyone booked this weekend so we could come in whenever we wanted tomorrow. I told them we’d be there around twelve but I can call and change it if need be.” Hermione told the other girl.
“No, noon works just fine for me. And I know all Pansy’s doing tomorrow is her Fertility meeting at 8:30 so she’ll probably be a little sore but otherwise, she’ll be free so I’ll bring her with me. What is the plan exactly, I want to make sure I budget my time properly?”
"We'll all meet up around 11:50 at the shop, spend however long it takes to try on and find dresses, and then probably head to dinner or the flower shops or something. I wasn't sure what everyone was available for so I didn't want to plan too much." Hermione said, frowning slightly at the sore remark and hoping it didn’t have to do with the treatments. Astoria and Harry had come from their own just now so they’d know what to expect.
"That sounds wonderful! Might I suggest a stop to Hari's Salon and Nails as well? It would be good to start looking at hairstyles, makeup, nails, and such when we know what we'll be wearing."
“Ok, that sounds like a good idea. I'll let Ginny know, and feel free to bring anyone else you think would want to come as well."
“I don’t think I know anyone else dealing with this law, most of my friends are either already married or living in France. But if I think of anyone I’ll owl you tonight to see if you’d be alright with me bringing them.”
“Bringing who?” Hermione jumped slightly as Malfoy appeared out of nowhere and butt into their conversation.
“Bringing more people to our group dress fitting, and it shouldn’t be a problem, Astoria.”
“Ok, I will see you tomorrow then. It was lovely to meet you, Hermione, and nice to see you again, Draco.” Astoria waved as she started to head out.
“Bye Astoria,” Harry called as Hermione reiterated it was nice to meet her as well.
“Nice to see you again as well, Stori,” Malfoy said before walking towards the front desk. Hermione made to follow before Harry caught her arm.
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t really hurt. The appointment, I mean. I know you're nervous but it's only a couple of little sticks and a few needles but nothing overly invasive.” Harry told her. Her shoulders slumped a little in relief as she hugged him goodbye. "Honestly it's likely to be worse for him than it is for you," Harry remarked under his breath with a shudder.
“See you when I get home later.”
“Good luck with your meeting and just send me a Patronus or something if you need me to come get you from Malfoy Manor.”
“I just might. Bye Harry.” Hermione called over her shoulder as the mediwitch asked for her and Malfoy to follow her back. They walked down a light-purple hallway and through a number of turns and dark wood doors before coming to a stop in room 106. The mediwitch pointed them to the changing rooms across the hallway and asked them to change into the provided hospital gowns before letting them know their healer would be by shortly. Hermione felt her cheeks heat a bit at the thought of changing into a flimsy gown before she and Malfoy both grabbed their light-blue hospital garb and walked over to get changed. When she shut the door to the dressing room she noticed there was a sign instructing her to tie the strings in the front for ease. She removed her jeans and t-shirt and changed as the sign instructed (the outfit was slightly heavier and more comfortable than she thought it’d be) before walking back into their room. When she got into the room she sat in a cushioned plastic chair and took in the moving wall mural. It was an ocean scene and had schools of fish and dolphins playing about it. The whole ceiling reflected the sun as you would see it underwater and the floor was carpeted the colour of sand, with anemones and rocks dotted about near the baseboard on the walls.
“Glad I don’t have to use the bathroom,” She looked over and saw Malfoy taking in the wall as she had. Hermione barely suppressed her giggle at the sight of him; she’d never seen the man in anything less than a full suit, his Hogwarts uniform, or quidditch gear (which she had admittedly fantasized over a couple of times in fifth year). Now he stood in a baby blue hospital gown that made him look pasty and very unaristocratic, as well as shiny black loafers that he hadn’t removed or had put back on when he’d finished changing. She also noted, with a bit of a smirk, that he hadn’t read the signs and was wearing his gown tied in the back. “What?” He asked her as he noticed her staring.
“Nothing, just I don’t think we’re meant to still have our shoes on in here.” She chuckled. He looked at her own feet and she wiggled her red-polish tipped toes at him.
“If they don’t want me to wear my shoes they can tell me themselves.” He grumbled from his spot near the door.
“We would like you to take off your shoes, Mister Malfoy.” A middle-aged woman said with a small smile as she appeared in the doorway. “And while we appreciate the effort, you could have tied the gown in the front. We actually encourage it as it’s easier all around.” Hermione smiled behind her hand as Malfoy gaped a bit before a pink flush tinted his cheeks and he turned to put his shoes with the rest of his clothes. Hermione started giggling at the sight of his exposed back in the couple places he’d missed the closures. He threw a glare at her over his shoulder before shutting the door. “You’d be surprised how often people don’t read the signs. Most of them are men.” The Mediwitch told her as she sat down with her chart.
“Sorry, I’m late. We’re running a bit behind upfront..” Another mediwitch appeared. Where the first one was obviously American and sported dark blond hair tied back in a bun, the new arrival was seemingly Irish and wore her reddish-brown hair in a braid. She looked vaguely familiar to Hermione in both face and mannerisms. “Where’s the lad?” She asked as she looked up from her paperwork and noticed the room.
“I am right here. And I would like to come in from the hallway now if you don’t mind.” Malfoy told the girl in a snit. He stalked around her and dropped into the chair beside Hermione (his back still seemingly straight as a board even as he did). How anyone could have such good posture... she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Who pissed in his Cheerios this morning?” The young woman asked under her breath.
“Ok, welcome to your first round of fertility treatments today Ms...” the older witch looked at her chart, “Hermione Granger and Mr Draco Malfoy. My name is Healer Williams and this is my advanced session healer trainee, Healer Finnigan.”
“Wait, Finnigan? Any relation to Seamus Finnigan?” Hermione asked out of curiosity. The other woman scowled as she asked.
“What just because I'm Irish and my last name is Finnigan I must know some other Irish bloke with the same last name? We aren't all related you know!” Malfoy chuckled under his breath at Hermione’s plight as she sat there with her face turning red in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t...That is you seem so...Uhm...” She was floundering before the lady started laughing.
“I'm just messing with you, lassie. He’s me little brother! You two graduated at the same time, right? I was a Ravenclaw myself. Graduated in ‘97 before going right into Healer training.”
“S-sorry. I, uh, didn’t know Seamus had a sister.”
“Yeah, since we were in different houses and I'm a few years older we didn’t really talk much during school. So I can imagine you wouldn’t have heard of me. My name is Aisling.”
“Nice to meet you Aisling.”
“Yes, yes, it’s nice to meet each other, could we get on with it? I don’t need to be here all day!” Malfoy grumbled.
“Uhm, yes. As I was saying earlier, I am Healer Williams and this is Healer Finnigan. We’re going to be working with the two of you over the coming weeks and potentially years while we attempt to get you two ready for and having babies. Now, I understand that this can be awkward under normal circumstances and especially since you two don’t know each other that well, but I must please ask you to keep everything civil and cordial while we’re in this room because I have a lot of patients to work with and I would rather not be behind because I have a couple who doesn’t wish to cooperate. I’m asking this of all of my patients so we can keep things running smoothly. Now then, today we will be going over family histories, previous medical history, any previous sexual history and pregnancy history, and a few other things as well. To get started we will be giving each of you a physical exam and we’ll ask a few questions about medical history while we do. Mr Malfoy, if you could please follow Healer Finnigan into the adjoining room, we can all get started?”
“What? Why am I leaving with a trainee? Shouldn’t I have a real Healer?”
“I am a real healer. And I’m all you’ll get, so move along blondie.” Healer Finnigan told him as she ushered him into the other room. Healer Williams sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose under her thin oval glasses.
“Alright Ms Granger, would you please hop up on this table here? We can get your exam underway.” Hermione followed Healer Williams directions and lay back on the bed.
“I wasn’t sure if I was meant to take my knickers off or not, so I left them on. Is that going to be a problem?” Hermione asked as she stared at the waves on the ceiling.
“No, that’s fine dear. We’ll do the pelvic exam last. Now, I am going to be asking you some questions while I do your exam so please stop me if anything hurts or feels weird in any way ok?”
“Yep,” Hermione replied lamely.
“Alright. First question; do you have any past medical history we should be aware of such as blood clots, diseases, stomach problems, or anything else?”
“Um, I had anaemia for a few years as a child, and leading up to and during the war I suffered some spell damage,” Hermione said, trying to ignore the Healer as she examined her breasts and stomach.
“I can see some of the scarring is pretty extensive on your stomach, but it does look like it has faded to some degree, is that correct? Have you seen a Healer or Mediwitch for treatment in the past? What kind of spells where you hit with?”
“I uh, was hit by an unknown curse in June of 1996. I did see Madame Pomphrey, the Hogwarts School Mediwitch, for it and after that, I saw some specialized Healers during the summer. We aren’t really sure what the spell was, I think Antonin Dolohov, he’s the one who cast it, made it up. I do know it showed up as a purple fire that left a really cold burning sensation and caused a lot of internal and external bleeding. We got it to stop but as far as anyone can tell the scars won’t ever go away.”
“Do you know if there was any lasting internal damage?”
“My lungs and heart are a bit discoloured and weakened but with steady exercise, I’ve been able to get back to almost 100%. The last medical appointment I had for it said that the internal damage does seem to be fading.”
“That’s good at least. No damage to your uterus or ovaries?”
“Not that I’m aware of, it was mostly my upper torso that was internally damaged, despite the scars on my stomach,” Hermione told her, she knew the witch must have been looking at the long jagged scars that ran across her stomach near her navel.
“We’ll take a quick scan today to make sure but if it’s mostly damage to the heart and lungs I assume that it wouldn’t cause any reproductive issues. Were you hit with anything else?”
“I was hit with an Engorgio in school that affected my teeth but that has been cleared up and fixed for a long time now. During the war, I suffered from the effects of tree shrapnel after a Bombarda or two while I was on the run which I was treated for, and while I was captive at Malfoy Manor I was subjected to a number of Crucios from Bellatrix Lestrange. I lost count of how many after about four or five.” Healer Williams rolled her chair forward a bit to look at Hermione’s face for a few minutes.
“You’ve been hit with numerous Crucios? Over how many days did this torture take place?”
“Over the course of an hour, maybe a little more. I kind of lost track of time.”
“This all happened in one day!” The Healer seemed genuinely shocked and upset for her at the answer. “That is incredibly dangerous, and can leave lasting or even permanent physical and psychological damage!”
“It was a war. I think that was the point.” Hermione shrugged, she’d long ago learned to turn off her expressions about what happened that day when she could prepare for it. As she knew this was going to come up today, she’d spent last night and this morning preparing herself mentally for the discussion.
“War indeed. You poor girl, how are you still functioning?”
“The people I spoke to directly after my friends broke us out of there and the Healers I spoke to after the Battle of Hogwarts all had differing opinions on the matter. The main consensus is that I was able to keep my mind because I had been learning Occlumency to help my friend so my brain was a bit strengthened and I was rushed directly to people who could start healing me almost directly after being tortured.”
“And you say this took place at Malfoy Manor.”
“Uhuh.”
“And the gentleman you’re required to marry is Draco Malfoy ?”
“Yep.”
“I am so sorry, honey.” She touched Hermione’s arm in a comforting manner before going back to her exam.