Chapter 10 (*)
“Were there any other curses or hexes that you suffered at all?” Healer Williams asked Hermione.
“Uhm... I was cut with a cursed blade around the same time as the Crucio’s. But that’s just a small cut on my neck and a scar on my arm.”
“May I see, please?” Hermione pushed up the big sleeves on the hospital gown and held out her forearm and the word ‘Mudblood’ that had been carved into it. “Do you know what kind of blade did this? Have you seen any Curse Mediwitches to try and heal your arm at all?”
“I did speak to a couple of them after the war but since it was cursed silver we haven’t been able to get rid of the scar. I can’t even hide it with concealment charms.”
“Poor dear. I can’t imagine what all of you went through. I came over here from America shortly after everything happened because they were in such dire need of medical assistance. Had no idea just how many of you had been affected, and at such a young age. Ok, hun, I’m going to need to do your pelvic exam now. Could you please remove your underwear?” Hermione did as she was told and went back to watching the dolphins play on the wall.
“Do you have any other personal history that could affect your fertility? Pain during intercourse or while menstruating? Irregular periods, abnormal or heavy flow, or alternatively irregularly light flow?”
“Um, no. Nope.” Hermione replied, her face bright scarlet even as she told herself these were normal questions and nothing to be embarrassed over.
“Ok, we’re done with the physical exam. We’re going to bring Draco back in here in a few minutes now to get a family history. I have a couple more questions about your sexual history first and then we’re almost done.”
“Ok,” Hermione told the Healer as she sat up.
“Now, first and foremost are you at all sexually active? This includes anal, oral, hands, and vaginal.”
“Not currently, but I have been in the past, yes.”
“Ok, and how many partners would you say you’ve had?”
“I’ve had full intercourse with two men before and done reciprocal oral with a third.”
“And were you protected during these intimate sessions? Did you use contraceptive charms, STD prevention charms, and/or condoms or other forms of Muggle contraceptives?”
“I was on the pill for a couple of summers like six or seven years ago and I always use contraceptive charms or a condom as well.”
“That’s good to hear. A lot of young people aren’t very careful and want to rush into sex, it’s much more enjoyable for everyone when you know for certain you won’t catch anything from a partner, including an unintentional baby.” The witch chuckled. “Have you ever contracted an STD?”
“I was misdiagnosed with Trichomoniasis when I was fifteen, hence the pill, but other than that I’ve never actually had an STD, no.”
“Misdiagnosed?”
“I went to a muggle doctor and he assumed that’s what I was experiencing. He scared my mum half to death thinking I was sleeping around. I gave and received oral sex one time with one boy and the doctor made assumptions. So I was taking medication for an STD instead of actually getting rid of my urinary infection. Even after I was correctly diagnosed my mum had me on birth control.”
“Unfortunately, that tends to be quite common anywhere you go. Men, particularly muggles, tend to be a bit sexist and don’t take us seriously enough or overreact when we say we’re in pain.”
“I did figure that one out a bit early on.” Hermine chuckled.
“Other than that no history of STDs you said? Great. Have you ever been pregnant or thought you might have been pregnant?”
“I had a pregnancy scare a few months after the war ended but I think it was just stress because I ended up getting my period after an extra few months and my vomiting went away with therapy while my appetite returned.”
“Ok, that’s all the individual questions I have for you, do you have any questions for me while we’re sitting here?”
“I was just wondering what these fertility appointments are exactly?”
“What do you mean, dear?” The healer asked as she started jotting down notes from her exam.
“I understand they’re to boost fertility to make sure we get pregnant but how? Is it a spell, or a pill, or an injection of some kind? And how does it work?”
“Well, we start with what we’re doing today; getting history’s and assessing what needs to be assessed. This means we look at you and your partner's current levels of fertility as well as anything that may be a hindrance or affect your fertility in any way. Once we have a baseline we know what to start with. Generally speaking, it’s just a shot in the abdomen for women and a shot in the inner thigh or the testicles for men, depending on what we need to boost for them.”
“But a shot of what exactly?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a patient want this much information before,” the Mediwitch leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms with a good natured chuckle. “To tell you the truth, everyone's shot is a little different and tailored specifically for what they need. In some cases, it’s simply a hormone boost and others need a lot more, including stabilizers, boosters, and other things that I don’t think you’ll need to worry about. For the most part the shots we give the female patients contain clomiphene to stimulate the growth of ovarian follicles that contain an egg and gonadotropins that will stimulate multiple egg growth, each of these contains FSH and LH as well as hMG. We also add letrozole to induce ovulation. If the insulin levels are causing problems we’ll add metformin, and if there is an excess of hyperprolactinemia or prolactin then we add bromocriptine. We also add DHEA, oxytocin, and other endorphin stimulants similar to what is released in the body during orgasm as these have shown signs of protective qualities we believe will strengthen a fertilized egg. Of course, there is also progesterone, estrogen, and hCG in everyone’s treatment plans as well. These will already be present in the body if a woman is pregnant but will also assist in getting the body ready to accept a healthy pregnancy when given in this form as well.”
“What kind of side effects should I expect if all of this is going into my body?”
“Well, it is common to experience some spotting as your uterine walls are expanding but you’ll also be missing your period on the treatment course because we’re pushing the body into constant ovulation and fertilization readiness. On that note, some bloating can happen as well but should go down as your body gets used to the hormones. You’ll also experience a false sense of mild euphoria. Basically, you’ll be more prone to happiness. And finally, this is the one everyone either loves or hates and there is generally no middle ground, you will most likely be incredibly horny.”
“Horny?”
“Horny.”
“But what’s to stop me from sleeping with whoever is available? The ministry is forcing all of us into marriages to boost the population and sticking us full of drugs, including oxytocin which is known to muggles as the love drug and could be classified as a minor love potion in the right circumstances, but who’s regulating all these marriages they claim to have worked so hard to arrange for everyone? How are they keeping people from having babies with who they really want to?”
“They aren’t, Ms Granger. Look, the ministry and St. Mungo’s have no control over who you ultimately end up getting pregnant with. We can’t stop people from having affairs and we can’t stop people from sleeping with whomever they want. That is between you and your spouse. These matches have been calculated to provide happiness and magically powerful, or more powerful than this generation, children. But if you did happen to get pregnant with a child from someone other than your husband, he would know once you give birth. All magical pregnancies resulting in the birth of a living child are recorded in a book of birth records and each record has the magical fingerprint of a child, so to speak, which tells us who to put on the birth certificate. All this does is say who the biological mom is and who the biological dad is but there is no way to alter it. You can add to it or change it through official means but the original names will still appear upon request.” Hermione nodded at the explanation as a grinning Healer Finnigan and a flushed and slightly limping Malfoy returned.
“All dahne wit de exam and I’ve sent de seamen ahff to de lab fahr testin’ so we shooehld ‘ave de resoehlts in a few minutes. ‘E was a good spahrt fahr de mahst part. Even when I ‘ad ‘im toehrn and cooehgh.” Hermione and Healer Finnigan both giggled a bit at the last part before Malfoy turned and glared at each witch respectively.
“Very good. Now, just a few more questions about family history and then we’ll be all set. We’ll give you your shots, and get you dressed and out of here.” Both young adults settled in their spots, happy to be almost done. “Now, Mr Malfoy, do you know if anyone in your family has or had a history of cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, or vulvar cancer?”
“No? Why would I know that?” The mediwitch ‘harrumphed’ before jotting down his answer.
“Please ask your mother and father before our next appointment if possible. Has anyone in your family had a history of prostate, penile, or testicular cancer that you’re aware of?”
“Again, why would I know that?”
“Mr Malfoy, you should know that because if someone in your family suffered from any of those diseases the likelihood of your children suffering those cancers is much higher. And if any of your direct male relatives had any of these cancers in their history then you have a higher likelihood of being affected by it yourself.” Malfoy paled at this.
“I’ll ask my Mother and Father.” He told her.
“Please do. I suppose that means you wouldn’t know about any other cancers either, so please be sure to ask about any forms of cancer in your familial history and not just reproductive ones. Do either of your parents suffer from infertility?”
“I’m not sure.” He grumbled but quickly followed with, “I know my mother took quite a few years to conceive me but I am unaware of why this is.”
“Did she or your father mention any of their symptoms or whether or not she miscarried before or after you were born?”
“I think my Father said something about slow swimmers but I have blocked the memory out.” He told her with a shudder. She nodded and wrote his reply down in her notebook.
“Has anyone in your recent family history been born with birth defects or squibbery?”
“I think I had a second or third cousin who we knew threw a few squibs. I’m not sure though because at the time if they were born without their magic they were ‘taken care of’ and never mentioned again. It’s not openly discussed though, so it may have happened to other relatives and I’m just not aware of it.”
“Ok. Thank you, Mr Malfoy. Ms Granger, same questions. Any forms of reproductive cancers in your family history?”
“Both my maternal and paternal grandmothers had breast cancer, and my mother’s family has a history of uterine cancer. A few of my great-great aunts and some cousins have died from it.”
“We’ll keep an eye on you for any symptoms of those then. Any male reproductive cancers in your family?”
“I think I may have had a great uncle who had prostate cancer but he died in a car accident before he confirmed his diagnosis with anyone.”
“Ok, any other cancers in your family or chronic ailments?”
“I know my dad’s side of the family had a lot of heart problems and high cholesterol and my Mum’s side of the family has crohn's disease and IBS.”
“Have you ever experienced any of these problems yourself?”
“No, and I’ve been regularly tested by muggle doctors. I’ve been going to the same practice since I was really young.”
“And have either of your parents had fertility issues?”
“My mum had to abort an ectopic pregnancy in 1978 and she miscarried quite a few times before and after I was born. I remember her reading a couple of pamphlets on cervical stenosis and endometriosis when I was five or six before they stopped trying to have more kids.”
“We’ll watch you carefully for signs and symptoms of endometriosis but the scan I performed on you earlier showed no signs of stenosis or uterine problems.”
“Ok,” Hermione said, a bit relieved to know it was one less thing she had to worry about for the future.
“Alright, now that we’ve gotten everything we need from the two of you and the lab has sent us back your shots based on the provided genetic samples, we’ll give you both your doses and you’ll be free to leave.” She said as she got the needles ready. One was slightly larger than the other and glowed deep green, and the smaller one sparkled slightly and was a soft blue colour. Malfoy lost all colour in his face and Hermione feared he might faint when they told him where the large needle was going in his body but he followed the healer to the other room for his injection as Hermione laid down one last time for her own. She focused on the dolphins again to help block out the sensations as the blue needle came towards her, but still let out a gasp at the pain while she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. She willed her body to become less tense and shivered a bit as the cold potion entered her body. The Healer put small cotton wool down and then a band-aid before letting her sit up. They exchanged goodbyes before Hermione went to the cubicle across the hall once more and changed back into her jeans and t-shirt. Once she was dressed again she met Malfoy and Healer Finnigan in the hallway. Malfoy looked more annoyed than usual and seemed to be in a foul mood that only worsened when he looked at her.
“Ahk, yooehr next appointment is scheduled fahr july nenth at de same time. Dat one shooehld go moehch quicker as we’ll semply ask abooeht yooehr weekly symptahms and den give you yooehr next shaht. It was lahvely to meet you finally Ms Granger. And I’ll see bot o’ you in fooehr days.” Healer Finnigan told the couple as she walked off for her next patient.
“Are you really planning on wearing that to tea with my Mother?” Malfoy huffed out as they started walking towards the entrance of St. Mungo’s.
“Yes, why?” She asked, looking down at her outfit. She had on a white t-shirt with a dog patch on the breast pocket, and a pair of plain blue jeans.
“That is not at all appropriate for tea at the Manor. We’ll have to go to yours so you can change into something more formal.”
“What? Why do I have to change for tea with your Mother?” She asked indignantly. Surely she didn’t need to be dressed nice enough for the queen for a bloody tea!
“Because my mother is a pureblood, the equivalent in old society's eyes to royalty. And as such you must present yourself appropriately.”
“Ok, but why do we both need to go back to my place for me to grab a dress?”
“Because I don’t trust you to know what is acceptable to wear since you showed up in that,” he said, gesturing to her outfit. “And because you can not floo or apparate to the manor on your own yet as you haven’t been added to the wards.” Hermione glowered at his stupidly perfect blonde hair, trying to burn him where he stood for being so rude. She stopped abruptly as the thought occurred to her and she realised she’d complimented his hair. She shook her head to clear the thought and continued walking (jogging a bit to catch up with him as he hadn’t stopped at all).
“I don’t think Harry will appreciate you showing up unannounced with me.” She told him, crossing her arms.
“Well, St Potter will have to deal with it.” He sniped. Hermione growled under her breath before they stepped up to the floo platform. All she could think was that her room wasn’t nearly tidy enough for someone like him to see and Harry was so totally going to kill her.
～Edited 19th Jan, 2022