Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Best Friends with Benefits	By : Christina_Potter_09 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Harry/Hermione Views: 42556 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Chapter Ten – Life and Death

He could hear some thudding sounds, some sounds as if coming through water, he could hear a rapid heartbeat, the thudding of blood rushing through his head, cries, screams, commands and spells but all of them were just in a haze, in total it was like a buzz in his head.

He could smell the blood, her blood, on his hands, on his clothes, and it was probably on his face too because the moment he apparated at St. Mungo’s , the healers took her away and he was sure he rubbed his face in desperate numbness.

For now he was all alone in the corridor, Hermione had been taken inside the room by various healers who rushed in and out of her room occasionally but Harry didn’t dare move close and ask, her heart was probably injured and since they were in a rush, he didn’t want to get in the way, he had done enough damage as it was already.

Guilt was griping around his heart, one moment they were confessing their love for each other, the next moment Yaxley was stabbing her because he wanted to get to Harry. How could he ever believe he would be left at peace, when the cruse of the Deathstick was now upon him? It had been years ever since the defeat of Voldemort and Harry had almost dared to believe he could be fine, that none would try to take the power of the greatest Hallow… he was so severely mistaken.

He wasn’t sure for how long he was there but after a moment he felt a hand slipping in his palm as he just sat on a chair with his back bowed, his eyes blurry looking at the floor between his legs, he looked at the hand in his and realized it was a little hand. He raised his head and saw Morgana right before his face, looking at him seriously.

‘Where is Mione, Harry?’ the girl asked and the dream he had a few days back rushed in mind like a burning liquid, this same very girl may be standing before a tombstone in a matter of time for real. Harry tried to push that thought away, he looked next to Morgana and found Luna and to his mild surprise Draco there, looking at him. He wasn’t sure how they got there or how they learnt about it but he could only look back at Morgana who waited for an answer that he couldn’t give without collapsing.

‘We’ll wait here, sweetie, and the healers will tell us if we can see Mione,’ Luna tried for her daughter with a calmed voice, it wasn’t that dreamy and Harry felt even worse for it. ‘I had been contacted by the hospital, Hermione and I have our floos for emergencies since you and Ron are usually away…’ Luna said, answering Harry’s inner question, he only gave a nod as Luna sat next to him and Draco nodded at Luna after a moment.

‘Morgana, why don’t we go to the giftshop of the hospital and buy a nice card for Hermione to read when she’ll be ok?’ Draco asked and Harry looked at him for a moment, obviously he and Luna hadn’t missed time to have Morgana meeting Draco, probably as a friend for now.

How things can change… one person comes and may stay forever, and another maybe lost forever… Morgana looked at Harry for a moment longer, her sincere eyes piercing right through him.

‘If she’s up before I’m back, tell her I love her ok, Harry?’ Morgana asked and Harry felt a rush of emotion suffocating him, he could only nod numbly as Draco took the hand he was holding and took the girl away. For a moment Harry felt like beating Draco, he reminded him of the past, he reminded him of Yaxley and Bellatrix and all these people were after him and Hermione, and one of them made it to reach them after all this time.

‘It’s not his fault,’ Luna’s sweet voice was heard from next to him and Harry finally took a deep breath and burst into sobs of desperation.

‘I thought she would be ok, I thought… one moment she was hitting him to get free the next moment the snow was all covered in her blood, Luna.’ Harry said in a chocked breath and Luna placed one arm around him while he leaned closer for support. ‘I can’t lose her, I have lost everyone else from time to time, some of them died, some of them just left, but not her, she was always there… we had just talked… we were fine, we were together… she just went out to bring some water…I don’t know how he got through the spells, I can’t figure it out right now, all I want is to have her back,’ Harry went on and Luna could only rub his back with her hand, nodding to everything he was saying.

‘I know, Harry… she will pull through, she has been through a lot, she’s a fighter,’ Luna said soothingly and Harry felt like bursting more at the memories of what both he and Hermione had been through. It was a few moments more and McGonagall with Hagrid and Neville showed up as well. ‘I called them, I’m sure they’d want to be here,’ Luna said and Harry only shrugged. ‘Should I call her parents?’ she asked softly as the other three approached, Harry shook his head, he could only imagine Jane’s fearful eyes and it hurt.

‘No, not yet, summon Ron though, he needs to be here as well,’ Harry said and Luna gave a nod and excused herself. It was Neville who took her seat and patted Harry’s shoulder.

‘She’ll be alright, Harry, Hermione is powerful, she’ll make it,’ Neville said and Harry could only give another nod, he didn’t dare look at Minerva, it was mare hours from when she told him to keep Hermione safe and now they were in the corridor of the hospital. He only glanced at her after a moment and regretted it as he saw the old woman’s desperate expression.

Luna returned about five minutes later with one of Harry’s co-aurors, Nigel Emerson, Harry felt his body rising as his colleague moved close.

‘Her parents?’ he asked fearfully and Nigel shook his head, coaxing a breath escaping Harry.

‘The healers contacted the Ministry about what happened, you should have contact with us, Harry,’ Nigel said but his voice was soft before Harry’s blooded and destroyed exterior. ‘But… I get it, I’m sure you don’t want to deal with a lot of things but right now they do not even know what happened with you and Miss Granger so I’m here to extract the memory for a pensive review of the crime, I’m sure because of the shock you don’t remember a lot of things. But we need to learn what happened with Yaxley,’ Nigel said and Harry sighed, he could remember most of it indeed, the memory would help them as Harry wasn’t ready yet to talk about anything, only that danger was away.

‘I killed him,’ Harry said and Nigel only nodded in silence as Minerva, Hagrid and Neville looked at him in mild surprise. Nigel handed Harry a vial and Harry took his wand with still blooded hands, tapped his temple and allowed the memory to leave his mind carefully, he still cling to it, the blood, Hermione’s face, everything so he needed to be careful. He put it in the vial and Emerson took it from him.

‘You can stay here, I’ll take care of everything,’ he said and Harry only nodded to him in thanks.

That moment the door of the room Hermione was kept in, was opened and a man in green robes came out, he looked tired, his robes had blood on them and he looked at the people with inquiring eyes.

‘Is here the person who was at the time of the injury of Miss Granger?’ he asked and Harry moved closer, the rest stayed back and waited but the healer gestured for Harry to move through the door. Harry felt his heart kicking as he moved in the room, he couldn’t see the bed as there were curtains around it and he waited for the healer who closed the door and started talking while the rest were still around Hermione from behind the curtain.

‘Mr. Potter, I assume I don’t have to call the Aurors and capture you as a suspect of miss. Granger’s attack?’ the healer asked and Harry couldn’t stop himself from asking than answering.

‘Is she going to be alright?’ he asked and the healer shook his head for a moment.

‘That will depend upon your answers,’ he said and Harry sighed and shook his head as well.

‘I just gave the memory for a pensive examination to Auror Emerson, it was Yaxley who injured her with a dagger that will probably be picked up from the camping place Hermione and I were in the forest of Dean, now is she going to be alright?’ Harry answered what the healer wanted and then asked once again while the healer scribed down on a parchment.

‘Was the dagger of some specific metal that can work as a conductor to magic? Because the dagger was indeed enchanted but I need to know specifics.’ The healer went on as if he hadn’t heard Harry, a fact that infuriated the young wizard.

‘I don’t know, I didn’t pay attention, one moment he was holding it up against her side the next I was taking it…out of her body, will she be ok?’ Harry answered once more and then asked once again, he was even surprised with himself for not having burst to the bed already but the damn healer had said he needed questions.

‘I see, do you know if Miss Granger was intimate with someone for the past month or so?’ the healer asked and Harry looked at him with a deep frown.

‘What that has to do with anything?’ he asked and the healer sighed and looked at Harry patiently.

‘I have my reasons Mr. Potter and I’m not able to answer if not to the right person-‘

‘I’m the right person!’

‘So she has been intimate with you for the past weeks?’ the healer asked and Harry ran a hand through his messier than ever hair and scratched his unshaved face in exasperation.

‘Yes, we’ve been together for the past three months and three weeks, now what is going on?’ Harry asked finally losing his temper and rising his voice, the healer seemed to soften up.

‘Mr. Potter, Miss Granger is probably not aware of it but she’s about two weeks pregnant,’ the healer said and Harry felt his heart dropping. Hermione… she was with child… and…but how? They had been using protection from the moment they made the deal, this wasn’t what he expected to hear. Within moments terror suffocated him, she was with child, the baby was in danger… a baby.

‘Hang on, we’ve been using protection, she can’t be pregnant.’ Harry finally said but the healer shook his head.

‘Mr. Potter, you had used the plain contraceptive charm for both sides?’ he asked and Harry nodded, remembering the night Hermione had cast the spells. ‘And in the past three months and three weeks, have you been treated by healers because you had been attacked in time of duty?’ the healer asked and Harry’s eyes widened, he got how it happened but he could only nod to have the healer saying it out loud himself.

‘When you’re under attack by spells of offensive nature, the healers need to undo all spells binding your body in order to repair magically the injures without mingling the magic in the organs. Basically the healers broke all spells on you as to heal you and when the spell was broken on you, the male participant, it was also broken on Miss. Granger as this is the point of the contraceptive charm on both sides. I suppose you forgot to remake the spell ever since that time so she conceived approximately eighteen days ago…’ the healer said and Harry felt like collapsing. Hermione was pregnant and injured.

‘Please tell me how she is,’ Harry begged this time and the healer seemed friendlier or at least more considerate now that he had taken the answers he needed.

‘Mr. Potter, I won’t lie to you, right now her condition is critical, you see even if we repaired the damage inside her body, her heart was fractured and will need hours to completely heal through the spells and healing potions that run in her system right now. The biggest problem however is Miss Granger’s levels of magic. You see, a pregnant woman is used on the magical levels of the child from the moment of the conception and on but in this case, she’s been stabbed by a magical object and the wound is very close to her heart that will need time to heal. Her body is struggling to keep up with the changes and her heart is overworking right now for the entire body even though injured, if the struggle gets too much we’ll have to somehow bring magic to lower levels.’ The healer said and Harry looked at him with a frown, he knew he wouldn’t like it.

‘And how is the supposed to be done, why you’re not doing it right now?’ he asked quietly, dangerously for the answer.

‘If her injured heart can’t keep up overworking in the next hours for her body to take the levels down the natural way, she’ll die of a heart attack. If we reach this point, as to prevent that, we will have to take down the levels by stopping the pregnancy…’ the healer said and Harry didn’t even realize his outburst as he gripped the healer and slammed him against the wall. No, he wouldn’t lose Hermione or the little one, it still hadn’t sunk in but inside the woman he loved, his child was growing and all his instincts, all his love and all his very being was trying to protect that little human in its mum’s womb.

‘You better not reach that point then!’ Harry hissed close to the healer’s face in fury and the other man tried to push Harry away. Harry took a few deep breaths and looked at the healer, his eyes were apologizing and the healer could see that so he nodded, probably used on such outbursts from desperate people. ‘Is… is the baby alright so far?’ Harry asked, his voice trembling, the baby, it was still enormous for him to take down but it was right there, behind the curtain, under Hermione’s skin, getting bigger and bigger with every moment while the heart of its mother struggled to keep both alive.

‘So far so good, its magical levels accelerated the moment of the attack as nature always tries to save the child as well as the mother, it’s not easy for magical children to be miscarried as their magic protects them.’ The healer said and Harry gave the faintest of smiles for the first time in all these hours of agony, he liked to think of his child as a fighter already.

‘Can I go and-‘

‘Of course, just allow me to perform some sterilizing charms on you so she won’t have infections through the respiratory system.’ The healer said and Harry only nodded and allowed the healer to cast the spells, in a matter of moments he was all cleaned up and refreshed only in appearance as his eyes and posture were still defeated.

Harry moved closer to the curtain that separated him from Hermione and pushed it aside, his eyes locked on her pale, seemingly peaceful face, she was covered up to the waist with a blanket and was in one of the hospital’s gowns. The healers around her retreated and the healer who had informed Harry asked him to call any time he would see some difference.

‘In case she starts struggling to breathe, or a light glow appears on the skin above her heart, her heart is failing, you will have to summon us.’ The healer said and Harry nodded only to show he understood, he didn’t even want to think about it.

He was soon left alone with Hermione in the room, he took a seat next to her bed and took her limb hand in his, he leaned down and kissed her knuckles, he could feel the tears gathering behind his eyes once again.

‘We failed our promises as a couple and we hadn’t even had an hour officially together…’ he whispered with a sad chuckle as he looked at her face, his eyes slowly moved to her flat stomach, covered by the blanket. ‘I’m begging you, hold on for a little more, until your heart is completely healed… you don’t know it and I’m sure you didn’t want it to be like this but if you don’t hold now, they will have to… stop it.’ Harry whispered again, not being able to actually say out loud the possibility of stopping the pregnancy. ‘And I don’t want it to be stopped… I want it, him or her to be screaming by our bedside in a few months, and having you shoving me out of bed to fetch the diapers while you’ll be feeding our child. I want it to be there with us.’ Harry added in an equally broken whisper before he could sigh and take away the tears.

‘Everyone expected me to protect you, take care of you, Minerva, the aurors, your parents, myself… I told you about Yaxley too late, you didn’t realize the size of the problem…’ Harry whispered, if only she had taken her wand with her. ‘But even if you had, you’ll never be safe with me, no one will ever be safe with me thanks to this damned destiny…’ Harry kept on with his whispers, he knew it was the truth, he knew he would never be normal, there would always be someone after him, for the wand, for some kind of revenge…

But he also knew Hermione would never leave his side, there was no argument in this case, she would always be there, like she had been during the war…

‘I know you won’t want to leave my side and I know pushing you away just won’t work, but please, make it this time as well, for both you and—our baby, and I will be better, more careful, more thoughtful. If I have to, I will live in constant vigilance for you and the baby to be ok, but please, just one more time…’ Harry urged and brought her hand back to his lips. One of his own hands moved on her stomach, he slipped his hand under the blanket and he touched her warm body. She looked so peaceful in her slumber and knowing that beneath his hand, there was a little baby growing, their baby growing… his heart felt lighter and heavier at the same time.

There was not even a question in his head about the baby, if they made it tonight it would be the three of them in the future. It would be a shock yes but right now, before the terror of losing one of them, Harry couldn’t consider the parental fears and confusions as problems… the only thing he could think of was a little child, all healthy and beautiful in Hermione’s arms.

After some time, Harry had no idea how long he was in there, holding Hermione’s hand and thinking about everything, his eyes always looking fearfully at the spot Dolohov hat cursed her in case her skin glowed, the door opened and Ron’s screwed-in-worry face popped up from behind the curtain.

His eyes lost their usual cheerful light the moment he saw Hermione on the mattress, all pale and unmoving and Harry by her side, defeated and exhausted. He had only the strength to nod his head in acknowledge as Ron took another chair and sat on the opposite side of Hermione’s, holding her other hand for a moment before he could touch her forehead to have an idea of her temperature. He withdrew his hands and rubbed his own face with them.

‘They told me about Yaxley, they said that some aurors have been sent in the scene and they figured he made it to include himself in the spells you were casting, he was under a camouflage spell in the water of the river, you couldn’t possibly know he was there.’ Ron said and Harry only nodded his head, again to show mostly that he was listening, he knew Ron was trying to take the blame from him but that wouldn’t happen anytime soon, he should have thought better ways of protecting the tent and the surrounding area.

The two remained in silence, with Harry looking up and down at Hermione, her face and her stomach as he held her hands with both of his and Ron having crossed his arms before his chest and waiting patiently as well. As Harry could understand from his friend’s clothes, he had been in practice when the news reached him.

‘So you and Hermione were back in the forest when he found you?’ Ron finally asked after all that time of silence. Harry felt spent of any kind of energy to try and lie to Ron right that moment but he only nodded to show signs of understanding. ‘And what exactly were you doing there on your own? I thought Ginny had sent that letter for you to join us for Christmas.’ Ron said, his voice was calm and his tone had nothing accusing but right now Harry just wanted the world to shut up and pray for Hermione to be ok.

‘We wanted vacations, just to clean our heads,’ Harry finally said, his voice rough and tired, Ron only nodded and the two fell in silence again.

‘So I guess I was right and you were wrong then…’ Ron said after a long stretch of silence, Harry looked at him from above Hermione’s clasped hand with his own.

‘About what?’ Harry asked in a small voice.

‘She chose you indeed and she’s not like a sister to you…’ Ron said calmly, Harry thought of denying, brushing it off or pretending he doesn’t understand but he could see in Ron’s eyes, he knew that if they made it through the next hours, Ron would be meeting their child in a few months and if they didn’t, he would be learning of how Hermione survived so there was no use of lying once again.

‘I swear there was nothing between us back then, Ron, but you’re right,’ Harry finally admitted and Ron sighed and moved forward, so he could rest his elbows on the mattress.

‘I know for back then, but back then we were all wrapped up in how things were set, there was always something between you two…we just had all to accept that, and before anyone else, you and Hermione had to do accept it.’ Ron said and Harry could see that if they pulled through that too, Ron would be there for them.

‘I swear I never meant for her to get hurt,’ Harry whispered and Ron sighed heavily and nodded his head slowly.

‘And that’s why I didn’t burst inside asking for your head on a plate, mate. I accept what you two want to do, you two and I had our rough spots through the years, I made mistakes, a lot of mistakes with the both of you, but I always returned, this time I’m going nowhere, I’ll be here. And I know she’s in good hands, she’s not my girlfriend or crush anymore but she’s my best friend, the one who needs only one scold to make me see I act the wrong way and you two, even with the distance between us now, you two are my best friends.’ Ron said honestly and Harry looked at Ron only in mild surprise, they had a similar conversation back in the lake of Hogwarts a few weeks ago. ‘Cherish her, make sure she’ll be happy after tonight, as she deserves.’ Ron added and Harry gave his first true smile after what happened, the certainty in Ron’s tone gave him strength.

‘I will Ron, I promise,’ Harry said and this time, if they were to get out of this intact, he would do everything to keep that promise.

‘It won’t be that difficult after all right? You were always the one to make her smile more than make her cry…’ Ron added and Harry smiled at him again, maybe it was better for him to learn the whole truth now.

‘Ron…’ Harry started and his friend looked at him expectantly. ‘She--she’s pregnant, two weeks give or take, if things go bad tonight, they will have to stop the pregnancy to save her, however if she and the baby make it-‘

‘I will be his Godfather and I don’t care if she has booked Luna or something, my Godson will have the best Godfather in the whole bloody world and he will be with me for every Quidditch Cup. Make sure to tell her that because I won’t deal with her rubbish about books and studying.’ Ron said and Harry smiled at his friend, he knew this was a stretch for Ron, but he could also see that his friend meant his words, he wasn’t going anywhere this time, third time wouldn’t be the charm.

‘I will, the moment she’s up and aware of being a mum in a few months,’ Harry said with a smile as he looked at Hermione, Ron’s good nature was contagious at those moments.

‘I’m sure she’ll make it, mate, I mean she’s Hermione and there is your spawn there all powerful and stuff, they’ll both make it,’ Ron said and Harry gave another smile and sighed as he kissed Hermione’s knuckles.

They fell in silence again, a silence that held hours if they were in counting. Harry was mostly staring at Hermione for any kind of reaction while Ron was looking at everything around him. They had nothing more to say, they both wanted Hermione to be up, they knew there could be only two visitors for intense care patients and the rest would want to see her too but right now Harry wasn’t going anywhere even if the hospital was to be set on fire and Ron didn’t want to leave either so they both stood there, waiting in those uncomfortable chairs for the girl of their little trio to get better.

Harry was still staring at Hermione’s so familiar face when he suddenly felt her limp hand griping his, a heartbeat later and her body jerked in a spasm and then arched like a bow. Harry shot up from his chair and tried to hold Hermione’s shoulder and neck as her eyes snapped open and looked at him in the same agony they had done before. Harry watched her in terror as she grasped his arms and tried to speak.

‘Can’t breathe,’ she gasped and Harry looked a bit lower on her chest, the skin above her heart had started to glow, his own heart kicked as he knew what that meant, he looked at Ron.

‘Go and summon a healer, her heart is failing! Now!!!’ Harry commanded his friend who only nodded numbly and stumbled out of the room, knocking the chair over in his try to go faster. Harry remained there to struggle with Hermione.

‘Please calm down, it will be alright, we’ll make it!’ Harry tried, he wouldn’t breakdown now, the adrenaline was too high, but soon, when she was saved and back to sleep, he would have all the time of the world to mourn for something that didn’t make it to survive more than three weeks. He pressed his hand on Hermione’s chest, where her heart was struggling and felt his heart burning as Hermione stilled on the bed, her eyes still wide, yet her breath finally coming in chopped doses.

Harry’s palm felt as if touching lava as he kept it there but he didn’t dare withdraw it, he could see the glow still there but as he kept his hand, he thought it was getting smaller and smaller underneath his palm. The healers burst into the room the moment Harry felt his hand jerking, Hermione suddenly taking a huge gulp of breath and his legs giving out and having him collapsing on his knees.

The healers rushed in two small groups, one close to Hermione while the other to Harry who was feeling as if he weighted a ton and he felt a headache as piercing as the ones he had back in the war, when Voldemort was still alive.

‘I’m fine,’ he lied as the healers tried to help him.

‘Harry?’ he heard her voice and for a moment, indeed he felt better.

‘He will be alright in a few minutes, Miss Granger, now stay still so I can see what happened here,’ a healer was heard and Harry looked at Hermione as they helped him on his feet, the people helping him, casting spells as he could only reach and take Hermione’s hand. She was still pale and exhausted but her eyes were vivid and her hand was warm.

The healers conjured another bed for Harry but he refused and sat on Hermione’s bed, close to her laying form so they wouldn’t have to break their hold. The spells worked after a few tries and Harry felt slightly better.

‘Mr. Potter, it’s safe for me to say that you saved Miss Granger’s life here. It’s not easy to achieve what you’ve done but sometimes our own bodies work as conductors of magic, you basically absorbed the extra amount of magic in Miss Granger’s body that were created by the dagger. But now I need you to lay down so I can run more tests on you to make sure you’ll be ok in the next hours.’ The healer was saying but Harry could only lock eyes with Hermione before he felt the healers actually shoving him on the bed that they pushed close to Hermione’s since they could see they wouldn’t win the battle of having him away from her.

‘Is she alright now?’ Harry asked pointedly at the healer who nodded after a small wave above her front, making sure with a wandless spell the baby was still fine.

‘Weak for now but fine.’ He said and Harry sighed and nodded his head as Hermione was still too weak to speak but her smile was radiant.

The healers were all over Harry for a few minutes, actually changing him into hospital pajamas and having him down, he didn’t mind as apart the headache and the heaviness, he could look and touch Hermione.

‘I’m sure your body will be able to absorb the extra energy soon, but I need you to stay here.’ The healer said and Harry smiled.

‘I’m not planning on going anywhere.’ He said honestly, the healers left again after a few more minutes of doing their duty and Harry and Hermione were left alone.

‘What…?’ she asked softly and Harry touched her lips with his finger, hushing her.

‘Don’t talk, you need the energy,’ Harry whispered close to her as he moved the closest he could go on their joined beds. ‘The dagger was magical and it disturbed your magical levels as there were already changed. Your body would have reacted in a better way, with a milder reaction like mine is doing right now but your heart was fractured and they were afraid it would fail due to overworking for your magic.’ Harry explained with details but Hermione had frowned and he knew which part made her wonder.

‘Well your levels were already changed… because,’ Harry took a deep breath to finally say it our loud to her too. ‘You’re pregnant, Hermione, eighteen days pregnant,’ Harry said softly and Hermione’s eyes widened but Harry could see, not in terror or something similar but in surprise.

‘We failed to remake the contraceptive charm after the mission, they had broken all the spells like they always do but we hadn’t thought of that so the spell was broken, I guess that makes us having broken almost all our commands.’ Harry said with a smile but Hermione was looking at him in uncertainty.

‘Are you… are you… happy with this?’ she asked with her voice hoarse and tired, Harry smiled and cupped her face in his hand, his eyes looking in hers.

‘You can’t even imagine how much,’ he whispered and Hermione smiled. ‘And you?’ he asked softly and she smiled slightly.

‘As long as you teach me how to cook for her,’ Hermione said weakly and they both chuckled and smiled at each other. Harry couldn’t stop, he leaned closer and gave her a soft kiss, just to show her his relief and need.

‘Thanks for making it once again, for pulling through,’ Harry whispered as he touched his forehead on hers, he didn’t need to tell her what would be the option if her heart was to fail, he didn’t have to upset her, what mattered was that they were out of the woods.

‘Well I had help,’ Hermione whispered close to him and wrapped a weak arm around him.

‘I think camping is awful for us… first the World Quidditch cup, then Ron left, then I got bitten by Nagini, I let you so foolishly to get hurt… and now we’re both in the hospital. I think we’re done with it.’ Harry said softly in an attempt for humor but Hermione sobered up and shook her head against the pillow.

‘It’s not your fault,’ Hermione whispered and Harry sighed, serious as well.

‘It is, it will always be because of who I am, but I swear this time, I will become better, I will keep you and the baby safe,’ Harry said and Hermione sighed and frowned.

‘You have that saving people thing, but I don’t want you to be anything more or less than what you are now: Harry, just Harry… my Harry…’ Hermione whispered and he sighed and touched her forehead with his again, even if he had given the memory, the whisper of it was still there, her blood, her pain, the blooded snow…

‘I’m so sorry…’ he whispered in regret and guilt as he closed his eyes, Hermione tried to sooth him with her touch.

‘Don’t, we’re alright, the three of us are alright,’ Hermione whispered and Harry looked at her again.

‘I love you, Hermione, so much,’ Harry said and Hermione finally gave a small smile and kissed his lips softly.

‘I know… and that makes me feel safe, no matter what, knowing you will be there makes me feel safe and happy, isn’t that enough for us?’ Hermione wondered softly and Harry smiled and nodded, it was, because he had her, the woman who was always there and he would be there as well, by her side like all the time, accepting and loving each other for what they are.

‘It’s everything for us…’ he confirmed and she smiled and kissed him once again.
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