Chapter FOUR
Hermione dropped her bag onto the couch as soon as she stepped into her small flat in Covent Gardens. She dragged herself to the bathroom and began to fill the tub with warm water after adding bath salts and oil. After lighting up some scented candles in the room and turning on the stereo in her bedroom, she stripped off her clothes and stepped into the bathtub, immersing herself in the comforting and relaxing warmth.
Naturally, her superiors were aware of the failure of the surgery, and she had to write a report. David Wright had been smirking the entire time while she'd stood in his office along with the residents that had been with her during the surgery retelling the entire procedure. She had calmed herself down already, though she could still feel the pang of disappointment in herself. In another three days, she would be waiting to hear from the panel that would review her case, and if David Wright had any control at all, he would be pulling all of his strings to make her life miserable again. It didn't matter anymore that she was the most brilliant student at Cambridge a University, nor was it anyone's concern that she had graduated summa cum laude with the highest honors and the most illustrious recommendations. She'd failed. She had lost a patient on the table. And that was enough to condemn her.
But not right now. As she basked in the warmth of the water, she felt her worries melt away along with the tension in her muscles, and her mind traveled onto other thoughts. Almost absent-mindedly, she thought of the case with Mr. Harry Potter. It was curious to her, that, after he was in cardiac arrest, he was able to come back to life, literally, after a few minutes' time. Most curious indeed was that….wait, she'd touched him first, that warmth surrounded her hand that clasped onto his, and he came back. "What kind of phenomenon was this?" she thought. "Why did it not happen with Mr. Joel?"
"Maybe Ginny's right….maybe it was indeed magic," one part of herself said.
"But that's not possible," her logical self refuted. "Magic, supernatural powers indeed. And soon you'll be telling us that we can fly on broomsticks and say hocus pocus and expect toads and frogs to be jumping out of nowhere."
"How else would you describe that feeling? I could hardly say it felt evil. Only, it felt warm, and it felt right, and I felt that almost everything stopped at that moment, and it was …meant to be."
"And now you're saying this was predestined. The horoscopes would be upheld the truth, and the entire world would be cacked up because you believe in predestination "
"Then how else would you explain it?"
Both evils of herself paused. Hermione sighed as she closed her eyes. "Perhaps only Mr. Potter could tell me what I want to know, need to know, about the truth of that day."
"Yes, you do that. And he'll think you're mental."
"Wonderful." She groaned as she pulled herself out of the tub.
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When Harry had returned back to the flat, Sirius was sitting on the couch, looking rather squeamish and small, with an uneasy look on his face. Harry wondered at the strange behaviour of his godfather, but he was relieved to see him.
"Sirius, oh god. It was unbelievable. She was unbelievable! I don't know where to start!" he exclaimed as he hung up his coat.
"You can start by telling me where the hell you've been this entire time!" a voice from the kitchen rorared.
Harry winced. "Ooh boy," he said in a small voice.
Ron Weasley stormed into the living room, hands on his hips that was adorned with a small apron. His six-foot-five-inch-tall form towered over Harry's own six-foot frame as he bullied Harry onto the couch next Sirius.
"So where were you today? Shagging with some woman while you're supposed to be in bed, resting?" Ron asked sarcastically.
Harry shook his head. "Oh, no, Ron! You've got it wrong! I wasn't out meeting strange women and shagging them. I was at the hospital!"
Ron snorted. "You were at the hospital. How nice! What were you doing there? Are you and my sister…. And why's Sirius got that guilty look on his face? You were doing something you weren't supposde to, weren't you, Harry Potter?!"
Harry couldn't believe it. How could Ron think that he and Ginny…. There was no way! Not after meeting that amazing woman who had saved his life. He knew for sure that there wouldn't ever be anyone else for him…
"Ron, you got it all wrong. Just listen to me, please. And calm yourself down. Don't act like Fred and George set a tarantula on you!" Harry said, trying to placate his friend.
Ron didn't look the least bit truffled, but he agreed as he sat down on a chair opposite of the two victims.
Harry took a deep breath as he continued. "I was at the hospital, really. But not to meet Ginny for a secret rendezvous in her office. I just wanted to see Dr. Granger, to find out what she's like." He told Ron about the surgery, about his suspicions of Hermione. Then he relayed the entire story, of how he had Sirius find out Dr. Granger's surgery schedule, and how he had sneaked into the operating room underneath his cloak. He left out the details with Dr. Granger's tears in the emergency exit, and of the desire to comfort her that he had felt at that time, or the fact that his desire to touch her hadn't waned.
The three of them remained silent for a few minutes. Harry wondered if he should say anything. The ticking of the clock that rested on the mantel of the fireplace sounded ominous at this point, and he wasn't sure if Ron had bought his story, even though it was the truth.
Fortunately, Sirius decided to break the silence. "I believe him, Ron. And you shouldn't get your knickers in a twist over this. Whether or not the doctor knows it, she might be a witch, a powerful witch, in fact, according to Harry's story."
Ron glared at Sirius. "I'm not saying I don't believe Harry. He shouldn't be skirting around underneath the invisibility cloak just to confirm a hunch of his. And did you find your answer?"
Harry shook his head dejectedly. "No." But there was something else…… not that I'd say anything at this moment. "Look, Ron, I didn't intend to stay out this long. And I'm fine! Nothing's the matter with me now. If it makes you happy, I'll go straight to bed and you can feed me all the goo you want."
Ron forced himself to look stern even though Harry could see his eyes smiling. "Just don't go disappear again on me, mate. You did it once and we almost lost you."
Harry's lips curled slightly. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Now go to your room and lie down!" Ron ordered as he stood up.
Harry laughed. "Yes, Mum!"
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Harry placed his pad down as he watched Sirius enter the room and close the door behind him. He recapped his pen while Sirius sat down beside him.
"There was more to your visit wasn't there, Harry?" Sirius asked, looking him straight in the eye.
Harry shrugged as he replied, "Can't hide it from you, can I?"
Sirius grinned. "I'm your godfather. I'm supposed to catch these things. So… care to share?"
Harry traced his thoughts for a moment. Where would he begin? His emotions were in a pool, conglomerated together, and there weren't any strings sticking out for him to pull. "I don't know, Sirius. It's rather….confusing."
"She must have been special somehow, wasn't she?"
His green eyes widened with surprise. "How …"
The older man laughed brilliantly. "I recognized the look, Harry. I saw it on your father's face many years ago, when he first met your mother. That same dumbstruck look when he talked about her."
"But it's odd, Sirius. I went down to see for myself if she truly was a witch. Not only did I not content myself with the truth, I am left with feelings I don't even know that even existed!
"The way she looked at me! Oh, she didn't know I was there, of course, with me being under the cloak, but how can anyone look into those eyes and not lose onself? In that one instant, I felt I was pulled to see what she was seeing, to feel what she was feeling. Those eyes, filled with raw emotions and life… I couldn't help myself but drown in those deep pools of brown.
"She lost the patient, Sirius, and though she didn't know it, I was there to listen to her cries. That moment, when I sat next to her, hoping to be of a little comfort to her, I wanted to hold her in my arms and be the placid presence that she needed. Tell me, Sirius, what is this I'm feeling? Why is it so …..overbearing and heavy?"
Sirius patted Harry's knee sympathetically. "I can't tell you that, son. Though I wish I could. But it's for you to find out."
"I know. I'm horrible at that, you know."
"Maybe you should see her again? This time, in person."
"How could I do that? I can't just suddenly burst into her office and say, `Voila!', can I?" Harry responded sarcastically.
Sirius laughed. Harry loved listening to his godfather's laughter. "No, you git. Ginny Floo-ed yesterday telling me that you need to stop by the doctor's office for a follow-up on your stitches. It's perfect for you to meet properly and awake."
Harry's mind replayed Sirius' suggestion, and his face brightened up with realization. "Of course! That's brilliant! And I'll be able to find out more about her this way!"
"And see if she's truly a witch or not. We can't forget the original purpose."
"Absolutely."
"Good. I'll Floo Ginny to have her set up a schedule for you."
"Sounds good."
"Harry?" Sirius said before opening the door.
"Yeah?" Harry looked up from his writing pad.
"Don't be a fallen angel."
Harry stared at Sirius' back as he left the room.
"It's too late. I already am one," he whispered in the silence of his room.
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Two weeks had flown by rather quickly, and Harry found himself nerve-wrecked. Today was his follow-up with Dr. Granger, and he was excited and anxious at the same time to see her face to face once more, only this time, he knew that she would be looking at him and not straight past him. The thought of that made him even more nervous. He checked his reflection once again in the mirror, using his hand to flatten his hair, but as usual, there were always some strands that would never cooperate with him.
"You might as well give up, dear," his mirror snickered as Harry combed it again.
Harry groaned as he tossed the comb onto the dresser. He left the room, not before sticking his tongue out at the mirror.
Sirius was already waiting for him in the living room. Last week, after Harry's wounds had shown apparent recovery, Sirius had moved back to his own flat with Remus. He still came over daily to check up on Harry. The three of them, Harry, Ron and Sirius himself, had decided that Sirius should accompany Harry to his appointment, as Ron could not extricate himself from work.
"I'm ready to go, Sirius," Harry said as he put on his coat.
"Okay, let's go," Sirius answered as he pulled out his wand.
Harry held his hand out. "Whoa, Sirius, what are you doing? We're going to a Muggle hospital. It might be better to just take the car?"
Sirius grinned at him impishly. "Oh, that's right. I just forgot. Okay, you're driving, since I don't know where it is."
Harry winked as he followed Sirius out the door, locking it behind him.
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Ginny glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand. It was already 10' am, and she was still feeling nauseous. She turned over on her bed, thinking how wonderful it was to have a few days off of work, especially when she was suffering from a flu bug. The past few days, she had been feeling sick in the stomach, waking up in the mornings with minor cramps and nausea. After calling in sick, she stayed in bed, only to rush to the bathroom for another vomiting spell.
She thought it was odd of her to be so sick. As a child, she had almost never been confined to the bed because of any major illnesses. Even when she had rhinitis, a warm glass of water and a good night's sleep was enough for her. She hated being sick, running to the bathroom every five minutes because of a silly stomach flu bug.
A sudden turn-over in her stomach caused her to feel another wave. She hurried to the bathroom and vomited. After the spell ceased, she pulled the toilet seat lid down and sat on it as she rinsed her mouth with mouthwash. Picking up the calendar that she usually placed on the side of the medicine cabinet, she realized that it was already the end of September.
"Odd, my period is late a week," she thought to herself. "It's usually right on the dot."
As if lightning had struck her, her eyes widened with shock as she jumped up from the toilet seat. Thoughts began jambling through her head. "Could it be? It was just…. But we didn't …. And I forgot to perform a spell….." Pulling her nightie over her head, Ginny quickly walked to her closet and pulled out a white jumper and denim jeans and changed. After tying up her hair, she grabbed her purse that was sitting on the living room couch, pulled out her car keys to drive to the nearest drugstore.
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Hermione chewed on the cap of her pen as she stared at the wall in front of her. She was on a different wavelength today. When Maude came in her office to ask her to sign a few records, she was abrupt with her and sent the nurse away feeling distraught. Even when Wright snubbed her in the middle of the hallway during her rounds in the cardio-thoracic ward it didn't fluff her. The other residents and orderlies were wondering about her odd behavior as she aimlessly moved around. When she returned to her office, she didn't even notice Hilda coming in and out of her office, dropping off more records and paperwork on her desk.
Ginny had called her earlier that she wasn't going to come in because of a slight flu bug. But that wasn't the distressing news. She also told her that Harry Potter was coming in for a follow-up this afternoon and thought she'd like to know. After chuckling, Ginny had hung up the phone, leaving Hermione unsettled and nervous.
Charles had stopped by her office sometime in the middle of the morning. They had discussed a few patient cases briefly for a while. Although she was still able to talk through each case with Charles, her mind was actually a thousand miles away in another world. She didn't even remember what her answer was to Charles' request to have dinner together Friday night. It was not until an hour after he had left her office did she recall pieces of his asking her out.
By the time it was lunch hour, Hermione had only typed one sentence to her report. When she glanced at the wall clock, she was annoyed with herself for not being economical with time, especially when her paperwork was stacked up in two piles. Deciding that she needed some energy in her system, she set her notebook on standby, grabbed her wallet from her bag, and headed to the cafeteria. As she absentmindedly opened the door and flicked her office lights off, she felt herself run into a solid warmth.
"Oof!" she heard the person exclaim.
She steadied herself and pushed away from him. When she looked up at him, ready to reprimand the man for standing in her doorway and not bothering to knock, her jaw fell open as she stared into the brightest green eyes she had ever encountered. For a moment she was enthralled and encaptured, but a few seconds later, she noticed the laughter twinkling at her and she felt her temper rise slightly.
"Dr. Granger, I presume?" the man asked as he held out his hand.
"Yes, and you are…" she gripped his hand tightly and shook it.
His mouth curled into an amused smile. "Harry Potter."
I'm sorry this took so long. Thanks again, to Anna, for beta-ing, and to Jen for her support..
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