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Keep Your Enemies Close by Sirena
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Keep Your Enemies Close

Sirena

All right everyone. I have to put this review I received in here and address it. Here it is: "I think some of your lines are rather corny/cheesey. I will continue to read this story till the end, but i won't vote for it because it's not the best post-HBP. Well i do approve of your dedication though, even if you are a less than gifted author. I also think it would be pointless to report the other reviewer to portkey and I dont see the grounds by which you claim plagarism. So with that I leave you with the worst line in your most previous chapter.

"Their only saving grace was that they were the two most powerful witches in the world, and most people were afraid of them both." -You

Horrible line...."

Okay. Where to start? For one, this is not constructive. It is insulting. There are no suggestions for improvement, nothing that they like about the story, and while I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am not nearly the best writer on Portkey…I take offense to being called less than gifted when nearly 500 reviews are to the contrary. So, to the reviewer that wrote this review…if you don't like it, don't read it. I don't need your vote. And I don't need my dedication approved of. It isn't for other people. I write for me, and while you are entitled to your opinion, I think that the review you wrote is in bad taste and that I honestly hope you refrain from reviewing anything in the future. I have been urged to report YOU to portkey, as the review you left could certainly be termed harassment, however, I have decided to let it go. It's your opinion, and you have a right to it. I only think that you could have found a much better way to say what you did. And the grounds by which I claim plagiarism? The fact that the reviewer is using my words and my story as his or her own without giving me credit for what I pulled out of myself and wrote. And honestly, if I had to bet, I'd say you were the one who copied all my work.

Sorry to rant, but I just absolutely had to address this.

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Hermione exchanged glances with Ginny and Alisa as she mentally evaluated the situation. Fifteen Death Eaters. She'd faced worse odds before, though not while she was pregnant. She spotted Shacklebolt heaving himself to his feet and grinned. Aurors would be swarming the place in five minutes. She lifted her wand.

"Get down!" she shouted, and Ginny and Alisa hit the floor as Hermione yelled, "Pulsato!" A sonic boom burst from the tip of her wand, knocking all the Death Eaters to the ground. It didn't work exactly as it was supposed to, because all the Death Eaters were suddenly equipped with horns and scales. "Shit."

Ginny tackled Hermione as a Death Eater attacked her, lashing out physically and kicking the man in the balls. He howled from pain and dropped to his knees. Alisa was holding everyone back Ginny took a few seconds to explain what was going on to Hermione. "When you're pregnant, your magic goes wacky. The baby is contributing to it, taking part of it away, and there's no telling what's going to happen when you cast a spell. Get Shacklebolt and find that locket. Alisa and I can handle this."

Hermione nodded and scrambled up. She dodged curses that were flying throughout the house, returning them and made it to Shacklebolt. He accepted her hand, let her pull him up. "What the bloody buggering hell is going on in here?! I get home to find my house swarming with Death Eaters telling me I have Slytherin's locket."

Hermione dragged him into the other room, taking a queue from Ginny and punching the Death Eater that got in her way. She'd discovered that she felt weaker and less powerful with every curse that she forced, and as she'd single handedly taken on about eight of the Death Eaters, she wasn't feeling too well. "It's the last Horcrux. You bought it from Borgin and Burke's two years ago. Gaudy gold locket that wouldn't open."

"No. I bought a dainty little one that had Merlin's mark on it for my mother's birthday. It was gold and silver."

"Then it isn't here." Hermione laid a hand over her stomach to stop the kicking that was going on. Her baby had apparently been roused from sleep and wasn't entirely happy about the matter. "Go help Ginny and Alisa. I'll call the Aurors."

Ginny and Alisa hadn't had many problems with subduing the Death Eaters that had invaded Shacklebolt's house. They were too talented to be overcome by second string Death Eaters. By the time Shacklebolt got into the living room, he saw only two Death Eaters even conscious, which Alisa quickly took care of by bashing their heads together.

Shacklebolt sank onto his couch. "Impressive, ladies." He said grudgingly. He didn't like to admit when women did a better job than him. "Ever think of being Aurors?"

Ginny laughed, shook her head. "No thanks. We get into enough situations like this on our own."

Hermione was still rubbing her stomach. Both women were instantly concerned. "Are you okay?" Alisa asked, slipping an arm around Hermione. She nodded.

"I think so. He's just real active and kicking the hell outta me. It's starting to hurt, that's all."

Ginny nodded slowly. "Okay. You should let me take you back to St. Mungo's and check you out though. Just to make sure."

Hermione shook her head. "No time for that now. We have to help everyone else."

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Lily, James, Sirius and Lupin met much the same scene. Lily knew first hand that pregnancy diminished magical ability, so she brought up the rear, not using her wand as much as she normally would have. James kept himself positioned directly in front of his wife, protecting both her and their children. Sirius and Lupin always relished a good fight, and were enjoying the combined use of wands and fists. Neither was above hitting someone in the face or gut if they got too close.

Lily dodged a curse, pressed hard against her husband's back for a moment, whispering in his ear. "I'm going to go look for the locket. You three take care of these people."

James nodded, lifted his wand and slammed a Death Eater he recognized from his days at Hogwarts into the wall closest to him. "Go on. I don't want you in this anyway."

Lily chose not to respond and headed up the stairs. She was caught at the top by a female Death Eater and barely escaped a Cruciatus curse. Not willing to waste time and risk her life with unpredictable magic, Lily lifted her wand.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The woman promptly turned into a fluffy white rabbit with the tail of a squirrel. Disgusted with herself, Lily grabbed the rabbit by the scruff of its neck and dropped it into her purse, making sure it was securely zipped. She'd have James contend with it later.

There were three bedrooms. She searched them all quickly, finding nothing. Aggravated to no end that she was relegated to looking for a necklace while her husband and their two best friends fought off Death Eaters, Lily squeezed her eyes shut and raised her wand. "Accio locket!"

At least a hundred pounds of jewelry fell on top of her, flying from all over the house. With a sound much like a mixture between a growl and a scream, Lily began to search through the jewelry. At least she hadn't summoned all kitchen appliances or furniture. That would have hurt much worse.

Nothing. It wasn't there. She didn't think that there was any chance a Death Eater had gotten to it first since she found about a dozen lockets that were of all different shapes, sizes and colors. Lily struggled to her feet and ran down the stairs just to see her husband twirling a Death Eater about ten feet off the ground. She stopped at the bottom, hands on her hips.

"James Potter, stop toying with him and knock him out already!"

James waggled his eyebrows at his wife. "Yes, dear." He said, and threw the man through the big bay window. "Find it?"

"No." Lily jumped when Hermione, Alisa and Ginny Apparated in. She noticed immediately that Hermione was looking a bit pale, and not at all like she was feeling well. "Did you find it?"

Hermione shook her head, brushing off Ginny and Alisa, who had insisted on side along Apparition. "No. I take it you didn't either?"

"No." Lily walked across the room, delicately picking her way over unconscious bodies. "That means Harry's group has to find it, or we're screwed."

James took Hermione's arm. "Are you alright, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little zapped. My spells aren't working right. It takes so much power and concentration to do anything."

Lily was instantly concerned. "Oh, honey, you shouldn't force it like that." She placed a cool hand on Hermione's forehead, noticed the fever. "It isn't healthy. The magic of pregnant women is uncontrollable. We can never tell what's going to happen once we're in the second trimester. The baby affects it and so does our hormones. We just have to roll with it."

Hermione was slightly dizzy, but she wasn't going to tell anyone that. "What happens when you force your spells to work right?"

"Fever, dizziness, nausea, fainting. Sometimes more severe things, depending on what you forced." Lily trailed off as Hermione doubled over, clutching her abdomen. James grabbed Hermione, keeping her on her feet. "Get her to the hospital now. I should have told her about this as soon as I knew she was pregnant."

James was panicky. "What's wrong?"

"Same thing that happened to me when I found out about our magic when we're pregnant. Strain on the baby is so great that all her magic is being redirected to sustain the pregnancy. If she doesn't get balanced again…"

James finished the sentence, remembering all too well what had happened to his wife during her first pregnancy. "She ultimately kills herself to keep the baby alive."

Lily nodded, taking Hermione's other arm. The whole group, minus Alisa, went to St. Mungo's. Alisa headed for Harry, Wood, Ron and Draco. Someone had to tell the father to be that something was wrong with his wife.

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Harry was tossing the locket back and forth between his hands when Alisa appeared in front of them. "Something's wrong with Hermione and the baby. You have to get to the hospital now."

Harry grabbed Alisa's arms. "What is it? What happened?"

"She didn't know about women's magic when they're pregnant. It goes all funky, and a lot is diverted to protect the baby. When Hermione pushed her magic to do the correct thing, it took some of the protection from the baby, which left it vulnerable. Her body is overcompensating, taking all her magic and applying it to the baby. If she doesn't get balanced, she'll die."

Harry didn't notice Ron and Draco take his arms and Apparate to St. Mungo's. The next thing he saw were his parents, his father demanding to be told something, and his mother being consoled by Sirius, who's lap she was sitting in.

"Dad."

James turned around as his son ran over. "Ginny's back there with her. She's the primary MediWizard on the case. But the nurses won't tell me anything."

Harry looked at the blonde woman sitting behind the desk, read her nametag. "Marcie? That's my wife and child in there. I want to know what's going on, and I want to know now. And I hate to say it, but if you don't go find out what's going on and do it now, you're never going to be able to bleach your hair again, because I'm going to curse you bald."

Horrified, Marcie ran from the desk. James patted Harry on the back. "Nice job. I'd considered threatening to deflate her implants, but your way was better."

"How was she when you got her here?"

James sighed. "In a lot of pain. She wouldn't scream, but I could tell she wanted to. She was crying, and couldn't stand on her own. She was burning up with fever, and I don't think I've ever felt a heart beat as fast as hers was. Pale, slightly green, and Apparating here gave her the worst nose bleed I've ever seen in my life."

Harry got pale himself, and James briefly wondered if his son was going to pass out. But Harry stood his ground, and stayed on his feet. "This doesn't happen very often, does it?"

James shrugged. "Not in cases that severe. Fighting like she did really took a lot out of her, and the pregnancy is making everything out of whack. Mom had somewhat the same thing when we got into a bit of a scuffle with Lucius and his cronies while she was pregnant with you. Not quite as bad, but they thought they were going to lose her for a while. What happens, Harry, is that when a pregnant witch forces a spell, especially an Unforgivable Curse, the magic being used to protect the baby is drained. When the threat is over, the body overcompensates; using all the magical power there is to make sure the baby is safe and well. The problem with that is, without any of her magic, Hermione dies. There are potions to reverse and balance everything to the way they should be, but they take a few hours, and there aren't any guarantees."

Harry paced. "How is it possible that she didn't know?"

"Most witches have at least one parent that's magical. She doesn't, and she never studied Magical Medicine."

Harry nodded. "It was only offered our seventh year, and we never went."

"Right. Your mother's beating herself up over not remembering to tell Hermione about it. Molly will too when she gets here."

Harry shook his head. "They shouldn't. We're all so used to having Hermione know everything there is to know about everything. She's never completely in the dark about something."

James nodded. "I know. Which is why Mom didn't think to tell her. There's the nurse."

Harry was very impatient, and was about to burst by the time Marcie made her way down the hall. "Your wife, Mr. Potter, is being attended by an entire team of Healers and MediWizards. Apparently she's something of a celebrity and garnered all of our best staff. The MediWizard in charge, a Miss Ginevra Weasley, says to inform you that she will be out in twenty minutes once they know more and that the only thing to tell you at this particular time is that everyone is doing all they can do, and that the baby is stable and strong."

"And Hermione?"

"Is being taken care of." She seemed to relish giving Harry bad news. "Though I can tell you from personal observation, that I have never seen a witch in as bad of shape as her pull through completely. A full magic drainage. Never happened before. Must have been one hell of a battle."

James grabbed Harry and dragged him across the waiting room. Both men were furtively wishing the nurse had been male so that they could have taken their frustrations out on her. James shoved Harry into a chair and looked at Alisa.

"What happened? We need to know exactly what happened."

Alisa took a deep breath, gripped her husband's hand. "Nothing out of the normal. We walked in and the place was swarming with Death Eaters. Hermione, you know how she is, she ordered us to get down, and used that sonic boom spell she's fond of. You know, the one she developed? Anyway, it didn't work right. Knocked them all down for sure, but gave them horns and scales. It was funny at the time. Ginny tackled Hermione to get her out of the way of a curse, and told her about her magic. Hermione went to get Shacklebolt and ask him about the locket. Most of the Death Eaters concentrated on trying to curse her. They thought she was the biggest threat I guess, with her spells being so uncontrollable. She forced countercurses and cursed anyone who went after her. After it ended, she said the baby was kicking her really hard, and that she didn't fell well. We made her do side along, and once we got to where you parents were, Harry, she doubled over, grabbed her stomach like I did when I went into labor, and doubled over. James brought her here, and I went to tell you."

Lily slid an arm around her son. "It's going to be okay. She's tough. She'll make it through this."

Harry leapt up as Ginny came out. Ginny didn't look happy, and she didn't look relieved. What she looked was defeated. Harry felt his heart sink to the floor. "Ginny-"

Ginny held up her hands. "I did all I can. She isn't responding to the treatment. A full magic drainage like the one she's suffering from is fatal. She's holding her own at the moment, but if she doesn't stabilize in the next hour, she isn't going to make it."

Harry drained of all color. "She can't die."

Ginny took Harry's face in her hands. "I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that she doesn't. She's my best friend, Harry. I'm not giving up without a fight. And neither is she. She's conscious, and we've given her a potion to ease the pain. So far she isn't stabilizing on her own, but that doesn't mean she won't. Right now, all anyone can do is trust her to get through this, and pray."

"Can I see her?"

Ginny nodded. "Yeah. But just you. I don't want too many people coming back. She needs to concentrate."

Harry was well aware of what Ginny was doing. She was giving him a chance to say goodbye to his wife.

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Hermione was staring at the ceiling, her small hands fisted in the sheets on either side of her when Harry walked in. She glanced over, and managed to pry one hand open to hold out to him. The tears running down her cheeks weren't unnoticed by him.

"Hey."

Hermione could have laughed, if she'd had the strength. "Hi."

"How do you feel?" Harry asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Hermione wasn't on to mince words. "Exactly like one should feel when they're dying, I suppose."

"You aren't going to die!" Harry was more forceful than he'd meant to be, and instantly sorry for it. "I'm sorry, Herms. I didn't mean to yell."

"S'okay. I'm scared, Harry. So scared. Did you at least find the locket?"

Harry nodded, on the verge of tears himself. "We found it." He pulled it from his pocket, showed her the large, ornately engraved locket. "I shouldn't have let you go. If I'd waited, done this when you didn't know about it, you wouldn't be lying here."

Hermione squeezed his hand with all the strength she had left. "No, Harry. We do everything together, remember? You, Ron, and me. We've done everything together since we were eleven."

"Which is why you can't die, `Mione."

Hermione looked pained. "The baby's safe, and that's what matters. He's a part of you and me, Harry. And if I don't make it, he's what you'll have left of me."

"'Mione," Harry could barely stand to utter the words, but given the choice between losing his wife, and losing his child, there was no real decision involved. "If you took an abortion potion, your magic would balance."

Hermione struggled to sit up. "No! I won't! I don't care if I die." She was sobbing, and holding on to him, trying to manage the pain. "I didn't know this could happen, Harry. If I had, I would've been more careful. I don't want to die, but if it's between me and my baby, I swear I'll kill myself so he can live."

Harry didn't doubt she'd do it, either. "Herms, what's the difference between this and a power transferal?"

Hermione, as he had expected, knew the answer. "The transferal is a temporary state that lasts only about fifteen minutes. And it doesn't give away the life force of magic, like a drainage does. It gives away the active magic. The part that makes me be able to cast spells, not the part that makes me a witch. The drainage took the part of me that makes me a witch. If my body balances, then I'll get my magic back, and there will be a clear division again."

Harry had an idea. "What if I gave you a power transferal like you did to help me defeat Voldemort?"

Hermione shook her head. "It's too dangerous. If my calculations are right, I would need at least all of someone's magic and over half of their magical life force. It could kill you."

Harry didn't give Hermione a chance to say anything else. He yanked out his wand, adding to the spell. "Malectus Transferum et protrecho rhapsis!"

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Ginny pushed open Hermione's door to tell Harry that he needed to let his wife rest. She stopped for an instant when she saw Harry slumped over the bed, and Hermione unmoving. She ran to the bed, felt for pulses. Hermione's was stronger, but Harry's was barely there. She ran into the hall, slammed her fist on a button. "Code Blue! Code Blue! Emergency team to room seventy three!"

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Everyone in the waiting room heard the alarm go off and Lily leapt from her chair, her fingernails digging into James' arm. "What's wrong, Lily?"

Lily was panicked. "It's Harry! Something's wrong with Harry!"


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