Disclaimer: JKR owns.
Safe Harbour
Chapter 11: The Plan
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After finishing the call with the adoption agency, Harry made his way back to their bedroom. Quietly, he opened the door and saw Hermione laying down on the bed. He paused in the doorway, taking a moment to admire the insane beauty he had found in Hermione over the past year. A part of him still couldn't believe that he had ever gotten lucky enough to be with her.
Even though the result of being together had turn into this tumultuous ride, in which Harry and Hermione would be losing a daughter before they even got to know her- he would never regret being with Hermione. He didn't know about her, but he had really meant what he said yesterday. He truly did love her.
"Harry?" Hermione called out as the raven haired wizard took a step into their room and started kicking his shoes off.
"It's me," he answered, crawling into bed next to her.
"What'd she say?" Hermione asked quietly after he had settled down.
"She's going to notify the Cooper's of our interest. Apparently, they've been waiting for a while. She said that they've passed all the required tests and protocols," Harry finished, electing to leave out the part where Lisa had blatantly told him that the Cooper's have turned down birthparents before. He didn't want to stress her out any more than necessary.
Hermione simply nodded in understanding. Truth be told, she didn't want to talk about the Cooper's anymore, or any persons who would be taking her child in the weeks to come. Even if it was selfish, she couldn't stop thinking about the fact that she'd never get to be a mother to her first baby. What kind of person will her daughter think her to be? A coward? A whore? A pathetic excuse for a woman, much less a mother?
It was all too much to grasp.
"Harry?"
"What?"
"We're not bad people for doing this, are we?"
Harry let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, "No."
"When will we know if the Cooper's accept?"
"Hopefully tomorrow," Harry replied, consciously knowing it might not be as simple as that. Yet again, he didn't want to worry her.
"Harry?" Hermione whispered again after a few minutes.
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared."
"Me too."
…
The next morning, Hermione woke up to find Harry in the kitchen, talking on his mobile to someone. She walked in blearily, with one hand resting on her stomach, and sat herself at the kitchen table. She listened in gut-wrenching interest to Harry's half of the conversation.
"Right, we understand… Oh, that- that's good… Yeah, um we should be able to leave at any time. As soon as possible?… Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense. Alright, well thanks for all your help. I'll look into some plane tickets and then call you back with the details. Alright, you too." Harry finished by flipping his mobile closed. For a few minutes, Hermione watched on as he stared at the device in his hand.
Finally she made her presence known, "What'd she say?"
Harry's head shot up, but he calmed down once he saw it was Hermione, "Oh, morning. Um, that was Lisa again. I guess, the Cooper's are interested in meeting us. The agency wants us to fly to California as soon as we can to get things going."
Hermione couldn't help but frown. She didn't know if it was intentional or not, but she hated how insensitive Harry was seeming. Nevertheless, she nodded. There was no point putting more energy into arguing, "But what if they don't want her after we meet and everything? What then?"
Harry shrugged, "Hopefully we won't have to worry about that."
Hermione sighed. Harry could tell she way getting frustrated with him, but he didn't know what else to say. She didn't seem to realize that Harry was having just as difficult a time as she was. The only reason as to why he was acting so positively about the adoption, was because he knew that it was the only way his daughter would be able to have a shot at a normal life. If Harry and Hermione tried to keep her, then ultimately she would be the one who suffered. The thought of her oblivious safety, was the only thing keeping him going.
"So when should we leave?" Hermione asked, ignoring the temptation to huff, cross her arms, and yell at him as to why he wasn't acting more disturbed by the whole process. She just had to keep telling herself that this was Harry's way of coping- by trying to stay strong for her.
Little did he know, that she didn't want a protector right now- she wanted a partner to share her pain with.
"The appointment is Friday morning, so we should at least leave by Thursday morning. Don't you think?" Harry asked, making the attempt to include her.
Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, "But it's Tuesday. That means that tomorrow…"
Harry nodded solemnly, "We'll have to start planning."
Hermione nervously shifted in her seat. Harry could see that she was trying to take some even, calming breaths but was failing miserably. Her chest, and lower lip were starting to tremble again. Harry instantly straightened up in worry.
As he came towards her, Hermione started to shake her head, "Harry, I don't think I can do this. I-I'm not ready to do this."
Harry sighed sadly as he kneeled in front of her and placed his hands over hers, "Hermione, we don't have that much time. It's pretty much now or never."
Hermione stared at him, her hands slipping from under his grasp and instinctively going to wrap around her stomach. It was an act of instinct, because it was an act of protection. She felt like she had to do anything to protect her daughter. 'That's what this was all about,' a hopeless, yet reassuring voice spoke in Hermione's head,
'Protection.'
With the weight of the world seemingly on her shoulders, Hermione took a deep breath and spoke, "How are we supposed to pull this off?"
Harry smiled softly at her cooperation before pulling a chair forward for himself, "I've been thinking- and if everything goes according to plan, we shouldn't be in any
danger at all. Now…"
…
Once Harry and Hermione had finished working out the plan for tomorrow, Hermione had secluded herself back to their bedroom while Harry focused on booking them some plane tickets. It didn't take long before Harry had reserved them both a seat aboard a commercial airline flying directly to Los Angeles out of Boston, at 9:15 Wednesday evening.
After everything was all finished over the computer, Harry closed the lid of the laptop and got up from the kitchen table. He was just about to head into the library and freshen up on some of his masking charms when a buzzing vibrated from the kitchen table. He turned, and saw his mobile lit up and flashing. With a curious look, he turned back and grabbed the phone.
A foreign number appeared on the front screen, so with a frown, Harry flipped it open and cautiously spoke, "Hello?"
"Hey!" greeted a happy, American voice, "This is Ben, I'm calling for a Jason Meyers?"
"Ben," Harry repeated somewhat in shock, "Ben Cooper? From California?"
"Yeah, that's me," the man chuckled into the phone.
Harry was silent for a moment before he snapped out of his shock, "Um, yeah this is Jason. I'm sorry, I'm just a little surprised that you're calling. I didn't think we'd all get to talk until Friday."
"I'm sorry to catch you off guard," Ben apologized politely, "I just wanted to give you guys a call and thank you for choosing my wife and I as your pick. We're very happy and honoured that you chose us out of all those other profiles."
"Oh, yeah…" Harry mumbled. He cleared his throat, and tried to sound as unemotional as possible, "You and your wife look like you'd make really good parents."
"Thanks Jason. I only hope we can reinforce that thought when we meet in person.
Kirsten and I are really ready to have a child of our own," Ben rambled on in apparent bliss.
Harry, however, felt morbid as the man continued, "It's just, the previous opportunities we've had never really felt right, time wise. But now, we're both confident that we're ready- for a little boy, or a girl," he finished with a laugh.
"It's a girl," Harry interjected, "My girlfriend, she's pregnant with a baby girl."
"A girl! That's fantastic! My wife will be thrilled, very thrilled. She's always wanted a little girl…"
"Yeah well, I'm- I…" Harry didn't know what else to say to the bloke. He was going to say that he was happy for them, but knew that would be a lie.
Ben continued to ramble on about how ecstatic he and his wife were, but Harry finally had to cut him off. There was a question burning within him that he was dying to ask.
"Can I ask you a question Ben?"
"Oh, sure Jason," he replied, happy as ever.
"I apologize for being nosy, but why are you adopting?"
"Oh, well," there was a pause over the line, telling Harry that he had hit a personal note. Fortunately though, Ben answered, "Kirsten- she can't conceive."
Harry felt like a jerk, "I'm sorry to hear that."
"It was never really a problem before, but like I said, we're really eager to have a baby. And plus, some of our best friends just recently adopted a baby, and so far they're doing really well with him. If they can do it, that's only further proof that we're ready…" Ben, again, went off into a excited rant about how prepared they were for a child. Harry and Hermione's child, to be exact. Harry could only listen half-heartedly, because in the back of his mind was the knowledge that the Cooper's had come close to having a child before. Lisa had made it seem like the Cooper's wouldn't be backing down on an 'offer' again, but still.
Ben's laughter sounded through the mobile, "Here I am, talking your ear off when all I called for was to thank you. And your girlfriend, of course."
"Yeah uh, your welcome," Harry muttered.
"So, we'll be seeing you two this Saturday in Los Angeles, right?"
"Yeah, definitely."
Harry could hear his happiness radiating through his voice, "This really is great Jason. I'm so excited to meet you both, and I promise my wife and I won't let you down."
Harry couldn't think of anything else to say so he kept it quick and simple, "Yeah. See you then." Before Ben could think to say anything more, Harry quickly flipped closed his mobile.
The brief and unexpected conversation didn't leave him feeling any better. Instead, he felt more like a bloody coward.
'No- this is for the best. At least they'll be able to give her a happy life. 'Mione and I can't guarantee that… this is for her own good…'
With a slight shake of his head to clear his rampant thoughts, Harry set his mobile back down on the kitchen table, and started heading back for the library once more.
…
-The Next Day-
…
Hermione had been nervous all day. Like trembling, cold sweats, type of nervous.
She had been trying to ignore the reality of today for as long as possible, and still she was having trouble accepting what they were about to do tonight.
The plan that she and Harry had discussed had been running through her mind all day…
"Okay, so I'm thinking that as soon as we leave the flat, you need to start acting like your having labour pains. That's important because they could be watching from right outside-"
"Do you really think they're outside right now?" Hermione asked, wrinkling her forehead in worry.
Harry shrugged, "Probably. Anyway, we call a cab, and tell him to take us to the hospital. As soon as we get inside, we'll call for a doctor and tell them that you're having bad abdominal pain, but it can't be contractions because your due date isn't for another six weeks. If they're watching, they're going to know something's wrong right off the bat…"
Hermione listened to Harry quietly, trying to focus more on the plan than the way Harry was telling it to her. He almost seemed… excited… She wanted to call him out on his enthusiasm, but again held her tongue. She didn't want to start another argument, and for all she knew, Harry was just on edge relaying everything.
But then again, she knew Harry, and she knew he didn't get jumpy when experiencing that sense of urgency.
"Then they are going to rush you into an emergency room-"
"You're staying with me, right?" Hermione asked distractedly. If she had to be separated from Harry for even the slightest moment then she knew she'd fall to pieces and ruin the whole plan…
"Of course," Harry reassured her, "Once you and I are both in the room with the nurses and doctor, I'll lock the door. After that I'll use a confundus charm over the muggles to get them-- what?"
Harry looked on curiously at Hermione who had started shaking her head. Hermione looked up to him with her notorious know-it-all expression, "Harry, you can't."
Harry frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Harry, you can't perform magic on muggles! That'll be the quickest way for them to discover that we tricked them," Hermione said.
Upon Hermione's worried and agitated look, Harry had the gall to smile, "You're right, of course. But, who's going to know that I bewitched the muggles?"
Hermione pretended to think it over, "Uh, the Ministry of Magic. You know they keep a registry…"
"Right, but what if I can deceive the registry?"
Hermione frowned, this time in intrigue, "Can you?"
"It's an old spell- I remember reading about it when we were all at Grimmauld Place. Basically what it is, is a masking charm for your magical signature. When it's masked, nobody can know what your wand does or how it's used."
Hermione bit her lip, thinking over the possibilities of such a useful spell. Finally she looked up to Harry in resignation, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Harry answered easily. "Now, after the muggles are confounded, we'll hold them in the room for several minutes, making them believe that they're delivering the baby. Once we've stayed confined long enough, I'll release the charm, and they'll walk out of the room with the belief that we'd lost the baby."
Hermione had to look away from Harry's convincing eyes, not wanting to even think of the possibilities. She didn't care if this whole scheme was just pretend, Harry made it seem so real…
"Then what?" Hermione whispered.
"Well, I imagine they're going to create a birth and death certificate. Hopefully it won't take too long, and then after… we leave," Harry finished. Finally, a grave look came over his face as he took in the severity of his plan.
"How though?" Hermione found herself asking, "What if they're at the hospital watching- if they see me leave, still pregnant, then they're going to know something's up."
Harry shook his head, "Um, we're going to use disillusionment and more body disguising charms to hide your stomach. Hopefully, they'll just leave after they hear the baby died."
"Are we going to the airport right after?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah. We'll get another cab; the driver's going to have to drive through a busy part of town to get to the airport, so even if they're following us to see if we go home, they'll probably get confused since all the cabs look the same."
"And then we fly to California," Hermione finished, sadly nodding her head. She blinked repeatedly to keep from crying again.
"Yeah…"
The two shared a look. They both knew things needed to be said, but both weren't willing to speak them just yet. What happened after they got to Los Angeles was unknown, and after that was even a bigger mystery.
"Hermione?" Harry's voice called, breaking Hermione out of her reverie.
Harry appeared in the bedroom, "Hermione, are you done yet?"
"What?" Hermione asked confused. Glancing around, she realized that she hadn't packed any of her possessions yet. She looked back up to Harry with a guilty face,
"Oh, sorry…"
"Did you need some help?" Harry asked coming further into the room.
"No, no- I just got… sidetracked…"
Harry gave her a look, but Hermione didn't elaborate. Getting up from the bed, she grabbed for her wand and started summoning her clothes out of the closet, "So um, did you finish the library yet?"
It was already Wednesday afternoon, and so far that day Harry and Hermione had been busy packing up the flat. A lot of their time was spent deliberating on what they absolutely had to take with them and what could be left behind. After all, you could only shrink so much…
"Uh yeah, I got all of your books," Harry answered.
Hermione nodded, "Thanks."
Harry sighed, still looking at Hermione with despairing eyes, "You know Hermione, you don't have to do this."
She instantly turned and gave him a sharp look at his words. Did he mean…?
"I can finish packing for you. You can kip, or go grab a snack if you want."
Hermione let out her propitious breath. Turning away from him, she shook her head,
"No, I'll do it."
"I'll help then-"
"Harry, I can do it!" She hadn't intended to scream at him, but with everything going on, and the way he was acting, she found her frustration reaching its boiling point.
Harry was clearly taken aback by her reaction, "Er, alright. I… I guess I'll just go start on the kitchen."
Hermione let out another heated breath as Harry walked out of their room. She knew she should apologize for her recent behaviour, but she really, really didn't want to.
She was fed up… fed up with everything…
…
Harry and Hermione sat silently on the living room sofa a few hours later. Two backpacks sat in front of them, on the coffee table, holding the most vital of their possessions. Most of their things were being left behind, including pretty much everything in the nursery that they had both worked so hard on.
Harry sighed, but didn't physically move from his spot, "Our flight leaves at 9:15. We should get going…"
"Just a few more minutes," Hermione whispered.
"Hermione-"
"A few more minutes!"
Harry turned to look at her with prescient eyes. She was staring hard at the wall in front of her, and Harry could tell that she was putting her all into not crying. Harry had to give it to her; she was succeeding, painfully so.
His eyes then glanced down to where her hands were resting on her lap. He wanted to reach out and grab one, but something kept holding him back. He wasn't sure if she would want him to- he wasn't sure if he could comfort her anymore.
He sighed sadly to himself before standing up from the couch. Pulling out his wand, he sent shrinking spells to both of the backpacks before collecting them, and putting them in his pocket. He had already cast the masking charm over his wand, and Hermione's too just in case. As of now, everything they did, magic-wise, was completely off the record.
With another calming breath, he turned back to Hermione, "We really should be going."
He watched as her eyes fell shut, and for a moment he thought she was going to ignore him. After a few moments though, she braced her hands on either side of her and gently pushed herself up. Harry grabbed the jacket that was laying over the couch, and helped Hermione slide into it.
Once they were both standing there, ready to go, they started to take a look around the flat they had called home for the past few months of their lives.
"So this is it, huh?" Hermione asked in a miserable whisper.
Harry turned to her, and without saying a word, held out his hand to her. He was surprised by the amount of courage it took for him to do so, but even more surprised by the fear plaguing the back of his mind at the thought of her not wanting to take it.
Seconds passed, before Hermione finally reached forward and latched on to his proffered hand. Both seemed to take a deep, revitalizing breath, before they started for the front door.
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