Disclaimer: JKR owns.
Safe Harbour
Chapter 12: The Birth and Death of the Imaginary, Jane Elizabeth Potter
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It was like Harry and Hermione had ran down the stairs leaving their flat, because by the time they had reached the double doors leading out to the busy, darkening streets of Boston, Hermione was breathing hard, and sweating profusely.
Harry paused in front of her to stare anxiously out of the door. Another moment passed before he turned to her, "Are you ready?"
Hermione let his question wash over her. She'd never be ready, but that wouldn't change what they had to do.
Without shrugging, or performing any other type of movement that would hint at her inner anguish, Hermione spoke, "Let's go."
Harry nodded, and squeezed her hand once more in his before pushing open the door. It was like a bright spot light shone directly on them as they took their first step away from safety.
"There's a cab," Harry muttered, looking out into the lighted, car ridden street. He hurried them down the stairs and waved his free hand towards the empty cab, slowly moseying down the street.
"Hey!" he called out, effectively getting the driver's attention. Once the cab came to a stop, Harry opened the door and gently pushed Hermione in, "Hey, my girlfriend's going into labour- we need to get to the hospital fast!"
The driver glanced back warily at Hermione, who was clutching on to her stomach and panting heavily, just like Harry had previously instructed.
"Uh, St. Elizabeth's?" the driver asked after realizing this wasn't a joke.
"Yes!"
"Okay then, hold on." Not wasting any time, the cabbie floored the gas pedal, and the car immediately took off through the busy streets of Boston. Both Harry and Hermione were shocked at the man's ability to weave through traffic while hardly taking his foot off the gas.
Hermione had semi-relented from her heavy breathing, but with a quick look from Harry, she started again. It was hard faking that type of pain, and she soon found herself actually coming short of air. The pain that she was trying to pretend was starting to realistically infiltrate her body.
Harry looked suddenly at her as a gasp escaped from her lips. Hermione's eyes were closed, and now she had both arms wrapped around her pregnant stomach. Harry placed a hand on her back, and gently rubbed it over her tense body.
"It'll be okay," he choked out, in a clipped tone. He couldn't quiet the voice in the back of his mind who was callously shouting at him that it would, in fact, not be okay.
Hermione only shook her head, "It hurts."
Harry continued to rub her back, genuinely wondering if she was still acting, "I know. It'll all be over soon."
With another tremulous gasp, Hermione finally opened her eyes and turned to look out of the window. She didn't want Harry to see the tears falling from her eyes. The more she thought about pretending to be in labour, made her wonder about the eventual labour she'd be going into, and then what would follow that.
She couldn't hold out any longer. She began to really cry. Hard.
Harry stopped trying to rub her back. It seemed almost fake in a way- like he was only trying to comfort her for appearances sake. Truth was, their current situation was making him think about the closer future, in which Hermione truly would be sobbing over her labour. When that time came, Harry didn't know how he'd be able to console her, or if he even could for that matter.
Would he even be able to control himself?
Suddenly, and severely so, the cab driver pulled over and slammed on the breaks.
Looking away from his girlfriend, Harry noticed that they had already arrived to the hospital. Quickly, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a wad of muggle money.
He threw it at the driver before hurrying to open the door and get himself out.
Telling himself to act frantically, Harry reached back in for Hermione and patiently pulled her out, instructing her to breathe and be calm, like any frenzied boyfriend would say to their pregnant girlfriend. Together, they hastily made their way up the walkway to the hospital and into the E.R.
"Excuse me, hey!" Harry shouted at the first nurse he saw, "My girlfriend's having stomach pains- we think she's going into labour!"
Instantly, a team of medical staff surrounded them. One nurse snuck up behind Hermione, and pushed her into a wheel chair, while the others immediately started asking her questions, assessing her vitals, and shouting something about a 'delivery'.
Hermione didn't know exactly what was being said; there was suddenly so much noise all around her, that it was practically suffocating.
"Harry-" Hermione whimpered, reaching out both mentally and physically for help.
Harry grabbed on to her hand and squeezed, "Her water didn't break or anything. She just started having these terrible pains…"
"When is she due?" one of the female residents asked as someone started pushing
Hermione down the hall.
Harry, and the rest of the entourage followed, "Not for another seven weeks."
"When was her last check up?" she asked again, scribbling away on a clipboard.
"We were at our doctor's office just a few days ago- everything's supposed to be fine…"
"Well, we'll get her into a room and see what's going on-"
"Is everything okay with our baby? Nothing's wrong with her, right?" Harry asked pointedly, just in case somebody of interest was already listening.
The woman gave him a hesitant look, "We'll see. An emergency caesarean could be a possibility here. I assume you're going to want to stay with her?" she asked after noticing their entwined hands.
"Yes," Harry replied automatically.
"Right this way then." The team of residents hurried them into the first available room.
The man pushing Hermione rolled her right up next to the bed while the rest of the group attended to various machines in the room, "Now Miss, we're going to have to sit you up on the bed so we can get you into a gown."
Hermione shot Harry a hesitant look. She didn't realize she'd have to be stripping down in the heat of the moment, with a horde of strange onlookers standing in her wake. But, she knew protesting would be useless as another woman nurse walked towards her holding a standard white hospital gown.
"I'll do it," Harry muttered, intercepting the woman and taking the grown from her.
He tried to cover Hermione as much as possible as he quickly pushed her jacket off her shoulders and lifted her shirt over her head. The rest of her clothes didn't take too long, and luckily the other people in the room seemed busy with other tasks. Just as Harry finished tying on the gown, another person burst into the room.
"You two again?" Dr. Page asked, slightly surprised to see the young couple that she had strictly told to take an easy a few days ago, back so soon.
Harry was taken aback to see the familiar face, "Um, yeah. Hermione's in pain- we think something's wrong with the baby."
"Well let's take a look. Hermione, I need you to lay back on the bed for me, okay?" the woman said calmly as the first nurse assisted her in putting on some plastic gloves.
Hermione shot Harry another look before doing as the doctor said. Two of the nurses started lifting her legs up into the straddles, and Hermione found herself giving Harry another panicked look. If they waited any longer, then she was sure that they'd figure out nothing was wrong. What was Harry waiting for?
Harry stood a few inches away from the bed, his hand shoved into his front pocket and clutching onto his wand. His eyes darted from Dr. Page, getting ready to 'evaluate' Hermione, to Hermione, who's forehead was drenched in cold sweat, mostly in panic and fear.
His eyes drifted close and he took one deep breath before pulling his wand from his pocket and directing it at the rest of the occupants in the room, "CONFUNDUS MULTIPLO MAXIMA!"
The bright orange light engulfed the muggles, and was gone a moment later. Both Hermione and Harry looked on in a strange awe, waiting for one of them to come around from the initial blow.
Dr. Page was the first to blink. Slowly, she turned to glance at Harry, then Hermione, and then the rest of her staff.
"Wha-" she sounded blankly.
Hermione gave Harry a pleading look at the doctor's confused sound. Harry understood, and a second later trained his wand on the muggle's once more,
"Immobulus!"
A blue hue formed over the bewildered muggles, rendering them frozen in their current befuddled positions.
Harry stiffly turned back to Hermione. He was going to say something, but he had no idea what. Trying to tell her that the 'hard part was over', or something else along those lines, would only make him sound more heartless.
"'Mione," he attempted, blindly taking a step forward. Hermione merely shook her head at his efforts. Soundlessly, she sat up from the bed and turned away from Harry so that she could start putting on her clothes. He didn't try to interrupt her as she changed- he figured he had done enough damage to her for one day. Hopefully, one day they'd be able to forgive each other.
Hopefully.
As Hermione finished putting her shirt on, she finally spoke, "So how long do we have to wait in here?"
Harry was a bit miffed at her professional tone, but thankful that she was at least speaking to him, "Um, at least a few more minutes, don't you think?"
Hermione shrugged, still not turning to face him.
"You did good 'Mione. I'm proud of you," he said, figuring he'd take the chance.
She scoffed darkly, "What a compliment."
"It'll be over soon," he tried again quietly.
Hermione finally snapped, "Is that supposed to make me feel any better about what we're doing?"
Harry forced himself to take a patient breath, "We're saving her life."
"At what a cost," she muttered under her breath.
Harry was at a lost for words. It was like everything he said was the wrong thing.
Again, she seemed to be forgetting that he didn't want to have to do this any more than he did. He wasn't allowed the luxury of complaining or sarcastic remarks because he understood that this was for the best.
As Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and stared moodily off into a corner of the hospital room, Harry decided that he wouldn't talk unless she wanted him to. A part of him was done trying to make her feel better about everything. So instead, the two waited in an un-companionable silence for a few more minutes. Or at least, Harry thought it had only been a few minutes. Glancing down to his wrist watch, he realized he had let himself get too caught up in his thoughts. Fifteen minutes had gone by since they first came into the room. They needed to get going.
"Hermione, it's time," he announced gruffly.
Cautiously, Hermione turned around to face him, "What are you going to do exactly?"
"Just a spell to cover up your stomach and then a disillusionment so that no one will
pay extra attention," Harry responded, again readying his wand in front of him.
Hermione looked strangely nervous at the end of Harry's wand, but tried to ignore the pang in her stomach. Standing
up from the hospital bed, she clenched her fists and turned towards him.
"Okay."
Harry took a deep breath before he muttered, "Dissimulo!"
A purple haze shot from Harry's wand and surrounded Hermione's midsection. When the spell wore off, Harry was left looking at a seemingly non-pregnant Hermione.
Hermione glanced down at her flat stomach eerily. She didn't like seeing herself like this again. The idea that her child was suddenly separate from her made her sick.
Reaching down though, she was instantly comforted as her hands traced over a still bulged and swollen stomach. Appearances could sometimes be so cruel.
After another second of caressing herself, Hermione glanced up to Harry once more. Without saying anything, Harry whispered the cantation for another spell, "Tutela contego maximus!"
Hermione could only blink as the strange spell engulfed her. Once it had settled over her, she gave Harry a sharp look, "What was that?"
"A protection shield. Just in case."
"Oh," Hermione mumbled blithely. She nodded at him, "And you?"
Harry shrugged. The shield was a last minute thought. He hadn't thought about casting one over himself-- he wasn't that important, "I'll cast the disillusionment charm after they all leave."
Hermione simply nodded again before Harry turned back to the group of frozen muggles. Not hesitating, he pointed his wand towards them and cast a memory modification charm at them. With the spell still intact, he imagined the made up scenario in his mind, where they delivered the baby stillborn and then let Hermione get dressed. He imagined one of the nurses grabbing the dead baby and putting it in a medical biohazard bag, before taking it out of the room. Lastly, he thought of Dr. Page telling him that she'd go collect some official documents for them to sign before they could leave.
Once Harry relinquished the memory modifying spell, he gave Hermione a readying
glance. He trained his wand on the staff one final time, "Finite!"
Just like that, the muggles snapped out of their magically induced immobility. For a second, they all started to stare around at each other with confused looks on their faces, before Harry cleared his throat.
"So do you want to go get those papers now?" Harry directed the question to Dr. Page.
"Papers?" she mumbled back.
"The birth and death certificates…"
She shook her head subtly before seeming to understand, "Oh! Oh… um, right. I'll just go get those." The situation really started to weigh down on her, because it was apparent that she was trying not to make eye contact with Hermione.
As the doctor got up, she turned to glance back at the people behind her, "What are you all still doing here?"
The group shared some more bewildered looks before they all unanimously shrugged, and started heading for the door. A few of them kindly wished their condolences as they left. Harry felt like a bastard hearing them say that to him. Alas, there was nothing he could do but accept that guilt.
Harry turned to watch them go as the last male nurse finally exited the room. They all started turning about and going their separate ways, all with an air of sadness around them from supposedly just having 'witnessed' an infant's death. Just as the view through the glass window pane started to clear, Harry caught something out of the corner of his eye that made him stop.
It was a man, dressed strangely in some unsightly muggle attire. The man's paisley fedora was pulled so far down his forehead, that Harry could only make out the tip of his nose, mouth, and chin. He had just addressed one of the nurses who had been one of the first to leave the room. The two men exchanged a few words before Harry saw the strange bloke smirk.
That smirk had ignited a fire in Harry's chest. Without a breath of a doubt, Harry knew who the bloke was. He was one of them. He had come to St. Elizabeth's, probably with a team of others, to take his daughter. Harry's fists were now white, due to how hard he was clenching them; he was even starting to shake.
He was just beginning to reach for the door handle when an outside voice interrupted him, "Mr. Potter?"
The raven haired wizard turned back to the two women waiting behind him with a strangled look. Upon seeing his expression, Hermione frowned in concern. However, it was the good doctor who had spoke.
Harry looked up to Dr. Page. She was giving one of the most sympathetic looks he had ever received. Awkwardly, she reached forward and rubbed his back, "I'm sorry Harry." She turned back to Hermione and gave her the same look but spoke no words. When she turned back to Harry, she started to talk, "I'll just go get those documents and be right back. It shouldn't take long."
Harry moved aside so that she could leave. Once she was gone, Hermione looked back up to him, "Harry, why do you look like you just saw a ghost?"
Harry glanced up to her with burning eyes. Hermione could tell he was trying to contain himself, but why--
"They're out there, aren't they?" she asked in a whisper.
Harry didn't say anything, but after a few seconds he nodded. Hermione let out a shaky, uneven breath at his confirmation. The thought that the people responsible for all of their havoc was so close… well, it brought out a side of Hermione that she didn't think she'd ever feel, especially not while pregnant. She felt ready to kill.
Apparently though, Harry was feeling that same emotion. Hermione caught his sudden movement out of the corner of her eye, and realized he was heading for the door.
"Harry don't," Hermione said as he again reached for the door handle. Even though she wanted nothing more than to find a way keep her baby, she still wasn't willing to let Harry potentially risk his life for it.
"Hermione-"
"I know," she cut him off, "It's just that we've… just don't, okay?"
Harry stared hard at her for a few moments before nodding. He understood why Hermione wanted him to stay put, but that didn't help ease the mind-numbing temptation he felt to chase the bastard down and find out who he really was. Harry turned back to the door, just to make sure the bloke was actually gone.
Luckily, he saw no one wearing the man's paisley fedora or blue leather jacket. Just as his eyes were scanning up the hall once more for any signs of muggle-dressed wizards, he saw Dr. Page walking back with a folder in her hands.
Harry stood aside as she entered the room.
"Alright, I just need you two to sign. I can fill the rest of the baby's information out later," she told them softly, gently handing Harry two papers that were inside the folder, so far labelled 'Potter'.
"Also, did you have a name in mind?" asked Dr. Page.
Harry and Hermione shared a quick, troubled look before Harry turned back to Dr. Page and shrugged, "Jane. Jane… Elizabeth."
"Jane Elizabeth Potter," Dr. Page repeated, "That's a lovely choice."
Harry only shrugged again before grabbing the pen that she held out for him. He didn't at all want to read the certificate of birth or death, so he quickly just signed his name to the lines that read 'father'.
He glanced up to Hermione, who had her lip caught between her teeth. She had paled considerably in the past few seconds, and was currently staring listlessly at the papers in Harry's hands.
"Here," he muttered, walking over to the bed and holding them out for her. She hesitated, but eventually she took the papers with trembling hands. Harry handed her the pen, and both he and Dr. Page waited for her to sign in a suffocating silence.
Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, mentally telling herself to just get it over with. She took a deep breath before opening them again and seeking out the lines entitled 'mother'. With nimble fingers, she signed,
Hermione Jane Granger.
When she was finished, she pushed the papers back into Dr. Page's hands and shamefully looked off into the corner of the room. Again, Harry felt like he should reach out to comfort her. But thinking so, and actually summoning the courage to do so, were two different things. Honestly, he didn't think Hermione wanted him to touch her anyway.
"Alright then," Dr. Page voiced, "This is all the hospital is going to need from you. Jane will be taken to Brooks Morgue tomorrow morning. They'll be able to help you out with funeral arrangements." She finished gently and headed over to the door.
Just as she was about to leave, she turned back to Harry and Hermione.
"I'm truly sorry for your loss."
Hermione said nothing while Harry was barely able to nod his head. As Dr. Page finally left, Harry took a few seconds to let the recent events sink in.
'So they think the baby's dead. Now we're free to go… well, not free. We'll never be free…'
Harry made a desperate attempt to clear his head as he looked back to Hermione. She had just stood up from the bed, both of her hands resting on her seemingly flat stomach. Though, Harry could tell what she was really holding on to- or who, for that matter.
He cleared his throat, his voice thick with emotion, "We should go. Our plane leaves in an hour."
Hermione didn't say anything as she nodded, and walked towards the door. Harry shoved his hand back in his pocket so that he was gripping his wand. Just in case, they needed to be prepared for anything.
Then again, it wasn't like they really had anything left to lose.
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I know it's no use, but the amount of hits compared to reviews is ridiculous. Please-- if you've taken the time to read, please take the time to review :]
And as always, thank you to those who are faithful in their commenting. The next chapter should be up very soon!
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