A/N: Hey everyone, I was having some seriously bad plot bunny problems late last night and early this morning, and decided to write this up. Obviously this is a Harmony Soulbond story with some possible Ron bashing, so if you like his character I'm sorry. All deaths are still canon EXCEPT for Dobby who I need alive for this to work. Feel free to leave helpful comments and read on. Thanks.
Chapter 1: The Checkup
Hermione Jean Granger walked into St. Mungo's that afternoon for a routine checkup and physical. She was 19, and it had been almost four months since the War against Tom Riddle had ended. There were many dead, and many still wounded both mentally and physically, but things had fallen into a routine rather quickly the weeks following the battle. But even with things running so fast by her eyes, Hermione herself felt things were only just starting to get back to normal.
Ollivander's had opened back up again, as had Gringotts and many of the other stores in Diagon Alley. Hogwarts was once again packed with students, as the tables had been rather empty and sad directly after the war had ended. And the Burrow had been rebuilt to its former glory. Even St. Mungo's seemed a bit more lively, despite it being packed with war victims for the past year and a half,
"Hello, Miss. What can I do for you today?"
Hermione smiled brightly at the Mediwitch behind the desk, hoisting her purse up onto her shoulder a bit unconsciously,
"Hermione Granger? I'm here for my checkup,"
The Mediwitch ruffled around her desk for a moment, looked at a scrawled note and then nodded her head,
"Right. You're appointment is at 2:30?"
Hermione nodded her affirmative as the Mediwitch scrawled her arrival on the sheet with a ballpoint quill,
"Ok. If you'll just take a seat someone will come to fetch you soon,"
"Thank you,"
The Mediwitch nodded and returned to her paperwork as Hermione took a seat in one of the hard plastic chairs, crossing her bare legs elegantly. She could feel the stares of a few men in the room on her, but she didn't mind giving them a view of her chest as she dipped into her bag (with a handy extension charm) and pulled out a hefty tome. She was to be Mrs. Ronald Weasley in a few days, anyway (not like any other man had ever succeeded in having his way with her). Flipping open the cover, Hermione sat back to enjoy the text.
She had just gotten of work an hour or so before, and was eternally grateful for the leave she had taken to prepare for the wedding. Since Kingsley had become the Minister for Magic, Half-bloods and Muggleborn's were treated with great respect in Ministry positions, and she was no exception. That, and Kingsley had agreed to give her the days off as long as he got to escort her down the aisle. Though Hermione was saddened that her own father couldn't give her away as she had originally hoped, replacing the memories she had taken from the new Austrian couple would be impossible,
'Curse my own thoroughness,' Hermione chided inwardly, though it was a phrase she often found herself using when she needed to find a loophole in the plans she herself created. It was only recently that she started manufacturing nearly invisible pathways in her work just in case she did have to sidestep her own protocols at one point,
'But not with Ron,' Hermione thought with a smile, glancing at the engagement ring on her finger with a small smile, 'I want this plan to be as thorough as it gets'
"Ms. Granger?"
Hermione looked up from her book, seeing a Mediwizard standing in the doorway by the secretary's desk, "my name is Dr. Todd, we're ready for you,"
"Wonderful," Hermione stated, slapping the two halves of her book shut and tucking it back in her purse. Standing, the woman followed the middle aged wizard back to the exam room where he had her remove her jumper and personal objects,
"This shouldn't take a minute, ma'am," Dr. Todd said, pulling out his wand, "please keep still,"
Hermione did as she was told, choosing to think over the reasons she had been looking forward to this checkup. Though not usually something to look forward too, Hermione had started noticing a few things which concerned her. Firstly, she was almost always moody (in a similar manner to Harry during his fifth year at Hogwarts), though Hermione wasn't particularly worried. The amount of sleep she was getting due to extra hours at work would do the trick. Secondly, she was feeling rather sickly. Though mostly at random times during the day, Hermione wasn't particularly worried about this either. She attributed it to stress about work as well as the upcoming wedding. The third thing was her weight gain. Mrs. Weasley had been over the moon as Hermione began to gain some much needed 'meat on her bones' (especially after a year on the run), but the young witch herself wanted to chat with a Mediwizard about possible exercise plans she could use to keep it under wraps,
"If you'll just sit in here a moment, Ms. Granger I'll be right back," Dr. Todd said, holding information in his wand and leaving the room briskly. Sitting on the medical cot, Hermione felt a cold chill seep into her bones. Though she couldn't pinpoint why she was suddenly having such a feeling of dread, her answer was brought by Todd. The look on his face was enough to tell 'The Brightest Witch Of Her Age' something was off,
"Everything alright, doctor?"
"Erm, I'm afraid not Ms. Granger. When was your last formal checkup?"
Knitting her brows, Hermione had to think hard. With the war going on, doing anything normal had been almost impossible,
"Not for a few years I suspect. I believe I had a physical the summer before returning to Hogwarts for my 6th year. Why? Has something come up? If it has I'd like to know about it immediately,"
"Of course, ma'am. But it may be a bit of a shock,"
Hermione pursed her lips and nodded, clutching the edges of the cot in nervousness. She didn't think anything was actually wrong with her! Whatever it was, Hermione wanted to know. Motioning for the Mediwizard to continue, she inhaled as he ran a hand over his dark hair,
"Well, Mrs. Granger, it appears that you are...pregnant,"
Hermione was, for the lack of a better word, stunned. She had been expecting something else, Wizard Pox or Dragon Rash. Pregnancy wasn't even in her frame of mind,
"P-pregnant?" She managed, blinking unbelievingly at the doctor and leaning forward slightly, "are...are you sure?"
"Yes Ms. Granger. You are almost five months in now. I suspect you've been experiencing mood swings or appetite change? Perhaps even some flu like symptoms,"
"Y-yes," Hermione nodded her head slightly, knitting her brows. How had she not seen it sooner? Everything that had been going on all pointed to pregnancy,
'But we were so careful,'
"As it appears you had no former knowledge of this happening, Ms. Granger, do you possibly have an idea of when the child could have been conceived? I'm sorry to be so forward but I need to know for my reports-"
"No I understand, you have to ask. I do have an idea of when the child was...conceived. But we were careful to take all the necessary precautions against it,"
Hermione was hurting. The child had been created the last month of the war...when she had been on the run and hunting Horcruxes,
"And, what spells did you use before having intercourse?"
"The usual spells, plus a few extra as we were both...erm...inexperienced at the time,"
"I see. Well...I'm not entirely sure why you have conceived if the necessary precautions were taken against pregnancy, but I'll have to perform a few more tests to be sure. If you don't mind, Ms. Granger, I'd like to have some of my more experienced staff come to examine you, as well as your child to make sure everything is in order,"
"So there's no way around this?" Hermione questioned. She didn't like the thought of killing the human growing inside her, but she was caught completely unaware and in a rather bad spot. Dr. Todd just shook his head,
"I'm afraid not, Ms. Granger. You are too far in, and despite your unawareness in this matter, in the eyes of the Ministry you were a willing participant in the sexual activities which caused the conception,"
"I see," Hermione mumbled, running a hand over her face. This day had just gone from great to terrible in a total of an hour, "is there anything else I should know?"
"Actually...yes," Dr. Todd stated, "I'm afraid it's more bad news,"
"Well spit it out then. I'm sorry for my harshness sir,"
"None taken, Ms. Granger. However, it has come to my attention that there is a good amount of Amortentia in your system. In fact, it's a startlingly large amount, seemingly taken in multiple doses. Did you know of this?"
"N-no, I didn't,"
"Well then, Ms. Granger, I'm afraid this checkup has become a bit more serious. Obviously you know that using love potions on someone without consent is a matter of the law?"
"I do. I suppose Minister Shacklebolt has to get involved now?"
"The Ministry will have to be alerted immediately, yes. This might take some time, so would you like to move into a more suitable room? We obviously have to check on your fetus, and then will work to banish the Amortentia as quickly as possible from your system before it can cause any more harm,"
"I suppose that would be best," Hermione mumbled, holding her head in her hands as she rubbed the sides of her face. Things had just gone from bad to worse, "I think I need to lay down for a while anyway,"
"If you don't mind changing into this gown while I'm gone? I'll have a levitating medical cot brought in,"
"Of course, Dr. Todd, thank you,"
The man nodded slowly, leaving the gown on the exam table as he left the room. Doing as he asked, Hermione changed quickly and shoved her clothing into her bag, letting down her hair from its tight bun as a larger, more comfortable looking bed was brought to her. And even as Hermione lay down and watched the ceiling flit by her eyes as the staff maneuvered her to a new room, she knew one thing for certain. Things were about to get very complicated.