Erised Revealed

Proof

Chapter 15

Hermione walked down the hall to her room with the orb in hand, thinking about all that had just happened in the Gryffindor common room. She believed everything would turn out well in the end. She eventually made it to the portrait and said the password. Entering the room, she headed toward the bedroom to put the orb back in its case for later use. Unfortunately, before she could make it to the door, her foot caught on something and she fell forwards. In a defensive move, she dropped the orb and put her hands out in front of her. She vaguely heard the orb shatter just before she landed and a sharp pain shot through her hands and up her arms. She cried out and rolled over onto her back and cradled her hands to her chest. She felt a two hands slide under her legs and back and lift her up. She vaguely realized that Severus was carrying her somewhere but she was in so much pain that she didn't know where he was taking her. She could only assume that he was taking her up to the hospital wing so that she could be healed. She tried to stay conscious, but the pain was so bad that she had to really fight the darkness. Not even a minute later, she gave up the fight and everything went black.

Severus was reading his book when Hermione came back. She seemed to so deep in thought about something when he looked up at her. She wasn't paying any attention to anything around her so she didn't see the part of the rug that had come up at the corner from them walking on it. He opened his mouth to warn her, but he was too late and he watched as she fell forward. He threw his book down on the couch when he realized that the orb she had been carrying had shattered and that she had landed in the glass and a puddle of unknown liquid. He hurried over to her as she rolled away from the glass and he saw that she was bleeding badly. He knelt down and lifted her up, intending to take her to the couch at first. Then he thought about the orb and assumed it was supposed to have a special ability, so he changed directions and headed out the door toward the hospital wing. He felt Hermione fall limp and knew she had passed out from the pain in her hands. After several minutes, he finally made it to the hospital and walked through the double doors. He didn't see Madam Pomfrey anywhere nearby, so he placed Hermione on a bed not far from the door. He made sure Hermione's damaged hands were resting on top of her before he ran off to get the nurse from her office. He vaguely realized that his hands also hurt, but when he looked down at them, they seemed fine so he just shrugged and continued on the way to the office.

It only took him a minute to fetch the nurse, but when he got back to the bed with Hermione on it, she was awake and sitting up. Or so he thought. He stopped on the right of the bed and reached out to push her back to make her lie down, but she wouldn't move.

"Hermione, you need to lie down so that Madam Pomfrey can care for your hands." He said, but she just continued to stare at the wall opposite them as if she couldn't hear him. Looking closely, he realized that she was in a trance like state and her eyes were void. She was breathing as if she was only sleeping, so he didn't believe that she was in any danger.

Madam Pomfrey pushed him out of the way so that she could see what was happening to her patient. She waved her wand and spoke some spells Severus wasn't familiar with. He watched as the matron healed her hands and then wave her wand again to assess her again. Within a minute, Hermione began to glow a blood red color.

"What does that mean?" Severus asked, turning to look at the nurse.

"It means that a potion is newly present in her blood stream and it is doing something to her magic. I will do some more tests, but first I have a question that I am hoping is no." Pomfrey waited for him to nod for her to continue. "Is there any possibility that she is pregnant?" She asked this with a mostly straight face, her compressing lips the only sign that she didn't like asking this question.

Severus started to shake his head, but he had to stop and explain something. "Well, I don't believe so. We have never done anything consciously, but this morning we woke up in a... different place than we fell asleep in. A very intimate position, so there might be a possibility."