Kill the Undead, and Don't Die Trying - A Dramione One-Shot

Kill the Undead, and Don't Die Trying

Hermione held back a groan as she heaved herself off of the bathroom floor, hand gently caressing the ever-growing swell of her stomach. It was moments like this, little slices of normalcy in an otherwise hell-scape, that she lived for. Sighing after a moment, she picked up the gauze bandage nearby and set about wrapping her stomach. Her's wasn't the first pregnancy to take place since the world went to shit five years ago, but it would be the most high profile... and dangerous. Which was really saying something because Hannah had been on the front lines for the first few months of her pregnancy. But then she was just a medic. She went in after people were already down. Not like Hermione, who as a General had to see battle if called upon. When they'd found out Tonks and Fleur were pregnant they'd been sidelined right away and unable to contribute anything more than plans and strategies for the duration. And that was before the fighting had even gotten too bad.
     The outbreak had initially taken place during the fall semester of her sixth year, and no one was the wiser until the muggle-born parents started to send messages of concern. The dead were rising from the ground all over, and though governments around the world tried their best it was quickly becoming clear that they were on the losing side of this war. In the beginning, no one quite understood how bad it was. The teachers did their best to shield the students, incorrectly believing that the problem would be resolved by the Yule break. And when that didn't happen, and the murmurs got louder in the halls about what was really going on, they merely hinted at a problem with the muggle world that was keeping the students at Hogwarts for the holidays. By May everyone knew. And everyone had seen the carnage that was befalling the world outside of their academic haven. Their studies were put on pause and instead those old enough to fight started to train with the refugees from Hogsmead and Diagon Alley on how to kill the walking undead. As a muggle-born who grew up with zombies in media and books, Hermione had wrongfully assumed that simply aiming for the head would be all it took to stop the reanimated corpses. Instead, as they learned the hard way, you had to completely obliterate the body. A Bombarda Maxima or a Confringo were the only things they'd found so far that worked. Seamus had tried to set them on fire once, but that had only made them angry. And on fire. After that, they all tried not to experiment much, and just used what they knew would work.
     The school gradually became one of the only safe places left in the wizarding world (at least on the European continent. Beauxbatons had been strong for a couple of years but ultimately became overrun. Durmstrang was still holding out but they didn't accept anyone inside their walls who wasn't there from the start.) Wizarding families who lived nearby or had children who had attended flocked in by the dozens for the protection charms and wards the castle had. But everyone who arrived was given a purpose. If you couldn't fulfil it you were sent on to the next safe house with no guarantee that it would remain so. As an older student (and one who was exceptional at learning new things (if she did say so herself)) Hermione quickly rose through the army ranks to the standing of General. Harry was right there with her, though while she was better at strategy, he took point on execution and was constantly in battle. Ron, when he'd still been alive, was right at his side. Surprisingly, some of their best warriors were the Slytherins. Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini were out fighting to the west and south respectively right now. And Pansy Parkinson worked closely with Luna as their resident medics. Neville and Ginny were recently back with Daphne Greengrass and Theo Nott from their scouting expeditions. Neville and Daphne were in charge of finding the ever-dwindling plants and potion ingredients for the medical wing and those on the front lines, while Theo and Ginny searched for new safe houses, supplies, and survivors. All of which were getting fewer and farther as the war dragged on. And that's what this was now; a war. They were fighting to stay alive, fighting for the loved ones they'd lost, and fighting for the future they hoped to obtain.
      Hermione clutched the necklace around her neck and after a few moments smiled softly in relief as she felt the heartbeats resonate through the Protean Charms on the different pendants. She'd been unable to get to her parents when the school started to take in refugees so she'd sent an owl with a pendant for each of them and an explanation that they would heat up when touched by another wearer. This way they would know each other were still alive. She hadn't communicated with them in two and a half years, so this was the only comfort she had in knowing they were still alive. She'd given one to her lover as well when they'd secretly married a year ago. His parents, Ginny, and General McGonagall were the only people who knew about their relationship. Mione had felt, and he'd agreed, that it was best to keep it quiet until the fighting got less intense. Or they'd be unable to fight together when they were both needed. Mione felt a little bad that she'd created something for her peace of mind but hadn't done anything for anyone else's but she was constantly reminding herself that they didn't have the time or the items for her to sit down and make one for everyone in the castle. She'd created one, in the beginning, for Harry, one for each of the remaining Weasley's, and one for her Mother and Father-in-law. She rubbed her stomach softly at the thought of her beloved. Their relationship had been so wrought with hatred at the beginning, it was one of the only reasons she was glad the undead had started to cause problems for the world. Without that catalyst that had brought the school together in unity, she'd never have been able to see the good in him. Or the other friends that had been gained in the fighting.
      She looked up to see Ginny enter their private bathroom (the school had put some of the older refugees who couldn't fight and were rubbish at cooking or healing to work on the building. They turned the old dorms into apartment-style living for everyone. It was still mostly communal but now they only shared with a couple of people instead of a whole house of students.) Gin' smiled gently before gesturing to the gauze in Mione's hand.
     "Mind if I help? I need a distraction." The redhead asked softly. She'd just returned from a supply run that had resulted in two cans of beans, a package of flour, and a severely wounded Theo. They'd been found by a hoard two days into their journey and had to aparate back before the dirty-blond bled out. Hermione nodded softly and handed over the gauze that she'd been using. Ginny's hand's replaced Mione's own as they wrapped around her expanded mid-section. Ginny was one of only three people who knew about her pregnancy since she'd found Hermione on the floor passed out from exhaustion and dehydration when she'd been only two months along. She'd called Luna and Mione's mother-in-law in to help. When they'd gotten the girl up and full of fluids, the cause of her sickness came to light. Mione and Ginny had had a slightly strained relationship since Hermione had refused to abort her child, but Ginny was slowly losing her battle to stay unattached. It was dangerous to have attachments in this new world because it was another way to hurt should something happen. She'd already lost her father, Ron, and Percy in the battle against the zombies. And her husband was constantly out fighting. She and Hermione worried more than anyone that Harry's reckless nature would cause them to lose him, but if anything he seemed more clear-headed on the battlefield. "You know, this isn't going to work much longer." Hermione eyed her friend in the mirror with a frown.
     "I know. It just... It has too. I can't be taken off duty. Not yet. Not while he's-"
     "I know," Ginny replied with a worried smile. Mione's husband had been out fighting since August. And it was now February. At least with Harry, Ginny knew when to expect her husband home. He would be on the frontlines for three months and then come home for three months. Most of the soldiers took shifts like this in some form; a few weeks or months out fighting, and then back to safety for a few weeks or months to regroup and get some therapy, or medical aid, or warm home-cooked meals. The Hoard Destroyer's (as Mione's husband's brigade had been dubbed) were away for no one knew how long at a time. Last time he'd been gone for two months and then home for six. But the time before that he'd been gone for nearly a year and home for only three weeks. They were the strongest of the soldiers, sent in to deal with the more problematic hoards of zombies causing problems. There were seven of them in the group and each one was a capable and qualified soldier in their own right that served a specific purpose on the team. Fred and George Weasley had skills from their Quidditch days to be effective in hand to hand combat and the genius to be able to create potions and spells on the fly as they were needed. Cho Chang was steady-handed and slight enough to be useful as a medic that could work undetected by the undead. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Parvati Patil, and Cedric Diggory were swift at drawing their wands and had gotten amazing at non-verbal spells. And their leader, Draco Malfoy, was confident and smart with his strategy (in part thanks to Hermione's plans and training) and strong with his wand work and spells. Now that Hermione was seven months pregnant, however, she really didn't give a shit that they were all so talented and working to protect another group of survivors. She wanted them to come back so she could stop worrying and know that her husband was safe. She wanted to be able to stop wrapping her stomach (tight enough to hide most of it behind slightly baggier clothing, but loose enough so as not to hurt her unborn baby). She wanted to get off of her swollen, aching feet. She wanted to be able to feel uncomfortable and amazing and all the other things she should be feeling as her pregnancy moved along that she couldn't focus on right now because she was too busy preparing strategies, and routes, and battle plans, and everything in between while she worried about her brother and her husband out on the front lines. When he came home, she would tell him about their child (and subsequently tell General McGonagall and Captain Tonks). And she would finally be able to rest, mind at ease, and see this pregnancy through to the end without worrying about her child's father every second of the day.
     "We have work to do," Hermione said casually with a shrug as Ginny tucked in the last of the gauze. The women strayed into their adjacent bedroom (they always shared until the men came home) to get dressed. Ginny pulled on some dark jeans and a heavy long-sleeve shirt with her combat boots before yanking a beanie over her pixie-cut hair. Hermione stepped into a pair of tennis shoes (with some assistance from her friend) after yanking on some jeans of her own and a quidditch t-shirt she'd filched from her husband's closet that she wore under one of Harry's jackets. She checked herself in the closet mirror, and although she looked like she'd gained some weight in her gut and breasts, thankfully she couldn't tell she was pregnant. As the sun rose outside of the windows of Hogwarts the girls made their way to what had once been the library that now housed the centre of their operations.