Unwanted

Harry entered the hospital one hand holding the shrunken trunk, the other a bouquet of mixed flowers. He nodded a greeting at the receptionist and headed directly up to the maternity ward. The healers weren't going to move her until he arrived. Severus had offered, but once his name was mentioned Hermione started to have some reaction, flinching and moaning.

"Mr. Potter, hello." The young trainee witch at the desk greeted him as he entered the ward, blushing a deep red to rival Ginny Weasley's blush when he'd shown up at the Burrow before her first year at school.

"Miss Gipple, how are you? How's Hermione doing?"

"The same, Mr. Potter, I'm sorry. The healers are busy with a particularly difficult birth, so it may be awhile before she's transferred upstairs."

"It's alright. I brought a book to read to Hermione while we're waiting. I hope she doesn't mind my voice though." Harry joked, showing the girl a worn muggle romance novel.

"I'm sure Hermione won't mind listening to you." The witch gushed at the boy-who-lived, batting her eyes. Harry had to fight to keep from rolling his. He smiled at her and motioned with his head that he was going to go down the hall to his friend's room. Harry dropped the reduced suitcase at the foot of Hermione's bed and went to stand by her side. Her eyes were closed, again, and he lifted her hand in his.

"Hey, 'Mione." He sighed when there was no response. Of course, he hadn't expected one, but he always hoped. Harry brushed a lock of unruly curls from her forhead and bent down to give her a brotherly kiss. "Sev and Tristyn are home and doing ok. I wish I'd had a camera when he noticed Tris had left a hefty package in her nappy for him. But he's cheating and has a house elf working for him. The baby's doing fine, Hermione, and she needs her mummy right now."

No response, of course.

Harry smiled wryly and sat in the visitor chair beside his bestfriend, getting as comfortable as one can get on the hard, cushionless chairs. He considered transfiguring it to something less painful, but figured the discomfort would at least keep him awake during his vigil. He opened the paperback and started to read out loud, since she couldn't do it for herself right now.

A/N~~ Wow, thanks for all the encouragement. I'm a little behind on getting on the computer, but real life just keeps getting in the way lol....Thought I'd just add a short chapter to keep it on everyone's minds hehe. Keep the reviews coming, I love it. and psst...there's another story of mine in the HP section...check it out..it's not part of this but a little thing I came up with while dealing with a minor writer's block

marti