Harry Potter and the Womb of Requirement NOW CODED

25

Hermione was beginning to show signs of stress, as April turned to May.

Professor McGonagall took her to one side and pressed the Time-Turner in to her hands. Hermione began to apologise, before Minerva laid a finger across her star pupil’s mouth, {Not a word. I know how hard you are working at the moment. And you need to spend a little more time with your cohorts and your bond-mate, though she’s turning out to be a very capable helpmeet, is she not?}. Hermione grinned and suddenly hugged her House-Mistress, {She’s great. Bloody brilliant in fact, she really listens, not like Ron, bless him, who hears only half of the instruction, then acts. I can ask Ginny once and it’s done. She’s a joy to work with, as well as....}, Hermione suddenly shut herself up, clamping a hand over her mouth, reddening beneath it. Minerva felt the girl’s embarrassment, hushing her, {Ginny is a very fitting bond-mate for you, Hermione}. Hermione lowered her eyes, she shrugged slightly, {I know, and I love her to bits}. Minerva smiled at her favourite pupil, and they parted.

She laced her fingers behind her head later that night in bed, pondering on the Ten. With a grin, she realised she’d educated all of them and seven were hers. A fluttering awoke in her heart. Something truly momentous was happening under her roof. She should be frightened. Paralysed with fear in fact. But strangely, she could feel herself relax. The Magical world would be put right at long last, and these children were at the vanguard. Instead of scaring her, the thought strangely comforted her, particularly as she’d felt a faint send from Poppy Pomfrey earlier in the evening. The boys had wrought their own special Magic again, she felt the joy emanating from her friend’s send.

Even later, Hermione woke up and unwound her Girlie’s arms from her and rose, leaning down again for a sleepy kiss, she tasted that slow tongue, desire rising like a red mist behind her eyes, even in half-sleep, her Girlie knew what she needed, and gave it, until Hermione shuddered against her in release. Ginny murmured, {Go on, sod off. You can get me back later}, and promptly fell asleep again. Hermione giggled, flushing as she left their room.

She loved that moment. As she unlocked the lab and smelled her creations within. She let the aroma flood her senses. She had never felt so alive, as she pressed her back against the closed door, the last trickles of her recent orgasm still with her. She could still taste Ginny as she let her tongue roam her lips, then pressed away from the door and into the room.

She carefully checked her fermentation units, sniffing the fumes of one, tasting the froth on another, before closing the lids. Perfect, she checked the flames beneath the flasks, one a teeny bit low, she adjusted it. She peered into pots and bowls, satisfied, then sat in her now customary spot and began to write up her observations. Somewhere, during these proceedings, as the flames in the wall sconces started to gutter and the dawn crept in, she fell asleep over her parchments.

Severus Snape found her as the dawn really rose into day. He smiled at that diligent head asleep over her work. He glanced at the lab, everything just right. He stepped up beside Hermione, giving her shoulder a cautious shake.

She was awake in an instant, rounding immediately, her spell hand in front of her. Snape quailed a moment, until she realised who he was, {Your reactions are to be commended}, he murmured. Hermione apologised, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms, trying desperately to shrug sleep off. She rose and inspected her Potions. {What needs doing?}, a gentle send. She tapped one flask, {This one needs turning down in an hour or so, and this one}, she tapped another glass, yawning, {needs another half hour after}, she yawned again. Snape dismissed her, {Turn the time-turner to however long you’ve spent in here. Go on, back to bed}. She said goodnight, then left, wandering back to their room, kicking off her shoes, removing her clothes. She climbed into bed with her sleeping Girlie, she turned her Turner to the fifteen minutes before she left. Then felt that sleepy kiss again. This time, she didn’t leave Ginny wanting.

The workload intensified as May drew on, but Hermione was finding that the Turner made things a lot easier. For a start, she could spend most of the night in the lab, then still get a good night’s sleep. Snape peered at her Potions when she wasn’t there, keeping an eye on things, but diligently leaving the ingredients alone. There were some parts of the recipes that he understood instinctively, but there was a pot on it’s own, that he couldn’t take the lid off. It was charmed to the hilt, and he knew that Ginny never touched it, and Hermione only attended to it when she was alone. He was sure it had nothing to do with the others she was creating.

Just then Hermione came barrelling into the room as Snape was adjusting a flame. She placed her bag on the bench, then tied her hair back, greeting her Potions teacher cordially. They chatted amiably for a minute, then Snape had his quizzical face on. {Hermione, that small flask on it’s own. What are you making in that?}. Her eyes widened momentarily and she blushed before busying herself at the main bench. {You don’t have to tell me but I’m just curious}, she could feel the smile in his send at her obvious discomfiture.

She took a deep breath then faced him. {I must swear you to secrecy on this one, sir. It’s, erm, never been tried before. It’s a little experiment I’m working on. It’s a present for the boys}. She grinned sheepishly, shrugging. He nodded, {I won’t say anything, Hermione}. She made a decision then told him. His eyebrows shot into his hairline, {Surely that’s not possible!!}, his shock plain to see, {No-one’s ever been able to do the extraction before, so the recipe is purely hypothetical}. Hermione grinned and shook her head slowly, {Sir, remember I’m a Muggle-born with two medics for parents. When we take Draco for his next scan, then I have this little procedure, and, voila, I have the missing ingredient}. Snape paled and had to sit down, running agitated fingers through his hair and looked up at her, awed. She had her back slightly turned, but he watched her take a bottle from her skirt pocket, extract a small pill and swallow it dry.

Her grin became impish. {Sir, you know when a woman cannot, erm, conceive, then in the Magical world, she is simply deemed barren, yes?}. Snape nodded in disbelief. She continued, {Well, the Muggles figured out some years ago, that sometimes this is merely the result of a blocked tube, so this problem can be, erm, bypassed, well it’s this that will allow me to complete this Potion, sir}. She was blushing to her roots. She checked her flames and flasks, then beckoned Snape to the door, {Let me show you}, she exited into the darkened classroom, lighting a taper, then going up to the clean blackboard, grabbed a piece of chalk and laid out the formula from memory across it. At the end she drew an ‘equals’ sign, then a picture of a baby. She giggled at Snape’s stunned expression. {It’ll be a girl of course, but that can’t be helped}, she shrugged.

{So}, he murmured, {You’d give up your own chances at fertility for them?}. She laughed aloud, {No, sir. I was born with about two million of these little buggers and I only need a few, just enough to complete the Potion}. “I’m taking these tablets, sir, one a day so that more than one of my ova ripens then when I go for the extraction, they can harvest as many as are ready. This will determine how active the Potion will be and how long it can be kept before use”. Snape laughed with her then, sinking his head onto his hand, {You, quite frankly, amaze me, Miss Granger, though I find this mixing of the Magical and Mundane a bit disturbing}. She flushed again and shrugged, looking into the middle distance, {Sir, you can take the Magical children out of the 21st century, but you can’t take the 21st century out of the kids}. He couldn’t help but agree as he gazed at the formula. {You must publish when this is all over, Hermione, but I must ask, why?}.

She looked down, {I’m not sure I should say this, sir, but...}. Snape glanced at her, {Nothing you say leaves this room, Hermione}.

{Okay. Have you seen the way Harry is around Draco?. I mean he always has his hands around Draco’s belly, doesn’t he?}. Snape nodded. {Well, I think he sometimes wishes that it was him that was carrying Cariad. I mean Draco’s adjusted brilliantly, especially after the first scan, but I can’t help feeling....}, her send trailed off soft and dreamy. She picked up the board rubber and wiped the board clean, {Now I need to get on with stuff, sir. I’ve got some fresh ingredients to add yet, then a Herbology essay to do, so I must excuse myself}, he smiled and let her go as she wandered back to the lab and closed the door. She may be a Muggle-born, but her manners were as impeccable as Draco’s. Snape had plenty of food for thought.

xxxxxxx

They all noticed it. Potions lessons were just not painful anymore. Snape, instead of making everyone sweat with fear as he prowled between them, simply sat behind his desk, watching his classes with a detached air, occasionally lowering his head over his own work to disguise something that looked suspiciously like a smile. His class decided not to push it and applied themselves diligently.

Next he had his seventh years, his Advanced class, and he couldn’t help a tremulous smile in Hermione’s direction as she entered. She replied with a shy send of her own. To hear Draco in her mind, {What are you doing to him, ‘Mione?}. She grinned at him, {Behave, Draco. I’m building the most powerful Bonding Potions known to Wizardkind, and he’s fascinated. Enthralled. He could never do this in a month of Sundays, and he’s helping. Everyone that you’ve taught to send and receive is the same, no?}. She could feel Draco nod. {Well, now it’s gone past you a bit. I’m your Elemental. It’s my job to bring you what you need. And I’m doing it. Snape is somehow part of the equation. Oh, and he said I ought to publish when this is all over}, her send became all soft. Draco glanced at her and she grinned in reply. Then they lowered their heads to their work.

Harry sent to his Dragon over their private line, {What’s she up to?. Snape looks like the cat that got the cream}. Draco smiled at his lover, {I think they’ve got a secret between them, and it’s doing Snape’s head in, so it must be something truly astonishing. I mean, have you ever seen Snape look so damn happy before?}. Harry shrugged mentally, {C’mon, he’s your House Head, and you probably know him as well as anyone, what do you think?}. Draco caught Snape’s smile and returned it, lowering his head over his work, {She’s really working her Magic isn’t she?}. They kept straight faces, but howled laughing at each other.

Between the Potions and Draco’s expanding belly, they were now in mid-May. One morning, Hermione slipped out of bed just after dawn. She dressed quickly without disturbing Ginny and made her way to the Floo fire in the Entrance Hall. By special arrangement, Dumbledore had the Floo opened for her, and in short order, she was at King’s Cross. As the rush hour hotted up she was on a train heading west away from London. She took a taxi to the hospital and was ten minutes late, but the receptionist smiled at her passing her some forms to sign, then the doctor was ready for her. She was pumped full of local anaesthetic, asked to undress her lower half and to hop up onto the examination couch. The Doctor opened her with a speculum and a slim catheter was passed into her vagina and upwards through her tubes and into her ovaries. The doctor conducting the procedure puzzled at a girl her age harvesting eggs, but expertly completed the operation, and, as instructed, handed the girl a sterile phial containing the results.

A small party found themselves on Dumbledore’s staircase. Harry, Draco, Ginny, Ron and Blaise. A party atmosphere prevailed. Their Headmaster greeted them with a smile as he ushered them towards the Floo fire, holding out the bowl of powder. They each took a handful, Draco dropping Potion onto his tongue as he took his. In seconds they were all in King’s Cross station, then wended their way through Muggle London to the connecting train. Draco hiding his state under a baggy jacket over his jeans.

An hour later, Rachel met the group. {I ordered us a taxi, we can’t all fit in the car}.Ginny hugged her. The others all shook hands and she led them from the station. Harry had his invisibility cloak with him and wrapped his Dragon in it as they reached the hospital, the taxi driver slightly baffled that he was debarking one passenger less than he’d started with, but the dark haired boy tipped handsomely and he asked no questions.

Chuckling, Rachel led them into the Ultrasound room and locked them all in. Draco hugged Rachel as he shed the Cloak and hopped up on the bed. Rachel had to admit he looked very well, his bump swollen now. She grinned and started the scan. The others sat around the room with Draco and Harry staring intently at the screen as she built the image. The baby was much bigger now. Her head was pointing downwards, little fingers on view. Draco couldn’t help himself. He burst into tears as he touched the screen, then sent to the others to come and look.

Hermione was wheeled into a recovery room where the anaesthetic began to wear off. She felt groggy, bloated and nauseous and there was a little pain in her middle. She was in no mood for food, but managed a cup of tea. She glanced at her watch, the others should all be here by now. She waited until attention was away from her, then eased off the bed, dressed, and left the IVF suite clutching her precious phial.

Arriving at Ultrasound, she tapped on the door. Her mother answered and admitted her. Rachel and Ginny knew where she had been, after all, it was her mother who had arranged the extraction, but the others had no idea and questioned her. She fobbed them off gently, {Just a little girly procedure. I’ve been here since 8 o’clock}.

She caught the last few moments of Draco’s ultrasound, admiring the baby before she sank to the ground in a dead faint. Instantly, five sets of hands reached out to her as she fell, concern in everyone’s send. She was prevented from meeting the hard floor by Ron who held her tight as she came round. She could feel the concern around her, cocooned in Ron’s strong arms as she surfaced. She smiled faintly at her Girlie then unclenched her fist, {Did it, baby}. Ginny glanced at her brother in an ‘I’ll take it from here’ way as she took Hermione into her arms, her mother leaning over, concern writ large. Ginny kissed her beloved, then took the phial from her before Hermione dropped it and stashed it in her pocket. She held her Missy tight, {You are so brave. Let’s get you home}. Hermione rose. Apologising to the others. They all shrugged her off. They had no idea what she had just done. No-one except her lover, who supported her as she stood, still a little woozy.

Her mother was full of concern, but let up after she saw her daughter’s colour return and Hermione smile, {Did it, mum}. She was jubilant, The others all caught it, in varying degrees of puzzlement, only her Girlie knew what she was about.

Hermione was pale and quiet on the journey back, hurting a bit as the anaesthetic completely wore off, leaving her in some pain. Flooing didn’t help and she vomited arriving back in school. Harry and Draco both showed their concern, {What has she done?}. Harry. {She’s done something really special today, guys, and it’s for you. That’s all I can tell you now}, Ginny spirited her lover away, clearly exhausted. She ordered them some food, which Hermione ate in a lacklustre fashion before sinking into deep sleep. Ginny slipped away to check on the Potions later in the night, to find that Professor Snape was taking care of things. She measured and chopped some herbs adding it to one of the Bonding Potions, then wishing her Professor goodnight, she made her way back to her Missy. Snape might be a reformed character, but he still scared her.

The small phial was now stashed in the fridge in the boys’ flat. They’d both looked at it without touching, not understanding. Containing about a centimetre’s worth of thin milky fluid at the bottom, and, did they but know it, some of the strongest Magic that Woman can bestow upon Man.

The following day, Ginny called Hermione in sick and cared for her all day, making sure she ate and drank. The others worried and fretted variously, Harry sending an urgent, {What did she do, Ginny?}. But Ginny held her Missy tight and kept their secret.

Next day, Hermione was ready to enter life again, her Girlie sent an anxious, {Are you sure?}. Hermione held her beloved tight, {Yes, I’m sure}. For most of the day she was fine, but she sagged in Arithmancy, Harry helping her from the classroom for air. She sagged against him, {I’m so damn tired}. Her send held a sigh of exhaustion, and Harry realised just how hard she had been working. He knew then that she was willing to destroy her health to accomplish what they had to do and he held her tight, tears welling in his eyes, {Don’t kill yourself, ‘Mione, we need you. We’re not looking after you properly. I promise that will change. You’re using the Turner again, aren’t you?}. Hermione’s nod was faint but definite. Harry held her for a moment, then when she nodded against his shoulder, he helped her back to their rooms, {Tonight, my dear, Dobby can do the dinner. What do you say?}. Hermione smiled, {I don’t think I could face dinner in the hall tonight. Does Dobby cook anything you ask of him?}{Yes, why. Was there something you really fancied?}.

Harry summoned Dobby, and he appeared with a pop and a small bow. Six of the ten were in the Hall, so tonight there was just Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ginny to feed. He asked for requests. The other three asked for plain fare tonight, bangers, mash and gravy. Dobby turned to Hermione, “And, what may I get for you, Miss Hermione?”. She thought a moment, but felt a bit guilty for possibly taxing the kitchens in this way, but to hell with it, she’d had a trying few weeks herself, “Dobby, if you could produce a West Indian goat curry with rice and peas, then you are a friend for life”.

He grinned a moment, “Two years ago, we had a boy here, he’s left now, for whom this was his favourite meal, and I learned to make it for him when he was ill and missing his home, Miss. It is a dish I am familiar with, and it would delight me to once again prepare it”. She thanked him effusively and he bowed and disappeared.

The first mouthful sent her into raptures and she inhaled the rest, after giving the others a taste each. As the Potions were in the fermenting stages again, she could relax for 48 hours, and did. They sat around talking and sipping Butterbeers. Once again, the boys tried to get her to tell them what she’d been up to in the Hospital, but the girls just smiled and kept their counsel.

The others all arrived back from dinner and all had a lively game of Zilch, Draco winning by miles, an insufferably smug smirk on his face. The party broke up and each went to their rooms, heads a little fuzzy from the Butterbeer. Hermione collapsed on their bed, then rolled onto her stomach and began to roll a joint. {We’ll need to get some more of this, I’m nearly out. D’you think your brothers could oblige, honey?}. Ginny hopped up onto the bed lying close to her Missy and accepted the little blunt, (she could smoke her own, now) toking hard and holding the smoke down, then exhaling. {Dunno, but we could Owl them tomorrow}.

Hermione turned onto her back again and closed her eyes, letting the buzz in behind her eyes, the gentle rabbit punch to the base of the brain, she felt a very loopy grin cross her face and a giggle bubble up from her stomach. In seconds both of them were giggling fit to burst, then Hermione caught the look in her Girlie’s eyes. They paused, letting the moment grow around them, each second lengthening. Hermione bit her bottom lip, reaching up and gently loosening Ginny’s hair from the band, letting it fall about them. She twined her hand in that red waterfall of hair, pulling her Girlie’s mouth to her own and kissed her passionately, but slowly.

They allowed the heat to rise in it’s own time, undressing each other in a leisurely way, kissing and tasting every bit of skin as it was revealed, no haste, no urgency, no games, no fireworks. Just a long slow smoulder until they burned with each other and came together with long gasps and shudders curling their toes and fingers with the heat.

Hermione sank into sleep fairly soon afterwards, cradled in Ginny’s arms. Ginny lay awake a long while, holding her Missy and stroking her hair and looking into that beautiful face in sleep, random thoughts flitting through her mind. Her own parents didn’t know yet. Ginny allowed herself a moment’s worry, then dismissed it. She was going to be properly bonded with an Elemental, and through her, the two most powerful Wizards on the planet, thereby joining two of the oldest pure-blooded families in the Wizarding world, her own and that of Draco Malfoy. There was a sweet irony in this, and she chuckled at the idea, Particularly as she knew Malfoy senior disliked her father intensely. When all this got out eventually, there was going to be big trouble, and all she could do was laugh. All these rivalries seemed so damn stupid.

She let her mind wander on, keeping her channels closed. What would happen afterwards, she mused. She still had a year of school ahead of her, and she felt a coldness grip her heart at the thought of being without her friends and lover for a whole year. She held Hermione tighter as she felt tears well, {I just cannot be without you, Missy. Not for a whole year, I just can’t. I want to be with you forever. I love you so much. They can’t separate us}. Hermione grunted against her, and she closed her channel again with a whispered, {Sorry, Missy}. With a troubled heart, she eventually fell asleep.