Secrets

Chapter One

A Morning to Remember

"Hey Hermione!!"
"Get up, it's past 9:00!! Classes start in less than half an hour!!"

Besides from the yells of her dorm mates, Lavender and Parvati, Hermione was awoken by horrible pains in her stomach - not just any pains, mind you. They were cramps, along with nausea. What had she done to deserve this? What? Then....Hogsmeade. During her little...'escapade' yesterday. But how would doing that make her stomach cramp? And why did she feel like she was going to be sick? Sex didn't usually have these side effects, did it?

Not that it was her first time; they had made love seven times now. Even though she had preformed the spell - the one that claimed that she couldn't get pregnant - she had been worried; what if she did get pregnant? What would Harry and Ron think? Would Ginny still be her friend? What would her mum and dad think? She shuddered at the very thought of coming home after graduating from Hogwarts and saying, "I'm pregnant." And she'd have to tell everyone who the father was....Who would accept that?

"Hermione!"

Lavender's head appeared.

"What?" Hermione said groggily. She hoped she didn't throw up all over Lavender - she would never hear the end of it!

"Breakfast! C'mon, get up!!" Lavender looked at Hermione more closely. "God, what the hell did you do? You look terrible!"

Hermione sighed and reluctantly threw off her covers. It was a warm day in late March - Easter vacation would be starting soon.

"I...I dunno..." she muttered, brushing her hair and looking around for her clothes. Her head was pounding, making her feel sick more than ever. What the bloody hell is up? she thought. Why do I feel like crap? I didn't know this happened after sex... Lavender and Parvati were already dressed to kill - even though they were in their Hogwarts uniforms, Lavender had eyeshadow and lipstick on and Parvati was wearing lip gloss and had her hair in a bun. Hermione sighed again - she'd never be as pretty as those two.

She hastily dressed, grabbed her books, and headed down with her dorm mates for breakfast. By the time she got to the Great Hall, she could barely stand - her stomach was churning, and she had a horrible headache. She hurried over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Ron, who grinned. Harry looked over the top of the Daily Prophet and said, "So, you decided to join us! Finally!!"
Hermione made no reply - her head hurt worse than ever, and the nausea rose in her throat.

Harry must have noticed there was something wrong, because he said, "What's up?"

Hermione shrugged and said, "Not much." She buttered herself a piece of toast and took a nibble - she could barely swallow it, her throat and mouth were so dry.

Harry looked at her seriously across the table. "No, seriously," he said, folding up the Daily Prophet, all traces of a grin gone from his face. "What's wrong?"

"You're not yourself," Ron added, the smile fading from his face, too. "You've been sleeping in later, you're late for breakfast, you've been disappearing during Hogsmeade visits, sneaking out of the common room at midnight..."
Hermione didn't even have the energy to be shocked. She merely opened her mouth, her eyes a little rounder, and took another nibble of toast. It seemed to take hours to chew - she wondered what was up. Probably the stomach flu, she reasoned, taking a small sip of pumpkin juice. She resisted the urge to gag and said to Ron, "How do you know about my sneaking around at night?" she asked. They never did it just in Hogsmeade - they had sneaked out to the Head Boys' room once, and the Head Girls' room another night.

Ron shrugged. "Invisibility Cloak. You said a few nights that you had to stay up and do homework, and we saw you sneaking out. Didn't we, Harry?" he added, glancing at Harry, who was frowning across the table.

"Sure you don't have PMS or something?" Harry asked.
"Do you even know what PMS is?" Hermione asked, taking another nibble of toast. I doubt he really does, she thought, but it was an effort even to think.

"I have an idea," Harry muttered, gobbling down cereal. He wiped his mouth and said, "Pre-Moon Sickness?"

Ron burst out laughing, but Hermione frowned - her stomach was feeling worse than ever, and her head felt as if it might burst. "That's not right," she said, taking another small bite of toast. She checked her watch - 9:25. "Time for Transfiguration," she said, looking around - only a few people remained.
She stood up, her legs shaking, picked up her bag, and walked as quickly as she could to the Entrance Hall. She hurried up the marble staircase, up another flight of stairs, and into the first-floor corridor.

"Hermione," Ron said, catching up to her, oatmeal smeared on the arms of his robes (she assumed he stuck his elbow into it - either on purpose or on accident, she didn't know), "what's wrong? You're not acting like yourself - you haven't snapped at Harry for that joke about Pre-Moon Sickness, and you haven't gotten mad at me for anything yet, and that's saying something!"

Hermione turned to look at Ron - he wasn't grinning - instead, he was looking quite serious.

"Hey!" Harry appeared on Hermione's other side, out of breath. "What the -? Why did you two just run off?"

Hermione shook her head and croaked, "Don't want to be late." She sped up, feeling somewhat light-headed. The toast in her stomach churned, and she didn't even want to think about food.

Ron and Harry followed her, looking bewildered.

"Hermione, are you sure you're all right?" asked Harry as they entered the classroom and sat down at a desk.

Hermione shook her head, afraid that if she talked she would throw up. She took her Transfiguration book out of her bag along with her eagle feather quill, ink pot, and a spare pair of parchment. She waited for everyone to file in, resisting the urge to lay her head down on her desk and nap.

"Good morning," Professor McGonagall said, appearing out of her office, wearing her usual green robes and black hat. "If you will turn to page 351, 'Transfiguring Animals', then we can begin the lesson. Please take notes, then you will be given homework and then you will be Transfiguring the animal I will give you. Now, animals are not..."

Hermione barely listened to what McGonagall was saying. As she lifted her quill, her stomach lurched, and she gagged. Ron looked startled but said, "Whoa, Hermione, for a sec I thought you were going to puke!" Harry rolled his eyes and resumed drawing a picture of Cho Chang on his parchment instead of taking notes. Had she been feeling better, Hermione would have elbowed him in the ribs and told him to pay attention.

Hermione swallowed several times, praying silently, Oh God, don't let me get sick, please, please don't let me throw up...this is such an important lesson...please...She laid her head on her arms, feeling her stomach churning. She closed her eyes, feeling the cool wood of the desk on her cheek. And then -

"Blech!!"

Hermione threw up, right there and then, right on the desk and the floor. Ron yelped and jumped up, nearly backing into Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchly's desk. Harry's eyes widened and he stood up quickly, grabbing his parchment off the desk. Hermione felt her stomach jump to her throat and vomited again, this time on her, Harry's, and Ron's books. She felt her cheeks burning - from fever and embarrassment - as she retched again, but this time nothing came up. Girls - both in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff - shrieked and looked away, and Neville turned a distinguished shade of green and red. Many of the boys looked disgusted. Ron was backing away from Hermione, looking very sick himself. Harry looked sorry for her, but he kept his distance - a good ten feet - from Hermione, apparently not wanting to risk getting whatever Hermione had.

Chest heaving, Hermione croaked, "I'm sorry!"

"My dear girl!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, hurrying over to Hermione's desk, where she was sitting alone, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She was so ashamed....With a flick of her wand, Professor McGonagall cleaned up the vomit and said to Hermione, "Miss Granger, please go to the hospital wing - Madam Pomfrey will assist you there."

Head down, her eyes filled with tears, Hermione made her way out of the classroom with her bag on her shoulder. Her head felt better, but her stomach was still writhing, as though she had eaten several snakes for breakfast.

The corridor was cool, and it felt good on Hermione's warm face. She breathed deeply and swallowed several times as she walked up a flight of stairs. What's wrong with me? she thought. A thought crossed her mind, of her and him, but she shook it away - that was impossible!

When she reached the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey was very surprised to see her. "Hermione! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, nearly dropping the potion she was holding.
"I've come to get a potion for stomach flu." Her voice sounded like a croak, and she cleared her throat. "I...er...threw up in Transfiguration," she added, embarrassed, her voice still sounding croaky.

Madam Pomfrey nodded and escorted Hermione to a chair, then disappearing into her office. Hermione put her bag down on the floor, waiting and listening. All of Hogwarts seemed to be still - there were no sounds in the corridors, except for the occasional portraits talking amongst themselves. She sighed and laid her head back, feeling calmer and not as nauseated.

"Here you are, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey said, appearing out of her office.

Hermione's eyes snapped open, and she looked at Madam Pomfrey - she was carrying a small bottle of a golden liquid; it reminded Hermione of apple juice. Madam Pomfrey handed it to Hermione and said, "Drink it all in one gulp, or else it won't have any effect. It must be the stomach flu - that's been going around lately, with winter just ending and all."

Hermione examined the bottle and drank. It tasted like a combination of sour apples, boiled cabbage, and sugar. She sputtered as she fought it down, resisting the urge to spit it out. She wanted to get better...of all days, she had to miss today!! N.E.W.T.s were coming up, and she need to be prepared.

When the entire potion was gone, Madam Pomfrey took the empty bottle and said, "You are free to go, Miss Granger, or you may stay here until you're feeling 100%. I'll be in my office if you need me." With that, Madam Pomfrey bustled off into her office.

Hermione wanted to stay here, but she also wanted to go back to class. She decided to stay and allow her stomach to settle before going anywhere.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione felt much better, so she got up and hurried out of the hospital wing, checking her watch. It was only 9:45, so she had at least half an hour to return to class. She checked the corridor to make sure no one was there, and then she walked up the stairways to the seventh floor. Tip-toeing along the corridor, Hermione approached the Fat Lady, who said kindly but curiously, "What are you doing out of class, Hermione?"

Hermione shrugged and said, "I had to go to the hospital wing. Stomach flu."
The Fat Lady nodded knowingly.

"Hungarian Horntail," Hermione said - the password was named after a dragon, the one that Harry had to face three years ago!

"Yes," the Fat Lady said, swinging backward on her hinges and allowing Hermione inside.

Hermione walked into the common room, where ashes were still burning slightly in the hearth. It was totally deserted except for Crookshanks, an owl, and two other cats that were sleeping side-by-side in an armchair. Trying not to make any noise, Hermione traipsed over to the girls' staircase and up to her room.

Parvati's bed and the wall around it was covered in posters of boys and pink. Lavender's bed also had pictures of boys and a lot of pink, but there were a lot of Quidditch players on it too - Hermione noticed a picture of Lavender and Ron in their sixth year on the floor that had been ripped and the glass frame smashed. Hermione smirked - she was glad Lavender was over Ron, and Ron over Lavender; hearing them calling each other 'Won-won' and 'Lav-lav' mad Hermione want to throw up again.

She walked over to her bed and opened the bottom drawer of her dresser. Underneath all the clothes, there was a box of Muggle pregnancy testers. Hiding the box in her bag, she rushed down to the common room and back out into the corridor. Hermione thought to where the nearest girls' bathroom was - the third floor. She bolted down the stairs, through the third floor corridor, and into the bathroom. She sat down on the toilet and opened her bag, extracting the Muggle tester box. Her hands shook slightly - if she was, then that would explain her sickness and over-sleeping and other unexplained things. If she wasn't...then...well, it had to be her hormones.

Carefully, she turned it over - she heard the testers sliding around, and she felt very nervous all of a sudden - and read the instructions.

What? Hermione thought. I have to pee on the frickin' tester? That's just messed up......But I have to know...

She opened the box uncertainly. The testers were long and somewhat rectangular. She re-read the instructions. Under the urine stream...? Does that mean...? She looked down, and gulped - what if she completely missed the stick? She was so nervous...what would she do if it was pink? Please let it be blue, she thought, her whole body shaking.

After her first try, she completely missed the stick, but the second time she did it right. With a sigh of relief, Hermione wiped herself and pulled up her skirt, standing up and unlocking the stall door. She walked over to the sink, placed the tester gently on the window sill, and washed her hands. Then she picked up the tester and waited.

She checked her watch - it had to be five minutes, it just had to be.
And then...a small line appeared on the result window. Hermione held her breath but she couldn't make out the color. It was becoming clearer....She closed her eyes, terrified...

After a minute or so had passed, Hermione opened her eyes and looked at the result window. She couldn't make out the color, and then -

Pink.