Playing with Fire

Chapter 69

Time for a bit more happiness in this chapter :) I might just post the next chapter as well tomorrow!
Thank you for reading ^^

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Barty had calmed down slightly at Hogwarts, and Christmas had been a very happy time for the both of them. Hermione could see however that he had not yet forgotten about Skye. He didn't smile anymore, and he was way less affectionate. Where he would normally go to her for kisses or cuddles, he was now more reserved. He did tell her that he loved her, but his mind was clearly somewhere else.

It was very clear that he wanted Neville dead. He had informed their fellow Death Eaters about the incident, he had informed every Snatcher, he had risen the finder's price to 300 Galleons, and he had even given a speech in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The latter would probably not bring him anything good, he had only scared the students once again.

Now that he had his mind on other things, it seemed that he had already forgotten about wanting to have Hermione with him every minute of the day. When she told him she wanted to go to the library, he just let her go without going with her. The way he was behaving worried her, and she tried to keep an eye on him the best she could. He had started talking to himself, he was eating less than usual, and he had started training. Hermione couldn't complain about that last one, since his body was really starting to show some more muscle, but his eating pattern did worry her, and so did his talking to himself. She forced him during dinners to eat more, and whenever she caught him talking to himself she interrupted him. Him losing his mind was the last thing she wanted. Especially now that the baby was nearly arriving.

For the past two weeks, walking had become really heavy. Luckily she had Barty who would rub her swollen feet and give her soothing massages. He was still very caring and he never forgot about her. It was nearly the end of January when Hermione felt heavy pains in her belly when she was just getting ready for bed. At first she thought nothing of it, but the pains wouldn't get away. It was clear to her what this meant, so she rushed to the bedroom where she saw her husband sitting on the bed, only his trousers still on, with his head in his hands.

"Barty..." Hermione groaned.

"What is it, my love?" he asked, looking up.

She was relieved that he wasn't stuck in one of his fits of insanity. That made things so much easier.

"I think the baby is coming," she said softly.

That immediately got him into action. She couldn't think of a time when he had moved faster. Before she could blink he was standing next to her, firing questions at her. If she wanted to lie down, if she wanted to go to the hospital wing, if she wanted to walk, if she wanted him to carry her, if she wanted water, tea, ice... So many questions that it dazzled her. She went for the option hospital wing. It was not that far away and the baby wouldn't come within the next couple of minutes. She had only just had her first pains, but Barty was already acting as if she was going to die. He escorted her to the hospital wing. It was thankfully quiet in the castle, since it was already eleven o'clock in the evening. When they arrived in the hospital, Barty made sure that she was comfortable on one of the beds, before he rushed away to find madam Pomfrey. No students were lying in the hospital wing, thankfully, or else Barty would have thrown them out as well.

It was a comical sight to see a very stressed Barty, very scarcely dressed, with madam Pomfrey in her nightgown behind him rushing towards Hermione's bed. She would have laughed about the situation if she didn't feel so much pain.

"How are you feeling, love, are you alright? What do you want me to do?" Barty asked, taking her hand.

"She's had her first pains, she'll need some time before the baby will actually arrive. Her waters haven't broken yet. You might want to sit down and calm down, stress is the last thing she needs," madam Pomfrey said calmly.