InsaneJournal

[RP ENTRY] Hestia, Hannah, Ernie, Dominic; 27 November, 1999; PART ONE
WHO: Hestia, Hannah, Ernie, Dominic
WHERE: St Mungos
WHEN: 27 November, 1999; mid-evening
SUMMARY: Hannah is unwittingly in the middle of a large-force Death Eater attack. IN-PROGRESS THREAD.
RATING: PG-13

“There isn't time to argue this, damn it! Fine, come on!”

Hestia had practically shouted that at Ernie before all but diving into a Floo to get her to St Mungos. The attack was today, sometime this evening, and she had stayed far from it by pulling Training HQ duty today. That was until Ernie had mentioned Hannah's monthly visit to the wizarding hospital to distribute flowers to each floors Healer station, her ritual to honor Teaghan's memory, done since returning home. Feeling panic risk, she had briefly explained to Ernie what was going on in hushed tones.

Then the fool boy had refused to stay behind.

Pregnancy seemed, with the rush of hormone-induced states she had not experienced the first time, to have awakened some very wild she-bear urge inside Hestia, to protect those she cared about, and lately it had often been focused on Ernie. But she hadn't had time to argue with him about this so had let him follow her.

Tumbling out of the Floo, she took off at a run, looking for Aurors or Order or, most of all, Hannah herself.

Ernie let out a relieved sigh when Hestia gave in and told him that he could come, as honestly, she was out of her mind if she thought that he would leave her and Hannah to brave the attack on their own. Well, not exactly on their own as other Aurors were already here by the looks of it. He raised an eyebrow at Hestia, sparing her only one stunned look before taking off at a run, asking an Auror if he had seen Hannah, but the man shrugged him off in favor of taking off in the direction of the smoke that was billowing around a bend in the hall way.

"Damn it." Ernie growled, his heart hammering in his chest. He had to find her. That was all there was to it, he HAD to find her.

He lost sight of Hestia for a moment, a small frustrated sound coming out when he couldn't see her. Now he had to find her AND Hannah, because not only would he hate himself if he didn't, he knew that the Minister would never let him off the hook if he was at the scene of an attack and didn't protect both of the women.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kingsley stagger, clearly injured by well aimed hex. This just was not normal. Death Eaters did not attack St. Mungos, Hannah and Hestia did not disappear and Kingsley Shacklebolt did not get hurt.

He breathed a sigh of relief when one Auror moved and he saw Hestia on the man's other side and he raced to her.

"Thought you could get rid of me that easily, Jones?" He asked, not knowing what else to do but try for humor in a situation like this. "I know for certain Hannah's not over there.." he said, point to the area where he had just been and had looked over quickly. "Where to now?"

It was... something straight out of Hannah's nightmare. She hadn't believed it when her clearly furious regular guard, Jacobs, had come down the corridor and informed her they needed to leave now, that the wing she was in was being evacuated due to a potential threat. The words were not even out of his mouth before magical klaxons rang out, alerting those in the hospital to a fire. She had no way of knowing then that the fire was in several places, Aurors and Order already extinguishing it but not getting to the last in time.

But she believed it when they had rounded a corner and spotted two masked Death Eaters at the end of the corridor.

And then Jacobs had gone down.

She had screamed and dropped down beside him, but he had ordered her away as he drew his wand. Her training to work at the Centre having begun, Hannah tried to be of use anyhow, but she was too overwrought to accomplish spells she had done excellently with in class. The Death Eaters had disappeared but it became clear Jacobs would not be getting up to run. Despite her pleas, he gave her brief directions for which side of the hospital to run to, where the Aurors had been the thickest, and then yelled at her to go.

Unable to argue more, unable to help him, unable to be of any use despite desperately wanting to be, Hannah ran.

Heart pounding in her chest, Hestia made certain another Auror moved Kingsley to safety and turned. The lower floors hadn't had any flowers, which meant Hannah had to be further up and working her way down.

“The stairs,” she panted, pointing as she struggled to catch her breath. “Take them to the next floor, I'll take the one above that. Look for flowers at the Healers' stations and if you don't see them, keep going up.”

Ernie nodded, concern flashing in his eyes at the way she was so out of breath, but then taking off, as the immediate danger was for Hannah. Merlin but he hoped that she had come with a guard today, as she had little defensive training save what she learned in school and the beginnings of her training to work in the Centre.

When he went into the stair well, he sighed in relief as his eyes caught sight of her. She looked terrified, and a bit worse for the wear, but she was alive and whole and well, and that was all he could ask for. He rushed to meet her, pulling her hard against his chest and pressing his lips to hers in a quick, desperate sort of kiss. "You're safe...." he gasped. "Merlin, I was so worried because I heard about the attack and I knew that you would be here and you're s..."

His last word was cut short when he heard Hestia come up behind them. The motion of turning his head back to see her allowed him to catch sight of a Death Eater on the landing a floor above, and he moved swiftly, pinning Hannah between him and the wall in a spot that he hoped would be damned near impossible for them to reach while he still lived and he motioned for Hestia to get back.

The quick slap-slap-slap of feet dashing down the stairs was the only sound that filled Hannah's ears beyond the loud throb of blood in her head. She had to get to safety, not only for herself, but for someone to go back and help Mr Jacobs. Dashing down yet another flight of stairs, she had nearly reached one landing when the door flew open. Drawing back for a moment in terror just from the thought of it being a Death Eater, she let out a whimper of relief when she saw it was Ernie and rushed to him, happily crushed against his chest, seeking safety in his arms and kiss..

She didn't know how he was here, but he was. Everything would be all right as long as they both could get to where it was safe. But the thought was derailed by the approach of Hestia and a Death Eater and before she could think, she was tucked safely between Ernie and danger. Just like so many of her nightmares. This time, she could speak, and more, could scream and it was just what she did.

Ernie's actions and Hannah's scream drew Hestia's gaze upward to the masked individual, firing a hex upward before truly thinking about it. “Get her out of this stairwell!” she yelled at Ernie, already dashing for the stairs to meet the Death Eater, to protect Ernie and Hannah from him. The order elicited another scream from Hannah – or, it was what Hestia thought was the case, until she heard the yell of a hex. Turning inward instinctively to change his target, she took it in the back of her shoulder, protecting vital organs with the move, but crashing into the wall just the same.

Ernie was torn, either he could race up to go and help Hestia with the Death Eater that he knew was up there, or he could get Hannah out of the stairwell, knowing full well that there might be more Death Eaters outside of there as well. He had just started to inch her from the stairwell, his body always in front of her and the wall behind, when he saw the hex fly and her crash into the wall.

Well, that plan had been shot to hell in a hand basket. As much as Hannah meant to him, Hestia meant a good deal as well, and he couldn't leave her here injured as some sort of sacrificial lamb. Gently yet firmly he shoved Hannah back against the wall, his full body covering her smaller one as he fired a vicious hex at the Death Eater, his eyes alone registering a look of satisfaction as the Death Eater yelped in pain.

The next thing was completely unexpected as the Death Eater stumbled, and losing his balance, tumbled over the side of the stairs, falling between a gap in the stairs and landing on the bottom floor below. Ernie was thankful that Hannah was safely tucked behind him, where sight of the Death Eater floors below as impossible. His first kill was laying down there, he was sure of it, and rather than feel victorious or ill he just felt numb. They had to get out of there.

"Come on..." he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up the stairs toward Hestia. Though Hestia protested and told them to leave her, he largely ignored her. He would have just picked her up were it not for the gaping wound on her back and his fear of hurting her further. "Let's get you straightened up, Jones." he said, voice full of false cheer as he put his arm around her good side and helped her to her feet. "Stop protesting, you're going to go see the healers whether you like it or not--Hannah, if you want to help on the other side, just...yes, that should work well." He smiled at his girlfriend as she moved on to Hestia's injured side, helping to support her without hurting the injury on her shoulder any more than need be. "Slowly now, let's go...the Aurors are there." he said, more for Hannah's benefit than anyone's as she alone didn't know. "We'll just go back through the door we came from.

And protest Hestia did. “Ernie, get Hannah out of here!” “Dammit, Macmillan, go now, I'll follow behind!” “I swear I'll sic Dominic on you!” Yet for all her protesting, to him and then to Hannah, the two refused to go without her. She was both furious and proud, but mostly in pain as the wound on her back was a decent size. Not enough to be fatal even if she took her sweet time getting to someone to stop the bleeding, not enough to render her arm totally nonfunctional, but it was enough to leave her partially defenseless by knocking out her dominant wand arm.

“We're not going to leave you behind,” Hannah said, her voice shaky. Despite being fully protected the whole time by Ernie's larger form in front of her, it had been nightmare upon nightmare acted out in living color, no relief for her in waking up from it. She cast a glance to the space the stairwell curled around, knowing even without looking, never needing confirmation, that the Death Eater lay dead floors below. She wound her arm around Hestia's waist, tears only at bay right now because it was important to get where it was safe, where Hestia could be looked at.

Back on the other side of the door, they found this floor of the hospital alive with activity. There was no smoke now, only Aurors and Order and Healers everywhere, turning the unit into a makeshift triage, healing everything from minor burns to severe hex wounds. Almost before Hannah could speak, could do more than bury her face briefly against Hestia's chest as the woman moved to stand on her own, to hold Hannah close, there was a Healer bustling Hestia off.

“Ernie, make sure she's not hurt and that someone knows the Minister's daughter doesn't have her guard,” Hestia ordered over her shoulder before the Healer firmly guided her behind a screen.

"She does have a guard." Ernie said boldly, knowing there was not a man or woman on the face of the earth who would watch over Hannah more closely than he would. Well, Dominic or Hestia might, as they were more experienced than Ernie yet they cared for Hannah just as much, but no one would try so hard as he would. Besides, perhaps it could prevent Hestia from worrying while she was being treated.

He linked his fingers with Hannah's, looking her over carefully. "Are you alright?" He questioned softly, concern clear there as he looked her over fully. Silently he wondered what sorts of things he would find in her eyes. Would she find him repulsive now that she had seen him commit what must be his first murder? Would she admire him but find it the sort of admiration that separated them and put distance in what had been an almost always in sync relationship?

Hannah found absolutely nothing repulsive about him, felt no separation from him, only a deeper feeling of the love that was both years and years old, yet still so new. He and Hestia had saved her, but unlike her nightmares, they had all lived. No one was dead and, she was certain, Hestia would be find once a Healer had seen to her.

“Someone needs to go help Mr Jacobs, someone needs to go tell dad what's happened,” she said, looking around before looking back at him, delaying for a moment the inevitable deluge of tears she had been holding back. The concern in his eyes went straight to her heart and her vision blurred.

“Oh Ernie,” she whispered, bursting into tears as she flung herself against him.

"Shhhhh..." Ernie said quietly, pulling her to him and making soft sounds that he hoped helped. Between that he was issuing orders left and right. Ordering one Auror who was leaning idly against the nurses' station to go grab the minister, another to go check on Jacobs, another still to make certain the place was secure for the Minister's daughter. Some of them looked quite apprehensive about being ordered about by a young man like Ernie that was only a trainee, but when he shouted something at them like 'move, damn it, the Minister is on his way and there will be hell to pay if X Y or Z hasn't happened,' they tended to obey.

"Hey...." He said quietly, holding her closer and paying that much more attention to her now that he didn't have to worry about keeping the other Aurors on task. "Hannah, it's going to be alright..." He half led, half carried her to a chair in the waiting area.

It was lucky for Ernie that he was not the one who delivered the message to Dominic, as the news that St. Mungos had been attacked put him into a foul mood. When he learned that Hestia had been injured but that the fool man didn't have any more news about her he sent the man a murderous glare an muttered something under his breath and practically raced toward the fireplace.

He fell out just outside of the waiting area, relaxing only minutely when he saw Hannah and Macmillan. "Hestia..." he gasped. "Is she alright?"

Hannah knew everything would be fine now, at least for now, and despite knowing optimism would return, right now there was a void left by the adrenaline ceasing that was being filled with all the fears and doubts the situation inspired. She sobbed, uncaring of what was going on around her unless it had something to do with her family, and curled into Ernie's lap in a miserable ball when he led her to the waiting area.

It was there she stayed until a familiar voice brought her head up. Her sobs had slowed by that point, but they renewed when she laid eyes on her father.

“Daddy!” She was out of Ernie's lap and into Dominic's arms in a moment, a tumble of sobbed words pouring from her, her explanation making no sense whatsoever because of her cries. It was amid that sobbed explosion that Hannah's guard, Jacobs, limped up to the gathered trio. Looking as though he had yet to be treated, he proceeded to give the Minister a far more efficient explanation of what happened before he and Hannah parted ways, making his displeasure with the lack of information given to him well known. As far as he was concerned, had the Aurors worked more efficiently and informatively, despite the fact he and Hannah had originally entered the hospital where there had been no Aurors monitoring the situation all day, he would have avoided any danger to Hannah. Of course, the man could never know that others had known and no one had even thought Hannah would need her guard informed before there had even been a chance to get near St Mungos.

It was only after Jacobs had fully informed Dominic of both fact and opinion that he allowed a Healer to pull him away, leaving Ernie as the only in the know, coherent and uninjured option to explain what had happened after Hannah had run.

Dominic did his best to listen to Jacobs, though his main focus was elsewhere. Unless the man said the name "Hestia Jones" He really couldn't care less, because he had Hannah here and he could see that she was fine, and he knew that the guard would soon be getting the medical attention that he needed. Hestia and Hannah were really all that mattered to him when it all came down to it.

"Thank you, Jacobs." He said, voice already sounding tired as he shifted Hannah so that he could hold her a bit more closely to him. "Your assistance is, as alway appreciated. Please, go allow the healers to tend to your wounds."

Ernie, who had been standing somewhat awkwardly to the side, visibly jumped when Dominic tilted his head to survey him. Why was it, Dominic mentally demanded, that this boy managed to turn up in the middle of every scrape that Hannah got herself into? It certainly made it harder to dislike him, an action that Dominic was determined to do. "What happened, Macmillan?" He asked, the venom fleeing his voice for Hannah's sake alone. "Where's Hestia? Is Hannah alright?" She looked alright but one could never know, particularly if she had seen one of the Aurors get harmed. Particularly if it had been Hestia.

The explanation was short and to the point, and left Dominic cursing at the end. "I have to see her." He demanded, not realizing that the healer he was speaking to so shortly likely didn't know who the 'her' he was referring to was. "I'm Dominic Abbott, the Minister of Magic, and I demand to see Hestia Jones immediately."

“I want to see her too,” Hannah said with a hiccup born of her crying, but the Healer informed them that only necessary personnel could be in that area right now. Of course, given that the Minister was standing before her, the Healer quickly decided he was one of the 'necessary' and beckoned him to a section of curtained areas.

Reluctantly letting go of Dominic so he could go see Hestia, Hannah took refuge once more in Ernie's arms.

Once Hestia was out of sight of Hannah and Ernie, she had ceased being a cooperative patient. “Forget the shoulder. My baby, is it all right? I want to see Healer Jacobs right now,” she demanded and it was only when the man was brought to her that she settled, allowing work on her shoulder once he had confirmed that the baby was just as wonderfully healthy as it had been every time she had come in to see him.

Somewhere in the process of being treated, her and the baby's state had been given to Kingsley. And now she was being yelled at by him.

“Oh, either fire me and leave or shut it and go back to your cot,” she growled irritably at the visibly incensed head of her department, wincing as the Healer worked on her shoulder.

Dominic could hear Kingsley before he was actually near Hestia's bed, and what he was hearing nearly made him freeze. Kingsley was demanding to know how she could come to work day after day and not tell him that she was pregnant. Pregnant. His steps faltered. He feared for a moment that there might be a reason why Hestia's pregnancy had come to light, but no...that couldn't be it. Certainly Shacklebolt wouldn't be shouting at her so if she had lost her baby?

"Auror Shacklebolt, I appreciate your concern, but I assure you that I can handle things from here." His voice was stern, that of the Minister who wasn't used to being questioned. "I need to speak privately with Miss Jones." His eyes, however, the ones which had not left Hestia since he entered, were full of concern, waiting to hear the news that could change the rest of their lives.

Ernie pulled Hannah close when Dominic left the room. "See?" he asked softly. "He's going to go see to Hestia and then we'll all go home. It's going to be alright."

“I know,” Hannah whispered, “I know it will, but right now, it doesn't feel all right, not at all.”

Hestia was making nothing but disgusted faces the longer Kinglsey was allowed to yell at her. “Possibly because it was none of your damned business until I decided to make it your damned business,” she grumped in Kinglsey's direction, but further smart-mouthed retorts were shelved when Dominic rounded the curtain.

“You can yell at me later, Shacklebolt,” she assured him, then made a face at his departing back. Her gaze game back to Dominic and, as the Healer left as well, she she gave him a small smile. “Everything's fine. We're fine,” she said, the 'we're' slightly emphasized.

Ernie pulled away from her for a moment, pulling off his jacket and draping it over her like a blanket of sorts before pulling her near. "I know it doesn't, but Hestia will come out in a moment and she'll be in a foul mood like normal and we'll all be just fine."

Dominic waited until Kingsley was gone before going to sink into a chair near her. "I'm glad..." he said, unsure of what to even say to her. Should he express the relief that he so clearly felt that she and their baby were alright? Should he express the same displeasure that Kingsley had so obviously been expressing at her being in danger? Should he....

"The shoulder?" He said, speaking first to solve the most pressing problem on his mind, Hestia's health. "Will it be alright?" He reached a hand out, resting it on top of Hestia's good hand, the worry clear in his eyes. The yelling, though he wasn't sure that there wouldn't be some later, could wait.

Hestia nodded. “It wasn't as bad as the same hit to the front of my shoulder would have been, it's why I turned and took it here.” She eyed him warily, almost visibly worried. She had honestly expected him to gather her up in relief at the news, especially after the look of dread in his eyes. Perhaps he was furious and just controlling it better than Kinglsey. It was a thought she should have seen for the ridiculousness of having it as soon as she thought it.

“You're mad at me, aren't you? Damn it, Dominic, there wasn't time to sit and find someone else to go find Hannah, waiting could very well have been the difference between her being fine and her being-” Her throat closed on the words and she had to press a hand to her mouth to keep the warning sob down. Unfortunately, it was her arm on the injured shoulder and she had to bite back a yelp too after straining at the newly-knit wound.

“Besides, even had Kingsley not found out right now, I would have told him today or tomorrow about the baby and asked to be removed from active duty.” Never afraid for herself, only others, she had been all too aware while being examined that she could have taken that hex in the stomach had the Death Eater aimed differently, and the thought of having done something to their child, even in protecting Hannah, had made her physically ill. It was a fear she had yet to shake, a fear still lingering in her eyes.

“But it doesn't change the fact if Hannah were in danger, I'd protect her.” Despite the fear that lingered, her gaze and the lift of her chin were defiant. Just let him yell. Just let him. She'd give him back as good as she got.

The truth of the matter was that Dominic was so full of emotion he didn't know what to feel. There was relief as well as the lingering fear and shock and....and he had yet to relax with his heart still pounding in his chest. "I'm not angry...not at you anyhow." He raked a hand through his hair, moving behind her with his wand to examine the work the healer had done on her shoulder, and to make sure that had not been injured when she moved her hand. It was amazing what one could learn when they were a Death Eater and had been married to a healer. Satisfied that all had been done that could be, he moved back to her front, pulling the chair closer to her.

"I could have lost all three of you today, and it's hard to bounce back from something like that." he reached out, his hand touching her clothed stomach and only then did a shudder run through him. It was silly, to think that he felt something there, because it was far too early to feel a kick or flutter or even a roundness there, but he felt something none the less, a sense of life so strong that even if it was just a product of imagination it couldn't be denied. "Gods, Hestia, I was so frightened." His voice was ragged. "that damned man only said that you and Hannah were here and all I could remember was warning you not to be here and Hannah's nightmares and...I can't lose you. Not you, not the baby, not Hannah...and I could have lost you all." he closed his eyes just before they grew too bright, still unable to fathom all that he might have lost today.

Shifting slightly on the bed so her good hands was free, Hestia stroked his cheek before awkwardly openly her arms to him, careful this time with the injured shoulder. She had refused pain potions, despite Healer Jacobs repeatedly stating the baby would be just fine if she took them in moderation, as she still worried even a little might make something go wrong. “Come here, Dominic,” she said, head tipped slightly to the side.

Dominic opened his mouth, intending to tell her that it wasn't right for the Minister of Magic to sprawl out on a hospital bed next to his girlfriend, but he shut it just as quickly without saying a word and climbed in next to her, one arm draping over her waist to hold her near. "Hestia, you have no idea how worried I was, knowing that the man who came to get me said that you were being treated and what a state Hannah was in. I thought that you...or the baby...or Hannah was hurt but not letting anyone know and I was terrified."

Stroking his neck and back, Hestia nuzzled the side of his face, uncaring that only some curtained screens separated them from others, that privacy was no better than a few basic wards set up when Kingsley had come in to yell at her. “Shh,” she said softly, kissing his cheek. “You're not going to have to worry about it anymore. We're all fine and we're going to stay out danger from now on so no one has to make any dangerous split-second decisions. I'll do desk work and be full-time with the trainees. Everything is going to be fine.”

"So I'm to trust that you can stay safe when locked up with the likes of Macmillan all day?" he asked softly, trying for levity. He loved Hestia with all of his being, but were there one thing that he would change about her it would be her profession. He adored her spontaneity, her capability, the sense that she could do anything and remain wholly untouched on the other side, but the fact was that she was mortal just like anyone else. He knew she loved her job, and would never ask her to simply be a politician's wife or girlfriend or whatever she was in this fuzzy in between stage, but it still worried him. "I love you, Jones." He said, his throat tight with the way that that just seemed so inadequate right now, as though the words weren't enough. "I love you so much."

“I think you should be more worried about him given all the hormones surging in me right now,” Hestia teased gently, then her arm tightened on him, holding him closer. For a moment she couldn't speak the words of love back, for the feelings overwhelmed her, and she closed her eyes as though the surge was visible rather than felt inside her. She had never, ever imagined loving this man as much as she did, in the ways that she did, but now that she did she couldn't imagine life anyway else for them.

“I love you too, more than anything,” she whispered, unerringly finding his lips for a long, sweet kiss. When she pulled back, however, her expression had sobered more than before.

“Dominic, despite the wards Kingsley threw up before yelling, he knows and it's only a matter of time before others know, either through rumor or working in the department. We need to tell Hannah, before someone else says something to her. I don't want her to feel left out of her own life again.”

She hadn't meant the words the way they came out and even after saying it, she didn't process that it might have sounded as though she was judging the past. She simply didn't want Hannah to feel excluded, as though she were losing her father to some new interloper.

Dominic's gaze darkened when she spoke again, briefly remembering everything he had done wrong with raising Hannah. He had kept secrets, forced her away to protect her but at a time when she needed her most, he had been gone at times when she needed him with no ready explanation. He selfishly wanted to think that he would be a better father this time around, would not make those mistakes, but he knew that as long as he bore the mark of a madman it was likely that he would have little choice.

"I'll go see about getting you out..." he said, sitting up quite abruptly. He leaned down, kissing the tip of her nose. "You just lay here and rest and I'll go to take care of everything." He paused at the place where the curtains pulled together. "We'll get you home in our bed and settled and then we'll see about telling her. I don't want you to worry though, your first responsibility just now is to get better."

Hestia looked after him, head shaking slightly at the 'our' bed comment. It was still his bed, his house, despite his insistence on continually referring to it as theirs. She wasn't married to him, they weren't even living together, but his attempt to include her was sweet nonetheless.

Hannah had grown tired of being in the waiting area and had eventually ended up hovering on the edge of things, as close as she could get to Hestia without a Healer. Once she spotted Dominic, however, she darted forward, uncaring if it wasn't the rules-abiding thing to do, and immediately began peppering him with questions. “How is she? Did they have to do more than fix her shoulder? Is she going to have to stay? Can we take her home now?

"They looked into repairing her attitude as well but I'm sorry to say that she was unfixable in that respect." He gave Hannah a gentle look. "Hestia is going to be just fine, though perhaps a night of rest and relaxation wouldn't hurt her. I'm going to see if we..."

"You may help Miss Jones home, Minister." A healer said, intercepting him before he could even search one out to ask the question. "Make sure that she lets her shoulder and that arm rest and take good care of her and she should be as good as new in a few days."

Dominic nodded, giving Hannah a reassuring look. "See? She's too stubborn to be truly hurt, our Hestia. Let's get her home, shall we?" he extended a hand to her, and even nodded his head at Ernie, who was just behind Hannah. "Thank you for your help today, Macmillan." he said quickly before looking once more toward the curtains. "I'll go get Hestia on her feet and then we can get out of here, hmm? Unless you'd like to go ahead and get things settled for Hestia there? You may bring your...friend...with you if you'd like."

Hannah didn't have the heart to chide Dominic indignantly about jokes at a time like this, as she was too busy sagging against him in relief as the Healer told them Hestia could go home. Grinning at her father for first thanking Ernie then calling him her 'friend', more out of the waves of relief she felt at everything being okay now than overwhelming amusement, she let go of him and nodded.

“We'll go get everything ready so she doesn't have to move anywhere,” she said, not even asking her father where she should set Hestia up at. It was a mark of her growing comfort with the two of them together that the idea of Hestia in the room her parents had once shared was no longer awkward, that she could agree to set it up without even a twinge of that funny feeling that used to accompany some things about her father and Hestia, something like a bit of guilt at being disloyal.

“Come on Ernie, you can help me move the TV and DVD player,” she said, wrapping her arms around him in a quick hug, other action of intense relief. “That way Hestia has some entertainment besides just us.”

Ernie smiled, pulling her closer into the hug before releasing her with just his arm around her back. "Glad to be your pack mule, princess."

Dominic watched them go, feeling somewhat uneasy at how comfortable she and Macmillan looked together. This was not what he WANTED, for them to look comfortable around one another, as though they truly belonged together on a more permanent basis. Dominic himself hoped daily that Hannah would tire of this boyfriend business and end things, but hoping and logically figuring that something would happen were two drastically different things.

"Are you ready, love?" he asked, slipping back into the curtains to help Hestia get ready to go. "I'm eager to get you home and away from this place." He shuddered, only barely stopping himself from dwelling once more on just why she was here and how close the curse had come to her head or stomach or heart.

Having been attempting to mend her torn robes enough to pull them on over her shoulders, her one arm now bound to her side to keep it still for the rest of the day and thus unable to be pulled through a sleeve, Hestia turned and frowned slightly at Dominic. “Not unless you want me flashing my bra to the world,” she grumped, showing him her shoulder, where her t-shirt had been torn from neck-seam to side-seam to get at the wound the fastest. Not that it exposed much skin at all, the mending wound now covered by a light layer of bandage across the bared expanse, but Hestia had no way of judging that for certain.

She looked him over a minute critical. “Are you wear a shirt and trousers?” she asked, peering at his neckline. “If so, give me your robes.” She sounded peevish, made so as two Aurors had already popped in to the area to, under the cover of checking on her, 'congratulate' her. Kinglsey or one of the Healers had a damned big mouth.

"Bossy woman..." Dominic said, though his voice was good natured, as he double checked that the curtains were closed and quickly shrugged out of his robes. "You'd likely demand them even if I was naked under all of this wouldn't you?" He began to gently help put the robes on her, ever mindful of her sore shoulder.

"Well, it's not the best fitting thing you've ever worn." Dominic said, softly, surveying her once he was through, "but you have a pair of pajamas at the house or you could borrow one of my shirts as that would be looser. We'll take care of you."

Dominic wrapped an arm around her waist, his fingers trailing lightly over her stomach. "And then we'll tell Hannah about her little brother or sister and it will all be settled."

Not really caring that the robes were too big, Hestia wrapped them tightly around her, burying herself in the scent of him as a welcome balm to the day's insanity. However, what he mentioned next made her frown more, lips pursed and brown wrinkled.

“What if it's not settled?” she asked, looking up at him anxiously. So certain about telling Hannah only a short while ago, now those certain feelings of including Hannah had been topped by anxiety about Hannah's reaction. “What if she's upset? Angry? Hurt? What if she never forgives me for changing her life like this?”

Blissfully unaware about how her life was going to change, Hannah and Ernie were back at the house, Ernie downstairs wrangling with the electronics while Hannah frowned at her father's room. The only places in the house with actual electrical outlets were the downstairs and her room. Her room wasn't far from her father's though, if only she had an extension cord.

“Ernie, I need to go to Muggle London,” she called down the stairs.

Dominic thought that she looked so small like that, all curled in his too-big robes, looking up at him with clear anxiety. "She likely won't be thrilled at first," Dominic said honestly. "She's very used to things the way that they are now, and she was a little uneasy about us at first, but she got use to it, and she loves you and I." He lowered his voice in case Hannah or someone else was lingering outside of the curtains who shouldn't hear, warding be damned, he didn't trust anyone's warding but his own or Hestia's at a time like this. "She'll love this child too."

Ernie frowned, cursing as he tried to figure out how the television an DVD player connected to one another. Giving up, he stuffed some of the extra cables into the open door of the DVD player and looked over his shoulder at Hannah.

"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow, clearly suspicious. "Your Dad will have my head if I take you to Muggle London after all that's happened today."

What Dominic said... was not what Hestia had wanted to hear. She wanted to hear everything would be fine now, that there was no chance Hannah would feel any of those things. What she wanted she knew he couldn't say without outright lying, but she wanted to hear it anyhow.

Pulling away, she dropped down on the bed, despite having just wanted to leave, her face resting in one palm. “Maybe this is a bad idea. We should just Obliviate everyone.”

Making quick work of the stairs, Hannah walked into the living room. “I need an extension cord so there's power when you bring the TV and DVD player upstairs,” she said, then stepped closer to where he was. “Um, Ernie, what are you doing?”

Dominic rested a hand on her shoulders, rubbing it. "Hestia, she's going to have to find out sooner or later...I assure you, everything's going to be just fine. You should have seen how upset she was when she thought that something had happened to you, she DOES love you." The hand momentarily stopped rubbing her shoulders to trail down and brush against her cheek. "We all do. You're part of our family, and she's not going to hate you about this or whatever you're worried about."

Ernie looked up, then back at his handiwork, cursing when he saw that pushing the cables through the hole in the DVD player drawer hadn't magically made the thing work. "Damned Muggle fool devise..." He threw up his hands. "I was trying to fix it, but I think I just made it worse." He stood hastily, slightly afraid that the DVD player would explode if he messed with it much longer. "I suppose we could go...if you don't think your father will kill us for leaving."

Hestia shook her head. The things she felt, they weren't specifically worries for herself, for she hoped Hannah's love for her would overcome even the biggest obstacle. She curled her hand around her stomach. “What if she resents the baby?” It was the first time she had voiced a thought directly for the future of the baby beyond the womb, not just concerns about doing the right things in pregnancy now, worries about the baby's health that were at times, if not impersonal, then at least very guarded. “Resents the baby making it so she's not an only child anymore, thinks she's lost her place as your little girl? What if she's afraid we're trying to replace her?”

Hannah's lips twitched visibly as she looked between the electronics and Ernie. “I suppose we could wait until they get here. He'll probably want to go himself but I'm not sure he could buy an extension cord in Muggle London without a diagram anymore than you could,” she teased, reaching forward to disconnect the cables properly and lift the DVD player. “Come on, we can at least get it set up before they get here. Be careful, the TV is heavy.”

Dominic considered his words carefully before speaking, wanting to give her a mixture of the blind reassurances that he thought that she would want and the honest truth that he thought might at first be too much for her to handle. "Hannah doesn't know how to hate, barely how to dislike. She sees the good in people, sometimes where there is none. As of yet the baby may be an abstract concept to her, so there will be no real attachment, but I think as time goes by and she can see him or her growing and feel him or her move, she'll grow attached." He gave her a soft smile. "I doubt either of us will get to hold the baby when it comes, with the way that Hannah is around the orphan children."

"We can wait, or we can go now and leave a note if you don't think they'd mind." Perhaps there would be enough excitement with getting Hestia settled to not even notice their absence. He leaned down, lifting the TV and groaning. "Gods, how do the Muggles do it?"

Hestia sighed, rubbing her forehead with her hand. There was the opposite side of the coin in this, what if Hannah became attached and then the baby was lost, but she couldn't bring herself to even voice that. The rest was a muddle in her head and she knew half of what she would say would just be a repetition of what she had already said, useless whining and wondering.

“Let's just go,” she said tiredly, rising from the bed and starting toward the split in the curtains.

Hannah giggled softly. “How do they do it? They lift with their knees,” she said smartly, bouncing out of the room before he could put the TV down and come after her.

Dominic nodded, getting the sense that he had said something wrong but not knowing what else to say. There was no right answer to this that didn't suggest that Hannah would never grow to love this child or that she would not get overly attached to it too soon. Damn and blast, why had the attack been today, the one day a month when Hannah was here? Hestia wouldn't have been here otherwise, and then no one else would have found out about the baby and they could have waited to tell Hannah until they were more certain that the baby was going to be alright and be born. Damn.

His face darker and more foreboding than normal, Dominic rested his hand in the small of Hestia's back, his very look daring anyone to come and try to say a word to them.

"I'll get you, Abbott..." Ernie huffed, lumbering after her with the TV held securely in his arms. It wasn't THAT heavy, truth be told, but he lied to put on a grand show as though she was really over using his male pack-mule ability. "Just wait until I catch you and then you will see."

After stopping briefly with a Healer for the discharge paperwork and then with Kingsley to confirm she wouldn't be in for several days, Hestia turned toward the Floo fireplace. Sometime during paperwork and talking to Kinglsey again, she had fitted her good side against Dominic, uncaring what talk it might start. They hardly concealed their relationship and soon word of her pregnancy would reach the rumor mill. It couldn't really be helped.

“Sure you will,” Hannah said with a giggle, disappearing into her father's room. She slid the DVD player into one of the two tables she had pulled near the foot of the bed, waiting on Ernie to bring the TV and place it on the other.

Dominic knew that it was perhaps unwise to so obviously flaunt their relationship, after all, what else could one thing from their stance but that the two were involved, and when word leaked, that he was the father of her baby, but he didn't care. All of the extra work he would have to go to to make Rodolphus forget his rage at another deepening of his relationship with Hestia would be worth it, for the pride that he felt when he was with her, the excitement that he felt in knowing that she was carrying his child.

Someone from his side of the office, a secretary perhaps, he couldn't place her, went to go talk to them, but Dominic growled and used his free hand to sharply motion for her to go away. Hestia needed rest, and Dominic was hardly in the mood to have more talking, more delays. Something very protective and dark flared in him, and he could only see his goal of getting her home and safe now, even her boss Shacklebolt was an unnecessary inconvenience.

Ernie finally lumbered in with the television, sitting it on the table and looking at her, a slightly mischievous look in his eyes that he might have tried a bit harder to conceal had they not been alone. "Now, Abbott, I believe I made a threat and I intend to make good on it."

The closer she was to getting away from all of this, the more exhausted Hestia suddenly felt. There was no more adrenaline, no more hustle and bustle of attack scenes, no more questions upon questions to answer to keep her distracted. By the time they reached a fireplace, her shoulders sagged and she stepped into it wearily. She wrapped her arm around him, head resting on his chest as she waited for him to drop the Floo powder.

Hannah eyed him, laughing softly, then tried to edge around him. “You wouldn't do that, you know,” she said, shaking her head. “You're my knight in shining armor, they don't make threats.” Laughing louder, she dashed toward the door.

Dominic was nearly fully supporting her as he dropped the Floo powder, saying "Abbott House" in a firm, deliberate voice. When they appeared in his home he scooped her up without another word, all but ignoring her weak protests as he took firm, steady, deliberate strides toward the stairs and his master bedroom. He was careful to hold her slightly different than he might normally, to avoid hurting her injured shoulder further. "Hush..." he told her gently, his voice little more than a low rumble. "It's been a long, hard day, and you're still hurt no matter how much you want to pretend otherwise. We'll get you upstairs..." he reached the top of the stairs and gave her a triumphant look, "and in bed..." his hand rested on the door knob, ready to open it. "and..."

Ernie ran to the door as well, his hand on the door knob. After leaving it there for just a moment, he moved it to her wrist, pulling her closer playfully. "Perhaps...if I'm your white knight I should do something much different like snog you..."

He never noticed as the door knob turned and opened, no, he likely wouldn't notice an earthquake just now as he pulled her closer to fulfill his promise.

Dominic, however, DID notice. It had been a long, hard, stressful day, and now he had to see the Macmillan beast pawing at his baby girl. "Merlin's beard, Macmillan, stop trying to get into my daughter's knickers in my own bedroom and MOVE."

Ernie gasped, abruptly pulling away from her, blushing, the embarrassed look turning to one of concern when he saw Hestia resting in Dominic's arms. "Hestia are you..."

"She's fine..." Dominic said, his voice low and dangerous as he swept into the room, making it clear that Ernie had much overstayed his welcome for now.

Hestia grumped non-stop from the fireplace up the stairs to the bedroom door. She didn't really want to be treated like an invalid, just take a short nap before facing telling Hannah about the baby. If this was any indication of what the next few days would be like, she knew there would be much headbutting in their near future.

Hands flt on his chest as he pulled her close, Hannah laughed out a protest. “Is that part of your knight's code?” she asked before their lips met. Yet, before her hands could find their way up to his neck, the brief respite from the horror today was broken by her father's angry tone.

“Dad!” she cried, blushing scarlet with embarrassment to have been found kissing Ernie in her father's bedroom, but indignant and hurt just the same. “Ernie wasn't... I'm not like... I can't believe you!” Blue eyes flashing, she stared at him several long moments before slipping past him with a wounded air.

“Great, just bloody great,” Hestia murmured, feeling her anxiety grow greater now. It was one thing to break the news to Hannah when she was recovering from the terror of today, or when she was her sweet-tempered self, but quite another to do it after upsetting her.

Ernie gave Dominic a sharp look. "You've got some nerve, Minister." he said, wanting to stay and argue his point but wanting to go and make certain that Hannah was taken care of as well.

"I didn't..." Dominic cut himself off. Really, what was he thinking, trying to reason with the Macmillan boy, who had already proven himself to be unreasonable?

"Think before you speak." Ernie said gruffly. "Hestia's at least taught me that much." Perhaps a bit of an overstatement considering that Ernie's not really learned to do that entirely yet, but it was a strong statement to leave with. He started quickly after Hannah.

Dominic wanted to go after Hannah as well, but he'd be damned if he'd just dump her like a sack of potatoes on the bed and then go after her. He'd see Hestia cared for, and then he'd go right this. Perhaps he had been harsh but really, snogging in HIS bedroom...did the boy have no morals? "I'm sorry." He said to her quietly, gently laying her on the bed and then raking a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean to make such a mess of things, I was just...in THIS room. THIS Room, Hestia...and after everything that had happened today--that boy gets on my last nerve."

Cont. here