~ Home for the Summer~
Chapter Five- Guess What
Hermoine arrived on July seventh, a little before midnight and a few weeks before Harry's sixteenth birthday. It was now August twenty- fifth. The next semester at Hogwarts was beginning in one week exactly. No one knew of her presence in Harry's room, there were only seven days left. Harry had sent Ron a letter not long before saying the car would be needed for getting to the school. Though the fact that he would not be driving was mentioned, the reason why the car was needed, wasn't. Harry and Hermoine agreed that they'd wait until the last possible minute to tell Ron anything.
Harry placed the plate of toast, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of tea on the breakfast tray. Hermoine slept through most of the mornings, he knew it was not her fault. He carried the tray slowly from the kitchen upstairs to the bedroom, where she had just opened her eyes at his entrance.
" I told you, no more breakfast in bed" Hermoine mumbled, moving into a sitting position under the covers.
Harry placed the tray across her lap, " I must have missed that" he joked, knowing very well that she had said it many times before.
She looked at the items in front of her, " this is too much".
" You saw what the book said, you're eating for two so you need the extra energy, and healthy energy" he had a routine from many different books planned in his mind, she found it adorable.
Hermoine took a bite from the toast, watching him arrange something in his desk, " before we leave, I'm going to make you breakfast while you're asleep".
Harry smiled, " there's only a few more days, seven to be exact".
" Seven!" she cried, " only seven!" she caught his full attention, " we haven't heard from Ron yet, what if it's too late!"
He raised his arms, " calm down Hermoine, knowing Ron, he'll wait until the last minute. There's a chance he's in Romania" she was about to speak again, the doorbell rang. " I'll be right back".
Harry jumped the steps down to the entry hall. Switching the latch and turning the handle, he screamed, slamming the door in a split second. Hermoine appeared at the top of the staircase, " what was that all about?".
" It's Ron!" Harry gasped, " Ron, it's Ron, Ron is here!".
She saw past his panicking, " so, why did you shut the door in his face?".
" He can't know we're here!".
" I think he already knows" as Hermoine stepped down the stairs one by one, Harry bolted up them.
" The plan was he doesn't have to know until the semester begins" he whispered.
But she used her regular tone, " like you said, it's only seven days, now open the door, he may not leave until you do".
" Okay" Harry dashed back to the door, calmly opening it. Ron still stood there, with a bright smile on his face.
" Is that how you treat all your guests?" he grinned.
" Only you" Harry commented.
Ron walked inside. When Harry kept his face pressed against the closed door, he noticed Hermoine at the top of the stairs, wearing a pair of boxer shirts and a long t-shirt. " What in the name of Professor Dumbledore are you doing here?".
" Hello Ron" she said, with a hint of fear, maybe she should have listened to Harry.
Ron laughed, " so this is why you haven't answered my letters, you came here. Boy, am I glad....bloody hell, someone's gained weight".
Hermoine looked down at her rounded stomach, the baggy shirt was no longer doing it's job. She covered it with her arms and sat on the edge of the step. Ron stood on the bottom step, looking between his two best friends.
Harry took three steps away from the door, " Ron, Hermoine will be staying with us at Hogwarts this year".
Ron looked at Harry like he was a mental patient with amnesia, " well of course she is, she has been since the first day, and that's when we were barely eleven".
Hermoine shook her head in disbelief for him, " he means in your dorm, with you".
" Did they make it coed? Oh no!" he cried, " I don't want to be stuck with Ginny".
Harry waved him off, " you won't be with Ginny, just myself and Hermoine. She'll be, I guess you can say hiding".
" Can say?" Hermoine roughly commented, " that's exactly what I'll be doing".
Harry continued, " she won't be a student, no one but us will know she is there, and I mean no one, aside from us".
Ron still had his ways of ignoring the obvious, " and Hagrid?" he said with enthusiasm.
He was smacked upside the head, " what part of ' no one' don't you understand? How many times has Hagrid said ' I shouldn't have told you that' to us alone? No offense, but we can't take the risk of him saying that Hermoine is pregnant" Harry didn't mean to say that, nor did he care, it was going to come out eventually.
Ron changed an expression, " but, you're not pregnant" he looked upstairs at her.
" Yes I am!" she yelled, " I am pregnant, that's why I'm here! That's why I'm fat, but if you call me tat again, I'll petrify you, because it's only going to get worse".
He shrugged, " well, I was in Romania, it makes sense why I didn't hear about it sooner".
" That and I'm the father" Harry muttered, Hermoine looked down at him.
But Ron didn't hear, not clearly, " ha, it sounds like you said you were the..." he trailed off. Rapidly looked up, then down, a look of pure fear. " Blind me! How did that happen?".
" Let's not get into that right now" Hermoine answered blissfully, " it was just one night, which, is all it takes" she sighed down memory lane, " when Harry was asleep in the library".
Ron thought for a moment, before exploding at Harry, " I thought you were going to return her diary, not, that!".
As odd as it was, Harry and Hermoine were the only to remain calm. " Not even a wizard can control faith" Hermoine said, focusing on Harry.
He stayed caught in her gaze for a split second, it was very plain, yet something about it, " she's right, she's always right".
" If I never took her diary, this wouldn't have happened!" Ron cried, " you wouldn't have had any reason to see her that night".
Hermoine got up, joining the boys, the same step as Ron, " if it happened, then it was meant to happen. Whether he had the diary or not, we would have been alone at some point or another. And when we were, the feelings would have overcame us, and then" she looked at Harry, looking back at her. Her mind and mouth had rambled almost too far. " Damn hormones, messing with me again".
Harry went along with the excuse, " they've been pretty rough on her".
By that time, Ron was in tears, bawling into his hands. It was no an unusual site, just an unusual reason. Hermoine grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her, " this isn't your fault".
" It's not that" he blew his nose into his shirt sleeve, " but, Hermoine is gruesome enough, like my mum, and it's so much worse when they're pregnant". Hermoine growled deeply under her breath, dropping Ron's chin. Her chocked on his tears, getting them to stop, " we have to get her out of here, today, right now".
" That was a little unexpected" she commented.
" What?" Harry asked Ron.
" We have to get her to Hogwarts, right now, we can't take the risk of her getting caught".
Harry shook his head, " we've already figured this out, a plan for orientation".
" That's still a few days away. Right now, there's only one person at the school, before any professors or staff members. Not even Dumbledore" Ron told them.
Hermoine raised an eyebrow, " how do you know all this?".
" Percy, who else?".
" Who is the one person that is there?" Harry ventured to ask.
He paused, looking at the,, " Hagrid" he said slowly, then picked up the pace, " but he has his own house, he'll never see us, the chances are too great".
" They're too slim!" Hermoine commented.
" Maybe he has something" Harry took Ron's side, scaring even himself, " sneaking inside will make us look suspicious to anyone who sees us, it is better that no one seeing us at all".
The decision was left entirely to Hermoine, the boys made it obvious. In all fairness, she should have the final say.
" Come on Her, it's the most logical way. Harry's trunk isn't that big". Harry punched Ron near his shoulder, very hard, throwing him back into the wall.
Hermoine let out a deep breath, " is the car out front?". Harry knew what that meant, he ran past them upstairs back to the bedroom. They had been packed for weeks.
" Yes!" Ron could hardly speak through his smile. Harry came to the stairs, with two trunks, Ron went after him to take them. " Where're the owls?".
" In a pen out back" Hermoine's owl joined them not longer after she did. No one noticed the companion to Harry's.
Ron dashed out the front door. Harry stood in front of a grinning Hermoine. " We're going!" her voice almost squeaked.
" We're going" he laughed, repeating her enthusiasm.
The ride to Hogwarts was much more calm this time than when they were twelve. Harry was driving, or flying, and there was much more experience. He stayed in the car the entire time, there was no train on their tail, and Ron's wand was packed away for the time being. Night had fallen for sometime, Ron stayed awake with Harry, Hermoine was asleep along the backseat.
" You know what?" Ron broke the silence.
Harry struggled through exhaustion, not really caring what Ron had to say, " what?".
" I could always picture you two getting married, but, never having any children".
Harry looked away from the windshield, " why's that?".
Ron shrugged, " beats me, I just never could. Though you do seem like the good father type, maybe it means that you're doing things you're not suppose to".
" If it wasn't obvious enough".
" Do you love her?" the question came from nowhere again.
Though this time, Harry did not react in harsh ways, " what is it with you and that subject?".
Ron slouched down in the seat against the dashboard, " well, you got her pregnant, did you not?".
" You make it sound like a forbidden crime or something".
He continued, " I mean, if your relationship as friends went this far, don't you have different feelings for her?".
" I always have" Harry gazed down at the steering wheel, gripping at it harder. The conversation did not continue.
Hermoine laid behind them, wide awake, listening to every sound and every word that took place in front of her. An hour later, the car was landed in an open courtyard at Hogwarts school.