**Thank you for all of the great reviews! I'm not very good at writing action scenes, but I did my best. I hope you enjoy it anyway!! :)
"Well, Well if it isn't the great Harry Potter" snarled one of the Death Eaters. Harry knew immediately
that it was Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. 'They must have broken him out of Azkaban' thought Harry as he
assessed the situation. Remus and Mr. Granger were frozen in place; Harry had no idea how they had done that. He
figured it was a Dark spell of some kind. As Lucius started to advance on him, Harry waved his right hand from left to
right with his palm facing out and said "obvallo ignesco!" As he said this, a wall of flame surrounded the
three of them, keeping the Death Eaters away.
"Stupefy!" yelled one of the Death Eaters. "Protego!" shouted Harry, putting his other hand in front of him. A shimmering wall of light surrounded them and the wall of fire, deflecting the curse back at the person it came from. The death eater fell to the ground, stunned. Harry held his hands where they were and maintained both walls, magical and fire.
"How is this possible?" yelled Lucius, angry that they couldn't get to Harry.
"Tell Tom he had better leave me alone!" Harry said while watching Lucius. Harry felt his energy draining, so he let down the magical shield to save what little energy he had left and said "Exstinguo!" which put out the flames. Harry saw Malfoy raise his wand, so he held his hand palm out towards Malfoy and yelled "inflammatio!" The chairs in front of the death eaters flared to life with red-orange flames, cutting the groups off from each other. Realizing that Harry had advanced and discovered some new form of magic, Lucius disapparated along with the other death eaters. Once they were gone Remus and Mr. Granger unfroze while Harry collapsed onto the floor, unconscious. Remus quickly put out the fire and ran to check on him.
"Let's get him to your wife's room" said Remus while picking him up and carrying him to the lifts. They got up to the sixth floor and quickly entered the room. Remus laid Harry on his cot and went to find a healer.
"What happened?" asked Hermione rushing to Harry's side.
"There were these men in black masks and capes waiting for us when we came through the fireplace. They froze Remus and me and tried to attack Harry." explained her Dad.
"What do you mean 'tried' to attack him?" asked Hermione confused.
"It was the strangest thing, I couldn't move but I was still aware of everything going on around me. Harry put up this wall of flames around us" he explained "he also put up some kind of shiny barrier around us when these jets of light were coming at us. When the men disappeared we unfroze and Harry collapsed, unconscious."
Hermione looked Harry over, smoothing the hair from his face and said "he must have exhausted himself with all that magic he performed. Harry has ability that no other wizard has Dad. You witnessed it just now, with the wall of fire."
"What do you mean honey?" Mrs. Granger asked.
"We discovered that Harry can perform fire magic. It runs in his blood line only. It goes back to the days of Prometheus and he inherited it. He discovered it when we were attacked in Flourish and Blotts a month ago; it's called fire magic. A death eater disguised as one of Mr. Weasley's sons tried to kidnap me. Harry somehow produced a fireball in his hand and when I tried to go to him to help I was accidentally hit with it. Anyway, he ended up basically incinerating the death eater. All that was left was a smoldering pile of ash. I think that Harry is more powerful than any of us know." She continued thoughtfully "Come to think of it, it is a good possibility that our child will possess this magical ability too."
"This magic stuff is sometimes too much for me to handle" said her Dad sitting down wearily.
Just then Remus came in with a healer in tow. The healer bent down and ran his wand over the length of Harry's body. When he was done, he looked at Remus and said "he's suffering from exhaustion. The best thing for him right now is to rest so that his body can restore his magical energy. We'll need to get him into a bed of his own."
"Um, Healer..." Hermione looked at him, asking a silent question.
"Davis, Healer Davis" he replied.
"Nice to meet you. Healer Davis, would it be possible to put a bed in here for Harry and let him share my mother's room?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"We don't normally allow that" he said, looking at all the disappointed faces around him. "However, I think we can make an exception for Mr. Potter and keep it quiet."
"Thank-you" said Hermione smiling up at him. She watched as he magically enlarged the room, conjured another bed next to her Mum's and levitated Harry onto it. With a wave of his wand, Harry's clothes were replaced by hospital pajamas.
"I'm going to have a nurse bring in a pepper-up potion for him to take when he wakes up. Will you make sure he takes it?" Healer Davis asked Hermione.
"Yes, I will make sure he takes it" she said while sitting on the edge of Harry's bed. "Thank-you for letting him stay in here with us" Hermione said. The Healer smiled at her in reply and walked out the door.
"I'm going to let Dumbledore know what transpired in the lobby" said Remus heading toward the door. "I'll be back in a little while" he said, exiting the room.
A short time after Remus left, Mr. Weasley knocked on the door of Mrs. Granger's room. Hermione let him in and
introduced her parents. When Mr. Weasley saw Harry in bed, he asked "what in the world happened to
Harry?"
"Remus, Harry and my Dad had a little run-in with Death Eaters in the lobby. He's ok; he just used so much magic that he exhausted himself." explained Hermione.
"They attacked, here?" he asked surprised. He stood in thoughtful silence for a while before he said "I'll get in contact with the Ministry and see if we can get some Aurors here to gaurd the room. Anyway, I guess I should explain why I'm here. Ron asked if I would come ask if you and Harry would come to his room. He wanted to speak to you."
"Well, obviously Harry can't go, but I can go talk to him. Did he want me to come now?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, he just woke up and he's feeling a little better now." said Mr. Weasley.
"Ok, I'll be right there" she said while turning to her parents. "I'll be back in a little while."
Hermione knocked lightly on the door, and when she heard Ron's voice telling her to come in, she walked in and said "Hi Ron. Your Dad said you wanted to talk to Harry and me?"
"Yeah. I take it Harry didn't want to come with you?" he asked looking behind her.
"He's in no condition to do anything right now. He had a run-in with some Death Eaters a little while ago and he's unconscious." she explained.
"I'm sure he'll be fine" Ron said feigning indifference; but she could see the concern in his eyes.
"Yeah, he'll be good as new tomorrow. So what did you want Ron?" she asked bluntly.
"Well, after you and Harry left yesterday I sat thinking for a while. I agree with Harry, we've said and done some hurtful things but I don't want to lose my two best friends. I know I've acted like an ass, but sometimes I get blinded with...jealousy when it comes to Harry. Seeing you and Harry holding hands yesterday, I realized it didn't bother me like I thought it would. I think I confused my feelings for you as being romantic; I realized I think of you more like I think of Ginny. Do you think we could be friends again?" Ron asked not looking at her.
"Ron, I would love for the three of us to be friends again. But there are things you need to know." She walked up to the chair next to his bed and sat down. Grabbing his hand and looking in his eyes, she said "Can I trust you with a very important secret Ron?" He stared at her for a minute, then nodded his head yes. "There's something you need to know before you decide you want to be friends with us again." She looked down at their interlocked hands for a moment, and when Ron squeezed her hand she looked up at him again. He was looking at her with a small smile on his face.
"After everything we've been through, I know that you've always gone to Harry" he said seriously "but I've realized that it's time I grow up. You and Harry have been great friends and it's time that I learn to be a great friend to the two of you." As he spoke, he noticed tears appear in Hermione's eyes. "Bloody hell, Hermione, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."
"It's okay Ron. That's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." She wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to reign in her emotions. "Ron, do you remember when Harry said that a lot had gone on lately?" At his nod, she continued "Ron, Harry and I are together now." She waited a second to see what his reaction would be.
"I figured that out when you two came in here yesterday" he said, surprising her. "I know that most of the time I'm dense, but even I could see that."
"Ok, well then there's more I need to tell you" she said, getting a little nervous. "Ron, I...We...I..." She saw a puzzled look on Ron's face, so she pulled herself together and said "When I woke up after I was hurt in Diagon Alley, Harry basically ran to Grimmauld Place and left me there. I was so hurt when I realized what he did. But we both know how he is; he always thinks that we get hurt because of him. After fighting with you and finding out how you felt about me, I was uncomfortable around you. So I decided to go to him and try to get him to understand that what happened wasn't his fault. Something happened during the attack that scared us both; we were pretty emotionally vulnerable at the time, and we admitted our feelings to each other. Well, things kind of went too far and we slept together."
Ron sat looking at her with a stunned look on his face. His mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. Finally he shook himself a little and said "WHAT!?"
"Calm down. I don't want you to get upset and make your injuries worse. Harry and I are as shocked as you are. Trust me when I say this was definitely not planned. With all the fighting, attacks and me getting hurt it's been a really emotional couple of months. We kind of got swept away in the midst of things and went too far. But there's more than just that. Ron, I found out I'm pregnant" she said, hoping he wouldn't explode.
Ron sat studying her face for a few moments, looked at her and said with sincerity "what are you going to do?"
"Well, we've discussed a few things and Harry asked me to marry him, and I said yes. We're so young, and I don't know about him but I am scared to death. Anyway, we're getting married after my birthday." After she said this, she remembered that this was supposed to be kept secret. "Ron, I know that we've not been close lately, but please don't mention this to anybody. We are trying to keep it a secret until the day of the ceremony. I would like to enjoy an attack free wedding." she said, trying to stress the importance of secrecy.
"I understand Hermione, and I swear to you that I will not say a word to anyone, not even Mum and Dad." He squeezed her hand and asked "are you happy?"
She smiled at him and said "deep down I think I am. I'm not saying I totally accept everything yet, but I love Harry. I want him to be happy too. I know you think he's lucky because he has money and fame, but he's had a truly horrible upbringing. He deserves to enjoy life a little." She looked at him and asked quietly "so do you think we can work through things and be friends again?"
"Yeah, it will take a little while to get used to the idea of you and Harry together, but I'll try my hardest. Do you think you can convince Harry to talk to me?" Ron asked.
"I think so, but since the attack happened I think they might move us out of here tomorrow. He might not get to see you until we're back at Hogwarts."
"I understand." He looked at her with an impish grin and asked "so do you forgive me for being such a prat?" he asked smiling.
"I forgive you. Let's try to put this behind us because the next nine or ten months are going to be very hard to get through." She saw him nodding and said "well, I need to get back and check on Harry. You take care of yourself so you can get back to school." She laughed when he grimaced at the mention of school. She leaned down, hugged him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you soon Ron."
About an hour later, Remus walked back into her Mum's room. "There are Aurors stationed outside the door for
the night so you should be safe. Dumbledore feels that if they will clear you to leave in the morning, we should all go
to Hogwarts tomorrow.
"It would be better than being stuck in this hospital room" said Mr. Granger.
"It would be nice to get back to the castle. Harry is safer there, plus our stuff is already there." She made a disgusted face and said "I would love to be able to change my clothes since I've been wearing these for two days."
"We had a long talk with Dumbledore and if you approve of what we discussed then we can start planning your wedding tomorrow." said Remus and smiled as Hermione's face lit up at the news of her upcoming nuptials. Remus told her the details of their discussion and she agreed with their plans.
"Your Mum and I have permission to stay in the guest quarters at Hogwarts, so we'll be able to help with whatever you need" said Hermione's Dad.
Hermione had tears in her eyes as she listened to the details. Her life was not going the way she had planned, but obviously fate had something else in mind for her. "Thank-you all for being so supportive. I know we've disappointed you; trust me when I say I'm disappointed with myself. I let one moment of total abandon wreck my plans for my future. But a part of me isn't sorry this happened. We don't know how much longer Harry will live" when her parents looked at her questioningly she explained "there's a prophecy; basically it states Harry has to kill Voldemort or vice versa. So if I can give him just a little happiness then that's what I'm going to do. And if something does happen to him, Merlin forbid, then I will always have a reminder of him and what we shared."
Everyone stood there looking at Hermione with something akin to respect. Her father hugged her and said "I am a little disappointed this happened, but I'm not going to risk losing you. I'd rather be here for you and enjoy my grandchild."
Remus looked at her and said "I promise you that the Order and I plan to do everything we can to ensure Harry lives a long, full life. As for the rest, you have a strong support system behind the two of you. It will be hard, but you will have help getting through your last two years of schooling. Now, I think you should turn in and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be the start of a very hectic three weeks." With that, Remus waved good-bye and walked out the door.
The next day dawned sunny, and Harry awoke early. "Hermione?" he asked, trying to get his bearings. Hermione
rolled over and looked up at Harry's bed, where she saw him looking back at her.
"You finally woke up, eh sleepyhead?" she asked while getting up to retrieve the pepper up potion. She walked over to his bed and held it out to him. "Drink this" she said, handing it to him.
"What is it?" he asked. At the stern look she gave him, he drank it quickly. "Ugh!" he said making a face.
"Good Morning!" said Healer Davis as he walked in the door. "How are you feeling Harry?"
"Better I guess" Harry replied "What happened to me anyway?"
"You used a lot of magical energy fighting off the Death Eaters" said Hermione holding his hand.
"You were suffering from exhaustion when Mr. Lupin brought me to you." explained the healer. "I'm going to do a quick examination of Mrs. Granger to see if we can release her today."
He went over to Hermione's Mum, who was still sleeping, and did the examination. "Everything looks fine. She will need to take it easy for the next week or so. As for you Harry" he said turning to face him "you look much better this morning. Did you take the potion I left for you?"
"I made sure he took it immediately after waking up" said Hermione smartly.
"Then you are all free to leave today" said Healer Davis as he shook hands with Harry and left.
After they had all woke up and got ready, Remus came into the room and took them down to the lobby. They flooed to Hogwarts and met with the Headmaster. He showed Hermione's parents where they would be staying, explaining how to get there from Gryffindor tower so Hermione could come and visit. After settling them into their room, Harry and Hermione made their way to their rooms so they could shower and change their clothes. When they were done cleaning up, they went down to the Great Hall to eat breakfast. When they walked into the Hall, they noticed how empty it was. There were only about thirty students per table; the rest they assumed were hurt in the attack or their parents had taken them home for the remaining two weeks.
Harry walked in and sat next to Neville Longbottom while Hermione sat next to Harry. "Hey Neville" said Harry "how are you doing?"
"Ok I guess. Things have been kind of gloomy around here since the attack. There's talk that some of the parents aren't going to let their children come back to school because of what happened." Neville replied, then looked nervously at him. "Um, Harry, I don't suppose you heard about Cho, did you?"
Harry and Hermione looked at him with questioning looks. "No, I haven't heard anything about her, why?"
"Well, she was killed in the attack" Neville said quietly "her funeral is in two days if you want to go."
Hermione grabbed his hand when she saw the look on his face. She knew he was upset to lose someone else he knew well. "Are you ok Harry?" she asked squeezing his hand lightly.
"Yeah, I'm just a little shocked is all. Who else was killed Neville?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.
"As far as I know, ten that were lost were first years. They had no idea what was happening or what to do. There were also three third year Gryffindors and then Cho. I'm not sure about the rest." Neville said with a grim look on his face.
"Thanks for letting me know" said Harry then turned his attention to his breakfast. He wasn't very hungry, but he knew after yesterday he needed to eat something. He looked over at Hermione and asked "Why aren't you eating anything?"
She leaned closer to him and whispered "I'm not feeling very well. I'm really nauseous."
"Is there anything I can do?" he asked, rubbing her back lightly.
"I think I'm going to go see Madam Pomfrey. Maybe she'll have some time to do a complete examination today." said Hermione getting up from her seat.
"I'll go with you" said Harry getting up also "I'm not really that hungry right now either."
They walked hand-in-hand into the hospital ward and found Madam Pomfrey in her office. There were still a few students in the ward, but not near as many as the last time they were here.
"Hello Harry, Hermione" said the nurse looking up from the parchment she was writing on. "What can I do for you?"
"I haven't been feeling the best this morning Madam Pomfrey" said Hermione. "I was wondering if you had time to give me a check up this morning?"
"Yes, I have a little free time. Why don't we get you on a bed and get started?" said the nurse, walking out of her office and motioning towards an empty bed.
While Hermione laid down, Madam Pomfrey put curtains around the bed and cast a silencing charm to insure privacy. Harry had stood outside the curtains until Madam Pomfrey poked her head out and asked if he would join them. When he walked over to the side of the bed, Hermione looked at him and asked "do you want to know the sex of the baby Harry?"
"Isn't it too soon to find out?" Harry asked.
"No, things aren't the same as they are in the muggle world. If I remember correctly, wizards can find out the sex of their baby at only four weeks gestation." Hermione replied.
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment and said "I'm not sure. Would you like to know?" he asked looking expectantly at Hermione.
"I think we should, if only so we can buy clothes and other things before he or she is born." Hermione replied.
"Then I think we should too" agreed Harry, reaching down to hold her hand while Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Hermione's stomach in an intricate pattern. While they watched, a blue glow erupted around her stomach, then faded.
"Does that mean..." Hermione asked not finishing her question.
"It's a boy" said Madam Pomfrey, smiling at them. "Congratulations. I'm done with the examination, just remember to take that potion I gave you every morning for the morning sickness. It should help ease the symptoms, but it won't stop them completely. Also, you should know that I'm already picking up a fair amount of magical energy from your baby. When I did some of the tests during the examination, I noticed there was already the same magical energy that a one year old child would possess. We're going to have to keep a close eye on it, and it will affect your magic also. I will speak to your teachers and let them know what is going on" she said while walking back to her office. "Remember to come see me again in about four weeks unless you start experiencing any stomach pain or bleeding."
"Okay, thank-you Madam Pomfrey" said Hermione, smiling ear to ear. She turned to say something to Harry, but noticed a forlorn look on his face. "Harry, what's the matter?"
He looked at her and she was surprised at the lost look in his eyes. She stopped and hugged him, trying to encourage him to tell her what was wrong. He pulled back from her and said "how am I supposed to do this?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, getting worried about the way he was acting.
"How am I supposed to help raise a baby, a boy no less, when I have no idea what a real family is like in the first place? All I have to base life experience on is from the Dursley's and I swore no child of mine would ever grow up the way I did." He said, his voice rising with each word. "And what about Voldemort? What will you do if he kills me in the final battle?" He ranted on "I'm not going to fool myself into believing that I'm a shoo-in to win the fight with him. I have to face reality and realize I could die soon."
Hermione looked at him with a sad smile. She had a feeling this would come up sometime. "I've thought about what I would do if you were gone Harry, and I decided that I will deal with that if and when the time comes. I'm sure that Dumbledore and the Order will make sure you are well trained before the final battle. And as for raising our child, all you need to do is listen to your heart. You turned out to be a good person despite the family you were raised by. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know and I know that you have lots of love to give to our son."
"Our son" Harry said with disbelief in his voice. "This seems so unreal sometimes. I don't know what the fates were thinking, but I'm glad to have you in my life."
"Me too" said Hermione reaching up to give Harry a kiss.
Later that afternoon, Remus appeared in the Gryffindor common room to take Harry to Hogsmeade. They had decided to go
ring shopping today, and they were trying to keep it a secret from Hermione. She wasn't making it very easy for
them.
"What are you going into Hogsmeade for? If this has to do with the wedding, shouldn't I come?" she asked getting up off of the couch.
"No 'Mione, Remus and I have to...get fitted for our robes for the ceremony." Harry said trying to come up with a plausible excuse to get her to stay behind.
"Oh, alright then. I guess I can curl up with a book and relax for a while. It's been a hectic couple of days" she said walking over to give him a kiss goodbye. She wrapped her arms around his neck while he put his arms around her waist. He drew her close and lightly brushed his lips over hers, seeking entrance. When she opened to him, he lightly ran his tongue over her lips and then into her mouth. They took turns exploring and enjoying the other's taste when they heard Remus clear his throat loudly. Pulling apart quickly, they looked over at him and blushed. "Sorry Remus" said Harry "got a little carried away."
"Yeah, you two really need to work on that" he said while smiling at them. "We really need to get going Harry."
"Alright, I'll see you later Love" said Harry kissing Hermione on the cheek then walking out the portrait hole with Lupin.
As they walked around Hogsmeade going from jewelry shop to jewelry shop, Harry was slowly losing hope of finding the perfect ring. "Maybe I should have let her pick her own" said Harry, his frustration evident in his voice.
"There's one shop left that we haven't been to yet" said Remus "it's just up ahead. Why don't we look in there, and then if you can't find one we'll bring Hermione here tomorrow."
"Alright" Harry said as they reached the door to the last jewelry shop left that they hadn't been in. He walked in and started looking at all the rings in the cases along the walls. When he had looked through them all and had still not found what he wanted, he ran his hand through his hair and sighed loudly. While he did this, an elderly witch came out from the back and walked over to where he was.
"May I help you find something Sir?" she asked kindly.
"I hope so. I'm looking for an engagement ring for my fiancee, and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for" Harry explained.
"Ok, I think I can help you. You are looking for something one of a kind, right?" When he nodded, she went on "She is very special to you, and you want to find the perfect ring to symbolize your love?" At Harry's astonished look, she laughed and said "I have the perfect ring for you."
She walked behind the counter and brought out a small velvet box. When she opened it, there was just a small chunk of gold sitting inside. At Harry's bewildered expression, she said "I will hold this metal in my left hand and hold my right hand over your heart. I want you to close your eyes and tell me what your fiancee is like." She walked over to Harry with the gold in her left hand, and put her right hand on his chest over his heart. Harry closed his eyes, and after a moment of thought said "She's beautiful inside and out. She puts my problems before her problems, and always makes time for me if I need to talk. She's warm, kind, smart and the love of my life." He stopped when he felt the witch lift her hand off his chest. She opened her hand and Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing. There in the palm of her hand was a beautiful gold band with a one-carat heart shaped diamond. On one side of the diamond was a small heart shaped Ruby with the bottom point connected to the bigger stone. The other side was a small heart shaped Sapphire with the bottom point also connected to the diamond. It was exactly what Harry had been looking for.
"Is that what you wanted Harry?" Remus asked. When Harry nodded, he asked "what are the stones on the side of the diamond?"
"They're our birthstones" answered Harry. "When the baby is born I would like to add it's birthstone on to it too. That way it's a family ring also. I need to get a set of wedding bands too" he said turning back to the woman.
The witch nodded and produced a pair of thick gold bands. It was solid except for one row of five small diamonds in the front of each. "They're perfect. I'll take them too."
Harry followed the sales witch up to the counter to pay for the rings. She put the engagement ring in a beautiful maroon velvet box with a gold bow around it and the wedding set into a black velvet box.. Harry thanked her and hurried out of the shop.
"What's the rush Harry?" Remus asked.
"I want to give her the engagement ring as soon as I get back. After everything she's gone through the past couple of days, I want to give this to her to show her that I'm proud she's my fiancee." Harry explained while they walked back to the castle.
"That's a great idea Harry. She deserves all the happiness you can give her." said Remus, patting Harry's shoulder proudly as they walked through the front gate.