Just a quick author's note: I don't plan to explain everything Hermione is feeling in this chapter, because truth be told she probably doesn't know herself what she is feeling. I've been pregnant twice, and let me just say that you do and say things you wouldn't normally do or say. Hormones run rampant and you feel like you lose control of your emotions sometimes. Just ask my poor husband! :) I hope you will continue to read and enjoy my story. Thanks for all the great reviews!!!
"WHAT?!" shouted Lord Voldemort as he shot up from his chair, knocking Lucius onto his back. He started pacing back and forth rapidly, all the while muttering quietly to himself.
"Master" said Lucius, righting himself and staring at the floor "I thought you would be pleased with this news?"
"Pleased? Why would I be pleased to know that there is going to be ANOTHER Potter heir?" spat Voldemort.
"B-but what about using Granger to get at Potter? We could take care of them both and be rid of them for good!" Lucius asked.
Voldemort continued to pace for a few minutes in quiet thought, then said "for now, we will do nothing." He saw the shocked look cross Malfoy's face and yelled "Do you doubt me?!" Lucius cringed and lowered himself more onto the floor. "Potter and Dumbledore have been expecting us to go after him and his wife since news spread of their marriage. We have the upper hand with the knowledge that the mudblood is pregnant. The longer we make them wait, the more nervous they shall become. When she is further along she will be less able to protect herself, and that is when we will take her to lure out Potter. Until then, make sure your son keeps an eye on them both!" Lucius bowed his way out of the room while Voldemort sat in his seat again. 'I will beat you at your own game' thought Voldemort. 'If that child is allowed to be born, it could fulfill the prophecy if Potter doesn't and that is NOT going to happen!'
Harry and Hermione continued with their classes and homework, unaware that Draco knew their secret, was following them and reporting everything back to Lucius for Voldemort. Hermione was starting to show now, but it was just a little bulge. To hear her talk of it, she was as big as a mountain! Harry refrained from rolling his eyes lest she catch him, bringing on another lecture about how he had the easy part in it all. He was starting to wonder if he was really the lucky one or not. It seemed to him that their relationship had become a little one sided-he always sought her out, he was the one to hug or kiss her first, and he was the one giving all the attention. He knew she was busy, but they WERE married now. Ever since the night after the quidditch match against Slytherin, Hermione had become...needy. The strong, independant girl he fell in love with was now clingy and insecure. She seemed to bury herself more in her homework now so she wouldn't have to talk to him, and she never wanted to be out in the common room with the other students. She spent all her time in their room, and she expected him to always be in there with her. He walked into their room after his last quidditch practice before the holidays to find her once again at her desk doing class work. When he sighed rather loudly at the sight, Hermione looked up from her book to shoot him a nasty look.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to read" she said in a rather snide tone.
"As a matter of fact I DO mind" he said rather loudly, finally fed up. "All you ever do anymore is class work, or you're in the library reading. What about our friends Hermione, what about me; what about US?"
"What about US?" she asked, getting up to stand in front of him. "What, am I not paying enough attention to the boy wonder?" A shocked look crossed Harry's face, soon to be replaced with one of anger. Hermione's eyes went wide in fear for a moment, then her haughty demeanor was back. "All you seem to do is paw at me and try to take my attention away from the work I need to do."
"You know what? I'm sick of this. I have put you first in front of everything and really not asked for anything in return. I've been here when you've been sick, I hold you when you cry for NO REASON and I put up with being ignored by you all the time! When I try to talk to you, you give me one or two word responses and go on your merry way! And don't even get me started on your mood swings..."Harry's voice had continued to rise and his face had taken on a reddish color the more he talked. Hermione stood there with her mouth open in disbelief during his ranting, then she snapped.
"Who the bloody hell do you think you are?" she yelled, pushing against his chest and causing him to stumble back. "I'm the one trying to keep up my grades, I'm the one who has to put up with your incessant whining and I'm the one carrying this baby!"
"Yeah, I know you're bloody Mother Theresa!" he yelled back, causing her to slap him hard across the face. He took a step towards her and stopped himself, balling his fists at his side. "I've had it! I've stood by you and tried to be a husband, even though I have no idea what that entails. You've continued to ignore me and make me feel bloody useless. Since you obviously don't need me around, I'll leave!" Hermione stared in shock at his words while he turned on his heel and slammed out of their room. He stalked across the common room towards the portrait, ignoring all the whispers directed his way. Ron noted his expression and quickly got off of the couch stopping him.
"Harry, what's going on?" he asked. He took a step back at the angry glare Harry shot him and he could see just how tense his body was. "Hey Mate, tell ya what, why don't we go to the room of requirement and hang out for a while like we did the night before your wedding?" At the mention of his wedding, if it was possible, Harry's body tensed even more. They both turned when they heard the door to Harry and Hermione's room open and saw a tearful Hermione poke her head out.
"Harry..." she started, but before she could continue Harry grabbed Ron's arm and said "Fuck it! Let's go" practically dragging him out of the common room.
They ended up in the room of requirement with the same Leaky Cauldron backdrop again. The only difference this time is that the room had given them alcoholic butterbeer, more than likely based on Harry's mood. They were sitting at a table sipping their drinks and Ron was waiting for Harry to open up about what happened. They sat in companionable silence for quite a while when Harry said "I don't know if I can do this Ron."
Ron looked up surprised and asked "Do what?"
"Marriage. I should have known that it wouldn't work with us being so young" Harry said, then took a huge gulp of the butterbeer. It looked to Ron as if the drink was loosening Harry's tongue.
"What's going on with you guys Harry? You two don't seem very happy anymore" Ron asked.
"Happy? I don't think I remember what that is anymore. I've always wanted a family of my own. Of course I never thought I'd have one this fast. And now it seems like whatever I do is wrong" Harry replied, sounding miserable. "I try to give Hermione attention, affection and love. If I walk into our room, she just ignores me and keeps on doing whatever it is she's doing. When we go to bed at night" Ron looked a little uncomfortable here "she faces away from me and goes right to sleep. We used to be so close, and now if I try to talk to her she throws it in my face that she's the one who has to go through everything. She's the one carrying the baby, she's the one who's always sick because of it. It's my fault her stomach is as big as a watermelon..." Harry trailed off to look up and find Ron with a smile on his face.
"Big as a watermelon, huh?" he asked.
"According to her, yeah. It's all my fault none of her clothes fit anymore. If I remember correctly, she didn't have any complaints while we were having the sex that caused that problem!" Ron winced and looked away, not really wanting to think on that. "I can't stand being around her anymore Ron" Harry said quietly, playing with the label on his bottle "and it scares me."
Ron snapped his attention back to Harry's face and realized just how miserable he looked. He really couldn't remember the last time he heard Harry laugh, or Hermione for that matter. It scared him a little to think of his best friends being so miserable together. "Have you tried to tell her that?" he asked and looked up to see an incredulous look on Harry's face. "Right, sorry. I take it she doesn't take you seriously?"
"No, she acts like I'm nuts and shrugs it off. I've tried to work this out. It's as if she doesn't want it to work sometimes" Harry said.
"What are you going to do when the two of you go to her parents' house for Christmas? Isn't that going to be awkward?" Ron asked.
"Maybe it would be best if I didn't go with her. Maybe some time alone with them would help her relax and have some fun. I could stay here at the castle like I usually do" Harry replied.
"I'd hate to be you when you tell Hermione you're staying here instead of spending Christmas with her" said Ron cringing at the thought of an angry Hermione.
"Who knows, she might be happy at the idea. The way she's been treating me, she might be happy without me, period." Harry finished up his third butterbeer and stood up, wobbling a little. "I need to get some sleep. We should get back" he said while walking unsteadily to the door. Ron walked up beside him and slung Harry's arm around his shoulders, helping him back to the common room. When they got back, the room was empty except for Hermione. She looked up when they walked in and stood up quickly. She rushed over to them thinking something had happened, then realized Harry was drunk.
"He's drunk!" she said angrily. "What have you two been doing? You know he's too young to..." she stopped at the angry look Ron was giving her.
"Knock off the nagging for two minutes, would you Hermione? From what he's told me, you drove him to drink. I don't know what is going on with you two, but it's evident how miserable you both are. I know it's none of my business, but you two are my best friends and I hate to see you unhappy like this. Leave him be until morning and talk to him, would you?" Ron started to walk Harry over to his room when Harry mumbled "the couch."
"What?" Ron asked, confused.
"I want to sleep on the couch tonight" said Harry, gesturing toward it. Ron walked him over to it and sat him down.
"What do you think you're doing Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry looked at her angrily and said "I'm sleeping here tonight. Might do us both some good, eh?" Hermione shook her head in disbelief as tears sprung to her eyes. "Do what you want Harry" she said shakily, then went back to their room, slamming the door. Ron took that as his cue and said "Night Harry. Hopefully things look better in the morning" then made his way up to his room.
"I doubt it" Harry said as he lay down, instantly falling asleep.
After their falling out, Harry and Hermione stayed away from each other as much as possible. Harry would go to their room when he knew she would be asleep and he would sleep on the couch. In the morning when he woke up she was already up and out of the room. As the tension between them grew, so did the tension among the Gryffindors. No one could understand what happened to the golden couple, and if someone was brave enough to ask, they only asked once. Hermione buried herself even more into books and spent more time in the library and Harry had started training in the room of requirement every night. Ron was completely torn between the two of them. He was worried about Hermione because of what the stress could do to her, and he felt bad for Harry because he knew he was hurting. He never saw either of them smile anymore and they hardly talked to anyone but him (separately of course!) One day it got to be too much for Ron and he went to see Professor Dumbledore. After finding out the password from Professor McGonagall, he rode the winding stairs up to the office and knocked on the door. When prompted by Dumbledore, he walked into his office and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"Well, Mr. Weasley, what may I ask brings you here today?" Dumbledore asked with the usual twinkle in his eyes.
"I'm here to talk to you about Harry and Hermione Sir" said Ron uncomfortably. "There's been some, uh, trouble."
"Trouble?" Dumbledore repeated as a concerned look passed over his face and just as quickly as it came, disappeared.
"Um, yes sir. You see, they had a big fight a couple of weeks ago and they aren't talking to each other. They are both miserable and I don't know what to do to help them" Ron explained.
"Oh? I've heard grumblings from some Gryffindors about arguments and slamming doors but I had no idea what they were talking about. I take it that it pertains to them?" When Ron nodded, Dumbledore asked "What exactly concerns you about them Mr. Weasley?"
"The fact that they aren't getting along is what concerns me. Harry has a lot to worry about, and being distracted by Hermione should not be one of them. And Hermione does not need to be stressed out like she is. That can not be good for her or the baby. And truthfully, I miss my friends; they just aren't the same Harry and Hermione I know and love Sir."
Dumbledore sat in thoughtful silence for a couple of minutes, and then said "Thank you for bringing this to my attention Mr. Weasley. I think I have a solution, but I need to check on something first. If my idea works out, I will let you know and you can help me. Does this sound ok?"
"Yes Sir, just so long as it's soon. I don't know how much more I can take of this, let alone everyone else in Gryffindor Tower."
After two days of the same behavior, Ron was called into Dumbledore's office. When he walked in, he was surprised
to see not only Remus standing there, but also Hermione's parents.
"Hello Ron" said Remus.
"Uh, hi!" he said, still shocked.
"Mr. Weasley, I think I have found the help we need. Do you think you can get Harry and Hermione into their quarters together?" Dumbledore asked.
"I will try, but I can't guarantee anything" said Ron. "Am I allowed to tell them you're here?" he asked, looking at the three adults in front of him.
"If it will help you get them there" said Remus smiling.
Ron headed off to the library first while Remus took Hermione's parents to their room. Ron found her sitting at her favorite table, reading a huge book. "Hi Hermione" he said pleasantly.
"Hullo" said Hermione unenthusiastically, not even looking up from the book.
"Um, you need to go to your room Hermione" Ron said, smacking himself mentally at his lame statement. When Hermione looked at him questioningly, he said "your parents just got here. They said they needed to speak with you, so I let them into your room to wait."
Hermione looked worried for a second, and then said "thanks Ron. I appreciate it" and left. 'One down, one to go' he thought, heading for the room of requirement.
Ron found Harry in the RoR and waited for him to finish his training simulation. He was impressed at how hard he was working, but it didn't look like his heart was in it. He walked over to Ron, looking exhausted and sweaty, and asked "what are you doing here Ron?"
"I just saw Remus in our common room. He said he needed to talk to you, so I let him into your room and said I would come get you." When Harry looked apprehensive for a minute, Ron sadly said "don't worry Harry, she's not there."
Harry's head snapped up as he looked at Ron, then shrugging it off made his way back to his room with Ron in tow. When they walked into the common room, Ron noticed no one was around which was good. It meant that everyone was already in their private room. As Harry said the password and walked in, Ron made sure to go in right behind him to block the door. When Harry saw the group sitting in his room, he immediately turned around to go right back out. When he saw Ron guarding the door, he gave him a look that could have killed and whipped back around.
"What are you all doing here?" Harry asked rudely.
Hermione continued to stare at the floor as Remus stepped up to Harry and said "we were told you and Hermione might need our help." When Harry and Hermione heard this, they immediately turned their angry glares at Ron, who just shrugged it off.
"I'm tired of you two moping around all day long. You are both miserable, and even though you don't see it, you're making everyone around you miserable too" Ron explained. "I'm going to go so you all can discuss this privately. Please try and work things out" and Ron simply turned and left the room.
"So who wants to start" Remus asked, waving his wand and conjuring another small couch across from the one Hermione and her parents were sitting on. "Neither one of you?" getting no response whatsoever, Remus quietly asked "are the two of you sorry you married?"
They both looked at him, surprised by his question. "Why do you look surprised?" he asked "you two act as if you hate each other; it is a fair question."
"I don't hate Harry" Hermione said so quietly they barely heard her. Without looking up, she said "I don't know how to act around him anymore. I feel like I don't know him anymore." Her Mum wrapped her in a hug as she started to cry and her Dad looked angrily at Harry.
"Is this how you take care of her?" he almost yelled, standing up and advancing on him. "You promised to take care of our little girl, and here she is stressed and hurting because of YOU!" Robert grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt, his face right in front of Harry's.
"I know what I promised" mumbled Harry, not looking at him.
"And? Why are you fighting with my daughter?!" asked her Dad, shaking Harry as he spoke.
"Let me go" Harry growled out quietly.
"What? No, not until you answer my questions!" her Dad yelled in his face.
"Robert..." said her Mum. "Daddy..." said Hermione, trying to calm him down. Remus got up from his seat, and just as he started to make his way over to them he heard a growl emit from Harry.
"I SAID let Go of ME!!" As he said this, Harry's eyes flared to life, the flame inside of him coming alive with his anger. Hermione's Dad saw this and immediately let him go. It was Harry's turn to advance on him, and getting right in his face, said "Mind your own business!" As he yelled this, the door behind him burst into flames, burning it to ashes in mere seconds. Harry turned and stormed out of the room, Ron sitting in the common room with a look of sheer awe and alarm on his face.
"HARRY!" Hermione called, running after him. Harry stormed out the portrait hole, and before she could follow her Dad grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Let me go! I need to find him and calm him down before he hurts himself or someone else!"
"What if he hurts you? That boy is out of control!" her Dad said, trying to drag her back into the room.
"Daddy!" she cried, wrenching her arm away from him. He turned to look at her and said "I've been horrible to Harry. This is mainly my fault, I just haven't been able to find a way to tell him how sorry I am. I've been a total horror to him when he was only trying to take care of me." By this time she was crying and her Mum came to hug and comfort her once more. When she calmed down, she looked at Ron and asked "do you know where he went?"
"Yeah, the Room of Requirement" he said, with a small smile on his face.
"Thanks. I'll be back after I find him and fix this mess." She turned away from the group and made her way out the portrait hole to find Harry.
Harry had stormed down to the RoR, and once inside saw exactly what he needed. The room had set up a replica of Diagon Alley, and after the door closed behind him a death eater jumped out of an alley to the right of him. "Flammo Maximus!" he yelled, and immediately the death eater was consumed in flames. Another one came out behind him, and thrusting his arm out and turning quickly, yelled "cremo per grandis!" and he also became a ball of fire. Harry continued to do this, exercising all of the rage he felt inside of himself. Mr. Granger's words kept echoing in his head and he could feel the guilt consume him.
Meanwhile, Hermione made her way to the door of the room. She had been going over everything in her head and couldn't believe how much things had gotten out of control. She felt guilty about the way she treated Harry; he had gone above and beyond for her and how did she thank him? By acting like an ungrateful little brat who didn't care if she hurt his feelings. She saw the door up ahead, and walked up, grabbing the handle.
Harry was being swarmed by death eaters; the room was really challenging him this time. He must have wanted an outlet for the anger that was building inside of him. He was going in circles, firing off fire-darts and fireballs at anything that sprung out at him. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned and hurled a huge fireball at the blur only to see..."HERMIONE!!"
Hermione's head jerked up as he screamed her name, and her eyes widened in fear as she saw the fireball coming at her. She threw her arms in front of her face in a feeble attempt at protecting herself. She screwed her eyes shut and bent her body down in a protective stance.
As Harry watched in horror, the fireball was just about to hit her dead center in the chest when all of a sudden, a blue halo of light surrounded her ntire body. The fireball bounced harmlessly off of the blue shield and dissipated quickly. Harry watched dumbstruck as the shield held for a minute, then disappeared leaving a cowering Hermione in front of him. "What the HELL just happened?!"