"I know that won't be the case, but go on," he urged gently.
"I don't think I can have children," she said weakly, "I don't know if you remember me telling you a while back that Bret and I had been trying."
"Yes, I remember," he answered.
"Well, we tried for about a whole year and a half and nothing ever happened," she said, trying to hide the few stray tears that were still falling. "I've given up hope of ever being able to get pregnant. I couldn't go through with this without telling you the price you'd pay for being with me."
This was his Hermione, always honest; it was one of the things he loved most about her. Harry got up from the table, went over to her side, and wrapped her in a strong embrace.
"It doesn't matter, Hermione. I want you, and if that's how things will be, it still doesn't change anything. I would have liked to have a few little copies of you running around, but if that's not possible, I'll still have the original all to myself."
She knew that he meant what he said, and squeezed him tightly.
"I love you so much, Harry," she said, "So when can we go to get my things and Crookshanks?"
"Whenever you're ready, baby."
"So, what do you say we have dessert and then go straight over?" she asked.
For a second he looked puzzled, because they hadn't made anything for dessert. Then he saw the look in her eyes.
"Oh, that kind of dessert, huh?" he said silkily.
Without another word, he scooped her up, threw her over his shoulder, and took her, laughing and play-fighting to the bedroom.
That evening they went to see Ron and Ginny. Both of them were there at the time. Ginny hugged Hermione tightly and they sat down at the table together. The guys went to Ron's room and left them alone.
Ginny could hardly contain herself. "Tell me that something happened between you and Harry, Hermione. You two have got to be together," she said.
Hermione nodded. "Oh yeah, something happened alright, and I'm here just to pick up my things and go back to Harry's. He wants me to live with him until we can get married. I told him about my problem, that I can't have children, and he said that he wanted me anyway. Ginny, I love him so much."
Ginny squealed. "Oh that's great, Hermione! I'm so happy for both of you."
"Thanks. So what's been going on around here while I was gone? How have you and Ron been doing?" she asked.
"You'd better be glad you weren't here yesterday," Ginny began in a hushed tone, "because Bret showed up looking for you."
"Are you serious? After all this time that I've been moved out, he actually came here? I bet things just didn't work out with his little fling, and he wanted company," Hermione said in disgust.
"You know what? That's exactly what Ron told him! He was the one who answered the door. Hermione, I have never seen him so mad at anybody since we were at Hogwarts and he had to put up with Malfoy. They were outside and I could still hear everything!"
Hermione's eyes got wide. "Well, what did they say?"
"Bret didn't get to say much of anything, I can tell you that. Ron just went off on him and told him how it was his fault that his two best friends had missed out on five years of loving each other because of his selfishness. He told him that if he didn't want to get his little pretty-boy face messed up, that he wouldn't show it around here ever again."
Hermione's jaw dropped. She knew how Ron could get when he was angry, but this was getting interesting.
"What happened after that?" she asked.
"Bret said something to him about it not being any of his business, and well, Ron let him have it," Ginny said, looking amused.
"Did he hex him?"
"No, he didn't even bother with his wand. He just started pounding him. I didn't see Bret after he left, but I could hear the punches, Hermione, and when Ron came back in, he didn't have any bruises."
Both of the girls started laughing so hard that they bent over holding their sides. Just then, Harry and Ron came back in.
"What's up with you two?" Ron asked and couldn't help grinning at the sight of them looking so hysterical.
"Oh, Ron," said Hermione as she stood up from the table, still laughing heartily. "Ginny told me about what happened yesterday. You're the best, really."
The guys chuckled. Apparently, Ron had also filled Harry in. Hermione went over to Ron and hugged him, still giggling a little. Ron was so tall that she didn't even come up to his chin. He easily bent to kiss the top of her head, one arm around her and the other around Harry, so that they were all close together. They stood there for a minute, just thinking about old times.
"It was the least I could do for my best friends," Ron said sweetly. Harry and Hermione knew how much he cared about them both.
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