SEVEN
July finally arrived. Hermione was getting things ready to go back home and tell both Harry and her parents the news she had kept from them. Nobody in London knew she'd be going home in two days.
That morning, Hermione went to Professor Fanizza's office. Since there wasn't a fireplace in Hermione's apartment, she asked the Professor if she could use it. Minutes later, Hermione kneeled on the floor by the fireplace, threw some floo power into it, and stacked her face into the green flames.
A couple of seconds later, Ginny and Luna's living room - they had been living together since they left Hogwarts - came into focus.
"Hello?"
"Hermione?" Ginny walked out of the kitchen and run to the fireplace to greet Hermione. "Hey there! How are things going?"
"Things are… okay," said Hermione not quite looking into Ginny's eyes.
"You don't sound that convinced, is something the matter?" asked Ginny with concern in her voice.
"Well, yeah… but don't worry, I'm okay. I just… I need to ask you for a favor, two actually." Hermione looked at her shyly.
"Sure hon, what is it?" asked Ginny curiously.
Hermione took a breath. "I'm going to London the day after tomorrow."
"You're coming home?" asked Ginny surprised. "You want me to pick you at the airport? But, aren't you just starting with your internship? Or are you just taking a summer break?"
"No," said Hermione looking away for a little while. "Actually, I'm finished with my program, both courses and internship. I'm off until December when I'll be graduating."
"How's that?"
"Well…" Hermione knew she had to tell Ginny. "Something came up and I had to rearrange things." Seeing Ginny's confused expression, Hermione continued talking. "I… Ginny, I'm pregnant." Ginny looked dumbstruck. "I'm pregnant with Harry's baby."
"You're… what?! But how… when?"
Hermione let out a gasp and told Ginny, without any specifics, about Harry's visit, about the special arrangements made for her at the Academy so she could complete her program, and about her plans to go back home.
"There's just one thing, my parents don't know anything yet. Well, you're the only one in London who know so far actually, and I hope you can keep this to yourself at least until I get there."
"Of course!" said Ginny. "It's not my place to tell anybody."
"Anyway, what I wanted to ask you, and Luna of course, is if you guys could let me stay with you while I find a place for myself. I don't want to stay at my parents' and have to listen to their lectures every day."
"Yeah, yeah," said Ginny quickly. "Don't worry. You can stay with us as long as you need."
"Thanks Ginny. I knew I could count on you."
--- * --- * --- * ---
Monday afternoon, Hermione arrived at London. Ginny was already there waiting for her.
"Hermione!" she said pulling Hermione into a tight hug. "You look great! Pregnancy definitely agrees with you."
"Thanks," said Hermione returning the hug. "Where's Luna?"
"She and Ron went to Morocco," said Ginny while helping Hermione with her bags. "Her birthday is tomorrow and since she's always wanted to go there, Ron took her as a birthday present. They'll be back Saturday."
"Oh, that's so nice of him," said Hermione sadly. She'd love to have what Rona and Luna had found in each other. "I reckon Ron is doing good at his job."
"Yeah. That job Dad got him in the Ministry turned out to be great for him." Both girls walked towards the exit of the airport and grabbed a taxi. "How was your flight?"
"Long," said Hermione letting out a sigh. "Sitting down for five hours was not a comfortable thing, especially now."
Ginny smiled at her. "And… when are you going to see your parents?"
"They're not in town right now. They left last night to Scotland for a conference and won't be back until Friday," said Hermione rolling down the taxi's window. Being seven-months pregnant during the summer was not an easy thing. She had trouble dealing with the warm weather.
"Did you come back while they were away on purpose?" asked Ginny looking at her.
"Yeah," admitted Hermione shyly, not looking at Ginny. "I want to talk to Harry before talking to them."
"When do you plan to do that?"
"Today," responded Hermione looking up at Ginny. "I have to tell him today. I need to get this over with."
--- * --- * --- * ---
Two hours later, Hermione apparated at Harry's front door. She was wearing a knee-high maternity tank dress, her hair down. She had decided to first take a little nap to regain her strength. She wasn't sure how things would go. She hadn't spent much time thinking about Harry's reaction to avoid misconceptions.
She took a couple deep breaths. Her hands were sweating, though this time it wasn't 'cause of the heat. Finally, she stepped closer to the door and softly knocked. A couple of minutes went by and nothing happened.
Her heart was staring to pound faster than usual. Once again, she knocked this time a little harder. Finally, she heard footsteps getting closer. The door sprung opened.
"Hello Harry," said Hermione with a soft voice.
Harry stood there looking at Hermione for a while without saying a word. His jaw had fallen to the ground.
"Hermione!" His mind finally made him talk, however, it didn't remind him to move or do anything else.
"Can I come in?" asked Hermione after a while. Without saying a word, Harry moved to the side to let her in.
Hermione walked into the house, stopping in the middle of the living room. Harry followed her after closing the door. Once they were standing in the living room, Harry looked intently at Hermione from head to toes.
At first, Harry thought that perhaps Hermione had just put on a little weight. "If that's the case," he thought. "I shouldn't say anything about it." But just then, Hermione rubbed her belly in a way that left no question about it.
"Harry… there's something I have to tell you," said Hermione looking at her hands. Harry remained quiet. "Okay, this is it!" she thought.
"I'm pregnant."
She looked up at him, expecting to see shock in his face , but that wasn't the case. For a moment, she even thought that maybe he hadn't heard what she said. To make things more clear, she added, "It's yours."
"What?!"
This time, Harry's face turned into the expression of shock Hermione had expected. His eyes were about to pop out, his mouth was still open. Hermione let out a sigh as if just by saying those words to him, a big weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"Look Harry, I know this is hard to swallow," she said again looking at her hands. "But don't worry I'm… Listen, the reason I came here was just to let you know about this." Again, she rubbed her belly in that same tender way. Harry's eyes followed her hands.
"I know this is a lot to deal with. I just… I just wanted you to know." Hermione looked at him trying to read the expression on his face, but she couldn't. "I'm not asking you to do anything, Harry. You can be as involved as you want. That's only if you want to, of course. I… I have no problem doing this on my own."
"It's… mine?" he finally said. Hermione nodded. He opened his mouth to ask her if she was sure, but quickly closed it before those words would come out.
"Why… why are you telling me this now?" asked Harry. His voice sounded upset, even when he had tried to avoid that.
Hermione closed her eyes for a few seconds and passed a hand through her forehead. "Listen Harry, my intention was not to come here and mess up your life, okay? I know you didn't ask for this, but neither did I."
"Why did you waited this long to tell me?" His voice sounded even more upset this time. "You should've told me sooner so we could've done something about this problem!"
"Oh no, you didn't just say that!" Hermione's temper was also beginning to rise. She could understand him being surprised even shocked with the news, but he had no right to get upset with her as if she had asked to get pregnant.
"I shouldn't have come here," said Hermione talking to herself while pacing around the room. Then, turning to Harry she said, "My baby is not a problem and if you see it that way, that's your problem! I didn't come here to ask anything from you. I don't need your gold. I don't need your name. I don't need anything from you. All I wanted was to do the decent thing coming here and telling you in person about this, but I guess you don't even deserve that."
"Hermione, would you just…" but before Harry was able to say anything else, Hermione disapparated.
"Bugger!" said Harry kicking the chair next to him.
--- * --- * --- * ---
Three days went by and Hermione didn't hear from Harry. She didn't know what to think. She certainly hadn't expected that reaction from him. Ginny and Hermione were in the kitchen having dinner, or at least Ginny was. Hermione wasn't eating much.
"You need to eat, Hermione," said Ginny softly placing her hand on Hermione's arm. "Your baby needs it."
Hermione nodded. She took a small veggie and placed it in her mouth, chewing slowly.
"I'm having lunch tomorrow at the Burrow, you want to come?"
Hermione looked at her plate, pushing her food around. "No, thanks," she answer not looking at Ginny.
"You can't keep hiding here, you know. There's lots of people who love you and care about you," Ginny stopped for a while, not sure if she should say what she was about to, then continued. "And they won't react like Harry."
Hermione quickly looked up at Ginny. "Have you told your parents?" She could not hide the anxiety in her voice.
Ginny shook her head. "No, Hermione, I haven't, but you should." Hermione breathed more relaxed after that. "They're not going to judge you."
"Still, I can't go. I'm meeting my parents tomorrow, remember?"
Ginny stood up to place her empty plate in the sink. "That's right! I forgot." Then coming back to the table, she placed her hand on Hermione's once more.
"Stop worrying about him, Hermione. I'm sure he'll come around." Then looking more intently at Hermione's eyes, she asked, "You love him, don't you?
Hermione looked up surprised by Ginny's question. She had never asked Hermione anything about her feelings for Harry. Still, Ginny and Luna had always been sure that Hermione had only one raven-haired wizard in her mind.
"What consoles me," said Hermione without answering Ginny's question, "is that this baby is his, you know. A little part of me, but a little part of him, too."
Ginny smiled warmly at her. A few minutes later, Hermione said good night to Ginny. It was barely nine o'clock, but Hermione preferred to go to her room, which actually was Luna's room, she was sleeping there while Luna was gone, and be alone.
Hermione got into the room and went straight to bed. She laid down on her side, the most comfortable position on her condition, with her back toward the door. Almost an hour later, she heard a soft knock on the door.
Thinking that perhaps Ginny wanted to keep talking about Harry, Hermione didn't respond. Then, she heard the door slowly opening and Ginny's voice right after that.
"Hermione?"
Still, Hermione didn't respond. Then, she heard Ginny's voice again, but this time talking to someone else.
"I told you, she's sleeping. You should just wait to tomorrow," whispered Ginny.
"I… I can't wait. I need to talk to her."
After hearing Harry's voice, Hermione quickly turned onto her back to face the door. Both Harry and Ginny looked at her.
"Hermione…" started Ginny, but Hermione interrupted her.
"It's okay Ginny. Let him in."