A/N: I was going to add Draco and Ginny to this, but knew you all were so eager to get to the part where Hermione broke her news, that I posted this with out it. The next chapter will open with Draco and Ginny and their big "move". Thanks for all the reviews! I was so happy to get above 400, I never thought that would happen! And now, here you go…
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Surprise!
"What do you think could be wrong with Crookshanks?" Harry asked as they hurried up his walkway.
They had just sat down and were waiting for Hermione's parents when someone had tapped Hermione on the shoulder and passed her a note. It had been delivered via Owl to the magical post office in London, but someone had hand delivered it to her at the Muggle restaurant. Harry had never felt his nerves fire off so fast; he thought something was seriously wrong with her parents or one of the Weasley's being that the note was hand delivered. He managed to hide his relief when she said it was from Lavender and about her cat. He almost felt guilty that this time, the problem was with an animal, not a human…magical or Muggle.
"I don't know. Maybe he ate something he shouldn't have," Hermione answered, clutching his hand as she walked quickly up the dark driveway. Her nervousness was apparent to Harry but little did he know that it didn't have anything to do with Crookshanks.
"What about your parents?" Harry had asked as they had hurried out of the restaurant. She told him she had let the waitress know what to say if they showed up, so Harry, having his question answered followed her dutifully to the alley they could disapparate from and quickly found himself at the bottom of his driveway.
Lavender was sitting on his porch, and Harry said hello, noticing she was still wearing her work clothes. He found that a bit odd being that she usually was done working around five or so. He noticed it looked a bit like Ginny's favorite item of clothing, a soft light weight green robe with gold trim. He turned his attention to the cat in her arms, Ginny momentarily forgotten. She was holding Crookshanks, who appeared to be asleep, safely to her chest.
"How is he?" Hermione asked, not having to force any nervousness into her voice. She knew there were well over twenty people waiting inside the dark house and wondered what Harry's reaction was going to be. She hoped it wasn't a heart attack.
"Sleeping. I came over to drop off that robe you wanted," Lavender nodded to a bag sitting against the door, "and found him meowing pitifully at the front door. Should we take him inside?"
"Better light in there," Harry murmured, waving his wand at the door. The door creaked open and he held the door, bending down to retrieve the bag and ushering Lavender through followed by Hermione who now had Crookshanks. As soon as Harry stepped inside and turned to close the door, someone flicked on the lights suspended from the walls and ceiling and he heard a roar of voices yelling at him.
"Surprise!" was the only thing that registered in his stunned mind as he jumped back so far he ran into the door. His hands went numb and he dropped the bag he was holding as he stared at the sight in front of him. Hermione was standing to the side; Crookshanks now happily licking her hand so she let him down. He barely had time to register that he saw Seamus and Dean in the sea of faces in front of him, before Fred and George were clapping him on the shoulders and steering him towards the Butterbeer and Firewhiskey in the kitchen. Harry turned around as the twins guided him down the hall and locked eyes with Hermione who just smiled widely at him. He pointed at her and mouthed something that she thought was, "You will pay." Laughing, she smoothed down her dress and went to find her parents to share the good news…that they were going to be gaining a son-in-law; and soon she'd tell them a grandchild, as well.
"So, are you as surprised as you look?" Katie asked giving Harry a quick hug. He found himself with a Butterbeer in hand and his tie discarded and he had only been standing in the kitchen for five minutes.
"Merlin yes, I'm surprised. I had no idea you all did this. The whole Crookshanks ruse worked great," Harry gave a nod towards Lavender who was talking with George near the cooling cabinet. "I can't believe some of these people are here! I haven't seen Dean in forever…Seamus too." Harry grinned as Dean came over and shook hands with him. They chatted Quidditch and progressively had to talk louder as the music started, courtesy of Bill's wireless. He had come over and given Harry Fleur's regrets for not making his party. She wasn't feeling well and was home sleeping off a headache. Harry was about to tell him he didn't have to stay when Hermione brought her parents over to him, then got pulled away by Luna.
"Harry, congratulations! One surprise deserves another I suppose," Mr. Granger shook hands with Harry and noticed the confused look on Lavender and Dean's faces.
"He didn't tell you?" Mr. Granger asked his eyebrows shooting up above his glasses. A few more heads turned in Harry's direction, as Harry tried to explain he was now engaged. But Fred jumped in quickly, not liking to be left out of any type of news.
"What didn't he tell us?" Fred asked quickly, walking over to the small group.
"Seems he proposed to Hermione this evening," Mrs. Granger said, tucking her arm through her husband's. Fred let out a whoop so loud it quieted everyone. George took advantage of the quiet and yelled the exact words Hermione's mother just uttered. Cheers and yells were heard and Harry felt that he had never been hugged so much in his life. He tried to find Hermione but she was in the corner with most of the females gushing over her ring.
Secretly, he was happy with how well the four Weasley men took it. He knew they had been happy he and Ginny dated and in his mind he knew that they had thought of him dating someone else. Being it was Hermione he hoped it had softened the blow that it was Hermione he proposed to and never Ginny. Arthur came up and shook Harry's hand, looking genuinely happy. Molly just kept waving a hand in his direction, dabbing at the tears running down her face. He knew she always thought of him like a son and she was surely acting like it was one of her own getting married.
After Harry had made his rounds to friends he hadn't seen in awhile and talked to Remus, Bill guided him over to the birthday cake. It was three layers, one floating over another and the candles on top looked suspiciously like the ones Ron got on his cake from Fred and George three years ago. A piece was magically cut and Harry had to only use a bit of magic to get the candles to extinguish; after cake was consumed the dancing, card games, chess games and some flying outside moved the night along until well past mid-night.
That evening was the best of Harry's life. He couldn't believe that Hermione had managed to pull this off and that all his friends managed to keep it a secret. He wasn't much of a dancer but to be a good sport he let Lavender, then Katie, pull him out onto the dance floor. He managed to get in one slow dance with Hermione and it wasn't until they were half way through the song that he realized that everyone had left them alone on the floor and were just watching the two of them. He met George's gaze who gave him the thumbs up which made Harry blush. He didn't want attention called to himself, but it seemed inevitable at the moment. Hermione's parents were also watching him dance with their daughter and when it was over, they had come over and talked a bit before leaving. He received a hug from each parent and a teary smile and kiss on the cheek from Hermione's mother. They made plans to get together within the week to discuss wedding plans, which still seemed to be foreign words to Harry's young ears.
But, after six hours of drinking and dancing, games and some fun with the Weasley twins' toys, the night slowly dwindled down to ten people, then five and finally Neville and Luna were the last to leave. Luna gave him an extra long hug and kiss on the cheek which was highly unusual. Harry chalked it up to the four Butterbeers and shot of firewhiskey she did and made sure they disapparated safely home before he shut and locked his front door. He heard Hermione shut the door to the bathroom, so he went and sat down for the first time in hours.
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Harry slouched in his favorite chair in the living room, his feet aching from walking and being forced to dance with his female friends. His head was buzzing slightly from the drinking that went along with his surprise party. He noticed Hermione seemed to be moving aimlessly around the room waving her wand in areas to clean them up. The clock struck two and Harry called out to her. She stopped and glanced at him.
"Come here," he crooked his finger at her and watched her walk over in bare feet. Her shoes were kicked off when Fred decided to try and spin her while dancing. One shoe ended up in the fireplace and she had yet to locate the other one. He reached for her and she settled down in his lap, laying her cheek against the side of his head and mentally preparing herself to tell him the big news.
"Thank you for the party…I now know what you meant by an unwrappable gift," Harry kissed her neck, feeling Hermione nod but keeping strangely quiet and he picked up on her quietness. Even through the buzzing in his head he knew it wasn't related to her being tired.
"What's wrong?" he asked quietly feeling her arms come around his shoulders. He felt her take a deep breath then let it out slowly, making him wonder what she was feeling and why it was taking her so long to reply.
"There really isn't any easy, fancy way to tell you this," Hermione started her voice so quiet he thought something horrible had happened.
"What? Are you okay? Is someone sick or something?" Harry asked urgently pulling away and turning her face towards his. What he saw etched in her face concerned him even further. Her eyes were dark and there was a certain set of her mouth that let him know she was struggling to keep her feelings inside. "Tell me, Hermione…you're really starting to scare me." He watched her gaze fall to her hands in her lap then she told him, her voice low and wavering.
"I'm pregnant."
For a moment Harry thought he heard her wrong and tried to think of other words that sounded like "pregnant" that she might've said: pageant, remnant, but none of them fit her mood or context of the statement.
"You're pregnant?" he repeated back to her, just to be sure he heard correctly and when she nodded he felt a wave of light headedness hit him. He could blame it on being slightly drunk, but if he was being honest with himself, it was the news that threw him for a loop. He tried to pull himself together, to let her know she shouldn't be worried and upset. Covering her hand with his he whispered her name and she finally looked up at him.
"Can you give me some more details?" He had "when" and "how far" floating through his head but his instincts were telling him to remain calm and to try and deal with this rationally. He really just wanted to get up and scream, "How in the world? We did the charm wrong?" but knew she'd really be upset if he did that.
"Well," Hermione cleared her throat and moved a bit in his lap, letting her gaze rest on the arm of the chair. "It looks like when you let all your magical control go you can override many charms, including the Contraception Charm. So, it happened the first time we had sex. So, I'm almost three weeks along. Early, but it's there."
"So…you being tired wasn't all jet lag related then? Is that why you went to the doctor?" Harry asked gently, pulling her to him so he could wrap his arms around her tightly. He felt a strange sensation descend upon him as the thought that Hermione was carrying his baby began to edge its way into his conscious.
"Yes. It was when you went to eat with Pansy. I told you I was going to the bookstore, and…oh, Harry, it was so hard to lie to you. THEN, when I found out I didn't know what to do. I mean, I knew I had to tell you but I wanted it to be when you weren't running around getting your Quidditch club in order, or dealing with the Prophecy…I hope I didn't ruin your party," she whispered and was surprised to feel Harry push her off his lap and stand up, holding her shoulders giving her a little shake. She looked up at him and could see the slightly stunned expression in his eyes but he was looking steadily at her, locking her gaze with his.
"You didn't ruin anything. We're adults, Hermione, and if I had known this was going to happen I wouldn't have done it. I would never purposefully upset you, your plans-," he began and Hermione could sense he was going to start feeling sorry for her and blame himself; she needed to stop him.
"Plans are made to be changed Harry. We made need some time to adjust but…it happened and there isn't anything we can do. Well, there IS but I'm not going to do that," Hermione silenced him, as she placed a finger over his lips.
"You thought of…terminating?" Harry asked, shocked, from behind her finger and was relieved when she shook her head adamantly.
"Not at all. That never entered my mind. I can't imagine me having a child with anyone but you, I just wasn't thinking it was going to happen this early in my life. When you proposed to me I did feel a weight lifted because I wasn't sure when we would take that next big step. And now it seems we took two."
"We'll handle it, just like we have everything else that has been thrown our way," Harry bent down and kissed her, feeling her lean into him, relieved she had finally told him. He could feel the stress slowly trickle out of her body as they just held each other and kissed. Finally, Harry pulled away and smoothed back her hair forcing her to look up at him. Peering into her eyes he could see a small image of himself reflected back from her smooth, dark eyes.
A small image of himself, or even her, was being formed inside her and it freaked him out a bit. He thought he was doing a good job of hiding it for the moment.
"I love you Hermione and NOTHING will change that. The…surprising news that you're pregnant does not lessen my feelings for you. I wish you could've told me sooner so you weren't so stressed, but I know and understand you do things your way because they work for you. All I need for you to do is tell me what I need to do, or what we need to do," he corrected quickly. For the first time that evening she smiled and it reached her eyes. Her hands came up to rest over his on her cheeks.
"Nothing much until I go back to the doctors in a few weeks, before school starts. I want you to come with me." Harry nodded but stayed silent. Hermione ran her fingers over his knuckles and continued talking, loving the therapeutic feeling of finally sharing this with him. "The due date will probably be very late March, so we just need to figure out if we should get married sooner than later…that sort of thing."
Harry nodded, bent down and kissed her, feeling tiredness suddenly sweep over him. He could not believe this was happening and had no idea where the strength to remain calm was coming from. Maybe because he had read The Prophecy and it had talked about children, the ones he would have with his true love. And, he knew Hermione fit that role.
"Why don't we go to bed and we'll talk about that in the morning? I'm so tired I can barely function and I need to get used to the idea of us becoming parents," he gave her a small grin and they walked slowly up the stairs, hand in hand.
"Come sleep with me?" Hermione asked pausing outside her room. Harry nodded and followed her towards her bed. Quietly, they began undressing and preparing for bed, not saying much until they were laying together in bed, shoulder to shoulder both staring up at the ceiling.
"I think, now that we're engaged and going to be parents," Harry began, smiling slightly in the dark, "that we can now share a room if you want." He felt Hermione turn towards him and rest a hand on his shoulder.
"I'd like that." Harry turned onto his side and they barely made out each others shapes in the darkness. His hand found her hip and from there he moved it to her stomach where he inched it under her nightgown and let it rest. He could feel her breathing and the warm, smooth skin of her flat stomach under his hand. After a moment she placed her hand on top of his and they feel asleep like that, their hands creating a protective dome over the miniscule life that was beginning inside of her.
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