Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling,
various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner
Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: To all the reviewers, thank you for your feedback! It has been an amazing couple
of weeks, reading all of the wonderful, blissful, things you wrote. The Out of Hogwarts series has ended, so enjoy the
sixth and last chapter!
* * * * *
Chapter 6: A Discovery
Morning came and sunlight broke through the windows into number 30 Warren Street in London. It had been almost three weeks since the last quiet dinner at The Burrow, two weeks since all hell broke loose and a couple of blissful days since they had actually seen one of the red-haired family's members. Nevertheless, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were not complaining. It had been the most awful two weeks of their lives. Even Voldemort would have run away screaming after an hour of the birds and the bees conversation with both Mr and Mrs Weasley.
The Weasley clan had taken it upon themselves to re-educate their two "adopted children". They had all been shocked by Hermione's refusal to be forced into marriage. Parenting seminars, a lot of books that shared the word "Abstinence" in their titles and many family interventions - the list shortened to just a few of the things the couple had suffered in only one week. Hermione, being her usual stubborn self, had refused to open the pregnancy test's results. After she had held her ground for a week and a half, claiming repeatedly that this was the couple's private matter, the Weasleys had given up.
Now, two days of complete silence had passed, and she had yet to open it. Harry was starting to lose his patience, torn between not wanting to pressure his partner and the need to know what his future held; the inner conflict was killing him. On the third day, deciding that enough was enough, he left.
He left for a walk. Two days without seeing the outside world could be hard, but two days sitting at home and staring at that god-forsaken envelope were worse. When he couldn't stand it anymore, he had stood up and declared he was going for a walk.
Hermione, who had remained seated at the table, couldn't bring herself to look at the results. If she really was pregnant, had it been necessary to take that test? She was a woman, who understood her body, so why on earth did she need a test to tell her whether she was pregnant? The magical pregnancy charm had confirmed it, even though it was known to be accurate only 90 per cent of the times.
Everyone had simply blown the event out of proportion. A baby was a blissful thing, a gift!
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, they can all bite me," she mumbled fiercely and tore open the envelope.
* * * * *
In the meantime, somewhere else in London, Harry was making his way down a busy street. And it happened to be Oxford Street in the Muggle part of London City, a place where all those Muggle nutters went to sell and buy weird appliances, much like the wizards in Diagon Alley. He stopped once or twice to glance at a few window displays, not taking much interest in what the shops had to offer. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Hermione and the little Potter.
He was passing one particular shop when he came to an abrupt stop. Glancing up at the name of the shop and the window, he smiled. There was no other way to put her mind to rest. Hermione wasn't scared of having the baby; she was scared of losing what she had. Even after he told her that he would love them both, she was afraid he wouldn't stick around. Silly witch ... He was going to sort out all that nonsense she had gathered in her head.
* * * * *
Harry stepped out of the shop and made his way to a deserted space from which he could Apparate home.
Hermione was still sitting at their kitchen table, tears in her eyes. The envelope lay torn on the table, a crumpled sheet of parchment next to it.
A loud crack sounded from the sitting room, startling Hermione. She stood up and glanced toward the area where Harry had appeared out of thin air. He smiled when he saw her.
"Hello luv," he chirped.
Hermione smiled weakly but didn't respond; her legs felt wobbly and her throat was too dry to speak. Harry saw her expression and crossed the room toward her, reaching out for her with one hand. Just as he got near enough, he noticed the letter lying opened on the table. He stopped, dropping his hand.
"Oh," he stated meekly as she nodded.
Still silence.
Harry saw the tears in her eyes and the way she was staring at him expectantly. He knew what he had to do to make her fears go away. Swallowing hard, he stepped closer to her, smiling faintly. Hermione gave him a strange look. Then, he did the most unexpected thing. He knelt down in front of her on one knee. Her eyes widened.
But, as he pulled out a ring from his pocket, she couldn't contain herself any longer. What started as a giggle soon turned into hysterical laughter. Harry, looking very offended, stood and stared at her with wide eyes. First, she made declarations of wanting him to take her more seriously, and then when he is, she laughed in his face. He didn't know which was worse, this or Malfoy.
"Oh, get a grip, woman!" he snapped, looking crossly at her.
"What?" she giggled.
"Can't you be serious for one second?" He stomped his foot in anger. "I'm trying to pass a moment here!"
Hermione wiped a few tears from her cheeks and smiled widely. "Sorry, darling, go on."
"I don't feel like it anymore - you completely ruined the moment."
She smiled lovingly at him and reached out to place her arms on his shoulders, gaining another huff from him. "Harry …"
"What? No, 'Mione, you'll only laugh at my expense again." He turned his head away from her, trying not to look into her eyes.
"I wasn't laughing at you, Harry. I was … well … maybe just a little bit."
He huffed at her and turned to walk into the sitting room.
"Gee, that sure makes me feel so much better now!" he chided sarcastically. "Maybe I'll make a joke too, next time one of your patients dies."
Hermione ignored his last remark, stopping herself from commenting. He would not get the worst of her, not right now. Instead of throwing him a dirty look, she smiled kindly. She took a seat at one of the armchairs in the sitting room, watching him pace back and forth.
"I'm sorry, darling, would you sit down?"
"No!" he snapped.
She took a deep breath. "Harry, sit down, please… Harry… Oh, for Merlin's sake, stop pacing, you're making me dizzy!"
Harry came to a halt and stared at her; clearly, she had something to say. He sat down at the coffee table, facing her with a disapproving look on his face. "Well?" he asked impatiently.
The dizzy feeling remained, and Hermione was starting to become seriously light-headed. She had always been the strong one, even in the worst of times. However, what she had to tell him could be the best news, or it can be the most terrible news in a long time. Why hadn't she just owled him those bloody results?
"I love you," she said first.
He stared at her in confusion. She fidgeted uncomfortably, looking straight at him.
"That's important, right?" she said. "Yes, it sure is. If we did not love each other, we would not have been sleeping together. In addition, none of this would have happened; the Weasleys would not have gone bonkers and you would not have proposed to me! Isn't that funny?" she tried to hide the nervousness in her voice by joking and rambling.
Harry continued to look at her questioningly.
"Alright, hmm, not that funny, I guess. Well, you see, what I meant was that maybe it would be better if nothing had happened. This whole past month has been awful, darling, for both of us. They all cornered you that night, even thought it wasn't your fault." She placed her hand over his and sighed. "Harry, you didn't need to propose to me, or read any of those silly books, just to please them. I don't want you to feel cornered, forced into something, again. You need to do what feels natural for you …"
The words came out of her mouth, but the look on her face did not match them. He noticed the anxiety rising in her eyes, the tight smile she was trying to maintain. What was she playing at? Rambling about how this was not his fault, how he shouldn't have proposed to her ... She was sending him mixed signals. With her eyes, she confirmed her love, but with her mouth, she was asking him to leave. He felt his anger boiling.
"I proposed to you because I love you, Hermione, and not for any other reason," he retorted heatedly, standing up again. "Why won't you just accept that? It's not because of our little maybe baby, or because I was pressured into this. But if you have other plans, then -"
"Harry …"
"- you should just spit it out. Maybe it's you who's scared of commitment - it certainly isn't me. You never take me seriously, not since the final battle. Everything always seems like a joke," he raged on.
"But we accept," she tried to answer.
"No, Hermione, I don't accept it. How could you possibly think I would? Your whole perception of me is wrong on so many levels, why would you -"
"Be quiet, you git!" she snapped, a wide smile playing on her lips. He went quiet and stared at her once again with an expression of bewilderment.
"We accept, Harry," she repeated quietly.
"You ...?" he wondered.
"Yes, we ..."
Harry continued to look at her dumbly. His mind was racing, feverishly trying to derive a conclusion.
"You mean 'we' as in 'us' ... two people?"
Hermione leaned back in her armchair and laughed. Then she patted her stomach lightly and leaned down (as much as she could) and whispered, "Clever bloke, your father, isn't he?"
She saw Harry's eyes widen in surprise, his mouth forming a gaping "O". It took him a few seconds to realise what she had just said and to accept the idea of really having a baby. He and Hermione were going to be parents. There was going to be a little creature who would look up to him and share Hermione's inelegance. How amazing could that be?
"We have a little Rudolf?" he blabbed.
"What?" Hermione giggled.
Harry snapped out of his shock and laughed. "If it's a boy, we should name him after Rudolf Brand."
"Harry, I'm not naming my child Rudolf!"
"Gwendolyn Morgan, if it's a girl?"
Hermione shook her head and laughed. "You're impossible! No, Harry, we're not naming our children after some silly Quidditch players."
"Children, eh?" Harry gave her a sly grin.
"Shut up," she giggled in reply. "You prat …"
He leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on her forehead; she sighed in reply. As his lips found their way onto hers, his hand went up to tangle in her hair. She returned her affection by circling her hands around his neck, smiling against his lips. What started as an innocent kiss soon grew to a heated exchange of affection, causing various groans and moans to escape them, each of them nearly forcing themselves on the other with urgency, as though they had forgotten about the life-changing event that had occurred in the past few minutes.
A few seconds passed as Hermione started to giggle and squeal. "Harry! No… sweetheart, no. Harry, the baby!"
"What?" He pulled away, an alarmed look on his face.
"Nothing …"
They stared at each other.
She was the first to burst into giggles - his expression was priceless. It seemed as if they had both gone crazy. They sat laughing on the floor of the sitting room, looking confusedly at each other. Marriage, a child on the way ... what was Merlin playing at? How could anyone even begin to imagine being the parent of one of these silly creatures? A responsible parent as well ... was that even possible?
Hermione took a deep breath and smiled back at Harry. "Do you think we're ready?"
"Yeah," he replied without hesitation.
"But aren't we a bit young, Harry?" She looked at him worriedly, but he only smiled reassuringly at her.
"We've grown enough, now that we've been out of Hogwarts for ten years."
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