AN: This chapter is short but it's been a while since my last update due to being so busy, so I decided to go ahead and post it. You should love it! Please review.
To my friend CT Bishop: I hope that things are getting better for you. If anyone knows what its like to hit rock bottom, its me. I dedicate this chapter to you and hope that it raises a smile. Keep up that chin!
Just One More Thing
Chapter 24
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Harry was sat on his bed with his back against the headboard staring blankly at the wall in front of him. It had been over an hour since Hermione had left and gone to her parents house, leaving him by himself in their apartment. He was trying his best to process in his head what had happened over the course of just twenty four hours, but was failing miserably. Even though most would probably agree that he had a right to be confused by the way Hermione was acting lately, all he felt now was regret, regret for not responding to her announcement the way he knew he should have. He didn't know what made him react the way he did. What he should have done was what he always imagined he would do when Hermione told him one day that she was pregnant, take her in his arms and spin her around, all the while telling her how much he loved her and how happy she made him.
'Puzzlement' was the only word Harry could relate to at the moment. He didn't think it was possible for one side of his heart to feel like dying, and the other side to be beating with love, joy and excitement. Harry was beyond ecstatic with Hermione's news. She was pregnant, and was right when she said that he'd talked of almost nothing else since they became a couple. It was no wonder that she left the way she did after his reaction. He had everything he ever wanted, well, almost everything. Harry wanted Hermione to be his wife, and dreaded to think that when he did propose, she would presume it was only because a child was now involved.
He'd contemplated going after her when she left but didn't want to risk making things worse. Her parting comment had hit him right where it hurt. "I've lost count of the amount of times you walked away from me in school when things got the slightest bit tough, so don't think for one second, that I'm going to feel even the slightest bit guilty for walking away from you just this once!" It was true. Harry always wanted to be alone when things got complicated, and he was all of a sudden introduced to feeling the way Hermione must have felt all the way through school, during the times when he had walked away from her. Hermione was very upset with him right now and the last thing she needed was for him to make things even more confusing for her.
"But then, she always came after me," Harry thought. With that in mind, he leapt out of bed, dressed quickly and headed for the Grangers house.
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It had just gone 2.00am when Harry arrived on Mr and Mrs Grangers doorstep, and strangely enough there was a light on downstairs. He hesitated a while before knocking, not knowing what to expect when he came face to face with her parents. Had she told them? And if she had, just how much pain would Hermione's father inflict on him? Readying himself for whatever was to come to him, he raised his fist, and knocked firmly on the front door. He heard footsteps getting progressively closer. And was soon face to face with Hermione's mother. She didn't seem angry, but she didn't seem all that happy either.
"Evening, Mrs Granger," Harry said nervously.
"Morning, Harry," Mrs Granger corrected.
Harry started to feel uneasy, he hadn't taken any notice of the time. "Morning."
Mrs Granger was about to speak when a hidden voice from the other room interrupted her.
"Is that him?!" a voice asked hotly, which Harry knew to be Mr Granger's.
"Oh shit," Harry said under his breath.
Mr Granger came and stood beside his wife, blocking the entrance to the house, his eyes blazing. "Well, well, well, I certainly have to hand it to you Harry. You two haven't been together even a month and already you have managed to make my daughter more miserable than I have ever seen her!"
"Is she alright?" Harry asked worried.
Mrs Granger was about to answer but her husband beat her to it. "What do you think?! I don't know what the hell is going on between the two of you, but I must say that I think you've got a hell of a nerve showing up at my door after what you did to my daughter!"
Harry blinked disbelievingly. "She told you?"
"Oh she told us alright!" Mr Granger raged. "She also told us that she has no interest in seeing you right now!"
Harry felt something stabbing at his chest. "I don't believe you."
Mr Granger snorted then smiled mockingly. "Afraid she might have come to her senses at long last?" he sneered.
Harry did his best to contain the anger that was building within him. "I'm not leaving until I've spoken to Hermione."
"If you don't get off my property this instance, I'm going to call the police," Mr Granger threatened.
"Go on then," Harry replied flatly. "Call them. I'm not leaving."
"You cocky little---" Mr Granger moved closer toward Harry, only to be pulled back by his wife.
"Brian, stop!" his wife ordered. "This isn't going to solve anything."
"Just what do you expect me to do then?!" Brian steamed.
"Let him in," his wife said calmly.
"Are you insane?!" Brian shouted while pointing at Harry "After everything he's put our daughter through?!"
"This is between Harry and Hermione, Brian," his wife said gently. "Its up to them to work this out by themselves."
Brian Granger took one last look at Harry before storming off into the next room.
"Thank you Mrs Granger," Harry said sincerely.
Mrs Granger stayed serious. "I'm only doing this because I know just how much you love my daughter, and how this whole thing must be a misunderstanding, seeing as how you'd never intentionally hurt Hermione in this way. But you should know that if it isn't, and you make her even more upset than she is now, you will have me to deal with. And I'm much more dangerous than Brian."
Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. Stepping into the Grangers house, under the watchful eyes of Hermione's mother, he looked longingly up the stairs.
"You know which room she's in," Mrs Granger said from behind him. She watched as Harry walked up the stairs and out of sight. Shaking her head she went to join her husband in the living room in a hope that she could calm him down.
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Harry got to Hermione's bedroom door which was closed, then gently put his ear to it to see if he could hear anything from the inside. There was nothing but silence, and Harry wondered if she had fallen asleep. Gently opening the door, he quietly stepped into darkness, the only light in the room coming from the window where the curtains hadn't been closed. His eyes followed the moonlight shadow which eventually landed onto Hermione's sleeping form. He silently closed the door behind him, before softly stepping towards the side of the bed. As he got closer, he saw that Hermione was curled up in a ball and fast asleep. Harry didn't have it in him to wake her, so instead he pulled a nearby chair over to sit on, and did something that was becoming a favourite hobby for him, he simply watched her sleep. Leaning in closer to her face, he noticed the tearstains on her cheek, clear evidence that she had been crying her heart out.
With his elbows resting on his thighs, his hands crossed under his chin, he gazed at her intimately. He would never be able to explain it but Hermione, as crazy as it sounded, never looked more beautiful to him as she did at that moment. Just as he did every time he watched her sleep, he made sure to take in every inch of her features. Only this time was different He had to resist the urge to reach out and touch her, something he never had to do previously. Hermione was still pissed at him and he didn't want her waking up only to find him with his fingers all over her face no matter how much she enjoyed it generally. Harry's eyes though could no longer resist the pull from further down Hermione's body, and they finally landed on her stomach which was covered slightly by her arms. A small smile began gracing Harry's face as he could only imagine what was going on inside there. Before he could think of anything else, Hermione's body moved slightly. His eyes made their way back up to her face and widened when he saw Hermione staring straight at him.
Neither said a word for few moments.
"Am I dreaming?" Hermione whispered.
"No," he replied hoarsely. Harry slowly got down from his chair not once breaking eye contact and on to his knees. He then leant his head on top of his arms onto the bed beside her head, there faces now only inches apart. "Tell me."
Hermione's expression didn't change. "Tell you what?"
"I know that you don't want to see me right now but I need you to tell me you love me," Harry said, echoing the request she had made to him after their distressing argument at the quidditch game. "I need to know you still love me."
Hermione's face scrunched up as she willed herself not to cry again. She failed. "Of course I still love you," she told him tearfully.
The relief that shot through Harry made him even more determined to say what he thought would express everything that he felt at that point. "Please don't leave me," he said feeling immensely vulnerable. "Not now."
"Oh Harry," Hermione said, appalled with herself that her actions had actually made him think that she ever could.
"I was surprised that's all," Harry told her openly. "I know things haven't been easy for you lately and it was the last thing I was expecting you to tell me if I'm being honest." Harry smiled. "But at the same time you have to know that it was the best thing you could've told me too."
"Really?" Hermione asked smiling slightly.
"You're making me become a dad," Harry stated softly. "How could you possibly not know by now how that would make me feel?"
"I was wrong to run away," Hermione said.
"Well I've got news for you kid," Harry said grinning. "You gotta do it about another million times to match me. If anyone know how it feels when things become too much that you just have to run, I do."
"It's a cowards way out, Harry," Hermione said seriously.
"You never think that at the time," Harry said making her feel better. "I was just lucky that you always came after me."
"I did," Hermione agreed.
"Didn't you ever get tired?" Harry joked.
"It's amazing what you're prepared to go through for the one you love," Hermione told him.
"Which is the reason that I'm here right now," Harry explained. "I'm willing to go through anything as long as I have you right there with me. I have to know that you're going to be there every morning that I wake up, and every night before I fall asleep."
"You already have that," Hermione assured him.
Harry leaned closer. "I wanna know that you're legally required to be there." Harry pulled away from her and took something from out from his pocket. He placed a jewellery box onto the bed between them and took a deep breath. " I don't have a lengthy speech to say to you, because no words will ever be able to demonstrate just how much you mean to me. Hermione, I love you. Will you marry me?"
Hermione glanced at the box and then back at him.
Seeing the look on her face Harry put a hand up. "Before you start thinking that I'm only doing this because of the baby, you should know that I have witnesses, two of which know I had the ring before you told me you were pregnant."
Hermione slowly got up from her lying position to sit up, as Harry took the box from the bed and opened it in front of her.
"Will you?" he asked gently.
Hermione nodded. "Yes," she replied, as if the answer was obvious.
Harry closed his eyes and breathed deeply, before taking the ring from the box and easing it onto Hermione's finger. "I will always love you," he told her softly.
Hermione gazed down at the ring Harry had just slipped on her finger, before meeting his penetrating gaze. "I'll always love you."
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On a personal note that is totally portkey unrelated, if any of you are his fans you will understand, I would like to take this opportunity to say: Rest in peace Michael Jackson…and thank you for the music! I love ya and won't stop till I get enough!