Lies for Love

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

[AN] This is the first of a trilogy- maybe even more if it’s successful. The story is slightly- a teensy bit- AU, but it still follows what happens in DH. Honestly, I think the only thing that’s AU is Teddy’s middle name which I changed to John.

Summary: They are not in love; rather they just found solitude and comfort in each other after the night Ron had left the tent. Wanting to avoid hurting the ones closest to them, Harry and Hermione keep the facts of their passionate nights together a secret. But it could only be kept a secret for so long…

Chapter 1: One Last Time

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All Harry wanted to do at this moment was get away from these people. The Weasley’s, Hermione, the remaining Order who didn't have to be at the ministry right now sorting through paper work, most of the professors who weren't too badly banged up from the battle, Hagrid, and a fair few of Dumbledore's Army who had decided to prolong going home to their families to stay at Hogwarts, were all sitting around a large table placed in the room of requirement, feasting on food that the surviving house-elves had quickly cooked up.

Smiles and laughter were being shared with everyone despite the deaths that had made such an impact that previous night, despite the fact that most of the castle is being held up by feeble stone pillars that had taken their fair share of hexes and curses within the past seven hours.

And Harry just wanted to get away.

"I'm going to go find Winky and thank her for the feast," said Harry standing up from the table, leaving a full plate of food behind.

"I'll come with you!" said Ginny as he got up, also standing. Harry was afraid this might happen. Not that he didn't think Ginny might be a good choice to get back together with, but because right now he just wanted to be away from the ogling pairs of eyes and he was sure that if he let Ginny come with him, that's what would end up happening. That and then her shoving him in a broom closet and he really didn't want that from her any time soon.

"No, Ginny. I kind of would like to be alone," he said making it clear to the whole room that he wasn't interested in celebrating right now.

"Oh... um okay," she said dejectedly sitting back in her spot. Mrs. Weasley sent her a pitying look.

Without another word Harry turned and left through the door and headed down the still glorious moving staircase.

He decided to head out by the lake for some time alone. He would thank Winky at a later time, but he didn't want to be reminded of the death of Dobby so soon by seeing all those house-elves slaving over them.

Taking his dad's invisibility cloak out of his pocket he pulled it over himself and headed through the battered oak doors. There was a proudly shining half moon outside the castle, shining down upon all the dreariness of the world. Harry could feel the tears trailing down his face as he thought of the last remaining connection to his father- Remus. The werewolf and his wife now lay dead in marble stone coffins inside the great hall.

It wasn't supposed to be this way, little Teddy was supposed to grow up with parents... he thought as he slumped down on a rock by the lake. He let a sob escape his throat and quickly wiped his tears away, scolding himself for being so weak. Good thing I've got the invisibility cloak on... the world really wouldn't take a fancy to seeing their hero crying for the dead after his glorious defeat of the Dark Lord.

He let another stubborn sob escape him as thought of Tom Riddle and all the people he had murdered. And for what? To be murdered himself in the end?

My parents, Sirius, Remus and Tonks, Dobby, Fred, Colin-

"Harry?"

He should have figured. His eyes wandered up to meet those of his best friend staring down at him with concern. Oh, how he didn't want to be looked at with concern right now...

He seen his invisibility cloak laying in a heap at the floor of the rock. Rolling his eyes he asked, "What part of 'I kind of would like to be alone right now' didn't you understand?"

"I'm sorry," Hermione whispered as her head hung in shame. "I just didn't want to be in there either- I, um, I'll go-"

"No wait."

She turned around and stared at him with hopeful eyes and watched as Harry shrugged and muttered, "You might as well stay then."

She smiled softly and came over to sit next to him on the rock.

"What a day, huh?" she asked, not expecting to get an answer back.

Harry scoffed and remained silent.

She stared at the side of his head for a few minutes before asking quietly, "Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?" he asked hurriedly.

"For kissing Ron?" She didn't look at him, afraid of what his reaction might be.

"Why would I be mad about that? You can do whatever you want, you don't belong to me." He again rushed through his sentence continuing to stare out at the open lake, bathing in the early morning darkness.

"You know... it was just, just sort of... the heat of the moment..." She was turning redder and redder as she tried to explain herself.

Harry scoffed again, "It always is," he mumbled.

Hermione's head jerked up at his comment, "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked fiercely.

Harry looked at her for the first time that early morning. He was surprised in what he found in her eyes; irritation, pain, devotion...

"I don't know... just when-"

"I thought we already talked about that. I thought we both came to an understanding and were okay about it."

"And I am okay about it!" he said returning her stern gaze.

"Then act like it," she said standing up and beginning to walk away.

"Wait-" he said also standing and catching her arm, "Do you fancy him?"

"I don't know-" she said with an uncertain shake of her head, "after everything that's happened with... us... I don't know. I just need some space to think if I want a real relationship with someone so soon..."

Harry leaned down to whisper in front of Hermione's face, "Hermione, I still need you. After tonight I just, just-"

"Harry we talked about this and we agreed. We're back in the real world now-"

"So then what do you call the past few months?" he asked starting to get angry with her.

"A nice get away to all this," she said quietly, "And it was nice, Harry. I don't regret it. We're best friends and we both did it to help each other-"

"Then help me now," he said matching her tone and moving his hands up to grip her shoulders.

"Shouldn't you be asking Ginny for this?" she asked hesitantly, slowly giving in.

"She doesn't understand me like this- and Ron doesn't understand you this way… not like I do," he told her taking a step closer.

"Well we haven't exactly vented our emotions in the most appropriate of manners- that might have something to do with them not understanding," she said wisely.

"Hermione? Just one more time? We both need it. And then tomorrow we can forget about it like always," he whispered leaning his head on her forehead. He added the last part just to reassure her. She didn't need to know that he never forgot about their times together. He didn't want to give her false hope of something, something that he didn't know he could give her.

Hermione was thinking the exact same thing as they looked into each others' eyes. Slowly he leaned forward and captured her lips in a sweet kiss full of need and desire.

"Get the cloak," she whispered against him. He obeyed, leaving her to grab it and throw it around them.

"The boy's dormitory should be empty don't you think?" he asked leading the way back to the castle.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to have a real bed for a change."

Harry snickered as they notoriously walked up the stairs, leading all the way to the seventh floor. Before long they were standing in front of an empty portrait that lead to the Gryffindor common room. The Fat Lady had obviously abandoned her post.

"Great… what do we do now?" Hermione asked.

Harry concentrated hard on what he wanted to happen and curled the fingers of his right hand into a strong fist. The portrait swung open immediately and Harry ushered them both forward.

"Harry how-"

"I don't want to talk anymore," he breathed kissing the side of her neck and quickly pulling her up the boy's staircase. The entered the fairly clean room and noted that Harry's bed was still clean and not collecting dust as if someone had slept in the bed all year.

Harry threw the cloak off them and spun Hermione around to kiss her. She responded immediately, unfastening the clasp of Harry's dirty cloak and roughly pushing it off. When she was backed into Harry's bed he quickly did away with her blouse and cast a locking and a silencio charm over the door.

She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled it over his head and then started unbuttoning his trousers and pulling them down while Harry ripped open her bra and tugged down her jeans in a similar fashion.

Within seconds Hermione was laying on the bed, Harry on top of her, both completely nude, and both feeling complete satisfaction as Harry moved in and out of her in a practised fashion.

The two of them let out a final cry of climax before Harry collapsed on top of her breathing heavily.

"Merlin Harry... you must've had a lot on your mind," Hermione breathed with a sly smirk.

Harry poked her in the side playfully as he moved a bit off her so she could breathe more easily. They both lay there in a content and comfortable silence before Hermione whispered, "The others are probably worried about us..."

She got up and started reapplying her clothes and fixing her hair.

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said quietly, just loud enough for Hermione to turn and give him a bewildered look.

"You don't have to thank me Harry, I wanted it too or I wouldn't have let it happen, brainiac."

Harry smiled at her, wanting to laugh but unable to find the energy, "You're so great Hermione. Best mates forever, right?"

She smiled back, "Forever."

"Good. You know when you do decide to get into a real relationship with a bloke... well, he's gonna be one lucky bastard," he finished quietly.

Hermione smiled as tears came to her eyes. This is why you're my best friend Harry Potter... you make me feel so confident... you would never do anything to hurt me...

She turned to leave the dormitory but a last second impulse made her turn back, "Harry... don't be so quick to turn Ginny down. I mean, we both know she comes on a bit strong but you know... she just... well, I'm here if you ever need to talk or anything." She gave him one last smile before leaving through the door, closing it behind her to give Harry his much wanted 'alone time'.

Harry sighed as he lay back in his bed thinking about what she had just said. Hermione... she's always been such a good friend to me...

He thought back to the first night they were together physically. It was a night after Ron stormed out, extremely cold, and both Harry and Hermione were in right foul moods. Harry didn't know exactly how it transpired... he remembered going over to Hermione to ask her to conjure more blankets and then they ended up in one of the deepest conversations of their lives, talking about Ron, Ginny, how stressful their current situation was, their impending fears...

Both had admitted to being scared of dying as virgins. Of not being able to experience a proper dating life and note being able to explore the world and find who they truly are. And then it just sort of happened... they were both each other's firsts, providing warm bodies on a cold night. It was a way for them to vent, to alleviate their stress even if it was for a short period of time, and to experience something that was so wonderful and at first a bit painful for Hermione.

It was an understanding of each other- both were comfortable with it and neither expected a romantic relationship to follow. They still thought of themselves as just Harry and Hermione, best mates. And a good best mate was always there for their friend in a time of need. If anything, it brought them closer.

And over time those 'times of need' became more frequent to the point that it was happening every night as if it was routine. But then routine was thrown off when Ron decided to show back up. And then the snatchers found them, and of course Hermione was almost killed, with Dobby actually dying.

Finally when Harry thought that it was going to happen again Hermione told him remorsefully that they had to stop because things were just too hectic now with Ron, the residents of Shell Cottage, and plans to break into Gringotts.

Harry had tried to stubbornly ignore her after that night, but she was his best friend and even if he thought she was trying to move on with another member of the trio, he would just sit back and support her. She had already given up so much for him.

And then when she kissed Ron today- that was a whole different thing completely. At the moment he didn't have time to stop and ask himself what he thought about it because they were in the middle of battle. But now thinking about it...

"Harry mate?"

Ron poked his head through the door just after Harry had pulled the covers up to his neck.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Kingsley's made us a portkey to get to the Burrow for tonight and we're about to leave."

"Right, I'll um, be down in a second," he said moving his eyes over the floor to locate his clothes.

"Alright, see you back in the Room of Requirement." Ron turned and left leaving Harry free to push the covers off and wander around naked for his clothes.

The one question he couldn't seem to answer himself was what would happen if Hermione did decide to be with Ron? Would he feel guilty for being with her like that before anyone else or would he feel jealous?

No... not jealous... Hermione's my best friend and I just want what's best for her and I just don't think Ron fits that description... he's always making her cry, they don't like any of the same stuff except for me, they fight all the time... Hermione needs someone more mature... Someone who has a better understanding of her... Someone like-

Harry shook his head to clear the rampant thoughts away. He didn't have time to be pondering over silly things like that right now, and quite frankly he didn't even want to think about it. Everything's simpler when you just stop thinking.

Harry walked into the room just in time to squeeze in between Ginny and Hermione, also placing a finger on the old cracked platter that served as the Weasley's transport home.

"Feeling better Harry?" asked Ginny with a small comforting smile.

"Yeah, loads..." Harry replied with a smile of his own making Hermione blush.

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Okay, so I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new fic. I’ve been planning this for a while now, therefore the whole story is completed already. I will be updating regularly ever Saturday.

Please, please, please REVIEW and let me know how I did.

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 2: What Are Friends For?

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It had been two and a half months since the defeat of Tom Riddle. The now Headmistress McGonagall had owled shortly after their arrival at the Burrow saying that both Hermione, Ron, and himself had shown outstanding academic achievement during the battle and that they would all graduate with full honours.

Of course, they had missed walking down the isle but they didn't mind. They were all still revelling in the fact that they were alive to get their diplomas.

That owl was shortly followed by ministry owls offering jobs and honours of all sorts; including an Order of Merlin First Class for each of them.

After staying at the burrow for a few days with the Weasley's, Hermione had decided to go to Australia to find her parents and Harry had told them that he was going to go flat hunting. Hermione had successfully found her parents and had spent the remaining months of summer trying to get them reacquainted with their old life and dentistry practise.

Ron and Percy were trying to help handle the shops in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade with George. Now that Voldemort was gone, people were in exceedingly high spirits and in the desperate need of pranking supplies. Fred's death was still a fresh wound with George; he hardly ever made humorous comments anymore, and the sparkle that had always been in his eyes was gone. He had a hard time at the weekly family brunch date at the Burrow, too. He wouldn't eat and he always kept an empty chair next to him. After their meal he would go up into the room he shared with Fred and just lay on Fred's bed for hours before Charlie, Ron, or Bill would come up and check on him, making George leave at once.

On a brighter note Harry had found a cosy bachelor pad in West London with three bedrooms and two baths, which he had instantly signed for. Ginny had been nice enough to help him shop around for furniture and other interior things for Harry's new home. They actually had been having a good time with each other over the summer. Harry was finding that Ginny wasn't deterred at all from the previous war and still wanted her and Harry to get together pronto. He had set things straight with her one night when they were alone in his flat after having just set up his bedroom. They were sitting on his bed when suddenly Ginny leaned over and kissed him.

*Harry didn't respond for a moment as Ginny continued to manipulate his mouth.

Finally regaining some composure, he pushed her away gently, "Wait Gin."

"What?"

"I just- I just think that we should wait is all."

"Haven't we waited enough? Harry, come on, I think you need this..." she tried to lean back and kiss him again.

"I just want us to take our time. I want to get the chance to get to really know you again."

"What have we been doing this summer then?" she asked hotly beginning to get impatient.

Harry didn't respond so Ginny continued, "I haven't changed Harry. I'm still the same girl I was a year and a half ago."

"But I'm not. I've changed." He didn't look her in the eye as he said this. ‘If it was Hermione, she would just understand, she wouldn't try and push me... But this is Ginny, a possible love interest, not your best friend Hermione….’

Ginny leaned up and whispered in Harry's ear, "Harry, I promise I still like you the same."

"Just give me some time," he finished quietly still looking down as Ginny began to nuzzle his neck. She was getting rather clingy quite quickly and he didn't like it. He remembered what he told Hermione that one night all those months ago, that he did want to have a go at being a bachelor and dating different women.

"Okay, I guess..."

"Ginny, don't you want to have your seventh year free to do whatever you want?" Harry asked trying to win her over.

"I know what I want," she said temperamentally.

"I want you to have fun this year, Gin, you deserve it, okay? I want you to date as many guys as you want... party... do whatever. And then when you graduate, if you still want to, we'll give our relationship another go, alright?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him and stared, not blinking for a long time. "Okay," she said shortly before getting up and giving him another short farewell and promises to see him in the future.*

Harry sighed as he remembered the memory. He wondered how Ginny was going to act toward him tonight. Hopefully she had a new love interest and he could be left alone to look for a pretty girl for himself. He walked further up the street towards the Three Broomsticks to meet with some old mates from Hogwarts and a few who had just started their final year a few days ago. He really hadn't been too social that summer, besides dinner with the Weasley's, and this was his first time seeing everyone together in a couple months.

Harry stopped short as he seen a woman just a few steps ahead of him apparate in front of the pub. This girl was easily one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, she had light brown hair flowing down her back in soft waves and a face he couldn't quite make out since her head was bent and her hand was digging around through her purse. His eyes quickly scanned up and down her body; she was dressed as a muggle, wearing tight dark jeans and a black cardigan coat.

"Let me get this," he said as he took a few steps to place a hand on the door about to open it for her before he was meant with a pair of intense chocolate brown eyes. His hand fell off the handle and his mouth dropped.

"Hermione?"

She smiled at him, "Harry."

"Bloody hell, Hermione..." he said, again looking her up and down.

She blushed and looked towards the ground, "It's good to see you again too, Harry."

Harry blushed as he looked up to meet her eyes, "Um yeah... so how're your parents?"

"They're doing really well actually. They decided to stay in Australia, so that's where I've been mostly, helping them stabilize their dental practice and things..."

"That's good. So, um... are you back for good?"

"Yeah, I just got a flat a few days ago," she told him looking very enthusiastic, "And then I'm going to start uni in a month. Now all I need is a little job to earn some extra spending money."

"Wait, so you've been back for a few days now? Why didn't you owl me, I would have helped you out with your new flat," he gave her a small smile.

"Well... I ran into Ron... in Diagon Alley after I signed for the flat and he helped me move some of the furniture around and go grocery shopping and stuff... he said you were really busy with auror training so I didn't want to bother you."

Harry gave her a perplexed look, "Ron knows I don't start auror training for another week."

"Oh, well..." she trailed off beginning to blush again.

"So you and Ron?"

"What about me and Ron?"

"Are you-"

"No." she said simply looking him in the eyes. Harry looked back at her about ready to speak when the door banged open.

"Hey, you two! What are you still doing out here? The party's in there!" said Ron excitedly throwing arms around the both of them and leading them into the Three Broomsticks.

"Harry!" Ginny called as she got up from their table and ran at him full speed throwing her arms around him. He returned the hug, even though she was crushing his neck into a very uncomfortable position.

"It's been so long," she whispered into his ear.

"It's been three weeks, Ginny," he responded in the same tone setting her down. She was about to retort when she caught sight of Hermione standing closely behind them.

"Merlin, Hermione!" she threw her arms around Hermione in a similar fashion. She let go a lot sooner and then stood back to look at her, "Bloody hell, Hermione, you haven't just been spending time with your parents."

"Well, they stayed in Australia so…" Hermione trailed off, not liking how everyone was now staring at her.

"Ooh, meet any cute Aussy boys?" asked Parvati and Lavender together.

"Um, I met a few nice people," she muttered going red. Ron and Harry both turned to look at her as Hermione averted her eyes from both of them.

"Well come on guys, we were just getting ready to order some drinks," said Dean saving the awkward moment. Harry finally looked up to see the people crowding the booth table. He smiled. It truly did make him happy seeing Seamus and Dean's excited faces when they spoke about their club football match and hearing Parvati and Lavender giggle as they told it. Neville was there sitting next to Lavender, still characteristically bashful but with a new air of confidence about him.

And Luna… dear Luna. It looked like she had made an orange peel bracelet to go along with her radish earrings and bottle cap necklace. But as always, she sat there with her trademark dreamy expression- looking as if the war three months ago never happened or affected her in any way.

"Here Harry, sit," Ginny said to him, pulling him down to slide into the seat next to hers. Ron did the same to Hermione on the opposite side of the table and Harry felt his stomach burn when Ron left his hand holding Hermione's.

Madam Rosmerta came by a few seconds later and took everyone's orders. Seamus and Dean were brave enough to ask the middle aged pub mistress for a firewhiskey.

She consented with a small grin that made Seamus and Dean clap their hands on the table in excitement.

When she came back to the table, her tray was loaded with extra drinks. She set a small shot glass of amber liquid in front of everyone, "You all very well know I usually don't serve alcohol in front of students," she commented as she grabbed a shot of firewhiskey for herself and held it up to them, "But for you, the people who fought to save the school, this village, my pub, the wizarding world together- I'd do anything for. Cheers," she finished raising her glass up before knocking it back.

"Cheers!" the table said together, all wearing smiles on their faces. The group took their glasses and knocked them back simultaneously. Most (except for Luna) contorted their face in pain as the amber liquid burnt it's way down their throats.

"This rounds on the house!" she said loudly, attracting the attention of other guests. She looked back at them and said in an impatient tone, "No, you all will be paying for your goods."

The group laughed and said their thank you's as Madam Rosmerta took off to collect another order.

"May I be the first to say that firewhiskey is rather tasty," Luna said dreamily, not caring that Ron, Seamus, and Dean snorted in amusement.

"Why didn't you drink yours, Hermione?" Ron asked looking down to the full shot glass on the table. Harry looked over to Hermione and watched as a glint of disgust flickered in her eyes as she glanced at the firewhiskey.

"I'm just not in the mood tonight, Ron. You can have it if you want," she offered holding it up for him to take. Ron took it immediately and chugged it back like a pro causing the other occupants at the table to chuckle merrily.

"Looks like you're gonna have a drunkard on your hands tonight, Hermione," Seamus said, winking at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes good-naturedly and took a sip from her pumpkin juice. Harry stared at her with a blank face as she took her sip and then started speaking to a question Ron asked her.

"So Harry, how do you like your new flat after it‘s been all furnished?" Ginny asked, snuggling a bit closer to him as she spoke.

Harry didn't push her away or take any notice. He was thankful for the female attention he was getting right now. Saved him from staring across the table at someone he couldn't understand what he felt for all night. "It's nice. A little big for just me, but nice. I might have a flat warming party soon," he said with a shrug.

"Oh," Ginny said a little dejectedly, "That'd be good for you. It's a big flat so why not through a few parties?" Harry could tell she was trying to put on a strong front but inside was a bit hurt to hear he would be having gatherings without her.

"Don't worry, they'd be on Hogsmeade weekends," he said, not really hearing himself. He wasn't the type to host huge parties, much less to host them at his home so he really didn't see what she was getting worked up over.

But when he said it, it made Ginny smile and lean in to kiss him on the cheek. The place where her lips touched turned red and Harry passed it over by taking a sip of his beer.

"Where is your new flat, Harry?" Neville asked in interest.

"Over near Marylebone on Molyneux Street," Harry said, "It's a nice place, four bedrooms, a study, nice kitchen..."

"Four bedrooms? Merlin Harry, plan on starting a family soon?" Seamus asked in awe with a tinge of sarcasm.

Ginny turned to Harry, interested on what he had to say. Harry looked up in discomfort, unwillingly meeting Hermione's eyes.

Harry stared at Hermione for a few minutes before he said quietly, "We'll see where life takes us, eh?"

"Too right you are, Harry," Dean said raising his firewhiskey at him. "Me and Seamus were looking for a flat over on Baker Street but we ended up renting in North Kensington."

"Aye, it's closer to the practise field," Seamus said, who was already getting a bit tipsy.

"Seamus, no it’s not, it’s farther away from the practise field," laughed Dean, throwing a peanut in his face. The table laughed at this and continued to talk about everything and anything, all the while Madam Rosmerta bringing over more and more drinks.

About two hours later, the ten of them had paid and said their departing words to Rosmerta who laughed merrily as most the boys stumbled from side to side, all the way out of the bar. It was Harry and Neville who were pretty much holding Seamus, Dean, and Ron up straight. The girls followed behind them laughing and giggling as the inebriated boys mumbled an incoherent language and Seamus even went as far as trying to speak Mermish. Luna, who had by far had the most drinks of the evening, was standing up straight as a pencil, hands clasped in front of her, and with a large smile on her face. The only difference to tell that she had been drinking was that her blue eyes were a little shinier than usual.

Lavender and Parvati were the first to say their goodbyes and then disapparate off to their flat in Diagon Alley.

"Are you two sure that you can get back into the castle okay?" Hermione asked the two girls as they took off towards Honeydukes to use the secret passage back to Hogwarts.

"F'sho," Ginny said evenly, then giggled once she realised that she had just slurred her words horribly. "I mean for sure, Hermi'ne." Ginny came forward to hug her tightly, then went forward to Harry and latched onto him as well.

"Write me," she whispered before leaning in to brush her lips against his. The chastity of the kiss seemed innocent enough to Harry, so he didn't scold her for it.

"Alright, make sure you get back safely."

"Promise," she turned to the rest of the group, "Bye guys." The boys didn't make any movement to say goodbye, instead they just stood there wobbling in between Neville and Harry, arguing over how you spelt 'pissed'.

"There's only one 's'!" Ron exclaimed impatiently to a stubborn Seamus.

"There's two, you wanker!"

"I'm not a wanker, you're a wanker!"

"Seamus, tell this wanker that he's a wanker!"

"You're a bigger wanker-"

"Boys, boys!" Hermione said, mediating between the three of them and then Harry and Neville who were caught helplessly in the middle. "Now Ron, where are you staying tonight?"

"We can't take him back to the Burrow like this," Harry commented ruefully, taking another observant look at Ron.

"I can spend the night at your place, Hermy," Ron slurred suggestively, his eyes barely open.

Hermione sighed and ignored the pointed glare Harry was throwing at her, "Ron, I don't think that's the best idea..."

"Denied!" Seamus snickered obnoxiously.

Hermione ignored it and ignored the hurt look in Ron's eyes, "Why doesn't Harry apparate you to George's?"

"I'll do that," Harry said quickly stepping forward to place both hands on Ron's arms. Right when Ron was about to open his mouth to protest, they both disappeared with a loud crack.

"Here Hermione, I know where Seamus and Dean's flat is so I'll apparate Dean first and then come back for Seamus."

"Good idea, Neville," said Hermione coming forward to grab Seamus and sit him down on the curb outside the pub. Neville disappeared with Dean soon after and Hermione was left sitting there on a curb with Seamus.

"Hey there sweet thang," Seamus piped up after a few minutes of silence. Hermione looked to him with a bemused smile and decided to play along.

"Well hello, hello. What's your name big boy?" she asked with a seductive wink.

Seamus' eyes widened and drool starter pooling in his open jaw, "I-I'm not sure."

Hermione laughed just as Harry was apparating back from George's.

"What's so funny?" he asked her, sitting down on her right.

"Seamus can't remember his name," Hermione said simply with a smile.

Harry smiled back and looked over at Seamus, "Hey Seamus, what's your name?"

Seamus shuddered, "So many questions I don't know the answers to..."

Harry and Hermione laughed together before Seamus spoke again.

"I remember my address though, 136 Lancaster Road... 136 Lancaster Road... 136 Lancaster Road... 136 Lan-"

There was a crack and Neville was back from the flat to get Seamus.

"Bye-bye," Seamus tottled childishly making Harry and Hermione smile at him and Neville roll his eyes.

"I'll just apparate to my flat from there. I'll see you guys later?"

"Definitely, we'll get together soon." Harry said with a nod of his head.

Another crack sounded and Hermione and Harry were left sitting on the curb all alone.

A few moments passed before Hermione spoke quietly, "Fun night, eh?"

"Yeah... you didn't talk much though." Harry turned to look at her with concerned eyes.

Hermione shrugged, "I wasn't feeling that great."

"Headache?"

"Its my stomach, its been acting up lately."

"Will you be okay?" he asked placing a hand over hers.

"Yeah," she reassured him quickly, moving to stand up from the curb. Harry followed suit and soon they were staring into each other's familiar eyes. "It’s just the flu or something."

"Let me take you home," Harry offered, holding out his hand so she could disapparate them.

However Hermione didn't take it, "You don't have to Harry. I was going to see if Rosmerta would let me floo anyway. I don't feel much like apparating."

"That's good for me too because I can't apparate within a kilometre of my building. And now I can at least make sure you get in okay. I won't stay long, I promise."

Hermione sighed and bit her lip. It had been so long since Hermione and Harry were alone together, and she knew things could get extremely uncomfortable standing alone in Hermione's dark apartment. Besides her best judgement, she accepted his offer, "Okay. You can floo to my place and then floo back to yours."

"Great," Harry said with a smile, and moving to open the door to the Three Broomsticks. "I'm excited to see your place anyway. There's probably a mess of books everywhere," he commented cheekily.

Hermione turned and swatted him playfully on the shoulder, "You will not patronize me, Harry James!"

"No I will not," Harry muttered with a small grin. They approached Madam Rosmerta at a nearby table and asked if they could go up into her private quarters to use the floo. She agreed immediately and gave them directions, even though Harry already knew from previously being in there third year.

Harry offered the floo powder to Hermione first who told him the address and then shouted it herself into the green flames.

Harry quickly stepped in after she spun out of view and threw down the powder, "424 Finchley Road, London!"

Harry spun through the fireplace, ash and heat being thrown in his face. He finally fell out of the grate and onto a hard wooden floor. Hermione came over to help him up and with a quick swipe of her wand he was ash-free.

"Whoa, 'Mione. Nice place," he praised moving in deeper throughout the living area.

"Um, thanks," she answered quietly, clasping her hands in front of her. Harry turned back to see the reason for her discomfort. There was a clap of thunder and the distant sound of rain outside that sparked his memory.

"Oh, right," he said, remembering that he was only supposed to make sure she got home alright and then leave, "Well I guess I'll be going then."

He moved back towards the fireplace and looked around for a cup of floo powder. "Um, Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"Floo powder?"

Hermione gasped and clapped a hand to her forehead, "Oh no! I was supposed to get some today in Hogsmeade. Damn it!"

"Hey, it’s okay," Harry assured her, coming forward to stroke her arm. Hermione removed the hand from her forehead and looked down to where Harry was touching her. He immediately jerked his arm back when he realised what he was doing.

"Sorry," he mumbled, looking down to the ground.

"Its alright. Um, well what'll we do?" she asked awkwardly, looking everywhere but him. The discomfited silence of standing alone in her flat was starting to settle in.

"Well, I guess I'll have to apparate. Where's your door?" he asked shoving his hands in his pockets to keep from touching her.

"Harry, it's raining outside!" Hermione burst out with a frown.

"So?"

"If you have to walk a kilometre in the rain you'll catch a cold," she said, this time more subdued.

Harry smiled, "I'll be fine-"

Another loud rumble of thunder and lightening cut him off, causing the ceiling light that Hermione had turned on when they'd arrived to power out.

"Electricity's out," Harry declared lowly. 'This was just great...'

"Yeah, that also means it's too dangerous for you to apparate in this kind of weather, Harry. You know that," she said wisely with a raised eyebrow for persuasive effect.

"What'll I do then?" he asked a bit embarrassedly.

"Um, well... there's the couch," she pointed shyly to the large sofa behind him.

"None of the other spare bedrooms have furniture in them yet."

"Um," he voiced looking back at the couch and then into Hermione's eyes. He knew they were thinking the same thing and he was determined to prove to her that they didn't have to be so uncomfortable around each other when they were alone like this, "Yeah the couch would be great. Thanks 'Mione."

"Sure... I'll go get you a pillow and blanket. The bathrooms the first door on the right if you'd like to wash up." She pointed to the hallway behind him while she took off in the opposite direction to get his bed accessories.

He walked sombrely to the bathroom and locked the door behind him when he entered. Immediately, he made his way to the sink, turned on the blast of hot water, and stared at himself in the mirror.

"You can do this," he muttered supportively to himself. After a few minutes of reinforcing his mantra he removed his glasses and started splashing the hot water on his face. He transfigured one of Hermione's intricate linen clothes into a tooth brush and found a spare tube of paste in the counter below.

When he left the bathroom and walked into the living room he noticed that Hermione had already put a fresh blanket and pillow for him on the couch.

She came out a few seconds later in her night wear just as Harry was taking his shirt off. She stopped awkwardly but didn't take her eyes off how the muscles in his back manoeuvred when he was pulling it off.

He threw the shirt on the coffee table and then turned to see Hermione staring at him.

"Oh," he voiced surprised as she stood there and immediately removed her eyes from him.

"Um, I just came out to say good night."

"Yeah, good night. And thanks for this Hermione," he said with genuine sincerity in his voice.

Hermione smiled at him, "What are friends for?" She waved one last time before retreating back down the hall into her bedroom.

Harry scoffed to himself as he lay down in the make-shift bed, "Yeah, friends..."

---

Next week on Lies for Love:

"Tell me," urged Harry. He knew he'd stop if he heard her say that she'd forgotten about what they'd shared and didn't miss it. "You're my best friend, Hermione," he continued in a gentler tone, "You're the only person I can share what I'm feeling with... and I know what I'm feeling right now. Just tell me that you haven't missed me and I'll back off."

Hermione looked into his eyes, "I can't do that," she whispered with a bated breath.

…

You guys were so generous in your reviewing that you suckered me in to updating a whole four days early. I think it’s now painstakingly obvious what exactly the “consequences” of H&Hr‘s get togethers was. For those of you who haven’t yet realized- bless you for being so naïve.

Also, I like to pride myself on how “real” the emotions are with Harry and Hermione. This isn’t going to be some fairy tale romance… there will be hardships, drama and angst- so if you guys aren’t willing to trust me and wait for the ‘happy ever after’ then turn back now or wait until all parts of the trilogy have been completed.

Until next time,

-Oliver

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 3: Sharing Emotions

---

Hermione sighed in frustration and finally sat up from her bed. She had been laying in bed, doing nothing but thinking of the raven haired wizard in the opposite room.

"This is ridiculous," she said heatedly before throwing the duvet off her body and getting out of bed. She headed for the door and walked out silently, making sure not to disturb Harry.

When she walked past the lounge she could see Harry laying there, shirtless, arms thrown above his head, and the blanket pooled down around his waist.

She couldn't help stopping to admire the view of Harry's formed, hard abs, remembering a time when they were pressed up against her own body.

She sighed, shaking her head slightly to clear her thoughts. 'It was in the past... we've both made it very clear that it was only sex and after the war it wouldn't happen again...'

With a hand to her forehead, she walked into the kitchen and tried to flip on the lights. When they didn't turn on she remembered the power outage and took her wand out to say a quick lumos. She reached for the kettle and tapped it with her wand, causing it to fill with hot water. Since the war it had been a habit for her to keep her wand in the waist band of her shorts when she slept. 'Stop thinking of the war will you? It only brings back painful memories...'

She turned for a tin on the counter and took out a pack of tea, mixing it in with the hot water as if on autopilot. When she was finished she slid the tin back across the counter and put both hands to her face to rub her weary eyes.

"You alright?" a groggy voice asked from behind her.

She turned around sharply to see a shirtless Harry standing there with mused hair, looking adorable and missing his glasses. He must have thought an intruder was in the house by the way his wand was hanging in his hand by his side.

Hermione put a hand to her heart, "Harry, you scared me."

"Scared me first," he replied, coming closer into the kitchen. "What're you doin' awake?"

"Oh um," she said trying to think of a quick response but failing, "I couldn't sleep," she answered honestly, again averting her eyes from Harry's half naked body.

"Why not?" he asked moving closer to her after inspecting the contents of the kettle.

"Just because," she answered feebly, not meeting his eyes.

He placed a tender hand to her forehead to check her temperature, "Are you still not feeling well?"

"I feel fine."

"Good," he said back, removing his hand gently. "So were you up doing some late night thinking? I know how you get your best ideas coming at you between 1 and 3 in the morning."

Hermione smiled, flattered that he would remember such a trait about her. "More like some deep pondering."

Harry continued to look at her, admiring her beauty even in the early hours of the morning, "About Ron?"

Hermione looked up to him and furrowed her eyebrows, "Why would you say that?"

Harry shrugged, "You guys just looked awfully cosy tonight."

Hermione frowned at him before responding, "I wasn't thinking about Ron."

A few moments passed before Harry asked, "What's going on with you two? I mean really?"

"Nothing," she replied automatically.

Harry gave her a sardonic look which Hermione returned mockingly.

"What? I mean... I'm not going to lie, he's kissed me a few times, but I mean... I just- I just don't want to be in a relationship with him right now."

"Right now?" Harry asked scornfully.

Hermione frowned at his tone, "Yes, right now."

"So, you fancy him?"

"Yeah... I mean he's a good bloke. I know he'd be a decent enough boyfriend-"

"Then why not right now?"

Hermione looked at him stubbornly, "Because I don't want to rush into a relationship unless I'm sure-"

"Sure about what?" he persisted.

"Sure that I'll actually end up somewhere with him!" she cried desperately, annoyed that he was throwing so many questions at her that she was unprepared for.

Harry looked at her with his infamous poker face, "And those blokes in Australia?"

"Bloke. Singular."

"Okay so that bloke in Australia?" he questioned again relentlessly.

"Nothing happened," Hermione responded, again automatically.

"Okay, and by 'nothing happened' you mean..." Harry trailed off, leaving her time to reply.

"I mean my dad walked in on us before we could get past snogging," she said with a good-humoured smile.

Harry laughed, "Remind me to thank your dad someday."

Hermione stared at him with a light smile before turning around to tend to the tea. She poured two cups and put three lumps of sugar in Harry's.

"Thanks," he said as he took the cup.

Hermione nodded, and pulled herself up on the counter so her legs were dangling over the edge.

"So what about you?" she asked after they both had a few sips of tea.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," she looked over at him with a sardonic expression, much like the one he had given her earlier.

"I told Ginny to just have this year for herself. And if she wants to, when she graduates and we're both not seeing someone else, than we'll give it another try." He finished with a shrug of his shoulders, and looking down into his murky tea.

"Do you want to?"

"What?" he asked with genuine confusion.

"Get back with her?"

"I don't want to hurt her feelings, so I probably will give her another chance next year. I mean, I know she wants to..."

"Yeah, judging by that kiss tonight I'd say it's at the top of her priorities," Hermione commented, seeing what his reaction would be.

To her surprise he blushed, "You seen that?"

"I seen that."

"I didn't want her to, and I didn't say anything to her because she was kind of sloshed," he contested quickly.

Hermione looked at him as if studying him. Her stomach couldn't help but twist into knots when she heard him say that he didn't want Ginny to kiss him.

"You know, it's been a while," he muttered timidly, finally raising his eyes to stare into hers intensely.

Hermione sighed, "Harry-"

"Since we've talked like this. That's all I meant, honestly." He moved forward, and right when Hermione thought he was going to move between her legs he took a step to the side to put his now empty cup in the sink.

"Yeah... it has been a while since we've talked," she confirmed softly, not looking at him as he looked up from the sink so he was facing very closely to her.

"I've missed you, Hermione."

Hermione sighed, 'Do not do this to me Harry Potter... not after I've tried so hard to forget you...'

"Harry..."

"What? I have missed you- I'm not going to take that back... I'm not going to lie to you," he finished moving between her legs and placing his hands softly on her thighs.

Hermione looked down into his eyes for a while before shaking her head, "Harry-"

"Hermione, we're not in relationships. It's not like we'd be cheating on anyone. And tell me that you haven't missed me," he challenged huskily, moving his hands under her thighs and pulling her closer.

Hermione continued to shake her head.

"Tell me," urged Harry. He knew he'd stop if he heard her say that she'd forgotten about what they'd shared and didn't miss it. "You're my best friend, Hermione," he continued in a gentler tone, "You're the only person I can share what I'm feeling with... and I know what I'm feeling right now. Just tell me that you haven't missed me and I'll back off."

Hermione looked into his eyes, "I can't do that," she whispered with a bated breath.

Harry continued to pull her closer until their noses were touching, "Didn't think so," he muttered before closing the distance and kissing her.

She kissed him back, even though she was still battling with herself whether this was right or wrong. After a few moments of gentle kissing, Hermione didn't want to think about it anymore. She wrapped one arm around Harry's neck and the other took to the back of his head to run through his soft hair. Running her tongue over Harry's bottom lip, she was granted access instantly. Harry moaned into the back of his throat, eliciting a similar moan from Hermione. He moved his hands under Hermione's cotton shorts and began to re-familiarize himself with her body.

After snogging in the kitchen for a few moments, they both agreed that they needed to move to some place more comfortable. Without warning, Harry grabbed her bum and hoisted her up so that her legs could wrap around his waist. Hermione's lips attached themselves to his neck as Harry manoeuvred his way down the hall and into the bedroom, doing a good job since his vision was severely blurred.

When they were finally on the bed, Harry wasted no time in unbuttoning his pants and kicking them off into a faraway corner. Hermione was on the bed, also about to pull her shirt over her head when Harry stopped her by grabbing her hand and slowly moving on top of her.

He kissed her hungrily and started to teasingly run his fingers underneath the hem of her shirt.

"Harry..." she whimpered, wanting him to hurry.

"Shh, patience Hermione," he whispered against her lips before moving down to her neck to suck lightly on her sensitive spot.

Hermione clutched at his back as he repeatedly ran his warm mouth over her throat. Finally, he pulled her shirt up and over her head and threw it in the corner his pants were in. He smiled as he noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra and automatically bent down to give her breasts attention.

"Harry..." she whimpered again after a few minutes of her hips bucking against him. He grinned. Harry knew what she wanted and yet he couldn't help but tease her a bit.

"Yes?" he asked innocently as he released her nipple from his mouth.

"You know I love what you're doing, but seriously... its been too long... can we speed this up?" She had the grace to blush at her words but that didn't undermine what she really did want right now.

"You want it now?" he asked slyly, slipping her shorts off.

"Yes," she gasped as his hand travelled down her stomach and pressed against her aching womanhood.

"Right now?" he teased again, now slipping off her lace knickers.

"Harry!" she said clearly irritated.

By that time Harry had gotten rid of his boxers and was looming over Hermione with smug look, "I don't like your tone, Hermione."

"Harry I swear- oh..."

Harry took the opportunity to push into her unexpectedly. She clawed at his back as he wasted no time thrusting in and out of her with a fast pace. Harry gripped her hip with one hand and supported his weight from crushing her with the other.

Hermione's legs wrapped themselves tighter around Harry, urging him forward.

"Merlin... Hermione..." Harry panted as sweat dripped from his forehead and fell on her bare chest.

Hermione could feel herself tighten around him as he continued to drive into her, pushing her over the edge. She grasped his shoulders desperately and threw her head back as a racking orgasm over took her body. She moaned out Harry's name, causing Harry to also be pushed over the edge. He pumped into her a few more times for what it was worth before finally collapsing on top of her in a sweaty, spent mess.

Harry buried his head into the crook of her shoulder and lay their for a few minutes, immobile and on top of her. "Can you breathe okay?" he rasped out once the silence was over bearing.

He could feel her nod and wrap a loose arm over his neck.

"Good, 'cause I'm not movin'," he spoke again in the same voice. Harry wordlessly and motionlessly magicked her comforter to lay over them and after a few moments of heavy breathing, they both fell into a deep slumber.

---

Harry woke the next day to a bright room and the sounds of muggle traffic and birds chirping out the window. Harry smiled. The birds must've had a wonderful time last night as well. He finally opened his eyes wide enough to look for the blurred form of Hermione and found that there was no sign of her in the room.

He sat up bewildered, letting the comforter pool around his waist. 'Maybe she's in the kitchen.' He reasoned with himself before he started to wonder about more extravagant excuses why she wasn't there.

He got out of bed, pulled on his boxers and then his trousers which had been thrown over a picture of Hermione's parents in the corner of her room.

"Sorry Mr. and Mrs. Granger," he muttered as he zipped them up and walked out of the room.

"Hermione?" he called out expecting to hear her voice responding to him from somewhere in the flat. He stumbled his way over to the coffee table where his glasses and shirt were.

Once his vision was back to normal he spotted a note sitting on the kitchen counter.

Harry-

Sorry I ran out on you but I forgot I had breakfast with my parents this morning. Afterwards I have to stop by the university and sign up for my classes. It stopped raining so its safe to apparate. You can help yourself to some coffee and food on the way out.

Talk to you soon,

Hermione

Harry sighed and crumpled the note in his hand. He was hoping to talk to Hermione this morning and tell her that there should be no weird feelings between them. They could still be best friends while having casual sex at the same time. Couldn't they?

---

"Oi! Harry?! Are you home?!" shouted a voice from Harry's fireplace. Harry walked over to find Ron's head floating in the green flames.

"Hey Ron," Harry greeted a bit hesitantly.

"Hey, let me in will you?" Ron asked sounding somewhat peeved about something.

Harry drew out his wand from his back pocket (what would Mad-Eye Moody think of him? He could loose a buttock after all...) and taped it against the fireplace, allowing Ron to come tumbling through.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Harry as he watched Ron quickly brush himself.

"Women Harry! I don't bloody get them!"

Harry looked away, not wanting to have a conversation with Ron about women primarily because the woman he was after was the woman that Harry had just shagged last night. Harry turned and went into his kitchen, grabbing two butterbeers from the fridge. He was about to turn back to go into the lounge to give one to Ron but sure enough Ron had followed him and was two steps away from him.

"I mean," he started, ripping the cap off the bottle and taking a deep drink, "I ask Hermione to be my date for last night. I held her hand... did all the things an interested bloke was supposed to do and then at the end of the night she shoots down my offer to go home with her!"

Harry sighed again, feeling guilty that he was the one to go home with her last night. "So you remember that much from last night?"

"No! I don't! I ran into Neville in Diagon Alley who remembered that from last night! How the hell did this happen to me?" Ron cried out desperately, dropping down into one of Harry's kitchen stools.

"Look Ron, she sent you home last night because you were pissed. She obviously didn't want to deal with that," he stopped to look at Ron and make sure he was following. Ron nodded so Harry continued, "Plus, I don't know what you were expecting from her. After seven years of friendship you should damn well know Hermione's not the type of girl to shag a bloke on the first date."

He felt tremendously culpable telling Ron this, but he had to know not to expect that from Hermione, despite what his own circumstances with her were.

"But I thought after that one night she'd be eas-" Ron started speaking eagerly before closing his mouth and looking at the ground.

"What?" Harry asked sharply as he noticed Ron's sudden quietness.

Ron shook his head adamantly, "Nothing Harry. Back to what I was saying," Harry frowned at his best mate as he continued speaking like he hadn't just almost let the cat out of the bag. 'What was he about to say? Something about that one night? What the hell?!' Harry looked up at Ron again with a sullen expression and watched him continue his banter- "I just... I wanted it to be clear that I want us to be more than friends. I mean that kiss during the battle... well, I thought it would all come into place after that. We've done some stuff but it's just been casual. Nothing's definite between us," he spoke with a love sick expression that Harry thought was kind of depressing. After rethinking the situation though, he felt bad for Ron. Hermione was leading him on a bit.

"Ron, I think you should just give her time. We've all been through a lot, and if you two are meant to get together than you will and... I'll- I'll be happy for you."

"She does like me though, right? I mean, has she said anything to you?"

"Yeah, she likes you Ron," Harry replied honestly.

"Yeah, that was a daft question. I know she likes me... she has to like me..."

Harry sighed and turned away from Ron to walk deeper into the kitchen and pull out a few letters that he had received earlier that day.

"Where do you think I should take her tonight?" Ron interrupted him from his readings a few moments later.

"Hmm?" asked Harry turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I went by earlier and asked her to go to dinner with me tonight. Where do you think I should take her. I told her I made reservations to this nice place..."

"And did you?" Harry asked his best mate with a smirk.

Ron looked up at him, "No. That's why I need your help."

Harry took another deep breath and looked toward the ground while leaning back on the counter. A part of him really wanted to tell Ron that he never stood a chance with Hermione and he should just quit now but another part of him was telling him vehemently that Ron was his best mate since they were 11. He wanted to help Ron get the girl of his dreams... even if that girl was the same one that helped release Harry's tensions during the war.

Harry looked up at him with a smile, "Didn't she used to talk about a place called Aurora?"

Ron brightened and shook his finger at him, "Yeah... where'd she that was? Off Abbey Street?"

"No, it's the small place on Lexington. Take her there, she'll love it."

Ron stood up with a smile, "Should I do anything else? Flowers?"

Harry shrugged, "If you bring her flowers don't make them too extravagant. Maybe just one. And make sure it's pretty and don't pick it off someone's garden on the way to get her."

"Okay," Ron said sheepishly, telling Harry that that was exactly what he was planning to do.

Harry stood there looking at Ron with a small smile on his face. 'See... he could do this... he could help his best friend get Hermione... it would be better than another bloke laying his greasy hands on her, that's for sure...'

"Alright, well I'll be going. I've got lots to do for tonight. You wanna grab lunch tomorrow?" Ron asked turning back as he made his way back into the lounge.

"Yeah, I'm free around noon. Oh, and Ron?"

"What?"

"Don't push Hermione into doing anything she doesn't want to do. Make sure you tell her that you can take your time with... that..." Harry told him, referring to doing anything sexual with her.

Ron nodded after a second, "Yeah that's good advice. It'll tell her I'm being responsible and serious about us," he finished giving Harry a cheeky grin. "See you tomorrow, mate."

Harry waved goodbye from the kitchen and heard Ron shout out 'the Burrow' a few moments later, signalling his departure.

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

"Hermione, honestly what's the matter with you?" Harry asked softly as he began to rub her back.

Hermione choked back a sob and looked up to stare into Harry's eyes. "I-I..."

"You what?" Harry urged, pecking the side of her head.

Hermione looked at him desperately for a few more seconds before shaking her head vigorously, "Its the flu. It has to be the flu..."

…

Thank you for the reviews!

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 4: It’s The Flu…

[AN] Just a few things I’d like to address;

An anonymous reviewer tried to tell me something that quite pissed me off- no this isn’t just some ‘Hermione gets pregnant and her and Harry try and work their relationship out’-- there is much, MUCH more to it than that.

And to the other anonymous reviewer who jumped to conclusions by saying that, “Oh, Hermione’s in love with Harry but he just it too clueless!”

…no, mate. That’s not it at all.

AND- I thought this might be pretty clear to most of you since my name is OLIVER- but I AM a BLOKE with a …

So to the one reviewer who keeps addressing me as “girl” and “girlie”… you’re making me severely uncomfortable.

On with the story…..

---

The next day Harry was waiting in a small muggle deli in West London, waiting for Ron to arrive. He impatiently was tapping his fingers against the table, hoping the reason for him being late was because he was eating a pre-lunch snack and not because he was coming from Hermione's. Last night he had gone out with Dean, Seamus, and Neville to a local muggle club just to take his mind of their impending date. He sincerely hoped that everything went well, he just didn't want to sit around his flat all night wondering if Hermione would like Ron’s advances or not.

"Oi, Harry!" called Ron's voice from the entrance of the restaurant. Harry looked up and his stomach plummeted when he seen Hermione standing next to his ginger haired best mate. Ron reached down to take Hermione's hand as he walked forward to the table Harry was seated at in the rear end of the deli.

"Hope you don't mind, I told Hermione about lunch and offered her to come," Ron said with a smile, pulling out Hermione's seat and then taking the one right next to her.

"No I don't mind," he said observing her inconspicuously as she sat down and muttered her thanks to Ron, "If I knew you were coming I would have got you a drink." Harry said pointing to the drink he had pre-ordered for Ron.

"Oh, it's fine Harry," she said, not looking at him.

Harry pursed his lips while looking between the two of them. He knew Hermione had a certain aura about her after a night of sex and he was relieved to see she didn't look like that. It seemed that Ron took what Harry had to say to heart.

"Are you ready to order?" asked a kindly woman, waddling up to them.

"I'll have a ham sandwich, and then a roast beef sandwich with two bags of regular crisps," Ron said immediately, without even glancing at the menu.

"And you darling?" she asked Hermione.

"Um, can I just get a water for now?" Hermione responded after staring down at the menu for a few moments.

The woman nodded and then turned to Harry who was staring at Hermione with a confused look, "Oh, I'll have a cup of the chicken soup, please."

The woman collected the three menus and tottled off back in the direction of the kitchen.

"Are you alright Hermione?" Harry asked as soon as the woman had left.

Hermione nodded, "I just don't want to upset my stomach. It's been a little uneasy lately."

Harry continued to stare at her and after a while Hermione looked up into his eyes a little heatedly, "I'm fine Harry, fine."

Harry nodded while Ron started a conversation about the latest quidditch match against Ireland and Ealing. Not before long the plump woman was back with a tray full of plates. She set two of the plates down in front of Ron, along with two bags of crisps and then Harry's bowl of chicken soup and Hermione's glass of water.

Harry gave Hermione another observant look when she put a hand over her mouth as Ron began to eat his roast beef sandwich.

"Yeah so they say Aiden Lynch's arm can't be attached for another two weeks since St. Mungo's is behind- wait a second," he paused swallowing another bite of his sandwich.

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.

"I can’t believe her!" Ron exclaimed throwing the sandwich down.

"What Ron?" Harry asked a bit annoyed.

"This is turkey, not roast beef. I'm going to go tell her," he said temperamentally getting up and taking his plate with a less than half eaten sandwich on it.

"Do you really think that woman's going to care that Ron has a problem with a sandwich he's already mostly taken care of?" Harry asked rhetorically, staring after Ron and swirling his straw around in his drink.

Hermione mumbled something incoherent since she still had her hand clapped over her mouth.

"You're right, he'll probably come back with another one- Hermione?" Harry asked worriedly as he finally glanced over at Hermione who was looking more than a little pale.

He watched her take a deep breath and then pry her hand away, "I'm okay," she squeaked with an embarrassed tone.

"Are you sure?" he asked putting a straw in the water glass she was about to drink from. She accepted it gratefully and answered his question,

"Yes, I'm sure. So what did you do last night?"

Harry could tell she was trying to steer the conversation away from her so he complied and shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing really. Went out with the boys to a muggle disco."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him, "Oh?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I didn't like it though. Music was too loud and too many middle aged women wanted to grab the famous Potter tush, so I had to call it a night pretty early."

Hermione smirked, "Whatever Potter, I'm sure you loved hordes of older woman feeling you up."

Harry smiled back at her, "What about you? How was your date with Ron?" He was proud of himself how calmly he asked the question.

Hermione shrugged but wore a small smile none the less, "It went well actually."

Harry nodded and took a quick drink, "So you like him then?"

Hermione looked at him in the eyes, "He's a lot more serious about getting together than I thought he was. And he made it clear that we could take it at my pace."

Harry stopped from taking another drink, "So... so you're together?"

Hermione again looked at him with an intense gaze, "I didn't say that. When he told me we could take it at my pace I told him I wasn't ready for the title or responsibility of a relationship. Not now at least."

"So it’s just casual. And he was okay with that?" Harry offered her a bite of his soup but she turned it away.

"He seemed like he was trying to persuade me to change my mind. But, I find it flattering that he really wants to be with me that badly. He even brought me a flower when he picked me up."

"Oh, that's nice," he replied tightly. 'Good to know he's earning points off my advice,' Harry thought bitterly before scolding himself. 'No, your happy that it went well. And if they do get together you will be 100% happy for them...'

"Harry?"

"What?" he asked, looking back at Hermione.

"I said thank you," Hermione said giving him a weird look.

"What for?"

"Because I know Ron went to you and I know you suggested Aurora's and all the other things that he said that were not very Ron-ish comments. So thank you, it means a lot to me that you wanted it to go well."

Harry smiled at her, "Any time." Harry looked at her for a few more seconds, watching her look out the window into the street and take idle sips of her water. He had to know though; "So what'd you do after dinner?"

She looked over to him slowly and blinked a few times. She was about to speak when-

"Finally!" said an exasperated Ron as he sat back down at the table with a plate with a brand new sandwich on top, "I had to almost throttle the wench to get her to make me another one."

"Honestly, Ron," Hermione scoffed good-naturedly while Harry started chuckling.

"What?" he asked taking a mouthful of sandwich.

The smile on Hermione's face dropped instantly and she clapped her hand to her mouth again.

"Hermione?" Harry asked immediately, dropping his spoonful of soup to examine her.

She had turned considerably paler and she held up a shaky hand to Ron's plate, "Roast beef?" she mumbled barely above a whisper.

"Yeah," Ron nodded dumbly, "Want some?" he asked pushing it towards her so it was right under her nose.

Hermione gagged and quickly got up from the table to run to the nearby ladies’ loo.

"What I say?" Ron again asked dumbly as he took another bite.

Harry threw his napkin down, sent a nasty glare at Ron, and then took off in the direction of the girls' toilets.

"Hermione?" he asked hesitantly, pushing the door open a bit so he could see inside. He seen a few stalls that looked empty and then one at the end where he could tell someone was kneeling in front of the toilet, vomiting their brains out. Harry sighed and pushed the door open so he could walk in fully.

He heard a feminine howl towards his right, "You're not supposed to be in here!" a horse like woman (similar to Aunt Petunia) yelled, pointing her powder brush at Harry.

"Bugger off," Harry muttered, stalking past her and into the last stall.

"You're fine right?" Harry said sarcastically, helping Hermione pull her hair away from her face.

"Shove off," she gasped between mouthfuls of spit.

"Hermione, honestly what's the matter with you?" Harry asked softly as he began to rub her back.

Hermione choked back a sob and looked up to stare into Harry's eyes. "I-I..."

"You what?" Harry urged, pecking the side of her head.

Hermione looked at him desperately for a few more seconds before shaking her head vigorously, "Its the flu. It has to be the flu..."

"Alright well if you're so positive then we're going to make an appointment to get you some potions at St. Mungo’s to help it, okay?" he said soothingly, hugging her to his chest.

Hermione nodded and allowed Harry to pull her up and support her out of the loo. Ron was on the other side of the door waiting.

"Is she okay?" he asked eagerly, bending down to Hermione's eye level.

"We better get her home," Harry said in a controlled voice.

"Yeah alright," Ron agreed, seeing her in this state made him a bit queasy and frantic, "I noticed an alley next to this place that we can apparate in-"

"No," Hermione spoke determinedly.

"No?"

"What do you mean no, Hermione?" Harry asked her with his arms still wrapped around her.

"Apparating makes it worse," she struggled to say before taking another gasp and choking back another wave of nausea.

"Well how will we get you home then?" Ron asked daftly.

"We'll catch a cab. Is that okay, Hermione?" Harry asked her rubbing her back,

Hermione nodded and Harry turned to Ron, "Will you pay Ron?" Harry asked handing him his wallet, "Give the lady one of the notes in there," he finished, taking Hermione outside with him and quickly hailing a taxi.

Harry told the driver the address while he situated Hermione in the car and made sure she was comfortable. A few seconds later Ron came out and handed Harry his wallet, still munching on his bag of crisps.

Harry snatched the crisps out of Ron's hands and threw them in a nearby rubbish bin.

"Oi!"

"She gets sick when you eat that shite in front of her!" he said with irritation, climbing into the car after Hermione and then being followed by Ron.

They arrived to Hermione's flat without incident. Harry wasted no time carrying Hermione to her bedroom and placing her in bed, laying the familiar comforter over her gently. Ron came in a few seconds later with a damp cloth and bowl in case she had another wave of nausea.

"Thank you," she rasped as he lay the towel on her forehead.

"Can we get you anything else?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm sorry about ruining," she took a deep breath, "lunch."

"Don't worry about it Hermione we can do it again some other time," Harry commented, lazily stroking her arm. She opened an eye to look at him and he took it as a gesture to stop.

"Yeah, I'll stop by tonight to check up on you and then if you're feeling better I can run out and get some food and we can just eat in," Ron said with a triumphant smile, seemingly knowing how nice of an offer that was. Harry however turned his eyes up in annoyance since he was about to offer the same thing.

Hermione nodded solemnly and then rolled over so she was facing away from the boys.

"I think I'll take a kip," she said dismissively with a small wave of her hand.

"Alright, feel better," Harry said, patting her arm.

Harry got off the bed and headed out towards the door. He noticed Ron wasn't following him when he was in the hallway so he turned around and could see Ron on the bed, kissing Hermione's cheek and saying something to her. He seen her nod, he kissed her again and then walked out.

"Are you going to come back to the Burrow with me?" Ron asked eagerly.

"What for?"

"So we can finish lunch," he said dubiously. Harry stared at his best mate in disbelief for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"No, Ron. I think I'll just go home."

"Alright, suit yourself mate." Ron was the first to apparate as soon as they were outside of Hermione's door, leaving Harry to turn around and stare at the closed door. Arguing with himself whether he should go back in or not, he quickly shook his head again and apparated the kilometre away from his flat.

---

Harry apparated outside of Hermione's flat, hands laden with various potion vials and a bag with chicken noodle soup inside. It had been almost a week since Ron and him had dropped a sick Hermione off at her flat from a disastrous lunch outing. He felt a bit ashamed that he hadn't kept in contact with her to see how she was doing. As he readjusted the things in his hands so he could knock on the door, he felt reassured, knowing Hermione would understand since he had just started Auror training. They were very strenuous days, and Harry pretty much woke up and went to work and then when he came home at night fell asleep immediately.

However, he put a grin on his face as he heard footsteps coming to answer the door.

Harry's smile dropped as the door swung open.

"Oh, hiya mate! What'd you bring me?" Ron asked merrily, reaching for the brown paper bag. Harry moved away from him quickly and frowned at him.

"What are you doing here, Ron?" he asked in a rude tone, not dismissing the fact that Ron was only wearing a pair of black track pants and nothing else.

Ron was about to answer when another voice beat him to it, "Harry? Is that you?"

Harry ignored Ron and stalked past him, approaching the sofa that Hermione was stationed at.

Hermione smiled when he came into view, "Is that all for me?" she asked in a hopeful tone, eyeing up the vials fervently.

"Yes," Harry said monotonously, sitting down in front of her on the coffee table. He could tell she was wearing an overly large white shirt (the kind that Ron often wore) and a small pair of shorts under the blanket that was wrapped around her.

Harry quickly pulled out the chicken soup and handed it to her with the plastic spoon he had been given at the restaurant.

"Thank you, Harry," she said in an appreciative tone, taking the soup in her mouth greedily as soon as the lid was off.

"Mmm, Aurora's soup is the best. I haven't really been able to eat anything else lately besides soup," she commented, continuing to eat.

"Solid foods seem to make her sick at the sight of them, so we've been living off the deli's soup down the street," Ron added coming to sit next to her.

Harry didn't even spare a glance at him and chose to ignore the part where he basically told him that he'd been spending the night with her. "You sound better," Harry said tightly, forcing himself to keep cool.

Hermione nodded enthusiastically, "I've just been locked up in the house but I guess it's been good for me. I haven't been sick in two days," she said with a triumphant smile.

Harry returned the smile, "I'm sorry I wasn't by sooner, I started auror training though and the first few days make it seem like I'll never have a single moment to myself ever again."

Hermione smiled good-naturedly, "I figured that would be the reason. Kingsley must run a tight ship, eh?" Harry nodded at this and she continued, "And don't beat yourself up about not contacting me sooner, Ron's been taking care of me pretty well," she finished patting Ron's knee with a smile.

Harry took his eyes away from their contact and looked back to the phials, "Well I was on an errand at St. Mungo's and I managed to get away to get you a few potions," Harry held up the first one which was bright yellow, "Here's a flu-be-gone potion and the others are a nausea remedy and pepper-up potion."

"Thank you so much Harry. Maybe now I'll be able to get out of the flat," she said with a hopeful raise of her eyebrows as she took another spoonful from her soup. "And you can go home," she added with a wistful grin at Ron, "Your mother's probably livid at me for keeping you away from her for this long.

Ron smiled, "No worries Hermione, I'm sure she'd understand. Plus George told me I could take as much time off as I needed to get you back on your feet. I'm yours as long as you want me," he finished with a cheeky grin making Harry secretly roll his eyes. 'Well look who grew up and turned into bloody Prince Charming...'

Hermione looked at him with soft eyes. Harry couldn't take this anymore. He stood up and cleared his throat, "Well I have to go. I snuck out so I could get this to you-"

"Oh, Harry, you shouldn't of done that! I won't forgive you if you get in trouble your first week of training just for me."

"It'll be fine, 'Mione," he said using the nick name he used for her when they were alone to tell her that he didn't much fancy sitting there with her and a half naked Ron right now.

Hermione nodded her head and looked back down into her half eaten bowl, "Well thank you for the soup, Harry."

He nodded and bent to kiss her forehead, "Make sure you drink those potions up. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Alright," Hermione nodded, setting the bowl on the table.

"Bye Ron," he said stiffly, not wanting to be blatantly rude, but still a little mean to him. He knew that he would be happy if his best friend's got together... he had to be... 'I guess I'm just a little pissed that he didn't tell me he'd be staying here...'

"Oh wait," Harry said turning back to Hermione and Ron. "I forgot about this," he pulled out a small bag which enlarged itself as soon as it was fully taken out of his jacket.

Harry handed her the floo powder, "Picked this up a few days ago."

Hermione smiled gratefully at him, "Thank you, Harry."

Harry nodded tersely before turning on his heel and taking off for the door. When he opened the door he could hear Ron asking Hermione why he didn't tell him about the floo powder and that he would have got her some for free. Harry smiled smugly, albeit unwillingly, and disapparated back to headquarters.

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

Harry was fuming. His cheeks were red, his hands were fisting his ebony locks, and he had stubborn tears rolling down his cheeks.

He slammed against the back wall of the office and let himself slide to the ground. 'How the hell could this be happening to him?!' Harry thought angrily.

…

Thanks for the phenomenal reviews! You guys are so generous I’ve decided to update regularly on Tuesday’s and Saturday’s. I might even start up on Thursday’s as well… I know you’ll all agree to that :] I’m just as excited to post chapters as you are to read them!!

Maybe I’ll do it as a special treat or something… maybe there’s a birthday coming up?…

Also, if you have some disturbing thoughts about some off the details in this chapter, I am happy to tell you that it will all be cleared up for the next chapter!

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 5: Tears

[AN] I didn’t realise what a scary teaser I left you with Tuesday… I’ll apologize now because it truly scared the bloody hell out of some of you. No worries though mates! This is the chapter you’ve been waiting for…

---

Harry was fuming. His cheeks were red, his hands were fisting his ebony locks, and he had stubborn tears rolling down his cheeks.

He slammed against the back wall of the office and let himself slide to the ground. 'How the hell could this be happening to him?!' Harry thought angrily, not thinking about himself but rather his 4 month old godson.

"Why the bloody hell can't you tell me where he is?!" Harry attempted again in a dangerous scream.

"Mr. Potter, it was a muggle neighbour that discovered her so she called the muggle authorities. We can't find him because he's out of our jurisdiction!" Mrs. Barnum said back flippantly, sitting behind her desk and starting to scribble away on a pad of paper.

Harry got up from the ground furiously and walked over to her, snatched the quill away, effectively breaking it and pointed a finger in her face, "What the fuck are you good for if you can't tell me where he's been taken? Teddy is a wizard- of magical decent! You are the fucking head of Magical Child Services! I'M HAVING TROUBLE COMPREHENDING WHY YOU WON'T TELL ME ANY FUCKING DETAILS! YOU EXPECT ME TO JUST BE FINE WITH THE FACT THAT MY GODSON'S GRANDMOTHER SUDDENLY DIED AND NOW HE'S BEEN TAKEN INTO MUGGLE CUSTODY?!"

"Mr. Potter, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down or leave my office," Mrs. Barnum said fearfully, looking at the lamp on her desk that had shattered during Harry's rant.

Harry sneered at her before turning to sit in the chair that faced her desk. He wiped the tears from his face and stared at the woman mercilessly.

"Mr. Potter, I'm only permitted to tell you what we know. I cannot give you outside information on your godson's whereabouts simply because we do not know anything. Ted John Lupin was raised by Andromeda Tonks who lived in a muggle neighbourhood in West London. Her muggle neighbour," she kept stressing the word muggle, "found Mr. Lupin crying from his nursery yesterday morning. When she went to investigate she found Mrs. Tonks laying in bed without a pulse. The muggle ambulance was contacted, along with the police and they concluded that she had died in her sleep due to natural causes-"

"Were they really natural causes, though? Those bloody muggle idiots wouldn't know signs of magic if it literally kicked them in the face! Why aren't we doing our own investigation on her death?!" Harry looked as if he could cause a massive storm the way his eyes were sparkling indignantly.

"Mr. Potter, homicide or whatever you think might've really happened to Mrs. Tonks is not my job. Now please stop interrupting me!" she finished hotly, levelling a stern glare of her own at him that reminded him of Professor McGonagall.

"Fine," he muttered begrudgingly and sank lower in his seat waiting for her to continue.

"Good. Now, as I was saying, after Mrs. Tonks was taken to the morgue the muggle authorities took Mr. Lupin into protective custody after knowledge of him having no other extended family. Where he is now, I can not tell you for certain. You have to take the rest up with the muggle services."

"But I'm his godfather! I AM his extended family! Why don't they understand that?"

"Mr. Potter, custody of an infant works different ways in the muggle world. There is no pointing a finger at the godfather and giving the baby to him, they have to go through the courts. There has to be a reading of a will, and if your name is on that will than there won't be any troubles-"

"So how do I find out if Andromeda left a will? Or more importantly how do I find out if my name's on it?"

"You will most likely be summoned to court-"

"Look, all this will be happening probably weeks from now! What's happening to my godson right now? I want to know where he's at and if I can take him home with me! He doesn't need to be staying at a bloody orphanage when I'm here for him!" Harry shouted at her, his temper about to fly off the handle again.

"Mr. Potter," the witch said calmly, standing behind her desk, "I am truly sorry for your loss. But this is out of the ministry's hands. You need to go to the muggle services if you want to gain custody of your godson."

Harry glared at her for a few moments before speaking through clenched teeth, "And where is this place?"

The woman willingly gave Harry a business card revealing the address and hours of London's Child Services. Without another word, Harry got up and left Mrs. Barnum’s office, slamming the door on his way out.

Harry stalked through the halls of the Ministry. He muttered to himself angrily as he entered the lift and jabbed the buttons for the main floor. He had to go to this place immediately and he was deeply relieved to find out that they were still open. Hopefully with some luck, these idiots would allow him to take Teddy home with him today.

He let his head bang against the side of the metal lift as it ascended up to the main floor. How could this have happened? He thought that he'd be getting a scolding for his little disappearing stunt at St. Mungo's last week when he was called in to Minister Kingsley's office- he didn't expect for Kingsley to tell him that Mrs. Tonks had suddenly passed away and that Teddy had been taken into the muggle authorities.

He sighed and rubbed at his eyes as the lift clanged open. He moodily pushed his way through the throws of people, heading towards the apparation point of the Ministry. Looking back down at the card, he couldn't help but feel extremely lost and helpless. He didn't want to face these people alone while he was an emotional wreck, but he knew he needed to get there as soon as possible.

A light bulb turned on his mind and he looked up thinking about his best friend. 'Hermione could help me do this... she would understand... I haven't talked to her in a while but she sent me those letters saying she was feeling better and that she was starting classes at uni...' Harry sniffed at his runny nose and quickly decided it was worth the shot. Running the rest of the distance to the apparation point, he quickly disappeared from sight with a quiet crack.

Not even stopping to knock and hoping that she'd be home, he opened the front door and barged through the living room, rapping briefly on her bedroom door before walking in.

"Hermione?!" he cried out desperately.

"Harry?" she asked breathlessly, her voice coming from the bathroom.

Harry walked over and tried to open the door but to his surprise it was locked, "Hermione!"

"What's wrong?" she asked again, prying the door open a bit.

Harry noticed that her hand was lightly wiping at her mouth and that she was sweating profusely. The way her clothes were laying slightly crumpled on her body didn’t make him feel any more comfortable. He took a step back, "Is someone in there with you?"

"No!" she rectified quickly, opening the door the rest of the way for Harry to see himself.

"Oh," he said shyly feeling stupid for asking that question when there was a more important topic at hand.

"Harry have you been crying?" Hermione asked in alarm, coming out of the bathroom to grab Harry's hands and sit him on the bed.

Harry shook his head stubbornly, "It's Teddy."

Hermione's face dropped, "Oh my god..."

"No," Harry assured her immediately, knowing what she would be thinking, "He's not dead. But Mrs. Tonks is."

"What?!" she asked, clapping a hand over her mouth.

Harry nodded stiffly, "Their neighbour found her in her bed dead. The muggles are saying it was natural causes-"

"Wait, muggles?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"Yeah, the neighbour that found them was a muggle so she called them instead of the Ministry of Magic. Now Mrs. Tonks is at some morgue and Teddy's been taken to London's child services."

"Oh no..." Hermione sighed, seemingly already knowing what they were about to get into.

Harry nodded again and sniffed, "Will you go with me down there? I just... I can't go by myself or else someone will get blown up," he finished with an uneasy laugh, "And I know that you can probably handle this better than me."

Hermione nodded swiftly, "Of course I'll go with you. Let me put my shoes on..." she trailed of instantly moving for her closet. Harry watched her bend down and slip her trainers on and couldn't help but think of what a wonderful friend she was.

---

"Harry, I understand that this is ridiculous and really hard for you, but you shouldn't have lost your temper like that..." Hermione said as she opened the door to her flat.

"I can't fucking understand why they just won't let me see him! Teddy's better off with me than sitting in some bloody orphanage!" he cried out, dropping onto her couch and putting his head in his hands.

Hermione sat next to him and rubbed his back, "Look Harry, I'm sure that once they find the will they'll give you custody. They can't do anything to him in the meantime so while staying at the orphanage isn't the way we want it, it's the way we have it," she finished looking into his eyes as he sat up to stare at her.

"I wish I could be like you- so poised," he confided in her shyly, running another hand through his hair.

Hermione smiled at him, not giving away that for the past few weeks she hadn't been feeling so poise, "That's why I came to you instead of anyone else. I knew you'd help me get through this... you'd be completely honest with me even if I didn't want to hear it. Even if it was a cold truth..."

Hermione paused and took her hand from Harry's back, staring blankly around her living room. A few moments passed where Hermione looked like she was having an internal battle before she shook her head lightly, "We just have to be pa-" she stopped and clapped a hand to her mouth.

Harry looked up in alarm, "Are you alright?"

Hermione swallowed and nodded quickly, "We just have to be patient."

"I know you're right, but it's just so bloody hard. I mean I need to get custody of Teddy. I have to. I don't want him to have that type of lifestyle... being raised by people that don't know him, don't understand him..."

Hermione looked at Harry with tears in her eyes. She gave him a watery smile.

"What?" he asked returning her smile.

She shook her head, "Nothing. Just that you'd be really great father to him, Harry. Teddy-" she stopped and clapped a hand to her mouth again. Harry looked at her in distress and placed a hand on her back. He watched as she looked like she was choking back a mouthful of something.

"Herm-" Harry started but before he could finish, Hermione bolted up from her spot and ran for the hall loo. Harry instantly jumped up as well, and followed her in to find her retching in the toilet.

"Hermione, I thought you told me you weren't getting sick anymore!" he scolded with a caring voice as he came forward to pull her hair back.

She shook her head lightly before throwing up again. When she drew back she was shaking and tears were spilling from her eyes.

"Hermione, come on, tell me what's wrong?" he asked lovingly stroking her hair and her back.

She started sobbing, covering her face with her hands.

"Hermione-" Harry tried pulling her hands away from her face but she wouldn't budge. "Hermione if you don't tell me what's wrong I'm going to take you to the hospital right now. Now tell me!"

She continued to cry, the tears coming quickly and spilling down her face, "I d-don't know what to do anymore!" she finally got out.

"About what Hermione? Come on, it can't be that bad..."

"No Harry, it is that bad," she said sniffing, and wiping her face, "I've been feeling like this since the beginning of August... I can't keep making excuses for myself..." she finished, shaking her head adamantly before covering it again with her hands.

"Hermione, if you've been feeling like this since August then why haven't you gone to the doctor?" he asked gently, again trying to pry her hands away.

"Be-because... I'm s-scare of w-what they'll tell me..."

"What do you mean? Sweetheart, look at me," he was hugging her against his chest, letting her tears stain his gray shirt.

She moved her hands away and let Harry wipe away the remaining tears, "I... I t-think..."

She paused and Harry continued to press her against his chest, "You think what, Hermione?"

She continued to shake her head like she was fighting with herself whether or not to tell him, "I... uh, I haven't..."

"Hermione?"

"I- I think I'm pregnant." she finally whispered with tears still streaming down her face.

Harry sat there, with Hermione still in his arms, his jaw dropped, staring at her like he'd never seen her before.

She finally looked up at him, "Harry?" she said lowly, wanting him to say something- anything to make her feel better about this.

"Y-you and Ron..." he asked shakily, not meeting her eyes.

"What?" she asked, genuinely befuddled.

"I thought you said you and Ron hadn't done that," he said this time a bit more angrily.

"We- wh-?" she started stuttering while looking into his clouded eyes. She could see the angriness in them and beyond that thought she spotted a bit of hurt and jealousy.

"So you just lied to me? That easily?"

"No, Harry-"

"Hermione, I wo-"

"Harry I've never slept with Ron!" she exclaimed suddenly, louder than she thought she could at the moment.

Harry stared at her, "What? Then who-" His mind started drifting off to that bloke in Australia... but Hermione said they had just snogged. Would she have lied?

"I told you my stomach started acting up late July, early August Harry... that would have meant conception was at least three to four weeks prior..." she said, looking at him intensely.

Harry stared at her in shock, "That means... I- is it...-"

"I've never been intimate with anyone else, Harry," she whispered quietly, moving slightly out of his embrace.

Harry was paralyzed. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move... all he could do was sit there and stare at her while Hermione looked thoroughly uncomfortable.

"D-do you know for sure?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, but I've been getting sick almost daily. Or at least my stomach cramps... I haven't had my period since god knows when, my waists are getting chubby, I haven't been able to apparate without feeling sick afterwards, I've-" she stopped ranting, placing a hand on her head and taking a deep breath, "I've been too scared to take the test... and I didn't want to find out alone."

"Hermione, you have to do the test," he said in trepidation. He scolded himself when he seen Hermione's hurt look when he implied that she had to do it by herself,"- I mean we have to do it. We have to see."

Hermione nodded and began sitting up from the floor. Harry jumped up quickly and helped her. He slung his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead.

"C'mon, we can do this. Do you know what this test is?"

Hermione nodded guiltily, "I didn't want to go get a potion so I bought some muggle tests a few days ago-"

"A few days ago? Hermione why didn't you tell me? I would have been over here in a second!"

"I didn't want to unless it was for certain... could you imagine how awkward it will be between us if it turns out I'm not and this is just some fluke?" she asked emotionally with another sniffle.

Harry shook his head defiantly, "Nonsense, Hermione. You're my best friend in the whole world. Nothing could keep us apart," he told her with a reassuring smile. She smiled back, albeit lightly and nodded her head. "Right then, where are these tests?"

"In my bathroom," she said. Harry helped her into her bathroom and sat her down on the toilet and was about to look in the cabinet when he noticed the pregnancy test box already out on the counter. He held it up,

"Is that what you were doing in here earlier?"

Hermione nodded sullenly, "I was just about to do it and I was scared out of my wits. That's why I didn't open the door all the way at first and then when I did I was nervous that you would see it. But then you went off about Teddy and..."

"Hermione, calm down okay? Now how do you do this?" he asked taking out a stick and turning the box over to read it.

"I um..." she waved her hand over to the toilet to tell Harry how she had to take it and Harry blushed.

"Oh right... well, um, I'll just go read this out here. Call me when you're done," he finished walking out of the loo and shutting the door behind him to give her some privacy.

Harry heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on and off a few minutes later. Hermione came out all flushed, looking as if her parents had just died.

Harry gave her a comforting smile and patted the spot on her bed next to him. She came over and rested her head on Harry's shoulder.

Harry leaned in to her gently and then spoke with a soft voice, "It says that if it turns pink you're pregnant and if it turns blue you're not. It's 99% accurate and we have to wait about five minutes before it'll show," he summed up, throwing the box on the chair across from them.

They were silent for a few seconds before Hermione sniffled again, "Harry what are we going to do if it's pink? I haven't even thought about how this would effect other people-"

"Hey, I haven't even thought how this would effect me yet, so let's just cool it with the other people," Harry said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

But Hermione wouldn't have it, "But what about the Weasley's-"

"The Weasley's aren't important right now, Hermione. You're important right now, and if you are pregnant, keeping that baby safe and healthy will be important. Understand?" Even though he knew what he said was true, Harry was a bit peeved at how he could say that about his surrogate family so easily.

Hermione nodded solemnly but continued to look doubtful.

Harry wrapped an arm around her waist, "And Hermione, I want you to know that I'll be here for you every step of the way, okay?"

Hermione nodded again and whispered, "I know Harry. I know you're a good person and you'd make a great father... I just don't want you to think I did this purposefully."

"Of course I don't think that, Hermione!" he said in shock that she would even be thinking along such lines, "To be honest, I'm not really surprised. I mean of course I'm surprised but... I mean, how many times did we use the charm anyway?"

Hermione let out a sarcastic laugh, "Maybe once."

Harry smiled, "Exactly. I wasn't exactly being the most responsible suitor, now was I?"

Hermione returned his smile but it immediately dropped so she could continue her banter, "What will my parents think? I don't have a boyfriend. I'll only be 19 in a few days, that's hardly the proper age for an expecting mother."

"Hermione, I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. Now," he said pulling her back on the bed so they were laying snuggled together, "we're going to lay here and wait for that test before we start writing away our future, okay?"

"'Kay," she said a bit embarrassed that she was going on and on about how this would effect their lives when they didn't even know for sure. She snuggled down into Harry's chest and closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax with the deep sound of breathing coming from him. Before long, they had both drifted away into a peaceful sleep.

---

"Hermione," she heard a voice say followed by a hand clasping her shoulder and shaking her, "Hermione, wake up."

"Hmm?" she sounded, rolling over and burying her head deeper into the pillow.

"Hermione, the test is done. We fell asleep for like an hour," Harry said a little on edge. Hermione sat up slowly, and looked at Harry with fearful eyes.

Harry shook his head to fend off whatever she was thinking, "Hermione, you know we have to look at it. C'mon, it'll be fine." He held out his hand for her to hold on to. The took they're time walking into the bathroom, and finally when they spotted the white stick Hermione turned suddenly to look at him.

"What?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Hermione bit her lip and held out her pinkie, "Pinkie promise that no matter what that test says that we'll always be best friends, and we'll always be there for each other."

Harry looked into her eyes and wasted no time lifting his pinkie to latch on to hers, "Promise."

Hermione took a deep calming breathe, "Okay then. Ready?"

Harry nodded, "Ready."

Hermione turned and grabbed the test, her eyes immediately shooting for the tip.

There glowed a bright pink colour.

"Pink, what's pink again?"

"Pregnant," Harry whispered.

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

Harry smiled back politely, "So what brings you by, Ron?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing, actually," Ron said looking at him with a glare, "You're not moving in on my girl are you Harry?"

…

My knowledge of Teddy Lupin is limited, a. because there wasn’t that much information on him anyway, and b., because I honestly only skimmed through DH. I know that he was born around spring and that his middle name is really Remus. But I like the initials TJ and the name will come into play in a future fic, so that‘s why I changed it to John.

Also, I have a beta lined up for this fic but I’m pretty sure she’s busy preparing for her exams for school and she‘s beta‘ing M&ME, so I won’t bombard her with this just yet. So yes, all mistakes are mine and I’m terribly sorry.

Thank you to all my reviewers!

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 6: We Can Be Happy

[AN] I’m glad you guys are enjoying the character development and starting to realize this is far from the cliché fic! And these teasers are making you really want to pull your hair out eh? :]]

---

Hermione closed her eyes and took a breath. The test fell feebly from her hands.

Harry seeing this stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist while burying his face into her neck. His hands went protectively to her abdomen to lay over the area where there baby was growing.

"It'll be okay, Hermione," he said rocking her back and forth gently in his arms. She didn't respond or do anything really. She just stood there flaccidly with her eyes closed. A few seconds later Harry walked her back into her room where he deposited her on the bed. As she lay on the bed, Harry kneeled down next to her, stroking her hair.

"Hermione, open your eyes," he demanded softly. She opened her eyes and turned them to face him. Harry's face was close to hers and seeing the grin on his face helped calm her down. She gave him back a shy smile.

Harry let out a laugh, "Hermione, come on, this isn't a bad thing. Stop focusing on what your parents or the Weasley's will say and focus on the bright side. We're going to have a baby!" he finished merrily. Hermione didn't have to look at him to tell he was smiling up a storm.

"So you're happy?" she asked timidly.

"More than just happy. I'm ecstatic! Aren't you?" he asked his mood not faltering. To hell with all the consequences that were going to follow this pregnancy. He never wanted to hurt Ginny... or Ron... but he would never regret the nights he spent with Hermione and now- he was going to be a father. He would have a baby to call all his own for the rest of his life. He was finally going to have a family he could call his. And better yet, he would have no dark lord looming over his shoulder or compromising his loved ones lives anymore…

Hermione looked over to him and seen the goofy grin on his face and right then could tell how much this baby already meant to him. And she understood it somewhat... she was giving Harry what he wanted since he was a child himself: a family. She knew Harry would do everything in his power to protect her and the baby to ensure his future with them.

"Yeah," Hermione finally said looking into his bright green eyes, "I'm happy, Harry."

Harry couldn't contain his joy; he dipped his head down and captured her lips in a sweet kiss. When he pulled away they just gazed at each other with smiles on their faces, both of their hands resting on Hermione's stomach.

Finally, Hermione sighed and looked away, "Wow, we have so much to do now," she muttered more to herself than she did to Harry.

Harry nodded enthusiastically, "Too right we do! Think about it Hermione, you're probably around three months wouldn't you think?"

Hermione nodded, "That would make the most sense. Anytime before that then I'd probably already be showing a bit."

"Damn, we're going to have to go buy books and read up on this. And we have to schedule a doctor's appointment!"

"Yeah, since I can't be less than three months so I'm probably about to start my second trimester. But Harry I'd really rather go to a muggle doctor than a healer at St. Mungo's," she said looking at him seriously.

"I understand," he said agreeing immediately, "Do we just show up at a hospital or do we make an appointment somewhere specific?"

"No we'll have to make an appointment. I can do that tomorrow," she said, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Oh, okay," Harry said a bit dejectedly, also sitting up so he could sit on the edge of the bed with her.

Hermione smiled and grabbed his hand, "Harry, this baby's not going anywhere. At least not for a few more months. We don't need to rush anything."

Harry nodded, "I know, I know. I'm just excited I guess."

Hermione leaned forward to lay her head on his shoulder, "I am too. I meant what I said when I told you that you'd make a great father."

Harry smiled and kissed the side of her head, "This'll be better than we think, 'Mione. We can get custody of Teddy together and then raise this baby as a family. That'd be perfect," Harry gushed still smiling. Hermione however lifted her head from Harry's shoulder to look at him. Was he insinuating what she thought he was insinuating. 'Does he really want us to be together?'

"What are thinking about?" Harry interrupted her, staring concernedly in her eyes.

Hermione shook her head but when Harry didn't relent she looked up at him, "Together?"

Harry sighed, "Hermione, don't think I'm going to let you raise this baby by yourself while I just come over after work and on the weekends to say hi."

"No I know that, but it's just... together?" she asked again with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yeah," Harry said slightly bewildered by her look, "We should probably get a house or move in together so we can start preparing, don't you think?"

Hermione was quiet for a few seconds. It seemed like Harry really wasn't getting the meaning of what she was asking him. Harry called out her name softly to get her attention before Hermione spoke, "Oh yes, of course. I don't want us to be the type of parents who have to bring a baby back and forth between homes."

"It's settled then! We'll move in together!"

"Harry," she voiced morosely, "Just think about what your saying. What are people going to say when we suddenly get a house and move in together and then start shopping for baby cribs and maternity clothes?"

Harry shrugged, "Why should we care?"

Hermione sighed, "Harry, what about Ron? And Ginny? They're going to feel so betrayed. Not to mention my parents! They're so narrow minded in their beliefs about a girl having a baby out of wedlock.”

Harry shrugged again like it was nothing, "We'll get married then."

Hermione's stomach plummeted. 'Was that a proposition?!' "Harry-"

"What Hermione?" he asked starting to get a bit irritated with her. They just found out they were going to have a child together and all she could do was concentrate on the negatives.

Hermione sighed, noticing his almost angry tone, "Harry this baby doesn't have to mark the end of our lives."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean we should go gallivanting off and get married and then never talk to anyone again. There's still a chance for you to find a girl who you really love and really do care for."

Harry frowned, "I love you and I care for you too!" he cried indignantly.

Hermione placed her head in her hands, 'He's really not making this easy for me...' "Look, Harry- you're my best friend and I'll always love you. We've been through too much for me not to. Now, I don't regret the nights we spent together- I know we both needed that and I was happy to be the one to give you that reliever. And I- I'm thrilled that we'll be having a baby. I just... don't- I don't want you to jump the gun and marry me and then be unhappy in a year."

Harry shook his head defiantly, "That wouldn't happen Hermione. I'd be with my godson, my child, and my wife. How could I be unhappy?"

Hermione looked at him with tears coming to her eyes. She could think of a thousand reasons of what could make him unhappy if he married her. Before she could voice any Harry spoke,

"Hermione, are you saying all this because you don't want to marry me or because you still want to have a chance with R-... finding the right guy," he asked shyly and was quick to cover up his mistake. If she wasn’t thinking about Ron then he didn’t want to give her the idea of it. It just seemed so… wrong.

Hermione looked up at him and sighed again warily, "Harry... I just think that we could bring this baby into a happy atmosphere without having to be married. We can have a happy family without wearing rings on our fingers. I mean sure, we love each other- but we're not in love. Our love is not the type that you get married over. Understand?"

Harry didn't want to argue with her so he nodded. In reality though, he didn't understand her last bit. He couldn't think of a better reason to get married. He knew Hermione was beautiful. They'd been best friends for seven years so they already knew each other and liked each other. Love- well, Harry was only 18 years old. He wasn't exactly sure what the type of love you get married over was. What he did know was that he would do anything for Hermione and their baby. He would rather be skinned alive than have anything ever happen to her. Was that the type of love she was referring to? A small part of him hoped it was.

Harry looked up and smiled reassuringly, "I don't want to pressure you. And this pregnancy thing... it's new to me. So you're just going to have to smack me if I'm being unreasonable."

Hermione laughed and Harry felt good that he made her do it, "Harry this is new for me too," she paused so she could grab his hands and lace her fingers through his, "But we'll learn though. And we'll get through it together."

"Yeah," Harry said lightly, giving her hand a soft squeeze, "together."

---

Harry opened his eyes and was met with the blurred darkness of Hermione's living room. There was a dull ache in his lower back and Harry groaned as he tried to move from his uncomfortable position. He stopped when he realised Hermione's head was resting peacefully in his lap.

He smiled as he watched her sleep with her legs bent forward and her hands curled up at her side. She was so gorgeous. If their baby came out looking half like Hermione, he knew he'd be a lucky man.

"Then again, if you're a girl in there you won't be dating until you're 30," he whispered, his eyes moving over to Hermione's stomach. He grinned again, not believing the luck he had.

How'd me manage this? Here he was at 18, alive, healthy, and with his beautiful best friend who happened to be carrying his child. 'Yes... life is good...'

His smile faltered slightly as he thought about Ron and Ginny and Hermione's parents. She had made some really valid points in her speech earlier, but it was nothing Harry wanted to focus on. He was still hoping, albeit foolishly, that everyone would come around and just be happy for them.

Not wanting to think on the subject any more, Harry took Hermione's head carefully in his hands and lifted it up so he could slip out from underneath her. He groaned in pain as his back cracked while he was standing up. He looked around the room and figured Hermione wouldn't appreciate a mess in the morning so he took the pizza box that they had ordered for dinner and water bottles and levitated them to the rubbish bin in the kitchen. Waving his hand at the blanket that lay over Hermione, it folded instantly, and set itself over the top of the sofa.

"Let's get you to bed," Harry mumbled as he bent down and picked Hermione's sleeping form up in his arms. He carried her carefully down the hall and into the bedroom, finally setting her down in the centre of the bed.

Once her own shoes were off, he slipped his off and his shirt before climbing into bed next to her. He slid down next to her before stopping at her stomach and kissing it softly.

"I just want you to know baby, that I love you very much already. I can't wait for you to be born because we're gonna have so much fun together. We'll be happy. Me, you, your mummy and your cousin Teddy. He’s a little older than you but you two will be great friends, I know it. Your mummy... I can tell she's a little scared right now. I am too, but she'll be a great mummy to you. I dunno what kind of dad I'll be. But I'm sure if I'm doing it wrong your mummy will kick me in the arse- I mean bum- she'd probably be mad if she heard me cursing in front of you..."

Unbeknownst to Harry, Hermione smiled in her sleep and continued listening to Harry talk to their unborn child.

"We might have to keep you secret in there for a bit, but people will just have to get used to me and mummy. They'll come around by the time you're born and they see how cute you are. Like I said before, if you're a girl and you come out looking like your mummy then I won't be letting you out of the house until you're well trained in a severing charm..."

Hermione smiled again, holding the tears that were building up in her eyes at bay as he continued.

"...I promise you you'll have a good life... and you'll always be surrounded by people who love and support you. Me and your mum will always be there for you. Always." He finished by giving her stomach another kiss and then crawled back up to Hermione and wrapped an arm around her. Hermione leaned into him and felt his lips press themselves against her forehead. Both Harry and Hermione fell asleep that night with smiles on their faces.

---

It was Friday, two days after Harry and Hermione found out she was expecting. Harry had made an effort to stop by every night after work, even though he was dead tired from training. Hermione insisted that he didn't have to keep doing so but Harry wouldn't hear anything of it. The two of them were planning on going out to get a bite to eat and then stop by the book store that afternoon, after Hermione got out of class and Harry off from work.

"Hermione?" he asked, flooing in to her flat. He had just quickly been by his own flat to change and then flooed straight here to see how Hermione was.

"Harry-" Hermione stated a bit alarmed as she seen him walking through the hall towards her in the kitchen.

"How are you and my-" he stopped when he seen Hermione shake her head vigorously. He was about to greet her and the baby with a kiss when he seen a flash of red hair move to stand next to Hermione.

"-best mate," Harry covered quickly. They had agreed it was best to keep Hermione's pregnancy a secret for as long as possible before they broke the news to Ron and everyone else. Harry smiled over at the ginger haired boy, dismissing the way that Ron had his arm lightly placed around Hermione.

"Hiya Harry! How'd you know I was here?" Ron asked with a grin.

"I uh," he looked over to Hermione for support and seen her move her eyes upward at Ron, "Er, I seen your hair."

Ron chuckled light heartedly, "Good ol' Weasley attributes, eh?"

Harry smiled back politely, "So what brings you by, Ron?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing, actually," Ron said looking at him with a glare, "You're not moving in on my girl are you Harry?"

Harry's stomach plummeted while Hermione jerked her head to look at Ron. Ron held his hard glare for a few more moments before breaking out into laughter, "You should have seen your face Harry! It was priceless!" he exclaimed merrily, still laughing.

Harry and Hermione both let out uneasy chuckles as Ron finished up laughing, "If I didn't know better I'd say you really were moving in on her," he said again humorously. Harry stood there uncomfortably, shuffling his toes into the ground. "Anyway, there's a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow. Seventh years are being let out on Friday's now so they can go have dinner in the village. We were all going to go meet Gin and Loony-"

"Luna, Ron." Hermione admonished sternly.

"Yeah her, and then go to that new club they opened up on the east side of the village. I'm pretty sure Ginny already owled you and invited you, Harry," he finished pointing a finger at him.

"Um, yeah I think I did get a letter from a school owl. I haven't opened it though, I've been too busy lately," he said passing it off like it was nothing but shooting a look over to Hermione none the less.

Ron looked at Harry for a moment before speaking, choosing his words carefully, "You know Harry, Gin's still interested in you. And I know you guys were having a good time this summer-" at this Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. Harry had failed to mention hanging out with Ginny this summer," so don't go trampling all over her heart by ignoring her for something else or someone else, okay?"

"Ron, Harry's a big boy, he can do what he pleases," Hermione snapped.

Ron and Harry looked at Hermione who had walked out of Ron's arm to place her empty cup in the sink.

"I'm not ignoring her Ron, I just honestly hadn't had a spare moment to read her letter."

This seemed like a fair enough answer for Ron and he nodded, quickly looking over to Hermione to see if she was still glaring at him. He had caught her in some awful mood swings lately and he was hoping that tonight they could maybe spend more quality time together when they went to the club. The goal for tonight was to get invited back to her flat...

"They'll all probably be getting down their soon, and we have to be with Ginny and Luna to walk them in so shall we be leaving?" Ron asked with high hopes, sending a small grin at Harry and Hermione.

Harry looked over towards Hermione, looking for any signs that she would want to go. He hoped she would tell Ron that she didn't fancy much going out tonight and then he could tell Ron that he was knackered and that he was going home. Then the two would be able to resume their plans of going to the book store after dinner.

"Sure, we might as well get going," Hermione muttered to Harry's dismay, reaching for her hand bag on the table.

Ron looked at his two friends with a funny face as they both made their way over to the fireplace, ready to floo out. It had become instinct for them both to floo since Hermione couldn't apparate without upsetting the baby and her stomach for a few days.

"Um, won't we be apparating?" Ron asked, pointing toward the front door. Harry looked over at Ron clueless as to what to say to him.

"Er-"

"I just feel more comfortable flooing. I read that apparating after recovering from the flu can send you into a relapse so I don't want to take anymore chances," Hermione replied sensibly, knowing Ron wouldn't be able to argue with her since he hadn't a clue about those sorts of things.

"Oh yeah, definitely. But if you did get sick again I'd be over right away to help take care of you," he told her insistently making Harry roll his eyes.

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

"Hermione, do you want to be with me?" Ron blurted out without warning, staring Hermione straight in the eyes.

…

Thank you for all the continuous support! Sorry for the late update, I had a benefit and when I came home I was… err… unable to update ;]

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 7: Guilt Trip

[AN] This is somewhat of an important chapter.

Please Enjoy.

---

They had been at the noisy, crowded club for a little over a half hour. Luna, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were all sitting closely in the booth they had reserved for that night. Ron's arm was hanging over Hermione's shoulders carelessly. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she felt uncomfortable in their position.

She wanted nothing more than to just go home and snuggle up in her bed with a bowl of ice cream and a good book. She caught Harry eyeing her from across the table and smiled lightly at him to reassure him that she was feeling fine. Harry grinned tight lipped back at her and then shot a despairing look to Ginny who had herself wrapped around his arm without a care in the world.

Hermione had to resist the urge to laugh as she continued to go on and on about what she wanted to do when she left Hogwarts. It was obvious she was avoiding a certain topic because she wanted Harry to start discussing with her what they would do.

When Hermione thought about that last part though, the restrained smile slipped off her face and she was over come with a shuddering sensation of guilt. Ginny would never have the fairy tale reunion she wanted with Harry after Hogwarts because by then their baby would be born, and Harry and Hermione would probably both be so preoccupied by it that they wouldn't have time to even spare a glance at another person, much less a love interest. Hermione sighed, and looked down at her glass of water with a lemon slice floating in it. She hated this part of her hormones- the part when she felt like the total home-wrecker.

Harry nudged her leg under the table and she looked up to him with sad eyes. He gave her worried look and then pointed his eyes towards the exit of the club. Hermione nodded ruefully and started collected her things.

"Hey, where're you goin'?" asked a tipsy Ron as he felt Hermione move away from his arm.

"I think I'm going to go home. Sorry everyone but I'm just really tired and I have to wake up early tomorrow to study for a test," she addressed the rest of her friends who had looked up with frowns as she started to leave.

"Understandable," said Dean good-naturedly, "Who's a Hermione Granger that doesn't study for a test when she and everyone around her already knows she could pass it in her sleep."

She smiled at him and everyone else at the table as she stood to her full height and took a few steps back, "I'll see you guys later?"

"Definitely, someone's 19th birthday's coming up and we have to celebrate!" Ginny said raising her butterbeer at her enthusiastically. Hermione smiled forcefully and nodded at everyone again before heading off towards the exit. She had almost forgotten her birthday the following Sunday.

"Hey, Hermione!" someone called out to her breathlessly as she finally exited the noisy club and walked out into the serenity of the alley.

She turned around, expecting it to be Harry but couldn't help the surprised look that flashed through her eyes when she seen Ron trying to catch up with her.

"Hey, I um- I was wondering if you wanted me to come back to your flat with you?"

Hermione hesitated a bit, "Um, well I mean all I'm doing will be going to bed... nothing special."

Ron nodded but didn't stop, "Yeah I know, I just wanted to be with you. It seems like we haven't spent a lot of time together in the past few days."

Hermione shrugged innocently, "I've been busy with school Ron, you know that."

"I know Hermione, I... I just wanted to be with you..." he said more shyly, scuffing his foot on the ground.

It took a lot of Hermione's strong mind to keep stubborn tears from pooling up in her eyes at his humbleness. She again couldn't help but think of how much she was going to hurt him when in the near future a bump would start to show on her abdomen...

"Ron, that's nice of you. It's not that I don't want to spend time with you it’s just I really do have a test in the morning-"

"Hermione, do you want to be with me?" Ron blurted out without warning, staring Hermione straight in the eyes.

"Uh- uh what?"

"I mean, it seems that something is always in the way of us taking the next step... and I thought when I stayed at your flat those few days while you were sick you would have realised that you really did want to be with me but you never said anything so it just... got me wondering if you feel the same way I do about you," he finished bravely, looking up into her eyes and not deterring his gaze away.

Hermione sniffed, a tear burning its way down her cheek, "It's not that I don't have feelings for you Ron- I just... I really do need some time right now. I don't think it’s wise if we both go running head first into a relationship at this point in our lives."

Ron nodded his head solemnly. "Okay Hermione... just know that I'd wait forever for you to come around. And I think if you gave me a chance that it could work. You could one day feel something more then friendly love..."

Hermione sniffed again out of guilt. Ron took her by surprise as he dipped his head down to give her a kiss. It was interrupted quickly though, as the loud sound of tumbling tin broke out in the alley. The two jerked their head to the side to see the rubbish bin that had been standing by the club's exist was now warped into a weird shape and had its trash spewed along most of the alley.

"That's weird," Ron muttered before looking back at Hermione and dipping his head again. This time Hermione took a step back.

"Well, I think I better get going. I had fun tonight though," she added with a wistful smile.

"Alright, I talk to you soon, okay?"

"'Kay. Night."

Hermione didn't wait for his response but instead took off down the alley with her purse clutched in her hand, heading in the direction of the Three Broomsticks.

She landed dizzily in her flat about five minutes later and didn't let any time pass before the water works started. Heading for her bedroom and shutting the door behind her, she flung herself on her bed, letting her arms come up to rest over her head- sobbing like her life depended on it.

This is how Harry found her a few minutes later. He came in laden with two bints of ice cream and two spoons (courtesy of Madam Rosmerta), fully intended on having the night he was meant to have with Hermione.

When he heard her sobbing, he discarded the tubs on her night stand and cast a silent freezing charm over them. "Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked precautiously, hoping the reason would be because Ron had kissed her tonight when she didn't want him too. Yes, it was him who made that rubbish bin go flying across the alley when he seen Ron bend down to kiss her. Actually, he had heard the whole conversation between his two best mates. He couldn't help but feel a little trepidation as the thought of Hermione crying because she wanted to be with Ron passed his mind.

"N-nothing..."

"Come on, I know nothing’s not wrong. It's me, Harry remember? The bloke that pesters you until you finally scream the answer at me," he tried with a light smile, making her only more sullen.

"I don't understand how you can be so easy with this! Ron and Ginny will be heart broken when they find out that I'm pregnant and you're the father!"

Harry sighed. He didn't want to be having this conversation again, "Hermione, they'll understand eventually-"

"Understand what? The we shagged each other for the better part of five months for a nice comfort? Be a little realistic, Harry," she finished icily.

"I am being realistic, Hermione! I don't know what else you want me to say! Yes, their feelings will be hurt, but that's not going to stop me from being with you and my baby! What do I have to do to get you to relax about this- should we runaway together? Would that make you feel better?" he asked as a joke but stopped when he seen Hermione look like she was seriously considering it.

"Seriously?" she asked in a daze.

Harry looked at her shocked before responding, "If that's what you want to do Hermione. I'd do anything you wanted..."

Hermione dropped her eyes to the ground for a moment, staying silent before shaking her head, "No, Harry we can't just runaway. We have lives here, friends here... and then you have your training and I have school..."

Harry kneeled down in front of her, next to the bed, "I'd give friends up in an instant just so you'd be happy and stress-free, Hermione. You're really the only friend I need."

Hermione smiled at him, "That's sweet of you Harry. But we can't just runaway from our problems... I just wish there was a way for us to have this child and not be hurting anybody in the process."

Harry shrugged and took her hand, "There is a way... moving would just be temporary. To help the pregnancy in an peaceful environment and then when we come back we can just tell them that it... happened..."

Hermione shook her head, "I won't be the one responsible for taking you away from your job and friends Harry-"

"I'm willing to go if you are," Harry said immediately in a soft tone, rubbing his thumb over her hand.

Hermione looked into his hypnotizing eyes before forcing herself to look away, "Harry, no. There are better ways we can do this... we just have to figure those ways out."

Harry let out a somewhat disappointed sigh, "Well when you find out what those are, be sure to let me know," he said light heartedly.

Hermione smiled at the way he was handling the situation. Taking advantage of the good mood, she jerked her head in the direction of the ice cream sitting lonely on her night stand, "Is that ice cream I see, Potter?"

Harry sighed dramatically, "Yes. And I'm going to enjoy eating both cartons right in front of you, Granger."

Hermione gasped and swatted Harry on the side of the head, "That's a horrible thing to say. You know if I was in one of my hormonal rages and you said that to me I'd probably come after you with my wand..."

Harry laughed and reached for the ice creams before climbing into bed with her, "More likely with a bloody cleaver. I know how you like the effectively scary weapons and I also know how much you love your ice cream."

She took a mouthful of ice cream in her mouth as she muttered, "Almost as much as you."

Harry stopped what he was doing and looked at her, "What?"

'Where the bloody hell did that come from Granger?! Did you insinuate that you loved him? That you loved your best friend, Harry Potter?!'

"Um, I said almost as much as you do. I know you've always had a inkling for ice cream..." she covered lamely. Harry continued to look at her before he turned back to the front of the room.

"Do you want to watch a film?" he asked quietly, digging out his wand and flicking it at the flat screen Hermione had in her room.

"Sure, which ever one you'd like that doesn't involve blood, guts, war, crime, drugs, fighting, or anything else that would be considered gruesome."

Harry looked at her with a bemused expression, "So pretty much only a sappy girly film?"

Hermione smiled and quirked an eyebrow at him, "If that's what you want, Harry dearest."

Harry laughed before laying down in the spot next to her. They both continued eating their Cherry Garcia ice cream, watching the romantic comedy playing over the telly in silence.

"Hey Hermione?" Harry asked hesitantly, making sure she was up first before continuing.

"What?"

Harry sighed, "I don't want this to be a weird question or anything..." the mention of a 'weird question' caused Hermione to sit up and look at Harry with confused eyes.

"But?"

"But if you did ever want to move away... where would you go?"

Hermione sighed contently, resolving that it was a much simpler question than she thought it would be, "I don't know. I mean of course it'd be every girls dream to own a villa in Florence or somewhere equally beautiful... but to live for a regular basis..."

Harry noted the town in Italy that she mentioned, logging all this information away as she continued.

"... it'd have to be somewhere where they spoke English, so there wouldn't be any communication problems. I think I've had my fair share of Australia for a while so I guess I'd have to say America."

“America, huh?” Harry asked, prompting her to elaborate.

“Yeah, I’ve see brochures for New York and other areas in the north east. And my parents took me there for a few weeks the summer of fifth year. It was a bit high maintenance but once you visit the historical sights and countryside, it’s really beautiful.”

Harry smirked, “Well of course you think the historical sights were beautiful.”

“Don’t patronize me Harry James,” she growled playfully.

“My deepest apologies,” he said while still smirking.

Hermione couldn’t help but smile back, “So where would you want to go?”

Harry shrugged, “I dunno. I’ve never been outside of Britain before so I guess anywhere else would be a culture shock.”

“Yeah because no one would know who the great Harry Potter was,” Hermione teased.

“I never thought about that,” Harry said thoughtfully. They were quiet for a few more minutes, both nibbling there ice cream and half-heartedly watching the film.

“Harry?” Hermione asked hesitantly.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think people like us could even survive outside of Britain?”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked with a confused look.

“Just that… Well the majority of the wizarding world is located in Europe… and we’ve done so much in the war here… all our friends are here…” she trailed off with a glance at Harry.

“Hermione, I think we could survive wherever we wanted to. You make it sound like we’re totally dependent on the society here,” he chastised gently.

Hermione shook her head, “I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant… like, maybe it’d be difficult to adjust outside of Britain.”

“Maybe, but I’d like to think we’d be able to handle it,” Harry said simply, turning his attention back to the telly.

“You do?”

“Yeah,” Harry said looking back at her, “You’re forgetting the fact that we would have each other,” he finished with a small smile.

“Yeah…” she started quietly, “I guess we could do anything together, huh?”

“Definitely. I mean with your intelligent head and my amazing charm- not to mention our good looks.”

Hermione laughed, “Should I scoot over to make room for your overly large ego?”

“No,” Harry said quickly, wrapping an arm around her to keep her in position, “Don’t move. Ever.”

Hermione smiled softly as Harry’s hand moved down to her stomach and started caressing the baby growing within. Whatever doubts and insecurities Hermione had for the moment, flew out the window as she continued to watch Harry affectionately. Even the disconcerting thought of what she had almost slipped earlier drifted away to the back of her mind…

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

As Harry continued to tremble in his seat, she leant forward and wrapped her arms around him, allowing him to bury his head in her hair.

They sat there for a few minutes, Hermione whispering words of comfort and occasionally kissing the side of his head while Harry just nodded absently.

“I don’t think this day could get any worse,” he said in a muffled voice against her shoulder.

Hermione again bit her lip and sat back to look Harry in the eyes, “Actually…”

…

Thank you all for the outstanding reviews!

Now, there is a method for my madness- trust in that. Harry has been a little immature and naïve while Hermione is guilty about everything. But it will get better, and a large part of these emotions will come to play later in the sequels.

Some of you expressed concern that Harry was a bit too excited when they found out, while Hermione was beside herself with worry and guilt for our favourite hated red heads in the history Harmony. Someone described it as Ron the red rodent which I thought was magnificently put.

Anyway, yes Harry was extremely excited. Hermione is the one woman he has cherished and respected (take that Ginny!) and now he’s having a baby with her. Fatherhood and the fact that it’s his and Hermione’s explains a great deal of his excitement.

Let me explain something to you girls-

When the proper fellow finds out he’s going to be a father he’s excited for one of two reasons:

1. That he’ll have a child to call his own that will resemble him and depend on him blah blah blah…

And 2. Because he’ll have all that without having to be the one to give birth to something the size of watermelon out of his penis.

Have a lovely rest of the week :]

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 8: Bad News

[AN] Those teasers are fantastic, aren’t they? Short chapter this time, but please enjoy!

---

Harry couldn’t think straight. His mind was in a furious jumble and on instinct he apparated to the only person who would listen to him.

“Hermione?!” he called out, slamming the door to her flat shut.

“Harry?” asked Hermione’s voice from the kitchen. Harry headed towards the room only to see her leaning against the counter.

He didn’t notice her wiping at her eyes, instead stalking forward and pulling her into a fierce hug.

Hermione returned the hug, taken aback by his force and the tone of desperation in his voice, “Harry, what’s wrong?”

He shook her head in the crook of her neck, “You won’t believe what just happened.”

“Tell me,” she spoke calmly, pushing him away slightly so she could look him in the eyes.

“I went back to the child services office t-to get some information on Teddy and find out when I could take him home…” he choked out quickly as Hermione wiped at the tears that were pooling in his eyes.

“Harry, breathe.”

Harry nodded but continued in the same tone, “And they told me that he wasn’t in their system anymore!”

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, “Well why wouldn’t he be?”

“That’s what I asked! And they said that they would check in the out going files-”

“Out going files?” Hermione asked in confusion.

“The paper work that processes adoption,” Harry said gravely. Her jaw dropped, just by the desperate look in his green eyes, she could tell the worse had happened.

“Oh no…”

“Yes and then the clerk told me that Teddy was adopted four days ago!”

Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth, “Oh god…”

Harry nodded again while trying to choke back tears, “A-apparently they didn’t find a will so they couldn’t prove any remaining family.”

Hermione dropped her hand, suddenly getting angry, “Well of course not, they’re muggles!”

“That’s what I tried to tell the woman back at the ministry, but she kept telling me that it wasn’t their investigation to make and that it was against our laws to memory charm the people that took Teddy and erase his file in the muggle books…”

“Harry please, try to calm down,” Hermione said gently, grabbing his hands and leading him over to a chair.

She knelt before him as he sat deafly in the kitchen chair, “Okay, so what do we do from here?”

“There’s nothing we can do! The muggles wouldn’t say anything else on his whereabouts. They just said that it was expected that a child of Teddy’s age get adopted that fast! I tried to get the witch at the ministry to do something, but my magic got the best of me and I just- I just snapped…” he finished bending over and putting his head in his hands.

Hermione sighed, “Harry…”

“I completely wrecked her office. Afterwards she called security and I was sent to see Kingsley-”

“And did you tell him about Teddy?”

“Yes!” Harry cried, again looking up at her, “And he said he was upset about it too, but there was nothing we could do because he’s already gone! He actually had the nerve to tell me that he was sure Teddy was taken to a loving home!”

Hermione shook her head, “This whole situation just seems so surreal…”

“I told Kingsley that the circumstances were complete rubbish and then I had another outburst,” he finished dully.

Hermione bit her lip, not at all liking the pain Harry was in. She knew how dear Teddy was to him and it hurt her, more than she had ever imagined, to see Harry like this.

As Harry continued to tremble in his seat, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, allowing him to bury his head in her hair.

They sat there for a few minutes, Hermione whispering words of comfort and occasionally kissing the side of his head while Harry just nodded absently.

“I don’t think this day could get any worse,” he said in a muffled voice against her shoulder.

Hermione again bit her lip and sat back to look Harry in the eyes, “Actually…”

“Did I speak too soon?” he asked dryly.

Hermione shrugged and looked to the ground, “You know how I said I wanted to tell my parents?”

“Yeah, and I told you we should tell them together,” he said condescendingly with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione nodded and continued, “Well I rang them today. I guess I was just curious to how they would react to the situation so I told them that a friend of mine was pregnant, not married, and just starting school. And right away my mum went off into lecture mode about how disgraceful it was and that her parents must have been so ashamed of her…”

“Hermione-” Harry started this time with a comforting tone.

“And then my dad got on the phone… and he said that he was proud that his daughter had a better head on her shoulders…” she trailed off as tears started flooding her eyes. Harry leaned forward and pulled her into a tight hug as she buried her head in his shoulder and started to cry.

“And that’s not even the least of it,” Hermione sniffed after a few seconds.

“There’s more?”

Hermione nodded stiffly, “Ron stopped by and said he wanted to take me to Paris for my birthday.”

Harry wanted to scowl, “And what did you say?”

Hermione looked at him, “I told him I had already made plans with my parents, but the look on his face when I rejected him…”

“Don’t feel guilty Hermione,” he said, trying to keep the glee out of his voice since his own plans for her birthday weren’t ruined, “I’m sure he understands.”

“You think? Do you think that he would understand that his best mate of seven years impregnated the girl he fancied?” she asked a bit hysterically.

Harry faltered, “Well… probably not…”

“I just… I can’t take this anymore! No matter what we do, someone’s going to get hurt- and soon. I won’t be able to keep the baby a secret for much longer,” she finished in a subdued tone.

“And I don’t want us to have to do that!” Harry said passionately, “Why should we have to keep our baby a secret from everyone?”

“Are you ready though? Are you ready to break Ron and Ginny’s hearts?”

Harry shook his head, “I don’t want them to get hurt as much as you do, Hermione,” he finished defensively giving her an incredulous look.

“I know Harry… I-I’m sorry, I just- I’m scared. I don’t want any more drama,” Hermione told him grabbing for his hand.

Harry sighed, “Me too, Hermione, me too.”

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

“Hermione listen to yourself,” Harry cut in, “You’re worrying yourself sick! This can’t be good for you or the baby!”

“Don’t you think I know that?” she snapped, shooting a defensive look at Harry, “What exactly are my options if I can’t keep this a secret but I don’t want to hurt anyone by telling?”

Surprisingly to her, Harry sent her a smile, “Can I take you to your present now?”

…

Thank you all for the reviews! Sorry for the short chapter but I promise next chapter is longer.

I know some of you will be expressing concerns about how unbelievable it was that Teddy was just taken like that and Harry’s not going to fight for him…

But think about it- the muggles aren’t going to let information go to any old person just because he says he’s the godfather. If Harry did magic against the muggles it would be reported to the ministry and he’d be penalized.

Harry can’t do a point me spell or trace him because once Teddy was adopted his last name changed.

Also I know some of you will think that it’s way too soon and the family should have been through various processes and interviews to see if they were fit- that will be explained when we meet Teddy again.

Christ- this is strenuous. I’m trying to explain things while trying to not give details away. It’s hard but if you have any questions then feel free to ask.

Thank you again and Happy Holidays.

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 9: Happy Birthday, Hermione

About last chapter, you’re right. It did happen a bit fast. (Keep in mind though that the chapters span past a few days so he was checking on updates.) I’m aware that it was written poorly and that I’m a right bastard for doing that to him so close to the holidays. So I sincerely apologize (not to the ignorant flamers) and I promise that eventually I’ll revise it to make a smoother transition. [I actually had another 2 chapters written on Harry freaking out on Kingsley and Child Services and him vowing to eventually find Teddy (which relax, he does) but the result would have been the same. Teddy won’t come into play until a few fics down the line. And the way the extra chapters trailed on… they would have ended up being irrelevant.]

Happy Christmas to everyone!

---

-September 18^th-

“Hello?” Ron called out as he closed the door behind him when entering Hermione’s flat.

“Harry?” Hermione asked from the kitchen, setting her water bottle down.

“Wrong bloke. Hey birthday girl,” Ron greeted her walking into the kitchen.

Hermione tried to hide the surprised look on her face as he came forward. She moved her head to the side, thinking he wanted to hug her, but instead he followed her mouth and pressed his lips to hers. Hermione’s eyes shot open in surprise a,d alarm as he left his lips on hers for a few extra seconds.

Pulling away, Ron handed her a large bouquet of flowers.

“Um, R-Ron- what are you doing here?” Hermione asked as she turned to find a vase for the flowers so she wouldn‘t have to look at him.

Ron smiled, “Just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday! I know you said that you have dinner with your parents tonight but I was wondering if you’d like to get lunch with me or maybe I could cook for you? My mum just taught me-”

“Hey Hermione!” a voice called out from the sitting room.

Hermione’s head shot up in surprise as she heard Harry’s voice.

“Um, Ron and I are in the kitchen Harry,” Hermione said, not noticing the look on Ron’s face at being interrupted.

Harry sighed and quickly threw the lilies on the couch before walking into the kitchen.

“What’s up mate? Hey,” Harry asked, nodding in Ron’s direction and then moving towards Hermione, “Happy birthday, Hermione.” He finished, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

“Thank you, Harry.”

“Hey Harry, what’re you doing here?” Ron asked him in a cheery tone, hiding his annoyance at being intruded on.

Harry shrugged and leaned on the counter, purposely placing himself between Hermione and Ron, “Just came to wish her a Happy Birthday.”

“Yeah, me too, I wanted to know if she was free for lunch,” he told him, looking back at Hermione.

“Actually Ron,” Hermione started, not meeting his eyes, “I, um, I have to go to school.” Ron gave her a strange look and Harry wanted to laugh, “Yeah, I have an exam in Philosophy.”

“On a Sunday?” Ron asked dejectedly.

Hermione nodded briskly, “Yes.”

Ron’s shoulders sagged, “Oh, alright then… But sometime soon I’m taking you out to celebrate. My mum taught me how to make a killer beef stew!”

“That sounds great Ron,” she forced herself to say enthusiastically and without guilt. Looking down to her watch so Ron would get the hint she muttered, “I should be leaving soon.”

“Okay, well I guess we should get going, huh Harry?”

“Um yeah,” Harry said shooting a discrete look at Hermione. She shook her head slightly and led Harry and Ron out of the kitchen and to the sitting room.

Ron looked back at Harry, as if expecting him to go first.

“I uh- actually I’m going to apparate,” Harry said, gesturing back to the door, “I have some freelance stuff I need to do for training.”

“Oh, alright. Well see you later mate,” Ron said brightly, shaking his hand.

“Yeah,” Harry muttered and then looked at Hermione, “Bye, Hermione.”

“Bye.”

While Harry headed off for the front door, Ron looked back to Hermione.

“Well then, I guess you’ll have to wait for your gift,” he said grinning at her.

Hermione felt terrible, “Ron, you didn’t have to get me anything…”

“Nonsense, you’re turning nineteen, this is a big time in your life!”

“Oh, you have no idea…” Hermione muttered with a forced smile.

“Alright, well Happy Birthday again, and I’ll take you out soon, okay?” he said

taking a few steps closer to her.

“Yeah…”

He leaned in to kiss her, but Hermione moved her head to the side just in time.

“Bye,” she said quickly.

“See you later,” he finished with a smile before throwing some floo powder into the fireplace and spinning out of sight.

Hermione sighed and rubbed a hand to her forehead before heading back to her front door.

“You don’t even like beef stew,” Harry said leaning against the door frame.

“It’s the thought that counts,” she said letting him walk past her back into the flat, “Are those lilies on the couch for me?”

“No, they were given to me, but I’d thought they’d be pretty for you to look at,” he said jokingly.

Hermione smiled, “Ah, how sweet of you.”

Harry nodded smugly, “I know. Your present, however, is a great deal better, and lasts far longer.”

Hermione shook her head and looked away from him as tears started pooling in her eyes, “You really didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Hey,” Harry said confused at why Hermione suddenly had tears streaking down her

face, “What’s wrong sweetheart?”

Hermione shook her head again and wiped her tears away as Harry rubbed her back soothingly, “I can’t… I can’t just keep leading him on. He thinks that he and I are actually going somewhere when we’re just not… we can’t be…”

Harry led her back over to the sofa and sat her down, “Do you want to tell him that you’re pregnant?”

“I can’t do that either, it’d kill him,” she said morosely.

Harry sighed, “Hermione, you can’t keep stressing yourself out over this!”

“I know that, it’s just with Ron and m-my parents… I feel like… I just don’t want to be here anymore. I want to be able to buy pregnancy books and not worry about leaving them around the house in case Ron shows up… I—I want to be able to settle on a doctor without wondering if my parents knew them and if they’ll find out… I-”

“Hermione listen to yourself,” Harry cut in, “You’re worrying yourself sick; this can’t be good for you or the baby!”

“Don’t you think I know that?” she snapped, shooting a defensive look at Harry.

“What exactly are my options if I can’t keep this a secret but I don’t want to hurt anyone by telling?”

Surprising her, Harry just sent her a smile in response, “Can I take you to your present now?”

Hermione frowned, “What do you mean ‘take me to it?’”

Harry smiled secretively, “It’s not here is all.”

“Um, okay… Where is it?” She asked, sounding like she wasn’t so sure.

“I’m not going to tell you so easily,” he said, like it should have been obvious.

“But I’m pregnant!” Hermione replied with a small smile like that gave her special privileges.

“So?” Harry asked still smirking at her.

“With your child,” she added with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s fantastic,” he said, causing Hermione to growl in frustration, “Let’s get going. Grab a jumper; it might be a little chilly.”

“Alright,” Hermione relented, heading for the hall closet for a jacket.

“So, are you going to tell me the address?” she asked after she came back.

“Nope, I’m saying it for you,” he said knowingly.

“Rotten bugger,” she muttered as he pulled his wand out. Pointing his wand at her face, he cast a ‘muffliato’.

“Harry!” Hermione said in appalled tone. All she could hear was white noise as Harry smiled at her and pushed her gently into the fireplace.

He threw down some powder and then she could see him say something before she started spinning around, out of sight.

When she landed in the opposite fireplace, she opened her eyes and looked around. The room she was in was completely dark. She was about to say something before Harry grabbed her from behind.

She gasped in surprise, making Harry laugh. A laugh that, Hermione noticed, hadn’t been as mirthful as it once used to be since Teddy was adopted.

He pulled out his wand and muttered the counter curse on her, restoring her clear hearing.

“So?” Harry asked, looking around the dark space.

“Where are we?”

“Well, why don’t we get out of this dark room and find some light,” Harry suggested, grabbing her hand and leading her to the right.

“Okay…” Hermione said sceptically, following him into a nicely decorated hall way.

The hall way led into a posh furnished sitting room, furnished with lovely black leather sofas, dark oak furniture and wooden flooring.

“Soo…” Harry said, turning to look at her reaction.

“Harry, where are we and why is it night time here?” she asked looking out the open window to the lighted city streets below.

Harry smiled, “Well that’s because there’s a few hours time difference between here and London.”

“And where exactly is here?”

“We’re in Boston, Massachusetts,” Harry told her with a grin.

Hermione gasped, “W-what are we doing here, and where’s my present?”

“You’re in your present.”

Hermione turned to look at him with wide eyes, “You mean…”

“Hermione, I know you said running away wouldn’t solve our problems, and I agree. I just think that it could work for us for the time being.”

“Harry-”

“Look, it wouldn’t be permanent. It’d just be a peaceful place where we didn’t have to hide the pregnancy, and no one would judge us. The whole situation in London is obviously wearing you out. I can tell you’re exhausted from classes and things and with your parents and Ron on top of things… you just shouldn’t have to deal with it ‘Mione. And moving here for the rest of the pregnancy and until the baby’s stable- I think it would really help take a load off, you know?” Harry finished giving her a hopeful look.

Hermione was speechless. He had already gone this far to get the flat and his sales pitch about peace and taking a load off her didn’t sound too bad…

“And just cut everyone off in London?” she asked quietly.

“For the time being. I know we’ll have to go back someday, but it just… seems pointless being there, you know? I mean, you don’t want to tell anyone the truth, I’ve been suspended from the auror program-”

“What?” Hermione asked, her eyes shooting up to his, “You never told me that!”

Harry nodded, “I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to stress you out.”

“I’m not a bloody china doll, Harry.” Hermione said fiercely, “Why?”

Harry shrugged and looked away, “Because of Teddy…”

Hermione sighed and squeezed his hand supportively, “Oh Harry…”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t even know if I want to continue. Teddy,” he said tightly as Hermione again squeezed his fingers. Harry preferred not to mention him but he knew he had to get his speech out, “Well I don’t reckon we’ll be seeing much of him until he gets his Hogwarts letter, and staying in London just doesn’t seem like it would be worth the trouble.”

“What would we tell everyone?” Hermione asked after a few moments.

Harry shrugged, “I don’t know… to be honest I hadn’t even thought about that. All I was concerned about was finding us a decent place and coming up with a good speech.”

Hermione smiled, “Well this is a decent place.”

“It is, isn’t it?” he said smugly with a good-natured grin.

“Yes, you arse, it is,” she replied swatting him playfully on the arm.

“I don’t know how I do it all,” he said continuing on his charade. “I mean I just have so many talents…”

“Is there an extra room here for your ego?” Hermione asked dryly.

“Yep, right down the hall,” Harry said back, nodding his head down the hall.

Hermione giggled. “You know we’d have to say something to everyone… we can’t just disappear,” she said quietly after a few moments.

“I know that.”

“The place really is nice, Harry. It’s quiet… and peaceful.”

“Yeah, it’s really spacious too. This is only the front living room,” he said, pointing out the vast size of the one room.

“It’s perfect.”

“So I did good?” he asked her with a grin.

Hermione smiled back, “You did good.”

“And now, I don’t have to wonder what you’re doing at night because I’ll be right next to you!” he said excitedly.

“Yes, because now that I’m pregnant you won’t leave me alone,” she said back good-naturedly.

Harry shrugged with a smile, “I just like to be close to you and the baby. I want us to experience everything together… I want to be there to hold your hair back when you’re struck with morning sickness or to get you some disgusting combination of food whenever you need me to.”

“What about my hormones?” she asked with a grin, “You want to experience those with me as well?”

“As long as you don’t threaten to run out on me, I think we’ll be okay.”

Hermione felt tears well up at the loving tone in his words. Harry was such a sweet guy to be throwing everything away for her…

“Hermione, I know this may have come at an awkward time in our lives… and I know that a baby will change both our lives in more way then one. But I want to be there to witness that… and I want you to be there too. Don’t you want that?”

“Yes,” she whispered automatically. She couldn’t say no to him if she tried. Which is a huge difference between him and Ron… a small voice said in the back of her head.

“You know you’re not alone. I’d never leave you alone,” he continued staring into her teary eyes.

“I believe you, Harry.” Hermione whispered, ignoring the voice for the moment.

“Good,” he said smiling at her.

“Where’d you learn to talk so smoothly?” she asked, nudging his shoulder.

“My best mate. She’s taught me quite a few things actually, and I reckon she’ll be teaching me a lot more soon enough.”

“She sounds intelligent,” Hermione said playing along.

“Smartest girl on the whole planet,” Harry said dramatically.

Hermione smirked, “Yet she’s nineteen and pregnant and-”

“And I couldn’t be happier,” Harry finished looking at her sincerely.

Hermione smiled back, the tears threatening to spill over, “You really want to move in with me?”

“No, not just you, but you and our baby.”

“Oh, how could I forget about her?” she asked playfully.

Harry cocked an eyebrow, “Her?”

Hermione nodded, “I think it’ll be a girl.”

Harry smirked, “Of course you do.”

Hermione smirked back, “Wouldn’t it be perfect if she was like an exact clone of me?” she asked lifting her hands over her head enthusiastically.

Harry laughed, “I’m going to laugh at you when he comes out as an exact clone of me.”

“He?” Hermione asked incredulously.

“Yep.”

Hermione grinned, “I think you’re bonkers, Potter.”

“Correction- I know I’m bonkers but that’s not the point, is it?”

Hermione laughed, “No, I suppose not.”

“Come on, Hermione- what do you say?” he asked, wanting to know if she really wanted to move in with him.

Hermione pretended to think it over, “I say this place has really nice wooden flooring…”

Harry smiled at her.

“And the big windows are nice, too.”

“Wait, until you see what the views like,” Harry said enthusiastically.

“Are those trees?” she asked, walking over to peer out an open window into the dark Boston view.

“Come on, let’s go for a walk,” he said, holding out his hand for her. She walked over to him and took hold of it as he led her out down another hall leading to the front door.

…

“Harry, the neighbourhood is beautiful,” said an astounded Hermione as they walked, hand in hand, through the park that was across the street from their flat building.

“Did I do good or what?” Harry asked smugly.

“I already told you that you did good.”

“Just good?” Harry prompted giving her a puppy dog pout.

Hermione laughed, “Alright, you did wonderfully, happy?”

“As long as you are,” he said back genuinely, dismissing the small pang of guilt as a picture of a small baby boy with blue hair flashed through his mind. How he wished that Teddy could be there to share his happiness instead of being in a new home with a completely strange couple. You’ll just have to be patient for now… Harry reassured himself for about the thousandth time. If those people mistreat one hair on his head they’ll regret it…

Hermione, oblivious to Harry’s musings, smiled and snuggled herself closer to him, “I definitely am, more so than I thought I’d be.”

Harry smiled proudly, “I just figured if you got bored one day then your museums and historical sites are only a short walk away,” he said, referring to the location of the flat.

“The park is lovely as well. I can’t believe you found such a great place on such short notice!”

“You can do anything if you care enough about it,” Harry replied.

Hermione smirked, “I hope you care enough to move the stuff out of both our flats and into this one…” she said giving him a mocking look.

“As long as you don’t have a whip and slave drive me,” Harry joked back.

“Well I don’t know about a whip, but I do tend to get a little bossy.”

“Bossy?! Who, you?” Harry shot back with a shocked look.

“Ha-ha, you’re so funny. I just like my things a certain way…”

“Hermione, please. You’re a total perfectionist.”

“Well, I have to be now that I’m living with an immature man,” she said sarcastically.

“Really?” Harry shot back in an unbelieving tone.

“Yes, really. I’ll have you know, you won’t be leaving the flat a constant unorganized pigsty, Harry James!”

“Whatever would give you that impression?” he shot back smartly.

Hermione scoffed, “Please, I’ve seen the way you boys kept your dormitory back at Hogwarts. It was really quite disturbing.”

“What, you didn’t notice the small part of the room where I slept and kept all my possession clean and tidy?”

“Must have missed it,” Hermione said with a small grin.

“Well I’m sure if I do anything wrong here you’ll give me a good kick up the arse,” Harry said affectionately, squeezing her fingers.

“As long as you don’t leave the toilet lid up and put the cap back on the toothpaste, I think we’ll be fine,” she reassured him lightly.

Harry smiled, “I think I’ll manage just those two things.”

“Funny,” Hermione said nudging him in the shoulder as they continued to walk down the path.

“There’s something else,” Harry said after a few moments of silence.

Hermione looked up at him, “What?”

“This,” Harry pulled out a square maroon box. He handed it to Hermione and allowed her to open it. Inside was beaded ice crystal bracelet, with a onyx stone dangling between two silver angel wings. Engraved on the stone was the word ‘Hope’.

Hermione gasped and put a delicate hand to her mouth while still admiring the beautiful piece of jewellery, “What’s this for?”

“Well, I had to get you something else in case you shot my idea of the flat down,”

Harry said sensibly, holding the necklace out to her.

“Harry,” she said softly, as she delicately touched the angel wings. “Will you put it on me?”

“Of course,” Harry nodded, taking it from her and clasping it on her outstretched arm. “Happy birthday, ‘Mione.”

Hermione smiled widely as she fingered the bracelet gently. The day was turning out perfectly.

Harry reached down to take hold of her hand again as they took of down the lighted path of the Boston Public Gardens. They had been walking for a few minutes when Harry looked over and seen the concentrated look on Hermione’s face.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked softly, startling her from her thoughts.

“Ron,” she said, causing Harry to make a face, “I just… I mean, what are we going to say?”

“We can tell them whatever you want to,” Harry said with a shrug. “We can even tell the lot two different stories.”

Hermione frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I mean we don’t have to tell them we’re going somewhere together.”

“Oh, that makes sense. It’ll probably be the easiest way…”

“Yeah, and in a year or so, when we’re ready to bring our baby back we can just say it happened…” he finished with another shrug. “Hopefully they’ll have moved on by then.”

Hermione nodded and then had a thought, “What if Ron wants to write or come visit me?”

“Then you can tell him you just want some time to yourself or something. Say you want to be alone for a while…”

“I’ll hardly be alone, Harry,” she spoke in a whisper.

“And Ron will understand that in due time. He‘s a good bloke Hermione- he won‘t hate us for this. He just might need some time to…adjust…”

Hermione nodded and looked up into Harry’s eyes, “You’re right. I trust you, Harry.”

Harry pulled her closer to kiss her head, “I trust you, too.”

Hermione smiled, “Good.”

“Now, Miss Granger, may I treat you to a famous Boston ice cream cone?”

Hermione grinned, “You may, Mr. Potter.”

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

"So, um... I better get going. Dad will probably have a coronary when I floo into the living room," she finished with a light hearted grin.

Harry grinned back, "Well if you kill him now, that means I won't be killed when he finds out I got you pregnant."

Hermione swatted at him playfully, "Alright, well we'll meet back here?"

"Yep. Then we'll run away to Boston and have a baby!" he finished raising his hands over his head to emphasize his excitement.

…

Thank you for the reviews!!!

I hope I didn’t loose any of you because they’ve decided to leave without telling the truth. But this is the path I’ve chosen for my story, mostly to break away from the cliché of telling the Weasleys and having them hate H & Hr for a bit before the baby’s born, then everything’s hugs and chuckles.

Again, this story is far, FAR from anything like that and one of my main goals is keeping it light while I still can. Keep in mind that the story’s already finished (there won’t be any plot holes) and that this is portkey.org.

And also I know it seems like Harry and Hermione have just forgotten about Teddy- again that’s just me writing in the heat of the moment and not getting all the details and emotions in. I dropped one bombshell last chapter and now again I’m dropping another on you. I’ll revise it eventually but for now this’ll have to do.

I think part of Harry’s character is not wanting to bring Teddy up-- think of it as him maturing; where as if he was 15 he’d be brooding about it but since now he’s 18 and about to be a father he’s coping differently.

Until next time!

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 10: Breaking the News

---

Magic was a beautiful thing. It particularly came in handy when trying to make a quick move out of two flats before anyone stopped by to see what you were doing. Harry finished the unbreakable charm on another small scattering of Hermione's possessions and levitated them into her box of things.

"Alright Hermione, I'm done in here. Is there anything else that needs to be packed?"

"You got all the dishes in the kitchen?" Hermione's voice called from her bedroom.

"Yep."

"I think that's it then, I'm just finishing up with my clothes here." Harry walked back to her bedroom and watched as she waved her wand at several pieces of clothing. They came floating out of the wardrobe and then she muttered a charm so they would fold themselves nicely and then lay on the bed.

Harry walked forward and grabbed her wand arm before she had the chance to say another thing, "Here, let me." He waved a hand at her clothes and Hermione watched in amazement as they came out of the wardrobe and folded themselves perfectly.

Harry was about to wave his hand again to get the clothes to shrink but Hermione stopped him.

"No!"

"What's wrong?"

"I don’t want my clothes to be shrunk. They're never the same once you shrink them and resize them..." she said a bit sheepishly, taking a suit case from the side of the room and starting to place her folded clothes in there.

Harry scoffed teasingly, "You’re such a girl."

Hermione smirked, "You must've been confused when you snuck in to see me all those nights."

Harry made a face between a grimace and a scowl, "Touché; Granger one, Potter zero."

Hermione was still smirking at him and said arrogantly, "And don't you forget it."

Harry laughed, "Oh, so now who should make room for the ego, Miss Granger?"

"Definitely not me," she said smiling.

The day had gone by peacefully so far. First thing in the morning, they were both over at Harry's packing up his, rather large, flat. Harry insisted that Hermione shouldn't have to do anything, but when she snapped at him calling him a chivalrous git, he complied to let her help pack using her wand. Now that they'd moved to Hermione's flat to pack her up, they were both getting a little nervous.

After this, it was their explanation to their friends.

And then after that, there would be no reason to come back for at least a year or so.

Hermione had already gone, yesterday, to talk to her student advisor about transferring schools. At first when she told Mrs. Patterson, she was a bit apprehensive about Hermione transferring, but when she told her that she'd be in the Boston area she grew excited.

"Ms. Granger, that's perfect," she said keenly, clicking the mouse on her computer a few times.

"It is?" Hermione asked relieved that she could still continue school in Boston.

"Ever heard of Harvard, Ms. Granger?"

Hermione felt like kicking herself, "Of course. That's one of the foremost ivy league schools in the country..."

"And it looks like they'll be adding a new intelligent woman to their class." Mrs. Patterson sent Hermione a wry smile and from that Hermione felt an immense sense of relief.

"-and then I guess we'll have to talk to Ron. I'll go first if you want..." Harry was saying. Hermione jerked herself out of her memories,

"What was that, Harry?"

"I said I'm going to write a letter of my resignation from the program to Kingsley and then go talk to Ron," he said looking at her questioningly, "Are you alright?"

Hermione nodded tersely, "You're going to resign? I thought you wanted to transfer like me?"

Harry shrugged, "I thought about that but then I just... I guess I thought it'd be more peaceful to live like muggles. I mean, you'll be going to the muggle university in town and I thought I'd get a job at some company or invest in some stocks or something."

Hermione tilted her head to the side, "Harry, I think cutting ourselves off from the magical world seems reasonable in the situation we're in, but are you sure you want to give up your training? I mean, no offence or anything, but you don't know the smallest thing about investing money."

Harry scowled playfully, "Well thank you for your continuous support."

"Just trying to keep you down to earth, I know with an ego like yours you could float away at any moment," she replied teasingly.

Harry smirked, trying not to laugh, "You're lucky you're carrying our child Granger..."

Hermione smiled genuinely, "You're right, I am lucky, we're lucky. Things could be a lot worse for us right now."

Harry nodded, "Yeah like they could've already found out and completely disassociated us from them-"

"I meant that you're here, alive and healthy, and willing to help raise our baby," Hermione spoke softly with tears welling up in her eyes. Harry smiled at her and came up to brush away a few stubborn tears that had spilt over.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Hermione nodded and they stood there for a few moments staring into each others eyes. Hermione couldn't understand him when he did things like this. It made her think things... silly and completely mundane things... but things that related to Harry actually wanting to be with her and have this child not only because he was her best friend and he felt obligated but because he actually wanted to be with her... forever... because the casual sex wasn't just casual... because he actually did want to marry her for the right kind of love...

Hermione looked away from his dazzling emerald orbs. 'There you go again Granger, you and that stupid mind of yours playing tricks on you. He feels nothing more than platonic love for you. And you feel NOTHING more than platonic love for HIM!'

She felt a hand on her shoulder shaking her lightly.

"Huh?"

"Hermione, are you sure you're alright? That's the second time today..."

"I'm fine, just thinking about some silly stuff," she said plainly giving him a confident nod.

Harry looked downcast, "Is it Ron?"

"What?"

"Were you thinking about Ron just now?" Harry asked again more persistently.

"No... yes, I mean- all my thoughts are kind of jumbled together right now Harry. I don't know what I'm thinking."

"Oh," he replied somewhat sadly. 'Why did things always have to revert back to Ron? It seems like he's all she can think about now days! She's pregnant with my child and her mind seems to keep drifting back to my best mate.'

'Are you jealous Potter?'

'What? Of course not-'

'Then why does it matter if she's thinking of him?'

'She's pregnant with my baby. That makes her mine!' Harry gasped at what he had heard his mind just say. Hermione and him had already had this conversation, just because she was pregnant didn't mean it had to be the end of the rest of their lives. But the thought of just the two of them for the rest of their lives... that didn't seem to sound bad at all as far as Harry was concerned.

'Ooh, jealous Potter?'

'No...'

'Why don't you sound so positive?'

'Nothing’s even happened between them, I'm the only one she's ever been with. For Merlin's sake, she's having my baby!'

'You said so yourself that that didn't have to stop you from seeing other people. You even encouraged her to see Ron.'

'Shut up.'

'Face it, you love her, you're in love with Hermione Granger!'

'I...I...' Harry could feel his palms sweating as his mind clouded over with confusion, 'I don't know what love is.'

'No, not yet, but I think you're beginning to find out,' the snide voice said with a bit of a triumphant sneer. Harry's mind was reeling. Was he right, could he be in love with his best friend? Was he jealous of Ron and the relationship he wanted to have with her?

"No, of course not."

"What was that?"

"Huh?" Harry sounded dumbly, looking up to meet Hermione's confused expression.

"You said ‘no of course not’."

"Oh... um, I was thinking about that letter I have to write. Kingsley probably won't be too pleased that I resigned through a letter."

"Kingsley won't be too pleased that you resigning at all. Face it Harry, you were one of the best aurors, let alone trainees, there. They'll be losing a great addition to the squad."

Harry blushed slightly, which was odd because Hermione's comments never made him blush before, "Um... thanks."

"No problem," Hermione said with a laugh.

Harry looked up into her bright chocolate eyes and watched them shine with happiness. 'And I did that... I made her eyes shine like that...'

Harry finally jerked his eyes away from hers and cleared his throat to pass over the awkward moment, "So... um, have you told your parents yet?"

Hermione's smile faltered, "No... I guess I'll do that now."

Harry gave her a reassuring smile, "Hey Hermione, everything will go fine. Just tell them that transferring to Harvard makes you really happy and they'll be happy for you."

Hermione gave him a small smile back, "I know. It's just the whole lying thing that hurts. They trust my word when I tell them that I'm moving to Boston for school, but what will they say when I come back with a baby in my arms?"

"They'll see that you can be a model student and a great mother, and they'll embrace it with open arms," Harry said softly, stepping up to wrap his arms around her tearing body.

"I hope you're right Harry... god I hope you're right."

"Everything will work out for us in the long run, 'Mione. I promise."

Hermione nodded weakly against his shoulder and then pulled away slowly. Her mind was starting to wonder and think silly things again, 'Hermione Jane Granger, he's your best friend and you're supposed to feel extremely comforted in his arms. He's supposed to make you feel like everything will always be okay and he'll always love you... BECAUSE HE'S YOUR BEST MATE!'

"So, um... I better get going. Dad will probably have a coronary when I floo into the living room," she finished with a light hearted grin.

Harry grinned back, "Well if you kill him now that means I won't be killed when he finds out I got you pregnant."

Hermione swatted at him playfully, "Alright, well we'll meet back here?"

"Yep, and then we'll run away to Boston and have a baby!" he finished raising his hands over his head to emphasize his excitement.

Hermione smiled, "Yeah. Good luck then." She walked over to the floo and grabbed some powder from the pot.

"You too," Harry said following her over. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, or more on the corner of her mouth, "Be safe."

Hermione nodded trying to keep her mind in control, "Promise."

She shouted the address and spun out of sight, leaving Harry standing there in the empty living room of her flat with a few boxes and her suit case littered over the floor.

Harry sighed, and started towards the kitchen where the oak dining table was still left intact and in full size. With a wave of his wand, a parchment and inked quill appeared laying on the table.

"Let's see here..." he muttered to himself, thinking of what he could possibly say to justify his resignation to the man who had suspended him a few days before.

After a few minutes of staring at the paper with the quill in his hand, Harry groaned in frustration, "Why is this so bloody difficult? It's not like I care what he thinks of me at this point anyway..."

Harry started scribbling on the paper furiously. He'd decided to tell the minister that auror training wasn't the most important thing in his life right now and he'd decided to take some time off to himself to clear his head of the recent war and mourn for the deaths of his lost loved ones that the war had so viciously took from them all. He didn't feel comfortable playing the sympathy card, but he also knew people would leave him alone if that was the real reason he'd left.

He finished, tapping the letter with his wand so it folded up neatly and put itself in an envelope. He needed a way to send it and quickly figured heading down to Diagon Alley would be the quickest way. There were a couple other people he needed to talk to there as well.

---

"Mum? Dad?" Hermione called out as she righted herself from her family home's fireplace.

"Sweetheart, what a surprise!" said Richard Granger, coming forward to hug his daughter.

"Hey Daddy, how've you been?"

"Oh, I'm doing well, but you would know that if you stopped by to visit us more often!" he said with a hearty laugh, one arm still wrapped around his daughter's shoulders so he could squeeze her to him. Hermione tried to put any guilt complexes away and deal with telling her parents quickly.

"Is that my baby I hear in there?" asked Cate Granger coming in from the kitchen. "Hermione!" she immediately went to her only daughter and flung her arms around her.

Again Hermione forced herself to respond with a solid voice, "Hi mum."

"What brings you by sweetheart?"

"I um, I..." she started shakily, her eyes glued to the floor so she wouldn't have to see the proud look her parents were giving her. If only they knew... if only she had the courage to tell them the truth, then they wouldn't be looking at her like that. Some Gryffindor she was...

"I actually have some big news to share with you," she finished calmly, looking to meet their eyes.

"Well, why don't we go out onto the terrace and talk? I'll bring some lemonade!" Cate said eagerly, letting go of her daughter to run into the kitchen and grab a pitcher and some glasses.

"It's good news I hope?" Richard asked as he lead Hermione to the terrace.

Hermione bit her lip, "Well, it really depends on how you look at it."

"Well, we're all ears," Richard said with a comforting smile as he sat down across from his daughter. Cate came in soon after and set a crystal glass of lemonade in front of her and then poured some for Richard and herself.

"So, you know how I've been doing well at uni," Hermione started. She was unsure how to put it out there that she'd transferred to a school across the Atlantic Ocean without just throwing the news at them.

"Yes, I take it your grades are still top notch?" Richard ask with a slight chuckle while Cate looked at her daughter adoringly.

"Yeah, Dad, so good in fact that I was offered something..."

"And what was that?"

"They offered me a transfer to Harvard... to study abroad..." she didn't want to look up because she was sure she'd see the disappointment in their eyes.

"Hermione Jane," her father started in a low voice. Hermione finally found the strength to look up and meet his eyes, expecting him to call her out on her lie at any second. But instead a smile broke out on his face, "That's fantastic!"

"Congratulations sweetheart!" her mother gushed, moving across to hug Hermione tightly.

"That's wonderful! They couldn't have offered it to a more deserving student! And Harvard too, that’ll do wonders for you, Hermione!" Richard continued in a proud voice, also getting up to hug her.

Hermione closed her eyes as both her parents embraced her. She hadn't known what to expect when she flooed in, but this was definitely not it and it only made it ten times worse to deal with. She wished they wouldn't salivate over her like this, like she was their pride and joy. Honestly, she would rather have her mother and father giving her disappointing glares to keep from feeling any more guilty then she already had from lying to everyone. A part of her wanted to scream out that she was truly a no good liar, a coward, a fool for thinking that she could runaway and then come back with an infant child. Her infant child, hers and Harry's. The thought of what was growing inside her made her calm down a bit.

Cate continued to nod at what Richard was saying, "It'll be a great experience for her, she'll learn loads of stuff!"

"Well she can learn, as long as she stays in touch and comes back to see us every now and then," Richard said cheekily, squeezing her shoulder.

"Oh dear, we should celebrate! I'll go get some champagne!" Cate said exuberantly, jumping up from the patio couch and starting off into the house.

"Actually mum," Hermione said quickly, knowing her parents would find it suspicious if she didn't drink with them, "I have to get going. I have to finish up the paperwork for the transfer and then get home to pack."

"You're leaving so soon?" asked Cate dejectedly.

Hermione nodded, again averting her eyes, "Yep, I want to make it for classes on Monday."

"But where will you be staying?" Richard asked this time.

"I already got a flat in Boston. It's really beautiful, looks out over the Boston Public Gardens and the campus isn't too far away."

"Oh? So you've known about this for a while then?"

Hermione bit her lip to keep from telling the truth, "I, um, I've heard they were going to give the transfer to the top grade accumulation and I did the math and it was me. So I started looking, figuring it was only a matter of time before they offered it to me. And when they did I made the offer on the flat and got it so..."

Her parents were quiet for a moment as they stood there observing their fidgeting daughter.

Richard finally cleared his throat, "I'm sorry Hermione. We really are excited for you- it's just you doing this all by yourself so quickly... it makes us realise how old you're getting. You're not our little baby anymore."

Hermione wanted to punch herself. Here her parents were, tearing up as they thought about all her accomplishments when in fact she was leaving a huge chunk of the truth a secret.

"I imagine you'll be using magic to pack?" Richard asked, wiping at his eyes. Hermione nodded as Cate let out a sob.

"And you'll promise to ring us as soon as you get in to your new flat?"

"Yes, I promise. Don't worry about me though... I'll be okay," she said, thinking back to the raven haired boy who was probably telling their best mate he was leaving right about now. She sighed thinking about their best mate.

Ron...

That was another thing she'd have to worry about today. How would it look if she goes in to tell him she's transferring schools an hour after Harry said he was transferring ministries? Now, Ron may not be the brightest of the bunch, but he's certainly not daft...

"-and even if you decide to come home, we promise we'll let you stay here as long as you want until you can get back on your feet," her mother was saying emotionally. Hermione looked up into her father's eyes, which were so much like her own, and watched him smile at her.

"We love you, Hermione Jane, always remember that."

"I will Daddy. I love you too," her parents came forward and they shared a family hug, the last one that would be shared for a while.

---

Harry let out a long breath that he hadn't known he was holding as he stared at the door of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. He had rehearsed what he would tell Ron over and over in his head. All he had to do was pull Ron aside and say he was being transferred and no one would know any wiser.

As he was about to take a step to open the door, two boys too young to be in Hogwarts ran forward and yanked it open. They continued to giggle madly as they started running through the shop, looking at all the magnificent marvels the Fred and George were able to come up with.

"Oi! No running!" shouted a voice from behind the front counter.

Harry smirked as he watched the boys immediately slow down to a quick paced walk and heard Ron mutter the word 'midgets' under his breath.

"We can't all be giants like you, Ron," Harry said grinning at him.

Ron looked up from the magazine he was flipping through and gave Harry an appalled look, "Giant? You callin' me fat?"

"No, not at all. All that food you send to your stomach on a minute basis only adds to your length."

Ron shrugged, "I'm a growing boy."

Harry laughed at him, "Yeah, I've heard that before."

"So what're you doing here, Harry, did they let you off training early?" he asked curiously, not knowing that in fact Harry had been suspended a few days before.

Harry fidgeted, "Um, something like that. I actually wanted to tell you something about training."

"Are you finally quitting?" Ron asked with a smirk.

"No!" 'Yes! To be with the girl you fancy!' "I, um... a position opened up for training with another ministry and they're transferring me," he finished quickly, wanting to be out of there as soon as possible.

"What, seriously?" Ron asked, throwing the magazine aside. Harry nodded tersely. “Why?"

"I don’t know they didn't really give me a reason, McKlien just pulled me aside and said to go to the Head Auror’s office because he had news for me and when I got there Travers said that he was transferring me to a different ministry."

Ron looked suspicious, "That sounds weird. They didn't give you a choice or tell you where you're going?"

"Nope, I'm just supposed to pack up my flat so they can relocate me close to the new ministry."

"Wait, you have to move?!" Ron exclaimed loudly, jumping up from his stool.

"Well... yeah."

"That's bullshit Harry!"

"I know it is, but I haven't really got much of a choice. If I say no I'm booted out of training." Harry was finding that telling Ron this story was harder than he thought. He never wanted to lie or intentionally hurt his best mate of seven years but he seemed to be doing just that.

"That's unbelievable!" Ron shouted again disdainfully.

'No it’s no, it’s believable!' Harry thought as he nodded, "It is."

"Merlin, Mum's going to go crazy... not to mention Ginny."

"About that," Harry started nervously, "Um, I don't really have time to say goodbye to any of them. My flat's already packed up and I'm supposed to be getting back to headquarters soon for my portkey and debriefing. So... I was kind of hoping that you could tell them?" he finished shyly, looking at Ron pleadingly. He had no desire to tell Ginny or Mrs. Weasley that he would be leaving for a while, even if it was on the foundation of a lie.

Ron looked back at him quizzically for a second, "Yeah... I mean I think Ginny would prefer to hear it from you, but I guess this is the only way. You know she'll be wanting you to write her," Ron finished giving him a stern look telling Harry that he was going into 'protective-brother' mode.

Harry nodded but let Ron continue, "But yeah, I guess I could break it to Hermione and then me and her could tell my family this Sunday at lunch or something."

Harry had to bite down on his tongue hard to keep from commenting about Hermione.

"I'd really appreciate that Ron," Harry said sincerely, coming behind the counter to shake Ron's hand for the final time before he would be made a father.

Ron grabbed his hand but pulled him into a hug. Harry patted him on the back as they separated; he genuinely was going to miss him.

"Write as soon as you're able to, eh?"

"Definitely," he said, starting to make his way out of the shop.

"Well I guess its goodbye for now?" Ron asked a bit hesitantly. Harry could tell he was having a tough time with his best mate practically walking out of his life and so was Harry.

"For now," Harry sent him one last lingering crooked grin before turning and walking out of the shop.

---

Hermione was standing at the entrance of Diagon Alley, looking in at all its beauty and livelihood since the war had ended. On one side of the street was Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and on the other the Owl Post Office. Harry had to have already talked to Ron since it had been about an hour and a half since they had left her flat and all he had to do was right a letter and send it.

She took a few hesitant steps, travelling deeper into Diagon Alley. She could think of thousands of reasons why she should just send Ron a letter explaining her leave and only a few of why she should talk to him in person.

'You're a coward if you send him a letter.'

'I'm a coward either way. I'm running from my home to protect a secret that's doomed to come out in a few months anyway...'

'So you're saying you don't want to leave with Harry?'

'No, I do! It's the only way for us to be accepted... Leaving is the only way for us to be a family, and I won't deny Harry that.'

'Because you love him and you want him to love you too...'

'Shut it! I love him because he's my best friend, that's it.'

'You're taking the easy road out...'

'Only because I need to. I can't hurt Ron like that, and seeing the look in his eyes would kill me. I can't do that to him...'

'Fine, COWARD!'

"SHUT UP!" Hermione yelled. A few witches and wizards turned to look at the young witch, recognition starting to dawn in their faces at who Hermione was. Hermione looked sheepish, and then let out a frustrated groan and marched straight into the post office.

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

"Harry, do you think we're making the wrong decision?" she asked calmly, but Harry could tell all the lies she had told today were eating away at her heart.

Harry went to her and hugged her to him tightly, "Honestly? I don't know. But we'll figure that out together, won't we?"

Hermione sniffed and buried her head deeper into his chest, "We'll be okay, right?"

Harry smiled, "Definitely. Me, you, and baby."

…

Thank you for all the feedback!

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 11: Just Me, You, and Baby Now

[AN] This chapter is the epitome of cowardice. So many lies… hence the title of the fic *cough, cough*

Beware for some OOC.

---

Harry was nervous as he ascended the stairs to a flat building in Diagon Alley. He had just been to Gringotts to empty out much of his gold and convert it into American dollars. He figured that five hundred grand (plus the salary he'd be making) would be plenty for Hermione, Harry, and the baby to live off of for a while, especially since the flat was already furnished and paid for. And if it wasn't he couldn’t always come back to get more.

After apparating back from dropping the money off at Hermione's flat he had some intentions to say farewell to another one of their school mates.

Harry knocked on the door three times and waited for Neville to answer his door.

When he did, his face brightened.

"Hey Harry! What are you doing here?"

"I kind of wanted to talk to you," Harry started, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Me? I mean... well sure, come on in. I was just doing a little project for Professor Sprout. You know she's having me on as her intern this year." As they walked deeper in to Neville's small flat, Harry could see a large green ivy plant covering most of Neville's front living room.

"Oh dear," Neville squeaked, obviously not expecting what he was seeing. The plant looked like it was multiplying every minute or two.

Neville turned quickly to Harry, "Um, I guess we have to talk out here then. Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Harry said politely, "I actually wanted to talk to you about something serious."

"Uh-oh, not too serious I hope," Neville said, clearly hinting about a rising dark power.

"Oh no, nothing like that," Harry covered quickly with a shake of his head. "Actually I was just transferred to a different ministry to complete my auror training," he started reciting. He had practiced this to himself a few times as he came up the stairwell, "and they told me to tell only one person where I'd be in case something happened and I needed to be found immediately."

"And you... and you want that person to be me?" Neville asked in a disbelieving tone.

Harry just smiled at him, not trusting his voice at this particular moment.

"Merlin Harry... I mean, yes! I'd be honoured to, but wouldn't you want someone like Hermione or Ron doing this?"

Harry shook his head, "Hermione and Ron are too obvious of choices. If the wrong people wanted to find me, they'd immediately go after them. That's why I came to you. You're not as obvious a choice for me and I know I can trust you with anything."

Neville beamed, "Of course you can Harry."

"Alright, so remember you'll be my secret keeper of sorts. You're just not under any vow. The place I'm going is Boston, Massachusetts in America."

Neville whistled, "That's quite a ways away Harry."

Harry nodded curtly, "Yeah, well I didn't have a choice so..."

"Oh yeah, I understand, but will you be home to visit often?"

Harry shrugged and looked rueful. It was hard lying to people, especially people as humble as Neville, "As often as I can, I suppose. I don't know what kind of work they'll have me be doing."

"Merlin, Harry. This just seems so unreal that you're moving away." Neville commented. Apparently he wanted to chat with Harry some more but Harry didn't have the time or energy to keep telling fake stories to people he cared about. Plus, he had to get back to Hermione.

"I know. I have to get going though, my portkey leaves soon."

"Oh, right, right... so basically if someone dies, or something bizarre like that- write you."

Harry nodded and thought it might be important to mention, "Yeah. But only write me for emergencies and stuff because if they see me getting too many owls-"

"I got you, Harry," Neville finished giving him a cheeky grin. "And if Ginny is caught dating another bloke, would that be considered an emergency?" he asked trying to keep from laughing.

Harry, however, only shrugged, "Ginny's not my girlfriend, she can date whoever she likes."

Neville's face straightened immediately, "Oh, right. Sorry."

Harry gave him a reassuring smile and thump on the back, "No worries, Neville. Thanks for doing this for me, and I'll see you around." He made his way down the small hall and to the door.

"Yeah Harry, see ya!" Neville called after him, still in awe that Harry would entrust this with him and no one else.

---

Dear Ron,

I know this isn't the most conventional way to tell you this and I'm sorry it had to happen this way, but it was the quickest way I could tell you. I'll get straight to the point; I was offered a scholarship to an Ivy League school in America and I took it. This is a great opportunity for me, and I absolutely just couldn't pass it up. I hope you'll be supportive of me and my educational choice. I know now's a kind of weird time to leave, but I think it'll be best for us. This way I can find out what I really want and you can as well. I won't be back for a while, since term started earlier and ends a little later in the year, I probably won't have much time to spend away from my studies, but I want you to know that I'll miss you and all your family, and I will come back, I can promise you that much at least.

Love from,

Hermione

Hermione sighed as she sealed the envelope of her goodbye letter to Ron. Yes, it had been the cowardly way out- but hey, who was stopping her? She knew she deserved to give Ron a face to face farewell, but she didn't think she'd be able to look him in the face again without shouting at to him that she was pregnant with Harry's baby.

There were three bins on the far side of the room which were behind a desk that three wizards were sitting at. One bin was for express post, the other for priority post, and the last for regular post. She noticed that the regular pile was almost over flowing with letters, and being the coward that she was decided to give her letter to the wizard in charge of that pile.

"That'll be four knuts miss," he said gruffly under his bushy moustache. Hermione handed him the money without thinking, and watched as he put it on top of the huge pile.

"When do you think it will get to him?" she asked him, forgetting that the man didn't know who 'him' was.

"Two to three work days."

Hermione nodded, "Thank you." She left the shop without waiting for his reply and immediately started off for the gate way back into the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione didn't stop to turn and reminisce about all the good times she'd had in Flourish and Blotts or the Apothecary, she didn't stop to remember the first time she had ever laid eyes on Crookshanks in the pet store; she just left, willingly left, wanting nothing more at the moment than to just get as far away from the wizarding community as possible.

---

Harry heard someone floo into the fireplace at Hermione's flat and hoped to god it was Hermione rather than Ron.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice called from the living room.

Harry smiled and walked out of the kitchen to see her. She looked a little frazzled, but it didn't bother him. They had both been through so much emotionally today.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked at her still giving her a comforting smile.

She shrugged, "As well as can be expected I suppose. You?"

"Same."

They continued to look at each other for a few minutes before Harry broke the

silence.

"Are you ready?"

Hermione nodded, "As ready as I'll ever be."

"I understand." He said quietly, looking directly into her eyes.

"Harry, do you think we're making the wrong decision?" she asked calmly, but

Harry could tell that all the lies she had told today were eating away at her heart.

Harry went to her and hugged her to him tightly, "Honestly? I don't know, but we'll figure that out together, won't we?"

Hermione sniffed and buried her head deeper into his chest, "We'll be okay, right?"

Harry smiled, "Definitely. Me, you, and baby."

Hermione grinned, "I like the sound of that."

Harry kissed the top of her head, "Me too. Come on; let's get our stuff over there."

She missed his warmth immediately after he pulled away, but busied herself by picking up a box and making her way to the fireplace. Harry gave her a nervous look as she grabbed some floo powder while balancing her box of things in her hands.

"Honestly Harry, don't start," she warned. It was too early for him to go into protection mode, there was too much to do.

"Right, love, sorry."

Hermione had already threw down the powder when he heard his last words. 'Love? Love? Well that's a new term of endearment he's never called me before...'

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

Hermione looked deep into Harry’s eyes. Harry- her best friend, her lover, the father of her child… How did he manage to say everything so sweetly to her? The things he said… they made her feel truly beautiful.

They stared into each other’s orbs for a few more moments before Hermione smirked, “You sure you can handle two of me running around, Potter?”

“I can’t wait,” he said honestly making Hermione’s insides melt for the second time that night.

…

Sorry for the short chapter. But thank you for your reviews! The first instalment is coming to a quick close, and I’d again like to thank everyone who’s stuck with me throughout this fic.

By the way- to all of you who are desperately awaiting the next chapter for M&ME, I’d like to apologize. I’m terribly busy right now in life, with my daughter’s football matches plus I’m selling my co. and buying into another- so life’s very stressful right now.

I can promise that I’ll be working on M&ME every free chance I get, though.

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 12: New Beginnings

[AN] Since this chapter is fairly short as well, I decided to add it early.

And also because a reviewer convinced me that the day before New Year’s eve is an official holiday ;]

---

Harry sighed and dropped down next to Hermione on their bed, exhausted after a long day of moving into their stuff into the Boston flat. Hermione was currently sitting in bed, eating some mint ice cream and playing with the laptop her parents had gotten her for the beginning of the school year.

“Alright, I think that’s everything. I left some of our furniture in the boxes since there wasn’t any room and put them in the hall closet.”

Hermione smiled at him, “Thank you, Harry. I know I haven’t been much help…”

Harry shook his head, “Don’t worry about it, ‘Mi.”

“Okay,” Hermione said, turning her attention back to the computer in front of her.

“But you know if you were really sorry you could let me have a bite of your ice cream…”

Hermione smirked and handed him her spoon, “Anything for the man that arranged my library in alphabetical order.”

“In order of subject, too,” Harry told her through a mouthful of ice cream. “What are you looking at?” he asked, pointing the spoon at the laptop.

“OB/gyn’s in the area.”

“O-B- whaties?” Harry asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

“A doctor for us,” Hermione explained looking at him with an amused expression.

“Honestly Harry, you have to know some things about this…”

“That reminds me, we still have to go book shopping, remember?”

Hermione nodded and her eyes lit up at the prospect of buying books, “Yes, I remember,” she paused as she wrote a name down on her notepad.

“Did you find one yet?” Harry asked, taking another bite of her ice cream.

“I narrowed it down to about three good ones.”

“So should we schedule appointments?”

“No, it says here that we just walk right on in,” she said moving the laptop over for Harry to see.

“Alright, so when do you want to go?”

“I was thinking tomorrow since we’re all settled in here and then it’ll be kind of hard for me to get in once I start classes…”

“Yeah alright, we should go to the market down the street to load up on some ice cream for you too,” he finished moving closer to her on the bed and resting his

head next to her stomach.

“And scout out a bookstore as well?” Hermione asked with a hopeful grin.

“Anything you want, sweetheart,” Harry said bemusedly.

Hermione just paused and stared at him as he snuggled his head next to her stomach and laid a protective hand over the barely noticeable bump. She couldn’t help, but think about how sweet and attentive he was being lately.

‘Is that what it’s like to be in a real relationship with someone?’

Hermione then shook her head trying to get rid of her naïve thoughts, ‘No, no, no- he’s only doing this because he got you pregnant. He probably feels guilty for knocking you up. Harry’s not the type of person to just up and leave when he has responsibilities.’

‘Yeah, and up to a few weeks ago his responsibilities were only keeping up with Auror training and remaining in touch with Ginny.’

‘Shut up-’

“Hermione, you alright?”

Hermione looked down to Harry. He had a concerned look on his face that melted her heart.

‘No… he wants to be here. How many times has he said that he’s ecstatic that we’re having a baby? He wants to be here, just as much as I want him here. Stop doubting that…’

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she said flashing him a sincere smile.

Harry smiled back but still looked a bit concerned, “I don’t know. Are you sure you’re comfortable with us sharing a room and bed and stuff?” he asked, hoping that wasn’t the answer of her far away look. He rather liked the idea that he would get to wake up next to her every morning.

‘Where the hell did that come from?’ Harry asked himself, ‘It’s not like she’s my girlfriend and I’m allowed to do things in our bed…’

‘Yeah, but you want to be able to, don’t you Potter?’

‘I-’

Hermione however simply shrugged, “Yeah, I mean it’s not like we haven’t before, right?”

“Right…” he said fidgeting. He felt heat swell up in his chest with his next thought,

“Are you thinking about Ron?”

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. She hadn’t gave Ron a thought since they’d moved in. Why was Harry brining him up all the time? Did he want her to keep feeling guilty?

“No… I was just thinking about how happy I am right now,” she finished in a gentle tone.

Harry’s smile reached his eyes, “Me too, that’s all I ever wanted.”

Hermione was grinning as she closed her laptop and put it on the bedside table, “Well, I think I’m going to finish that ice cream off and then go to bed. Honestly, I’m quite knackered.”

“Yeah, we’ve got a big day tomorrow,” he replied. Harry turned from his position and got up off the bed. Hermione gave him a bewildered look as he lifted his shirt up and over his head and then threw it in the direction of the closet.

“Can I join you?” Harry asked with a discrete smirk at the look on Hermione’s face.

“S-sure,” Hermione answered, turning slightly red.

“So…” Harry said conversationally as he stole another bite of her ice cream, “What do you want?”

“Excuse me?” Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry laughed, “A boy or a girl?”

“Oh…” she said starting to smile again. That happened every time the mention of their unborn child was brought up, “Didn’t we already talk about this?”

Harry shook his head, “Not really. You only said it’d be lovely to have a little mini-you and then mocked me about how terrible it would be to have an exact clone of me.”

Hermione laughed, “I did do that, didn’t I?”

Harry snorted, “Yes, you did.”

She smiled while giving his question some serious though, “I don’t know, honestly. Either would be great. What about you?”

Harry nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I think there would be good qualities in either a boy or a girl.”

“Well of course there will be good qualities in it,” Hermione said smugly.

Harry laughed, “Yeah. At least they will if they get all of my traits.”

“Hey!” Hermione exclaimed in a playful outrage, “No more ice cream for you,” she said, taking the ice cream and turning away from him.

Harry laughed at Hermione attempting to pout, “Just kidding, I hope the baby’s just like you.”

Hermione beamed at him, “Really?”

Harry shrugged but inwardly smiled at the way Hermione was looking at him, “Hard to imagine any child of yours not loving to read and study…”

“I think your underestimating the father’s characteristics,” she complimented him softly.

Harry grinned, “Oh yeah?”

Hermione nodded and looked into his eyes, “I think he or she will be very brave, and compassionate, and charming-”

“And very beautiful,” Harry said confidently.

Hermione grinned, “Definitely. With your eyes…”

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” Harry asked, frowning at her. He for one loved Hermione’s chocolate brown eyes with flecks of gold in them. He thought they suited her personality perfectly.

Hermione shrugged modestly, “I just think yours are more… unique, I guess.”

“Alright, my eyes- but then everything else is you.”

Hermione looked deep into Harry’s eyes. Harry- her best friend, her lover, the father of her child… How did he manage to say everything so sweetly to her? The things he said… they made her feel truly beautiful.

They stared into each other’s orbs for a few more moments before Hermione smirked, “You sure you can handle two of me running around, Potter?”

“I can’t wait,” he said honestly making Hermione’s insides melt for the second time that night.

“Me either, Harry, me either…”

---

Next chapter on Lies for Love:

Harry turned from his spot near the counter to look at her questionably, “You don’t regret this, right?”

Hermione looked up at him startled. Where would he start getting ideas like that?

“Harry, of course not,” she said. Obviously he wasn’t convinced because he still looked at her questionably, “I mean, I won’t lie. At first I had my doubts but now that we’re here I have no regrets. I know we made the right choice.”

…

Finally an all fluff chapter!

Thank you again for the reviews. Next chapter will be the finish of this story and give you a little preview for the next instalment. Now, I plan to go knock out another chapter for M&ME.

Thanks again!

Disclaimer: JKR owns.

Lies for Love

Chapter 13: All Right Now

[AN] Thanks so much to everyone.

---

Harry grunted and panted in relief as he dropped the many bags on the floor of the kitchen.

“Merlin… you know, all this heavy lifting makes you really appreciate magic more.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “You’re the one who insisted on carrying all these bags. I’m more than capable of lifting one or two.”

“No Hermione, not these bags,” Harry said breathlessly as he reached down and struggled to pick up a few of the book bags.

Taking small quick steps, he hurried into the library with Hermione following right behind him.

“Don’t start crying to me just because I got a few small books,” Hermione said shortly as Harry dumped the books onto one of her reading sofas.

“A few small books, Hermione?” he asked with a raised eyebrow as he dumped five large tomes out of one bag.

Hermione reddened, “Okay, point taken. But can you blame me?” she finished giving him an innocent look.

Harry sighed and wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead, “No. I’m just as excited to read these as you are.”

“Good,” Hermione said clapping her hands together enthusiastically, “We can even read them together!”

Harry didn’t want to question Hermione’s sudden change in mood in fear her temper would spur up again, “Are you sure you’ll have time to read these once you get your text books from school?”

“Of course I will. I’ll make the time.”

“Good,” Harry said, sending her a smile while he started stacking the new books in a empty corner case.

“Plus, I don’t start classes for a few more days so we have a bit of quiet time to use up.”

“I won’t say no to quiet time,” Harry said back to her as they both headed out of the library and into the kitchen to start clearing away the groceries.

“Me either,” Hermione agreed, “I think that’s just what we need after recent events.”

Harry turned from his spot near the counter to look at her questionably, “You don’t regret this, right?”

Hermione looked up at him startled. Where would he start getting ideas like that?

“Harry, of course not,” she said. Obviously he wasn’t convinced because he still looked at her questionably, “I mean, I won’t lie. At first I had my doubts but now that we’re here I have no regrets. I know we made the right choice.”

After a few seconds Harry nodded, “Good. I’m really happy we did this.”

Hermione smiled at him, “Me too, Harry. You know that’s not the first time you’ve said that to me…”

“And it won’t be the last either,” he said with a smile. Hermione was expecting him to turn back around and continue putting the food away but she was taken by surprise as Harry leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips.

When he pulled away Hermione felt a strange sense of loss. She wondered why… after all that wasn’t the first time Harry had kissed her and then pulled away…

“So… um, I’m happy with our doctor,” Hermione said after a few seconds.

“Yeah, she seemed like a good choice.”

Hermione nodded, “I liked her a lot. She got her degree from Harvard too!”

Harry smiled, “As long as you’re comfortable with her.”

“I am. Can you believe I’m almost four months?” she asked with an excited grin.

Harry grinned back and then moved over to grab the folder on the counter that Dr. Hammond had gave them. His smile widened as he pulled out the sonogram of their baby. According to the doctor, everything was going beautifully and on schedule.

“It’s pretty crazy, huh?”

“Yeah,” Hermione said affectionately, coming over to also look at the sonogram.

“I think I can even remember the night,” Harry said with a knowing grin.

Hermione gave him a weird look, clearly not understanding his meaning.

“The last night at Shell Cottage…” Harry probed with a playful grin, “On the beach…”

Hermione blushed, “Oh yeah…”

Harry smirked at the dark shade Hermione’s face was turning, “Anyway,” he started nonchalantly, “Do you think we’re making the right choice by waiting to find out the gender?”

Hermione nodded, “I think it’ll be a nice surprise, don’t you?”

Harry smiled, “Greatest surprise of my life.”

Hermione looked at him affectionately. He had truly been the perfect friend these last few days.

Suddenly Harry realised something, “Speaking of surprises…”

“What?” Hermione asked as walked out of the kitchen and down the hall towards the library. He came back a few moments later with both his hands behind his back.

“Harry, what do you have there?” she asked, trying to remain neutral but really excited at what he was keeping behind his back.

Harry smiled and pulled out a large leather bound book from behind him, “Surprise.”

Hermione frowned upon not being able to recognize the book. It had no title or any decoration on the cover at all. Hermione grabbed it from him and immediately started flipping through the pages.

She stared at the blank glossy pages of the book and then looked up at Harry in confusion, “Harry, what is this?”

“A photo album,” he said with a grin before pulling his other hand from behind his back, “And this is a camera.”

Hermione closed her eyes at the sudden flash of light coming from the camera.

“Harry!” she exclaimed, quickly covering her face with the photo album, “That is so juvenile,” she scoffed as he started laughing.

“Oh come on Hermione, our child is going to want to know what we went through during the pregnancy. Taking a few photos won’t hurt,” he said innocently, trying to get her to put down the book.

He heard Hermione sigh, “Fine. Just a few though!”

“Sure,” Harry said, not expecting to hold to that bargain at all. He brought the camera back up to his face, readying himself to get Hermione.

Hermione reluctantly brought the book down only to have another flash in her face followed by Harry’s happy laughter.

“Oh, you prat Potter!” she said angrily, trying to fend off the smile tugging at her lips. She always felt like smiling when she witnessed Harry laughing like that.

“Come on, Hermione- a few more photos,” he said with a huge smile while taking the book from her hands and throwing it back on the counter.

“No, no more! I look a mess!”

“You look beautiful,” Harry told her. Hermione looked up at him with a soft smile. Harry grinned back before suddenly snapping another photo.

“You git!”

“Smile!” Harry laughed while dodging Hermione who was coming after him and trying to struggle the camera from his hands.

A few more flashes were caused by Hermione and Harry both wrestling for the camera- both of them smiling and laughing while trying to distract the other to get possession of it.

Harry gasped, “Oh look, an owl!”

“Where?” Hermione asked turning to look behind here.

Harry laughed and snapped a picture of her bum.

“HARRY!” Hermione screamed as he smacked her arse.

Harry grinned innocently, “What? It’s a good bum, why not photograph it?”

“’You’re incorrigible,” Hermione scoffed, trying to move past him out of the kitchen.

Harry however had different plans. He grabbed her arm and spun her towards him, “Come on, one more and I’ll leave you alone.”

Hermione gave him a suspicious look that he would never admit scared the hell out of him, “Just one.”

“Just one,” he smiled, holding up one finger.

Hermione sighed as Harry continued, “Okay- say cheese!” he ordered in a sing song voice.

“Harry Potter’s a pompous arse!” she replied in the same sing song tone.

“Funny,” Harry said dryly with a smile as he took the picture of her.

“That’ll be a good one,” he said once he lowered the camera from his face.

“Sweet talker,” Hermione replied with a small blush.

“Only for a pretty girl named Hermione,” he shot back, coming forward to kiss her near the corner of her mouth.

Hermione closed her eyes and took in his smell and his close presence. She had been in this position many times before… one particular moment sticking out in her mind was that night he approached her on the beach at Shell Cottage. The night that had truly started this whole adventure.

Hermione opened her eyes to see Harry’s darkened over in that same something he got in his eyes every time before they…

Harry leaned in again to capture Hermione fully on the lips this time.

Hermione didn’t hesitate. It felt too good.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to pick her up and carry her off towards their bedroom- all rational thoughts left behind in the kitchen with that damned camera.

As Harry walked them back to their bedroom, Hermione couldn’t help but think that everything was going to be all right.

They may have a bumpy road ahead of them, but somehow she knew that they would always find their way back to each other.

---

The sequel to Lies for Love;

Safe Harbour: Harry and Hermione will have to make the ultimate decision whether they want their child to live or live a life similar to their father’s. But, of course, it’s not as simple as that… Harry and Hermione will have to make a decision considering what’s best for their child- not what’s best for them.