Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Okay, so as I mentioned before my supply of chapters is running seriously low. Like two more after this and I'm all out. Since I'm finishing up my finals tomorrow, I would think I'd be able to write more, but as of right now I have a summer job that's going to take up the majority of my time, so we shall see…

Anyway, thanks to Mischiefmanaged86, RogueBHS, justduck, Paddy, KamiOnno, time9870, Charlotte, UKwildcat820, Meli, noorelisa, and the Anonymous person for your reviews!

Chapter 38: What Is Right…

"Hermione, you have to tell him."

"You don't think I realize that?" Hermione replied, sitting back further in her chair.

"Of course I know you realize it," Harry said. He also leaned back slightly, a small frown on his face. "It's just getting more and more pressing the longer you wait. Soon he'll know something's up."

He punctuated the statement by glancing downward at Hermione's stomach, which was beginning to swell noticeably. She had recently taken to wearing the loosest clothing she owned, but before long Harry knew it wouldn't be enough.

Hermione caught his glance and crossed her arms over her stomach defensively, a habit that she had acquired since finding out about her pregnancy.

"I'm fairly positive he's already realized something's up." She let out a small snort of amusement and gave Harry a half-smile. "Although his solution to the problem has been to place all of the sweets in the upper cabinets where I can't reach them. But nonetheless, he is noticing."

Harry smiled back at her. "I guess it's a good thing that I've been supplying you with goods in the meantime then."

"Unquestionably," Hermione said, scooping a large bite of hot fudge-covered strawberry ice cream into her mouth, one of her rapidly materializing cravings.

In the weeks following their discussion, each day had been more-or-less the same. Harry would either speed through his work quickly enough to get off a few hours early or use his lunch-break to visit with Hermione. On many of these visits, he would bring her something she had mentioned off-handedly the previous day. But mostly they tried to talk about how to rectify the predicament they had landed themselves in.

Unfortunately, they were no closer to a solution than they had been on day one.

Harry suspected that the reason for their unproductive sessions was due to the fact that, probably on day one, they had realized there was only one possible answer, only one course of action that would give them the results they hoped for. Sure, they had skirted around this remedy, come in dangerously close proximity to it, been on the very verge of tentatively bringing the proposition forward…

But neither of them had suggested it, and he was beginning to wonder if either of them ever would.

Harry gazed at the table thoughtfully for a moment, and then opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione suddenly cut him off. She dropped her spoon in her bowl with a clatter, held up one palm for him to remain silent, and placed her other palm over her mouth. Her face was quite pale.

"Hold that thought," she breathed, her voice muffled by her hand. She then stood up from the table so quickly she almost overturned her chair and dashed from the room, and a moment later Harry heard gasping heaves coming from the bathroom. He grimaced slightly at the sound, but stood up nonetheless and followed her.

Just as he knew he would, Harry found Hermione kneeling before the toilet, blinking vacantly as she caught her breath. He crouched beside her and pulled her hair away from her damp neck.

"You alright?" he said.

"Oh, excellent," she muttered, closing her eyes at the feel of his cool hands on her skin. "I swear, there must've been a committee of sexist pigs who decided to come up with the side-effects of pregnancy. This is just miserable."

Harry chuckled. "I wouldn't doubt it," he said. After a moment he helped Hermione to her feet, who leaned over the sink as she quickly rinsed out her mouth and began to brush her teeth furiously.

"And the whole business of its name is complete rubbish as well," she said, her toothbrush still in her mouth. She rinsed her mouth out again, cleaned her toothbrush, and placed it back in its spot next to Ron's. "I mean, morning sickness? It's four-o-clock in the afternoon - in whose mind would that be considered morning?"

Harry shrugged as he silently proffered Hermione a small towel, and she took it begrudgingly.

"Thanks," she mumbled, dabbing at her mouth.

"No problem."

Hermione sighed as she set down the towel, and then led the way back to the kitchen to continue their conversation.

"Sorry about that," she said as she sat down again. She pushed aside her bowl and clasped both hands on the table before looking at him expectantly. "Weren't you about to say something?"

Harry fidgeted uncomfortably under her gaze, and rubbed the back of his neck as he attempted to gather the words he had wanted to speak earlier.

"Well," he began. "I was just, er, just thinking -"

That you should tell Ron everything. That I should tell Ginny everything. That we should be together and be able to raise our son or daughter without worrying about what everyone else will think. That somehow, no matter how far-fetched it seems, we can manage to do this without destroying the lives of everyone we love…

Merlin, what wasn't he thinking?

Harry extended his hand to cover Hermione's, and he breathed out a quiet sigh through his nose.

"I was just thinking that it was about time for me to leave."

"Oh. Is it already five?" Hermione said, disappointment evident in her voice.

Harry nodded, mentally berating himself for his cowardice. "Yeah…Ron should be here pretty soon." He slid his hand from hers as he said this.

He watched as Hermione's eyes followed the path of his withdrawn hand, and as she clasped her empty fingers together and flitted her gaze from them to his face and back again. "Alright."

Harry frowned sadly and scooted his chair back to stand up.

"Will you come back tomorrow?"

He didn't know why, but despite how much he hated leaving Hermione every day, it was at least partially worth it to hear her ask that simple question. At the beginning, it had been just that - a mere question, clearly meant for information alone, almost as though she needed to check if it interfered with her schedule. But more recently, the words had been adjusted slightly, the tone it was asked in tweaked the slightest bit.

It was no longer a question, but a request, and it was one Harry was more than willing to comply with.

"Of course," he said. "And you know you can call me or owl me anytime you need anything, right?"

"Of course."

"No, seriously, I mean anything. I don't care if it's getting you a glass of water because you're too comfortable on the couch to be bothered. I can pop in anytime you need me to, day or night."

Hermione smiled at his serious sincerity, and stood up from her chair as well.

"I know, Harry. And thank you."

She placed her hand on his arm as she said this, and he gave a small nod as well. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but they had yet to discuss the boundaries that existed between them. They had come to an unspoken agreement to leave the matter of their relationship unexamined until they solved their issues, and as a result, Harry felt they were stuck in a figurative limbo of tentative gestures and touches. Even in private, even after that life-changing discussion, they were behaving as barely more than very close friends.

Harry knew that it was the proper way to go about things, but it was still frustrating to no end.

"Okay," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

But before he could take a step back, Hermione wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his chest. He could feel the firm, rounded flesh of her abdomen against his own stomach, and could picture the tiny core of life growing larger and more distinct inside her with every passing second.

"Really, Harry," she said, sounding muffled as she had earlier but instead because of the fabric of his shirt. "Thank you."

Her fervent gratitude threw him slightly off guard.

"I just brought you ice cream," he said lightly, though he still pulled her more tightly against him. "I know it's pretty important stuff, but it's not that big of a deal."

She laughed and Harry felt his shirt move as she adjusted her head on his chest.

"No, it's a very big deal," she said. "And it means more to me than you probably realize."

Harry continued to hug her tightly to him for a moment more, but finally pulled away from her enough to look her in the face.

"Hermione, I -"

The clock on the wall suddenly chimed before he could finish his sentence, counting the hours abrasively. He allowed it to finish ringing as he stared at her.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

She looked back at him with equal patience.

As the echoes of the last chime faded into nothingness, Harry dipped his face close to hers. He could hear Hermione's shallow breathing and felt their noses graze each other. He saw Hermione's eyes flutter shut, and his own eyes closed unwillingly as an unsteady sigh escaped his lips.

"I should go," he said softly, his eyes still shut.

"Okay," Hermione replied just as softly. He felt the small gust of her breath on his neck as she said those two syllables, and a shiver traveled down his spine.

With an enormous amount of self-control, he directed his lips an inch to the left of her mouth and kissed her cheek. Then, without looking at her, he released his hold on her arms and vanished before he could prolong their goodbye any further.

************

As soon as the pop of Harry's disappearance had faded as thoroughly as the damned chimes of the clock, Hermione moved once more to the kitchen. Her posture was stiff and unwelcoming as she cleaned up the evidence of Harry's visit. Her gestures were stern as she ran a damp cloth over the top of the table, and she seemed incapable of relaxing the worry lines that had settled into her forehead after Harry exited.

Had they thought, really and truly thought, this entire thing through?

It was one thing to say that telling Ron was necessary, but it was completely another to actually tell him and deal with the after-effects. Didn't Harry realize what it would mean for Ron to find out about this?

Hermione's hands shook as she lowered her and Harry's ice-cream covered bowls into the sink, and it took her multiple tries to turn on the faucet to wash the dishes. The water gushed over her palms, and although the torrent of water temporarily disguised the trembling, she thought they looked unpleasantly pale and fragile. Her veins stood out in sharp relief to her white skin, her nails were picked nearly to the quick, and her fingers seemed uncommonly thin and spider-like, incapable of holding anything within their grip.

She pulled her hands from the now scalding stream of water and noticed with slight satisfaction the blotched pinkness scattered over the tops of her hands and knuckles. The fierce color gave her hands some semblance of life, even though they still smarted from the sting of the boiling water.

However, away from the distortion of the water, she thought her fingers looked, if possible, even more frail than before. After a moment's contemplation, she wondered if the cause of this feeble appearance had something to do with the rings adorning her left hand. She tilted her hand to catch the reddish rays of the failing sunlight, and the golden metal glinted deceitfully.

The rings seemed to peer at her innocently, and they held her gaze for a full minute before she quickly submerged them under the soapy water distastefully. Her fingers were effectively blocked from sight by the thick white suds, and she was careful to keep them that way as she finally went about cleaning the dishes.

Didn't Harry realize that there would be no turning back from this? That once she spoke those two simple words to Ron…

Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin as she felt a kiss on the side of her head.

"Hey, I'm home," Ron said, stepping back to drop his bag on the recently cleaned table.

"I can see that," Hermione replied, patting a dry towel against her shirt (where she had just slopped a fairly large amount of dish-water). "You startled me."

"I can see that," Ron mimicked, grinning as he unclasped his cloak. "It's not like I crept up on you or anything. I'm surprised you didn't hear me come in."

"W-well I was t-thinking about a few things," she replied, feeling a blush creep into her cheeks as she continued to dry her blouse.

"Oh," Ron said. "That explains it. You must've been thinking really hard about whatever it was for you to completely zone out -"

"I'm pregnant," Hermione blurted.

"-like that. What?!"

"I'm pregnant," she repeated, more weakly this time. She wrung the damp towel in her hands as she watched shock and then pure elation make its way onto her husband's face.

"Pregnant?" he finally said. "You're completely sure?"

Hermione nodded. "Positive." Since when did her voice become this flimsy?

"Merlin, Hermione, this is amazing!" Ron yelled, jumping to his feet. He leapt towards Hermione and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug that left her gasping for breath. When he released her, he was still grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm gonna be a dad!" he yelled in exultation. "I'm gonna be a dad!"

He yelled it even louder the second time, as if wanting the entire street to know of this development, and Hermione felt her heart beat painfully in her chest. This was worse than she'd ever imagined it would be. Ron's enthusiasm felt like a punch in her already aching chest.

She watched sadly as he began to pace the room, running his hands through his hair and still smiling like a madman. He was almost trembling from pent-up excitement.

"This is just - I can't believe this is finally - we've got to tell everybody, Mum's gonna freak! And Harry's gonna flip too, this'll be -"

Hermione winced inwardly as he said this. "Ron…" she said, interrupting his rambling.

He was surprisingly quick to turn to her, and Hermione wondered if his cheeks were beginning to hurt from smiling so much.

"Yeah?" he said, pausing his relentless movements.

Hermione fidgeted under his happily expectant gaze, and her answer to his inquiry was so softly spoken that he had to ask her to repeat it. Maybe the insight she had gained into her frail hands was actually just a small glimpse into the bigger picture…maybe she just was weak.

"I said that Harry already knows."

Ron's grin couldn't have slid faster from his face if she'd slapped him. His jaw worked soundlessly for a moment, and then it took another moment for his jumbled speech to form a coherent thought.

"Harry knows? You told Harry you were pregnant before you decided to tell your own husband?"

Hermione did not know exactly how to respond to this accusation, but fortunately (or rather unfortunately) Ron never gave her a chance to reply.

"What kind of bullshit is that?!" he spat, taking a large step away from her. "Honestly, what the hell were you thinking when you decided to tell Harry before you told me?"

His voice had risen quite high by this point, and Hermione hated the emphasis he was using on Harry's name. Yes, she had told Harry, their mutual best friend of fourteen years. She simultaneously felt her own temper rise as well as the staccato of the beat of her heart, which felt like it had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach. If he was this angry about simply telling Harry, she couldn't imagine what would happen if he discovered the truth about the baby…

"Harry had absolutely no right to know about this before me! Hell, I know he's our best friend, but his knowledge of it should've come a few people down the line! Our own parents don't know about this and yet Harry knows all about it -"

Closing her eyes tightly, Hermione rubbed her temples as the reverberations of Ron's yelling echoed through her ears. As far as she was concerned, she had been shouted at significantly too much in the past few weeks, and she was frankly quite sick of it. Her brain pounded painfully in her skull and she was becoming angrier by the second…if only he would shut up for just one bloody -

And suddenly, before she could even finish this train of thought, the room became utterly silent.

Hermione cracked one of her eyes open, expecting Ron to have stormed out of the room in his fit of rage. However, he was still in the room. The fact that he hadn't left surprised Hermione, but not nearly as much as the fact that, despite the silence, it appeared that Ron was still yelling at the top of his lungs. His face and ears were the typical Weasley red, and his eyes had widened until they were practically bugging from his face. His mouth continued to work furiously, the veins in his neck were straining, and yet Hermione couldn't hear a single word he was saying.

She cracked open her other eye at this point and cocked her head inquisitively at the sight of Ron soundlessly screaming at her. Crossing her arms across her stomach, she frowned and furrowed her brow. Why couldn't she hear him?

Experimentally, she raised the toe of her shoe and brought it down again against the tile floor, and the responding tap allowed her to realize that it wasn't her ears that were failing her - it was Ron's voice.

He had clearly realized this as well, which was the cause of his dumbfounded expression and overworking throat. Hermione watched him with a bewildered expression, rubbing a hand absently over her stomach.

Finally, once Ron recognized the fact that his efforts were fruitless, he shut his mouth and simply opted to glare accusingly at Hermione.

"Alright," she said more calmly than she felt. "Are you going to let me talk now?"

Ron's ears turned an even brighter shade of red, but he still gave a reluctant nod.

"Good," she said. "Because I'm not going to stand here and let you shout this complete rubbish at me. Yes, Harry knows. It wasn't exactly intentional for Harry to be the first one to know about it, okay? It just…slipped out the other day when I saw him at work. Sometimes I get utterly sick of your jealousy issues with Harry. It's not that big of a deal, so get over it."

She gave a small sigh of satisfaction as she completed her small monologue, and she noticed her hands were still on her stomach. Ron was still staring at her reproachfully, though embarrassment could be seen in his expression as well. She allowed the silence of the room to continue a moment more and then waved her hand towards him.

"Can you talk now?" she asked curiously.

Ron tentatively opened his mouth and muttered something quietly to himself, and then nodded. "I guess so," he said, disgruntled. "What did you have to go and do that for?"

Hermione almost started to tell him the truth, that she had had nothing to do with it, but decided against it just as she started to speak.

"You wouldn't pay attention to me," she said instead. "That seemed like the easiest way to make you listen."

"I guess I can't argue against that logic," he muttered. "I'd just prefer if you didn't do it again."

"Sure," Hermione replied. "As long as you don't act like a prat like that again."

"Right," Ron said sulkily as he plopped himself in a chair. "Sorry about that."

Hermione knew that he was only being so quick to apologize because of the news about the baby, but she was grateful nonetheless.

"So…" he continued, "I guess we need to tell everybody now? Harry's the only one that knows, right?"

"Of course," Hermione said.

"Good," Ron said, sounding relieved. "Then we should probably do it as soon as possible. I guess it's too late to do it tonight, but I think we can manage it for tomorrow."

"That sounds fine," she said.

"Alright then, I'll go owl Mum so she can get hold of everybody for dinner tomorrow night. We can tell her it's about your transfer or something so she doesn't get suspicious."

"Sounds perfect," Hermione murmured.

"Great," Ron muttered. He rubbed at the back of his neck and stood up from the table again. "I'm…I'm gonna go take a shower and change."

He quickly left the room, and Hermione could tell by the tenseness of his walk that he was still agitated.

With a groan, she fell into the chair that Ron had just vacated and buried her face in her hands.

She could already tell this was not going well, could feel it in the pit of her stomach. The second she had told Ron she was pregnant she knew it was wrong. As the words had escaped her lips, she had (and still) felt that they were horribly final, sealing her fate more completely than anything else in the world was capable of. And though she had no idea what fate was being assured, she was fairly confident it wasn't the one she had had in mind.

**********

As Ron and Hermione stepped into the bustle of the Burrow, he finally began to feel that things were falling into place. He had a good job, a nice place, a great family, a wonderful wife, and a child on the way. He straightened his tie as he walked into the midst of his siblings, grinning like a madman.

Everyone looked up as they entered the room, and George lifted his bottle of butterbeer good-naturedly.

"Hey, there's the lady of the hour!" he said jubilantly. "Congratulations on the promotion!"

Ron threw his arm around Hermione's shoulders as cheerful exultations of agreement followed his brother's words. He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, we're both pretty excited about it," he said.

"Yes," Hermione said, sounding slightly distracted. "Very excited."

"Rightfully so!" Mrs. Weasley said, seemingly in a rare reprieve from her kitchen duties. "You'll be able to change so many things in Magical Law, dear!"

"Yes," she replied, still not seeming completely present. Her eyes were darting around the room, calculating. "I'm quite excited about it. Is everybody here?"

"Well, not quite everybody. In fact, Arthur should be back any second now… Ah, I hear him in the yard now."

A moment later there were two small squeaks as the front door was opened and closed, and then Mr. Weasley appeared in the doorway with none other than Katherine Granger in tow.

"Mum!" Hermione said, and for the first time she actually sounded excited. She crossed the room quickly and gathered her mother in a large embrace, which Katherine returned gladly.

"Hermione!" Katherine responded. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, mum," she said, smiling happily.

"Oh, I'm wonderful," Katherine said. "This was all told to me on rather short notice, but Harry insisted that I should be here tonight."

Ron felt a small twinge of guilt at these words, and then jealousy at the softened, grateful look that appeared on Hermione's face. He really should have owled Hermione's mum, but as she said, it had been on short notice…

"I'm glad you're here, then," Hermione said.

"Yes, I'm so glad you could make it!" Mrs. Weasley said, pushing Hermione slightly to the side to press a glass of wine into Katherine's hand. Ron shook his head as his mother, talking animatedly, ushered Katherine away from the group. The Weasley matron very seldom had opportunities to speak to mothers of her own age, so any time Mrs. Granger was in the vicinity Molly tended to monopolize her time.

As soon as both mothers had vanished into the kitchen, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her to an available seat on the couch. He sat down and she sat down next to him, holding her hands in her lap.

Angelina leaned forward in her chair as soon as they were comfortable, smiling widely at Hermione. She held her and George's youngest daughter in her lap, though the child was squirming restlessly.

"So when do you start the new job?" Angelina asked.

"Um, in a couple of weeks I think," Hermione said, watching little Roxanne's antics closely. In fact, Ron saw that her eyes were moving around to every child in the room - Bill's son Louis, who was roughly the same age as Roxanne, as well as Percy's three-year-old daughter Lucy.

Ron couldn't help but smile at Hermione's observations - leave it to her to want to study up on the way children behaved before she gave birth herself.

"That's wonderful," Angelina said, struggling as Roxanne attempted to make an escape. She tried to hold on to the toddler for a few more moments before finally giving up.

"Fine, Roxy, have it your way," she said, setting Roxanne down on slightly unsteady feet.

"Be free, Roxy," George said wistfully. "You're just a restless spirit like your daddy, aren't you? I won't let your Mum keep you down!"

"Excuse me?" Angelina said, raising an eyebrow.

"I said for Roxy to always listen to her Mum no matter what without exception. Why, what'd you hear?"

"That's what I thought," Angelina said smugly as Bill, Fleur, Percy, Andromeda, Mr. Weasley, and Ron laughed. Hermione gave a weak chuckle, and Ron wondered if she was feeling well.

"So where are all the other kids?" Ron asked.

"Oh, zey are in ze backyard," Fleur said. "'Arry is back zere as well."

Ron felt Hermione shift very slightly next to him.

"Is Ginny back there too?" he asked.

"No, Ginny is in ze kitchen."

"No she isn't," Ginny said from behind them. Ron again felt Hermione shift beside him. "Ginny has emerged from said kitchen to inform everyone to converge upon the dining area for sustenance."

"So dinner's ready?" George said.

"Yep."

"Awesome," Ron said, standing up. "I'm starved."

*************

Due to the largeness of their group, dinner was being served outside. As Fleur had already said, the children and Harry were already there, and Ginny, Percy's wife Audrey, Mrs. Weasley, and Mrs. Granger joined them as everyone burst into the cool night air. The normally frosty mid-October weather had been mercifully abated by a warming charm placed over the small backyard to make it comfortable.

Hermione and Ron brought up the rear of the group, and a few of the parents went to gather up their children to place them around the table. Harry was already at the table, situating James into a highchair.

Ron began to move towards him, but then realized that Hermione had already seated herself in a chair at the opposite end of the table.

"Er, Hermione," he said, sitting down next to her as everyone else began to choose seats, "why are you sitting here?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, busily beginning to prepare her plate.

"I mean, it's not a big deal, we just usually sit next to Harry and Ginny…" Ron said uncertainly.

"Oh, I wasn't even paying attention," Hermione said, not turning towards him. "But we're already sitting here, so there's really no point in moving is there?"

"Well, no…" Ron said. "It's just that you're acting a little weird."

Hermione paused as she reached for a basket of rolls.

"How so?" she asked, still not looking at him.

"I don't know," he said, tentatively reaching towards one of the bowls of shephard's pie as he carefully chose his words. "You've just seemed a little distracted."

Hermione withdrew her hand without taking a roll and spread a napkin in her lap instead. "Well, I've got a lot on my mind. Is that all right with you?"

"Of course," Ron said carefully.

He left it at that as he nervously finished filling his plate. He couldn't quite comprehend the tone of her voice, but he'd known Hermione long enough to know that she wasn't pleased about something. He imagined she was still riled at him for his behavior the previous day, and thus made the situation to let her be until after dinner. Maybe she'd be in a little bit of a better mood once she'd gotten some food in her stomach. That was always the case with himself, after all.

He certainly hoped so, at least as he shoveled mash potatoes into his mouth.

The thing was, who wanted to announce the beginning of their happy family with the new mother in question in a disgruntled mood?

*********

Hermione's goal throughout the entire meal was to speak as few words as possible. She tried to ensure limited eye contact, thus not drawing undo attention to herself, and the occasional inquisitive question directed her way was answered in a succinct and minimal manner.

She suspected Ron and Harry were the only ones who noticed her unusually taciturn behavior, but thankfully the former made no comment on it and the latter was too enveloped with his own quiet game to remark on it either. That was certainly one thing she appreciated about the Burrow - there was never a shortage of individuals to attract unwanted scrutiny.

After all, this was the first time in months that Hermione had been in the same place as Ron, Ginny, and Harry at the same time, and it was truly doing a number on her nerves. The few times Ginny even glanced her way caused her to shudder guiltily in her seat and hastily avert her eyes to her plate. Therefore Hermione was flooded with relief when Molly ushered the group back inside.

She was on the verge of leaping to her feet and dashing inside the moment Mrs. Weasley stood, but just as she began to move her chair, she noticed Harry sitting perfectly still among the rest of the bustling Weasleys.

"Are you coming in, honey?" Katherine asked as she neared Hermione.

"Oh, yes, of course. I'm just going to help bring in some of these dishes. Will you tell Molly I've got it?"

"Alright, but do hurry up - I haven't gotten a chance to speak to you all evening!"

"I'll be in in just a minute, Mum…it shouldn't take too long."

Katherine flashed her daughter a small smile and then brought up the rear of the retreating Weasleys. The door swung shut behind her, and Harry and Hermione were alone.

They both stood up from the table and crossed the yard until they met at its hedge-lined border.

Harry glanced at her, but she couldn't quite make out his features in the darkness.

"I'm surprised you haven't announced it yet," he said. He sounded very tired though Hermione knew it couldn't be later than eight.

"Ron and I never really discussed when we'd tell everyone…I'm sort of just letting him take care of it. It'll be very soon, obviously."

Harry chuckled. "Does that have anything to do with why you're stalling out here?"

Hermione pretended to ponder the question although she suspected Harry couldn't see her any better than she could see him.

"Hmmm…that might have something to do with it."

"I suspected as much," Harry said.

Hermione laughed lightly, but quickly sobered as her mind turned to what had transpired the day before. She gave a soft sigh before she spoke. "Though there is something else as well."

"What is it?" he asked, and she was surprised at the concern in his voice. Even without seeing her facial features, he was still able to pick up the subtlest changes of tone in her speech.

"Well…" she began hesitantly. "Did Ginny…er… did she exhibit any…strange forms of magic while she was pregnant?"

Hermione could imagine Harry's lips curving downward into a frown and his forehead furrowing in confusion.

"No…" he said slowly. "Not that I'm aware of, at least. But what do you mean by `strange'? What happened?"

Hermione found herself fidgeting uncomfortably, unreasonably embarrassed by what had happened. It wasn't her fault, after all.

"I sort of…well, the thing is, I'm fairly certain I had nothing to do with it, but I was just feeling so angry at Ron and it just happened…"

"What happened?" Harry said more insistently.

"Fine…I guess the best way to put it would be that I made Ronald go mute temporarily."

There was silence for a moment, and then Harry let out a bark of laughter.

"I wish I could've been there for that," he chortled.

Hermione giggled a bit as well. "It was rather funny," she admitted, "but that's not the point. The point is that I didn't do it. He was yelling at me and -"

"Wait, why was he yelling at you?" Harry interrupted.

"I accidentally let slip that you already knew about the baby," Hermione said dismissively. "It rather pissed him off, to put it lightly. But it doesn't matter. As I was saying, he was yelling and my head started to hurt and I was just thinking how lovely it would be if he'd be quiet, and then suddenly he was."

Hermione heard Harry pick a few leaves from the hedge in front of him and start shredding them vacantly.

"It really just sounds like accidental magic…are you positive it wasn't you?"

Hermione sighed. "I obviously can't be entirely sure," she said, "but I just really feel that it was…" She trailed off and placed a hand on her stomach as she shook her head. "I haven't lost control of my magic since I was ten years old…I just don't think it was me."

"So…so you honestly think it was the baby?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "I do."

"Okay," Harry said slowly. "Has…has anything like that happened before?"

"I…I think so," Hermione said uncertainly. "When we were at Dolohov's mansion."

"Really?" Harry said, taken aback. "When?"

Hermione turned away from the hedges to stare back towards the lighted windows of the Burrow. She could see the darkened shadows of people in the kitchen and knew she and Harry didn't have much more opportunity to speak.

"When the dementors were swarming us…I'm pretty sure the baby is the only reason I was able to cast a Patronus," she said quietly. "I just…I couldn't think of any happy memories and you were dying…but right when I was about to give up I just felt this…I don't know exactly how to describe it…a warmth, I suppose, in the center of my body, and then I was able to cast my Patronus." She glanced back at Harry's silhouette through the darkness. "That's really what made me realize I was pregnant."

Before Harry could reply, there was a thud as the door was thrown open and light flooded part of the yard. "What's taking you guys?" Ron called. "We're all waiting for you in here!"

Hermione heard a crunch of dead leaves as Harry tactfully stepped back from her.

"Alright, we'll be in there in a second," he called back.

"Well…just hurry up, all right?" Ron said, annoyance lacing his tone, and then the door was shut, enveloping the yard in darkness once more.

Harry stepped closer to Hermione again, and took her hand as they slowly made their way towards the house. Hermione wondered if this was what they were reverted to…two people only able to show affection under the cover of darkness.

"Have you heard anything remotely similar to this in anything you've read?" Harry said, his voice lowering as they came closer to the house.

Hermione shook her head. "Not that I remember… but that isn't saying much, I haven't exactly read volumes on witch pregnancy."

"Okay," he said as they reached the door. "Maybe we should do a little research into this. I mean, this seems harmless enough…have you noticed anything wrong with your health or anything?"

"No," Hermione said. "Nothing beyond usual pregnancy symptoms…"

"Good," Harry said, placing his hand on the doorknob. "Hopefully it stays that way. But we'll look into it in the meantime, alright?"

"Alright," Hermione conceded, taking a small breath as he began to push open the door.

Harry glanced downward at her. "Are you going to be okay?"

She turned her eyes to his with a small, cheerless smile. "Do I really have any other choice?"

She saw Harry's throat bob as he swallowed nervously and pulled his gaze away from her.

"I -" he began, but Hermione cut him off. She wasn't in the mood for half-hearted reassurances that neither of them completely believed in.

"Let's just get this over with, okay?" she said.

Harry looked as though he wanted to say something more, but he merely gave a curt nod and led the way into the thankfully empty kitchen.

However, the second the door shut they were instantly bombarded by Ron.

"What took you? Come on!" he said, seizing Hermione's hand and dashing into the overly-crowded living room. He pulled her to sit next to him in the same spot they had sat earlier, and then proceeded to smile appreciatively at his siblings as they continued their usual line of banter.

Apparently they had been discussing Harry before they entered, because as he slowly entered the room after Ron and Hermione, they all turned their attention towards him.

"Zere you are, `Arry! We've been meaning to ask you…" Fleur said, "how `ave you been since your aczedent?"

"I dunno," Harry said uncertainly. "I've been alright, I guess. Just the bit of a limp, really."

"Well, you know what they say," Percy said. "What doesn't kill you just makes you stronger!"

Harry snorted. "I disagree," he said wryly. "Whatever doesn't kill me just really ticks me off."

"Hear hear!" George said jovially from his position on the ground as the room burst into laughter.

Bill made a gesture to move from the seat closest to Harry to allow him to sit, but Harry waved off the offer.

"No thanks, Bill, I'll stand. Save it for if I actually lose my leg - I doubt I could pull off a fake like Moody could, so I'd probably be pretty immobile."

"Fair enough," he chuckled, settling back into his chair. "Though you did miss the chance to sit next to my beautiful wife," he added, wrapping an arm around a smiling Fleur.

"Hey," Ginny said, "his actual wife, and your sister I might add, is sitting right here!"

"Oops, didn't see you there, Gin," Bill said with a wink. "How rude of me."

"Especially with their child sitting right here as well," Mrs. Granger commented, referring to James sitting in her lap. The other toddlers were playing in the center of the room, and the older children had escaped to amuse themselves with whatever they could find in the upstairs bedrooms.

"Not to mention with the other baby on the way," Mrs. Weasley added.

George suddenly turned towards his mother so quickly his neck audibly cracked.

"Ow - what the heck do you mean by the `other baby on the way?'"

"Ginny's pregnancy, of course," Mrs. Weasley said, bewildered by her son's reaction.

"What?! Ginny's pregnant again?" George said. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"We thought you were, dear! I owled you and Angelina last week about the news."

Angelina looked thoughtful for a moment. "Right..." she said slowly. "I knew there was something I was forgetting to tell you."

"Oh, thanks hon," George said sarcastically. He cast a scowl about the room. "So everybody else knows?"

There were murmurs of assent as everyone nodded their heads.

"Oh, ages ago -"

"Yeah, Ginny told us -"

"Goodness, even I know-"

"Well that's just perfect," George grumbled. He jerked his head towards Ginny and then to Harry as he swallowed some of his butterbeer. "Congratulations," he said sourly.

"Ah, don't be that way, George," Ginny said, smiling at her brother's antics. She stood up to give him a mollifying hug.

"Yeah," Ron said, and Hermione noted a hint of triumph in his voice as though he had finally found a good opportunity to interject their news. She had to forcibly resist the urge to cover her face to ward off the attention and embarrassment that were about to come her way. "Especially since you're hearing firsthand that Hermione's pregnant and all -"

There was a collective gasp around the room, and Hermione wondered when and if the Weasleys would ever overcome the shock of pregnancies within the family.

Unlikely, she thought as almost a dozen eager faces (and one not so eager face) turned towards her simultaneously. She even saw Teddy and Victoire poke their heads down from the staircase, delighted smiles on both their faces.

"Another new baby?" Teddy said. "Cool!"

Victoire giggled, seemingly finding Teddy's words rather amusing.

"Are you serious?" George said, leaping to his feet and upsetting the balance of his crouching sister, who promptly landed on her bum. "Sorry, Gin, but you've already popped out a kid - gotta give the new mommy some attention!"

George was only the first of many to pounce towards Hermione and envelop her in a bear hug. Each woman's tight, empathizing embraces were followed by one of the men's moderate but firm hugs. They each kissed her cheek and her mother was practically bouncing around her in excitement, talking a mile a minute as she added to the incessant chatter enveloping the room.

"Isn't this amazing, Hermione?" Ginny said merrily over the din as she clasped Hermione's arms. "We're both pregnant at the same time! This will be so much fun!"

It took every ounce of self control Hermione possessed to control the blush threatening to blossom and to meet Ginny's eyes with a cheerful smile. She managed a moderately convincing version of an enthusiastic nod before Ginny wrapped her in a tight hug.

Past Ginny's curtain of fiery hair, Hermione could make out Harry sitting blankly on the vacated sofa, observing the proceedings with a faraway look in his eyes.

And as Ginny released her grip on her, as the evening continued in a turbulent blur, as Ron finally took her home, and for a long time afterwards, that image of Harry was burned into her mind, and his words to her so many weeks ago accompanied her thoughts as well.

I don't blame you for wanting to take the easy way out. You being with Ron is the simpler thing to do.

She finally began to wonder if his words were true.

The time had come for her to make a choice between what was right and what was easy, and more than any other time in her life she began to doubt herself.

Because, although she found nothing about this decision remotely easy, she found even less about it to be right.

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