Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Hello! So here's the new update! I hoped you liked the first chapter. I know there were flaws but I hope you bear with me as this is my first fanfiction.

@Anonymous: Thank you so much for reading and leaving a review for my story. Yes, Hermione can be quite thick sometimes. She's too protective of Harry, that's for sure.

@pawsrule: Hi! Thank you so much also for reading and reviewing the first chapter. Actually, yes, I've posted this story on FF.net about a month or so ago, I think. Portkey just approved my author application so I only got to post the story yesterday.

I'm quite disappointed with the reviews. Only two? I hope this chapter does better. Thank you for taking the time to read it. It means a lot! Now, here I give you the second chapter of Asleep! Enjoy! :)

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The sun shone brightly as she stepped out of the store with paper bags full of groceries in her arms. Hermione hasn't been back to London in 5 years and she has to admit she missed it. She loved the tan she got from living in Australia but she also missed the constant rain cold temperature in London. She walked hurriedly past the people to get to her daughter's preschool. They've only been here for 2 weeks but her daughter has grown to love London and her new school. Her daughter got her love for books and knowledge yet she has her father's love for adventure. She remembered the day she found out she was pregnant as if it was just yesterday.

She's been face to face with the toilet seat of her private bathroom for the last half hour. She hasn't been this sick before and she felt like she'd thrown up every organ in her body.

"Jane? Are you alright?" Amanda Sinclair, her co-worker and flatmate, asked through her bathroom door, "I can hear you throwing up from the living room."

Hermione washed her mouth before opening the door. "Hey," was all she got to say before running back to throw up again.

"Oh God, what is wrong with me?" she groaned as she sat down on the floor beside the toilet.

"Was it something you ate last night? You barely ate anything at dinner, you know," Amanda said as she knelt beside Hermione and rubbed her back to help soothe her.

"I don't know. I didn't think much of it at first, assuming it was just a stomach bug but it's been a few days since I started feeling sick every morning," she answered.

"Every… morning?" her flatmate asked slowly.

"Yeah, for the past week," she paused and looked up to Amanda and saw her expression, "What?"

"Jane, when was your last period?" Amanda asked her carefully.

Hermione paused and did calculations in her mind. She began to feel panic rising inside her as she realized she hasn't had her period since she moved to Australia two and a half months ago. She whipped her head towards her flatmate, eyes wide and mouth open. Amanda suddenly stood and left the bathroom. Hermione was still in a sort of trance when she came back with her wand in her hand. She took Hermione's hand and said, "I know a charm we can use to know if you really are pregnant. I'm going to use it on you, all right?" Her words vaguely registered to Hermione so with a swallow, she just nodded her head. Amanda did some wand movements and chanted "Exhibeo gravid!" They stared as the charm touched Hermione and she felt its warmth as it entered her body. Then suddenly, golden light began to emanate from her belly then disappeared. Both females stared at where the light was for what seemed like forever before Amanda broke the silence, "Is Marius the father?"

The question snapped Hermione from her trance and vehemently shouted, "NO!"

Amanda looked at her in surprise and she realized what she'd done, she took a deep breath and said in a calmer voice, "No, Marius is not the father."

"Then who is the father? Are you going to tell him about this?" she looked at Hermione with concerned eyes.

She shook her head in reply and stood up. Amanda followed her as she went to the sink to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she was done, Hermione silently went back to her room and sat down on her bed. Amanda just leaned on the doorframe and looked at her from across the room.

"Jane?"

Without looking up, she said sadly, "I can't tell this baby's father that we're having him or her."

Amanda rushed to her and knelt on the floor beside the bed, "Why not, Jane? He's the father, he should know about the baby," she paused as she falsely assumed, "Is this man married?"

"Oh no, he's not married. From what I knew, and I knew him quite well, that he hasn't dated in a couple of years," she answered.

"If he's not married or dating anyone, then why can't you tell him you're pregnant? Was it a one-night stand?"

"It wasn't supposed to be. But I ran away from him, and here I am." Tears were now streaming down her face. She took a deep breath and thought maybe she could tell her flatmate why she really left London months ago. She's been her only friend since she moved here as she doesn't consider Marius as her friend. She looked into her friend's eyes, "I was, and actually still am, in love with this baby's father. He was my best friend in the whole world and on the night before I left London, we told each other how we felt. But years before, a premonition was made by our school's Divination professor about me and him. She said that if he and I ever got together, I'd only cause him great pain. I couldn't bear bringing him pain so I left."

Amanda looked at her with sympathy and sat on the bed beside her, "Honey, why would you let some old woman's words chase you away from the man you loved? The future's uncertain and it can be changed."

"This woman has made a number of premonitions which came true. I didn't believe in it myself but when she made a prophecy about my best friend and it came true, I came to believe her words."

"Are you sure can't tell him about this? I'm sure he'd understand, as you said, he's your best friend, " Amanda asked her.

"I'm sure he hates me right now," she answered.

"Well, if you change your mind, I'll help you tell him. For now, we'll both take care of you and your baby," Amanda said with a smile as she put her arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"Thank you, Amanda. You're a great friend," she said, returning the smile.

Amanda was there for her in every step of the pregnancy, the birth and the few years after. She was forever grateful of her and her sacrifice so Hermione and her daughter could escape back to London.

Every time she looked at her little girl, she can't help but feel pensive. She missed everyone so much but she couldn't find the courage to go and see them. She supposed she was proving the sorting hat wrong for putting her in Gryffindor but she can't help it. There were too much to say, too much to explain and she doesn't even know where or how to begin. With all her musings, she reached her daughter's school just in time when the students came bursting out of the front doors. She silently stood while looking for her daughter and finally saw a familiar bushy mane of black hair among the children.

"Mummy!" shouted the little girl while running towards Hermione.

"Hello love," she said as she put down her groceries so she can give her daughter a hug and a kiss. "How was school?" she inquired as she picked up her bags and walked hand in hand with her daughter.

"It was great! We learned to count more than ten and then we studied some animals," the little girl replied.

"That's nice. So what do you want for dinner? Spaghetti?" Hermione asked as she opened the door to their flat.

"Yes please!" came the enthusiastic answer.

"Harry?" a knock and a voice called out from the door.

"Come in," Harry said without looking up from the court case he's been reading. "What's up, Nev?"

Neville just stood in front of Harry's desk and held out a paper in his hand. When Harry didn't hear a reply, he looked up and his eyes met the paper. He read it twice and looked up to Neville, hope and fear fighting for dominance in his expression. Neville felt sympathy for his friend, hoping this would finally bring peace and happiness to him.

"We found her. She's back in London," he said quietly.

Harry said not one word as he suddenly took the paper from Neville and stood up, went to get his coat and ran towards the Ministry atrium so he can apparate.

She's here. She's back. Those were the only things on his mind as he ran. His heart felt like it was going to explode from all the emotions. He's so mad at her for leaving him, so happy that he's finally going to see her, relieved that she's alive and okay, scared of what she'll say to him.

He couldn't remember a happier moment than finally telling Hermione how he felt and finding out she felt the same way. He could have shouted on the rooftops in joy if his mouth wasn't at all busy in kissing those delectable lips of hers. He will never forget hearing those words he'd longed to hear come out of her mouth. And as he moved away to look at her, his eyes widened as Hermione started to fade in his arms. No! He tried to shout but no sound came out. He desperately tried to tighten his arms around her, holding onto her, but she just continued to fade. No, Hermione! Don't go! Please! He pleaded in his mind. He closed his eyes, praying to all that was holy that this wasn't happening, that Hermione was still with him, sleeping beside him.

He woke up from the dream. As he looked around the room he was in, he unconsciously placed his hand on his face and realized he was crying. He took a deep breath before sitting up. Then the events of the night before came flooding into his mind. He and Hermione running through the rain, him looking at her and thinking how beautiful she was, how he instinctively caressed her cheek and proceeded to kiss her, stumbling into his flat as they discarded pieces of clothing off each other, ending up on his bed and finally, telling each other how they felt. He couldn't stop the tears from falling by then. Nothing hurt him more, not his parents' death, not Sirius's death, not Lupin's or anyone who he considered family or friends who died in the war, than when Hermione left in the middle of the night after he told her he loved her. He still couldn't wrap his mind around it, he'd been trying to think of why she could have left, but he came up with nothing.

"Harry?"

He looked up to see Luna carrying a tray, with tea and cups on it, and Ron behind her. He hastily wiped his tears away with the back of his hand and cleared his throat before speaking.

"Good morning Luna, Ron," he paused, took a deep breath and continued, "I'm so sorry for barging in last night like that."

Luna entered the room, followed by Ron, and placed the tray on the bedside table. She sat in front of Harry on the bed and took his hands in hers, "Harry, we're your friends. No matter the time, our doors are always open for you. You know that."

"That's right, mate. Even if you scared the hell out of us last night, s'all good," Ron clapped his shoulder and gave him a smile.

Harry looked at both of his friends and said, "Thank you, both of you."

"Have some tea first then you can tell us what really happened last night," Luna said, sympathy and concern clear in her wide blue eyes.

Harry waved his mind absent-mindedly then the tea was being poured into all the cups magically. As the tea cups floated into their hands, he ran through what happened the night before in his mind again.

"I honestly don't know, Luna," he paused, sipping his tea. When he realized his hand was shaking, he put the cup down with drinking it, "We had that monthly dinner with you lot then we walked back to my place because we decided to do some more catching up. We haven't seen each other a while because I was busy finishing law school and she had her shifts in her healer training. While we were walking, it started to rain so we ran towards my flat building. Before we entered the flat, we, uh," he shifted on his place on the bed as he looked at his friends' faces, "I, uh, kissed her then you know the rest," he said quickly, embarrassed.

Ron chuckled, "Yes, we know. You already told us the gist of it last night."

"But I don't get it. I mean, I've known she's had feelings for you for a really long time, so I know she wanted to be with you," Ron said absently as he rubbed his chin while thinking.

Harry looked at his best friend as if he's grown another head, "You knew she had feelings for me?"

"I did. Like I knew you had feelings for her, that's why you never dated seriously after Hogwarts," he answered with a smug smile.

Harry sighed and shook his head, "We could've had years together, mate, if you'd just told me how she felt."

"But really though, can't you think of reasons why she could have left" Luna asked Harry.

"No, Luna. Nothing. I couldn't even believe that she just left her healer training like that," he said, again shaking his head.

The three friends were silent as they were each lost in their own thoughts. It was a while before Harry looked up to Ron and Luna then broke the silence that filled the room, "I will look for her. I don't care why she left. I need to find her and I won't stop until I do."

He appeared in a deserted alley across the building complex where Hermione's flat was supposed to be. Harry watched the building and its surroundings for a minute or two. It was a quiet neighborhood, with a few children playing out on the street. Hermione's building complex was five floors up, has white walls and four columns on the façade. Her flat is on the 3rd floor. He tried to make out the shapes and shadows inside the windows along the 3rd floor but he decided to go inside instead. Walking slowly on the stairs, he suddenly didn't know what to say to her if it is her. He can give great arguments at trials but he knew, when faced with Hermione, every word in his vocabulary will be gone like a puff of smoke. Without realizing it, he's suddenly in front of her door and he still doesn't know what he's going to say to her. He raised his right hand to knock but hesitated for an instant before rapping his knuckles against the wood. He jerked his hand back and waited.

"Here's your spaghetti, love," Hermione said as she put down a plate of pasta and garlic bread in front of her daughter. "Dig in." Then there was a knock on the door.

"Who could that be?" her daughter wondered, looking to the direction of the door then to her mother.

"I'm not sure. You eat your food while I see who it is, okay?" Hermione answered as she removed the apron from her body and kissed her daughter's hair as she passed by. She wondered who could be visiting at this late hour. None of her friends knew she was back and she's been living in muggle London so she wouldn't be seen so easily. She slowly put her hand behind her back to feel if she has her wand with her. She removed the locks and slowly opened the door. She let out a gasp as her eyes met with intensely green eyes boring into hers.

"Harry…"

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A/N: How's that for a cliffhanger? Haha. Reviews please! :)

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