Breaking The Truth

Chapter 1: Suspicions

N/A I don't have a beta or anything and I didn't get a chance to look over this chapter so if there's any mistakes, tell me so I can fix them :) thanks

She was sure life couldn't get anymore complicated than it already was. She sat on the floor of the living room in her little cottage she'd bought a year ago or so. Papers for work were sprawled out in front of her. She sat in sweatpants and a tee, concentrating hard on her case. A woman had a baby with a man who she wasn't with and now he wants custody rights. She sighed, reading it over and over again. Her mind wasn't with her. It kept wandering.

Hermione glanced up at the little four-year-old, playing happily with a few of her dolls. She smiled sweetly at Rose. She had curly blonde locks and brown eyes. Hermione thought she was the most beautiful little girl in the world, but, of course, she was biased considering she was her mother. Taking her eyes off Rose for a second, Hermione looked at the clock. Ron would be here soon.

Ron.

The gratitude she had for Ron was not easy to express. She could only say thank you so many times. He was almost always at her house, helping out with her darling Rose. Hermione was pretty sure Ron was the father so it was to be expected, but he went out of his way to help her. They weren't married. Of course he'd tried to convince her to marry him and he'd popped the question more than once. But Hermione wasn't ready to be married. And right now, as she gazed at Rose, she felt she'd made the right choice.

Rose didn't look like Ron. There was nothing there. Her blonde hair was obviously a give-a-way. Though she could've easily gotten the hair color from her mother. Hermione had blonde hair as a little girl but it darkened as she got older. Rose also had Hermione's eyes and she had this smirk that was distinctly familiar. Her skin color was pale and her features were pointed. She was skinny and looked as though she'd grow up to be tall.

But aside from the physical details, Rose didn't have Ron's personality. She was stubborn, sly, and manipulative. For a little girl, she was brilliant - which was from Hermione. She also was talented when it came to art. She would sit for hours at home and just finger paint and color. She loved it. But neither Ron nor Hermione was gifted in that area. It only made her wonder…

Hermione jumped as the doorbell rang. She scooped up Rose, scurried to the door, and wrenched it open. There stood Ron, his fiery red hair glowing in the moonlight.

"Hi Hermione." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before pulled Rose off her hip. Her eyes lit up at the sight of him.

"Daddy!" she grinned, hugging him.

Hermione shut the door and followed him into the kitchen. "Want anything to drink?" she offered.

"Coffee, please," Ron replied as he lowered himself on the carpet, leaning his back against the couch. He set Rose in the space between his legs and began to make her laugh. Hermione smiled at the sight while she poured coffee into two mugs.

"Here ya go." She placed his on the end table and then sat down beside him. "Thanks again for coming over. It really means a lot."

"No problem. It looks like you've got a lot of work to do," he commented, looking at the papers lying about on the floor.

Hermione sighed and rubbed her temples. "Yes, I have to finish this case for tomorrow. Which reminds me, can you watch Rose at eleven? I have to go to court for this case. It's alright if you can't," she added hastily.

Ron thought about it, obviously going over what he was doing tomorrow. "I think my boss should let me off early. I'll go back once your done and then come over a the usual time."

"You sure?" Hermione asked, feeling a little like she was forcing him into the situation.

"'Course. Anything for you and little Rosie." He rubbed Rose's cheek. She smiled but didn't look away from her picture she was working on.

"Aw Ron, thanks," Hermione smiled. "Rose gets out of preschool at eleven so mind picking her up?"

"Nope, not at all." He took a gulp of his coffee. "Rosie, whatcha drawing?"

Rose finished what she was coloring before stopping and looking up at Ron. "It's a pictcha of you and mummy and…" her expression turned to that of confusion, "well, I dunno who dat is. I just drawed it." She shrugged and went back to coloring.

Hermione gazed at the drawing. There was something vaguely familiar about the person standing next to her, but she thought nothing if it. Rose couldn't possibly know. She shook the thought from her mind and looked over at Ron. He, too, was staring at the photo.

"It's very nice, Rosie," he commented.

"Thankee," she smiled.

"You're good with her," Hermione murmured.

Ron shrugged, his cheek turning soft red. "I love her, 'Mione, ya know?"

"Good, she loves you too. She never stops talking about you when you're gone." Hermione looked at the clock. "I better go get some work done."

"Okay."

Hermione gathered up her papers and headed into the office that was just off the living room. She cracked the door before sitting down. Her eyes stared at the words in front of her and reread the same line over and over again. The picture Rose had drawn was fixed in her mind. It had blonde hair and was tall. It also wore a smirk that was normally prominent on Rose's features. But there was no way Rose knew about him. She'd never even seen him, or so she thought.

Thinking about him brought her back to that one night. That one night changed her life forever. She didn't even know why it happened. She hadn't been thinking and just lost control. Hermione closed her eyes and banished the thought. No, Rose was Ron's. But all evidence pointed towards the negative. She didn't look or act like Ron. She had none of Ron's interests.

Placing her head in her hands, she took a deep breath and then got back to her work. She had to finish it before tomorrow or else everything would be ruined and her client would most definitely lose the custody battle. She didn't want that. Every man had a right in his child's life, unless he was a crazy person that only wanted to hurt the kid. That brought her back to the way Ron acted with Rose. He was so good with her and spoiled her rotten. He was a good father, she just couldn't bring herself to marry him. Not now, not while she was so full of doubts.

Two hours later, Hermione left the office to find Ron leaning back on the couch, snoring loudly with Rose on his chest sleeping. She giggled quietly at the picture. Yes, he definitely was a good father. She glanced at the clock. It was nine, passed Rose's bedtime and clearly Ron's too. She hated that she was making Ron work so hard. But she couldn't stop him from taking her up on her offers with Rose.

"Ron?" she hissed. His eyes popped open.

"What?" he asked, dazed.

"It's nine. I need to put Rose to bed and you should go," she told him in a whispered.

"Okay." Ron passed the sleeping girl to Hermione, who rested Rose on her chest. Then she followed Ron to the door.

"Thanks again, for tonight…and every night," she said, leaning in the doorway.

"'Mione, you don't have to thank me. I want to help. It's my job. I'd like to be in my daughter's life, even if we aren't married," he replied earnestly before leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

"Bye Ron," Hermione smiled. "Oh and don't forget to pick Rose up from preschool tomorrow."

"I won't," Ron told her. He waved, walked to the end of the driveway, and Disapparated.

Hermione shut the door and carried the sleeping form of Rose upstairs. She laid her gently in the little twin bed, careful not to wake her, and pulled the pink blanket up to her chin. She placed a soft kiss on the little girl's forehead and stepped out of the room, cracking the door behind her. Feeling relieved that she had managed to get her work done, Hermione headed downstairs to clean up Rose's toys. After putting all the crayons back into the box, she picked up the drawing Rose had made and stared at it. She sighed. She had her suspicions and would have to figure out if they were right. The problem was, she wasn't sure if she was ready to. She didn't want her suspicions to be correct.

Sighing again, she knew they were right. There was a part of her that hoped Rose just got the hair color from George Granger, Hermione's father. But, if that were the case, where on earth did Rose inherited that little attitude and that smirk she wore whenever she got her way? How to check, though? Hermione hadn't seen him in over four years. It's not like he would just show up when she needed him to, not that she wanted him to, just for her daughter's sake.

A wave of guilt washed over her. What if he was her father? Would he want to be in her life if he found out? If so, was she right to keep him in the dark? For all she knew, he didn't even know Rose existed. Laughing dryly, Hermione corrected herself. Everyone knew about Rose. She had been in all the headlines for months because she'd been pregnant and single. That was very uncommon in the wizarding world. And even more uncommon that she'd been seventeen at the time.

No, she thought. She'd done the right thing by her. At the time, she was so sure Rose was Ron's child that she didn't have any doubts. But once she came out with that full head of very fair blonde hair, the worries and suspicions came out too. But she'd refused to believe it. She'd pushed it under more and more lies. She felt guilty for it.

Though she knew she'd feel even more bad if Rose's real father found out the truth from someone else. Knowing him, if he cared at all, he'd be seething. When it came to him, he either didn't care or he cared too much. There was no in between when it came to Draco Malfoy.

Yawning, Hermione retired to her bed for the night, awaiting what thoughts a new day would bring.

N/A Thanks for checking out my story. I'm not going to beg for reviews but if you like it, it would be nice if you did review. That kinda helps me get motivated to write.