I was Walking with a Ghost

Chapter 4

A/N: Oh my word…it has been so long since I've gotten the chance to write again. Bad life, bad! Anyway, a few things to address. First off, the last chapter was too short, I admit. But it was supposed to be a sort of filler/cliffy chapter to make readers go EEEEE WHAT'S HAPPENING?! Apparently it worked, yay! Secondly, I'm always asked why my paragraphs are so long and my chapters are so short. This is mainly for time management. I find that if I don't have the time to read a whole story, I take it in parts. It's easier to get through shorter chapters. Also, if there are fewer paragraphs that are longer, you can read through a paragraph if you're on the run and it will be easier to find your place when you return as opposed to looking through a bunch of one and two liners. Oh and by the way, there's some fluff warnings for the next chapter or so, but I'm in a lovey mood so bleh. Yeah…so now that I've totally talked my mouth off, I return to writing. Oh, and thanks for the reviews! I feed off them like some sort of comment vampire, so keep sending them in!

Hermione awoke a good half hour later, her head throbbing and her eyelids feeling as though they were weighed down by anvils. She winced as she pushed herself up, with a good deal of effort, and blinked rapidly to take in her surroundings. She had just woken up from a very vivid dream in which she had seen her husband sitting next to her on the couch, and she was still reeling from the entire experience.

"Have a nice sleep?" A very familiar yet foreign voice rang out from behind her as she glanced up, her eyes still squinted from sleep. She saw a semi-transparent redhead standing behind her, leaning slightly against the arm of the couch as he held their wedding picture frame in his hands and smiled. "You know, Hermione, for someone who was always so obsessive over having everything neat and ordered, you sure seem to have no regard towards cleaning up this frame." He pointed to the orange smudge on the corner and chuckled as he placed the frame gently on the table. He took a seat next to her, giving her a warm smile as he reclined into the cushions. "How do you feel?"

Hermione was rather confused. She didn't understand what was happening at all, which was a very rare condition for someone who always knew the answers. "I-I'm fine, I suppose. My head is hurting something awful though." She sat up straighter, rubbing her eyes before pressing her fingers to her temples to try and relieve the pain there. "I don't understand."

Ron shrugged. "Neither do I. But that's no real surprise."

The bushy haired woman looked up at him, her face a mix of curiosity, disbelief, and melancholia. He looked like a ghost, except for a few small exceptions. "What happened to you?"

This too was met with a shrug from the freckle-faced man. "I was sort of hoping you could answer that for me. All I remember is floating around for a good long while then hearing your voice and suddenly being in our bedroom again. That was a few nights ago. Everything was all wonky…like blurred vision. Things only really came into focus last night actually."

Hermione blinked, trying to think logically about the entire situation. She rubbed her stomach absentmindedly, biting on her lower lip in her pensive manner as she tried to piece together such seemingly impossible and random events. "I don't understand," she repeated. "You're not a ghost. You aren't silver, you don't float, and you aren't intangible. Things don't add up."

"Correction." Ron frowned and scooted over towards her. "I'm not intangible for the most part." He reached his hand out and went to brush some hair away from Hermione's face, but he passed right through. He withdrew his hand, looking awfully depressed, and situated himself in the couch cushions again. "I feel like we're in one of those awful mystery books that Luna always read. Whoever is writing this story better get their head on straight and explain what the bloody hell is happening."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, still trying to determine if she should believe the circumstances or not, though she agreed that if they were just characters of some twisted person's disjointed plotline, then said author had some explaining to do. "I wish I knew what was going on, but I've never read about anything like this." She shook her head sadly, looking down at her round stomach, which seemed to bring a small smile to her face as she was struck by a thought. "At least you're here for us now."

Ron nodded in agreement, remaining silent as he tried to get his own thick mind to begin working again. He glanced over at her, only then picking up on a very important detail. "Hermione?"

She glanced up at him, canting her head to the side. "Yes?"

"Hermione…that baby. It's mine right? You-you didn't go off and get married again, did you?" Ron bit on his bottom lip, a little scared that perhaps he may have insulted her with such an insinuation.

Hermione had to think on this for a while. It was only after she realized that she had never spoken to him about her pregnancy that she understood where the question stemmed from. She nodded, her expression lightening a little. "Yes, it's yours. I was going to tell you but…well…" She glanced up at him, furrowing her brow. "Are you alright?"

Ron had a very strange expression on his face. He looked somewhat disoriented, somewhat shocked, and somewhat ecstatic. He was staring at her abdomen, bending his fingers as though they were aching to just reach out and touch her. He said nothing to Hermione's question, but nodded in response as the full realization of everything that he had missed in the last few months hit him. Eventually, he cleared his throat and moved his gaze up to her eyes. "So…so is it a boy or a girl?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm not sure. I wanted to keep it a surprise, though I get the feeling we're going to find out rather soon." She gave him a smile, one of the first genuine ones she had mustered in a long time.

As the full implications of what was going on sunk in, the disorientation and shock left Ron's face, leaving only ecstasy. He gave his wife a wide, beaming smile as he reached over and, taking a risk, rubbed her stomach to make sure it wasn't a dream, relieved that he was able to at least make contact with her shirt if not her bare stomach. "So…so we're actually having a baby? I mean, you know, a little person type thing." Apparently, eloquence was not Ron Weasley's forte in such a situation.

Hermione felt a fluttering in her stomach brought on by Ron's indirect touch, which started a chain reaction inside her, resulting in a smile similar to her husband's. "You're very observant." She leaned over to kiss him, remembering too late that as she brushed her lips to his, she met only air. She lingered there for a moment, feeling a different, sadder sort of twinge in her stomach that was different from before. She retreated and looked down at herself, Ron's hand still lightly positioned on her upper abdomen. That sight was at least some comfort, though she finally allowed a few tears to roll down her cheeks. "I missed you…"

Ron wanted desperately to wipe her tears away, but knew it was impossible in his current state. "I know." His voice cracked ever so slightly and he cleared his throat before continuing. "I missed you too…bloody hell did I miss you." He tried his best to give her a comforting smile. "But at least we're together now."