a word from me: More drama in this chapter! Well I won't say drama but more like revelations...realizations. So please read and review and tell me wwhat you think about this chapter.

Thank you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

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It was the day after Kyle came back from Sweden and Hermione found herself sitting in her office and staring into nothingness. She was glad that she was free that morning as all her appointments were scheduled for the afternoon. She told Michelle to not accept anyone for that morning because she felt like getting away to think. She decided to get out of her office and go somewhere else.

"I'll be back by 1PM." She told Michelle.

"Ok." Michelle replied realizing that Hermione looked a little distant that morning.

Hermione walked slowly down the path towards the exit and she saw Michael Rogers and a few seconds later Natalie joined him. Natalie did not see Hermione so she walked ahead with Michael and they too were heading to the exit.

"Natalie!" Hermione called out. Natalie turned her head back and smiled sheepishly when she saw Hermione. Michael looked at Hermione, trying to remember where they might have met and he broke into a smile when it dawned on him.

"Hi Healer Granger." He greeted.

"Hello Michael. How are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"I'm doing pretty well. Thanks for asking."

"So…" Hermione looked from Michael to Natalie and her eyebrows arched, searching for an answer.

"Oh, we're having brunch." Natalie said as she blushed. "Would you like to join us?" Hermione caught the frown on Michael's face and she stifled a giggle.

"Oh no please. You two go ahead. I'm heading somewhere else. I'll see you at the meeting later." Hermione told Natalie.

Hermione decided to get away for a while and she knew that the only sanctuary at this moment was her apartment. She walked to the same alley where she had apparated to the Quidditch match and apparated to her apartment. She sat down on her bed and shut her eyes as flashes of images ran behind her closed orbs. She started to think about what happened during her dinner with Kyle and thought about how it could all end differently.

Kyle had picked her up from work at 6PM, just as she had finished with her last patient. He was sitting at Hermione's office premises chatting with Michelle while he waited. Hermione was nervous when Kyle gave her a peck on her right cheek. They had dinner at Plumpton's but because she was so nervous, it was difficult to enjoy her meal.

"It's finalized. I will be moving back to Sweden and continuing with my Auror duties back home."

"Well, that was decided pretty quickly…when do you have to move?" Hermione asked.

"I have to get some paper work done first. After all of that's done, I'll be gone."

They finished their dinner while talking about work and Hermione started to feel a bit more relaxed. Like their last date Kyle walked her home. At her doorsteps, they both looked at each other and said each other's names in unison.

"Hermione…"

"Kyle…"

They both looked nervous now and Hermione was playing with the edge of the scarf that was wrapped around her neck.

"You go first." Hermione said.

Kyle scratched the side of his head and took a step closer towards Hermione. "The thing is…alright how do I say this…"

"Kyle…what is it?" Hermione asked.

"Well I'm very attracted to you and all I thought about when I was back home was you and how nice it would be if I could…kiss you?"

Hermione looked up and met his eyes. He bent his head lower and touched her lips with his. She closed her eyes feeling the warmth emitting out from his hand that were on her shoulders. When he kissed her, Hermione responded by kissing him back. The kiss was not urgent; it was soft and careful. Hermione felt herself shiver and thought about how it felt so good but so wrong at the same time. Kyle moved his lips to her cheek and her jawline and finally on her neck and it heightened her senses. She pushed Kyle gently.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "Don't you think we're moving too fast?"

Kyle sighed and planted a light kiss on her forehead. "No I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Can I see you again tomorrow for dinner?"

Hermione had hesitated but she nodded her head.

She blamed Kyle's pleading blue eyes for making her say yes. She was confused because now she likes Kyle but she was thinking about Harry. She had planned to tell Kyle that they should not see each other anymore so that she would not lead him on but last night's date had made her decided that she should probably keep it to herself first. She could not bear to tell Kyle that she would not like to see him again.

It was half an hour more to her first appointment for the day. She decided to apparate back to the alley where she would make her way straight to her office and spend the next four hours trying to forget that her mind was in a wire mess.

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"Harry, I'm here to tell you what happened two years ago." Emily explained. Harry placed the two glass of pumpkin juice on the table in front of the sofa. Harry was surprised when he opened the door and saw Emily and now he felt confused as to why Emily suddenly decided to tell him the reason she left. He was not sure if he would like to hear it as much as he would two years ago.

"I wasn't ready then but I'm ready now and I feel like you deserve to know." Emily continued when Harry did not say anything. "But before I start I want you to know that it was hard for me to leave you and that I never meant to hurt you in any way."

Harry nodded his head and gave her a small smile. He took a deep breath, let it out and looked at Emily. "I'm ready if you're ready."

"Harry, remember a few months before I left, you went away to Ireland for a practice session for about two weeks?"

Harry shrugged. "Hardly but please continue."

"Well you went away and during the period when you were gone…I cheated on you."

When he heard those words, he did not flinch but casted his eyes on the floor. Emily had paused when Harry shifted his eyes away from her. "Go on." Harry muttered.

"I met a guy at a party that I attended and we talked and had too much alcohol and we…I…slept with him." Emily paused again to look at Harry who had an unreadable expression on his face. "I woke up the next day feeling confused and the next night I met the guy again and I let him kiss me. He said that he had never met anyone like me and was attracted to me. But I left Harry because I felt so guilty."

Harry was clenching his fists tightly trying to control his emotions. He was unsure how he was feeling after this new revelation. He was uncertain of the rumble in his chest and asked himself if it was anger or frustration or both.

"Harry…" Emily continued timidly. "Please understand that I was ashamed of myself. I couldn't bring myself to look at you properly after that. I was distraught about what I had done. You deserve so much more than a girlfriend who had cheated on you."

Harry smirked. "Really?"

Emily's eyes which had earlier focused on Harry were now cast upon the hands on her lap as she was unable to face Harry's angry eyes.

"There's something else…"

"Great! There's more?" Harry fumed.

"Harry you have to give me a chance. It took me so much courage to come over here to see you and explain the things that I had done…please…" Emily pleaded.

"Six weeks after that incident…I…I found out that I was pregnant."

Upon this new confession, Harry felt like he had been pushed to the ground and kicked on the stomach. He buried his head in his hands and he knew that if he did not control his emotions, the rumble in his chest would turn him into a monster. People who knew Harry would not want to get him angry because they knew he would be unpleasant when he is angry. So he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He got up from his sitting position and walked around the house. He walked to the kitchen, took a glass of water, gulped it down and made his way to his room. Before he entered, he paused and looked at Emily who was still sitting on the couch.

"Stay." He said. "Don't go anywhere. We're not done."

Emily who was stunned to say anything nodded her head and remained on the couch. Harry paced up and down the length of his room trying to calm himself down.

Pregnant? Harry thought in his head and the word kept playing in his mind like a broken old record. He felt disappointed and betrayed. For half a year after Emily left, he went through the breakup over and over in his head and wondered what he had done wrong. He had suffered and almost gone into depression and his career almost collapsing into nothingness. Emily was not there for him and she did not know the life he went through. Only one person knows and his head jerked up in realization.

He does not care anymore. He realized that he does not have to care about the reason why Emily left. He was now living for one woman and only her. He loved her and things do not matter anymore. Harry walked out of his room and as soon as Emily saw him she stood up and looked at Harry curiously.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Harry started. "Emily…it was two years ago. I…forgive you, if that's what you're here for."

Emily sighed in relief. "Thank you Harry. I just thought you ought to know."

"I appreciate that."

They stood opposite each other in silence. After what seems like the longest uncomfortable silence Harry had ever experienced, Emily broke it and announced her departure.

"No please. Let's talk. I have a jug of pumpkin juice and we can talk about you…and your baby." Harry added the last part hesitantly.

Emily shrugged and gave him a tiny smile. "That sounds great."

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It was finally the last appointment and Hermione was eagerly waiting for this moment to come. She shrugged off her white coat and hanged it on the clothing rack. She checked herself in the mirror and saw that her hair was still in place. She smiled to herself and hurried out the door.

"Where are you hurrying to?" Michelle asked with a playful tone in her voice. "You've been on the edge of your seat all day."

"Just somewhere important." Hermione called out from her shoulder seeing that Michelle was already out of view.

Hermione have made a decision; something so important and she felt like if she did not do it now, she could lose all the courage and back out. She was going to tell Harry how she feels about him. Ginny was right. Her own best friend was also her soul mate. She had always love Harry but now she was in love with him. Her mind had been playing the times she had shared with him; good and bad. They were there for each other every single step of the way either rejoicing a wonderful moment or crying over a loss. The butterflies in her stomach had her really giddy with excitement upon this new discovery and she had welcome it with an open heart. She was almost skipping as she made her way to Harry's apartment where she knew he would be.

Her smile was still curved up on her lips as she reached the doorway to Harry's apartment. She pulled the door and her heart started to flutter nervously. Hermione turned the corner towards Harry's apartment and she froze at the sight that greeted her. Harry's side was facing her and the arms of another woman were wrapped around his neck and her lips were on his. Hermione hid behind the wall and she quickly apparated out of the building and into her own apartment. She could hardly breathe and felt foolish for not even thinking about it. Harry was embracing Emily and their lips were locked in a kiss.

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"Well I'm glad that he's taking responsibility and helping me out with Lisa." Emily said.

"Does she have your hair?" Harry asked as he followed her to the door.

"Yes she does."

"Then she's going to turn heads by the time she's a teenager." Harry joked.

Emily laughed and turned back to Harry once they were outside the door. She took a step forward and throws herself on Harry. Harry was shocked when Emily forced herself on him, capturing his lips with hers. Her arms were wrapped around his neck tightly and Harry had to pry them away and pushed her gently.

"Emily…I hope I didn't give you the wrong impression…I…I'm in love with someone now."

Emily looked startled and she quickly removed her arms from Harry's shoulder. Her cheeks turned red in embarrassment. "I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me." She muttered nervously. "Seeing you…it just makes me go back to four years ago when I met you."

"Emily…" Harry raked his fingers through his messy black hair and sighed. "I got over you." Emily looked up at him; hurt written in her eyes. She chuckled nervously.

"I never did."

"I think you should leave…take care." Harry said and slowly closed the door. He stood against the door and closed his eyes.

"Harry." Emily's voice from the other side of the door was soft. "I'm sorry. You won't hear from me again…I promise."

Harry kept quiet and heard her retreating footsteps slowly disappearing. He felt relieved. He remained standing against the door closing his eyes back again.

"Harry, you have to get out of bed. It's been a week. You have to move on."

Hermione knocked on his bedroom door for the umpteenth time not giving up hope that Harry would come through the break up.

Harry unlocked the door using his wand to let Hermione in. He was lying facing down on his messy bed. Bottles of Firewhiskey lay at the bedside and his curtains were drawn in making the room dark and musty. He had hair growing on his upper lip and chin and his eyes were closed afraid to look at Hermione.

"Harry." Hermione whispered. She climbed on his bed and lay down on the side that was empty. She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's going to be ok. You're going to be fine."

Harry had a distant look in his eyes as he remembered back on those days when Hermione stick with him through thick and thin. He was thankful that she brought him back up when he was at his lowest.

"Harry don't read that." Hermione pleaded. She tried to take the Daily Prophet away from him but he was faster than her, snatching it off the table before she could. Harry's heart was set ablaze at the bold words on the front page.

"From Most Valuable to Most Unwanted"

Harry Potter, the newly crowned Most Valuable Player started the season with the most unflattering catch. Out of three games, he had done no "snitching" and Puddlemere is now at the tail of the league table for the first time since 1901. What happened to Puddlemere's hero who caught all the snitches during last fantastic season? Is he gone? No one knows whatever happened to Potter but it has to be linked to the breakup with Emily Cole, Britain Wizarding's most famous socialite.

Potter and Cole started dating slightly more than a year ago and were spotted all over Britain doing fine dining and partying. Cole who is two years older than Potter was always spotted at the Grandstand of all Puddlemere's game cheering on her then boyfriend. No one knows what the reason behind the breakup was. However we all know that Potter's downhill performance has to do with this high profile split.

When will Puddlemere get their hero back? It is time for Potter to up his performance or we will not be seeing him in Puddlemere by the end of the season?

Harry placed the Daily Prophet on the coffee table and slumped on the couch. His green eyes looked faded. "Am I really that bad Hermione? Tell me the truth without sparing my feelings."

"Well…from what I heard, people said you sucked."

Harry chuckled at what Hermione just said and he should know better that she would not be able to judge. She could not tell the difference because she was neutral. She was there to support Harry and it does not matter if he was good or bad.

"Harry…are you happy? And I'm not talking about this Emily situation because you are supposed to forget about her." Hermione said accusingly. "Harry, Quidditch is your life and I'm sure you don't want to lose it."

Harry remained silent as his brain started to whir with questions. "I don't know Hermione…but you're right. Quidditch is my life."

"Then what are you doing Harry? Be that man I know. Go out there and prove all these people who doubt you. Tell them that they are wrong! I can't bear to look at you like this every day. It breaks my heart."

Harry nodded his head suddenly realizing that he had wasted his life thinking that Emily would come back to him. He was being stupid and reckless. He looked at Hermione and gave her a smile. "What would I do without you?"

"You'd do fine. I'm just going back to France for a week for a research conference and when I come back we'll share a chocolate truffle pudding."

"And an orange meringue pie." Harry added.

"Of course." Hermione said and kissed Harry on his forehead.

Harry smiled at that memory. After that day, he was back up on his feet and had slowly regained his confidence and helped Puddlemere climbed up the league one game at a time. Everyone was impressed with his performance and those who had doubted him fell silence by his awesome come back.

He suddenly felt like he needed to do something and it could not wait. He had to tell Hermione about his feelings. He was not sure if they would ever go to Istanbul so it was now or never. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and he opened it and saw Ron.

"I have to go tell Hermione that I love her." Harry said.

"Ok you got me off guard there." Ron confessed.

"You're blocking my way." Harry said ignoring Ron's comments.

"You're not even going to let me in?"

"What is it Ron? Is there something more important than me telling Hermione how I feel?"

"Well…it's…fine. Go! If it's ok with you I'll crash here so you can tell me what happen after." Ron squeezed past Harry to let himself in.

"Make yourself at home."

"No problem with that." Ron muttered to himself seeing that Harry had already left and the door closed behind him.

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Hermione's eyes were blotched with tears. Everytime she wiped them away, fresh tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, and she let them run freely. She blew her nose into a piece of handkerchief and cried some more. She felt horrible; like there was an empty hollow in her stomach and whichever way she lied down, left or right, the hollow stayed there reminding her of what she had witnessed.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Hermione jolted up from her lying down position. "Hermione, it's me."

"Oh shit!" Hermione cursed. She had forgotten about her dinner date with Kyle. She was not sure why but tears stream down her cheeks again at the thought of her forgetting about the date. She looked at herself in the mirror and did not like what she saw.

I'm a mess, she thought. But she could not just leave Kyle out the door. So she got up of bed and walked to the door. She took a deep breath and opened to see Kyle holding a nice bouquet of yellow roses.

"Hermione are you alright?" Kyle asked obviously concerned at the state that Hermione was in.

Hermione burst into fresh tears at the sound of Kyle's worried voice and she shook her head. "Please come in." She managed to say. As soon as Kyle stepped into the house, she took a step towards him and buried his face into his chest and sobbed hard. Kyle was surprised at her action but immediately had his arms circled around her shoulder and it soothed her. Kyle hugged her tightly.

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Harry hesitated when he reached Hermione's front door. On his way to her apartment, he had practiced, in his mind on how he should tell her how he feels about her. But as soon as his last steps reached the front door, he stalled. He was thinking of retreating back and just forget about the idea.

It's now or never, he thought.

He rapped his knuckles on the door and waited. The door opened but he was shock to see a guy standing in front of him. He stood there frozen and was not sure what to say.

"Oh…you have to be Harry Potter." The guy greeted. He held his hand out in a handshake and Harry took it firmly. "I'm Kyle…I'm not sure if Hermione have ever mention to you about me…Kyle Risis."

Of course, Harry thought. The blond hair, blue eyes…

"Of course. She did mention you." Harry said. They both nodded their head and stood in uncomfortable silence.

"You must be here to see Hermione."

"Yes, of course."

"She's not doing too well at the moment. She was…upset about something. I'm not sure what because she hasn't told me yet. She said not to let anyone in."

"Oh…can I talk to her though? I mean if she knows I'm here she will want me in."

"She's sleeping. I will tell her that you come by when she's awake."

Harry tried to peer over Kyle's shoulder and saw that the couch in the living room was empty so he deduced that she must be sleeping in her room.

"Alright then…please tell her that I was here."

"Of course." Kyle promised and closed the door. Harry walked away dejected. It was hard to believe that Hermione did not go to him if she was really disappointed with something. He was always the first person to know if she was upset. So why was this time different?

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Hermione made her way out to the living room as soon as Kyle closed the door.

"Thank you." She said.

"No problem." Kyle said and sighed. "I'll cook dinner."

"No please, you've done enough."

"Hermione, it's ok if you don't want to tell me why you're avoiding your bestfriend and why you broke down. But you have to at least accompany me for dinner. Your stomach was grumbling."

Hermione blushed and she could not deny that she was hungry. "This is so embarrassing. First I cried on you and then now you're making me dinner…"

"I'll do anything for the girl I like." Kyle said sheepishly. "So if you grant me your permission, can I please raid your kitchen?"

Hermione's lips curved into a smile. "I will let you only if you will let me help."

"Then let's start right now so we both won't starve." Kyle answered.