Author's Note: I want to thank Jharry 1960 for helping me with this chapter. I struggled to write it, and jharry's advice really helped me. So, thank you again.

I do not own anything.


"What do you guys think?" Harry said, showing Ron, Hermione and Ginny the apartment. Hermione had arrived back from her parents' house midday, and Harry wanted to show his friends where he and Hermione were going to be living.

"I love it, Harry," Hermione said, running her hand across the fireplace. "It's perfect."

"Really is nice, mate. You and Hermione, and Teddy of course, should be real happy here."

"The offer still stands, Ron," Harry said, walking up to Ron. "I can always put Teddy in my room, and that room is yours. Hermione and I would love to have you as a roommate."

Hermione nodded, and Ron smiled. "Thanks, but, after everything that's happened, I just want to stay with mum and dad for now. Maybe sometime, soon, though."

"We understand, Ron," Hermione said, squeezing his hand in support.

"So, when do you plan to move in?" Ginny asked, looking between Harry and Hermione, as though thinking something.

"Whenever Hermione's ready."

"As soon as we get furniture, we can."

"Then let's go get some furniture."


Hermione and Ginny put the sheets and pillows on her bed, and her room was officially set up. She looked around, happy that she was going to be living here, yet sad, because she was going to be living with Harry, knowing she has feelings for him and nothing can be done.

She looked up at Ginny, who was humming as she put the pillows into the pillowcases. Hermione knew that Harry was happy with Ginny, but the more she tried to deny it, the more Hermione knew she wasn't with Ron.

She knew that she had to break up with Ron, and soon. It wasn't fair to him that he thought he was in a happy relationship, when his girlfriend was actually in love with someone else. The main reason she hasn't broken things off with him yet is the fear of messing everything up.

"Hermione, can I talk to you?" Ginny asked, her voice a little unsure. Hermione nodded, and went over to shut the door.

"What about, Ginny?"

"You and Harry," she said, sitting down on the new bed.

"What about us?"

"I don't really know how I feel about the two of you living together."

Hermione sighed, and sat down beside Ginny on the bed. She knew that look that Ginny gave to her and Harry earlier meant that she was suspicious, and Hermione knew that this talk would be coming eventually.

"You think that something may happen between Harry and I, don't you?"

"Call me the paranoid girlfriend, but I just have that feeling that something might happen."

"So, what do you want from me, Ginny?"

"I just want you to assure me that nothing will happen, Hermione."

"Do you not trust Harry, Ginny? Or me, for that matter?"

"Of course I trust both of you!"

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

"Why are you getting so defensive? You have to understand this from my side, Hermione! My boyfriend is living with his best friend!"

Hermione turned, opened the door and walked out of it. She immediately went to the bathroom and shut the door, hoping that no one needed to come in anytime soon. She looked in the mirror and sighed, knowing what she needed to do before they got any further into this.

'I have to do this. It could ruin everything, but I have to.'

"Thanks for helping, mate," Harry said, moving the crib up underneath the window.

"No problem. Exciting, isn't it? Having a place of your own."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"You know, mate, you didn't have to do this. My parents love you, you could have stayed as long as you wanted."

"I appreciate that, but I needed to do this. If I want to take care of my godson, which I do, I need a place of my own."

"Do my parents know?"

"Yes," Harry replied, smiling sadly as he put the sheet on the mattress. "Before I went to Hermione's parents' house, I told your parents about the apartment. They were sad, but they understood. Actually, I invited them to check it out after Hermione and I get it set up."

"I'm going to miss having you as a roommate. You know what we ought to do."

"What?" Harry asked, gently placing the mattress in the crib.

"We ought to send Ginny home, go out, get some firewhiskey and have a housewarming party. Just you, me and Hermione."

"As much fun as that sounds, I know that Hermione would not enjoy that, so I'm going to turn the offer down."

"Aw, c'mon, mate. Even if Hermione doesn't, you and I can still have a housewarming party."

Harry shook his head and laughed, knowing that Ron wasn't going to let this down.

"Fine, but if Hermione's against it, it's not happening."

"Deal."

"Let's go ask her," Harry said, and they both turned out of the room. They walked into Hermione's room and found Ginny sitting on the bed, her head down and a guilty expression on her face.

"Where's Hermione, Gin?"

"I may have made her mad," Ginny replied, lifting her head up.

"What'd you do?" Ron asked, squinting his eyes at his little sister.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You're going to," Ron replied back.

Ginny sighed, and said, "I might have mentioned the fact that Harry and Hermione were going to be here alone."

"Why would you mention that?" Harry asked, looking somewhat annoyed with her.

"Because it's my boyfriend living with his female best friend. I'm sorry if I have some concern with it. You should be concerned, too, Ronald. It's your girlfriend living with your male best friend!"

"Actually, as I already informed Harry, I don't have a problem with it. I trust them."

Ginny fell silent. Ron and Harry looked at each.

"Ron, will you give me and Ginny a moment, please."

"Yeah. Ginny, where's Hermione?"

"I think she's in the bathroom."

"I'll go talk to her."

Harry waited until Ron left before he began to talk. "Why did you bring that up, Ginny?"

"I'm sorry that I have some concerns, Harry."

"Do you not trust me?"

"What?" Ginny asked, shocked.

"Do you not trust me, Ginny?"

"Of course I trust you."

"Then why did you talk to Hermione about this?"

"Ron apparently talked to you. How is this any different?"

"You're wrong," Harry said. "I talked to Ron, because I wanted to make sure he was ok with Hermione and I living together. He said he was, because he trusts us. Apparently you don't, Ginny. If you were, you would've cornered Hermione about it."

"I do trust you."

"Why don't you just go home, Ginny."

"Harry, I-"

"Just go."

With that, Ginny, her eyes watering, got off the bed, went to the fireplace and went home. Harry sighed as he sat down on Hermione's bed, burying his face into his hands.

"Harry."

He looked up and saw Hermione standing there, looking at him with deep sympathy.

"Hey, Hermione. I'm sorry about what happened."

"I guess she has a right not to trust us."

"No, she doesn't," Harry replied, looking down at the floor. "We've been alone together before, and she's never had a problem with it."

Ron appeared in the doorway, and Harry immediately looked back up.

"Ron, go get some firewhiskey. We're having a housewarming party."

Ron grinned, while Hermione looked confused.

"What?"

"I told Harry that I should throw you guys a housewarming party, and I might have suggested some firewhiskey."

"Oh, no, you don't."

"Hermione, please. I think we all need this."

Seeing the look in Harry's eyes, she sighed, and said, "I think we do, too. Ron, why don't you and I go get some, and let's let Harry calm down."

"Let's go!" Ron said, rubbing his hands together. Hermione got off the couch and turned to look back at Harry, who smiled up at her.

"I'll be fine. I'm going to finish putting Teddy's room together while you guys go get that."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

She smiled back at him and turned to follow Ron. Harry heard the door open and close, then got up and walked back into the nursery.

'I'm getting this place ready for you, Teddy.'

Hermione was the one who suggested what to get for Teddy. They had gotten him a crib, a changing table, a rocking chair, and a bassinet for the living room. Hermione said that it was a good start, and Harry agreed with her.

He had bought all of the furniture using the money that Sirius had left him. he knew that Hermione wasn't happy with him about it, and she already told him that she was going to pay him back for her share, which Harry had, of course, turned down.

"Sirius left me this money so I could be taken care of, Hermione. You don't need to pay me back," Harry said, gently putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Harry, I will pay you back."

"No, you won't. I barely put a dent into that money, Hermione. I'm not concerned about it, and neither should you be. Sirius left it to me for this reason, and I'm using it for this reason. So, you could technically say that Sirius bought us our furniture."

She stared at him again, determined to continue until Harry gave in, but he also gave her the same look back, telling her that he wasn't going to back down. She sighed.

"Thank you, Harry."

"You're welcome. Now, can we put this aside? You know I don't like talking about this."

"Of course," she said, smiling at him.

He smiled at the memory, knowing beyond anything that Hermione would somehow find some way to pay him back.

Harry knew he was going to miss her when she left for Hogwarts. She would be gone until December, and he would be alone in the apartment until then. His mind then drifted back to Ginny, and he became frustrated.

'Why did Ginny say that?'

He sighed, and sat down in the rocking chair. He was beginning to question his relationship with Ginny, and wondered if he shouldn't break things off with her. Ever since the dream about Hermione, the question has been plaguing him. After their fight tonight, Harry wondered if it was just time to end things, even if temporarily, until he was able to figure things out.

'I don't know what to do.'

He sat, rocking, his mind focused on all the times he's spent with Hermione. He didn't even hear Ron and Hermione coming back until Ron called him into the living room.

"I got the firewhiskey, and Hermione picked up some dinner for us."

"Sweet. Which should we do first?"

Ron laughed, and they both met Hermione in the kitchen. They all grabbed their dinner and sat the table, eating and talking. When they were finished, Hermione pulled three glasses from the cabinets and poured the firewhiskey.

"I'm telling you two right now, this is my only glass."

"Fine, spoiler. Harry and I will drink it."

Ron grabbed the bottle and they all returned to the living room. He put the bottle on the coffee table and raised his glass, watching as Harry and Hermione did the same.

"To Harry and Hermione on your new apartment, and this new chapter in your lives."

They clanked glasses, and they all took a drink, cringing when it dripped down their throats. Hermione coughed, and Harry gently patted her back, laughing at her while he did so.

"This is awful," she said, putting the glass on the coffee table.

"This is excellent, Hermione. Don't stop drinking it."

"You two can finish that, that's too disgusting for my liking."

Ron and Harry downed their glasses, and they both refilled it. They downed those, and Hermione shook her head, knowing exactly what she was going to have to deal with later on.


The bottle was finally empty, and Hermione watched, slightly amused, as Harry and Ron, both drunk, fell onto the couch.

"Are we feeling better?" she asked, getting up so there would be more room on the couch.

"Ah, Hermione, my dear, sweet Hermione," Ron said, standing back up, but falling back down. Harry was laughing.

"You two are idiots."

"But we're your idiots!" they both said, laughing again. She shook her head.

"Why did I let the two of you drink the entire bottle?" she asked, shaking her head. This was going to be a really long night…


Hermione put on her pajamas she pulled from her bag and went back to check on her friends. Ron was passed out on the couch, his arm slung over the side of it. Harry was staring at the fireplace, his mind seeming to be elsewhere.

"C'mon, Harry. It's time for bed," she said, pulling him off the floor.

"I'm not tired," he said, grinning up at her.

'Clearly, he's still drunk.'

"It's past midnight, Harry. It's time to go to bed. C'mon."

She pulled him off the floor and helped him walk to his room. He was laughing, and she had no idea why.

"Hermione?" he said, as she helped him lay down on his bed.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I-"

Harry passed out before he could finish what he was saying. Hermione shook her head, having no idea what Harry was going to tell her, before she blew out the candle and walked out of his room, closing the door behind her.

She returned to the living room and conjured a blanket for Ron. After she covered him up she stared at him for a moment, thinking in her mind about what she planned to do tomorrow.

'I'm sorry, Ron. I truly am.'

With that, Hermione blew out all of the candles, and used her wand to go back to her room, sleeping in her new apartment for the very first time.


Harry woke up the next morning, his head in pain and he felt nauseous. Trying to remember what happened last night, he readjusted his glasses and slowly climbed out of bed, regretting it when he did so as he felt dizzy. He slowly walked to the living room, where Ron was crashed on the couch. He fell into the chair and buried his head in his hands, trying to stop the dizziness.

"Good morning," Hermione said, dressed and ready for the day. Harry grunted in response. "I'M SORRY, ARE WE NOT FEELING WELL?"

"Hermione!" Harry said, covering his ears as his face clutched in pain.

"Are we experiencing a hangover?"

"Stop talking," he said, looking as though he were going to be sick.

Hermione shook her head, looking over at Ron, who was still fast asleep. She walked up to Harry.

"I was going to let the two of you suffer, but I can tell you're suffering enough. Would you like me to make you the hangover potion?"

"Please," he begged, rubbing his temple.

"I will, but you have to promise me that you'll never do this again."

"I promise, I definitely promise," he said, nodding, then immediately regretting it.

"I have to go get the ingredients, then I'll be back and I'll start making it. Do you want me to help you get back to bed?"

He whispered a "yes", and she helped him return to his bed. As soon as he was in it, she went to Slug and Jiggers Apothecary shop in Diagon Alley.

"How can I help you, miss?"

"I need the ingredients for the hangover potion. I also need a copy of the potion."

"Absolutely. I do have some vials of the potion, if you prefer that."

"Sure, that'd be great. Thank you."

"Be right back."

Hermione waited at the counter until the attendant came back with five vials of the potion.

"Will this be enough?"

"Plenty," Hermione replied, watching as he put the vials into a small bag. She then paid for them, thanked the attendant and left to head back to the apartment.

She stepped through the fireplace and sighed as she noticed that Ron was still out. She quickly walked to Harry's room, and saw him laying on his side.

"I have the potion, Harry. How are you feeling?"

"Horrible," he said, sitting up in his bed. "I'm never doing this again."

"I feel like you would say that, then you would do it again."

"No. This is horrible."

She pulled one of the vials out of the bag and handed it to him. "Here you go. I just went ahead and bought pre-made ones."

"Thanks," he replied, drinking the potion. He made a face as he swallowed it, but a moment later he smiled at her.

"Better?" she asked.

"Much. Thank you."

"No problem."

"I meant it when I said that I'm not doing that again, Hermione. I had even turned down Ron's offer last night. Then after the fight with Ginny, well, I just felt like I needed to let off some steam. I'm sorry if we caused you any problems."

"You didn't," she replied, grinning at him. "You're funny when you're drunk."

Harry looked embarrassed, and Hermione laughed. "Oh, merlin, what did I do?"

"Just some of the things you said. Oh, and you and Ron decided to sing a duet together. It was quite memorable."

Harry turned a bright shade of red and began stuttering. Hermione laughed again.

"Don't worry, no one else saw. Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks for taking care of us, Hermione."

"Isn't that my job? To take care of you two idiots?"

Harry laughed, and nodded. "And you're perfect at it."


They woke Ron up and gave him the potion. Hermione informed both of them of what occurred last night, and they were both embarrassed by the time she finished.

"Ok, I don't plan on doing that again. Glad Hermione was the only one who saw."

"It was quite a show."

"I should go check on Ginny," Harry said, looking down. "I was a little hard on her last night."

"Let her be, trust me. You don't want to be on the side of Ginny's bat-bogey hex."

"I suppose. I just feel bad."

"She started it," Ron said, taking a drink of his pumpkin juice. "She should've said that to Hermione."

"Ron, can I say how much you have changed? You're no longer the same Ron that I use to know."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean-you've grown up, Ron. You've matured a lot."

"Well, thank you, I think."

"Never thought I'd see the day," Harry said, laughing. Ron threw him a look.

"Yeah, yeah."

As Hermione looked between Ron and Harry, she took a deep breathe, knowing that she needed to do what she had been planning to do before Harry and Ginny had their spat. She knew she needed to do this, and she also knew that it was bad timing.

She also knew that she couldn't keep going like this.

She couldn't keep dating Ron when she didn't have feelings for him. It wasn't fair to him. She decided to talk to all three of them at once, knowing that she would have to reveal her feelings for Harry during this. Ginny was right-if Hermione didn't talk to them now, something could happen while she lived alone with Harry.

"Can I talk to the two of you and Ginny? It's really important."

"What is it?" Harry asked, setting his glass on the coffee table.

"I need to talk to all three of you. Ron, can you please go get Ginny? This is, actually, a little bit about what occurred last night."

"Yeah, sure. Hang on."

Ron went over to the fireplace and called Ginny. She watched as he spoke for a moment, then pulled away from the fireplace and took his seat on the couch.

The fireplace roared to life, and Ginny stepped through. Her eyes drifted to Harry, who put his head down to avoid looking at her. She then turned to Hermione.

"Ron said you wanted to talk."

"I do."

"Can I start by saying I'm sorry? I trust you and Harry completely, and I should've said what I said. It was wrong."

Hermione nodded, pressing her lips together. "Thank you, Ginny, but you might want to hold on to that thought."

She motioned to the couch, and Ginny, looking extremely confused, sat down next to her brother. Hermione walked over to the middle of everyone and began to talk.

"I know the three of you have been concerned about me lately. Everything's ok, I promise. On the day of the battle, I discovered something that completely shocked me. That's why I went to my parent's house that night. I went there to sort this out, and it turns out that I more I tried to sort it out, the more obvious it became to me.

"I tried to push it away, but I found that I couldn't. Ron, that's when you and I decided to start dating. And I have to apologize to you, because I said that we should give us a chance, when I knew that I didn't have feelings for you."

"What?" Ron asked, shocked. "You don't have feelings for me?"

Hermione shook her head, her eyes watering as she did so. "I thought I did. I really did, Ron. What I thought were feelings for you, were actually feelings for someone else. Someone I thought I was going to lose when these feelings started to surface."

"Someone else? Who, Hermione?" Ron asked, his voice cracking.

"Wait a minute," Ginny said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Hermione. "Someone you thought you were going to lose, but didn't. The fact that you keep mentioning "someone", and not his name, is telling me exactly who it is. That's the reason you got defensive with me, isn't it?"

"Ginny, I-"

"You like Harry!"

"What?!" Ron said, standing up, shock appearing all over his face.

Harry sat silent, his mouth open, and shock also written over his face. His heart was racing, and his mind was going into overdrive.

'Hermione likes me? Hermione has feelings for me, too?'

"Hermione, is it true? Do you like Harry?"

Hermione, with her voice stuck in her throat, finally looked back up and said, "Yes."

Ron walked around to the back of the couch and sighed, running his hand though his hair. Ginny looked upset, and forced her head to stare at the floor. Hermione, tears in her eyes, looked at Harry, who still wore the face of shock.

"You like me?"

"Actually, Harry, I think I've fallen in love with you."

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered, turning his head away.

"How long, Hermione?" Harry asked, standing up and walking over to her.

She swallowed, and said, "Since the day of the battle. You told Ron and I that you were going to the forest, and that's when I started feeling something for you. Then, you and I had that talk outside the night of the battle. Every time you would touch me, I would shiver. That's why I ran to mum and dad's house, because I was so confused as to what was actually happening.

"I spent the night, confused, before you and Ron came to get me. The more time we spent together, the stronger the feelings became. The night you came over for dinner with my parents, was the night I realized that I was in love with you. My mum discovered that, actually. She somehow got me to admit it."

"Whoa," Harry said, collapsing in the chair nearest him.

"Ron, I'm so sorry. You must be extremely mad at me."

"You would think I would be," Ron said, staring at the ground "but I'm not. Somehow, I just knew. And this sucks, because I really do like you, Hermione. I do. But I know I can't force you to like me back. If you love Harry, you love Harry. You can't help who you fall for. So, this is the end of us, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so, Ron. I can't keep pretending there's something there, and stringing you along. It's not fair to you. You deserve someone that you'll be happy with."

Ron looked away, nodding his head as he did so. "I was happy with you. I'm sorry, I have to get out of here."

"Ron," Hermione said, making Ron stop right in front of the fireplace, "I truly am sorry."

"Me too, Hermione."

With that, Ron stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in the green flames. Hermione, tears streaming down her face, took a look at Harry, before she collapsed onto the couch.

"So, where does this leave us, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, in reality, I don't think there really was an "us". The last time we dated, it was great. This time, it didn't feel like it used to. And, I think it's for the same reason Ron and Hermione weren't working. I've been having feelings for Hermione."

Hermione looked up at him, shock now written all over her face.

"Ginny, I'm sorry. For the same reason Hermione broke up with Ron, I think we should as well. You deserve better than me. It's not fair to you to have feelings for someone who doesn't have those feelings back."

"I love you, Harry. I really do. And it won't be easy to get over you."

Ginny walked up to him, gave him a soft kiss, and said, "Goodbye, Harry."

She walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder. Before she stepped into the fireplace, she turned her head back to Harry and Hermione, she said, "Everyone knew that you two would end up together, but I hate the fact that it had to be now."

Harry and Hermione both looked down to the floor as her words coursed through them. Ginny disappeared in the green flames, and silence engulfed the two.