Part Nine

Come Again?

Hermione walked into her flat and dropped her purse. She was still wearing Charlie's shirt but didn't really care. She didn't think Ron would be around soon and even if he was, so what? He already thought she was sleeping with his brother, what would it matter now?

Charlie had offered his place for as long as she needed it, but right now she just felt like she needed some time alone. Her life was a mess and it was time she started worrying about how to fix it. She decided she would give Ron a week and then track him down and talk about the whole mess. That should give him enough time to calm down.

She had two goals to accomplish in that week: one was to find out as much as possible about her marking and the bond it signified, two was to find out the quickest and most accurate way to find out if anything had come from her and Bill's… meetings.

They had slept together a number of times without an ounce of protection, though that was the point, and based on her calculations, the timing was perfect for her to conceive, though she hoped maybe she was wrong or they just weren't lucky, and nothing would come of this. Bill obviously changed his mind and was content to live childless with his wife. Then she remembered the note. I care for you Hermione, perhaps more than is appropriate, he had written. What did that mean?

She sighed. It meant that he cared about her, but he had a wife, a wife he wanted to have children with and things would just get awkward if she were in the middle of that. This led to her second problem. In the muggle world, it would be at least two weeks before she would know if she had conceived during one of their moments and she really didn't think she could wait that long. She needed to know ASAP, and for that, she would need someone who knew the ins and outs of wizard medicine. Hermione pulled out Dany's note about the bite and took a deep breath. She had said to call if she needed anything, well, this should constitute as "anything".

Hermione floo'd Dany and within seconds, her friend's head popped into her fireplace.

"Hermione, how are you feeling?"

"I've felt better," she answered honestly.

"What can I do for you?"

"Can you come through? I… I really need to talk to someone and I think it would be better in person."

"Of course, just back up and let me in."

Hermione stepped back to allow the other woman through the fireplace and into her living room. Once she stepped out, the younger woman hit her with a quick spell to dispel the ashes that clung to her Healer robes.

"Alright, Hermione, what can I do for you?" Dany asked.

"How long is it before you can know if you're pregnant?" she blurted out before she lost her nerve.

"Oh boy," the other woman muttered, sitting down on Hermione's couch. "Umm, well, the spell takes about two weeks from… from the day of conception, but the potion can tell you if the egg has been fertilized, though that still won't tell you if implantation will occur or not and there are cases when the potion comes back positive, but for some reason the egg doesn't implant and you go on to have your cycle," she explained in a clinical voice.

"And how do I get that potion?"

"A Healer. Do you want one? I can get one for you if you need it," Dany offered, feeling bad for the scared looking witch.

Hermione nodded and watched as Dany got up and popped back into the fireplace only to come out a few moments later with two vials in her hand.

"I would take one now, and if it comes back negative, then wait about a week and take the other one, just to be sure. If it comes back positive, I would go ahead and double check in a couple weeks with the spell. Just pull out one of your hairs, it has to be fresh, and place it in the potion. If it's positive, it will turn a rich, golden color," she explained. "Do you want me to stay?" she asked, unsure what the younger witch would want.

"No, that's okay; I think this is something I have to do on my own. But thank you so much, for everything, and p-please, don't tell anyone," she asked quietly.

"Oh, sweetie, of course not, not a word out of my lips," Dany promised before hugging her once and popping back into the fireplace.

Hermione took a deep breath and stared at the vials. She had to know, now. She took one vial and set the other one down on the table. Quickly pulling out a hair she popped it into the vial and stoppered it. She slowly let her breath out and stared at the clear liquid. Slowly it began to swirl.

Her heart began a troubled cadence as the clear liquid slowly darkened into a light yellow, then into a deep gold.

"No," she whispered brokenly. She had desperately hoped nothing would happen. What were the odds? Was she really that freaking fertile?

Hermione chucked the gold filled vial across her living room, watching as it smashed into the wall. What in the hell was she going to do now? She would have to tell them, all of them, every sordid detail. And what about Bill? He obviously didn't want a baby with her anymore, so what in the world was she going to do with a baby? She had officially screwed her life up.

She grabbed her purse and rushed out of her flat, she had to get out; she had to figure something out. She made it to the apparation point and went to the first place she could think of.

In a blink, she found herself outside of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. She ran into the shop and up to a surprised George.

"Is Charlie up there?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Yeah, go on up, you okay?"

"No," she told him, whipping past him and up the stairs. When she got to the top, she started banging on Charlie's door.

"Easy, I'm coming," he called out.

When the door opened, Hermione threw herself into Charlie's arms and sobbed.

"Whoa, easy there. Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked in surprised voice.

"I'm pregnant," she sobbed into his chest.

"Oh, shit," he muttered, leading her into his flat and closing the front door. "Okay, shhh, it's okay, 'Mione," he whispered while rubbing small circles on her back.

"No, it's not Charlie! Ron's going to hate Bill, Bill's going to hate me, your parents, don't even get me started on your parents!"

"Here, just sit down, we'll take a few deep breaths, then we'll figure it out," he told her, setting her down on his couch and going into the kitchen to make some tea. "Does anyone else know yet?"

"No, I came straight here, I didn't know where else to go."

"That's fine. Here," he handed her a cup of tea with a bit of milk and sugar, just the way she liked it.

"Thanks," she muttered. "What am I going to do? I… I thought about terminating it, but, that's just not right. I mean, in reality, we were actually trying to get pregnant, before all hell broke lose. It's not the baby's fault that we screwed everything up," she explained in a rush.

"So you are definitely keeping it?"

"Yes, I can't imagine doing anything else," she whispered brokenly.

"Call Harry. He's good with the impossible situations," Charlie advised. "Plus he's your best friend, he'll help in any way he can."

"Would you call him?" she asked, not able to tear her eyes away from her tea to face Charlie.

"Sure."

A few minutes later, Charlie walked back into the living room with a messy-haired young man in tow. Apparently the red head had explained things already because Harry just threw his arms around Hermione and hugged her tight. For that, she was thankful, she didn't think she had it in her to explain it all again.

"Oh, 'Mione, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Harry asked.

"No… but, it's all my fault. I screwed up and now I'm paying for it," she mumbled into his shoulder.

He just kept quiet and hugged her harder before pulling back to look at her.

"What do I do now?" she asked her oldest friend quietly.

"There's not much to do. You'll have to tell them. It's going to hurt, and people will be mad, but you can't keep something like this a secret."

"I've hurt enough people; I can't bear to hurt anyone else."

Harry was quiet for a minute before a light seemed to come on. His whole composure brightened and a smile found it's way onto his lips.

"I have an idea. People would still be hurt, but not as many, and not as badly and you could keep Bill out of it," he told her.

"What?" she asked.

"Tell them it's Charlie's baby."

Two shocked faces turned towards him.

"What?" Hermione asked, unsure if she had heard him right.

"Tell them it's Charlie's. Everyone knows about the potion, and Ron and Ginny already think you came over here and slept with him… in a couple weeks, you guys can announce it's his. If they'll blame anyone it would be Ginny, for giving you the potion," he told them.

"And what about the part where they're pissed at Charlie for sleeping with his brother's fiancée?"

The smile faded a bit on his face.

"Didn't think about that."

"Hermione, while overcome with the potion, cast a spell, a lust spell, causing me to completely forget everything but her," Charlie spoke up, a smirk on his face.

"What? You can't actually be thinking about doing this, can you?" Hermione asked in shock.

"Just think about it for a second. This really leaves neither of us at blame, so most of the family wouldn't be too pissed. It keeps Bill out of it, keeps the scandal quiet, it's a perfect solution," he told her.

"Except for the fact that you would be taking responsibility for something you didn't cause. A baby is a big thing, Charlie, and I'm not going to place that on your shoulders," she told him, amazed at the lengths he was willing to go to to help her.

"You'll need help taking care of the baby, and this way, my family would step up to help, and… I really don't mind playing dad," he told her, shrugging as a blush crept up his neck.

"Charlie, I can't ask you to do this, and where did this come from, Harry? You realize if we pulled this off it would turn Ginny's family against her?"

Harry's jaw clenched.

"If she even acted sorry, I might feel bad about planning something like this, but she didn't even act like she had done something wrong… she's always sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong… I… I really don't know if we have much a future left," he told her.

Hermione blinked in surprise.

"I-I'll think about," she told the two men, before excusing herself to the loo.

A/N: well, did you miss me? Lol, did you think I was gone? Nope, not gone, I promised I would finish this, and I will, in fact, I've got quite a bit written! So, go on, review, please! The reviews help immensely, the more reviews, the easier it is to write, don't know why! Lol. Seriously, thank you for those who are still reading this! And for the people who have commented on the fact that a lot of this is cliché, well, I would like to remind everyone that this is a Cliché Challenge… hence, well, the cliché! Lol. Thanks again, please, let me know what you think!