Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hermione's a little bit OOC in this, more rebellious than usual, it's the hormone's! I have actually wrote a plan!! There's going to be 21 chapters, I'm very proud of myself as I've never wrote a plan for a fic I'm writing. It really gives me a sense of direction! I hope your willing to read 10 more chapters...please!

Chapter 11

Hermione's parents were due to arrive any second now and she was nervous as hell. Considering last time's events, she thought herself very brave to just be there, in the Three Broomsticks, waiting for them. She traipsed up to the bar, looking haggard.

"Three butterbeers, please." she said to the landlady Madame Rosmerta.

"Coming up." she stopped mid-step and looked her up and down. "Ah, so that's what Ginny meant…"

"What?" Hermione uttered sharply.

"You're pregnant are you?"

"Yes, what's it to you." she snapped, she would take no prisoners today, she was anxious, sleep deprived and in pain.

"Calm down missy! I only asked because I want to help. I bet your 15 - 16?" she inquired.

"15, why?" she said suspiciously.

"I was 16 when I had my little 'un…big 'un now! I know what you're going through…being picked on?" Hermione nodded energetically, Rosmerta put her hand on top of hers.

"You'll get through it, love. Believe me, in a couple of weeks something different will happen which will get the gossips all of a dither." she said kindly.

"Thank you…so much!" Hermione whispered, slightly over-whelmed.

"Anytime darling. Three Butterbeers was it?" she asked distractedly trying to remember what she had been doing. As she passed the bottles to her Hermione offered her a few coins, which she refused to accept. "On the house, darling, you don't pay in here, you'll need the money for the future!" she laughed.

Thanking her profusely, she returned to her table, which was situated right at the back of the spacious room.

Her parents arrived and sat down quickly and without speech. Her mother was rigid in her seat, her pink suede handbag clasped firmly in her shaking hands.

"Hermione." Mr. Granger nodded politely though not particularly friendly.

"Hi Daddy." she whispered trying to catch his eye, even though he was looking resolutely the other way. "Hello, Mum…"

"Hello -" she was about to reply

"Why did you ask us to come?" her husband cut across. Hermione took a deep breath.

"I had my first proper scan a few weeks ago, would you like to see it?" she asked timidly. Neither spoke so Hermione decided to anyway.

She whipped out her wand and waved it in a very elaborate manner until a smaller version of the hologram from the hospital appeared, hovering in the air.

"That right there," she said pointing to the little baby "is you're Granddaughter." Mrs. Granger was mesmerised, her eyes wide and glossy. Mr. Granger's face remained emotionless except for several tears forming around his tear-duct.

"She's beautiful. Oh, Hermione…" her mother said emphatically. "I'm so sorry we acted so cold, though you must understand it was a terrible shock. How long till she arrives?"

"Well I'm 5 months 1 week gone so…oh! 19 weeks." she added up quickly.

"Hermione! It's still sinking in to be honest, I'm going to be a Grandma, I did not think I'd be saying that for a few more years, I must say, didn't you dear?" she queried to her husband. Both mother and daughter looked into the man's stony face.

"No…no I blooming well did not." Mr. Granger voiced icily. His wife nudged him sharply. Hermione held his hand gently.

"Daddy, please. I am having a baby; I am going to keep her and love her and nurture her. You probably hate me, don't you? I do not blame you. I'm such a disappointment." she sighed, her father's eyes softened.

"I don't hate you, sugarlump. I'm disappointed but you're not a disappointment." he said delicately.

"So you're talking to me now?" she whispered. He leaned forward and embraced her as a reply.

"Let's have a look at this Granddaughter of mine then!" he spoke excitedly. Hermione whipped out her wand and a sepia coloured hologram squeezed out the tip before becoming airborne.

"She's the perfect weight, a little too tall but generally perfectly healthy. I'm thinking of calling her Addison-Bliss Sirius, what do you think?" she asked with the world's biggest smile on her face.

"That's lovely, sugar. Do they mean anything or did you just decide you liked them?" Mr. Granger asked happily.

"Addison came from a text book, A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot; apparently she invented a way to view a pre-term baby; the hologram I just showed so I thought it was appropriate. Bliss means joy, which is incredibly relevant as she has made me the happiest person alive. Sirius is Harry Potter's godfather and an amazing human being. He was falsely accused of betraying his best friends to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named causing them to be murdered. He had to live with that for 12 years and when he broke out he instantly went to find Harry as Lily and James, Harry's parents and Sirius' best friends, had asked him to look after him if they died. He is so loyal, respectful and honest and that's what I want my child to grow up to be." her parents has listened to this with a captivated expression.

"You have really grown up to be an intense, complex, intelligent woman Hermione Granger." her mother stated emotionally.

Madame Rosmerta sidled over. "Excuse me, love. Are you the one's who booked room 4?" she asked. Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked puzzled.

"Erm…yep. Can you give us a second?" Hermione requested, she turned back to her parents "Do you think you could possibly stay for the weekend?"

"Yes, I think. We'll need to go home first to settle things…but why?" her mother asked, bewildered.

"I thought it would take longer for us to make up so Professor Dumbledore arranged for you to stay here. He went to a lot of trouble, you see." Hermione explained.

Mrs. Granger laughed. "We can't stay mad at our little girl for to long!"

"Good! I can come down everyday and we can talk things through! I'll call the knight bus and we can all nip home, there is some stuff I was going to ask you to send me anyway." she said enthusiastically.

She walked to the bar to confirm the room booking, then they strolled out together, to the edge of the village and Hermione stuck out her wand-arm. A vast, three-storey, violent purple bus popped out of thin air.

Hermione and her parents clambered on board and sat down in three over-sized armchairs in a row.

"Brace yourself." she whispered as Ernie, the driver started the engine. They turned to ask why when they were flung halfway down the aisle. "Told you so." she giggled as they crawled back up.

Less then 10 minutes later, they bumped up the suburban road and arrived outside the 2-storey country cottage with a large garden with plenty of multicoloured flowers neatly planted in flowerbeds.

Hermione tore up the garden path, both hands holding her bump, and waited impatiently at the royal-blue door. Her parents were dwindling around a pot plant that looked a bit droopy.

"Hurry up!" she yelled.

"In a second, we're worried about this Rhododendron!" they called back. She tutted, her hands of her hips like a toddler. Her eyes brightened and she turned around slowly and indiscreetly pulled out a pin from her hair.

She pushed it in the keyhole and fiddled it about. The lock clicked, she threw the door open and dived upstairs to her bedroom. Inwardly thanking Fred and George for showing her how to pick locks.

Her face lit up as she fell onto her bed, with all her books and clothes and games around her. The walls were a pale lilac with a white border; the carpet and bed linen were also white with her wardrobe and dressing table pink with white flowers.

"Hermione?" her mother shouted, sounding concerned.

"Up here!" she yelled back innocently. She heard heavy footsteps ascending the stairs.

"How did you get in? Magic?" her father asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Nope, I picked the lock…" she said timidly, looking at her father with big eyes like those that she used to do when she was in trouble.

He opened his mouth and looked like he was about to tell her off before closing it again. "Little monkey. Were did you learn that?"

"Fred and George…Ron's elder brothers. They're really funny, they are always pranking someone!" she laughed. He ruffled her hair.

"Don't do it again. You get what you need and then would you like a spot of lunch before going back?" he asked with a silly grin. She agreed and then set about collecting things she needed such as underwear, a towel and more toothpaste.

She ambled down the stairs and walked into the bright kitchen. It was painted in a sunshine yellow with thick wooden cupboard doors and table with plenty of chairs circling it. She plonked herself down in her usual spot and watched her mother preparing their food.

"Mum? What's going to happen after she's born?" her mother stopped chopping the cucumber.

"Let's not talk about something so serious now, dear. I just want to have a nice lunch at home before your back to school." she sighed going back to her knife.

"Okay, I suppose." Her mother put down a plate with a chicken breast sandwich and then a bowl of crispy salad. All sat down and began to eat in silence.

"So, how's Ginny?" her father asked quietly. Hermione did not answer. "Sugar?"

"We're not friend's anymore." she whispered.

"Why ever not?"

"She betrayed me. She was the only person who knew I was pregnant and she told everyone. That was 3 weeks ago. I'm still being picked on now."

"Oh, dear. I'm sure she didn't mean too." her father reasoned.

"She did. I know it, she told everyone because she's jealous!" Hermione said stubbornly.

"Hermione?" Mr. Granger knew his daughter and could tell when she was lying, even if she did not realise it herself.

"Fine. This girl in my year was saying something about her aunt having a baby and was insisting that she started getting a bump the day it was conceived. Gin' said that's not how it works and Pavarti had a go at her so Ginny blurted it out." Hermione said sulkily.

"You have to make up with her that is all you need at the moment, arguing with your best friend!" her father said seriously.

"I know, but I'm so angry with her." Her parents shook their heads and proceeded to clear the plates and collect their small suitcases.

Hermione moped around for the next 10 minutes before getting up and packing her extra things in her school bag.

Once again, the knight bus pulled up outside their front gate.

"You again! Bleedin' hell, Ernie, its them muggles again." Stan, the conductor, stated rudely to the driver. Ernie just grunted. "16 sickles please." he demanded, Hermione handed over the silver coins.

Another erratic journey later, they pulled up in Hogsmeade and walked to the Three Broomsticks. Madame Rosmerta waved to them from behind the bar.

"Hello again!" she welcomed kindly.

"Hi, Rosmerta. Can my parents go to their room please?" she asked, wearily. She had started getting tired around the middle of the day.

"'Course. Follow me then." she led them through a door behind the bar and up a large oak staircase. They arrived outside room 4.

"All meals are available in the bar when you're hungry. Here's your key and you can check out Monday morning!" she listed happily before leaving them to it.

The room was vast. The floor was carpeted in a dusky pink, the walls panelled with white wood. It was a four-poster bed with long pink curtains and matching bed linen. An enormous mirror covered the entire wall opposite the bed and a window was thrown open letting the fresh air wafted in. It was surprisingly warm and sunny for mid-march so the light shining in warmed them thoroughly.

Hermione checked the clock on the wall; it read 1:30pm. "I better be heading back, I have homework to do. I shouldn't have left for this long anyway " Her parents hugged her goodbye and just as she closed the door, she heard her mother scream.

"What is it!" she yelled as she ran back in.

"The mirror! It told me I have nice teeth!" she gasped, clutching her chest. Hermione laughed.

"They do that! Most objects in the wizarding world do something weird like that. Take the bin for example, it'll eat the rubbish you throw in." she explained, trying to hide her amusement.

"This is going to take a lot of getting used to!" Mr. Granger chortled. "Bye, Sugarlump!" Again, she bid them farewell and headed back up to school.

She went straight to the Library and was soon immersed in her books. The hours dwindled and the sun was fading away. She had just written down the last answer to a particularly nasty potions problem when she jumped up.

"What was that!" she whispered to herself, she had felt a flutter in her stomach, she stood up waiting to see it happen again, after five minutes without it happening she sat back down.

Rolling up the parchment she had been working on, she collected up her stuff and was about to leave when the flutter happened again…and again. It kept happening until it dawned on her what it was; she was feeling her baby kick for the first time.

Clutching her bump, she ran out into the hallway, on her way to find someone to tell. She turned the corner to fast and bumped into someone. The one person Hermione wished she had not seen.

"Hermione!" Ginny gasped. Hermione glared at her. "Why are you running?" she inquired rather cautiously.

"Why do you care? Run out of gossip?" she sneered. Ginny blushed.

"Of course not. I'm so sorry about that, so sorry." she exclaimed.

"Just go away Ginny." she said in disgust and walked off. Ginny's hand clamped around Hermione's arm.

"Please! I need my best friend back. I feel so bad about it." she begged, tears falling down her cheeks, not for the first time in the three weeks that had passed.

"So you want me to forgive you so you won't feel bad anymore?" she asked sarcastically.

"What? No! I want you to forgive me so that I can have my best friend back. I've missed you; you know I wouldn't hurt you on purpose!"

"I didn't think you would hurt me but then you did. You hurt me more than anyone else has ever done. My life is so painful now, not only do I have to cope with having a baby, I now have hundreds of people calling me names and bullying me." she voiced dramatically.

"What can I do for you to forgive me?"

"I really don't know anymore, Ginny." she whispered as the first tear spilled over.

"I'll do anything…absolutely anything." she pleaded.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing, it's too late." she said sadly. Suddenly Dumbledore's voice echoed through her head.

"I'm sure she did not mean to. Ginevra Weasley is a good companion and what you need right now is a friend."

Then her father's.

"You have to make up with her that is all you need at the moment, arguing with your best friend!"

She stopped reminiscing and noticed that Ginny was halfway down the corridor, sobbing as she walked away.

"Ginny, wait!" she called. The redhead turned around with a hopeful expression. "I'm sorry; I'm being stubborn as usual. Maybe we cannot go back to being best friends but we can start as friends. And that's what I need right now, seeing as no one else will talk to me anymore." Ginny sprinted towards her and dived on her, hugging her very tight.

At first Hermione did not respond but eventually embraced her back, a warm feeling in her stomach.

"I need someone to talk to. Harry and Ron are there of course, but they just end up wanting to kiss or cuddle. It gets a bit repetitive to be honest." she said quietly.

"Are you sure we're friends again?" Ginny asked carefully. Hermione pulled back and looked her straight in the face.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now, do you want to hear some good news?" she asked with a grin. Ginny nodded vigorously.

"I just felt the baby kick for the first time!" she said emphatically. Ginny squealed and hugged her again briefly.

"We should go have a good talk, clear the air a bit. What do you think?" she asked seriously.

"Yeah, I think that's good." they started walking towards the common room when Ginny stopped. "And Hermione? You do know I'm sorry don't you?" she said anxiously.

"I do. I think I always did, but I was so angry and upset. I knew you'd never do it on purpose." she said gravely.

They continued towards the Gryffindor tower, hand in hand.

Next Time: The bullying reaches a climax and Angelina Johnson steps in. The witch-wife comes to Hogwarts.

A/N: Please review. Thanks!