Thank you so much for all the absolutely AMAZING reviews for the last chapter!! I'm so glad that you guys liked it, it was my favourite chapter to write :) And yes, as pippiboo guessed, Hermione did name her boy Sky because she and Draco loved to watch the skies together. And becaues in their world, where they knew they could never really be together, the sky represented the impossible and their dreams - it was limitless and full of possibilities.

Now, here's another quite moving chapter (in my opinion at least). I hope you guys like it!

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Two weeks had now passed since that fateful night and Hermione was barely getting by. The only joy in her life was now Sky and she threw all her energy into taking care of him so that she wouldn't have to think about anything else. She had had the same, never-ending headache for almost a week now and Ginny, who had come to visit several times, was growing extremely worried about her.

'Hermione, I really think you should just pop into St Mungo's,' she insisted as she tucked a blanket tightly around Hermione. She was lying down on the couch, Sky asleep at her side.

'Honestly Ginny, I'm fine. It's just a little tension headache.'

Ginny nodded sympathetically.

'I know what you mean. Our boys are being run off their feet at the moment, what with all this Malfoy whispering going on.' Hermione stiffened and quickly cast her mind around for a change of subject.

'Look at you, worrying about me when you're due any day now! Are you nervous? Excited? I would be a little nervous if I was you, I can remember exactly how I felt before I had Sky. I was as big as you, too, I think. Actually, maybe a little smaller. Sky was a tiny baby. Do you think you'll have a boy or girl? I still don't understand why you refused to let the healers tell you. Although, I did the same. I didn't want to know, you know?'

Hermione said all of this in one breath as Ginny stared at her bemusedly.

'Hermione?'

'What?'

'If this is how much you talk at home, no wonder you have a headache.'

Hermione laughed and closed her eyes. 'I'm just a bit run down at the moment.' She looked up at Ginny sitting across from her and tried to smile but she couldn't quite manage it. She knew she had to cheer up, she knew she couldn't keep going on like this, but it was just too hard at the moment. She needed more time.

'How about I sing you a lullaby?' Ginny suggested innocently. Hermione snorted as she absentmindedly stroked Sky's hair. He mumbled and rolled over.

'Any chance to sing, hey?' Ginny was an incredible singer but her family had become so tired of hearing her all over the house that Ginny now marvelled at any opportunity for an enthusiastic audience. Hermione thought Ginny could be the next Celestina Warbeck if she wanted to.

'Come on, Hermione. Close your eyes…' Ginny's voice was already becoming overpoweringly smooth and sweet. Hermione protested meekly as her eyes drifted shut.

'No, really, I feel terrible. You should be the one lying down and I should be singing to you.'

'No, no, no. We both know you're a terrible singer.'

Hermione half-laughed, half-mumbled as Ginny began to softly sing, the sweetest, most other-worldly lullaby ever imaginable. Not even magic could create something so beautiful. The tune was one Ginny had made herself, something she sang to her stomach when the kicking got particularly rambunctious. Before long, Hermione was snoring gently, Sky cuddled up to her side. Ginny smiled and slowly got to her feet to make her way home by floo. She would go straight to bed when she got home; the kicking was particularly bad today.

As the gentle whooshing of the fireplace carried into Hermione's dreams, she sighed softly and held Sky closer. Even in her dreams, she wanted him with her at all times.

--

Hermione sat on the edge of her plastic chair. She couldn't stop fidgeting. Glancing around, she found that she was surrounded by muggles - some old, some young. All coughing, sneezing or nursing broken wrists or legs. Upon the wall were the types of posters you would expect in a muggle doctor's office, reminding everyone to get their flu shot and to turn their mobiles off.

Three weeks had gone by since Hermione had made the journey home from Hogwarts. About a week ago she had began to feel strangely sick in the stomach at odd moments. Her mother, convinced she had got a nasty case of food poisoning, had sent her to the doctor. Hermione sighed and was teetering very close to just standing up and leaving when a woman called her name. Huffing in annoyance, Hermione reluctantly followed the woman down the corridor and into her office. She sat down into the chair that the doctor indicated and waited for the her to get her notes in order. After declaring that her name was Dr Allen, she sat back and smiled gently.

'So, Hermione, how are you feeling?'

'Fine. There's nothing wrong with me.'

'Your mother said you would say that,' Dr Allen grinned, and Hermione decided begrudgingly that she liked her.

'Well, it's true. I'm fine. Nothing to report.'

'I see…so what is this that your mother said, about you throwing up?'

'I just ate some bad chicken, that's all.'

'Really?' Dr Allen raised her eyebrows. 'Apart from throwing up, how have you been feeling?'

'Look, I don't know! I mean, I've been feeling really bloated and sore all over but that's just because it's summer and my body always takes a while to adjust to the heat. Nothing funny, I'm fine!'

'Hmm…' Hermione felt annoyed as Dr Allen leaned forwards to write something in her notes. She hadn't said anything worth writing down, had she?

'I wonder if you could tell me, Hermione…when did you last get your period?'

Hermione gaped at her for a moment, feeling her face heat up. After spending seven years with two boys for best friends and a mother she had barely seen, Hermione had never discussed her womanly friend with anyone. Anyone! To her, it was a topic as forbidden as discussing your own death.

'What does that have to do with anything?' she stammered, trying to stall for the inevitable moment when she would have to finally have this conversation at last.

'I will explain after you answer,' Dr Allen said sneakily. Hermione scowled at her, her cheeks burning.

'I guess…I…uh, well…maybe six, seven weeks ago.'

'Hmm…' again Dr Allen wrote something in her notes and Hermione watched her suspiciously.

'What does that have to do with anything?' she repeated. Dr Allen shook her head slightly, smiling kindly.

'I would like to perform a quick examination before we talk,' she said simply. Hermione gulped.

'What kind of examination?'

Fifteen minutes later Hermione was muttering angrily to herself as she pulled her underwear back on. She had never - never - in all her life expected to be subjected to such a thing! The doctor had just invaded her…her….her personal area! Hermione climbed awkwardly back into her shorts, wishing she was back in the wizarding world where they could have performed such a thing with the wave of a wand and no embarrassment whatsoever. When she came around the curtain and sat back down in her chair Dr Allen was watching her closely.

'What?' Hermione sighed. She didn't care if she sounded rude. She had been forced to endure a lot today. At least, for someone who had been almost completely absent from the muggle world for seven years, she had had to endure a lot of strange, ridiculous procedures and questions.

'I…I don't know how you are going to take this, Hermione…' Dr Allen suddenly seemed very uncomfortable. Hermione felt a worming feeling beginning in the pit of her stomach.

'What is it?' she asked croakily. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry.

'Hermione, you're…well, you're pregnant.'

The whole world seemed to come tumbling down around her. The air was suffocating. She couldn't move, she could feel her own fingers on the ends of her hands. All she could feel was the blood rushing to her ears, her own heartbeat so loud it was deafening.

'What?' she said stupidly. Dr Allen smiled at her gently.

'You're pregnant. Congratulations…I guess,' she smiled almost apologetically. She stared at her.

'Pregnant? I - I can't be,' Hermione stammered. She was in shock. She was frozen somewhere between reality and fantasy.

'I'm sure that if you look back a few weeks ago you would see that yes, you can be,' Dr Allen said with a hint of laughter. Hermione felt sick.

'A few weeks?'

'Yes, about three. Think now, dear…'

And Hermione thought. Her last night at Hogwarts. She had sat by the lake in the moonlight, the sky swirling lazily about her head. Draco had held her close. He had whispered things that made her shiver. They had kissed. And then their kissing wasn't enough and they were on the soft grass and he was inside her, making the most tender, intimate love to her she could ever have thought possible.

Hermione stared at Dr Allen. Words wouldn't come to her yet. She didn't know if she was thrilled…or if she wanted to throw herself out of the second storey window in the corner.

'Are you sure?' she whispered, hardly daring to breathe. Dr Allen nodded gently.

'Yes, dear. I'm sure. Are you alright?'

'I…I don't know,' Hermione said honestly. She was staring unseeingly at the wall, her hands clutching her stomach tightly.

'Would you like to call your boyfriend and let him know?' Dr Allen suggested kindly. Hermione stiffened and avoided her gaze.

'No. No, I don't think that would be possible.'

'Oh,' Dr Allen's gentle smile suddenly turned to a look of pity.

'Please…please don't tell my mum,' Hermione whispered. She could feel the tears building behind her eyes.

'Of course not, Hermione. Nothing will leave this room unless you want it to. But I have to say, you're a very young girl. You will need your parent's support if you're going to have a baby. Unless, of course, you're…not going to have it?'

Hermione looked at her. Although she hadn't given it a second's thought yet, she knew the answer already.

'No, of course I'll keep it. Of course I will.'

'There's a good girl,' Dr Allen smiled reassuringly. 'Now, we will have a lot to talk about.'

A little over an hour later, Hermione left the doctor's office looking slightly red-eyed, leaving a very confused Dr Allen humming gently to herself and wondering who the strange girl had been who had just wiped her of her memory.

--

'Hermione? Hermione, wake up!'

Hermione awoke suddenly to find Ron shaking her awake, his voice low and urgent. Sky had disappeared.

'What is it, Ron?' she asked, sitting up and looking around. There was something going on.

'Ginny's gone into labour.'

'Oh!' Hermione jumped to her feet, excitement pulsing through her. She had just been having the most vivid dream about something, but it was already forgotten as she jumped about looking for her shoes.

'Is she at St Mungo's?'

'No,' Ron shook his head looking harassed.

'What! Where is she?' Hermione found her shoes and hopped into them with difficulty. She could barely keep still.

'She's at the Burrow, she says she wants to have it there. Hermione, you've got to come now!'

'Okay,' Hermione grabbed her wand off the table and patted him reassuringly on the back. 'Everything will be fine, Ron. Where's Sky?'

'He's already there, my mum's looking after him. Come on, come on!'

And with that the two of them jumped into the green flames already alight in the fireplace and found themselves whooshing off to the house where they had spent half of their childhood summers.

'Alright, I'm here!' Hermione called briskly as she marched upstairs and burst into Ginny's old bedroom. Ginny was lying quite peacefully in the bed with a large collection of pillows behind her. Harry was crouching beside her, looking in the act of begging her to go to the hospital.

'Hermione, dear, quick!' Mrs Weasley called from the armchair in the corner. Sky was sitting alert on her lap, looking around with interest at the chaos before him. 'You've got to convince her to go to St Mungo's!'

'Mum, give it a rest,' Ginny said, rolling her eyes. 'I want to have it here.'

'Ginny, she's right, you know,' Hermione said gently, moving forwards and putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. She gave him a meaningful look and he moved back slightly to let her nearer to Ginny.

'I can deliver it for you but I haven't been a healer for a little while,' Hermione said warningly. Ginny laughed, but it quickly turned into a cry of pain.

'Ginny!' Harry started forwards, but Hermione held him back and pulled out her wand. She muttered a series of soft incantations, tracing the tip over Ginny's stomach, and Ginny breathed a sigh of relief.

'Ahh, that feels better. See, Hermione. You would never forget a spell,' she grinned. Hermione scowled at her.

'Fine, I'll do it,' she said finally.

'Oh, thank Merlin we have you, Hermione!' Mrs Weasley cried, looking close to tears. Ginny gave Hermione a fleeting look that very clearly said Get my mother out of here.

'Uh…Molly, I think I would prefer if Sky didn't witness this,' Hermione said firmly.

'Of course, dear. I'll take him downstairs and he can help me bake a cake in celebration of the baby!' Mrs Weasley bustled off with Sky, who looked sulkily over her shoulder as he was carried from the room. Hermione looked around at Harry and Ron, who were both as white as a sheet and looking at her helplessly.

'And, excuse me, but I don't want my brother here for this either!' Ginny said hotly. Ron looked immensely relieved to be excused and practically ran from the room, probably to throw up in the bathroom next door. Hermione rolled up her sleeves and tried to make Ginny more comfortable as Harry held her hand, still pleading with her to let him call more healers in.

'Please, Ginny! Something could go wrong!'

'Harry, I've told you a thousand times,' Ginny said soothingly, 'Nothing will go wrong!'

Hermione again marvelled at Ginny's incredible ability to look after others when she herself was the one in need of the most attention.

'You can't be sure though,' Harry said desperately.

'Honey, I am sorry but the war has made you a right old cynical thing!' Ginny said fondly, tilting her head to the side to look at him. But Harry still looked nervous as he bit his lip and rounded on Hermione for backup.

'Harry, don't worry. Do you really think I would let something happen to either of them?' Hermione said, putting her hands on her hips and frowning at him.

'I - I…no, of course not, Hermione!' Harry stammered, looking flabbergasted now that both women had turned against him. Hermione laughed.

'I'm just joking, Harry. Now come on, get out of the way. She's almost ready.'

Harry zipped over to the chair that Mrs Weasley had recently vacated and sat with his leg jingling annoyingly, his wand held tightly in his hand. Ginny rolled her eyes at him and blew him a kiss.

'I hope you're not as much a stress-head as your daddy,' Ginny murmured to her stomach, rubbing it gently. Harry scowled at her. Hermione put her hand expertly on Ginny's lower abdomen and held her wand tip on top of her hand. It began to glow gently and Ginny gasped.

'Does that mean…?'

'Yes, it's time,' Hermione said. She was trying to remain calm but her voice shook. She had only delivered a baby once before, and that had been in St Mungo's with a whole team around her. She knew she could do it. But Harry's nerves were grating upon her own.

As calmly as she could, Hermione propped Ginny's legs up on the sides of the bed and used her wand to cast a particularly useful spell that she had learnt at the hospital. Ginny floated several inches off the bed, magically held in place. Harry let out a yell but Hermione shushed him quickly.

'Don't worry! This is to make it easier for the baby to come out, and it will be much more comfortable for Ginny.'

'This is great!' Ginny panted, bobbing up and down slightly. Although she was trying hard to smile it was quickly becoming a grimace and her face was turning red. Hermione took a look under her nightgown and gulped.

'I think it's almost ready. Can you feel anything?' she asked nervously. Ginny nodded.

'The pain's coming back!' she gasped, clutching her stomach.

'I'm sorry, Gin. There's nothing more I can do for it,' Hermione glanced at Harry, and he got up and moved forwards to take Ginny's hand.

'Squeeze,' he commanded, and Ginny clutched his fingers so tightly he looked about ready to scream himself. Hermione took another look and yelped excitedly.

'I can see the head! You need to start pushing harder, Ginny!'

With Harry next to her panting just as heavily as she was, Ginny began to push as hard as she could. There were tears forming in her eyes, and Hermione was struggling to remain unemotional herself. She had to do this and she had to work quickly.

'It's coming, Gin! Come on, keep going!' she cried. Ginny was now groaning loudly and whimpering from the pain, but pushing determinedly. Hermione used her wand to create a large soft cushion for the baby to come out onto. With another very tricky little wave, Hermione used a particularly difficult slippery charm to make Ginny's job easier for her. With one final scream and push, the baby slid easily out and Hermione caught it with her cushion.

'It's a boy!' she cried excitedly, holding him gently in her arms. He was crying softly, a small tuft of red hair just visible on his head.

'A boy!' Harry yelped as Ginny flopped back onto the bed, exhausted.

'Harry, come and cut the cord,' Hermione showed him how to do it with his wand and Harry did so, tears flowing down his face. Hermione handed the baby to him as she used her wand to clean him carefully. With one wave he was spotless and beautiful.

'Say hello to your baby, Gin,' Harry whispered hoarsely, putting him gently into Ginny's arms. She stared down at him, unable to speak, crying in happiness.

'I'll leave you two alone,' Hermione said quietly. She could feel tears forming in her own eyes.

'No, stay!' Harry said, pulling her into a rib-breaking hug. He didn't let go for a long time, and when Hermione finally moved away the tears were pouring down her face. There was a gentle knock at the door and Ron came back in, followed by Mr and Mrs Weasley, the latter still holding Sky.

'Oh, my goodness!' Mrs Weasley whispered as she moved forwards to see the tiny baby.

'It's a boy!' Harry announced to the room. Everybody cheered and Ron hugged him tightly, still looking shaky. He kissed Ginny on the cheek and then looked down at his nephew before moving to stand with Hermione. He put an arm around her and Hermione buried her face in his shoulder as Mr and Mrs Weasley surrounded the bed, cooing over the baby and hugging everybody.

'Look, Sky!' Mrs Weasley cooed, putting Sky carefully down next to Ginny on the bed. Sky peered at the baby curiously and giggled delightedly.

'Baby boy!' he said. Ginny smiled at him and let him give the baby a great big kiss on the forehead before Mrs Weasley picked him up again.

'Oh, Hermione!' Mr Weasley cried, pulling her into a tight hug. 'Thank you so much!'

'It was nothing,' Hermione whispered painfully. Everybody beamed at her and Ginny held the baby out to her.

'Hold him, Hermione.'

'No, no, you should hold him!' Hermione insisted, but the baby was already being pushed into her arms. She didn't want to look at it. After taking one deep breath, she looked down at the baby. He was tiny and pale and perfect. His eyes were closed and he had stopped crying. He was so beautiful it hurt.

'What should we name him, Hermione?' Harry asked her. She looked up at him in astonishment.

'Don't ask me!' she said hastily, handing him back to his father. He took him happily and kissed him on his tiny little nose.

'I was thinking…' Ginny started, looking at Harry hesitantly. 'I was thinking…Sirius.'

There was a moment's silence as everybody thought about this. A fresh wave of tears broke through Harry's face.

'It's perfect,' he murmured. 'Sirius.'

Sirius gently began to cry and everyone looked on in open-mouthed wonder at the miracle that had been produced before them.

'The baby's hungry,' Sky suddenly announced. Everyone stared at him and he giggled.

'He's right!' Ginny whispered. Slowly and reluctantly, everybody filed out of the room to give Ginny and Harry some privacy. Hermione tried to leave but Ginny called her back.

'Can you show me what to do?' she asked nervously. Hermione nodded, unable to speak, and moved forwards to show Ginny how to feed Sirius.

'He's so gorgeous,' Ginny whispered as she stared down at him adoringly. 'And he has your eyes, Harry!'

'He does,' Harry said, grinning broadly. He looked to Hermione and again held out his arms for her. She hugged him tightly, still silent.

'How can we ever thank you?' Harry mumbled, suddenly sounding close to tears again.

'You don't need to, honestly,' Hermione muttered uncomfortably.

'Are you kidding, Hermione? Without your magic I would have been killing myself from the pain!' Ginny exclaimed, shivering at the fresh memories.

'It was nothing,' Hermione whispered. She stepped away from Harry and looked everywhere but at the beautiful little baby in Ginny's arms.

'Hermione, are you okay?' Harry suddenly asked, looking at her with concern.

'What? Oh, yes, I'm fine! I'm…' Hermione trailed off. They weren't listening. Hermione knew it was time for her to leave them alone. Quickly and silently she left the room and made her way downstairs. Everybody was sitting around the kitchen table, laughing and chatting excitedly. When Hermione entered Sky toddled towards her and she picked him up, burying her face in his neck.

'Hermione, have some cake!' Mrs Weasley cried, already cutting her a giant slab of the blue-iced masterpiece.

'Oh, no, I'm fine, thank you,' Hermione stammered.

'You're looking a bit peaky, dear,' Mrs Weasley moved towards her to feel her forehead but Hermione ducked away quickly.

'I'm a bit tired,' she announced loudly to the room at large. 'I might whip off home for a while and take a nap.'

Ron nodded sympathetically and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

'You did amazingly today,' he whispered so only she could hear. She smiled at him warily. She had to get out of there.

'Would you mind taking Sky?' she handed him gently to Ron and kissed him goodbye. After waving to everybody, Hermione practically ran from the room and into the lounge, where she could floo home in peace.

As soon as Hermione was home she stumbled outside and collapsed into the soft, fresh grass. And then the real tears came. She couldn't hold them in. They were so powerful, so strong, that Hermione bent forwards and violently threw up onto the ground.

Today had been too much for her to handle. Seeing the baby boy…seeing Ginny and Harry together…it all reminded her too much of Sky's birth. And that was something that was still too painful to think about. She had been so alone then. In the hospital bed, surrounded by healers. Her friends and family had been there…but not the one person she wanted to be. Seeing that baby boy being born with both of his parents standing there, ready to love him with all their heart, made Hermione hate herself for not giving Sky the same thing. It made her hate Ginny for being so blessed. It made her hate that beautiful little baby that she had delivered, because it was the luckiest baby in the world.

The memories were too strong today. Being in that room had been like reliving the birth of her baby. Her baby…who had no father. Who would suffer forever without even knowing it. How Hermione had cried that day. Nobody had known that most of her tears hadn't been from happiness…but from sorrow. Loss. Regret. Fear. Anger. Everything. It was all too much.

Hermione didn't take a nap like she had said she would. She did not move from the grass all afternoon. She did not return to the Burrow to celebrate that night despite the owl that Ron sent asking her to come back as soon as she woke up. As Hermione sat and stared into space, the sun slowly began to set in the distance and darkness took her over once more.

--

Aww little Sirius :) What did you guys think? I'll try to get the next chapter up a little faster because I know you're all waiting for you-know-who to come back...question is...will he be able to? Or has he been captured or worse...dead?? You'll have to wait and see!