Chapter 15: Bump

Hearing the sound of a familiar voice cursing in the kitchen, Harry stood up from the couch he had been sitting on and walked to the kitchen. He rounded the corner and entered what looked like a disaster zone; flour covered the counters, and cartons of eggs and milk lay scattered around. In the middle of it all stood a bewildered-looking Ron.

Harry snorted. "Having trouble there, mate?" Ron scowled at him before knocking things to the ground and stomping out of the mess. He looked up before walking out of the kitchen, and when he didn't see the cursor anywhere, his scowl deepened.

"I reckon it just tries to be annoying." He plopped down on the couch, a white cloud of flour appearing around him. Swearing again, he put his head in his hands. Harry reined in another laugh, but grew concerned when he got a closer look at Ron's face.

"What's up, you're not really that upset about your cooking skills, are you?"

Ron snorted and rubbed some of the flour from his hair. He sighed. "It's…complicated."

"Nothing new for you, then, eh?" Harry barely dodged Ron's fist aimed at his shoulder, snickering. "Joking! What's up?"

"Well…"

Hermione and Ginny were chatting about nothing in particular, both trying not to think when the cursor abruptly appeared in the room, directing them to the study room to work on finishing term papers. Groaning, they both stood up and walked out of the room.

"I am so ready for these final exams today," Ginny grumbled.

About half way there, Hermione suddenly felt nauseous. A dizzy feeling swept through her, and she had to lean against the wall and close her eyes to keep from passing out.

"Hermione? Are you okay?" Ginny paused, struggling for a second, before she was forced to keep walking to go to her class. After a few seconds against the wall, Hermione knew she was in a bit of trouble, and quickly straightened up and ran, not sure where to until she recognized the bathroom ahead of her. Getting down on her knees, she vomited into the toilet. She felt a pair of hands pull her hair back and away from her face. Breathing heavily, she swallowed and tried to stand up. Behind her, Ron took her arm and helped her stand. She looked up at him and smiled, feeling slightly mortified.

"Thanks," she whispered. She glanced at the doorway and saw Harry standing with a glass of water, which he handed her. She took it gladly and rinsed out her mouth. "Thanks Harry." She glanced up at Ron. "Did you tell him?" He nodded, taking the glass back and setting it on the sink. They walked out of the cramped room back into the hall.

"We saw you run by and wanted to make sure you were ok," Harry said. Hermione smiled weakly. "Hey, you'll be fine. You have us and Ginny. Don't worry." Surprisingly, the cursor let Hermione walk back with them to the couches, and they all sat down. As soon as she sat, however, she remembered that she had class coming up. She sighed, before perking up.

"After class today, it's final exams, and we will finally be finished with University."

"Thank Merlin. I'm done with all this studying and homework business." Ron sank back in his seat.

Ready to get out of there, Hermione stood and left for her class.

Later that evening, the four trickled back from their final exams, each arriving back with similar messages.

Ginny has graduated! Time to tie up loose ends and maybe throw a graduation party. Ginny finished the semester with a grade of B+.

Harry and Hermione had the same ending grade, while Ron, to Hermione's chagrin, ended up with an A+.

"What can I say?" Ron said, after returning home later than any of the others. "Guess you all just need to study more next time." Hermione threw a piece of trash from the ground at him, which he dodged with a smirk.

Ginny just laid back on the couch she was on, glaring at the sky. "Okay, we're done, can we leave now?" Nothing happened, of course.

"Oh, did you guys just finish up? Congrats!" Laura walked by, smiling sweetly, and ignoring Ginny. "You'll get to leave if your controller throws you a graduation party, otherwise you'll be stuck here for three more days." Harry, Ron, and Hermione all groaned in unison.

Ginny just glared at Laura. "Why are you even still here? Shouldn't you have graduated before us?"

"My controller kept me so busy, I wasn't able to pass. So, I had to redo a semester." She looked downcast for a second, before she brightened back up. "See you guys later! Bye, Harry." She smiled at him, winking. Plus signs with hearts appeared over her head. Harry groaned, realizing at the expression on Ginny's face that they must have appeared above his as well. "Oops! Sorry!" Laura said innocently, before she walked off again. Ginny was fuming as red negatives appeared over her own head.

"Sorry, Ginny."

She just shook her head pulling his hand over to hers. "Just a game, not worried about it. She irritates me, however."

Distracted, it took Harry a bit to realize that Laura hadn't called him James. She must have finally noticed his name in her friend list.

The cursor zoomed into view, and they all stared at it in anticipation. Disappointingly, it separated them instead, and they parted ways.

As Hermione headed to the kitchen, she suddenly realized how hungry she was. And how much she had to use the restroom. Not to mention the tiredness that swept over her. She grabbed a snack from the fridge, barely having time to eat it before rushing to the bathroom. Finishing there, the cursor finally directed her to sleep. Thankfully, she walked through the hall, not paying much attention to where it took her. She was surprised when it took her back to the dark room with the lone window, and very large bed.

Ron was sitting on the edge of the bed when he looked up and smiled as he saw Hermione come in. The cursor told him to go to sleep, and he was forced up and into the bed. Hermione let her gaze linger on his bare torso, but walked to the bed to climb in as she was told. Just before she climbed up, however, she felt herself straighten suddenly and back up a few steps. Regaining control of herself, she looked down and realized her sleepwear had changed into a more comfortable, more practical set than what she had been wearing. Hermione liked these better anyway.

Climbing into the bed again, she got under the covers. She was relieved to see that the cursor had left. She turned her head to look at Ron, who was on his side facing her.

"Hey," He said, reaching over to find her hand, slipping it into his. She hesitated for a second before she sank into him, finding a place by his side. He was very warm, she noticed with her bare arm against him. She laid her head on his chest, and her other hand went to rest on her stomach.

Suddenly, she gasped. Throwing the covers back, she moved to sit back up against the headboard.

"Hermione?" Ron asked, concern evident in his voice. Hermione pulled her shirt up slightly, looking at her stomach. She timidly placed her hand back over it.

"I think, that…there's a bump." She traced her fingers along her stomach, feeling the small but defined bump. She shouldn't have been so surprised, she knew it was going to happen, but she just hadn't realized it would be so fast. The bump was small, but it was definitely there, and hadn't been earlier in the day. Her eyes flitted over to Ron, seeing that he was frozen, staring at her stomach, a bit of awe in his expression. Tentatively, he brought his hand over, covering her own resting on her stomach. He brought his other hand up to her cheek skimming over her skin. Without saying anything, he pulled her close. She moved her arms around him, and they kissed fiercely, pressed tightly together, until they were pulled by their energy levels back under the covers and to sleep, staying within each other's embrace.

Updated A/N: This chapter had some larger changes. I needed to pull back on some things, in order to find a better way forward. Review if you can, please!