YOU MUST READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE!!! Why? Because I said so, why else? There's some stuff mentioned in it that's not mentioned at all in the story. Might be helpful.

A/N: I'm not quite sure what this is. I just sort-of sat down and wrote it. Aislinn and Ranon (They're my muses) were yelling at me. They worked together on this one, so it should be quite strange. I don't think it's horribly depressing, but you never know. Slight HP/HG. Chapter 2 only. This takes place 10 years after Hogwarts. Hermione's been working at the Ministry. Harry's an Auror. Ron's the manager for the Chudley Cannons. Lord Voldie's still out there.

Disclaimer: Okay, somehow I think I would own more than what I do if these characters were mine. Who in their right minds would believe for even a millisecond that I owned them? Strange people.

"Hush a-bye, don't you cry, go to sleepy little baby." Hermione's voice floated down the stairs to me. "When you wake, you shall take all the pretty little horses."

I ran up the stairs, anxious to see my best-friend, and to find out why she was singing lullabies to herself. When I got up there, however, a terrible sight greeted me. Hermione had a knife in one hand, and she was making small criss-crossed cuts across her stomach. "'Mione, stop!"

She just smiled at me, "Oh, hello, Harry. I was just singing," she smiled, and looked down at her scarred stomach, "To myself."

I took a cautious step forwards, I had heard once that you should never startle crazy people. "Yes, but why were you cutting yourself?"

Hermione's eyes suddenly blazed with anger, or was it sadness? I couldn't tell. "There's this thing inside me, Harry, it's eating me alive!" Her voice shook as she told me this, "I want it out!" She shrieked, "Get it out of me, Harry! Get it out!"

"Woah, woah! Calm down, 'Mione, what's inside you?"

She suddenly smiled, pleased with herself for frightening me. "A child." I gasped, this was the last thing I had expected to hear. "A baby girl. A little. Baby. Girl." She spat out the last part, as though it was a name not to be spoken. Abruptly calm again, she went on, "Do you remember last July?"

Seeing as how it was September, I found it hard to forget. "Yes, of course. You were captured by those Death Eaters. Ron and I came and fought them to get you back."

"Yes, you killed them all." Voice shaking with emotion, she let me know the rest, "Ironic, isn't it? My two best friends killed my baby's father? He raped me, but still."

I gasped, "What? A Death Eater? He raped you?"

Hermione now laughed, happy that I was shocked. "Yup." She quickly sobered, however, "Will you help me? It needs to come out. With or-" she glanced at the knife, "Without your aid."

I knelt down next to the bed she was sitting on, and took one of her hands in mine. "Hermione, I'm not going to help you get rid of the baby. But I will help you to get through the pregnancy."

She clapped her hands, "Oh goodie! It'll be like a tea party! You, and me, and baby makes three!" She giggled. Now, you must realize that this was Hermione, the same Hermione that had sworn before she ever got to Hogwarts that she would never giggle, squeal, or be "like one of those silly girls". Of course, she regularly squealed, at the Yule Ball in fourth year, she had been dressed "like one of those silly girls", but I had never heard her giggle.

"Oh well," I muttered under my breath, "First time for everything, I suppose."

"What?"

"Nothing, just-nothing."