Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing I tell you! All the characters, places etc. belong to JKR.
A/N: The rating for this chapter is probably PG-13, so you have been warned. The scene which earns this rating isn't really too graphic, though something is implied. On with the story...

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HAPPILY EVER AFTER?
Chapter Eight

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When everyone returned to the Cottage, a few days later, tensions were running high and people weren't sure what they should say and what they shouldn't say. Hermione, especially, felt like people were avoiding her.

A few days after their return, she finally emerged from her room (not her bedroom, but one of the spare bedrooms which she used as a sort of hideaway), the house was practically empty. 'They must be at work,' she realised. She slowly walked down to the kitchen. The doctors at St. Hedwig's had advised her to take things easy for the next couple of days, but Hermione was starting to feel restless. She was also extremely hungry.

She walked into the kitchen, feeling that the only thing she wanted was a strong, sweet cup of tea and a toasted tea cake. To her surprise, the house wasn't empty. Harry was sat at the breakfast bar sipping a glass of water and reading the Daily Prophet. To both their relief, the press had not yet got wind of either the marriage or miscarriage.

"Oh, Hermione," he said standing up. "You're here. I was... just leaving." Harry folded up the paper and started to walk towards the door.

"Are you avoiding me?" she asked quietly.

Harry spun round, a strange look on his face. "Of course not!"

"Then why won't you talk to me?" Hermione asked, checking that the kettle contained water. It did, and she flipped the switch. It was actually a Muggle kettle, but she had adapted it to run on magic, rather than electricity, after checking that it wasn't against the law (the great advantages of having Ron's father work for the Ministry).

"I was just on my way out!" protested Harry.

"It's Thursday."

"So?" he asked.

"You don't work on Thursday." Hermione sighed. "This is ridiculous, Harry. We're acting like strangers rather than a married couple. We've barely spoken in the last few days."

"That's because I don't know what to say," Harry said suddenly. "What do you say in this sort of situation? We've just lost our child, Hermione!" he yelled.

"You think I don't know that? The last few days I've had people telling me they're sorry. Why? Because they don't know what to say to me. People tell me how 'brave' I am for not crying. The only reason I don't cry is because I don't have any tears left to cry!"

Harry walked towards her, and wrapped his arms around her. She welcomed his embrace, burying her face in his shoulder. "Oh, Hermione," he muttered. "You don't have to be brave. Not for me."

"Yes, I do," Hermione whispered. "Because that's who I am."

"Look at me, Hermione," Harry instructed. Reluctantly Hermione lifted her head and looked up at Harry. He cupped her chin in his hand forcing her to look into his eyes. "I love you, and nothing, nothing, is going to change that."

Hermione licked her parched lips. "I know," she said quietly before Harry kissed her.

***

Ginny looked up as a stack of parchment was dumped on her desk. She sighed removing her small pair of reading spectacles she wore whilst at work. "Another manuscript, Eva?"

The blonde grinned. "You bet. I've been working on this one for months. When my agent said take it to an editor, I thought of you." Eva Greenaway was one of the best-selling romance authors in the Wizarding world, though her work was published under psuedonym 'Calista Lovejoy'.

"How thoughtful," said Ginny with a wry smile. She picked up the first piece of parchment and scanned it quickly. "Looks good. Has it got a name?"

Eva frowned. "Not yet. If you can think of anything, please suggest it. I've written seventy-six books - it's getting really hard to think of titles."

"Are you going out somewhere?" Ginny asked, noticing Eva's rather expensive-looking robes. By the look of them, they were from one of the more expensive boutiques in Diagon Alley. Normally, Eva wore faded jeans and trainers with a (usually glittery) T-shirt.

"I have a date," said Eva smiling happily.

"Who's the lucky guy?" asked Ginny inquisitivley.

Eva seemed to pause before saying, "It's not a guy, if you catch my drift."

"Oh. Oh." Ginny was slightly shocked by this revelation. "I never knew you were..."

"It's 'cause I don't go around with a huge neon flashing sign proclaiming it," explained Eva. She frowned. "Would you mind not teliing anyone, see, it would probably kill my career."

Ginny nodded. "Of course I won't. You'd better get going - don't want to keep her waiting, do you?" Eva grinned and bade her farewell.

With a sigh Ginny straightened out her desk. She glanced up at the clock and bit her lip. It was almost seven - almost two hours after she was supposed to finish work. She put Eva's latest manuscript into a folder and opened up a filing cabinet to store it safely.

Just as she was locking the filing cabinet, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hello, Virginia," a male voice whispered in her ear. Ginny froze.

'Not again,' she thought worriedly. The hand brushed her flaming red hair away from her neck and felt the man's lips begin to kiss her neck. Ginny closed her eyes. 'This isn't happening, this isn't happening,' she kept repeating to herself.

"You should have gone home hours ago," the voice told her. "You're a bad girl, Virginia. I'm going to have to punish you." A rough hand grabbed her arm and spun her round before forcing her up against the filing cabinet. Even with her eyes closed, Ginny could feel the man begin to unbutton her blouse.

'This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening!' she kept repeating. But, of course, it was.

***

A/N: I'm really sorry that this is so short. It probably isn't my best writing either - I'm finding it hard to keep my concentration levels up on this fic at the moment. The next chapter is going to be longer, I promise. It should be up in a few days. Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter.

Here's a thanks section for Chapter Seven:
Geneathen - More predictions. Goodness, you should consider becoming a Seer! :)
Satans Little Princess - Thanx!
Hikari47 - Yes, I can explain that - she didn't know.
Noodlejelly -Don't worry. Anyway, no, Hermione did not know she was expecting - no-one did.
scifisarah D - Thanx!
E. C. R. Potter - Ginny's problem has now been revealed. :)
Heaven - Thanx!
Revia - Thank you. Your menacing glare will do nothing to me. i will simply ignore it. I will however, be posting the next chapter soon!
bookworm4ever - Thanx!
Oliverwoodschic - Thanx, I kinda realised I had written hardly anything for Draco and Padma, so I thought I'd add something!
AznGolDragonGod - I realised that when I read your review.
Kaitzee - Sirius. Hmm... where has he been? Outer Mongolia I believe...
sugar-n-spice - Yes, I am a girl. You had a good point in your review, which is why in the next chapter I have a reasonable explainationfor why Hermione was in so much pain.
aaliyah-potter - Thanx!
hermioneharry4ever - I aim to shock, though I'm guessing that the miscarriage was as much of a shock to Hermione as well.
HarryNZ - Thanx!
Abby-Potter - There probably won't be too much more darker stuff. There's only a certain amount that I can write. This chapter was probably the last really dark chapter.
Arwen Potter - Thanx!
Harry + Hermione 2gether 4ever - Thanx!

Review, Flame, Whatever.

silverphoenix