Till There Was You

Chapter 9: Pretty Baby

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimer…

A/N: So it's been over a week since I last updated… I was planning to post this by last Saturday…so much for my plans. I'm starting typing this now (10:53 Tuesday morning…its election day so I'm off school…) but I don't know if I'll finish in time to post it today…. This chapter is turning out way longer than I even expected it to be. It's already 11 hand written pages (front and back) and I'm still not done. For comparison…. My first chapter was a page and a front hand written. So we'll have to wait and see how long this is typed. Maybe its not as I long as I think it is. Well I hope you enjoy it!

you light me up and then i fall for you 
you lay me down and then i call for you
stumbling on reasons that are far and few
i'd let it all come down and then some for you
 
pretty baby don't you leave me
i have been saving smiles for you
pretty baby why can't you see
you're the one that i belong to 
i'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
for you're the sun that breaks the storm
i'll be alright and i'll sleep sound
as long as you keep comin' round, oh pretty baby
 
and i know things can't last forever
but there are lessons that you'll never learn
oh just the scent of you it makes me hurt
so how's it you that makes me better
 
pretty baby don't you leave me
i have been saving smiles for you
pretty baby why can't you see
you're the one that i belong to 
i'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
for you're the sun that breaks the storm
i'll be alright and i'll sleep sound
as long as you keep comin' 
 
why can't you hold me and never let go
when you touch me it is me that you own
-Pretty Baby, Vanessa Carlton

Hermione, Ginny and Harry were sitting in at the Weasley kitchen table. Hermione was intensely reading a book and Harry was skimming through the Daily Prophet. Ginny picked at a salad on the plate in front of her and sighed in boredom.

            "What are you reading?" she asked Hermione. Hermione snapped her head up as if she had forgotten anyone else was in the room.

            "Oh! Nothing," she said quickly, folding down the page she was on and shutting the book.

            "You can't do that! You've got to tell me now," Ginny whined, now actually wanting to know what Hermione had been reading.

            "It's just some light reading."

            "Anything I might enjoy?"

            "Probably not," Hermione shook her head.

            "Oh well I'll have a look to make sure though… you never know. Accio!" Ginny pointed her wand at the book. Hermione's mouth fell open as Ginny opened the book to the folded page and began to read. Ginny's face soon wore a look similar to Hermione's. She looked up from the book and Hermione swallowed, waiting.

            "Are you pregnant?" Ginny burst out. At the word pregnant Harry's face popped out from behind the paper and her looked back and forth between Hermione and Ginny.

            "No!" Hermione stated, "I mean yes, I mean…" she stammered. "I don't know."

            "But you could be?"

            "Yes."

            Ginny's face immediately lit up with glee. "This is so exciting!" she squealed. "Have you picked out which spell you're going to use yet? Ginny glanced down at the book again.

            "No. Pregnancy tests seem to be on department the magical world isn't too great with. None of the spells are very accurate, and most of them have horrible side effects. One of them if you are pregnant, has been known to give your child two heads. They're not worth it."

            "What are you going to do then?"

            "Muggles have test for this kind of thing. But they're not very reliable themselves."

            "So you're just going to wait it out? I don't think I'd have that much patience."

            "There's not much else I can do."

            "You could go see a medi-witch," Ginny suggested. "She could tell you."

            "I will, but I think I'm going to give it a few more days," Hermione desperately wanted to drop the subject.

            "Have you told Ron?" Ginny's eyes danced with excitement again.

            "No!" Hermione stated firmly. "And I'm not going to until I know for sure."

            "Oh but you have to! Tell him when he and Fred get home! He'll be so excited!" Hermione wanted to scream at Ginny. None of this was as exciting or happy as Ginny perceived it to be. The last thing she need right now was for Ginny to squeal to Ron.

            "Exactly," Hermione tried to make her voice calm. "I don't want to get his hopes up over nothing."

            "But he'd still want to know Mione. I know he would. Harry, if I thought I was pregnant wouldn't you want to know?"

            Harry looked back and forth between the two women staring at him expectantly.

            "Yeah, I would, but I think that's different," Harry tried to remain neutral.

            "How? I don't think it's different at all," Ginny argued.

            "Because I'm not Ron. I'd be excited but Ron would probably have a nursery painted by the end of the day. I don't think she should tell him anything until she knows and is ready to tell him. And don't you even think about letting the knowledge "accidentally" slip." Harry answered, making the decision that Hermione being able to keep this from Ron until after she talked to Fred was more important than avoiding a tiff with Ginny.

            "Fine," Ginny pouted. "But see if I tell either of you when I'm pregnant."

            "You better tell me when you're pregnant," Harry responded.

            "Nope. I'll just keep it all to myself. You won't have a clue until I start showing. For all you know I could be pregnant right now," Ginny stood her ground.

            "Are you?" Harry raised an eyebrow, calling her bluff.

            "Well no," she admitted. "But I wish I was!"

            "Wha?" Harry sputtered out, surprised by Ginny's announcement.

            "She gets to do everything first," Ginny threw her hands up and motioned towards Hermione. "She was the first to start a serious relationship, she was the first to be proposed to, she'll be the first to get married, and now she gets to be the first one to have a baby."

            "Hey!" Hermione defended herself. "I don't know if I'm even pregnant yet!"

            " And you can't blame Hermione for getting to do those things before you," Harry added.

            "Oh I don't," Ginny smiled slightly, looked down at her salad and then back up at Harry. "I blame you. Honestly," she shook her head, "letting Ron beat you to everything. I'd have expected more from the famous Harry Potter. Apparently, fame isn't everything." Ginny now grinned at Harry mischievously. He tried to cover his amusement with a look of anger; however his eyes still dances with delight. Suddenly at almost the exact same time Harry and Ginny leaped out of their chairs and a giggling Ginny was chased out of the kitchen by Harry.      

            Hermione sighed as the happy couple disappeared from sight. She looked back at the book that was now lying open on the table, and groaned. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't be pregnant. Not now. She worried constantly about whose it was, but found the question bothering her even more was, whose did she want it to be? When these questions became too much to handle Hermione would quickly remind herself that she wasn't sure if she even was pregnant and would try to focus on something else. Now the only other thing she could think about was that Ginny knew he secret. Ginny wasn't exactly known for he secret keeping skills when it came to gossip. While she had had no problem not telling Fred and George about the party, she had managed to inform Hermione about Ron's plans to propose before he actually went through with them. This meant, with Harry's help, she'd have a week at the most before at least someone in the Weasley family knew about her pregnancy issue. This meant she had to tell Fred, and the sooner, the better. She decided to tell him the next morning after Ron left for France again. Hermione put the conversation with Fred on the top of her things to do list and tried to convince herself that everything would be all right.

            Around ten that evening Ron Fred, and George entered the kitchen where Hermione had again sat herself to do some reading.

            "Did you guys have fun?" she asked Ron and Fred, figuring they had met up with George somewhere later.

            "Cannons actually almost won," Ron said excitedly.

            "With all of the riding new Firebolts their game better have improved," George said. "Plus with Wood as captain as team captain I'm sure they've been practicing more than should be legally allowed," he added, laughing a little.

            "We ran in to Harry and Ginny at the Leaky Cauldron when we were meeting up with George and Katie afterwards," Ron called, his head buried in the refrigerator.

            "Oh you saw Harry and Ginny?"

            "Yeah. Harry was bloody jealous we saw the new 'Bolts in action." Ron responded. Hermione however didn't catch all of it because she was surprised to hear a voice whispering into her ear.

            "We need to talk," Fred gave her a serious look before taking a seat and rejoining the group conversation. Hermione's heart began to race. Ginny told! She must have been bursting to tell Ron when she saw him and settled for the next best person. Hermione inwardly groaned, seriously wondering if Harry would be too angry if she injured Ginny.

The next morning Hermione took her time making her way up to the attic. When she got there, she knock softly and entered when she heard a mumbled "Come in."

            She quietly shut the door behind her. Fred was sitting at his desk quickly writing something. He looked up when he heard the door close and Hermione felt her stomach knot up at the look on his face. While he didn't look angry his familiar grin was missing from his face and his usually sparkling blue eyes, that Hermione so often found her comfort in, looked tired and serious.

            "You said you needed to see me?" Hermione felt like a little kid answering to her parents after she did something wrong.

            "Yeah. Mione, I need to talk to you about something."

            "I need to talk to you too," Hermione replied even though she knew they probably wanted to talk about the same thing.

            "Mione," Fred paused for a moment looking away before he was able to look straight back into her eyes. "I don't think we can do this anymore." He searched for a reaction but Hermione simply stood there, flabbergasted. "Yesterday," Fred continued. "With Ron. I realized what I was doing. He's my brother! And it's not just what I'm doing to him. It's what I'm doing to both of you. IF it weren't for me you'd be happy. You'd be with Ron and everything would be right. Instead you come to me in tears because you're miserable…because of me. I think this was all a mistake."

            "What?" Hermione gasped in shock feeling as though someone had just punched her in the stomach.

            "I'm sorry Mione," Fred pleaded with her. "Don't think I don't love you, because that will never be true. Hermione Granger I will love you until the day I die, but that's why I have to do this. When I was talking to Ron Mione, he says you always seem depressed. He says you try to hide it but that he can tell. And I know I'm the reason you're this way. We knew we could do this forever; we might as well stop the pain now.

            Hermione opened her mouth to protest but Fred stopped her by continuing.

            "The sooner we end it, the sooner we can move on with our lives. You can fix your problems with Ron, and maybe I can find someone. Actually," Fred paused averting his eyes from Hermione's. "George is setting me up with a friend of Katie's tonight," he mumbled. Hermione's mouth fell open. How could he be doing this to her now? How could he now, when she needed him to be there, now that she could be pregnant with his child, tell her he wants to end it? And start dating? Hermione knew technically she had no right to be jealous, considering she was still engaged, but the revelation had still felt as though Fred had used a hammer to shatter her heart. Without ever getting out a word of response Hermione exited the room, and ran down the stairs to her own, unable to control the tears flowing down her face.

Hermione had been trying to busy herself reading in the study when she heard Katie and her friend arrive to go on their date with Fred and George. She had wanted to throw up as she listened to the introductions, and heard the four in the living room joking and laughing. She couldn't believe this was happening. Earlier she made an appointment for Thursday with the medi-witch. Hermione wished that she could tell Fred what was going on. She wished she could make him see that it wasn't him that made her life sad, but that he was the one thing that was keeping her alive. But she couldn't help but think that by not chasing after Fred she was helping him. Fred sounded happy and Hermione couldn't help but tell herself that this was what was right. Fred and George charming women with their combined wits, having fun, laughing. That was the way his life was supposed to be, just the way her life was supposed to be, with Ron, Harry and Ginny. She had to let Fred do this. They had to start living their lives the way they were supposed to. 'Yeah we'll if this is the way it's supposed to be, then why does it feel so wrong?' she thought to herself. She willed herself not to cry again when she finally heard the couples apparate out. She knew doing what was "right" wasn't the only thing keeping her from going to Fred. The fact that he was trying to move on scared her. She was afraid if she begged him he still wouldn't listen to her, he'd decide this was what he really wanted. Hermione didn't think she could take it if he wouldn't give into her pleas knowing all her had to do was touch her, and she was his.

Tuesday morning Harry was entering the Weasley kitchen when he passed Hermione exiting, her arms full of junk food and dressed in pajama pants and a bright orange Cannons sweat shirt she had stolen from Ron, that she only wore when she was sick. She continued walking, not noticing Harry. Harry stared after he for a moment, a little confused, but then continued into the kitchen and proceeded to pour himself a bowl of cereal.

"Don't you keep food at your place Potter? I think you eat every meal of the day here." Harry heard a voice behind him. Fred had entered the kitchen.

"Do you know what's up with Mione?" Harry asked, figuring Fred would be the most likely candidate to know what had put Hermione in the state he had seen her in this morning.

"Hermione? Why?" Fred suddenly became very alert.

" I saw her leaving the kitchen this morning with enough junk food to feed the Hogwarts Express. She was kind of dazed too; she didn't even notice me. I thought you might know what was wrong with her."

"I don't…" Fred started but was interrupted when his twin entered the kitchen.

"So how'd you like her?" George grinned.        

"Like who?" Harry asked.

" The beautiful girl Katie and I set him up with last night," George smiled. "And from the lip lock I saw them in, I'd say he liked her alright."

"Does Hermione know about this?"

"She knows." Fred wouldn't look at Harry. "I told her yesterday morning when I told her that I… that we… When I told her we needed to end it," Fred spat out. Fred wasn't sure how Harry would react, but he hoped he'd agree that he was doing the right thing.

"You did what?" Harry exploded.

"I ended it. No need to congratulate me for finally doing the right thing."

"You gave up your chance to do the right thing two months ago. The right thing now would be to come clean and go be with the girl you love. Not pretend like you never fell in love with her. Then again right now I'm not quite sure whether you actually love her or if she's just good in the sack."

Fred eyes flared at Harry's comment. "You know damned well how much I love her!" he yelled.

"Do I?" Harry's voice was calm but scolding and bitter. "How much can you really love her if when she need you more than ever, you leave her on her own?"

"Hermione doesn't need me. She may think she does, but she doesn't."

"Of course she needs you. Especially now!" Harry couldn't believe Fred couldn't see how important it was that he be there for Hermione.

"Why now? Why am I suddenly even more important?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Harry softened his face, as her realized Fred was clueless about what was going on. He looked at him sympathetically before deciding he should tell him.

"Hermione might be pregnant," he stated as he watched Fred face transform from confusion to shock, "and she doesn't know if it's Ron's…. or yours."

"Ha Ha!" they heard George erupt from the other side of the room. "Harry you're such a kidder!" They looked up at George curious at what had caused his odd outburst, and were answered when they followed his gaze. Standing in the entrance to the kitchen was Ginny.

Though George had tried, and attempt to cover up their conversation would prove useless, as Fred couldn't recover from his shock and none of them knew how long Ginny had been standing there; however the look on her face let them know that it had been long enough to understand what was going on.

"Ginny…" Fred began.

"Fred Weasley! You better explain to me exactly what is going on right now! And you better have one good explanation for what I thought I just heard!" Ginny's voice raised and she spoke in a manner that reminded everyone in the room of Molly.

"Ginny calm down…"

"Are you or are you not fooling around with Hermione?" she asked bluntly not wanting Fred to try and dance around the answer.

"No! Well sort of but see it's not like that…"Fred searched for a way to answer that would show Ginny his relationship with Hermione wasn't just a game.

"Are you or are you not having sex with your brother's fiancée?" Ginny wanted an answer.

"Yes. I am." Fred gave her one. At this Ginny's eyes closed for a moment but then flipped back open, flashing with anger.

"How could you do this?" she screamed.

"Ginny listen…"

"No you listen! What in the world could have possessed you to do anything this stupid? I knew you weren't the brightest crayon in the box, but this is beyond…"

"Gin maybe you should calm down. You don't want to say anything you don't mean." Harry attempted to placate her.

"Oh you don't even want me to get started on you Harry Potter! But you're worried about me hurting my brother's feelings? I guess I can move on then," she said glaring at her fiancée, who held his ground. "You two! Out!" Ginny pointed the twins to the door, not removing her eyes from Harry. The twins hurried out, not wanting to witness the fight.

"How long have you known about this?" Ginny questioned.

"About a month," he replied. He was the only person the Weasleys had ever met who wouldn't back down from Ginny in her furious rages.

"And you didn't tell anyone?" You didn't tell Ron?" she exclaimed.

"OF course I didn't tell Ron. What the hell would I say? 'Sorry mate but I wanted to let you know that your brother's been shagging your girl while you were gone.' Ginny, I've been spending the past month trying to get Hermione to tell Ron she can't marry him. She won't do it though."

"Then you should have. You're betraying Ron as much as they are."

"Hermione has been my friend as long as Ron. She trusted me because she knows I understand the love that she feels for your brother and I refuse to break her trust."

"She must not love him very much if she's treating on him with our brother."

"I'm not talking about Ron Ginny. Don't you see? Hermione and Fred are in love with each other."

"They're not in love. Maybe in lust, but NOT in love."

"Yes they are Ginny. They're in love the same way you and I are."

"You must not think very much of our love if you can compare it to them."

"You must not think very much of our love if you can't look at them and see that when Fred looks at her when she enters a room, is the same way that I look at you."

"Well if neither of us think very much about our love then maybe we should call the wedding off."

"If that's what will make you happy Ginny then maybe we should."

"Fine! It's off then!"

"Fine! It's off." Harry threw his hands up in defeat and exited the kitchen.

Ginny entered her brothers' room without knocking. She wasn't angry anymore. Her fight with Harry had wiped her out too much to be angry anymore.

"Fred I want to understand this," she said calmly to her brother, who was already wincing in anticipation of an outburst.

"No yelling?"

"No yelling," she assured him.

"It's not how you think it is Gin. It's not just some stupid fling. I'm in love with her. I know that doesn't sound much better, but I just want you to know that neither of us are dealing with this lightly."

"If you're so in love with her Fred, then why did you tell her you weren't?"

"I never told her that!" Fred raised his voice a little.

"You ended it with her. You started this with her, and then you left her all alone."

"I made it clear that I will always love her. I ended it because I love her. This was putting way to much stress on her. She's been unhappy. She'll be better off trying to forget it ever happened."

"Forget it happened! Oh Fred you really are stupid. If you think..." Ginny began raising her voice.

"You said no yelling."

"Sorry," she stopped. "Does Hermione know that's why you ended it? For her?"

"I think so," he said.

"In other words, she doesn't. She thinks you ended things because you couldn't handle it anymore. Well Fred, if you really broke it off with her for her own good, I recommend you go down there and fix it."

"I can't Gin. If Mione honestly didn't want things to end then she wouldn't have let them. She would have fought with me."

"But she thinks that this is what's best for you!"

"Well maybe if we're both trying to do what is best for each other, then this is what's best."

"Fred, I want you to think about whether you think this is what's best for you, then maybe you'll go talk to her."

Ginny left her brother's room and padded down the stairs headed for Hermione's. She slowly opened Hermione's door. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Hermione, who she found sitting on her bed with a romance novel she recognized as her own. Hermione's face showed traces of tears, and he outfit suggested she had never gotten dressed. She was a mess.

"You really think that's the best choice of literature at the moment?" Ginny asked, smiling slightly.

"It's nice to know someone's love life is more messed up than my own," Hermione laughed sadly. "Harry came and warned me that you know. I'm so sorry Ginny. I really don't know how I started any of this."

"It's okay," Ginny calmed.

"You're not mad?"

"Only a little. But that's just because I love Ron, and he doesn't deserve this."

"I know."

"I know you're expecting me to tell you to tell him, but I'm not. Don't worry I won't tell him either. Forget I'm Ron's sister. Right now I'm your best friend and you need me, so I'm going to be here for you." She sat on the bed and hugged Hermione. Finally receiving the comfort she'd needed all along, Hermione broke down in sobs of distress.

When her tears finally subsided, Hermione smiles. "I'm so glad you know Ginny. I really need you right now."

"That's what friends are for."

"And about the not telling Ron thing," Hermione grinned. "Isn't that how the fight started that led to you breaking of your engagement?"

Ginny blushed. "He told you?"

"Yeah. He had to let me know I won the bet."

"Bet?"

"Ron, Fred, George, Harry And I all made bets on how long it would be before you "ended" the engagement. I came closest."

"Oh thanks for having enough faith in me to give me such a long period of time," Ginny said sarcastically.

"Hey! Ron gave you a week!"

"What about Harry? A couple of days?"

"Actually…" Hermione paused. "Harry said never. He didn't think you'd ever do it."

"Oh," Ginny suddenly felt very guilty for her hasty words. "I guess I should go talk to him."

"Yes. You should."

"Speaking of talking things out. I think there are two other people in the house who need to talk things out too," Ginny hinted before leaving the room.

Ginny found Harry downstairs, lying on the couch in the living room.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he replied. He lifted his shoulders off the sofa so Ginny could sit down and then repositioned his head in her lap.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she said

"It's okay."

"I didn't mean what I said. You have to believe me on that. I don't want to not marry you. You know that when I get angry I…"

"Gin I hate to break it to you, but you can't break up with a guy 173 times while you're dating him, and expect him to take you seriously when you try to call of the engagement," he smiled.

"173? Was it that many?" Ginny looked down at him.

"A man remembers how many times his hearts been broken," Harry feigned a hurt expression.

"Oh shut it," Ginny swatted at his shoulder. "If I broke up with you that many times, why in Merlin's name would you put money on the chance I wouldn't again."

"I didn't feel right betting on when my fiancée would hand me back my ring," he answered thoughtfully. Then a small grin appeared on his face and he peered up at Ginny. "And I figured if you found out you'd feel even worse, so the making up would be even better." He smiled suggestively.

"You!" Ginny tried to be angry but struggled not to smile.

"Are you saying I was wrong?"

Ginny now put on her seductive game face. "I guess we'll just have to go to your house and find out."

With that they stood up and Ginny quickly disapparated, closely followed by Harry.

That night Fred wandered to the bathroom for his shower only to find it occupied. He leaned up against the wall waiting for the occupant to exit. After he had been waiting a moment he heard a loud shout from the bathroom.

"Yes lord! Thank you Jesus!" he heard Hermione's voice exclaim. A few moments later the door opened and Hermione froze when she saw Fred. After a short silence she turned down the hall and went in to her room closing the door behind her.  Fred considered going after her but decided against it.

After his shower Fred was heading up toward his room when he heard a noise from Hermione's room. He fought his urge to go see her but lost. He opened her door and found her sitting against the wall crying.

"Are you alright?" he asked suddenly very concerned.

"I'm not pregnant," she said through her tears.

"Those don't look like tears of joy…"

"I know! I should be happy shouldn't I? But I'm not!" she sobbed. Fred pulled her to her feet and tightly wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair, soothing her. "I know its selfish but I wanted it to be pregnant."

"What? Why?"

"Because I guess I figured if I was pregnant, it would be yours and then I wouldn't be able to marry Ron, and we'd be forced to tell everyone, and we'd be together. You wouldn't feel like you needed to leave me and we'd be together. All the horrible things it would have meant if I had been pregnant, and I still wanted to be. Because I knew if I was, I'd still have you. Fred I don't want to end it now. I need you," she cried into his chest, her hands clinging to his back.

"I need you too," he whispered.

"Can't we just stay like this?" she said softly. "Just never let go, then we'll both be ok." As she said this Fred tightened their embrace and buried his face in her hair. Ginny had been right. This was what was best for him, for both of them.

A/N: I FINALLY finished this. I seriously figured I'd have it out within a couple of days of chapter eight. Little did I know, it would be so long. (well it seems long to me…) I'm not sure when chapter 10 will be up. Probably in a week or two. It depends on my workload from school. Also this weekend I'm planning on beginning posting the Christmas story I'm writing. It's primarily Harry/Ginny but contrary to my original plans there's Fred/Hermione stuff in it. So keep a look out for that!  I hope you liked this chapter, and maybe its length made up for my broken promises of when I'd have it up?? Well plleeaaaassseee review. I swear I think I live for reviews now. I check them as soon as I get home from school everyday, and several times throughout the course of the evening. Also as I said before, the more reviews I get the harder I work, so if you want more chapters faster… review!  Well I guess that's all for now!

Love,

Bella