A/n: Wow! 102 reviews! I never knew I'd get that many reviews for a fic! Especially coz this is my first one! I can't believe it! I'm so happy! Thank you sooo much guys!

Chapter Twenty

            Hermione barely slept a wink last night. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. Most of all, she couldn't stop thinking about Ron. How sad he had been. How angry his expression was. How shocked and betrayed he felt. She realized how much he really cared for her. She felt her stomach again, then sighed. Tears began to form in her eyes again. Stop crying! You did this to yourself! Hermione thought to herself. It was a Sunday, meaning students could go to Hogsmeade. Hermione sighed again. She was hungry but she couldn't dare face Ron after what happened. She had a feeling he probably told Harry and Ginny and that made her feel even more embarrassed. She was ashamed of herself.

            What am I gonna do now? She thought. Now that Ron knows…ugh! This is so complicated! I don't know what to do! Think Hermione! Think! She turned to her side and saw a picture of her, Ron, Harry and Ginny on her bedside table. In the picture, they were all smiling and laughing. Hermione (in the picture) had her arm around Ron while Ginny and Harry were giggling beside him. The real Hermione, however, started to cry. I wish it was still like this…I wish none of this ever happened.

~          *          ~          *          ~

            Ron noticed that Hermione was avoiding him. Even if it had already been a week since their little 'incident' in the clinic, she looked even more unhappy and tired. He wanted to go up to her and cheer her up with one of his lame jokes. That always made her laugh. But for some reason, something was stopping him. Something he couldn't explain. It felt like there was a barrier between them now. A barrier he couldn't break. But he knew he had to.

            Hermione also seemed to ignore Ginny and Harry as well. Whenever Ginny would try to have a conversation with her, she would merely nod and walk away. Harry tried to talk to her as well, but she just shrugged him off and carried on with her work. She was always in the library or in her room. People hardly saw her. She still patrolled the halls at night, but usually on her own.

            "So, did she finally say more than 'yes', 'ok', 'no' or 'maybe' to you?" Ginny asked Harry during lunch.

            Harry shook his head. "No. I think I'm starting to bug her. Whenever I walk to her she gets this irritated look."

            "Ron, have you tried talking to her?" Ginny asked.

            "No. I don't think I can." Ron replied. He searched the Gryffindor table for Hermione, but couldn't find her. "She's probably in the library again. She's not here."

            "Poor Herm!" Ginny sighed. "We try to help her, we really do. But she's just too stubborn!"

            "That's Hermione alright." Harry agreed. "You know how she rarely asks for help. She wants to be independent. She always wants things to be done by herself so she can feel proud."
            "But she can't go on by herself anymore!" Ginny argued. "She needs us. I can see that in her eyes. She's lost and confused and alone. You know how the say, 'the times your friends push you away are the times they need you most'. That's so true."

            "Personally, I - " Harry began but he got cut off as someone's elbow hit him on the head.

            "Oops. I didn't mean to do that." Lavender smirked. "It must be because your big head was in the way Harry."

            "Get the fuck away from us, bitch." Ron said rudely. Lavender scowled at him and walked away to sit with a bunch of Hufflepuff boys.

            "Honestly, I can't believe you saw something in that whore." Ginny gritted. "Sorry. It just came out."

            "Hey, what can I say? The truth hurts." Ron grinned.

            Ginny grinned back at her brother. Even if Ron tried to look cheerful, she knew that deep inside he was hurting because of Hermione. She took a huge gulp from her drink and said, "So what were you saying Harry?"
            "Well, I think that maybe, Ron should talk to her." Harry suggested.

            "Why me?" Ron asked.

            "Hermione usually opens up to you more than she does to me or even Ginny." Harry answered. "The two of you have this…this bond that I can't explain. It's like, you guys feel what each other's feeling. It's kinda strange…but anything that has to do with you, Ron, is strange."

            Ron punched Harry playfully in the arm.

            "But you know what the thing she is most ashamed off?" Ginny asked. "She's most ashamed of the fact that Ron knows."

            Ron gave her a quizzical look.

            Ginny sighed. "Must I explain everything? We all know she likes you and you like her back. But for some stupid reason, you went out with Lavender. I don't know why. Maybe you were trying to make her jealous? Who knows?"

            "Excuse m-" Ron began to argue but Ginny kept going.

            "I have to agree with Harry. I think you guys oughta talk this out."

            "I – I don't know." Ron answered softly.

            "Please Ron. Do it for me and Harry. Do it for yourself. And most of all do it for Hermione." Ginny pleaded. Then, a group of Ravenclaw girls passed by them.

            "You know that Hermione girl?" One of them said.

            "That girl in Gryffindor? The head girl?" Another asked.

            "Yeah that one." The first girl nodded.

            "What about her?" Another girl asked.

            "Well, I heard she was…pregnant." The first girl whispered.

            "What? How do you know this for sure?" The second girl asked curiously. "I thought she was just fat but I didn't expect her to be pregnant!"

            "My friend's friend's cousin's best friend's boyfriend's girlfriend's niece's brother's friend overheard Madame Pomfrey telling Professor Mcgonagall about it." The first girl said proudly.

            "I always knew that she was a skank!" The second girl said.

            "Hermione is not a skank! That's one of the last things she is!" Ron snapped angrily at them and walked away.

*          ~          *          ~          *

            Hermione quickly made her way to her room. She didn't want to have any encounters with anybody. She rarely spoke to the Prefects and when they try to start up a conversation with her, she would make up a lie and leave. As she walked up the stairs, something grabbed her arm.

            "Excuse me, but will you please let me go?" She said, not turning around. She suddenly had that feeling in her stomach. Her heart was beating rapidly and she immediately suspected who the person was.

            "Not unless you talk to me first." The voice replied.

            "I'm not in the mood to talk to anybody right now." Hermione responded, still not looking at the person who grabbed her. "Will you please let me go now? I'll scream if you don't. I'm a Head Girl mind you…"

            "I know. Everyone knows. Miss perfect Hermione Granger." The voice answered. "Don't you have a few minutes to spare, even for me?"

            Hermione turned around and was right. It was Ron, standing there with his sad, pleading eyes. "Oh not those eyes again. You know how those eyes make me feel like a cold heartless creature."

            Ron grinned. "I know. That's why I use them."

            Hermione smiled. Then her smile disappeared as she remembered what happened. She put a hand on her stomach and couldn't bear to look at Ron. "So, uh, what did you wanna talk to me about?"

            Ron was still staring at her though. She looked so melancholy and frail. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

            "I – I – I don't know what you're talking about." Hermione said as she looked at the ground.   

            "You've been avoiding Harry and Ginny too." Ron continued. "Why Hermione? Why?"

            "Don't ask me questions! I have so many questions myself, and I have no answers for them!" Hermione cried. "I – I don't know what to do anymore!"

            "I told Harry and Ginny you were pregnant." Ron told her. "I didn't tell him who the father was though. Word's been spreading around the school. The professors already know."

            Hermione nodded. "I know. Madame Pomfrey's giving me a strict diet of what I should and shouldn't eat. She's helping me go through this…but it's not enough. I wish I didn't have to…"

            Ron reached for Hermione's hands and held them tightly. He looked at her and said, "If only I could, I would take the pain away from you and suffer through it myself instead of seeing you getting hurt like this."
            Hermione looked at him and tears formed in her eyes. "Oh God, Ron. Please! Stop it! How can you be so kind when I've been so stupid?"

            Ron held her close and they sat on the stairs. "Because I love you."

            "What?"
            "I love you, Hermione. Ever since our first year. I couldn't tell you, I was too scared and shy. I didn't think you'd like me more than a friend."

            "Oh, Ron."

            "I tried to forget about you. That's why I went out with Lavender. But she was nothing like you. You were one of a kind. I knew there was something in you that none of the other girls had. You were smart, kind, determined, beautiful…Hermione you were perfect."

            "Stop it Ron! Stop it!" Hermione cried. "Just shut up! You don't know what you're saying!"

            "Yes I do. It's what I should've said all along. Then maybe this wouldn't have happened."

            Suddenly, two boys began to go up the stairs they were sitting on.

"Is that the guy she slept with?" A young third-year boy asked curiously to his friend.

            "Yeah I think it is. Who else?" His friend replied.

            "Maybe Harry Potter!" The boy suggested.

            Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She stood up and ran to her room.

            "For your information you little brats, Hermione did not sleep with me or Harry Potter. Understand?" Ron scolded them angrily.

            "Ye-yes-s-s-sir. Wha-Whattever you s-s-say!" The boy stuttered and ran off with his friend.

            Ron sighed and continued on downstairs. Well that went well, he thought to himself.

A/n: AWw…wasn't that sweet? Now go be sweethearts and review my story! Hehehe thanks to:

Sunshine stargirl

Rw fan

Melzie Potter – thanks for the suggestion I might consider it!

Serge99

Natasha

Lucy ;) xxx

Bec 
Nugristiel08LG