Disclaimer: All characters so far are owned by J.K. Rowling and Scholastic
Inc.
The Cost of Passion
Chapter Seven: New Beginnings
Over the next few months, things between Harry and Hermione seemed to be getting better. After the night at her parents house and the fight with Ron, Hermione did seem to be quite shaken up, but she had definitely taken a turn for the best when Harry came to help her pick up the pieces. Harry had asked her to move in with him, but she had politely declined.
"Oh honestly Harry, we really shouldn't be doing that! I'll stay at my own apartment. I don't want to be a bother to you," she had said, and Harry couldn't help feel that she meant it.
As the days went by, she only seemed to be becoming more and more pregnant, and the emotions were also changing. One day, she'd as happy as anyone could be, but the next she'd be very emotional and not wanting to be around anyone. At first, Harry thought it had been something he had done, but then Hermione's mother had reassured him that it was completely normal for her to be doing this. It definitely relieved him. Thins were going wonderfully between them, but Harry still felt as though there was something missing. He knew that what they did had been wrong, but he wanted to somehow make it better. Finally, he thought he had found the perfect way to do that.
"I'm coming, be there in a second!" Harry heard Mr. Granger's muffled voice from inside the house.
When he answered the door, he saw Harry standing there, looking quite nervous for some reason.
"Hello Harry, what brings you here?" Mr. Granger asked, inviting him inside the house.
"There's just been something that I've been wanting to discuss with you and Mrs. Granger for a few weeks, and I think that now seems to be the right time," Harry nervously said, following Mr. Granger into the living room.
Mrs. Granger must have heard the conversation from her position in the kitchen because when the two men arrived in the living room, she was setting the small coffee table with tea and cookies. Harry politely declined. He didn't know how well this meeting would go, and he was afraid that if he were to eat, he'd probably throw up. After a few minutes of quiet, Mr. Granger finally broke the silence.
"So Harry," he said with a smile, "what brings you here?"
"Well," Harry quietly started, "I'm sure that the recent circumstances between Hermione and I have been less than pleasing to the both of you," he paused at this, hoping not to receive any negative energy. "But, I want you to know, even though Hermione probably doesn't know this, I've loved her since the beginning of our seventh year, I was just too afraid to tell her because of her relationship with Ron. With everything that has been going on lately, I've only grown to love her a little more every day. I can only hope that she feels the same way about me. That's why, I've came here tonight to ask you both for your daughter's hand in marriage."
He really wasn't expecting the reaction that he received. At his words, Mrs. Granger gasped, and Mr. Granger's eyes widened. But, the both of them seemed quite happy. Harry was expecting them to think that this was only out of pity for the situation that he had gotten their daughter into, but he really did love her, and he didn't care what kind of situation they found themselves in, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Hermione, and he sincerely hoped that she would feel the same way about him.
Mr. Granger smiled, "Nothing would make us happier than to allow this. We've known how you really feel about Hermione ever since the morning you came knocking on our front door at two a.m. just to see if Hermione was all right."
By this time, Mrs. Granger was all but sobbing, but he could see that they were only tears of joy. Then, Harry suddenly remembered something.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, "I almost forgot. I went out and bought a ring hoping that you would say yes, and I wanted to know if you'd like to see it."
Mr. Granger laughed, "Rather confident weren't we Harry? I'm only joking," he quickly said after seeing the severe look his wife had shot him, "Sure, left's have a look at it."
Harry reached inside his jeans pocket and took out the small box that contained the ring that he was planning on surprising Hermione with. He handed it to Mrs. Granger, and she opened it. She gasped once again before handing it to her husband. Harry really hoped they would like it. He had spent about a week at least searching for the perfect one. He had finally selected the perfect one only the day before. There was a diamond set in the middle of the band, and two emeralds were surrounding it on its sides. They were all set into a platinum band that Harry had asked to be specially engraved just for Hermione.
"To the love of my life, Hermione"
Both of Hermione's parents seemed quite happy by the ring, and they were only more excited of Harry's proposal. When he finally departed, he knew what he had to do next. He was going to ask Hermione to be his wife.
Harry had went to visit Hermione at work. She worked in the Muggle Relations department at the Ministry of Magic. Harry had decided that he would ask her out on a romantic dinner date and then propose to her. He was so nervous now that he didn't even know if he'd be able to make it through. He sat down in her office and waited for her to return from running an errand. He looked to see the pictures that were on her desk. She only had two. One was of he, Hermione, and Ron at the beginning of their seventh year. They looked like three teenagers who were young and carefree. He wondered, did Hermione know how he felt about her then and just not say anything? That had to be about the time that he had realized his feelings for her. The other pictures was of he and Hermione. It had been taken only a few weeks ago by her mother. The two of them looked so happy together. He only hoped it would last. About that time, Hermione re- entered her office, quite surprised to see Harry.
"Hello dear," she said, kissing him lightly on the lips, "what brings you here?"
"Nothing much, and I can't stay long, I just wanted to make sure that you were going to be ready tonight around eight when I come to pick you up for dinner," Harry said, placing his arm around her waist.
"Yeah sure, I can be ready then, what's the occasion?" she asked.
"Oh nothing," he said smiling, "can't a guy just take his beautiful girlfriend out for dinner?"
"I guess, but I don't know why you'd consider me beautiful at the moment," she said, placing her hand over her belly.
He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, "It only makes you more beautiful. I'll pick you up at eight, and make sure to look as beautiful as you do now!"
With that, he kissed her on the lips before departing. Hermione was quite curious as to why they were going out tonight, but she put it at the back of her mind and continued on with her work.
About ten minutes to seven, Hermione was quickly trying to finish getting ready. She had decided to wear a soft pink dress, one that actually still fit her. After all of this time of being pregnant, maternity clothes turned out not to be too bad, but she would definitely be happy when she would no longer have to wear them. She'd done her make up and hair as best she could, and she was now trying to get her shoes on. It's just one of those things that you can't do very well when you're pregnant. When she finally finished, she heard a knock at the door. She finally reached it, and she saw Harry standing there in her favorite emerald green shirt and black pants with his black tie. Then, he handed her a single red rose and kissed her on the cheek.
"Are you ready my love?" he said.
"Yeah, I'm ready for whatever you've got planned!" she said, hoping this evening would be a good one.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Hermione saw that it was one of her absolute favorite places to eat in the entire Muggle world. The table that they sat at was lit by candlelight, there were roses on the table, and the scene couldn't have been more romantic. Harry told Hermione to order whatever she wanted, and she did. Anything that she could think of at that moment she'd order, and the scary part about it was that she could actually eat that much. Toward the end of their meal, Harry got Hermione's attention.
"Hermione, there's something I've been wanting to ask you," he quietly said.
"Sure, what it is Harry?" she replied, finishing her dessert.
"Well," he really couldn't think of any words to say at the moment, so he just got down on one knee and took the box in one hand and Hermione's hand in the other. "Will you marry me Hermione Granger?"
Hermione was completely stunned. She couldn't think of anything in the world to say. Her jaw had long since dropped, and the only thing that she could even think to do was cry. She knew that she was so happy, and that she really should give Harry an answer, but all of the excitement and romance had just gotten to her. Between her sobs and gasps for air, she was able to mumble a barely audible 'yes of course,' before bursting out into tears once again. Harry had never seen her quite so speechless, but he was glad for the answer nonetheless. Hermione slowly calmed down, and Harry was glad for it. As they were leaving the restaurant, Hermione suddenly stopped. Harry turned around to see her still standing behind him with a scared look in her eyes.
"Oh my," she quietly said, gripping Harry's hand rather tight.
Harry knew what was happening, and it was definitely something he hadn't expected for at least another month.
"Excuse me!" he nervously said to the host in the front, "Could you please call an ambulance? I think my fiancée's about to have a baby!"
Author's Note: Well! I hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter. I know what you're going to say, it took you long enough! I'm really sorry, but we took one last vacation before school started back, and it lasted longer than we thought it was going to! I'll try my best to have these up faster, but please forgive me if I don't! School starts tomorrow L Anyway, I want to thank you to all of my readers who have reviewed as of 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 10th, 2003.
TheGeekishPixie: I want to thank you so much for reading my story, and I'm glad that you like it! It's definitely my favorite thing to write about when it comes to Harry Potter. Ron will probably show up again because I have a friend who has a request for his next girlfriend! Once again, thanks for reading, and I hope that you'll enjoy the rest of the story!
Potter-chick: Hey, thanks a lot of reading! I'm glad that you like. I'll try my best to read your story sometime, and I hope that you enjoy the rest!
Emmy-bone-kat: Hey! I'm really glad that things were starting to smooth out in their relationship too! Just wait until the next chapter! J I'm sure it will all be okay. Thanks for reading!
Starbeam13: Thanks for reading! I'm really glad that you're continuing to check up on my story. I hope that you enjoyed the newest chapter, and thanks for reading!
Ramy: Thanks so much for reading! I'm glad that you like my story, and I hope that you'll continue to come back and read more!
Jules: Thanks so much for reading my story!
Macy, Tracy, and Rory: Hey I'm really glad that you all liked my story! Wow! I'm really glad that you're getting ideas for your own too because H/H is the best! Once again, thanks for reading, and I hope that you'll enjoy the rest!
Kiki-sweets222: Hey! Thanks for reading, and I totally agree that Harry and Hermione are better for each other. Don't worry about Ron, it'll all work out!
Staryeyeddival18: Hey I'm really glad that you like my story and my writing style, I'm glad that there's some people out there who dare to be different! LOL Thanks for reading!
Wow! I can't believe I had so many reviews! I want to thank everyone who's been reading, and I really hope that you enjoy the rest of the story! ~harryschic
The Cost of Passion
Chapter Seven: New Beginnings
Over the next few months, things between Harry and Hermione seemed to be getting better. After the night at her parents house and the fight with Ron, Hermione did seem to be quite shaken up, but she had definitely taken a turn for the best when Harry came to help her pick up the pieces. Harry had asked her to move in with him, but she had politely declined.
"Oh honestly Harry, we really shouldn't be doing that! I'll stay at my own apartment. I don't want to be a bother to you," she had said, and Harry couldn't help feel that she meant it.
As the days went by, she only seemed to be becoming more and more pregnant, and the emotions were also changing. One day, she'd as happy as anyone could be, but the next she'd be very emotional and not wanting to be around anyone. At first, Harry thought it had been something he had done, but then Hermione's mother had reassured him that it was completely normal for her to be doing this. It definitely relieved him. Thins were going wonderfully between them, but Harry still felt as though there was something missing. He knew that what they did had been wrong, but he wanted to somehow make it better. Finally, he thought he had found the perfect way to do that.
"I'm coming, be there in a second!" Harry heard Mr. Granger's muffled voice from inside the house.
When he answered the door, he saw Harry standing there, looking quite nervous for some reason.
"Hello Harry, what brings you here?" Mr. Granger asked, inviting him inside the house.
"There's just been something that I've been wanting to discuss with you and Mrs. Granger for a few weeks, and I think that now seems to be the right time," Harry nervously said, following Mr. Granger into the living room.
Mrs. Granger must have heard the conversation from her position in the kitchen because when the two men arrived in the living room, she was setting the small coffee table with tea and cookies. Harry politely declined. He didn't know how well this meeting would go, and he was afraid that if he were to eat, he'd probably throw up. After a few minutes of quiet, Mr. Granger finally broke the silence.
"So Harry," he said with a smile, "what brings you here?"
"Well," Harry quietly started, "I'm sure that the recent circumstances between Hermione and I have been less than pleasing to the both of you," he paused at this, hoping not to receive any negative energy. "But, I want you to know, even though Hermione probably doesn't know this, I've loved her since the beginning of our seventh year, I was just too afraid to tell her because of her relationship with Ron. With everything that has been going on lately, I've only grown to love her a little more every day. I can only hope that she feels the same way about me. That's why, I've came here tonight to ask you both for your daughter's hand in marriage."
He really wasn't expecting the reaction that he received. At his words, Mrs. Granger gasped, and Mr. Granger's eyes widened. But, the both of them seemed quite happy. Harry was expecting them to think that this was only out of pity for the situation that he had gotten their daughter into, but he really did love her, and he didn't care what kind of situation they found themselves in, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Hermione, and he sincerely hoped that she would feel the same way about him.
Mr. Granger smiled, "Nothing would make us happier than to allow this. We've known how you really feel about Hermione ever since the morning you came knocking on our front door at two a.m. just to see if Hermione was all right."
By this time, Mrs. Granger was all but sobbing, but he could see that they were only tears of joy. Then, Harry suddenly remembered something.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, "I almost forgot. I went out and bought a ring hoping that you would say yes, and I wanted to know if you'd like to see it."
Mr. Granger laughed, "Rather confident weren't we Harry? I'm only joking," he quickly said after seeing the severe look his wife had shot him, "Sure, left's have a look at it."
Harry reached inside his jeans pocket and took out the small box that contained the ring that he was planning on surprising Hermione with. He handed it to Mrs. Granger, and she opened it. She gasped once again before handing it to her husband. Harry really hoped they would like it. He had spent about a week at least searching for the perfect one. He had finally selected the perfect one only the day before. There was a diamond set in the middle of the band, and two emeralds were surrounding it on its sides. They were all set into a platinum band that Harry had asked to be specially engraved just for Hermione.
"To the love of my life, Hermione"
Both of Hermione's parents seemed quite happy by the ring, and they were only more excited of Harry's proposal. When he finally departed, he knew what he had to do next. He was going to ask Hermione to be his wife.
Harry had went to visit Hermione at work. She worked in the Muggle Relations department at the Ministry of Magic. Harry had decided that he would ask her out on a romantic dinner date and then propose to her. He was so nervous now that he didn't even know if he'd be able to make it through. He sat down in her office and waited for her to return from running an errand. He looked to see the pictures that were on her desk. She only had two. One was of he, Hermione, and Ron at the beginning of their seventh year. They looked like three teenagers who were young and carefree. He wondered, did Hermione know how he felt about her then and just not say anything? That had to be about the time that he had realized his feelings for her. The other pictures was of he and Hermione. It had been taken only a few weeks ago by her mother. The two of them looked so happy together. He only hoped it would last. About that time, Hermione re- entered her office, quite surprised to see Harry.
"Hello dear," she said, kissing him lightly on the lips, "what brings you here?"
"Nothing much, and I can't stay long, I just wanted to make sure that you were going to be ready tonight around eight when I come to pick you up for dinner," Harry said, placing his arm around her waist.
"Yeah sure, I can be ready then, what's the occasion?" she asked.
"Oh nothing," he said smiling, "can't a guy just take his beautiful girlfriend out for dinner?"
"I guess, but I don't know why you'd consider me beautiful at the moment," she said, placing her hand over her belly.
He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, "It only makes you more beautiful. I'll pick you up at eight, and make sure to look as beautiful as you do now!"
With that, he kissed her on the lips before departing. Hermione was quite curious as to why they were going out tonight, but she put it at the back of her mind and continued on with her work.
About ten minutes to seven, Hermione was quickly trying to finish getting ready. She had decided to wear a soft pink dress, one that actually still fit her. After all of this time of being pregnant, maternity clothes turned out not to be too bad, but she would definitely be happy when she would no longer have to wear them. She'd done her make up and hair as best she could, and she was now trying to get her shoes on. It's just one of those things that you can't do very well when you're pregnant. When she finally finished, she heard a knock at the door. She finally reached it, and she saw Harry standing there in her favorite emerald green shirt and black pants with his black tie. Then, he handed her a single red rose and kissed her on the cheek.
"Are you ready my love?" he said.
"Yeah, I'm ready for whatever you've got planned!" she said, hoping this evening would be a good one.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Hermione saw that it was one of her absolute favorite places to eat in the entire Muggle world. The table that they sat at was lit by candlelight, there were roses on the table, and the scene couldn't have been more romantic. Harry told Hermione to order whatever she wanted, and she did. Anything that she could think of at that moment she'd order, and the scary part about it was that she could actually eat that much. Toward the end of their meal, Harry got Hermione's attention.
"Hermione, there's something I've been wanting to ask you," he quietly said.
"Sure, what it is Harry?" she replied, finishing her dessert.
"Well," he really couldn't think of any words to say at the moment, so he just got down on one knee and took the box in one hand and Hermione's hand in the other. "Will you marry me Hermione Granger?"
Hermione was completely stunned. She couldn't think of anything in the world to say. Her jaw had long since dropped, and the only thing that she could even think to do was cry. She knew that she was so happy, and that she really should give Harry an answer, but all of the excitement and romance had just gotten to her. Between her sobs and gasps for air, she was able to mumble a barely audible 'yes of course,' before bursting out into tears once again. Harry had never seen her quite so speechless, but he was glad for the answer nonetheless. Hermione slowly calmed down, and Harry was glad for it. As they were leaving the restaurant, Hermione suddenly stopped. Harry turned around to see her still standing behind him with a scared look in her eyes.
"Oh my," she quietly said, gripping Harry's hand rather tight.
Harry knew what was happening, and it was definitely something he hadn't expected for at least another month.
"Excuse me!" he nervously said to the host in the front, "Could you please call an ambulance? I think my fiancée's about to have a baby!"
Author's Note: Well! I hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter. I know what you're going to say, it took you long enough! I'm really sorry, but we took one last vacation before school started back, and it lasted longer than we thought it was going to! I'll try my best to have these up faster, but please forgive me if I don't! School starts tomorrow L Anyway, I want to thank you to all of my readers who have reviewed as of 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 10th, 2003.
TheGeekishPixie: I want to thank you so much for reading my story, and I'm glad that you like it! It's definitely my favorite thing to write about when it comes to Harry Potter. Ron will probably show up again because I have a friend who has a request for his next girlfriend! Once again, thanks for reading, and I hope that you'll enjoy the rest of the story!
Potter-chick: Hey, thanks a lot of reading! I'm glad that you like. I'll try my best to read your story sometime, and I hope that you enjoy the rest!
Emmy-bone-kat: Hey! I'm really glad that things were starting to smooth out in their relationship too! Just wait until the next chapter! J I'm sure it will all be okay. Thanks for reading!
Starbeam13: Thanks for reading! I'm really glad that you're continuing to check up on my story. I hope that you enjoyed the newest chapter, and thanks for reading!
Ramy: Thanks so much for reading! I'm glad that you like my story, and I hope that you'll continue to come back and read more!
Jules: Thanks so much for reading my story!
Macy, Tracy, and Rory: Hey I'm really glad that you all liked my story! Wow! I'm really glad that you're getting ideas for your own too because H/H is the best! Once again, thanks for reading, and I hope that you'll enjoy the rest!
Kiki-sweets222: Hey! Thanks for reading, and I totally agree that Harry and Hermione are better for each other. Don't worry about Ron, it'll all work out!
Staryeyeddival18: Hey I'm really glad that you like my story and my writing style, I'm glad that there's some people out there who dare to be different! LOL Thanks for reading!
Wow! I can't believe I had so many reviews! I want to thank everyone who's been reading, and I really hope that you enjoy the rest of the story! ~harryschic