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Chapter 15 Wisdom of the Heart

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be

Author's Notes: To Katie, who has done a wonderful job beta-reading… as always :) And to my best friend, cherry blossom, girl, you are an amazing friend :)

I'm sorry that I haven't posted this in a while, I've been really busy, my mother had to get an operation, and then again I haven't been able to write or focus on making a really nice chap! Anyways, I was thinking that probably I would do an update each month, maybe even two, it depends on how many things I write (chapters, I mean) It's just that I'm working right now in another fic, I'm rewriting my fic 'A One and Only Wish' and it's taking me a lot time. But believe me, I sat down and wrote this chapter, which I found really cute! I really like it!

By the way, reviews will be answered down this chap!

Kisses, enjoy and don't forget to review!

By the way! Have you guys seen the pictures of POA? My goodness! Sirius Black  (Gary Oldman) is SOOOO good! Although I didn't like Lupin  though (sorry, I don't agree with their choice, Ralph Finnes or Ewan McGregor for Lupin… OR Christian Bale) but the pictures were so nice! The one with Harry hugging protectivly Hermione… *sighes* If you haven't seen the pictures, check them out! www.the-leaky-cauldron.org (you'll find the links there) or at www.thesnitch.co.uk


Kisses, enjoy and don't forget to review!

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Hermione was out of the hospital three days after giving birth. The whole Weasley family had helped her out of the hospital, taking her things and the many presents for her and her baby.

Remus and Sirius had passed by, as well as other of Hermione's friends like Neville, Seamus, and Dean (as well as the whole Hogwarts Staff).  But, after thousands of people coming over to her hospital room, congratulating her and wanting to hold her precious little daughter in their arms, Hermione gave a sigh of relief when she closed the door to her home and found herself alone with her small baby daughter.

Hermione looked around tiredly.

All of the sudden her apartment looked so big.

She rested on a couch for a couple of minutes and then walked down the hallway to her room. She stopped in front of the door. Hermione put her hand on the handle of the door, but she wasn't able to open it. So she turned around to face another door. Hermione smiled and opened that one, entering a small room painted in pink. In a corner of the room there was a small cradle, a white one. Some teddy bears (varying sizes) were all around the room, along with a pink wardrobe. Hermione walked over to it and opened its doors only to find tiny clothes, baby clothes. Her daughter's clothes, Hermione smiled.  She touched Allyson's clothes. They were so tiny… so soft, so cute…

She walked to the crib, slowly and without making any noise. She didn't want to wake the tiny baby up. She was so cute! She still had no hair, but Hermione sensed that she would have the classic Weasley hair… hair as red as fire. There was no doubt that the little girl had Ron's big blue eyes too.  She sure was going to pretty when she grew up.

Hermione sighed. Only wasting one second thinking of Ron made her regret it for the rest of the day. How could he be so… hard to forget?

She shook her head and then sat in the rocking chair next to her daughter's crib. She had a couch that could transform itself into a bed in front of her, but right now she just wanted to sit in the rocking chair. Rocking herself and looking at her daughter, Hermione fell asleep.

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One week after Ally's birth, December 31st, the Weasleys decided to have a dinner at their home, just to say goodbye to the year and welcome the upcoming one. They invited the twins, Charlie, Bill, and Percy with their respective families, as well as Ginny, Harry, Hermione, and Allyson. Although neither the twins nor Percy could come, for they were all going to their girlfriend's family houses.

Bill arrived early that day, followed by Charlie, and Fleur, who insisted on helping Molly with the kitchen.

"I don't mind. I mean it Molly!" she said in her almost perfect English. Molly shook her head.

"You sure, sweet?"

"Yes!" Fleur said. "I really don't mind… at all!" With that, she grabbed a knife and started cutting a carrot.  The outcome was awful and when she threw the shapeless carrot in the sauce, it started brewing badly. Next thing they knew, the kitchen and even Fleur and Molly, were covered with tomato sauce.

"Cooking is not my thing," she said shaking her head ten minutes later after she had helped Molly clean the whole kitchen and themselves. Charlie, who was sitting next to her, smiled but said nothing.

Hermione was the next one to arrive. She had so many baby things that Charlie had to help her. He grabbed the baby-bag and left it on a chair in the living room where they were all sitting and chatting happily. She then went outside, taking Allyson with her. Arthur helped her sit and he conjured a small rocking crib, where Hermione put her small princess. After that she and the Weasleys started talking about everything, but mostly about the new baby.

At 7:45 Molly sat with them in the garden.

"When do you think Harry and Ginny will arrive?"

Nobody could answer her question. Molly sighed and started rocking the crib. She and Fleur started talking with Hermione about Ally, while Arthur and his two sons started talking about Quidditch.

"I don't know… she doesn't cry much though, but she does eat a lot. I've been reading some books about babies' first months of food and everything. They say that it's normal that babies eat a lot, but not that they sleep…"

"Dad, but Peru's team is the best from Latin America, you can't deny that!"

"Yeah, but you have to admit that they are not as good as they used to be. Once they changed that… person, what was his name? Ah yeah, Diego Gimenez, after he left Peru's National Team is not as good as it used to be. Although Chile seems to be really fond of Quidditch lately. They say that little wizards in Santiago are seen everywhere playing Quidditch…"

"…I myself have found myself doing little things apart from sleeping and eating. It's really strange. I sleep when Ally sleeps but… I barely have time to do my things. Of course all of the books said this but…they didn't say it was such a stress."

"Well, you have to get used to it, darling," Molly replied, smiling. Hermione was about to say something when another voice, was heard from the kitchen.

"ANYBODY HERE?" It was a male voice and Hermione froze, just for a second, thinking that that person's voice couldn't belong to any other but Ron, but the appearance of Harry Potter in the doorway made her breathe normally again.  Behind Harry, Ginny could be seen. She was wearing a nice black dress that made her milky skin look brighter, while he was wearing only a pair of jeans and a shirt. They walked over to the rest of the family and greeted them. As soon as Ginny sat in her chair, Molly got up.

"Let's eat then!"

Ginny moaned and got up again, walking behind Molly. They all left, except from Hermione and Harry. Arthur had taken Ally with him, while Hermione grabbed the baby stuff. She was about to leave when Harry called her.

"Herm… don't go."

"What is it, Harry?"
He came closer to her with his right hand in the pocket of his jeans. He smiled at Hermione, feeling more mature and grown up than ever, but still he felt the same that he had felt years ago, while entering Hogwarts for the first time. He felt so nervous, but there was no need to be. At least not with Hermione.

He smiled nervously and told her in a low voice.

"Tonight."

She tried to think, make connections with the word 'tonight' and what could happen 'tonight'…she wasn't able, so she asked, confused.

"What?"

"It will happen tonight."

"What? What will happen tonight, Harry?"

He gave her a meaningful look and then took out a little box from the pocket of the jacket that he had left on one of the chairs.

"This," he said. "This is going to happen tonight."

"Really?" Hermione asked with wide eyes.

"Really, really? Tonight?" Harry nodded, making Hermione smile. She gave him a warm, tender hug. "I'm so glad, Harry!" He nodded. "I just hope everything goes right!"

"Why wouldn't it go right?" she asked him, surprised. He shrugged looking insecure. "I don't know. What if… what if-"

"Harry, she loves you," she said grabbing his hand and looking directly in his eyes. "There's no way, no reason at all, for her to reject you. Snape will start spreading around candies before that happens!" Harry laughed. "Seriously."

Harry smiled but said nothing. He grabbed his jacket, put the little box in an inner pocket, grabbed one of Ally's teddy bears and walked inside with Hermione.

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"Weasley! Are you going somewhere today?"
"No, coach," Ron answered his coach, Jack. They had just finished training and were preparing to go home. Jack had followed him to the changing room, and had waited for all of the players to go home, so he could finally talk with Ron.

"Look, Weasley, I know you are alone at home and everything, but I'm having a dinner at home. We always have a New Years Eve dinner. Anyway, I have a niece coming over.  She usually gets bored with us and she'll be the only one around your age with us, and I was wondering, if you have no place to go... Then maybe you wanted to come around?"

Ron thought about it for a couple of seconds. He was planning to show up at The Burrow and surprise his family, but... he didn't know. There were so many unclear things there that he could be making more trouble than fixing them up. And he didn't want to meet Hermione there; something that he was sure would happen if he went. It'd been almost a year and still… he wasn't able to forget her. Sometimes, listening to the radio or passing by a library, he remembered Hermione and all of the things they have shared together. It was so painful. But then again, even though he wanted things between them to work out, he had to admit that there was little chance that they would get together again. Hermione could be so stubborn when she wanted to and, let's face it, she'd been mad at him for months for things smaller than cheating on her. But he missed her so much…

But still, he couldn't let himself be brought down every time he thought of Hermione and what could have been if he hadn't been so stupid. But, almost ten months have passed and Ron felt it was time to move on. He was sure Hermione had already been with someone. Then why shouldn't he be with someone? Why couldn't he meet people? He needed to have some kind of social life!

"Weasley? Are you coming or not? You and my niece have lots in common."

"Yeah," Ron said. "Yeah, I'm coming."

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"Molly, this is great," Hermione said, tasting the first piece of her food. She was eating spaghetti with tomato sauce and little pieces of meat, the others were eating that or roasted chicken with potatoes. Sitting in the garden, eating their meal, they all had forgotten about everything. The food was too good just to waste time talking. Hermione, sitting next to Harry, decided that she should talk to him before anything happened.

"When are you going to do it?" she asked, whispering and turning her head so that only Harry could see her. He turned his head as well, and looked at Hermione directly at her eyes. He thought of the answer for a moment.

"I don't know," he answered. "I don't know. But today, that's for sure." Hermione smiled at him.

"I'm glad.  I still can't help feeling guilty because… you know," she pointed with her head upstairs, where her daughter was sleeping peacefully after a good meal and a diaper change. Harry smiled.

"I already told you. It's not your fault, Hermione."

She sighed but said nothing. They continued eating.

When they were done, Molly made everything disappear from the table and they all walked to the small living room, just to talk and drink something by the fireplace. It was a really cold night and they were all freezing. The house itself was warm, but Molly liked to have one window of each room open, so that fresh air entered the room, but today she had only left one window open (the one from the living room), but somehow the whole house was cold. Molly decided they have had enough of cold, so she closed the window and then lit the fire in the fireplace.

She conjured some coffee for her and the others, and then they sat around the fire to talk. They had been talking for some time, because soon they could hear the clock of the house announcing that there were only ten minutes left for 12 o'clock. This time Arthur went to the kitchen and brought a bottle of champagne with 8 glasses. By magic he served all of the glasses and then handed one to each person in the room. Then they all stood up from their places and sat around the fire. Molly threw some powder to the fire in the fireplace. All of the sudden, the fire just froze and some images started to appear. First they were only some colours, but then, a whole big image appeared on it. Harry already knew about this system. It worked as a muggle TV, but it was better. For most of the programs were more interesting, all wizarding and you could (with not all of the programs, of course) change something if you didn't like it. Harry looked back at the wizard-TV and he realized that they were all looking at the huge clock that was on the top of the Ministry of Magic's Building roof. It was a beautiful sight; the whole huge building was covered with snow, especially the roof. The Minister of Magic was there with his wife on a balcony, waving his hand at all of the wizards under them. Next to him there were other important wizards, like Aurors (Moody included, although he was in a corner looking suspiciously at everyone and everything) and other various people.

Only 5 minutes…

Harry put his hand in his pocket and was about to take the little box out, but couldn't because Ginny chose that moment to talk to him.

"Harry, I asked you something."

"Huh?" He turned his head to hers. "What?"

"I asked you whether… oh, never mind."

"No, no, tell me."

"No, never mind," and she then turned to her mother and started talking to her.

Harry sighed.

3 minutes…

This time he took the box out of his pocket. Harry could feel how, all of the sudden, his legs felt weak and he started to feel uneasy, as if he were about to collapse any minute. For the second time in his life, he started asking himself unanswered questions of what would have happen if Ginny didn't want to marry him. What would have happened if Ginny screamed and ran away, saying that she was too young to get married? What if she claimed she loved another men, or that she didn't love him? What if…?

Stop it, Potter! Harry mentally slapped himself over and over again. There was only one minute left, but he couldn't do it… he wouldn't do it…

40 seconds…

What if Ginny didn't want to marry him?

30 seconds…

What if she died from a heart attack?

20 seconds…

Shut it, Potter, and don't be so ridiculous! He thought to himself.

15 seconds…

He wished he was like Sirius, always secure of himself... Why did he have to be this way?

5 seconds…

"Harry?" Ginny asked, standing next to him. "We have only 3 seconds…"

But Harry shook his head no, and, without even thinking of it, he bent in his knees, in a typical marriage-proposal position. Ginny looked at him surprised.

"Ginny, will you marry me?" he asked nervous and blushing. Ginny was blushing as well, and she actually answered. But Harry didn't hear her. Everybody else was screaming "Happy New Year!!" Harry felt all of the sudden very angry, he couldn't help it! He hadn't heard Ginny's answer! He then turned to his family, while Ginny was still looking at the Ring in the box. It was the Corazon del Sol Ring! He…he had bought it for her!

Ginny was brought abruptly from her thoughts, when she heard Harry scream to the family.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP, PLEASE?"

The Weasleys and Hermione looked at him surprised. It didn't help when they saw him in his knees, asking Ginny to marry him. Molly suppressed a scream, while Hermione smiled happily.

"So?" Harry asked nervous. "Will you marry me?"

Ginny didn't even have to think of it twice. "Yes!"

Next thing Harry knew was that he had put the ring on Ginny's finger, and he had kissed her softly on the lips, not without telling her "I love you." She didn't answer, but he didn't need an answer to his statement. He already knew she loved him. And she would marry him. While they kissed, Harry realized he was the luckiest man in the whole world. For the first time he would have his own family. He was now committed to a person, and that person was committed to him. It's going to be tough. He thought as the whole family congratulated them (Molly was crying from joy). Yes, it was going to be though, but he loved her, and that was all that mattered.

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Don't forget! Read AND Review! :)

And now, the answer to your previous reviews!

LilyFlower: Hi! I'm really glad you like my story! Ron will find out.. soon, not really soon, but he will, don't worry! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

MagicalRoses: you cried? Oh poor you little thing! *Moony Lover hands a tissue* I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well as the others!

Jade: I know Ron is the father and he HAS the right to know, but still it's a complicated situation. What would you do in Hermione's place? Read my answer to LilyFlower :)

Alaskantiger: Here's a new chapter! Although, I don't agree with your point of view (but it's ok, I don't have to agree with you :)) But I don't really think that to have peace we have to have war. I mean, that only creates more hate between the people. There are more ways to make peace, and there are lots of examples around. Mr. Gahndi (I think that was his name, sorry if I spelled it wrong)…I only think that money is the only thing that matters in ALL of the wars, and that if there are people fighting for peace in a non-violence way, then there ARE ways to fight peacefully for peace :p But that's just my POW! I hope you enjoyed the chap! :)

Jewls: Thank you very much for your review, I have really enjoyed reading it. I didn't support the war, and I guess that was shown on my other Author's Notes, but I did support all of those people fighting out there, both Iraki, British, American… all of them, after all they are fighting for their believes, and they are giving their lives for others. Although, as I told to Alaskantiger, I think there are other ways to have peace. War it's just not the answer.

So you are in your seventh grade? That must mean that you are…12, 13 or even maybe 14? So you are interested in pollitics? I am as well (15 year old! Lol), but only because I care about the human rights and I want everyone, or at least most of us to have the same rights and not be discriminated because of our skin, religion… after all it doesn't matter where do they come from, but the personality itself, just like Dumbledore told in the 4th book, I can't agree more with him. It's a shame that we have so many mean things in the world. Why do we want a paradise, can't people realize that THIS world is paradise itself? The human being has a tendence to want more than they need to. I just hope it's not too late when they realize of this. Paradise is Earth. I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)

Sesshoumaru: Sorry for the Merry X-mas thing, I'll remember it next time! :) Kisses!

RadcliffeChick: So you have ALREADY finished Harry 5? Lucky you! And in such short time! I'm still waiting anexiously for the spanish version to come out, although I have read some spoilers..0_0 *Moony Lover is worthless and gazes at nowhere for some minutes*  Is it good? I just hope it doesn't dissapoint me! Have you seen the pics of Harry 3? The movie I mean…:P Sirius is just so great! And I love the way Harry is holding Hermione in one of the pics! They are so cute! (and they are soo grown 0_0 they are my age…! Hehe) If you haven't seen them, then you have to go to www.the-leaky-cauldron.org you'll have to search for them in the news, but you'll find them easily. If you can't email me and I'll tell you the link! :)

I'll read the story you've recommended me when I have a little time! I'm sooo busy! But don't worry, I'll read it! :)

Jeru: Hola Loca! Espero que te haya gustado este capitulo, la verdad que es de mis favoritos! La espera valio la pena...*Moony trata de ocultarse atrás de un sillón*  Ahora como esta todo en Chile? Por aca el tiempo esta cambiando... como siempre! :p Es horrible, tenemos generalmente 3 o 4 dias de sol y dps todo nublado, y dps vueeeelta a empezar!
Si, la verdad que es frustrante ver la CANTIDAD de fics que son con spoilers del 5, es una desgracia, pero bueno, a nosotras todavia nos qeuda la ilusion de leerlo por primera vez *dirty look a la gente que ya lo leyó* ves? Hay algo bueno!

Lo que si estuve pensando es que ojala que por lo menos el libro 7 lo saquen todos a la vez, eso ya me pareceria demasiado...! pero igual no quiero pensar en el libro 7 cuando no tengo el 5! YO tambien ya se quien muere, pero yo no me pude aguantar de leer Spoilers... me gustaria mucho que me borraran la memoria! La verdad es que es horrible! Pero bueno, solo espero que ahora desarrollen mucho mas la relación Harry-Lupin. ¡Estoy escribiendo otro fic! Es un AU, cuando lo postee te aviso! En realidad ya lo tengo escrito, de hace milllll, pero la verdad es uqe no me gusto la vieja version y ahora estoy con la nueva.. nos abes cuanta diferencia! Vos estas escribiendo algo? El otro dia encontre un par de fics en castellano, estan ambos en mis Favorite Stories, leelos, estan muy buenos. Algun Lupin Romance (no slash!) o Sirius que me puedas recomendar?
bueno, niña, te dejo, espero que te haya gustado este fic!
bechote!

daddysgirl1019: AHHHHHHHHH! So you ACTUALLY liked A One and Only Wish? I deleted it because I found it to be really bad written, but REALLY bad, I'm right now writing a new version, it's 1000000000 times better as the old version. If you want I can send you the first chapter or so! Believe me, you'll like this version better as the last one! :) Ah! You've made me so happy! I'm actually rewriting it because somebody (youuuuuu!!!) has asked for it! Thank you!

And thank you very very much to: Alriadne ; SMS ; figgiesblazin; Crazy Girl; Silver Dragon Princess; headgirl; mini veela; Elessar; Dragon Girl Revlis; Hermionehasharry who also reviewed last chapter!

BY THE WAY! IF YOU WANT ME TO LET YOU KNOW WHEN UPDATE, LEAVE ME YOUR EMAIL (WITH A NICE REVIEW ;)) AND I'LL LET YOU KNOW!

Kisses and have a good hollidays!

ML