Chapter 20

Author's Notes: Hi there people! I'm really sorry that I haven't updated sooner, but I was having some problems, then the vacations came.. and, well, some friends from ARGENTINA came over to my place to visit me (two of my best friends) so I have to be as much time as I can with them.

That is why, this chapter, is dedicated to them. To two of the most important persons in this world, that make 16000 kms just to see me, and my family.

To them.

To Maru and Lala.

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be.

*~*~*~*

Harry came back home, with a numb and hurt leg, and a total feeling of… of what? What exactly was he was feeling right now? Loss? Defeat? Yeah, it should be those.  Now that he gave a second thought to what had happened between he and Ron, he wasn't surprised at Ron's reaction. It was way too Ron-ish. But, and not for the first time in his life, Harry wished that Ron had reacted some other way. As if showing he was actually interested in getting things better. They were old enough to solve their problems by talking, and not by evading them.

He didn't know what it must feel like to be betrayed. Not like Hermione and not like Ron. He only wished he wouldn't have the need to go through that. It would be too much. But Harry knew both of his friends too well, and he knew that both of them were right with what they were saying. Ron was right, Hermione shouldn't have hidden something as big as this and Ron… Well, Ron shouldn't have done what he did in the first place. But now that the damage was done, the best thing they could do was try to fix it… And not make everyone angry and depressed.

Sighing, he sat on the couch and rubbed his leg. It still hurt. Damn house. He should have guessed that much. Harry only wished he would remember for the next time… if there ever would be a next time. He still preferred the old way to enter: through Whomping Willow.

In exactly seven days he would get married to Ginny and now the Best Man and Maid of Honor were not speaking to each other. Great. He shuddered to think what their wedding would be if those two could barely see each other. It would be a disaster. He couldn't allow it! It was his special day, not theirs. Why did Harry have a feeling that if he didn't try to solve their problem now, then those two would do some serious damage at their wedding?

Suddenly, the fire in the fireplace turned green and before Harry had even time to think that somebody was entering to his home, Ginny Weasley ("Soon-to-be-Potter," Harry thought smiling.) came out of the fireplace. She coughed a little, wiped the ashes from her clothes and then looked up.

"Hi Harry," she said. He realized she didn't look too good.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked suspiciously.  He shook his head.

"Nothing.  How did it go with Hermione?"  Ginny sighed and sat next to him.

"Horrible. She keeps on insisting that Ron has to ask for her forgiveness and tell her I-don't-know-how-many-things and do some other tons of things, that's the only way she's going to, at least, ignore him at the party…!"

"Damn…" Harry replied shaking his head. "I couldn't do much with Ron myself."

"Fuck," Ginny said, already knowing what her brother would have said or done to Harry. She turned her head to him. "You do realize we have to make them be nice to each other in exactly seven days, right? Otherwise they'll ruin our wedding…"

"I know." Harry sighed, feeling totally helpless. He knew that if they didn't manage to make them be nice to each other in less than seven days, then they would both start doing or saying bad things to each other during the wedding, perhaps even some cursing. Nobody could be more deaf, blind, and stupid as Ron and Hermione when they fought with each other. And those fights were only because of silly things.  He shuddered to think of what their wedding would be like if those two got in a fight in the middle of the reception. They could get seriously hurt.

"Oh Harry…" Ginny said, giving him a worried look. She seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he. "We HAVE to do something…"

*~*~*~*

Time was running out, and neither Ginny nor Harry had any idea of what they should do to make Ron and Hermione, at least, be polite to each other. Things couldn't be worse. And then that night, Ginny came up with a very typical idea. What if Harry and Ron went together to Diagon Alley, Ginny and Hermione too, and they met somewhere as if nothing was planned? Harry, who was getting more frustrated at the lack of ideas, thought that it was better than nothing, so he called Ron. Big problem. Ron couldn't go out with him the next day. Hermione could, but when Harry told Ginny that Ron wasn't able, she decided to postpone it to the following day. That day, Hermione was the one that couldn't go. Damn. It seemed that everything was planned for Ron and Hermione to never meet. But, it was the third day that saved their lives. Both Hermione and Ron were able, so as fast as they could they went out with their friends to Diagon Alley, planning to meet somewhere as if all of that were casual.
Ginny took Hermione to a dressing place, where she would have to 'fetch' her wedding dress. Hermione didn't know, but the dress was already at The Burrow, Molly had fetched it two weeks ago, but Ginny had asked that no one say anything. She was sure that everyone would want to have a look at it, but she didn't want them to. It was a surprise. The only people that had seen the dress were Molly and Hermione. Nobody else.
Harry, on the other hand, wanted to buy a present for Ginny for the honeymoon. Ron didn't like the idea. He already hated to think what his little sister would do with Harry on their honeymoon, but his face changed when Harry told him that he would buy her something non-sexually related. Ron asked what it was, but Harry couldn't answer. He had no idea, after all.  He wasn't going to buy anything for Ginny; it was only his plan. When Ron put an ironic face, Harry told him in an as-a-matter-of-fact voice that the present was a surprise and he had only asked Ron to come so that he wouldn't shop alone.
At one o'clock, Harry and Ron went to have some dinner at a small restaurant in Diagon Alley. When they entered and were looking for a table, they heard a female voice calling for them.
"HARRY! RON! OVER HERE!"
Harry turned around, trying to hide a grin, and pretending to be surprised when he saw his little red headed cat (as Harry used to call Ginny when they were alone) and Hermione. Ginny had a big smile spread on her face and Hermione was looking down at her plate uncomfortably. Her cheeks were redder than usual.
When they walked to the table, Ron grabbed Harry by the arm and made him stop walking.

"Harry, I'm going home," he said, a little cooler than usual. But Harry wasn't stupid. He had built a brick wall around himself for the past two days so that nothing that Ron would tell him later (or now) affected him somehow. Harry smiled, as if he hadn't heard what Ron had just told him, and kept on walking. Sighing, Ron grabbed him by the arm once again. "Goodbye, Harry"
"'Goodbye Harry?' Where are you going?" he asked, pretending to be surprised.
"Don't be stupid, Harry. You know perfectly well who is there."
Harry gave the table a quick look. Ginny and Hermione were talking. Well, better said, Ginny was telling Hermione to do something. Stay, he guessed.

"I know.  It's Ginny," he said as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Don't you want to have lunch with your sister?"
"You know perfectly well that I want to have lunch with my sister, but not with her."
"Oh! You mean Hermione, right?"
"No kidding."
"Look Ron, you can't just hide every time you see her. What are you going to do at the wedding, you two will be sitting really close to each other and you can't avoid her all the time. So, if you are going to sit with her after the wedding, you have to be nice to her and vice versa. Why not to start to be polite now?"
Ron sighed. Harry did have a point, although he would never admit it. He sure didn't want to ruin his little sister's wedding, no matter what. It was her day, not his, and he was sure that if he sat next to or near to Hermione, he would have a bad face and would ruin everybody's night, especially Ginny's. If he had to sit with Hermione, he better do it now to get used to the angry feeling, so that he could somehow manage to suppress -or at least hide it- at the reception.
But... was there something else? Ron was furious at her, that much was true, but why wasn't he angry with Harry for inducing him to do that? In some other circumstance, he would have turned around and ran away, not even caring to leave Harry and Ginny hanging there, but now he simply couldn't. He would never admit it though. He would never tell anyone that his feelings for Hermione never ceased, even in the whole time they were apart. Not even a bit. Yeah, he had met women and the most interesting one was the relative of his coach. But she wasn't Hermione. Nobody was. Ron had already convinced himself that he would die alone, loving a person that would have already gotten married to another man. But now that he was back to London, he had learnt that the truth was different: Hermione had a daughter, his daughter. His daughter. Blood of his blood.

"My daughter..." Ron whispered, deep in his thoughts.
"Sorry?" Harry asked Ron, who gave him a strange look.

"What?" Ron said, pretending not to understand, although he knew what he just said out loud. He had not meant to say in out loud.

"Did you say something?"
"Yeah... let's go to sit with them."
Harry smiled at his friend but said nothing.

"Oh Ginny... here they come."
"Hermione, stay cool, remember what we talked about?"
Hermione nodded, then grabbed her glass of water and drank a little bit. Just when she put it on the table, Harry and Ron appeared in front of them.
"Hi ladies." Harry said happily. He gave Ginny a short kiss on her lips and then Hermione a kiss on her cheek. Ron just made a move of his head and then sat in front of Ginny, leaving Harry in front of Hermione.
"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, casually.
"We were looking for something I need to buy," Ron said quickly. "You know, brooms, and stuff..."

Two minutes later, the conversation had taken another way. Ginny and Hermione were talking about woman stuff, while Ron and Harry talked about quidditch and spells. Soon after, it turned to work. Then it hit Ron... what was Hermione doing for a living? Was she still in the Auror thing with Sirius and Remus? He had to ask.
"Hermione...?"
Trying not to look surprised, Hermione turned her head with an eyebrow raised, with a face that clearly said 'what do you want now'. "Yes, Ron?"
Ginny and Harry exchanged nervous looks, but when Ron asked his question, they started breathing normally again.
"Are you still working with Remus and Sirius?"
"Yes," she answered not as coldly as they thought she would, surprising them all. "Why?"
"No... Uh... I just, wanted to know, you know? But with...the baby and all..."
"Oh, OK," Hermione cut him off, and then went back to talking to Ginny, leaving a very surprised Ron, Harry and, even thought she didn't show it, Ginny.
Well, she sure didn't want to talk to Ron, that much they had all understood. But Ron wasn't happy. At first he hadn't wanted to go to sit with them. But now that he was sitting there, perhaps he should try to have a, at least, decent conversation with Hermione. Harry was right after all. If they couldn't talk like two civilized people now, how would they manage to do it at the wedding? If he was trying to have a conversation with Hermione, it was because of Harry and Ginny... wasn't it? Even though that was the reason he was thinking to justify the talk to Hermione, he couldn't fool himself. He was doing this also for himself. Ron had lived for a while without listening to Hermione's voice, breath... and now that he had it, he wasn't sure he wanted to let it go again. Wait... did he just think that? Did he... yes, he did. How could he have changed his mind in so little time? He was having a twister of emotions right now, something that had never happened to him before. Perhaps this all meant that he wanted to give Hermione another chance... or that he wanted her to give him another chance. Whatever it meant, he was sure of something: he was sure what he wanted, and he wasn't going to stop trying. He had little time to be with Hermione and the people he loved, and he wasn't going to throw it all away. He wanted to get to know Allyson also. He was his daughter after all. His daughter. The sudden thought of it made him have a warm feeling in all his body.
"So what did you guys do today?"
"We... well, we went to look for my dress to the store, but my mum had already picked it up!"

"Really?" Harry asked, hiding the grin. "So there's no chance I can see it before the wedding?"

"Nope. Not a chance, my sir."

"Damn." He grinned.

Twenty minutes later, Harry had switched seats with Ron to be in front of Ginny, so they could talk better about their things, leaving a very uncomfortable Ron and Hermione to sit together. Even though this was Ron's chance to talk to Hermione, she somehow seemed determined not to look at him. She had taken a book out of her purse and was reading it, stopping only few times to eat something from her plate.

But Ron wasn't going to let it go that easily. He had little time left in London, as he already thought and calculated, and wasn't going to let it go so fast. This was his chance, not anyone else's.

"So... Hermione…" and then he coughed.

She looked up from her book, once again with her eyebrow raised, giving Ron an incredulous look. "Yes?"

"Uh… could you pass me the salt?" he asked, nervously.

She passed him the salt and went back to her book. Damn.

"So… Hermione…when was Allyson born?"

Loosing her patience, she looked up once again from her book. "What?"

"When was Allyson born?"

"Haven't you asked that before?"

Ron shrugged. "I don't know… is that important?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "On Christmas night."

"Christmas? Wow."

"Yeah, it surprised me as well, you know?"

He sighed and came closer to Hermione. "There's no need for you to be so rude to me, OK?" he told her low. She looked up from her book. Their eyes met for a second, and that second was enough for Hermione to get a warm sensation through her all body. She had forgotten the powerful magic that was in those blue eyes.  Somehow they made her feel as if she was melting. C'mon Hermione, pull yourself together, she told to herself. But it was too much, his eyes, his nose… his breath closer to hers… she hadn't felt so for someone ever since they broke up. No. This could not be happening to her. She was sure of her feelings for Ron… but now? She had to concentrate all of her energy on Allyson, not in anyone else. She had to think for two now; she couldn't just have an affair. But on the other hand… Allyson would need a dad sooner or later, and for the time she had Harry, but what would happen when he had his own kids? He would also have a family to take care of, and could not take care of Hermione and Allyson for the rest of their lives. Sooner or later she would have start to think of looking for a father figure for Allyson… and who was better for a father figure than her real father?

But, why was she thinking of all these? Only a small look at Ron's eyes and he had that effect on her... just like he always did. He was the only one that had ever made her feel like that, so... wanted, so... woman, so... herself. What would happen if she gave him another chance? Would it be worth it? She had already told Ginny that she was going to try to be nice to Ron, but...it was only because of her, and now that she had him in front of her, only looking at each other's eyes... what if she did this also for herself? What would happen if she gave him another chance? She would be giving her family life another chance, and a chance to Ally that she had the right to have. Perhaps...perhaps...
"I'm sorry, Ron," she said, feeling a little guilty for the way she had been treating him for the past days. She was going through a twister of emotions, but what Hermione didn't realize is that she wasn't the only one going through one.
When Hermione apologized, it took some seconds for Ron to understand that she had actually apologized. But for what? He was sure that those words were because of the way she had been treating him ever since he came over to the table. Perhaps... perhaps they could have another chance together; perhaps she was going to give him another chance. Would she? "It's OK" he said, pressed his lips together and then grabbed his glass of water.

Harry and Ginny, who had felt the tense moment between those two, exchanged nervous glances, but said nothing, when Hermione opened her mouth and then asked Ron.

"So… how does it feel to live in the South Pole?"

"It's…strange, I think. Uh...yeah, strange but nice. People there are just lovely and…Well, you know, it's always good to...get to know another culture."

"Riiiight," she said and then waited for him to continue, but as he didn't so she decided to ask another thing. "And… what about the beaches? I heard they are great."
Ron nodded. "Yes, they are... at least for me, you know? It's not like we have great weather around here and... Well, in Australia you get that a lot, I was surprised to live in such a sunny place. It's really different from England in that way. I like it and... It's really strange to celebrate Christmas in the summer; I spent it in a pool. It's...cool."
"It must be…strange, I think. You know I never imagined a Christmas in summer.  It must be really boring, no snow, no anything."
"Yeah, but it's different. You don't get the snow, but you get to spend it on the beach or somewhere where you can have fun in the water without turning yourself into an icicle in less than five minutes."
"I guess you're right." Hermione said. Ron couldn't find anything to tell her, so he just nodded his head and then poured more water in his glass. Ginny, who had already decided to leave those two alone, grabbed Harry's hand.

"Damn!" she said, pretending to be surprised, while looking at her watch. "Harry and I have an appointment with the... the guys from the church! We totally forgot about them!"

"Damn, Gin, you are right! We are already fifteen minutes late!" Harry said, standing up. He grabbed his coat and then turned to both of his friends, who had incredulous looks on their faces. "Look, guys, we have to go. Could you pay for us? I'll give you the money later...!"
And before Ron or Hermione could answer him, Ginny and Harry waved goodbye and left the restaurant. Hermione and Ron said nothing for a few seconds, which they had to use to get better from the shock of both of their friends leaving them there alone in the restaurant.
"So...Uh..." How was he supposed to begin? He was alone with Hermione and that was something he had not expected to happen. Why, if he had been talking normally with her five minutes ago, was it so difficult now? Of course Harry and Ginny had left on purpose, he would get them later for that, but now he had to think that he was with Hermione and that he couldn't have one straight thought and couldn't say one normal sentence. How was he supposed to talk to her if he couldn't even put two with two together? He wanted to ask her things about Allyson, about her life as a mother, of what she had been doing for the past years... there were so many things that had been left unexplained that it bothered him. He HAD to find something to talk about; otherwise Hermione would get tired of him and would want to go home or somewhere else. Before he could think of something good to say, Hermione gave a quick look to her wristwatch and gasped. She got up and put the book and other things on her purse.

"Ron, I'm sorry... I have to fetch Ally from the baby-sitter's house!" She looked for her wallet in her purse, called the waitress. She grabbed the money Hermione was giving her and counted it. It was the exact amount she had to pay, for the food of all of them. "Look, Ron... I'm sorry. I..."
Ron got up from his chair, feeling lonely and sad.

"It's OK Hermione... see you some other time." and with that turned around, to leave. He had not even made the first step, when he heard Hermione's voice calling for him. "Ron?"
He turned around. "Yes?"
"Why don't you come with me to fetch Ally?"

*~*~*~*
"I'm really sorry, Amanda, I was having lunch with Harry and Ginny and..."
"It's OK, Miss Granger, Ally and I had a great time, didn't we baby? Huh? Didn't we?" Allyson, who was in the babysitter's arms, laughed happily. Hermione smiled and grabbed the bag Amanda was giving her. Inside were all of Allyson's toys, some clothes, everything the baby needed. She then put Ally in her baby trolley. "Well, Ally, see you later! Bye bye, darling!"
The baby waved her hands and laughed happily, as Hermione walked out of the house, driving the trolley carefully. She met Ron in the doorstep, waiting for her. When he saw Hermione and Allyson coming together he couldn't help to feel strange. He had missed so much, that he didn't want to miss anything again. He wanted to be a part of Allyson's life, and now that he saw her, with her big blue eyes, and her brown reddish hair, he couldn't help but feel that warm thing once again in his stomach. Seeing the two of them together, and looking at himself later in the reflection of the water from the Lake's pond, with Hermione and Allyson playing together, he wondered if there was actually a chance that they would be a family someday…

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Author's Notes: There it is, this story is slowly coming to it's end… *mistery music*. I hope you like it, and I hope you review! Next chapter I will answer all of your reviews!
love you!
ML