Chapter 23

Author: Moony Lover

Author's Notes: I'm really sorry that I haven't updated sooner! I had SO much to do..! But people, here it is! The new chapter!

I WON'T BE ANSWERING ANY REVIEWS TODAY, BUT I WILL IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, SO JUST LEAVE ME ANYTHING YOU WANT, I'LL ANSWER THEM, DON'T WORRY :)

This chapter is dedicated (although a bit too late) to the people from Madrid.

Love

ML

*~*~*~*~

At the same time that Harry told his two uncles his fears about his marriage with Ginny, Ron was walking to the house of his former lover. He could apparate, but that wouldn't give him time to think, and that was exactly what he wanted. He was going out with Hermione once again, well, not as if they were a couple or so. No. They were both taking Ally to the zoo. It was a beautiful day, it wasn't to hot (you never died from the heat in England) but the sun was shinning brightly. HE wondered if they were going to take the little girl to the Magical Zoo or…? He supposed so. Anyhow, he would find out really soon, he had already arrived to Hermione's building. Not feeling in the need to press that strange button to call on Hermione's department, he gave a quick look around, and as noone was there, he apparated into Hermione's living room.

Looking around, Ron realized that nothing had changed much. The furniture was still in the same place as it used to be,  the same sofas… everything was the same as he had left it. But there was something that had changed, he realized after some seconds of walking in the living room. Yes. There were no more pictures of him and Hermione. As a matter of fact, there were none. Now, the room was filled with pictures of Hermione and her baby, Allyson alone (most of them were from Ally alone), Ally with Harry, Ally with Ginny… with her grandparents, uncles… there was even one picture of Hermione with Remus, and Sirius, all of them laughing happily. But no pictures or Ron were in sight.

Ron sighed. Had he been waiting for Hermione to have pictures of him? Apparently, yes.

A small noise caught his attention. Turning around, he realized that baby Ally was sitting on the couch, with some of her toys there (most of them stuffed animals), making those baby noises he loved so much.

"Hey…!" he said smiling as he came closer to the little girl. He knelt down and touched the baby's right foot. The little girl looked up, and then seconds later she streched her arms at him, as if waiting for him to hold her in his arms. She looked so cute, that he didn't think it twice. Ally was wearing a small pink dress, with the picture of a little duck in the middle, and a small pink wollen hat. He grabbed the little baby in his arms and then sat on the couch. He sat Ally in his knees and started playing with her and her stuffed toys.

"So… mind telling me who this is?" Ron asked, in a childish voice. He was grabbing a small black dog, that if you pressed in his belly he would bark loudly, take out his tongue and lick you. He could even run. The baby touched the dog's head. "Oh… so this is your friend the dog?"

More babbles.

"Wait a minu-he has a name, right?"

The dog did have a name, around his neck you could see a small chain, that had an fake small bone, and inside it you could perfectly read 'Snuffles'. "So this is Snuffles?" he asked. The baby clapped her hands happily and babbled more things. Ron smiled. Ahh, Sirius, he was completely sure that Sirius had given him that dog.

"And… how's this little fella?" Ron asked, putting Snuffles aside and grabbing a small white bear. He then moved it as if he were walking in his leg, in Ally's direction. The baby laughed, clapping her hands even more. "Bam bam bam, I'm the big polar bear and I came here to look for baby Allyson…" he put the little stuffed bear in Ally's head, making the kids look up to see where the animal was. "Can't see me now, can you?" he asked, putting a strange voice. He hid the animal behind her back. "Where am I?" he asked once again, pretending to be the stuffed animal. The white polar bear then appeared in Ally's right shoulder, making Ally turn her head in that way. "hahaha! You can't get me!" and before she could grab the bear, he appeared in her left. "Can't grab me here either! Ha, ha, ha!"

They were so for a while, until Ally got tired of not grabbing the stuffed animal, so she made a sad face and then started crying. Scared, Ron put the animal back in the couch and then got up, bouncing Ally in his arms, up and down. "No, no, no, baby. Look how fun this is! Look! Weeeh! Weeeh!" now he jumped with the baby, sometimes he rocked her, he did anything to make her stop crying. "Look! Look! You can fly! Fly!" he raised the baby to the sky and made her 'fly' for a while. He wasn't sure whether he liked this or not, so he soon stopped. She had already stopped crying, and now he was afraid she would throw up on him. When he stopped the game with Ally, he went back to the couch and found that he wasn't alone in the room.

Hermione was looking at him with a big smile on her face from the kitchen door. She was wearing a jean skirt that covered up to her knees, a red shirt with no sleeves and a jean jacket. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and she had put some make up on her. She looked radiant.

"I hope she doesn't throw up" she said, coming closer to Ron. He laughed and handed the baby to Hermione. "No, hold her for some seconds. I'm making dinner… uh, why don't we eat here and then go to the zoo?"

Ron shrugged. "Sure" he put Allyson back in the couch. The little girl imidiatly returned to her stuffed animals. She grabbed Snuffles, pressed his belly and made him bark.

"I think you know Snuffles already" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow. Ron laughed. "Did he make it himself or?"

"No idea. I think Sirius bought it somewhere and then put him the press belly thing and all that. He said he wanted Ally to know the dog inside him, and that she should learn it when she was still a baby… you know Sirius"

Ron laughed but said nothing.

"She sure looked like she was having fun"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, we both were having fun"

"I think the food is ready. Why don't you prepare the table?"

Ron nodded and with his wand the prepared the table. Hermione grabbed Allyson and put her in her high baby chair and neared her to the table. Moments later, she came back with Ally's food, she then brought their food. "Can I feed her?" Ron asked, curious.

"Sure… but it's not an easy thing to do…"

"I like difficulties" Ron grinned and then grabbed the baby's spoon, put it in her smashed potatoes plate, and when he had some of her food in it, he made train noises. "Here comes the chu-chu-traaain!"

Ally, happily, clapped her hands and opened her mouth, as if expecting Ron to put the food in her mouth immidiatly.

Ten minutes later, Ron was covered with smashed potatos, Ally's plate was all over her high chair and Hermione was laughing hardly.

"Oh, Ron!" she said grabbing Ally's plate and taking it to the kitchen. She then grabbed Ally and put her back in the couch, with her stuffed animals. "You should have seen yourself! You were so great!"

Ron smiled embarassed. "Yeah, I think it must have been funny to see Ally throw her plate at my clothes…"

"Believe me… it was" Hermione said. She wanted to say something, but couldn't because of the laughter. Soon, Ron was laughing as well.

*~*~*~*

Even though they both had waited to this visit to the Zoo, time didn't help much. As soon as they walked out of the building, an amazing storm started, making them both to run inside the building, trying to cover themselves and Ally from the rain. They stayed for some minutes looking thorough the glass window, not believing the funny time they had in the place where they were living.

Hermione sighed and lifted Ally up from her baby-trolley. "Oooh, baby! We can't go to the Zoo now!" she said. Ally moved excited in Hermione's arms, and clapped her hands. "Fortunatly, she doesn't understand that we were actually going to the zoo" Ron giggled.

"So.. um, what are we going to do?" Hermione asked, putting a blanket around Ally's little body, to cover her from the cold that was inside the building.

Ron thought about it for a moment. He probably would have to leave. He had only came here to take Ally to the zoo, but now that it was not possible (damn rain!) he had the strange feeling that he was no longer wellcome there. But why? Had he not been wellcome, then Hermione wouldn't have invited him over to her visit to the zoo, would she? You couldn't deny that for the last days, well… the last two days, they have been acting really good towards each other. Even though that didn't mean that they would start their relationship once again, that still left some place to a good friendship, like the one they used to have in Hogwarts. Besides, wanting it or not, Ron would always have something in common with Hermione, and that something was Ally. This baby was a bond that neither of them could deny nor forget. Ally had some things of Hermione, and other things from Ron…you could easily say that was true, so the genetical part could not be denyed. And even if they didn't get back to each other, or nothing else happened between the two of them, Ron wanted to be an active part of Allyson's life. Now that he had known her, and had known that he had a daughter, he simply wasn't his old self anymore. Ron now felt that he had a commitment to someone, someone that was far more important than his life itself. He wondered if that's how his father had felt about him and his other siblings. It sure was strange. But right now, he had something else to focus on. What was he supposed to answer to Hermione? This wasn't his home anymore, so he could not have a desition over it.

"I don't know… you decide" Ron said, hesitating a little. Hermione gave him a sligh smile and looked at her baby once again.

"I think I wanna put Ally for a nap. She hasn't slept well last night…"

"Is she alright?" Ron asked, concerned.

Hermione nodded and walked to the stairs. "Yes! Sure, she has been crying the whole night long, but it's nothing to be worried about. She does it from time to time… so.."

"Are you sure there's nothing to be worried about? If she couldn't stop crying last night then perhaps it's because she wasn't feeling really good or something-"

"She was hungry" Hermione told him, cutting him off.

"O-oh"  He was quiet for some seconds. "Then it's ok then"

What was going on? Hermione asked herself. Why couldn't they talk as they used to? What the hell had happened between the two of them, that made them be so shy towards each other? They weren't like that before, never, then why were they acting like that now? What was needed to be done, for them to act normal again? She didn't want to loose Ron again, never, and even though she had been the one to let go last time, she didn't want to loose him again. Not after him knowing about Ally. The perspective of re building the family they had once been was too close, even though nothing had happened between the two of them, but the thought was so tempting that she didn't want to let go. She couldn't let go.

"Why don't you come up and we have a cup of coffee or something? The wheather is not good, for anything"

Ron thought about it for a moment. It was his chance, after all. He nodded "Yes, that would be fine"

The three of them went upstaris, entered in Hermione's living room and left the things there. They sat in the couch for some seconds. The only person that was moving was Hermione, who was gently rocking her baby daughter. He glanced at them both with a smile on his face. Ron couldn't believe it, but he never thought that a woman with a child could make him so happy, only by looking at them. So it was true, what his mother always said, there's no picture more perfect, than a woman with a child in her arms, the conection between the woman and the child was something amazing, something that, until now, he had not have completely clear. What a wonderful sight he was having.

Suddenly, he felt as if tons of butterflies have entered in his stomache and were flying fastly, trying to find a way out of him. He had not had that feeling for a while, ever since the first night that he had decleared Hermione his true feelings for her.

The girl got up. Ally was asleep in her arms. "I'll take her to her room. Why don't you start preparing the coffee?"

Withouth leaving him time to answer, Hermione turned around and took Ally to her room. Ron nodded his head, clapped his hands nervously and then went to grab the things for the coffee.

When Hermione came back again- ten minutes later or so- she found Ron sitting on a chair, with his coffee mug already haf drunken. She sat infront of him and took a sip of her coffee.

"Thanks" she said. "It's really cold, a good warm coffee it's something I really apreciatte now"

"You're wellcome" Ron answered.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"…So…"

"…so…"

But neither Ron nor Hermione could find something better to say. The idea of having the need to talk about their lifes was something that neither of them had expected, and the lack of ideas was paying off with some great moments of uncomfortable silence. Hermione only hoped that this wouldn't last forever, there must be something they needed to talk! Some topic! Something…

But, Ron won her, and breaking the ice, he asked:

"Can you tell me more about Ally?"

Of all the questions, it was the one that surprised Hermione the most.

"What do you want to know?"

"Well… things. I mean, what sort of food does she like, what animals does she like… something about her"

Hermione smiled. "Ron, she's a baby, not a fifteen year old girl! She can barely eat things other than her usual milch and some other soft foods, animals she likes them all, but has a speciall tendency to like dogs… now that I give it a thought I think it's mostly because of that dog Sirius has gave her…"

Ron smiled, and finished his mug of coffee. He got up, walked to the kitchen and then poured some more. He was fond of this thing ever since Hermione had introduced it to him, when they were living togheter.

Ahh… those times. They sure had been good, but, as Ron knew now, you don't realize how much you love some place until you finnally loose it. Man he missed living here! It was by far the best place he had ever lived in. Well, you couldn't not compare this other appartment to the one back in Australia, the one in Australia was a lot bigger and it was…well, Australian. Different. But it was empty. It didn't have the history this one had. Smiling, he remembered how much they have tried and saved, to buy this thing that he used to call "home"

He could tell you all of the secret details about it, and not miss one of them. How could he? He had never forgotten all of the places where he and Hermione used to fool around, where they had made love, where they had had sex, where they had eaten, where they had fought… all of those little details were saved in his memory, and he held them as his most precious tressure.

Thinking, he went back to the living room.

"Ron, are you ok?"

"What? Oh… sure, I was, you know, thinking"

"Thinking on what, may I ask?" Hermione asked, with a slight grin on her face. But his answer surprised her the most.

"In us" he sat on his chair and gave Hermione some sort of sad look. The girl froze for a moment. That was an answer she had not expected… not expected at all.

"Hermione, I think it's time we speak about us, about Ally… about the future. No screaming, no nothing, just.. two mature persons speaking properly"

She just couldn't speak a word. It had taken her by surprise.

"Look…" Ron started, realizing that she was just too shoocked to do something. "I know I've been a total ass… I know what I did wrong that night, and I know… I know a lot, Hermione, more than what you think. But I think that the punishment is much more bigger than the crime"

Silenty, she had agreed to talk properly, with no yelling or such thing, but now she felt sorry she had. Hermione had realized what path this conversation was taking, and now she felt like a strong voice could make  him go into sense. Oh, well, she would have to try anyway.

"What do you mean?" she asked, a little harsh than she should have.

"I mean that I know I did something terrible, but I think that I'm not the only one doing it. Hidding Ally from me, my daughter…blood of my blood… Hermione, I think that it's time already we speak about this"

"Ron, all of what you say is… your poit of view" the girl said, taking a deep breath. "But, think of the thing you've done. How could I react? I could not go running to you and tell you I was pregnant… think about that"

"I know, Hermione, but hidding the child from me… it's such a hard punishment, Hermione, think about that. I know it's self-defense and all what you want, but still…"

"Still what?"

"Still, I think that I'm ready to move on. I think that I can forget about the past, I think I can live the present…Can't you do that?"

"Ron, it was really hard for me to get over all of that, and even so I don't think I've done it quite properly. But, as you said before, we are both grown ups now, and I think I'm willing to move on as well… I have been trying to do that ever since the very first day we broke up, but finnally, after having this small chat with you, I think I'm actually ready to move on"

Both Ron and Hermione shared a deep look. Both of them had to admitt that they saw in each other's faces something, some spark that they only recognized when they were togheter.

"Hermione, do you think… do you think we can have another chance? Do you think we can give it another shot?"

That simple question froze Hermione's blood. She stood still for some seconds, thinking of the answer.

"I don't know if we can give it a shot now, Ron… but perhaps, someday… for now, all I want is a father for my daughter"

And then, the cry of a baby, broke the silence. It was a sign that their conversation had already finished. Hermione went to Ally's room, to see what was wrong with her baby, but it didn't take her long. When she came back to the living room, she found that Ron was already gone.

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love!

ML