Thank you so much for all the reviews!!!! Enjoy!!

Chapter 5

Hermione swallowed, her heart pounding wildly in her throat.

Ginny glanced at Hermione. There were specks of pity floating in her eyes.

"Uh.....she's......uh....just someone.....I..uh" Ginny stammered as she tried to find the right words to say.

Hermione sighed deeply. Ginny was right. Ron had to find out sometime or another. And right now, she knew that she would not get away.

Hermione stood up and turned around, staring at the man she used to love in the face.

"Hi Ron." She whispered.

The shop went a deadly silent. No one spoke or moved from their positions. Even Joey seemed frightened and stayed put.

"You know Tim, I think we should be heading home now." Ginny's voice cracked through the silence.

"Yes, and we have to experiment with something in the back of the shop. Come along!" Angelina quickly said as she pulled George into the backroom, Katie and Fred closely following..

Hermione winced at the sound of a lock sliding into place.

Turning around, Hermione found Ron analyzing her.

"It can't be......" he muttered, "Not you....."

Hermione tried to smile, even though it came out as a grimace.

"Yea it's me." Hermione said gently, her eyes straining to not look at him.

She had thought that he was handsome when they were younger, but now.........now he

was nothing close to handsome, no, it was more like strikingly gorgeous.

His face stood long and narrow somewhat. His brown eyes, were now a ripe, chocolate brown instead of the muddy ones she used to know. His height was no surprise as he was now at least a foot taller than she. His body had become well-developed over the years, his shaggy hair hanging limp over his head.

Hermione felt awkward. Here they were, three years later, both at the very end of their teenage years and the beginning of adulthood. Here she was, standing a foot away from the man who conceived her son and did not know about it.

"So, uh how are you?" Ron seemed uncertain as well.

"That makes two of us." Hermione thought miserably.

"Oh good, really good." Hermione knew she hadn't felt this way since she had been a younger girl, a girl whose shyness held on her first crush on a certain red-haired boy.

"Ron looked at her peculiarly.

"Are you OK?" he asked, "Cause you seem a li-"

"Meme?"

Ron and Hermione looked down at the same time. Their heads rose at the same time. They stared at each other at the same time, a cherry flush tiptoeing into her cheeks while a darker red appeared around his throat.

"Who is THAT?" Ron asked, pointing sharply at the little boy clutching Hermione's legs.

Tears escalated into her eyes. This was it. This was that time that Hermione feared of all things.

"He, h-h-he i-s-s-s m-y-y son." Hermione stuttered, sending all her stress into her grip on Joey's arm.

Ron looked down at Joey yet again. Looking from the child to his mother, Ron only had one question to ask.

"Who is his father?"

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed forlornly. After what seemed like hours to her, Hermione knew she had to answer.

"You," she whispered, feeling tears voyage down her face. "You are his father Ron."

================================

Ron gaped, not knowing if it was anger or astonishment. Perhaps both.

When he was able to find his voice, he sounded more like an old man with strep throat then his regular self.

"What do you mean," he croaked, "My-y-y so-o-on?"

Hermione cupped her face, tears descending downward.

"Oh god!" Ron stared at her in bewilderment. Out of all these years, he couldn't....no it wasn't possible. He couldn't possibly have a child.

But he did indeed. The red hair was proof.

Ron felt his anger rise, flooding through his throat and up into his mouth.

"OUT OF ALL THESE YEARS," he hollered, he face deeply matching his hair by this point in time, "I HAVE HAD A SON AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME!!!!!!?????"

Hermione looked up at him, her face a sickly white.

"I'm so-o-rr-r-y." she whispered, "I di-i-dn-n't mean to."

"OH SURE YOU DIDN'T! AND I DIDN'T MEAN TO BECOME AN AUROR. IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT!!!!"

Hermione stared at him in shock. They had had plenty of arguments while at school, but none could relate to this.

"Ron if-f-f y-y-you j-j-j-just l-let me explain –" but Ron interrupted her.

EXPLAIN WHAT HERMIONE? THERE IS NOTHING TO EXPLAIN!!! ALL THE INFORMATION I NEED IS RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!!!!"

Ron stared wildly at Joey, who had decided to take his mother's footsteps, bawling of fright of this mad man in front of him.

Ron wasn't finished.

"IF YOU HATED ME SO MUCH, YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER COME BACK!!! YOU ARE A LIAR, SNEAK, AND A SELF – CENTERED BITCH HERMIONE GRANGER!!!"

If Hermione's face could go any whiter, it did. But before she could say anything, Ginny appeared at her side.

"It's OK Hermione, don't listen to anything he says." Ginny shot a look at Ron that could kill.

"No," Hermione pushed Ginny away as she wiped her eyes. "He is right. I was wrong to turn up. I should have never come back. Well, now you don't have to worry any long. I am leaving. Goodbye Ginny, Ron."

Carefully avoiding Ron's eyes, Hermione grabbed Joey's hand and lead him back to the Leaky Cauldron, where home was patiently waiting for them on the other side.