"I know about Jamie."

Hermione stood still in the door. She felt like a dementor had sucked all the breath from her body.

"Harry told you?" She whispered.

"Not exactly," Ron said bitterly.

Someone had been trying to kidnap Ginny Weasley. In the first attempt she had fought off the single attacker by herself. For the second attempt he'd brought back up, and if Harry hadn't shown up she would have been dragged off to parts unknown.

Seeing as her entire family was in the Order of the Phoenix it wasn't surprising that the Order made finding her attackers a top priority. But they were having a hard time even coming up with a reason why the Death Eaters were focusing on Ginny. The only theory that they had was that they wanted her because of the brief time she spent possessed by Tom Riddle. It wasn't until they raided Goyle's hideout and found the prophecy that they realized it had nothing to do with that at all.

Harry and Ron were the ones that found sphere with the prophecy in it when they invaded Goyle's hideout. Goyle and his friends had cleared out just before they arrived but they had left behind the sphere in their haste to escape.

Harry, more then anyone, knew the significance of such a sphere so they immediately took it to Dumbledore. They went to an isolated chamber at Hogswarts with only Ron, Ginny, Harry, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall present. Dumbledore tapped the sphere with his wand and sparked a revelation none of them expected.

Somehow not surprisingly, it was once again Professor Trelawney in one of her rare moments of actually seeing the future. She was talking in her possessed voice: "It is the father that will destroy the dark lord but it is the child that will banish his followers and bring about peace to the wizarding world."

Ron blinked when he heard the prophecy. She may as well have been speaking another language for all the sense that it made. Harry had destroyed Voldemort but the rest made no sense at all.

"Well that's total rubbish," he said aloud. "Harry doesn't have a child."

He turned and looked at Harry, expecting him to look as perplexed as Ron was but instead Harry was staring straight ahead. His face had gone a gruesome gray color and he was gripping the table so hard that his knuckles had turned white.

"Harry?" Dumbledore said quietly.

Harry opened his mouth to speak but he looked as though something was caught in his throat. Finally he closed his eyes and said: "I have son."

The room burst into gasps and remarks of disbelief but Ron's voice was the loudest.

"When the bloody hell did that happen?" He demanded, turning an accusing stare at Ginny. She and Harry had been dating for two years and although Ron logically knew that he would have noticed if Ginny had had a child in that time it was still the first assumption that he made. But when he saw the stricken look on Ginny's face he realized this was all news to her as well. He looked back at Harry who was still staring straight ahead.

"He's three."

"And you didn't mention it to anyone?" Ron demanded, wounded. How could his best friend have a child—a child?!—and not tell him?

"Jamie's mother," his voice caught. "Jamie's mother knew that if anyone found out that I had a child it would be in danger so she insisted that we hide him."

"Potter," McGonagall said gently. "Where is he now?"

Harry's head shot up.

"He's safe."

"Harry," Dumbledore said. "It is obvious that the attempts on Ginny's life were made because the Death Eaters believed that she was the mother of this child. They know this child will lead to their demise. It is imperative that he be protected. Only the people in this room can insure that."

Harry looked like he was in physical pain. And Ron realized, Harry was staring ahead so as not to look at him. Harry swallowed hard. "He's in America."

And then it hit Ron.

Much like a sledgehammer to the back of the head would.

"I take it that his mother is a witch?" McGonagall was saying.

"I take it that his mother is Hermione!" Ron heard himself growl and he watched Harry flinch. Slowly Harry turned his head and looked at him. He nodded slowly and that's the last thing Ron remembered.

After that he could only hear blood rushing through his head and all he could think of was how he had stood in Harry's shadow since the day they met. Harry had everything-- money, fame, talent, and that had been fine with Ron. But Hermione had been his. His. Hermione was the one thing that Harry couldn't have.

The next thing Ron knew a blast came out on somewhere and he was thrown back against the chamber wall.

"That's quite enough Ron", Dumbledore said quietly, standing above Harry who was sprawled on the floor looking horrified and bloodied. Ginny immediately rushed to Harry's side and that only angered Ron more.

"She was mine!" Ron shouted. "You knew how much I loved her. You knew!"

And suddenly anger flared in Harry's eyes.

"And you threw her away," he shouted.

Ron shook his head and turned and stalked out of the room. Harry called after him but he ignored him.

Hermione swallowed hard.

"Well," she said in a dry voice, "Jamie happened a year after you dumped me Ron. You were quite threw with me by then, weren't you?"

"My point," Ron replied sharply, "is that you cannot deny that you love him when you had a child with him, can you?"

Hermione turned back toward him, anger bursting in her chest.

"Is that what this is about? You came all this way to say I told you so?" Her fists were clenched and all the computers in the room started flickering. "Well if it's the truth you want, fine, here it is. Harry Potter is brave, and clever, and handsome, and he has been there for me in the darkest times of my life without fault. But do you want to know what the truly pathetic thing is? It's you that I love! It's you that I've always loved!"

She shouted it at him like a curse and then she turned heel and stormed out of the room. She was headed back toward her office, trembling with rage. Once again, with barely any effort, he had destroyed her life. Destroyed her carefully developed muggle alias--all of her efforts to stay anonymous , all her efforts to hide her son, all her efforts to flush Ron Weasley out of her heart.

He had no idea he was taking his life into his hands when he grabbed her by the arm and swung her around. She opened her mouth to shout at him and he did the one thing that always quelled their arguments. He leaned in and he kissed her.

Hermione felt her back hit the wall.

No, dammit!

But he had the same effect on her that he had all those years ago. His kisses were still awkward, slightly sloppy, and he never seemed to know what to do with his hands but he was her Ron and she felt the anger drain from her like someone had pulled a plug. She put her hands on his shoulders, still weakly planning on pushing him away, only to feel muscle that hadn't been there when they were younger and she felt a pang yearning. She felt herself kissing him back, wanting to remember what he tasted like. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and he sprang back away from her.

He looked like he was horrified at what he had just done. Like he had crossed a line he had sworn never to cross again. He took a step back and then another, and then he turned and ran down the hall.

Hermione was still leaning against the wall and she felt like if she hadn't been she would have fell over. Her body and her mind were completely drained. He had touched every nerve she had. She slipped down to the floor. Amanda came running up to her.

"Are you all right?" She asked.

Hermione tipped her head back and laughed. Because, really, what else could she do?