"Mummy, mummy!" someone screeched from the next room. I got back from the covers, wiped my eyes out, and walked reluctantly to the room next to mine.
"What's the matter, Baker?" I asked, sitting on the three-year-old's bed and stroking her full head of red hair.
"Mummy, it was scawy."
"What was scary?" I asked, picking up Mr. Snuffles from the floor and handing it to my daughter.
"My dweam."
"Oh, really? What was it about?"
"Thewe was monstews."
"No?!" I said, hugging tight to Mr. Snuffles. "Did they try to get you? Huh? Get you, get you, get you..." I attacked her with the raggedy old teddy bear and she let out a scream of glee.
"They was scawy, Mummy. I think I am going to have to sweep with you tonight, Mummy," she returned matter-of-factly, pulling back the covers and sliding into her pink slippers. Gripping Mr. Snuffles tightly, she pulled her pink blanky off her bed, and made the way to my room. I followed behind her, grinning. When I arrived, she was already spreading the blanket out on her side of the bed. "Thewe."
"Is this going to become an every night thing, Baker? C'mon, I'd think you were braver than that."
"I am," she protested as she pulled back the covers and climbed in. "But, I am mowe wowwied about you getting scawed, Mummy." She patted the pillow next to her twice and slid down onto her own. I got into bed, and she fell much too quiet.
I was almost drifting into blissful sleep when she screeched, "Got you, got you, got you..." and proceeded in attacking me with her bear. I laughed for a moment.
"All right, Baker. You've had your fun, now go to bed, sweetie." She obediently fell silent, but I was no closer to following my own advice. I had been having another one of those sleepless nights, thinking about how my life had turned out, calculating how much longer I could afford to pay all my bills.
These were the nights I started remembering it all.
Thefirst memory that wandered into my mind was the morning after.
I woke up gently, filling weight shifting on the bed. Ron was leaving. He got dressedquietly and seemed to be having a silent battle with himself. I feigned sleep as he glanced back at me, stroking my hair tenderly. He left. I hadn't tried to stop him. I hadn't said anything, but I knew he wasn't coming back. I just knew he wasn't. He thought we had made a mistake. And he was gone. I got up, packed my bags, and left for France.
After three months, I couldn't deny it anymore. You didn't skip three months in a row for no reason at all. Crying, I pushed away my pride and made an appointment at St. Clarence's in Paris.
"Bonjour," I told the receptionist. "I have an appointment scheduled. It's Hermione Granger." She sent me to a room in the back, and I waited, crying the whole time.
A friendly man in green finally walked in. "Good morning, Miss Granger," he said enthusiastically. "I'm Healer Morgan." I shook his hand. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"
"I think--I think," I choked on my words. I was going to die; I was going to kill myself. "I know-- I'm pregnant."
"Really?" he said, studying me closely. He moved toward me, pulling up a chair to sit in front of me. "And how old are you now, Miss Granger?"
A sob escaped my lips, but he still stared at me intently. "N-nineteen. L-l-last M-monday, I turned n-n-nineteen."
"I understand, Hermione," he said, standing up from his chair again. "But there are things you should know."
I know! I know! my brain screamed. I didn't need that speech about safe sex and protecting yourself and having responsibility. I had known it all, but not paid one bit of attention. Now, my life was ruined.
"There's nothing to be scared of. Having a child is a wonderful blessing. It will be easy, virtually painless with the right potions, and we'll be here to help you all the way." He smiled encouragingly. "You can do this, and once you see the child, all this shame, all your doubts, will be forgotten. Trust me," he went on, winking. "I just had my first."
I looked down, humiliated. Why had I let this happen? I was in control of my life. Why had I decided to go down this path?
"Listen, Hermione. I know this is hard, but have you let the father know?" I stared up at him. Why would I let the father know? He would be mortified, and it would ruin both our lives at the same time. This was my burden, Ron needn't know anything.
I looked up at Healer Morgan. "I--I want you to be my healer please."
His eyes crinkled gratefully. "I would love to be with you all the way to the climax of a wonderful journey that is about to begin for you."
"Thank you."
It was another week before I got the courage to tell everyone. I went to visit my parents personally. They were shocked and did seem to be disappointed in me, but quickly got over it. They told me how much they loved me, and that they'd help me through the entire way. I thanked them but knew I would not accept their help. This was my fault, and I would fix it.
I owled the rest of my friends. Padma cried, Lavender freaked, and Parvati just told me what a wonderful person I was, no matter what happened. The boys, on the other hand, took it much worse. Terry's letter sounded almost as tearful as Padma's. He couldn't believe it was happening to me. He was so sorry. He had never expected it. Was I o.k.? Anthony just sounded shocked. I think he had been starting to like me the way I thought I liked him, but it was all over now. It was no more than I expected.
But everybody kept asking the same question. Who was the father? Were we still together? What did he say about it all?
All I knew to do was to lie. I met a man in France. It was over now. I ended it before he found out. I didn't want him to have anything to do with the child. I was going to protect Ron, and he certainly was not going to be part of the child's life. I was really too angry at him to tell him anyway. He had left me, all alone, scared of what we had done. And now I was paying the consequences of it. But, I knew I was doing the right thing.
The baby was born prematurely on March 3, two days after Ron's 20th birthday. She was a girl with Ron's blue eyes and red hair, and my face. Healer Morgan swore it was the most beautiful baby he had ever seen. I named her Baker, my mother's maiden name.
I knew from the first time I held her that we would always be with each other. Together forever. Mum and Dad visited. They told me she was beautiful also.
I moved back to England two weeks later. I had ended up spending nine months in France and missed my family and home dearly. Professor Dumbledore had owned a small house in Godric's Hollow that he rented to me very cheap. He never threw me out when the rent was late either.
I had had to find a job too. I had a family to support now, and I had to put food on the table. Training for any kind of professional career would take too long with Baker to look after. I got a job with fairly flexible hours at Flourish and Blotts on Diagon Alley. My neighbor watched Baker forthree galleons a week and supper at our house every Thursday night. She was a lonely old lady and enjoyed having the company. When I worked on Saturday, Baker had to run around the store while I helped customers, which my manager found very annoying so I hardly ever had to work on Saturdays. I got good discounts on books for me and Baker alike.
And, here I was. My life wasn't perfect, but everything was working out pretty nicely at this point. I had a good job and the most wonderful daughter in the world. What could go wrong?
Never ask that question.
My alarm went off at six o' clock the next morning, as usual. I turned it off before it could wake Baker up and showered and dressed quietly. I went into the kitchen and directed the bowls and boxes into making cereal for our breakfast. I picked out Baker's clothes and laid them on her bed for her and went to wake her up lightly.
"Your clothes are on your bed, sweetie," I told her. She got up obediently and went into her own room. Ten minutes later, we both sat in the kitchen eating cereal together. She seemed to be too tired to talk; she always spent her first two hours at Mrs. Ardsley's taking a nap. She finished her cereal hastily and got up from the table. "Time to go," I told her, ushering her to the front door. "Twirl for me now."
Grinning toothily, Baker spun around, showing me her pink jumper and blue jeans, along with her pink cloak. "This was the best one yet, Mummy."
"I know." I dropped her off at Mrs. Ardsley's, gave her a hurried goodbye, and apparated to the back room of Flourish and Blotts, where Allyson and Miles were tying on their work robes. I took mine from the hanger neatly and put it on.
"We still on for lunch today?" Allyson asked, pointing her wand at a new shipment of books and causing them to go put themselves on the shelves.
"Of course," I answered, pulling a perfect bow through.
"Allyson, you promised you'd go pick up those books at lunch today," Miles reminded her, raising an eyebrow.
"What?! Oh yeah! Shit, I'm sorry, Hermione. Can we move it to tomorrow?"
"Sure," I answered, slightly putout. Save it for Miles, esteemed assistant manager, to mess up the plans for you. Not like Ally would have said no. He was her boyfriend.
The start of the day went smoothly. There wasn't too much business since it was a Tuesday and most people were at work. Hogwarts was also set to let out at the end of the week, so no students were yet to be seen. I left during my lunch break and decided to go enjoy a coffee and swing by Mrs. Ardsley's to visit and maybe bring them some lunch. I had barely turned my back in the direction of a café when someone called my name. "Hermione?!"
I looked around, searching for a familiar face. Then, I spotted it. Hogwarts graduate and former DA member Alicia Spinnet. She waved at me and set off at a brisk pace in my direction. "Hello, Alicia," I said, as she caught up with me. I had never known her too well, but she had been two years ahead of me in school and one of our Quidditch team's chasers.
"What are you up to?" she asked eagerly.
"Oh, I just got off work," I told her, pointing at Flourish and Blotts, "and I was going to go eat."
"Oh, me too. Would you like to join me?"
"Sure," I replied. We went to a small café just down the road, where we sat out in the bright June sunlight. "So, when are you expecting?" I asked promptly.
"What? Oh, this?" she said, pointing unnecessarily to her very large stomach. "About a month."
"And your- husband?" I asked uncertainly.
She nodded. "George Weasley."
"Ah, and George is allowing you to go out on your own?"
"Reluctantly," she answered with a smile.
"You're rather large to still be a month away," I told her honestly.
"Oh, thanks." When I looked worried she shook her head and said, "I know. The healer's pretty sure it's twins."
"Oh, right."
"So," she went on, "how are you these days?"
"Doing pretty well. My daughter's just turned three."
"Daughter?" she asked, sounding shocked.
"Oh--oh yeah. I had a baby about a year out of school."
"Wow. That was bold of you."
"To be quite honest, it was an accident. Would you like to see her?"
She nodded excitedly and I dug through my bag to find a picture of Baker and me. I showed it to her. "Oh, she's beautiful," Alicia said, smiling at the toddler. "I'm betting our child will have that exact same hair color." She looked up at me for a moment, suspiciously.
"Who was the father?"
I snatched the snapshot back. "A man I met while abroad in France. He doesn't keep in touch."
"That's a shame," she said, shaking her head of blonde hair.
"So, how is your family?"
"Well, George and I have been married for going on three years now. This August, come to think of it. I knew I wanted to marry him after Fred and he insisted on paying Ron's way through auror training. It was the most amazing, compassionate thing I've ever heard of a brother doing. I knew he'd always be there to look after me. I had had my doubts the first time he had proposed (I told him I wasn't ready), but this time, I knew. So, I proposed to him and we got married the following autumn.
"Anyway, the babies are due on July 15, and his family is just ecstatic. We can't wait either, of course. But, Bill, you know, their oldest son, his wife and he have been trying to have a kid for a couple of months now and have had absolutely no success. Charlie isn't married, and so George is going to have the first grandchild of Molly and Arthur, which is pretty wild in itself, as he's the fifth kid."
I listened, nodding. I had to bite back my tongue, as I was all about getting the facts straight. I wanted to scream, the sixth oldest had the first grandchild! She is gorgeous and the most wonderful child anyone could ask for--and she's all mine! but it seemed a bit inappropriate. "Children are a blessing," I told her. "Really, you can never understand the amazing feeling of having your own child. It is unbelievable." It sounded more appropriate anyway.
We talked a bit longer, and I was late getting back to work. I was totally out of it the rest of the day, and Miles sent me home early. Baker screamed in delight when I picked her up and told her I had time to watch her play for an hour.
We ran around the house together and had a spirited game of hide-and-go seek. After thirty minutes, I went in and waved my wand as the dishes began cooking themselves. I went back out onto the porch, and sat to read a book and keep an eye on Baker. She played with Mrs. Ardsley's cat and rode her mini broom round and round the yard. I got deeply engrossed in my book.
I looked up a little bit later and my heart dropped. Baker wasn't in the yard anymore. How had I not noticed? I scrambled out of my chair and called, "Baker!"
There was no answer and again, I yelled, "Baker!" I ran frantically around the yard, calling her name again and again. I was in tears, running up and down our street. I finally went back to the house, having decided on sending an emergency owl to the Ministry of Magic.
"Baker!" I screamed happily, relief flooding my veins when I saw her standing in the kitchen, holding a man's hand. The man had dark unruly hair and green eyes covered by a pair of glasses. His face split in to a smile as he looked at me.
"Hello, Hermione."
A/N: Hi! I sort of doubt anyone was suspecting this, but this is the whole plot of the story and always has been. Surprise! Anyway, I have a kind of out there thing to ask people. You people who have stories with tons of reviews (100), how do you do it? How do you get so many people to read your story? I've been very curious. Anyhow, thoughts from my lovely reviews.
Numair's Daine: Yes! Somebody recognized it. Go John Mayer that's like my fav song ever! Yes Ron and Hermione are going to be together and you can tell your friend I said so! I hope you still like the story too!
Figure8: OMG! I am so grateful for this review!
Bucklander35: NO! runs out and buys another OotP Read! Now! Thanks for reviewing! Ron is the greatest!
XtinaMerilla: That makes me really happy!
mione grint: Thanks for the reviews for both chapters. You are like the sweetest reviewer ever!
gonzogirl: I'm glad you thought so.
MPPSexxySiriusJamesRemus: I love y'all people who review more than one of my stories. Thanks! You're great!
Amy:Thanlks! You rule!
CraPpLeb33: Hey, thanks! Review again!