A/N: Hi, guys! I hope you are all doing really great! It would be a great day to be great! It would be a great day to read and review this chapter! And now I get to shout out to my beta, cheese riot, for being the best beta in the whole freakin' world! Three cheers for cheese riot! Three cheers for rock candy (you know what I'm saying)!

I leapt up from the couch. At the sudden shift of weight, Ron rolled right off and woke with a start. He jumped up guiltily next to me as I hoisted my jacket back over my shoulder to look at his girlfriend.

"You—and her--" Gris sputtered. She turned an accusatory face toward Ron. "I knew it. Ever since that party, you've been acting differently."

"Gris, listen," Ron began.

"No," Gris said hotly. I was surprised to even find out she had a temper. "You listen, Ron. It's always been this way, hasn't it?"

"Gris, what're you--"

"No, Ron. No! I'm going." She began to walk toward her room. She stopped as she came level with us. "Hermione..." she began softly. She seemed to be searching for something to say to me, but gave up. She turned around again, tears flowing freely, and continued walking.

After a silent moment, Ron threw himself back on the couch. "Bloody hell, I've screwed everything up now." He ran a hand through his hair that was now standing so far on end, it truly looked as if it were on fire. "All anyone ever does around me anymore is cry." I didn't bother to deny that.

I walked over to the front door that Gris had left open and slammed it shut. "Ron, I'm so sorry."

"No, it was my--"

"Would you please let someone else take the blame every once in a while?"

"Fine," he said sarcastically. "You're right! It was your entire fault! Merlin, Hermione, I told you to stay there with me."

"And you only told me that because you were trying to make me feel better. It's not like you forced me to fall asleep on top of you. It's no wonder Gris thought something was up," I answered.

"Well, there you go, right? Life: three; Ron Wealsey: zero."

I snorted. "You're keeping count?"

Ron shook his head. "I have to go talk to Gris."

I stood up and to my utter horror, felt my heart go out to my friend. I felt this mess was somehow my fault and hated seeing Gris suffer because of it. "Let me go talk to her, Ron."

"What?"

"You know, girl-to-girl? Maybe I could make her understand." I could sooner make the coffee table leg understand.

I turned my back to walk towards Gris' room. "Er- Hermione?"

I was forced to turn back around. "What?"

"I really don't want to lose her."

"I know," I said, nodding and turning back around. Just as my mind was almost completely set:

"Hermione?"

Desperately trying not to roll my eyes, I turned back around. "What, Ron?"

He smiled. "Thanks." I returned the smile unwillingly, wondering how I had got myself into this.

I walked to Gris' room, my head held high—for now.

I knocked.

Gris yelled a particularly nasty piece of advice at me.

I turned the knob and ducked as I saw an elephant flying at me. "I don't think that'd be possible, especially not for me."

Gris looked up, surprised. "Oh, Hermione! It's you! I didn't hit you, did I? I'm so sorry!" Somehow, I found that hard to believe.

"I should be apologizing. I mean, we weren't doing anything—not anything wrong at least. Nothing happened. We just fell asleep there."

"Hermione, don't apologize, and don't make excuses. It's not your fault. Ron's a--" she called Ron a very unflattering name—"I was stupid to ever like him."

"You don't mean that. Ron's a really great person—one of my best friends ever," I admitted. "What you saw this morning was friend's attempt to comfort an old friend. I—well, we had a tough night last night. He was just helping me feel better. And he was a perfect gentleman." Since when had I jumped on the Ron Weasley bandwagon? Really more of a prison wagon.

"What had happened then?" Gris asked, seeming to calm down considerably.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't believe I was going to tell her. "I—I admitted something to Ron. Something I should've told him a long time ago."

"What?" Gris asked, obviously now hanging on my every word.

I was terrified of how she would react when I told her the truth. I blinked hard several times before I could make words come out of my mouth. "You know Baker's my daughter, but she's—she's also...Ron's daughter." There, I said it.

Quite apart from any reaction I'd expected of her, Gris clapped her hand to her mouth and leaped up from her bed. "I knew it!"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, it was just so obvious. She looks so much like him. I always suspected...he told me one of his really old friends had been his first. And you—you were so obvious—he cared so much about you. And Baker--" She combed a finger through her thankfully returned blonde bob. "Wow, this is heavy."

"You're telling me. But, are you—mad?"

"Well, no, not really, I suppose. He didn't even know me then. Of course, how he didn't know is beyond me. He did tell me once he didn't think you'd just hook up with some random person off the street."

"No, I suppose he'd only expect that of himself," I mumbled, thinking she wouldn't hear me.

She did. She looked up, horrified. "He told you! Oh, please, Hermione, don't think of me like that! I-I didn't—it was so--"

"I don't," I interrupted her.

She looked down hesitantly. "I'm sorry I overreacted; you know, went off the edge like that." She seemed to be embarrassed at her outburst now. I, on the other hand, had a feeling that was the first time I'd actually heard her true feelings on Ron and mine's relationship. "I should've listened to what you two had to say instead of jumping to conclusions like that. It's just--" She moaned in a frustrated sort of way.

"What?"

"Nothing seems to be going right for me lately- nothing! I trip all the time, I dye my hair lime green, I can't even baby-sit a perfectly harmless three year old." She sighed. "It's like the fates are out to get me. And I look at you, and you're so perfect!"

Maybe her problem was looking for help from the fates. I decided I'd help her anyway. "I am a teenage mom. That is not perfection."

"Yeah, but you've raised your daughter perfectly. I can just hear what Ron's thinking: 'Why am I with this girl? She's such a loser. And I could have Hermione. I know she can raise a kid. She's raising my freaking kid!'"

"First off, Ron could not just have me. And he's not thinking anything like that. Ron lo—cares about you." Try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to say the l-word when Ron had never said it to me. My guilt only allowed me to cut myself down so many times. "He doesn't care about that stuff. He cares that he's with you."

"Well, I wish he'd say that." I couldn't remind her that he had said it because that would be admitting I had been eavesdropping on her and Ron's conversations. "And now I know you two have something else together I've missed out on—a kid." Although I thought this was a bit immature of her, I also realized I had helped to plant most of those thoughts in her head, even if it was through association. It was time for me to grow up and tell Ginny to stop with her games.

"I hope you don't think of it like that. What happened between us back then was a mistake and we've both agreed on it. Ron and I are nothing but friends now—case closed."

"You wouldn't know that by the way he talks about you."

"Well, I know how he feels about you by the way he talks about you." I knew I had sold her on that one, though I did wonder briefly what Ron had said about me. The thoughts were washed away as I saw her pretty green eyes sparkle.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Why don't you get some sleep? I'm sure you need it."

"So true. You can stay a bit longer though—if you'd like."

"That's fine. I have to go speak with Ginny."

I walked back toward the living room, and heard a quill scratching. Who in the world would Ron be writing to at this hour? Then, a voice spoke. "I mean, this is so ridiculous. If she's the missing link—but she can't be-- is that possible? Nothing I've read mentions this little unexpected twist—who's there?"

I stepped out from around the corner. I was so bad at trying to be sneaky. "What are you doing?"

His blue eyes traveled around and obviously saw no out but to tell the truth. "Writing a letter." He pointed to the parchment and quill that had just dropped as he stopped dictating.

"Would it be rude to ask to whom?"

"Harry." He walked over to the desk and picked up the letter. He proceeded to stroll towards our high-backed chair and picked up his now-dry robes.

"About what?"

"Good try."

"I wasn't trying to pry. Just wondering." I shrugged.

"It's fine. Just tedious Ministry business that doesn't concern you at all." That was smooth. Now, I was really suspicious. "Gris?" he asked.

"When she wakes up, you're the first person she wants to talk to."

He finally walked over to face me. "Thanks, Hermione. I know we haven't been the best of friends...in a long time, but you always come through for me."

I stared at his hands. "Well, dammit, Ron, I still care about you, God knows why."

"God knows why," Ron echoed. He smiled. "I'll be back in about an hour." In a brave gesture, he raised his hand and ran his thumb over my cheek, his ears turning a distinct red. My skin tingled. "Don't drown yourself in all this bullshit, Hermione. You look stressed."

He disapprated.

It was such a stupid thing to say. Really, why would he say something so stupid?

Lost in my thoughts, I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up as a tousle haired Ginny slumped into the room, wiping sleep out of her eyes. "What the hell's going on?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing."

"Yeah, right."

There was no better time than the present. "You've got to stop torturing Gris."

"Why?"

"And you have to help me with the Ron situation. I'm afraid of how this is going to turn out."

"What are you talking about?

"I told Ron that Baker was his daughter," I said quickly. It seemed to be getting easier to say with each repeat.

She snorted. "There's a shocker. Ron never did understand the saying, 'Look, but don't touch.'"

"I'm not a prostitute, Ginny!" I said, hurt.

Looking alarmed, Ginny brushed at my hair. "I know you're not, Hermione," she told me. "I know. I'm just telling you—warning you. You might've been ready to be in that situation with him way back when, but Ron just was too young for that. He wasn't ready. And he's not ready for the kind of responsibility of a kid."

"I know." I took a long-suffering breath. Close to tears I said, "I know."

"Hermione, Hermione! Don't cry!"

"I feel like I'm forcing this on him. He doesn't want it. He's happy right now! I'm taking that from him. And Gris too. I'm taking their happiness."

"Why are you so worried about her anyway?"

"That's the thing, Ginny. You're putting Gris through this hell. And now she's blaming herself for getting jealous but I'm the one who's been letting you do all this. I'm the one at fault here."

"You are not."

"Ginny, what am I going to do?" I begged.

"First off, you're going to calm yourself down" I took a deep breath to satisfy her. "We're going to figure this out," she promised.

"I just can't!"

"Hermione, it's ok."

"It's not ok! I have to tell Baker today. How am I going to do that? 'Here you go, Baker. Here's the Dad you've been asking for your entire life. I've been hiding him from you this entire time. Surprise!' She's three; she isn't exactly going to understand that."

"I think you underestimate her," Ginny said. "I've spent time with her. She's very smart and understands a lot more things than you'd expect. Probably from having such a smart Mum, huh?"

"Oh, please. The girl who gets pregnant at seventeen is not intelligent. If I was one bit intelligent, I'd be out doing something that mattered in the world."

"Ugh!" Ginny yelled angrily, finally losing her temper with me. "What's the matter with you? Why do you keep saying that?! You are doing something important. You're doing something more important than most of us have done in our entire life. You're raising a child. You're raising someone who could help the world."

"What do you mean?" I asked skeptically.

"There's something about that girl, Hermione. She's got something special. She is something special. I don't understand it, but I understand she's got it. She's here for a reason and she's important. You can just sense it when you spend time with her, compared with other kids, I mean."

"That's odd," I said, mostly to myself.

"What d'you mean 'that's odd?'" she demanded. I could tell she was not in the mood for any crap I might want to throw at her today.

"Professor Dumbledore once said something about Baker. Something along those same lines. He said she was something special, and I would understand one day. Yet, he's gone, and I still don't understand." I buried my face in my hands. "I just don't know."

"There is something," Ginny promised. I nodded.

"Anyway, I am serious about the Gris thing. Stop or I'll tell Ron what you've been doing. I trust you to stop if I ask you."

"You know I will, Hermione. It's your decision more than anybody's. Even though we all know Ron still loves you. I trust you'll pull through this."

"Oh, please." I got up to leave the room, and I heard her briefly mumbling to herself in a voice she thought I couldn't hear.

"Oh please nothing," she whispered to herself. "The way he looks at her; the way he talks about her. She's clueless. Everyone's clueless but me." Shaking my head slightly, I slammed the door closed.

A/N: This chapter is a short 'un. You can blame cheese riot for that- she made me! Lol, jk! Everybody should review. I am having trouble coming up with a cute lil review thing to do today. I will take the time; I will think. begins thinking I'll figure it out yet!

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