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Chapter 6: The Sound from the Bathroom

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         When Hermione woke up the next morning she felt like she had been transported back to the past. The room the exact same as it had been when she lived there ten years earlier. On the chair beside her bed lay her newly fitted school robes. She hadn't worn robes in ten years either. The skirt seemed shorter than she remembered and her white button up shirt seemed a lot tighter. Regardless of the fact that she had modeled skimpier outfits, Hermione was a little uncomfortable strutting around in a short skirt around her old classmates and teachers.

         Trying to tug down the hem of her skirt as much as possible, Hermione ventured out of her bedroom and down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

         "Morning Harry, Ron," Hermione greeted her old friends who were also making their way to the Great Hall. Both boys were dressed in their robes. Ron towered over Hermione even though she herself was 5'10. His red hair had darkened and his freckles had lightened to a point where they were almost nonexistent. He'd come a long way from his awkward adolescents.

         Harry had always been and attractive guy and nothing had changed. His black hair was still unruly but Hermione couldn't have pictured it any other way. But the feature that had changed was his eyes. They were still a deep green and it was true they had lost their innocent look years ago but they shone with a true happiness that was contagious.

         "Morning Hermione," Harry smiled at her. Ron only nodded, acknowledging her presence beside him. "Did you sleep well?"

         "Yes," Hermione answered honestly. "Better than when I lived here. I was always stressed about something."

         "It is a lot less stressful now isn't it," Harry agreed. After that none of them really knew what to say. There were still too many secrets in the way.

         "So…where's Ginny?" Hermione asked, realizing the small red head wasn't anywhere in sight.

         "She was still getting dressed when we left," Ron spoke for the first time but without looking at Hermione. "Kept saying something about her skirt being too short."  Feeling a little self conscious Hermione pulled on the hem of her skirt.

         "Maybe I should go get her?" Harry muttered, a worried look crossing his otherwise calm features.

         "Let me," Hermione stepped in. "I would love to have a girly chat with Ginny and you and Ron should go ahead to breakfast."

         "I…Are you sure? I mean…I am her husband," Harry began but Hermione was already moving away from them back towards the Griffindor common room.

         "Don't wait for us," she called back over her shoulder, taking off at a slow jog. She turned a corner and bumped into something and practically fell on her arse.

"Sorry bout that."

         "Not a problem Granger," Draco smirked, still holding onto her arms after keeping her from falling. "You know you're going the wrong way?"

         "Of course," Hermione replied indignantly, taking a step away from him "I'm going to get Ginny." 

         "Likely story," he pulled her to him. "You just wanted to run into me."

         "Why you cocky prat," Hermione swatted him. "We said we'd talk later and right now I need to go find…" Draco's face was so close to hers that their noses were almost touching. "I need to find Ginny." Hermione finished breathlessly, trying to ignore his closeness.

         "Ten o'clock," he whispered huskily into her ear before releasing her. "Don't be late." He turned and sauntered down the corridor to the Great Hall. After he left her, Hermione could still feel the warmth of his breath on her ear and the shiver it sent down her back.

         "Damn that Malfoy," she groaned, continuing on her way, trying her best to push him out of her mind. "I did not come back to fall in love with him. I came back to give him the truth."

         Hermione almost walked right past the portrait of the Fat Lady since she was so deep in her own thoughts. She was just about to rattle off the password Harry had given her but a sound coming from the bathroom across the hall captured her attention. It was the distinct sound of someone vomiting.

         She opened the girl's washroom door with a low creak and peered around the corner to see who it was. Ginny was just walking out of one of the stalls when Hermione rounded the corner.

         "Morning Gin," Hermione greeted her calmly, startling the younger girl. "Had to make a call to Ralph on the big white phone did you?"

         "What are you talking about?" Ginny replied. "Did Harry send you up here to check on me?"

         "I offered to come," Hermione answered eyeing her old friend. "Told him we needed some girl time and obviously we do." Hermione tried to get the conversation back to the matter at hand. "The walls aren't sound proof you know. I could hear you."

         "It's not what you think Mione honest," Ginny argued in her own defense.

         "But you don't even know what I think." Hermione said. Ginny opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the vomit rising in her throat. She rushed back into the stall. After a few minutes of retching Ginny reemerged from the stall and conjured a toothbrush and toothpaste to clean her mouth.

         "My diagnosis is…" Hermione made eye contact with Ginny's refection in the mirror. "You're pregnant."

Ginny's jaw dropped slightly and tried to recover as quick as she could but Hermione had seen her reaction. She spit out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth before turning to Hermione.

"How…how did you come up with that?" Ginny asked almost sheepishly, tucking a few strands of red hair behind her ear. Her face looked pale from vomiting so much.

"Let's see," Hermione held up her fingers to count off the clues. "You ate like a horse last night…"

"I could have just been overly hungry," Ginny pointed out.

"Honey, you were eating more than Ron." Ginny blushed adding much needed color to her cheeks. "Secondly Harry is so over protective of you."

"He's just a loving husband."

"I'm not denying that," Hermione defended her statement. "He's just too loving and he freaked out yesterday when we switched places at the dinner table. You were only one seat over."

"Alright I admit," Ginny put up her hands in defeat. "He has been a little over protective and he gets extreme sometimes but I understand."

"Well, that just proves that I'm right," Hermione smiled. "And my third point was the throwing up which is obviously morning sickness."

"Yeah yeah," Ginny admitted. "I'm pregnant." The two girls embraced.

"I knew it," Hermione was giggling like a schoolgirl. "Oh Gin, I'm so glad I was right. I hoped that I had figured it out."

"How did you figure it out really?" Ginny narrowed her eyes and stared at Hermione. "We haven't told anyone yet. Ron's been staying with us for the last two weeks and he couldn't figure it out "

"Ron's too dense to figure something like that out, no offense," Hermione shrugged, hopping onto the counter top.

"Yeah I guess it's a girl thing," Ginny concluded joining her on the counter.

"Or when you're already gone through it," Hermione stared at her knees and mumbled.

"What did you say?" Ginny's eyes were the size of small plates. "You've been through it?"

"How is that possible?" Hermione finished for her. "I think you know how you get pregnant Gin, I don't think I need to explain it." Ginny opened and closed her mouth multiple times very much resembling a fish. She couldn't seem to get the words out and was searching for just the right ones.

"Yes, I was pregnant. I had morning sickness and I ate a lot," she blurted out the answers, even though Ginny hadn't asked the questions. "I had everything that I suspected of you…except the worried husband."

"Oh Mione," Ginny managed to gasp. "You went through it alone. You poor thing."

"I had my mother around for the later months of the pregnancy," Hermione told Ginny, trying to erase some of the young girl's worry. "But it just wasn't quite the same as going through it with the father would have been. I see how Harry looks at you and the look on his face when he's worried about you. I can't help but feel a pang of guilt."

"What happened to the father?" Ginny was a little apprehensive about asking. "Is he dead?" Hermione shook her head. "He didn't…you know force you or anything?"

"No," Hermione was quick to say. "I wanted to be with him, I just couldn't."

"Did he know you were pregnant?" Hermione shook her head.

"I never got the chance." Tears glistened in her brown eyes, on the brink of spilling down her cheeks. Ginny hugged her friend and they both cried into each other's shoulders.

A few minutes later a knock sounded on the door and Harry's worried voice called to them through the thin wood. "Ginny? Hermione? Are you two in there?" Ginny pulled back from Hermione's shoulder and called back to her husband.

"We'll be out in a second." Quickly they tried their eyes and hoped that they wouldn't look too obvious. But before they went out Ginny turned and faced Hermione.

"Who was he?" Hermione bit her lip. She wanted so much to tell Ginny the truth but it would result in so many more questions and hurt that she couldn't do it. Not just yet anyway.

"He doesn't even know," Hermione answered truthfully. "I need to tell him first."

"Fair enough," Ginny agreed, a little disappointed. "But promise you'll tell me as soon as you're done telling him?"

"Promise," Hermione smiled at her friend. "But you have to promise me you won't tell anyone. I want him to hear it from me not from the school gossip chain."

"Witches honor," Ginny held up her right hand. "I can't even talk to Harry about it?"

"Especially not Harry," Hermione replied. "Or Ron. I want to be the one to tell them. They'll have plenty to say to me I'm sure. Promise me Ginny that you won't tell anyone." Hermione braced Ginny's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye.

"I promise," Ginny answered whole-heartedly. Hermione hugged her friend before they both headed out the door into the hallway. Harry and Ron were both waiting outside the bathroom when the girls finally came out.

"What took you so bloody long?" Ron glared at them. "You were supposed to come down to breakfast."

"Oh shut up Ron," Ginny snapped, she was in no mood to take any of her brother's moodiness.

"I thought you were going to bring her down?" Harry stared at Hermione, his look a mix of worry and anger.

"I told you we were going to have a girl chat," Hermione pointed out in her own defense. "It just took a little longer than I thought."

"Yeah well breakfast is over," Ron grumbled. "And we missed most of it because he was freaking out about where you two were."

"Wait what time is it?" Hermione looked frantically to Harry then to Ron and then back to Harry.

"Almost ten," Ron answered slowly, watching the expression on her face. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm sure if you're really hungry you could find the kitchen and ask the house elves to make you something," Harry said.

"Oh bugger, I'm going to be late," Hermione started to run down the corridor, leaving Harry, Ginny, and Ron standing alone totally bewildered. "I'll talk to you all later." She called back to them without turning around.

Their spot would have to be on the other side of the school from the Griffindor Common Room wouldn't it? Hermione grumbled as she ran through the corridors and down the moving staircases. When she reached the library, she slowed her pace to a quick walk and stopped in the far left corner away from everyone else. After looking to make sure no one was around, Hermione pulled History of Hippogriffs, History of Gargoyles partially off the bookshelf at the same time. Two of the bookcases separated without a sound, leaving enough room for Hermione to fit through and disappear out of sight before closing back up.

       There you have it, the newest chapter of Hermione Returns. Sorry about the long wait, I'm finding it a lot harder to find time to write. I didn't really answer the question of who it was that threatened her but it will be coming up in the next chapter. Good guesses though!  Hope you like this chapter, and please review and tell me what you thought. Thanks so much for reading.

       ~Miss Wright~