There For You
Author's Note: I know, I know, I'm really ashamed of myself. I said I was done with the far apart updates but I did it again. I'm really sorry! I'm having trouble getting motivated to write because this fic is almost over and I'm having trouble planning out the next one. Don't give up on me though; I promise I won't quit or anything. Since it's been weeks since I last updated and it would take me even longer to get this chapter out if I answered everyone's reviews, there aren't any individuals this chapter. Again, I'm sorry. But really, would you want me to go ahead and do them or just post the chapter? OK, hope you like this chapter. It's not my best but oh well. There are a few parts I know you'll enjoy. Well, happy reading!
Chapter 25: A Dozen
"Ron, you really are the best looking bloke in Hogwarts and I am by far the luckiest girl ever to be alive," Hermione said seductively. "I think more than snogging would be divine, love," she whispered and sat on Ron's lap as he absentmindedly wondered if she'd ever said 'divine' before. She leaned forward and started sucking slowly on his neck. He groaned and laid his hands on her hips. Moments later, she pulled back from him and slowly began lifting her shirt. "And by the way," she added as her stomach began to show, "Healer Doogle said my body is so capable of having children that I'll have twelve kids the first time around."
Ron sat up quickly in his bed, blushing furiously before realizing it was a dream and he wasn't with Hermione in the middle of the Hospital Wing. He shivered slightly and cleared his throat. Twelve kids my arse, he thought. The image of Hermione starting to undress came back. If only she hadn't scared him with a dozen children.
After a trip to the loo, he changed into a loose shirt and trousers before leaving for the hospital. As he walked to Hermione's room, he wondered what the pregnancy results would be. If Hermione couldn't have children, what would they do? He supposed they could adopt but he'd never heard of a wizard orphanage and how would a muggle child fair in the wizarding world? What choice did that leave them? Nothing he could think of.
He made it to Hermione's door and knocked on it lightly, hearing Healer Doogle's voice call him in.
"Hey," he said as he shut the door, nearly tripping over a new vase of flowers. Every inch around her wall and quite a section of floor space was full of bouquets, vases, and flowerpots. "Whoa," he muttered. Hermione smiled at him happily; clearly thrilled he'd arrived, ignoring his amazement at the many flowers in the room.
"Ron, I'm so glad to see you!"
"Me too, love." He sat down beside her and she immediately took his hand. "Ma'am," he nodded at Healer Doogle.
"Good Morning. I just gave Hermione some good news. Hermione?"
"Ron, I can have children! A dozen," Ron eyes widened, "probably wouldn't be possible but one or two would!" The color returned to Ron's face as it broke into a smile.
"That's great!" He hugged her tightly.
"Since Hermione's organs et cetera are in working order and she has no pain or complications after the curse, I find no reason pregnancy would cause a problem in the future," Healer Doogle said. "For the next few days, she will stay here but I believe she can move to the Hogwarts infirmary by Thursday (took me forever to figure out what day I was on, which is Sunday by the way)."
"Thank Merlin," Ron sighed.
"Yes. Well, I'll leave you two alone. Hermione, I'll be in tomorrow morning for another check up. Try to keep calm and relax. Sleeping would be good."
"Thank you, Healer Doogle," Hermione answered. She left the room and Hermione hugged Ron again. "Ron, I'm so relieved! What would we have done if I couldn't have kids?"
"I know, I was wondering that too on my way here. It's not like I could have a baby (ha ha Magnolia Lane. Everyone, go read her fics! Then you'll understand my little joke.) Do they have wizard orphanages?"
"I don't know. That would be interesting to look up though!"
"Well, we don't have to worry about it anyway."
"I know," she said, smiling.
"So, who're all the flowers from? Half of these weren't here yesterday."
"I know; they were all delivered an hour ago; the poor delivery man. Anyway, some are from my parents, some more from your family, and some from students and friends from Hogwarts."
"Huh." He could tell which flowers had come from the twins; the pots had a photo wrapped around it of Fred and George grinning widely and waving enthusiastically. "Nutters," he muttered, smiling.
"Yes, well, it's the thought that counts," she replied, though he knew she wasn't pleased about the photos. She looked at him for a moment and sighed heavily.
"What is it?" he asked.
"A lot of stuff. There are still things you haven't told me about what happened. I want to know! It isn't fair I've been out of it for a week; I want to be caught up with everyone! And I want a book to read," she sighed as if her lack of reading material was the worst thing going on in her life. Ron had to force himself not to laugh at this last comment.
"I told you," he said, as he pushed her lightly back into her pillows so she could lie down. "I want to wait until you're well and ready to hear a few things. Ginny doesn't know every single bit either. When both of you are better, Harry and I will tell you." She relaxed into her bed and scowled at him. "And about a book; I can go to the library tomorrow and find you one. I know it would be devastating if you didn't read for a couple weeks," he chuckled.
"Yes, it would."
"Go to sleep and I'll sit here with you." She shook her head.
"I don't want to sleep while you're here again." A knock at the door interrupted them. Melvin opened it a second later, carrying the usual tray of food for Ron.
"Good morning, laddie! And the young lass is awake too! Excellent, excellent! Here are your sandwiches, Mr. Ron, and would the lady like anything?" Hermione shook her head. "All right then, I'll be off!"
"Thanks Melvin," Ron said and the little man waved merrily.
"Mr. Ron?" Hermione asked, adjusting her pillow to be more comfortable. Ron grinned at her and shrugged.
"He's mad, that old man. Likes odd muggle sports that knock out all your teeth and your parents keep offering to get him denchies."
"Denchies?"
"The fake teeth things! Honestly, you and Harry think you know so much about muggles!" Hermione laughed and shook her head.
"That's because they're called dentures (see, dentures (thanks Penelope) not denchers. Honestly, I know how to spell, I swear.), not denchies!" Ron thought for a moment.
"Oh, maybe that's it. But wait...are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure Ron, my parents are dentists! They work with people's teeth so it doesn't surprise me they would want to give that man some dentures, he hardly has any."
"If you say so. Sounds disgusting to me." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Would you rather fake teeth or no teeth?"
"I don't...I don't know!" A rap was heard on the door again, this time Mina's head popped in.
"Hi Ron, Hermione. Your parents have come."
"Thank you." Mina opened the door further and the Grangers walked into the room, as one would enter a funeral. They stood stiffly in front of Hermione's bed as the door closed softly behind them. "Hi Mum, Dad. Are you all right?" Hermione asked in concern. She had never seen them so rigid.
"Yes, well, I suppose," Mrs. Granger answered uncertainly. "Only...we've decided to go home."
"You're awake and basically healthy so we have no reason to be here anymore," Mr. Granger added.
"Oh, well, all right. Are you sure you want to go already? Has something happened?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"No, no, nothing's happened, dear, we just think it would be best if we left. You have Ron here and Mina says you can go back to school on Thursday so...we had better be going. Our patients need us."
"Okay, well, thank you for coming."
"We'll see you this summer though. Mr. Dumbledore said we could visit a time or two while you're at that safe house." Mrs. Granger came forward and kissed Hermione on the forehead and hugged her tightly. "Be safe and very careful, darling. Keep in touch as well."
"I will Mum. Have a safe trip home." Her father came and hugged her.
"Ron, if we could have a word outside before we leave," Mr. Granger motioned to Ron when he released his daughter.
"Sure," he replied, feeling nervous suddenly. What would he want to talk about?
"We love you, dear," Hermione's mother said tearfully.
"I love you both too." Mrs. Granger opened the door slowly, getting a last look at Hermione before turning and stepping out. Mr. Granger nodded at Hermione and motioned for Ron to precede him outside.
"I'll wait in the lobby," his wife said quietly and walked away.
"Perhaps we could find an empty room," Mr. Granger suggested. Ron nodded slightly and headed down the hall, knocking lightly on doors until no one answered, and the pair stepped inside a room identical to Hermione's. Mr. Granger nervously sat down in a chair and nodded for Ron to do the same in the one next to him. Ron thought he saw some beads of sweat on the other man's forehead.
"The reason my wife and I have decided to leave is...we realize you and Hermione care for each other very much and though we still do not feel she is safe at school or in this world, we know she won't leave. Since you are the one she is apparently promised to, and we can add nothing of use to her life right now, we leave her in your hands. I..." Mr. Granger faltered. "I don't really know how to have this little talk seeing as I didn't expect to give it for a few more years. I just want to make sure you will always respect Hermione and..."
"Sir, I think I know what you mean and I want you to know that my answer is yes. I will respect Hermione and never expect anything from her," he blushed slightly as he remembered his dream about her that morning, "I would never ask her to do anything she wasn't completely comfortable with or hurt her in any way because I love her too much to ever do anything to jeopardize our relationship. I don't even feel like I deserve her most of the time. But I love her a lot and to be honest, I'm over the moon that we're promised to each other. I'd do anything for her." Mr. Granger sighed and nodded.
"I believe you but still...you're a teenage boy and I was one just like you before and I know what I wanted then...it's most disturbing to know your daughter is in that place now...hormones...just..." In any other circumstance, Ron would have laughed at such a stuttering loss of words but hearing it from his girlfriend's father, he wasn't sure what to do. "Just be careful, I suppose. We're worried enough as it is and to have our daughter so involved with a teenage boy is not something we'd like to have in our minds but seeing as there's nothing we can do I can only say: Don't give me any grandchildren right now." Ron's jaw dropped at such a blatant way of putting it. Mr. Granger seemed to regret it the moment the words left his lips.
"I...we aren't..." Ron spluttered. The older man shook his head quickly, obviously embarrassed.
"No, no, I'm sorry. That was too forward, I didn't mean to say it like that...well, I did but you know, it's hard to find ways to express things like this," he said anxiously. "I...I think we've said enough and you understand what I mean so," he stood up abruptly, "have a nice day and take care. See you another time." He shook Ron's hand hastily and left the room, leaving a shocked Ron staring at the door. He blinked a few times and stood slowly. "That was a bloody mess," he muttered. As he opened the door, he ran a hand through his hair and composed himself, unsure what to tell Hermione when she inevitably asked him what the talk was about.
He reentered her room a minute later, hoping his face wasn't red anymore. She gave him an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"For what?"
"My dad. I'm sure I can guess what he wanted with you. Be respectful to me and no sex, right?"
"How do you know everything?" he exclaimed.
"It's my dad, Ron, I knew he'd have this talk with you eventually."
"Well, yeah, that's basically what it was. To quote he said, 'Don't give me any grandchildren right now.'" Hermione giggled and shook her head. "Yeah, I'm sure he was really nervous too. My dad's always been the quiet type, never wanted to bother or embarrass anyone. I'm sure he's dreaded doing that for years, likely ever since I was born."
"It wasn't a picnic for me either. I tried to assure him it was okay and I'd take care of you and all but then he said the grandchildren thing, shook me all up." Hermione shook her head.
"Don't even worry about it. Dad just felt he needed to do the proper father-in-law thing and didn't do it very well. He isn't the most articulate man but oh well. Just forget it. My parents are gone and we won't have to worry about them for a few more months. So...why don't you eat? Your sandwiches have been sitting here and I'm sure you can't wait to eat them all."
"Are you suggesting I'm a pig?" he asked, mock insulted as he sat down and pulled the plate onto his lap.
"Yes." Ron scoffed and offered her one, which she declined.
"Have you eaten today?"
"I had breakfast before my tests this morning and to be honest, sandwiches don't sound appetizing this early."
"Appetizing my arse! They're delicious!" he exclaimed through a mouthful of turkey and bacon.
"Don't swear! And don't speak with your mouth full!" He rolled his eyes at her but didn't reply.
---
Harry decided to talk to Neville about Bellatrix Lestrange after he had breakfast with Ginny. She decided to work on some more schoolwork, considering she had nothing else to do. As the weather was still cool out and Neville rarely sat in the library, Harry chose to go to the Gryffindor common room to find him. Sure enough, he was there. However, the moment Harry stepped into the room, students began inquiring about Hermione's health, Ginny's, the reason for his and Ron's absence from class, and how he was doing. He did his best telling them that he and his friends were all fine and he would be back in lessons the next day. Some looked at him in awe, others seemed frightened by him, while some looked at him skeptically.
As soon as he could, he made his way over to Neville who had just lost a game of Exploding Snap to Dean. He received a friendly slap on the back from them both and an offer to play a hand but he instead asked to talk to Neville alone for a bit. Neville followed him to an empty corner of the room, obviously wondering what was up.
"Everything okay, Harry?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to ask you some stuff."
"All right. By the way, how's Hermione? And Ginny?"
"Oh right, Hermione woke up yesterday so she's going to be fine and Ginny's the same as you saw her."
"Glad to hear it."
"Yeah."
"So, what did you want?"
"Well, I hope this doesn't seem too...nosy or imposing of a question but...you seemed a bit, uh, I'm not sure...you know when I mentioned that Lestrange woman?" Neville stared at his feet but nodded.
"Oh, you know, I was just curious."
"But are you okay? I mean, you know I know about your parents so I just wanted to make sure you were okay. At least she's gone and all."
"Yeah. Puts less pressure on me I suppose." Harry frowned at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, ever since I found out she'd escaped, I figured a time would come when I'd have to try and avenge my parents or something (I actually think something like that could happen in the canon books but I've sort of killed her off already). Don't have to worry about that anymore since she's dead though." Neville shrugged almost sadly.
"That's good, isn't it?"
"Yeah but...it's dumb. I imagined myself miraculously killing her and then my Gran would be proud and...my parents would be okay, you know? By miracle I suppose," he laughed softly at himself. "I couldn't have actually killed her though, I'm nowhere near that strong or brave." Harry opened his mouth then closed it, unsure how to respond.
"You know Neville, you're stronger and braver than you think. You've always done really well in the D.A. and not many could have helped me the way you did in the Department of Mysteries last year. You carried Hermione around, faced Death Eaters, and never gave up once. I bet you'd have done your parents proud given a chance with Bellatrix Lestrange. Maybe not right this second but after some more lessons, and with a bit more confidence, you'd be a right difficult opponent." Neville slowly looked up at Harry.
"You...you really think so? You're not just being nice?"
"No, I'm not," Harry answered, a bit surprised to find he actually believed what he was saying. "I'm telling you the truth. Give yourself a bit more credit, mate." Neville seemed too surprised and pleased to answer. He smiled at the ground. Harry felt he'd said enough and stood up. Neville followed suit, his hands tightly set in his pockets.
"Thanks, Harry."
"No problem." Harry patted him on the back and made to leave but paused. "By the way...what's the deal with you and Luna?" He grinned. Neville blushed immediately.
"We're...well, we've been kinda...ever since the ball..."
"She's your girlfriend?" Harry offered.
"Basically," Neville's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.
"Well done," Harry nodded. "She's a nice girl," he added, remembering his conversation with her at the end of last year. "A bit...odd-"
"Yeah," Neville agreed fervently. Harry chuckled.
"But it's always nice to have a girl behind you. I'll see you tomorrow," Harry grinned and made his way to the portrait hole.
Author's Note: Well, not the greatest chapter but at least it's finished. So, everyone glad the Grangers are gone for a while? I'm sure you are. Again, I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I'll try to be quicker with the next one. Like I said, I didn't do individuals this time but I want to thank everyone for reviewing. You're all so awesome with your comments and praises; I feel really special. Thanks to all my regular reviewers. Thanks to all my new reviewers, some reading nonstop until you finished my fics. Thanks to new readers even if you didn't read nonstop. Thanks to readers who never reviewed before but decided to finally. Anyway, thanks to all and to all a good night! Ha ha, it's late and I need sleep.
Author's Note: I know, I know, I'm really ashamed of myself. I said I was done with the far apart updates but I did it again. I'm really sorry! I'm having trouble getting motivated to write because this fic is almost over and I'm having trouble planning out the next one. Don't give up on me though; I promise I won't quit or anything. Since it's been weeks since I last updated and it would take me even longer to get this chapter out if I answered everyone's reviews, there aren't any individuals this chapter. Again, I'm sorry. But really, would you want me to go ahead and do them or just post the chapter? OK, hope you like this chapter. It's not my best but oh well. There are a few parts I know you'll enjoy. Well, happy reading!
Chapter 25: A Dozen
"Ron, you really are the best looking bloke in Hogwarts and I am by far the luckiest girl ever to be alive," Hermione said seductively. "I think more than snogging would be divine, love," she whispered and sat on Ron's lap as he absentmindedly wondered if she'd ever said 'divine' before. She leaned forward and started sucking slowly on his neck. He groaned and laid his hands on her hips. Moments later, she pulled back from him and slowly began lifting her shirt. "And by the way," she added as her stomach began to show, "Healer Doogle said my body is so capable of having children that I'll have twelve kids the first time around."
Ron sat up quickly in his bed, blushing furiously before realizing it was a dream and he wasn't with Hermione in the middle of the Hospital Wing. He shivered slightly and cleared his throat. Twelve kids my arse, he thought. The image of Hermione starting to undress came back. If only she hadn't scared him with a dozen children.
After a trip to the loo, he changed into a loose shirt and trousers before leaving for the hospital. As he walked to Hermione's room, he wondered what the pregnancy results would be. If Hermione couldn't have children, what would they do? He supposed they could adopt but he'd never heard of a wizard orphanage and how would a muggle child fair in the wizarding world? What choice did that leave them? Nothing he could think of.
He made it to Hermione's door and knocked on it lightly, hearing Healer Doogle's voice call him in.
"Hey," he said as he shut the door, nearly tripping over a new vase of flowers. Every inch around her wall and quite a section of floor space was full of bouquets, vases, and flowerpots. "Whoa," he muttered. Hermione smiled at him happily; clearly thrilled he'd arrived, ignoring his amazement at the many flowers in the room.
"Ron, I'm so glad to see you!"
"Me too, love." He sat down beside her and she immediately took his hand. "Ma'am," he nodded at Healer Doogle.
"Good Morning. I just gave Hermione some good news. Hermione?"
"Ron, I can have children! A dozen," Ron eyes widened, "probably wouldn't be possible but one or two would!" The color returned to Ron's face as it broke into a smile.
"That's great!" He hugged her tightly.
"Since Hermione's organs et cetera are in working order and she has no pain or complications after the curse, I find no reason pregnancy would cause a problem in the future," Healer Doogle said. "For the next few days, she will stay here but I believe she can move to the Hogwarts infirmary by Thursday (took me forever to figure out what day I was on, which is Sunday by the way)."
"Thank Merlin," Ron sighed.
"Yes. Well, I'll leave you two alone. Hermione, I'll be in tomorrow morning for another check up. Try to keep calm and relax. Sleeping would be good."
"Thank you, Healer Doogle," Hermione answered. She left the room and Hermione hugged Ron again. "Ron, I'm so relieved! What would we have done if I couldn't have kids?"
"I know, I was wondering that too on my way here. It's not like I could have a baby (ha ha Magnolia Lane. Everyone, go read her fics! Then you'll understand my little joke.) Do they have wizard orphanages?"
"I don't know. That would be interesting to look up though!"
"Well, we don't have to worry about it anyway."
"I know," she said, smiling.
"So, who're all the flowers from? Half of these weren't here yesterday."
"I know; they were all delivered an hour ago; the poor delivery man. Anyway, some are from my parents, some more from your family, and some from students and friends from Hogwarts."
"Huh." He could tell which flowers had come from the twins; the pots had a photo wrapped around it of Fred and George grinning widely and waving enthusiastically. "Nutters," he muttered, smiling.
"Yes, well, it's the thought that counts," she replied, though he knew she wasn't pleased about the photos. She looked at him for a moment and sighed heavily.
"What is it?" he asked.
"A lot of stuff. There are still things you haven't told me about what happened. I want to know! It isn't fair I've been out of it for a week; I want to be caught up with everyone! And I want a book to read," she sighed as if her lack of reading material was the worst thing going on in her life. Ron had to force himself not to laugh at this last comment.
"I told you," he said, as he pushed her lightly back into her pillows so she could lie down. "I want to wait until you're well and ready to hear a few things. Ginny doesn't know every single bit either. When both of you are better, Harry and I will tell you." She relaxed into her bed and scowled at him. "And about a book; I can go to the library tomorrow and find you one. I know it would be devastating if you didn't read for a couple weeks," he chuckled.
"Yes, it would."
"Go to sleep and I'll sit here with you." She shook her head.
"I don't want to sleep while you're here again." A knock at the door interrupted them. Melvin opened it a second later, carrying the usual tray of food for Ron.
"Good morning, laddie! And the young lass is awake too! Excellent, excellent! Here are your sandwiches, Mr. Ron, and would the lady like anything?" Hermione shook her head. "All right then, I'll be off!"
"Thanks Melvin," Ron said and the little man waved merrily.
"Mr. Ron?" Hermione asked, adjusting her pillow to be more comfortable. Ron grinned at her and shrugged.
"He's mad, that old man. Likes odd muggle sports that knock out all your teeth and your parents keep offering to get him denchies."
"Denchies?"
"The fake teeth things! Honestly, you and Harry think you know so much about muggles!" Hermione laughed and shook her head.
"That's because they're called dentures (see, dentures (thanks Penelope) not denchers. Honestly, I know how to spell, I swear.), not denchies!" Ron thought for a moment.
"Oh, maybe that's it. But wait...are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure Ron, my parents are dentists! They work with people's teeth so it doesn't surprise me they would want to give that man some dentures, he hardly has any."
"If you say so. Sounds disgusting to me." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Would you rather fake teeth or no teeth?"
"I don't...I don't know!" A rap was heard on the door again, this time Mina's head popped in.
"Hi Ron, Hermione. Your parents have come."
"Thank you." Mina opened the door further and the Grangers walked into the room, as one would enter a funeral. They stood stiffly in front of Hermione's bed as the door closed softly behind them. "Hi Mum, Dad. Are you all right?" Hermione asked in concern. She had never seen them so rigid.
"Yes, well, I suppose," Mrs. Granger answered uncertainly. "Only...we've decided to go home."
"You're awake and basically healthy so we have no reason to be here anymore," Mr. Granger added.
"Oh, well, all right. Are you sure you want to go already? Has something happened?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"No, no, nothing's happened, dear, we just think it would be best if we left. You have Ron here and Mina says you can go back to school on Thursday so...we had better be going. Our patients need us."
"Okay, well, thank you for coming."
"We'll see you this summer though. Mr. Dumbledore said we could visit a time or two while you're at that safe house." Mrs. Granger came forward and kissed Hermione on the forehead and hugged her tightly. "Be safe and very careful, darling. Keep in touch as well."
"I will Mum. Have a safe trip home." Her father came and hugged her.
"Ron, if we could have a word outside before we leave," Mr. Granger motioned to Ron when he released his daughter.
"Sure," he replied, feeling nervous suddenly. What would he want to talk about?
"We love you, dear," Hermione's mother said tearfully.
"I love you both too." Mrs. Granger opened the door slowly, getting a last look at Hermione before turning and stepping out. Mr. Granger nodded at Hermione and motioned for Ron to precede him outside.
"I'll wait in the lobby," his wife said quietly and walked away.
"Perhaps we could find an empty room," Mr. Granger suggested. Ron nodded slightly and headed down the hall, knocking lightly on doors until no one answered, and the pair stepped inside a room identical to Hermione's. Mr. Granger nervously sat down in a chair and nodded for Ron to do the same in the one next to him. Ron thought he saw some beads of sweat on the other man's forehead.
"The reason my wife and I have decided to leave is...we realize you and Hermione care for each other very much and though we still do not feel she is safe at school or in this world, we know she won't leave. Since you are the one she is apparently promised to, and we can add nothing of use to her life right now, we leave her in your hands. I..." Mr. Granger faltered. "I don't really know how to have this little talk seeing as I didn't expect to give it for a few more years. I just want to make sure you will always respect Hermione and..."
"Sir, I think I know what you mean and I want you to know that my answer is yes. I will respect Hermione and never expect anything from her," he blushed slightly as he remembered his dream about her that morning, "I would never ask her to do anything she wasn't completely comfortable with or hurt her in any way because I love her too much to ever do anything to jeopardize our relationship. I don't even feel like I deserve her most of the time. But I love her a lot and to be honest, I'm over the moon that we're promised to each other. I'd do anything for her." Mr. Granger sighed and nodded.
"I believe you but still...you're a teenage boy and I was one just like you before and I know what I wanted then...it's most disturbing to know your daughter is in that place now...hormones...just..." In any other circumstance, Ron would have laughed at such a stuttering loss of words but hearing it from his girlfriend's father, he wasn't sure what to do. "Just be careful, I suppose. We're worried enough as it is and to have our daughter so involved with a teenage boy is not something we'd like to have in our minds but seeing as there's nothing we can do I can only say: Don't give me any grandchildren right now." Ron's jaw dropped at such a blatant way of putting it. Mr. Granger seemed to regret it the moment the words left his lips.
"I...we aren't..." Ron spluttered. The older man shook his head quickly, obviously embarrassed.
"No, no, I'm sorry. That was too forward, I didn't mean to say it like that...well, I did but you know, it's hard to find ways to express things like this," he said anxiously. "I...I think we've said enough and you understand what I mean so," he stood up abruptly, "have a nice day and take care. See you another time." He shook Ron's hand hastily and left the room, leaving a shocked Ron staring at the door. He blinked a few times and stood slowly. "That was a bloody mess," he muttered. As he opened the door, he ran a hand through his hair and composed himself, unsure what to tell Hermione when she inevitably asked him what the talk was about.
He reentered her room a minute later, hoping his face wasn't red anymore. She gave him an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"For what?"
"My dad. I'm sure I can guess what he wanted with you. Be respectful to me and no sex, right?"
"How do you know everything?" he exclaimed.
"It's my dad, Ron, I knew he'd have this talk with you eventually."
"Well, yeah, that's basically what it was. To quote he said, 'Don't give me any grandchildren right now.'" Hermione giggled and shook her head. "Yeah, I'm sure he was really nervous too. My dad's always been the quiet type, never wanted to bother or embarrass anyone. I'm sure he's dreaded doing that for years, likely ever since I was born."
"It wasn't a picnic for me either. I tried to assure him it was okay and I'd take care of you and all but then he said the grandchildren thing, shook me all up." Hermione shook her head.
"Don't even worry about it. Dad just felt he needed to do the proper father-in-law thing and didn't do it very well. He isn't the most articulate man but oh well. Just forget it. My parents are gone and we won't have to worry about them for a few more months. So...why don't you eat? Your sandwiches have been sitting here and I'm sure you can't wait to eat them all."
"Are you suggesting I'm a pig?" he asked, mock insulted as he sat down and pulled the plate onto his lap.
"Yes." Ron scoffed and offered her one, which she declined.
"Have you eaten today?"
"I had breakfast before my tests this morning and to be honest, sandwiches don't sound appetizing this early."
"Appetizing my arse! They're delicious!" he exclaimed through a mouthful of turkey and bacon.
"Don't swear! And don't speak with your mouth full!" He rolled his eyes at her but didn't reply.
---
Harry decided to talk to Neville about Bellatrix Lestrange after he had breakfast with Ginny. She decided to work on some more schoolwork, considering she had nothing else to do. As the weather was still cool out and Neville rarely sat in the library, Harry chose to go to the Gryffindor common room to find him. Sure enough, he was there. However, the moment Harry stepped into the room, students began inquiring about Hermione's health, Ginny's, the reason for his and Ron's absence from class, and how he was doing. He did his best telling them that he and his friends were all fine and he would be back in lessons the next day. Some looked at him in awe, others seemed frightened by him, while some looked at him skeptically.
As soon as he could, he made his way over to Neville who had just lost a game of Exploding Snap to Dean. He received a friendly slap on the back from them both and an offer to play a hand but he instead asked to talk to Neville alone for a bit. Neville followed him to an empty corner of the room, obviously wondering what was up.
"Everything okay, Harry?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to ask you some stuff."
"All right. By the way, how's Hermione? And Ginny?"
"Oh right, Hermione woke up yesterday so she's going to be fine and Ginny's the same as you saw her."
"Glad to hear it."
"Yeah."
"So, what did you want?"
"Well, I hope this doesn't seem too...nosy or imposing of a question but...you seemed a bit, uh, I'm not sure...you know when I mentioned that Lestrange woman?" Neville stared at his feet but nodded.
"Oh, you know, I was just curious."
"But are you okay? I mean, you know I know about your parents so I just wanted to make sure you were okay. At least she's gone and all."
"Yeah. Puts less pressure on me I suppose." Harry frowned at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, ever since I found out she'd escaped, I figured a time would come when I'd have to try and avenge my parents or something (I actually think something like that could happen in the canon books but I've sort of killed her off already). Don't have to worry about that anymore since she's dead though." Neville shrugged almost sadly.
"That's good, isn't it?"
"Yeah but...it's dumb. I imagined myself miraculously killing her and then my Gran would be proud and...my parents would be okay, you know? By miracle I suppose," he laughed softly at himself. "I couldn't have actually killed her though, I'm nowhere near that strong or brave." Harry opened his mouth then closed it, unsure how to respond.
"You know Neville, you're stronger and braver than you think. You've always done really well in the D.A. and not many could have helped me the way you did in the Department of Mysteries last year. You carried Hermione around, faced Death Eaters, and never gave up once. I bet you'd have done your parents proud given a chance with Bellatrix Lestrange. Maybe not right this second but after some more lessons, and with a bit more confidence, you'd be a right difficult opponent." Neville slowly looked up at Harry.
"You...you really think so? You're not just being nice?"
"No, I'm not," Harry answered, a bit surprised to find he actually believed what he was saying. "I'm telling you the truth. Give yourself a bit more credit, mate." Neville seemed too surprised and pleased to answer. He smiled at the ground. Harry felt he'd said enough and stood up. Neville followed suit, his hands tightly set in his pockets.
"Thanks, Harry."
"No problem." Harry patted him on the back and made to leave but paused. "By the way...what's the deal with you and Luna?" He grinned. Neville blushed immediately.
"We're...well, we've been kinda...ever since the ball..."
"She's your girlfriend?" Harry offered.
"Basically," Neville's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.
"Well done," Harry nodded. "She's a nice girl," he added, remembering his conversation with her at the end of last year. "A bit...odd-"
"Yeah," Neville agreed fervently. Harry chuckled.
"But it's always nice to have a girl behind you. I'll see you tomorrow," Harry grinned and made his way to the portrait hole.
Author's Note: Well, not the greatest chapter but at least it's finished. So, everyone glad the Grangers are gone for a while? I'm sure you are. Again, I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I'll try to be quicker with the next one. Like I said, I didn't do individuals this time but I want to thank everyone for reviewing. You're all so awesome with your comments and praises; I feel really special. Thanks to all my regular reviewers. Thanks to all my new reviewers, some reading nonstop until you finished my fics. Thanks to new readers even if you didn't read nonstop. Thanks to readers who never reviewed before but decided to finally. Anyway, thanks to all and to all a good night! Ha ha, it's late and I need sleep.