A.N. I don't own any of the characters except new ones. I own the plot and some new places. Everything else is J.K. Rowling's

Chapter Two Recap;

"Professor, Hermione and I need to go to the Hospital Wing right now!" he shouted out, helping Hermione out of her chair and across the classroom to the door. When it shut behind them, Harry could hear people talking, but Hermione's moans were louder.

"It's okay Hermione. You're gonna make it. Come on, we're almost there. Just a little more," Harry said gently as they walked down the hall.

CHAPTER THREE- The Birth

"Come on Hermione. It's just down the hall. We are almost there. You can do it. Come on," Harry said encouragingly. Hermione nodded but kept clutching her stomach and moaning. Just before they walked into the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey came out.

"My dear! Miss Granger, Mr. Potter, what's wrong?"

"Hermione says that the baby is coming now," Harry replied, steering Hermione into the wing and helped her lie down on a bed. Hermione closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. Harry summoned a stool and sat down next to her. Madame Pomfrey put a curtain around the area, and wheeled over a cart full of tools used in childbirth that she had ordered before hand. She waved her wand and Hermione was magically dressed in a johnny. (A.N. A johnny is that thing at the doctors that has a front and has only ties in the back.)

"Mr. Potter, you might want to take Miss Granger's hand. She is going to have to start pushing," Madame Pomfrey said. Harry nodded and took Hermione's hand. She squeezed tightly.

(No details here, sorry)

After two hours of labor, Harry's hand was purple, Hermione was drenched with sweat, and Madame Pomfrey was slightly green. "Miss Granger, dear, please give one last push." Hermione did so, and the sound of crying filled the air. Harry's hand was free and Hermione put both her hands over her mouth.

"Congratulations, you two," Madame Pomfrey said as she cut the umbilical cord and wrapped the baby in a blanket. She walked over to Hermione's side opposite Harry. "You have a healthy baby girl." She put the tiny girl into Hermione's arms, then waved her wand and the mess cleaned itself up.

Hermione's face lit up so that it looked like Christmas had come early. Her bright white smile went ear to ear. Harry's face looked the same. He looked down at the baby and said to Hermione, "I had never seen a more beautiful baby."

"Madame Pomfrey," Hermione said in a dreamy voice, not taking her eyes off of the girl. "Do you think Harry and I could have a minute alone?" Madame Pomfrey nodded and stepped through the curtains. Harry and Hermione looked at the little girl in the blanket, and both could feel their hearts melt. Hermione looked at Harry. "What do you think of Lily Amanda Potter?"

Harry nodded. "I love it. Her name is as beautiful as her," he replied. Hermione nodded and brushed a couple of loose hairs away from her face to behind her ear. Suddenly, they could hear footsteps running into the Hospital Wing.

"I need...Harry...Hermione...to see," the voice panted. A piece of the curtain was pulled back and Ron's carrot-topped head popped in. "May I come in?" Hermione nodded and Ron closed the curtain behind him. "Oh you guys..." he said as he walked over next to Harry.

"Her name's Lily Amanda Potter," Hermione supplied.

"She's so cute," he said quietly.

"Thanks," Harry said. "Hey, what happened with Malfoy back there? I could hear him yelling things when we left."

"Oh, he was just being a jerk, as usual. But I got him back. Seemed to be calling you more names than Hermione," Ron said, shrugging. He clearly didn't know the reason.

"Maybe he felt bad for her," Harry suggested. There was a moment of silence, then all three of them burst into laughter, making Lily start to cry again. Madame Pomfrey came through the curtain.

"Miss Granger, could I please take her? I need to make out a birth certificate, record her stats, and take some fingerprints." Hermione reluctantly handed Lily over to Madame Pomfrey, her eyes filling with mist. Madame Pomfrey left

through the curtain.

"Hermione, why are you crying?" Ron asked her in a very concerned voice.

"Oh, I'm not really crying. These are tears of joy. I'm a mom. I, Hermione Jane
Granger, am a mom," she repeated, reality hitting her like a ton of bricks.

"Yes, Hermione. And I am a father," Harry said proudly. They beamed at each other, making Ron feel horribly left out. Hermione noticed, and an idea popped into her head.

"Ron, do you want to be the godfather?" she asked him in a genuinely friendly and sweet voice.

As Ron looked back at her kind face, he thought, 'It's not fair! Why did she have to have that baby? Now she and Harry will probably live happily ever after. Great. Just great.' He forced a smile and replied, "Sure." The little black box in his pocket became sweaty as he toyed with it. He imagined what was inside.

Harry eyed Ron. 'What has he got in that pocket? Maybe it's some chocolate frogs!' he thought. He turned his attention back to Hermione, who was slowly drifting off to sleep.

'I can't believe that I think I am starting to fall in love with her. Ever since we found out about the baby, I have seen her in a different way. She's not the eleven-year-old smarty-pants anymore. She's a young woman who cares more about people than homework and books. And she looks a little different,' he thought happily.

It was true. Her hair wasn't bushy but was in loose ringlets that hung near her shoulders. Her eyes had changed from a sharp honey to a soft chocolate. She had gotten a little taller and had filled out slightly more. Yes, over seven years, she had grown up.

Harry snapped back to reality and realized that Hermione had fallen asleep. Madame Pomfrey came in at that moment with Lily and shooed them out. Once Harry and Ron walked out of the Hospital Wing, Harry prompted Ron.

"Hey, Ron, what's in your pocket? I saw your hand in there earlier, and I was wondering what it was."

"What's in my pocket is no concern of yours, Harry," Ron said coldly.

"Ron, chill out. I was just curious."

"No! I won't chill out. Why should I?"

"Because you have no reason to be mad at me," Harry said slowly and carefully.

"Yes I do. I am forever living in your shadow. The fame, the money, and the attention. And now Hermione too! How could you do this to me?" Ron asked pleadingly.

"What are you talking about? You are still my best friend. Hermione and I are still only friends!" Harry said defensively.

"No you're not. I see the way you look at her, and I see the way her eyes sparkle when she looks at you. Why am I always left out of everything?" Ron moaned.

"Ron...are you jealous of the way Hermione looks at me?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Harry asked, confused.

"Because...because...I'M IN LOVE WITH HER!" Ron shouted, making Harry freeze to the floor, mouth dropped open. Ron took the little black box out of his robe pocket and opened it. He showed it to Harry. It was a little gold band with a blue diamond in the middle.

"I got this in Diagon Alley before school started. I was going to propose to her on the day of our graduation. But now I have no chance. She is going to be too busy with that baby," he said, enraged. He continued, "And it's not like she'll make a godmother anyway. There's no book telling you exactly how to raise a child," he finished, breathing heavily.

"Ron- how could you?" came a small shaky voice. Ron spun around and saw Hermione in her uniform standing in the doorway, lip quivering and a couple of tears falling down her cheeks. She abruptly burst into tears and ran back inside the Hospital Wing. Ron started walking towards the doorway, but Harry was quicker.

"I will NOT let you speak about Hermione like that. She WILL make a good mother. And if you are so madly in love with her, then why did you say that?" Harry asked, his hand clutching the wand that was inside his robe pocket.

"Come on, you know it's true. She consults a book for everything. But that's why I love her. She knows how to use her brain. Not to mention the fact that she's gorgeous now," Ron said triumphantly. Harry raised an eyebrow and shook his head slowly. He pulled out his wand and began walking backwards into the Hospital Wing.

"I do not want you to follow me. I need to talk to Hermione...alone. As in, without you," Harry said coldly, shutting the brown maple doors in Ron's face. He put his wand back into his pocket and hurried over to Hermione's bed. Her pulled back the curtain slowly and saw a baby bassinette in there.

Hermione was sitting on a stool next to it. Her hands where supporting her chin and her elbows were on her drawn-up knees. Tears were slipping occasionally onto her grey skirt, and she sobbed occasionally.

Harry walked silently over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She was so surprised that she jumped off of the stool, startled. She put a hand on her heart and whispered out, "Oh. It's just you." Her eyes were rose pink and her cheeks shined from the tears. She fell into Harry's chest, crying. Harry enclosed her shaking body and put his chin on top of her head. He slowly rocked from side to side.

"What did I ever do to deserve this?" Hermione managed to mumble in-between sobs. Harry just hugged her closer.

"No, no Hermione. Ron's wrong. I have a lot of faith in you. You're smart, funny, have good self control, know how to discipline, and above all, you love Lily, do you not?" Harry asked in a gentle and soft voice.

"I do. So much. More than life itself. Even though she's only an hour old, I would die for her," Hermione replied. They broke from the hug and Hermione leaned over the bassinette. She took Lily out and held her close. She sat on the bed, and motioned for Harry to do the same. He did.

"Harry, why don't you hold her? She is your daughter after all," Hermione said. She placed the tiny baby into Harry's arms. He looked down at Lily and smiled. Lily was sleeping peacefully. She began to move, so Harry put her in the bassinette, not wanting to wake her.

"Hermione," Harry asked, "How much of our conversation did you hear?"

"Well, I heard someone screaming, and that woke me up. I heard you two fighting, so I quickly changed and went to see. Then I heard Ron. He...he...he..." she trailed off, tears threatening to spill again. She took a couple of deep breaths and calmed herself down again.

"Harry...what are we going to do?"

"I've been thinking about that," Harry replied. "How about we rent an apartment in Hogsmeade?

Hermione looked at him. "Why?"

"Well, that way, I could work at one of the shops or something."

"That sounds okay. Maybe I could become a teacher here or something," Hermione said in a bored voice. Suddenly, her face became worried. "Oh my gosh! I just remembered something!"

"What is it?"

Hermione smiled. "We have to go to Charms and all of the other classes we missed and. Wouldn't want to fall behind!" she said. Harry just shook his head, smiling.

"You are truly amazing. You had a baby just over an hour ago, and all you can think about is falling behind."

Hermione let out a giggle. She waved her wand and a baby snuggler appeared next to her. Harry helped her put it on, and they carefully put Lily into it. She moved slightly, but didn't wake up. They both tried to leave, but Madame Pomfrey caught them.

"Just where do you think you're going?" she shrieked. Both Harry and Hermione let out a moan and turned around.

"We are going to my room to admire out child, and then maybe getting something to eat," Hermione replied. Madame Pomfrey vigorously shook her head.

"No you're not. You need to stay here for the night. I just don't want anything to go wrong," Madame Pomfrey said pleadingly.

"If anything happens, I'll send Harry down," Hermione said, pointing to him.

Harry answered quickly, "Oh, yes. As fast as my legs will carry me."

Madame Pomfrey regretfully gave in. "Oh, alright Miss Granger. But please do come tomorrow after breakfast, okay?"

"Agreed," Hermione answered, nodding. She and Harry briskly left.

When they emerged from the Hospital Wing, there were no students in sight. They walked to Charms undetected by anyone. But when they came out of Charms, Harry holding both bags, Lavender Brown found them. She was sipping happily, and almost crashed right into Harry.

"Oh! Hello Harry! Hello Hermione!" It was then that she noticed the baby snuggler. She gasped. "Aww! You had your baby! Is it a boy or a girl?"

"It's a girl, and her name is Lily," Hermione answered slowly, stunned at Lavender's enthusiasm.

"That's such a cute name! How did you come up with it?" she gushed.

Hermione looked around and dropped her voice. "It was the name of Harry's mother." Lavender nodded, eyes wide. She looked down at her watch.

"Oh my gosh! I'm supposed to meet Padme at the Great Hall right now! See you!" Lavender said, hurrying off and waving behind her.

Hermione sighed. "I think that might be the most enthusiasm we are going to get from anybody."

"I think you're right," Harry agreed. They walked up to the Heads' living room. Hermione walked over to her corner, which had two bookshelves full of books, a small circular cream-colored rug, a box labeled 'Baby Stuff', and two white armchairs.

Hermione took the snuggler off and put it in the box, holding Lily with one hand. She took out a bottle and waved her wand. It filled with warm milk. She set the bottle down on the floor near one of the chairs, and walked into her room. Harry followed her. Her room was basically the same as before, except that now there was a white wooden crib in the middle of the room. It had Quiddich bumpers and a shelf underneath. Lily was placed inside, and Harry and Hermione exited, leaving the door wide open.

They both sat in an armchair. Hermione began to grow worried. "What am I going to do about classes?" she asked Harry.

"You can bring her to class, can't you?"

"I don't think so. I'll disrupt the lesson! And if that happens, I might fail, and then..."

"Whoa! Calm down Hermione!" Harry said, patting her on the back lightly. "You can always-"

He was cut off by the sound of Lily crying. Hermione got up and took the bottle. She walked over to the doorway. When she got there, the bottle came crashing down to the ground.

"RON! NO!" she shouted.

END OF CHAPTER THREE

(A.N. Cliffhanger!!! Yay!!!! Please review! If I don't get reviews, then I'm not motivated to write more!)