Disclaimer: As normal, I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, so don't sue me. This is just me letting my imagination run wild and free.

Dedication: I am dedicating this fic to Amanda. Hope ya like it.

Warnings: This fic contains some things that may be graphic to some people. No slash that I know of at the moment, but I might end up putting some in later on.

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed. I'm getting a lot more reviews for this fic than the other ones.

Chapter 8

AFTER RON'S FUNERAL (about 2 days after. I didn't wanna put in the really sappy stuff)

The moon shone brightly in through the upper window of the dorm. The soft moonlight illuminated the soft, pale complexion of a girl sitting on a window seat, looking off in the distance. Ginny Weasley had been sitting there for quite some time. She had been going there every evening since Ron's accident, thinking about everything that has happened to her in the past month. She had found out that she was pregnant and that Ron was the father of her child; Ron had gotten into a Quidditch accident and been put in a coma, then died a week later. She didn't know how she was coping, but the main thing was that she was coping. Somehow. Of course she felt empty inside, but she still had the rest of her family behind her, Harry, Hermione and of course she still had Draco.

As she was thinking about all this, she remembered what Ron had told her. "Consider Draco the father." She could hear him saying it to her in her head as if he was standing right beside her. "Ron, I can't do it. I can't ask him to be the father," Ginny said out loud, secretly praying that somehow, Ron would be able to talk back to her. Tell her that everything was ok and that he was fine up in heaven. She knew she was being ridiculous, hoping for such things, but she couldn't help it.

There was a soft knock on the wall beside her. "Gin, it's after 1 o'clock. You should come downstairs and go to bed." Draco walked up beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. Ginny put her hand on his and turned around to face him.

"Draco, I need to talk to you about something," Ginny said, looking Draco directly in the eyes.

"Anything babe, but let's go downstairs to our room first," Draco said, taking Ginny's hand and walking downstairs with her.

"Draco, I don't know what I'm going to do with the baby when it's born," Ginny said, not wanting to come directly out and ask Draco to take the father role.

"What do you mean? You aren't going to keep it?"

"I'm not sure what I am going to do."

"Gin, you should keep it. Ron would want you to. And then whenever you look at the baby, you will know that a part of Ron is always with you," Draco said.

"But a baby has a lot of responsibilities that go along with it. It's an awful lot for one person to handle."

"Why would you be the only one caring for it? I'm gonna be here to help you. And so will Harry and Hermione," Draco said.

"Well Draco, Ron told me before he left that, if you wanted to of course, you could adopt the baby and consider it yours. You obviously don't have to do anything that you don't want to."

"Gin, you know I'd love to. I've never had a little brother or sister to help take care of and this is gonna be a new experience for me. It will help me determine if I want my own kids. Of course I'll help you take care of the baby."

"But Draco, I just don't want you to feel obligated to help me," Ginny said. "This is something I want you to agree to on your own will."

"Honestly Gin, it's ok. I'd love to help you," Draco said.

"Oh Draco," Ginny said, running over to him and hugging him tightly.

"Gin, I'm always gonna be here for you. Don't ever think different," Draco said, rubbing the small of Ginny's back with one hands and rubbing her hair with the other.

"I love you Draco," Ginny said timidly.

"I love you too Ginny," Draco responded, leaning down and kissing Ginny softly.

Over the next 4 months, Ginny had been starting to really show. She had received a lot of weird looks from her fellow classmates and such. Whenever she and Draco would walk down the hallway holding hands, all the Slytherin's would glare at them. But she was getting used to it now; it didn't bother her anymore.

Ginny had been going home most weekends like she told her mom that she was going to do. Draco had went with her a few times. Draco would sleep in Ginny's room because Ginny always wanted to sleep in Ron's bed. His bedroom hadn't been touched by anyone. It had been left the exact same way he left it.

One day, in Ginny's 6th month of pregnancy, Draco went to his dorm to see Ginny crying softly on his bed. She had her head in her hands, weeping. Draco walked over to her and put his arm around her.

"Gin, what's wrong?" he asked, tipping her head towards him so he could wipe her tears away.

"I just realized that I don't have anything that I need for the baby. I don't have a crib or anything like that," Ginny said. "I'm a horrible mother."

"Ginny, you aren't a horrible mother. You know that. Besides, you could always use your wand to get everything that you need," Draco stated.

"Yes, but I wanted to get everything the Muggle way. Shopping is a lot more fun. But I can't afford to get the baby everything it needs. Oh Draco, how am I going to manage?" Ginny asked, burying her face in Draco's shirt.

"Ginny, shh….it's ok. If you want, tomorrow me and you can go out shopping for everything that you will need for the baby. And don't worry about the cost. I will pay for everything," Draco said, trying to comfort her and assure her that everything was going to be ok.

"No Draco, you can't pay for everything. I'll just have to magic the things I need. And besides, you're a guy and guys hate shopping. It's ok, honestly. I think the hormones are getting to me," Ginny said, laughing slightly.

Draco bent down and kissed her on the lips. "Gin, I said I'll take you, and I meant it. And Hermione can come too if you want another girls opinion."

"That's why I love you so much," Ginny said, kissing Draco back. "I'm gonna go and take a bubble bath. My back is killing me."

"Want company? I can give you a back massage if you like," Draco said. Ginny smiled broadly and nodded.

Meanwhile, down in the common room, Harry and Hermione were just sitting on the couch talking. Hermione was still upset about Ron's death, but she was coping pretty well.

"You know Harry, I think it's time that I continued with my life and moved on. I know Ron wouldn't want me to stop living life. He would want me to have fun," Hermione said. Harry nodded, understandingly, followed by a moment of awkward silence. To break the silence, Harry leaned in and kissed Hermione. He put his hand around her neck and tipped her head back slightly, but she pulled away.

"Why'd you do that Harry?" Hermione asked, stunned.

"I thought you said that you wanted to move on," Harry responded.

"I did, but I meant with life in general. I'm not ready for another relationship right now. Emotionally I'm not," Hermione said. "Although it was kinda nice. It's been a long time since I've kissed anyone."

"I'm so sorry Hermione. I assumed that you meant you wanted another relationship. I'm really, really sorry. It seems like I just took advantage of you…wait, you said that you liked it?"

Hermione nodded, "But I'm not emotionally ready for a relationship right now."

"Well, we can take things slow if you want to. I definetly wouldn't want you to feel like you're being rushed," Harry said.

"I'll have to think about it, Harry," Hermione said. She knew that Ron wouldn't mind her going out with Harry. He would want her to be happy, even if it means that she was going out with their best friend. She knew that she would be happy with Harry; he was a fun guy to be around and he was so sweet and understanding. Harry snapped her out of her thoughts by taking her hand and squeezing it gently, then letting go.

"I'll let you sleep on it and we can talk about it in the morning," Harry said, smiling at Hermione.

"Ok, I'll let you know first thing in the morning, but I think I'm gonna go upstairs. I have a few letters that I wanna write," Hermione responded and smiled back. Harry quickly kissed her on the cheek before he left to go back to the Gryffindor common room.

As she was writing her letters, one to Mrs. Weasley and one to her mum, her mind couldn't help but wander back to when Harry kissed her and how sweet it was. She knew that she cared for him deeply as a friend, but didn't know if she could love him as more, and she definetly didn't want to ruin the friendship that they shared for almost 7 years now.

After send her letters by owl and thinking some more about what she would do, see decided that she should just go for it. She doubted that something as trivial as a break-up could ruin her and Harry's friendship so what else did she have to lose? She went to bed that night in anticipation to see Harry the next morning and tell him the good news.

The next morning, Hermione had slept in, which was way out of the norm. When she came downstairs, Harry was sitting on the couch waiting for her.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked, shocked to see him.

"Well good morning to you too," Harry laughed.

"Good morning," she said, sitting next to him on the couch. She was still in her pajama's because she didn't except anyone to be there. "I've thought about what you asked me yesterday and I've decided that I have nothing to lose, so I might as well go for it."

"Honestly?" Harry asked, smiling like an idiot.

"Yes," Hermione said, leaning in and kissing him to show him that she meant it. He deepened the kiss, and she gently massaged his tongue with hers. He kissed her back. She was a really good kisser. They both pulled away after a few minutes.

"Wow," Harry said.

"What?"

"You're a really good kisser," Harry said, causing Hermione to blush.

"Thanks," she responded. She didn't realize how weird it sounded until after she said it.

"I really wish I could stay here and kiss you some more, but I think I should get at my History of Magic essay. It's due tomorrow and I only have ¼ roll of parchment done. I can't believe Binns asked for a full roll of parchment."
"Harry, how are you going to write another ¾ roll of parchment on the Salem Witch Trials by tomorrow morning? It took me weeks to get a full roll! And there is a lot of information out there about it," Hermione said, scolding.

"Relax Hermione, I'll get it done. I'll find something to put in it," Harry said, then added, "Is this what I have to look forward to if we start dating? Getting lectures about not having my homework done in advance?" Harry asked, laughing as Hermione playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"Well, I do want to spend some time alone with my boyfriend. And I can't do that if he's doing homework now can I?" She grinned.

"I guess you're right," Harry said, kissing her quickly on the lips once more before saying goodbye and heading upstairs.