Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the original Harry Potter books. I don't own any of the events mentioned from the original books. But, I own the new characters: the children and a new character… but I don't want to spoil the surprise… I also made up the story…. The credit for everything that is not mine goes to J.K. Rowling, the wonderful inventor of Harry and his friends, and enemies.

Chapter Five

Ginny looked at Hermione apprehensively. She knew Hermione too well, even though she hadn't seen her friend in eight years. She knew that once the "talk" was started, she wouldn't be set free until Hermione knew everything that she wanted to know. She and Hermione had actually been quite close before the final battle. They had had many talks together, each being like the sister that the other had never had. It had been quite a comfort for Ginny, knowing that there was always someone to talk to, and she knew that Hermione had felt the same way.

But, if there was one thing that Ginny remembered about almost all of their chats, it was that Hermione always got it out of you, whatever "it" was. Ginny knew that Hermione had not changed that much. That thought scared her a bit. She didn't know if she wanted Hermione to know everything. But, at the same time, if Hermione hadn't changed much, that also meant that she was the same compassionate, understanding friend that Ginny remembered her as. Maybe even more so, since she was now a mom.

Ginny decided that she wanted to talk to Hermione. She realized that she had missed her friend. She sat down opposite Hermione, pulling herself into the position that she would have sat in as a student at Hogwarts. Hermione looked at her, satisfied. Ginny waited for her to start the conversation.

After a couple of awkward minutes spent staring at each other, they both burst out laughing, realizing they had both thought that the other would start the conversation. Ginny felt very relieved after the outburst. It had lessened the tension that now formed between her and Hermione.

"Well, that was quite… funny," Hermione said, once her giggles had subsided. Ginny nodded her agreement. "So, what have you been up to?" Hermione inquired.

"I don't know… what do you want to know about. It has been eight years," Ginny reasoned.

"Well," Hermione thought for a moment. "I guess we'll start small, okay?"

"Sound good to me," Ginny hoped that by the time they got to the "bigger" things, the tension between the two of them would be gone. That would certainly make it easier.

"Okay, where are you guys living now?" Hermione looked genuinely interested. "I mean, I know that you are in the United States, but where? It's a big country."

"It is." The U.S. was much bigger than their homeland, England. "We live in a stat called Massachusetts. It's in the Northeast part of the country. We live in a town called Newton. We live pretty close to a big city called Boston." Ginny genuinely liked her new home. It was quite nice there.

"Wow. Sounds nice."

"Yeah, it is. We have an apartment there. It's actually quite roomy. I really like it there. But, I definitely miss England."

Hermione smiled at that. "Is your apartment close to where you work?"

"Yeah, it is." When Hermione looked at her expectantly, she continued, "I work for the Boston Globe, a newspaper there. I write articles for the "Style" section. I really enjoy it. What do you, Ron, and Harry do?"

"Well, I work in the Discovery and Creation of New Spells Department. I also do a lot of research for the ministry. But, as you can see, at the moment I'm not going to work." She looked at her large belly fondly and then back at Ginny. "Ron works at the ministry, too and so does Harry. Ron works in the Magical Games and Sports Department. He has a lot of fun there, and he gets to meet famous players. And you'll never guess what Harry does at the ministry." Hermione had always been good at pulling off sarcasm.

Ginny knew what Harry did. Everyone had known that he wanted to be an Auror and that he would be a very good one. "He's an Auror."

"Yep, you named it. He's one of the best, even though there haven't been many big threats since You-Know-Who. Just stray Death Eaters and the like. Anyways, enough with pleasantries, there's something that you have to tell me." Hermione already knew that Ginny was engaged to Draco and Ginny knew it. She also knew that Hermione wanted to hear her say it. Not to torture her, but to make sure that it was what Ginny wanted.

When Ginny didn't reply, Hermione said, "I noticed that you aren't wearing a ring, so I wondered if you really wanted to go through with it. I know why you left, and it wasn't because you loved him."

So, Hermione knew. Ginny had left with Draco because she pitied him. "I pitied him. His own father wanted him dead, he was deeply hurt…" she trailed off.

"Ginny, look at me. I'm not doing this to make you miserable. If you don't love him, why marry him? It is good that you don't want to hurt him, but is that worth hurting yourself even more? You are also hurting someone else a lot more by staying with Draco. Harry is scarred. But, I think it's too late for you. He's better now." Hermione was truly worried about Ginny. She didn't want Ginny to be unhappy. Why was she putting herself through this, anyway? It was not helping anyone, not even Draco.

"I don't know. This is actually the first time I've really thought of it this way." Ginny was utterly confused. When she was with Draco, these thoughts had never really crossed her mind. It was really weird.

Hermione, seeing Ginny's confusion, came to a sudden realization. "Ginny, do you remember leaving with Draco. The actual agreeing to go with him and leaving. Do you remember it?" she asked abruptly.

Ginny, a little scared by her friend's outbreak strained to remember it. It had always been hazy to her, never quite clear. "I don't remember it really, but that was eight years ago."

Hermione cursed under her breath and got up.

What is it?" Ginny asked. But, Hermione was busy rummaging through a drawer in the living room.

Suddenly, she gave a triumphant "aha!" and came back to the couch with what appeared to be a… phone?

"Hermione, is that a phone?" Ginny asked in disbelief. Why did Hermione have that muggle appliance?

"Yeas, it is. What's your home phone number?"

"Why do you want to know my number?"

"Ginny…" something in Hermione's tone made Ginny answer. She told Hermione her number and watched as she dialed it and put it up to her ear. Suddenly, Hermione slammed the phone down angrily and cursed again, this time louder. "Stupid muggles! Why the hell do you have to do something extra for a long distance call!" Ginny was about to explain it to her when she realized that Hermione was just venting her frustration. "C'mon, Gin. We have to pay you fiancé a call." The way Hermione said it sent shivers down Ginny's spine. What was Hermione going to do?

Hermione dragged Ginny into the room that Ginny had been sleeping in and placed her before what appeared to be an ordinary mirror. She was about to yell something at the mirror when something appeared on the surface. "What now!" Hermione was obviously annoyed. Ginny would have found seeing her extremely pregnant friend this fired up funny, but she was very confused at the moment.

As the picture on the mirror became clearer, Ginny realized that it was an extremely short man. She had thought, at first that he was a goblin, but later realized that he was, in fact, human.

"Ms. Granger?" the little man inquired, peering out at them.

"Yes?" Hermione replied, trying not to look too peeved.

"Padfoot is ready to be picked up." The man looked a bit ruffled.

Hermione immediately became more serene. "Is he alright?" She seemed worried.

"Oh, he's better, alright," the man said, looking a bit annoyed, himself. "Had a bit o' fun this mornin', he did. Don't know if we'll ever get the stains out…"

"Sorry. I'll help you clean up as soon as I get there."

"'S alright, ma'am. Just come and get your little beast before he causes any more damage."

Hermione looked a little sheepish as she said, "Yes, I'll be right there." As the man started to disappear in the mirror, Hermione turned to Ginny and said, "I've got to go. Just tell the mirror that you want to talk to Draco."

"But, what-"

Hermione cut Ginny off. "I just have to go. I'll explain later. Just ask Draco what he was thinking putting a memory charm on you." And with that, she left Ginny there to figure out the mirror for herself.

Ginny turned to the mirror and was about to ask it about Draco when she realized what Hermione had said. Memory charm? Then, it hit her. She hadn't left with Draco voluntarily, He had forced her to come with him and then put a memory charm on her so that she would forget what had happened. What a jerk!

"Show me Draco Malfoy," she shouted at the mirror. Now, she was mad.

As the image began to focus on Malfoy, the door slammed downstairs, but Ginny was too angry to notice.

Harry walked into the house to hear shouting upstairs. He didn't know who it was and he could hear it from anywhere in the house, so he went upstairs to see what was going on. He found Ginny in front of Hermione latest invention yelling at a familiarly awful face, Draco Malfoy's.

Soo… I broke my promise, sorry! I won't even try to give you excuses… Hopefully you guys will forgive me and keep on reading and reviewing. On that note, I have 21 reviews! Can you believe it! I'm sooooooo happy! Well, that was a tense chapter… There were some awkwardly worded sentences, sorry about that. I forgot to ask if you thought that Ginny and Draco should live in a different country, so I decided that they would live in the U.S. What do you think of that, seriously. Why did I choose Massachusetts? Because I love it there and it is where my family is from. It was quite amazing how people agreed on what jobs should be. About five people said that Ron should work in the Magical games and Sports Department, which I totally agree with. About two people thought that Hermione should be a researcher and about the same number thought Ginny should be some type of journalist (I chose the Boston Globe because it is one of the only newspapers I know of in Boston…) Others thought that Ginny should be a doctor or a nurse, but I personally liked the Journalist idea better. Finally, May I just say that you people have very little faith. Don't worry. I'll try to make it work out with Harry and Ginny to your liking. Of course, I cannot promise a great ending, which is why I am not a professional, but I will do my best! Please keep reading and reviewing!

JessFantasy16