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A/N: Only two more to go after this. And boy, did it feel good to write this one. : ) Get comfy, this is a long one. Well, long for me anyway.

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Convergence

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"What is wrong with you?"

Neville looked over at Ginny across the table. She had been talking to him for the last ten minutes and he hadn't heard a word of it.

"I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind." he rubbed his hands over his face distractedly.

She got up form her chair and came over behind him, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her cheek against his.

"You can tell me you know."

He stiffened. More than anything he wanted to tell Ginny about Hermione and the baby. But he had promised. He didn't think Hermione would actually curse him, she wasn't that type of person. But she was so upset, he could see it in her eyes. And he'd never be able to live with himself if he betrayed her trust in him.

"You know I can't." he whispered.

"A patient?" she asked.

He said nothing. He couldn't lie to her, and this way she might just drop it.

"I'm gonna go get desert, okay?"

He nodded and she kissed his cheek before going into the kitchen. He sighed deeply.

"Ginny, I'm going for a walk." he yelled to the kitchen. She said okay and he grabbed his jacket on the way out.

Diagon Alley was alive with activity, even at night. That was one of the reason's he loved it there so much. Ginny complained that she hated being so close to her brother's shop and Harry's flat, but he could tell she loved visiting him there when she wasn't at school. And she loved being near her family. Even if she wouldn't admit it, it was lonely being the only Weasley at Hogwarts.

He stopped outside Flourish and Blotts. There was a display of new Arithmancy books in the window and he instantly thought about Hermione. He wondered where she was, and if she was okay. Going though a pregnancy without Fred had to be harder on her than she would admit.

Neville felt like he was going to explode. It had been almost two weeks since he'd found out about the baby, and the guilt was eating him alive. Being around the Weasley's every day while they missed her, missed Fred, while he knew the truth wasn't fair.

'I have to tell someone.' he thought. But not anyone who knew Hermione.

The first person he spotted was a girl coming out of the robe shop. And he'd never seen her before. Perfect.

He walked over to where she was standing beside a vendor selling one of a kind jewelry and picked up a bracelet. He asked her opinion of it.

"It's lovely." she said.

"I think I'll get it for my friend Hermione. She's pregnant, and this is going to be the baby's birthstone." he told her.

She smiled at him. "That's very sweet. I'm sure she'll love it." she said before leaving.

He felt a million times better. He bought the bracelet after all and went back home to give it to Ginny.

…………………

"I am so bored." Ginny whispered to George.

"Me too." he replied.

They sat at a table in The Leaky Cauldron with the rest of their brothers, except Fred, and their respective girlfriends. Harry was due to be there any minute. Charlie had finally managed to get time off from work and wanted ell of his siblings to meet Stella, who had come in from Scotland where she worked with the government to establish cooperation with the magical government of England.

"I could kill Neville for making me go through this alone."

"He got called in for work, he didn't fake getting sick or something." George reminded her.

"Still." Ginny said stubbornly.

Harry walked in right then, looking exhausted from day at training, but smiling just the same. Ginny stood to hug him and someone grabbed her wrist.

It was Stella, and she was examining Ginny's bracelet with the oddest expression on her face.

"Where did you get that?"

"From my boyfriend."

Ginny watched as Stella's gaze ticked down to her stomach and back to the bracelet before meeting her eyes. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

A dead silence feel over the table and all of her brothers glared at her angrily.

"No!" she cried. "Why would you think that?"

"I was at a vendor last night that sold one of a kind jewelry and some guy asked me about this bracelet. He said he was going to buy it for a friend of his who was having a baby." Stella explained.

"And you think those guys sell stuff that's really one of a kind?" Bill looked decidedly more relaxed now that he knew his sister wasn't expecting.

"He seemed so sincere. And when I saw you wearing it, I just assumed…the name he gave me was so odd I figured he made it up."

"What was her name?" Ron asked. "Brunehilda?" Everybody laughed and settled back around the table, confident that the crisis was over.

"No, it was something like…Herman…" her face scrunched up in concentration. "Harmony…"

Ginny watched her face as she tried to remember the name. She looked down at the bracelet. Neville had been in a much better mood when he'd come back from his walk and given it to her, to make up for his bad temper he said.

'Nah.' Ginny thought. 'It couldn't be.'

"This is going to bug me until I can remember that name." Stella said.

"It wasn't Hermione, was it?" Ginny asked, deciding it was better to be safe than sorry.

"That's it!" Stella cried. "He said it was for his friend Hermione."

Eight glasses fell to the floors simultaneously.

…………………

"Go away!" Fred yelled at the door and threw at bottle at it, sending glass shards flying everywhere.

"Fred Weasley, you open this door right now or you'll be sorry." Ginny warned from the other side.

Grumbling, he got up to open the door. He knew his sister. She had inherited a healthy dose of their mother's stubbornness and he was certain she would make good on her threat.

He opened it to see not just Ginny, but all of his brothers standing there. "No Harry?" he joked.

"He said it was a family matter." Percy told him in his what Fred had labeled his 'Official Head-Boy Voice.'

Fred leaned his head against the door with a groan. "I'm really not in the mood for this."

"Tough." Charlie told him and pushed past him into the flat.

"Alright, what did I do know to warrant a family visit? Or is it an intervention?"

Bill picked up one of the dozen or so empty fire whiskey bottles lying around the couch and held it up toward him. "Do you need one?"

Fred scowled. "My wife left me. How would you feel?"

"I'd be out there doing everything in my power to get her back." Bill said.

"Which is what you should be doing." George added, walking over to his brother and handing him a sobering potion he'd brought with him form downstairs.

"I don't want that." Fred said stubbornly.

"Too bad. You need to remember this conversation." Ginny told him and placing her hands on her hips.

Fred looked at it warily.

"We'll hold you down and pour it down your throat if necessary." Charlie warned.

Grudgingly, Fred drank it. Immediately the fog swirling around his head cleared, only to be replaced by a splitting headache.

"Sadists." Fred mumbled. "Now what was so important?"

"Neville saw Hermione." Percy told him.

Fred reached for a bottle that wasn't completely empty. "I need to be drunk for this."

Ginny snatched it away from him. "He saw her at a hospital."

Fred sat up, his head and the bottle entirely forgotten. "Is she alright?"

"She's pregnant." George said simply.

Fred shook his head, not sure he'd heard his brother correctly. "Excuse me."

"P-R-E-G-N-A-N-T. Pregnant." George repeated.

Fred shook his head again. "This isn't funny guys."

"Funny? You think we're joking? Fred, this is serious. Neville saw Hermione with her mother, at a muggle hospital, looking at a sonogram. She begged him not to tell anybody." Ginny yelled. After Stella's declaration, the whole of them had gone straight to St. Mungos' to get the truth out of Neville. One glare from Ginny had him spilling the whole story.

"Boy, can he keep promises." Fred joked.

"What the hell is your problem!" Ron bellowed. Everyone tuned to stare at him. He hadn't said a word since entering the flat, and now his face was contorted in rage.

"Oh come on Ron…" Fred said.

"No." he cut him off. "You may think this a joke Fred, but it's real. Hermione is pregnant and for some reason thinks you don't want that, so she left. But that doesn't make it any less true. Hermione is going to have a baby-your baby, while you sit here and drink your self into oblivion. Is that really what you want?"

No one said a word. They looked back and froth from a red-faced Ron to a visibly paling Fred in awe.

"She's…" Fred whispered.

"Yeah." Ginny answered.

"Oh my God." He buried his face in his hands and his shoulders began shaking. They were afraid he was crying until he looked up at them. "Where is she?"

"No one knows." Percy said.

"I've gotta find her." He stood and headed for the door. He stopped and looked back at Ron. "Ron…"

"Don't. I hate the fact that she loves you. And I would give anything to change it. But I can't, anymore than I can change that you love her. And I know you do. I've seen in your eyes how much she you care about each other. That's what's important. But if you break her heart I'll kill you." Ron said simply.

Fred hugged his younger brother tightly. Then turned to the rest of the clan. "Wish me luck."

…………………

Fred stood outside the small cottage trying to work up the courage to open the door. It had taken him forever to get here. He figured that Hermione's parents wouldn't ell him where she was so he had gone to Dumbledore for help. He had told him that it would really simple to find Hermione. All he had to do was concentrate hard on how much he wanted to be with her and he should be able to aparrate to her exact location.

He had done that, using everything in him to concentrate on her and he wound at a small cottage on the far coast of Cornwall. He looked through the window, expecting to see Hermione. But there was no one in sight. The only signs of life were the fire blazing in the hearth and the tall stack of books next to the couch.

He raised his hand to knock on the door, but stopped. What would he say to her? What would she say to him? Would she even want him there? She had left for a reason after all. And she hadn't told him when she found out. She must be getting big by now.

A movement inside the window caught his eye just then. It was Hermione, walking through the house in her Cannons shirt and pajama bottoms, sipping from a mug. His heart stopped. He couldn't believe he was actually seeing her again. She was glowing. Fred's eyes fell on her stomach. He didn't know if it was the shirt or because she was so small to begin with, but she didn't look very big at all.

He quickly did the math in his head, taking in all the times he'd heard his mother talking bout being pregnant. Before the wedding, he and Hermione hadn't been together since October. If that were the case, she should be stretching the shirt by now. But she wasn't. If he hadn't already been told, he would have had no idea she was expecting.

That could only mean one thing. She had gotten pregnant the night of the wedding. So she hadn't left him because of the baby. She'd left because she really wanted to.

Fred felt his heart plummet through his feet, along with his stomach. But he had to tell her.

With a deep breath, he pushed the door open and Hermione dropped her mug on the floor at the sight of him.

"F-Fred?"

"Hey." he said.

"Hey? That's all you have to say for yourself for just showing up out of the blue like this?" Hermione asked angrily.

"I missed you." he tried.

Hermione sighed and all traces of anger melted from her face. "I missed you, too."

He began to walk toward her, but stopped. "How are you?" he asked, hoping she would tell him about the baby herself.

"I'm fine." was all she said. "You?"

"Now that I'm sober, I guess I'm alright."

Her face darkened. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. They continued to watch one another warily, as if they weren't sure how to act together anymore.

Finally, Hermione broke the silence. "How did you find me?"

"Dumbledore. He told me if I concentrated hard enough, I'd e able to aparrate right to you, and he was right." Fred explained.

"Is everyone okay?"

He smiled softly. "Everyone's fine. I just…had to see you."

Hermione looked at the swell of emotion in Fred's eyes and felt something in her chest lurch. "Well as you can see I'm perfectly fine. And seeing as how I came here to be alone, I'd really appreciate it if you left."

He was too shocked to answer for a moment. Then he grinned. "No."

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "No?"

"No. I'm not leaving."

Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Fred…"

"I have to tell you something."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine. Go ahead."

Fred pooled all the strength he possessed. If he managed to say this, he was going to need it. "I know."

She looked confused. "Know what?"

"About the baby."

Hermione looked shocked for a moment, then scared, and finally furious. "Oh, I'm going to kill Neville."

Fred laughed. "Actually, George told me. Along with the rest of my brothers and Ginny."

"No Harry?"

"That's what I said."

Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fred I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Why didn't you?" he asked softly.

"I don't know. I guess I thought…that you wouldn't want it…to be a parent. Not yet." she stammered.

"I never would have thought I would either. But I do. Know why?" He walked closer to her, coming to a stop right in front of her.

Hermione looked up at Fred, smiling like he had a secret he was about to tell her. "Why?"

He raised a hand and stroked her cheek softly. "Because it's you."

"What?" There was no way she had heard him right.

"I want this because it's with you. Your baby. I want a family with you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. I want this," he put a hand over her stomach where the assumed the baby was, "a little girl with red hair and your eyes."

Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes as Fred raised both hands to cup her cheeks.

"I want all my babies to have your eyes." he whispered.

"Fred, please…" she tried to pull away, but he refused to let go.

"I love you Hermione. And I'm not saying this because of the baby. I love you, and I have for a long time. But I never thought that you could ever love me. And I'm not saying you do. I'm just asking for a chance."

"The baby…" Hermione started, but once more he cut her off. "It took Ron yelling at me about the baby for me to realize that I was being a coward. I've been so afraid of getting hurt that I kept everything inside until it nearly killed me. I can't do it anymore. I'm willing to do everything in my power to show you how much you mean to me and try and make you love me back."

"I already do." she whispered.

"What?"

"I love you Fred." she flung her arms around him and buried her face, now streaming with tears, against him.

He hugged her back, lifting her off the ground. He finally set her down and sunk onto his knees in front of her. He took hold of her hand and slid her rings back on her fingers-where they belonged.

Hermione ran her hand through his hair when he looked up at her. They smiled at each other and Fred turned his attention elsewhere. Pressing his face against Hermione's stomach, he begin to speak softly. "Hey there. I'm your Daddy."

Hermione felt tears begin to gather once more. "Fred…"

He held a hand up to shush her. "That's your mummy. You'll be hearing her say my name a lot. Probably very loudly. But don't worry, she adores me."

She pulled his face so he was looking at her. "Yeah. I do."

He rose slowly and kissed her soundly, burying his hands in her hair. She kissed him back, thrilled to finally be where she was supposed to be.

"What do you say, ready to go home?" he asked her when they pulled apart.

"I thought you'd never ask."

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