Author's Note: Thank you all soooooooo much for your reviews. I love every one of them and they mean so much to me. I hope you all like this chapter!
It had been eight months since Hermione disappeared. Ron had spent every single day trying to find her and get any piece of information he could. The only people helping were Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna. Ron had begged McGonagall to help, but she said that he should respect Hermione's wishes. Even Tonks, Remus, and Hagrid agreed.
Ron woke up one morning with a particularly nasty headache. He needed to get rid of it pretty quickly so he could actually teach class. He, Harry, and Ginny had accepted positions as professors at Hogwarts. He taught Transfiguration, Ginny taught Charms, and Harry, of course, was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Ron couldn't think about Hermione in classes. He had to concentrate on teaching the class, but since it was a Friday, he wasn't going to assign any homework. That way he could go down to the pub in Hogsmeade and he wouldn't have to worry about getting out of bed the next day. As much as he hated admitting the fact, he knew he was slowly giving up hope of finding Hermione ever again.
Ron grudgingly crawled out of bed just as Harry came in to make sure he was up. He saw Ron stretch his arms out over his head then rub his eyes before marking another day off his calendar. Ron's shoulders drooped and he sat down at his desk staring at his pictures of Hermione. Harry's stomach caught in a knot. He and Ginny missed her too.
"You alright, mate?" Harry asked. Ron didn't seem surprised by Harry being there. He just got up from his desk and shrugged. "I guess I'm about as good as I'm going to get."
Ron threw on his clothes for the day and he and Harry made their way down to breakfast. They met Ginny half way down and she joined hands with Harry. Harry had proposed to Ginny about a month ago and she, obviously, had said yes. Ron was happy for them, but couldn't help but think that he and Hermione should already be married.
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"Okay, Mr. Stuart, you wanted a large firewhiskey and a roast beef sandwich, right?" Hermione asked. The nice old man nodded fondly at her. He was one of the regulars Hermione had come to know very well over the past few months. She loved her job and where she lived. Tom had become a great friend, and he cared for Hermione dearly.
Hermione put in Mr. Stuart's order and waited for it to come out. She sat down carefully on a stool so she could rest her feet for a minute. She was very pregnant at the moment, almost nine months, which meant she was going to give birth sometime soon to her little girl. She missed Ron more than ever, but still, she thought it was for the best that she left.
"Hermione! What are you still doing working! I told you to stop over an hour ago!" Tom yelled.
Hermione waved it off like it was no big deal. Even though she knew she should be resting in bed, she wanted to keep working. She enjoyed getting up and talking to the people in the pub everyday because it kept her mind off of Ron. Even Hagrid came by every weekend.
"Tom, I'm fine! I can keep working, nothing's wrong with me." Hermione said defiantly. She got up because Mr. Stuart's order was ready and got the plate and glass to carry to him. She was putting the glass down on the table when she felt a horrible pain. She cried out and dropped the sandwich and firewhiskey.
"Ow! Oh god, that hurts!" Hermione sank down into the chair Mr. Stuart was helping her into. Just when she sat down, the pain came again and all of a sudden she felt wet. "Oh my god! Get my doctor now! My water broke!"
The entire pub went into mayhem. Almost everyone in there knew Hermione and they had all taken her in somewhat. They jumped up and ran to her giving her advice while at least ten people ran down the street like maniacs to get her doctor.
"Hermione, breath in!"
"No, don't breathe in! Take measured breaths!"
"Don't worry about your breath, squeeze something tight!"
"Try thinking of something happy!"
"Hermione, can you…"
Hermione couldn't take everyone yelling at once. "SHUT UP! I'M IN PAIN AND I DON'T NEED THIS RIGHT NOW!"
Everyone went silent.
The ones who had gone to get the doctor came back instead with a wheelchair and a nurse. "Okay, we don't have much time to get her to St. Mungo's. Let's get her to the doctor's office right down here to check her out first."
Hermione was helped into the wheelchair by at least two dozen pairs of hands and was pushed down the street with the crowd in front of her, knocking anybody in their path out of the way. "MOVE IT! LOOK OUT! LADY WITH A BABY COMING THROUGH! MOVE MOVE MOVE!"
They got her into the office and the doctor came up to her immediately. He felt her pulse and checked for anything wrong. He frowned as he started timing her contractions. "We don't have enough time to get her to St. Mungo's anymore. She's going to have a very short labor; that baby could be here within the hour."
Hermione was shocked. Wasn't the labor supposed to be longer? She didn't have time to wonder about this because another sharp pain hit her hard. "OW! Somebody go get Minerva, Tonks and Remus! NOW!"
Tom apparated out of the doctor's office to Hogsmeade. Since school was out for the day, most teachers were down in Hogsmeade. He ran into the Three Broomsticks like a mad man. He spotted McGonagall, Tonks, Lupin and Hagrid talking at a table near the door. He ran up to them and said, "Come on! It's time; you've got to come now!"
They all walked outside and apparated back (while Hagrid used a considerable amount of floo powder) to Hermione luckily right before Ron, Ginny, and Harry walked in.
Back in the doctor's office, Hermione was in a private room moaning in horrible pain. She had scared everyone out of the room and was about to start yelling again when she saw who it was. McGonagall and Tonks came bursting through the door as quick as possible, each going to either of her sides. They had told Remus and Hagrid to wait outside, because they rightly guessed that Hermione wasn't too fond of men in general at the moment.
"How are you doing?" Tonks asked her. Hermione scowled. "How am I doing! How does it look like I'm doing? I'm in so much pa…. Ow!" Hermione's face screwed up in pain again as another contraction came on. McGonagall and Tonks held her hands and Hermione squeezed them tight.
The doctor came in and looked at her charts. "Okay, Ms. Granger, I think it's about time." Hermione heard this and squeezed both women's hands so tight that they started bruising in different places. "Here we go," she thought.
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A short hour and a half later, Hermione was resting and the doctor handed her the baby.
"Congratulations on a healthy baby girl. Do you have any idea what you want to name her?"
Hermione bit her lip. She had been trying to prepare for months, how could she have forgotten a name? She racked her brain as hard as she could for a perfect name, because whatever she said was what her baby's name would be for life. She closed her eyes and thought a minute.
"Jessica. Jessica Nicole Granger." She looked down at her new baby sleeping in her arms. "Yeah, I think Jessica will be a good name. What do you think Minerva?"
McGonagall smiled with watery eyes. "I think she and the name is beautiful. Can I hold her?"
Hermione smiled and nodded. McGonagall carefully came over to the bed and cradled Jessica in her arms. "Oh, she's so sweet. Look how beautiful she is. If you don't mind me saying, I think I see a bit of red hair on her."
Hermione looked closer and sure enough, there was some thin red hair on top of Jessica's head. "Oh wow, I uh, didn't notice that," Hermione said weakly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to make the tears in her eyes go away. Then she opened them and smiled, thinking of how Ron would react if he were here. Hermione had promised herself that when this day came, she wouldn't be sad, and that she would be happy knowing that she had someone in her life now that would always love her.
"Okay Minerva, you've held her long enough, my turn now," Tonks said while taking Jessica into her arms. "Oh Hermione! She's so tiny! I wondered why your stomach didn't get very big. I mean, well, it got big, just not huge like some people." Tonks gave up trying to explain what she meant and went back to rocking Jessica in her arms then said, "Tell Remus to get his butt in here now."
A few seconds later, Remus came in smiling widely. He walked over to Hermione and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations Hermione, she's wonderful." Hermione thanked him and he walked over to Tonks who was still holding Jessica.
Tonks looked at him then back at Jessica. "Don't you think she's beautiful, Remus?"
He nodded. "Yeah sweetie, I do."
Tonks smiled. "Good, because we've been married for a year and now I want one."
Remus' mouth fell open. All he could manage to get out was, "Huh?"
Tonks repeated, "I said that I want one."
Remus stared at her dumbfounded for a minute then said, "Alright. If you want one, then I have no objections what so ever." Tonks smiled. "Good, all's settled then."
For the next three days, people swarmed in to visit Hermione and Jessica. Most of these people were customers from the Leaky Cauldron, shop owners in Diagon Alley, and Hagrid, Remus, and McGonagall. Hermione was exhausted and she couldn't have been happier when she was able to take Jessica back to her apartment, to her new home.
She walked into the apartment and there were balloons and flowers everywhere. She smiled slightly before walking into Jessica's nursery and putting her in her crib, where she continued to sleep like a rock. The nursery looked beautiful now. It had a soft yellow paint on the walls, flowers sat on a table by the window, a small bookcase was filled with children's books, and there was a soft chair for Hermione in the corner of the room.
Hermione gave Jessica a quick kiss then walked back out into the living room. She was mildly surprised to see McGonagall standing in the room.
"Minerva! I'm so glad that you're here, will you help me move some of these flowers into Jessica's nursery?"
McGonagall happily agreed and soon the nursery had several beautiful arrangements of flowers sitting on shelves and tables. The remaining flowers were divided between Hermione's room and the living room.
Hermione was exhausted. Though the doctor had given her a potion so that she could move freely about on her own and do whatever she wanted, it still wasn't easy giving birth. She flopped down on the couch and looked to see McGonagall chuckling to herself. "What's so funny?" she asked.
McGonagall shook her head. "Jessica sleeps exactly like her father. We could make as much noise as we want and she still wouldn't wake up."
Hermione laughed and agreed. She had noticed that too. The two women sat and talked for a while, but McGonagall got up finally and said, "I should be getting back to Hogwarts before I'm missed. I told the staff that a dearly loved relative of mine was having a child and I wanted to spend some time with her. It's the truth you know."
Hermione was touched. She gave McGonagall a huge hug and with a swish of her cloak, McGonagall apparated back to her office in Hogwarts. Hermione decided to put on her most comfortable clothes and curl up in her bed to take a nap. She had only been laying down five minutes when Jessica started screaming and crying.
"Let the fun begin," she thought.