As Hermione stood there giving Ron and Harry hugs, and calming down from all the emotions and arguing that had just gone on she turned and faced Remus. She gave him a kiss on his cheek. "I should probably go."
Remus nodded. "If you feel you must," he said giving her a hug, being a bit reluctant to do too much more with her with Ron and Harry standing right there.
"I just think I should spend sometime with them, talking more about this whole thing," Hermione said quietly to him. "Plus I do have some homework to do," she said with a small smile, sounding more like her usual self now.
"Alright," Remus said with a slight laugh. He kissed her forehead softly. "I'll see you later then?"
"Of course," Hermione nodded. She stood up on her toes and kissed him softly. "I'll see you later," she whispered as she pulled back. Remus simply nodded his head as she went over towards Ron and Harry.
"You know, you don't have to go," Harry said to her.
"No, I want to. Plus, it's probably safer this way. After all, if you two can just walk in, someone else could too," she said rather quietly. "And as much as I really didn't want you walking in on that, I'm at least glad it was only you two."
"Gave us a bit of a shock though," Ron said to her.
"Yeah, you definitely did," Harry said nodding.
"Well, I'm sorry guys. I knew I should have told you when things started between us. I just, didn't know how to. And then I found out about the baby," she said, sighing at the end.
"What are you going to do about that?" Harry asked her. "I mean, you said you're one month along right?"
"Right," Hermione said with a nod.
"Well, it's only November, Hermione," Ron said.
"You're having the baby in July, and we don't finish school until June," Harry said. "What are you going to tell people when you're just, magically pregnant?"
Hermione sighed. "I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead," she said, clearly stressed. You could tell, since Hermione was the one often who thought ahead and planned things out. She wasn't exactly one for surprises and hitches in her well planned out schedules.
"I guess I'll have to come clean about the whole thing," she said as they walked together down the empty hall.
"But, Lupin will get sacked," Ron said.
"You don't think I haven't thought about that already Ron?" Hermione asked him, sounding almost annoyed with all of their questions and little comments.
"Hermione, we're going to help you. Ok?" Harry said to her. "You and Lupin are our friends and we're going to help you through this."
"Thank you Harry," Hermione said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "But I really don't know how you'll be able to really help us out. I mean, it's going to be pretty obvious in June that I'm not just putting on a few spare pounds."
Ron looked at her. "Well, maybe we could find some kind of spell or something that will hide it," he suggested, not really having any ideas.
"We could look into it," Harry said to her. "It's worth a try."
"Maybe I should just talk to Dumbledore about not coming back for second term," Hermione said with a sigh, not really liking that option at all.
"Does he know?" Harry asked her.
"Yes, Remus told him. He wanted to talk to him because he had some concerns about the baby," she said with a nod.
"He was concerned about it? Why?" Ron asked.
"The baby is not a what Ronald," Hermione said rather testily. "And remember, Remus has err, a special condition," she said to him.
"Oh, right," Ron said with a nod.
"Yes, well, he was worried that his condition might affect the baby," she said, putting a hand on her still flat stomach.
"Will it?" Harry asked her, seeing as she looked really concerned about it.
"We don't know," Hermione said looking over at him. "Dumbledore said he would consult some experts on the subject," she said with a nod. "So, we have to wait and see what they say about it."
"I hope your baby's fine," Ron said to her.
"I do too," Harry said with a nod.
"Thanks guys," Hermione said. "I really hope the baby will be fine, but I think Remus is the one who's really worried whether or not the baby will be ok."
"Well, think of it this way," Ron said. "If the baby is not ok and ends up acquiring, his special condition, at least it will have some quality bonding time with dad once a month."
Hermione stopped walking and looked at Ron appalled by his statement. "Ronald! That is horrible! First off, the baby is not an it!" she practically shouted at him. "And this whole thing is very serious. I would appreciate it if you acted that way."
"I was just kidding Hermione," Ron said to her. "Jeeze."
"Well, it wasn't funny. Not funny at all, Ron," Hermione said, giving him a slight glare. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have work to do," she said before heading off towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.
Ron sighed and then looked over, noticing Harry looking at him. "What?"
"You really shouldn't have said something you know," Harry said to him.
"I was just joking!" Ron said. "Can't people take a joke around here anymore?"
"Well, not about that ok?" Harry said. "I mean, she's stressed out enough, you joking about her and…all of that," he whispered as some people were around them. "She doesn't need that right now."
"Fine, I won't joke about that anymore than," Ron said with a nod.
"Good," Harry said with a nod. "I think that will be very helpful," he said to him. "I don't think Hermione needs to be upset with you right now."
"Yeah, I doubt she does either," Ron nodded, agreeing with Harry. The pair walked quietly into the Common Room and looked around for Hermione. They both found her curled up on the couch with a stack of books and rolls of parchment already.
"She wastes no time does she?" Ron asked Harry quietly.
"Well, you know her. That's probably all stuff she would have really liked to have gotten done yesterday too," Harry said to him. "Maybe we should, um, help?"
Ron looked at Harry as if he had completely lost his mind. "What? How can we help her? She's Hermione!"
"Yeah, but she's got a lot on her mind and a lot going on right now. We might actually have to start taking our own notes," Harry said.
Ron winced, as if Harry had suggested them doing something very painful. "We do?"
Harry nodded his head. "I think we do. I mean, we can do it. Right?"
Ron just looked at him for a moment with that questioning look of his. "I don't know mate. I mean, she'll still be smart, not like its going to effect that."
"No, but she might have to miss class or something Ron," Harry said to him. "Then she's going to need our help for once."
"Oh!" Ron said slowly as he nodded as he started getting it together. "Ok, I see. Well, in that case I guess we can do that."
"Good. Glad you agree," Harry said with a nod.
Ron nodded as well. "I guess I still can't believe everything," he said quietly to Harry. "I mean her and-"
"Don't say it here," Harry said cutting him off. "No one else needs to know about that. But, we should try and think of something to help Hermione out."
Ron looked over at her studying, then over at Harry. "To the library?"
"To the library," Harry said with a nod.
a/n: I would like to thank everyone who left a review. You truly make my day each time I see a new one, so thank you for that. Also, I would like to ask this question, and feel free to answer as you chose...should I skip ahead sometime to later in the school year, or keep up this slow pace that will ultimately making this story really long. Of course, I do plan on going on with the story and about Hermione and Remus after the baby, so don't make when the story will end be a concern in your voting, just tell me what you think of the pace so far. Thanks for reading! - Laura
