Disclaimer: all characters are not mine, sadly enough.

AN: weeee! theres more flashbacks in this one…ok fine, theres gonna be flashbacks in almost every chappie. remember, ones in italics are the flashbacks. I hope u like this one as much as I enjoyed writing it…and as a side-preview, I reveal one of the possible candidates for fatherhood! eep! hope its up to ur standards.and following up on a specific review, i have now decided to include a review response at the end of the chapter -thumbs up-. ok now on with the show!

Chapter 3

Hermione was twirling her diamond engagement ring mindlessly around her finger when someone knocked on the front door.

'That's odd,' she thought to herself as she crossed the hallway to open the door. 'I wasn't expecting anyone.'

She turned the knob and was surprised to see none other than the great Harry Potter standing on her welcome mat spraying raindrops everywhere as he shook his umbrella dry. He looked up just as he heard the door creak open, smiling wide at his best friend who was wearing a plain tank top and shorts: an obvious sign she'd spent the entire day indoors.

"Hey Mione."

"Wha—Harry! What are you doing here?" she asked in a half-accusatory half-guilty voice.

He stared at her strangely. "Well, I would've waited outside but it's pouring." He patted down his wet hair. "Mind if I come in?" Harry didn't bother waiting for her to respond, just casually walking in like he always does. "So where's your groom-to-be?"

"Huh?" Hermione looked up from her ring looking dazed as she had been warped by her thoughts. But Harry didn't think anything of it and just chuckled.

"Ron. Where is he?"

"Oh. He's using the loo. Should be done any minute now." She shyly stared at her hands again, feeling somewhat uncomfortable having Harry in the same room with her, which was of course ridiculous since they've known each other for nearly a decade. But there was something weird about her, something that wasn't right and Harry noticed it. He narrowed his eyes at her thoughtfully.

"Mione?"

"Hmm?"

"You feeling okay? You look…er-different." Her eyes widened and before she could answer, the sound of a toilet flushing and a running faucet saved her. Seconds later Ron stepped out wiping his palms on his shirt. His eyes lit up upon seeing Harry.

"Hey mate! What brings you here?"

"Ron, I've some great news. You will never guess who I got to promote the new equipment for your Quidditch shop."

"Who?"

"Remember Oliver Wood? Well I called in some favors-"

"Wood? That's bloody fantastic!" Ron gave his raven-haired friend an appreciative slap on the back. "I owe you one Harry."

While the two men were busily talking, Hermione had wrapped herself into a ball by the couch clutching her sides in pain as the cramps came and went.

"Mione?" She looked up at the concerned faces of Harry and Ron. "Are you sure you're alright? You're looking a little pale."

She laughed hollowly and shook her head. "I'm fine. Just feeling a little tired."

Ron walked over to the couch and softly massaged her back. "I know something's bothering you. You know, I caught her crying this morning," he said turning to Harry. Harry frowned.

"I was just caught up in thinking about the wedding that's all. Tears of…of happiness," she lied.

Ron just looked at Harry skeptically. "She hasn't been able to keep her food down either for some weeks now," he informed him.

"Ron-"

"Maybe I should take you to St. Mungo's."

"NO!" Both men were caught off guard by her sudden defensive outburst. "I- I mean…I trained as a mediwitch for a year remember? So I'd know if there was something wrong with me."

"Yea but-"

"I said no Ronald!" she said more firmly. Her fiancé stared at her with obvious hurt as Harry looked away; keeping his mouth shut and with subtleness, cleared his throat to relieve the air of silence enveloping them. Hermione felt bad for being so cross when he was just trying to protect her but she couldn't help it. Damn hormones! "Hey, didn't you mum invite us over for dinner?" she asked, this time sounding more collected in an attempt to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"Uh, right. She did. Oi Harry, you wanna come?"

"Er…sure."

"Great. Mione if you're not up for this we don't have to go…" Ron began.

"I want to go," she answered with finality that Ron dared not say anything else but simply nodded.

At the burrow:

"Hey Ron? What's wrong with Mione?"

"I don't know. She's been acting mental more than usual."

"You mean temperamental."

"Yea whatever. Can you do me a favor and find out what's bothering her."

"Me? What if she hexes me to oblivion?"

"Aw c'mon Harry. I'd do the same for you."

There was a pause. "Fine."

"Thanks."

Ron left the living room for a while as he greeted his mother in the kitchen, leaving Harry and Hermione alone. 'Okay Harry. I'm sure it's no big deal, whatever it is.' He stepped towards his life-long friend, aware of his shaking knees beneath him. He decided that a direct approach was the best approach. "Alright Herm, out with it," Harry said as soon as Ron was out of audible distance.

"Out with what?"

"What's really going on with you?"

"Nothing. Like I said before, I was tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Tired? That doesn't explain your nausea and rather nasty mood swings."

"I DO NOT HAVE MOOD SWINGS!" Harry shrunk back slightly after Hermione's raging comment. She just sighed and began rubbing her temples. This wasn't something she wished to discuss with Harry, of all people, because… just because. "Leave it alone Harry," she said beginning to walk away. Fearlessly, he grabbed her arm so she can face him and was heartbroken by what he saw.

She most definitely had been crying like Ron said. Her face was tear-stained and her red eyes were puffy. But she was avoiding eye contact, as if he would see the truth if she were to look directly into his eyes.

"Harry…can I trust you to tell me the truth?" she asked, still keeping her eye level relatively low.

"Of course you can."

"Do I look…" She was hesitant before finishing her thought. "Do I look fatter?" she asked quietly. Harry was taken aback. Who would ever think that about her? He didn't even need to check to answer that. There was no doubt she wasn't. Instead, he caught her quickly glancing down her stomach in worry. Of course! That's what was bothering her all along. Hermione Granger had gone bulimic.

'But why?' he thought. 'What could've pushed her to become a victim of an eating disorder?' She wasn't suffering from low self-esteem as far as he knew. And there was no reason why she should. She was engaged to a great wizard and she was a well-respected witch. And that's when Harry remembered something. Something so wrong and so horrible he was sure Hermione felt guilty enough to punish herself for it. He was guilty too. Just one of those things you wish you could go back in time for and prevent it from even happening. It all started about 3 months ago…

"Ha! I never needed her anyway," a drunken Harry staggered, reaching yet again for the fire whiskey bottle. "She can leave for all I care." Just then he broke down into tears. "I loved her Hermione. I loved her so much," he sobbed almost incoherently. She nodded dazedly, downing some more of the alcoholic beverage. "I was going to ask her to marry me, did you know that?" She shook her head slumping back into the cushions. "How could she just break my heart and leave me like that?" He stared at his hands as if growing a new fascination with them but broke his gaze when he fell backwards.

His eyes shifted to Hermione who sat beside him on the couch of his flat, barely said a word since she banged on his door crying earlier that evening. Conveniently, Harry's girlfriend had just broken up with him that afternoon which explains his rather miserable state. And now it was late into the night. "Herm?" he asked, his speech slurred. "I never asked why you're here. Shouldn't you be with Ron, your soulmate, the person you'll be spending the rest of your life with…" the last of his words were quite inaudible, having it blurred as tears threatened to spill down again.

Hermione scoffed in aggravation. "Bullocks! Ron is not my soulmate. He is just the same pathetic, temperamental, immature 11-year old prat I met on the Hogwarts Express a long time ago. He's never going to change, I'll tell you that." She paused, the bottle of whiskey slipping from her hands and cracked as it landed on the floor. Without thinking, she reached down to get it but was cut by the broken glass. Hermione merely stared at the blood dripping from her finger and carelessly wiped it on her blue skirt and instead took Harry's glass.

"You know this is actually the first time I've seen you drink. You never drink. I think you've had enough." Harry crossed over to snatch the glass from her hands but she gripped it tightly. Both of them were pulling hard for the drink and somehow, Hermione landed on top of Harry, their faces so close together they could smell the alcohol in the other's breath. "You are so beautiful," Harry breathed out, not fully aware of what he was doing. Without thinking about it, he pulled her down into a kiss. After that, everything else became a blur.

The next morning Harry woke up in his bed with a terrible headache. "Ugh," he groaned. "Feels like a troll sat on my head." He slowly sat up, tenderly massaging the bridge of his nose. When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed he was stripped down to his boxers. "That's odd; I don't recall going to sleep in my boxers." Suddenly flashbacks of the night before flickered in his mind. His eyes grew wide in horror.

He frantically searched the room for Hermione. Vividly, he remembered drinking fire whiskey with her while he wallowed in grief over his ex-girlfriend. He also remembered kissing her. He slapped a palm to his forehead. "Oh no. What have I done?" If things weren't bad enough already, Ron decided to apparate into his apartment that very moment.

"Harry? Oi, Harry!" the redhead called from the living room. 'Oh Merlin, he knows! He knows Hermione spent the night with me!' Still wearing only his boxers, he leapt out of bed and hurried into his living room.

"Hey Ron. What brings you here?" Harry tried acting as nonchalant as possible, though his shaking legs were making this quite difficult.

"I'm looking for Mione. We had a terrible fight last night and well…you haven't seen her at all have you?"

"What, me? See Hermione? No, never! I would never go behind your back Ron, you know that." Sweat beads were beginning to trickle down his forehead. He could only hope Ron couldn't see them. Harry then spotted her purse by the couch, making his breathes shorter. As casual as he could make it, he strolled to the purse and kicked it under the couch out of sight.

"Huh?" Clearly, Harry had confused the redhead.

"Never mind. Why don't you just go look for her coz obviously she's not here…nor was she ever here." He stressed the word 'ever', making Ron a little worried about his raven-haired friend.

"Right. Thanks mate," he replied glumly and was about to leave. "You know, I was going to ask her to marry me last night," Ron said, turning back around to face Harry.

"Oh? You don't say." His voice came out high strung and pitchy, like a nervous school girl.

"Yea." Ron lowered his head sadly. "But I guess that's not gonna happen anymore." Harry crossed his arms tightly around his chest, his breathing becoming quick paced with every second. "I've gotta find her Harry," Ron said raising his head, a look of determination and hope lingering in his blue eyes.

"Yes! Go! Find her!" Harry urged, anxiously pointing to the exit.

"And when I do and she says yes, I want you to be the best man Harry. You are the best mate a guy could ask for." Ron gave him an appreciative smile before disapparating. Harry winced slightly at his friend's words as he ran a hand through his messy hair, trying to figure out what to do.

"I'm going to hell for this aren't I?" he asked his now empty apartment.

AN: I kno hermione's all moody and such…but thts only coz shes pregnant :P pleez leave me a review on ur way out. thnks to those who did! i loved reading them.

Dumbledor - yea hermione does kno who the man she woke up next to is and trust me, if u wer her u'd be crying too lol

fashionqueen - ya someone suggested to me b4 about the her being engaged and i thot tht wud add more tension teehee. im so evil :P

dark angel - lookie, im leaving responses lol. no its not ron but dont worry, i will take ur advice and she will TRY to hide it. but of course secrets never stay as secrets -evil grin- oh and thnks for telling me 5 months is when it starts to show. i was wondering tht when i wrote the 1st chappie :)