Waking up at 5 a.m. with Ron's arms around her, Hermione felt wide awake remembering the nightmare that was the previous day. Carefully getting out of bed, she quickly changed into sweatpants and grabbed her leatherbound notebook before carefully making her way downstairs, doing her best to avoid the squeaky steps.

With her wand in hand, she whispered, "Lumos." giving herself a bit of light as she navigated the kitchen before the sun rose for the day. Finding a tea cup, she made herself a cup of peppermint tea in hopes of avoiding her typical morning sickness. With her tea and notebook in hand, Hermione curled up on the couch, preparing to start thinking through the painful appointment yesterday.

December 27th

Everything seems to be moving too fast around me, like I'm just standing still while everything else moves. One day we are at a wedding, then suddenly we aren't… then we are almost being killed in a deli… then on the run for the next year… We robbed a bloody bank, broke into Hogwarts where we should have been the entire time, found the horcruxes, got tortured and watched our friends die around us.

But for some reason I survived. and I'll never know exactly how we made it out. And I'm not not grateful for that. But things should have paused then, and they didn't. Instead there were funerals and will's being read, awards and articles about us, and somehow then Ron and I were just… together. I wished and wished for that for YEARS, and then it all came true. It was perfect, if you forget about everything else . We felt so right together, I mean we still do… But then I found out I couldn't have children, which I wasn't okay with, but I wasn't not okay with it? Like… of course I didn't leave all of that unscathed. It made sense?

But here we are now, after barely six months together we got knocked up. It's a miracle… I know its a miracle. It's just going by too fast.

And now I'm here with a complicated pregnancy… and if I know Bellatrix, then I know its going to be painful. That's all that vicious woman did, cause pain.

SQUEAK!

Hermione practically jumped out of her body as she looked up to hear Ginny run down the stairs in her fitness outfit.

"Oh! Sorry Mione, I'm typically the only one up this early!" Ginny said, clearly ready to go do some quidditch conditioning.

"It's fine," Hermione grinned, doing her best to look normal.

"You know, we missed you last night. Is everything alright?"

"Um, kind of. Well not really, but I'll manage." Hermione said in her famous matter-of-fact tone.

Ginny sat down in the same worn velvet chair Molly had sat in when the couple announced their pregnancy.

"We can talk about it if you want? I know I don't necessarily know what I'm talking about here, but we are best friends…" Ginny trailed off, realizing how little she really knew about whatever Hermione was going through.

Hermione took a deep breath, not exactly certain as how to let Ginny in. "I'm okay Gin, go get your workout done we'll chat later." she finished off with a forced smile.

As Ginny nodded and headed out the door, both girls knew that Hermione needed to talk to someone.

Ron woke up around 7:15 a.m., ready to hold Hermione's hair back during the morning sickness as he did every morning. But this time, he woke up alone and now suddenly scared. After everything that happened yesterday, he worried about what Hermione would do next.

He jumped out of bed, flung the first pair of clothes he saw and hurried downstairs. As the last few steps squeaked under the pressure of his feet, Hermione's head popped up from the other side of the couch. She smiled faintly at him, and though she still looked confused and hurt, Ron sighed and he heartbeat started to slow. She was just downstairs writing in her journal.

"Good morning," Ron said as he sat next to her and moved her legs over his. "You're up earlier...everything okay?"

"Yes and no," Hermione admitted, closing her journal as though she was shutting away all of her dark thoughts. "I just don't know what should come next, you know? I know the baby is coming, but what else? I've always had a plan, even last year. Well I did my best… and I just haven't processed any of it. I can barely even think about the appointment yesterday on top of everything else."

Ron grabbed one of her hands and started to rub the back of it with his thumb. He had an idea that might help.

"Let's get out of here for a while," Ron semi-suggested. "We can go wherever you want. I think it would be good for us to get some fresh air alone together."

Hermione smiled and agreed before they both returned upstairs to get ready for the day.

Leaving the Burrow, Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and apparated the couple to a snowy muggle park.

"My mum used to bring me here when I was young… Just over there is a little town we can eat at? No one will recognize us here, hopefully."

The pair walked, comfortable in their silence, over a small bridge closer to town. The last time the couple wandered in an unfamiliar place was on the run, but this time they weren't looking over their shoulder or starving for a meal. Instead, they took in the smoking fireplaces and the families spending time together. Ron squeezed Hermione's hand as they watched two little boys walk past them carrying a sled. The couple grinned, welcoming the sense of calmness they hadn't felt in weeks, especially with the tension of yesterday still looming.

Walking into the warm little pub, the pair found a booth in the corner and made themselves comfortable as Hermione forced herself not to set up enchantments around their table.

"So yesterday was bloody awful." Ron stated, clearly just announcing whatever was on his mind.

Hermione laughed out loud, almost hysterically, finally breaking through the tension around the subject, "Finally someone said it. It was terrible!"

Ron just looked at her, unsure if he should laugh with her or drag her to St. Mungo's.

"I mean, we knew it wasn't going to be easy exactly, but with your mum there, and us trying to figure it all out… We're a bit of a mess right now you know."

"Oh I definitely know that one." Ron said with a grin on his face.

The pair got quiet again, unsure of how they should go about the next part of the conversation they both knew was coming.

"I still want it, you know." Hermione stated after the long pause, looking up at Ron and meeting his gaze.

Ron immediately took a deep breath of relief, like he was waking up from a nightmare. "Are you sure? I mean you know I want the baby… but it isn't fair to pressure you."

"Yesterday didn't change my mind or make all of our other conversations disappear, but it all just sort of hit me yesterday? How fast this all happened, how fast this last year has happened… this is mad! We're 19 and we've only been together for a few months. Now we are having a complicated pregnancy. There's just so many details we've glossed over...", Hermione finished, finally taking a breath.

At almost the worst possible moment, the server came up to the table, "Hi there you two! My name is Colby and I will be taking care of you this afternoon. Can I start you lot off with anything to drink?"

Ron looked at Hermione with a look of confusion and panic, partly due to his unpacking her last statement, but also in fear of him saying the wrong thing to a muggle.

"Can we get two hot apple ciders please?" Hermione orders."...Then we'll just get two Shepherd's Pies… Oh and can we get some warm cookies brought out before then? Whatever you have will be fine." Hermione continued before setting her menu down as Ron smirked at her, loving when she gets bossy.

"'Course ma'am, I'll have that out for you." the server said before walking off.

"Where were we?" Hermione asked, trying to get back on topic.

"You were finally telling me what you've been thinking about all of this." Ron responded as Hermione grinned at him, "But I get it, we have loads of questions we need to answer together and your health being a concern definitely makes this all harder."

Hermione finally felt like someone understood her. More than Harry, Ginny, or even Mrs. Weasley could. Ron was the only person who could possibly understand any of it.

"How about we break it down into one thing at a time?" Ron asked as Hermione nodded her head, "Okay… er… Maybe we start with us not being together for that long?"

"It's been just over seven months." Hermione stated, always dependable with the facts.

"Yeah, but has it really? I mean we've been friends since we were eleven. I've had a crush on you since first year! We helped end a bloody war and saved Harry's arse more times than I can count. We went on the run… But we both know if I hadn't been a git, we would've gone to the Yule Ball together, and started dating sixth year. Mione, I know we technically haven't been together as long as most people in our position have, but maybe this is what we needed to push us together? We are clearly meant to be together. It was clear to everyone else we know way before either of us knew… It isn't like we met seven months ago. We grew up together, and now we get to grow together." Ron rubbed the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed by his last comment after seeing the server heard it.

After he set the mugs of cider and cookies on the table, he quickly abandoned the couple letting them get back to their discussion.

"Ron I know that, and it feels like we've been together for years… Maybe it's just all of the changes are happening so fast? But we are already here, we can't exactly turn back and do it all differently."

A hurt look flashed across Ron's face, "You would change things?"

"Oh no… I'm so sorry Ronald, that's not what I meant. I would still want the same things to happen of us being together and having a baby, just maybe would have added a couple years in between the two things happening?"

"Yeah, I get it…" Ron said, clearly still a bit hurt. He took a deep sip of his cider before speaking again, "Do you still want to talk about getting married, or should we table that discussion for a bit? It's okay if that's what you want, I don't want to rush into it."

Hermione thought for a minute, clearly making a Pro's and Con's list in her head. "I like the idea of getting engaged before the baby… but maybe we wait until after it's born before we have an actual wedding? I know it's not necessarily traditional but I don't want people to think of it like we are just getting married because of a baby, or rush to get it all done before July."

Ron grinned knowing she would accept his proposal, even if the wedding would be put off longer than he was hoping for. "Well Mione, it sounds like we can knock this topic off of our list, what's next?"

The couple made their way down the list of discussions while devouring their shepherds pie, leaving the table much stronger than when they got there.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Seeing that you all are enjoying and reading the chapters I'm doing my best to write/ edit/ upload quickly!

Thank you to everyone who has followed me and the story, and an EXTRA special thank you to everyone who has left a review. You are too kind!

Can't wait to upload the next one... it's a good one!

xo,

J