Finally, the end of a few very many long and hectic weeks. I feel so bad for not updating in such a long time. Plus, I am so going to get killed… you'll see why later.

Thanks for the reviews! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here updating right now.

Chapter 15

The Brother

Emily picked up the crayon and thought for a moment, trying to decide how she was going to write her name across the paper. A light bulb flew above her head, and she slowly began to push the blue crayon against the paper, drawing many different size lines. Within minutes, the lines began to take shape. Picking the paper up off the table, Emily examined it, and decided that it was complete. She handed her masterpiece over to Harry, who was amazed at how well this youngster could write her own name.

"Do you know how to write your last name?" Harry asked her, even though he already believed he knew the answer. She shook her head fast, with great enthusiasm.

"Let's see it then."

"Okay!" she said excitedly.

She looked down at the paper and debated whether to use the orange crayon, or the pink one. She picked up the orange crayon and placed the tip onto the paper. Moving it up and down, she started to form the first line of the P. Curving another line with the fat wax crayon; the first letter of her last name was finished. She then moved her arm over and began to work on the next letter in Potter, the O.

The waitress walked over to their table, carrying two drinks for them on a tray; chocolate milk and a butter beer. She gently placed Harry's butter beer down on the table, directly in front of him. Another man, who was on his journey to the door of his restaurant, walked behind the young woman and hit the side of the tray with his elbow, sending Emily's cup full of milk tumbling over the tray, splashing the brownish liquid all over the table. Harry grabbed some napkins to clean up the spill. The waitress blushed, feeling that the spill was all her fault.

"I'm sorry," she said immediately. She grabbed some napkins and helped Harry clean up. When they were milk was absorbed into all the napkins, she picked them up and placed them on her wet tray, along with the empty cup.

"I'll bring you another glass of milk," the waitress told Emily. She turned and brought the tray away from them.

Harry picked up Emily's drawing, which was drenched in milk. The milk began to soak into the paper and stain the drawing. The only letter which was visible to Harry was the E, which he believed was the second to last letter in Granger.

"Well, I guess this is rubbish." Harry told Emily sadly. "You can make another one later, okay, and I'll hang it up on the refrigerator. I think our food should be coming soon."

Of course, Harry was right. Within minutes, their food had arrived. The waitress came over to them and placed the plates onto the table. She also placed Emily's new chocolate milk onto the table.

"Hope you enjoy," The waitress said sweetly. She turned and left the table, as Harry and Emily began to chow down on their food.

"Where the hell are they?" Ginny asked as she realized that she and Hermione were alone in the house.

"Will you relax for five minutes, I'm sure they're somewhere, having fun." Hermione chimed in; she didn't understand what she was so worried about.

"What a good mother you are," Ginny commented, sarcastically. "You're not even worried about where your daughter is?"

"I'm not worried because I trust Harry, something you need to learn how to do. How are you going to get married to Harry, if you can't even trust him?"

"I'll trust him, as soon as you're gone, back to where ever the hell you came from." Ginny spat back, sinisterly.

"Who said I was leaving?"

"You better!"

Hermione thought for a moment; she was seriously becoming sick of Ginny. She wondered what she would say if she told her the truth; that she was planning on staying there, destroying her marriage, and getting back together with Harry. A huge evil grin flared across her face at the thought of how Ginny would respond.

As much as she wanted to get back at Ginny for everything she had ever done to her, she knew better. She knew that retaliating would only make things worse, and they already were as bad as she thought they could ever be. Plus, Harry had asked her not to get into a fight, and she would do anything to make him happy.

"While your sitting here not caring about your daughter or your best friend is, I'm going to go and look for them.

"Okay then Ginny," Hermione said, truly getting annoyed. The red head got up hastily, and apparated off to who knows where.

Hermione sat there, staring at the clock. About an hour had passed since Ginny had left, and she had watched the second hand hit twelve every minute since then. It wasn't that she was worried, because really, she wasn't. It wasn't that she had nothing to do either; there were plenty of things she could have occupied her brain with. But she didn't want to. Just sitting there she was relaxed and calm. Normally, when the house was this quiet, she had no worries. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

Three months had passed since she had arrived here at Harry's house, and her days seemed to be dwindling down. She wasn't planning on leaving, that thought had never crossed her mind. Her days were numbered until the wedding, and she and Harry hadn't even talked abut it. She knew that Harry didn't love Ginny, yet he wouldn't break it off with her. He admitted that he loved Hermione, but they still had to sneak around and hide their true emotions.

The wedding was the only thing that really troubled Hermione. It was only four days away, and Harry was still marrying Ginny, without a doubt, and she didn't really understand why. He didn't love her, he never loved her, and still he was going to make a commitment that he was going to stay with her for the rest of his life, through sickness and in health, till death do them part. She knew one thing for sure; she had to stop this wedding, she had to end their relationship. This may have seemed very selfish, but it wasn't, not really. The only reason that she wanted to do this was for Harry, it had nothing to do with herself. She knew that if they did happen to get married, he would be miserable, and she couldn't just stand by and watch that happen, she just couldn't. She wanted her best friend to live his life to the fullest, whether it was with or without her.

"Mommy," Emily screamed as she and Harry walked into the door. Running over to her mother, she jumped onto her lap, and encompassed her into a hug.

"I missed you mommy."

"I've missed you too," Hermione told her. "Did you have fun with Harry?"

"Yes," she answered. "Me and Harry had a blast."

Hermione's jaw dropped; did she just call him daddy? Did she know? Did this toddler possibly figure out the truth about the other person's blood that runs throughout her veins?

"What'd you just call Harry?" Hermione asked making sure she heard correctly before she started making a big deal over this.

"Daddy?" Emily answered shyly.

Hermione still couldn't believe her ears; how could Emily have found out about her father?

"Emily asked if she could call me daddy," Harry said, grabbing Hermione's attention again. "I figured, why not, since she will be my daughter in law sometime soon.

Emily looked up at Harry, eyes glistening. Were they really going to become a family?

"And what is Ginny going to think about my daughter calling you daddy?" Hermione asked, thinking about something that Harry never did.

"Who cares what she thinks…" Harry said seriousness in his tone. "Where is she anyways?"

"Gone… She didn't trust that you would be coming home."

Harry sighed; he was getting really frustrated with Ginny. What happened to the young girl who use to trust him with her life? Now, she wouldn't even trust him to come home when he went out for a bite to eat.

"I guess I better go look for her, before I get hell for 'not carrying'"

Harry placed his hand on Hermione's cheek and gently rubbed it. He leaned over so that their faces were touching, and kissed her, clearing any of the previous worries she had about him not feeling anything for her.

"I'll be home as soon as I find her." But don't worry; I'm still all yours, forever." Harry told her sweetly, as if knowing what she had been thinking about earlier.

He turned to the door, opened it, and stepped out to leave, but was caught by Hermione who called after him.

"Yes Hermione."

"What are we going to do about your wedding?" She asked, needing to know if they had a future together.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said as he kissed her again. "I'll talk to her." With that he shut the door, knowing that if he didn't, he may never leave.

Hermione walked back over to the couch and sat down. Emily followed her mother, and sat next to him.

"Why do I have to love him so much?" She said aloud, to no one in particular. Emily looked over at her mother, very confused.

"Because I'm just so damn sexy," A voice said from behind them, making both girls jump. Each turned around, Hermione trying to figure out who apparated there, while Emily was trying to figure who was there and how they got their. Hermione immediately blushed, realizing that Ron had just heard her remark about Harry, and thought that he himself was the one she was in love with.

"I'm sorry Ron, it wasn't you I was talking about," Hermione said, her face becoming more crimson with each word she spoke. Ron tried to grin, but his smile was already painted across his face before Hermione said this to him.

"I know," Ron told her. "I was just joking, you love Harry." He walked over and took a seat on the couch opposite of the one she was sitting on, knowing this was going to end up being a long conversation.

"What?" Hermione questioned Ron. "No way."

She had a feeling that Ron knew the truth, but she wasn't completely sure. She knew Harry wouldn't tell Ron, because Ginny was his sister. Or would he? It just didn't make since to her, even though the two men were just best friends.

"Don't sweat it Hermione, I know." He answered.

"How?" she questioned. "Did Harry tell you?"

"No," Ron said, as if he was disappointed. "Even though he should have. I figured it out all by myself. You think I'm stupid, but I'm not. I see the way you look at Harry, and the way he looks at you. I see the way you look at Harry, and the way he looks I you. I've noticed that little twinkle in your eyes when you see him."

"And you're not mad?" Hermione asked him, fighting off the temptation to ask the question she really wanted to know the answer to.

"Why would I be?" I always knew you two would end up together, you were meant to be, I've known that since Hogwarts. I mean, you have had plenty of bumps in the road, like most relationships do, and you've got over each and every one. You and Harry deserve to be together, why would I ever be mad at you for following you're heart?"

The idea of asking Ron straight out formed inside her brain, but she wasn't sure whether or not she should just ask him. Before she could make up her mind, "Ron, you're not mad that Harry's cheating on your sister?"

Ron looked up at her, not really wanting to answer this question, it was going to go into territory that would make him seem to emotional, more than he ever wanted anyone to know.

"Ohhh… Harry's cheating." Emily said, bragging that she now knew something she wasn't suppose to.

Even though she really didn't want Emily to know that Harry was cheating, she could not help but laugh at what she just said. She was glad that her daughter really didn't know what cheating was, or else she might not look up to him as much as she did at that second...

"No, I'm not mad. "I'm actually really happy. Ginny wasn't right for Harry, and Harry wasn't right for Ginny, but neither of them would believe it. Harry was way too devastated by his breakup with you that he just jumped into Ginny's arms, knowing that she wouldn't break up with him because she was so infatuated with him. Hermione, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure, anything. Even though I've been gone for so long, were still best friends and can talk about anything. Except there's a huge difference now, we can actually get through a conversation without it turning into an argument."

Ron smiled; he couldn't believe how right she was. "Why did you leave Harry way back when?"

Hermione thought for a moment, and she knew it was now or never. She had to tell someone, soon, or else she might have exploded. Maybe Ron could help her tell Harry.

"Emily, will you please go upstairs and take a nap?" Hermione asked her politely. "It's about time for you to take you're daily nap."

Emily shook her hear as a huge yarn escaped her mouth. She slowly got up, and climbed the many stairs leading up to her comfortable bed.

"The reason I left Harry?" She asked, as if she didn't understand him the first time. "You're the first one who has actually been brave enough to actually ask me straight out." She said with a smile. "But, it's not a funny story at all. Way back them… I left him because… You see Harry and I… Emily…"Hermione stammered, trying to figure out exactly what to say, and how to say it. "I left Harry because I found out I was pregnant with Emily."

Ron looked at her questioningly. "So you cheated on Harry and got pregnant, that's why you left?"

Hermione looked appalled; she couldn't believe Ron would accuse her of such a thing. "No Ron, I left because I was pregnant with Harry's child… Ron, Emily is Harry's daughter." She looked over at Ron, anticipating the look of shock that was going to be spread across his face, but there wasn't.

"But, if you were carrying Harry's child, why did you leave him?" He asked her, not making much since of her explanation.

"Because… I knew that if Harry had a child, it would hold him back from chasing all his dreams, and reaching his goals. In order for Harry to succeed I had to leave, I had to leave Harry, because it was better for him."

Ron looked up at her, and saw the tears welling up in her eyes. "But what about you Hermione, you were just going to sit back and let yourself fail?"

"Yes, Ron, I had to. I had to let Harry go, and I had to leave the wizarding world. If I stayed, and watched his life go down the drain, I wouldn't have allowed myself to live; I just wouldn't have been able to survive."

Boy, it was unbelievable to Ron how strong Hermione's love for Harry had been. He thought it would have disappeared after all these years, but it didn't, not one little bit. "Why haven't you told Harry then? He deserves a right to know that he has a daughter."

"I know," Hermione said, a tear rushing down her cheek. "I've tried telling him… I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't… Ginny, she just wouldn't let me. She thought it was going destroy their engagement, end their love, whatever love they may have had, that is."

"And you just let her control you like that?"

Hermione wiped her cheek, smudging the water across her face. She felt weak, and she didn't want Ron to think that she was.

"No, Ron, I didn't, I've been trying to tell him, but he just won't listen to me. He doesn't have time with me anymore, not with Ginny around."

"He loves you Hermione, you do know that right? He loves you more than he will ever love Ginny. If you need to talk to him, he'll make time for you. You have to tell him Hermione, you have to."

Hermione looked down at the floor, not wanting Ron to realize how depressed this conversation was making her. Tears were now streaming down her face and she just couldn't stop them. "I know, but… I'm afraid… afraid that if I tell him, he's not going to love me anymore."

Ron got up, and walked over to Hermione, kneeling in her front of her. He lifted up her chin, making her look into her eyes.

"He's never going to stop loving you, Hermione; he can't, no matter how hard he tries. Your love is an unbreakable bond; he's going to love you forever. You two are going to get married, and grow old together, and have tons of more little Emily's running around, except for maybe a few Harry's also."

Hermione cracked a smile and Ron was glad his mission was accomplished. He leaned forward and gave her a hug.

"Everything is going to be okay, Hermione, don't worry about it."

AN- Long enough for you? This chapter was really just a preparation for the next chapter, which I've already started, which hopefully will be up next weekend, depending on how long I end up making it. This chapter seems to be very emotional, doesn't it? I was planning it to be that emotional, but that's just the way it ended up. Plus, I was beginning to hate Ron, and this was a way to tell me that he was an okay character and maybe some of you also.

Long author's note…

Please Review!

Kelly