I could sit here and bore you with all my excuses as to why this is so late, but I'll just get on with the chapter.

Thanks for all your reviews.

Chapter 17

Realization

"It's about time it gets quiet down here. Can't a man relax?" Ron asked, running down the stairs.

The room was still lonely and quiet, as Harry was the only one there. Neither Ginny nor Hermione had come back to the house after he kicked them out. Did he feel bad? No, of course not. He believed they both deserved exactly what they got. He knew they needed to set their priorities straight.

"Bloody hell, where did everyone go?" He asked Harry, who was lying on the couch, staring off into the flames of the fire.

"When did you get here?" Harry asked. Sitting up, he made room for Ron to come sit next to him.

"I've been here for quite a while now. I was here to be Hermione's support after she told you her secret. Where is she?"

"Hey!" Harry called Ron, anger filling his mind and body once again. "You knew I had a daughter and you didn't tell me!"

"Well… um… yeah…" Ron answered blankly. He knew Harry mustn't have taken the news the way he suspected he would.

"How long? How long did you know?"

"How long did I know for a fact that she was yours? About a day or so. But I assumed that Emily was yours from the time Hermione had arrived here. Come on, she looked just like you, how could you not have realized it?"

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep this from me?" Harry asked, frustrated that every one of his friends were keeping secrets from him.

Ron walked over and took a seat next to Harry, now realizing that this conversation wasn't going to be as quick as he thought. "I felt that it was Hermione's place to tell you."

"After four years she finally tells me… Why the hell did she wait so long?"

Ron contemplated for a minute before explaining. He knew that it should be Hermione sitting her, explaining to Harry exactly what went through her mind. From the looks of it, though, Hermione wasn't ever going to have a chance to reveal her side of the story.

"She was afraid of what your reaction might have been. She didn't know how you would take the fact that you had a daughter."

"She wouldn't have had to deal with that if she wouldn't have left me in the first place."

Ron sighed; it's as if he was repeating history again. "Harry, we've been through this, don't you remember? Hermione left five years ago, and you can't change that. She left the wizarding world, and complaining about it won't change the fact that she did. Now, you know the reason she left, because she was pregnant with your child, and still, you're here, wanting to change the past. You can't…"

"Actually, I could, if I had a time turner…" He interrupted.

"Would you?" Ron questioned. "Would you go back in time with a time turner and change the past?"

Harry stared off into the fire again. He had never thought of that before. Going back in time, that would have solved all of his problems. He could have gone back in time, and made sure Hermione never left him all those years ago. But, would that make everything right again? Maybe this was just something they needed to go through in order to become a family again. Maybe, if Hermione would have stayed their, something more disastrous might have happened, like Emily could have been killed by Voldemort.

"No, probably not."

"Why not?"

"Because… Something worse could have happened, like Hermione and Emily could have died. I'd rather have missed being with her for five years, and missed watching my daughter grow up then having them stay here, because they could have been killed. Then, I would never be able to see either of them again. I wouldn't have been able to survive, knowing that I was the reason that they died."

"Do you still love her?" Ron asked him, trying to mend his friend's broken relationship.

"Who, Hermione?" Ron nodded his head. "Of course, I never stopped loving her. I don't think I ever can either."

"Then go, tell her that. Go get your girl back Harry. Don't make the same mistake you did before, not chasing after her."

Harry stood up, knowing Ron was back. Standing there for a minute, realization hit him. Immediately, he took a seat back on the couch. They had another problem.

"Weren't you just going somewhere?" Ron asked, wondering why he had just sat back down.

"We have another situation on our hands." Harry informed him. "I have no idea where Hermione is."

"WHAT?"

"I kicked her out of the house after she told me about Emily; both her and your sister."

Ron looked up and smacked his forehead. Just when he thought things were going good.

"It can't be that hard to find her. I mean she is with Emily."

Harry's face suddenly became pale. "I don't think she brought Emily with her…"

"Are you serious? You've only known you've been a father for what, an hour now, and you've already lost your daughter."

Suddenly becoming angry and embarrassed, Harry jumped out of his chair and began searching through the living room.

"She couldn't have gone far." He told him. "She's only four."

Ron got up, and began to look for Emily also. He opened the door to the kitchen, knowing that the living room was not so big that they both needed to look. There was Emily, sitting at the kitchen table, coloring in her new coloring book.

"Found her!" Ron yelled back to Harry, who was now freaking out because he couldn't find her.

"Hi Ron," Emily said, not taking her eyes off of her coloring book.

Ron walked over to the table, and took the unoccupied seat next to Emily. Harry strolled into the kitchen, now trying to calm down.

"Emily, how would you like it if Harry went and found your mom?"

The young girl smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "Will you please, daddy?" she pleaded. "Cuz I wanted to give her this picture that I colored."

Harry smiled, knowing he could never say no to that sweet and innocent face. And now, everything was perfect, she was his daughter.

"Yes, I will go and get your mom. But do you know what I want first?" Harry asked the toddler.

"What?"

"I want you to give me a hug." He told her. Emily's eyes glistened with happiness. Sliding off the chair, she ran over to her father, who picked her up, and held her tight. She entangled her arms around his neck, and squeezed onto him with all of her might.

"I love you daddy." She told him.

"I love you too, Emily. But I have to go get your mom." He told her, hating to end this sweet moment.

Slowly, he placed her back on the floor. Emily ran back over to the chair, and started coloring once again. Harry turned, and walked back out the door, ready to go and find the love of his life.

A strike of white light contrasted greatly against the dark, gloomy night sky. A loud crack of thunder shook the whole forest, scaring all the creatures that were still awake. Water began to bounce off the young woman's body which was planted down against the muddy ground. Drops of water began to hit her incision on the back of her head. Each drop moistened the dry blood. Traces of it licked down her face and onto the ground.

A puddle formed around her body, dampening her clothes. Her body suddenly started to shudder, her cold, soaked clothes finally affecting her warm body temperature. Goosebumps had begun to form up and down her bare arms from the rain water. Her eyes flashed open, hoping to recognize what had caused her unexpected change from hot to cold. Using all of her strength, she raised her head to take a quick glance around, hoping to identify her location.

Another flash of lightning illuminated the caliginous night sky. A shadowy figure roamed off in the far distance. Hermione acknowledged this person and opened her mouth to call out to them, but no sound came out. She closed her gaping mouth and tried to yield some salvia, believing that she couldn't speak because her throat was too dry. Once again, she tried to speak, but there was no noise, just a scratching feeling in her throat. But she had to get this person's attention; she just had to.

The figure began to walk south, directly towards Hermione. Taking very small strides as if they were afraid to get closer, the figure began to come more into view. A feeling of relief swept over Hermione; she wasn't going to die, the person had seen her. They were going to save her! Blinking quickly, she tried to correct her murky, dull vision, wanting to distinguish who the shadow was. It didn't work, though; she couldn't clear her foggy vision.

A rustle of wet leaves was heard down by her feet. Now, she knew for sure she wasn't going to die. She knew that this person was going to save her, especially since they walked so much out of their way to see her.

"You know, Hermione, you've finally gotten what you deserve." The dark figure said angrily at her. "It's not over, it will never be over." The figure then turned around, and walked away, with much quicker struts then those they took on their journey toward Hermione.

Hermione took a deep breath; she knew it was now or never.

"Ginny, help," she pleaded. She was unsure as to if Ginny had even heard her, or understood her through the roughness in her voice. She began to sit up, trying to grab her adversary's attention. Ginny shot a glance back toward Hermione, but continued to walk away.

"It's not over Hermione," she stated threateningly.

Pushing herself completely into sitting position using her arms, the young, injured woman tried to get Ginny to come back. It was her only chance.

"Gi... Gin..."

It was too hard. This was way too much for her weak, frail body. Her breath started to become much heavier than it had been just a few moments ago. Her head collapsed again. She was not able to defeat the pain that had just succumbed her body. Her head hit the dark, wet mud, splashing it all over her head and shoulders. Her eyelids had began to close, but she immediately fluttered them back open over and over again, like a child who was trying to stay up much past their bedtime. She knew she had to stay awake, because it she didn't, it might be over; it might be the end of her life.

Minutes had passed, and she couldn't fight it anymore. Closing completely, her eyelids locked shut. She gave in; she couldn't come out victorious in this battle. Letting go, unconsciousness swept throughout her body and flowed through her veins.

AN- I will try to update much, much sooner, but I always seem to promise and never live up to my promises. Thanks to you all who have stayed with me, even stuck through the lack of updates.

Please Review

Kelly