Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who is still reading this despite the long wait for the update. I've got the rest of this thing almost completely cranked out, so it will be released over the next few days with any luck. There's something from one of the earlier chapters that's kind of been left hanging. Someone caught it in a review! All will be revealed soon enough.

Thank you for the wonderful reviews, follows, and favorites!

Defying Gravity
Chapter Four: The Truth in the Last 'I Love You'

September first and the start of the fall term at Hogwarts came more quickly than Hermione would have liked, but the arrival of the students meant a distraction from everything else, and Hermione welcomed that openly. It felt strange sitting at the staff table while Bill gave the first years a talking to and the other students finally began to file in. Hermione didn't even realize she'd been holding her breath until Bill revealed the old Sorting Hat, and it burst into song:

'You might belong in Gryffindor
where dwell the brave at heart.
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
set Gryffindors apart!
You might belong in Hufflepuff
where they are just and loyal…'

"You just place the Sorting Hat on top of your head like so…" Bill was saying. He lifted the old conical hat and placed it atop his head. A moment later, it sputtered and coughed, and then its voice rang out over the hall. "Aren't you a bit old for the Sorting Ceremony, Weasley? Put me down and let the young ones have a go!"

There was a collective gasp from the new students, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at their reaction. She leaned forward in her chair as the Sorting Ceremony began, training her ears to the soft rumblings of the Sorting Hat as it decided where each new student would go. Sitting beside her at the table, Minerva McGonnagal was smiling with her eyes. Hermione even thought for a moment that she might have seen the corners of the other woman's lips curling upwards, but it was fleeting if it had happened at all.

After the Hat had placed the last student, a Floria Welsch, into Hufflepuff, the Great Hall erupted in chatter and thunderous applause. Hermione watched the students interact as she picked at her own meal. When the wooden legs of the seat beside her squealed against the stone floor, she startled and looked up into a familiar freckled face.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that, you know." She commented, flashing a quick smile in Bill's direction.

He chuckled. "I was hardly sneaking at all." There was a short pause, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Okay. Maybe I was sneaking a tiny bit, but you looked like you were having fun with that little mashed potato mountain you've got going on there. I was trying not to disturb you is all."

"Shove off, Bill."

Bill clapped a hand on Hermione's shoulder and chuckled again. She felt the pressure on her shoulder and looked up, holding his gaze for perhaps a moment longer than she should have. He cleared his throat. "Are you feeling any better?" He asked, his voice so soft that no one around them seemed to realize he was even speaking with her.

She sighed. "A little bit. Thanks for… Thanks for everything the other day."

"Don't mention it."

Bill sat. Hermione heard the familiar scrape of fork against plate, and the staff table fell silent but for a few short bursts of quiet conversation over the meal. Hermione picked at the potatoes on her plate and enjoyed a few tender bites of turkey, her gaze occasionally flickering upwards towards where the students were eating and carrying on. When McGonnagal cleared her throat a few minutes later, the entire hall fell into silence, and Hermione nearly chuckled.

"Before the Prefects escort you to your houses, there are just a few announcements I'd like to make," McGonnagal announced as she stood. "First years, the woods are off-limits to students. Any student caught in the forest without an escort will face penalty. The same can be said of any student caught wandering the halls after curfew."

There was a short pause. "Some of you may notice that we have several new faculty members this year," McGonnagal continued on. "Please welcome Professor Bill Weasley, who will be taking over the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Hermione Granger, Gryffindors, is your new Head-of-House, and has graciously agreed to take on the Transfiguration classes. And Luna Lovegood, sitting at the end, will be watching over Ravenclaw house, and has taken up the post of Divination…"

"You expect them to teach us something? They're barely older than we are!"

Hermione searched for the source of the voice, and her gaze settled on a sneering face sitting at the Hufflepuff table. She certainly hadn't been expecting that.

"As Professors at this school, not only will they teach, but they will be shown the respect due to their status here. Trust me, each and every person sitting with me at this table deserves to be here, and I have the upmost respect for all of them. I expect no less from the rest of you. Feel free to act as you wish, but keep in mind that you'll be serving detention with me should word get to me about any unfortunate behaviors…"

Silence fell over the room again.

McGonnagal smiled. "Well then," she cleared her throat. "Now that we've managed to get that out of the way, I have no further announcements. Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts. Prefects, if you could please escort your housemates back to your houses…"

Hermione waited until the students had filed out of the Great Hall before she stood. She flashed a quick smile to the others at the table and let out a quiet sigh. "Monday is going to come too soon, isn't it?" She joked. "I should probably head to the common room…"

"I'll walk you." It was Bill's voice again. McGonnagal smiled and nodded. "Besides, my classroom is on the way. I need to stop and pick up a few things before I head to my quarters, anyway."

Hermione fell into step with Bill as they exited the Great Hall. A thick silence hung between them as they headed for the first staircase. Bill was the one to break that silence.

"Are you really feeling better?" He asked, turning to meet her gaze. Hermione could see it. The concern written all over his face was easier to read than most books she had picked up in the last year. "If you're not, you know that's okay, right? But it's just us now. You don't have to put on a brave face if you don't want to."

"I'm fine," Hermione said a little too quickly. "Or I'll be fine, anyway. I think having the students and classes to focus on will be a big help, actually." She shuffled her feet as the staircase lurched, and stumbled, nearly knocking Bill over in the process.

He chuckled. "Forget about the staircases, did you?" He asked, catching her by the waist.

She laughed and pulled away. "Thanks."

Bill drummed his fingertips against the railing as he waited for the staircase to stop at the next floor. Instead, it swung around and sent them back down again, and he burst into laughter. "Back down," he chuckled, holding out an arm for Hermione. "What do you say we go raid the kitchens real quick? The house elves always loved you. Ron told me all about that-What did you call it? SPEW? I bet you could convince them to surrender some cocoa and cookies."

"Are you twelve?" Hermione joked.

The clock tower rang out, and Hermione jumped. She counted the rings. It was nine o' clock. There would be no visits to Hagrid's hut this evening. She'd have to remember to make it up to him later. Perhaps she could use her friendship with the house elves to her advantage then, too.

"I've been worried about you." Bill revealed, and Hermione noticed that he was looking at her again.

She cleared her throat. "I'm alright. Really I am. It feels… nice being back here, and I'm glad I have some friends here. It really does help me keep my mind off of things. And… Well, you've been a great help, too. I still worry that McGonnagal made the wrong choice, putting me as Head of House. I mean, I'm honored, but I think you might've been a better choice."

"Nonsense," Bill interrupted. "I was the good kid, remember? With as much trouble as you got into while you were here, those kids won't be able to pull anything over on you. Plus, I bet they've heard stories…"

"Shut up, Bill."

"I'm just saying…"

"Shut up, Bill."

The kitchens were bustling with activity when Hermione and Bill entered, but Hermione couldn't help but notice the way that some of the elves stopped and stared. She recognized a few from the battle. Dobby had led them in to assist the students and faculty.

"Did you need something, Miss Granger?" Hermione didn't recognize this particular elf, but she offered him a smile nonetheless. "We were just cleaning up and getting ready for breakfast, but if you need something…"

Hermione pressed her index finger to her lips. "No need to worry over me. I've just come to see about maybe getting some cocoa? We'll be out of the way soon enough, I promise. Whatever you're making, it already smells delicious!"

"Told you." Bill whispered, still standing right beside her. He cleared his throat and smiled to the elves as they brought out a mug for each of them. "Thank you," he nodded to each one, raising his mug to them as if in a toast. "We're sorry to have bothered you."

By the time that Hermione and Bill were making their way back to the staircases, the chattering had died down and the elves had resumed their duties. Hermione held her mug carefully in both hands as she stepped up onto the stairs and turned to face Bill.

"I really am alright, you know? You don't have to worry about me so much. It will give you grey hairs. What will you do then? I don't think you'd look good with grey hair. It would chase all the women away, certainly."

"What women?" Bill chuckled. The staircase groaned as it swung to the next floor, and he stepped forward and paused, looking back and waiting for Hermione to join him. "Besides, I know you can take care of yourself. It's not that. I just… Well, I also know that all of this can't possibly be easy on you. I know it's not for me. And I just want you to know that you've got friends. And family."

"I know, I know," Hermione insisted. "It's just been really hard with everything else."

Bill stopped walking. It took Hermione a moment to realize that she had passed him by. She turned, and he was standing there, in the middle of the hallway, with a whipped-cream mustache and yet another look of concern on his face.

"Everything else?" Of course. She knew that he would ask, but despite that, she still wasn't really prepared with a proper answer. It was still hard to talk about what had happened to Ron and Harry. The article in the Quibbler had made her feel somewhat better, and Luna did seem to have more of the facts, but there was one very important fact that she'd left out of her story—perhaps because Hermione had never gotten the chance to reveal it herself.

"It's nothing," she said, perhaps a bit too quickly. She took a long drink of her hot cocoa, more in an effort to try and hide her expression.

Bill shook his head. "Has anyone ever told you what a horrible liar you are?"

Instead of replying, Hermione veered off to the right, and straight into the Transfiguration classroom. She sat down at one of the desks just as she had done only a few years before, and let out a heavy sigh as she placed her mug atop the old wooden desktop. "It's not nothing," she admitted after a moment. She didn't need to look up to know that Bill had followed her into the room. "It's everything, Bill. Everything."

"What do you mean, Hermione?"

Hermione wasn't sure what it was about the question, but she burst into tears. It had been innocent enough, of course, asked out of concern. How could Bill possibly know what was wrong? He couldn't. He couldn't because no one did, and it had been eating Hermione alive for weeks now. They'd all find out soon enough. She wouldn't be able to hide it forever.

"Oh, Hermione! I'm sorry! Damn, I didn't mean…"

"I'm pregnant, Bill. I'm pregnant and I never even got to tell him and now they're both gone and I'm not really sure what to do with myself. How is that fair? I told them it was stupid. I told them we'd done enough fighting while we were kids to last us our entire lives, but they wanted to keep hunting down the bad guys. I supported them and I understand why they felt the need to do it, but every bloody time they had to leave, I felt like I was on pins and needles, and this last time, I just knew something wasn't right. I just knew. I should have said something before they left. I should have said something and then maybe they would have stayed behind…"

Hermione wiped furiously at her cheeks with the back of her hand as her shoulders shook. She hadn't really intended to blurt it all out like that, but now it was out, and there was nothing that she could do to take it back. She buried her face in her mug of hot cocoa as the silence hung in the air after her admission.

"Jesus, Hermione…" Bill cursed.

"Bill, please don't. Please? I know it sounds selfish, but I just keep thinking if I had been a little selfish, just a little bit, just that once, my husband and my best friend would still be here today, and I wouldn't be the Prophet's dragon lady, and everything would be normal…"

"Hermione…" Bill started again. Hermione felt his hand on her shoulder and started to shrug him away, but couldn't manage to find the energy. Instead, she slumped against the back of the chair behind her and buried her head in her hands. Behind her, Bill cleared his throat. "You aren't selfish, Hermione. Jesus. Wanting things to be normal doesn't make you selfish. You're one of the least selfish people I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you. I just… I really was just worried. It's going to be okay. Really, it is."

Hermione shook her head, but couldn't find the words to argue her point.

"No wonder you've been wound so tight. Have you been to see a doctor? How far along are you? You don't look like you've put on any wei—'' He stopped himself before he finished the last question. "Sorry."

She shrugged.

"Hermione?" Bill whispered. She looked up and met his gaze, offering him a small nod. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and cleared his throat. When he spoke again, his voice was so soft that Hermione almost had to strain to hear it, despite his closeness. "Does… Does mom know about this?"

Author's Note: To the reviewer that caught on that the news from Hermione's message had not yet been revealed, good catch! Thank you to everyone who has favorite and reviewed so far. Y'all are awesome and it makes writing these things even more fun!