Month 8: Conversation with the Little White Lies

"Look, you have to tell her, Ron. It's gone on long enough. Is she getting suspicious?"

"I'm not sure. I've almost slipped up a few times but I don't think she caught anything. And I can't tell her, it just would not work!"

"You do know what's going to happen, though? She's just going to be mad you lied about it. I'm sure she'll understand. Because I don't even think you did anything in the first place. It' s just a misunderstanding."

Harry and Ron were at Harry's house while Ginny and Hermione were at a St. Mungo's appointment. Ron was commencing his plan later that day; to shut Hermione off from the rest of the world so McLaggen would have absolutely no access to her. Harry had been trying to dissuade him from the idea for the past twenty minutes.

"She's going to hate being locked up like that. Might as well build a prison cell. I've known her just as long as you have and the Hermione I know isn't one to sit idly by while there's work to be done. And you know that all that pent-up energy is just going to be taken out on you." Harry pressed.

"I know, I know, but there really is no other way." Ron shot back.

"You could tell her!"

"No! That is not an option!" Ron's fist banged the table. "I don't want to hurt her like that. Ever since the name mistake…"

"What name mistake?" Harry demanded.

"Well Hermione and I were going over possible names and all her names for a girl were stupid. Names like Daisy and Poppy. So I just started listing other ridiculous flowers and I accidentally said Lavender."

Harry smacked his forehead. "You prat."

"I know it was stupid! And it really was an accident." Ron groaned.

"Whatever. When are Hermione and Ginny getting home?"

"'Bout ten minutes I think." Said Ron, glancing at his watch.

"Ron, I'm urging you not to go through with this plan. We will all have to suffer. Besides, she's due in a month I really don't think you should make her upset at this point."

Ron's retort was cut off by the sound of the door opening. He quickly went to greet his wife and sister. "You two are home early!"

"Yup, the appointment wasn't as long as we thought it would be." Said Ginny. "Baby's doing great!"

"Isn't it my job to report the results?" asked Hermione in a teasing tone.

"Nope!" replied Ginny cheerfully. "You put me in charge of all these things when you married my brother."

Ron gave her a light shove. Turning to Hermione, he whispered, "Is the baby really doing all right?"

"Of course it is! Why wouldn't it be?" She whispered back.

"I—I don't know, just checking." In reality he was just trying to keep her mind off anything that might upset her. He'd be dealing with enough tantrums the next month.

They turned around. Ginny was in the middle of kissing Harry.

"Ugh, stop that." Ron groaned.

"Shut up Ron. We've watched you and Hermione snog plenty of times."

"Perverts."

Harry blushed. Ginny didn't.

"Haven't we had this argument enough times? You are just too uptight, Ronald Weasley! It's a wonder Hermione can deal with you! I know I wouldn't. You're impossible!"

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm. "C'mon, Ron, let's go before you start arguing back." She shot an exasperated look at her sister-in-law, and then gave Harry a quick hug. Ron Disapparated and after a moment Hermione followed.

"It's a wonder how she deals with him!" Ginny repeated when they were gone.

"It's a wonder they deal with each other. They just don't get along, except for when they do. I feel sorry for the baby."

"Don't say that!" said Ginny. "I'm sure they—Hermione will be a great parent."

"Just Hermione?" Harry asked, confused.

"Well…Ron's sort of like a big child himself. It might be funny to see him grow up."

At Hermione and Ron's house, they actually were not arguing. Hermione was cooking dinner while Ron read the Daily Prophet. The only sound was Hermione cracking eggs into a bowl until Ron let out a shout of disbelief.

"What? What is it?" Hermione asked, whipping around. Egg spattered the floor.

"The Chudley Cannons actually won!" Ron exclaimed. He looked like a little kid on Christmas morning.

Hermione unceremoniously turned her back on him. "You made me spill dinner for that. I thought there was an Azkaban escape or something." She muttered. Ron didn't hear her. She could practically feel the ecstatic vibe coming off him. She would never understand men's love for stupid Quidditch games.

She re-made the eggs, slamming them down in front of Ron, who was glowing. "It's just a game, Ron, get over it." She was pretty sure her irritation was from raging hormones. She wasn't one of those wives who got upset when their husband was happier than they were.

He ignored her. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Ron started talking, his mouth full of food. "What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can just relax a little together?" She suggested. Ron's insides warmed. His plan was going to work perfectly. At least for three days. He was going to spend the weekend doing everything she wanted. He was going to butter her up for the next few weeks when he would keep her confined to the house.

"That sounds wonderful." He smiled. She looked slightly taken aback by his sudden and over enthusiastic agreement, but decided to let it go. She ate two more bites of food before pushing her plate away.

"Do you want the rest?"

"Er, I guess. Why didn't you eat, though? Didn't the Healers say you need to be eating more?"

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Harry told me. Ginny told him."

Hermione let out a sigh. Ginny. "Yes, but I'm not really hungry."

"Hermione, eat the goddamn food." He said a little angrily.

Slightly scared, she ate the rest of the meal and was surprised how much better she felt. "What would I do without you?"

"Well, the house would probably be a lot neater, your family wouldn't be absolutely mental, and you'd be pregnant with a summer flower child."

She laughed and kissed his cheek. "Why is it that I don't want that?"

"Well, I think it just might be because you love me."

"You could be right." Hermione agreed. She walked over to his side of the table, sitting on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her bulging waistline, gently stroking her belly.

"Only one more month now." Hermione whispered.

"Hermione, are you…scared? For the birth, I mean?"

He could feel her breath quicken and knew she was starting to tear up. "I am, Ron. I'm absolutely terrified. I don't think I can do it. What if something goes wrong? What if-?

"Stop that." He said firmly. "You're incredibly brave. I know you will be beautiful."

"Oh, thank you, Ron. But I just don't think I can handle that much pain."

"All this from the girl who was tortured by Death Eaters. You will handle the pain and so much more. You're going to bring our son or daughter into the world." He kissed her hand.

Hermione threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much, Ron." She said her voice thick.

He ran his fingers through her hair and didn't say anything.

The next morning, Hermione woke him up just as the birds were starting to sing. "Ron! Ron wake up!"

"Wha-? What is it?" He asked. He rubbed his bleary eyes.

"I had an idea!"

"You woke me up for that? When don't you have an idea?" He mumbled.

She looked giddy. He finally really woke up. "Ok, what is it?" he asked, slightly wary.

"I thought of a girls' name! Just in case we're wrong!"

He groaned silently. If he didn't like it, she would get upset. And if she got upset, the plan would not work. "Fine. What is it?"

"So remember how I wanted a flower name but you said all the ones I wrote were stupid? Well I thought of a great one! Rose!"

"Rose?" he asked, thinking it over. To his surprise, he genuinely liked it. "Rose! I like it!"

Hermione giggled. "I even thought of a middle name!"

He raised his eyebrows.

"So I never really thought I'd ever say this, but I think we should name part of the baby after Percy. He's changed a lot since we were at Hogwarts." She threw in the last sentence before he could open his mouth, but plunged ahead when he didn't object. "So I thought if we spelled Percy with an I at the end instead of a Y, it would make it more feminine. Rose Perci!"

He answered by kissing her full on the mouth. "Hermione, I love you. I love the name. I still think it's going to be a boy but if it's not, our baby girl will be beautiful."

They fell back asleep shortly after, Hermione resting easily, finally peaceful.

Hermione didn't wake up again until very late that morning. Ron wasn't in bed anymore, and she hoped he had remembered that they were spending the day together. She walked downstairs, smiling when she heard his footsteps in the kitchen.

"Ron?" She called.

"Hello, love." He walked out of the kitchen and gave her a big hug. What's with all the lovey-dovey? Hermione wondered. Well, I'm not going to complain!

They spent a very relaxing day just lying around the house or sitting in the sunny backyard. Though the weather was still warmer than usual, a breeze was blowing through the neighborhood, prompting Ron to wrap his arms around her to protect her from the cold. Ron's arms were always a place Hermione felt absolutely safe, no matter what.

The next day, the two were going to spend some more time together but Hermione decided to run over to Ginny's for a little bit. Harry was taking care of James upstairs when Hermione came in. Ginny wasn't bopping around the house like usual; she was sitting on the couch in an unusually subdued manner.

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione, sitting down next to her.

At the first word, Ginny started to cry. Hermione was alarmed. "Ginny, what's wrong?" she repeated with more urgency.

"Hermione," Ginny started, sniffling. "You know how I never actually bring you to your St. Mungo's appointments? You always meet me there?"

"Yes…" said Hermione hesitantly. Where could this possibly be going?

"It's because I always schedule your appointments right after m-mine." Her voice broke and a new wave of tears crashed over.

"Your appoint—Ginny!" She shrieked. "Are you pregnant!"

Ginny sobbed as she nodded. "I'm six months now."

Hermione's mouth fell open in disbelief. "Six months! Ginny you're almost as far as me! Why didn't you tell me!"

"Because it was your time. Your time to get all the family attention and all the care and all the gifts. I didn't want to take that away from you."

"Ginny you shouldn't! Oh my gosh!" It was setting in. Ginny was going to have two children in just a few months! "Ginny this is amazing!" She hugged Ginny as she continued to cry. "You should've told me months ago! You know I've never really cared about any limelight."

"I-I know, I'm sorry for e-everything." She hugged Hermione tighter.

"Does Harry know?" Hermione suddenly thought out loud.

Ginny laughed. "Of course he does! How could he not? He's the only one who has noticed my belly growing!"

Hermione's mind raced back over all the times she'd seen Ginny the past few months. It was only now she realized that Ginny's clothes had grown looser; she hadn't been highlighting her body as much. Now that she knew, the hidden baby bump was all she could see.

"Ginny, I have to start planning a party for you to! I—"

"No!" Ginny cut in sharply. "I told you, this is about you. I had all the attention when James was born. And I know how stressed you get over planning and it is definitely not what you need in the last month before the birth. No. The family will find out when I call them and tell them I gave birth."

"Ginny there is no way I'm allowing that! Wait until next month, fine, but you're not hiding this for that long!"

"But you'll have just given birth, I—"

"No." Hermione said firmly. "You're telling them as soon as possible. Can I tell Ron?"

"Absolutely not!" Ginny yelled. "He'll just get mad at me for taking away the attention from you! You see, contrary to your belief, he really cares about you. I'm not risking a family row over him."

"How do you expect me to keep this secr—"

"Because you're my sister and I trust you!" said Ginny.

Hermione sighed. "Fine. I should get going. But oh my god Ginny this—"

"Go!"

Back at home, Hermione danced around for a little with joy. She laughed as she twirled around, finally slamming into something hard.

"Why are you so happy?" Ron asked, smiling.

"Sometimes I hate that you're only muscle. It's rather painful at times." Said Hermione, rubbing her head.

Ron laughed. "But why were you dancing? Not that it wasn't extremely amusing."

"Because, er…the Cannons won?"

Ron burst out laughing. "You can't fool me, Hermione, you don't give a damn about Quidditch! Tell me what really happened."

"Fine." She retorted. "Baby James is taking his first steps." This news was actually from a month previously, but Ron didn't seem to notice.

"Oh. That's great, I guess." He still looked slightly confused. Hermione suddenly hugged him very hard.

"Woah, what's this?"

"I don't know. I love you, Ron."

He kissed her hair. "I love you too, 'Mione."

In all truth, he felt extraordinarily bad for what he was planning for the next month. She'd hate him. He'd hate himself. But it was only to protect her and one day she'd understand that, he hoped. As he held her tightly in his arms, he could feel the lies swirling around them, threatening to take away everything they had. But surely they were too small to do anything of permanence…right?

A/N: So if anyone hasn't realized, the title of this chapter is a Taylor Swift lyric from the song Other Side of the Door. It's my new favorite song and I thought this line was perfect. (I just bought front row tix to her concert…can't wait!) So I didn't get 20 reviews but I got close, but coming up next isn't the final chapter, but the birth chapter. SO, if you want it to be as spectacularly dramatic, emotional, and long as I want it to be, I will need at least 20! I know you guys you can do it BECAUSE I LOVE YOU. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I definitely enjoyed writing it!

XOXO, Love always,

Sparkshine