Note: I'm sorry this chapter is kind of short; I have midterms next week, and I've been very preoccupied with studying and such.

On the following Monday, Harry and Ron were released from the Hospital Wing. Both of them were relieved, as was Madame Pomfrey. It had been almost a month since either Harry, Ron, or Hermione were not one of her patients.

The very first thing Harry did was boot McLaggen off of the Quidditch team and reinstate Ron as the team's official Keeper. Then he met up with Hermione and Jimmy in the Gryffindor common room. When he got there, Hermione told him she had great news- her parents had sent her a letter.

"What does it say?" inquired Harry.

"I'll read it to you," Hermione picked up the letter and read aloud:

"Dear Hermione,

We've taken the past months to think about the current situation, and we've decided that we were wrong to throw you out. It was an opprobrious thing for us to do to you. We hope you will forgive us and come home at the end of the year. We will welcome you with open arms. Apart from that, we would like to meet our first grandchild. We would also appreciate it if we could get to know this boyfriend of yours.

We do not blame you if you despise us for what we did, but we hope you will come home. We miss you, and we love you.

Sincerely,

Mom and Dad.

P.S. Is it a girl or a boy?

Hermione had thought that Harry would be happy for here. But his initial reaction was somewhat... unexpected.

"What's wrong, Harry?" she said in concern.

"Hermione, doesn't it strike you as odd how your parents have forgiven you after not even speaking to you for all these months?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Perhaps it's the Death Eaters setting up a trap," Harry theorized. "Hell, maybe- and now this may seem extremely pessimistic, but it is certainly plausible- they've captured your parents and sent this letter as bait to lure you into the trap."

Hermione scoffed and told him "I undestand your skepticism; I experienced it when I first read the letter, too. But I had Professor Flitwick examine it to confirm its authenticity. He told me that it was indeed my mother's handwriting. Now I have no doubt that this was sent by my parents; even replicated handwriting contains notable discrepancies."

"You're absolutely sure that this was sent by them?" Harry wanted to be sure before they jumped to conclusions.

"If you want, we could have an Auror investigate their- my- house first." Hermione suggested.

Harry shrugged and said "I suppose that would be a reasonable arrangement. We would be able to confirm the validity of the letter."

(A few days later...)

Harry and Hermione received a note from Tonks, Lupin, and Sirius. They had visited Hermione's parents' house and they had spoken with them.

Upon reading the note, Harry's skepticism faded and he embraced Hermione, telling her "Hermione, this is wonderful!"

Hermione was so happy at that moment. She was sure that her parents were never going to forgive her for allowing herself to become pregnant, but now THEY were the ones who were asking HER for forgiveness.

"I'm going to write them a return note immediately," she explained to Harry.

She went up to the girls' dormitory and came back with a quill pen set and parchment paper.

She quickly but neatly wrote the following:

Dear Mom and Dad,

Of course I'll come home. I understand how you may have felt that I betrayed your trust. But I forgive you. When the school year ends, I'll come back and we can let bygones be bygones. Secretly, I knew that all you needed was time to think.

By the way, I just want you to know that I have not been managing by myself all this time. My friends have been very supportive and genial. I can't wait until you get to know Harry; he's a wonderful person, he is taking his parenting responsibilities very seriously (as I am), and he's helped me every step of the way.

Sincerely,

Hermione Jane Granger

P.S. It's a boy. We named him James Cedric Potter (We named him after both Harry's father, James Potter, and our late friend Cedric Diggory. However, we usually just call him "Jimmy"). On a side note, what I find rather peculiar about Jimmy's physical features is something he has in common with Harry. Like Harry, he looks exactly like his father, except that he has his mother's eyes.

Hermione was about to place the letter in an envelope when Harry suggested "How about we send them a picture of the three of us with the letter?"

"That's a great idea!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry stood up and handed Jimmy over to her. Then he said "You wait here. I'll see if I can find Colin Creevey."

"Why Colin?" inquired Hermione.

"He's the only person I know that has a readily available camera," Harry smirked.

After about ten minutes of searching, Harry found Colin Creevey with his younger brother Dennis in the courtyard. Harry presented his request to Colin, and Colin was more than willing to comply with it.

They went back up to the Gryffindor common room and Harry sat down with Hermione and Jimmy. Colin insisted on making the shot perfect, so he inspected the group of three carefully for about five minutes until he was satisfied.

He took the picture without even giving them a head's up, which was typical of him, but Harry and Hermione did not mind. Besides, the picture turned out to be an excellent one.

After dipping the picture in a potion that allowed the figures inside to move, Hermione placed both it and the letter into an envelope. After sealing it and writing her parents' address at the top, Harry fetched Hedwig. After Hermione made sure that Hedwig knew the way to her parents' house, the white owl started to make her way to her intended destination.

The rest of the day was more or less uneventful. But Hermione was notably in a very good mood, and she felt as if nothing could ruin that good mood.