Hey, thanx for the reviews!

So, I know that its VERY snowy in February in England. I looked it up. But, I would like there to be rain in this chapter, so bear with me on it.

Wow, I didn't know Claire Danes was American. I thought she was British. This is a newsflash. Sorry that was a little random. Haha.

This chapter has language in it!

Here's chapter 9! The one you've all been waiting for!

Chapter Nine

Meeting

Harry and Hermione could barely wait for Tuesday for their meeting with the Reeds. Monday morning at ten, the two woke up with a splitting headache. Hangover. As much as Harry was in pain, he took care of Hermione. He brought her coffee and breakfast in bed. He gave her a Hangover-Be-Gone potion and he took one as well.

"That is the last time I'm drinking like that, Harry," she told him which he laughed at.

That night, the pair were like two seven-year-olds on Christmas Eve night. They could not sleep, they were so excited. They kept checking the clock to see what time it was. They didn't go to sleep until three in the morning.

They were up by eight the next morning. They had only gotten five hours of sleep, but were up like, well, two seven-year-olds on Christmas morning. They ate breakfast and each took a shower. It wasn't going to be as cold as it normally was in February, so they did not dress heavily.

Both were thinking about what would happen when they went visit the Reeds. Would they give Georgiana back to them? Would they try to escape? Did they treat her well? Did she not want to leave? Was she even alive? That last question they tried to not think about as they got ready for the day.

It was almost noon when they got finished and needed to pass the time away. So they sat on the couch in the parlor and watched movies all day. Harry, being a gentleman, let her pick out a movie first. She picked William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Harry, having not seen this movie or read the play, had no idea what they were saying, but stayed awake through the whole thing for Hermione. By the end of it, Hermione was in tears. Harry then chose GoldenEye, a James Bond movie. When the last movie ended, it was four-thirty, so the pair decided to leave to go meet Olivia Bartha. There was a light snow sheet on the ground, blanketing it in white, but it was melting away. Hermione thought it was very beautiful.

On the way there, Hermione spoke up, "Harry..."

"Yeah?"

She hesitated but asked, "Wh-what if they have been treating her well? What if they don't have to give her back?"

"Well...then...I won't stop trying to get her back," was his confident answer.

She smiled at him. He was a great Daddy. Possibly, the best ever. "I just hope they have been treating her well."

Harry nodded and took her hand in his to comfort her. But she took it away. He was hurt and confused. "What-I can't hold your hand anymore?"

"You need to drive. I'm already nervous as hell. I don't want to die tonight," she giggled and he laughed as well.

"Alright then."

They arrived at the Child Services center at a little after five. The sun was going down over the horizon. They got out of the SUV and went inside. This time, Harry slipped his hand into hers. She looked at him and smiled. He squeezed it reassuringly, brought their hands up to his lips, and kissed the top of hers. She moved closer to him and they walked into Olivia Bartha's office. Harry knocked and they heard, "Come in."

Harry opened the door and they saw Mrs. Bartha putting some things in her purse, getting ready to go. "Hello, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, ma'am, ready when you are," Hermione replied.

"Okay, I'll bring my car around to the front. It's a red '99 Honda Civic. Think you can look for it?" she asked.

"Certainly," Harry answered.

"Okay, I'll meet you around the front." She went another way while Harry and Hermione went back out the front door to the SUV. They waited until they saw the red '99 Honda Civic and followed Mrs. Bartha to the Reeds' house.

Harry could tell Hermione was nervous. She was fidgeting and biting her nails, which she never did. "You okay?" he asked as a rain droplet hit the windshield. Harry turned on the windshield wipers to clear it as more rain poured.

"Yeah," she lied. But then decided to tell the truth. "Actually, no. Harry, have you ever wanted something so bad, you thought of reasons and scenarios in which you couldn't have it."

Harry knew exactly what she was talking about. He wanted Hermione but they were best friends and he didn't want to ruin their friendship. "Yeah."

"Well, I just keep thinking of scenarios in which we do not leave with our daughter tonight," she said.

"I'm sure it'll all work out okay. You have to start thinking positive about some things, 'Mione. We'll get her back. We will, I promise you," he reassured her.

She calmed down a bit but not fully.

It was forty-five minutes before they got to the Reeds' house. It was a nice but dark-looking house with a wooden fence and white shutters. It was a three-story white house. Harry parked the SUV next to Mrs. Bartha's car in the driveway in front of the two-car garage so that the Reeds couldn't escape. Harry got out of the SUV and went around to open the door for Hermione. She got out and they hurriedly followed Mrs. Bartha to the front door.

Mrs. Bartha rang the doorbell. Several seconds later, the door opened and Rachel Leech-Reed stood there. She widened her eyes when she saw who it was. "Mrs. Leech-Reed, hello, it's great to see you again. May we come in?"

She stood her ground and crossed her arms. "Why?"

"We just have to ask you some questions. Shouldn't be long," she answered sweetly. She was a great liar, Harry and Hermione thought.

Rachel rolled her eyes but let them in. It was a nice interior, not as nice as Potter Manor, however. Harry closed the door behind him. Hermione glared at Rachel wanting to rip her guts out and feed it to a dragon. Or maybe just let the dragon eat her, she thought with a smile. "Oscar!" Rachel called.

"Yeah? Coming!" Oscar Reed came into the foyer from what looked like the kitchen. He paused for a second as he realized who was there. "Oh...hello." He put on a fake smile for them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Reed, we would like to ask you some questions, if you don't mind. Perhaps, in the parlor?" Mrs. Bartha suggested.

The two nodded and all five of them went into the parlor to talk. Harry, Hermione, and Mrs. Bartha sat on the couch and took off their coats, while Rachel sat in an armchair and Oscar sat in a regular kitchen chair.

"You have a lovely home," Mrs. Bartha started, but clearly she did not think it was nice at all.

"Thank you," Oscar said.

"As a child social worker, I am required to check up on the child, make sure they are doing okay and all of that good stuff. Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger are here with me to find out if Georgiana is doing okay. Does she like it here?"

Rachel looked at Oscar with widened eyes, thinking the other three didn't see, but they did. "Erm, yeah, she loves it here," Oscar lied.

"Is that all?" Rachel asked standing up.

"No, it's not," Olivia replied quickly. 'Sit back down, lady! I'm not through talking to you!' she thought.

Rachel sat back down awkwardly. "Has she been any trouble?"

"No, not at all," Mrs. Leech-Reed replied.

'Ah, the first thing they say that is actually true!' Harry thought to himself.

"Does she seem frightened of a new environment at all?"

"Erm...no, not really."

"Explain that, please."

"Well...uh...she doesn't really like to come down from her room very much, but she's not afraid to go outside every once in a while," Rachel thought up.

Charlotte Granger taught her daughter well. Hermione could see past the shaky voice, see the beads of sweat, pale faces. The faces of liars. But she held it up for a little while, wanting to catch them.

"Right." Olivia wrote some things down on her notepad.

"How are you handling her?"

"Well, erm, we think we are handling her fine. She seems to get along with us well."

"I see that you don't have any pictures of her around," she pointed out. It was true. There were a lot of pictures of Oscar and Rachel, but none of Georgiana. They even caught a Christmas card that only had the two of them in it.

"Well, it's the winter. We don't like to leave very often."

"How was your Christmas? Did Georgiana like her first Christmas with a family?"

'What family?' thought Hermione.

"She...liked it, I think. She was still grieving from leaving you two," Rachel gestured to Harry and Hermione.

'Our first clue: she still wants to live with us.' Harry smirked.

Olivia looked around again. "Where is she right now?"

"She's...in her room, possibly sleeping."

"It's five-thirty," Hermione pointed out intelligently.

That caught them. "Oh, well, last time I went in there, she was asleep. She must have had a late night last night," Rachel covered.

Harry and Hermione almost laughed as Olivia wrote on her notepad "BIG LIARS!" in capital letters and underlined three times.

After a minute of listening to Olivia's pen scratching on the notepad, Hermione asked, "Would you mind if we went see Georgiana? I think she would like to see us again."

"Yes, I mind," Rachel blurted out rudely.

"Why, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Because...she's asleep. I do not want you to wake my daughter up," Rachel said with a sneer.

'SHE'S NOT YOUR DAUGHTER! SHE'S MINE!' Hermione thought.

"I'd prefer if you did not go see her."

Hermione thought of something to say and smirked as she remembered when Rachel and Oscar came to take Georgiana up. She leaned forward and said, "Watch me." She, Harry, and Olivia stood up and started to walk out of the parlor. They were almost to the stairs when Rachel beat them to it. She slipped past Harry, who was leading, and jumped in front of him on the stairs. "Do not go up the stairs," she said.

"Why, Rachel? You have something to hide?" Hermione asked in a sickly-sweet voice.

"N-no. She's my daughter now. This is my house. And I can tell you whether you can go up my stairs or not. She doesn't belong to you anymore. You gave her up," she said.

"You fucking took her away!" Hermione yelled angrily.

"Let Hermione and I go see her," Harry insisted.

"No," she replied pushing him. Hard. He hit the wall. Rachel gave him a punch in the chest. "Stay away!"

"Hermione..." Harry said not taking his eyes off of Rachel. He knew what was about to take place, but it was against his belief. "It's against the men code. I can't hit a woman."

"I'm on it!" she said immediately and launched herself at Rachel, giving her a punch in the face.

Harry caught Oscar making his move for Hermione. 'Oh, no, you don't! No one touches Hermione!' he thought and launched himself at him, pulling him away from his best friend and love of his life. The man was three times his size, maybe, but Harry had the strength to take him down. He was young and energetic. Oscar probably hadn't lifted heavy things in years.

Hermione did not care whether she would get arrested for this. Rachel Leech-Reed ruined her life. She took her baby girl from her. "What did you do to her, you bitch?" she screamed as she threw her down the three steps. Rachel hit the ground. Hard. Hermione casually walked down the four steps she was on and grabbed her by her hair. Rachel, though, got out of it. She grabbed Hermione's hair and smashed her head against the wall. Hermione shrieked as she felt a warm liquid on the side of her head, but she paid it no mind. Rachel, then, pushed her to the ground and proceeded to kick her in her stomach. In one of the kicks, Hermione grabbed her foot and pulled it, causing her to fall.

Olivia backed away from the two fights. This was not her fight, but she would help them out. She whipped out her mobile phone and dialed "999".

Harry grabbed Oscar by the collar and gave him punch after punch after punch until Oscar pushed him back against the wall and punched him in the stomach, near the kidneys, but Harry gave him a swift kick in the crotch. Oscar fell and, like Rachel did, kicked him in the stomach. It didn't take him long to recover as he rolled and stood up. He ran at Harry and wrapped his big hands around his neck, intending to choke him to death.

"You and that whore will never get that little bitch back!" he said. "You can't even support your family. By that I mean you're too weak. You're not strong enough to protect your family."

"I'm strong enough to kill you," Harry choked out. He grabbed his hands that were around his neck and slowly, but surely, got them off of his neck and he turned him around and trapped him in a headlock. He would hold him like that until the police came as he saw Olivia calling them on her mobile phone. Oscar seemed to stop struggling.

Hermione straddled Rachel's waist and banged her head against the first step. "You stay away from my child!" Hermione yelled. Suddenly, Rachel blacked out and Hermione got off of her and ran up the stairs. "Georgiana!" she called. She went down the hallway and opened up all of the doors, looking for her daughter. When none of the rooms held Georgiana, she proceeded to go up the stairs that must have led into the attic. She got to the door and saw that it had many locks on it. So, she went back down the stairs to where Rachel was and checked her pockets. Finally, she found a set of keys and ran back up to the door as she heard sirens getting closer. It took many tries but she eventually got the door unlocked and she ran inside.

What she saw shocked her.

The room was in horrible shape. She saw a makeshift bookshelf with familiar titles. Titles she bought. A pink, roller, children's suitcase in the corner. It was opened and she recognized the clothing. She got to the "bed" and saw her little girl lying there shivering under two thin blankets. The child seemed to be half-conscious. Hermione immediately started to sob as she saw her daughter. There were blood stains on the blankets and the bed. Hermione uncovered her and her hand flew to her mouth. "Georgie..." she whispered. She was thin-sickly thin. Her clothes that once fit her perfectly were now too big. She knelt down and ran her hands through the little girl's hair. "I'm so sorry..." She kissed her forehead tenderly.

Georgiana opened her eyes and looked up at her mother. Her real mother. She did something Hermione did not expect. She raised a soft hand and touched her cheek and she smiled. "I knew you would find me," she said slowly. "I knew you would come back for me."

"Of course, Georgiana. I love you too much," she cried.

"I love you, too, Mummy."

Hermione gasped. "Mummy"-she had never called her that before. She loved the sound of it, though. She smiled and kissed her forehead again. Georgiana shook violently so Hermione tucked her against her chest and covered her with the two blankets tightly. "It's okay, Georgie. They can't hurt you anymore. I'm here. Mummy's here. Mummy's not going to let you go again. I promise." And she did not intend to break it.

"Hermione!" she heard Harry run up the stairs and into the room. Olivia right behind him. "The police...are...here." He stopped short when he saw his daughter and her condition. He rushed over to them. Hermione turned to look at Olivia. "Please, we need an ambulance!"

Olivia gulped but nodded and whipped her mobile out again.

"Daddy!" Georgiana cried as she saw Harry. He stroked a finger on her cheek.

"Yes, Daddy and Mummy are here to get you. We're going to make it all better, okay? We're going to take you away from here," he said as tears began to pour down his face.

She nodded as she listened to his words.

Harry hugged the both of them in his arms.

Olivia watched them from the doorway.

A family reunited.

Hermione carried her hurt daughter outside to the ambulance team. Harry followed behind her. Rain was pouring down, soaking them and melting the snow. It was strange to have rain in February. A medical team member took her from Hermione's arms and placed her onto a gurney. Hermione let them as it would help Georgiana. Another member rushed up to them. "Are you her parents?" he cried out over the sound of the rain.

They nodded and watched as a now-conscious Rachel and Oscar were being led into police cars in handcuffs.

"Okay, I'm going to need one of you to come with me and keep her calm."

Harry looked at Hermione. "You go. Have them look at your head, as well. I'll follow you in the SUV."

She nodded and walked toward the ambulance, and was about to get in the ambulance when she whipped back around as if she forgot something. Harry watched as her beautiful brown hair, that was now clumped together in small, wet groups, whipped across her face and back. Hermione knew she had to do something before she left in the ambulance and she began to walk towards Harry, her best friend.

Georgiana was put into the warm ambulance and was told her Mummy would be with her. She waited for a few seconds and then wondered where her Mummy was. "Mummy...?" she whispered and lifted her head up. She smiled at what she saw.

"Did you forget something?" Harry asked confusedly as Hermione walked towards him.

"Yes," she said as she rushed the remaining steps and launched herself into his arms. She grabbed the back of his head and his outer hoodie and pulled him toward her, crashing her lips onto his.

Harry could barely register what was going on. His best friend, Hermione, was kissing him. He had been dreaming about this since First Year at Hogwarts. So, he just closed his eyes and kissed her back. He grabbed her waist lightly and held her to him. His hands ran over her wet back.

'Oh, my God! He's kissing me back!' Hermione almost squealed. She deepened the kiss and plunged her tongue into his mouth. Her tongue met his and a tiny dance broke out. After several seconds, she pulled back. "I've been wanting to do that for a while now! I better go! Georgiana needs me!"

Before Harry could nod, she was off into the ambulance. The doors shut and Harry rushed to the SUV. He slammed his seatbelt on and drove off.

With the largest grin he'd ever produced.

"Mummy!" Georgiana cried as she saw her mother. A medical team member put a blanket around Hermione's shoulders and began to look at her head. She protested. "No! I'm fine! Please, look over her! She's hurt worse!"

He was about to turn to Georgiana, but the other medical team member, who was already looking her over said, "No, it's okay. I got her. Look at her head."

The other member nodded and proceeded to look at Hermione's head, concluding that the blood had stopped, but gave her an ice pack to put over it. Hermione was already freezing cold, but didn't mind the ice pack.

Hermione grabbed her daughter's hand and held it. "I'm here, Georgie. Mummy's here with you."

"Daddy loves you, Mummy," the six-year-old grinned.

Hermione blushed beet red and tried to contain her smile, but couldn't. "Mummy loves Daddy, too. Possibly even more than he loves me."

"I love both of you."

"I love you, too."

After a minute of staring at her mother, she said, "Hey, Mummy...?"

"Yeah, sweetheart?" she asked.

"I got my birthday wish."

"What was it?"

"For you and Daddy to get together."

Hermione gasped and more tears poured out. Her own daughter wished for she and her best friend to get together. She could have wished for a kitten or to go to the beach, something she wanted. But no, she wished for something the people she loved wanted. "Do you know you are the sweetest and most perfect daughter I could ever want?"

Georgiana giggled.

TBC...

Well, there was chapter 9! Hope ya'll were satisfied! I was!

And I know that it doesn't usually rain in February in England, but that was the way I picture that scene to be. It was in slow-motion and Hermione's hair slowly whipped around her face. She ran to Harry slowly and they kissed in the rain. So, sorry for not being weatherly accurate, but it was the way I saw it in my head. Been wanting to write that scene for about 3 chapters now. Haha.

So, Harry and Hermione are not together OFFICIALLY, but they did kiss, so I hope you are satisfied with that!

And I actually checked when the sun went down in London, England (close enough) on February 16th, 1999. It was at 5:17 pm. Boosh! Haha.

This story's almost finished. :( Ima have maybe two-three more chapters after this.

Next chapter: Harry and Hermione talk in the hospital.

Anyway, pleez review!

DREWHHR