Here's the new chapter. Review and enjoy.
Remembering
Ron looked out the window, and took a deep breath.
"It's good to be back here," he said.
"It's good to have you back," Hermione told him.
"It's weird without Ginny here. I miss her."
"She missed you so much, you know?" Hermione said. "The day she found out she was
pregnant, she said that if she had a boy she would be naming him after you."
Ron smiled.
"She was great."
"She was," Hermione agreed. "She always managed to keep me at least somewhat
hopeful about carrying Mia to term. I remember she told me, 'She's the daughter of the
two most stubborn people I know. Your baby is going to fight, and she's not going to
give up until she gets to meet you. It's already programmed in her DNA.' That helped me
stay positive most of the time."
"My sister was pretty good at making people look on the bright side."
"She really was. I only wish your nephew had the chance to get to know her," Hermione
said sadly.
"He didn't?"
"That beautiful boy got to spend one day with his mother. Ginny died that day after he
was born, which was a month early. She had him at eight months, less than two months
after Mia was born."
"Poor kid," Ron said sadly.
"Your sister got sick three days before Mia was born. I promised myself that as soon as I
delivered Mia, I would help out with Ginny; help her get better. I never really got much
of a chance to do that, though."
"How come?" Ron asked.
"After delivering Mia, I started to lose a lot of blood. It wasn't normal. They ordered me
to stay in the hospital for the next three weeks. They fixed me up, and on my last day
they told me that due to excessive damage, Mia would be my first and only child."
"It's my fault," Ron said.
"No it's not," she told him.
"If I didn't go off and die on you, this never would have happened."
Hermione laughed softly. "What are you talking about?"
"If I was there, Crabbe and Goyle would never have cursed your womb. If-"
"Ron, don't. What happened, happened. It's not your fault, okay."
"It is my fault, but I don't want to argue with you."
"Good choice," Hermione said.
"Mione, did Ginny suffer?" he asked seriously.
"I wish I could say no, but I have never lied to you before, and I'm not going to start
now… Those three weeks I had to stay in the hospital were really bad for her. She was in
a lot of pain. When I came back home with Mia, most of her pain went away. I helped
your mum with Ginny and things seemed to be getting better. We all thought everything
was okay."
Ron knew what was coming.
"She went into labour a month too early, but the baby was okay. After a little while, she
kicked everyone out of the room except me." Hermione stopped and took a deep breath.
"She told me she would be gone soon," Hermione cried. "Told me to promise that I
would take care of her son, and help Harry, your brothers, and your parents cope with her
death. I told her to stop talking like that, but she insisted that I promise, so I did. But then
I asked her how I was supposed to cope if she were to die. She told me that I would find a
way, because I always did. She said I would be too busy raising two babies to be crying
for her. I told her not to give up. I said that I would help her get better somehow. She sat
up after I told her that, and she took my hand. She said that she didn't know what was
making her sick, but she knew it would take her. Even I couldn't change that. She knew it
wasn't fair putting everything on my plate, but she said she was trusting me to take care
of her family. She told me that I had never let her down before. She said that she had
thought of me as many things, but the one that was most important was 'sister of her
heart.' Now I would be the guardian of her family. I got into the bed, and I stayed with
her for awhile. A little bit later Harry brought your nephew to see Ginny. I got up to give
them some time alone. She hugged me so tight before I left. She said she loved me. I told
her I loved her too, and promised I wouldn't let her down… She died the next morning,"
Hermione said, voice quivering. "Nobody but you knows about that conversation."
"I don't know what to say. I don't know how you did it. You went through hell and then
you took responsibility for my nephew, Harry, and the rest of my family, and you never
complained."
"Your sister was right, I never had time to complain. I was too busy taking care of two
babies. Harry tried, but for the first couple months he wasn't ready or able to take care of
a baby.. I moved your nephew's crib into my room, next to Mia's. I breastfed the both of
them, played with them, loved them, told them about you and Ginny. I couldn't go to
school because I was afraid to leave everyone alone. Nobody wanted to eat or anything,
so I had to make sure that got done… I hadn't been able to go to school for months
before because of the whole bed rest thing, but this time I had a whole family to take care
of. McGonagall made special arrangements and came by here everyday for a few hours. I
finished my seventh year. It was on a really weird schedule, but I finished… Eventually,
things got better. There was actually happiness in this house again. I got a job with the
Ministry, in the Department of Education. Harry got a job with the Ministry also."
"I'm glad things got better, but I should have been there, especially for you," Ron said.
"That's exactly how I felt. You should have been there, but you weren't and that was
because of me."
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.
"Harry came over to help me, and that left you an easy target. Voldemort got you."
"Don't blame yourself. Listen, nothing was your fault. Things happened the way I wanted
them to. I didn't want anything to happen to you, wanted you to be safe. It was also me
being a little bit selfish. I'd rather have you without me than me without you," Ron said
quietly.
Hermione didn't know what to say. Was Ron remembering?
She was about to ask him, when she heard a knock at the door.
"Who would be knocking on the door at this time of night?" Hermione asked.
"It's not night, 'Mione. Look out the window."
"Were we really up all night?" Hermione asked.
"I guess so."
Hermione walked over to the door and opened it up. Mia, little Ron, Neville and Luna
were all standing there.
"Hi mommy."
"Hey baby," Hermione said, scooping her into a hug.
"Is daddy here?" Mia asked excitedly.
Hermione took a deep breath and nodded her head…