Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything to do with Harry Potter. I get nothing out of manipulating her creations other than readers' reviews.

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to all those who reviewed my last chapter: SwishAndFlick31, BlackPurpleTulip, HeartAngel, B. harry'n'mione4ever and last but not least, amelia. You guys keep me typing and warm my heart with your little electronic messages. Woo!

Harry staggered back a few paces in utter shock, trying to absorb the enormity of the bombshell Hermione had dropped on him. Automatically, he ran his hand through his already unruly hair, a habit of his since young when he was feeling pressured. Once or twice he opened his mouth to say something but shut it again, at a loss for words.

Jessie too was as surprised as he was. 'Mum?' she squeaked, whirling on Hermione.

Hermione had remained perfectly composed, standing with her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes fixed firmly on Harry.

At last, Harry managed to calm down enough to enunciate a complete, coherent sentence.

'I'm…a father?'

'Yes.' Hermione's composure slipped a little upon seeing the pain on Harry's face and she mentally slapped herself.

How could she have forgotten? One of Harry's fondest wishes was to have children, to someday surround himself with his family, something he himself had been cruelly deprived of. To let him know he had missed out on raising their first child and in such a shocking fashion was as good as a dagger to his heart.

Harry stared long and hard at Jessie, who defiantly stared back. Now Harry was looking at her properly, he saw she did indeed resemble him slightly. Her most striking feature, he wryly noted, was her deep emerald eyes which were lightly flecked with brown. Rather than marring the beauty of her eyes, the two colours complemented each other perfectly.

'What happened after you found out?' he asked, not taking his eyes off Jessie even though she had already looked away out of pure shyness.

'I couldn't go back. I didn't want to face you and… Anyway, an elderly aunt left me some money in her will some time before and I used it to buy this cottage,' replied Hermione, gesturing around her. 'I was determined to raise Jessie by myself.'

Harry took a step forward towards her. 'Didn't it ever strike you that Jessie is as much my daughter as she is yours?' His voice was filled with disappointment, an emotion Hermione had not been expecting. Though under a heavy onslaught of guilt, she was not going to give in to Harry so easily.

'I wasn't going to bring you back to earth from where you were with Romilda so suddenly,' she hissed harshly, anticipating and glimpsing the flash of anger the name evoked. 'I bet, Harry, you weren't ready to be saddled with responsibility yet.'

'You're wrong.'

Harry's face was as impassive and unreadable as a mask's, frustrating all Hermione's attempts to take control of the situation. How different, she mused, from his schooldays when his face was an open book.

'You're wrong,' repeated Harry firmly, his brows creasing. 'I've been saddled with responsibility from the moment Voldemort killed my parents. Hermione, you have absolutely no idea what's it's like to be the one fated to kill someone. As I remember it, you didn't handle it too well when Rita Skeeter was making up cock-and-bull stories about you and Krum. How do you like it if everybody in the streets knew your name? How would you feel if your every move was being recorded by over-zealous reporters and published for the whole wizarding world to look at?'

Though he had not been angry just now, Harry was furious now, the twin emerald flames burning into Hermione's eyes. His voice had gradually risen in volume as he poured out all his suppressed rage at her. While Hermione, who was accustomed to his outburst, stood calmly there, Jessie hid behind her mother, peeping out only once and swiftly withdrawing soon after, terrified by what she saw in her father's eyes.

Harry glanced down at the frightened little girl and the fury instantly departed from him, forcing him to turn his head away and vent the rest of his feelings in one, long, heavy sigh.

'Can I at least meet my daughter?' he asked angrily. Hermione bit her lip, and then nodded.

'Jessie?' The name was unfamiliar in his mouth and it showed in the stiff way he pronounced it.

She looked up reluctantly at him, after being discreetly prodded by Hermione. Harry hesitated, and then knelt on the floor. 'Come here,' he said in as kind a tone as he could muster, his arms open to her.

The little girl walked slowly at first, then faster, into Harry's open arms. His arms closed rather awkwardly around Jessie and he carried her as though he was carrying an extremely delicate object.

Harry winced inwardly at this. He had never really learned how to hold a child. However, Jessie sensed his discomfort and she shifted in his arms, sitting comfortably on the makeshift seat formed from her father's arms.

'Hi, Daddy,' beamed Jessie radiantly, as politely as only a five-year-old girl could be. 'My name is Lily Jessica, but my mummy calls me Jessie…'

Harry's head snapped up in shock and his body suddenly stiffened.

'Hermione?'

She looked away, her face flushed. Jessie, realizing she had said the wrong thing, stared down at her feet, her cheeks as red as her mother's.

'You named our daughter after my mother?'

The question was posed in a hushed tone, Harry looking at his old girlfriend in amazement.

Hermione bit her lip yet again, the lower part now fairly red and swollen. 'I knew how important it was to you. If Jessie came out a boy, I was…'

'…going to name him James.' Harry finished the sentence for her, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

'Thank you.'

Harry got to his feet slowly, a small grunt issuing from his mouth with the added burden that was Jessie.

'Why did you call her Jessie when Lily is her first name?' he asked gently, shifting his daughter in his arms.

'I couldn't,' Hermione brushed a few loose strands of hair from her forehead. 'It reminded me too much of you.'

There was a palpable silence in the atmosphere. Jessie fidgeted with Harry's messy hair, not completely understanding the emotions of her parents.

'Could we go back…?'

'No, Harry.' He shut his mouth, clearly crushed by her answer.

'Why not?'

She had to suppress a totally inappropriate giggle at the sight of his face; he looked just like a little boy who had been denied a lollipop.

'I…I just can't. How do I know whether you were telling the truth? If your feelings for me have stayed the same after five years?Are you the man I once knew?'

This time, it was Harry who bit his lip, perplexed at her questions with typical male confusion. Bewilderment quickly turned to anger and frustration, and he knitted his brows. Jessie took this opportunity to let herself down from his arms.

'For Merlin's sake, Hermione, don't you trust me anymore?' he roared.

Her face crumpled and a solitary tear streaked down her face.

'No,' she whispered. 'No, I can't, Harry. I want to, I want to believe you but I can't.'

He had nothing to say to that and he hung his head, the picture of defeat.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait AND the rushing at the end. My dad came for Christmas and he absolutely hates me writing fanfic so I had to wait for him to go. Sorrysorrysorry! ducks behind sofa as assorted rubbish splatters the wall The next chapter will be coming REAL soon. Love you guys! a stale pumpkin pie connects with my face