orokid: Hey. Its me again. I understand that I have reviewers who wonder why Ron would be going insane on Harry's ass, and I'll make it seem a little more plausible in this chapter. Okay? I know it was kind of weird that Ron, who was supposed to be the best friend and was SUPPOSED to be okay until he found out, but there is a good reason! Really! I swear!

Anyway… Let me actually write it out so you can understand why Ron was uber pissed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the characters in it. At all. I wish I did though… (cries)

Chapter Five

Hermione watched his unconscious form across the room, the entire place beeping while no muggle machines were present. It seemed as though they held onto similar ideas, the girl noticed, but without all the equipment. As understandable as it was, sort of, she kept feeling like she was sitting in this hospital room, holding on for her own dear life instead of his. She couldn't help but wonder why this was happening, why she felt like she was the one dying instead of him, yet he was the only thing she could worry about now.

Maybe this was what people meant when you fall in love with someone.

She shook her head, trying not to assume that initial thought all at once. But… didn't he tell her that? Didn't he say that he loved her? 'In a friend way,' she'd tell herself, hoping with her mind that it was true, that he didn't feel like that and was nothing but a true friend. Yet… her heart only hoped differently. She wanted him to love her like that.

She heard the door open, but she didn't turn to see who it was. Her attention was only to be on the man who lay in that bed, fighting for life and willing to lived- or she hoped he was, at least. Her assumptions we that it was a medi-wizard, checking upon the patient whose life hung between the thin stands of life or death, but, when they spoke, pulling her from her sorrowful reverie, she understood that she was wrong.

"How is he?" the girl's voice questioned softly, and there was a tremor of fear and anxiety in her voice that the bushy haired young woman noticed immediately.

It was Ginny Weasley.

It was the sister to the man who had hurt Hermione's Harry.

"They're hoping that he'll pull through to the morning. They say there's a good chance he'll live if he does." Slowly, the chocolate eyed woman turned to look at the girl, noticing that her red hair was in disarray and her crystal blue eyes blotchy and her face tearstained.

This was the girl who deserved Harry, who loved him before she did. This was the one who could only have the Boy-Who-Lived in ways Hermione didn't even think about until recently, when he showed kindness when no one else would. Ginny DESERVED Harry.

And she did not.

"Hermione… um…" The girl was hesitant, and Hermione found herself gazing at the newspaper in Ginny's hand with interest. As far as she could tell, the title had something to do with the boy who laid unknowing of the world around him. "Is it true about you and… and Harry?"

"Me and Harry?" she asked, having no idea what the girl was talking about. Still, she couldn't stop her face from letting show the blush upon her cheeks. "What about us?" Again, the red headed woman shuffled her feet, avoiding her friends' eyes like they were going to lead her into her own destruction. "Does… Does it have anything to do with the Daily Prophet that you're holding?"

Immediately, Ginny looked up to gaze at Hermione, surprised by those words, none the less, but seemingly thankful and a bit more relaxed by the news. "You've seen it then?" When the cinnamon haired young woman shook her head no, the girl seemed to once more retain those features, lowering her eyes from hers again. "Well… I suggest you should then …" she said softly, nervously, reaching towards Hermione with the paper in hand.

Flattening the paper onto her bulge, she began to read, preparing herself for the worst…

POTTER'S SECRET AFFAIR!

By Rita Skeeter

In the early morning light of last Tuesday morning, this reporter had been working diligently as a restaurant critic. It was by my surprise to see the infamous Harry Potter walking among the streets like the living dead had risen, his pace quick and his eyes more determined than they were when the young wizard found himself in the Tri-Wizard tournament the year before.

And, to my surprise, all he had done was buy some peanut butter and celery at a local muggle grocery store, called Food-That's-Less or something of the sort. To find why Potter had rushed himself into the store as he did, I followed him out to the home of the formerly convicted criminal Sirius Black, young Potter's godfather whom had been taken away from him as his parents had. The memory of his tears during our sort time together while we spoke one-on-one before the first tournament makes be become even sadder, thinking about all the pain this boy has gone through.

But what I had found interesting, while I watched him return to his home away from home, was that a certain muggle-born witch, who had pronounced their relationship as nothing but friends, had come out to meet him at the door. Another thing I noticed was that she didn't seem to be alone in that home any more, for the girl has a new little plaything- and it has yet to be born!

Yes, that's right, folks. I am sad to admit that, like every other teenager filled with hormones, the Boy-Who-Lived and his girlfriend have fallen into the percentage of teenaged pregnancy.

Cho Chang, Potter's ex, spoke to me with tears in her eyes, remembering the passionate times she and her former beau had shared together. "I always assumed that he and Miss Granger had something going on, but I didn't want to believe it", Chang tells with a quiver in her voice. "Finally, I… I couldn't take it anymore. He and I were at a fancy, romantic restaurant and… and all he could talk about was HER." Unfortunately, Miss Chang had erupted in tears and couldn't continue her tale any longer.

"I always thought that Granger and Potter were doing something", Draco Malfoy, the wealthy and sophisticated teenager with a heart filled with worry for his classmates. "They'd disappear from class, saying that they had to save the world or something, and then end up missing for hours on end. Potter was in tears when the basalisk made his 'friend' turn to stone, and I see why now. It is unfortunate about the child, being born into a family of liars and cheats, and I pray for it's well-being and for it's good future."

MORE ON PAGE H-4, "Boy-Who-Lived- Next Generation"

Hermione stared down at the article in awe, wondering why, after all the things Harry's gone through his life, they had to think that Hermione's baby was his. It wasn't! Her baby was HERS, and… and…

And she wished that it was his, and not Ron's, who was currently trying to cool off back home with his mother and father keeping a good eye on him. The last thing that needs to happen is for Ronald to appear and finish the job. Whether he was angry or not, Harry was their only hope for salvation from Voldemort himself, so death just wasn't an option for this world, let alone Harry.

"What the...?" she whispered softly, her hands tightening on the paper, wanting to rip it to pieces. Rubbish like this was supposed to be in the rubbish bin, not on the front page of the Daily Prophet. And didn't Hermione threaten that witch to stop writing falsified stories about her and the boy who was hanging onto life at that exact moment? "So… this is what set him off?" Obviously, she was referring to the third and former member of the trio.

Nervously, as if expecting to be hit with a hex or something of the sort, Ginny nodded, gulping down her anxiety the best she could. "Yes. Ron… Well, he saw that this morning and… well… You were there, right?"

Hermione nodded, sighing, turning back to look to the emerald eyed young man who had nearly given his life for her, for a baby that wasn't even his. And… "He said he loved me…" she said, not sure how to word it as she told herself those words, forgetting that Ginny was in the room.

"Who did? Ron?" the red head cautiously asked her, her voice showing that she was indeed curious as well.

With another sigh, Hermione looked to the girl, confusion more than curiosity in her eyes. "No. Harry."

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orokid: So yeah… I tried to write it better than usual, and to add the twist of Hermione realizing that her feelings for Harry were deeper than friendship, and also feeling that he deserved someone much better. Also, this too was supposed to go into the last chapter (the news article), but I just forgot about it. I apologize. Will you forgive me? Please! I BEG OF YOU! ((Cries))