A/N: God, I'm so sorry how ridiculously long time I used in getting this up! I guess I'm just lazy since I have over 10 chapters written. And I want you to know that this chapter hasn't been beta read, and English is not my first language, so tell me if there's any mistakes that makes your eye twitch :P I hope you enjoy it, and please forgive me for using such a long time, I hope I still have any readers.

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own HP or any of the characters. Only Nicole is mine.

Chapter 3
- You Can't Change the Past -

Ron grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the shop. "Nicole, stay inside," Hermione said to her daughter right before the door closed. The other customers in the shop stared after them.

Just outside the door Ron grabbed her other arm and held her tight. "Why?" he asked through clenched teeth, "Why haven't you told me?" He didn't manage to hide the hurt in his voice, or the anger for that sake. He could clearly see this was hard for her, but honestly; he didn't care. She had hid his own child from him.

"Ron – "

"Don't Ron me! Tell me why you haven't said anything!"

He saw tears well up in her eyes, just like it always did when she were upset or scared. She wasn't that changed, he thought. "I – I don't know what to say," She mumbled to the ground, "I was so scared, you have no idea, and young and stupid-"

"Hah, since when did you become stupid exactly?" he eased the grip around her arms a bit but still held her to keeping her from running away. "I'm sorry Hermione, but you have to come up with something better."

"Not stupid in the way you think about," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "what would have happened if I told you anyway? You were so angry at me already, and if I'd just dropped the bomb just like that, you'd -"

"You thought I'd be angry?" he felt his voice being totally different now, half-surprised and half-hurt. Had she been afraid of him?Oh my God, what had he done to her? She was afraid of me. The sentence went on a loop in his head, like some kind of never-ending echo.

"Yeah, I did. And you would have been! I just couldn't deal with that too, I was already too messed up."

"It really hurts me that you thought that about me, Hermione. I would never have been angry. I would have been there for you, no matter how angry I was before." He said to her, easing the grip on her arms even more. He sighed, "Ok, so you didn't tell me just then, I get it. But why, why haven't you told me later? Somehow! You could just have told me about it! Even sent a bloody owl if you couldn't handle it in person. Everything would have been better!'

"I know and I'm sorry," she said in a hoarse whisper, "I just – I just thought that I could just forget about you… and everyone else. Just leave everything behind and never look back. I had to move on, Ron. I thought that if she wanted to look for her dad when she got older, she could do it when she became of-age; I know it was selfish, and I know it was bad, I really do, but I just didn't know what else to do." Tears were leaking her eyes now; she did nothing to stop them. "And anyway, how were we gonna take care of a child Ron? We didn't do anything else but fight… it's not good for a child to have parents who fights all the time." She paused. "But I was wrong. I realized that too late. And when I realized it, I didn't dare to contact you… I'm so sorry."

Ron was shocked beyond words, but he let her finish talking without interrupting in any way. "I can't believe you though we couldn't take care of her. And I can't believe you just took of like that," he finally said, and he let go of her completely, she wouldn't run.

"Me neither," she whispered and seemed truly devastated. "But it wasn't just that," she sniffed, trying to control herself. "I wanted to spare you; I wanted to let you have a chance to have a life! How can you go out there and get a life if you get a child at eighteen?" she sniffed and wiped her face. "I wanted you to have a carrier, get m-married and… just live."

"What about your life?" he asked, looking down into her face. When she didn't answer, he continued, "If you had told me we could've had a life; together." Ron forced her eyes to meet his.

"I understand that you're angry with me, you can yell at me if you want, I understand, I deserve all of it," she stood there, as if she was waiting for a hurricane.

Ron couldn't bring himself to scream at her. Even if he wanted to, oh yes, he wanted to. He wanted to yell his lungs out to her; wanted to shake her until she understood how this felt to him. But somehow he couldn't. No matter how loud he screamed, no matter how hard he shook her, she couldn't change the past. What was done was done. He watched her stand there and he felt sorry for her, of all things. It was him, who should be pitied in this situation, but she had been really scared and alone and she had felt betrayed, betrayed by him. Oh, that stupid, stupid fight! He thought and mentally kicked himself for being so thick in school. If he only had apologized, if he only had sent that bloody letter…

"I'm not gonna yell at you," he said calmly, "even though I want to, I swear I want to," he added with a half-smile.

She smiled too, a little weak and shaky, then said gratefully;

"Thank you."

Ron nodded and forced his aching brain over to something else, "In there," he said, gesturing towards she shop, "Nicole was about to say something about me, as if she knew me," he said, looking puzzled.

"Oh," Hermione said and looked a little more cheerful at the change of subject, "yes, she know you, but in a different kind of way. You see, one day when we were driving home she sat in the back of the car with this kind of magazine she reads – "

FLASHBACK

"Mum, can you slow down?" the little girl's voice asked from the backseat of the car.

"Why, if I might ask?" Hermione asked.

"Because," Nicole said as if it was the most obvious in the world, "I can't read when the car is bumping like this."

"And what are you reading that is so interesting that I have to slow down the car?" Hermione asked curious and looked in the mirror so she could see her daughter. For some reason Hermione hoped she would be reading Hogwarts: A history but already knew she wasn't.

"My Quidditch magazine, mum! I'm reading an article about my favourite team and I really can't read probably when the car is bumping."

Of course, Hermione thought. Quidditch. She should have known it. Nicole was crazy about that stupid game. It's probably in the genes; she thought miserably and eased the gear a little. "Thank you mum," she said and Hermione heard her folding the magazine.

"Oh I really like this player!" Nicole said after five minutes of reading silently to herself, "he's reeeeally good, he's the best on the team," She nodded her head enthusiastically. Hermione knew her daughter well enough to understand that she wanted her to ask who it was, and so she did.

"Who is it then?" but she was sure that what whatever the guy's name would be, she would have no idea of who he was, probably never even heard of him.

Nicole seemed happy for that her mother had asked her and chewed her gum harder, "Ronald Weasley."

Hermione clenched her foot so hard on the breaks that the car screamed and stopped, and they were thrown forwards in their seats. It would probably leave black marks on the road.

"If you want to kill me mum," Nicole said and leaned back in the seat, brushing her long, red hair away from her face, "its easier ways of doing it."

"Let me see that," Hermione said, reaching back for the magazine.

"Why?" Nicole said in a suspicious tone and narrowed her eyes.

"Just – let me see it okay?"

Nicole gave her mother the magazine. Sulking, she leaned back in her seat, blowing a few bubbles with her gum.

Hermione ignored her and looked at the page in the magazine. It was a big picture of a whole Quidditch team. Slowly she drew her fingers over the picture, looking for a familiar face.

There. Her finger stopped at the guy all to the right. She knew it the moment she saw him, everything from the red hair to the freckles, it was no doubt; it was him.

"Oh my," she murmured and continued staring at the picture, she noticed how her voice shook and how hot her eyes had suddenly become.

"Mum, what is it? I thought you didn't even like Quidditch!"

"Sweetie, be quiet for a while," Hermione said, not really listening to her.

It was a little biography for each player on the next page. Hermione flipped it over. Full name: Ronald Bilius Weasley, yeah, yeah, yeah, she knew all that. She read a bit further.

"He's not married…" she said, more to herself then to Nicole.

"Who's not?" Nicole said who had started humming.

"Hm?"

"You're not listening to me," it was more like a statement than a question.

"Sorry…" Hermione continued reading.

"That's my favourite player," said Nicole suddenly, having leant over the seat to see who her Hermione was reading about.

Hermione swallowed, "he is?"

"Yeah. He's the keeper, he saves everything,"

Hermione smiled and closed her eyes. "He made it good," she murmured.

"What?" Nicole looked at her.

"Nothing sweetie… just thinking out loud…"

"Right," she rolled her eyes before returning her attention back to the page in the magazine. "His friends don't call him Ronald, you know," she said as if she knew everything there was to know about him, "They call him-"

"Ron,' Hermione said quietly, 'his friends call him Ron."

END OF FLASHBACK

Ron had listened to the story with great interest. He was her favourite player. He almost could not believe it. He was her favourite player, of all people.

"She has been on one of your games too," Hermione said, interrupting his thoughts "with a friend I work with, she took Nicole with her… I didn't want to go… She was completely in heaven when she got home…- ran around the house and singing your team song. I really don't know why she likes Quidditch that much; I haven't done anything to help that obsession for sure."

Ron was now grinning. Even thought he still was furious with her, he was grinning. He supposed Nicole likes Quidditch because he did so. Weird how that gene thing worked when they had never even met. But then he came to think of something. How was he supposed to tell this to his parents, Harry and Ginny? He hadn't even asked Hermione if he could tell them. But hell, it was his kid too.

He thought it was best to ask, just because it was polite. He was going to tell them anyway.

"Er, Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"I was just thinking of – er, mum and dad you know, I wanted to know if I could tell them?"

Hermione bit her bottom lip, "I – I guess," she said after a few seconds, "if you have too," she added and he could see that she didn't want him to tell them.

"I'll do it then. But maybe not tonight… I may need some time to prepare."

"Good id-"

"MUM! What are you doing out here?" Nicole had poked her head out of the door and seen Hermione talking to Ron. She stubbornly marched towards Ron and bowed her neck backwards to look up at him.

"I know who you a-are," she said in a sing-song voice and wearing a proud grin.

"Er, yeah. You're mother said so." He said, smiling down at her.

Nicole looked at Hermione in shock, "you talked about me to him?"

Hermione chuckled, "yeah."

Nicole looked stunned a few more seconds before she dragged in Hermione's jacket so she went in some kind of bow; Nicole put her hands around her mouth and whispered something in her ear. Hermione's smile grew wider and wider.

A/N: I will try to get the next chapter up during the next few days. Please review, they're the only reason I bother to even post this :)