EDIT: Happy Birthday Harry Potter, and in honor of both his and JK Rowling's birthday, here's an update. :)

"So when the jar broke, I was doing it with my magic?" Anna asked. Hermione nodded, putting the bowls for the cereal out and pouring it all in. Anna stared down at her food and scrunched her nose up. Emma emerged from her bedroom and walked over to the kitchen.

"Emma I told you, take the day off," Hermione said with a nervous grin. Emma shrugged.

"Really, I have nothing do better," she said.

"Don't you have exams coming up in a week or two?" Asked Hermione. Emma sighed and nodded.

"Oui 'ermione," she said, sighing.

"Well eat some breakfast and go back to your studying," said Hermione with a grin.

"At least I fold clothes," Emma offered.

"Emma…" said Hermione warningly, pouring milk into two bowls, "Have some cereal with us, and then study, isn't that the rules of being an au pair, you're here for the education?"

"Oui," said Emma sheepishly. Hermione smiled and shook her head as the three of them ate. Anna knew to keep quiet about her newfound revelation until Emma had finished and then gone to her room to complete studying. As soon as the door shut on the French au pair, Anna leaned over the table.

"So next year I can go to this Pigwarts?"

"Hogwarts," said Hermione, "And yes, I suppose if you want to. We could also send you to the Salem Institute here, but we'll talk about that later. Now go finish your homework, I'll call you when he gets here," she said smiling. Anna nodded and ran to her room to finish her work, leaving Hermione to clear up the table on her own. As she cleaned the apartment she wondered how everything would work out, there was a definite lump in her stomach as she dreaded seeing George again. She sighed, and felt a small tremble in her hands, it was almost like the night before she took her medical boards except this time it was her old lover meeting her…no sorry, their daughter for the first time.

She really regretted not telling him at this point, it was a stupid mistake, the mistake of a teenager who thought that she knew everything. She had seen it herself at the hospital, a sixteen-year-old pregnant girl coming in alone to give birth. At least Hermione had family supporting her; this girl had no one. She remembered how haunting that night had become, she was on her neo-natal surgery rotation, and this girl came up from the emergency room. She was obviously way underage, and did not seem to have anyone with her. Hermione was assigned to essentially pretend to be her family and keep her company until the hospital could find someone that would be her legal guardian. But this girl, as much as Hermione wanted to feel sorry for her, thought she was the only pregnant teenager in the world and was absolutely incorrigible. She acted as if she thought everyone felt that they were over her, and she had a streak of rebellion attitude. When Hermione tried to sympathize, she talked back, and felt that she knew better. And as this girl spoke, Hermione realized that she was just like Hermione, thought she knew better than everyone else around her. She wanted to take the burden upon herself, the burden of having and raising a child. It was almost heartbreaking to see this girl making the same mistakes she had made only a few years before.

Although there were many pregnant teenagers on the island of Manhattan by the time Hermione was finished, this girl remained the only one she truly remembered. She sighed and began to wash dishes by hand, feeling a small sense of accomplishment as the apartment was cleaned. It was big days like this that she missed her grandmother. Her grandmother had rescued her from beyond despair, giving her a home and education and making sure she could provide Anna with the best of care no matter what. All these thoughts flooded her head and she leaned against the bar, staring at the faint green glow of the digital watch saying she had less than an hour until he arrived.

Feeling a slight sense of panic, and a fluttering in her stomach, Hermione walked into her room checking her closet as she did for some clothes that did not look like she had just woken up. She finally settled on a pair of jeans, a tank top and a wrap sweater. It looked comfortable enough, and she knew it did not look like she was trying way too hard. She then proceeded to the bathroom, turned on the shower and then hoped the doorbell did not ring while she was in there.

After a quick shower, she put on her ensemble and sat on her sofa waiting for the doorbell to ring. Feeling a stab of nostalgia, she walked over to what looked like an end table. She took the vase off of it, and then took the table cloth she had placed over it and stared at her old school trunk. She took a deep breath, opened it, and pulled out her NEWT spell book she had gotten at the beginning of her sixth year, eager to move ahead. Opening it up, she began to read, drinking up the review sectioins at the beginning, going over the familiar wand movements in her head.

A strange thrill filled her, took over her to her very bones as she realized with glee that she did not have to hide this anymore. No anger of George's could take this happiness away, she was finally free. She realized that all it took was honesty, and maybe it was ten years too late, but now she could finally be herself. As she came to that realization the buzzer began to ring.

Bzzzzzz

"Coming!" She exclaimed uselessly, getting up and wrapping her sweater around herself. She pressed the call button.

"Hey," she said, knowing what she would hear on the other end.

"Hey," his voice said.

"Come on up." She pressed the buzzer to let him in and then waited for him to walk up the few flights of stairs over to her unit. A wave of nausea rolled over her stomach and she tried to take calming breaths. Alas the calming breaths did not help, as she felt a giant lump rise to her throat, and she realized it was growing harder and harder to breathe. Her heart began to pound harder than it ever had as nerves almost completely immobilized her. She took several more deep breaths when she heard the knock at the door. Before he could knock a second time, she had opened the door.

George Weasley stood at her doorway, one arm extended out as he was prepared to knock for the second time. He held a small teddy bear in one hand, as well as a gift basket. Hermione couldn't help but feel slightly warm at the sight of him. Although on top of that, he was wearing a navy blue three-piece suit, obviously feeling slightly overdressed. He smiled sheepishly.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hi," said Hermione. They both stood there, unsure of what to do. Should they hug? Did societal norms allow that type of gesture after all they had gone through? Would a handshake be enough? Little did they know that they were both confused at what to do until Hermione spoke.

"Please come in," she said, "Make yourself at home." She pointed out the sofas and chairs. She stood awkwardly behind the couch and tried her best to smile confidently. "Can I get you something to drink? Soda? Coffee? Tea?" She asked. George shook his head.

"No thank you," he said. She stood quietly in the kitchen, staring down at the floor, trying to flood the tears that had suddenly appeared in her eyes. They were ones she could not explain away, she did not know why she felt like crying, perhaps it was the relief at everything finally happening as it should for once, or perhaps it was the utter shame that she had hidden it for so long. She took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"Listen," she said, awared that he had been watching her display the entire time. There was an odd sort of steeliness in his eyes. Something she had never encountered, something she was sure that his business clients must. After all, his suit, perfectly color coordinated seemed like one for giants, it seemed odd on him, but after remembering the general unfriendliness of his apartment, she did not press her thoughts any further on that matter.

"Listen," she worded again, "I hope—"

"I'm here to see Georgiana," said George, somewhat coldly. What seemed like initial warmness had cooled down to a lukewarm temperature, him finding his initial anger towards her for everything that had transpired.

"Yeah," said Hermione understanding. She made her way back to the family room, moving away from the momentary protection that the bar had to offer her. She hugged her wrap more tightly around her body, and felt the pins in her hair pressing into her scalp. She felt uncomfortable, but after all? What else was to be expected? She sat down on the sofa across from him.

"I told her about her being a witch last night," said Hermione, "So you can talk to her about pretty much anything," she said. George made a slight nod. "Is there anything I can tell you about her? To fill you in on her life up until now?" She asked.

"When did she start to walk?" He asked.

"She started to walk at around six months, she was pretty early with anything, always heading for trouble," said Hermione, "she pretty much said full sentences by age two and a half, and she could read giant cardboard books at four." She said. George smiled a little.

"How is she doing at school?" He asked.

"She is a genius, but she is lazy," said Hermione, "When she just puts in about ten percent of her effort, she manages to easily soar to the top of her class, but she spends most of her time coming up with practical jokes and how to goof off. I think she's bored.

"Right now she's at a local public school, but I have her on the waiting list for the Chesterton Academy, which I was going to enroll her in for her sixth grade. But now as she knows about our—" she stopped for a second, "—your world," she corrected herself, "She could start at Hogwarts or the Salem Institute next year, so we could discuss that I guess, if you wanted to." She trailed off and stared around her feet. George nodded curtly.

"Okay," he said.

"I'm so sorry," said Hermione.

"Hermione," he said, "Not now." he said matter-of-factly. Hermione nodded in understanding.

"Fair enough," she said feeling tears well up. Taking a deep breath, she managed to compose herself.

"Is there anything else I need to know before I meet her?" George asked. Hermione shook her head.

"I'll go call her," she said. George nodded.

George felt his hands shake slightly as he gripped the teddy bear; he placed the gift basket full of chocolates on the floor beside his feet. He had opted for the muggle candies at this point, as he knew that perhaps the best way to introduce himself would not be with a canary cream. He chuckled a little at the thought of Hermione's face if he had even attempted to pull that off. Of course, the canary cream would be for Hermione, no way would he turn his daughter into a little yellow bird. Daughter, that was a weird thought.

Two days ago he was a businessman, ruthless was an adjective used to describe his style, dedicated, but father was not a word he ever thought would be used. Wait until Adam hears about this, he thought to himself. He sighed and then heard a door creak open and he saw Georgiana for the first time. His heart began to rush faster and faster as she took the few small steps it would take to walk into the room.

The moment she entered the living room, George felt strange. He felt emotions he had never felt before, regret that he had missed a part of her life, and an oddly warm feeling in his heart that he could not quite place.

She looked exactly as she did in her picture, albeit a little older. She had auburn hair, was tall for her age, and had piercing blue eyes. She stared down at the ground, obviously a little shy. He felt his heart somewhere around his throat, and he knelt down to be at eye level with her.

"Hey," he said. She stared up at him.

"Wait you're the sad man!" She exclaimed. George nodded.

"Yep," he said smiling, "that's what it says on my business card. You must be Georgiana," he said.

"Yeah, but everyone calls me Anna," she said quietly.

"You know who I am right?" He asked.

"Yeah, you're my father," she said.

"Yes, I am," he replied. There was an awkward pause. "I got you this teddy bear, the woman at the store said it's what kids like, its been a while since I was a kid. She also said young girls your age love chocolate, so I brought both," said George. Anna grinned.

"Thanks," she said.

"Do you like pizza?" He asked.

"Um, yeah, who doesn't?" She asked.

"Well I've got reservations at this little place nearby, would you like to come with me, and we can get to know each other a little better?" George asked. Anna nodded. He looked up at Hermione for permission and Hermione nodded. Anna turned to Hermione as well who nodded again and Anna broke out into a grin.

"That would be great, let me get my coat," she said, walking back into the hallway to get to her room. Hermione and George were left standing there awkwardly.

"Do you want to come?" George asked. Hermione shook her head.

"I have to do a bunch of dictations all day today, and fill out some case reports, so you two go on ahead," she said. As she finished her sentence, Anna emerged from her room in full winter apparel, and Hermione gave George his overcoat and scarf. She had never realized just how much Anna looked like her dad. She had the same mischievous glint in her eye, the infectious smile, and the familiar Weasley red was more evident in her hair when she stood next to him. After he finished donning his scarf, the two of them began to head out. He turned around and glanced at Hermione.

"What time would you like me to have her back?" He asked.

"Dinner time, so around 7," she said, grinning. "Bye Anna," she waved. Anna waved back with a grin.

"Bye Mom," she said, waving back as the two of them exited the apartment. As soon as they left, she walked slowly over to her bedroom, sat on the bed and then fell back onto it in relief, finally sleeping well for the first time in over eleven years.

George and Anna walked down the street in silence, as both of them had no idea what to do or say next. He turned to look down at her, she came up to his waist and almost skipped while she walked. He smiled a little at her cocky jaunt reminded of afternoons walking around the burrow with Fred while their mother screamed at them at the top of her lungs. She looked up at him and smiled. They walked in silence, and George felt a little jump in his heart when she clutched onto his hand instinctively at the crosswalks. After several blocks, they made it to a small pizza place he liked to visit after work sometimes. They both walked in, and the hostess sat them at a small table by the window.

George helped Anna with her coat, and then hung it on the coat hooks that were attached to the booth they sat at. He then took off his winter apparel, and also hung it over her significantly smaller coat. After placing drink orders, he a water, and she a Shirley Temple, they both sat in silence.

"So, Anna, tell me a little bit about yourself," he said.

"What's there to say?" She asked.

"I don't know, tell me about your life, I guess I just want to get to know you." And with that George listened to her describe everything. About how she grew up and no matter how busy Hermione was, she made sure Anna was receiving the best of everything. About how caring her great grandmother and grandmother were, and then about how after her great-grandmother passed away, her mother hired Emma, an au pair from Paris who was studying in the USA. She talked about how close she is with her mother and Emma and how loving their life had been for the past ten years. She had never wanted for anything and was now very grateful for the things she had. As they finished lunch, they realized that it was not enough time, so her took her to a small ice cream shop nearby where they talked some more.

"And then I decided to give her the best birthday gift ever to get back at her," she said, referring to a friend who had wronged her.

"And that's where you played the prank with the snake in a can…wow, and at only 7 years old," said George, feeling a slight bit of pride in his chest. As he stared at her, he noticed the light he had last seen in Fred's eyes. The gleam of mischief, yet the self control and the intelligence to know when to perfectly execute this kind of stuff.

"So tell me about you," said Anna, "I just gave you my life story."

"I don't know how much your mum has told you about me," said George.

"She said you had a twin brother, and you come from a huge family," Anna recited from memory. And then she caught her mistake, the one thing her mother told her not to bring up. George smiled. Oddly, he admired her candor and her easygoing nature.

"That's pretty much it," he said. "I should probably take you home soon," he said noticing the dusk beginning to fall. "Your mother must be getting worried."

They both walked home in silence, George was unsure about this whole thing. Everything was happening so quickly, and he found himself enjoying himself for the first time, really moving on. Yet, Anna represented his future, and he did not know if he could even look towards a future, as he was so trapped in his past. He sighed and stared down at her. She clutched onto his hand at each and every intersection, yet, she had a tendency to want to go before the little white man came up, before the lights had changed, always giggling when he pulled her back. He wanted to laugh alongside her, but it had been so long since he had, he was afraid it would actually hurt too much to laugh.

They finally reached Hermione's apartment, and Anna rushed into her mom's arms before saying a quick goodnight. She stared back at her parents and smiled…parents; it was a nice word to think. She had been excited when her mum started dating Ryan, but she did not know if he was ever right for her. Like most of her boyfriends, he just did not have the intelligence that her mother needed. She smiled and headed into Emma's room.

"Bonjour Emma," she said happily as Emma's head was buried in her books.

"Bonjour Madamoiselle," said Emma, "ça va?"

"Ça va bien! Et vous?"

"Good," said Emma smiling, "You're remembering your French! Now, are you ready for bed?" She asked. Anna nodded.

"I'll take care of myself, just wanted to say hi!" She exclaimed as Emma gave her a tight hug, lifted her up in the air, and then set her back down.

Hermione and George sat down in the family room, George clutching a small mug of coffee, Hermione also clutching a mug of coffee. They both sipped.

"So what's your day been like?" He asked.

"My one off day a week, and I spend the whole day doing patient charts and dictations," she said, pointing to the large pile of manila folders resting on the coffee table.

"All work and no play?" George asked grinning a little.

"Sadly, I'm a very dull boy," said Hermione, smiling.

"Nice, got the reference," he said.

"Well you're the last one that I'd expect to make a muggle film reference, and I'm a muggle…so there," she said.

"Muggle born," he corrected.

"Yeah," said Hermione sadly. "How was your day?" She asked, attempting to throw the both of them into a cheerier mood.

"Great, Anna's great, you—she's—I think," he said.

"And really, there's no pressure on you," said Hermione, placing her small hand on his knee. He looked up at her.

"What?" He asked.

"You can be as involved as you want, I know I sort of sprung this on you and this is rather fast, but in all honesty, how involved you want to be depends entirely on you," she said.

"It is fast," said George, placing his hand on top of hers. They both shuddered for a moment as a small spark ran between their hands. As soon as it did, they both laughed hesitantly for a bit.

"What I'm saying is," he continued, "Although it is fast, not being involved for me is not an option. I grew up with the love of two parents, and I couldn't imagine giving someone who is my flesh and blood any different," he said. Hermione realized the folly in her past actions, and felt guilt bubble up in her even more.

"George," she began.

"What?" He asked.

"Can you ever forgive me?" She asked, tears in her eyes. She felt the familiar sad lump forming in her throat and she looked at him pleadingly. He shook his head and looked down on the rug.

"I don't know Hermione," he said, he stared straight into her eyes, "I mean, being upset with you is not an option, as well, holding a grudge just wouldn't be smart at the moment. But do I forgive you? I guess I do, you've taken care of her so well over the past ten years. Despite being young, you've given her a beautiful and loving life, and she seems like she is a very good, albeit a little mischievous, child," he said with a laugh. "But can I ever trust you again? That I'd have to think about."

"Fair enough," said Hermione. He nodded.

"I would love to see her again, though." He said. Hermione smiled.

"Well she's back in school for another three weeks or so, and then its winter vacation, so any weekend, just let me know and come on by and you can spend as much time with her as you want. I just want to make sure she's doing all of her schoolwork," said Hermione with a grin. George nodded, standing up and heading over to the coat closet.

"Thank you," he said, "for everything that you've done. Not everyone has the courage that you do, nor do they have the maturity at such a young age to take on such tremendous responsibility," he smiled. Hermione cocked her head to the side.

"When did you get so mature?" She asked. George shrugged as he hung his scarf from the back of his neck.

"I don't know," he said with a grim expression, "I guess I just realized that everyone around me had grown up, and that I needed to be my own man."

"What does that even mean?" Hermione asked.

"It was just the only option," said George. Hermione opened the door for him, and he walked out into the hallway. He exited the apartment and then walked down the steps of the brownstone and looked up into the sky as a few flakes of snow began to fall upon the dark pavement.

"Great," he said to himself, "Just bloody great."

As the weeks went by before Christmas rolled around, George started reviewing more and more the sale techniques and the overall prices that he could approve or disapprove. The toys were beginning to sell a lot faster now as the bottoms of trees had to now be filled with wrapped boxes. He started a gift-wrapping service, done entirely by freed house elves, they were paid and people were delighted to get their presents from actual elves. He had been going over to Hermione's up to three times a week.

This timing was perfect as their nanny had final exams to get to and was busy all the time studying, so George would take the day off fairly early, pick Anna up from school and spend the rest of they day with her a few times a week so that Emma could study.

"Race you to the door," said Anna one day as they were both walking home. He was holding a cup of coffee, and she was drinking some hot chocolate.

"Oh, you're on," he said; throwing his disposable cup into the trash-can he passed.

"Eat my dust," said Anna doing the same, and then taking off down the block. George shook his head and ran, following her closely.

"I'm going to beat you," he exclaimed. They both irked the people walking by, shouting clichéd phrases such as:

"Well excuse you!" and "Excuse me!"

But they did not really care about that. They were both wrapped up in their own little world. George felt himself reliving his childhood once more through her, he saw a lot of Hermione in her looks, but behavior, somehow mysteriously that belonged to him. In fact, with her mother's intelligence and his penchant of breaking the rules, she was actually closer to—his twin brother. He stopped in his tracks as she scampered up the steps.

"Hurry up!" She exclaimed, "You're losing!"

"I'm old!" George complained pointing to his hip, "I'm falling apart." Anna rolled her eyes and placed her hand on her hips as she sighed. She pulled a house key out of her pocket, tapped the magnetic key to the reader on the side.

The lights were completely out in the apartment as they walked inside, he spotted a still form lying on the couch, white lab coat still on. He smiled as Anna knelt by her mum.

"Mom, we're home," she said whispering into Hermione's ear. Hermione cracked her eyes open and sat up.

"Hey," she said to George. George smiled.

"Hey," he said.

"Did you guys have fun?" She asked. Anna nodded.

"Yeah, we went to Rockefeller Center and ice skated for a bit and then got coffee," said Anna.

"Coffee?" Hermione asked raising her eyebrows and shooting a pointed look towards George.

"Anna," he said warningly.

"Fine, he had coffee, I had hot chocolate, but seriously mom, it would not be a big deal if I had coffee," she said precociously. Hermione raised her eyebrow and looked at Anna sternly. Anna smiled.

"Well I'm off to bed, goodnight mom," she said kissing her mom on the cheek. She looked over at George, "Good night dad," she said hugging him tightly. George's expression suddenly changed from slightly smirking to pensive and thoughtful, she had never called him dad before, she usually stayed away from anything that directly named him. He smiled and hugged her back, lifting her up in the air quickly. Anna giggled and then ran into her room.

"Dad," said Hermione with a slight smirk.

"Yup," said George, "So I'm guessing she likes me." He said with a smile. Hermione nodded.

"I'm guessing she does," she said. "Can I get you something to drink?" She asked, "I mean I know you just had coffee, but I can brew up some tea?" She rubbed her eyes.

"No, I didn't mean to wake you, plus you look really tired so if you're going to go to bed soon…"

"I still have like four more dictations to do," she said, "Plus, I'm applying for a cardiothoracic fellowship next year, so I have to write a bunch of essays as to why I'm the perfect candidate," she said, "So I'm probably never going to sleep…but I'd love it if you'd stay and help me procrastinate."

"Wow," said George, "And I thought I had it tough." He smiled.

They both ended up chatting for hours, Hermione was finally unencumbered by secrets and tiptoeing around lines, and George finally began to crack a smile, his tired face showing a positive emotion for a change. After coffee they switched to wine, and pretty soon were just cracking up hysterically. They realized it was late and George silently cast a muffliato charm, so that they could talk more into the night.

"So Lavender and Adam? And Parvati and Ron? Wow, Harry and Ginny seem to be the only people who are still with who we thought they'd be with eleven years ago," said Hermione, now drinking her third glass. George sat on the floor, by the coffee table and he poured more wine into his glass.

"Yeah, hillarourous," he said slurring his speech, "hilla…I can't talk!" He exclaimed. Hermione began to giggle. And then her giggles broke out into laughs as she lay back on the couch.

"And I'm a muggle!" She exclaimed, "Who woulda thunk," she said.

"Thunk?" George asked.

"It's an expression," Hermione said moving down to sit on the floor beside him.

"How did we get here?" George asked, staring at the small Christmas tree in the corner. Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know," she said.

"Why'd you run away?" He asked. She stared at him, realizing they hadn't actually had this conversation yet.

"I told you," she said, staring down at her knees, "I didn't want to get in the way of you and Ron."

"Bollocks," he said, "You were like, the closest friend our family had besides Harry, both of us would have found a way to work it out. Maybe Ron would have been mad, but he'd always make up with you, you know him, he cared about you outside of the relationship." George said. He picked up the bottle of wine and tried to pour more into his glass, a little bit poured in, and then a few drops trickled out. He looked disappointed.

"I guess I was also afraid to admit—never mind," said Hermione.

"Admit what?" George asked, turning towards her. She stared down at her legs.

"Nothing," she said.

"Herminone," he began, and then scrunched his eyebrows, "Her-mi-ow-niney," he worded out, "Hermione," he finally said settling on the right one. "This may be our third or fourth bottle, but I'm not afraid to pull out more if it makes you less scared to tell me the truth!" He exclaimed. Hermione smiled.

"I guess I was scared at how much I liked you," she blurted out.

"Wow," said George. "You liked me?" He asked.

"Yeah, but that was all in the past," Hermione corrected. She automatically kicked herself for thinking that.

"Oh," said George. He glanced over at the digital clock that now read 3:45 am.

"Wow," said Hermione, "It's really late."

"Yeah, I should probably get home," said George.

"Yeah, you should." She said. "Unless you just want to camp out on the sofa bed, I mean I don't mind, and you shouldn't walk home. And tomorrow's Saturday, we can get breakfast if you want to. I'm pretty much off this week," said Hermione.

"That would be great, since I currently don't know which way home is," George said. Hermione laughed.

"Let me run and grab you some sheets," said Hermione. George nodded. Hermione came back a few seconds later, arms full with all of her sheets and things, and she moved the coffee table aside. She then pulled the cushions aside and revealed where to pull to bring out the bed part of the sofa-bed. She tried pulling several times, but alas, it did not budge, so she employed the help of George. They both stumbled around as they both attempted to pull out the bed that was underneath. Finally, with one last tug, the bed came out and they both fell on top of it in a heap, George on top of Hermione.

He stared down into her eyes, and she stared back into his. For a few moments, the lines that had developed on their faces erased, and they were back to ten years ago, moments in the lake house coming back to them, and he leaned in to kiss her.

(A/N) OH NO! Yeah sorry it's been so long, life is busy and all that shpiel, only like two or three more chapters left, and then an epilogue. Thanks for bearing with me! 3 I love you allllllll, please review.