At exactly ten o'clock, Rose found her mother in the garden. "Mum." Rose sobbed out the word.
"Rose? Sweetie? What's wrong?" Hermione looked up worriedly. She ushered her daughter over to the garden swing.
"Mum. ...I'm pregnant."
Hermione gasped. "Oh, Rose! You... really? How?"
Rose took her mother's hand. "Well, I've been dating someone. I was going to tell you, soon."
"And you're... active?" replied Hermione.
"Yes. And we used condoms, like you suggested, so I wouldn't have to take the potion every day. And we were so, so careful." said Rose. She needed her mother to understand; to take her side.
"But?" asked Hermione.
"He's not the father." whispered Rose.
"Oh, sweetheart! ...Were you raped?" asked Hermione. She felt horrible asking the question.
"No. Mum, there was a mistake. My boyfriend said we couldn't that night, but then he came anyway, or I thought he did. And Tayden told her boyfriend she couldn't that night, but he came anyway, and I guess he got the wrong bed." said Rose.
"I don't understand." said Hermione.
"Tayden's boyfriend and I..." Rose trailed off.
"Oh. I'm sorry sweetie. But he didn't have protection either?"
"She takes the potion."
Hermione nodded as she took this in. "Er, you seem awfully upset Rose. Is there something else? Who's Tayden's boyfriend? I promise, your father and I won't be too mad at him, even if it's oh, I don't know. Scorpius say."
Rose blanched. Wow, that had hurt. But it didn't matter anymore.
"Tayden's boyfriend is James." she said softly.
Hermione stared at Rose. Then she ran into the house without saying another word.
Rose sat outside shocked. She had known that there would be a reaction, but she hadn't known what it would be, so she hadn't been able to prepare herself.
Knowing it was time to face her parents, she headed inside to meet her fate.
Hermione was banging around upstairs. "Ron! Ron!" she called frantically, crying. Rose cursed. She had hoped her mother would be able to calm her father, but by the sounds of it her Mum was just going to tell on her.
It took a minute, but her Dad came thundering down the stairs, her Mum following meekly in his wake. Rose was surprised actually; that she had managed to reduce Hermione to that state. Her Mum wasn't tough as nails like Aunt Ginny, but she could usually stand up for herself and put Ron in his place.
"ROSE!" bellowed Ron. "Come on, we are going to your Aunt and Uncle's right now to figure this out." He went over to the fireplace, threw in a huge handful of Floo Powder, and pushed Rose in.
James ran downstairs as fast as he could. No need to anger them further. He arrived to a strange scene. His Dad was giving a Rose a one armed hug, and it looked like he was basically supporting her as well. His other arm was occupied keeping up a shield charm between Ron and Ginny, who looked ready to rip out each other's throats. Hermione was balled up in a corner sobbing.
James quickly took control of the shield charm, allowing his Dad to usher Rose into a chair before going over to Hermione. Harry helped her up and laid her on the sofa. Then he cleared his throat. "Ron, would you attend to your wife please? Ginny, can we just sit and discuss this calmly?"
Ginny glared at him but she took a seat.
"Explain what happened exactly." said Harry.
Slowly, Rose and James each told their side of the story, while Harry shushed the interruptions. "Okay. Obviously, this is a rather strange situation. You both feel like you did, if not all you could, at least all you thought you had to do. So, although it's hard to say that it's your faults, it can't really be anyone else's. But no matter how we look at it, Rose is going to have a baby, and James is going to be a father."
"Exactly," said Ginny. "Which is why we need to treat this like we would any other teen pregnancy."
"You want them to get married?" asked Ron, repulsed.
"No. But they made an adult decision to have sex. Non-withstanding that they didn't choose each other as partners, they need to begin their lives as adults so they can support this baby." replied Ginny.
"Well, that's one idea." said Harry, who seemed determined not to take sides. "Anyone else?"
Rose looked at her parents, and her favourite Aunt and Uncle. They were each reacting differently to this, but the one emotion she seemed to get from all of them was a sort of tiredness. They had already been through so much. This was supposed to be their happily ever after. Rose felt horrible.
"Yes," said Rose. "Aunt Ginny's right. This is our problem. We're grateful for your help and support, but we need to solve this on our own."
James looked stunned.
Harry looked at her. "Are you sure, Rose? I know everyone seems a little tense, but we're here for you."
"No, Rose, you're coming to stay with your mother and me, so you can stay out of trouble. You don't need to be under the influence of this bastard." ordered Ron.
"What did you just call my son?!" shouted Ginny.
"He defiled my daughter!" yelled Ron. "You believe these lies about 'getting the wrong bed?' Yeah right!"
"Ron, if you can't be calm, you need to leave." said Harry firmly.
"Of course he can't be calm. The only one who's allowed to actually do anything sexual is him!" shouted Ginny.
"We're leaving!" replied Ron. He lifted up Hermione and stepped towards the fireplace. "Rose!"
Rose shook her head. "I can't."
"Fine!" shouted Ron. He exited.
Ginny marched over to the kids. "You can stay here tonight Rose. Tomorrow I expect you both to be gone. You're going to be adults, and you're going to start now." She marched away.
"I'm sorry kids. I don't know what's going on." said Harry. "It might be best if you two left while I try to figure things out. You might want to start packing and planning, and I'll give you some money." he followed Ginny out.
Rose and James stood there, unsure of what had just happened, but aware that by tomorrow morning they would both be homeless.
Author's Note: I know these are some pretty strong and possibly somewhat out of character reactions. I hope to explain them properly in due time.