SECOND CHANCES 7

Author's Note: I don't own any of the characters.

Hogwarts-Room Of Requirement

To say that she'd had the rug pulled out from under her would be an understatement. Ron was still at her side and showed no signs of going anywhere. His arms around her and the palm of his right hand resting comfortably over her stomach, almost as if to protect the unborn child. Her hands rested over top of his and for a time she hated herself that she had been far more worried about the health and wellbeing of her son rather than Harry. She knew that Harry must be hurting so badly right then but something that she hadn't quite put her finger on kept her rooted to that coach with Ron. Being nine months pregnant and probably only days away from giving birth left her little room for comfort or patience. She knew that Ron could feel it to as he had become very overprotective of her and had resorted to glaring at anyone that came anywhere near her and helping her through every door and portrait hole. She had tried to act angry at it all but given her new increased mass and how she got tired easily in truth she was glad for the help and made things just a little easier on her.

She felt that her life had been stolen from her long before the baby, though she didn't blame anyone close to her for it. It wasn't her fault that an evil dark wizard was trying to kill one of her best friends and by association her. She had tried to sit down and think of ways that she could help Harry in the fight but after hitting her ninth month of pregnancy the only thing that could really occupy her thoughts was her future son. Thinking about how she was going to explain everything to her parents while at the same time trying to keep her father from killing Ron over it were two topics that just made her head hurt the more that she thought about them. She knew that her time to figure it all out was running out fast and that come hell or high water Ron wasn't going to back down or be anywhere but at her side however she didn't want things between he and her father to be any worse than they had to be given the circumstances. Ron seemed to understand the battle that was waging in her mind and had kept quiet for much of the time, giving her the physical comfort and contact from him that she needed but not pressing matters on either front. She knew that the key to winning her father over was to make nice with her mother, and the hope that as soon as the baby was born he would help them out in that department as well.

More than once during the funeral the following day she had almost been forced to get up and hurry away for fear that the baby was coming. Her worst fear was not that she or Ron would cry or that she'd ruin her makeup. No, her worst fear for that day was that she would go into labor right in the middle of the ceremony and their secret would be revealed to any and all. It was all that she could do to get through the day by holding onto Ron for dear life as the sobs wracked her body. She was secretly glad that she wasn't the only one shedding tears that day between herself and Ron as it made her feel that much closer to him, though if she looked back on it she could wonder if it was more the hormones than anything else for that impression. They had an agreement with both Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall that if her water did break during the funeral or anything else happened that might be connected to her pregnancy that they would usher her out quickly and whisk her off to the Hospital Wing as quickly as they could. Luckily the only pain that she felt during the funeral was for Harry and Dumbledore.

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England-King's Cross Station

The train ride back to King's Cross station had been planned right down to the almost second. Due in no small part to the fact that as big as she was Hermione knew it would be difficult if not outright impossible to get through the many corridors without being discovered. Luckily the prefect compartment of the train had its own door and bathroom that was just big enough for Hermione to use without raising anyone's interest. To cover the ruse Ron had slipped back to the compartment that Harry and Ginny had chosen to sit in along with Neville and Luna and done his best to assuage their curiosity. He'd told them the lie that Hermione was discussing house elf rights with the head boy and girl and luckily it was a lie that Ginny and Harry both readily accepted.

After arriving back at King's Cross station Hermione and Ron had held back and waited until they had said their goodbye's to Harry and then Ron's family, as he had owled his mother weeks earlier to get permission to spend part of the summer at Hermione's house. Professor McGonagall had written ahead to Hermione's parents to let them know that she would be accompanying their daughter back home rather than them needing to pick her up at the station. They had been about to leave the station when Ron pulled Hermione aside and into one of the small waiting rooms, shutting and locking the door behind him.

"Ron…what are you doing, we have to go," Hermione commented with a worried and scared look as Ron guided her down into the most comfortable looking seat that he could find before he sat down next to her.

"I know…believe me I know, I'm not looking forward to my execution when your dad finds out about…us, but I just had to talk to you before we got there, in case I don't get a chance later," Ron nervously shrugged with an anxious smile as he took her hands in his and let out a shaky breath as she turned her head to face him.

"Ron, my father will be angry true…but he won't try to kill you," Hermione replied softly with what she hoped was a soothing and supportive tone of voice as she could understand where Ron was coming from but hoped that her words were true and that he was just overreacting.

"You say that now luv, but us showing up like this with you about to pop and me being very happy about it certainly is not very likely to them loving me right away," Ron fearfully countered with a scared laugh as he scooted a bit closer to her and took one hand off of hers and looped it around her shoulders, pulling them closer until their lips met in a brief kiss.

"It doesn't matter, I'm carrying your child…whether my parents like it or not there's no splitting us up now, especially once we help Harry defeat you know who and our son gets some little brothers and sisters," Hermione shot back with a very calm but determined edge in her words as she kept her forehead against his and looked him right in the eye until the image blurred a bit, all the while reaching her free hand up to grab the front of his shirt and clench said hand into a fist.

"Thinking that far ahead then are we, let's just hope that we're both there to see that," Ron joked with an amused smirk in between a short stint of more kisses shared between the two, leaving anyone that would see them thinking that the two would rather continue kissing for the rest of their lives than do anything else.

"That's the idea, don't worry Ron, once the baby is born my mum will love you and that'll be all there is to it," Hermione snickered softly before she pulled her hands back to her stomach and looked straight down at it with all of the love that she could summon, almost willing her words to become reality before her very eyes.

"Good…I just didn't want to miss my chance," Ron let out after a deep breath and a wary smile as he reached a hand up and wiped his brow, appearing almost as if he were at the end of a hard time and glad to finally be sitting down and done with his work.

"Your chance, for what," Hermione wondered aloud with a curious scrunching up of her face as she needed Ron's help to adjust her seat in the chair and try to get a bit more comfortable as Professor McGonagall took up a position just outside of the door to guard it. She could have come charging in to interrupt but felt that the two needed a few moments to take a breath and prepare themselves for what was to come in meeting her parents and breaking the news to them.

"To tell you that I love you," Ron stated calmly and without any amount of reservation or uncertainty as he put his hands on her cheeks and made her look him right in the eye before just as she answered him she saw a couple of tears slide down his cheeks.

"I love you to Ron, and I always will, but we really should be going…it we wait too long my parents will get upset and that's the last thing that we want before we tell them the good news," Hermione admitted back just as calmly and just as certain as she reached up and laid her hands over top of his and did her best to smile at him before she couldn't help but shed a few tears herself.

"Your good news, me…bad news, meeting me as your boyfriend is one thing, but this," Ron sheepishly as he thought out loud before he reluctantly stood back up and had to brace himself to pull Hermione up to her feet without falling flat on his backside or having them both tumble to the floor with her on top of him.

"Will happen regardless of whether we procrastinate or not Ron, we just have to face it and make it clear to them that there's nothing that they can do about it so they just have to accept it, just er…try not to act to proud of yourself," Hermione finished for him softly with a tired smile as she lightly patted her stomach a couple of times before she began to rub it and momentarily looked to be in a little bit of pain before it passed.

"What, when have I ever done that," Ron demanded looking quite fake hurt as he leaned back and tried to scowl but couldn't fully keep up the joke and a slight grin betrayed his true feelings as Hermione fought back the urge to laugh at it all, as she knew that he loved to hear her laugh.

"Well let me see, when I told you that I was pregnant you wouldn't stop grinning for like a bloody month," Hermione recalled with a slight tapping of her index finger on her bottom lip as she made a grand point of remembering Ron's actions right after she had told him that she was pregnant, though it was all in good fun.

"And that's a bad thing why," Ron wondered aloud with a curious frown as he slid his arms fully around Hermione and pulled her into as tight of an embrace as he could given how far along she was and trying not to cause her any more discomfort than being nine months pregnant was causing her.

"Because well…okay it's not a bad thing to be happy about but…when we're trying to keep it all a secret it certainly doesn't help matters any," Hermione replied as she did her best to calmly explain her point of view to Ron while trying to keep a happy smile from ruining the whole thing as she leaned as heavily against Ron as she dared, loving the feeling of his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"I couldn't help myself, but you're right that we'd better go before Professor McGonagall gets mad, we need her on our side for this," Ron begrudgingly relented with a look of somber defeat as he was happy staying right where they were but knew that they had to press on, though he did seem hesitant to release his hold on her.

"Definitely, so ready then," Hermione nodded slowly back with a weary smile as she pulled away just enough so that the two were standing shoulder to shoulder and facing the door.

"Almost, I love you Hermione Jean Granger…so much," Ron surprised Hermione, not with the fact that he loved her as she already knew that very well but his boldness of stating it outright at all of the love that she could feel in those words before he pulled her back into a warm hug and a lingering kiss on her lips that left her rethinking the whole idea of going home just yet.

"I love you to Ronald Bilius Weasley…so much," Hermione chimed in as she threw her whole heart into the words and eagerly replied with an equally strong kiss of her own before they very hesitantly unlocked the door and stepped back out into the public, hand in hand.

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England-The Granger Household

She knew that now there was definitely no more putting it off. It was time for the truth to be revealed. She knew that her mother would cry and her father would be angry, though she hoped that both would temper their emotions for the baby's sake if nothing else. The cab ride from King's Cross station had been an adventure and the three had barely fit into the back with the driver giving them an odd look but Professor McGonagall had given him more than enough money and told him to keep the change so he wasn't big on questions. Getting her out of the cab had been an adventure as Hermione had never realized how small car doors were, though she suspected that most of her trouble had to deal with her being a fair bit bigger than normal. Ron did his best to help her out without making it painfully obvious to everyone the reason for her difficulty. They had agreed that it would be best to not drop the effects of the charm until after they were all inside, less prying eyes and ears that way. She could feel Ron's hand stiffen in her own as they approached the door and both couldn't help but stand watch while Professor McGonagall opened the door, spoke to her parents for a few moments and then ushered them inside. Hermione only got to the doorway before her mother threw her arms around her in a very happy hug, but almost immediately the Granger matriarch took a step back with wide eyes.

"Hermione…what," Mrs. Granger gasped softly with a great look of alarm as her hands went to her mouth, her eyes began to tear up, and she stumbled back a few steps back into the living room, leaving her husband looking around totally confused.

"Er I'll explain everything mum, but not until we're inside," Hermione sheepishly replied through a very embarrassed and fearful blush as she leaned heavily on Ron as he lead her into the living room and helped her to sit down in the first chair that they came to.

"Honey, what are you…bloody hell…what is going on here," Mr. Granger called out from the front doorway as he closed it and then helped his wife into the living room just as Hermione took off the charm and handed it to Professor McGonagall and the truth was revealed. Although she wasn't as big as she had seen some women get before she'd gone to Hogwarts there was no mistaking that she was pregnant, and pretty far along at that, even to the most untrained eye.

"Mr. Granger…Mrs. Granger…uh hi, I don't know if you remember me but," Ron interjected, as by his side Hermione could only smile as she knew that he was trying to choose his words very carefully and be as respectable as possible while all the time wondering how long it would take before they would figure out that he was the father.

"Huh…oh uh yes, you're Hermione's friend…Arthur Weasley's son I think, yes…Arthur's son…well than you for…," Mr. Granger nervously started to stammer with a very flustered and anxious expression as his gaze went back and forth between Ron and Hermione, appearing as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Yeah, his youngest son…look I know this isn't exactly what you expected but," Ron blushed through his answer while he looked very guilty before Hermione bolstered his confidence when she interlaced her fingers with his on the armrest.

"Hermione honey you're…you're…," Mrs. Granger tried to point out with a look that told everyone that she was still having a hard time believing what she was seeing and hoping that she was just going to suddenly wake up and find that it had all been a dream, but nothing was happening.

"Pregnant…uh yeah, surprise," Hermione awkwardly laughed with a half-hearted shrug of her shoulders and a wide grin before she felt Ron's other hand land on her shoulder and give it a supportive squeeze.

"While I am sure that you have many questions and that this is quite a shock there are items that we need to discuss, items of the utmost importance," Professor McGonagall interjected with an eerily calm tone of voice as she stepped into the middle of the room and looked at everyone individually before she crossed to the other chair and sat down, contenting herself to straightening a stack of magazines on the coffee table in front of her before anyone answered her.

"Items, what items, our daughter is sixteen and she's pregnant," Mr. Granger demanded looking thoroughly unconvinced as he seemed to start to want to impose his version of events before Hermione's favorite teacher cut in as if she had noticed nothing at all and was completely at ease.

"Very important items that supersede your daughter being pregnant, I know that this situation is not ideal however we are well past the point of being able to do anything about it even if anyone involved had wanted to…which I am glad to say that none did," Professor McGonagall answered as she smoothed the folds out in her robes like she was sitting in her chair behind her desk without a care in the world rather than arbitrating a meeting of two parents who just found out that their daughter was nine months pregnant.

"No one outside of this room can know that I'm pregnant, absolutely no one…anyone that you tell will be in danger…you're in danger," Hermione explained quickly as she very nearly tripped over every word in an attempt to get her parents to realize how much danger they were all in and why they had to keep it all a secret before Ron gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"What…from that…wizard, Vol…what was his name again," Mr. Granger replied with a start of clear alarm as he looked back and forth from Hermione to his wife and then to Professor McGonagall and finally back to Hermione, wishing that one of them would answer his question and clear things up even more for him.

"Lord Voldemort, and yes he and his Death Eaters are those that you must fear above all others, they will stop at nothing to kill Harry Potter and anyone associated with him, most importantly your daughter and Mr. Weasley here, and in lieu of being able to kill your daughter they will go for those closest to her…meaning her parents, and especially her child if they were to discover that she had one," Professor McGonagall answered him as she leaned back in her chair and politely took her hat off and then smoothed back a few stray hairs before she looked both of Hermione's parents in the eye as she spoke, leaving little to no doubt in either of their minds that she spoke the truth and that there was no way in getting around it.

"So our only option is to not let anyone know that she's pregnant, outside of the obvious of course," Ron finally added softly with as serious and worried tone of voice as Hermione had ever heard him utter, making her shiver a bit even though the room was more than a bit warm, as he gave her hand another squeeze when he was finished speaking.

"But…what about the…father…where is he, why isn't he here," Mrs. Granger cautiously asked with a noticeable hint of anger in her words as she glanced around the room and didn't seem to like the answer that she was getting before Ron stepped up.

"I am," Ron piped up with a both proud and scared silly expression as he raised his free hand and definitively identified himself as being the father of Hermione's child, fully expecting the worst to follow immediately thereafter.

END OF CHAPTER 7

Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing this and the other chapters. As always questions, reviews, and suggestions are always welcome. Hermione's parents are blowing their tops at the start mostly as they're just stunned by both Hermione being pregnant and Professor McGonagall actually going there. I had to think that Hermione being nine months pregnant would make it almost impossible for her to go through the halls of the Hogwarts express easily and the cab from the station was just another way to hide everything. As for the scene at the station I just wanted them to say that they loved each other flat out before the baby came, as they'd already said about as much or so earlier. I didn't give Hermione's parents' names just yet as I will in future chapters at which time I'll explain why but it's a neat reason, at least to me. I've always hated the stories where Ron cheats on Hermione or vice versa or one of them leaves for several years and then shows back up or Hermione just dates someone besides Ron after the 7th book. I don't even read Harry/Hermione or Draco/Hermione pairing stories. Also always wondered what Bill and the others from Shell Cottage told the Weasley's at Aunt Muriel's after the trio left as I doubt that Luna would have kept quiet and such, especially when she showed up with Dean and Ollivander out of the blue. Thank You.