SECOND CHANCES 15

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

Sydney-Australia

The flights had taken longer and been more arduous than she had ever expected them to be. She had been torn between trying not to throw up or go rush off to the bathroom every few minutes and keep Ron from going mental on her. Turbulence was anything but Ron's friend. He had said more than a few times that if he were on his broom then it wouldn't be a problem. Ginny looked remarkably calm however upon closer inspection Hermione had seen the redhead's hands tightly clenched onto the armrests several times with her knuckles turning white. Harry had seemed more at ease however even he had done everything in his power to keep himself from looking out of the window. Thankful that they had not all been seated together, with Ron and Hermione together on one side of the plan and Harry and Ginny across the aisle together on the other side, it had given her a chance to think.

A chance to think about both what she would say to her parents after their memories had been restored and to wonder if she would be able to do more than dissolve into a puddle of blubbering when she was finally able to hold Henry again. Every time that she thought of her son her eyes would well up with more than their fair share of tears and she'd had to turn away and take several moments to compose herself again. Thoughts of how to tell Harry and Ginny everything and what their reactions might be had consumed the rest of the flights. Ron had helped as much as he could but she could tell that he wasn't having any better luck in that department than she was. Ron had joked under his breath that however they tell Harry and Ginny about Henry and everything that they should take their wands away first, otherwise things could turn ugly in a heartbeat.

"I thought that you said that Australia was warm," Ron grumbled impatiently as they watched the taxi speed away from them, leaving the four standing on the sidewalk that ringed a large enough park for them to pitch the tent and conceal themselves without drawing attention.

"We're on the other side of the world Ron, the seasons are reversed, so if it's summer in England it's winter here in Australia," Hermione chided him with a slight blush to her cheeks as she saw Harry look around and keep watch as Ginny pulled the tent from her rucksack.

"Bloody weather, never liked the cold," Ron mumbled as he wrapped his arms around himself to keep from pulling Hermione in a hug in an attempt to keep warm before Harry spoke up.

"Come on, this way, we should be safe behind that line of trees, they'll make a good marker so that we can see the boundary of the charms easily," Harry declared as he took the tent from Ginny and then raced off towards the line of trees with a smiling but visibly nervous Ginny in hot pursuit.

"Come on luv, who knows what those two could get up to if left alone for too long," Ron said with a subtle smirk as he started to take a step before Hermione reached out and grabbed his hand, holding him back.

"Oh really, it probably wouldn't be anything that we haven't already done…and more," Hermione remarked with a playful grin before she pulled him down to give him a quick kiss on the lips after she finished talking, all the while keeping an eye on Harry and Ginny so that neither was looking back at them.

"I know, I know," Ron commented with his hands thrown up in defeat as he smiled weakly down at Hermione, who kept her attention more focused on Harry and Ginny than on him.

"But don't worry, as soon as we tell them then all bets are off, we can kiss whenever we want," Hermione replied as she lowered her voice enough so that there was no chance for Harry or Ginny to hear them as she leaned in a bit closer to Ron.

"I like that idea," Ron snickered with a daring grin as she could see it in his eyes that he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and kiss her until he remembered that he needed to breathe.

"I thought you might," Hermione started to say with a wink up at him as she started to reach her hands out for him before she was interrupted.

"You two coming or are you going to stand there all day," Ginny interjected loudly as she ducked back around the tree nearest to her and lightly glared over at Ron and Hermione.

"Can I hex her now," Ron mumbled under his breath with a forced smile as he bends down and picks up both of their bags and then takes a step towards the trees.

"Only if I get to hex Harry too," Hermione replied through an impatient scowl sent Ron's way in the hope that Ginny would think that the two of them had just begun to argue rather than finding out the truth.

"Deal," Ron muttered back while grimacing before he cast Ginny a glare that seemed to shut her up before he couldn't help but laugh softly just seconds after his baby sister turned away to help Harry.

"Not exactly the height luxury but it worked," Harry explained with a wave of his hands as he welcomed the other three into the tent moments later after he and Hermione had performed the much needed concealment and shielding charms on the tent.

"I don't see how, I'm surprised that you three didn't go mad living in this thing," Ginny remarked somberly with her nose slightly turned up at the smell of something that had probably long since passed its consume by date.

"Well we weren't exactly going for the creature comforts there dear sister, especially with Harry's cooking," Ron continued with an uncomfortable sigh as he walked over to the beds and set their luggage down next to them, not really being very careful to separate them just yet.

"Nice one mate, remind me to stick your hand in warm water after you fall asleep," Harry grinned darkly at his best friend as he set his hands on his hips and thought about pulling his wand out for a few seconds before Ron whirled around on him.

"You wouldn't," Ron asked while squinting his eyes and glaring right at Harry before Ginny stepped in between them and just stood there grinning.

"No…he wouldn't…but I would," Ginny announced with a devilish look of glee that lit up her eyes before they grew wide when Ron leapt towards her and she barely managed to get behind Harry in time as Ron just missed her with a swipe of his hands.

"You're going to make a terrible aunt for Bill and Fleur's kid," Harry joked with an amused but slightly nervous look to him as he cast a quick glance over his shoulder at his girlfriend while holding his hands out in front of him to try and keep Ron at bay.

"What, is Fleur," Ron wondered aloud, momentarily having had his mind taken off of chasing Ginny, about whether or not she had meant what he thought that she had meant about his sister in law.

"Bloody veela," Hermione grunted out softly under her breath with a less than pleased scowl as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned her head to the side to look anywhere but at Ron. She wasn't sure why she was so upset as ever since appearing suddenly at Shell Cottage she had noticed that Ron had no longer seemed to be under the blonde's spell, though the full effect of that change didn't really hit Hermione until just as Ginny spoke again. For some reason all of the anger that she's suddenly felt for the veela vanished and she felt a bit happy at not being the only one that was pregnant with the next generation of Weasley's.

"Mum told me just before we left that Fleur's pregnant, Bill's really happy about it and all and Mum thinks it's great, I can't wait to be an aunt," Ginny replied with a happy smile and her hands on her hips, with her escape from Ron and hiding behind Harry temporarily forgotten about, as the idea of being an aunt seemed to really appeal to the redhead.

"You'll make a great aunt Ginny, I just know it," Ron agreed with an oddly warm smile that he beamed across the tent at his little sister before he turned back to Hermione and rolled his eyes before giving her a wink, leaving Harry and Ginny to just stare at the pair in confusion.

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Sydney-Australia-Two Hours Later

Her palms were sweating so badly that she was surprised that she could even hold onto the note that held the incantation that would restore her parent's memories. She had copied the words down into several of the books that she had brought with her so that she had ever base covered and had backups for her backups. Ron had been a godsend, helping to keep both Harry and Ginny busy with anything other than what Hermione was doing so that she could go over the words to the spell and the wand movements until she had them down. She knew that she wouldn't get a second chance at it and didn't want to screw up. As she had started to make her way towards the tent opening she wasn't sure which scared her more, the reactions of her parents to getting their memories back or the thought of seeing and holding Henry again. Scenarios of different possibilities had run through her dreams ever since they had found out that her parents had been found. She guessed that she would lose it either way, but she feared that her son would reject her because she would be a stranger to him.

The small park had been chosen by Kingsley because it was not far from the home that Hermione's parents had moved into shortly after arriving in Australia, in fact a short walking distance away. There were also a number of trees and places where they could talk afterwards without being spied upon by just anyone. The trip to the park had been so tense for her that Ron had made sure to sit himself by her side so that he could block Harry and Ginny's anxious looks her way. She'd almost had a heart attack at the sight of her father getting the diaper bag out of the car and had chosen to follow him. When they had figured out where he was headed before he got there Ron had pulled her a short distance away and hidden themselves behind the biggest tree that he could find.

"See Hermione, he's okay, our son is okay," Ron whispered softly to her as he stood over her with one hand on the tree to shield her from Harry and Ginny's view as they had taken a few big steps back and decided to act as lookouts to make sure that no one else was watching them.

"I know Ron…I know, but he's over there and we're…not…," Hermione choked out as she was suddenly finding it a bit difficult to breathe and to think straight as she could almost feel Henry in her arms though they were several feet away.

"He won't be for long luv, then we'll have the rest of our lives to love him and be with him, are you ready," Ron commented softly to her with as supportive of a tone of voice as he could manage given his own garble of emotions at being so close to his son and not being able to hold him but at the same time knowing that he needed to support Hermione, though he wasn't completely sure exactly how to do that.

"Nnh…I think so, I just need a little bit of time to…no," Hermione nodded back as she slid her wand from her back pocket easily enough but then found it almost impossible to hold onto it since her hand suddenly started to shake so much.

"What is it, what's wrong," Ron asked softly in a very alarmed tone of voice as he felt Hermione shudder noticeably against him and he had to dig his fingernails into the palm of his hand to keep from encircling her in his arms right there and then.

"He's going to cry…," Hermione pointed out through her tears as she leaned her shoulder up against the tree and reached out with her hand that wasn't holding her wand as if she were reaching for Henry.

"So…little kids cry Hermione, I'm sure that he's fine," Ron interjected a bit with an irritated tone to his words, though he wasn't actually angry at any one person in particular but rather the situation in general and the fact that he and Hermione especially had to endure this after everything that they had already been through.

"But my mum…she…not me, I should…I should Ron…it should be me," Hermione did her best to actually get the words out as her heart clenched in her chest and she expected that it was the same pain that someone with a heart attack would be feeling as her mouth went instantly dry and her breath then caught in her throat as she felt more than a bit lightheaded.

"It will be, just go over there and do the spell, I'll get Henry," Ron continued in earnest as he tried to sound confidant for her and himself as he could feel his own eyes getting wet with unshed tears and only what he expected to happen to Hermione next kept him from rushing forward and taking his son into his arms regardless of the consequences.

"Ron…I can't…he's…Henry he's…I should be…I can't," Hermione chattered softly as her mind seemingly froze on the spot and it felt like her entire body felt each and every beat of her heart and her knees suddenly turned to jelly and she could feel herself starting to fall forward.

"Hermione…HERMIONE," Ron started to ask softly with a very worried tone to his words before he shouted her name and just lead with his heart and pulled her into his arms with her face finding his chest like it had many times before and he could already feel the front of his shirt getting wet from her tears. He didn't even look up when her mother looked over at them and pulled Henry close, probably thinking that there was something wrong with him. Seconds later she picked Henry up and hurried away with Hermione's father just as Harry and Ginny came running up, with both eyeing first her parents and Henry and then Ron and Hermione.

"Ron…what is it, what's wrong," Harry wondered out loud, softly at first before his tone grew louder and more serious and confused, as he got to their side and was perplexed at the sight of a crying Ron holding an almost inconsolable Hermione in his arms and looking like she was his only concern in the world.

"Hermione…Ron, what's wrong, why didn't she do the spell," Ginny begged with her voice full of panic and fear as tears filled her own eyes as it broke her heart to see them being so hurt and not knowing what was going on or how to help them.

"Not now Ginny…Hermione," Ron exclaimed as loudly as his throat would allow as he guided Hermione down to the ground until he was sitting with his back up against the tree and Hermione nestled onto his lap, with her still soaking the front of his shirt with her tears.

"A son…Hermione, you never told me that you had a baby brother," Harry observed with an odd look to him as he looked back and forth between Ron and Hermione and Ginny, who wiped away a tear before Ron cut in.

"Shut up Harry," Ron snapped angrily as he cast Harry a glare that would have killed had he been a basilisk instead of human before he ignored anything and everyone else and just focused entirely on a sobbing Hermione in his arms.

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Sydney-Australia-The Small Park-A Nearby Bench

It had taken her some time to compose herself and wipe away enough tears so that she could even see straight. Ron had never left her side the entire time, holding her close and keeping her from falling to the ground again as he just stood there and loved her. Harry and Ginny had stood nearby looking completely confused and as worried and scared as either had ever been. It wasn't until her sobs had mostly ceased that Ron head lead her to the nearest bench and sat her down, kissing the top of her head before sitting down beside her and trying to help her relax a little. Seconds later Ginny sat down next to Hermione and got as close as she dared before she laid a concerned hand on the brunette's shoulder. It was several minutes before any of them summoned up the courage to speak.

"Hermione…are you okay," Ginny asked softly with a very worried look in her eyes as she moved around to try and get a look at Hermione's face so that she could try to figure out what was going on from her expression.

"Does she bloody well look okay to you," Ron shot back angrily as he lifted his head up from hers and glared across Hermione at his little sister, almost silently daring her to speak up.

"Hey, she's confused and scared, we both are," Harry growled as he started to get up out of his seat and clench one of his hands into a fist before Ginny put a hand on his thigh and gave it a hard and painful squeeze.

"S…sorry, I'm sorry," Hermione mumbled out softly with her voice full of sadness, regret, and pain as she struggled to lift her head up off of Ron's shoulder and try to look over at Harry and Ginny.

"Don't be luv, you have nothing to be sorry about," Ron supportively whispered back as he sounded like he was trying his very best to keep from joining Hermione in her tears.

"What is going on here, why didn't you tell us that you had a brother," Harry wondered quickly as he hoped to take advantage of Ron's momentary change in the object of his attention to get a word in edgewise.

"Maybe she didn't know, he did look pretty young," Ginny offered up immediately afterward as she reached out and took one of Hermione's hands in her own and gave it a supportive squeeze.

"Not now Ginny," Ron cautioned softly with the glare still in his eyes before he bit his lip to keep his emotions in check and had to then suddenly look away to calm himself.

"N…no Ron, it's okay…Henry isn't my brother Harry, not at all," Hermione stammered out with a pleading look in her eyes for Harry to understand it all with her having to say the least amount of words possible.

"And her mum and dad didn't kidnap anybody's kid either," Ron added quickly before Harry or Ginny could ask another question as he then gave Hermione another kiss on the top of her head.

"But then where'd…hey wait, how'd you know his name," Ginny started to question while scrunching up her face in deep thought before a problem came into her mind and she gave voice to it.

"Because…," Ron tried to answer before he suddenly found that it was hard for him to actually get the words out and he looked first to Harry, as if he could somehow help explain the situation, before his gaze fell down onto Hermione who smiled weakly up at him before she opened her mouth.

"Because as his parents it was our responsibility and right to name him," Hermione stated with such a tone of pride and joy, complete with her eyes beaming, that Harry and Ginny couldn't help but smile back and be happy for them.

"Oh that explains it all…wait, what," Harry merrily replied at first with a broad easy smile before that all changed in a heartbeat as he tried to shake the confusion out of his head, but it didn't work.

"Henry Arthur Weasley, nice name huh," Ron proudly announced with a grin from ear to ear that was mirrored mostly by the one that graced Hermione's lips as she suddenly looked much happier than she had in months.

"Weasley…but how…when…huh," Ginny sputtered as she sat up straight in her seat and edged a bit closer to Hermione as she was then silently demanding that they tell her right there and then and not to wait another minute.

"Well Ginevra, when two people love each other very much…," Ron jokingly interjected with a fair twinkle in his eyes as he winked heartily at his little sister before she first rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh sod off already," Ginny grouched back, but Hermione could see that the corners of her mouth were curled up ever so slightly into the beginnings of a smile, before she had to glance away to try and have her weak grin not be noticed.

"Your…you mean that he's…," Harry blurted out loud as he sat up ramrod straight in his seat and unintentionally laid his right hand on Ginny's knee, something that Ron didn't notice as he was focused so much on Hermione and how she was doing at that moment.

"Our son, yes Harry, Ron is his father and I am his mother, so we named him Henry after my father and Arthur after Ron and Ginny's father," Hermione did her best in her reply to answer as calmly as she could even though her heart was racing a mile a minute and her stomach was doing somersaults and her mouth was dry though she could feel Ron's arm around her and that gave her strength.

"But I don't remember you being pregnant Hermione, I'd like to think that I would have noticed that," Harry countered in a bit of a huff as he was upset that he hadn't been told about the baby but was trying to keep his anger in check so that he could find out more without starting a fight.

"Thanks to a charm that Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore gave me that I had to wear all of the time unless we literally ran into each other or you hugged me you never would have known any differently," Hermione answered with an appreciative tone to her words as she laid her hands over her stomach protectively and first smile up at Ron before turning that happy expression towards Harry and Ginny.

"But how, last I knew you two weren't exactly dating…and now you have a kid," Ginny spat out with a confused frown as she kept looking back and forth between Ron and Hermione as if she expected their expressions alone to give her an answer to her question.

"Well…actually we've been dating for like two years," Ron remarked with a proud but nervous grin as he reached his free hand up and scratched the back of his head a bit sheepishly.

"Two years…but why didn't you tell us, I'm your best friend…or at least I thought that I was," Harry shot back with a look of surprise as he struggled through his memories to try to figure out if there had been clues about the pair that he had missed but upon first glance he was having trouble remembering any.

"We're best friends too…and I'm your sister," Ginny added with a soft poke to Hermione's shoulder before frowning darkly and glaring over at Ron, who could only weakly smile in response.

"We know Harry…Ginny, but when it happened Harry it was still so new for us…and then Sirius died and we didn't think that you'd be in any mood to be happy about anything, and then later on when I found out I was pregnant and how things were going…," Hermione started to reply as she leaned back up against Ron and tried to smile but given that what she was talking about was not anything happy she couldn't help but frown and look sad before Ron cut in.

"Having it be public knowledge that we had a kid would have made us even bigger targets than we already were, and then Dumbledore died and Hermione had to send her parents away, so we sent Henry with them, the Death Eaters wouldn't be looking for a couple with a young boy," Ron added quickly with a clear look to him that had Harry thinking that he wasn't happy about having to send his son away but glad that he had after their trip to find and destroy the horcrux's had been so perilous.

"But why haven't you said anything since the battle," Harry countered slowly as he couldn't think of a valid reason that he hadn't been told anything in the months since Voldemort had been defeated given that there hadn't been that much else for them to do during that time.

"Because Harry, if certain people knew then we'd be in trouble and we wouldn't be here now because she never would have allowed us to leave the Burrow let alone England," Ron awkwardly replied, as Harry found it odd why Ron would appear like he'd done something very wrong and was afraid of telling the truth about it, though the bespectacled young man couldn't figure out who that person was.

"He means mum…wait, you haven't told mum and dad," Ginny laughed off with a highly amused smirk on her face though Harry could tell by how rigid she had suddenly become that she would feel exactly the same as Ron and Hermione did were she in their situation.

"Nope, we thought that it would be better…," Hermione started to try to explain with a pained frown before her words seemed to fail her and she turned to Ron and laid her head on his shoulder.

"And safer," Ron added after a few brief silent moments passed between the two of them and he spoke with no small amount of uncertainty and fear in his voice.

"Yes Ron…safer, safer for us both if we didn't tell your parents until we had restored my parents memories as they already knew all about Henry and brought them home, that way your mum would be so thrilled to meet Henry that she wouldn't dare do anything," Hermione commented in agreement before she started to get up off of the bench but didn't seem to have the strength for it and offered no argument as Ron gently pulled her down onto his lap and wrapped his arms protectively around her.

"I still don't get why…," Ginny asked softly after staring at the two for several moments, as if beyond thrilled to see them that close but still unaccustomed to it quite yet before she got an answer to her question.

"Well pretty much everyone that knew about us died not to long afterwards…Sirius, Dumbledore, Lupin, Tonks," Ron explained slowly as he again looked like it was his fault that some of their friends and loved ones were dead even though Harry nor Ginny felt that way in the least.

"But what about Fleur, she's pregnant and all and…wait…I'm already an aunt," Ginny spoke up as she asked the question that suddenly entered her mind before the reality of the situation struck her and happy thoughts flooded her mind.

"Yes you are, you have a nephew…and in another five months or so there'll be more," Hermione happily agreed with the first real smile on her face that Harry and Ginny had seen all day and they were both glad to see it as she seemed to be regaining both her strength and her composure as they looked on.

"Hermione's pregnant…," Ron explained before Hermione could looking quite pleased with himself as one of his hands found its way to cover as much of her stomach as it could before her leaned his head down and placed another kiss on the top of her head, to which she smiled back in reply.

"No…you sure it's not just that you've been eating so much and…bloody hell, it all makes sense now," Ginny weakly tried to object with a nervous smile before everything clicked in her head and she felt very much the fool for not noticing it all far sooner.

"I have been eating a lot that's true…but then again I am eating for four you know," Hermione sheepishly acknowledged with a shaky little smile before she finally admitted the truth to someone besides Ron.

"Yeah that works but…wait…blimey," Harry replied with a slow nodding of his head and half-hearted grin before reality dawned on him and his eyes grew wide for a few moments at the end, knowing instantly that everything was about to change for all of them.

END OF CHAPTER 15

Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing this and the other chapters. As always reviews, comments, and questions are greatly appreciated. The bit at the beginning is just them setting up camp and Ginny realizing that they didn't have it very good on the horcrux hunt with a little bit of humor for the group. Later on Hermione sees Henry and her parents but then when he cries and her mother comforts him instead of Hermione she just loses it for a bit at not being able to be the mother that she wants to be. While bookwork and all is very important to Hermione to me her family would also be terribly important to her. She just wasn't ready to see Henry and her parents and all of that, leaving Ron to try to console her as even he's not exactly ready for it either and can't really offer much except to support her as he tries to keep his own emotions in check, which he's not terribly good at doing. The latter two parts of this chapter are parts that I've thought about since this whole story started and I hope that I did them well. At the end Ron and Hermione have to try to explain it all to Harry and Ginny, which will continue in the next chapter before the reunion finally happens. This story will probably go past chapter twenty one with all of the epilogues that I have planned and those epilogues will have some fun and excitement and surprises in them, not that the remaining chapter before them won't have them. Thank You.