Disclaimer: All characters and things associated with Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. This writing is for pure entertainment only.

Summary: Sequel to "Law Change Lives". Hermione and Ron are settling into their new roles as parents, but nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

CHAPTER 11

Hermione flowed home with Rose rather quickly from the Burrow, her heart pounding so loud that she could here it in her ears as her mind raced. Could she be pregnant? How would she tell Ron? Could she handle another baby? Did she even want another baby? Rose was certainly enough to handle right now.

"Breath…" Hermione mumbled out loud to herself. She knew she needed to be practical about things. She needed to see if she was even pregnant before she worried about anything else.

"Down!" Rose squirmed in Hermione's arms,

Hermione realized she was still standing in front of the fire, holding an impatient Rose. Her daughter's voice instantly snapped her out of her panic.

"No, Rosie…we are going to go to the store for a little, okay? Mummy needs to pick something up," Hermione told her daughter. She figured it would be best to take a test before she jumped to conclusions, and for some reason, she preferred to take a Muggle pregnancy test this time. Maybe because she knew it wasn't as accurate as a magic one, as if it could buy her time if she was in fact pregnant.

Rose made a face but did not cause a scene when Hermione carried her to the front door and strapped her into her stroller. It took Hermione an extra minute to get Rose in because her hands were shaking.

"Get it together, Hermione…you can handle whatever comes of this." Hermione prep talked herself.

"Yeah!" Rose giggled at Hermione; clearly thinking her mother was talking to her and not really having a clue what Hermione was talking about.

However, Rose's little voice did give Hermione some comfort as she moved out the door and quickly down the street. There was a small drug store on the corner of their block, which Hermione hurried into.

Hermione waved to the old woman at the counter, Mrs. Maple, who owned the store and always gave Rose a lollypop when Hermione brought her in.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley! Little Rose…" Mrs. Maple waved.

Rose giggled and waved back, as if she knew the chubby woman behind the counter was coming around to bring her a lollypop.

"Thanks, Mrs. Maple." Hermione smiled kindly at the old woman as she handed Rose the lollypop.

"Sure thing…can I help you with anything, dear?" Mrs. Maple asked.

"Uh…no I'm all right…" Hermione said uneasily.

"Alright, dear…" Mrs. Maple nodded and moved back to the counter to help another customer.

Hermione then proceeded pushing Rose's carriage down the aisle to find her pregnancy test. She bent over to grab one from the bottom shelf when suddenly she got a chill down her spin as if someone were watching her.

Instantly, Hermione shot straight up and glanced around. She slowly moved her hand to make sure her wand was still in her back pocket, in case she needed to use it.

As Hermione glanced around, however, she noticed nothing unusual. She watched for a few more minutes, scanning outside the windows, her wand still firmly in her hand.

"Ma…" Rose's voice finally broke Hermione's concentration.

Hermione flinched back to her daughter; to her task at hand; to the pregnancy test in her hand. She suddenly remembered why she was in the pharmacy. She quickly pulled the test close to her chest. "Ready to go, Rose?"

Rose clapped as Hermione moved to the counter to pay for the test, all the while her head swirling around, uneasy. She still felt like someone was watching her; like she had felt that day in the park when she had sworn she saw Umbridge.

Ron and Harry sat in Kingsley's office. They both looked filthy and definitely had each gained some additional wounds from their scuffle with Umbridge. Ron was trying his best to wipe the blood for his lip. He didn't need to give Hermione another reason to be worried about his job.

"So explain what happened again…once more." Kingsley asked.

Ron rolled his eyes and Harry sighed in frustration. They had told the story three times already.

"Like we said…we were eating and Umbridge attacked," Ron said simply.

"Umbridge…are you sure?" Kingsley asked the same question he had asked five minute earlier.

"Yes we are sure!" Harry snapped this time.

"Okay…I believe you. We just have more things we need to weigh out now…how to handle this and what it means." Kingsley said.

"It means that we get more people to watch Hermione and Rose and the rest of my family. They are all targets now." Ron said quickly.

Harry nodded quickly in agreement.

"Of course. Not even a question." Kingsley agreed. "Just tell us where they all are."

"Hermione's at home with Rose. My parents should be at the Burrow." Ron said instantly.

"Ginny is at Quidditch Practice." Harry remembered.

"Well, we will have to pull her out of it." Kingsley said.

Harry snorted. "That's not going to happen. She won't give that up for anything."

Ron laughed. He knew his sister well. "That's true."

"Then we will get her an escort. Ron, do you think Hermione will object to staying in the house?" Kingsley asked, already seeming to know the answer to his own question.

"She won't be happy about it, but she will do it if its to protect Rose," Ron knew his wife so well but then remembered something else; something important. "She will still want to have Rosie's birthday…"

"Well, that will be fine, I am sure. You should probably head home to her anyway, explain everything," Kingsley said.

Ron nodded and quickly stood, moving out of Kingsley's office and toward the Ministry exit as fast as he could. He wanted to tell Hermione everything that had happened but he wasn't sure how to do that without scaring her. He hoped he would come up with a plan on his walk home.

Hermione took a deep breath as she held the pregnancy test box in her hand. She knew she had to take it and she had to do it before Ron got home. If she was pregnant she wanted to figure out a way to tell him, and if she wasn't she didn't want to get him worked up for nothing.

She glanced at Rose who was playing with a toy wand on the floor, waving it at her stuffed animals. Hermione sighed; she loved Rose to death but she wasn't sure she was ready to have another baby. Rose was enough at the moment, with everything else going on in her life. Being pregnant, or having another child seemed like far too much work right now. Plus. She knew Ron didn't need the extra stress a new child would bring.

"Well…guess I need to figure this out, Rose…" Hermione sighed.

Rose glanced up at her name but quickly ignored her mother and went back to playing, as if Hermione was hardly there.

Hermione watched Rose for another minute until she was certain Rose wouldn't get up and eave the living room. She then slipped in the bathroom to quickly use the muggle pregnancy test she had bought.

While she waited for the test results, Hermione moved back into the living room and sat on the floor with Rose, who continued to be more interested in her toys then her mother.

Hermione ran her head over Rose's deep red hair. It was almost starting to change to a brown, and Hermione hoped it stopped. She liked Rose having the Weasley red hair.

She wondered, if she were pregnant, if the new baby would have the Weasley hair as well. Or how Rose would handle a new baby. How Ron would handle a new baby. It all seemed like a lot to put on their plates right now. Surely, she wanted more children, but not right away.

"Rose…do you think you could handle a little baby brother or sister?" Hermione asked her daughter.

Rose made a face at Hermione; as if she were trying to understand her mother but then she went back to her toy wand.

"That's what I thought…" Hermione sighed.

"I the babe!" Rose suddenly yelled at Hermione, as if she had thought over what Hermione had said and come to her own conclusion.

Hermione was surprised by Rose's outburst but even more surprised when Rose climbed into Hermione's lap.

"You are my first baby, always…" Hermione kissed the top of Rose's head.

And then Hermione realized the timer was up, and the test would be ready. She took a deep breath and stood, putting Rose on her hip.

The walk to the bathroom seemed ten miles long, and Hermione had to remind herself to keep breathing. By the time she reached the bathroom, she was shaking, and Rose had buried her head into Hermione's neck, trying to snuggle close to her mother as if she could sense something was wrong.

Hermione took a deep breath and then, with her free shaking hand, picked the pregnancy test up and her heart instantly plummeted. It couldn't be right, this wasn't the time or the place for it, but it kept starring up at Hermione as if to taunt her. She was, in fact, pregnant.

Quickly, Hermione tossed the test into the trash, a few tears coming to her eyes. This was not something they needed right now; she and Ron were just able to get by with Rose and the fact that Harry had given them Grimmauld Palce. How could they possibly afford another baby? How would they have time?

How could they be so stupid?

Hermione quickly moved out of the bathroom and placed Rose back on the floor.

"Ma?" Rose called out, as if she could tell something was wrong.

Hermione all but ignored Rose and sat down on the couch, her head in her hands as her mind raced. They had always been so careful with protection. When could this have even happened?

She wracked her brain for a few minutes before she realized that the one time she and Ron had been spontaneous in her office, she had forgotten to cast a spell. One time, and she was pregnant again. A few more tears filled her eyes.

And then, little chubby hands were on Hermione's knees. Hermione moved her head up to see Rose looking up at her with Ron's blue eyes.

"Okay…" Rose put her hand on Hermione's cheek.

Hermione smiled down, despite every emotion wracking her body, and quickly scooped Rose up into her lap. "Mummy is fine, baby…"

"Be happy," Rose said simply.

Hermione laughed a little more. Rose might be a lot of work, but she always knew how to make Hermione feel better.

Hermione sat there for a few more minutes before she heard the front door open. Ron was home. Hermione quickly wiped her tears up. She was not ready to break the news to Ron quite yet. She was still trying to get used to the idea of another baby herself.

"Hermione?" Ron's voice called through the house.

"Living room." Hermione tried her best to sound normal.

Ron quickly rushed into the room and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Hermione and Rose. He was so caught up in his own thoughts he did not notice the redness of Hermione's eyes from her tears.

"We've got a problem…" Ron said, nearly out of breath.

Hermione's face fell. Did Ron already know she was pregnant? How could he have fond that out so soon?

"Wh…what?" Hermione managed out as she held Rose close to her chest.

Rose, who did not know anything was wrong, reached for Ron. "Da…"

"One second, Rosie…" Ron nearly ignored her as he ran a hand through his hair.

Hermione couldn't take it. She had never seen Ron act like this before. It was making her worry. "Ron, what is it?"

"Umbridge…she's back…" Ron said simply.

Hermione felt her stomach drop at Ron's words as she realized she had not been imagining seeing Umbridge or feeling like she was being watched the past few days.