Following Narcissa's advice, Hermione got in touch with Neville and arranged to meet up with him. Rather than meet somewhere public, Neville had suggested Hermione visit his house for tea. Hermione had never been to Neville's before, and while the house itself was slightly old fashioned due to his grandmother's influence, the sprawling gardens were something special. In fact they reminded Hermione of the sort of show gardens she'd seen in picturesque villages while on holiday with her parents. Surrounded by such beauty, Hermione could see how he'd ended up excelling in Herbology.
"This really is a stunning garden," Hermione said as she and Neville sat down at the garden table, which was already playing host to a plate of finger sandwiches, home-made cakes from the local bakery and freshly made lemonade.
"Gran's put a lot of work into it over the years," Neville replied.
"I'm sure you've helped as well," Hermione said, well aware that her friend wouldn't have been able to help himself from partaking in some gardening when he was at home.
"I've done bits and pieces," Neville admitted. "Although to be honest, it still needs quite a lot of work. It's been a bit neglected over the last couple of years. I'm hoping to make a start before I start Professor training in September."
"Professor training?" Hermione remarked with a grin. "That's brilliant, Neville. You'll be an amazing Herbology Professor."
"I hope so," Neville said warily. "Professor Sprout seems to have faith in me."
"Everyone who knows you, has faith in you, Neville," Hermione assured her friend. "The only person who doesn't have faith, is you."
"I am getting there," Neville said. "This last year has proved that I am tougher than I thought, and I can handle more than I thought I could."
"I think this last year has proved that we can all handle more than we think," Hermione said softly. "But sometimes there is a limit as to what we can handle."
"You mean the baby?" Neville asked gently. "Ron told me," he said when Hermione gave him a shocked look.
"Oh," Hermione whispered, wondering if her chance of finding support in Neville had gone now Ron had gotten to him first.
"And you need to know, I do not agree with his stance on the matter," Neville said, reaching across the table and grabbing Hermione's hand. "What happened between you and Harry is your business and no-one else's. I know Ron kept rambling about you betraying Ginny, but as far as I knew, she and Harry weren't together. That was certainly the impression she gave at school, and she most certainly acted single."
"Harry did end things before we went Horcrux hunting," Hermione confirmed. "I honestly don't know if he would have gone back to her if he'd survived as he never mentioned her to me. What happened between us wasn't planned, you know, Neville. I am genuinely sorry that Ginny got hurt by all of this, as that was never my intention, but I didn't set out to seduce Harry like she and Ron seem to think."
"I know you didn't," Neville assured her. "You're not like that, Hermione. What happened, happened, and quite frankly I think the Weasleys are over-reacting. If they cared for Harry as much as they claimed, they would want to be there for you and your baby."
"I've already resigned myself to the fact the Weasleys are no longer going to be part of my life," Hermione sighed. "And I'll understand if you feel that you can't get caught in the middle. If being friends with me is going to harm your friendship with Ron, I can walk away. I don't want to cause trouble for you."
"You will do no such thing," Neville insisted firmly. "You're my friend, Hermione, and nothing will change that. If Ron doesn't like it, then that's his problem."
"Thanks Neville," Hermione said with a small smile. "If only that fixed all my problems. I never thought about having a child so young, but I never would have imagined it would be difficult."
"Tell me about it, maybe I can help," Neville urged.
As they ate the food Neville's gran had provided and drank the lemonade she'd made, Hermione filled Neville in on the problems she was facing. As she regaled Neville with her tales of woe, it made her realise that the Weasleys abandoning her was the least of her worries. She could live without the family of red-heads, and quite honestly she was beginning to think she was better off without them. But that realisation didn't help her with any of the other problems she was facing.
"Wow, I never realised having a child on your own was so difficult," Neville remarked with a low whistle.
"Nor did I," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn't realise it was going to be near impossible. I hate to say this, but I don't know if I can do this, Neville."
"You're Hermione Granger, you can do anything you want," Neville said confidently. "The real question is, do you want this baby?"
"Yes," Hermione replied, not even to have to think about her answer. "I already love the baby, which is why I need to think about giving it up. My child deserves the best life it can get, and I don't know if that will be with me."
"I'm not saying it's going to be easy, in fact it sounds downright hard work," Neville said. "But if anyone can do it, you can. And I'll be here to help in any way I can. I know it's not the same, but at least you've got one person you can rely on."
"Thanks Neville, I don't know what I would do without you," Hermione said, feeling incredibly touched by Neville's support. With the way he was supporting her, it made her feel like anything was possible, including keeping her baby.
...
Tea with Neville changed Hermione's whole attitude, and rather than worry about the problems that lay ahead, she focused on ways to keep her child. More determined than ever that she wasn't giving her child up, Hermione re-started her search for a better job. She was hoping that a better paid job would open up a few more possibilities in the child-care area. In fact, she'd even considered the fact that if she had enough money, she might be able to hire a nanny of some sort.
Sadly Hermione's new search yielded the same results as her initial search. The best playing job, with decent prospects, all expected her to have N.E.W.T qualifications. And the ones who were willing to overlook her lack of qualifications due to the fact she was a war heroine, soon lost interest when they found out she was pregnant. The only offers of work she did get, all came with the same sort of conditions Kingsley had presented her with. Providing she could vouch to return to work after giving birth, and she could guarantee that childcare wouldn't be an issue, a job would be waiting for her. But Hermione couldn't give those sort of guarantees.
Deciding that childcare needed to be her priority, Hermione re-looked into the idea of private care for the child she was carrying. In the end she did find a couple of private firms that offered a nanny service, but they were ridiculously expensive, and one firm simply refused to even meet with her due to the fact she was a muggleborn.
Coming up against nothing but brick walls, Hermione had to totally rethink her ideas and she finally considered going back to the muggle world. It wasn't what she wanted to do as the magical world was now her home, not to mention the fact she'd just fought in a war to help save it, but it was increasingly looking like it was going to be her best option. Of course she wouldn't have any qualifications or family support in the muggle world either, but at least she knew in the muggle world people had children on their own quite often and were able to survive. Maybe it was time she gave up on the idea of giving her child a perfect life, and just settled on giving it a loving life.
Hermione was in the midst of looking into returning to the muggle world when she received an unexpected owl from Narcissa, inviting her to afternoon tea. Remembering the older witch's kindness, Hermione accepted the offer and met up with Narcissa in Diagon Alley.
"I'm so pleased you agreed to come," Narcissa said with a warm smile.
"I wanted to thank you for your kindness the other day," Hermione said. "After our talk, I got in touch with Neville, and he gave me his unwavering support."
"I said your true friends would understand and support you," Narcissa said happily. "I take it you're in a better place than when I last saw you."
"I'm getting there," Hermione replied.
"We can talk properly over tea," Narcissa said. "I thought we could go to this small place in Wiltshire I know. It's only a few miles from the manor, and I used to take Draco there all the time when he was younger."
Hermione was happy to agree to go where Narcissa wanted as aside from the tea-room up in Hogsmeade she didn't know anywhere else that would do afternoon tea. Narcissa's choice was a beautiful country tea-room, and they settled at a table on the patio outside of the tea-room, which overlooked a picturesque swan lake.
Narcissa ordered them an afternoon tea for two, and once the lavish platter of food and drink had arrived, the two witches got to catching up. Rather than bombarding Hermione with questions, Narcissa talked about her own life for a while, speaking about her husband and son before telling Hermione how Snape's progress was coming as Lucius edged nearer to convincing the Ministry to allow him to go abroad to seek specialist help.
"I hope an expert can be persuaded to help," Hermione said. Even though she'd had her issues with Snape during her years at Hogwarts, she thought that deep down he was a decent man, and he certainly didn't deserve to die.
"So do I," Narcissa agreed. "I believe Kingsley is a good man, so I have high hopes that he'll agree to Lucius's request."
"Kingsley is a good man," Hermione confirmed. "If he can, I'm sure he will allow Lucius to do all he can to save Professor Snape."
"It is a shame he couldn't have done more to help you, though," Narcissa pointed out. "I would have thought you would have been an asset to that Ministry, especially given your role in the war."
"What I've learnt is that the wizarding world isn't designed for single mothers, or at least not young ones with no support system and savings," Hermione said with a sigh. "Which is why I'm thinking about returning to the muggle world."
"Returning to the muggle world?" Narcissa gasped in shock. "Without your parents?"
"I don't see I have much choice," Hermione sighed. "I did find a childcare option, but I would have to have an amazing job to afford it. At my age, a job like that isn't likely to appear either. At least in the muggle world, there's better childcare options."
"Isn't that just running away?" Narcissa asked. "I didn't think you Gryffindors backed down from a challenge."
"Now you sound like Neville," Hermione chuckled. "The way he was talking you would think I was a superhero or something. I'm just a normal girl, and right now, the odds are against me."
"Surely the odds were against you in the war, and yet you still fought and triumphed," Narcissa said.
"I guess," Hermione sighed. "And it's not like I really want to leave the wizarding world, especially with my parents being stuck in Australia. But I have to be a realist, Narcissa. I don't have the support to stay in the wizarding world."
"It's just so sad," Narcissa sighed. "You've given so much to our world, and it's just wrong that you feel like you have to leave."
"It is sad," Hermione agreed. "But as I said, it's my only option. But enough of my problems. Surely we can find something more cheerful to talk about."
Happy to oblige, Narcissa changed the subject and they spent the next hour exchanging idle gossip. When it was time to leave, Narcissa insisted on paying, and refused to take even a Knut from Hermione. She then insisted on escorting Hermione home, much to her dismay. However, Narcissa was a force to be reckoned with and Hermione was left with no choice but to allow the older witch to see she got home safely. Sadly, it meant Narcissa saw the small, basic flat Hermione lived in, but she politely didn't comment and instead promised Hermione that they would meet up again soon.