Hermione's Little Secret

"Happy birthday, rugrat!" The Weasley twins hugged their niece as she showed up at the Burrow. In three days she would be entering her first eyar at the school. Everyone wondered where teh time had gone.

"Thanks, Uncle Gred and Uncle Forge! Mum took me to Diagon Alley to pick out new robes and broom! She let me get a broom finally!" Adrianna jumped up into Fred's arms and hugged him. She'd been begging for a broom of her own since she was eight years old, buther mother had told her only after she'd started her Hogwarts career.

"Good going, Rugrat. You know what the two of us got you, right?"

"Well, duh, of course. I'm going to be the envy of all the kids in my house."

"You're going to be the envy of Gryffindor, my girl." George rubbed the girl's curly head and let her go when his wife motioned for him to take of his own six month old twin daughters.

Hermioned listened to the banter and sincerely hoped the girl would be Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. She knew RJ would be a Gryffindor, all the Weasleys were.

"You are not saying any of this in my presence, Fred, George. I've known you long enough to know the futility of trying to stop you from destroying the morals of my daughter. But don't urge her, *please*, to do the same to her schoolmates." Hermione laughed and covered her ears with the palms of her hand as she left the kitchen. She snagged Harry as she headed into the living room.

"Harry, I need to talk to you for a minute. It's important." She whispered near his ear. He nodded and handed Caitlyn off to Ginny, before following her to a secluded spot.

"What's up, know-it-all?"

"Harry, he's back."

"Who?" Harry was completely in the dark. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"The one, remember when I told you I was pregnant for Adrianna? The night Ron proposed?"

"Oh. Oh!" Harry sat down hard on the edge of the sofa and rubbed his no longer cursed scar. It had stopped hurting years before, but the actions was a catharsis for him. "Just ignore him, 'Mione."

"I can't, Harry. I'm going to be seeing him every day." She took a deep breath and decided it was time to give him the full information. "He's the new Potions Instructor, taking over for Severus." She sat on the ottoman and waited for the information to digest. Everyone knew who the new Potions teacher was. It had been on everyone's lips the last time she'd talked to her mother-in-law and Ginny.

"Malfoy? You slept with Malfoy?" Harry fell back against the cushion of the couch, completely dazed. Of all the boys he'd thought might have had sex with his friend, Malfoy hadn't even made the list.

"It was a five minute shag in the third floor corridor while we were doing rounds. He'd said some stuff, pissed me off and my temper was roused. He kissed me and...we did it. I told him to never touch me again and he didn't. He hadn't even talked to me much afterward, especially after Ron and I eloped and we shared my Head Girl suite. We all graduated and I never thought of him again. Until three days ago when he and his daughter showed up to take Severus' place."

"Mione, Rianna doesn't even look like him. You don't need to say anything to him at all. She was Ron's daughter, yours and Rons, not Malfoy's."

"I know, Harry. But, what if he suspects? What if he adds nine months to the night we did it? She was pretty much on schedule, you know."

"He doesn't need to know, Hermione." Harry insisted. "Nothing good will happen if you tell him. Everyone here knows her as Ron's daughter, except you and me. She'd loved here by her entire family. Are you willing to take that away from her because you feel guilty about a 'five minute shag in the third floor corridor?'" Harry got up and knelt in front of his best friend, knowing how hard it was for her to tell him the truth after 11 years. "Did Ron know?"

"You know he didn't, Harry. He said that as long as there was nothing between the...father and me, he was her real father."

"See? Don't do this to Ron, or Rianna, Hermione."

"Hey! What're you two doing in here? Adrianna is ready to open her horde of presents and she can't if her mum and Uncle Harry are in here scheming like in school!" Ginny popped her head around the corner and smiled at her husband and sister-in-law. Harry stood and helped Hermione to her feet.

"Madame Weasley? Your daughter awaits us." He held one arm out to her, reminding her of everything he'd said about Ron and the Weasleys.

"Oh, Grandmum, thank you so much!" Adrianna held up the red and gold sweater and pleated skirt Molly had made for her oldest grandchild. Hermione smiled and shared a look with Harry. They were wondering if she'd even be sorted into Gryffindor at all.

"Well, you are going to be living in the dorms this year. You want to fit in, dearie."

"Yea, and at least the red doesn't clash with your hair, Rianna." George joked and ruffled her dirty blonde curls. Adrianna shied away and started to open the next package. Everyone assumed she was going to be a Gryffindor.

After the presents, the cake and ice cream were passed out, the cousins all headed out into the yard to chase garden gnomes and start a small game of Quiddich. The adults all hung out in the living room. It tore her heart to see Ginny sitting on Harry's lap in the old chair in the corner, his hand lovingly rubbing her stomach. She was only three months along, but she was already glowing. Fleur was with Bill, nursing little Jeannette. George sat on the floor with his head on his wife's knee. Fred and his wife had left earlier. She was close to her due date and was tiring easily. Charlie and Percy were out of the country on business with their families. Arthur and Molly sat in their love seat, cuddling like they had been doing for decades. Their love was still going strong, and had extended to their children and spouses. It brought tears to Hermione's eyes to see the loveglowing so obviously shared, and it made her miss Ron all the more. Stifling a sob, she stood quickly and headed out the kitchen door, down the road to the cemetery where her beloved Ron lay in peace.

"Poor Hermione. I wish she could let go of Ron enough to find love with someone else." Ginny sighed as she watched her friend and sister leave the Burrow. Harry smiled at her and kissed his wife softly.

"Hey, stop accosting our little sister, mate!" Bill joked, throwing a pillow at Harry. George followed his oldest brother's lead, but his wife smacked him on the back of the head.

"Oh, give it up. You know she accosts me more than I her." Harry joked and laughed with Ginny as her brothers covered their ears in protection. Arthur shook his head at their antics.

"Boys, leave Harry alone. And Ginny has a point. It's time for Hermione to live again. It's not natural for her to live as a widow for so long. She's only 30 years old and Ron wouldn't want her to live alone forever."

"Well, considering most of the staff at the school are old enough to be her grandparents' age, I doubt she will find someone there."

"Malfoy starts teaching there this term, remember." Harry reminded them.

"Bloody git." George snarled.

"Malfoy's different from when we were in school. He helped us defeat Voldemort; he helped bring his parents to justice for their crimes. And he has a daughter just a little younger than Adrianna." Harry offered up the facts. After having thought about what Hermione had divulged, he had come up with a slightly sneaky solution. If they could fall in love, Hermione wouldn't be alone any more and Draco could help raise his own daughter without knowing the truth of her paternity. Now to get Madame Granger-Weasley to consider it.

a/n~~~whew! finished typing this section finally. now for the next one lol, while finishing up 'unwanted'. Thanks for all the reviews, everyone. I enjoy reading everyone's take on the stories. until next time, later

marti

ps. keep reviewing...it gives me something to use as incentive when i'm sitting in front of thecomputer and nothing is coming to my brain lol