Dealing With the Consequences

Chaper Eight

Harry arrived back home at the Burrow after his second day in the Auror Department at the Ministry. It was fairly early in the night, but all the Weasleys had already eaten. That is, unless Kingsley had decided to keep Ron and Arthur late, but that wasn't very likely. The enticing smell of spaghetti filled the kitchen, a steaming pot of leftovers sat on the stove waiting for him.

Harry placed his rucksack on to an empty chair as he walked over to the pot, which seemed to be calling to him. There was about half of the large pot of spaghetti there, Ron must have eaten. Harry couldn't help but smile, Ron had finally began eating with the family a few nights before. He seemed a lot better lately, and it was obvious that he had calmed down quite a bit. The only outright indication that Ron was hurting, apart from his slowed body language, was his appearance. Harry had yet to see him dressed properly, usually in just a dirty t-shirt and jogging pants. His hair was always messy, and Molly was beginning to fuss, commenting that it very much resembled Harry's unruly hair. But still, he was up, and eating. And Harry had even managed a smile from him a few times in the past few days and at work. It wasn't much, but it was surely a start.

Plate piled high, Harry took his dinner over to the table. He sat next to his bag and kicked off his shoes. Molly would have a fit if she saw his dirty boots laying on the kitcgen floor, so he planned to move them after he ate. He was starved, he hadn't been able to eat all day. He didn't know why, but there was something about his new job that forced away his appetite.

Harry's new job wasn't easy in the slightest. He'd remembered that the head Auror, Edward Hernandez, had told him it would be long and difficult work, but he hadn't any idea what that had meant. First, he had to pass through Auror training, with flying colours. He thought he'd fly through that, but so far, that wasn't happening. The first day hadn't been too bad; he received a tour of the Ministry, exclusively the Auror Department, then they'd gone to lunch. Harry hadn't been able to eat that morning, he was a bundle of nerves. His stomach growled loudly until they were on their way to the cafeteria, and Hernandez said, "We have forty minutes to eat before we begin to assess your abilities, physical, mental, and magical." His apetite diminished right there.

After that, he could no longer eat until he arrived home at eight o'clock. Instead, he chose to indulge himself in nearly a full pot of coffee before his dinner break at four thirty. By his last break, he would be so wired on coffee that he couldn't even sit in the cafeteria due to the smell. He longed for Molly's cooking until the end of his shift, when he Flooed back to the Burrow. After the long fourteen hour shifts, Molly's cooking was a blessing.

Harry devoured his dinner in less than five minutes. He felt full as he stood and placed his plate in the sink. Since his wand was placed inside a secure pocket of his rucksack, he turned on the sink to wash the plate. He hated causing Molly any trouble, and although she assured him that she didn't mind, he always washed his own dishes for himself. Ron had always complained that his mother would love the idea so much she'd impose it on her own children, but she still offered to wash everyone's herself. Harry supposed she just liked helping others, or maybe she craved more things to fill out her day now that everyone else in the house was working or at school. He figured it was probably the latter, but he ignored her persisting.

"Hard day?" Ron asked as he walked into the kitchen. Today he was dressed in suit pants and a maroon polo shirt, no socks. His hair was still messy, so Harry knew he hadn't dressed up for no reason; he'd had to work and had yet to change since arriving home.

"Obviously," Harry said pointedly. "how was yours?"

"Fairly boring," Ron said as he took a seat across from Harry. He slouched over and placed his elbows on the table, and Harry couldn't help but notice his arms had gotten slightly thinner from his lack of physical excercise. The raven haired wizard finished washing his plate and reclaimed his seat to better listen to his friend. "I hate just sitting at a desk and writing all day in a stuffy little office. Did you know that sometimes, when Kingsley has important meetings, they make me fetch the coffee? Do you know how humiliating that is?"

Harry felt for his friend, he really did. But he'd warned him before not to take the first offer he was given unless it was something he really wanted. "Have you thought about taking that alptitude test the Ministry is holding? It could help you find something better."

"I don't know," Ron replied, he sounded skeptical. "How much studying does it involve?"

"I'm not so sure," Harry laughed. "Hermione seems to think she needs to revise everything she's ever learned, but they do types of alptitude tests a lot in Muggle schools. I can't remember every studying for them, but I suppose they could be different here. Then again, you can't really fail an alptitude test."

Ron stayed silent for a moment to consider what his friend had said. He didn't have much time for studying with his current job, and after all, he and Harry both agreed that Hermione tended to go overboard when it came to tests and studying. "You said Hermione's taking it?" he asked.

"I did," Harry told his friend. He hadn't heard Ron say Hermione's name in weeks, perhaps they were making progress.

"In her condition? Doesn't that add extra stress to the baby?"

"Are you telling me you actually have a heart?" Harry replied, a little more coldly than he'd intended. Ron looked hurt, and he automatically felt guilty. "I mean, you have been brooding around for weeks now over something so silly. I know you're not actually okay with what she's going through."

"Look, I know I've been a foul git lately," Ron told him, looking Harry straight in the eyes. "But I've been doing a lot of thinking the whole time I've been up in my room. I have to admit, I didn't actually stay there the whole time, sometimes I like to apparate to a local pub and have a few drinks-"

"Alone?" Harry interupted. He couldn't help it, it hurt. "I could have gone."

"No, I didn't want you to," Ron said bluntly. "You've been behind Hermione one hundred percent this whole way through. Even now, you're taking her side in this when you're suppose to be my best mate-"

"Ron, I-"

"I think it might've started when Hermione and I broke up," Ron ignored the interuption and continued. "You thought it was stupid how I'd gotten upset, so I kept it from her. I acted like everything was fine and I didn't really love her anymore, but I did. I loved her just as I did before, but you lot preferred if I kept it hidden and bottled up inside."

"You never told me you still loved her," Harry defended himself. Ron was trying to find a reason to blame him, but he wasn't going to let it happen. "You asked me what to do when she told you it was wierd and I said that there's really nothing you can do."

"Whatever," Ron brushed him off. He seemed to really want to get it out. "Like I was saying, I'd go to these pubs, and in my state of mind, I'd do a lot of thinking. For a while, I was furious. It felt like Hermione had left me behind for some other bloke, and whenever I tried to get back what I lost, she rejects me. Lately I've just been doing circles in my head, Firewhiskey's not the greatest help for complex thinking like that. But without it, I can't seem to grasp all sides. Bugger, it's messed, but I don't know what else to do."

"Ron," Harry said, looking his friend straight in the eye. "You need to talk to her, tell her how you feel."

"I don't know..." Ron dropped his gaze and chose to stare at the designs on the wooden table.

"Oh come on, she's bloody miserable without you, mate," Harry told him.

"Really?" Ron sounded a little hopeful. Could this actually be working?

"She needs your friendship right now,"

"Oh," he sounded a little defeated. Harry lost hope, it wasn't working. "I'll think about it." And that was the end of the conversation. Ron stood, grabbed himself a Butterbeer from the fridge, and padded out of the kitchen. Harry was left feeling lost, tired, and over all confused. He wasn't sure if Ron's words were sincere or not, but he really felt bad for his old best friend. Had he really been siding with Hermione this whole time?

*

Hermione arrived back at her flat late one. She'd gone to her parents' house for dinner and to tell them all about her last Healer's apointment and to have her birthday dinner with the family.br>


Hermione apparated right into her bedroom, and reinforced the protective wards that she placed upon her flat each night before bed. She then put on her pajamas, washed her face, and brushed and flossed her teeth. Once she'd completed her night time routine, she pulled back her thick comforter and crawled into her warm bed. She was so exhausted from all the running around that day that she fell asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.

*

Draco walked down the quiet, dark streets of Nice, France. The wind was cold, whipping at his pale face. He held his cloak up against his face, eying the odd pedestrian he passed. It was late, probably nearly midnight, but that meant nothing to him. Night was his time, it was what he did best. Besides, all the interesting Muggles came out at night.

"Bonjour, monsieur," A skinny brunette greeted him. Her clothes were ragged and thin, barely covering her starving form. She wore a tight pink tank top and a denim mini skirt. Her body was so thin, it looked like it had begun to eat itself from the inside out. Draco sneered at the woman, pure disgust etched on his face. He knew what she was, he'd nearly given in to her type before, mistaking their greetings and cat calls for actually being interested in him. In reality, they were prostitutes, Muggle women who made a living by sleeping with men for money. To Draco, they were lower then a flesh eating slug. They were dirt and grime on the face of the planet, making him understand a little better why his father had despised Muggles so much.

Draco weaved through the downtown, as he dodged Muggles left and right. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason, all the Muggles out late were either prostitutes or completely mental. Many were drunk, (or something to that effect), they slurred and stumbled loudly, making utter fools of themselves. These types disgusted him. He longed for the wizarding villages he was used to, where people didn't roam the streets at night, shouting about how 'piss wasted' they were. Wizards had pride and dignity, and Muggles, well they just seemed pathetic to him now. Not that his dislike went as far as his father's, he just pitied the Muggles that chose to live that way.

Draco turned the corner, and walked straight into a crowd of Muggles. He looked through the group, seeing a fair few faces he recognised. Of course, the majority of them were women he'd slept with. He smirked smugly, happy to know that none would remember him anyway. After one night, he was never able to stand the women that he'd been meeting. So, he confunded them while they slept, then he'd sneak out. Of course, he always paid for the hotel room he took them to, plus a nice breakfast in the morning. Sure, he was quite promiscuous, but Malfoys had class. And somehow, he could turn a shag and run into something that wasn't even that bad. He didn't do it often anymore, really it just didn't benefit him like it used to.

Draco pushed through the crowd, earning himself a few looks and rude comments. He ignored them all, he wasn't there to socialise. He came up to a rather large French Muggle, the bouncer, Michelle.

"Bonsoir, Michelle," Draco said, nodding to the Muggle politely. Michelle gave him a warm smile.

"Bonsoir, monsieur," He replied, as he pulled back the velvet rope for the blond.

"Merci." Draco shook Michelle's hand, slipping him a couple franks as well as a piece of parchment. Michele looked at the name scrawled on the otherwise plain parchment before giving the blonde another friendly smile.

He made his way into the dark Muggle club, L'Adore, receiving envious stares from the Muggles still waiting in line. As he entered the building, Draco nodded to the many familiar employees. He'd been coming to the specific club for almost two months now, so many of the people who worked there knew him by name. Luckily, the Muggle employees at L'Adore knew how to keep their mouths shut, so he knew he had nothing to worry about.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Malfoy," greeted a sexy Muggle woman in a maid's outift. Her name tag read 'Monique'. Draco smirked, he knew Monique quite well.

"Bonjour Monique," he replied, as he placed an arm around her waist and gave her arse a playful pinch.

"Would you like me to show you to your table?" she asked, her accent thick and her English rather broken.

"Oui," he answered, allowing the girl to lead him up the stairs to the balcony. Draco had a private booth on constant reserve in this particular club, nothing but the best for a Malfoy. "As well, I have a friend that should be joining me shortly. If you could, would you show him where I'll be?"

"Of course, monsieur." Monique giggled like a girl. Once they arrived at Draco's table, she gave him a flirty wink before going back to her post at the door. Like always, a waitress came around and placed a drink infront of the blond, earning herself a tip for speed.

Draco sat back in his booth, sipping his wine as he overlooked the crowded dancefloor. The floor of the dance area was lit up with many squares of light, in various different colours. There were many Muggles in the club tonight, and since it was rather early, many were still sobre enough to dance. He watched as the Muggles danced, looking more like they were shagging with their clothes on than anything else. If there was one thing Draco had learned from his months of living amongst the Muggles, it was that most of them seemed to have little to no class.

As Draco sat, many Muggles walked by his booth, eying him. The men glared, obviously envious of either his wealth or good looks, not that he could blame them. The women, they oggled the blond, lusting after him. Usually, he would flirt with the women, give them a wink or a smirk. But today was different, he was waiting for an old friend, so the women would just have to hold off until the next time he found himself at L'Adore.

A tall, dark man walked up the balcony steps, his cloak hanging over his arm. His hair was jet black, hanging loosely just above his ears. His eyes were slanted, a dark shade of brown. He eyed each table as he walked, trying not to stick out too much in a crowd full of Muggles. Finally, he spotted the blond, sipping a more than likely expensive drink from a glass goblet. Smirking, he quickly made his way over to the blond, but stopped once he was a foot away from the table.

"Draco Malfoy," The dark man said, his voice deep and smooth. Draco quickly stood, giving his friend a half grin, half smirk.

"Blaise Zabini," he replied, shaking his old friend's hand. "Would you care for a drink?"

"I don't suppose you could reccomend one?" Blaise asked, taking a seat across from Draco inside the booth. "I'm not really one to venture into the Muggle world but I would imagine they don't carry anything that I've ever had."

Draco motioned to the nearest waitress, an older blonde wearing an outfit identical to Monique's, but in white. "Deux absinthe, sil vous plait." he told her in French.

"Une minute, monsieur." she replied with a smile at the two wizards before walking over to the employee elevator. Draco inconspicuously pulled out his wand, performing the Muffliato spell so no one could overhear.

"This place is brilliant, Draco." Blaise told him, watching the Muggle woman walk away. "How did you manage to come across it?"

"Really just out of pure bordem," Draco explained, finishing off his drink. "There isn't much of a wizarding community around here, so one night I was just wandering about and I stumbled upon the downtown area. At first, I wasn't very fond of it, the Muggles at this end of town are quite odd. But somehow, I came across this one. I believe I was following a Muggle woman in, I'm not too sure."

"Fasinating," Blaise replied just as the waitress returned. Draco temporarily removed his spell so they could thank her, but immediately reinforced it once she'd left.

"So tell me this great news you wrote of," the blond said to his friend, taking a sip of the glowing green drink the waitress had brought him. "And anything else that may have been going on these passed few months."

"Well mate," Blaise said, taking a large sip of his drink as well. It wasn't Firewhiskey, but it was pretty good for a Muggle drink. "Daphne Greengrass and I have been seeing eachother for a while now-"

"Still with Daphne?" Draco interupted, unable to resist. "You two going together now or still just shagging?"

"Actually, we're engaged." he told the blond, making him choke on his drink.

"Are you bloody serious?" Draco coughed out, staring at his long time friend. Daphne Greengrass was a fellow Slytherin from their year. She had lost her virginity to Blaise the summer after fifth year when their families had all vacationed together on Ameila Zabini's yacht from her sixth marriage. Ever since, the two had been casually shagging, and until now, that's all Draco had thought was going on.

"I am, that's not all either," Blaise pulled a photograph out of his pocket, handing it to his friend. "She's pregnant too."

"Merlin's saggy balls!" Draco exclaimed, nearly swallowing his own tongue. He picked up the photograph, recognising it as an ultrasound picture. The fetus' heartbeat flickered as it moved about the photograph. "How far along?"

"About four months," Blaise told him with a smirk. Draco's eyes widened.

"She's the one you were with after graduation, wasn't she?" he asked, having heard about his friend's best shag and run on the train home.

"Twice on the couch, once on the stairs, then again in the showers." Blaise's smirk widened as his friend stared in awe.

"Bloody hell, mate," Draco said, shaking his head. "You've gone mental."

"How do you reckon?" Blaise asked, amused by his friend's reaction.

"Just look at what you're getting yourself into!" he told him. "Barely done with school, only 18 years old and not only are you going to bind yourself to a witch for life, but you've actually gone and knocked her up too! What happened to travelling the world, shagging a different witch in every country with your best mate? I thought we were going to be the two most eligable bachelors in wizarding Britain? What happened to that?"

"Oh come on, Draco," Blaise said, laughing. "We were 13 when we made those plans. You can't actually be saying that you're angry about me getting married?"

"Of course not!" Draco told him truthfully. "I'm happy for you, mate, honestly I am. It's just weird, you know? I've been living around Muggles for months now, mother's been hesistant to give me my letters. I finally get one from you and I find out that I've missed out on so much. Back in the day, we were rarely apart for more than a week."

"Yeah," Blaise agreed. "A lot of things have changed. So why don't you fill me in on what's been going on with you? How are you enjoying your last few months of freedom?" Draco couldn't help but shudder, Blaise knew just as well as he that, after his twenty-first birthday, he was to take over Malfoy Industries. Although he was twenty years old, and had been legally considered an adult for three years, it was tradition in his family for a young man to have broader life experiences before settling down to support his family. Draco wasn't quite sure who was handling the business at the moment, all his mother would say was that everything was taken care of. The knowledge bothered Draco, but he tried as best he could to push all those worrisome thoughts to the back of his mind. If only for now.

"It's failry dull around here," Draco explained, ignoring the freedom comment from his best friend. "There's absolutely no wizardng communities for miles. I'm completely cut off from everything I know, but mother feels it's best. She said something about getting away from past demons, last we spoke of it."

"Well, with all the hell your family name's been put through already, I think having one less Malfoy around for a bit might do you lot some good." Blaise joked, earning a small smirk from his friend.

"Bloody wanker," Draco shot at him.

"Spoiled git," Blaise shot back.

*

The room was dark and wet, the smell of dampness strong in the air. The walls and floors were made of stone, with no windows to let in outside light. Hermione struggled, trying to free herself from the invisible shackles which bound her to the wall. She looked around for a way out, but there was none. Whoever had brought her there had been extra sure that she wouldn't escape.

She didn't know how she'd gotten there. Her memory from before she'd woken up was fuzzy, it was as if her brain was unable to function. She cried out for help, praying to the gods that someone would come save her. A torch hanging from the ceiling egnighted, bathing the dark room in light. Hermione squinted, looking for a person, but the corners of the room were still covered in shadows.

Suddenly, Ron appeared from the far right corner, his face oddly pale. The look on his face was odd, like nothing he would normally look like. Kind of halfway between a smirk and a smile, but on Ron it just looked devious.

"What's going on, Ron?" Hermione asked. "Where are we?" Ron didn't reply, he didn't speak. He barely made a sound as he walked towards her, walking with a kind of swagger. She had no clue what was happening, but she knew that she had to get out of there, and fast.

Only about ten feet away, Ron stopped in his tracks. He reached into the pocket of his plaid pants, pulling out a small vial. The vial was filled with a bright green liquid, something Hermione had never seen before. When Ron popped the cork out from the top, she began to scream.

"Ron?" she screamed, becoming frantic. "What the hell are you doing? Put the vial down!"

"Cheers," Ron raised the vial slightly before putting it to his lips and downing the entire thing. Almost at once, his skin began to bubble just like the effects of Polyjuice Potion. His red hair lightened to a nearly white, his eyes to a cold grey. His freckles disapeared, his shoulders broadened and he shrank a few inches. Hermione gasped loudly, recognising the form of Malfoy.

"What the bloody hell are you playing at, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, her voice loud and high. Malfoy had an odd look as he walked up to her, staring. He came right up close, his body flush against hers, heat radiating off of him.

"Miss me?" Malfoy asked, whispering in her ear. Hermione felt chills run up her spine, making her shiver. He put his hand on her shoulder, and suddenly the area all around his hand became warm. Hermione's brown eyes met Malfoy's grey ones, and all the fear was completely wiped away. She felt familiar feelings and urges begin to take over, something she'd been experiencing often lately.

Slowly, Malfoy's lips pressed against Hermione's. She opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to massage her own. She moaned into his mouth, not realising how much she'd longed for his kiss. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but her hands were still bound.

Malfoy's hands began to roam her body, spreading warmth to every place he touched. He touched her neck, then her chest. He massaged her breast with one hand, the other holding tightly onto the back of her neck. His hand slowly moved from her neck to her arse, cupping it firmly. Hermione moaned, she hadn't been touched like that in months. All other thoughts had evacuated her mind, it was like there was nothing else in the world except her and Malfoy.

Hermione bit Malfoy's lip lightly, causing him to growl deep in his throat. She caught sight of his grey eyes, now filled with lust. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart skipped a beat. Warm hands ventured under her shirt, touching her rounded belly. Fear engulfed her for a few moments as she expected Malfoy to push her away and shout. Instead, he did nothing. But, before Hermione could become confused, his hands slipped into her pajama pants, fondling her mound over her cotton knickers.

Malfoy snickered slightly when Hermione began to moan, grinding herself into the blond's hand. Malfoy quickened his pace, working her clit with his thumb. His other four fingers found their way to the source of Hermione's wetness. He teased her hole through the thin material, emitting even more moans from the brunette. Then, out of nowhere, tension began to build somewhere in her lower abdomen. Tension intensified before seeming to explode, pleasure coarsing through her. Hermione balled her hands into fists, her muscles tensing. Malfoy's hand was still teasing her, but then everything stopped.

*

The dungeon quickly faded away, the walls just kind of melted. Hermione sat up quickly in her bed, drenched in sweat. She looked around her dark bedroom, not recognising it at first. Once she was sure that she was safe at home, she threw back her covers, suddenly very hot.

'That was an odd one,' Hermione thought to herself. She'd read in a number of books that around the third or fourth month of a pregnancy, a woman will tend to have erotic sex dreams. She knew that the dreams had nothing to do with her actual thoughts or feelings, but just dreaming about Malfoy was odd.

Hermione laid back down in her bed, trying to get thoughts of a cartain blond out of her head. It was still very early, the sun hadn't even peaked its top out from the horizon yet. Her room was fairly dark, the curtains were drawn and all was quiet. She had nearly stopped picturing grey, lust filled eyes when she felt movement somewhere in her abdomen.

Hermione froze for a moment, hoping to feel it again. She felt a slight butterfly sensation in her stomach before a tiny kick coming from the inside. She sat up bolt right, placing a hand on her rounded stomach. The baby inside her moved again, filling her with overwhelming joy. As quickly as she could, Hermione jumped out of bed and dashed for the phone. It was much too early to phone her parents' house, but perhaps someone was awake at the Burrow.

The phone rang about three or four times. Hermione kept her hand firmly over her belly, willing her daughter to keep kicking. Finally, someone answered.

"Hullo?" answered the groggy voice of Ron. Hermione's heart jumped into her throat, the two hadn't spoken in weeks.

"Ron? It's Hermione," she told him, speaking quickly.

"What the bloody hell are you doing calling at this time?" Ron asked, irritated.

"Is anyone else up?"

"No," he replied. "Why?" Hermione thought quickly. She wanted to share this experience with someone she cared about, and sure, Ron had been a huge git lately, but he was still her friend. Besides, they were speaking to each other, that was a step.

"Can you please aparate over here?" she asked him. "Just really quickly, only for a minute or two."

"Something wrong?" Ron questioned, finally showing some emotion.

"Just get over here, I'm taking down the wards now." Hermione hung up the phone, praying for the best. She reached for her wand on the nightstand, not wanting to move much incase it disrupted her daughter's first movements. Her fingers were about an inch away when the wand suddenly flew into her hand. She stared, shocked, for a few seconds. Not having much time for anything else, Hermione removed the wards from her flat. She then threw her wand down on the bed, hoping Ron would show up.

After a few minutes, there was a sudden creak from somewhere near the living room. "Ron?" she called, still not moving. Something was knocked off the coffee table, causing a loud thud. Ron cursed in a loud whisper.

"'Mione? What the hell?" Ron walked towards the bedroom, opening the door, his wand lit before him to light the darkened hallway.

"Put your wand away and come here," she directed him. Ron gave her a questioning look, but he did as he was told. He approached her with caution, as if being around her made him very uncomfortable. When he was close enough, Hermione reached out and took his hand. He watched with wide eyes as she placed his hand half under hers. The baby kicked again, hard right against Ron's palm. The red head pulled his hand back in shock.

"Did she just kick me?" Ron asked, staring at the brunette.

"Yes," Hermione laughed, letting out a breath she'd been holding in. "She's never done that before and I wanted to share it with someone right away." Hermione removed her hand from her stomach, the baby had stopped kicking. Ron's eyes fell down to the floor, staring at his worn trainers.

"Ron?" Hermione said, snapping his attention back to her. She couldn't stand the silence between them, they were never silent around each other. The pair had always had very loud, verbal arguments. This new silent treatment idea that Ron now seemed to have would not fly with her. Perhaps somehow, the whole mess could begin to be resolved. "Will you please just talk to me?"

"There's nothing to talk about," Ron insisted. "It's late, I should be going."

"Actually," Hermione looked over at her alarm clock. "It's only 6 o'clock so it's still very early." Ron looked at her, annoyed.

"We don't need to talk," he said firmly as he toyed with his wand in his pocket.

"Oh really?" she asked, standing up so she was more level with him. She felt embarassed, being around him in her pajama shirt. Ron probably thought that it used to be Viktor's, but Hermione never wore that shirt. She was rarely ever around people in these pajamas, but lately she just felt like being comfortable as apposed to looking good. Who was really looking, anyway? "So, you're telling me that ignoring one of your best friends for weeks on end and then being a bloody git for a week before that is nothing to talk about? Come on Ronald, you're not that daft. I'm sure you could think of something a bit better than that to say."

"What exactly do you want me to say, Hermione?" he questioned.

"You could try, 'I'm sorry'," she suggested, and cocked an eyebrow at her old friend.

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for being such a prick to me and ignoring me for the passed few weeks." Hermione explained, starting to get annoyed. She felt like hexing Ron, he was being so stupid and immature. Usually, she would have given up, but the whole situation had gotten blown way out of proportion. It was nothing to be losing their friendship over, and Ron needed to realise it soon. If not, Hermione was surely going to have to force it on him.

"It's not being a prick if you deserved it." he shot back at her, refusing to meet her eye. His face and ears were burning red, but he didn't seem like he was about to back down.

"Excuse me?" Hermione's mouth dropped open. "How do you reckon I deserved something as cruel as this?"

"I already told you, there's nothing to talk about," Ron told her, immediately shutting down the conversation. He half turned his body so that he wasn't directly facing her, it was probably easier than directly avoiding her stare. "Let's just forget about it, okay?" Hermione nearly screamed out loud, how could he be telling her to drop it at a time like this?

"No, I'm not going to just forget about this whole thing," she said, trying to keep herself from shouting at him. She was so frustrated from everything that he'd been putting her through, she couldn't take it anymore. It needed to end, and soon. "This always happens, you always over react to stupid things that people do. You hold whatever they've done against them, making them feel like complete rubbish. I'm sick and tired of this whole thing, and no one else is very impressed either. I am your friend, if I've done something to upset you, don't turn around and spite me just to get even. I've nearly been going mad these passed few weeks with everything going on and I don't need you adding to it."

"'Mione, drop it." Ron insisted, and turned to walk out the door. Hermione stood up quickly, fully intending to follow him wherever he may go, even to the Burrow where the wrath of Molly surely awaited.

"I told you Ronald, I will not," Hermione grabbed his arm roughly, her wand held firmly in her other hand. "There's obviously something going on between us that you seem to have decided that I don't need to know. So how in the bloody hell am I supposed to prevent you from getting all spiteful and upset if I don't know what's prevoking it?"

"You know what?" Ron said, wrenching his arm out of her grasp. "I'm sick of arguing with you, Hermione. I'm done with all of this, I never win, especially not now. Fuck it." He turned on the spot, trying to aparate, but it didn't work. He glared at the brunette.

"Wards are up," Hermione smirked back, waving her wand in her hand. "You're not aparating out of here until you fully explain to me what's been going on."

"Mum's going to be getting up to start breakfast soon," he told her, fidgeting slightly. "She'll wonder where I am when I'm not there to eat."

"Yes, and Merlin forbid you miss a meal, right?" Hermione smirked, her big brown eyes looking up into Ron's. "So how about you hurry up and spill it then? Enlighten me, Ronald."

"What's the point?" Ron asked, throwing his hands up into the air. He turned away quickly, walking into the darkened living room. Hermione followed him, flicking the switch for the lights that Ron had missed. "Even if I did explain everything to you, it wouldn't change a thing. Sure, we could pretend that we're best friends again, but that doesn't make it any better, you made up your mind about us months ago. Besides, you've already gone and got yourself knocked up so the whole thing doesn't even matter anymore."

"What are you even talking about?" Hermione asked, but he wouldn't even turn around. "Look at me!" Ron stopped in his tracks and turned around. When he looked at her, his eyes were filled with an emotion that she just couldn't place. It was odd the way he looked at her, was it longing? Hermione gasped as she finally realised what it was all about. "But Ron, you told me that it was weird for you too...?"

"Yeah, well, I say a lot of things. That doesn't always make them true," he told her. His hands were balled into fists, he was obviously very emotional about the whole thing. "I thought everything was going fine with us. We had a great Christmas together and then New Year's we had sex for the first time. It was all good for a few months, but then it was like all your feelings for me had disapeared. You were the one who said it was weird, I just didn't want to argue."

"And why didn't you tell me any of this sooner?" Hermione asked in complete shock. She couldn't believe that Ron had never told her that he'd lied.

"Would that have changed how you felt about me?" Ron challenged her. Hermione was the one to drop her gaze this time, and chose to stare at her own bare feet.

"No," she just barely whispered to the hardwood floor.

"There you go," he gave her a fake grin for a moment before his face fell, turning into a scowl.

"But that still doesn't explain what brought this all on," she pointed out. "We were just like before we'd gotten together for the longest time. Then, it just changed like that."

"Yeah, well," Ron shuffled his feet, like he wanted to just turn around and run onto the balcony or something. "Think about it, barely a month after we break up you go off and shag some random bloke. Now you're having his kid, how else am I supposed to react?"

"Why not by supporting me like a real friend should?" Hermione suddenly shouted which caused Ron to cringe. "I did a stupid thing one time, just once, and now I have to pay for it for the rest of my life. This is probably one of the times that I need you the most in my life, and instead of being there for me like you should be, you use this one mistake I made as a reason to resent me. On top of everything else that I'm going through right now what with being done with school, umeployed and living on my own for the first time, I have to worry about a baby growing inside of me. As if that's not bad enough, you seem to feel that I deserve you making me feel like shit. I'm not going to take this anymore, it needs to be solved."

Ron just stood there, staring at Hermione with wide eyes. It seemed that he was at a loss for words, and Hermione hoped that she had at least gotten through to him. Carefully, she took his hand in her own. She expected him to jerk his hand back, but he didn't, he just stared at her.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I've done in the past," Hermione told him, staring into his blue eyes. "I can't go back and fix it then, but let me fix how it is now."

Ron raised his eyebrows at her. "How you going to do that?"

"Just give me a chance," she pleaded. "Get involved with what's going on. After all, you are going to be Aurora's uncle."

"Aurora?" he repeated, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"I'm just trying it out," she shrugged. "I think it sounds nice."

"Okay, Hermione," Ron said. "You win. I'm still not happy about all of this, but I'll try to adjust."

"Thank you!" Hermione sighed, throwing her arms around her friend. Ron cautiously wrapped his arms around her waist, returning the embrace.

"You know, this isn't going to be an overnight thing," Ron said, speaking into her hair. Hermione squeezed him tighter, not ready to let him go just yet.

"I know," she told him. "I missed you, Ron."

"Yeah," Ron replied, sounding a little embarassed. "I missed you too." Hermione sighed, burying her face deep into his chest. For the first time in a long time, she finally felt content and at peace. She felt like a large weight was lifted off her shoulders, finally she could sense some hope. It was like just knowing that she and Ron were going to be okay, made so much difference that she now felt like she could deal with her pregnancy. Maybe it was just her hormones, but just having all her friends and family's support made her feel like she could accomplish anything. It was a wonderful feeling.

To Be Continued...

Okay, so there's chapter eight for you. I know it took me a while to get it written, and for that, I'm sorry. Everything is just so hectic right now with school and work, it's getting a little hard to update as quickly as I want to. However, I am trying so please bear (bare?) with me! Now, as for reviews, thnxx goes out to: HarryGinny4eva, Liz, kazfeist, Robyn Hawkes (does this chapter help a little more?), RyGirl82 (awe, I hate when that happens. But that's okay, it's the thought that counts ^-^), mibella (awe thank you), gabby1234 (I'm sorry I couldn't reply the next day like you wanted, I tried though! I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying my story, I hope you continue to do so), && angeles. Thanks so much to all of my reviewers, you guys help motivate me to keep this story going. I'm hoping to post the next chapter in the next few weeks, but if I can't completely finish it, I was thinking of maybe a sneak preview? What does everyone think? Let me know!

Much Love...

XXX

Xx-.k.a.y.y.-xX