The Unborn

"Chapter Two"

Harry looked stunned. He stuttered a bit, sounding winded; the shock had hit him that hard. He finally managed to say, weakly, "Hermione, what are we going to do?"

Hermione's heart fell. She had never really thought about it. She had expected that if Harry didn't reject her, he would come to her rescue. He'd have all the answers. Now she knew how stupid she had been to think that way. It wasn't logical. She had always prided herself for being the most logical, rational, of the three friends. Now everything was falling apart. "Well, I suppose, we should probably tell Dumbledore. He'll be able to help," she said quietly.

"Yeah...Dumbledore," Harry said vaguely. He seemed to be staring through her.

***

Later that night Hermione sat crying in a corner of the common room. She was mostly sobbing now; it felt like she'd been crying so often lately, she was amazed she had any tears left. She saw the portrait hole open out of the corner of her eye and sunk lower in the oversized armchair. She felt so very small in it; taking up only half of the cushion.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder and looked up into amazingly green eyes. "Hi, Harry." She looked down again and didn't meet his eyes as she said it, then went back to staring at the floor sulkily.

"Er, Hermione... I asked Dumbledore if we could talk to him tomorrow. He said we could meet him in his office during our afternoon break. Is that alright?" Harry said tentatively.

"Sure..." was all she said, as she smiled weakly up at him, a tear still clinging to her cheek.

Harry sat down next to her and put his arms around her, pulling her closer. "Don't worry Hermione, whatever happens, we can get through it. Just trust in that." He touched her cheek, gently wiping away the tear. "I love you," he said quietly.

Hermione laid her head on his shoulder and felt him kiss her forehead lightly. If only it could stay like this, she thought, if only she could go back and erase their moment of stupidity; she'd never take anything for granted again...She closed her eyes, pressing her face into Harry's robes, pushing all the doubts and worries out of her mind.

***

The next morning Harry sat in the Great Hall eating breakfast. He pushed the scrambled eggs around on his plate as he thought about the meeting with Dumbledore he and Hermione would be at in a few hours. He was relieved that Hermione hadn't been avoiding him for the reasons he had thought, but now that he knew the real reason, he wished the complete opposite to be true.

He had regretted going that far with Hermione. Yes, they had been a couple for almost the entire school year, but they had taken too many risks. They hadn't thought about anything like this, or preventing it. Come to think of it, there were probably any number of spells they could have done.

For a moment, he wondered whether wizards had anything like abortion, but then realized how horrible it was for him to think that way. He was actually going be a father, and he was thinking of killing his unborn child, just to make his life a little less complicated than it already was. Not to mention the fact that it probably wouldn't make it less complicated anyway. Plus, he didn't even know how Hermione would feel about it.

He abandoned that train of thought, and instead tried think of the good things that could come of this. For one thing, he would actually have lived long enough to father a child, which was surprising, considering everything he'd just been through, and his entire life before that. Also, he really did love Hermione, and nothing could ever change that. It would be wonderful to have this child as a symbol of their love. Deep down, he knew that this is what he wanted, even if it was a bit sooner than he had expected.

By the time his thoughts were interrupted by Ron sitting down next to him, Harry had made up his mind that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing. It would be difficult, but certainly not as hard as defeating Voldemort, and definitely not as bad as living with the Dursleys.

"Hey Harry. Something wrong?" Ron asked.

"Nah, just thinking about the new play I've been working out for the match against Hufflepuff," Harry said, in what he hoped was a convincing tone.

"Yeah, right Harry. I think after six years of knowing you, I can tell when you're lying. But fine, don't tell me. I just won't tell you this really interesting secret I found out about a certain 'ferret'" Ron snickered.

Harry glanced down the table, wondering if he were up to telling Ron the news. Ron had never really liked the fact the he and Hermione were together. He had always had a suspicion that Ron was just waiting for them to break up. Telling him that Hermione was pregnant would definitely not go well. Best to do it some time and place where it wouldn't cause a scene.

"Well?" Ron prodded.

Harry was saved the trouble of thinking up a reply when Hermione walked up to the table and grabbed his arm, forcing him to stand up. "Hi Ron," Hermione said, smiling. "Harry and I are going to walk to class early." She glanced at Harry while she said this, as if willing him to get the hint; she wanted to talk.

Ron looked thoroughly disappointed that he hadn't gotten to revel in Malfoy's embarrassment. "See you later," Harry said quickly, before he was practically dragged out of the Great Hall.

Hermione started talking as soon as the doors closed behind them and she had made sure no one was listening. "Harry, I've changed my mind. I'm not sure it's such a good idea to talk to Dumbledore about this."

"Why not? If anyone can help us, he can. He'll be understanding, I'm sure. There's really nothing to worry about."

"I'm just not ready to talk about it. Not even to you," she said, blushing, and clearly looking at anything besides Harry.

"That's okay Hermione. We can talk whenever you're ready." Harry smiled reassuringly, thinking of the many times over the years that Hermione had done the same for him. They walked in silence until they reached the Transfiguration classroom, where they stopped before going in.

"Thank you," Hermione said, hugging Harry tightly and kissing him on the cheek.

"For what?" Harry asked, startled.

"For being you," Hermione said sincerely, still holding onto him, her arms around his neck. She let go a few moments later and they walked through the door of their first class; holding hands.