Sometimes It Be That Way

...Permission

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'Believe me Adia, we are still innocent.'

~ Sarah McLachlan, Adia

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Hermione plopped the box of cereal down onto the counter, her mind still reeling with the information from last night's events. She had let Ginny sleep on her bed while she slept on the couch in the living room. The whole night, she tossed and turned, going from sleepiness to restlessness in five seconds. She couldn't bear to think that Harry had done something of that magnitude to Ginny and wanted to confront him about it, but Ginny had made her swear under oath not to tell Harry until she was sure she was ready to deal with his questions.

Hermione's parents hadn't come home until one in the morning. She knew this because she had been awake at the time, trying to sleep during one of her restless periods. They snuck through the door quietly, thinking Hermione asleep in her bedroom. They didn't even notice that she was sleeping on the couch, but immediately went to bed, turning all the remaining lights off. Hermione resolved to tell them about Ginny in the morning, and as her mother went into the kitchen to turn that light off, she briefly wondered how it had been like for her when she had found out that she had been pregnant with Hermione.

As Hermione poured some milk into her cereal, Ginny came into the kitchen looking distinctly ruffled. Her hair was still ragged and now stuck up all over her head, making her look a little bit like Pippy Longstockings. But her eyes looked a little bit brighter that morning and she seemed a little bit more cheerful than when she had come the night before. She sat on the same stool she had been sitting on when she had first come into the kitchen the evening before and looked at Hermione.

"Did- did you tell your parents yet?" she asked, a little bit of hesitancy in her voice.

Hermione sighed and said, "No, they got home too late last night. Apparently they were out at a friend's house after work. Friday nights are usually like that."

"Oh," Ginny mumbled, propping her chin on her wrist. "So, do you think they'll let me stay?"

"Probably," Hermione told her, giving her a small smile. "They're not usually ones to turn others away, especially when those others need it most." She fetched a bowl for Ginny and poured her some cereal and milk.

Ginny looked at the bowl of cereal doubtfully, watching as the oatmeal and flakes absorbed the milk. "What is this?" she asked.

"Cereal," Hermione said simply. "Eat it. You'll find that it's very good. It's a new brand: Oatmeal Crisp. This is Maple Nut, therefore it tastes like maple syrup, yet you are still getting all the nutrition you need."

After looking at the bowl doubtfully again for a couple of seconds, Ginny sighed and pulled it closer to her. She took the spoon and stuck some of the cereal into her mouth. After a while of chewing, she nodded, satisfied. "You're right," she said when she had swallowed it down. "That is good."

Hermione grinned. "See?" she asked. "I told you."

Ginny giggled and Hermione basked in the pleasure of being able to make her laugh at a time like this. But she knew it was easy to make Ginny laugh for she never stayed depressed for long.

The moment was short lived, for Hermione's mother, Caroline, had stepped into the kitchen. Her hair was up that morning, and she smiled a good morning to Hermione and Ginny and went to pour herself a coffee. Hermione looked nervously at Ginny at the fact that Caroline hadn't seemed to mind the fact that Ginny was there, but Ginny just kept on eating her breakfast.

"Maman," Hermione started nervously, adopting the French nickname she and her mother had started using after they had seen the movie Chocolat.

"Oui?" Caroline asked, looking at her from the coffee maker. Hermione saw that Ginny was becoming preoccupied with the coffee maker, watching as it a trickle of the dark liquid started to come down into the coffee pot. Caroline looked at Ginny, who had now forgotten about the cereal and was staring open-mouthed as the coffee pot began to fill with coffee. "Oh! Ginny, I didn't know you were here! My, my, where are my manners? Good morning, Ginny. How nice to see you again." Ginny smiled at her nervously.

"Maman," Hermione began again. "The reason Ginny is here is not because--well, I don't know how to tell you, but--um..."

Ginny looked away from the coffee maker and took over. "It's okay, Hermione, I'll tell her," she said, her voice calm. She turned to Caroline and took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

The effect was amazing. The coffee mug Caroline was holding fell to the floor, resulting in a great clatter. It smashed into a thousand pieces while Caroline stared at Ginny, aghast. "You're... what?" she asked slowly, trying to get used to the idea.

"I'm pregnant," Ginny repeated, although Hermione could tell that it lacked the confidence she had shown when she had first told Caroline the news. Ginny then went on to tell Caroline everything she had told Hermione -except leaving the 'bastard' part out and keeping the identity of the father a secret. Caroline just stood there, her hands clenching onto the counter for dear life, as if she was afraid that if she let go, she would fall over. She calmed somewhat during the rest of Ginny's explanation.

"Alright," Caroline said after a moment's silence. She let go of the counter and straightened herself. She stepped around the broken mug to get another one from the cupboard while Hermione muttered a spell to repair it. Caroline then picked the mug up and held it consideringly, before putting it on the counter beside the sink and filling the new mug with coffee as soon as the coffee pot had been filled up with the amount she had wanted. She looked up suddenly, a questioningly look on her face. "Did you want to stay here for a while?"

Ginny nodded, a smile brightening her face. "That would be great," she said. "Thank you."

Caroline smiled in return and Hermione nearly died of relief.