*Recap:
There was a knock at the door and Hermione prayed it was her two friends, there to pick up the baby boy in the other room. She knew that it wasn’t though, and went to see who would come to call for her before noon.
Moving On*
Hermione stared in momentary shock at the man in her doorway. She silently began a list of men that would stand in this place before the year ended. She was shook back to consciousness by the man himself.
“’lo, Hermione. How are you?”
It was an innocent statement, but Hermione was still shaken up about the things she had just heard in her kitchen from Luna. She spoke mechanically, almost stiffly, but she made a point not to sound mean.
“Hello, Oliver. Can I help you with something?”
“Err, yeah. I owled you ‘bout that thing,” he gestured behind her and into the house. “Err…I just came to pick it up.”
Hermione gasped with a sudden wave of memory. “Oh, right. Just a moment, let me get them for you.”
She started to close the door but he stopped it.
“Can I come in, at least?” he asked.
She noted that his tone of voice was sarcastic and rude and she bit back a comment. “Actually, I have guests and I’d rather you stay. Out here; stay out here.”
She gestured to the porch.
“Hermione, who’s here?” Luna asked, her voice coming from the kitchen but getting closer.
Hermione closed her eyes in frustration at being put in this position. Before Luna could get all the way to the door, Hermione closed it.
“It isn’t anybody, just someone I did some work for. He just needs his stuff,” she explained, truthfully.
“Well, surely you aren’t going to make him stay out there? Invite him in for some tea.”
Luna was now face to face with Hermione and reaching for the door. Hermione stopped the door from opening. “He…err…would actually prefer the porch.”
“Hermione, I doubt that anyone in their right mind would actually want to stay outside,” Luna told her, matter-of-factly.
Luna turned the handle, pushed Hermione out of the way, and opened the door. Her jaw tightened and her eyes opened wide in shock. Before she knew what was happening, she had slammed the door in Oliver’s face.
“Luna, what the hell?” Hermione asked.
Luna took a deep breath, not realizing that she had been holding it, and closed her eyes tight. “That’s Oliver Wood on your doorstep.”
Hermione shook her head, trying not to laugh at the fact that Luna had slammed the door in Oliver’s face. “No, really? I thought it was Cornelius Fudge.”
She reached for the door to apologize to Oliver when Luna grabbed her hand.
She looked into Hermione’s eyes to show that she was serious. “His baby is in the kitchen.”
Hermione muttered a charm and handed Luna a tissue from the end of her wand.
“Wipe your eyes and stay strong. J is in the kitchen with Star. Take Oliver in there to talk to him, maybe make some tea. It might be easier to talk when you aren’t completely alone. I really do have to go get that thing for him. I’ll be back in moment,” Hermione said.
Luna wiped her eyes and took another deep breath, letting it out slowly before watching Hermione go. Slowly, she opened the door.
Oliver was still standing there, staring at the door. When he saw her he rubbed his eyes.
“Hermione went to get…whatever it is she made for you. She wanted me to invite you in for some tea,” Luna explained calmly, standing tall.
Oliver didn’t move, as if he thought that moving would cause him to wake up from a dream. Luna pressed further.
“Oliver, it isn’t a dream. I’ll put on a pot for some tea,” Luna told him, as if reading his mind.
She started to walk away, back to the kitchen. Oliver shook his head a few times and rubbed his eyes once more before deciding it wasn’t a dream and following her into the kitchen, closing the door quietly behind himself.
When he reached the kitchen, Luna was filling a pot with water. He looked over when he heard cooing sounds to find a baby boy and girl playing on the floor.
“Wow. She looks just like you,” he whispered, still in shock.
Luna smiled. “I know.”
“And he “ he looks just like-“
“I know.” Luna’s smile was gone, replaced by a fierce look. Her eyes were blazing into him. “We call him J. He is staying with Hermione for the moment. We don’t talk about it. One day you’ll find out. Everyone will. It’s impossible to ignore.”
Oliver was taken aback by this statement and her sudden anger at his simple comment, but decided against pressing the issue and moved on. “So you must be married, then?”
“No.”
“Err…engaged?”
“No.”
“Dating?”
This time, Luna hesitated, her mind flashing to Neville Longbottom. Then she shook her head and said, much lighter, “No.”
“So, does the father even know about her?” he asked.
Luna waved her wand at the pot of tea to poor into two mugs. “Her name is Star. And no, he doesn’t. But, no matter. I prefer it that way a bit more.”
“Wow. So you take care of her yourself?” Oliver asked.
“Been doing it for eleven months, now,” she told him.
He was silent, taking in everything that she had just said. Eleven months ago she’d had the baby. Add nine months onto that and the baby was conceived. The baby’s father didn’t know about her. Just over a year and a half ago, Luna was with…
“She’s mine?” he whispered.
Luna didn’t speak for a moment. She looked up at him and looked directly into his big brown eyes.
“Why would you think that?” she asked him without emotion in her voice.
He was about to answer when Hermione entered the kitchen, a big book tucked under one arm.
“Thank you, Luna,” she stated as she grabbed a mug of tea from Luna’s hand. She handed Oliver the giant photo album from under her arm. “Here you go, Oliver. I’ll owl you when I come up with the bill.”
She went to sit down at the kitchen table, taking J and putting him into his high chair. She lifted her wand, caught the crackers coming toward her, and put them on the plate in front of J. She started to break the crackers into smaller pieces as she waited for Oliver to say goodbye.
“May I ask what it is you’ve done for him, Hermione?” Luna asked, curiously, as she eyed the album in Oliver’s tight grip.
“Oh, it’s just an album for his wife. An anniversary gift, he told me. Right, Oliver?” Hermione turned her attention to Oliver.
He scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable. “Err…yeah, something like that.”
“But, isn’t your anniversary in, like, seven months?” Luna asked innocently.
“Well, err, yeah. It…err…it really isn’t an anniversary gift. I’m actually filing for divorce next week,” he explained, his cheeks now red.
“What?! Let me get this straight, you’re filing for divorce so you’re giving her a gift?” Luna practically screeched.
“Err…well…See, I’m just not in love with her anymore. I figured by giving her this, I would help her realize that it isn’t that she did anything wrong, it’s just that I’m not in love anymore,” he explained.
“Wait a moment; I made you a divorce gift for you to give to your wife?” Hermione asked.
“Well, yeah, if you put it that way.”
“Well, just so we are clear, I’m charging double!” Hermione screamed.
J started to sputter next to her and she realized he was going to start crying. She stood up and pulled him out of his highchair, pointing at the door with a ferocious glare.
“Out. Get out of my house right now!” Hermione hissed.
Oliver left quickly, Luna slamming the door behind him and Hermione trying to calm herself down in order to calm J down. She rubbed his back and took him down the hall to lay him down for a nap.
When she entered the front room again, half an hour later, Luna was rocking a sleeping baby girl.
Hermione smiled. “Come on, we will lay her down with J.”
Now they sat, Butterbeer in hand, at the kitchen table, laughing heartily about nothing.
“So how exactly did Oliver get a hold of you, anyhow?” Luna asked.
“Oh, I guess he talked to Ron about it. I did a wonderful wedding album for Harry and Ginny after they got married. When Oliver asked Ron if he knew anyone who put together a good album, Ron recommended me. Oliver owled me about it, and I accepted. He sent me some pictures and explained the basics of what he wanted done. That’s the gist of it, mainly.”
Luna nodded. “That’s nice.”
“So, did you get around to telling him?” Hermione asked, quickly changing the subject when she’d remembered that she’d forgotten to ask about that.
Luna shook her head. “Almost. But then you walked in and saved me. I think he put the pieces together from what I said, but even if he continues to ask, I’ll deny. I really don’t want to complicate things. Star and I are fine on our own.”
“Speaking of which, how was your date with Mr. Longbottom last night?” Hermione asked.
“Oh, that. Well, it turned into a babysitting gig. I got an emergency call at seven last night; our date was scheduled for seven. You know that he is so perfect that he wanted to bring Star on our date? Anyway, I had to go deliver a set of twins and leave Star with Neville. I came home a couple of hours later and she was fast asleep and he was cleaning up the kitchen.”
Hermione smiled. “That’s so sweet. But now what are you going to do about that date?”
“We rescheduled for tomorrow night. We are going to take Star to get an ice cream and then shop around Diagon Alley for a while. I’m looking forward to it,” Luna explained.
Her face developed a dreamy look that reminded Hermione of the girl that Luna used to be. She realized how much Luna had changed since school.
“I should get going. I’m taking Star to my father’s tomorrow morning.” Luna got up from her seat and stretched.
Hermione stood as well, took both of the Butterbeers, and set them in the sink. Luna went down the hall to collect her daughter.
**********
’Would you mind if I came over this morning? I have a question to ask you. “Hermione’
Hermione attached the letter to her owl’s leg and sent it off to Ron. She needed to speak to him about Oliver.
Less than an hour later, her owl was tapping on her window. She recognized his handwriting immediately.
‘Of course. Come by around ten. Ron’
Hermione glanced at the clock on her wall. She had two hours. She headed down the hall to wake up the little boy.
**********
“You’re late,” Ron stated simply, clearly not bothered by this at all, as he closed the door behind Hermione.
She shrugged. “Only by fifteen minutes.”
“Hey, I could have plans, you know!”
“Well, then, I’m sorry.”
Ron smiled. “I don’t have any plans. I’m going to the Burrow for lunch in just over an hour, though.”
“Well, I won’t be too long. I just needed to ask you about something.”
She sat down on the sofa in the front room and waited for Ron to sit in the chair across from her.
“Shoot,” he directed when he took his seat.
“Well, about a month ago, Oliver Wood owled me about making an album for him to give to his wife,” Hermione began.
Ron nodded.
“He told me that you recommended him. Well, needless to say, I did it for him. Yesterday afternoon, he came by to pick it up.”
Ron nodded again.
“Did you know that he was giving it to his wife because he was filing for divorce? Because a month ago, he told me that it was an anniversary gift, but last night he said it was a divorce gift. And I was wondering if you knew…you know, when you recommended me.”
“Yeah, I knew. I mean, it was sort of messed up. ‘I don’t love you anymore and I’m filing for divorce, so here is an album of all of our happy memories together.’ I swear there is something wrong with that guy. But, I knew. Why d’ you ask?”
“Why would you recommend me knowing full well what it was exactly that he wanted? D’ you realize that I’ve just helped him break his wife’s heart?” Hermione asked, her face screwed up.
Ron shrugged. “I didn’t really think about it. He needed someone to do a really good album, and you did Harry’s and Ginny’s brilliantly. Why wouldn’t I recommend you?”
Hermione was touched by this. She just shrugged, lightly.
“I’m sorry if I offended you, in any way. The last thing I want is for us to be at odds again. Sometimes, I could swear you’re a Weasley, with a temper like that.”
Hermione smiled. “Thanks, Ron.”
A tapping noise came from a window next to Ron’s chair, so he turned to open the window quickly. The owl came in and flew to Hermione.
She knew before she read the letter that it was from St. Mungo’s. This was the emergency owl.
’Healer Granger “ your patient is currently in labor. Please come quickly. St. Mungo’s’
“I’m sorry, Ron, but I’ve got an emergency at work and I’ve got to go. Thank you for talking with me.”
They stood from their seats and Ron nodded as Hermione headed for the door. She opened it swiftly and stepped out. She turned and stopped for a moment to admire the picture of such a gorgeous red-head, confused look on his face, and hands in his pockets as he watched her leave.
She waved with a light smile. “Good-bye, Ron.”
“Please keep in touch this time,” Ron whispered as she Apparated away.
A/N: Alright. Another chapter completed. In case it is a question for anyone, J is the little boy that is staying with Hermione. Just FYI “ NO, she wasn’t lying when she said that he was her only and NO “ it is NOT Ron’s baby! So don’t go thinking that is who the baby is. He really IS a friend’s baby. I promise! Thanks for reading, now Please Review!
Manda