Two weeks after writing that letter to Ron, Hermione had ended up in America. She had always wanted to go there ever since she was 5. She always dreamed of seeing the sites that were there to see. She had even started saving up to go. In fact her parents had given her an account to put money in so she could one day have her dream. Although, she wished it was for a different reason. This reason, she hated to admit, was one that made her seem a little selfish. When she made the decision to leave, it was not Ron she was thinking about. It was living on her own, and getting away from her mother. It was about making sure that her mother, no matter how hard she tried, would not get to her child. It was about getting to live the life of a normal person and not covering anything up every time she went home after school. When she was thinking about herself, she wasn't thinking about anyone else.
When Hermione arrived in America the first thing she did was try to find a job somewhere. It hadn't gone the greatest at first, but when she did find a job it wasn't going to be the greatest...at first. She was going to work as a maid. But her luck turned around when the owner of this Inn she was going to start working at found out she didn't have no where to go after work. She had given her a home. It wasn't a great home, but at least it wasn't back with her mother. It was more like a room.
Although, not keeping to her promise she did not write back to Ron. She was enjoying working for herself. Everytime she sat down in a chair and started writing she would always think, 'Ron's still in school. I'll wait a while longer.' But that little longer turned into nearly 6 months. In those six months her little hump of a stomach turned into a balloon. She found out when she was 8 months that it was a girl. She couldn't of been anymore excited. She was going to make sure she had a good life.
She had started looking at homes in a small town a few miles from the Inn. The town was called Star's Hollow. It had a lot of interesting people and a great school for Hermione's daughter. It was when she found a small beautiful house and had just paid for nearly 3/4 of it with the money she saved up and the money she received from the owner of the Inn. It was when she had just walked out of her new house that she felt the first contraction. She was going to give birth to her daughter...
Hermione screamed as she began walking down the steps of her recently bought house. She held her stomach for a few seconds as the contraction stopped. One of her new neighbor's saw what was going on and ran over to Hermione who was now sitting on the steps. "Are you alright, Suga'?" she yelled as she ran over. Hermione looked up to see a woman she could of swore she knew. Although she might just of seen her around this town. After all it was really small.
"Yes. Thank you," Hermione said standing up and grabbing her keys.
"So...You're British?" the old woman said.
Hermione just looked at her and nodded her head.
She began walking towards her jeep as she finally realised who she was and turned around quickly. "Why are you here?!"
"Excuse me," was all she said.
"Your Mrs. Figg. That woman who was looking after Harry. Who sent you?"
"I don't know what in the world you are-" she began to say.
"Bull!"
The woman just looked at her and stomped back towards her house. Hermione jumped in her jeep and just glared at the woman's house. "I cannot believe they knew where I was!" she yelled hitting the steering wheel. "And to send her of all people." Hermione crossed her arms, well did her best to over her large stomach. Hermione moaned as another contraction soon took over. She knew it would be bad to drive herself to the hospital, especially with the contractions. She was about to take out her cell phone when the women popped up at her window.
Hermione looked forward with an annoyed look covering her face. She stepped out of the jeep and walked to the other side and got in as Mrs. Figg sat in the drivers seat with a smug look on her face. "I'll tell you everything on the way. Now just sit back and get comfortable. It's going to be a long way."
She shifted slightly, but it was very difficult to move. "How long have you known I've been out here?"
Mrs. Figg pulled the jeep out of the drive way and began driving towards the hospital. "Dumbledore found you about 3 weeks after you left. Ron doesn't know though. He's respecting your wishes not to see him. He told Albus not to bother telling him."
Hermione put her hand on her forehead. "I can't believe I wrote that," she said. "Ron should be here. I meant to write him...I just...There really is no good explanation for it."
"I'll contact them as soon as we stop. It will take a little longer to get here then it would any other place. You know with the whole ocean thing."
Hermione smiled but it soon faded when she realised how upset Ron must be. If Professor Dumbledore hadn't told him he knew, then for all Ron knew she could be dead. She felt bad knowing Ron could possibly miss the birth of his daughter.
She pushed her hair back and realised they were not heading in the direction of the hospital anymore. Mrs. Figg realised Hermione's suprise. "Don't worry dear. I'm not trying to kidnap you. I'm taking you to the nearest Magical Hospital. I made sure to find out where it was the minute I moved here. We have to contact Ron do we not?"
"But I was registered at the Muggle hospital. What if the-"
"Don't worry Hermione. That's what Muggle/Wizard Relations is for."
Hermione just sat there until they pulled up in front of a building that had to be as big as Hogwarts itself. Except it was nothing but white with tons of windows lining the outside. "Muggles cannot see it."
"Can you?" Hermione said looking over at her.
"Yes!" she snapped. "I do have witches blood in me. It just hardly works."
Hermione felt another pain shoot through her as they walked into the building. Mrs. Figg took her and a nurse helped her get settled. The doctor checked and told her that it might be a few hours but she was definitly giving birth today. Before Hermione could stop her, Mrs. Figg was out the door to retrieve Ron.
Hermione sat for a few minutes just thinking about what was going to happen when he arrived. He was most likely going to be mad. She hadn't even contacted him like she said, or wrote, she would. She was feeling extremely guilty at the moment and no matter what she thought to herself she couldn't make herself feel any better. The only thing she could think of was how upset Ron was going to be and how stupid all of this was. She didn't know why she did this. She realised she had forgotten the entire reason. She knew it was for Ron, but what would be the point of it? To prove to her parents that she could live on her own and get no help from anyone.
It was 20 minutes before Mrs. Figg returned. "Ron is on his way," she said. "It will take him about half an hour to get here." She stopped talking and looked knowingly at Hermione. "It will be alright. You were going to face him sometime. Better before the baby is born then afterwards."
"You're right," Hermione said. "I still don't know why I did this. I don't know why I would do something like this. I'm not even going to graduate from Hogwarts. But Harry and Ron will." She put her hands over her head and wiped her hair out of her way. "I'm so stupid! Why did I think I was going to pull this off?!"
Hermione sat there ready to burst into tears for nearly 20 minutes, but she never did. She didn't want to be crying when Ron arrived. Mrs. Figg left to meet Ron 5 minutes before the half an hour was up. She didn't want him wandering around for an hour. "Ron is a man. Therefore he will be sure he can find you with out asking anyone."
Hermione snorted and let her go.
When Ron arrived he looked around for Mrs. Figg. She had told him she would meet him here and not to move. Ron really didn't blame Hermione for leaving. She had become known to do crazy things. And this was just one of the smaller ones. He stopped looking around for Mrs. Figg when he spotted her coming down one of the many halls.
He began to grow nervous. After all he hadn't seen Hermione in more then 7 months. Mrs. Figg led him to Hermione's room. For a few seconds he stood outside the door preparing to go in. He opened the door and for saw her sitting up in a bed looking out the window. She turned her head and looked at him. The only reaction she had was looking down at her folded hands that lay in her lap.
Ron began moving towards her but before he could Hermione's eyes weld up in tears and they just started falling down. She layed her face in her hands and the only sign you could see that she was crying was the fact that her shoulders were shaking from the sobs. He walked over to her, sat on the edge of the bed, and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry," she said in between sobs. "I thought I was doing it for you. But this didn't help anything. I'm so sorry!"
Hermion layed her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her head soothingly. "There is nothing to apologise for. You had every right to do what you did. No one can tell you to do something you don't want to. And nobody, not even your parents, can prevent you from doing what you need to do."
Hermione pulled away from him. "But I didn't need to do this. I did it because...I..." Hermione put her hands over her stomach and screamed. Mrs. Figg ran out of the room to retrieve the doctor. But he was already on his way up do to Hermione's scream.
"She's going into labor," he said as nurses began piling in.
"You think?" Ron said.
Harry walked over to Ron who had just returned from seeing Hermione and his new daughter. "I thought you would of stayed longer," Harry said sitting down across from him.
"So did I," said Ron. "Her name is Hermione Lena Granger. She thought it would be funny to name her after herself."
"Why didn't you stay for awhile? Did you-"
"I tried to get her to come back." Ron stood up and began walking upstairs to the dormitory. But he stopped and turned back around. "She said no. Even though she thought going to the States was a bad idea, she still would not come back home."
Hermione walked into the new house with her new born daughter. Mrs. Figg was right behind her helping her take her bags in. She set them down as Hermione began walking Lena, as Hermione began calling her, around the house showing her her new home. "Well Lena," Hermione began. "I guess this is it. Our new home. I hope you like it."
She looked down into her beautiful hazel colored eyes. "Welcome home."
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