Prologue - 2007
A/n: This was my first Harry Potter fan fiction since 2006. I decided to clean it up a bit and post it here since I am leaving FFN. This story ignores the epilogue and definitely ignores Cursed Child. It was awful and didn't do justice to the characters we love. I do not own anything you may recognize from the Potterverse. It is inspired by various stories I’ve read along the way, prompts, pictures, and my pure imagination.
~*~ 2007 ~*~
At twenty-eight years old, Hermione Granger never thought she would find herself in a Muggle grocery store feeling helpless for the first time in at least nine years. The last time she had felt this level of dread, she had seen Harry being carried out of the Forbidden Forest in Hagrid’s arms. The lights in the store seemed too bright, and her heels clicked on the floor as she walked down the aisles, with people around her who seemed to swarm her, making her feel claustrophobic. Her heart raced as she felt as if there were eyes on her, judging her. The press had finally calmed down in the nine years since Harry defeated Voldemort. Not that they were gone. So she stayed on guard just in case someone followed her out of the Ministry.
Pulling her purse higher on her shoulder as she walked down the correct aisle, she grabbed some of her favorite salty potato crisps. Glancing at her watch, she hurried to the next aisle she needed. Holding her last purchase, she saw a woman watching her. Her heart skipped a beat as the woman looked away, and she sighed when she realized the woman didn't recognize her. She probably was looking as crazed as she felt.
After paying for her purchases, she left and hurried into the parking lot. Standing between two large vans, she glanced around to ensure no one was following or watching her. Then she apparated home and locked down the wards.
She removed her shoes and pulled her primary purchase out of the bag. Throwing the crisps and chocolate bars left in the shopping bag onto the decorative table near the front door, they didn’t even stop as they slid off onto the floor. Ignoring it, she ran upstairs and walked into her bathroom.
Five minutes later, Hermione found herself sitting on the edge of her tub in her bathroom, nausea threatening to overtake her as her cell phone counted down on the countertop.
Breathing in slowly but shakily through her nose, she closed her eyes as the alarm on her phone went off. Reaching for it, she pressed the buttons to silence it, then grabbed the object next to her phone, knocking it into the sink. Picking it up, it felt 100 times heavier than it actually was. She opened her eyes, looked at it, and her heart dropped. With shaking legs, she stood and looked at the identical object in the sink. Both objects were still identical. This time, they held a large blue cross, unlike when they were first purchased.
Her knees gave out as she fell to the floor, and she sobbed, burying her face into her knees.
“Hermione?! I see your shoes. Are you home?”
Hermione quickly wiped her eyes and stood up. Flushing the toilet and washing her hands, she yelled, “In the bathroom! I’ll be out in a moment.”
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she mentally kicked herself for not bringing her wand into the bathroom to cast a glamour.
Swallowing hard, she opened the bathroom door to find Harry Potter himself on the other side.
“Hermione! You will never guess who we just apprehended?” Harry said, his face glowing with happiness, then immediately dropping his smile when he saw her face. “Hermione, have you been crying? Who made you upset?”
“Harry, it’s…” Hermione trailed off as he looked behind her, and she swore as she forgot to throw the tests away that sat plainly to be seen on the back of the sink.
“Hermione?” Harry asked as he looked at her, confused.
Hermione burst into tears. “They are positive. I am a 28-year-old unwed mother-to-be! How the fuck did I screw this all up?”
A/n: So this idea has been floating around in my head for nearly a year. Inspired by prompts, ideas, stories I love, and a little bit of a Taylor Swift listening a-Thon, I have the whole story outlined out. This story will be inspired by How I Met Your Mother with a little bit of Friends. It will be Harry/Hermione-centric, but until they realize they are meant for each other there will be other relationships along the way. Nothing graphic with those relationships, but they have to grow and learn about themselves before they realize who they are truly meant to be with.
Who is the father? Enjoy the ride and find out!
