I am back with a new story!! This time I actually have everything planned out and I am always going to try and be a couple chapters ahead so I don't get behind. If things go According to plan, you should get a new chapter once every one or two weeks.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of HP Characters…I just own Belle…and she's a bitch.

Prologue Part One

Twenty-one year old Hermione Granger sat at a table near the back of the muggle pub, enjoying watching the different types of people milling about while she waited for Harry to arrive. She had just gotten a promotion with her job at the Ministry of Magic as one of the researchers for dangerous spells and potions, and Harry had said that he was going to take her out in celebration. Ron was supposed to come as well, but he had to cancel at the last minute to stay home with his wife Luna, who was currently seven months pregnant with their first child. She was going through some mood swings and Ron felt that it wasn't smart to leave his hormonal wife alone.

After Harry had defeated Voldemort when they were eighteen, Ron finally got the courage to ask Luna Lovegood out. Apparently he had liked her for a long time and never had the guts to ask her out on a date. He told Hermione that seeing some of his friends get killed in the final battle really opened his eyes on how life was so short, that it could be taken away at any time, so live life to the fullest, he had said. It was no secret that Luna liked Ron, so of course when he did ask her, she said yes right away. They dated for about a year and a half before Ron asked Luna to marry him, and they were married at the Burrow six months later. Not too long after that that she discovered she was pregnant.

So many people moved on after the final battle. As expected, Harry and Ginny got back together afterwards, and they had a relationship for about a year before they began to realize they were better off as friends. Harry told Hermione that the two of them mainly snogged and shagged when they were together, but other than that they were like best friends. There was no romantic connection between them like when they were at Hogwarts. After parting their ways, Ginny and Neville began to date and have been in a serious relationship ever since. Harry also found someone else, Isabelle Andrews, or as everyone called her, Belle. She was an editor for `Witch Weekly' and looked like she just stepped off a photo shoot herself. She had flawless skin, long straight black hair, was not too skinny and not to plump. Everyone loved her, everyone except Hermione. From day one, Belle and Hermione just didn't click like she did with the rest of Harry's friends when she met them eight months ago. Belle just didn't like her. Hermione could tell that she was a more than a little jealous of her and Harry's relationship and felt threatened.

Hermione was the only one of her group of friends that wasn't involved in a relationship. She didn't really mind, right now she had to concentrate on her new job and that would take up a lot of her time. But there were times when Hermione did wonder if there was a special someone out there for her. Ron had Luna and, as much as Hermione hated to admit it, Harry had Belle. She couldn't help but feel a little left out when they all went out to lunch or something with each other, always feeling like the fifth wheel.

But it wasn't like Hermione was a hermit who lived at the office and at home. She did go out on dates with blokes once in a while, but they were really nothing special. She kept on unintentionally comparing them to Harry. They weren't as kind as Harry; they weren't as sweet as Harry. In the end, none of them compared to Harry. That's when Hermione realized she was in love with Harry all along. Unfortunately, she waited too long and he was now happily involved with little miss Belle.

“Sorry I'm late!” Hermione jumped as the object of her affection rushed towards her. “Belle and I had a little disagreement before I left.”

“It's okay,” she said, forcing a smile, wondering what it could have been about.

“You sure?” he asked, pulling off his jacket and draping it over the back of his chair. “This is supposed to be your night.”

“Don't worry about it,” Hermione said waving it aside. “I already bought the first round; it should be here pretty soon.”

“What? But I said I'm buying tonight.”

“I don't mind, Harry. Besides I would've bought one round anyway, may as well get it out of the way.”

Harry laughed and rolled his eyes. He leaned back in his chair and looked at her, “So. How does it feel to finally get promoted?”

“It feels great,” Hermione laughed. A waitress arrived with their drinks. Hermione smiled at her and took a sip.

Harry thanked to the waitress, who giggled flirtatiously at him, and also took a swing, “We're all really proud of you `Mione.”

Hermione flushed and took another swing of her drink, making Harry laugh. She coughed and set the bottle down, “So how are things with Belle? You said you guys had a disagreement earlier?”

Harry sighed, “Hermione, I don't want to talk about this right now. Tonight is your night.”

“Oh come on, Harry. I noticed that you and Belle have been getting into more of your `disagreements' lately. You sure you don't want to talk about it?”

Harry stared at her for a couple moments, before shaking his head and leaning forward on his elbows. “Fine. We just haven't been getting along as well as we were when we first started dating. She keeps on complaining that I spend too much time with you and Ron.”

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Belle was also a very jealous person, she didn't like sharing Harry. “And I guess she didn't particularly like you going to the pub with me tonight,” she said, looking down at a stain on the table.

He didn't deny it. “I don't care what she thinks about tonight, you got a great promotion and it's only fair that we go out and celebrate.” Harry paused to take a drink. “To be honest, I'm getting a little sick of her jealously. I mean, if she can't accept that you're an important person in my life then, well, I don't think I want to be with her.”

Hermione, who was in the middle of taking another sip, choked on her beer. She grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth. “You're going to break up with her?” She asked, feeling a twinge of hope and instantly feeling horrible for it.

“I've been thinking about it, yeah,” he admitted, “but to hell with Belle. Tonight it's all about you.” He raised his bottle, “What do you say about getting pissed tonight?”

Hermione grinned and clinked her bottle with his. “I say that's a brilliant idea.”

****

Three hours later, Harry and Hermione managed to stumble through the doorway of Hermione's flat, laughing hysterically at something they had already forgotten. Hermione slammed the door shut and threw her arms around Harry, making him stumble back into the wall. They both erupted into a fit of laughter.

“You wan' somethin' to drink?” Hermione slurred, pulling away from Harry and stumbling down the hall into the kitchen, knocking over the coat rack as she did. He grinned and followed her, using the wall to steady himself.

Hermione grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and walked over to the fridge. On her way, she somehow lost her balance and fell to the floor, dropping the glasses which shattered on impact with the tiles. “Owieee,” She moaned.

“You okay?” Harry knelt down beside her and grabbed her hand, which was starting to bleed slightly from a cut.

“Yeah.”

Harry, who wasn't thinking clearly from the alcohol he had consumed, brought her hand up to his mouth and sucked on the wound. She gasped quietly, the heat from his lips on her hand a little too much for her in her drunken state.

Harry looked up at her, passion burning brightly in his eyes. He brought a shaky hand up behind her head and pulled her towards him, capturing her lips with his. Tongues danced and hands groped at a frenzied pace. Both of them moaned at the feelings they were experiencing. Without breaking contact, Harry picked up Hermione and stumbled towards the bedroom, both of them too drunk to think about the consequences.

****

Harry groaned as he slowly began to regain consciousness, rolling over in the bed and wrapping his arm around Belle. Keeping his eyes tightly shut to keep the light out, he leaned over and kissed Belle on the head. Instead of the normal silky hair Harry was used to, his lips pressed against extremely curly, soft hair. His eyes shot opened in surprise and then instantly closed as the sun light hit him square in the face. He groaned again and rolled on his back, tossing his arm over his eyes.

`What the bloody hell happened last night?' Harry thought, trying to fight off the beginning of a huge headache. All he could remember was going to the pub to meet Hermione and then coming back to her place and… “Bloody hell!” Harry sat up and lifted the covers. He gulped when he saw his and Hermione's naked bodies underneath the white sheet.

Looking around the room, he saw the clothes he was wearing the previous night scattered all over the room. His t-shirt was even hanging on top of the bedside lamp. Harry felt horrible. How could he have done something like this to Belle…and to Hermione? “I'm such a shit,” he hissed, leaning over the bed and grabbing his boxers. He quickly tugged them on then got out of the bed and went around the room collecting the rest of his clothes.

Belle was supposed to stop by his flat that morning, and if he wasn't there when she showed up he was going to be in so much trouble. Harry knew that Belle didn't care much for Hermione, and if she found out that he had slept with her, she'd probably castrate him.

He quickly tugged his jeans up over his hips and put his shirt on. He stood up and apparated out of Hermione's flat, forgetting to leave a note for her apologizing about what happened.

Hermione awoke with a start at the sound of a loud pop, a tell-tale sign of someone apparating. She groaned and rolled over onto her stomach, burying her head into her pillow. Her head was killing her, she didn't think she ever had this big of a headache before. `I'm never drinking again,' she thought. To top it off, Hermione began to feel that inevitable feeling in her stomach before she had to throw up. Clapping a hand to her mouth, Hermione darted out of the bed and towards the bathroom. She dived towards the toilet just in time as the bile rose in her throat.

After emptying the contents of her stomach, Hermione put the seat down and flushed the toilet, resting her forehead against the cool porcelain. That was when she realized she wasn't wearing any clothes.

She gasped and stood up, holding onto the wall to keep her balance. She walked back into her room and grabbed her robe, put it on and sat on the edge of her bed. She could barely remember Harry bringing her into this room last night, but after that she couldn't remember anything. Though, by how she woke up and the way her lower region was a little sore, Hermione had a pretty good idea of what went on.

But where was Harry? He didn't seem like the type of man that would just leave without a note or something. Hermione quickly looked around the room to see if there was a piece of paper she may have missed but found nothing. “Maybe he left one in the kitchen,” she muttered to herself. She stood up and on shaky legs walked to the kitchen, but again found no note.

Feeling a little hurt, Hermione sat down at the kitchen table and put her head in her arms and sighed. In the back of her mind, she realized that Harry had cheated on Belle with her, but she couldn't help but feel a little depressed that Harry had left without a note or anything, even if it was just a simple note saying they'll talk later.

“Hermione?” The front door opened and closed as Luna's voice filtered through the small flat. “Are you home?”

Hermione jumped and, after making sure her robe was closed, called out, “I'm in the kitchen, Luna.” She winced at how croaky her voice sounded.

“Still in your robe?” Luna waddled into the kitchen, giving off that natural glow pregnant women seemed to have. The blond frowned as she got a good look at her friend, “What's wrong?”

Hermione didn't reply right away. She traced little patterns on the table with her finger, avoiding looking at Luna.

“Hermione?” Luna placed a hand on her arm, “Are you okay?”

“Last night,” she began, licking her lips anxiously, “Last night, I think Harry and I…”

“Harry and you what?” Luna frowned slightly, then her expression turned to one of realization. She sat back in her chair, “Ooh.”

“Yeah.” Hermione muttered, feeling. She rubbed the bridge of her nose saying, “We both got drunk and I'm assuming we…well, you know, because when I woke up I had no clothes on.” Hermione felt her face heat up slightly as she said this; she felt a little uncomfortable talking about her sex life.

“And where's Harry?”

“I don't know. He was gone when I woke up.”

“He left?” Luna said, sounding slightly surprised. Hermione nodded and put her head into her hands. Harry regretted sleeping with her, she knew it. Why else would he have left without any notification? Luna, as if knowing what her friend was thinking lightly tapped her on the head, “Don't go thinking it was your fault, I'm sure Harry had a good reason why he left.”

“I'm not thinking that!” she said unconvincingly. Luna's eyebrows shot up and shot gave Hermione a skeptical look. “I'm not!”

“You love him,” she said suddenly.

“No - no I don't.” Hermione stood up and walked to the fridge, opening it up and grabbing a bottle of pumpkin juice. She quickly opened it and took a sip.

“You never were good at lying, Hermione.”

She sighed and put the bottle down on the counter, “So what if I love Harry? There's no chance he'll want to get together with me. He's happily involved with Belle.”

“But he slept with you.”

“He was pissed. Oh Merlin I made Harry cheat on Belle.”

“Were you the one who advanced first?”

Hermione paused and frowned. “Yes. No. I don't know, I can't remember.”

“What if he came onto you first? If he did then technically you didn't make him cheat.”

“It doesn't matter!” Hermione exploded. “The fact of the matter is that Harry cheated on Belle, the woman he's been dating for eight months now, with me!”

Luna sighed and watched Hermione as she began to pace around the kitchen, rubbing her stomach idly. “Talk to Harry then,” Luna said softly, “Ronald and I have decided to have the baby shower on Wednesday. Come a little bit early and you can talk to Harry and sort things out.”

****

Hermione wasn't looking forward to talking with Harry at the baby shower. She didn't know how things were going to turn out, and not knowing terrified her. Wednesday came up all too soon, and she was starting to feel a little panicky as she picked up the red baby blanket she got for Luna and Ron.

“You can do this,” Hermione breathed, and then apparated into the hall of Ron and Luna's house. “Hello?”

“In the kitchen, Hermione!” She heard Ron call out. She inhaled deeply and made her way into the tiny kitchen. Her heart jumped up into her throat when she saw Harry sitting at the kitchen table with Bill and Fleur's youngest son, Sean, in his lap. Luna, who was behind him, gave Hermione an apologetic smile.

Ron came up and took the present from her arms, smiling as he lightly tossed it in the air, “Didn't get the baby a book, Herms?” he joked.

“No, Ronald.” Hermione said, rolling her eyes, “And don't call me Herms. You know I detest that nickname.”

“That's why I call you it,” Ron said, going to the table and placing the present onto table where a couple other brightly wrapped presents were. “Herms.”

“Now, now play nice.” Luna said, giving Sean a blue sippy cup. The little boy gulped down the liquid greedily. She picked up a small present and looked at her husband, “Can you help me bring these to the living room?” Ron grabbed the rest of the presents and walked out of the kitchen, Luna waddling after him, gave a pointed look to Hermione.

There was an awkward silence in the kitchen. Harry didn't look up at Hermione; he kept his eyes trained on Sean who was looking between the two adults. “Down!” he cried. Harry sighed and put the little boy down who ran out of the kitchen screaming “Uncle Ron!”

“So, um…” Hermione began, nervously biting her bottom lip.

“Yeah.” Harry ran a hand through his still messy raven black hair, “I'm sorry for leaving that morning without waking you up. I was supposed to meet with Belle.”

Hermione inwardly winced; his comment had hurt a little. “It- it's okay.” She said. “Did she find out?”

Harry shook his head, “That was the one time she was running late.”

“Oh.” There was another awkward pause.

“Listen, Hermione.” Harry began; he stood up and took a few steps towards Hermione. “I really am sorry about what happened. If I could, I'd change what happened, but I can't…I hope that this doesn't change anything between us.”

`Of course things between us will change! I love you damn it!' Hermione shook her head and forced a smile, “Of course it won't.” She said, gritting her teeth.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and smiled for the first time that afternoon, “Good. I was a little worried.” He went to go hug her but then stopped mid-hug and stepped back, “Maybe it's a little too early for that.” He said sheepishly.

Hermione smiled weakly as Ron and Luna entered the kitchen. Ron went up to Harry and clapped a hand on his shoulder, “How about a game of wizard chess before everyone gets here?”

“Fine,” Harry said. “Doesn't it get boring beating me over and over again?”

Ron grinned wickedly as the two men walked out of the kitchen. “Nope.”

Luna waited until she saw they were seated in the living room before sitting down at the kitchen table. “Well?” she asked.

“Everything's fine.” Hermione said, not bothering to force a smile. “He wants us to be just like we were before we had sex.”

“Hermione…” Luna said, feeling sorry for her best friend.

“I'm fine,” she insisted, “This is for the better. I have no time to get into a relationship; I just got promoted and I have a lot of work to do.”

“Auntie Luuuna!” Sean came tearing into the kitchen holding a piece of what looked to be a horse's head. He looked between the two women before going to Hermione and holding out his hands, “Look!”

Hermione genuinely smiled at the three year old, “Is that Uncle Ron's or Harry's?” She asked gently.

“Harry!”

Hermione giggled and turned to Luna. “So why are you looking after Sean? Bill and Fleur are coming aren't they?”

“They are, but they put off getting a present to the last minute,” Luna said. Sean sat down on the kitchen floor and began to play with the horse head, making little `neigh' noises. “They didn't want to take him with them to get a present since Sean always wants a toy when they go shopping.”

Harry walked into the kitchen and grinned as he picked up Sean. He squealed and laughed as Harry tossed him over his shoulder, “We need that piece back.” He smiled at Luna and Hermione as he walked back out of the room.

A/N: And there you have it! First part of the prologue is done. The second part should be up sometime next week. Can't wait until OOTP comes out, it comes out on my birthday so I get to go to the first showing! -does a little dance-