The Sweetest Downfall

Finding Bliss

"I'm fat."

Stomping out of the single bedroom of her flat, Hermione crossed her arms and felt them rest over her enormous belly. She was wearing a frown that could send a random stranger (or Ron) running for their lives, but the three women casually sitting in her living room seemed unfazed by her anger.

Ginny let out an exasperated huff. "Sweetheart, you are not fat."

"Then why doesn't this fit?!" Hermione threw a flower dress at the redhead. "Nothing in that bloody closet fits! I'm a whale!"

"You are not a whale, Hermione," assured Ginny with a monotone. It was the same argument she already had with the brunette five times that week. It was tiresome, but Ginny knew that she had to be sensitive to her friend's feelings no matter how unstable and illogical they were.

Though it was bluntly obvious that Ginny Potter was being sensitive about the issue, Pansy Parkinson had no desire or obligation to do so. She understood that Hermione was packed with extra hormones and felt more than ready to pop, but Pansy had never tolerated whiny females before and she wasn't about to let Hermione use her pregnancy as justification.

The dark-haired witch rolled her eyes as she stood from her seat, yanking the dress from Ginny's hands. "Granger," Pansy began as she inspected the garment, "this dress would be perfect for a day strolling through Diagon Alley if it was eight months prior. But seeing as you are currently very pregnant, you need maternity clothes. I don't know what you were thinking trying to fit into this, it's impossible."

"Not that you'll never fit into it again," interjected Ginny as she too stood and took back the dress from Parkinson. She glared at the dark-haired witch before smiling gently at Hermione. "You will after you give birth and you go back to your regular size. For now, however, you need to put on something suited for your pregnant state."

Hermione's bottom lip trembled as she eyed the dress in Ginny's hand. It was her favorite item to wear when the weather was particularly beautiful throughout Britain and now she couldn't. She would have to wait a year for summer to come back again so she could sport it. But it wasn't just about the dress. Merlin, Hermione wasn't too full of herself to not know that she needed to slip into her maternity clothes (which did have beautiful dresses that flattered her belly).

In reality, she was being a nuisance due to a plague of haunting thoughts.

"I feel so alone," muttered Hermione to her guests. Tears appeared in her eyes and her fingers started to fiddle together as a nervous tick. "I miss my parents," she confessed.

Ginny's annoyance deflated. "Oh, 'Mione."

The redhead attempted to cross distance to put her arms around the brunette but Hermione raised her hand to halt her. "It's fine," she sniffed. "It's just...As a little girl I never imagined getting married and having a baby without my parents. Who does? But now my child will never know them. My child will never know how kind their grandparents were, how intelligent, how Mum was a little ditzy, or how Dad was a little grumpy, and how much they loved each other..."

"I did," with a clearing of her throat and a raise to her chin, Pansy said, "I imagined getting married and having children without my parents. They were awful; absolutely the worst people imaginable. In fact, I knew I never wanted to get married and have children in fears that I'd turn out like them. Of course, as a pureblood girl you're trained and brought up to be someone's wife, but I hoped...Oh, I hoped that it never came to be. And it didn't. And I'm blessed.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Granger. They sound like amazing people. If anyone deserves that comfort, it's you," Pansy finished.

Hermione's left hand went to wipe at her cheek. She wasn't exactly comforted by Parkinson's words, but she felt a great deal of pain slowly let go of her heart. She needed to voice her sadness to someone, that grief she still carried, but what could anyone say? She knew no one could give her the words that would make everything better. Her parents were dead. There was no bringing them back.