Disclaimer: I don't own anything and frankly, after DH, I'm glad I don't.

Um...hello everyone! I know, I know, it's been incredibly long, over 3 months since I've last updated. It's horrible to even write it down...I'm not looking for any excuses and all I can say is that I really am horribly sorry and I hope that there are at least some of you out there who are still interested in this story.

As usual, I own a huge thanks to my beta, x-Xanti-x.

And thanks to everyone who reviewed so far!

I won't keep you away form this long awated (I hope) chapter anymore.

Please leave me a comment!

Friends

It wasn't a particularly interesting day for Ronald Weasly. Going from one class to another, talking about Quiddich with his best friend, Harry Potter, listening to the nagging of his other best friend, Hermione Granger.

The school year started out hectic enough, true. The appearance of the future selves of his two best friends would shock anyone, right? Not to mention the fact that one of the most dangerous prisoners of Azkaban had escaped the said feared prison and was out to get Harry Potter. A hectic year indeed.

Contrary to common belief, Ronald Weasly wasn't stupid and suspected that there was something more to the future Harry and Hermione than they were letting on and he was almost sure that the Hermione of his time knew at least part of it. Since Christmas, after the argument, that he only called 'the broom accident' in his head, Hermione seemed to behave more strangely than before when they had an argument.

Ron noticed how she would look up at the teachers' table whenever the two people from the future would make an appearance and would observe the two like she used to do with Professor Snape in their first year when they suspected he had something to do with cursing Harry's broom and stealing the Philosopher's Stone.

Something was off with the two but for the life of him Ron couldn't figure out what it was. Yes, Ronald wasn't stupid, but he wasn't particularly clever either and right now his stomach was telling him to eat, not to think about the complicated problems that currently occupied the mind of his female best friend. 'Women are so complicated, anyway.' He thought.

Little did he know that he'd soon find out about all those secrets the two time travellers were hiding.

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She almost, almost managed to forget it. Forget that she and one of her best friends were supposed to marry in a few years. After the Christmas argument she finally was talking to her boys again and couldn't be happier.

Of course there was that little problem with Professor Lupin being a werewolf, but after a long contemplation she decided to ignore that little bit of information for the time being. He was kind enough and she was almost sure that he wouldn't willingly hurt anyone. Of course from her readings Hermione could tell that werewolves couldn't control themselves when they transformed, but she also discovered that there was a modern potion that did not stop the transformation, but helped the victim to control themselves during that period.

It was a beautiful spring evening when it all came back crashing own at her. The reality of the time travellers and their supposed marriage. The last few months there were gossip concerning the two people from the future, or more like about her future self.

It was an exceptionally hot spring and most of the students were all too happy to get rid of their black robes, including herself and her friends. They were seeing the older Hermione less and less, until she only came down for dinner and would disappear immediately afterwards, not coming out of whatever place (the 14-year-old Hermione suspected her living quarters) she went away to.

Even when they saw her she was wearing some kind of a loose shirt or jumper, which was even stranger because of the warm weather. It was a mystery to everyone that would be soon solved.

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A 13-year-old Harry Potter watched his older self with great interest, wondering about the aspects of the future no 13-year-old should think about. He had to wonder what will make him so sour and seemingly unloving in the future. He wanted to know, so he could stop it happening. Of course he noticed gradual, but noticeable changes in the 24-year-old's behaviour, how he seemed even more protective of Hermione, or how he would send her a secret smile during dinner.

He wasn't dense, so therefore shouldn't have been so surprised by the happenings that transpired that beautiful spring evening.

It seemed that the whole school as together at dinner, as if arranged by fate. Everyone was chatting happily, eating the delicious food Hogwarts provided. The only ones who weren't present were the two time travellers, but Harry suspected that they wouldn't turn up either. The past few weeks it seemed that they always came down first and left as quickly as possible.

He was reaching for another helping of soup, when the doors of the Great Hall opened with great force and in walked the two aforementioned people, and Harry froze in mid-action when he took in their appearance.

The Harry from the future was wearing simple jeans and a black T-shirt, but it wasn't his clothing that was so strange. No. His hand was intertwined with the hand of a very pregnant Hermione Granger. It seemed that she worn such a tight fitting shirt on purpose.

The whole hall fell silent; the only sound was the clapping of the time travellers' shoes on the floor of the Hall, as they made their way towards the head table. Harry watched as his future self pulled out Hermione's chair and helped her sit down. When he sat down himself he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to the lips of Hermione after a changing a few words with her, then she started to pile food first on his, then her plate as well.

Harry was roughly shaken out of his stupor by the sound of a glass shattering on the floor of the Hall. He quickly turned his head towards the source of the sound and found Ginny Weasly staring open mouthed at the couple and she didn't look too happy either. Maybe he should have wondered about her reasons, but his mind rapidly went back to the scene he just witnessed and he looked at his two best friends to see there reactions.

Ron looked rather shocked and sported a look that Harry suspected he, himself had on his face, while Hermione stubbornly stared into her soup, not looking up even for a moment. That was when Harry started to suspect that she already knew something about the recent happenings. He desperately wanted to find out just what was going on, but he most like would have to wait till they finished their meal so they could find a private place to talk.

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The older Harry and Hermione watched with increasing mirth as everyone started to chat right after they sat down. Hermione was particularly amused by the face of the younger Harry. Later on she would say that it was priceless and she wished that she had a camera with her.

"If I knew that this would be such a fun I would have done this much sooner, you know," whispered Harry into her left ear, his mouth forming a slight smile.

"And the Marauder side of you lives again," said Hermione with a dramatic sigh.

"What can I say…I'm my father's son, after all."

"Yes and I can only hope that this child here won't be like you, because one of you is more than enough." She said with a smile that suggested that she was only joking.

"And here I thought that you loved me. I'm a bit delusional, it seems."

Hermione could only shake her head with a small smile on her lips as she started to pile his favourite food onto his plate, seemingly not caring about the outside world, even though she was very much aware of the fact that most of the Great Hall was staring at her and her husband.

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'Finally,' thought Harry as he and his two friends stood up, very aware of the eyes of the whole student body following them as they left the Great Hall. As soon as the doors of the hall closed behind them they (or more like Ron and Harry) started to talk at the same time, while they headed for the Gryffindor common room.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" exclaimed Ron. "This is a very, very bad joke, I tell you." He continued with a look of disgust on his face.

"I can't believe they managed to hide this from all of us all along!" said Harry at the same time, while Hermione remained unusually silent during the whole thing.

"Why did they hide this anyway?! They should have told us, right, Hermione? Hermione…?!" continued Harry noticing for the first time that his best girl friend hadn't said anything since the tow time travellers stepped into the Great Hall.

"Are you all right, Hermione?" asked Ron timidly. "I know this was a huge shock for all of us but…"

"I knew." whispered Hermione.

"…you shouldn't…What?!" Hermione winced at the tone her best friend used. "Yo-You knew all about this and didn't tell us? Hermione, how could you?!"

While Ron's reaction to her words were as violent as she expected from Ron, Harry didn't say a thing, simply stared into the space and when Ron finished his little tirade he looked into Hermione's eyes, but still didn't say anything.

"Well? I'm still waiting for an answer here," came Ron's annoying voice once again.

"Look, Ron," started Hermione, "Yes, I did know about them...us…them…Oh, to hell with this!" she suddenly exclaimed ad Ron looked at her, shocked. Hermione never sworn. Never. "This is just so confusing. But back to the topic. No, I didn't say anything because I promised that I wouldn't- You think that it was easy on me? I never, in a million years expected that."

"When did you find out about it?" whispered Harry finally, his face and voice unreadable.

"It was on Christmas Day, after our argument. I was…I was in the library and you, I mean the older you, came and find me and invited me to spend the day with him and Hermione." She paused for a bit, conveniently leaving out the part where she cried and Harry comforted her. "You know it's so strange to talk about myself like this." She stopped for a moment once again. It would have been obvious to anyone who knew Hermione that she was distressed. She never ever jumped to different topics like this while talking.

"So, I accompanied Harry back to their quarters and Hermione was nowhere to be seen. Harry was about to go and retrieve her when she…she walked out of what must have been the bedroom in a thong and a shirt that obviously belonged to a male." She blushed a bit when she told them that her older self walked out practically naked. "And she was looking for something, I believe her bra, and wanted to ask Harry about the missing piece. That's when she noticed me."

A simple 'I see' was the only thing that Harry managed to say and remained silent. Even Ron didn't have anything to say and Hermione felt like she was drowning in the tension.

"I really did want to tell you. I did, I just…I promised…" she chocked out before the tears started to stream down her face as she was releasing the tension of the past few months. She wept as her two best friends simply stared at her, not really knowing what to do. Then finally Harry carefully sat right next to her and awkwardly patted her shoulders in a manner that was obviously meant to be soothing.

"I…I'm sorry. It's just the stress, I swear. With Sirius Black trying to hunt you down and I find out on top of that that I'm supposed to marry one of my best friends and have at least one child with him. It's just…"

"Too much." Finished Harry for her. "I know," he said and sent a weak smile in her direction, which she returned. "What I don't understand," continued Harry, "is just why exactly you married that jerk that I'm supposed to become. It just doesn't make sense."

"You don't understand." She said, then smiled as she realised that she just said exactly what he did only a few seconds ago. "You…he…went through a lot of things and that's why he's like that. But haven't you noticed? These past weeks he's been completely different. Smiling more and all."

"So you're meaning to tell me that I'm some kind of a charity case? That you married me because…because you pity me?" he asked, anger evident in his voice as he practically spat the word 'pity' in a very Snape-like manner.

"No, of course not! I actually asked her the same thing and she said that it wasn't why she married him. She loved him. Still does, as a matter of fact." She said, trying to be reassuring.

Meanwhile Ron listened to the conversation of his best friends and after a while decided that they needed some privacy, so he left, not that either of the two noticed his absence. Both were too wrapped up in their conversation.

"So…you love me?" asked Harry finally, after a long moment of silence, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes. No. I don't know." cried Hermione. "I don't want to offend you or anything, Harry, you are a really sweet boy and all, but I'm 14! I'm not supposed to know whom I'll marry and have children with. It's just not normal! I love you, as a friend. Maybe something happens in the future that changes this. We shall see." Harry actually looked very relieved by her answer.

"Well, I guess I could live with that." He said with a smile and he stood up and offered his hand to Hermione to help her up, too.

"So friends?" she said as she let him help her up.

"The best" and with that both left for their own dormitories, anxious to have a good night's sleep.

Thank you for reading and please don't forget to review! We have only a few more chapters to go, guys!