Disclaimer: Look me in the eyes. Loook meee deeeplyyyy iiiin theee eeeeyyyees. Soon you'll feel very tired, veeeryyy tiiiireeed, and you want to close your eyes, cloooseee yooouur eeeyeeess. But before that, read this chapter and perhaps review, reviiieeeew. Review! Reeeeeviiiiieeeeew!

Oh, I almost forgot; I do not own anything. It's all J.K. Rowling's. J.K. Rooooowliiiing'sss.

Author's note: Yup. We're reaching the end. Nope, this is not the last chapter, but almost. (Now, put corners of your mouth down. That's the spirit!)
And yeah, this is still not betaed. Don't read if it bothers you.

Post Scriptum: Sorry, I've watched way too much Simpsons lately…try to understand.

CHAPTER 7
Please Don't Censor Your Tears

Rose,

I think we should talk, just the two of us. Minerva told me that you have a Hogsmeade weekend coming. I'll be at the Hog's Head. Please meet me there at 10 am.

See you then,
Your Mother

Rose stared the letter. She had read it over and over again, and still couldn't decide was its content positive or not.

It had only four sentences. Thirty-five words. Not 'I love you' or 'I hope you're alright' or not even 'I shall disown you with this letter'. Just four meaningless sentences and Rose couldn't even tell was she still mad or had she forgiven her.

Rose crumbled the letter on her fist and got up. There was only one way to find out. She stepped out of the carriage and headed to the Hog's Head.

There was an awkward silence floating around them.

They had greeted each other, ordered hot drinks after Rose had sat down (butterbeer for Hermione, hot chocolate for Rose) and after that neither of them had said a word.

Rose shifted uncomfortably and opened her mouth. And then closed it again. Her mother looked like she was deep in her thoughts and she didn't want to interrupt her. So they just sat there for a while.

After couple minutes, the silence was finally broken.

"It feels like it was only couple weeks ago." Hermione uttered a small laughter, her eyes glassy, like she was remembering something. Rose didn't dare to make a noise.

"I was here with Harry and Ron, sitting around this very same table. We were seventeen and Voldemort had just been defeated. We should've been out there, celebrating with everyone else, but we just sat here in silence." She took a sip from her drink and then continued.

"We were young and we were alive. And still, I felt like I was hundred and five year's old, ready for the grave. I felt like I was truly alone on that moment, with no one there to help me with those feelings I felt." She kept another break, this time a little longer. She still didn't look at Rose.

"And it feels like it was only yesterday, when I gave birth to you. I remember it so well. You were staring at me with those confused little blue eyes of yours and my only thought was that I wanted you to have a normal, long childhood. Mine ended when I was eleven. I grew up too fast."

"And I just…I truly thought that when you would be seventeen, you wouldn't be like me, feeling like you're carrying the whole world on your shoulders."

Hermione finally lifted her gaze from her drink and looked straight into her daughter's eyes. Brown eyes were filled with tears. She wiped them away and added one more thing, this time more quietly.

"But I guess I was wrong."

Rose felt her eyes well up with tears too. She wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do now. Should she leave now or wait until her mother had walked out of the door. She decided on the latter.

"I'm sorry that I let you down." Her voice was barely a whisper and it was full of regret. She started to get up.

A hand stopped her by reaching over the table and grapping the smaller one's hand. The younger witch clutched it desperately, wanting to remember the feel of her mother's skin before she abandoned her. But Hermione's next words surprised her.

"No, I'm sorry. You didn't let me down, Rose. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. You see, I failed myself when I refused to help you to carry your burden when you asked me to."

Her heart almost jumped in to her throat. She sat down, carefully, almost scaring that it would all disappear if she moved too fast.

Hermione spoke again, her features softening and a small smile gracing her lips.

"I love you. You're my daughter and you're not alone in this. We'll get through this together."

Rose let out a chocked sob and suddenly there were soft arms around her, holding her tightly.

"Shh, it's alright. I'm here." And somehow, as she inhaled the familiar scent of her mother's perfume, she truly believed that it would be alright.

After they had both calmed down, they just sat there and talked about stuff. Her mother wanted to know her plans considering her future (especially with school) and then she wanted to know everything about her granddaughter.

There was one subject they both had consciously avoided, but finally Rose had to bring that up. She wanted to know.

"So how's dad?" She blurted out the words and got ready for the worst. She knew that there was a reason that her father wasn't with them that day.

Hermione cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably.

"He…He's not angry anymore. He's just being his stubborn self like always."

Rose let out a shaky breath and loosened her grip from the mug she was clutching.

"Oh."

Hermione seemed to notice her daughter's loss of words and she continued.

"I think he's just mostly shocked how fast you've grown. That you're not his little girl anymore, but a woman. And soon you have your own child. He's afraid that he's going to lose you."

"But that's crazy."

"Well, that's your father." Rose couldn't help it – A bubbly laughter escaped her lips and soon they were both laughing, wiping tears of joy.

"So, speaking about fathers…" Hermione trailed off, hoping that Rose would take the hint and start talking about the subject.

"Yeah, what about them?" She was playing dumb, trying to buy some time, but Hermione's sharp eyes noticed immediately her stiffened body and strained voice.

"Does he know?" Rose shook her head as an answer and wished that they could talk about something else. But the other woman wasn't ready to let go of the subject just yet and so she pressed on.

"Are you going to tell him?" This time she shrugged, hopelessly. She really didn't know what she should do. Rose closed her eyes and tried to think. But her mother's next words made her open her eyelids quickly.

"I think you should." She had that knowing look on her brown eyes again and Rose just knew that she was right. But still…

"He hates me." She hadn't meant to confess that to her mother. Blush crept on to her cheeks.

"And he'll hate you even more if he finds out about this from someone else than you." And there it was again. Pure logic, her mother had always been a master in that subject.

"But he doesn't have to find out. I mean, I haven't told anyone. Well, except you and dad and Lou. Oh and the Headmistress and Connor. And Madam Skittle knows also. And…Shit. So does professor Malfoy. " She hadn't even thought how many people already knew.

Hermione had a smug smile on her lips.

"Well there you go. You can't hide the baby with glamour forever. You have to tell people sometimes. And when they find out, the word is going to spread like a fire, like it or not."

"I know, mum. But I don't think I'll survive if the whole school finds out. And I'm sure they will after I've told him." Because Scorpius Malfoy would do anything to hurt her.

"Then wait a while. Tell him right before you leave. I've spoken with both Minerva and Madam Skittle and they've agreed that you should leave for maternity break on your eighth month." And then, like as an afterthought she added. "Unless you want to come home earlier?"

"No thanks. I want to study as long as I can."

Her mother looked incredibly proud. "I thought you'd say so."

Rose laughed lightly. "You always know everything, don't you?"

"Yes. And I also know that it's time for you to go back to school." They both turned to look at the clock and Rose groaned inwardly. The carriages would leave in five minutes. She stood up and started to pull her jacket back on.

"Well, are there any other instructions or wisdoms you would like to share with me?" It was meant to be a small wit, and so she startled a bit when her mother answered.

"Actually, there is one." Rose looked at her questionably and Hermione took a deep breath before blurting:

"I think the family should know."

The younger witch was shocked. "What? All of them?"

"Well, they are your family. You could gather Hugo and your cousins together and tell them and I could tell for those who're not in Hogwarts anymore."

"You could really do that?" Rose was relieved. She could barely handle telling her parents – She didn't even want to think about telling her grandparents…

"That's what mothers are for."

Rose hugged her mother quickly, squeezing tightly and inhaling once more that familiar perfume that always reminded her from home. "Thanks mum."

"No problem." She patted her daughter's red hair affectionately and then stated the obvious. "You're going to be late."

"Oh fuck." The older witch cringed a bit at her daughter's choice of words but couldn't help laughing when she almost tripped on her shoelaces while rushing out. Some things never changed.

But she couldn't help yelling after her.

"And hey Rose!" The redhead turned to look at her, looking confused.

"Take care of yourself." The only answer she got was a careless hand wave.

Couple hours later

Her family had reacted just the way she had predicted. She had asked them all to come to the Room of Requirement and then she just blurted it all out.

At first, most of them took it as a joke. But after she had told them under the Truth Oath that she had really meant what she'd said, they had gone crazy.

Albus had cursed and yelled and wanted to beat up that guy who had dared to touch her. He had calmed down only after Rose had threatened to hex his balls off if he didn't get a hold of himself, but he had still muttered angrily while stalking off.

Lily had been mostly shocked but also over excited and she had asked so many questions that Rose's head was still buzzing after them. She had also demanded to be the godmother and she hadn't budged before Rose had promised her that she would consider that seriously.

Molly clearly hadn't known what to think before she had seen Roxanne's reaction. She had always looked up to her older cousin and this time was no exception.

And well, Roxanne's reaction was not so good. She was angry because Rose hadn't told them (especially her) earlier. She had yelled a bit and then walked out of the Room of Requirement. And Molly had followed her with a confused, but still equally mad expression on her face.

Hugo had stayed after everyone else had left. He hadn't said a word during that whole time. He had just merely raised his eyebrows and sat back when Rose had tried to survive her cousins' verbal attacks.

She had been afraid of his reaction the most and when Hugo had stood up, she wasn't quite sure what he was going to say. Hugo had always been like a puzzle for the outsiders, hard to figure out and even Rose never knew what was going on in his head.

And her little brother had once again surprised her. He had hugged her for a long time and after that revealed that he knew that something was going on and he had just waited that she would tell them.

Rose had been wordless and after Hugo's departure, she had stayed there for a long time thinking. And finally she had had to accept the fact that her little brother was – and perhaps had always been -way more mature than she was.

AN: So the headline was from Alanis Morrissette – Mary Jane. I wrote this chapter mostly just get some kind of peace between Hermione and Rose.