A short first chapter. Just to get my brain rolling :). Enjoy!
Hermione took in a deep breath as she waved her wand.
The laundry that she had just completed folded itself neatly on to the perfectly made bed. Hermione dried her hands, having just scrubbed some of the heavier stains out of her shirt. She could have just as easily as removed the stubborn stain with her wand, but she was desperate to release as much of her pent up frustration before Ron came home.
It was well past midnight, his shift with the Aurors ended at 10pm. She knew that Ron often worked late, there were a lot of pieces to pick up since the fall of Voldemort, a lot of loose ends, and both Ron and Harry were late at the office. But Hermione knew Harry had been home hours ago. Her and Ginny had been having an evening together when a massive stag erupted into the room, causing both girls to slosh the content of their glasses all over themselves and the couches.
"What an idiot!" Ginny said in humorous fury, "I TOLD him his patronus is too obnoxious to send out for messages. Honestly. He's probably on the floor laughing all by himself right now. I married a child."
Hermione grinned, envisioning Harry holding his stomach rolling around on the floor. So very much Harry. Her grin faded slightly as she thought of Ron, where was he? Ginny looked at her, catching on.
"Hermione, I never thought I would say this. I love my brother, but he seriously needs to get himself together. This is completely unacceptable and he is being such an arse. Who comes home wasted at 2:00am without his fiancé?"
"You are preaching to the choir." Hermione said sadly, "you'd better go; I need to get these stains out of my shirt."
Hermione put the laundry away, turned out the lights in the house and, for the first time in her entire relationship with Ron, considered spending the night in her own flat. Her and Ron didn't technically live together, Mrs. Weasley was rather traditional, and Ron, apparently, didn't want to be under the wrath of his mother. Hermione didn't mind too much, it gave her somewhere to go on her days off from St. Mungo's.
She had risen in the ranks, unsurprisingly, and was now the head of a new department, Research of Magical Remedies. She was currently working on a treatment for werewolf bites. She wasn't wasting her time on a cure, she knew a this point, they needed to find a suitable treatment for the symptoms, and that would buy them time for a complete cure. They were in the testing stage now, able to test on human volunteers without any major side effects. Lavendar Brown was one of the first to sign up. Fenrir Greyback had done substantial damage to her shoulder and arm, though she would always have minor scars, this treatment made them merely look like light lines in her skin, no longer deep, dark gauges. This treatment, also, stopped the victim from turning into a werewolf. Rather they were just extremely unpredictable people for a few days at full moon.
Hermione snorted, Lavendar shouldn't have been a test case for that part. She was already a headcase without the werewolf hormones.
Hermione stood up, preparing to apparate out of Ron's house when she heard the front door downstairs slam open.
"'Mione!" She heard Ron in a slurred bellow, "Love, wherrr yyoouat. Ronnikins needs more lovin."
Hermione sucked in a breath. Ronnikins. Her suspicions were coming to the front of her mind. Ron would not cheat on her. He was at least better than that. She hoped.
She went downstairs. Rons robes were a mess, as if he had fallen into every bush on his way up the walk. Hermione, quite frankly, was astounded he had even made it back home in the state he was in. She caught him as he stumbled forwards.
"Yooouu smellll like ssoap." Ron's voice slurred, he lolled his head onto Hermione's shoulder, "Laaavendar soap."
"You smell like Lavendar." Hermione said pointedly, wondering if Ron's drunken state would prove to be a sober heart.
"Lav-lav." Ron chortled.
"Who were you drinking with?" Hermione asked.
"Soommee people. Yoouu aren't myy keeepper."
"I'm your fiancé," Hermione responded, knowing anything she said now was useless.
She half dragged him up the stairs and on to his bed.
"Thaaanks Lavendar." Ron mumbled, eyes closed and half passed out, "I tooold you we wouldn't get caught."
"Caught by who, Ron." Hermione half frozen standing over Ron's useless form.
"The fiancé, fiiiaaancceeee. Yooouuu should be my fiiaaanncceee Lav. Yooouuu make me soo happy."
Ron snorted, and promptly started snoring. Hermione didn't know whether to scream or to cry, maybe both. This was not happening. Ron put off the wedding once, saying he wasn't ready, things had gone slightly downhill from there. She thought maybe it was because he had to work so much harder to keep up with Harry at the Ministry. She knew what that was like, trying to earn your place in a position where everyone said you're too young and don't have enough experience.
Hermione spun on the spot and apparated into the bedroom of her flat. There, she sat down on her bed and wept.
