Hermione Granger listened to her alarm. She had been listening to it for the past 10 minutes. She knew that she had to go to work, there was no doubt about it, however, it did not mean that she wanted to go.
She crawled deeper into the bed, pulling the covers further over her head in an attempt to block out the sound. The mass of warmth next to her moved. It turned towards her and lifted the cover. A shock of ginger hair appeared at the edge of the quilt, followed by a pair of sleepy eyes.
'Hermione, are you gonna turn that damn thing off?' Ron climbed out of bed, ever the romantic, and walked to their en-suite. 'Honestly Hermione, anyone would think you try to be annoying.'
Hermione reached out to the alarm and flicked its switch. Glaring at the crack in her curtains where sunlight shone across her room, she cursed. She cursed the fact that she would have to spend another boring day in her boring life.
Tiptoeing past the en-suite, she decided to use the guest bathroom to get ready, she felt no need to irritate Ron further.
.
The guest bathroom was one of Hermione's favourite rooms in the house. Lightly decorated in blues, with plush cotton towels and deep carpets, she would often come in here to relax. She had learnt that no one tends to bother you when you're in a bathroom. She had even started a collection of her favourite books in here. Of course, she did not have much time for books these days.
As she let the cool spray of the shower beat across her body she thought about life, about all that it had handed her. She had married Ron last year. It had been a small reception in a chapel close to where her parents had lived.
It hurt her to think of her parents. Hermione had managed to save them. Her spells to protect them had worked well, had hidden them well. But they had worked too well. She had spent years searching for them and yet no trace had been found. For what little good she could do to search for them, they may as well have been dead to her.
Hermione climbed out of the shower and reached for a towel. The fabric felt soft and comforting against her skin as she took pleasure in wriggling her toes through the deep pile of the carpet. She sighed, nobody should have to work on a Sunday. Yet both she and Ron did.
Ron worked at St. Mungos. He had been a healer for 6 months, yet he had already surpassed all expectations. He had managed to secure a job as a consultant healer, He was a specialist in treatments against the Dark Magics. Unfortunately, even with the death of Voldemort, there were still plenty of dark wizards about, many with the intention to do harm. It had all added to his case load, hence his need to work on a Sunday.
Hermione was an Unspeakable for the Ministry of Magic. She would spend her days experimenting with magic and decrypting newly found, or created, spells. Yet all of her practical work came with a hang up- paperwork. She knew she should do it during the week, but she loved the fun of finding the different aspects of the spells. She could get caught up in the origins of certain spell work for hours. However, this meant that she had to dedicate her Sunday mornings to paperwork, hence, she hated them.
She walked back to her shared bedroom, wrapped in her towel, and looked at her wardrobe. She longed to wear the colourful tops that she had bought in from America or the shoes she had ordered from France. But everyday she was stuck with the same old thing. Her grey robes and black, sensible shoes. At least she could wear what she wanted in the little free time she had.
'Hermione.'
Hermione jumped, dropping the towel that she had held in place to cover her dignity.
'Nice.' Ron smiled at her and walked closer, he pressed up against her. As he lowered his face to hers, Hermione backed off.
'Not now Ron, I just showered.' She turned back to her wardrobe and started to dress, missing the hurt look on Ron's face.
'Um, I just wanted to remind you, we're going to Mum's this afternoon.'
'I know Ronald, we go every Sunday.' She knew she was being snappy with Ron, but she could not help it. He reminded her every week, even though she had never missed a Sunday. She had never, even once, been late. 'I'll see you there, okay?'
'Okay.' Ron answered, despondently. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, before going to the fireplace and flooing to work.
Hermione twisted her hair into a loose bun and put her sensible, black shoes on. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She had been married for less than a year, but already she felt frumpy, grumpy and old.
Oh well, she thought, I suppose all relationships go this way eventually. I just can't believe my life's like this so soon. She grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the mantle and set off for work, in no way looking forward to the day ahead. I really don't like Sundays.
.
By the time Hermione finished at work, she was desperate to get to the Weasley's house. She thought of all the food that Molly would prepare and the cosy fire that they would all snuggle in front of later.
Hermione was running later than usual. She had written up the background theory on 3 new defensive spells, 2 household charms and 4 different jinxes, not to mention a particularly difficult medicinal spell that would be used to reattach noses. All she wanted was to curl up and sleep for a while, yet she was sure she could cope with a wonderful, home cooked meal.
Not bothering to go home and change, Hermione flooed straight to the Weasley's house. She was met with the scent of roast beef and fresh vegetables. Molly stood in the kitchen, she was hovering by the stove, making the gravy. Hermione could hear that the rest of the family was in the living room, from the sounds of it they were playing exploding snap.
'Hi Molly,' Hermione greeted the head of the house, 'need any help?'
'Oh, hello Hermione dear, no, I'm fine with this,' Molly's welcoming smile lit up her entire face, 'Is Ron following behind you?'
'He isn't here yet?'
'No, I assumed you'd be coming together, with you being a little later than usual.'
'He's probably running behind at work. If he isn't here by the time you dish up, I'll go get him.' Hermione replied. 'I don't think he'd forgive me if I let him miss one of your meals, Molly.'
'Oh, you're too sweet, Hermione. Everybody's in the sitting room, why don't you go say hello, we'll give Ron another 10 minutes.' Molly turned back to her gravy, checking whether it was thick enough.
Hermione walked into the sitting room, only to be met by a wall of noise. George and Bill had obviously been playing exploding snap, but had not been happy with the end results. Both were covered in soot, from the explosions, and rolling on the floor. As Hermione walked closer she could see that Bill had George in a headlock and that all of George's sleeve was ripped open.
'Admit you cheated and I'll let you go!' Bill shouted at George. Hermione would have been worried but she could see the hint of laughter to his face.
'Bill,' Arthur chided, 'Your brother's turning blue, I don't think he can admit to anything.'
Bill released a little of the pressure on George's neck, waiting for him to talk.
'Okay, okay,' George croaked, 'I had cards up my sleeve, I cheated.'
Bill let go and rolled off his brother, laughing, 'See where cheating gets you?'
'Yeah, I suppose,' George said, remorsefully. Suddenly, his expression changed, 'But I still would've beat you,' He laughed, slapping Bill on the back of the head, before running through the kitchen for the garden. Bill jumped up and ran off at full pelt after him.
'I swear ee ees worse than any child,' Fleur rolled her eyes at Hermione. She was bouncing her daughter lightly on her knee, entertaining her with a little, stuffed frog. Fleur and Bill's daughter, Amelie, was beautiful. She looked just like her mother, yet she had her father's deep eyes.
Hermione took a seat next to Harry, it had been a while since she had seen her best friend, he had not been to the past few family meetings. As a seeker for the Helston Hornets, he had been travelling the country recently, due to the current Quidditch season.
They chatted easily, it felt as if they had not been parted. He regaled her with stories from his quidditch matches, after which, she started to tell him about some of the new spells that had recently been published and the problems she had had in analysing them. Of course, she couldn't tell him about the ones that she was currently working on, as she was magically bound to secrecy.
It was only when she looked up at the clock 30 minutes later, that she realised Ron still had not arrived. It was strange for him to be this late for a family meal, he loved spending time with his family and friends, but he loved Molly's food even more, he would not risk missing it.
Hermione excused herself and went into the kitchen to see if he was there. As soon as she walked in she knew that he had not arrived, he was not following Molly around, pestering her for a taste of the food she prepared.
'Molly, I'm going to go check whether Ron's still at work, he should have finished by now.'
'Okay dear, don't be too long, dinner's almost ready.' Molly replied, placing dishes on the table.
Hermione took some floo powder, from a small pot on the shelf above the fireplace, and threw it to the flames, she stepped into the grate and called out 'St Mungos Hospital, Ronald Weasley's office.'
The green flames swirled around her, they spun her faster and faster through the different fireplaces. Hermione had become much more adept at Floo travel now, she found that she could travel virtually undisturbed. She would exit at Ron's office with very little soot on her, it would appear as if she had just dressed in freshly cleaned clothes. The Floo network reached Ron's secretaries office, rather than his own. It was a way of stopping unwelcome visitors. Being one of the best dark magic healers in Britain was bound to upset some pretty nasty people.
When Hermione arrived, she saw that the light in her husband's office was on. Obviously he had gotten caught up in paperwork, the same way that she had earlier in the day. As she approached the office, she could her a slight scuffling noise coming from behind the door. Was Ron pressing his quill down too hard? Or was he fidgeting, desperate to get to Molly's food? And what was that other noise, did he have the wireless on in the background?
When Hermione walked through his door, almost silently, she could not figure out what she was seeing. Why was a naked woman spread out across Ron's desk? Why was Ron, her husband, thrusting into this woman as if his life depended on it? At least Hermione had the answer to one of her questions. Ron did not have the wireless on, Hermione had been able to hear the rushed breathing of these two, the moans escaping the mouth of the writhing woman.
Hermione froze. Her husband, her Ron, was what? 'Cheating on her' did not seem a harsh enough evaluation. Screwing some cheap whore, that seemed a much better description. A moan escaped Hermione's lips. A different moan to that of the writhing woman, it was a moan of pure pain, a moan that alerted Hermione to the fact that she was crying.
Ron looked up at the sound, shock etched into his entire being. His thrusting stopped but the woman on the desk did not stop moving. Hermione wanted to go to her and pick up the paperweight by her head. Hermione would be sure to stop her writhing.
Instead, using all of her might she turned and walked from the office. She flooed back to the Weasley's house amazed that she managed to find the right grate. At least she would have been amazed if did not feel so numb.
Her legs gave way, but some body caught her before she could reach the floor. Somebody with a shock of red hair, so like- so like him. She could not think, could not take anymore. Her mind went blank, the world turned black and Hermione embraced the numbness.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, I really hope that you are enjoying it. Please take just a couple of minutes to review it as I appreciate every single review that I receive. Also, the more reviews I receive, the more inclined I am to update regularly. I have already written the first 5 chapters of this story, but I'm holding the rest of them to a ransom of reviews :)
Steff x