A/N: Part Three of the Stalemate Series. Is set after Stalemate and The Cannon's New Seeker. They aren't necessary to understand this, but read and review them anyway. The links are in my profile.

No Matter What

He knew something wasn't right as soon as he stepped out of the floo. By this time of day, Rose and Hugo were usually planted in front of the muggle television his mum and dad had surprised the kids with last Christmas. By now, there were usually papers and pencils all over the floor as the kids appeased their mother by at least attempting some of their homework before dinner.

Today there was nothing that would have told an outsider that this was the common area for a family of four. The room looked like it hadn't been touched, much like it had before Rose and Hugo had been born and it had just been Ron and Hermione living in the large house. Impeccably clean and unlived in; completely impersonal aside from a few photos over the fireplace.

At his feet, Crookshanks was walking back and forth in front of the fireplace in long strides. As soon as Ron had appeared in the fireplace he had begun to meow loudly, as if trying to tell Ron something. Ron stopped to his knees and Crookshanks stopped in front of him, roughly rubbing himself up against his master's leg.

Ron scratched him behind the ear and peered down at his former nemesis, his brow furrowed in worry.

"What's going on 'shanks? Where is everyone?" he asked quietly lifting his head to look down the hall and into the kitchen for any sign of his family. Crookshanks meowed loudly and rubbed up against Ron's leg again, more roughly this time. His yellow eyes looked at Ron and there was sadness in them; sadness Ron hadn't seen from the cat since Pig had passed away a little over a year ago.

A raw panic began to stir in Ron's stomach as the possible reasons for his family's absence whirled around in his mind, each one more disturbing and upsetting than the next. He drew his wand and held it at the ready, directly in front of him and edged his way towards the stairs leading to the upper levels of the house.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he cautiously looked both ways along the hall before turning left to check in Rose's room.

Out of their two children, nine year old Rose had inherited her father's messy nature, much to the displeasure of Hermione. Although her bed was made, there was a thick covering of clothes, books, toys, paints, her broomstick and chocolate frog wrappers covering the cream carpet, therefore making it near impossible for Ron to tell when she had last been in her room. He shook his head; he'd have to talk to her about that later.

Touching the nameplate on the door as he left the room, Ron then ventured into Hugo's bedroom which was in the complete opposite condition to Rose's. While Hugo had also inherited Hermione's love for reading and books, he had not picked up Rose's artistic talent. He was however obsessed with insects, bugs and spiders. If it was small and had multiple eyes, Hugo knew exactly what it was. Ron shuddered as he saw Hugo's most prized possession, his Tarantula named Chudley.

Despite Ron's loud protests, Hermione had given in and allowed Hugo to get Chudley as a pet. She had insisted that his thirst for knowledge about spiders and bugs be nurtured, and if that meant that Ron had to put up with a spider under his roof, so be it. Ron tore his anxious gaze from the glass case at the end of Hugo's bed and after looking at the floor, was relieved to see that he could see that the carpet was indeed cream and that due to the lack of Hugo's school bag, his children had not yet come home. This wasn't a reassuring thought, but at least it was something definitive. He turned his back on his son's room and pulled the door closed.

That was when he heard them. Muffled sobs through the floorboards above his head. He knew without a doubt that it was Hermione. And as he moved away from Hugo's room and towards the staircase he felt a sense of dread settle in his chest. His mind was racing as he ran his hand along the polished wood banister and realised that his hand was shaking. What if something had happened to the kids? That was the only reason Hermione would be here by herself, wasn't it? As each possible scenario raced through his frantic mind, he got closer and closer to the top of the staircase and when he finally forced himself to look up, his heart stopped.

"Hermione." She had moved onto the staircase in her dressing gown and fluffy slippers. She had dark bags under her wet eyes and her face was red and puffy as though she had been crying for hours. She looked so small and it scared him.

"Hey, what's-" he said rushing towards her and bending his head down so his face was level with hers. He didn't get to finish his sentence as Hermione burst into loud sobs and clung to him tightly, her small body shaking violently as she sobbed. She didn't seem to be able to talk so Ron bent down and picked her up under her knees and carried her to their attic bedroom and sat on the bed with her still in his arms.

She pulled away for an instant and her sad brown eyes met his.

"The kids?" he prompted gently, stroking her hair. She was still shaking, less violently than she had been in the stairway, but it was still unnerving to him. He didn't think he had ever seen her cry this way before, and it terrified him what was going to come out of her mouth but he needed to know.

"G-Ginny p-picked them up f-from school," she gasped, sobs overtaking her body once again. Ron felt himself let out a sigh of relief, but turned back to his wife, hoping to get more answers.

"Hey, hey. You have to calm down, you'll make yourself sick," he said, unable to hide the shaky panic in his voice. She shook her head furiously and began to mumble.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's my fault," she cried, and Ron found himself begin to gently rock them both back and forth on the bed, begging silently for a way to calm her down. He tilted her face to his and held her gaze.

"What's happened?" he asked nervously, his voice cracking. She hugged him tighter and mumbled into his neck. Ron felt his heart crash to the floor and all of the air expel from his lungs as he processed what Hermione had just told him.

"No," he gasped and failed to contain his own agony. His body began to shake and he felt the tears falling from his eyes long before he even thought about crying. He squeezed her tightly against him and spoke determinedly.

"It's not your fault." Hermione shook her head again and pulled back from him.

"It is. I've been working too hard. Everyone's been telling me that I have and I d-didn't listen and now this has happened. It is my fault Ron," she cried burying her head into his neck again. Ron shook his head.

"I will never ever tell you that this is your fault," he whispered into his wife's hair. He was startled a she pushed herself up from his roughly and stood before him in silence, her chest heaving under her dressing gown and her eyes locked on his. They stared at each other in silence breathing heavily. After what seemed like an eternity, Hermione broke.

"We- our baby. Ron," she gasped, falling to the ground and grabbing onto his legs, sobbing loudly. Ron closed his eyes and bit his lip tightly, running his fingers through her hair.

"It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault," he said firmly, pulling her back up into his lap.

"B-but you wanted such a big family, and we've been trying since Hugo was born, and there was s-so long with nothing, and then we finally got pregnant. We had him for four whole months and then- now there's nothing again. It wasn't long enough. We didn't even get to meet him. What good am I if I can't give you a big family," she said shakily through her tears.

"Hey." He said shifting her so she was straddling his lap and facing him. "Never, will I ever leave you. Hermione, I know it hurts. I feel like I've been ripped in two, but I will never leave you. No matter what. You, Rosie and Hugo are everything. I would never give that up. Ever. No matter what."

"We'll be alright won't we?" she asked quietly. Ron nodded solemnly.

"Absolutely. We're going to get through this together like we always do and when you want to, if you want to, we can try again. Whatever you want to do." She rested her forehead on his.

"I love you," she whispered as she began to cry again. Ron kissed her forehead and then rested against Hermione again.

"I love you too."

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