June 2012:
After 8 years of marriage, there we were, sitting in the waiting room of a therapist's office, on the brink of divorce. I could not believe we were there, after everything
we had been through. When Ron and I got married, I really thought that with all that we had experienced together, we would be able to get through anything. Yet
there we were, 5 years and 2 children into our marriage, and I was questioning everything. Who knew that 5 years of arguing over money and 3 years of changing
diapers and potty training Rosa and Hugo would be more challenging for our relationship than 7 years of living under the stress of lord Voldemort returning to power?
I guess we were learning that marriage is really, really hard, and being an adult is really, really hard. Ron's annoying habits and lack of empathy made me feel so
small and made me question how we are going to continue to stay together when we were constantly fighting and I rarely felt heard by Ron. Even through all of our
problems, I still knew that I loved Ron so deeply and I could not imagine my life without him, I was in complete shock and wondered how on earth we got to this
place. My thoughts were interrupted by Ron, chewing loudly on a chocolate frog next to me. "Why do they make these so hard to chew?" He complained with a
mouthful of chocolate. "Well, maybe if it wasn't 3 months expired, you would actually be able to chew it without breaking a tooth!" I spat at him. Lately, everything
that he did annoyed me. "Hey, I didn't know chocolate had an expiration date," Ron said as he was chewing. "Could you please stop chewing with your mouth open?"
I asked.
"Could you please stop trying to control every little thing that I do?" Ron replied.
Why did he have to be so annoying?
"Ron and Hermione Granger?" a well dressed man in a suit and tie asked. "That's us," Ron said, with chocolate still in his mouth. "Hello, Mr. Gallaway, it's a pleasure,"
I said politely. "Ahh yes, so nice to meet you two! Come on back." Ron and I were guided through a long hallway, noticing pictures on the wall of some of the most
respected wizards of all time, including the old headmaster at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. I still feel sad every time I think of him, while Ron, with the emotional
range that he has, is completely unbothered every time a passed away friend or loved one is brought up. At the end of the hallway was a photo hung up of my best
friend, Harry Potter. After all these years, Ron and I are still approached and referred to as "Harry Potter's friends." This is something that seldom bothers me, but is a
huge issue for Ron. He typically flares up with jealousy every time Harry is mentioned, and their friendship is not as close as it once was. It was Harry who suggested
we go see this therapist for our relationship. Harry told us that him and Ginny went to see him several years ago, when Ginny was pregnant with their first and they
began to have some problems, and now they are doing much better. As we step into Mr. Galloways small office with a small couch and lit candles going, I started to
feel nervous, and Ron looked uncomfortable. As soon as we sat down, there was an awkward silence and Ron quickly said "how about the weather, Mr. G?" "The
weather is not what we are here to talk about," Mr. Galloway replied, "tell me, how have you two been?"
"We have been really good, thanks for asking." Ron said.
"WHAT?" I nearly yelled, my annoyance and resentment for Ron having been built up so high that I was ready to explode.
"Mr. Galloway, we are doing horribly. All we do is fight, Ron never listens to me, and we have begun talking about divorce!" I was already in tears and Ron sat still,
looking more uncomfortable than ever.
"Ah, I see. What do you think are the causes of these issues your two are having?"
The session went on for a little over an hour, with me answering almost every question Mr. Galloway had, and Ron shifting nervously and uncomfortable every few
minutes and giving extremely minimal responses every time Mr. Galloway prompted him to talk. This was exactly the problem, Ron had the communication skills of a
teaspoon. We decided to apparate home, in order to get home to Rosa and Hugo more quickly, since Ginny had volunteered to babysit while we were gone. When Ron
and I got home, we quickly noticed that everything was in complete ruins. The entire house was a complete mess, complete with the pictures once on the wall now
broken on the floor, all complaining loudly of being broken and wanting to be placed back where they were before. "Ginny?!" Ron yelled through the house. With no
response, I yelled "GINNY!" As loud as I could, nearly hysterical, and still no response. I looked at Ron with desperation and he began to cry. "write the wizarding
police," he urged me. "Ron, we don't have time to send an owl to the wizarding police, we need to go down to the station immediately." "Bloody hell…" Ron said as he
was staring down at what appeared to be a note left on the kitchen table. "Ron, what is it?" He passed me a note that read:
"We will return your friend and precious children once you bring Harry Potter to us at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey."