Chapter III:
Despite what her host seemed to think, Hermione hadn't been joking about the cooking class. The elves went off to look after the kids whilst the pair went down to the kitchen. It had been her idea to have a joint lesson with everyone but Draco had suggested it might be too many people for her to teach if they were running around throwing flour everywhere. She doubted any of their (fairly mature) kids would do that but it was clear that his real reasoning was more about looking untalented or failing in front of his son, which was pretty sweet! Draco seemed raring to go, but she slowed him down with the boring 'mum' parts about washing your hands et cetera. After that though, having asked him for his favourite cake flavour and finding out it was Black Forest, she showed him how to make it- quite a complex choice but they managed. With the cake in the oven she started him on something savoury for lunch, but he was struggling to peel the carrots so she came over to stand by him and held his hands over the peeler to show him how to do it correctly. His hands were soft but more calloused from work and time than she would have expected, but it felt nice to have the human contact, until he noticed the scars on her wrists. "Doesn't look like you got those from cooking."
Abruptly, she yanked her hands away, causing him to drop the utensil on the workspace with a small clatter. He quickly apologised for prying but she could see his eyes lingering on the mark on her face which he hadn't seemed to have taken much notice of before. Sniffing, she took a carrot and furiously chopped it at the speed of a pro chef, explaining in a slightly frenzied hurry, "no it was Ron, but he didn't mean to, I mean I don't think so-" his hand rested on top of hers, making her gasp quietly and look up into his eyes, the colour of a storm but with none of its ferocity. It was ironic that Ron's were the colour of a clear blue sky but his personality could quickly become the opposite, whilst the Draco she was getting to know seemed to be relatively steady and simple to understand. The touch was like a rock, tying her to his moment and reminding her that no, she wasn't still in her tumultuous marriage, she was here in this kitchen, smelling chocolate and cherries, with a taste of the batter she'd snuck still on her tongue, the sound of the oven going, the peelings scattered on the table, a hand that wasn't his on hers.
"It's okay," said Draco, and she believed him utterly. "I think I've got it." She was confused for a moment, and then he took his hand away and pulled the peeler down in a perfect stroke and she snorted. "Yep. Aced it."
"You'll be on MasterChef in no time," she agreed. Upon seeing the total lack of recognition in his eyes she rolled hers. "Well that's tonight's entertainment sorted."
In actuality, Draco asked her to come into his home office that evening. He said he didn't see a point in going into the offices to do this, but that they did need to get a contract sorted out. It felt wrong doing this without Ron though, so she decided to send Harry and Ginny a letter in the hopes that they could play mediators and explain everything to Ron so that maybe he would understand what she'd actually done and why, and cool down enough to talk things out in a sensible adult way. Hugo was seemingly completely settled, but although Rose had enjoyed the adventure at first, it was clear she wanted things to go back to normal after this holiday. She'd asked several times when they'd see Daddy again, and every time the hopefulness in her tone cracked Hermione's heart a little more. They hadn't brought anything from home except what they'd had on them, but Narcissa and the elves had supplied everything they could need, except of course for closure.
Luckily it was only another couple of days of waiting and watching Rose become grouchier and close in on herself before she got her reply.
Hermione,
As you asked, we spoke with Ron, grateful to know your side of the story after his unusual attitude at the Burrow last Sunday. He was testy and snapping at all of us, making odd comments about you that we didn't understand. When we returned today and sat down to explain things, he remained the same way, defending everything with the unfairness of it all to him. I completely understand the pain he's feeling and I'm sure he exaggerated in that howler due to the raw pain and fear (of course he would never hurt you), but at the same time if what you said is true I can understand why you would feel protective. As best friend to both of you, I really wish this all could have been avoided and everything could have just stayed the same, but I have to tell you; I don't think Ron would agree to anything less than full custody. He wants things to go back to normal too, and failing that he says he doesn't want to be parted from Hu and Rosie like this ever again.
I'm not really sure how I can end this, but I guess I'll just say we're thinking of you. Maybe you should meet with Ron and seeing you would cool him down?
Harry
When she suggested Harry's idea to Draco he was quick to shut it down. "No. Nope. No way. The Boy Who Lived has come up with some terrible plans but this might just be one of the worst."
"He has a point," she said softly, worried about waking the kids, forgetting how big this house was. They probably could have been Unforgivable cursing each other at the top of their lungs and the kids wouldn't know until the morning. "Ron clearly felt guilty after... that night. Maybe seeing me again would remind him that this is about me, his wife of eight years, not some monster who wants to keep him away from his children."
"Or maybe he'll make a map out of scars on your face," Draco snapped, a spark of the old him returning momentarily before he buried his face in his hands in a tented gesture. When he emerged again he was the cool, collected man she was coming to know. "What about if I'm there?"
"Do you really think you being there would calm him down?" He'd probably just go off on a crazy rant and try to hex them both, at the very least.
"What about if he didn't know I was there?" It took her a moment to consider what this could mean, but then a lightbulb lit up her brain and she realised: the invisibility cloak. "Would Potter let you borrow it?"
"Maybe not if he knew it was for you..."
She was right. Harry was flabbergasted that she thought she could trust Draco; then uncomfortable with the idea of deceiving their best friend; adamant that if anyone should do it would be him. Doubtful that he would be able to do what might be necessary and incapacitate Ron in a timely fashion, she managed to convince him to agree to her original plan by leaning heavily on the idea that this might be their reconciliation. She doubted now that things could go back to normal, but if that was what it took to convince Harry then she would let him think it was still an option.
While she tried to convince him, she spent the time she wasn't writing letters to her best friend mostly with Draco, when he wasn't at work. She gave him a few more cooking lessons, other times they sat in companionable silences and watched the kids playing, but mostly they talked. They sort of worked backwards, starting with information about their jobs and families, then they made it to the school days. It was fascinating to compare their perspectives of the same events, or fill in some blanks to make sense of answers she'd never gotten. "You and your friends were the ones who stole my Care of Magical Creatures textbook?"
"A very loyal little creature; it kept snapping at us and trying to bite my arm off, so eventually we had to throw it in the Black Lake." Her mouth dropped open, causing him to scrunch up his face as if she were about to punch him again like in Third Year. The memory made her snort in amusement, and he looked up, confused, but slowly cracking a smile too.
After a few more days of correspondence and finally the package she longed for, she arranged a meeting with Ron in a court room at Draco's practise. As she waited nervously for her husband to show up, she wished that she could clasp Draco's hand or ask him to talk her down, but Ron could walk in at any moment so he was already under the cloak at the edge of the room, leaving her isolated by the white walls and the empty chair at the table opposite her. When the door creaked open and Ron entered she almost felt transported to their kitchen table what felt much more than what wasn't yet a fortnight ago. "Hi," she said quietly. He just nodded back, not taking a seat but standing with his hands on the back of the chair, as if to attempt intimidation. Well if he wasn't going to sit down, she bloody well wasn't going to just let herself be intimidated. Pushing her chair back, she got to her feet as well. "Harry told me he told you what I said. Every word of it's true. Ron, we were best friends since First Year, of course I would never purposefully want to hurt you, but after the way you behaved-"
"The way I..." He wasn't drunk, she didn't think so, but he had the same crazed look he sometimes got. "You've left me with nothing! No wife, no children, most of my friends and family think I'm being 'unreasonable'." He hissed. "I'm taking my kids back! Whatever it takes!"
"It's not my fault Ron!" She snapped, realising that it truly wasn't. He was an adult now, he had to take responsibility for his own mistakes. "I want full custody. You can still see Hugo and Rose on super-"
Her voice rose to a shriek as he launched across the table for her, the wand in his pocket either forgotten or seen as less pleasing than such personal pain. Just as his hands pressed against her throat, he was thrown away from her by a cry of "repulso". Draco threw off the cloak with a dramatic flourish and stood over Ron to intimidate him. "Perfect spell for you, Weasel," he spat down at the ginger, whose mouth dropped gormlessly. Draco still had his wand pointed at his adversary and there was a glint of something terrifyingly familiar in his eyes.
"Stop," she ordered him, and cast a spell to bind Ron's hands and legs. The blond took a step back, the look wiped from his face, replaced momentarily by confusion or guilt, before he spoke into the magical comms to the guards.
"What the bloody hell?" Hissed Ron. "You're shagging MALFOY? That's why you decided to leave me?"
"Clearly you haven't listened to a word I've said Ron," she snapped. "So I see no further point in trying to explain the truth. You'll just ignore it anyway."
An Auror came into the room, a co-worker of Ron's but not one he'd ever invited to events. She'd only ever seen him once or twice around the Ministry. "Mr Weasley," he seemed to take pleasure in removing the title, she wondered if they had a past or he was just outraged by the behaviour he'd witnessed on the camera Draco had in the room. "I'm arresting you for assault and threatening kidnap. You have the right to remain silent-"
"I'm no criminal!" Yelled Ron, trying to curse them both. "I'm just doing what anyone would! You're the self-obsessed slut here Granger!"
She shivered as he was dragged away whilst being read the rest of his rights, refusing to stop harassing her and the man next to her. When the door was shut the two of them stood in silence for a moment, then she slowly dropped her head into his shoulder, her eyes shut, without a word, only a deep breath.