Disclaimer: HP does not belong with me (Oops, I mean 'to' me.)
WARNING! THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M FOR MATURE DUE TO ADULT THEMES! IT IS NOT SUITABLE FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 16!
"Wait, what?" Ron questioned, unsure he had heard his wife correctly. The kids ran up to their rooms, oblivious to their parents.
"We need to quit magic! It's all right here," Hermione replied, flipping through the pages of her Bible.
Ron grabbed the book from her hands before asking, "What is this?" He opened to the first page and let out a sigh of exasperation. "Is that what you've been reading all morning? Hermione, why are you reading this nonsense?"
"It's not nonsense!" Hermione lashed out defensively, trying to grab her book as Ron held it out of reach.
"Yes it is, and it's planting little nonsense seeds in your brain," he continued, "Where'd you get this thing anyways?"
"An angel gave it to me last night," she paused for reaction. Ron just stood there dumbfounded at her bluntness.
"I think you need to rest," he finally said, grabbing Hermione by the shoulders to direct up the stairs.
"Do you believe in magic?" Hermione was surprised at her own voice.
"What kind of a question is that? I'm a wizard, of course I believe in magic!"
"And I'm a witch, but I grew up with two muggles, and for the first 11 years of my life, I didn't know that magic existed. Sure, there were signs of it, weird things that I couldn't explain, and finding out that I was a witch definitely helped explain a lot of it, but not all of it. There were signs of my magic all around me, and there are signs of a God all around us. The breeze rustling through the branches, flowers reaching towards the sun, even us talking right now. How did these things all get here, and how does everything work itself out? How are we alive right now, especially after everything we went through?" Once again, Ron stood there speechless, having let go of Hermione who seemed pretty impressed with herself. She had no idea how the perfect words came out of her mouth, but there they were, and they had done their purpose.
"Ok," Ron started up again, in hopes of saving the situation, "You've got me. Let's say for now that God is real, he gave you a gift, Hermione. You are the brightest witch of your age. Why would he give that ability to you, if he didn't want you to use it?"
Hermione hadn't thought of that. Whatever had helped her speak before was gone and she had to admit, "I honestly don't know, but something inside of me is convinced. If we could just take a break from magic, maybe see how it works out, like fasting." Fasting was an abstract concept to Ron who could never stop eating.
Something changed in Ron's eyes. "This is getting nowhere!" he exclaimed, "We're not quitting magic!"
"Why can't you just hear me out? Can't we discuss it?" Hermione asked, surprised at how unreasonable he was being. Ron always went along with whatever Hermione came up with.
"No! That's enough! I need magic! Magic is a part of me-"
"That we can do without."
"Maybe you! You said yourself that you grew up ignorant of magic, but I always had it. I grew up surrounded by witches and wizards and magic. I need it! And that's just something that a mudblood like you wouldn't understand!" Ron seethed before a shocked Hermione. She searched his face with hurt eyes. This wasn't Ron. It couldn't be. Finding no solace in her search, she turned and ran, leaving Ron behind. Full realization of what had just happened only came after Hermione had left. He tried to call out for her, but by then, she was already long gone.
Hermione ran down the street, time passed, she had no idea how much and she didn't care. Tears chased each other across her cheek. Thoughts jumped around in her head: How could he say that?; What made him explode like that?; Was I at fault? Consumed in her own mind, she didn't see the head of blonde hair in front of her and found herself sprawled across the pavement. Hermione stood up and brushed herself off.
"Sorry about that, Luna," Hermione muttered.
"Oh no problem, but you were running awful fast. You look like you've seen an Umgubular Slashkilter" Luna stated concernedly, "What's wrong?"
"I just, I got in a fight with Ron" Hermione confided in her friend. She considered telling her about the angel. If anyone would believe her, it would be Luna.
"Oh. Well, all couples get in fights. Like Rolf had wanted to take the whole family to South Africa in search of Dabberblimps when everyone knows that they can only live in the Pacific Ocean. I tried telling him that but he refused to listen." Hermione never really got used to Luna's crazy beliefs so she just listened quietly and nodded politely here and there. "It's nice to have friends to talk to about it though, like I'm sure you've already told Pansy," Luna continued.
"Pansy?" Hermione questioned.
"Yes, you two are friends, right?"
"No, not really," Hermione replied hesitantly. Pansy was a snarky Slytherin who felt the need to criticize everything. Why would Luna think that they were friends?
"Oh. I just assumed because I see her visiting your house so often, and it is very kind of you to let her spend the night sometimes. In fact, I saw her heading towards your place just a little bit ago." This sparked some suspicion, and Hermione was ready to go investigate.
"Thanks Luna, it was nice talking to you." Hermione immediately rushed back to her own house but the door was locked. She looked in the window and saw to her dismay, Ron and Pansy on the chocolate brown couch she had been sitting on all morning. Pansy lay on her back as Ron crawled on top of her. Hermione turned away and sunk into the grass below her, stunned.
AN: How many of you thought she had run into Draco? Admit it. Sorry it's been so long but I hope I didn't disappoint. It's finally summertime. I can do whatever I want, more or less. Soo… yeah. Thanks for reading :)