Hermione was feeling really pissed off. She had a major problem and she needed someone to talk to. Ron obviously wasn't an option. After all, it was his behaviour that had caused her to begin the affair with Draco in the first place. Harry was no good, either. As best friend to both her and Ron he wouldn't be able to advise her in an unbiased way, even if he would actually listen to her in the first place. And that, of course, ruled out Ginny, too. As Ron's sister and Harry's wife, she was even more partisan. Hermione sighed. She was beginning to regret that her entire group of friends was made up almost exclusively of Weasleys. There was absolutely no one she could talk to, but if she didn't talk to someone she was going to go mad.
Somehow, despite all the precautions she had taken, Hermione was pregnant. She spent a week or so hoping and praying that her period had just been delayed, probably because of stress caused by her worrying about it, but eventually she decided that rather than wait any longer for it to start she would do a home test and put her mind at ease. She left the office during her lunch break and went to the nearest branch of Boots and spent quite some time in there looking at the variety of tests available. Eventually she picked one that seemed foolproof. There were no thick or thin lines, no blotches or colour changes involved that could cause confusion or frustration. If she was pregnant it would say so, clear letters spelling out the word.
She had tried to put the test out of her mind that evening while she helped Hugo with his homework, and after he went to bed she attempted to finish working on a report she was writing for Kingsley Shacklebolt. For once she was actually pleased Ron wasn't at home. Although he rarely took notice of anything to do with her these days, she was sure even he would have picked up on her tension and questioned her about it. But as ever, he was out 'working late', which she now knew for certain was a euphemism for shagging his mistress.
When Hermione had first seen the clear evidence of Ron's infidelity she had been a little upset. Although she was playing the same game with Draco and was probably in no state to criticise her husband's behaviour, a little part of her had always hoped she had been wrong, that Ron hadn't been playing away from home and that eventually he would realise he missed her as a lover and things would get better between them. Once that happened she had every intention of ending the relationship with Draco. But as the months went on her relationship with her husband hadn't improved at all. Ron was away from their home so often now she complained to Harry that she had almost forgotten what he looked like. Hermione had been trying not to learn what he got up to in the evenings for so long now it had become second nature to not look too closely at any of his activities. But at the same time she knew part of the reason she had started the relationship with Draco in the first place was because deep down she had known for a long time that Ron was cheating on her.
The problem was that as much she loved Draco — and she knew she really did love him — she still loved Ron, too, and he was the father of her children, which gave him that extra tick in the box regardless of his playing away. When Draco had first suggested she leave Ron for him Hermione completely freaked out and almost ended the relationship there and then, but eventually he managed to calm her down, and with any mention of them ending their respective marriages being dropped, the relationship had continued. Draco had mentioned it once or twice in passing since then, but always in a jokey way, careful to ensure he didn't upset Hermione. As time went on and Ron showed no sign of leaving, Hermione eventually concluded that he had chosen not to end their marriage for the same reason she had trouble considering doing it.
It had come as something of a shock to Hermione to realise she would rather pretend her marriage was happy and stable and put up with Ron having an affair than take a chance on a possibly happy life with Draco. She knew it was cowardice, pure and simple; but at the end of the day, whilst her relationship with Ron was now almost completely the same as it had been at school — she couldn't even remember the last time they had been sexually intimate with each other — their friendship was so comfortable after so many years it was hard to consider them not being together. And of course there were the children to consider. Hugo was due to start at Hogwarts in September, and the idea of breaking up the family left Hermione cold.
But now she was going to have a baby, as she had discovered only a few minutes earlier when the little stick had done exactly what the box had said it would and blared out in bright blue writing that she was pregnant. Hermione wrapped the stick in some toilet paper and slid it back into the packaging, feeling the moisture of tears wet on her cheeks. After flushing the loo and washing her hands she picked up the box and left the bathroom, heading for the kitchen where she threw it into the bin, burying it deeply. She pulled her handkerchief from her pocket and wiped away her tears as she headed for the pantry to get the cereal and sugar out. She breathed deeply for a couple of seconds, making sure she was calm.
'Hugo, are you dressed yet? Your breakfast is on the table, sweetheart,' she called up the stairs to her son.
Hermione was pleased to hear that her voice sounded normal. She opened the cupboard and pulled out three bowls and mugs, placing them on the table as she made her way to the drawer to get spoons and the milk and pumpkin juice from the fridge. She put the kettle on the stove and rinsed the teapot out with hot water from the tap before putting tea leaves in the bottom.
'Ron, can you go and make sure Hugo is ready for school, please?' she told her husband as he joined her in the kitchen. He was glancing at the back page of the Daily Prophet.
Ron nodded at Hermione's comment, and dropping the newspaper on the kitchen table he headed back out the door and upstairs. Hermione could hear him talking to Hugo, hurrying him up, and a few minutes later the two of them entered the kitchen. She put the teapot on the table and sat down to join the others as Ron poured cereal into bowls for the three of them. Hugo added milk, then put a large spoonful of sugar on his cereal. Hermione poured him a mug of pumpkin juice before starting to eat. Ron was looking at the newspaper again.
'It's open evening at the school tonight,' Hermione said as she stirred her tea. 'We've got an appointment to see Miss Mockridge about Hugo's work at seven o'clock. You are going to come, aren't you?'
Ron dropped the newspaper a few inches to look over the top of it at her. A momentary look of guilt crossed his face but he managed to shift it.
'I'm supposed to be working,' he said quietly. Hermione's face hardened as she felt her temper rising. She couldn't believe Ron was going to choose his mistress over his son. Ron obviously caught something of her look as he added rapidly, 'But I'm sure I can get back by then.'
'Can you get there by six thirty?' Hugo asked excitedly, not picking up on the tension hanging between his parents. 'We've been working on a special presentation and it's taking place before the teacher interviews. It's going to be really good.'
Ron looked at his son. 'I will try, Hugo, but I'm in the middle of a big case at the moment. I will definitely be there by seven, though.'
Hermione smiled at Hugo, who looked a little deflated at Ron's comment. 'I'll definitely be there for the presentation, darling, and I'm sure your dad will do his best to get there, too.'
She looked pointedly at Ron, who nodded his head briefly then closed and folded the newspaper and put it down on the kitchen table. He stood up.
'Well, I need to get to work, especially if I want to get to the presentation.' He ran his hand over Hugo's head, ruffling his hair. 'I'll see you tonight, Hugo.' He looked at Hermione once again. 'I'll see you later, love.'
Hermione watched as Ron left the room, then turned to Hugo, who had now finished his breakfast.
'Right, time for school, mister. Where has your tie gone?'
Hugo shrugged. 'I couldn't find it when I looked. I can't remember what I did with it.'
Hermione sighed. 'Did you put it in your bag? Go and get your blazer and I'll have a look in your bag for you.'
Hugo slid from his seat and raced out of the kitchen. Hermione heard his footsteps thumping up the stairs. She rubbed her eyes then left the kitchen herself to find Hugo's bag on the floor of the cupboard in the hall. She opened the bag and started to rummage through it, finding all sorts of rubbish. She would need to get him to have a clear-out at the weekend. Eventually she found the tie, and pulling it out of the bag she used her wand to freshen it up a little and remove the creases. She handed it to her son as he arrived back in the hall, having thundered back down the stairs.
'Have you got everything?' she asked Hugo, giving him a quick once-over to make sure there was nothing obvious missing.
Hugo nodded. 'You will definitely come to the presentation, won't you, Mum?' he asked. He was trying not to sound anxious, but the look on his face gave it away.
Hermione smiled and pulled him into her arms, giving him a big hug. 'Of course I will, darling, and you know your dad will try his hardest to be there, too. He's just very busy at the moment.'
Hugo pulled out of his mother's arms, looking a little embarrassed. He felt he was a bit too old for all that silly stuff.
His voice was a touch petulant as he said, 'He's always busy these days. We never get to do anything with him anymore.'
'You heard what he said, he's got a big case on,' Hermione said soothingly. 'Hopefully once that's finished he will have a bit more time to spend with us. Right, come on. Let's get going, otherwise I'm going to be late for work.'
Hermione sat in her office trying to work out what to do. She had spent the previous twenty minutes looking at the report she had written, trying to make sure she had included everything she wanted to highlight, but she was having a huge problem concentrating. First of all, and most important in her mind at the moment, was Ron's reaction to attending Hugo's presentation. Whilst she was aware that the Auror office had been particularly busy recently, she knew they weren't so busy that Harry couldn't get home at a decent time every evening. She knew this because Ginny had mentioned to her on several occasions things she and Harry had done during the evening, extending an invitation to Hermione and Ron to join them. Hermione was sure Harry knew Ron was having an affair, it would be almost impossible for him not to, but he had obviously not mentioned it to Ginny and Hermione was too embarrassed to say anything. Instead she made excuses as to why they couldn't attend the various events Ginny recommended, even going as far as to cry off at the last moment with supposed illness in order to keep the cover-up going.
Hermione had learned to live with Ron not wanting to be a part of the family except when it suited him, but his hesitation at agreeing to go to Hugo's presentation made her mad. If he was going to continue to be in this marriage, the least he could do was show up when it was something to do with his kids. She didn't care if he didn't do things she wanted to do, although deep inside she knew that wasn't true, either — she desperately wanted him to be a proper part of the family — but he would make time for his children. No little tart of a mistress was as important as them, whatever Ronald might think. His attitude had seriously upset her, to the point where she was considering having a word with him about it even though she had never wanted to tackle the issue head-on. But she didn't dare risk it today in case it sent him into one of his moods; then he probably wouldn't turn up at all, and that would seriously dent her son's already fragile ego. And she had a feeling that Ron's big case was going to continue at least until Hugo went to Hogwarts, at which point he might not bother coming home at all.
Hermione looked at the report on her desk once more. She knew her feelings were being clouded by her other problem, the one she didn't want to acknowledge just yet, although she was aware she couldn't put it off for too long. But was it just hormones that had caused her anger this morning? She didn't think it was. Surely she was right to feel annoyed at Ron's behaviour, although she knew if she was being honest she should be annoyed at her own, too. Not so much with her relationship with Draco; whilst that was undeniably wrong, she had at least managed to keep it under some sort of control until now, and unlike Ron she had never let it interfere with her home life and children. What she should be annoyed about was her inability to face up to her husband about his extra-marital activities. Perhaps if she had confronted him when she had first had her suspicions about him, rather than burying her head in the sand and hoping it would all sort itself out, they wouldn't be in this situation and she wouldn't be pregnant with someone else's child.
She sighed loudly, feeling the weight of her problems heavy on her shoulders. At least she was the only one in the office today. She was sure she really wouldn't have been able to cope if she'd had to play nice with her work colleagues, both of whom she had very little in common with. Audra, who usually sat opposite her, was half Hermione's age and seemed to spend most of her day deciding what she was going to wear when she went out for the evening. She had a boyfriend she fought with regularly, the resulting moods leaving her fractious and argumentative, and Hermione was really glad she didn't have to deal with her dramas on top of everything else on her plate today. The other usual occupant of the room, a dreary little man called Benjamin, was on two weeks' holiday. Hermione couldn't claim to be disappointed to see the back of him, either. Whilst he was rarely any trouble, he did quite often manage to rub her up the wrong way without any provocation, so in her current mood it was lucky he wasn't around.
Hermione looked at her watch. She had ten minutes until her meeting with Kingsley where she would outline her paper. She needed to knuckle down and get the bloody thing finished, and to do that she had to forget about Ron for the time being and trust that his guilt would be enough to get him to the presentation on time. As for the other thing, she definitely needed to forget about that, too. She just wished she could forget about it forever.
Hermione had spent almost two weeks since the open evening debating what she was going to do. Although Ron had made it to the presentation — just in time — he had been sullen and dismissive with her, obviously blaming her for making him attend when he would rather be elsewhere. The evening had been uncomfortable for both of them; and the only time they had spoken to each other during the whole event had been during their conversation with Hugo's teacher, when there hadn't been any choice. They were pleased to learn that Hugo was doing well in classes. Miss Mockridge had been very complimentary about him, which had given Hermione a warm glow; the first nice thing to happen in her life in what seemed like forever.
Hugo had been overjoyed that his father had managed to get to the presentation. Ron had at least managed to hide his dissatisfaction from his son, but he had gone out shortly after they had arrived home and had not come back that night. For the next eight days he hadn't made it home until the early hours of the morning, and even at the weekend he hadn't managed to stay at home for most of it, although he took Hugo out on the Sunday of the second week, now into the summer holidays, and joined Harry and the rest of the family males for an afternoon of Quidditch. Hermione and Rose had joined Ginny and the other Weasley females, chatting and helping Molly to prepare food, but Hermione really didn't want to be there. She was finding it harder and harder to pretend that everything was okay and she was happy, when she was actually feeling anything but.
Her worsening mood was what made her decide that she needed to talk to her best friend. She knew Harry wouldn't want to talk to her, especially about Ron, but she really had no choice. She had no one else she could talk to, and things couldn't continue as they were. She had spent so much time now thinking about the situation she was in and the various ways it could play out; only a heart-to-heart with her hopefully straight-talking friend would help her to clearly see the path she should take. Once the men returned from their Quidditch match and were all hungrily tucking into the huge feast Molly had prepared, Hermione pulled Harry aside, although he was obviously reluctant.
'I need to talk to you,' Hermione said. She looked and sounded really miserable. Before he had a chance to protest she added, 'I know you don't want to, Harry, but this really is important. You know I wouldn't ask unless it was, and you are the only person I can talk to.'
Harry sighed unhappily. In truth, he was surprised Hermione had waited so long before hauling him in for a chat. He loved both his best friends equally and had always worried deep down that eventually their relationship would end up causing a rift between them all, but amazingly it had never happened — until now. He was sure Hermione must have been aware of what Ron had been up to for some time, but for some strange reason she had chosen to ignore it. Now it seemed she couldn't let it go any longer, which didn't bode well. But she was right. There was no one else she could talk to about this and he would be a crap friend if he didn't listen to her when she needed a shoulder to cry on so badly.
He just hoped she wouldn't ask him to tell her what she should do. Because the truth was he didn't know. The selfish part of him, the part that wanted things to stay as they had always been, was tempted to tell her to put up with it, to carry on as things had always been and hope Ron would realise, like he always did eventually, that he was being a complete prat as usual. But apart from leaving Hermione miserable, which obviously wasn't fair on her, he knew from the few conversations he'd had with Ron — who also apparently hadn't felt like sharing, and Harry hadn't been unhappy about that — that Ron's feelings for Hermione had pretty much reverted to what they were at school and he was seriously enamoured by the new woman he had chosen to add to his life. It was possible Ron could be talked around if Hermione was willing to make the effort, but after so many years of disappointment where he was concerned, would she be prepared to wait any longer for him? Yes, Harry definitely hoped she didn't ask him for his opinion.
The two of them left the house and walked out into the garden for some privacy, sitting under the tree and not talking as they ate; Hermione mainly moved her food around the plate rather than eating it. Harry glanced at her a few times trying to gauge her mood. She was obviously tense and unhappy but didn't seem to be too overwrought. Then again, Hermione was normally the calmest and most collected person he knew, so if she was unhappy it really was serious. The last time he had seen Hermione this upset was when Ron had kissed Lavender Brown after their victorious Quidditch match win back in their sixth year at Hogwarts. It was always Ron who upset her in this way.
'Is he in love with her?' Hermione asked suddenly. Her voice was quiet and she didn't look at Harry as she spoke.
Harry found himself taken by surprise by the question. He had expected her to begin by asking him to confirm that Ron was having an affair. But perhaps that was all too obvious, now he thought about it.
'Does Ron love this . . . woman?' Hermione asked again.
This time she did look at Harry, letting him know that she knew he was aware of the relationship and that she didn't blame him in any way. Harry knew he could do nothing but be honest with his friend.
He shrugged. 'I don't know if he loves her, but he is definitely serious about her.' He looked intently at Hermione. 'I think it's like when we were at school. He loves you, but he's allowed other stuff to cloud the issue.'
'We need to walk,' Hermione said abruptly. She put her unfinished plate on the ground and stood up, wiping invisible grass from her bottom as she did so.
After a few seconds Harry stood, too. 'Where do you want to go?'
'I just need to get away from here for a while,' Hermione said honestly.
Harry took her arm and the two of them walked across the grass towards the gate, heading for the lane into the village. After a few minutes of walking in silence Harry asked the question that confused him most.
'If you knew he was having an affair, why did you never say anything to him?'
Hermione stopped, turning to face Harry. 'I don't know,' she said honestly, her voice still gentle. 'At first I didn't want to believe it was true, so I didn't look too closely at what he was doing because I didn't want to get upset.' Harry said nothing. He let his friend release all the pain he knew she was feeling. 'And then, when I couldn't ignore it any more, I was too scared to say anything in case he left us.'
Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione and hugged her tightly, hearing her soft cries as she wept on his shoulder. Suddenly he felt guilty for not doing something to stop Ron; but then, would that have made things any better? Ron and Hermione had always been in love with each other, but they were two very different people and their expectations always seemed to run completely contrary to each other. Maybe they really were just supposed to be friends. Whilst stopping Ron might have been good for Hermione, what would it have done to Ron — and more importantly, what would have happened to his and Ron's friendship if he had interfered so completely?
Hermione pulled away as the tears slowed and looked at Harry.
'Has he talked to you about it?' she asked.
'Not much,' Harry admitted. 'To be honest, Hermione, I've been trying to keep out of it. It's not really any of my business, especially as you're both my friends.'
'I know. That's why I didn't bug you about it before. I knew it wasn't fair to put you in the middle. But I really couldn't leave it any longer,' Hermione said. She paused for a moment as if thinking, then added, 'if I ended our relationship, would Ron marry her, do you think?'
Harry looked surprised again. Was Hermione really thinking of ending their marriage after all these years?
He shrugged. 'Again, I don't know . . . maybe. Why, is that a possibility?' Hermione had started walking again. Harry caught her up. 'When did you know for sure?' he asked.
'I think I knew quite early on but I didn't want to admit it, otherwise I would be accepting what he was doing. But then Ginny kept inviting us to go out with you and her after work,' Hermione said, her voice catching as she spoke. She was trying very hard not to cry again. 'Ron kept telling me you were all working late, but once I knew you weren't, I couldn't ignore what he was doing any longer.'
'But you never said anything.'
'I told you, I was worried I would push him into leaving us if I confronted him. I didn't want our children to be affected by the break-up of our marriage so I chose to pretend that everything was okay, that he wasn't spending all his time in someone else's bed.' Hermione's voice had taken on a slightly harder tone now.
They had reached the village and Harry led Hermione over to a bench on the village green, holding her hands as they sat down.
'I kept wondering if he would tell me,' Hermione said. 'At first I kept thinking it couldn't be anything serious, that it was just a fling and he would get over it in a few weeks. But as weeks turned to months I began to wonder whether he was going to leave. Then I thought maybe he was trying to protect the children, too. And of course we've never been very good at talking about things like that, have we?' She gave a small wry grin.
Harry smiled, too. It was true that Ron and Hermione had always been completely rubbish about admitting their feelings for each other. That apparently hadn't changed over the years.
'But it's become too much?' he asked worriedly.
Hermione gave a huge sigh. 'I wish I knew whether he would marry her or whether it really is just some sort of fling.'
Harry said nothing for a few minutes, then answered honestly, 'I think it's more than a fling, Hermione. I am sure Ron loves you just like he always has. But at the moment you are not his love focus.'
'That's what I'm thinking, too,' Hermione agreed. 'We seem to have reverted back to how we were before we went out with each other and that's just not enough for me, Harry. And if he would rather be with her . . . .'
'There's a possibility he will come to his senses,' Harry said rapidly, his heart sinking at the thought of Ron and Hermione separating. 'You know what Ron's like. Perhaps if the two of you sat down and talked about things properly, told each other how you really feel.'
'Ah, but that's the problem, isn't it?' Hermione said slowly. 'How we really feel.'
'You love each other,' Harry stated certainly. 'I know you do. It's just been buried under stuff — but you can sort it out, surely?'
Hermione shook her head sadly. 'I think it's too late for that, Harry.'
Harry looked devastated. Although he was aware of how bad things had got between his friends, he hadn't expected to hear Hermione being so dismissive, or maybe he had hoped he wouldn't.
'I have been having an affair, too,' Hermione told him, her voice so quiet that Harry almost didn't hear her.
He gazed at her in shock. She really was good at staying unruffled. He would never have guessed in a million years that she would ever be capable of cheating on Ron, let alone that she was actually doing it.
'What?' Harry was too surprised to say more. Then, after gaping for a moment, he managed, 'Who?'
'I've been seeing Draco Malfoy,' Hermione admitted. Her voice was back to normal level now she had got the initial bombshell of the shock confession out of the way. 'It didn't start until I knew in my heart that Ron was seeing someone else and had no intention of breaking it off and just being with me. I know it was wrong, but I was so unhappy, Harry, and Draco offered me the chance to change that . . . and I decided to take it.'
Pulling her hands from Harry's, she pulled a tissue from her pocket and began to dab at her eyes, which were beginning to leak again. She sniffed, then blew her nose loudly.
'But why Malfoy?' Harry asked questioningly. He thought back to the number of events in the last couple of years that the blond man had become involved in and how attentive and friendly he had seemed towards Hermione — making up for the nasty way he had treated her at school, Harry had always thought. But they were having a relationship, and he and Ron had never spotted a thing. Neither had any of the rest of the family, come to that. Hermione and Draco had done an amazing job of keeping it hidden.
'Draco and I didn't get together until I was sure Ron didn't want me anymore,' Hermione said. 'But he is handsome and charming — at least he is these days — and he really does care for me. He promised me he would make me happy, and he does. But Ron's still my husband.'
Harry blew out his cheeks, not entirely sure what to say. Both his best friends were cheating on each other. There was something faintly ridiculous about all of this.
'Mal . . . Draco wants you to leave Ron?' Harry asked, wondering suddenly if this was the big issue that was making Hermione unhappy — an ultimatum from Malfoy. 'I take it he knows Ron's having an affair, does he?'
Hermione gave a small smile. 'He's wanted me to leave Ron since the first time we slept together. Before then, actually. He pretty much suggested it at the first Halloween party he attended at Hogwarts. And no, he doesn't know about Ron. He thinks I'm just unhappily married, that Ron and I just don't get on very well any more. He doesn't know about the mistress.'
'That's not being very fair to him, is it?' Harry asked, surprised to find he was feeling sympathy towards his old enemy. 'I assume he thinks you love him.'
'I do love him,' Hermione stated without a trace of doubt in her voice. 'I really do love Draco very much. But I still love Ron, too . . . and he's the father of my children.' She paused for a moment as she thought of the baby in her belly. 'That's why I need to know how serious it is between him and his mistress.'
'But why now?' Harry asked. 'You and Draco have been together for . . . how long?'
'Just over thirteen months. To be honest, Harry, I really never expected it to last this long. I thought Ron would come back to me and I would give up Draco, or that Draco would get bored with me and end it. But it hasn't worked out that way. The thing is, with Hugo heading off to Hogwarts next month there will be no reason for Ron to come home at all with the way he is feeling about me at the moment, and I keep thinking now would be the time to call it quits. I know the children are still very young, but at least they are old enough to understand what's happening, even if they don't quite understand why.'
'You think Ron might leave you?' Harry asked, frowning. 'What on earth has given you that impression?'
'He's hardly been home at all for the last two weeks,' Hermione said candidly, and she could feel the old anger rising in her chest as she spoke. 'Although I was seeing Draco I always made sure it didn't affect my family in any way, and I certainly never put him before my children. But a couple of weeks ago, before he stopped coming home, Ron got annoyed with me because I made him go to Hugo's open night when he wanted to be with her. If he's at the stage where he's more worried about his mistress than his children, surely that means he must be thinking of leaving.'
'He has been a bit stressed with work,' Harry said, giving his friend a possible defence although inside he was reeling at what Hermione had just told him about Ron. 'We have been very busy.'
'I know that,' Hermione said. 'But this has gone beyond that, don't you think?'
Harry didn't reply. Hermione didn't expect him to. She knew he was going to sit on the fence, not wanting to take sides.
'Anyway, there's something else I need to take into account now,' Hermione added. She stopped. Her heart was pounding at the thought of sharing her secret with Harry.
Harry looked at her expectantly.
'I'm pregnant.'
'Pregnant!' Harry blurted loudly in astonishment. 'You don't mean with Malfoy's baby?'
Hermione nodded her head slowly. 'Yes, it's Draco's. To be honest, Harry I can't remember the last time Ron and I actually had sex. It hasn't really happened at all since he's been with her.'
'Does Malfoy know?' Harry asked. 'Why did you get pregnant?'
'I didn't do it on purpose,' Hermione said agitatedly. 'It was an accident and I have still got absolutely no idea how it happened . . . and no, I haven't told Draco yet, that's why I need to make a decision . . . and sooner rather than later, obviously.'
'What do you want to do?' Harry asked. He was still trying to get over Hermione's latest revelation.
'I don't know,' Hermione admitted, sounding miserable again. 'That was why I needed to talk to you. I was hoping it might give me some clarity. The only thing I know is that things can't stay as they are.'
'You need to decide what you're going to do about the baby,' Harry said.
'I know that, too. But that depends on everything else, doesn't it?'
Harry hugged Hermione again. He couldn't believe what a complete mess his best friends had made of their marriage. Hermione was right, something needed to happen, and fast. He was aware that asking Ron to do anything was a non-starter, as his friend had trouble making even the simplest of decisions; the mess they were in now showed that much. So, as she had suspected, the job was going to fall to Hermione. Somehow she was going to have to be the one to make the decision — and with a sinking heart, Harry knew he was the one who was going to have to force her to make it.
'If there were no outside factors involved at all, no kids or anything to worry about — if it was purely down to a straight choice between the two of them — who would you go for, Ron or Draco? Which one of them would make you the happiest?' Harry asked once he had released Hermione again a few minutes later.
Hermione thought about the question. It was a tough one. On one hand she loved Ron, had been in love with him since she was thirteen; but if she was completely honest, for most of that time he hadn't made her very happy. Draco she had detested for her entire time at school and then she hadn't seen him for almost twenty years, yet almost from their first meeting since he had come back into her life he had made her feel special, had given her the happiness and pleasure he had promised her he would, and that had been nothing but an unfulfilled wish with Ron. The truth was that there was only one man who was going to make her happy, and it wasn't her husband.
'Draco,' she admitted quietly.
Harry nodded his head as if he had been expecting her to say that.
'You need to tell Draco you're pregnant,' he said gently, 'and then you need to talk to Ron.'
Hermione hugged Harry and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.
'Thank you,' she whispered. 'You have no idea what a relief it is to have told you.'
Harry smiled. 'That was two huge secrets on your side alone. No wonder you were going mental trying to process all that lot.' He looked at her more seriously as he stroked her cheek. 'You need to be happy, Hermione — and you need to do whatever it takes to make that happen, however difficult it may be to begin with.'
'I know,' Hermione said, blinking back tears as they stood up and began to walk back towards the Burrow. 'You won't say anything to anyone, will you?'
'My lips are sealed,' Harry promised.