Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: In celebration of the end of exams and the semester, here is a long-ish chapter of Unfamiliar Spell! I hope you guys enjoy it... I would like to apologise if my description of the Pantheon is off somehow, it's been a few years since I've been to Rome and my memory is a little fuzzy in places. This has not been beta-ed, so please excuse any mistakes made. Dedicated to the beautiful Carmela again, just because she's amazing :P Please remember to review guys, I really would appreciate it!
Unfamiliar Spell
It felt like the room was silent for hours. Hermione had her eyes focused on Ginny, watching the look of realisation melt into anger and hurt. She just sat there, unable to speak, glaring at her soon to be ex-husband. Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat, staring down at the floor again. Hermione could tell that, even though he'd been such a prick, he felt bad about what he'd done.
"You were right," Ginny said softly, her eyes flashing in anger. "I'm done."
Silence again. Hermione bit down on her bottom lip, seeing the tears forming at the corners of Ginny's eyes, feeling a new wave of anger rise up from her stomach to her throat, making her feel as though she wanted to throw up. She could hardly believe what he'd done. Sure, she'd thought about the possibility, but never in a million years would she have believed that Harry would betray his family like this.
"I'm..."
"Don't," Ginny snapped, the tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. "You betrayed me, and our children. You've torn this family apart, Harry."
"It's not entirely my fault," he responded quickly, looking back up at her and glaring again. "If you had been..."
"What? A more loving wife? If I'd not continued to play Quidditch? Do you think you wouldn't have done this if I was constantly at home without a life?" Ginny's voice was surprisingly steady as she spat her words at Harry. Hermione eyes flickered between the pair of them, knowing that she should remain silent and let Ginny give what was coming to him.
"If you had focused more on our relationship, I wouldn't have had to find someone else," he said, clenching his hands around his knees. "If you were home more..."
"I wasn't the one who checked out of this relationship," Ginny snapped, her voice wavering slightly. "You were the one who stayed late at work, you collapsed into bed and wanted nothing to do with me. We haven't had a proper conversation in five years because you've been too tired, too wrapped up in your own fucking thoughts. I tried my hardest to get through to you, but all you did was swear at me and push me away. I'm surprised the kids haven't asked me what's been wrong when they've been home." She groaned suddenly, covering her face with her hands, "What the hell are we supposed to tell them?"
Harry simply shrugged and resumed staring at the floor.
"I'm done," she repeated, lowering her hands from her face and glaring at him again. "I'm done with you and your bullshit, and don't even think that you can try to stop me."
He still didn't say anything.
"Look at me," Ginny hissed at him, standing up and moving to stand in front of him.
He slowly raised his eyes to meet hers, grinding his teeth. She glared down at him for a second before she slapped him across the face. He stood up immediately and grabbed her wrist, stopping her from hitting him a second time, squeezing it tightly.
Hermione stood up too, reaching for her wand. He let her wrist go as he saw the thin wooden object appear in her hand, glaring at it. He raised a hand to his cheek and rubbed it gently.
"I deserved that," he said softly, gazing down at her.
"I'm glad you can accept that, at least," Ginny spat at him, restraining herself from hitting him again. "We're leaving." She looked back at Hermione, who nodded, before saying to Harry, "I'll be back to get my things tomorrow."
He didn't say anything as she turned her back on him, pulling Hermione close to hug her tightly.
"Apparate us back to the hotel," she whispered to her ear, her crying becoming more apparent. Hermione nodded, shooting Harry one last glare as she held the redhead tightly and concentrated.
Thankfully, their room had already been attended to by the cleaning staff of the hotel by the time they appeared there. Hermione did not let go of Ginny, feeling her go slightly weak as her sobs overtook every other emotion. She simply held the redhead's shivering body as she cried, rubbing her back gently in an attempt to calm her down somewhat, making soft shushing sounds.
"Come on," she finally murmured, pulling back slightly. "We'll be more comfortable if we lie down."
Ginny sniffed and nodded dejectedly, following Hermione to the bed, not letting go of her hand. They lay down, Hermione on her back and Ginny snuggled up into her side, draping one leg across the brunette to let it rest in between her legs. They lay there like that for a while, Ginny's body shaking with her soft sobs, clinging onto Hermione as though her life depended on it. Hermione had no idea what to do, other than to hold her close, gently brushing away her hair every time it fell down to cover her eyes. She didn't bother saying anything, knowing that nothing she could say would make the tears go away.
Ginny shifted slightly, her thigh rubbing between Hermione's legs briefly, causing her stomach to lurch suddenly. An image of the pair of them making furious, passionate love entered her mind immediately, making her shut her eyes tightly, as though she was worried that if Ginny happened to look up at her, she'd be able to see past her eyes to what her mind imagined. Their naked bodies entwined together, their seat mingling and their mouths touching, tasting each other's sweet saliva. God, how she wanted to pull Ginny closer and kiss her tears away, how she wanted to ignore the devastating news the redhead had just heard and sweep her off her feet.
"I don't know what I should do now," Ginny mumbled, sniffing and breaking the image in Hermione's mind.
The brunette opened her eyes and looked down at her, sighing softly as she noticed the tear tracks down the redhead's cheeks. "Just stay here in bed with me." She inwardly cringed at the unknown innuendo that permeated her phrase, the image of them making love entering her mind again.
"I didn't mean that," Ginny sighed too, closing her eyes and sniffing again.
"At least you know now why he's been conflicting for the past while," Hermione offered. "You can make an informed decision about what to do."
"This isn't about being logical, Hermione," Ginny said, slightly harshly, her eyes flying open to glare up at her. "He betrayed my trust, and that of our children, and he clearly has no intention of stopping."
"I'm not trying to be logical, I'm trying to make you feel better," the older woman said softly. "I'm sorry, but the decision about what to do is entirely up to you."
"How are we supposed to talk to the kids about this?" Ginny asked, groaning at the thought.
Hermione stayed silent this time, not wanting to say anything that might elicit a harsh comment again.
Ginny sighed again and raised her head to look at Hermione, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."
"You just found out that your husband has been cheating on you, you're allowed to snap at whoever you want."
The younger woman smiled weakly at her, "Least of all you, though. I'm sorry..."
"Stop apologising," Hermione said quickly, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "Look, we don't need to think about what happened today yet. The kids are still at school, we have this beautiful hotel room to stay in, and we have money to spend on whatever you wish."
"I'd like to have some sort of idea on how to deal with this when I need to, though."
"Do you want to know what I think?"
Ginny looked at her and nodded, "Always."
"We should go back there first thing in the morning and pack all of your things up. I mean everything. You're leaving him, right?"
Ginny nodded again.
"We can take it back to my place, or to your mother's, and not deal with it for a day or two, at least until we find another, more permanent place, for us to stay."
Ginny frowned, "Us?"
"I've already decided that I'm leaving Ron, and I don't think you should be left to your own devices."
Ginny smiled, "Think I'll do something stupid?"
Hermione smiled and shook her head, "No, I just think, after everything he said today, that you should be with someone."
"Fair enough. I have to admit that I really don't want to be alone at the moment. Are you going to tell Ron today?"
"After what you've already had to hear, I thought..."
"No, you need to tell him today," Ginny said decisively. "Besides, I want to find out if he knew anything about this."
Hermione frowned, "I doubt it."
Ginny shrugged, "I'm not saying he knew anything, but I want to rule out that possibility. He is Harry's best friend, after all."
"Alright. If you want me to talk to Ron, we should go do that soon. I'm just not entirely sure where to put our stuff when we clear it out tomorrow."
"Hermione, you're really not thinking like a witch," Ginny said, grinning slightly. "We can shrink it all to fit in one suitcase and just take that back here with us."
Hermione grinned back at her, "Hey, I'm a muggle at heart, remember?"
Ginny laughed softly, "Yeah, yeah."
"Do you feel any better, then?"
Ginny nodded, "Yes, thank you." She sighed heavily and snuggled closer, tightening her grip on Hermione's waist, "I'm so glad I have you."
Hermione smiled and couldn't help kissing the top of her head, "You'll always have me."
Ginny turned her head to look up at the brunette, a quizzical look forming in her eyes, and she looked as though she was about to ask a very important question for a moment. But the look faded, and she settled back down into Hermione's embrace.
"When should we go, then?"
"Once you've calmed down a little, I think. Perhaps after we eat something."
Ginny nodded and sniffed slightly, snuggling a little closer to Hermione. "Where do you want to go for lunch?"
"There's always room-service," Hermione said, grinning slightly. "We can scare the server again."
Ginny giggled softly, "That's always fun. I kind of feel like getting out of here, though. We could scare the general muggle public, if you'd like."
"If you'd like. What kind of food would you like to eat?"
Ginny thought for a second, before turning her face to look up at Hermione, "What kind of food do they serve at those places with that giant yellow 'M'?"
Hermione made a face and cringed slightly, "Greasy burgers and incredibly salty chips."
Ginny laughed, "Okay, we won't go there. I don't mind either way, a sandwich would do me just fine."
"How about pizza? I know a nice little Italian place that makes the second best pizza I've ever had."
"What came in first place?"
"Pizza from a vendor when I visited Rome," Hermione said, a grin spreading across her features. "It was incredible."
Ginny laughed again, looking up at her, "We could always go to Rome."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "You want to go to Rome?"
Ginny shrugged, "You speak a little Italian, I don't see why not. I've always wanted to see the Parthenon."
Hermione snorted softly, "Pantheon. The Parthenon is in Athens, in Greece."
"Well, we can go there next week."
The brunette laughed softly, "What about Quidditch training?"
"I'm sure the girls will understand that I need a little time to get away, after they hear what Harry's been doing. No doubt it'll hit Witch Weekly at some point anyway."
"We should probably tell your family before it does, though," Hermione said thoughtfully, sighing slightly.
Ginny sighed as well, "Not today. We can do that after we've taken our stuff out of the houses. I don't even want to think about talking to my family today, I just want to go to Rome for lunch, with you."
"And then we'll go and talk to Ron," Hermione said softly.
"And then we'll go and talk to Ron," she repeated, nodding.
"If we want to go to Rome, we should probably get going, then."
Ginny nodded again and reluctantly moved away from Hermione, sitting up and sliding across the bed to sit on the edge.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, watching the redhead stand up.
Ginny turned and smiled a weak smile down at her, "I'll be alright. Come on, I'd like to do a little sight-seeing while we're there."
Hermione nodded and slipped off the other side of the bed, walking around it to grab her purse. "We should make a quick stop at the bank before we leave, I should change some money."
"They don't use the same money as the muggles here?"
Hermione grinned at her, "No, for some reason the English haven't seen fit to switch from the pound to the euro yet. Which is probably a good thing since the euro isn't doing too well at the moment."
Ginny frowned, "They have different value systems?"
Hermione laughed, "Economics, Ginny, they really should teach it at Hogwarts."
"It sounds complicated, I'm pretty sure I'd be glad to have missed it," the redhead said, smiling at her. "Come on, let's go."
After a quick stop at the nearest bank and authorising their visit to Rome at the Ministry of Magic, they found themselves standing in a deserted alley, surrounded by tall buildings.
"Come on," Hermione said, taking Ginny's hand as she led her out of the alley into the bustling streets of Rome. "The Trevi Fountain," she said, gesturing at it with her free hand and smiling happily.
"It's pretty impressive what muggles can do," Ginny said, gazing up at it with wide eyes. "What do you know about it?"
"Not a lot about its origins," Hermione sighed. "But legend says that if you throw a coin into it, you're going to return to Rome someday. Some people think that if you throw in two, you'll find yourself in a new romance, and three will guarantee a marriage or divorce. Muggles have an odd affection for superstitions."
Ginny smiled, "I suppose neither of us have to throw in three, then."
Hermione smiled and looked sideways at her, "I suppose not."
"It is beautiful though."
The pair stood in silence for a few minutes, standing a little further back from the rest of the crowd, taking in its magnificence. Hermione found herself fantasizing about what would happen if she threw two coins into the fountain, sighing slightly as she reminded herself that it was only a silly muggle superstition.
"I want to throw a coin in there," Ginny said suddenly, turning to look at her.
The older woman smiled and fished a coin out of her purse, handing it to her and watching her weave her way through the crowd to the edge of the fountain. She paused at the edge, bowing her head to gaze down at the coin in her hand, leaving Hermione with a sudden yearn to know exactly what she was thinking. She looked so lost as she stood there with her head bowed, that Hermione felt that urge to sweep her off her feet again. She suddenly felt consumed with an unyielding hatred for Harry, for what he'd done, for the way he'd hurt her. The hatred suddenly dissipated, though, as Ginny threw the coin to the depths of the fountain, turning her head to look back at Hermione with a beaming smile on her face. The brunette smiled back at her, watching her weave her way back through the crowd to walk back to her, still with that smile.
"Happy?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, yes. I think it's important to indulge in a little muggle behaviour, every now and then," Ginny said, grinning happily as she took Hermione's hand again. "Now, lead me to that supposed amazing pizza."
Hermione laughed before leading the redhead through the crowds, over the cobblestoned streets, towards the Pantheon.
"Grazie," Hermione thanked the pizza vendor as she handed Ginny a slice of pizza. The redhead bit into it, a grin spreading across her features as she savoured the taste. Hermione laughed softly, "Was I right?"
Ginny nodded happily, "Of course you were. I never doubted you for a moment."
"I'm glad," the brunette said, taking a bite of her pizza and chewing on it thoughtfully. "The Pantheon is quite close. Do you want to go?"
Ginny grinned with a mouthful of pizza, "Is it similar to the Parthenon?"
Hermione couldn't help giggling as the pair linked arms and began to wander through the crowds, "Not really. It was originally a temple to the Roman gods, but now it's one of the oldest, if not the oldest, churches in existence, which is still used for worship. The Parthenon is a temple to the Goddess Athena."
"Aren't temples and churches kind of the same thing?"
"The Parthenon wasn't for public worship," Hermione shrugged. "It was built to honour Athena's protection over Athens, whereas the Pantheon is simply a place where the public can come to participate in Catholicism. And tourism," she added as an afterthought.
"Muggles seem to have an affection for an overabundance of religions too," Ginny said, chewing on her pizza thoughtfully. "Why do they feel the need to explain our existence?"
"Wizards do it too," Hermione pointed out. "We just don't do it in terms of worshipping supposed divine beings. The good thing about muggle religions is that they've provided incredible cultural significance which has survived throughout the millennia; the Egyptians built pyramids for their earliest Pharaohs and inscribed the stories of their lives, and that of their gods, on the walls. The Greeks built incredible temples and shrines to their gods, and the Christians have built some of the most amazing Churches to provide the people with a place to worship. Every race of people with a specific religion has added onto a long list of architectural achievements, with their desire to please their gods with magnificent symbols of their beliefs."
Ginny smiled, "You certainly know a lot about all of this."
Hermione grinned, "I have a very general knowledge of most of Europe's early history. I think it's important to understand how society has evolved, and where it's come from. I don't personally agree with any of these muggle religions, but I do think that the cultural impact they've had is incredibly important. I mean, look at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Merely looking up at that building inspires such an awe in me that I feel as though I could burst into tears."
Ginny was silent for a moment, watching the brunette intently. As Hermione looked at her, she smiled and leaned closer to kiss her cheek gently, "I love it when you get all excited about stuff like this."
Hermione blushed and laughed nervously, looking away from the redhead quickly. "You know that knowledge is my passion, I just find all this history fascinating."
"I know," Ginny said, smiling at her. "You sound so passionate whenever you talk about this stuff, I could listen to you rambling on and on about it all day."
Hermione blushed a darker shade of red and bit her lip, her mind lingering on the word passionate.
Ginny laughed softly, "You don't need to feel embarrassed, I think it's good that you get so excited about history."
'You don't know the half of it,' Hermione thought, sighing slightly as she put on a smile and looked back at Ginny. "Come on, I'm pretty sure it's just around the corner."
As the pair rounded the next corner, they were greeted by a large piazza with a fountain in the centre. The Pantheon was across the other side of the square, so they slowly made their way through the crowds towards it.
"It's huge," Ginny said in an undertone, gazing up at the giant columns supporting the pediment. "How on earth did they build something like this?"
"With a lot of manpower," Hermione said, gazing up at the columns too, smiling happily. "Do you want to go inside?"
Ginny nodded and followed her through the entrance, looking around with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open. Hermione couldn't help giggling softly to herself as she turned to look at her; she looked as though it was her first trip to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.
"Close your mouth," Hermione whispered to her, laughing softly as Ginny shut it quickly and grinned slightly.
"Sorry," she whispered back. "It's just so..."
"I know," Hermione said, beginning to lead her around the side of the circular building.
"Is that a tomb?" Ginny asked, frowning slightly as they stopped in front of a statue of a woman holding a small child.
Hermione nodded, "The Pantheon has also been used as a tomb since the Renaissance. I think this one is the tomb of Raphael, a painter."
Ginny shuddered slightly, "That's so creepy. Someone's bones are underneath that?"
Hermione smiled, "You fought Death Eaters during the war, what makes this so creepy?"
"I don't know, it's just... weird. Muggles are so strange," she said quietly, moving away from a couple of them who had come up to inspect the statue. She sighed and turned her attention away from the statue and looked up at the ceiling. "It is beautiful in here, though."
Hermione nodded again and looked up as well, "It is. You know, the dome of the Pantheon is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world."
"I don't think I understood half of what you just said, but it sounds impressive," Ginny said, tearing her eyes away from the circular opening at the centre of the dome to grin sheepishly at Hermione.
The brunette laughed softly, "Never mind. You know, we should probably leave within the hour. It's getting late, and I really should see Ron before it gets to dinner."
"He'll be wondering where you've been," Ginny said, sighing slightly as she turned around in a circle, taking in the magnificence of the Pantheon as best she could within a few seconds. "We'll have to come back here at some point to spend an adequate amount of time exploring."
"Oh, Gin, you haven't even seen the Colosseum yet," Hermione said, smiling as she watched Ginny's eyes taking in as much as they could. "Don't worry, we'll come back."
"We'd better," Ginny said, taking Hermione's hand again and following her as she led the redhead out of the Pantheon. "Thank you, Hermione," she said, squeezing her hand as they made their way out into the sunlight.
"Any excuse to flaunt my knowledge of history," Hermione said, grinning at Ginny.
To be continued...
