Ron still wasn't home when Hermione got up in the morning and found herself in the bed she shared with him. She figured he was either at work, or out somewhere with his publicist. The thought left her angry, but at the same time it reinforced her decision to eject him from her life.

She had always been a believer in doing anything and everything possible to save a marriage, but not when it came to cheating. That was something she would not condone, especially when the guilty party wasn't showing any signs of guilt.

It was kind of ironic, that he was the one upset with her at the moment over some perceived notion that she was cheating. At least, it would be if she didn't already know the truth. It was actually somewhat smart of him, making himself look like the victim to take any heat off of him.

Since Ron wasn't there, it meant Hermione would just have to confront him later. This gave her time to plan exactly what she was going to say to him when the time came. She wanted to be strong when she said it, not some meek, tongue-tied, blundering idiot.

Meanwhile she still had to get the kids ready for the school and daycare. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain to them why their father had to leave, but she put it on her mind's priority to-do list for the day.

When she got to work, Madeline was already impatiently waiting for her in her office.

"Hi. How was last night? Did you talk to him? What did you say? What did he say?" Were the questions that spilled out of her mouth.

"We went out to dinner," Hermione said, putting her things down and taking a seat in her chair. Madeline handed her a drink, once again from the local Starbucks, though she didn't announce what it was.

"You still went out with him?"

"Yes. To that same Thai place actually."

Hermione proceeded to tell Madeline everything about her night with Ron, starting from his discomfort when she decided they should eat at Thai Square, right down to the incident with Julian Niemi.

"Are you serious? He actually had the nerve to accuse you of cheating on him?"

"Yep. And then he left me at the restaurant and wasn't home when I got back."

"What a- you know I can't even think of words adequate enough to describe what he is. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to leave him, or rather I'm going to make him leave. I'm going to tell him that I know and tell him to leave the house."

"And what if he refuses?"

"Then I guess I'll have to be the one to leave. I refuse to stay in the same place as him right now."

Hermione hoped it wouldn't come to that though. She wasn't sure where she would go.

When she met up with Ginny a little over two hours later, she wasn't sure where to begin. Ginny had been at work the other day when Hermione had found out about Ron's indiscretions, so they had a lot to talk about.

It was easier than Hermione thought it was going to be. It helped that this Ginny wasn't on great terms with her brother. Once again, Hermione had to hold her back from giving Ron a piece of her mind once she had finished telling her everything.

"I'm never speaking to him again if I don't have to," she seethed. "And I'll make sure the entire family knows what an idiotic as-"

"Ginny!"

"What a prick he is," Ginny said. "And I always knew Miranda was a slut."

"Why did I ever allow Ron to hire her?"

"Because you're trusting Hermione, and that's great for most things, but sometimes you've got to be a little paranoid and jealous."

"I really hope I don't stay in this life long enough to meet her. I might end up going to Azkaban."

"Well if that happens I'll take great care of your children," Ginny offered. "When are you telling him you know?"

"Tonight, once the kids are in bed. I don't want them to be around for whatever is going to happen. I'm going to ask him to leave."

"Well power to you 'Mione. And don't take no for an answer."

"I'll try," Hermione said morosely.

"Hey, it'll be okay," Ginny gave her a hug. "I'm here for you."

"Thanks, Gin."

"We're heading up to Wales tonight for some mandatory auror conference Harry has to be at, but don't hesitate to call me. I should get going actually, I have to get the kids ready to bring to Mum's."

"Alright then. I'll just see you tomorrow."

"Remember, 'Mione, call me if you need anything," Ginny said sternly.

Hermione nodded and then parted from her friend, returning to work for the rest of the day.

She was walking towards her office when she spotted Draco coming from the opposite direction. She noticed him speed up when he caught sight of her, and she hurried inside her office, locking the door behind her.

"Something the matter?" Madeline asked, already resuming her tasks from earlier.

"Draco. I ran into him yesterday after using the pensieve, and then I ran away from him when he asked what was wrong."

Madeline pointed her wand at the door and then uttered some charm. "There," she smiled. "If he knocks- well, if anyone knocks for that matter- we won't hear it."

"Thanks."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to him?" She asked slyly. "He would be a great person to talk to. He'd probably take all of your worries away."

"Madeline!"

"I'm just saying…." She sung.

The next few hours passed by in a blur, and Hermione became steadily anxious as it neared time to go home. She couldn't stop playing out exactly how it was going to go through her head, and at the same time she kept sneaking glances at the door, wondering if Draco was persistently trying to get her to answer.

When two minutes to two o'clock came she carefully opened the door, and smothered the disappointed feeling she got when Draco was not outside. She said goodbye to Madeline and then left to pick up Rose and Hugo.

She tried her best to act as normal as possible for them, and as far as she could tell, they didn't suspect anything was amiss. It helped that Ron wasn't there to make things awkward.

She didn't know what time he'd come home tonight, but it didn't keep her from hearing every tick of the clock as the seconds, and then the minutes, and then the hours passed by.

Just as she was clearing the table, the familiar pop of apparition sounded in her ears, and she steeled herself for one of the hardest conversations of her life.

"Those two wear me out," Ron sighed, falling onto the couch. The kids had been so happy to see him that, even though it was already eight o'clock, she had let them stay up a little longer. He ate his dinner and then played with them for a grand total of ten minutes before handing Hermione back the reigns to put them to bed.

"You hardly spent time with them," Hermione said bitterly.

"Because they wear me out!" Ron exclaimed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, I'm going to go up now, too."

He was barely up from his seat when Hermione spoke. "No."

It was amazing how a curt, one-syllable, two –letter word could get someone to stop in their tracks.

"No?"

He looked at her incredulously as he slowly stood up to his full stature. She tried to not let the fact that he was a full head taller than her sway her determined stance.

"No," she said again.

He must've not grasped her tone and her stern expression, because his next sentence nearly made her want to strangle him. "Did you have something else planned for us tonight?" He asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. He had even begun to reach out to put his hands around her waist, but she stepped back.

"Don't touch me," she spat.

"Babe, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong is you sneaking around with your publicist doing who knows what, that's what's wrong!"

She half expected him to play it off like he had the night before, but it was too late for that. His face had turned to stone, the color draining from it, a clear reaction of someone who had just been caught. He was so still, all Hermione had to do was poke him with a finger and she was sure he'd fall over.

"I-" He started and then stopped. "How did you find out?"

"Madeline. She showed me her memory of you and Miranda at the restaurant Tuesday night. Did you really think it was just a coincidence that I had you take me there?"

"One could only hope," he stammered.

"I want you to leave," Hermione finally said.

"'Mione, please don't do this. I'm sorry, I should never have done it. It was a mistake!"

It was the first time Hermione could remember Ron showing any real emotion throughout her entire time here. Unfortunately it had to be one of pleading, and it wasn't becoming in the slightest.

"No, you need to go," she said as confidently as she could. She could feel her eyes beginning to smart, her body's usual reaction to upsetting situations, but she held it in.

"No, come on Babe." He had regained his power to move and was advancing towards her. "We can get passed this. I love you for goodness sakes!"

"But you don't Ron! You don't do something like this when you love someone."

"I made a mistake 'Mione. It won't happen again, I promise. I only want you."

"Well then I guess we have another problem, because I don't want you," she admitted. "You need to go."

"No," he said, using the same tone she had for the word, and then he scoffed. "You really think I'm going to go so easily?"

"If you won't go then I will." Hermione turned around to start heading for the stairs when she was suddenly pulled back.

"You're staying here," Ron said firmly, his hand clutching her forearm. "We are going to be a happy family again. And we are going to forget this ever happened."

"Ron, you're hurting me."

It didn't seem to bother him though, for he just brought her closer, wrapping his arms around her so she couldn't get out. "Stop!" she cried as he began to press kisses against her neck.

"I'm going to make you remember how great we are together," he said, and without further ado he latched himself onto her mouth, ignoring her protests. His hands began to roam under her shirt as he led them backwards and up against a wall, using his body to pin her in place.

Oh god, Hermione thought in a panic, wondering how she was going to get him off of her. Then it hit her. My wand.

She reached into the side of her jeans and pulled out her wand, silently thanking herself for deciding to keep it lodged there just in case.

She waited until he released himself from her to take a breath, and then quickly placed her wand against his temple.

"Stupefy!"

She gasped as Ron fell limp against her, his eyes wide in surprise. She pushed him off of her, his body landing with a thump onto the floor, and then ran up the stairs to Rose's room.

She let out a startled gasp when she found her daughter sitting on her bed, a duffel bag already packed and sitting next to her.

"Are we going now Mummy?" she asked. Hermione just nodded, not having time to wonder how her daughter knew to be ready.

"Can you get Hugo's things?" She bid her.

Rose jumped off of her bed in affirmation and headed to her brother's room, while Hermione ran over to her own. She grabbed a suitcase she had seen earlier from her closet, and then cast a spell that caused everything important she needed to fall into it. It only took a second, which was good since she was on limited time before Ron would return to normal.

She went back to Hugo's room and picked her son up in hers arms, then she grabbed Rose's hand and bounded down the stairs and to the garage. She instructed Rose to strap Hugo inside the car, and then herself, while she went back inside the house and got their things.

She gave one last glance towards Ron, making sure he was still in his frozen form, before joining her kids.

Then she drove. She drove, and she drove, and she drove until she was satisfied with the distance she had put between her and the house. She pulled off to the side, and then took a shuddery breath before resting her head against the steering wheel.

She couldn't believe what Ron had almost done. She had thought that if he had refused to leave and she decided to go it would've been okay. She had been wrong, though. Very wrong. Now she had two reasons not to be with him.

There was another important matter at hand however. Where was she going to go? Ginny and Harry were out of town, and she didn't want to be anywhere that Ron could find them at the moment, which meant the Burrow and any other Weasley home was off limits. She supposed she could go to Madeline's, but she had no idea where she lived.

"I'm sorry about Daddy, Mummy," Rose said quietly from behind Hermione.

"It's okay Rosie."

"Hugo and I love you. Miss Miri will never be our Mummy."

"Thanks," Hermione said with a halfhearted laugh, though at the same time she was surprised that Rose knew what was going on. The little girl really was perceptive. "How did you know?"

"I was listening. I'm sorry."

"It's alright."

"Are we going to Uncle Harry's and Aunt Ginny's?"

"No, they're not home right now, and your father would come for us there."

"We could go to Australia," she suggested.

"That's too far away," Hermione said, giving another small chuckle, tears beginning to prickle her eyes at the hopelessness of the situation.

"We could go to Mr. Draco's. He likes us a lot. He'd let us stay. And we could play with Scorpius."

Hermione looked into her rearview mirror to see her daughter smiling widely at the idea. Hermione wasn't sure if it would be a good thing to do, though. She knew she and Draco were friends, but she wasn't sure how good of friends they were, despite what Madeline thought. Could she just show up at his doorstep in the middle of the night and ask to stay, especially after avoiding him all day?

Well you don't have anywhere else to go right now.

"Do you know where he lives?" Hermione found herself saying.

"He lives next to the Queen," Rose told her.

Alright, so he lives in Windsor. That still doesn't help us much, though.

"I remember how to get there. I memorized it from when we went to Scorpius' birthday party last week."

"Of course you did," Hermione chuckled. She started the car and drove back onto the road. "Lead the way then Rosie."

Hermione's stomach became a bundle of nerves when they reached Windsor, and Rose began to direct her to Draco's house. It was full on tumbling like a washer by the time she pulled into his driveway.

His house was nice. Not a mansion like Ron's, but a normal size, much like the one they lived in together in their other life.

The lights were on, so she knew he was home. She turned off the car, and slowly undid her seat belt, her eyes not leaving their gaze on the front door.

"You watch your brother for a moment, alright?" she said to Rose, who nodded in response.

She tried to think of what exactly she was going to say to him, but nothing she came up with sounded good. When she reached the door, she knew she had no choice but to just wing it and hope for the best. Without further hesitation, she knocked.

It felt like an eternity before she heard the dead bolt click, but it did, and then the door was opening in front of her. Her eyes met Draco's the moment they were visible to her.

"Granger?" he said, surprised that she was there.

"Hi," she breathed.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

Suddenly it was as if someone had laid a cloth over her mind, keeping her from forming any words to say. Not that it mattered, for it also felt as if she had swallowed a large stone, and that it was now lodged in her throat, making her incapable of speaking.

"Draco," someone said from behind him. A woman's voice.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she continued with a giggle. "But I tried turning on that television thing and all I got was this snowy looking thing that was making a really annoying sound."

Hermione finally saw what she looked like as she came up beside Draco. She was olive skinned with long dark hair and eyes. She was pretty. Hermione vaguely remembered seeing her around the ministry.

"Oh, you have company," Hermione said timidly, and embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'll just go." She turned on her heel and quickly headed back to her car.

"Wait, Granger," he said, coming after her, and leaving the woman standing by the door. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I shouldn't have bothered you."

She averted her face from him as she opened her car door, not wanting him to see the tears that were forming in her eyes, threatening to escape.

"Granger, stop." He gently grabbed her by the arm and turned her around to face him. "Tell me what's going on. Why did you come?"

"I just…I need a place to stay for the night, me and the kids." Her voice was cracking, and it was beginning to move up in pitch. "But I can find somewhere else."

"Hey, if you need a place to stay, then you can stay here." He brought his thumbs to her lower lids, a habit she was beginning to love, and wiped her tears away. "You can stay for as long as you want."

"Thank you." Hermione managed to say, though it came out as more of a whisper.

Draco moved to the back car door and opened it to let Rose out, while Hermione went to the opposite side to get Hugo.

"Hello Mr. Draco," Rose smiled sleepily. Although she had stayed awake to show her mother the way, it was late, and her tiredness was catching up with her.

"Hey, Rose. You're going to stay here tonight."

"I know. I told Mummy we should. I think it's the best place for us right now."

Draco looked at her strangely, but didn't try to question her further about her meaning. He just instructed her to go into the house and to the living room. She did as she was told, meeting the woman he had been talking to at the doorway. The woman took her hand and brought her inside.

"Did you bring anything with you?" He asked Hermione as she came back around, a sleeping Hugo in her arms.

"In the trunk."

"Alright, I'll get them for you. You can bring Hugo up to the first room on the left, and I'll meet you up there."

Hermione nodded and made her way into the house. She guessed that the room she went to was a guest room based on its set up, even though it was quite large. There was a single king sized bed, and a chest of drawers, but nothing indicating it was someone's personal bedroom.

She pulled back the covers of the bed, and then laid Hugo in, tucking the comforter around him, and kissing him on the forehead.

Draco came in a moment later with her suitcase and Rose's duffle bag. He didn't ask her any questions, but when she looked at him she could see many of them brewing in his eyes. She quietly followed him back down the stairs and into the living room, where Rose was sitting on a loveseat and talking with Draco's friend.

"You're daughter is charming," the woman said to her with a grin. "I'm Krista by the way." She stood up and shook Hermione's hand. "And you're Hermione Granger, well Hermione Weasley."

Hermione flinched when Krista said her married surname.

"I suppose I better go then." Krista stood up from her place on the couch.

"I'll show you to the door," Draco said, heading towards the door along with her.

"I told you he would let us stay," Rose smiled once she and Hermione were alone.

"Yes you did," Hermione said, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you."

"I love you Mummy."

"I love you too."

"We're going to be okay."

I hope so, Hermione thought as she held her daughter close to her.

Draco came back into the room and the three of them just stared at each other for a second before he spoke. "Are you hungry or anything Rose?"

"No, thank you. I'm just tired. It's been a loooong day."

"I'm sure it has," Draco laughed softly.

"I'm going to take her to bed, and then I'll come back down," Hermione told him, taking Rose by the hand.

"I can go myself Mummy," Rose said confidently. "I know where it is."

Before Hermione could say anything, Rose had hopped off the couch and was strolling her way out of the room.

"Goodnight," both Hermione and Draco called after her.

"So what's going on?" Draco asked, cutting to the chase the moment Rose was out of ear shot, and taking a seat on the other side of the couch. "You practically run away from me yesterday, stay clear of me today, and now you're at my house."

Hermione focused her attention on the carpet, wanting to look anywhere, but at him. "Ron decided he would rather be with his publicist than with me," she said.

Draco didn't make any response, at least none that Hermione could hear, and since she wasn't facing him she wasn't able to see any expression he might've given. When he continued to be silent, she decided to keep talking instead.

"Madeline told me yesterday, and I didn't believe her at first, but then she showed me the memory of her seeing them together using the pensieve you let us borrow. After that I knew I couldn't deny it. It still took a bit of time for me to wrap my head around it, and I kept wondering what I had done wrong or what I could've done better. I thought maybe we could work it out, but then I realized that I couldn't stay with someone who had betrayed me like that. He obviously wasn't in love with me anymore, and I realized that I wasn't as in love with him as I thought I was, so what was the point of staying together? I asked him to leave, but he refused, so I told him I was going to go, and it got a little ugly after that. He tried to… I had to stupefy him, in order for us to leave. I couldn't think of anywhere to go, and then Rose suggested we come here, so I thought, what the hell? The worst thing that could happen is you could say no, and if you did it couldn't hurt more than my husband cheating on me. Except-"

"Granger, you're rambling," Draco finally said, effectively stopping her.

"Sorry," she blushed in embarrassment. Neither of them said anything again for a moment, and then she felt Draco moving closer to her. He lifted her chin with one of his hands and turned it so that she was now looking at him.

"You always deserved better than him," he whispered. "I'll make sure he never harms you again if you like."

"Thank you."

Their faces were close, and Hermione could feel her stomach doing somersaults again. All she had to do was lean forward and their lips would touch. She knew that it wouldn't be appropriate given the circumstances though. He must've realized this too, for he moved back a little.

"I'm sorry we interrupted your date," Hermione said, wanting to change the subject. "She seems nice."

"She is. And don't worry about it Granger, she was just someone my mother decided to set me up with and I figured I'd go along with it to make her happy."

"I see." Hermione tried not to show how relieved she was by his response. "Where's Scorpius?"

"I brought him to my mother's for the night, but he'll be back tomorrow. He'll be excited to know that his friends are here."

"That was one of the reasons Rose gave for us to come here. Thank you for letting us stay the night. I'm not sure where we'll go tomorrow, but I'll think of some place-"

"Granger, you don't have to go. Stay for as long as you need," he said, and then not caring anymore about propriety, he took her hand in his linking their fingers together. "Stay for forever if you have to."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat as he put himself out there. She knew it wasn't the right time to show him how she really felt, but it was a beginning. She allowed him to pull her closer, and set her head on his shoulder while his arms went around her.

It seemed that when it came to the life of Hermione, all paths inevitably led to Draco.

A/N: And... she left him! And went to Draco because he's freaking sexy. Hope you enjoyed reading it :) We're almost to the end!