"Hey Aunt Hermione! " James called out. "Come meet the last of the Weasley lot!"
They watched as Hermione squinted towards Rose and Hugo, then walked over to them. When Hermione could finally see Rose and Hugo clearly, she froze. She adapted a strange look on her face, almost as if she were mad, but still etched with deep pain as she shook her head back and forward. Rose cringed into Albus while he patted her back, and Lily put an arm of comfort around Hugo.
"Who-who are they?" Hermione asked in a quivering voice, but it sounded like she already knew.
Everyone looked over to Dominique, but she merely pursed her lips and shook her head, so James spoke up.
"That's Rose, and over there is Hugo," he jerked his head towards his cousins.
"And they're your cousins?" she plainly asked, her jaw set.
"Yeah."
"Oh," Hermione said in a high-pitched voice. "Are they Charlie's kids?"
"No," James said in an uncomfortable voice. "Uncle Charlie doesn't have kids. They're, um, Uncle Ron's kids."
Hermione stared at Rose and Hugo, almost glaring.
"They look so much like him," she said, smiling a little. "Who's the mother?"
There was silence, before Rose, muffled by Albus' shoulder, chocked out, "Lavender Brown."
Hugo, Lily, Albus, and James shared a look that was more meaningful than the one that their other cousins shared. Sure, everyone knew that Ron had dated Lavender Brown before he dated Hermione, but they didn't know much about that time compared to Harry and Ron's kids.
Hermione's eyes looked dead. "Lavender Brown? Well, I'm sure that their lives are more that satisfactory together, seeing as they have kids, who should consider themselves lucky that they have inherited their father's looks," she said rather harshly. She had expected them to take offense in her words, and was surprised when Hugo spoke up.
"Actually, mum is still beautiful, even after all these years, and dad is still equally mad for her as he was in his Hogwarts years."
For a moment, Hermione said nothing. Then, voice cracking and tears swimming in her eyes, she said, "I'm sorry!" because she couldn't take it anymore. She ran.
Damn, this story sucks.