August 18, 2021

"Look at her… just sitting out there… doing nothing."

"She looks so sad, doesn't she?"

"Sad? Hermione, I was thinking more lazy. I should talk to her. Get her to at least go for a walk."

"Ron." Hermione gripped her husband's arm, directing him to look closely at Rose's posture and expression as she lounged against the chair in the backyard. "She's not being lazy, she's sad. She wants to know what's happening to her family, Ron. Things are changing around her and she knows we're not telling her the full story."

Ron sighed loudly, watching his daughter with a pained expression. "I can't."

"She's old enough to know. You know that. They can both handle it. I know you don't want them to suffer the pain and fear that will come with it, but look what it's doing to them – to our daughter, especially. Look at her, Ron. This can't keep going on."

"How do I tell them, Hermione? How do I tell them that I am basically a murderer? They might be able to handle it, but I can't. I can't handle them knowing and thinking of me differently. And they will."

"They'll just love you more, Ron. It's your decision, I know that, but they're our children, and after that incident at the Burrow last month, I think by telling Rose, at least, will put her mind at ease. She can handle it; I know she can."

"She's also rash at judgement and jumping to conclusions… Hermione, she's too much like me for my own liking."

"Which will make her very understanding. Tell her and get it over with. I hate seeing her like this, and I know you do, too. Come on." She opened the door and stepped onto the paved area.

Rose, who'd been in her own world, jumped, and turned her head to face them. "I'm coming, I'm coming," she said. "What do I have to do now? Scrub the bathroom?"

"No, sweetheart, we just want to talk to you. Ideally, it's something we should be talking to you and your brother about, but we know you've been confused for the past few months, and we believe you can handle what we will tell you."

Rose's harsh expression had softened slightly as curiosity got the better of her. She sat up a little straighter and watched them as they drew up chairs opposite her. Her eyes went from Hermione's to Ron's, who could barely look her in the eye.

"What's it about?" she asked curiously. Her eyes then filled with dread. "You promised me you weren't going to break up!" she then yelled. "Mum, you promised me! I asked you, and you said no!" Her eyes had filled with tears as she looked from her mum's calm face, to her dad's bewildered one.

Hermione had never told Ron what Rose had said to her at the Burrow. She thought it was one less thing for him to worry about.

"Where did you get that idea from, Rosie?" Ron questioned. He looked to Hermione, whose face was calm. "What did you tell her?" he demanded.

"Nothing… Ron… nothing," Hermione said, begging him to remain calm. "Just a while ago… Rosie thought…." She shook her head.

"I'm still here, you know," Rose snapped. "Stop talking about me like I'm not. You said I was old enough to know whatever you want to tell me, so stop talking about me like I'm not."

Her expression returned to one of indignation, glaring at both her parents.

"Rosie, I know you've been worried about what's happening," Hermione said. "And I know it's been affecting you, but it has nothing to do with whether or not your dad and I are breaking up. What's happened has just affected us both quite a bit, and I suppose it's affecting the way we talk to each other."

"What is it, then?" Rose questioned. "What happened?"

Hermione looked to Ron, whose mind still seemed to be in the place of their relationship status. She nudged him slightly. "Your turn to talk," she said.

Ron turned to Rose, his mouth opening, and then closing again as he tried to find the words to start the conversation. Hermione saw by the look in his eyes that he really didn't want to have to tell her. For some reason, he thought it would break her. He didn't seem to understand that the reason Rose was behaving the way she was, was because of what had happened. If they told her, she'd understand.

"Not quite a year ago, Rosie, something happened at your dad's work," Hermione began for him.

Rose looked to Ron. "Oh. Like what?"

Ron still sat there, not speaking.

"It was a mission gone wrong, and it resulted in someone being killed by accident. Your dad was on that mission when it happened, and later on we discovered that –"

"MUM!"

Hermione jumped slightly as Hugo's voice boomed through the house, and moments later her son appeared in the doorway, a destroyed box of Every-Flavour Beans in his hand. In the other hand were red blisters.

Their conversation with their daughter momentarily forgotten, both Ron and Hermione hurried over to where Hugo clutched the box and his burned hand.

"What happened, mate?" Ron asked as Hermione conjured some ice on the spot to put over the injury.

"I was testing spells," Hugo confessed. Although he wasn't crying, his face had traces of tear tracks. "And one went wrong, and I… I…." He looked down at his hand.

"You know you're not supposed to use magic outside of school," Hermione said, fussing over her son now. "We need to get you to the hospital before this gets any worse. Look, it's already turning purple."

"It hurts," Hugo said in a dead-panned tone.

"I bet it does," Ron replied. He then turned back to Rose. "Come on, Rosie, we've got to take Hugo to the hospital."

"What about me?" Rose demanded. "You were supposed to tell me something!"

Ron and Hermione shared a look and no words needed to be spoken between them. They'd tried twice to tell her now, and twice they had failed. It was a sign that maybe their children just weren't meant to know yet.

"That has to wait, sweetheart," Hermione said as calmly as she could. She still had Hugo's hand in her own, and finally tears were leaking from his eyes.

"Fine!" Rose huffed. "I'm not going, though. I don't care that Hugo's stupid enough to hurt himself by using magic when he's not allowed to."

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione shook her head warningly.

"That's your decision," she said, "But we're taking Hugo now. We'll be home as soon as we can."

Rose stood there, watching them stubbornly. "Take your time. I finally get the house to myself."

Hermione took Hugo inside after that, leading him to the fireplace, but Ron stood rooted to the spot for a few more moments, not sure whether to feel anger or sadness over what Rose had just said.

Rose didn't look at all sorry. She folded her arms. "I can look after myself!" she snapped, misunderstanding his reason for staying. "I'm not a kid anymore."

"You're fourteen, Rosie. That's still a kid in my book."

Rose fumed. "Take Hugo," she said. "It's what you want. He's more important than me, isn't he?"

Ron didn't know what to say to that, so instead, he turned around and joined Hermione and Hugo by the fireplace.

"She'll be okay," Hermione said. "Let's go."

Hugo's hand was now twice its size, and had gone from purple to a bright orange. Hugo wasn't even trying to fight his tears anymore.

They all stepped into the fireplace together, and – with a handful of Floo Powder – Ron shouted St. Mungo's. They were swept from their home fireplace, and landed a few moments later in the Floo area of the hospital.

The line was massive. They would be waiting a while.

OOO

"Well, thankfully no permanent damage has been done." The Healer – man of about thirty – scribbled a few notes onto a clipboard, smiling humorously at Hugo. "Nothing to worry about. The potion you've been given should start taking effect in the next five minutes. After that, the colour will disappear in twenty, and the swelling in an hour."

Hugo looked down at the bandaged hand.

"That's just to stop people staring," the Healer said.

"Thank you," Hermione said.

"No problem. And sorry you had to wait so long to see me. Another hour, and it may as well have been the size of your house."

Hugo's eyes widened slightly at the thought, but Hermione just smiled. "Thank goodness that didn't happen," she said. "Are we okay to go?"

"You're okay to go," the Healer confirmed with a nod. "I just need you to sign this." He passed the clipboard to Hermione who signed under the guardian consent section.

"No more spells, Hugo," she said, handing the quill back.

"Yes. We don't want anything worse to happen, do we?" The Healer winked at Hugo, who blushed.

"He's been told," Ron said. "Many times."

Hugo turned even redder as he hopped off the hospital bed, clutching his bandaged hand tightly.

"Thank you again," Hermione said.

"Any time. Now, to my next patient. The joys of working in the spells-gone-wrong ward. You never catch a break." He led them from the room and then followed them back into the waiting room where there were even more people than before.

Hermione and Ron took Hugo back to the Floo area of the hospital, but just as they approached, Ron stopped. "I think today's in order for an ice-cream," he said. "We'll Floo to Diagon Alley instead."

"Ron… I hardly think rewarding your son with ice-cream after breaking rules is the right way to go," Hermione said disapprovingly. She frowned. "No doubt we'll have the Ministry at our door, if they're not there already."

Ron appeared not to have heard her, but instead responded to his son's wide grin. "Let's go!" he said, and before Hermione had the chance to respond, he was well on his way to Diagon Alley, leaving her no choice but to follow.

The Leaky Cauldron was almost empty when they got there. A few wizards sat in the corners of the pub, and Hannah Longbottom waved to them as they passed by.

Hermione smiled, but didn't stop to talk. For some reason, Ron was in a hurry to get to Diagon Alley, and it wasn't until they'd reached the ice-cream parlour that she worked out why.

He was still furious with Rose and didn't want to return home to see her. He'd never admit it, but her behaviour had really hurt him. He wasn't used to her acting out like this. Two years ago, she had loved him dearly, only going to him for advice. Not only was her age becoming a factor, but it was not being helped with his anger at himself over the mission and the little boy. He'd pulled away, which meant he'd also pulled away from her.

"You can get anything you like, mate," Ron said.

Hugo, elated at being rewarded, ordered the largest ice-cream he could, and Ron obliged. They found a table in the corner of the parlour, and while Hugo ate, they sat in silence.

Hermione shook her head at Ron, who intentionally avoided her eye. He knew she knew. She always knew.

Seeing her son's delight over the ice-cream soon softened her. Due to Rose's recent, uncontrollable behaviour, their son seemed to be left to tend to himself a lot of the time. He was far less trouble and a lot quieter than his sister right now.

Hermione hated to admit it, but sometimes he did disappear into the background, purely because he didn't have the confidence to speak up.

"Take your time, Hu," she said after a while. "We have the rest of the afternoon."

"How's your hand?" Ron asked.

Hugo nodded. "Good," he said through a mouthful of ice-cream.

"No more doing spells around the house," Ron then warned, but it was obvious he wasn't serious. "One day you might end up killing yourself, mate."

"I just said it wrong," Hugo answered. "It won't happen again."

"Damn right, it won't. No more spells, Hu. I know you like it, but I'd rather you in one piece. I might have to take your wand from you."

Hugo frowned, and looked set to argue, but Hermione interrupted before he could. "We've told you a number of times now, Hugo."

Hermione hated herself for thinking it, but spending the day with just Hugo and Ron was quite nice. There was no Rose complaining about everything, and no arguments erupting between father and daughter. It was peaceful, and for a few hours at least, she felt relaxed.

Ron and Hugo were talking more than they had in the past month, and everyone appeared happier than usual.

She wondered what Rose was doing.

Probably sitting in her room with a book, Hermione thought sadly. If only they'd managed to tell her the truth. Maybe then, she would understand.

It wasn't until both Ron and Hugo were staring right at her that she realised they were speaking to her.

She blinked.

"Hugo wants to know if he can have another ice-cream," Ron said.

Hermione sighed, nodding. "Yes, Hugo." She passed him a few Sickles.

Delighted, Hugo left his seat to go and purchase another one, and when he was gone, Ron turned to her.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "Just thinking about Rosie," she said. "I don't think she's meant to know."

"We'll keep them safe, Hermione. I was thinking – if Rose is under the impression we're breaking up, perhaps it's easier to keep it that way."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Why? Are you sick of me?"

Ron smiled. "Never. I just think it's easier for her to think her family is falling apart than know that one of her parents is a murderer." He lowered his voice. "Intentional or not, Hermione, it's still what happened, and we all need to live with that. I will tell them when the time is right, but that's not right now. We've been through it, Hermione. We know what it's like to have our lives threatened every day. We were much younger than them when it started. I want them to feel happy and safe."

"Rosie doesn't feel safe, Ron. That's the problem. There's a lot more to feeling safe than one's life. She thinks her life will change soon, that we don't love each other anymore. We can tell her it's not true as much as we want, but it won't change what she believes. She might even believe it's her fault."

Ron's expression changed, and for once Hermione couldn't read it. "Even if that were the truth, our kids would still be number one."

Smiling, Hermione reached out to take his hand. "It's not going to happen, Ron. I'm here to support you through this, remember that. We're married, and I love you. Nothing will change that."

Ron returned her smile, and then they both looked at Hugo who was sitting down with an even larger ice-cream.

"After this," Hermione said, "I think we should go home."