Twist of Fate

Chapter 10

September arrived. Nearly a month passed since Christopher's arrival. Harry was home much more now that Hermione had made him realize how important it was for him to be there. Christopher was one of the happiest children Harry had ever seen, which wasn't saying much because the only children Harry had really ever seen were Dudley, Theodore, and Victorie. Dudley had been spoiled rotten, Teddy was a few short months younger than Christopher and Harry only saw him on the holidays, and he hadn't seen Victorie in months because he wasn't a frequent visitor to the Weasleys anymore.

For a child who had lost his parents and gained a set of strangers, Christopher was certainly the happiest child Harry had ever seen.

Harry did his best to focus on that instead of the black-eyed stranger who had killed Christopher's parents. In the beginning, he caught himself still looking over the files while he was between classes. It took him boxing up the files and putting them in his closet before he actually stopped doing that. He didn't dare bring them home. The last thing he wanted was for Christoper to see the photos of his parents' charred bodies.


On Hermione's birthday, the unexpected happened. It was a Saturday, so Harry was home and they were having a late breakfast. The knock on the door made both Harry and Hermione stare at each other in confusion before Harry stood from his chair and went to answer. On the other side of the door, with a gift in his hands, was Ron. Next to him stood Ginny. They looked as shocked to see Harry as he was to see them.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked.

Speechless, Harry didn't know how to respond. He gaped at the two of them until Hermione came around the corner. "Harry, who's at the d-" Her word stopped short when she saw the two youngest Weasley siblings standing at the door.

Ron saw everything in an instant. Harry stood there in pajama bottoms, suggesting that he'd slept there. Hermione stood in a long t-shirt and sleeping shorts, suggesting that they were just getting their day started. The smell of breakfast in the air indicated that the start of the day was later than usual, which implied that there had been a late night the night before. As far as Ron knew, there was only one reason for a late night and it wasn't something he wanted to picture Harry and Hermione doing.

That was when Christopher came around the corner. "Mum, what's going on?" the little boy asked.

"Fantastic question," Ron nearly growled.

The words seemed to give both Harry and Hermione the kick-start they needed to face the situation. Harry cleared his throat. "Do you want to come in?" he asked. "We just finished making breakfast-there's plenty to go around."

"And?" Ginny asked.

Hermione cleared her throat. "And we can fill you two in on a few things," she added.

Stony-faced and stiff, Ron stepped into the apartment. He placed Hermione's birthday gift on the table next to the door, where he saw the dish filled with things from Harry's pockets. Looking around the apartment some more as he followed Harry and Hermione into the kitchen, he saw things that made his stomach clench and his small appetite wane even further. There was one picture hanging on the wall in particular that made his stomach churn. It was a picture of Harry, Hermione, and the little boy. They looked like a perfect, happy family.

Hermione dished up the plates as everyone seated themselves around the table. Harry stayed standing because there were only four chairs. Christopher, it seemed, also wanted to stand. He didn't want to be more than a few feet from his father's side.

Hermione set the plates down in front of Ginny and Ron before she sat down with hers. Harry had Christopher sit on the floor if he wasn't going to sit at the table, and leaned against the counter as he ate his bacon, pancakes, and eggs.

"So, what's new?" Ginny asked Hermione as she pointedly looked at Harry and Christopher.

Hermione sighed. "Well, quite a bit has happened," she said with a forced chuckle. She cleared her throat and took a drink from her coffee mug. "Just over a month ago, a woman knocked on my door. She told me that a couple had died and their young son had survived the accident-as he had been with a sitter at that time. She gave me an option: Raise the son I had once given up, or let him go to someone else. Naturally, I wanted him here with me, but I couldn't bring him here without telling his father." At this point, Ron looked at Harry before turning back to Hermione as she continued the story. "I went to the Auror department and found Harry. He was happy to see me because it had been the first time in nearly four and a half years. We talked about the situation and we came to a decision: We would raise our son together. We decided that we would get married and then a few days later, Christopher was brought to us."

Ginny and Ron both stared in shock. Ron's face was red with his anger and Ginny was pale with shock. "When the hell did the two of you have a child?" she nearly whispered.

Hermione cleared her throat. "After Ron left us in November, Harry and I became romantically involved with each other," she explained. "One night, we didn't take any precautions and we ended up pregnant. Because of the dangers of the war, we gave Christopher up for adoption. Nearly a week later, Ron came back."

"And damn near left again," Ron muttered. He shook his head and stared at them. "How could you not tell me?" he demanded. "I'm your best mate, Harry!" he cried. He looked at Hermione. "I used to be your boyfriend," he continued. He shook his head and sighed angrily. "At some point, you could have told me."

"We didn't want anyone to know," Harry said. He cleared his throat before continuing and set his plate aside. "We decided that the information staying out of the media was our most important goal because we knew that if Voldemort found out that I had a son, he would have used him against me. We also didn't want to hear it from the adults about how irresponsible we were or see the looks of pity they were going to give us for it, or any of those other reasons."

"It eventually became the reason I left," Hermione confessed. "I couldn't look at Harry every day, despite how much I love him, and not think of the son we had lost."

"More like abandoned," Ron bitterly muttered.

Hermione glared at him. "Have you heard a word we've said?" she demanded. "We didn't abandon Chris! We did the only thing we could think to do to keep him safe."

Ginny reached over and placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Ron," she said with a warning not in her voice. He sighed heavily and Ginny turned to look at Hermione. "So..." she sighed, "neither one of you could be bothered enough to tell your friends that you'd rekindled your relationship, found your child back in your life, or that you've gotten married?" she asked them. "Not once in the last month did you have the opportunity to write a letter or contact us through the Floo Network?"

Hermione sighed. "We wanted to make sure we would work as a family before saying anything to anyone," she replied. "We didn't want to tell the world right away because there was a very real possibility that it wouldn't last."

"What does that mean?" Ginny asked.

"It means that there is still the possibility that they could take Chris away from us. Honestly, at this point, I don't think that's very likely, but the social worker is here every other week to make sure that he is happy, healthy, and secure. We have to be very careful right now."

Ginny sighed. "Well...congratulations, I guess," she said.

Hermione smiled. "Thank you," she said.

Ron shook his head before he stood and walked out onto the balcony. Harry followed him because he knew there was a storm brewing in Ron's mind and that meant there would be a fight coming.

The moment Harry closed the sliding glass door, Ron looked at him. "You know how I feel about her," he said.

Harry nodded. "I know," he said carefully. "But you also know how I feel about her," he replied.

Ron shook his head. "Do you think things would have been different if I'd stayed?" he asked. "Would we be in opposite roles? Do you think?" he asked. Harry could easily hear the hope in his voice.

Harry sighed heavily. "I don't know, Ron," he replied. His thoughts drifted back to that first night when he and Hermione had confessed their feelings for each other and made love. "It was a couple of weeks after you left. I thought she was asleep, so I told her everything I couldn't ever say when she was awake. She wasn't actually sleeping, so she heard everything. That was when it really began for us."

"What did she say?" Ron asked.

Harry cleared his throat. "She said that she felt the same," he confessed. "And, of course, she chastised me for not telling her when I knew she'd be awake."

Ron chuckled despite his feelings. "That sounds like our girl," he sighed. He ran his hands through his ginger hair. "I'm not okay with this," he said, meeting Harry's green eyes. "We don't really talk much right now anyway, so I suppose that's going to make it easier. I'm trying like hell to not just hit you for this. You've done everything that I've always wanted to do, including being with Hermione. Looking back at our relationship, it's like she never really wanted to be with me to begin with. It's like when I asked her to be my date to the Yule Ball in fourth year. She was my last resort...and I became hers too..."

Harry didn't know what to do or say, so he didn't do anything. After a minute, he cleared his throat. "She didn't do it to hurt you," he said. "Back then," he clarified at Ron's questioning look. "It wasn't like she jumped on the chance to be with me the second you walked out of the tent. She was really upset and I'm sure that she was still upset about you leaving when she and I got together."

Ron sighed and leaned against the railing. He closed his eyes for a moment. "I think I'm going to go," he said. "I hated it when you two were together five years ago and I never really got over that. Now that you're married...it's going to take me some time."

Harry nodded. "It's understandable," he said.