Chapter 14

Hermione looked down in the colossal bowl, not even half of it gone. Yet, she felt that if she tried to eat one more spoonful she'd explode. "We use to be able to eat more than this," she said as she looked over at Draco sitting across from her.

"We both we're younger then, love."

"We're not exactly old and decrepit either."

Draco laughed. "No, we're not."

"I miss doing things like this, just going out and having ice cream," said Hermione as she swirled her spoon in the melting ice cream.

"When did we stop doing things together?" asked Draco.

She watched the swirls of brown and white creating patterns in the bowl as she mulled over the answer to his question. It had been years since they did something spontaneous like this, just for the hell of it. "I think it was around the time Lucinda was born and our daily routines just took precedence."

"You know Harry is divorcing her," said Hermione, suddenly changing the subject out of the blue.

"Yes, I know. I take it you also know I've been called to testify."

Hermione nodded. "Harry told me. I decided I'm going to be there for the proceedings. I have a few words to say to that two-faced bitch and I want to hear what you have to say while under Veritaserum," she said looking Draco in the eye. "Also, I want to be there for Harry. This is going to be hard for him."

Draco looked away feeling ill at ease knowing his wife would be there. Hermione could see it written plainly on his face. "You don't want me there, do you?"

"It's not that. I just don't know if they are going to ask for any intimate details and I don't want you to have to hear about that."

"I won't lie it would hurt to hear those type of details, but if it does happen I'll just have to deal with it."

Draco looked out the window of the shop and saw it was starting to snow. "Looks like we'll have a white Christmas after all," he said as he gave her a small smile. "How about we walk off some of this ice cream?"

Hermione patted her stomach. "Good idea, I can't believe how stuffed I feel!"

They walked down Diagon Alley, looking into store windows and talking about nothing in particular. At one point, Draco worked up the courage to slip his hand into hers, intertwining their fingers. She had almost forgotten how nice it felt to walk hand in hand down the street with him.

They approached the public Apparition point when Draco turned to her and spoke. "I guess you need to be getting back to Walmer before mother and father have the children spoiled beyond redemption."

"Yes," she laughed. "I did tell Lucius I would only be a couple of hours and it's already been more than four now."

"I'm sure they won't mind, just gives them more time to work on spoiling their grandchildren." Draco took a step closer to her. "I really had a nice time today. Would you object if we did something like this again?"

Hermione blushed, she almost felt like a teenager again. "I think I'd like that, maybe after the hols and Harry's…"

"That would probably be best," he said nodding. "Good night, love," he said as he kissed her cheek, turned, and was gone.

Hermione placed her hand on her cheek her emotions all muddled where Draco was concerned. She loved him, but hated him for what he did, and Merlin help her, she still desired him.

OoOoOo

The children were finally playing calmly upstairs, giving Hermione a few moments to reflect on what Lucius told her. Ron had come over, unannounced and with flowers. I Just wonderful… he must have heard through the Weasley grapevine that Draco and I separated./I Hermione thought as she pondered over what Ron's intentions could be, when there was a knock on the door.

She was tempted to call a house elf to answer it and tell whoever it was that she wasn't home. Sighing, she walked to door, hoping it wasn't Ron on the other side. She didn't feel up to dealing with him today.

Hope was not on her side this day.

There he stood, holding an extremely large bouquet of flowers and a stupid grin on his face. "Hello, Ron," said Hermione.

"Hey, Hermione, you're looking great," he said, as he presented the flowers to her. "I bought these for you."

"Oh… umm… thanks, Ron," she said as she tried to keep hold of the heavy bouquet. IMerlin, did he purchase every flower in Diagon Alley?/I "I don't mean to appear rude, or anything but what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you, it's been a long time. Are you going to invite me in or what?"

"Umm, yes, of course come in," she said as she stepped back to allow Ron to enter. "Dibble." Hermione called out. A little copper colored elf with large bright blue eyes and floppy ears appeared. "Mistress called for Dibble?"

"Yes, please find a vase or five for these flowers." Hermione handed the humungous bouquet to the elf who appeared to be having trouble standing up under the weight of it. "Yes, Mistress," said the elf as it disappeared with its burden.

"Let's go sit in the parlor," said Hermione as she deftly moved aside as Ron tried to put his arm around her shoulder. She sat in a chair with the side table between her and sofa where Ron was now perched.

"So, I heard you finally wised up and dumped the ferret," said Ron. "I always said it was just a matter of time before you got tired of that of wanker."

"Excuse me? I didn't dump my husband. Why we're living apart for now is really none of your business, Ron."

"George told me what happened. I always thought Ginny had better taste than to shag the ferret."

"Could you please act your age and stop calling Draco those repulsive names. We're not in school anymore, Ron," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Did you come here just to disparage my husband?"

"Dis…what?"

Hermione sighed. "Disparage, belittle, insult, mock. What is the reason you came here?" Her annoyance at Ron now evident in her voice.

"Well," said Ron clearing his throat before he continued. "I was thinking since you're probably going to divorce the fer…Malfoy, that maybe…well, maybe we could start seeing each other again."

Hermione took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before she responded. "Why would you even think…I haven't made any decisions about what I'm doing yet. I may not divorce Draco, and even if I do what makes you think I'd ever want to be more than just friends with you again. It didn't work the last time, Ron, I doubt it would work now."

"Things are different now, Hermione. We're adults, we know who we are and what we want out of life. When Malfoy's spawn are old enough, we can send them to a prep school so they'll be out of the way, then we can start our own family. I'm sure Malfoy will cover the cost of tuition, he can afford it."

Hermione started to seethe with each foul word spewing from his mouth.

"You think you could get this place in a divorce settlement? After all, I'm sure Malfoy wouldn't want his brats living in anything less than the usual splendor they're used to."

Hermione clenched her teeth as she spoke. "Did you not hear me say I haven't decided what I'm doing… and don't you dare call my…"

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I heard you. But you'll come to the right decision and leave him and then it'll be you, Harry, and me again. Just like it used to be when we were at Hogwarts. Why don't you come over here and sit by me, maybe we could snog for a bit," he said patting the cushion next to him as he laid his head back, closed his eyes, and placed his feet on the marble top of the coffee table. The next thing he felt was the tip of Hermione's wand digging into his throat. He opened his eyes to see the cold, angry, brown eyes of his childhood friend and his first love looking down on him. What frightened him the most though, was the sound of her voice…it was calm yet held a cold edge that would have made the Dark Lord turn tail and run.

"Remove your feet from my table, now," said Hermione as she dug her wand harder into the thin skin of his neck.

Ron slowly lowered his feet back down to the floor. "Her…Hermione, w…what…," Ron said, trying not to show the panic and fear in his voice.

"I want you to listen to me and listen well. I. AM. NOT. GOING. TO. GET. BACK. TOGETHER. WITH. YOU. EVER. You will NOT refer to MY children as spawn or brats, nor will you ever talk about my husband that way in my presence again. Do you understand this, Ron or do I need to show you?" Hermione moved her wand to the space between his eyes.

"Hermione, calm down, I didn't know you'd be so sensitive about all this. I mean it's not like you really loved Malfoy or anything, you just threw yourself at him when we broke up…didn't you? You know like he was your rebound."

Ron realized almost instantly that he should have thought before speaking. He could feel the anger rolling off her in waves, her magic responding accordingly.

"Levicorpus!" Hermione said and Ron was now hanging upside down in the air.

"HERMIONE, LET ME DOWN!"

"Oh I'll let you down, Ronald, after you are OUT of my house," she said as she walked to the front door towing Ron behind her. "Good bye, Ronald and please next time you have the urge to come see me, DON'T," Hermione said as she guided him out the door and with a "Liberacorpus" Ron fell onto the stone porch.

"Ouch, Hermione…"

"Oh and one more thing, Ronald," she said as she once again pointed her wand towards him. "Eat slugs!"

Ron managed, in between bouts of spewing up slugs, to Apparate to The Three Broomsticks where he knew Harry would be. "Harry, mate….help!" Ron said as another slug made an appearance.

"Gods, Ron…what happened?"

"Hermione…" He managed to say as another slug came up and landed on the floor at Harry's feet.

"Ron, did you do something stupid to make Hermione mad at you?"

"I just wanted to talk and…"

"Enough said, mate." Harry took out his wand and conjured up a bucket. "Here, come on let's get you home until this wears off."

OoOoOo

Hermione was pacing, her anger still raw. "Spawn? Ferret? The nerve of that…calling my children brats!" Hermione mumbled under her breath, not wanting to let her children hear that she was upset.

"I should have hexed his balls off! Assuming that I threw myself at Draco because of him? Ooooh that conceited…."

Hermione was so distracted by her anger she didn't hear the Floo or Draco calling to her.

"Hermione? Hermione, love, what's wrong?" Draco said from the Floo as he watched his wife pacing the room. He could make out the words Ronald, spawn, prep school, and divorce.

"I swear to Merlin, how could he think I would divorce Draco for him? Damn you, Ronald…thinking I didn't love my husband!"

Draco decided to just sit and listen to what she was saying before deciding whether to venture into the den of an angry lioness.

"You'll come to the right decision and leave him," she said mimicking Ron's voice. "Uh, as if I would ever choose him over Draco…of all the idiotic things that have ever come out of his mouth."

IIs she saying she still loves me?/I Draco thought, hoping he was hearing her right, though she never said she didn't love him anymore. He had imagined her feelings for him would have lessened, though perhaps he was wrong in that belief. He had heard enough. It was time to enter the den and calm his little lioness down. He would get his own revenge on Weasley in his own time.

Draco retreated from the fire and taking a handful of powder Flooed to Walmer Hall. "Hermione," he said as he stepped through. "What is wrong? I've been trying to get your attention for the last two minutes now."

"I'm sorry, Draco. Ron was here earlier and he said a few things that upset me," she said, still pacing the room.

"That much is apparent, love. Do you want to talk about it? You look like you're ready to tear someone's head off." Draco walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder gently massaging the tense muscles.

"He called our children spawn and brats! He even had the audacity to say that I turned to you on the rebound from him. The worst though was his assuming that we're divorcing and that I would go back to him. He even wanted to know if I could get Walmer Hall in the divorce settlement! I swear I wanted to hex him into next year."

"You know Weasley, dearest; he runs off at the mouth and doesn't think about what he's saying."

"I know he hasn't changed much since Hogwarts. Still, though to say those things about my children…our children. He even talked about sending them off to a prep school when they're old enough so he and I could start our own family!"

Draco was quite tempted after hearing that to go find Weasley and show him a few curses he learned from the Dark Lord. "Weasley best hope I don't come across him anytime soon."

Hermione could feel Draco's grip on her shoulder tighten. "I used Levicorpus and dropped him on the front porch. He was also spewing slugs when I shut the door in his face."

Draco laughed as that picture formed in his mind. "I remember in our second year when Weasley tried to hex me with that and it backfired on him."

Hermione turned to face him as she started to laugh, too. "He only did that because you called me a Mudblood."

Draco's laughter ceased as her words brought back the incident in complete clarity.

"I'm sorry I ever called you that word."

"We were just kids, Draco and times were much different then."

He put his arms around her and drew her to him, his head resting against hers. "I know, but still it was an awful thing to say. Will you me forgive me?"

Hermione found herself putting her arms around him in return. "I forgave you a long time ago, love." She felt herself calm down as she breathed in the familiar scent of her husband. It had been so long since she was this close to him that her body, traitorous thing it was, started responding to the feel of him against her. Hermione stepped back, breaking the contact and putting some space between them. "What was it that you needed to talk to me about?"

Draco had been enjoying holding Hermione, and holding her made him realize just how desperately missed her. When she broke their embrace and empty feeling descended upon him. "Oh, umm, I wanted to know if I could bring the children to the manor tomorrow and spend the day with them."

"Of course that would be fine. Did you have a particular time in mind?"

"Not really, tenish okay with you?"

"That'll be fine. Well...," she said, not sure what to say.

"I guess I should get back to the manor. Are you okay now?"

"Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you for being there."

"I always will be, love, if you let me," he said as he kissed her cheek and Flooed back to the manor.

Hermione stood there staring at the Floo that Draco just stepped through, her feelings even more in a jumble now than they were before.