Chapter 14: Brown Vs. Weasley

Ron woke up earlier than usual. Ginny had owled him magic measuring tape so that she could get Tatiana some clothes and shoes. Ron allowed the tape to quietly take accurate measurements of the girl, despite her still sleeping form, penciled down the measurements, and sent the owl off.

He looked over at his daughter, who had curled herself into the fetal position and had Momo tightly clutched to her chest. She slept as if she had never need comfortable in all of her six years of life.

In her sleep, he started to notice things about her that was directly linked to him, despite the red hair. On her eyelids and her nose were a light dusting of freckles, she snored a little, and her ears were big like his. He couldn't help but smile at the small lady that had entered his life not even 24 hours ago. He vowed right then and there to be the best father he could be to her, no matter what happened, and to keep her safe, no matter what the costs.

Tummy rumbling, he made his way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where he was ambushed by a mass of blonde curls.

"Ron Weasley, what happened to you yesterday?!" yelled Lavender as she pushed Ron into the wall.

"Not so loud!" he said in a harsh whisper.

"What do you mean by that?! Who do I have to be quiet in here all of a sudden? DO YOU HAVE SOMEONE IN YOUR ROOM WON-WON?" exclaimed Lavender, in a tizzy.

"Yes I do and if you would just stop your harping for a second-"

"Merlin, I can't believe you! You prat! You pig! Where is she?! I want to see her!"

"Can you calm your ass down first?!" said Ron, shaking his hands back and forth to get her to shut up.

"How dare you cheat on me and then all me to calm down!" Lavender screamed as she slapped Ron's arms over and over.

"Lavender, lay off and let me explain!"

"I thought you loved me Ron Weasley! You sneaky prat! You cad! You piece of-"

"Get off my Daddy!" screamed a small voice, and suddenly Lavender was knocked back across the room and onto the floor, as if an invisible gust of wind had blown her.

"Tatiana, calm down, it's okay." said Ron as he walked over to check on the little girl. She had just displayed early signs of magic like all child witches and wizards do, only hers were so powerful, you would think that she was in her 4th year of Hogwarts and had lost control for a second.

"She wanted to hurt you, Daddy!" said Tatiana looking over at Lavender, as she was gathering herself.

"Don't worry, your Mummy has done way more damage than that." he said thinking about the canaries.

Lavender smoothed down her clothes and walked over to Ron, bewildered.

"Did I hear her correctly, Won-Won? Did this child just call you Daddy?" asked Lavender.

"Won-Won?" repeated Tatiana with her nose turned up.

"Lavender, I'd like you to meet Tatiana Rose Weasley. She's my daughter... And Hermione's." said Ron both proudly and hesitantly.

Lavender looked completely amazed. "Daughter?! Since when do you have a daughter?!"

Tatiana inched closer to her father and held onto the bottom of his shirt. "Since June 10th, six years ago?" said Ron, placing his hand on his daughter's shoulder.

Lavender studied the girl intently. As much as she wanted to argue the statements being made, she couldn't deny that face, nor that hair. The child looked like the perfect blend of her parents, at least what Lavender remembered of Hermione.

Speaking of Hermione...

"Where is Granger, then?" asked Lavender. Tatiana glared at her. Even though she was only six, she could still tell when someone's tone had attitude.

"That isn't up for discussion." said Ron, firmly. "The point is that she is here with me, and shall be for the rest of her life. I trust you will be kind to her?"

"Why wouldn't I be kind to the daughter of your long lost ex-girlfriend, who just happened to show up six years later out of nowhere?" said Lavender, eyes narrowed.

"Lav, not in front of my daughter, I'm warning you." said Ron in a low, threatening voice.

Lavender got the message and faked a smile at the girl, who faked one back.

"Who are you?" asked Tatiana, suddenly feeling very brave.

Lavender kneeled down so that she was eye level with Tatiana.

"I'm Lavender Brown." said Lavender, holding out her hand. "I went to school with your mum and dad."

Tatiana looked at Lavender's hand, but didn't take it.

"Mummy told me about you." said Tatiana.

'Oh shit.' thought Ron.

"Really? And what did your mummy tell you dear?" asked Lavender sweetly.

Tatiana thought about it for a second. "Mummy tells me to always be kind to others." she said, looking as smug as a six year old could.

Lavender looked up at Ron, who shrugged, trying not to laugh. She then withdrew her hand and stood up.

"She seems lovely." said Lavender.

"Thank you." said both Ron and Tatiana. Tatiana gave Lavender a fake, but dazzling smile that resembled her father's.

"Can you at least tell me what's about to happen?" asked Lavender, impatiently.

Ron sighed. "You can wash up yourself, can you Tati?" he asked, looking down at his daughter.

Tatiana beamed at her father. "Auntie Ari calls me Tati. And yes, I can. I'm careful not to get the soap in my eyes."

"Good girl. Go and wash up. After that, we will eat breakfast and go back to the safe place. You'll like that, won't you?"

Tatiana nodded enthusiastically and went back in the bedroom to where she knew the bathroom was.

As soon as she was out of earshot. Lavender went in.

"Okay Ron Weasley, what's really going on?! Why is she here? Did you know about her? Where is Granger?"

"Okay, first things first." snapped Ron. "I already don't like that you call her by her last name, but whenever my daughter is around, you will refer to her as Hermione. As far as if I knew about Tatiana, not until yesterday. And as far as where Hermione is, that's what we are trying to figure out."

"So she just left your child at your mum's doorstep or something? Some mother." said Lavender, shaking her head.

Ron took in a deep breath to keep himself from hexing her. "Okay, first of all, she didn't just leave her at Mum's doorstep. She's a bloody great mum. And she is in danger. She sent Tatiana here to keep her out of danger, and we need to find her before it's too late."

Lavender looked as if she wasn't buying it. "A likely story. All of a sudden you have a long lost daughter?! And you have never even told me where Hermione disappeared to in the first place."

"That's because it was never any of your business." said Ron.

"None of my business?! I'm your girlfriend! It is all my business!" said Lavender, stomping her foot. "Especially now since you have a child! She didn't have the decency to even tell you that you were a father!"

"Shut the fuck up Lavender! You know nothing! You have no idea what Hermione has gone through, nor my daughter! If you don't like the way things are going to be from now on, you can get the fuck out and go back to your own flat! And I mean every word of that!" yelled Ron, softly enough that Tatiana wouldn't hear, but loud enough to get his point across.

Lavender opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it. She then crossed her arms and pouted.

"Fine. I'll deal with it. But it doesn't mean I have to like it." she pouted.

"When it comes to that little girl in there, it does. We are a package deal, and if you can't handle that, then you're more than welcome to leave." said Ron, pointing to the door.

Lavender sighed. Once again, Hermione Granger was coming in between their relationship. Only this time, it was her as well as a girl that she 100% knew that she could never compete with. So she might as well go with the flow.

"I can deal with it." said Lavender in a defeated voice. "And I won't be cross or anything like that with your daughter."

Ron nodded and went to the kitchen to start breakfast.

"Daddy? I don't have a dress to wear." called out Tatiana from Ron's bedroom.

"You'll shrink one of yours for her? And make it child appropriate?" asked Ron to Lavender.

Lavender nodded and walked into Ron's room, where she saw the little girl sitting in a towel on Ron's bed. She looked through her overnight bag and found a pink polo dress. She shrunk it down to what she thought would be Tatiana's size and handed it to her.

"Can...can you help me button it?" asked Tatiana timidly, suddenly not feeling as brave as she did when her father was around. "I have trouble with buttons."

"Sure dear, hold on. said Lavender, as she bent down and buttoned the dress up.

"Can you do my hair pretty?" asked Tatiana once again nervously.

Lavender couldn't help but smile. At least she was more of a girly girl than her mother.

She got a chair and sat it in front of Ron's mirror. She then scorgified her comb and brush, grabbed a couple of her hair twists, and proceeded to try to tame the little girl's long sandy red curly locks.

Tatiana held onto Momo tightly as she watched Lavender brush her hair gently in the mirror. "Mummy brushes my hair like this." she whispered.

"Does she? That's nice of her isn't it?" said Lavender, trying to humor her.

"I miss her. But I'm glad I'm here with Daddy." she said as she played with Momo's ear.

"And I'm certain your Daddy is glad to have you here too."

"When we help Mummy, then we will be a family." said Tatiana in a more hopeful voice.

"Really?" said Lavender, not really wanting to hear the hopes and dreams of a six year old that was insinuating that her parents would be together.

"Oh yes. Just me, Mummy, and Daddy. And maybe a dog. I would like a dog. Mummy used to have a cat. But Father Krum killed it."

Lavender's eyes grew big with curiosity. "Father Krum? As in Viktor Krum? Is he your real father?"

No silly. Daddy is my real Daddy. Father Krum is a bad mad that hurts Mummy." said Tatiana sadly.

"Oh." said Lavender, suddenly feeling more sorry than curious. "Is...is that who your mummy is with now?"

Tatiana shrugged slowly. "I dunno. I hope not."

Lavender decided to change the subject. She could see the sadness in Tatiana's eyes and could tell that she had been through a heavy ordeal, and very much missed her mother.

"What's your favorite thing to do?" she asked.

"I like to read. Mummy taught me how to read big words when I was littler. And I like to draw pictures, and play with dolls. But I had to leave my dolls behind. All I could bring was Momo." said Tatiana, showing her bunny in the mirror so Lavender could see it.

Ron stood by the door quietly and watched the two interact. He admired the fact that Lavender was being gentle with his child, despite her hating Hermione. He thought about the fact that she would more than likely be extremely hurt whenever they found Hermione. They couldn't very well continue whatever it was they had. It wouldn't be right to none of the girls. Besides, his heart always belonged to Hermione. And he knew that Lavender knew deep down that it was so.

"That's a smart looking rabbit." said Lavender. "I used to have one once. A real one. His name was Binky. I had him for a long time, until he died in my third year. A mean fox got to him."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Poor bunny."

"It's fine. I've gotten over it."

"Was he your best friend?" asked Tatiana.

"He was a friend. But my best friend is Parvati Patil. Well was. I haven't really-"

"Parvati Patil? I know her! She's really pretty and so nice!" "exclaimed Tatiana.

"You know Parvati?" asked Lavender as well as Ron, giving himself away.

"Oh hi Daddy! See my hair?" said Tatiana as she showed off the French braids Lavender had put in them.

"Yes, little love, I do, it looks very nice. But what were you saying about Parvati Patil? You know her?" asked Ron, kneeling down.

"Of course I know her. She's Father Krum's other wife. She doesn't like him either. She helped me and Mummy too. And then she went away." said Tatiana sadly.

Lavender and Ron looked at each other and back at Tatiana. They couldn't believe what they were just told.

"Went away? What do you mean, went away?" asked Lavender.

"Last time I saw her was one night when she read me a story. The next day, she was gone. And Mummy said that she had went somewhere safe. And that was when we started to try to get away."

Lavender started to tear up. She tan out the room, crying.

"What's wrong Daddy?"

"She hasn't seen her best friend in a very long time. She misses her, just like you miss your mummy." said Ron.

"What about you?" asked Tatiana. "Do you miss Mummy too?"

Ron held back a tear as he smiled and nodded. "Yes little love, I do. I miss your mum a whole lot."

Sofia, Bulgaria, 2 days later.

Hermione sat against the wall, her bed begging to be laid in, however couldn't be reached, as she was chained to the bottom of the wall, and could only go but so far.

She was hungry, thirsty, hurt, dirty, and weak. The only things that was keeping her going was her thoughts of Tatiana, Ron, and reading Hogwarts, A History in her head, and even those thoughts had ran their course.

They had came and tortured her, eating four course meals and drinking water in her face, beat her, and a couple of times, used the cruciatus curse on her. They did what they could to violate her, without actually raping her. All in the hopes that she would give up the location of her daughter. She kept her mouth closed. She'd would rather die, which was what she felt she was doing at that very moment.

She thought about Tatiana. How even though she was only blessed with six short years with her, and even though all six years were filled with pain, they were still just as good as the seven years she had spent with Harry and Ron. She knew that Ron would take the best care of her in the world, that Molly would dote on her and cherish her like she did Victoire, and that she would grow up and hopefully be the brightest witch of her age, just like her.

She thought of Ron and how she always loved him. She wished that she could have at least seen him one last time, his crimson hair, his bright, sapphire eyes, his lopsided grin that gave her butterflies every time he would do it, and the way he made her feel nothing but unconditional love. She would miss him just as much as she would miss their creation.

She felt as if she was knocking on death's door. She felt herself fading in and out, her vision getting blurry. She heard what she thought was a loud crack. She thought it could be anything, even her own bones breaking under being so weak and beaten on.

The last thing she saw before she faded was a pair of violently green eyes. She knew those eyes from anywhere. Which meant she knew where she was headed.

'I guess this was what Beedle And The Bard meant by greeting death as an old friend.' she thought as she took what felt like her last breath.