Hi all, Thank you all for taking your time out and reading, reviewing and Fav&Foll. You are the best, it actually inspired me to push this chapter sooner. Much appreciated. After this chapter things are going to get albeit angsty but I'll try to keep it to a minimum.
I don't own Harry Potter and or anything affiliated with Warner Bros. NEITHER do I own YHM.
Little did he know that Hermione had heard the entire conversation and was busy talking to her lawyer. "You need to understand that if Harry goes on the stand he will jeopardise his honour and I will not stand for it. He doesn't deserve that!" She said exasperatedly.
"You need to understand that it's the only way we can win this case" the lawyer said.
"Not at the expense of Harry" she said adamantly, "we have a few minutes until court resumes, I need to make a call" she said and walked out.
She walked out taking a deep breath, 'what does she have on you Harry?' she thought. She knew that after what she just heard, the pictures were real and Harry was telling the truth. Even though Ginny was a thorn in her side, she didn't deserve being punished for a crime she didn't commit. 'I need to find those pictures' she said and apparated home.
She ran up to the bedroom and searched high and low but found nothing. "Accio pictures" she said with a wave of her spell, but nothing happened. She sighed and turned to walk out, then stopped, 'I wonder' she thought as she flicked her wand she chanted a spell and a red bird appeared and flew around then sped out the door. Hermione was hot on its tail as the red bird led her into the basement where Lily Potter stood with the picture in one hand and a match in the other.
"LILY STOP!" she yelled as the red head turned and met a pair of horrified brown eyes.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked as she ran over and took the pictures out of her hand.
"Getting rid of Ginny once and for all" she said angrily.
"Not like this Lily! She's innocent and without this she'll be imprisoned for something she didn't do!" Hermione reasoned but Lily was adamant.
"She deserves everything she gets. She destroyed my son's life!" she cried and Hermione felt bad for the woman.
"Lily, if this doesn't get to court in time, a lot more will be destroyed" she said softly and Lily looked at her worriedly.
"I was walking and overheard him tell his lawyers that he needed he will go to the stand and say that he was with Ginny on the night of the accident" she explained and Lily inhaled sharply.
"He wouldn't!" she said in disbelief.
"He has no choice! Without this pictures the Potter family's honour will be compromised" she sighed and Lily embraced her.
"You would do such a selfless deed just for the Potter name?" she asked.
"It's my family too" she smiled sadly.
"You are too kind Hermione. My son must have a bloody good reason to help that red headed bitch" she said and Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes before explaining to Lily that she needed to leave before the case resumed.
She made it back with 10 minutes to spare and she approached Harry who was hunched over on a bench under the tree.
Harry sat and tried to think of alternate ways to help Ginny but came up with nothing concrete. Just then a brown envelope, not just any brown envelope, the envelope that contained the pictures, dropped onto the bench next to him. He looked up and the person he least expected was standing there with a look of indifference.
He stood up and she stepped back, "where did you get this?" he asked as he looked through them.
"That's not of any importance" she said and turned to walk away but he reached out and grabbed her hand.
"Hermione wait" he said but she wrenched her hand out of his grip. He was at a loss for words, how could he thank her for returning something that he, hours ago, accused her of stealing.
"I … Tha…" he tried but she stopped him.
"No Harry! You've said enough this morning" she turned and walked away and he felt like a dick.
The case proceeded and as predicted, Ginny was exonerated. Hermione wasn't happy but she wasn't sad either. Her lawyer sat down beside her and asked her why she did what she did and Hermione explained her philosophy.
"I have to say Hermione; you are by far either the bravest woman I have ever met or the dumbest. You must really care for your family to protect them from your Neanderthal of a husband" she said and Hermione chuckled sadly.
"Harry took a page out of my very own text book. He did what was right and stood against his family for it. The circumstances could have different but admirable none the less. He may be perceived as many things but Harry is kind, caring and fiercely loyal amongst other things. I guess I understand him better than most" she said and Jeanine smiled.
"If you say so, does he even know that you did this more for his reputation than his families?" she asked as she got up.
"He doesn't need to, he may be my husband on paper but he is also my friend" she said unbeknown to her, Harry stood at the doorway and heard everything.
If he felt like dick before, he felt far worse now. Hermione still cared for him even after everything he did and now that this finally over he needed to restore their, their, whatever they were. He needed to speak to the one person who knew more about magic than anyone he knew.
Harry walked out after talking to his lawyer and stopped as he witnessed something infuriating taking place that made his blood boil.
A few minutes earlier
Hermione walked out of the building towards the pavement but stopped when something or rather someone blocked her path. When she looked up, her eyes widened in horror as a pair of sinister blue eyes stared back at her.
"Well well well, how the mighty have fallen. Must feel dreadful to have your husband defend his ex instead of you, right? I mean you're nothing but a glorified babysitter and well my sister is the mother to his children" Ron taunted her and she remained frozen as tears filled her eyes.
"What? No comebacks from the great Hermione Granger?" he smirked and she lowered her head and side stepped him to walk away but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
"Let go of me!" she threatened.
"Why? I thought we were having a friendly conversation" he said innocently.
"So tell me? Has he touched you yet? If not I'm willing to put aside our differences and start from where we left off" he asked and as the words left his mouth her hand landed on his face almost knocking him off his feet.
"How dare you? You are lucky that we are in a Muggle place so help me I would have gladly ended your life you worthless excuse for a man!" she hissed and he just snorted.
"Don't judge me too harshly Hermione, I mean after all we're still family and you know the saying; forgive and what not" he said stepping forward.
"You don't know the meaning of the word!" she spat, standing her ground.
"Really and you do? Come now, do tell. Educate me on what it is to be a parent" he smirked and she faltered.
"That's what I thought. You have no idea what it's like because you don't have a family of your own. I mean playing 'mother' to my sister's children doesn't qualify you, sweetheart" he sneered.
"Neither would you Ronald" she retorted and there was a haunted look on his face for a split second but long enough for Hermione see so she continued.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I have a family, Grace and Elizabeth are my life" he hissed but she wasn't swayed.
"That's smashing; I have never seen the love of a father in you especially with Lizzy. You treat her as though she's not yours" she said and if his expression wasn't enough to convince even the harshest of sceptics then his reaction certainly would.
He gripped her forearms forcefully, "listen here Mudblood, keep your nose out of my business. If you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone, I will finish what I couldn't the last time and this time Harry won't be there to save you. In fact no one will. I will make sure they never find you. And when I'm good and satisfied with you I will make sure that every man I know taste you too. In fact let's start right now" he said almost dragging her away. She looked on horror-struck and tried to break away from him be held on firmly.
Back to the present
Hermione continued to struggle but Ron was adamant on following through with his promise. "Ron let go, please just let go" she panicked.
However he did stop, Hermione looked up and was surprised to see Harry blocking his path and the murderous look he had sent shivers, not the good kind, down her spine.
Harry glanced at Ron's hand then back to him, "let her go" he growled but Ron only yanked her hand harder.
"You can't have your cake and eat it too Harry. Move aside and I'll be a good friend and tell you how she was" he said cockily and Harry had heard enough as his fist collided with Ron's jaw with an uppercut that would have made Mohammed Ali proud.
Ron retaliated and pushed Hermione against a nearby tree, causing her to bump her head and swung at Harry only to miss. Harry saw red as he kicked Ron on the chest causing him go somersault backwards.
"Get up you filth" Harry said kicking him again then dropped to his knees. All of his anger and frustration finally found an outlet as he began beating him to a pulp. How dare he speak to Hermione? A punch to the side of his head. How dare he touch her? Another punch. Blow after blow was delivered to the point that Ron had become unconscious.
Neville tried to pull Harry off but he brushed him off as he continued to pummel Ron's unconscious form.
"Harry, you're going to kill him" Neville yelled trying to get Harry to stop but to no avail.
"He deserves it. How dare he touch Hermione?" Harry roared as he lifted his hand to deliver a fatal blow.
"Harry, Stop!" Hermione cried and his hand stopped midway as he turned to see Hermione leaning heavily against Neville for support. He quickly sobered when he saw the blood trickling down her face and got up and made his way to her.
"Are you ok?" he asked concern etched on his features as he scanned her.
"I'm fine" she said then turned to Neville, "Can you call me a taxi?" she asked and Harry was irritated by her impassiveness.
"Hermione, let me take you to the hospital at least" he offered.
"I'm fine! You've done enough Harry" she snapped as she moved but stumbled and Harry instinctively caught her.
"Enough of your childishness Hermione, I'm taking you to the hospital" he said but she brushed his hand away and asked Neville to help her to the taxi.
Harry furiously walked away and then jumped into his car pulled up in front of her.
"Get in Hermione" he said sternly but she wasn't having it.
"Why, why do you care about my well being so suddenly?" she asked and she saw remorse in his eyes. He jumped out and stalked over to her angrily.
"BECAUSE YOU ARE MY WIFE! Now please get into the car before I stun you and put you in there myself!" he said in a no nonsense voice which left no room for argument.
She reluctantly got in and Harry looked at Ron's bloodied body on the floor.
"Don't worry Harry, I'll make sure he goes away for good this time" Neville said and he nodded in appreciation at his friend whom distanced himself from Harry since the debacle started.
Harry got in and winced as he held the steering. Hermione noticed that his knuckles were badly bruised. "Harry your hands" she said and he shrugged saying it was nothing.
"There is no way you can beat someone like that and not hurt yourself" she said.
"Why do you care about me Hermione?" he asked, wanting to hear here response but instead was greeted with silence.
After a while Harry spoke, "why didn't you tell me about the accident?" he asked no maliciousness in his voice, just hurt and sadness.
"There wasn't much to tell" she blankly "What if something had happened to you?" he asked trying not to let his concern show.
"You ask as if you care Harry. We both know that you don't so drop the act" she said ending the conversation and he felt his chest tighten at the thought of her shutting him out.
He drove them home where Hermione grabbed her wand and healed his hands first but before he could thank her she hobbled away. He needed to set things right before it reached a point of no return.
The next day, Harry sat in his office looking at the Wendy Ramshaw jewellery catalogue, intent on picking out an apology gift for Hermione. He knew he had a lot of grovelling to do before Hermione forgave him, if she forgave him. He didn't dwell long on those thoughts as his phone rang.
"Is this Mr Harry Potter?" the voice asked.
"Yes this is him" he replied.
"Mr Potter, you're speaking with Dean Smith and I'm calling with regards to young Mr Potter" he said and Harry immediately sensed this was not a sociable call.
"Is he okay?" Harry asked slightly edgy.
"His wellbeing is not the reason for this call. Young Mr Potter had an exchange of words, so to speak, with his teacher. The exchange took place after his teacher confiscated Mr Potter's a cell phone during class. This conversation would be best discussed in person Mr Potter. Can you join us within the next hour to deliberate Mr Potter's punishment?" Dean Smith proposed to which Harry agreed.
Harry arrived at the school with AJ sitting obstinately on a bench outside the Dean's office.
"Son, what's going on?" he asked and the boy scoffed.
"The teacher confiscated my phone after he and I had a difference of opinion" he said nonchalantly.
Harry felt a headache coming on, "And why did you have a cell phone with you in the first place?" he asked irritably.
"I wanted it and my mother bought it for me" he said as if it were the obvious thing in the world.
"There's nothing wrong with carrying it with you for emergencies, but using it during class is unacceptable" he reprimanded the boy.
"Is there any reason why your mother wasn't called instead?" he asked.
"I guessed mother was busy doing god knows what, so I suggested that they call you instead. Seeing as you got us out of trouble the last time and mum said you will save me from anything" he said and Harry felt as though someone had kicked the air out of him.
'What had he done? He helped create a monster!' he thought as he sat down next to the boy.
"Don't worry dad, I know you'll come through for me again" he smiled and Harry felt his heat skip a beat when AJ acknowledged him as dad for the first time in years.
"AJ! What happened?"Ginny shrieked and made her way towards them, but not before the Dean called them into the office.
The Dean had the teacher and AJ explain their account of the incident and even Harry could see that his son was clearly at fault. Ginny on the other hand was adamant that the teacher was wrong for confiscating her son's phone and embarrassing in the presence of his peers and that the school would feel the wrath of Draco Malfoy. Harry couldn't help roll his eyes at that, but what annoyed him the most was that Ginny dared to threaten the Dean when AJ was wrong.
'How long will his son be shielded from correction?' he thought but didn't have time to dwell on it when the Dean conceded and let him of with a warning and dismissed them.
"Heed my words as a last warning Mr Potter, you need to take responsibility of your son else I will have to expel him, threats or no threats" he said looking at Ginny.
"It won't come to that" he said and left.
They were in the corridor when Ginny spoke "AJ, I have some great news for you, your dad will be back from his trip tomorrow and he said that he is throwing you a party at the venue of your choice" she said and the boy looked at her and smiled.
"Can I invite my father?" he asked and Ginny looked affronted but relented then the boy ran over to Harry.
"Dad, mum said we're having a party and I was hoping that you would come. I know you would do anything that I ask of you" he said smiling brightly at Harry and Harry looked at his him and for the first time in years, saw a glimpse of HIS son in the boy but then Hermione's words flashed through his mind 'you should never give up on your son; if you did then you lost the battle. All that matters is AJ and his wellbeing. You should not relent in your pursuit of reaching out to AJ because the last thing you need is for AJ to grow up thinking that his father didn't try his best to help him'
With that in mind he apologised to AJ and said that there's something that he needed to do that he should have done a long time ago and tried to ignore the look of hurt in his son's eyes and walked away.
Hermione walked over to the school gate and noticed AJ standing at the drop off, and seemed to be waiting for his driver, unbeknown to her Ron watched her with nothing but disdain. He had escaped police custody and swore to get revenge on Harry by driving the final nail on his marriage. He pulled out his phone and dialled AJ.
She walked closer with the intention of greeting him but stopped when his phone rang.
"Yes, WHAT? Which hospital.. Okay I'm on my way" he said sounding scared. Her first reaction was to comfort him but for the second time stopped in her tracks. AJ jumped into the driver side and took off. She watched in horror as he almost drove into an oncoming vehicle before coming to a screeching halt. She ran towards the car to see if the occupants were fine when she saw a fuming Ginny Weasley walking menacingly towards the boy.
"AJ, get out of the car. What the hell where you thinking driving again. Hadn't you done enough damage? I had to go to prison once for you, I sure as hell won't do it again! If Hermione had somehow found out that you were behind her mother's accident she will have us both thrown in prison" she shrieked and AJ was in tears trying explain that he had gotten a call saying that she was in hospital. The driver ran towards them in concern asking AJ if he was okay and Ginny had a go at him. Ginny called Harry and told him about what AJ had done.
Hermione stood there, dumbstruck as the truth finally hit her in like a blow to the gut. She couldn't breathe. Harry was just protecting AJ and she thought that he ... "Oh my god, how could I have been so stupid? Poor Harry, he has been carrying such a heavy burden alone. Idiot!" she said softly and couldn't come to terms with the revelation.
She dropped off Belle at home and decided it was best to let Lily and her mother know about her discovery. Lily and Emma were horrified and Hermione went on to rationalize Harry's actions for the past few weeks. Emma asked Hermione to drop all charges and have the case closed because this was something that would not only destroy AJ but also the entire family. Lily was grateful for Emma's decision and Hermione agreed that there were other ways that they could solve this matter without involving the authorities.
She drove to the clinic distractedly, with Harry on her mind. She walked into the clinic and greeted her receptionist, who told her that her next patient was already in her office. She nodded and picked up the chart without reading it and walked in.
"Hello Mr P...Potter" she stuttered and he turned to look at her with tears brimming in his emerald pools.
"I needed to speak to and I ... I don't know what to do anymore" he croaked and she was at his side in an instant with a glass of water. He grasped her hand when she turned to walk away.
"I've made a huge mistake Hermione and everything is spiralling out of control and I don't know how to rectify it" he choked and she could feel his pain.
"Drink the water Harry" she said and he nodded before taking a sip.
"I'm assuming you're here because it has to with AJ and the accident" she said subtly broaching the subject and Harry's head snapped in her direction at break neck speed.
"I know the truth Harry, that it was AJ and not Ginny. Everything you did was because of him" she said softly and he looked at her in disbelief.
"How?" he asked confused and she explained the incident at school.
"Why didn't you tell me Harry? Did you think that I was so heartless that I would not have stood by your side and helped you through this? Don't you think I deserve to know the truth? I thought about every reason imaginable as to why you would stand by Ginny and the only thing that I could think of was that you, somehow still loved her" she explained and Harry was ashamed for putting her through so much.
"I wanted to tell you so badly Hermione but Ginny made me take an unbreakable vow. She assumed that I would choose Emma over AJ, but all I wanted to do was to what was right. And today I realised that I've done what was easy, I supported my son and it's somehow created a monster" he said and Hermione was shocked about the unbreakable vow and when he explained today's events she understood why he was in such a dilemma.
"Ginny has no idea what it means to be a mother, I mean it's one thing to give him everything he wants but in doing so she's pretty much bought his love and him robbed him of so much more. A mother teaches her child right from wrong and punishes them just to show them their mistakes. It's what you have been doing with Belle all this time. She has robbed him by giving him so much freedom that whatever he does, in his eyes is right. She robbed him of his innocence. If she can't take responsibility for her actions as a mother, then I will as a father!" he said wiping the tears that fell freely down his cheeks.
"I've made a decision and it can't be done alone" he said and he stood taking Hermione with him. He clasped both her hands and stared into her eyes. She was about to reply but he stopped her and continued.
"My children have been my weakness and Ginny and Draco have used this timeously to hurt me but ever since you came into my life, you have grown to become my strength. I need you stand with me, I need you to be my rock and support me" he pleaded with her and she was touched by his words.
"I'll stand by you, Harry. In whatever you chose to do, just don't ever shut me out like that again. I admit that it hurt when I saw you with Ginny and the children and I feared that you may want that part of your life again and who was I to stand in your way, even though it shattered my heart. All I want is what's best for Belle and AJ" she said and he gently wiped her tears away with his thumb.
"And I feel like a right git for putting you through that. Saying 'I'm sorry' isn't enough" he said and kissed her forehead. "I missed this" he whispered as he pulled her in for a hug.
"What?" she asked and he smiled.
"Having you in my arms, it just feels right somehow" he said and she nodded in agreement and he dipped his head to taste her soft lips once more. He was surprised when he found her cheek instead and she chuckled.
"Not so fast there Potter, I may have agreed to help you but said nothing about forgiveness" she said biting her cheek and Harry was stunned when she talked away from her.
"You know you have already forgiven me, so the question is why are you playing hard to get?" he asked walking up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
"I have no idea what you're talking about" she said coyly.
"Okay then, so tell me this then. If you want what's best for Belle and AJ, then what about me, what about us?" he asked and she stiffened in his arms.
"Isn't it obvious that whatever I have done so far the best for everyone?" she sighed and he turned her in his arms.
"What makes me happy is having you in my arms like this and being able to do this" he said and gently kissed her. She sighed into his mouth and granted him access as they drank each other as though they were in a month long drought.
They were rudely interrupted when Hermione's receptionist entered the room. They broke apart panting and flushed and the young receptionist, embarrassed, turned and walked out apologising profusely.
When they were alone they both laughed heartily, relishing in the feeling considering the past few weeks. Harry placed another chaste kiss on her lips.
"I missed you" he said.
"I missed you too" she said.
"So what do you plan to do?" she asked and he explained his plan and Hermione understood what needed to be done.
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