Author's Note: Well so okay, I wrote this over a couple of days which I don't like to do. I like to sit down and write until I am done but that did not happen this week so the end result is a very long chapter that may or may not be a little all over the place. I think it is still going in the direction I originally intended but perhaps just not in quite as direct of a route, you know? So yes, comments are appreciated as always and hopefully my writing will return to normal next time. To all my fellow Americans out there, Happy Thanksgiving! To everyone else, Happy Whatever Day You Are Reading this On!
Chapter 43
Lily had been avoiding James until Saturday, she could tell he wanted to interrogate her about what all she knew. On the other hand, she wanted to talk to Albus about how she knew her parents definitely were not getting back together but she couldn't find him anywhere. He was avoiding her, like he knew what she was going to tell him.
She may have been younger but Lily was always taking care of her brothers emotionally, especially Albus. He was always pretty sensitive. People always thought her cousin Hugo was the most sensitive Weasley cousin but they were wrong. Just because Hugo was shy and smart didn't mean he let things get to him, but Albus on the other hand did. He let everything get to him. But he never opened up to anyone, he just shut down and avoided everybody. Every once in a while he would let Lily in but he hadn't since this whole thing with their parents. Albus had hardly talked to anyone.
So now here she was in the Great Hall waiting for her brothers. Rose and Hugo had already left to meet their parents. Lily was shocked that the headmistress had given them permission to go to Hogsmeade, but she guessed that given the circumstances she could understand. Despite the fact that she had far more important things to be concerned with she couldn't help but to be jealous that Hugo got to go into Hogsmeade as a first year. She was after all still a kid. Lily had encouraged her brothers to refrain from telling Rose that their mum was going to be in the castle today, she thought it might be too tempting for her cousin to create some sort of altercation. This was going to be a long day.
Hermione was up earlier than usual and usual was 5 am these days. Actually she didn't really sleep the night before meeting up with her kids. She was at her desk trying her best to go through some more of her notes but to no avail. She was too nervous. She had been thinking about how this meeting would go nonstop since they had arranged it. At first she wasn't too worried about how Hugo would react but then the more she thought about it the more unsure she became. Sure he was all fine with it thus far but he hadn't really spoken to his dad and seen how bad off he was. He didn't know the full extent of his mother's manipulation of his father. And Rose, oh Rose. That was going to be a nightmare as well.
Not to mention, Hermione herself was ashamed of her behavior and hated the idea of having to face her children to explain it all. And she still didn't know how Ron was going to act. She trusted that he wouldn't do anything extremely foolish or hurtful in front of Rose and Hugo but he was hurting pretty badly and anything was possible.
She had heard from her mother-in-law that Ginny and Harry were going up to Hogwarts today to talk to James, Albus and Lily so naturally she was curious as to how that would turn out as well. She was glad that she and Ron were meeting their kids in Hogsmeade so they wouldn't all happen to run in to one another because Merlin that would be horrible. She could only imagine. Hermione was also worried about Ginny and how things would go for her. She had tried to keep the woman out of her thoughts but that was impossible.
Hermione glanced up at the clock, it was a quarter of twelve. She had told Ron she would get there ten minutes before the kids were set to arrive. She grabbed the lunches she had made for everyone thinking that this was probably the last meal they would all share together for quite a while. A tear came to the corner of her eye but she quickly wiped it away, now was not the time to break down.
"Here goes nothing," she said to herself before apparating to Hogsmeade.
Ginny stood on the front step of her old house and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Harry called from somewhere within the house. Ginny stepped in uneasily. She was feeling pretty nauseous. She hadn't been able to eat anything all morning and now it was nearly noon. Even going for an early morning ride on her broom didn't help clear her head at all.
"You don't look so good Gin," Harry peeked in from the kitchen.
"Yeah, thanks Harry. I don't feel so well either," Ginny tried her best to keep her stomach in check while walking in through the foyer.
"Well I know this is going to be rough but hey, we got good kids. It shouldn't go too terrible right?" Harry was trying to be upbeat but was having doubts of his own. Especially about Albus.
Ginny was so grateful that Harry was being so good to her considering everything that had happened between them. She knew that he was doing it partly for the kids' sake but Harry was also just that kind of guy. Despite how much shit someone put him through, no matter how badly someone had wronged him he was still going to be the bigger person. Every time. She was lucky to have that and her heart went out to Hermione knowing she didn't.
"Right, they are good kids. And it is good that we are all getting together to talk about everything even though it was much sooner than I was expecting. I didn't think James was going to give that easy. In fact, I was kind of counting on it so I could get myself a bit more together. You know?" Ginny shot the man a nervous smile while taking a seat at the table.
"I know what you mean Gin but if the kids are ready to talk we certainly can't put it off."
"Yes, I realize that and it is something that I both want and need to do but that doesn't prevent me from being apprehensive about it," Ginny was trying not to become more anxious than she already was but it was proving to be quite hard. Harry came over and placed a firm hand on her shoulder to reassure her. It was s simple gesture one that he had done many times before. Without even thinking about it, she turned her head to the side and kissed the back of his hand. He didn't immediately pull away, he just gave her a small squeeze.
"Rose, you're not going to just yell at Mum and Dad the whole time are you?" Hugo asked as they trudged through the snow toward Hogsmeade.
"Of course not, I can be an adult you know," Rose replied even though in her head she was thinking 'hell yeah I am going to yell at them.'
"Good because I think they are having a hard enough time as it is and I don't think we should make it any worse for them."
Rose stopped in the middle of the road which made her brother turn around. "Are you serious Hugo? They are having a hard time? What about us? Aren't you having a hard time because I know I sure as hell am?"
"I just think we should let them explain everything before we start in on them is all," Hugo stated simply.
"Whatever, I will try my best Hugo but no promises okay? I am mostly doing this for you. I don't even know if I am ready to see them, either of them but I am doing it ok?"
"And I appreciate it Rose, I do. Just try to be calm okay?"
"Fine, yes, I will be calm," all Rose had to do was get through this 'talk' with her family and then she was going to meet up with Scorpius in Hogsmeade so they could have a proper date for once. So yes, she did have ulterior motives to arranging this meeting after all.
They continued walking in silence for a bit before Rose broke it, "why do you think Mum and Dad wanted us to meet them at Uncle George's shop? It doesn't seem like the most fitting place to have a serious talk plus there are going to be a ton of people there."
Hugo looked over at his sister with an exasperated expression, "do you ever talk to anyone aside from Scorpius these days?"
Rose thought about it for a second, "no not really. Why?"
"Well Fred was telling me that Dad is living in the apartment above the shop," Hugo paused as it registered with his sister what he had said.
"What? Why the hell is he living there?"
"Really Rose? You didn't think he and Mum would be still living together in our house did you?"
"Well no, of course not. But I guess I hadn't really thought about it. But why would he want to live above a joke shop? It is so busy there all the time?"
"I don't know Rose, maybe we should let Dad explain that."
"Yeah, I guess. Come on now Hugo, take bigger steps, we are never going to get there at this rate."
Hugo was not the athletic type to begin with and was having trouble keeping up with his sister who had much longer legs than he and also didn't seem to be burdened by the huge piles of snow they were walking through. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Geez, I thought you weren't ready to see them so what's the rush?"
"I'm just cold okay? Now hurry up!"
"Don't tell me, you have a date with Scorpius after this."
Rose hesitated but kept going, she really didn't want to get caught.
"Ugh, you are going to get in so much trouble. Professor McGonagall did not approve that. What were you going to just ditch me? You know you are supposed to walk me back to the castle immediately after we finish with Mum and Dad."
"Why do you always have to follow the rules Hugo?"
"I guess the same reason you always have to break them, that is just who I am sis," he replied smugly while quickening his steps.
"You are such a smart ass little pain you know?"
"Well I was going to say that I would hang out in Uncle George's shop or Honeydukes or something while you were on your date but I don't have to."
"Really? You'd do that? Even though it would be breaking the rules?"
"Of course Rose. I would do anything for you, you're my sister. And you'd do anything for me right?"
"Right Hugo," she smiled at her brother warmly. Then the irony of the whole thing hit her. Aunt Ginny was Dad's sister and look what she did to him. Ugh, she hated that woman.
She tried her best to shake off the thought as they made their way into town, "well here it goes little bro. You sure you are ready for this?"
"Yes, let's go."
"Lily! Where is Albus? I have been looking for him everywhere?" James was sliding into the seat next to his sister at the Gryffindor table.
"I don't know. I haven't seen him since Thursday come to think of it. Maybe he went for a walk around the grounds or something."
"Yeah, I haven't seen much of him either," James trailed off while scanning the Great Hall. "And I haven't been seeing very much of you come to think of it. So, what is it? What do you know? Out with it Lil."
Lily didn't want to tell her brother what she knew, or more specifically what she thought about the whole thing. Telling was Rose was hard enough and she had figured she would just tell James everything, but she didn't. So now it was up to her to fill her brother in. "James, I saw Mum last weekend."
"What? And you didn't tell me? Ugh, I knew McGonagall wouldn't let you just get off with a detention for hitting Rose," James was pissed he was just now finding this out. "Well, tell me, what did you talk about and why wasn't Dad there?"
"Dad wasn't there because I asked for Mum. And we mostly talked about how I hit Rose. And how I shouldn't resort to violence and how I knew better than that."
"Bull shit Lily. What else did you talk about?"
"Fine, we talked about her and Aunt Hermione," Lily admitted in one big breath.
"Elaborate."
Lily was bouncing her knees nervously under the table, she really didn't want to tell James. "I told her that I think that they should be together because that would make her happy."
"Lily! How could you say something like that?" All the first and second years and random older kids that hadn't gone into Hogsmeade were now looking at the two Potters because James was yelling. He softened his voice a bit before going on, "what about Dad? Did you even think about him? Or Uncle Ron? Or anyone other than Mum?"
"Of course I did, but do you have any idea how depressed Mum has been? Months James! All summer long she would just break down crying out of nowhere. And it is all because she loves Aunt Hermione! Do you want her to be sad for the rest of her life? Because I don't! And I know Dad doesn't either!" Lily shouted back at her brother not caring who else in the Great Hall heard.
James could see the tears coming to his sister's eyes. He reached across the table to grab his sister's hand, "of course I don't want Mum to be sad forever but Lily it isn't that easy you know? You have got to see that it is more than just Mum's feelings here. She isn't the only one hurting. And Mum being magically happy again isn't going to make everyone else feel better."
Lily looked down at her feet under the table letting her tears hit the floor below her. She wished it were that simple. She wished it was exactly how she explained it to her Mum but James was right and it wasn't, "I know. But Mum really loves her you know? And we can't change that. I guess I just thought it would be easier to accept it and go along with it than to fight it and feel even worse."
Even though Lily may have had a point James wasn't ready to believe it yet. He was hurting and he knew his dad and brother were too. And he was just plain mad. So what it he couldn't change how his Mum felt, he could still be angry at the whole situation! It wasn't just her life, it was all of their lives. He didn't want to upset his little sister any further so he thought it best to just let it go for know, "right Lil. Well, I better try to find Albus. I'll meet you in front of McGonagall's office at 1 okay?"
"Ok James, see you then."
Rose to a deep breath before opening the door to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Most shops had a bell that rang upon the door opening but this being her Uncle George's shop, Rose and Hugo were greeted with a rather loud farting noise, complete with the accompanying scent. The store was packed and those shoppers by the door immediately trying to wave the smell from their noses.
"That is truly disgusting, but hilarious," Rose said holding her nose. "Yes, this is the perfect place to have a heart to heart with Mum and Dad."
Hugo was already making his way through the crowd to the back of the store, "come on Rose, we are running late as it is."
It was 12:01 for crying out loud. "Well it isn't my fault you can't walk through snow," she muttered under her breath following her little brother. The employee behind the register seemed to know who they were and just nodded in their direction as Hugo opened the door clearly marked "Employees Only."
Rose reached for her brother's hand when he started climbing the stairs in the back of the store room, "are you sure you want to do this Hugo?"
He turned around looking at his sister, "yes Rose. But if you don't want to I understand. Just, go find Scorpius and meet me back here in an hour." He started back up the stairs but Rose wouldn't let go of his hand.
As tempting as it was to just turn and run Rose stood still at the bottom of the steps, "no, I'm coming with you." Hugo gave her a reassuring smile and they continued up the stairs together.
Rose knocked softly on the door, "Mum? Dad?" She said in a voice entirely not her own. Weak and quiet.
Ron opened the door and let his children inside. Hugo quickly wrapped his arms around his dad giving him a strong hug. Ron returned the hug and kissed the top of his son's head. He already had tears in his eyes. After a few seconds Hugo pulled away and ran other to his mother giving her an equally enthusiastic embrace. Rose just stayed backed up against the wall, hands behind her back, looking down at the floor.
"Hey there Rosie, how's it going?" Ron asked making his way over to his daughter. He reached to pull her into a hug but she just shrugged him off.
Hermione looked up from Hugo to see her daughter rebuffing Ron and her heart ached. She could see the pain in her husband's eyes at the gesture and wasn't entirely sure how to read the look on Rose's face.
"Right well, I know this place doesn't seem like much but I think with some help I can make it pretty homey," Ron went on trying to brush off his daughter's rejection. "It might not look like it but it's got three bedrooms so you each get your own. You can do them up however you want."
Hugo seemed to appreciate this bit of news and went back to his dad to give him another hug, "thanks Dad. Is there enough room for a big desk in my room? And maybe some floor to ceiling bookshelves?"
Hermione and Ron both chuckled at this, "of course Hugo. Hell we can make all four walls bookshelves if you want." The boy's eyes got very wide at this and a big smile appeared on his face. Rose remained silent, apparently uncaring about having her own room in the apartment. "And Rose, I figured you'd want some more privacy from us men so I had your room expanded so you could have your own bathroom."
"What makes you think I will even be staying here at all?" Rose snapped.
"Rose! You will not speak to your father like that! He went through a lot of trouble to put that extra bathroom in," Hermione scolded her daughter.
"Bull shit Mum. He is a wizard. Not very hard to put an Extension Charm on a room."
"That is enough young lady, I will not tolerate that type of language in my home, especially when it is directed at your mother," Ron piped in, surprising Hermione a bit.
"Your home? Your home? Please, this isn't your home. This is some stupid apartment that your forced to live in because of that sodding home-wrecker Aunt Ginny. And don't even begin to get on me about my language because you are one to talk. Plus I figured you wouldn't mind me yelling at Mum considering she's ruined your life." Rose couldn't hold back, too many emotions were going through her mind but the most prominent one was anger.
Hermione didn't know what to say. She had expected Rose to be angry, sure, but wasn't fully prepared for how she would express it. Ron was with out words as well, Rose had never spoken to him like that before. Yeah she had a temper but she had always been able to keep it in check around her parents.
"Hm-hmm," Hugo cleared his throat looking between his sister who was glaring and his parents both of whom had their mouths slightly agape with no words coming out. "Rose, you said you weren't going to yell, that you were going to let them expl-"
"Shove it Hugo! They deserve to know what this is doing to me! How can they possibly explain themselves? How could anything that they say possibly make up for how I have been feeling?" In between the shouting, tears had started to roll down Rose's cheeks. "Just because you're ok with Mum shagging Aunt Ginny and you don't care that Dad is a complete and utter fuck up doesn't mean that I don't care."
Hermione gasped at her daughter's words and looked over to Ron who looked totally deflated.
"Rosie, please, just calm down," Hermione tried her best to collect herself and choke down the tears that were building at the back of her throat. "Why don't we all just sit down and we can all talk about what we are feeling."
"Ha. Right. Okay Mum. I feel like shit. How about that? You know what? I thought I could do this but I can't. Sorry Hugo. I've got to get out of here. Take as long as you want, Mum and Dad can take you back to the castle." Rose threw her hands up in exasperation and turned to go back out the door.
"But Rose! You'll get in trouble! McGonagall will expel you!" Hugo called after his sister trying to pull her back into the apartment.
"Fuck if I care," she grabbed her arm away and ran down the stairs.
Hugo turned back to face his parents who were both still standing there in shock. "Should we go after her? I don't want her to get in trouble or gods forbid, expelled! Were you serious about that Hugo?" Hermione was genuinely concerned for not only her daughter but her academic career as well.
As much as he wanted to go after her, Hugo knew it would be of no use given the state she was in. "No Mum, she will be okay. She was going to meet up with Scorpius anyway."
"Like bloody hell she is! She thinks she can just go out on a date after talking to us like that?" Ron had snapped out of his stupor and his ears were turning red. "I'm going to go find her."
"Ronald Billius Weasley you will do no such thing! She obviously does not want to talk with us right now and running after her on a busy Hogsmeade weekend will only bring more unwanted attention unto our family and I am sure you do not want that." Hermione had reached out and grabbed her husband's robes effectively stopping him from heading out the door.
"You can not tell me what I can and can not do anymore Hermione! This is my house! My life and you cannot micromanage it any longer. I put up with all of your schedules and rules since I was 11 years old but no more. You lost the right to control my every move when you cheated on me!"
"Stop it! Both of you!" Hugo shouted at them.
In the heat of the argument, Ron and Hermione had forgotten their son was still with them in the room. They had never yelled at one another like that in front of their children, at least not directly. Sure they had had their fair share of big fights in their relationship but they always had the discretion to do it away from the kids. But too much had happened now and everyone's tempers were flared so they had erupted. Ron and Hermione both looked apologetically over at their son who was now on the verge of crying himself.
"Oh Hugo, we're sorry. We shouldn't be talking to one another like that, let's all sit down," Hermione offered weakly.
Ron had calmed down visibly at the sight of his son about to cry. He felt like a major git. No wonder his daughter thought he was a 'total fuck up." He was. "Yeah, sorry son. I let myself go there for a bit."
"It's okay. It isn't like I haven't heard you guys fight like that before," Hugo admitted and observed his parents exchange worried glances.
"Regardless Hugo, it shouldn't happen, and we're sorry," Hermione made her way over to the small kitchen table and took a seat. Ron and Hugo followed suit. At least they had Hugo to talk to, Rose would come around eventually. "Now, are either of you boys hungry? I made lunch." She started handing out the sandwiches she brought and summoned some pumpkin juices out of the fridge.
"Thanks Mum."
"Yeah, thanks Herm. So Hugo, how about you ask us what you want to know," Ron started.
The boy nervously sipped at his pumpkin juice before responding. As calm and mature as he seemed about this whole thing there were still things he too was upset about and wanted to know. "Well, first, I am sorry about Rose. She said she wasn't going to act like that."
"Oh sweetie, that is not your fault. You can't control what your sister does, any more than we can apparently," Hermione said soothingly to her son. Ron was smiling at him too, encouraging him to go on.
"Right, well. I guess, I want to know the whole story then from you guys. All I know is what has been in the papers most of which I know, or hope at least, isn't true and what I've heard from my cousins but it's not like they really know what is going on either. So yeah, that is all I want. The truth."
Ron and Hermione looked nervously at one another before both trying to talk at once, "Well you see-"
"It is a long story-"
"How about Mum, you start," Hugo interjected before they could continue mumbling over one another.
Hermione took a large gulp of her pumpkin juice inwardly wishing it were something stronger, "okay, well, hmm- where to start?"
"The beginning probably," Hugo said matter-of-factly. Ron realized how much he sounded like his mother in that moment.
"Riiight," the brunette witch was stumbling over her words. This was not going to be easy to tell her 12-year-old son. It didn't help that Ron was giving her a look like 'ha, good luck with this one, you're on your own here.' Yes this was tricky. But she figured if he wanted the whole story that was what he was going to get- minus all of the unnecessary details of course.
"Well, you see Hugo, when I was your age I met your Aunt Ginny. I already knew your father and despite being one of my best friends he drove me mad most of the time," this caused Ron to scoff under his breath.
"Dad, let Mum talk."
"Right, go on Hermione, though it seems not much has changed since then."
"Dad!"
"Sorry."
"As I was saying, I met your Aunt Ginny. And well, I guess the best way I can put it is that I felt, I felt something. I didn't know what exactly but something regardless. But growing up I didn't have many friends. I was always a bit of a loner so I attributed my feelings for her as being friendly because she was the first female friend I had ever really had. So, time went on and we got closer. My feelings evolved for Ginny into something different but again I pushed them to the back of my head because my feelings were also changing for your father." Gods this was awful.
Ron was completely pale in the face. He couldn't believe he had to sit through this and in front of his son at that. But Hugo's being there was what was keeping his temper at bay for the moment.
"Naturally, I allowed my feelings for your father to develop further as that was what was expected of me," she glanced over at Ron who looked as though he wanted to faint, "and that was truly what I thought I wanted. Your father, he meant, he means the world to me. And even though he drove me up the wall half the time I could never have asked for a better, more loving or steadfast partner." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ron smile just a tiny bit, he knew she meant what she said.
"Well go on, what happened?" Hugo urged. As awkward as this was for him he wanted to know it all. He always wanted to know everything he possibly could and this was no different.
"After the War, your father left to train for the Aurors and even though we decided to remain together I still felt very alone. Abandoned if you will. And I was going through a rough time."
"We all were going through a rough time Hermione!" Ron couldn't help it, he had to say something.
"I know Ron. It was a bad time for everyone. And all of us were dealing with it in our own ways. I was- I was, hm-hmm," she tried to clear her throat. She didn't want to go into all the details considering she hadn't even told Ron everything about what had happened in those few months after he left. She swallowed the tears that were creeping back up and continued, "I wasn't dealing with it though. I was self-destructing. I was breaking down."
"What do you mean? Why were you having such a hard time?"
Damn Hugo and his insatiable curiosity. He was lucky enough to grow up in a time of peace, he didn't need to know all the traumas his parents went through when they were younger. That was why they fought as hard as they did, so their children didn't have to grow up with that kind of burden. But she knew her son, he was strong. He wasn't soft like everyone assumed, Hermione knew he was mature enough to handle it.
"Hugo, maybe you should just take your Mum's word for it," Ron chimed in feeling somewhat guilty now. When Hermione had finally taken him back so many years ago he hadn't even bothered to ask about those months when he was away and obviously more went on then just her and his sister hooking up.
"No Ron, it's ok. Hugo, I know you know a version of what we all went through during the war and that your father and I played a rather significant role in helping your Uncle Harry bring down the darkest wizard of all time but we haven't ever really gotten into it in depth because we wanted to protect all you kids from what we had to grow up with."
"Mum, I don't know if you know this about me but I read a lot and I have read every book out there about the war and about you and Dad and Uncle Harry and Voldemort. So you can lay it on me," Hugo said this a bit sarcastically but his parents just looked at one another and sighed.
"Well son, though I am sure you know much more than we ourselves have told you, you could not possibly know the full scope of what we went through and for that I am extremely thankful." Hugo looked slightly embarrassed at his mother's words but she went on, "As I was saying, I was not dealing well with the aftermath of the war. Your father and I along with nearly everyone in our family were constantly under the threat of death but that wasn't even the worst of it. You see, there was this witch, her name was Bellatrix Lestrange and she tortured me with the Cruciatus Curse," she paused momentarily to collect herself. Ron had no color in his face and she could tell he was remembering that day and Hugo too had gone pale, he wasn't expecting that.
"And it effected me more than I let anyone know so, I was not coping. And I was hurting myself rather badly and your Aunt Ginny, well she was there for me. She was the only one. And I allowed myself to get close to her once again awakening all of these feelings that I suppressed for many years. So we were together. Then your dad and Uncle Harry came back and Aunt Ginny thought it would be best to go back to the way things were. I was heartbroken. But then your father was there and I did love him very much. So I let him save me from my misery in a way."
Hearing herself say these words was maddening. The more times she recounted the story the worse she felt. It never got easier. "But I was still in love with Ginny. And I didn't know that she felt the same way. She had someone remove all the memories of us from her head-"
"She didn't!" Hugo seemed completely scandalized, "that bit-"
"Hugo!" Hermione cut him off sternly but in her head she smiled at her son's almost remark. Ron just sat quietly in his chair staring up at the ceiling twiddling his thumbs. "Anyway, I harbored these feelings for many years and at the beginning of the summer your Aunt remembered what she had done. It affected her rather dramatically and she eventually admitted everything to me over the Christmas holidays. Naturally we were both very confused about what to do but we decided it would be best to tell your Dad and Uncle Harry."
Again Ron scoffed at this but this time it was Hugo who shot him the stern look and he raised his hands in surrender.
"But things didn't go as smoothly as I wanted and well yes now here we are," Hermione said in one final breath. Hopefully he wouldn't have too many more questions for her.
Hugo turned his attention to his father, "so how did the papers find out?"
Ron turned red immediately, "well- hmm, yeah- um upon finding out your mother's feelings for my sister I was rather upset as you can imagine so I went to the Burrow and unfortunately your Aunt Ginny was there and we got into a bit of a fight you could say. And well, yeah Uncle Harry came and he and I went out for drinks and things got a bit out of hand and Rita Skeeter just happened to be at the pub and she overheard us."
"So that is true then? You got drunk and blabbed everything to the papers?" Hugo's tone was harsh and Hermione was looking at him in slight disbelief. How could the boy sit there calmly during her entire story of how she betrayed her father yet hold it against him for getting drunk one night?
"Yes, well it's not like we had a few too many and started giving out interviews! We were drunk yes but we were only talking to one another, that bleeding woman was snooping around because she wanted to talk to Harry about Ginny's quidditch!" He could not believe he had to defend his behavior to his son.
"And why did you lose your job?" Hugo was cutting deep here and all Hermione could do was gape at him. Ron was looking to his wife for some kind of help but she couldn't give it, she was in shock herself at her son's boldness.
"Hugo, I didn't lose my job. I quit. I decided I didn't want to hunt dark wizards anymore. I have enough bad things to deal with right now, I thought maybe working here would brighten things up a bit, you know?"
"Well didn't you attack some wizard who is still in St. Mungo's?" Hugo asked plainly.
Ron gulped, "I may have injured a dark wizard that we had been pursuing for sometime but I can assure you that he will make a full recovery before going to Azkaban for killing and torturing several innocent people," he tried to stress the last part. The man was far from innocent and did truly deserve more than what Ron gave him.
"But what you did was against Auror regulations wasn't it? So Uncle Harry had to fire you."
"Hugo, Uncle Harry did not fire your father. He was simply placed on leave and as he has already said it was his decision to leave the Auror department. I suggest to change your tone young man," Hermione stepped in for her husband. Ron gave her a look indicating he was grateful. "Now, is there anything else we can clear up for you?"
Hugo turned back to his mother, "is Aunt Ginny moving in with you?"
Ron choked on his pumpkin juice. What the hell?
"No, Hugo. She is not."
"But why not? Don't you love her?"
"It is not that easy. She and I have a lot to work out but so do your father and I. And you and your sister and your cousins are the priority right now." Why did he have to be so damned blunt?
"I asked if you loved her," Hugo was not letting it go.
"That's enough. Hugo, what happens between your mother and your Aunt Ginny is their business." Ron didn't want to hear anymore of this. It was bad enough his son was clearly on his mother's side, he certainly didn't want to hear the woman profess her love for his sister.
"Fine. So you are getting divorced? Where will Rose and I stay when we come home from school? I can't imagine we're all staying at the Burrow anymore."
"That will be up to you and your sister. You will be welcome to stay at home with me or here with your dad or at the Burrow. Where ever the two of you feel most comfortable," Hermione was thankful for Ron's save. The letters Hugo sent had been hard enough to respond to. She certainly wasn't going to get into her love life with her son now.
Hugo was looking down at his lap and was quiet for a few minutes. "Mum? Can I talk to Dad, alone?"
Hermione looked over to Ron and he nodded, "yes, of course dear. I'll just be in the other room." She walked into what would be Hugo's room and left the two 'men' alone.
"Dad, I am sorry for getting on your case about your job and about the newspaper thing," Hugo said sheepishly.
"It's ok son. I know how easy it is to get caught up in your emotions," Ron said with a smirk.
"I'm not really mad at you, you know? I mean, I was a bit embarrassed by what the papers were saying about you but not mad."
"I don't blame you Hugo, I am embarrassed myself."
"Did you really not know? About Mum I mean. You never knew she loved Aunt Ginny all that time? Because you two fight a lot. I know you guys think we don't hear it but we do. Wouldn't you rather be with someone else and be happy?"
Hugo's words were cutting right through him. He loved Hermione more than he could even put into words but that was just always how their relationship had been, the constant back and forth and being at each other's throats. Since they were 11! They'd never had anything different, that was how they were but that didn't mean they weren't meant for each other did it?
"Hugo, I love your mother and she did," Ron paused and corrected himself, "does make me very happy. And no, I did not know. See your Mum and I have always been like that, fighting, arguing. That is just how our relationship works."
Hugo looked at his father skeptically, "or doesn't work. That doesn't seem like much fun to me. Always fighting. Maybe this is for the best?"
Merlin what was with this kid? He was like one of those muggle psycho-thera-cologists or whatever they were. "Hugo, I know you understand a lot more than most kids your age but understand this, okay? I've loved your mother nearly my entire life and no, we don't have the perfect relationship and yeah maybe there is someone, possibly your Aunt Ginny, that gets her better than I do but that doesn't change what I feel for her. It still hurts. It hurts like hell. Of course I want your mother to be happy but she is what has made me happy for all these years and to find out that I wasn't doing the same for her kills me. You seem to be real sympathetic to her situation but not to mine, why is that?"
Hugo looked at his dad who had tears coming out the corners of his eyes. He did feel bad for his dad, he did, they had always been close. In fact, growing up he had been much closer to his dad than to his Mum. She had always seemed somewhat distant and cold to him. Not that he didn't feel loved by his mum but she just didn't open up to the kids like his dad did. But over the summer all that changed. He saw different side of his mum, he realized how much more like her he was than his dad. And he saw how alone she seemed and he had always felt that way himself a bit. Different. Very un-Weasley. And once she let him in it was like he saw every part of himself in her and he could feel what his mum felt.
"I just don't understand how you didn't see it before is all. I love you Dad. I do but you and Mum are no good for one another."
Ron felt all the air be knocked from his body. Here was his son, his twelve-year-old son, telling him that he was no good for his Mum. To say it hurt was a severe understatement. But of course he couldn't lash out at the boy, he couldn't be mad at the kid for stating what seemed to be obvious to everyone. He tried to hold himself together the best he could and keep his temper down, "right, right. Well, it seems as though that won't be an issue anymore son." He got up from the table and took his dishes over to the sink.
"I didn't mean to upset you Dad. I just think both of you will be happier this way," Hugo said sheepishly.
"Was it really that bad for you kids? Mum and I fighting? I'm sorry Hugo. I honestly never thought it was that bad. It's just, you get so used to it being a normal thing that it didn't seem so bad. Sure there were sometimes that were rougher than others but there were good times too right? Didn't we all have fun together?" Ron was on the verge now of letting it all go.
"Of course Dad! That's not what I meant at all! You and Mum are great, I just want you guys to be happy too you know? Rose and I are happy, well maybe not at this exact moment, but we have been happy. I just want the same for you." Hugo honestly hadn't meant to make his father cry, he just didn't want the man to be stuck in a relationship for the kids sake. And that is how he felt. He felt like part of this was all his fault that his parents forced themselves to stay together for the benefit of the children. He walked over to his Dad and gave him a hug. "I love you Dad."
Ron had stopped trying to hold back and was letting the tears fall freely down his face into his son's wavy red hair, "I love you too Hugo. You are just so damned intuitive you know?" He added with a bit of a chuckle.
"I get that a lot. Well maybe we should get Mum and start back up to the castle."
"Yeah, right. It's too bad you're only in your first year so you can't come visit more often. Just because your Mum and I aren't' going to be together anymore doesn't mean I am going to be seeing less of you guys. In fact, with me leaving the Aurors I will have more time to spend with you. But what your Mum said before is right, wherever you guys feel most comfortable staying is fine with us. Okay?"
"Okay Dad." Hugo walked out of the kitchen and knocked on the door to the bedroom his mother was in, "Mum, you can come out now."
Hermione sat up off the bed and wiped her eyes. It was a small apartment after all and she could hear most of what they had been saying in the kitchen. She got the sense that Hugo felt responsible for his parents staying together. Hermione had to admit that she had stayed with her husband all these years because of the kids but also because of Ron. As much as he drove her crazy she did love the man and she felt she owed it to him in a way. Never did she imagine that her feelings for Ginny would come to the surface and that they would be going through all of this. She had resigned to the fact that she would be with Ron for the rest of her life and now, now she wouldn't be. Despite these feelings having been present for years, everything changed over night and it wasn't getting any easier to deal with. Especially now rehashing everything with the kids.
"Hey Hugo, you two have a nice talk?" Hermione asked gently, looking past her son into the kitchen at Ron. The man looked pretty rough, like a train had hit him. She couldn't blame him.
"Yeah, but I think I should be getting back to the castle now"
"What about your sister? Won't she get in trouble if you show up back at the castle with out her?"
"Probably but what can we do? I have no idea where she would be. And I am sure if she doesn't want to be found, she won't be," Hugo said plainly.
"He's right Herm. Rose is old enough to know that there are consequences to her actions and like Hugo said, if she doesn't want to be found she won't be," Ron added.
Hermione didn't like the idea of her daughter roaming about Hogsmeade without permission but there really was little she could do, "well let's go then."
"Actually, if it is alright with you Hugo, I need to stay here to mind the store. George doesn't want me to be leaving the shop on the weekends that all the Hogwarts kids are in town. There have been some instances of theft. So yeah, it was good to see you son and I am glad we got a chance to talk. I'm here anytime you need me."
Hugo gave his dad one final hug before turning to leave with Hermione, "all right. Bye Dad. Good luck with everything. I love you."
"Love you too son."
Hermione smiled at Ron before leaving, "well, we will talk soon I'm sure. Good bye Ron."
"Right, bye Hermione."
Mother and son walked out of the shop and down the main street of Hogsmeade every now and then drawing looks from random students and villagers who recognized Hermione. She did her best to ignore them and decided it best to strike up some sort of conversation with Hugo, "so how is school going then? Still top of your classes?"
"Yes Mum. And school in general is fine," Hugo replied quietly looking at his feet shuffling through the deep snow. "Mum, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course sweetie, what is it?"
"Aunt Ginny, she really messed you up didn't she?"
"Um well Hugo, that's not really something I want to get into with you in depth but yes, she hurt me." Hermione was unsure of where all this was leading.
"Can you forgive her?"
"Yes, in time, I am sure I can forgive her. But you see, despite all the pain she may have caused me, if she hadn't have left me I never wouldn't have ended up with your dad and had you and Rose. So, in the long run, how could I not forgive her?"
"So you don't regret it then? Being with Dad?"
Hermione looked down at her son who had obviously been holding onto this thought for quite some time and smiled warmly at him, "of course not Hugo. I love your father and no, we may not have been the world's most perfect couple but we did have a happy relationship for the most part and you and your sister were obviously the biggest part of that. Never, ever should you think that I or your father would have wanted that to turn out any differently despite what is going on right now." She wrapped her arm around his little shoulders and drew him close to her.
He responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her back, "I just want you to be happy Mum."
"I know sweetie and that is all your father and I want for you kids as well. We will all work through this together, okay? I love you Hugo. You are a pretty amazing kid you know?"
"Thanks Mum, I love you too."
Rose ran down the stairs from her dad's apartment and out the store onto the street. She wasn't sure if Scorpius had even made it into town yet and didn't feel like hanging around with any of her classmates so she just started up the road back to school. She thought she could handle seeing her parents, she thought she could control her temper but obviously not. Just the sight of them made her blood boil. Her mother seeming all calm and proper almost like she didn't care and her dad just acting weak and defeated, it was pathetic. No wonder he had been fired, no wonder he had let her Mum walk all over him for all of these years, he had no back bone.
She was about halfway back to the school when she literally ran into Scorpius. She had been walking quickly with her head down swearing at her parents under her breath and she hadn't bothered to look where she was going.
"Hey Rose? Where's the fire? How'd it go with your parents?" Scorpius asked warmly trying to calm his girlfriend down a bit.
"It didn't go. I couldn't even look at them, so I yelled at them and ran out. So now I am heading back to the castle so I don't get in trouble with McGonagall. I am going to tell her that I couldn't face them and that my parents will be taking Hugo back to the castle when they are through. So if you don't mind please get out of my way." Obviously she was in a bad mood if she didn't even what to talk to Scorpius who earlier in the day she was very much looking forward to spending the afternoon with.
"Okay Rose, I will give you some space. But I am proud of you for heading back to the castle so you won't get in trouble with McGonagall."
"Whatever, I will talk to you later," Rose was going to blow him off and keep walking but she thought the better of it and turned around. "Thanks Scorpius for understanding me. You seem to be the only one who does."
"No problem," he leaned in and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, "see you at dinner?"
"Yeah, sounds good." Rose kissed him back and continued on her way.
She certainly didn't want to afford Professor McGonagall any excuse to punish her so she went directly towards her office. She hadn't been gone very long and it was only ten minutes to one so she figured she would be in the clear. Rose rounded the corner into the corridor of the headmistress's and stopped dead in her tracks at what she saw. It was her. And if seeing her parents was bad enough, this was certainly the last person on the planet that she wanted to run into.
Everything went red, like she couldn't see or hear what was going on around her. All she could see was that woman and rage flowed through her. She quickened her pace and moved as fast as her 14-year-old legs would carry her. "YOU!" She shouted in a voice unrecognizable to the person she was yelling at.
"Rose?" It was a man's voice, she could guess whose it was but didn't care.
She flung herself at the older witch, fists flying.
