Hello again!

I almost didn't make it today, but thanks to the most amazing betas in the world, Cheesyficwriter and RomioneB, we have an update!

The wizarding world, characters included, belongs to J.K. Rowling. The only thing I own is an insane obsession for Ron Weasley that's bigger than Hogwarts.

Leave revieeewwwssss!

A week. Seven days. Seven long excruciating days since Hermione asked me to stay away. She said she'd reach me when she was ready, but not a single owl had come my way. I knew that, if I was at the Ministry, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from going after her. That's why, on my first day back at work, I jumped head first into a four day mission to give Hermione the space she'd asked for. The mission was just to escort a wrinkled ugly old bloke from the Wizengamot to Belgium. So I wasn't untraceable, and she could've owled me if she'd wanted to.

So, there I was. Getting home alone and defeated, on the seventh day of my lonely un-Hermione-ish existence. I was cleaning myself from the soot when I heard a tap from the kitchen window, and my heart almost stopped when I noticed it was her owl. Hermione's plump tawny owl was tapping at my window. I rushed to let it in but it just held up a leg for me to take the letter and left. Why in the hell do all of her pets hate me? I thought, whilst I took a look at the object in my hands. The envelope wasn't the usual brownish yellow colour of parchment, but a bright red, and it had the texture of muggle paper. As I opened it, a lot of chopped paper fell straight to my feet. I kneeled down and took my wand to clean it when I caught a glance at the shapes. It looked like little multi-coloured tadpoles.

Why would she put tadpoles in a letter? I wondered. Of all the things, tadpoles. I kept pondering the meaning of the sodding things. Tadpoles….tadpoles...tad- Shit! They're not tadpoles, they're - fuck!

I rushed to read the letter. It was a printed card, like those muggles sent on Christmas or birthdays. There was a big balloon with the title "I'm getting pregnant! Party 3" and a —let's say a "tadpole" - with small text written in Hermione's handwriting inside of the head:

Ron,

I know we haven't been close these last few days, but it would mean the world to me if you could come and be here with me. You are still my rock and I need you.

Love,

Hermione

At the end was another balloon with Hermione's address and the date: Friday, January 9th - that was in two days. My heart felt like a rock in my chest, but I tried to give myself a little bit of hope. It was only a party, it wasn't the end. I just had to make things right and not bugger it up this time.

The next two days passed in a flick, and I found myself at Hermione's pregnancy party. I'd decided to go in through the front door because I didn't know who may be there and I was already on thin ice, so I didn't want to be an idiot again. I knocked a few times, and an old woman that I recognised as one of Hermione's colleagues opened the door.

As soon as I stepped in, a crazy lady appeared out of nowhere and put a garland on my neck. I was a bit surprised but also pleased. After all, they'd made all the effort for Hermione, so I laughed and thanked the crazy lady who smiled back before she left. Still amused, I looked down and froze. Bloody hell!

I was very well decorated with the same figures that had fallen from the invite envelope. My ears went full Weasley red, and I hastily took the shit off and crumpled it into a ball to hide it in my pocket, whilst looking around to check that no one else had seen me wearing... well, what I was wearing. But if I thought the garland was mental enough, the rest of the decorations absolutely proved that I was very short on imagination. Hermione's flat looked like a mix between a baby shower and a hen's party, with balloons in the form of… "tadpoles" and dummies hanging everywhere. The more I saw, the more I realised that, first, whoever had picked the decoration was completely barmy and, second, that it wasn't going to be a normal party.

I snapped out of my stupor by the sound of my name being called by a woman's voice, so I turned to the source and found Ginny in the kitchen, an arm up in the air, wiggling a bottle of Firewhiskey. Well, I thought, I couldn't run away if I had already been spotted by my sister, but if I was going to survive the party, I could bloody well have a drink.

'Like the decoration?' asked Ginny, pouring me a glass. 'Luna made it all by herself,' she added proudly. I tried to hold in my laugh, but a weird snort escaped either way. I was right then, it had been picked by a barmy witch. The good kind of barmy, though.

'I don't know if I like it but, I reckon it's very open minded,' I answered, then raised my glass to toast with Ginny and gulped. I was halfway to drinking the entire thing in one go when someone swiped away my glass.

'Woah, woah, woah! Careful there little brother, leave some for the less fortunate!' half-joked, half-scolded George, ruffling my hair. I shoved his hand away and tried to comb back the mess he'd made with my fingers. He gently put the glass on the table and pushed it back to me with a warning look. I nodded. His face lit up with its usual jolly spark and he swivelled to face Ginny, 'Mission accomplished, Gin, found the stallion and gave him the Viking hat. Mind you, he wasn't very pleased.'

At the word "stallion", I'd let out a squeal that didn't go unnoticed by my siblings, so both turned to me and gave me a wary look. Play it cool, Weasley.

'The what? D - don't tell me he...he is here too?' I stammered, my stupid voice always failing me when I needed it the most. Both of them grimaced.

'WHAAAT!' Shouted George. Ginny shrieked, and I gasped 'cause the prat almost gave us a heart attack. Then, he looked back over his right shoulder, shouting to the side, 'I'm coming, Ange!' He glanced back at us and shrugged, 'Sorry little ones, duty calls!' And just as fast as he'd come, he had gone. The perfect example of a brave Gryffindor, my brother.

'Slippery coward!' Yelled Ginny at George's retreating shadow. I shook my head, amused, and turned back to her. We looked at each other and burst out in laughter at the stupidity of our brother. After a few deep breaths to collect ourselves, Ginny blurted out, 'Okay, Ron, let's rip off the plaster.' I jerked my head to encourage her and she nodded, a determined look on her face. Then, she spoke again.

'First thing you need to know, to be warned about precisely, is to not to bother Hermione about the party. This was my idea and, yes, it's a bit too much, but I reckon I like it. And most importantly, Hermione likes it, or at least she seemed to until I lost her… but I'm sure she's still happy about this... wherever she is. What was I saying?'

'The party, the stallion,' I helped her.

'Right! Merlin, stupid pregnancy brain! Well, I planned the party 'cause Hermione has been thoroughly depressed since New Years. To the point that, when she closed the deal with the donor, she wasn't even happy. And well, as her friend, I had to come up with something to cheer her up so, yeah, here we are. The thing is, this is not just any party. Today, she will be doing the procedure to...well, to get, you know. There's a muggle healer here and everything.'

'Oh… is that… is that why…'

'Yes, Ron. That's why the donor is here too. If you see a man with a viking hat that's being ogled by Hermione's coworkers like a piece of meat, that's him.'

'How - how is he? How - Fuck! How did they meet? Is he - shit, Gin!' Words were failing me again, my body too. I grabbed the table for balance as I felt myself start to shake. I needed to calm down, so I took the glass of Firewhiskey and drank all the contents in one go. Ginny's face softened, and she put her hand over mine, squeezing it. Then, she moved her hand up to stroke my arm as she answered.

'He is a nice man and has everything she put on her list. They met through me - don't hate me, please!' She winced.

I left the glass on the table to grab her hand and stroke her knuckles with my thumb. She lifted her gaze and I shook my head softly, trying to curl my lips up into a smile. She smiled back, and we knew we were okay. I raised an eyebrow and she took the hint to complete her answer.

'There's this woman, Mary, she works for the Magical Maintenance Department at the Daily Prophet, and she's quite the nice lady, our age too. The thing is, earlier this week, climate charms in Skeeter's office failed. Yknow what a complete scum that she is, so she made Mary stay late to fix it. It turned out that I was working late too that day, so I ran into her husband when he came to pick her up and we ended up going to the Leaky to get supper together. Long story short, I found out they were struggling for money and he seemed to fit perfectly with the list, so I offered and they accepted, although a bit reluctantly, mind. But, the next day they met Hermione and the rest is history.'

'Merlin, Gin! Don't you think this is too fast?'

'That's not for me to decide, Ron. And Victor is a rea-'

'What 's his name?!'

'Shit!'

'Gin…'

'Victor, Victor Green.'

Merlin's saggy left sodding bollock! I'm dead and this is hell, this isn't real! Not another bloody Viktor! Bloody fucking shit! Holy -

'RON!' I heard Ginny call me back, but I was already gone. My mind was in overdrive, thousands of miles away from my little sister.

'I need to find Hermione' was all I could muster, before I pivoted on my heels and went looking for her. I could feel Ginny tugging at my jumper, but I gently shoved her away and kept walking.

As I made my way towards Hermione's bedroom, my first guess of where to find her, I couldn't stop thinking about my rotten luck. A sodding Viktor stole her first kiss from me and now another Viktor was taking her first child. Fucking stupid name. Fuck all the Viktors in the world! At least there was one of her firsts that was mine, ours. That's the one thing sodding Vickies couldn't take from me!

I didn't even bother to knock, so I opened the door but froze under the doorframe. Hermione was sitting in the windowsill with her knees to her chest, wrapped in a blanket. She looked so small and scared, that it reminded me of the first days after Malfoy Manor. She was a bit shocked by the sudden interruption, but as soon as she noticed who I was, she sobbed. To hell with the anger, she needed me. It took me two long strides to reach her, and she hopped up to run into my arms. I caught her mid-way and held her tight whilst she released all her, whatever feelings she was having, into my jumper.

I was stroking her back and swaying her softly back and forth, hoping to soothe her. After a while, her breaths became steadier and less choppy. I felt her move and I pulled back just enough to look at her face. I tucked a curl behind her ear and smiled.

'Hey there,' I greeted her.

'Hey,' she chuckled. 'I'm sorry. I'm just… can we sit for a bit?' She tilted her head to point at her bed and I reluctantly let her go and followed her.

I sat on the end of the bed and she scooted closer to me and snuggled under my arm, shuffling until she was comfortable enough, resting on my shoulder. I squeezed so hard that she let out a soft "Oomph". But I knew she didn't mind being clenched like that. She liked it, and I loved it. I kissed her temple and nuzzled her head, burying my nose in her messy curls.

'I missed this… I missed you. So much,' she blurted out, her voice soft but still cracking from all the crying.

'I missed you too,' I answered, resting my head on hers. 'How could we have spent weeks and even months not speaking as kids, it's insane!'

'Not a clue,' she laughed.

'How're you feeling?' I asked, stroking her arm.

'Much better now,' she sighed. 'I love your hugs. Did you know you give the best hugs in the world? So warm and comfy. I feel so safe here, like nothing can hurt me. I'm in a fortress,' she finished, raising her hand to play with the hairs on my nape. It was the best feeling in the world, being caressed by her tiny hands.

'Wanna talk about it?'

'Not really. I was scared, but I'm fine now.'

'You shouldn't... be scared, that is. You shouldn't be scared,' I said, nuzzling her head again, moving down, and down, until I whispered in her ear, 'You'll be the best mum in the world, Hermione. I know you will.'

I felt her shiver in my arms and she pulled away just enough so we were face to face, our noses barely touching. There was so little space between us that I could feel her breath on my mouth. I closed the distance, resting my forehead on hers and closed my eyes. I'd come here to fight. I didn't even know why, but I'd ended up finding my last chance. So what if sodding Vicky was here waiting to sell his vickylish seeds? I was one kiss away from changing my fate. I took a deep breath and -

'Great, you're here!' Hermione pulled away and jumped to her feet.

'Ginny! Oh, I'm so sorry. I must be the worst hostess! I… I'll go out now.' Hermione took off her blanket and started folding it. I had lost my balance when she stood up, so I was leaning forward, supporting myself in my arms, hands on the spot where Hermione should've been. I kept my eyes fully closed, wrinkling my entire face with the effort to contain the wave of rage that was threatening to take over me.

I felt the weight of the blanket next to me, and Hermione's hand squeezed my shoulder in what I thought she believed to be a soothing gesture, but it only served to light the fire even more. I clutched the duvet in my fists at the missing warmth of her hand on my shoulder. Scratch that, I missed her body on my body.

It took me a good ten or more minutes to finally recover and calm down. But in the end, I came up enthusiastic and optimistic. Yes, I'd lost a very good chance but the night was still young and, until the bloody procedure was performed, I still stood a chance. I couldn't let anger and frustration blind my sight. I left Hermione's bedroom and found her in the sitting room.

Almost an hour passed, and my multiple attempts to get Hermione alone were shut down over and over again. I got very close and we hugged, and we laughed, and we had so much fun. But she didn't let her guard down for one fucking second so I could make a move. It was driving me mental that she wasn't letting me recover something even close to resembling the moment that we had before.

In a display of my purest chivalry, I went to grab us some drinks, butterbeer for me and pumpkin juice for Hermione. But when I came back, she wasn't on the couch anymore. I searched the room for bushy brown hair and spotted her talking to the barmy witch that had given me the garland. I walked towards Hermione, whose back was towards me, so it was the perfect chance to surprise her. I would steal a peck on her cheek and offer her the juice as the perfect sweet gentleman I was. But when I got close enough to catch their talk, my soul left my body.

'Oh, Hermione. I can see you and Auror Weasley are pretty close, uhm? Maybe you should take that sweety pie and leave the viking for the rest of us!'

'Wanda! You...Of course not! Ron and I are just friends. We don't… we don't have that kind of relationship. That won't happen again, he doesn't…'

I turned and walked out of the room. I couldn't listen anymore. She was never going to take me back, I never even stood a chance. But as the thick idiot that I was, I had to get my dreams shattered to understand. I was glad that none of them had seen me, and rushed to the kitchen. I wanted to go away, I wanted to hit something to release the anger, the frustration, the pain. I couldn't stand to be there anymore, but at the same time, I didn't want to be alone. So I took the Firewhiskey, poured myself a glass and drank... and drank... and kept drinking... until I couldn't feel my broken heart anymore.

An unknown number of glasses later, I needed to take a piss, and went to use the loo, but some idiot beat me to it. As I couldn't hold it any longer, I went to Hermione's room to use her en suite. The witch had broken my heart so I could surely take a piss in her prim and proper bathroom. I struggled to open the door, and hardly managed not to fall when I closed it shut. I leaned there for a while, resting against the door, recovering my balance. After a few seconds, minutes at the most I reckon, I turned around… and there it was.

The one and only, my nemesis...the invincible… the fuckin cup. Bloody shit full of teeny-tiny vickys, swimming care-free, here and there. I could practically see all of them mocking me for being the loser that I was. I took a piss and washed my hands, after that there are only foggy images of me taking out my wand and shouting at the cup. Then all went black.