Thanks for the reviews. Glad you're all enjoying it so far. Not long to go now i think. Its only planned for the next three or four chapters so hopefully my brain kicks into gear. Its really cold here today and my fingers are hurting, but theres so much to this story that i need to get out NOW, so i'm going to try.
8-8
Hermione laid in her bed that night, with her phone beside her head.
She was yet to hear from Malfoy, and she was concerned. Despite the strongest logical part of her brain screaming at her that she needed to give it some time, she wanted to be around him now, more than ever. Even if he just laid with her and watched this predictable movie she had put on. She had become obsessed. Although, she knew he led a busy life and had meetings and partners and all kinds of things to do she was hoping that she might see him again soon.
She was hardly paying attention to the movie she had put on an hour before. She'd seen it before, so she wasn't missing much. Some girl wanted a no strings attached relationship with some guy and low and behold, they fall in love. She thought about the concept of love and wondered if that's what was happening to her. Was she falling in love? There was certainly a hell of a lot of lust between them, but love? If she thought about it, she couldn't really pinpoint a time where she realised she had fallen in love with Ron all those years ago, she just sort of grew more fond of him over time. Was that love? Fondness? Or was there more? She certainly felt butterflies in her stomach when Malfoy was around, but she barely knew him. What could be considered a reasonable timeframe to go from enemies to strangers to acquaintances to love? The couple in the movie had to be apart before they realised they were in love. They had to suffer before they could be happy. Was Hermione on the pathway towards suffering? And if she was, could she avoid it now that she knew it was possible? Or, had she already suffered at the hands of Ron's infidelity and now was her time to be happy? All of these things ran through her mind while as she stared blankly at the screen.
She fell asleep before the movie had finished and woke up at 2am with the TV displaying a blue screen. She reached for the remote and glanced quickly at her phone. There was a message from Malfoy, sent at 1230am.
D- My meeting ran late and there was a lot to do afterwards. I really wanted to come and see you, but you're probably asleep. Goodnight x
She read the message again and was relieved to see that he hadn't abandoned her. Of course he was busy with work. 'On a Saturday' she thought.
She switched the TV off and typed a message back.
H-D- Hey stranger, nice to hear from you. Fell asleep watching a movie and thinking about you. Will text you in the morning.
She hit send, before placing her phone on the bedside table and closing her eyes.
She dreamt that she was in an airport and there were people coming and going in every direction. She stood in the middle, looking around at the faces of those who were rushing about their lives. The faces were blank and all the same. She stood up on her toes so she could look for a sign of someone she might know. There was no one. She turned to move in a direction, any direction, but as she tried to walk, she went nowhere, as though she was going the wrong way on a travellator. She wasn't getting anywhere. She was about to start to panic, when she saw a familiar face walk towards her – it was Malfoy. She reached for him and he took her hand, pulling her towards him. As he did, the crowd began to disappear, and she could move. She was heading for the exit of the airport but when she got to the doors, there stood the Hogwarts Express, releasing steam out in all directions and blowing its horn.
She woke with a start and looked at the clock. It was 7am and Hermione decided that she ought to get up and make a start on the day ahead. She thought about the dream while she ate breakfast and couldn't make sense of it. She decided to put it to the back of her mind, and while sitting on her back deck in the sun drinking coffee, she had forgotten all about it.
She busied herself with house work for the day, cleaning out old boxes of things she had forgotten all about. It was lunch time before she looked at her phone and saw that Malfoy hadn't text her yet. She sat on the lounge with a sandwich and a coffee and typed a text to him.
H-D- Happy Sunday, hope you're out enjoying the sunshine.
She didn't expect a reply so soon, however her phone buzzed immediately.
D- Its lunch time, don't tell me you've been asleep all day?
H- No way I've been up since 7, getting things done.
D- Me too. Been waiting for a beautiful woman to distract me from this paperwork.
Hermione scrolled up and read the text she sent him last night and it was then that she realised she had screwed up. She told him she'd text him in the morning.
H- I was supposed to text you when I woke. Sorry.
D- That's ok. I've been distracted too.
H- Is everything ok?
D- Yeah just work. All boring things really.
H- Anything I can help with?
D- You help just by existing
Hermione's heart skipped a beat at this.
H- That's incredibly sweet.
D- Well, actually, you're probably the reason it's taking me so long to get this done. I haven't stopped thinking about you since I left your house yesterday.
H- Me too.
D- I'm glad.
H- I want to see you.
D- I need a break from this anyway. Give me 5 minutes.
H- Ok.
Hermione jumped up and quickly ran to the bathroom, brushing her teeth and running her fingers through her hair. She applied some mascara and quickly changed her clothes.
By the time she got back downstairs, the doorbell rang, and she opened the door to see Malfoy standing there, looking better than ever. Her heart sped up when she saw him and she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him towards her, into the house, kissing him roughly.
He responded by grabbing her backside with one hand and pressing her against the door frame. Deepening the kiss, Hermione slammed the front door and pulled Malfoy's shirt off over his head.
She hadn't intended on it, but somehow, half an hour later, Hermione and Malfoy were laying on her bed, catching their breath after some mind-blowing fun.
"Hi" she said.
"Hey" he said, smiling.
"How's your day?" she asked.
"It just got a lot better" he said
"Mine too" she said.
Eventually, they got up and made their way to the kitchen, where Hermione handed him a bottle of butterbeer.
They sat at the kitchen bench and chatted about their day. Hermione hardly felt that her day was worth talking about but somehow, Malfoy seemed interested in knowing about the boring things she had done.
He told her about his meeting and Hermione finally understood why he was so snowed under. He was facing some backlash regarding some muggle born witches and wizards in the US and they wanted him to return there and deal with it. He refused, and now he had to attempt to communicate with his US colleagues to make it right.
Hermione wondered if he was staying just for her benefit, in which case she would feel both extremely guilty and flattered at the same time.
There was something nagging at the back of her mind the whole time he was there and that was her children. They were due back within the hour, and she had no idea what to do. She wanted him to stay, to meet them and for them to know him and like him as much as she did, but at the same time she knew better of it. She knew that she needed to keep these two lives of hers separate, at least for a little while.
"So there's something that I think we need to talk about" she said.
"The elephant in the room?" he asked.
"Something like that" she said.
"Please, enlighten me" he said.
"This is serious. I am really struggling to think about how to deal with this…. issue" she said.
"So, tell me. I can help you" he said.
"My kids are due back… Like, within the hour" she said.
"Oh" he said.
"Oh indeed" she responded.
"Where do you find yourself sitting with that?" he asked.
"Well, I'd love for you to meet them… someday" she said.
"But not now?" he asked.
"Not now" she said.
"I get it" he said.
"Its not about you. At all. I just want to keep my two lives separate, for now" she said.
"So… till you're comfortable, I'll just come around when they're at Weasleys and then when they're at school, we'll have the place to ourselves. Simple. Next problem?" he said.
"Well, that's the thing. I have been offered a position at Hogwarts" she said, blurting out the one thing she had been fearing to say since they first went on a date. "Muggle studies" she added. He didn't say anything, just opened his mouth and closed it again. "And I accepted it. I start in a few weeks" she said, confirming what he appeared to be wondering.
"That's good. You're going to be working at the school, I'm happy for you" he said.
"So… that means…" she began.
"No house to ourselves" he said.
"No anywhere to ourselves" she said. "I just don't know where to take things from there" she said, saying the thing that she had been worrying about all this time. "How can we legitimately make something work, when I won't be here?" she asked.
He seemed to think about this for several moments, she guessed he was looking for the positives that she was yet to see.
"So, I guess you should go back to the US sooner, rather than later, before things go too far" she added, sadly.
"Too far? What is that supposed to mean?" he asked.
"Well, before either of us start having serious feelings" she said.
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she regretted them. This was not a conversation she was ready to have.
"I… You're right. I suppose we better call it quits now. Its not like there's weekends or afternoons or night times or places we can meet. The room of requirement, the teacher's quarters and days off… none of those things exist either" he said, smirking.
She was glad he didn't mention the 'feelings' thing she said, but she sensed he wanted to.
"I think you should just stop worrying about what might happen and think about what is happening, now" he said, leaning forward and kissing her.
"So you really think we could make this work then?" she asked him.
"I think we can, yes" he said, leaning forward and kissing her.
Not too long afterwards, Hermione had bid Malfoy farewell, and watched him walk down the street. She hoped he was right, and they could make things work somehow. She wanted so badly to do right by McGonagall, but she felt that she owed it to herself to let herself be happy. The more she thought about it, the more she realised he was right. They would have weekends and afternoons and night times and all kinds of places they could sneak off. In fact, the idea of sneaking around made it all the more exciting for Hermione.
Shortly after Malfoy left, the children were dropped off by Ron and for the rest of the night, Hermione chatted with them about their week, not asking too much but allowing them to lead the conversation anywhere they desired. They hadn't offered too much about Vivienne, but Hermione sensed they liked her. She supposed that if they liked her, at least even a little, then she would keep her thoughts to herself.
*8*8*
Much like every week with her children, the time flew. They had spent the week on outings and even took a trip to the country for a few days. There was less than a month till they would all go off to Hogwarts and even though she knew she would still see them everyday, she needed to spend as much time with them as she could. Once they started school, she was as much their professor as she was their mum. This thought concerned Hermione, as she hadn't known anybody personally, who had children at Hogwarts at the same time as they taught. If McGonagall thought she could do it the Hermione had absolute faith that she was correct.
By the time Saturday came back around, Hermione was anxiously awaiting contact from Molly Weasley to determine what time to floo her children to The Burrow so everyone could go to the game.
Hermione had hoped to meet Malfoy at the game, their first outing, since becoming a couple. It would be the thing that made them or broke them, as the public would now see them together and they would surely face scrutiny. She wasn't sure he'd come as she was still waiting on confirmation that he would be finished work.
Hermione and her children sat in the living room by the fireplace, waiting for the sign that they could go. At exactly 2pm, the fireplace lit up a brilliant orange, for just a second, which was the sign for them to come. Hermione adjusted her outfit in the mirror. It wasn't too flashy but not too casual either. She felt comfortable enough for the game and glam enough to go out afterwards.
The three of them stepped into the fireplace and Hermione said "The Burrow" as she dropped the floo powder to the floor.
She held onto her children as they whizzed past many different grates. They saw flashes of other peoples living rooms and heard snippets of conversations as they passed. Within seconds, the Burrow's kitchen came into view and the motion stopped.
Hermione, Rose and Hugo stepped out of the fireplace at the Burrow and into the kitchen. Immediately, Hermione was welcomed by the Weasleys, the older, the younger and the even younger.
Ginny was no where to be seen, apparently getting ready in her old room.
After she said hello to everyone, the Weasley siblings and the children, Hermione made her way up the stairs to find Ginny. She pushed open the door to Ginny's old room on the floor above the living area and found Ginny sitting on her old bed.
"This is like some kind of time warp" she said.
"Hmm?" Ginny asked.
"Your room. It's exactly how it was the first time I ever walked into it" Hermione said, looking at the pink walls.
"oh. Right" she said.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked.
"Ha, yep. Sure am" Ginny said, sounding a little hysterical.
"You've played tonnes of games Gin, you'll be fine" Hermione said.
"Tonnes of games in my twenties. I'm thirty-three Hermione. What the hell am I doing?" Ginny cried out.
"You've trained so hard for this, you're a better player than anybody I know Gin. You've got this" Hermione said, sitting on the bed beside her.
"I should have stuck with reporting, not playing" she sighed.
"Alright, lets call them up and tell them you're not going to play. They'll forfeit and you can go back to writing" Hermione said, shrugging.
Ginny just looked at her and sighed.
"I'm serious, I'll call them up right now" Hermione said, smiling as she saw Ginny's face change.
"Godric Hermione" Ginny said.
"Look, just play one game, the one game you've trained for and see how you feel. If you fail miserably, then write an article about how you came back for a one game only thing and expected to do much worse… Or whatever. But I know you. You're the best quidditch player I've ever seen. You've played internationally, you've played locally. Ginny, you can do this, I'm certain of it" Hermione said, pacing the room, looking at the same posters she stared at during the summers she spent at The Burrow.
"Why do you always have to be…." Ginny began.
"Right? It's a gift" she said, smiling widely at her friend.
"I guess I ought to get ready then" Ginny said.
"I think so" Hermione said, leaving the room.
She made to go downstairs, but as soon as she closed the door behind her, she felt an unconscious pull towards the higher levels of the house.
She climbed the stairs and on the next landing, found the door to George's old room open. She peeked inside and saw a sleeping toddler, Fred, laying on the bed. She smiled to herself as the red haired boy rolled over in his sleep. She missed her kids being that age, but wouldn't stand going through the early years of parenthood, even if she could. She suddenly realised that this was something she was yet to discuss with Malfoy. Was he looking at the prospect of having children? They had been intimate on a few occasions now and never used any protective enchantments or muggle condoms. Surely he'd be wondering about pregnancy concerns? She climbed the stairs and remembered the first time she had to have that discussion with Ron as she found herself arrive on the attic level, where his room once was.
"Ron, there's something we need to discuss" Hermione said, jut days after they had arrived back from Australia.
"Ok" he said, not looking away from the chess board that was in front of him.
"Can you please just look at me while we have this conversation, its really important" she said. He sighed as he roughly pushed away the board, sending pieces flying.
"You've been pretty closed off since we've been back, so let's have it. You're breaking up with me, aren't you? Going to live with your parents in Australia?" he asked.
"No Ron, Merlin, I'm trying to tell you I think I'm pregnant you ass" she said, louder than she ought to have.
Ron's mouth opened and closed like a fish that was gasping for air. He said nothing, just stayed in that stunned state.
"I uh, I have to go… somewhere" he said, jumping up and leaving her sitting there all alone.
"I should have known then" she said to herself, quietly, as she glanced around the tiny room.
"Known what?" came the voice of Ron behind her.
She spun around and almost lost her balance, steadying herself against the door frame.
"Nothing" she said as she walked past him and made her way down the stairs.
"Hermione, wait" he called.
"Sorry, I have things to be doing" she said.
"Our children are down there, cant we jut be civil, for them?" he asked.
"I am being civil, Ron" she said, standing on the landing of the third floor.
"Well, I need to warn you…" he began.
"Warn me about what?" she asked.
Before Ron could speak, Hermione had her answer.
"Ron? Ronnie? Where are you?" came the shrill voice of a blonde 20 something heading towards them up the stairs.
"You're not serious? Introducing her to your family, are you?" Hermione asked.
"I did that already. The other day. She's coming to the game" Ron said.
"Right" Hermione said, as the bimbo came into view on the stairs.
"Oh, there you are Ronnie, I couldn't find you…." She stopped as she saw Hermione and Ron standing on the stairs together. "What's this?" she asked, looking seriously concerned.
"No need to be worried sweetheart, I was just reminiscing about the time I told Ron I thought I was pregnant and he ran out on me. You can keep him" Hermione said, regretting the words as they fell from her lips. Hermione had never been this petty. Not even during the divorce, but then again, this woman hadn't been thrown in her face before either.
Hermione pulled out her phone as she trudged down the stairs, typing a text to Malfoy as she went.
H-D- Hey handsome wizard, are you coming to the game?
She hoped he would. It had been up in the air as he was flat out with a proposal for work and didn't think he would make it.
He replied almost immediately, as she found herself on the bottom floor of the house, surrounded by red haired Weasleys, unnoticed.
Her phone flashed 'out of service' and switched off, a common side effect of being around too many magical beings.
She slipped out the door and walked a short way down the path before her phone lit up and buzzed with a text notification.
D-H- I wouldn't miss it. I'll meet you at the gates.
Hermione's heart fluttered, as she pocketed her phone and headed for the door.
Inside, the conversation had turned to Ginny's previous amazing game efforts.
"I remember when Ginny bounced the quaffle off one goal post and kicked it into the other with her broken foot. Now that was a goal" George said.
"How about that time she fell off her broom and broke both her arms?" Charlie asked, laughing.
"I was pulled off, thank you" Ginny said from the bottom of the stairs.
"No, no, I have the best one… What about when Harry marched onto the field and proposed to her after the team won the National cup?" Percy asked.
"Don't remind me, that was mortifying, imagine if she had said no?" Harry asked.
"It was sweet…" Hermione began, feeling all gushy about her own new romance.
"Oh, I remember that…" came the voice of the 20 something bimbo over the crowd. "I heard about it from the 7th years at Hogwarts when I was a kid. It was the talk of the school for the whole day" she said.
The whole room went silent as they all took in the fact that, not only was Ron's new home-wrecking girlfriend there, but she was so young, that when they were all in their 20s, she was in her teens.
"Wow…" said Hermione suddenly. "I bet the news stopped you from playing with your dolls for the entire week!" Hermione said, cattiness clear in her voice.
"Hermione…" Ron began.
She turned and looked to him and raised an eyebrow.
"Yes Ron?" she answered. Everyone was watching the three of them intently.
"Jealousy does not look good on you" he said, as he put his arm around his pouting girlfriend.
Hermione just laughed at this and said, "Not even a hint of jealousy here…. Just a whole load of…." Was all she could get out before Mrs Weasley took her by the hand and removed her from the room.
Once she was in the kitchen, she thanked Molly and stood by the bench.
"I love you Hermione my girl and I know that what my Ron did was unforgivable. Bringing her here was not ideal, but you need to come to terms with this" she said.
"I have. Truly, I am happy for Ron. I wish them nothing but the best of luck in their future. I have moved on also, in fact. I just let my mouth speak before my brain has kicked in sometimes. I apologise for being that childish" she said.
"Its ok my dear, I just thought it was best to remove you before it took you to a place you'd regret later" the older witch said.
"Hahaha that was hilarious" Ginny said as she came bounding through the door. Definitely one of my top five moments from the living room" she said.
"Well, I'm not proud of myself. I sunk to a level that is far beneath me" Hermione said.
"Just wait till everyone sees who you bring to the game. I almost wish I could be there to see" she said.
"Almost?" Hermione asked, remembering her hesitation less than an hour ago in her bedroom.
"Yeah, I know now that I was just being silly" Ginny said.
"So you're keen to play today?" Hermione asked.
"Hundred per cent" she said.
x-x
AN - I am now up the the place where i am writing and uploading as i go. I am not ahead in chapters anymore, so they wont be frequent like they were in the beginning. Sorry not sorry i guess. I hope to get another chapter out today, so keep your eyes open. Hope you enjoy the game int he next chapter. Not sure how detailed to make it yet, we'll see, i guess.