A/N - Welcome to my new reunion story – Golden Days. This story has 8 chapters, and I will be publishing one a week on a Tuesday. I hope you all enjoy this story, and hopefully by the end of it, I will have news of more finished stories.
"Fifty years," Harry Potter remarked with a low whistle, smiling at his parents-in-law, Molly and Arthur Weasley. "That is some achievement."
"It doesn't feel like one," Arthur replied with a shrug. "Everyone is going on as though we've had some big battle to reach this point, but in reality, we haven't. On a whole our marriage has been plain sailing."
"And what troubles we have had were external, not internal," Molly added. "Not once in that time have I ever felt as though our marriage was in trouble."
"It never has been," Arthur confirmed, smiling at his wife. "We've been blissfully happy for fifty years."
"More if you count the years we were together at Hogwarts before we married," Molly pointed out.
"I still think you're an inspiration," Harry said. "And I think your fifty years together needs to be celebrated."
"Why do I get the feeling you've already got something up your sleeves?" Molly asked, glancing between her son-in-law and her only daughter, Ginny, who was sitting beside Harry with a devious grin on her face.
"I've been talking to the others, and we all agree we need to celebrate this anniversary," Ginny began. "We were thinking of sending you off on holiday, but before that, we think you should have a party."
"A party?" Arthur questioned dubiously. "I don't know about that, Ginny. Your mother and I are hardly party people."
"You're not entirely over the hill you know," Ginny snorted. Her parents may have been nearing seventy, but in wizarding terms that wasn't too old and they still had plenty of life in them yet.
"And it doesn't have to be a big party," Harry added. "We just thought it would be nice for you to celebrate with all your friends and family."
"But not all the family will be there," Molly remarked with a sigh.
"Fred will be with us in spirit," Ginny said, reaching across the table to grasp her mother's hand. "You know he would have urged you to have a party. George was certainly keen, and they were always in sync."
"I wasn't actually talking about Fred," Molly admitted. "Even though he's gone, I often feel his spirit with us. I was thinking about Ron."
At the mention of Ron's name, Harry and Ginny exchanged a look. Technically Ron was not estranged from the family, but contact with him was sporadic. It had been well over ten years since he'd left Wizarding Britain to supposedly find himself a place in the world, but in that time he hadn't seemed to settle down. He seemed to live a nomadic existence and more often than not when he did get in touch he was in a totally different country than when he'd last made contact. However, over the years he had put in the odd appearance at family occasions like weddings. But whenever the subject of him staying put was mentioned, he insisted his life was outside of Wizarding Britain and he hurried back to his travellers life.
"Actually, he's agreed to come to the party," Ginny said. "I sent him an owl, and he's promised to come home."
"Just for the party, or for good?" Molly asked, unable to stop herself from getting her hopes up that her youngest son might return to them. Even Charlie visited more often than Ron these days, and his life had been in Romania for years.
"The party was all we talked about," Ginny admitted. "You can't push him, Mum. If he wants to come home then he will do. But if he wants to keep travelling then there's nothing we can do to stop him."
"I guess," Molly sighed in defeat. "I just wish he hadn't felt the need to run away. Other people cope with a broken relationship without abandoning their life."
"Ron never could deal with rejection," Ginny pointed out. "Even when he admitted that he could see that he and Hermione wouldn't have worked, part of him still thought of her as the one that got away."
"And then we all know how badly he handled her moving on," Harry said, wincing at the mere memory of the fuss Ron had caused when Hermione had moved on with another wizard six months after their break-up.
"He was never going to like her moving on," Molly conceded. "But it was who she moved on with that proved too hard for him to handle."
"I don't see why," Harry snorted. "We'd all moved on from the war long before Hermione started dating Draco. He'd long since proved himself to have changed. And quite honestly if Hermione could move beyond the past, then so could everyone else."
"True," Molly agreed with a nod. "No-one expected Hermione to end up with a Malfoy, but its been the best thing for her. She and Ron would never have been as happy as she is with her husband."
"And ultimately, I think that was Ron's major problem," Harry remarked. "He didn't like anyone else being with Hermione, least of all Draco. But I think the breaking point came when he realised that she was happier with Draco then she'd ever been with him. It must hurt when you realise the person you love is better suited to someone else, and that they can make them happier than you can."
"I'm sure it did hurt at the time, but running wasn't the answer," Arthur said. "It hasn't changed anything. Hermione is still with Draco, and they're still as happy as ever. All Ron did was leave the support of his family and land himself with a lifetime of solitude."
"It was his choice," Ginny said with an unsympathetic shrug. "No-one forced him to leave, and no-one is forcing him to stay away. He knows we're all here for him if he ever chooses to come home. But at least he's going to return for the party."
"I guess that's something," Molly said with a smile. "It'll be nice to have the whole family together again. It's been so long since we've all been together."
"It has," Arthur agreed, squeezing his wife's hand. "I just hope Ron doesn't cause trouble. He does know that Hermione is still classed as part of the family, doesn't he? I don't want our party to descend into chaos due to clashes between the people we love."
"Don't worry, Ron knows the score," Ginny assured her parents. "Don't forget he's been back often enough to know that Hermione and Draco are still together."
"But I'll have a quiet word with him when he gets here. I'll make sure there's no trouble," Harry promised, little realising that there would be nothing he could do about the trouble that was going to kick off at the Weasleys anniversary party.
When Ron Weasley had received a letter from his sister informing him of the party his siblings were planning on throwing for their parents anniversary there had never been any doubt that he would attend the party. Despite the fact he no longer lived in the same country as most of his family, and the fact his contact with them wasn't as regular as it could have been, they were still his family and there was never any question about Ron not being there for his parents as they celebrated such a huge milestone in their life.
However, as Ron arrived back in Wizarding Britain he was reminded of all the reasons he'd chosen to leave his past life behind. While he was travelling and seeking new adventures on a daily basis, it was easy to forget his past. But back among the familiar sights of home the memories seemed fresh in his mind, and his heartbreak seemed much more painful. It was impossible for Ron to be in Wizarding Britain without thinking about the love of his life, Hermione Granger.
Ron didn't know exactly when his feelings for Hermione had changed from friendship to more, but he did know that the spark that had changed things between them forever had occurred in the midst of the war, actually on the day of the final battle of Hogwarts. Of course the battle itself and then dealing with the outcome took precedence, but when the dust had settled his relationship with Hermione had entered a new phase.
For two years Ron could confidently say they were happy together. The first of those years they mainly spent apart as Hermione had been up in Scotland taking the final year of schooling they'd missed during the war, while he was in Auror training with Harry. But the second year they had spent together as they'd moved in together and basked in the first flushes of their romance. But then the third year of their relationship hit, and with it arrived all the problems Ron hadn't wanted to admit existed between them.
After two years of being totally in sync and seemingly wanting the same thing, things started to unravel as their differences began to make themselves clear. While Ron had been content with the domestic life they'd made for themselves, Hermione had wanted more. She hadn't been ready to settle down and be nothing more than a wife and a mother. Firstly, she'd wanted a career she could be proud of, and secondly she wanted some fun and excitement in her life. And while Ron was all for fun and excitement, his idea of a good time varied greatly from Hermione's. Hermione wanted to travel and explore the world in their free time, whereas Ron would have been happier attending a quidditch match.
Although another bone of contention between them had been Hermione's career. Ron had always known that Hermione was ambitious, but it wasn't until she started working at the Ministry that he'd realised that her career was going to go further than his. From early on it had been clear that Hermione was destined for great things, while realistically Ron knew that the best he could have hoped for was to be considered a good Auror. He hadn't even thought he would make Head Auror as that position would have been likely to go to Harry rather than him. So Ron had been left knowing that within a few years Hermione's star would have totally eclipse his and he would have to learn to live in her shadow.
To be honest, Ron had now grown up enough to admit that he hadn't been mature enough to deal with Hermione's success, and that he would never have coped with a wife who was more successful than he was. Even now it shamed him to admit that he still couldn't handle having a wife who was smarter than him and higher up the career ladder. If he and Hermione had stayed together he was fairly sure he would deeply resent her and her success by now.
Fortunately they weren't still together, and Ron didn't resent her anything. In fact he hoped she was every bit as successful as he'd always imagined her to be, and he hoped she was happy with her life. He just wished that part of him didn't still love her, and he especially wished that she'd ended up with anyone other than Draco sodding Malfoy. To be honest if Hermione had ended up with anyone else he would have been happy for her, but even after all this time it still stuck in his throat that not only had she ended up with Draco Malfoy, but she was happier with him than she'd ever been, or was ever likely to be, with him.
"Sodding Malfoy," Ron spat, shaking his head to dispel thoughts of the Slytherin from his mind.
Deciding that he could do with a drink before he met Harry, Ron nipped into the nearest pub and grabbed himself a couple of quick drinks. He then headed off to meet his brother-in-law and the pair headed back to Harry's house, where Ron would be staying for the duration of his visit.
"I need to have a word," Harry said uneasily as he hovered in the doorway of the guest room while Ron started to unpack.
"Shoot," Ron said, sitting down on the bed and giving Harry his full attention.
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way, Ron," Harry began cautiously. "But it's about Hermione."
"Let's guess, you're going to warn me to be on my best behaviour," Ron predicted with a snort. "Don't worry Harry, I won't ruin things for Mum and Dad."
"I didn't think you would, but I had to be sure," Harry replied with a relieved sigh. "I know how hard you find it being around Hermione and Draco."
"So she's still with the blond git then?" Ron remarked, even though he knew full well that someone would have mentioned it if Hermione had split from Draco in the few letters he did exchange with his family.
"She's still with him," Harry confirmed. "And before you ask, they're still very happy together."
"I guessed so," Ron muttered bitterly. "And the kid? He'll be at Hogwarts now, is he?"
It had actually been the birth of Hermione's son that had finally prompted Ron to leave the country. He hadn't been able to stand seeing Draco Malfoy get the family he'd always imagined would be his, so he'd left and had never actually set eyes on Hermione's son. Although he knew he'd been given a name in keeping with the Black tradition, and he also knew that he had at least one sister born a few years after himself.
"Scorpius," Harry said, smiling at the thought of his godson who looked exactly like his father, but was as opinionated and strong willed as his mother. "He's in Slytherin."
"Typical Malfoy," Ron snorted.
"And that is just the thing people are worried about," Harry pointed out. "You can't take your dislike of Draco out on Scorpius. He's just a boy. It's not his fault things didn't work out with you and Hermione."
"I know," Ron admitted with a sigh. "And you don't have to worry about me. I will be nothing but polite to the whole family. I don't want to ruin Mum and Dad's big day. Besides, as much as it pains me to see her with Malfoy, I know that Hermione is happy and that's all I ever wanted for her. I'm not going to cause trouble."
"Good," Harry replied with a smile. "I'll leave you to get settled in. I'm pleased you're here Ron, it's good to see you."
"It's good to be here," Ron returned, genuinely happy to be staying with Harry and Ginny for a few days.
He would rather his visit didn't involve seeing the Malfoys, but that was impossible, so he was determined not to let it spoil his visit. He was determined not to give Hermione's husband another thought for as long as he was in Wizarding Britain. But little did Ron know that it would soon be impossible to ignore Draco and within twenty four hours the former Slytherin would be the only thing he could think about.