A/N: First of all, if you haven't already read the rewrite of Chapter four,
GET ON IT! I did very poorly with the original chapter, and I'm embarrassed
that I even posted it. I think it's much better now, and I hope that
everyone reads it and tells me what they think of the new version.
Second of all, thanks to all of my reviewers, but 50 house points to Athene, with whom I completely agree on all the things she brought up. Even though there is some OOC-ness and things that wouldn't happen, I wrote this fic for a few specific reasons which I listed after the chapter.
Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I hate you."
Hermione sobbed and nodded, "I know."
"No!" Ron yelled, standing up from the couch. "You don't know! How could you possibly know how it feels to find out the two people you trust above anyone else in the world have been lying to you for seven years!?"
"Just...Just calm down, Ron, please!"
"No! After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me!? I took the Cruciatus Curse for you. I barfed up *slugs*--for you! And you, you hide my own child from me for years, and you tell my own mother! I mean, what's wrong with you!? You, you're sick!"
"Maybe I was trying to do what was best for my child! Did you ever think of that!?" Hermione rose to meet Ron level although she was still several inches shorter than him.
"What was best!? Giving him a father! That's what's best for a child!"
"Don't you think I thought of-"
"Obviously you didn't think en-"
Their voices crescendoed; their words lost in the noise until a small whimper of, "Mommy," brought them to silence.
They stopped and looked to the corner of the room where a small, freckle- faced boy in bright orange pajamas stood, his lower lip trembling.
Hermione sighed and beckoned him with her hand. He ran to her, and with a bit of effort, Hermione managed to lift him. He wrapped his legs and arms around her as she looked at Ron and said, "*This* is why I never came back."
She turned and headed out of the room, and Ron could see Harry crying on her shoulder. He suddenly felt a tug, a twinge, a pang at his heart. He had made his son cry. By simply engaging in an activity that he had taken part in hundreds of times before, he had scared the person that he wanted love from more than anyone else.
He fell onto the couch and picked up the book Hermione had been reading before he had showed up. It was titled Muggle Schools & the Magical Child. He flipped to the page she had bookmarked. It fell open easily, as if it had been turned to hundreds of times before. The chapter was labeled, "Handling Uncontrolled Magical Outbursts."
Ron sighed, thinking of all the things that Hermione had to manage as a young, single mother. Even though he still held a hard grudge towards her for keeping Harry from him, he was beginning to see her motives.
Hermione returned to the room and took her place on the couch beside Ron. He looked up at her and said, "I'm so stupid Hermione, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."
"No, Ron," she put her hand on his, "you had every right. I did a terrible thing to you, and," she paused, taking a deep breath, "I'm sorry."
Ron nodded, "I can't forgive you yet. I don't know if I'll ever be able to, but I'm starting see where you're coming from and why you did what you did. I still have a few questions, though."
"Go on."
"First of all, what happened with my mother? How did you get her to not tell anyone, and what did she do to you when you told her?"
Hermione smiled wearily, "Well, first, there were the Howlers. She sent me one everyday for two weeks. To her, I was the 'scarlet woman who corrupted her son.' She was so angry. I knew she was doing what she thought was best, but I wasn't ready. I needed time. Ron, our relationship has never been the best, and with our best friend gone, I couldn't handle it. I knew I'd be ready eventually. I told your mum every time I wrote that I'd be back soon, and I'd tell you then. We both agreed that it would be best if I told you about the baby myself. I planned on coming back right after he was born. I wanted to be back for the anniversary of Harry's death. But *our* little Harry was two weeks late," Hermione continued, "born on the day I dreaded."
"May 31st," Ron murmured.
"Anyway, after that, I got settled. When I should have been making plans to return, I was making plans to go to Healer training in the autumn. I told your mother I was only going to do it for a little while, then I'd come back and tell you. Unfortunately, I never made it."
"I understand," Ron said quietly. "I have another question, though."
"Ask away."
"Today, this afternoon..."
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you tell me about him then? Why did I have to pry it from you?"
"Oh, God, Ron, I love him so much. I didn't want to lose him, and I didn't want you to hurt him. I love Harry more than anything in the entire world- Anything. When I was with you today, instead of thinking, 'finally, Harry'll have his father,' I thought, 'what if his father wants to take him away from me? What if his father doesn't love him the way he should? What if his father doesn't want him?'"
"How could you think that!?" Ron interrupted, his voice clearly showing his pain. "When I saw him, I thought my heart would burst. I can't imagine loving anything more than I love him and I've only known him for a few hours!" He paused, catching his breath. "But you know what? You're right. I do want to take him away. Not away from you, but I have to go back in a week. What am I going to do? I can't live without him now."
"It's okay, Ron, we'll figure out some sort of arrangement. You'll spend this week with him then when you go back, he'll...we'll...you'll...well, I'm not sure yet but, we can talk about it with Harry before you leave."
Ron ran a hand through his hair, leaning back onto the couch. "I feel so cheated," he said softly. "I've missed everything in my little boy's life. Everything, Hermione, everything. Can you even imagine how that feels?"
Hermione shook her head and sniffed, "No. I really can't. I just, I made so many mistakes, Ron. I don't think I can ever make it up to you."
"I don't think you can, either. Just, just tell me about him. What was he like when he was little?"
Hermione smiled. "Hold on a moment." She pulled out her wand and said, "Accio Photo Albums."
A large cardboard box glided out of Hermione's bedroom and onto the couch beside her. She opened the top, pulled out a large baby-blue scrapbook, and handed it to a very excited Ron. The cover declared that it was "Harry's Baby Book." Ron hesitated a moment before opening it.
"Go on," Hermione urged.
Ron slowly opened the Album. In the center of the page there was a large picture of him and Hermione that he recognized from New Year's Eve of their seventh year. Hermione had one hand on his chest and was waving with the other. He had his arms around her waist and seemed completely oblivious to the camera. Below the picture was a caption that read, "Harry's Parents, Ron and Hermione."
He turned the page to see a very pink, very wrinkly, and very naked newborn squirming around on what appeared to be a scale. His little mouth was open and Ron was sure that if photographs had sound, his ear drums would be shot. The caption said, "Harry Arthur Granger: May 31, 1999: 9 lbs 12 oz, 22 inches long."
Hermione sighed, "I guess its Weasley, now."
"Yeah," Ron murmered, clearly not paying attention, "He's so small."
Hermione chuckled, "That's actually *quite* large for a baby. Trust me."
"Hmm... I never understood American measurements. How big was he?"
"About... fifty-five or sixty centimeters. "
Ron smiled proudly. "That's my boy."
They continued past Harry's first solid foods, first teeth, and first steps. (Hermione had a little anecdote to go with each one.) Ron stopped at Harry's first word. There was a picture of Harry wearing denim dungarees, his orange hair glowing, babbling what seemed to be gibberish. That caption claimed that the word was "Mummy."
"It's not true," Hermione said as Ron looked over the page.
"What's not true?"
"His first word; it wasn't 'Mummy.'"
"What was it then?"
"Da-won."
Ron looked at her like she was crazy.
"It's a combination of 'dad' and 'Ron,' I think," she explained. "I always showed him pictures of you. I wanted him to know who his father was. I told him you were his daddy and that you were Ron. One day he just pointed your photograph and said, 'Da-won.' He called me 'Mummy' the about a week later and since not only was 'Da-won' difficult to explain, but I felt guilty just thinking about it, I left it at 'Mummy.'"
Ron felt tears spring to his eyes. So, Harry had always known who his dad was, even if he didn't know him personally.
They finished looking at the baby books and moved onto later albums. They flipped through pictures of Harry going to school, Harry's kindergarten graduation, Harry on a broomstick, and Harry playing with a blond-haired, blue-eyed man that Ron could only describe as a "pretty boy."
"Who the hell is that?" Ron asked, clearly jealous.
"Oh, Albert," Hermione replied nonchalantly, "he's just a Bulgarian Quiddich player I had a fling with."
"EXCUSE ME?!?" Ron coughed incredulously.
Hermione burst out laughing. "I'm kidding, Ron. He works with me at the hospital. He was my boyfriend for about a year. He even asked me to marry him, but I turned him down."
"Oh," Ron said, trying to act as if it didn't bother him. "Why?"
"I didn't love him."
Ron simply nodded feeling surprisingly happy at Hermione's small remark.
Ron closed the album he was looking and fished to the bottom of the box, where he found one that looked vaguely familiar. He flipped to a page in the middle to see a photo of a wedding that, judging by the awful hair and clothing, took place in the seventies. Though the redheaded bride and her black haired groom reminded Ron of an old friend, the only person he truly recognized was the best man--Sirius Black. "This is Harry's parents!" Ron exclaimed. "Where did you get this?"
Hermione leaned over from the scrapbook she was looking at. "That? Oh, Harry left all of his books to me and I guess this got mixed up in them. Why do you ask?"
"Ginny's been looking for this for years."
"You can take it home to her, if you'd like," Hermione offered.
"Yeah, I think I will." Ron gazed at the picture. "It truly was a beautiful wedding."
"I know." Hermione scooted closer to get a better view. "I hope my wedding is as wonderful as that."
"Me too." They looked up at each other at the exact same moment. Their lips were inches apart and they could feel the other's breaths on their mouth.
"You should go," Hermione whispered.
Ron shook himself and stood up. "You're right. I'll be back around 9 tomorrow if that's okay."
"Yeah, great."
Ron disapparated instantly.
~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Six days later, Ron sat on a tiny bed, with a six-year-old attached to his neck. "Harry," he said, "I need to go."
"NO!" Harry shouted.
"It won't be that long before I see you again. Just 21 days. That's only three weeks."
"Can't I go with you, Daddy?" Harry whined.
"You have to go school and get good grades to make your mum and I proud." Ron rubbed his son's back.
Harry started crying into Ron shoulder and Ron couldn't help but cry along with him. "I wanna.go.with.YOU!!!" He wailed.
"Hey, Harr," Ron sniffed, "I want you to come with me as much as you do, but you just can't. I promise we'll be together before you know it." He felt Harry nod into his shoulder and loosen his grip around Ron's neck. Ron pulled Harry's hands to his sides and watched him lay down in his bed. "I love you, Harry," he said softly.
Harry yawned, "I love you, too, Dad."
Ron stood up and flipped the light out. He closed the door and padded to Hermione's bedroom. He lightly rapped on the door.
"Come in!" Hermione called.
Ron opened the door slowly to see Hermione furiously writing something at her desk. "Umm, Hermione," he said. She said nothing and didn't look up. "I...er.got you something,a long time ago, for your 18th birthday," he chuckled. "It originally had a question to go with it, but, you know, things change. I would have returned it, but it's engraved so, I'll just leave it on your dresser. See you at Christmas. Bye."
"Goodbye, Ron," Hermione still didn't look up. Ron walked slowly out the door, and after she heard him disapparate, she let out a choked sob. She spun around in her chair and glanced at her dresser. Sitting on the top was a small, black-velvet box.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N2: If you're content with this story, please take a moment to leave a review. If not, please read on.
I wrote this story for a few reasons. Mainly, I've read WAY too many fics where Harry leaves Ginny to go fight Voldemort or be an Auror (or any reason similar to that) and when he come's back there's a little boy named James, they have wild, unprotected sex, and everything is Happy-go-lucky. While I have thoroughly enjoyed all except one of these fics (which I will not name), I felt that there should be a fic where the parents split up because things change and people change. I had to think of which characters would be likely to break up because of this, and since Harry doesn't seem like the type to have a relationship with someone who will get so pissed that she would need to walk out or he himself would leave, I decided to have the couple be the ever fighting, ever feisty pair, Ron and Hermione. I felt guilty about having Ron leave Hermione single and with a child, so I made Hermione be the one who left, not out of fear but because she thought she was done with her relationship with Ron. As for the whole, "Mrs. Weasley knows thing," sure, it's OOC, but it makes for good angst. Having said that, please leave a review, and flames are accepted but not welcomed.
-OfTheWest
Second of all, thanks to all of my reviewers, but 50 house points to Athene, with whom I completely agree on all the things she brought up. Even though there is some OOC-ness and things that wouldn't happen, I wrote this fic for a few specific reasons which I listed after the chapter.
Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I hate you."
Hermione sobbed and nodded, "I know."
"No!" Ron yelled, standing up from the couch. "You don't know! How could you possibly know how it feels to find out the two people you trust above anyone else in the world have been lying to you for seven years!?"
"Just...Just calm down, Ron, please!"
"No! After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me!? I took the Cruciatus Curse for you. I barfed up *slugs*--for you! And you, you hide my own child from me for years, and you tell my own mother! I mean, what's wrong with you!? You, you're sick!"
"Maybe I was trying to do what was best for my child! Did you ever think of that!?" Hermione rose to meet Ron level although she was still several inches shorter than him.
"What was best!? Giving him a father! That's what's best for a child!"
"Don't you think I thought of-"
"Obviously you didn't think en-"
Their voices crescendoed; their words lost in the noise until a small whimper of, "Mommy," brought them to silence.
They stopped and looked to the corner of the room where a small, freckle- faced boy in bright orange pajamas stood, his lower lip trembling.
Hermione sighed and beckoned him with her hand. He ran to her, and with a bit of effort, Hermione managed to lift him. He wrapped his legs and arms around her as she looked at Ron and said, "*This* is why I never came back."
She turned and headed out of the room, and Ron could see Harry crying on her shoulder. He suddenly felt a tug, a twinge, a pang at his heart. He had made his son cry. By simply engaging in an activity that he had taken part in hundreds of times before, he had scared the person that he wanted love from more than anyone else.
He fell onto the couch and picked up the book Hermione had been reading before he had showed up. It was titled Muggle Schools & the Magical Child. He flipped to the page she had bookmarked. It fell open easily, as if it had been turned to hundreds of times before. The chapter was labeled, "Handling Uncontrolled Magical Outbursts."
Ron sighed, thinking of all the things that Hermione had to manage as a young, single mother. Even though he still held a hard grudge towards her for keeping Harry from him, he was beginning to see her motives.
Hermione returned to the room and took her place on the couch beside Ron. He looked up at her and said, "I'm so stupid Hermione, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."
"No, Ron," she put her hand on his, "you had every right. I did a terrible thing to you, and," she paused, taking a deep breath, "I'm sorry."
Ron nodded, "I can't forgive you yet. I don't know if I'll ever be able to, but I'm starting see where you're coming from and why you did what you did. I still have a few questions, though."
"Go on."
"First of all, what happened with my mother? How did you get her to not tell anyone, and what did she do to you when you told her?"
Hermione smiled wearily, "Well, first, there were the Howlers. She sent me one everyday for two weeks. To her, I was the 'scarlet woman who corrupted her son.' She was so angry. I knew she was doing what she thought was best, but I wasn't ready. I needed time. Ron, our relationship has never been the best, and with our best friend gone, I couldn't handle it. I knew I'd be ready eventually. I told your mum every time I wrote that I'd be back soon, and I'd tell you then. We both agreed that it would be best if I told you about the baby myself. I planned on coming back right after he was born. I wanted to be back for the anniversary of Harry's death. But *our* little Harry was two weeks late," Hermione continued, "born on the day I dreaded."
"May 31st," Ron murmured.
"Anyway, after that, I got settled. When I should have been making plans to return, I was making plans to go to Healer training in the autumn. I told your mother I was only going to do it for a little while, then I'd come back and tell you. Unfortunately, I never made it."
"I understand," Ron said quietly. "I have another question, though."
"Ask away."
"Today, this afternoon..."
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you tell me about him then? Why did I have to pry it from you?"
"Oh, God, Ron, I love him so much. I didn't want to lose him, and I didn't want you to hurt him. I love Harry more than anything in the entire world- Anything. When I was with you today, instead of thinking, 'finally, Harry'll have his father,' I thought, 'what if his father wants to take him away from me? What if his father doesn't love him the way he should? What if his father doesn't want him?'"
"How could you think that!?" Ron interrupted, his voice clearly showing his pain. "When I saw him, I thought my heart would burst. I can't imagine loving anything more than I love him and I've only known him for a few hours!" He paused, catching his breath. "But you know what? You're right. I do want to take him away. Not away from you, but I have to go back in a week. What am I going to do? I can't live without him now."
"It's okay, Ron, we'll figure out some sort of arrangement. You'll spend this week with him then when you go back, he'll...we'll...you'll...well, I'm not sure yet but, we can talk about it with Harry before you leave."
Ron ran a hand through his hair, leaning back onto the couch. "I feel so cheated," he said softly. "I've missed everything in my little boy's life. Everything, Hermione, everything. Can you even imagine how that feels?"
Hermione shook her head and sniffed, "No. I really can't. I just, I made so many mistakes, Ron. I don't think I can ever make it up to you."
"I don't think you can, either. Just, just tell me about him. What was he like when he was little?"
Hermione smiled. "Hold on a moment." She pulled out her wand and said, "Accio Photo Albums."
A large cardboard box glided out of Hermione's bedroom and onto the couch beside her. She opened the top, pulled out a large baby-blue scrapbook, and handed it to a very excited Ron. The cover declared that it was "Harry's Baby Book." Ron hesitated a moment before opening it.
"Go on," Hermione urged.
Ron slowly opened the Album. In the center of the page there was a large picture of him and Hermione that he recognized from New Year's Eve of their seventh year. Hermione had one hand on his chest and was waving with the other. He had his arms around her waist and seemed completely oblivious to the camera. Below the picture was a caption that read, "Harry's Parents, Ron and Hermione."
He turned the page to see a very pink, very wrinkly, and very naked newborn squirming around on what appeared to be a scale. His little mouth was open and Ron was sure that if photographs had sound, his ear drums would be shot. The caption said, "Harry Arthur Granger: May 31, 1999: 9 lbs 12 oz, 22 inches long."
Hermione sighed, "I guess its Weasley, now."
"Yeah," Ron murmered, clearly not paying attention, "He's so small."
Hermione chuckled, "That's actually *quite* large for a baby. Trust me."
"Hmm... I never understood American measurements. How big was he?"
"About... fifty-five or sixty centimeters. "
Ron smiled proudly. "That's my boy."
They continued past Harry's first solid foods, first teeth, and first steps. (Hermione had a little anecdote to go with each one.) Ron stopped at Harry's first word. There was a picture of Harry wearing denim dungarees, his orange hair glowing, babbling what seemed to be gibberish. That caption claimed that the word was "Mummy."
"It's not true," Hermione said as Ron looked over the page.
"What's not true?"
"His first word; it wasn't 'Mummy.'"
"What was it then?"
"Da-won."
Ron looked at her like she was crazy.
"It's a combination of 'dad' and 'Ron,' I think," she explained. "I always showed him pictures of you. I wanted him to know who his father was. I told him you were his daddy and that you were Ron. One day he just pointed your photograph and said, 'Da-won.' He called me 'Mummy' the about a week later and since not only was 'Da-won' difficult to explain, but I felt guilty just thinking about it, I left it at 'Mummy.'"
Ron felt tears spring to his eyes. So, Harry had always known who his dad was, even if he didn't know him personally.
They finished looking at the baby books and moved onto later albums. They flipped through pictures of Harry going to school, Harry's kindergarten graduation, Harry on a broomstick, and Harry playing with a blond-haired, blue-eyed man that Ron could only describe as a "pretty boy."
"Who the hell is that?" Ron asked, clearly jealous.
"Oh, Albert," Hermione replied nonchalantly, "he's just a Bulgarian Quiddich player I had a fling with."
"EXCUSE ME?!?" Ron coughed incredulously.
Hermione burst out laughing. "I'm kidding, Ron. He works with me at the hospital. He was my boyfriend for about a year. He even asked me to marry him, but I turned him down."
"Oh," Ron said, trying to act as if it didn't bother him. "Why?"
"I didn't love him."
Ron simply nodded feeling surprisingly happy at Hermione's small remark.
Ron closed the album he was looking and fished to the bottom of the box, where he found one that looked vaguely familiar. He flipped to a page in the middle to see a photo of a wedding that, judging by the awful hair and clothing, took place in the seventies. Though the redheaded bride and her black haired groom reminded Ron of an old friend, the only person he truly recognized was the best man--Sirius Black. "This is Harry's parents!" Ron exclaimed. "Where did you get this?"
Hermione leaned over from the scrapbook she was looking at. "That? Oh, Harry left all of his books to me and I guess this got mixed up in them. Why do you ask?"
"Ginny's been looking for this for years."
"You can take it home to her, if you'd like," Hermione offered.
"Yeah, I think I will." Ron gazed at the picture. "It truly was a beautiful wedding."
"I know." Hermione scooted closer to get a better view. "I hope my wedding is as wonderful as that."
"Me too." They looked up at each other at the exact same moment. Their lips were inches apart and they could feel the other's breaths on their mouth.
"You should go," Hermione whispered.
Ron shook himself and stood up. "You're right. I'll be back around 9 tomorrow if that's okay."
"Yeah, great."
Ron disapparated instantly.
~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Six days later, Ron sat on a tiny bed, with a six-year-old attached to his neck. "Harry," he said, "I need to go."
"NO!" Harry shouted.
"It won't be that long before I see you again. Just 21 days. That's only three weeks."
"Can't I go with you, Daddy?" Harry whined.
"You have to go school and get good grades to make your mum and I proud." Ron rubbed his son's back.
Harry started crying into Ron shoulder and Ron couldn't help but cry along with him. "I wanna.go.with.YOU!!!" He wailed.
"Hey, Harr," Ron sniffed, "I want you to come with me as much as you do, but you just can't. I promise we'll be together before you know it." He felt Harry nod into his shoulder and loosen his grip around Ron's neck. Ron pulled Harry's hands to his sides and watched him lay down in his bed. "I love you, Harry," he said softly.
Harry yawned, "I love you, too, Dad."
Ron stood up and flipped the light out. He closed the door and padded to Hermione's bedroom. He lightly rapped on the door.
"Come in!" Hermione called.
Ron opened the door slowly to see Hermione furiously writing something at her desk. "Umm, Hermione," he said. She said nothing and didn't look up. "I...er.got you something,a long time ago, for your 18th birthday," he chuckled. "It originally had a question to go with it, but, you know, things change. I would have returned it, but it's engraved so, I'll just leave it on your dresser. See you at Christmas. Bye."
"Goodbye, Ron," Hermione still didn't look up. Ron walked slowly out the door, and after she heard him disapparate, she let out a choked sob. She spun around in her chair and glanced at her dresser. Sitting on the top was a small, black-velvet box.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N2: If you're content with this story, please take a moment to leave a review. If not, please read on.
I wrote this story for a few reasons. Mainly, I've read WAY too many fics where Harry leaves Ginny to go fight Voldemort or be an Auror (or any reason similar to that) and when he come's back there's a little boy named James, they have wild, unprotected sex, and everything is Happy-go-lucky. While I have thoroughly enjoyed all except one of these fics (which I will not name), I felt that there should be a fic where the parents split up because things change and people change. I had to think of which characters would be likely to break up because of this, and since Harry doesn't seem like the type to have a relationship with someone who will get so pissed that she would need to walk out or he himself would leave, I decided to have the couple be the ever fighting, ever feisty pair, Ron and Hermione. I felt guilty about having Ron leave Hermione single and with a child, so I made Hermione be the one who left, not out of fear but because she thought she was done with her relationship with Ron. As for the whole, "Mrs. Weasley knows thing," sure, it's OOC, but it makes for good angst. Having said that, please leave a review, and flames are accepted but not welcomed.
-OfTheWest