A Huge Thank You to SunriseImagination for Betaing this story for me. You are an amazing editor and I love all your kinds words and helpful notes. She makes my story better for you guys. Definitely, go check out her and her story

Thank you to everyone that has been so patient with me on this story. I know I haven't updated in a while but I wanted to try and get something out. So here it is :)

Chapter 26

December 23rd

Monday Night

"Shite, I almost dropped that one," Rose exclaimed, the multiple grocery bags in her hands making a dull thudding noise at their landing on the kitchen countertop.

The small kitchen was bright despite the evening light. The smell of baking, food, and all kinds of warm goodies filled the kitchen Rose knew that the cookies sitting on the counter cooling off were for the kids to decorate tomorrow, but the temptation to reach out a grab one was intense.

"Language, Rose!" Molly chastised as she came into the kitchen, levitating her groceries onto the counter. "Remus is right behind me, and I don't need him hearing words like that. Heaven knows he already repeats everything he sees and hears from Albus and James."

"Sorry, Grandma," Rose replied sheepishly, "I'll be back in a second with the rest of the food."

She smiled as she ducked to avoid the objects her grandmother was propelling about the small kitchen space. As she passed through the kitchen door, she saw that Remus was indeed right there standing in the hallway. Remus motioned with his tiny hand and smiled mischievously at her, the few apples that he helped carry dropped as he did so. Rose ducked down to pick them up.

The small boy giggled and said in a triumphant whisper, "Grandma thinks I don't know the word shite."

Rose put the apple back into his hands. "Yup, so you better not let her hear you saying it or else she's going to come after me with a wooden spoon."

She ruffled the laughing boy's hair as she went, gently pushing him in the direction of the kitchen so he could deliver his apples.

The hall was warm and dim, her heavy snow boots loud on the wood. She hummed a little to herself as she walked, feeling content and happy after the past few hours. Once she and Scorpius had left the attic, she spent the rest of the day downstairs with her family, enjoying the food Molly had made and the conversation that seemed to bubble up everywhere.

She had spent most of the afternoon talking to Vic about her plans to continue her fashion dreams when Dora was a bit older. Vic had always been interested in fashionable things, and Rose knew that she could be an amazing fashion witch if she put her mind to it. Vic had often talked to Maggie, when she was in school and had even worked with her for a bit before she and Teddy got married and moved further away. Rose held Dora happily listening to Vic animatedly describe her passion so much it almost convinced her to go into fashion as well.

The time up in the attic alone had helped her rest and recharge. It was nice to relax, especially because she hadn't slept the night before. Plus, it gave her the energy to now spend time with the wonderful people in her life.

Rose pulled her gloves back on before opening the front door, not wanting her fingers to freeze in the cold December air. Time to find out what happened to the last bag of groceries.

It was dark outside. The sun had started to set while they had been driving to the store. It had been her grandmother's idea for kids to come with her to the store to pick up the last of the things that would be needed for the Christmas eve dinner tomorrow night.

The Weasleys held a Christmas Eve party for friends and family. It was an amazing event every year. The Burrow would be full of people laughing, singing, exchanging gifts, and playing games. Drinks would float around so there would always be something warm and sweet to hold. Music would play all over the house, and of course there would be enormous amounts of Molly's fantastic food.

Outside there would be tables lined up on the lawn to fit all the guests. Last year there was close to sixty people who showed up and every year more people were invited and more came to celebrate. A fire would be lit, lanterns and garlands would hang in the sky, and with the help of some heating trinkets from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the whole space would be pleasantly warm and snowless. Rose loved the event so much. It was honestly one of her favorite times of the year.

However, her thoughts were interrupted by the shouts and yells of Albus and Scorpius sounding through the night.

Looking up from where she stood on the stairs of the pouch, she saw a vision of white snow. But this wasn't snowing falling from clouds in the sky. No, this was snow that was being tossed about by two idiots covered in the stuff and all but rolling around in it.

She watched in stunned silence as the once peaceful front yard turned into a battleground. Two small walls of snow had been quickly thrown up on opposite sides of the yard and were being used as cover for the two boys as they threw snowball after snowball muggle style at each other.

Albus ducked nimbly as Scorpius threw a well-aimed ball right at his face but which landed harmlessly behind him in the snow. While he was ducking, Scorpius threw another projectile, and this one hit the unprepared Al right in the face.

"Hey!" Rose yelled after watching on for a few seconds, "what the bloody hell are you two doing?"

Startled, the boys stopped throwing snow at each other, Albus almost slipping and falling while doing so.

"Having a snowball fight, love. What does it look like we are doing?"

Scorpus, his white-blonde hair covered in snow seemed far too happy with himself.

"You guys are gonna get sick from the cold." Rose pointed out, walking down the last few steps. "Also, what happened to bringing in the rest of the groceries? I thought you'd be right behind me."

"We'll get to them, Rosie." Albus said dismissively, waving a gloved hand at her. "Me and Scor are are just trying to let off a bit of steam, yeah? Before all the craziness happening tomorrow."

Rose lifted a brow. "You're trying to let off steam before a crazy event that will practically force you to let off steam with its craziness?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess that doesn't make a lot of sense. What I mean is-"

"What he means is there was snow; we saw ammunition in the snow, so logically, to get out of bringing in the groceries, we decided snow ammo was more interesting." Scorpius grinned. "Plus, I get to pelt Potter's wimpy ass with snow while he misses all his shots. Way more entertaining."

"Hey!" Albus shouted indignantly.

Rose just shook her head as Albus went into a rant about how he had hit Scorpius at least as much. Boys. She went to the car and grabbed the last of the groceries.

"Well, have fun!' She shouted sarcastically over her shoulder as she walked across the lawn with her hands full. "Don't complain to me though when you both have a cold in the morning and have to beg grandma for healing tea.

Shaking her head again at the shouts of how that would never happen echoing behind her, Rose climbed the steps of the Burrow and stomped the snow off her feet before opening the door with one bag ladened hand.

Rose gently placed her bags on the ground and stripped of all the outerwear she had on. She left her standing there in a pair of muggle jeans and a simple knit sweater with matching fuzzy socks that had been a present for Molly years ago.

Sighing in relief, she picked up her bags and proceeded towards to kitchen wondering idly whether or not she could talk her Grandma into letting her have a cookie early.

Suddenly she heard the sound of someone flooing in coming from the study at the back of the house. She paused, barely breathing as she strained to listen. There was her mother's voice and a noise that could be her father's work boots on the wooden floors. Could it be her dad coming back from work? It was late at this point, and Rose had been secretly worried that she wouldn't be able to talk to her parents about last night's sleeping arrangement.

Deciding that it couldn't hurt to at least go see if it was her dad coming home, Rose stooped to places the bags on the ground, telling herself she'd come back for them later.

Rose felt a bit uneasy as she walked towards the less used part of the house. Never before did she have a disagreement with her parents that was so important, but she knew she had valid points to make. According to the law, they were as good as married which made them legal adults. Shouldn't this mean she could make some decisions on her own without their input?

Just because the Bond wasn't as new didn't mean she was magically healed. They were still within the first year of being Bonded, and if last night was anything to go by obviously it didn't like her being away from him that long. She needed to stand up for herself and for Scorpius. At the very least, her parents needed to hear her side.

Plus, she had concluded that she needed to stand up for herself and scorpius. At the very least, her parents needed to hear her side. Last night had been awful, and Rose needed to explain that to her parents. Just because the bond wasn't as new, she was still within the first year of being bonded, and it didn't like her being away from her partner for so long.

Besides, it wasn't like they do anything worse than say no, and Rose thought she might just have a solution for that if they did.

But her confidence that had been growing as she walked down the hall seemed to drain away completely as she heard the words being spoken inside.

~oOo~

December 23rd

Monday Night

"Your mother waited an hour for you to come to dinner."

Hermione sat behind the seat of the desk, a whiskey being gently swirled in her hand. Her eyes rested on the drink and not on the man that had just flooed into the office.

"Hermione," Ron started, sounding tired.

"Let me talk first please, Ron. I flooed you to ask if you knew about what time you would be home so we could know whether or not to wait for you for dinner. That was at five." Her voice was almost eerily calm, the methodical swirling of her cup drawing his eyes. "It's almost ten now. For five hours I've been waiting for a simple yes or no. An hour ago I tried again and your assistant said you would call me back in a minute, so I waited."

Hermione lifted her eyes from her glass, "so I'm left wondering when one minute turned into sixty for you."

"Well since you decided to disappear for the last week and have refused to talk to me, I haven't been able to tell you what's been going on at work-"

Her tired sigh interrupted his words, "I don't want to hear it-"

"Well, I am trying to explain," Ron countered, moving closer to the desk. "You asked, and I'm guessing you want a reason for me not answering."

"Actually, I would have liked you to just simply answer. But yes, I suppose an explanation would work too."

He sighed heavily thinking over what he could and couldn't say. "There's a new case the department's working on. I can't tell you everything, but you can know some of the details. We had men undercover in a rebel group who was protesting against the ministry. There was no activity, so we thought it was passive until we got a letter from our man Grey, who you know died last month. I know you were asking what happened, and I'm sorry for not telling you. I had to be careful." Ron paused, rubbing a hand down his face, wishing he could have some of the whiskey that sat on the desk but he was still on the clock. "The rebel group tortured him, and then somehow they infiltrated the ministry

The drink stilled. "That's horrible," she whispered.

"Harry took it hard," Ron muttered, starting to pace. " And since then, the ministry has been on high alert. The letter Grey sent told us some disconcerting information. That led to the raid we did recently. We managed to catch a few rebels there, but they haven't revealed anything. They were just lowly muscle men used for nothing else but moving things."

The fire danced off the office walls, and Ron traced their pattern with his eyes as he talked. "We were stuck for a while, but something happened last night that has changed a lot. Harry and I have so much to try and organize and figure out. I don't even have the time to be here right now, Hermione."

They were interrupted by the distant sound of Molly yelling at someone about bags left on the floor. She must have forgotten to place a silencing spell on the room.

"Thank you for explaining that. Listen, Ron, while I understand that this commitment is important and that you need to focus your time and energy on it, all I'm asking for right now is just a little communication between you and me. So please. If I floo you and ask something, just give Patty an answer, so I know what you are doing, and I'm not left here wondering for five hours. Also, this is the holidays. The kids barely ever see us as it is. Could you try to be here at least a little bit of the time? I understand that you will have to work overtime because of this, but I would appreciate just a bit more time spent with us. Could you do that?"

Hermione looked up as she finished talking, seeing Ron eyeing her curiously. "What?"

"That was-" Ron cleared his throat, "I mean you said that so calmly and frankly nicely."

She cracked a smile at him for the first time in what felt like forever. "Yes, well," she rose from her seat, "while I was gone, I did a lot of thinking and talking. It was good, actually. Ginny and I talked a lot about how I was feeling and what's been going on. So I have decided to take Ginny's advice, and I have found myself a therapist."

At these words, Ron's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really," Hermione said, rounding the desk to stand in front of him, "And honestly, I think in the future couples therapy could help a lot as well. But that's beside the point. What I am saying is that I am trying, Ron."

She looked up into his eyes, her own bright and golden in the firelight. "I am going to try and work on myself and my issues because I know the problems in our marriage are not just caused by one of us, and I have decided that I want to try and fix my side. It's hard, it's a learning process, but I want to become more understanding with you. I know I have been irrational, and I am sorry for that. I have my own demons I need to fight to try and help myself. But from now on, I will try. That doesn't mean I won't still mess up, but I will try and be more kind towards you. I don't want to be the nasty horrible person I was turning into, and I know the last few days I haven't been the best with you either, but it will take time, okay? Time to unlearn things and become a better person. Just try to be patient with me."

Ron looked at her for a moment, and in the small office it was like he saw the younger versions of themselves speaking to each other with respect and love. Of course, they would never be the people they once were, but this felt like a little bit of hope. A hope for a future that wasn't loneliness and sadness.

"Can I hug you?" Those were the words that finally managed to escape his dry mouth. "Please?"

A moment later, his arms were around her, his head nestled in her hair, breathing in the scent of her, of his Hermione. The stress of the last few days seemed dimmed by the gentle cautious happiness he felt. She fit against him perfectly, like her small frame was supposed to be wrapped in his arms, her head on his chest, her breath matching his.

"Thank you," he breathed, "and just know that I will do whatever you need me to help you in this, okay? And I know that this is two-sided. I can't promise anything right now, but maybe after this whole mission I can look into talking to someone as well."

Hermione nodded as she pulled back from the hug, her eyes a little wet. "I think that would be a good idea."

They looked at each other for a long moment, just looking, it was peaceful and soft. It was nice, nice to just exist with someone for a moment and have peace flow between you both.

~oOo~

December 23rd

Monday Night

At the sound of her Grandmother calling, Rose stumbled away from the study door, not wanting to be caught with her ear up against it.

Her fluffy socks stopped there from being any noise on the wood floor as she moved as quickly and softly as she could back down the hall. Then, she felt a breath of relief leave her as she heard the sound of the front door opening, and the two boys come back inside talking animatedly.

Rounding the corner of the hall and almost colliding right into Scorpius, Rose let out another curse and grabbed his wrist, pulling him hard in the direction of the stairs that would lead them away from the adults.

Scorpius said nothing at this, seeming to sense something was wrong and merely raising an eyebrow at Rose's harsh grip.

"I need to talk to you," Rose said in a hushed voice, tugging harder, making them both stumble into the living room.

A fuzzy question flowed between the couple, not sharp from the protective mental walls they both had up.

"What's wrong?"

Rose brushed it away.

"Oi! What are you two doing?" Al called, following them.

"Albus, stop following us. I need to talk to Scor alone."

"Not a chance. I want to know what's going on!"

"Well, you don't get to know, so go away."

"You can't tell me to go away. I live here too."

"We don't live here, stupid-"

"How about," Scorpius cut in, frowning at the cousins that stood bickering in the middle of the living room. "We just all go upstairs and figure this out like normal people before Molly comes in here and gets involved. Plus, Rose, I can tell what you need to say isn't really something Al can't hear, so let's not be petty and include him, okay."

While one cousin scowled at him, the other grinning, clapped him on the shoulder.

"See, Rose? Even Scor wants me to come."

"Plus-" Scorpius said as she opened her mouth, "we are both soaking wet and need to change, so Al is going to go upstairs anyway."

"Fine," Rose huffed, glaring at the smug raven-haired boy across from her, "but let's just get upstairs. This is important."

~oOo~

December 23rd

Monday Night

As the three other Gryffindors ran up the stairs to the high parts of the Burrow, they were unaware that higher still sat another lone lion.

The night sky shinned down on the figure perched on the roof, highlighting the pale coldness of his exposed skin and causing him to look deathly. Only the night heard the dry chuckle that seemed to dissipate into the cold air, vanishing as soon as it left his mouth. There was no echoing happening up here, nothing for that dull sound to bounce off of. Instead, it simply trailed off till the sound of a crackling inhale took its place.

James stared at the cigarette he held between his fingers, hating the smell and taste in his mouth, but loving it just the same for the artificial peace it brought him.

The grounds of his grandparent's back property stretched out ahead of him. From his place on the very highest point on the roof of the Burrow, James stared out at the gentle fall of the snow. He felt his frayed nerves calm, the herbs that Wizards used having a much better calming effect than the shit muggle ones.

Usually, he could go without a smoke over break. After all, it wasn't like he was addicted to the stuff. If hesmoked, it was for good reasons, primarily stressful exams or encounters. The benefits of Wizards smoke smoke made it a lot less guilt laced when he did so. But this break was different. Albus had made him so nervous and upset that he had to get away, calm down somehow, or end up in for an anxiety attack.

The problem was that James knew exactly why Albus was acting the way he was. It was obvious from the way his brother looked at him, spoke with him, treated him. How could he not?

Albus, his one brother, and even if he wouldn't admit it his best friend, knew. Knew that he was gay... and he hated him for it.

There was nothing else that it could be. James had agonized over it for hours and hours, barely getting any sleep. Nothing else made sense. Albus's sudden coldness and sometimes outright nastiness seemed to stem from nothing. He hadn't done anything that he could remember to drive Albus to this, nothing except the unthinkable.

Albus knew. The way those eyes stared at him sometimes was like all trust and love was gone, like there was a hurt that even he didn't understand.

He had never asked his brother what his thoughts on homosexuals were before. He had always been too afraid of the answer.

He let out another choked chuckle. Well, he knew what he thought now. His worst fear was coming true, that his family would find out and hate him for it.

Even though he tried not to let it affect him, not to let it hurt him, the pain was there anyway. His brother didn't accept him. This part of him that was who he was as a person was rejected, and if Albus didn't accept him, would the rest of his family?

The cold stung his face as a hot tear rolled down and James felt a weight settle on his shoulders that no amount of smoking could lift.

Still, he took another drag as the tears fell.