"You really played your cards well, didn't you?" Ron snapped, bursting into her office and flopping into a chair opposite Hermione with the decorum of a gnat, and leaning back coolly in his seat.
"What?" She bit back harder, tearing her gaze from the paperwork on her desk when she heard to all too familiar voice and folding her arms across her chest.
"You played your cards well, ending up not only pregnant by one of the richest Wizards in the world, but you drag him in so deep that you end up shacked up with him. You've got the poor sod so tightly wrapped around your finger that he can't see the forest for the trees."
"What's that meant to mean?" Her voice was a bitter whisper, a touch of resentment laced within.
"I'm just saying that one might think it incredibly lucky that you fell pregnant to Lucius, and he moved you into his house. That's all." He shrugged.
"Are you accusing me of something, Ron?" she asked breathlessly as a baby dug an appendage into a rib.
"Well. I don't know. Seems convenient you fall pregnant to Lucius at around the same time I forget to slip a contraption into your morning juice. From someone outside looking in, it would lead one to think that perhaps you are leading Lucius along to believe that these babies are his for monetary gain."
"Why are you here, Ron?" she asked, totally ignoring his accusations.
"Because," he began, "You didn't approve my leave so I can be there when my son is born," he snapped.
"Really, Ron? You think I deal with the trivial issues of lower-level pen pushers and their leave?" She waved a dismissive hand.
"Wow. Hasn't he rubbed off on you," Ron spat venomously. "I remember the sweet and kind Hermione that would have never referred to me as a lower-level pen pusher." He slammed an open palm hard on the desk.
"I remember the sweet and kind Ron who would never waltz in here and accuse me of making a man believe I am carrying his children for his fortune, but here we are," she sniffed indignantly.
"Well, I guess we have reached a stalemate."
"Quite," she whispered bitterly. "If you have only come here to accuse me of roping Lucius in, so I stake claim to his family fortune and solely put the blame on me for not approving your leave, then I suggest you go bark up another tree, Ronald. I am not giving you the satisfaction of getting under my skin. Speak to your supervisor about you leave and worry about your own love life and not mine." She snapped with the ferocity of a rabid dog.
"It's a shame," he began, picking up a small silver dragon trinket from her desk and looking over it as if he was trying to discover if it held some dark secret, "the day you took this job was the beginning of the end of our marriage. You never knew when to quit and the same will happen to you and your newly gained lover. You think he will idly sit by whilst you put more effort into your job than your relationship?"
"No. The begging of the end was when you decided I wasn't giving you enough attention and you went off following your cock to the next hole that came along. If you were lonely, you could have gotten a dog for company. If you felt bored, you could have had a get-together with Harry. You don't just run away and find another woman to pass the time. Yes, I was sometimes absent, but I always came back to you. I never went running to a more convenient option."
"You can hardly blame me, Hermione. You chose meetings over me, you stayed at the office late over me," he said.
"You know what, it's probably a good thing you found someone who can pander to your every whim, Ronald. You were a drain on me. I couldn't even go to the next room without you coming after me and needing to know what I was doing. If there was an issue with our marriage, you should have talked to me about it instead of being a spineless twat and sliding into another woman's bed."
"Full of insults today, aren't you?" He asked, darkly.
"No. I have a low tolerance for your utter codswallop right now. I am carrying twins; my energy is it an all-time low as it is without having to exert it on arguing with you, and I am clinging to my job by the skin of my teeth. I'm not sure if you have realised or not, but the general population doesn't like it when their leader is pregnant because it shows weakness," she laughed sarcastically. "Can you believe it? Weak! I need to push two babies the size of watermelons through essentially the eye of a needle and that shows I am weak."
She slammed her palms flat on the table, causing Ron to jump slightly in his seat. "So, if you have nothing of interest in logicality to add to this conversation, I suggest you leave before I tear your head from your shoulders with my bare hands."
All the colour drained from Ron's face, and he slowly stood up to his full height and turned to leave.
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you," she said, talking to the back of his head.
Ron turned around, interested to hear what she could still have to say. "You've already dug the knife in and out several times. What else could you possibly find to insult?"
"The babies, they aren't yours. I had a test done with a Muggle doctor and she confirmed they are Lucius's children." A very cat that got the canary smile flittered across her face as she watched his face fall, "so, that means I no longer have to have anything to do with you in my life."
"And that makes you happy?" He asked with a curious, upward inflection.
"Isn't that a given?" She asked, also curious.
Shoulders rose high in a shrug. "I… I just thought maybe you would miss me, I guess. I miss you sometimes."
"Miss you?" Face flushed red and eyes narrowed, "on what earth would I miss someone like you. Someone who brought about the end of our marriage. I loved you Ron. I gave you my whole heart, and you broke me. But you know what? I must thank you for that because if you hadn't, I wouldn't have met Lucius the night in the bar, and I wouldn't be living with him. I guess that is a dagger in your side, knowing I stood tall and kept on with my life. And don't give me this missing me shit because you didn't miss me enough to keep our marriage together." Face red and nostrils flared, her eyes narrowed into harsh slits.
He knew that look and he knew not to talk back to her or he may end up with a well-aimed hex between the eyes. Instead, he turned back around and left, closing the door gently behind himself.
Sighing deeply and resting her head in her hands, she wondered how much more she could take of all this. It was clear they did not appreciate her in her line of work, and she was here only to prove a point and it was going to send her to the breaking point eventually. She was sure of that. Was all this worth the stress of a mere point? Maybe Ron was right for once in his life. What if Lucius didn't wait around whilst her stubborn streak held onto the tiny shred of dignity and hope she had left in this job?
A/N: Just a small filler chapter to hold you all over. Yes. I know that the mother dictates twins, not the father, however, for the intents and purposes of this story it is magical and happened the other way around.
-Aliasmel1
