So this chapter isn't necessarily needed to get the gist of the story, but I wrote half of it and decided to finish it sooooo anyway here it is! (& it's massive)
Trigger warning for being freaking sad and also for blood.
Thanks again to Cheesy for the beta! (cheesyficwriter) She's amazing!
I hope you enjoy this, and some parts you probably will...but :(
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Ron stepped out of his fireplace around 4PM, a small package of cinnamon donuts clutched tightly in his hand. Hermione had been fiercely craving them lately, so he had stopped at the small shop near the ministry after work before making the trip home. The house was dark and eerily quiet as he looked around, but Hermione didn't seem to be anywhere downstairs. He made his way upstairs but tried to do so quietly, just in case she was asleep, as he knew that she hadn't been sleeping well lately.
The pregnancy had been tough. The first trimester had left Hermione violently ill, and she had lost weight rather than gained it. There had only been so much that could be done about that though, as far as magic or muggle solutions were concerned. Hermione had originally planned to work all the way up until delivery, but she had gotten too sick and had to take her leave many months earlier than expected. She had panicked about this, apologizing to Ron for the fact that he would be the only one who was bringing in an income even though he had repeatedly reassured her that he was fine with it. Even though they had to be a bit more frugal than usual lately, he really was fine with her not working, his main concern being that her and their baby were healthy. Fortunately now that she was in the third trimester, she had been able to work some from home on the days that she could stomach it, and this had made her feel much better about being home. Things had gradually gotten easier, but even though she was no longer sick she still had little though, she seemed to feel much better.
When he made it upstairs and creeped up to his open bedroom door, he leaned into the doorframe and smiled at the sight that was in front of him. Hermione was lying on her side, her legs almost dangling off of the edge of their bed as her arms clutched a pillow to her. He chuckled a bit at the sound of her light snoring as he set the donuts down on top of the dresser before softly padding in the room and crawling into bed behind her. He scooted forward and grabbed her hips, easily pulling her closer to him and away from the edge of the bed so she wouldn't fall. He then lifted her hair up from behind her head before he left a trail of kisses on the back of her neck. He heard her take a deep breath before she arched her arms reached back to wrap around his head.
"Hey." she said groggily. "I fell asleep."
He chuckled. "Thank you for clarifying love. I wasn't sure."
She let out a small laugh of her own before turning her body towards him. His hands instantly went down to lightly rub on her protruding belly.
"Hermione," he said teasingly as he gave her a light kiss on the lips. "Did you happen to eat a basketball for lunch today?"
Hermione's mouth opened wide as she laughed. "I don't know how you can have the cheesiest jokes, yet still make me laugh like you do."
"It's because you love me," he told her as he kissed her again.
"That actually might have something to do with it," she agreed as she kissed him back.
He pulled back his face so he could get a good look at her. "Really though, how are you feeling Hermione?"
"Tired," she answered honestly. "But I'm fine Ron, don't worry."
"Good. By the way, I stopped and got you some donuts on the-"
Her eyes widened before she shot up in bed. "Where are they?" she asked as she looked wildly around the room. When she spotted them on the dresser she got out of bed to grab them, letting out a loud squeal of joy.
He chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "My god Hermione, our baby is going to have the world's biggest sweet tooth."
"Mmmm," she agreed, her mouth already full of one of the donuts as she stood there, her eyes closed in obvious bliss.
"C'mere," he demanded, reaching his arms out to her.
She made her way back to the bed, a giant grin on her face as she sat down on the edge.
"Lay down with me," he whined, his hand rubbing her lower back.
"And get crumbs all over the bed? No way," she muttered, taking another bite.
"Always practical aren't you?" he asked as he sat up himself, putting his long legs on either side of her as he started to massage her shoulders.
She sighed heavily, slumping back into him. "You are way too good to me Ronald Weasley," she said before letting out a moan of pleasure as his fingers started working on a particular tight knot.
"Hermione, if you keep on moaning like that, then you will be getting a bit more than just a massage from me," he said huskily, leaning up to kiss on her earlobe.
"You with your threats," she joked as he softly jabbed his finger into her side right where he knew that she was ticklish.
She laughed and he pulled her into him, his arms now wrapped around her. "Okay, it's time for some serious talk now," he said.
She turned her head to him, her face wary. "Good or bad serious?"
"I talked to Robards. Six months from now, I will officially no longer be an auror."
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But-Ron, I don't understand? You love being an auror and-"
"I do love it, but I've been thinking a lot about it and- I'm going to be a dad soon, Hermione. The thought of something happening to me and leaving you and our daughter alone-"
"Son," Hermione interjected.
"It's a girl," Ron said matter of factly.
They had both wanted to keep the sex of the baby a secret until the birth, but had been bantering back and forth for months, each swearing that they were the one that was right.
"I seriously doubt that Ron. Because of the very high amount of males in your family, the baby has a higher probability of being a boy. Weasley's obviously produce more Y sperm and-" she stopped when he gave her a look. "Sorry, continue please."
He kissed her nose before continuing. "Anyway, I just want to be sure that I will be here for you and for her," he said pointedly. "George offered me a partnership with him at WWW and I'm going to take him up on it-if that's what you want that is," he finished, studying her face to try and see what her thoughts on it were.
He watched as her eyes welled up with tears. "I-I would love that Ron," she cried as she turned her body completely around and threw her arms and legs around him, hugging him as tightly as her pregnant belly would allow. "I always get so worried when you're out on a mission and-yes, please do it!"
He hugged her back, his face nuzzled in her hair. "I thought you would be pleased."
She sat back and looked at him, putting her hands on either side of his face. "I love you so much."
"And I love you so much," he replied, before smashing his lips with hers.
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*A little over a month later*
Ron knew that this was relatively normal, but even so, the sounds of Hermione's screams filling the air made him feel faint and internally took him back to the time that he had heard her screaming from up above the cellar at Malfoy Manor.
Hermione had chosen to have a homebirth, and they were currently in their living room, with her sitting back in a large water-filled birthing tub charmed with the perfect water temperature for the baby to be born in. The water was supposed to help with the pain, and Ron had to admit that Hermione did seem relaxed in between the contractions, even smiling and kissing him when he would lean his face towards hers to ask if she was okay.
Labor had started just over twelve hours ago and Ron could tell that she was starting to get exhausted. She had been pretty quiet for the majority of it, only letting out small whimpers that had gradually grown as the hours passed by. The last few contractions though, had had her screaming so loud that involuntary tears fell down his face as his whole body started to shake. The only comfort that he had was the sound of the midwife's calming voice telling him that both Hermione and the baby were perfectly fine, and that the baby would be there some time in the next few contractions.
He took a breath as her hand started to grip his tightly again and he knew what was coming, his heart automatically starting to beat faster with unease. Hermione then let out a scream that in comparison, paled all of the others before it. His eyes were transfixed on her face and he didn't even hear the midwife calling him until she reached over and frantically shook his arm.
"Mr. Weasley!" she said excitedly. "The baby is coming! Are you ready?"
Ron then looked down into the water and saw that indeed, there was a baby coming and he could see the top of the head. He and Hermione had talked about this moment for months, hell- Hermione had even made him rehearse it with her several times. Putting away all of his anxiety and doubt, he let go of Hermione's hand and reached down into the water, gently holding onto the baby as it slowly slid out of his wife's body as she bore down. Before he knew it, he was pulling up a tiny little purpleish/pinkish newborn that started howling as soon as he brought it out of the water.
He stared at the infant, amazed.
"Hermione! It's a girl," he choked out as he put his daughter in Hermione's waiting arms.
"Hermione clutched the crying baby to her chest, tears running down her face. "I did it?" she asked as she looked at him with an incredulous look on her face.
"You did it," he confirmed, not even bothering to wipe the tears that were running down his own face.
He watched as Hermione looked down at their daughter before looking back up at him, a giant smile on her face. He had never felt more proud of her, or more happy than he did in that moment.
"We're a family," he said as he leaned down and kissed his wife.
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Ron woke up as his wand started to vibrate under his pillow and he let out a groan. Rose had kept him and Hermione awake for most of the night last night. She usually wasn't a very fussy baby, but for some unknown reason she had been last night.
Groggily he got up, looking around to find that Hermione wasn't even in the room. Wearing just his pants, and not even bothering to put on more clothing, he got up and walked out of the room, calling for Hermione. She didn't answer so he made his way around, opening every door to look inside.
He finally found her in Rose's room asleep in the rocking chair, with Rose asleep in her crib. He crept over and looked down into the crib as he smiled. He was pretty sure that it was the first time in her almost five months of life that she had slept in it.
Hermione had been anxious about pretty much everything since Rose had been born, and couldn't bear to be away from her at all. When she would take a shower, or use the bathroom, she would leave Rose with Ron, but that was the extent of it so far. She had told him that she figured that she had something called postpartum anxiety, and he didn't doubt it as Rose went everywhere they did. Not that Ron minded this of course, he was happy that Rose went wherever he and Hermione happened to go and had no complaints about watching Hermione love the little person that they had made together so much.
He turned and bent down in front of Hermione as she slept, studying her tired face. He didn't want to wake her, as he knew just how exhausted last night had been, but she was sitting at an odd angle with her head leaned all the way to the side and he grimaced thinking about how her neck would feel whenever she woke up.
He reached out his hands and put them on either side of her head, righting it and holding it there as his thumbs swept across her cheeks. Her eyes slowly opened and looked at him tiredly before they widened in recognition. He saw her eyes dart towards the crib as she reached behind her, grabbing her wand and wordlessly muttering a silencing charm around it.
"What time is it?" she mumbled as she leaned into his touch.
"Early. I'm about to have to get ready for work," he whispered, even though he knew that the baby couldn't hear him.
She gave him a sad look. "I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay," she pouted.
"I know love," he said regrettably. "But you know I can't not go, I only have a few weeks left and I kind of have to show up."
She nodded in understanding, but he could tell that she still wasn't happy about it.
"Besides, you and Ginny are having lunch today, remember? Girly chit-chat and all of that," he reminded her.
She seemed to perk up a bit at this. "Oh yeah! It will be nice to get out."
"Hermione, you do know that you aren't on house arrest and that you can get out and go wherever you want. As a matter of fact, when I glanced out of the window earlier, it looked like it's going to be a beautiful day. Go out a bit before lunch today love, get some fresh air, I'm sure Rosie would love it as well. You could use that-that muggle contraption that you swore that we needed but haven't used yet."
"Stroller," she told him with a smile.
"Right. Take a stroll with the stroller," he laughed.
"Okay. Maybe." She leaned forward and kissed him as he happily reciprocated.
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Once he got to his cubicle he sat at his desk, shaking his head at the amount of paperwork that was stacked on top of it. Apparently since he was leaving, he was left with all of the junk that nobody else wanted to do. He longed for at least one more mission, one more last 'hoorah' or whatever they called it before he stopped being an auror.
Sighing at his luck, he got started. He was grateful that it was the easy kind of paperwork and he was able to move quickly through it, and before he knew it, it was just after lunch.
Finishing his sandwich at his desk, his head perked up as he heard voices coming into the large office, talking excitedly. Something had happened, he was sure of it. He stretched his aching hand and got up, leaving his cubicle to see what was going on.
He spied a friend auror of his, who was one of the ones chatting. "Harris," he called, walking over. "What's going on?"
"There was a murder in the park just about half an hour ago," Harris said. "Pretty terrible."
"Was the victim a muggle or a wizard?" Ron asked, hoping that he would be put on the case, anything to avoid more paperwork. "Has the perp been detained?"
"Witch apparently. Yeah, they already have 'im down in questioning."
"Motive?" Ron asked, knowing that he was about to head there to see for himself, but wanting to get the details.
"They don't think that there was one. The man was a patient that escaped from St. Mungo's this morning. Had been there since he was fifteen years old."
"How old is he now?"
"Looks to be in his forties."
"Who's questioning him?" Ron asked, already heading towards the questioning room.
"He's being questioned by Thompson," Harris answered, walking alongside him.
They got to the questioning area and quietly opened the door and slipped inside. There were already a handful of aurors sitting on the benches, listening and watching what was going on on the other side of the two-way mirror.
Ron took a seat in the front and focused, leaning in to get a good look.
There was Thompson sitting across a skinny and scraggly looking man who was visibly upset. His face was unshaven and his hair was long and unkept, as if he had never taken care of himself. Ron saw that the white hospital gown that he was wearing was completely soaked with blood. The man was red all the way from the top of the gown down, even along his arms. Ron shook his head solemnly- that was a lot of blood. The man was rocking back and forth, his hands on his ears as he muttered incoherently, seemingly trying to block out what Thompson was asking him.
Ron and a few others jumped a bit when the man started screaming in a shrill voice. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT. I SAID I WAS SORRY!" he bellowed before bursting into tears.
Apparently Thompson was going to leave and wait for the man to calm down, as he was getting nothing from him, so without another word, Ron watched as he stood up and left the room, leaving the now shrieking man alone in the chair, his screams echoing off of the stone walls.
Ron turned to Harris again. "Give me a quick summary of what happened as soon as he escaped Mungo's."
"Witnesses said that he was in the park and throwing a fit on the ground-looked like he was having some kind of seizure apparently. The victim was just a witch who meant well and tried to help him. He was hiding a knife though and he reached out and stabbed her in the neck before she had the opportunity to defend herself. He severed her carotid artery and she died almost instantly."
Ron grimaced, that would explain the crazy amount of blood on the man.
"No but get this," Harris went on. "Apparently right after he realized what he had done, he grabbed her and held her to him, crying hysterically, but by then she was already dead."
"Merlin…" Ron shook his head. Being an auror, he had heard his fair share of awful stories, but it was still upsetting to hear of things like this happening, especially when the victims were innocent of any wrongdoings. Throughout the years he had kept a lot of the worst tales to himself, knowing that they would upset Hermione.
"How old was the victim?"
Harris shrugged. "Not sure. The ones on the immediate case haven't let out her identity yet. I'm sure they are waiting to inform family members and such but apparently she looked young. Twenties maybe."
Ron shook his head sadly, again staring at the man in the room. He was clearly off of his rocker, his face now on the table top, his body shaking with high pitched sobs as he banged his arms repeatedly on the table.
Just then, his boss Robards opened the door and looked around, his face anxious. His eyes immediately singled out Ron and he sighed before nervously glancing at the man behind the glass, cursing under his breath. "Weasley, come with me."
Surprisingly, Robards said nothing as he led them to his office. While he had at first disliked the man, Ron had quickly gotten to know and respect him. Once both were inside, Robards gestured towards the chairs across from his desk and with raised eyebrows, Ron took one as the older man took his own seat.
Ron started feeling nervous when Robards at first didn't even look at him as he slowly ran his hands down his face and let out a huge sigh.
Ron tried to think of a reason that he would be in there and the reason for Robards acting as he was, but he was drawing a blank. He was pretty sure that he hadn't done anything to warrant him being in trouble at work, and of course his boss knew that he would be leaving soon, so he knew it couldn't be because he was being fired or anything like that.
"Ron," he started, before letting out another sigh and cursing under his breath.
Ron confusion grew. Robards had never called him by his first name, had never called anyone at the office by their first name as far as he knew.
"Lucas Miller-"
"The bloke in the questioning room?" Ron guessed as he hadn't known his name.
Robards gave him a grim nod. "What do you know about-about what happened?"
Ron answered quickly, repeating all that Harris had told him. "You're putting me on the case then?" he asked, hoping that this was why he had been called in there, despite knowing that there was definitely more to it than that because Robards' behavior was extremely off.
Robards shook his head again. "I really, really hate to be the one to tell you this Weasley, but Miller's victim was your wife."
Ron sat back in the chair and stared at Robards intensely. "What?"
Robards pinched the end of his nose, no longer looking at him. "Your wife was the one that was trying to help Miller, Ron. I'm sorry."
Ron shook his head, letting out a breath of relief- he had almost been fooled. "Nah. Hermione was going to go to my sister's house. They were going to have lunch together."
Robards looked at him, a knowing look on his face. "Your wife was murdered, Weasley. Again, I'm so sorry. I wish that it wasn't the case but it is. There was nothing anybody could do, it happened too fast, not to mention that there were only civilians around..."
Ron ran his hand through his hair, attempting to smile, but for some strange reason he was unable to.
Why wasn't he able to control his face?
"Hermione wasn't at a park, so it couldn't have been her. She's fine. Besides, you don't know her, she knows how to defend herself, she's fought bloody death eaters."
Robards went on in a flat voice as if Ron hadn't spoken at all. "Your daughter has been taken to a safe location and is unharmed. You can go and pick her up whenever you're ready, or I can notify another member of the family and tell them where she is so they can do so."
Ron bit the inside of his cheek, staring hard at Robards desk. He wondered what type of wood that it was made from. Was it oak? It looked like oak. Or maybe it was cherry? Oak and cherry looked similar, didn't they? It was definitely too dark to be pine.
"Weasley?" he heard Robards say quietly and Ron looked up at his boss.
All of a sudden he could taste blood in his mouth and he realized that he had been biting the inside of his cheek harder than he had thought. Blood. He thought of Lucas Miller sobbing in the questioning room-absolutely covered in blood-so much blood. He thought of the words that he had told Hermione merely hours ago.
'Go out a bit before lunch today love, get some fresh air, I'm sure Rosie would love it as well.'
Had Hermione taken his advice? Had she gone out? Ron shook his head. Of course she hadn't, Ron knew that Hermione was with Ginny at Grimmauld Place right now with Rose, she was safe. They both were.
It was as if his body moved without any conscious thought, surprising him just as much as it surprised Robards as Ron flew from his chair, right over the top of Robards desk and landed on the man, knocking him and his chair down. Still without knowing what was happening, Ron watched as his fist came down on his boss's face several times, bloodying it quickly before he felt himself being knocked back forcefully. When he looked up, Robards was getting up, his wand in his hand held out towards Ron, his other hand clutching his bloodied face.
"Dammit Weasley." he hissed, but his eyes didn't hold anger, only pity and a bit of pain.
"YOU'RE A FUCKING LIAR!" Ron screamed, now feeling enraged that the man would even suggest what he was suggesting. He desperately tried to get back to beating the shit out of Robards, but apparently he had fired a shield charm, and Ron kept on bouncing off of the invisible barrier over and over. He could barely see through the tears in his eyes and could feel them running down his face.
Why on earth was he crying?
He watched as Robards uttered a spell, and suddenly, there were two other aurors walking in behind him.
"Sorry Weasley," his boss said sadly. "Davis. Myers," Robards snapped. "Please escort Weasley to the clinic, he needs some calming drought. I'm afraid that, until then, he's going to be a threat to others."
Ron was a good auror, and his job had trained him well. Before the men could make a move towards him, he let out a roar as he stunned them and ran out of Robards office, hearing the man screaming out his name behind him.
He ran as fast as he could back to the place where Miller was being detained. He didn't even remember getting to where he was, but before he knew it, he was using his wand and the door to the questioning room was flying open. Ron ran in and was suddenly feet away from the small blood-soaked man, Thompson was again sitting across from him at the table, his eyes wide as he took in the sight of Ron marching in there, his wand held out threateningly.
When Ron was merely feet away from Miller, his want pointed straight at the man's chest. "CRUCIO!" he screamed and as the man's screams of pain filled the room, Ron's voice joined him. "FUCK ROBARDS! HES A FUCKING LIAR!" and then suddenly everything went black.
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When Ron woke up, he felt numb. He was in a small space that he didn't recognize, and he was laying on what seemed to be a hospital bed. He looked around at the small room where there were a number of people softly crying and talking among themselves. He saw both of his parents, Bill, George, Percy and Audrey, and Ginny, who was the only one sitting down, her head in her hands as she quietly sobbed while Harry rubbed on her back, his own face swollen and wet from crying.
"S'okay Gin. I'm okay," Ron said flatly, because even though he didn't feel sadness at the sight at seeing his sister cry, he knew that it was the right thing to say.
"Oh my boy," his mum sobbed as she turned towards him, her face also red and covered in pain as she rushed over to him and leaned down to hug him. "So horrible. We'll get through this together, we are all here for you."
Ron didn't feel comfortable with all of this emotion that was taking place around he remembered what had taken place earlier and he let out a groan. Frankly, he just wanted to go home to Hermione and tell her that his stupid-fuck of a boss thought she was dead; then they could laugh together at how ridiculous that idea was.
He turned towards Ginny "Gin, are Hermione and Rose still at your place?" he croaked. "Tell Hermione to meet me at home please, I want to just rest, my head is killing me."
He watched as everyone gave each other anguished glances and felt that he should be concerned by this, but he was still too numb to really care.
"Ron, they told you what happened -didn't they?" Harry asked him hesitantly, his voice soft as if he were talking to a small child.
Ron let out a humorless chuckle. "Yeah, I mean Robards said that Hermione was dead, but he's a fucking idiot. That crazy bastard who was covered in blood, he said it was Hermione's blood-but Hermione couldn't bleed that much."
He heard Ginny sob and say that she had to leave the room because she couldn't handle this, but again, he didn't really care much either way if she was there or not, although he did feel faint annoyance at her for not going to fetch Hermione for him as he had asked her to.
"Son, Hermione is gone," his dad said softly as he walked up to the bed right next to Ron's head.
"Gone? Gone where?" he asked, confused.
"Fleur went to pick up Rosie," his mum said as she walked to the other side of the bed and started stroking his hair.
"Good luck getting her away from Hermione, Hermione doesn't ever let that baby out of her sight," he said and watched as everyone around him looked at each other with that 'look' that was really starting to grate on his nerves, despite still feeling numb.
"Arthur, what-" his mum started to say before his dad interrupted her.
"Shock Molly," he said quietly as his mum started crying again. He wished everyone would stop bloody crying.
Ron looked to Harry and managed to give him a small smile, even though he found nothing even remotely funny at the moment. He decided to lighten the mood, to make the sad expression of his best mate turn to something happier. "You and I will both die way before Hermione does mate."
Harry stared at him before he let out a choked sob and turned away, George hurriedly going over to wrap an arm around his shoulders as Harry quietly started to cry. Obviously Ron's attempt hadn't worked. Oh well.
Ron yawned. "I'm going to take a nap now, hopefully everyone will be fucking normal again when I wake up," he said, and with that he fell asleep once again.
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It was their wedding day, Ron was nervous. His hands were clammy and he hoped that he wouldn't mess up his vows that he had written. The music started playing and he watched as Hermione walked down the aisle. She smiled at him, and suddenly, he wasn't nervous anymore.
They were in their bed, Hermione was straddling him, her naked body bouncing on his as she threw her head back and his hands ran down her torso. He was the luckiest sonofabitch in the whole entire world.
He was reaching into the water, he felt Rose's little slippery body in his hands as he held onto her and lifted her up. Hermione was smiling at her, smiling at him. She was happy. They were a family.
Ron woke up to the sight of Hermione breastfeeding Rose in the rocking chair next to the bed, her face smiling down at the four day old infant. Ron asked if he could help, and she smiled at him and told him she would like a glass of water. After she drank it, she handed him back the cup and told him that she loved him. After that it was routine for him to get her a drink while she fed Rose.
Ron was arguing with Hermione. He was scared that if the baby was in bed with them then he would roll over her in his sleep. To make him feel better, Hermione put magical shields around Rose so that wouldn't happen, even though he knew that she trusted herself not to move while Rose was in their bed. The shields reassured him. Hermione just wanted Rose near her and he didn't mind.
He was standing and holding Rose up, talking nonsense in her face as she smiled her toothless grin at him. Hermione was laughing at his ridiculous facial expressions, telling him that he was the only one who had ever gotten her to smile that big.
Hermione didn't want him to go to work, she wanted him to stay with her. He felt bad about leaving, especially after the hard night that they had had, but he felt like he had to go. A voice was now screaming frantically inside of his head, telling him not to go, telling him to stay with her, but he didn't listen. He didn't know why he felt like that; but something told him that it was an urgent matter and that he needed to stay, but he didn't.
He was trying to talk Hermione into going out and getting some fresh air. He wanted her to feel better, to feel more normal. He thought that a walk would be good for both her and Rose. She seemed hesitant, but she smiled.
' No! Stop!' he thought, 'I was wrong. Don't go! Stay inside, you're safe inside! Hermione please don't fucking go anywhere!' He tried to scream at her but she wasn't listening. She just smiled at him again. She trusted him. She loved him.
He was on the ground. He was crying. He had a knife. Things were fuzzy, as if this particular thing hadn't actually happened to him. Hermione leaned down to ask him a question, her eyes full of concern. He reached out with the knife and stabbed her in the neck. He instantly was sorry and he held her, crying. What the hell had he just done? Hermione wasn't moving anymore, but still, he held on, her blood soaking his hospital gown. When was he even in a hospital? He didn't even recognize his arms and his hands. They were scrawny. They weren't his.
Robards was telling him something important. Hermione was killed by Lucas Miller. No, wait, he remembered, he had been there. He shook his head. No, it wasn't Miller. It was me. I told her to go out. I killed her.
I killed Hermione.
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The next time Ron woke up, he didn't feel numb, although he did feel extremely groggy and for some reason, sore. He opened his eyes to look around. Much was the same as the last time he had woken up, except the only people who were remaining were his parents and Harry and Ginny.
He heard a small sound and looked around. His mum had something in her arms. That was Rose's blanket. He could see the top of her head, the little ginger curls that had just started to come in.
His breathing became labored. Hermione wouldn't leave Rose, not even for a moment. If Hermione wasn't here-then Hermione was-
Everyone turned to him as he let out a single wail, his hands now covering his face as if he could hide from reality.
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*Four days later*
Ron was laying up in his childhood bedroom at The Burrow. He wasn't sure how long he had been there, several hours at least but could tell from the window that the sun was starting to go down. They had just come back from the small cemetery in Ottery St. Catchpole. Hermione's body was now buried in the ground.
There was a knock and Harry walked in and sat down on top of the camp bed that he had slept in all those years ago.
"It was a beautiful service," Harry remarked.
Ron only grunted in agreement.
"Ron, Hermione's parents are downstairs and they-well they are very concerned with how you've been acting." He sighed. "I'm just up here to warn you. They are talking about wanting to take Rose with them back to Australia for a little bit."
Ron slowly turned his head towards Harry. "What?"
Harry held his hands out. "I'm just telling you what they are saying. They are worried to leave her with you because- well because you have hardly even looked at her since…" he trailed off.
Ron sat up. "They want to take Rose?" he asked.
Harry nodded and Ron jumped up, incensed, practically running downstairs and looking around wildly for his daughter. His parents were sitting across from Hermione's parents at the table, talking quietly. His dad had the baby and was patting her on the back as he lightly bounced her.
Ron marched right up to him and held his arms out. "Give her to me," he demanded sternly and Mr. Weasley immediately complied.
Holding her tight to his chest, and sighing in relief at the feeling of his baby in his arms, Ron turned towards the Grangers.
"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Hermione loved you very much. I am so incredibly sorry that you have lost your only daughter, but I won't lose mine. You are welcome to come see Rose whenever you like, but she is not going to be going home with you. I don't know how I'm going to raise a baby on my own, but I will learn. She is all I have now, and I'll be damned if anyone is going to take her away from me." With that, Ron turned around, ignoring the looks on everyone's faces and with Rose still in his arms, he made his way back upstairs. He made it to his room and closed the door behind him. He laid Rose on the bed and laid down next to her.
"Sorry that you haven't seen much of me lately Rosie, but I promise you that's going to change. You're going to see so much of me from now on that you'll probably get sick of my freckled face." Rose smiled up at him with her toothless grin and he couldn't help but smile back.
"Oh little love, I hope I can do a good job, I don't want to let you down."
Rose let out a happy gurgle and he wiped the tears now falling from his eyes. "I am really going to miss your mum Rose. I don't know how I am going to go on without her. I know that I have to though, because of you. It's the two of us against the world now Rosie. You and me."
He held his fist out for her to 'fist bump' and let out a small laugh as her hand swatted his. "We might have to work on your fist bump though."
He pulled her onto his chest and started rubbing her back as he had seen Hermione do countless times, and soon she was asleep. Ron laid awake, staring at the ceiling and thinking about his future.
The idea of a future without Hermione was daunting so he wouldn't allow himself to dwell on it, as he knew that he would end up falling into a pit of despair if he did. The idea of just giving up was tempting, but he knew that he had a reason to go on, and that reason was asleep on his chest.
Harry had told him yesterday that no one at the ministry was going to press charges against him. He could have easily had assault charges filed for beating up Robards or for stunning the two aurors. He could have ended up in Azkaban for using the cruciatus curse on Miller, but apparently they were just going to sweep everything under the rug as if nothing had ever happened.
He knew that he needed to apologize to Robards, and he knew that when he did, that he was going to ask to continue being an auror. He didn't like the thought of going on missions while he was the sole parent to Rose, but losing Hermione had made him determined to vanquish as much evil in the world as he could, and he would be no help to anyone if he chose to work in a joke shop. After all, Harry was an auror and had children, Ron could do it as well.
He leaned down and kissed the top of Rose's head. "You and me against the world," he repeated.