Sorry for the delay. There was a lot I wanted to get into this chapter but the words wouldn't work. On top of that, work was crazy this week and I've had a blanket to finish for a friend. Thank you for all your feedback, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Oh also - Lavender survived the Battle of Hogwarts. Soz! ;-)
Hermione started making plans for her trip as soon as Christmas was over and the distraction helped February come around quick enough.
Setting up the portkeys had been the hardest part of organising the trip; she'd needed the agreement of the Australian, United Arab Emirates and British Ministries of Magic as she had to travel from Patchewollock via Mildura to Melbourne and then on to Dubai before finally landing in an alleyway behind the small hotel she was staying in. Harry and Ginny had offered her the spare room in the new cottage they had just bought but they were still unpacking and Hermione hadn't wanted to impose. Ron was probably still at the old flat, but she definitely didn't want to stay there with him.
She'd allowed herself a couple days to get over the portkey giddiness. Although she was used to them by now; taking four in the space of five hours combined with the jet lag had made her feel all out of sorts.
Hermione's meeting with Kingsley had gone well, he'd been impressed with her thoughts around elf rights and had provided his feedback, which already had her brain going a hundred miles an hour as she tried to process it. She let out a sigh of relief as she walked across the atrium at the Ministry of Magic, making her way to where she agreed to meet Harry.
Kingsley had agreed with her that house elves should have more rights, but he'd set her the challenge of collecting evidence to persuade the less flexible of wizards that it would be valuable to them. She was already dissecting his comments as she found a quiet spot to wait.
She was jolted out of her thoughts as Harry grabbed her and hugged her tightly. She breathed in his familiar scent and immediately felt at home.
"I missed you so much Hermione!" Harry tightened his grip on her.
"I missed you too!" Hermione pulled away to take a look at him. "Nice to see Auror training is treating you well..." She observed a bruise under his eye suspiciously.
"My sparring partner had trouble concentrating this morning, we're doing high-level wandless combat. Meaning we usually just fight!" Harry grinned and placed his hand on her shoulder, leading her out of the atrium and up to street level. Once they were out in Muggle London, they started to walk side by side down the road, excitedly catching up. They took their seats in a quiet muggle restaurant, pausing their conversation only to order lunch.
"So did you invite Ron today?" Hermione tried to act casually, but she had been back in the country for three days and she hadn't heard or seen from him. She frowned as Harry rolled his eyes slightly. "I am allowed to ask about him..."
"Of course you are. He was all set to join us..." Harry nodded pointedly to the empty chair at their table. "But as I was getting ready to meet you, he muttered something about paperwork and headed to the offices. Maybe he was feeling bad about the black eye..." He shrugged but smiled.
"Ah okay, maybe I'll see him tomorrow?"
Harry nodded. "The whole family will be there; it'll be Victoire's first game of Quidditch! Ginny managed to blag one of the team boxes since there'll be so many of us!" He smiled fondly but it was fleeting. Hermione frowned again as Harry reached over to take Hermione's hand. "There's something you need to know before tomorrow though..."
"What? What is it? Is something wrong?"
He let out a sigh. "Ron was pretty heartbroken after that call last October. We didn't see him for days. When you sent him the ring it pushed him over the edge. He left without saying anything to me or Ginny. Turns out he spent five days straight at the Leaky Cauldron; only coming home to sleep and change. While he was there, he bumped into someone we know and things kind of escalated..."
Hermione's eyes were wide, her heart pounding. She immediately thought something bad had happened. "Did he get into a fight or something? Was it Malfoy?!"
"It's worse than that..." He chewed on his lip, squirming uncomfortably in his seat. "Lavender was there..."
Hermione was silent. All of a sudden, she felt like her breath had been taken from her.
"He's been talking about bringing her to the game all week; so I thought I'd better warn you..."
Hermione nodded slowly, cursing herself as tears started to prickle her eyes. "I'm not surprised he's moved on; it's been a few months but Lavender?" She took a deep breath, trying hard to compose herself. "Jeez, that's going to be hard to see. Is he happy?"
Harry nodded slowly, squeezing Hermione's hand as she wiped a tear from her cheek.
"Are they still all over each other like they were in school?"
Harry couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Oh Merlin Hermione; it's not as full on but it's still pretty gross. Ginny and I had to move out, we were fed up of catching them in various states of undress on the sofa. Plus you know, we're getting married now so we need our own place..." He smirked at Hermione, then leaned in, speaking in a conspiratorial whisper. "She still calls him Won-Won..."
Hermione laughed and mimed puking into her glass of wine before taking a long sip. "Ugh great..."
"There's an unlimited bar tomorrow! You're still welcome to join us at the Burrow for the pre-game lunch..."
Hermione pondered it for a moment. It would be nice to get some more time with the rest of the Weasleys, but she'd already agreed to Sunday lunch and with the news; she didn't think it would be a great idea. "No it's okay I'll just meet you at the game. Please promise me you'll sit next to me?"
"Oh don't worry..." Harry grinned. "I won't leave your side!"
Their food arrived; but Harry and Hermione barely broke their conversation as they carried on catching up. Hermione had requested a full recap of his proposal and had grilled Harry on Victoire and how the rest of the Weasleys were. Soon enough it was time for him to go back to work. He left her with her pass for the game tomorrow. Despite the awful winter weather, Hermione decided to spend the rest of her day re-exploring Diagon Alley.
The next afternoon, Hermione found herself heading into the luxury box at the Holyhead Quidditch grounds alone. She was the first person to arrive - there was still an hour until the first whistle and the rest of the Weasleys were probably still finishing up with lunch.
Yesterday, on a whim, she had nipped into Quality Quidditch Supplies and picked up a Harpies fan top as she felt it might make her blend in a little more with the crowds of fans swarming the grounds. She was grateful that the box had been magically warmed; the Welsh weather was unforgiving and a cruel wind was whistling through the stands. The t-shirt wouldn't have been warm enough if she were out in the elements.
Hermione picked out a seat for herself in the furthest corner and lay her cloak and bag on it. She got herself a drink and was just about to take her seat when a series of loud cracks announced the arrival of the Weasleys.
She was immediately summoned to Molly before anyone could even take a breath or hang up their cloaks. There was a whirlwind of familiar hugs as she was passed between family members; each of them pausing for a moment to comment on her tan or ask about Australia. She managed to catch Harry's eye briefly, breathing a sigh of relief as he'd settled himself into the chair next to the chair she'd reserved for herself.
Hermione eventually started to run out of people to catch-up with. She emerged from Fleur's embrace with a promise of getting a cuddle from baby Victoire just as the five-minute warning for the start of the game blasted through the box. She turned to take her seat but noticed Ron deep in conversation with Harry; a giggling Lavender pressed into his side. They must have snuck in while she was busy with the family. She steeled herself as she approached them, praying they wouldn't be able to notice how hard her heart was pounding in her chest.
"Hi..." Hermione tried her best to hold herself upright and look confident, even though she felt sick to her stomach seeing Ron and Lavender together.
"Hermione!" Ron turned suddenly, feigning surprise at seeing her.
This annoyed Hermione; she knew Harry had told him she would be home this week. She observed him briefly, rolling her eyes as Lavender slid her hand to his thigh possessively. Eventually she spoke again. "I just need to get to my seat..."
"Oh right, yes of course..." Ron stood up, pulling Lavender with him. She gave them both a fake smile and slid past them, muttering a small thanks as she did. As she took her seat, she felt Harry take her hand and squeeze it softly, but she didn't dare turn her head to look at him.
Luckily, she was soon distracted by the action on the pitch as the balls were released. Hermione watched in awe as Ginny did a lap of the pitch before settling into a holding pattern as she hunted for the Snitch. She turned her head to tell Harry how proud she felt but she felt her stomach lurch as she spotted Ron and Lavender snogging instead of watching the game. She pulled a face, catching Harry's attention. She was grateful when he turned and elbowed Ron firmly in his side.
"It's not the Gryffindor common room, we're here to support Ginny!"
Hermione felt satisfied as Ron threw Harry an apologetic look. Ron met Hermione's eye briefly and she tried to arrange her face to a look of indifference before turning her attention back to the game. The Caerphilly Catapults had already taken an early lead, but Harry stated loudly to the box that he was certain the Harpies could pull it back.
Hermione started to relax as she drank her second beer. As the game progressed, she got pulled into the discussion and at one point, she even correctly identified when two of the Harpies' Chasers pulled off a Porskoff Ploy, securing them 10 points in the process. She'd laughed as Harry, Ron and Bill gawped at her.
"What? It's amazing what you pick up after hanging around with you lot for 9 years!" She grinned to herself and turned back to the game, trying to act nonchalant although she could feel at least one set of eyes on her.
Later on, during a break in play while the medics dealt with a head wound caused by a wayward bludger; Hermione found herself with baby Victoire in her lap. She was awake and babbling away to herself happily. Hermione held her awkwardly; she had no experience with babies or children. She looked around desperately for help but Harry had already left to get them more beers and Fleur had sauntered off as soon as she'd dumped the baby. She bounced her awkwardly on her knee.
"Not like that..." Ron tutted and slid across the empty seat left by Harry. Fortunately, Lavender wasn't attached to him at that moment in time. "She's big enough to support her own head but you'll give her a haemorrhage if you continue to bounce her like that..." He leaned over and showed Hermione how to do it. "There! That's better isn't it?" He grinned as his niece reached out for him, letting out an incoherent stream of squeals and other noises.
Hermione turned her gaze from the baby to Ron, giving him a small smile. "You're a natural with her!"
"Well I have to be - Bill and Fleur dump her with me at least once a week when mum's too tired to babysit! Honestly, I don't see the point in them having a kid; she spends more time with us than with them..." Ron smiled fondly. "But I think she likes you!" They watched as Victoire let out a yawn and settled into Hermione's arms. "Want me to have her?"
"No I don't mind, it's quite a nice feeling actually." Hermione pulled the baby closer to her chest, watching as she jammed her thumb into her mouth and drifted off to sleep. Eventually she lifted her head and gave Ron another smile. She was about to suggest that maybe they should try and find some time to catch-up before she had to go home, but they were interrupted by Lavender and Harry returning to their seats, the game already back in progress.
The game lasted another few hours. Ginny ended it by catching the Snitch, just as the sky was starting to turn dark but the Catapults had already scored too many points. However, the Weasleys were in good spirits as they started to collect their things.
Hermione watched them file out, noticing as Ron gave her a small backward glance as he was led out by Lavender. She turned to Harry, who was holding her cloak out for her.
"Wasn't too bad, huh?" Harry smiled.
"It was tolerable..." She pulled on her cloak and kissed his cheek. "Please tell Ginny she was amazing; I can't wait to see her again tomorrow..."
Harry smiled and hugged Hermione. "You can still come to ours for tea?"
Hermione shook her head. "I think I need some time alone to process."
"Alright," Harry gave her one last hug before apparting. Hermione sighed, finally apparating back to her quiet hotel room.