Chapter 13 – Dinner at Weasley's

It was the normal family dinner at Weasley's as every Friday. The younger kids were at school and the graduated had joined them, sitting on their end of the table. After having been rebuilt, the Burrow hadn't lost his old charm, Molly had made sure of it. Maybe it needed a bit less magic to stand and wasn't a strange mix from the outside anymore, but the inside was still cluttered and welcoming. There was place for every member of their big family, by blood or adopted, no matter who came over.

Still, today was different in many aspects. Ron sat alone –Hermione's place was deserted– and didn't look at his family at all, while Teddy tried to cheer him up, not yet knowing that something had happened. Harry and Ginny watched the youngest brother with concern and were also rather quiet.

Teddy and Victoire's wedding had been the main topic for the last few weeks and Molly was thrilled to see it happening next Easter. They had chosen the holidays to have everyone at home on their special day. The wedding would take place outside the Burrow, Fleur had made sure of it. She wanted her daughter to have the dream wedding the Death Eaters had denied her over twenty years ago.

"I haven't seen Hermione at all since last week Ron. There were some nasty rumours in the daily prophet the last few days. Apparently she missed some important parliament sessions. Please make sure she doesn't overwork herself." Molly directed at her brooding son.

Family came first in her opinion and Ron and Hermione had drifted to far apart the last few years. She respected her daughter-in-law for her decision to work at the Ministry. There was a certain pride when she told others that the Minister of Magic was part of her family after all. But they needed to work together, so she reminded her youngest son from time to time. Mostly he just agreed with a nod and that was it, but today his pain-filled gaze met her eyes.

"Maybe you should talk to Harry if you want any answers mum. Since it was his son who decided to make sure that Hermione would finally divorce me, as our lovely daughter put it. Together with that spawn of a ferret he calls his best friend they successfully destroyed what was left of my marriage. Obviously it wasn't that much!"

Ron slammed his hand on the table and stood up. He stalked out of the room and there was a loud crack when he disapparated outside. Everyone at the table was shocked to silence.

"How dare he!" Ginny was the first to break the quiet. Her red hair crackled around her head. She knew where Ron had gone and was hot on his heals, when Harry grabbed her hand and held her back. Ron had hit home with his sharp and hurtful comment and Harry felt the responsibility weigh him down again. He hadn't talked to Ginny about it yet, dodging the conversation at every turn since the evening he had spend with Hermione. Ginny had found him still sitting at the table that evening when she came home, but he hadn't even welcomed her.

"Give him some time Ginny." he whispered shaking his head. Molly watched the interaction altered. Something bad had happened and she wanted to know what. No one hurt her family.

"What does this mean?" she asked and tried to hold back her own anger. Her daughter and herself were very alike in that aspect.

Harry knew he had to explain but he didn't want anyone to know about the time turner. The Ministry would have his head if it got out. There were to many people at the table to tell the truth and what had happened to make Hermione decide on a divorce wasn't his story to tell. He groaned and stayed as close to the truth as he could.

"Albus and Scorpius botched a few things up at school last week. Hermione tried to help them but Ron reacted badly. They had a screaming match at school that ended in Hermione declaring she had enough and would divorce Ron. To be true it was Rose that started the talk about divorce and Hermione simply went with it. You know Hermione, once she's set on a path she goes through with it. Ron had the papers on his table yesterday."

The kids looked at each other and gulped. Maybe their aunt and uncle were fighting a lot but in their eyes they belonged to each other. They had never thought about them splitting up or what it would mean for the family.

"Hermione stays at Hogwarts for now and decided to step down from her tenure." Harry explained to the whole table and looked at his wife for reassurance. Their hands were still linked.

"It must have hurt her a lot, I haven't seen her at the ministry at all." Percy worked close to Hermione and had already wondered what could have happened to his superior. His co-workers had asked him too but he had only avoided them, not able to answer the questions about his sister-in-law.

"But she fought for it for years !" Molly argued, not believing what she heard.

"She would never give up on her job, even less on Ron!" There were tears in Molly's eyes. She needed to talk to her son, he had to do something. Hermione was a woman of logic, she would relent. Her son only had to apologize honestly, even if he was unapologetic at the moment. Little did she know that in his anger Ron had signed these papers and sent them back to the Ministry the moment he had apparated home.

The rest of the dinner was a grave affair. Nobody talked much, while both Molly and Ginny were seething on their own. Harry was lost in his own thoughts and the kids felt uneasy with what had just passed.

I had a really great time at London and I saw so much. So I'm late but I can't say I'm too sorry.

This time we finally meet Molly. For me she was the hardest to write up to now.

I got told Hermione was "occ trash" a few days ago. Harsh words, but in the end I'm kind of happy, because that anonym person showed me that the way Hermione acts is strange, which is what I went for. Did I want to go for trash? No! I'm sad someone feels like that, but at the same time I don't like every fanfiction out there.

For me it means I'll spend more time with the chapter that explains what happened, because I hope to make it understandable. Until next time :)

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