Chapter 31 – Do you know the divorce ratio?

Rose hugged Ian tightly and was grateful he was here with her. It had taken a lot of courage to ask him to go with her. While she had only agreed to date him for selfish reasons first, she had got to see his good sides within a short time. He was reliable like a rock and considerate of her moods. Growing up with a bunch of boys, she knew not many boys would be so good-natured.

"I guess it didn't went like you wanted it to?" he asked when she had calmed down a bit and the worst crying had stopped.

"I didn't wait for her answer. Just seeing how emotionless her face was, was too much." Rose knew she was being unfair, but at the moment she didn't care. When she had read her grandmother's invitation to join them for the Christmas break she had known her parents wouldn't be there. Her father was out of her reach, so she took her anger out on her mother.

She knew Grandma Molly had wanted to be considerate of her and Hugo, but it had been like a blow. Rose had been sure she and Hugo would go home for Christmas together with her Mom and her Dad, it would be a bit odd, but at least her parents would be talking and working everything out for their sake. They didn't need to be in love and married for all Rose cared, but they should be able put themselves together for two weeks.

"I don't know what's wrong with you and your mother Rose but I'm sure it won't get fixed by running away. You are a lion, so you need to stand your ground even if you are frightened by what could happen. Now go back and give her a chance, I'm sure she's just as sad as you are."

Ian whipped his girlfriend's tears from her face and smiled at her while leaning his forehead against hers. Giving her a short and sweet kiss he stepped back at nodded towards the door.

"I'll be here." he promised and Rose drew a breath before she went to knock on her mother's door again.

XxX

"Did you know that the divorce ratio in the United Kingdom is around 40% for the muggles but only around 5% for the wizards?" Hermione asked her daughter while she stirred some tea for them. They hadn't talked since her daughter had come in again with her tear stained face and sat down on the seat Hermione had offered her the first time she knocked.

"A romantic would see it as a blessing, maybe even magic, how good we seem to be at finding our soulmate. The reality is that in our world it's shameful to divorce. A simple signature under a document isn't enough to seal the deal. A marriage joined by magic needs reasons to be divorced, other than mutual agreement. To divorce a wizard marriage there needs to be a seal from the Wizenmagot on it and they like to investigate."

There was a silence after Hermione stopped talking. Rose wasn't sure what her mother wanted to tell her, but stating facts was something she did often before she talked about what was going on. It was her mother's way to soften the blow of bad news or to help along find a solution.

"When I joined Hogwarts I was full of dreams and couldn't stop reading all these books about magic and what I would be able to do. I always had trouble to find friends, because I was, apparently, a snotty little know-it-all. I never saw myself as such, but if you're told that's the way others see you, you can either accept it and go on or change your ways. You father voiced that opinion often and rather loud in my first year here and after believing I was finally somewhere I would be accepted, it was a huge blow. Still he and Harry went to rescue me from that troll the day I went into the toilet crying because of him. Our relationship was the same ever since. Your father wouldn't watch his mouth, I would shoot back and we both would end up hurt over trivial things, still I fell in love with him because once he got over it he would always come back, risking everything. That's why I hurt him so bad this time Rose, I don't want him to come back. He needs to accept that it's over and move on."

Rose listened to her mother but she couldn't understand it. There were no reasons for her mother to behave like that. Yes they quarrelled and she had often asked herself why they didn't separate, but she had never imagined it to be this final.

"All of this has nothing to do with you or your brother Rose, and I'm sorry it affects you as much as it does. I would love to get to know you, on your terms, if you want. I can't give you back the mother who brought you up, but I'll try to be there for you as much as I can."

They sat in silence again and Hermione kept her eyes on the girl in front of her. She could see so much of herself and Aquila in her, but focused on really seeing the girl. Her hair was curly and a bit untamed, leaning towards her brownish colour and not Ron's fire bright red. The colour was just red enough to give her a unique touch that would always out her as a Weasley.

"I don't understand you Mom." Rose told her some time later and went to leave the room, closing the door silently behind her. She wasn't angry anymore, just bone-deep exhausted.

Looking at the closed door Hermione sighed and ran her hands over her face. This was the best she had been able to do, without opening the can of worms her relationship with Ron was while the war. His betrayal still stung.

Happy New Year!

Hoping for more reviews and comments this year to get even better.