Chapter 34 – Reaching out
Hermione took some time to consider what she had heard from her children, while the days got shorter and shorter. Hogwarts was preparing for Christmas and while most students were already fully into the holiday spirit, a few could still be seen studying for the last few tests that would come up beforehand.
It had been a hard decision to make. Ron and she might be divorced now, exactly as she wanted, but she still had two children to take care of. Giving up was not an option she could ever choose.
As reserved as she had been at the beginning, she couldn't just back out on her family here. The walls she had built around her to keep herself safe had crumbled when she had seen the hurt in Rose's face and the hope Hugo held when he finally talked to her. They were her children too. It was a revelation that had finally hit her and that had sent her to sleep crying the evening after their visit. Now she felt like she had decided to act too harshly, without considering all the facts.
She knew that her panic had overwritten her rationality when she had landed herself in this different world, but it felt like she had failed yet again.
Hugo had been so open with her after he had gotten over his shyness. He had accepted the facts she had told him about her situation with a patient and understanding attitude she hadn't expected from a 12-year-old kid. The books he had found would have been helpful, had she really been victim to a normal magical accident. He had found various treatments, like visiting other people's memories in a Pensieve, which could be very risky but helped in cases where the victim wanted their life back, or some kind of magical meditation with retransition. Hugo must have spent hours and hours not far from her in the library to find all the different books. She had hoped he hadn't neglected his own schoolwork or friends for his research, but when she asked him he had closed down and refused to talk about school or friends.
As for Ron, it had taken a few days to get a hold of him. The Hogwarts owl she sent for him took nearly a week to get back to her, with only a ripped off paper stating a date and time and nothing else. Even with the little he had written it had taken her quite a few moments to make out his handwriting. It was still as sloppy as she remembered it from school, reading over his homework to correct his mistakes. They were bittersweet memories, old and tarnished, but she was able to conjure them up to overcast the newer, horrible and sad ones.
Hey everyone, it's been quiet some time since the last update and sadly I have to announce the series will be on hiatus for the coming month or two. I'm so sorry but I won't change it. The last 7 weeks were really hard on me, with an odysee of docs, hospital and bedrest. I'm getting better now but after such a long time my life is a mess I need to focus on other things for the time being.
For today I hope you liked the small update I found on my PC and we'll read each other soon.