Hello, my freaky darlings. I hope you are enjoying your Saturday. I will admit, the last chapter and this chapter are related to my real life frustrations with therapy right now. Please do not misunderstand, I love that my generation is getting in there are working through their traumas, but that does not mean that you are the only one who can have boundaries, anyone who does not agree with you is wrong, that you are automatically the victim, and that you can traumatize other people because of your "truth," Have compassion and be kind. But, that also doesn't mean be a doormat. Here, let Hermione show you how to work on balance. Enjoy. (Sorry for the mini rant.)

Chapter 64 Dealing With Ron

Bright and early Hermione arrived at the mental institute. The white walls gleamed from the morning light, everything clinical and uniform. Her appearance splashed color into the surroundings. She wore an emerald sundress with matching pumps. Her carefully selected earrings glinted on her ears. The silver serpents had been a gift from Adrian. He lamented her lack of Slytherin pride. She was Salazar's descendant as much as the other Founders, she needed something to show it. She styled her hair up in a feminine little braid. Her engagement and wedding rings twinkled on her finger. Every little thing that could trigger Ron was in place.

"Mrs. Flint," Stark greeted her, "Thank you for changing your mind."

"Such foolishness on my part, this is for the greater good."

He beamed at her proudly, like one might a puppy that performed a trick correctly. "Let me explain what will happen as we make our way to the visiting room." He gestured with his arm for her to walk with him. "We'll have Ron join you in the room. We'll be able to see you, but not hear you. This time is for Ron. Once he's finished we'll escort him out and you'll be free to go."

"He won't have a wand, or be able to hurt me, will he?"

"No, we have a low-level dampening field in place. No one can do magic without a wand. Which reminds me, we will need your wand in case."

"In case what? He attacks me for it?" He said nothing. "Do you have a safety plan for that scenario? Or if he physically attacks me again?"

"Ron has come a long way in his time with us. He has been level-headed and calm this whole time. You will be perfectly safe," he assured her vaguely.

He led her to a small room with a square wooden table and two chairs. Stark held out his hand for her wand and indicated the chair furthest from the door. She surveyed the room, they would be "watching" from a small high window in the door. Hermione handed her wooden wand over and sat in the indicated chair. He smiled at her and left to collect Ron. She placed her hands on her lap and palmed her crystal wand. She felt the warm tingle of its presence waking her magic up. They would be watching her, not Ron. And had placed Ron and the table between her and the only escape route. She would be having words with someone about this.

Five minutes later Johnson brought Ron in. The redhead sneered at her, his face reddening slightly at her apparel. The healer closed the door behind him and made a show of waving at Hermione from the tiny window. "Ronald," she greeted politely.

"Given your new choice of company, I was surprised you would be brave enough to face me after everything you did."

"Ronald, shut up," she snapped keeping her facial expression neutral. "Your healers are beyond stupid. This is counterproductive. They should not be allowing you to keep the delusion that you are the victim here. One of us does deserve the closure of confronting the other, but it isn't you. So either you sit there and listen or I will make you."

"How you can't do magic here?" his eyes narrowed.

"Correction, you can't do magic here." She shot a stinging hex at him. "My magic appears to be working just fine." He took a deep breath to yell, "Don't bother yelling for them, those gits took great pleasure in letting me know they can't hear us. This time is all for you. Only, I'm taking it for me."

Ron slumped down in his chair. "Everything was great until you broke the charms," he grumbled.

"Do you hear yourself? You were magically manipulating Harry to be sexually interested in you. I refuse to say, love, because that is not love. It is an unnatural obsession and slavery. It isn't real. Could it have been? Who knows. You didn't try to put in the work, you went for the lazy, easy way. Then you and your mother realized Dumbledore's crimes could create the perfect wife for you. I could be ordered to make you happy. Behave in the manner Molly thought appropriate for a wife. To look the other way when you were cruel or when you cheated. To ignore it when you went to get your brains fucked out by Harry. And had you known about my family's money, to spend tons of it on you. And I would have because I HAD TO! Disobeying made me ill. Not that you cared, or could care."

"Hermione, we had good times," he tried to protest.

"Manufactured by Dumbledore. You, at best, tolerated me most of the time. Perhaps at one point, you might have liked me. But the second the chips were down, or you thought you were being excluded or you didn't like what happened, you lashed out. You were a bully. You were worse than Malfoy because you knew exactly what buttons to push, and where my insecurities were. He simply cast about until something hit."

"Don't you dare compare me to Malfoy, you bi...OW!" She fired a stinging hex at his groin under the table.

"I told you to shut up. I know you like being in charge. When Molly added you it further twisted you. You started to expect all women to obey you. Like Luna, you went after her because you didn't like something she did. It had nothing to do with you, you only knew because of the newspaper. But how dare she? She should have taken you into account."

"She married the enemy."

"By that time, Ronald, YOU were the enemy. You never treated her well, the Order did nothing to protect her family. You lot were hidden away waiting for two children to save us. One of which was being poisoned by two other members. No bothered to check on fringe members like the Lovegoods."

"Stupid Ginny always interfering. Didn't even come to my defense at trial."

"Yes, that's the part to latch onto. Well, Ginny had to save her own skin, didn't she? She's working in a muggle jewelry shop, by the way. Seems to be doing alright. Not that you asked. She managed to keep Rowle's name."

"Like I care," he sneered.

"I don't expect you to care for anyone but yourself. And no one cares for you. Lavender found herself a nice guy willing to overlook her association with you, no one's quite sure if the baby is his, it does have strawberry blonde hair, so..." She trailed off letting that sink in.

"Lavender had a baby?"

"Yes, she did. And now someone else could be raising your kid. Actually, given the rise of blood adoptions, it is his kid by now. Somehow amid a wonderfully loving family, your mother spoiled you two into uselessness. Then destroyed everything by buying into the delusion Albus Dumbledore was an all knowing infallible god. You chose to hold onto the grudges and refused to see the corruption in front of you. The vaulted light side wasn't any better than the dark. We might not have been murdering people in the streets. But we were taking away people's free will. We, well you, were raping people."

"I never forced anyone," he protested.

"Ron, you and Ginny gave Harry potions to make him like you that way. You said yourself you should have ordered me to sleep with you. That a baby, while we were still in school, would have kept me occupied. You do realize that if you had impregnated me, I would have dropped out and lived with my muggle parents and not been there to do your homework, right? And I certainly wouldn't have been there to help fight or search for Horcruxes." He stared at her dumbfounded. "Didn't think that through, did you? Regardless, it didn't happen so it doesn't matter."

"Look, Hermione, if you had just," Ron tried to retake control of the conversation.

"If I had just what? Not discovered you fucking Harry on my cot?" Ron looked briefly shocked. "Yeah, I saw that. You kept telling me we shouldn't make Harry feel uncomfortable. It was really that you weren't attracted to me. But you were going to need an obedient little wife to cover so, you've got to string Hermione along. Leading you cheated on me, in my own bed! When you both had one not two feet away! But, you're right, this is all my fault. Dumbledore enslaved me, stopped anyone from objecting when they found out, and let others abuse me for his vision of the greater good. But it was for the greater good, so it is okay. And if you get what you want, all the better. But look, no more terror, no more slaying people in their homes. I found solutions that ended it in other ways. Peaceful ways."

"Dumbledore was a hero, you just don't understand. Voldemort will go back to his dark ways."

"No, Ronald, you don't understand. Voldemort wants to live forever and be in charge. I've shown him how to do both and not have to constantly fight wars. Dumbledore did terrible things to manipulate people. He erased Snape's memory of making up with Lily Potter before they went into hiding. She wanted there to be no regrets in his life. But that didn't suit Dumbledore's plans, so he erased it. He had obedience charms on Remus to make him take bigger risks with the werewolf packs. He made Shaklebolt and Tonks do things that could have gotten them fired or arrested. He would have sacrificed all of us to have things end his way. My being a muggleborn does not invalidate my way of thinking or mean my opinions on things don't matter. I understand better than you do. I wasn't taught to worship him my entire life and overlook the evil he did or caused."

"If you just..." Ron pouted.

"Name one thing I actually did to you that was so bad. If you can name one I will apologize."

"Your cat attacked Scabbers."

"Who was a wizard who had betrayed Harry's parents and would have killed him in a heartbeat if it would have benefited him."

"You dated the enemy during the Triwizard Tournament."

"The time when you quit being friends with Harry? And Viktor would have been Harry's rival, not yours. Try again."

"You called me stupid," he finally declared triumphantly.

"Fine, I'm sorry I called you stupid." He smirked until she continued. "It must have hurt your one feeling. Now, it's my turn. You bullied me so badly that I hid in a bathroom and almost died because there was a troll. Every time I did not do exactly as you wished you demeaned and belittled me. You often did so even while demanding my assistance with your homework. You implied I was too ugly to get a date with anyone decent. And when I did you ruined that date. Knowing your mother had ordered me to keep you happy, and that I thought those impulses were because I liked you, you rubbed your relationship with Lavender in my face. You ordered me to date you, even though you were slagging around with Harry and Lavender. You threatened and attacked me. You threatened to drown my children. You are nothing more than a pathetic bully who couldn't even save his mummy when she needed him most. You lost. The Order lost. And even if those imbeciles reform your mental state, you spend twenty years in prison. By the time you get out, no one will remember you, and life will have moved on. You will be all alone. Forever. And this time Mummy won't be able to save you from anything." She smirked at him.

"You, bitch." He jumped to his feet and started across the table. She magically flung him against the wall hard. He struck his head twice, once on the cider block wall and then again on the cement floor. Both healers rushed in.

"What happened?" demanded Stark as he looked from her to Ron's prone body.

"He attacked me and I defended myself. I told you, idiots, yesterday, feeding his delusions is not the way to deal with this. He didn't like hearing the truth about himself. So, he resorted to violence and I responded in kind."

"We're going to have to summon the aurors," Johnson said.

"Yes, you are. I wish to press assault charges on Ron and endangerment charges against you two." Hermione told him. "You promised me I would be safe. I was not. Of course, Ron was docile for you. You were telling him what he wanted to hear."

They both looked dumbfounded, "But he's the one hurt."

"And I'm the one that he kidnapped and beat. You demanded I talk to him, so at risk to myself I did. You sadly misread the circumstances. This is your problem and your mess. I want to wait for the aurors somewhere comfortable and Ron needs medical attention." She stepped over his body and out the door.

Desperate to spin the situation, the healers spoke with the aurors first, making sure they were aware of Ron's condition before showing them to the office Hermione waited in. She sat behind the desk, giving herself a position of power. "Mrs. Flint," nodded one of them. "My name is Elias Hawthorne, this is my partner, Alexander Wright."

"Hello, gentlemen, please, have a seat." She gestured to the open seats in front of the desk.

Stark started to object, "This is my office."

"Yes, but right now I am talking to the nice aurors," she replied coolly.

"Right," started Hawthorne ignoring Stark, "Healers Johnson and Stark say they asked you here to apology to Mr. Prewett for the things you did wrong to him."

"Correction, they demanded and emotionally manipulated me to come here and indulge Ronald Prewett in his delusion that he is the victim. He is a convicted criminal, convicted of crimes against me. But they insisted I needed to come let him blame me for everything and sit there while he yelled and verbally abused me. At first, I declined, but they persisted. I agreed despite my reservations."

"They say you attacked him."

"He attacked me first, I was defending myself. Allow me to finish. Healer Stark escorted me to a room that he assured me was soundproof. They would not be able to hear any of the vile things the prisoner would be saying to me. They would be watching from a tiny window in the door. Watching me, as they placed Ron closer to the door with his back to them. They couldn't even monitor his mental state from facial expressions. They took my wand, leaving me defenseless and essentially alone with a man that kidnapped and attacked me. When I asked what plans were in place for my protection I was told Ronald had been docile and I would be safe. Certainly, he was docile, they agreed with him he was the victim. When I told him he wasn't, he grew angry. We argued. He started to come over the table at me, so I pushed him away. He fell into the wall and hit his head. I want to press charges. He attacked me, again, and they seemingly purposely put me in danger."

The aurors looked at one another, "The mediwitch in the infirmary says Mr. Prewett sustained a severe concussion and head trauma. We don't see any injuries."

"And? Once upon a time, he gave me one. Before trying to kill me. I suggest that you confer with your superiors and make sure that you want to continue with this particular line of questioning. One should not blindly accept the first story one hears as the whole truth." She raised an eyebrow.

"Now, Mrs. Flint, these healers are renowned in their field. They know what they're doing."

"Ah, so we're going with misogyny. Splendid. Fine, do what you want, but remember I tried to warn all of you" She sat back in the chair sighing. Perhaps Voldemort had the right of it in the first place, burn it all down and start over from scratch.
"I don't think you have the appropriate attitude, missy. You have seriously injured a man. He may never be right in the head again."

"You are implying that he was ever right in the head, to begin with," retorted Hermione.

"Perhaps, you would like to continue this conversation in our offices," shot back Hawthorne.

"Sounds delightful," she smiled.

"That's it, let's go."

"Oh, are you going to arrest me and everything? Are there handcuffs?" She smiled impishly.

"Mrs. Flint, this is not a laughing matter. You need to take this seriously," warned Wright.

"Why should I, you aren't?" Hermione knew she shouldn't goad them, but she had one nerve left and these gits were stomping on it.

Neither aurors was gentle as they roughly pushed her through the floo and into an interrogation room. They laughed at each other about spoiled society wives as they left her to think about her official statement. They headed down to the cafeteria to get a bite. "Let the princess in seven stew for a bit. Ignore any demands. She needs to understand how the world works." The rookie nodded silently, looking worriedly at the interrogation room.

Thirty minutes later they returned to a department in chaos. Robards and Yaxley were in deep discussion, both looking furious. A team of expensive looking solicitors stood in the middle of the room, one kept looking at his wristwatch. "Looks like someone's having a bad day," Wright joked.

"Poor bastard. Ready?" Hawthorne asked.

"I am." Wright opened the door and entered. Hermione looked up from the journal she was reading. "Ready to be more cooperative?"

"Are you implying that I should agree with the narrative Healer Stark and Healer Johnson created that frees them from the implication of wrongdoing? Because, no."

Before either of them could say anything in response the door flung open, "Oh, for fuck's sake, please tell me you imbeciles aren't pressing Mrs. Flint to confess to anything. And please tell me this does not involve Ronald Prewett," Robards looked at both of his officers.

"Would you like them to lie?" Hermione asked. "It might make you feel better for a second."

He shook his head and looked back at the aurors, "Yesterday a memo went out that anything about Hermione Flint and Ronald Prewett was to come through me."

They both looked embarrassed, Hawthorne began to stutter, "We, uh, didn't have a chance to read all our memos today."

Robards growled. "Apologize to Mrs. Flint, now."

"We're, uh, we're very sorry," mumbled Wright.

"Not as sorry as you're going to be," she told them in a cold voice. She looked at Yaxley, "This is so fucked up I don't even know who to tell you to get."

"Minster Thicknesse is on his way. He intends to get all your suggestions." Yaxley assured her.

"That's easy. Vet all mind healers to make sure they understand psychology. And start getting rid of misogynists and entitled arses. Both there and here. These two instantly believed the two male professionals because they decided I was a brainless spoiled society wife who needed to let the menfolk decide things. Wouldn't want to overwhelm my poor little brain."

Yaxley barked with laughter, "Oh, gentlemen, you poor bastards. This lovely young woman is one of, if not the, brightest people on the planet."

"Well, the brightest person on the planet is hungry and wants to go home. Tell Minister Thicknesse he may not know where to find me, but he does know how to contact me. For reading material, I suggest starting with Psychology for Dummies."

"My sincerest apologies for everything," Robards told her.

"Be part of the solution by not sweeping all of this under the rug."

"Yes, ma'am," he promised.

Outside of the room Lucius's solicitors converged the moment she emerged. "Do whatever Lucius told you to, or wants you to, or would expect you to do, no mercy for those four morons. I just want to go home. Oh, and they were rather rough when they brought me here. I might have bruises." They nodded and she exited the department. She hoped it didn't go too badly for Robards, he tried to ensure this didn't happen.