Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my ideas. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Nine: The Past Always Catches Up

"Kids?" Hermione whispered in disbelief.

Ron had kids? He was actually a Father?

She couldn't believe it. Then again, she didn't know him anymore. She only knew him as the sweet man she had grown up with, and the sick psychopath who had taken her daughter.

"Yes. And... he brought them with him, so I couldn't - I couldn't send him away. One's a boy who's nine, and the other is just a three year old girl. I couldn't let them face the consequences of what their father had done." Molly whispered.

"What the fuck?" Teddy said.

"Teddy, please." Ginny said with a tearful sigh.

"No, Ginny. This is ridiculous. This is the guy who messed up Meredith - who should be here, by the way - and we're just letting him into our lives?" Teddy shouted.

Hermione thought of her daughter. She had no idea what was going on. She was just sitting at home.

Were they supposed to tell her? And if so, how would they ever do that?

"He has two kids, Ted." Arthur said, compassion filling his voice.

Hermione looked at Harry who was already looking at her. His jaw was clenched and Hermione saw that he was fighting back tears - something he didn't do often. She knew that this was hardest for him - after her. She knew that Harry loved all of her kids, but he held a special spot in his heart for Meredith.

"Connor and Rose." Arthur said.

Hermione shook her head. "Stop. I-I can't deal with this."

Hermione dropped Draco's hand and stood up, turning away from them and crossing her arms before walking quickly into the kitchen. She heard footsteps behind her, expecting it to be Draco.

When she turned around, she wasn't all too surprised to find Harry.

"This is ridiculous." Hermione whispered bitterly.

"I know." Harry said.

"It's been sixteen years since we've seen him and-and now he just shows up? What the hell is that?"

Harry pulled Hermione to him, holding her close in a hug. She forced herself to focus on her breathing as he held her. She would not fall apart - not now. Not yet.

"I know that what he did... it wasn't him. It was the tumour. But, I can't ever forgive him for it." Hermione whispered, pulling back slightly to look at Harry.

"I know." he repeated.

Hermione rested her head on his shoulder, feeling tears finally come into her eyes.

"Hermione."

She looked up, finding Molly standing at the entrance to her room. Harry let her go, stepping back and wiping her eyes.

"I know that this doesn't make sense to you, but... he's my son." Molly whispered.

Hermione bit her lip, feeling herself shake. She crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't want to understand Molly, and her reasons for allowing Ron into her home, but she couldn't deny that she did.

"Imagine if it were your kids, Hermione. I know you and you're always a Mum first. And that's what I am, too." Molly said, walking to Hermione and touching her cheek softly.

"So... is he back in our lives again?" Hermione whispered tearfully.

"No. He's back in my life for now. Until he's back on his feet. Then we'll see where things go from there. The children - Connor and Rose - they're just so incredibly sweet."

Hermione just nodded. She didn't know what else to do. She watched Draco, Ginny, Teddy and Arthur come up behind Molly. Teddy walked right past Molly to her.

"Aunt Hermione, you can't keep this from Meredith. She's got a right to know." Teddy said.

Hermione knew that he was right, but that didn't mean that Hermione wanted to protect her daughter as much as she could.

. . .

"What do you think's going on out there?" Marley whispered.

"No idea. Probably got something to do with Ron." James said with a shrug.

Marley lifted her head from her spot on James's chest to look at him. Since escaping the wrath of their parents, Marley and James had just been lying in James's bed, hardly paying attention to the film in front of them. Marley just couldn't focus.

He pressed his lips gently to her forehead before smoothing back her hair softly.

"Stop worrying, M&M." he whispered.

"I can't. I just know that it's something bad and it's going to be bad for Meredith." Marley admitted.

James sighed and nodded at her, all the while staring at her intensely.

"What?" she asked softly.

He pressed his lips to hers, kissing her deeply. Marley moved into the kiss automatically, wondering why they hadn't bee doing this all along. How had it taken them so long?

"Oh! I completely forgot to tell you something last night." Marley said, instantly remembering her conversation with her mother.

James laughed at her outburst and nodded. "What is it?"

"My Mum had a thing with your Dad."

Marley almost laughed at James's expression - a slight mix between confusion and horror.

"What? When?" he asked, sitting up and pulling Marley along with him.

"I think when Meredith was a baby."

"Okay, that's... I don't even know what to do with that.

"I know. I couldn't process it."

"How old would they have been?"

Marley considered this. "Not much older than us. I think my Mum had Meredith when she was 19."

"That's so weird." James said, shaking his head.

"I know right."

And then they were quiet. Marley still wasn't focusing on the film in front of them. She could only focus on James. They were still sitting, but his arm was holding her close.

"Marley?" he whispered suddenly.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Does this... does this mean that you don't like Colin Finnigan?" he asked.

Marley thought back to the fight they'd had on Christmas Eve and let a small smile come across her face. She shook her head as she gently touched his cheek.

"James, don't be an idiot." she whispered, pressing her lips back to his.

. . .

Meredith sat at her kitchen table, stirring her coffee absentmindedly. She heard Jeremy sigh and she looked up at him, finding him staring at her.

"What?" she groaned.

"Mum's really worried about you." Jeremy said.

Meredith looked down. She didn't want to have this conversation - especially with her twelve year old brother who was much too smart for his own good.

"Well, she shouldn't be. I'm fine." Meredith mumbled.

"Mer, come on." Jeremy sighed, causing her to look back up. "Don't pull that, okay? Mum knows you're not fine, I know you're not fine. You don't have to talk to me about it obviously, but... talk to Mum, okay?"

Meredith bit her lip, getting up from her seat and walking over to Jeremy. He looked up at her with wide eyes.

"At least consider it." Jeremy said.

Meredith nodded, staring down at him. She kissed his forehead before walking out of the room and wishing that she could be as smart as her younger brother. As she made her way into the living room, she caught sight of the familiar green flames. She groaned loudly, knowing that it would be Leo before she even saw him.

"Hey." he said, approaching her cautiously.

"Leo. You're stalking me." she sighed, sitting down on the couch.

He sat down next to her with an extremely noticeable amount of space between them for which Meredith was immediately glad.

"Look, I realize that I said I'd talk about it last night - and I guess I will - but I really didn't mean first thing this morning." Meredith said.

"Mer, I've had no one to talk to this about. And... I don't know, I have to talk about it to get past it. I have to talk about Ava." he said quietly.

"Don't!" Meredith screamed.

She felt her breathing instantly increase at the mention of Ava's name. She knew that she couldn't deal with it. She didn't want to deal with it.

"Meredith..." he whispered, moving closer to her on the couch.

She turned her head away from him, feeling her eyes burn. She had gone so long without hearing Ava's name that she had almost convinced herself that hearing it again wouldn't hurt as much.

She was wrong.

"Leo, please." she begged.

She felt him grab her hand and she tried to move away. He just held on tighter. She finally looked back up at him as the tears fell from her eyes.

"You can't run from this, Mer." he whispered.

She heard him start to get choked up and she knew that he was hurting just as much as her. It wasn't fair of her to shut him out entirely. She decided to take a chance and move closer to him. He suddenly took her in his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder, allowing herself to cry.

"I miss you." he whispered.

That just made her cry even harder.

. . .

James opened his eyes to a banging on his door. He was about to move to sit up before he remembered that Marley was lying on his chest - asleep, just as he had been.

"James!"

He sighed, hearing his Mother's yells. He didn't understand why she was suddenly overreacting about his behaviour with Marley. It really wasn't anything new. Well - the kissing was, but Ginny didn't know about that.

James felt Marley move on his chest and he sat up, bringing her with him. He looked into her eyes, realizing that she had been asleep for probably about as long as he had.

"Is that your Mum?" Marley yawned.

James nodded, pulling Marley close to him. "What, Mum?"

The door opened to reveal a red-eyed and very frazzled looking Ginny. James suddenly knew that whatever they had been discussing downstairs was really serious. He saw his father behind her with a tired expression on his face.

"Marley, you need to leave." Ginny snapped.

"Wh-what?" Marley asked.

"Ginny, just let the kids -" Harry started.

"No, Harry! I want time with my family right now and Marley, you aren't actually a part of that." Ginny shouted.

James was suddenly furious. He knew how much Marley loved his Mum. He knew that she treated them like an Aunt and Uncle, just as he did with her parents. He looked at Marley's expression, knowing that her blank mask was just a cover for her hurt interior.

"Ginny." Harry said, his voice much louder.

"Shut up, Harry. I want to talk to my son." Ginny said.

"Mum, there is a much nicer way to ask Marley to leave. And if you're going to talk to her like that, than I'm not staying." James said.

"James Sirius Potter, you will do what I say." Ginny yelled.

"Mum, no. Marley is my family, too. And you do not get to speak to her like that." James said.

"Harry, would you control your son?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, I just - I don't -" Harry stammered.

He knew his Dad was just as confused as he was. He could tell by his voice and expression - their characteristics were almost the same. James looked at Marley. Her lip was quivering. He just shook his head, standing up from the bed and pulling Marley with him. He wrapped an arm around her, directing her towards the door.

"Come on." he whispered.

"James, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ginny yelled.

James moved past his parents, heading for the stairs with Marley at his side.

"James, you don't have to - I can leave. It's fine." Marley whispered.

He paused halfway down the stairs, turning to her and touching her cheek gently.

"No." he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead. "This was supposed to be our day, M&M. I'm not going to let them ruin it for us, okay?"

Marley nodded slowly at him. He pulled her down the stairs, heading quickly to the fireplace. He heard his parents behind him, his father trying to reason with his mother. He heard his grandparents speaking with Teddy and Marley's parents in the kitchen, but he didn't want to get anywhere near there.

"Ginny, why are you doing this?" he heard his dad mutter.

"Because, Harry. Because I just am, alright?" Ginny screamed.

James stepped into the fireplace, pulling Marley with him ready to get the hell out of there.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for reading! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! xx