Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my ideas. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thank you for all the reviews I've gotten! They mean everything to me. Now, on that note, I have gotten some mixed reviews and some are from guests so I can't PM them back. So, I'd just like to take a second to clear some things up.
Yes, this is the same author who wrote Gone. This is sophiegranger57. It's me. Things are different in this story than they were in Gone, because it is sixteen years later. People change by things that have happened in their lifetime, I know I certainly have. The reasons for the characters acting like they are will all be revealed, I promise - even Ginny will have her reasons.
Thank you for reading though! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! xx
Chapter Ten: Problems
"Meredith?"
Meredith lifted her head from Leo's shoulder and wiped her tear filled eyes. She found Marley and James standing just outside the fireplace, their hands intertwined as they looked at her in shock and concern.
"Are you okay?" Marley asked instantly, the two making their way over to Meredith and Leo.
She looked at Leo, who dropped his arms from around her and moved a few inches away. She wiped her eyes again before looking up at Marley and James. Marley was staring right at her, whereas James was watching Leo with hesitance.
"James Potter, right?" Leo said, standing up and sticking out his hand.
"Yeah..." James muttered, reluctantly shaking Leo's hand.
"I'm Leo Greengrass. Friend of Meredith's from Hogwarts." Leo introduced.
Meredith watched as James and Marley exchanged a look before Marley looked right back at her.
"Marley, can you lot go upstairs or something? I'm sorry, but... I've got to speak with Leo right now." Meredith whispered.
"Yeah, of course... are you sure?" Marley asked.
"I'm sure." Meredith said, even though she definitely wasn't.
Marley nodded and Meredith watched as James wrapped his arm around her younger sister's shoulder. Instantly, Meredith had a hint of a smile on her face. She knew that something had changed between them.
"Do you mean that?" Leo asked once the two had left. "Are you going to speak with me?"
Meredith looked at him, clasping her hands tightly together to stop herself from reaching out and touching Leo. She was realizing that she missed him much more than she had let herself believe, if that was even possible.
"We... we can speak, just... just not here. My family could come back at any minute and they don't know about Ava, okay?" Meredith whispered hurriedly.
"Are you going to tell them?" he asked.
"I don't know."
. . .
Hermione stepped out of the Floo with Lyra in her arms to find Meredith in tears speaking quietly with a man she had never seen before. She looked at Draco, who placed Scorpius down on the ground. His eyes were narrowed. She instantly knew it was Leo Greengrass.
"Mum, Dad." Meredith whispered, standing up from the couch abruptly.
"Leo." Draco said. "What's going on here?"
"Dad, nothing. Leo just - he just stopped by. We're going out, okay? Jer's upstairs." Meredith said, grabbing Leo's hand and pulling him to his feet.
Hermione wasn't sure what to say. She looked at her eldest and knew just how much she was hurting. The tears were freely flowing from her eyes, even though she was acting like they weren't. That was just the type of person Meredith was - strong even in times of trouble.
"See you later." Meredith said, bending over and grabbing her wand from the coffee table.
"Wait, Meredith -" Hermione said, finally finding her voice.
But, before she could say anything more, Meredith and Leo had Apparated away. She placed Lyra down on the ground who ran off after her twin, leaving Hermione and Draco alone. She turned to him, finding his expression the same.
"She was crying." Draco said. "What the hell did he do to her?"
"Draco, we don't know that he's done anything." Hermione said, sitting down on the couch and rubbing her temples.
"But, she was crying, Hermione! I haven't seen her cry in a long time." Draco sighed, sitting down next to her.
"I know, but... there's nothing we can do about that right now. We need to figure out how we're going to tell her about Ron." Hermione said.
Draco stared at her and she felt her shoulders droop. It was hardly the afternoon and she was already completely exhausted.
"Ginny's losing it." Hermione mumbled. "Harry doesn't know what to do. I have no idea how to do this!"
"Hey, angel. Come here." Draco whispered, holding out his arms.
Hermione crawled into his embrace, resting herself against his chest. She closed her eyes, feeling his hand brush her hair.
"We'll figure this all out, okay? We'll figure everything out." he soothed.
. . .
But later that night, Draco still had no idea what to do.
Hermione had gone quiet, and he hadn't had any idea what to say. He had made the family dinner, a quiet affair. Marley and James had joined them, the twins and Jeremy, but quickly retreated back to Marley's room soon after.
He didn't even have the energy to be angry about James spending the night in his house. He was too worried about everything else.
"Hermione?" he asked from his spot next to her in bed.
"Yeah?" she whispered, turning onto her side to look at him.
He reached forward and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Even though she had aged in the years they had been together, Draco knew that she was just every bit as beautiful as when they had first gotten together. He leaned closer, pulling Hermione into his arms and kissing her forehead.
"What is it?" she murmured, looking up into his eyes.
"I'm worried about Meredith. And Marley, actually." he admitted.
He heard Hermione sigh, but when he looked into her eyes, he knew that she was worried as well.
"Marley's growing up, Draco. We have to let her make her own decisions." Hermione said softly.
"I know, but... you see how intense the connection between her and James is, right? I know you do. It's too fast and too soon." Draco said.
"We don't even know if they're together yet." Hermione observed with a sigh.
"If they aren't, it'll be any day now." Draco said.
"Is it bad having that strong of a connection with someone? I mean, we had that strong of a connection when we were there age, you know." Hermione said.
Draco sat up, pulling Hermione with him and turning on the lampshade next to their bed.
"I know. And we had a kid pretty early, Hermione." Draco mumbled, letting his fear finally out of his mouth.
"Oh God, Draco. Don't - don't even think about that. Marley's much smarter than that. And, may I remind you that Meredith happened when we were terrified that we were going to die any second and therefore didn't cast the protection charm?" Hermione groaned.
Draco knew she had a point. His face turned crimson and he looked away from her. He knew she was right. She was always right.
"We've got to let her live her life." Hermione whispered, touching his face.
Draco nodded. "Meredith's never spoken to us about any boys before. I mean, has she?"
"She's mentioned a few boys here and there over the years, but nothing serious. She never mentioned Leo." Hermione said.
He took in Hermione's expression, realizing that she was just as worried as he was.
"You want to tell her about Ron tomorrow, don't you?" Draco sighed, knowing his wife.
"Yeah, I do. She'll be angry if we don't tell her soon and she finds out some other way. It's only fair." Hermione whispered.
Draco nodded, pulling Hermione back down in bed with him and kissing her deeply.
. . .
"Are you sure you shouldn't be going home?" Marley whispered.
James shook his head, remaining silent. Marley sighed, lifting her head off of his chest and looking at him. She knew that what had happened with his Mother was bothering him much more than he was letting on - hence the silence.
"Marley, I'm really worried that my parents are going to split up." James admitted, his voice coming out in harsh whispers. "I can't just stay at home and watch it happen. I know we're only home for two weeks, but... I just can't."
She recognized true fear in his eyes and she moved over on the bed, gesturing towards her chest.
"What are you doing?" he muttered.
"Come on. Lay your head on me for once." she whispered.
From the darkness of the room, Marley could just see the outline of his face and his bright green eyes. He nodded slowly, moving over and doing as she said. She tightened her arms around him protectively.
"You can stay here for as long as you like, you know." Marley whispered.
"I know. Well, at least until either my Mum yanks me home by my hair, or your Dad chops my head off." James sighed.
"Well, if he does that then you can sleep in the guest room - at least until he falls asleep." Marley said.
She felt James tighten his grip around her. He lifted his head, pulling her lips to his for a moment before returning to lie down.
"Sweet dreams, M&M."
"Sweet dreams."
. . .
Hermione opened her eyes at the sound of a crash from downstairs. She sat up instantly, feeling Draco do the same. She looked around, fear crashing into her heart.
Instantly, her first thought was that it was Ron.
Except, she knew that the wards should keep him out. They should keep everyone out except for those allowed in.
"Stay here." Draco whispered, grabbing his wand and stepping out of bed.
"Yeah, like hell I'm going to do that." Hermione said back, grabbing her own wand and hopping in front of him.
She heard him groan from behind her. It was always the same battle between the two in regards to protection. Draco always wanted to protect her - and then she had to remind him that she played a major role in the War. It would take a lot to get her to back down from a fight.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Hermione sighed in relief and rolled her eyes with a groan.
"For the love of Merlin, Potter." Draco grumbled.
Harry was sitting on the coffee table in front of them, a flask in his hand. Hermione shook her head, turning back to look at Draco.
"I've got this, okay?" she whispered. "Go back to bed."
"Yeah, okay." he said, kissing her lips quickly and then her forehead.
As good of friends as Draco and Harry were, it was still always Hermione who knew him best. And Hermione knew that if Harry stumbled into her house in the middle of the night - clearly drunk and still drinking - he was hurting.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" Hermione said, casting the lights on with her wand and making her way over to him.
"I'm just here." he said, smiling at her.
She shook her head. "No, Harry. You don't just show up like this in the middle of the night. Not anymore."
Harry and Ginny had a history of problems that usually ended up with Ginny losing her temper and kicking Harry out of the house for the night. It happened a lot when their kids were young, Ginny not being able to deal with the stress. They loved each other with all their hearts, but Hermione knew that they still fought a lot.
"Ginny told me to leave." he said, grabbing Hermione's hand as she yanked him off of the table and over to the couch.
"What happened?" she asked.
"She's... she's angry, Hermione. She's angry about everything." Harry said, his words slurring together. He tried to reach for his flask, but Hermione grabbed it before he could.
"I'm sure she didn't mean it, Harry. You know she never does." Hermione said.
"She was yelling at the kids, Hermione! James and Marley - she was yelling at them." Harry said, almost yelling himself.
"Wait - she was yelling at my daughter?" Hermione said, anger flaring in her voice.
"I don't know why." he sighed. "I know she's conflicted about Ron, Hermione. But... she shouldn't kick me out! We're grown ups. We're past this."
Hermione didn't know what to say. She really didn't. She knew that Harry was conflicted as well, but he would never say. He loved Meredith too much to ever forgive Ron.
"Why are you drunk?" Hermione decided to ask.
"Because Ron's back and I don't want to deal with it." he said quickly.
Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but stopped. She watched Harry's eyes begin to droop and he yawned sloppily. She sighed, pulling him to her and allowing him to rest his head against her chest. He laid down, wrapping his arms around her as Hermione rested her own head against the side of the couch, summoning a blanket over for them.
She heard Harry let out a choked sob and her heart broke a little further.