Chapter 2- Making a Plan

Hermione was not terribly surprised that morning when an owl arrived from Harry asking her and Ron to come over as soon as they were able. She was really a wonderful sister-in-law. In about fifteen minutes, she had managed to be dressed, to wake Hugo and Rose up and set out toast and juice, and then to rouse the soundly-sleeping Ron, tell him that something big was up and that he would need to get the kids dressed and drop them off at the Burrow before meeting her at Harry and Ginny's house. (Magic was really wonderful at times like this! Hermione still never took it for granted.) In another fifteen minutes after that, she had arrived by floo, made a strong pot of coffee, and had fried up bacon,sausage, eggs, mushrooms, and tomatoes beside an enormous tower of toast, all before the Potter children came racing downstairs in their pajamas.

"Aunt Hermione! What are you doing here?" James asked.

"I'm here to make you breakfast and take you over to see your Grandma and Granddad. You didn't think you'd get to start at Hogwarts next week without spending a full day with them, did you? Not a chance!"

This explanation satisfied both Lily and Albus, who gave a celebratory whoop and promptly began gobbling down bacon, but James gave Hermione a long, scrutinizing look. She wondered how much he knew or suspected of his parents' troubles.

Soon Ginny came down the stairs. Was this what it felt like to be underwater without breathing? She had been unconscious during that part of the Triwizard tournament. Harry had saved her then, but he said last night that she was his friend, she thought bitterly-just some bloody symbol for home and family. She smiled weakly at Hermione and the breakfast, suppressed the flood of more tears that threatened to burst through at the unexpected kindness. Then she gave James, Albus, and Lily long hugs and a kiss.

"Mum!" Albus complained.

"Oh don't mind me, dear. You know I love you so much, and sometimes I just can't help giving you an extra hug." When James gave her the same look he had given his aunt, Ginny said, "Everything is going to be alright, sweetie. I'm feeling a little sad right now, but I'm going to be okay. Aunt Hermione is here to cheer me up. No need to worry! Quick now, eat up your eggs before Albus devours the lot of them!"

Within the hour, Hermione had bundled the Potter kids over to the Burrow, where a slightly put out Molly Weasley agreed nonetheless to indulge and amuse three more of her grandkids for as long as they needed to stay.

"Hermione, why do you have to be so wonderful?" said a very grateful Ginny when she returned. "I really wanted to be mad at you!"

"I'm sure you should be! It's been nearly a month, now! If Harry hadn't told you this week, I was about to do it myself. I can't imagine what both of you have been going through all this time!"

"Yes, and as usual, you and Harry have been figuring it all out, while helpless little Ginny stayed at home, completely in the dark! I never really got over the fact that in those first moments after he defeated Voldemort, he chose you and Ron over me. I was standing right there, and he walked past me without even a look or a word. Oh, and now it all makes perfect sense! But it's him that I'm really mad at, not you. He's the one who should have been confiding in me all this time!" A vase exploded on the wall in the kitchen. "And that's another thing. Look at me! I'm a total disaster. Blowing up vases by accident. I have been his nursemaid for the past however long. Shut up alone with the kids in this house, ashamed for anyone to come over and see what it's like, worried to go away and leave him for too long. My hair is going gray when I'm only thirty-five! When was the last time I bothered to wash my hair or put on a dress? When was the last time Harry and I did anything at all? He hasn't looked me in the eyes in ages. Oh, and last night at dinner, I couldn't even mend a teacup! What on earth am I going to do, Hermione?"

Unfortunately, Harry chose that particular moment to come down to breakfast. Several more vases exploded simultaneously. "Um, Ginny, would you like me to go away and come back a little later?" he asked.

"No. You need to be here. Poor Hermione has been having to listen to what was really meant for you. You, Harry, have never treated me like a real wife, and I have been a fool to spend my life trying to fix you! And now our poor kids! What on earth are we going to tell them?"

"Ginny, I... Oh, the truth, I suppose. Did I mention how sorry I am? I'm really, really sorry, Ginny! But you're glad I told you, right? Please give me a little credit here. I know it's damned awkward timing, what with Albus starting his first year at Hogwarts in a week, but I suppose there is no perfect time to tell them. Maybe school will be a good distraction for the boys. And then you'll only have Lily to look after, so-"

"How dare you-" Ginny interrupted, but at this moment, Ron came in through the fire. "Hi Ginny! Hi Harry! Good to see you, it's been ages since you invited me over here." He looked down at the floor and the shattered glass under his shoes. "Blimey, what's going on? And is that bacon over there? It must be bad if you're standing over here while bacon is sitting on the table!"

Hermione punched Ron on the arm. "Always breakfast, with you, isn't it?"

But Ginny cracked a smile. "Oh yes, let's all go and sit down at the table. I suppose it's true: no good ever came of fighting on an empty stomach."

Everyone sat down, and Ron lost no time in heaping things onto his plate. "Is that fresh orange juice?"

"Yes, help yourself," said Ginny. "But just wait till you hear the news! You can help me hex your best friend out of his chair. Hermione didn't already tell you?"

"Well," Ron looked confused. "She told me I'd better get myself over here early, or else-" his ears turned pink, as he met Hermione's eyes. "Well, just you never mind why!"

Ginny began weeping silently. Ron looked even more confused.

"Okay, I'd better say it then, I'm uh, well, I'm gay, or bisexual, or... something." Ron sprayed his juice across the table in shock.

"Thanks for that, mate," said Harry. (He did a quick scourgify spell to clean them all off.) "And just for the record, I'm the same person I've always been. So Ron, don't have kittens! I promise you're not my type."

"You're never! You're taking the Mickey out of me, right Harry?" When Harry didn't answer, he turned to Hermione, "He's gone round the twist, is that it?"

"No, Ron. He really is gay. We did the orientation spell on him a few weeks ago."

"Wait, what? We? We did the spell? You mean you did, Hermione, and you didn't mention it to me? You never mentioned that my own best friend is a-"

"No, I didn't Ronald! I thought he should tell you himself," she snapped. "Now please try and be a little more supportive!"

"But-but-but, he's married to Ginny! Harry, this is so wrong, mate. Why didn't you say something? And what about Ginny?! You are not going to abandon my sister. I will never let you do that!"

"Ron, I'm not abandoning anyone. I care about Ginny more than I can say! We haven't exactly decided what to do yet, though, and Ginny wanted to have you over to figure it out with us."

"Well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Ron surprised everyone by saying. "I've seen a thing or two as auror over the years. You'll have to take that potion. That- oh bother the name- Hermione knows it, I'm sure. To change your orientation. You have to. For Ginny and the kids. There's no way I'm going to let my sister take the potion to change her into a man. So this is the only option!"

"Ron, I don't believe you!" Hermione objected. "You can't be serious! That potion is against the law. It was banned in 1944 when Grindelwald starting hunting down homosexuals and using it en masse. It's almost as bad as the Dementor's Kiss, Ron. Haven't you read the descriptions of what it does to people who take it?"

"Shit, Hermione. I didn't think it was that bad! One time I arrested a man who was brewing the potion, but I got to him before he could use it on himself. Well, what, then?"

Ginny spoke up now. "Nobody's taking any potions. I'm staying a woman, and Harry is who he is. Maybe he can't exactly love me, but I love him, and I won't let anyone do that to him! What good would he be to me or anybody else like that? No, we'll do what everybody does, I guess. We'll get a divorce. We'll have to tell the kids this week, and you'll have to make a plan for coming out, and I'm going to take some time for myself. The boys will both be in school now, and I can find a way to go to work part-time somewhere. I was thinking about that anyway. But we're not doing it all today! Today, Hermione and I are going to go out. We're going to have a drink, and then we're each going to get ourselves a new dress!"

"Ginny, is that what you really want, a divorce?"

"I'm not happy about it, but what else can you think of, Harry?"

Harry opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again. "I- I'm sorry I haven't been much help to you lately, Gin. I'm going to try to be a better father, and a better- a better friend to you. You and Hermione go, then. Ron and I will, Ron and I will-"

"We're going to play quidditch," announced Ron. "Right after I get us some firewhiskeys. Merlin's pants, Harry! And you just watch out, I still might knock you off your broom!"