Disclaimer: I'm NOT JK Rowling, just a fan who loves this world (it's my happy place!)

Chapter Seven

There was no sign of Ron when I ventured downstairs the next morning. Knowing he had never been a morning person and often found it a struggle to get up for school or work, I found it hard to believe he had already left for work and assumed he was avoiding me. But, then I wondered if perhaps this was the usual starting time for his job on the farm.

"Morning pet," Mildred greeted me. She was busying tidying the kitchen. "The boys got an early start this morning." she added. So I was right - he was avoiding me! "Anyway, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Oh, erm…just tea and toast will be fine," I hovered, wanting to help or something. I felt a little uncomfortable having her wait on me. But, she seemed to enjoy it and insist I took a seat at the table.

As I ate my breakfast and chatted a little with Mildred, I decided that if Ron was being childish and avoiding me, then I wasn't going to spend the morning hanging around here waiting for him. So, once I finished and cleaned up after myself, I disapparated over to The Burrow to spend some carefree time with my children. Only, once I arrived Molly informed me that Rosie had had a nightmare last night and was rather sullen this morning. I knew this couldn't go on much longer. They'd already been spending nights without me for almost a week now. I made a decision there and then, another couple of days and I was coming home, with or without Ron. Even though that decision killed me.

Rosie soon forgot all about her upset with Mummy around though. We spent an enjoyable time paddling and splashing in the pond on the Weasley's property. We had a picnic lunch out in the sunshine and lazed around on the grass reading books and telling stories. After lunch, whilst Hugo took a nap, I again took Rosie for a walk into the village, during which she told me all the tales her brother had been getting up to – including escaping into the attic and scaring the ghoul that lived up there, rather than the other way around. He'd been asleep apparently (the ghoul that is) and Hugo had woken him suddenly. She thought that was hilarious, that her brother must be so scary as to frighten ghouls.

But still, when it was time for me to go, she became a little withdrawn again. She didn't understand why we just couldn't go home to our house and sleep in her own bed again. Why did she have to stay with Grandma anyway? And I tried to explain that Mummy had an important job to do and I wanted to tell her the truth, but, how could I? Why tell her about her daddy when he didn't seem sure he wanted to be a part of our lives anymore? It would be cruel to build up a little girls hopes, only to dash them again and I would never do that to either of them. In the end, Molly managed to placate her with the promise of her favourite dessert and perhaps a visit over to Bill and Fleur's the following day – she idolised her elder cousin, Victoire. So that by the time I left, she was smiling and looking forward to the morning.

Back at the farm however, her father was even more sullen than his daughter had been. He barely looked at me when he came in and sat down for dinner and he certainly didn't speak to me. Mildred and Max tried to keep the conversation flowing, but even they sensed the tension between us. Maybe I should just go home to my children and give him his space…let him decide things without me being here, because I didn't think my presence was helping anything. It all seemed so pointless – it's not like I could make him remember us and want us. Nor could I simply drag him home – he had to come to his own decision.

I went up to my room early that night, Ron and Max were playing a game of chess and I didn't want to intrude or make the atmosphere worse, so I left them all to it. I had been lying on my bed for almost an hour, reading, when a knock came at my door. Thinking it was probably just Mildred to check I was alright and give me another pep talk, I got up to answer it without thinking.

"Sorry, were you sleeping?" The figure of Ron asked me, his head down and shuffling his feet anxiously.

"No, I was just reading. Come in," I opened the door wide and returned to sit on my bed, moving the book for him to sit down.

He shuffled inside the door and closed it to behind him. I smiled up at him, trying not to look too eager, but I was thrilled he was here. "So, did you want something?" I asked after he'd stood there almost a minute without talking. He was wringing his hands now.

"I, erm…I was wondering," he began, mumbling his words. "That…that photo you had yesterday, with the kids. Could…could I see it?" he asked and finally looked up at me.

"Of course," I smiled and grabbed my bag to find the photo. Once I located it, I patted the bed beside me. He perched on the very end nervously as I handed it to him.

"Wow," he gasped, his eyes widening the minute he turned it over "He…he looks just like me," he mumbled to himself, tracing the animated image of his son.

"He does," I smiled. "You should see him now. Your Mum says he's the spitting image of you at that age," I looked over his shoulder at the squirming baby in the picture.

"He doesn't look too happy on this," he looked up at me and flinched away when he realised I had moved closer to him. I tried to ignore the action, telling myself it was only that I'd surprised him and not that I repulsed him.

"No, the poor guy was a little cranky that day. Your sister had just given birth to her third child, a girl. And there had been a celebration at your parents house. He was tired and hungry and the last thing he wanted was his photo taking." I laughed at the memory. "Mind you, he's such a little monkey these days. I don't know where he gets it from, well maybe your brothers," I thought of the twins. "But he sure keeps me on my toes." I told him and, encouraged by the way he was listening to me and gazing intently at the photo, I continued. "Just last week he got hold of your sisters wand, and somehow managed to hex himself, finished up with bugs crawling out of his nose. He thought it was hilarious!" I rolled my eyes and Ron cracked a smile. "He's been up to mischief at your mum's this week too, scaring ghouls and chasing gnomes in the garden. And he's completely and utterly obsessed with dragons. He told me once he wants to be a dragon when he's a big boy!" I laughed, and Ron chuckled lightly, still gazing at the photo.

"Yeah, he sounds a little character," he chuckled again. "And, what about…erm, Rose?" he asked, checking he had the right name. "What's she like?"

"Rose is…she's a special little girl," I began. "She's very wise for her age and we have such a close bond. After we…lost you, she became very protective of me and gets very serious sometimes. But she's such a loving and kind little girl, most of the time – she falls out with her brother a lot, and some of her cousins. Her and James seem to clash, he's Harry's eldest son," I explained. "They had some argument over a tea party the other day, he wasn't playing properly apparently," I added. "She likes girly things, very much into Princess' and my old collection of Muggle fairytale reading books. She loves books. And, the closer she gets to five years old, the bossier she's becoming," I laughed. "She probably takes after her mum a lot," I sighed.

"She's beautiful," he whispered. "I mean, they both are. But, Rose, she looks like you, besides the hair."

I felt my heart swell and my face flush, had he just inadvertently said that I was beautiful? Was there hope for us? "Yes," I agreed quickly. "They are. I'm…we're very lucky." I gazed at the children on the photo and then back at Ron. He didn't seem to have noticed what he'd said before or that I'd just referred to me and him as 'we'.

"I'm sorry you know, that I freaked out the other day," he suddenly began.

I shrugged. "I suppose I should have expected that. It's a lot to take in after what you've been though. And I'm sorry I blurted it all out like that."

"It's just…" he sighed and set the photo down carefully beside me, turning to face me a little. "When you mentioned the kids…and how young they are and, well…it upset me. How could someone forget their own kids?" He looked up at me with such sad eyes I wanted to hold him and make it all better. "I've just missed out on so bloody much," he breathed. "I doubt Hugo even remembers me. My own son doesn't know who his dad is. And…I hate to think what they've had to go through. What you said about Rose understanding what had happened, having all that sadness…she didn't deserve that." He sniffed and I realised he was crying.

"Oh Ron," I reached out for him, my hand hovering, wanting to comfort him but not wanting to frighten him off. This was the most open he'd been since we'd found him. Eventually I patted his shoulder gently, deciding that was a safe area. "They're okay now. They got through it. Really, they're great kids."

"They sound amazing." He swiped the back of his hand under his nose and sniffed again. "You know…for awhile after the accident, I wondered if I had a family out there. If anyone was looking for me, if anyone was worried about me."

"We searched for weeks," I interrupted him.

"I know that now, but back then…I wondered about it a lot. And got disappointed when no one came for me."

"We couldn't find you, there was just no sign you were….alive. We did everything we could. None of us ever wanted to give up, especially not myself nor Harry – he continued looking for you well after they'd officially closed the case."

"He did?"

I nodded. "You're his best mate. He was lost without you."

"Anyway, after awhile I convinced myself that perhaps I'd just had such a horrid life before, that my past was too painful and that was why my memory had blocked it all. It sort of made sense to me that my mind would shut out what I assumed must be bad stuff and I could start a new life. I'd accepted that. Only, then you and Harry turned up."

"And this new life you had created for yourself was completely turned upside down?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I mean, I'm glad you found me, it's great to know I haven't always been alone, that I have been loved. But, it's also really hard to deal with, because apart from a few very scary and dangerous times in school, of which I don't think I have heard the worst of yet," he looked at me suspiciously.

"Erm, no." I admitted.

"Well, apart from all that, it seems I actually had a pretty good life before. I was happy…I had a beautiful family. So why the fuck can't I remember any of it?"

"Oh Ron,"I sighed. "I wish I could give you an answer, I really do."

"It just, it hurts, you know. Knowing I've missed out on all this, seeing my kids grow up. Hugo was just a baby, now he's coming up to three. I've missed out on having a family, people who love me, for all this time. It's so bloody unfair!"

"I know," I whispered and my hand that was still placed gently on his shoulder, slid around to his other and dared to pull him a little closer. In his sorrow, he allowed his head to fall onto my shoulder and he snuffled a little, crying softly against me. "I know how much it hurts…how rough the last two years have been. We missed you so much, I could barely function without you and I so wish these last two years had never happened." I blinked back my own tears and rubbed his back gently as he suddenly slid a hand around me and held me. It lasted for the briefest of seconds, but I felt as though I was home. Just to be in his arms again, to feel his warmth around me and to breathe in that familiar scent he still had about him, for just a second all seemed well with the world.

And then he pulled back, abruptly, as though he suddenly realised what he was doing. He turned his head and wiped his eyes on his sleeve, trying to hide his brief lapse of weakness from me. I wiped my own eyes with a mixture of sadness and hope, I could still feel his warmth surrounding me.

"I wasn't wearing a ring." He suddenly muttered, looking at his hands in his lap.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked, still revelling in our brief embrace.

"When Max and Mildred found me, I wasn't wearing a wedding ring or anything. Did I? I mean, did I have one before? I suppose it might've got lost or…"

"Oh," I realised what he was getting at as I reached around the back of my neck. I unclasped the long chain I wore and pulled it from beneath my shirt. Dangling at the bottom was a gold wedding band. "Whenever you went away on a long mission, you always left it with me," I told him, looping the chain through the ring to free it. "You were always afraid of losing it or it being damaged, so…I looked after it for you, for safe keeping. I've worn it on this chain ever since," I whispered, handing him the golden band.

He took it from my palm and toyed with it in his fingers silently, turning it around and around, looking at the inscription inside, 'R+H=Always', and then trying it on his finger briefly. It was a little loose now, but it suited his hand perfectly, as though it belonged.

"Hermione," he suddenly asked, taking the ring off again and holding it tight in his fist. "What…what is it you expect to happen? You know, with us?" He looked up hesitatingly.

I sighed, playing with the now empty chain in my hand. "I don't know," I whispered honestly. "At least, not now. Oh, I have idealistic images of what I wish could happen, what I always hoped for. That you'd come home and we'd just pick up where we left off. We'd be happy together again, a complete family and make up for lost time," I chanced a look at his face, he looked concerned. "But, I think over the last couple of days, I've realised that that's not exactly a practical expectation. It's going to take time, it's going to be slow and I have to try and accept whatever happens. Even if I don't like it." I tried to smile for him, but the mere thought of this not turning out how I hoped was devastating to me.

Ron nodded slowly, thinking over what I'd said and then made to get up from the bed. "Can I keep this?" he asked, showing me the ring in his hand.

"Of course, it's belongs to you." I smiled at him.

He nodded gratefully. "And erm…would you mind, if I maybe, borrowed this?" he picked up the family photo still lying on the bed.

"No, that's fine. You can have it," I told him eagerly, anything that looked as though it was a step in the right direction I was going to grasp at it.

He picked it up and headed for the door. "Well…goodnight," he whispered.

"Ron," I stopped him. He turned, his hand on the doorknob, and looked at me. "I have to ask. I need to know. Is there any point in my being here? I mean…is there any hope for us?" I was afraid of his answer, but I needed to know. I loved him so much and it would break my heart to leave him here, to lose him all over again. But, my children, our children, needed at least one of their parents home with them.

He inhaled deeply before looking at me. "Honestly," he whispered. "I don't know." he added and my heart dropped. I'd been hoping for a little reassurance that I wasn't wasting my time here, that maybe there was something to hold on to. "I mean, I don't know right now. I'm going to need more time, it's not even been a week. Just, be patient, okay? Don't give up on me yet," he inclined his head slightly and shrugged vaguely before opening the door.

"I never did," I whispered as he stepped from my room.

Things were much more pleasant the next morning. Ron and I were 'nice' to each other, friendly even. We spoke, we smiled and we happily passed one another items across the table. I caught both Mildred and Max giving us curious glances from time to time. Not that Ron noticed, he was too intent on eating his breakfast.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, I offered to wash the dishes as everyone else headed off in different directions to begin their day. I stood at the sink, up to my elbows in soapsuds as I gazed out of the window, lost in a daydream, trying to imagine where Ron and I would be now had the last two years never happened, had he never gone missing that fateful day.

I'd just sat down with another cup of tea, the final dishes washed and dried on the side since I wasn't sure where they were kept, when Ron barged into the kitchen and dashed for the sink. He grabbed a glass and turned on the cold tap.

"Oh," he gasped, when he turned around. "Sorry, didn't see you." He took several large mouthfuls of his cold water. "You on your own?" He wiped the back of hand across his chin as he looked around the kitchen.

"Yes," I set my teacup down. "Mildred had to go into the nearest town to stock up on groceries. She asked me to join her, but…well, grocery shopping is hardly a highlight for me," I smiled at him.

He nodded and chugged some more water. "Sorry, it's hot out there today," he gasped when he came up for air again. "Are you not, erm…visiting, you know, the kids?" he wondered. He still seemed to have a hard time referring to them as his kids, our kids.

"No, not this morning. Molly, your Mum, said she was going to take them to visit some of their cousins today. Rose idolizes her eldest cousin Victoire. So, I'll probably go and see them later."

"I suppose I have a lot of nieces and nephews?" he commented.

I nodded. "With the amount of siblings you have, you could say that. They all have kids, apart from your elder brother Charlie." And Fred of course, I added in my head. But I couldn't bring that up, not yet. He'd had enough shocks and upset for the past week for anyone to deal with.

"So…you at a loose end?" he wondered, refilling his glass.

I nodded. "I suppose so. I was going to read."

"Come outside with me," he invited. "I'll give you a tour of the farm whilst I work, and I can introduce you to the cows," he chuckled, before downing his second glass of water in one. "'S'better," he muttered, setting the now empty glass in the sink. "So…you fancy that tour?" he asked, drying his hands on the tea towel and tossing it behind him.

"Sure, why not." I finished my tea and picked up the empty cup as I stood. "Sounds…fun," I smiled at him, adding my teacup to his glass in the sink. "Lead the way," I waved him ahead of me and followed him out into the farmyard.

Truth be told, I wasn't the slightest bit interested in the mechanics of a farmyard, nor being introduced to cows. But, I was interested in spending time with Ron. This was what we needed, some normal time together, on his turf so to speak and just being around one another without the pressure of bringing up our personal past or stories from our childhood. Just spending quality time together.

"You erm, you might need these," he muttered, looking down at the little black pumps I was wearing and handed me a pair of green Wellington boots.

"Oh, right. Thanks." I offered him a smile but wasn't thrilled at the probability of why I might need them – farms were messy. Slipping off my shoes, I held onto his arm whilst I pulled the boots on and he held onto me so I didn't fall. I admitted to myself that the excuse for physical contact with him was pleasurable – it was something I missed most.

"Right, come on then. I'll take you see the calves first."

"I thought you just sold off the young ones?" I asked, confused as I picked my way across the yard after him, feeling awkward in boots that were too big for me.

"Nah, they were last years calves. Max only has about 15 adult females, so there's not a heck of a lot of money to be made from the milk. So, he breeds them as well and we sell them on to other dairy farms."

"They don't go, you know…to the slaughter house, do they?" I asked. I hardly wanted to be friendly with cows that were going to finish up on someone's dinner plate someday.

"Oh no, they're dairy cows. Bred for milk. Come on, you'll like these, they were only born a couple of months ago and they're kinda sweet." He opened up one of the huge barn doors and led me inside.

As if sensing his presence, the silence was broken by a cacophony of loud moos and snorts as we entered. Inside were about 10 young black and white baby cows, and Ron was right, they were kind of sweet with their huge eyes and thick long eyelashes, their large pink snouts and long pink tongues that flicked out occasionally.

"I need to get them cleaned out and give them fresh bedding, then you can help me feed them if you want?" he asked, hopping over the fence.

"Oh, yeah, sure," I answered uncertainly whilst I took a step back. Though they were cute, they stunk! Ron picked up a shovel and began to heap mounds of sodden straw into a waiting trailer. I sat down on a bale of clean straw as he worked up a sweat and chuckled to myself. If only his mother could see him now – Ron used to cause a huge fuss if she ever asked him to clean out the families small chicken coup. And here he was willingly cleaning out a barn full of cows.

"What's funny/" he asked, pausing as he rested on the shovel and wiped the sweat off his face with his arm.

"Oh, nothing." I shook my head. I didn't want this morning to get awkward by bringing up his family. "But, you know there's an easier way, right?"

He looked at me dumbfounded, as though he hadn't a clue what I was talking about and that I knew nothing about dairy farming.

"Well, you are a wizard!" I pointed out and taking out my own wand, I muttered the spell under my breath, twirled my wand in a circle and the dirty, manure filled straw rose in a large heap and landed squarely in the trailer he'd been shovelling it into. I repeated the action a couple more times until the stall was clean.

"Wow!" he gasped. "I never…I…why the bloody hell did I never think of that?" He smacked his own forehead. "It usually takes me the best part of the morning to clean all these out!"

I laughed again. "I can be of some use," I smiled.

"You're brilliant," he grinned. "I erm…left my wand inside. I don't use it much. Do you think you could…"

"Of course," I nodded and we set to clearing out the other stalls in the barn. I'd empty them of the dirty bedding, whilst he followed, scattering clean and dry straw in each for the calves. We had them all done in less than half an hour and then he went to get their feed.

The calves were fed on a mixture of grains and special pellets that he poured into the troughs for them, and added fresh hay for them to munch on in a bale feeder in the corner. But for the most part, they were still fed on specially prepared milk, which he poured into designated troughs with many teats on. I watched in fascination as they all suckled quite furiously and quickly, soon draining the troughs dry. All but one.

"What about this little guy?" I asked, watching one of the calves at the back.

"I thought you might like to feed him?" He handed me a large baby bottle. "He can't get the hang of the troughs and he gets pushed out, so we're still hand feeding him," he explained. "Come over here and I'll show you." He held my hand as he helped me to climb over the fence and then stood behind me, placing his hand over mine as he guided me how to hold the bottle. "Now, hold on tight, he'll pull really hard." He grasped onto the bottle with me as he held it out to the little calf.

He was standing so close behind me that I could feel his warm, firm body pressing into mine and I felt myself flush rapidly as I fought back the instinct to turn in his arms and grasp hold of him. If anyone had told me you could get flustered from feeding cows, I'd have sent them to St Mungos in an instant, yett…here I was, totally flustered. It was a good thing he was holding onto the bottle with me, else that little guy would have swiped the whole thing off me – because I honestly wasn't paying much attention. As soon as the bottle was empty, Ron backed off quickly with a loud cough and I noticed he was blushing a little too, and, although all he'd been doing was holding a bottle, he was sweating again.

"Rosie would love this," I commented, not thinking before I blurted it out. "I erm…she just, she loves animals," I added.

Ron nodded. "Loads of kids like this. Max says some farms open to the public and visitors pay to look around and bottle feed lambs and stuff." He hadn't flinched or clammed up at me casually mentioning Rose. I took it as a good sign.

With the youngsters all clean, dry and fed, we wandered over to the adult cows. Emptying the full trailer of manure on our way and telling me how Max was busy out in the fields this morning, harvesting the last of the hay, hence the reason Ron was working alone on the farm right now. We repeated the process with the cleaning out the stalls, they smelt much worse than the younger ones, despite them spending much of their time in the lush green fields. And then they were fed and watered. Between us we got the job done well before lunch time and headed inside to wash up.

"Did you two have a nice morning?" Mildred asked, conspiratorially. I began to wonder whether she and Max had schemed to leave us alone.

"Yes, Ron introduced me to all your cows." I smiled.

"Oh, they're Max's cows, not mine love. They're his pride and joy and I know where I come in his priorities," she laughed.

"Hermione helped me clean them all out," Ron laughed and then winked at me, keeping our little secret between us.

"That was nice of you. Now, Max hasn't come back for lunch, so he must have forgot the time. I'm going to take this out to him." She closed a lunch box and screwed the lid onto a Thermos flask.

"I can take it," Ron offered.

"I'll be fine," she waved away his offer. "I like the walk. Be back soon," she smiled and headed out again. Yep, she was definitely finding any excuse to leave us on our own.

"I was thinking, since we got most of my work done this morning, this afternoon I could take you…"

"Oh, I'm spending the afternoon with the children," I interrupted him.

"Oh, yeah. Right," he mumbled and hung his head, finishing off the last of his cake.

I grimaced, feeling guilty. Obviously he'd had some plan. "I'm sorry…it's just, I promised them. And with Rose getting all upset again, I can't break the promise. Maybe we can do whatever it is tomorrow?" I suggested.

"Nah, it's fine. And, course you can't disappoint the kids, suspect they miss you." He muttered, whilst brushing crumbs from his top.

"Yes, they do. Actually," I opened the subject gently. "I was thinking I shall probably have to go home in a couple of days. I've never left them this long before and…well, Rose especially is getting a little nervous about it all, she always thinks the worst."

Ron nodded silently. I wished I knew what he was thinking. He didn't give much away.

"And…" I began hesitantly. "I was hoping that…well, that you might come with me?" I looked at him expectantly, wary of his answer.

"Where?" he frowned, looking up at me sideways.

"Home. I was hoping you'd come home with me." I repeated.

"What?" His eyes widened and he pushed himself away from the table. "I…I...Hermione, I can't," he stammered and began to pace the kitchen. "I just…I can't go…with you. I can't." He shook his head. He looked positively terrified of the idea.

"Of course you can. It's quite simple…you just come home. And if you're worried about Max and Mildred, you can visit them and they can visit us. I think they'd be glad you were getting your life back and…"

"For fucks sake Hermione! Stop pushing me!" Ron suddenly yelled at me.

I stared at him in shocked silence before I spoke. "I'm not," I whispered, looking down into the bottom of my teacup. "I just…"

"I'm not bloody ready for that yet. I thought after talking last night you understood that?"

"I know," I nodded. "But…I just, when will you be? Our children need us, I can't neglect them. I have responsibilities, I'm a mother as well as a wife!"

"I don't know when!" he snapped. "I don't know if I'll ever be ready, alright? Is that what you want to hear?"

"No," I muttered. "It's not. But, our children…"

"I don't bloody know them, do I?"

"No, and you never will if you keep hiding here!"

"I am not hiding!" he bellowed, furiously.

"Yes you are. You're afraid of finding your past, of meeting people who love you and know you. So are you just going to stay hidden away here, pretending none of that exists? Like a coward?"

"Fuck you!" he spat at me. "You have no idea…"

"And neither do you! I love you Ron, I really do. But…I can't go on like this much longer. I will not let our daughter have nightmares again because she's scared she's going to lose her Mummy as well. And our son needs his boundaries again before he gets himself into trouble. You are the love of my life, always have been. But our children need their Mummy, even if their dad is behaving like a stubborn, spoilt, selfish brat!"

And with that, I whipped my wand out of my pocket and disapparated out of the kitchen, straight to The Burrow, utterly furious with him.

If I had been hoping for a happy welcome to cheer me up, it seemed I was going to be sorely disappointed. As I stepped into the front room, the children were in the middle of a fight and Molly was desperately trying to sort them out, to no avail.

"Hey, hey…what's going on?" I asked, stepping into the lounge and breaking up the squabbling. Rose and Hugo instantly stopped arguing and looked up at me.

"Mummy!" Rose ran to me and clung to my legs.

"Mummy! I broke foot!" Hugo told me, gleefully grinning up at me from his prone position on the sofa.

"You, what?" I frowned at him, setting down my wand and bending to kiss Rose.

"Now don't panic," Molly took my hand, patting the back of it. "He broke his ankle. But it's all fixed," she added quickly when she saw I was about to freak out.

"How on earth did you do that?" I asked in alarm, going to my son's side. As if I needed any further guilt about leaving them.

"It happened over at Bill's," Molly tried to explain. "They were all playing upstairs, then they started falling out. We just heard the thump down the stairs, and found him at the bottom. We had him all fixed up in less than a minute with a quick spell and a pain potion, but he might still have some bruising. He should probably rest it for at least 24 hours though."

"Dom push down stairs!" Hugo pouted, telling on his cousin Dominique.

"She pushed you down the stairs?"I asked him, he nodded. "Why would she do that? Did she do that?" I looked to Molly for clarification. Dominique was a sweet little girl, a little fussy and prissy maybe, but she'd never hurt anyone.

"That's what he said, but they all denied it when we asked."

"That's cause you thwowed her bestest dolly out the window!" Rose told on her brother.

"Did not!" Hugo shot back.

"Yes you did!"

"Didn't!"

"Did!" she argued back.

"Now stop. Hugo, did you throw her doll out of the window?" I asked him gently.

He shook his head. "No," he mumbled. "Making dolly fly." He grinned, using his arms to demonstrate flying.

I rolled my eyes and inhaled deeply for some patience. That was such a Hugo reply – he never meant to do anything bad, he just usually had some silly harebrained idea that finished up getting him into trouble anyway.

"Dom didn't mean to push him down the stairs Mummy. She just pushed him cause she was cross, and he tripped over a ball and then fell down the stairs." Rose explained, sticking up for the cousins she idolised.

"Hugo, you can't make her doll fly." I explained wearily.

"But," he frowned. "Dolly had broom!" he protested.

I sighed again and rubbed my face with both hands. "Well, I don't think dolly brooms work the same as wizard brooms. And Dom didn't know you were just trying to make her fly, so she just thought you threw her favourite doll out the window. You wouldn't like it if she threw your green dragon out of a window, would you?"

He shook his head sadly. "Doll stupid anyway!" he muttered.

"No they're not! Dragons are stupider!" Rose shot back at her brother.

"Not! Dwagons bestest!"

"They're stupid!"

"Doll stupidest!"

"You're stupid!"

"You is snotface!"

"Well you're just a…."

"ENOUGH!" I yelled at the pair of them, my patience wearing thin. After already arguing with their father, I didn't need to come back to this. "Now just stop it, both of you," I told them firmly. "Now, Rose we do not ever call anyone stupid. You know that, it's a bad word. And Hugo, it's not nice to call your sister names. We don't do things like that in our family. Where on earth did you hear that from anyway?"

Victoire," Rose answered, though the name sounded more like Victor coming from her mouth. "She always calls her little brother Louis that," Rose giggled, but stopped immediately when she caught me frowning at her.

"Well, I don't want to hear either of you say it again. Do you understand?" I asked the pair of them. They nodded solemnly "And now I want you to say your sorry to each other and stop this silly fighting."

"But he's such a…"

"Mummy, she did…" They both began arguing again at the same time.

"I said stop it!" I shouted. "I have had enough from the both of you and I will not listen to anymore. Now, you will miss out on any treats and desserts for the rest of the week, both of you." I warned them.

Rose burst into tears at this. "But…I…did…didn't do…anything…" she sobbed. "'S'not fair….I want to go home." Her bottom lip wobbled.

Hugo pouted and folded his arms defiantly as he lay on the sofa with his foot up. "Rosie fault!" he mumbled under his breath.

"Hugo!" I warned him. "You're already stuck on that sofa for the next day. If you want to make it for the rest of the week, I suggest you carry on like that young man!"

"You mean!" he stuck his tongue out at me. "I want go home." He turned on the water works. "I want my dwagons!"

"I want to go home now!" Rose stamped her foot.

I gritted my teeth, about ready to explode with the pair of them. "Rose Ginevra Weasley, you get up those stairs right now young lady!" I shouted at her, pointing up the stairs. "You stay in that room until dinnertime, do you hear me?"

She glared at me, tossed her red hair over her shoulder and stomped off up the stairs.

"Merlin's pants!" I muttered then and shook my head. They hadn't fought like that or been so defiant in a long time.

"Come on…" Molly steered me into the kitchen, closing the door behind her. "You look like you need to calm down." She spoke kindly to me and within seconds I was sat at the large kitchen table, a cup of tea in front of me and a tin of biscuits on the table.

"I think they're all trying to drive me insane!" I muttered, dunking a biscuit forcefully into my mug.

"They're just kids," Molly shrugged. "They're going to fall out and test your patience. Oh, the amount of times I lost it with my lot," she sighed wistfully. "I'm afraid it's a Weasley trait, the red hair and all," she laughed lightly.

"Must be, it's not just the kids, it's their damn father as well." I slunk back in my chair and nursed my mug of tea in my hands.

"Oh dear," she sympathised. "Things not going well?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I reached for another biscuit. I always ate when I was stressed. "Things were going great. I mean, we had a good chat last night, and we had such a nice morning together. For a few hours things between us had been nice, friendly and companionable. Then I went and ruined it."

"And how did that happen?" She topped up my tea.

I groaned and then told her about the stupid fight we'd had when I asked if he'd come home with me. "He's just so damn frustrating," I grumbled. "I mean, he always has been…but every time I think we're getting somewhere, that there's some hope for us. He seems to retreat and we're back where we started. I just don't know what to do."

"You know it's going to take time love. You told us that yourself."

"I know, but…I need to get home. You've seen how the kids are today, and how upset Rose has been getting. I think that's down to me not being there for them, for changing their routine and leaving them this long."

"But what you're doing is important. Trying to get their daddy home is the best thing you can do for them right now. Besides, you've been there for them every day their whole life, you deserve some time off."

"I know, but they don't see it like that and they don't know what I'm doing. I can't tell them either if there's no hope he'll come home. And, right now I'm not sure there is. Maybe he's right, maybe he'll never be ready to come home. But, I can't stay there indefinitely with some blind hope. My kids need me, and well, I miss them. I've never been without them this long."

"Then maybe that's what you should do."

"What?" I looked up at her.

"Go home. Leave the farm, return to the kids at least for a few days, and see what happens." Molly suggested

"Leave Ron?" I was horrified of the thought.

She shrugged. "You're not leaving him, not really. But, maybe if he sees you're not just going to sit around and wait for him, he'll panic. It may shake him up a bit and bring him to his senses. Make him realise he's meant to be where you are."

"You think so?" I asked, unconvinced,

"I don't know. But, I think now that he's found you, someone who knows him and a link to his past, he's not going to be ready to let that go in a hurry. And, deep down, he still loves you, I'm sure of it."

"Mildred, the woman at the farm he's been living at. She said that although his mind may not remember me, she's pretty sure his heart does. His head just needs to catch up."

"She sounds like a smart lady. I bet she's right."

"I hope so," I sighed hopefully. "But, do you think leaving him is right? What if it upsets him or he just thinks I gave up, so he gives up?"

"You're not leaving him as such. You know where he is now, you can go over and visit, heck you could always date again or something. But, just let him know you're not going to sit back and wait around forever for his memory or for him to make a decision about what he wants to do."

"Well…" I began hesitantly. "Maybe it's worth a try. I certainly don't know what else to do. I'll give it another 24 hours, and if he's still not willing to try coming home with me, then I guess I am going to have to leave him there." I decided.

Molly nodded once. "Now, I take it you're staying for dinner?" she assumed, getting up from the table and preparing to make a start on dinner.

"I'd love to," I smiled at her gratefully. "And, maybe with the way Hugo is, after his fall, I think I'll stay the night too. If that's okay?"

"Of course dear. We love having you. The children will like it too."

"Speaking of which," I got up from the table myself. "I think I had best go and apologise to my children for yelling at them."

Molly smiled and shook her head softly as I left the kitchen.

And so, that night I spent a rather uncomfortable and sleepless night squished into a single bed with a wriggly two year old who squirmed and kicked all night long, as well as the four year old who left her own bed and climbed in with us at some point in the night, managing to slap me in the face three times. The things mother's go through for their kids, it's a good thing I loved them so much.

Reviews are greatly appreciated :) Thank you for all of you who have taken the time to leave me reviews so far - they mean a lot. Hope you like :)