Hehe, yeah the title of this chapter is from Monty Python (Ron's tale sounded too dull)

Hello all! Sorry for the long wait, but Homework took up more time last week :) But I think this is my longest chapter to date, so enjoy! And it is quite sad (poor Ron!! I love Ron... but it might just be I'm a sucker for red hair...) Also, thank you all so much for the reviews! You guys are amazing!

Oh, and as for the next story, It seems like most of you are leaning towards the Hermione/Remus fic (which I'm so excited for!) but don't be looking for it yet. It probably won't start until FML is done. I can't do two stories at once. But while I finish FML, I'll slowly work on it and think of many cool ideas for you all.

As always, none of this belongs to me. I'm just pretending to be the puppeteer.

Ron took in the scene before him. Remains of dinner and floating candles were left in the kitchen, and then in front of the fire his best friend sat between their former potions professor's legs eating strawberries. "Blimey, what a time to come for a visit..." he commented to himself.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ron's face broke into a wide grin, "Hermione!" He moved further into the room but didn't come very near. "Hello Professor," he nodded politely towards Severus before returning his attention towards Hermione. "I know you probably think I'm a right git, but I do have a reason for abandoning you like that."

"At least you acknowledged it," she huffed, but for some reason she didn't feel up to berating him.

"How did you get past the wards?" Severus demanded.

"That's what sisters are for," Ron smiled again just as Ginny came in panting.

"It's getting harder to move fast with these two," Ginny commented absently as she ran a hand over to barely showing stomach. "Ron! I told you not to bother them!"

"You made a pregnant woman run from Gryffindor Tower to the dungeons?" Hermione scolded.

"I didn't make her!" Ron defended himself.

The bickering continued between the three younger adults. It feels like I'm their professor again. He mentally shuddered at the idea. Having a student as his wife wasn't at all appealing. Pushing the repulsing thoughts away, he broke the debate between the former Gryffindors. "As amusing as this is, would you care to tell us why you decided to disturb us?" He added his intimidating scowl hoping to scare the youngest Weasley son.

"Oh, sorry about that," Ron raised a hand to rub the back of his head. "I was hoping to talk to Hermione for a bit? Alone?"

Hermione read Severus' thoughts and lounged back against Severus. "I'm quite comfortable here."

He didn't enjoy showing any intimacy in front of the Weasleys. "Hermione," he hissed softly as he tried to move away.

Hermione pinched his thigh hard to make him stop, although she leaned forwards a little to make him more comfortable. "So why are you here?"

Ron shifted, obviously agitated with Severus' presence. "As soon as I read about the law being abolished, I asked for time off. I would have come sooner, but—" he stopped suddenly. "Well, I was dealing with some problems and Coach wouldn't let me leave."

"Which explains how you're here...?" Ginny prompted.

"I quit." Ron said simply.

"What?!" Hermione and Ginny exclaimed at the same time. Severus even had to admit he was surprised a Weasley would give up fame and fortune. Hermione then stood up and approached her friend. "But you love quidditch. Why did you quit?" Severus realized he had been forgotten and struggled to stand gracefully to approach the group.

"How is Brigitte taking this?"

Ron's face had been open and calm before Ginny spat out his wife's name. His face reddened, with anger or embarrassment, nobody was sure. "Not too well."

Hermione could tell something was bothering him, but it was because of the presence of Severus he wasn't saying a lot. Before she could say anything the flames flared green signaling someone wanted to floo through. Severus waved a hand at it to open the channel and Neville's face showed up.

"Ginny!" he shouted, but caught sight of Severus and blanched, "Oh, hello Professor." He looked back to Ginny. "Would you mind coming back home? You left me alone with eight small children!"

"Eight?" Hermione asked.

"My three," Ron answered.

Ginny smiled and answered the floating head, "Coming, Dear." She looked to Ron as Neville's face disappeared, "Come and stay with us after you're done with Hermione?"

"Couldn't think of a better place," Ron bent down to kiss Ginny's cheek and watched her as she left.

Hermione meanwhile pulled Severus aside. "I know you don't like him, but there's something bothering him. Would you mind—"

"Go see what is bothering the Weasel. Just don't stay away too long."

Hermione returned his smirk. "I won't. Thank you," she said seriously. She caressed his cheek before returning to Ron. "Come on, let's go for a walk."

They walked silently through the castle and out the front doors to wander around Hogwarts grounds. Had Harry been there as well, Hermione would have thought they were back in school. "It seems so long since we've walked around the grounds like this," she commented softly as they stopped at the lake.

"So much has happened since then." Ron snorted a laugh as he studied the lake, "Seven years ago I wouldn't have imagined the things that have happened to us. I thought all the excitement died with Voldemort."

"We should have known," her laugh joined his.

Ron turned to Hermione. "I saw your daughter. She's beautiful."

"Thank you. Earlier, did you say you have three?"

Ron's face transformed into a look of adoration. "Yep; two boys and a girl. They're all I live for now."

"I feel the same way about Essie Ann." She let the silence consume them again before asking, "So what happened? With everything. Why'd you leave and never return our owls? Why didn't I ever hear about your wedding, or children? Why'd you quit quidditch?"

Ron sighed. "From the beginning then?" at Hermione's nod of consent he continued. "You know how excited I was when I was accepted on the team. When I got there, I told myself not to lose contact with all of you, but I got caught up with everything. Whenever I said I was going home to visit you or my family, the rest of the team would plan a party or something that I couldn't miss. I know it's a lame excuse—"

"I don't think so. It's easy to get swept up in fame."

"Your faith in me is misplaced," he smiled sadly. He reached out for her hand and sought out understanding with his bright blue eyes. "I never wanted to leave you behind. My plan was to get a start in my career and come back for you. I know it's too late for me, but I always loved you. I always will."

"Ron—"

"I know it's too late. I know." He released her hand and moved closer to the lake, looking down into its black depths. "When the Marriage Law came out, I was going to come back and petition for you. I don't know what happened, but my petition didn't go through. I thought my petition was going through the system when I read in the Prophetyou and Professor Snape had married."

"Why didn't you ever come back after that?"

Ron laughed bitterly. "You have no idea how many times I've stood at those gates," he looked towards the gates leading to Hogsmeade "trying to convince myself to come see you, but I couldn't. Although I may not like the Professor, I knew you at least respected him. You have a big heart, Hermione. I knew it was only a matter of time before you fell in love with him, and only a matter of time before you wore him down. He's still human after all."



Hermione didn't realize she was crying until a tear fell from her chin to her clasped hands. "Ron..." she couldn't get anymore out.

"I couldn't come back here and see the two of you together, it just hurt too much. So I tried to forget you with quidditch and—and Brigitte."

"Your wife?" she managed to ask.

Ron shook his head, "My ex-wife. She left me."

"Oh, Ron," Hermione rushed to his side and grasped his hand tightly.

Ron squeezed her hand, grateful for the support. "I was still affected by the law so I chose one of my biggest fans. I knew she only married me for the money and fame, but I thought she would come to love me. She didn't like the fact she had to have a child, but it was required by the law. I guess she wasn't too thrilled when it ended up being my twin boys." Ron broke out into a smile at the thought of his boys. "After that she rarely stayed home; she was always out with some other quidditch star or spending my money. Then she really got angry when she became pregnant again with my little girl." His voice broke at this.

"What happened?" Hermione began to draw small circles on his hand with her thumb.

"When I found out, I wasn't even sure if the baby was mine, with as many blokes she was with. Then she announced she was getting an abortion. Didn't ask, just said she was. I had to pay her not to have one. Even if it wasn't mine, I couldn't let her kill a child like that. As soon as Emma was born, I knew she was mine. Hair as red as a tomato, still is."

"She sounds adorable. Hopefully she and Essie Ann with grow up to be good friends."

Ron finally looked down at Hermione. "I'd like that." He looked elsewhere to finish his story. "After that, she basically left me. The only time she came home was to ask for more money. I don't know why I kept giving it to her. It was probably because I felt I owed her something for mothering my children—I don't know," he shook his head frustrated. "When the law was abolished she came back for a divorce, which I gladly gave her. I just hadn't expected her to take a final bite out of the money I had made. I still have enough to raise my kids, so I just let it go."

"And quidditch?" she prompted.

"After Brigitte left, I was left to take care of my kids. I didn't mind, I couldn't get enough time with them. But the coach kept demanding more and more time, so that meant I had less and less time with my kids. I couldn't take any more of it, so I just quit."

"What are you going to do now?" Hermione asked.



Ron smiled and this time kept eye contact with his longtime friend. "I owled McGonagall to let her know I was coming—don't get angry I didn't owl you too; I was carting around three rambunctious kids. She told me Hooch is retiring after this year and she asked me if I wanted to be the flying instructor so I accepted."

"Oh Ron!" Hermione vaulted herself into his arms and he gladly spun her around. "That means you'll be living here! It'll be just like old times!"

Ron laughed, but said, "Well, except for Harry."

Hermione sobered and glared up at the red-head. "Don't mention that moron to me."

"What did he do?"

"Did you know he went into hiding as soon as that law came out? Well as soon as it came out it was over, he came up on his noble steed to rescue me from my big bad husband."

"Ah, you always knew he was a barmy bloke. What'd he do?"

"First he called my child Snape spawn then wouldn't stop bothering me until I agreed to go out to dinner with him to 'catch up.' Then while at dinner, he proceeded to propose to me. I told him to leave me and my family alone until he grew up."

Ron shook his head. "He'll come around someday."

"I know, but I can't believe him. I'm glad you're not as stupid."

"As?" he joked.

Hermione laughed, "At least I'm being honest."

Amidst their laughter, neither of them noticed the billowing black robes approaching them. "Do you take habit of standing out in the cold without a cloak?" To prove his point, Severus took his own off and draped it around Hermione's shoulders.

"Thank you," she smiled up at him.

"It isn't that cold," Ron commented.

"For someone in Hermione's condition, it is."

"Condition?" Ron asked puzzled.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you. Severus and I are expecting again."

Ron smiled and hugged Hermione again, "That's wonderful!"

Severus felt the urge to pull the boy off his wife, but knew he only was caught up in the excitement. "Perhaps we should move this rendezvous inside."

"I should probably head back to my kids. Ginny's looking awfully tired and I know it must be a hassle for Neville. We'll have to get together again for you to tell me your story."

"Alright. Goodnight Ron."

"'Night 'Hermione, 'night Professor."

As Severus and Hermione made their way back to their dungeons, Hermione briefly told Severus Ron's story. As they crawled into bed, Severus commented, "So now another Weasley enters our domain. Make that four Weasleys."

"He's had a hard life, Severus. We got lucky in this law, but Ron didn't. He needs all the friendship he can get."

Severus tasted the bitterness in his mouth even before he muttered the words, "I will try."

"That's all I ask." Hermione slid to Severus' side of the bed and reached across his body for his wand on his nightstand table, which ended up with her sprawled across his chest. She smiled sweetly at him as she conjured a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries and whispered, "Now where were we?"

Poor Ron! /sniffle I actually didn't mean to make his life so miserable, but it just came flowing out!

Hope all is well! :)