Ginny Weasley - and it was back to that old name now - was in hiding. She had been in hiding ever since the press conference Harry had had with Bill and the twins to announce the divorce and her use of Love Potions on him. She was currently staying in a cottage that Bill and Fleur owned. She hadn't seen her children for three days now, and she missed them terribly. But she was too ashamed to face them. How could you discipline your own children when they knew that you cheated and lied to their father?
Her reputation on the social circuit was chilly enough to make Antarctica look like a promising holiday destination. She might salvage it, after another ten years. With another hair colour, hair style, husband, and identity.
There was a knock at the door. She wondered who it was - had Harry come to take her back? She got up and walked quickly to the door. She opened it - and tried to close it at once. She even succeeded, but when she turned around, she found that Hermione had already Apparated into the living room.
"Get out of my house!" screamed Ginny. "You - you - you - "
Hermione cocked her head, amused. "Yes? Do go on, Weasley. Me - me - me - what?"
"You framed me!" cried Ginny. "You took my husband from me! And my kids! Everything! Why couldn't you just leave things alone?"
Hermione stopped laughing. "I framed you? Listen to yourself, your poor excuse for pond scum. Did I spike the Veritaserum you and Ron took? Harry was never yours to begin with. Harry belongs to Harry. You trapped him. And what about me? What about all the Mudbloods at Hogwarts who came after me, who were accused of being Amortentia-using harlots like Hermione Granger? Look at you? Broken. Stupid. Pathetic. You never even loved Harry! You only loved the Boy Who Lived. He saved you from Voldemort - twice! And this is how you repay him. You were my friend, and you betrayed me, you threw me to the dogs."
Ginny was weeping now. Hermione walked over to her and helped her up. When Ginny was standing, Hermione slapped her so hard that she flew a couple of metres into the air before hitting the floor with a loud thud. Several hundred miles away, the crowd in Diagon Alley, watching the three-dimensional live projection of the confrontation, gasped. Bill, watching a smaller projection at the Twins' flagship shop, made to Apparate to his cottage, but a shake of the head (and an Anti-Apparition Ward) from Harry stopped him.
"That, my dear," said Hermione, walking over her, "was for the Sectumsempra you cast at me when I was trying to explain myself twelve years ago. You left me - and I was pregnant, you bitch! - bleeding on the floor, though not before you'd got a few kicks in. Just because you were jealous that the Lust Potion that you'd slipped to Harry made me sleep with me instead of you! As if I had any choice in the matter! You knew your dick of a brother had slipped me a potion to sleep with him!"
Ginny scrambled away, and sent a stunner at Hermione. It was well aimed, and Hermione had to jump a metre into the air to dodge it.
"You fight like a girl," sneered Hermione. "Oh, wait - you are a girl! You always were the delusional little Amortentia-needing fangirl, weren't you? Be a woman, damnit! Duel like a witch!"
"Serpensortia!" cried Ginny, causing a snake to appear and hiss menacingly at Hermione.
If there hadn't been an audience, Hermione would have just stepped on the snake with her heightened reflexes. (A tricky task, but she had managed it with the serpent-based pranks her cubs sprung on her from time to time.) As it were, she simply Transfigured the snake into a colony of worms and banished them into Ginny's knickers.
The growing crowd in Diagon Alley was unsure whether to laugh or gasp. Many tried to do both simultaneously, causing more of the same. There were several leers as Ginny screamed and stripped her knickers off.
"Aguamenti!"
Ginny gasped as she was hit by a powerful stream of water.
"Are you alright, Gin?" asked Hermione with mock concern. "You seemed to need some help cleaning up. Oh, and look, you're all wet now! How did that happen?" She kept up the verbal barrage while dodging more Hexes from the now furious redhead. "Well, you need new clothes." Another complicated set of wand movements and Ginny's dress was Transfigured into a hairy cloak -- with the hairs facing the inside.
Ginny squealed, but had enough presence of mind to reverse the Transfiguration - and to realize that an overconfident Hermione had left an opening in her defence.
"Expelliarmus!"
The Hex connected, and this time Hermione was in the air, flying into a glass-fronted mantelpiece with a horrifying smash. But by the time Ginny had managed to get up and aim another curse at Hermione, the brunette had Apparated behind her and punched the back of her head.
Ginny crumpled, holding her head. Hermione walked over her (literally), picked up her wand, and snapped it theatrically.
"I expect an apology from you to all Mudblood witches and wizards in Britain," she said to the softly moaning witch, "for adding to the insults we've had to face in this backward society of yours. I'm glad not all Purebloods are like you, Ginevra Weasley, because if they were, then this society would be doomed. How on earth did you get sorted into Gryffindor anyway? Is the only reason you didn't get sorted into Slytherin because you weren't cunning enough to get away with it? You clearly don't belong in Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaws are smart enough to know that love doesn't come from Love Potions."
Ginny continued to moan. Hermione picked her up and half-carried, half-dragged her to the sofa. She lay her out on it, and took off the younger witch's shoes. Then she walked around the room, casting Reparos and various other spells to fix the damage.
Back in Diagon Alley, the crowd was silent. The points made by Hermione about Muggleborns had struck home. Many heads turned towards the front of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, where Bill, Fleur, Fred, Angelina, George, Lee, and Harry had just exited. Bill walked towards a makeshift podium that Harry had conjured up. It had the Potter and Weasley crests on it.
"The families of Weasley and Potter," said Bill after casting a Sonorus, "wish to make reparations to the family of Granger. What you have just witnessed is part of our reparations. By wizarding law, Hermione Granger had the right to request a duel to the death with Ginevra Weasley. She turned it down. She also has the same right against Ronald Weasley and Molly Weasley. She has refused both, but she has requested a duel with Ronald Weasley. She will receive it once we track him down."
Bill stepped back, and Harry stepped forward. The crowd was silent. It wasn't just his reputation as the Boy Who Conquered - he really was a good speaker now. Ginny had forced him into a lot of publicity stunts, since her reputation depended on his maintaining a high profile.
"A lot of people," began Harry, "including myself, have forgotten how much we owe to Hermione Granger. For my part, she was the only person who was always by my side - until I cast her aside. Let us return to the war against Voldemort. I tend to get all the credit for it, because you, the public, and you, the press, are stupid. You want a single hero, when there were lots of people who played bit parts. Without Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort would have won. You know that. Good. Without Severus Snape, Voldemort would have won. I hated him, but his role as a spy was crucial. Without Ron or Ginny Weasley, there would have been little difference, even if they got Orders of Merlin. But don't forget - without Hermione Granger, Voldemort would have won as well. Who do you think came up with the final series of spells that destroyed Voldemort? And that's just the stuff I'm allowed to mention."
"Magical Britain," Harry concluded, "owes a debt to a Muggleborn witch that we cast out of our society, and don't you forget it! If you ever see her on the streets of Britain again, treat her and her family with respect."
Hermione had finished casting a set of Healing spells on her fallen opponent. She watched Ginny staring at the ceiling, fully conscious of her sins, with tears streaming down her perfect cheeks.
Revenge was a lot less satisfying than Hermione had expected. She'd justified it to herself in many ways - Pureblood society lived on the Eye For An Eye rule, and for the sake of her Muggleborn compatriots (though she wasn't really Muggleborn, she considered herself such) she had to show Magical strength that way. Pureblood society judged a person by their Magical strength - the stronger you were, the more respect you got. It was a Dog Eat Dog world, which was highly offensive to her feline tendencies.
She would have enjoyed breaking Ron, because his mere existence asked for it, but there was little pleasure in breaking a mother who had lost her children.
In fact, there was a great danger that Ginny would try to commit suicide. Unlike Ron, Ginny had a shred of honour in her, and hara-kiri was the honourable thing to do. Hermione wasn't sure what to think about this. She didn't want to leave Amy motherless, and eventual reconciliation with Bill, Fred, and George would be hindered if Ginny died. They would indirectly blame Hermione for it, simply because of the human tendency to find a scapegoat. Their heads would say Hermione was innocent, but their hearts...
In short, it was in Hermione Granger's interests to help Ginny rehabilitate herself - and her bloody conscience said so. Trouble was, she had no idea if that was even possible.
"I forgive you, Ginny," said Hermione. This was true - it was hard not to forgive a creature that had been brought so pitifully low. The saying about time healing old wounds could also be taken into account.
Ginny said nothing.
"Harry's giving you visiting rights," continued Hermione, "and hopefully more."
Ginny said nothing.
"Oh, bugger this!" muttered Hermione in frustration. She walked to a different corner of the room, out of Ginny's view, cast a silencing spell, and called Harry on his cellphone. He picked it up after a couple of rings.
"Harry? It's Hermione. Look, is Luna there? Gin needs someone non-judgemental to talk to. She's really broken. And she needs her kids. No, I don't care what you - just get her children here. What? Fine, just get Amy then. You just monitor them if they try anything. Look, I don't give a shit - oh, that's nice, thanks - what! Chris crashed into the roof? You utter - oh, you fixed it? And he's okay? Good, now get Amy over here - "
There was a crack, and Luna Minkovic (nee Lovegood) was in the room. She gave Hermione a little wave and good-naturedly shooed her out of the room while she attended to her childhood friend.
A/N: Next up : Ron. Incidentally, I don't claim that Hermione or the 'good' Weasleys did the right thing (or the wrong thing) in this chapter. Nobody's perfect. It's all a mess. I also don't expect everyone's definition of honour to be the same.