The True Meaning of Love

Authous Note: Sorry it took me longer to update but I was struggling to write this chapter! Thanks to all the lovely review from last time and let me know what you think of this chapter! Enjoy...

Chapter 6: The Truth Hurts

Harry rang the doorbell and took a small step back. He turned to Ron and whispered

"Ron, please don't do or say anything stupid! We haven't seen Hermione in five years- don't blow it!''

"Why would I?'' asked Ron. Harry gave him a knowing look. Ron looked down at his hands. He didn't know what to do, what do you say to the girl that you loved and lost after five years of no contact? He opened his mouth to make up an excuse- anything that could stop him from seeing Hermione, but he was out of luck. The door opened and there she was.

"Harry! Ron!'' she screamed before wrapping both of them in a rib crushing hug.

"Hermione, I can't believe it! Where have you been, what have you been doing, why are you here...?'' asked Harry forgetting to breathe.

"Um, well I'll tell you later! Come in both of you! I've missed you so much! Come on, Ginny and I are in the conservatory with Sirius, oh Harry he's gorgeous!''

Ron hadn't said a word. Harry and Hermione were babbling enough for all three of them anyway. He couldn't believe how different she looked. Her hair was no where near as frizzy or as bushy as it used to be. She had developed in every aspect and was more beautiful than ever before.

And the size of her house! Wow! It was huge! No doubt she'd been working a lot- you can't afford a place like this on a normal witch or wizard salary!

They sat down in the conservatory whilst Hermione brought two cans of beer for Harry and Ron, and tea for herself and Ginny. Ginny was sitting down with Sirius curled up in her arms as he had just been fed. Ron looked at the photo frame on the coffee table. He picked it up and saw Hermione with a baby boy. She was looking at him lovingly as he slowly drifted off to sleep. Who was the baby? He thought to himself.

"That's my son Theo,'' said Hermione coming back in the room and throwing Harry his can of beer. She sat down next to Ron and handed him his can.

"Y, your s, son?'' stammered Ron.

"Yes! This was taken three years ago. Now he's very different,''

"But just as adorable!'' said Ginny smiling at Hermione.

"Blimey Hermione! You kept that quiet! So when do we get to meet him?'' asked Harry who was calmly enjoying his beer.

"Um, well he's sleeping right now but you should see him in about an hour or so. Ginny told me that both of you are aurors! Well done! I'm so happy for you both! And she filled me in on why you're here, don't worry Ron, I'll help you find her if you like...''

"Hermione stop It.'' said Ron looking at her.

"Stop what?''

"Acting like you missed us and nothing's changed! You can't have cared that much! You didn't even bother to get in touch with any of us! We even went round to Bulgaria once but you weren't there!''

There was silence. Harry was looking anywhere but at his two best friends. This is exactly what he meant by don't say or do anything stupid! But nobody ever listened to him!

Ginny had suddenly decided that it was too hot for Sirius to be wearing socks and began taking them off. Hermione was looking at Ron straight in the eyes. She was trying to calm herself down but was clearly failing.

"Didn't care? Acting? Never Bothered?'' she stammered angrily. "How dare you say that! You don't know what I've been through these past five years...''

"Yeah and why's that then? We didn't know where you were! Have you got any idea what that's like Hermione? We didn't know whether you were dead or alive!'' interrupted Ron.

"Yes Ronald! I do know what it feels like! I know exactly how horrible it can be. I found out the hard way and that's why my life is such a mess now!''

They all looked at her. What did she mean by that?

"Hermione...'' began Ron.

"Do you really want to know what my life has been like for the past five years Ronald? I'll tell you shall I? A living hell! Ever since I married Viktor...''

"Hold on, you married him?'' asked Ron with a disgusted look on his face.

"Yes. And I have regretted it ever since. The first year was ok. We were both busy with work so we didn't argue but Viktor's mum, well let's just say that we've never seen eye to eye. She was constantly round at our house, reminding me that Viktor could do a lot better then me, the usual type of thing,

"Then into our second year, well this is when everything changed. Viktor was going out every night drinking God knows where. I was working overtime just to stop myself going mad from being home alone every night. Whenever he was at home we'd argue. It was horrible. Then I found out that I was pregnant with Theo...''

"Let me guess, he was thrilled!'' said Ron sarcastically.

"Actually, yes he was. He couldn't wait to be a dad. It was great. For about eight months it was like a relationship should be. Viktor stopped going out at night, his mother stopped interfering and the arguments stopped. That was until I went into labour.

'' The nurses tried but couldn't get hold of him. I tried as hard as I could to hold on, and became so weak that I passed out and had to have a caesarean. After three days Theo and I went home. There was no note or anything, but all of his clothes had gone and he'd taken his passport.''

Ginny gasped, Harry choked on his beer and Ron's eyes were so wide they looked as if they were about to roll out of his head.

"I asked everyone I could think of but nobody knew where he had gone. I focussed my time and energy on Theo whilst trying to find out where he was. Three weeks later some guys came round looking for Viktor. He owed them just over twenty thousand pounds and he was meant to have payed it by now. I told them that I knew nothing about it but they didn't listen. They gave me 24 hours to pay up.''

"But they can't do that! It wasn't you that owed them money!'' exclaimed Ginny.

"Yes but I'm Viktor's wife. If he's not around, I'm second to take his punishments. I tried to sell our house but apparently we didn't even own it! Viktor's mum loaned it to him! That's why she was never happy with me living there, not that anyone thought to tell me!''

"But what did you do?'' asked Harry.

"I took Theo, packed all our stuff and went to Australia. I tried to re modify my parent's memory but just like before, I failed. They recognised me from before and offered me and Theo a place to stay. I started working triple overtime to pay rent and eventually get enough for our own place. Then Viktor's dad passed away. He surprisingly left Theo a lot of money. Once I'd checked that the money was completely legal I added it to the rest of my savings and was able to buy this house when I got transferred here. I'm still working really hard to be able to pay Theo back but I've started working from home to spend more time with Theo.''

She stopped and drank the rest of her tea whilst Harry, Ron and Ginny registered what she had said. After about five minuets Ginny said

"So in the past three years, Viktor hasn't phoned or tried to contact you?''

"Nope,'' answered Hermione.

"Never sent any money?''

Hermione shook her head.

"He hasn't even seen Theo's face. His own son.'' she said softly.

Harry was furious. He couldn't believe what he had just heard! How anyone could just abandon their family like that without any money or even a note was beyond him.

"So, you're basically on the run,'' said Ron who was still trying to grasp the whole situation.

"Yeah,'' said Hermione with a weak smile.

Suddenly there was crying coming from upstairs.

"That must be Theo, I'll be down in a minuet,'' said Hermione and she exited the room. Harry let out a low whistle. Ginny smiled at him and put Sirius in his buggy. Ron was fuming. He always knew there was something dodgy about Krum! He looked back at the photo of Hermione and Theo and promised himself that no matter what happened, he would get his revenge on Viktor. And nothing was going to stop him.