She woke up but without even opening her eyes she knew that there was a thick layer of snow outside. Ever since she was a small child she was able to sense when it had snowed. Maybe it was the peacefulness or maybe it was the sharp chill in the air that somehow managed to give off a bit of warmth. Excitement surged through her as she envisioned what the day was going to bring. That was until it hit her like flying head on into a brick wall what had happened the previous day. Now she didn't want to wake up, she wanted to curl up into a ball and sink into her mattress. As much as she tried to block out her thoughts it did not help, they just came rushing back faster and more intense each time.

Throwing off the warm duvet Hermione swung her legs out of bed and searched for her slippers. Next came her robe. When she realized that it had been a gift from Ron on their last anniversary she threw it to the floor. Settling for a jumper she forced it roughly over her head and then smoothed down her static ridden hair. As she was about to walk out of her bedroom she was halted by her stomach turning. It felt like she was going to throw up. With a hand over her mouth she raced to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. Coming to the conclusion that it was stress that had induced the vomiting she thought little more of it as she brushed her teeth and headed downstairs.

In the kitchen she found Draco with his head in the fridge. When he heard her walk in he straightened up and smiled at her, "Morning sleepy head. Do you not have any food in this house?"

She couldn't help it, she had to laugh. It started out as a soft chuckle but then escaladed into much more. Deciding right then and there that this was the end of her misery, she had to be strong and she wouldn't let anybody have the satisfaction of seeing her fall into a hollow of grief. What more could she ask for, her kids still liked and trusted her, she had a great man who made her laugh as well as gave her mind blowing orgasms as well as her best friend understood what she was going through. Who was she kidding, her other two best friends hated her, one being her husband.

"So I was thinking…," Draco started.

"Oh that's nice, did it hurt?" Hermione laughed.

"Very funny. Okay I was thinking maybe you should sell this house."

Fear lashed across her face and he noticed it right away, "Come on honey you have to admit this house holds to many memories for you. It will only do you good to get away from it. I promise."

"I don't know Draco; I've lived here for years. It's my home."

"Well," choosing his words carefully as to not scare her off he said, "I was thinking you could move in with me."

As crazy as the idea seemed at first it began to grow on her until she found herself nodding to him, "I think I would like that, but what about the kids and Scorpius?"

"Why are you even asking?"

"Draco," she said sternly, "For god's sakes they're my kids and I know Ron's going to fight to have them live with him."

"I meant you're crazy to even assume that the invite didn't include Hugo and Rose."

"Well thanks," she said, and that was the end of that.

xxx.:.x.:.xxx

Hermione was standing on the stoop of the Potter's house in the cold drizzle waiting for somebody to answer the door. It was odd Ginny was expecting her, so why was she taking so long to answer the door. Her thoughts were cut short as the door swung open and a blast of heat found its way out. "Hey Gin," Hermione said.

"Come on in," Ginny held the door open for her and Hermione walked in. Ginny walked into the Sitting Room and sat down on the couch, Hermione did the same.

"Come here honey," Ginny opened her arms and pulled Hermione into a big hug, "How have you been?"

"Surprisingly fine.

"Fine?" Ginny repeated.

"Yeah, I woke up this morning and was a wreck. I even threw up I was so stressed out and then after that I don't know. I guess I decided that I wasn't going to let it get to me. It was after all what I have wanted to happen for years. And Draco's been great, really caring," she added.

"Ahhh."

The room went silent and both women shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Outside the drizzle had started to turn into slush. Big wet globs of it fell from the sky.

"He asked me to move in with him."

"Well what did you say?"

"I said yes," realization hitting her she muttered, "I can't believe this."

Thankfully Ginny didn't hear the last bit.

"He's also asked me to marry him," Hermione said softly.

"This morning? A bit quick isn't it?"

"No before. He's asked a couple of times and hinted at it numerous times but I've always said that there was no way I could leave Ron and he couldn't leave his wife either."

"Are you considering it?" Ginny asked skeptically.

"Of course I am, I love him but…"

"But? That's never good."

"Well I don't want to happen to us what happened to Ron and I. Once the honeymoon was over we fell into a routine and that was it, nothing changed. I don't want that to happen to Draco and I. The affair was so exciting and…and exhilarating. Not knowing if we were going to get caught, or when we could see each other again."

"To be honest with you Hermione I never pictured you as the one to have an affair. Sure I love Harry with all my heart but every since we got engaged I also worried that one day I would get bored and try to find something else on the side. I guess I can say I'm proud of you, doing what nobody thought you could do. And if I must be honest with you, I don't really blame you."

"Can I ask you something Ginny?"

"Shoot."

"Have you ever been unfaithful to Harry?"

"Yeah."

"What?" she was shocked, "When?"

"Twice actually, and both times I was so drunk I could barely tell the difference between a person's head and their…you know."

"When?"

"Well the first time was my bachelor's party, you know with that stripper that had on the purple Speedo like thing."

"Ginny that doesn't count, you weren't married yet. Besides it was your stag."

"Fine, the second time was when I was with the team in Italy, do you remember."

"Yeah, Ginny that was like 5 years ago."

"I know, I know. So we went out to the clubs and had a bit of fun after our win. I guess I just wanted to see if I could do it, and I did."

"You don't feel guilty?"

"Not really, Harry knows that I love him and I would never leave him. He has nothing to worry about."

"And he told you this when?"

"After I told him what I'd done."

"He wasn't mad?"

Ginny laughed, "No he just confessed a few things to me and we got on with our lives. I think we needed it to add a little spice to our marriage; keep us on our toes."

"Wow, okay well another reason I don't know about marrying Draco is I'm worried that it's just lust," Hermione said, "What if I get divorced and then marry Draco to find that it's worse than what my marriage to Ron was like? I did think at one point in my life that Ron and I were perfect for each other; soul mates."

"That's where I can't help you," Ginny said sympathetically, "You need to figure it out on you own."

"Thanks for the help," Hermione said sarcastically.

"No problem. Do you want a cup of tea? I've also got some great little biscuits that taste like heaven."

"Why not?"

The two friends left the sitting room and walked down the corridor into the kitchen. With a wave of her wand Ginny started to boil water for the tea. She found a plate and placed a number of biscuits on them and then set it down on the table to wait. The kettle was almost boiling when the door to the kitchen opened.

"Where was it Harry?" the person yelled.

"I think I hear Ginny in there, just ask her for them," Harry responded.

"Ginny…?" he swallowed his words when he saw Hermione leaning up against the counter.

No knowing whether to ignore him or talk to him she said a simple hello. It had no warmth to it and she probably would have been nicer if she had just ignored him.

"Ron," Ginny said warningly.

Hermione's vow to stay strong seemed to work, because as much as she felt like crying and begging to be forgiven she didn't. Instead she held her head high.

"You bitch, thinking you can waltz in here after what you did."

"Last time I checked this was Harry and Ginny's house and Ginny was the one who invited me over," she said calmly, "And as for the bitch part, sure I agreed actually."

Shock registered on his face. It was obvious he wasn't expecting her to agree with him and thus didn't have any quick retort.

"Besides…" she started the sentence that wouldn't be finished because Ron roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the kitchen.

"Get your hands off of me," Hermione snarled.

This only caused him to tighten his grip on her upper arm. She knew that there was going to be a bruise there tomorrow and Draco wouldn't be happy to learn what had caused it.

"Did you not hear me; get your blasted hands off of me."

He let go of her but blocked her escape, "Just let me talk for Merlin's sake," he fumed, "I believe you owe me that much."

She quieted down and decided to listen, if only-she told herself-so she could laugh about it later.

"Hermione I never expected this to happen," he said sadly, "I though we were perfect together and nothing could come between us. I guess I was stupid to believe that and then to not see how unhappy you were. If I had of noticed it before, maybe we could have went our separate ways and eventually forgiven each other. Now that will never happen, because there is no way I can do that after seeing you like that in your office."

An array of emotions were coursing through Hermione: relief; pain; sorrow; and worst of all guilt.

"I'm sorry," she said, "You don't know how sorry I am. It's just…oh Ron I never wanted to hurt you, you have to believe that. That is the reason why I had the affair, I needed something. I love you to pieces but not like somebody should love their husband. I thought that if I went with Draco I could then later come home and have enough strength to get through the next day, so our marriage would, and could survive. I never wanted to do this to you, your friendship means too much to me and that's why, I have to be honest with you, Draco asked me to marry him quite a few times and ever time I said no. Do you know why I said no?"

He didn't answer, just kept staring at her. Hurt was evident in his eyes.

"I told him no ever time because as unhappy as I was I never wanted our marriage to end, you meant so much to me and you still do. I'm so sorry that this had to happen," she looked up at him sadly, "I know that we'll never be able to forgive each other and I don't ask you to forgive me, just don't wreck Harry and Ginny's marriage because of it. Please don't force them to take sides."

"Why Malfoy, why?"

"It just sort of happened."

Rage had started to build in him again and quickly displaced the hurt, "You only think about yourself you crazy bitch, could you have never thought of others for once?"

"Did you not hear me, I explained completely why I did it," she screamed at him. If he was going to yell she wasn't going to let him walk all over her.

"This is your fault, and only you have to live with that on your conscience."

"My fault, are you insane? If we're going to play the blaming game then I think you should take part of it, because you drove me to it."

"Maybe I drove you to it, but you ultimately took the final step," he seethed, "And how did I drive you to it?"

"Because…"

"Because what?"

"You never gave me a bloody orgasm in all of our years of marriage."

Ron took a step back and stared at her, "What the bloody hell was that?"

"The truth," she exclaimed.

"You bitch, you fucking bitch," he turned and stormed down the corridor. It was then that Hermione noticed Harry and Ginny watching the event unfold from the end of the corridor. Ron walked up to Harry and said, "She is messed in the head mate, did you hear her there?"

Hermione couldn't help herself, she screamed after him, "Yeah well if I'm so screwed up I'd hate to see your psych evaluation. You should be locked up for how damn crazy you are."

Ron spun around and would have come barreling back at her if Harry and Ginny hadn't have grabbed him at the last second and suppressed him. Ron turned on Ginny and said, "I don't want you around her, she's crazy and I defiantly don't want my kids anywhere near her. I'll make sure that you never see them again."

"You can't do that," Hermione shrieked, "Rose is of age and Hugo will never listen. You never heard what he said when I told him it was over between us."

"I don't care if they are 40, they will never see you again."

"Get a life," she muttered quietly, but not quietly enough.

"I had one, until you went and destroyed it."

Harry pulled Ron into the nearest room and slammed the door, muffling Ron's threats. Ginny walked over to Hermione and wrapped a comforting arm around her, "Don't worry about it Hermione, he would never do it. He wouldn't have the guts to."

"Well that's what I though until I saw him lash out. I've never seen him like that, it was scary. It makes me think that maybe he will try. That did not look like Ron at all, it looked like some nut case that had escaped from St. Mungo's."

"Hermione, I hate to tell you but you looked exactly like him."

"I tried to keep my cool but I couldn't."

"Nobody blames you Hermione, and don't worry that this will break up Harry and I. We would need a lot more than our best friends threatening to kill each other to do that," she chuckled.

"Yeah, you guys do seem pretty happy."

"That's because we are."

"Well I'm happy for you."

"Are you going to have that tea or not?"

"Make it with a few shots of something and of course."

"You'll get through this Hermione."

"Yeah I know."

"And you're lucky to have somebody like Malfoy, as much as I dislike him I can tell he makes you happy for some strange reason."

"That he does."

xxx.:.x.:.xxx

a/n First an explanation as to the long wait. It's really simple I got a puppy a month ago tomorrow and I have spent all my free time watching the little rascal that I've had no time to even think of ideas. Please forgive me.

Okay I know Ron was a bit out of character but what did you think: Too much or okay??? Please review, thanks.