Chapter 19: Fateful Decisions

Ron affixed his signature to the Dissolution of Marriage document. The moment, and the accompanying feeling, felt more anticlimactic than he thought it would be.

Not because he didn't feel anything, oh no – he felt anguished that it had come to this. Stealing a glance at his now-ex-wife, he always knew that he would still love her, in some measure. Hermione had been his wife for more than twenty years and was the mother of his two children. Through Rose and Hugo, they would always be bonded.

Yet despite being torn up about losing Hermione, Ron also understood that herein lay an opportunity. Something had shifted ever since Lavender had dropped back into his life – and now, here was the chance to try and see if he could love someone else the way that he had loved Hermione…. and all without risking someone getting hurt in the love triangle of an extramarital affair. Lavender had been right to insist that he wait until he and Hermione were no longer together.

There was still hurt, though – mostly in the form of regret that the happily ever after he and his best friend had thought would be theirs forever had just been so unceremoniously dissolved. Tears were shed, outside the courtroom, and he and Hermione hugged each other for a long moment. The divorce proceedings themselves had been quite amicable, as well as equitable. In quite the display of generosity, Hermione had let Ron keep the house in Ottery St. Catchpole. She would live in the Minister's Mansion – a ceremonial property that the Weasleys, as Minister and First Gentleman, had up till now only ever used to host official government functions rather than as an official residence to be lived in.

"I'll also put in an investment on a flat," Hermione told Ron. "For when I step down after my ministry is over. I won't move in with one of the children – I won't do that to Rose and Scorpius, especially if…. there might be a grandchild on the way for us someday soon."

The best friends and former spouses embraced, Hermione even allowing Ron to give her a peck on the cheek. "Take care of yourself," he murmured.

She let out a shaky breath, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "Yeah. You too."

Hermione arrived back at her office to find Teddy nowhere to be found. Perfect. Perhaps the lad ducked out to take lunch. Ever since the misunderstanding of several months before, her assistant had shown only the strictest professionalism, and now asserted himself in only an appropriate manner.

Turning to her office Floo, Hermione grabbed a pinch of powder and stepped into the fireplace. She called out her destination, and the green flames enveloped her to whisk her away.

The moment she stumbled out of a fireplace, belonging to a mansion somewhere in the Bulgarian countryside, Viktor Krum had swept her into his arms and kissed her breathless. Embracing while snogging like mad, Hermione allowed her lover to undress her and steer her towards the couch, whereupon Viktor climbed on top of her and made love to her.

Even as his physical worship of her made her moan with pleasure, Hermione found herself focusing on other things: the divorce with Ron. She should have felt happy, but instead she felt bittersweet. Feeling Viktor move above her, Hermione squirmed and gazed up at the rotating ceiling fan above their heads, undulating almost involuntarily in time with Viktor's thrusts inside her.

It had been a couple of months, and yet every so often, the heated conversation she had had with her…. ex-brother-in-law now at the Quidditch match flooded back into her mind. About being with someone for the right reasons. She had thought that after he had caught her and Viktor in the act, Harry had made his peace with it and said that he was happy for her. In the same way that she had told him she was happy for him and for Luna.

Had she really been happy for him, though? And he for her? However much the man got on her nerves sometimes, especially when he spoke and acted like a hypocrite, the argument at the Quidditch play-off had made it clear that her and Harry's respective feelings about seeing each other with other people were not resolved.

What did that imply? It wasn't as though she and Harry had ever dated. It wasn't as though they were exes, forced to watch their former partner see other people.

So why did it feel as if….?

Hermione felt her thigh muscles lock up, and with a kind of choking sound, she came hard. The orgasm felt perfunctory; if Viktor hadn't now stilled above her while riding through his own ejaculation, she wondered if she would have noticed that he had brought her to completion.

"Are you all right there, love?"

Turning her face away, Hermione squirmed beneath the handsome Bulgarian, silently asking to be let up. Swinging her spread-eagled legs off the couch, she sat up, hunched over in thought. She shivered as she felt Viktor drum his fingers up along her spine.

"Hermy-own? You seem very pensive…."

She nodded in acknowledgement of his observation, but said nothing.

"I thought you vould be happy. Vith your divorce. Now, ve can be together, and not have to hide!"

That was true. Ever since Viktor had returned to his country, he and Hermione had been seeing each other in secret. Long-distance. The arrangement had mostly involved her Flooing to him for these little rendezvous and trysts. Viktor's mansion afforded a certain level of privacy, away from the paparazzi. Thus far, Hermione had no reason to believe that the papers in England had gotten wind of her little affair.

"Hermione…" She started a little at hearing how Viktor, in a rare moment, actually pronounced her name correctly. "I know you must be feeling…. much after your split vith Ronald, and it…. it does not have to be right avay, but I…. I vould like you to move in. Someday. Come and live here. Vith me."

Hermione lifted her head to stare at him in shock.

"As I said, it does have to be right avay. Maybe vonce your term as Minister is over. You still have vone more year, yes?"

Hermione nodded. She thought about what Viktor was saying. On the face of it, the deal seemed pretty tempting. She would ride out her last year in the Minister's mansion, then move here to be with him. She wouldn't even have to purchase or rent out a flat in London after all.

And then what? Would she and Viktor eventually get married? Until everything with the love potion revelation had happened, Hermione had never considered a scenario where she would remarry. Get married again. She would live here, be the Bulgarian ambassador's wife, separated by miles and living countries away from her children, her loved ones, the Weasleys, who to some degree would always remain family to her.

Harry…. what would Harry say, if she were to get married again and have to move out of the country to be with a new husband? The thought of not seeing her best friend every day filled Hermione's heart with pain.

For once, Hermione decided to not use her head – her head that had served her well for much of her life. Now, she listened to her heart.

She laced her fingers through Viktor's.

"Viktor…. You've been wonderful. Truly. But I….. I think, for me, this is moving to fast."

She watched Viktor's expression as he studied her, the happiness and light in his eyes dimming. Hermione smiled sadly.

"You're a wonderful man, and so attentive, but…. but I don't think I could live so far away from my children. My friends, and loved ones in England. I've seen how many parents handle living abroad; they're in Australia – have been since the war – and… even though Ron, the kids and I have gone to visit them, it's been very hard for Mum and Dad, having their daughter and grandchildren so far away. I don't think I could stand to be so far apart from Rosie or Hughie…." Or Harry, she left unspoken. Tears slipping down her cheeks, she squeezed his palm.

"I'm sorry. Do you hate me?"

Slowly, Viktor smiled – a disappointed smile, but an understanding one nonetheless. Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed it.

"Of course I understand. Thank you – for the chance. It has been very vonderful to see you again. Ve will still be friends, yes?"

Beaming wetly, Hermione leaned in and brushed her lips along his cheek. "Absolutely."

Giving her one-time flame a final hug, Hermione marched to the Floo, for the first time in quite a long while clear-eyed about what – and who – she wanted.

Ron staggered back into his house in Ottery St. Catchpole, drained from the day's events. Hearing the water running in the upstairs bathroom, he dragged his feet up the steps.

He entered the bedroom just as Lavender was coming out, a towel wrapped around her slim figure and another towel in her golden locks. Brushing her curls dry, she smiled at him supportively while rummaging through the dresser drawer for her pajamas.

"Hey…. How are you feeling?"

Ron watched as his lover ducked back into the bathroom to change into her pajamas. She had only moved in with him a few weeks before, careful not to make the jump until Hermione had cleared all her things from the house. Ron still hadn't told his wife – ex-wife, he reminded himself with a twinge – about what was happening between Lavender and him. For Hermione's sake, he resolved to give it a few months before announcing to her that he was dating again. Everything was better if there was grace period.

Lavender stepped back into the master bedroom, all changed, studying Ron expectantly. "Ron?"

"Oh, yeah, um…." Ron shook himself out of his thoughts. "It went… fine."

Lavender lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "Really? Because I've been in that courtroom for a divorce proceeding, and let me tell – Seamus's and mine was no picnic."

Ron shrugged. "Hermione and I were fine. It felt a bit… anti-climactic, I guess. There were tears afterwards, but…. but she and I – we know we still love each other, albeit in a different way now. We're best mates; we'll still be there for each other, and especially for the sake of the kids…." He felt tears coming to his eyes.

Lavender drifted over and wrapped him in a hug. "I know…. Ssssh…. It's all right….. I'm here…."

He buried his face into her sweet-smelling hair. "I know."

Drawing back, Lavender fixed him with a warm smile. "I love you."

"I know. I love you too."

He watched as Lavender bit her lip. "Will you do something for me, then?"

"Sure, Lav. Anything."

She lifted her blue eyes to his, to peer up into his face. "Will you give me a baby?"

Ron blinked at her. "What?"

"Would you make a baby with me?"

…. Sweet Merlin, what a loaded question. He and Lavender…. They had yet to be intimate, and that had only been because it was her idea; Lavender had insisted on it. Now that he was divorced, he figured he could go to bed with this woman with a clean conscience. They'd both have a clean conscience. But to have sex with the solemn intent of trying to conceive….

"Lavender, I do want to have sex with you…. but conceiving a child…. I….. What brought this on?"

Lavender took a deep breath. "I want a baby. I want to be a mum, Ron. And not just a step-mum to Rose and Hugo someday, though Merlin only knows how much I care for them! I have a biological clock, and it's ticking. I won't have the chance at this forever."

"But…. But I thought you said…. When you were with Seamus…. I thought you said you didn't have a baby – er, want one…."

"I know what I said!" Lavender interrupted. "But that was more out of fear that my…. condition would risk the baby in utero. Not because I didn't want to be a mother. I've been talking with Teddy, see, about my job history, going over my CV, advocating for my rights – reasonable accommodations, and all that, and he said that pregnancy leave would be on the table, even for a hybrid like me. Plus, he knows enough from his dad's case that there wouldn't be any risk of my passing down my condition to a child. Werewolves are bitten, not born."

"That is true…. Teddy didn't inherit any werewolf tendencies from Remus. And Bill isn't a full-fledged wolf, but even so, Louis and the girls didn't have any genes like that passed down. They got more of the Veela blood in them from their mother!"

"Exactly! Plus, Teddy said that even when I transform, I would just look like a pregnant she-wolf carrying a cub. But the baby wouldn't be harmed; it would just be tucked safe in my womb!"

Ron studied her. "You've really given a lot of thought to this…."

"I have," Lavender nodded. "So how about it, Ron? …. Do you want to have kids with me?"