A/N: I am so SORRY for not uploading for so long. I don't know if I'll ever make it up to you.

Chapter XI

The ballroom was beautiful. Hermione watched as the pairs twirled in the golden hall and smiled to herself as she sipped her drink. Everything was perfect. The design was truly professional. The drapes that covered the tall windows were a rich burgundy colour, as were the tablecloths. Everything else was gold; golden frames, golden cutlery, golden chandeliers, golden sculptures... Fred and Angelina were dancing in the middle of the dance floor. The crowd's attention was focused on them due to Fred's rather original interpretation of the term 'ballroom dancing'. Hermione snorted quietly at the sight. George was definitely the more mature one of the two.

She noticed that many of her former schoolmates were present. The major part of the Gryffindor house, some Ravenclaws, few Hufflepuffs and no Slytherins, not that it was any surprise, old habits die hard after all. Scratch that. Adrian Pucey was just making his way over to where the rest of Angelina's current teammates were. She vaguely remembered Angelina telling her that they were chasers for the same team. She always let her mind wander whenever Angelina started talking about Quidditch. Honestly... What was so interesting about the game anyway? She got enough of Quidditch talk for the rest of her life during the three years of her marriage.

She realized that it really was nice not to hear about quidditch every day. While the three years of her marriage were long and dull, the two months with George, a job and without any broom-talk were really pleasant and she actually wished the time wasn't flowing by so fast. If only I wasn't Mrs. Ronald Weasley... I could use the situation I'm in to the fullest...Otherwise... Her musings were disturbed by a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned her head slowly to be greeted with a familiar freckled face. She smiled at him.

"Hello George"

"May I have this dance, milady?" He extended his hand for her to take it. She blushed and curtsied not quite as gracefully as she would have liked to.

She let herself be led to the dance floor by this handsome redhead oblivious to the stares they were getting. It's no wonder they were getting them for she really had to look stupid with that wide eyes and open mouth that tried to say something intelligent but suddenly lost any connection with her brain whatsoever. He suddenly stopped and turned around. He mimicked the position from their private Christmas Party and started waltzing through the hall with her. Hermione furrowed her brows and looked at George questioningly. He tried not to notice and continued to dance.

"Why am I suddenly feeling like we've done that before?"

"No idea. Absolutely no idea Hermione." She noticed the pink that tinged his cheeks and the way he was looking at everything but her.

"You're not telling me something." He let out a nervous laugh which he tried to conceal by clearing his throat.

"Am I? I wasn't aware of that. Not really. No."

"You're acting weird." He didn't look at her. She took his face in her hand and turned it so their eyes would meet. "Tell me."

"Can't you just forget it?"

"Is there something to forget?"

"Hell... I have to tell you, don't I?" She gave him a meaningful, impatient stare. "Okay, just don't be angry at me... Remember Christmas?" He tried to look at the floor again but she held his face firmly. They didn't even notice they stopped dancing. She nodded her head, urging him to continue. "Well... You kinda got drunk... I mean like REALLY drunk..."

"And..?"

"And you asked me to dance. And we danced. That's it." He smiled and moved as if to continue their waltz but she stopped him.

"And what happened next?"

"You passed out. On me. I carried you to your room." She searched his eyes to check if he wasn't lying. He mustered all the self-control he had to make his eyes look as sincere as possible and it seemed to work for she nodded and thanked him for telling her. Only then did they notice the position they were in. Standing in the middle of the dance floor, her hand on his face which was dangerously close to her own. She could feel his breath on her face. She blushed furiously and turned her head to the side half-expecting everyone in the room to be staring at them. They were staring alright only not in her direction. Their gazes were fixed on the door, or rather on the person that walked through them.

Fuck! Was the thought of everyone that saw the man. In other situation it might have been quite kinky but considering that the man was none other than Ron, very angry Ron, very angry Ron looking in the direction of his wife and brother in an intimate position, you can't be surprised that it wasn't really a sexual 'fuck', just a let's-get-out-of-here-as-quick-as-possible 'fuck'.

The whole ballroom went silent, because even those who didn't notice Ron, Hermione or George sensed there was something big coming. And big it was.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! Is THAT why you wanted to divorce me so bad?! You fucking whore! Cheating on me with my own brother no less! Hell will freeze over before I let you have your way! No divorce for you, baby! Uh-uh!" He dumped a small present for Fred and Angie onto the floor and hurtled out of the room, his face as red as a beetroot.

"Fuck"

The next morning Hermione woke with a terrible headache and a swollen face. She cried the whole night while George tried to comfort her even though he knew he had no chance. It was his fault again. He should've been more cautious, it wasn't very wise to dance with her at a reception that anyone could come to. However, what's done cannot be undone so now they just had to face the consequences.

Hermione went to the bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She quickly improved her disastrous state with a few spells. She knew she had to be strong. She had to go to Malfoy and tell him about everything that was going on for the last three years and explain her relationship with George. He had to believe that there wasn't anything between them really. That she did not commit adultery. For what she knew about marriage law she had better chances of winning more money if it was only Ron who was found guilty.

She drank a painkilling potion and stepped into the cabin allowing the water to shower away all of her uncertainties. She had to be strong. Not only for herself, but for George as well. After all it was she who dragged him into this situation. Even if it wasn't exactly against his will... She smirked and stepped out onto the cold bathroom floor. She dried her hair and dressed in a modest dress to confirm to her future lawyer that her modest ways didn't allow her to commit such an awful crime as adultery.

"This isn't exactly helpful... WHAT were you thinking for Merlin's sake?!"

Hermione felt herself go numb as she looked at the first page of the newest edition of The Daily Prophet. The title "RON WEASLEY – FAMOUS QUIDDITCH MANAGER - CHEATED ON BY HIS WIFE HERMIONE GRANGER – CURRENTLY UNEMPLOYED" said it all but there were also two pictures. One of Ron's red face as he gritted his teeth and spitted while shouting at her and one of her and George. The angle was very unfortunate... It looked as if they were really kissing. Hermione tried to think of anything intelligent to say but all she could was mumble:

"I'm not unemployed..."

"WELL YOU JUST WELL MIGHT BE!"

"Malfoy please..."

"It's MISTER Malfoy to you! I've never lost a case in my life but right now I'm not really sure whether it's possible to stay this way! I ask once again: What THE HELL were you thinking?!" The nerve on his temple was twitching violently and Hermione was afraid his eyes might bulge out any minute now.

"I didn't cheat on Ron! Ever! I swear! It's that fucking photographer! We weren't kissing and Ron knew that very well! I bet it was him who went to the reporter! He saw it as a chance to hide his own adultery! That fucking bastard! GOD HOW I HATE HIM!" Hermione was panting quite heavily. She was so angry. What did she ever see in that prick?

"You didn't cheat on him?"

"No."

"Would a Veritaserum test reveal the same answer?"

"YES. I didn't do anything sexual with George AT ALL."

"But you thought about it."

"And how is it any of your business?"

"I'm your fucking lawyer, that's how it's my business. You made a right mess yesterday and it is me who will have to clean it up." He took off his glasses and massaged his temples. She didn't know why but she felt sorry for him, yet it didn't stop her from thinking that little question that has been on her mind ever since he offered his service.

"Why are you even doing this? It's so not you."

"Call it a revenge thing."

"Revenge? Why?"

"I can't tell you. Only that he knows something I'd rather not want to have the public know about."

"And wha..."

"Don't push it." His voice was so firm that she wouldn't even think of disrespecting his request. "Instead you better tell me everything that might come out during the process."

And so she told him. Everything. Where she lived for the past two months, what she did during that period... about the tension between her and George... She felt really uncomfortable to be talking about this with Malfoy of all people but she knew it was for the best. He was quite a good listener and nodded in all the right places. She supposed he got good at this while working with eloping pureblooded daughters and cheating pureblooded sons. After she finished he sat quiet for a minute and then stood up and went to his desk. He picked up a paper and written something on it, then he charmed it into a small origami bird, much like those at the Ministry, and directed it out of the office.

"What did you..." But she couldn't finish her question before a small, weird looking man with a photo camera knocked on the glass door of Malfoy's office. He went inside after Malfoy's sharp nod and waited.

"Listen, Laroche. I have a new assignment for you." After receiving a nod from the said Laroche Malfoy continued. "I want you to follow one Ronald Weasley VERY closely and collect every single piece of evidence that might prove his cheating ways. Try to take pictures of him in the presence of Lavender Brown. You'll know her when you see her – blond slut. Understand?" The man nodded and started to walk away when Malfoy said: "Don't get caught."

The man turned around sharply with a very offended look on his face.

"I am Jean Michelle Laroche. I never vill get caught!" He said with a very strong French accent while pointing his finger into the ceiling. Hermione couldn't get over the impression of his strong resemblance to Inspector Cluseau from The Pink Panther which she liked to watch when she was a child. It also explained why the man was only nodding before – his pronunciation was hilarious, even he must've acknowledged that. After he left the room swiftly Malfoy burst out laughing.

"I know he never gets caught, I just had to make him say something. Sorry."

"It's quite rude you know, laughing OPENLY about other people." Hermione said half-seriously.

"Oh come on... You must admit he's quite... unique. Hermione just smirked.

After talking to Malfoy, she quickly apparated home to find a grand bouquet of roses in the middle of the room. She felt their intense smell from the doorway and started to feel very dizzy. She walked over to the bouquet and looked for a card but she found none. Her head started to hurt terribly and she sat heavily on the couch. This is weird... I normally only sneeze and cough... I never felt quite like this... And before she could think anything else she passed out on the couch.

George went up the stairs after spending the day at the shop and opened the door to his flat. A strong smell hit him in the nose and he noticed a huge bunch of roses in the middle of the room. Unknowingly he mimicked Hermione's moves and started looking for the card. Not having found any he turned around and saw that Hermione was asleep on the couch. She's probably tired from her talk with Malfoy... He walked into the kitchen and started to cook the dinner for them, having decided to let her sleep until the supper was ready.

About half an hour later he placed the pot with sticky green beans on the table and went to wake Hermione up.

"Hermione, wake up, the dinner's ready" When she didn't even stir he walked up to her and touched her shoulder lightly. "Hermione. Wake up." She was still sleeping heavily. He shook her shoulder lightly. "Hermione!" No reaction. He placed his hand on her shoulder. She was cold as ice. "HERMIONE!!"

He took her body into his arms and flooed to St. Mungo's as fast as he could.

End of Chapter XI