Thank you to,

SaruDM
Shivv
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LyndahJune
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CinziaTwut

For their reviews.

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CHAPTER 3.

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"Ouch!" Little Joanne screamed into her mum's arm.

"Just a little bit more. You'll be as good as new in one more crack." Hermione cajoled her patient.

With a final wave and a loud crack, Hermione healed Joanne's dislocated ankle.

"There. You're as good as new now, Joanne. Was it really that bad?" Hermione asked, handing her a chocolate frog.

She shook her head shyly, tears still running down her face, clutching her chocolate frog in a death grip in one hand and her mother's arm with her remaining hand.

"Thank you so much Healer Weasley. You shouldn't spoil her with sweets every time she comes though." Joanne's mother remarked.

"Then perhaps Joanne should stop coming here so often to be healed." Hermione said turning towards the little girl. "Is there any bone you haven't broken in there, Jo?"

"She never looks. She's always running about in a hurry and is the clumsiest child I've seen." Joanne's mother sighed.

Hermione smiled. "Well it's a good thing that she's a witch. Imagine healing her the muggle way."

"I am so thankful." Jo's mother exclaimed.

"Look Healer Weasley, my chocolate frog is Ronald Bilius Weasley. He's also a Weasley. Is he the same as your Weasley?" Jo remarked innocently.

Hermione sucked in her breath for a moment. Hearing Ron's name from someone else was not a common occurrence. She barely spoke to anyone. Save for the letters, no one mentioned Ron's name.

Joanne's mother seemed to sense Hermione's discomfort. "Jo sweetie, what have I told you about asking people personal questions?"

"Uhh." She struggled to remember."Not to?" She asked tentatively.

Hermione smiled at the little girl's innocence. "Yes dear. He was my husband."

Joanne seemed content with Hermione's answer and she got caught up in preventing her frog from running away.

Her mother noticed Hermione's use of past tense. "Shall we go now dear?" She asked her daughter.

"May I leave Healer Weasley?" Jo asked Hermione.

"Not unless you promise me that if you come here again, it's only to say hello and not with anything broken." Hermione said.

She solemnly nodded.

"Thanks Healer. Good day." Jo's mother said.

"Goodbye!" Jo piped.

"Take care Joanne." Hermione said as she waved back.

"Phew." Hermione said as she washed her hands.

Hearing Ron's name and dealing with it had taken more energy than she had thought it would.

It had been 16 months since he had passed but the void he left was still fresh.

Or maybe she had never given herself the chance to heal properly.

For the longest time she was in denial and when the acceptance finally set in, she was alone and refused to surround herself by anyone that would remind her of her old life.

She had received no conditioning to his death and as a result was still passively grieving his loss.

She dabbed her wet eyes with the same napkin she had used to wipe her hands.

She held the napkin for many minutes on her eyes, trying to ebb the flow of her tears, willing them to stop.

I don't have time to mourn. I still have my rounds left. My night shift has just started. Please stop. Please. She pleaded to herself.

After a few minutes, her eyes dried and she seemed to have exhausted her tear quota of the day. With building melancholy minus the tears, she got up and took hold of her wand and made her way towards the paediatric ward where her duty had been assigned.

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She reached home by noon after her shift was done. She had had a relatively light night. If she wanted, she could have even slept straight for 5 hours without being disturbed. But over the last year she had started suffering from insomnia and if she was in the hospital she never took a sleeping draught.

Though at home if she didn't take the draught, she would barely sleep and be completely tired the next day.

She opened her cupboard to get the potion bottle and her eyes went over to the drawer that was slightly open. Wondering why it was open she went ahead to shut it but after some thought she opened it fully.

Some knick knacks were kept in it and Hermione realised that she had not gone through this drawer in a long time. Shuffling through it, she looked about the drawer wondering if she would find something useful or something that she may have been looking for but had never found.

An old pair of earrings that Luna had gifted her on her 19th birthday which were in the shape of an orange slice, a broken key, some rolled up pieces of parchment, a few quills, her old Gryffindor scarf, a blue ribbon and ... And a silver rattle.

A small little silver rattle.

Hermione picked up the rattle with shaking fingers. Holding it in her palm, she curled her fingers over it, feeling the familiar coolness of the silver under her fingers.

"Are you just going to sit there lazily chomping on the leftovers or are you going to help me sift through this box?" Hermione demanded, hands on hips, hair all messed up and some dirt on her nose.

Ron looked at her for some time and then looked at his plate. Finally giving Hermione preference, he walked over to where she stood and put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer to him.

Her face softened and he came closer to her face, his eyes darting to her lips.

Hermione forgot about the box and leaned in. Just as she was about to kiss him, he spoke "You have dirt on nose, did you know?"

He chuckled and pecked her on the cheek as she stood glaring at him.

"You are going to pay for that Ronald Weasley." She said.

"I'll make it up to you, love." Ron said. "Now what were saying about that box?"

"Your mum sent this box over today. She was cleaning and found this in the attic. All your childhood stuff is in there. So I thought let's go through it. We should know what's in there at least." Hermione said.

"Hmmm." Ron said, wrinkling his nose as dust rose when he opened the box. "I've had hand me downs most of my childhood. I wonder what could be there in this?"

"Only one way to find out." Hermione said as she cast a scourgify so that all dust and grime left the box.

They found a baby fake wand, some woollen booties, a bright yellow sweater that was the first one Mrs. Weasley had knitted for Ron, a goblet, a dragon soft toy that Charlie had gifted Ron, a broken toy broomstick, some coins, a little cage that once belonged to Scabbers and a silver rattle.

"A goblet? Why in the world would you have a goblet specially for you?" Hermione asked.

"Oh. This is a magic goblet Hermione. I had won it in a magical fair when I was 7. Any drink you pour in it, keeps refilling till you put it upside down.I thought i had lost it." Ron said excitedly.

"That's so cool." Hermione marvelled.

"Tell me about it." He said excitedly. "I was addicted to pumpkin juice as a kid. Now I can use it for firewhisky."

"Nuh-uh. Nothing doing. You are not going to use this for anything alcoholic." Hermione glared at her husband. "Last thing I need is to enrol you into AA."

"AA?" Ron asked quizzically.

"Alcoholics Anonymous." She answered automatically.

"Huh. Whatever. But love just once? Or only on special occasions. Imagine how much money we'll save on the firewhiskey." Ron said.

"It's money that shouldn't be spent on it in the first place." Hermione said tersely.

"Fine!" Ron pouted.

"This is such a cute rattle. It's silver." Hermione said holding the rattle in her palm, trying to change the subject.

It was really miniature. Fitting completely in her palm.

"Oh that." Ron said. "Uncle Gideon and Fabian gifted that to mum for me when I was born. I had completely forgotten about it. Mum used to tease me with it. She said I should keep it for my first born."

Hermione was silent for some time. She kept rolling the rattle in her hand.

Ron looked at her beseechingly.

"Ron. We've had this discussion before. I want children. You know I do. Just not now. It's so soon. We are so young. We have our entire life ahead of us." Hermione said.

Ron kissed her forehead and smiled. "We do. I'm ready when you are."

She was never ready in time.

And they never had their entire life ahead of them.

By the time she was ready, it was too late.

She held the rattle tightly as she stood against the door frame of the cupboard for support.

Of the so many things that she was guilty was, not having Ron's child when she could was the first on the list.

Wiping her tears for the second time in 12 hours, she shut the drawer and went over to her chair.

She knew what she had to do with the rattle. It was about time.

Finding a small little cloth purse, she placed the rattle lovingly in it. She also placed an empty piece of parchment in it and tugged the drawstring tightly.

On her way to the hospital tomorrow she decided to stop by the owlery and send the parcel of acknowledgement to Ginny.

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I know it's a sad chapter :(

It's going to be this way for a while.

I inserted a piece of flashback in here.

Letters and flashbacks will be in italics so as to not confuse you'll while reading.

I hope you'll like the little past with Ron.

Thank you for reading!

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