Week Two – Part One

She was in no hurry to wake up or get out of the comfort of her warm bed. Sleep had always been something she never got enough of. Massive chunks in her life had been spent existing on only a few hours of restless sleep each night. There always seemed to be something in her life going on that was more important than being well-rested. OWLs and Voldemort, for example. It had been a difficult habit to break as an adult, especially after she no longer cared much for sharing a bed with her husband.

Perhaps Kingsley had been wise to force her to stay in his cousin's cottage, as much as she hated to admit it. Almost an entire week passed of her suspension and she felt physically better than she had in a very long time. Emotionally was a completely different story. Hiding away in the quaint cottage was only delaying the inevitable. There would be a major backlash once she returned to civilization. The part of her that craved and needed to be in control struggled with not having access to post or newspapers. She wanted to know what happened immediately after her very public breakdown. There was no way Marietta Edgecombe didn't run straight to Rita Skeeter with dangling promises of an exclusive interview. Both of those witches had had it out for her for years. They were probably new best friends by then.

Facing Ron again would not be easy. That was a reunion she was not looking forward to in the slightest. She had been thinking about him a lot during her forced sabbatical. The snowstorm prevented her from doing much of anything else. Once upon a time they had been in love. And happy. Even their recent marital problems could not take that away from her. Maybe their relationship moved too quickly after the war ended, but they had been young and in love. There was such a relief that they'd survived and a mentality that they needed to grab happiness with both hands. Too many of their loved ones sacrificed their lives so they might have a chance to exist in a peaceful world. They felt they owed them that at least.

Hermione did not know what she would say to Ron when the day came when she could no longer remain hidden. Deep down she still loved him, would always love him. But somehow, it was no longer enough. It hadn't been enough. Those foolish people who claimed that love was all one needed were tragically wrong. Love might get you in the door, but it couldn't make you stay. They had been too different in many ways, too similar in others. She would have been content to hide away forever in her office on Level Two of the Ministry of Magic trying to ignore that they weren't working. Ron tried in the beginning. Maybe he hadn't tried enough. Or maybe she didn't try enough. Maybe it was neither of them.

She rolled over onto her back and sighed. There was a time and a place for deep, serious thinking and it was not before breakfast. Not when she was comfortable and content for at least the moment. She couldn't remember the last time she felt that way.

A snuffling sound next to her made her giggle. She'd almost forgotten that she had a stowaway in bed with her. Orville was happily snoring quietly away next to her without a care in his fuzzy, giant head. Hermione resolved that she should try to live her life as much like Orville did as possible. He probably didn't spend hours a day worrying about minutiae that in the grand scheme of things meant absolutely nothing. No, he was happy to roam around the countryside sniffing out flowers and dirt. She wondered if it was even possible for a dog to have a serious thought. Must be so nice and relaxing, she thought. To never have to worry what everyone thought of you. To be happy with the simple aspects of life and not feel the need to seek out more or fight for the injustice of people and creatures that didn't even seem to care if she existed.

She turned on her side to examine the dog more closely. His head was rested on her spare pillow just as if he was a human. Even in sleep he didn't seem like a normal dog. Maybe he was one of those creatures who believed they were a different species than they actually were. Certainly the expressive looks his furry face had when she spoke to him like an equal weren't the ordinary expressions of a dog. He was special. Chuckling at the absurdity of his human characteristics, Hermione snuggled up behind the immense canine. When she spooned up behind him and slung an arm over his torso, the dog stirred slightly. She felt him tense for half a second before settling back into a contented, furry heap.

"You're the best bedmate I think I've ever had," she said in a laugh.

The dog lifted his head to narrow his eyes at her and whine. She did not know how to interpret his reaction to her depressing confession. Maybe she shouldn't have been so honest. Hermione began scratching him furiously behind his ears in an effort to distract both of them from admissions that were better left unuttered. When she dropped a soft kiss to the top of his head, her thoughts strayed to the furry dog's owner. She was concerned that Rod might be worried about his dog being out all night long. After a few more minutes of scratches, she climbed out of the massive bed.

Orville watched her cross the chilly bedroom to tug a heavy dressing gown over her thick pajamas. She sat down in an armchair near the bedroom fireplace to pull on her heavy boots. The sad whines coming from the canine on the bed made Hermione chuckle. Clearly he was not ready to get up either. His whines only got louder when she gently ordered him off of the bed. Reluctantly, he complied with her request.

The dog was in no hurry to return to Rod's cottage to Hermione's intense amusement. His whimpers continued the entire trek over the blanket of snow to his owner's front door. Once they arrived at the front door she quickly knocked loudly to rouse the occupants within. Orville was clearly uncomfortable. No one came to the front door for at least a minute or two. Hermione was afraid that she was going to have to knock louder to wake Rod up. She hated having to wake him up, but he might have been concerned all night that his dog never came home. Orville continued to whine and even tried to run away from the door, but Hermione caught him by his neck. Careful not to injure the creature, she kept a firm hold on his giant neck to keep him from running off.

"Rod probably thinks you've been a naughty boy out all night. He's probably worried."

Orville settled down slightly at her words. When no answer came after another minute or so, the Saint Bernard pushed his nose against the front door. It opened easily. Temporarily startled by the door opening, Hermione loosened her hold on the dog enough that he was able to take off running inside of the cottage. She was at a loss as to how she should proceed. Would it be rude to just enter the cottage? Should she follow the dog? With the door wide open she was able to witness Orville run straight into the bedroom. Excited puppy barks filled the cottage. Clearly Millie was happy to see her fellow dog.

The partially open door to the bedroom opened completely only moments after the older dog entered. Rod came walking out with a happy Millie hot on his heels. He had no shirt on. Hermione felt her cheeks heat up as she tried to avert her eyes from the bare chest she had only been able to see in the small kitchen window from a distance. She tried very hard not to dwell on the fact that he was every bit as attractive as she thought he was.

"Excuse me. I'm so sorry. Orville opened the door. He stayed with me last night. Thought you might be worried."

Embarrassed and uncomfortable, Hermione ran away from Rod's cottage to the safety of hers before the bewildered man even had a chance to speak a single word.

Rodolphus stood in the middle of his living room staring out the open front door for several long moments after the frazzled witch ran off. He did not even get a chance to speak to her before she took off running for the safety of her own cottage. Part of him was a little hurt by her abrupt departure. Cold air struck him directly in the chest causing him to shiver. All at once he understood why Hermione had been in such a hurry to run. Clearly his state of undress unnerved her in a delightfully adorable manner. Thinking about how her cheeks flamed red when she saw his bare chest made the Animagus smirk.

When he ran into the bedroom in his canine form, he transformed as quickly as possible. He wasn't sure if Hermione would rush into the cottage behind him and certainly didn't want to have her witness him become a man again. That would have been too embarrassing. She would have been furious and rightfully so. Once inside the bedroom he didn't even have time to think about pulling on a shirt. He pushed aside the upsetting thoughts about how he violated her trust by coming to her as Orville. Picking up Millie to snuggle the puppy, he couldn't help but find it amusing that he had such an effect on the young witch.

Hermione managed to avoid Rod for several days after her embarrassing moment in his doorway. She had been so mortified that she just ran away. Yes, in hindsight she was aware of how silly she had reacted. It was just a man without a shirt on. She had seen that time and time again without needing to run away like some kind of innocent virgin. Just the thought of facing him again made her feel embarrassed all over again. What was the effect that the wizard had on her? She hadn't been an innocent schoolgirl in several years and even when she was in Hogwarts it wasn't exactly like she was some kind of naïve ingénue.

By Wednesday she could no longer hide in her cottage. She was almost out of food and completely out of wine. Concerned that her only neighbor must have thought she was insane, she even avoided the kitchen window every time she entered the room. All she needed was to look out the window and catch sight of his bare chest again.

"You really need to find yourself a shag," she chastised herself.

Was it really her fault? She hadn't even really been touched in longer than she cared to remember. By the end of her marriage with Ron, it was easier to just avoid her husband than to try to initiate any kind of intimacy. They didn't work. When they were younger and their relationship was still fueled by the passion of a new relationship, they had had amazing chemistry. There were entire days they wouldn't get out of bed because they were so wrapped up in each other. So wrapped up in just feeling. And then they drifted apart. She would never say so out loud, but she really didn't blame him for seeking comfort in the arms of other women. In fact, there was a moment in their marriage when she started to secretly hope that he would. At least then if he was finding what he needed in other women, she wouldn't be expected to provide him the support and affection she really wasn't prepared to give.

Hermione dressed warmly. A long walk to the village was what she needed to clear her head. Too many days wrapped up in her own thoughts had been less than relaxing. She stepped outside of the front door and immediately cut her eyes to the cottage next door. Smoke was coming out of the chimney. Part of her worried that Rod would come bursting out any second. A giggle bubbled up out of her chest. She was being silly.

She was not very far down the path to the village when she spotted a familiar figure walking up ahead. Hermione paused her steps the moment she saw Rod. Before she could even make the decision whether or not she wanted to continue walking towards the village, Rod turned around. How did he know she was there? She was a long distance away and she always made an effort not to make much noise. His hearing must have been better than average. Once a warm smile crossed his lips, she knew she couldn't be rude.

Rod waited for her to catch up to him on the path. After the initial exchange of polite greetings, the pair opted to continue towards the village together. Neither of them spoke for a long time. The walk was pleasant enough that conversation wasn't necessary. Finally, Hermione could stand being silent no longer.

"I'm sorry about the other morning. Just running away. I must have seemed quite rude."

Rod's chuckles made her feel even more awkward than she already did. Hermione hated that she was not behaving like a mature adult. It felt out of character for her. Why did the man continue to have that effect?

"It's all right. I wasn't expecting company so early," he replied with a soft laugh.

"I just came by to return your dog. I thought you might be worried."

"Thank you. He does enjoy a good roam every now and again," Rod answered, coughing slightly to clear his throat. "He always finds his way home."

She wasn't sure what to make of her walking companion seeming to be uncomfortable with the mention of his dog. He was an interesting man, she'd decided early on in their acquaintance.

"I hope you don't mind that he stayed with me that night. I let him sleep in the bed with me."

"Lucky furry bastard."

Hermione giggled at his quiet outburst. Rod seemed almost surprised that he said anything at all, but finally laughed along with her. They continued walking in silence for a while longer simply enjoying the scenery. Her thoughts naturally kept returning to the man strolling only inches away. She had many questions for the man that all seemed inappropriate or impertinent. So few Purebloods would even bother to walk when they could Apparate or floo.

"Why do you walk so much?" she finally asked when her curiosity grew too strong. The wizard turned to give her a bemused expression without answering. "I mean, most Purebloods I've known use magic for everything. They would never dream about just walking when they could get there faster."

Rod shrugged his shoulders.

"I spent most of my life around people who used magic for every little tiny thing. I was guilty too. Magic is supposed to make your life simpler, but it doesn't."

Hermione understood him perfectly. Before she could stop herself, a confession she had never shared with anyone came dripping off of her tongue.

"There have been times in my life when I've wished that magic did not exist. I can't tell you the number of times that I've wished I was born a regular Muggle without all of the complications that came with it. The war certainly didn't help."

He didn't respond. All at once she felt even more self-conscious around the man. In her experience, if she had ever dared to share her true feelings with her magical family and friends, they would've all told her she was being ridiculous. Being magical was infinitely better than Muggle. It wouldn't have mattered if she argued with them. They would have just discounted her opinions as they had been doing since she was eleven years old. Feeling like she had to explain herself further, she kept talking.

"If I was just a simple Muggle I wouldn't have been in as much danger as I was from Voldemort."

Rod hissed slightly when she spoke. Hermione thought it strange. He cleared his throat and tried to pretend that nothing happened. She decided that he was one of those people who couldn't bear to hear his name. It was mildly annoying since she fought him, but knew most people didn't. She remembered Sada mentioning his wife died during the war. Instantly she felt bad for judging him for his reaction to Voldemort's name. Clearly he didn't come out of the war completely unscathed.

"Yes, but without your help, Harry Potter probably would've been unable to defeat the Da… You Know Who."

Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes at Rod's remark. She had spent years trying to deny that his statement was the truth. Mostly for Ron's benefit. He always felt guilty about leaving them alone during the horcrux hunt. No matter how many times she or Harry assured him that he was forgiven, he would still refuse to hear it. She finally got to the point where she was always downplaying her contribution for her husband's sake. For whatever reason, she decided she wasn't going to do the same with Rod.

"Ordinarily I would say that you were mistaken, but now I don't think I will. You're not wrong. I played a very important role. Harry might have been able to defeat him anyway, but it would have taken much longer."

"And your… husband, what about him?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. Talking about Ron with Rod was not high on her list of priorities. It actually made her ill at ease. For whatever reason she did not want to even think about her husband when she was with her neighbor. It felt strange for him to just casually mention the wizard she was trying so hard to not think about.

"Ronald played his own part in helping bring about the end of the war," she stated between clenched teeth. It was technically not a lie. Suddenly wishing to no longer speak about her estranged husband and to make it very clear to her walking companion that there was nothing left in her marriage, she blurted out another confession she'd been remaining silent about. "I've left my husband and I'm not going back."

It was the first time she had uttered the words aloud to another human being that she would not be returning to Ron. She knew that their family would expect her to at least try to reconcile with him when she ended her forced vacation. All of the Weasleys rallied around Audrey three years earlier when Percy was enmeshed in a scandal with his excruciatingly young assistant. Once enough time had passed, however, the overwhelming majority of the family encouraged her sister-in-law to return to her disgraced husband for the sake of their two young girls. Hermione knew it was only a matter of time before the same might of the Weasley clan was used against her in the same fashion. Unlike Audrey, however, Hermione was not still in love with her cheating husband. And their lack of children had been one of the largest issues in their marriage.

"Ending a marriage is always a difficult decision," Rod replied.

She remembered too late that he had had no choice to end his marriage and instantly felt guilty. Was the flippant manner in which she was talking about severing the matrimonial bonds she once promised to honor for the rest of her life a painful subject for him? Hermione felt her stomach twist in knots. The last person she wanted to upset was the quiet man shortening his strides to keep from outdistancing her much shorter legs.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "That was insensitive of me considering your wife…"

Hermione clamped her mouth shut. He was not the one who mentioned his wife. She wasn't sure how upset he would be to know that their landlady was gossiping about her tenants. Rod turned to grant her a small smile to prove he wasn't upset.

"My marriage ended long before my wife passed away, I'm afraid," he admitted.

"Oh… I'm sorry."

He smiled at her again in an attempt to put her mind at ease. A lingering note of awkwardness hung in the air as they continued towards the village. Neither of them quite knew what to say. Hermione was even more curious to know more about the man, but it was not the time to ask.

Their conversation resumed on a much lighter tone the closer they got to the village. Neither of them spoke of anything of any consequence. Very soon it was easy to forget that there had even been any clumsiness between them as they completed their shopping together. Rod was the one who suggested they place a couple of discreet cooling charms on their bags to allow them the opportunity to enjoy lunch at a charming Muggle café in the village without worry that their purchases would spoil.

The afternoon passed with a rapidity that almost made Rodolphus sad. It seemed that time flew by when he was in the company of the much, much younger witch. Their shared meal at the café had been the highlight of his… well, he couldn't exactly remember the last time he had a more enjoyable afternoon. Normally his visits to the village were short and to the point. He saw no need to linger too long. It wasn't safe to spend too much time out in the open near his home. If anyone recognized him he would no longer be safe in the area. The times he felt the need to seek out human companionship he tried to visit larger cities far from home.

Following their meal, the two neighbors walked back to their respective cottages together. They were enjoying their conversation about recent events in the news so much that he was reluctant to allow her back in her front door. Finally realizing that he was lingering too long for no other reason than he was simply enjoying the sound of her voice, he cleared his throat, made his excuses and rushed back to his cottage. Millie welcomed him back enthusiastically. It was only her excited kisses and barks that made him forget for a moment the woman next door.

Later that night after the dishes were all washed up following his solitary dinner, his attention kept drifting over to the lit up kitchen window identical to his own. He wondered what Hermione was up to, but didn't want to be caught watching her. Even after over a week of her living next door, he could not understand why he felt compelled to seek her out. It was madness and very, very dangerous. Not only was he a fugitive, he also violated her trust by going to her bed. If she knew who Orville really was, she wouldn't be pleased. Rod was angry with himself for being so impertinent. He really was a creepy old man.

Just after nine and before he could stop himself, Rod picked up a full bottle of wine and walked outside. His mind told him to stop and turn back around, but his feet kept going straight to the lovely witch's front door. A smiling Hermione opened the door only moments after he knocked. The sight of her dressed in her warm, comfortable clothes with her gloriously wild hair piled up on top of her head in a messy bun made Rodolphus' stomach clench. She probably didn't even know how tempting she looked. Her laughter when she saw him raise the bottle of wine made him clear his throat and try to think on anything less stimulating before he made a fool of himself like an overly hormonal teenage wizard.

"Where are your dogs?" she asked, peeking her head out the door to see if he brought any furry visitors with him.

"Orville is roaming again and Millie's at home."

"All by herself? Poor puppy!"

Rodolphus laughed. He pointed his wand at the front door of his cottage to open it with a nonverbal spell. One whistle from her Alpha was all Millie needed to come running out the door towards the other cottage. They both laughed at her exuberance. Hermione stepped back to allow her two guests inside.