Granger's Café

Pairing: Draco/Harry.

Disclaimer: Hermione decides that the drama in the wizarding world is growing too much. She decides to open up a café in the muggle world, so as to enjoy simplicity during the day. Little does she know that one of the applicants for a job there, will cause a whole new circle of drama for her. And how exactly will her little café benefit Harry and Draco's lives, and how will it banish the drama from both worlds they live in? You know what they say, about Granger's café; her food is like magic, that's what they say, because it keeps all your problems and troubles at bay.

Chapter Forty-Three:

Not Letting Go

Hermione had been rushed off into surgery over half an hour ago and Ron felt as useless as a dish-rag sitting in the waiting room, just waiting, and breathing deeply in a vain attempt to calm his nerves. His palms were clammy as he flexed his fingers in and out. He needed someone to come ad sit with him. He needed a small distraction just so that his minded didn't drift to all the worse out-comes.

"Ron! Are you alright?" Harry's voice broke through his musings.

His head shot up to see Harry and Draco hurrying into the waiting room. He knew he must look a state; gaunt and sweaty and his eyes wide with panic. He stood up and hugged them both tightly, so thankful that someone was with him now. "Did you hear?" he asked, his voice wavering as they all sat back down in the hard-backed chairs. Harry bit on his lower lip and nodded. "She's still in theater. No one's come out to tell me anything even when I ask." He cuffed his eyes with the back of his hand and cleared his throat.

Harry gripped Ron's shoulder, "It's alright. This is Hermione we're talking about. She's a fighter. She's going to want to see those two."

"It's not that simple, Harry," Ron sighed darkly, "When she went into labor I wasn't there with her -"

"I'm sure she'll forgive you for that." Harry assured.

"-And Ginny was there," Ron finished, his lashes growing wet again.

The room went quiet. "Oh," Harry breathed, his stomach churning at the thought of Ginny in the same place as Hermione, when she was in such a vulnerable position. "I -um -what happened?"

Ron drew in a deep breath and went on to tell them what had happened, and how he had found Hermione tethered to their oven, blood all over the kitchen floor and how he needed to take Hermione to the hospital as well as leave the life of his child in the hands of Blaise and Cynthia. Draco nodded in understanding, "I know it must be unbearably difficult for you, but Blaise is a top-notch auror, you've said so yourself. He won't let anything bad happen to your child."

"Of course I trust him!" Ron snapped, "But it's different knowing that one of your children is out there, in the cold and in the hands of a nut-case and Merlin knows where she's taken my baby."

Draco was just about to open his mouth when the doors to the waiting room crashed open and two people in dark work robes hurried over to the receptionist desk. An order was barked to get a doctor and the screaming of an infant hit their ears. Ron was on his feet in an instant, "Blaise?"

Cynthia turned around, her arms still cradling the sniffling child. "Oh Ron thank goodness! How's Hermione?"

Ron shrugged a shoulder, "She's still in surgery and no one is telling me anything, no matter how many times I ask. What happened at the manor?"

Cynthia glanced over at Blaise just as a healer came into the reception area. "Here let me take the child to intensive care and see how everything is going," she opened her arms and Cynthia eased the red-faced child into the open arms. "I'll be back soon, Mr. Weasley with an update on your child and -hopefully -your wife as well. Just sit down and relax. No news is good news."

Ron pursed his lips, clearly not satisfied with the answer. "I want to hear back as soon as you have word, do I make myself clear?" he asked in a cold tone, his colorless cheeks flushing an ugly pink color. The healer swallowed but quickly composed herself with a curt nod, before she turned and hurried off between a couple of doors. Turning his attention to Cynthia and Blaise he raised his eyebrows, "So what happened?"

"Let's go and sit down," Blaise offered, waving towards the hardback seats. Ron huffed through his nose and went to sit back down, along with Cynthia. "So we followed Ginny to Malfoy Manor -"

"What?!" Ron sneered, "What did he do to my child?!"

"Nothing nothing nothing!" Cynthia jumped in trying to calm Ron down, "Honestly Mr. Weasley if anything he saved your child. Ginny went in there and then as soon as we got there, Ginny was strung up in a suspension charm and Lucius wrapped the baby in a blanket and took care of it until we were let inside."

Ron was still tense but a little part of his relaxed, "So he -didn't harm my child?"

Blaise and Cynthia both shook their heads, "No. And he also said that Hermione didn't deserve any of what Ginny did to her. I don't think he knew what she did per say, but if he did he didn't agree with any of it."

Harry frowned at that, "But -Lucius has done nothing but enforce that he DOES agree with everything that has happened to us, especially Hermione."

Blaise hummed, "I know, but he did give us a letter. He told us not to open it until Ginny's trial."

"Well then lets see what he has to say," Ron demanded, holding his hand out for the letter.

Blaise shook his head, "I think we should just wait. At this rate Ginny's trial will be fairly soon. In three weeks in fact."

"You arranged it already?" Draco asked with a frown.

Blaise nodded curtly, "Yeah. That's right. I did that and Cynthia looked after the child in the corridor whilst I demanded the trial be brought up to court as soon as possible."

Draco nodded with a soft hum, "Well at least they agreed. Is Ginny being held in Azkaban until the trial?"

Blaise nodded, "Of course. Her lawyer tried to get her put under house arrest like last time, but I argued that since she was on house arrest and still preached it and tortured not only Hermione, but went into the Floo Network with a new born baby, she is a danger to society and needs to be kept locked up until the trial to stop her from doing anything else that could harm people."

Ron nodded, "Well it's a good thing that they agreed to it. I trust that any of your memories from tonight will be bottled up for the trial within the next week or so?" he asked looking up through red eyes at his two colleagues. They both nodded. "Good. Well that's something we can do Monday morning."

"Ron, are you sure you want to go back into work?" Harry asked, exchanging a glance with Blaise over the red-haired man's head. Ron nodded his head.

"Unfortunately, I sort of took matters into my own hands," Blaise offered, somewhat sheepishly, "I also went to your the Minister and got him to sign you off on two weeks paid compassionate leave."

"What?" Ron snapped, "Why? What gave you the right?"

Blaise fixed Ron with a stern look, "You're wife got tortured and your child kidnapped through floo. Who knows what could happen to any of them at this point? I just thought it would be a good chance for you to help Hermione get better and to look after the twins."

"You were going to take a week or two off anyway, Mr. Weasley," Cynthia offered weakly, "This time it was just done without your consent."

"I need to be there to make sure that everything leading up to the trial is air-tight! I can't have my sister walk free again!"

Blaise rested a hand on Ron's shoulder, "Look, I'm not saying that you will be out of the loop. You'll be updated by either me or Cynthia and you'll know everything there is to know about the case. It just means that you can also be at home and taking care of your wife and children, which is where you need to be. They need you a lot more than a stack of papers, Weasley. Your wife needs you there for her. She's pretty vulnerable right now."

Ron nodded his head, "I know, I know." He collapsed back in the chair and watched through heavy eyelids as healers went by.

None were forthcoming with information and none were even glancing his way.

He could feel his eyes starting to tear up again. He sniffed loudly and cuffed his nose on his sleeve. He looked up at Harry, "What am I going to do, Harry?" he asked with a shaky voice as he looked over at his best friend, "What am I going to do?"

"Hey it's okay," Harry breathed hugging his friend with one arm.

Ron shook his head, a single tear dripping through his lashes, "I can't lose her, Harry. It's Hermione. It's always been Hermione. From the first day on the train I never realised how adorable I found her over-correction for my pronunciation on spells." He sobbed and sniffed, "I need her, Harry. She's my everything. How can I let her go? I know I'm selfish but -I can't live without that woman. She drives me crazy, but I'd rather be crazy about her than going crazy without her."

Harry hugged him even tighter, "I know you love her, Ron, I know you do. You're the couple everyone wants to be. The way you feel about Hermione -that's the thing that everyone strives to find in their lives. And you managed to find it when you were just seventeen." Ron sniffed and wiped at his eyes. "You are so lucky to have her, Ron. And she is more than lucky to have someone as amazing as you. She's a strong girl you know she is. She won't give up without one hell of a fight."

Ron sniffed and nodded, "I know you're right. She wouldn't give up unless she really needed to."

"That's what you need to focus on," Draco chimed in a soft voice, "Hermione has been an inspiration to me especially in the last year and I honestly wouldn't be where I am without her. She is persistent and almost as stubborn as scarhead here. She's going to be okay, Ron."

Ron smiled weakly for a second at the old nickname.

He let out a deep sigh, "I just don't think I can handle everything on my own, you know?"

"I know," Harry nodded slowly, watching as Ron's wide blue eyes gleamed in the bright lights, "But you just need to try and think positively right now."

Ron nodded, "It's hard to know how to feel when I don't know what's going on."

A healer cleared her throat. All heads turned to look at the healer who had taken Ron's child away to intensive care. Her expression was almost unreadable apart from her eyes. "Mr. Weasley?"

Ron nodded his head, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline.

"Your wife is out of surgery now."

~0~

The room was dimly lit by a single light hanging over the door. Hermione looked pale and gaunt with her wet curled hair fanned out over the starched pillows. The bags under her eyes were heavy and purple and looked more like she's been given two black eyes. Ron knew that if that was the case in regards to his sister, a simple salve would have gotten rid of them. He felt his stomach churn at the thought of his sister being responsible for this.

Everyone else was still in the waiting room. He had insisted on having some time alone with his wife. His wife. His beautiful, passionate, strong wife who made it through a horrible surgery and a good two hours or so of torture from his demented sister, just to ensure that their children came into the world as painlessly as possible.

He loved her so much more just for that.

He leaned over in the chair and brushed her damp fringe away from her eyes, "Hey there sweetheart," he breathed, his voice catching in his throat. "I've missed you so much. I wish I could have been there sooner and helped you, but it looks likes you held up well enough on your own." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her clammy forehead, "I am so thankful that both of the children are alright, more or less. You did a wonderful job. I have never been more proud of you."

He sat back and wiped furiously at his eyes. He couldn't keep crying and sniveling like a little child. He needed to be positive and strong. She needed him to be strong.

He clasped her hand in between his own and kissed her clammy, limp fingers one by one. "Remember that time when we were younger? Hunting for those bloody horcruxes? The night I came back and I told you about how that little ball of light, whispering my name in your voice ... Well you'd already touched my heart long before that, Hermione," he glanced up at her sleeping features and sniffed, praying that she could hear him. He squeezed her hands, "You have made every day I've lived an adventure. You're the only reason I managed to make it through that bloody war, my darling. If I didn't have you to fight for, I think I would have given up a lot sooner."

He gasped and breathed out through his mouth.

"That's not to say I'm giving up now," he continued, taking long wet breaths to calm himself to no avail, "I could never give up on you. You are my life, Hermione. Every second without you is like a knife in my heart. Every moment without you makes the day seem blacker and colder than a dementor's kiss. If I could give you some more help, my darling, I would." He leaned up and pressed a lingering, warm kiss on her forehead. She stirred ever so weakly in her sleep. "If I could go back and go through that battle all over again, it would still be less painful than almost losing you like I did tonight."

A soft knock on the door drew his attention away from his wife's face. The healer who had taken his child away was standing in the doorway, illuminated by the lights from the hallway. "Mr. Weasley?" she asked softly.

"Ye-" he cleared his throat, "Yes?" he croaked, wincing at how sore his throat had gotten from suppressing his tears.

"I was just coming along to see if you wanted to go on home? It's 2am and I think you could do with a decent nights sleep."

Ron shook his head, "No, I can't leave her like this."

The healer smiled, "Mr. Weasley with all due respect you've been up for over twenty-four hours. You need to go and get some rest. You can come back as soon as you've slept some more."

Ron looked back over at his sleeping wife and bit down on his lip, "If you don't mind, miss, I'd like to stay a little while longer."

The healer bowed her head, "You can stay as long as you like. I just think you need to sleep a little more."

Ron nodded, "Thanks -for checking in on us."

"Any time Mr. Weasley. Goodnight." Without another word, she turned on her heel and slipped out of the door, easing it shut behind her.

Ron mumbled a soft 'nox' to the lights and the room dimmed down into darkness. He leaned over completely in his chair, folded his arms under his head and rested his forehead against Hermione's arm. The feeling of her skin against his own, though she was clammy from surgery as not as warm as she usually was, it still reassured him. She was there, and he was there with her. He would always be with her, and he loved her no matter what. Sure they had some rough patches, but who didn't? They were human.

"I love you, Hermione. I won't rush you out of this. You need to rest and heal yourself," he breathed against her arm, nuzzling her skin and feeling his eyes drifting shut a little, the darkness coaxing him into sleep. "I'll wait for you, don't you worry. I'll always wait for you." He yawned and closed his eyes and buried his face deeper into the soft knitted blankets laid out over his wife's body.

He couldn't remember the following morning if it was simply wishful thinking, but he was almost certain -as he drifted off into a sleep jumbled with all the memories he had of his beautiful wife smiling and how she had aged rather gracefully compared to himself -that he felt the soft flicker of fingertips brushing against his forehead and tickling at the red fringe that drooped over his forehead.

He yawned again as the blackness swelled behind his eyelids.

She would get better. He believed in her more than he believed in anything else in the world. Dream or not, he wasn't letting his wife go.

A/N: Well here is another update for our much loved Weasley's. Don't worry sweeties the children will get some focus time but I wanted to high light just how much Hermione means to everyone especially Ron. Even though we assumed married people love one another, I wanted to touch upon just how they still love one another ever since they were teenagers. Hope you enjoyed it.