Note: I know some of you are going to think Ron is OOC in this chapter, but I wanted the theme of this story to be one of healing from a great trauma, and it seemed counter productive to portray Ron in a way other than I did here. With Harry out of the picture, Ron has to step up a notch. That said, please read and enjoy!

She had no idea what had come over her. Not a bloody clue. Molly Weasley wandered Diagon Alley aimlessly in search of an answer into why she had come two articles of clothing short of having sex with her son's girlfriend. What had happened after Hermione had stopped things almost seemed worse. She'd told the younger woman what she had not been about to tell Arthur, or anyone else. Further than that, she had indicated to Hermione that she would consider ending her marriage, insinuating that it would be for the purpose of them being able to be together. In the aftermath of that conversation, Molly had left without another word – effectively cancelling their lunch date.

Date…had she been dating Hermione all this time, unknowing? Was she leading Hermione on, or was that what she had somehow come to want? Did she actually desire to be with a woman decades her junior? Hermione was right; their being together would tear apart her family. Ron would never forgive her for effectively stealing Hermione, though from the sounds of what the beautiful young witch had said a few hours ago, that part of things was already a done deal. Hermione's heart belonged to her, whether she wanted it or not. The next question was if Hermione had her heart as well, or if that still belonged to Arthur. For the first time in the entirety of her marriage, Molly couldn't say for sure.

The last few months had been life altering, she knew that much. When she'd woken from the coma, Hermione was the first thing she'd seen. From what the medinurse had told her, Hermione had been in to see her every single day, sometimes only for an hour, but most days she stayed from the time she got off work to the time the St. Mungo's staff kicked her out. Hermione had continued to remain at her side the following three months during each physical therapy session, and then she had spent the following six weeks living at the Burrow, helping her to re-acclimate to life outside of the hospital.

Molly wondered when it had begun for Hermione. Had the younger witch loved her before the battle at Hogwarts, or had it developed while she was in a coma, or perhaps since she'd woken up. It was love, Molly could say for certain; that much had been obvious in the way Hermione had looked at her, and then concreted when the brunette had stopped her from making a terrible mistake.

But would it have been a mistake? Molly found herself pondering the difference in her mental state at the moment if she had gone all the way with Hermione, versus stopping. Would she still be there now, three hours later? Would she ever have left at all? What having sex with Hermione have been the straw to break the camel's back, as it were, to get her to leave Arthur and the life that she could no longer handle being a part of? Her family was broken already – Fred dead, George and Bill mauled, Ginny run off to America, Percy awkwardly trying to make things right, and Ron and Charlie just kept plugging along; the types to drown in work before facing emotion. And Arthur, well, he was as he'd always been; a solid and unshakable rock that had been the foundation of their family all these years. The foundation may still be there, but the bricks that made that foundation a home were all dispersed. Perhaps the reason she'd even come to this point with Hermione was because the family that she ought to be true to was nothing more than an allusion at this point.

...

Hermione threw herself into unpacking her flat after Molly left. The picnic had been canceled, for obvious reasons, though Molly had left the basket of food in her haste to depart. After a couple of hours, Hermione had gotten hungry and decided to take advantage of said food, and had smiled gently upon finding the Snickers. Molly was one of the few who knew she liked that candy. It was so like her to go out of her way to get her the special treat. Ron never did things like that.

Ron.

Hermione cringed as she thought of her boyfriend; the young man whose mum she had nearly shagged that morning. Yes, Molly had initiated that first kiss – Merlin knew why – but Hermione should have stopped it then and there, not let it progress as far as it had. She supposed that in the shock of Molly's indication of reciprocated feelings, Hermione's legendary brain had taken a proverbial hike.

Back to Ron. She knew what she had to do. Regardless of if anything more happened between she and Molly, she could not continue to lead him on to think that he was the Weasley who had her heart. Resetting the wards on her apartment, Hermione took a deep breath and apparated to the Ministry, where Ron was working. It only took her a few minutes to get from the main entrance to Ron's office on the third floor, but the last few steps seemed to last a lifetime. Once upon a time she would have had Harry here, by her side, to help keep Ron from totally blowing his top, but with he and Ginny in America, that buffer was gone, and it was sorely missed at the moment.

"Ron?" she said quietly, knocking on his office door.

"Mione? Is everything alright?" the red-haired man asked, looking up from his massive pile of paperwork.

"No," she whispered, looking at the floor. "This is really hard to say, and I know it would have been better if I'd done this after you got off work, but…"

"You want to break up," Ron finished for her, sighing. "I'd hoped…no, I always knew it wouldn't last. Something changed in you, in the last few months."

"Yes, something did," she replied sadly. "I'm sorry."

"So…" Ron said. "Do I want to know who it is? Who you've fallen for?"

Hermione let out a bitter laugh. "I very much doubt it."

"Bugger," Ron said. "Mum, then?"

Hermione stared, wide eyed and in complete shock. "What…how…?"

"I swear, I did not just magically become super observant or anything," Ron said, blushing. "I was working on a training thing about noticing the little details. You know, body language and stuff. I was all really fresh in my head and I saw you and mum out for lunch one day, and all the signs were there that you loved her, and she loved you, and not in a family kind of way."

"You didn't say anything, to either of us," Hermione observed.

"Nah," Ron shrugged. "As far as I could tell, nothing had actually happened between you, and I figured if I just kept my mouth shut, that maybe it would all turn out to be nothing and I'd still get to keep you. It was a gamble, but it was worth having you be my girl for another couple months."

"We're not sleeping together," Hermione clarified, not wanting Ron to perceive her as some horrid cheating whore.

"But something's changed, hasn't it?"

"This morning," Hermione acknowledged. "She left, and I haven't heard from her since. But I knew that…what happened…meant that I could no longer lie to myself, or to you, about who my heart belongs to."

"Yea, I appreciate that," he nodded. "I hope…that things get sorted with you two. Honestly."

Hermione looked skeptical. "You're alright with your girlfriend of the last year and a half wanting to shag your mum?"

Ron's face paled. "Well, er…I'm not thrilled, per say, but she's my mum, and I love her, and you're my best friend, and I want to keep that, so my options are to either be a man about it, or lose you both. I've already lost Fred, and we've both basically lost Ginny and Harry…I don't think I could handle loosing you and mum if I can prevent it."

"I'm proud of you, Ron," Hermione said, placing her hand gently on her now ex-boyfriend's shoulder. "You've become the man I'd always believed you could be, and some young woman is going to be very lucky to have you."

"Thanks, Hermione," Ron said, turning red. "Means a lot.

"It's the truth."

Ron cleared his throat and shook his head. "Now beat it, Mione. I have work to do," he said with a wry grin. "Go…woo my mum or whatever."

"Thank you Ron," Hermione whispered, making a hasty exit.

...

Molly was getting ready to set the table for dinner when the front door opened and Ron walked in. "I thought you had to work a double today," she said, barely looking up. She didn't think she could look her youngest son in the eye right now.

"Asked to go home early," Ron said. "I thought perhaps we could talk."

"About what, dear?" Molly inquired.

"Well, Hermione of course," he replied, as if it was obvious.

Molly froze. "What about her?" she said after a moment. Was Ron thinking of asking Hermione to marry him? Had he somehow found out what had happened this morning? No, there's no way he could know about that…

"Mum…" Ron said slowly. "It's okay. I'm not upset. Just…talk to me. Tell me what happened with you guys this morning. If anyone will understand, it's me."

The red haired witch broke down in tears all of three seconds later, and fell into Ron's open arms. She wasn't sure if the tears were an expression of the agony she was going through regarding what had happened with Hermione, or his surprising acceptance of the fact, or that she knew it was a matter of minutes before she would be telling her youngest son her deepest secret, and it was such a relief to know he would stand by her side. It was probably all of the above.

"Let's start with what's gone wrong with you and dad," Ron suggested as he guided her to the living room and sat her down on the couch.

She waited for him to sit beside her, then took a deep breath and just said it. "I was raped," she whispered. "During the battle. I was brutally assaulted and left to die."

Ron gasped. "Oh, mum…"

"Your father doesn't know," Molly sniffed. "I just…couldn't tell him that, but I can't…Ron, I can't stand the thought of him touching me anymore. He's done nothing to deserve it, but…"

"I get it," Ron said understandingly. "Mum, I am so, so sorry that happened to you. Who…"

"There were five or six of them," Molly shuddered. "I only have a guess of who one of them might have been, and he's already in Azkaban."

"Who?" her son dared to ask.

"Lucius Malfoy," came the answer. The serpent headed walking stick was one of the few things she remembered from that night, and it was an item that she has seen on Lucius' person many times.

"Bloody fucking…" Ron cursed, red faced and angry.

"Ron…"

The youngest Weasley male took a deep breath and forced his anger away. "So you and dad haven't…er…been together since…"

"No," Molly replied. "I thought I just wasn't ready to be intimate with a man, but then…"

"Hermione."

"She helped me through my recovery," Molly tried to explain. "And not just physically. I started thinking her as a friend, a close friend, and then this morning I had a bit of a row with your father and I went over to her flat, still upset…"

"Go on," Ron encouraged after a lengthy pause.

"I had a bit of a breakdown, and I told her that I wanted to die…"

"Bloody hell mum, you better not off yourself!" Ron exclaimed. "Our family has already lost…too many people…"

"I know that, and I'm sorry but that's how I felt at that moment," Molly muttered. "She basically said the same thing you just did, and she put her hands on my face and forced me to look at her…and then I saw it in her eyes."

"That she loved you."

"Yes. And then I kissed her," Molly concluded awkwardly. "I have no idea what came over me."

"Has it crossed your mind yet that you might love her too?" Ron asked softly.

"I already knew I loved her, Ron," she huffed. "I just had never considered loving her that way."

"Well, I couldn't blame you if you did," Ron chuckled. "She's a very attractive witch."

"You act like you're okay with the idea of me being…involved with Hermione," Molly said curiously. Of all her family, Ron's was the reaction she'd feared the most, in regard to what had happened this morning. Perhaps, if he was taking it so well, the others might as well. Fear starting to ebb away, the idea of loving Hermione was becoming easier to accept.

"I don't want you guys to have an affair," Ron said slowly. "She deserves better than to be the other woman, and dad doesn't deserve to be cheated on. He did nothing wrong, but that doesn't mean that staying with him is right for you…not after what happened…and I reckon he'd understand that."

"You really think so?" Molly asked, desperate for assurance.

"Sure. He loves you. He'll want you to be happy, and to feel safe…even if it's not with him," Ron replied. "That's how I feel about Hermione."

I admit it, I am making a real effort into turning a bunch of people into HG/MW shippers. How am I doing so far? Please review!