Hermione felt as though she'd woken up in some sort of bizarre nightmare as Ron dragged her back into the front room. For all of Ron's failings, she'd never been scared of him, and she'd never once thought he would hurt her. However, he seemed to have snapped as he just couldn't seem to accept that she'd moved on and there was no room for him in her life in the way he wanted.
"Was it all an act?" she asked, wondering if she'd ever truly known Ron. "When you apologised and seemed to accept everything, was it just an act?"
"It was what I needed to do to get you to trust me and let me back in," Ron answered as he pushed Hermione down onto the sofa and closed the living room door behind him, shooting a locking spell at it as he did so. "After I'd first been rejected, I was going to leave again. But then I realised that you only said no to marrying me because you were already married."
"But I've told you, Ron, that was only part of the reason I said no," Hermione argued, determined to try and get through to her ex before he did something he could never take back.
"So you say now, but you didn't say that at the time," Ron pointed out. "You claim to love Malfoy, but you never said so before. I noticed that and I realised you're stuck in a marriage you can't get out of. What happened Hermione, how did he trap you like this?"
"I am not trapped," Hermione snorted. "I married Draco of my own free will. I married him because I love him and want to spend the rest of my life with him."
"I don't believe that," Ron bellowed, his eyes flashing dangerously as he glared at Hermione. "I don't believe you can love him. He's tricked you in some way. What's he done, slipped you a love potion? Or has he simply bought your love? Has he made you love him by buying you things I could never afford?"
"How dare you," Hermione hissed angrily. "How dare you imply I am so shallow to be swayed by Draco's bank account. Yes, Draco is rich, and yes he buys me things, but that is not why I love him. He could have nothing, and I would still love him. I love him because he would never leave me."
"So where is he now, then?" Ron scoffed. "Where's your knight in shining armour when you need him?"
"I don't need to be rescued," Hermione snorted. "I'm not some hopeless little girl who relies on big strong men to save the day. Or have you truly forgotten what I am capable of, Ron?" she demanded as she rose to her feet. "Are you forgetting everything I did in the war? Are you forgetting that I was right by Harry's side the entire time?"
"So was I," Ron snapped.
"Oh, you don't want to go down that road, Ronald," Hermione taunted with a low chuckle. "Harry and I forgave you for abandoning us, because we loved you. We knew how scared you were for your family. But that was then, and this is now. Now you've abandoned us twice, and this time there will be no forgiveness. You're a coward, Ron. When the going gets tough, you run."
"Take that back, I am not a coward," Ron yelled, lunging at Hermione and grabbing her, causing them both to fall back onto the sofa. "I'm saving you, Hermione. A coward wouldn't do that."
"A coward refuses to accept the truth," Hermione shouted as she and Ron wrestled for control. Currently Ron was on top of her, pinning her to the sofa, but he didn't have a strong grip on her and she was confident she could wriggle out from underneath him. "And the truth is, I don't love you. I will never love you again."
Like they did before, her words seemed to affect Ron and she used the chance to push him off her and jump up from the sofa. Knowing the door to the room was locked, Hermione ran for the fireplace and the tub of floo powder she kept on top of the mantlepiece. The main floo they used was located in a special floor room, but every fire in the house was connected to the system, even though they were only connected to one place - Malfoy Manor.
"Oh no you don't," Ron cried, pulling Hermione back from the fire. However, while he'd stopped Hermione from travelling through the flames, he couldn't stop her throwing some floo powder into the fire and lighting up the connection. "That won't get you anywhere," he hissed, pulling Hermione away from the fire and spinning them around so he was between her and her only means of escape. "I will not let you run from me, Hermione."
"Who's running?" Hermione asked with a smirk. "I'm right here, Ron. You're the one whose running. Running from the truth. Why is it so hard to believe that things have changed in five years? Why can't you just accept that I've moved on? We had our chance, and you threw it away. You didn't want me."
"I did want you. I do want you," Ron cried. "That is all I want. Why won't you listen to me, Hermione. I want you. I love you."
Hermione didn't get a chance to yet again remind Ron that she didn't love him as a voice calling her name interrupted them. A look of sheer bewilderment crossed Ron's face as her name was called, but Hermione knew exactly where it was coming from and who it was. However, she said nothing to Ron as he whirled around just in time to see Lucius step from the flames of the open floo connection.
Before Lucius could say a word, Hermione raised her hand towards Ron and sent a wandless stunning spell in his direction. If things hadn't been so crazy she would have attempted wandless magic earlier, but it needed a lot more focus than magic with a wand, and only now did she feel focused enough to use it. When the stunning spell hit Ron, he stumbled forward and collapsed virtually at Lucius's feet.
"What is going on here?" Lucius asked, looking down at the prone body at his feet, then up at his shaking daughter-in-law. "Are you okay, Hermione?"
"Just shocked," Hermione replied. "One minute we were talking, and the next he just went mad and wouldn't let me leave. He's got my wand in his jacket, and he's charmed the front door so it won't open. I also think he's done the same to the door in this room."
"We'll soon fix that," Lucius muttered, rolling Ron over with his feet before bending down and retrieving Hermione's wand from his jacket. He also grabbed Ron's wand from his hand and ended the spells he'd placed on the two doors in Hermione's home. "What do you want to do now? We should call the Ministry and report this."
Hermione gazed down at Ron's unconscious form, trying to decide what to do for the best. She knew Lucius was right and calling the Ministry should be what she did. However, that would lead to big trouble for Ron, and she certainly didn't want to hurt his family. On the other hand, he couldn't just get away with what had happened. Hermione doubted letting him go with a warning would work as she really wasn't sure he was ready to accept that he wouldn't be getting her back. Maybe the only way to make him see sense was to get him punished for his actions.
"Call the Ministry," Hermione informed her father-in-law. "But I'm going to call Ginny and let her know what's happened. I think the family need to hear this from me."
Not willing to leave Hermione alone with Ron, even if he still hadn't come around from the stunning spell, Lucius levitated the redhead and took him to the floo room with him while he contacted the Ministry and alerted him of the situation. When he was finished, he restrained Ron in a chair and stood guard while Hermione made a brief call to Ginny, to let her know what had happened.
"We should also contact Draco," Lucius said. "I know he's away on business, but this is more important."
"Let's wait until the Ministry have arrived and Ron's been taken into custody," Hermione suggested, knowing that statements would need to be given and she would rather do that with a clear head before she sought much needed comfort in the arms of her husband.
As it turned out they wouldn't have had time to call Draco before the two M.L.E officers arrived to find out what was going on. Once Hermione had explained the situation, they used magic to rouse Ron from the stunning spell. Once he was awake and realised what was going on, Ron seemed to be genuinely sorry that he'd taken things so far and as the M.L.E officers escorted him out of the house and to the Ministry, Hermione was sure the tears he was shedding were genuine.
"Come on," Lucius said gently, putting his arm around Hermione. "I'll take you to the Ministry, and while you're giving your statement, I'll arrange for Draco to be contacted."
Grateful for Lucius's support, Hermione allowed her father-in-law to apparate them to the Ministry. When they arrived in the atrium they found Molly, Arthur and Ginny were all there, and Hermione immediately wondered if they were there to accuse her of getting Ron into trouble. But she needn't have worried as all three seemed more concerned about her welfare, and apologising for Ron's behaviour.
"I'm so sorry," Hermione said. "I never wanted Ron to get into trouble."
"You had no choice, Hermione," Arthur assured the young witch. "What Ron did was wrong, and he needs to face the consequences."
"None of this is your fault, Hermione," Molly added, giving Hermione a warm hug. "I'm just sorry that our son did this to you."
"He didn't hurt me, I was more shocked than anything else," Hermione admitted. "And to be fair, I don't think he ever intended to go that far. He just got carried away."
"That is not an excuse," Lucius snorted. "He took your wand and locked you in your home against your will. That is not just getting carried away."
Rather than arguing with Lucius, Hermione promised the Weasleys she would make sure someone kept them informed of what was happening. She then headed up to the third floor to give her statement to the M.L.E officers, while Lucius saw about contacting Draco and arranging for him to come home.
It took longer than Hermione thought it would to give her statement as the officers dealing with the case were very thorough. When she was finally finished, she asked about what Ron's possibly punishment would be.
"That will depend on how far you want to take this," the officer she'd asked replied. "If you want to push for full prosecution, or if the Ministry decide it's in the best interests of the public, we could be talking about a short prison sentence."
"And if I, or the Ministry, want to be more lenient?" Hermione asked.
"That will depend on how co-operative Mr Weasley is. If this is treated with leniency, and he is willing to admit what he did and take responsibility for it, the punishment will likely be some sort of community service and a restraining order preventing him from contacting you."
Hermione much preferred the idea of Ron escaping jail, and she also liked the idea of a restraining order as she knew it would take some time before she felt truly safe again. However, now was not the time to be making major decisions on how far she wanted to take the case against Ron.
"He's just applied for Auror training, will this affect it?"
"He's certainly blown that one," the officer snorted. "Certain things can be overlooked, as I'm sure your husband is aware, but not this. Unless it turns out Mr Weasley has a serious psychological disorder that impaired his judgement."
Hermione doubted Ron would have any form of mental illness to fall back on and save his chances of being an Auror. There was no doubt he'd acted out of character and had done things she didn't think he would ever do if he'd been thinking straight. But being too stubborn and deluded to admit the truth was not mitigating circumstances. Like it or not, it looked as though Ron's dreams of being an Auror were over.
After checking she wasn't needed anymore, Hermione returned to the open plan offices, where she had left Lucius trying to track down his son. Clearly he'd managed it, as not only was Lucius waiting for her, but Draco and Harry were as well. The second she saw Draco, she ran to her husband, and it was only when his strong arms engulfed her and she began to cry that she realised how shaken she'd been by what had just happened.
"I am so sorry I wasn't there," Draco muttered as he soothed Hermione and stroked her silky hair.
"It wasn't your fault," Hermione sniffed as she lifted her head from Draco's chest. "I should have been perfectly safe in my own home."
"I just can't believe he did that," Harry stormed from beside Lucius. "How dare he do that to you. I hope he's getting a right grilling."
"I'm sure everything will work out as it's meant to," Hermione said. "But I don't want to talk about it anymore tonight, I just want to go home. Will you be coming with me?" she asked her husband.
"Just you try and stop me," Draco replied. "Another set of Aurors relieved us for the weekend, so Harry and I are both here to stay and support you."
Hermione smiled in relief, pleased that her time with her husband wasn't going to be a brief affair. "Ginny's downstairs with her parents. I told her what was happening with Ron as I didn't want the family to hear about it second hand."
"I'll go and join them," Harry said, giving Hermione a quick hug. "I'll come and see you tomorrow. You take care of yourself."
As Harry headed down the atrium, Lucius explained he'd arranged for a private floo connection to be set up in the law department, so that Hermione wouldn't have to face anyone that evening. No doubt word had already started to spread, and Hermione knew it would be big news when it came out that she'd been held hostage, no matter how briefly, by her former boyfriend and fellow war hero.
Travelling home with her husband and father-in-law, Hermione said goodnight to Lucius almost as soon as they landed and headed off to bed. Not that she got very far as she was still just sitting on the edge of the bed when Draco followed her upstairs half an hour later. The only reason he'd been so long was that he and his father had been adding extra wards around the house, ensuring that Ron would never get near Hermione again.
"How are you doing?" Draco asked as he sat down next to his wife.
"I'm still in shock, I think," Hermione replied. "I just can't believe it happened. It was all so sudden. One minute we were talking, even though he was once again refusing to actually hear what I was saying, and then he had hold of me and for the first time since I've met him, I didn't know what he was going to do. Ron's always has a temper, but it usually manifests itself in insults and sulking. He's never been violent before."
"Did you think he was going to hit you?" Draco asked, his voice strained from the mere thought of someone raising a hand against his wife.
"No, even when he had hold of me and was hurting me, I never thought he was going to hit me. To be honest, I think his plan was just to keep me where I was until I agreed with what he was saying. He genuinely seemed to think he was saving me from you."
"I might have known his hatred from me would be at the bottom of this," Draco snorted. "I just can't believe he hates me so much that he was willing to hurt you, someone he claims to love."
"It's over now, and I just want to forget about it," Hermione said firmly. "Ron will be punished in some way, so we just have to wait and see how it all turns out."
"And in the meantime I am not letting you out of my sight," Draco vowed, wrapping Hermione in his arms, assuring her that she was safe now and nothing and no-one was going to hurt her as long as he drew breath.