Chapter Nineteen.
Hermione nervously fiddled with her small silver hoop earrings as she waited for Draco to emerge from the bedroom. The couple were getting ready to visit the Burrow, and see the Weasley's for the first time since everything had happened and Hermione was a bag of nerves.
It had been four weeks since Ron had been arrested and Hermione and Draco returned home. In those four weeks Hermione had officially moved in with Draco and met his mother. Like Draco had said Narcissa was pretty frosty to begin with but with each passing visit she was becoming friendlier and Hermione had high hopes that one day they would get along just fine.
In the weeks since Ron's arrest Hermione had seen Harry almost every day, and both her and Draco were extremely relieved when he informed them that Ron hadn't done anything untoward with Hermione when she was unconscious. Hermione had also spent a lot of time with Ginny and the two witches were now closer than ever. Ginny had been distraught to discover the truth and she'd apologised to Hermione several times, until Hermione firmly told her she had nothing to be sorry about. Hermione had also seen George a couple of times, but until now she hadn't seen the rest of the family.
Through Ginny, Hermione found out just how hard Molly was taking everything. Harry had arranged for Molly to visit Ron shortly after his arrest, but according to Ginny it hadn't gone well. Molly had been devastated to discover that while Ron was sorry for hurting his family he didn't regret what he had done to Hermione and Draco. After that initial visit Molly refused to go back and see Ron and according to Ginny she was slowly starting to get back to some semblance of normality. Both Ginny and Harry agreed that Molly was coping by concentrating her love and attention on the rest of the family. And since that family included Hermione, Molly had asked if she would visit them.
Hermione had instantly accepted the invitation, but had been surprised when Ginny then made it clear they expected Draco to be with her. Draco had been less than keen on visiting the family of redheads, but in the end he agreed to go to support Hermione. Hermione knew her boyfriend was worried that Ron's family would blame him for what had happened but she knew if that was the case then the invite would never have been issued. If the Weasley's wanted to meet Draco it was because they recognised he was an important part of Hermione's life and therefore he was part of their large extended family.
"Are you ready?" Draco's voice jolted Hermione out of her thoughts.
As Draco strolled into the front room, Hermione nodded and picked up her bag. Standing up she gave Draco a shaky smile before taking hold of his hand to apparate them to the Weasley's home.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked, stopping Hermione before she whisked them away.
"Just nervous." Hermione replied.
"It'll be fine." He reassured his girlfriend. "I'll be there the entire time, and Potter and Red will be there as well."
"I wish you'd learn to call them Harry and Ginny." Hermione tutted at her boyfriend's names for her best friends.
"Maybe one day." Draco shrugged. It had only been four weeks since the couple had become a regular part of his life and calling them by their first names was a bit friendlier than what Draco was ready for.
Hermione rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, knowing that was the best she was going to get out of him for now. In the future hopefully he would get on first name basis with her friend's, but for now she would take what she could get and just be grateful everyone was making an effort and trying to get along.
"Right, let's go." Hermione shook herself out of her wishful thinking and once again prepare to apparate them to the Burrow.
This time Draco didn't interrupt her and the pair vanished from the penthouse with a pop. When they reappeared they were by the side of a winding county lane and Hermione pointed the Burrow out to Draco. The house was a short distance from where they had arrived and as they got closer Draco could see figures flying in the air. By the time Hermione and Draco reached the front gate, Ginny was waiting for them in the yard.
"Hi, I'm so pleased you guys came." Ginny gushed at the couple. "Hermione, why don't you go inside and see mum, she's in the kitchen. Malfoy, you can come with me and I'll introduce you to the rest of the family."
Both Hermione and Draco knew Ginny's plan was her way of giving her time alone with Molly, so they both went along with it. Draco gave Hermione a quick kiss and a reassuring smile, before letting Ginny drag him off to the back garden. Hermione watched them go before opening the front door and stepping into the familiar house. As she made her way through to the kitchen, Hermione felt her nerves building up again at the prospect of facing Molly.
When she reached the kitchen, Hermione hovered in the doorway. Molly was standing at one of the kitchen counters icing a cake and Hermione was struck by how normal everything seemed. If she hadn't known about recent events, she would have sworn it was a regular Sunday at the Weasley's, with Molly bustling about in the kitchen, all the time keeping an eye on her family through the kitchen window. When Molly turned round however, Hermione could see the difference in the older witch. Molly's normally cheerful and friendly demeanour was replaced by sadness and exhaustion. Just looking at her, Hermione could instantly tell how much she had been suffering.
"Oh, Molly!" Hermione cried, rushing over to the older witch.
Molly instantly wrapped Hermione in a motherly hug, before she broke down and started to sob heavily. Hermione held onto Molly as she felt her own tears begin to fall. For a few minutes the two witches stood comforting each other, until they slowly calmed down.
"I'm so sorry Molly." Hermione whispered, wiping at her face to destroy the evidence of her tears.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart." Molly said soothingly, whipping out her wand and using magic to make them both presentable. "If anyone should be sorry, it should be me."
"You don't need to be sorry, you haven't done anything." Hermione protested.
"Clearly I've done something wrong to raise a son who would do what Ron did." Molly sighed heavily as she slumped down in one of the kitchen chairs.
At Molly's words, Hermione realised that she blamed herself for Ron's actions. "You did nothing wrong." She insisted, sitting down and taking hold of Molly's hand. "You're an excellent, loving mother and Ron's actions are not your fault. I don't why he acted the way he did, but whatever the reason it wasn't anything you did."
"That's what Arthur keeps saying, but it's hard not to blame myself." Molly admitted. "I just keep wondering if there was anything I could have done to make things turn out differently."
"I ask myself the very same thing every day." Hermione said quietly. Despite her talk with Draco just after they returned home she couldn't help the moments of guilt and doubt that crept into her thoughts.
"What answer do you come up with?"
"That, yes I could have done some things differently but at the end of the day none of this is my fault, just like none of this is your fault. Like it or not, we need to accept that Ron made his decision and he chose to do what he did of his own free will." Hermione answered, hoping she wasn't going to upset Molly further.
Luckily Molly nodded in response, seeing the logic in Hermione's answer. "I think this may have been easier if I could find a reason for Ron doing this." She whispered. "At first I clung onto the hope he was ill, but Harry told us yesterday that he's passed all the medical exams and is fit to stand trial."
"I know, Harry told me as well." Hermione replied.
For the last month the investigation had been ongoing as the Aurors continued to question Ron and Pansy, while they built a watertight case against the pair. With Ron's lack of remorse he had undergone several rounds of vigorous medical testing, just to be sure he wasn't suffering from some sort of mental affliction. However the tests all revealed he had control of his faculties and had known exactly what he'd been doing. As such it was decided he was fit to stand trial and according to Harry it was be pretty speedy. The Ministry were humiliated enough that one of their Aurors had orchestrated such a devastating crime and they wanted the entire thing over and done with as soon as possible.
"Will you go to the trial?" Molly asked.
"I'll have to, I'll be a witness." Hermione replied. "But even if I wasn't, I would want to be there. I know he's your son Molly, but I need justice. I need him to get what he deserves."
"I understand." Molly nodded, fighting back the tears again. She knew Ron needed to be punished for what he'd done, but he was still her son and no matter what she couldn't stop loving him.
"I wish you didn't have to go through this." Hermione sighed, leaning over and hugging Molly again.
"I wish none of us had to go through this. But we have to, so all we can do is try and muddle along the best we can." Molly replied. "We will get through this together, you know."
Hermione nodded and gave Molly a warm smile. "I've really missed you."
"I've really missed you too." Molly smiled back at Hermione. "Now why don't you take me outside and introduce me to your boyfriend."
"Sure, if he's survived a half hour with your lot." Hermione chuckled as she linked arms with Molly and the two women made their way outside.
"I told them to be on their best behaviour." Molly said. "But you know what George's idea of best behaviour is like."
Hermione laughed, knowing that to George a promise to be on his best behaviour meant creating even more havoc than normal. Luckily when they exited the kitchen everything looked normal in the back garden. A long table was set-up with plate's full of food for afternoon tea and the various members of the Weasley family were milling around the garden. Draco was standing at the bottom of the garden with Harry and George, chatting quite happily with the duo.
When Draco spotted Hermione, he left Harry and George at the bottom of the garden and made his way towards his girlfriend. When he arrived at her side, Hermione introduced him to Molly and the two made polite conversation for a couple of minutes.
"Ginny, there's a cake in the kitchen, go and grab it and we can start eating." Molly said, grabbing Ginny's attention when she came to say a proper hello to Hermione.
While Ginny went inside to grab the cake, Molly wandered off to where Arthur was sitting, leaving Draco and Hermione alone for a few minutes.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked her boyfriend.
"Yeah, I'm actually quite enjoying myself." Draco admitted with a grin. "Some of these Weasley's aren't half bad."
"Thanks for the compliment, Malfoy." George's amused voice called as he came up beside the couple. "I don't suppose you're that bad, yourself."
"Who said I was referring to you?" Draco arched an eyebrow in George's direction, but his tone of voice indicted he was joking. "I might have been talking about your brothers."
"Please, my brothers are okay, but I'm the best Weasley." George grinned, before winking at Hermione. "Isn't that right, Hermione?"
"I'm saying nothing." Hermione laughed. "I'll let you two sort this out yourselves."
Still chuckling at George and Draco, Hermione wandered off to see the rest of the family. As she was hugging Arthur and catching up with him she noticed Draco and George grab a couple of brooms and go soaring off into the sky. From the looks of things they were having some sort of race, but she could hear the laughter from where she was and she could see what fun her boyfriend was having.
As she settled back into being part of the Weasley family, Hermione felt a great relief. She'd honestly expected to lose the family after everything that had happened so it meant a great deal to her that not only was she still welcome in their home but that they had welcomed Draco as well.
A/N – There's just an epilogue to follow on Thursday, then this story is complete.
I'd just to thank everyone for their reviews, as well as follows/favourites. All the wonderful support I receive means the world to me and it inspires me to keep on writing.