Disclaimer: All characters and things associated with Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. This writing is for pure entertainment only.
Summary: Sequel to "Law Change Lives". Hermione and Ron are settling into their new roles as parents, but nothing is ever as easy as it seems.
CHAPTER 4
Ron slowly moved into Grimmauld Place, trying his best to be silent as he closed the door behind him. The sun was barely up and he was exhausted, covered in dirt, blood, and his bones aching. Last night had been busy to say the least, and there had been a few times he was not certain he was going to come home to Hermione and Rose.
Ron silently moved up the stairs, trying to muffle the sound of his own feet, though he was dragging them, his right leg having been nearly crushed the night before. When Ron reached the top of the stairs he saw the light on in Rose's nursery and moved toward her.
When Ron entered Rose's room, he found Rose sound asleep in her crib, and Hermione asleep on the floor next to Rose, her wand clutched tightly in her hand.
Ron frowned. He had known he had left in a rush the night before, and he was sure he had scared Hermione, though part of him thought she had every right to be scared right now. Still, it wasn't the time or the place to discuss it with her.
"Hermione…" Ron slowly bent down and nudged his wife.
Hermione instantly woke up, poking Ron with her wand until she realized it was him. She then lowered it, only to raise it back up with a light on it, examining Ron's beaten and dirty face.
"Ron? What happened?" Hermione whispered, the concern oozing from her voice.
"Come on…not in here…" Ron helped Hermione to her feet and led her down the hall to their bedroom. He did not want to wake Rose if it wasn't necessary.
The second they were in their bedroom, Hermione flicked on the lights, feeling sickened by Ron's appearance. She hadn't seen him this hurt since the Battle of Hogwarts. She quickly moved forward, pulling his ripped jacket from his bruised body. "Ron, what happened to you?"
"Last night…" Ron gave a soft laugh and lowered himself onto the bed.
"What happened at the Ministry? What were you called in for?" Hermione asked frantically as she helped Ron out of his shirt, exposing large gashing across her back to him. She quickly stood, grabbing the small bottle of Essence of Dittany that she kept in her night side table. She then moved back and ran it over his cuts.
"There was a breakout…" Ron winced as the potion began working.
Instantly, Hermione's hands froze on Ron's back. She knew what that meant. Her mouth went dry. "What…what sort of break out."
Ron sighed, hanging his head as if he had let Hermione down. "From Azkaban…"
"Did you…did you get everyone who broke out?" Hermione asked softly, shock still written over her frozen face.
Ron turned to face Hermione and took her hand in his, running is fingers over her wedding band and shaking his head. "No…we couldn't find a few."
"What does that mean?" Hermione asked. After all, it would make sense she, Ron, and Harry would be targets, as well as the Weasley's and in extension, Rose.
"Means nothing." Ron told her, cupping her hand in his and trying to sound convincing. "Means I have to work a bit more…since Harry isn't here…but it doesn't mean anything else. Nothing's going to happen to any of us. Any of us…we put extra guards on duty for all those who would be target's of death eaters…even got some people watching your parents place, and everything will be fine. Everyone is going to be fine…I promise."
Hermione just nodded, biting her own lip for a moment before letting out the breath she had not realized she was holding in. There was no point in worrying over something she could not control, not at that hour of the morning when the two most important people in her life were safe at Grimmauld Place with her.
"You look tired, Ron." Hermione noticed.
Ron gave a small laugh. "I am."
"Let's get to bed…" Hermione helped him lean into their bed and then covered him with blankets before climbing in next to him. She watched him for a few minutes as he drifted off to sleep, and herself was about to do the same, when Rose's cries echoed through the house.
Ron instantly jumped up in bed, his wand already in his hand. "What the—"
"Its just Rose, Ron! It's just Rose! Calm down!" Hermione nearly had to hold Ron in place as he frantically waved his wand and blasted the light out of the corner of the room, the sound of it crashing only making Rose cry more.
"Bloody hell!" Ron growled, trying to calm himself down as he wiped his own face, the exhaustion and ache written all over it. "Can't she be quiet one morning?"
Hermione was shocked by Ron's words. Never, since Rose had been born, had he ever said a word against Rose or her crying. "Ron…she's just a baby…"
"I know, I know…I'm just tired…" Ron admitted as he collapsed back down into his pillow, trying his best to cover his ears.
Hermione, shocked by Ron's behavior, but trying her best to grasp all he had been through the night before carefully got out of bed, and silently moved down the hall to comfort her crying daughter.
Two days had passed since the break out at Azkaban, and Ron had been working overtime, around the clock, leaving a very tired and frightened Hermione at home alone with Rose, guarded by two Auror's at all times outside the house. Though no Death Eater knew where Grimmauld Place was, it was a slight comfort to Hermione to know someone was watching her.
She had little contact with the outside world, and was meant to start working for the Ministry that day, but they had put her job on hold, pending the capture of the Prisoners, and Hermione had been on strict orders not to leave Grimmauld Place unless absolutely necessary which Hermione thought was reasonable given the climate of things.
Though that particular day, Hermione wanted to contact with someone, anyone beside her nine-month-old daughter whose vocabulary consisted of one proper word. Not that she didn't love spending time with Rose, but she was sick of reading nursery rhymes and watching muggle children's shows all day long. Her nerves were already shot, worrying about Ron and the escaped Death Eaters, and she was nearing exhaustion from the lack of sleep due to that worry. The addition of sing-a-longs was not helping.
Just as one muggle sing-a-long show ended, Rose clapped her hands, clearly ready for another.
Hermione sighed from the small desk she was trying to organize when she would finally be able to work. "Rose…how about a nap?"
Rose turned a sharp blue eye on Hermione and suddenly screamed. "NO!"
Hermione was slightly taken back; her daughter had picked up another word besides "ma". Hermione was proud, but also had a feeling the new word could potentially be problematic.
"Very good, Rose…use your words…but it is nap time." Hermione glanced at the clock and noticed it was well past Rose's nap time.
"No…no…no…nooo…" Rose giggled and fell back onto the floor.
Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the baby that looked so much like Ron. Even under the stress of everything, Rose could always make her smile. She sighed and scooped the child up as Rose tried to get out of her grasp. "Yes…"
"Ma…" Rose said quietly as if trying to negotiate with Hermione, her little fingers on Hermione's cheeks.
"Nap time, miss…" Hermione said in the same low voice as Rose.
Rose seemed to understand she had been defeated and so instead she threw her chubby arms around Hermione's neck and buried her face into Hermione's shoulder.
Hermione melted at her daughter's action and sighed. "Do you want to nap in Mummy and Daddy's bed?"
Rose remained silent, and Hermione decided that would be best. She herself thought a nap might do her nerves some good, and so she carefully climbed the stairs with Rose and moved into her and Ron's bedroom.
Hermione then carefully placed Rose on Ron's side of the bed and surrounded her with pillows in case Rose decided to roll in her sleep. Once she was certain Rose was secure, Hermione climbed into bed next to Rose, running a hand gently through Rose's hair.
Within minutes, it seemed Rose and Hermione both had fallen asleep, the sun fading to stars and then again came up. Morning came. Hermione was not sure how long they had been asleep when a loud bang woke up the mother and daughter.
Hermione instantly sat up, grabbing her wand as Rose began to cry.
"Rose…shh…" Hermione whispered, as the child seemed to understand and calm down just as Hermione cooped her up with one arm and moved out into the hallway, trying to find the source of the noise and worried the entire time that somehow something had failed, somehow a death eater had found them.
"Bloody damn toys…" Ron's voice could be heard at the bottom of the stairs.
Hermione instantly relaxed. "Ron? Is that you?"
"Is the bottom of the stairs really where Rose's bloody blocks belong?" Ron barked as he climbed the stairs.
"Sorry…I dozed off with Rose for a bit…" Hermione said as Ron reached her. She noticed just how tired and worn he looked as well.
"Hmm…" Ron just nodded, moving past his daughter and wife without so much as a smile. He moved like a zombie.
"How is everything going?" Hermione asked, following Ron down the hall.
"Same as before…nowhere…" Ron admitted with a sigh as he fell back onto their bed, hardly bothering to kick his shoes off and certainly not moving any of the pillows Hermione had used to barricade Rose with for their nap.
Hermione sighed. "That's it?"
"What do you want me to say, Hermione? That's all I've got." Ron said, slightly annoyed at her prying.
"Nevermind." Hermione said softly though the hurt was clear in her voice. She just wanted some scrap of news; something to calm her nerves.
Ron ran a hand over his tired face. He needed to shave, but he hardly had time, and he definitively did not have time for a fight with Hermione, and so he took the silence as a chance to change the conversation. "They gave me three hours off."
"Do you need anything?" Hermione asked. She knew he needed a lot of things; a proper bath to start with, but she wasn't going to push anything at the time.
"Sleep." Ron admitted, his eyes already half closed. "Keep Rose quiet for a bit…will you?"
"I'll try my best. She does have a mind of her own." Hermione reminded Ron that Rose was not a doll, and she couldn't make the child do anything.
Ron glanced up, sensing the annoyance in Hermione's voice. "Sorry…just tired...would be nice not to have a baby scream in my ear."
"I know the feeling…but I've had it for two days now in this house...and now you come home and I can hardly get any useful information out of you." Hermione was suddenly annoyed. Ron was being short with her, and she understood why, but she was just as stressed as he was.
Ron glanced up at the ceiling, trying to choose his words carefully. He hardly had time to sleep and her certainly didn't want to spend that time fighting with Hermione. He took a deep breath to calm himself and then glanced up at his wife. "And thank you for doing that. Its all you can do right now…keep Rose safe. I know…it's been hard…but can we talk later? I'm exhausted, Hermione. Just let me sleep a bit…then we can talk."
"Fine. I'll be here." Hermione nodded and closed the door behind her to allow Ron some time to sleep. She knew he was exhausted and worried, but so was she, and she wanted him to be able to confide in her about it; to tell her exactly what was going on and what they were facing, but she also knew he needed sleep to have a useful conversation.
Hermione folded the laundry in the sitting room while Rose played with her blocks. Hermione glanced up to see that Rose was very busy building what appeared to be a castle, though Hermione was certain Rose had just stacked the blocks, she couldn't help but think her daughter was a little smarter then that.
The sun had turned to rain, and Hermione noticed the two Auror's stationed outside each produced umbrellas. She felt sorry for them; a burden really. Ron was home, they should get a chance to get home for a bit to.
Though, Hermione knew, Ron was only home for three hours, and he had already been sleeping for two of those hours. She couldn't be certain when he would be home again and that worried her slightly.
Hermione's attention was brought away from Ron's pants that she was folding when Rose swatted at her blocks, knocking them back to the ground with a loud yell.
"Rose! Please! Daddy is sleeping…" Hermione said quickly, jumping to gather the blocks and hoping Ron had not heard the noise.
"No he isn't…" Ron's voice filled the living room as he filed in with a tired smile as he ran a hand over his now smooth face. He had shaven once he had woken up.
"Did she wake you?" Hermione asked, gathering Rose up on her hip.
"No…no woke up a bit ago. Showered…" Ron said, motioning to his now clean appearance.
"You look a little more human…" Hermione admitted and patted him on the chest. "Can I get you something to eat?"
"Sandwich would be great…let me take Rose…" Ron offered.
"No, she is fine. I have her…be careful…her blocks are on the floor…wouldn't want you to trip again." Hermione said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Ron sighed and ran a hand over his head before following Hermione into the kitchen. "I'm sorry I yelled early when I came home. I was just tired…"
"I know, Ron. I'm tired too…I've hardly had a scrap of news from you for days about this breakout, I barely have seen you, I haven't left this house…I'm just as tired and worried as you are…and I have been taking care of Rose." Hermione said, placing Rose down in her high chair and moving to grab some bread for Ron's sandwich.
"I know…I know…" Ron sighed and moved toward Hermione. "I shouldn't have gotten mad…I know Rose leaves her toys at the bottom of the steps…" Ron turned his attention to Rose and said sweetly, "Why you think that's a good place to play, I will never know…"
Rose laughed and gurgled at Ron before pointing to his nose with her hand, and Ron kissed her fingers, making her laugh more.
"Ron…I just…what is going on? You can't keep me locked up here and expect me to just smile when you walk in the door for a few hours…" Hermione sighed.
"I know…I know…" Ron kissed Rose's hand one more time and then moved toward Hermione, carefully wrapping his hands around her arms. "I just…I don't want to scare you…"
"Scare me? Ron…after everything I've been through—we've been through, you think you can scare me?" Hermione glanced up at her husband.
"Its different now. Yeah…we can't catch all these bloody death eaters…but its not just you I'm worry about…we've got Rosie now…" Ron explained.
"Ron, I know that. I'm twice as worried as you are…I've got to worry about you out there…and I have no clue what you are doing…and I'm here with Rose all day…" Hermione explained.
"Yeah…guess you're right." Ron nodded, realizing he hadn't taken all Hermione was going through into account, he was so worried about catching the escaped Death Eaters and keeping both her and Rose safe.
"Ron…just tell me what is going on out there…" Hermione sighed. "The Daily Prophet won't list who has escaped—"
"I asked them not to. Didn't think it was worth causing a panic in the paper until we had more to say." Ron admitted.
"So…people don't even know they are in danger?" Hermione was surprised.
"The people who need to know do know." Ron said, glancing back at Rose who seemed obvious to everything going on around her and was instead focused on her sippy-cup. Ron smiled softly; sometimes he wished he could be in Rose's shows, with not a care in the world except what juice she was drinking.
"Who broke out, Ron?" Hermione asked, her voice stern but quiet.
Ron sighed. He had not wanted to tell Hermione because it would only make her worry even more, but he knew it was no use hiding it from her. "Well…the Carrow's, both of them…Dolohov…Yaxley…and, well…she isn't technically a death eater but….Umbridge."
Ron winced at the last name as he saw the reaction on Hermione's face. He knew Umbridge's escape would both her the most.
"Umbridge…" Hermione breathed the last name out and glanced at Rose who now seemed to be watching her parents carefully.
"That's why I didn't say anything…" Ron admitted. "I knew she would…well, bother you the most…"
Hermione seemed to think for a moment, and then Rose slammed her cup off her high chair and Hermione reacted, moving to grab the cup and placing it carefully back in Rose's reach. "Careful there, Rosie…"
"Hermione…I don't want you to worry…she is really the biggest concern I have and—" Ron started.
Hermione turned quickly to face her husband. "Ron, that woman never intimidated me and I won't let her begin to now."
Ron studied Hermione for a long moment and then cracked a small smile. He should have known that would have been her reaction. She was always so strong, why had he doubted that when it came to this. "Course you won't…"
Hermione smiled back at Ron and moved toward him, allowing him to hold her for a long moment and kiss her forehead.
After a second, Rose seemed to feel left out. "Maaaa…nooo…"
Hermione laughed and Ron looked surprised at his daughter who was now reaching for them both.
"She learned a new word." Hermione said, moving and scooping Rose up.
"I heard…a lovely one for a girl to know too…" Ron joked, glancing up at the clock and sighing.
"You need to get back to work?" Hermione guessed.
Ron sighed and nodded. "Yeah…need to work a bunch…least 'til Harry gets back."
"No one told him what's happening?" Hermione seemed surprised.
"Well…no, we did but…not much he can do. I reckon he and Ginny can keep themselves safe." Ron said.
Hermione just nodded, surprised Harry was so willing to neglect his work at such a curial time.
"I'll be home later…do me a favor and just…stay put until then. I'll feel better knowing your safe." Ron requested, moving and hugging both Hermione and Rose at once.
"Where do I have to be?" Hermione half-joked, though she too wanted to keep Rose safe, and she knew the best way to do that was to stay in the house for the time being. However, she was not going to allow Dolores Umbridge to keep her locked up forever, but for now she would do what Ron asked.
Ron smiled against her head. "Once we get this sorted out you can get started at work and take Rose to the park again…promise."
"Be safe." Hermione said, glancing up at Ron, seriousness written across her face.
"Sure." Ron nodded, kissing Rose on the forehead and Hermione on the lips once more before moving to the fireplace to floo back to the Ministry, leaving Hermione and Rose alone aside from the two Auror's stationed outside.
A few hours later, Hermione emerged from Rose's nursery. She had just placed Rose down for a nap and was about to pour herself a cup of tea and begin sorting through the books she would need for work when Bill and Fleur's owl, Hopkins, appeared at her window.
Hermione moved and quickly let the barn owl in, taking the letter from its leg before it flew back out the window.
The letter was addressed to both Ron and Hermione, and Hermione could tell Bill had been in a rush scribbling their names on the envelope.
Hermione opened the letter to see that Bill had written them a quick note inside.
Fleur is in labor. St. Mungo's. Please come!
Hermione sighed, putting the letter down and glancing back up the stairs toward Rose's nursery. Part of her did not want to wake Rose up, because she knew Rose would be a monster, and part of her knew she had to uphold her duty to Ron's family and show up at the hospital, especially because Ron was busy at work and Ginny was away with Harry.
And so, begrudgingly, Hermione climbed the stairs and woke up Rose who protested every one of Hermione's attempts to wrangle her red hair down into a small bow..
"Rose, please…you're going to be a cousin today…" Hermione tried to get Rose to get excited.
Rose, however, only seemed interested in going back to sleep and immediately slammed her head down on Hermione's shoulder and put a chubby thumb into her mouth, closing her eyes as Hermione grabbed the diaper bag and moved down the stairs.
Hermione then moved into the kitchen to look out the window. She wanted to let one of the Auror's outside know she would be leaving, especially since Ron had asked her to stay put, but they were both across the street in the pouring rain.
Hermione sighed and decided to just scribble a note to Ron to let him know she had gone off to the hospital. After all, she assumed that Fleur had written to the Ministry as well to let Ron know what was going on, and furthermore, it wasn't as if she was going just anywhere. She was going to St. Mungo's to see his family.