Happy Saturday, my darlings, from the surface of the sun! The temperatures are rising and with humidity puts the heat index at around 100F or 44C. And the air conditioner briefly stopped working. But much like when the furnace had issues, I fixed it. Enough about the weather, I hope you enjoy this next chapter, the Weasleys react to Hermione's news.

Chapter 12 Reactions

Pavarti's article tastefully described the comings and goings of numerous well-to-do couples on Valentine's Day outings. The elder Malfoys dining at the Dragon's Hoard was a huge deal. She mentioned Ginny Weasley and Jeffery Tyler's date to Hannah Abbott's new restaurant, Gather Round. Hermione smiled to herself reading about her success. The kind Hufflepuff fretted about branching out past the Leaky Cauldron to all of her friends, so the Gryffindor gave her a little luck. The climax of the article was Marcus's proposal, highlighting the tradition of the family ring and the upbeat location. The only photographs were of the Malfoys, the exterior of Gather Round, and Hermione grinning at Marcus, showing the world her ring.

Sitting at the Burrow kitchen table Ginny internally raged. Bad enough she had to keep up the charade, but they didn't even publish a picture of her all dressed up. It felt like the universe conspired against her. At least Harry didn't seem to be with anyone. She had that going for her. And Jeffery was quite fit. Perhaps she could persuade him that they could have some fun while she waited for Harry. Molly merely nodded at the news. Her feelings about the young witch still twisted within her. She felt happy that she could move on, but did she need to draw so much attention to herself? Arthur smiled at the image and ignored his wife and daughter. Mentally, he made a note to invite the young couple to dinner.

Ron set the plate of scrambled eggs in front of Hugo, who happily mashed them with both hands. Some of the yellow mush even made it into his small mouth. He smiled at his son before looking at his wife. Veronica glared at the Prophet so hard he half expected to see smoke. "Something wrong, sweetheart?"

"Last night Marcus Flint proposed to Hermione at your friend Dean's place." she spat.

"Are you still upset we couldn't get reservations for Valentine's Day? I said I was sorry."

While she was, that wasn't the current issue. As a schoolmate of both owners, Ron could have pulled strings if he had tried harder. "No, I just hope she doesn't get any hate mail like you said she did when she dated Krum." Hermione dating an international quidditch player galled her as well.

"She can handle it if she does, she has before. Flint, huh?" Ron sat, lost in his thoughts. Unsure of how he felt he remained silent. He knew it was none of his business. Someday she would move on, marry someone else, and do all the things they planned on doing together. Yet, part of him felt sad and possibly mad. She was his. He didn't like seeing evidence of her leaving him behind, moving on from their relationship. "I wonder if she'll bring him to Sunday dinner?"

"Eventually I'm sure. Doesn't matter, she only comes half the time anyway. Maybe it is a good thing she isn't Hugo's godmother."

Ron began eating, "Bill says Hermione takes Victorie to the library every week. And does tons of stuff with her."

"The library?" snorted Veronica, "What a swotty bookworm."

"Tori enjoys it," Ron half defended, "and that's what matters."

"Whatever," her appetite vanished at the sight of Hermione's engagement ring. She kept looking at her own rings. She never saw Hermione's first ring, the one Ron gave her. Both Veronica's engagement ring and wedding band were simple, a small round diamond and a plain band. No matter what she gained and Hermione lost, the other woman kept coming out ahead. Twirling her fork on her plate she considered why she disliked Hermione.

Truthfully, Hermione had done nothing to her, the war heroine just rubbed her the wrong way. She always put others first and helped anyone who asked. A normal woman would have slunk off to lick her wounds after she lost everything to another woman. Hermione stuck around, keeping some of the Weasleys from properly adoring their new family members. And Veronica's source of potions cut her off, claiming her behavior unacceptable, unethical, and borderline criminal. She just wanted to be a somebody and live comfortably. And not have to work for it. That wasn't a crime. Hermione should have kept a better eye on Ron. She shouldn't have let him go off drinking alone. Veronica didn't. If Ron had a boys' night, she had a girls' night close enough to ward off opportunists. Her bad mood carried on through the morning. She cast a cheering charm on herself before they departed for the Burrow.

Harry invited Hermione to join him in arriving early at the Burrow. Both as a show of support and self-preservation. Despite Ginny dating Jeffery for the last two months, Molly continued to attempt to reunite her daughter and Harry. He'd found including others derailed those plans. He'd noticed Ginny hadn't invited her new beau to family gatherings. He mentioned this to Hermione.

"If Molly's trying to arrange a reunion she'd hardly want what she sees as a roadblock present. It is also possible they aren't serious."

"Or this is all a ruse to make me jealous," he joked.
"That is possible," she said seriously.

Harry blinked at her, "I was kidding."

"I'm not, but acknowledge it is rather far-fetched. You made your feelings quite clear." She entered the fireplace.

Arthur greeted them warmly with a clap on the shoulder and a hug, "Hermione, congratulations."

"Thank you, Arthur."

"We'll have to go out to dinner and meet him properly. That way no one gate crashes."

She smiled, "Sounds delightful."

"What sounds delightful?" asked Ginny as she and Molly entered the living room.

Her father smiled, "Your mother and I going out to dinner with Hermione and Marcus. A chance to get to know him and have a meal my Molly-Wobbles didn't have to cook or clean up after."

"Oh, that would be nice," Molly said with less enthusiasm.

Ginny bounced in front of her, "Well, let's see the ring." Obediently, Hermione held up her hand.

"That is lovely," Molly said. "Is that an heirloom?"

"Yes, his great grandfather's second wife's ring. Um, I think her name was Cordelia."

"Are you planning a traditional wedding?" she asked.

"That depends on what you mean by traditional," Hermione hedged. "I want my family to be able to attend."

"I'm sure you'll find a way," Molly assured her with a vague smile. Hermione always suspected her family would not have attended her wedding to Ron. He'd been pushing to have a magical ceremony in the Burrow's orchard like Bill had. Which he got, so water under the bridge.

They dropped wedding talk until Angelina admired the ring and Molly jumped in to ask when she and Fred might be taking a trip up the aisle. "After my sister. I am not dealing with diva wobbles," she rolled her eyes. "At least this guy's been around for longer than a minute."

"Hope springs eternal," laughed Hermione.

Veronica slipped from the room. She hated not being able to steal the spotlight. But she'd never received a proposal. Ron returned Hermione's engagement ring and bought her one as almost an afterthought. The wedding had been thrown together quickly to be done before Hugo came. She'd been afraid Ron would change his mind after the baby arrived. It just wasn't fair.

Ron sat silently at the table listening to the conversation. The topics of weddings kept coming up. He noticed Veronica leave the room but wasn't sure if he should follow her or even if he cared enough to. Annoyance churned in him when everyone kept talking about proposals and weddings. He grew agitated when Fleur, Angelina, and Audrey, Percy's girlfriend, begged Hermione to recount the proposal. He loathed every romantic detail and how they all gushed over them. "Could we stop talking about weddings?" he snapped. Everyone stared at him. "There has to be something else we can talk about."

The conversation turned to Percy's chances of promotion soon. Which lead to other people's career trajectory. Then innocently, Audrey asked, "Hermione, do you think you'll be having children soon? Will you stay home with them?"

"It is possible," she admitted, "Marcus admitted he wants them sooner rather than later. But I don't know if I would stay home or not. I don't think so, but who knows." She stared off for a moment considering the matter.

Ron grew even more agitated when his mother gushed with the other women over the idea of more babies to cuddle. "You cannot be serious," he exploded. "You barely know him."

Everyone froze. Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Excuse me? You impregnated a stranger and then married her in less time than I and Marcus will. Hypocrite much?"

"You're mine," he protested.

"No, I am not. You betrayed me, you violated the trust of our relationship, and when I forgave you like you begged me to you left me anyway."
"You owed it to me to ask if I was okay with this."

"I owe you nothing. You sure as fuck didn't ask me shite."

"I just..." he started.

"You just what? Thought I'd pine for you until I died a pathetic spinster? Sorry to disappoint you. You moved on and so did I." As unobtrusively as possible most of their audience exited the room. "Sucks to be the one on the outside doesn't it?" Her tone grew cruel, "Perhaps you'd like to research wedding decorations and florists for me? Or could you make seventy-five floral arrangements, including the bridal bouquet? Or spend three days helping your mum cook for what should have been our wedding?" His ears turned red. "What you don't like any of those ideas?"

"You're being cruel, Mione," he whined.

She shot a stinging hex, "You are not allowed to

call me that. You think I'm being cruel, but you and your family not only requested I do those things- you had me do them. While everyone ran around excited I cried alone. No one checked on me or my feelings. So if just suggesting this is cruel, what the fuck were all of you?" A sob from the doorway drew their attention. Molly stood in the middle of the opening, her hands over her mouth trying to stifle her sobs, the reality of their actions hitting her all at once. She had never considered the feelings of the jilted lover. And that made her feel ashamed. Arthur was right, this wasn't like her. Hermione sagged, "I'm going to show you the consideration no one ever gave me, the support and space to come to terms with your new reality." Arthur nodded his hands on Molly's shoulders. "Owl me about dinner."

"I will. But before you go I want to make a small announcement.
She agreed. Arthur gathered his children and their partners. "Over the last year, the lives of this family changed drastically. They will continue to change. We will be more considerate of one another. Some of us made choices that have long lasting consequences and we have to deal with it without hurting anyone else anymore." He looked at Ron and Veronica. "You are all my children." He looked at Hermione and Harry. "I don't want to have separate gatherings going forward, but I will. Hermione, thank you are coming. You are always welcome here, just as Harry is. You are both as much my children as the biological ones. Nothing will ever change that."

"Thank you, Arthur." They both gave him a small smile.

The somber mood remained even after Hermione left. She waved, made plans to see various family members, and departed. Molly returned to the kitchen to finish dinner. Ginny and Fleur joined her. Arthur scooped up Victorie and swept her off to his shed. Harry collected Hugo and followed. The twins and Angelina went upstairs in search of old products George swore were up there. Bill invited Percy and Audrey to check out the orchard. As they left Veronica and Ron alone, Bill hissed to his younger brother, "Get over yourselves and work it out."

Ron looked over at his wife, who sat looking at her lap. "Bill's right, we need to talk about things."

Veronica scowled, "I suppose." She sulked.

"I don't know where to start," he admitted.

"I hate listening to all the wedding talk. I resent that I never got a proposal," she confessed trying to sound more sad than sulky.

"No, instead you walked in and demanded I marry you or lose my son. You made me choose between my fiancee and my child, why would I propose? It wasn't in question, it was a done deal."

"Because it would have been romantic," she spat.

"What about our relationship has been romantic?" he asked harshly. "You were a moment of drunken weakness. Then you showed up with demands. I made more weak decisions. Now, I've lost the love of my life."

"I'm supposed to be the love of your life," snapped Veronica.

"Technically, yes. But in reality? I don't know."

She panicked, "What are you saying?"

"That I don't love you like I should. And that is both of our faults. We played at being this perfect couple because that's what everyone told us we were. I doted to compensate for my feelings of guilt about how I treated Hermione, and desperately wanted you to stay because of Hugo. You believed the fantasy you created in your head."

"So what do we do?" she demanded, ignoring him calling the relationship she liked just fine the way it was a fantasy.

"We grow up, get over ourselves, and adjust to our new reality. We admit and accept our marriage started with poor behavior. I cheated on one of my best friends. I ignored all the pain my actions caused. I let everyone ignore it. I told you before, we treated Hermione horribly."

"So we are extra nice and hope everyone forgets again?" she grumbled.

He shook his head, "No, you stop acting like she's the enemy who stole your boyfriend. Or that you won some competition over. We face facts, sweetheart, we are the bad guys in this story. Lucky for us, this isn't a storybook. We don't have to stay that way."

"What do you want us to do?"

He thought for a few minutes. "No more snide comments about or to Hermione. No acting jealous. We're going to focus on building a better relationship. More dinners at home as a smaller family unit. More evenings in together. We need to get to know one another. Fall in love for real, not just pretend to."

"Okay, Ron, I'd like that." Ugh, she needed a new potion supplier post haste. She didn't need him to love her, just support her. She needed a new potion supplier post haste. Maybe she needed to get pregnant again. Another baby would distract him from feelings. "Maybe we could have someone keep Hugo and go away for a long weekend. We didn't have a proper honeymoon."

"I guess so, maybe around our anniversary in April. We can celebrate our new relationship." Veronica smiled at him. She groaned to herself. She got him to the altar, it wasn't supposed to still be work. Things would have been fine if Granger had stayed single, or just gone away like a normal person. Briefly, she wondered if she should have gone after Harry or one of Ron's brothers. Surely, they would have been easier to deal with.