When Hermione arrived at her office late Monday morning, she was a bit shocked to find her assistant, Felicia, not at her desk. But before she could think about it too long, she saw a familiar figure and gasped, "Ron?"

He turned around and she couldn't miss the anxiety in his eyes.

"Here is your tea, Mr. Weasley," Felicia said as she entered the office. "Good morning, Hermione. I hope,"

"It's fine Felicia. Thank you."

"Yes, thanks Felicia, for the tea."

Felicia smiled and it appeared that tears may be in her eyes. She looked at Hermione and smiled. Hermione nodded and Felicia left the room.

"Sorry for dropping in unannounced. Your assistant said you were free at the moment, so,"

"It's fine Ron, of course." She sat down behind her desk.

Ron fidgeted with his tea cup and seemed very uncomfortable which was making Hermione anxious.

"Ron,"

"Sorry but I need to ask you something and I don't know how to do it delicately."

"You're making me nervous, Ron."

"Ok, so," Ron took a deep breath, "Are you pregnant?"

Hermione's eyebrows shot up and her face was frozen which Ron couldn't read.

"Why would you ask me that?"

"I was at St Mungo's this morning and I saw you, um, I saw you in the maternity ward."

"Oh," said Hermione, "Right,"

"And look, I know that things are…things are weird between us right now. But I want you to know that I will be there for the child, I want to be a part of their life. You know and not just financially but as a Dad. I hope that's ok,"

"I'm not pregnant Ron."

"You're not?" Though he tried to hide it she noticed a sense of relief wash over his face. And that might have hurt more than anything else.

"No, I'm most definitely not pregnant."

He let out a deep breath, "Ok. Because of course I would step up if you were but I must say I was scared. I'm not ready to be a Dad."

Tears pricked her eyes but she tried to push them away. He noticed though and now she just wanted him to leave.

"Well, that's all cleared up, I'm sure you have a lot to do and I know I do." She got up and started walking towards the door.

"Why were you there?" She turned around and the tears almost fell due to the genuine concern he showed on his face. "Are you ok?"

She didn't know how to respond so she just said, "I'm fine Ron."

"Ok. Right and it's totally not my business, sorry," he got up and headed towards her by the door. "I hope you are ok." He took a step closer to the door and her mouth opened without her permission.

"I was pregnant not long ago," he stopped and turned to her. "But I lost the baby at 8 weeks."

"Hermione, I'm so sorry."

"You were so excited to be a dad and even though I knew you were heart broken when we lost it, you were so supportive." He smiled, not having words to help.

"The fact I got pregnant was a bit of a miracle. So now the healers are running tests to see if, in the future, I'll be able to carry a child to term or not. I go in monthly to be checked."

"You're young and healthy," he said, "why was you getting pregnant such a miracle?" She looked at him and again the lack of recognition of their past really hurt her.

"I was…I was tortured during the war." He gaped at her, shocked. "The cructious curse was used several times; the healers saw damage to my reproductive organs and concluded my chances of getting pregnant were slim. But that Weasley sperm really proved them wrong." She tried for a weak laugh but he didn't return it. He looked deep in thought and bordering on angry.

"Who tortured you?" He asked quietly.

She swallowed, "Bellatrix Lestrange, at Malloy Manor. She found the Sword of Gryffindor in my possession and took me away from you and Harry. You begged her to take you instead but she didn't listen."

Ron's head snapped up, "Wait. I remember that day but I only remember her questioning Griphook."

"She did that after she couldn't get anything out of me."

Ron looked like his head was spinning. "Did you come to Shell Cottage with us?"

She nodded, "You rescued me from her and took me there. Never left my side for the first 48 hours. Then I woke up and you took care of me until I was feeling up to planning the Gringots break-in with you guys."

He kept looking at her and she continued, "You saved my life Ron, in more ways than one after that. And I hated that I might not be able to give you children." She didn't try to fight her tears now.

"I'm so sorry Hermione. You are an extremely strong woman, that's for sure." She smiled.

"You'll understand if I have to go though, this is a lot of new information to process." She was a bit taken aback by his abrupt departure.

"Um, sure. I know it must be a lot."

"Thanks." He grabbed the door handle, seeming like he couldn't wait to escape this room. "And I'm sorry, for everything." And with that, he was gone and she stared at the door. Sadness and confusion flooded her.

Harry hated paperwork. Being an Auror was supposed to be exciting and dangerous but they never tell you that 75% of it is bloody paperwork. He was re-reading the same passage for the third time when the door to his office banged open and a panic-stricken Ron entered, closing and silencing the door almost immediately.

Harry jumped to his feet, "What's wrong, Ron?"

Ron paced the office, not making eye contact with his friend. After a few minutes, convinced that Ron hadn't heard him Harry asked again, "Ron! What is wrong?"

"Hermione was tortured at Malfoy Manor," he wasn't asking, he was stating it as fact though Harry already knew that. "I remember Lestrange torturing Griphook, I remember Dobby, and Shell Cottage. But Hermione was there too and she was tortured."

Not knowing what else to say, Harry simply nodded. "And did you know she miscarried a while back?"

Harry nodded, "But I only just found out. Apparently, you and Hermione weren't going to share it with anyone but then she let it slip to Ginny. The rest of the family doesn't know though."

Ron continued to pace. "I keep learning new things about my other life and it's doing my head in Harry."

Harry looked at his friend and saw the strain on his face. "I can only imagine, mate. Your history with Hermione runs deep. Deeper than most couples."

"I can't do this, Harry," Ron said in a defeated voice, "I'm terrified of the idea of being a Dad but apparently the other version of me was over the moon his wife was pregnant. She talked about me saving her, like I was a knight in shining armor but that's not me. How can I be so different?"

"Ron," Harry started but his friend stopped pacing and stood tall.

"Wednesday, 7pm, dinner at Florentine's in Piccadilly. I think it's best to say Ginny is a coach of some kind, for a girls' team. Let her figure out the details but let me know by Wednesday morning.

"Ron, don't you think we should talk about this?" Harry pleaded, upset by how quickly his friend could change the subject. "What happened today? Did you talk with her today?"

"Yeah, I did and Harry, what I learned today and the more I talk to Hermione, I know I am not the man she loves. I won't hurt her by dragging this out. The sooner she moves on from me and I move on, the better for everyone."

"Ron," Harry grabbed Ron's shoulder, "Don't do this! I am sure all this new information, her torture, the miscarriage was a lot to take in but you are the man she fell in love with. And if you give it some time, I think you'll find that she's the girl you love. This is all happening too fast. Especially this stuff with Christine! Bloody hell you've been seeing each other for what, 2 weeks, and you're meeting family! Stop running away!"

Ron stepped away from Harry, "Any new information on Alexis? What about the fix for fail safes?" Ron knew the answer already and continued, "I'm not running away, I'm moving forward. And I hope you'll move with me."

With that said, Ron exited Harry's office, leaving his friend in shock. But Harry didn't let the shock take over, he was more determined than ever to figure this case out. He called his team into his office and called them to attention.

"I want an update on Alexis Dolohov and the fail safe breaks. And I want some real answers. This has gone on long enough."

When Hermione arrived at her parent's house Monday evening she was drained. The useless appointment with the Healers, her conversation with Ron and then her work load left her with little energy. So, when her front door rang, she was beyond annoyed, she really just wanted to take a warm bath and go to bed.

She opened the door to see her mother-in-law carrying a small bag. Molly had never used the front door before so Hermione drew her wand and pointed it at the woman.

"What happened 5 minutes before I walked down the aisle on my wedding day?"

Without skipping a beat, the elder Mrs. Weasley said, "A garden gnome jumped out of the rose bushes and bit your poor father. Postponed the ceremony for 10 minutes while we tended to him." Hermione lowered her wand and stepped aside, welcoming Molly in.

"Sorry about that, Molly, but you've never used the front door before. Why didn't you owl me? I would have opened the Floo."

"No reason to fuss, dear." She hugged Hermione, "I come with food. I fear you aren't taking good enough care of yourself."

Hermione looked at her feet because she couldn't deny it. She barely had groceries in the house, she'd been surviving on tea, biscuits and take away since moving back to her parent's house.

Molly wrapped her arm warmly around Hermione's shoulders, "Which way to the kitchen, dear? It's been ages since I've been here."

After Molly stocked Hermione's kitchen with enough food to feed an army, she set a chicken to roast, potatoes to peel and joined her daughter-in-law at the kitchen table with fresh tea.

"Molly, you really didn't need to do all this."

She patted Hermione's hand gently, "Of course I didn't need to, I know you can take care of yourself. But sometimes it's nice to be taken care of."

Hermione nodded and said softly, "Thank you."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. "How are you dear? And the truth, please."

Hermione turned to the older woman and burst into tears. Molly wrapped the young woman in her arms and let her cry for as long as she needed.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione said as she sat up and wiped her face, "I hate crying all the time. It makes me feel weak. But I had a conversation with Ron today that brought up a lot of other painful feelings."

Hermione explained the conversation to Molly, this being the first Molly heard of the miscarriage. She took Hermione's hands, "Why didn't you say about the miscarriage? You know I'm aware of everything."

"Ron wanted to but I begged him not to. I didn't want to get the family's hopes up to just dash them."

"But we never thought you'd even be able to get pregnant at all, so the fact that you can is hopeful, no?"

"That's what the healers thought when I first got pregnant. But after I lost the baby so early the healers were concerned and suggested Ron and I go back to using the contraception charm. Honestly, we didn't usually do it because we thought it was impossible. But after the miscarriage they strongly suggested we do it again because the trauma to my system; they didn't think I should risk getting pregnant again for a long while."

"Oh dear," Molly said, "I'm so sorry. Of course, you're crying a lot, this is a lot for anyone to handle. You should be with your family, Hermione, not alone."

"Molly," Hermione started.

"We are your family."

"Yes, but Ron isn't comfortable with me being around. Trust me, he couldn't get out of my office fast enough after I told him everything."

"Ok, well, maybe not a big family dinner. But George and Angelina are coming over for dinner Wednesday night, why don't you join us? I think it will do you a world of good."

"I'm not sure, Molly. I don't know if Ron will like it."

"Well, I do like it and I know Arthur will too. Please come."

Hermione smiled; her mother-in-law can be very persuasive. And if Hermione was honest, she was lonely and George and Angelina were always a good time.

"Ok, Molly, I'll be there." Molly clapped her hands and a smile broke out across her face.

"Excellent," she hugged Hermione, "Oh my, it's getting late. I better head home."

The ladies walked to the lounge and Molly entered the floo. "See you Wednesday, dear. And eat that chicken, you need a good meal."

"Will do." Hermione smiled as Molly disappeared. As she ate the home cooked meal, she actually did feel a bit better.

Ron was running toward the dock at the pond at the Burrow, though the surroundings seemed blurry and he couldn't actually see his childhood home. But he didn't care, all he needed was to get to the person sitting on the deck.

"Hermione,"

She slowly turned around to look at him; though her eyes with red rimmed and her hair was particularly wild he was struck by her beauty. She sighed and turned back towards to the pond.

"Ron, let me be alone for a while, please?"

"Hermione, what happened at the healers? When you left this morning with Mum you were fine. But now,"

"Ron, please," she said through tears, "I can't."

Ron kneeled by her, cupped her face, "Please, don't carry whatever this is on your own. You don't have to."

More tears fell and he wrapped her in his arms but shortly after she pulled away. "You shouldn't bother with me Ron." She stood up and headed down the dock, he followed her and caught up to her quickly.

"What are you on about?"

"I can't give you what you want. Let's not drag this out, it will only cause more hurt."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, "What are you talking about? Why are you running away from me?"

"I'm not running away, I'm moving forward. And so should you."

"Why? I demand an answer!"

"The why isn't important."

"The hell it isn't!" He bellowed, "I love you Hermione, I've loved you for years. We fought a war so we could have a life together. A life Fred will never have! We finally won the war, we finally cleared up all the misunderstandings, we were finally a "we", like I always dreamed. And now for no apparent reason, you're running away from me? I deserve to know why!"

"Because I can't give you what you want!"

"What are you talking about? You are everything I want and more. For Merlin's sake!"

"I can't have children Ron!" she shouted, "That's what the healer told me. Bellatrix's curses have caused irreversible damage to my reproductive organs and I'll never be able to have your children."

Tears were streaming down her face as Ron looked at her in shock.

"And sure" she continued, "18-year-old Ron might not care but what about 25-year-old Ron, what about 40-year-old Ron? What happens when your siblings keep having kids and you don't? I know what will happen. You'll end up resenting me for giving you yet another thing to envy your siblings for. You had hand me down clothes and second-hand wands and now a witch who can't give you kids. So instead of facing that, we'll bow out now, on friendly terms and you'll be free to find another girl who will pop out as many ginger haired babies as you ever wanted."

She pulled out of his arms and headed into the undefined mist around the pond.

Ron shot awake, wide eyed and panting. "What the fuck?"