Disclaimer: All Characters and things associated with Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. This writing is purely for entertainment only.
Summary: A tragedy unravels the Weasley Family and the Wizarding World forever, but with the use of a time turner can one Weasley save them all?
Chapter 8
Ron rushed home straight away from Hogwarts. He knew it was late and Hermione would be alone at the house. He floored it straight into their living room and rushed into the kitchen where he found Hermione making herself a cup of tea.
"Ron?" Hermione seemed slightly surprised to see him rushing toward her and nearly knocking the wind out of her as he pulled her in tightly for a hug.
"I was so worried about you...after I heard about the attack...are you okay?" Ron let Hermione go and glanced her down once to make sure she was okay.
"Fine. They sent me home straight away. We have two extra Aurors watching us," Hermione motioned to the front door. The second the Ministry was attacked, she was ordered home for her own safety with extra protection details.
"Good," Ron was relieved and let her go for a moment.
"Ron, what happened? I heard it was in the Department of Mysteries..." Hermione asked.
Ron nodded. "I am not entirely sure, I just heard it was Harry and his new partner who got attacked and they are safe. I let Lex go back to the Ministry, I can hear straight away when we heard."
Hermione nodded, glad Harry was fine but finding her body go slightly rigged at the mention of Ron's new partner. Between the attack on the Ministry and the new information about Ron's new partner, Hermione couldn't imagine telling Ron about her pregnancy that night. There was far too many other things to discuss.
Hermione went back to her tea and Ron could see her ridged form more clearly now. His brow furrowed. He knew something else was wrong.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Ron asked.
"Fine," Hermione kept her eyes on her tea, stirring it unnecessarily.
Ron took a deep breath. He knew whenever Hermione said she was "fine" it usually meant the exact opposite.
"You never mentioned Lex was a girl," Hermione tried to sound casual but even she heard the jealousy dropping from her words as she spoke them.
Ron's brow furrowed. "What?"
"Your new partner, Lex, she's a girl isn't she?" Hermione asked.
"Uh...yes," Ron was confused by the question.
"And you didn't think to mention that to me?" Hermione asked, still trying to sound cool and casual.
"I didn't think it was important," Ron said.
"Everyone in my office is saying she's very pretty," Hermione looked up at Ron now.
Ron was bewildered by the statement. He hadn't really thought of Lex like that at all. When he thought about it, he would agree she was pretty but there was something about her that made him immediately look at her like a little sister. "I mean, I guess..."
"I just think it's odd you didn't mention it. It's not like there are tons of female Aurors out there," Hermione stood, moving her tea cup to the sink.
"Hermione, are you seriously bothered by this? I mean, given everything that's happened I would say the fact that my new partner is a woman is hardly important," Ron said, trying to end the conversation before the fight he could feel stirring started.
Unfortunately for Ron, his tone did exactly that.
"I just am bothered that you leave details out of your day-to-day. Do I love the idea of my husband running around all over Merlin knows where with a woman I've never met? Who would love that, Ron?" Hermione threw her arms out. Part of her knew she was being silly, a bigger part of her was even embarrassed to feel this insecure, but a smaller part of her couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. She wondered if she could blame it on pregnancy hormones this early on.
"So meet her, Hermione. I'll make sure to introduce you next time I can. Honestly, you're my wife, I thought we were past all this childish stuff." Ron said.
Hermione sighed, frustrated with by her own behavior but also Ron's dismissive attitude toward her feelings. "I'm tired, Ron. I am going to bed. If we hear anything from the Ministry or Harry about what actually happened today, wake me up."
Ron stood in his kitchen, dumbfounded by what had just happened between Hermione and himself, but also hungry and exhausted, realizing he would be cooking his own dinner that night.
Lex apparated back to the flat she was sharing with Scorpius and scared him from his seat at the small kitchen table. He clearly had not been expecting her and was still on edge from the earlier events at the Ministry.
"Blood hell!" Scorpius jumped a bit upon seeing Lex.
"Sorry, I just wanted to get back here as quickly as I could," Lex said.
"It's fine, I'm just a big dodgy right now," Scorpius admitted.
"But you're okay? I mean you didn't get hurt today?" Lex asked, surprising herself even with the level of concern in her voice.
"No...no Harry and I are fine," Scorpius admitted.
Lex nodded and took a seat across from him. Now that she knew he was okay, she could ask the questions she really cared about. "So what happened?"
"Didn't Kingsley tell you?" Scorpius asked.
Lex shook her head. "I didn't go back to the Ministry. My dad went straight home to my mom, so I went straight back here."
"Well, we were down there looking for the bleeding prophecy, and out of nowhere, Death Eaters showed up...about five or so...and they just started attacking, or well, defending it felt more like."
"Defending?" Lex asked, slightly confused.
Scorpius nodded. "One of them was definitely looking for something. The others were just covering for them, and when they found it they left."
"You mean they found the prophecy?" Lex asked.
"They took the prophecy," Scorpius responded.
"But that's not possible. You can't touch a prophecy unless it's about you." Lex reasoned.
"Whoever took it, they used a cloth or something to grab it. It doesn't make sense but they walked out with a big red orb." Scorpius explained.
Lex bit the inside of her lip. "So it was my Mum's prophecy?"
"I mean, that's the assumption I made. Harry and I are going to go back down tomorrow once it's all cleaned up and we will look to see if we can find the missing prophecy's name. My guess is it's your families though." Scorpius said.
Lex shook her head, feeling like she was already failing at the mission they had come for. Suddenly, an anger she had never felt before slowly began rising in her chest. She couldn't help herself, she slammed her fist on the table causing even Scorpius to jump. "We need to find who took it and kill them. It's that simple."
"Well, really we just need to find the prophecy. If we can get it back we can fix this." Scorpius said carefully, trying to calm her down.
Lex glared at Scorpius, her eyes looking nearly black rather than blue. "Well, I'll kill whoever gets in my way of that. We just need to figure out who it is."
Scorpius nodded, debating about telling Lex the best part of his story and ultimately deciding not to anger her anymore. He thought he would save the information that he felt like the wand the death eater was using looked familiar, at least until he could figure out why it looked familiar.
Hermione woke up and was immediately hit by a wave of nausea. She sprinted to the bathroom and barely made it to the toilet in time. She already hated this morning sickness and she knew it was just the beginning. She sighed, trying her best to gather herself off the bathroom floor but her whole body was shaking.
"You're still sick," Ron was standing over her in a flash, slowly helping her to her feet while having no idea the real reason she was sick.
"No...not sick," Hermione sighed, contemplating just telling him in thst moment he was going to be a father so she could brush her teeth and go back to bed. However, she knew she wanted to make the moment more memorable.
"Is it the stress from everything? From yesterday?" Rob asked as he watched Hermione brush her teeth.
Hermione just sighed, her thoughts drifting back to the previous day; the attack on the ministry, her attack on Ron for not telling her that his new partner was a woman. All of it did feel overwhelming.
"I'm sorry about everything last night, Hermione. I never want you to think I am keeping things from you. I honestly didn't even think to mention that Lex was a girl. It didn't even cross my mind as a problem," Ron said.
Hermione just shook her head and patted his chest as she walked past him, back toward their bed. Seeing the look in his eyes just confirmed she was being ridiculous the day before. He loved her so much and she knew that. "I'm sorry too...and it's not a problem. I'm embarrassed I was even upset my it, so yeah, I'm sorry."
Ron turned. "That's it? You're not mad anymore?"
"I was never mad at you, Ron. Annoyed? Yes. Mad? Takes more than that now," Hermione said, slowly easing onto their bed.
"Good to know your patients with me are growing," Ron grinned as he helped pull the blankets up to help get her back into bed.
"Don't push me too much," Hermione teased, getting comfortable.
"I think resting is a good idea. They don't want you back at the Ministry we know it's safe anyway." Ron said.
"I'm well aware," Hermione said, her tone slightly annoyed. Even though she currently felt awful she did not like to be told what she could and couldn't do based on someone else's threats.
"Hermione, it's just not safe," Ron reasoned.
"What about you?" Hermione asked as she closed her eyes. She still wasn't feeling great and she was fighting the feeling to return to the bathroom.
"I'll go in today...I need to know what Kingsley expects next but we have double Aurors on duty here to keep an eye on you so you'll be safe," Ron said.
"That I'm not so worried about," Hermione sighed.
"Do you need me to get anything from your office?" Ron asked.
"Yes, actually, there is a pile of folders on my desk, if you could bring them home? It will give me something to do while I sit around here," Hermione said.
"Alright," Ron leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Feel better, love."
"Love you," Hermione mumbled against his cheek, her eyes still closed. She knew if she could just get a bit more sleep she would feel better.
"Love you more," Ron whispered, kissing her once more before moving to get ready for work.
Hermione rolled over, making a mental note of how sweet Ron had been that morning and deciding she would cook him a beautiful dinner that evening to tell him he was going to be a father. Nothing would stop her this time.
Lex and Scorpius were the last to make it to Kingsley office, partly because the security at the Ministry had increase tenfold since the attack and neither of them were well known. By the time they made it to Kingsley's office they already found Ron and Harry sitting there with Kingsley, all three looking rather annoyed.
"Sorry, the security this morning was awful to get through," Scorpius felt the need to apologize.
Kingsley just waved the apology off and motioned for Scorpius and Lex to sit down. "We know it's been difficult getting in the morning, obviously we want to make sure things are secure."
"Well, yeah, a break in would warrant that," Lex couldn't hide the sarcasm in her voice.
Kingsley narrowed his eyes at her but didn't say anything.
"So what are we doing today? We need to figure out who did this, what they took, and what the danger here is. I don't like what's going on here," Ron sounded overly concerned.
"You just don't like having to keep Hermione locked up at home..." Harry smirked a little.
"Do you like doing it with Ginny?" Ron asked, knowing his sister was already being kept under strong security right now.
"Ginny is at home with a two year old and is pregnant, she already is locked up," Harry half joked causing Lex and Scorpius to both laugh.
"Well, we do need to figure that out...which is why I want Harry and Scorpius to go back down to the Department of Mysteries...try and figure out what shelf is missing a prophecy. That will point us at least in the right direction of what this could mean, or who it could be about." Kingsley said.
"That sounds like it could take weeks," Scorpius said cautiously.
"Unfortunately that could be correct, so best get a move on," Kingsley said.
"What about us?" Lex asked motioning to her and Ron.
Kingsley sighed. "So that's the thing...the Ministry was not the only break in that took place last night. Apparently St. Mungos had a break in as well. A few things were taking."
"What? What could they possibly steal from a hospital?" Lex asked, confused.
"Files...samples...we aren't entirely sure which is why we need you and Ron to go over there and check on things...see what has been taken," Kingsley said.
"Fine, as long as we are doing something," Ron said, eager to get going and figure out what exactly was going on.
Lex and Ron arrived at St Mungo via the flow network and were immediately taken to the top floor, where all of the records were kept. Upon entering the large room, they found it in complete disarray. Tables were flipped, vials shattered, and paper littered the floor.
"Bloody hell, this is a mess," Ron said, dumbfounded by what was in front of him.
"Someone was definitely looking for something," Lex agreed.
"And we believe they found it," the Head of Security, a retired Auror by the name of Charlie who had escorted the two down there said.
"So you know what's missing?" Lex asked.
Charlie nodded. "For the most part yes. We put protective charms on our more famous patients that let us know if any of their information leaves the premise."
"And some of it did, I'd assume?" Lex pressed.
Charlie nodded and then looked at Ron. "Mr. Weasley...your wife's files and most recent samples were taken from here last night."
"My wife? She hasn't been here in years. What would they want with her stuff?" Ron asked, confused.
Charlie furrowed his brow a bit. "Well, according to the records she was here last week."
Ron seemed visible confused and Lex tried to avoid eye contact with him. If Hermione had been at St. Mungos that meant she was pregnant and Ron didn't know yet.
"Did they say what they took on...Hermione?" Lex asked. It felt weird calling her mother by her first name.
"Her file and a recent blood sample," Charlie said, hanging Lex a list with a few other files that were stolen. Lex looked at it briefly and everything else looked more along the lines of halfbreed samples. Hermione's was clearly the only witch who had been targeted by the attack.
"Well, thank you," Lex said as Charlie left the room.
Ron said nothing as they moved through the turned over boxes and desks, looking for any clue as to who had been there. They searched the room for hours in silence until Charlie came back to escort them back to the main floor. Even then, Ron was quiet. Clearly he was still trying to piece together why Hermione had been there.
Once Charlie had left Ron and Lex alone, Lex spoke up. "You okay? You've been really quiet."
Ron nodded slowly, but clearly he was still searching for an answer. "Just curious why Hermione was here and didn't tell me."
"Honestly could have been something routine, doesn't mean anything really. Women have to go to the healer much more often than men," Lex tried to ease Ron's concerns until Hermione was ready to tell him she was pregnant.
"True," Ron sighed realizing Lex was right. Her comment put him at ease a bit.
Lex gave a half smile before looking at her watch and sighing. "It's late...we were here awhile."
Ron realized it was nearly dinner time as well as he looked at how tired Lex looked. Suddenly, he had an idea. "Did you have dinner plans?"
Lex seemed confused by Ron's question. "Uh...no."
"Well, why don't you come back to my house for dinner? It's late, and honestly, Hermione wants to meet you anyway." Ron realized it was the perfect opportunity to address Hermione's concerns from the night before.
Lex swallowed hard. She had finally gotten used to being around the younger version of her father but for some reason the thought about being near her mom made her nervous. "I don't want to put anyone out. It's late."
"It's not that late...besides everyone needs to eat," Ron reasoned.
After a moment Lex gave an awkward nod, knowing she would have to eventually see her mother at some point. "Yeah, alright."
Ron gave a slight smile at Lex, glad she accepted the invitation.
