Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Innocence Faded
About to Crash
3 reviewsAU. Immediately post-Epilogue. Harry is happily married to Ginny, but new information comes to light that changes that. And threatens his life.
1Original
Disclaimer: Its /FAN/fiction. If you don't know what that means, look it up. "About to Crash" Lyrics belong to Dream Theater.
A/N: The idea came from a half-waking dream in the half-sleep twilight period this morning. For those that don't know, this was the first chapter that Iwrote, with Overture written primarily to fill in backstory.
Chapter 1: About to Crash
Even though she gets so high
He knows that she can't fly
And when she falls out of the sky
He'll be standing by
--Dream Theater "About to Crash"
After the train disappeared, Harry walked over to Hermione. "How are Jonas and Jenna?" he asked. They were twins, going into their seventh year at Hogwarts. While Jonas, with his curly brown hair, resembled his mother more than anyone else, Jenna's shiny red hair gave her a stronger resemblance to her paternal grandmother.
"They're fine. They made Head Boy and Head Girl," Hermione replied. They were interrupted when Ron and Ginny walked up, each trailing their non-Hogwarts-bound child.
"I'm gonna take Ginny and Lily back to the Burrow when I drop the car off," Ron said, referring to the old 2009 Audi S6 that he and Hermione shared with the older Weasleys. "Look mate," he whispered to Harry as he led him away from the women and children, "I want talk to you away from prying eyes and ears. Do you think that you could meet me at the Three Broomsticks tomorrow night after dinner?"
Harry, intrigued, replied, "What's this about?"
Ron looked to see where Hermione and Ginny were at, and then moved closer. "It's about Ginny. Ginny and Hermione."
Harry's curiosity was piqued. "I'll get a private room."
"That's what I was gonna suggest," Ron said, turning to collect his sister, his sone and his niece.
Harry then apparated to Hogsmeade with Hermione, the new Charms Professor. Harry was the new Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. He had taken the job because of a leg injury that would never fully heal to the way it was before. He wanted to do something meaningful and worthwhile, and being a desk jockey just didn't seem as rewarding as teaching.
------
After the feast, Harry sought out two specific individuals.
"Dad!" shouted Jennifer Haley Potter as she threw her arms around him. Her brother, Jonas Henry Potter merely shook Harry's hand firmly. Jenna had his eyes, while Jonas had hazel eyes that resembled a blend of Harry's and Hermione's.
"Now that I teach here it's no longer permissible to call me Dad. It's Professor Potter to you." He said sternly, before cracking a smile. "So, you two are following in the footsteps of your famous parents, becoming Head Boy and Head Girl, just like Hermione and I, though, of course, we were a year delayed in our return for seventh year," he paused, Odd, that's the first time in years I've been able to talk about my time with Hermione in a positive light. It still hurts to think about it, though. "First time a brother-sister duo held those positions in the history of Hogwarts. You'll be in /Hogwarts, a History/, for sure," He said with a smile as they entered his office.
As soon as the door closed, Jonas said,"You know, Dad, you sound just like mom when you say that." Harry noticed they seemed a little sad. Even after sixteen years--they barely knew him when he was married to Hermione--they seemed sad whenever Harry mentioned their mother. Hermione had told him that they got in similar moods when she mentioned him.
Harry noticed this and made his usual attempt to get them to stop moping over the past. "How many times do I have to tell you that it just didn't work out between the two of us?"
Jenna seemed like she wanted to say something but Jonas's elbow to the ribs stopped her.
They talked for almost an hour about what had been happening in their lives; for instance Jonas had begun studying to become an animagus and Jenna already had several offers for tryouts with professional quidditch teams--she was a seeker, just like her father--until Jonas yawned and said, "I think it's time for us to be getting to bed. It's been good speaking with you, Dad."
Harry bid them both good night, and went to his quarters. As he fell asleep, he wondered if his life could get any better. /Probably not/, was the response from somewhere within.
------
Harry's first class the next day was the seventh year D.A.D.A. class. When he got to Jonas and Jenna on the roll sheet, he said, "I expect more from you two in my class than I do from anyone else. Not because of who your father is," several people smirked at this remark, "but because of who your mother is."
After finishing roll, he said, "Now, in the past six years, you've learned a variety of skills and spells in this class. This year, I'm going to teach you how to use put those skills to practical use. I'll be teaching you how to duel. I know that most of you know the basics, but that's not enough. The basics won't save you in a fight against dark wizards. I barely knew anything beyond the basics back when I..." he paused, lost in a painful memory. It wasn't the battle he was remembering, though. He was remembering after the battle. How he felt, what happened...
He shook himself out of his reverie."When I defeated Voldemort," He was pleased when only half of the class reacted noticeably, "and I'm surprised I'm alive to tell you about it."
He spent the rest of the class period working on dueling. Most of them were pretty lousy, a few were fairly good, and Jonas and Jenna were brilliant. Obviously their mother had been giving them extra lessons.
------
That night at the Three Broomsticks, Harry got a private room, where he waited for Ron. While he waited, he found himself thinking of all his past relationships. He hadn't been able to shake the pain of the memory of when he proposed to Hermione after the final battle. He found himself thinking back to Julie Cummings, a neighborhood girl two years older then himself, who had been drawn to the 'bad boy' image cultivated by the Dursleys in the summer before third year--an unexpected consequence to the Dursleys--though she quickly saw through it. She didn't leave him after she found out that he wasn't the juvenile delinquent she thought he was, however. She had been his first. His Imzadi, if he remembered the term from Star Trek that Hermione had used during that 'break' from the Horcrux hunt. Then during fourth year it had been Padma and Parvati. Simultaneously. Fifth year was spent chasing that train wreck of a crush, Cho Chang. Sixth year he had dated Ginny. He had fallen in love with her that year. Then there was the Horcrux hunt. Harry had thought that he was in love with Hermione at the time, even proposed to her after the final battle.
What followed was three painful years. Hang on. The first two years weren't painful. They were the happiest of my life! I never did love Ginny! I really did love Hermione! How could I have been such an idiot? Why did I ever leave Hermione? Now she's lost to me forever.Harry suddenly realized that the pain from his memories of his time with Hermione was caused by what he had given up, not what had happened. Tears were threatening.
Harry was startled from his reverie by the entrance of Ron. Only he wasn't alone. Hermione followed him into the room. Though the divorce had been bitter, and things were said by both parties that were regretted, they had managed to eventually piece together the friendship they once had. The twins had helped. However, after this new revelation, he couldn't face her. He'd fucked up royally. He turned to Ron and asked, "So why did you want to talk to me?" silently implying /and Hermione/.
Ron sighed heavily. He looked as if he was about to say the hardest thing he had ever had to say. "Last week, while visiting the Burrow, I noticed mum helping Ginny brew a potion, which was odd as they are both highly skilled potion brewers. This made me suspicious, and my Auror instincts kicked in. I disillusioned myself and waited in an out of the way corner for them to finish up and leave the room. When they left the room after completing it, Imanaged to nick some of it. I gave it to George for analysis. I got the results back yesterday morning. It was Amortentia Minima, a--"
Hermione's eyes were bulging out, a look of cold fury on her face, as she interrupted, "It's only the most subtle love potion ever created. It makes formerly happy memories the one dosed has of a target individual--particularly those most strongly connected to the emotion love--gradually become more painful, until they can no longer consciously think of them anymore. It usually causes strong feelings of resentment to form between the drinker and the chosen target. It's also one of the most difficult and dangerous potions to brew. No wonder she needed help. It's recommended no one shy of a potions master brew it by themselves, even potions masters are recommended to have help when brewing it. That selfish BITCH!"
Ron nodded. "Like most love potions it is legal. However, unlike most love potions, the use of Amortentia Minima to break up a marriage is considered just shy of using an Unforgivable Curse as it's effects are nigh impossible to completely counteract," He added.
Harry was beside himself. He sighed,"This gets us nowhere. So what if I've been manipulated these past sixteen years. Life can never be the way it was before." He was on the verge of tears as his life was suddenly crashing down around him. His sorrow was slowly freezing into a cold fury. He was angry at Ginny for taking away a life that should have been his. He was angry with her for giving him a life that he had never wanted.Come to think of it, she hadn't wanted him to take the teaching job.
He sighed again, feeling the tears dry up before they could be shed, his cold fury melting back into sorrow. "Thank you for telling me this, but I would have been better off not knowing. At least then I might have had a chance at a happy life with Ginny. Now I've got nothing. I'm not sure if I can even face any of my children."
Hermione stepped forward and hugged him fiercely. "I don't know what to do either. I've enjoyed the past fourteen years, but they were nothing like those two glorious years we had together." Hermione was no longer furious. She was heartbroken. Sure, she had had sixteen years of her life taken away from her. But she had retained her free will throughout all those years. Harry had not. He could do whatever he wanted, except be with her. She had turned to Ron for comfort when Harry had demanded first the separation, then the divorce. Ron had been understanding, but he was always very insecure about their relationship, knowing that he would always be her second choice. Hermione was immensely grateful to him for coming forward with this information.
She turned to Ron. She gave him a big hug, and said, "I, too, really appreciate you coming forward with this. I know how hard it must have been for you. If you had never said anything about it, neither of us would have been the wiser," she hugged him again, this time more deeply than she had Harry. "I'm going to need some time to think. Ihave some serious soul searching to do," she turned to Harry. "Please, try not to do anything rash."
Ron disentangled himself from Hermione. He walked over to Harry and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll stay with him. I'll make sure Harry stays away from any food packages that Ginny or Mum send." He looked at his friend. "Could you wait outside for a minute? I have something to say to Hermione before we leave." Harry looked up unseeingly with his dead looking eyes and nodded.
After the door was shut, Ron turned to Hermione, "Look, whatever you decide to do, I'll support you. I just want you to be happy."
Hermione, through teary eyes looked up at him in bewilderment. "What happened to the jealous git who refused to be Harry's best man at our wedding? The one who refused to even attend?"
"I dunno, I haven't seen him in along time. Good thing too. He was a real prat wasn't he?" Ron replied with a smile. "Seriously? I've grown up a lot. I regret not being there for you two at your wedding, or for that entire first year. Dean once told me, 'If you love someone set them free,' and that's what I'm doing now, nineteen years too late. I've been doing a lot of soul searching of my own in the past forty-eight hours. I think if you decide that you can be happier with Harry, you should give it a shot."
He made a move to the door. "I'm gonna take Harry up to the hospital wing. He needs a calming draught and adreamless sleep potion right now. You go and do whatever thinking you need to do."
Ron opened the door and found Harry sitting on the floor next to the door. "C'mon mate, we need to get you to the hospital wing," he pulled Harry up and proceeded to lead Harry to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had retired several years ago, and was replaced by Eloise Midgen, who, in her quest to get her nose back on center, had become atalented healer. Ron quickly explained the situation to her, and she gave Harry a dreamless sleep potion along with a calming draught, and went to set up aregimen of potions to help flush the love potion from his system, and maybe something to deal with the depression, though she wasn't to hopeful about the latter.
Ron sat beside the bed of one of his oldest friends. He still couldn't believe what his sister had done. Not only had she given Harry a love potion, she had broken up a perfectly happy marriage. Ron still remembered the day that Hermione had come to him, crying, after the first fight.
He had been sitting in front of the fireplace at his flat, listening to the WWN coverage of the latest thrashing of the Cannons, when suddenly the flames in the fireplace had turned an emerald green and Hermione had rushed out of the fireplace, soot clinging to the tear tracks on her face. While Ron couldn't quite remember what the fight was over, it had certainly sounded like it could have rivaled any of his arguments with Hermione. It had been the first time Hermione had come to him for consolation over a fight with Harry. But it had not been the last. Over the next three months she had made at least one teary-eyed trip to his flat every week.
Until the time she came over and wasn't crying. She didn't say much of anything for the next week, besides asking him if she and the twins could stay over. She had a haunted look in her eyes. When she finally did talk, she had tearfully told him that Harry had thrown her out of their house and was demanding a trial separation. Ron was stunned. That did not sound like the Harry he knew. Then again, the Harry he knew was no longer the Harry he talked to every day.
Six months later divorce proceedings were finalized, and six months after that, Harry and Ginny were married. The Harry he knew seemed to return. Ron and Hermione had fallen in love by then and were married six months after that. The twins were the only reason that Harry and Hermione talked for those first two years, though they eventually did become friends again, even if they were not as close as before.
Ron thought about the past sixteen years. It should have been obvious. Ginny had never been fond of the twins. She had always resented Harry doting on them, and she always tried to ignore them as much as possible when they were around. How could I have been so blind? I guess I'm not totally innocent in all this, considering I got what I had secretly wanted at the time. He decided to pay his mum a visit tomorrow, and perhaps he'd take George with him.
------
Hermione was staying with her parents, who had returned to Britain just in time for her wedding to Harry. She wanted to know why Ginny had done it. Why she had betrayed the trust that she and Harry had placed in her. She just didn't trust herself to confront her face to face. She took out a parchment and quill and wrote a simple note:
Why did you do it? Why? WHY?
She went downstairs and asked if she could borrow Athena, the owl Harry had gotten her parents so they could keep in touch with her. She then sent it off with the note.
After watching Athena disappear into the blackness, she went up to her room and tried to sleep, but sleep did not come easily. Everything about this house reminded her of her time with Harry. Harry had even bought the house for her parents. She remembered the wedding, the vows. She never did stop loving Harry. And quite possibly he still loved her. But could she just leave behind the last fifteen years? Sleep finally found her going over the pros and cons of each option that she could possibly choose.
------
A/N/: Questions? Comments? Plotholes? Just leave them in a review and I'll do my best to get back to you. I honestly hope you like it. I woke up with the idea and I just couldn't let it get away. Please review; I'm feeling terribly insecure right now, particularly about this fic.
A/N: The idea came from a half-waking dream in the half-sleep twilight period this morning. For those that don't know, this was the first chapter that Iwrote, with Overture written primarily to fill in backstory.
Chapter 1: About to Crash
Even though she gets so high
He knows that she can't fly
And when she falls out of the sky
He'll be standing by
--Dream Theater "About to Crash"
After the train disappeared, Harry walked over to Hermione. "How are Jonas and Jenna?" he asked. They were twins, going into their seventh year at Hogwarts. While Jonas, with his curly brown hair, resembled his mother more than anyone else, Jenna's shiny red hair gave her a stronger resemblance to her paternal grandmother.
"They're fine. They made Head Boy and Head Girl," Hermione replied. They were interrupted when Ron and Ginny walked up, each trailing their non-Hogwarts-bound child.
"I'm gonna take Ginny and Lily back to the Burrow when I drop the car off," Ron said, referring to the old 2009 Audi S6 that he and Hermione shared with the older Weasleys. "Look mate," he whispered to Harry as he led him away from the women and children, "I want talk to you away from prying eyes and ears. Do you think that you could meet me at the Three Broomsticks tomorrow night after dinner?"
Harry, intrigued, replied, "What's this about?"
Ron looked to see where Hermione and Ginny were at, and then moved closer. "It's about Ginny. Ginny and Hermione."
Harry's curiosity was piqued. "I'll get a private room."
"That's what I was gonna suggest," Ron said, turning to collect his sister, his sone and his niece.
Harry then apparated to Hogsmeade with Hermione, the new Charms Professor. Harry was the new Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. He had taken the job because of a leg injury that would never fully heal to the way it was before. He wanted to do something meaningful and worthwhile, and being a desk jockey just didn't seem as rewarding as teaching.
------
After the feast, Harry sought out two specific individuals.
"Dad!" shouted Jennifer Haley Potter as she threw her arms around him. Her brother, Jonas Henry Potter merely shook Harry's hand firmly. Jenna had his eyes, while Jonas had hazel eyes that resembled a blend of Harry's and Hermione's.
"Now that I teach here it's no longer permissible to call me Dad. It's Professor Potter to you." He said sternly, before cracking a smile. "So, you two are following in the footsteps of your famous parents, becoming Head Boy and Head Girl, just like Hermione and I, though, of course, we were a year delayed in our return for seventh year," he paused, Odd, that's the first time in years I've been able to talk about my time with Hermione in a positive light. It still hurts to think about it, though. "First time a brother-sister duo held those positions in the history of Hogwarts. You'll be in /Hogwarts, a History/, for sure," He said with a smile as they entered his office.
As soon as the door closed, Jonas said,"You know, Dad, you sound just like mom when you say that." Harry noticed they seemed a little sad. Even after sixteen years--they barely knew him when he was married to Hermione--they seemed sad whenever Harry mentioned their mother. Hermione had told him that they got in similar moods when she mentioned him.
Harry noticed this and made his usual attempt to get them to stop moping over the past. "How many times do I have to tell you that it just didn't work out between the two of us?"
Jenna seemed like she wanted to say something but Jonas's elbow to the ribs stopped her.
They talked for almost an hour about what had been happening in their lives; for instance Jonas had begun studying to become an animagus and Jenna already had several offers for tryouts with professional quidditch teams--she was a seeker, just like her father--until Jonas yawned and said, "I think it's time for us to be getting to bed. It's been good speaking with you, Dad."
Harry bid them both good night, and went to his quarters. As he fell asleep, he wondered if his life could get any better. /Probably not/, was the response from somewhere within.
------
Harry's first class the next day was the seventh year D.A.D.A. class. When he got to Jonas and Jenna on the roll sheet, he said, "I expect more from you two in my class than I do from anyone else. Not because of who your father is," several people smirked at this remark, "but because of who your mother is."
After finishing roll, he said, "Now, in the past six years, you've learned a variety of skills and spells in this class. This year, I'm going to teach you how to use put those skills to practical use. I'll be teaching you how to duel. I know that most of you know the basics, but that's not enough. The basics won't save you in a fight against dark wizards. I barely knew anything beyond the basics back when I..." he paused, lost in a painful memory. It wasn't the battle he was remembering, though. He was remembering after the battle. How he felt, what happened...
He shook himself out of his reverie."When I defeated Voldemort," He was pleased when only half of the class reacted noticeably, "and I'm surprised I'm alive to tell you about it."
He spent the rest of the class period working on dueling. Most of them were pretty lousy, a few were fairly good, and Jonas and Jenna were brilliant. Obviously their mother had been giving them extra lessons.
------
That night at the Three Broomsticks, Harry got a private room, where he waited for Ron. While he waited, he found himself thinking of all his past relationships. He hadn't been able to shake the pain of the memory of when he proposed to Hermione after the final battle. He found himself thinking back to Julie Cummings, a neighborhood girl two years older then himself, who had been drawn to the 'bad boy' image cultivated by the Dursleys in the summer before third year--an unexpected consequence to the Dursleys--though she quickly saw through it. She didn't leave him after she found out that he wasn't the juvenile delinquent she thought he was, however. She had been his first. His Imzadi, if he remembered the term from Star Trek that Hermione had used during that 'break' from the Horcrux hunt. Then during fourth year it had been Padma and Parvati. Simultaneously. Fifth year was spent chasing that train wreck of a crush, Cho Chang. Sixth year he had dated Ginny. He had fallen in love with her that year. Then there was the Horcrux hunt. Harry had thought that he was in love with Hermione at the time, even proposed to her after the final battle.
What followed was three painful years. Hang on. The first two years weren't painful. They were the happiest of my life! I never did love Ginny! I really did love Hermione! How could I have been such an idiot? Why did I ever leave Hermione? Now she's lost to me forever.Harry suddenly realized that the pain from his memories of his time with Hermione was caused by what he had given up, not what had happened. Tears were threatening.
Harry was startled from his reverie by the entrance of Ron. Only he wasn't alone. Hermione followed him into the room. Though the divorce had been bitter, and things were said by both parties that were regretted, they had managed to eventually piece together the friendship they once had. The twins had helped. However, after this new revelation, he couldn't face her. He'd fucked up royally. He turned to Ron and asked, "So why did you want to talk to me?" silently implying /and Hermione/.
Ron sighed heavily. He looked as if he was about to say the hardest thing he had ever had to say. "Last week, while visiting the Burrow, I noticed mum helping Ginny brew a potion, which was odd as they are both highly skilled potion brewers. This made me suspicious, and my Auror instincts kicked in. I disillusioned myself and waited in an out of the way corner for them to finish up and leave the room. When they left the room after completing it, Imanaged to nick some of it. I gave it to George for analysis. I got the results back yesterday morning. It was Amortentia Minima, a--"
Hermione's eyes were bulging out, a look of cold fury on her face, as she interrupted, "It's only the most subtle love potion ever created. It makes formerly happy memories the one dosed has of a target individual--particularly those most strongly connected to the emotion love--gradually become more painful, until they can no longer consciously think of them anymore. It usually causes strong feelings of resentment to form between the drinker and the chosen target. It's also one of the most difficult and dangerous potions to brew. No wonder she needed help. It's recommended no one shy of a potions master brew it by themselves, even potions masters are recommended to have help when brewing it. That selfish BITCH!"
Ron nodded. "Like most love potions it is legal. However, unlike most love potions, the use of Amortentia Minima to break up a marriage is considered just shy of using an Unforgivable Curse as it's effects are nigh impossible to completely counteract," He added.
Harry was beside himself. He sighed,"This gets us nowhere. So what if I've been manipulated these past sixteen years. Life can never be the way it was before." He was on the verge of tears as his life was suddenly crashing down around him. His sorrow was slowly freezing into a cold fury. He was angry at Ginny for taking away a life that should have been his. He was angry with her for giving him a life that he had never wanted.Come to think of it, she hadn't wanted him to take the teaching job.
He sighed again, feeling the tears dry up before they could be shed, his cold fury melting back into sorrow. "Thank you for telling me this, but I would have been better off not knowing. At least then I might have had a chance at a happy life with Ginny. Now I've got nothing. I'm not sure if I can even face any of my children."
Hermione stepped forward and hugged him fiercely. "I don't know what to do either. I've enjoyed the past fourteen years, but they were nothing like those two glorious years we had together." Hermione was no longer furious. She was heartbroken. Sure, she had had sixteen years of her life taken away from her. But she had retained her free will throughout all those years. Harry had not. He could do whatever he wanted, except be with her. She had turned to Ron for comfort when Harry had demanded first the separation, then the divorce. Ron had been understanding, but he was always very insecure about their relationship, knowing that he would always be her second choice. Hermione was immensely grateful to him for coming forward with this information.
She turned to Ron. She gave him a big hug, and said, "I, too, really appreciate you coming forward with this. I know how hard it must have been for you. If you had never said anything about it, neither of us would have been the wiser," she hugged him again, this time more deeply than she had Harry. "I'm going to need some time to think. Ihave some serious soul searching to do," she turned to Harry. "Please, try not to do anything rash."
Ron disentangled himself from Hermione. He walked over to Harry and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll stay with him. I'll make sure Harry stays away from any food packages that Ginny or Mum send." He looked at his friend. "Could you wait outside for a minute? I have something to say to Hermione before we leave." Harry looked up unseeingly with his dead looking eyes and nodded.
After the door was shut, Ron turned to Hermione, "Look, whatever you decide to do, I'll support you. I just want you to be happy."
Hermione, through teary eyes looked up at him in bewilderment. "What happened to the jealous git who refused to be Harry's best man at our wedding? The one who refused to even attend?"
"I dunno, I haven't seen him in along time. Good thing too. He was a real prat wasn't he?" Ron replied with a smile. "Seriously? I've grown up a lot. I regret not being there for you two at your wedding, or for that entire first year. Dean once told me, 'If you love someone set them free,' and that's what I'm doing now, nineteen years too late. I've been doing a lot of soul searching of my own in the past forty-eight hours. I think if you decide that you can be happier with Harry, you should give it a shot."
He made a move to the door. "I'm gonna take Harry up to the hospital wing. He needs a calming draught and adreamless sleep potion right now. You go and do whatever thinking you need to do."
Ron opened the door and found Harry sitting on the floor next to the door. "C'mon mate, we need to get you to the hospital wing," he pulled Harry up and proceeded to lead Harry to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had retired several years ago, and was replaced by Eloise Midgen, who, in her quest to get her nose back on center, had become atalented healer. Ron quickly explained the situation to her, and she gave Harry a dreamless sleep potion along with a calming draught, and went to set up aregimen of potions to help flush the love potion from his system, and maybe something to deal with the depression, though she wasn't to hopeful about the latter.
Ron sat beside the bed of one of his oldest friends. He still couldn't believe what his sister had done. Not only had she given Harry a love potion, she had broken up a perfectly happy marriage. Ron still remembered the day that Hermione had come to him, crying, after the first fight.
He had been sitting in front of the fireplace at his flat, listening to the WWN coverage of the latest thrashing of the Cannons, when suddenly the flames in the fireplace had turned an emerald green and Hermione had rushed out of the fireplace, soot clinging to the tear tracks on her face. While Ron couldn't quite remember what the fight was over, it had certainly sounded like it could have rivaled any of his arguments with Hermione. It had been the first time Hermione had come to him for consolation over a fight with Harry. But it had not been the last. Over the next three months she had made at least one teary-eyed trip to his flat every week.
Until the time she came over and wasn't crying. She didn't say much of anything for the next week, besides asking him if she and the twins could stay over. She had a haunted look in her eyes. When she finally did talk, she had tearfully told him that Harry had thrown her out of their house and was demanding a trial separation. Ron was stunned. That did not sound like the Harry he knew. Then again, the Harry he knew was no longer the Harry he talked to every day.
Six months later divorce proceedings were finalized, and six months after that, Harry and Ginny were married. The Harry he knew seemed to return. Ron and Hermione had fallen in love by then and were married six months after that. The twins were the only reason that Harry and Hermione talked for those first two years, though they eventually did become friends again, even if they were not as close as before.
Ron thought about the past sixteen years. It should have been obvious. Ginny had never been fond of the twins. She had always resented Harry doting on them, and she always tried to ignore them as much as possible when they were around. How could I have been so blind? I guess I'm not totally innocent in all this, considering I got what I had secretly wanted at the time. He decided to pay his mum a visit tomorrow, and perhaps he'd take George with him.
------
Hermione was staying with her parents, who had returned to Britain just in time for her wedding to Harry. She wanted to know why Ginny had done it. Why she had betrayed the trust that she and Harry had placed in her. She just didn't trust herself to confront her face to face. She took out a parchment and quill and wrote a simple note:
Why did you do it? Why? WHY?
She went downstairs and asked if she could borrow Athena, the owl Harry had gotten her parents so they could keep in touch with her. She then sent it off with the note.
After watching Athena disappear into the blackness, she went up to her room and tried to sleep, but sleep did not come easily. Everything about this house reminded her of her time with Harry. Harry had even bought the house for her parents. She remembered the wedding, the vows. She never did stop loving Harry. And quite possibly he still loved her. But could she just leave behind the last fifteen years? Sleep finally found her going over the pros and cons of each option that she could possibly choose.
------
A/N/: Questions? Comments? Plotholes? Just leave them in a review and I'll do my best to get back to you. I honestly hope you like it. I woke up with the idea and I just couldn't let it get away. Please review; I'm feeling terribly insecure right now, particularly about this fic.
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