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I finished the first draft. I stared at the computer screen blankly, unable to fathom what I had actually written. I read it over once more, this time aloud.

Dear Hermione Potter

I am writing to you today with deep sorry and regret as I wish to terminate our marriage of ten years. It was a long and difficult decision and not one I've taken lightly. You can have half of the estate was well as half of all the money from our Quidditch business that we set up together. Please consider my offer.

Yours Sincerely

Harry Potter

Finshing that last line almost gave me goosebumps. I never actually thought it would end, especially like this. Times were different time, much harder than before. We had a little girl, Charlotte, only six years old. She had just started school and needed some stability. She needed parents who loved each other. But I can't remember that last time Hermione and I even held hands.

I printed off a copy and took it downstairs where I saw Hermione sitting alone in the living room drinking a cup of warm cocoa in her. I walked past the living room. I wondered if I had enough courage to actually go in. This wasn't the first time I had thought about divorce but it was the first time I was actually going through with it. There were times when the silence between us was so oppressive I thought I was going to suffocate. And those times sitting alone by myself on the sofa, the half-dimmed lamp my only source of light while Hermione and Charlotte were out visiting her grandparents. I would sit and think about everything that had gone wrong. Sometimes I would drink too, and curse. Hermione hated that most of all.

When I entered the room, she turned her head but avoided eye contact with me. That's the way it had been for so long now - far too long. My hand was shaking as I handed the piece of paper to her. She snatched it and read it with a scowl. It didn't take long for her frown to deepen and when she got to the end she tore it up into tiny little pieces.
My heart sank.

What did she want?

If it wasn't all the money we had made, then I couldn't understand. She knew as much as I did that the marriage simply couldn't last. Even for Charlotte. We knew she deserved better. What could she possibly want?

I asked Hermione what was the matter but she didn't reply. She folded her arms and leaned back on the sofa in a huff. This was the way she always was. She never used to be so stubborn.

My mind tried to wander back to the time at Hogwarts, to the time we first met as young children growing up in a world of magic and mystery. United together through a common goal and then we decided to spend the rest of our lives together. But I looked up at the grand fireplace and I could see that our wedding picture had been slammed down.

I had a splitting headache.

I had to get out of there so I left the house and went to work just as usual.

I thought about Charlotte a lot that day. I thought about that time six years ago when she was born. We were both so happy. It was the best day of my life. She was born in during the whirlwind period of my romance with Hermione. Back then I was on top of the world. I can't say exactly how things got how they did but we found ourselves getting more and more frustrated with the ideals of married life. It wasn't how either of us imagined. And there was that one time. I try to block it out.

During one of our shouting matches, she was pointing her finger right in my face, I couldn't take it any more. I lost my temper, I pushed her, not hard, I didn't think it was anyway. I just wanted to back her away from me. She fell and hit the ground hard. She cried. There were small purple bruises on her hip and thigh. It was a complete accident if memory served me correctly. She remembered she grabbed me and I saw trying to shake her off, maybe a little too forcefully. Maybe I lost my temper. Still she never asked for a divorce but she never forgave me either. That was two years ago now.

I left the house immediately after I watched Hermione rip up my divorce statement and drove down to London where we had a large shop selling all kinds of magical and Quidditch goods. This was my respite. Time away from Hermione allowed my soul to cleanse. At home I felt like I was trapped in a cocoon unable to breath, unable to think. Here the people were warm and friendly.

Ginny was here too. We had met back in Hogwarts too. That was fifteen years ago now. Hermione and I had got married soon after graduation - that was eight years ago in itself. It felt like a lifetime. Ginny smiled and greeted me with a hug. We got on so well. Sometimes I wish I had chosen her instead of Hermione. The rest of the day was long and busy. I didn't have time to think about anything.

Going home in the darkness, I felt the pain rise up again in the pit of my stomach. The feeling of guilt? I wasn't sure. I just wished Hermione would understand my true feelings because I certainly didn't understand anything about her. She had become an enigma, too wrapped up in her own personal matters to care about me. Maybe I was too, I didn't know. When I arrived back home late, Hermione was still in the living room. She was sitting at the table in the dark using only a small lamp. She was scribbling something down furiously. Her eyes seemed intense and focused. She didn't seem to notice me or perhaps she was just ignoring me again.

I didn't think anything of it and with Charlotte already fast asleep I decided to head up stairs to the bedroom. We both still slept together in the same bed, the large queen size bed I had bought before our wedding day. The same bed I had covered with rose petals and picked her up, carried her over and laid her down gently that night of our wedding. But now we slept a good distant apart never, facing opposite directions, never touching.

I tried to block out all these negative thoughts and emotions and get some sleep. The next day I woke up and looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes were weary with heavy, dark circles underneath. I had let myself grow a beard, now long and unkempt covering up my once boyish face. The scar was still there but things had changed. I noticed there were a few grey strands in my hair. I was getting old and my marriage had taken its toll.

I got dressed in my suit and tie and went downstairs. To my surprise, Hermione was still there writing. It looked like she hadn't slept a wink. I didn't ask what she was writing. I was too scared.

I poured myself some coffee and sat down at the same table as her but facing away. Then Charlotte came bursting into the room, with a smile gleaming on her face. She ran up and put her arms around my neck. I picked her up and put her on my lap.

She was so beautiful. The love of my life. Long flowing blonde hair and bright blue eyes. There was so much expression and vitality in her eyes, she was magic, she didn't need spells or anything like that. She was perfect. She looked just like her mother.

"Ready for school, hun?" "Yep! Today we're doing a big project. But one day I hope to go to magic school and become a wizard just like you and mummy."

I smiled and looked back at Hermione. She smiled too but I knew she wasn't smiling at me. We tried to make it as easy as possible for Charlotte with all our problems. We had no idea how she would take a divorce.

"You're already magic, hun."

"But Daddy, I wanna learn spells and fight."

"We don't do any fighting anymore. Have a great day at school today!"

"Thanks, Daddy."

She hugged me once more and kissed me on the cheek. I blushed. She then got down from my lap and kissed Hermione. Charlotte skipped happily out of the house with her satchel on her shoulders After Charlotte left the house and closed the door behind her, Hermione finally put her pen down on the table. She held the paper up and read it with a stern, serious expression. I was intrigued now. I tried to catch a glance but she kept it hidden.

"What is it?" I asked.

There was a long deafening silence between us.

Then finally she replied.

"These are my divorce conditions."

"You were writing that all night?"

"I was thinking."

"And they're different from mine? How much do you want? You're not going to toss me into the gutter, are you?"

She handed me the piece of paper and told me to read it. It read:

Dear Harry Potter

I'm writing to you to express my desire to terminate our marriage. But under certain conditions. Just one condition, in fact. And that is for next thirty days commencing tomorrow (September 19th), you will carry me in your arms from the bedroom to the front door every morning. You will also carry me home any time we go out together with Charlotte. After this, I will agree to a divorce with no other conditions. Thank you for your understanding.

Yours sincerely,

Hermione Potter

I sniggered a little. She couldn't be serious. Was this a joke? I questioned her about it several times but her answer was always the same. "I will only divorce if you carry me in your arms for the next 30 days." I didn't have time to have a large debate about all this. I took the paper, folded it and put it in my top pocket. Still with a sense of bemusement I grabbed my briefcase and walked out the front door.

In the car, I put on loud heavy metal music. I didn't like it but it was enough to drown out my thoughts. Thinking too much was making me grey and old.

At work, Ginny greeted me again with a smile and a hug. But it wasn't quite enough to plug the hole left in my heart.

"Hi, Harry, how's it going?" she asked.

"You know, same as usual."

"You're really going to divorce Hermione then? That's such a shame."

"Yes, it's really going to happen now. But she didn't accept my terms and conditions."

"What do you mean?"

"She made her own terms and conditions." I said taking taking the piece of paper from my top pocket and handing it to Ginny. Ginny read it, a grin growing wider and wider with each line and by the end she was laughing.

"Is this a joke?" she asked. The same question I had asked Hermione. I gave her answer.

"No." I replied.

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I mean it's just absurd."

"I know." I said, taking the paper back from her and reading it one more time. There was a moment of silence, a moment of hesitation. Ginny then approached me and put her hand on my shoulder in a comforting sisterly kind of way. Ginny was always so good at making me feel better when I felt depressed about Hermione.

She looked at me square in the eyes. She was worried about me. She used her other hand to stroke my cheek. I thought she was going to kiss me for a moment. She leaned into me and said softly:

"So, you're really going to do it?"

Was I really going to do it?

What choice did I have?

A tear started to swell up and I looked away from Ginny to try and hide my pain.

Was I really going to do it?