Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in updates. I had to embrace my inner Hermione and study for a continuing education class for my job and take a killer exam. Spent most of the week studying for it and am happy to say that it paid off and I passed the exam! Yay me! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for all the kind reviews!
There's a line in here that I borrowed from the movie, "Sweet Home Alabama" and from a story that I started but never finished, "Saved the best for Last".
Chapter 20
"Nothing's As Bad As It Seems"
The Weasley family dinners were legendary. Although the family was spread out across the world these days, they all always seemed to make it back home for the weekly Tuesday family dinner.
Molly would usually begin cooking first thing in the morning. By late afternoon, The Burrow was alive with the hypnotic smells of foods like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and different types of breads and sweets. George and Fred would always try and sneak in to the kitchen every now and then to sneak a roll or a muffin. Sometimes they were successful in their covert kitchen missions, sometimes not. When they were caught, they had to deal with a not very happy Molly, which no one liked to deal with.
Although he'd missed many things during his time away, Harry reckoned that Weasley family dinners ranked somewhere near the top. He'd always considered the Weasleys a sort of surrogate family. Molly and Arthur had always treated him just like another son.
Never once, in the years that he'd known the family, had he ever dreaded the thought of seeing them. Now, as he sat in Hermione's kitchen sipping a cup of tea, he couldn't shake the feeling of utter dread and apprehension that had swept over him. He couldn't fool himself into thinking that they'd welcome he and Hermione into their home with open arms and wish them well.
His love for Hermione hadn't come without consequences. To be with her, he'd had to hurt his best friend and the only family he'd ever truly known. He didn't know how it was possible to be so happy and to feel like such a shit all at the same time.
He and Hermione had slept the majority of the morning and afternoon. They'd both been worn out from the long flight. They had willingly given in to their exhaustion and got some much needed sleep.
At just past six, Hermione had woken up. Harry followed suit a few minutes later. Remembering what day it was, they'd decided, albeit reluctantly, to go and see Ron. They both knew that they longer they put it off, the worse it would get.
Hermione came out of the bathroom, looking refreshed, but somewhat uneasy. She'd put on a pair of blue jeans and a royal blue v-neck shirt. Around her neck was the silver locket that Harry had given her. She'd pulled her hair back with a barrette.
"Feeling better?" Harry asked, watching her as she walked into the kitchen.
She gave a weak smile. "I was just thinking that I'd much rather confront Fluffy the three-headed dog than do this."
"Yeah, me too," Harry said.
"You know that when I was little and I'd get nervous about something, my mum would always say, 'Nothing is as bad as you think it's going to be,'" Hermione said, taking a seat beside Harry at the kitchen table. "I keep trying to tell myself that."
"Does it work?" Harry asked.
"I'll let you know after we talk to Ron," she said, giving him a slight smile. She leaned in and lay her head on Harry's shoulder.
"I love you," he said, stroking her hair.
"I love you, too," she said. "I think I'll just hold on to that to get me through this."
"That sounds like a plan," he said. "Well, we'd better get going."
Hermione took a deep breath and got up from the chair. She took Harry's hand as he led her toward the door.
"Nothing is as bad as you think it's going to be," Hermione repeated again. "I hope my mum's right about this."
"George!" Molly exclaimed, hitting her son over the head with a spatula. "If you come in here one more time and try and sneak out another biscuit, I will turn you into a---well, I don't know what I'll do, but it will be very bad."
George rubbed his sore scalp and dropped the contraband biscuit he'd held triumphantly in his hands moments earlier. "All right," he said. "I don't think it's very nice to torture your family like this though. Making us smell this food all bloody afternoon and not give us a sample every now and then. And you call yourself a mother. You should be ashamed!"
George took one look at the grimace on his mother's face and knew he shouldn't push it any further. He smiled sweetly at her and then retreated back to the living room to join his family.
The living room, which was usually abuzz with activity and chatter, was pretty much silent. A sullen-looking Ron sat morosely in the corner. Arthur was discussing his day at work with his son-in-law Draco, who was trying to seem interested as Arthur again discussed the merits of Muggle fax machines. Bill, Charlie and Fred were playing a game of exploding snap near the coffee table. Ginny was trying to get comfortable on the couch.
George sat down beside his sister and smiled sweetly at her.
"What do you want, George?" Ginny said, looking at her brother curiously.
George pretended to look shocked. "Why do you think I want something other than to sit beside my pregnant sister and discuss her day."
"Okay," Ginny said. "Well, you'll be happy to know that around the eighth month of pregnancy, a woman begins to feel-"
George put up his hands and waved them at her. "Stop! Stop! I don't think I need to hear about this."
"Okay, then," Ginny said, laughing. "What is it that you want from me?"
"Well, you know you being with child and all, I was thinking that mum would probably let you go in the kitchen and sneak a biscuit. I mean, it's not like she'd hit you upside the head if you went in there to get something to eat," George said, giving her a pleading look.
"It's nice that you're so worried about me and the baby, George," she said. "I suppose you'd like me to sneak you a biscuit, too. No, thank you. I value my life and the life of my child so I think I'll pass on the idea of going into that kitchen."
George scowled at her. Ginny laughed.
"Ron," Ginny said, taking another look at her older brother. He'd been quiet since they'd arrived. He'd barely muttered a hello to them. They'd all made a pact before arriving that they'd not mention Harry or Hermione or Hawaii, or pretty much anything that started with the letter "H".
"If he wants to talk about it, we'll talk about it," Ginny had told her brothers and her husband as they stood outside the Burrow earlier that evening. "Follow his lead. This can't be easy for him. And that means no jokes at his expense, George."
"Did you have any idea about them?" Charlie had asked. "I mean, I knew they'd been close, but I had no idea."
Draco sniffed. "Come on," he said. "Did you ever look at the two of them? Granger would always get moony-eyed whenever Potter walked into the room. Even a stupid git like Crabbe could see that."
"Yes, but that was at school," Ginny said. "I don't remember them ever acting on their feelings while we were all at school."
"Well, you weren't with them all the time," Fred said. "Who knows what happened when we weren't around, or Ron, for that matter? Who knows how long this has been going on?"
"You know how The Daily Prophet is, though," Ginny said. "There's been a number of times when the stuff they print hasn't had a bit of truth to it. This could be the case that time, too."
"Well, where there's smoke, though, there's usually fire," Bill said. "They looked pretty cozy in those photos. But, Ginny's right. The important thing is that we follow Ron's lead and see how he wants to handle this. Let's not make any rash decisions without hearing from Harry or Hermione first."
They'd all agreed to that. As Ginny watched her brother sulking on the chair in the corner, she wanted so much to go over and give him a hug and tell him that it would all be okay. Everything happened for a reason, she'd always believed. She hated to see anyone in her family in pain and it was hard to see Ron, who always seemed so happy, to be suffering so much. Ron caught her staring at him and she gave him a reassuring smile. Ron gave her a slight smile and then looked back down at the carpet.
A knock at the door interrupted everything a few moments later. Charlie got to his feet to answer the door and came back a few moments later with a couple of guests, in tow. Behind Charlie, a nervous looking Harry and Hermione stood.
The silence in the room was nearly deafening. Ron had gotten to his feet and was standing glaring at Harry and Hermione.
It was Ginny who broke the silence.
"Hiya, Harry," she said. "Hermione."
"Ginny," Harry said. "It's good to see you. To see you, all, really."
"I'd get up to give you a proper hello, but I think it'd take me a fortnight to get off this couch," she said, pointing to her stomach.
"That's all right," Harry said.
Molly came into the living room at that moment, her apron discarded. "Dinner's ready."
She looked around at her family who didn't get up at once to head into the kitchen. "What are you all standing about for? I said that dinner-"
She finally noticed that in addition to her family, Harry and Hermione were standing in the living room.
"Harry, dear," she said, a touch of coldness in her voice. "Hermione. I wasn't expecting you."
"I don't mean to interrupt your dinner," Hermione said, stammering. "I just needed to, you know, um, speak with Ron."
Molly nodded. "Well, that's alright, then. Come on, everyone. Let's go eat and leave them to it. "
Draco walked over to the couch to help Ginny to her feet. He then led her into the kitchen. Charlie, Bill, Fred and Arthur followed a few moments later. George still stood in the living room, looking expectedly at the trio.
Molly grabbed him by his ear. "Come on, George."
"Ow, mum!" George said. "I want to hear this."
"Now, George," Molly said, leading him into the kitchen.
The trio was now alone in the living room. Ron broke the silence first.
"When did you get back?" he asked them, matter-of-factly.
"Just this morning," Hermione said softly.
"Have a good time, did you?" Ron asked, giving a sideways glance at Harry.
"Ron," Hermione began. She stopped and looked through the hallway to the kitchen. She could see a row of Weasleys hanging on their every word.
"Maybe we should go outside, " Harry said, taking notice of the audience watching them. "More privacy that way."
Ron quietly led Harry and Hermione out of the house and into the backyard. He ushered them to a seat at the picnic table. Harry sat on one side of the table, Hermione on the other. Ron stood there looking back and forth at them. No one said a word for what seemed like an eternity.
"So is it true?" Ron finally asked. "What everyone's saying?" Hermione's eyes were downcast as were Harry's. Neither one of them looked up at Ron's pleading face.
"Please tell me that this is just like fourth year when Rita Skeeter wrote all those articles about you and Hermione being a couple. Do you remember that? Please tell me that this is just like that. I really want to hear that."
Hermione finally looked up at him. He looked tired and downhearted. Hermione wasn't used to seeing him like this. He was usually very happy and upbeat. His appearance now was a shadow of the man she knew. He hadn't shaved in a couple of days and his five-o-clock shadow was becoming more and more pronounced.
She had rehearsed earlier that day in the bathroom different scenarios and dialogues that she'd expected with Ron. Now none of what she'd rehearsed seemed appropriate. She literally didn't know what to say. She wished she could tell him what he wanted to hear, but that would be a lie. She was tired of lying to him and to herself.
"Ron," Hermione began. "We never meant to hurt you."
Ron laughed. "You didn't? Well, that makes me feel sooo much better. I've never understood that when someone does something like this they always preface it by saying they never meant to hurt you. If they never meant to hurt you, why would they do something like that?"
"This isn't easy for me or you or for Harry," Hermione said. "And neither is fooling ourselves into thinking you'll understand."
"That's good to hear," Ron said, sarcastically. "I'd hate for this to be hard for you and Harry. Did you see the paper today? They made it sound like I was the bad guy! Like it was me that was keeping the two of you apart all this time. But it wasn't me, Hermione. Where was he?" Ron pointed at Harry. "Where was he when you needed him? Where was he when I needed him? I'll tell you where he was. He was off being a bloody hero. Saint Potter. The Boy Who Lived. The Legend."
Harry's cheeks were getting redder by the second and Hermione could tell he was suppressing the urge to say something back in response to Ron's tirade. She gave him a pleading look to keep his cool.
"You have no idea what my life has been like, Ron," Harry said. "Do you think I wanted this? I never wanted any of this."
"Bollocks, Harry," Ron said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You thrive on this. You love to play the hero. You've been doing it since we were kids. Anything I've ever wanted, you've gotten to first. Quidditch. Head Boy. Auror. And then of course there's Hermione. You just couldn't stand the fact that I finally had something that you didn't. Of course, if the papers are true, you got to her first then, too."
Hermione watched in horror as Harry stood up from the bench and hauled off with a punch smack dab on Ron's cheek. Hermione flinched as she saw and heard the connection of Harry's fist to Ron's flesh.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.
Ron rubbed his cheek tenderly. "You son-of-a-bitch."
"Guys!" Hermione said, coming between them. "Please don't do this."
"As if you care, Hermione," Ron said.
"Of course, I care," Hermione said.
"You know, I expected something like this from Harry," Ron said, still rubbing his cheek, which was starting to swell. "I never would have expected this from you. I thought you loved me."
"I do, love you, Ron," Hermione said.
For the first time since they'd come into the backyard, Ron smiled. What Hermione said next, though, caused the smile to disappear in an instant.
"But not the way you deserve to be loved. You need someone who's going to love you with her entire heart and soul, but that person's not me," she said, softly. She looked over at Harry who had sat back down at the table. "I gave my heart and soul away when I was 11 years old and I never got it back."
Ron smirked at Hermione's last remark. "I wish you could have brought that attention to me when I asked you to marry me."
"I deserve that," she said. "I wasn't fair to you, Ron. I never should have done that to you when I knew in my heart I was in love with someone else."
Ron just stood there, looking shell-shocked by it all. Hermione hesitantly put her arm out to give him a hug, but he flinched as she approached him.
"No," he said. "I can't deal with this right now. I can't stand to look at either of you right now. I can't be here right now."
Hermione watched through teary eyes as Ron turned from the two of them and walked back toward the house.
"Oh God, Harry what have we done?" Hermione asked, forlornly. "What have we done?"
Within a second, Harry had gone to her and enveloped her in his arms. "What have we done?"
A hooded figure had watched and listened behind one of the barns in the Weasleys backyard. He'd been very careful to make sure that he wasn't noticed or heard. He'd had to suppress the urge to laugh as he watched the three of them and their little soap opera unfold.
"How very tragic," he commented to himself as he watched Harry and Hermione embracing. "How very tragic indeed."
Still chuckling at the sight before him, he reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out the small flask and a clear plastic bag. The bag contained a few strands of gray hair. The flask contained a grayish, bubbling potion.
"It's now or never," the master said as he took the hairs out of the bag and gingerly dropped them into the Polyjuice Potion. He took a long swig from the flask and waited for it to take affect. He abruptly dropped the flask and bag to the ground as he felt the potion taking affect. His skin felt like it was on fire and he could feel the transformation taking place. He fell to the ground at the sheer magnitude of force from the potion took him over. It was over in seconds. He quickly got to his feet and pulled a small mirror from his pocket. The face that greeted him was not his own, but that of Sirius Black. He smiled viciously at the reflection and then dropped the mirror back into his pocket.
He took off toward the young couple whom were still embracing each other in the backyard.
"Harry! Hermione!" he said.
Harry and Hermione broke apart quickly.
"Sirius, what are you doing here?" Harry asked. "How did you know we were here?"
"Well, I figured you'd be here talking to Ron," Sirius said. "That's not important now. Harry, they need you back at headquarters. There's been a break in the case. The guy will only talk to you, though."
"Me?" Harry said. "Who is it?"
"We don't know who he is, but he said he had some information vital to the case. We've checked out his story and it seems like he might be legitimate. He will only talk to you, though. David and Morgan are back at Headquarters waiting on you."
Harry looked over at Hermione, who was still crying. He took his hand to her cheek to wipe away a stray tear from her face.
"I guess we should go back then," Harry said.
"Why don't you let me take Hermione back to her flat? You don't know how long you'll be with that witness. She doesn't need to be waiting around on some uncomfortable office chair. Besides, she looks knackered from the trip," Sirius said.
Harry looked at Hermione. She did look tired.
"Do you mind going back with Sirius?" he asked her.
"No," she said. "I just want to go home and crawl in bed anyway."
"Okay," he said, kissing her. "I'll try and not be too long, then. I love you, you know?"
"I know," she said, smiling. "I love you, too. Be careful."
"I will," he said.
He watched as she and Sirius walked down the trail, away from the house. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right, but he buried that thought, thinking it must be residual feelings from the confrontation with Ron.
Hopefully they would be able to put all this bad stuff behind them and start a new life together.
He had no idea that the bad stuff was about to get much worse.