Return to Me
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Harry Potter world. I mean no harm by using the characters in this fanfic.
A/N: Thanks to Portkey that accept me as an author here. Thanks to my beta Nakhash, who has done a really good job in beta read. And thanks in advance for all of you who read and review!
Chapter 2
Hermione had decided to go to the Burrow first instead of her parents' house, as they were touring Australia for their
25th anniversary. So, Hermione found herself standing in front of the gate leading to the Burrow, her trunks were shrunk and rested inside her pocket. She took a deep breath before pushing the gate open and passed through. Walking in the garden made her remember the summer before the Quidditch World Cup. She, Harry and the Weasleys had had dinner in the garden. It had really been a wonderful time, watching Crookshanks chasing the Gnomes while the family ate the delicious dinner that Molly had prepared.
Lost in thought, Hermione found herself standing in front of the door to the house. She could feel her shoulders shaking slightly. 'Do you think Mrs. Weasley or the whole Weasley family is going to bite your head off, Hermione?' she chided herself, before raising her trembling hand to knock at the door.
Hermione heard the sound of footsteps walking brashly toward the door as Mrs. Weasley's voice echoed, "Why, Arthur, you are early today, did you forget your key, dear?"
The door swung open, Mrs. Weasley stood still, gaping at Hermione in disbelief, her hand holding on to the doorknob. Suddenly she squealed delightedly, "Hermione! You are back?"
Hermione smiled and nodded, "Yes, I'm back," she assured her. Mrs. Weasley hugged her tightly as tears streamed from her eyes. Hermione hugged her back feeling so warm and secure.
"I can't believe it. It's been such a long time ago since I last saw you," she said, drying her eyes and holding Hermione by the arms. "Let me see you, dear. Ah, you're too thin, Hermione. You must have worked too hard, didn't you?" she asked frowning.
Hermione laughed softly and replied, "No, I work as I used to work here. It's just that the food wasn't always to my liking."
Mrs. Weasley beamed, "You have to stay here a few days, at least a week, all right? I will make you all your favorite foods."
"I would love too. My parents are not at home so I had hoped to stay here a week or so until they are back," said Hermione.
"That's wonderful, dear!" Mrs. Weasley said brightly. The two witches went into the house together.
Hermione settled herself down into a comfortable armchair in the living room while Mrs. Weasley was busy making tea in the kitchen. The elder witch then brought a tray with some tea and biscuits for Hermione.
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said as she took a cup of tea and sipped gratefully.
Mrs. Weasley was unable to stop herself from smiling. "Will you stay by yourself a few minutes, Hermione? I'm going to floo Arthur, Percy, Bill, Ron - oh gods! I'm going to let all of them know you're here right this minute!" she finished excitedly, and twirled herself back to the kitchen without waiting for Hermione to reply. Hermione smiled at her excitement. She sat still sipping her tea and observed the house.
It was still the same old house but there wasn't the noisiness that accompanied the house whenever she had stayed here before. It was quiet except for the sound of the Ghoul living in the attic and Mrs. Weasley excitedly talking to whomever she had flooed. Hermione couldn't hear clearly, but it sounded like Mr. Weasley because Mrs. Weasley was saying something like, "don't go near that Muggle and Apparate right back." Hermione didn't have a chance to listen to Mrs. Weasley anymore as the front door swung open revealing a tearful Ginny Weasley - no - Malfoy, standing in the door way. Like a flash the two witches were already crushing one another in a tight embrace.
Hermione drew back first as she felt a bulge pressing on her stomach. She looked at Ginny questioningly, then burst out, "Oh, Ginny! Are you- are you..."
Ginny smiled and nodded, "Yes, I'm expecting again." She knew what Hermione wanted to ask and answered it right away.
"Wow!" was all Hermione could say.
Ginny dragged Hermione to the table and sat them both down on the chairs opposite each other. Eagerly, she asked Hermione, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"
"I was quite nervous about returning and didn't think to inform you first," said Hermione. "Besides, I thought I would be going to my parents for a few days before coming here. They called me the night before I left to tell me they were leaving on a tour of Australia so I changed my plans and came here, instead."
"So what are your plans?" asked Ginny.
Hermione sighed. She wrapped her fingers around her teacup and replied, "I don't know for sure yet, Ginny. Maybe I could stay here a for a week or so until my parents come back, or I could look for a rental in Diagon Alley or somewhere I could work in peace."
Ginny frowned and inquired quizzically, "What do you mean by 'work in peace?'"
Hermione laughed at the look on Ginny face. "What are you thinking, Ginny? I'm not going to bury myself in the ground or anything like that. I just want to write about my experiences during the last five years and publish the book for the benefit of other researchers, that's all." Hermione sipped her tea after finishing her tirade.
Ginny was staring at Hermione strangely, as if she had grown a second head, but before she could say anything, Mrs. Weasley appeared at the kitchen door and said to Ginny critically, "Ginny, there you are. Draco said you didn't even wait for him and Apparated here. You do know it's dangerous for a pregnant woman to Apparate alone?" Then she turned to Hermione, ignoring the abashed Ginny, and said softly, "Hermione dear, Arthur and the others will be here in an hour. You might like to take some time and freshen up before dinner, dear, how does that sound?"
"That sounds lovely, Mrs. Weasley," answered Hermione.
Ginny's face lit up, "You can use my room, Hermione. Come on, I want to talk to you." She stood up pulling Hermione by the arm and rushing to the stairs.
Mrs. Weasley bellowed, "Be careful Ginny! You are pregnant remember!" But Ginny ignored her telling Hermione, "She's always like that."
"But I think she is right. You should be more careful," said Hermione.
Ginny laughed mistily and waved her hand at Hermione as the two of them reached her room on the third landing. "This is not my first child, you know, Hermione," she said, sitting down on the bed. Hermione nodded her head accepting the other woman was right, well, who was she to know? She didn't even have a child herself. This thought made her heart ached with loneliness. Ginny broke the silence, "Hermione, don't you think of settling down and having your own family?" asked Ginny seriously.
Hermione pulled her shrunken trunk from her pocket and waved her wand over it, restoring it to normal size, before she answered Ginny absentmindedly. "I don't know, besides I think I'm still too young."
"Too young!" the red head squeaked in disbelief. Hermione, arched one eyebrow as if to say, 'what's wrong with the idea?' Ginny walked up to stand in front of Hermione and put both her hands on her bulging stomach, defiantly. She said, "Look at me, Hermione. I'm younger than you. Look at Ron, Luna, Harry, are you saying we were stupid to get married this young?"
"No, of course not," said Hermione, feeling uneasy at her friend's outburst, "I'm just- eh- you… no one asked me to marry and I have a lot of work to do."
Ginny took a deep breath and sat down again on the bed facing Hermione. "If that's the problem, why don't you date?" She held her hand up stopping Hermione from protesting, "And don't tell me no one has asked you out in the last five years, Hermione."
She was saved from answering by the sound of footsteps coming to the door. She smiled and grabbed her bathrobe. "I think they have arrived. I'd better take my bath now, if you will excuse me."
"Fine by me, Hermione Granger. I'll let you go, but next time, no excuses." Ginny turned to the door. Hermione felt the urge to cluck her tongue at Ginny but refrained, thinking it was too childish for both of them now.
Filling the tub with hot water, she let her muscles relax. It had been a long journey back. After fifteen minutes, Hermione heard more footsteps and more noise coming from downstairs. She hurriedly finished her bath and came out of the bathroom after drying herself the Muggle way with a soft white towel. She pulled out a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt with purple letters, which read, 'I like Rock 'n' Roll!' She used a drying spell to dry her hair and pulled it into an upswept ponytail. Looking at herself in the mirror, she wondered if they would remember her before making her way below.
Back down in the living room, a fluffy, yellow ball of Crookshanks greeted her by nuzzling her leg. She brought him to her chest and hugged him tightly.
"Hello boy, how are you doing?" asked Hermione. Crookshanks made a mewing sound as if to answer her question and licked her on the nose. Hermione chuckled, "I missed you too." She carried him to the kitchen where everyone was sitting around a scrubbed wooden table. Mr. Weasley was sitting near the fireplace, next to him at the left were Bill and his wife Fleur and to the right was Penelope, Percy's wife, but he was no where to be seen. Luna was chatting animatedly with Fleur and Penelope while her husband, Ron, was arguing with the twins and Draco. Charlie was absent, of course he would be, she had just met up with him in Romania a few months ago still fascinated with dragons.
Hermione took a few steps more and clearing her throat to announce her presence. Their heads snapped back to see her. Ron looked as if was going to jump at her, but decided to retain some dignity and walked up to her instead. He had matured a lot, Hermione thought. They hugged each other tightly then Hermione greeted everyone with a hug and a kiss. She settled down in a chair between Ron and Fred. Everyone started pouring questions on her until Mrs. Weasley came around with the cutlery and Ginny brought butterbeers along with the food. Parents called out to their children and they started eating dinner happily. Mrs. Weasley kept complaining about Percy working too hard and being unable to join in a rare occasion of family reunion in honor of Hermione.
They talked on various topics but no one seemed to want to talk about Harry at all. She had wondered why Harry and Cho were not present, but she thought maybe Mrs. Weasley forgot to call them or that they were busy. However, when she started pointedly asking questions about Harry and Cho, everyone returned the talk to weather, or asked if she would like to visit their home, or if she thought their children looked most like them or their spouses. Finally Hermione could take it no longer. She dragged Ginny out of the house into the garden.
"Tell me what's happened with Harry?" asked Hermione, a bit harshly, but she didn't care. She had had enough of all of them ignoring her questions. Ginny sighed and took a seat on a stone bench under a tree, looking straight into the blackness. Hermione examined the younger witch closely. She looked sad; her red hair a bit longer now, glistered under the moonlight. Suddenly Hermione was struck with the realization that over the last five years Ginny had grown up a lot. She was a mother of two children, well not yet, but soon. She seemed to be weighing her thoughts carefully before speaking. Hermione felt ashamed for being harsh with her earlier. She sat beside Ginny and covered Ginny's hands with her own and asked again softly, "Has anything bad happened to Harry?"
Ginny tore her gaze from the black space and looked Hermione in the eyes, her own damp with small drops of tears. She spoke slowly, "You haven't read 'The Daily Prophet' for the last three months, have you?"
Hermione shock her head, "No, it wasn't delivered in Russia."
Ginny laughed mirthlessly, "No wonder you don't have a clue."
"That is why I want you to tell me. Harry is my best friend, I want to know if he's doing all right." Hermione was becoming frustrated now that she sensed something was really wrong with Harry.
"You know Harry and Cho got married three years ago, right?"
Hermione nodded again, she said somewhat dumbly, "You told me and-" She didn't want to tell Ginny that Harry had phoned her the night before his wedding, "what's happened now?"
Ginny was staring at Hermione suspiciously, but knowing Hermione; she knew not to push the subject any further. So she answered instead, "Their married life was not a happy one. After Cho gave birth to Agnes everything seemed to become even worse. Cho was seeing someone else and Harry always stuck with his work and Agnes. This only made Cho even angrier." Ginny took a deep breath before she continued, "First I thought Cho was only trying to gain attention from Harry, but Merlin knows what she was really up to. She completely turned her back on their marriage and walked away from Harry to live with her new lover."
Hermione felt a strange feeling rustling in her veins, how can she do that to Harry? Doesn't she know how much Harry loves her?
"The 'Daily Prophet' claimed that Cho ran away with a Rock Star because Harry Potter doesn't know how to please a woman." Ginny shock her head, Hermione looked puzzled. "It's part of the reason, Hermione. You've been gone too long to know how Harry has changed. The 'Daily Prophet' had only assumed from looking at their life, but I once witnessed the two of them quarrelling. Before Cho ran away, I went to see Harry and I heard the two of them talking. Cho accused Harry of having an affair with another woman and that was why he didn't care about her. She said she had had enough of him ignoring her and that now she would have someone who at least appreciated her beauty and cared about her."
"How could she said such a thing about Harry?" said Hermione, her anger flaring. "I don't believe Harry would do such thing."
"I don't believe that Harry would have an affair either," answered Ginny, "but I wouldn't dare guarantee his feelings."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes.
Ginny, though looking uncomfortable answered truthfully, "What I mean is whether Harry was in love with Cho when they get married." Hermione was about to say something but Ginny cut her down, "Look, if you saw the way Harry treated Cho, you would think just as I do now, Hermione."
"But why did he marry her if he wasn't in love with her? And gods! They have a child together," said Hermione, barely believing what she had just heard. Things could change terribly in five years.
"I don't know. You should ask Harry if you want to know, but believe me, he won't give you any answers easily. Ron and I have tried to persuade him to tell us but he just ignores us completely." Ginny stood up, "I think we better go into the house now, Joey may be asleep already."
Ginny walked back to the house but Hermione stood there a bit longer, wondering if she could find rest in her sleep tonight, before following the younger witch inside.
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