The lock clicks open and Harry and Ginny pour into their comfortable flat together, thankful to be home. Harry peels off his shoes and makes his way to the bedroom, to have a shower in the adjoining master bathroom. He is exhausted from the sex with Hermione and would love nothing more than to just collapse in bed, but he needs to wash off the smell of Hermione's perfume before his wife notices.
Ginny meanders into her small kitchen to make herself a cup of tea and joins Harry in the bedroom just as he is getting ready for his shower.
"Wonderful to be home," Ginny sighs, perching herself on the edge of the bed. She places her mug on the bedside table, and falls back onto the bed. She glances up at her husband and sees him grabbing his towel. "Going to the shower?"
"Mm-hmm," Harry replies, without even a glance.
"Oh," Ginny sits up and grabs her mug and follows her husband into the bathroom and watches him undress as she leans against the sink. "Did you smell that horrible smell as we walked into their flat tonight? Ugh, I nearly lost my supper!"
"You mean the cookies?" Harry asks her raising one eyebrow. "I thought it smelled homey when we walked in there."
Ginny ignores him and begins pacing around the bathroom, "Oh and those cookies, they tasted like Hippogriff dung! I pity my brother for marrying such a horrible cook."
Harry pulls his belt out of his pants and stands up to look his wife in the eye. "Well you seemed to like those cookies, considering you ate the entire plate of them without letting anyone else have some."
Ginny narrows her eyes and watches her husband pull off his socks. "My brother should not be marrying a woman like her. He works two jobs for that luxurious flat they live in, and she doesn't even give a damn." She glares at him. "And as for those cookies I was just being polite, I was also doing you and Ron a favor by eating them all. They were horrible."
"Right," He pulls off his shirt. "Why do you have to be such a two-faced brat? You're all sweet and innocent to her face, once you're home all you do is criticize the poor girl."
"Why do you always have to defend her?"
"Why do we always have to have this argument?" Harry asks. "We have barely been home for five minutes."
"Because I don't like her!"
"Why not?" Harry glared. "You two used to be close back in school."
"Well things change."
"Clearly," Harry retorts, sliding off his pants. "You say Draco Malfoy never influenced you when you dated him for six months in your seventh year. But clearly he has. Ever since then you have despised her. I think he gave you some of his `pure blood' bullshit. You probably have moments where you despise me because my mother was a muggle born."
Ginny flinches.
Harry scoffs. "Sometimes I think if I didn't have all this money that you would have left me by now."
"Harry, don't say that!" Ginny yells. "I love you!"
"Okay," Harry says glancing at her. He slips off his boxers and walks into the shower and closes the curtain.
The hot water feels good on his back.
"I just don't like how you always have to protect her." Ginny states a minute later.
Harry pulls back the curtain and pokes his head out. "Hermione has been my best friend for thirteen years. You may not like her but I do and always will. So when she is being bashed it's my duty as her friend to defend her."
"But I'm your wife and the woman carrying your child!"
"Which I am grateful for, but that doesn't give you the excuse to say horrible things about Hermione. She is a perfectly nice person who would do anything for you. Stop this childish nonsense."
"She wants you."
"What?" Harry laughs. "That's your prenatal potions talking."
"No, I'm serious," Ginny says. "I can see it in her eyes. She wants to fuck you so bad it's disgusting." She pretends to gag. "She is in love with you." she added.
"You think?" Harry asks, really wanting to know the truth.
"Yes," Ginny replies angrily. "And I don't like it. That's the real reason why I don't like her."
"Ginny you're just being crazy. Hermione has been in love with Ron since she was 16 years old, not me, not ever." Harry tells her. "Stop being jealous, you've got the ring, love. Not Hermione."
"Rings and promises don't mean anything."
Harry ignores her.
There is a long silence until Ginny speaks.
"You're having an affair," she says calmly.
"What?" Harry asks in shock. "No, I'm not!"
"You have fingernail scratches on your back," she tells him. "I saw them when you were getting into the shower."
Harry looks over his shoulder and sees them. He turns his head back into the spray of the shower and fuses his eyes shut as he exhales deeply. How could he be so stupid? How could he forget to charm those off? He knew Hermione had thing for leaving scratch marks and bite marks,
He hears Ginny stomp towards the shower and she rips the curtain back, staring at the bright red scratch marks on her husband's back that she didn't put there. "You fuck her good, don't you?" Ginny says her face swelling with rage. "You fuck her hard and make her come don't you?"
"Who?" Harry asks, spinning around.
"HERMIONE!" Ginny screeches.
"I'm not having an affair!" Harry yells back. "I'm an auror, Ginny! I had to go to Knockturn Alley today to make an arrest. And during the struggle I got scratched." He turns off the water and reaches for his towel. "That's it, plain and simple."
Ginny laughs mockingly. "Harry, it's amusing how dumb you think I am. I watched you dress just before we left for Ron and Hermione's and you didn't have those scratches." She explains. "I gave you that massage tonight too, remember? Because you said you sat in your office all day, and those chairs kill your back. So you weren't out arresting bad guys in Knockturn Alley today were you?"
His breath catches in his throat. He knows she is right; he has just been caught in a lie. He says the first thing that pops into his head. "Ginny you are being completely irrational and overreacting. It's late and you're tired, it's not good for the baby if you exhaust yourself. Get some sleep and we'll talk in the morning after you've calmed down."
"Do not dismiss me like one of your house elves at work!" Ginny says angrily through gritted teeth.
"I am your wife! Now stop fucking lying to me." Her face is red with rage. "I could smell her on you the
moment the both of you came out of the kitchen!
"You're being crazy," he says shaking his head as he wraps the towel around his waist.
"No, you're crazy for thinking you can get out of this one!" She yells back. "You've been caught, Harry. Admit it!"
Silence.
"ADMIT IT!" Ginny roars.
"FINE!" Harry surrenders. "I've fucked Hermione Granger."
Ginny stands in front of Harry and looks him straight in the eye without a flinch. "I've known for over a year," she says barely above a whisper.
"What? How?"
Ginny laughs again. "Not that you two were very discrete about it, sneaking off for long periods of time. Like tonight with your "I'm gunna help her with the lemonade" line. It doesn't take thirty minutes to make lemonade. And you guys even admitted to not having anymore lemons." Ginny shrieks. "Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I wouldn't catch on? My brother may be oblivious but I'm not! I've seen the looks you two share whenever you're in the same room." she adds. "And if you really want to know how I found out it was Jennings."
"Bernard Jennings?" Harry asks. "The Bernard Jennings who works for me?"
Ginny nods. "He saw you two fucking on your desk one morning, and he sent me an owl." She explains. "In my heart I knew it was true, but my mind wouldn't accept it. I needed proof. So the next morning I took your invisibility cloak and sat in front of your office and watched you two go at it like rabbits all day long."
"The door was closed how did y--"
"I'm the little sister of the biggest jokesters in the country.," she tells Harry. "X-ray vision gum."
Harry closes his eyes and lets the truth consume him. He knows this is the string that will unravel his life.
"You make me sick, Potter!" She storms out of the bathroom. Harry hears her grab her coat from the bedroom closet, march out into the living room and slam the entrance door after her.
This was going to be a long night.
.:*:.:*:.:*:.:*:.:*:.
It's just past 3:00 in the morning and Harry is sprawled out on the couch wide awake. He is beginning to worry about Ginny. She had left over four hours ago, and Harry expected her back by now. His mind is racing with many things. Was Ginny hurt somewhere? Had she done something stupid? Would she go and hurt Hermione? Should he go to Hermione's?
Harry is just about to grab his coat to go out and find her when the lock clicks open and a still very enraged looking Ginny enters the flat.
"Ginny!" Harry sighs of relief. "I've been worried sick. I was just about to-"
"You're still here?" Ginny asks. "I was hoping you'd have flown your broom into the Whomping Willow by now."
"Ginny we need to talk about this!" Harry said. "With a little honesty everything will work out."
"You want to talk?" Ginny asks. "Fine, let's talk. How long have you been fucking her?"
"Ginny…"
"You said we should be honest, so tell me!"
"The summer I was on the hunt for the horcruxes, after I broke up with you, Hermione and I had a little fling and it progressed from there," Harry tells her. "We cooled it off just after our wedding, but we started again."
Ginny narrows her eyes. "Even when you got back together with me after you defeated Voldemort?"
Harry nods.
"When you asked me to marry you?"
Harry nods.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Do you love her?"
"Ginny lets just--"
"FUCKING TELL ME IF YOU LOVE HER!"
Silence.
"TELL ME!"
"Yes!" Harry cries. "I love her. She is my heart and soul and my reason for living. But we ended it tonight! I told her about the baby and we broke it off because I want us to be a family and raise this child together."
Harry hates admitting to his wife that he loves another woman more than her.
Ginny laughs wickedly. "You want honesty, Harry?" She asks. "Well here's a dose of reality for you. When we were engaged I was sleeping with Dean Thomas. And a year and half ago I was screwing Bernard Jennings behind your back but I put an end to it six months ago. I wanted us to be a real family. I hoped that if I ignored your affair with Hermione, soon enough you would break it off and we could pretend like none of this happened." She explained.
Harry's eyes go wide and it feels like he has been hit with a sack of bricks. His emotions are jumbled and confused. He doesn't know what to do. He opens his mouth a few times but just turned around and marches into the kitchen.
A few minutes later Ginny pokes her head in the kitchen. "Doesn't feel so good does it?"
Harry turns and glares at her. "How dare you pretend to be a saint when you judge me and criticize me for having an affair with ONE woman, when you yourself have had many fuck buddies!" Harry snaps. "Stop acting so innocent because you are just as guilty as me, if not more!"
"I never claimed to be innocent,"
Harry collapses in the nearest chair and throws his head between his legs. He continuously runs his fingers through his hair and mutters to himself. A moment later he stands and turns to Ginny. "Okay…we can work this out. We'll talk through this and we'll still be a family and raise this child together."
Ginny narrows her eyes again. "You want another dose of reality, Harry?" She asks. "Well there is no baby; I made the whole thing up so you would end things with Hermione. I'm not pregnant, I never was. I knew that was the only way to get you back."
Harry's heart shatters and he is absorbed by pain. His eyes are fixed on her so intently he can't even blink. He's in disbelief; her horrible words can't be the truth.
"No," He whispers. "It can't be true."
"It is!"
"You bitch." Before he knows what he's doing he crosses the kitchen and he has his wife pinned against the wall. Tears prickle his eyes. "How the fuck could you?" He asks. "How the fuck could you do that to me? You know the only I have ever wanted was a family, the thing I have never been able to have, the one thing that has always been taken away from me!" The tears rush from his eyes as he continues to yell. "And now it's been taken away again because of you!! What were you going to tell me when I noticed you weren't gaining weight?"
Ginny lip begins to quiver. "Say I lost it."
Harry sighs painfully. "Merlin, Ginny, you're heartless."
Ginny begins to cry. "I'm sorr--"
Harry shakes her. "No!" he cries. "What I have with Hermione is beyond special and I love her more than I ever loved anybody, even you. When I gave her up tonight I didn't do it for you, or for Ron. I did it for that baby! Because I thought I was finally getting my dream come true, a son or daughter. I wanted my child to grow up in a normal happy family with their mum and dad. And now you tell me you have been deceiving me for weeks and that it's all been a lie! Our marriage is nothing a façade. You disgust me!" He takes in a few large painful breaths. "We are over. I want a divorce!"
Harry angrily lets go of Ginny, and she silently slides down the wall. Her anger dissipates and she is consumed with guilt and a broken heart. Harry storms out of the kitchen and out the entrance door and apparates to Ron and Hermione's flat.
.:*:.:*:.:*:.:*:.:*:.
Hermione rolls over again to look at the clock; it reads 3:46AM. It has been over an hour since she returned to bed, and she is growing frustrated that she can't fall asleep. Her eyes are red and swollen from tears and the heat is still hot and practically unbearable. Ron has now rolled over and has an arm lazily thrown over her waist.
She looks over her shoulder at her fiancée then gently removes his arm so she can slip out of bed to get a cold drink. She silently steps into the kitchen and fills up a glass with cold ice water, and savors its ice chill. After she is done she magically washes the glass and sends it back to its place in the cupboard, and turns to look at the counter top where Harry possessed her only a few hours ago.
Her is heart crumbling and she turns to quickly exit the kitchen when she hears a soft knock at the door. She glances at the clock as she wonders who that could be at this hour. She strolls out to the entrance way and pulls open the door and is taken back to see a dishelved looking Harry with tears in his eyes.
"Harry?" Hermione cries. "Oh my god what's happened?"
Harry swallows hard as he looks at the woman he loves. The tears in his eye prickle at Hermione's heart. "Ginny found out about us," he tells her.
Hermione heart comes to a sudden stop and she is suddenly very aware of her stomach. Her eyes go wide as her hand comes to her mouth. "Oh my god, Harry!" she mutters. "What's going to happen? My wedding! Your baby!"
Harry closes his eyes and a tear falls down his cheek. He feels Hermione's graze his cheek and wipe the tear away. As she pulls her hand away Harry grabs it again and holds it to his cheek. He opens his eyes to look at her and with a strained voice he whispers, "We need to go somewhere and talk in private."
Hermione turns and eyes the open bedroom door at the end of the hallway. Ron is asleep in there, and she and Harry can hear his loud snores. She turns back to him. "The balcony, Ron won't be able to hear us out there."
Harry nods and follows Hermione down the carpeted hallway. As he passes the open bedroom he spots his best mate asleep on the bed. He is lying on his stomach with half the sheets kicked off. It reminds him of his day at Hogwarts. He suddenly has to look away, he is stabbed with this overwhelming amount of guilt about what he has done and what he's about to do to his best friend.
Hermione steps out onto the balcony right after Harry and slides the glass door shut so Ron won't be able to hear. She steps over to the ledge to join Harry who is gazing out over the city. Her mind and heart are racing with thousands of questions.
Before she can ask about any details Harry begins to speak. "My marriage is over," he tells her. "I am filing for divorce in the morning."
"Oh, Harry," she grips his hand and she wants to comfort him, but she needs answers or she is going to explode. "What happened tonight?" she asks. "How did Ginny find out?"
"She found the scratches you left on my back." Harry whispers. He chokes in a breath. "And she says she's known for a year."
"How?" Hermione gasps sharply.
"Jennings."
"Oh no," Hermione whispers into the night air. She turns and leans her back against the balcony and covers her face with her hands. "No."
"She saw us too," Harry adds painfully.
"No, no, no," Hermione continues into her palms.
"She's been having affairs too."
"With who?" Hermione asks.
"Dean Thomas and Bernard Jennings."
"Merlin!" she whispers.
A few quiet moments pass.
"Hermione…?"
Hermione hears Harry's voice cracks as he whispers her name into the open air. She pulls her hands away from her face, and sees he is beginning to cry.
She touches his arm. "Harry?"
He gives in to his sobs when he hears her say his name. "She lied about the baby," he managed to say through his tears.
Hermione narrows her eyebrows as she tries to comprehend what Harry is saying. "What?"
Harry takes a deep breath. "She lied to me about the baby," He says again. Harry takes a few breaths then continues. "Ginny was never pregnant. She made the whole thing up." He falls to his knees and sobs again.
Hermione's eyes nearly pop out of her at what Harry is telling her. "What?" she asks. She rushes to his side and collapses next to him. "Harry?"
He nods his head. "Apparently to trick me into ending our relationship." He says with tears.
"Oh no, Harry, oh no oh on oh no!" Hermione says. "I am so sorry."
Hermione pulls Harry into a comforting hug, and he cries freely on her shoulder.
"The worst part is, Hermione…I fell in love with that child the moment she told me she was pregnant," Harry whispered painfully in her ear. "I've wanted a family for so long! And it never existed. How can I feel like this for something that wasn't real? The pain in my heart is unbearable…I just…I hate her!"
She cups Harry's face and forces him to look at her. "Harry, as wrong as it is what we've done. What she has done is far worse!" She furrows her brow angrily. "I don't understand how she could do something like that you - to take away the hope for a family you have always been denied, no matter what the reasoning was behind it. It's atrocious. I could curse her to the ends of the earth for doing this to you." She kisses his cheek and hugs him again tightly. He holds her close and cries. Her hands run through his hair, trying her best to comfort him. She hates what Ginny has done, but at the same time she fees relieved, like the locked door to there relationship had been opened again. She feels guilty for feeling this way, but she can't help it. If there was anything she could do to change this harsh reality, she would because she wants nothing more then to see Harry's dreams of a family come true! "Oh Harry, I am so sorry," she continues. "I know how much you wanted to be a father. If there was anything I could do to change it I would. I hope you know that."
Harry nods and gulps quietly. "You can," he whispers.
Hermione eyes him severely. "How?" she asks in a solid tone.
He looks at her lovingly. "Come away with me," he says. "Marry me, have my children. Be with me the way we're supposed to be."
Hermione slaps him. "What the hell do you think you're doing by saying this?" she asks him. She stands up and angrily marches to the other end of the balcony. She turns on him heatedly. "You have a wife, and I have a fiancé. I am getting married in two weeks. We can't be together and you know it. Our lives are too entwined with other people. You knew that when this started."
"I told you, I'm leaving Ginny. I made that decision before I came here tonight," He says roughly. "And personally I don't care about other people, Hermione. Damn it, I love you and want to be with you!"
Tears threaten her eyes, she has been wanting to hear him say those words for so long. She wants nothing more then to sink in his arms and say them back, but she can't. She made a promise to Ron. She needs to stay strong.
She swallows her tears and her heart. "Well you should care."
"Why?"
"Because we cannot be!"
Harry marches up to Hermione until he is only inches from her face and pulls her against him. They can both feel the intensity and passion between them. "I know you love me, Hermione. I can feel it." He kisses her passionately.
Hermione pulls away. "Harry, I said no."
Harry gives up. "Fine, Hermione, have it you're way." Harry says almost hurt and angrily. "You go ahead and marry Ron, and I will stay with Ginny and try and patched up my delusion of a marriage. And we'll just live the rest of our lives in torture and try to ignore that fire of deep desire with in us and pretend to forget everything between us. Is that what you want?"
She can't hide her tears of pain anymore, and she forces herself to nod.
Harry sighs painfully. "Okay…" he says sadly. He begins to walk towards the door then looks back at Hermione. "I just want you to know one thing, it was you I was thinking off when I sent my love to Voldemort to finish him off, not Ginny. You. It has always been you."
"Harry, why did you marry her?" Hermione asks.
"Why did you accept Ron's proposal?" Harry asks her before answering her question.
They both sigh and look at the ground. "Because it was expected of me, "They both say in unison.
There eyes meet. Hermione can't resist anymore, she crosses the distance between them and leaps into his arms. Harry smiles and kisses her. "I love you, Harry. I've been in love with you for so long, but I've tried to hard to suppress it, and I couldn't."
Harry cups her face, "I love you too."
There is a loud bang followed the shatter of the glass. Before Harry realizes what is happening, he feels Hermione being tossed the ground and painful blow to his head.
Hermione shakes her head and suddenly sees Ron from out of nowhere punch Harry in the head. She can see a piece of Ginny's stationary crumpled angrily in Ron's fist. She glances over at the sliding glass door and sees Ron and violently thrown the door open and broken it. She knows Ginny has owled Ron, and now he knows everything.
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