An: Thank you for all your reviews. I'm afraid the question everyone wants answered isn't answered in this chapter but I've given loads of other information. Please remember this was written before DH came out as there are many differences in this story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 4 - It's Not Possible!
Harry felt as if someone had just punched him in the gut. The words Mrs. Weasley had sobbed were not possible. Mr. Weasley couldn't be dead; Hermione wasn't capable of murder.
"No it's not possible." Harry insisted firmly.
"Harry dear, things have changed since you were gone." Mrs Weasley said softly to him.
Harry clenched his fists, how many more times were they going to say things had changed. It had been seven bloody years, of course things had changed and Harry was beginning to get very annoyed with them. Why couldn't they just tell him how things changed instead of playing it out like a bad soap opera?
"Dad wanted her to do it." Bill explained as he released Ron from the tight hug he had held him in.
"She was only acting on his wishes. There were no other options." Charlie interjected as he stared at a theoretical spot on the wall.
Mrs. Weasley conjured a handkerchief and raised it to her teary eyes. The old man from the other end of the table stood and walked briskly over to her. He knelt besides her and pulled her into a hug. She willingly collapsed into his arms and Ron watched horrified as the man placed a gentle kiss on his mother's temple.
"Get your hands off my mother!" Ron shouted as he angrily stood and sent his chair flying back into Bill, causing his brother to double in over in pain.
"Ron, I know you just found out about your father but I've moved on. I couldn't stay the way I was before and one of his last wishes was for me to be happy and I've found peace with Sol." Mrs Weasley explained to her youngest son.
"I can't believe this! Dad is dead and mom is shagging a stranger!" Ron screamed harshly at his mother before storming out of the room and slamming the door on the way out.
"You break it, you pay for it!" Draco called out and both Katie and Alicia scolded him for his insensitive behaviour.
Ginny was too stunned to speak and barely registered her mother's revelation about her new relationship. She was still trying to process that she would never be able to see her father again. She would never get to experience the father daughter hugs that she missed so much but most importantly of all, she would never be able to tell him how much she loved him and how thankful she was to him for the way he raised her.
"I told you, you spoiled him Molly." Severus commented smugly.
"Darling, Ronald is definitely his mother's son. Molly had a similar problem when Bill moved on with Arianne." the witch next to Snape commented.
"I'll talk to Ron." Bill volunteered after he had recovered from the chair, though he did think it would leave a nasty bruise. As the oldest he had taken up his father's role and often helped his mother with difficult decisions. He understood his brother's reaction and he was determined to help him deal with his grief.
"The Weasel could be anywhere, use the locator spell to find him." Draco advised casually from his seat at the other end of the dinning table.
Fourteen pairs of eyes glared at him for the offending term and Draco innocently held up his arms in defence. "Sorry old habits die hard!"
Bill exited the room and quickly cast the spell to find Ron. He chuckled to himself when the answer was revealed. Out of 225 rooms in Malfoy Manor, Ron had successfully found the kitchen! Bill thought his brother must have been born with some sort of internal instinct to locate the kitchen in any house. He had to have one since he managed to make it through 11 different corridors and several turns to the kitchen.
Luna moved over to the seat that Ron had vacated and handed Ginny a glass of a brownish milky substance. She lifted the glass to her nose and sniffed before taking a small tentative sip as the awful potion from earlier still lingered in her mind.
"Baileys," Ginny questioned.
Luna nodded, "Good for the soul."
"I thought that was chicken soup?" Harry questioned as he had been listening to what the blonde was saying.
"Nope not the right ingredients." Luna replied cryptically as she embraced Ginny.
Harry raised an eyebrow at her. Luna had always been a little strange in school but he had no clue the girl knew about muggle alcohol. Ginny didn't care what Luna was on about, it was the support that she was offering that mattered and she relaxed into the embrace and let the tears that had been threatening fall. Luna rubbed her back comfortingly and extended a hand to Harry, indicating that he was welcomed in the hug as well. Harry declined as he was never one to cry openly.
The sombre mood was interrupted by an explosion of loud noise as several redheaded children came running through the door and immediately headed to the smaller table that Harry had correctly assumed was for them. The adult that was with them was trying desperately to discourage them from running and as expected one child fell and the room was immediately filled with loud piercing screams.
"Wotcher, Forge." Tonks said as she bent down and picked up the small boy.
"I'm Gerd!" The child screamed.
"Sorry Gerd." Tonks apologized.
"No I'm Forge!" The child screamed back and Tonks gave a helpless look at Katie and Alicia.
"Behave Danny," Alicia lightly scolded her son.
"Nymphadora, you should be able to tell them apart by now." Fred commented
"They aren't identical!" George said reiterating his twin's point.
Tonks glared at them and then placed the child down at the table next to Gerd before taking a seat at that table as well.
Jonathan started teasing Forge causing the children to erupt in laughter and happiness seemed to permeate the room chasing away what ever sadness had lingered there before.
"I came here tonight to celebrate the return of my children and that's exactly what I'm going to do. There will be no more sad thoughts for the rest of the night." Mrs Weasley stated firmly as he watched the smiles on her grandchildren's faces.
Harry knew that was the end of the conversation and he would have to wait till tomorrow to get the answers to the questions that were plaguing his mind. There was one particular question he needed an answer to but that person seemed to be avoiding him at all costs.
A lavish dinner appeared on both tables and Harry noted that the Weasley appetite had been passed on to the new generation. The house elves had outdone themselves. There were a variety of roasts, potatoes, vegetables and salads. A shepherd's pie appeared in front of Harry and as he moved to load his plate with food, Mrs. Weasley seemed to come to her senses and remembered that not everyone was at the table so she insisted that they wait for the missing family members to return.
"But they're eating," Fred said pointing to his son at the children's table.
Mrs. Weasley glared at her son and no further protest was heard from anyone.
Harry glanced at Tonks and was very pleased to see that she looked extremely happy; it made him feel a bit better to know at least something had gone right while he was gone. Today she was sporting short silver hair that matched the small boy who was seated next to her. He wondered if Draco had fathered a child but the facial features weren't similar to Draco at all.
Ginny's mood seemed to improve as well and she took the opportunity to survey the ball room. It was a grand as she had imagined it would be. There were elaborate paintings on the wall, large candelabras with fancy ironwork floating above the tables, a plush green carpet with silver trimming near the wall, the tables legs were carved to represent serpents and the back of each chair had two serpents intertwined. Everyone around the table seemed to be comfortable with the obvious Slytherin references and Ginny felt a shudder go through her as she thought of Nagini. She quickly cast the memory aside and moved on to pleasanter thoughts.
"Where's Fleur?" Ginny asked Luna as she had noticed that the beautiful blond had not showed up yet.
"Fleur died five years ago, shortly after the birth of Thomas. Bill was devastated, Thomas was 2 months old and Nathalie was entering her terrible twos. He completely shut down and he started visiting the pub daily. He wouldn't go home till late, if at all. Percy and Charlie had to remove him from a few pubs by force. Sam had just had the twins at the time and she volunteered to take care of Thomas till Bill could get back on his feet. Nathalie spent a lot of time with Percy and Penelope; She's extremely close to him now. Draco eventually got Bill into a special program for wizards addicted to firewhiskey." Luna explained quietly to them as she didn't want to upset Molly further.
"Draco?" Ginny questioned.
"Is that so surprising?" Luna asked
"Actually, yes." Harry answered.
"Bill met Arianne at the clinic and they bonded over similar experiences. Six months later they were married and a year and a half later she gave birth to Jonathan Arthur Weasley." Luna said with a smile. "But Molly and Arianne never got along. She couldn't understand how Bill could move on so soon. She was concerned for her grandchildren and with Arianne's alcohol history, she wandered if she were a suitable mother to raise her grandchildren."
"How did Fleur die?" Harry questioned.
"A daring robbery at Gringotts; Fleur had gone to retrieve some galleons to buy gifts for Michael and Mikaela's naming ceremony. She was just walking out of her vault when a stray redactor curse hit her chest. She didn't have a chance." Luna said sadly.
There was a short moment of silence as Harry and Ginny both absorbed what had been said before Draco disturbed them. "Luna, find out what's taking Hermione so blasted long!" There were echoes of agreement from the twins who were eyeing a particularly large roast in the centre of the table.
Luna nodded while gracefully getting off Ron's chair and strolled casually towards the door. She passed Bill and Ron as they made their way back to the table. Ron looked as though he had calmed down quite a bit but he still had a sombre look on his face.
"I believe introductions are in order!" The old man said "Who wants the honour of going first."
The witch seated next to Snape jumped at the chance to go first.
"I'm Victoria Snape, I teach Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts." She arrogantly said. "Severus has resumed his post as the Potions Master and as a result, we live at Hogwarts."
If it were physically possible for Harry's jaw to hit the floor it would have. Snape had actually found a woman willing to marry him. The greasy haired git didn't just manage to get a woman but he got a beautiful one too.
"Samantha Weasley, I'm married to Charlie. I believe you met our twins earlier. We live at Westbrook. Charlie works in the department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and I work in the misuse of Muggle artefacts division." She said with a huge smile.
"You know me already, Arianne Weasley. Bill, the children and I, all live at the Burrow. Bill still works at Gringotts as a curse breaker and I'm a housewife. I also do the baby sitting when Molly is unavailable."
"There's no need to introduce us, is there Alicia?" Katie said. Alicia shook her head in agreement before adding, "But Fred and I live above the shop in Daigon Alley and Katie and George live above the shop in Hogsmeade. Katie and I both work at the shops."
"I suppose you remember me also, Percy and I live at Minister's Row. Percy is still an assistant to the Minister and I work as an assistant to the Wizengamot." Penelope explained.
"I think that's everyone" The old man said.
"What about you?" Ron said a bit harshly
"You don't recognize me. Well, I was hit with an aging spell recently but everyone here has been telling me that I look fine." He said as he glared at everyone one at the table.
"Sol you look fine. Ron was just a bit young when he met you. Forgive him if he doesn't recognize you." Molly said
"Ron knows you?" Ginny asked
"Yes he does. You know me as well, Ginerva. I'm Luna's father, Sol Lovegood."
Ron wanted to ask more questions about this `relationship' he had with his mother but he was stopped by the return of Luna and Hermione.
Charlie stood from his seat with a questioning glance at Hermione.
"Everything's fine but…." Hermione said leaving the but hanging in the air and staring directly at Charlie's twins. Both children dropped slowly down in their chairs till you couldn't see them. The children knew that they could only joke so far with Aunty Hermione and once you passed that limit, there was no force on earth that could save you from her wrath.
Charlie reclaimed his next to Samantha and Hermione and Luna sat on either side of Draco. There was a silent exchange of words between Draco and Hermione before Bill announced that it was time for a toast. The twins rolled their eyes and started slowly using their wand to move the roast closer to them.
Bill stood and made an elaborate toast to Ron, Ginny and Harry. Charlie decided to go next followed by the rest of the Weasley boys. The twins had the table in fits of laughter and Mrs. Weasley had to threaten them before they decided to end their toast. Once the twins had regained their seats, they were further disappointed to find that their mother had summoned the roast up the table and placed it in front of Ron, who had no objections at all.
Harry looked down the table at Hermione and was disappointed to find that she was busy in a conversation with Percy and Penelope. She had yet to say anything to him and Luna's words echoed through his brain, "Don't expect her to be happy to see you."
A snowy white owl that Harry immediately recognized as Hedwig, flew through the window and delivered a purple letter to Hermione. She accepted the letter and offered her some of her food. He was happy to see she was still alive and looked very healthy. Hedwig looked down the table at him and then turned away and nipped at Hermione's fingers affectionately before flying away. Harry figured he deserved it for leaving her behind. She had always been a moody owl.
"Harry darling, is something wrong?" Molly inquired from her end of the table.
"Oh no nothing at all," Harry said as he returned his gaze to his food.
It pained him that Hermione seemed so distant and he wondered if he had damaged their friendship beyond repair. It occurred to him that while he desperately tried to make the right decision by leaving Hermione behind seven years ago maybe he had made a serious error.
Flashback
Harry apparated into the Granger's back yard, it had been one month since the war ended and Hermione had gone home to spend time with her parents. She hadn't seen them at all last year when they were hunting for the horcruxes. He walked to the back door and gently knocked.
He was greatly surprised when a teary eyed Mrs. Granger answered the door. Harry immediately thought something had happened to Hermione. His heart dropped into his stomach, his eyes started getting watery and it was very difficult to breath. Mrs. Granger invited him in and he saw Hermione in the living room crying in Mr. Granger's arms. She looked healthy and Harry could see no visible wounds.
She looked up from her father's arms, "Harry," she muttered softly.
Harry looked around confused. If Hermione was fine, why were they crying?
Mr. Granger must have sensed Harry's confusion and he answered the unspoken question. "I have cancer."
Those three words hit Harry like a rock. Harry wasn't close to Mr. Granger at all but he knew how much Hermione loved her father. After Mr. Granger found out the details of the war he didn't get along too well with him or Ron but he knew what this news would do to Hermione.
"I guess I should go then." Harry said. He figured they needed some time alone to sort his out and Harry didn't want to intrude upon their privacy.
She nodded as Harry walked away and apparated back to the Burrow.
Harry remembered the following months had been very miserable for Hermione. Even though Harry was depressed he tried to cheer her up but he failed miserably each time. Mr. Granger had gone in for surgery the week before they left. When he emerged, the surgeon had said it was successful and Mr. Granger was recovering well. That was the first time he saw Hermione smile and it wasn't due to him. The next step for her father was chemotherapy and Hermione was determined to be there for her father.
When Harry first toyed with the idea of leaving, he wanted to consult Hermione. He had tried to get a hold of her but she was too busy accompanying her father to the doctor. Harry decided that her family needed her more than he did. He didn't want to burden her with his problems. She had, had enough of that for seven years and it was time for her to stop make sacrifices for his sake.
The day he gave into Ron's request to join him, he almost reconsidered asking her to come. He had apparated into her back yard and was about to walk to the door when he saw her through the window. Her father had been released from the hospital and she was waiting on him hand and foot. He was lying on the sofa and Hermione was sitting on the love seat. She was smiling and laughing. They both appeared happy and Harry realised at that point, she belonged there and not with him on some insane quest to find peace. He left that very night.
Harry was beginning to regret the decision that he had spent hours toiling over. How did he always manage to mess things up?
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