Chapter 2 - The next morning
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The next morning, Harry entered the kitchen to have a quick bite before leaving for his job at the Ministry. The kitchen smelled like eggs, bacon and toast.
Harry tried to kiss Ginny on the cheek but missed as she moved away from the stove to put his breakfast on the table. He patted his daughter, Lily on the head.
"Hi Daddy," the little redhead said.
"Hey munchkin, how are you today?"
"I'm good, Mummy just cooked me the best breakfast. I love bacon." Lily beamed.
"Your mum's an excellent cook." Harry said, trying to catch Ginny's eye but she avoided his gaze.
"Sweetie, are you finished?" she asked Lily.
Lily nodded as Ginny took her plate from the table and put it into the sink. "Then why don't you run along and get dressed. I'm going to take you shopping later for a nice broom."
"I can't wait to start flying so I can learn to play Quidditch." Lily said excitedly as she left the kitchen.
Once they were alone, Ginny finally turned her gaze on Harry as he sat down to eat. She did not look happy.
"So what time did you finally come to bed last night?" she asked impatiently. "I tried to stay awake so we could talk but I was tired and fell asleep."
Harry shrugged. "Um, I think I came in around midnight."
"What were you doing in the backyard that required you to stay out that late?" Ginny asked, her arms folded over her apron.
Here we go again, Harry thought. "I hadn't planned to stay out that late, but I was stargazing and then Hermione came out of her house, she and Ron had another row. She was very upset, so we talked for a while."
"She and Ron rowed again?" Ginny asked. "What's going on with them? Anytime I talk to him, he's so grumpy."
"Hermione got offered a job at the Ministry with the International Wizarding Relations department, which involves a lot of travel. Ron doesn't want her to take the job."
"I see." Ginny said. "Hmm, if it were me, I'd take it. I miss traveling - when I was a Harpie, I used to see the world."
"Even if it meant that the decision might jeopardize your marriage?" Harry asked.
"Well, if I were no longer happy in my marriage, I would." Ginny asserted. "Speaking of which, are we ever going to finish our discussion yesterday?"
Harry groaned. "I thought we were finished, Ginny."
"No, you thought we were finished when you stormed out of the house last night. Harry, last night I told you I wanted to have another baby and you told me you didn't."
"The matter is settled, Ginny. We have three beautiful children. That's enough."
"But Lily will be going off to Hogwarts in a couple of years and I'll be lonely." Ginny protested. "My mum had seven kids and while I don't think I could handle that many, I don't want to stop at three. I would've thought that you would want a large family since you didn't grow up with any brothers or sisters!"
"We do have a large family, Ginny. And you said it yourself, you miss traveling. Once Lily's at school, perhaps you and I could travel more ourselves. With a baby, that would be difficult." Harry reasoned.
"Maybe, but I just feel like something is missing in my life. And I think another baby would make me happy. Just think, perhaps we could have another girl, but instead of a redhead, perhaps she's look more like you or Al."
For a moment, Harry considered holding another little baby in his arms, but in his mind's eye he saw a little girl with big brown eyes and tufts of curly brown hair. He closed his eyes, trying to push the image of the baby out of his mind, but it was still there unbidden.
Harry ran his hands through his hair and pushed his breakfast plate away, he was no longer hungry.
"Gin, I'm gonna be late for work. Let's talk about this later. Oh, and make sure you buy Lily an entry level Cleansweep. Don't go spoiling her with a Firebolt."
Harry left the kitchen while Ginny scowled after him.
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Later that day, Harry was at his desk in the office he shared with Ron at the Ministry's Auror division. It was already 10AM and Ron hadn't come in yet. Harry was starting to get worried as he pored over some new intel about a group of young purebloods who were starting something called "Voldemort Youth." Nearly twenty years after his death, Voldemort's ideas of a pure wizard race were still popular amongst a small, but growing part of the Wizarding World. Harry's office was charged with trying to squash this movement before it became a serious threat to Half-bloods and Muggle borns.
Then the door opened and Ron came into the office, dropping his cloak and bag on his desk, not even acknowledging his best friend and colleague.
Harry looked up and noticed that Ron looked to be in a bad mood.
"Morning, Ron." Harry said tentatively. "I was wondering when you'd get here."
"What, are you going to report me?" Ron snarled. "I know I'm not as perfect at the great Harry Potter, who's always sitting at his desk at 9AM!"
"Whoa, mate." Harry replied, trying not to get into it with yet another Weasley. "I was just worried about you, that's all."
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine!" Ron said, but he sounded anything but as he sat down.
Harry wondered if he should bring up the row with Hermione but decided to leave things be. He returned to his files and tried to concentrate on them, but the sorry state of his best friends' marriage gnawed at the pit of his stomach.
Harry watched Ron pick up some files and attempt to focus on them, but he could tell that his friend's mind was elsewhere.
"Hermione and I had another row last night." Ron announced. "That's why I was late. I couldn't fall asleep right away and then wound up oversleeping. And to make matters worse, Hermione didn't even wake me up this morning. She just left for work!"
"Well, maybe she was trying to avoid you because she didn't want another argument." Harry said.
"Why do you always take her side?" Ron asked angrily.
"I'm not, I'm just trying to offer you a possible reason why she didn't wake you. Or maybe she didn't want to give you an opportunity to try to hit her again."
"How the bloody hell do you know about that? Wait, did Hermione go running to you after our fight?"
"She didn't come running, but I was outside in my back garden last night, and I saw her upset. We talked about it and she told me that you tried to hit her, but she stunned you."
"Yeah, she got me good." Ron paused. "Harry, you have to know I would never hurt Hermione like that, I just lost my temper, that's all. I have never hit her once, in all of time we've been married. You've got to believe me."
Harry looked at his friend's pleading face. "I believe you, Ron. But you must know if you had hit her, I would've used an Unforgivable on you."
Ron nodded gravely. "I know. I'm sorry it almost happened. It's just that Hermione made me so angry last night. Did she tell you all about her new job?"
"Yeah, but she hasn't taken it yet. She's got a week to decide." Harry reminded him.
"I just feel like she's trying to get away from me. Now that the kids are at school, we've been arguing and more. I just feel like I'm losing her."
Harry felt terribly torn between his best friends. What he had feared all of those years ago when he realized that their romance was inevitable was finally coming to pass. He couldn't tell Ron that his fears of losing his wife were justified.
"Harry?" Ron asked, pulling Harry out of his reverie. "What do you think I should do?"
Instead of offering advice, Harry decided to ask Ron the same question he had asked Hermione the night before.
"Do you love her?"
"What?" Ron asked incredulously. "Of course I love her. She's my wife."
Harry shook his head. "No, I mean do you really love her? Is her happiness the most important thing to you, more important than your own? Would you be willing to sacrifice your own needs so she can be happy?"
Ron looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not sure."
"Well, then I think you have a lot of thinking to do, Ron. If this job means a lot to Hermione and her happiness, then maybe you shouldn't stand in her way."
"But what if she meets someone while she's away and leaves me for good? I'd be devastated."
"Well, maybe she won't. But I think you need to give her the freedom to decide." Harry said.
Ron sat silent for a few minutes, lost in thought. Then he stood up, and reached for his cloak.
"Mate, do you mind if I took the rest of the day off? I have a lot of thinking to do, and I'm not getting any work done here today."
"No problem, take all the time you need, Ron."
After Ron left, Harry was reminded of a quote in a Muggle book that Hermione had given him as a gift when he married Ginny. If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were
TBC
A/N: Thanks to those who read and reviewed. The quote above is from Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. He's got some great quotes about love, many which apply to H/Hr, especially in DH.
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/richard_bach/
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