Chapter 8 - Guess who's coming for dinner?
Hermione was curled up on the sofa next to Harry, a box of tissues on her lap. He had his arm wrapped around her and she leaned against his shoulder. She had just finished filling him in about what happened with Ron.
"So, then he was gone. I felt so numb I didn't know what to do. I wound up calling my mum last night. I was on the phone with her for at least two hours."
"How did she react?" Harry asked.
"She was very supportive. I had half expected her to tell me that I should make the marriage work for the sake of the children, but she just listened and offered her help."
"You've got a great mother, Hermione. I've always liked her."
"The feeling is mutual, Harry. She thinks you're a good man."
Harry felt a little embarrassed but pleased upon hearing this. "She does?"
"Yes, she told me that you would stand by me in my time of need." Hermione looked sheepish.
"Were you having doubts?" Harry asked, looking down at her.
Hermione met his gaze. "I don't know, I thought with the split, that you would feel caught in the middle and not know whose side to take."
"Hermione, I haven't taken Ron's side since our third year at school. And even then, I felt terrible about it." Harry felt a little disappointed that she would question his allegiance to her.
Hermione nodded. "I know, I guess I was just feeling insecure for a moment."
Harry squeezed her shoulder. "You don't have to be insecure at all. I promise you that I will always be there for you." He paused. "And you have always been there for me, especially when we were growing up. Ron deserted me more than once, but you never left my side. You always believed in me and stood by me when nobody else would."
Hermione sighed. "So you feel indebted to me?"
Harry thought about her question. Did he? Maybe part of him felt like he owed her, but it wasn't out of mere obligation. Sometimes he just felt unworthy of her devotion, and by being there for her these past twenty years was his way of giving back. And after Ron's accusation today, he certainly didn't feel any loyalty to him.
"No, I don't." Harry shook his head. "I'm just trying to be the best friend I can be."
"And you are." She said, reaching over and taking his free hand in hers. "Thank you, Harry."
Harry squeezed her hand. "You're welcome."
An easy silence fell between them. Hermione examined Harry's hand in her lap, and her mind flashed back to all of the times he had taken her hand to pull her out of harm's way. She also remembered the times she had grabbed his arm whenever she was scared or took his hand in comfort. It was their way of being physically connected to each other.
"Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"You said you saw Ron today. How is he?" Hermione pulled out of Harry's grasp so she could face him.
"Not good." Harry sighed. "He's staying at the Ministry guest quarters but apparently has been hitting the mini bar. He smelled like Firewhiskey."
"Well, that's how Ron deals with stress. He drinks. He says the most awful things when he's drunk."
Harry silently agreed.
"What did he tell you?"
"Not much." Harry lied, wanting to protect Hermione from Ron's drunken accusation. "He said your marriage was kaput and that he's taking a leave of absence from the Ministry."
"He's leaving the Ministry? Did he say why?" Hermione asked.
"Well I guess with the stress of the split, he probably needs time to sort things out." And he doesn't want to be anywhere near me, Harry thought.
"Hmm, I'm wondering if he will return." Hermione mused. "I don't think he was too happy working at the Ministry, which just added to our troubles."
"What do you mean he wasn't happy? He never said anything about it to me." Harry asked in surprise.
"He probably didn't want to let you down, Harry. But I remember how Ron was in the early days of our marriage when he was working with George at the joke shop. He was much happier then…we were much happier then."
"But he seemed so excited to be working with me when we started." Harry said. "I guess his enthusiasm waned over the years when he realized we'd be doing less field work and spent more time behind a desk poring over intel. I just wish he would've told me that he wasn't happy."
"Well, sometimes people don't say what's on their minds because they're afraid that what they say will hurt the other person." Hermione said. "Just like I was afraid to admit that I wasn't in love with him anymore."
"So, it's really over, then?" Harry said, stating the obvious.
"Yes." Hermione nodded sadly. "I think a part of me will always love Ron, after all, we were friends and he's the father of my children…..even though this is what I wanted, the suddenness of it all has thrown me. And part of me feels guilty because I don't want to try to make it work anymore. I just feel like I failed."
Harry saw that Hermione looked like she was about to cry again. He handed her a tissue and put his arm around her again.
"I know how much you hate failing, Hermione. But we learn from our mistakes, right? You'll come out of this a stronger person."
"I hope so, Harry." She replied, wiping her eyes.
Another silence fell between them. The topic of her split with Ron exhausted for now, Hermione thought of the conversation she had with her mother about Harry's marriage. She suddenly felt self-conscious that she was curled up against someone else's husband and sat up.
"Harry, how are things with Ginny? Did you talk anymore about her wanting another baby?"
"No, we didn't." Harry replied, a little surprised by her pointed questions. He was here to comfort his best friend, not talk about his troubled marriage. But Hermione seemed to want to talk about something else, so he obliged.
"She didn't bring it up last night, so I didn't either. I wanted a nice quiet night without any arguments. And Lily was too excited over her new Cleansweep anyway, so we spent the evening with her talking about broom safety and Quidditch rules. Ginny and I are taking her to see her first professional match tomorrow afternoon. The Harpies are playing The Ravens."
"How exciting for Lily, her first game."
"Yeah, I but I can't tell who is more excited, Ginny or Lily. Some of Ginny's old teammates are coming to the game and they're having a bit of a reunion this weekend."
"Ginny will be reliving her glory days, huh?" Hermione tried her best not to sound catty.
"Yeah, she sure likes talking about her days with the Harpies, doesn't she? Sometimes I wish she'd give it a rest." Harry chuckled.
"Anyway, she invited me to come along with her to the reunion brunch on Sunday, but I told her that she should just go and enjoy herself. I was going to drop Lily off at the Burrow and do a little flying myself."
"You still do that?" Hermione asked. She hadn't seen Harry on a broomstick in ages.
"Fly? Not as much as I'd like. Ginny bought me the latest Firebolt model last Christmas and I have barely used it. But with all of the stress lately, I really need to get up there and clear my head."
"I could use a head clearing myself." Hermione agreed.
"Do you want to come with me?" Harry asked, thinking aloud. He immediately regretted it.
"What am I thinking? I know you hate flying, Hermione, forget I asked."
"I don't hate flying, Harry. I just never liked heights; it's a bit of a phobia you could say. But maybe it's time I got over my fear."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked. "Because I could always put this off until next weekend. I could just hang out with you on Sunday and we could go to a museum or a bookshop, something on the ground, something you'd enjoy?"
Hermione put up her hand. "I appreciate the gesture, Harry, but I'd really like to go flying with you."
Harry smirked. "Okay, but when we're several kilometers up in the air and you're screaming at me to come back down to earth, I'm going to remind you that you wanted to do this."
"And I'll remind you that it was your idea." Hermione smirked back at him.
"Okay, it's settled, we're going flying on Sunday. Why don't I pick you up at noon?"
"Sounds great, I'll pack a picnic lunch for us."
Harry looked at his watch. He couldn't believe that he had spent the afternoon at Hermione's house. He hadn't even had lunch and it was getting close to dinner time.
"Well, I suppose I should be going. Ginny's expecting me for dinner soon."
Hermione sighed and realized that she was going to have to eat dinner alone tonight. And every night...
Harry saw her sad face. "Oh that was insensitive of me, wasn't it? Some friend I am. Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"
"Oh, Harry. I couldn't intrude."
"Hermione, you are family, of course you are coming for dinner."
"Harry, I'd love to take you up on your invitation, but why don't you ask Ginny first? I don't even know if she knows about the split yet. And how do you know she didn't ask Ron to dinner to cheer him up? That could be very awkward."
Harry realized that Hermione was right, as always. He was being impulsive and she made him think things through.
`Okay, I will check with Ginny first."
Harry stood up and made his way to the front door, his stomach growling loudly. Hermione followed.
"I'll be back in a few minutes about dinner," he said and gave her a quick hug before leaving.
Hermione watched him as he sped down the walkway towards his house. Her stomach growled loudly, too. She hadn't eaten anything all day and was starving.
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Harry entered the kitchen, which smelled delicious. "Hey, Gin, smells great, what's for dinner?."
"Harry? You're home early." Ginny said in surprise, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm making meatloaf, mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini. I figure if I mix the zucchini in with the mash, Lily will eat her vegetables."
"How much did you make?" Harry asked, peering into the oven.
"Enough for a day or two of leftovers, why?" Ginny asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Ginny, how would you feel about having a guest over for dinner?"
"Who did you invite, Harry?"
"Hermione, and I have a good reason for inviting her." Harry proceeded to tell Ginny about her brother's marriage. She took in this news with her jaw on the floor.
"Why am I always the last to know?" She exclaimed when Harry finished. "My stupid brother didn't even bother to owl me to let me know that he's leaving his wife?"
Harry couldn't believe Ginny was being so petty. Her brother and sister-in-law were in great pain, and all she could think about was herself. Harry didn't want to get into it with her and wanted to have a nice, peaceful dinner, so he held his tongue.
"I'm sorry Ron didn't tell you, Ginny. I wanted to invite Hermione over because I don't think she should be alone right now and since we're her family, I thought having her for dinner would be a nice gesture."
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "That was very thoughtful of you Harry. But what about Lily - do we want her to know that her aunt and uncle are splitting up? Do Rose and Hugo know yet?"
Harrry hadn't considered that. "They don't know yet….well, we won't speak of it in front of Lily. We can tell her that Uncle Ron is away on business and we've invited Aunt Hermione for dinner."
"You can tell her that, Harry. I'm not lying to our child." Ginny said, with her arms crossed over her apron.
Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Fine, I'll go get Hermione and tell her that we won't talk about it in front of Lily."
Before Ginny could say anything else, Harry was off to tell Hermione all about their dinner plans.
TBC
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