Disclaimer: I own nothing; everything is Jk's apart from the plot… This chapter has not been beta'd so any mistakes are my own…
Chapter two: A clearer insight
Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
"Feelings are fickle; they are fragile; they are foolish; they are fraught with frivolity. Follow your feelings and frequently you will fall flat on your face. So much for your feelings. It is your choices and decisions that matter."
Sorrow, distress, hatred, jealousy and finally…a sense of relief. Emotion after emotion addled her thoughts with the constant ringing of "I don't think I love you anymore" piercing her skull, delving onto the very core of her brain. It all actually made sense to Hermione. The abandoned "I love you's", the empty bed, the alcoholism, everything that was their marriage seemed to crumble before her very eyes.
Her marriage was a sham? A marital foundation built upon sand? Ron didn't love her anymore? So many questions pounded her brain and she was only brought from her reverie by the sound of Rose squealing at the time.
"Rose, calm down. It's only quarter past ten!" she could hear Ron consol their frantic daughter. She was anxious over leaving the kitchen after what her husband had just revealed to her. She couldn't believe that he had the nerve to say such a thing, especially to his own wife. However it was her daughters first day at Hogwarts and she wasn't going to let anyone or anything ruin her daughter's memories, however serious the situation. Picking herself up from the floor, she brushed the imaginary dust from her clothes and wiped her eyes vigorously. Casting a glance at her reflection in the window she used her wand to hide her blotchy state and mask her swollen eyes. She had to look presentable, for after all, she was going to be in the presence of Ginny Potter- the wizarding world's most renowned quidditch and fashion icon.
Her hands trembled as she grasped the cool handle of the kitchen door; she was always strong, never vulnerable. But now, she felt so weak, unwanted and hurt- and she couldn't for the life of her, figure out what she had done to deserve it.
The cool and crisp morning of September the first greeted the family of five Potters as they trudged down the smokey platform of 9 ¾. The rattling of the two bird cages perched upon the two unmistakeable Hogwarts trunks, echoed through the autumn air. Ginny Potter strode proudly through the mass of parents, waving occasionally towards an excited fan whilst ignoring her two bickering sons as she dutifully held her daughters hand. Harry tried to catch her gaze several times but to no avail, grasping onto the collars of his two sons who were fighting over the sorting, he lectured them with a few stern words.
"Merlin dad, mum never shouts at us like you do!" James spat at his father. This comment seemed to infuriate Harry and he released Albus to turn to James.
"That's because your mother is never here to shout at you!" he hissed under his breath. James lowered his head at his father's remark and skulked, he noticed that his friends were watching his father berate him and so barged past Harry without even glancing back. Harry watched his son retreat to his gang of friends and sighed longingly, if only Ginny would once play the bad cop, then his kids wouldn't resent him in the way they did. Raising his head to locate Ginny he found her swamped by a group of teenage girls, all who were holding out a quill and a piece of parchment. On closer inspection, he found Lily cowering on the outside ring, neglected by her mother. Muttering obscenities to himself he quickly rushed to his daughter's aid and held her close. Lifting her into his arms Lily immediately pointed a finger and screamed hysterically.
"Daddy Look, its Hugo and Aunty Hermione, Uncle Ron and Rose!" she squealed excitedly. Harry followed her raised finger and through the haze of smoke he could clearly define the Weasley family. However the Weasleys had yet to find the Potters and so Harry could see that Ron and Hermione seemed to be in deep conversation, flailing hand gestures at one another. Ron had flushed the infamous Weasley red and so Harry knew he was pissed at something. As for Hermione, she seemed to Harry, to be looking somewhat annoyed and slightly depressed. Lily was now wiggling furiously in his arms, and tried desperately to pry herself from his vice like grip.
"Daddy! Let. Me. Go!" she ordered him. Harry quickly obliged to her command and followed his impatient daughter to greet the Weasleys. All the while, Ginny Potter, still attending to her teenage fans.
A chime quickly sounded half past ten and the Weasley family passed through the barrier with ease. Rose Weasley was stunned into silence by the sight of the gleaming red train. Her thoughts of what the magical world concealed surpassed her thoughts entirely. She beamed as she observed her surroundings and her mind was suddenly reeling over the possible magical experiences she would embark upon. As she pushed her trolley along the vast concrete platform she dismissed the hushed argument her parents seemed to be involved in and grinned as she caught sight of Albus Potter.
"-Ron, I just don't understand. One minute you love me, get married and create a family with me and the next you want out because you don't think you love me anymore?" Hermione questioned demandingly, waiting for an answer.
"Look Mione-"he began.
"Don't Mione me. I only let people, who truly love me, call me that" she spat whilst cutting him off. Ron sighed heavily and held onto his son's hand, tugging him along the platform as he lagged behind. He knew she wanted answers to his revelation, but the jealousy he felt prevented him from telling her. Three weeks ago he had been a happy man; free of any burdens, but the discovery of something had confirmed his thoughts that had plagued him since the age of eleven.
"Ok then, Hermione, its hard to explain. I don't think that I've stopped loving you, I mean not as a family member anyway-"
"What do you mean in a family way? Define 'a family way' because to me a familial way, makes me think of myself as your sister, and it would be pretty perverted to have sex and produce kids with your sister" Hermione chided.
"Hermione, ok. I c-can't explain I-" he stuttered.
"So-"Hermione began, whilst checking Rose was far enough from ear-shot to continue.
"Is there another woman?" she hissed under her breath. Ron instantly shook his head and flushed in annoyance.
"I wouldn't cheat Hermione; I'm NOT that type of guy. I just need some time, time to re-evaluate our relationship, to try and regain those feelings; I want to try, for the kids and for you. I don't want to feel this way anymore. My mother had the right plan in suggesting that I should date you, and marry you. I think that we should give it some time, and for those feelings to settle" he assured her.
As Hermione listened to his words, she was suddenly stung by the one phrase that he had voiced "My mother had the right plan."
Her blood boiled at the thought of her entire life base upon Molly Weasleys plans; however she was glad that Ron did want to try regardless of his current feelings. It did pain her that he had lost all of the loving feelings towards her, but she knew that he would eventually return to his normal self, or so she hoped. She couldn't understand what had happened to change his views of their relationship; she tried to decipher any issues that they had unresolved but her memories drew a blank.
As she opened her mouth to pry some extra information about Molly from Ronald, she was cut off by a loud shriek.
"Hugo!" Hermione could decipher from the echoing shouts, as a red headed girl zoomed past her and pounced onto her youngest child. Hugo hugged Lily in response and quickly began an animated conversation with her about Hogwarts houses. Hermione shook her head knowingly and raised her head to find Harry, who she knew would not be far away.
"Ron, Mione!" Harry greeted as he pulled each of them into a hug. Ron waited for Hermione to chide Harry over the fact that he had called her by her nickname but his wife completely ignored her previous statement, as she conversed with his best friend over current news within the household.
"Yeah, so Lily can fly a broom now, and Albus had gone straight for the books, whereas James is somewhat a mischief maker" Harry concluded his family antics. Hermione nodded heartily.
"Living up to his name I suppose" she added. Harry nodded knowingly and hesitated for her rendition of family life.
"So, how's family life been treating you?" he asked quickly. It had suddenly dawned upon him that Ginny was returning to his side, which reminded him of their current problems. Problems he was not willing to divulge to his best friends, especially Ron.
"Superb, absolutely perfect" Ron butted in. Hermione was about to confront him, but she suddenly realised that she too didn't want to tell her best friends that their marriage was currently failing, especially as Harry and Ginny had the perfect family.
"Yes, everything's wonderful" she felt herself lying. She watched longingly as Ginny wrapped her thin arm around Harry's waist and pined for a moment when Ron would show some sort of affection towards her. However the grimace upon Harry's face as Ginny practically warned passers by that she was his wife, startled Hermione slightly. She made a mental note to ask him later and quickly checked Ron's features hoping he had not caught Harry's reaction to his sister.
"You still seem to be attracting the fans Ginny" Hermione commented as another horde of girls approached the group.
Ginny took a glance over her shoulder and beamed, "Yes well, today's Hogwarts day isn't it? The media go crazy at this time of the year, that's why I've dressed appropriately" she replied motioning to her pink summer dress. Hermione casually glanced down to observe her own choice of clothes and blushed as she realised that in all the bustle and haste, she had chosen to don a pair of faded jeans and a plain brown jumper. She caught Ginny giving her the once over, and ignored her friends judgemental look. Hermione wanted to tell Ginny that she thought pink clashed with her fiery red hair, but decided to avoid a trivial argument. Taking her time to observe Harry closer, whilst he cast his gaze towards the scarlet train, she noticed that he seemed to be troubled. Since he was eleven years old she had been able to read his emotions and right now he seemed depressed and agitated. She couldn't quite put her finger on it; however she did have an inking into what the problem was.
As Ginny left to sign some more autographs Ron turned to find Rose and began to help her with her trunk that needed to be placed on the train. Harry and Hermione were left in an awkward rut as neither could find anything truly interesting to say. As the silence fell upon them it was quickly broken by the loud argument that had broken out between Lily and Hugo.
"No, my mummy and daddy shout more than your mummy and daddy!" Lily shot at Hugo defiantly.
"Nah ah, my mummy and daddy shout at each other every day!" Hugo retorted.
"Yes well, my mummy and daddy hate each other more than your mummy and daddy!"
"No, my mummy and daddy don't love each other!" Hugo beamed as he remembered his mother's and fathers previous argument. Lily narrowed her eyes in response and Harry and Hermione stared confusedly at each other. Their children had been arguing over their parents actions and each had been given an insight into the others familial life. Hermione quickly left the staring match that she had been competing in with Harry and pulled Hugo's hand into her own, tugging him away from the argument. Harry simply copied her actions and scolded Lily for arguing with her cousin. However he could not understand how his child thought that he hated his wife and found it somewhat disturbing.
"We'll talk soon Harry" Hermione smiled embarrassingly as she thought about what he son had revealed. Harry simply nodded in response and watched as Hermione traipsed back to her husband with a slight hunch to her shoulders. He watched her carefully and observed the tinge of unhappiness in her movements, just as he was able to all those years ago in Hogwarts. Turning back around he found his wife swarmed by an immense amount of kids and sighed unhappily, today was going to be a long day.
"Bye James, Albus, don't forget to write!" Lily hollered as the train screeched into movement. The thick smoke began to billow from the funnel and Harry waved proudly towards his sons' compartment.
"No duelling!" he added to Lily's comment. Ginny simply waved lightly and turned to make sure that the clicking of the cameras focused upon her and her husband. Harry cursed her inwardly and ignored her selfish behaviour.
"Bye dad!" Albus cried as the train followed the track to its set location.
"Bye son!" Harry shouted waving with all of his might. Soon the train disappeared from view and the emotional families were left standing idly on the platform, some began to leave and others stayed to watch the smoke fade in the distance.
"Right honey, can you take Lily home, I need to go to a Harpies conference today and I won't be able to care for her" Ginny asked as she rejoined his side once again. Harry shot her a menacing glare and narrowed his eyes "you're going out again?" he asked in annoyance. Ginny simply nodded and exited the platform before Harry could contest her wishes.
As he scoured the platform to locate Hermione and Ron, he found them to be missing and so assumed that they had returned to their home.
Knock Knock Knock
Harry rasped his knuckles against the wood of the burrow's front door and waited for an answer. Holding Lily's hand in his own he smiled as Molly Weasley greeted him.
"Harry dear, what brings you here?" she asked lovingly as Lily hugged her grandma.
"I was just wondering if you could watch Lily for a while, I just need a little time alone and Ginny's at a conference today" he explained.
"Of course" she replied as she led him towards the kitchen, "Hermione's here actually with Hugo, said the exact same thing actually, except for Ron, he had an emergency at the Auror office, I'm surprised your not there, he said it was a pretty big deal" she explained. As they entered the kitchen Harry checked his magical beeper and didn't find anything waiting for him and shrugged.
"Maybe they didn't need me" he suggested as he sat down to the table. Hermione was also there and greeted him with a small smile as she held her drink in her hands. Lily immediately left the kitchen as she set off in search of Hugo.
"Oh, I've just remembered, the washing has been left outside; it's going to rain soon!" Molly cried as she left the kitchen to venture into the garden. Hermione shook her head and laughed along with Harry.
"So, how would you like to spend the day with me instead of being alone?" Harry voiced as he watched her return to her sad state. Her eyes instantly lit at the idea and she nodded vigorously.
"I'd love to" she beamed.
Harry stood to his feet and held out his hand to help her up. Taking her hand in his own he led her towards the centre of the kitchen and apparated from The Burrow, each intent on finding out what they had been hiding from one another.
Thanks for all the reads and reviews! Next chap will be a lot more interesting. I have this planned out and I really hope it fares well; I have a lot of twists and turns hidden up my sleeve…