Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and dear Altair! All mistakes are mine- I'm trying!
"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity" -Carl Jung1875-1961, Swiss Psychiatrist
Chapter four: Drying those tears
After opening the front door and letting Hugo rush inside, Hermione was surprised to hear the sound of clattering towards the back of the house. As she ventured into the kitchen she was actually taken aback at the presence of her husband. Usually he was late home and once he did return, he would laze in front of the television until all hours of the morn. Placing her handbag and keys onto the dining table, she greeted him with a smile as he glanced up. She was going to try to help him through his crisis as much as she could, if it meant giving him an awkward smile once in a while, she would be happy to oblige.
He returned her smile with a small curve of his lips and then dropped his head to a quidditch magazine he was engrossed in. Hermione felt a small pang of jealousy as he scanned the vibrant pages of the magazine, how she wished that he would show her the amount of attention he bestowed upon its glossy pages. Trying her best to think of a conversation starter, she needed to begin something- anything that would keep his attention for more than a mere few seconds.
"So, How was that emergency at work, manage to fix it?" she asked curiously. As well as holding his attention, she wanted to probe him on his mysterious emergency. Harry had spent the better part of a day with her and he hadn't been called on the scene, as head Auror she knew that he would have been.
Ron answered without lifting his head and nodded, "It was bloody awful, bad attack in Muggle London. Spent hours rushing around, really busy."
"Did you see Harry at all?" she asked quizzically, now it was time to catch him out. Her heart thumped painfully as she awaited his answer, she didn't know if she really wanted to hear his reply.
"Yeah. Harry was first on the scene, always is. Had lunch with him actually, he said to say hello," he replied.
Her heart sank. He was lying. Tears threatened to fall as she tried to keep composure; it was painful, painful to know that he was lying to her. Mustering up all of the courage she could, she shook her head lightly and sank into a kitchen chair.
"T-That's quite funny actually," she spoke. Ron simply furrowed his brows and closed his magazine.
"You don't believe me?" he asked, with a hint of anger in his voice.
"No, actually I don't."
"And why would that be?" he questioned her.
"Because Harry spent the whole day with me, he hasn't been called into work in four days," she replied.
"Daddy!" Lily shouted as she entered the kitchen.
"Yes, baby?" Harry asked as he chopped the carrots for their evening meal. He loved to cook the muggle way, magic was easier, but muggle style provided him with a more satisfying feeling.
"Can Teddy come over for dinner tonight?" she asked hopefully. Harry rolled his eyes and watched as his daughter clutched her hands together and pleaded with her big blue eyes.
"Purlease!" she begged.
"Lily, like I told you back on the platform, he already comes round for dinner four times a week. His Grandma Tonks would like him to visit home sometimes," he told her honestly.
"Daddy! Please, please, please Teddy makes me and Hugo laugh! Please?" she begged again. Harry knew she had the determination to plead for the rest of the night and so nodded.
"Go fetch Altair and send Teddy a message. Altair hasn't been in the air for a while, she'd like to hunt I think" Harry told her. Lily's face immediately lit up and she bounded from the room to go and fetch the family owl. Harry shook his head knowingly and began to dice the meat he would serve with the vegetables. Glancing at the clock, he noted that Ginny still wasn't home. Seven he thought to himself. Her daily routine was more than worrying him, her early starts and late finishes were mysterious and her lack of commitment towards the family was finally taking its toll on him. As he vented his anger on his cooking instruments, he was startled when he noticed that he had totally massacred the meat. Whispering obscenities to himself, he ignored the state of the meat and scraped it from the chopping board to the pot.
No matter how many times he thought of a divorce, or a break from Ginny, Hermione's words found their way inside his head. 'HARRY, how can you say that? You want to wish that she's going to change; you really need to sit her down and talk face to face with her' Hermione's advice always did fare well in his book. Taking her words seriously, he vowed that he would follow her words of wisdom.
"That's exactly what I'm going to do. Face to face, she needs to be told," he told himself.
At the age of Nineteen, Teddy Lupin was a tall and headstrong individual who embraced life with open arms. Due to the unfortunate death of his parents, in a war which he was too young to remember, he was raised by his grandmother and his godfather. Inspired by his godfathers heroism and bravery, he vowed to avenge his parent's death by following in his mother's footsteps- he wanted to become an Auror.
He was currently in training and had a side job as a caretaker for the Holy Harpies. It wasn't the most glamorous of jobs, but it paid well enough for him. He felt bad when he had to borrow money from his grandmother, and he hated asking Harry for money. Harry would happily give him as much as he needed, in fact, more than he needed-but Teddy hated charity. For the whole of his life he had been pitied by his family and friends, his classmates had heard of his misfortune and he hated that they avoided talking about family life around him.
Harry, however, understood his situation. Orphaned as a baby, Harry knew what it felt like to be pitied and singled out. That's why Teddy had a strong bond with Harry; he looked up at him almost as a father figure and adored Harry's children as his own brothers and sisters. However, there was something about his Ginny that he found unsettling. He regarded her as an aunt, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something mysterious about her. She seemed to almost adore the attention that was thrust upon her, and he found that to be annoying. She didn't seem to suit Harry's profile and wondered how the pair ended up together
Strolling down the corridor that led to the caretaker's side room he pulled the door open and jumped as something pecked at the window.
"Altair!" he smiled as he opened the window latch, "Sorry girl, I haven't got any treats. Make sure Harry gives you one" he told the owl as he pried the letter from her leg. He immediately recognised the untidy scrawl of Lily Potter and beamed at the addressee: Tedy Loopen.
Chuckling to himself, he unfolded the piece of parchment and read the nine year olds letter.
Dear Tedy Loopen,
Daddy says you can come to dinner tonight, please, please, please come!
Hugo told me that you have a new broom, can I have a go? Reply quick, dinners gonna be ready soon!
Love lots and lots
Lily p XXX
He'd confided in Hugo with the utmost secrecy that he had a new broom and shook his head as he thought about Hugo revealing all to Lily. Even though the two fought, they were the best of friends and no one could separate them. Quickly writing a reply, he accepted the dinner invitation and sent Altair on her way.
He was about to leave the cupboard with his cleaning supplies when a loud, echoing laugh resounded through the corridor.
"….can't believe you did that for me. A job at the Daily Prophet as a quidditch correspondent?"
He immediately recognised the voice as his aunt Ginny's and hung back in the cupboard as a deep voice responded to her question.
"Nothing but the best for you…"
Teddy didn't recognise the voice and peeked through the crack in the door. His aunt was leaning against the wall, whilst…NO! A tall dark skinned man with a body riddled with muscles was gripping onto her waist. Teddy's stomach dropped as his aunt caressed the stranger's cheek. No, he wasn't thinking clearly, it was a vision. Rubbing his eyes vigorously he winced as the scene remained in front of him.
"My resignation only ended today, how did you get me another job so quick?"
"I have my contacts-"
"-What do you say to dear old Blaise?" the man asked huskily.
"Thank you" she replied in a hushed tone. Teddy could feel the anger well up inside of him as his aunt's lips met those of the stranger. She was Ginny Potter! She was his godfather's wife! For Merlin's sake, she had three kids! Banging his head against the wood of the doorframe, he didn't notice that she had left with the man, leaving him in a shocked state.
"Lily, set the table please," Harry ordered his daughter, whilst placing the dishes and plates onto the dining table. He refused to get out the fancy placemats and the ornate glasses; instead he chose to use the regular cutlery and plates. Tonight was going to be a normal family meal, a meal that would soon be followed by a rather important talk that Harry couldn't delay any further.
As he tickled his daughter's tummy for setting the table correctly, they were soon interrupted by the sound of an apparition. Lily ran full pelt into her mother's arms as she entered the kitchen.
"Guess what mummy!" Lily cried out excitedly.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Teddy's coming over! And he's going to let me fly on his new broom, Hugo told me all about it. Hugo said that it goes really, really fast!"
"Really?" Lily nodded furiously and wiggled from her mother's arms to run to the owlery.
"Just going to tell Hugo!"She cried out as she ran down the hall.
Harry shook his head and noted the smile Ginny wore upon her face. In fact, she was home a lot earlier than usual even though she was still late, and she seemed to be more mellow and happy. He didn't understand what had gotten into her.
"Good day at the conference?" he asked to start conversation. She nodded and pulled a kitchen chair away to sit down.
"It was…interesting" she lied; Harry merely nodded and set about serving up dinner. A loud shriek from Lily, notified the pair that Teddy had arrived. He came charging into the room with Lily bobbing up and down on his back.
"Go Pegasus!" she cried shrilly. Teddy set her to her feet once he neared the table and greeted Harry with a hug. Casting a malevolent glace to his supposed aunt he ignored her welcome and sat down to the table. Having completely missed the interaction between his godson and wife, Harry pulled Lily onto a chair and sat down next to his wife.
As the meal progressed, the chit-chat began and the day's events were told to one another.
"Which reminds me Harry, I've officially retired from Quidditch as of today," she told him in a plain manner.
Harry spat out the wine he had just taken a sip of and coughed violently.
"You what?!" he cried.
"I said," Ginny began, "I have officially retired from playing quidditch-"
"Great!" Harry beamed. Ginny's face fell as Harry clapped his hands together.
"What do you mean great?" she asked confusedly.
"You can finally settle down at home Gin, Merlin knows it's about time. There'll be no more late nights, spontaneous games no mo-"
"HARRY STOP!" she halted him. Harry closed his mouth and furrowed his brows. She raised a hand and stopped his flow of words.
"You didn't let me finish. I said I have retired from playing quidditch, but I've been offered a job as a quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet" she told him. Harry's face fell as she revealed her plans for her new career and he could do all but nod.
Teddy Lupin sat and watched the pair converse; he wanted so badly to tell his godfather that his wife was cheating, that she had gotten the job by the hands of a man named Blaise, a man who she was supposedly having an affair with. His blood boiled as Ginny lied about the conference in which a leaver's party was held- there was no leaver's party, he knew that for sure. She was spinning him a web of lies and he was none the wiser.
Ginny quickly lent in and placed a kiss upon her husband's mouth and sat back with a huge smile. Harry seemed shocked that she was capable of such a gesture and smiled in response. The scene made Teddy want to hurl, slamming his napkin onto the dining table he glared menacingly at Ginny and stormed from the kitchen without explaining his leave.
"Teddy?!" Lily cried.
"Teddy?" Harry asked shooting up from his seat. He left the kitchen in search of his godson and scratched his head as the front door slammed shut.
What was that all about? He asked himself pensively.
Cold. Alone. Numb. Hermione Weasley lay in her empty bed and wrapped the cold sheets around her body. After having another intense fight with her husband, she knew she could never forgive him. Sure, she'd have to stay with him for the kid's sake, but tonight he had gone too far. Her pillow was soaked with the tears of her pain, tears that wouldn't cease; tears that she would never forget. As the sound of the television blared throughout the house, she cast a thought back towards the moment when she had stumbled upon his lies…
"You don't believe me?" he asked, with a hint of anger in his voice.
"No, actually I don't."
"And why would that be?" he questioned her.
"Because Harry spent the whole day with me, he hasn't been called into work in four days," she replied.
"Where did you go?" she asked hesitantly. She needed answers towards his lies; answers led her to solutions- in which she was in great need of right now.
"Nowhere"
"What do you mean nowhere?" she asked him quizzically.
"I mean nowhere Hermione, for fuck's sake. Drop it; move on, I was out for a day without your consent. You don't have to know every waking detail of my fucking life, just shut it and leave me alone!"
Hermione let the tears flow. Never in her life, had Ron been sober and that…violent towards her.
"God Hermione, I want to tell you that I love you, I really do, but I don't want you to get hurt"
"Why?! Why would I get hurt?" She asked demandingly.
"That I can't tell you" he spoke, "That I can't tell you" he finished in a whisper.
"Ron, you're scaring me" she whimpered.
"Just leave me alone Hermione, just leave me alone" he warned her.
"Why?!" she cried frantically.
"Hermione let it FUCKING DROP!" He bellowed. She slapped his face at his tone of voice and gasped as a red hand mark flared upon his skin.
She brought her hand to his cheek to apologise, but he turned away and left the room in a rage. She heard the slamming of the living room door and the volume of the television rose. Staring down the hallway in which he had retreated; her vision was blurred by the hot tears that stung her eyes.
As she thought about the fight, she clutched her arms around herself and curled into a foetal position. Her eyes ached with the crying, and her cheeks were stained with the tears she had shed. Ron was keeping things from her; she just wanted to know what. A soft knock on her bedroom door halted her thoughts and she whispered for the person to enter.
A small child with a mop of red hair walked drowsily into view and she quickly swatted her tears away at the sight of Hugo.
"I can't sleep, Daddy's making too much noise" he yawned softly. Hermione's heart ached at her son's burden, but simply let him slip into bed next to her. She cast a silencing charm on the hallway and pulled her son into a warm hug, "better?" she asked him softly. Hugo nodded and she played with his red hair as he yawned with a renewed sleepiness.
"Did you and d-daddy fight?" Hugo asked sleepily. Hermione assured him that it was a silly argument and that neither of them meant to fight. Hugo nodded and soon fell into a deep slumber, whilst his mother silently pondered what she had done to deserve her current treatment.
Ok so I had no help with this so expect there to be mistakes! Thanks to KataGrangerPotter for the good idea for the Hr/R fight! This was a good chapter for me to write and I hope you enjoy it, there is a lot more to come, and I'm already getting emotional at the ideas that are going to be put into this!
Review if you have the time! Bye for now! Xxx