All the way II: And Even Further

That night, Eileen and her parents went to visit Auntie Ginny and Uncle Harry. And, unfortunately, Lily. Eileen knew it was something to do with the man that had turned up today.



When they got there, Auntie Tonks and Uncle Remus were already in the living room and Lily was upstairs, refusing to come down. Sirius Came running into the kitchen, where Eileen had been told to stay.



"Hi!" He beamed, changing his hair from brown to blonde to black. Eileen laughed. "Why are they all here?" He asked, "Is it some ones birthday?"



Eileen shook her head, "No. A man came to talk to my mum today, and then dad told her to stay away from him!"



"No way!"



"Yeah way!"



"Mum just said that we had to come round here coz they wanted to talk about something. She had her serious face on." Sirius told her.



Eileen, intrigued, moved towards the door to the living room. She pressed her ear to the key hole and then fell over. When she looked up, Sirius had his ear to the door. Huffing, she stood up and shoved him away. Then she listened.



""""""""""""""""""""



"You mean he actually turned up at the school?" Ginny asked, looking bewildered.



Hermione nodded, "Yes."



Ginny's eyes widened, "At your door?"



"Yeah."



Her jaw dropped, "In your bedroom?"



The large hand holding Hermione's tightened its hold on her, as she nodded again.



"Ginny..." Harry warned quietly.



"Sorry," the red head said, "It's just... no one's heard from him since... and he has a daughter and a wife?"



"That's what he said," Hermione agreed, "I don't think he was lying... Merlin, I feel terrible. Eileen answered the door... If he'd have -"



"It wasn't your fault," Remus told her firmly, "Eileen's safe. She's a clever girl - she's got you two for parents - she would never have gone with him -"



"But what if he didn't give her a choice?" Hermione closed her eyes tightly and leaned into her husbands shoulder. He put his arm around her protectively.



She knew Ron wouldn't do a thing like that, but there was just the little tiny piece of doubt hanging in her mind, that perhaps, if he was persuaded, he might have tried to take her daughter.



"What are we going to do?" Tonks asked.



"Don't you mean 'are we going to forgive him?'?" Ginny said quietly.



Remus sighed, "Only two people have the right to forgive him and one of them," He looked pointedly at Severus, "would rather kill him."



"Hermione?" Harry asked.



She sat up and smoothed out the creases in her top, hoping that every one would look some where else, away from her. They didn't.



"I..." She swallowed, "I need to think about it..."



There was silence. Some people were understanding and some people were silently seething.



"""""""""""""""""""""



Hermione shut the door to Eileen’s bedroom quietly, so as not to wake her up when she had only just gone to sleep. She sighed wearily and ran her fingers through her hair.



She wanted to forgive Ron. To have him back as a friend. Like it should be. Harry, Ron and Hermione. Together.



But she knew things had changed in the time that they hadn't spoken. She also felt that by forgiving Ron, she was disregarding her husbands’ feelings.



As unbelievable as it was, considering their long-passed history, Severus actually loved her and from what she had heard and been told, he had come undone without her. She didn't like that. She didn't like to think of him like that. All alone and hurting.



And because of the strong feelings between them, part of her didn't want to see Ron ever again. She knew Severus felt that way. Well he probably did want to see Ron. If he did, he would be the last person ever to see that particular red head again. Apart from at the funeral, of course.



Hermione took a deep breath, pushing down the tears, hiding them. They were unwanted and unnecessary.



"There is nothing to think about." Severus said from behind her.



Hermione sighed and turned, this was one time that she just had to go along with him. She was in no fit state for a fight tonight.



"I know," She murmured, "I just said it to keep them happy."



"You don't need to keep them happy," He said, moving closer, "being happy is their problem." Severus put his arms around her and she buried her face in his chest, pressing into its safety, hiding, "What am I going to do?" he said quietly, to himself.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Thank you, Queen Celestia, for reviewing every chapter! I let you decide what happened to Hermione...



:D



xxx