The Affair

Chapter Twenty Seven: End of the Weasleys







I wanted a perfect ending. Now I\'ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don\'t rhyme, and some stories don\'t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what\'s going to happen next. ~Gilda Radner











Hermione sat at the kitchen table and waited patiently for Ron to get home. She was nervous and her stomach ached with what she was about to do. Hurting him was never what she wanted but she also didn’t want to live the lie. She was being selfish and she knew that. She had committed a sin against him, against her vows and she would walk through life forever labeled as an adulteress but at least she would not be living a lie.







She heard the front door open and close and she felt as though she may vomit. Within seconds he was walking into the kitchen, his hair mussed and his eyes bleary from a long day at work.







“Are we getting take away tonight?” He asked, looking around the immaculate kitchen and realizing there was no dinner.







“Sit down, Ron.” She said quietly, pushing a chair out with her foot. Ron looked at her and he could see on her face that it was going to be one of those talks. He slid into the chair and watched her eyes drop to her hands folded on the table in front of her.





“What’s going on here, Hermione?” He asked.







“I can’t do this, Ron.” She said quietly. “I am leaving.”









“You’re leaving? What do you mean you’re leaving?” He was confused and quickly growing angry.







“My things have already been packed and moved out of the house. I am asking for nothing, you can keep the house and everything in it.” She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “I had the nursery cleared out and all of Oliver’s things were donated…to make it easier for you to be here.”







“You’ve packed? You moved out?” She could hear his teeth grinding. “You don’t want anything? Because you don’t need anything, right? Lucius has more than enough money to provide you with everything.”







“Ron, don’t…”







“I am right, aren’t I? You are leaving me for him?” He ran his fingers through his hair and rested his elbows on the table, his face buried in his hands. “When did you see him?”







“Yesterday and today.” She answered truthfully. “We ran into each other accidentally in Diagon Alley.”







“Did you accidentally fall into his bed?” Ron spat, his anger bubbling to the surface.







“Don’t be vulgar, Ron.” She rebuked.







“Vulgar? You don’t think leaving your husband for the man you’ve been shagging behind his back is vulgar?” He laughed, but it was a mocking sound void of mirth.







“I readily admit that what has taken place between Lucius and I is wrong. I betrayed you, our marriage, my own morals…but what is done is done and because of it I am changed and my life must change as well.” She said.





“Don’t you love me at all?” He looked up at her with pleading eyes and she felt the tears spill over.







“I do. I will always love you, Ron.” She reached out for his hand and he saw that her wedding rings were missing.







“What happened, Mione? Where did we go wrong?” He asked, rubbing his thumb over the empty place where she once wore the symbol that declared her his.







“We didn’t go wrong. Our love just ran its course. When I look back I can see that the strain was there as we struggled for a child. Losing Oliver pushed us apart and there was just no coming back from that.” She said. “You and I went in separate directions and now we are different people, we need different things from a relationship.”







“And you think you can get that from Malfoy?” He asked, shaking his head. “I can’t believe you are leaving me for a death eater.”







“He is a changed man.” She didn’t want to get too defensive about Lucius; it felt almost like she was flaunting it in his face.







“Do you love him?” He asked, glutton for punishment.







“Yes.” She felt no need to elaborate on that, there was no need to be cruel when she was already breaking his heart.







“What can he offer you, Hermione? What kind of life do you….” He sat back and slid his hand from hers. “He’s leaving his wife. He is leaving his wife for you.” He couldn’t believe it. Lucius Malfoy was actually in love with Hermione and was going to leave his wife of over thirty years to be with her. “I’ll be damned.”





She laid her hands in her lap and stared at the table as Ron processed the information. She still couldn’t quite believe it herself.







“Do you know what people will say?” He asked. He wasn’t worried about himself, the press would be kind to him given he was the wronged party. She would be crucified.







“I know. I am prepared for it and so is Lucius. We deserve it, we know that.” She said.







“So what now?” He asked.







“Tomorrow morning I will go the Ministry of Magic and I will file the paperwork for dissolution of marriage. I will be going away for a time until things calm down and are settled.” She said. “Ron…I never wanted to hurt you, I hope you know that. I hope that you see I never planned this…of all people I never planned to feel this way for him.”







“I want you to be happy, Hermione. It is all I ever wanted since we were kids. I had hoped that it would be with me but if it isn’t I don’t want to hold you back. I love you, I will always love you, but I won’t hold you here.” Saying the words hurt more than he could express, but they were true, he just wanted her to happy.







“I want the same for you, Ron. You should move on, find someone and love again. You should go see Oliver, you need closure there.” She stood and took one last look around the home she had created with him. “After some time apart I hope that we can be friends again, Ron. We shared so much of our lives together; we share a child, that will bind us forever.”







“Maybe someday.” He said quietly. He closed his eyes and felt her lips brush against his temple.







“I won’t say goodbye, so until we meet again, take care of yourself.” He didn’t open his eyes as she walked away. When he heard the sound of the door closing he laid his head on the table and he wept.