The Little Flat

The soft pop of Apparition could have been heard by anyone if Hermione hadn’t chosen a spot just down the road from the Burrow to appear. The walk would give her a few minutes to gather her thoughts and steel herself for the day ahead. Her thoughts were on the wizard she had just left, she really did love him. So why was it so hard for her to leave Ron? Hermione sighed to herself, she knew deep down the answer to that particular question – she always strove to be accepted in this world and that led to her doing what everyone else thought ‘Hermione’ should do, whether it was what she wanted or not. She soon found herself at the gate leading to the Burrow, taking a deep breath she opened the gate, and walked up to the door and knocked.

The door opened revealing her sister-in-law, Ginny, “Hey, Hermione,” she said as she moved to the side to allow her to enter, “You’re just in time, lunch is about ready.”

“Hey, Gin. Mmm, yes it smells delicious. How are the children doing?”

Ginny proceeded with her usual twenty-minute report on everything her little ones did, and/or said, since the last time they saw each other. This gave her enough time to greet everyone sitting at the kitchen table with a silent nod while Ginny babbled on and to eat a bit before Molly found an opening to interrogate her on whatever bug was up Molly’s arse at the moment.

“So, Hermione, why aren’t you in Ireland with Ron cheering him on at the game?” said Molly in that fake overly sweet tone.

“I had things to do and I already had plans to see my parents. Besides Ron didn’t say he wanted me to go.”

“Of course he’s not going to beg you to go, a good wife would just go and support her husband,” Molly said with a smug look on her face.

“A good wife would just go? What about you, Molly, why aren’t YOU in Ireland rooting on your son, it’s what a GOOD MOTHER would do!” Hermione spouted back.

Harry reached over and grabbed hold of Hermione’s hand, “Calm down, Hermione, you know how Molly is where Ron’s concerned,” he said to her in soft voice so only she could hear.

She looked at Harry, he had been her best friend since she was twelve years old, but she had reached her limit where Molly Weasley was concerned and she wasn’t going to take it sitting down any longer.

“I’m sorry, Harry, but enough is enough. I can’t deal with this bloody bullshite any longer.”

She could hear Molly gasp at her use of foul language, “Really, Hermione, you need to watch your language and start acting like a lady.”

Arthur sat at the head of the table, his eyes going back and forth between his wife and his daughter-in-law he knew this was going to come to a head one day he just wished it happened while he wasn’t home.

“Act like a lady? Are you insinuating that I do not act as a lady, Molly?” Hermione’s said through teeth clenched so hard her jaw was starting to hurt.

“Well, dear, with that kind of language…”

Arthur saw the look in Hermione’s eyes and thought it best he step in now, “Now, Molly, it’s not like this was an important game and it was a last minute call for Ron to go fill in, and Hermione is entitled to go see her parents.”

Harry was watching Hermione and saw a speck of guilt flash in her eyes, not that anyone else would pick it up but after knowing her for so long, he saw things that others missed. He decided he would have to talk to her and soon.

“That isn’t the point, Arthur ‘she’ should be putting Ronald first, not her parents or herself. I always knew she could be a bit selfish, but really…”

Everyone else at the table sat in shock as the words flew back and forth between Molly and Hermione.

“Selfish? Why you sanctimonious old cow, you talk about me being selfish, YOU could give lessons on it! I’ve been silent for over ten years while you constantly stick your nose in to every aspect of our lives, trying to live vicariously through your own children. Not to mention all the UNSOLICITED advice I’ve had to put up with…”

“Well, I never! I knew I shouldn’t have allowed Ronald to marry such an ill raised little tart…”

“Before you start calling other people ill raised, you bloody bitch, perhaps you should look at what YOU raised! And your constant sodding nagging, telling me what I should do and HOW I should do it!”

Arthur and Harry both looked at each other and gave an understanding nod, it was time to pull these two apart before the wands came out.

Arthur grabbed hold of his wife’s arm, “It’s enough, Molly. Let’s go inside so you can calm down.”

At the same time Harry took hold of Hermione’s hand, “Let’s go outside, Hermione, we need to talk,” he said and then looked over at Ginny as she started to rise, “I think it would be better if it was just me, Gin, for now anyway. Ok?”

Ginny nodded and sat back down and watched as her husband dragged a furious Hermione out the backdoor mumbling under her breath.

He pulled Hermione along with him to a bench in the back garden and forcefully sat her down, “You need to calm down, Hermione, and I know Molly can be self righteous and meddlesome and any other number of things. But it was getting out of hand in there.”

“I’m sorry, Harry, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. Ten years I’ve put up with her, I’ve had enough of it.”

“To tell the truth I’m surprised it hasn’t come to this sooner. But you’re not the only one whom she nags. Ginny came close to hexing her after James was born, everything Ginny did Molly had an opinion on.”

“I can’t blame Ginny, her mother is an overbearing harridan and Ron, well Merlin forbid he say anything to his precious mother in my defence.”

“Speaking of Ron, how are things between you two?”

Hermione sighed, she knew she had to answer truthfully she could no longer pretend things were fine between them. “Not good, and they haven’t been for a long time.”

“I had a feeling they weren’t, neither one of you have seemed happy lately. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know…I…”

“You’ve been seeing someone else haven’t you, Hermione?”

Hermione felt her stomach flip-flop, how did Harry know, did he guess? “What are you talking about?”

“Come on, Hermione, this is me you’re talking to remember, Harry, your best friend. I saw that guilty look in your eye when Arthur talked about you visiting your parents. You didn’t go see them, did you?”

Hermione sighed deeply it was time to confess, at least to Harry about her affair even if she didn’t tell him yet who the other man was. “No, I didn’t go see my parents today, they aren’t even home. They’re in Paris for a week.”

“You were with him, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“How long has this been going on, Hermione?”

“It’s been two years, I know you must be disappointed in me,” she said looking down at the ground.

“No, not disappointed, surprised. Two years? I’m impressed you were able to hide it that long. Do I know him?”

“Yes, but don’t ask who, okay? Everyone will find out soon enough.”

“Alright, I won’t ask, for now. So what are you going to do? Keep seeing him and hope Ron doesn’t find out?”

“He’s moving to Spain in a few months and he’d like for me to join him there. He’d come back here to visit me as often as he could if I don’t go, but…”

“Do you love this other man, Hermione? Truly love him?”

“Yes, and he loves me, just as I am.”

“Again, I ask, what are you going to do?”

Hermione closed her eyes, it was time to make a decision it wasn’t fair to Severus, Ron or herself to keep things going the way they were. She loved Severus in a way she would never be able to love Ron. When she was with Severus, she was happy. However, with Ron, well they were both miserable.

“I’m going to be moving be Spain, Harry,” she said as she looked at her lifelong friend and smiled.

“I haven’t seen that smile in a long time. If this man makes you happy then I’m happy for you. When are going to tell Ron?”

“I think a trip to Ireland is in order. Hopefully, it won’t be a long game and I’ll tell him afterwards, it would be best if we weren’t anywhere near the Burrow.”

Harry laughed, “I agree. I think you or I should at least let Arthur know so he can be prepared for the backlash when Ron comes here and tells Molly.”

“You tell Arthur, please and tell him I’m sorry about ruining his lunch.”

Harry smiled at her, “I will, but I believe Arthur’s been waiting for this blow up to happen for a while now,” Harry put his arm around her and placed a kiss on her head. “You go to Ireland and deal with Ron. Floo me when you get back, okay.”

“Alright, and Harry…thanks for being so understanding. I was afraid I would lose you as a friend if you ever knew.”

“I have done some growing up over the years, thank you very much. Now, go talk to Ron and I need to find Arthur and get him alone for a few minutes.”

“I love you, Harry.”

“I love you too, Hermione.”

****************************

Hermione waited outside the player’s entrance for Ron, the Chudley Cannons lost the game…again. She paced back and forth wondering how to tell Ron that she wanted to dissolve their marriage. The only thing she wanted to walk away with were her personal belongings, he could have the cottage and do with it as he pleased.

When she finally caught sight of him walking towards the exit, he had not yet seen her as she observed the sulking, sad man. The image made her wonder if he was always this way and she just never saw it, or if he became this way after they married. She hoped that once this whole fiasco of a marriage was in the past, where it belonged, that Ron would be able to find true happiness too.

He stepped out in the daylight and turned at the sound of her voice, “Hi, Ron. Sorry about the match, there’s always another game though.”

“Hermione? What are you doing here?” He said as he walked up to her, “Is everything alright, did something happen back home?”

“Everybody is fine, Ron...though something did happen.”

“What?”

She could hear the panic starting to set in his voice.

“Your mother and I had it out, finally. It wasn’t pretty.”

Ron sighed, “Why do you let my mother get to you? Just nod and ignore her.”

“That’s easy for you to say, Ron she doesn’t insult you repeatedly…doesn’t point out everything SHE thinks YOU’RE doing wrong. In fact YOU don’t say a damn thing when she’s doing it to me.”

“You know how Mum is, Hermione. Besides, sometimes she does make sense.”

Hermione could feel her anger building up again this conversation wasn’t going to get them anywhere. “I didn’t come here to talk about your mother, well not just about your mother anyhow. We need to talk, Ron. Is there somewhere we can go a bit more private?”

“Umm, we could go sit in the stands the pitch should be empty by now.”

“Alright.”

Taking her hand Ron led her back inside and up the stairs to the stands where they took seat. “Now, what is it that’s so important you had to Apparate to Ireland to tell me?”

She sighed, as she looked her husband of ten years, this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. “Are you happy, Ron? I mean in our marriage, are you happy with our marriage?”

“I guess, yeah…what’s this all about, Hermione?”

“You guess, so you mean you’re not sure?”

“Well, I mean there are some things I’m not too happy with, but I can live with things the way they are.”

“Some things…like what?”

“I’d really like to start a family soon, I know you want to wait though, but I don’t want to wait too much longer.”

“Anything else?”

“I…well…I’d really wish you would quit working, Hermione. I know you enjoy it and you like making new discoveries and all, but…I always pictured having my wife waiting for me at home at the end of the day and more often then not, you’re still at work when I get home.”

“I’m sorry, Ron…I can’t be that kind of wife. It’s not who I am.”

“I know that now. Are you happy, Hermione?”

Hermione felt the tears threatening as she looked at Ron, this was harder then she ever thought it would be, “No, Ron, I haven’t been happy in quite a while. Things haven’t been the way I pictured them either.”

“What can I do to make you happy, love?”

“I don’t think you can, Ron. I’m not even sure if I was ever really happy in this marriage. I’ve been thinking that maybe this whole marriage was a mistake.”

“That’s not true, Hermione.”

“Why did you marry me?”

“Because I love you, why else?”

“You love Harry too, yet you wouldn’t dream of marrying him. Think back to when we first became engaged, didn’t you feel as though we were rushed into getting married?”

“Ummm, I guess we were, a bit rushed, yeah.”

“Maybe, if everyone hadn’t pushed us and rushed us into it we may have not gone through with it. I know I felt pushed into it.”

“Do you regret marrying me, Hermione?”

She turned away from him; she couldn’t look at him, and answer that question and see the hurt on his face.

“I’m sorry, but yes, sometimes I do.”

“What do you think we should do?”

The tears where now trailing down her face, “I think it would be best if we dissolve our bond and see if we can find what we’ve been looking for in someone else.”

“There’s someone else, isn’t there, Hermione?”

She looked down at her feet she couldn’t answer that question.

“Who, Hermione? Who have you fallen in love with?”

“Does it matter? It won’t change anything.”

“I want to know who I lost my wife to.”

“This would have happened anyway, Ron, whether there was someone else or not.”

“Probably, but still I want to know.”

“Severus Snape.”

Her answer was met with dead silence.

She looked up at Ron, his face turning almost as red as his hair. “That murdering son of a bitch…I lost my wife to a bloody ex-Death Eater!”

“He was CLEARED of all those charges years ago, Ron. You just refuse to believe what everyone else has accepted.”

“Of all the bloody wizards in this world why that greasy bastard!”

“I didn’t set out to fall in love with Severus, it just happened.”

“How long as this been going on, Hermione?”

“It doesn’t matter, I want out of this marriage. You can have the bloody cottage…I don’t care. I just want my personal belongings.”

“Fine, get your things and leave. I’ll file for dissolution of marriage with the Ministry tomorrow and we’ll be divorced within a week. Then I’d really like to not have to see you for a very long time.”

“You won’t be, in a few months I’ll be moving to Spain.”

“Good…no please, just…GO, Hermione. I need to be alone right now.”

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out for us, Ron.”

“Yeah, right…just go…please.”

Her vision was blurred by her tears as she made her way out of stands and back out of the pitch. Hermione calmed down enough to Apparate back to Britain and to the little flat, hoping Severus was still there.

A/N: I'd thank my reviewers but since no one's bothered to leave any recently I can't. Great hit count, however, it would be nice if some of you let me know if you like it or not. Then I owuld know if I should bother posting the rest of the chapters or not.