A/N: Hey everyone, I'm so sorry about being so late with the updating! But I've had a really rough time lately as two of my friends died in a car crash a little while ago and I've been getting through that...but I'm back now! I will try as hard as I can to be punctual with my updating and all of that...and this chapter has been rejected "a few" times so I don't really know if this will make it through but we'll see...please enjoy and stay with me!
Disclaimer: I don’t think I really need this but then again, I don’t want to get in trouble so...I’m not J.K. Rowling.
“Hi, Hermione,” said Ron uneasily. “You’re looking...well.”
“Uh, thanks,” she replied and opened the door fully. “Would you like to come in?”
“Yeah,” said Ron and walked into the house, closing the door carefully behind him. As he looked around, he noticed that everything seemed to be in some sort of order- only a few things sat out of place. It was definitely a house you could call Hermione’s.
“So, Ron, why are you here?” asked Hermione as they both sat down one of the two couches in the lounge room.
“Well that was subtle,” muttered Ron as he sat on the comfortable couch and looked around. The first thing he noticed was a large bookcase against the wall crammed full of text books, magazines from the Wizarding world, and to Ron’s surprise, a lot of children’s books were strewn along the bookshelf. He assumed that they were for when Cammie’s children came over, and went back to staring at Hermione. She had changed so much since he last saw her. Although, he hadn’t seen her since she was nineteen.
“Ron, after eight years of nothing, you just turn up on my doorstep. Am I supposed to just leave all of the serious questions until later? I have my own life now, one that you know nothing about. I don’t know anything about your life either, and I’d really like to know. But please, just answer these questions. Why are you here, Ron?”
“I need to know why you didn’t turn up to our reunion. We promised each other after we left Hogwarts in sixth year that no matter what happened, we would make sure we got there for the ten year reunion. What was so important that you could break that promise to me and Harry?”
“Ron, if I do tell you why, you must promise not to overreact. It is the reason I didn’t come to the reunion, why I moved away from you, why I left you. It all comes down to mistakes I’ve made in life, mistakes that turned into gifts. Please, just let me get through this before you talk,” she breathed, her hands fidgeting in her lap. The last time she recalled doing that was when she had broken up with Ron nine long years ago.
“Okay, what is it?” he asked timidly, not sure he wanted to know the answer. He was about to find out the answers to questions he’d been asking himself ever since Hermione left him.
Hermione took a slow, steady breath before looking back up at Ron. She stood, and silently walked over to a cabinet by the door. She picked up a picture frame and sat down next to Ron.
“You see these kids?” she said, holding up the picture for him. He glanced down to see Cammie’s six children he had seen at the park, all smiling, though Ron could tell that two of the children were arguing with each other.
“Cammie’s children?” he questioned before he could stop himself. He mentally smacked himself as he saw the look on Hermione’s face shift dramatically.
“How do you know Cammie?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him eyes. This was the very stare Ron had received many times before, and could never lie to.
“Well, I came to see you before, but Cammie told me that you were gone. She said that you two went to the park every few days. I went down and saw you both down there with her kids. Why are you showing me her children?”
Hermione shifted uneasily in her chair, but then stood again. She walked over to the wall and pulled down another photo. She handed it to Ron before sitting and refusing to look him in the eye.
“Ron, these are Cammie’s children,” said Hermione, as she, too, looked at the photo. It only had three of the children from the previous photo; the other three were not Cammie’s children.
“But...then the other children...” faltered Ron, slowly understanding what was going on.
“Ron, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell anyone, but I just couldn’t,” began Hermione, as she stared down at the picture of the six children, tears welling up in her brown eyes.
“So, they’re...they’re your children?” asked Ron, the colour draining from his face quickly.
“Ron, listen to me, and please do not interrupt. I didn’t want this to happen to me so early in my life. You know that I had my entire life planned out to the day. I was going to become a famous writer or even a teacher at Hogwarts if the opportunity came around. And then once my career was stable, I would think about settling down and having kids. But that’s not how it turned out. My life is what it is, and I’m glad. My career may not be as successful as I’d hoped, but I’ve been gifted with three beautiful children. I hope you will understand,” said Hermione, who was now sweating slightly; her cheeks were flushed and she was still refusing to look at Ron, as she knew then the tears would flow from her eyes.
“W-What are their names?” asked Ron calmly. Hermione turned to him with a questioning look, but smiled.
“You don’t seem to care that I kept my three children from you,” said Hermione timidly. Truthfully, that was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. She had gone over that moment in her head for years, but she never thought that the time would come so soon. She imagined telling Ginny and Harry would not be that difficult, as they were both so accepting, though it was telling Ron she had feared. She thought back to when Ron had overreacted about her relationship with Viktor Krum. This was a much bigger and more difficult situation, and she knew Ron would not take it well if he was anything like he used to be back in school.
“Of course I bloody care, Hermione! But there’s no point in overreacting. If there is anything Moody taught me in Auror training, it’s not to overreact as much. It could get me in a lot of trouble.”
“That it could,” Hermione replied quietly with a small smile.
“’Mione, do Harry and Ginny know? Does anyone know?” asked Ron suddenly.
“No, Ron, you’re the first person I’ve had to tell. Are you okay with this?” she asked nervously. She wanted Ron to be happy for her, and to meet her children.
“I am hurt that you didn’t tell me sooner. I don’t understand why you didn’t just come out with it. Why didn’t you reply to any of my letters? I mean, we were best friends for eight years,” he asked.
“Ron, I need you to meet my kids before I answer any more of these questions. They’re at Cammie’s next door. They will be too tired to handle this kind of situation, so you can meet them tomorrow morning. Until then, I want to know some things. Harry and Ginny didn’t ever tell me much about your life. How is your life, Ron?” asked Hermione.
Ron started telling Hermione anything of importance that had occurred in the past nine years, such as the few nieces and nephews he welcomed into the family. He told her of how Bill and Fleur had a daughter Adelle; that Fred and Angelina Johnson had married and had a daughter Natalia; that George and Katie Bell had married and had twins Kylie and Jesse; he told her all about Harry and Ginny’s children Lily and Daniel; he told her of how Charlie was now engaged to a girl he had met in Romania named Vanessa. He also spoke of how Mr and Mrs Weasley were still unhappy about having all of their children living away from home, as they had absolutely nothing to do. This caused Hermione to laugh heartily, Ron joining in as well. He told her of how he and Harry were now official Aurors, although they still had to take orders from Moody.
He continued talking with Hermione until the sun set. When the street lights came on outside of Hermione’s house, he finished up his story about Fred and George’s new joke shop in Ireland (they had franchised their business all across the UK).
“Is it alright if I come back tomorrow?” asked Ron as he stood to leave.
“Where are you staying tonight?” asked Hermione suddenly. Ron felt a cool breeze flow through the window, causing both he and Hermione to shiver.
“Uh, I don’t really know yet,” he admitted with a small smile. He hadn’t counted on staying for this long, though expected that there had to be at least one hotel with a spare room available.
“Ron, if you’d like, you can stay here tonight,” Hermione offered. “I really don’t mind. In fact, I think the company for dinner would be great. It will be good to have someone different to talk to.”
“Well sure, if you really don’t mind,” replied Ron.
“Not at all. I’m afraid that we’ll both have to sleep in my room, because the kids’ rooms are in no state for an adult to sleep in. Are you alright with that?” asked Hermione as she led him into the kitchen. She pulled out a few utensils and began to make dinner for the both of them.
“No, no problem,” replied Ron sheepishly.
They ate dinner and talked until the clock on the wall struck twelve. It was then that Hermione declared that they should go to bed.
“Hermione, it would be a lot easier if I just slept on the couch,” said Ron as Hermione began walking to her room. “I keep Harry awake whenever he stays over because of my snoring, and you need a decent night’s sleep.”
“You sound like Cammie,” she exclaimed. “But if you really think so, I’ll grab you out some blankets.”
A few minutes later, Hermione emerged again with a few blankets and a pillow in her arms. She handed them to Ron and made sure he had everything he needed.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything? I could go and get you a-”
“And you sound like my mother! I’m fine, Hermione, honestly,” he said.
“Oh, alright. Goodnight, Ron, I’ll see you in the morning,” said Hermione quietly before walking down the hall and closing her bedroom door, leaving Ron on the couch to sleep.
Ooooooo! Were we all shocked by that? I know I’m still not explaining everything but the chapter after next will clarify a few things for you all. I will tell you one thing about next chapter though...Ron and Hermione won’t be sleeping much...! Take a guess at what I’m talking about, but I guarantee you won’t get it! Please R&R and I’ll post up chapter 4 when I’m ready. Hopefully that won’t be that long. Love Lucia_Swanne.
What Could Have Been by Lucia_Swanne
Chapter Notes: Ron confronts Hermione about her past, and why she never replied to his letters. Hermione is forced to reveal things from the last nine years she never thought she would, and Ron is shocked by what he hears.