Disclaimer: If I was J.K. Rowling, I would kill Voldemort by drowning him in ice cream (thanks Jamie!)...so clearly I’m not J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Hey everyone, firstly I must say a big sorry to you all, who have (I hope) been waiting an awfully long time for this chapter to be put up. I have had a LOT of things going on in my life right now, but I am hoping that once everything is over, I will have much more time to post these up. SORRY! Moving on, I really hope you are enjoying this ride as I most certainly have been. Thank you all so much for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter, it took many re-writes to get just right.
Ron Apparated into his old room at the Burrow and looked around; nothing had changed. His walls remained bright orange, as did his ceiling. His bed was still covered by his Chudley Cannons blanket, and as he looked closely at his desk, he noticed a Potions essay from his sixth year at Hogwarts.
Oops, thought Ron.
He suddenly realised that he had not set foot in the room since the battle. He stared around at his life before that time”before the pain had come.
He had lost so many people in the final battle. Percy had been killed shortly after making amends with his family. Remus Lupin, Kinglsey Shacklebolt, Parvati Patil, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott had all died fighting to keep the Death Eaters from Harry. He had been so close to losing his own life that night. The last thing he saw before he passed out had been Hermione’s stunned face...
“FRED! GEORGE!”
Ron jumped at the sound of his mother’s voice. As he approached the door apprehensively, he could hear his mother more clearly, and he knew it wasn’t going to be safe to go down there for a while.
He hesitantly moved out of his room and down the stairs, trying not to make a sound. As he moved closer to the bottom floor of the house, he could hear the argument between his mother and brothers.
“How dare you use my kitchen for such things! There are children running around this house, including your own, and you’re working in MY kitchen!” yelled Mrs. Weasley.
“Well, you wouldn’t let us put a stove in our room, so where else are we supposed to do it?” asked Fred. “You invited us to stay, and you said we could do some work here.”
“We have to earn a living, Mother,” added George. “Do you want us to starve?”
“Sleep in the streets?”
“Or even worse, work at the Ministry?”
“Yes, I said you could do some work, but not this! Not concocting some sort of explosive in the house! You should know better than that by now! You’re mature adults now and””
Mrs Weasley was cut off by Fred and George’s laughter echoing through the house.
“We’re mature adults?” George asked through chuckles.
“I’d hate to see the immature ones,” said Fred.
“OUT! NOW!”
Ron quickly darted around the corner just in time to hide. He heard two pairs of feet moving quickly up the staircase until they reached their old room and closed the door, all while muttering about how the loss of anyone’s limbs were covered in their ‘line of work’.
Ron heard a pop behind him and turned around to see Harry standing with Ginny and their two children, Daniel and Lily. Ron never ceased to be amazed at how much the children looked like Harry and Ginny. Lily had bright red hair that always hung delicately around her emerald green eyes, and always had a bright grin on her face that reminded Ron so much of his little sister it scared him. Daniel was the splitting image of his father, with messy black hair surrounding deep green eyes, but also wore a smile identical to that of Ginny’s.
“You just missed the fireworks,” Ron said as Daniel and Lily came running over to him, each hugging one of his legs. “Fred and George got a serving from Mum about making their products in the house.”
“Hi, Uncle Ron,” said the children simultaneously.
“Hi guys, why don’t you go outside and see if you can find your cousins? Grandma can make you some lunch and then you can go and play.”
“Ok,” they replied and ran out of the room quickly, a gasp of worry escaping Ginny.
“Slow down you two!” she replied as she took after them, Harry and Ron walking leisurely down the hall behind her. As they slowly reached the kitchen, they could hear Mrs. Weasley’s delighted screams at the appearance of Ginny and the children, and also the screams of Fred and George’s children playing in the back garden. They found Mrs Weasley and Ginny sitting at the large table, while Lily and Daniel were running outside with their cousins.
“Hi, Mum,” said Ron as he and Harry sat down across from Ginny at the table.
“Hello dear, you didn’t tell me you were coming this early. I wasn’t expecting you for another hour or two. Though, I suppose it’s better than trying to stop Fred and George harming their families. Fred almost burnt Natalia yesterday, and George has managed to hang Jesse upside down three times in the past hour,” said Mrs. Weasley angrily.
“Mum, you’ve just got to face it, they can’t be stopped. You should at least be proud that they have a successful business and aren’t still living here permanently,” said Ginny.
“Well, I suppose you’re””
Mrs. Weasley was cut off by a loud scream coming from upstairs. As they all raced up the stairs and into Bill’s room, they discovered Fleur sitting on the ground in tears while Bill had his arms wrapped comfortingly around her shoulders.
“What happened?” asked Ron as they all approached her.
“Eet...eet hit me! Eet came out and hit me!” said Fleur said loudly as tears ran down her face over a large red mark on her cheek.
“What hit you, dear?” asked Mrs. Weasley as she peered around the room.
“Zat, over zere” Fleur said and pointed at the corner of the room. There was a stack of purple boxes, each glorifying the words, Bruise Balls! The only way to cause sufficient damage to a bully or sibling without lifting a finger!
“FRED! GEORGE!” screamed Mrs Weasley.
“WHAT! WE’RE NOT USING THE KITCHEN ANYMORE!” called Fred loudly from downstairs.
“BILL’S ROOM, NOW!” she shrieked.
Two loud pops came and Fred and George were standing in the middle of the room.
“Would you care to explain those?” said Mrs. Weasley as calmly as she could, pointing to the boxes in the corner.
“Would you care to explain why Fleur is crying on the floor?” asked George, his tone sounding uncannily like Mrs. Weasleys the moment before.
“Don’t speak back to me, young man! This is the ninth injury your products have caused this family today, if anything else happens, those things are never setting foot in this house again! Do I make myself clear?”
“But mum, Bill said we could””
“And they only last a day or two””
“ONCE MORE AND YOU’RE OUT!” she screamed and left, Fred and George trailing after her. Ron could hear Fred and George arguing with their mother, and felt that if they kept it up, they would be kicked out of the house.
“Zey could ‘ave killed me!” Fleur screamed at Bill when he tried to joke about the balls.
“Lets go to my room, we can get away from all of that,” whispered Ron, pointing in the direction of Mrs Weasley and looking over at Fleur screaming at Bill.
He and Harry made their way upstairs and finally reached Ron’s old room. They both collapsed onto the bed and stared at the bright orange ceiling.
“So, who were you seeing at the hospital?” Harry asked suddenly.
“You don’t give up do you?” Ron asked. When Harry shook his head, Ron sighed and sat up. “I found Hermione.”
“You what!?” exclaimed Harry. “Why is she in hospital?”
Ron explained everything from finding Hermione at the park to her being in St. Mungos. He watched Harry’s expression change with every piece of news, and could tell Harry was just as worried about Hermione as he was. The three of them had been best friends for eight years, and Hermione choosing to leave had affected all of them. He had been too caught up in his own feelings to notice that everyone else was missing her too. He knew Harry missed Hermione, but didn’t realise how much until now.
“I can’t believe it...” Harry said quietly. “So she only has a year left?”
“That’s what the Healers said,” he replied. He could feel the tears behind his eyes, but refused to let them fall. Hermione was a fighter, and he knew she would never give up. She had three children to fight for, if nothing else and she wouldn’t desert them if she could help it.
Outside Ron’s closed door, Ginny Potter sat by the door, tears streaming down her face. She had heard the entire conversation, and couldn’t believe that Hermione had never told her any of this: that she had children, that she was dying, everything. She had to see her, she just had to.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hermione sat in her hospital bed reading the Daily Prophet; today it depicted three gruesome stories of attacks by Death Eaters who assumed the place of Lord Voldemort after his defeat. She sighed and put the paper aside, wishing that the world was not such a horrible place.
A knock came on her door and looked over to see Adrianna standing in the doorway. She immediately welcomed her in and pulled Adrianna up onto the bed next to her.
“How are you doing, darling? Are you holding up alright?” Hermione asked.
“Are you still dying?” she replied.
“Addy, you know””
“Then no, I’m not fine. Who will look after us if you die? Jaime and Harry have their dads here to look after them, but mine isn’t. He left again, and he didn’t even talk to me. Doesn’t he love me?”
“Oh Addy, what’s gotten into you? Don’t speak like that. I’m not going anywhere just yet, and if something does happen, then you always have Auntie Cammie and Uncle Greg to stay with. And don’t think for one second you’re not loved, because you are,” said Hermione sternly.
“But not by him. He looked at me like he didn’t know who I was, like he was seeing me for the first time. You told me that if I ever saw him he’d recognise me, but he didn’t.
“Sweetie, he just hasn’t seen you in a very long time. The last time you were very young, so you probably look a lot different now.”
“I don’t remember, mum. He’s never been here for my birthdays, even though Jaime and Harry’s dads remember theirs. He’s never once been here, has he? He’s never come to see me, or talk to me. Why doesn’t he want to be my dad?”
“Addy, you’re only nine years old, and it won’t make a lot of sense if I tell you. When you’re older, I promise, I will tell you everything about why your father isn’t here with us. But right now, you’re too young to understand, no matter how mature you are.”
“I’m old enough to understand you’re dying, that you might not be around when I’m older. If I can understand that, why can’t I understand why my dad doesn’t know who I am?” said Adrianna loudly, tears streaming down her face. “Does he even care that I exist? Do you?”
“Adrianna Ginevra Weasley, do not speak like that to me! You kids are my world, and I would do anything for you, or Jaime, or Harrison. It’s you three that keep me fighting every day. They’re too young to completely understand what’s happening to me, but you’re such a mature girl, I know I can trust that you believe me when I tell you things. I need you to believe me, Addy, and understand that now isn’t the time to tell you that story.”
There was a long silence between the two. Hermione looked pleadingly at her daughter, while Adrianna stared back with tear-filled eyes.
“I believe you, Mum,” Adrianna said weakly and hugged her mother, tears still rolling down her cheeks. After a small silence, Adrianna pulled away and looked at her mother. “You’ve never called me that before”Weasley. That’s my Dad’s last name, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. You’re as much a Weasley as a Granger, so I suppose I’d better start calling you that too. When you’re ready for that talk, you will know, and then I’ll tell you. Now, you’d better go and find Mike before he thinks you’ve run off again.”
“Ok, I’ll come back when I find him,” said Adrianna and left the room.
Hermione looked at the empty doorway and was surprised when someone blocked her view of it.
Ginny pulled her husband’s invisibility cloak off her shoulders and stared at Hermione with a mixture of hurt and confusion.
“Ginny? How did you””
“How could you do that to him, Hermione? I thought I knew you, but clearly ten years has done too much to you. I can’t believe you’ve kept her from him for that long! That you kept her from him at all!’
“Ginny-“
“He loved you, and you left him! You knew, didn’t you!? You ran away when you knew you were carrying Ron’s child, and never bothered to tell him?”
“I was going to tell him!” retorted Hermione.
“This isn’t some stupid cloak or broomstick, Hermione! You kept a child from him! Don’t you understand what you’ve gone and done?” asked Ginny loudly.
“I did it to protect him, Ginny! I loved him too, that’s why I did it!”
“How was that protecting him!? When he finds out he’ll be devastated, and you’ll break his heart all over again! How on earth could you consider this helping him?”
“Ginny, please…”
“What? Please don’t tell him that he has a nine-year-old daughter? I can’t keep that from him, Hermione. Unlike you, I care about Ron,” Ginny said cruelly.
“Don’t you dare accuse me of not caring for Ron, because I do! Do you think it was easy to leave him when I knew what I did? It was the hardest and worst thing I’ve ever done, but I did it for him. And as for telling him””
“Don’t worry,” came a weak voice from the doorway. The two women looked over to see Ron standing there, tears in his eyes. “No need to tell me anything, Hermione. I know now.”
“Ron, give me a change to explain-”
“I’ve given you enough chances,” said Ron before stalking out of the room.
Ginny turned on Hermione, her eyes livid. “You deserve much more than this, Hermione. You’ve broken Ron’s heart again, and it’s the one thing I never thought you’d do. I don’t know if it’s because you’re sick or not, but I don’t really care. You’re not the person I was friends with, so we can’t be friends anymore. Goodbye, Hermione,” said Ginny icily before leaving Hermione alone in the room, her head spinning in confusion and her heart broken more than anyone knew.
What Could Have Been by Lucia_Swanne
Chapter Notes: Could Roxy Black please check this, thanks?
Ron arrives to mayhem and anarchy at the Burrow, all thanks to Fred and George. Shortly after the crisis is averted, Ron ends up telling Harry exactly where he was the past two days. Also, Hermione gets a visit in hospital from her daughter, and Ron discovers Hermione’s secret: he is the father of Adrianna.
Chapter Endnotes: OMG! So Ron discovered he has a nine year old daughter he previously knew nothing about. Ginny is furious with Hermione and has no desire to ever speak with her again, which is the same from Ron. Adrianna is angry with her mother for, well, everything. Just an ordinary day here! Anyway, I know Adrianna seemed a little weird, but as I explained, she is very mature for her age, please don’t send me flames over it. I enjoyed this chapter, especially thinking up a reason to hit Fleur...joking! Please R&R! Love, Lucia_Swanne.