Disclaimer: I wish, but nothing to do with this Harry Potter story belongs to me, except the storyline and a few characters...a girl can dream though, can’t she?
A/N: Apologies for the late post, I hope the length of this chapter makes up for it! It isn't my best work, but you get that. Hope you enjoy, anyway!!
Cammie walked silently into Hermione’s house the next day to find her curled up on the couch with a box of tissues and red, puffy eyes.
“He found out, and I didn’t tell him. He says he can’t forgive me this time,” said Hermione calmly, though tears ran down her cheeks. “Why was I so stupid, Cam’?”
“’Mione, you were protecting him, don’t forget that. You did this to give him a better life. You’re not the bad guy in this,” said Cammie, sitting down next to Hermione and wrapping an arm comfortingly around her shoulders.
“I kept a child from him for almost ten years, and I’m finally getting what I deserve. He won’t ever forgive me, and neither will Ginny,” said Hermione, now overcome with emotion. “Just...the way she looked at me...like I was scum...I guess that’s what I am to them, just scum who doesn’t deserve the forgiveness I got. I bet they’ll tell everyone, and I won’t be able to go back there; back to my home...”
“Hermione, you have to stop doing this to yourself. If you thought you had a choice you wouldn’t have left, but you knew in your mind it was the best thing for him. I know Ron doesn’t understand that, but I do. I’ve heard your story, and I know that you care for him much more than he realises. He needs to know why you did it, and if he won’t listen to you, he can listen to me,” said Cammie firmly.
“Cammie, you don’t even know where he is. When I got back from St Mungo’s this morning he was gone, and so was all of his stuff, not that it surprises me. I didn’t really expect him to stick around after what happened. I just wish he’d hear my side of the story before judging me. Though, that is how Ron’s always worked. He takes the first thing he hears and goes with it, rather than get all of the information and make a fair judgement from that,” Hermione replied.
“I know he’s like that, I have met him. And I don’t need to know where he is, because I know someone who will.”
“Who?” Hermione asked quickly.
“Richard,” Cammie replied with a small smile. “If anyone can find out where he is, it’s Rick. I just have to convince him to tell me; I don’t suppose it will be too hard, he owes me a favour anyway.”
“Cam’, you can’t get Richard to find him! Ron will think I put you up to it and then he’ll just get even more infuriated with me than he always is,” said Hermione hopelessly.
“I don’t really care what he thinks, do I? He’s going to listen to me, whether he likes it or not. Now, to do this I’ll have to Apparate, so you’ll have to distract Greg while I go. He’s so hung up that I’ll lose the baby if I keep apperating, but one more time can’t hurt. Besides, it’s to help my best friend,” said Cammie and stood, pulling Hermione up with her. “Now, you can go over to my house and talk to Greg while I Apparate to Richard’s house, ok?”
“Cammie, you can’t Apparate! You just did it a few days ago and if you keep going you will hurt the baby! Greg’s right to be concerned and you should be too. I mean, after what happened-”
“Please don’t bring that up, ‘Mione” said Cammie quietly, her eyes downcast.
“Sorry,” she replied. “But please don’t Apparate; I couldn’t stand lying to Greg. Just find an easier way to get to the Ministry and talk to Richard. I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me. And when you do find him, can you please tell me first?”
“Sure, I’ll see you later,” Cammie said, hugging Hermione quickly before leaving. She made sure that Hermione or any muggles couldn’t see her, and concentrated on the ground floor of the Ministry. She felt a horrible crushing feeling on her stomach as she opened her eyes to see the Ministry of Magic.
She made her way over to the golden elevator door and waited patiently, a small stabbing pain coming from her stomach. She knew that it wasn’t a good sign, but she felt this every time she Apparated while pregnant. But this felt different...like before. The thought worried her, but she shook it off quickly as she stepped into the elevator.
Once it stopped on the right floor, Cammie stepped out of the elevator and walked hastily along, struggling to avoid the pain in her stomach. She knocked on the familiar black door and waited for a reply.
“Come in,” came a deep male voice from inside the office. Cammie opened the door and walked into the room, smiling at Richard when he came into view. He was sitting behind his desk, as always, wearing an impressive set of crimson robes and a devilish smile.
“Ah, Camilla Williams, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” he asked seductively.
“I need a favour, Rick. And you do owe me, anyway,” started Cammie.
“A favour?” asked Richard with eyebrows raised. “Now what kind of favour would that be?”
“Don’t try it, Richard. I am expecting my fourth child, in case you didn’t notice, and I’m still happily married to Greg. I need you to find someone for me, actually. A friend of Hermione’s.”
“Give me a name and I’ll find ‘em,” said Richard.
“Ron Weasley?” Cammie asked hopefully.
“Weasley? He looked horrible when I saw him yesterday, all broken up over something. I’d assume he needs comforting, so I know exactly where he is, and I don’t even have to search. Try the Burrow, his old home,” said Richard. “You’ll find the house if you just floo there with the fireplace down the hall. Good luck, Camilla.”
“Thank you, Rick. I’ll drop in again after the baby’s born,” she said and made for the door.
“You’d better; I haven’t seen you in a very long time.”
“That sounded slightly seductive, and I’ve already told you I’m not interested. Goodbye, Richard,” said Cammie and left the office.
She glanced down at her stomach, which was still throbbing painfully. As worried as she was about it, she had to visit the Burrow. She had heard so much about it from Hermione; she felt she could already see it now.
She made her way down the hall to a small fireplace. She put her hand in the jar on the mantle and pulled out some floo powder, scattering it into the fireplace quickly.
“The Burrow!” she said clearly before stepping into the bright green flames, letting them engulf her.
~~~
Cammie emerged from the fireplace feeling very nauseous, and still very aware of the pain coming from her stomach. She brushed the soot off her robes and looked around at the place she had heard so much about from Hermione.
Everything was just as Hermione had described. She immediately noticed a large clock sitting on the mantle, although it wasn’t any ordinary clock. It had nine golden hands, each engraved with a person’s name. The clock had no numbers around the outside, and instead had things like “home”, “work”, “lost”, “travelling”, and “mortal peril”. She looked for the golden hand with Ron engraved on it, and noticed with a sigh of relief it pointed to “home”. He was indeed at the Burrow.
She spent some time looking at the other members of Ron’s family on the clock. She frowned when she noticed the hands belonging to the Weasley twins were dangling between “home” and “mortal peril”, understanding fully what Hermione described of them to be true.
“FRED! GEORGE!” came a woman’s voice from the next room. Cammie watched the twins’ clock hands edge towards “mortal peril” a little more. She peeked around the corner and saw for the first time the amazing woman that was Mrs Weasley.
She looked livid as Cammie heard footsteps coming from the stairway. She looked over to see the famous Weasley twins, wearing matching navy robes, walking slowly towards their mother, each with a look of both nervousness and confusion on their freckled faces.
“Mum, if this is about the couch-”
“Shut up, George! What is it you wanted, Mum?” said Fred sweetly, pinching his brother behind his back.
“I was just going to tell you that...wait! What about the couch?” she said suddenly.
“Nothing, it’s just a little rip, but we promise we’ll fix it as soon as you give us our wands back,” George hinted strongly, raising his eyebrows at his mother.
“Right, I’ll go and fetch them, you two stay here and don’t touch anything!” said Mrs Weasley and walked into the lounge room, where Cammie was standing.
“Oh, hello dear,” said Mrs Weasley as she appeared in the lounge room and noticed Cammie. “Might I ask who you are and why you’re here?” Mrs Weasley seemed nice enough, but Cammie could see her hand slip into her pocket towards her wand.
“I’m sorry to intrude, Mrs Weasley, but I’m a friend of Ron’s. I was wondering if I might be able to talk to him for a moment, if he’s not doing anything,” said Cammie as politely as she could. She had just watched Mrs Weasley in a very angry state, and didn’t desire to be on the receiving end of that any time soon.
“Oh, dear, he isn’t really up to visitors at the moment, I’m afraid. He’s been locked in his room ever since he arrived, and refused to tell anyone what’s wrong. Maybe if you came back another time?”
“Please, Mrs Weasley, it’s important. If you could just tell him Cammie wants to talk to him, I’m sure he will let me in,” she persisted.
“Well, alright then. I’ll just take you up to his room...” she replied reluctantly and led Cammie through to the kitchen, where the twins were talking about being old enough to handle a wand, when Fred stopped in mid sentence and stared at her.
“Who are you?” George asked bluntly.
“Friend of Ron’s,” she replied quickly as she disappeared with Mrs Weasley up the staircase. As they climbed, she peered curiously into the rooms she passed. She noticed one that looked distinctly like the twins had been there, with marks on the walls that showed explosions had taken place. She passed another with three cribs lined up against the far wall, one with a sleeping baby in it. They continued climbing the stairs until they reached a door with a plaque reading ‘Ronald’s Room’ and Mrs Weasley knocked gently.
“Mum, I already told you, I’m not hungry,” Ron called.
“Ron, dear, there’s someone here to see you; she says it’s important. Cammie, dear?” said Mrs Weasley to the door.
“Cammie?” Footsteps could be heard and the door suddenly swung open. Cammie gasped at the sight before her.
Ron looked terrible, to say the least. It was obvious his robes had not been changed for the last few days, and his eyes were red with deep circles beneath them. He looked nothing like the Ron Weasley she remembered.
“I’ll leave you to it,” said Mrs Weasley quietly to Cammie before walking back down the staircase.
“Did she send you?” he asked quietly, his voice cracking slightly.
“She doesn’t know I’m here,” Cammie lied. “But I think it’s time I finished the story. You need to know what happened, and you’re going to listen, whether you like it or not.”
Ron stood for a moment before moving out of the doorway. Cammie smiled gently at him before walking past him and into his bedroom. It was a violent attack on here eyes when she entered the room. Everything was orange. She couldn’t help but laugh at what she saw. It was exactly like Hermione had described, down to the posters on Ron’s wall of his Quidditch team- the Chudley Cannons. It seemed Hermione had spent a lot of time in this room, which didn’t surprise Cammie at all.
“Ron, are you going to listen to me when I tell you the story?” asked Cammie as she sat down on a chair by the window. She looked out to see children running in the vast back garden, with many overgrown plants and a few gnomes hiding indiscreetly.
“It depends, what will I think of the story?” asked Ron as he slumped onto his Chudley Cannons bedspread.
Turning away from the window, Cammie noticed the sad and tried look on Ron’s face, and she didn’t exactly know how to start. “Ron, I know you won’t like most of what I tell you, but you have to hear it. I know you won’t believe me when I tell you this, but Hermione did it because she honestly thought it was the best thing for you.”
“The best thing for me? The best thing for me was to lie for ten years, to not tell me that I had a kid!? How on earth was that the best thing for me!?” said Ron heatedly.
“Ron, I seem to remember more about it than you do, and I wasn’t even there! Hermione was crazy about you! She wanted nothing more than for you to be happy. That is why she did what she did! She substituted her own feelings for yours, and left you when she found out she was pregnant. I know it must have hurt you, but she thought it was the best option. Surely you know her well enough to believe she thought long and hard about it before leaving you,” Cammie reasoned.
“Oh yeah, she really cared about me!” Ron began sarcastically. “It killed me to watch her walk away. Did you know that up until our reunion, when I found out where she was, it never stopped hurting? Because it’s true, I never got over her. I did date other people, but I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I only left this room if I really had to for the first month. It was the hardest time of my life. I knew during the war that as long as I had her, everything would be okay. When we made it through together, I was certain that we would be alright.
“Then she left me, right out of the blue, using some stupid excuse. I begged her to stay, that we would work it out, whatever it was, but she just said goodbye and walked out on me. I just don’t understand how she could ever think that she was helping me by leaving. It was the reason I almost failed to become an Auror.”
“Ron, I don’t really know how to explain how she felt, but I can show you, if you will let me. I know this is the last thing you want to do right now, but if you just come with me to Hermione’s house I can-”
“I’m not going back there,” Ron replied forcefully.
“She’s not home, she’s at my house. And trust me; I can get us in the house. I can show you how it really happened. I know you want to know why, and this will show you. You just have to trust me, Ron,” said Cammie quietly.
“It’s a bit hard to trust people after what’s happened,” Ron said moodily.
“Please, Ron? Just do this, if not for Hermione, for yourself. You deserve to know the truth, and if you wont hear it from her than I can show you from her point of view. Just trust me, Ron.”
Ron sighed and looked up at the vivid orange ceiling, unsure as to whether he should trust Cammie or not.
“Okay,” he replied quietly, standing slowly. “I’ll come with you. But you must promise me that Hermione won’t be there. I don’t want to see her.”
“I will promise you that Ron, but you have to promise me something. Promise me that you are going to do this with an open mind, as difficult as that will be for you. Can you promise me that?”
Ron nodded slowly, and something suddenly occurred to Cammie.
“Ron, listen, I think this may be obvious, but I’m on no state to Apparate by myself. If I do side-along Apparation, it won’t hurt me as bad…would you mind?”
“No, not at all,” he replied and grabbed her hand, concentrating hard on Hermione’s house. When he felt the ground appear at his feet once again, he opened his eyes to see Hermione’s house right in front of him.
Cammie immediately let go of Ron’s hand and led him towards the house, still aware of the dull pain in her stomach. She let herself in, followed quickly by Ron, and they made their way along the hall and into Hermione’s bedroom.
As Cammie began searching around for something, Ron took the time to look at Hermione’s room more closely. The first thing that caught his eye was a picture sitting on her nightstand. It was of Hermione with Harry and himself outside Hagrid’s hut in their sixth and final year at Hogwarts. They were all smiling and waving frantically up at him. The Hermione in the picture would sneak a look to her left at Ron every so often and smile to herself, which made Ron’s heart skip a beat.
“Wait a minute, she betrayed you! You shouldn’t be feeling this kind of thing for a person you hadn’t seen in ten years!” he thought to himself.
“Found it!” came Cammie’s voice triumphantly from no where. She suddenly emerged from underneath the bed with a large stone basin Ron recognised immediately.
“She has a pensieve?” he asked more to himself than to Cammie.
“Of course she does, you dolt! What did you think I meant by showing you her point of view? Come on then, can’t waste all of our time chatting, lets show you what went on in Hermione’s head ten years ago,” said Cammie avidly, pulling him over to the pensieve and plunging them both into Hermione’s memories...
What Could Have Been by Lucia_Swanne
Chapter Notes: Cammie comforts Hermione and comes up with a plan. Also, we get a little insight as to how Ron dealt with Hermione’s news, and a decision is made that will cause Ron to rethink some of his thoughts on certain people...*cough* Hermione *cough*
Chapter Endnotes: So, we finally get to know how Ron and Hermione broke up, and we get to see their past relationship for the first time. I will tell you this much, the break-up is not the only memory Ron and Cammie will see, and one is something Ron did not expect to see from Hermione. Oh, and keep your eyes out for Richard, he will return later on. Please R&R and I will post the next one ASAP! Love, Lucia_Swanne.