three little words ; 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞

7. I've Had Enough

Hermione

"I can't believe you let him into our house," Ron snapped at her.

"I didn't," she retorted, "He came in by himself."

"Then why didn't you kick him out? He could've stolen something!"

"I didn't kick him out because all he wanted to do was talk to me."

"He's just getting in the way," he growled, "he needs to mind his own business."

"Ron, I promise, it's fine, I'm okay," she said, desperately trying to calm her husband down, though it was doing just the opposite.

He turned to follow Draco out of the house, but Hermione stepped in front of him with ease. "Ron, stop!"

"If he's not going to stay away from you and the baby," he said in a low voice, "then I'll make him." His wand was in his hand, and he shoved Hermione away from him. He'd only ever done that once before, when he was wearing the locket they'd found and hadn't figured out how to destroy it yet. He wasn't himself then, but he was under no curse at that moment, and Hermione almost hated him for it.

"If you hurt him," she said in a shaky voice, "Ron, if you hurt him, if you so much as lay a finger on him, I'm gone. Both me and Rose. We'll leave before you can even say goodbye."

Ron froze and looked at her. "You wouldn't," he said softly.

"I would," she said, gaining her confidence. "You have no idea how hard it is to be in love with two people at once and have both of them fighting tooth and nail for you. Why won't you just do as I say and let me figure this out by myself?"

"Because you'll be giving him hope. He'll only be more prominent to get closer to Rose and you, and I'll be the outsider. In my own bloody house!"

"He needs hope, Ronald, and if that's what I'm going to give him, then I want to. He deserves it, he's been through more than you, me, and Harry combined. You know it, too, but your pride gets in the way of you seeing it clearly."

"Fine then! Leave! I'll be waiting to kill him when he breaks your heart." Ron glared at her, and it was the first time she felt afraid of her husband.

"I will," she shot, walking briskly to the door, "we're done. I can't believe you respected me so little that you were going to take care of my problems. Mine. They're mine to handle. Not yours." Grabbing her enchanted bag off of a shelf nearby, she raced up the stairs and shoved everything of hers in it, following soon with Rose's things.

She stormed down the stairs, her wand in hand, and wasn't surprised to see Ron's face changed from furious to hurt. "Don't leave, Mione," he whispered, "I love you."

She reached over on her left hand and tugged off the ring, dropping it on the table. "You should have thought of that before threatening to kill the only other person I love besides my daughter."

Hermione, fuming, left her house and immediately saw Ginny and Rose walking down the street to their house.

"Hey, Hermione!" Ginny called, her stomach rather large now.

"Hi, Mummy!" Rose called, and ran up to hug her. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears that were going to come soon. She had to stay strong for her daughter.

"We're going to stay at Auntie Ginny's for a little while, okay?" She said, kneeling down in front of her.

Rose looked happy about that. "Okay!"

She held up her bag. "I've got everything here, we're going to spend some time away from Daddy for a little bit, how does that sound?"

Rose nodded vigorously and crossed her arms. "No boys allowed! We're gonna have to kick out Uncle Harry, then, too!"

Hermione laughed. "Come on, let's go."

Rose walked confidently in front of the two adults, and Ginny whispered, "There's something going on. What happened?"

Hermione didn't want to keep it from her best friend, even if she was ratting out her brother. "Ron threatened to kill Draco," she said, swallowing roughly, "and I left him."

Ginny looked enraged. "He shouldn't have done that, I'll go--"

"Punch him? Ginny, you can't."

"Why not?" she said, and then looked down. "What, this?" she laughed and pointed to her round belly. "I may be pregnant, but I can still pack a powerful punch." She turned tail and started to hobble towards the house, clenching her fists.

"Auntie will be right back, okay, Rosie?" Hermione said, catching up to her red-headed daughter.

"Okay," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Ginny came back only a few minutes later, rubbing her knuckles. "Okay, I'm back," she said.

"You didn't hurt him too badly?" Hermione asked, worried.

Her sister-in-law stared at her. "He deserved what he got, that's all I'm going to say. It's not like I'd kill my own brother. Bloody hell, Hermione, I'm not that lost."

Hermione nodded. "Okay."

The rest of the walk was silent except for the cheerful comments from Rose, which only got tired responses back. Hermione was feeling extra exhausted because of her pregnancy, but she couldn't imagine how tired Ginny was, she was about ready to pop any second.

Harry asked no questions when he saw Hermione in her state. He was wise, he knew something had gone wrong, and he trusted Ginny enough to tell him in private. All he did was offer her and Rose the guest room, which they gladly took, and Rose played with James and Albus, the latter being her age. They would go to Hogwarts the same year, which was pleasing to know. A Weasley and a Potter, back at Hogwarts.

That night, Hermione lay in bed, rubbing her swollen stomach. Rose joined her a few moments later, curling up next to her mother.

"Daddy did something, didn't he?" She guessed, and Hermione found it harder to nod than shake her head and lie. She wanted to keep it from her, but she would find out sooner or later.

"It'll be okay, Rosie," she coaxed, kissed her forehead gently.

"I trust you, Mum, Dad shouldn't do bad things," she whispered. "I saw you talking to that man, that man with the blond hair. I know you love him."

She chuckled and nodded. "Maybe you'll get to meet him."

"What's his name?" Her daughter asked tiredly.

"Draco Malfoy," she whispered and watched her beautiful offspring fall asleep.