The Bribe

Hi all! This sweet little fic was written for Hermione's Nook : a group on facebook that everyone should look into!

The admins and members there all joined together to do a sweet very potter advent calender for the holiday season! This story is my offer of a gift. My story has mild implication of smut so if you're not into that, I apologize! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful holiday season with your families and loved ones! (or by yourself with your books, no shame in my game.) I hope you all enjoy!

PS. If anyone would like a soundtrack suggestion to play while reading this story~ I wrote it while listening to "the Holly Jolly Truth" by Emily Weisband on repeat so it vibes well with the story I feel like. (:

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After the war ended, the world flew by quickly in Hermione’s perspective. She often felt as if she was inside of the telly, and someone unbeknownst to her was pressing fast forward on her life. Oh, she experienced her life moments and embraced them with a sense of grateful excitement; she just believed things moved a tad too quick for her tastes. She blinked, and everything changed.

The year prior, Ron and Hermione decided that they were better apart than together, romantically. They still loved each other of course, however, after a frank discussion and possibly one too many bottles of firewhisky, they decided on an amicable divorce. The pieces of himself she once felt complimented the pieces of her, now seemed less fitting and perfectly crafted. His personality now felt heavy, and suffocating. If Hermione was being honest, her emotions were worn and her soul tired from trying to fix his insecurities and deal with her own. Ron himself felt equally as worn down trying to be the version of him he thought she wanted.

The divorce was simple as divorces go. Thanks to the monetary supplements they both received from the ministry after the war and of course their respective jobs, they each had more than enough resources to take care of not only themselves but the kids without argument. Both Hugo and Rose were in Hogwarts throughout the school year and outside of the school year? Well, Hugo and Rose were teenagers. Ron and Hermione both allowed them to choose who they wanted to be with, within reason. This year they decided to stay with their father winter holiday, and she would meet them for the Solstice festivities at the burrow. Just the implication of being surrounded by all of their family and friends brought Hermione’s mind back to her current thought, the movement of time.

She was not unhappy with her life or the choices she had made with them. So why did she feel as if something was missing? That she had possibly made a wrong turn somewhere while navigating her life? She was stagnant. She needed a spark. Or better yet, she needed to relight the spark that she hadn’t felt in years.

A memory was tugging at the corners of her mind. A flicker of a flame started to ignite in her belly as she thought of it. Hermione shook her head quickly, causing the memory to flee as soon as it surfaced.

“Bugger this” she mumbled to herself as she wiped her hands on the apron around her waist. She didn’t know why she insisted on baking, she was horrible at it, and her mind wandered constantly.

Wasn't baking supposed to be relaxing? Not a time to torment herself with things neither here nor there?

She wasn’t quite sure what her subconscious was trying to hint at, but she was doing her best to not focus on things that weren’t meant to be. Quite like these dollops of gingerbread which were meant to be yule logs, but honestly were more like blobs. She didn’t even know why she was trying. Everyone knew that Molly was the baker in the family; no-one expected her to bring anything.