Lovely Lavender

As always, I would like to thank my wonderful betas, JENGEORGE and NervousAboutAngels, for helping me to make this a better story. My grammar is dreadful, and they have to work overtime to keep me in line.

An additional long overdue thank you goes out to the admins here at TPP. They edit with surgical precision. I bow at their feet.

And, of course, the great and talented J. K. Rowling is responsible for the characters and their world. I make no money from the writing or sharing of this story.

Chapter 8

Lovely Lavender

As the days progressed, the correspondence between Hermione and Snape became detached and professional. No more was said about the luncheon or its dramatic ending. This disappointed Hermione since she so desperately wanted someone to confide in, but she was afraid to push her private hopes and fears on someone who had been so secretive all his life. She didn't want to scare him away and erase all the good feelings between them that had surfaced at the luncheon. No, she had to approach him with extreme caution.

Snape had felt the necessity to back off a bit as well. His statement about not wanting to be caught up in something that was none of his business had been very true. He had enjoyed Miss Granger's company greatly, and he hoped to see more of her, but he could sense her neediness and didn't want misplaced affection for him to act as a catalyst for their divorce. He had to be completely out of that whole picture. If she ever did leave Ron, her reasons must have nothing to do with him. That way he couldn't be blamed if things went badly for her down the road.

Hermione was pleased to IM Snape that Hugo's sinuses had indeed cleared considerably. The following week's potion was delivered via Snape's barn owl to Hermione's home during evening hours. Since everything was now out in the open, there was no longer a need to send it to her office. After reading the note, she handed it to Ron out of courtesy and pulled the stopper from the phial to measure some out for Hugo.

Dear Miss Granger,

S.S.

Ron snorted at the salutation. "Git," was his only comment.

Hermione pretended to ignore him as she handed Hugo his pumpkin juice and watched with amusement as he pretended to feed the first sip to his stuffed toy, Lizzy. She had tried hard all week to be less combative with Ron, but at times he made it difficult for her to hold her tongue. But she sucked it up and continued to be amiable, at least until bedtime. His rude comments and vulgarities that were supposed to pass for humor repulsed her, however, and she could never quite bring herself to warm up to his advances. Night after night, Ron would try to put her in the mood, first with flirtation, then with wandering hands, and finally she could feel the effects of one or more of those spells from that stupid book which she quickly countered with a wordless spell of her own. Nothing worked. Ron would always be Ron. And she could not imagine ever being turned on by him again.

And so the weeks progressed and the weather finally got warmer. In hopes of catching Rita Skeeter in a dress or skirt, Hermione owled Lisa Turpin-Belby and suggested they meet for drinks after work. Lisa, like most of the other reporters at the Prophet, detested Rita and was happy to help Hermione with her little prank. Hermione was careful not to fill Lisa in on the details. She only said that she wanted to play a little trick on Rita, and she needed to know what her wardrobe was like. And since she didn't have access to Rita's closet, what better way than to get a daily report about what she was wearing then to ask Lisa?

From that day on, Lisa would send Hermione an owl every afternoon describing Rita's outfit. Finally in mid May, a tiny pigmy owl arrived with good news from Lisa. Rita was wearing a white and teal pin-striped skirt and blazer, with a daisy floral-patterned blouse. Her cloak, handbag and high heels perfectly matched the teal in her skirt, and her silk pantyhose had just arrived from Paris the night before. This was the day Hermione had been waiting for.

That night, Hermione went to collect Hugo and take him home to make dinner and wait for Ron. After she explained her plan, he was happy to let her go since he hated Rita Skeeter almost as much as he hated Snape. She and the cat made their way to Diagon Alley where they sat peacefully across the street from the Silver Spoon, eating their ice cream as they watched Rita walk up the stately steps to the club. They continued to observe her through the window without leaving their seats as she socialized with the upper crust of wizarding society. She could tell that most of the clientele would have preferred that Rita be removed from the premises, but she had apparently purchased a membership, so they had no right to do so.

After about an hour of watching the wretched woman make many of the customers nervous and uncomfortable, Hermione finally saw her head for the cloak hooks by the door. This was it! She gathered Crookshanks up into her arms, threw the Invisibility Cloak over both of them, and headed across the street to the alley by the Club. Crookshanks silently ran out from under the cloak as soon as Rita's legs came into view. He then dug his claws in deeply and pulled with all his might as she shrieked loud enough to raise the dead. But before she knew what had caused her pain, he ran back to the safety of the cloak, and she was left standing in the street with a bleeding leg and no one to hex, but worst of all, her brand new pair of silk pantyhose from France were now ruined!

Hermione and Crookshanks remained hidden as the commotion caused quite a crowd to gather. Then she and the cat slipped silently and invisibly through the throng of people and headed towards the back alley of the Leaky Cauldron and home.

Later that night she was feeling so pleased with herself after she had collected the skin and blood from Crookshank's claws that she even tolerated Ron's advances. For the first time in months, they made love. He seemed to enjoy himself, but she merely went through the motions for Hugo's sake. It didn't last very long, thank Merlin. Ron had even less staying power than usual because it had been so many months since their last encounter.

*****

Snape's potion helped to get rid of Hugo's sinus problems and upset stomach. He also slept much better and woke well rested. He never tried to stay in bed all day anymore. But it took three weeks to get rid of the hiccups, and when they finally disappeared, they were replaced by headaches. Snape was so distressed that his new potion was causing Hugo pain that he sent a replacement after only two days instead of the usual week. The headaches went away, but now his joints and muscles seemed to stiffen up overnight, as if he were one hundred years old instead of only one week away from his tenth birthday.

Hugo had become Snape's top priority, almost his obsession. He wanted the boy to enjoy his childhood in a way that he, Snape, had never been able to. And so he would send his latest potion, wait anxiously for Hermione's IMs on the following day, and go straight to the kitchen to start the next batch. But deep down inside, he knew the potion would never be enough. The boy needed a happy and secure environment in order to thrive. If Snape really wanted to help the boy, he would need to speak to Hermione about her situation. He would need to get involved on a personal level. Did she already know that he had lived through this himself as a child? She had been the brightest witch in her class by far. She was bound to have put two and two together by now.

This would be a delicate matter, perhaps best discussed in person over lunch. A public Muggle establishment would be acceptable, but with the personal nature of their discussion, perhaps not conducive to openness. Any place in Diagon Alley was completely out of the question. Then the solution occurred to him. They could dine here. His was a modest home, but Winky kept it clean and neat, and she was a fabulous cook. Snape was sure that Winky would love the idea, so he made up his mind to invite Miss Granger sometime in the near future. He would need to be discreet about the invitation, and he felt that an IM would be inappropriate.

*****

The next morning, Hermione asked Ron to tell Harry to meet her at her parents' house for lunch again, and that he was welcome to join them. Again he declined, saying that he had better things to do. So she stuffed the DNA sample, the chocolates she had purchased the night before in Diagon Alley, and the hex instructions back into her purse and headed out the door with Hugo.

This time she and Harry arrived together at her parents' house, but lunch was not on the agenda. He went straight to the kitchen table, and she joined him after turning on the computer. She retrieved the necessary items from her purse as Harry opened the box of chocolates. She carefully opened the phial that contained the DNA and used a cotton swab to scoop out the blood and skin, smearing it along the seam on the inside box top. Then finally Harry placed it back over the chocolates.

"She won't even need to open the box. All she has to do is touch it," Hermione said with a devilish smile.

The hex had been invented in such a way that the caster could substitute the needed conditions, timing and longevity of its effects into the wording. Harry let Hermione do the honors, knowing full well that she would be better at it than he would.

Then they decided that they would need to send it from the public Owl Post Office. Either of their family owls would be too easily recognized, and the Ministry Owls were too easy to trace. Harry could accompany her under the Invisibility cloak and Obliviate the clerk so he would forget that she was ever there, but she would create a disguise just in case anyone else might recognize her.

Once that was decided, Harry Floo'd back to the Ministry to wait for her, and she sat down at her computer to send Snape a quick message before transforming herself and leaving.

MuggleBornWitch: Hugo's dizzy spells seem to have dissipated, but he still has the nightmares. I can't talk now, must send a package to our favorite reporter.

HalfBloodPrince: Tomorrow.

When Hermione appeared in the fourth fireplace to the left in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic, Harry didn't even recognize her. She had to walk up and introduce herself to him. Her hair was short, grey and curly, she carried almost forty extra pounds around her waist and hips, and her face had aged to match her hair. She had conjured a cane for good measure, and she carried the inconspicuous box in the other hand. Harry was nothing short of amazed.

"You don't even need me!" he exclaimed.

"You're my insurance policy," she explained. "Please, I don't want to take any chances."

Harry shrugged. "OK, if it will make you feel better. Let's get this over with. I've got to get back to work."

Harry hid behind a large statue in the lobby and threw the Invisibility cloak over himself, and the two of them left the building side by side. Sometimes Harry had to side-step quickly because someone would walk by a bit too closely, but he always managed to get out of the way undetected.

They made their way across the street and up two blocks to the Owl Post Office. As Hermione asked the young clerk to send the package to Rita Skeeter at the Daily Prophet, Harry cast the necessary memory charm to immediately make him forget her face and the box's destination. Perfect.

They turned silently and headed out the door, but just as they emerged into the street, Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. There was Ron, in front of Salicia's Diner, holding hands with Lavender Brown. They walked with fingers interlaced to the Ministry's entrance. Hermione knew they were old friends, and that Lavender had always been a bit flirtatious, so she tried not to make a big deal out of it, but when they reached the entrance to the building, he pulled her close and kissed her. The kiss appeared unmistakably intimate, a promise of things to come.

Was Ron already cheating on her? If his performance the previous night was any indication, the answer was probably "no." But the intent was there, just the same. Her feelings became confused. Part of her felt jealously, part felt relief. If Lavender kept him occupied (even satisfied), so she could see as little of him as possible until Hugo left for Hogwarts, that suited her just fine. But something inside her still began to seethe at the idea of his possible infidelity. She had always been faithful to him, even when they were at their worst. But sex had been out of their lives for quite some time before last night. Should she ultimately blame herself for his behavior? Had she driven him into Lavender's arms?

Hermione stood stunned in the middle of Diagon Alley. She almost didn't notice Harry's invisible hand as it encased hers and squeezed. He had seen the kiss too, and he knew exactly what it had meant.

Hermione cast a downward glance as tears began to well up in her eyes. "I should have seen this coming," she whispered to Harry. "It's my fault. It's all my fault." Instead of following Ron into the building, she led Harry down a narrow side street as the tears began to flow in earnest.

They ducked into a stairwell that led to a basement entrance, and he took his cloak off as she began to undo the enchantments that created her disguise. As bad as Harry felt for his friend, words escaped him. So when she looked like herself again, he simply pulled her in for a long and tight hug.

"Look on the bright side," he finally tried to cheer her up. "At least he won't be pestering you to have kids any more!"

After attempting a half-hearted smile, Hermione stared directly into his eyes with no suspicion or malice, but she had to ask the question that was burning in her mind. "Did you know about this?"

He stared back with equal intensity, because he wanted her to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was telling the truth when he answered. "No, but I had a feeling that something like this would happen eventually, ever since his birthday party."

"You know, it occurred to me a while ago that our fighting might be the cause of Hugo's health problems."

"What?" Harry looked skeptical.

"Think about it," she tried to convince him. "His health began to decline shortly after his third birthday when I announced to Ron's family that we were finished having children. Since then Ron and I have not been getting along at all. I had known about that stupid book about charming witches long before that, of course. But the real trouble started after Hugo's party. That's when Molly became aware of my intentions, and she's been interfering and causing extra friction between us ever since."

Harry's mind drifted back and he nodded thoughtfully. "It could just be a coincidence. You don't argue in front of him, do you?"

"No, of course not. But kids are very perceptive. They don't need it played out in front of them to tell when something's wrong."

She proceeded to tell Harry about her conclusion that Snape could also see the warning signs because he had lived through it himself. Harry had to admit then that Ron and Hermione's rocky relationship could very well be the cause. She confessed that she had resolved to get along with Ron for Hugo's sake, but after witnessing this noonday spectacle, she couldn't bring herself to proceed with the charade.

"If he's going to be an adulterer, I should just take Hugo and leave," she began to rant angrily. "What a horrible example he would make for his son! I won't stand for it!"

"Hermione," Harry tried to calm her down, "You don't even know if he's done anything wrong yet."

"Oh, please! You saw that kiss! If he hasn't already it's only a matter of time, and you know it!"

Harry had no retort. He knew that she was right. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. Don't even tell him what we saw. I'll just take a few days to get Mum and Dad's house ready for the two of us, and then Hugo and I will just live there. By the way, know any good divorce lawyers?"

"Blaise Zabini, I hear he's pretty cut-throat."

"I don't want to take Ron for all he's worth. It wouldn't be worth it!" she finally began to giggle.

"You'd probably end up owing Zabini more money than you'd get from Ron!"

"He's such a big spender. A diner – how romantic!" They were both laughing now.

"Their first shag 'll probably be in the backseat of that sorry Muggle car of his because he's too cheap to spring for a hotel room!"

They continued to make jokes at Ron's expense for a few more minutes and then slipped into the basement entrance when they realized that they were ten minutes late getting back from lunch.

*****

After work, Hermione picked up Hugo from Molly and Arthur's, as usual, and Floo'd home. After much thought, she had finally decided to continue being nice to Ron as if she knew nothing. Harry was right; perhaps he had not actually slept with Lavender... yet. Until she could prove it, she would give him the benefit of the doubt. But she would get everything ready at her parents' house as soon as possible, so when the time came, she could take Hugo and go live in Knottingly. He could see Hugo on weekends if he wanted to. He never spent any quality time with the little guy during the week anyway.

But she would burn in Hell before she would have sex with the bastard again!

She didn't have long to wait. Ron was late getting home that night, but instead of mead on his breath, the distinct aroma of cheap perfume mingled with his usual cologne, along with one long brown hair that clung to his cloak as she helped him off with it and hung it on the hook by the door. Hermione feigned ignorance as she served his dinner, but inside she was boiling mad. Hugo apparently could feel her anger because he held tighter than usual to Lizzy and kept steeling glances at her with a worried look on his face as if he expected her to blow up at any moment.

But she kept her cool. She wanted to see if Ron would make a pass at her that night when they went to bed, and knew that if she was nice to him it was more likely that he would try something. Even Ron wouldn't be crass enough to have sex with her just after cheating. When he seemed uninterested she even slipped into a sexy negligee and made advances of her own. But he only complained of fatigue and fell asleep almost the instant his head hit the pillow. His energies had obviously been spent elsewhere.

In a way, she was relieved. She didn't really want to make love to him. Perhaps he did work late, and the tell-tale signs of stray hair and perfume were only leftovers from lunch. She would have to ask Harry tomorrow.

*****

For the next several days, however, Harry wasn't around to ask. An emergency had come up in a remote town in Ireland, and he had been called away. Ron was left in charge of the department, and there was no one else she really trusted to ask if Ron actually needed to work late. Her only course of action was to follow him and see where he went.

When lunch time came, she Floo'd to her parents' house, IM'd Snape to quickly give him an update on Hugo, then excused herself from further correspondence for the day. She then transformed herself the same way she had done the day before and Floo'd back to the Ministry lobby to head out the door in search of Ron. After finding him in none of the usual lunch hangouts, she decided to inspect some of the more expensive restaurants. Perhaps Lavender was playing hard to get, and she was going to make him part with a few galleons after all!

When further searching yielding nothing new, she began to worry. Lunch time would soon be over. Where could he be? Surely they didn't get a hotel room on their lunch hour! She knew Ron would never pay so much money for only one hour. Then a thought occurred to her that was almost more preposterous than she could imagine. Down Nocturne Alley was a sleazy hotel that rented rooms by the hour. The thought of her husband actually being intimate with someone in a flea-bitten place like that turned her stomach. But it was the only other idea she had, so she made her way over there and found a bench across the street. Shortly after she had seated herself, her heart felt a stab of pain as she witnessed Ron and Lavender emerging from the building, his arm over her shoulder and hers around his waist. She stopped him and tidied his tussled hair, then kissed his cheek. They both seemed a bit disheveled, but glowing.

Suddenly, Hermione felt as old as she had transformed herself to appear. She stood with great effort, leaning heavily on the cane she had conjured, and followed them out of Nocturne Alley and over to the Ministry's entrance. Hermione continued to hobble by, intent on hearing their parting words as she made her way to the same basement entrance she and Harry had used the day before.

"After work, then?" Ron asked Lavender hopefully.

"Won't Hermione get suspicious... two days in a row?"

"Nah. I'll just tell her I'm working late again. Harry's out of town, so there's no one to tell her otherwise."

"Anything for you, Won-won."

If Hermione hadn't felt so horrible, she would have laughed out loud. But as she made her way to the side stairwell, she became more and more depressed. Wasn't this exactly what she wanted, an excuse to leave him sooner rather than later? Perhaps it was simply the reality of her situation finally sinking in. It was easy to plan to leave, even to fantasize about leaving, but the actual act of leaving was a different matter.

Her heart churned and tied itself into knots at the prospect of actually going through with it. She had made a life with this man. He was the father of her children. To finally admit that they had failed to keep the sacred promises of marriage was more emotionally difficult than she had ever imagined. If she moved out and hired a lawyer, there would be no turning back, and her children would be forever emotionally scarred by a broken home. But was that any worse than living under the same roof with undercurrents of emotional upheaval? Would Hugo be better off with two separate but happy parents? Or would he blame himself for the breakup as sensitive young children so often do? Perhaps Snape's potion would help ease Hugo's misplaced guilt, no matter what their marital status... Perhaps. Only time would tell.

She thought about Snape and the fact that he had lived through watching his parents fight and grow to hate each other while he still lived at home. She hesitated to ask his advice about something so personal, but since both her parents and Ron's had always stayed together, she had no experience in such matters and didn't know where else to turn. Would she lose her new found friend for broaching such a private subject? After much deliberation, she decided that, for Hugo's sake, she would take the risk.