Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The pop of Apparition could have been heard by anyone if Hermione hadn't chosen a spot just down the road from the Burrow to appear. The walk would give her a few minutes to gather her thoughts and steel herself for the day ahead. Her thoughts were on the wizard she had just left; she really did love him. So why was it so hard for her to leave Ron? Hermione sighed. She knew deep down the answer to that particular question – she always strove to be accepted in this world, and that led to her doing what everyone else thought 'Hermione' should do, whether it was what she wanted or not. She soon found herself at the gate leading to the Burrow. Taking a deep breath, she opened the gate and walked up to the door and knocked.

The door opened, revealing her sister-in-law, Ginny. "Hey, Hermione," she said as she moved to the side to allow her to enter. "You're just in time for lunch."

"Hey, Gin. Mmm, yes, it smells delicious. How are the children doing?"

Ginny proceeded with her usual twenty-minute report on everything her little ones did, and/or said, since the last time they saw each other. This gave her enough time to greet everyone sitting at the kitchen table with a silent nod while Ginny babbled on and to eat a bit before Molly found an opening to interrogate her on whatever bug was up Molly's arse at the moment.

"So, Hermione, why aren't you cheering Ron on at the game?" asked Molly in a saccharine tone.

"I already had plans to see my parents. Besides, Ron didn't say he wanted me to go."

"Of course he's not going to beg you to go; a good wife would just go and support her husband," Molly said, looking smug.

"A good wife would just go? What about you, Molly? Why aren't YOU in Ireland rooting on your son? It's what a GOOD MOTHER would do!" Hermione retorted.

Harry reached over and grabbed Hermione's hand. "Calm down, Hermione. You know how Molly is where Ron's concerned," he said to her in a soft voice so only she could hear.

She looked at Harry; he had been her best friend since she was twelve years old, but she had reached her limit where Molly Weasley was concerned, and she wasn't going to take it sitting down any longer.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but enough is enough. I can't deal with this bloody bullshite any longer."

She could hear Molly gasp at her use of foul language. "Really, Hermione, you need to watch your language and start acting like a lady."

Arthur sat at the head of the table, his eyes going back and forth between his wife and his daughter-in-law. He'd known this was going to come to a head one day; he just wished it would happen while he wasn't home.

"Act like a lady? Are you insinuating that I do not act as a lady, Molly?" Hermione said through teeth clenched so hard her jaw was starting to hurt.

"Well, dear, with that kind of language..."

Arthur saw the look in Hermione's eyes and thought it best to step in now. "Now, Molly, it's not like this was an important game, and it was a last minute call for Ron to go fill in. Hermione is entitled to go see her parents."

Harry saw guilt flash in her eyes. No one else would notice, but after knowing her for so long, he saw things that others missed. He decided he would have to talk to her soon.

"That isn't the point, Arthur. 'She' should be putting Ronald first, not her parents or herself. I always knew she could be a bit selfish, but really..."

Everyone else at the table sat in shock as the words flew back and forth between Molly and Hermione.

"Selfish? Why you sanctimonious old cow, you talk about me being selfish, YOU could give lessons on it! I've been silent for over ten years while you constantly stick your nose into every aspect of our lives, trying to live vicariously through your own children. Not to mention all the UNSOLICITED advice I've had to put up with..."

"Well, I never! I knew I shouldn't have allowed Ronald to marry such an ill-raised little tart."

"Before you start calling other people ill-raised, you bloody bitch, perhaps you should look at what YOU raised! And your constant, sodding nagging, telling me what I should do and HOW I should do it!"

Arthur and Harry both looked at each other and nodded; it was time to pull these two apart before the wands came were drawn.

Arthur grabbed hold of his wife's arm. "That's enough, Molly. Let's go to the den so you can calm down."

At the same time, Harry took hold of Hermione's hand. "Let's go outside, Hermione; we need to talk," he said, looking over at Ginny who started to rise. "I think it would be better if it was just me, Gin, for now anyway. Okay?"

Ginny sat back down and watched her husband drag a furious Hermione out the back door mumbling under her breath.

He pulled Hermione along with him to a bench in the back garden and forcefully sat her down. "You need to calm down, Hermione. I know Molly can be self-righteous, meddlesome, and any other number of things. But it was getting out of hand in there."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I just couldn't take it anymore. Ten years I've put up with her, and I've had enough of it."

"Truthfully, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner. But you're not the only one she nags. Ginny came close to hexing her after James was born--Molly had an opinion on everything Ginny did."

"I can't blame Ginny; her mother is an overbearing harridan, and Ron, well, Merlin forbid he say anything to his precious mother in my defence."

"Speaking of Ron, how are things between you two?"

Hermione sighed; she knew she had to answer truthfully. She could no longer pretend things were fine between them. "Not good, and they haven't been for a long time."

"I had a feeling they weren't; neither one of you have seemed happy lately. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I..."

"You've been seeing someone else, haven't you, Hermione?"

Hermione felt her stomach flip-flop. How did Harry know? Had he guessed? "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Hermione, this is me you're talking to. I saw that guilty look in your eyes when Arthur talked about you visiting your parents. You didn't go see them, did you?"

Hermione sighed deeply; it was time to confess, at least to Harry, about her affair even if she didn't tell him yet who the other man was. "No, I didn't go see my parents today; they aren't even home. They're in Paris for a week."

"You were with him, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"How long has this been going on, Hermione?"

"It's been two years. I know you must be disappointed in me," she said, looking down at the ground.

"I'm not disappointed...I'm surprised. Two years? I'm impressed you were able to hide it that long. Do I know him?"

"Yes, but don't ask who, okay? Everyone will find out soon enough."

"All right, I won't ask, for now. Are you going to keep seeing him and hope Ron doesn't find out?"

"He's moving to Spain in a few months, and he'd like for me to join him there. He'd come back here to visit me as often as he could if I don't go, but..."

"Do you truly love this man, Hermione?"

"Yes, and he loves me."

"Again, I ask; what are you going to do?"

Hermione closed her eyes; it was time to make a decision. It wasn't fair to Severus, Ron or herself to keep things going the way they were. She loved Severus in a way she would never be able to love Ron. When she was with Severus, she was happy. However, with Ron, well, they were both miserable.

"I'm going to be moving to Spain, Harry," she said as she looked at her lifelong friend and smiled.

"I haven't seen that smile in a long time. If this man makes you happy, then I'm happy for you. When are you going to tell Ron?"

"I think a trip to Ireland is in order. Hopefully, it won't be a long game, and I'll tell him afterwards. It would be best if we weren't anywhere near the Burrow."

Harry laughed. "I agree. I think you or I should at least let Arthur know so he can be prepared for the backlash when Ron comes here and tells Molly."

"Please tell Arthur I'm sorry about ruining his lunch."

Harry smiled at her. "I will. I believe Arthur's been waiting for this blow up to happen for a while now." Harry put his arm around her and kissed her head. "You go to Ireland and deal with Ron. Floo me when you get back, okay?"

"All right, and Harry... thanks for being so understanding. I was afraid I would lose you as a friend if you ever knew."

"I have grown up over the years, thank you very much. Now, go talk to Ron, and I need to find Arthur and get him alone for a few minutes."

"I love you, Harry."

"I love you, too, Hermione."

****************************

Hermione waited outside the players' entrance for Ron. The Chudley Cannons lost the game... again. She paced back and forth, wondering how to tell Ron that she wanted to dissolve their marriage. The only things she wanted to walk away with was her personal belongings; he could have the cottage and do with it as he pleased.

When she finally saw him, he was walking hunched over towards the exit. The image made her wonder if he had always been this way and she just never saw it, or if he had become this way after they had married. She hoped once this whole fiasco of a marriage was in the past, where it belonged, that Ron would be able to find true happiness too.

He stepped out into the light and turned at the sound of her voice. "Hi, Ron. Sorry about the match, there's always another game though."

"Hermione? What are you doing here?" he said as he walked up to her. "Is everything all right; did something happen back home?"

"Everybody is fine, Ron... though something did happen."

"What?"

She could hear the panic starting to set in his voice.

"Your mother and I had it out, finally. It wasn't pretty."

Ron sighed. "Why do you let my mother get to you? Just nod and ignore her."

"That's easy for you to say, Ron. She doesn't insult you repeatedly... doesn't point out everything SHE thinks YOU'RE doing wrong. In fact, YOU don't say a damn thing when she's doing it to me."

"You know how Mum is, Hermione. Besides, sometimes she does make sense."

Hermione could feel her anger building up again; this conversation wasn't going anywhere. "I didn't come here to talk about your mother, well, not just about your mother. We need to talk, Ron. Is there somewhere we can go that's a bit more private?"

"Umm, we could go sit in the stands. The pitch should be empty by now."

"All right."

Taking her hand, Ron led her back inside and up the stairs to the stands where they sat down. "Now, what is so important that you had to Apparate to Ireland to tell me?"

She sighed as she looked at her husband of ten years; this wasn't going to be an easy conversation. "Are you happy, Ron? I mean in our marriage--are you happy with our marriage?"

"I guess, yeah... What's this all about, Hermione?"

"You guess, so you mean you're not sure?"

"Well, I mean there are some things I'm not too happy with, but I can live with things the way they are."

"Some things... like what?"

"I'd really like to start a family soon. I know you want to wait though."

"Anything else?"

"I... well, I really wish you would quit working, Hermione. I know you enjoy it, and you like making new discoveries and all, but...I always pictured having my wife waiting for me at home at the end of the day, and more often than not, you're still at work when I get home."

"I'm sorry, Ron... I can't be that kind of wife. It's not who I am."

"I know that now. Are you happy, Hermione?"

Hermione felt the tears threatening as she looked at Ron; this was harder than she ever thought it would be. "No, Ron, I haven't been happy in quite a while. Things haven't been the way I pictured them either."

"What can I do to make you happy, love?"

"I don't think you can, Ron. I'm not even sure if I was ever really happy in this marriage. I've been thinking that maybe this whole marriage was a mistake."

"That's not true, Hermione."

"Why did you marry me?"

"Because I love you, why else?"

"You love Harry, too, yet you wouldn't dream of marrying him. Think back to when we first became engaged, didn't you feel as though we were rushed into getting married?"

"Ummm, I guess we were a bit rushed, yeah."

"Maybe, if everyone hadn't pushed us into it, we may not have gone through with it. I know I felt pushed into it."

"Do you regret marrying me, Hermione?"

She turned away from him; she didn't want to see the hurt on his face when she answered him.

"I'm sorry, but yes, sometimes I do."

"What do you think we should do?"

The tears were now trailing down her face. "I think it would be best if we dissolve our bond and see if we can find what we've been looking for in someone else."

"There's someone else, isn't there, Hermione?"

She looked down at her feet; she couldn't answer that question.

"Who, Hermione? Who have you fallen in love with?"

"Does it matter? It won't change anything."

"I want to know who I lost my wife to."

"This would have happened anyway, Ron, whether there was someone else or not."

"Probably, but I still want to know."

"Severus Snape."

Her answer was met with dead silence.

She looked up at Ron, his face turning almost as red as his hair. "That murdering son of a bitch... I lost my wife to a bloody ex-Death Eater!"

"He was CLEARED of all those charges years ago, Ron. You just refuse to believe what everyone else has accepted."

"Of all the bloody wizards in this world, why choose that greasy bastard?"

"I didn't set out to fall in love with Severus; it just happened."

"How long has this been going on, Hermione?"

"It doesn't matter; I want out of this marriage. You can have the bloody cottage... I don't care. I just want my personal belongings."

"Fine, get your things and leave. I'll file for dissolution of marriage with the Ministry tomorrow, and we'll be divorced within a week. Then I'd really like not to have to see you for a very long time."

"You won't have to. In a few months, I'll be moving to Spain."

"Good... Now, please, just... GO, Hermione. I need to be alone right now."

"I'm sorry things didn't work out for us, Ron."

"Yeah, right... just go... please."

Tears blurred her vision as she made her way out of the stands and back out of the pitch. Hermione calmed down enough to Apparate back to Britain and to the little flat, hoping Severus was still there.