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No matter how much she scolded her husband for sleeping in late, and begged him to set a good example for the kids, Hermione simply could not help it. She was tired, and after a long week at work, she could use the sleep. She didn’t find her husband next to her in his usual sprawled out position with one arm over her waist. She was surprised by his absence, seeing that even though he’ awake before her, he’d lay in bed longer till she herself woke up. Reluctantly getting out of bed, she got dressed and headed down to their kitchen, hoping Ron had at least managed to cook breakfast after getting up earlier.
She stopped herself when she saw her two favourite redheads in the kitchen talking. She admired the site from afar. 13 year old Hermione would be proud of herself. She had gotten so lucky. So many lost with the war, and yet she came out together with her best friend by her side. She had built a life with him and grown their family. They knew each other. They could count on each other. Sure they had more quarrels under their belt by 4th year than any normal couple would have in a lifetime, but when they snapped out of it and made up, which they always did, it was pure heaven.
She was about to join them in their brunch making when she noticed that Rosie, who was sitting atop the counter was actually crying. Ron was leaning down and hugging her tightly, swaying slightly left and right in the sweetest way possible.
“Rose, honey, you’ve wanted to go to Hogwarts since you were a child. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to go anymore, please. I’ll stay home with you and mummy and you can teach me magic instead” her head was bouncing up and down with each breath she let out.
Ron now lifted her up into his arms with her head hanging back from his shoulders. She had her arms around his neck and gripped the back of his t-shirt with her fists, not wanting to let go.
Ron started walking around whispering in her ear soothingly. Aside from Rose being upset, this was a very comforting sight to Hermione. She could watch him take care of their daughter hours on end, appearing to be a natural. The man who could once infuriate her just by breathing wrong, now calmed her just by being present.
After Rose had calmed down to sniffles, Ron sat upon a stool and set Rose back on the counter, her face now level with his own. She didn't want to pull away from Ron at all and she clinged on tightly before Ron had to gently tug her arms away from him so he could look at her.
“Rosie, can you at leasttell me why you no longer want to go to Hogwarts?” His voice was so soft and caring, and while he was pushing Rose to talk, it didn’t sound forceful in the least. He was so careful to be nice to her.
Rose simply continued to look down at her father’s hands which rested on her knee. She was fidgeting with his fingers, intent on avoiding answering her dad.
Ron, noticing her hesitation, pulled her chin up so they were eye to eye, and prompted her with the same question. “What’s scaring you”
“What if I’m no good at school? I don’t want people to hate me, what if I’m not good at making friends?” she pouted.
Ron looked at her for a minute without speaking. Hermione wondered if it was time to step in, but just as Ron finished wiping her tears away from her cheeks with his sleeve, he spoke again.
“Sweetheart, has anyone been mean to you in school so far? Have people been making fun of you?”
The question wasn’t something Hermione hadn’t expected to hear. But now that it was asked, she wanted to know. Their daughter had never mentioned any form of teasing or bullying, so she was fairly confident what the answer would be.
They had been sending their daughter to muggle school, which Hermione insisted was good for the child. Ron was excited with the prospect, though sad to let the little redheaded ball of cuteness go for half the day.
“This saturday Jenna fell off her swing so teacher took her to the nurse to get her knee bandaged up, so I was alone and I thought I’ll read my storybook Auntie Fluer gave me” She was on the verge of tears again, so Ron brought his hands to her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. This seemed to do the trick as she relaxed her breathing and continued on.
“And then these girls started saying no one likes me and no one wanted to be my friend..” Ron suddenly wrapped her in a hug and dropped a few kisses on the top of her bushy hair.
“When did this happen, why didn’t you tell us this before?” Ron still maintained his careful tone and ensured that their daughter knew he wasn't angry with her.
“It’s okay, Aunt Ginny had picked me up from school that day. She even got me ice cream” Rose seemed to smile at the memory, for which ten year old child isn’t happy with ice cream?
“She never mentioned this to me, I’m sorry about the girls” Rose didn’t say anything but she simply nodded.
Hermione watched on, suddenly feeling guilty for not entering the kitchen and talking to her daughter. But she was smiling too hard at her husband being the sweetest dad ever, and wanted to make it last as long as possible.
When Ron apparently deemed that she had brightened up enough in his embrace, he pulled back and looked at her again. A new resolve in his eyes that always came on when he had locked in on the moves to checkmate Harry.
“Rosie, do you plan on calling any fellow students a nightmare just because they help you in charms class?” Ron asked, chuckling at the memory that resurfaced
Rose simply shook her head, her curls falling onto her face, which Ron pushed behind her ear
“Do you plan on making girls cry in the bathroom and being mean to them?”
Rose continued to shake her head, but her brows were furrowed now
“Do you think it’s a good idea to ignore any friends you make because you can’t find your ageing pet?”
“No, daddy,” she said firmly, trying to pass whatever test her father was throwing at her.
“Tell me, are you going to take out all your anger on the people around you just because you can’t seem to get your potions right?”
“Nope”
Ron was starting to smile, and he knew he’d have her daughter happy in the next few moves. Hermione, however, was confused as to where her husband was going with this. She knew Ron was just recalling his own errors. She smiled at the thought, oh how young they were .
“Alright then what about being mean to someone because you weren’t good on the quidditch pitch that day? Or what about making fun of other students who are younger than you just because you were made prefect? Do you see yourself becoming like that Rosie?”
“Dad of course not, who would do all that?!” Rose asked rather loudly, concluding these questions to be stupid. She looked at her dad, whose smile was now replaced with a fake one which only Hermione could recognise. Hermione sighed internally
“Then this family has seen far worse students than you, sweet girl. You’ll do great at Hogwarts, you’ll be absolutely brilliant, I have no doubt about it”
He showered their daughter with a number of kisses and even got her a bowl of ice cream, with the promise of not telling mummy. After Rose had finished her bowl clean, Ron took it away from her and placed it beside her. He looked at her daughter firmly again, but with gentleness in his eyes.
“You are the sweetest, kindest, brightest girl ever. You’re so brilliant Rosie. No matter what happens I’ll be proud of you, always. You scare me with how fast you’re growing up, but I promise you I have full faith you’ll turn out to be the most amazing witch ever in Hogwarts. All I need you to do is do your homework on time and owl us if you have any problems and everything will work out dear. You'll do great there sweetheart, you really will. You're so kind and helpful you're bound to make good friends, and you deserve the best of them. Ones who don't poke fun at you for being who you are. You'll charm the professors naturally of course, because you took after your mother in the brains department. Just stay away from filch, he hates anyone Weasley without question”
He tried hard to hide his guilty expression, blaming himself for all that he thought he did wrong in those 6 + 1 years. His daughter may not have had a clue what he was on about, but he preferred it that way. He didn’t want her thinking the man sitting before her was far worse than those 2 girls who laughed and teased her.
“Thank You daddy!!” she jumped up to his lap and put her arms around his neck, her usual indication of wanting to be carried up.
Before doing so, he did want her to promise something. “Next time something like this is bothering you, little girl, always come to us okay? I was serious about the bowling thing. Can you do that?” She didn’t even wait a second before nodding.
Finally convinced that he had cheered her daughter up, he picked her up and started walking out towards their backyard. “You wanna go flying with daddy now?” he whispered to her ear. Hermione instinctively rolled her eyes, but caught a glimpse of Rose nodding vigorously.
As he was about to step out through the back door out of the kitchen, he caught Hermione's eyes, which seemed to be filled to the edge with tears. She gave him a huge smile and nodded, hoping that her face told him how much love she harboured for them both.
When Rose was outside still running around the garden and both parents watched her admiringly, proud of the child they raised. The sky outside was a glowing shade of pink and clouds littered the horizon appearing translucent. The fall sunset was beautiful, and needing a moment alone with Ron, Hermione motioned Ron to step inside. Ron, ever the obedient husband, obliged.
Before they even stepped in fully, however, Hermione leapt up at her husband, arms around his shoulders and legs around his waist. He wrapped his own arms around her lower back and kissed her on the cheek, trying his best to hide the sudden burst of affection. “Hello, love” he called out smoothly
She pulled back, just enough that their noses were touching and kissed him for a long long time, pulling away only to giggle.
“I love you so so so much, did you know” she whispered, settling her forehead into her shoulder.
“I had a vague idea” he chuckled, setting her back down on her feet, but still hugging her tightly. They would grow tired of their jobs, of their favourite songs, of their most watched movies, but they were never going to grow tired of each other for the foreseeable future.
But… she had pulled him inside for a reason. Hating the fact that she had to, she pulled away and took his hands in hers, looking up at him.
“Do you really think you were such a poor student?” She frowned on him, hoping to get the honest answer out of him. She could read him better than she could any book. She knew that the earlier conversations he had with Rose went that way partly because he still regretted how he behaved in Hogwarts.
“Hermione, I think you pointed out I was a poor student every time the occasion presented itself”
“I did nothing of the sort!!!”
“Love, I was the biggest prat to ever roam those halls. I was a shite excuse for a prefect. I couldn’t even make up for it on the pitch”
They’d had different variations of this conversation ages ago, but most of it only revolved around Ron being guilty of his behaviour in 6th year, which was promptly forgiven, given that the other party was just as guilty. She knew he scolded himself for somehow not being the perfect boy, but honestly it had been so long ago. Still given his streak, she probably shouldn’t be surprised that he drowns in regret.
“Ronald, I sometimes think you’re blind” She huffed, still not letting go fo his hand. Her frown deepened and she shot him a look that told him that she wasn’t joking about it, despite her wording.
“‘Mione, I'm being serious. I was an arsehole to a lot of people in school. I am guilty of the same thing that had Rose upset this morning, except worse ‘cuz I did it to you for helping me with something I struggled to do. I made that poor Robbins girl cry cuz I was angry at myself. I snapped because my own insecurities got the best of me. At least you guys understood and forgave me, being my friends and all. But I was so wrong to snap at random younger students and people I didn’t even know.
“It’s not even the grades, Hermione, even though those weren’t exactly stellar. I was so rude to people and it wasn’t fair and you can’t tell me that was fine. It’s not. It upset me at the time but I honestly think now that all of you were right about me not deserving to be made a prefect” He was looking away above her head into the hallway, evidently trying to avoid eye contact. Out of shame, or out of anger at himself, she didn’t know. But she was determined to drive the regret out of him. Before she had a chance tho he started again with a breath.
“Hermione the more I look back at my school years, the more I realise how wrongly I behaved. Honestly for a while I thought I was alright other than the whole Krum and Lavender thing but that was just part of a long list. Maybe you didn’t see it then because you were biassed in my favour but I don’t understand how a kind strong-willed person such as yourself continued to stay friends with me.
“The only reason I didn’t tell Rose any of this was because I don’t want her thinking I’m being a hypocrite by giving advice that I didn’t stick to”
“Ron, why are you so thick headed?. You did so much, in those same 6 years, to make up for those things”
“Hermione that doesn’t excuse any of-”
“No you listen. What-” she cut in, refusing to let him get his say till she drove her point home.
“I was-” two can play that game
“Oh would you stop interrupting me while I am interrupting you?!” She hissed out over, stomping her foot, with a tone of finality which he wasn’t in the mood to counter
Seeing no response from the freckled man in front of her, she set off once again, this time hopefully uninterrupted.
“All your years in Hogwarts, you stood against people who abused me for my blood. You defended Harry everyday in the common room and dinner table when no one believed him about Voldemort’s return. You helped him with his nightmares every night. You even went against Snape and Umbridge for Harry. Ron, you got detention for me. You went into a spider’s den, you climbed down to the chamber of secrets, infiltrated the ministry for what you thought was a noble cause” she paused, seeing if she had made any impression. Not getting any sign of it though, she persisted
“You gave yourself up, thinking it meant death, when you were 12 in a game of chess. You stood on one leg to face a serial killer to protect us from him. You did all that and what did you receive in return. Fred and George constantly taking the piss out of you?” She knew her swearing would get a reaction out of him, though he’d try to hide it during a conversation like this one.
“When the Slytherins sang the song to taunt you during the games, no one tried to help you. Not your brothers, not Ginny, and not even Harry and I. I may have fancied the living hell out of you Ron, but even I was too ignorant to fight on your behalf. Noone in those 6 years ever did much for you. Your sister constantly poked fun at you in front me to get a reaction, your brothers were worse. And knowing how much you valued us, I think me and Harry did more damage than anyone.
“I curse myself all the time for making you feel lonely, but it’s so understandable why you felt like that. I counted on you to help me feel better, so did Harry. But the people you were supposed to rely on, they did nothing for you and I will always be sorry for that”
Tears were sliding down both their cheeks and Hermione knew he was listening intently. She knew he wanted to believe it, but doing so would lead to forgiving himself, and he couldn’t have that could he? She reached up to wipe his tears away, then her own with her palm. She took his hand back and kissed his knuckles.
These apologies had been made so many times, and for so long he had ignored them, holding himself guilty still. But now he was starting to crack, allowing her words to sink in. He hadn’t felt like his insecure self in a long time. Most of his self-doubts had been buried deep within, only resurfacing when he truly felt alone and miserable. Carrying the guilt of your actions was one thing, but immersing yourself in your past self’s shoes, feeling how pathetic you had felt then, is another thing entirely. So sure, he had felt bad about being rude, snappy, moody, but never had he revisited why he acted like that. And now that he had, the words of the locket started ringing again.
Least loved by capable friends who'd do better without him
Least loved by a mother who craved a daughter
Least loved by the brothers who -
“Ron, I hate myself for saying this because it means how true it must have been for you, but I understand why you felt neglected and overshadowed. You were great to all of us when it mattered most, my love. We cannot say the same. In your lowest moments, we were not there for you -”
She had sincerely apologised, as had he, for how things went between them for so long, but immature teenage egos and hormones were at the wheel and they called the shots. Nothing they do now could change that.
“How could you have been Hermione? I was too immature to even have a decent conversation with anyone. I just kept getting irritated and taking out my anger on you lot” He was choking on his words, feeling ashamed of himself and also touched that she really didn’t hold those things against him.
“Ron honestly if I were you I wouldn’t have talked to anyone either. Once again, I’m sorry for how true this might’ve been but honestly who would you have gone to? I said so many stupid things to make you feel overlooked and ignored, your family - as much as I love them - was vile to you most of the time. Harry was the only one and you always thought what he was going through was worse so you never opened up with him.
“I know you think it’s all your fault, 6th year with Lavender and the slug club or the locket on the hunt, but I was equally guilty Ron. I should’ve had more faith in you about the quidditch match. I shouldn't have set those birds on you and I shouldn’t have made that underhanded comment about good quidditch players, knowing you felt poorly about yourself then. I’ll let you have the yule ball though” she ended with a joke, but knew that it did nothing to take away from the seriousness of the situation, which she hoped it didn’t anyway. The last thing she needed him to take this as was a joke. She wanted him to know she meant it all.
Noone spoke for a minute, and she wasn’t sure what those eyes were displaying. She cupped his face in her hands and brought his eyes down to hers and gave him the teariest smile in a long time.
“Now tell me, sweet husband” she chuckled, not able to contain her gratitude that they had found each other in the end “do you really think we were all that better than you?”
She watched as he shook his head, his hair tipping over his forehead as he did so. Not as an answer to her question, no, but as a sign of refusal to carry on with his pent up guilt. He crushed her under his arms and rested his chin on her head, her own chin on his chest. She breathed into his chest, knowing after all these years she finally got the message through to him.
“I’m so lucky to have you by my side Hermione, I love you so much” On his part, truer words had never been spoken.
“I love you, Ron, I always will” She couldn’t see his face, nor he hers, but they both knew that any residual tears flowing were that of gratitude and joy and smiles had furnished both their lips.
Crushing her tighter as another wave of emotions hit, he felt the need to say it again, more so for necessitating such vulnerability on her side than for topics recently finished upon.
“I’m so sorry” he finished with a sniff and rubbed her upper back sending warmth down her body.
“I forgave you long ago, as you have me. It’s time you did so for yourself, darling”
“What did I do to deserve you?” he had meant it as a joke of course, Ron always had to end with a joke, but really was now the time
“I literally just listed-”
She was cut off by a kiss long overdue, which she gladly accepted.