Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

September 19, 2001

Hermione had faced her share of disappointing moments from her fiancé Ronald Weasley, but him forgetting to show up for her birthday trip that he planned might have been the biggest one to date.

Ron had insisted to everyone that he had the whole thing sorted for a private trip and her family and friends would all be able to spend time with her after they had returned from celebrating her turning twenty-one. She had even taken the remainder of the week off from work to accommodate the trip.

Now, as she sat at the kitchen table of their London flat, anxiety had turned to impatience, and finally a quiet fury. Ron had instructed Hermione to be dressed up and ready to depart with their portkey at seven that evening when he was expected to return from his quidditch match, but the time came and went without him.

With the clock now chiming ten, Hermione had long since given up on leaving and changed from her brand-new cocktail dress into her most comfortable pajamas, pouring herself a glass of wine as she stewed in her discontent.

She shouldn’t be surprised; Ron had a knack for belittling the important events in Hermione’s life and going back on his promises.

When she graduated with her Healer’s Mastery, he failed to attend her graduation due to a last-minute quidditch practice deemed more important than the celebration of the completion of her brutal higher education program, resulting in a huge fight between the two.

It was the same repeating routine. Each time she expressed discomfort at his lack of effort, Ron would shout, storm off, then return the following day pretending it never happened.

Hermione tried to be patient, they all had difficulties after the war, and they were all trying their best to cope. After their fights, he would appear to put in a smidge more effort, but as Hermione ruminated on the last three years of their relationship over her third glass of wine, she admitted that Ron would always go back to a bare minimum once she seemed to relax back into routine and forget the argument.

She was not going to forget him missing her birthday.

Instead, Hermione sat alone in their flat and debated what to do.

She could have sent a Patronus to Ginny and Harry, knowing they would come over if she asked, but they had already made plans for the evening and she didn’t want to interrupt them.

Pansy, Theo, Blaise, and Luna had gone to Paris last week and would not be returning until Sunday. She had originally been invited to join them, but when she had brought it up to Ron, he had thrown a fit saying that she couldn’t go because he wanted to take her on a trip for her birthday.

Hermione was just pleased he had seemed to be putting in some effort, but looking back she realized he may have just planned the trip to keep her from going off with her friends.

With her friends unavailable or preoccupied, there were very few distractions for her at the moment, and without any distractions, Hermione Granger did what she does best, research.

Tonight’s research topic of interest was her romantic entanglement with Ronald Weasley. As she laid out the facts about her relationship, she could not deny what was in front of her.

Ronald Weasley is making her life miserable. Now that she knows, she can’t unsee it.

She sees it all over the apartment they share. Ron's things were a mess but very few items indicated that Hermione even lived here with him. A majority of her books and personal items had been packed away in storage since she rushed to move into the flat with him last year after her wards had been compromised at her old flat. Ron had promised to eventually make more space for her, but he never made the time to follow through.

Of the dozen pictures on the mantle of the fireplace, Hermione only appeared in two. One with her, Harry, and Ron, taken during their third year, and the second taken this last summer with the entire Weasley family at Harry and Ginny’s wedding. The rest were of Ron with his friends and family. She had tried to put up a photo with her parents but it had almost immediately been replaced and she was forced to move it to her bedside table.

Shifting her eyes from the mantle, she looked down to examine her atrocious engagement ring. She could now admit to herself that the ring was not at all to her taste.

When Hermione had imagined her dream ring, it had been something dainty and elegant that would go well with her grandmother’s sapphire ring that she wore on her right hand most days. Instead, it clashed with the rest of her jewelry. While Hermione wore all gold jewelry, and hadn’t worn much red in the years after leaving Hogwarts, her new engagement ring was silver with a huge oval-cut diamond surrounded by red rubies. Hermione had to put a featherlight charm on it just to wear the oversized monstrosity.

The ring had been given to her by Ron during his very public proposal in Diagon Alley last month. Hermione cringed as she thought of that day. Shouldn’t girls look back on the day of their engagement with fondness, love, and excitement? She had a hard time feeling anything but anxiety at the thought of that day with all those cameras being shoved in her face.

With these revelations in mind, Hermione was forced to come to a decision she felt had been a long time coming. Her engagement and romantic relationship with Ronald Weasley would need to come to an end.

She knew he would put up a fight, but Hermione was tired of pretending this was working.

Tired of picking up after Ron when he left his sweaty quidditch clothes on the bathroom floor.

Tired of cleaning him up after he returned home late from the pub, drunk off his arse after his team lost their quidditch match again.

Tired of listening to him complain about what she served for dinner. According to him, she never cooked his favorite dish as well as Molly. Ron even suggested she have lessons with his mother to ‘learn to be a better cook’. Never mind most days she came home from a 12-hour healing shift at St. Mungo’s to him sitting on the couch waiting for her to do the cooking and grumbling about how her long hours interfered with his insatiable appetite.

Finally, she was tired of the terrible sex and the fact she had never once finished before Ron the entirety of their relationship. She could count on one hand the number of times Ron managed to get her off and each time he had been successful, he acted like he deserved another Order of Merlin.

Sex had become another chore in which she seemed to cater to him and then wait for him to pass out before taking care of her own needs.

Knowing the outcome of her research Hermione stood from the couch, swaying a bit from the multiple glasses of alcohol, and got to work on the first part of her birthday gift to herself.

When Hermione Granger made a decision, she didn’t waste any time putting plans in motion to carry it out, so without any fuss, she began packing up her belongings to move out of the flat. She felt no desire to stay in it any longer than it took to pack her things and end her engagement.

She moved from room to room throughout the flat. Thanks to her undetectable extension charm on her bag and some shrinking charms for the larger items, the whole ordeal took her less than an hour. Her personal items in storage could be collected once she found a new flat.

Crookshanks had thankfully been dropped off at Harry and Ginny’s the day before, so Hermione didn’t need to worry about tricking him into the cat carrier. Although, she was confident the cat would have gone into his carrier willingly if she had told him they were finally moving out.

Her familiar had not hidden his distaste for the wizard. For the first month since Hermione moved into Ron’s flat, Crookshanks did everything he could think of to show his displeasure at their new living arrangement. He threw up on Ron’s pillow, shredded his old Gryffindor Quidditch jersey, and tried to trip Ron as he came down the hallway. Hermione eventually had to beg the cat for a truce when Ron threw a fit and refused to speak to her for days.

The clock on the mantel now said it was just past midnight. With her packing task done, she just needed to speak to Ron.

Hermione wasn’t surprised by his lack of appearance, but she was a bit annoyed. He was likely out partying with his teammates, as he usually did after games. Even though he had promised to come straight home after the match, Ron was notorious for agreeing to have a pint and then sticking around the bar until the last call, stumbling through the floo drunk at two in the morning.

Hermione couldn’t convince herself to go to sleep, not when she expected an intoxicated Ron to stagger through the floo in the next few hours. She had no desire to join him in bed, so she would deposit him on the mattress, leave a hangover potion on his bedside table, and return to the couch until the morning. Then, they would sit down and have an adult conversation after he had sobered up.

She took a seat on the couch with a fresh cup of tea to wait for his return. To pass the time, she reviewed some research notes she brought home from the hospital. She soon became absorbed in her work, but as the night dragged on, she found her eyelids getting heavy, and eventually sleep claimed her.

Without meaning to, Hermione found herself dreaming peacefully of a life free from Ron Weasley.

✧⋅✧⋅✧

Hermione woke to the soft morning sunlight streaming through the window early the following morning, as well as the light tapping of an owl at the window. Her neck hurt from the weird angle that can only ever occur from falling asleep and a lumpy couch. She jumped from her resting spot looking around the flat.

The clock showed it was just past seven. She was surprised to have slept until the morning. She had always heard Ron coming through the floo, even from the bedroom at the other end of the flat. Hermione had been an incredibly light sleeper since her time during the war, often waking multiple times at night thanks to repeating nightmares. While they became less frequent as time went on, they were common enough that she often kept some calming draughts in the bathroom cabinet.

To confirm her suspicions that Ron still had not returned, she peaked around the rest of the flat to ensure he wasn’t passed out anywhere, but she was all alone. Since removing all of her belongings last night, Hermione felt more like a visitor than as someone who had lived in the flat for over a year.

Groaning, Hermione began packing away her notes from the sofa before moving toward the kitchen to collect the coffee that would be necessary to make it through the day.

As she walked towards the kitchen, she heard the tapping of an owl against the window. Remembering now that it was the noise that woke her, she scurried over and collected the morning’s Daily Prophet from the small delivery owl. She gave him his payment and a treat with a scratch on the head before sending him off.

Tucking the paper under her arm without a glance, she walked back into the kitchen and threw it down at her usual spot at the table. A few moments later the smell of coffee filled the flat. Hermione was just filling her mug when she heard the floo in the sitting room go off.

Hermione only had a moment of unease about the coming conversation with Ron before a different voice startled her out of her panic as Ginny Potter came roaring into the room.

“WHERE THE HELL IS HE?” she screeched as her eyes landed on Hermione who was frozen in shock.

Ginny stood in the doorway to the kitchen in her pajamas with her wand drawn at her side. Hermione saw the aggressive ire from the witch appear to soften as she inspected her. Ginny took a deep breath before continuing in a slightly calmer tone.

“Hermione, I am so sorry! I hate that I am related to the bastard! I can’t believe he would do such a thing but I can’t deny it when Skeeter actually has proof.”

“Erm… what?” Hermione asked.

Just as Ginny opened her mouth to respond, the floo went off again. Hermione peaked over Ginny’s shoulder to see Harry stumble out of the floo looking more disheveled than usual as he tried to put on his socks. He was also wearing his pajamas, and as he straightened to stand, he shouted at his wife.

“Ginny! I told you to wait for me!”

Hermione continued to look at the pair struggling to understand why they barged in this early in the morning, as they usually never left the house before breakfast. Before Hermione could speak Ginny turned and yelled at Harry.

“Harry this is serious! I expected to come into a screaming match! I mean Hermione seems way too calm for this!” Ginny turned back to inspect and address Hermione again. “And where is Ron? Don’t tell me you kicked his arse without me.”

As she finished her sentence Harry came to stand beside Ginny finally getting a look at her. Hermione saw that he too seemed to be in quite a mood.

“Erm Ginny, I have no idea what you are referring to. Ron never came home last night so we missed our portkey for my birthday trip. I just spent the night alone on the couch drinking wine and looking over research files from St. Mungo’s.” Hermione finally seemed to find her voice.

She looked between two of her best friends as she spoke. At the mention of her birthday Harry turned a nasty shade of green and the fire in Ginny’s eyes reignited.

“Of course the prat did this to you on your birthday!” the redhead shouted.

“Ginny, again, I don’t understand, what do you mean by ‘this’?” Hermione felt her anxiety spiking.

The war had taught her how to move quickly under pressure, and her healer program helped her to master it, but it was hard to compartmentalize her emotions when her two friends seemed to be under so much stress over something she didn’t know anything about.

Ginny finally seemed to pause as her eyes darted from Hermione to Harry who gave her a grim look before settling back on Hermione again.

“Hermione,” Harry said much more gently as he stepped further into the kitchen, “have you seen the Prophet today?”

Taking a breath to steady herself, Hermione finally had a question she could answer.

“No, I had just poured my coffee and then you both came barreling into the flat before I could sit down and read it while waiting for Ron to return.”

Harry nodded and Ginny seemed to deflate.

“It’s bad Hermione,” Ginny said sadly. “Part of me doesn’t want you to read it now.”

“Does it have to do with Ron? Did he end up in Azkaban overnight? Is that why he missed my birthday?” Hermione started rambling but caught herself as she looked between the couple in front of her.

“Worse,” Harry said, he dropped his eyes to his feet.

“Harry, how can it be worse than Azkaban? He can’t be dead or Ginny wouldn’t have come in ready to hex him.” Hermione responded, glancing again at the wand in Ginny’s hand.

Ginny smirked for a moment before returning to a pained expression. “I don’t think I can say it, Hermione… It is too awful.”

Harry seemed to agree with his wife. Hermione readied herself and stepped back towards the table. She picked up the paper she had discarded not ten minutes ago and began to read.

Last night after the match between the Montrose Magpies and Chudley Cannons in Scotland (Final Score 370-190, Magpies victory), the team and support staff went to the Gray Goose for their traditional after-game drinks.

Among the attendees was none other than Ronald Weasley, one-third of the Golden Trio and best friend to the Boy-Who-Lived himself, Harry Potter.

Mr. Weasley’s fiancée, the professed Golden Girl, Hermione Granger, was not in attendance. I was told by those I interviewed that Miss Granger does not make regular appearances at these after-game events. One member told me “Miss Granger has never shown much interest in Quidditch.”

This author was surprised to hear that considering the Golden Girl’s history of dating several famous Quidditch players, such as Harry Potter and Bulgarian Seeker Victor Krum, before her relationship with Ronald Weasley, Keeper for the Chudley Cannons.

But perhaps it was the fame of these men rather than the sport they play that attracted Miss Granger. After all, Ronald Weasley was already a household name when Miss Granger went public with their romance.

Ronald Weasley was far from lonely though without his fiancée in attendance at last night’s gathering. He drank multiple rounds with his teammates and fans, and when it was time for the last call Mr. Weasley did not leave the bar alone!

A young witch accompanied Mr. Weasley out of the bar and down the street where the two engaged in some activities that many would consider inappropriate to be doing with a witch who is not his fiancée (I shall refer you to the photo taken below and let you, my dear reader, fill in the rest). The two were photographed in the alley outside the Gray Goose before disapparating together.

The witch’s identity is currently a mystery, but we can confirm it was NOT Miss Granger. Fret not my dear reader I am on the case and will uncover the mystery witch’s identity!

One has to ask what Miss Granger could have done to cause such a rift between the golden couple in such a short time. It comes as quite a shock, considering The Daily Prophet captured photos last month of the two’s very public proposal in Diagon Alley (see pg.6 for the picture reprinted).

No comment yet from Miss Granger or her friends about how she is handling this news.

I promise more updates and answers to these questions to come as this story develops!

Hermione stared slack-jawed at the photograph now obviously of Ronald and a blonde witch snogging in the apparition alley she had been to a few times before when visiting the team after-game events at the Gray Goose. She watched as Ron’s hands squeezed the witch’s waist as he pushed her up against the wall of the alley before slipping under her blouse.

She felt like she was going to be sick. She swayed before falling into the kitchen chair, unable to take her eyes off the photo as it looped.

The kitchen remained quiet for what felt like an eternity. Harry and Ginny seemed to be giving Hermione a moment before speaking but she felt their eyes on her. Squaring her shoulders and releasing the breath she didn’t realize she was holding she finally found the nerve to look up and address them.

“How Rita Skeeter managed to spin this to sound like it is my fault is absolutely infuriating.”

Rita Skeeter had been writing articles about Hermione since the Triwizard Tournament fourth year. The witch held a vendetta against her since Hermione trapped her in a jar for a few weeks after discovering her to be an illegal Animagus.

She wasn’t surprised Skeeter would be foaming at the mouth to write a story like this. Hermione knew Skeeter wanted to make her miserable, but even so, Skeeter couldn’t have known Hermione had already decided to end things with Ronald.

“Well… while this is not how I hoped to tell you, I decided last night when Ron missed my birthday that I have had enough. I was planning to call off the engagement this morning when he returned.” Hermione saw the shock on both Harry and Ginny’s faces. Before they could interrupt, she spoke again.

“I mean, I obviously won’t marry him now. I already have my things packed. I thought of what to say to him last night but I think I am going to have to throw the whole thing out. I was hoping we could take some time apart and then try to be friends again, but I can’t imagine being in the same room as him right now.”

Harry seemed to shake himself out of a daze after she spoke.

“Wow Hermione, I can’t believe you are so calm, I guess you could be in shock, but I can’t argue with you. Not after what he has done.”

“Oh, I am definitely in shock, Harry.” She sighed before snorting at her thoughts. “Honestly, Ron would go and make our split as messy as possible. I just hate that Skeeter got a hold of this story. Now I once again have to have my personal life picked apart by the press!”

Harry cringed as she yelled about the publicity. If anyone understood what it was like to constantly be worried about having your life spilled to the press, it was Harry. He was also one of Rita Skeeter’s favorite subjects, though she didn’t hate him the way she did Hermione.

Ginny finally seemed to find the nerve to speak again. Most of her anger seemed to have melted away and what was left was concern for her friend.

“Okay, you’re getting out of the engagement. That’s good. I promise it won’t make you any less of my sister. But Hermione, what are we going to do? The press will hound you for answers, and thanks to Ron’s absence this morning, I can’t hex any out of him.”

Hermione chuckled at the idea of Ron coming face-to-face with Ginny while she was in the mood to fling some hexes. The slugs he vomited for hours during their second year would be child’s play in comparison. The redhead smirked, seeming to sense her train of thought.

“I learned this new one that causes a rash that is incredibly itchy and can be targeted at… certain areas and lasts for several hours.” She gave a suggested wiggle of her eyebrows causing Hermione to break out in a fit of giggles.

Harry rolled his eyes at his wife’s suggestion.

“Perhaps you don’t bring up your devious plans in front of your auror husband? Makes it easier for me if I have to file any paperwork about a man finding himself at the end of your frightening hexes.”

“Oh yes of course I was speaking entirely in theoretical terms dearest!” Ginny winked at him.

Hermione felt her smile fade as she watched the interaction. Her eyes fell on her left hand. She was still wearing the ring. Sighing she began to remove it from her finger. Once it was gone, she placed it in the middle of the kitchen table before looking up.

“I am going to leave without speaking to him,” Hermione said, raising her hand as Ginny opened her mouth to interject.

“No, I can’t. I don’t have anything to say. I won’t watch him grovel or make excuses. Nothing he could possibly say would make up for the hurt he caused and the time I have wasted. Ronald ruined everything we had built in less than a day and I won’t let him pull me down into the mud with him. I am finished.”

Ginny nodded as she tucked her wand back into her pocket.

“Okay… so you need a place to stay. You are always welcome with Ginny and me, the guest room just got redecorated and Crookshanks is already there, but Ron would likely find you with us immediately.” Harry spoke.

Hermione thought for a moment before responding.

“I am going to visit Theo and the rest of the Slytherins. They are currently in France and won’t return for the rest of the week. I’ll travel to Paris the muggle way by train and apparate from there. The press shouldn’t be able to find me and it would certainly be the last place Ron expects me to go so long as you don’t tell him.”

“We won’t,” they said together.

Hermione nodded.

“Well okay, then I should probably go then before he gets back.” She stood before looking at her friends.

“I’ll see you soon?”

The couple nodded and each reached forward to pull Hermione into a tight hug.

“Write to us once you are there safe, remember to keep an eye out, there are still some rogue Death Eaters on the loose and you are very easy to recognize,” Harry said sternly using his official auror voice.

“Tell Blaise I look forward to his return to English soil so he can lose even more money to me in poker,” the redhead said while squeezing Hermione’s shoulders.

“I can agree to both of those things. I love you both. Please let Crookshanks know I will see him on Sunday.” Hermione looked at her friends’ faces feeling sadness at being forced away from them.

Harry reached out and held her hand.

“You’re my best friend. My sister and chosen family. I love you. I know this situation sucks, but I am on your side, always.”

“Thanks, Harry.”

With tears pooling in her eyes, Hermione turned from them and walked out the front door of the flat she never wanted to see again before she apparated away.