Chapter 1
Harry jumped as he felt a warm blaze wash over his back and a green glow reflect across the tiles on his kitchen wall. Turning around, he saw a familiar head of curly brown hair and chocolate eyes emerge from his fireplace.
“Hello, Harry,” the woman said, her dark eyes watching Harry as he rinsed his hands clean from the soapy water and dried them on a tea towel hanging on a hook near the grate.
“Hermione!” Harry smiled in surprise, already reaching for a box of strawberry tea and a mug printed with orange cats that he knew the witch loved. “I wasn’t expecting you tonight, did I forget to add something to our calendar?”
Hermione shook her head as Harry’s eyes roved over her slightly dishevelled figure and crumpled satin pyjamas. It appeared she had just Floo’d straight out of her bed to his house. She hadn’t even taken her gold-rimmed reading glasses off (of course she’d been doing some ‘light’ reading before bed, as always). He wiggled his wand in her face jestingly. “Come on, say something! Has someone put a tongue-tying spell on you?”
Hermione’s chin wobbled. Humour gone, Harry quickly let his wand clatter on the dining table as he reached for her. “Hermione! Are you alright?”
It seemed that was all that was needed for the floodgates to open. Hermione buried her head into Harry’s shoulder and sobbed, her knees buckling. Growing more panicked by the second, Harry knelt down, cradling the woman and letting out slightly distressed hushing sounds in an attempt to soothe her.
“Come on, Mi, what’s wrong? You’re worrying me...” Harry bit his lip as he came to the sudden realisation that perhaps that might not be the most suitable thing to say to your best friend when they’re currently sobbing into your T-shirt.
After a moment, Hermione lifted her head, still sniffling and wiped at her eyes under the glasses, before swiping them off her face entirely. With the glasses no longer in the way, Harry could clearly see the reddened, bloodshot rims of Hermione’s eyes. His heart jumped in concern. “What happened?” he repeated.
“Ron’s been cheating on me.” Somehow, despite her disposition, Hermione’s voice was clear and even when she spoke.
“Ron’s been... what?” Harry’s hand froze from where he was rubbing Hermione’s shoulder comfortingly.
“He’s been cheating on me.” This time it came out even firmer, with more conviction. “He’s been cheating on me for months with Helena Dunn. From the Department of Magical Games and Sports. I decided to come home from the Ministry early tonight so we could spend time together since he’d been complaining for weeks about it, and I was already in my pyjamas when he came into the house, with – with her – and I didn’t have anywhere else to go so I just came here, and I didn’t even say anything, he was going to fuck her in our bed, Harry!” Hermione’s distressed rambling gave way to a hysterical sob.
“That pathetic bastard,” Harry swore. It was no secret that Harry and Ron had grown distant in the three years since the war ended. Harry had had his doubts about Ron’s loyalty ever since he had abandoned them in the Forest of Dean while they were on the run but had chosen to give him a second chance. After all, the end of the war saw the redirection of so many Dark Witches and Wizards onto the path of justice. After her initial anger, Hermione had welcomed the redhead with open arms and an open heart, falling doubly as hard for him during the Battle of Hogwarts. Fame had gotten to Ron’s head quickly, especially as neither Hermione nor Harry were interested in keeping the spotlight. Ron became cocky and overly aware of his social reputation, believing himself to be the infallible hero of the Golden Trio and sneering at anyone who didn’t recognise him as such.
Harry, tired of Ron’s inferiority complex which had first presented itself during the Triwizard Cup in their fourth year, maintained contact with him but chose to dedicate himself to his marriage to Parvati Patil after his relationship with Ginny ended abruptly. He had always believed Hermione to be kinder than himself for putting up with Ron’s behaviour, but it seemed this kindness had now become her flaw.
“Hermione, sweetie, what’s the matter?” Parvati’s voice dragged him out of his thoughts as his wife hurried over to drop down beside Hermione and gently cradle the witch’s face in her hands.
“Ron decided to fucking cheat on her,” Harry replied, his voice as hard as steel. “Stupid bastard can never go a minute without having his dick sucked by the public.”
Parvati swore in Hindi. “Ron had the audacity to cheat on Hermione?” Hermione nodded, her face blotched and wet. Parvati’s gold bangles jingled as she swept her wand out of her pocket. “Harry, we’re going to murder him. Let’s go.”
Hermione grabbed the other witch’s sleeve before she could get up off the floor. “No! He’s... he’s probably still in bed with her. We can’t...” she trailed off. Parvati looked enraged.
“HE’S FUCKING HER IN YOUR BED?” Harry tried to bite back a smile. His best friend and his wife had the exact same thought process. Unfortunately, Parvati’s words seemed to bring a fresh wave of sadness to Hermione, and her chin wobbled as more tears filled her eyes.
Parvati immediately went into mother mode, pulling the sniffling Hermione to her feet and ushering her towards the living room and onto the sofa. “It’s okay Hermione, you’ll be alright. Why don’t you stay here with us tonight, hm? It’s a Friday night, anyway, we’ve got the weekend to sort things out. Come on, it’s alright, shh…”
The boiling of the kettle drowned out the rest of Parvati’s whispers and Hermione’s quiet sobs. Harry tapped his wand pensively on the kitchen counter, watching the occasional red and gold sparks fly out of the end. Ron had to be blind and stupid to cheat on Hermione, with an office girl no less. Hermione may have been the only reason the war ended because of how brilliant she was throughout the whole year they were on the run, but she was still just a human. A human whose parents had no memory of her, who had been shunned from wizarding society because of Muggleborn blood she had been born with, who had no one but her best friends from Hogwarts by her side, and her boyfriend.
A boyfriend who had decided to break her heart.
Harry returned to the living room carrying a steaming mug of strawberry tea which he pushed into Hermione’s hands. She gave him a teary smile as he settled down beside her, taking a tiny sip of the scalding tea as her gaze returned to the Muggle police show on the TV.
Parvati and Harry shared a grim look over Hermione’s head as Jake Peralta’s epiphany echoed from the TV speakers. Hermione was the toughest witch either of them had seen, but this could be the hardest challenge she would have to face yet.