Divorced Hermione

Hermione woke the next morning, feeling sick, sore and sorry for herself. She barely remembered how much she had to drink and was just grateful she had made it home. She dragged herself out of bed and vomited in the bathroom adjoining her bedroom, before staggering to the kitchen to find some pepper up potion.

Ginny had apparated home shortly after arriving at Hermione’s house the previous night, which Hermione was thankful for. She wanted nothing more than to curl up on the comfy armchair in the library and read a good book.

That’s exactly what Hermione did for the rest of the day. With a blanket on her lap and a book in her hands, she spent the entire Saturday in the beautiful world of her favourite authors.

On Sunday, Hermione ventured out to do some shopping and run some errands. It was interesting, doing the food shopping without her children. It took half the time and less than half the stress. Her children, while she raised them to be polite and well behaved, always seemed to ask for everything she didn’t want or need to buy.

Banishing the groceries to her home, Hermione wandered through the muggle shopping centre, picking up bits and pieces here and there. She bought some new clothes for work and a few pairs of shoes. She found some outfits that she could wear on another night out if she were to venture out again some time, so Ginny could have her ‘slutty dresses’ back.

By the time Hermione got home, it was late in the afternoon and she was expecting the children back any time.

She had packed away her shopping and was about to sit down with a cup of tea when she heard the unmistakable sound of Ron’s V8 engine, roar into her driveway. He had used the divorce money to buy himself his dream car after cheaping out on a townhouse. Hermione was not bothered though, as long as he was happy and the children were happy, she was happy.

She headed outside to the veranda and smiled when she saw the happy faces of her children exit the car. The weekend had gone well. Ron got out of the car, and for a moment, was not recognisable. He had on dark sunglasses and wore a simple round neck t-shirt and black jeans. He seemed to be growing some sort of beard and had his hair cut short. Something Hermione had never seen him do before. He looked younger than she had seen him in years and somewhat hip.

“You’re looking very different today” she said in a friendly gesture.

“Hmm? Oh, just trying something new” he shrugged.

“Well, it suits you. You look good” she said honestly. She hadn’t actually said that to him in years.

Ron just looked at her with a curious look on his face, as if he were trying to figure something out before grabbing the children’s bags from the boot of the car.

“Rose read that book for school and Hugo finished the story he was writing for English” he said.

“Oh, really? That’s really good, thanks for doing that” she said. She had half expected them to come home and rush through all their homework that night.

“I meant what I said Hermione, this is a parenting partnership. I’m not just some weekend dad, I’m their parent as much as you are and it might not seem like it, but I want them to do well in school” he said.

“Nan came over” Rose said, as she kissed Hermione hello.

“I see” said Hermione with a smile on her lips. “Well, regardless, I’m happy that this weekend went well. Hugo, did you have a good time?” she asked her son.

“It was ok. We hung out with Alby and Lily” he said.

“Oh that’s nice. Uncle Harry came over did he?” she asked.

“No, we went to the Burrow for tea” he said.

Hermine looked to Ron and remembered his hesitation at having the children in his care, because he had no idea what to cook for them. She had always taken care of that. Even though she wasn’t very good in the beginning, Hermione had perfected the art of preparing meals over the years.

It was Hermione who suggested he take them to his parent’s place for tea so they can still see them as often as they always had. Molly and Arthur had made a tradition of having Saturday night feasts at their place once a month and inviting the whole family. It was a way for them to ensure the family stayed close.

“How were your cousins?” Hermione asked, knowing that there must have been loads of kids there.

“Well, we only saw Fred and Roxy…” Hugo began.

“Merlin mum, Roxy is so cute, she can walk now and everything” Rose said.

“Wow, that is impressive” Hermione said.

“As I was saying…” Hugo began, glaring at his sister, “We only saw  Fred, Roxy, Alby and Lily… Oh, and Lucy” he said.

“Well I suppose the rest of the children would be finishing up the school year at Hogwarts, wouldn’t they?” Hermione said thinking of the rest of the children she hasn’t seen in 18 months.

“Yes, James, Vic, Dom, Louis and Molly. Can’t say that I wish I was them. They’re probably all doing exams and stuff” Hugo said. Hermione smiled to herself. He definitely had his fathers’ attitude towards schooling; however, Rose was all Hermione. Not that Hugo wasn’t smart, he just wasn’t that interested or excited about school as Rose was.

“When is Charlie going to settle down?” Hermione asked Ron.

“He’s married to his job” Ron said, shrugging. Hermione knew otherwise, however. In recent years, Charlie had confided in Ginny and Hermione that he had actually been in several relationships, but he didn’t have the heart to tell his family that those relationships were all with other men. Hermione and Ginny had tried to help him on many occasions and told him they were 100 per cent supportive of him, but Charlie felt that if he had told him family, it would change everything.

“Well, that’s enough Weasley catch up don’t you think?” Ron asked.

“Yeah, I guess. Well, tell everyone I said hello and extend my best wishes, wont you?” Hermione asked.

“I will” Ron said, as he got back into his car.

That evening, Rose and Hugo told Hermione all about the weekend they had. Hermione’s fears were all extinguished, as the children were well cared for, did their homework and had plenty to keep them occupied. There was not a word about any blonde bimbo, which also pleased Hermione.

--

The following week travelled by relatively quickly. Before Hermione knew it, it was Friday. Rose and Hugo had a good week at school with no incidents.

Hermione’s work week had been interesting, to say the least. For the last 12 months, she had been working as member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She was currently working on new laws that eradicated old fashioned pure blood laws. This was all following her rise in the ranks to head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where she had valiantly fought for the rights of House elves to receive payment for their services.

While she enjoyed her first job immensely, there were times when it would often become monotonous. During her divorce, one of the many things that had to change was her career. She loved what she was doing and had done some exceptional work within that role, but Hermione always knew that she had more to offer and so when the offer of a transfer came up, she took it.

That weekend, Hermione took Rose and Hugo to London for a weekend adventure. Realising they hadn’t actually done any sightseeing in the area in years, they did a hop on, hop off bus tour which explored the city’s greatest sights. They spent Saturday night in a motel and travelled home on Sunday.

The following week went by in much the same way as the previous one had. Hermione and the children had dinner at Harry and Ginny’s one of the nights during the week, where Ginny had convinced Hermione to go out again that weekend. This time, they would take a few friends and organise it properly with Neville before just showing up.

By late Friday, Rose and Hugo had been picked up by Ron, who was once again, dressed like a younger man and nowhere like what the old ‘Ron’ would have normally looked like. Hermione had arranged for Ginny and the rest of their friends to come over and have some drinks at her house before heading out. At 7:30, Ginny arrived and was stunned to see Hermione wearing a brand new dress with her curls swept up and out of her face and make up looking as though a professional had done it.

“How on earth did you do that?” Ginny asked.

“I watched some YouTube tutorials” Hermione shrugged.

“You look incredible” She said, “I’m only a touch jealous” she added.

“Here, come to the bathroom and I’ll show you a thing or two” Hermione said.

She added some dark shadows here and there and blended some colours over Ginny’s eyelids before revealing her to herself in the mirror.

“What do you think?” Hermione asked.

“My friend, you are in the wrong career” Ginny said.

“You’re hilarious, but I like my job” Hermione said.

They headed back downstairs and into the kitchen where Hermione had had some drinks already poured.

“Where is everybody else?” she asked Ginny.

“Oh, Luna, Padma, Pavarti and some others are going to meet us there. Nev is on his way” Ginny said, taking one of the glasses and drinking the drink all at once. “Woo” she exclaimed, shaking her head, “that was a strong drink” she said.

“Well you weren’t supposed to drink it that fast” Hermione said.

At that, there was a knock at the front door.

Hermione rushed to answer it and revealed Neville Longbottom, wearing a classy suit and tie, holding a bottle of the same delicious alcohol they had 2 weeks ago at his bar.

“Nev! Come on in, we’re just getting started” Ginny called from the kitchen.

Hermione showed him through and handed him a drink as he handed her the bottle.

“This was so sweet of you, but you didn’t have to” Hermione said.

“It’s the least I could do” he said, shrugging.

After an hour of chatting away and gossiping about who is with who, who has children, where everyone is working and who wasn’t working, the trio were about to leave.

“Hang on, what if a certain blonde someone is there tonight?” Ginny asked Hermione.

“What on earth are you talking about?” Hermione asked, looking at the red haired woman who was grinning ear to ear. 

“Oh Merlin, you forgot!” Ginny said, covering her mouth with her hand to suppress a laugh.

“Spit it out Gin” Hermione said, hands on hips.

“What happened? What don’t I know?” Neville asked.

“Nev, last time we were at your club, Hermione was getting down and dirty dancing with Malfoy” Ginny said.

“Draco Malfoy?” Neville asked.

“None other” Ginny said.

“What? That’s not possible. I would know. I’d remember” Hermione stammered, becoming defensive. She hadn’t seen Draco Malfoy in 17 years after he disappeared overseas when he escaped an Azkaban sentence.

“He actually comes to the club a lot” Neville shrugged. “There is a good chance he’ll be there tonight” he added.

“Well, I’m definitely not going anywhere near that creep” Hermione said.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to judge. It’s been a long time and he has been through a lot” Neville said.

Hermione just gazed at Neville, wondering how and why he was suddenly the biggest advocate for pureblood fanatic rights.

Without another word about Malfoy, the three of them held hands and dispparated to the inside of the club.

“How did we get in here?” Hermione asked.

“Perks of being the boss and the owner” Neville said with a grin that bore no signs of the crooked teeth he had as a teen.

“Neville, when did you become so handsome?” Hermione asked.

“When I grew up and realised I could control how people saw me” he answered simply as they walked through his club.

Hermione completely understood what he meant. She had been Hermione Weasley for so long, someone who was renowned for being part of the trio or married to Ron. Now it was her time to shine, to be someone on her own. To make people see the Hermione that she wanted them to see. She didn’t need to alter her appearance, although with the amount of makeup she had on, she was hardly recognisable, but the thing she wanted to alter was the perception she put out to the world.

Yes, she was a divorcee, she was single mum, but she was also an attractive woman, a hard worker and someone who craved something, some kind of affection or admiration for being just Hermione.

This was the night she would get that, she decided.

The group assembled at the VIP area where a few people from their friend circle in their DA days had gathered. It was almost like a reunion. Hermione was in her element. The group finished a bottle of mead in minutes and before their eyes, the bottle refilled itself. The music was going and once again, as before, Hermione felt her foot tapping to the music and the familiar pull of the dancefloor. She could sense Ginny’s desperation to get out as well and the two of them departed from the group and onto the dancefloor.

It didn’t take long for the floor to fill with people. It was far more crowded than the 2 weeks prior, but it made it better. Once again, the more she danced and drank, the more the people around her turned into faceless masses. She danced with many people and had forgotten completely about Malfoy.

After a long set of songs, Hermione and Ginny returned to the VIP lounge to rest their tired feet and drink some more.

“I need the bathroom” Hermione announced fanning herself with her hand. The group was in the middle of a particularly boring discussion about the latest broomstick and of course Ginny was enthralled. Very few people know that Ginny was thinking of training once again to re-join the Harpies, now that the children were a little older.

Hermione got up and steadied herself on her feet before slipping her heels back on. She was relatively drunk, but sober enough to easily make her way to the women’s bathroom. When she left, she was heading back to the VIP lounge when she was blocked by a figure in her way. Looking up into the face of the figure, she noticed she had almost completely run into someone she had not seen.

“Oh, I’m …” she began. However, as her apology fell from her lips as automatically as she breathed, she noticed who she had run into.

“You were saying?” came the voice of Draco Malfoy.

Hermione stammered, not knowing what to say. She was thrown by how she knew she felt about him – hatred, loathing, pity at the very least. But confused, because she had danced with him two weeks prior and enjoyed it.

“I’m sorry I ran into you” she said as she straightened her shoulders and turned away.

“Granger wait” he called, following her.

She stopped and turned, throwing him off guard causing him to almost run into her.

“I’m not drunk enough for this conversation” she said, intentionally looking everywhere but at Malfoy.

“Let me buy you a drink then” he said.

“I have one, thank you” she answered, arrogantly. She felt herself automatically drifting into the attitude of teenage Hermione, who was always on the defensive around him. He was the biggest cause of misery for her for years during those days.

“Give me a chance Granger” he said with a smile that she couldn’t not notice. He was strangely handsome in this moment.

“No way, you’re Malfoy. I’m not giving you anything” she said.

“You danced with me here the other night. We had fun… I thought” he said.

Hermione wondered why he seemed so interested in talking to her. She certainly had no intentions of giving him another minute of her time.

“If I knew it was you Malfoy I would have had you thrown out for even coming near me. Now leave me alone” she said, before turning and walking away.

She huffed as she walked back to the table where all her friends had just watched what happened.

“Uh, ok, two weeks ago you were all over him Hermione. That looked like you were telling him to fuck off” Ginny said, handing Hermione a tall drink.

“Two weeks ago, I was drunk out of my mind and had no idea who I was dancing with. Tonight, I can see perfectly straight and that was Draco-pure-mudblood-hating-prince-bloody-Malfoy” Hermione said.

“How could you not have known you were dancing with him last time?” Neville asked.

“I don’t know really. I was just having fun, dancing with everyone. I wasn’t paying much attention to who I was actually dancing with”

“But you had a good time?” Neville asked.

“Of course” Hermione said, looking at her closest friends, who were now sticking up for her life long mortal enemy.

“So why not give him an opportunity to at least explain himself? Obviously he’s different now, since school and everything” Neville said.

“It has been seventeen years since the battle Hermione. Maybe he’s changed” Ginny said with a shrug.

“Not that much” she said, lifting her arm and pointing to the work ‘mudblood’ that was still faintly visible, despite both muggle and magical methods to make it go away.

No one spoke after that for a while, everyone just sipped their drinks and waited for the awkward moment to pass.

Hermione felt incredibly guilty for ruining what had been an amazing night so far. Everyone had been having so much fun until she had to pull out the ‘torture’ card. If she was honest, since she had been divorced, the dreams had returned. After the war, she had nightmares for months. They were only calmed when she slept beside someone – beside Ron.

As she sat sipping her drink after everyone had gone to the dancefloor, she thought about her ex-husband and wondered what had changed in his life so drastically for him to have adopted a whole new look. That afternoon when he had picked up the children, Hermione’s heart actually fluttered a little when she saw him. He appeared to have been working out, as his muscles were visible beneath his tight shirt and all the parts of him that used to jiggle, no longer did.

As she watched the couples pairing off on the dancefloor, she found herself missing him. She missed the ease with which they lived their day to day life. She missed sleeping beside him. She missed just having someone, an adult to talk to. She loved her children more than anything, but they were children and she couldn’t talk to them about the bills or school reports or her nightmares or the fears that were associated with those nightmares. Only Ron knew the depth of how she was affected by what happened all those years ago.

As she thought more about this, she drank more, and found that she was feeling more and more drunk the longer she sat there, alone, in the VIP booth. Ginny was dancing with Neville, a reminder of the Yule Ball back in their school days. She had thought then, before Harry, before anybody really, that maybe Ginny and Neville would end up together. Even back then Hermione only wanted Ron. Even though she had gone to the ball with Viktor.

After another lonely drink, Hermione got to her feet and picked up her purse. She walked clumsily over to Ginny, who held her arms out for Hermione to join them.

“I’m going to head off” Hemione said.

“No! Stay. Please” Ginny begged.

“I must really tired, and I sort of ruined everything earlier. I’m just going to go home to bed” she said.

“Aright, well, I’ll hear from you this week, yes?” Ginny asked.

“Of course” she said.

Hermione turned and walked to the disapparation point within the night club. The same place she had been when Malfoy raised a glass to her last time.

He’s such an ass. How could he have so many people sticking up for him? How could he wrap people around his little finger so tightly without even knowing them? How could he have danced with her at all, knowing it was her. Why didn’t he make it known that he was him?

As she waited in the line, Hermione was so consumed with anger with Malfoy. He had really hit a nerve within her that she had thought was securely tucked away.

As she approached the head of the line, she thought of her home, and then her thoughts shifted. She turned on the spot and found herself standing out the front of a small townhouse. One she had only seen in pictures and had the address for. She was actually surprised she managed to arrive without splinching herself, as she was drunk and had never actually been here. It looked good, if she were honest. She had thought it would be some run-down garbage dump of a place, but it was really nice.

She glanced around, hoping that no one had seen her appear out of nowhere. There was no one around, so she hesitantly walked up the path to the front door. She looked up on the architraves and under the mat and found a spare key, using it to open the door.

Typical, no wards up, no safety features. I’ll have to talk to him about this. She thought.

She pushed open the door and headed for the stairs. Once on the landing she contemplated turning back but she kept going. As she arrived on the second story of the townhouse, she made her way to what she assumed was the master bedroom. She pushed open the door and was right. Ron was asleep in his bed, which actually looked rather nice, for Ron’s taste. The whole house had been, in fact. She shut the door behind her and slipped off her shoes. She walked over to Ron’s bed, where he still slept on his side. She unzipped her dress and slid into the bed beside him.

As she did, Ron rolled over and cautiously opened his eyes, looking to Hermione for some kind of answer. She had none. Not in words anyway.

She reached up and took his face in her hands, his stubble a foreign feeling to her. She kissed his lips, slowly at first, as if searching for approval. When he kissed her back, she took it as a sign that it was ok and continued. She moved her hands down to his chest and torso and felt smooth muscles there. She hadn’t felt him like this since she had known him.

Her hands continued down his body until she felt his erection in her hand. She moved her body and lifted her leg over him, so she was now straddling him. She grinded herself against him as she continued kissing him, something she knew used to drive him crazy. His hands now freely roamed her body, the one they had known for 17 years, in much the same way they always had.

This felt normal and natural to Hermione. It felt safe. It was something she didn’t know she had been needing for months and she was ready to feel a release.

“Hermione…” Ron groaned.

“I just need this Ron” she whispered, moving her underwear to one side.

It was sloppy, hard and fast, and it didn’t take long for Ron to flip her over and pound into her, over and over, her hands gripping his hard, flexing biceps. Hermione was incredibly turned on by his muscular physique and soon enough, she found the release she sought and Ron the same. He collapsed beside her and together they waited for their breathing to slow.

“You’ve been drinking” he said quietly after some time.

“I’ve been out” she said. “Neville has this bar. It’s quite nice” she said.

“Hermione, I can’t do this. You can’t do this” he said after a long pause.

“Do what?” she asked.

“You can’t just break into my home and crawl into my bed whenever you’ve had a few drinks. This isn’t like you and it’s not ok, considering we’re divorced” he said.

“You’re the only person I’ve ever been with Ron. We’re just two single people, having a one-night stand. That’s all” she said, rolling over to get comfortable.

“You can’t stay” he said. “The children will think we’re getting back together” he added.

Did she want to get back with Ron? In this moment she did. In this moment, she could forget the rotten things he did to her, all the lies, the cheating. They could start dating and still live separately. They could go slow, have fun, go on romantic adventures like they used to. This could work, Hemione thought to herself.

“So what if they do. Worse things have happened” she said.

“I’m with someone” he said, catching her off guard, mid-thought.

She jumped out of his bed and scooped up her dress, holding it in front of her body.

“What?” she gasped.

“I’m in a relationship. We’re getting serious” he said.

“Let me guess…” she started.

“Vivienne is….”

“Vivienne? The same Vivienne who destroyed our marriage?” Hermione said, hearing herself raising her voice. “And you just let me crawl up into your bed and fuck you like it was no big deal?” she hissed angrily.

“Hermione, I …”

“No. No excuses. Once a cheater, always a cheater, I hope she has a great life and then when she’s past her expiry date, it doesn’t take her years to find out that you’ve replaced her with a bimbo whore, like it did me” Hermione said, entering Ron’s private bathroom.

As she put her dress back on, she suddenly noticed all the women’s items that were strewn around. It was almost as though this person already lived here.

Now everything fell into place. The new wardrobe, the body, the nice house. It wasn’t Ron at all. It was her.

Hermione felt tears prick her eyes, but she fought them. She and Ron were divorced. She had no reason to be upset about this. He had every right to move on. She had just hoped that it wasn’t with the woman who destroyed their lives.

She removed her underwear and tucked them beside the makeup case that was tucked neatly in a shelf and left the bathroom. Ron was standing in his room with a dressing gown on, seeming unsure of what to do.

“You can’t be angry at me for moving on Hermione. You left me. You divorced me. You did this” he said.

“Yeah Ron I did. But don’t you dare, for even a second, forget why I was forced to. I’m not angry that you moved on. I’m angry that you moved on with her. I’m angry that you let me do what I just did, that you just had sex with me, while you’re getting serious with someone else. I would never do that to another woman. Not even one who did that to me!”

“Just… don’t say anything… to anyone” he said.

“Is that what you used to tell her?” Hermione asked.  “Did you say Vivienne, you feel so tight, oh Vivienne, your body is perfect, ride me harder Vivienne, just like you did with me 5 minutes ago? Just like you did when we were first together? Then say Vivienne don’t tell anyone” Hermione now feeling insanely childish and idiotic, huffed and turned to leave Ron’s room.

She headed down the stairs and out into the front yard. Ron was right behind her.

“You can’t, you have to go down the street” he said, as Hermione prepared to disapparate.

“I’ll do what I want. You surely do” she said as she turned on the spot.

She arrived home to her living room and fell down on the lounge. She couldn’t believe what she had just done. She hadn’t ever been so forthcoming sexually and while the aftermath was definitely not the greatest, she hadn’t felt so alive, so sexy and so free, ever.

All the events from that night caught up with her, the alcohol, Malfoy and Ginny and Neville’s strange defence of him, Ron… Hermione allowed herself to let her emotions take over and cried until she couldn’t cry any longer. She cried for everything that happened that night. She cried for everything that happened over the last year and a half. She cried for the fact that she was now well and truly alone.