2019
“Stop with that grin of yours,” Hermione scolded, “your daughter is going through her first break-up.”
“I’m trying,” Ron mumbled.
“Try harder.”
Ron had been through a lot of obstacles in his life. Whether it's had the girl you’re in love with think you have the emotional range of a teaspoon or fight dozens of Death Eaters. His life had a habit of becoming quite eventful. But never in a million years would he have imagined himself having to deal with the unthinkable—his own daughter, dating a Malfoy.
When rumours had it that Rose was seeing a boy – at only 14 years old – Ron had a hard time composing his overprotective nature. And when he found out that boy was none other than Draco Malfoy's son he almost sent a Howler. Thankfully Hermione calmed him down because otherwise, he wasn’t sure if he would still have a daughter.
And then the letter announcing their break-up came and Ron was ecstatic. A father should be furious at the boy that broke his daughter's heart. Besides the fact, that Ron already disliked Scorpius for the sole reason of him being a Malfoy, his happiness over their break-up overshadowed his compassion for his daughter.
“There it is,” Hermione interrupted his thoughts, “Be. Nice.”
Ron sighed as he watched the Hogwarts Express roll into the station. Soon the platform was filled with children looking for their parents, bumping into each other. The station always seemed much fuller during the holidays than at the end of the term, Ron noticed.
He spotted his son sprinting towards his mum and throwing himself at her. This had been his first year at Hogwarts and not being sorted into Gryffindor was hard for him at first. He had luckily found a few friends pretty early on and got better from there.
“Hey, sweetheart. How are you?” Hermione picked up her son and gave him a tight hug.
“Hogwarts so fuun. But I missed you!”
“We missed you too, little buddy,” Ron ruffled his hair, “where’s that sister of yours?”
“Oh,” Hugo looked around and pointed towards the front of the train, “somewhere over there. But let me tell you, she is in a bad mood.”
Ron snorted under his breath and Hermione elbowed him into the side as their daughter approached them, head down and trunk dragging behind her.
Hermione took a step closer to Rose and placed her hand on her shoulder, “Hey Rosie, are you okay?”
She looked up, her eyes puffy and just shook her head, “I just wanna go home.”
Her mum took her into a side hug and nodded leading them off the station and to their car outside. The ride back home was filled with Hugo telling Ron and Hermione everything there was to know about his first few months at Hogwarts. He told them about the Hufflepuff Common room, how cosy he found it, and about his new friends and how cool they were. Ron was smiling at his son’s stories and made sure to ask some questions on topics he was curious about. Hermione watched her two favourite boys interact but couldn’t help but notice how Rose was staring out of the window, seemingly zoned out and concern flooded her. Rose wasn’t the quiet kind. She always had an opinion on things and made sure to express it even when no one had asked.
Hermione gave Ron a look and gestured her eyes towards Rose to nonverbally voice her concern. Ron just looked at her cluelessly and shrugged.
Ugh, the emotional range of a teaspoon is showing again.
She rolled her eyes at her husband but dropped her attempts at making her concern for Rose visible to him - she’ll take care of it on her own. Girl-on-girl talk might be something she’ll need right now.
Not 30 minutes later Hermione found herself knocking on Rose’s door. She heard a quiet ‘yes?’ and entered the room to Rose being curled up under her favourite blanket on the bed.
She looked up at her mother and tried to fake a smile, “hi mum, do you need help with dinner or something?”
“No, sweetheart, I wanted to talk,” Hermione smiled back, “Can I sit?”
Rose shifted her body to a sitting position, wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her jumper and nodded. Her mother walked over and sat beside her, “It’s okay to be sad.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. He was your first boyfriend.”
“But I was the one who broke up with him,” Rose argued, “so why am I this sad about it?”
“Because you have emotions, Ro,” Hermione chuckled, “they don’t make sense and they don’t need to. They just happen and you’re allowed to feel and embrace them as much as you want.”
“I feel guilty though. Scorp did nothing wrong. I just didn’t like him like that anymore.”
“You did the right thing,” Hermione placed an arm around her and pulled her close, “you have a big heart, Rosie.”
A sniffle escaped from her daughter and Hermione pulled her even closer, “It’s gonna be alright.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. It might take a while, but it’ll get better and better until it’s just a memory.”
“I still wanna be friends with him,” Rose stated, “he’s a good friend.”
“I’m sure you can be. Just give him time as well.”
“I’ll try,” she sighed, “I’m really gonna try.”
“I know you will.”
The pair sat there for a while, Hermione holding her daughter and placing a kiss on her hair from time to time. Rose allowed herself to cry into her mother’s arms feeling safe and understood.
“Thank you, mum,” she spoke after a few minutes, “I needed this.”
“Any time,” Hermione placed a last kiss on her head, “Can you promise me something though?”
“What is it?”
“If your father is acting too happy about the breakup, please tell him he has the emotional range of a teaspoon.”
Rose looked puzzled, “Why?”
“Just trust me on this one.”