Of all the things I believed in
I just want to get it over with
Tears form behind my eyes
But I do not cry
Counting the days that pass me by

Ron looked at Hermione. �We have to talk.�

�Yes! That�s what I�ve been asking for forever!� Hermione agreed.

�Let me rephrase that. I have to talk. You have to listen.�

�Er� alright. But I want my turn to speak afterwards okay?�

Ron ignored her question as he sat her down at the kitchen table.

I�ve been searching deep down in my soul
Words that I�m hearing are starting to get old

�I know you�ve been cheating on me,� he began. Hermione gasped at this, only validating his fears. �And I want you to tell me everything.�

A tear rolled down her cheek as she started from the very beginning: Before she and Ron were ever together.

�You slept with Draco back in Hogwarts?� he demanded, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. �The night before I proposed?�

Hermione nodded her shameful face.

�A-and then� Ben was born.�

At first, Ron didn�t understand what she meant. Then he thought about his son and realized that Ben wasn�t his son.

Feels like I�m starting all over again
The last four years were just pretend

�So I�ve been housing a Malfoy for three years now? I�ve wiped the shit off of a Malfoy? I�ve fed a Malfoy?� Ron went on.

�Please don�t. Ben isn�t a Malfoy. He may have some of their genes, but you raised him all his life and the only father he�s ever known is you.�

Not believing her, he was suddenly eager to end it. Ben wasn�t his son� he couldn�t get hurt so much now. Right?

Ron tried to listen patiently as she told him how she and Ben went to visit the scumbag everyday and how one night � the night he had witnessed � she had slept with Malfoy.

Ron looked away, partly in disgust, partly in shock, and partly so that she wouldn�t witness the tear streak down the side of his face.

�Ron, I feel horrible about it, I really do!�

�Yeah, sure,� Ron said, not bothering to disguise his disbelief.

�And then next day,� Hermione continued, either ignoring or oblivious to his skepticism, �when you went to work, me and Ben went to the Manor again. And � and he tried to rape me.�

�It�s not rape if you like it,� Ron muttered darkly.

�It was rape!� Hermione began, shamefully thinking that she had enjoyed it. �I swear it! He just came up to me and took me on the floor! He went mad or something!�

�Too bad. Now that he�s got insanity on his side, you can�t sue him,� he retorted.

�Please��Hermione started to weep, �don�t yell� it�s not fair��

�Don�t cry,� Ron scowled. �And don�t you dare say �it�s not fair!� You cheated on me! You don�t deserve to cry! You deserve to go to �� Ron stopped short as she let out another large wail. �Is that all that happened?� he managed a somewhat calm voice.

Hermione nodded, her lower lip quivering.

And I said

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

�Right then. I want a divorce.�

�What?� Hermione questioned in shock.

�I want a divorce,� he repeated. �I don�t want to be married to someone I don�t even know. I want to leave all this behind me. I used to think that you were the greatest person in the world: smart and funny and pretty; I used to love you. But obviously I was wrong and mistaken. Maybe it was my fault. I shouldn�t have proposed so young. I should�ve waited a while, given you a chance to reveal yourself. But we all make mistakes now don�t we? But the thing about a mistake is that you can sometimes correct it, and that�s what I want to do. I may not be able to make up for all the time we wasted together, or all the times you had to lie, but I can try. If you love me, even the slightest, you�ll agree to the separation.�

Hermione looked at him open mouthed in shock. She couldn�t believe what was happening to her. Ron was leaving her. She wasn�t sure how she felt at the moment as her whole body and mind was paralyzed.

Ron looked at her watery eyes. The spark had been missing in them for weeks � why hadn�t he noticed it before?

I used to get lost in your eyes
And it seems that I can�t live a day without you
Closing my eyes and you chased my thoughts away
To a place where I am blinded by the light
But it�s not right

�I�ll be staying at a hotel and I�ll send you the papers. Don�t try and contact me.�

�One more thing,� he added as an afterthought, �He�s married you know.�

Hermione watched wide-eyed as he walked out of the door.

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

*

After watching his mother cry in response to his inquiry, Ben decided not to ask the question, �Where�s daddy?� again.

A large, official looking owl tapped at the window and Ben went to open the latch. The foul swooped into the apartment and straight at his mum, holding out its leg.

His mother unrolled the piece of parchment, read it with bleary eyes, and scribbled at the bottom, all the while trying to choke back her tears.

She had done this to herself, Hermione reminded herself. If only she hadn�t been so damn selfish, she may still have a loving husband and her son�s father as a friend. But no� she had to give into her lust. Now she understood why it was one of the Deadly Sins. She felt like dying would be a great relief from all of this � but she wasn�t about to do that to Ben. The father he had known his entire life had disowned him (although he didn�t know or understand that yet) and if his mother was about to drop off as well, he�d be left to Harry � not that it was a bad thing or anything� but she didn�t want her children to grow up not knowing his parents. After all, young boys and girls need a male and female figure in their life.

She decided that she was going to have to tell Draco that she was going to have a little girl. Hermione had always wanted a daughter, but right now, the prospect of having to take care of another baby on her own scared the life out of her.

And it hurts to want everything
And nothing at the same time
I want what�s yours and I
Want what�s mine
I want you, but I�m not giving in this time

Ron looked out of the hotel window. If Hermione signed the papers, he was legally separated from her. He hated the thought of it because he still cared about her � and Ben � greatly, but it was something that needed to be done. There was no more trust between them, and once trust is lost, everything else would crumble after it. It was going to happen sooner or later, considering all the things he had discovered.

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

He had already prolonged the relationship; stalling all the while, knowing what was going on.

The one thing that I tried to hold on to

Ron was just going to have to take it day by day. He sighed as his eyes grew heavier and heavier.

*

Dear Draco,

I�m sorry, but I absolutely refuse to see you anymore. Ron has found out about us and left me. I don�t care to carry on our little meetings, having discovered that you�re married! If you had told me you were married before, I never would have slept with you! You should be able to understand why I don�t want to have anything to do with you anymore.

Unfortunately, I do have something to do with you. Ben. You�re still welcome to see him any time; he is your son of course. I would also like to inform you that I�m having your daughter. I�ve decided to name her Rachel and you�ll be welcome to visit her as well.

But other than that, there should be no other reason for us to be together � in any way.

Goodbye,

Hermione Granger

Draco stared at the letter. �Well you were married too, you bitch!� Draco replied angrily to the air.

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything that I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

He couldn�t believe that after all his searching, that after all they had shared together, that after she said she loved him, she was asking to never have to look at him again.

He also couldn�t believe he was having a daughter. At least her name was going to be somewhat close to Rochelle.

To top off his painful shit sundae, Mandy had left him as well.

�I�m not married anymore,� he whispered as if Hermione could hear him and be with him again.

*

And when the stars fall I will lie awake

Ron looked up at the sky. Mandy, in a room only two spots away from him, also looked up at the stars at the same moment. In two other very distant places, Hermione and Draco turned to face the night sky.

All of them had lost someone they loved, but they were determined to survive, each driven by the goal to experience joy again.