Love, Lies, and a Secret

 

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter.

 

Chapter 19: Ronald Weasley’s Wretchedness

 

If there was ever a time in which Ronald Weasley wished to be dead, it was right then at that moment.

Lavender was pregnant.

With his child.

`No, this is a lie,´ he thought fiercely to himself, in those uncountable seconds in which it seemed that time had just stopped.

"What did you just say, Miss Brown?"

Ron´s head snapped at the sound of his father’s voice. His father seemed oddly calm, with a strange expression on his face.

"I’m pregnant, Mr. Weasley," Lavender responded in a low but firm voice; her eyes were bloodshot and her hands were visible shaking. "I’m two months pregnant with Ronald’s child and I don’t know what to do." She buried her head in her hands and started to cry, her shoulders trembling as she leaned against the nearby wall.

Ron waited for someone to start yelling, but the only thing he heard was silence. Not even his mum raised her voice- and this scared him more than ever. He looked at her and his heart felt like it had broken into a million pieces.

She looked disappointed in him.

He wished a hundred times that she had started yelling.

And there was also Hermione...

Oh god, Hermione! How was he supposed to get her back after this?

Fuck!

"You’re lying," he finally spoke, "you are lying, Lavender. Why are you doing this?" 

Lavender lifted her head and stared at him, her eyes flicking with incredulously. "Lying?" Her voice was filled with angry sarcasm. "Oh, right, you don’t want your friends knowing what you have been doing!" She looked around at the staring faces. "You don’t want to anyone to know that you cheated on your beloved Hermione Granger with me!" Lavender took a deep breath before continuing, "yes, Hermione!" Her eyes bored at the brown haired witch. "While you acted like such a prude, Ron came to me to get what you didn’t want to give him. Sex!"

Ron slowly turned to look at his ex-girlfriend. She had her arms crossed around herself, like she was trying to get herself up to the dear life; her lips were pursed, and her eyes wide open as if she was desperately trying to control her tears to keep from falling.

She repeated over and over inside her head she was not to lose control. She was not going to cry. She did not intend to let anyone notice that all that was hurting her somehow. The romantic love she had once thought she felt for Ron had ended a long time ago. However, it still had a dire taste the fact that everything was a lie.

 It was so sort of betrayal she couldn’t quite explain.

Hermione just wished that Ron had been only a boyfriend; Never one of her best friends.

She looked around the small crowed around them and spotted Harry. He had his eyes darkened and walked rapidly towards them, in a clear intention to get Ron. 

 “I gave him my body, my soul,” Lavender continued, “I’m not a frigid-”

"That’s enough!" Remus Lupin shouted, startling everyone in the room. "I don’t know what happened, Miss Brown, but you have to solve your problem with young Mr. Weasley—not Miss Granger.” He turned to Ron and took a breath, "Ron, take Lavender here and go talk upstairs." He closed his eyes briefly to open them again a moment later. "Hermione-" he twisted his body to speak with her and was mildly surprise to see Harry with his arms around her and whispering something in her ear.

"Harry," he said quietly, looking directly at the young wizard’s eyes.

Harry gave him a curt nod and quietly replied to the unspoken question, “I’m taking her home.”

Remus’ lips cracked in a small smile, nodding almost imperceptibly.

 The werewolf watched in silence as Harry and Hermione walked away, a strange feeling in his chest. He sighed then and turned to his gaze to see Ron, Lavender, Molly and Arthur walking up the stars. 

“Now, everyone!” he spoke again, clasping his hands, “let’s given them some space,” and he added a little more quietly, “the show is over.”

 

***

Hermione and Susan’s apartment

Hermione’s bedroom.

Harry and Hermione entered her bedroom without making a sound.  With a comforting hand on Hermione’s lower back, Harry led her over the bed. Silently, Hermione let her body fell down on the bed’s edge.

"Hermione?" Harry said her name very quietly, his eyes wandering in concern over her figure. "Love, please, say something."

Hermione was with her head down in complete silence.

"Love-" Harry was already entering into his despairing mood; not to mention the angry mood too. Lavender’s words had been harsh, but in a way, he could understand them. Ron however...  Harry could not believe what his so-called best friend had been doing. But, he had to force himself to think about it later. At that moment, Hermione was more important. 

She had not said a word since he had Apparated them to her apartment, and a silly- and rather insecure part of him- was beginning to have strange thoughts that maybe, perhaps, she was jealous of Lavender.

Nah...

But she could...

No.

Yellow canaries, Potter!

Shut up!

"Please, love-"

"Why?" Hermione suddenly spoke, lifting her head and staring at Harry, who was standing up right in front of her. "Why did he have to look for another woman, Harry?" 

Harry felt an odd lump in his throat. He did not know what to say or how to react. They were not just best friends anymore; he simply couldn’t hear her talking about Ron without feeling his heart breaking.

"Lavender’s words hurt me," Hermione continued, "yes, they did. But I can’t blame her completely. I understand- she must be desperate." She paused, sighing deeply as the tears ran down her cheeks. "But Ron...before being my boyfriend he was my friend. One of my best friends! Of course being his girlfriend, all this wounds my ego to know he decided to have sex with someone else while we were still together”, Hermione said softly, staring down at her hands, which were clasped tightly in front of her. Harry then touched her arm gently. “I still have some sense of self-esteem, even if I don’t love him as a boyfriend." She raised her gaze and their eyes met. 

Harry felt his heart lighten after he heard those words.

"If he wanted to be with other women, why didn’t he break up with me? Why does he have to be such a hypocrite about our break up?!"  

Harry knelt down between her legs, and took her hands in his. "I don’t know, love," he whispered, "I just know Ronald Weasley is an idiot." 

Hermione let go a soft chuckle. "I know I shouldn’t be crying..." she muttered, feeling extremely silly.

Harry smiled kindly at her, leaning a hand to her face. "You shouldn’t because he doesn’t deserve any tear of yours, lov-" He stopped swiftly as he felt her flinching when he touched her cheek. Harry felt the air becoming rapidly hot, and a wave of anger growing inside of him. "Hermione..." 

She looked away.

"Hermione..." He put a finger under her chin and turned her to face him. His eyes then flicked at her left cheek and its reddish coloration. Harry had not noticed about it before, mistaken as some blushing from crying. However, looking more attentively, he could see it was not a blush from crying, or even a blush at all. It was a mark. 

Harry closed his eyes painfully, and his mind brought him back to a moment in the party. He hadn’t paid attention to them. He was talking with Neville- and he saw, he saw Hermione talking quietly with Remus.

Remus had an angry face.

"Hermione, who did this?"

"It was nothing, Harry," she replied weakly, trying to look away but Harry didn’t let her.

"No! It wasn’t anything!" he argued. "I’m pretty sure I know who did this, but I need you to say it. Please, Hermione. Please, say I’m wrong and you just hit your face on a door and he had nothing to do with it. Please..." 

Hermione shook her head. "H-He just got so mad and..." the young witch stopped, unable to continue, and started sobbing uncontrollably.

In a fast action, Harry moved by Hermione’s side, and took her into his arms and held her gently, letting her cry against his chest. 

Ronald Weasley was a dead man.

***

The Burrow

"I take it you’re sure about this- your condition," Mr. Weasley asked Lavender. He, Molly, Ron, and Lavender were in Ron´s old bedroom.

"Yes, sir," she answered quietly. Lavender was sitting in an old chair, twisting her hands nervously in her lap. "I-I already suspected when I went in for my regular appointment. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to notice." She moved her gaze to Mrs. Weasley, who clearly having a battle with herself to not start yelling. "I-It’s too early." 

Molly only gave the girl a terse nod.

"Have you told your parents?" Arthur then asked, and Lavender felt all the color leaving her face. 

"Oh god!" She brought a hand to her mouth, a scared expression on her face. "My dad is going to kill me! Oh god, what am I going to do?" 

"Well, missy, you should have thought about that before tricking my Ronald into your bed!" Molly Weasley blurted out, her face red like her hair. "We all know your fame, Miss Brown!" 

"Molly, please!" "I tricked your Ronald into my bed?!" Arthur and Lavender cried at same time. Ron thought it was better to stay quiet. "Oh, please. I was told you’re blind when it comes to your own children but this is just ridiculous!" 

Molly tried to get up next to the girl, but was restrained by Arthur, so she settled with pointing a finger in Lavender’s direction and, shaking it. "Listen here, young lady-" 

"No!" Lavender interrupted rather fiercely. "You listen! I won’t say I’m innocent in this. I’m not! I slept with Ron because I love him. I always did." Her last words were barely a whisper.  

Molly Weasley opened her mouth to say something, but Arthur held up a hand, stopping her. The Weasley patriarch took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, tired.   

"Ron," he spoke again, putting the glasses back, "Sitting in silence won’t help in anything." Arthur pursed his lips. "I’m very disappointed today, but not talking about it won’t help in anything. Not right now anyway. What I want to know is if you’ll act like a man or not." 

Ron gulped, feeling sick to his stomach. He just couldn’t marry Lavender. She was nice and all- but, but just that. They didn’t even talk!   

"I won’t marry you, Lav," he said in a quiet tone, "I’m sorry, but I won’t." He ran a hand through his red hair. "I can’t...you’re not..." 

Lavender brought a hand to her mouth, chocking a sob. "You don’t need to say anything else, Ronald," she managed to say, between sobs. She smiled sadly, “You said yourself last night...just after we made love...you said I was just a sha-" 

"Wait! What do you mean, last night?" Mrs. Weasley interrupted the younger witch. "You two have been..."

"I have been just a shag for your son almost everyday in these last two months, Mrs. Weasley," Lavender replied sorrowfully, and then turned to Ron to say something but decided against it. Instead, she said to Mr. Weasley, "I’m going home. I’m sorry about any problems..."

Arthur Weasley seemed to be caught by surprise. "No, we still need to discuss...Ronald-" He looked at his son, but Ron shook his head lightly. Arthur sighed, defeated. He knew it wouldn’t help to start another fight. "Right, but are you sure you are okay?" 

"How are you going home?" Molly suddenly asked concerned, and Arthur looked mildly surprise at his wife. Sometimes he couldn’t understand her. "You know you can’t Apparate!" 

"I have a Portkey with me. It’s set to work all night," Lavender replied. "Good night then." She took off a small coin from her purse and within seconds disappeared into thin air. 

The three Weasleys stayed in silence, staring at the empty spot where Lavender had been just a few seconds ago. However, the silence did not take too long... 

"RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY!!" Molly Weasley bellowed, her eyes flashing. "NOW EXPLAIN YOURSELF!”

Ron´s eyes opened wide. "I-I..."

Just then the bedroom’s door opened and Ginny, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur stepped inside

"The guests are already gone," Bill said to no one in particular. He looked around the room and raised an eyebrow. "Where’s she?" he asked. "Where’s Lavender?"

"She went back to her hou-" Ron responded.

“Don’t worry,” Arthur interrupted before the others could protest, “she Portkeyed out.”

Molly Weasley sat down besides her husband and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it a little. "Tomorrow I’ll go see her and apologize-"

"Apologize?" Ginny cut in. "Oh Merlin, mum!" she exclaimed, before her mum could reply. "You insulted Lavender, didn’t you? For Circe! I bet you did, mum! Because your Ronald would never do anything wrong, right?" 

"Ginevra, respect your mother!" Mr. Weasley demanded, though, he rather agreed with his daughter.  

"No, dad!" Ginny cried. "You know I’m right! Lavender may have not acted right when she came here, throwing all this in front of everyone, but I bet she hadn’t had a choice." She narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Had she, Ron?"

"And what does this have to do with you, Gin?!" Ron shouted. "No one has anything to do with it! This is my life! I just want a little of fun! I needed just some fun. And Lavender was there...Bloody hell, she isn’t exactly a lad-"

“Silencio!” Bill bellowed. “Don’t,” he said in a voice of warning. “Don’t.”  

Then, in fast movement for his age, Arthur Weasley stood up from the edge of the bed and went closer to his youngest son.

He looked straight at Ron´s eyes. "In all my life, I never- ever felt so ashamed of a son like you made me feel today, Ronald. Yes, I could have got mad with you for your lack of responsibility, but I’m sure we would find a way to work for this situation. However, now, Ronald, I’m not mad...I’m just sad. I’m sad not because your lack of responsibility, but your lack of character," Mr. Weasley finished, and not waiting for a reply, left the room.

Susan and Hermione’s apartment.

Hermione’s bedroom

2:30 am

Susan Bones knocked carefully at Hermione’s bedroom door. Even if there was light under the door, she was not sure if her friend was sleeping or not.

The former Hufflepuff had just gone back from a twenty-four hour shift at St. Mungo’s and was dying for a hot shower and her bed; however, she did need to know how Hermione was. When she was leaving the hospital, Neville was going in, and he ended up telling her what happened at Bill Weasley’s birthday party.

That bloody fucking git Ronald Weasley!

She knocked one last time.

"Come in," a tired voice responded from inside the bedroom- and it wasn’t Hermione’s. Susan couldn’t help but smile.  

She knew that voice.

"Hello, Harry," she greeted quietly, entering the bedroom. The wizard was sitting in the bed, his back against the headboard. He had a sleeping Hermione in his arms, holding her as if his life depended on this. 

"Hello, Susan," he replied, but didn’t move, "Did you just get home?"

Susan nodded walking closer to the bed. "Yeah," she said, looking down at her sleeping friend, "When we were changing shifts, Neville told what happened at the party." She raised her gaze and eyed Harry. "I can’t believe it." 

"Neither can I," he said flatly, "but Ron seems to have done worse things than get Lavender pregnant." 

Susan felt stunned by those words, but decided to not ask any further. Instead, she asked about Hermione. 

"She’s fine," he answered, looking down at Hermione, "just shocked, I guess." He looked up. "They aren’t together anymore, you know."

The last part was told in a defensive tone of voice, and Susan could not help but smile a little at the young wizard’s attitude. She wondered when he and Hermione would stop being so blind and realize they were perfect for each other. 

"I know, Harry," she nodded, "but I guess it’s a little shocking to know your ex-boyfriend has been cheating on you with his ex. Because it’s quite obvious that he and Lavender were having a tryst while he and Hermione were still together." She heaved a sigh, and tried to explain herself a little better. Susan did not want Harry to have the impression that Susan thought that Hermione was jealous of Ron. "It’s hard to find out everything you had with a person was a lie. Even if you don’t love him romantically anymore, there’s always the pride aspect." 

"Yeah, Hermione told me all about it."

"I bet she did," she agreed, "Well, I’m really tired. Night, Harry."

"Night, Susan."

Susan walked to the door and just before opening it; she turned and looked at Harry once again.

"I know you didn’t say anything, but-" She gave him a smirk. "I’m fine with you sleeping here with Hermione." 

Susan left just after being able to see the flush growing on Harry’s cheeks. 

TBC

****

That’s it. I hope you liked it.

Well, not exactly a week but 8 days later- I guess it wasn’t all that bad, huh? Especially since I traveled last week and got a cold.

I won’t promise an update schedule but I’ll do my best to try to update in at least 9 days. RL has been very busy.

Also, I would like to thank Oliver, for the first look; and Lady Starlight, who really helped me to improve this chapter. ^.^