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SIYE Time:18:13 on 28th March 2024
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The Space Between
By YelloWitchGrl

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Category: Post-Hogwarts, Post-DH/AB, Post-DH/PM
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, General, Humor, Tragedy
Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mental Abuse, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Rape, Sexual Situations, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence, Violence/Physical Abuse
Rating: R
Reviews: 559
Summary: Harry and Ginny's lives have finally evened out. They've faced trauma, and loss, more than most have, but they've fought hard to find a normal.

If only things could stay that way... Old enemies find new ways to seek revenge.

This story is the sequel to Bound. It would be extremely helpful if you read that first.

Warnings are to be safe. It's probably overkill. Please message me if you have any questions or concerns.
Hitcount: Story Total: 352170; Chapter Total: 1874
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
My latest novel is going to be done, but at this point it's not going to be published, so if you want to read you have to go check out Sarah Jaune on pa--treon to read it! Another week or two and it's done and then you can read the whole thing in a month for just a few dollars.

Thank you to Arnel for beta'ing!

My health is still hit or miss although I am getting better overall. I appreciate everyone's kind words, your thoughts and prayers. Please do leave a review! I reply to all reviews.




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“My mum’s parents were killed in the second war,” Lena said as she and Al walked through Diagon Alley. They were disguised to look like an older couple in their forties and the game was to see if George recognized them. As far as training went, this beat running mile after mile without stop, but it still felt like an easy assignment. Al had found, to his amazement, he was good at disguising himself. His dad hadn’t spotted him in the halls this morning, but he had noticed Lena wasn’t Lena which had irked Al’s partner-in-training.

“So that’s why you wanted to become an Auror?” Al asked her as they strolled up to the joke shop.

“That’s the main reason, yeah,” she agreed as he held the door open for her. “Well, look at this place!” she exclaimed in a tone as though she’d never been in the joke shop before. Her faked American accent could use some work, but they’d practiced before they’d left the Ministry.

“What do you think Bobby would want?” Al asked her, also trying out the accent he’d heard for a whole summer in North Carolina.

Al spotted both his uncles giving them odd looks and sighed inwardly. They knew. Damn.

George’s brow cocked as he studied them. “Was that really supposed to fool us?”

“Sadly,” Al agreed and since the shop was empty apart from one clerk he pulled out his wand to change himself back. “I fooled Dad.”

“That’s just sad,” George sighed but with obvious relish at the thought of taking the mickey out of Harry. “He’s the head Auror!”

“It’s why he sent me to you,” Al told his uncle with a mock bow. “I guess we head back to the Ministry and try another disguise for another day.”

“You’re Al Potter.”

Al turned to the clerk, a pretty redhead with big blue eyes and a nice smile. She actually did have an American accent. “Yeah.”

“Wow,” she smiled and reached out a hand. “I’m Meghan Scott and it’s an honor to meet you!”

“Uh, you too,” he agreed somewhat lamely. He shot a glance to Lena who was trying very hard not to laugh. “Listen, we have to get back to work, so–”

“Can we meet for dinner later?” Meghan pushed before he could finish his sentence. “I’d love the chance to get to know you better.”

His uncles, both clearly enjoying how uncomfortable this was making him, didn’t step in to stop their employee. So… how to nicely back her off. “I’m sorry,” he said slowly, trying to think of how to phrase this nicely. “I’m, uh, I’m… no. I’m meeting someone else for dinner tonight.”

It was a big, fat lie but he’d go see Nat to make it not a lie. Maybe he could take Nat out to eat somewhere. The second he thought it, he immediately dismissed it. She couldn’t be out in public without a guard and he wasn’t entirely sure she could eat at a restaurant. Her food requirements were pretty strict, but maybe they could have a picnic.

“Oh,” her smile faltered and Al realized he’d completely forgotten where he was and what he was doing while trying to think of what to do with Nat. “Well, if you’re available another–”

“I’m not,” he said with finality.

“Meghan, why don’t you check on the supply of fake wands,” Ron told her kindly. She nodded silently and went into the back of the store. “You two, scram,” he told Al and Lena.

“We’re gone,” Al promised and he turned heel and marched for the door. “Let’s go report back to tell them we failed.”

Lena’s laughter erupted the moment the door was closed. “I shouldn’t laugh,” she began.

“And yet you are laughing,” Al muttered, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched. Every time they were out in public someone hit on him. It was getting old fast. It wasn’t even a magical thing because it happened when they were out in Muggle London, as well. At first he’d blown it off as just a weird fluke, but it kept happening!

“You’re tall, built, and good looking, Al!” Lena said with an elbow into his arm. “Girls just notice.”

“I did not have this problem at school,” he promised her.

“At school everyone could see you and Nat were a thing,” Lena pointed out. “Now that we’re not at school and you’re not engaged or married, they’re probably assuming it’s not a thing anymore. Also, no one ever sees Nat anymore. I’ve only seen her that once when I crashed the party at the bar.”

Al blew out a breath and shook his head. “I’m not that good looking. James is–”

“Married,” Lena interrupted. “James is stupidly, obviously happily married and has been for a while. Even before he married, everyone could see he and Caroline were it. There was no getting James after he fell for her and no one was stupid enough to try. Well, one girl was stupid enough, but that lasted a very short time. I don’t love our laws about marriage and everything that goes into them, but I do like that no one tries to mess with a married man.”

She sounded bitter in a way that Al had never heard out of her. “What’s up?”

She shook her head, chewing on her lip, and then it seemed to burst out of her. “My dad cheated on my mum a few years ago!”

Stunned, deeply stunned, Al nearly tripped over the sidewalk. “You’re kidding!”

“They have a Muggle marriage since my dad’s parents insisted on it and they never had a soul bond.” She was still clearly seething over it. “After the affair, after they decided to stay together, they finally did the soul bond so he couldn’t cheat again but ugh… it still makes me so mad! I’m never marrying without that soul bond.”

Thinking of his uncle Ron, Al shrugged. “Even with the bond, you can have a lousy marriage. You just have to be miserable together.”

“I guess…” she agreed as she kicked at a small stone and sent it skittering. “So… your cousin Louis has moved back, yeah?” Her tone was oh so casual.

“He has, yeah,” Al confirmed as they passed Ollivander’s. Too casual… “Oh,” he whistled it out. “Listen, you can’t have Louis.”

“Excuse me?” Lena spluttered out a laugh. “What?”

“You’re too pretty,” Al said sympathetically. “He’s only into really plain girls.”

She fell silent as they made their way into The Leaky Cauldron and strode through the bar. “Let’s get some lunch,” she told Al as she spotted an open table.

“Fine,” he agreed. They didn’t have to be back for at least another hour.

She didn’t pick up the thread of the conversation until after they’d ordered. “So, he’s still on that kick like he was at school?”

Al shrugged his shoulders. “I heard from James that he went to a bar with him a few weeks ago and he tried to hit on a girl Annie, who was the twin of someone he dated previously.”

“Jane,” Lena sighed it out and then thanked the waitress as she set down their food. “Seriously?”

Al shrugged helplessly. “He’s part-Veela and still stuck on this… I dunno what’s up with him.”

Lena grumbled as she took a bite of her food and then stabbed a chip with her fork. “I’m not even that pretty! I thought… well, I thought maybe.”

Al wasn’t about to comment on her looks, knowing that was boggy ground, but he knew his cousin. “I dunno what to tell you. The dude is cracked. If I thought you had a chance, I’d say go for it, but he’s definitely going for Annie right now and she’s currently not giving him the time of day.”

“Well, damn,” Lena sighed as she took another bite of her burger.

By the time they were done with training, Al was starving again and ready for a real meal. He waved to Lena before heading back to his parents’ house to bum a meal off his mum or Polly, whoever was cooking that night. He walked in to find only Polly in the kitchen cooking. “Hey Polly,” he said as he strode through. “Where is everyone?”

“Mistress Ginny is with baby Alex and Miss Nat is out working still,” Polly said in her high-pitched voice. “She is needing to eat soon.”

Al glanced at his watch and saw it was closing in on seven. “I’ll go pry her away so she can eat.”

He left through the kitchen door and headed towards the small building they’d set up for her work for Ollivander. It was, of course, a lot bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. He pushed open the door to what might be a small garden shed in a Muggle yard to find a very spacious workspace. To the left were all of her raw materials, most of which she didn’t collect herself due to her restrictions on travel. Ollivander supplied a lot of the materials. He had another assistant who was good at collecting the specimens, was excellent with magical creatures, but couldn’t fuse the wands together to save his life. It was working out well for all of them, at least until Ollivander eventually died. The man had to be at least a hundred and fifty by now. Maybe. It was difficult to tell.

Still, Nat would never be able to be in the shop selling the wands. He studied her now as she was bent over the wood, using her hands to thread the two into one. Al didn’t even pretend to understand how the process worked. He’d watched her countless times but each time seemed to be a different process just as each wand was different. She told him that certain magical cores worked better with certain wood. She said she could see which wood was supposed to be matched up with each magical core. It was the part Ollivander had warned her would take the longest to learn. He said she’d create many wands which wouldn’t work properly because she would have to learn the feel of the wood and the magical core.

Nat had yet to make a single mistake. Every single wand she made was perfectly suited. Sometimes a magical core came in without a mate and it sat off to the side to wait for the wood that it was supposed to be melded to was finally collected. She had a whole section on a shelf of things without a match yet. His dad had taken a keen interest in how the wands were made, as had Hermione. Since both of them had been part of defeating Voldemort and that had involved the Elder Wand, it wasn’t really a surprise. But of course the story of the Elder Wand was not widely known. Al knew it was in Dumbledore’s tomb with the hope that his father would not fall in battle to anyone, but would die a natural death and thus ensure the wand’s power would die with him.

If something happened to his father, they had orders to get the wand and conceal it further. They’d talked about it with Nat who thought she might be able to strip the wand of its power, but they had no idea if the wand would attempt to protect itself or not and it wasn’t worth the risk. At the moment, though, it appeared everyone had forgotten about the Elder Wand or had simply decided the story was a made-up legend that didn’t mean anything.

And all of this was left up to him because James was a Quidditch player and wanted nothing to do with defending their world, and Lily was… well, she was Lily. Al didn’t mind the responsibility. He knew it was critical that no one get their hands on that wand.

His brain shifted back to Nat as she worked. Her expression of concentration was so intense he knew he couldn’t say anything to her just then. She’d likely heard him come in, but she’d become good at tuning out everything when she was working.

She had her strawberry blonde hair pulled back in a tail away from her face and small whisps still escaped to tickle at her cheeks. She was so lovely. It took his breath away now to study her. She’d been a small girl when they’d met and now she was a woman, okay a very small woman, but one he absolutely adored with all his heart. He didn’t want Meghan or anyone else like her. He wanted Natalie. He wanted her to be his, but she’d shown absolutely no hint that she wanted the same from him. She treated him in nearly the exact same way she treated Scorpius. He didn’t think dying from unrequited love was something that happened outside of novels, but his heart ached badly for her and he wished with all his heart that he could be with her.

Slowly, he sat himself down on an extra stool he’d intentionally brought out to the shed for moments like this and watched her work. It took her another twenty minutes of silence before she let out a long sigh and set the wand down. When she turned and smiled at him, he could do nothing but grin back like an idiot. “I was going to suggest a picnic, but I’m so hungry I could eat my own hand.”

“What time is it?” Nat asked as she glanced down at her own watch. She groaned and stood, stretching out her muscles. “I’ve been at it too long. Let’s go eat.”

They found only Polly in the kitchen, which wasn’t unheard of. Al’s dad would often go wherever Ginny was to have dinner with her when she wasn’t home. Al thought of Lena’s story of her parents and realized just how lucky he was to have parents who still loved each other and were still faithful. Yes, in their world it was forced with the soul bond, but even without the soul bond the work could just as easily be neglected and they’d be left with a broken marriage. All in all, he knew he was blessed and he was not going to take that for granted.

“It’s getting too cold for a picnic anyway,” Nat told him as he closed up her shed and they headed for the house. “It’s been unseasonably warm for November but the frost is coming soon. I think you’ll have to wait until spring for a picnic.”

“I suppose,” he agreed and wished again he could just take her to a restaurant. Of course, then she might think he was taking her on a date and if she thought that she might feel the need to let him down gently and that would never do.

“Didn’t Scorpius want to come for dinner?” Nat asked as they entered the kitchen and she pulled off her jumper, revealing a green long sleeved shirt underneath.

“I didn’t go home,” Al admitted and then felt guilty. But of course Scorpius knew if Al wasn’t at their flat then he was at Ivy Run mooching dinner. “If he’s not showed up by now then he must have knocked something together for himself. He’d getting good at cooking.”

“Whereas you try to get out of it by coming here as often as you can,” Nat teased as they took their seats. “Thanks, Polly.”

“Yes, thanks,” Al asked and then finally noticed Teeny wasn’t there. “Is Teeny with Emma?”

“Yes,” the elf answered as she floated the food over to the table. “Eat up while it’s warm.”

Al would have told the elf to sit with them and eat but she wouldn’t do it and he’d given up trying. “I have been learning to cook,” Al told her. “I don’t want to eat out all the time or else I have to put up with people who recognize me, so we’re taking turns. I’m not as good as Scorpius is, but I’m not half bad either. Still,” he said on a moan as he took a bite of the roast, “this is so good that I can’t be sorry to come here. Also, I get to eat with you.”

“It’s better than eating alone which happens a few times a week,” Nat told him as she ate her own slice of roast. “I’d feel bad about your parents still having me in the house but it’s so obvious they want me here that I simply can’t.”

“Have you heard from your parents?”

“I heard from Mum last week,” Nat told him. “She’s in France, or she was in France, and Dad is working in Ethiopia. They have a research team going over some human remains from over a thousand years ago.”

They spoke of their day and Nat had a good laugh at George and Ron both spotting him for a fake. He didn’t mention Meghan or her invitation, of course. When he mentioned Lena asking about Louis, Nat clucked in sympathy. “She’s not, like, you know… she’s not pretty like Lily or Victoire or Dominque, but she’s still pretty enough that Louis would have nothing to do with her. I have often wondered what is up with him, but I doubt we’ll ever figure it out. And really, who cares? If something like Jane and Annie attracts him and makes him happy, then good for them. Louis is really one in a million as far as men.”

“How do you mean?” Al asked as he cut up his broccoli.

“Well, men want women who are just as attractive as they are or slightly more attractive. In picking a mate, that’s what men do. Women will pick a mate that’s less attractive, especially if they can provide well.”

He sat back and considered her. “That’s cold.”

“That’s biology and it makes sense,” she told him with a shrug. “Men mate up in attractiveness. They will almost never pick a woman who is not at least as attractive as they are. Louis is a solid ten on attractiveness, so he could have any woman he wanted, but he picks women who are a four or less. It’s baffling, but there we are. It might be that his own attractiveness is so meaningless to him that he doesn’t consider it in others.”

“I don’t buy that,” Al shook his head as he pushed away his empty plate. “If looks didn’t matter to him, he’d pick a girl based solely on her personality and some of the girls would have been pretty. He’s deliberately picking ones no one else really wants to be with.”

Nat held up her water glass. “Your cousin is crazy, but we love him anyway.”

~*~

Rose would have preferred to wait in her room until Andrew came to pick her up for their date. It would have been better than the heavy silence of her parents who barely tolerated each other at this point. They’d been so happy and in love once. Rose knew it hadn’t always been like this. They’d also had several times in their marriage when they’d worked things out and everything had been so much better between them. Those were good, happy times that Rose clung to because what she saw now was nearly enough to make her swear off marriage altogether. The only thing that kept her going was knowing she wouldn’t give up, not like her mum had, and she knew Andrew wasn’t going to give up, either. He was such a good man. He was a lot like her father, but in many ways even more suited to her than her dad could be. Her dad was overprotective to the point of being a little annoying, but Andrew wanted her to test her wings and see where she could go. They both wanted the best for her, but she really felt like Andrew understood what that best was, where her father wanted what he thought was best and those were no the same thing.

And poor Hugo. At least Hugo was off at school and since it was November, he still had many months left before he had to deal with this again for any length of time. He still had a year at school after this one, of course. Then maybe he’d find a place to live after school rather than staying home. It all depended on what he wanted to do for a job. If he picked something which paid well straight off then he could get his own flat or maybe split one with a mate. Certainly, there was always the flat above their uncle’s shop if it was vacant. She rather thought Hugo might try for an Auror or MLE position. He had the grades for it and he was definitely more interested in what Uncle Harry did than anyone else, but he had another year and a half to make up his mind.

Rose’s career choice involved expensive schooling which her parents were paying for, at least right now. She didn’t want to add to anyone’s burden or risk making it worse by asking for money to rent a flat.

Still, as they quietly snapped at each other over food preparations, she wished she’d moved in with Gran and Poppop. At least with Molly and Arthur she wouldn’t have the sniping, but of course she’d have even more concern about her whereabouts and what she and Andrew were up to. It was a trade off, but it was starting to look like a more appealing trade off than staying where she was.

“You were supposed to cook dinner,” Hermione snapped as she threw beans into a pot. “It was your turn.”

“It’s always my turn,” Ron told her harshly. “You’re never home on time to do anything which is why I asked you to take it tonight because George and I had that meeting with the goblins set up for five o’clock!”

“You absolutely did not tell me that, but even if you had, it’s Tuesday and that’s always your night to cook.”

“Please tell me the last time you cooked, Hermione. Please. I’d love to know.”

Rose would too because she and her dad had taken turns cooking dinner every other night for months now and her mum almost never showed up until they were putting the food on the table. She didn’t think her mother had cooked once since Hugo left for school.

She was not, however, getting into the middle of this. She should have just made dinner for them. It would have solved this particular fight if she’d made the meal and kept it warm for them before going out to eat with Andrew.

Where was Andrew? Why had he insisted on picking her up in a Muggle car to go out to eat? Any old restaurant or pub would have done for her. She was tired and annoyed with her parents.

“I cooked last weekend!” Hermione protested.

Rose bit down hard on her cheek to stop herself from saying anything. Her mother had worked all day Saturday and most of Sunday. Rose had cooked dinner on Saturday, while her father had on Sunday.

“You weren’t even here!” Ron growled in frustration. “Look, this is pointless. You’re clearly remembering things that didn’t happen so let’s just drop it and–”

“Rose will back me up!” Hermione interjected quickly, turning to her.

“No!” this time Ron’s voice was a shout. “Don’t you dare put her in the middle of this, Hermione! Don’t you dare!”

Her mother’s face flushed bright red as she spun on her husband and jabbed a finger into his chest. “You just know she’ll back me up!”

“You haven’t cooked in months, Mum,” Rose said, finally having had enough. “You are never home, you’re not a real mother, you don’t contribute, and I don’t know why you’re pretending otherwise.” A horrible, horrible silence fell on the room. “I’m going to go wait outside for Andrew and I think I’m going to move in with Gran and Poppop tomorrow. I’m sorry to stick you with all the dinner duties, Dad.”

She didn’t wait for either of them to reply as she quietly left the house for the cool misty November air. Blessedly, she wasn’t even outside for thirty seconds before Andrew pulled up. He hopped out and pulled her into a hard hug, lifting her off her feet for a moment. When he lowered her down, he kissed her hard. “I have missed you!”

She held on tight, not wanting to let go. “I’ve missed you, too. Let’s get out of here, though, before my mum comes out to yell at me.”

“Why would she do that?” Andrew asked as he opened her door for her before scooting around to get into the driver’s seat. “What happened?”

It didn’t take her long to explain, but by the end of the retelling she was feeling just a little bit sick. “It’s just miserable! They’re miserable!”

“Your mum has given up,” Andrew said simply as he maneuvered the car through traffic. “She’s probably like a lot of Muggles who think that divorce should allowed for whatever reason. I’m Muggle-born so I get it. Most of my friends’ parents are all still married, but with rank you’re expected to stay married. However, a lot of mates from primary school had parents who were divorced. Being forced to stay married can mean one of two things. One, you try your best at all times to make it work, or two you become bitter about being forced to be together and you give up trying. Your dad is one and your mum is the other.”

“We have to be the one,” Rose said as she twisted her hands in her skirt. “I couldn’t stand it if that was my marriage.”

His hand came over to cover hers, squeezing her fingers lightly. “I’m not the giving up type. I know exactly what I’m walking into and that I’m committing to a whole, hopefully long, lifetime with you. That means something to me. I know it means something to you and I trust you to hold up your end of this. We aren’t always going to get along and we won’t always like each other, but if we’re committed to always making it work then we will be fine.”

Rose nodded and turned to stare out the window, running her thumb along the ridge of his fingers as she thought about her parents. “My dad was always there for me growing up. He was the one who was available when I needed him. It was him and Aunt Ginny. I don’t know if my mum really should have had kids, although I think she meant well at first. She just… she never dealt with her scars from the war like she should have.” She took a deep breath and focused on the trees rushing by them, their leaves almost all gone now except for the hardy evergreens that dotted the landscape. “When we have children, we have to both commit to only working forty-hour weeks with almost no exceptions.”

“I am happy to do that,” Andrew promised her. “My responsibilities for the title will sometimes take up a lot of evenings, but I can be around during the day then. The parties tend to come in thick, especially around the holidays and some I have to attend simply because it’s expected. You’ll need to go with me, as well, but there will be plenty of times when I can go alone if you don’t want to.”

“And because I won’t need the income,” Rose mused since she knew Andrew was very wealthy, “I can stop at forty hours without feeling like I’m taking anything from our family’s financial well-being.”

“You can work whatever hours suit you,” Andrew agreed. “If that means you primarily do research from home, so be it. You can consult for the Ministry if they need it, but I know how much you like the idea of inventing new potions. You could devote most of your time to that.”

Hopeful, now, Rose nodded. “Yeah, I could do what suits me.”

He tugged her hand up to his lips and kissed her fingers. “You can do anything you want.”

“Well,” she said with a long sigh. “Oh, this is near Gran’s house.”

“Yeah, it’s about ten minutes north of here,” Andrew agreed.

“After dinner, I want to go see Gran and Poppop. I’m going to move in with them if the offer of a room still stands,” Rose told him and felt lighter just saying it out loud to Andrew. “I want to live with them.”

“Hmm,” he groaned playfully. “That means no more sneaking out to make out with me.”

“It does mean that,” she said with genuine remorse, “but it also means you won’t ever pick me up from my parents after one of their fights. I could have cheerfully punched my mum for how she was acting.”

“Aw Rosie,” Andrew said as he pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot. “Let’s just forget them and talk wedding details.”

They waited until they were seated in the dimly lit room and they had their wine to talk wedding plans. “You have the Muggle organizer for the ceremony at your house, right?”

“I do,” Andrew confirmed. When they’d realized the scope of the event they’d have to put on to satisfy a duke’s marriage, Andrew had thrown up his hands and hired a wedding planner who thankfully knew exactly what she was doing. She’d met with Rose once who told her what colors she wanted and then told the wedding planner to do whatever worked in the budget Andrew had set. She still had to find a Muggle wedding gown, but her Aunt Fleur had promised to take her shopping for both her dress robes and the wedding dress that weekend.

The wedding planner had given her the name of a designer and they had an appointment for Saturday morning to get a dress designed and finalized. Truthfully, Rose didn’t care much about the Muggle ceremony. It had to be done for proprietary’s sake, but it was the magical soul bond that meant the most and for that they would have a simple ceremony in the morning at Ivy Run, which was the place where she had the best memories of her childhood. Claire would be at both ceremonies, although his Aunt Emma, assuming she lived that long, would only be at the Muggle wedding. After the magical wedding and a small lunch, they would move to the manor where Andrew lived and start getting ready for the Muggle event which would happen that evening.

Somewhere in there her male cousins had been volunteered to move all her stuff to Andrew’s house for her since not a single one of them would have to get their hair or makeup done.

It promised to be quite the event since Andrew was marrying what appeared to be the commonest of commoners. They’d had a bit of press about their engagement, but since they never made a statement and were rarely seen in public, it had all died down quickly.

“Here’s to us,” Andrew said as he lifted his wine glass. “To always choosing to put our relationship first.”

“I will drink to that!” Rose said as she clinked her glass to his.

By the time they arrived at her grandparent’s house, Rose was mellowed out on two glasses of wine and very good food. Thankfully, they’d finished at a reasonable time so she could knock at their door.

“Rosie!” Molly said as she pulled open the door. “And Andrew, what a nice surprise! Come in, come in!”

“Hey Gran,” Rose said as she hugged her grandmother and held on tight. “Is Poppop still awake?”

“He is,” she confirmed as she led her into the living room. “We were just reading a bit before we head to bed. What brings you two by this way?” she wondered as she resumed her seat in her comfortable arm chair and Rose and Andrew sat together on the couch.

“We were out this way to eat dinner, actually,” Rose explained, “but I was going to pop over anyway and ask if I could still move in here.” She wasn’t nervous they would say no. She knew her grandparents would always take her in, but she definitely didn’t want to explain why.

From the knowing look Arthur and Molly exchanged, though, Rose knew she didn’t have to say why. It was plain to see to everyone in the family. “They’re at it again?” Poppop asked cautiously.

“It’s mostly Mum,” Rose said with a shrug and felt a bit of relief when Andrew’s arm went around her shoulder.

Molly shook her head sadly and stared down into her lap. “I don’t want you to be too hard on your mum, Rosie. She’s had a very hard life. They all have, but she had to do a lot of things no one her age should ever have to do.”

“I think Uncle Harry had it the worst,” Rose reminded her.

“No,” Arthur shook his head. “No, sweetheart, he didn’t. What happened to him wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right, but he was uniquely made to do exactly what he did. He was born to it and circumstances led him to a life where he was up for the challenge of taking down Voldemort. But Hermione… she was always tenderhearted and never a fighter. She loved books and learning. She loved peace and safety. She had guts, anyone could see that, but at her core she was not a warrior and she forced herself to be one when it went against everything in her nature. So, for her, I think it was the hardest of all. Even your dad had an easier time of it because he could be a fighter when needed. You don’t have five older brothers without knowing how to fight, but she was an only child and… well, it just wasn’t the same for her.”

Rose studied the worn and faded carpet which her grandparents had refused to let anyone replace and wondered if she was being too harsh with her mother. Did past trauma get to excuse someone even twenty-five years later when they were adults and able to afford therapy? Rose blew out a breath and shook her head. “I’m not trying to be hard on her, but nor am I going to excuse her bad behavior. She was having a fit tonight that she had cooked dinner for us recently, but she hasn’t cooked in months. I think she cooked dinner one of the nights before Hugo went back to school. Otherwise, it’s Dad and me cooking. I just don’t know why she won’t accept that.”

“I don’t know,” Molly said slowly. “I do know that you’re always welcome here and we’d love to have you and have some help around the place.”

“You can stay all the way through to the wedding,” Arthur agreed. “But I do hope you try to patch things up with your mum.”

“I’m going to try,” Rose promised.

She rode in silence with Andrew, rehearsing everything she was going to say to her mother once she was home again. She was certain Hermione would be waiting to ambush her just as soon as she walked through the door. It was her normal way of handling things when Rose was being uppity. But in this case, Rose had been right.

Okay she’d been mostly right. She shouldn’t have said everything she’d said to her mum because some of it was just mean.

When they finally pulled up to her parents’ house, she saw the single light on in the kitchen.

“I’ll come in with you,” Andrew said as he parked the car.

“No, don’t,” she shook her head and leaned over to kiss him goodbye. “If she’s humiliated, it’ll be worse to have you there. I need to do this alone.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded as she kissed him again. “I love you, Andrew. I’m so glad we’re getting married.”

“I love you, too,” he promised.

It wasn’t in love, love, but it was still strong and true and she counted on it more than she could possibly tell anyone.

When she pushed open the door to their house it was to find only her father there, waiting for her. “Oh, Dad,” Rose sighed as she hung up her coat and dropped her keys on the small table near the door. “What happened?”

She walked over to where he sat at the kitchen table with half a tumbler of bourbon between his big hands. He didn’t speak until she’d settled in next to him. “She went back to work,” he told her quietly. “She was… she was very upset by what you said.”

“I’m sorry if she took it out on you,” Rose began but stopped when he violently shook his head.

“No, absolutely not!” Ron reached out and took her hand in his as his blue eyes remained fixed on her. “I am your father and it’s my job to protect you! She violated that when she tried to put you in the middle between us. I won’t have that Rose, not now and not ever. We’re done.”

Numb shock flooded through her as she stared at her father. “What?”

“We are done,” he repeated harshly. “I’m done trying to make her try when she wants nothing to do with us. I’m done trying to fix this. I’m done trying. We’re going to find a house that has a separate apartment in it and we’re going to move. She will have her own place and I will have mine with you and Hugo, or at least Hugo since I assume you’re set on moving out.”

“I think it’s best,” Rose told him quietly. “I finally felt at peace when we stopped and I asked Gran about moving in. I need some space from her, more than living in the same building.”

“I can understand that,” her father promised. “I wish I could make this better for you and your brother, but I can’t and nothing I’ve tried has worked with her. We’ll remain civil, because I won’t stand for anything else and she knows I mean it. I think if we both have no expectations of each other we can get back to being something like friends.”

Rose let the silence build between them as she thought of all the ways this man had stood for her through the years. “I know you tried your best. I know you always tried and she didn’t or couldn’t, I don’t know. But I love you and I’m so glad I’m marrying a man I love and respect the same way I love and respect you. I’m going to take Mum’s example and go the opposite way.”

Her father’s face fell. “I wish you didn’t have to feel that way, but I can’t blame you for it. It’s been a long time coming. But, I love you, too and I almost think Andrew’s good enough for you,” he told her with a lopsided grin. “I know he’ll take care of you.”

“He will,” Rose agreed, “But more importantly I’ll take care of him just as much as he cares for me. That’s what I want and it’s what we’re going to have.”

“Good,” Ron said with obvious sincerity. “Well, let’s get to bed. It’s been a long, long day.”

She rose and put her arms around her father’s waist and just held on for a long moment. She always had him and for that she was eternally thankful.
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