Hermione sat at the head of the long kitchen table in the burrow. She tapped her fingers against her water glass, feeling the weight of twelve pairs of eyes on her. On the floor next to her, Rose and Victoire played nicely. Hermione had smothered her child with affection upon returning, but it was clear now the only action the Weasley family would allow of her was to talk. They wanted answers.
Hermione gazed down the room. Ron sat directly across from her at the other end of the large table. Lavender was to his right, looking annoyed. Ginny sat to Ron's left, sporadically patting her brother on the shoulder to calm him. Next to Ginny was Harry, who looked like he was trying to avoid Ron's gaze all together. Ron was glaring at Harry like he might kill him.
The rest of the seats were filled: Arthur and Molly, Bill and Fleur, George and Angelina, Percy and Audrey. No Weasley had stayed home from this show. Except, of course, for Charlie.
Just then, the front door banged open and Charlie Weasley walked in.
"What the bloody hell is going in?" he asked, exasperated. He walked to the table and took the last empty seat, looking disheveled and travel worn, as if he had left whatever he was doing in a rush. "I got Mum's owl. We've got a new niece?"
All eyes flew back to Hermione, waiting for her to confirm or deny. Which was preposterous. They all heard the confession, Hermione wouldn't have been able to lie under veritaserum. And they had all seen Rose pass the Weasley wards. Obviously, there was no use denying it any longer. All she could do was share as little as possible and try to protect what information she could.
"Yes," Hermione said. "This is my daughter, and she is a Weasley."
Charlie looked gobsmacked, peering down at the small redhead playing on the floor.
"Blimey, who's the dad?"
All the sets of eyes, thirteen now, turned back to Hermione once more. And how was she supposed to answer this? It's not like any of it made sense. Whatever name she said, someone would be in trouble. Hermione decided the best thing for it was to be as honest as she could.
"I understand this has all been very confusing." Hermione paused as Lavender gave a snort. "And I know you all want to know what's going on. But I can't tell you. You heard me say that under the veritaserum. Every word I utter places more and more danger on the situation."
Hermione nodded, satisfied. That should be the end of it, shouldn't it? They should all be able to trust her. Couldn't they see what this was doing to her?
"That is not good enough."
All eyes flew to Ron at his declaration. Ron sat there, still glaring at Harry, then turned his attention to Hermione. He looked thoroughly pissed off.
"Now, I feel like I've been pretty levelheaded throughout this whole ordeal," Ron said, stabbing the table with his finger.
Ginny said a sarcastic, "Right," but was silenced with a look from Ron, who continued.
"Everyone here wants you to answer to them Hermione. A lot of people in this room are hurt and frustrated by what's gone on," Ron said, standing slowly and leaning forward as he spoke.
"But I want you to understand the hurt and frustration you have caused me. Me," Ron said, slamming his fist against his chest. "You have done this to me, and you have come back here with a child and you won't tell us who's it is, and now I find out all of this has happened because my best mate," Ron said, indicating Harry, "was in on it. And so before we go any farther, before anyone else gets a word in, I expect an explanation out of you. You owe me an explanation."
He said the last bit quietly, but with plenty of force. Hermione felt the air pulled out of her as Ron's eyes drilled into her, pinning her to her seat. She could feel the tears welling up, looking at the pain and anger written on Ron's face.
"I didn't want to be with you, Ron," Hermione said finally, looking straight in his eyes.
"Fine," he said, slowly. "That bit seems a bit obvious. It wasn't a coincidence Riddle chose that image of you and Harry to taunt me with. I've always known I had no chance with you, I don't need convincing of it."
Hermione breathed heavily, her gaze still locked with Ron's. She wanted to scream, to tell him to never say such awful things again. How could he think it? Ron was good enough, he was better than Harry.
"I couldn't stand the sight of you any longer," Hermione said, her voice cold and her stare blank. "Is that enough of an explanation for you?"
Hermione continued to stare at Ron, silently begging him to stop looking at her like that. He looked almost…defeated. Hermione had crushed him. But, of course, that had been the plan all along.
"How do you know about Prophecy 472?"
Hermione turned to Harry at his sudden question, gaping at him, willing him to let it go.
"It's not your turn for questions, Potter," Ron said menacingly.
"Oh come off it," Harry said in frustration. "I didn't do a thing to you."
Hermione's mind was in a whirl. How to explain her knowledge of the prophecy? It was a prophecy she would instantly forget if she could, yet it had become the driving force in her life.
"I…I read about it."
"Nope," Harry replied. "Never been reported. In fact, there are precisely three people on this planet who know the full contents of it."
The rest of the family watched Harry closely now, clearly intrigued.
"What's it about Harry?" Ginny asked urgently. "Please?"
Harry surveyed the room, obviously weighing whether or not he should say more. Hermione couldn't believe he would even consider it.
"Harry, don't," she begged. "The more people who know, the more power it has. You know how it works."
"Yes, I do know how it works," Harry said angrily. "I want to know how you know how it works."
Hermione couldn't believe this was happening. She'd spent three years protecting something, and in just three days Harry was ready to give it up. She was livid, so angry with him. He had been the one to start all of this, even if he didn't know it, and now he was causing more problems for her.
"Harry, please?" Ron said, the word an insistent plea.
"Harry, please!" Hermione echoed, her voice just as forceful as Ron's.
Harry looked between his two friends, not sure which to let down. In the end, he knew they needed all the information possible to work this thing out, and so he took a deep breath and began to speak.
"Prophecy 472 was taken from the department of mysteries before it was destroyed in 1996. It didn't take long for the Ministry to discover it was the work of death eaters, and they assumed the prophecy had made its way into the hands of Riddle. After the department was destroyed, the Ministry became intent on discovering the contents of that one prophecy, as for all intents and purposes, it was the last one known on Earth. Fortunately, they had a registry on hand and were able to find the original source of the prediction…"
"Who was it?" Lavender asked, leaning in as if listening to a ghost story.
"Trelawney. Of course, her predictions are shaky at best, but we know from experience she's been dead on before." Harry paused to grimace. "They were able to put her into a trance and gather the lost information."
"What did it say?" Ginny urged. Ron's face was tense, his brow low over his eyes, watching Harry.
"It spoke of a trio," Harry said, scanning the various faces watching him. "A trio whose combined magical power would be so great, no dark magic could ever defeat it."
"You, Ron and Hermione then?" Percy asked, his quick mind trying to figure it all out. Harry shook his head.
"No. The Ministry did think at first it was a trio of three adults, but the more the prophecy was explored they realized it was speaking about…a family. The prophecy talked about the lasting effects, the offspring. This family would be the start of generations of powerful witches and wizards, creating a line of good magic that would be nearly unstoppable."
"So…the trio?" Bill asked.
"Man, woman and child," Harry answered.
The room was silent, everyone taking in the knowledge Harry had just shared. More than one set of eyes turned to look at Rose on the floor, and Hermione instinctively took two steps to her right, placing herself in front of her child. Her entire body was trembling.
Molly got up from the table to nervously start pouring glasses of pumpkin juice. She was clearly uneasy with the way this story was going. Fleur got up to help as the rest of the group struggled to make sense of everything.
"Harry, you said three people knew the full contents," Arthur said, finally breaking the silence. "You, and who else?"
"Jefferson Shraxen and Damius Willigsbee."
There were several gasps amongst the group, and Molly quickly passed out glasses, needing something to do with her hands. Harry stood to finish his story.
"They're out to stop this family from ever being formed, to finish one of Riddle's last plots. There was a time the Ministry thought the prophecy might pertain to me, and my family," Harry said, reaching for Ginny's hand. "But then, a year ago…"
"They went after Ron," Ginny finished. She looked from Harry to Ron, whose face was a dark mask.
"Please, please can we stop now?" Hermione begged quietly. There were tear marks on her face and she still stood firmly in front of Rose. No one paid her any attention.
"We need to get the Order in on this, get some protection!" Charlie said loudly.
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "The more people who hear this, the worse it will get. It's like we're compelling the prophecy to be true, every time we retell it."
"Yes, so we should all just stop talking!" Hermione shouted. "Right now!"
"I agree with Hermione," Molly said, fear on her face. Everyone was quiet for a moment, each afraid to speak. Molly took several nervous gulps from her pumpkin juice glass.
"This doesn't make any sense," Lavender said finally, looking perturbed. "Ron doesn't even have a family!"
"Yet," Harry answered. "Ron doesn't have a family, yet."
Lavender thought on this, mulling over the information she had heard and considering the possibilities. Ron didn't have a family, yet. But one day he would. He'd have a baby and a wife and…Suddenly, she began clapping.
"Oh, Won-Won, I knew you would propose soon!" She threw her arms around Ron and began hopping up and down. Ron looked bewildered, confused as to how they had gotten to that point. Ginny rolled her eyes with an exclaim of "Oh honestly," as Hermione bent down to scoop up Rose and slowly began moving backward.
"Lavender, what are you so excited about?" Ginny asked with a sigh. "Even if this prophecy were talking about you and Ron, it would now mean you were in mortal peril."
"Yes, but Won-Won would protect me," she replied, beaming up at Ron and clinging to his arm. "Ron would never let anything happen to the woman he loves, he would die first."
Hermione gave a squeak and the group turned sharply to look at her, realizing now Hermione had been slowly retreating the entire time. She was almost to the back door.
"Right," Hermione said. "S-so like Harry told us, Ron doesn't have a family yet. And prophecies only work if you let them. It-it's just like with Harry and Voldemort…If either had walked away, it would have meant nothing. I think we should all just walk away now."
Hermione had continued to move throughout her speech and her back was now pressed against the door. She reached behind her, still holding Rose, searching for the doorknob. She needed to escape, immediately. She would run if she had to.
"Wait," Ron said suddenly. He blinked several times as if just waking up. He stared evenly at Hermione. "We still don't know how you had knowledge of any of this."
Hermione let out a frustrated growl, suddenly very fed up.
"Does it matter, Ronald? Honestly, do you have to be hit over the head with it?" Hermione took four long steps toward him, punctuating her words with one arm, the other holding Rose tightly to her chest. "Something bad is happening Ronald! And you want to sit down for a chat?"
Ron fumed, raising himself up so that he looked several inches taller. He loomed over Hermione, invisible smoke coming out of his ears. He had had enough.
"Should we separate them?" Ginny whispered.
"No," Harry whispered back. "This is good. This they know how to do."
"Well if I'm so thick," Ron yelled. "Why don't you just leave? See if I care! No one's stopping you!"
"I am leaving, and I am never coming back!"
The two stood there for a moment, each red in the face, inches apart. Finally, a look settled over Hermione's face, almost as if she were coming to her senses.
"You leave first," she said forcefully.
"Bloody likely," Ron snorted. "This is my house. You leave!"
Hermione reeled up, making herself as big as possible, spurred on by Ron's angry words.
"I'm warning you Ronald! You leave right this instant. Take your fiancée," Hermione put particular emphasis on the word, like she were spitting it out, "and go! You two need to get started making some great, powerful wizarding family! Just GO!"
Hermione nearly shrieked the last syllable. Something in the way she said it made Ron pause and contemplate her now, as if seeing her for the first time in years.
"Fine," he said quietly. With that, he walked toward Lavender, grabbed her by the hand, and turned with a pop. The two apparated away.
Hermione sat stunned for a moment, as if surprised that he had finally, for once in his life, listened to her.
Hermione gaped back at the Weasley's, some of them looking concerned and some looking almost…disappointed in her. There was nothing she could say to get herself out of this mess. And that was fine, her reputation wasn't the thing at stake here. She turned quickly, returning once more to the backdoor. Her hand fumbled with the knob, finding it magically locked. She turned briskly, about to demand someone unlock the door. Internally, she was praying helplessly for some sort of refuge, anything that could help her.
Then, the front door to the burrow kitchen swung open, a gust of wind flying through the house. There, in the open entryway, stood Albus Dumbledore.
A/N: Thanks for reading and please vote and comment!