Rating:
R
House:
Schnoogle
Genres:
Romance Drama
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban
Stats:
Published: 09/10/2001
Updated: 03/23/2003
Words: 119,065
Chapters: 13
Hits: 88,988

Love is a Battlefield

Lissanne

Story Summary:
Set eleven years after they leave Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione find themselves in a situation they never anticipated - they've fallen in love. Add a nasty ex-girlfriend, Ron and his wife, Ginny and Draco and Hermione's mysterious boss to the mix and see whether they can make it work as lovers - or whether their secrets will tear them apart forever.

Prologue

Chapter Summary:
Set 11 years after graduation from Hogwarts, the Dream Team are now adults. Catch up with Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Draco and all your favourites as they deal with life, love, work, marriage, divorce, babies and kidnapping. Harry/Hermione and Draco/Ginny romantic subplots.
Posted:
09/10/2001
Hits:
22,238
Author's Note:
A big thank you goes to my best friend and beta, Kellie, for her endless patience and support.

April 2008

Hermione Granger smiled as she picked up the huge bowl of potatoes from the table and kicked the back screen door of the Burrow open with her foot, letting it shut behind her. She placed the bowl in the middle of the table that had been moved into the backyard and took her seat between her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

Gathering the entire Weasley clan together in the one place was no mean feat, given the diverging careers of the Weasley children, so Molly and Arthur had declared every third Sunday of the month "Weasley Family Day" and all were expected to attend where possible. Tonight, they were missing only two of their number - Bill and Charlie had gotten caught up in Peru and Russia respectively, and weren’t able to break away to make it back in time. However, Bill and Charlie were the most often absent, living so far away from everyone else, so their absence was not surprising, although Molly was always disappointed when they owled her with their apologies.

Not one for formalities, the entire clan began serving up as soon as Molly had come out with the last of the dishes and was seated. They all picked up various plates, and after helping themselves to a serve, passed it along. Hermione took the opportunity to silently study everyone gathered around the table. The people she had very much come to consider family ever since she had become best friends with the youngest male Weasley.

At the head of the table sat Arthur, whom Hermione quietly admired. Arthur had worked hard all his life to provide for his family, and had done so without complaint. Nothing had given Fred and George more pleasure than to be able to come home one day 6 years previously and tell their parents that they now had more than enough money to provide for them and that Arthur didn’t need to work anymore. After many protests from Arthur and many tears from Molly, the twins had persuaded their parents to take the money and live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Arthur retired from the Ministry and now spent his days tinkering around in the garage with the vast array of Muggle artifacts he’d collected over the years.

On Arthur’s left sat Fred. Together with his twin, they had, against the vehement protests of their parents, been able to secure a loan from an unnamed investor and open the first Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes in Hogsmeade 11 years ago. After 5 years of hard work and lots of publicity, their business had exploded, and they now had a chain of almost 20 stores around the UK and Ireland. Multimillionaires, the twins had turned 30 the week before, and were constantly on the cover of such magazines as Witch Weekly and Business Digest; they also had their fair share of coverage in the Daily Prophet. Shares in WWW, which had been floated on the wizard stockmarket 2 years ago, had almost doubled in value. Neither were married, and always seemed to have a different witch on their arm at the various functions they attended. Their sudden rise to fame and riches had caught everyone by surprise - except the twins themselves, who had always believed they would b! e successful and who had, in fact, turned out to be incredibly shrewd businessmen. They had, earlier in the evening, announced their intention to expand WWW into Europe, and were currently in the midst of talks to open a store in Paris. Fred was Apparating over the next day to scout for possible locations.

Next to Fred sat the youngest Weasley. Ginny also ran a successful business as a wedding co-ordinator. Her enthusiasm and determination to make it to the top of her chosen profession was well known, and her willingness to work from the bottom to get to the top had made her widely respected in the industry. She now employed a handful of wedding co-ordinators, each carefully chosen for their dedication to the job - and to Ginny. Her assistant and most trusted employee was a young witch named Andie Pesek, who very much reminded the Weasleys of what Ginny herself had been like at Andie’s age, which was 22. Hermione watched as Ginny turned to the man sitting on her left and whispered something in his ear; she was rewarded with a brief but passionate kiss. If anyone had told Hermione even 5 years ago that Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy would still be a couple today, she would have laughed in their face. If that someone had gone on to mention that Draco Malfoy would be sitting i! n the backyard of the Burrow having dinner with the Weasleys with his face intact, Hermione would have laughed harder. Still, Ginny and Draco had now been together for 8 years, and had defied every critic who’d told them at the beginning of the relationship that they’d never last - that it would crash and burn, and they’d only end up hurt. Sure, their relationship was fiery and tempestuous, and they were constantly bickering, but Hermione knew - as did all the Weasleys - that Draco was deeply in love with Ginny, and she with him, and now Hermione couldn’t imagine one without the other.

Which led Hermione to shift her gaze to Draco. If anyone had changed since graduation from Hogwarts, it was him. Following the death of his parents the year after graduation, Draco had entered a self-imposed exile for two years, reemerging a different person. He was still sarcastic, and his favourite pastime was still riling Ron, but for the most part, he’d become a better person. He was a lot more mellow, and Hermione was sure that was, in no small part, thanks to Ginny. She also believed that Ginny’s ultimatum early on that he either make an effort to get along with her family and friends or it was over had contributed to Draco’s relaxed attitude. At the beginning of their relationship, Draco hadn’t done much in the name of work, because his father had left him enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life. However, Draco had soon bored of this, and was at a wedding that Ginny had co-ordinated when he’d been asked by another guest if he’d ever modelled befor! e. He was even more surprised when he was asked by this guest, who turned out to be the chief fashion designer at one of the wizarding world’s most successful fashion houses, if he’d be interested in doing some work. Draco had done it more for a laugh than anything else, but found he’d very much enjoyed himself, and after much discussion with Ginny, had agreed to sign a two year contract to model exclusively for the house. That was 5 years ago, and Draco Malfoy was now the hottest male model in the wizarding world today.

Hermione watched him as he leaned over and kissed the side of Ginny’s head. He was certainly good looking enough to be a model. 6'2", with platinum hair and cheekbones to die for, he turned plenty of heads when he entered a room. Hermione was secretly pleased to find that he had refused to be drawn into the shallowness of the modelling world. He had also resisted the temptation presented by more than one model he’d worked with, and had remained completely faithful to Ginny. Draco had once confided to Hermione after a few too many butterbeers that nobody turned him on quite the way Ginny did, and he couldn’t imagine his life without her - she was so far under his skin he’d never get her out. Hermione had never been able to tell whether that had scared him or not, and he’d never mentioned it again.

Much to Molly’s consternation, Draco and Ginny were not married, but did own an apartment in the middle of London together, which was quite tastefully decorated. Hermione supposed that one day they would marry, but neither had shown any great rush to tie the knot. Ginny wore the 2 carat diamond ring Draco had given her for her 25th birthday on the third finger of her left hand, but both of them were adamant that they were not engaged; Ginny preferred to say she was spoken for. Hermione knew they were both just happy to be together.

Helping herself to more potato, Hermione continued her journey around the table, looking at Percy and Penny. Percy had achieved the unimaginable - 6 months ago, he’d been promoted to the post of Minister of Magic, the youngest ever. Ron had once snorted that he believed the only reason Percy had gotten the job was because he’d kissed the right arses. Harry’s work with the Ministry meant that he’d heard the gossip doing the rounds, and he believed Percy to be nothing more than a figurehead with no real power within in the Ministry. Still, Molly had cried tears of joy when Percy proudly announced his promotion. Percy had been married to Penny for almost 10 years, but they had no children. Penny worked as publicist for Fred and George, which kept her busy - and away a lot. Hermione believed this was the only reason that they were still married - she imagined Percy was a hard man to live with. He was very focused on his work, and Hermione got the impression that sometimes Pe! nny got fed up playing second fiddle. Percy did love his wife, but he also loved his job. Hermione wondered if Penny would ever dig up enough courage to leave Percy and make a life for herself.

Her eyes fell to the Weasley matriarch, whom she adored. Molly mothered her and Harry as much as she did her biological offspring. She also fussed over the spouses of her children, treating them as her own. She had a particular soft spot for Draco, pleased with the effort he’d made to get along with them and be a part of the family. She had long ago insisted he call her Mum along with the rest of the family, and introduced him as her son-in-law whenever necessary. Arthur had been harder to win over, but he’d eventually come to realise that Draco was not like his father.

After threatening to hunt him to the ends of the earth and rip him apart with their bare hands if he ever so much as harmed a hair on Ginny’s head, all 6 Weasley brothers and Harry had made the effort to get along with Draco. Ron had been the hardest to cajole, but after much pleading and many tears from Ginny, and quiet persuasion from Harry and Hermione, he’d acquiesed, much to Ginny’s delight. Draco furthered his case with an apology to all of them for the childhood taunts, and Ron grudgingly admitted that, for Ginny’s sake, even Draco deserved a second chance. This had earned him a huge hug from his sister, who’d flung herself into his arms, sobbing on his shoulder and wrapping her arms so tightly around him that he couldn’t breathe. Ron and Draco had yet to give up their childhood habit of referring to each other by their last names, however - a constant source of irritation for Ginny, and a constant source of amusement for Hermione.

Seated on Molly’s left was Sirius Black. Harry’s godfather had been cleared by the Ministry when Harry was 19, thanks to a large campaign spearheaded by Arthur Weasley and the subsequent capture of Peter Pettigrew, who was a current resident of Azkaban. Although Sirius was now considered a legitimate resident of the wizard community, he had never really gotten over his time in Azkaban, and spent his days in seclusion, keeping in contact only with the people seated around the table. Harry and Hermione made sure that Sirius had dinner with them at least once a fortnight; this was more for Harry’s peace of mind than for anything else. He liked to make sure that Sirius was safe and well. Of course, they always enjoyed his company, and Sirius came along to check on his godson and Hermione and to catch up with what was happening in their lives. Harry often lamented to Hermione that he was worried about Sirius; Harry didn’t think the way that Sirius lived was healthy. Hermion! e did her best to reassure Harry that Sirius was fine, and that he *chose* to live that way, but Harry still worried. Hermione understood why; Sirius was the closest thing to a father Harry had, Arthur aside. Hermione had often wondered why Sirius occasionally came along to the Weasley Family Days; she eventually came to realise that Sirius felt indebted to the Weasleys for looking after Harry as a child, and this was his way of saying thank you. Besides, he never missed an opportunity to see Harry.

Seated on Sirius’ left, and Hermione’s right, was Harry. At almost 28, Harry was no longer a child. An even 6 feet, his frame had filled out considerably as he’d gotten older. He was no longer the scrawny 11-year-old Hermione had first met; his features were chiseled and Hermione was the first to admit he was handsome. Featured every year since his eighteenth birthday in Witch Weekly’s 25 most eligible bachelors list, he wasn’t short of admirers; however, he’d never really had a serious girlfriend. None of his relationships had lasted longer than 9 months. Hermione knew there were many reasons for this; first and foremost was his reluctance to allow anyone to get close to him. Voldemort was a distant but constant threat hanging over Harry’s head; Harry was one of the few left in the wizarding world who still believed Voldemort was alive. Most thought he’d gone away to die after a showdown with Harry 5 years ago; Harry believed he’d retreated to lick his wounds and ! make himself strong again.

Hermione felt another reason for the lack of longevity with Harry’s romances was the fact that he rarely allowed anyone to see the *real* him. He was not comfortable sharing his fears with others; sometimes Hermione, who had been his best friend for 17 years and his roommate for 10, had to coax his true feelings from him. But she knew him well enough that she was usually able to guess what he felt deep down; he didn’t have to say it. He didn’t usually hide much from her and Ron, but he didn’t always volunteer it either; they had to surmise it from his actions. Hermione also sensed that Harry was constantly afraid of losing those he loved, and therefore was reluctant to allow himself to love someone new. This saddened Hermione, because she wanted for Harry to be happy more than anything. He deserved happiness having been through so much misery in his life, and Hermione hoped that one day he’d find someone and settle down.

Harry was currently dating a model that he’d met through Draco. April Richardson was tall, blonde and beautiful - and unfortunately, she knew it. They’d only been on a few dates, mostly dinner. Hermione didn’t get the impression that Harry was at all serious about her, not like she seemed to be about him. Harry hadn’t introduced her to the Weasleys, which indicated to Hermione that he didn’t have serious feelings for her. She secretly hoped not, because she didn’t like April very much. April had made it painfully clear that Hermione was nothing more than an annoyance, although she’d been clever enough not to do it in Harry’s presence.

On Hermione’s left side sat Ron and Kellie. Ron Weasley’s life had changed forever the day Kellie Mayhugh entered the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes in Hogsmeade 4 years ago. Ron was working there as the manager, having gone straight from Hogwarts to work for Fred and George in their first shop. Kellie, a pretty brunette with warm brown eyes, was an American witch of Scottish descent. Ron had become instantly smitten with her, and had somehow managed to persuade her to have dinner with him before she left the shop. Kellie had only planned to stay in England for six months, having come across from Indiana to stay with a cousin for a break, but had fallen deeply in love with the lanky redhead. After a year’s courtship, she had accepted his proposal of marriage, much to the delight of the entire Weasley clan, as well as Harry and Hermione, who wholeheartedly approved of the relationship. Kellie had differed from Ron’s previous girlfriends; instead of being jealous of Hermi! one and her place in Ron’s life, she had made an effort to get to know her, and had found herself becoming close friends with Hermione. Together with Ginny, the three witches made a formidable trio, spending every Wednesday night together, sitting around talking and doing general girlie things. Kellie usually kicked Ron out of the house on Wednesdays, but it wasn’t like he had far to go to see Harry - they lived right next door. Ron had lived with Harry and Hermione right up until his wedding; when they'd found out the house next door was up for sale, they’d bought it, pleased to be able to stay close to Harry and Hermione.

Ron and Kellie owned the Diagon Alley branch of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. Fred and George had been discussing opening a shop in Diagon Alley for awhile, and had approached Ron and Kellie after their engagement to see if they wanted to buy it. After long discussions and the working out of finances, they’d agreed - only to have the twins give them the shop as a wedding present. They opened it as soon as they’d come back from their honeymoon, and it was wildly successful, forcing Ron and Kellie to hire a couple of full time staff. It also gave them the chance to have the occasional day off to spend together.

Hermione envied their marriage - after 2 years, it showed no signs of wavering. Kellie clearly adored her husband, and Ron worshipped the ground his wife walked on. They weren’t overtly affectionate in front of others as Ginny and Draco were, but it wasn’t hard to see how much they loved each other. Ron and Kellie loved being married, and they loved their life together. Hermione sighed as she glanced at them, wondering if she’d ever know what it was like to be in love like that.



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