The Seventh Year Soap Opera

The Seventh Year Soap Opera

RECAP OF CHAPTER NINETEEN- The Birth: The birth, pretty much. And at the end of the chapter we find out that Ron and Hermione's son Charlie is deaf because of the Cruciatus Curse that Malfoy placed on Hermione. Oh, and Ron decides he'd like to kill Malfoy.

Chapter Twenty- Returning to Hogwarts

The news that their child was deaf erased any bad feelings Ron and Hermione had toward each other. They both knew they had to be strong for their baby. Both of them regretted not dwelling more on the child's health after Hermione had been put under Cruciatus, something that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. However, now that the Charlie had been born, and they were back at Hogwarts, he had their full attention.

A day after he was born, Hermione had had a stream of visitors into the hospital. Her parents had come, but they still refused to watch over the child. The entire Weasley clan had come, naturally. Ron proudly showed off his beloved baby boy, but Hermione threatened all the Weasley boys that she would turn them into grapefruits if they did anything stupid with her child. "Now we can't toss him back and forth," Fred had muttered to George. It was the wrong thing to say, however, and he wound up in a Body Bind Curse.

Bill and Charlie had argued over what Charlie was going to be when he grew up. Charlie had been pleased to find out the baby had been named after him, and so he said that the baby would grow up to work with dragons. Bill said he was going to work at Gringotts. Go figure.

Percy had said that Ron had better turn Charlie into a "suitable Weasley" and he and Hermione had begun teaching themselves sign language.

Molly and Arthur never let go of Charlie and they clung to him like leeches. It had gotten so bad that Hermione had yelled at them to give her her baby or else.

Harry and Ginny had stood back, laughing hysterically at what was going on.

Now, three days later, Charlie was the center of attention in the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry was keeping a close eye on Ron, making sure he didn't go on a hunt for Draco Malfoy. For when Ron and Hermione had set foot in Hogwarts from the hospital, Ron's eyes had angrily searched the corridors, and, while everyone was goggling over Charlie, he had quietly escaped from the scene.

He had actually gotten pretty far before Seamus noticed, and yelled, "Get him, quick!", at which time Ron began to run toward the Slytherin common room. Hermione had been clinging to Charlie and yelling, "Harry, I told you to watch him!"

Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor boys had chased after Ron, and, after successfully tackling and pinning him to the ground, stayed in a big clump until Ron had calmed down, a whopping thirty minutes later.

Now, they had been back at Hogwarts for two days. Lavendar was screaming at Charlie, trying to communicate with him. Hermione, not knowing what else to do, placed a Silencing Charm on her. Obviously telling Lavendar that Charlie was deaf and wouldn't understand a word you said wasn't enough. Viktor had left the school (his leave was over), but he wrote to Hermione every day.

And Hermione had gladly taken her Head Girl duties back.

Soon, everyone left the common room to go to class and Ron, Hermione, Charlie, and Professor McGonagall were left alone in the common room. Charlie was in Hermione's arms, sucking his thumb, a little tuft of bright red hair in the middle of his head. "Ouch," Hermione said as he tugged on her own hair with his other hand.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley should be arriving around lunchtime to pick up Charlie, is that correct?" Professor McGonagall said to them, standing up from her place on the sofa and straightening her emerald robes. Ron and Hermione nodded. "Good. Now, until that time, the both of you are excused from class to keep an eye on your son. Once he leaves with the Weasleys, you are back to your normal schedule, except when you go to visit him on weekends. Is that understood?"

"Yes," answered Hermione, wiping the drool from her son's mouth.

Professor McGonagall looked on in awe. " He is simply adorable," she said.

Ron grinned. "He gets it from his father." Hermione rolled her eyes good-naturedly and their Professor smiled, a glazed look gracing her unusually stern features. She looked almost young.

"I had always hoped...children would've been wonderful..." Her voice trailed off and Hermione noticed something in her eyes she had never seen before. Professor McGonagall had never seen the type to have children.

"Why did you never have children?" she asked rather boldly, unaware that she was being insensitive.

Professor McGonagall's eyes turned hard with pent up anger. "You could say my suitor was not suitable," she said, turning abruptly and leaving the room.

Ron stared at Hermione and shook her head. "You're always so nosy, Hermione," he told her. She responded in a mature way and stuck her tongue out at him.

Charlie began to cry suddenly. Hermione stared at him in horror, and she began to panic. "Why is he crying?" she said nervously, rocking him gently back and forth, her mind going in "baby problem solving" mode.

Ron shrugged, amused that out of everything, a baby was hard for Hermione to handle. "He might need to be changed," he suggested. Hermione immediately handed Charlie over to him. Changing a diaper was not her forte. "I don't think so Hermione," said Ron knowingly, a smirk playing on his lips. "I did it last time...and the time before that...and the time before that..."

"Dean did it that one time!" Hermione said indignantly.

"Yes, yes he did. And now it's your turn, Hermione Granger. Welcome to motherhood." That stupid smirk on his face infuriated Hermione and she wanted so dearly to slap him like she had Malfoy in third year.

Charlie was still crying madly. Be quiet child, she thought. You're giving mummy a headache. "Oh, all right," she gave in, laying Charlie on the floor and unfastening his diaper. "Thank goodness, he's fine." She was enormously relieved. She couldn't deal with that unique smell so early in the morning.

"Maybe we should play with him?"

"You think?" Hermione snapped.

"Okay, lady, you're not pregnant anymore. Stop it with the mood swings." Ron lay on the floor next to his baby boy and covered his eyes with his hands. "Peek-a-boo!" he said to the crying infant. Charlie began to cry again.

"Well, what d'you expect? Mummy refuses to let me toss you in the air," Ron said, propping his elbows on the floor and cupping his face in his hands.

"Damn right!" Then noticing the baby was crying again, she began to get agitated. "Why doesn't he like peek-a-boo? Don't all babies?"

"He can't actually hear me say peek-a-boo, Hermione," pointed out Ron. He sat up and pulled a rattle that Parvati Patil had given him. He put it back almost instantly. "He won't be able to hear that either," he sighed.

"What about this?" said Hermione, summoning a puzzle from her dormitories and setting it down in front of her son.

Ron raised his eyebrows. "Hermione, he's three days old. That is a thousand piece puzzle. The most fun he'll get out of that is putting the pieces in his mouth." Hermione's eyes widened and she snatched the puzzle from her son's grasp.

"Now, now, Hermione, learn to share," teased Ron. Hermione sighed and banished the puzzle back to her room, trying to drown out her son's cries.

"What is wrong with you?" she whispered to her son.

"What did you say Hermione?" asked Ron loudly over the racket.

"SHUT UP CHARLIE!" yelled Hermione at the top of her lungs. Charlie stopped crying for a second, sparking the tiny hope in Hermione's heart that he could really hear her--it turned out he was only taking a deep breath and he shrieked at the top of his lungs again. Hermione was oblivious. "I just yelled at my baby...my child...I screamed," she began to cry too. "I-I'm a horrible mother...oh God Charlie, honey, I'm so sorry...mummy's sorry..." She cradled him in her arms and she cried into his hair.

"Hermione, you've only had three days practice," Ron said, but she didn't hear him. He took Charlie from her arms and placed him in the baby swing that Neville had bought them. He began to rock it back and forth, and almost miraculously, Charlie stopped crying. "See?" Ron laughed. "This was all he wanted, you're doing fine, Hermione."

Hermione showed no sign of cheering up, sitting cross-legged on the ground with a faraway look on her face, her cheeks red. Ron sat next to her. "If it helps you feel any better, I'll have you know, I slapped Ginny when she was a baby. You only yelled at Charlie."

"Why did you slap her?" Hermione said, stunned.

"She drew all over my Chudley Cannons poster." Hermione laughed at the disgruntled look on Ron's face--it was obviously an incident he had not gotten over.

"What happened after you slapped her?"

"She slapped me back, most unfortunately." Hermione burst into laughter at this. Ron always could make her laugh; she loved that about him. Feeling much better, she stood up and walked over to where Charlie was swinging happily in his swing, and began to rock him back and forth. He was soon fast asleep.

Harry sighed as he walked back from the Potion dungeons. Snape had detected fifty points from Gryffindor throughout the class period--but mainly because Harry had talked back to him. Snape had criticized his father endlessly and Harry finally shouted that he was jealous of his father because he couldn't compare with him. He had desperately wanted to add that, next to him, a rat smothered in hair grease would be more satisfactory.

Now, however, he felt horrible. Snape had gone sort of rigid and his face had turned white, but he had still reminded Harry that he was an orphan. Actually, the question had been haunting Harry for quite some time. What would he do when he graduated from Hogwarts? Where would he live? Perhaps, he, Ron and Hermione could share a flat or something.

Knots in his stomach instantly formed and twisted in odd ways when Harry looked up from his musings to see Ginny. His heart jolted, but almost stopped beating when he saw her talking with Justin Finch-Fletchey. Get away from her! He thought, as his eyes darted around, thinking of some sort of diversion.

It was no use. His mind had frozen, gone completely blank. Images of Ginny soared through his head uncontrollably and he knew this was giving him a glazed look similar to that of when he read his books on Quidditch.

He shook his head, ridding himself of her hair, her skin, and her eyes, and concentrated on the Ginny before him. He sighed and clenched his fists in anger as Justin poked Ginny's nose. She laughed and started talking to him in a low whisper.

Why didn't you tell her you loved her when you had the chance?

Ginny was chatting with her friend, Justin--her best friend, actually, when she spotted Harry out of the corner of her eye. Justin knew all about her crush on Harry and teased her about it at every available opportunity. "Look, there's your lover boy," he said, poking her nose.

She laughed and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Do me a favor will you?" she said, realizing that Harry was staring, staring at them.

"What?" said Justin suspiciously.

"Kiss me."

"What? Ginny, have you gone daft?"

"I want to show Harry what he's missed out on. Come on, please."

"Not in a thousand years," he said, crossing his arms.

"What, am I that unappealing? Please Justin, just real quick!"

"No."

"You're impossible."

"I just don't think that--" Before he could finish, Ginny had kissed him firmly on the lips.

"HEY!" shouted Harry, running over to them. I thought she didn't like him like that, stupid vixen!

Ginny broke away from Justin, quite pleased with herself. "Ginny, I'll never forgive you," Justin muttered.

"Sure you will."

"What the hell was that?" Harry demanded indignantly, his cheeks turning red, anger coursing through him. He glared at Justin, and Justin shook his head, not believing any of this.

"Why do you care?" said Ginny in a smooth voice, eyeing Harry closely.

"I-I-I don't," stuttered Harry. "I'm just worried about what Ron's going to say."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "You're a horrible liar Harry. Your eyes give you away."

Harry was taken by surprise, but silently cursed his eyes. "Well, I'll leave you two to talk, shall I?" said Justin, strolling away from the awkward situation.

Harry and Ginny walked in the opposite direction, towards the Gryffindor portrait hole. "You and I both know you don't give a damn about what Ron would say," Ginny said, rather bravely in her opinion. Godric Gryffindor would have been proud. "Admit it already Harry. You're jealous!"

"What?"

"I love you and you love me, but you've too much of a prat to figure it out." Inside, Ginny was shaking. She was bluffing and she knew it. She had no idea what Harry felt for her now that he and Hermione were history.

Harry stared at her, stunned, and at a loss for words. She was so, so, blunt. "You're wrong," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and shifting his gaze to the floor.

"You still haven't figured it out," said Ginny, hopelessly. She was such a foolish girl, chasing after him like this. It had to stop; she needed to move on and grow up. She was not going to wait forever.

Harry looked up suddenly, and the determination on his face startled her a bit. "No, I've figured it out Ginny. But I didn't just realize it." He grinned and his green eyes told her that he was not lying.

"Are you serious?" said Ginny, her voice dancing like a five-year-old's. Her dream was coming true. "You love me?"

Harry nodded and his grin grew wider. She laughed with glee and jumped up and down. "It's about time," she said.

Harry watched her display of childish behavior with happiness. "I agree," he said, and before she knew it, he had bent down and brushed his lips tenderly across hers. She was floating with joy, her heart lighter than air, and Harry could feel the smile on her lips as she deepened the kiss. Shyly, his tongue entered her mouth through her parted lips and played delicately with her own. She giggled into his mouth and suddenly both of them were doubled over, clutching their stomachs with laughter.

"Okay," said Ginny, straightening up and pushing her hair from her face. "Let's try that again."

"Alright then." Once again, his lips covered hers and she escaped into total bliss. His hands drew her closer and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Eventually, his hands found their way to her hair and he stroked it gingerly. She planted kisses all around his face before she found his lips again. This was heaven, he was heaven, and she didn't want it to end.

But all things must come to end, and unfortunately, it wasn't a pleasant ending. A loud voice saying, "Bloody hell!" snapped them back to reality and they wretched apart. The Fat Lady in the Gryffindor portrait hole was smiling at them, dabbing her eyes with her hanky, but Ron Weasley stood in the doorway not looking happy at all.

"Er..." started Ginny, looking from Ron, to Harry, and then back to Harry.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" said Ron angrily, glaring at both of them. Hermione suddenly appeared at his side, looking worried.

"What happened?" she said curiously.

"They--they w-were snogging!"

Hermione grinned. "Oh, I thought it was something serious," she said with a wave of her hand.

"This is serious!" said Ron, staring at her in amazement. "Ginny, Harry, tell me what happened."

Ginny was becoming very irritated very fast. "You saw Ron, you said it yourself. Harry and I were snogging each other to death!"

Harry shook his head at Ginny. Really, Gin, that is not the thing to say right now.

Ron's cheeks flushed. "Why were you snogging?"

"Because we love each other," replied Ginny promptly. Harry nodded in agreement. Hermione grinned some more.

"Oh, I am getting a headache!" said Ron, grabbing his forehead dramatically. "I am so tired of people saying they are in love!" Next to him, Hermione stared at the ground. "Ginny, you don't love Harry, it's just a silly crush!"

Ginny felt like she had been slapped and her brown eyes sparkled with fury. "Oh, is it?" she snapped. "Look, Ron, look." She pulled Harry's head toward hers and kissed him fiercely, leaving him without breath. She turned angrily. "Would I just kiss someone like that if I didn't love him?" she said.

"Ginny, you--"

"No, you listen to me, Ron! I'm so sick of you running my life! I love Harry, he loves me, and you are going to have to learn to--to d-deal with it!"

"Deal with it? Ginny, how can you possibly love him? You just went to the ball with Justin!"

"AS A FRIEND!!" bellowed Ginny, her face as red as her brother's. "You know what your problem is, Ron?" Her voice was dangerously soft now and she was staring her brother directly in the eye.

"Ginny, I think you've made your point," said Harry quietly.

"No, Harry, I want to hear what she wants to say," said Ron, his eyes not leaving his sister's. Both Harry and Hermione knew that whatever Ginny had to say would be something Ron really didn't want to hear. Harry began whispering to Ginny and Hermione to Ron, coaxing them to drop it.

"No!" said Ron and Ginny at the same time. "I want to know what she's going to say!" Ron snapped as Ginny said, "No, he needs to hear what I have to say."

"What's my problem Ginny?" said Ron indignantly.

"You're a selfish prick. You go around telling people their faults. You gave Hermione no support when she told you she was marrying Krum--yes she told me--even though Viktor makes her feel happy. He makes her feel special." Hermione was crimson as Ron stared at her critically. "He makes her feel something that was never there when she was with Harry, or you for that matter." Ron felt like a ton of bricks had hit him over the head. "And yet, you ignore the fact that your best friend is practically floating on a cloud, and you go on about how she's too young, she's too immature, she needs to sort out her priorities, shit like that. You're so involved in yourself you haven't noticed how much in love she and Viktor are, or the fact that Harry and I have been drooling over each other lately. You used to be absolutely smitten with the idea of Harry and me being together, but that's changed now. Why? Because you don't want others to be happy since you aren't happy! You don't want people to be in love because no one loves you!"

"Shut up!" growled Ron, clenching his fists, even though every word his sister had just spoken was true. The girl he loved didn't love him back, and that made him bitter toward everyone else.

"You know it's true Ron. Admit it like a man."

Ron's eyes flashed with anger and with hurt. Deep hurt that tore him up inside. "Fine! I'll admit it! I'm an arsehole, okay? Happy now, Ginny? Pleased with yourself? I'm just a big loser with no hope of making anything out of myself. No one will ever fall in love with me, cause' I'm just plain old Ron Weasley, right? I got a girl knocked up, and I'm the sidekick. Not exactly much to offer." Then he began to laugh. "You're right, Ginny, absolutely right! I'm wrong. I'm always wrong, aren't I? That's something Hermione will tell you straight away."

He paused, not knowing what to say now. Harry was bewildered beyond words. He had never known Ron to act like this. Hermione was thinking of how incredibly wrong Ron was. He had a lot to offer and any girl who didn't see that, was...daft. She was the one exception, of course. Ginny gaped at him, also speechless, and regretted her words, like usual. She never could keep her mouth shut.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going up to my dormitories to wallow in my misery. I wish to be left alone," he said gruffly, slamming the portrait hole door shut so hard the picture wobbled.

"That certainly wasn't called for," said the Fat Lady.

"Oh shut up," snapped Ginny.

"What now?" said Harry.

Hermione shrugged. "Well, I'm happy for you," she said sincerely. "I'll go check on him."

"Hermione, he said he wants to be left alone."

"I don't care what he wants. Er, that came out wrong. What I meant, was I don't care, I'm going to speak to him anyway. Could you two watch Charlie for awhile?"

"Of course," said Ginny, "that little rugrat could probably cheer me up. I love babies."

Hermione bounded into the common room and up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. She knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Well, I hope you're decent," she said lamely, pushing open the door. On the far side of the room, Ron sat stiffly at his desk. His face was unusually pale and Hermione was startled to see that tears were streaming silently down his face. His face was impassive and his normally shining blue eyes were vacant of emotion. Hermione had never seen him like this and it scared her.

She approached him cautiously. "Ron? Ron, are you okay?" she said, kneeling next to him. He made no movements; it was as though he didn't even notice her entry. His eyes stayed glued to the wall, they were tearing up--then four tears rolled down his face. Obviously what Ginny had said had definitely poured salt on an open wound, and Hermione couldn't help but feel that it was her fault. He loved her, and she didn't love him back. "Ron, you can talk to me," she said, taking his hand into hers. It lay limply in her palm.

She had never seen him look so alone. "Ron, please say something to me--please," Hermione begged, tears streaming down her own face. "Please--anything, say anything!"

Very slowly, Ron's head turned toward her and his eyes bored into hers. "Why are you really marrying Krum?" he croaked in a whisper.

"Ron, I love him, how many times do I have to tell you?"

He jerked his hand out of hers and his head turned back to the wall. Hermione shook her head and began to sob. "Why can't you understand?" she cried. "I need you to understand, you're my best friend, and I need you to be happy for me...if you're not happy, it's hard for me to be happy, and I just got engaged...and I want to be happy!"

Ron said nothing, and Hermione was the one who now felt alone, like the light in her world had just burned out. Crying, she stood up and left the room. She went back down to the common room to find that Charlie was still sleeping and Harry and Ginny talking in low whispers. They raised their heads when she came in. "Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I-I'm fine," Hermione nodded in reply, trying not to cry anymore. "Doesn't class start soon?" she said, drawing the conversation topic from her.

"In about a half an hour," said Harry. "How's Ron?"

"He won't speak to me."

"Oh," said Harry, looking extremely uncomfortable.

Ginny's eyes flared. "It's not your fault Harry. Don't you see, it's not about us anymore, he's angry about what I said to him--even though it's perfectly true."

"Shut it Ginny!" snapped Hermione.

"Hermione, if you hadn't broken his heart, this wouldn't have happened," Ginny said quietly.

"I thought we were over that Ginny."

"Well, he isn't and he's taking it out on everybody else. Harry, let's go to the library or something."

"But your parents should be here soon," said Harry.

"That's why I want to go to the library," said Ginny with a grin. Harry grinned back at her and they bid Hermione good bye and left the common room. Hermione sunk into an armchair and smiled at the sight of Charlie swinging peacefully in the swing, his blue eyes hidden behind his eyelids.

Hermione let out a sigh and closed her eyes, her head pounding. Ron was not speaking to her and it was all her fault. But really, he was being selfish. She didn't love him, she loved Viktor, and he was still tailing after her. Why couldn't he get over it? Ginny was right; he was talking his anger and frustration out on everybody else. Surely he knew that wasn't good for him? Surely he knew that she wasn't good enough for him?

Ron was a sweet, if moody, man with a lot to offer. He deserved someone that loved him for who he was and not someone that was with him out of pity. He needed someone he could protect and would make him feel good about himself. Hermione wasn't that girl. She didn't need protection and she certainly didn't make him feel good; they had had plenty of rows where she declared herself to be superior to him, rows that degraded him to nothing. Why would he want that in a relationship?

Sure, she loved him, she always had. But not in the way he wanted. He was a brother to her, but more than a brother was if that was possible. It seemed that at times she had found feelings erupt for him inside of her like earthquakes, but that wasn't love. That was physical attraction, nothing more. To carry on a relationship, you need much more than that, you need support and stability. Hermione was positive that if they ever got involved with each other, they would both be emotionally unstable and their romantic relationship, along with their friendship, would be torn to pieces. They had already had sex and look what that had done. Made their lives a living hell.

Or maybe she was the one being selfish? She didn't know, it was too much to think about. "Bugger," she said quietly to herself. All of this thinking was making her tired. She shook her head, glanced over at Charlie, who was still sleeping, and decided to take a leaf out of his book.

She fell asleep on the couch.

"Hermione dear. Hermione wake up." Hermione opened her eyes and gasped in shock. Mrs. Weasley was standing over her, prodding her awake. Mr. Weasley was by her side, holding Charlie, who was now awake. Hermione straightened up and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry, we're so late dear."

"Why, what time is it?"

"It's two o'clock dear."

"Oh, it's okay," said Hermione groggily.

"Do you know what is wrong with Ron, by the way?" said Mr. Weasley.

"Where is he?" said Hermione quickly.

"He was very pale and he didn't speak to us at all. Like we weren't even there." He shook his head, a vein throbbing in his temple.

"Where is he?" Hermione said again.

"He was by the lake when we saw him, but I doubt he's there anymore. He muttered something about going to Hagrid's hut."

"Er, I'm late for charms," Hermione said hastily. "Thanks for caring for Charlie. Ron and I will see you this weekend, I suppose. See you later!" She pecked Mr. and Mrs. Weasley on the cheek and bounded out of the room.

"Is academics all she cares about?" said Mrs. Weasley in a strained voice.

"She didn't even collect her books," added her husband.