A Mother's Instinct

Rating: T

I wrote it during the week I was unable to publish anything on here. I just spent my time reading other people's fanfiction, and in one of them, really, well, realised that Mrs. Weasley had killed the person who tortured Hermione. It wasn't that I didn't know, I just only realised it then. And I think that after the battle, they would have talked about a lot of things, and that was one of the things they had in common, so that should come up. And I really like reading little fics about how parents and children talk about relationship issues (ESPECIALLY Mr. Granger and Ron ones, they make me laugh). I marked it down as 'Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley' in the character section because it's really about Hermione and Ron, just talked about between Mrs. Weasley and Hermione.

This has been in my Document Manager for awhile now, and as I realised that Mother's Day is coming up for me soon, I figure that's a good day to post it then. If you read this on Sunday 8th of May, Happy Mother's Day :) (It may not be Mother's Day for you then though, I live in Australia and that's when it'll be Mothers Day for me.)

Anywho, on with the story.

I'm not J.K. Rowling, therefore, the Harry Potter world is not mine.

Hermione woke up with a shudder. She hurriedly sat up and looked around the room. It wasn't the sitting room of Malfoy Manor, which she had been in moments before. It was now Ginny Weasley's room, and Ginny was asleep on the other side of the room, in her bed. Ginny let out a snore of confirmation. Hermione let out a relieved sigh.

It was a few weeks after the final battle. Voldemort was finally gone, but at a heavy price. Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Fred Weasley were just three of the casualties of the battle. The Weasley family still had trouble getting accustomed to the fact that George's twin was gone, but each day the pain lessened, at least slightly.

They were trying to move on.

The atmosphere at the Burrow was now much more somber than it used to be, but day by day it would become a little more cheerful. Hermione rather missed the liveliness of the place, but knew that it would be hard for things to stay the same now that Fred was dead.

It never would be the same. Not really.

But someday, it would be close.

Hermione turned to the side, letting her feet gently touch the cold wooden floor. Standing up, she grabbed her wand from her nightstand, muttered "Lumos," and guided herself to the door.

The hallway light was on. Hermione knew it would be. Everyone was still shaken after the war, and they needed the little assurance that a light could give them. Hermione wondered whether she should go up to the top floor to see Ron, but she couldn't bear to interrupt his sleep. He needed it too much. Instead, she made her way down to the kitchen, to have a nice, soothing cup of tea.

She was not alone though. As she approached the kitchen, she heard the sound of running water and dishes clashing. The light was on here too. Walking in, she saw Mrs. Weasley, standing at the sink. The sound of running water could not block out the sound of sobs.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked.

Mrs. Weasley jumped and turned around hastily. "Hermione, dear! Everything alright?" her face was red and puffy, her eyes bloodshot.

"Yes, fine, just a bad dream." Hermione waved her hand dismissively. "Is everything OK here?"

Mrs. Weasley gestured to the sink with her hand. "Oh yes, fine, just fine." There was a pause. "Just washing the dishes."

Mrs. Weasley had never done the dishes manually. She'd always let them be washed magically. Only when she needed to make herself busy did she do it by hand.

"Would you like some help?" Hermione asked

"Oh, no." Mrs. Weasley chuckled, and Hermione knew immediately she was trying to get over Fred.

"Mrs. Weasley," Hermione began, sitting down at the table. "You need to take a break. You need to relax and allow everything that happened to settle in. Denying it won't help, eventually it'll catch up to you, and it'll feel worse then, than it does now." Being around Harry all those years taught Hermione a lot obout grief.

Mrs. Weasley let out another sob, and sat down at the table. "I just miss my baby boy!" she exclaimed, and started crying. Hermione leaned over and put a reassuring hand on her back.

"We all do," Hermione whispered. Mrs. Weasley let her head rest on the table as she sobbed. "That's it Mrs. Weasley, just let it all out." She said soothingly.

Mrs. Weasley looked up at her, looking as if she just realised Hermione was here. "Oh, dear. Look at me. I'm falling apart! I can't do this, I need to stay strong, I can't do this, I can't—' she burst into tears once more, and collapsed on the table again.

"It's fine, it's natural. You need to do this Mrs. Weasley. Let it all out." Hermione said softly. "It's like a scabbed knee, you need to get rid of all the bacteria before you can fix it completely." She felt a little unsure about whether she should use this metaphor, seeing as Fred must have had scabbed knees many times during his childhood.

But Mrs. Weasley accepted it, and let herself cry more. Hermione patted her back tenderly. "That's it."

They stayed like that for about a quarter of an hour, until Mrs. Weasley looked up.

"Thank you dear. I'm sorry." Her eyes were red and her face was blotchy.

"You have absolutely no reason to be sorry, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione assured her.

Mrs. Weasley waved her hands in disagreement, but did not say anything. She hurriedly stood up and stumbled over to the sink.

"So dear, what are you doing up at this time?"

Hermione sighed. Her problems seemed so trivial compared to Mrs. Weasley's.

"Just a bad dream." Hermione said offhandedly.

"Would you like something to eat?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Hermione shook her head. "I'll make us some tea." As soon as she put the kettle on, she sat back down next to Hermione. "Now, tell me about that bad dream."

"It was nothing." Hermione said, trying to get off the topic. She didn't want to burden Mrs. Weasley even more.

"It was not nothing if you felt you needed to come down here instead of rolling over and going to sleep again." Mrs. Weasley said sternly. "Now, tell Mrs. Weasley what happened."

Hermione took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, in March, we accidentally spoke You-Kn—Voldemort's name." It still scared her to say his name. Ever since she found out it was taboo-ed she avoided it like she avoided Ron in sixth year whilst he was dating Lavender. "Snatchers came, and… they realised who we were."

Mrs. Weasley gasped, and said softly under her breath, "Dear Merlin."

"We were taken to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix Lestrange… she had a fake Gryffindor sword in her Gringott's vault, although she thought it was real. She also had a horcrux in the vault. When she saw the real sword in our possession, she thought we'd been in her vault… and… and that we'd taken something else… like the horcrux. She sent Harry and Ron into the cellar… but… kept me…"

"Why did she keep you?" Mrs. Weasley asked, hanging on to every word.

Hermione took a deep breath to control herself. She felt like crying now, as she relived the memory once more.

"Because I… I… I was a… a mudblood." Hermione let a few tears fall down her face before composing herself. She heard another gasp from Mrs. Weasley. "She tortured me. C-crucio." It was difficult to utter the name of the curse, such horrible memories were associated with it. "It was… awful... the most horrible pain ever possible, more horrible than you could imagine... I lost consciousness after awhile, but according to Ron she put a knife to my throat, and a chandelier fell on me too."

"Dear Merlin." Mrs. Weasley repeated.

"We escaped, we went to Bill and Fleur's, and now I'm physically alright… but…"

"Not mentally." Mrs. Weasley supplied, knowing that Hermione's bad dream was all about that night.

Hermione nodded and ducked her head down, hiding the tears from Mrs. Weasley. The tea was ready now. Mrs. Weasley stumbled over and poured two cups, putting one in front of Hermione. Once Hermione settled down, she picked up her cup and looked up at Mrs. Weasley once more.

"Thank you."

"Oh, it's only tea." Mrs. Weasley scoffed.

"No," Hermione said. Mrs. Weasley looked confused, so Hermione clarified. "Thank you for giving her what she deserved." Really, she shouldn't be wishing ill on others, but she couldn't help herself.

"I'm even happier that she's gone now. After what she did to you." Mrs. Weasley shook her head in disbelief. "She killed a good friend of ours, she almost killed my daughter, and she tortured you, not to mention what she did to countless others."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you." She repeated.

"It's I who should be thanking you." Mrs. Weasley said. "You helped make the world a better place for us to live in. And though I now have one less son, I'm glad to see that one of the ones I have left is living his life the best he can – and it's all thanks to you."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, confused.

"My Ronnie." Mrs. Weasley said fondly. Hermione smiled. "He's devastated about his brother's death, as we all are. But when he sees you… his eyes light up and he smiles. And it's just wonderful to see your children smile. But when you come to him, just sit with him, or talk to him, his smile grows, and it's so difficult to get it off. I see how you two lie on the couch, how he has his arm around you like he'll never let you go, and a smile on his face like he's wondering how he got so lucky. You've helped him through this… this terrible time… and because of that, you've helped the rest of us." Hermione's face was a bright pink now. Mrs. Weasley chuckled and patted Hermione's cheek lovingly. "You helped us see that while a member of our family is gone, it doesn't mean all the goodness in the world is too."

Both women had tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. Torn between feeling sadness and happiness, they both opted for the latter.

"He helps me too." Hermione said after awhile. "He helps me deal with the pain too. The pain of everything going on around here, and the pain of not knowing how my parents are."

"You've got everything ready for Thursday, right?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Hermione nodded. It was now Tuesday—Wednesday morning—and she and Ron would be leaving for Australia on Thursday as they'd planned with the Ministry. Hermione, being the organized and careful person she was, had already packed everything. "I can't wait to see them again." Hermione blurted out.

Mrs. Weasley chuckled again. "You'll see them soon, if Ron's description of your magical ability is anything to go by."

Hermione laughed. "Ron gives me too much praise now."

"He loves you." Mrs. Weasley said simply. "He's matured over the past year, and I can tell it's all for you. Everything he does is for you. He loves you."

Hermione felt tears in her eyes again. "I love him just as much." She whispered. In any normal case she would have felt a little embarrassed telling her boyfriend's mother about her feelings towards him, but not tonight. Not now that they've bonded over so many things already in just this one night.

"I know you do." Mrs. Weasley smiled. "I can see it in your eyes. His too." She raised an arm to wipe her eyes.

"Mrs. Weasley," Hermione began, her voice rising slightly, "What's wrong?"

Mrs. Weasley waved her hand dismissively. "It's nothing. I just feel like I'm losing him to you."

Hermione felt like she had been punched in the stomach. That's nothing? "Mrs. Weasley, I-"

"Oh don't worry dear! It's fine! It's something a mother goes through all the time. It's just, seeing your son, grown up, not needing his mother as much as he did when he was younger… it's sad. But it has to happen. And if it has to happen, I'm glad I'm the girl he needs in his life is you." Hermione let the tears fall down her face at that moment.

"I am too." Hermione said softly.

"I know." Mrs. Weasley placed her cup on the table. "Let's go to sleep now. We've had a tiring day." She took Hermione's empty cup from her and placed it in the sink. Hermione stood up and stretched, walking over to the door.

Mrs. Weasley waved her wand and the dishes began washing themselves. She turned back to face the doorway. Hermione was still standing there.

"Mrs. Weasley… you won't ever lose Ron." Hermione smiled back at Mrs. Weasley and left the kitchen.

As Hermione reached the first floor landing, the one Ginny's and her temporary room was on, she saw Ron looking around the corridor frantically.

"Ron?" she hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Blimey Hermione, where were you?" Ron stumbled over to her, while she walked over slowly towards him.

"I asked you first." Hermione reminded him.

"Right, well, I woke up from a bad dream, wanted to check to see if you were okay," Hermione's smiled widened as she heard this, "and I come down here and you're not in there."

"I was downstairs." Hermione explained.

"I can see that." Ron said, gesturing to the stairs.

"I had a bad dream too, so I woke up, decided not to disturb you—"

"That's barmy, you could never disturb me." Ron interrupted.

"I didn't want to wake you up from the little sleep we get." Hermione said, blushing at what he said. "I went downstairs and spoke to your mother. We had a nice chat."

"She didn't share any embarrassing stories about me, did she?" Ron asked worriedly.

Hermione laughed. "No, not at all."

"What d'you talk about then?" Ron asked

"Malfoy Manor," Ron shuddered as he heard this, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around her, "Fred's... um, departure," Ron nodded, tilting his head down closer to hers. "And… she told me you love me." Hermione was pink.

"And mother knows best," Ron mumbled before leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips. It was short and simple, but even that made Hermione's head spin dizzily. Ron smirked at her reaction.

Oh no, we can't have that smirk there, Hermione thought mischievously, and slowly ran her fingers up his arms and chest, making Ron swallow nervously, the smirk long gone. Hermione let her arms rest around his neck, and lifted herself up to kiss him. This one was longer than the first, and Ron quickly tightened his hold around her waist as he responded.

They broke apart only when they heard a clearing of a throat, which sounded rather similar to Umbridge's. Hermione's and Ron's faces were flushed, and upon seeing Mrs. Weasley standing at the stairs, they turned even pinker.

"What are you doing down here Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked, a smirk on her face.

"Uh…" Ron reached up to scratch the back of his neck as he usually does when nervous, but Hermione's hands were resting there still, and they got tangled. Hermione blushed even further, and let her arms fall to her side. "I woke up, and uh… wanted to see if Hermione was alright." Ron looked over at Hermione and surveyed her from head to toe. "And uh, you are, so I'm just, uh… going to go."

Ron turned and walked as quickly as he could without waking anyone else. Before disappearing completely, he turned back and smiled at Hermione. Hermione ducked her head, blushing more, and waved in response. Ron grinned and vanished from sight.

Hermione looked back at Mrs. Weasley, whose smirk had only increased.

"A mother's instinct is never wrong." Mrs. Weasley said, and turned to go to sleep. A sleep Hermione knew would be peaceful, just like her own.

A/N Review, pretty please? :)

(And Happy Mother's Day)