The wizarding world had finally begun to settle down after the tragic war, one that changed everyone's lives for the better and worse. Many lives were lost and the nightmares were a constant reminder of what they truly had to experience at such a young age. Hermione had lost many people who she deemed to be friends and mentors. Many of her fellow Hogwarts students lost their lives and some were far too young, knowing they would never get the opportunity to complete their education, never be able to graduate and find themselves a job they had always wished for, never find someone they love and grow a life together. That is what hurts the most.

She had lost Tonks, someone, she had grown to care about and had become close with during their time at Grimmauld place, which was the destination for the order meetings. They had lost Madeye moody, an experienced dueler and ex Auror and though they may not have been close, or friends at all for that matter, losing someone who was a part of your cause, was still painful.

There were a few people who came extremely close to death, Fred and Percy Weasley were both found under piles of brick due to an explosion. They were luckily found and the healers were able to help them, though there were a few times when the healers thought they would lose them. Remus Lupin, Harry's uncle in everything but blood, was found beside his mate, unconscious and we truly believed we had lost him too. Though, once we brought all the bodies to the great hall, we realised that he was alive but in a coma which he remained in for around five months. Once he woke, we had to watch him grieve for the death of his mate and the fact that their son, Teddy, would be without a mother.

After the war had finished, Hermione moved into the Burrow with her new boyfriend, Ron Weasley and his family. Things were going well in their relationships, in everyone's opinion, it was a long time coming and they were happy that they finally took the next step and got together. Unfortunately, things started to go wrong around eight months. Hermione and Ron were constantly arguing, more than usual anyway, and Hermione had started noticing Ron's weird behaviour. Hermione would appreciate all the dates that Ron would bring her on, but she noticed that they were always rather public and places they knew would be swarmed with paparazzi and fans. Hermione would rather stay out of the public and the limelight, whereas Ron, would encourage and show off in front of the crowds and cameras, always willing to stand there for hours, signing autographs and taking small interviews for multiple newspapers.

Hermione wasn't the only one who noticed his behaviour. Harry Potter, her best friend and brother, had experienced what fame was truly like and in all honesty, he hated it. It wasn't surprising that he reacted the same as Hermione, he stayed out of the limelight and focused on his Auror training. They both knew Ron had always been jealous of his fame and from his recent behaviour, they came to the conclusion that Fame had gotten to Ron's head and the person he used to be, was gone completely. His family noticed his reaction to fame also, everyone except his mother, Molly, who somewhat encouraged her son's behaviour.

As for Ginny, she had always been observant and she knew all her brothers more than they even knew themselves. She's the youngest and only girl out of her siblings and they were all wrapped around her finger, they all truly adored and loved her with everyone they have. She had always been closest to the twins, Fred and George, though she had an amazing relationship with Bill and Charlie, who were the two eldest. Percy, well he's Percy, their relationship had been strained for many years but that was due to his bossy and smug personality. He had always felt he was more important and smarter than all his family members, he was the only one, except his father, of course, that had got himself a job in the ministry. Even in school, he was a prefect and head boy, which gave him a lot of power and he made sure he reminded everyone, even when it wasn't necessary.

As it started to approach a year since the war had ended, both Hermione and Ginny found themselves fed up with Ron's behaviour. Ginny had tried to persuade Hermione to end their relationship, and truth be told, Hermione wasn't sure she even loved him in the way she was meant to. At times, she found herself adoring the man and other times, she truly hated him.

It had all come crashing down one day. They were all at the burrow, sitting around the large table and enjoying the lunch that Mrs Weasley had made. Conversations were flowing but Hermione found herself not being able to concentrate, she had a feeling that something was about to happen, something bad and she had learnt to always trust her feelings, they had never let her down before.

"Spitfire, are you okay?" George questioned quietly, not wanting to divert others' attention onto her. She had grown extremely close to the twins, along with Bill and Charlie and she truly felt that they were her older brothers, whereas Harry was her younger brother.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She responded with a smile that she hoped looked convincing. He raised an eyebrow, one that showed he didn't believe me for a second. I let out a sigh and ran my hands down my face in frustration.

"I don't know Georgie, I have a bad feeling" His face immediately morphed to one of concern, he was well aware of the type of feeling she was experiencing because he had the same feeling. He opened his mouth to respond, but they were interrupted by an owl that swooped in through the window, landing on her shoulder.

"Who's owl is that, dear?" Mrs Weasley asked with a confused frown. Hermione shrugged her shoulders and unravelled the newspaper from the owl's legs.

"The daily prophet?" Harry said with a crinkled nose. They had stopped reading the Prophet after all the horrible things they were saying about Harry in their fifth year.

"I don't even have a subscription with them anymore" Hermione sighed before opening the paper up. As her eyes landed on the front cover, her heart dropped and her eyes blurred with tears.

"Mione?" She could hear Harry calling her name, but she couldn't take her eyes off the picture that was plastered on the front page. She passed the paper to Harry, who was watching her with concern and confusion, however, the moment he saw the front cover, his expression darkened. He jumped from his seat, his wand in hand and pointed it straight at Ron.

"You" He shouted with pure venom, everyone was on their feet and watching the exchange warily.

"What the fuck are you doing, mate?" Ron responded, his wand pointing back at Harry. Hermione remained in her seat, shaking with anger whilst Ginny was trying her hardest to calm her down.

"Have you seen what's on the front cover? have you seen what you have done?" Everyone looked at one another before Charlie grabbed the paper. They all gathered around him, except Ron, who remained in Harry's line of fire. The room was quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. They all turned their attention onto Ron, who was still unaware of what was shown.

"How could you?" Charlie asked through clenched teeth, a gasp from Mrs Weasley was heard but no one paid her any attention.

"How could I what?" Ron responded in frustration.

"How could you cheat on her?" Fred shouted, causing everyone to jump slightly at his outburst. Ron's eyes widened and his face drained of colour, he turned his attention onto Hermione who remained seated but was now sobbing into Ginny's shoulder.

"Mione" He whispered as he took a step forward, but was met with an invisible wall. Everyone looked at Harry with a questionable expression, but he shook his head and they could see the confusion on his face.

"Let me through, Harry" Ron shouted, his fists banging against the Protection shields.

"You will not come near me, Ronald" Hermione demanded, her jaw clenched and her hands curled into a fist. She raised from her seat, her expression was cold and unnerving but her body continues to shake from anger.

"Surely you could forgive him, my dear" Mrs Weasley said softly but everyone turned to her with a look of disbelief. Hermione let out a scoff.

"Molly, your son slept with another woman. Someone he knows I hate, someone who caused a rift in our friendship. I will never forgive him" Her tone caused Molly to take a step back, and her eyes widened at the tone. Hermione had always been sweet and polite, but she wasn't in the mood to be either of those things, she was angry and the fact that Mrs Weasley expected Hermione to forgive him, was completely bazaar to her.

"It didn't mean anything, I love you, Hermione. I don't want anyone else" Ron cried desperately as he continued to bang against the Barrier. Hermione let out a scoff and rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, if you loved me, you would have never slept with another woman" She shouted, the air suddenly became thick and they could feel her magic lashing out slowly.

"Firecracker, I need you to calm down" Charlie whispered in her right ear as his hands were rubbing up and down her arms in hopes it calms her, which it usually did whenever she was upset.

"It was a mistake, Hermione. You never wanted to do anything with me and I felt lonely" Hermione couldn't help it, she couldn't stop herself from laughing. Everyone watched nervously whilst Ron's face turned red from anger and embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry, you were lonely?" He narrowed his eyes at her and nodded his head stiffly, causing another round of laughter to erupt from her mouth.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?" He shouted. It took her a few moments to gain some control, wiping the tears that escaped her eyes before taking a deep breath. Everyone was watching her nervously but Ginny seemed quite amused by her outburst.

"Did you seriously think I would believe such bullshit?" She questioned, causing Ginny to chuckle slightly but covering it with a clear of her throat. Hermione could feel Ginny's amusement and Harry's anger through their sibling bonds. They discovered they had one during their second year after saving Ginny from the chamber.

"You're right, I don't fucking regret it. I cheated on you because you weren't giving me what I wanted, you never wanted to sleep with me or do anything that I wanted. You would rather sit on your arse, reading or hanging out with my brothers, Harry or Ginny. You were always boring but after the war, you got worse. How can you expect me to not go out and get what I want when you weren't giving it to me? Maybe you're sleeping with my brothers, you spend a lot of time with them, so I wouldn't be surprised. Don't know what they would see in you, wanting to shag a dirty mudblood" The room was silent, everyone stood in pure disbelief at his words. Then all hell broke loose, wands were drawn and spells were shot but rebounded due to the barrier that stood in between them. Screams were heard from Mrs Weasley, begging everyone to stop but no one was listening, everyone was furious.

"Enough" Hermione shouted with a deep tone, causing everyone to come to a halt. She could feel herself losing control, she knew she had to calm down otherwise her secret would be revealed.

"You see Ronald, I didn't want to sleep with you because I wasn't ready. I didn't want to go out to the clubs because you relished in the fame, the fame that you wouldn't have if it wasn't for Harry and myself. You were always jealous of Harry, jealous of the fame that he had but what you never took into account was the fact that he didn't want the fame, he didn't want people calculating his every move or judging him for everything he says and does. The truth is, you have always been jealous that we are richer and can have things that you can't. The difference is, that you don't want to earn money on your own, you are happy to sit back and let others do the work and convince others that you were the brains behind everything. Look at your brothers Ronald, look at what they have done and achieved, all on their own. Bill works for Gringotts and is a curse breaker, which is one of the most difficult jobs you could get. He had become a goblin friend, which is a high achievement and a well-respected title in our world. Then there's Charlie, a Dragonologist, a dragon tamer which is one of the most dangerous jobs in the wizarding world. Percy was the head of the department of magical transportation and then became a personal assistant to the minister himself, and even though the minister was a bit of a prick, luckily, Kingsly was impressed with his work and kept him as his assistant. Fred and George, two of who were judged by this family for the grades they received and their dreams and yet, here they are with the most popular joke shop in the world. People travel to Britain just to see the shop and get a glimpse of the twins. Then there's Ginny, who completed her final year at Hogwarts and had Quidditch managers lining up in the hope they could convince her to join their teams. You see Ronald, they did that all on their own, with no help and without a single complaint. I'm not saying you didn't do anything for the war, because you were by our side through it all but don't stand there, and make out that you are the only one who was involved. Don't stand there and make me feel like shit for not relishing in the fame, I don't want to be famous, I don't want to be remembered as the person that helped with the war because every time a camera flashes in my face, all I see are the people that died in front of me. All the people that I had to kill to protect myself and the ones I love"

"Mrs Weasley, you have been nothing but kind and loving towards me. You are my magical mother and I will always love and appreciate you for everything you have done. You took me in and helped when I had to track my parents down and regain their memories. You're a beautiful woman, inside and out but these last few months, I have lost some respect for you. You encouraged Ronald's behaviour, you boosted his ego and made him think he deserved such fame and treatment. As I said, he isn't the only one who fought in the war, he isn't the only one who receives such treatment but from what I've seen, he is the only one who's letting the fame get to his head. We may have won the war, but you are both forgetting what we have lost. In my opinion, Your son's behaviour is a sign of disrespect to those who lost their lives and those who have to live every day with the grief of the loss of their family or friend. I will not forgive Ron and the truth be told, I'm not even upset, what I'm feeling are betrayal and anger. He had forgotten that before we started dating, we were best friends. Best friends since we were eleven years old and with his actions, he threw away his relationship and friendship. So no, Mrs Weasley, I will never forgive him" and sit that, Hermione walked out of the door without a second glance, her best friend, Ginny, following close behind with a proud smile.