Dramione One Shots

Tolerate It

Hermione sat and watched Ron reading the Daily Prophet with his head low. It was just the two of them at the moment. The children will be home in a couple days but it would just be her who will be picking them up from Hogwarts Express with Ginny. Ron had told her he had an appointment from the Ministry with Harry.

And yes, you guessed it. Hermione Weasley nee Granger is jobless. A housewife who tends to her husband and children, well when her children are home for the holidays. It was a shock to Harry than to her when she voiced how she wanted to be a stay at home mum, like her mother-in-law. Harry and Ginny had looked at her like she had grown three heads. They knew how much their friend wanted to work. She had been talking about it since they were in their schoolyears. So it came as a surprise when she decided to tend to Ron and be a full time mother.

She noticed everything he does and does not do. The way he would munch his meal like it would be the last meal he'll ever have. The way he would scrunch his nose when he doesn't like something but never says a thing. The way his eyes would darken whenever he sees her. It wasn't the look he would give her when they first started dating. His eyes would always light up and his world would revolve around her. Loving her. Worshipping her.

But now. Now it felt like his just. . .tolerating her. Everything she does. It feels like it wasn't enough.

He was the one who suggested she be a stay at home mum. Arguing that if his mother could do it, she could too. Hermione had felt like she was slapped in the face but she wanted to please him. She wanted him to love her. And if being a stay at home mum would make him love her more then so be it.

But it changed when she had Hugo. He wasn't happy anymore. Sure, he would be happy playing quidditch or teaching silly spells at their children but he doesn't acknowledge her the way a husband would acknowledge his wife.

She would be greeting his colleagues with a smile, tending to them as she would her husband. Serving them meals like a house elf. Doing her best to look presentable, desirable even for her husband. But Ron had not batted his eye at her.

He was busy with his rowdy mates. Too busy to even look at her anymore. He spent most of his time outside the house. Coming home at the godly hours of the morning, reeking like alcohol and cigarettes, and sometimes - women's perfume.

Hermione had cried herself to sleep, most times watching Ron sleep. The husband she thought would be her forever. Now that said husband would just acknowledge her whenever he pleases. He would not even look at her direction anymore, avoiding her as much as he could with their families and friends trying desperately to help them fix their marriage. If not for them, then for the sake of their children.

She would wait for him to come home like a child waiting for Santa to come down the chimney to set gifts for being a good girl. She felt ridiculous. She felt dirty. She felt like she did not belong there anymore. Not with her husband. Not with anyone. She felt totally alone. And she hated it.

So she did what anyone in her place would, she hid herself. She never talked unless necessary. She never socialized. She locked herself in their house. Trying desperately not to fall apart. Of course, Harry and Ginny noticed. Wanted to help her but thy respected her privacy. If she did not want to tell them, they would let her be. But they kept assuring her that they're there whenever she needed them. Hermione would just smile in response and nod.

She'd busy herself practicing spells or polishing plates until they gleam and glisten. She'd be cleaning the house so much that not a single dust could be seen.

Until one day, she had enough.

Asking Harry for a favor had her sitting on edge. She sat stiffly at a muggle café. Not wanting any reporters or Rita Skeeters minions to see her. Much less with Harry.