Rose Weasley and The Beast of the Black Lake, year 2

Closer

"Ron, I don't know what we're going to do," said Hermione late one night as the moon shown bright across the master bedroom's wood flooring.

"About Rose?" asked her husband while pulling straw from a brightly colored blazer.

"It's just... I'm worried Ron! What she did last year was so dangerous! I was excited for her to be going to school but now... now I don't think it wise to... to..."

"You want to Homeschool?"

Hermione didn't respond. Ron dropped the blazer and turned to his wife.

"Look," he said. "I understand how you're feeling. Not only did she become friendly with a Malfoy, but she gets involved with this kid who leads her from Hogwarts where they both nearly died under the wand of the Belladonna Drury."

Hermione winced at the name.

"But listen," he said, pulling her face toward his. "we can't hold her back now. In her defense, she never meant to leave, she was trying to keep her friend from making the wrong choice and was pulled in."

"But she never even told us about the letter!" Hermione exclaimed. "A ransom! A real ransom!"

"Did you ever tell your parents about all that had happened to us at Hogwarts?"

"Of course I didn't! But this is different; my parents were muggles, they wouldn't have understood."

"They would have understood better than you're letting on," said Ron. "You didn't tell them because you were afraid that they'd pull you out of school."

"But what about Hugo?" Hermione asked desperately.

"What about him?"

"He's going to Hogwarts soon, and I'm worried that he'll get involved too! He's always so quick to jump into dangerous things that he knows little of because it'll make a story, or better yet, 'No one told me not to.'"

"You're not worried about Rose..." said Ron slowly. "You're worried about Max..."

Hermione didn't say anything again.

"Sweetheart, you very well know that you can't force Rose to stay away from him. He's her best friend."

"But this was his fault," she said quietly. "If Rose had never met him, then she would have never met Bel-" she took a deep breath. "Belladonna Drury." The name brought an uncomfortable tingling sensation through her spine.

"If you had never met Harry then you may never have met you-know-who," said Ron.

"Voldemort," said Hermione sternly.

"Right... I know you're worried, but you can't pull her out of school because of this, much like you wouldn't have wanted your parents to pull you out of school for what you did. And you can't keep Hugo from school either just because of what Rose did."

"Can't I just-?"

"No," said Ron sternly. "you are not going to Hogwarts with them."

"Not with them," Hermione pleaded. "I'd be a Professor."

"Hermione, if my mom or dad had come to Hogwarts as a Professor, I would have crawled in my sock drawer and died of humiliation. These kids need their space. They need to grow to become their own person and figure out who they are without their parents hovering above them, watching every move they make. Besides, Neville and Hagrid are there. You're going to let Rose and Hugo go to Hogwarts as a free person, do you understand?"

Hermione's eyebrows traveled up her head threateningly, but Ron stood his ground. She sighed.

"Honey," said Ron, placing a hand on her face. "They're going to be okay."