Author's Note: This is the story that the scene that comprises "In Plain Sight" was cut from, so many of the things in this story may answer some questions left by that vignette. The first few chapter is more of a "missing scene" from "Deathly Hallows", but later chapters will fit into the timeline between the final chapter and that thrice-damned epilogue. This story is epilogue compliant, but only if you take a broad interpretation of the epilogue (namely that the book never implicitly states that Ron and Hermione are married). Otherwise, consider it EWE. I am not a Ron/Hermione shipper. Feel free to nitpick the canon timelines. I checked them, but I might have missed something.

No guarantees on rapid updates. I have most of the fic outlined and bits of nearly every scene written, but it's not complete, and is dependent on my time and muse!

Enjoy!

Beneath
By Ayslinn

One

"Your parents aren't really in Australia, are they?" Harry asked when they had settled down for the night a couple of weeks after Ron had stormed off. There had been no word from Ron since and it was unspoken between Harry and Hermione how secretly relieved they both were that he was gone. Ron's moods, tempers, and petty jealousies were draining on good days, let alone on the bad ones, and when they were all under the dark cloud of the locket Horcrux's influence, it was amazing that they hadn't all murdered one another.

Hermione looked up, startled, from the book that she was reading. "Why would you think that?" she asked quickly, perhaps too quickly, as a shrewd look came over Harry's face.

"You told us you'd modified their memories and sent them off to Australia, but the night that we escaped from the attack on Bill and Fleur's wedding, you said you'd never cast a memory charm."

"Potions, Harry," Hermione countered, thinking fast. "They're complex, but I brewed Polyjuice in our second year. I'm perfectly capable of brewing complex memory potions."

"Hermione, you've always been an awful liar," Harry grinned, but there as a hurt look in his eyes as if to say, 'Don't you trust me enough to tell me the truth?'

Hermione sighed and set aside the large tome she had been reading. "This goes no further than the two of us," she stated in a warning tone.

"I can't-"

"Don't make me make you take a wizard's oath, Harry. No, you cannot tell Ron or anyone else. Not Remus or any Weasley or your pet rock. No one. It's my place to tell them all- when all of this is over." A wistful look appeared on her face, and Harry couldn't tell if it was from memories or hope for the future that caused it.

"Where are your parents, Hermione?" Harry queried, bringing his best friend back to the present from wherever her mind had briefly wandered off to.

There was no not answering him now. Harry could be as tenacious as a niffler seeking treasure when he put his mind to something, and right now, his mind was set upon finding out Hermione's secret. Instead of arguing further with her best friend, she smiled slyly as she responded, "Bulgaria."

Harry nearly choked on his drink. Of all the responses that he might have been expecting, that was one that he had definitely not entertained. "Bulgaria?!"

Hermione nodded. "They told their friends and associates that they wanted to travel and do some charity dental work in far flung parts of the world, but in reality, my parents are in Bulgaria, as guests of the Krums, know exactly who they are, and are perfectly safe."

"Viktor?! Your parents are in Bulgaria with Viktor?!"

"His parents actually. Viktor is too busy with other things to entertain my parents. It's a bit odd considering my parents are muggles and don't speak a word of Bulgarian, and Viktor's parents don't speak more than a few words of English, but they were all getting along well enough when I left this summer. There were plans to try to teach each the respective other language since Viktor can't be there all of the time to translate."

"You were in Bulgaria this summer?" Harry's head felt like it was going to explode. He suddenly realized that there was a side to Hermione that he had never noticed, or, he kicked himself mentally, had been too wrapped up in himself to notice.

"This summer, last summer, the summer before. Honestly, Harry, do you think that I spend my entire summer at the Burrow? I do have family and friends that I miss when I'm at Hogwarts, and who miss me. When I entered the wizarding world, the muggle world didn't disappear for me," She watched Harry flinch and decided to soften her words some. "I know your muggle world isn't happy, and I know you found the family that you needed with the Weasleys, but I'd go spare with all of those people running in and out of the Burrow all summer and of Ron's hot and cold affections, not to mention his mother," Hermione shuddered. It was easy to tell which parent Ron Weasley received his temper from, and it wasn't his henpecked, easy-going father. "You know how he is; that hot temper is set off by the simplest things, and he has little problem with hurting someone else if it means his ego remains intact. He hurt me after the Yule Ball, seemed to be better at the end of fourth year when Viktor left, then last year he pursues Lavender, even while he thought that I was interested in him."

Harry nodded, recalling all of the events that his best friend spoke of. "You're telling me that you've spent the last three summers in Bulgaria, with Viktor Krum?"

Hermione smiled as she spoke, "Not the entire summer, of course. I did spend some time traveling with my parents, and the time at the Burrow with you and the Weasleys, but my annual Bulgarian visit has been a priority the last three summers. This summer was a longer visit as we needed to get my parents settled into their temporary home, and Viktor and I didn't get to do as much sightseeing as we have the past two summers, but it was still very nice to see him again."

"I knew you were still writing to him, despite your attempts to keep it from Ron, but I didn't think you'd actually been to Bulgaria. Are you and Viktor a thing? You seemed surprised to see him at the wedding. What about Ron? You danced with Ron at the wedding and didn't get a chance to talk to Viktor and I- bloody hell! I told Viktor you and Ron were sort of an item, and-"

Hermione interrupted him. "It's all right, Harry. Viktor understands. He and I agreed to keep our relationship very discreet, especially with recent developments. If the general public thinks Ron and I have a relationship, it's better for all involved right now. I can do what I need to do, and Viktor can do what he needs to do. It's a World Cup year, and Bulgaria has a good chance at making it to the finals so he's busy training and playing Quidditch, along with keeping an eye and ear open for Death Eater activity in his part of the world. I didn't dance with Ron so much as I was commandeered by him for the evening," She grinned at Harry, "Besides, just because you didn't see me talk to Viktor doesn't mean that I didn't. I was surprised to see Viktor there; he hadn't mentioned that Fleur had sent him an invitation, but he explained that he wasn't sure if he would be able to make it and didn't want to disappoint me if he couldn't."

"So you and Viktor are dating?"

A strange look that Harry couldn't quite place came over her face at his question. It seemed happy, yet there was an element of guilt to it. "No, not quite," Hermione paused for a moment, as if considering her next words. Whoever thought she was lacking a sense of the dramatic was wrong. "Harry, Viktor and I are married."

Harry sat there with his mouth open, gaping like a fish while it felt like the air had all suddenly been knocked from his lungs. "Married? As in husband and wife? How did you hide it so well? You're a terrible liar and-"

"Yes, married, Harry. Husband and wife. Bonded for life to a Quidditch player," She said the last with a hint of mockery to her tone as though being married to a Quidditch player was a fate worse than death. "I'm only a terrible liar when asked a question point blank. Lies by omission are easy. No one ever asked me about my relationship with Viktor, but I'm surprised no one asked anything after my flustered reaction to his presence at the wedding, but it was awfully chaotic that day," Hermione shrugged. "The American Muggles have a saying of 'don't ask, don't tell' in their military. It's the method I've been using in regards to my marriage."

"When did you get married? Why didn't you invite us?" Harry wasn't sure if he should feel hurt for not being invited or relieved that he didn't have to travel to Bulgaria and listen to Ron's complaints about "Vicky".

"We were married a couple of weeks before I left Bulgaria for the Burrow. We decided rather quickly to get married before I left- muggles do it all the time although normally it is the husband, not the wife, that is going off to fight in a war- and my parents gave their blessing as did his. I didn't invite you because we wanted to be discreet, not because I didn't want you there. We decided that keeping it secret would be safer for all of us. The Death Eaters are all over; less so in Eastern Europe, but if word got out that Viktor was married to the muggleborn best friend of Harry Potter, it would put him and his family in danger. Karkaroff is no longer a threat, but Dolohov still has ties in Russia. If anyone saw us talking or dancing at the wedding, it could be played down as old friends meeting again. It's no secret that we were each other's date for the Yule Ball during the Tournament. If the public thinks that Ron and I are a couple, there is no extra danger. The Weasleys are already considered blood traitors and Ron is your best friend along with me."

"Ron has no idea?"

"None. He would have flown into a jealous fit if he had known, and the secret would be out. I do feel bad for deceiving him, but it's necessary. In war, there is deception, but it is for the greater good," Hermione paused before continuing. "I do have one question- and Viktor was puzzled by this also- Harry, why was Ron casting low-level compulsion charms on me this past summer? They kept tripping the protection charms on our rings."

Harry shrugged his shoulders at the question, but then said as he remembered, "Probably because of something Ron read in a book," Harry laughed at the irony of the statement, however true it was. "Fred and George gave him a book on- oh, wait, he gave me a copy for my birthday. It should be in my knapsack." Harry rummaged around in his knapsack for a few moments and gave the slim volume to Hermione.

"Twelve Ways to Charm Witches," Hermione read the title aloud before opening the book and skimming the contents quickly. "A chapter on compliments- that explains some of his odd behavior, but no charms there. Oh! Here they are," Hermione quickly read the passage. "Unbelievable. Compulsion charms that are no better than love potions, and in one case, worse! Listen to this, 'The Amorous charm: Induces feelings of ease and euphoria into the target of the charm, making them more pliant and willing to accept romantic advances.' It's a magical roofie, Harry! This charm- it's almost as bad as the Imperius curse and this is after he was the unwitting victim of a love potion?!" Hermione gave Harry a pointed look, "Don't ever use the charms in this book, Harry. You want a witch to love you for you, not because of a love charm!"

"No worries, Hermione," Harry smiled. "The witch I have my eye on doesn't need any additional charming."

"True," Hermione smiled back. "Ginny loves you already."

Harry grinned goofily at that, but something puzzled him, "What's a roofie?"

"Muggle drug slipped to women, usually at clubs or parties, that lowers their inhibitions and makes them pliant. It's a date rape drug, Harry. It has the same effect as what the Amorous charm is meant to do."

"Ron used that on you?!" Harry was appalled that his best friend would do such a thing to anyone, let alone their mutual best friend.

"I don't know if he realizes that's the intent, and I don't think that he used this particular charm. Our rings would have lit up like Christmas trees if he had. It seems to be somewhat dark. There are other, milder charms in the book. Either way, they were blocked by the protection spells on my wedding ring," Hermione held up her right hand, showing the platinum band with an ornate floral and vine pattern engraved into it. A closer look by Harry revealed runic symbols interspersed into the engraving, but done in such a way that the symbols became a part of the design.

"Aren't wedding rings supposed to be worn on the left hand, Hermione?" Harry asked, wondering how his genius friend could have messed that one up.

"Right hand by Bulgarian tradition and it's easier to hide this way. No one expects me to be married, let alone to a Bulgarian, and there's no stone on the ring, so it's less noticeable. If anyone asks about it, it's easy to say it was a gift from a friend," Hermione smiled. "I have another ring, one with a stone, and Viktor is keeping it safe until I come home."

Harry nodded at this, smiling at the happy, wistful way Hermione said the word 'home'. It wasn't a lie to say the ring was a gift from a friend, and while the carving was ornate, the style was like he had seen other girls wearing around Hogwarts. "Every day you amaze me, Hermione. Just when I think I have you figured out, you surprise me again. I really thought you were interested in Ron. The way you've been acting since he's been gone and hexing him with canaries last year, well, I thought you had feelings for him."

"I was upset that he tried to ruin the Yule Ball for me with his jealousy and then turned around and snogged Lavender like a man dying of thirst because he thought he was getting me back for something. That was the reason for the canaries. That and the fact that I was frustrated that he could openly date someone-anyone really, it didn't have to be Lavender- while my boyfriend was 2000 kilometers away, and I couldn't tell anyone that I even had a boyfriend!"

Harry nodded. Even he could see the logic in that behavior.

"As for now, I'm upset that he took off and left us to figure this out on our own. For all of his faults, Ron is a brilliant strategist, and the three of us work best as a team. I also hate it when we are fighting. I've been in the middle of it too many times and it frustrates and drains me. We have an important job to do and you two go and have another catfight! We did think that maybe you had a better plan that you did, but we also know that Dumbledore was horrible at giving you more than cryptic hints and clues, so it really wasn't that big of a surprise that we're grasping at seemingly nothing. I am frustrated because I haven't seen my husband in four months, and have no idea when I will see him again, and the last time I did see him, I had to pretend he was only an acquaintance while one of my best friends monopolized my time because he's finally realized- too late- that he fancies me!" Hermione choked back tears. "I just want this war to be over."

"So you can shag Viktor again," Harry tried to lighten the mood the best way he knew. Talking about what they faced only depressed him as he was basically clueless as to how to proceed and that frustrated him.

Hermione tossed a pillow at him. "No! Ok, yes, I do want to do that," she blushed at the thought of making love to her husband again. "But I want us all to be able to live openly and happily, and- oh, why do I still believe in fairy tales?"

Harry caught the pillow in mid-air and set it aside. Giving his best friend an obviously much-needed hug, he told her, "Because the fairy tales give you hope, Hermione. And we can all do with a little bit of that right now."

Hermione smiled through the tears as Harry continued, "I'm going to kill him because I can't bear the thought of you being unhappy, and because I want to see bushy-headed half-Bulgarians with big noses and permanent grumpy scowls ploughing the competition with the Wronski Feint in the World Cup in 20 years."

"Harry!" Hermione blanched, both at the thought of her children performing such a dangerous maneuver and at the thought of having children old enough to be playing in the World Cup in a mere two decades.

Harry grinned cheekily at her in response as he released her and stood up. "It could happen. Viktor's absolutely brilliant on a broom, and you know he will teach your children all of his broom tricks." Harry paused as he walked towards the tent's loo. "In fact, Uncle Harry might even be convinced to teach them a few things too."

Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed, but not angrily, as she picked her book back up and resumed her reading as Harry's laughter followed him into the loo.