Hermione stood outside of the burrow nervously playing with her skirt. She had an argument with Ron that morning and it was probably the worst yet. She was just so frustrated with his touching and pushing. She was about to go inside when she saw the red head approach from inside. He was kind of slouching and didn't look all that well. She was immediately sorry for the way she had yelled at him that morning. He looked so worn and pathetic. A smile touched her lips and she approached him with her arms open. He accepted her hug and they sat down on the bench that they shared so many small moments on. His hand rubbed her leg in a nervous fashion and she waited for him to speak.

She was about to apologize for being such an ass when he interrupted her "We need to talk" he whispered. She was immediately worried with the direction their meeting was taking. She had expected a short sweet apology and then a hug and a kiss. Why did they need to talk? She straightened herself and said " Ron there's nothing to talk about. I was wrong for yelling at you that way and I hope you accept my apology. I'm a grown woman and I need to handle my emotions in a way that doesn't involve me screaming at you. I was just so upset because you keep wanting to take our relationship to that next level and I want to wait. I'm ready for it, believe me! it's just that I've always wanted to wait until my wedding day. We've talked about this before and it just upsets me when you try to force me into a situation that I don't want to happen yet. I'm willing to maybe break the promise to myself if it means so much to you ,but I want to talk about it first. I just wanted you to know how much this means to me." She looked up at him blushing slightly. He seemed unfazed by her heartfelt confession. She had been practicing it all day and he wasn't even looking at her.

She placed her hand on his cheek and turned him to face her. "Ron? You're listening right? You heard everything I said?" He nodded and looked away again. She was confused by his reaction and stood. "Well? What do you have to say? You obviously have something else on your mind!" "Hermione! Stop!" She ignored him and continued her rant "Stop!? Stop what? I just poured my heart out to you and you completely ignored it! How do you expect this relationship to work if you're going to ignore everything I share with you? This relationship isn't just you Ron! It's the both of us and you need to realize that! I've been trying to.." "Because I think this is a mistake!" he shouted. She was dumbfounded and confused "what do you mean? What's a mistake?" He averted his eyes and whispered "Us, you and me. We've made a mistake Hermione. I don't want to be with you anymore." She felt like he had just ripped her heart out and stomped on it. She had come here expecting him to be overjoyed with her decision that sex didn't have to wait. She felt blindsided. He stood up and started to walk back into the house when she suddenly knew. She stood up and hissed "Who is she?" He stopped just outside of the door and mumbled "Lavender" and continued inside. She turned on the spot and found herself staring at the inside of her apartment.

~2 weeks later~

After Ron had decided that Hermione wasn't worth the wait, Hermione had decided to shut herself inside her apartment. She had taken a personal leave from the ministry and was uncertain about what she wanted to do from this point forward. To say she was upset is an understatement. Hermione was devastated. She had planned to spend the rest of her life with Ron. She was ready to start a family and become a part of the Weasley clan. She felt pain every time she saw someone with red hair pass by her favorite window. Everything seemed to remind her of Ron and his family and she couldn't handle it. They were the only family she had left. She had never found her parents after the war and she didn't plan to. She had used a powerful memory charm and she didn't want to damage them. She knew she couldn't reverse the spell when she cast it. She could only accept the fact that she would never see them again. The Weasleys had taken her in like another daughter. Mrs. Weasley had held her when she cried about her parents and had been there for her through all of the hard times. She thought that losing Ron was going to be hard ,but she was more upset over the distance she felt with the entire family.

She was about to write a letter to the Weasley family thanking them for all of the support when she heard a racket in her sitting room. She heard the distinct sound of someone flooing and then she heard voices. At first she was worried ,but then she recognized the voices as none other than the weasley clan. Ginny, Fred, George, Harry, and Molly had come to check on her. She walked into the sitting room and was surprised to see Molly run over to her and squeeze her as hard as she could. She held her for a minute and then pulled away to look at Hermione. She had a strange look in her eyes. She looked directly at Hermione and said "Well? Are you done with this moping? I havn't seen you dear, and I was starting to worry. You really shouldn't hide away In this cramped apartment all the time. You have a family that needs to know how you are." Hermione was relieved to hear Molly speaking to her in the same way. She suddenly felt ashamed of the way she had avoided the family. She look at molly and asked "You know what happened between Ron and I? You aren't angry at me?" She was answered with a tight hug from Molly "of course we know dear. We aren't going to abandon you because Ron fancies someone else. We still love you all the same" Hermione felt a warm trickle escape from her eyes and invited them in to sit down. She went to get some tea for the weasleys.

She was leaving the kitchen with the tea when she was stopped by Fred and George. They pulled her back into the kitchen and closed the door. George started "Ron has been a right git to you and we plan to do something about it" Fred continued "you see, we have a few products that we need to test and we want to know if you want to join in" She was a little surprised by this. She wasn't expecting the twins to cheer her up this way. She was oddly interested in the plans they had for Ron ,but she just didn't know if she could even face him right now. She sat the tea down on the table and looked back at the twins "honestly, I'm not sure if I can even be around him right now. I could really see him humiliated in more ways than one ,but even if I tried right now I would only end up sobbing every time I saw him. I just want to wait a while before I try to have some fun. I think for now I'll just try to pull myself together." She felt close to tears and turned to go back into the sitting room. The twins understood her feeling and didn't mention pranking Ron for the rest of the night. She was just too exhausted to deal with it at the moment.

The night stretched on for a few hours before the Weasleys decided to leave. They all gathered around Hermione and hugged her. She couldn't help feeling wanted at that moment. She had fun gossiping with Ginny and Molly and joking with Fred and George. This was the first night since Ron had broken off their relationship that she had smiled. The Weasleys were gathered around the fireplace leaving one at a time the last to go was Molly. Before she stepped into the fireplace she hugged Hermione once more. " Hermione dear, I want to you come to dinner at the burrow tomorrow. I know that Ron has upset you, but it won't hurt to see him. I'm not trying to force you towards him I just miss you. You'll have to face him sooner or later anyways." She looked at Hermione and smiled before she stepped into the fireplace and disappeared. Hermione walked back into her bedroom and collapsed into her sitting chair. What was she going to do? She had to face Ron tomorrow evening and she didn't know if she was ready. She stood up and thought. "Well, it's going to happen anyways. I just need to get it over with. The sooner the better."