"Maybe we just need...a break." Hermione sighed.
"A b-break?" Ron stuttered, thinking it was just another row, they could get over it, but maybe not. "What does that mean?"
"It means some alone time." Hermione said slowly.
"I'm willing to work it out, Hermione, are you?" He said seriously. "I love you, isn't that enough?"
"I just don't know anymore." She said in a high-pitched voice.
"Ron Weasley!" Hannah Abbott happily when he entered the Leaky Cauldron. Hannah had just began dating Neville Longbottom. Her Uncle, Tom, was the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, and she was learning the ropes, ready to take over when he retired. "What can I get you?"
"Something strong." Ron said morosely.
"Bad day?" She asked.
"Hermione and I broke up...I think." He said.
"Well, this ought to cheer you up." She said, handing him a goblet.
"What's in it?" Ron questioned.
"Don't ask."
Ron downed it in about three minutes. "I'll have another one, when you're ready." He asked.
"One second," Hannah said, as a pretty girl had come behind the counter to talk to her.
"Ron, this is my cousin, Kathy." Hannah said. "I have to go do something, but she'll fetch you a drink."
Kathy was skinny, and had a great body with accenting curves. She had a cute nose, shining blonde hair that curled at the bottom, and sun-kissed skin. Needless to say, she was a knockout.
"So what brings a dashing boy like you at a place like this alone on a Saturday night?" She teased.
"My girlfriend broke up with me...I think." Ron said yet again.
"You think?"
"She says we're on a 'break'. What does that even mean?" He said angrily.
"It means she's seeing someone else. Or wants to." Kathy said.
"My first boyfriend said he wanted a break. The next morning he had another woman in his bed. My co-worker's boyfriend wanted a break. That weekend, I was the one in his bed! I told one of my exes I wanted a break, and started dating a Quidditch player the next day." She said matter-of-factly.
Ron groaned.
"Hey, hey, it's not that bad!" She soothed. "It happens to the best of us."
"But Hermione and I aren't like everyone else! We've been together for three years! We've liked each other for about ten! We're school sweethearts, for Merlin's sake!"
"Maybe your love was meant for Hogwarts." Kathy said.
Three hours later...
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kathy said between kisses as they entered Ron's apartment.
"Doesn't EVERY bloke want to do this?" Ron responded in disbelief, leading her to the bedroom.
"Wait..." Kathy said skeptically. "How drunk are you?"
"Drunk enough that I know I want to do this, but not drunk enough that you should feel you're taking advantage." He said quickly.
"Works for me." She said, unbuttoning his shirt.
...
Ron had heard it was common courtesy to feed the girl in the morning after you had done...'it', so he made her some coffee. Just as he was about to join her on the couch and contemplate why he had a strange but beautiful girl on his couch that wasn't Hermione, he heard knocking on his door.
"Who could be here at this hour?" Kathy asked.
"Blimey, it's Hermione!" Ron said, his face getting hot and his throat tightening. "I think you should go."
"What?"
"You've gotta get out. Apperate!" He said, pushing her, and she did as she was told.
"One minute!" He called, trying to straighten out the flat. He closed the bedroom door, he needn't fix that, it'd be too good to be true. He attempted to flatten his hair, and looked in the mirror. Like George had taught him, you could always see it on a man's face when a guy had gotten lucky. He tried to make it look like he had been thinking about Hermione all night, which he had, once Kathy went to bed. He was a jerk, a fool, he was certain, and would spend the rest of his life making it up to Hermione if he could.
"Hi." He said, opening the door.
"Erm...hi." Hermione responded. She looked like she had stayed up most of the night, but was beautiful all the same.
"Oh...come in." Hermione sat down on the couch, and Ron said on the armchair, to give her space.
There was an awkward silence, where Ron began "Hermione, I-"
But she cut him off. "No, Ron, I'm sorry. I've been a fool, it's all my fault. I think this break is stupid, and I miss you already. That's got to mean something, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it does. Because you and I were meant to be together, Hermione. I've known it since I was eleven. We can't throw everything away after a fight." Ron said seriously.
"Oh, Ron!" She said standing up to embrace him. "I don't know what I was thinking, we can be so thick sometimes, it's-"
"It's what?" Ron said, after a pause.
"What's that." She said, pointing to a hot pink bra.
"Ginny's?" He tried.
"Like your sister would leave her bra at your house!" She screamed, smelling the fresh perfume.
"I can't believe you!"
"We were on a break!"
"That doesn't mean we were broken up!"
"You could've fooled me!"
"Oh, okay, well let me be more clear this time: WE'RE DONE!" She said and stormed out.
One week later...
Ron was in a state of depression, so it seemed; he went to work, he came home and did absolutely nothing, it hurt too much. He missed her terribly He had tried reaching Hermione a hundred times, but she simply ignored him.
He heard a faint knock on his door. He opened it, and was surprised to see Hermione in front of him. She didn't look well.
"Ron, I..." She said, and couldn't help herself, kissed him. "I miss you."
"I've missed you too." Ron said in disbelief.
"You were stupid, really stupid, but we've all made mistakes, haven't we? And I think we shouldn't risk our love for that."
Ron was about to kiss her again, when there was another knock on their door.
"Kathy?"
"What's she doing here." Hermione said.
"I don't know, honestly." Ron said.
"Ron, I need to talk to you." She said quietly. "It's important."
"Anything you say in front of me you can say in front of Hermione." He said confidently, slipping an arm around her waist.
She decided to just spit it out. "I'm pregnant."
Hermione ran out the door, and Ron fainted before he could stop her.
And that was why, eleven years later, when Hermione was watching Ron help his daughter on the Hogwarts Express, she felt a pang in her stomach, realizing it wasn't hers.
