A/N: This is just a little one-shot in Hermione's POV. It's not that good. But the idea was nagging at me to be written and I couldn't work on any of my other stuff until it was written. It has a dash of HHr at the end because I couldn't resist (I detest Ron, absolutely detest him). Um, enjoy. R&R! Thanks. -Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. But I shall treat myself to see the Number 5 movie as a birthday present when it comes out. :)

Fall Out Of Love

I always thought love was forever. But maybe I'm the innocent in a world full of cynics.

I never considered myself a romantic, I was more inclined toward logic and reason. But I always believed that love was definite. It wasn't something you could fall in and out of in a snap of a finger. I believed in the logic of that. And I held onto that belief even in my relationship with Ron, all the way into the rocky moments.

The thing was, I never said it to him. Even as he whispered those three little words in my ear, I never said them back. I never said them because I didn't believe them yet. I had fall for Ron, but I hadn't fall in love with him. I wouldn't say them until I believed them with every fiber of my being. I wouldn't be made a liar.

I mean, I liked Ron. I truly did. I just didn't love him, at least not yet. But I believed him when he said he loved me. He seemed to show it. I had no reason not to believe him--not to trust him. I trusted him and Harry with my life. Why wouldn't I trust him with my heart? There was nothing that made me think I should doubt him. Maybe I was just naive.

I prided myself on my loyalty and faithfulness--to my friends, to Ron. And I always assumed that he shared my stance on what being loyal and faithful meant. Well you know what they say about when you assume...I always stayed true to Ron, to my friends, everyone. I guess I just expected the same from him. Maybe I should have known better than to expect so much from Ron.

I didn't expect us to last forever. I actually never really thought about it. I had learned not to look past the present, because back then there was no telling what the future held. No one was guaranteed a tomorrow--especially with war looming over your consciousness. So I never looked past the present moment, I never contemplated our future together or apart. But the end came unexpectantly. I never saw it coming--I guess I probably should have.

The conversation--the break-up conversation--started in the most cliched manner it could have: we need to talk. I should have picked up on it. I should have noticed. But I didn't. I just said okay and strolled off to talk to my boyfriend. I had thought it normal. How wrong I was.

Ron isn't the one you would consider the brightest bulb in the bunch--and I mean that as no insult to him--but sometimes people underestimate him. I admit I have in the past. He knows how to manipulate people. He has a sly way of talking to people. A kind of persuasion power that reminds me of Fred and George. They can make the most ghastly thing sound appealing, they just have to put the right spin on it. Ron can do that too sometimes, but I've learned not to fall for it.

Ron started the conversation by vocalizing all my "good" traits. The reasons for why he had wanted to be with me were spelled out before my eyes. Now a person would think that when their boyfriend is singing their praises, that the next thing out of their mouth would not be that they want to break up. But Ron knew what he was doing, and he did it with such skill and ease. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought he had done it before--many times.

"I just don't love you anymore." Well, there it was, that was his way of saying he didn't want to be with me anymore.

"I don't understand." I responded. I really hadn't understood. Like I said, I believed love was forever. How could he just stop.

"Well it's pretty easy. You're a smart girl." Now that sounded like a compliment, but I'm pretty sure there was an insult in there. "I fell out of love with you."

Now I was really confused. "How...how exactly does that happen?"

"Hermione, please don't make this complicated." Ron let out a dramatic sigh. I started to believe he would make a superb actor.

"Ron, how am I making it complicated? You are telling me you fell out of love with me. I've only asked you what caused this so sudden change of heart. I think I deserve at least that much." I shook my head. "Don't you think I deserve at least that?"

Ron took a deep breath and sighed again. "I have fallen in love with someone else."

And then came the most cliched explanations yet. How he never thought it would happen to him. How he couldn't explain how it happened, it just did apparently. How he never meant to hurt me. How he still cared for me and hoped we could still be friends. It was like a scene right out of the movies--where the guy who never treated the girl right decides he wanted someone else. And then the girl realizes the first guy was never right for her and that Mr. Right had been hiding right under her nose. And Guy Number Two and she ride off into the sunset. Happy. Ever. After.

But it wasn't like the movies. It was real life. I didn't have some other guy on the back burner, ready to be my everything once Ron was out of the picture. I was hurting and the only comfort Ron offered me was that he hoped it didn't ruin our friendship.

No, the fact that he had completely thrashed my beliefs about love didn't ruin our friendship. No, the fact that he thought he could break up with me and everything would still be okay didn't ruin our friendship. No, we could still be friends, but honestly I could never be able to look at him the same again.

I didn't allow myself to cry over him, or how easily he had moved on from us. I just kept telling myself that I hadn't loved him and if it was I was true to myself I probably never would have. Whether I believed the second part or not, it made me feel better about it. I didn't dwell on the past, I forced myself to move on in my present--still never looking to the future.

It would take some time, of course, to realize that Ron never loved me. Not truly. But I understood that he never held the same ideals as me about love. I don't know if he said it for my benefit or if he just said it to say it. Or if he said it because he thought he had to. I don't know why--still don't. It just took awhile to realize that he never meant it--not the way he should have.

It would take some time for me to come to the understanding that I was not wrong in my beliefs about love. I would find love. I would find it right under my nose. I would find love with the only other person I trusted my life to. I trusted Harry with my heart--because I know he would never break it. I had love, real love. That I thought would last forever.

Now, when he whispers those three little words in my ear, I say them back. I can say them back because I believe them with every fiber of my being. I'm still afraid to look into the future, though I imagine that it will include him until the end. I have fallen for Harry. I have fallen in love with him, and I don't intend to ever fall out of love. I don't believe I can.