"Sometimes moving on for the rest of your life Starts With Goodbye." -Carrie Underwood

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Except maybe my house.

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"But why?" said the tall redhead man, his voice barely above a whisper. He was sitting at an old cedar kitchen table, his upper body tiredly strewn over the surface, "Why do you have to leave?"

The petite brunette woman standing, arms folded, in the corner shook again, her tears now freely falling down her face, "I'm sorry Ron, I have to."

"You don't have to do anything!" a raised voice exclaimed, coming from the angry black-haired man crouched on the floor by one of the table legs, "Our problems all started when you decided to have feelings for bloody Malfoy! Why are you basically dumping us?! You've been together 7 months, we've all been friends for 12 years!"

Wiping her tears away hastily, Hermione replied, "You and Ron know, you KNOW, you will never over my relationship with Draco! You want me to end it- you have since it begun! Don't you see?! He make me happy!"

She paused, calming her mind and voice down so she could speak civilly, if for the very last time to her childhood friends, "He asked me to marry him yesterday. And I said yes. His only condition was for me to work out whatever issues you two have with him now so they won't interrupt anything when we're married. But you've both made up my mind today. You won't change. You refuse to believe he's changed his ways. You don't understand that a person can change. You want to know why he changed? For me. He did it for me. For our love. He knew that if he was ever going to get a chance at happiness, he'd have to sacrifice his childhood beliefs. And he did! He loves me so much, and I love him too. There's nothing either of you could say to change my mind. He will be my husband in less than 2 months. And you two won't ever be able to handle it. So with that note, I suggest that we amicably part ways now."

She finished her rant, by a muffled noise coming from the cedar table in the center of the room. Ron was huddled over the table, muffling his tears by his overgrown arms. Harry had pulled up a chair next to him and was trying to coax his best friend to snap out of it. Finally, they both stood up, easily 6 or 7 inches taller than their female friend and pulled her into a group hug.

"We're sorry," came a voice from the huddle. Hermione wasn't sure which man had said it, but it made her heart ache even more that she didn't have to give this up. But she had to. For her... their future. Together.

She pulled away suddenly, squeezing both their hands tightly in hers, "It's for the best," she whispered, her brown eyes leaking tears down her cheeks.

"I know," muttered Harry.

"I hope someday it can be like old times again," said Ron, choking up a little.

Hermione forced a smile through her tears as she let go of her hold on their large hands and turn to leave.

"Hermione," came Ron's tired voice softly.

She paused, her hand on the door frame, but she didn't turn around. If she did, she would never leave.

"Yes?"

"We love you." came their rough voices as she quietly closed the house door behind her. Collecting herself as she walked down the pathway to the street, she paused and turned around at the cottage house she had once shared with her best friends, silently saying goodbye to twelve years worth of memories.

A tear dropped to the concrete, a reminder of where she had once been and where she had once belonged.

"I love you too."