A/N: Here's a second Ron/Hermione One-Shot. Please note that this was written before DH was released so I didn't know all about their future...
Ron looked at the happy newly-wed couple. He smiled. Harry, his best friend, and Ginny, his baby sister, were finally married.
After Voldemort's downfall, Harry had wished to be alone and it took him five years to propose to Ginny. Ron had felt relieved when it happened; his sister and his best friend, who was like a brother to him, had the right to be happy. Everybody had the right to be happy…
His gaze fell on the bridesmaid: Hermione Granger. His Hermione Granger, the woman he had not seen for three years. They had broken up three years ago; it had been the worst thing he ever lived but there was nothing he could have done against it. Things had gone too far.
Yet everything had perfectly started between them. He had asked her out in their seventh year and, even with what was happening around them, they had remained together and next to Harry at the same time. After school, they had found a place to live together. Hermione had begun a career as the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts and he had been engaged as the keeper of the Chudley Cannons. That is when things had turned bad. They did not see each other anymore and when they did, they always argued, or had sex. Then, Hermione got pregnant and things got worse.
He could still remember his marriage proposal.
"I think we should get married."
"You think? We should? This is so romantic, Sweetheart." She had answered sarcastically.
"This is not the best time to be romantic. This is something we have to do."
"Ron, a marriage is not something 'we have to do', it is something we do."
An awkward silence had fallen between them.
"Why?" Hermione had asked softly.
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to marry me? If 'to want' is the right verb." She had added coldly.
"You're having a baby, MY baby."
"Oh…"
"Look, why don't you tell me what you want me to say, Hermione?"
"I don't want anything. You have to want it, but you apparently don't. So I guess we won't get married."
"Hermione…"
"I said we wouldn't."
"Fine."
This stopped everything between them. There was absolutely no communication anymore; no sex, no argue, nothing. Ron had spent more and more time outside; training or hanging out with his team. Hermione lost their child a few time after. She had been utterly depressed and that had been her turn to run away from their sad home, losing herself in her job. Ron had not accepted her behaviour and he had to admit that he had done absolutely nothing to comfort her. On the contrary, he did a horrible mistake; the greatest mistake he could have done. Hermione left him and everything broke down…
Hermione was looking at the couple too. They looked so happy, so peaceful, as in bliss. They were dancing in the garden of the Burrow which had been beautifully arranged for the occasion. Everybody around her was cheerful. The Weasley family was so proud to marry their little girl. The whole family, Ron included. Ron. Thinking about him still hurt her. If someone had told her that Ronald Weasley would hurt her so much; she would have laughed at the person. But he did and it had been pretty bad. She didn't really understand how all these things happened when we consider that their relationship had been so perfect in the beginning. In fact, problems happened when they both started to work. Nonetheless, when she had learnt her pregnancy, she had thought it could have made them closer. She had been wrong. Ron's reaction was still in her mind…
Too excited to keep that much longer for herself, she had waited for him all night long that he came back from his training.
"Hermione? Why are you still up?"
"I have good news!"
"And it couldn't wait until tomorrow morning?" He had asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, listen…" She had come towards him and had stared at him, smiling. "I'm pregnant."
He had not returned the smile and Hermione's one had dropped.
"I thought you took contraceptive pills."
"I do but it may not work. I don't understand how it happened but I'm very happy. I assumed you would be too."
"It's not that I am not happy. It's just it is....we are rather young."
"Ron, I am perfectly ready. Besides, we have enough money to raise this baby without any problem. I could even stop working for a while."
"It doesn't bother you to stop working?"
"I want this baby, Ron. I will have it and I will go back to work. I don't know what's bothering you so much."
"My career has just begun and…"
"Your career." She had said blankly. "You want me to kill the baby for your career."
"I have never said that. Try to understand, I'm just 21 and my agent won't think that it is a good thing."
"What about what WE think of it? I really can't believe you! You know what? I'm having this baby, with or without you."
After that, Ron had asked her to marry him. Hermione had refused, sad that he had done it only because she was pregnant. Ron had been upset by her answer and they clearly avoided each other. When she lost their baby, Ron had not even tried to comfort her. Completely overwhelmed in her sadness, she had thought that she had reached the worst point which could exist. Once again, she had been wrong...
One month after her miscarriage, she went back home one evening to discover Ron and Lavender Brown, clasped in each other's arms, on their couch. Ron had looked at her, embarrassed.
"Hermione, I swear this is not what you think."
She had passed in front of them as if they did not exist and had gone into their bedroom to pack her stuffs. Ron had followed her.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm leaving, Ron."
"Listen to me. She kissed me and…"
"And you didn't even try to push her away."
"She was there to have an interview about me. She works for the Daily Prophet."
"Oh, and you wanted to kiss Rita Skeeter Junior. Excellent, your agent is going to be so happy; Ronald Weasley is dating a journalist of the Daily Prophet, Lavender 'I'm a bitch" Brown. What a great title!"
"This is not like that and you perfectly know it!"
"The only thing I know is that all that matters to you is your stupid career. You did not want to marry me; you did not want the baby. You weren't there when I lost it, you weren't there after. You probably preferred sleeping with Lav-Lav while I was grieving. Good luck with her, Won-Won!"
Then she had left to never come back.
"Hermione!"
She woke up from her sad memories and turned around to see Ginny approaching her.
"Is everything okay, Hermione?"
"Or course, it is."
"Why don't you dance, then?"
"I'd rather look at you and Harry. You are so cute together!"
Ginny blushed. "This is the best day of my life."
"I can easily understand that."
"I'm sorry that you didn't catch the bouquet."
"It's okay. I'm glad Luna had it. Neville have a good excuse to finally propose to her."
Ginny looked at her sadly. "How is your life lately?"
"Great."
"Are you sure?"
"I am absolutely sure."
That was a lie but what was she supposed to say? I have been living in hell for three years because of your brother? No, it was Ginny's day. She did not have the right to complain.
"Hermione, if you want to talk about…"
"Ginny, everything is fine."
Ginny sighed. "I'm going to see Harry, then."
"Okay. Ginny, if I don't see you before I leave; have a good honeymoon."
"Thanks, Hermione."
Left alone, Hermione decided it was time to go home. But a voice stopped her.
"Hi, Hermione."
She turned around. "Hi, Ron."
They looked at each other. Hermione suddenly felt sad as all the memories came back.
"So, how are you?" He asked shyly.
"I'm fine."
"How are things in Hogwarts?"
"Ginny didn't tell you?"
He shook his head.
"I quit, three years ago."
"Why?"
"I think I suddenly felt not interested in it anymore." She said nonchalantly.
"What do you do for a living right now?"
"I work in a daycare, a muggle daycare."
He looked at her with big wide eyes. "You left the wizarding world?"
"Yes, I did."
"Why?"
"I had no reason to stay and I missed my family. Anyway…what about you? How's your career?"
"Oh err, everything is perfect."
"Good. How is Lavender?" She asked defiantly.
"I don't know and honestly, I don't care. For the last time, I have never…"
"It's okay." She cut him off. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. This is not my business. This is Ginny and Harry's wedding today, I don't want to ruin it with one of our rows."
"But you have to know that…"
"I don't want to know. This is over. We were not meant to be and there is nothing to do to change this." She said coldly. "I have to go. Take care, Ron."
He did not answer. As last time, she had had the last word. As last time, she was hurt but maybe it was for the best.
The morning after…
Hermione woke up, more tired than ever. This was not normal. She turned around to check what time it was on her alarm clock: 5:00 AM.
That's when she heard loud knocks on the door and realized that is was probably that which had woken her up.
She got up and almost ran to the door, as the knocks became more persistent. She opened it to find herself confronted to…
"Ron? What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you."
"At five o'clock in the morning?"
"It's really important. Can I come in, please?"
"Oh err, yes."
She let him come in and closed the door. They stood there, looking awkwardly at each other.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Us." He said in a whisper.
"There is no us, Ron."
"There was one before."
"I'm not sure this is a good idea to talk about the past."
"I am. I want to know what happened and why it happened."
"You did not want our baby. That's what happened."
"That is not true…"
"It is. The only thing which was important to you was your career. This is quite funny because if someone would have asked me which one of us would choose one's career over one's couple; I would have said me. A little bit ironic, don't you think?
"That is not fair. Our couple meant a lot to me."
"Oh Ron, please! The only word you could say was: Quidditch." She replied angrily. "You did not care about us; you did not care about the baby. You were probably relieved when I lost it."
He came towards her and gripped her arm sharply.
"You. Have. No. Right. To. Say. That. I may have freaked out at first but this baby was a great thing. I'm sorry I've been an ass; I was not home for you when you needed it, when we lost our baby…no wonder you refused to marry me."
Tears appeared in her eyes. His tight grip on her arm turned into a caress.
"But, despite all of this, I think we are meant to be." He said softly. "I love you, Hermione."
Tears were rolling down Hermione's cheeks now.
"Don't say that. I know you don't mean it, like when you asked me to marry you. Remember? This was something 'we should do'. This hurt, you know. You used to tell me mean things such as 'Maybe this is better this way' when I had my miscarriage."
"I hated myself for saying that."
"I hated you too."
"I know I have never said the right thing. I wished to marry you because I was in love with you. I really wanted it, not just because of the baby. Let's just say it helped and I couldn't imagine my mother's face when she would have learnt that I got you pregnant without marrying you first."
She smiled through her tears.
"I would have answered yes if you had told me those things."
"I realize that. About Lavender…"
"I don't want to know."
"You have the right to know. She was there to talk about my Quidditch career and the gossip girl that she is saw that something was wrong with me. I made the mistake to tell her we had couple problems. She took that as an invitation and kissed me. I have to admit that I melted at first but then I wanted to push her away. And you arrived…"
"What would have happened if I didn't show up?"
"Absolutely nothing, I regretted this kiss. The only woman I wanted in my arms was you. But you were so sad because of me and I couldn't do anything to help you. To me, it was my fault that you lost our baby."
"Oh Ron, this is not your fault. Miscarriages often happen in the first three months of the pregnancy. Nonetheless, maybe this was some sort of sign to tell us that we were not meant to be."
"Stop saying that! We were meant to be, we still are meant to be."
He softly kissed her lips.
"Ron, no…" Hermione whispered. "I can't be with you. I don't want to suffer anymore. This was so hard the first time."
"This won't happen again. I love being a Quidditch player but I realized that without you, my life meant absolutely nothing. If you want me to quit, I will."
"That's not what I want. I have never wanted that. I perfectly know that you adore your job but I need you too."
He grinned. "Does this mean you give us a second chance?"
"Maybe…I guess I could easily go back to the wizarding world and quit my job."
"Are you sure?" He asked anxiously. "I don't want troubles between us anymore."
"I'm sure, Ron."
He kissed her again. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. He left her mouth to kiss her neck, her jaw…
"What if we take that to your bedroom, 'Mione?" He said between two kisses.
"I'd be glad to."
He took her in his arms and carried her bridal style to the bedroom. Once they were lying next to each other, they kissed and caressed each other as if nothing had ever happened. They were home.
It's the sun who woke Hermione up this time. She felt happier than she had ever been during the past three years. She was in Ron's arms; their legs were tangled with each other's and the sheets were on the floor. Ron was smiling peacefully with a smile on his face.
She brushed her lips against his.
"I love you, Ron."
Ron opened his eyes and grinned at her.
"I love you too, Hermione." He kissed her mouth. "You know, I've been thinking lately.
"About what?"
"I think that you should go back to Hogwarts. I know you love teaching."
"I do." She agreed. "But we won't see each other very often and the troubles will happen again."
"No, they won't. We are both aware of the situation now. We are going to make some efforts. Nonetheless; I don't want you to work right now, maybe in two years or so."
"What for?" She asked sceptically.
"Well, we could get married and have a baby or two."
"Are you sure you are ready for a baby?" She asked seriously.
"Yes, Sweetheart; I'm ready for one, two, even five babies."
She laughed. "I'll remember that, but maybe we should start with one and we'll see."
"So that means that you want to marry me…"
"Yes, I do. I can't wait to become Hermione Weasley."
"Neither can I."
They looked at each other tenderly. The past three years had made them suffer, but not in vain. They made mistakes, they knew what had been wrong in their couple and everything was all right now. They gladly took this second chance. They had finally the opportunity to love each other and to raise the family they had always wanted. That was all that mattered.