He was nothing. Nothing at all. She had made that very clear.
He'd thought he was somebody. He'd thought that her love had lifted him up from the depths of insignificance. He'd thought wrong.
Hermione had seemed uncomfortable throughout their date. Her eyes had avoided his. Her mouth hadn't smiled, not properly. When Ron had reached for her hand, she pulled away.
"We need to talk."
Four words. On their own, completely harmless; combined they are the marking of tragedy, just waiting to strike. Never in his life had he hated four words as much.
"I don't feel that this is working out, you know… We've had fun, right? Lot's of happy memories." She paused. When he didn't respond, she inexorably continued her verbal torture. "It just feels like we won't have any more of them."
"How do you know, though? Why?"
Hermione hesitated. She looked down at her hands before lifting her eyes and resting them on him. "I've… I've met someone else."
And then she'd left. Ron hadn't seen her since. He'd heard about her, though. He knew who "someone" was. Witch Weekly had had a field day when she'd been seen her on dates with that very someone. It was Draco bloody Malfoy. She was dating a stinking little ferret of all people. A perfect love story, obviously. The world adored them. What wasn't there to like? A former Death Eater defied his family to be with a muggle-born witch who had helped save the world from Voldemort's rule. They would kiss each other; hold on tightly as though they were afraid that it was all a dream and that they would wake up any second now. It made Ron want to hurl.
While Hermione and Malfoy were living the dream, he was stuck in a nightmare of nothingness. His only lover was a bottle of firewhiskey. His only reality was misery. Oh, he tried to get back on his feet, many times. He'd despaired over how pathetic he was, pining away for a girl who didn't want him. So he'd tried going out with a couple of girls, only to break inside whenever they'd do something that reminded of her. It could be something as simple as mentioning a restaurant where they'd gone once, or even running a hand through brown hair. He was pathetic, and he knew it.
There was a time when he'd forgotten. It was a time of bliss and peace. Hermione had been by his side, held his hand and kissed everything pathetic about him away. But she had reminded him of what he really was, and there was no way he could ever forget again.
Until the day when she'd stood by his door, begging for entrance with her knocks.
"Have you got a minute? I'd like to talk to you."
"Sure… of course!" He'd had to pinch himself when she wasn't watching. Unless there is some way to feel the pain of a pinch through sleep, he was very awake. She sat down on his old brown sofa and looked around with reminiscing eyes. A small smile played on her lips before she turned her gaze on him.
"So, how've you been?"
"Um…Great. You?"
"Okay, I guess."
There was a small silence until she spoke again.
" I've broken up with Draco."
"Oh."
"I… well, I sort of missed you. A lot."
"Oh." I've missed you too. More than you can imagine.
"I don't think I've ever felt so stupid as I did when I realised just how much. Losing you is probably the biggest mistake I've made in my life."
She paused again. Ron felt hope fill his chest and didn't bother quenching it.
"Would you like to start over? You know, go on a date? I'm kind of hoping that you've missed me at least a little bit…"
I was tempted to say no, but there was no bloody way I could have.
You reminded me of love.
Author's Note: We all knew Ron and Hermione would end up together, but I'm pretty sure the road to the altar was bumpy. It might have been something like this.
It was inspired by "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback.
Tell me what you thought of this! Don't flame, though, please!
Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, as does anything you recognise.