Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series.

7:15 A.M.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beepbeepbeepbeep.

Ron grunted and rolled over, covering his face with a pillow. Finally, he had enough and blearily opened his eyes. With a groan, he switched off the alarm clock. Why did he need to get up so early? Oh, that's right, he thought somewhat moodily, it was Monday. Work. Wait a second, he frowned, scratching his head. Something was missing—that's right, where was Hermione? She usually turned off the alarm clock for him and woke him up. He glanced around until he spotted her post-it note stuck to cup of coffee she had thoughtfully made for him.

Ron

Had to go to work early today; big emergency! I'll still meet you for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, though. Don't forget to send Hugo's textbook to him; I didn't have time this morning.

Love

Hermione

He smiled at her reminder and took a sip of his coffee. Some things never changed.

1:36 P.M.

"I absolutely cannot believe you, Ron! You're acting like such a child!" Hermione shrieked, stomping after him through the alley.

"I wasn't the one flirting with the cashier, was I?" he retorted, turning around to face her.

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes. "You're being completely ridiculous. I was not flirting with him! I was merely being polite."

"Oh, sure. I suppose next time I'm being polite to Lavender I should brush her arm, gaze into her eyes, and laugh at all her jokes. Yes, I'm sure you wouldn't mind, would you, Hermione?" he snapped, his face a dark red.

Hermione knew he was just jealous and she shouldn't get so upset, but she couldn't stop the words from bursting out. In that moment, all she wanted to do was to hurt him, cut him as deep as she could.

"So that's what it is with Lavender, then, that you're only being polite? You know, I'm starting to think it was a blessing in disguise when you left while we were hunting Horcruxes. Clearly if you can't even handle me chatting with another man, you never would have lasted all those months with that cursed locket!"

The silence was immediate and crushing, and Hermione felt like her words had turned into a thick blanket on her chest, suffocating her.

They both stared at each other, breathing hard from the argument, eyes wide.

"Ron, I—"

"Save it," he said woodenly. "If that's how you feel, I have nothing left to say."

"Ron, no, wait!" she called out desperately, stretching out her hand as if she could keep him there.

But it was too late, and he disapparated with a crack.

She slumped against the wall, tears leaking out.

8:51 P.M.

Ron dropped his head on his arms. He'd been at this Muggle bar since the fight with Hermione, not even bothering to go back to work. He groaned, already feeling the effects of 6 shots of whiskey. Immediately, he heard Hermione's voice in his mind, nagging at him to "Stop drinking, Ron, you know too much alcohol is bad for your heart! Do you want to end up like your father?"

He cursed. Even now, he couldn't forget her.

9:02 P.M.

Hermione had been staring at the clock for the past two and a half hours. Her eyes began watering again, and she swiped at them angrily. He wasn't coming back.

"I'm sorry!" she screamed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed, her voice fading away.

Too late, a voice in her head said sardonically. Your sorrow does nothing for him, it continued nastily. She sniffled and buried her face in a pillow.

Why had she said those awful things?

Ron would never forgive her.

This was all her fault.

12:23 A.M.

Ron stumbled into the house, almost tripping over the couch on his way to the stairs. He prayed to God Hermione was already in bed because otherwise they would probably get into another fight.

Suddenly, a canary flew towards him and hovered in front of him. He froze and cursed under his breath. He didn't have good experiences with canaries.

But it just cocked its head at him and opened its beak. Hermione's voice came out, saying, "I'm sorry, Ron. I know nothing I say can make it up to you, but I—I want you to know that I love you. No matter what. I didn't mean what I said, and I hope you know that I will never stop loving you, even—even if you leave."

Ron stood stock-still. The bird nudged him towards the stairs, as if urging him on. Its touch jolted him out of his thoughts, and he ran up the stairs and burst through the bedroom door.

"Ron?" Hermione squeaked, shocked that he had come back. He snatched her up and held her close.

"You know how much I love you, right?" he whispered in her ear.

She looked in his eyes and smiled.

"Always."

Author's note: I wrote this as a response to the recent revelation that J.K. Rowling now wishes she had put Harry and Hermione together and that Ron and Hermione would have needed relationship counseling. Even though their relationship isn't perfect (seriously, whose is?), I still think they are good for each other. Besides, if JKR wanted to put Hermione with someone else, we all know it should have been Draco Malfoy. :)