A/N: I have never done a song-fic before, so any reviews good or bad would be great to know if I did this right. I had the song stuck in my head when I woke up this morning. Figured I'd try to do something with it
More Than A Memory
By Garth Brooks
People say she's only in my head,
It's gonna take time but I'll forget.
They say I need to get on with my life,
But they don't realize.
"Ron! Ron!" Harry snaps his finger in front of my face.
"I know what to do." Ginny comes back with a pitcher of water "Mum used to do this when he got like this. SNAP OUT OF IT!" I feel the water spray across my face.
"I...I'm sorry mate."
"What happened?"
"Where did I end off?"
"Well, you never really started actually. Just showed up on our front porch in clothes you had probably been wearing for weeks."
"Oh." I look down at myself, in clean clothes. "I don't know Harry, she left me. Hermione left me. She took the kids, she took her clothes. Only thing she left was that bloody cat." I look down at the scratches on my arms. "He don't like to cuddle much."
"Cats normally don't." Harry answers.
"Well, I think you should have listened to her, that's all she wanted." Ginny pipes up.
"You talked to her?" I jump off the couch "You've actually talked to her?"
"Well she is my best friend, and yes. She just wants space to think for a while, there's no one else Ron." I could picture it now, Ginny finally swallowing her pride enough to ask Mione about another man, Mione telling her it was "rubbish" as she does.
"I have to go see her!"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Ron." Harry replies.
"She don't have to know, there is a bedroom window."
Cause when your dialing 6 numbers just to hang up the phone,
Driving 'cross town just to see if she's home.
Waking a friend in the dead of night
Just to hear 'em say it's gonna be alright
When you're finding things to do not to fall asleep
Cuz you know she'll be there in your dreams,
That's when she's more than a memory.
I apparate back to the house I once grew up in, seeing my bedroom light on. Of course my bedroom light was on, she wouldn't sleep in any other room. That was where we...had...I can't even finish the thought. It hurts so bad to think of her like that. I can see her in the window, wearing her nightgown. Her hair is a mess as always, as she kisses Rose goodnight on the forehead. She had blessed me with two of the most beautiful children I had ever seen. That's why I hadn't seen Rose or Hugo since she left. Rose had her hair, Hugo her eyes, her smile. It killed me the thought of seeing her in them and not being able to touch her. I watch her, as she shoos Rose and Hugo out of the room and climbs into bed. I wish I were laying next to her, as a I watch her lips gently blow out the candle.
"Harry!" I whisper loudly as I get back to the house. "HARRY!"
"Ummmpphh...Climb in bed than Lily, but this is the last time..." He mumbles in his sleep, rolling over.
"HARRY!" I whisper a little bit louder, waking him.
"What Ron? Is Ginny ok? Are the kids ok?"
"I saw her tonight." I sigh, thinking of her lips. "I can't do this."
"Nobody can, that's why it's called a split up, it splits everyone. She'll be back though."
"I hope your right. Stay with me mate, I can't sleep." Harry nods, climbing out of bed. The leg of his pajama pants up by his knee. He shakes his hair, standing up from bedhead and puts on his glasses.
"Let's go make some tea then."
Took a match to everything she ever wrote,
Watched her words go up in smoke.
Took all her pictures off the wall,
That aint helping me at all.
Ginny was the one to pull the plug. Said she was tired of me sleeping on their couch while my own house was empty. Said I needed to go back home, feed the cat. She offered to take all of Hermione's pictures down though, saying maybe that would help. I agreed, and they now sat in a closed box in the bedroom, our bedroom. I still slept on the couch. Sitting her in our living room, I stare into the fireplace. Hermione used to write me little love letters, just saying how she felt when we first moved in together.
"Ron,
I love how you can always make me laugh. Please, never change.
Your wife, Hermione."
When was the last time I had made smile? I couldn't even remember. We had been so wrapped up in raising Rose and Hugo, in my work as an Auror, her being a Librarian at Hogwarts, that we never even snogged anymore. I toss the letter in the fire, watching it burn.
"Ron,
Today I found out I was pregnant. You're going to be a daddy!
Your wife, Hermione."
I smile, remembering that day. She had left the house whenever I had come home, the day after a huge arguement. I thought she was going to be gone for good that time, but then I saw the little pink letter with a little blue ribbon tying it shut. I toss the letter in the fire, watching my heart burn.
Cause when you're talking out loud, but nobody's there
You look like hell and just don't care
Drinking more than you ever drank,
Sinking down lower than you ever sank.
When you find yourself falling down upon your knees,
Praying to God, begging please,
That's when she's more than a memory,
She's more, She's more.
"Bartender, three more shots of firewhiskey." I holler. I can't imagine how I look, I hadn't shaved in a week.
"Look like you're trying to forget." He replies, filling up the shots.
"My heart's been crushed." I answer taking a shot, "She left me" I take another shot, "My wife left me." I take the third one.
"Yea, that's always hard. Here, have another on the house." He says, pouring me another shot.
"Thanks."
"Well well well, if it isn't Weasel-Bee himself." I cringe at the sound of that awful voice, turning around. "Heard Granger left you, had to find her a real man."
"We are just taking a break." I answer, taking my free shot. "She's not seeing anyone."
"Really? Cuz that's not what she told me last night." He laughs to Goyle "When I was plowing her fields." That was it, I had had enough.
"Hey Malfoy," He turns around. "this is from your wife." With that, Hermione punches him in the face, walking out of the bar.
When your finding things to do not to fall asleep,
Cuz you know she'll be there in your dreams,
That's when she's more than a memory.
People say she's only in my head,
It's gonna take time but I'll forget.
I walk home, thinking about how I had seen her at the bar. The same Hermione I had known years ago, the one that wasn't afraid to punch someone or charm them. I open the door to the house ready to face another sleepless night.
"Ron!" I feel her familiar touch, her arms wrap around me. "I'm so sorry, I'll never leave again." I embrace her, squeezing her tight. I inhale her perfume, the smell of her muggle shampoo.
"I'm sorry too baby, I never should have underestimated you. You deserve to be treated like a princess every day." I smile, "I'll listen more, I promise." I spent the entire night sitting cross-legged on the bed, listening to every word she had to say.