Stealth Feelings

Chapter One

"If you both think this is best," said the gentle voice of an old man, with thinning grey hairs and an arched back. "Then I shall fulfill your request. Please remember before you agree that you will not be able to remarry each other after this annulment, and should either of you wish to reconcile it would be impossible to become a union by marriage. I implore you both to reconsider you decision once more."

Hermione and Ron sat across from each other at a square table, with the counseling patron sitting in the middle. Hermione's legs were flat on the ground and her hands in her lap as she looked down at the cream colored parchment stating the terms of their separation. Ron was crossing his arms and slouching back in his chair, holding a firm grimace on his face. They had been married for no less than two weeks before Hermione asked that Ron agree to end it with her.

After the war's end, they took their time planning the wedding so Hermione could finish school and Ron could find a job. They saved up to get a place together and it was fairly easy having Molly getting all the wedding stuff ready. It took about a year before they were financially ready to settle down and the wedding itself went splendidly before about 200 of their friends and family. The honeymoon however, was cut short after just twelve hours. They had decided to go to the countryside in a rented cottage just on the outskirts of a farm. Everything was going well until Ron started complaining about everything. Hermione, who normally put all his whining aside as an ice breaker, grew tired of it and eventually they were in an argument. What they were saying neither could remember, but it drove Ron to floo to a small bar and Hermione to cry for the rest of their day there. When he returned all of her things were packed and she was sitting on their bed. She refused to consummate their marriage and demanded that he apologize to her or she was going home. After a brief argument about how the only home Hermione had was with him, she slapped him in the face and apparated back to Muggle London straight into Harry's living room. A week later Ron had agreed to Hermione's request of separation.

"Well?" said the counselor to the silent pair. "Do you any objections?"

Ron grunted and shuffled in his seat and Hermione shook her head no.

The counselor sighed and took a piece of paper out from under the stack on the table. "Then I need you both to sign here, and it will be as if you were never married." He hated his job because this was the case most of the time. Marriages were rare these years and stable marriages were hard to come by. He counted himself lucky for having a good relationship with his wife. The counselor watched as Ron hurried some untidy scribble on the page then handed the paper to Hermione who took her time yet swiftly graced the page with her signature. "Please try to avoid mishaps like this in the future." He took the papers and shook both of their hands then exited out of the small windowless room.

Hermione was the first to stand up and placed her shoulder bag strap across her chest. She was about to leave after the old man when her ex-husband spoke in a course and raspy voice to her.

"Don't I at least get a goodbye?" He stood as well and placed his hands in his pockets.

"No, Ronald," she said in a loud whisper. "I said goodbye I long time ago. I have no need to repeat myself. She rushed out of the room and walked to the front of the building.

Ron followed behind her, still sounding disappointed. "Well where are you going to go?"

"The same place I've been for the past two weeks: to Harry's flat."

Each step she took away from him felt like torture for Ron. The sound of her heels in the pavement felt like she was sending daggers in his heart with every click. "So you don't think you're putting him out a bit? He might have wanted to live alone and like a grown man at least."

Hermione turned around in one motion and pointed her finger into his chest. Her lips were pursed and her eyes were narrowed. "Not that it's any of your business now, but I won't be there forever. Now if you would be so kind," the last three words she accompanied by placing jabs with her finger, "as to leave me alone. Stop following me." She walked a bit more down the sidewalk and turned into the alley when she knew he wasn't following her anymore. Then she apparated into the extra room in Harry's flat the he was letting her borrow.

Ron was shocked, to say the least. To him this whole thing was blown out of proportion. If she was really going to let one argument after marriage determine the rest of their lives together then his first opinion of her was one hundred percent correct: she was completely mental.

He had planned on apologizing to her once he sobered up a bit but she didn't even a chance to do that. He hated it when she implied that he owed her things like apologies and silly stuff like that. So after hearing her say "I'm waiting for you to say you're sorry," he lost it and blew up in her face. That's probably what did it, he thought as he kicked a rock down the street. When he ran out of sidewalk he turned around and kept on with his make believe sport until he reached Weasley Wizard Wheezes and received an instant smack on the back of his head by George.

"OW! What the bloody hell was that for?" Ron shouted while rubbing the back of his head.

"That, little brother, was for screwing up the one thing you've done right in a long time; along with other things that I might have forgotten to smack you for." George handed Ron his work jacket and went into the back.

"It's not completely my fault, you know!" Ron called after his brother. "She expected too much of me and didn't even give me a chance to say I was sorry."

"Do you know how furious mum is right now? She spent a long time setting up the wedding for you and it was all for nothing. None of us have heard from Hermione so the only reason we know what really happened is because Harry told us what she told him. And another thing, it's a miracle that Hermione expected anything from you, so you shouldn't be sore at her for thinking you could be a husband." George handed Ron a few boxes from the closet and directed him towards the shelves where he was to unload the things inside. "You didn't deserve her at all, I hope you know. Now all you have to do is work on an actually apology if you expect to keep her friendship."

"I'm ignoring you now. I came here to help you out, not to be lectured about why I'm such an arse so you might as well drop it."

"Touchy, touchy, Ronniekins. Spare me your frustration for once. And you are an arse, thank you for saying it for me."


Hermione sat on the couch that she had transfigured into a bed and laid on her stomach, running her fingers through her soft kitten's fur. The feline's meows were high pitched and innocent, positive responses to her masters' kind strokes. Hermione smiled at what seemed to be her last friend in the world at the moment, and watched the light snow outside fall to the muddy grounds of the alleyway below her. It would only be a few hours before Harry got home and she could have contact with a real human being but for the mean time, she grabbed a small ball of yarn and levitated it as the tiny cat attempted to snatch it out of the air. Playing with Amina always brought a gentle smile to Hermione's face but she did miss human contact.

Since their spat, Hermione had neglected talking to any of the Weasley's, including Ginny. The only person she found herself talking to was Harry and it was only a matter of seconds before she was sobbing on his shoulder. She was lucky to have someone like Harry, who was a friend to her no matter what she went through. What Ron had said earlier, about her holding Harry back from being a man, had really gotten to Hermione. She snapped back at him and walked away, but it still hurt her inside because she knew he was right. Harry was old enough to have female companions and she was sure that the urge popped in his mind every now and then, but he was also very kind to her in that he never brought any one into his home while Hermione was there and he always came straight home from work to keep Hermione some company. She found it especially strange at first, and even went so far as to think that he was helping her like this because Harry could bear secret feelings for Hermione, but she casted those thoughts aside as the meeting with Ron drew closer.

It wouldn't be such a bad thing being with Harry but she had learned her lesson. Becoming more than friends with a very old friend was a terrible mistake. She wasn't daft enough to repeat it with Harry no matter how much she wanted to. Instead of looking for a replacement husband Hermione looked for something else to fill the void. It started with job searches and new hobbies but nothing sparked her interests.

Hermione was awoken from her thought as she heard the front door jiggle and the master key unlock the deadbolt. Harry was home. She heard his footsteps draw closer to her door and closed her eyes and he opened it, continuing to tease Amina with the yarn.

"Hi there," Harry said after clearing his throat. He took a few more steps until he was standing next to her bed. "How was the… meeting?"

Hermione did a humming sigh and shook her head. "It was dreadful. I don't want to talk about it."

"I know you might not want to say anything about it, but you could tell me a little detail." He sat next to her legs and stared at her feet as they hung of the bed. "I haven't spoken to Ron yet and I know he's going to blow a lot of it out of proportion. I want to hear the actual truth. Hermione?"

"It's over now. It's over just as fast as it began. I wish I had never fallen – no, I wish I had never spoken to him. It was all a complete waste." Tears were starting to fall from her eyes and she buried her face in a pillow.

"I know you don't mean that. If you never talk to him then you never would have met me either. As smart as you are, you had no way of knowing that asking a couple eleven year old boys if they'd seen a toad would lead to your divorce. Chin up already. I can't see you married anyway. Besides you're supposed to be saving the world through medicine, or travelling and learning absolutely everything before you turn twenty one. What ever happened to those dreams?"

"I destroyed them along with my marriage." She shifted her body on the bed until she was in the fetal position. "I have no idea what I want to do. I know they'd like me at St. Mungo's and they say they'd enjoy my employment at the ministry. Frankly I don't fancy doing either. I feel like after a few months I would get bored and then I'd be stuck."

"Hermione, that's the most unintelligent thing I've ever heard you say."

"Goodness Harry, you don't have to be rude!"

"You aren't giving me too many options here." Harry stood and stretched his arms all the way out and walked towards the door. "There's nothing much to eat and I'm not in the mood to go to the supermarket. Do you want to go out somewhere? I think it would really cheer you up."

Hermione sighed again and shook her head no. "I don't feel like much right now, Harry."

Harry made a face. "Then I'll order something. Sit tight for a while, okay?" he closed the door at her silence and walked down the hall into the kitchens. He had been lying to her when he said there wasn't much to eat because he wanted to put her in high spirits, but once he looked through the cabinets and searched the fridge he realized that there really wasn't anything to eat. He took a phone book from off of the coffee table in the den and flipped through it, looking for fancy looking take out.

He never wanted to say anything, but in the back of his mind he had predicted something like this would happen between his two best friends. This looked well on the surface, or rather they looked good at first glance between Hermione and Ron, but a row was only moments away. Ron irritated her and he brought the worst out of her. The only time he ever saw Hermione cry was for Ron. Since she didn't even want to muster up enough self-confidence to go out he figured that she was going to spend the night thinking about him.

He continued to flip through the phone book and think of ways to cheer her up. He hated choosing sides between his friends but over the last few years it always came down to things like this.