Title: Foolish Pride
Author: Pandora80
Disclaimer: If you think I'm JK you need to get checked by St. Mungos. Really, this is just for fun, and I make no profit. All characters are owned by JK Rowling.
Song: Foolish Pride by Travis Tritt
AN: This is my first try at Fan fiction so please be nice.
Foolish Pride
She stayed up all night and cried into her pillow,
And fought off the urge to just break down and call.
Last night to find the fault seemed so darn easy,
But now who's to blame don't matter much at all.
She thinks if she calls him it just shows weakness,
So the hurt goes on with every tear she's cried.
Ain't it sad to see a good love fall to pieces?
Chalk another heart break up to foolish pride.
Turn out the lights, the competitions over,
The stubborn souls are the losers here tonight.
And while the bridges burn,
Another hard hard lessons learned.
As in the ashes passion slowly dies.
And this romance goes down to foolish pride.
Hermione rolled onto her back and stared unseeing at the white ceiling above her. From her spot on the bed she could see the first rays of the morning sun peaking through the closed curtains of the window. It had been a long night, but she hadn't slept. Her eyes hurt from all the crying she had done and she knew they would be red and puffy.
She didn't care. Why should she worry about how she looked when the only thing that mattered in her life had slammed out the door the night before?
The night had started like any other. She got off work form her job at the ministry, and hurried home to make dinner for herself and Ron. He was working as an Auror with Harry trying to round up the last of the Death Eaters. It had been a year since the final battle and the fall of Voldemort, but some of his followers where still out there. Harry and Ron would never stop until they were all in Azkaban, or dead. For Harry, he worked so hard out of a feeling of duty. Duty to those who had died. For Ron it was something more.
Right before the final battle Ron and Hermione had shared their first kiss. The love that had been building for the last six and a half years, finally bursting out, and consuming them. It was for that love that Ron now fought. He knew that to Voldemort's followers Hermione would be a top prize.
Because of their determination, Ron was often late coming home to the little one bedroom flat that he and Hermione shared. But last night, he had promised that he would be home early to celebrate their one year anniversary.
Hermione had been happy, giddy even, as she danced around the small kitchen preparing their meal. She worked fast, wanting to have it finished by the time he got home. She also wanted to cook the whole thing the muggle way, always thinking that it made it taste better. Like you could taste the time and love that went into the food.
She hurried and changed out of her work robes and into the new dress that she had bought for the night. It was black and flowing around her knees, showing off the body that she had finally grown into. She tied her frizzy hair up into a knot and left a few pieces hanging around her face. She knew that one of Ron's favorite things was to run his fingers into her hair and free it. He said it was like it was only for him and that only he got to make it wild.
When she got back to the kitchen, she glanced at the clock. It was quarter to seven. With the food almost finished, she set the table with the china that her mother had given them as a house warming gift, and lit the candles. She left the food on the stove to warm and made her way into the sitting room. She lit a fire and dimmed the lights, turning soft music on in the background.
Ron didn't like to get very romantic, but seeing as it was a very special day, Hermione didn't think that he would mind. It wasn't that he wasn't passionate; he just didn't express his emotions well. It was just another one of his quirks that she had gotten used to.
Hermione sat on the sofa and waited for him to arrive home.
And waited.
And waited.
By the time Ron was an hour late, Hermione was pacing in front of the fireplace, wringing her hands and worried. What if something had happened to him? Surely if it wasn't a life or death matter he would have sent word. Even as forgetful as Ron was, she knew that he wouldn't forget how important the day was.
At nine thirty Hermione walked back into the kitchen to see that the candles had burned out, and wax was already hardening on the lace table cloth. She was beyond worried at this point. She was angry.
Angry like she had never been before. Ron had blown off many things in their year together, and each one she had let slide. When he had forgotten to get her anything for her birthday, she had shrugged it off because really all she wanted was him anyway. When Valentines Day had come around and he didn't even give her a card, she pushed it aside because he was busy with work. What kind of person was she if a stupid holiday meant more to her then the welfare of all of wizard kind?
Today was different. Today was the anniversary of the first time they kissed. The first time they admitted they were meant for each other. Just as she put their uneaten dinner in the icebox, she heard the loud crack of someone apperating into the sitting room.
She hurried into the room to find Ron standing there, broom in one hand, and a half bottle of firewiskey in the other.
"Ron! Merlin where have you been?" Hermione yelled. Her anger fading into relief now that she knew he was ok. Ron quickly turned to face her, a large smile working its way across his face.
"Mione. There you are. Why weren't you at the Three Broomsticks with everyone else? There's a hell of a party going on. I just came home to grab you. Come on, let's go!" Ron reached for her, but she pulled out of his grasp just before he got her arm.
"Party? Ron don't you remember what day this is?"
"Course I do. It's the one year anniversary." He cocked his head to the side and spoke in a voice as if talking to someone very stupid.
"Yes Ron, anniversary. You were supposed to be home at seven so that we could have dinner. We had it all planned out." Hermione tried to keep her voice even. The anger that she felt before coming back in full force. He had forgotten. Again.
"But Mione, why would we stay home and have a quiet dinner today. It's the one year anniversary of the fall of you-know-who."
"Yes Ronald, it is. But you forget that it is also our one year anniversary." Hermione folded her arms across her chest and waited for the information to sink in.
"Oh!" He yelled, his eyes going wide. "That. I guess I got wrapped up in the party and forgot. Not to worry, I'll make it up to you another night, yeah? Let's just go and join them back at the pub." He smiled again like he had just come up with the plan to end world hunger.
Hermione had heard enough. Her anger had reached its boiling point, and she wasn't about to let another thing get swept under the rug in their relationship.
"No, it's not alright Ron. I'm sick of this. I'm sick of being second best."
"Oh come on Mione, don't start that. You know you are number one to me." Ron was seeing that it was now time to turn on the Weasley charm.
"No I'm not, I never have been. I'm always second to your work, to your family, to Quiddich, hell, even to Harry." The words were spilling out of her mouth now before she could stop them. "Harry has always meant more to you then me. Don't get me wrong I love him just as much as you do, but I don't have to run around doing everything that he asks me too. I put you before everything in my life."
Ron was starting to turn red around the ears, knowing that he would not get out to this fight easily. He gave a snort of laughter at her last comment.
"You put me first? You put your work first. Or books, or house elves, or any other magical creature that you think has it worse then you. I wish you spent half as much time tending to my well being as you did to theirs." Ron was yelling now, a stony look on his face.
"I'm sorry I'm not your mom Ron, I didn't know that I had to make sure that your wellbeing was looked after every second of the day. I figured what with all of your admirers tending to you every time you step foot out the door that you would be fine." The attention that the trio, especially the boys, had gotten for being war heroes had always been a sore spot for Hermione. Ron and Harry couldn't walk down the street half the time without a woman throwing herself at them.
"Don't start that admirer's bullshit. Those people just want to show us gratitude for saving the wizarding world."
"No they want to thank The Chosen One. You just love the attention."
"You act like I had no part in the war. I did more then my share, and you know it."
"Of course I know it. You would never let anyone forget it!" Hermione yelled at him.
"So that's all I am to you? Some glory hound ridding on the real hero's coat tails?" Ron's voice was cold and quiet. After many fights with Ron, Hermione knew that when he got quiet it was worse then if he was yelling. At the moment she didn't care. She just wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt her.
"If the sidekicks robe's fit." She bit out between clenched teeth.
"Take that back." His voice was still cold, but Hermione could see the hurt in his eyes.
Looking back on the fight now in the first rays of morning, it all seemed so stupid. She didn't know why she said all of the hurtful things she had said. She didn't mean any of them.
After he had left, she had thrown herself onto their bed, clutching his pillow close and crying like she hadn't cried in years. A few times she thought about floo calling Harrys. She was sure that that was where he had gone when he stormed out. The only thing stopping her from calling him was her pride. She had blamed herself too many times for there fights. It was his turn to say he was sorry. She would not be the weak one again.
And so she had laid there. Crying until there were no more tears to cry, wondering if this time they would be able to repair the hurt they had caused each other.
He relives every word they spoke in anger,
He walks the floor and punches out the wall.
To apologize to her would be so simple,
But instead he cries "I'll be damned if I'll crawl."
If he looses her he's lost his best friend,
And more then just a lover can provide.
So he wrestles with emotions that defeat him,
Chalk another love lost up to foolish pride.
Turn out the lights, the competitions over,
The stubborn souls are the losers here tonight.
And while the bridges burn,
Another hard hard lessons learned.
As in the ashes passion slowly dies.
And this romance goes down to foolish pride.
Ron paced back and forth through the library at Grimmauld Place thinking over the last hour. He had had many a row with Hermione over the years, but none of them compared to the one they had just had.
He knew that he was at fault for showing up late for their anniversary dinner, but he had just gotten so caught up in the celebrating at the pub that he had lost track of time. He had been drinking for a few hours with his friends when he realized that the most important person in his life wasn't there. He apperated back to their flat to grab her, and the instant he was in the room, he knew that something was off.
The lights were dimmed and soft music was playing. He heard her voice behind him asking where he had been and when he turned around he was greeted with the sight of the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Be for he even had a chance to tell her that, they were arguing.
Ron had managed to retain most of his composure until she started accusing him of riding Harry's fame. It had always been a sore spot for him. He feared that people only saw him as the tag a long, or the sidekick, even when he had proved time and again that he was an equal part in their trio. Hermione knew how much it bothered him and when she had pulled that into their fight, he knew that she was only doing it to hurt him.
Thinking back on it now, he knew that he should have been the bigger man and just walked away, he should not have risen to the bait, but at that moment, all he wanted to do was hurt her as much as she hurt him.
Ron replayed every spiteful word that they had spoken.
"You know Hermione, I may be the sidekick, but at least I acknowledge people when they want to thank me for my efforts in the war. You act like it's a burden. Like they owe you something for letting them talk to you." Ron spat out at her.
"I don't think they owe me anything. Sometimes I would just like to spend a quiet day out with my boyfriend without some tart throwing herself at you."
"Oh so that's it, you don't trust me? You think if I talk to these women, I must be shagging them."
"Your twisting my words around Ronald."
"No I think I'm getting to your true feelings at last. You think that the only way I won't fuck around on you is if I'm not aloud to speak to anyone but you."
"Oh now your just being stupid." Hermione threw her arms up in disgust. She turned her back on him and was just about to walk away into the kitchen when she heard the sound of breaking glass.
Ron stood, breathing heavy and red in the face. The half bottle of firewhiskey that he had been holding lay shattered on the floor where he had thrown it at the wall.
"Now I'm stupid and a cheating bastard is that it?" He bellowed at her. "Well you know what Hermione, maybe women wouldn't throw themselves at me if they didn't think I was dating a frigged bitch." Hermione reeled back as if he had hit her. He could see that she was fighting back tears, and at that moment he didn't care.
All that mattered at that moment was that he had to get away. Without another word he turned and stormed to the door. He threw it open, and slammed it just as hard behind him. He stood on the front step catching his breath and he could hear Hermione sobbing behind the closed door. The sound hit him right in the chest, and he instantly wanted to take back the words that he had said. He wanted to rush back inside and hold her and dry her tears, but he knew that he had said too much. Instead he turned on the spot, and apperated to Harrys.
The hurt look on her face wouldn't leave Ron's mind, and he punched the wall in frustration. The crunch of his knuckles and the pain shooting up his arm was a momentary distraction to the pain in his chest. Just as he was cursing loudly, and watching the blood drip onto the floor from his hand, Harry walked into the room. Ron had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't heard him come home.
"Whoa mate, what's got you so worked up?" Harry asked as he crossed the room to take a look at Ron's hand.
Ron pulled back suddenly, yanking his light jumper off and wrapping it around his fist. "I'm fine."
"Sure you are. You just beating up my walls for fun, or were you trying to see who would win, you or the brick?" Harry's words were meant as a joke, but his tone was full of concern. When Ron didn't answer and just continued to pace the room, harry gave a loud sigh and took a seat on the couch.
"You and Hermione have a fight?"
"You have no idea mate."
"Well I don't know what it was about, but it can't be that bad." Harry tried to reassure his friend.
"Oh it was bad Harry. We both said such hateful things. I really think this was the last one."
Harry watched his friend, he brows furrowed in thought. "You know, you can always go back and tell her that your sorry."
"Say I'm sorry?" Ron turned and yelled, his anger quickly resurfacing. "Why should I always be the one to say I'm sorry? She was just as much a part of it. I'll be damned if I'll crawl back to her, begging forgiveness."
Harry sat quietly, letting Ron work is anger out. After what felt like hours he felt that Ron was calm enough for him to speak.
"Do you really think its worth throwing away all that you too have had over a stupid fight?"
Ron turned to look at Harry, defeat clear in his eyes. He threw himself down on the other end of the couch, resting his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.
"I don't know this time, I just don't know. I know that I could never replace her, even if I wanted to. She's my best friend Harry. I could sleep with a hundred girls, and they would never be her. I love her so damn much, but we are always getting into these stupid fights, hurting each other so much."
"Maybe you can hurt each other so bad because your feelings are so strong."
"I don't know. I just can't go begging, not this time." Ron said in a quiet voice. Harry shook his head as he pulled himself up from the couch. Just as he was about to walk out the door, he turned to his broken friend one more time.
"Then your going to let the love of your life slip away, all do to your foolish pride."
Chalk another love lost up to foolish pride.