Title: Where do Broken Hearts Go
Author: Pandora80
Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit. All Harry Potter characters belong to JK Rowling.
Song: Where do Broken Hearts Go
By Whitney Huston
AN: This is a sequel to Foolish Pride. You have to read that to know what is going on in this. It was meant as a one shot, but someone asked me to not leave it there, so I decided that I couldn't. I hope you enjoy. I'm still new at this so feedback is welcomed.
Chapter One
Where Do Broken Hearts Go
I've been around enough to know
That dreams don't turn to gold
That there is no easy way
No you just can't run away
And what we had was so much more
Then we ever had before
And no matter how I try
You're always on my mind
So hear I am
And can you please tell me
Where do broken hearts go?
Three months had passed since that fateful night when Hermione's world had turned upside down. Sitting in the Leaky Cauldron waiting for Harry to show up for brunch, she remembered the events leading up to where she was now.
After her fight with Ron, she had spent the night lying awake in their bed crying. When the morning sun was shinning full force through the curtains, she decided that she would have to get up and face the world.
Just as she was pulling herself out of the bed and heading to the bathroom to shower, she heard the crack of someone apperating into the sitting room.
"He's come back" She thought to herself as she ran from the room.
"Ron! Ron your back!" She rounded the corner into the room and stopped short when she saw Harry standing there. He had a grim look on his face. "Oh, Harry, I thought you were Ron." Her voice dropped as she spoke, and she stood in the doorway trying to fix her disheveled appearance. She was still in the dress from the night before, and it was wrinkled from lying in the bed. Some of her hair had worked its way free of the tight bun, and was sticking up at odd angles.
"I'm sorry for just barging in on you Hermione." He crossed the room to stand in front of her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You doing ok?"
"I'm fine." She said trying to put a brave smile on her face, but she knew she failed miserably when she saw the concern in her friend's eyes. She hung her head, and walked past Harry, throwing herself down on the end of the couch.
"So I guess you know about the fight." She said in a small voice once he had joined her.
"I heard about it. Ron didn't get into details. He just said that you both said some really mean things. Well that was after he broke his hand." Hermione's head shot up.
"He broke his hand? How did he do that? Is he ok?"
"I'm sure he's fine. He punched the wall, and I heard it break but he wouldn't let me look at it. Too bad his hand isn't as hard as his head." Harry laughed softly trying to ease the tension.
"Yes well, it's a good thing its not, or he would have punched right through the wall." Hermione gave him a small smile. "So anyway, did he send you here as a scout to see if I would hex him as soon as he showed up?"
Harry's smile faded, and Hermione could see that he was trying to avoid looking her in the eye.
"Well um, no." He finally spoke to his shoes. "He sent me here to get some of his stuff. You know clothes for work, stuff like that." Hermione's heart broke a little more at his words. He wasn't coming back. The things she had said were too much. In one moment of anger, she had ruined everything.
"Oh" Was all that she could say.
Sitting in the pub now, she remembered how the next few weeks were like a blur. Every few days a different Weasley would stop by her flat to pick up a few more of his things. Every time she would get the same speech.
"Just give him time Hermione. He'll come around."
But he hadn't. He didn't so much as send an owl to tell her he was moving out. He let his family do his dirty work. Hermione was almost happy that he had done it that way. It allowed her to become angry with him, and not dwell on missing him so much. It was the anger that fueled her to push on and keep living day to day.
When Ginny told her that he had moved back into The Burrow, she almost laughed. Maybe now he was getting all that care for his well being from his Mum that he had wanted.
Even through her anger, she still felt empty. All the reasons she had fought the war for were gone. Her hopes of growing old with her best friend by her side had been torn away in one stupid moment of anger.
Hermione was brought back from her thoughts when Harry sat down across from her at the table.
"Sorry I'm late."
"Well I'll let it slide this time I suppose." She tried to laugh, but even she knew that it sounded forced. She hadn't had a real laugh in months. "So what was so urgent that we just had to meet today?"
"Well, we need to talk." Harry's voice took on the commanding tone that she had heard him use many times in the war. It was his Boy-Who-Lived voice. The voice that demanded you shut up and listen. "We need to talk about Ron."
"I don't want to talk about him Harry." She started to say.
"I know that you don't want to, but you are going to."
~****~
Ron pulled himself out of bed when the sounds of the birds outside his window had become too much. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was just passed noon. At least it was a Saturday and he didn't have to worry about getting in trouble for not showing up for work again.
Lately it was a hit or miss if he would even show up for work. He knew that he only still had a job because of Harry. "Won't Hermione be please when she finds out I still need Harry's fame to get me by." He thought glumly to himself as he made his way to the bathroom.
He quickly relived himself then took a look in the mirror. He hadn't shaved in days, and he rarely took a shower any more. What was the point? Maybe it was the stink that kept people away from him, or it could be the empty look in his eyes. He wasn't sure. All he knew was that what ever it was he was going to keep on doing it.
After about a week of his family pestering him about Hermione, he finally broke and hit George with a hex, causing him to have a painful night of re-growing the bones in his leg. Since then they had left him alone. Even his mother didn't pester him to get out of bed at a decent time anymore.
He made his way down to the kitchen, not because he was hungry, but because it was just what he did. He was never hungry anymore. This worried the people around him the most. It had always been a joke that at Hogwarts they really only needed about ten House Elves to make the food for everyone. The other hundred were there to make the food for him.
When he got to the kitchen Molly and Ginny were sitting at the table looking over a bridal magazine. Harry had asked Ginny to be his wife when the last of the death eaters were caught. It wasn't a surprise to anyone, they always knew they would get married. Just like him and Hermione, he thought to himself, and he felt his shoulders slump even more.
"Hello dear." Molly said when she saw him come into the room. "Would you like something to eat?"
"Not hungry." Was his only reply as he sat and stared into the tea that his Mum had placed in front of him. He missed the look that was passed between Molly and Ginny. The room was silent for several moments. Both of the women were afraid to carry on their conversation in front of him, they never knew what would set him off.
Just as the silence was becoming unbearable they heard the fireplace rush to life, and seconds later Harry appeared in the room, brushing soot off his clothes. He quickly said hello to Molly, and gave Ginny a kiss, then stood in front of Ron.
"We need to talk." He said when Ron looked up. "Now." He didn't wait for a reply and just turned to walk up the stairs. Ron glanced at his mother and sister but they seemed to be avoiding his gaze. With a small grunt he stood from the table and followed Harry up to his room.
When he got there he went to his bed and sat on the edge while Harry shut the door. They stared at each other for a moment.
"So what's this all about?" Ron finally asked.
"Well I've told you this before and I'll say it again. You're a right fowl git."
"Oh is that right? And what made you come to that realization?" Ron asked trying to keep his temper down for the time being.
"I just had brunch with Hermione." At the name Ron's head shot up, and he was looking into the green eyes of his best friend. They were filled with anger and concern.
"Well good for you. I'm glad she hasn't been neglecting her social calendar."
"That's just it Ron, she has. I had to beg her to meet with me today. She never goes anywhere any more. She goes to work and she goes home, and granted that's more then I can say for you on most days. But she looks awful Ron. I can tell she hasn't been eating. She is really pale and that spark in her eyes is gone. They just look empty. It's the same look that we all see in yours."
"Why are you telling me all of this? She's not my fucking responsibility any more. She made that clear. She wants nothing to do with me." Ron shot back, an icy tone in his voice.
"You never gave her a chance to tell you anything. Your both acting like a couple of first years. Neither of you will make the first move to talk to the other. Now I'm going to tell you the same thing that I told her. Either work this out, or move on. We are all tired of watching you both slowly kill yourselves over this." Harry watched as Ron's shoulders slumped farther in defeat.
"You told her to move on?"
"Yes I did. Either that or talk to you and work it out. One of you has to make the first move. If you both weren't so pigheaded this would have been done and over three months ago. Now seeing as Ginny and I are getting married in two weeks, and as you are my best man and she is the maid of honor you are going to have to talk at some point. Its time to pull your head out of your arse Ron." Ron could tell that Harry was done with his speech and was happy for it. He wanted to be left alone with his thoughts. Harry was almost out the door when he stopped, just like three months ago on the night of the fight.
"Don't let her get away again Ron." He spoke softly and left, closing the door behind him.
"That's easy for you to say mate." Ron said to himself when he was alone. He knew that he didn't want to move on. There would never be anyone that meant more to him then Hermione. Was there a way to say he was sorry after so much time?
Ron laid back on the bed and thought of all the things he could try to say to her when they were finally face to face. There was just one nagging question in his mind. What would he do if she took Harry's advice and moved on?