Falling Stars
It was their first Christmas Break out of Hogwarts. At the Grimmauld place, all of the current residents were gathered around the Christmas Tree, waiting for the stroke of midnight to rip open their carefully wrapped presents. Six Weasley brothers and one Weasley sister, along with two Weasley parents, one Harry Potter, one Tonks, one Lupin, one Moody and one Hermione sat, chattering eagerly.
"Remember the Yule Ball during Fourth Year?" Fred laughed. "It was the grandest memory of my Hogwarts years, apart from Umbridge's face when we insulted her and flew out of the window."
"It wasn't so great." Ron murmured.
"That's because you allowed some Bulgarian git to get his hands on your girl." George said.
"Oh, please!" Hermione scoffed. "He just asked me--"
"Right, Hermione. We all know you did it just to tick Ron off." Fred rolled his eyes.
"I did nothing of the sort!" Hermione said defensively. "If anything he ticked me off!"
"I did not!" Ron said. "If you recall, I did ask you to the ball!"
"Only after you'd been turned down by a bunch of beautiful girls that wouldn't be seen at the ball with you! You only got a date when Harry begged his date to find you one!"
"She's got a point, Ron." Harry said, laughing.
"Well you shouldn't have been so...so..." Ron stuttered. "So Hermione-ish!"
Charlie chuckled. "That's a good one, Ron."
"S'not my fault she chose to go with a stupid Bulgarian child molestor!"
A pillow flew across the room to hit Ron square in the face. Harry laughed openly at Ron, who looked surprised that anything could hit him in the face, with all of the Keeper training he'd had.
"Oh the pain!" He wailed, falling down, clutching his face. "Make it stop, Harry! She's hit me! I think I'll die!"
Harry laughed. "Hermione, you cold-blooded fiend! How could you do that to Ron?"
"Seriously, though." Ron said, getting up. "She's so thin and feeble, I'm surprised she could even lift the pillow."
"Why you!" Hermione flared, getting up.
"I mean, look at her neck! Like a toothpick! Sometimes I wonder how she gets food down it!"
"Shut up, Ron Weasley! Shut up right now!" She said, trying to look angry despite her supressed laughter.
"What are you going to do from over there, little woman?" He laughed.
Hermione was across the room in two steps. It was impressive, considering the room was large enough to fit an entire Weasley family and then some. Hermione had a pillow gripped in his hand and she shoved it in Ron's face, laughing.
"Take that, King Weasley!"
"Argh! Hermione, stop! I can't breathe! Get off!" He laughed, pushing her off.
"I don't care! Suffocate, damn you!" She laughed, even harder.
"Naughty Hermione! Cursing?" He said, finally getting her off of him. "Sorry, Love, but I'm going to have to punish you for this deed."
He shot his hands into her stomach and started to tickle her. She squirmed and writhed and kicked and screamed.
"Damn you, stop moving!" He yelled.
"Ron stop! Stop it now! I'll hex you! STOP!!" She screamed, laughing hysterically.
"Hm." Lupin said, shaking one of his presents. "It sounds like there could be cookies in here. Or maybe--" There was the unmistakeable sound of glass shattering within the box. "Glass cookies?"
Harry laughed.
"Oh, Remus!" Tonks said, taking the box. "I spent good money on that!" Her hair flared a bright red.
There was a loud strum in the background. Everyone was hushed as every clock chimed midnight. It was Christmas Day.
Lupin had put a silencing charm on the portraits in the hall, so they wouldn't be able to hear the racket.
Ron sat with a present in his lap, scratching his head.
"Let's see, it's probably a book, considering it's from Hermione." He said to Harry, who was watching him. "But, why would she get me a book if we're out of school?"
"It's not a book, Ron." Hermione said.
Ron threw the present out of his lap and into Harry's arms.
"It's a bomb! It's a bomb!" He shrieked, collapsing.
"Oh, stop it!" Hermione laughed. "It's not a bomb or a book."
"Well, now I'm scared." Ron said, taking the box back. "What else would Hermione Granger buy me besides a book or a bomb?"
"Just open it, Ron!" Ginny said, impatiently.
Ron threw the lid off of the box. His eyes opened wide with surprise and he stared down at what was in the box.
"A pie?" He questioned.
Suddenly, the pie flung up onto his face, as if by a spring on the bottom of it. Everyone was silent. They all stared at the pie that was stuck onto Ron's face. It was evident that he would have had a surprised look on his face if it was visible.
Then, there was a surpressed giggle. Ron ripped the pie off of his face and wiped around his eyes.
Hermione was shaking, in fits of laughter. She was laughing and laughing. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She held on to Harry's shoulder for support, and Harry looked at her like she was insane. Everyone just looked at her.
"D-did Hermione Granger, just pull a joke and then laugh at it?" George said, scratching his head.
"Dear God!" She screamed. "I can't breathe!"
Then, like a virus, the laughter spread throughout the room. Hermione, the loudest of all. Ron was still wiping frosting off of his face.
"Hermione, Love." He said calmy, when the laughter had died down. "Come here a second."
"Make me!" She said, sticking her tongue out.
"Come here you little--" he said, making a reach for her. Harry stood up, by some instinct.
"No!" She shrieked.
"Hermione Granger, come here right now!" Ron laughed.
Harry stood between them, and was still laughing about Ron's face.
Ron grabbed at her again and caught her arm.
"Ahh! Harry, get him away!" Hermione shrieked, laughing insanely.
"Your going to get this frosting off of my face one way or another!" Ron said, pulling her towards him. He took his hand, covered in frosting and stuck it on her face.
"Ah! Get him away! Ginny, help!" Hermione said, struggling to get away.
Ginny made no move to help Hermione, but instead turned to Percy, who was sitting next to her.
"Aren't they cute together?" She asked him.
Percy didn't answer, but turned away coldly, looking at his parents angrilly. "You know she's not--"
"We know, Percy, dear." Mrs. Weasley said quietly. "And Ron knows. We just have to find the courage to tell him."
~-~-~-
Hermione and Ron were in the kitchen, cleaning up their faces. Hermione was giggling as she scrubbed her face.
"Hermione..." Ron said.
"Hmm..?"
"You've changed, since first year."
"Well, I suppose I have gotten a bit taller." She said.
"No, no, that's not what I mean." Ron said. "I mean, you, your more beautiful."
"Are you saying I was ugly?"
"No, no, it's not that." Ron said smiling. "How long have we been together? I forget..."
"Two years, six months, eleven days, four hours, two minutes and three seconds." Hermione sighed.
"Oh, right." Ron sighed. "Hermione, I have to give you my Christmas present."
"Oh, okay." She said, starting to go back into the living room.
"No, it's not in there." Ron said. He put his hand in his pocket, blushing hard.
"Is it in your room?" Hermione asked him.
"Uh, no, it's in my pocket."
Hermione stood there, looking at him. What could he fit in his pocket as a Christmas present? Maybe it was a Chocolate Frog? That would be just like good old Ron.
He pulled out a ring box from his pocket. "Uh--" he stuttered.
"That's an awfully strange place to put a chocolate frog." Hermione said, naivly, her heart pounding in her chest.
"It's not a chocolate frog." He opened it and took out the ring.
It was a beautiful ring. It was two strands of star shaped diamonds, weaved together into a braid. It looked like a rope, a rope of sparkling, glittering stars. Hermione looked at it oddly when he put it on her finger.
Please let him put it on my ring finger, she thought to herself. Please, oh please!
The ring was on her ring finger.
"Er...marry me?" He managed to stutter.
"Oh, Ron!" She sobbed. "You make me feel horrid!"
Ron's eyes widened. Had he offended her? Was this her way of saying no?
"I smack you in the face with a pie and you propose to me!" She said. "I'm sorry! Could I make it up to you?"
Did she say yes, yet? Had he missed it?
"You could, er, say yes." He said, awkwardly.
Hermione looked at the ring thoughtfully. "How much did you spend on this thing?"
BLOODY HELL, SAY YES ALREADY!
"Er, I don't remember..."
"Ron!" Hermione said. "You aren't exactly rich, from that new job you have. How much did you pay?"
Was that a yes, yet?
"Tell me, or I'll say no!"
She wasn't serious, was she?
"Okay, okay. It was a hundred galleons!" Ron said.
"Ron! You idiot!" She shrieked. "Where'd you get the money?"
Was money all she cared about?
"I had some saved up." Ron said impatiently.
There was a long awkward silence.
"Did you just propose to me?" She asked him quietly.
BLOODY HELL? WAS THIS GIRL EVER GOING TO GIVE HIM A DIRECT ANSWER?
"Hermione Granger!" Ron said, his ears turning red. "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" He yelled. "WILL YOU TAKE MY LAST NAME, WILL YOU LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE AS ME, WILL YOU WEAR A WHITE GOWN AND STAND IN FRONT OF A CHURCH AND SAY WEDDING VOWS, WILL YOU GROW OLD WITH ME, WILL YOU MARRY ME?"
Hermione looked shocked. Her bottom lip quivered and tears started to come down her cheeks.
Damn it! Ron thought. Can't I do anything right?
Hermione was shaking.
"Hey, stop crying." He said quietly.
"Is it okay if I say yes?" She asked him, wiping her eyes.
BLOODY HELL, THIS GIRL WAS SO COMPLICATED!
"Of course it is."
"Okay." She said quietly. "Yes."
It was Ron's turn to have the dumbstruck look on his face.
"Did you just say yes to me? Did you just say that you'd marry me?"
"Yes." She said, and then something lit up in her eyes. "Yes!" She said louder. "Yes!" She yelled louder then Ron did.
She jumped up onto him and he was pushed back against the wall to keep his balance.
Whoa. He had a wife.
~-~-~-~-
They walked back into the living room, just as Lupin was discovering that he had gotten a present filled with borken glass.
"What happened to my cookies?" He asked Harry, who laughed at him. Lupin smiled at Tonks who looked angry still, but her hair had turned a seasonal red and green.
"Did you two have fun?" asked Bill, who was laughing. "We heard yelling."
"Y-yeah." Ron said distantly, taking a seat beside his mother, sighing.
Hermione sat down next to Ginny, who was examining a book carefully.
"Percy, what is this?" She asked.
"Every law in the Wizarding World is listed in there." Percy said. "I thought you'd like to read it, as you may want to become a Ministry Worker."
"Gee," Ginny said, heaving the gigantic book into her lap. "Thanks, Percy."
"Ha! Ginny'll be ninety by the time she finishes that!" George laughed.
Ginny opened the book and her eyes grew with horror when she saw how thin the pages are. She gave a weak smile to Percy, who was positively beaming at Ginny.
"I'll read it, later." Ginny said, dropping the book on the floor.
"Careful, Ginny!" Georeg said. "You'll cause an earthquake."
"I don't appreciate that." Percy said, sharply. "Well, at least she'll be educated, unlike you two."
"Hey, we're educated." Fred said.
"Yeah, we make more money then you, old Percy!" George laughed. "And unlike you, we don't have to talk like a dictionary all the time."
Percy glared at them, and looked away, as if to impress their inferiority.
Ginny was looking at Hermione's hand curiously. She grabbed it and held it to her face.
"S-something wrong, Ginny?" Ron asked, across the room.
"Hermione, this is a georgeous ring! Do you know what this ring is?"
"Er--" Hermione stuttered.
"This ring is ultra rare! This thing is made of star dust!"
"Star dust?" Questioned Harry, looking at the ring.
"Yeah, it's really rare to find and one of these rings costs about five hundred galleons."
Hermione ripped her hand away from Ginny and stood up, flaring at Ron.
"You lied! You said it only cost one hundred!"
Everyone was looking at Hermione, who was turning the most interesting shade of red.
"What does it matter?" Ron said calmly, shrugging. "I had enough money."
"Oh, Ron Weasley, I'm going to kill you!" Hermione said, groaning. "I'll pay you back."
"HERMIONE!" Ron said, standing up. "You can't just pay me back for that ring!"
"Why not?" Hermione said indignantly.
"Er--Hermione?" Ginny said. "It seems to me you are wearing that ring on your, erm, ring finger."
"Where else is a girl supposed to wear her--" Harry stopped and looked at Hermione and Ron, understanding.
"Hehe..." Ron said nervously.
Hermione turned a pink.
"Oh, that's just adorable!" Tonks said, standing up. Her hair was now a light pink. "You two are such a cute couple!"
Hermione shook her head and turned back to Ron, taking off the ring.
"I'm not going to accept it until I pay for it!"
"Hermione Granger, you are impossible!" Ron screamed.
"You're the one that's impossible!"
"What kind of girl gets an engagement ring and tries to pay for it?" Ron asked her, smirking.
"Me, that's who!" Hermione said. "So you'd better get used to it, Ron Weasley!"
Ron grabbed her hand and put the ring back on. "You are not going to pay me back."
"Yes I am!"
"No you're not!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Am too!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
Ron grinned. "Glad you see it my way, Hermione."
Hermione opened her mouth shocked. "But, oh, you can't! Ron, it's too much!"
"No, you're too much! You're way too much, Hermione Granger!" Ron said, laughing.
George, Fred, Ginny, and Harry went over to congratulate Ron and Hermione, who were still arguing.
However, Bill, Charlie and Percy looked at their parents who just looked at the group sadly.
"You have to stop them." Percy said.
"I can't, you know I can't!" Mrs. Weasley moaned.
"The longer you wait, the more Ron will resent himself." Charlie said quietly.
"But, they're so happy together!"
Mr. Weasley sighed and rubbed the temples of his head.
~-~-~-~-
Five weeks. She had been engaged for five weeks. She was in an all natural high. She walked around the house, humming tunes, and smiling so happily at Ron that it was almost sickening. They were so much in love, it was unnatural.
Mrs. Weasley refused to meet Hermione's gaze at all. She didn't want to look at her. It's not that she had anything against Hermione, her and Ron would make the perfect couple. She'd love to have another daughter, especially one like Hermione. But, oh, if she'd only chosen Harry!
"We have to tell, Ron, Molly." Mr. Weasley said quietly.
"B-but, they're so much in love!" sobbed Mrs. Weasley.
"We should've told them Christmas Day. They've already started to make plans for their wedding. You know we can't let them get married."
"Oh, Arthur, if only it was different! If only Hermione had fallen in love with Harry, she'd still be my almost daughter-in-law!"
"Tonight, Molly. We have to tell him tonight."
Mrs. Weasley sighed, and continued to stir her soup.
~-~-~-
Ron was in the kitchen, grinning at Hermione, who was getting a cup of coffee. It was the middle of the night, and neither could sleep.
"I want to go for a walk." Hermione sighed.
"At this hour?" Ron asked, laughing. "You'll get eaten by a warewolf!"
"Oh, don't be stupid, Ron. It's not a full moon." Hermione said, handing him a cup of coffee.
"Ron, dear." Mrs. Weasley said, appearing in the doorway.
"Oh, mum!" Ron said, turning around. "What are you doing up?"
After much discussion, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley decided it was best that Mrs. Weasley tell Ron, rather then her husband. If Ron lost his temper, he couldn't hit his own mother, but with fathers, it sometimes differed.
"I need to talk to you, Ron. If you don't mind, Hermione." She said, nodding to Hermione.
"Oh, no." Hermione smiled. "I'll just, take that walk."
Hermione's lips brushed against Ron's cheek and she left through the back door of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley sat down at the dining table, hands on her head. Ron came and sat next to her, smiling widely.
"Isn't Hermione grand?" He asked her. "She's so smart and--"
"Ron, we need to talk about her." Mrs. Weasley said seriously.
"What about Hermione?"
"Ron, dear, you can't get married to her."
"What?" Ron asked in disbelief. He stared at her for a few seconds then laughed. "Don't worry mum, I have some money saved up for the wedding. And if it's not enough, Hermione can pay for it."
"It's not the money. It's Hermione."
"What's wrong with Hermione?" Ron said, his voice getting slightly defensive.
"She's, well, she's not like you."
Ron laughed. "You can say that again. We're complete opposites! I mean she likes to read, and I like to sleep. She likes cold coffee, don't ask me why, and I like warm coffee like normal--"
"Ron, she's a wonderful girl. And, I'd be honored to have her as a daughter in-law. But, it can't happen."
"What? Is she my distant cousin or something?" Ron laughed. "That happens all the time on muggle soap operas. Hermione told me all about them. It's all about those quarrels muggles have. I'd like to watch one. Hermione says they're addictive, but I don't think--"
"It's not Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley said, on the verge of tears.
"But you just said it was Hermione!" Ron said, looking confused.
"It's where she's from."
"What? London?"
"No, her parents..."
"Do you have something against dentists?" Ron laughed. "Awful, they are. Don't worry, they won't be traveling to the Wizard Realm too often, I think."
"RON!" Molly screamed, tears already coming down her eyes. "I love you with all my heart, but you can't, and you won't marry Hermione Granger!"
"Mum, what's wrong with you? Do you have a fever?" Ron said, feeling her forehead.
"Ron, she's a mudblood!" Molly covered her mouth with her hands, and looked away from Ron.
Ron looked at her in disbelief. He'd always thought she'd thought as Hermione as her second daughter. And now she was putting her down because she was muggle born?
"Don't you ever call her that." Ron said softly. "Don't you ever."
"Ron, you are a pureblood."
"Don't remind me." Ron scoffed.
"Like it or not, our line of purebloods goes back before the Founders of Hogwarts. And, like it or not, you are a pureblood that will carry on the Weasley name."
"What's wrong with Hermione carrying it on?"
"She's a mud--"
"Don't you dare!" Ron screamed. "Is she suddenly below us? You let me invite her into our house, you let me fall in love with her, what's wrong with me marrying her?"
"Ron, I promised your father's grandmother on her death bed, that all the children I had would go on and continue the Weasley name!"
"Hermione will carry it on just fine!"
"Ronald Weasley!" Molly said. "Don't you understand? She's not like you. If you marry her, you'll be breaking everything that you stand for."
"And what do I stand for, mum?" He asked. "I came from a poor family, who just managed to squeak by every year. You taught us that love was more important then our origin. But, now your saying I can't marry Hermione just because she is muggle born?"
"Ron. She isn't good enough for you! And if you marry her, then you will be betraying everyone in this family! We have taken pride to be the only respectable pureblood family in the Wizarding World and we will uphold that title even if I have to find you a girl myself!"
Ron stared hard at his mother. "I'm marrying her."
"Ron, let me tell you something." She sat back down and grabbed his hand. "When I was sixteen, I was in love with a half-blood. His name was Albert. I loved him, and I was so sure that I'd found the right man for me. He proposed to me and I accepted. And then, my mother, she told me I couldn't. And, oh, Ron, it broke my heart! And, I left him. And, I felt so horrid for years! And, I met your father. And then, I realized, that if I married him, then everyone would be happy, including me."
"What does that have to do with anything?" scoffed Ron.
"Ron, sometimes, you have to give up something you love, to get something better."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this from my own mother." Ron said, shaking his head.
"She isn't good enough for you."
"What--"
There was a small wimper at the back door. Both of them turned around and saw Hermione, who had apparently been listening to the entire conversation. Her eyes held disbelief.
"Hermione--"
"I'm sorry." She said, her voice tight. "I shouldn't have eavesdropped."
And then, she ran into the night.
~-~-~-~-
The pain seered in her chest. Her lungs were heaving, her heart was racing faster then it ever had. But, she didn't care. She just kept running.
She's a mudblood!
Hermione ran faster.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled. "Damn that girl can run." He muttered to himself.
He decided not to run, because he had to think. Why in the world would his mother tell him he couldn't marry Hermione? What was so bad about a pureblood marrying a muggle born? If marriages like that wouldn't have happened, then the Wizarding Race would've been dissolved. Would their children come out squibs if he married her? No, squibs were rare.
"Hermione!"
He kept walking, knowing she had come this way. The sun was breaking into the sky, over powering the moon. Ron sighed and kept going.
He wasn't in his pajamas. Hermione was, though. He was up half the night talking to her about their wedding. How could ecstasy turn into terror within a few minutes?
A field. An emtpy lot, surrounded by trees. There was a collapsed figure in the middle of it.
"Hermione." Ron said, kneeling down beside her. "You aren't dead. I know your not."
"I'm sorry, Ron." She whispered.
"Don't you dare die!" Ron yelled. "If you die, I'll kill you!"
Hermione sat up, her cheeks wet with tears.
"Hey, I'm sorry about what you heard." He said. "I don't even understand what my mum's problem is."
"She called me a mud--"
"Don't, Hermione." He said. "You know, my mum is a good person. I just don't get why whould would say that."
"She's a wonderful person, Ron." Hermione sighed. "And that's what bugs me. If a good person thinks I'm bad, then I must be horrid!"
"Listen to me, stop crying, damn you!" Ron said, angrily.
Hermione looked away.
"I'm going to marry you. I don't care what my mum says, what my dad says, what anyone says. I'm going to marry you."
Hermione was silent.
"Did you really pay five hundred galleons for this thing?" She asked him.
"No." Ron said, smiling. "I stole it from a gypsy."
"Ron!" Hermione laughed. "Tell me the truth."
"Yes, I spent five hundred galleons on Hermione Granger. But, mind you, you're to pay for the wedding."
"Ron Weasley, your insane if you think I'm going to pay for the entire wedding."
"Then I'll pay for it."
"No! You'll overspend again!"
"Okay, then I won't pay."
"That's unfair!"
"Is there no pleasing you?" Ron asked.
"No. I guess not."
~-~-~-~-
"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Tonks asked at breakfast.
Mrs. Weasley coughed politely and continued eating her breakfast. No one answered her.
"They were up late last night." Ginny said. "Talking."
Harry felt a little left out, but smiled.
"They went down to get coffee around one in the morning." He said. "Insane people."
The sqeaking back door opened and there stood Ron, his face dirty. Behind him walked Hermione, who was also very dirty, but in her pajamas.
"Well, you two look like you had fun." Tonks laughed.
"You shouldn't run off like that, Ron. We were worried." Bill said.
"I bet you were." said Ron, starting to walk up the stairs, with Hermione following close behind, refusing to look at the table full of Weasley's.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bill asked.
"Nothing."
They all listened as they heard Ron and Hermione go upstairs and into seperate rooms.
"I'd better go up and talk to him." Mr. Weasley said.
"Don't you dare!" Ron yelled back from his room.
"That was a bit of a nasty talk you gave him last night." Fred said coldly to his mother.
"A bit prejudice if you ask me." George said.
"I thought I told you, you are not to use those extendable ears in this house, in any house, anywhere at any time!" Mrs. Weasley said.
"We'd do it again!" Fred said indignantly, standing up. "Hermione's a great girl, if you just got to know her."
Harry and Ginny had no clue what was going on.
"More pancakes, Tonks." Moody muttered, handing her the plate.
"No, I'm fine." Tonks said, also looking down at the other end of the table.
"Fred, George, hush." Mrs. Weasley said.
Ginny looked at Bill questioningly. Bill gave her a weak smile and looked away, as if ashamed.
"You can't hush us!" Fred said
"We're not little children anymore."
"Well, your acting like some." Percy said. "Mother did what she had to do, and how Ron handled it was unacceptable."
"What's going on in this family?" Ginny asked them all, expecting an answer, looking at them all. "I know I'm the youngest, but I'm only a year younger then Ron, and if he has the right to know, then I do too!"
They were all silent for a minute.
"Mum and Dad told Ron he couldn't marry Hermione because she's a muggle born." George scoffed. "Its just as bad as the Malfoy's."
Ginny was silent and Harry got up and left the table, angry at the world.
"Well, I've lost my apetite." Lupin said, pushing back from the table.
~-~-~-~-
Harry sat on the floor, looking at Ron pace angrily back and forth, muttering angrily.
"I want to hit something! I want to kill someone!" He yelled.
"I don't think beating me to a pulp would make you feel any better." Harry said bitterly.
"Ugh! I can't believe it!"
Buckbeak reared its head and seemed snort at the two. Harry smiled a little at the creature and sighed. They had been in the room all day, refusing to come out, locking the door, resisting the aromas of food and the pleading of Tonks.
"What time is it?" Ron asked Harry.
"I dunno. Must be night, I don't hear anyone moving anymore."
There was a knock at the door.
~-~-~-
Hermione stood in the middle of Diagon Alley. All of the Witches and Wizards walked past her. She took a step forward, and suddenly ever person in the town looked at her.
"Mudblood!" one screamed.
"You'll never be good enough!"
"Get out! Get out! Your a disgrace."
They all had red hair.
Hermione thrust her eyelids open and shot up in bed, and looked around. Ginny was sleeping soundly next to her. She sighed and climbed out of bed.
Ron and Harry's room was empty. Their beds were still unmade from a few days ago. Boys. Hermione grabbed each of their pillows and made her way to Buckbeak's room.
~-~-~-
"Go away!" Ron said.
The knock came again.
"Get lost whoever you are. We don't want to talk to you."
Hermione stood at the other side of the door, wanting to talk, but the tears were still caught in her throat.
She knocked again.
"Damn it, go away!" Ron said, opening the door. "Hermione."
"I thought you two might want a pillow." She said, handing him the pillows.
"Er--thanks." he said awkwardly.
Hermione gave him a weak smile and began to walk away.
"Hermione," Ron said softly. "Come on in."
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose." She said.
"No, it's okay." Ron said.
~-~-~-~
Hermione sat against the wall between the two boys. She sighed and looked at Harry.
"What's wrong, Harry?"
"I don't get it. Ron, how could your family accept me and Hermione and then, just, reject us all of a sudden?"
"I'm not part of their family." Ron scoffed.
Hermione looked at Ron for a long time, and she let the tears come down her cheeks. Ron put his arm around her and let her cry.
"Ron." Harry said, sighing. "I think I'm in love with your sister."
Ron smiled at Harry. "We could've been brothers."
"Yeah, could've. And if Hermione married you, then we'd all be related."
"Ginny Potter. It does have a slight ring to it." Ron said. "Look, I'm really sorry about my, er, family."
"It's not your fault, Ron." Harry said.
Harry sighed and leaned against Hermione's sideways form.
They fell asleep.
~-~-~-
"Damn you!"
Hermione woke up to find that she was alone on the floor, Harry and Ron were gone. Her head was rested on Ron's pillow and Harry's lay at her feet. Someone was yelling in the hallway, and something told her it wasn't one of the paintings.
Hermione got up lazily and leaned against the door, looking at Buckbeak, who was still asleep, making a slightly retarded gafawing sound.
"You are a disgrace. Mother and Father did the right thing."
"Your the disgrace you bigheaded prat!"
"You can't even come up with intelligent insults." Hermione imagined Percy throwing his eyebrows up in that superior way of his.
"And you can't get over yourself! What about your girlfriend, Pinnochio?"
"Her name is Penelope." Percy said, annoyed. "And I for one, think that you shouldn't marry that girl for another reason. She's been bringing you trouble since first year."
"She's been bringing me trouble?" Ron snorted. "If anything, she was trying to get me out of trouble."
"You are a very intelligent person, Ron." Percy said. "And I trust you have enough sense to leave that mudblood and stay true to your family."
Hermoine had opened the door a smidge to see what was going on. Harry was holding Ron back, and was having a hard time.
He stopped struggling.
"What did you call her?"
Oh, dear.
"There is no need to be upset--"
"Answer me straight, git!" Ron yelled. "What did you call her."
"Calm down, Ron, calm down." Harry was saying.
Hermione oepned the door all the way. Ron turned to her, his face all red.
It's my fault, she thought bitterly. I'm the person responsible for turning Ron against his family. What right did I have to do that?
"I called her a mudblood." Percy challenged.
"Percy, shush!" Ginny said urgently.
"Why you!" Ron broke out of Harry's grip and was on top of Percy within seconds.
"Percy, Ron, STOP!" Ginny screamed.
"Oh, let them fight, Ginny." Fred said.
"Yeah, Percy had it coming." George said.
"But, they'll kill each other!" Ginny said.
"Let's hope Percy dies first." Fred said half heartedly.
"Please stop them, Fred! Please stop them!"
"Oh, fine." Fred sighed. "Bill, Charlie, get out here!"
"STOP IT!" Ginny was yelling.
Bill emerged from the room across the room, yawning. He rubbed his eyes groggily.
"You guys make too much noise. Now shut up." He muttered.
"I"ll kill you, you stupid git!" Ron was yelling.
"Hey, that's enough!" Bill said, trying to pull ROn off of Percy, who was taking most of the hits.
"What's gotten into you two?" Ginny moaned.
Ron had Percy against the wall, strangling him.
"Stop it, Ron." Hermione said quietly.
Ron turned to look at Hermione, who was fiddling with the ring on her finger. He turned away from her.
"Coward. You were always a tempermental child. I thought you were mentally retarded but--" Percy said.
"SHUT UP!" Ron yelled.
Percy seized his chance. He recoiled his fist and shoved it into Ron's face, knocking him to the ground. Percy looked down on his brother, satisfied, and then started to shake his hand.
"Oh, my hand. Damn, how will I write? It's broken!" he groaned, rubbing his hand.
Hermione walked over to Ron, who's nose was bleeding furiously. The blood spilled over his hands and onto his clothes.
Harry looked at Ron feebly.
"Don't just stand there you fool! Go get me a rag or something!" Hermione said.
"God damn it, dat Percy." Ron muttered, holding his nose.
"Shush, Ron." Hermione said quietlly.
"Dis blood dastes nasty."
"Ron, if you want your nose to bleed even more, then keep talking." Hermione said. "Oh, where is Harry?"
Hermione put her pajama sleeve underneath Ron's nose, to absorb the blood. She sighed.
"You'll get your pajama's dirty!" Ron said.
"It's alright. I have more then one pair, you know." She smiled at him. "Why did you do that?"
"What?"
"Beat Percy up, I don't mind being called a mudblood. It's just a name." She shook his head.
"Just a dame?" Ron said. "Its an outrage, dat's what it dis!"
Hermione was quiet for a while.
~-~-~-
Three weeks. It had been three weeks since Ron and Percy had there fight, and Ron refused to speak with anyone that had red hair, even Ginny. Only speaking to Harry and Hermione, he seemed to be oblivious to the fact that his family was giving him sharp looks.
Hermione on the other hand, tried to avoid making eye contact with the Weasley's. She blamed herself for what happened between them.
Hermione sat in her room, folding on her clothes and putting them in her trunk.
Ginny walked absently into the room and collapsed on her bed, sighing. She rolled over to look at Hermione.
"What are you doing?" She asked her.
"Packing."
"Why? Where are you going? Does Ron know?"
"No." Hermione said. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell him."
"But, Hermione, where are you going?"
"I don't know."
"When are you leaving?"
"As soon as I'm done packing."
"When will that be?"
"In fifteen minutes."
"Hermione, you'll break Ron's heart!" Ginny said.
"It's for the best." She said.
~-~-~-
Ginny went down to the kitchen to have a cup of coffee. Coffee made her feel older, more sophisticated. She hated the taste, but she loved the smell.
Ron came in the room and sat down next to her.
"Where's Hermione? I haven't seen her all day."
"Nice to see you talking to me." Ginny said coldly.
"Hey, I'm sorry about that." Ron said smiling. "I guess I was just tired of everyone ragging on Hermione and Harry."
Ginny bit her lip.
"Hey, Ginny, you want to be the Maid of Honor at our wedding?" He asked her, smiling.
Ginny bit her lip harder.
"We've picked out this wonderful dress for you. It's--"
"She's leaving, Ron!" Ginny yelled.
"Who is?" Ron asked.
"Hermione, I was just upstairs and she's packing. She's leaving in fifteen minutes!"
"What?" Ron stood up.
"She told me not to tell you, but I had to, Ron." Ron was already halfway up the stairs. "Tell her not to be mad!" She yelled after him.
~-~-~-
Ron yanked the door open to Hermione and Ginny's room but saw nothing except Ginny's colorful bedspread. The bed beside the bedspread was empty, just a matress and a pillow. The pictureframes beside the bed were gone, and the poster of The Chudley Cannons was gone.
"Hermione!" Ron said, running room to room.
He descended the steps, to the front hall, where Hermione stood, with the front door open, getting ready to leave. She looked to the floor, ashamed to meet his eyes.
"Hermione, what's wrong, where are you going?"
"Away." She said.
"For how long?"
"Forever." she mumbled.
"Hermione, you can't! I mean, we're supposed to get married."
Hermione looked at him sadly and took the ring off of her finger. She put it in his big palm and closed his fingers around it.
"I-I love you, Ron. But, your family, they love you more then I could ever."
"What are you talking about? They don't--"
"Yes they do!" Hermione said. "You mean everything to them. And I'm sure, even though you won't admit it, they mean everything to you."
"Hermione, you can't!"
"No, Ron. It's you who can't. You can't turn your back on your family just for me. I won't let you."
"What?"
"Ron, your family is a bunch of wonderful people. You can't disapoint all of them just for one girl."
"Yes, I can. Your not going anywhere!" Ron said, leaning against the door.
Hermione smiled at him as the tears poured out of her eyes. He took her hand and put the ring back on her finger.
Hermione looked at it and took it off again. She put it back in Ron's hand.
"You give it to a girl that your family loves. You give it to a girl that you love. And when she puts that ring on, I want you to forget all about me. Like I never was in your life."
"You're insane! I'm not going to do that!"
The two didn't notice the crowd gathering behind them. Moody opened his mouth to speak, but Tonks shushed him.
"Yes, you are. You're going to fall in love with this gourgeous girl with flowing straight hair and pureblood. And then you're going to give her that ring and have little children with red hair."
"Your not going anywhere!" Ron repeated. "You wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for my good for nothing family."
Ron heard a slap. And then, he felt a pain through his cheek. "Don't you ever say that about your family again. Don't you dare!" Hermione said dangerously.
"But, Hermione!" Ron moaned. "I don't get it, I thought we were in love!"
"I do love you. I love you so much, I'm leaving you. Nothing should come between you and your family, especially me. And Ron, as your best friend, as your former girlfriend and as your life time lover, I'm leaving you."
"You can't!"
"When I'm old and wrinkly, when I throw rocks at kids on the street and yell for them to get off my lawn, I'll do it in your name. I'll never forget you, Ron Weasley."
Hermione kissed his cheek and opened the door.
"You can't!" Ron repeated.
"I know I can't." Hermione said quietly. "But I have to."
"Don't, Hermione, please? We can elope, I'll buy you a cheaper ring, I'll do anything!" Ron begged.
Hermione smiled at him, her tears stilll falling. "I love you." she said, hugging him.
"Then don't go." Ron said.
"Goodbye, Ron." She said, walking out to the yellow cab parked on the sidewalk, waiting for her.
Ron ran outside on the sidewalk as the cab pulled away. Hermione looked out the back window and blew him a kiss.
She was gone.
It was their first Christmas Break out of Hogwarts. At the Grimmauld place, all of the current residents were gathered around the Christmas Tree, waiting for the stroke of midnight to rip open their carefully wrapped presents. Six Weasley brothers and one Weasley sister, along with two Weasley parents, one Harry Potter, one Tonks, one Lupin, one Moody and one Hermione sat, chattering eagerly.
"Remember the Yule Ball during Fourth Year?" Fred laughed. "It was the grandest memory of my Hogwarts years, apart from Umbridge's face when we insulted her and flew out of the window."
"It wasn't so great." Ron murmured.
"That's because you allowed some Bulgarian git to get his hands on your girl." George said.
"Oh, please!" Hermione scoffed. "He just asked me--"
"Right, Hermione. We all know you did it just to tick Ron off." Fred rolled his eyes.
"I did nothing of the sort!" Hermione said defensively. "If anything he ticked me off!"
"I did not!" Ron said. "If you recall, I did ask you to the ball!"
"Only after you'd been turned down by a bunch of beautiful girls that wouldn't be seen at the ball with you! You only got a date when Harry begged his date to find you one!"
"She's got a point, Ron." Harry said, laughing.
"Well you shouldn't have been so...so..." Ron stuttered. "So Hermione-ish!"
Charlie chuckled. "That's a good one, Ron."
"S'not my fault she chose to go with a stupid Bulgarian child molestor!"
A pillow flew across the room to hit Ron square in the face. Harry laughed openly at Ron, who looked surprised that anything could hit him in the face, with all of the Keeper training he'd had.
"Oh the pain!" He wailed, falling down, clutching his face. "Make it stop, Harry! She's hit me! I think I'll die!"
Harry laughed. "Hermione, you cold-blooded fiend! How could you do that to Ron?"
"Seriously, though." Ron said, getting up. "She's so thin and feeble, I'm surprised she could even lift the pillow."
"Why you!" Hermione flared, getting up.
"I mean, look at her neck! Like a toothpick! Sometimes I wonder how she gets food down it!"
"Shut up, Ron Weasley! Shut up right now!" She said, trying to look angry despite her supressed laughter.
"What are you going to do from over there, little woman?" He laughed.
Hermione was across the room in two steps. It was impressive, considering the room was large enough to fit an entire Weasley family and then some. Hermione had a pillow gripped in his hand and she shoved it in Ron's face, laughing.
"Take that, King Weasley!"
"Argh! Hermione, stop! I can't breathe! Get off!" He laughed, pushing her off.
"I don't care! Suffocate, damn you!" She laughed, even harder.
"Naughty Hermione! Cursing?" He said, finally getting her off of him. "Sorry, Love, but I'm going to have to punish you for this deed."
He shot his hands into her stomach and started to tickle her. She squirmed and writhed and kicked and screamed.
"Damn you, stop moving!" He yelled.
"Ron stop! Stop it now! I'll hex you! STOP!!" She screamed, laughing hysterically.
"Hm." Lupin said, shaking one of his presents. "It sounds like there could be cookies in here. Or maybe--" There was the unmistakeable sound of glass shattering within the box. "Glass cookies?"
Harry laughed.
"Oh, Remus!" Tonks said, taking the box. "I spent good money on that!" Her hair flared a bright red.
There was a loud strum in the background. Everyone was hushed as every clock chimed midnight. It was Christmas Day.
Lupin had put a silencing charm on the portraits in the hall, so they wouldn't be able to hear the racket.
Ron sat with a present in his lap, scratching his head.
"Let's see, it's probably a book, considering it's from Hermione." He said to Harry, who was watching him. "But, why would she get me a book if we're out of school?"
"It's not a book, Ron." Hermione said.
Ron threw the present out of his lap and into Harry's arms.
"It's a bomb! It's a bomb!" He shrieked, collapsing.
"Oh, stop it!" Hermione laughed. "It's not a bomb or a book."
"Well, now I'm scared." Ron said, taking the box back. "What else would Hermione Granger buy me besides a book or a bomb?"
"Just open it, Ron!" Ginny said, impatiently.
Ron threw the lid off of the box. His eyes opened wide with surprise and he stared down at what was in the box.
"A pie?" He questioned.
Suddenly, the pie flung up onto his face, as if by a spring on the bottom of it. Everyone was silent. They all stared at the pie that was stuck onto Ron's face. It was evident that he would have had a surprised look on his face if it was visible.
Then, there was a surpressed giggle. Ron ripped the pie off of his face and wiped around his eyes.
Hermione was shaking, in fits of laughter. She was laughing and laughing. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She held on to Harry's shoulder for support, and Harry looked at her like she was insane. Everyone just looked at her.
"D-did Hermione Granger, just pull a joke and then laugh at it?" George said, scratching his head.
"Dear God!" She screamed. "I can't breathe!"
Then, like a virus, the laughter spread throughout the room. Hermione, the loudest of all. Ron was still wiping frosting off of his face.
"Hermione, Love." He said calmy, when the laughter had died down. "Come here a second."
"Make me!" She said, sticking her tongue out.
"Come here you little--" he said, making a reach for her. Harry stood up, by some instinct.
"No!" She shrieked.
"Hermione Granger, come here right now!" Ron laughed.
Harry stood between them, and was still laughing about Ron's face.
Ron grabbed at her again and caught her arm.
"Ahh! Harry, get him away!" Hermione shrieked, laughing insanely.
"Your going to get this frosting off of my face one way or another!" Ron said, pulling her towards him. He took his hand, covered in frosting and stuck it on her face.
"Ah! Get him away! Ginny, help!" Hermione said, struggling to get away.
Ginny made no move to help Hermione, but instead turned to Percy, who was sitting next to her.
"Aren't they cute together?" She asked him.
Percy didn't answer, but turned away coldly, looking at his parents angrilly. "You know she's not--"
"We know, Percy, dear." Mrs. Weasley said quietly. "And Ron knows. We just have to find the courage to tell him."
~-~-~-
Hermione and Ron were in the kitchen, cleaning up their faces. Hermione was giggling as she scrubbed her face.
"Hermione..." Ron said.
"Hmm..?"
"You've changed, since first year."
"Well, I suppose I have gotten a bit taller." She said.
"No, no, that's not what I mean." Ron said. "I mean, you, your more beautiful."
"Are you saying I was ugly?"
"No, no, it's not that." Ron said smiling. "How long have we been together? I forget..."
"Two years, six months, eleven days, four hours, two minutes and three seconds." Hermione sighed.
"Oh, right." Ron sighed. "Hermione, I have to give you my Christmas present."
"Oh, okay." She said, starting to go back into the living room.
"No, it's not in there." Ron said. He put his hand in his pocket, blushing hard.
"Is it in your room?" Hermione asked him.
"Uh, no, it's in my pocket."
Hermione stood there, looking at him. What could he fit in his pocket as a Christmas present? Maybe it was a Chocolate Frog? That would be just like good old Ron.
He pulled out a ring box from his pocket. "Uh--" he stuttered.
"That's an awfully strange place to put a chocolate frog." Hermione said, naivly, her heart pounding in her chest.
"It's not a chocolate frog." He opened it and took out the ring.
It was a beautiful ring. It was two strands of star shaped diamonds, weaved together into a braid. It looked like a rope, a rope of sparkling, glittering stars. Hermione looked at it oddly when he put it on her finger.
Please let him put it on my ring finger, she thought to herself. Please, oh please!
The ring was on her ring finger.
"Er...marry me?" He managed to stutter.
"Oh, Ron!" She sobbed. "You make me feel horrid!"
Ron's eyes widened. Had he offended her? Was this her way of saying no?
"I smack you in the face with a pie and you propose to me!" She said. "I'm sorry! Could I make it up to you?"
Did she say yes, yet? Had he missed it?
"You could, er, say yes." He said, awkwardly.
Hermione looked at the ring thoughtfully. "How much did you spend on this thing?"
BLOODY HELL, SAY YES ALREADY!
"Er, I don't remember..."
"Ron!" Hermione said. "You aren't exactly rich, from that new job you have. How much did you pay?"
Was that a yes, yet?
"Tell me, or I'll say no!"
She wasn't serious, was she?
"Okay, okay. It was a hundred galleons!" Ron said.
"Ron! You idiot!" She shrieked. "Where'd you get the money?"
Was money all she cared about?
"I had some saved up." Ron said impatiently.
There was a long awkward silence.
"Did you just propose to me?" She asked him quietly.
BLOODY HELL? WAS THIS GIRL EVER GOING TO GIVE HIM A DIRECT ANSWER?
"Hermione Granger!" Ron said, his ears turning red. "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" He yelled. "WILL YOU TAKE MY LAST NAME, WILL YOU LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE AS ME, WILL YOU WEAR A WHITE GOWN AND STAND IN FRONT OF A CHURCH AND SAY WEDDING VOWS, WILL YOU GROW OLD WITH ME, WILL YOU MARRY ME?"
Hermione looked shocked. Her bottom lip quivered and tears started to come down her cheeks.
Damn it! Ron thought. Can't I do anything right?
Hermione was shaking.
"Hey, stop crying." He said quietly.
"Is it okay if I say yes?" She asked him, wiping her eyes.
BLOODY HELL, THIS GIRL WAS SO COMPLICATED!
"Of course it is."
"Okay." She said quietly. "Yes."
It was Ron's turn to have the dumbstruck look on his face.
"Did you just say yes to me? Did you just say that you'd marry me?"
"Yes." She said, and then something lit up in her eyes. "Yes!" She said louder. "Yes!" She yelled louder then Ron did.
She jumped up onto him and he was pushed back against the wall to keep his balance.
Whoa. He had a wife.
~-~-~-~-
They walked back into the living room, just as Lupin was discovering that he had gotten a present filled with borken glass.
"What happened to my cookies?" He asked Harry, who laughed at him. Lupin smiled at Tonks who looked angry still, but her hair had turned a seasonal red and green.
"Did you two have fun?" asked Bill, who was laughing. "We heard yelling."
"Y-yeah." Ron said distantly, taking a seat beside his mother, sighing.
Hermione sat down next to Ginny, who was examining a book carefully.
"Percy, what is this?" She asked.
"Every law in the Wizarding World is listed in there." Percy said. "I thought you'd like to read it, as you may want to become a Ministry Worker."
"Gee," Ginny said, heaving the gigantic book into her lap. "Thanks, Percy."
"Ha! Ginny'll be ninety by the time she finishes that!" George laughed.
Ginny opened the book and her eyes grew with horror when she saw how thin the pages are. She gave a weak smile to Percy, who was positively beaming at Ginny.
"I'll read it, later." Ginny said, dropping the book on the floor.
"Careful, Ginny!" Georeg said. "You'll cause an earthquake."
"I don't appreciate that." Percy said, sharply. "Well, at least she'll be educated, unlike you two."
"Hey, we're educated." Fred said.
"Yeah, we make more money then you, old Percy!" George laughed. "And unlike you, we don't have to talk like a dictionary all the time."
Percy glared at them, and looked away, as if to impress their inferiority.
Ginny was looking at Hermione's hand curiously. She grabbed it and held it to her face.
"S-something wrong, Ginny?" Ron asked, across the room.
"Hermione, this is a georgeous ring! Do you know what this ring is?"
"Er--" Hermione stuttered.
"This ring is ultra rare! This thing is made of star dust!"
"Star dust?" Questioned Harry, looking at the ring.
"Yeah, it's really rare to find and one of these rings costs about five hundred galleons."
Hermione ripped her hand away from Ginny and stood up, flaring at Ron.
"You lied! You said it only cost one hundred!"
Everyone was looking at Hermione, who was turning the most interesting shade of red.
"What does it matter?" Ron said calmly, shrugging. "I had enough money."
"Oh, Ron Weasley, I'm going to kill you!" Hermione said, groaning. "I'll pay you back."
"HERMIONE!" Ron said, standing up. "You can't just pay me back for that ring!"
"Why not?" Hermione said indignantly.
"Er--Hermione?" Ginny said. "It seems to me you are wearing that ring on your, erm, ring finger."
"Where else is a girl supposed to wear her--" Harry stopped and looked at Hermione and Ron, understanding.
"Hehe..." Ron said nervously.
Hermione turned a pink.
"Oh, that's just adorable!" Tonks said, standing up. Her hair was now a light pink. "You two are such a cute couple!"
Hermione shook her head and turned back to Ron, taking off the ring.
"I'm not going to accept it until I pay for it!"
"Hermione Granger, you are impossible!" Ron screamed.
"You're the one that's impossible!"
"What kind of girl gets an engagement ring and tries to pay for it?" Ron asked her, smirking.
"Me, that's who!" Hermione said. "So you'd better get used to it, Ron Weasley!"
Ron grabbed her hand and put the ring back on. "You are not going to pay me back."
"Yes I am!"
"No you're not!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Am too!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
Ron grinned. "Glad you see it my way, Hermione."
Hermione opened her mouth shocked. "But, oh, you can't! Ron, it's too much!"
"No, you're too much! You're way too much, Hermione Granger!" Ron said, laughing.
George, Fred, Ginny, and Harry went over to congratulate Ron and Hermione, who were still arguing.
However, Bill, Charlie and Percy looked at their parents who just looked at the group sadly.
"You have to stop them." Percy said.
"I can't, you know I can't!" Mrs. Weasley moaned.
"The longer you wait, the more Ron will resent himself." Charlie said quietly.
"But, they're so happy together!"
Mr. Weasley sighed and rubbed the temples of his head.
~-~-~-~-
Five weeks. She had been engaged for five weeks. She was in an all natural high. She walked around the house, humming tunes, and smiling so happily at Ron that it was almost sickening. They were so much in love, it was unnatural.
Mrs. Weasley refused to meet Hermione's gaze at all. She didn't want to look at her. It's not that she had anything against Hermione, her and Ron would make the perfect couple. She'd love to have another daughter, especially one like Hermione. But, oh, if she'd only chosen Harry!
"We have to tell, Ron, Molly." Mr. Weasley said quietly.
"B-but, they're so much in love!" sobbed Mrs. Weasley.
"We should've told them Christmas Day. They've already started to make plans for their wedding. You know we can't let them get married."
"Oh, Arthur, if only it was different! If only Hermione had fallen in love with Harry, she'd still be my almost daughter-in-law!"
"Tonight, Molly. We have to tell him tonight."
Mrs. Weasley sighed, and continued to stir her soup.
~-~-~-
Ron was in the kitchen, grinning at Hermione, who was getting a cup of coffee. It was the middle of the night, and neither could sleep.
"I want to go for a walk." Hermione sighed.
"At this hour?" Ron asked, laughing. "You'll get eaten by a warewolf!"
"Oh, don't be stupid, Ron. It's not a full moon." Hermione said, handing him a cup of coffee.
"Ron, dear." Mrs. Weasley said, appearing in the doorway.
"Oh, mum!" Ron said, turning around. "What are you doing up?"
After much discussion, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley decided it was best that Mrs. Weasley tell Ron, rather then her husband. If Ron lost his temper, he couldn't hit his own mother, but with fathers, it sometimes differed.
"I need to talk to you, Ron. If you don't mind, Hermione." She said, nodding to Hermione.
"Oh, no." Hermione smiled. "I'll just, take that walk."
Hermione's lips brushed against Ron's cheek and she left through the back door of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley sat down at the dining table, hands on her head. Ron came and sat next to her, smiling widely.
"Isn't Hermione grand?" He asked her. "She's so smart and--"
"Ron, we need to talk about her." Mrs. Weasley said seriously.
"What about Hermione?"
"Ron, dear, you can't get married to her."
"What?" Ron asked in disbelief. He stared at her for a few seconds then laughed. "Don't worry mum, I have some money saved up for the wedding. And if it's not enough, Hermione can pay for it."
"It's not the money. It's Hermione."
"What's wrong with Hermione?" Ron said, his voice getting slightly defensive.
"She's, well, she's not like you."
Ron laughed. "You can say that again. We're complete opposites! I mean she likes to read, and I like to sleep. She likes cold coffee, don't ask me why, and I like warm coffee like normal--"
"Ron, she's a wonderful girl. And, I'd be honored to have her as a daughter in-law. But, it can't happen."
"What? Is she my distant cousin or something?" Ron laughed. "That happens all the time on muggle soap operas. Hermione told me all about them. It's all about those quarrels muggles have. I'd like to watch one. Hermione says they're addictive, but I don't think--"
"It's not Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley said, on the verge of tears.
"But you just said it was Hermione!" Ron said, looking confused.
"It's where she's from."
"What? London?"
"No, her parents..."
"Do you have something against dentists?" Ron laughed. "Awful, they are. Don't worry, they won't be traveling to the Wizard Realm too often, I think."
"RON!" Molly screamed, tears already coming down her eyes. "I love you with all my heart, but you can't, and you won't marry Hermione Granger!"
"Mum, what's wrong with you? Do you have a fever?" Ron said, feeling her forehead.
"Ron, she's a mudblood!" Molly covered her mouth with her hands, and looked away from Ron.
Ron looked at her in disbelief. He'd always thought she'd thought as Hermione as her second daughter. And now she was putting her down because she was muggle born?
"Don't you ever call her that." Ron said softly. "Don't you ever."
"Ron, you are a pureblood."
"Don't remind me." Ron scoffed.
"Like it or not, our line of purebloods goes back before the Founders of Hogwarts. And, like it or not, you are a pureblood that will carry on the Weasley name."
"What's wrong with Hermione carrying it on?"
"She's a mud--"
"Don't you dare!" Ron screamed. "Is she suddenly below us? You let me invite her into our house, you let me fall in love with her, what's wrong with me marrying her?"
"Ron, I promised your father's grandmother on her death bed, that all the children I had would go on and continue the Weasley name!"
"Hermione will carry it on just fine!"
"Ronald Weasley!" Molly said. "Don't you understand? She's not like you. If you marry her, you'll be breaking everything that you stand for."
"And what do I stand for, mum?" He asked. "I came from a poor family, who just managed to squeak by every year. You taught us that love was more important then our origin. But, now your saying I can't marry Hermione just because she is muggle born?"
"Ron. She isn't good enough for you! And if you marry her, then you will be betraying everyone in this family! We have taken pride to be the only respectable pureblood family in the Wizarding World and we will uphold that title even if I have to find you a girl myself!"
Ron stared hard at his mother. "I'm marrying her."
"Ron, let me tell you something." She sat back down and grabbed his hand. "When I was sixteen, I was in love with a half-blood. His name was Albert. I loved him, and I was so sure that I'd found the right man for me. He proposed to me and I accepted. And then, my mother, she told me I couldn't. And, oh, Ron, it broke my heart! And, I left him. And, I felt so horrid for years! And, I met your father. And then, I realized, that if I married him, then everyone would be happy, including me."
"What does that have to do with anything?" scoffed Ron.
"Ron, sometimes, you have to give up something you love, to get something better."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this from my own mother." Ron said, shaking his head.
"She isn't good enough for you."
"What--"
There was a small wimper at the back door. Both of them turned around and saw Hermione, who had apparently been listening to the entire conversation. Her eyes held disbelief.
"Hermione--"
"I'm sorry." She said, her voice tight. "I shouldn't have eavesdropped."
And then, she ran into the night.
~-~-~-~-
The pain seered in her chest. Her lungs were heaving, her heart was racing faster then it ever had. But, she didn't care. She just kept running.
She's a mudblood!
Hermione ran faster.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled. "Damn that girl can run." He muttered to himself.
He decided not to run, because he had to think. Why in the world would his mother tell him he couldn't marry Hermione? What was so bad about a pureblood marrying a muggle born? If marriages like that wouldn't have happened, then the Wizarding Race would've been dissolved. Would their children come out squibs if he married her? No, squibs were rare.
"Hermione!"
He kept walking, knowing she had come this way. The sun was breaking into the sky, over powering the moon. Ron sighed and kept going.
He wasn't in his pajamas. Hermione was, though. He was up half the night talking to her about their wedding. How could ecstasy turn into terror within a few minutes?
A field. An emtpy lot, surrounded by trees. There was a collapsed figure in the middle of it.
"Hermione." Ron said, kneeling down beside her. "You aren't dead. I know your not."
"I'm sorry, Ron." She whispered.
"Don't you dare die!" Ron yelled. "If you die, I'll kill you!"
Hermione sat up, her cheeks wet with tears.
"Hey, I'm sorry about what you heard." He said. "I don't even understand what my mum's problem is."
"She called me a mud--"
"Don't, Hermione." He said. "You know, my mum is a good person. I just don't get why whould would say that."
"She's a wonderful person, Ron." Hermione sighed. "And that's what bugs me. If a good person thinks I'm bad, then I must be horrid!"
"Listen to me, stop crying, damn you!" Ron said, angrily.
Hermione looked away.
"I'm going to marry you. I don't care what my mum says, what my dad says, what anyone says. I'm going to marry you."
Hermione was silent.
"Did you really pay five hundred galleons for this thing?" She asked him.
"No." Ron said, smiling. "I stole it from a gypsy."
"Ron!" Hermione laughed. "Tell me the truth."
"Yes, I spent five hundred galleons on Hermione Granger. But, mind you, you're to pay for the wedding."
"Ron Weasley, your insane if you think I'm going to pay for the entire wedding."
"Then I'll pay for it."
"No! You'll overspend again!"
"Okay, then I won't pay."
"That's unfair!"
"Is there no pleasing you?" Ron asked.
"No. I guess not."
~-~-~-~-
"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Tonks asked at breakfast.
Mrs. Weasley coughed politely and continued eating her breakfast. No one answered her.
"They were up late last night." Ginny said. "Talking."
Harry felt a little left out, but smiled.
"They went down to get coffee around one in the morning." He said. "Insane people."
The sqeaking back door opened and there stood Ron, his face dirty. Behind him walked Hermione, who was also very dirty, but in her pajamas.
"Well, you two look like you had fun." Tonks laughed.
"You shouldn't run off like that, Ron. We were worried." Bill said.
"I bet you were." said Ron, starting to walk up the stairs, with Hermione following close behind, refusing to look at the table full of Weasley's.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bill asked.
"Nothing."
They all listened as they heard Ron and Hermione go upstairs and into seperate rooms.
"I'd better go up and talk to him." Mr. Weasley said.
"Don't you dare!" Ron yelled back from his room.
"That was a bit of a nasty talk you gave him last night." Fred said coldly to his mother.
"A bit prejudice if you ask me." George said.
"I thought I told you, you are not to use those extendable ears in this house, in any house, anywhere at any time!" Mrs. Weasley said.
"We'd do it again!" Fred said indignantly, standing up. "Hermione's a great girl, if you just got to know her."
Harry and Ginny had no clue what was going on.
"More pancakes, Tonks." Moody muttered, handing her the plate.
"No, I'm fine." Tonks said, also looking down at the other end of the table.
"Fred, George, hush." Mrs. Weasley said.
Ginny looked at Bill questioningly. Bill gave her a weak smile and looked away, as if ashamed.
"You can't hush us!" Fred said
"We're not little children anymore."
"Well, your acting like some." Percy said. "Mother did what she had to do, and how Ron handled it was unacceptable."
"What's going on in this family?" Ginny asked them all, expecting an answer, looking at them all. "I know I'm the youngest, but I'm only a year younger then Ron, and if he has the right to know, then I do too!"
They were all silent for a minute.
"Mum and Dad told Ron he couldn't marry Hermione because she's a muggle born." George scoffed. "Its just as bad as the Malfoy's."
Ginny was silent and Harry got up and left the table, angry at the world.
"Well, I've lost my apetite." Lupin said, pushing back from the table.
~-~-~-~-
Harry sat on the floor, looking at Ron pace angrily back and forth, muttering angrily.
"I want to hit something! I want to kill someone!" He yelled.
"I don't think beating me to a pulp would make you feel any better." Harry said bitterly.
"Ugh! I can't believe it!"
Buckbeak reared its head and seemed snort at the two. Harry smiled a little at the creature and sighed. They had been in the room all day, refusing to come out, locking the door, resisting the aromas of food and the pleading of Tonks.
"What time is it?" Ron asked Harry.
"I dunno. Must be night, I don't hear anyone moving anymore."
There was a knock at the door.
~-~-~-
Hermione stood in the middle of Diagon Alley. All of the Witches and Wizards walked past her. She took a step forward, and suddenly ever person in the town looked at her.
"Mudblood!" one screamed.
"You'll never be good enough!"
"Get out! Get out! Your a disgrace."
They all had red hair.
Hermione thrust her eyelids open and shot up in bed, and looked around. Ginny was sleeping soundly next to her. She sighed and climbed out of bed.
Ron and Harry's room was empty. Their beds were still unmade from a few days ago. Boys. Hermione grabbed each of their pillows and made her way to Buckbeak's room.
~-~-~-
"Go away!" Ron said.
The knock came again.
"Get lost whoever you are. We don't want to talk to you."
Hermione stood at the other side of the door, wanting to talk, but the tears were still caught in her throat.
She knocked again.
"Damn it, go away!" Ron said, opening the door. "Hermione."
"I thought you two might want a pillow." She said, handing him the pillows.
"Er--thanks." he said awkwardly.
Hermione gave him a weak smile and began to walk away.
"Hermione," Ron said softly. "Come on in."
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose." She said.
"No, it's okay." Ron said.
~-~-~-~
Hermione sat against the wall between the two boys. She sighed and looked at Harry.
"What's wrong, Harry?"
"I don't get it. Ron, how could your family accept me and Hermione and then, just, reject us all of a sudden?"
"I'm not part of their family." Ron scoffed.
Hermione looked at Ron for a long time, and she let the tears come down her cheeks. Ron put his arm around her and let her cry.
"Ron." Harry said, sighing. "I think I'm in love with your sister."
Ron smiled at Harry. "We could've been brothers."
"Yeah, could've. And if Hermione married you, then we'd all be related."
"Ginny Potter. It does have a slight ring to it." Ron said. "Look, I'm really sorry about my, er, family."
"It's not your fault, Ron." Harry said.
Harry sighed and leaned against Hermione's sideways form.
They fell asleep.
~-~-~-
"Damn you!"
Hermione woke up to find that she was alone on the floor, Harry and Ron were gone. Her head was rested on Ron's pillow and Harry's lay at her feet. Someone was yelling in the hallway, and something told her it wasn't one of the paintings.
Hermione got up lazily and leaned against the door, looking at Buckbeak, who was still asleep, making a slightly retarded gafawing sound.
"You are a disgrace. Mother and Father did the right thing."
"Your the disgrace you bigheaded prat!"
"You can't even come up with intelligent insults." Hermione imagined Percy throwing his eyebrows up in that superior way of his.
"And you can't get over yourself! What about your girlfriend, Pinnochio?"
"Her name is Penelope." Percy said, annoyed. "And I for one, think that you shouldn't marry that girl for another reason. She's been bringing you trouble since first year."
"She's been bringing me trouble?" Ron snorted. "If anything, she was trying to get me out of trouble."
"You are a very intelligent person, Ron." Percy said. "And I trust you have enough sense to leave that mudblood and stay true to your family."
Hermoine had opened the door a smidge to see what was going on. Harry was holding Ron back, and was having a hard time.
He stopped struggling.
"What did you call her?"
Oh, dear.
"There is no need to be upset--"
"Answer me straight, git!" Ron yelled. "What did you call her."
"Calm down, Ron, calm down." Harry was saying.
Hermione oepned the door all the way. Ron turned to her, his face all red.
It's my fault, she thought bitterly. I'm the person responsible for turning Ron against his family. What right did I have to do that?
"I called her a mudblood." Percy challenged.
"Percy, shush!" Ginny said urgently.
"Why you!" Ron broke out of Harry's grip and was on top of Percy within seconds.
"Percy, Ron, STOP!" Ginny screamed.
"Oh, let them fight, Ginny." Fred said.
"Yeah, Percy had it coming." George said.
"But, they'll kill each other!" Ginny said.
"Let's hope Percy dies first." Fred said half heartedly.
"Please stop them, Fred! Please stop them!"
"Oh, fine." Fred sighed. "Bill, Charlie, get out here!"
"STOP IT!" Ginny was yelling.
Bill emerged from the room across the room, yawning. He rubbed his eyes groggily.
"You guys make too much noise. Now shut up." He muttered.
"I"ll kill you, you stupid git!" Ron was yelling.
"Hey, that's enough!" Bill said, trying to pull ROn off of Percy, who was taking most of the hits.
"What's gotten into you two?" Ginny moaned.
Ron had Percy against the wall, strangling him.
"Stop it, Ron." Hermione said quietly.
Ron turned to look at Hermione, who was fiddling with the ring on her finger. He turned away from her.
"Coward. You were always a tempermental child. I thought you were mentally retarded but--" Percy said.
"SHUT UP!" Ron yelled.
Percy seized his chance. He recoiled his fist and shoved it into Ron's face, knocking him to the ground. Percy looked down on his brother, satisfied, and then started to shake his hand.
"Oh, my hand. Damn, how will I write? It's broken!" he groaned, rubbing his hand.
Hermione walked over to Ron, who's nose was bleeding furiously. The blood spilled over his hands and onto his clothes.
Harry looked at Ron feebly.
"Don't just stand there you fool! Go get me a rag or something!" Hermione said.
"God damn it, dat Percy." Ron muttered, holding his nose.
"Shush, Ron." Hermione said quietlly.
"Dis blood dastes nasty."
"Ron, if you want your nose to bleed even more, then keep talking." Hermione said. "Oh, where is Harry?"
Hermione put her pajama sleeve underneath Ron's nose, to absorb the blood. She sighed.
"You'll get your pajama's dirty!" Ron said.
"It's alright. I have more then one pair, you know." She smiled at him. "Why did you do that?"
"What?"
"Beat Percy up, I don't mind being called a mudblood. It's just a name." She shook his head.
"Just a dame?" Ron said. "Its an outrage, dat's what it dis!"
Hermione was quiet for a while.
~-~-~-
Three weeks. It had been three weeks since Ron and Percy had there fight, and Ron refused to speak with anyone that had red hair, even Ginny. Only speaking to Harry and Hermione, he seemed to be oblivious to the fact that his family was giving him sharp looks.
Hermione on the other hand, tried to avoid making eye contact with the Weasley's. She blamed herself for what happened between them.
Hermione sat in her room, folding on her clothes and putting them in her trunk.
Ginny walked absently into the room and collapsed on her bed, sighing. She rolled over to look at Hermione.
"What are you doing?" She asked her.
"Packing."
"Why? Where are you going? Does Ron know?"
"No." Hermione said. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell him."
"But, Hermione, where are you going?"
"I don't know."
"When are you leaving?"
"As soon as I'm done packing."
"When will that be?"
"In fifteen minutes."
"Hermione, you'll break Ron's heart!" Ginny said.
"It's for the best." She said.
~-~-~-
Ginny went down to the kitchen to have a cup of coffee. Coffee made her feel older, more sophisticated. She hated the taste, but she loved the smell.
Ron came in the room and sat down next to her.
"Where's Hermione? I haven't seen her all day."
"Nice to see you talking to me." Ginny said coldly.
"Hey, I'm sorry about that." Ron said smiling. "I guess I was just tired of everyone ragging on Hermione and Harry."
Ginny bit her lip.
"Hey, Ginny, you want to be the Maid of Honor at our wedding?" He asked her, smiling.
Ginny bit her lip harder.
"We've picked out this wonderful dress for you. It's--"
"She's leaving, Ron!" Ginny yelled.
"Who is?" Ron asked.
"Hermione, I was just upstairs and she's packing. She's leaving in fifteen minutes!"
"What?" Ron stood up.
"She told me not to tell you, but I had to, Ron." Ron was already halfway up the stairs. "Tell her not to be mad!" She yelled after him.
~-~-~-
Ron yanked the door open to Hermione and Ginny's room but saw nothing except Ginny's colorful bedspread. The bed beside the bedspread was empty, just a matress and a pillow. The pictureframes beside the bed were gone, and the poster of The Chudley Cannons was gone.
"Hermione!" Ron said, running room to room.
He descended the steps, to the front hall, where Hermione stood, with the front door open, getting ready to leave. She looked to the floor, ashamed to meet his eyes.
"Hermione, what's wrong, where are you going?"
"Away." She said.
"For how long?"
"Forever." she mumbled.
"Hermione, you can't! I mean, we're supposed to get married."
Hermione looked at him sadly and took the ring off of her finger. She put it in his big palm and closed his fingers around it.
"I-I love you, Ron. But, your family, they love you more then I could ever."
"What are you talking about? They don't--"
"Yes they do!" Hermione said. "You mean everything to them. And I'm sure, even though you won't admit it, they mean everything to you."
"Hermione, you can't!"
"No, Ron. It's you who can't. You can't turn your back on your family just for me. I won't let you."
"What?"
"Ron, your family is a bunch of wonderful people. You can't disapoint all of them just for one girl."
"Yes, I can. Your not going anywhere!" Ron said, leaning against the door.
Hermione smiled at him as the tears poured out of her eyes. He took her hand and put the ring back on her finger.
Hermione looked at it and took it off again. She put it back in Ron's hand.
"You give it to a girl that your family loves. You give it to a girl that you love. And when she puts that ring on, I want you to forget all about me. Like I never was in your life."
"You're insane! I'm not going to do that!"
The two didn't notice the crowd gathering behind them. Moody opened his mouth to speak, but Tonks shushed him.
"Yes, you are. You're going to fall in love with this gourgeous girl with flowing straight hair and pureblood. And then you're going to give her that ring and have little children with red hair."
"Your not going anywhere!" Ron repeated. "You wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for my good for nothing family."
Ron heard a slap. And then, he felt a pain through his cheek. "Don't you ever say that about your family again. Don't you dare!" Hermione said dangerously.
"But, Hermione!" Ron moaned. "I don't get it, I thought we were in love!"
"I do love you. I love you so much, I'm leaving you. Nothing should come between you and your family, especially me. And Ron, as your best friend, as your former girlfriend and as your life time lover, I'm leaving you."
"You can't!"
"When I'm old and wrinkly, when I throw rocks at kids on the street and yell for them to get off my lawn, I'll do it in your name. I'll never forget you, Ron Weasley."
Hermione kissed his cheek and opened the door.
"You can't!" Ron repeated.
"I know I can't." Hermione said quietly. "But I have to."
"Don't, Hermione, please? We can elope, I'll buy you a cheaper ring, I'll do anything!" Ron begged.
Hermione smiled at him, her tears stilll falling. "I love you." she said, hugging him.
"Then don't go." Ron said.
"Goodbye, Ron." She said, walking out to the yellow cab parked on the sidewalk, waiting for her.
Ron ran outside on the sidewalk as the cab pulled away. Hermione looked out the back window and blew him a kiss.
She was gone.
