AN: I felt bad for Ron and all the hate he gets in SSHG stories. This one is for Ron, who doesn't suck, but also doesn't belong in a relationship with Hermione. This 'story' is just Ron's half of a conversation with Harry after the inevitable.
Jealousy is an easier explanation than the truth. It's also a shorter one.
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No Harry, I'm not happy my wife ran off with Snape. I'm just not jealous. I guess I should be, but why should I want to be with someone who hasn't liked me much for years anyway?
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Oh Harry, you saw what you wanted, your two best friends happy together. With you married to my sister, we could all be a big happy family right?
I think Hermione wanted that too.
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What did I want? You know, I think I was really in love with her. I certainly admired her. Still do in some ways. I thought being with her meant I could be more myself.
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Well it wasn't enough Harry. I'm not what she wants.
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You know, for all of what she doesn't tell me Snape might actually be what she wants, or she could be trying to piss me off. As far as am concerned that's all her business.
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No see there it is again, everyone expects me to fly into a rage to sulk. I'm not 14 anymore and I've tried for too damn long to get her to see me as anything other than a jovial meat-head.
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Sure, you and I know what kind of brains are necessary to be an Auror and what we had to go through to become one, what with not graduating and all to hold us back. But I think she thinks I'm just a dropout whose best friend got him a job as a glorified tough.
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I don't think she ever expected much from me. You know when I tried to be more, er, brainy with her I think it just pissed her off. I think she thought I was faking, or trying to one up her. Last time we played chess, this was years ago mind, I was letting her win cause she likes to. But she was being so damn smug about it Harry, so superior, like she knew every move I was going to make. So I kicked her ass Harry. I had her in checkmate so fast she argued with me for a full five minutes that it couldn't be a checkmate. Then she didn't talk to me normally for days.
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I just don't think she wants someone like me. She likes people to know she's smart and you know me, I'm terrible at remembering things. How's a person supposed to show off what he knows if he can't recall all the jargon? How was I supposed to fit in with her 'intellectual' friends. I'm just a jumped up copper to them.
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Don't say that Harry. I know you love her like she is really your sister. We've always known Hermione was a bit... pretentious. it's just who she is. I just can't let her opinion of me control who I am anymore.
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Well, I wasn't so calm about it when I started to suspect something was up between them. I did something terrible. After I saw caught them together at a restaurant I went straight to Lavender's in an angry haze.
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We didn't do anything sexual. Oh I wanted to at first, but it just wouldn't be fair to Lavender. Frankly too, it was an immature way to handle the situation, and it got me thinking that I just wasn't going to keep reacting to her with jealousy. My rage didn't make her like me more. It was just hurting me more than anyone else.
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Yeah, well, unfortunately, the damage was already done, and after Lavender told Hermione that she was taking back her 'Won-Won', Hermione packed up and left the next day. I didn't even try telling her I'd seen her with Snape.
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Sure, their dinner together might have been perfectly innocent, but I don't think we can clear up anything now, Harry. It's because it's not just a case of jealous misunderstanding. We just aren't right for each other. People who really love each other wouldn't quit over something like this.
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I know Harry. I think this will suck most for you and Ginny. I think Hermione and I got over this a while ago and we've just been waiting for an excuse.
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Yeah. Thanks. I am sorry too. I hope the three of us can just be friends again too. Maybe, someday, when she stops hating me?
AN (added after first posting): I should point out this story takes place in the alternate reality usually created by SSHG fiction, where Snape is alive and Rose and Hugo were not yet (or never) born. Ron is usually got rid of by his being a wild, jealous maniac.
Thanks for reading. It's good to know my words have infected your brain. Quick wash it to stop the infection!