Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter, all of this belongs to JK Rowling etc.

A/N: I'm supposed to be concentrating on my multichapter HG/RL but these pesky little plot bunnies wouldn't leave me alone. I thought that it would be interesting to write a fic about the fizzling out of a relationship between Ron and Hermione but without any Ron bashing… it seems more realistic to me that way. Anyway, it's just a short one shot and I hope you enjoy it.

WARNING: This is not a story for people who want to see Ron and Hermione end up together. Oh and in response to flames I felt it necessary to also put a warning to say that this fic does mention in passing that Hermione is potentially interested in an older man. If you don't like that then please don't read it, simples :)

These Old Wings

Hermione sat looking at her scuffed shoes. She had no reason to feel this way. Her feelings rebelled against everything she had planned and inside where there should have been joy there was nothing but emptiness.

After the war they had all started settling into something resembling 'normality', but how were they supposed to know how difficult it would be? Even with all her, Harry, and Ron had experienced with Voldemort over their time at school and beyond they had been naïve about the realities of life, love, and relationships. When you could have everything blown apart in seconds by one badly timed reaction to a curse, how do you know if your emotions and relationships formed in that time are going to last?

Two years on and she found herself sitting in the flat she shared with Ron staring at her feet. Gods, it was difficult.

Hermione was all too aware that there was no such thing as happily ever after. She wasn't an idiot. She might read books voraciously but her illusions about love had been shattered before they'd even really developed; there are no perfect men, everyone has flaws. With so little experience in the world of adult relationships how could she tell if the monotony of her life and the passionless exchanges between her and Ron were just a reality of love.

Of course there were going to be no fireworks when they made love, or great heaving sighs, and there would be no constant romantic gestures. But how she wished that the fluttering in her stomach was for Ron and not for a man who was well and truly off limits.

Merlin, she loved Ron. But love is a funny thing, complex and with so many different nuances that it is easy to confuse one type of love for another. The more she thought about it, the less convinced she was that her and Ron's relationship was built upon the fact that they were in love.

No, it seemed evident that they stayed together because they believed that they should be in love.

They'd spoken earlier and it seemed that Ron had come to a similar conclusion.

"Ron?" Hermione asked over the top of the book she was reading.

"Hmm?" He replied while playing chess.

"Are you happy?"

Ron's hand hovered motionless over a knight. Slowly he turned to face her.

"Is anyone?"

"Don't evade my question, I need to know. Honestly." Hermione's heart sped up in her chest as she placed the book on her lap and met his eyes.

Ron ran a hand across the back of his freckled neck and let out a long, slow breath. "Why are you asking me this 'Mione?" He asked with a look of concern and trepidation.

"I… I just…" She bit her lip lightly. "When we kissed in the final battle I thought that it meant we were finally going to be together. You know, marry and have kids, go the whole way. But the truth is that I'm here two years on and I'm unhappy. I'm in a relationship with my best friend and I'm bloody unhappy! How is that even possible?" Her eyes darted around the room, she couldn't bear to meet Ron's eyes in case she saw the hurt she feared.

"Look at me 'Mione," Ron said softly.

She looked up and to her surprise saw understanding and empathy filling those blue eyes she'd known for so long.

"Things haven't been good for a while, have they?" He said more to himself than her. "Everyone we know has been expecting us to get married one day since third year. I guess that when it comes down to it…" Ron trailed off.

Tears brimmed in Hermione's eyes. "I miss how we were in school. I want to go back to a time when we were just friends and things were great!" She cried.

"I love you Hermione…" Ron took a deep breath. "But not like a lover."

"I look at Harry and Ginny and they seem so in love… so happy. They always kiss and touch and sometimes seem to even forget they aren't fifteen year olds sneaking to the astronomy tower for a quick snog…"

"Recently I've noticed that we've both been finding more excuses not to have sex," Ron said as she trailed off, his ears turning a little pink.

"I'm sorry!" Hermione wailed, a surge of guilt rising within.

"No, don't apologize… it's both of our faults."

"What do we do?" She asked in a barely audible voice.

"I think that we should call time," he said with a slight glisten in his eye. "We tried and it hasn't worked. It would be best if we gave each other space for a while."

"I'll pack," she said standing up.

"Do you think we'll ever get back to being friends?" Ron asked as she turned away.

"I…" Her heart broke. "I don't think so…"

Taking a shaky breath Hermione stood up with her suitcase. Ron had gone to work and they had parted on amicable terms… well as amicable as one can make a break up.

Hermione's stomach lurched as she realized that she was free to do whatever she wanted. The image of a quiet man with strands of grey lacing his hair flashed through her mind. Hermione's pulse fluttered as she imagined the way the corners of his lips turned up as he balanced a book on his lap. At last she was able to tell him how she felt without committing the infidelity that had haunted her at night, tempting her.

As she walked from the flat and slid her key back under the door she felt as though she was a bird whose wings hadn't stretched for years. It seemed to her that each step she took away from her life with Ron was revealing that these old wings she'd left to wither were proving to be stronger than she thought.

A/N: Thanks for reading… it's always nice to hear readers' opinions…..