Written for the OTP Competition. My prompt was Blind Date AU.

Mending the Past

"Mate, I'm not sure I can do this." Ron wiped his hands on his dress robes, shaking the sweat from his palms.

"Sure you can," Harry said, clapping his friend on the back.

"I haven't been on a date… well since Hermione and I… you know." He always struggled to actually define their relationship ending as a break-up. It hadn't been what he had wanted. If it had been up to him he would have still been with her, and they could have been happy.

Harry's smile was sympathetic. "I know. But, this woman Ginny has for you, I'm sure you'll like her."

"And if I don't?" Ron wanted to know. After all, it had been three months since he'd last laid eyes on Hermione – three-and-a-half since she ended it – and Harry knew quite well that his heart was still with her.

Harry seemed to know what he was thinking. "Kindly thank her for a pleasant evening, and end it like that. Though, I think you'll like her." He patted Ron's shoulders.

Ron shifted from one foot to the other, his eyes staring at the ground. He had had great plans for him and Hermione. For the five months she had been in Australia he had thought about moving in with her, one day marrying her, and very, very, very far into the future, possibly having kids. He had waited for her at that Muggle death trap she called an airport, brought her flowers, kissed her, and then she had ended it a few days later. He hadn't seen it coming, and until this day he still wasn't completely sure what her reason was. He supposed she had just decided she didn't like him anymore.

"What does Ginny know about my taste, anyway?" he mumbled.

Harry laughed. "Come on, or you'll be late, and she may not be forgiving." He guided Ron to the fireplace, picking up the bowl full of Floo powder Molly and Arthur Weasley always kept on hand.

"Ginny or the girl?" Ron asked.

Harry laughed. "Both."

"You sure she's a witch?" Ron then said.

"Positive," Harry answered.

"And she knows how to get to Diagon Alley?"

"Who doesn't?"

"And… you think I'll like her?" It was the part that Ron was most concerned about. He wanted to get over Hermione, but he just wasn't sure that he could do it.

Harry smiled. "I am one-hundred and ten percent sure," he promised.

"Sounds like you've met her."

Harry nodded. "I have. That's how I know. Now, go, or you'll be late, and even if she takes kindly to that, I doubt Ginny will."

Ron nodded, swallowing the Hippogriff that had somehow landed his throat. "Wish me luck that I don't be a total arse to her," he said as he took a handful of Floo powder. "Diagon Alley!"

The last thing he saw before being whirled away was Harry mouthing 'good luck' to him.

…

Hermione had not had much say in this blind date Ginny had organised for her. The place, the time, the day… it had all been planned by the youngest Weasley, who seemed to think she was going to like the guy she was going out with.

Truthfully, though, this whole dating thing wasn't her. She would much prefer to meet somebody on her own accord, when she was ready.

When she had broken up with Ron, she had meant what she said: she wasn't ready for a relationship. It had been months now, and she still stood true to that fact. But she had agreed to just one date with Ginny's guy, just to shut her up.

After they had dinner and talked for a little bit, she was going to tell him exactly what she had told Ron three months ago, and then tell Ginny it was kind of her, but not to do it again.

"He'll be here soon, so this is where I'll leave you." Ginny squeezed Hermione's arm, more excited than the latter about this date. "You'll like him, I promise!" She hugged Hermione, and then Disapparated, leaving Hermione standing out the front of a fancy restaurant called Cottidiano.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably where she stood, hoping that maybe this guy would bail on her. She wouldn't be offended; she would be relieved, actually.

"Hermione?"

She spun around, almost choking out his name when she saw who had spoken. "R-ron," she said, her cheeks burning. She still felt guilty over how she had ended things. She hadn't meant to hurt him as much as she had.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, and rather than appearing upset over running into her, he grinned.

Hermione was a red as Ron usually got. "Oh, I'm…." She glanced at the restaurant sign above them. "Well, I'm going on a date, Ron." She waited for the flash of anger or hurt that she expected from him.

That didn't come, though. "Odd," he commented. "Me too."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, don't really want to, though. Not really… well, I'm not really interested in her, you see." There was a hint of longing in his voice as he watched her.

"Well, it's good for you, Ron." Hermione tried to sound happy about it. Strangely, she didn't like the idea of Ron going on a date with someone else. "You should give her a chance."

Ron scratched the back of his neck, peering into the restaurant, as if searching for his date.

"Is she here yet?" Hermione asked.

Ron shrugged. "Don't know," he confessed. "Blind date. Ginny set me up."

"Oh." Hermione nodded. "I see."

Ginny really was as daring as she claimed to be.

"I think she's just trying to help me… well, trying to help me get over you. I was a bit of a mess afterwards."

Hermione shook her head. "Ron, I think –"

"Yeah, sorry," Ron said. "You don't need to hear that. Ginny tells me you weren't too good afterwards, either."

"No, Ron. It's just –"

"Alright. Well, it was good seeing you again, Hermione." He smiled, a hint of pain etched into it. "I should go in and wait."

Before he'd even turned to the door, Hermione grabbed his arm. "Ron, I'm here on a blind date, too," she told him.

"Okay," Ron said, and he forced another smile.

"No, Ron. The blind date was set up by Ginny."

"Oh."

Hermione wasn't completely sure Ron fully understood what Ginny had done. "Ron, we're supposed to be meeting each other."

Something ticked over in Ron, but Hermione was unsure what it was, exactly. "You mean to say that Ginny, my sister, tried to set us up?"

Hermione grimaced. "Seems to be."

"Right… why would she do that?"

"Maybe because she was the go-between for both of us. Maybe because she saw how miserable both of us have been without each other."

Ron's face livened. "You've been miserable without me? I mean, er, sorry to hear that."

This time, Hermione's laugh was genuine. She missed so much about Ron, and she was only realising that now. "I have," she said.

The mood turned serious again, as Ron tried to find the next words. Eventually, he said, "So, should we at least enjoy the effort she's gone to?"

Hermione nodded. "I don't see why not."

They entered the restaurant side-by-side, being careful not to get too close. Although they both secretly appreciated seeing one another again, it was also very awkward. They had been together less than a year earlier. They had shared kisses, shared a bed, and shared their feelings with one another.

Then they had not seen each other for five months, and then another three.

Things were different now, and they both understood that.

Ginny had made a booking under her name, and once they were seated, the awkward conversations started up again.

The guilt of how she had hurt Ron was still eating away at her, despite Ron appearing to be only grateful for seeing her again. As for Ron, he was debating over whether or not to tell her that he still loved her.

It was too soon, but seeing her standing there after three months of only hearing about her from Harry and Ginny, brought up all those feelings he had badly tried to supress. The truth was, he had never stopped loving her, nor had he truly wanted to.

Subconsciously, he had always wanted this moment to happen.

"How have you been, Ron?" Hermione broke the silence with her simple question.

"A mess," Ron said truthfully.

"Because of me?" She swallowed down her guilt.

Ron shrugged. "You, life… everything, really." He shrugged again. "Just felt lonely, I s'pose."

"I'm sorry, Ron. Really, I am. I didn't know it was going to hurt you so as much as it did. I guess I thought after five months apart, you'd take it a lot better. But then Ginny said that you… well she told me how much you missed me while I was in Australia, and I just felt awful."

"What could you have done?" Ron asked dismissively. "You didn't want to be with me anymore. There's no good time to tell someone that, is there?"

"I just… I might have been a bit kinder had I known how you felt," Hermione said.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "You mean, had you believed every letter I wrote to you over those five months when I ended with 'I love you'?"

Hermione turned faintly pink. "I'm sorry."

Ron shrugged. "It's okay, Hermione. Honestly, it is. Yes, I was devastated, but I did understand. Besides, I probably would've been a rubbish boyfriend if you'd kept me around for much longer."

Hermione laughed. "I doubt that," she said.

"It was just the wrong time for us, I guess," Ron continued. "We dived into a relationship when those around us were killing and being killed. We thought we were going to die, too, and acted on our feelings at the time. It felt right then." It still felt right now, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

"We definitely weren't in the right head space afterwards, were we?" Hermione agreed.

"We were grieving, we were shaken. Of course not."

The waiter came around to take their orders. Ginny had already covered the cost, which they both took great pleasure in exploiting. They decided on a three course meal and the most expensive drinks they had available.

Conversation seemed to flow relatively easy after that. They avoided any more talk about their past relationship, moving on to other, more trivial topics such as Quidditch and their jobs.

Ron was helping George in the joke shop, while Hermione had been attending Hogwarts since her return. The new school year was almost over, which she had then been offered a job at the Ministry of Magic.

They finished their meals still discussing their work, and when they got up to leave, Ron realised he couldn't contain himself anymore.

Taking her hand, he pulled her from the restaurant so that they were alone again (save for a few people walking around).

"When Ginny told me about this," he began, staring into her chestnut eyes, "I thought she was doing it to help me get over you. I was miserable about it, but I went along anyway. And then when it was you, my first reaction was she thought it was funny. She wanted to torture me just a little bit more.

"But then I thought about it some more, and not even Ginny can hate me that much. I think she had good intentions, Hermione."

Hermione smiled. "Of course she did, Ron."

"And I've realised one thing tonight. I'm the happiest when I'm with you. Even if that means just as friends, it doesn't matter to me. Of course, you'll have to deal with the fact that I still love you and probably always will, but I just need to have you back in my life. It was torture for me, having to hear everything second-hand from Harry and Ginny."

Hermione was silent for a long time, her eyes drifting from Ron'sm to the quiet street around them, and then back to Ron again. Eventually, she took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "Friends would be good, Ron, but I'm just not sure it's all that possible."

She could practically hear his heart break.

"Ron, listen before you say anything. I thought breaking up with you was the right thing to do, because of me, not because of you. I was not in the right head space to be in any kind of relationship, but it didn't mean I didn't love you anymore. I'd waited years to be able to tell you how I felt, but like you said a while ago, it was the wrong time for both of us.

"But, the more I heard about you, the more I began to miss you. For some reason, I missed your lousy jokes, your teasing, and I even missed the meaningless fights we'd constantly have. I felt like I'd made a mistake."

Ron was listening intently now.

Hermione sucked in a deep breath. "Ron, I don't want to be just your friend. Tonight reminded me of what I've been missing. It reminded me of how happy I was with you, of how much I enjoy your company. You've been more than a friend to me for many, many years. You're the one I got jealous over, the one I started fantasising over. It's been so long that I can't remember what it was like to just be your friend. I –"

She didn't have time to finish before Ron was pressing his lips against hers so forcefully, he almost knocked her off her feet. She embraced it, however, kissing him back

When they broke apart, Ron grinned. "Too soon?" he asked.

Hermione, feeling flustered, smiled and shook her head. "I've missed you," she said.

Ron engulfed her; something he'd been longing to do for a very long time. "I've missed you, too, Hermione," he said. "You have no idea how much."

Hermione fell into his embrace. This was right, she knew it. Ron wasn't a very forgiving person, so for him to simply accept her like that, to pretend the last three months had never happened, she knew she meant a lot to him.

They couldn't erase the past, but they could at least try and mend it in the hope of a better future.

That is the first bit of Hermione I've written in a while, and I must say, it was fun. I hope you all enjoyed it, and please, if you read it, also leave a review. Would be much appreciated.

Would you like a story with pairings/characters and prompts chosen by you, written by me, and then gifted to you? I still have a lot of months available on my profile, so please, please, please send me a PM with characters/pairings and prompts and I'll gift you a fic in the chosen month. I have a lot of fun giving, so don't be shy!