Written By PBMAXCA
He was in the right place, but at the wrong time. It had happened to him before, many times actually, but this time seemed to be the most volatile situation he'd found himself in. Hermione's staccato voice hammered him with words. "Repeat what you just said."
Despite still not being that comfortable with having a cellphone, he flipped the phone closed without saying goodbye, something he prided himself on never doing, he turned around and let the anger rise in him, another thing he didn't like to do. He hadn't wanted to be there at all that night.
His brothers had convinced him that he needed to be at the dinner. Ron had agreed thinking that Harry would be there and they could team up against the other people at the party. His best friend had deviated from the plans, he'd decided to ditch the party last minute leaving him without any kind of support in the middle of a group of people that he really wasn't comfortable with in the first place.
It was amazing how much better of a bluffer he was becoming. He'd managed to mingle with the other guests at the party without any of them realizing that he was hating every moment of it. Thanks to his illustrious career as Harry Potter▓s sidekick, he had a PhD in mingling. He knew all the tricks on how to pretend to be interested in just how cute everyone's babies were or just how intricate it was to balance a person's taxes. He still didn▓t know how Goblins had gotten invited to the party, but he guessed it might have been an open invitation party considering who else was there. He could talk to anyone from Professor Dumbledore to Dobby the house-elf.
This crowd was a little different and after an hour or so he'd needed a little break. He'd needed a quick cell phone call to his brother George, who had suddenly become closer to him in the last few months to vent out all that was building up inside him. George had even agreed to use a Muggle cellphone to keep in touch with him saying that it would give him yet another device to play pranks with.
Once he'd decided to take the chance and make the call to George, he'd tried hard to avoid Hermione. No matter who she was marrying he'd never meant for her to hear what had just come out of his mouth. The conversation had been a repeat of the one they'd had earlier in the day. He'd complained about the setting of the party and the fact that his friend had ditched him. He told George about most of the people having dinner with him and George reminded him over and over again that Hermione was his friend and he needed to show his support. He'd meant to return to his mingling with a sane outlook even if he hated every bone her fiancИ's body. This of course had only made things worse, causing him to hate most of the fiancИ▓s friends too.
"Tell me what you just said to him on the phone." Hermione squared her shoulders and stared at him looking strong even though he knew her well enough to know that in a moment she'd crumble. Taking a chance he stood his ground. "You heard me."
He watched her swallow twice before she spoke and even then her voice didn't sound right. She seemed to take a breath after each word as if the next was even harder to say. "So... you... hate... him...?"
A breeze whipped up off the lake causing them both to shiver. The chimes on the edge of the house clanged together much the way that they were bouncing off each other. This was definitely a moment that was going to change both of their lives forever. If he wasn't careful this could blow up in both their faces.
⌠Ritchie Coote?■ he said, ⌠Are you serious?■
⌠Obviously, yes,■ she said turning in a circle drawing attention to the rest of the people at the party.
"Ritchie is not good for you." He softened his tone and posture when tears fell down her cheeks.
Hermione shook her head and stepped back when he tried to approach her.
His posture straightened again with the physical rejection she showed him. "Tell me three good things about him--" His chatter didn't leave room for an answer. "Tell me that he loves you above and beyond the moon and the stars--"
She stared at him blankly. Her face, her shoulders and her arms were limp. Only her legs seemed to be strong enough to hold her. Every other part of her looked to be useless.
"Tell me and I'll take it back."
He knew she'd hesitate but he never expected her to shout at him next.
First her shoulders slumped forward then her mouth opened up. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?"
"DOING WHAT?" he yelled back. "YOU'RE DOING THIS TO YOURSELF."
"Trying to ruin everything!" She calmed a bit, moving from a yell to a whine.
"Ruining it?" His jaw dropped. "I'M RUINING IT?"
He knew that love or lust could blind, but if he was to be blamed for her misery she was past he point of no return. She was delirious.
She put a hand to her forehead as if the whole situation was finally draining all her energy away. "Why are you doing this?"
"I don't know." Sarcasm showed in his voice. "Maybe because I don't want you to end up with an asshole."
As if on cue, at that very moment Ritchie stepped out onto the porch. The moment he was over the threshold the hairs on the back of Ron's neck prickled like an angry dog's would. He was ready for a fight.
Ritchie▓s eyes moved back and forth between them as e put a hand on her arm trying to comfort her. "Hermione, what the hell is going on here?"
"None of your business," Ron said.
"None of your business?" he replied shaking his head with a certain look on his face that let Ron know that he'd been caught in his lie.
"Nope." Ron confirmed that he should stay out of what was going on between the two of them.
"Nice to see that money doesn't buy maturity."
"What are you talking about?"
"I just expected more out of you. I had a gut feeling that you were a prick." Ritchie shook his head. "Glad to know I can lower the bar again on those expectations."
"Are you going to let this asshole talk to me that way?"
She didn't say a word.
Suddenly, all the years that they'd been friends melted away. All the nights that they'd come to each other for comfort, whether it be school, work, or her having her heart broken by a boyfriend, they'd always found each other and been at each other's side when they needed each other.
"What, you can't stand up for yourself?" Ron knew deep down that he shouldn't provoke him, but at this point he was so ready to brawl that he didn't want anyone to stand in the way of that happening.
Ritchie's eyes narrowed at him. "Do you want to take this outside?"
"We are outside dip-shit." Ron pointed up at the sky with a sheepish look on his face.
"Excuse me, let me be more technical." Ritchie scowled, "Do we need to go somewhere that the rest of these people won't see me beat your ass."
"Like I said," He looked at her. "What an asshole."
She turned away from him, hugging her fiancИ. "You're the asshole."
"Don't pin this on me."
When Hermione didn't react Ron sighed and mumbled, "What a bitch."
She turned around quickly, reached her arm out and smacked him.
Ron had never experienced a moment when time stood still. At that moment nothing moved, no one breathed, and it seemed that not even the wind was blowing as it had been earlier.
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