Chapter 4

"Morning 'Mione" Ron said cautiously the next morning when Hermione sat down next to him, "Morning" she replied cheerily.

'She has either forgotten about last night or wants to ignore it altogether' thought Ron, not that he wasn't glad about that, he hadn't been able to sleep properly wondering whether or not they were talking at the moment.

"Good morning everybody" Jake announced a little too enthusiastically for that time of morning. He sat down opposite Hermione and laid down a large book in front of him, Ron recognised it immediately, it was Hermione's copy of 'Hogwarts; A History'.

"Have you been reading the book?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Of course, I haven't been able to put it down".

Ron, Harry, dean and Seamus all looked up in surprise, no-one in their right mind would actually admit to reading the book, let alone enjoy reading it, apart from Hermione of course but her sanity had been questioned at times.

"See Ron, I told you it was good" she said as she nudged him in the ribs, "Yeah, I'm sure it's great love".

The looks of surprise around them had instantly turned to shock.

Ron had just called Hermione 'love', ok, so it wasn't a big deal for anyone else, but in Ron's case, it was huge, particularly where Hermione was concerned.

Hermione looked down at her breakfast, blushing furiously, while Ron, unaware of what he had said looked at everyone else and asked incredulously "WHAT?"

"Nothing, nothing at all- love" Harry mimicked, holding back a laugh.

Ron's face dropped, "Shit" he thought as he looked back at Hermione 'Great, I've just embarrassed the hell out of her in front of the whole house'. He leant towards Hermione and whispered into her ear "Hermione, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to…." "It's ok Ron, don't worry about it", she shuddered when she felt his breath against her ear. She announced that she needed to get to the library before classes started and motioned for Jake follow.

Once they had left the great hall, Harry couldn't contain his laughter any longer.

"SHUT UP HARRY" Ron warned, "but you called her 'love' and you didn't even realise you said it, and you should have seen her face" he continued to chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm sure it was quite the picture, now drop it".

Harry knew Ron well enough to know that when Ron said something that calmly, it normally meant that he was about to blow up at the nearest person, Ginny knew this too of course and placed her hand on top of Harry's just in case he didn't understand the danger he was in. she really didn't want her boyfriend and brother arguing, watching her brother and her best friend arguing was a whole different matter, that was fun, most of the gryffindors had bets going on for who would spill their true feelings first. Of course Ginny knew the two better than everybody apart from Harry and so she was in with a very good chance of winning a lot of money.

As Hermione and Jake walked to the library, she remained quiet. After 7 years, she still wasn't able to keep her emotions in check. She was sure the whole table had seen her blush beet red, and she wasn't able to stop the shiver that worked its way up her spine when he whispered into her ear and placed his hand on the small of her back.

"Hermione?" Jakes voice cut through her thoughts, "Are you ok? You've been awfully quiet the whole way down here" he asked as he pushed the door to the library open and allowed Hermione to enter first.

"Yes, I'm fine, just thinking", she replied distantly.

"Erm, you don't have to answer this, I mean, it's none of my business, I've only known you for a day, but is there something going on between you and Ron?" Jake gently pushed.

"Why would you ask that?". She asked, slightly confused.

"Well, it's just that, watching the two of you, well, you look at each other differently compared to the way you look at other people, you both seem so comfortable together, and last night, he joined you when we got to the common room, so I thought that you were. But then just now when he called you love, everyone just seemed really shocked and then he apologised to you. I'm just a little confused" he explained.

'Great' Hermione thought, 'a complete stranger can see it but Ron can't' "No, there's nothing going on between Ronald and I. He's my best friend, that's all we've ever been" always will be she added to herself as an after thought.

Jake expected there was more to it than Hermione was letting on. Still, they weren't a couple, so that was a good start. He knew all about Hermione and her friendship with 'The boy that lived' and his best friend, and how they had all fought in the final battle and Hermione and Ron had played a crucial part in helping Harry finally defeat the dark lord. She had the reputation of the brightest witch in over a century. Jake had been eager to meet her when he planned to go to Hogwarts, so he thought of it as fate that she was the one that had been brought in as his tutor. He had to admit, she was much more beautiful in person. He had been both intrigued and impressed by her. Her independence, her courage, the way she cared so much about her friends.

It was common knowledge that Hermione, Ron and Harry had an unbreakable bond, and they were all so willing to do whatever it took to keep them safe. Hermione showed it more than the two boys, and Jake found this quality very endearing. She wasn't a giggling girl either, upon entering the common room the night before, the majority of the girls, mainly Lavender and Parvati, had flocked around him, trying to impress him. They were all obsessed with the way they looked and who the latest wizarding couple was for the week. He really liked that Hermione wasn't like that. She didn't follow anyone, she was her own person.

When he had seen the way Hermione and Ron were with each other, he had thought there was something going on, and so he had prepared himself for a lot of hard work. Hearing the sadness and regret in her voice, he realised that if he played his cards right, she'd be all his.

Ron still felt guilty for embarrassing Hermione at breakfast that morning, he had planned on apologising to her again when he next saw her but as she decided to sit with Jake in lessons and during lunch and dinner, it wasn't easy. He didn't know whether he trusted Jake. There was just something about him that made Ron uneasy, and he was sure it wasn't because Hermione seemed to be completely at ease with him already, much like she had been with Viktor.

He had gone to look for her in the evening when most of the students were winding down after a long first day back.

After checking the usual places that she would normally be without much success, he decided to try her bedroom. A privilege of being head boy or girl was that you got your own room, and Ron had most certainly wanted that. He knocked on the door gently and waited for her to answer. He was about to leave when the door creaked open. He took in the site in front of him and his breath caught in his chest.

Hermione was standing wearing only a white fluffy towel that ended a little above her knees. She had just got out of the shower and was carefully towelling her hair dry.

Ron's mouth went dry and all he could do was stand there with his mouth wide open.

"Ron" Hermione stammered, blushing as she realised Ron had never seen her fresh from a shower, "What are you doing here?" she asked as she pulled him into her room before anyone came into the hallway and saw him standing there.

"I…uh….I…came to apologise about…er…this morning" he struggled out as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh, I already told you, don't worry about it, I know you didn't mean to say it".

"But I am worried 'mione. I embarrassed you in front of a lot of people, and I know you hate it when I do that, I honestly didn't mean to…"

"Ron, its fine. I already told you, I know you didn't mean to call me 'love' so forget about it". Hermione snapped feeling very agitated, 'why does he keep talking to me about this, he's made it clear he's not interested' she thought.

Ron sighed heavily, feeling more than a little frustrated, "No, Hermione, that's not what I meant" he said, his voice a little higher than he would have liked.

He seemed to suddenly realise that he was in her bedroom and looked around the bedroom, his eyes stopped on the photographs that were on her dressing table next to her bed.

There were 3 photos, one of her with her parents, one of her, Harry and himself, but the one that had really captured his attention was the one of her and Krum.

It had been taken in Bulgaria that summer and Viktor was standing behind Hermione, his arms wrapped around her and they were laughing. Hermione followed his eyes and braced herself for the argument that she knew would inevitably occur. Ron walked over to the picture and picked it up, studying it before turning to Hermione.

"I thought you two were just friends?" he said, his voice deathly calm.

"Ron, we've talked about this"

"No, apparently we haven't, that's why you wanted to spend the summer with him isn't it!" he spat out accusingly, more stating a fact than asking the question.

"What is your problem with him Ronald? He has never done anything to you. Don't you think it's about time you got over this"

"Not until you admit that you're seeing him" he cried.

"Ron, you're behaving like a child" she stated disapprovingly.

"Are you?"

"No, I'm not. He's in Bulgaria and I'm here, how could I be seeing him?" Hermione said calmly as though she was stating the obvious.

"But you were" he yelled at her

Hermione looked down, she couldn't handle the fire that was burning in his eyes, it was too full of anger and hurt, that was all the answer he needed.

"Great, so while Harry was off saving the world, and me and Ginny were sat at home feeling completely useless and worrying about you, you were off doing Merlin knows what with Vicky" he screamed at her in disgust.

"Is that why you're mad? Because I've stopped putting my life on hold?" she yelled back.

Ron took a deep breath, ready to yell back when she beat him to it.

"I will not put my life on hold forever. I've been doing that practically my whole life, and I'm tired of waiting for… for" she paused, trying to push down the sob that was so threateningly trying to come out. "I can't keep ignoring chances of being happy Ron, I won't let you hold me back anymore" she said a little quieter.

Ron looked shocked at this, he had never wanted her to be unhappy, and he was angry at himself that he was the cause of it, "Is that what I've been doing, holding you back?"

Hermione nodded as she let her tears fall "You can't keep telling me who I can and can't see Ron".

Ron had tried to keep his anger in check, but with her accusing him of doing that, caused it all to spill out. He looked down at the photograph with one last look of disgust and threw it at the wall, causing the glass to shatter and making Hermione jump and sob louder.

"FINE" he yelled as he yanked open the door, "Feel free to see whoever the fuck you want", and with that, he slammed the door shut so hard, it shook the whole room.

Hermione crumpled to the floor, holding her chest as she sobbed uncontrollably.

She knew she should go after him, explain why she had been letting him hold her back, that she was waiting for him to realise that he wanted her.

She hadn't meant to make it sound like it was his fault. But, she had to let him go, and by seeing other people, it would make it easier, or at least she had hoped so.

"At least this way, he won't do anything to make me think there's something more" she said to herself glumly as she picked up the broken frame, "Reparo" she muttered as she pointed her wand at it, if only it was that easy to fix everything else.