Ron had been having a rough few days, first was the row with Hermione over going out drinking with the twins again. It hadn't even been his idea for Merlin's sake, the twins had just snatched him on the way out of the Ministry where he'd been taking lessons to be an auror. That fight meant that he had to go home alone, which seemed to have his mother in an uproar.
Alright, so she'd made it a point to specify that Hermione should come with him for his monthly visit. So what if she missed one? It's not like she'd minded them missing visits during the entire Horcrux hunt trip, or during the entire three months they spent visiting funerals after the defeat of Voldemort. But one single month after that, and mom was in an uproar over it, as though he'd given her a pissed cobra in a box as a gift.
He'd just apologize for ticking Hermione off, and have her visit another time without him. It wasn't that big of a deal.
Thinking about Hermione, he smiled as he remembered when he first realized just how special and wonderful she was. He'd been digging around in Harry's trunk to get some of the extra sweets that Harry'd said he could have whenever he wanted, and come across some letters to Hermione that Harry'd never sent. One was open, and so he thought nothing of reading the private, unsent message.
What he'd found was just short of poetry telling Hermione all of her wonderful traits, and it got him thinking that Hermione had indeed been beautiful, intelligent, helpful, and downright wonderful. It was at that moment he'd fallen in love with her, and knew that he had to have her as his girlfriend. He knew that Harry loved her still, but he had so much going for him, he wouldn't mind letting his mate get the girl, would he? Of course not, after all, he had Ginny that loved him, so he could just let Ron have Hermione.
When he wrote his mom the first time about asking for dating advice, she insisted that Hermione come over to the Burrow during the summer, and that she'd help him out. Why she even went so far as to baking Hermione a box of cookies as a welcome to the family gift. Cookies which Ron wasn't allowed to touch, by his mother's orders. It was no fair, they were his favorite type of cookies too. Real.
Okay, so maybe he'd snuck a few of them out when Hermione wasn't looking, but they were so delicious, that he couldn't help himself. Besides, Hermione was his girlfriend, she should share with him. It was only right and proper. What was the woman's was the man's, that's what Mum'd always taught him. Well, everything except woman's work, that was for the woman only.
So why had his mom gotten so sore over him eating some of those cookies? Or some of the ones she'd sent Harry? She never sent him any, and he was her son! It was a bloody outrage that she kept sending them cookies, and he got none.
She was pissed about a lot of things lately, first there was Harry's disappearance which had her at wit's end with worry. Then there was the fact that Ginny hadn't gotten back together with Harry before he'd gone off into hiding. After that, was the fact that Harry'd chosen Hermione as the secret keeper.
Why would she be mad about those three things? Sure Harry was like a brother to him, but there was no reason for his mom to take it that far, especially on him. And Hermione had said that Harry wanted no one to disturb him, and had used her as the secret keeper, in case of emergency. As for Ginny and Harry not getting back together? It was only a matter of time, wasn't it? Ginny'd been head over heels for Harry since before they met, and Harry was... interested... in Ginny. Right?
It was just so bloody confusing, especially on top of mom yelling at him for several minutes about not bringing Hermione over for tea. He didn't know why it was so important that he bring her over for tea, after all he never got to sit and drink tea. No, he would be sent off to get some vegetables from the garden, or carry some heavy trunk up the stairs, or any number of other stupid tasks.
Grumbling he fished out his keys to let himself in to the place he shared with Hermione. He'd gotten as far as putting his coat up, when he noticed that he was not alone. Turning back to the table in the kitchen, he saw that his girlfriend was back after two days and sitting there, sipping tea.
"Hey Hermione, I'm sorry about going out with the twins and not letting you know..." Ron started while rubbing the back of his head. "Mom wants you to visit as soon as possible."
"Ronald..." Hermione stated calmly, setting the red head on edge. She never used his full name without him being in deep trouble. "I've been doing some thinking... we... we fight a lot..."
"Yeah, but we're getting better, aren't we? And besides isn't the occasional spat a sign of a good relationship?" Ron asked nervously, caught off guard by the statement and the really bad sinking feeling he had.
"No Ron, we are getting worse without Harry to balance us... and occasional spats means only a few a month, not one per day," Hermione explained calmly. "I think that we should break up. I've given it a lot of thought Ron, and it might be for the best. We can still be friends..."
"Friends... Harry told you that didn't he? Both you and he probably spent all night talking and falling in love, huh? I bet he finally got the guts to show you those damn letters. And now he's taking the one thing I had that he didn't. Well that's just great, he's such a wonderful fu... uhh... Hermione?" Ron paused, seeing that his former girlfriend is currently wiping tea off her hand, while the shards of her cup tinkle against the table. "You alright?"
"What letters Ronald?" Hermione asked calmly with enough ice in her voice to chill the air around her. "What letters are you talking about?"
"His... letters to you... about how he's in love with you..." Ron offered nervously. "He had to have shown you them, or you wouldn't be leaving me like this..."
"He didn't show me them Ronald... how did you find out about them?" Hermione continued calmly, repairing the cup with a simple wave of her wand.
"I... found them..." Ron admitted guiltily, while edging back away from the bushy haired woman, dangerously twitching her wand in his general direction. He had to think fast, and like always when trapped, he did what he thought best. "They were just sitting in his trunk, and I gave them a look. They're what made me realize my feelings for you, and helped me realize some things I hadn't seen in you before..."
"Letters... addressed to me... that you assumed were fine to read because you found them in your mate's trunk?" Hermione asked in a quiet, deadly cold voice. To prevent from hexing him into oblivion, she replaced her wand into her pocket. After all, he still had a hole to dig before she could blast him. And with how Ron was squirming and sweating, she knew that she wasn't going to have that hard of a time getting the truth out of him.
