Chapter Seven.
When Hermione returned home to her flat after spending an amazingly relaxing day with Ginny at the spa, she didn't expect to find Ron in her front room. At first, she was more than happy to see her fiancé, but it took less than a minute for her to work out something was wrong. Ron looked incredibly sombre, and when Hermione gave him a hug he barely reacted.
"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"There's something I need to talk to you about," Ron said seriously. "But first, how was your day?"
"Up until a minute ago, it was great," Hermione replied. "What's going on, Ron?"
"I really have no idea how to say this," Ron muttered as he got to his feet and began to pace in front of the fireplace. "You might want to sit down, Hermione."
"Only if you also sit down," Hermione said.
Taking hold of Hermione's hand, Ron led them over to the sofa. When they were sat down, he kept her hand in his, his fingers twirling at the engagement ring on her left hand.
"Ron." Hermione's other hand settled over Ron's, effectively ending his nervous twirling of her ring. "Just tell me what's wrong."
Looking up at his fiancée, Ron found he had no idea where to start. What he had to tell Hermione would blow her entire world apart. Hell, it was going to blow his world apart, but she had to know the truth. She had to know that seven years ago someone had manipulated her, and turned her entire life on its head with a cruel lie.
"Now you're scaring me," Hermione said softly. "Please Ron, tell me what's wrong?"
"It's about Malfoy," Ron said, taking a deep breath. "After what happened last week, Harry thought it might help if you went to visit his grave."
"I had thought about that myself, but I don't know where he's buried," Hermione admitted. "Given the fact I was asked to stay away from the funeral, I doubt his parents will tell me if I tried to contact them."
"Harry also didn't know where he was buried, but he decided to go another route. He asked Kingsley if he could find out where the grave was."
"I never would have thought of that," Hermione admitted. "Could Kingsley help?"
"He couldn't tell Harry when Malfoy was buried," Ron answered. "Because he's not buried anywhere. In fact, he's not even dead."
Hermione pulled her hand out of Ron's hold and glared at her fiancé. "That's not funny, Ron."
"I'm not being funny, Hermione," Ron said quietly. "I'm telling you what happened. When Harry went to talk to Kingsley, he discovered that Malfoy wasn't dead."
"No." Getting to her feet, Hermione shook her head stubbornly as she backed away from Ron. "He died. I lost him seven years ago."
"No, the healer lied to you," Ron explained patiently. "The night before you went to the hospital, Malfoy was moved to a private clinic in France. He was there for a few months, before he woke up."
"Draco's alive?" Hermione asked as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "And he's awake."
"He is," Ron confirmed with a nod. It was rather heart-breaking to see how much Hermione was affected by his revelations, but it was what he'd been expecting. "I don't know all the details about his health, but I do know he's up and about. He does walk with a cane these days."
"You've seen him?" Hermione gasped, her question sounding more like a statement.
Ron nodded in confirmation. "That's where Harry and I were today. We wanted to try and get some answers before we told you anything."
"You thought he was involved," Hermione accused as she swept away the tears that stained her face. "You thought he pretended he was dead and lied to me."
"It did cross my mind," Ron admitted. "But now I've spoken to him, I don't believe that. In fact, he was manipulated just like you."
"I think I need a drink," Hermione muttered as she stalked out of the front room.
Ron was taken aback by Hermione's departure, but before he managed to get up and go after her she returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Opening the wine, she poured two large glasses and handed one to Ron. She then settled herself down on the chair opposite, which Ron had to admit stung slightly.
"I want the full story," She demanded.
"We're still trying to build a complete picture, but I can tell you what we know," Ron said. "After Malfoy was transferred, his healer told you he was dead. The healer then left the hospital a few weeks later. We think the whole thing was a set up with him, and the medi-witch who you didn't know. Anyway, while you were grieving for Malfoy, he was still in his coma in France. Now this is where things get tricky, according to him, you visited him while he was still in his coma, and the day after he woke up, you ended things with him. He's been living these last seven years thinking you didn't want to be with him because he was told he might never walk again."
"That's horrid," Hermione whispered. "Who would do this to us?"
"We don't know, yet," Ron answered. "But I promise you, Hermione, we will find out."
"So while I thought Draco was dead, he thought I was a heartless cow who'd left him," Hermione said with a sob.
"He didn't think that," Ron said, not quite sure if he was lying or not. Getting up, he moved over to where Hermione was sitting and pulled her into a hug. "Whoever did this caught you both at vulnerable times. You'd been worrying about Malfoy for a week, and were barely functioning. If you'd been sharper, you might have asked more questions or demanded to go to the funeral. It was the same for Malfoy. He'd just woken up from a coma, he'd been told he would likely never walk again and they were running more tests to see if there was anything else wrong. His head was a mess, and then someone posing as you walked in and ended your relationship. Again, if he'd been sharper he would have questioned it, but they caught him at his weakest, just like they did with you."
Hermione nodded as she let herself take comfort from Ron's embrace. She was still struggling to comprehend the enormity of what was happening, so she focused on the tiny details. Releasing that Ron had said someone had posed as her, she question him about it.
"We don't know that for sure, but in my opinion it's the only explanation," Ron said. "We know you weren't going to visit Malfoy, as you barely left the house. Therefore, someone else was posing as you, and as soon as it was possible they ended things with Draco and he never saw you again."
"Basically, whoever is behind this just wanted to split us up," Hermione whispered.
"It looks like it," Ron replied.
"Whoever it is, they're cruel and they don't care about either Draco or I," Hermione said with an angry snarl. "No-one who really cares about either one of us would do something that would cause us so much pain."
"I fully agree there," Ron said. "Whoever is behind this is wicked, and they didn't care about either your pain or Malfoy's. All they cared about was separating you, and they didn't care about the price of that separation."
"What do we do now Ron?" Hermione asked warily as she looked up at her fiancé. She didn't know how she could tell him she wanted to see Draco. Even though she was still struggling to believe he was still alive, her entire being was screaming out to be reunited with him.
"We find out what happened," Ron said with a sad smile. "But before all of that, you're going to go and see Malfoy. Or he can come and see you, whichever you want."
"I want to see him, but I don't want to hurt you," Hermione said softly. "I love you, Ron."
"I love you too, Hermione," Ron returned as he took hold of her hand in his. "But we both know I'm not the only man you love. It was different when we thought Malfoy was gone, but now he's back and we need to deal with it. That's why, I'm releasing you."
Hermione frowned at Ron's meaning, but before she could open her mouth he'd gently removed her engagement ring from her finger. When she did open her mouth to say something, Ron gently placed his finger over his lips and shook his head. Closing her mouth again, she let her fiancé speak.
"I will always love you, Hermione, and if you chose me, I'll be the happiest man alive. But if you chose me it has to be for the right reasons. I can't play second best now we know he's alive. However, if your heart still lies with Malfoy and you want to be with him, I wish you all the luck in the world, and I'll still be there as your best friend. You take as long as you need to sort this out in your head. Even if it takes you months to make a decision, it doesn't matter. Take the time you need, and follow your heart. No matter what, you won't lose me."
By the time Ron had finished speaking, Hermione had fresh tears falling down her face. She'd always known Ron had loved her, but until this minute she'd had no idea just how much. The fact he was giving her the freedom to choose meant everything to Hermione and she knew even if they didn't end up together, Ron would always own a piece of her heart.
"I don't know what to say," She confessed through her tears.
"I just want you to be happy, Hermione," Ron said, using his thumb to brush away the tears that were staining her cheeks. "And from the conversation we had with Malfoy, I think he feels the same way. I know I won't push you into making any decisions, and I'm fairly sure he won't."
"So what happens now?" Hermione whispered.
"Now we arrange for you to see Malfoy," Ron said. "Do you want to go to him, or do you want him to come to you?"
"I'm not sure," Hermione confessed. "Didn't you say he walked with a cane? Would it be easier if I went to him?"
"Possibly," Ron replied. "To be honest, I got the feeling there was more wrong with him then he let on. Maybe going to him would be best."
"Then arrange it," Hermione said softly. "And can you please make it as soon as possible?"
"I'll see what I can do." Dropping a kiss to Hermione's forehead, Ron got to his feet and promising to be back soon, he headed to his own flat.
The second Ron was gone, Hermione broke down in tears as she tried to get her head around everything that had happened. She couldn't believe her entire life had been tampered with by some unknown person, but what made her angrier was the fact they'd dragged innocent people like Ron into things. No matter what happened next, Ron had been irrevocably hurt by what had happened, and deep down she knew he would likely end up hurt even more before this was all over. Chances were they were all in for more pain as the fallout to what had happened seven years ago continued.
Hermione had only just started to calm down when Ron reappeared in the flat. Settling back down beside her, he explained that he'd been in contact with Draco and if she wanted, they could go and visit him the following day.
"Will you be with me?" Hermione asked, her nerves evident in her voice.
"I'll accompany you to France, and take you to Malfoy's place, but I probably won't hang around," Ron replied. "The pair of you need to talk, and you need to do that alone. After that we can then all meet up and discuss where we go next."
"Do you have any ideas?" Hermione asked.
"To be honest, I'm too exhausted to even think about it," Ron admitted. "But Harry and I will have a talk, possibly tomorrow while you're with Malfoy, and we'll work out our next move."
"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said, leaning forward and giving the redhead a peck on the cheek. "You didn't have to tell me any of this, but I'm grateful that you did."
"I wasn't going to keep this from you," Ron insisted. "Even if it means the end of our relationship, you have the right to know what's going on. There's no way I could have kept you in the dark and carried on as though nothing had changed."
"I really appreciate your honesty," Hermione said quietly. "I'm just sorry, you've ended up hurt."
"I'm sorry we've all ended up hurt," Ron said with a small sigh. "You should get some rest Hermione. Tomorrow will be a big day, you're going to need a good night's sleep."
"Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen," Hermione remarked with a rueful laugh as she got to her feet. "I'm not sure it's possible to sleep with everything that's flying around in my head.
"Tell me about it," Ron replied. Giving Hermione a hug, and letting her know what time he would be picking her up, he headed back to his own flat.
Hermione watched Ron leave, before she topped up her wineglass and headed into her bedroom. Placing the glass of wine down on her bedside table, she rummaged in the wardrobe until she found the small wooden box where she'd kept her mementoes of her relationship with Draco. Settling down on the bed with the box, Hermione opened it for the first time in years as she contemplated the fact she would soon be seeing him again. After years of thinking she had lost him, she would see him again, and she had no idea how she would react when she set eyes on him. Would they still love each other, or had too much time passed for them to even stand a chance of happiness? All Hermione knew was that in a few hours she would potentially have some of the answers, and until then all she could do was wait and speculate on what would happen when she came face to face with her first love.
