Chapter 11

He saw her hunched over, not with a usual book in her hands, but with her head buried in her arms. He shoved his hands in his pocket and slowly walked over to her.

"Leave me alone," she groaned, not looking up.

"Hermione," he said quietly.

She lifted her head as Harry kneeled beside her. Before he could say another word, she looked down at the grass beneath them and began to play with a green blade.

"Are you sure you want to be here, Harry? Isn't this like fraternizing with the enemy?"

He watched her wipe her eyes with the back of her hand so as not to show him her tears. Despite all they had been through together, she still had a difficult time showing him her emotions.

"First of all," he began, "Neither Ron nor I think you're the enemy." He placed his fingers lightly under her chin and applied a light pressure, forcing her to look at him. "Second of all, you're my best friend, too, Hermione."

"Did he send you to talk to me?" Hermione asked as Harry removed his fingers and settled down beside her.

Harry shook his head. "No. He doesn't even know I'm here. I just figured you could just use a friend right about now and Ginny's busy showing off her ring to everyone."

Hermione managed a weak smile, imaging how Ginny was probably walking the halls right now showing her ring to anyone who would stop and look at it. In her mind, Hermione was secretly jealous.

"I never got to say congratulations. I really am happy for you and Ginny, Harry."

"Thanks." He took a deep breath. "So, do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"How Ron is the biggest git in the world," Harry answered.

Hermione smiled again, but this time with more effort. Her heart might have been broken, but Harry never ceased to make her smile.

"I couldn't agree with you more," she stated.

"He loves you, Hermione."

She looked back at the grass. "It's not that simple."

"Why?"

This time it was Hermione who took a deep breath.

"He…he was with her."

She could feel the tears stinging her eyes once again, but she blinked them away. She tried to shake the memory of seeing Ron sitting on the couch with Jackie from her mind, but it wouldn't budge. It was like it was permanently imprinted on her brain.

"What?" Harry asked, sensing the hurt behind Hermione's eyes. He knew that Ron had done things before that angered Hermione, but Harry had never before seen such deep sadness in her eyes before.

"Jaclyn Andrews. He was with her…in the common room…on the couch…"

"Hermione, you know Ron would never…do anything," Harry stated, hoping that what he said was true. He trusted his best friend and believed that Ron truly did love Hermione, but it was difficult to say with absolute certainty that Ron was innocent when Harry wasn't even there to witness the whole scene.

"And he wasn't doing anything wrong. I mean, they were just talking."

"So, if he wasn't doing anything wrong. What's the problem?"

"She was...flirting with him, Harry…trying to seduce. And she was succeeding! And he…he did nothing! He just sat there while she flattered him and touched him and…if I hadn't walked in the room, I don't know what would have happened."

"Nothing would have happened. I know deep down you know that."

She sniffled as a tear fell down her cheek.

"But does that mean it was okay?" She asked.

"Hermione, you know Ron. When someone, especially a girl, is falling all over him or telling him how great he is, he gets…flabbergasted and he completely forgets…everything."

"So any time a pretty girl tells him he's hot, I'm supposed to just sit back and let her…grope him?"

"Well, of course not, but…"

"But what, Harry? What if it were Ginny? What if some guy was flirting with her and she didn't look like she was doing anything to stop it?"

"Then I'd punch him."

"Exactly."

"But I wouldn't stop loving Ginny."

"I'm not saying that I've stopped loving Ron. I just…I want to make sure that this is real. I want to make sure that he's not just saying what he thinks I want to hear. I want to make sure that he's in this for the right reasons and that he truly loves me and…and even if he doesn't want to marry me right now that he could see us getting married in the future because if not…what's the point?"

"Just give him a chance, Hermione."

"We've been together for two years. How many chances am I supposed to give him?"

"Trust me, I've heard the way he talks about you. I've seen the way he looks at you. It's worth giving him another chance."

"You know, Harry, this would have all been so much easier if I had fallen in love with you."

"What?" Harry asked, not sure whether to laugh or look at Hermione like she was crazy.

"You always know what to say. You always know how to make things better. If only some of that had rubbed off on Ron after all these years."

"We don't choose who we fall in love with, Hermione. Sometimes our hearts do things that we'll never understand."

"When did you get to be so smart?"

He shrugged. "I had some very smart best friends."

She smiled as Harry enveloped her in a hug.

Meanwhile, Ron slammed his fist into the solid wall of the common room. He pulled his hand away in pain, wondering what could have possessed him to think punching the wall was a good idea in the first place. Then the image of her floated through his head. Usually when he thought of her, she was laughing or smiling or even sometimes yelling at him, but this time she was crying and he knew that he had been the reason for her tears.

"You arse!" Ginny yelled, walking through the opening to the common room.

"Good to see you, too," Ron mumbled as he flopped down on the couch.

"I don't know what you did, Ronald Weasley, but whatever you did, you're an arse for it."

Ginny stood over him with her hands on her hips, a stance his mother often took when she was angry. It amazed him how much he saw of his mother in Ginny. On this particular occasion, though, it wasn't amazing, it was downright annoying.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"All I know is that Hermione is outside right now crying her eyes with my fiancé's arms wrapped around her!"

Ron sat straight up.

"What?"

"Not like that!" Ginny snapped. "I hate to sound self-centered, but I was hoping that on the day I got engaged, I could spend time with my fiancé rather than having him out there comforting his best friend because his future brother in law is a complete arse!"

"You know you've said that word three times in the last three minutes?"

Her cheeks flared red with anger.

"This isn't funny, Ronald!" She hit him hard on the shoulder.

"Hey!" He yelled.

"What in the bloody hell did you do to her?"

"Why do you assume this is my fault?" He asked, holding his arm as if she had caused him serious pain.

"Because when I left Hermione, she was ready to forgive you for not telling her you loved her and now she's back to sobbing."

Ron sighed as Ginny sat down on the couch next to him.

"I messed up, Ginny," he admitted.

"Why does everything have to be so complicated with you? Why can't you just open up and tell her how you really feel, Ron?"

"I wanted to, but…but I made a mistake."

"This mistake doesn't happen to be named Jackie, does it?"

"How did you know?"

"Please, Ron, I lived in a tiny house with you for nineteen years. I know more about you than you'd think. And I know that as much as you love the attention, you love Hermione more."

"I don't love attention."

Ginny gave him one of their mother's famous looks. It was the 'I know you know I'm right' look.

"She said she needed time," Ron said.

"Then give time, but make sure she knows how you really feel."

Ginny stood up.

"Thanks Ginny."

"What are little sisters for if not to give love advice to their big brothers?"

He smiled as she began to walk off to show some more people her new finger accessory.

"Oh, and Ginny," Ron called out after her.

Ginny turned. "Yeah?"

"Congratulations. You and Harry are going to be really happy together."

She smiled. "Thanks. That means a lot to me coming from you."

She walked out of the common room. As the portrait door swung closed, Ron laid down on the couch and wondered just how much time Hermione would need.

Author's Note:

Okay, I know that I said I would post more often and I haven't been doing that, but life has just become so hectic!