"What are we going to do about Krys and Ares?" Hermione asked. The two were sitting in bed, doing the crossword puzzle together.
"We're not going to do anything, Hermione. Whether she tells him or not, its all her business." Ron said.
"Do you think Krys ever leaves anything alone when it comes to matters of us?" Hermione asked him.
"Hermione… this is all about Krys' happiness. She's smart enough to realize that the time for action is now." Hermione laughed.
"You've never spoken to Krys when she's being stupidly selfless, have you?"
"No, why?"
"She's not going to say anything consciously. The girl is so crazy, that she'll do it while she's sleeping and no one can hear her. Or when she's getting dresses in the morning, and no one's there but her. When she's drunk- one of them. She's just that stubborn, so- she'll have to do it unconsciously, just to settle herself."
"You know her well, don't you?" Ron asked. Hermione laughed.
"That's why I can handle you. I specialized in difficult people for two years." she teased. Ron laughed, and kissed her cheek.
"I'm not difficult." he said. Hermione nodded.
"Yeah, you are." she said. "I mean… I think that's why you and Harry originally got along so well. I think that's why we all get along so well. Harry searched for people who reminded him of Krys, and same with her. Your mum says that even as babies, Harry and Krys have always been the way they are. Harry was brave, and Krys was ruthless and vicious. Ares and Jason are like Harry. They all have that mix." Ron laughed.
"I think you're right." he said. Hermione nodded.
"I like being right." she said. Ron laughed and kissed her neck. "No… not until the crossword puzzle is done."
"What? Would it be my treat?" Ron asked, a flirtatious emphasis edging his voice. Hermione looked at him.
"Lets think of it as a mutual gift that continues to give." she said. Ron laughed, and they both heard banging on the door. Hermione got up and opened the door. In the hallway, Krys was pacing. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Hermione.
"Hey, Bon-bon." she said. "I came to get some clothes, because… I'm going out tonight."
"Where have you been? Ares called about four hours ago and said you were pissed at him." Ron yelled from the background.
"I've been hanging out in my car for about four- five hours… we had an argument and I'm pissed, yeah." Krys said, as she stepped back. "Can I come in?" Hermione and Ron looked at her weirdly.
"Krys, you live here." Hermione said. Krys shook her head.
"Not anymore." she said. "I'm not going to Nemonora either. I already sent a declining letter. I'm not going back. I'm staying here. If Ares wants to marry a bitch, I'm not going to let him and his bitch run me away. And that's what I was doing. I'm not running anymore. The running is over. But… I am going to write a book."
"Cookie… are you okay?" Hermione asked. Krys laughed and nodded.
"Oh- I came here for clothes." she said, as she walked in. She waved to Ron, then ran to her room. As soon as she left the room, Ron looked at Hermione.
"She's bonkers." he said. Hermione shook her head.
"She's just really impulsive when she doesn't know what to do." she said. "And then she babbles and rambles. She's just confused." Ron nodded.
"Okay. Whatever you say." he said. "Look- I…" Ron's sentence was cut short and trailed off, because an owl chose that moment to fly through the window. Ron looked at it. Hermione made a grabbing motion with her hand, and the owl flew to her and dropped off a letter. An owl treat appeared in Hermione's hand, and the owl ate it, before flying away. Hermione walked to Ron, holding the letter out. He took it slowly, then opened it. The look on his face was priceless. "I got the job." Hermione held down a squeal.
"Congratulations." they heard from the archway. Krys walked through and looked at him. She gave him thumbs up, then turned to Hermione. "I'm going out with Josephs." she said.
"Where?" Hermione and Ron asked simultaneously.
"Some damn club." Krys said. "Its supposed to be sexy as hell… with flashing lights and everything. Black lights." Hermione looked at the clothes that she chose, then stared pointedly at Krys. "What?"
"Your tattoo." Hermione said. "The shield is highlighted with club tattoo, and it has his name on it now. Its gonna glow like hell and Eric will see Ares' name on your hip." Krys groaned.
"Oy vey." she said. "I… what the hell is wrong with me? I got the tattoo after I knew he bought the ring for Emily… am I crazy?" Hermione and Ron nodded. Krys laughed, and sat down next to Ron. She sat for ten seconds, before she hopped up. "And last night, she had a rash on her neck. I'm not an idiot. It was either a hickey or the sexual climactic thingy that they taught us about in healer training. Either way, she was having sex… without him. Do I even care? I'm not supposed to… I don't care."
"Krys… make a promise to yourself." Hermione said. Krys nodded. "If Ares does something simply irresistible the next time that you speak to him, you have to talk to him. And not about breast implants… you have to talk to him about you two, and how you feel about him."
"Hermione, its an unfair deal… he always does something that makes people want to jump his bones." Krys said.
"Well… then that's your problem."
"Hermione… he's over me."
"Krys… how do you know that?"
"Um- he has a fiancé." Krys said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it actually was. "He has someone else. He ha-"
"Krys, shut up." Hermione said. Krys looked stricken. "Think about it. The man still hasn't removed the tattoo on his arm. He's a wizard. He hasn't removed it for the same reasons that you haven't removed yours. You still hope that the symbolism of the tattoo is real. God- for someone so smart… you're very, very, very, very dumb."
"Okay… Bon-bon, I don't want to seem weak, but ouch to the infinities." Krys said in mock depression. Hermione and Ron laughed. "Hermione, I don't believe that. If he loved me… things would be close to the same." Hermione and Ron looked at each other. "Listen- I have to go… its time for my date, and I have to meet him at the club. I'll see you later." Then she disapparated. Ron looked at Hermione and laughed.
"I don't see any difference in their relationship, do you?" he asked. Hermione shook her head.
"No. Except now, he isn't- no… he's still respecting her wishes and leaving her alone. Its like… he's taking their breakup as his moral code… 'don't go back to Krys'. And the fact that Emily is still cheating on him- he doesn't even care. I swear he's doing all of this to get back at Krys. And if she's not willing to tell him at least a portion of the truth, maybe they shouldn't be together. If she's not willing to put herself on the line to get him, why should he do it for her?" Hermione mused.
"Maybe that's how Ares sees it, seeing how she dumped him." Ron said. Hermione nodded.
"I actually don't blame him." said Hermione.
"Neither does Krys. That's why she's doing all of this for the wedding." Ron said. "She doesn't expect him to forgive her, and she doesn't believe that she deserves to be forgiven." Hermione looked at him. "That's what she told me last week."
"She really doesn't want him to choose her?"
"No… she wants him to choose her. She just wants to erase everything that she did wrong." Hermione looked at him.
"She didn't do anything wrong." she said. Ron nodded.
"I know. But she doesn't believe that." he said. "She thinks that he'll hate her, if she tells him the truth."
"Why?"
"Because, she thinks all the bad happened, from what she did wrong." Ron said. "I told her that she didn't do anything wrong, but she thinks that everyone is telling her this so that she won't go into depression again." Hermione nodded.
"I- I can't talk about this anymore." she said. "She… Krys- she's always okay. She'll be okay… and everything is going to be okay."
"You can't wait for the wedding tomorrow, can you?"
"Hell no. It'll be like a drama fest." Hermione said. Ron looked at her and laughed.
"You're crazy." Hermione smiled, and sat next to him.
"Which is why we match. Crazy people belong together." she said, as she curled up with him. "Okay… lets talk about us."
"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"
"The fact that we've been together for about a week, and we're engaged. What is your mum going to say?" Ron laughed.
"Does it matter?" he asked. "We'll tell the guys tomorrow, before Ares' wedding, then I can propose to you again, at the reception." he said. "It seems better than an announcement." Hermione nodded.
"Cool." she said. "Hey- I'm gonna ask you a dumb question."
"I doubt that you can."
"Do you think your mum will like me?" Hermione asked. Ron looked at her.
"I'll never doubt you again." Ron teased. Hermione laughed.
"I mean… will she think we're good together? Will they be pleased that we're engaged, or will they hate it?"
"Are you having dou-"
"No."
"Well… it doesn't matter what they think." Hermione looked at him.
"Everyone says it, but no one believes it. You care what they think, whether you want them to like it or hate it, you care. Everyone does."
"No… I don't. If they love you, fine… I already expected it. If they don't, it doesn't matter because, I love you." Ron said. "And my mum loves. Same with my father. He loves your knowledge of muggles, and the fact that you've taught me a lot about them. I mean- between you and Krys, the only thing I don't know now is how to drive, which… I don't want to know."
"Why not?"
"Because, my favorite source of transportation is still brooms. Cars are creepy."
"They're comfortable."
"You have to stop and watch how fast you go. You get into easy accidents."
"You can fall out of the sky on a broom." Ron was quiet for a moment.
"True… but cars- you can get into an easy accident."
"You already said that." Hermione teased. Ron laughed.
"So what. Its true. And… they pollute." he said.
"Brooms… they kill trees." Hermione said. Ron shook his head in mock shame.
"Weak argument." he teased.
"Its because I'm tired." Hermione whined. Ron patted his chest.
"Its your spot." he said. Hermione laughed.
"Yes… true." she said.
"What?" Ron asked. He knew that something was wrong by the look that she had once she lied down.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked. "Something is wrong with you. I know you." Hermione laughed and looked at him.
"How many girls have you slept with?"
"Huh?" Hermione laughed.
"I don't really want to know. I just want to know." she said. "You know what I mean?"
"Yes, I do. But I don't want to tell you, because you'll be mad at me."
"Have you really had sex with that many people. Because if so, I don't know what I'll do." Hermione joked. "Ron, what you did was in the past. I just want to know. There won't be any consequences." Ron looked at her.
"Do you really want to know?" he asked. Hermione looked at him, and determined from his fact that she didn't want to know.
"No." Hermione said. She looked at him again. "Hell no… I really don't want to know anymore. From the look on your face, it's a gigantic number, and… with a bunch of girls that I know and don't like." Ron laughed.
"Krys told me something. And I'm going to try and get this right." he said. Hermione nodded. "Its not really who you sleep with that matters. Its who you wake up with that counts." Hermione laughed.
"That's just a way to justify that you were a whore." she said. Ron pouted.
"The point is that I want to wake up with you, and I never woke up with any of those girls." he said.
"I thought that Harry would be the slut when I met him." Hermione said.
"The consequence is that you're going to bring this up all the time, right?"
"No. You don't want it to be brought up, so I won't. But I should say that-"
"Muggle contraceptive and disease prevention. The condom." Ron said. Hermione laughed.
"They making a magical one, you know. Its pretty much 100." she said. Ron looked at her.
"Do you- how many kids do you want?" he asked. Hermione smiled.
"I don't know. What about you?"
"Somewhere in the perfect zone. I think two or three, so that they all have a title. If you have two, you have the oldest and the youngest. If you have three, you have the oldest, youngest, and the middle child. One of the perfect zones." Ron said. Hermione laughed.
"Then again, with our combined genes… we could have super children." she said. Ron looked at her.
"Are you making fun of me?" he asked.
"No. Its just that- you've been thinking about it for a while, haven't you?"
"Children with Hermione Granger? Of course I have."
"Oh Won-Won… you're so sweet." Hermione said, before she kissed his cheek. Ron grinned, and showed her the crossword puzzle.
"Treat." he said. Hermione laughed, and pulled off his shirt. "I'm delicate." Hermione laughed, and let him help her out of her own clothes. She looked at him. He was grinning under her.
"I love you so much, Ronald Bilius Weasley."
"I love you to the moon, Hermione Jane Granger." he responded.
"Do you want to wait to get married? Maybe we should elope." Hermione said.
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BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Then glass shattered. Ares ran downstairs to Krys' front door. The glass was broken, and a bloody hand was through the glass, holding a rock, and trying to open the door. Ares ran to the door, and discovered that it was Krys' hand. He opened the door, and Krys crawled into the house, using one hand as her base and falling all over her second. She was wearing a denim mini miniskirt, and a tight white button down that wasn't buttoned completely at the top or the bottom. It was only buttoned twice in the middle, and her black bra was showing. On her feet were white on black low Uptowns that weren't tied all the way. Her hair was in a sexy curly disheveled style, and she crawled into the house weakly. She stood up, and looked at Ares. Ares looked at her hand, and dragged her to the kitchen, without saying anything. He lifted her by her waist, and placed her on the counter. He took her hand in his, and tapped it twice with his wand. Her hand healed, and he placed it in her lap.
"What happened to you, Krys?" He gestured to her clothes. "This isn't you." Krys gave a small moan, and looked up at the ceiling. Ares carried her to their room, and placed her on the bed. Before he could do anything else, Krys pulled him down, and kissed him. First, she nipped at his bottom lip. Ares groaned, in the back of his throat and lied down on top of her. Krys slid her tongue through his slightly parted lips, and teased his tongue with hers. Even though he could taste the alcohol on her, it seemed to taste sweeter, just having come from her mouth. Ares pulled back, and looked at her. Her face looked angelic. She was smiling, and her dimples were outright showing. She seemed to be glowing. He leaned down, and kissed her again. He trailed kisses down to her neck. "I love you, Bunny." he murmured into the crook of her neck.
"I love you too." Krys breathed. He let Krys kiss down his chest, after she ripped his shirt open. He even took off her shirt, and left two very noticeable hickeys on her neck, and bite marks on her stomach and lower hip. He unbuttoned her skirt, kissed above her navel, and bit her shield tattoo, that now had his name under it in Greek letters. Krys got on top of him, and started to kiss his neck, while unzipping his pants, and working her hips. But, as soon as she started to take off them off, Ares stopped her.
"Krys- stop." Ares said. Krys looked at him questioningly.
"You don't want to?" she asked in a sweet voice. She looked at him with lusty doe-eyes, and her full lips pouting.
"Forget it." Ares said, before he cradled her face and kissed her again. Krys started to take his pants off again. "Ah- stop, Krys, stop."
"What happened?" Krys asked, as she stared at him lovingly. Longingly.
"I- I'm not a cheater… I- I love…what the hell is her name?" he muttered to himself. Krys leaned in and kissed him again. This one kiss caused all the blood in Ares' body to move to his second brain. Krys giggled slightly, as she felt him come alive under her skirt. She started to massage his shoulders.
"Come on, baby." she said, as she kissed his shoulders. "I want to." She started to pull his pants off. "Don't you want to?" Ares cradled her face, nodded, and started to kiss her again, causing Krys to forget all about his pants and leave them alone. She moaned, and nibbled his bottom lip. When he pulled back, she smiled and pushed him gently on his back, before straddling him. She leaned down and kissed his bottom lip, then all the way down his chin. She pulled back and smiled at him. Ares smiled back and touched her cheek. "I wa- I wish- I wish that I could've been doing this with you, for the past two years. I love you, Loverboy." Krys pulled his torso up, and kissed him again. This kiss was long, deep and soft. Suddenly, Ares pulled back, slightly. Instead of pulling back completely, he slowed the kiss down. Krys leaned in and kissed him again, and started to pull his pants off. This time, Ares pulled back completely.
"Bunny- Baby- Krys, stop."
"Why?" Krys asked. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her full lips were pouting.
"Emily-… I love Emily now… and you're drunk. I'm sorry." Krys nodded slowly, and got off of him, with tinted cheeks. He could tell that he embarrassed her, but had no idea what to do about it. Ares did everything that he could to compose himself and get his hormones under control. "Tia Laurena, Tia Laurena, Tia Laurena." he whispered to himself, succeeding in getting the blood back to other places, before he started to leave the room.
"Ares." Krys called softly. Ares stopped and looked back at her. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. Just- don't think that you can't be comfortable… you- you don't have to leave. I won't try anything, I promise. Just sleeping." she said in an innocent voice, and doing the sign for sleep. She kicked off her shoes, and lied under the cover. Ares nodded, and walked over to the bed. As rational as she sounded, he knew that she was still drunk to the point before she should be throwing it up. He doubted that she had more than one beer or shot, but she didn't have a high alcohol tolerance. He lied down next to her. The silence was heavy, and all that could be heard were the heavy raindrops on the ceiling and their breathing. "I love you, Ares." Krys said, after a while.
"I love you too, Krys. You're my best friend."
"No…" Krys took a deep breath, and turned to face him. She shook her head slightly. "No… I'm still inlovewith you, Ares. I've never been in love with anyone else. I never wanted to be with anyone else. I never want to be with anyone else. I've always loved you… and when I think about it… you were the one that I wanted to be with when we were eleven. I liked Jason, but I was always in love with you. You were the one that I always wanted to be around. You're the one that I wanted to know about. The one that I couldn't stop looking at or to. The one that I could always talk to. And you're the one that I want to be with now. I don't want you to be with Emily. I want you to be with me. And… I want to have a family with you… and I want tomorrow to be our wedding. I ju-"
"Krys, what do you want me to say to that? How do you expect me to respond?" Ares asked. "Tomorrow probably would've been our wedding, Krys. I'm getting married in a few hours. What am I supposed to do now?" Krys looked at him with intense eyes and an intense expression.
"I'm sorry about the breakup. Just- do whatever your heart tells you to do." she said, as she started to lace her hand with his. She smiled at him softly, and he smiled back for a moment. He put his hand on her hip, and brushed his thumb over the tattoo. He kissed her softly, and put his hands on her hips. Krys moved closer to him and he pulled back slightly, causing Krys' tongue to search for his. He felt himself getting lost again. Then he pulled away roughly, and jumped out of the bed as if he'd been burned.
"Yeah, Krys. I'll do what my heart tells me, and not go to where it was stomped out before." Krys nodded, then stepped out of the bed. Ares looked at her bra, and the love marks, then looked away. This seemed to be enough to take Krys out of her completely drunken state and placing her in a severe tipsy slot. And considering the three shots of Cuervo Gold that she had to flush from her system, she was doing alright.
"You're choosing Emily over me." she said.
"No. I'm choosing the person that didn't fuck me over, over the person that did!" Krys nodded. "You didn't start to want me again, until I came back with a fiancé! Its just like five years ago, with Ailen." Krys looked at him, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
"She really had to lower your opinion of me, for you to believe that." she said softly. "Really… you think I didn't want you? You think I don't want you? That's what you believe?"
"Its not gonna work again, Krys! Not this time! You're the one who broke my heart-"
"Yeah, but you're still breaking mine! Oh my God, Ares! After everything that I've been talking to you about for these past two weeks- you get the impression that I didn't want you?!"
"Don't try and manipulate your wa-"
"Manipulate?"
"Yeah, like you manipulated me into coming back to you, just so you could screw me over again."
"Ares, man up and get over it!"
"You dumped me, Krys! I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you! You dumped me!" Krys nodded. She looked at him and nodded. Then she sat on the bed, facing away from him.
"Ares, marry Emily. If you really love her, marry her. Marry her because… the thought of her and another man is enough to kill you. Marry her… because you can't stand being away from her. Marry her, because you want to grow old with her. And because she's the one you see, when you look at your life plan. Do it, because she's the one you want, and you can't stand the thought of her not being there. 'Cause, she's the one you want. Really, please- if that's how you feel about her, then I want you to. I really do- just, please don't marry her because you're mad at me. If she makes you happy, then I'll sit down and clap while you kiss, really, I will. I'll eat cake, and sit down… and I won't even think about objecting- if that's how you feel about her. Just say the word. Just tell me that you don't love me anymore, and… just say it. But please, don't do this to spite me. Don't do it to get back at me. Don't mess your life up like that." she whispered, before she dared to look back at him. Ares was still fuming.
"Krys, don't give me a self sacrificing sob story. Don't be self-deprecating, and don't make yourself the victim. Don't make me the bad guy, Krys! Seven goddamn years. And I only had you for one of them- then you dumped me again! After you dumped me, I would've come back to you- easy! But now its too late! Its too late! We're done! I was the one who had my heart ripped out! I was the one who was screwed over and fucked up! I had to move on with my life, while it was clear that you were moving on with yours, way before we were through!"
"You think you had it worse, Ares?! Okay- okay, I broke up with you. That's right. Its true. No denying it. I've already apologized, what else do you want me to do?!"
"Krys, you didn't want me! That's it! That's it, its done! Over! There's nothing that you can say!!"
"Okay… I broke your heart. I'm admitting that. I said that I didn't love you. Now, I'm here… and I'm literally offering you everything that you wanted before!" She quieted down. "Ares… I don't want to tell you why. All I want to say is that I'm thinking about how heartbreaking it is that you don't want me anymore. And I'm realizing that people are always so pissed, and depressed by unrequited love- but that's not even the saddest thing in the world. Its not the saddest thing in the word, when you love someone who doesn't love you back. The saddest thing in the world is loving someone who used to love you. Ares, I've been in love with you for the two years in school-"
"Krys, its not going to work. I moved on- it took me a year and a half, but I finally moved on. You're not gonna suck me in again. We're over. You dumped me! You dumped me! You broke my heart! It was you- you can't be the one to complain! You made this so hard!" Krys nodded. She had tears rolling down her face, and she nodded. "Krys, just be happy for me. Please, I don't-…" Ares trailed off. He quieted down, and looked at her. Krys wiped her eyes and nodded. She licked her lips, and looked at him.
"Ares… I wanted you to stay. I didn't break up with you, because I wanted you to beg me. But I wanted you to stay. I would've been happier if you stayed. I wouldn't've suffered emotional trauma, if you stayed. I had you, Ares. I could've kept you, but you would've hated me in the long run. So- I made a choice, and I sent you to school. I let you have your dream, and I didn't hesitate to send you away. I didn't even think about me for one minute. All I thought about was you." She started to grow angry, so her words turned into yelled frustrated growls. "The only person that I had in mind was you! The only person who got anything out of this arrangement was you! The only person who ends up happy is you! Jesus Christ, Ares, I sent you to auror training, and you still can't tell me why! Everyone else figured it out! You- our relationship keeps you smart?!" Krys picked up a heavy crystal lamp at the bedside, and threw it at him. The fact that the lamp was so heavy and Krys' subconscious made it so that the lamp hit before his feet, and shattered at the floor. "Emily loves you more than I do?!" She picked up her shoe and threw it at him. This time it hit his chest, then fell to the ground. Krys had tears running down her face, and rain was hitting the glass ceiling like a carwash. It seemed like it would flood, as Krys continued,
"Ares, if she's willing to sacrifice more than I have for-. No, no- no… I'd bet my life that she wouldn't risk more of her life, for your life- in a hypothetical situation- like I have, for you and your career!" Krys threw a pillow at him. "Your wedding!" She threw another pillow at him. "And your goddamn auror dream!" Krys threw a picture frame at him. The frame flew past him and hit the wall. "If I was willing to do what I did to my life, for your career… can you imagine what I would've done in a life and death situation for you?! There is no one in this world… save your mother, A.J, Jason and Jezzie that will ever do and live with the shit that I've done for you. I'm selfish?!" Krys picked up her other shoe and threw it at him. This time, it hit his shoulder. Ares didn't say anything. He just stood there, listening to her speech, hoping that she'd eventually tell him what the big reason was. "You know- I'll bet that when Emily gives you the ultimatum… you're going to forget everything about me. And you won't even want to remember that I was your friend, before I became this monstrous thing that I've become, for you. You know, I don't even care anymore… I keep saying that I'm gonna let you go… and I swear… I'm never gonna be able to do that. Its like you hold this colossal part of me and I'll never be able to get it back." She sat down and snapped her fingers. Both of her shoes, placed themselves on her feet, and her shirt was on also. She got up and looked at him. Her face was wet, and her eyes were red rimmed, with bags under them. "If you're so smart, Ares… put the pieces together. The key to solving a puzzle, is finding the end pieces first. If you want to know why I broke up with you- if you want to know the goddamn truth, you should really think long and hard about our summer together. Maybe then you'll figure out what everyone else figured out a year and ten months ago. But here, I'll give you a little clue. Tell me, please, tell me… how did we have sex every single day, with me being a female and all? Yeah- think long and hard about that, then think of why I sent you to school, in hopes that you'd finish before you looked back." Krys looked at him, then disapparated.
Krys landed in her kitchen, and wrote a long letter to them all. On top of the note, she put the plane tickets and hotel keys. She snapped her fingers, and two bags placed themselves at her side, before she carried them out of her house and waited in the rain. After about a minute, the Knight bus appeared, and a man about her age opened the door.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Nora Springley's Magical Medical Supply station." Krys said.
"You're a healer?" the man asked. Krys nodded. "Hey… you're that woman who-"
"Yeah." Krys said. She stuck her hand out. "Krystathaili Rodriguez-Black."
"Lucas Meadows." he said, as he kissed her hand. Krys nodded, paid the fee, then continued to a bed that she put an invasion charm on.
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At 9 am, Ron and Hermione apparated to Krys' house, and walked to her bedroom. The only ones there were Harry and Ginny.
"Hey guys." Hermione said. "Where's Cookie?" Harry shrugged.
"I don't know." he said.
"Lets go check A.J and Jason. She'll show up when its time." Ron said. They all shrugged, and disapparated to Jason and Harry's apartment. A.J was on the couch with a sour look on her face. She was wearing an ugly bridesmaid dress, that was pink chiffon and lavender taffeta. But- A.J's hair was a dark coffee brown, the color that Hermione recognized as A.J's original hair color.
"Oh- you look so pretty." Hermione said. A.J looked at her. "Oh- your hair. I'm so used to it being burgundy, or… whatever other damn color it used to be." A.J laughed.
"Yeah, well… I'm… I don't know. I figured I shouldn't screw this dress up more." she said. "Where's Krys?" Hermione shook her head.
"I don't know. We were wondering if you've seen her."
"No- not since the rehearsal dinner." A.J said. Jason walked out in black dress robes, with a white shirt and black tie.
"I know. I'm sexy." he said. They all laughed. But the girls had to admit, he was right. He was sexy.
"No, you're not. I only stay with you because…" A.J looked at him. "Yeah, okay- you're sexy. Get over it."
"Hey- where is this wedding anyway?" Jason asked.
"In North Carolina. You know, Krys' beach house." Hermione said.
"She has a beach house." Jason said.
"Yeah. Hey guess what? Ron and I are engaged." Hermione said, showing them all the ring. Ginny and A.J stared at the ring in shock, then they started jumping up and down.
"Aw man." A.J said.
"Thank you, Hermione. She's gonna bug me forever, because of you." Harry said, as he turned Ginny's head away from the ring. They all laughed as Ginny glared at Harry.
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As soon as the group got to the beach house, Hermione ran to look through the rooms. She avoided the room with a lot of women crowding. As soon as she saw a quiet room, she knew that it was either empty, or Ares inhabited it. Hermione ran to that room and struck gold. On the bed was Ares. He was in his black dress robes and Hermione recognized what Krys- and almost every other woman that she met, saw in him. The guy was gorgeous and sexy. Hermione strolled over to his bed, and Ares waved.
"Hey." he said. Hermione smiled.
"Hey." she said. The two sat in silence for a while.
"Um… is Krys here?" Ares asked in a hopeful tone. Hermione looked at him, because of his tone.
"Did something happen between you two last night?" she asked. Ares nodded. "Did she tell you?"
"No."
"Typical." Ares looked at her. "Well- what happened?"
"She told me that she loved me." Hermione looked at him.
"What did you say?" she asked. Ares didn't say anything. "What did you say?" This tone was more demanding.
"What the hell was I supposed to say?" Ares asked. Hermione gave him a look. "We got into an argument. She threw her crystal lamp at me. Then she started crying about something. It was all one big blur." His voice was full of shame.
"Ares- we can't find her." Hermione said seriously. Ares looked at her.
"What do you mean you can't find her?" he asked.
"I mean we can't find here. No one knows where she is. And now I'm pretty certain that it was your doing."
"Hermione, I can't deal with this… I'm getting married in about thirty minutes." Ares said, as he put on his bowtie. He looked at the bowtie in shame, then threw it away. Hermione looked at him, then sat down.
"Ares, I'm going to ask you a stupid question… but answer it, please." she said. Ares looked at her and nodded. Hermione took a deep breath and tapped her knee. "Have you forgiven her?"
"Of course I've forgiven her." Ares said.
"Okay- I believe you." Hermione said. "But if every time something goes wrong with you two, you bring up the breakup… you haven't forgiven her. If every time she does something that you don't like, and that's the first thing that you throw that in her face, you haven't forgiven her."
"I forgave. I didn't forget." Ares said. Hermione smiled.
"'I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note- torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.'" she quoted. Ares nodded and smiled slightly.
"Henry Ward Beecher. Krys taught me that quote." he said, as he looked at the bowtie.
"Ares, if you love Emily, then Krys is the first one who'll tell you to marry her. Has she not been the person supporting your relationship and marriage, even when everyone else has been calling you stupid?"
"Because, she felt guilty-"
"For what? Ares… this is Krys that we're talking about. What did she say when she broke up with you?"
"'I don't love you. I don't want you. I don't need you. So get the hell out of my house.'"
"Okay… and when you said something."
"'I just kept you around hoping that a spark would ignite.'"
"Now… have you ever seen Krys be phony? When she acts like she likes someone, she generally wants to like them."
"Hermione, she told me that she didn't love me."
"Who did the promise ring belong to?"
"My great-grandmother. Family tradition. The oldest Delgado boy gives it to the one."
"And was she wearing at when you broke up?"
"Yeah- she wore it. She always wore it." Hermione pulled something out of her bag.
"Is this the ring?" Ares nodded.
"Yeah." he said. "I didn't even bother to take it back."
"Okay… well- I got Bill to look at it. This ring has so may charms on it… its not even funny. But the one charm that caught my eye was the one that judges if a girl is the one or not. Its similar to the Heart Gem, precious stone… so it won't work if the wrong person wears it. If the ring didn't fall off, then she's the one. Krys is the only one for you."
"Hermione, it is twenty five minutes before my wedding. Emily's whole family is here. I've moved on… and so has Krys."
"Oh my God. What the hell happened to you?" Hermione asked. She looked at him, and handed him the ring. "Maybe you should put this ring on Emily's finger and see how well it fits. What happened to that guy who would swim the English Channel or climb the Berlin Wall just to hug her, or say bye before a long trip. Weren't you the guy who would do anything to make her happy?"
"Hermione…"
"Ares… if you marry Emily today and no one else talks to you… the one person who always will, is Krys. And we all know that… even after the arguments that you had yesterday… the next time you see her, she's not even going to mention it, because she doesn't want you to hater her. And… no matter how much you piss her off, she's the first one to tell me to shut up, when I start to badmouth you, for her. And she's the girl who loves your little sister, and regardless of your relationship with Krys, she and A.J will always be frie- family. Just like she's the one who made us RSVP to your wedding. She's the person who made me, A.J and Gin go to the bachelorette party, when we were invited and she wasn't. She's the one who made me go to the spa date, and get my hair done at Emily's. She's the one who acted like she didn't care, when Emily went back to treating her like crap, so that you wouldn't you find out. She told us that she did that, because she didn't like putting you in a difficult spot. She's the person who lied to you about a wedding fund from her father, so that you'd have money to pay for your wedding. She's the one who put an extra three thousand in there, because she knew that you'd try and make her accept the money for the dress. She's the one that called in favors for your wedding cake, even though Simon didn't want to do it. She's the one who didn't tell you that Emily made us permanently bald with a spell, because she didn't want to turn the others on her. She's the one who showed and gave Emily a pair of diamond earrings with a matching bracelet and necklace to complete her wedding dress. And she's the one that didn't ask for them back, when your fiancé tried to screw her over. She's the one who didn't say anything to you about it. Have you ever noticed that she always puts herself on the line when it comes to matters of you? If she's doing that now, when you're not together, what do you think she was doing when you were? She broke up with you, because she thought it was best for you. Think about that." Hermione looked at him one last time, then walked away.
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Ares sat in his room four minutes before the wedding, and lied in the bed. The door knocked, and Kay walked in. She was wearing a lavender satin dress puffed up by crinoline. In her ears were purple sapphire studs. On her wrist, a matching bracelet. On her neck, a matching necklace. Ares knew that they were Krys' from first glance. He sat up and looked at her.
"What?" asked Ares.
"Emily told me to ask you about your decision. Are you going to cut that scrounging bitch from your life or what?" asked Kay.
"The scrounging bitch that purposely kept her jewelry cases unlocked, knowing that you'd need jewelry. Huh- looks like you're the scrounging bitch here, Kay." Ares looked at her, then left the room. He walked down to the alter on the beach, and stood in front of Jason. Jason, Harry, Ron, and some other men were his groomsmen. Jason was obviously the best man. As the women started to walk down the aisle, he heard Jason, Ron and Harry bickering. Ares looked behind them. "What the hell are you guys talking about?" he asked.
"Ice, you can't be ready to marry this girl, knowing what Krys told you last night." said Jason. Ares looked at him.
"What are you talking about?"
"You still don't know?" asked Harry. Ares sighed.
"Its hard as hell to understand what she was trying to say, having all of that happen. She tried to throw a crystal lamp at me." he said. "But- why did she dump me?" They all looked at their hands.
"Not my secret to tell." said Jason. Harry and Ron nodded.
"Wait? Everybody knows?" They all nodded. "Everybody, everybody?" They all nodded.
"Ares mate, look at your mum." said Ron. Ares looked at Ms. Delgado. She was holding a book, and looking around every few seconds after she checked her watch.
"What did she say when you told her that you wanted to propose to Krys, when you were eighteen?" asked Jason.
"She cried, and offered to pay for the wedding." said Ares.
"And what happened when you proposed to Emily, a few weeks ago?"
"She cried, and told me that I was too young. Then she spent the whole day talking about how beautiful Krys looked."
"How many times did your mum mention Emily's name in the speech yesterday?" asked Harry. Ares shook his head. "That big risk… that was Padfoot. You need to talk to her." Ares looked at Emily, who was walking down the aisle. The dress didn't look good on her. She actually looked like a goose in the dress. His mind went to Krys. How she looked in the dress when she tried it on. How good the tiara looked on her. How good everything looked on her. How fun she would've made the day, just by making him laugh once. Suddenly, he thought of what she would say. 'Can't wait to get the dress of her, can you, Kingie?' Ares instantly laughed.
"I don't care." he said, shaking his head and going hysterical.
"What?" Harry asked.
"I don't care why she broke up with me. I wanna be with Krys." They all grinned slightly. "Get Krys' jewelry and the dress." he said. Then he looked at the ring bearer, who was also holding the rocks. Ares picked his rock, and the ring up, then disapparated. He landed at Krys' house. He ran into the house, and looked around for her. The whole house was empty. "Krys! Krys! KRYS!!" he yelled. His voice echoed. Ares disapparated, and landed in Krys and Hermione's apartment. "Krys! Krys!!" Ares groaned, and lied back on her bed. He lied down on something hard, and pulled it out from under him. The first picture that he saw was Krys lifting her shirt slightly, and a small bulge in her stomach. Under it read 'five months'. "Holy shit." he murmured, as he looked through the rest of the album. Ares sat in Krys' room for a few hours, looking through the album over and over again. He found a sonogram, at five months. He looked at it, and ran his fingers over the label that said, 'it's a boy!'. He put the album down, and disapparated to the beach house. When he got there, no one was there. The beach looked deserted, except for a few chairs. Ares groaned, and apparated back to Krys' house. He stood in the kitchen, where they all were. Harry, Ginny, A.J, Jason, Ron and Hermione. Just, no Krys. "Where is she?" Ares asked. Harry held up a note on a piece of loose-leaf and the envelope with the tickets and keys.
"She just said that she needed some time to think. She didn't even say where she was going, and she's blocking me out. We still don't know where she is." he said. Ares sat down, and held his head in his hands.
"I have no idea what to think- you couldn't tell me that she was pregnant?!" he yelled. They all looked at him in shock. "Yeah… I- I went to their apartment and I found a photo album."
"Ice, it wasn't-" Jason started. Ares held his hand up.
"How could she keep this from me?" he mused.
"Okay, Ares." Hermione said, sitting next to him. "Imagine me as Krys." Ares looked at her.
"Okay." he said.
"Kingie, I'm pregnant." Hermione said.
"Lets get married." Ares said automatically.
"Bingo. That's why she didn't tell you."
"She didn't want to marry me." Ares said.
"No, that's not it. What would you have said after lets get married? What would you have suggested?"
"Well- obviously, I wouldn't've gone to auror training. I w-"
"You already hit the nail on the head." Hermione said.
"She wanted you to go to auror training. Two years ago, before she broke up with you… she had two visions." Harry said. "One was you at the alter with Emily. The next vision was you leaving her. She's just put a baby boy in his crib, and you walk in and tell her that you found someone else. In the end, she said that she'd rather be with you, and that's why she went back to you."
"So- what happened? Adoption?" Ares asked. They all looked at each other awkwardly. "Abortion?" They all stood silent, finally Jason spoke.
"Do you remember that time that we told you that we were going on a date with A.J and Gin? And Ron disappeared too. He said that he had to see his family?" he asked. Ares nodded. "Krys was in the hospital wing of Hogwarts… after she miscarried."
The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update. I have no school until Monday, I can write three full length chappies by then. Reviews motivate me, people.