Lost in Translation

Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters.

A/N: Hello all! Hope everyone is having a splendid week so far. Here is the next chapter - I just wanted to clarify that my intention with this story is not to make Hermione out to be the *only* one in the wrong here. I think it is a fair assumption that both Ron and Hermione are feeling equally confused over their feelings, but I feel that it is more true to Hermione's character for her to be more outright with those conflicting emotions than Ron. Regardless, I hope you all are enjoying the story so far and I am excited to continue writing it. Thanks for the reads and reviews!

I know you're not on your own

You've got someone to call home

But when I think about you something remains

Gonna live and let lie, and if it eats me alive

Just know I'm sorry, for everything

Well, it's 4 a.m. and I'm wondering

If you ever think about me

No we can't go back, it's too late for that

But I hope you know I'm sorry

I'm sorry

I'm Sorry - Mokita and Stand Atlantic

Apologize

I really value your friendship a lot. Ronald Weasley always had a hard time understanding women. But, he had never felt more confused, baffled, or irritated as he read the contents of Jeanie's latest letter. How was he supposed to interpret those words? Was she sending him a subtle hint that she may not be interested in anything beyond friendship? To be fair, they hadn't really outwardly discussed any feelings for one another other than expressing interest in possibly meeting up someday soon. But, Ron was starting to experience a sense of deja vu in the form of rejection, eerily similar to how he surprisingly felt the morning after he had sex with Hermione.

And where does that leave Hermione in all of this? She, too, was being rather vague with him and left him wondering about the nature of their relationship. The status was most certainly set to complicated and their recent impulsive shag on her desk at the ministry definitely didn't help clear anything up.

As clueless as Ron seemed to be as to what women are thinking, he knew what he needed to write for himself, and it was about time that he got some bloody answers.

Dear Jeanie,

You may not think it's fair of you to dump all of your problems on me, but I say dump away. I want to know you and that means all of you. You don't need to be scared that I will run away, because if there is anything that I've learned about myself or other people as of lately, it's that running away from our problems doesn't solve anything. In fact, it might even just make everything worse.

Have I ever felt the instinct to run and hide? Absolutely. I may even have done the same thing once or twice before. But, I am done hiding. And that brings me to what I really wanted to discuss with you in my letter today. I know you said you'd like to wait a little bit before we meet, but I say why wait? Why continue hiding behind a piece of parchment and quills if we both are feeling the same way?

I value your friendship too, Jeanie, but it is more than that for me. And I'd like to know if it's more than that for you too. I'm awaiting the day that we can meet and I can finally put a face to a name, something I have been looking forward to since I happened upon your first letter. I know that day will be wonderful.

I hope you feel the same.

Billy

As Hermione approached Robards' office door the following morning, she could hear the voices of two people inside already whispering back and forth. She quietly stood in the doorway and knocked lightly on the door.

Robards looked over and waved her in. "Ah, Miss Granger, do come in."

Hermione stepped into the room and it was then she could see that Ron was the other occupant, already seated in one of the chairs opposite Robards' desk.

He kept his gaze firmly ahead, even as Hermione took a seat in the chair next to his. She could hear Ron inhale sharply as she drew closer. Hermione couldn't stop the series of flashbacks that ran through her mind. Her legs wrapped around Ron's torso. His breathy moans as he pulled her body flush against his. The way his soft lips moved with hers slowly, yet sensually, igniting the flaming passion that was evident between them.

Hermione's face flushed as she shook her head to bring her focus back to the present. Not now Hermione.

"Before we go into a discussion of why I've called you both in here today, I wanted to give an update on the evidence that was presented yesterday. We have examined the handwriting on the note and we have concluded that it is enough to bring Miss Williams' in for questioning and to complete a handwriting sample," Robards expressed.

"Miss Granger, do you have a decision for me in regards to what we talked about yesterday?" Robards wasted no time before putting Hermione on the spot. She could feel Ron's eyes watching her intensely now.

Hermione took a deep breath and nodded. "I do. I want to still join you all on the mission." She saw Ron go rigid in his seat.

"Very well. Mr. Weasley, do you accept Miss Granger's role in the field?" Hermione was certain he was going to put up a fight and she was dreading this moment.

"I accept that she knows what she is doing and what she can handle," Ron responded simply, answering the question yet not at the same time.

Am I doing the right thing? By the look on Ron's face, she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Now for the most important reason for why I've called you both in here…to discuss your relationship." Hermione stilled at Robards' mentioning of the word relationship. "I don't know what exactly is going on and I don't care to know the details," Robards commented, being very clear of his suspicions that he would prefer not to confirm. "But when it starts to affect the integrity of our work I do need to address it. Your lack of communication with each other is, quite frankly at this point, unacceptable."

Hermione gulped as she stared down nervously at her fiddling hands in her lap. Never in her entire life had she been scolded by an authority figure, always managing to please everyone, and set a positive example. It was confusing to her that she felt both ashamed and exhilarated all at the same time. For once in her life, she wasn't doing exactly what was expected of her, which was a breath of fresh air. But at what cost? It seemed that the issues presented between her and Ron had far surpassed acceptable and were now proceeding into a dangerous territory that could severely impact the mission.

"You talk to each other, but you don't listen. I will not have anyone going into the field if this matter is not settled. Do we have an understanding?" Robards asked sternly.

"Yes, sir," Hermione whispered.

"Yeah," Ron muttered gruffly.

"I am going to leave you two in here to sort out your issues. Fix this, now. And if you can't, I will have no qualms about passing this case off to those who can." With the final note, Robards strode out of the room.

The door closed firmly behind him and left both Ron and Hermione to sit in silence. Hermione could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She did not like silence. In fact, one of the main reasons why she was almost always the first one to raise or hand or speak up in a group of people was to avoid awkwardness and silent space like this. And yet, she had no idea how to form any of the words that she wanted to come out of her mouth.

"Why'd you do it?" Ron finally broke the silence and asked.

Hermione didn't need to follow up on what he was referring to because she was sure she already knew. Why did you make love to me and then leave me? "That night meant something to me too, you know," she admitted quietly.

Ron didn't respond for a minute and Hermione was left feeling worried that she might have said the wrong thing. "I'm not sure that answers my question," he finally allowed.

"I don't think it would do either of us any good at this point to deny the attraction between us, Ron." Even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear, she knew that it was true.

"I would think that we've covered that both of us have the ability to get sexually aroused by each other, Hermione," he snapped. "What I am asking you is why didn't you stop it if you knew…" his voice trailed off as he let his head hang back in frustration. If you knew you were just going to leave for another bloke.

At this point, Hermione felt like she was still talking circles around him and she could imagine how annoyingly frustrating that must be for Ron. But, she desperately wanted him to see her side of things and for him to fully understand how she felt.

"I do care for you, Ron. Probably more than you realize," she said softly. "That's why I didn't stop us. The same way you didn't stop us."

Hermione paused for only a few moments before continuing, "And I know you are just looking out for my well being with this mission and I appreciate that, I really do." Hermione turned in her seat to face him in an attempt to show him how serious she was about the current conversation.

Hermione sighed inwardly in relief when Ron finally broke and made eye contact with her again. "It's not that I don't think you're capable of handling this, you know that right?" Ron said in earnest.

Hermione nodded. "I do."

Ron exhaled slowly and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

Hermione assessed him. "You look like you haven't been sleeping." She felt rather guilty for she likely knew that she was part of the reason why he hadn't been sleeping well.

"Well spotted," he muttered back with slight sarcasm.

"I don't want to be the reason that you don't sleep at night." The words tumbled out of Hermione's mouth before she could process them and realize the double meaning behind it. There is more than one way to keep someone up all night…

Ron raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side.

Hermione blushed. "No, that's not what I meant-I just…" she huffed out a breath, failing at expressing herself fluently. "I just meant that you need your rest, okay? Remember what you said to me, that one morning down in the atrium? You're no good to anyone or any mission if you're running on a lack of sleep."

"Hmph," Ron shrugged. He didn't strike her as someone who often followed his own advice.

As much as Hermione wanted to avoid addressing the elephant in the room, she knew she needed to if they were ever going to get past it. And like Robards said, it's crucial if they were to continue being work partners.

"Just so you know, I don't have a boyfriend...I would never…cheat like that." Ron shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "But, I am talking to someone. Someone who has really been there for me over the past month. I just...need some time to sort out my feelings. And I know that is not fair to you and for that I am truly, deeply sorry."

A series of questions ran through Ron's mind about who the bloody hell this bloke was. Did he work at the ministry? Had he met him before? Why hadn't he seen Hermione with anyone else? But, in the end, he didn't need to know the answers to those questions. This was the most honest conversation the two of them had ever had and he couldn't leave it one-sided.

"M'sorry too," he finally said after an extended silence. "I know I said some things I shouldn't and acted rashly yesterday morning by speaking with Robards. And then...what happened on your desk...I'm just sorry."

"Well, I believe I started it by kissing you," she offered a faint smile.

"And I should've stopped it."

Hermione was admittedly disappointed to hear the regret in Ron's statement.

"Look…" Hermione started again, "I know I've given you no solid reason to trust me. But I need you to trust me on this. I am not here to sabotage the mission. I am here to help and I know that I can be an asset to the team."

Ron exhaled loudly and considered her statement. "At this point, honestly, I think we're both so far in this with that note and everything that I'm not necessarily sure that it would be safer for you to stay back."

Hermione hesitantly gripped the arm of her chair. "So does this mean…" Hermione's voice trailed off as she looked over at Ron expectantly.

"No matter my feelings," Ron impulsively reached out to take one of her hands in his, "We are partners. Always will be. Let's do this...together."

Hermione saw the urgency and truth behind Ron's eyes. And that is why, as she placed her other hand over the top of Ron's, she nodded in affirmation. "Together."

Later that day, Hermione was walking down the corridor on Level 2, having just come from the trial rooms, when she spotted Harry rushing towards her quickly.

"Hermione! Thank goodness I've found you, we need you in the conference room, stat," Harry's urgent voice called out and she hastily followed him into the Auror offices.

Once in the room, she noticed that all of the Aurors involved in the mission, including Ron, Robards, Ash, and the two newly assigned Aurors, Isaac Bell and Zachary Steiner, were already present.

"Miss Granger, there has been a new development in the Ritter case," Robards began as Hermione met Ron's worried eyes. "When we went to retrieve Miss Williams for questioning, it seems that she didn't show up for work today. In fact, when we went to her home, she was nowhere to be found."

"She's disappeared," Hermione fell into the nearest chair.

"Precisely," Robards confirmed grimly. "I think...we need to move up our timeline. It is likely she is already with Ritter and, if so, we still have no idea what they're planning. We need to get into that warehouse. That is why I have made the call for us to go ahead with our raid. Tomorrow."

Tomorrow? Hermione chewed on her lip nervously. She caught Ron's eyes and watched the concern flash across his face.

"Mr. Weasley? Miss Granger? Are we sorted enough to handle this?" Robards asked pointedly, shifting his gaze between the two.

Hermione thought back to her earlier conversation with Ron. While she knew he still wasn't entirely happy with her involvement, he seemed to have accepted the fact that she was going to be, and was willing to work together. For that reason, Hermione knew she needed to table any of her feelings and focus on the mission ahead.

She tried to convey that message as best she could through a single look at Ron, who surprisingly, seemed to be thinking exactly what she was thinking. They both nodded at each other in unison.

"We're ready."