By the next day, she'd actually managed to put the robe and handkerchief out of her mind. It was entirely possible the handkerchief was a gift Ron had yet to give her. As for the robe, maybe she'd bought it when she'd been depressed and not remembered.

Work was fairly boring, Ron did stop by at lunchtime to eat with her.

"I can't wait for you to see me play, 'Mione. I think you'll like the other Quidditch girls."

"Quidditch girls?"

"The wives and witches of my teammates. Hasting's wife is hilarious." Hermione nodded wondering when Ron had had time to meet all these people.

"Oh, they call came to watch the training?"

"Yeah, I would have brought you, but you were being boring. Now you're better, so I can bring you with me. The team's going to training on and off for the next month. I have two weeks before I leave again."

"I'll miss you," Hermione said realizing she actually meant it.

"I know, I'll bring you something, I forgot this last time. Guess I got so busy with training. Well, I've got to get back to work. Love you 'Mione."

"Love you too," she whispered as he apparated. She smiled slightly, the idea of meeting new people, maybe making some friends, she hadn't had that opportunity in so long.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, it wasn't until Hermione headed home that things changed. The lights were off in the small house. Normally Ron would beat her home, she had been running late again. There had been a small conflict involving the merfolk of Black Lake. There were two tribes and they seemed to be on the verge of war. Thankfully, Hermione had managed to make some headway in diverting the conflict.

"Ron? Are you home yet?" she called putting her bag on the table next to the door. Her wand was still in her pocket. Since the war, she was never unarmed. She flipped on the lights and discovered she was home alone.

There was a note on the fridge,

Hermione, hey, Hastings, he's the captain, called me, wanted to try out this new routine. Gellabee picked me up, I should be home before you go to bed. Miss and love you, Ron

She glared at the note. Of course, Ron would rather play quidditch than spend time with her. No, she couldn't think that way, it didn't do her any good.

"Of course they want him to play more. He's new to the team, he needs to learn all the plays," she muttered to herself. She made herself a cup of tea and some of the left over chicken. She still felt a little on edge so she tried to curl up in the library with a book. She'd recently gotten a copy of a new Transfiguration Journal. She still found the subject fascinating.

"Hermione? You still awake?" She blinked her eyes a few times.

"Ron? I'm in the library," she called stretching. The book fell to the floor with a soft 'thud'.

"Always in the library," she heard Ron joke. Just by the sound of his voice, she could tell he'd been drinking. She sighed. Hadn't he been at practice? He appeared in the doorway.

"I was reading, how was practice?" she asked. He started telling her all these complicated details about some insanely difficult play he was trying to master.

"And after that, we went to Vailey's to celebrate."

"Celebrate what?"

"The Vlaski Dive, weren't you listening?"

"You were describing a move that involved distracting a keeper, I didn't know you'd mastered it," she commented. Her voice came out a little rougher than she had meant it. She could smell the alcohol on Ron's clothes.

"I thought I mentioned it, oh well, I'm tired, night 'Mione. Love you," he planted a very drunken kiss on her lips before stumbling off to bed. She sighed, looked at her book and crawled into bed herself.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The next few days were uneventful. Ron and her lived happilyish, her making the meals, and him bragging about this team. Most nights he went out with the team, practicing this or that. He had yet to invite her. He usually came home at least slightly drunk.

Ron was gone before she awoke. She idly wondered how he'd managed to find himself a hangover potion. She made her breakfast and realized she was upset. She wasn't sure why exactly, maybe because Ron had been out drinking. Why shouldn't he? If he'd really managed to master a difficult move, shouldn't he be allowed to celebrate?

She was so distracted by these thoughts, her arm brushed against the pan of eggs on the stove. She yelped loudly in pain, a large red burn crossed her arm. She stared at it for a moment, slowly she brought her fingers to the burn.

The skin was blistering as she touched it. Part of her knew she should take care of it immediately, but another part of her found the pain from the burn almost calming. She wondered if Ron would even notice it. Would he even notice if she wasn't there?

That thought sobered her thinking. Pulling her eyes from her arm, she ran upstairs and started treating the burn. While she treated her arm, feeling the coolness of the burn cream, she grabbed the book. She flipped the page about the potion she was now taking. Her face fell slightly when she started reading more of the side-effects.

"Suicidal thoughts," she whispered staring at the words until they blurred. Knowing Ron wouldn't be home until some time tonight, she flooed to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Morning, Mrs. Weasley," Hannah chirped as Hermione entered.

"Morning, Hannah, and it's Hermione."

"Sorry, I'm on business owner mode. Speaking of which, could you let Ron know his tab's due by the end of the month?" Hermione blinked in confusion.

"His tab?"

"Him and his drinking buddies."

"Team, his quidditch team," Hermione corrected. They had been drinking at the Cauldron and Ron had never invited her?

"Oh, right. Just let him know, kay?"

"I will, thank you Hannah." Hermione sighed stepping out onto the street. The sky was grey today, it looked like it might snow. She made her way quickly to Professor Snape's shop.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" a witch asked from the counter. Hermione wished Professor Snape had greeted her.

"Um, hi, is Professor Snape available?"

"One of his former students?"

"Yes, he's providing me a potion, he said to come by if there were any side-effects."

"Ahh, just a minute, he's in brewing room. I'll go fetch him for you."

"Thank you."