CHAPTER THREE

Hermione stood there shocked as the two old school department heads walked away. Her proposals were almost guaranteed to be accepted now. Internally she was dancing with joy and looking ahead to getting everything in place to make it all happen when she suddenly realized how this came to be.

Ron. It was all Ron. He had known what she needed him to do without her even thinking of it herself and he just went and did it. It was perfect what he did. No, she thought to herself, Ron was perfect, and she had made a mess of her relationship with him. Even with her yelling and berating of him, Ron was still doing all that he could to help and support her. The coffee and scones were a surprise, but his going out of his way to meet Farnesworth and Dobson was totally unexpected and beyond her wildest dreams, and she had completely belittled him the night before.

Her face fell into her hands as she choked back a sob. Thoughts ran through her head. "What if she had ruined everything with him and he never came back? What if he decided it wasn't worth it to be with her and wanted to break up?"

Lifting her head and using the back of her hand to wipe away the tears that had been starting to form Hermione started to run towards the Auror block in the Ministry. She had to see Ron and thank him for what he had done, but more importantly to try to make up to him for her terrible behavior last night. She needed to convince him that she loved him and wanted him to come home.

Breathless, she arrived at Ron's desk in the Auror bull pen only to find him not there. She then ran to Harry's office and found him sitting in his chair.

"Harry! Where's Ron? I need to talk to him immediately… where is he, please, it's really important that I see him."

Harry looked up from the report he was reading and smiled, "Good Morning to you too, Hermione. How are you today?"

Hermione scowled and replied quickly, "that doesn't matter. Where's Ron? I need to find him now!"

Harry frowned just a bit and replied softly, "what happened last night, Hermione? Ron came in this morning and said that he needed a mission, any mission, just anything to get away. He said that right now he needed to be away from you, but he wouldn't say why. He did explain about George and how he had spent the night with him, and he told me that Angelina was with George now and asked if I could check up on him sometime today."

Hermione stood there speechless for a minute, processing all that Harry had said. Ron needed to get away from her? Oh, Merlin, this was worse than she thought.

Harry came from around his desk and put his arm around her shoulders. "What happened? What on earth could have caused Ron to want to be away from you? It must have been pretty serious if he was ignoring his promise to never leave you again."

Hermione turned and buried her face in Harry's chest and sobbed. "I've ruined everything," she choked out. "I've made a real mess out of things, Harry and I wouldn't be surprised if he breaks up with me. I was just awful last night and said some terrible things. I was hoping to talk to him this morning and try to patch things up, but Kingsley's damned staff meeting kept me away. Now I just hope it's not too late."

Harry rubbed his hand on her back, trying to soothe her just a bit. "I don't know what you said, Hermione, but I do know that Ron loves you and would never break up with you. He just needs some time to remember that."

Hermione nodded her head in his chest and softly said, "I hope so."

Harry put his hand on her chin and lifted her face as he let her go. "Do you mind telling me what happened and what you said?"

Hermione stepped back and took the handkerchief that Harry offered to wipe her eyes. "Last night when Ron came home after missing the dinner meeting I had set up, I didn't notice how upset he was and I didn't even give him a chance to explain before I really started yelling at him. I was really angry and I let him know. I kept interrupting him every time he started to explain. When he said he was with George I accused him of picking George over me, and then…" Hermione had to stop as she sobbed again, "and then I kept telling him how useless he was, how when I needed him he was useless. I told him again and again how useless he was to me."

Hermione bowed her head into her hands and started crying again. "When I finally gave him a chance to talk he explained about how he had kept George from killing himself. But before I realized what he was talking about he said that George didn't think he was useless and he apparated away."

Hermione slumped into a chair at Harry's desk and looked up at Harry with her teary eyes. "And now he's gone."

"He'll be back, Hermione, I'm sure of it, but you know, what you said tapped right back into his old insecurities. You probably hurt him deeply when you called him useless. I hope that's not what you really feel."

"No, of course not. I don't know why I said that. I just got caught up in trying to get these changes accepted and lost all focus on anything else. I've become obsessed with it and now that I realize it, Ron has been really really supportive since I started working on it. I'm sure I've been less than pleasant to live with the last couple months."

Harry hesitated before replying, "well, you have been a bit pre-occupied and a bit short-tempered and grumpy the past two months. Ron, Ginny, and I agreed that we'd just cut you some slack until your proposals were finished and passed by the Wisengamot. We know how important it is that you succeed."

Hermione frowned at this. "So, you three have been 'putting up with me' the last couple of months, huh? Has it been that bad?"

"Uh, yeah, it has."

Hermione hung her head and buried her face in her hands. "I can't believe it got to this point. I'm so embarrassed, and now I think I may have lost Ron for good."

"I don't know Hermione. You say he's been really supportive but you still called him useless? I hope he's not, but he's probably saying to himself 'after all I've been doing she still thinks I'm useless, I'll guess I'll never be good enough for her.' That might be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I hope not, but I don't know."

"How do I fix this, Harry? What can I do to convince Ron that I need him and he's the exact opposite of useless? I'm the one that's not good enough for him. Do you know that he makes me coffee and breakfast every morning? I missed that this morning, obviously but when I came into work he had left me a steaming cup of coffee and a homemade strawberry scone on my desk. He left a snarky note, but he still was supporting me, even after I belittled him like I did. He even went to see those two Department Heads and convinced them to support my proposals. Maybe it's best if we broke up and he found someone worthy of him."

Hermione sniffed hard and once again wiped her eyes. She stood up and looked Harry right in the eyes.

"No, I'm not going to let him go. He belongs with me, and I just need to show him that. When do expect him back from this mission you sent him on?"

"Not sure, Hermione, but I'll send a patronus or an owl as soon I know. I'll also let him know you want to speak with him as soon as he's back.

Hermione walked over and gave Harry a hug before heading out. "Thanks Harry, and wish me luck."