Drastic Measures, Chapter Five: Row

by M. Sloane

A/N: This chapter… did not originally go this way. Someone pointed something very important out to me about it, and I'm glad they did. I think that this is kind of short, because I cut a bit out to change it around (hence the wait, sorry), but most of these chapters have been short.

Dinner went by at a snail's pace.  Ron impatiently prodded his food around, not eating much.  His mouth watered at the sight of the food, (the house elves always kept them satisfied with their meals), but his stomach- which was normally a never-ending pit- was not feeling the same way.

When Hermione left the table, Ron followed in suit.  Walking briskly, he caught up to her just outside the Great Hall.

"We need to talk," he told her.

"What about?" Hermione asked.

"Just, c'mon," Ron took her arm and walked out of the castle.

"I can walk for myself, thanks," she said icily, jerking her arm out of Ron's grasp.  He breathed an inward sigh of relief when she continued to follow him.

When they arrived at the spot of their last row, Ron stopped. He looked around, and realized it was just as romantic as before.  He hadn't meant to be anywhere romantic, just somewhere alone.  A place where the gossips couldn't stare or whisper, and people wouldn't know about Hermione's diary.  But unfortunately for Ron, there were stars, the moon, and the lake was reflecting the light.  It was, like before, a romantic moment without the important ingredients: two people who are head over heals for each other. 

Shaking his head to banish the thought, Ron handed Hermione the diary. "You left this,"

Hermione's eyes were suddenly wide with horror.  She knew that book.  Everything had gone into it since the beginning of their fifth year.  Secrets, fears, test scores, everything.  And she had left it to be found with Ron Weasley? A boy who could, and probably would tease her to no end about anything and everything that was written in there?

Her eyes narrowed. "Did you read it?"

Ron looked straight into her eyes and did not blink. "No," he told her.  It was the truth.  He hadn't read the diary.  He had decided it was not worth it to lose her trust because he wanted to read the stupid book. She was worth more than that.

"How can I be sure?" she asked, her eyes still narrowed.

"I don't know, if you're that sure I'm lying you can get a truth potion from Snape," Ron said curtly. "Or better yet, you could make your own! We all know you could!"

"Why wouldn't you read it? You and Harry would love to tease me about anything that might have been in here," Hermione answered shrilly.

Again, while arguing with Hermione, Ron couldn't think of anything to say- so he looked at the lake instead.

"Harry hasn't read it, has he?"

He was not expecting that question.

"Er, well…" Ron refused to look straight at Hermione, and continued in a very small voice, "only for a few moments."

"WHAT?!"

He was definitely afraid of this Hermione.

"WHY did Harry read my diary?" she demanded.

"Well," Ron rubbed the back of his neck. He was in a bit of a pickle. "He was going to tell me what it said, so if you asked, I wouldn't have read it."

He knew very well that he shouldn't have told her all that, and he knew that she would not be pleased with the information, but for some reason, he couldn't stop himself from saying it. It was as if he couldn't not tell her.

"Ronald Weasley, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

Something in the back of his mind was surprised that Hermione had sworn like that- it was so unlike her- but Ron barely took notice.  He just knew she was mad. Really, really mad.

"I cannot believe I would even associate myself with someone like you!" He winced at the malicious way she said 'you.'

Then, Ron felt a stinging on his cheek.  He slowly brought his hand to it, as his brain just as sluggishly realized what had happened.  He'd been slapped before, but never by Hermione. And that made it much, much worse.

Ron saw her confused look, and from something in it, he just knew she couldn't feel the same way about him.  He had been an idiot, and he knew.  And then he saw the Justin in her perfect handwriting on the page in her diary.

Ron sat down on the bench. And as he did so, he felt his heart break into a million pieces.