Prologue
Hey! So... This is an idea that stuck with me after reading this amazing fic called "Taken By Surprise"... Seriously, how come I just found out about it? It's amazing! Bellamione is a pretty recent ship to me, since I've always dwelved into Harmony... But I can't get over it. I hope that some of my headcannons make sense to you. Any doubts, feel free to question it, I'd actually appreciate the feedback.
This is it... Enjoy it!
Oh! there should be a disclaimer, right?
Riiight... Harry Potter and all its characters do not belong to me, I'm taking extreme liberties here, to make a world of my own within what J.K. offered.
Ratted M for language (and a bit of a precaution.)
So it is happening, thought Hermione, staring at the wedding invitation clutched between the fingers of her left hand, looking over the rim of the cup she was nursing with her right one. The letters on that fancy invitation were getting blurry, and she knew it had nothing to do with the alcool percentage of her drink. Her heart was breaking, all over again.
Ronald Weasley and Elizabeth Dalton.
She knew it was coming, of course. Ron had been dating that lovely muggle girl for three years already. If anything, she should have expected it sooner. Ronald was never one to wait when it came to relationships, it was always her pulling the breaks.
She downed her whole drink in one big gulp, and set the cup down on the small, center table in front of the sofa she was resting on, then she laid down. At this point, Hermione could see herself, as if inside a pensieve, staring at Ron and her younger self. She got lost inside her own memories.
- Want to go live with me? I mean, I have plenty of space since Harry married Ginny, and all...
She had felt as though it was a hint. Harry and Ginny got married, they had been dating for a little over one year, too... Hermione couldn't help but feel that spark of fear at the thought of getting married so soon, without acomplishing half the things she had planned...
- Ron... I just got the practical part of my research approved by the ministry, I'll barely have time to myself... I don't think I can manage co-habitating right now.
Of course, proving to have grown beyond his imature selfish behavior, he always managed to swallow his disapointment, and smile at her. Always patient. Always kind.
Until the third time she rejected him, and for no real reason aside from her own fear. She had finished her research, proving that blood is not the source of magic (despite being used as such in many spells), in order to silence once and for all the small, weak voices of those blood purists who - despite not supporting Voldemort - still insisted on the whole idea of segregating muggleborns and pure-bloods. That was just another battle...
Not only did she finish her research, Hermione introduced the importance of making muggle studies mandatory at Hogwarts, and other wizarding institutions in Britain. With a curriculum of muggle history, it was less likely for wizards to distance themselves so much from muggles to the point of feeling detached (and repeating past mistakes). She took up Transfigurations apprenticeship under Minerva, who would train her not only in magic, but also on the workings of Hogwarts, in case she accepted the invitation to teach Muggle Studies at Hogwarts.
For that end, Hermione went to a muggle university to graduate on history, to prepare herself for the future she very much wanted: Teach the next generations the importance of learning from past mistakes. She could live with Ron, considering that the floo network made it possible for her to go to uni, and hogwarts, and the location would not be any hydrance for her at all. But the idea of sharing space daunted her, especially when she knew Ron wanted a lovely housewife, and she would most definitely not fit that bill. Still, she regrets rejecting the idea so badly.
- At this rate, we will never get married, Hermione! - He glared at her, an annoyed expression that served only to rile her up.
- And who said I want to get married?
Ron looked at her as though he was slaped. He was shocked. - 'Mione... What do you mean? His voice came out as a broken whisper. His eyes begged her not to say what he thought she was going to say.
She was going to say it, though. - I mean that I love to spend my time on researches, whatever form they take. I LOVE the idea of teaching, I mean... Her younger self hesitated, she knew it was a mistake, even then.
More tears fell from present Hermione's eyes as she remembered the exact words that left her mouth. - I love you. But I don't see a future with you.
That was a lie! She saw a future with him, but a distant one. She wanted kids, wanted that simple life Ron envisioned for both of them, just not then. She freaked out when she couldn't find a way to fit Ron into her routine, but it didn't mean she didn't want to be with him. If only she had the words to express her fears... Explain that she just needed more time. That there was so much she wanted to do for the future generation... It felt easier to break it off, to give him, and herself, a chance to folow their own paths, foolishly thinking that they would cross again.
- I see... It was all he said, with his croaked voice. Silent tears slid down his cheeks as he turned around, and left her alone in her rented apartment.
It took six months for them to see each other again. Eventually, they sorted things out. They loved one another, their friendship would not break, but Ron did not wait, nor did she ask him for it. Not when she was the one to break things off, and put space between them. She had no right to ask him to wait around for her, yet she dared hope. Hope that Ronald was just passing time, waiting for her. Hoping that maybe she'd have time to find her way back to him.
Time.
Hermione sobbed, and closed her eyes.
Time ran out.
