~*~

TRUST IN ME
by Tyde

~*~

Chapter Five

~*~

"Perce" Hermione hissed which clutching his arm hard as her eyes scanned the crowd. "There he is, over there! A waiter is handing him a goblet of champagne"

She subtly pointed at the blond haired man who seemed to be surrounded by adoring looking females and young men. She went to head in his direction when Cornelius Fudge came over to discuss some latest importing laws that were being broken by a certain Middle Eastern carpet magnate that always was trying to get something past Customs.

Hermione stood patiently by Percy's side sipping champagne and nibbling on mini cauldron quiches. Some music started up, by a phantom string quartet, and people started moving around on the dance floor. Fudge wandered off when he caught the glare of his wife from across the room.

"Really should be off now Weasley, enjoy the evening. You too miss," he said bowing at Hermione as he hurried away.

The man Hermione had been desperate to talk to was now making his way towards the door. The constant pandering by admiring females had put a bit of a swagger to his step (or it could have been the champagne) and his wife dragged him towards the door, trying to avoid any more interruptions.

"Percy – NOW! Before he leaves, come on" she nearly pulled his arm out of his socket as she pulled him towards the retreating figure.

"Um, excuse me sir" Percy put on his best pompous voice as he tapped the shoulder of the blond haired man. As the man turned he grandly gestured towards the lady at his side. "I'm sorry to interrupt but this here is Ms Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Misterr Joey Jenkins – Beater for the Chudley Canons" They shook hands, Hermione trembling just slightly.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr Jenkins, my fiancée and I are great fans of the team. You're having quite a good season this year"

"No one is more surprised than us! We're considering changing the motto from 'Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best' to 'Bugger me we've won a few' or something similar" he quipped. His wife smiled politely at his side. No doubt he made that joke at least a dozen times a day.

"Or 'We're not half bad!'" Hermione joined in.

"Quite" He glanced at his wife whose eyes were giving him the hurry up signal. "I don't mean to be rude Miss Granger but we really do have to go. So hard to find a good babysitter nowadays" Joey took one step but Hermione laid a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Mister Jenkins I was wondering if I could have a word with you, a proposition if you may, something for the whole team. Not right now of course I understand you have to go, but maybe later. A meeting perhaps next week?"

He looked at her intrigued. "Owl my assistant and have him set it up. It was a pleasure to meet you" he shook her hand once more and then he and his wife were gone.

Hermione looked down at the bright orange business card in her hand which had an address on it and tiny little Bludgers flying back and forth across the text and bumping into each other. If all went according to plan Ron would have a pleasant surprise at the reception.

~*~

Too upset to properly Apparate back to Harry's place he ended up bumping into the wall and found himself outside.

A window in the lounge room was open and he slid in through there. Losing his balance he ended up face down on the carpet and heard a few exclamations of surprise. Harry, Seamus and Dean were sitting around the coffee table playing a game of what looked to be ordinary Muggle poker. Ron tried to hide the invisibility cloak under his arm but the owner had already spotted it.

Harry helped Ron to his feet and took the cloak out of his grasp. It only took one look on his face to see what he'd been doing. Tears streaked his face and his skin was still a blotched pinkish colour which meant he'd been very angry recently.

"Ron, you didn't?"

"I had to Harry. I had to find out if it was true" The black haired man led his sobbing best friend to a seat on the couch. Dean and Seamus looked on confused.

"And?" His voice was gentle. It was fairly obvious from Ron's appearance that it hadn't been good but he figured if he talked about it, it might make him feel better.

"He took her to a Ministry Ball. She looked gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking and he had her hanging off his arm like she belonged to him. She belongs to me Harry, ME!" Ron beat his chest for emphasis.

Harry looked up at Dean and Seamus who took the hint and Apparated out quickly, looks of sympathy on their faces.

"I should have figured it out from the beginning that she'd never last with a dunderhead like me. Likes 'em smart Hermione does"

"Ron, you're not a dunderhead. If anything, she's the dunderhead for not realising what she's throwing again" Harry couldn't believe that Hermione would ever be the sort to cheat but if Ron had seen it with his own eyes then there was no denying it. "You're better off without her"

He grabbed Harry by the shoulder "No, I'm not. She was..." he choked up, "she was everything Harry. She made me better. Without her, what am I? Nothing"

"Don't think like that Ron. You're not nothing. You were Quidditch Captain-" he was interrupted by a sniffling Ron.

"Yeah, at school. But school was years ago Harry, what good is that now?"

"If you'd let me finish Ron I was going to tell you all the other good things about you"

"Oh, continue"

"You run your own successful business. Not many people can say that"

"Fred and George can say that"

"You've got to work with me here, Ron. Things aren't as hopeless as they first seem" He was trying his best to comfort Ron, but Ron just wouldn't be comforted.

"What would you know about it Harry? You've never been engaged. Your longest lasting relationship was in school and you haven't had a date in two years. I somehow think your advice probably isn't any good" The comment had stung and at the time Ron didn't regret it, but he would later. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some serious drinking to do"

~*~

Something was urging him to open his eyes. Was it his mind or was it the strong presence he could sense beyond the barrier of his eyelids.

As he opened his eyes, he squinted at the bright light that was shocking his retina into reality. He was staring at a bright white, sterile looking ceiling. A hospital, probably St Mungo's - no beeping machines.

Ron's head ached terribly and he knew that it had to be a hangover. Although it was like no other hangover he'd had before and even as he thought about rising to a sitting position, bile formed in his throat.

"Why the hell am I in a hospital?"

"Because you jumped off a three storey building trying to impress a Veela" snapped a sharp voice off to his left. Hermione. She stood with arms folded and the most vicious look on her face he'd ever seen. It quite spoiled the gorgeous dress she was still wearing although bits of her hair had fallen out of the French roll.

She'd beat Mrs Weasley out in a glaring competition any day. "Honestly Ron, I told Harry and the boys not to take you to VV's and yet you snuck out and did it anyway. All by yourself nonetheless! And drinking on top of it all. I'm surprised you're not worse off. Just a broken leg"

The previous evening's events were swimming around in his head making him nauseous. He tried to make some of them stop long enough so he could piece together the activities but they were all jumbled up.

"Well, what have you got to say for yourself?" Now her tone was reminding him of Percy at his worse in the Prefect years. Percy. The name thudded around in his head and then all of a sudden he remembered. Sitting straight up and pointing a finger at her he did his best impression of a rabid dog. He snarled.

"WHAT HAVE I GOT TO SAY FOR MYSELF? WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?! You and Percy! At the ball, I saw you. You...YOU WHORE! You traitorous little shit. Pretending like nothing was going on. All the secrets. I'm not stupid you know!" spit was flying out of his mouth as he got closer and closer to her bewildered eyes.

His shouting had subsided by now and his words were biting and filled with venom, it would have made a Malfoy proud. "After all we've been through Hermione. It's over. Everything. To think I ever trusted you. Get out of here. Get out of my life. If I ever see you again, you better watch your back"

He turned away from her and let the tears run down his face in silence. Ron's hands shook and he clenched them together tightly not wanting her to notice his emotions taking over his body.

Hermione's mouth had dropped open and she found herself unable to say anything. With a strangled sob she ran from the room, her tears dotting the floor.

~*~

Author's note: Ouch. Nasty Ron. Oh why didn't Hermione open her mouth? Why didn't she say something, explain it all away? So that explains the Ministry function, but what the hell was she doing in Hogsmeade with Percy in chapter three? Is it all over red rover?

hippogriffs-rock – since when has Ron ever jumped to conclusions? Hehehe. I'm a huge Ron/Mione shipper too. Maybe we should put Ron away in a little room to jump to all the conclusions he wants and then bring him out and obliviate his memory or something. I want to tell everybody that it's all going to be okay, but that would spoil the rest of the story wouldn't it? Or would it? :o) Sorry, I'm such a tease.

cosmoz – SSSHHH!! Stop hacking into my computer hehe :o) I wasn't going to post this chapter until Monday but due to your comments in the reviews I thought I better get it out there. I like to sit on a few chapters and give them slow release. Sometimes I write really quickly (like yesterday I just battered out chapter six in about half an hour) and sometimes I write slowish (two weeks just for one chapter) but I don't like to post a chapter up if I don't already have one in the wings. I think this story will be ten chapters long. I've already written the ending! I bet you'd love to get your hands on that one wouldn't you? :oP