Out in the garden.
"Harry?"
" Yes Ron?"
" Was that Hermione I just saw at the window?"
"Umm," Harry said, living on the safe side of things.
"Oh God. It is. What am I going to do!?" Ron cried, tugging at his hair.
" Ron! Okay, just calm down," said Harry.
" Calm down? Calm DOWN!!?? For seven years I've been trying to forget, Harry! Trying to move on! For seven years I've been trying to get over heartbreak! And even now, when I was standing here, I was thinking about her! I haven't seen or talked to her in seven years, Harry! I'm practically in love with a stranger! And all this is because I listened to your, and Dean, and Seamus' stupid advice!!"
Harry grimaced at Ron's anger.
" She did look pretty, though," said Ron, his voice softening and glancing at the window.
" She's Ginny's maid of honour," Harry replied.
" Maid of honour? That means she'll be sitting at the table with us, right?" Ron asked, his eyes widening.
" Um, yes. She's actually sitting next to you…" Harry was taking the chance of being dead or alive when Ginny finally arrived, but he continued.
" You have to dance with her too…." Silence. Harry glance at Ron, with fear in his eyes. Ron's eyebrows were scrunched up, and low over his eyes. He was glaring at the window. It seemed as if Ginny never would get to marry him after all.
Suddenly, Ron laughed. Then he looked like he was going to cry.
" Wonder if she's still trying to save house-elves?" he mumbled. Then he grinned, "Harry, you prat, how come I hate you and love you at the same time?"
Harry laughed." You can thank me later," he whispered.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Upstairs.
" Hermione! Come on! Wake up!" said Ginny, slapping Hermione's cheek. Hermione's eyes fluttered open. She groaned.
" Thank God! You're awake! Come on! They're going to start soon!" exaggerated Ginny and dragged Hermione to her feet and down the stairs, her red curls and veil floating behind her.
They got downstairs as soon as her father came inside to get Ginny. The piano music started and Ginny handed her her bouquet.
" Good luck, " she whispered. No time to think Thought Hermione. Calm down! I CAN HANDLE THIS! Just GO! She fixed her hair one last time, and walked out the doors.
Hermione put on a smile and walked down the aisle, looking straight ahead. No one was going to see her cry if she looked at Ron. So she didn't look at him. Or anyone else for that matter. She looked straight ahead, took her place beside the altar, and turned to watch Ginny come down the aisle. Ginny came down on her father's arm, smiling at Harry, and looking right into his eyes. Hermione looked to see if Harry saw this and..... Oh God! Ron was standing in the way.
Oh no! Ron thought Hermione. He looked as good as ever. His hair, still red, was perfectly tousled. His eyes looked serious and pained. 'Maybe someone broke his heart,' thought Hermione, not at all thinking that it might have been her. He was standing tall, towering over Harry and probably everyone else at the wedding as well. 'This is ridiculous,' she thought. How come he looks so GOOD? Why didn't I see that before? Hermione, you idiot, don't fall in love with him. He's probably got one girl on each arm with his looks and personality. Augh! You're going to drive yourself insane! He's your best friend! Okay, you haven't seen or talked to him in seven years, but that doesn't change what's there. Oh God. I bet he hates me now. That's why he hasn't written back. Great. You're in love with someone who hates you. No! Remember? You're not in love with him! Good. Now he just hates me.
Many of the same type of thoughts were going through Ron's head. ' Look at her. She's as beautiful as I remember. The slight blush on her cheeks. The bushy brown hair up in a bun.... The same type of bun that she had at the Yule Ball. Her brown eyes on Ginny and Harry.'
Ron liked her eyes best. Deep brown, with certain warmth to them that he couldn't quite explain. There was a look in them now that he couldn't decipher. Sort of serious, happy, and angry, all at the same time. A far away look, as if she was somewhere else.
Those eyes glanced up and landed on his. They stayed together for a moment, a moment that Ron wanted to tell her that he needed her to love him, to tell her everything that had happened to him, how much he missed her, and why he hadn't ever written. He wanted to-to.... To just do something! Anything! To make her understand how much a broken heart hurts. Especially one that hurts for seven years. But, how could he? They were in a ceremony, and he couldn't tell her with his eyes, he knew that. Their moment lasted only a few seconds, but ended when Hermione looked away. Breaking the connection, just like before. Humph. Typical. Hi brow furrowed like it did when he was thinking, or in a bad mood, or just ticked off.
'Oh no,' thought Hermione when she looked into his eyes. She tried to read them, but it seemed impossible. How can eyes show so many emotions at once that it was a huge jumble and you couldn't tell what they were feeling? Ron's eyes were like that now, staring into her. Hermione felt that he was able to see everything she was feeling, and every thought running through her head, just by looking at her. Ashamed, she looked away and never looked back.
Soon the ceremony was over and everyone apparated to a nearby field, now dressed in comfortable clothes. It was a field beyond the woods, filled with tables and a stage in one corner.
" Everyone, please sit down!" Mrs. Weasley said.
" Ginny! Where do we sit?" Hermione asked Ginny.
" Um, you sit at the head table with us, third seat from the left."
Hermione went to her spot and sat down. Soon, someone else joined her. She looked up, put her head in her hands and silently cursed Ginny, who had made the seating arrangements. It was Ron.