Simply You

Chapter 2: The Day You Slipped Away

Sorry about the last cliffhanger! That's really all I have to say. Just read on: hoping you'll enjoy the fic. :)

lil info: If you want to make this fic a little more emotional, you can always put on some music. I've listed a song here if you wish to put it on.

Slipped Away Avril Lavigne (play whenever you think it's right)

Ron dropped the book and seized the photo album. "What the hell?!" his fingers tensed and he squeezed the album so hard, his knuckles turned white.

Harry just stood there gaping at the picture. "Ron. Turn the page" he said tonelessly.

"Why?" Furious tears welling up in his eyes, "So I can see more pictures of Hermione and that bastard touching each other???"

"Just turn the page! It might not mean what you think!" Harry grabbed the book and flipped the page. His eyes opened wide; it was another picture of both of them by a lake. At the bottom of the picture in fancy letters it said:

Bulgaria!

Enjoy your stay

Picture by: Franklin Molson

"She went to go visit him in Bulgaria" Harry said breathlessly, "again"

Ron sat at the edge of Hermione's bed with his head buried in his hands, "I thought they were over!" he looked up at Harry, his face beat red. "Thanks for letting me know Hermione!" He screamed to the ceiling. "THANKS! THANKS FOR STOMPING ALL OVER ME LIKE THIS" Ron threw down the Legilimency book and stomped on it. "WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHAT SHE'S THINKING NOW DO WE?!" He grabbed the photo album from Harry and tore some of the pages in half.

"HOW D'YA LIKE THAT VIKTOR!" he shouted madly ripping his face into pieces.

He threw them on the floor, (while pocketing something Harry did not see) and raced out of the dormitory, not bothering to fix the stone wall on his way out.
When Harry reached the common room, he could not find Ron anywhere. He went up to the boy's dormitory but he was not there either.

He hoped Ron would not try anything stupid like jumping out of a window or something, but this bothered him... where could he have gone?

He sat down in front of the fire and waited. The common room became less crowded at around 11 and finally at 1 am everyone was gone except for Harry.
Suddenly, the portrait hole opened. Harry jumped up from the couch in hope to see a red haired, freckled boy, but instead... a bushy brown haired girl climbed in.

"Oh... its you" Harry sat back down.

"Well that's a nice warm welcome." Hermione scolded.

"Whatever... where have you been"

Hermione set down her bag on the table, "In the library proof- reading my article. Would you like to read it?" She asked hopefully.

"Not in the mood" he looked at Hermione disapprovingly.

"What's your problem?" Hermione rested her hands on her hips.

Harry looked at her with his green eyes as if hoping she could read his mind... just so he wouldn't have to say anything...

Hermione gazed into them for a while and then looked away. "Where is Ron?" she asked, her back to Harry, voice quivering.

"I don't know" Harry sighed, "You should've seen his face... maybe then you would understand"

Hermione burst into tears. "H- Harry... I... oh my god..." She was crying softly to herself. "Where is he?" She shrieked at him turning around, "If he hurts himself... because of me... I- I won't be able to live with myself!"

"Why did you go off with Krum?" Harry shouted defensively.

"I liked him ok! We went out and I liked him! He was so sweet to me! I- I just never... I never knew how much this meant to Ron!" She banged her fist on the table, crying.

"You mean... you don't like Ron?" Harry's stomach had just dropped out of his body.

Hermione didn't answer. She just looked at him with her glossy brown eyes.

"Answer me!" Harry shouted.

"Why should I tell you?" Hermione glared at him, her strength coming back.

"Because..." Harry knew it wouldn't make a difference to Ron now. Hermione was going out with Viktor and even if she did love Ron, he wouldn't forgive her for it. "...I want to know"

"Oh you do, do you?" She shouted angrily, "Harry! Ron and I get into too many fights. We are friends and we could never be anything more than that! Can you picture Ron and I together? Bickering every second? Kidding around? No! Harry that's not what boyfriend and girlfriend do! Ron and I are just best friends and we could never act like romantics around each other."

Harry's temperature rose, "Ron loves you! THAT IS A GOOD ENOUGH REASON. Just because you are good friends... that makes your relationship stronger!"

"OH FORGET IT HARRY! YOUR MIND IS TOO SIMPLE TO SEE MY POINT" and so she grabbed her bags and headed upstairs to her dormitory.
Harry waited in the common room still. No sign of Ron. He began to get anxious. Was he possibly talking to a teacher about his problem? What if he was lying at the bottom of the lake? No thought Harry. Please that can't be true.

Harry looked over to the portrait hole and sighed. Something told him Ron just wasn't coming.

"Ok...that's it!" Harry ran up to the boy's dormitory and grabbed his invisibility cloak.
Hermione had fallen off into a doze, her pillow tear- stained. She awoke to a boy leaning over her. He was wearing glasses and a scar was cut across his forehead.

"Harry?..." she asked sleepily.

"Let's go find Ron"

They crept out of the portrait hole with the invisibility cloak on. "Where d'you suppose he is?" asked Hermione fearfully. Obviously she was dreading the answer just like Harry.

"I think we should go check down by the lake..."

Hermione shivered.

They opened the large doors to the grounds of the castle and Hermione broke off into a run.

"AH! Hermione wait!" Harry tried to keep up with her all the way down to the lake. When they got there, Hermione threw the cloak off and looked around.

They were expecting to see a boy sitting at the edge of the lake, just looking into oblivion. But all they saw was the empty gleam of the lake, and the moon.

Harry's heart sank and apparently so did Hermione's. "Oh...no..." she fell down to her knees and looked out on the lake. "Where are you Ron?..."

"Hermione it's ok. We'll find him. Where else could he be?" Harry sounded nervous.

"What if- what if he's... there" Hermione pointed to the lake.

"He isn't in the lake. Don't be stupid Hermione" Harry just didn't want to believe that as a possibility. It was best to not think of that.

"Um yeah you're right" Hermione got up and looked around. She spotted Hagrid's hut and the lights inside were on. "Oh! Maybe he's with Hagrid!" she broke off into a run again and was soon at his door knocking very hard.

"Who's there?" said Hagrid's gruff voice.

"Hagrid it's us!" Hermione called desperately, "let us in please!"

"Oh alrigh'"

Hagrid opened the door and beamed at them. "Kinda late ter be wanderin' around the grounds ain't it?"

"No Hagrid. We're looking for Ron" Hermione's eyes filled with tears again.

Hagrid's smile dissolved. "What's the matter? Where'd he run off to?"

Harry and Hermione sat down in his cabin. Only Harry explained rather awkwardly about Ron. Hermione just kept quiet.

Hagrid looked at both of them, "Hermione, I never knew yeh got tehgether with Viktor Krum! Odd bloke, he is... poor Ron though, he's off somewhere an' you two don' know where he is..."

Hermione shook her head through tears.

"Hagrid... we're just hoping he didn't do anything... drastic" Harry sighed nervously and looked out the window.

"This is all my fault" Hermione choked.

No one said anything.

Hagrid looked sympathetically at Hermione. "Don' worry. He'll hafta turn up sumtime. An' if he don' we'll jus call someone ter look for him."

"What time is it?" Hermione asked shakily.

"'bout a quarter ter 3" Hagrid sighed peeking at his clock.

"I'm tired..." Hermione's eyes were half closed and she was cuddling the invisibility cloak like a blanket.

"Why dun yeh head up ter the common room. Ron migh' be up there. Yeh never know"

Harry nodded. "C'mon Hermione..."
They trudged back up to the common room, exhausted. Harry said the password and they tiredly moved inside.

"I'll check the dormitory" said Harry with a yawn.

"I'll wait here" Hermione lay down on the couch, eyes drooping.

Harry came down the stairs a minute later and rubbed his forehead. "He isn't there... Hermione?"

Hermione was fast asleep on the couch.

"Well... erm...good night then..." Harry trudged up the stairs to bed.
At around 6 in the morning, Hermione heard someone opening the portrait door. She awoke with a bit of a start, but her eyes opened fully as soon as she saw Ron fumbling into the common room.

"Oh my god Ron!" She flung her arms around him. Suddenly, Hermione realized his arms were covered in scraps and he wasn't talking or embracing her back.

"Ron?" She looked up at him.

"Get off me Hermione" He winced as Hermione let go of his arms.

"Oh my- did I hurt you? Harry and I were up all night looking for you! Ron... what happened??"

He looked into her eyes. He looked terrible. His hair was a mess and his eyes were bloodshot. "Nothing happened. And yes you did hurt me..." He put his hand over his heart and looked away from her.

"I-..." she lifted up his arm and felt his scratches. "What happened to you? Where were you last night?? Tell me right now!"

Ron wiped his eyes. "I went to go sit somewhere alone... Forbidden Forest..."

Hermione gasped. "Why the hell would you-?"

"The only place you guys wouldn't think of..."

"But what about the scratches?" Hermione was talking very forcefully.

Ron just looked at her "What scratches"

"Ron don't be stupid tell me how you got those!"

"I'm not being stupid. The scratches just aren't important" He looked at her angrily although he was very tired in the eyes.

"RON" she shouted, "WHERE DID YOU GET THEM"

He was quiet for a few minutes and then looked up. "Hermione... I was attacked ok? Nothing big. Just a couple of centaurs."

"WHAT?!? Centaurs?? How... how did you... escape?"

"I just... I dunno... I wasn't paying attention..." Ron kept rubbing his eyes. "Just... just kept running"

"Oh my god" Hermione was frozen to her spot.

"Ron!" Harry shouted, emerging from the staircase, "Where were you?"

Ron looked at him sadly, "Nowhere mate... just... ah... I don't wanna talk about it anymore."

He lay down on the couch and fell asleep instantly.

Harry looked at Hermione who was staring at him sympathetically, her eyes shining with tears.

"We should get him to Madame Pomfrey... these scratches look bad" Hermione gently touched his arm.

"OK I'll get her up here hold on." Harry raced out of the portrait hole while pulling on his robe. In an instant he was gone.

"Don't worry Ron, you'll be fine." She looked at him with a very solemn expression. His eyes were closed and his hair wasn't combed like it usually was. Hermione ran her hand along his leg. There was a huge bruise on his shin and more small ones on his arms. One very large cut was still bleeding all over the dark red couch.

Hermione raced up to her room and came back down with a cloth and a bowl of cold water. "I learned this in muggle studies" she said with a tiny laugh, "your dad would be proud of me" She began to dab the water on all his wounds, "You can't even hear me... can you?..." she smiled sadly, suddenly breaking into tears. She leant on the side of the couch beside Ron, clutching her face.

The portrait hole swung open and Harry and Madame Pomfrey came inside "OK Hermione she's here..."

She stopped crying immediately and moved aside for Madame Pomfrey to check him.

"Iz 'e unconciouz?" she asked Harry

"No, asleep" Hermione butted in

"So how did 'e get zese wounds?" She moved her hand over every cut and bruise

"Erm... we were walking by the lake and um..." Harry began

"-We don't know Madame." Hermione cut in and looked at Harry.

"I see" she looked suspiciously at both of them. "Well I will 'ave to take eem to the 'ospital wing" and with a flick of her wand, a floating stretcher appeared. "You may come and vizit eem later"

"I hope he's alright..." she sighed staring after them.

"He'll be fine. Madame Pomfrey re- grew all my arm bones. Don't worry about it..." Harry yawned. "Eurhh... I didn't get enough sleep... stomach feels awful"

"I know what you mean... but think about Ron! He spent the night wandering the forest, got attacked by centaurs and then he came back at 6 in the morning! He must feel terrible."

"Yeah... well let's go try and eat some breakfast. We can visit Ron after first period."
After breakfast, the two of them headed off to their separate classes. Harry wouldn't stop looking at the clock. Every time he got bored, he would look at the clock. The hand hadn't even moved. Harry began shifting around in his seat. He was getting restless, listening to Professor Binns drone on and on made him want to curl up and just sleep...

The classroom swam into view. The noise of students rushing for the door told him class was over. "Just a couple more minutes..." Harry sighed, trying to get back to sleep.

"Mr. Kippitter up please..." Professor Binns floated past him lazily

"Uhh... ok ok I'm going" Harry got up, half awake and left to go see Ron.
Once he reached his hospital wing, he found to his surprise that Ron was alone.

"Hey Harry" he smiled at him

"Hi Ron... Hermione hasn't come yet?"

Ron just looked at him and then looked to his bed sheets, "Why would she come?"

Harry should've seen this coming. Hermione wasn't going to come. She probably didn't have the courage to talk to him yet.

"Um... I dunno are you feeling better?"

"Erm... I guess" Ron sighed and grabbed a flower from the bouquet on his side table.

"Who are those from?"

"Oh they're from Parvati and Lavender" Ron smiled a bit.

"Oh I see"

"... Yeah"

"Ron will you ever forgive Hermione" Harry brought this up right away.

Ron looked at him with pure hatred in his eyes, "I don't care about her so what would be the point of forgiving her"

"Well she was so nice last night..."

"Harry" Ron said through gritted teeth, "Just... shut up. You can't understand some things"

After listening to both Ron and Hermione saying that, he decided that... maybe he just couldn't.

..................................................................................................

After this meeting, Ron eventually got better. His cuts were healed and he looked like himself again. They never went to the lake that often, but instead they hung out in the common room like everyone else. Hermione wasn't seen very often. She stayed in the library during all her spare time. Harry (because of Ron) had lost most if not all contact with her. She just became another person that he said "excuse me" or "please pass the potatoes" to. She often gave them looks of sadness. Her face said "Harry how could you"

A couple months later, Hermione found some friends to take up her spare time. Harry and Ron had become even better friends and he laid off talking about girls too much. But even when he saw Cho, Ron would nudge him and wink.

Hermione had broken up with Viktor Krum a while ago. Maybe out of guilt Harry thought. Although he never heard her speaking of another guy; not even saying "Oooh he's hot" whenever her giggling new friends checked out cute guys. Hermione had become different too. She still obsessed over her grades, but she was becoming more aware of her appearance. Parvati showed her thongs and how to get people to see them. She always wore her hair in curls, up in a high half- up ponytail. Glitter surrounded her shimmering eyes and she always drank before studying for a test. She had become fickle and bitter.

Ron barely noticed (at least he didn't show it). He, on the other hand was more cheerful than he used to be. Sometimes he acted so happy it seemed fake. Harry wouldn't dare complain though. It wasn't even that big of a deal anyways. Ron also became a little more open and wild. Without Hermione to restrain him, he acted like a wild teen begging for fun. Harry didn't usually know what Ron was thinking most of the time. He never shared his thoughts anymore. That was just another tiny problem in their friendship.

"Ron get up... c'mon Ron" He heard a voice beside him. He opened his eyes and saw Harry tugging him out of bed.

"What?" Ron asked lazily, his head still on his pillow.

"It's Christmas morning!" Harry shouted.

"WHAT?" Ron scrambled out of bed with just his boxers on. He raced down the spiral staircase and ran into the common room. Looking out the large windows, Ron could see that the castle grounds were blazing white and snow was gently falling against the window.

This year was strange though. Looking around the common room, he saw that there was no one else there. "We're the only ones who stayed?"

Harry looked at him happily, "Yeah we get the whole common room to ourselves"

"Oh. That- that's great! Awesome" Ron tried to smile. He bent down and picked up one of his presents. "My mum made us sweaters again" he said wearily unraveling a maroon, wool sweater.

"Cool... hey look at this" Harry picked up a present from under the tree. It was from Cho Chang.

"How'd she get in here?" Ron asked.

"Dunno... but look what she got me" Harry held up a brand new set of Quidditch robes. On tiny gold letters in the corner it flashed, Love you Harry.

"Wow that's cool" Ron went back to his presents. Where was Hermione? She always stayed for Christmas...

Harry suddenly looked up urgently, "Oh damn it!"

"What?"

"I didn't get Cho anything!" Harry was as pale a ghost.

"Oh..." Ron looked at the ground,

"-well you can take this... hold on let me get it" he ran up to the dorm and came back down with a beautifully wrapped present.

"What is it?"

"It's a silver necklace with sapphires on it... Fred and George bought it for me for... erm someone... but you can have it" He handed the present to Harry.

Harry looked at him, puzzled. "Who was this suppose to be for?"

"Oh no one... forget it. She isn't here anyways"

"What house is she in?"

"Gryffindor" he replied tonelessly.

"It's ok! You take it" Ron pushed it back into Harry's hands, seeing how stunned he looked.

"Well... ok thanks. I'll give it to her right now. I'll ask a Ravenclaw to deliver it to her" said Harry, staring marveled at the present.

"OK... I'll just... wait here" Ron looked at the ground and ran his hand along the carpet.

"Oh and be sure to write her name on the card"

"OK I'll do that. See you in a bit"

Ron looked at the ground and then to the Christmas tree. It looked so cheerful. He couldn't possibly be standing beside something so special. Everything was bright, the snow was glistening on the window sills and the common room had a golden glow to it.

Still, he felt so alone. Sure, it was fun with Harry but they had always been the threesome. The three of them rejoicing that they had the common room all to themselves. He missed that so bad. He missed the books that Hermione gave him; he missed the trips to Hogsmeade with Hermione and most of all he missed having Hermione beside him.

Harry didn't even know he still thought about Hermione. But the sad thing was, Hermione probably wasn't even thinking about him. The other sad part was that their fight could have been avoidable. If only he hadn't seen the photo album. He might have been living a lie, but at least he wouldn't be in pain... and they would still be friends.

"I miss you... miss you so bad" He put his head in his hands and cried very softly. He pictured Hermione in the rain... laughing with him... she jumped on his back and kissed him... he held her hand in his... they lay down on the grass... rain was falling directly at their faces... she gently caressed his hand... he leant over her and kissed her... they lay there...

The pain was so unbearable, Ron tumbled off the couch and lay on the ground beside the fire. He banged the floor with his fist and buried his face in the carpet.

Harry came back a while later with a great smile on his face. "I found her in the Great Hall" he began, beaming "I gave it to her and when she opened it, she just couldn't keep her hands off me"

Ron noticed Harry's hair was even messier than usual and he had a lipstick mark on his neck. "OOooohh" Ron laughed half- heartedly.

"Yeah... she loved it. I owe it all to you" He gave Ron a brotherly hug and then sat down, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Well your welcome..."

Then he muttered, "Hermione would've liked it too..."

Christmas had finally passed. It seemed like forever to Ron, but now he could at least look at Hermione again.

The Great Hall was buzzing of talk about the Christmas holidays. Ron just sat there, occasionally saying, 'Oh that's nice'

Hermione was talking very loudly with Lavender and Parvati, "OH MY GOD that was sooo fun! Remember that present your mom got you..." Parvati was about to laugh, but Professor Dumbledore had stepped up to the podium and clapped his hands together.

Everyone fell silent and turned to look at him.

"Welcome back all who were away.... and hello to all of those who remained" he began calmly, "I trust you all had an excellent holiday! Hearing your cheerful voices tells me so." He smiled at them all.

"Now, as we leave the Christmas holidays behind, our second term begins"

He paused as the audience groaned. (Ron whispered an excited YES)

"...I will begin with the announcements." He lowered his half moon glasses and read off a piece of parchment:

"As you all know Valentines Day will be approaching in February. We decided to add a little extra festivity besides the valentines... the staff and I are planning the most splendid dance for all"

Everyone whispered excitedly, Ron just smacked his head against the pitcher of pumpkin juice.

"Proceeding will be..." Ron trailed off and looked over to Hermione. She was listening intently, but Parvati and Lavender were looking at something under the table.

He looked around the Great Hall, desperate for something to appeal to his interest. Then Harry nudged him in the elbow. "Can't wait till the dance..." He looked over to the Ravenclaw table and Cho was winking at him.

"Yeah... so exciting..." Ron muttered twirling his fork around.

Hermione was smiling when she heard about the dance. She looked over to Parvati and Lavender and whispered something. The three of them giggled.

Immediately after Dumbledore finished talking, Ron leapt up from his seat to go to class.

"Harry I'll see you after class-" Ron began to tell him grumpily. But Harry was already over at the Ravenclaw table, talking very deeply with Cho Chang.

"Alright then..." Ron walked sadly away, heaving his bag from shoulder to shoulder. He walked around a corner and turned into the Transfiguration classroom.

During the lesson he couldn't concentrate. It was like everyone around him was happily in love and he was jut standing there watching. Something also told him that he was losing his best friend too.

He stared at the badger on his desk. "You're so lucky you don't have to deal with this" he told it. He could've sworn the badger nodded.

"Alright Mr. Weasley. Let me see you turn this badger into a chair" Professor McGonagall was standing over his desk watching him.

"Wha- oh right... erm..." it took him a whole five minutes to remember the charm. He finally said "Maniplutos!" With a flick of his wand, the badger suddenly became a chair with furry legs.

"That was fair. Please brush up on that spell" She moved to the next student.

Ron breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the clock. It was finally time to leave.

He trudged out of the classroom, not daring to look at anyone. He had to go grab a book from the library. (Professor McGonagall suggested he look at some Transfiguration books)

He began to walk briskly, suddenly realizing he was starving.

Suddenly, something ran into him, knocking him right off his feet. His head hit the side of the wall and lolled around on his shoulders. "...Bloody hell watch where you're going!" He got up and pressed the spot on his head where it pained.

"Well sorry I was in a bit of a rush" said the girl, still lying on the floor. "Could you help me please?"

"Oh well sure" He bent over and moved his hand away from his head. The girl gripped his hand and he helped her up.

"Wait a minute...Hermione?" Ron looked at her as if he hadn't seen her in years.

"Ron" she said in a surprised tone, "Well I never knew you were so polite. Thought you were someone else"

"I'm polite" he retorted.

"OK. Do you mind helping me pick these up?" She motioned a hand to her books.

"I guess" he was still in shock that he was talking to Hermione. They hadn't even said two words to each other since the fight. Her voice sounded older now. She sounded very professional instead of bossy too.

He bent over and began piling her books into her bag. After they finished, they looked at each other for a moment.

"You look different Ron" Hermione finally spoke.

"Oh well... yeah. You erm... do too" He gave a weak smile.

"Your eyes haven't changed though" she said peeking down at his face.

He looked up at her. Hermione always thought his eyes were incredibly blue.

"Yes well..." she cleared her throat, "How was your Christmas?"

"Um... it was ok... what about yours?" Ron remembered his pitiful holiday without Hermione.

"Good. I went to Parvati's house for some of the time"

"Oh sounds fun" he looked down at the ground. He could feel Hermione trying to look at him.

"Yes it was good. Well Ron, I will maybe see you later. Got to go to class. Bye" She quickly walked away from him.

Ron stared after her. She said see you later. Did that mean she wanted to see him later? He didn't have time to think about that though. He had this feeling like half of him wanted to take her in his arms and hold her and the other half... well the other half wanted to do the same thing. There was no denying it. No matter how much they fought... he loved Hermione.

The biggest mistake he ever made... letting her slip away.

okay second chapter finished. I hope you enjoyed it and once again please review. I need 10 reviews to continue. Thanks!

-Geanz