Chapter One

A Wounded Ron Weasley

"Would you like some more wine, Ron?" Serena asked her boyfriend, an air of desperation in her voice. He was once again lost in his thoughts and seemed unaware that she even existed.

Ron Weasley and Serena Lovell were having dinner together in his house, just outside the Hogsmeade village.

"Ron?" She pleaded again for his attention, but he refused to even acknowledge her presence.

The two had been dating for over a year now and usually he didn't ignore her the way he was now. There was always something missing from their relationship but it had still been enough for Serena to love him.

At the same time, Serena couldn't help but resent Ron for not making her his whole world, the way she made him. Like there would always be someone before her. She was even beginning to give up all hope that he would propose.

"Did Harry tell you about his promotion?" She asked hoping to get Ron to talk.

"Huh? Oh-Oh yeah, it's great isn't it?" He said absent mindedly, still looking over the magazine he had been reading all night. It was clear he took no interest in Serena or whatever she was talking about.

Serena sighed and poured herself another glass of red wine.

Ron had been in some sort of trance for the past two weeks, ever since that night in London when they had gone to visit with friends, Harry and Ginny. They were enjoying a night on the town. The four of them had been drinking and dancing until the late hours of the evening. Ron was irresistible and more charming than usual, maybe because of all the champagne he had drunk.

They were having a marvelous time until they were just about headed to the famous wizarding nightclub, the Zodiac, when Ron looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Across the street, a beautiful young woman, surrounded by a heard of what looked like her fans, caught his eye. He gazed at her, as if he had known her forever.

Serena had no idea who the eerily beautiful girl was but was sure she wasn't a witch. She had never seen her in all her life but apparently Ron and the others had.

The four of them stood there for a little more than two minutes, Serena without an idea what was going on, until the mysterious girl walked away. She was in the arms of a man that none of them seemed too recognize.

Harry, Ginny, and Ron were frozen in shock even after the girl was long down the street. They had looks of disbelief on the face.

Harry and Ginny had barely said two words the rest of that evening. Ron didn't speak at all except when he announced he was tired and wished to return home. The others did the same.

That night was never discussed again. Nobody even cared to explain it to Serena.

She wasn't sure whether to question Ron who the girl was that had obviously ruined their splendid evening or whether to drop the situation entirely. She could tell he didn't care to discuss it, however, so she decided to forget the incident.

They next few weeks however, Ron buried himself in work at the Games and Sports department at the ministryand made no mention of that night in London or the strange woman. Serena tried to pretend that nothing was wrong with her boyfriend, that he was overly consumed with work.

After two weeks of behaving like a zombie, however, she decided to find the truth about the matter and confront him.

"Ron…" Serena asked as she approached him. His eyes were following the same magazine article he had been reading for the past hour. In fact, he was just staring at it with that look he had the night he saw that girl.

"Ron!" She demanded for attention, stomping her right foot.

"Hmm-what?"

"What has been wrong with you lately? You've barely said two words to me all night!"

Ron quickly removed the article out of sight.

"I have a lot on my mind…things have been hectic at the prophet…"

"You told me that last week!"

"I can't help it Serena, ever since the Ministry strike, my editor has been cramming me with work!"

"That's not why, and you know it. You've been like this ever since that night in London, Ron!" Serena said.

"What are you talking about, Serena?" Ron said, looking as if she was crazy.

"That night with Harry and Ginny," Serena explained. "We were going to The Zodiac when you saw something. It was a woman."

Ron wasn't looking at her. He was pretending not notice what Serena was talking about.

"I don't know what you mean…"

"Yes you do!" Serena yelled. "I saw the way you looked at her Ron! You know who I'm talking about!"

He didn't say anything. He just sat there with a mixture of confusion and frustration on his face. She could tell though, in his eyes, Ron was hiding something.

"Look Serena, I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to tell me the truth," she pleaded with him once again. "Who was that woman in London?"

Ron continued to avoid her eyes which held so much hurt.

"She's nobody." he sighed, rising up from his chair. "I don't know that girl anymore."

He walked away from her, before she could ask any more questions, and into his bedroom.

Ron secluded himself away from reliving that night. His heart could endure no more. He could no longer think about the girl that once loved him.

Even though he felt terrible for the way he treated Serena, he couldn't help but think of the woman that had stood only a hundred feet away from him not very long ago. He couldn't help but think of her for the past seven years.

Serena stood there alone in Ron's living room, confused and hurt. She was about to apparate back to her own apartment when she picked up the article by Ron's chair.

It was a muggle magazine, the Daily Star. She had no idea what he had been doing with it, when she recognized the person on the cover.

On the front page was the same woman they saw the night in London. There was an article about her in the magazine.

Actress, Hermione Granger, lights up the stage in the London production of The Importance of Being Earnest.

"Hermione Granger," Serena said to herself.

The girl on the cover remained a complete stranger to her, but one thing was for certain, Hermione Granger was the girl Ron was in love with.