Chapter 2: In and Out of Love

After reading the letter, Hermione gripped the table in front of her so that she could get up. With each and every progressive day, it had gotten harder and harder to stand up without some sort of help. When she finally stood up, she looked at her reflection in the enchanted mirror floating near the door before grabbing her bag and accidentally knocking a picture off of the bookcase. The glass shattered, as it fell to the floor, so Hermione held onto the bookcase and bent down to pick up the picture, turned it over and smiled. The picture was of her and Ron from two years ago.


They were doing homework on Ron's bed, in the boys' dormitories of Gryffindor Tower, and Ron could not concentrate. All he could think about was Hermione and how good it felt to hold her and how he wished to hold her one more time. Realizing how distracted Ron was, Hermione asked him if everything was alright. "Yes, love... I mean, Mione, I am fine," smiled Ron, trying to hide his blushing face by looking away. Hermione could do nothing but smile; he had uttered a word she had longed for him to call her—love. Unfortunately, it did not look like he would be saying it again, so she went back to work.

Almost right after she had gotten back to work, she was turned around, to face Ron; he kept his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. She had always loved his eyes and hair above all else; they were magical, as was he. Staring at each other and basking in the other's perfection, Ron asked her a beautiful question, "Hermione, I...err...I...I fancy you...would you be my girl?" After he asked this question, all that Hermione could do was wrap her arms around him and nod, grinning madly.

Then Ron asked, "Would you mind if I kissed you?" Without waiting for a response, he grabbed one of her hands, cupped her chin and kissed her. They sat there, on his bed, just kissing and celebrating the fact that they were together.


Hermione closed her eyes, trying to savor the memory; she could remember the day, as if it had just happened. But then she remembered that Ron was in Romania, and she was in England, alone in their home. So she took her bag off of her shoulder, looked at the picture one last time, placed it in her bag and Disapparated.

When she got to Hogsmeade, she walked around, looking at all of the happy couples, holding hands and wishing she was there with her loved one. Before long, she reached the Three Broomsticks and sat down at a table, holding her head in her hands, until she felt someone tap her back. She rubbed her eyes and looked up into Ginny's smiling face and warm disposition. Ginny held out her hand, to help Hermione up, giving her a great big hug.

"So what did my brother do this time, Hermione?" said a smiling Ginny, sitting down across from Hermione, ordering a butterbeer for herself and a glass of pumpkin juice for Hermione. "Since when do you drink pumpkin juice, Hermione? I thought that you hate the stuff."

"I do not know; I have never really liked pumpkin juice, but lately, I have been craving it. Anyway, I asked you to come here today because things have been pretty hostile between Ronald and I, as of not long ago. I mean, he left for Romania, knowing that he would miss our anniversary, and I think that he is keeping something from me, I just do not know what." Hermione took the glass of pumpkin juice from the masked witch and sipped it.

"You know better than anyone how Ron is. He does not like being told to do something. If he is, he tends to do the opposite, which is probably why he went with dad to visit Charlie in Romania. And about hiding something, that boy is too thick to hide anything from anyone," said Ginny, stifling a laugh.

"I suppose, but I still feel like there has been a lot of tension between us, ever since we last, well, you know. It is not like he was not in the mood; sorry if this grosses you out, being his sister and all, but it was brilliant. However, since then, I feel like he has been hiding something from me and that he is not happy with me. We have not really done anything ever since that night, either. And he left, knowing that he would be gone for a month and would miss our wedding anniversary. I just do not understand what I did wrong." Hermione could feel her eyes well up with tears, and when she blinked, a couple of tears ran down her nose.

Ginny took Hermione's hand. "Hermione, do not cry. I promise that everything will be fine. You and Ron have had problems before and have always gotten through them. Trust me, you will get through this; I will not let you go, you are my sister and my best friend. No brother of mine will get away with breaking your heart."

Moving her hand away from Ginny, she wiped her eyes and said, "Thanks, Gin, I do not know. I just don't know anymore. Is there something wrong with me?" And then she uttered the words she had been afraid to say, "Maybe he has fallen out of love with me..."


"What did you say?" Hermione asked. She could not believe what she was hearing.

"I love you, Mione," Ron whispered in her ear again.

Hermione removed herself from his embrace and could only stand there in shock. "I-I-I don't know what to say..."

He moved closer to her, not understanding, "Don't tell me that you do not feel the same way I do, Hermione. When we kiss, I know that there is no one else I want to be with and that there is nowhere else I want to be. But maybe I was wrong," and with that, he walked towards the door, before stopping to say, "You know what, Hermione? We're through. I will always love you, and I always have. But I can't be with someone who does not appreciate me expressing my love and does not share the affection. But look on the Brightside, now, you can go back to Vicky."

Then he left, without looking back at Hermione to see her fall to the floor, with pain on her face and tears falling from her eyes.