Anywhere but in Between
Only own the plot.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to my readers. Kiyomisa, wackyone, AngelicOne, Belanna, you are all so loyal and I look forward to hearing what you have to say about my story.
Illusions Industry, thank you for the wonderful compliment! Gwasshoppa, RonIsMine I really love that you are both enjoying the Harry/Ginny story. They really are becoming some of my favorite scenes to write. Ronandherm4eva, I appreciate that you liked Hermione's rant to Harry. I felt it was long overdue, and I enjoyed writing it. Crazayladay, great review! I laughed like crazay when I read it. Eckles, I would love to work in a Ron/veela dance, it may make an appearance in this chapter. Krazylikeafox, Insanityoftheowl, wdge, LegendaryRockstar, thank you for your wonderful words. Thanks for sticking with this. Localizy, I can't imagine having a relationship like Ron/Hermione's going on, so my sympathies and prayers to you! LJFan- I am honored that you stopped in to read and went the distance with this. I love hooking new reviewers, and your comments were so appreciated.
I am figuring on this lasting for about 20 chapters, so we might be almost done. But, keep an eye out for me. I have about three more stories trying to get out in my head.
I am truly sorry that the chapters are coming about a week apart. But, the timing is off when I can get on my computer, and then I can't spend a lot of time on it. I really work hard to get quality, so I don't like to just type anything and then send it out. It takes a week because I read it, re-read it, and make my corrections where needed. Sometimes it takes me the whole week to get it written anyway! I love that you all want it soon, and it spurs me on. I really will try. The break coming up should give me some good, old-fashioned time to spend on this and other stories. But I'm finishing this first!
Chapter 17 – No More Excuses
Ron watched Hermione and Terry from across the yard. He tried to look away at least a dozen times, but it was no good. He wanted to know what they were talking about so intently. He had half a mind to go and dig up one of Fred and George's extendable ears, but he rejected the idea when he thought about how angry Hermione would be if she found out.
He smiled to himself, thinking about the brilliant row they could have over something like that. They hadn't had one of those in a long time, and even though he knew now that most of their arguments had been childish and pretty much his fault, he couldn't help but remember how fetching she looked when she was thoroughly angry with him.
Their conversation appeared to reach its end in the next instant, and his hands balled into tight fists when Terry leaned down and kissed Hermione softly on the lips.
He reached for his drink, and when his hand closed around air, he remembered vaguely that Harry had gone to get him another one. He looked around for Harry, needing the drink very badly, and when he didn't spot him, he decided to go and get one himself. Maybe he'd get two. Or three.
He began weaving his way between dancing couples across the floor. His father stopped him just before he reached the other end, grinning exhaustedly at him.
"There you are, my boy," he said, clasping his shoulder. "I haven't seen you all night!"
"I've been around," Ron said, trying very hard not to look back in the direction of Hermione and Terry.
"Well, your mum wanted me to let you know that she really appreciates everything you did today to get this all set up. It looks great out here, and it's largely due to you," his father said, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly.
"Thanks."
His father studied his face for a moment, his eyebrows crinkling with concern. "Is something wrong, Ron?"
"No," he said, avoiding looking at his father. Somehow, his father always knew when he was lying.
Unfortunately, by avoiding his father's gaze, his locked on the one thing he didn't want to see any more. Hermione and Terry were holding each other, not quite dancing, but moving slowly with their eyes closed. Hermione's head was nestled on Terry's chest, and even though she was pretty far away from him, he could tell that she was upset about something.
"Ron, have you told her yet?" his father asked gently.
"Told her what, dad?" he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the barely moving couple.
"That you love her?"
Ron turned his head slowly toward his father, not even bothering to ask how he could have possibly known.
"No," he said quietly, shaking his head. "She's with Terry, and although I don't like it, I can't ruin that for her."
"Son," said his father, taking his arm and pulling him off the floor to a quiet table off to the side, "if you want to be with her, you have to fight for her."
"Listen, dad, I appreciate your concern, but I really think I know how to handle this. We're best friends. If I tell her now, when she's with someone else, I'll ruin our friendship. I can't do that," Ron said, shaking his head emphatically.
His father grew quiet for a moment, then pulled out a chair at the table for himself. "Have a seat, Ron," he said, gesturing toward the chair next to his.
Ron obliged, curious at the suddenly serious look on his father's face.
"When your mother and I were at school together, we were friends. Not best friends like you and Hermione, but we were partners in a couple of classes, so we got chummy." His eyes got a far away look in them, as if he were literally looking into the past.
"I was crazy about her. She was so outspoken and opinionated, the exact opposite of me. She could do just about anything, and from the moment I met her, I knew that I wouldn't ever meet anyone quite like her," his father continued, smiling slightly now.
"The problem was, she was already dating some bloke a year ahead of us. He was a big time Quidditch star, and it drove me out of my wits to see her with him. But she was happy… or at least that's what I thought. Turns out, he wasn't what she wanted after all."
"How do you know that?" Ron asked, slightly intrigued by his father's story. He had imagined that his parents had always been together.
"She told me," his father said simply. "One day, we were in the middle of Potions, and she started chatting about how Edmund-that was his name-was completely absorbed in the Quidditch season, and she felt like she wasn't a priority anymore. She looked so unhappy, so upset at the thought of not being special enough for him that before I knew what I was doing, I was confessing how much I liked her. I told her that if she were my girlfriend I would never take her for granted, and that I would always make her feel like the amazing person she was."
Ron grinned at his father. "Subtle," he said teasingly.
His father smirked at him. "It worked, didn't it? Thirty years later, and we're dancing at our oldest son's wedding together. I'd say the gamble paid off."
Ron's grin faded a bit as he considered his father's words. "Dad, did mum freak out after you told her how you felt about her?"
"Freak out?" his father asked, looking at him in confusion.
"Yeah, I mean, that day in class, how did she respond? Was it awkward?" he asked, glancing over at Hermione again. She was still moving slowly with Terry, and his pulse pounded in his veins. If he told her, and it pushed her closer to Terry, he didn't think he would be able to handle it. He would have to take a page out of Harry's book and move to another country for a while.
"Well, at first, she didn't know what to say to me, but by the end of class, she was asking if I'd like to study for our exam in the library later that night," his father responded, smiling at the memory. "Of course, she broke up with Edmund at dinner, and by the time we met up in the library, we got very little studying done."
"Okay," Ron interrupted, trying to push images of his parents getting cozy in the same library he'd studied in out of his head. "I get the picture."
His father laughed, and seeing his wife walking toward him, he stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go convince your mother she made the right choice."
Ron laughed as his father straightened his robes, running a hand through his thinning hair. "Go get her, dad."
"Son, just remember one thing," his father said, resting his hand on Ron's shoulder again. "Hermione is one in a million. If you don't want to lose her, you have to find the courage to tell her."
Ron nodded, and just as his father turned to walk away, he grabbed his robes. "Dad, what if she doesn't feel the same? What if I ruin what we have now and make everything awkward between us?"
His father smiled down at him. "Ron, I'm your father. I've seen the two of you grow up together. I don't think you have anything to worry about."
"But what if she doesn't feel the same way?" he repeated, seeking the assurance he needed if he was going to go through with this.
"What if she does?" his father asked simply, raising an eyebrow. Ron sighed heavily as his mother joined them at the table. She linked her arm through his father's and leaned up against his side.
"What are the two of you talking about so intently?" she asked, wiping away a small spot on his father's robes.
"Nothing, dear," his father replied, smiling at her. "How about a dance with the love of your life?"
His mother smiled up at his father with a look so purely happy, that Ron had to smile along with her.
"Of course," she said, sliding her hand down to intertwine with his.
As his parents walked onto the dance floor once again, his father looked back at him over his shoulder.
"Trust me, son," he said, grinning broadly. "It's totally worth it."
Ron watched his parents as they moved into each other's arms and began dancing to the slow song that was now being played for the party. His eyes moved over the crowd, and he saw Fred and Angelina swaying together. Fred's eyes were looking straight into Angelina's, and Ron had to admit, his usually immature brother looked calm and content.
He saw Bill and Fleur dancing close to them, completely absorbed in each other, not even aware that people were smiling and gesturing at them.
When his eyes moved to the furthest corner of the floor, he started at what he saw. Harry and Ginny were moving together slowly, standing as close to each other as their bodies would allow.
His first impulse was to grimace, but then he watched them a bit longer. They were swaying together, moving as one, and he found himself smiling. It would be so strange to watch his sister and his best mate get together, but if their dance was any indication, he'd have to find a way to deal with it.
"Is this seat taken?"
He turned quickly at the sound of Hermione's voice. She was standing behind the table, the candle-light bouncing off of her silky robes. He gave himself a mental shake. The last time he'd seen her, she was still with Terry across the yard.
"No," he said, amazed that he got anything out at all. The conversation he'd had with his father was still extremely fresh in his mind, and he found that he couldn't look her squarely in the eye.
"So, are you completely freaking out?" Hermione asked, and he wondered how she knew. His eyes came up to hers in surprise. Was he that readable?
"What?" he asked nervously.
She laughed, and pointed out at Ginny and Harry. "I assumed you would be here seething, plotting the quickest way to destroy him for touching your sister," she said.
"Oh," he sighed with relief. So he wasn't that transparent. "No, I think it's great. I kind of knew that something was going on by the way he's been acting lately. Every time Ginny came into a room, he would get all tense and just watch her."
Hermione grinned at him and his chest constricted. She really was entirely too beautiful for her own good. "I know, isn't it wonderful? She's been letting little things slip, about how great he's been the past few months. Reading between the lines, I think she's falling for him again."
They watched Harry and Ginny for a moment, silence falling over them comfortably.
"So," he said finally, curiosity getting the better of him, "where did Terry get off to?"
He was surprised at how quickly her expression changed. She was no longer smiling, and although she didn't look sad exactly, he could tell that something very serious was on her mind.
"He got a message from the hospital and decided to go in," she said tonelessly, keeping her eyes out on the dancing couples. "I figured since there's only about an hour or so left in the party, it wouldn't really make much of a difference."
Ron watched her closely. "I saw you guys talking before, and it seemed pretty serious. Is everything okay?" he asked. He tried to keep his voice even, so she wouldn't hear the anxiousness he felt. There was something in the look on her face that made him wonder if Terry may have left for other reasons besides work.
Her eyes remained on the guests in the yard. "Everything's fine," she replied tonelessly, but a slight flush stained her cheeks. He wondered at it, seeing as how Hermione was so rarely shy about anything.
He felt his hands curling into fists, which usually happened when he was frustrated by her. He recognized the action, and he forced himself to relax. He reasoned with himself that it wouldn't do any good to get angry with her one minute, then tell her he loved her in the next.
"No it isn't," he said, staring at the side of her face. "You don't sound fine, you don't look fine, and if everything really were fine, you would be able to tell me what you were talking about."
Slowly, she turned to face him, and he noticed that despite his best intentions, she was a bit angry with him. Her eyes were narrowed slightly, and she was sitting straight in her chair. Perfect posture had always been a sure fire sign that she was put-out about something.
"I just don't feel like telling you right now, if that's alright," she said shortly, her eyes holding his. Despite the anger in her voice, however, her cheeks still held the flush from before. If anything, in fact, it had deepened.
"It's not alright," he said, shaking his head. "If he said something to bother you, or upset you, I want to know about it."
"He didn't say anything to upset me," she responded, lowering her eyes to the table between them. When she didn't continue past that, he felt his patience wearing thinner.
"Hermione, your boyfriend just left you at a wedding. I know," he continued, seeing that she was about to interrupt him, "you said he had to go into work, but I don't think that's true."
"Just drop it, Ron," she said tensely, still focused on the tablecloth as if it held some deep secret.
"You know something," he said, feeling the frustration boiling up in him now. "You never used to lie to me, but ever since you started seeing Terry, you've been doing it more and more. I don't appreciate it, and if you would –"
"I'm not seeing him anymore," she interrupted quietly. "So you don't have to worry about me 'lying' to you again."
For a moment, the world around them seemed to come to a complete standstill. Ron's breath was caught somewhere in his throat, and he felt as if the small details of his surroundings were brought into a sharper focus. Had he heard her right? Had she just said what he hoped she'd said?
"What?" he asked, trying desperately to see her eyes, but she kept them trained away from him. All he could see of her face was her silhouette, and it was driving him mad.
"We decided to end things," she said, folding her hands together on the table she was still staring at. "That's what we were discussing before."
"Why?" he questioned lightly, trying to keep the elation out of his voice. He could tell she was a bit rattled by her decision, and although it made him happier than he'd ever felt, she was probably not feeling the same about the situation.
Despite the low lighting, he saw the flush on her cheeks deepen drastically. "We just wanted different things," she said simply.
"Like what?"
"Ron, please, can we drop this? I don't feel comfortable talking about this with you," she begged, finally raising her eyes to his. He could see the emotion in them, but her words struck him harshly.
"Fine," he said tightly. "Sorry I make you feel so uncomfortable."
Her shoulders crumbled visibly and silence stretched between them. Ron immediately regretted his words. He hadn't meant to push her, but too much was at stake. His need to know why she and Terry broke things off was driving him past the point of rational thinking.
He was about to apologize, when she spoke up first. "He asked me something, and I didn't have the right answer. As a matter of fact, I didn't have any answer at all," she said quietly, averting her eyes again. It was almost as if she found it too difficult to look at him.
Despite this, Ron's pulse quickened once again. "What did he ask you?"
"He asked me how I felt about marriage," she said, her voice barely audible above the music.
"What?!" Ron thundered, almost coming out of his seat. "He asked you to marry him?"
"No," she corrected, her cheeks now positively crimson. "He asked me if I ever thought about getting married someday." She paused, looking uncomfortable and wary. "I didn't know how to answer him. I mean, everyone thinks about getting married someday, don't they?" she asked, shrugging.
Ron kept quiet. He couldn't speak now anyway if his life depended on it.
"Anyway," she continued, "when I didn't answer him, he told me he had thought about it, and that even though we were still so new to each other, I was what he wanted in a wife."
If she didn't get to the point soon, he thought he'd go mad. This was killing him slowly, hearing her talking about Terry's intentions toward her. Even though they had broken things off, he still hated hearing that Terry was having those kinds of thoughts about her.
She cleared her throat quietly, keeping her eyes trained on an imaginary spot on the table. "As soon as he said that, it was like I could see clearly for the first time. I knew that things couldn't go on any longer between us, because I couldn't see what he saw. I couldn't see us sharing our lives together like that."
"You couldn't?" he questioned, his voice low.
She raised her eyes to his. "No," she responded quietly. They stared at each other for a long moment, in which Ron searched desperately for his courage.
He got out of his seat and moved to the one right next to her. Hermione's eyes widened slightly, but her expression remained unreadable. He took a deep, calming breath and willed his heart to slow to a normal pace.
"Are you sure you made the right decision?" he asked quietly, searching her eyes for any hint of regret.
"I'm sure," she said, equally as quiet. "I liked him very much, but I wasn't in love with him."
Ron felt as if he were going to be sick. His stomach was so twisted up, he was sure that either Fred or George had found a way to slip one of their inventions into his drink. His palms were sweating, and he ran them down the length of his legs.
"I think you made the right choice," he said, scooting his chair closer to hers. He could see her breath coming quicker, and his heart hammered against his ribs.
"Me too," she said softly, her eyes holding his gaze firmly.
He placed his hand on the table near hers. "Hermione, I wanted to –"
Just then, the music cut off and Bill's voice rang out across the yard.
"Fleur and I want to thank everyone for coming. We'd especially like to thank my parents for hosting this excellent party, and her parents for providing the entertainment. I've been instructed to get the families together for some photographs, so if everyone would meet at the refreshment tent, we can get started. And again, on behalf of my wife and I," he said, clearly savoring the sound of the word, "thank you for being a part of our day."
There was scattered applause as the music started up again, and Ron could see his brothers making their way to the designated tent. He watched Ginny pull away from Harry reluctantly, giving him a small smile as she followed Charlie into the tent.
His eyes came around to Hermione again, who was looking at Bill with frustration evident in her gaze.
"I, um…well, I guess I have to do this thing," he said resignedly, the moment now completely spoiled. It was further ruined when Fred began waving wildly at him and shouting his name from the entrance to the tent.
"Yes, I suppose you do," she answered softly, turning her gaze to him and smiling. "Try not to let Fred and George make faces behind anyone's backs."
He rose out of his chair, frustration boiling through his veins. He didn't want to leave things like this. In truth, the only thing he wanted was to find somewhere quiet, tell her how he felt about her, and finally kiss her the way he'd been wanting to kiss her since they were fourteen.
"You're sticking around, right?" he asked, suddenly afraid that once she was out of his sight, she'd run home and never look back.
"I'm not going anywhere," she said quietly.
He smiled at her, wondering just what he could have done to ever deserve having her in his life. He saw Harry making his way over to them, a sort of dazed look on his face.
"I'll see you in a bit," he said, then he gestured at Harry. "Let me know if he talks."
As he walked away Hermione's soft laughter reached his ears, and he sent out a silent prayer that these would be the quickest photographs in the history of time.
Almost there…the next part will be chock full of confessions as the two couples take things to the next level. Lots of goodness to come. The wedding will also be over, so we won't have to worry about other characters interrupting any longer. I promise, the things you all have been waiting to happen will happen in the next chapter. How they are going to happen is anyone's guess! These guys tend to do what they want with no consideration to me, or us…