-Ron's Reaction -

Ron sat on Hermione's bed, alone in the girl's dormitory. He had two pieces of parchment in his hand, one smooth, and the other crumpled. He had read these letters over and over and over again, every word eating away at his heart.

He couldn't believe what was happening, he couldn't move and he couldn't speak.

It had all started two hours ago, when Ron and Harry had seen Malfoy walking away from the hospital wing, looking worried but angry. Harry and Ron had exchanged curious glances, and then headed towards the hospital doors, hoping that maybe Madam Pomfrey was letting in visitors.

When Ron and Harry reached Draco, he looked up at them and said, "She won't let anyone else in… I only had five minutes with her…"

Ron was confused, "What do you mean you only had five minutes with her? Who did you see?"

Draco smirked, "Hermione of course. The girl isn't doing too well, and when she didn't meet me for lunch today, I knew something was wrong."

Ron was on the verge of punching Malfoy in the face, when Harry grabbed the back of his robes and held him back. Ron's face was full of anger, "What the hell do you mean by that, Malfoy? Why would she be seeing you?"

Draco smirked, "Weasley, you can be so blind! Even Potter knows about the letters, don't you Potter?"

Harry froze; the wheels in his head turning, while Ron stood frozen beside him, waiting for Harry to answer.

Draco's smug expression bounced from one boy to the other, and then an evil grin broke out on his lips. "And here I thought you were just being clingy, but you really have no clue…"

He then walked off, pleased to see that the two boys were completely dumb founded.

Ron had turned to Harry at this point, "What the hell is he taking about Harry? What letters? ...and why do you look so shocked?"

Harry had taken a deep breath, and then explained the whole thing to Ron.

Ron had listened, trying to keep quiet and when Harry had finished explaining how Hermione had agreed that it must have been a group of mean girls who had sent the letter, Ron replied,

"But that doesn't make any sense… she agreed that it was a bunch of girls, right? So why did Malfoy make it seem like… hang on, he said letters , why did he say letters if you said there was only one?"

Harry having no explanation at all, had spun Ron around and headed for the Gryffindor tower.

After coaxing Parvati Patil to let the boys come up the stairs, (they said they suspected Hermione had been poisoned), Ron began searching through all of Hermione's things.

Parvati had been watching Ron terrorize Hermione's belongings, and was about to stop him when Harry stepped in and lead Parvati out of the room, mumbling about how determined Ron was to find a trace of poison.

Ron had finished going through all of Hermione's books, when he notice a suitcase sticking out from underneath the bed. It was then that he found the letters.

That had been an hour ago. An hour of rereading these letters, an hour alone in the girl's dormitory because everyone was now off at Hogsmeade; it had been the worst hour of his life.

How funny it was, how quickly one's world could be ripped out from under them… how quickly all of your hopes, dreams and plans for the future could all take a sudden, unexpected nose dive…

He sat there, full of sorrow and despair.

What had happened to them? He had treated her well, hadn't he?

He loved her, cared for her, even made love to her, and that… that wasn't enough?

How could she do this to him?

He trusted her, never questioned her, and always believed that she loved him just as much as he loved her…

What does Malfoy have that I don't? Money? Is that really it? For Merlin's sake, he called her a mudblood! And now they're, Ron looked down at the crumpled letter and grimaced.

And suddenly, with a turn of the dormitory handle, his heart stopped as Hermione walked into the room and paused just through the doorway.

They stared at each other, both speechless, and then she slowly smiled.

"Ron…what are you doing in here?" she asked quietly, looking a little nervous.

It happened, quickly and without much effort. All of his sadness turned into hate. All of his despair turned into anger, and he rose off of the bed, with the letters still in his hand.

He saw her eyes dart quickly to his hand, and then widen, and that was enough confirmation for him. She looked into his eyes, her face began to flush and her words were shaky, "Look Ron, I can explain,"

"Oh I bet you can." He said slowly and clearly, with a mocking voice that didn't sound like his own, "What are you going to tell me, huh? Anything interesting? Oh but please, spare me the details of your sexual encounters with him and about how great he was at pleasing you."

Hermione looked hurt, "Ron look, it's not what you think! I swear, it's not as bad as you think!"

"Not as bad as I think! Are you joking Hermione? IT'S EXACTLY AS BAD AS I THINK!" he roared as his anger took control of him.

Hermione didn't speak, she was terrified. This was not the way she wanted Ron to find out, defiantly not the way…

He was so angry, she had never seen him this way before. His blue eyes where sending daggers at her, his expression was almost one of murder.

And the more she looked at him, the more her heart ached, because she knew that she had brought on this pain.

Ron watched her expression and smirked, "Oh that's right, you're going to act all innocent, aren't you? Tell me how sorry you are, how you never meant to be unfaithful…tell me something Hermione, if you've been unfaithful to me, then why still wear the ring, huh? If my promise to you didn't mean anything, then why still wear it?"

Hermione looked down at her hand and noticed that it was shaking.

What was she doing, allowing Ron to yell at her like this? Sure she had made a mistake, but he was throwing it way out of proportion.

"Why do I still wear the ring, Ron, why? Because I love you, that's why! But I don't know why you're making such a big deal about this, I can explain every-"

Ron threw back his head and laughed a crazy sort of laugh, "Why am I making a big deal? Hmmm…." He said as he mockingly placed his free left hand on his chin.

"Why am I making a big deal about my girlfriend, no no no, not just my girlfriend, the love of my life, screwing another guy? I don't know? Do you have any ideas?" he asked mockingly and wide eyed to Hermione.

Hermione's stomach was beginning to toss and she was getting sick of his attitude.

She tried to be calm and mature as she said, "Ronald Weasley, don't you dare treat me like a child! If you want answers, I'll give you answers, but you have to stop yelling at me and act like an adult!"

Ron stared at her across the room, his blue eyes cold and narrowed with a look that could kill.

But as he stared at her in silence, he realized that he had had enough. He could no longer be in the same room with her, it was too much…

Too much pain, too much hate and too much disappointment.

He hung his head, holding back the tears that were starting to form and fighting to keep his voice even,

"That's where you're wrong Hermione; I am the adult in this relationship." He said in a clear and calm voice,

"If you lose interest in me, you come and tell me so. You don't play me for a fool. Run off and spend time with another man behind my back; I would have never, ever done that to you."

He let go of the letters in his right hand and let them slowly glide to the floor before he headed towards her and out the door.

But instead of walking right out, he paused in front of her, needing to say this one last thing,

"And to think, I was planning on asking you to marry me at Christmas time."

Hermione swallowed hard when she heard this, but she said nothing.

Ron opened the door and left, closing the door shut behind him.

Hermione didn't move.

Her head was spinning, her heart was racing, her stomach was worse than an ocean storm, and before she knew it – she puked all over the floor.

She whipped her mouth on the back of her hand, and then reached for her wand.

"Scourgify." She half choked as she cleaned up the mess.

Hearing the sound of her voice must have awaken her from her numb state, because she suddenly ran to her bed, picked up the letters and tore them angrily into pieces.

She then placed the bits into her cauldron that was beside her bed, and lit them on fire.

She watched the red flames eat up the paper as a river of tears fell down her crimson cheeks.

This is too much for one person to handle in a day, way too much, thought Hermione as she lay down on her bed, pulled the curtains around her, and cried herself to sleep.