K we are taking a little trip back in time. I really had intended that this would be my last chapter of My Brother but Hermione had different ideas. So I promise I believer in love and fluff and it is coming. Just keep on holding on.

My head hurts, she thought upon waking. Wonderful first a fight with my best friend and now I have a splitting headache. Moaning she rolled over in her bed searching for the alarm clock. She had no idea what time it was or if she had slept through the night? Her hand searched blindly until it clasped on what she was looking for. Bringing the clock nearer to her face she willed her eyes open. The numbers seem to glare at her, as she realized that she had only been asleep for a little over an hour.

Her headache seemed to intensify as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. She wondered if Harry was still here. Only one way to find out, she thought as she pulled herself out of bed. She glanced in the mirror and grimaced. She had spent so long on getting her hair just right tonight and now it seemed to be sticking out at every angle, her dress was wrinkled, and her eyes were swollen from her cry-fest earlier. What a lovely sight. Shaking her head, trying to rid herself of the headache, she made her way downstairs.

The flat was quiet and looking around no one seemed to be around. Of course they all left, why would they stay? She made her way to the kitchen and saw all the food that had been so carefully prepared still out. Leave it to her and Ron to ruin a perfect evening. She knew that jealousy over Lavender was childish but Ron seemed so willing to see her again and then had invited her along as an after thought. They both said some hateful things tonight and she wondered if it was even possible to recover a friendship or if she even wanted a friendship with Ron anymore. Hermione couldn't keep doing this to herself and she wondered if her life would be easier if Ron wasn't part of it? But could she really cut him out of everything? He was part of her life and it was time for her to make a decision on what part he would now play.

Tears threatened again and she tried to regain composure. She needed to talk to Harry. He would be able to help her reason everything out in her mind and now that she was calmer she needed to thank him for what he had done for her tonight. Where would he be though? Would he have gone back to his flat? She couldn't bring herself to go there- Ron lived there too and she couldn't see him yet, not until she made her decision. The only other place he could be was at Ginny's. She would be fine there and if he wasn't there she could easily send Ginny to fetch him. Closing her eyes she apparated to the entryway of Ginny's flat.

"Harry?" she called moving into the living area of the flat. "Harry, are you here?" She called again entering the main living area. Her eyes quickly found Harry he was standing next to Ginny and the two were laughing over something but before she could enquire what was so amusing her eyes fell on the one person she had been trying to avoid. She wanted to leave before he saw her, she knew she was a mess and that if he were to say anything knowing she would make a rash decision, but for some reason her feet seemed oddly frozen to the floor.

She silently pleaded for Harry to look up and as he did his eyes registered shock, than glancing at Ron understanding. Not waiting for anyone else nor giving any explanation he crossed the room to her and then took her arm and led her out of the room.

"Hermione, what are you doing here? I thought that you were asleep for the night." Harry asked and Hermione could see the concern in his eyes. She didn't want to burden him with this. It wasn't right nor was it fair so she tried to change the subject.

"What were you all laughing at Harry?"

"Hermione, honestly this isn't the time. Are you okay?" Was she okay? Well that answer was obvious. She had spent the better part of the evening crying her eyes out over a man who was now sitting in the other room looking just as miserable as she felt. Good, it serves him right. And now she had to make a decision what part this man was going to play in her life. Oh yeah she was peachy.

"Hermione," Harry's voice came again and she realized she had to leave. It didn't matter what her reasons for speaking to Harry were before, she had to get out of there now.

"I'm fine, Harry. See you later alright?" pulling her arm out of his grasp she made for the front door. A walk would be a good. A walk would help clear her head.

"No, Hermione. You are not leaving." She felt Harry grab her again and it was all she couldn't decide whether to collapse against him again and have a good cry or hex him to pieces.

Seeing the indecision playing across her face Harry lowered his voice. "Hermione, he's a wreck, you can't just leave. You can't walk out on him like this."

"Harry, I already told you. I can't do this anymore."

"Hermione, I don't care what you tell him but you both need to talk about this."

"What will I say Harry?"

"You know what you need to say."

"I can't." she chocked out.

Harry pulled her into a hug again. She felt so safe there; it was as if Harry could make everything go away if he would just stay with her. "Stay with me, Harry. Please I need your help."

He pulled back a little and looked at her, "You need to do this on your own. I can't be here with you." Her heart sank. She needed Harry; shaking her head she knew that she had to convince him to stay. "Hermione, listen to me. You are the bravest witch I know, you can do this. It's just Ron. I know how you feel," he said stopping her protest, "but you need to tell him face to face. Don't run out on him and then wonder for the next twenty years where it all went wrong."

She knew he was right and she hated him for it. Steeling the last bit of courage she possessed, she nodded her head and looked into the room where Ron and Ginny were still sitting. Kissing her on the forehead Harry took her hand and led her back into the room.

"Gin," Harry's voice broke across the awkward silence in the room, "why don't we leave these two alone."

Hermione focused solely on the floor hoping that, by some miracle, it would open up and she could disappear. She wanted to go home. It was safe there she could deal with this all tomorrow when she had had a good night's sleep and a chance to clear her head. She went to tell Harry this when he passed by her on his way out.

"We will be at your flat if you need us. Com'on Red." He really was leaving her. Leaving her here alone. All she could do was nod her head as they past and a few seconds later she heard the door close.

It felt like ages that they stood there looking at everything in the room except each other. She focused on couch and remembered when she, Ron, and Harry had helped Ginny move in. The couch in question had sat in the Granger's attic for years. At first Hermione thought that she would use it in her flat but the couch ended up being to large, so she had offered it to Ginny. It seemed to fit perfectly in here. Not satisfied with the placement of the couch Ginny had the boys move it to various other points around the room. An hour, and twenty other positions, later the couch sat in the original spot. Hermione and Ron had joked for hours about that one little incident. She missed the laughter.

Hermione replayed that memory over and over. It was simple, yes. Nothing earth shattering but it was who they were. If she cut Ron out of her life would she have to cut Harry and Ginny out too? She didn't want to make them choose and knew at first there wouldn't be any problems but then slowly they would stop seeing each other until one day she would wake up and realize she had not spoken to her friends in months. She was filled with a sense of dread. She couldn't do this without them, without any of them.

Feeling the weight of someone's gaze Hermione raised her head and saw Ron staring at her. He looked so, well she couldn't name it. She had known Ron for ten years now and had only seen him look like this one other time, he looked defeated.

Hermione felt her heartbreak for her friend. It didn't matter what he had said earlier all she knew was that she needed to help him. She needed to fix this. She had promised Harry she would talk to Ron before she left and that she would tell him everything. But she didn't know how to go about it.

Looking around the room she felt her confidence rise. She just needed to talk to Ron, they had talked before and it didn't always end in a row. She just needed to tell him how she felt and explain her reasoning for stepping away for a while. Things would be awkward she was sure of that but it wasn't as if they were chatting amicably now.

Steeling herself she took her wand out of her pocket and was readying to shield the room when she heard a crash near to where Ron was sitting. She looked up to find Ron gone; the chair that he was sitting in was now rocking violently back and forth as if someone had pushed it to get out of the way.

She started to panic now, where had he gone? Where was he? Was he hurt? Then she saw him prostrate behind the couch.

"Ron," she called out frantically, trying to piece together what had happened "Ron are you okay? What's wrong?"

He seemed to be breathing but he wasn't moving at all.

"Ron, answer me." Her voice seemed to rise in decibels as her worry increased. She barely recognized it. She moved closer to the couch wondering if she needed to call Harry and Ginny back or if she needed to floo Ron immediately to St. Mungo's. Before she could make the decision though Ron's voice answered her.

"Ah, I'm fine." Well that was a relief, but what was he doing behind the couch, she went to ask just that when he continued, "Just, um, looking for something."

Looking for something? What could he be looking for that caused him to violently move across the room from her? Knowing that he was lying she continued to press him,

"What are you looking for Ron?"

"Well, um, you see…"

"Ronald Weasley." She felt her anger rising now "Why are you behind the couch?"

"ithoughtyouweregoingtohexme" It took her a minute to process that answer. Hex him? Why would I hex him? Maybe because you have hexed him before over things much less trivial. The voice in the back of her head told her. Ah that was it. He thought she was here to send another flock of canaries after him. She had to bite back a laugh, he was scared of her. Well this might work to her advantage.

"I'm not seventeen any more Ronald." Was her only answer and if that didn't convince him that she wasn't here to hurt him maybe this would, "Imperturbatus".

"Why'd you shield the room Hermione?" Ron asked as he pulled himself up from behind the couch "Don't you trust them?"

"I trust Harry." She answered and immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say. Ron's eyes hardened as he processed the implications of her statement. Damn it Granger, what did you have to say that for.

"Are you trying to tell me you don't trust my sister?"

"No Ron that isn't it at all. Why would you think that? Of course I trust your sister." It had all come out in a rush, she did trust Ginny but she wasn't so naïve to not know what the girl was capable of. Hermione wouldn't put it past Ginny to get away from Harry and get back here. Hermione just wanted to make sure that she and Ron weren't overheard that for once there would be no distractions.

"No you don't" Ron pushed again

"Ron, honestly, Ginny is one of my best friends and"

"and you don't trust her anymore than I do. Hermione you know she won't leave us alone. She has been after the two of us to get together for years now surely you noticed." What had he just said? Yes she had noticed. She would have been blind not to see it before. When Ginny had broken up with Harry after the funeral it was as if she made it her personal mission to get Ron and Hermione together. Hermione had begged and pleaded with Ginny that for the sake of her friendship with Ron to please stop but that just seemed to push Ginny harder.

Hermione looked up at Ron and saw that he looked crestfallen again. Did he really think that a little family was going to scare her away? Oh my, he did. She started to laugh, she couldn't contain herself. She loved every member of the Weasley family she wouldn't leave over a few pranks and obvious set ups.

"Oh, I haven't missed them Ron." She smiled and sat down on the couch "Remember the time that she locked the two of us in the attic at the Burrow? Or what about the time at Fred's wedding when she made sure that I caught the bouquet and you caught the garter. I swear subtle is not a word in your families vocabulary."

This was good. This was familiar territory with Ron just talking and laughing back and forth. It was almost seemed like the events from earlier this evening hadn't happened. Almost. But that wasn't going to stop her from enjoying a moment of respite before she said what she needed to say.

"Oh, I know." Ron said a grin spreading across his face, joining her on the couch. "Remember when Bill cursed us that we couldn't be more than five feet apart at all times?"

"We were lucky that Charlie finally took pity on us and broke the curse."

Oh, damn. She had gone and done it again. She knew how Charlie's death had affected Ron. Ron had almost self-destructed that night and had begun to pull away from everyone. It had taken him months for him to have a conversation with anyone that was more than three sentences long. She was very careful not to mention Charlie when Ron was around in fear of a relapse. Knowing that she needed to fix this she reached for his hand and added,

"I still miss him you know? When ever I saw him he was always ready to listen or tease."

"Yeah he was." He acknowledged turning her hand and lacing their fingers together. "He liked you, did you know that?" she shook her head and he continued "Every time he wrote he asked how you were or what you were doing. Merlin he even asked if I had plucked up the courage to ask you out yet." Ron blushed at this confession and so did she.

She gripped his hand tighter, bottling up their feelings had gotten them no where in the past few years. Well it had gotten them somewhere; they were both at the brink of throwing away a friendship because neither could say what they really felt. Well now was the time, she had stalled long enough.

"He always told me to not get discouraged, that you would come around eventually. He gave me hope that this was going to work out, Ron. I wish he was here now."

Ron just seemed to nod and went back to looking at their hands. She couldn't do this. She didn't want to know any answers. She would be content if they just went back to being Ron and Hermione, best friends but didn't know if it was possible any more or if she really wanted it. But she had to try.

"Ron," she whispered, "I am sorry for earlier. I didn't mean what I said. I wish I knew why we did this why we seem to fight at every turn. We have been bickering for years, that is true and it has just seemed to become old hat to us anymore but I hate it Ron. I hate fighting with you, I hate it when we…"

She never got a chance to finish because suddenly something was stopping her mouth. She began to panic until she realized Ron was kissing her. Ron had chosen now of all times to start kissing her. She knew she should pull away and that they should finish their discussion but she had waited years for this moment. For once in her life she wanted to enjoy everything; to put aside responsibilities and past hurts and just enjoy this moment.

It was over all too soon though Ron pulled away but stayed close; resting his forehead on hers. She couldn't look at him she couldn't break his heart by telling him that one kiss couldn't make it all better.

'I love you'

She wanted to cry, he had finally said it but was she ready to hear it? They hadn't talked about anything there was still all the unresolved issues from the past ten years that hung heavily between them. But he loved her wasn't that enough? She knew she had to answer and she promised herself to tell him the truth, no matter how much it hurt.

"I love you too, Ron." It was almost as if she had to choke out the words and she didn't want to continue. Gently raising her head so their eyes met Ron questioned her,

"But?"

"But, I don't know if 'I love you' is enough anymore."