Chapter 5: The Arguement
Hermione heard noises of movement inside the apartment. She waited patiently for Ron to open the door. A second later the door swung open, but to Hermione's surprise it wasn't Ron standing on the other side. It was a woman. It was a very pretty woman. She had straight hair that looked almost black and came halfway down her back. She had a small frame and sharp features. She was slightly shorter than Hermione. Her thin face smiled at Hermione and said, "Hi?"
"Um…hi," Hermione answered through the lump in her throat. She knew this girl must be Tabitha. "Is…is Ron here?"
"Yes," Tabitha replied. "Come in and I'll get him."
Hermione walked in and stood in the living room of Ron's apartment. Tabitha walked away from Hermione and she heard her call, "Ronny!"
Hermione felt her hands ball up into fists. Her nails were cutting into her palms but she didn't care. She felt she needed to keep her hands restricted as much as possible because if she didn't she might end up choking someone. She looked over when Ron entered the room. She was happy to see Tabitha hadn't followed him.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi." She tried to sound as calm as possible but she wanted to scream at him. She felt so ridiculous because she felt her throat closing and she knew if she wasn't careful she'd end up crying. That was the last thing she wanted to do.
They stood in silence for a moment until Ron cleared his throat and asked, "Is there a particular reason you're here?"
"Um…yeah," she said. She couldn't think of anything to say. Now that Tabitha was here she'd changed her mind about telling him what she'd came to tell him. She quickly blurted out the first thing that came to her mind: "Are you going to be at work tomorrow?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah, I will."
"Umm…okay then," Hermione said. "That's all I wanted to know. I guess I'll see you then. Bye."
"Bye," Ron repeated. He was staring into her eyes and she knew that he knew good and well she was lying.
She walked outside and stood in the hallway. She heard the door click closed. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Two tears traveled down her face. She bit her lip and whispered, "I love you, Ron." With that she walked down the hall and went home.
Hermione unlocked the door of Honeyduke's and stepped in. She turned on the light and automatically went straight to the counter. She sat on her stool and pulled out The Daily Prophet. Since she'd taken care of all the records and everything the day before she didn't have anything to do but wait on customers. She skimmed through the articles quietly.
She was startled when the door opened and Ron walked in. He stared at her cautiously. She decided to be civil and said, "Hello."
"Hi," he replied taking off his coat. "Um…do you need anything brought up from the basement?"
She felt weird because their conversation had turned so professional and cold. It wasn't in the least bit apparent that they'd ever been friends. She sighed and said, "Yes, as a matter of fact. We need some Drooble's and at least one box of blood pops."
"Okay," he said. "I'll go get them."
She nodded and looked away. Ron pulled the trap door up from the floor and disappeared down the stairs. She closed her eyes and thought for a moment.
You can do this, she told herself. Just pretend that nothing's happened and everything is the same. It's no different. You're still friends with him and he's the same person.
Ron reappeared carrying two boxes. He took the around the counter and placed them on the floor. Hermione got up and went to help him shelve the items. They worked silently until they'd placed every package on their designated shelves. A few minutes later the door opened and in walked two girls a little younger than Hermione.
They walked in without saying anything and went straight to the far shelf with the chocolate bars. The blonde one looked over her shoulder and grinned at Ron. Hermione gritted her teeth in jealousy. She glanced over at Ron to see his reaction. He just gave the girl a weak smile and looked down at the record books.
Hermione felt slightly better that he hadn't flirted back with the girl but she couldn't help but feel that it was only because of Tabitha. The girls came to the counter and put two chocolate bars on it. Hermione picked them up and punched in the prices. She took their sickles and put them in the register. When she'd placed the bars in the Honeyduke's bag she politely smiled and said, "Thank you, come again." She saw the blonde girl wink at Ron as they turned to leave. He did nothing back.
Hermione asked, "Did you write that down?"
Ron nodded without looking at her. She sat down and picked up her newspaper again. She skimmed through it but she was only pretending to read. She couldn't help but concentrate on Ron. He didn't really seem to be doing anything but staring at the counter. She assumed he was thinking about something.
Probably thinking about Tabitha,she thought bitterly.
"What's wrong with you, Hermione?" Ron asked abruptly.
"What?" Hermione asked. She was startled by the question.
"What's wrong with you?" he repeated.
Hermione didn't know what to say. She just looked at him.
"Why have you been acting so weird?"
She felt fury run through her veins. "Well let's see…" she said angrily. "Maybe it has to do with you kissing me and then telling me you have a girlfriend and basically stating that you choose her over me. Could that be it?"
"Hermione, I didn't choose…"
"Oh, you didn't?" she interrupted. "Well, it sure as hell seemed that way to me!"
"I told you I was sorry!" Ron yelled. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I shouldn't have kissed you but it's not like I did anything on purpose."
"So kissing me was an accident?"
"Yes…no…I don't know," Ron stammered.
"You don't know?" Hermione shouted. "What do you mean you don't know?"
Ron sighed. "Look, I don't know how to fix this. Tell me what you want me to do."
"Tell you…what the hell, Ron?" She was screaming and she really didn't want to be. "I don't want you to do anything! You do what you want to do. If you think kissing me was a mistake then think that because it wasn't a mistake to me!"
"It wasn't a mistake," Ron said.
"What?"
"It wasn't a mistake," he repeated. "I'm…"
But Hermione didn't get to hear what he was because at that moment the door opened and a woman with a small child walked in.
"Good morning," she said grinning. The little boy holding her hand tugged at it and pulled her to the back of the store.
Hermione smiled back politely and went behind the counter. Ron followed.
"If it wasn't a mistake then why are you still with Tabitha?" she whispered.
"I don't know," he whispered back.
"You don't know?" she exclaimed quietly. "How can you not know?"
"I just don't know," he replied.
Hermione crossed her arms and stared at him angrily. The woman and boy walked up to the counter. The boy piled an armful of treats onto it and smiled at Hermione. Ron began to ring up all of the candy as Hermione bagged it.
"It's his birthday," the woman explained as she reached into her money bag.
"Oh, I see," Hermione said grinning at the boy. "How old are you, sweetie?"
"This many," he said holding up six fingers. "Right, Mummy?"
"That's right," his mother said happily. She placed the money on the counter and picked up the bag. "Thank you."
"Thank you," Hermione repeated. "Have a nice day and come again."
When they'd walked out of the store Hermione turned back to Ron to finish their conversation.
"So?" she asked a little more coolly.
"So…" he said.
"If it wasn't a mistake then what is it?" she asked.
"I don't know…"
"Don't give me that!" she shouted.
"Fine!" he yelled back. "I don't know if it's worth it! Okay? I don't know if I'm ready to be more than friends with you because it might ruin our friendship and then where would we be? Huh? Do you know how long I've wanted to kiss you? And then everything gets screwed up when you kiss me!"
"Well, you chose to let me kiss you when you have a girlfriend!" she shouted back. Then Hermione let what he had said sink in. He'd been wanting to kiss me?
She didn't know how to take that information. Either way he was still with Tabitha.
"That's another thing," he said more calmly. "I have a girlfriend." With these words, hurt flowed through Hermione. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at him. She bit her upper lip and stared at him for a moment.
Then she took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice, "Yeah, so no matter what you're going to be with her." The tears slid down her face at this point. She picked up her purse and grabbed her jacket. "I can't be here right now," she said. "Can you close up?"
She didn't wait for an answer before walking out of the store and letting the door slam behind her. She ran down the street to the corner. When she reached it she Apparated and reappeared in front of an apartment building.
She walked in and went up two stories. When she reached the apartment she wanted she banged on the door. She prayed that he'd be home. She heard someone walking and the door opened.
"Hermione?"
She fell into Harry's arms and cried into his shoulder. He put his arms around her and held her in comfort.
Please keep in mind that I'm completely against the Harry/Hermione ship, so don't get worried. Please review!
