August 24th

'Ron!' Hermione could just about make out Ron through the pouring rain. He seemed to have no intention of stopping, 'Ron, please I need to explain!' she yelled over the sound of thunder and the rain hitting the gravel pathway. She began to run to catch up with him, what have I done? She thought, how have I managed to do this to one of the people I care most about?

'Ron,' she shouted as she caught hold of his wrist, swivelling him round to face her, 'I'm sorry!'

She looked at him full in the face and could see more clearly all of the signs of pain and anger; more defined than they had ever been when she had got together with Victor, 'what for? You said it was just friendly, why shouldn't I believe you?'

I'm sorry that it hurt you, I never like to see you hurt,' Hermione replied keeping her eyes focused on his.

Ron turned his face away, 'it doesn't matter,' he shrugged, 'I over-reacted.'

'Yes, you did a bit. But partly with good reason, you only saw half of what happened, if not less.'

'I saw enough…'

'No, Ron! You didn't see enough; you definitely didn't see enough to know what was going on. Look at me.'

Ron didn't look back to her.

'Ron, look at me,' she repeated in a determined manner.

When he refused to look up after the second time of asking, Hermione continued regardless.

'Harry was worried about the fact that he likes Cho and hasn't kissed a girl before.'

'So you took it upon yourself to solve that problem?' replied Ron mockingly, gazing intently at his shoes.

'In a way, yes!' Hermione shouted back over the rain, 'he just kept going on and on about it and I found myself worrying that I was in the same position as him. I became worried that I like someone and was afraid that I may also not be experienced enough.'

'You had experience with Victor.'

'No, no I didn't,' Hermione stated, 'I never properly kissed Victor. So anyway, there we both were, an empty room, both with anxieties and in the end I just snapped…'

'And kissed him?'

'Yes, and that's when you obviously walked in. Harry's not to blame for this, he was a bit taken aback at first but at least he understands why I did it. I had my own insecurities about liking someone so I solved both of our problems…'

'Enough!' Ron interrupted.

'What?' Hermione exclaimed, 'I'm trying to make amends for what happened to make you feel better.'

'You're not; you're not making me feel any better!'

'Well, would you like to tell me what your problem is if this obviously isn't working?'

No, look. If you like someone else then you don't need to hear what I was going to say,' he removed his wrist from her grasp, he continued in a quiet voice, 'I should have known to drop it when you said that you hadn't fallen for one of your best friends.'

He then turned and continued up the path towards the summerhouse, his heart ached and he was soaked through. She likes someone else. Four years of keeping this bottled up and she tells me she likes someone else. Tears that had been forming in the corners of his deep blue eyes threatened to fall, he craved the dry, warm environment of his home but felt that he couldn't return there quite yet.

He felt mortified, all the protection he had given Hermione over the years, and he had stood by her, done everything with her best interests in mind. Everyone knew it and to return to 'The Burrows' after this event would mean he would be subject to pity and sympathy, something that he didn't need from anyone.

No, for now he needed to be alone; he knew the perfect place that had been his hideout since he was a small child, a small cove just beyond the end of the field where he could sit and contemplate.

After the idiot he had made of himself he doubted that Hermione would follow him. He had only travelled a few meters from where she had stood but convinced himself that she was probably half way back to the house by now.

'I said you should be glad that I hadn't fallen for one of my best friends, I never said I hadn't fallen for the other one!'

Ron stopped dead in his tracks; he closed his eyes briefly trying to make sense of things and stop the world from spinning. He turned round to see if he'd actually heard what he thought he'd heard or whether he was dreaming.

His eyes met with the image of Hermione, still standing exactly where he had left her. Her usually bouncy hair had become lank with the rain, her clothes had taken the effect of a sponge and she was shivering both with the cold and with rage. She was crying, though the tears mingled with the raindrops on her face Ron could see red rings around her eyes and a glistening in them, which he had rarely seen before.

'What?'

'Oh, Ron you idiot! Couldn't you see that it was you all along? I lecture you, I help you in more ways than I help Harry…' Ron began to stride forward, he was beginning to understand that this may be his only chance to get it right before she gave up on him for good, 'I even told you to ask me to the next ball, for the love of Merlin and still you think that that I could like someone else! You really aren't as clever as I thought…'

She was cut off mid-sentence as her breath caught in her throat when Ron caught her round the back of the neck and pulled her face towards his.

Was this it, the kiss that would change their relationship forever?

However, a second before their lips could collide, Ron stopped. He drew back his breath and for a minute just touched his forehead against hers. Hermione could see that he had close his eyes and seemed to be mustering up strength and collecting himself. She just wanted to close the gap between them and kiss him.

But before she could, Ron's eyes snapped open. They seemed to hold a glint of panic as he began to step back. A rush of cold air hit the back of Hermione's neck as he removed his hand hastily. She could no longer feel the heat that had radiated from his body as he started to trip and stumble backwards.

'I… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' he stammered continuing to take long strides backwards, denial and embarrassment written across his face, 'it won't happen again, I promise.'

'Ron? I said I liked you,' Hermione said, quite taken aback by this change of attitude, 'it's fine, really.'

'No,' Ron continued, stumbling over a rock, 'I shouldn't have… you were vulnerable… didn't know what you were saying… we almost… I shouldn't have,' he took a steadying breath, 'I'm sorry.' He turned and walked off towards the cove before Hermione had another chance to protest.