Chapter 8
"SHIT!!!" He cried, grabbing Harry's sleeve.
"What? What's wrong?" Harry asked slightly alarmed.
"Parvati's going to be there." He whispered, mortified by the implications.
Harry's eyes widened in realization, and he released a slow, ragged breath. "Shit!"
They were now the only two left in the Burrow's living room.
"Shit! Bugger! Fuck!" Ron cursed violently.
"Ron, it's not that big of a deal." Harry tried to reassure him.
"Not that big of a deal! Harry, you saw how 'Mione reacted when I suggested we pretend the snogging didn't happen. What do you think she'll do when she finds out about Parvati and me?"
"Ron, it's been at least a year since you two broke up."
"I know."
"And Parvati's with Dean now."
"I know. I know. Do you reckon Ginny might have told her about Parvati?" Ron asked hopefully.
"I'm pretty sure Gin didn't say anything because Hermione made it clear she didn't want to know."
Ron let out a small whimper, and looked around as if searching for some kind of salvation.
"Ron, she wouldn't have expected you to stay single for the rest of your life. Not when she's been with Roberto for over two years herself."
Ron's expression darkened. "Don't remind me."
Harry felt bad for Ron. He couldn't be sure Hermione wouldn't overreact if she found out about Parvati. She was normally a very intelligent and logical person, but when it came to Ron… the words irrational and manic came to mind.
"Let's get going before we're missed." Harry said, grabbing Ron's shoulder and giving it a quick squeeze.
Ron could only nod sullenly, as if he were being led to the gallows.
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They were a loud and exuberant bunch of nearly thirty, and dinner had been a truly pleasant affair full of laughing, reminiscing, chatting, and toasting.
Hermione stood from the table, and stretched trying to make breathing room despite her full stomach.
Turning to Roberto, she asked softly. "I'm heading to the bar for a drink. Do you want anything?"
"I'm good for now, thank you." He responded happily.
He turned back to George and Fred, and continued on with the story of a prank he'd pulled on one of his friends. Something to do with cursing the bloke's bits invisible making him think his wedding tackle was gone.
Hermione had already heard Roberto tell this story at least a dozen times before, but she knew for a fact that it was actually his ex-boyfriend Antonio who'd been on the receiving end of the cruel hex. The twins, however, were completely enthralled. Anything to do with pranks of that caliber had their complete attention.
She lazily sauntered over to the bar, and sat in one of the chic high back chairs. The bartender quickly came over and took her drink order. As she sat waiting, Hermione felt someone come up beside her and she glanced over.
Smiling warmly, she said. "Well, hello Parvati. It's been ages since I last saw you. How're things?"
"Hello Hermione," the beautiful Indian woman responded shyly. She cast her eyes about nervously, but smiled at Hermione's friendliness.
"Things have been alright, I suppose." Taking a deep breath, Parvati sat in the stool next to her.
The bartender came up and placed Hermione's martini in front of her.
"Did you want a drink?" She offered.
The bartender looked to Parvati expectantly, but she waved him off. "No, no. I'm fine, thank you."
And with that, he left them to tend to another patron.
Wringing her hands slightly, Parvati continued. "Listen Hermione, I just want to apologize for that whole Lavender thing. She means well, but sometimes she can take things a little far. She was just being vindictive."
Hermione's brow creased in confusion. "What do you mean? The whole Lavender thing?"
"Didn't she and Ron pretend to be together just to get your back up?"
"Yes, but I don't see…"
"She was doing it to get back at you for me." Parvati explained.
"For you?" Hermione shook her head. She was truly baffled now. "I can understand Lavender being vindictive, but why would she have to get back at me for you?"
Parvati looked at her oddly for a moment.
"Hermione, you do know about me and Ron, don't you?"
"You and Ron?" Hermione asked slowly.
She was starting to feel a terrible tightening in her chest as a chilling fear gripped her. What was this girl talking about?
Parvati's eyes widened as the truth sank in. "Ron never told you?"
"Told me what? Before I arrived this week, we hadn't spoken in three years."
"And Ginny didn't tell you either? No one told you?" Parvati asked, disbelief flooding her voice.
"Told me what?" Hermione was getting frustrated.
"That Ron and I were together."
Hermione froze in shock. "What?"
Parvati became extremely uncomfortable with the look of sheer devastation etching its way across Hermione's face.
"We're not together anymore. We broke up about a year ago. I thought you knew." She tried to supply reassuringly.
Hermione could only shake her head. She felt like her insides were splitting in two.
Finally finding her voice, Hermione tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible. "How… How long? What… happened exactly?"
Parvati shifted awkwardly in her chair. "You don't really want to know, do you?"
"Yes, I do." Hermione's response was immediate.
"Alright." Parvati took a deep, steeling breath before continuing. "Well, Ron was a real mess after you left. For months, he wouldn't leave his flat or do anything social. I don't know this for a fact, just what I heard through the gossip mill. That all changed though when he tried out for and was offered the reserve keeper position for the Cannons. We were all shocked. None of us had any idea he was even training.
Anyway, after that, he started to open up a bit. You know, go out and have a good time with friends. That's when we ran into each other at The Three Broomsticks one night and played catch up. We joked about what a horrible date he had been at the Yule Ball, and nonsense like that."
Here, the girl before her stopped and blushed profusely at the memory. The sight unnerved Hermione terribly and caused her to grab the martini before her and take it down in one full gulp.
"Excuse me." She called out to the bartender. "Can I get another one please?"
Parvati eyed Hermione's slowly slouching posture, and took another deep breath to settle her rising nerves. She really didn't want to relate this story yet again, and especially not to Hermione, but the stunned woman beside her deserved to know the truth.
"It was casual at first; just spending time, having fun, going for dinner, hanging out in the pub. I don't know when it happened exactly, but I fell for him… hard. He was just so… playful, and warm, and downright gorgeous, and… and so Ron. You know. After a while, I wanted what we had to move to the next level. I wanted us to become more serious. I thought he was ready."
Parvati looked down, and a pained expression took hold of her delicate features. Hermione was screaming inside. This was ten times worse than anything Lavender could have done because it was real. They were a real couple. They had had a real relationship.
"How long had you been together by this point?" Hermione just had to ask. She needed a time frame.
"Six months."
Hermione's stomach felt like it had dropped to her knees.
It was at this point that the bartender chose to return with her drink order. He placed it in front of her, and without so much as a pause, Hermione took hold of the glass and knocked back the martini in one go.
Wiping her mouth, Hermione gasped out. "Another, please. Thank you."
Both Parvati and the bartender stared at Hermione aghast.
"Go on. I'm listening." Hermione urged her to continue.
Parvati looked at her uncertainly before continuing. "I was in love with him, and I wanted more. I thought he was in the same place. He wasn't. He did try at first, but his heart just wasn't in it. This is when things started to go downhill for us. I kept pushing but the more I pressured, the more he pulled away. By the end, I was just so desperate for him to return my feelings that I would have said or done anything. He finally broke it off claiming he wasn't ready for that level of commitment. That wasn't completely true though. He was ready, just not with me."
She gave Hermione a pointed look, and then focused her eyes on her clasped hands.
"I was inconsolable and Lavender was livid. She wanted to skin Ron alive. And though you weren't even in the country at the time and had absolutely nothing to do with us falling apart, she blamed you completely."
A heavy silence took hold and suffocated the air. Hermione was shell-shocked. She didn't know how to feel.
"How long were you together all told?" Hermione finally asked in a small quavering voice.
"About a year."
Both women shifted in their respective seats, tensely consumed by their own discomforting thoughts.
"Like I said, it's been ages. We broke up a little over a year ago, and I'm with Dean now." Parvati said trying unsuccessfully to brush it off like it was nothing.
It was obvious to Hermione that the girl still had some pretty strong feelings for Ron.
"Anyway," Parvati continued. "I was about to head out, and wanted to apologize for Lavender's stupid stunt. She told me when I visited her in St. Mungo's that she had done it for me, but we both know she's not that selfless or noble."
Parvati chuckled lightly, and Hermione tried to join in, but she couldn't muster the enthusiasm to do so.
They both looked back to the table to find Ron staring at them intently. He was leaning on his elbows with his hands steepled in front of his mouth. When he saw that he was caught, he looked away quickly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Listen Hermione, I know you're with that Italian bloke now, and he seems really nice and all. But Ron…" She stopped, seemingly to gather her courage. "Ron is still in love with you, that much is clear, and you seem… I don't know… like you're not quite over things yourself."
Parvati stood ready to take her leave.
"At the very least, you two should sit down and work through your differences."
She stepped forward and gave Hermione a quick hug. "It was great seeing you again Hermione. Take care, alright."
This shook Hermione from her daze. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah, I'm tired. And to be honest," she looked to Ron and then back again, "I don't really want to see where this evening is headed."
She reached out and gave an affectionate squeeze to Hermione's arm before walking over to Dean.
After a long moment, Hermione turned back to the bar, placed her elbows on top of it, and rested her head in her hands. The bartender chose that exact moment to return with her third martini.
Placing it in front of her, he said. "This is your last one love, so you better savor it."
She grumbled something incoherent at him, grabbed the stem of the glass, and drained its contents into her mouth.
None to gently, she put the glass back on the bar, and her head back into her waiting hands.
The man just shook his head, and cleared the empty glass away.
This was unbelievable. She felt like she was drowning. How could she have been so stupid to think he wouldn't try to move on? It didn't even occur to her.
But why shouldn't he? He deserved to be happy. He deserved to be loved, and to have a family, and a life. It had been three years. Had she really expected him to just sit there and not try to build a life for himself?
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her back. She looked up quickly to find Roberto looking down at her with deep concern swimming in his chocolate brown eyes.
"Are you alright, Bella? You look dreadful. What did that girl say to you?"
"I'm such an idiot, Berti. I've been so stupid, and shortsighted, and… That was Ron's ex-girlfriend."
"But I thought Lavender…"
"This was Ron's real ex-girlfriend. The one he was with for an entire year while I was in Italy. The one I didn't know about because I was stupid enough to tell Ginny that I didn't want to know. She was in love with him, Berti. She wanted a life with him."
"Oh Hermione, I'm so sorry." He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. "But they're not together now, are they?"
"No." She mumbled clinging to him.
She pulled away from him, and swatted at the tears in her eyes.
"The group is starting to get their things together to move on to the next club. Go to the washroom, and have a bit of a cry. When you're done, we'll leave."
Hermione nodded and slid from the stool but when her feet hit the ground, her knees gave out causing her to wobble slightly.
Roberto started to snicker. "That's the thing about martinis honey, they have alcohol in them. You shouldn't really be pounding them back like bonbons."
"Shut it you." She growled threateningly before slowly and uncertainly making her way to the loo.
Shaking his head, Roberto started to laugh. He looked to the group and decided it was time to get back to them. Well, if he were being completely honest, back to a very interesting and handsome someone he had just met.
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Ron sat, eyes focused forward, feeling utterly defeated. He could quite literally see his world crashing down around him. He didn't know what to do.
He had thought he was safe. Dinner was over. It went smoothly enough. Parvati and Dean seemed like they were getting ready to call it a night.
He turned to chat with Harry for a minute… it was only a minute. When he looked back, his worst nightmare was unfolding before his very eyes.
Thirty feet away at the bar, Parvati was doing the majority of the talking while Hermione alternated between sucking back martinis and focusing obsessively on her.
He blindly reached for Harry's arm, and after a few failed attempts finally made contact. Harry turned to him, and then noticing his focused stare followed Ron's eye line.
"Oh, shit." Harry muttered.
Looking back to Ron, Harry saw the dejection marring his best mate's face.
"Ron, she's not Lavender. Parvati's a nice girl. I'm sure she's not saying anything truly awful."
Ron leaned heavily onto his elbows, and buried his face in his hands.
"No offense mate, but can you please just go away."
Harry understood completely. There was nothing that could be said or done to rectify this situation. From both Hermione and Parvati's expressions, it was obviously too late to go up and run interference. He patted Ron firmly on the back, and set off to find his own fiancée.
Ron ran his hands through his hair, and then leaned back onto his elbows to watch the muted conversation between the two women. They weren't screaming or crying, although Hermione was drinking everything within her reach. Not a good sign.
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After crying out her pain and anxiety, and resolving herself to being honest with Ron, Hermione emerged from the washroom with clear eyes and freshly applied make-up.
When she came upon the table though, the room was empty save for one lone figure sitting with his head in his hands.
"Where is everyone?" She asked uncertainly.
Ron looked up with a start, and stood quickly.
"They've all headed over." He nervously stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"You waited for me?" She whispered.
Ron felt himself flush, and he shrugged. "Roberto had to run to the next club. Said something about the reservations being under his name. I didn't want you walking alone."
Bless Roberto for finding a way to have Ron be the one to wait for her.
He cleared his throat, and asked almost inaudibly. "Are you ready?"
She nodded shyly, and handed him her wrap. Stepping behind her, he unraveled the soft fabric, and draped it over her. He rested his hands on her shoulders, and memorized the feel of standing so close behind her like that.
Remembering himself, he reluctantly pulled his hands away and took a step back. She turned to face him, and regarded him for a moment.
"I have to talk to you." She finally managed.
He nodded, and looked down. "I know."
She took an apprehensive step toward him, laced her right hand around his left arm, and offered him a small, warm smile. He smiled a lopsided grin down at her in return as he felt hope rising in his chest for the first time that night.