Re-evaluations: Ron and Hermione
Disclaimer: I have not claim to characters or scenes from the Harry Potter series, which belongs to JK Rowling and associates. I get nothing from this except the enjoyment of imagining and writing the story. If I did own any of the Potterverse, I could stop having to work for a living.
Time frame – Post–DH except for the epilogue which I am ignoring, for reasons that should become obvious.
Hermione Granger started thinking of what to take in college during her second year at Hogwarts. She had always known in her very bones that she would go to college and graduate with high marks. It was just not a question.
About Christmas of her second year, she made an appointment with Professor Minerva McGonagall, who was her Head of House and hence, her surrogate mother. Hermione was rather horrified to find that there was no such thing as a university for the magical, as Hogwarts was a secondary school for the gifted. All higher learning was done through a system of apprenticeships, so if you wanted to become a Healer, you apprenticed with a Master Healer at a hospital like St Mungo's. The idea of a general interest degree or multiple majors appeared to be completely foreign to the magical culture.
As the magical tended to live longer lives than their mundane counterparts, the state of learning and innovations were much slower than in the 'outside' world. This was exemplified by that fact that fashions among the magical seemed to Hermione stuck in the late 1800's, with everyone dressed in long robes. Hermione and her dorm-mates had many evenings giggling over magical versus muggle fashions, when Hermione brought fashion magazines from home. The other girls were shocked and rather intrigued by muggle underwear for women - the ones for men tended to be less 'interesting' as boys 'old-style' underwear and modern boxers were quite similar (at least the ones in the magazines, as most of the girls had only seen their brothers' underwear, and not what older boys and men would wear when they wanted to impress).
Hermione and some of the other muggle-born girls took to referring to the underwear available at the school's commissary as being from the 'Queen Victoria's Secret' catalogue, a joke that was completely missed by their less aware classmates.
Hermione was also besieged by her dorm-mates at 'that time of the month' for feminine hygiene supplies which were completely unavailable at the Hogwarts store, or in Hogsmeade, having only been invented in the early 1900's. As the school year went on, and the 'dormitory effect' came into stronger force (synchronizing the cycles of the female population), Hermione got into the habit of having her mother send her several cases of such items. She had to explain to her mother that this request was for supplies for the almost the entire female population of the school, excluding the Slytherins who wouldn't be caught dead using 'muggle stuff' no matter how useful, and that there was nothing drastically or medically wrong with her herself. By adding a small mark-up, Hermione kept herself in pocket money.
While thus building up additional funds towards her academic future, Hermione pondered what she wanted to do, and hence what courses would be appropriate to take. She had thought of something medical, like her parents (both dentists), but as she saw more and more or the inequalities and unfairness of the wizarding world, as well as the pure-blood nonsense that was affecting Harry Potter, she thought that a career in the law might be to her tastes. She had no interest in the enforcement end of the law, but might find the forensic aspect an interesting field combining both the medical and the legal.
Given these thoughts, Hermione applied herself to potions, spells and spell detection, arithmancy and ancient runes, while she dismissed Divination as a load of unicorn droppings.
On top of her academic work, she spent a lot of her time with the two boys who seemed initially to be emotional disasters. Harry Potter had been an abused child, underfed, wearing hand-me-down clothes from a much larger cousin, and burdened by an unearned reputation as a monster killer – he attracted trouble like a lightning rod. Ron Weasley came from the only large wizarding family that Hermione had heard of, being the last of six brothers, with one younger sister – he seemed to feel that he only existed because his parents wanted a daughter very badly, as they had stopped having children once his sister arrived on the scene.
Hermione had originally had her own social problems, being a muggle-born, and so discriminated against by about half of the so-called 'pure-bloods', and extremely bright, and so being ostracised by her less academically-minded classmates. She was spoiled a bit by her parents, and so could be quite bossy, a trait that did not go over well with her classmates either in primary school or at Hogwarts.
The three children seemed destined to be together, and after an encounter with a troll that had been let into the school, they became fast friends. As Professor McGonagall explained to her, Hermione incurred a life-debt to Harry Potter, as he was the instigator of her rescue. Ron had helped defeat the beast, but as he not been the one to decide that she needed to be rescued, the same magical obligation did not apply for the troll 'incident'. However, due to later events, all three had multiple life-debts to one other.
The three spent a lot of time together (with few other really close friends at the school) and it seemed obvious that Hermione would end up with one of them in a male-female relationship. Hermione's temperament was more suited to Harry, but Ron was a brave and clever boy as well. Furthermore, over the years, it became frighteningly apparent that someone was trying (repeatedly) to kill Harry, so as Ron seemed much more likely to survive whatever the future held, Hermione set her heart on the redhead.
Ron Weasley had two major passions in his life, food and the game of quidditch. Coming from a large family, headed by a minor civil servant, money was tight, but his mother had always made sure that the family ate well. This fact left very little for frivolities, and Ron wore hand-me-downs from his two twin brothers. His mother was very adept in adjusting clothing so things fit well, but as the twins had received some of their clothes from the next brother up the line, the wear did show. Of course when little Ginny arrived, boys' cast-offs were not adequate (among other things, not being frilly), and the girl got new clothes from the big-box store (WarlockMart) near town. This, of course, added to Ron's sense of not really being that important to the family.
Ron and Hermione had a tempestuous relationship. They were just very different people.
He loved quidditch; she tolerated it more out of house loyalty and watching her friends than any specific interest. Once it was apparent that someone was trying to harm Harry by jinxing his broom, she assisted in invoking counter-charms, as she was present in the stands.
Hermione was an only child, and rather bossy, while Ron had grown up under the less-than-kindly attentions of his twin older brothers – he hated being bossed around, and he hated his siblings pulling pranks on him. When his little sister turned out to be a prankster as well, his mother's injunction to 'protect your little sister' was distinctly unappreciated.
Ron was academically lazy, while Hermione was a devoted student. Hermione was a picky eater who enjoyed good well-prepared food, while Ron was on the 'see-food' diet (see food, eat!). Ron was an easy-going friendly sort, while Hermione could be very judgemental and intolerant of opinions she did not share.
Half of the time, Ron and Hermione shared a quiet friendship, and the other half, they were screaming at each other. There were times when Harry and the two would share stories and thoughts and dreams, and others when Harry left them fighting.
As they grew up, it became apparent that Ron's little sister had her eye on Harry (spurred on by her mother's stories of the 'Boy-who-lived', a title that Harry hated), and he seemed to be fond of her as well. This left Hermione pining for Ron, who seemed oblivious to her developing beauty – for years, she had been a friend and companion, and he just had not thought of her in terms of a future romantic interest (or even as a girl).
The fact that she was rather plain when young, and Ron's hormones were rather obviously set off by physical beauty (such as his French-born sister-in-law) diverted Ron's attention away from her, which hurt Hermione all the more. She had never thought of herself as good-looking, given cutting comments by other girls (jealous of her brains) and pretended it didn't matter to her, all the while crying inside. As she grew, and her face became more angular with a more mature demeanour, Hermione became a very good-looking young lady.
When Ron started to notice that his other best friend had become an attractive young woman, she was there waiting for him.
The summer after the battle, Hermione wanted to study to make up her coursework for admission into a muggle university (if she chose that route) and checking out possible mentors if she went the magical route. Travelling with Harry gave an opportunity for both.
Having lost a favourite brother in the battle, Ron wanted to go for long walks, often in silent tears. Hermione walked with him most of the time, but often found herself wanting to be elsewhere studying and learning.
When Ron was drafted by the Chudley Cannons quidditch team, he was ecstatic. While Hermione was delighted that Ron had achieved a lifelong dream, she was not thrilled with the prospect of being expected to sit in the stands in cold weather, watching a game she cared very little about.
While travelling with Harry and Ginny (at Harry's expense) to visit his properties, they became lovers, as much by default and because that it was expected as the logical next step, as from genuine passionate desire. They had lost so many friends in the war, and they had lost Fred (Hermione had come to think of the twins as her brothers as well, over the years). They both found their sorely needed comfort in each other's arms.
About the time that Ron's first professional game was to be played, Hermione was finishing he Secondary school equivalency tests, and was looking forward to entering the University of London's pre-medical program, while working part-time at St Mungo's under a Master Healer. With these schedules, they saw little of each other for weeks at a time. When Ron had time off from practicing or playing, Hermione would have papers to write or shift work, and vice versa.
The following summer, Hermione worked at St Mungo's full time, and took some summer courses, as she and Harry were planning to retrieve her parents in time for Christmas. She felt that having them gone for two years now was about all she could stand, and any longer would make it difficult to re-integrate them into English society. She didn't even know if they would want to come back, or whether they would forgive her for the memory modification she had applied to keep them out of harm's way (and to spare them the feeling of loss if their only child did not survive the war), even if it was with their consent. This planned excursion coincided with the quidditch fall schedule, so Ginny and Ron could not accompany them. Harry had asked for time off, and his team manager had grudgingly granted it, knowing that he had been lucky to get Harry in the first place.
The weekend before they left for Australia, Ron and Hermione had dinner together at an upscale restaurant near St Mungo's. It catered to a mixed clientele, having disillusion charms so that the muggle patrons would not notice some of the more unusual methods of preparing the food. They held each other's hands across the table, and both said, simultaneously, "I don't think this is working for us". They looked surprised at the joint declaration, and then laughed in relief. Hermione said "Ron, I didn't want to hurt you", and he responded "And I didn't want to hurt you either".
Hermione bit her lip and said, "Ron, I need someone who feels that what I want to do is important". He nodded and replied "And I think I need someone who thinks what I do is important too. And we just aren't there for each other, are we?" Hermione sadly shook her head "No Ron, we're not. I love you dearly, but I don't think I am in love with you. And I am sorry to say, that after years of trying, honestly trying, I don't care for quidditch."
Ron nodded sadly. "So, what do we do now? You have some of your stuff at my place in Chudley, and I have stuff at your flat in London. Shall we straighten things up tonight, or leave it until tomorrow?"
Hermione said "How about we do it tonight? That way, it's clean. Let's head over to your place first, and then go to my place for your things. That way, you can see me home safely, one last time."
As Ron left Hermione's apartment carrying the box of things (magically reduced in size to fit in his pocket, underwear and a toothbrush not taking much room), he turned and gave her a powerful hug, and said "Hermione, if there is ever anything you need, just call. You will always be my best friend." As she began to cry, Hermione said "And if you need anything, Ron, I'm here for you too." As they released their hug, they simultaneously looked into each other's eyes and said, "I guess this is it then. Goodbye."
Ron stepped into Hermione's fireplace, tossing in the floo powder and said "Ron's place" and disappeared. As he vanished, Hermione broke down in tears, knowing Ron was doing the same. While she cried, she started sorting out her eleven boxes of books that she had brought 'home'.
The next day, Harry received two owls. He recognised the handwriting on each as being from his best friends, but could not read them as the ink had run with the tears. He returned a note to each saying that he was there for them, whatever he could do. He sat by his fireplace, wondering what he could have done to help his friends more, or even if there was something he could have done. He knew he could not drop everything and go comfort Hermione, as Ron might see that as Harry trying to take what Ron couldn't have (Ron had always been jealous, a fact that had long puzzled Harry who had been jealous of what Ron had, namely a loving family). He couldn't go to Ron right away, as Ron needed his space and his pride, as much as his other friend needed her space and pride.
He was also questioning the disquiet in his own heart.