Chapter 3 Heartaches
The sun shone through the window, shining onto Ron as he departed his dreams and went back into reality, waking up. As his eyes fluttered open, Ron's thoughts were happy and cheerful, much like the weather. All he could think about was how today be the day that Hermione would forgive him. Today, Hermione would forget whatever she thought Ron did horribly wrong to ruin her life and would go back to loving him.

She always did.

Hermione woke up, feeling dead inside, and she had no clue why. Why wouldn't she be happy? The sun was shining, the birds were singing, life was just grand. Hermione ignored the feeling as she sat up in bed and stretched like she normally did, but as she got up to do this, something caught her eye.

Something shining in the very same sunlight that had made her feel so joyful. But as she got up and inspected the object, this sunlight made her heart sink back to reality. It was her engagement ring.

Ron. Hogwarts. Rejection. Engagement. Decisions. It all flowed back to Hermione, making it harder and harder for her to breath. She wasn't in a happy life as she had thought so just a few minutes ago.

She lived in reality, and reality was harsh. It was full of pain and mistakes and suffering. Life wasn't a fairytale, and magic didn't make life any easier. At least, not for the heart it wouldn't. There was no charm that healed a broken heart. There was no spell that could help you make a decision. There was no enchantment that would ease all the emotions that came back to Hermione just now.

Hermione's heart filled with rage. She viciously threw her ring across the room, hoping never to find it again. She didn't want to deal with Ron or the engagement at the moment.

Just as Hermione heard the ring clang down onto something in her room, Hermione hear a different noise coming from the front door. It was knocking.

"Hermione? Open the door, honey…" It was Ron. At just the thought of Ron, Hermione began to panic. He was there, at her front door! What should she do? Hermione had no idea what so ever how to break it to Ron, nor did she know if she could stand this relationship any longer. She decided to act on her feet and break it off now. 'The sooner the better', she told herself.

Hermione nervously, but angrily went to the front door and opened it with a glare.

"Ron," she said sternly, but she then stopped. Her heart lightened at the sight of Ron. He had brought her favorite flowers, lilies, and he had a cute, nervous smile on. All of the sudden, Hermione felt as if she understood why Ron had said no to her going to Hogwarts. He just loved her and never wanted to lose her.

"Mione…I'm really sorry about last night…I just don't ever want to lose you and I'm afraid if you go to Hogwarts, I might not ever see you again…And I just love you too much to lose you…"

Hermione flung her arms around Ron in an embrace, her thoughts of ending thinks fading away as Ron's kindness flooded into her heart.

"That's so sweet Ron," Hermione told him, still in the embrace. As she pulled away, Ron smiled to himself, knowing his plan had worked and Hermione was his once again.

"Here," Ron handed Hermione the flowers, which she graciously accepted. But as he handed her the flowers, Ron's smile faded away. He glanced at Hermione's hand holding the flowers and then back to her eyes.

"Where's your ring?"

"My what?" Hermione asked, only partly paying attention while admiring the flowers she held.

"YOUR RING!" Ron grabbed Hermione's shoulders firmly. "WHERE'S THE BLOODY RING?!" Hermione escaped from Ron's grasp and also from the fairytale that Ron had tricked her to believing she was in.

"Ron, relax! The ring's in the other room!"

"Why aren't you wearing it?!" Ron demanded.

"BECAUSE, I'm…"

"You're WHAT?"

"I'm…cleaning it," Hermione lied. She quickly looked to the floor, avoiding Ron's eyes.

"Cleaning it? You expect me to buy that?! YOU CAN BLOODY CLEAN IT WITH MAGIC!"

"Ron, you don't have any idea about cleaning rings! EVERYONE KNOWS YOU LET IT SOAK IN POTION!" Another lie. Hermione knew perfectly well that there was a spell, not a potion.

"Fine," Ron said, clearly not believing Hermione one bit.

"No Ron, it's not fine. I really don't feel like company today." And with that, Hermione slammed the door in Ron's face.

Hermione didn't know why she lied to Ron about the ring. Why didn't she just tell him that she didn't want to wear it anymore, that she didn't want to get married to him? She knew she couldn't put it off much longer. For goodness sake, the wedding was in almost four months! And why go through four more months, hurting Ron by letting him think he was going to get married to herself?

Hermione had no idea what to do really. It had been 8 days since she last seen Ron, not that he hadn't tried to see her. Doors had been held back, charms had been cast, and letters had been discarded into the flames or Hermione's fireplace. But Hermione perfectly knew she couldn't avoid Ron forever.

On day 9 of not speaking, Hermione decided to go visit Ron and end things, before Ron got too hurt. Hermione grabbed her wand and straighten out her outfit before apperating over to Ron's flat.

"Ron?" Hermione called out when she arrived. There was no respond, but she heard noise coming from the kitchen, sounding like the sound of someone doing the dishes. Hermione slowly walked to the next room.

"Ron?" Hermione called out again. She stepped into the kitchen and saw him. He slowly turned around, not hearing Hermione's call though.

The dish he held dropped to the ground, shattering.

"Her-Hermione?" Hermione nodded to Ron, who looked like a total wreck. His shirt looked like it had been worn 4 days in a row, there were bags under his eyes, and…was he…crying?

'He must have been so hurt that I wouldn't talk to him…' Hermione couldn't help but imagine what Ron would look like once she broke the news to him, and it frankly scared her. She never wanted to cause so much pain to him…and this was only from 9 days of ignoring him!

"I-I thought…I really screwed this one up, didn't I?" Ron asked, eyes noticeably watery.

'Just say yes, say yes Hermione. Lying won't get you anywhere…Get it over with and say yes!'

"No," Hermione blurted out, not knowing why. "I'm the one who screwed up…not letting you even come near me. I was wrong…" Hermione mentally slapped herself as Ron smiled.

"Really?"

"Yes," Hermione lied. Ron stepped closer and pulled Hermione into a kiss, which she wanted nothing more than too escape from. Why had she lied? Goodness, this wasn't going to be easy.

"I take it," Ron said as he pulled away, "that the engagement party is still on next Friday?"

"Yes," Hermione automatically said, not knowing what else she could say. "I can't wait."

Hermione spent the next week, with Ron planning the party. Every moment she was with him though, her heart ached for her to yell out, "I DON'T LOVE YOU AND I'M LEAVING YOU!" But then, Hermione thought of the pain Ron went through before. She didn't want to put him through that again, she couldn't.

But she must. She knew she had to. And every time she was with Ron, she tried to end things, knowing it would be for the better. But something almost enabled her from it. She didn't know what to do anymore. With each breath she took, Hermione felt more trapped into this engagement.

Finally, it was the night before the engagement party. Hermione gazed at her ring, going over her speech to Ron. She planned it all out and everything was perfectly in line.

The next day, Hermione decided she was finally going to be single once again.

A/N REVIEW! And I'll update soon…but please, check out my other story! And If you already read it, I promise I'll update soon!