A/N: third chapter up. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. I'm just playing with the characters and their emotions. Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy it! I can't decide if I think it comes off as rushed or not, so I'm sorry if you think it does.
Hermione POV:
"She's not me? What do you mean by that?" I felt my heart-rate pick up. My more logical side instantly started berating my emotional side in my head, 'No! Stop it! You have no right to be excited about this. You left him. It's entirely your fault and you don't get to be excited if they aren't perfect. You wanted to give him a chance at better happiness so butt out!' All of this yelling at myself wasn't working and Ron was still sitting next to be watching the liquid in his glass swirl around as he tilted it.
He finally looked up, "I think it's fairly obvious what I mean, 'Mione. Janelle is great, but I still love you. Don't act like you didn't know that." He looked back down and took another drink.
"How could I have known that, Ron? We haven't spoken in years. We've barely even seen each other. I- I have to go." And with that I turned away from him and took off back to my table, grabbed my purse, walked outside and apparated back to my flat without even stopping to say anything to my friends who had dragged me out tonight.
He still loves me.
He still loves me.
He still loves me.
How is that possible? I sank down onto the couch and just stared at the wall replaying the entire conversation in my head.
I broke his heart and he still loves me.
He's got a fabulous girl who seems to really like him, and he still loves me.
I should be upset about this. I wanted him to move on and he has and hasn't at the same time. Yet, all I can feel is happiness. I've missed him so much. I didn't realize what I had with him until it was gone and I kept telling myself that I had done the right thing.
Had I? We were both in different types of unhappiness. I've been miserable, only I wasn't willing until tonight to admit that it was because I missed Ron. He's got someone new to be with, but he still thinks about me. We could be together and be happy again.
That's when it hits me. He may still think of me, but he is happy with her. Maybe not as happy as he was with me, but he is. They are content together. What was I thinking? He'd take one look at me after three years, dump her, and we'd just pick up where we left off? No. I can't destroy another of Ron's relationships. I gave him up, I can't have him back.
With that thought, I allow the tears to fall.
Ron POV:
Janelle and I were coming back up my front walk when she turned to me and asked, "How was your conversation with Hermione?"
"What?" I honestly hadn't been paying much attention. Janelle had had to drive my car home, not just because I had been drinking, although that was all the reason she knew of, but also because my mind wouldn't have been anywhere near the road. I was replaying every detail of the evening about Hermione that my mind could conjure up.
"You're still thinking about her, aren't you? I don't believe this! When we met, you were still heartbroken over what she did to you. It took months for you to even be able to tell me what happened and she waltzes back into your life for one 15 minute conversation and she's all you can think about again."
By this time we were standing outside my door. Janelle looked ready to cry. "She was a big part of my life for a long time, Janelle, it's not like my past is ever going to go away. Come on, let's go inside and talk about this."
"No, Ron, because you know what else is never going to go away? Your feelings for her. You still love her." It wasn't a question. She knew it and I knew it.
"I've been trying to get over her, you know that." I tried to take one of her hands in mine, but she pulled it away. "Please, I want what we have to be real. You put me back together."
"I didn't put you all the way back together. She still holds so much of your heart that I could never have put you completely back together. If you love her that much, go to her, get her back. But don't stand there and try to tell me that it's ever just been us in this relationship. I know you've compared me to her and I know that in your head, I don't measure up. Her ghost will always be there if we continue this. I need someone who is actually with me when he's with me. Good-bye, Ron. Good luck getting her back because I feel sorry for any other girl you try to be with."
"Janelle! Please wait!" But she'd already run back up the walk and to her car. I watched her taillights fade away. Great, because my feelings weren't confused enough after running into Hermione, now my girlfriend broke up with me. She was right, though. Hermione was in my head. A lot.
I pulled out my wand and apparated to Harry and Ginny's.
Hermione POV:
I had pulled myself together and was just making some tea when there was a knock on my door. I figured it was someone from work who had been there tonight coming to check on me. I didn't even care that I probably had mascara streaks on my face as I opened the door, "Ron!"
I slammed the door in his face in surprise. "Oh, dang!" I opened the door just a crack, but hid so that he couldn't see my face behind it. "I'm sorry, just give me a second! Stay right there."
I checked my reflection in the mirror I have hanging just inside the door and tried to wipe away any stray make up and raked my fingers through my hair. Oh, what was I doing? I opened the door back up again. "Sorry about that. Do you want to come in?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll come in. Can we talk? You left so quickly tonight."
He looked a little worse for the wear too. "Of course, sorry about that too. I was just… surprised, that's all. Please sit down. I was just making some tea."
"Got anything stronger?" He sat down on my couch and looked up at me grinning. "Kidding. I think I've had enough for the night. Although, given the circumstances, I'm not sure anyone would blame me. Ex-girlfriend you're still in love with walks up to you at a bar and starts talking, current girlfriend notices everything and ends up dumping you on your doorstep."
I nearly dropped the cups I was holding. "What! Oh gosh, Ron, I'm so sorry. I hope it wasn't my fault." I didn't. I may have wanted him back, but I wasn't wishing for his relationship to end.
"Of course it bloody well was your fault, Hermione. How could it not have been? She could see how I feel and how seeing you affected me." He got up off the couch and came to join me in the kitchenette right off my living room. "She did give me some good advice though, before she left, she told me to come get you back. She said she'd feel sorry for any other girl I tried to date. Then I went to Harry and Ginny's. And, well, Harry pretty much told me the same thing and where to find you."
I was stunned. Speechless. Life just doesn't work out this perfectly. Not even for "The Golden Trio" as some had called us back in our seventh year. "Ron, I had actually come home thinking about the possibilities, or lack thereof, of us getting back together. I do want you back, but I don't want your relationship with Janelle to be lost if it could have been the real thing."
"My relationship with Janelle was lost before it really started. You are my real thing. I knew it before, when you broke up with me. I think I even said so that day. If there's any chance of us getting back together, I want to take it." He was looking down at me with much more emotion that that teaspoon full I once told him he had. I was trying to blink back tears.
"But, just a few hours ago, you were so angry at me. Where did that go?"
"That came from the idea of talking to you without being with you. Do you think I wanted that? The pain of seeing you was too much. It turned into anger."
"Ron." That was all I could think to say. I hugged him and held on as though for dear life. "But we can't just jump back to where we were. We can't act though no time has passed."
He was still holding on to me, "No, we can't. But maybe we don't start out back as 'in love.' Maybe we start out back as friends and see where it takes us?"
It could happen. It really could. I made a horrible mistake and life was giving me the chance to fix it. I wasn't going to let it pass by me again.
"I think that sounds wonderful, Ron."
A/N: I suppose I should put a time line on this- chapter 1 takes place about 2 years after the battle of Hogwarts. I always assumed all three would go back for their seventh year, so it's been one year out in the "real world." Chapters 2 and 3 are set 3 years after chapter one, as stated in chapter 2. This will be the last chapter and this time frame works for the epilogue to pick up where it does if they had Rose around 3 years after this chapter.
Thanks for reading!