By the time the party was in full swing Hermione had almost drunk a full bottle of wine to herself. She sat by the pond on the large boulder that had served as a chair so many times before watching as the family she felt so distanced from enjoyed the warm July air. Flure and Bill danced with their son Jack, Jack finally leaving Hermione's side for the first time since they arrived. Hermione was Jacks godmother, Bill had asked her when they were in France if she cared to do the honors and Hermione had jumped at the chance, it gave her some sort of reason. Her God son adored her, he loved to listen to stories about all the adventures that his aunty Mione had gotten up to, obviously the abridged version of events most of the time.

She watched him wander over to Ruby's Basket and peer in to the blankets; he seamed to be fascinated by his cousin. Harry stood protectively by the crib as Ginny played hostess, her red hair tied neatly back and wearing a rather fabulous black Chinese robe. Hermione wondered how long it had taken Harry to persuade her to buy that dress. There had been a bit of an argument when Ginny first fell pregnant, Cho Chang had just been posted in to the department where Harry worked as an unmentionable, they were over it now but Ginny was still cautious around the matter. Charlie stood talking to Gabriella who was watching Ron with curious looks, Hermione couldn't blame her, Ron was acting the fool, no doubt reenacting some stupid Quidditch match or other. Her friends were all around her but still Hermione felt empty and alone.

The more she drank the more she hated the person she had become, and long after many of the party guests had gone home she continued to drink oblivious to toughs around her.

"Come on Hermione I think you have had enough."

Hermione looked up at him he was illuminated by the paper lanterns that hovered around the pond.

"I shouldn't have come hear Ron, I'm drunk, I drank too much and I hate myself and I hate this and I just about hate everything."

Ron sank down on to the ground beside the boulder; he took a sip from the acidic red concoction in his hand.

"You think I haven't gotten in to this state before? You think I don't hate this? You think I like to be away from everything I love for Months at a time?" The two of them stared up at the house the party's remaining guests had moved inside, there silhouettes danced on the curtained windows. "There are ways to block it out, it's easy once you get used to it." He said his drink hovering inches from his mouth drawing in Hermione's gaze. She swayed a little on the rock and steadied herself on his shoulder. He gently helped her down to the grass where he was sat guiding her with a carefully placed hand. She gazed down at his fingers touching the band of silver that lay there.

"You kept it?"

"Everyone needs something to hold on to, even me." She traced the lines across his hand, feeling the hard skin from playing far too much Quidditch and being out in the sun for to long.

"You never come to see me anymore." She whispered quietly as she dropped her hand from his. Ron shifted slightly from side to side. He was acting out the uncertainty that Hermione was to drunk to show.

"The same could be said for you." He said gently taking the bottle of wine that Hermione was about to drink straight from and throwing it in to the black bag he had brought with him on his rounds. "What's wrong with us Hermione, why haven't we moved on like the others?"

He sighed. "It's hard to be here when there all so happy, I still feel so empty." Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Like you have something missing?"

"Exactly. "

Hermione looked at him as he sighed again. His eyes still looked distant and far away, but at least they were talking now.

"Do you ever wonder what we would have done if Harry hadn't survived?"

Hermione nodded her head, shoe thought about it often, would Ron have become even more of a recluse than he was now, would they still be together?

"I worry about you Hermione, I always have and I always will."

She nodded.

"I just need to … I dunno, I wish I did, do you ever get the feeling that your just not needed?"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. She could feel the alcohol making her sleepy and the emotional wear out of the day had started to take its toile long before this meting with Ron.

"Haven't you noticed Ron, we aren't needed, everyone has someone, your dad and mum have each other, George has Fred and he has Luna who in turn will always have Neville. Bill has Flure, Harry has always had Ginny. But when it all comes down to it the only people we ever had was each other. That's it Ron at the end of the day."

She tried to get to her feet but she wobbled slightly. Ron steadied her with his lightning fast keeper skills.

"You have always and will always have me Hermione; you have always been my best friend, I just dunno what the hell happened between us."

"Life got normal Ron, that's what happened to us."

He tipped the remainder of his drink in the hydrangeas and threw the plastic cup in to his black bag.

"Normal ? Hermione ther is nothing about you that is normal or me for that matter."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Ok so maybe not normal, by normal people's standards. But I'd say it's been a long time since we faced certain death down each day." Hermione said contemptuously.

"So that it is it you miss the excitement of going out with me is that it?"

Hermione saw a momentary sparkle behind his eyes.

"Who said I missed you?" she asked quietly.

"You Hermione, every time I see you, you miss me. Your body says it, your eyes scream it, I'd forgotten how easy it is to love you, do you know that?"

"Do you know how bloody hard it is to love you?" she said backing away from him. "You can't do this to me Ron you can't just suddenly be here and like this, seven years!, it's taken you seven years to realize how much of an insensitive git you became after the war, your not the only one that was worried about Harry we all were, you just happened to think it was just you that was effected, well it wasn't, do you know how hard it was to be pushed away like that, you think it didn't kill me to listen to you cry whilst I lay there knowing there was nothing I could do to make it better."

Ron looked at her dumbfounded, "I'm not the one that ran away to France at the first opportunity I got."

"You could have sent owl's." scathed Ron.

"And you could have answered them." She snapped back.

"Well you could have come to see me play…"

"I did." Hermione cut across him. "Every single time you came to France I was at the match, I just couldn't let you know, it hurt too much Ron, you have no idea how much it hurts."

Ron scoffed at her. "What? To know what it fells like to know for a fact that the person you love more than anything in the world loves you just as much but can't stand to be around you, yeah strangely I know exactly what that feels like." He glared at her "It feels like the world is about to explode and take every scrap of your broken heart with it."

She stared at him before turning on the spot and staggering away from him.

"That's right run away, this used to be the other way around." He shouted after her.

Hermione's stomach lurched, she had drank to much wine and she knew that the last thing she should be doing was apparition, but she needed to put as much distance between her and Ron as she could.