Chapter 7:

Yule Brawl

Disclaimer: Though I would love to own Harry and Ron, everything you know and love belongs to the creative genius and my personal hero J.K. Rowling.

"How could you do this to me Hermione?!" Ron asked, saying the words before he had thought them through, before he had calmed his nerves down.

"How could I do this to you Ronald? How could I do this to you? Did you expect me to wait around for you forever? Because that's an awfully long time to wait around for something you're not even sure is going to happen. I mean sure, Ginny had told me about all of your plans, but how could I be sure that you weren't going to pull a usual tactic on me and chicken out?"

"Ginny told you?" Ron was slightly surprised by her confession. He thought for a moment that he should be mad at his only sister, someone he had felt could be confided in, but thought better of it and took his anger out on Hermione, his most accessible outlet. "So why didn't you just wait for me to ask you? Wouldn't that be the logical thing to do Miss-I've-Never-Been-Illogical-In-My-Perfect-And-Wonderful-Life?"

"Well Ronald, since I must always put things clearly for you, I wasn't going to wait until seventh year for you to ask me to a Yule Ball that had occurred three years prior!"

"So now it's personal is it?"

"Ronald, it was always personal! Yes, I did want you to ask me to the ball. In case you hadn't noticed, there's something between us more than what I've got with Viktor or you've got with Padma. I thought maybe you'd noticed it too, but I guess I was wrong!"

"Oh, well I suppose that this is a first for you. Please don't cry all over my dress robes. Yes, they may be rather ugly, but I'm quite fond of them after they shared the worst night of my life with me!"

"Worst night of your life? Ronald Weasley, are you trying to tell me that after all this you still would've rather been with me tonight?"

"Yes Hermione. Yes! Don't you see that? But I can't take tonight back, and I can't redo any of my plans to ask you to the ball. So here we are. What happens next?"

"I don't know what happens next. We could pretend that this whole night never happened, but that would be foolish and unrealistic."

"You just don't want to forget about your wonderful night with dear old Vicky."

"Ronald, there is no need for name calling!"

"I haven't called him a name yet Hermione, I've only stated the obvious truth! You wanted me to take you when we first found out there was a ball, but now that everything is said and done, you're glad that you went with Viktor and not me. And you know why too. Because he had class and dignity and he didn't embarrass you in front of all the foreign guests. Most of all, you enjoyed yourself because he wasn't simple, boring Ron Weasley!"

"How could you even think that Ron? How could you think that I enjoyed myself more with him than I would've with you? You're my best friend. And I love every moment I spend with you. I was waiting and hoping that you would ask me to the Ball, but waiting and hoping only got me so far. I need more from you than just a simple friendship!"

"Hermione, I don't know exactly what you're asking from me, and I don't know if all that you're saying is true, but I can't be around you right now. I can't think about you, I can't see you, I can't talk to you. I just need some time away from everything that reminds me of you."

"Did I hurt you that badly? Did I truly scar you for life? Because that's sad Ron. That's sad on more than one level. You hurt yourself. You hurt yourself by not having the courage that we Gryffindors are famous for. And what's more, you hurt yourself by not realizing sooner that you don't just want me as a friend, and you had to learn it the hard way by seeing me with someone else."

"I don't know what I want anymore Hermione! I don't want to feel like this all the time. I don't want to fell like this ever again. But I have learned something from this experience. And it isn't even about me. Next time there's a ball, you should wait for me to ask you, especially if you know I'm planning on it."

Ron stopped, realizing what he had just said and instantly knew that it had not been the proper way to end the row. Looking around, he saw that the entirety of Gryffindor house was surrounding him and Hermione. Her hair had come down out of it's graceful position at the nape of her neck and his robes were falling off of him, lace dragging near the ground. At the exact moment the last words had come out of his mouth, Harry had walked through the portrait hole and he now stared at them from the entrance to the room, alarmed. Ron turned back to Hermione, wincing invisibly at the blast that was sure to emit from the girl. Her face was slightly pink from all the screaming and her eyes were feisty and violent with anger. She took one step towards him and stopped, pushing the hair out of her face. She took a deep breath before she spoke, hot angry tears threatening to spill from the usually warm brown eyes.

"No Ronald. Next time there's a ball, pluck up the courage and ask me before somebody else does." And before he knew it she had gone, flown up the stairs to her room, sobbing all the way. Ron hung his head and closed his eyes. Harry came over to him but thought better of words and just stood there, hoping that his presence would be enough. Soon, mostly everyone had cleared out of the common room and only Harry and Ron were left, standing in the exact same position.

"You alright mate?" Harry asked, looking out the window nearest to them so as to not embarrass Ron by being too concerned.

Ron thought a moment before he answered. "You know Harry, I was going to lie to you and tell you that I was fine, that it would all blow over in the morning and that I would have her for myself one day, but I just don't know about any of that. So no, I'm not alright. I'm far from it actually. And I don't know when I'll be okay."

Harry nodded, avoiding Ron's gaze just in case emotion started to flow from his eyes.

"Do you want me to stay up with you tonight?" Harry asked, the concern he had been trying to conceal emitting from his voice.

"No Harry. You sleep. I'll be fine. I'll see you in the morning. I hope that your night was better than mine."

Harry walked passed Ron to go up to the boy's dormitory, but stopped and turned around, clapping Ron hard on the back. Ron could not look Harry in the eyes as tears had begun to flow and there was nothing to be done to stop their passage to the outside world. Ron sat down on a couch turned toward the window and listened to Harry's footsteps fade. It was going to be a long, hard night. He wasn't sure how he would get through it.

A/N: Sorry this was such a bad chapter for Ron guys. But the last chapter is coming up next, and I promise it gets better for him.

Katie