A/N-So, I know the updates are a little slower than for Demonstrations. As I mentioned before, I'm working quite a bit so I have less time than last summer, when I was unemployed. I'm really sorry for the delays. Thanks, and enjoy a little quality time with Hermione and Ron...
Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, nor do I own Harry Potter. If I were, I'd be filthy rich, and the epilogue of Deathly Hallows would have turned out a little differently. :)
After the party, as Hermione pondered the reactions she and Ginny had received to their news, she realized that there had been very few surprises in how each person received the news. Mrs. Weasley and Katie were as excited and supportive as always. Harry had been taken aback at first, but later warmed up to the idea, in part due to Katie's prodding. The older Weasley brothers seemed almost relieved at the news of their younger sister settling down with someone respectable and, frankly, less threatening than someone like Oliver Wood. Lavender's reaction, though undesireable, was similar to her reaction to finding out that they were a couple, so there wasn't too much of a surprise there.
Then there was Ron.
He wasn't against seeing two women in a romantic relationship; that much was abundantly clear. As a matter of fact, he never really saw his sister as a woman or girl. She was just his sister, a non-sexual entity. Hermione noticed it time and time again; Ron never got completely use to his sister dating anyone, let alone someone that he was close to. She'd seen it with Harry; he grudgingly accepted Ginny and Harry's relationship, but confided in Hermione that it still made him uncomfortable. The fact that she was now with not only a friend, but a friend he had also dated made matters infinitely more difficult for Ron. He wasn't what one would call a ladies' man, so when Ginny, his little sister, could please an ex more than he could, it was a blow to his fragile ego and self -esteem. He was happy for his friend and sister, or at least he tried to be. The relationship was just a difficult pill to swallow at times.
With all of those factors in play, Ron's reaction was the least surprising of them all.
"What the fuck is this about some kind of engagement?" Ron asked after he had pulled Hermione into the empty study. If he was going to make such a big deal of it, Hermione at least appreciated that he had the decency to do it somewhere that he would make less of a scene.
"I suppose you've spoken to your peach of a girlfriend then," Hermione said, then added simply, as though it were some kind of challenge, "she's right. Ginny and I are engaged to be married, and we're both thrilled about it."
"Why, though?" Ron asked. The way that he said it made him sound almost desperate and needy. If Hermione weren't so annoyed by his reaction, she might have felt a little bit of sympathy for him.
"That is what people generally do when they love each other," Hermione said, as though she were explaining something he wouldn't understand, "at some point in the relationship they decide that they intend to make a lifelong commitment, at which point they get engaged. It is suppose to be a very happy occasion for both people."
Ron pursed his lips and sighed emphatically, a gesture of frustration that gave him a stronger resemblance to Ginny.
"I know why people get engaged," he said impatiently, as he began pacing,"but why you and Ginny? I mean, it's just, I don't know."
"No, what," Hermione said, jumping at the sign that he might have held something back, "you were going to say something."
"I thought it was a phase," he said after a moment's hesitation, making sure to avoid Hermione's penetrating gaze which was sure to get even more unpleasant at his words.
"A four year phase, Ron?" Hermione spat, "you do realize that my phase has lasted longer than any continuous relationship that you've ever had?"
Ron nearly winced again. Hermione had hit him where she knew that it hurt, probably more than anything else. He was now the only Weasley child not married or engaged to be married, and that was weighing on him on top of the rest of the factors involved in his reaction to Hermione and Ginny's engagement.
"Not for you, of course," Ron backtracked, "I've never doubted that you were a lesbian. At least not since, you know, you snogged Ginny out in the kitchen. Really, I mean, you're as gay as they come. No question about it."
Hermione didn't say anything and just stared at Ron for a moment. A small part of her was enjoying making him squirm, but she was mostly just annoyed at his incredible capacity for talking himself into a corner.
"If I'm a raging lesbian, then how is it that my dating Ginny is a phase?" Hermione asked.
Ron rubbed the back of his head and dropped his hand down by his side, clearly reluctant to go down the road that he was about to go down. It wasn't that he cared about avoiding conflict; he and Hermione argued on a regular basis. He just had a hard time articulating what he intended to say without fear of getting some very precious parts of his anatomy hexed off. While his brothers may have found Hermione a less threatening partner for Ginny, Ron knew better. Hermione could be a force to be reckoned with, moreso than most wizards he knew.
"I really thought it would just be a phase for Ginny because, quite frankly, her attention doesn't stay on one thing for all that long. Especially when she has an alternative that she's shown interest in. I mean, as far as I know, she's only ever been with you for girls, and she's dated a lot of men," Ron explained.
Hermione did not react explosively, as Ron feared she might. As a matter of fact, she hardly reacted at all. Her gaze, though still penetrating, softened a bit and seemed almost sad. That exact issue had been one of the few sources of tension in her relationship with Ginny. Though there was no doubt that Ginny loved and was commited to her, Hermione was occasionally bothered by Ginny's flightiness and worried that she might lose interest at any moment. It was an irrational fear, Hermione realized, and every time it came up Ginny, got frustrated that Hermione didn't trust her. So when Ron made reference to what was a sensitive issue, Hermione didn't know how to react.
Before she could say anything, Ginny stuck her head in the doorway. When she caught sight of Hermione and Ron's posture, she knew that they must be discussing the engagement.
"Is everything alright in here?" Ginny asked, looking pointedly at Ron.
Hermione whirled around, noticing Ginny's presence in the room for the first time. She struggled with whether or not to involve Ginny in the conversation before deciding against it.
"No, everything's just fine, love," Hermione said, flashing Ginny a quick smile, "I'll be right out."
Ginny looked from Ron to Hermione for a moment. It was clear that everything wasn't fine, and that Hermione might at any moment either scream at or hex Ron. Hermione, however was also making it abundantly clear that she did not want Ginny to intervene. Ginny couldn't understand why that was; she would have to ask Hermione later. So, even though she didn't buy Hermione's smile for one moment, Ginny decided to play along. She nodded and quickly excused herself from the room, claiming that she wanted to grab some treacle tart before Harry devoured it all, which wasn't really a lie.
When Ginny was out of the room, Hermione turned quickly to Ron again, who appeared relieved that Ginny hadn't been involved in the conversation. That relief, however, was short lived.
"I didn't do that for you," Hermione said coolly, "now you have that ridiculous phase idea out of your head, correct?"
Ron nodded, mostly because it didn't seem like he had much of a choice.
"And you don't intend to ever bring it up in front of your sister, am I also correct in that assumption?" Hermione asked, to which Ron again agreed. "Good, because I don't see Ginny taking kindly to that kind of theory."
"Hermione, you're honestly making a big deal out of something that wasn't that big a deal," Ron said, unnerved by the threatening undertones in Hermione's voice, "I was just being honest."
With that, Hermione came as close as she had all day to losing her cool, but instead responded calmly, moreso than in any of her previous interactions.
"Maybe so," she said, "but I was certainly hoping to have more supportive friends. When you tell a friend, someone you've nearly died for, that you're engaged, they should be excited, or at least pretend to be. It shouldn't be as though I have to convince you to be happy for me."
Hermione's restained response, which sounded almost like a plea, made Ron feel worse than if she had berated him. He could argue and struggle against a combative, angry Hermione, but not this disappointed Hermione. Ron let her down, he knew that. He honestly wanted to be thrilled and completely supportive of her and Ginny. He had tried and tried, but could not get use to the idea of Ginny dating, let alone dating women. He convinced himself that they wouldn't stay together, despite the increasingly obvious signs that they had fallen madly in love.
"I'll try to, um, do better," Ron said, then added in his own defense, "it's not easy, you have to understand that. It's not as though I can just get rid of how I feel."
Hermione sighed gave Ron a half smile. While it was not the kind of reaction that she would have liked, it was all that she could hope for. She laughed ruefully before responding to him.
"I know," she said, a hint of exhaustion and disappointment in her voice, "that's probably why I feel the way I do right now."
"What way, how do you feel?" Ron demanded. He hated it when she got purposely cryptic on him, and she knew that.
"Nothing, forget about it," Hermione said, as though she was losing interest in the conversation, "I think I'll go get some dessert now."
Before Ron could respond, Hermione turned around and left the study for the backyard.
A/N-So, there you have it, Ron's reaction. I know there wasn't much Ginny, but I'll be getting more into Ginny's perspective later in the story.
What does everyone think of Ron's reaction? Was it what you expected?
Reviews are lovely. Yeah, I have no clever analogy this time, just a humble request for some feedback in the form of a review. :o)