Hermione Down Under

Chapter 5 Talking it Out

"Gerroffame!"

"W—what?" stammered Hermione, disoriented. They were still sitting in their seats in the rail car, but time seemed to have passed. The view out the window no longer showed cityscape but countryside, including some tree species that she had never seen before. Her body felt stiff, and her bum felt like it had been stuck in one position for a long time. She must have fallen asleep.

Ron, obviously, hadn't. His ginger hair was as wild as Harry's always was, and he was glaring at her.

"What's wrong, Ron?"

She realized afterwards that that was the wrong thing to ask. Ron was evidently the sort of person who couldn't fall asleep in a sitting position, and – she remembered from the tent – he got cross when he was physically uncomfortable. But by asking the question, she was forcing him to examine his frustrations.

"Wrong?" he repeated grumpily. "Lots of stuff. This was supposed to be a simple expedition, to rejoin your parents and fix the memories that YOU mucked up. Now we've got the Australian police after us, and I've lost my wand, and I haven't slept for nearly a day. And you were laying your head in my shoulder, as if I was a human pillow or something, so I couldn't move for fear of waking you up." He made the last sound like the ultimate imposition.

"Sorry."

"Is that how you and Harry started out?"

"Me and Harry?" Suddenly Hermione caught on, and turned red. "So THAT's what this is about. You said you'd forgiven us!"

"Yeah. Really picked the right moment, you two. I'd just lost my brother, and Tonks, and Lupin. For a while I thought I had lost Harry. I had just seen my mother kill somebody. Compared to that, what you two did in bed didn't seem to matter so much. But it does."

She gave a hasty look at the other passengers, but they were several seats away and did not seem to be listening. "Ron, I tried to get your attention for a couple of years, but you ignored me and kept chasing after Lavender-"

"Actually, Lavender rather chased me."

Hermione didn't want to get sidetracked into a discussion about Lavender Brown. "Whatever. My point is, you didn't have any claim on me. If you cared what I did, why did you walk out on us? It felt like Harry and I were against the universe, and even our best friend didn't believe in us."

"Me believe in you and Harry?"

"No. Believe in US – the three of us, our friendship, our love! The us that kept Voldemort from grabbing the Philosopher's Stone, found the Chamber of Secrets, rescued Sirius Black. We've done so much good together!"

There was a long silence, during which Hermione was terrified what thoughts might be going through Ron's mind. When he finally spoke, his voice was surprisingly soft.

"Yeah. There were two betrayals involved. Mine came first."

"What Harry and I did wasn't payback, Ron!" Hermione was frustrated that he might have misunderstood her motivations. "It was a matter of hormones and sexual curiosity, and it was stupid of us. After months hiding away, not speaking to a single soul outside our tent for fear that any leak would get to Voldemort, I don't think either of us were thinking too clearly." That was a huge admission for Hermione to make.

"Including me," Ron said ruefully. "I broke up the group, and the result was that I ran into Death Eaters and you two ran into Voldemort. And left you two with the weight of the world on your shoulders. It was all a mess."

"Not ALL a mess, because we did defeat Voldemort in the end."

"But still – all right, Hermione, I promise to stop obsessing about it. You forgave me for my desertion, I should forgive you what happened afterward."

"As long as we're being honest with each other. I'm glad we thrashed that out."

"Yeah, Harry hoped—" Ron hesitated.

"Harry hoped what?"

"He said he wanted us to get back together, and it would be easiest without him around."

"Do you think-?" There was a flutter of hope.

"I think we should not try to force the issue, Hermione. Concentrate on finding your parents, and on dodging the people who are after us."

"Right." That sliver was soon crushed and Hermione didn't feel any better.

On finally reaching Brisbane, Ron and Hermione checked into a hotel near the railway station. They were Helen and Robert Walker, newlyweds – Ron had thought it a good idea to preserve their initials so they wouldn't forget their aliases.

"OK," said Hermione, when they got to their room. "And I think we should get in the habit of using our aliases with each other, so we don't slip up later. I remember in the Ministry when I called Harry by his real name – It could have been disastrous if the situation weren't already mucked up."

"Good idea, um, Helen."

"And now for the sheep station."

She used directory assistance to get a phone number for the farm, then dialled it direct – they were going to run up phone charges again. When they answered, she put on her act. She was Helen Gordon Walker, bride from England (She didn't think she could fake an Australian accent convincingly). She was fascinated with the idea of going to a dude ranch for her honeymoon, but the place she had planned on was closed for the winter – she had forgotten the reversed seasons in the Southern Hemisphere, how silly of her. Could Sullivan Sheep Station take them at the last minute? She implied that if this choice didn't work out, she would cry.

The receptionist put her on hold, then finally came back on. Yes, they were open, and there were plenty of vacancies due to being off-season. They would make a couple of reservations for Mr. And Mrs. Walker.

Hermione hung up, and Ron looked at her in admiration. "Wow. I never realized that you could act so stupid, 'Helen'."

She snorted. "I guess that's a complement." Actually Hermione realized that she had been unconsciously channelling Lavender Brown, with that girl's invariable heart-on-the-sleeve. "Next stop, Sullivan Sheep Station. Hopefully, last stop."

TO BE CONTINUED