Chapter Seven:
Ron apparated straight to the Leaky Cauldron. He pulled open the door, and greeted Tom the Bartender warmly, while waving at someone he recognized from Hogwarts across the room. They didn't seem to recognize him.
He sat down at the bar, and ordered a Firewhiskey, still smiling. After downing his first drink, he felt like he was being watched. He turned around in his seat, and looked around at the room. There was a couple in the corner, and their lips were locked, hands running all over each other. Ron grimaced, remembering his antics in sixth year, before moving on. He saw the woman he'd waved to across the room still looking at him in confusion, and assumed it was her.
But as he was turning around to the bar, he saw a mess of curly brown hair farther down the row. The girl there had her face nearly covered with her arms and a butterbeer on the counter in front of her, a book on her lap. He stared at her for a second and when she raised her head and looked at him over her arm, blue eyes meet brown.
Ron felt stupid for not immediately recognizing her, and he slammed his drink down on the counter. He hopped straight out of his bar stool, and strode over to her. She was trying to gather her bag off the back of her chair when he reached her, and Ron, feeling immensely freed and powerful, seized her arm and forced her back into the chair.
"Hermione Granger," he said. She stared up at him with angry eyes, but he watched in amusement, and confusion, as they seemed to glaze over as he looked at her. She was breathing a little irregularly and he dropped her arm, afraid that he was hurting her. To his surprise, she didn't even try to leave.
"I am sorry for what happened between us. I know that's probably not enough right now, and that we'll have to discuss it later, but I miss having you as a friend. My whole life has begun again over the course of just a month, and I want you by my side, like it was at Hogwarts and during the war. I want my best friend back, and I want to forgive and forget. I want a second chance at my adult life… and with you." He paused, feeling as if he'd said too much, but wanting to continue. But he just took a step back and decided to let Hermione answer.
She stood up, and Ron was worried that she was going to storm away and ruin his perfect day, but instead, he felt her thin arms wrap around his waist as she stood on her tip toes and hugged him, resting her chin on his shoulder. He was stiff and awkward at first, but he relaxed quickly.
He'd convinced her to forgive him, and Ron felt genuinely happy for the first time in a long time.
"I missed you," she whispered, and Ron hugged her tighter.
When she pulled away he grabbed her hand and asked her to visit everyone at the burrow. She smiled, and nodded, but as Ron pulled her out of the pub, he failed to notice the small pool of water in her eyes.
He turned on the spot outside of the pub, thinking of home, and wondering what everyone would say. He'd won her back, and he felt like it was just another sign pointing in the direction of his new life… cheesy as it sounding in his mind.
He landed on his toes outside of the gate, and looked to Hermione beside him. She had a hand on her face, but pulled it away quickly when she saw him looking at him. Ron disregarded this.
"Ready?" he asked her.
She laughed a little, to which Ron felt something bubble in his stomach, and said, "Ron, I've been around here a little more often than you have, at least, before a month ago."
The strange bubbling in his stomach turned to guilt when she said that, but he just looked at her with casual interest. She seemed to realize then that he was still holding her hand, and she dropped it quickly.
Then she turned away from him and walked slowly across the lawn. Ron watched her for a moment, before following, and he was surprised when she walked inside without knocking. That seemed very un-Hermione.
He heard Ginny say, "Hermione!" as he walked onto the porch, and when he walked inside he found them hugging.
Harry hugged Hermione after Ginny, and then they stood side by side, grinning as they told Hermione about the baby.
Hermione squealed and hugged Ginny again, though more carefully than before. At that moment, his mother walked into the room with Bill and George in her wake. They all hugged Hermione and Ron felt left out as George put a hand on Hermione's head and messed up her hair. She laughed and smiled at the room, though Ron could tell she purposely hadn't looked at him.
"Shall we go into the kitchen?" Molly asked, gesturing at the door. "Dinner will be ready fairly soon." They all followed her into the kitchen, and Ron found himself entering behind Hermione. She stumbled a little on an upturned corner of a rug, and Ron instinctively stuck out his arm for her to grab.
He watched as her face grew a little red and she muttered a quiet "Thank You", before she hurried all the way into the room. Ron stood and placed his elbows on the counter, and Harry stood on his left, while Ginny made a point of leavingan empty spot on his right. Hermione however, had already seated herself on the counter with her feet dangling over the edge. Normally, he knew from experience, his mother would have shooed anyone off of the counter, but today he watched as she laughed at something Hermione said, and asked her to taste whatever she was making. It seemed as those it was Hermione's spot in the room.
A short amount of time passed in quiet chit chat among everyone at the burrow, but a silence seemed to fall quickly over the room when Harry spoke to Ron the first time that night.
"So, did you make a decision?"
Ron nodded, and looked around the room. All eyes were on him, including Hermione's and he watched as she tilted her head a little to the side, as if in puzzlement.
"Well?" Harry said. Ron gulped, though he wasn't sure why he was nervous. He looked out of the window behind his mothers head as he said, "I'm going to divorce her."
He heard George whoop, and Ginny giggle happily, but Harry just nodded, as did his mother. Hermione however, looked him right in the eyes, and said, "Di-Divorce? You're going to divorce L-lavender?"
Ron nodded, but saw Hermione's jaw drop and then he was just as confused. "No one told you?" he asked her.
Hermione shook her head and looked in Ginny's direction. Ginny was looking very intensely at her husband's forehead and Ron almost laughed as Harry rubbed his head as if expecting to find something unusual there.
Ron sighed, before turning back around to Hermione and explaining. "She cheated on me," he said, but the word cheat caught a little in his throat. "With the Ferret."
He watched as the brown in Hermione's eyes lightened a little, and her pupils darkened. There was a striking difference between the center of her eyes and the outer edge, and Ron forgot to breathe for moment.
But he looked away from her and just nodded. His mother caught his eye and smiled at him, and there was something strange in her eyes, something he hadn't seen look so strong in her since the end of the war.
It was relief.
Soon after, they were all crowded around the table. There was an empty spot for Arthur at the head of the table, as he was still at work.
Ron had not been surprised to find that he was seated right next to Hermione, with Harry barricading his way out on his other side. Harry kept scooting his chair farther in Ron's direction, to which Ron came even closer to Hermione. He was trying in vain to keep from looking at her, but as he'd watched his family congregate with her in their midst, he'd realized a lot had changed over the past few years. Hermione really did seem to belong there, and she chatted animatedly with his family, though she avoided his gaze.
He hoped they could get over all that had happened, and be comfortable as they once had been, back when they'd been the best of friends. He recognized many of the old characteristics of her, like her ability to sit very straight in her chair, and the way she held onto her fork tightly. But he also noticed that she seemed to smile differently, more reserved. And there was something sad, and forbidding, deep in her eyes.
Just then, his father walked into the door and saw the crowd at the table. "Evening all!" he said, before sitting quickly down in his chair. After looking at the table for a minute, however, he seemed to realize they had a guest and stood up. "Hermione," he said matter-of-factly, almost as if she had always been there, and he kissed her on the check.
"Hi, Mr. Weasley," she said, grinning at him.
This made Ron feel even more left out.
Arthur threw his hat onto a hook on the wall, and laid his wand down at the table beneath it before sitting back down at the table. Molly grabbed him a platter and began to heap food onto his plate, and he began to eat ravenously.
Hermione muttered something like, "Weasley Men," very low under her breath, and as Ron looked around the table at all his brothers, he realized they did all eat as if for their last time, except for Percy of course. He ate very properly.
Ron couldn't help but chuckle at this comment, and then he ate a little more slowly. He was watching Harry kiss Ginny on the forehead and pat her stomach softly, when he heard someone clear their throat at the opposite end of the table.
"It's good to have the family back together," said Molly, raising her glass in a toast. Ron had a feeling she wasn't just referring to him.
The rest of dinner passed uneventfully, except for a moment when both Ron and Hermione reached for the same platter, and their hands brushed. Her hand was soft and warm and his went clammy for a moment. He muttered an apology and handed the platter to her. When she was done she gave it to him, and he distractedly heaped more green beans and pasta onto his plate.
After dinner, they all retired to the living room again, and Ron breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione sat far away from him. They'd been apart too long for them to pick up their friendship so easily, though he wished it could be that way.
Hermione and Ginny were talking about baby names as Harry listened intently, and his parents were talking quietly. George and Charlie were both leaning over a game of Wizard Chess, and Ron chuckled a little when he saw the look on Percy's face as a black piece was destroyed.
He leaned back into his chair, and watched the sun set through the window. He didn't realize he was exhausted until he felt his lids begin to droop and the world fell slowly away.
Ron awoke to some quiet mumbling in the room. He kept his eyes closed, his body still tired, and he felt that this was a conversation he might, secretly, want to hear.
He heard Ginny say, "So, you just gave in?"
He heard Hermione reply, "I couldn't stay away any longer Ginny. The past month has been lonely, trying to avoid him. I mean, he kept coming back to Flourish and Blotts to find me, and if I'd known about Lavender I would have… well, I'd have for- accepted him much more easily."
Ron wondered what she'd meant to say instead of accepted, but forgot when he heard Ginny speak again.
"Hermione…" she said, and Ron could feel the level of tension rise a bit around him, "Don't get… attached so easily. You know… You're both… well… Recovering I would say, though you've been… Never mind. Just remember that you've both been through a lot."
Ron heard Hermione snort. "Both of us," she muttered, and then he heard Hermione get up. He opened his eyes just a fraction of a centimeter, and saw Hermione looking out of the dark window, while Ginny watched her apprehensively from the couch. Harry sat next to Ginny, though Ron hadn't heard him say anything at all. The moment passed in silence, before Hermione turned back around.
"I should be going," she said, and Ron closed his eyes and tried to breathe peacefully, because he knew Hermione missed nothing. He heard Ginny and Harry get up, and they all walked out onto the porch. After Ron heard the door slam loudly, he sat up and wondered what to make of the conversation. He decided he was too tired to think about anything.
He stood up and teetered on the front of his toes. Regaining his balance quickly, he wondered what to do, but he felt that he had to say goodbye to Hermione, just to make sure she knew he'd enjoyed having her back: Which he had, though they hadn't said much to each other.
He decided the best way was to pretend the door had woken up, and follow them out onto the porch. He opened the door and saw Ginny whispering something to Hermione, to which Hermione giggled and Harry frowned. The atmosphere was definitely more peaceful then.
They all turned around as the door swung shut behind Ron, and he said as confidently as he could, "You all leaving already?" He spoke to all of them, but he really only cared about Hermione.
Harry and Ginny shook their heads, but Hermione nodded.
"I have work tomorrow," she said, smiling just a little. She seemed to want to say something else, but she didn't and so Ron said, "All right. It's really good to see you… Hermione."
She nodded, and grinned a little more genuinely. Bu then the smile disappeared, and she said, "I'm really sorry for your… loss."
It took Ron a moment to realize she was talking about Lavender, but when he did, he shook his head. "Don't be," he said. "I should've never-"
"Well, I have to go," Hermione said, interrupting him, as if she couldn't bear to hear anymore. "I'll see you guys soon."
She half ran, half walked to the gate before dissaparating and Ron sighed. Harry and Ginny looked at each other, before leaving him alone on the porch. And so Ron sat back down in his chair, where he'd been less than 24 hours before, and watched a cloud scuttle away from the moon.
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A/N:
Wow!!! That's the longest chapter I've ever written, and I actually really liked it!!
Review and tell me what you think!!!!!!