Enjoy!

Ron spent the night at the Burrow. His mother, after forcing the whole story from Hermione's lips, had insisted they both stay to calm down. Hermione attended the baby-shower, as did Ron, but he could only last so long just sitting at the table under the tent.

He was still fuming, scared, and confused: He was dazed, and very unhappy. But most of all, he felt sorry for Hermione, and all that she had been through. As he watched her carefully from across the table, he could tell that she was just as upset as he was, but she was putting on a very convincing brave-face.

"Would you pass me the salt, Ron?" Luna asked airily, but he hardly heard her and stood up from the table, before striding quickly out of the tent.

"Wrackspurts," Harry whispered to Luna, reaching over Ron's vacant plate and handing it to her.

And so Ron spent the rest of the evening in his room, looking over the backyard.

….

It was after midnight when Ron, sitting on his bed in the dark and massaging his knuckles, heard his door crack open. Hermione crept into the room from the shadows, her feet bare and her cheeks pale in the moonlight. She just stood there in front of him, completely still, her eyes, for the first time in a while, free from tears.

"What's up?" Ron asked her, and it came out more angrily than he'd intended.

Hermione winced. "Can I sit down?" she asked him, and he nodded, before looking back out the window. He felt her weight on the bed beside him, but didn't turn around.

They'd been sitting in silence for at least ten minutes when Ron said, "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Hermione sighed. "I was scared of your reaction," she said, and then, laughing bitterly, she added, "I guess I was right to worry."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked.

"Come on, Ron. You disappeared into thin air moments after I told you, and didn't even give me a chance to expl-"

He cut her off, hopping to his feet angrily. "What explanation could there possibly be! You- " he paused, "Rough or not, you initiated it!"

Hermione stood up too: "If you'll just listen to me!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "It doesn't bother you that I had sex with someone, or that it scarred me, all you care about is that it was Malfoy!"

"Exactly, Hermione! That's my problem with it! Why in the world were you even talking to him that night?"

"I was lonely!" she shouted at him, her face growing red, even in the dark of the night. "You'd just been married, and I was devastated, especially since we hadn't even spoken for half a year! And I'd tried everything, work, friends, food, everything to try and distract myself but nothing worked! So I thought, I should just go get good and drunk, and maybe it would help! And there he was, sitting at the bar, someone I could take my anger out on without any justification, and he was paying for the firewhiskey! And he tricked me! He listened to me!"

"So, what you're saying is, you don't regret it at all?" Ron's voice rose so loud he was sure someone else would hear him, but he didn't care.

"Of course I regret it!" Hermione said. "I regretted it as soon as he touched me! But I was drunk Ron, and I felt dead anyway, so it hardly mattered to me at the time!"

Ron quieted down. "I still don't get it," he said, sitting back down on the bed, and putting his head in his hands. He glared at Hermione's from between his fingers.

"I've always loved you, Ron," Hermione said. "That's why."

Ron pulled his head up: "So you're blaming me?"

Hermione shook her head sadly. "No. It was still all my fault." She sat down on the bed with him again.

"I loved you Ron, as I still do now… But I loved you to the point of an obsession. You're all I ever thought about, even after…"

"After what?"

"Even after you told me that- that no one would ever feel that way about me… among other things. You know, back when we had that last argument."

Ron was stunned. He'd forgotten completely about that fight, and he'd had no idea what it was he'd said that had severed their relationship. But there it was, and he couldn't believe he'd ever said such a thing. Not only was it a downright lie- he was living proof, sitting next to her in the dark, trying to sort things out- but it was a disgusting thing to say.

Hermione smiled grimly at the horrified look on his face. "We both said terrible things that night," she said, shrugging sadly. "You just didn't let them stick with you."

Ron wanted to wrap his arms around her again, but he was still a little upset with her, so he settled with putting a hand on her knee.

That sat in silence once again, Hermione's hand on top of Ron's on her knee.

"I hope we can work through all this Ron," Hermione said, "without too much trouble. I- I love you… a lot."

Ron turned and smiled stiffly at her. "Yeah…" he said, massaging the nape of his neck with a calloused hand. She was over the threshold when he stood up: He had to tell her.

"I love you too, Hermione. A lot."

She smiled, and rubbed her neck in the way he'd just done. "Goodnight."

Phew... Glad I got that off my chest! Please Review. : )