Sorry that I didn't get to update on Tuesday like I usually do :(! I just moved to a new apartment, and out internet didn't get hooked up until now. I won't lie, 5 days without internet is probably my worst form of torture -_-! But here I am with the latest update!
This is a lengthy chapter. It might even be a bit too long. Sorry about that! I couldn't decide where to end the chapter, but I am satisfied with my decision. There's a lot less angst in this chapter, but the next one will have more so don't get used to it!
I'd also like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! It means a lot to me and I love to hear your guys' opinions on my writing. It also helps me steer the direction of the story towards what you guys want, so I'd appreciate if you continued to review!
Enjoy! :)
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Chapter 9:
Hermione awoke from her sleep much earlier than usual. She quickly hopped out of bed and ran into the loo with a fresh change of clothes to start her morning routine. After ten minutes of fighting with her hair, she decided to just put it in a braid for the day and walked back over to her bed to grab her book-bag. She picked it up and flung it over her small shoulder, the weight of her many books weighing her down, and then quietly left the dorm so not to wake her dorm-mates.
She solemnly walked down the stairs to the common room, her eyes tired from the lack of sleep she had gotten the night before. Slumping over to the sofa in front of the fire and letting her bag fall to her feet, she slammed down into the sofa, crossed her legs, folded her arms across her chest, and tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling.
She couldn't say she was surprised that she was down there before Harry. She was always the early one, or at least on time, but she still hoped that Harry hadn't forgotten their agreement to meet down in the common room earlier than everyone else, and that he was simply late again.
She let out a sigh with her eyes still kept on the high ceiling above her. It had only been a couple minutes since she had sat down, but her nerves couldn't take much more anxiety and waiting. Her patience was wearing thin as she drummed her fingers on her elbows and began to swing her foot in circles at the end of her ankle.
Her mind was wandering again as she thought about how Harry's conversation with Ron could have gone the night before. As far as she saw it, there were two possible outcomes: Ron would have a good explanation for why he had instructions for Unforgivable Curses and lethal poisons in his trunk, or Ron would have a bad reason for having those in his trunk.
Obviously she was hoping he would have a good explanation, but she knew there might be a tiny chance that he wouldn't. She hated to admit it, but after talking with Harry and thinking it over the night before, Harry's Death Eater suspicions seemed entirely possible until proven otherwise. As much as she wanted to believe that Ron would never do that to Harry, the evidence was more than enough to at least be suspicious.
She wasn't sure what she would do if Harry came down and told her that he had confirmed Ron to be a Death Eater. She would like to be able to say that she would have nothing to do with anyone of the sort, but she knew deep down that if it was Ron, it would be different. She would probably try to convince him that what he was doing was unethical and to come back onto their side. And if he were to refuse, she'd have to find a way to let go of her feelings for him and their history together, no matter how much she didn't want to. Because she couldn't have any part of something she had always been against, not even for Ron.
Just when she was at her wit's end waiting for her friend to come down from his dorm and tell her what Ron had said, she heard soft footprints coming down the stairs behind her. Flinging her heard forward and turning in her seat, she felt her body flush with relief at a smiling Harry Potter walking towards her.
He started to jog over to the sofa, a grin from one ear to the next plastered on his face. He was smiling. As far as Hermione was concerned, that had to mean what he had to say would be good. The sight of his smile was enough to send all her troubles and worries rushing out the nearest window and she grinned back at him as he finally reached her and jumped over the back of the sofa, landing into the spot beside her.
"Fantastic morning we're having today, isn't it?" Harry beamed, the seat still bouncing slightly from the impact of him landing on it.
Hermione couldn't help her own grin from growing at the sight him. "Well, that depends on what it is you have to tell me," she said with a slight tone of sarcasm. She could tell already that it was good news.
Harry chuckled and then clapped his hands together. "Well, you'll be happy to know that Ron has no idea why those papers were in his trunk or whose they are."
Hermione's smile then disappeared and her brow furrowed. "So, he said he didn't know anything about them then? No reason for why they were in his trunk?" She was slightly confused as to why Harry would be so pleased with that response from Ron.
"Exactly!" he shouted, looking as happy as a child in a sweets shop.
Hermione could only stare at him in astonishment. Harry continued to smile at her, evidently hoping for her to be as happy as him, but his smile soon faded at the realization that she wasn't as happy about it.
"What's the matter? I thought you'd have been ecstatic to hear that," he said, his face now filled with just as much confusion as Hermione's.
"Well, I mean, you're so excited about him not knowing anything about them, but… don't you think that's just a little bit, too easy? A little peculiar? He didn't even give you a good reason for why they would be there. He just denied it." Hermione could feel her heart sinking at her own words. It seemed as though she was now more suspicious of Ron than Harry was. Either that, or Harry wasn't strong enough to face the reality that his best friend could very well be a Death Eater and was just willing to accept any answer to prove otherwise... which was exactly what Hermione had promised herself she wouldn't do.
"Well, I had the same train of thought when he first denied it," Harry responded sadly, his head lowering to look at his lap. "When he realized I didn't believe him, the expression on his face alone was enough to make my heart drop into my knees, honestly." Hermione could feel her heart breaking again at Harry's words. It was especially difficult to see him in so much emotional pain, and hearing him talk about it made it that much worse. He wasn't prone to talking about things like this, so she knew it was especially painful for him.
"It was unbearable, Hermione," he continued. "By far one of the worst things I have ever experienced, to see so much pain in his eyes. He was so hurt and so… angry" he said, suddenly smiling to himself at the last word and lifting his head back up to meet Hermione's now bewildered gaze.
Hermione's eyebrow arched on her forehead as she cocked her head a little to the side and eyed Harry. "And his hurt and anger makes you… happy?" she asked, bemusement seeping out of every word.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, the grin now back on his face. "You should have seen how upset he was when he thought I was implying that he might have been keeping the curses in his trunk for his own personal use. Obviously I felt terrible for having to put him through that, and I still do, but then he went on about how much it hurt to hear that come from me, that I would question whether or not he would kill after everything we had been through and all our years together, and I could tell that he genuinely cared about our friendship and about me. That alone was enough to make me certain. Ron had nothing to do with these papers."
Hermione could only blink at him in response. Sure, the whole realization that Ron truly cared for him was sweet and all, but was it really enough to clear Ron of something so serious? Or was Harry reading too much into a simple reaction from Ron?
Harry, realizing that Hermione wasn't yet convinced, let out a loud sigh and then bowed his head again. "Look," he started, taking one of her hands in his and raising his head to meet her stare. "I know it sounds completely absurd to that giant, logical brain of yours, but you have to trust me. This was a kind of hurt I had never seen in Ron before. If he was working against me or was part of the Death Eaters in any way, he wouldn't care so much about our friendship. He wouldn't be that hurt about me implying he would be able to kill. He would have just come up with some stupid sort of excuse and we would have had to investigate it to make sure it was honourable. But I'm certain that he's not involved in any of it. I don't need any reason for why they were there. All I know is that Ron is not behind it. I don't know who would be, but it's not him."
Hermione took in everything he said as she listened and stared into his pleading eyes. She had never gone wrong before from trusting Harry. And he had been especially, for lack of a better word, paranoid lately. If he could trust Ron, then surely she could. She certainly wanted to… more than anything. The logical side of her would definitely struggle with it for a while, as she had fully expected Harry to come down and tell her all about Ron's reasonable excuse for having the papers in his trunk. But she would just have to convince herself that she could trust Harry's judgement and this time would need no explanation. If a simple reaction from Ron was enough to clear his name in Harry's eyes, it would be enough for her. After all, Harry knew Ron better than anyone. It was the reason for why she had gotten sucked up in his suspicions against Ron, and now she would let it be the reason for why they should stop suspecting him.
She finally nodded her head in agreement and gave Harry a small smile as a flush of relief filled his face. "Alright, Harry. I trust you. If you say he had nothing to do with it and don't need any more proof, I will believe it." Harry grinned and nodded back excitedly, bringing her into a quick hug before breaking apart again.
Hermione smiled back at him, a comfort and relaxation sweeping through her that she hadn't been able to feel since Harry had first brought up the whole Death Eater situation last night. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard for her to forget about this all and put her focus back into the good things she had experienced with Ron over the past week, rather than the bad.
It was then that she was reminded that Harry had said Ron was angry with him. Did that mean he was angry with her as well? After all, she had jumped on board Harry's train of paranoia with him. If he was upset with Harry, surely he would be upset with her as well. Everything they had worked on in their friendship over the past week would certainly be ruined.
"So, you said Ron's upset then?" she asked awkwardly, not really sure how to work in what it was that she really wanted to ask.
Harry winced at her question. Despite his relief and his happiness, she knew he would be feeling incredibly guilt about the whole situation. Harry was very well known for feeling guilty about causing people pain and suffering. It was one of the things that made him the good person that he was. Having personally hurt Ron, of all people, in any way, must have been agony for him.
"Yeah," he replied sadly, a frown now overtaking the smile that was once drawn all over his face. "Yeah, 'fraid so. He ended up storming upstairs to our dorm. Said that if I had to question whether or not he would kill someone that maybe we weren't as close as he thought, and that I wouldn't have needed to ask if I was really his friend. And he's right, of course. I shouldn't have needed to ask."
"So what are you going to do about that?" asked Hermione in a sympathetic tone. Her and Ron had had their falling outs before, and it had become quite normal for them to be in a bit of a spat over the years, but Ron and Harry almost never argued. And this was worse than any other argument that her and Ron had shared, so she wasn't sure how Harry would handle it all.
"Well, I tried apologizing last night, but he was so angry he wouldn't hear any of it. I thought I'd maybe try again after he had cooled down. I'll explain a bit better; tell him about what Malfoy said about there being a Death Eater amongst someone who I could trust and am close with and all that noise. I know it's not a good excuse, but I think he'll be able to understand little bit better about why I had my suspicions."
Hermione smirked to herself before responding. "Well, we both know how stubborn Ron can be. Me more than anyone. Are you sure he'll be so understanding?"
Harry chuckled under his breath at her comment, no doubt in agreement with how familiar she would be with Ron's stubbornness. "No, I'm not sure. I'll probably have to do a lot more apologizing, begging, and kissing-up than I'm used to. But, such is the consequences of being the world's biggest git."
"Well, I wouldn't say you were the biggest git," Hermione laughed. "But yeah, you were pretty bad."
Harry scoffed at her answer before laughing along with her. "Alright, I'll take that. I certainly haven't been the greatest friend, that's for sure." His amusement was fading again as he drifted off into space with his thoughts.
"Well, I haven't exactly been the best friend to him either. I was on that bandwagon with you, don't forget," she said sadly, guilt flowing through her as she thought more and more about what they had put Ron through.
"Well, to be fair it was me who put the idea in your head," he said in response. He then eyed her suspiciously and gave her a knowing smile before adding quietly, "And you don't have to worry about Ron hating you. I didn't tell him anything about our conversation. As far as I'm aware, he doesn't know that you were in on this."
Hermione smiled back and once again felt relief flush through her. "Thanks," she said quietly, a slight blush stinging her cheeks under his knowing stare. At least now she would be able to put this behind her much easier than Harry would be able to. And all the progress between her and Ron's relationship wouldn't be completely wasted. She regretted having ever suspected him, but it was bliss to know that things wouldn't have to change between her and Ron.
The sound of soft footsteps coming down the stairs was then all that could be heard, and Harry turned his head to see who it was. Hermione looked over his shoulder and bit her lip at the sight of fiery-red hair in the distance. Ron was trotting down the stairs, his head to the floor and his hands in his pockets.
Harry turned back around to face Hermione with a guilty look as Ron ignored them and made his way for the portrait hole with a relatively irritated look expression of his own. She and Harry both looked to their side when he walked past them and each gave him a smile. He didn't acknowledge either of them.
"Mornin', Ron," said Harry, a forced cheer to his voice. Ron continued to ignore him and kept walking, his eyes remaining in front of him the entire time.
"Morning, 'Mione," he said casually in return, refusing to meet Harry's gaze as he continued walking towards the exit.
The obvious shunning of Harry made her feel very uncomfortable, but she felt she should answer nonetheless. "Morning," she replied quietly, feeling very put off by the awkwardness of the whole situation. She quickly turned back to Harry and gave him an apologetic smile as she watched him wince in Ron's direction.
"Looks like he's still pretty mad. Maybe now isn't the best time to talk to him," he said quietly, his face still full of guilt and sadness.
Hermione nodded in agreement. If there was one thing she knew about Ron better than Harry, it was how to sort out altercations. Going off of Ron's current mood, she would have to agree that he would still be pretty difficult to get through to. She watched sadly as Ron neared the portrait hole before Harry's voice pulled her out of her thoughts again.
"Maybe you should go catch up with him," he said, giving her a small smile as she turned to look at him with raised eyebrows.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked, not wanting to abandon him completely.
Harry nodded and smiled again. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Besides, I'm sure he's in a worse mood than I am right now. And I can just wait down here for Ginny to come down. You go with him for now. I'll find a good time to talk to him soon."
Hermione nodded back at him, deciding he was right. "Alright, well I'll see you later, okay? If you need to talk come find me while Ron is in detention tonight, alright?"
Harry smiled and nodded again as she stood up and grabbed her bag. She gave him a small wave and jogged over to the portrait hole just as Ron was walking through it. She quickly followed him through and he turned to see who it was that had followed him. She was relieved to see him give her a friendly smile when he saw it was her, and she smiled politely back.
"Care for some company?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Sure," he answered, looking much happier to see her now than he had been when he had passed by her and Harry a moment ago. "Some good company would be perfect right now, actually," he added with a small roll of his eyes. "I'm just on my way to breakfast if you feel like joining me."
Hermione could tell just by that remark that he would not be in the mood to talk with Harry for a while, and she appreciated Harry for not telling him that she had gone along with the suspicions even more. She decided that playing dumb to his and Harry's argument would be best for now.
"So, I take it something happened between you two then?" she asked casually, hoping he wouldn't read through her. She hated lying to him, but this had to be better than him being just as mad at her as he was Harry.
"You could say that, yeah," he said quietly as they started walking down the hall. "He didn't tell you?"
Hermione gave him an innocent look with arched eyebrows as she shook her head. "Tell me what?"
"Well apparently my best friend doesn't trust me. At all. Some friend he turned out to be…" he said crudely, a mixture of both anger and sadness prominent in his voice.
"Doesn't trust you?" Hermione questioned, feeling more and more guilty knowing that she had placed that same mistrust into him last night.
"Nope. No trust at all. After years of friendship and everything I've been through with him, I don't even deserve a little bit of certitude. But I don't really feel like talking about it now, if that's alright?" he asked with as much politeness as he could muster given his mood. "I've been thinking about it all night and morning and I'd rather think about something else for a while."
Hermione nodded as a sign of understanding. She could only imagine what he could be feeling right now. His best friend practically accused him of murder. Maybe not directly, but accusing someone of using curses intended for murder was practically one in the same. She felt more conscience-stricken than ever before. How could her and Harry have ever let themselves get caught up in all this nonsense? This was still Ron, they were talking about. And from the amount of pain and hurt that she could currently see behind his eyes, she completely understood what Harry had been talking about when he said he could now be certain Ron was never behind any of it.
Ron gave her a thankful smile and looked down at the ground, his hands still in his pockets. "So, err… what did you do last night? You know, after I went to detention and all?" he asked casually, trying to make conversation.
"Oh," she said, slightly surprised, yet happy, that he cared enough to ask. "Well, nothing really. Just, the same old stuff..." She was trying to avoid telling him that she had spent any time talking with Harry.
"Right," he said with a slight chuckle as he lifted his head back up to look where he was walking ahead of him. "I know what that means."
"You do?" she responded nervously, hoping that he didn't.
"Of course," he replied matter-of-factly as he smiled back at her. "As far as I'm concerned, 'same old stuff' with you means studying or reading, most likely in either the common room or the library, depending on the volume level of the people around you."
Hermione's eyebrows rose at how accurate his answer was. Given normal circumstances, it sounded exactly like what she would be doing on an evening with nothing else to do. The idea of Ron knowing her so well gave her a delightful feeling inside, and she couldn't help but blush under his stare as they continued winding down the hallways. His smile grew into a rather amused and smug one as he chuckled at her blush.
"Hit it right on the nail, did I?" he laughed.
"Well, that does sound exactly like me," she replied, smiling back up at him.
He chuckled again at her apparent disbelief. "Well don't sound so surprised," he added sarcastically.
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A few days had passed since Ron and Harry had had their spat, and Ron was growing increasingly depressed with what had happened between them. It was bad enough that Harry had accused him of holding some of the darkest magic in the entire wizarding world, but to make matters worse, Ron actually found himself craving Harry's company.
He had been absolutely livid with him a few days ago, and he was certain that wasn't an over-dramatic reaction after what Harry had said, but now he was just sad about not having his best friend. He was unhappy about not having Harry around, and that was possibly more frustrating than Harry himself right now. The fact that he missed Harry after the amount of distrust and paranoia that clearly lived in Harry's half of their friendship was infuriating.
He wanted to be done with Harry Potter and his stupid mishaps, his stupid scar, and his stupid, dangerous adventures. But a larger part of him wanted to go back to late night chats in their dorm, summers at The Burrow, and being best friends again. He missed Harry. Even after Harry had proven himself to be one of the most terrible friends ever a few days ago, Ron still wanted him back. It was an annoying and depressing concept.
He'd never admit it to anyone though, not even Hermione, who had been some of his only company over the past couple of days. It had been Harry who was in the wrong, and Ron had every reason to be upset with him. What Harry had done was, as far as he was concerned, unforgiveable given the extent of their friendship. He wouldn't give in and just forget this ever happened. He wouldn't be the first one to make the move. This was Harry's doing, and if he wanted to be friends with Ron again he would have to fix this himself… if that was even possible.
Ron honestly wasn't sure if he would ever be able to forgive Harry, but he'd at least appreciate an effort. Harry had been avoiding him like The Plague, whatever that was… he had heard Hermione use the term before. It had been days since their argument, and Harry had made no attempt at an apology, or even a conversation about what had happened. To be fair, Ron had ignored every "Hello," "Good Morning" and "How ya' doin'?" that Harry had thrown at him, but that wasn't what Ron was interested in right now. He at least needed an apology before he'd even consider being friends with him again.
He had hoped Harry would have already approached him. Ron. Not that he was willing to forgive him yet, but he didn't think he could take much more of their situation. Ron. He missed Harry a lot and just wanted to see that he felt even a little bit terrible for what he had said. RON. But until then, he would have to try and not miss him so much and keep whatever dignity he had left. If there was one thing he could do better than Harry Potter, it was carryout an argument. RON! He had more than enough experience thanks to his arguments with Hermione over the years. He was stubborn, and he knew it, and he was fully prepared to ignore Harry as long as he had to, even if it meant not being friends with him forev-
"RON!" shouted Hermione, violently shaking him out of his thoughts. His eyes widened and he snapped his head to the left to see a worried Hermione staring at him through furrowed brows. He blinked rapidly and opened his mouth to question what it was that she was doing before he realized he must have been staring off into space.
Hermione's worry soon faded and she looked irritated. "What is wrong with you? Staring off into the fire and ignoring me like that! I thought you might have actually been having some sort of medical issue or something!" she snapped in a stern voice.
"Sorry, 'Mione" he pushed out innocently, slightly intimidated by her tone of voice. He couldn't afford to have her mad at him, since she was the only one he had been spending any time with over the past little while.
Her face softened at the use of the nickname exclusively reserved for his use, and her frown started to disappear. "It's fine," she said, her voice much more calm. "What were you thinking about?"
"Oh," he said, not really sure he wanted to share his thoughts with her. Normally he wouldn't have a problem with it, but the fact that he missed Harry after how he had treated him almost seemed pathetic. He caught her knowing stare, and could sense a lot of worry and compassion behind it as she looked at him with doe-like eyes, waiting for his response.
"Err, I was just thinking about everything that's been going on in the past couple days, I guess. You know, just stuff." He could feel his cheeks starting to blush, though he wasn't entirely sure why.
"Ah…" she replied in a quiet, apperceiving tone. She bit her lip before asking "Well, is there anything you want to talk about?"
Ron appreciated the concern and her want to help him, but he was still sure he didn't want to share this particular thought with anyone. He gave her a sweet smile before shaking his head. "No, I don't think so."
Hermione gave him a sad little frown before asking "You miss him, don't you?"
Well, so much for that. Apparently he was as transparent as his mum's freshly-cleaned windows back at the Burrow. Not really sure what to say, he simply nodded his head and looked down at his hands fiddling in his lap.
"Well, have you considered trying to work things out?" she asked.
Ron couldn't help but snort under his breath. "Yeah, I don't think things are that easy right now, Hermione," he said sadly, still a little annoyed with himself that she had been able to see through him. "It's gonna' take a lot to fix this." He kept his head down, not wanting to see Hermione's expression. He didn't feel like explaining himself anymore.
"Well, I don't know what it is that went on between you two," she said quietly as she turned in her seat to face him, "but what I do know is that Harry has been miserable for the past couple days. And I know you have been too. I can tell you miss him, Ron."
Ron lifted his head up to meet her knowing stare. Something about her eyes and the softness of her voice made him want to spill his guts out to her, but he was trying to hold it all back.
"How is that?" he asked. "That you can tell? Has it been that obvious? Because I'm kind of trying to be, you know, angry about it all," he said satirically with a half-hearted smile.
Hermione gave him a tiny, sympathetic smile. "Well, over the years, we've had our share of rows and arguments-"
"'Our share?' That's certainly putting it lightly," he said with a small chuckle.
Hermione clicked her tongue and tried to supress a smile before continuing. "Yes, well, anyways… over the years I've come to know your many moods. And this mood you've been in since your row with Harry… it's different. It's not like any we've ever had. You seem, more saddened by it than angry." She then smiled before continuing. "So no, you haven't been that obvious. I just know well enough based off my own personal experiences."
Ron couldn't help but smile at her last comment. They certainly had had enough arguments to last him a lifetime, although he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy watching her get all riled up over him. And he couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved that he wasn't as transparent as he thought. Apparently he was only transparent to her. The idea of her being able to gauge his thoughts without him having said a word was somewhat terrifying, but at the same time very comforting. It made him feel that much closer to her.
"Looks like you know me almost as well as Harry does," he finally said, a small smile still lingering on his face.
"Well, maybe not that well," she replied, a slight, pink blush filling her face. "But well enough, I suppose."
He smiled again at her embarrassment. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. We've been friends almost as long as Harry and I have been."
Hermione smirked and nodded back. "Yeah, almost. Do you remember back in first year? Before we were friends? You called me a-"
"A nightmare?" he cut in with a small laugh as he turned in his seat to face her and brought his legs up onto the sofa to cross them. "Don't remind me. I still feel like a git every time I think about it." He grinned as Hermione giggled at the memory. "Although, I have to say… you still are a nightmare, sometimes."
Hermione gasped in a mocking way and swatted him on the shoulder, the smile still stretching across her face. Ron laughed harder as he flinched at her playful slap. "Oi! It was just a joke, 'Mione!"
Hermione giggled at his flinching as she let her hands fall back in her lap. "I guess I'll admit I haven't been the easiest person to be around. And I suppose you did make up for it by saving me from that troll."
"Yeah, that's true. If it wasn't for Harry and I, you might not even be here today," he teased with an amused inflection. "Then who would have kept me company over the past couple days?"
Hermione rolled her eyes at his smugness. "Yes, well glad to know that's all I've been good for since then. Keeping you company over the past couple of days," she said sarcastically.
Ron chuckled and rolled his eyes back at her. "Well, maybe you've done more than that. I imagine I wouldn't have been able to pass all my classes without your homework help. I probably wouldn't be so good at arguing with my siblings without all the practice I've gotten off of you as well. And Harry and I would both probably be dead by now." He watched as she turned pink at his words, and he couldn't help but feel a bit cocky at being able to make her blush like that.
"I'm sure you both would have been fine," she said meekly. Ron could tell she was only being modest, though. It wasn't a secret that she was much smarter than both he and Harry put together, and she had bailed them out of more than one desperate situation.
"Nah, we'd be goners without you" he said sweetly as he took one of her small hands in his large ones, feeling unexpectedly emboldened by the shyness he had caused her. "Besides, it's always been the three of us…" He suddenly trailed off as he was reminded that their trio had been broken thanks to Harry's mistrust in him. "Well, was always the three of us…"
Hermione's smile disappeared and was instead overcome with a frown. "Yes, I miss that too…" she half-whispered as she started to nervously play with his fingers in her hands. "You know, Ron, whatever it is that's going on between you two, I'm sure if you took the time to talk it out with him you could find some common ground again. I can't stand to see you or him like this."
Ron watched as she played with his fingers, basking in the feeling of her touch. "I don't know if I can, 'Mione. I really don't know." The anguish he could see behind her eyes was similar to what he felt inside of himself, and it was then that it occurred to him that this conflict between him and Harry wasn't only going to affect the two of them. The whole dynamic of their friendship with Hermione was bound to change too.
The anguish in Hermione's eyes then changed to surprise as she turned her head to look at something behind him and bit her lip, gently pulling her hands out of Ron's. Ron furrowed his brow at the sudden change, and turned around to see what it was she was looking at.
He felt his heart sink as he laid eyes on Harry, giving them an awkward, apologetic smile.
"Sorry," he said fumblingly, "didn't mean to interrupt."
"Not a problem," Hermione said quickly. Ron remained silent as he watched Hermione squirm under the awkwardness of the situation.
Harry nodded. "Good," he said was friendly as possible. "Because I was actually hoping I could talk to Ron alone for a bit."
Hermione and Ron's eyes both widened at his words. "O-oh," Hermione stuttered. She quickly looked at Ron, evidently trying to search for his reaction.
Ron suddenly felt very pressured as Harry and Hermione were both waited for his answer. He could simply ignore Harry and walk off to his dorm like he had been doing for the past few days, or he could hear him out and see where that would get them. He looked at Hermione, who was still staring at him with sad eyes, waiting to hear his response. He already knew what she would want. She would want him to forgive Harry and have everything back to the way it was. He wanted that as well, but he wasn't sure he could do it. How could he be friends with someone who couldn't trust him?
He looked up at Harry, careful to keep a stern face so not to give Harry the impression that he had any interest in being his friend again, despite the fact that it was true. He stood up, and looked between his and Hermione's pleading eyes. He had to make his decision now: walk away and forget about Harry for good, or listen to what he had to say.
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Sorry about the cliff-hanger, but the chapter was already so long that I had to end it! You guys will just have to wait and see what Ron decides next week! :)
I added a little bit of Ron/Hermione fluff in there since it had been a while, but hopefully you guys approve of Hermione's decisions in this chapter. She's a very complex character to write for what with her logical brain and her compassion for others.
Don't forget to review! And the next chapter will be up next Tuesday as per usual. :)
-ArticulateFiction