Ron's plan to feign acceptance of Hermione's situation worked far better than he'd ever anticipated. Everyone accepted his apologies at face value, and he was able to dismiss the fact he'd proposed to Hermione as a rushed gesture to try and make amends for the past. Of course, he knew his actions wouldn't be forgotten very quickly and he would have to work to establish that he'd accepted the changes since he'd been away.
Part of proving that he was accepting things was singing up for Auror training. Since Auror training tended to start in September, to accommodate students leaving Hogwarts, Ron had a short while to kick his heels before starting his training, but Molly had promised to ask George for some shifts in his shop, just to tide him over until he was earning a wage from the Ministry. Although given how little the wage was for an Auror trainee, Ron suspected he might have to work part time just to make ends meet, especially since he'd used most of his savings on a ring for Hermione.
Ron had considered taking the ring back to the jewellers and getting a refund, but since he still had hope that he and Hermione could be together, he didn't want to return the ring. Instead, he tucked it away in his bedside table, hopeful that one day it would grace the finger of the witch he loved. But before he could manage that, he had to find a way to save Hermione from the brute she'd somehow ended up married to.
Ron had fully expected it would take time to regain Hermione's trust and be in a position to help her escape from Malfoy, but it seemed fate was on his side as less than a week after he'd made his apologies, Ginny visited Molly for the afternoon and he heard her telling her mother that Harry was going away over the weekend on Auror business. When Ron had inquired about Draco, Ginny confirmed that he would be with Harry and neither of them would be back until Monday afternoon after leaving on the Friday morning.
Malfoy being gone for the whole weekend was an opportunity Ron knew he couldn't afford to miss, so he made plans as to how he would use that time to talk to Hermione and find a way to save her. Not that he thought that saving her was going to be easy, as first of all he had to get her to admit that she was trapped in marriage she didn't want, and he knew how stubborn she could be. More than likely she wouldn't want to admit she'd made such a huge mistake. But luckily for her, Ron wasn't about to give up on her.
By Friday, Ron had an idea of how he was going to approach Hermione, and he'd even roped an unwitting Molly into his plans. Over the course of the week he'd mentioned Hermione being alone a few times, and made remarks about how he'd never liked to cook for just himself while he'd been away. Just as he knew she would, Molly had taken the hints and decided to rustle up a few home cooked meals for Hermione to enjoy over the weekend. Then all Ron had to do was offer to deliver them to his former girlfriend on the Friday evening.
"Thank you so much for this, Ron," Molly said as she packed the meals she'd made into portable dishes and stacked them carefully in a magically reinforced shopping bag. "I know what Hermione's like. With Draco away she'll use the chance to do extra work, and she'll forget to eat. At least this way I know she's not going to make herself ill."
"It's my pleasure," Ron replied. "And I guess it'll show that I'm genuinely trying to make amends."
"We can all see that, Ron," Molly assured her son. "You were just a bit over enthusiastic when you returned. But it was an honest mistake and we can all see you're sorry."
Ron smiled at his mother, thrilled that his act was being believed so quickly. "After I'd dropped this off with Hermione, I'm going to meet some old friends. I think we're going to make a weekend of it, so I'm not sure when I'll be back."
"As long as I know you're not coming back tonight, then I won't worry," Molly said. Once upon a time she would have needed to know when exactly Ron was coming home, but with all her children now adults she'd learnt to accept they didn't have to keep her appraised of every move they made.
"Oh, I need Hermione's address," Ron reminded his mother.
Ron knew that when he'd first returned, his mother wouldn't have just handed over Hermione's address, but with his newfound change of heart, she didn't think twice about writing out Hermione's address and handing it to Ron, along with the name of the pub in the village where Hermione lived. Thanking Molly, and promising he would be careful, he left The Burrow, hoping that when he returned he would have Hermione by his side.
The name of the pub Molly had given him, led Ron to a beautiful looking village in the countryside. Even though he'd only ever been to Malfoy Manor in the midst of the war, he was fairly sure the village he was in would be somewhere close to the house where Draco had grown up. To be honest, he had half expected Molly to tell him that Hermione lived at Malfoy Manor. If that had been the case, all his plans would have fallen apart, but luckily for him, Hermione had been smart enough not to get sucked into living with her in-laws.
Wandering the streets of the village as he searched for Hermione's house, Ron decided it would be a pretty idyllic place to live. In fact, once he'd rescued Hermione from the clutches of her controlling husband, they could even think about finding somewhere to live in the village. Or if not this village, then one like it.
Happily making plans for the future, Ron eventually found the street where Hermione lived. Moving down the street he realised that the further he walked the bigger the houses were getting, and the further apart they were becoming. Eventually he reached the end of the road, and it came as no big surprise that the biggest house on the street belonged to the Malfoys.
"Flash git," Ron muttered to himself, cursing Malfoy for providing Hermione with such a fancy house. "I bet he's overcompensating for something," he added with a malicious smirk.
Amusing himself with the thought of Malfoy using his money to compensate for shortcomings in other areas, Ron headed towards the front door of Hermione's home. Wiping the smirk off his face, he rang the doorbell and stood back to wait for an answer. Given who Hermione was married to, he wasn't sure if a house elf would answer the door, but when it did open, it was Hermione who greeted him. It looked as though she hadn't long returned from work as she was wearing a form fitting black skirt and a silky emerald green blouse. However, her feet were bare and there was no sign of any jacket.
"Ron, what are you doing here?" she asked, clearly surprised to see him.
"Mum thought you might need some food for over the weekend while Malfoy is away," Ron replied, holding up the bag of food his mother had supplied.
"She really didn't need to do that," Hermione said with a smile.
"You know Mum, any excuse to fuss over the people she cares about," Ron chuckled. "The bag's pretty heavy, so do you want me to carry it to the kitchen for you?"
Ron had only made the offer as he wasn't sure if Hermione would have invited him in otherwise. Luckily for him, Hermione accepted the offer and she gestured for him to follow her through to the kitchen. Entering the house behind Hermione, Ron closed the door behind himself and swiftly added a locking charm that only he could break. He then followed Hermione past a cosy looking living room and towards the back of the house, where she led him into a large, shining kitchen, stuffed with all sorts of appliances he'd never seen before.
"I'll have to call around and thank Molly," Hermione said as she began to unpack the bag Ron had placed on the kitchen table. "Although there's so much here, I think I need to freeze some of it. When Draco comes home, we'll not need to cook for a month."
Ron chuckled along with Hermione as his gaze swept around the kitchen. Spotting Hermione's wand lying beside a cup she clearly been about to make a coffee in, he casually swiped it up and stuck it inside his jacket while Hermione's head was buried in the freezer. He then moved away from where her wand had been lying and offered to help.
"All done," Hermione replied, handing Ron the empty bag back. "Since you were kind enough to deliver it to me, the least I can do is offer you a drink. I would like us to be able to get along, Ron."
"That's all I want," Ron said, accepting Hermione's offer of a drink. He did worry that she might notice her missing wand, but she seemed oblivious as she made two cups of coffee and handed one to Ron. "I really am sorry about the display I put on last week," he offered, grimacing slightly as he recalled how he'd embarrassed himself. "I honestly don't know what got into me."
"It's done, and I think it's best forgotten about," Hermione replied diplomatically as she suggested they move to the living room. To be honest there was plenty they could both say about the incident, but if they ever wanted to truly move on she knew they needed to forget about it and put it behind them.
Moving through to the living room, Ron was distracted by a large wedding picture that hung above the fireplace, and as if his feet had minds of their own, he made his way towards the picture for a closer look. The picture was a smiling Hermione and Draco, surrounded by their friends, who were throwing confetti at the happy couple. The confetti swirling in the air gave the picture a festive look and Ron almost felt as though he was there watching it happen before his eyes.
"You look happy," he whispered, doubts creeping in as he wondered if he'd been wrong, and Hermione truly was happy with the wizard she'd married.
"I was," Hermione replied with a smile. "It was a perfect day."
"And so recent," Ron whispered, recalling how close he'd come to stopping Hermione from marrying Malfoy.
"In some ways it feels like it was only yesterday, and in others it feels as though it was years ago," Hermione laughed. "We've only been back off honeymoon for a few weeks, and already it's like we were never away."
Ron couldn't help but wonder if Hermione was trying to say the honeymoon period of her marriage was already over. Was she subtly trying to tell him that despite being a newlywed, the shine had gone off her union with Malfoy? Deciding that since he was here, and had set his plan in motion, he needed to know for sure and he turned back around to face Hermione, who had settled herself on the sofa.
"I know what happened last week was foolish, but what would you have said if you hadn't been married?" he asked.
"What is the point in this, Ron?" Hermione asked with a sigh as she deposited her coffee cup onto a coaster on the table in front of her. "I am married, so what I would have said doesn't matter."
"It matters to me," Ron said softly. "Please, Hermione, just humour me. If you weren't married, what would you have said?"
"No."
"Please Hermione, just tell me," Ron pleaded.
"I have just told you," Hermione said gently. "I would have said no. The fact I am married and legally unable to marry you, was only one reason I refused your proposal. Even if I hadn't been married, even if I hadn't been with Draco, even if I'd been single, I would have still said no."
"I don't believe you," Ron said, stubbornly shaking his head. "When I asked you last week you said no because you were married. Not for any other reason."
"I said no, because I don't love you, Ron," Hermione said, still trying to be kind, but growing increasingly annoyed at Ron's refusal to listen to what she was saying to him.
"No, you do love me," Ron insisted. "You've loved me for years. Since we were young."
"You're right, I did love you when we were younger," Hermione confirmed. "I loved you when you ran off and left me. I even loved you when you failed to return to me after a few weeks. But that love died when you never returned. It withered away every moment we were apart, until finally it was gone."
"But I did come back," Ron whispered.
"Too late," Hermione said with a sigh as she got to her feet. "Five years was too long, Ron. You can't honestly say you expected me to wait for you for five years, not when I hadn't heard one word from you. I'll be honest, I would have waited longer if you'd only let me know you were coming home, and you still loved me. But I wasn't going to put my life on hold for someone who might never have come back to me. And I certainly wasn't going to put my life on hold for someone who clearly didn't love me as I loved him."
"But I do love you, Hermione," Ron cried, reaching for Hermione and roughly grabbing her upper arms in a vice like grip. "I've always loved you. We were meant to be together, we're still meant to be together. I know I hurt you, and I'm sorry, but that's why I proposed. I needed you to know I wasn't going to leave you again."
"It's all too little, too late," Hermione said, trying to pull out of Ron's grasp and failing to do so. "Let me go, Ron, you're hurting me."
"No, I am going to make you see sense," Ron insisted firmly, keeping tight hold of Hermione, knowing that he would lose her for good if he let her go. He needed to keep hold of her and make her see that it was him she was meant to be with, not Malfoy. "Do you realise that since I've been back, you've admitted to loving me, but not to loving that git you're married to."
"Of course I love Draco, I married him," Hermione spat, continuing to wriggle in Ron's grasp. "And the key thing about my love for you, is that it's in the past. I did love you, but not anymore. I do love Draco. Right at this minute, I am madly in love with my husband. Draco is the one I'm going to spend the rest of my life with, not you. I will never love you again Ron. It's too late."
At Hermione's words, Ron felt his heart shatter and just for a second he loosened his grip on Hermione. That second was all Hermione needed as she yanked herself out of Ron's grasp at the same time her knee came up and connected with her ex-boyfriend's groin. As Ron doubled over in agony, Hermione jumped away from him and held her hand out to summon her wand. Expecting her wand to come from the kitchen, which was where she had left it, Hermione failed to notice the twitching in Ron's jacket and the fact he clamped his hand over his chest to stop her wand from reaching her.
"I want you to leave, Ron," Hermione said sternly as she once again tried to summon her wand. However, this time her attention was on Ron, and she noticed the way his jacket strained towards her.
As horror filled her eyes as she realised that Ron had her wand, Hermione turned and bolted from the room. Instinctively she made for the front door, but it wouldn't budge when she tried to open it. With everything happening so quickly, not to mention unexpectedly, Hermione's brain wasn't working as fast as it normally did, and she spent longer than necessary trying to open the front door. That time gave Ron time to pull himself together and follow her, so when she turned away from the front door, her ex-boyfriend was right behind her.
"You're not going anywhere, Hermione," Ron said, a demented light shining in his eyes, revealing to Hermione that he'd snapped and completely lost his mind. "We are going to stay here, until you see sense and admit you're trapped in a marriage you don't want. I am going to save you, and we are going to be together."
