"Is everything okay?" asked Noel in Spanish. Hermione stared at the window of the car, and nodded.
"Si," she responded. "Everything's okay."
The car ride was long, the rain coming harder down as the minutes passed. It was hard to make out anything anymore, and the closer she got to the airport, the less excited she got about spending time with Noel in France. She could only see Ron's face, and the hurt that she had caused him.
Ugh, why did I have to bring Noel into the house?
She bit her lip, angry with herself. She knew what she was doing. She wanted that reaction from Ron. She wanted to see that he still cared.
But why? Did she want Ron back?
"We're here." Noel said, breaking her from her trance. "I sense something's bothering you."
"I'm okay, Noel. I've just never been apart from my daughter. That's all." She lied. She couldn't tell this man how she really felt. Not after all he has done for her. For them.
He said nothing but walked out of the car, not bothering to pull out his umbrella. She sat there, wanting to cry. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and stared at it. She wanted to text Ron, she wanted to see how he was doing.
This is crazy, she thought, putting the phone back in her pocket. I had just seen him an hour ago. He's fine.
She got out of the car and saw Noel standing there, his umbrella opened and waiting fro her. He wasn't smiling.
"I'm sorry Noel, I just didn't expect that incident back there to happen. It just bothers me." She told him, closing the door behind her. She took her bag from him and opened her umbrella.
"I understand." He said.
"I don't think you do, but regardless that's not the point. The point is to have fun and make the best of this vacation. Okay?" she said, forcing a smile. He hesitated but smiled as well.
"He's such a boring guy!" moaned Ron, as Harry sat on the sofa across from him.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry, smiling.
"Exactly, what you think it does! He's boring. I don't know how Hermione could be with such a guy." He said, looking over at Katrina, who was playing with Harry's son.
"Let her be, Ron. She seems happy, and that' s what we all wanted for each other. We know each other better than we know ourselves."
"Hah, little does he know he's just borrowing her for the moment, Hermione's mine." Ron said and then caught himself. He couldn't believe he had just said that out loud. Harry looked at him, his glasses falling down the bridge of his nose.
They both stood quiet, not saying anything. Ron too embarrassed and Harry lost of words.
Harry sighed and pushed his glasses back into place.
"Mate, you're going to need help with getting her back." He said.
Ron looked up at him and let out a big grin. "Really?!"
Harry shook his head. "I feel like a kid again, finding something to get into trouble. At least it was always worth it."
"I can't believe you just said you would help me." Ron said, his face turning red with excitement.
"Dude, you've been a mess since Hermione. And I miss you guys. Together. Not just one of you at holidays, or just text messages."
Ron nodded. "But how do you know that she will come back to me?"
"Hermione has always come back to you, Ron." He said.