Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
A/N: So, there are two reason I'm posting this chapter early. The first reason is that this chapter relates to the last and next chapter, and they just seemed to go together. The other reason is that I'm a little ahead of schedule with re-writing this fic and I felt like this was a good time to post an extra chapter.
Chapter Nine
From Bad to Worse
Ron wandered around the streets, taking the long way to her flat so he could try to work through his feelings, but it wasn't helping. Harry had told him that she would wait for him for however long it took, and he thought it might be a good idea for him to wait a little while so he could gather himself (he really didn't want to explode at her). However, even as he felt wary of having this conversation, he wanted to see her; he needed for this stupid fight to be over with. It seemed like his feet had known what he wanted because he was now standing in front of her door.
"Ron," Hermione said, she looked terrible with red eyes and in her sweats. "I didn't think you would come."
"Really," Ron said sadly as he touched her cheek to wipe away the tears. "I thought you would know I would be here."
"I did," Hermione agreed with a sad smile, her heart beating at his touch and being able to talk to him. "I just thought it would have taken you longer to get here."
"Well, you're not supposed to keep a girl waiting …" Ron said slowly, and they both smiled at that comment. "Can I come in?"
"Of course," Hermione stood aside to let him in, keeping her eyes on him as he walked towards the couch.
"So how was your date?" Ron asked bitterly, when he was looking at her at the door all he had felt was the joy of being near her, and the sadness of seeing her pain. Now that his back was to her, he could feel his anger rising and he wanted to fight … or it was more like he wanted this fight to be over so they could make up.
"Ron," Hermione sighed, not surprised that he had immediately brought this up. "I wouldn't call it a date … and it was awful."
"Oh really, so you just kiss everyone that you have an awful night with!" Ron growled, turning to face her with a glare.
"Excuse me, I didn't kiss anyone!" Hermione glared back at him, finding it easier to yell at Ron at the moment. "And I don't appreciate you spying on me! And how the hell did you get out of that alley so damn fast!?"
"I wasn't spying on you … I went to your place to talk to you!" Ron shouted back. "And damnit don't tell me I didn't see what I saw! He leaned in and …!"
"I backed away from him!" Hermione hissed, real anger in her eyes as she was rather upset at him for believing that she would just kiss another guy. As justified as he was to think that happened, he still should have known that she would never have done that to him. "And then I chased after you, why did you run?"
"You didn't kiss him," Ron said flabbergasted, could that be true? He had turned away rather quickly when he saw the guy lean in ….
"No, thanks for having so much faith in me," Hermione grumbled bitterly.
"I wonder where I lost faith … maybe when you told me you were going out with someone else!" Ron huffed.
"I'm sorry about that," Hermione sighed, they wouldn't get anywhere with this conversation if they continued to yell at (and blame) each other. She had to make the first step, because she was the one that was wrong. She walked over to the couch and sat down and was pleased when he sat next to her, though he wasn't touching her. "I never wanted this to happen … and it was awful … I never even thought about kissing the other guy … any other guy. I'm so sorry."
"Sh …" Ron said wrapping his arms around her and let her cry into his chest. He could feel his anger slip away as she apologized to him. "It's okay."
"It's been so awful without you," Hermione sighed, feeling relieved to be in his arms again.
"Yeah, it has been," Ron agreed kissing the top of her head. "Just never do this to me again."
Hermione stiffened, not knowing how to respond to that.
Ron felt his nerves redouble on him at her reaction to his (to him at least) simple request. She was supposed to agree that she would never put him through this shite again and they could live happily ever after. Why the hell would she stiffen unless she planned to do this again? Why the hell would she do this again? "Hermione, you can't go out with anyone else again, set up by your mum or not. I won't stand for that!"
"I …" Hermione gasped, her eyes going wide. This wasn't how this conversation was supposed to start. He wasn't supposed to demand a promise from her. He was supposed to keep his arms around her so she could find the courage to explain what happened. Now she didn't know what to say. Of course, she didn't want to go out with another guy, and she was pretty sure she could make it so her mum never set a date without asking her first. She could promise him that this would never happen, but that wouldn't solve the reason why this problem occurred in the first place.
"Hermione, we're not in some kind of casual relationship," Ron glared and then added, "I know we didn't say this before, but you are my girlfriend and I'm not going to share you with anyone!"
"Ron, this has never been casual for me!" Hermione said firmly looking in his eyes, he had to see that. "We've practically live together these last two months … we've shared so much together. I've shared so much …."
"Then tell me something like this will never happen again!" Ron stated, of course he knew she hadn't taken this casually either, because they had shared so much, but he couldn't get around this point.
"My mum might try …" Hermione started to say, her mouth moving without permission, she knew it was the wrong thing to say. This would only make him more upset, and she needed him to calm down so he could listen to her. But she was in a panic and what she said was true.
"Then tell her … tell your parents you have a boyfriend," Ron said coldly, so she wouldn't see how hurt he was that she had not told her parents. Still, this seemed a simple way for her to solve this issue.
"I …" Hermione couldn't breathe, she had no answer to that. She wasn't ready for this.
"You don't want your parents to know about me, is that it?" Ron spat. "What, am I not good enough for you … is that it? Are you ashamed of me?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione snapped out of her near hysteria upon hearing that he thought she could possibly be ashamed of him. He had to understand that the problem wasn't him … it was her, and her feeling she had about her parents. "You're an amazing person and I don't ever want to hear you say or think that I could be ashamed of you."
Ron almost smiled at her defense of him, he could see in her eyes that she meant what she was saying. However, that didn't help him understand why she couldn't tell her parents. He had told his family about her the day after their first date after all. "Help me understand Hermione, why the hell can't you just tell them? Why are you trying to keep us a secret?"
Hermione bowed her head, her shoulder slumping as she whispered, "I just don't want them to know yet."
"Oh, don't give me that crap!" Ron shouted, there was obviously more to this than she was telling him. She made it clear that she wasn't ashamed of him, but she didn't say that her parents would approve of their relationship. He started to feel a sense of dread as he voiced, "you're afraid they won't approve …."
"R-ron," Hermione's voice was shaky.
"And that they will make you choose," Ron went on paying no heed to her warning.
"Ron …" she tried again, he can't put this together like this, she hadn't told him! Why wouldn't he just let her tell him? Why couldn't she just say something now!?
"And seeing how you were willing to go out with that wanker," Ron hadn't heard her that time, his dread was increasing as he voiced his theory. He looked her in the eyes and asked, "what would you say, if they made you choose?"
"I …" Hermione had tears falling down her face as his eyes seemed to demand an answer. "I don't know …."
"You don't know," Ron said in a grievous voice, feeling like his heart had just been ripped out of him. He looked away from her, closing his eyes, what the hell do I do now? How am I supposed to carry on like this?
"Ron … please … it's not … I just …" Hermione tried to find the words, but the look in his eyes before he turned away from her was like a knife to her heart. But she had to find the words … she could fix this if she could just explain everything.
"Hermione," Ron said grabbing her arms and looking into her eyes again. "I …" he choked up, how was he supposed to tell her this? Tell her how much she meant to him! How he knew that he never wanted to be without her. How she was one of the most important people in his life already and was the reason why he was happy … that he was more himself than he has been in years. How much he loves her! He has known he loves her for a while now … but he hadn't told her … and now he wasn't sure if she would ever know. He couldn't say it now, that was for sure, and it seemed that he couldn't say any of these feelings either.
He looked into her eyes to try to find the strength he needed to talk this through, as he had always been drawn to her eyes to be comforted by her warmth and support in the past. However, when he met her eyes all he found was fear and pain, so he looked away.
"I don't think I can do this …" Ron said looking straight ahead, his mind going around the information trying to figure out what move he could make. "I don't think I can be around you knowing that you might one day just end things …" he heard Hermione gasped but he didn't look at her, he had to finish what he was saying. "And not because of how you feel … or because I messed up somehow … but because of the whims of some outside party!"
Hermione just sat there … he was going to leave her … how did this happen? How did they get here? Why couldn't she find her voice? She can't let this happened … but he was going to leave her.
"Mione, I can't put any more into this …" Ron felt his eyes watering, he couldn't believe these words were coming out of his mouth. The last thing he wanted to do was walk away from her, but he knew that he might be able to survive if he left right now. One day in the future (the distant future) he might be able to resemble a human once he healed from this pain. However, if he stayed with her for even a moment longer and she left him for this reason (or any reason) he would be devastated. He would never get over that. "I-I really … I wouldn't trade this for anything … and I really don't want to do this … but I can't … I can't keep going … I care too much …."
"Ron, don't do this," Hermione was able to breathe the words out and grabbed his hands and he looked at her again. "Not like this."
"Then tell me you won't let it happen," Ron said, his voice was pleading her this time.
"I … I want to … I …" Hermione had tears in her eyes as she tried to promise him that she wouldn't let her parent stand in their way. However, right now she had no idea if that would be true or not. She could see the pain he was feeling, and how much more pain he felt by her further hesitation and still she couldn't say a word. A part of her was yelling at her to just tell him about her relationship with her parents, but how could she when she didn't know if that would change anything. How could she put him through even more pain when she doesn't have an answer?
"Then …" Ron said unable to say more, he pulled her into a hug, letting his tears fall freely as he held her too him for a few moments before he left her.
O
The week that followed was the worse that either one of them had ever had and neither one did much with themselves. Ron didn't go to work, he just Floo in sick, knowing that it would be dangerous for him to work with the state of mind he was in. He had also taken up drinking again, so when Harry visited him a few days after the break, his friend was right to worried about the empty bottle(s) of Firewhiskey. Harry didn't try to talk him around, or even try to cheer him up, he just listened to Ron explain (complain) and drank with his friend. He appreciated that, though it didn't help … the drinking didn't help either, but at least when he was drowning his sorrows he didn't have to think too much.
Hermione felt numb after everything that happened. She couldn't understand how things had gone so wrong, so quickly. However, she knew that everything was her fault, this fight easily could have been avoided if she had just talked to him before. It still amazed her that she didn't know who she would choose, Ron or her parents … Ron had come to mean so much to her in the last three months that she didn't want to think about not being with him. And now he was gone. He left her. Because she couldn't promise him that she wouldn't leave him.
It was fortunate that she was no longer going to school, and she didn't need to study at the moment, because she wouldn't have been able to concentrate. However, her job at the coffee shop wasn't a very good distraction for her. Still, she worked as much as she could, because it was better to be there than crying alone in her flat.
"I'm sorry," Jess said going into the backroom looking over her very depressed friend. Hermione had shown up at the coffee shop four days ago, desperate for work and it didn't take long to learn that she had broken up with her boyfriend. Working with Hermione while she was dating Ron had been rather fun, seeing Hermione loosen up and enjoy herself was great. However, working with Hermione the last two days was miserable, the girl barely said a word as she moved around the shop working. "I should never have pushed you to see him."
"Don't," Hermione shook her head, her voice sounded rough (from not using it or from crying she couldn't tell). "I'll never regret dating Ron, no matter what comes next."
"I don't get it," Jess frowned. "What happened between you two … you obviously still care …."
"I … it's … complicated," Hermione sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Fine," Jess sighed, wishing the girl would open up to her more, but if that was going to happened Hermione would have talked to her by now. After all, Hermione had come to her after the last break up. Jess was pretty sure this break-up was worst than that so she added, "But it might be good if you talked to someone about this."
"Yeah," Hermione sighed, she didn't really have anyone to talk to, though one person did come to mind. However, she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to see that person again … he probably never wanted to see her after what she did to Ron. She had to fight back tears as she realized how much more she had lost.
"Right," Jess sighed, not knowing what else to say she left the backroom to get back to work. When she got to the table that a guy was sitting at, he turned to her, his long shaggy dark hair hid most of his face, but when she got a look into his eyes, she could see they were a beautiful shade of green. "Can I get you anything?" Jess flashed him her best smile, hoping a little flirting would cheer her up.
"Er … I was wondering if Mione … er … I mean Hermione, was here?" the man asked.
"Oh, Harry I presume," Jess sighed; she knew just enough about this guy to know he was definitely not available. "Yeah, she's in the back, I'll go get her for you."
"Thanks Jess," Harry smiled, he had heard about Hermione's other friend, too.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked in trepidation; hopeful and afraid of the reason he would come here.
"Oh, I just fancied a cup of coffee," Harry said smiling at her sadly and she couldn't help but return that smile, and hope was starting to win the battle. "But honestly Mio- … er … Hermione, I think there are a few things we need to talk about."
"I'm listening," Hermione said a little warily, maybe he just didn't want to yell at her in public, she thought and then wondered why he had chosen to come to the coffee shop and not her flat. She looked at Harry closely and he didn't look angry, so hopefully he wasn't going to tell her that she was a horrible person … but she noticed he seemed to be more subdue that she was used to seeing him and his eyes were showing even more sorrow (and she didn't know that was possible).
"Do you have time to talk now or are you busy?" Harry asked looking around the shop, it wasn't too busy, but he knew that she was working.
"I'll be off in half an hour," Hermione said looking at the clock, she was trying not to think of the first time she had met Ron, but she couldn't help it. The two situations were similar but so different. "It would probably be better …."
"Don't worry about it, Hermione, I've got you covered," Jess said passing by, she knew that her friend had grown close to this man, and she hoped that Hermione would be able to talk to him.
"Fine, as long as you don't try to eavesdrop on us," Hermione said rolling her eyes and she heard her friend laugh before she turned around and sat across from Harry. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
Now, Harry had many things he wanted to talk to her about, most had to do with Ron and what happened. One topic was even his guilt about his hand in what happened between Ron and Hermione, but that was not why he was here right now. He had something he had to make clear first before he talked to Hermione about the break-up.
"Okay, I'm not really good at this kind of thing, so I have to ask you to please not say anything until I'm done," Harry said, and Hermione nodded her head, curious about what he was about to say. "I know we've only known each other for two months, though you have practically lived at my house most of the time, so it seems a lot longer. I feel like we really got to know each other in that time, and I'm sure you know that it's not easy for me to talk to people. You have become someone important to me."
"Harry," Hermione smiled at him, feeling so relieved by his words, but after the way he had just said all that, she couldn't help but add, "I'm flattered, but I'm not interested in you."
"What?" Harry gasped taken aback, and then shook his head as he went over what he just said. "I did sort of make it sound like I liked you, didn't I?"
"Sorry," Hermione said, he had told her not to interrupt but she had.
"Nah, I think you got by point," Harry smiled at her shyly. "I just wanted you to know you're my friend, even after everything that has happened."
"Thank you," Hermione smiled at him this time, tears coming to her eyes as he called her his friend. "You're my friend too, I just wasn't sure …."
"I know, that's why I had to come to see you," Harry said. "I was also worried that you might not want to see me anymore."
Hermione frowned at him confused until she realized that he was worried it would hurt her to have Harry around because it would make her think of Ron. Well, it did make her think of Ron, and it did hurt a little, but she also felt better seeing her friend. "I don't want to lose you as a friend," she told him truthfully.
"Good," Harry sighed, and smiled brightly. "So, then you're still going to come and see me, right?"
"I … I don't know," Hermione said biting her lip. "What about Ron?" she asked, feeling a lump in her throat after saying his name.
"He's my best friend and so much more, but I can't let that stop me from keeping you in my life," Harry said and he knew that was true, he felt better since seeing her today.
"Are you going to tell him that we're still friends? Does he know you're here?" Hermione asked, desperate to know anything about Ron but afraid to ask the questions she really wanted (and didn't want) to know.
"No," Harry said answering both questions. "But I know he would want me to be your friend right now." He added on because it was true, if Harry thought Ron would see this as a betrayal, he would never have been able to come, but he knew Ron wanted her to be happy.
"He would, wouldn't he," Hermione said softly, nearly brought to tears again as she thought of how wonderful the man she had let get away was.
"There's just one more thing," Harry said and waited until Hermione was paying attention to him again. "You see, I'm not the only one that has missed you. I know of a certain someone that can't stop asking about you …."
"That's low Harry … what can I say to that," Hermione tried to glare at him, but of course she missed seeing Bess too.
"That you'll come over and make us all happy," Harry smirked at her. "Bess wanted to come today, but I told her it would be best if it was just the two of us … but she did make me swear to tell you that you promised her … er … something."
"That I'd be there for her," Hermione said, it seemed like a million years ago that she had promised Bess that she would be there, especially if Ginny hadn't accepted Bess. She was sure that Bess and Ginny had gotten along fine, since she remembered what Ron had said about them, but still she had made a promise. "Fine Harry, but not at your house. You can come to my flat … you remember where it is?"
"I was there just a couple of weeks ago," Harry rolled his eyes. "Can I come over today … er … if that's okay? I can just go get Bess."
"Okay," Hermione smiled at his eagerness, but this did bring up a question. "Harry why didn't you just come to my flat in the first place?"
"Oh … er …" Harry said turning to her, he was already standing up getting ready to go. He wasn't lying about his daughter wanting to see Hermione again, and he wanted to get her. "I wasn't sure if you would want to see me … I thought this was a more neutral place."
"I supposed you have a fair point," Hermione sighed and soon after Harry left, so they could meet back at her flat in an hour (Hermione wasn't sure if she would have to make up the time she had spent talking to Harry). When Harry arrived at her flat, and she was able to hug Bess (who clang to her and wouldn't let her put the girl down for nearly an hour), Hermione felt like she could breathe again.
O
A week later on Friday night, Harry and Bess went over to Hermione's again, they had ordered Chinese take away, Hermione telling them she didn't feel like poisoning them with her own cooking. Harry had been watching Hermione closely since their talk in the coffee shop, and he was trying to see what his next move should be. Not to mention there were things that he was still unsure about, and he knew he couldn't ask Ron. He had pushed Ron too much already.
"It looks like Bess has passed out," Hermione said, making Harry jump because he was so lost in his thoughts.
"Can I put her in your room? I don't want to wake her," Harry asked, knowing this was the perfect opportunity for them to talk.
"All right," Hermione was just glad that he was planning on staying, whenever she had free time nowadays, she always thought of Ron … even more so now that Harry was here so much.
Harry then picked up his daughter, smiling as the little girl leaned into him, and moved her to Hermione's bed. He put up charms that would make sure that Bess couldn't hear them, but Harry could still hear her if she fussed at all.
"So, Harry, do you have something specific on your mind or do you just want to stay here?" Hermione asked but became wary when she saw how serious Harry was now.
"I didn't want to bring this up last week," Harry said taking a seat on the other side of the same couch she was sitting on. "Mostly because I wanted to show you that we are friends, and that comes first. But there are things that we need to talk about. I promise that I won't bring it up again after this … but we need to talk."
"Just spit it out already," Hermione sighed trying to brace herself, she knew he was going to bring up Ron. Honestly, she was surprised that he hadn't brought it up sooner.
"I don't understand why you broke up with Ron," Harry said, deciding on the fly to be blunt (Hermione usually appreciated that, right?). He looked at her trying to read her expression, but all he saw was that she was nearly hyperventilating.
"I didn't break up with him … I never wanted to," Hermione was able to whisper feeling ambushed by that question.
"He told me what happened!" Harry frowned, though the details from that conversation was a little blurry as they both had several drinks.
"I know it was my fault … all my fault," Hermione said tears coming to her eyes and she was so close to breaking down again. "But I didn't break up with him."
Harry sighed, now realizing the confusion he made there and hating that his slip of words had made her upset. It had been a very long time since he had to comfort a crying girl, but it looks like he had to now. So, he moved closer to her and wrapped his left arm around her pulling her so she could rest her hand on his shoulder (he was sort of glad she hadn't turned into him more than that).
"Sorry, it's hard for me not to take his side … but I'm trying," Harry said a while later when Hermione had calm down a little, but he didn't think she was ready for more Ron talk yet, so he decided to tell her something else. "I'm also sorry for my hand in what happened between you two."
"What?" Hermione sniffled and then looked at Harry confused.
"I gave him crappy advice … twice," Harry explained and when he saw that Hermione was still confused, he added, "I told him to talk to you the night that he saw you kiss that other guy …"
"I never kissed …!" Hermione huffed.
"I know Mione, he told me," Harry said, not realizing that he had accidently called her Mione, he had been trying not to do that … with good reason, judging by the face she was making. "But he had thought that happened and things just got worse."
"It wasn't crappy advice Harry," Hermione said, if Ron had just listened to Harry and actually talked to her ….
"Yeah, well, calling you on the phone for him was a shite move," Harry put in. "If I had just let him call you … or go to you on his own. He would have had time to work it out, get control of his emotions. He might even have been able to listen to you."
"Harry," Hermione said softly, seeing as he had become rather upset, so she placed a hand on his to comfort him. She couldn't blame Harry for trying to help his friend, to help the both of them. Harry was just trying to make them talk to each other. "Is that why you're here, you couldn't try to get him to talk to me again, so you thought you would see if I would go and talk to him?"
"Shush … that's part of my brilliant plan I was going to reveal later," Harry tried to joke but neither of them was in a laughing mood. Not to mention, she had been completely correct with her reasoning. "But honestly Hermione, I brought this up because I can see how hard this has been on you, how much pain you're in. And I want to help."
"Thanks," Hermione mumbled and leaned her head on his shoulder again. "You have more to say don't you," she added when she felt how tense he was.
"I just don't understand how you can let him walk away from you because your parents might … might! … not approve of him," Harry forced himself to say, he knew this conversation hadn't helped at all yet and he really hoped that he could do something to make his two best friends (because he knew that was what she was to him now) feel better.
"You have no idea," Hermione closed her eyes as she explained in little more than a whisper. "I've always done what they said … I've never gone against them," she said knowing she sounded panicky and pleading at the same time, but she needed Harry to understand how she felt.
"I probably understand more than you think," Harry sighed. "That's why I kept telling him to talk to you, because I knew there was more to your fight than what was on the surface. But I should have known better, pushing Ron to do anything isn't a good idea, but you're usually good at handling him. But I forgot that you probably wouldn't want to tell him … I mean if you hadn't told him already, it was probably something pretty damn hard for you to talk about."
"You noticed my … issue … with my parents?" Hermione was surprised by that as she filed away the other thing that Harry said to think about later.
"I'm not sure about all that, but I know you have some kind of issue," Harry said and almost smiled at the face she made at him. "The first Monday you showed up at Grimmauld Place you had brought coffee, an assortment of scones and muffins, and seven children's books that I didn't own. That's not the only example …"
"You don't have to say more," Hermione sighed.
"I still don't understand why you haven't told him about your issue," Harry sighed too. "But that's not really the point. I guess, I just thought you care more for Ron than this."
"You really don't understand … for me to be confused … unsure … that just shows how much I care about him," Hermione said trying to make Harry understand the depths of her issues.
"He needs to know this!" Harry said firmly. "I don't know how he would react, but don't you think he deserves to know how you feel? How much you really care?"
"How can I tell him that, Harry?" Hermione cried; her eyes widen with pained despair, but she was also convinced that she was right. "How could I tell him how much I care for him when I still don't know what would happen. He was right to walk away now … he can survive … we can still survive this now, but the more time we spend together, the harder it would be. No, I've already done enough damage to him. I won't tell him I love him … I won't hurt him like that!"
"You love him," Harry repeated softly, he had known Ron and Hermione were in love, but he was pretty sure that they never said it to one another. This just confirmed his theory. Hermione had been making a lot of good points throughout her speech, and he knew all too well that the more you care about someone the more it hurts when you were separated from that person. However, he couldn't help but notice the overwhelming care she seemed to have for Ron, and he thought it was already too late for them to be spared that pain (and he was even more sure that was true about Ron).
"I …" Hermione froze as she realized what she just said. Of course, she knew that she was in love with Ron, if she was honest with herself, she thought she might have fallen for him the moment they met, but she never said it out loud before. It hit her like a boulder … even more so when Harry had said it … she loves Ron.
"Hermione, I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me … honest with yourself," Harry said after a few minutes, he was watching her, knowing that she had shocked herself with her confession. He waited until she nodded her head, and he knew he had her full attention. "You love Ron," he paused, and she nodded her head again. "And you care about him more than you have for anyone else," he stated, because he knew it was true, but he was still glad when she nodded her head again (though he wasn't as pleased to see her eyes watering again). "But you're trying to let him go so he won't be hurt even more …."
"Harry … stop," Hermione whimpered as a tear slid down her cheek, he was just restating what she had done, but hearing him say it made it sound so much worse.
"Sorry," Harry sighed, he really didn't want to hurt her, but he hoped this would help her to see his point. "Okay, here's my question. Do you think you can feel what you do for Ron, for someone else? Do you think you can love anyone like you love Ron?"
Hermione gasped, she had not expected this question, not with everything Harry had said before.
"Because if you can … I'll back off, I'll let you try and heal yourself," Harry kept talking, not waiting for her answered, but he did pause here and looked into her eyes, "But if Ron is it, if he is your one shot at happiness, don't you think you owe it to yourself to try! Don't you think you owe it to him! Even if you might have to make a horrible choice in the future?"
Hermione couldn't respond to that, tears where now running down her cheeks as her heart beat painful in her chest. Of course, she knew the answer to this without thinking … she would never love anyone like she loves Ron. And not just because she would never want to let anyone get this close to her again … she wouldn't want to be this vulnerable nor would she want to hurt someone like she knew she hurt Ron. Nor was it because she would only go out with her mother's pre-approve dates, and those guys were always so dull. No, it was because Ron himself. He was such a good man, she loved everything about him.
"Just think about it," Harry said softly seeing that she was indeed thinking hard.
"Do …" Hermione said but hesitated, her last thought ringing in her ears and she couldn't believe what she had done. "Do you think he would take me back?"
"Er …" Harry said completely caught off guard by the question. He had hoped that by bringing this up, he would get Hermione to want to talk to Ron, but he never expected she would be thinking about getting back together so quickly.
"Oh …" Hermione groaned, lowering her head getting the wrong impression from Harry's hesitation.
"Mione, of course he'll take you back in a second," Harry laughed in his relief and smiled more when she looked at him hopefully.
"You really think so?" Hermione said in trepidation.
"Yeah, I know so," Harry said. "He's been miserable without you … and by now he might be close to coming here and begging you to take him back."
"Don't exaggerate," Hermione rolled her eyes. "We both know he would never do that."
"Probably not, but I know he will be happy to see you again," Harry agreed, and then felt a little wary, he had thought the same thing the two times he had talked Ron into seeing her before the break-up and he didn't want to make that mistake again. "But you've got to be sure Hermione. And you've got to be prepared to tell him … everything."
"I know Harry," Hermione said feeling relieved by his assurance that Ron would want to see her. She knew that she had a hard conversation ahead of her, and it might be difficult to get Ron to listen to her, but this time she would make sure she was more prepared.
It wasn't long after that that Harry (with the still sleeping Bess in his arms) went home, it was clear that Hermione needed some time alone to think. Hermione went to bed not too long after that, and she was in a better mood than she had been in the last three weeks. She had decided to see Ron tomorrow, she didn't want to wait any longer to see him again, because right now she was sure that everything would work out right.