My Best Friend's Wedding

Angel-Wing

Rating: PG
Genres: Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 4
Published: 10/09/2003
Last Updated: 01/11/2003
Status: completed

This fic is slightly based on the movie, but it's definitely different. Hermione's best friend is getting married... What is she going to do about it?

Chapters

1. Surprise, Surprise

2. Little White Lies

3. A Bad Day

4. And a Worse Night

5. Resolution

6. A Talk with Ron

7. Trouble in Paradise?

8. Harry

9. The Building of a Plan

10. Cant Take my Eyes off you

11. Realizations

12. Please, Forgive me

13. My Best Friend

14. Thi is It

1. Surprise, Surprise

A/N: Hello everyone! This is an idea that had been on my head for quite a while, so now I'm trying to write it down. I apologize form now if the grammar or spelling isn't very good, but English is not my first language. I'm from Chile (in case you've never heard of it, it's a country right next to Argentina, in South America) so my real language is spanish. I'm doing my best!

Fine, this story is slightly based on the movie “My Best Friend's Wedding” with Julia Roberts, but, believe me, it's definitely different. I just stole some ideas and maybe some plot line, but the characters and situations aren't the same.

Hope you like it and don't forget to review!

Chapter 1 - Surprise, surprise

“Hmmm...” was the only thing he commented, trying to hide his disgusted expression behind a smile.

“Is it good?” she asked hopefully, not noticing his strange grimace.

“…Yeah, very good,” he lied. “It's very interesting how you... roasted the meat,” he added, looking at the burnt piece of beef in his plate.

“Well, then eat it before it gets cold,” she said, with a gentle smile.

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were eating together in her apartment, as they usually did on Wednesdays. Ever since Harry had moved to and apartment next to her, they ate together at least two days a week: on Wednesdays in Hermione's place and on Fridays in Harry's. The rule was that it had to be home-made cooking. Harry had a lot of experience while he lived with the Dursleys, so he was a great cook. Hermione, however, was trying to learn the art of food, but it wasn't as easy as learning how to brew a potion. Harry didn't have the heart to tell her that her cooking sucked, so he ate everything she prepared, without complaining.

It was curious how things had changed in eight years. Harry, a 25 year-old single guy, star seeker of the Chudley Cannons, not to mention the Boy who Save the World of Voldemort's Menace. Now he lived right next to his ever best friend, Hermione Granger, soon to be 25 years old, who had an important position in the Ministry of Magic, single as well. The third part of the Trio, Ron Weasley, was also a Quidditch player, but a year ago he had been transferred to a team in the United States. He wrote frequently, but Harry and Hermione missed him a lot anyway.

“So, how was your day?” asked Hermione, taking a sip of her coffee.

“The usual. Training, get yelled, Oliver and his complicated charts... Oh and next Monday I'll be interviewed by the Daily Prophet. Wood forced me to. He said it was for the good image of the team,” Harry told her, rolling his eyes.

“You're right, the usual,” commented Hermione with a smile. Harry was constantly overwhelmed by the press' attention and she knew he hated it. “Have you heard about Ron lately?”

“No. Last time he wrote was a month ago. I wonder what he's doing there...”

As on cue, a beautiful black owl entered in the living room and left a piece of parchment in Hermione's lap.

“It's from Ron!” she exclaimed, opening it quickly. Harry approached and started reading with her.

Hey Herm,

How have you been? I'm so sorry I haven't been able to write for a while, but I have been very busy... Anyway, guess what! I'm going back to England! Actually, I'm arriving this Thursday, so I want to ask you to come and have dinner with us at the Burrow. I have a surprise for you. And I need to ask you a very important question... The only clue I'll give you is that I think it's time for me to settle down.

So, see ya there, my friend! I can hardly wait!

Love,

Ron

PS: Harry, since I know you always read Herm's mail, I saved the effort to write to you.

“Well that's very thoughtful of him,” said Harry, frowning.

“This is great! Ron's coming back!” squealed Hermione, excited. She read the letter again. “A very important question? Settle down? What do you think he's talking about?”

“Who knows?” said Harry, shrugging. “You know Ron, he always gives bits of information for us to misunderstand everything.”

But Hermione had an idea in mind.

“You don't think that... Well, maybe...”

Harry arched his eyebrows. “You're not thinking about that promise you and him made, are you?” He stared at her. He knew that look. He knew what she was thinking even before she thought about it. “Yes, you are!!” he said, accusingly.

“Well, it's not that weird to think about it, is it? I mean we did say that if when we turned 25 we were still single, we would get married. He is 25 already and he is single. And I'll be 25 in a couple of weeks and I definitely haven't got the slightest chance to marry someone else,” reasoned Hermione.

“That's because you haven't wanted to,” commented Harry. Hermione never wanted to date because she `didn't have the time'.

“You're one to talk,” she retorted. Although Harry had great success among witches, he had only a few dates a year and he had never found one girl that he liked ennough to go steady.

“Anyway Herm, you made that promise on our seventh year, that was almost eight years ago. And you two had just broken-up your stormy two months relationship.”

“So what? It was serious promise,” she said, frowning.

Harry sighed. “Herm, do you want Ron to propose?” he asked in a low voice.

“Wha-?? No!... I don't know. I mean, Ron is my friend, he has always been, though I'm not going to deny he has always wanted something more...”

“So... In the case he asks you to marry him... What are you going to say?” asked Harry in his best logical tone.

Hermione thought intensely about Harry's question... Would she say yes? Did she want to marry Ron?

“Harry, stop it! Ron is my friend, that's what he'll always be. And that's exactly what I'm going to tell him tomorrow.”

Harry shook his head. She didn't sound convincing at all.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

(A/N: From this point, this fic will be written in Hermione's POV)

Ok, why was I so nervous? It was just a dinner, right? I was going to see one of my best friends for the first time in a year. And why was I so sure he would talk to me about that promise? Maybe he was going to announce that he was buying a house and wanted to ask me to decorate it. `Come on, Hermione', I snorted to myself. I tried to push out of my mind the conviction that had built up since the night before, but I couldn't. When I was ready to leave, I was sure that this dinner was to discuss the marriage subject.

I heard three knocks on the door. Harry's sign. I looked at myself one more time in the mirror. Damn, my hair was still bushy and my eyes an ordinary brown... Same ol' Hermione... but what the hell.

“You look great,” Harry complimented when I opened the door. He always does.

“Thanks, you too.” He did. He was just dressed in casual clothes, but his green eyes were shiny and his black hair as messy as ever. He was a handsome wizard, no wonder why every single witch in London would give her right arm to be with him.

“Shall we go?” he suggested. We had decided we would apparate, neither of us was too fond of Floo Powder.

“Welcome dears!!” said Mrs. Weasley giving us a hug the very minute we entered in the house. Every single Weasley was at the Burrow. Bill, Charlie and Percy with their families, the twins with their girlfriends and Ginny with her fling of the month. Mr. Weasley was busy with his younger grandson - who was two months old - explaining the functioning of a muggle stereo. Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes.

“Arthur, Harry and Hermione are here,” she announced.

We were greeted by all the Weasleys. I scanned the room, looking for Ron.

“Ron hasn't arrived yet,” said Mrs. Weasley.

“Yes I have, Mom,” said a voice from behind.

Ron had just came in, still wearing a traveling cloak and with a big suitcase in his hand. He was just as I remembered. Tall, red haired, handsome. He had a tan now, but that was natural, considering he lived in California for a year. He hugged everyone. Then he turned to Harry and me. He looked incredibly happy.

Well, I'm not going to bore you with the conversation we had during dinner. Ron told us about North America, his travels, etc. Harry and him began to talk about Quidditch (what a surprise!) until Mrs. Weasley interrupted their bla bla.

“Ron, dear, you said you had something important to tell us,” she said, expectantly.

Ron looked at me immediately and I started to feel nervous. Was he going to propose in front of his whole family?

“Yes... Well you know I've come back to stay...” he started. Harry was helping Mrs. Weasley to serve coffee. “And during this past year I thought a lot about my life... And decided that I want to settle down, to form a family...”

Harry handed me a cup of coffee and stood by my side.

“Ron, you're babblingn” Fred interrupted, with a smirk. “Spit it out!”

“Fine. I'm getting married.”

I could heard everybody's gasp. Ron was looking directly at me. `I'm getting married?' How could he be so sure I would say yes?

“With who?” asked Mr. Weasley after a long pause.

Ron smiled. His eyes were fixed on mine.

“Her name is Elizabeth Greene, and she's American.”

I felt the cup of coffee slipping through my fingers and crashing in the floor. I was so shocked that I only realized it had fallen when Harry cast a spell to clean the rug. Ron didn't seem to notice my reaction, because he was trying to answer all the questions that his family started to shoot.

“When did you meet her?”

“Is she a witch?”

“Is she pretty?”

“When are you getting married?”

“When will we meet her?”

I felt Harry's gaze on me. He was obviously studying my reaction. I tried to smile, tried to look happy, but I knew I couldn't fool Harry Potter. The man knew me more than I knew myself. But he didn't ask any questions. Bless him.

“OK, if you all shut up, I'll be able to tell you everything,” said Ron, laughing. “I met Elizabeth a month ago...”

A month??? He met her a *month* ago? How can you want to marry someone you have just met?

“I know it seems a little rushe,.” he explained, as if he had heard my thoughts, “But we're madly in love and perfectly sure of what we're doing. His father is the owner of my Quidditch team, that's how I met her. And the wedding is going to be here, next weekend.”

“Next weekend!? But Ron, that's too soon!”

“I know Mum, but don't worry about it, we'll have everything ready on time.”

“But we haven't even met that girl!”

“You'll meet her tomorrow. She's arriving in the morning.”

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation. I couldn't believed Ron was doing that to me. How could he fall in love with another girl? For eight years he had been on my tail. I never wanted anything with him. We tried once and it was a mess. But now I was seeing everything in a different light. He was mine and now some unknown girl was stealing him away.

“So Herm, won't you say anything?”

I jumped when he spoke to me. Damn, what was I supposed to say?

“Congratulations Ron, I'm so happy for you!” I babbled. Very convincing, Hermione. But Ron believed my false words, because he grinned. I could felt Harry's disbelief when he looked at me. “Umm... In your letter you said you wanted to ask me something,” I added.

“Oh yes! Lizzie and I talked, and she'd like you to be her Maid of Honor,” Ron said, with shiny eyes.

`What??' Screamed my head. I couldn't believe this was happening to me.

“I'd love to,” I said, smiling warmly.

“And of course, Harry, I want you to be my best man.”

“It would be an honor,” I heard Harry's reply. I think he even hugged him, but I'm not quite sure. I couldn't think or see straight for that matter.

“Do you want to go home?” whispered Harry in my ear a few minutes later. I nodded, thankful. He apologized with the Weasleys, saying I had a headache and we apparated back home. My flat, to be exactly.

I took off my cloak. Harry stared at me from the living room.

“OK, talk to me,” he said.

That was all I needed.

“I can't believe this!” I started, knowing that I wouldn't stop until I had gotten out of my heart all that I felt right then. “I mean, can you please explain to me how someone with a brain can marry a girl when he doesn't even know her? For all we know, she could be a Death Eater, or a mad woman, or...” I kept babbling until my mouth went dry.

“I though you didn't want him to propose to you,” Harry said when I stopped talking.

“I didn't! But now it's different.”

“You're mad because Ron has moved on. He got over you, and now that you've lost him, you want him back.”

Deep down in my heart, I knew he was right. But it hurt when he said it out loud.

“You're wrong,” I said, shaking my head.

“So, you're in love with him. Is that it?”

“Harry, I really need to think right now,” I said, annoyed. “Alone.”

He looked at me for quite a long time.. For a second, I thought he was angry, but he approached to me and hugged me. He kissed me in the forehead and left without further comments.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

2. Little White Lies

A/N: OK, as some of you have already realized, I post this fic in Fan Fiction.net a while ago. If you're really impatient, you can read it there, because it's complete. I'll be updating every two days here anyway.

I just want to make clear that you have to forget about what you saw in the movie. I said it's just SLIGHTLY BASED... And I'm really fond of plot twists, so beware!

****

Chapter 2 - Little white lies

After a sleepless night, I had reached a conclusion. I was just being a selfish, lousy friend. I should be happy for Ron and support him every way I could. I was embarrassed for my reaction last night. I am Hermione Granger, for Merlin's sake, I've always been the logical, cool-minded one. I wasn't really in love with Ron, was I? In eight years I didn't pay much attention to him, and now that I know he had moved on I'm having all these strange feelings. No, Hermione. You're going to get a hold of yourself and stop acting like a spoiled brat.

“By the look om your face, I'd say you didn't sleep much last night.”

I almost fell off my seat. I lifted my head to see who had interrupted my thoughts. I should've known. Harry was standing in front of my desk, with his “I-know-exactly-what-you're-thinking” look.

“Harry, you startled me,” I said. We were in my office at the Ministry, and I realized I had passed the last hour thinking about Ron instead of working.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized. “Do you plan to go out for lunch today, or you'll just stay here and work, like you always do?”

I looked at my watch.

“I'm a little late with these reports.” I looked at him. Why was he giving me that look? “Shouldn't you be training or something?”

“Yeah, but I though I could drop by, to check if you were scolding yourself for being a spoiled brat,” he said smirking.

I gave him an annoyed look. “OK, if you really want to know, I realized I was overreacting. I'm actually happy for Ron.”

He looked at me, skeptical. I ignored him and kept working.

“Fine, I won't steal your precious time any longer. I just came to make sure you won't forget that today is Friday,” he said, grabbing a quill from my desk and twirling it in his fingers.

“Harry, you know I don't forget things such as the days of the week. I will be at your place at 8, as usual,” I said, a little angrily. Why can't I have an irrational behavior for once? I act crazy one time in my life and Harry dooms me forever for it.

“OK, see you there then,” he said, dissaparating.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Thanks to Ron and his stupid surprise, I lost very valuable work hours, so I had to stay until later. I arrived at Harry's place half past eight. I didn't bother to knock, so I just apparated in his entrance hall, like I've always done.

“Sorry I'm late, I had to keep working until now to catch up. And all because of that git,” I said, my back turned to the living room while I was hanging my cloak.

“What git?” someone asked. Someone who wasn't Harry. Someone who sounded just like...

“Ron!” I said staring at him. He smiled at me and I smiled back, until I realized he wasn't the only person sitting in Harry's blue couch.

“Hi!! You must be Hermione! I've heard so much about you!” I managed to hear before someone cut my breath hugging me so tight that I thought my head would fall.

When she finally let me go, I had the time to study her. She was taller than me, thinner, prettier, blonder... She was Barbie's human incarnation. And she was Ron's fiancee...

“I'm Elizabeth,” she said. Her voice was shrilly. “But my friends call me Lizzie, so you should call me that way, because I'm sure we'll be friends pretty soon!”

I was aware that my face must have look horrified. Ron had his arm around her waist and looked tenderly at her. I scanned the room to look at anything but that scene, and I happened to see Harry coming out of the kitchen with a roasted chicken.

“Herm, you're finally here!” he said looking at me sheepishly.

I smiled dangerously at him, hoping he would get the point that I was about to torture him to death for what he've done.

“Need some help in the kitchen, Harry?” I asked pushing him inside it, away from Ron and his doll's ears.

“How could you do this to me?! How could you not tell me that they would be here tonight?!” I asked, whispering furiously.

“I wanted to give you a surprise, I know that you just can't have enough of them lately,” he said, but realized quickly that I wasn't in the mood for his jokes. “OK, I'm sorry. Ron called this morning and said he wanted to introduced Liz- Elizabeth to us, so I invited him. I thought you said you were happy for him.”

“That's not the point!” I said through gritted teeth.

“Then what is it?”

I didn't know what to answer. I threw daggers at him with my eyes and stormed in the living room. I was going to show him and myself that I didn't care about Ron's fiancée.

“So, Elizabeth,” I hoped she'd realized there was no way I was going to call her `Lizzie'. “Ron told us that your father owns a Quidditch team.”

She started talking excitedly about his father's job. I wasn't really listening. All I could see was her expensive clothes and make-up, her perfect hair and nails and the beautiful engagement ring on her finger. `A ring that should be mine', I thought before I could stop myself.

I could sense Ron was studying me. So I kept smiling and tried to make smart remarks every now and then, for him to realize that maybe his girlfriend could be pretty, but she didn't have a brain. Harry interrupted us announcing the dinner was ready.

“Oh Harry, this is delicious!” complimented Elizabeth. She ate in small bites. You can't imagine how much she reminded me of a squirrel. “How did you learn to cook so well?”

“My Aunt taught me,” replied Harry, simply. Of course, he avoided to mention that his aunt treated him like a house elf.

“Well, Herm, why don't you tell me what you've been up to?” Ron said, looking at me. “You never really told me about your life in your letters. Just work, work, work. And about Harry, of course,” he added. Ron have always teased me for my habit of talking about Harry constantly. Doesn't matter how many times I've explained that I'm always concerned about him. I know I look like his mother. “How's your love life doing?” Ron asked suddenly.

And then it happened. I swear I don't know what got into me. My irrational part was taking the best of me, and the words just spit out of my mouth.

“I'm engaged too,” I said so quickly and quietly that I didn't even hear myself.

It was obvious that the others did, though. Ron's eyes widened in shock, Elizabeth clapped her hands (God, isn't she annoying?) and Harry spitted his pumpkin juice.

“Rea-Really?” muttered Ron. I was delighted to see he was taken aback with my revelation. You just wait, Ron Weasley, there's more to come. “Anyone I know?”

I thought for a few seconds before answering. Who could I say was my fiancé? I was thinking about that, when I heard a loud cough beside me. Harry's sign that I was screwing up. I smiled inwardly.

“Sure you know him,” I said, taking Harry's hand in mine. Ron and Harry himself stared at me in shock.

“What?” they asked at the same time.

Where the hell was my conscience when I needed it? I was so wrapped in my story now, that there was no turning back. Not even with a small pang of guiltiness I looked at Harry with my most lovely eyes.

“Come on Harry, love, we don't need to hide it from Ron.”

Harry stared at me, his jaw dropped.

“Is it true Harry?” Ron asked, still not daring to believe it.

I squeezed hardly my “fiancé's” hand, an unmistakable sign that he better supported my story or else...

“I see you have finished eating,” said Harry, standing up and picking the dishes, avoiding Ron's look. “Hermione, would you please help me with these?”

I followed him to the kitchen. Before I entered I heard Elizabeth telling Ron how cute Harry and I were.

Harry left the dishes in the sink and leaned against it. He crossed his arms and stared at me. I couldn't held his sharp gaze, so I looked at my shoes.

“I wish I could say I understand what's going on, but that's not the case,” he said, slowly, like a parent talking to a small child. “Care to enlighten me, please?”

“Please Harry, please, please, follow me here, will you?

“Are you out of your mind?” he said, not raising his voice “What's gotten into you? We are not engaged!”

“I know we aren't, silly. But Ron doesn't.” Harry sighed in frustration. “Listen, I said that to him as a test... Did you see the look in his eyes? He was jealous!” I exclaimed.

“He was shocked. He had just received the news that his two best friends are engaged, and he's the last one to know,” argued Harry. “What am I saying? No one knows!”

“Listen Harry, I know what I'm doing. I'm just asking you a little favor.”

“You are asking me to lie to my best friend just because a fancy of yours.”

“It's just a little white lie. Besides, when have I denied you something?”

“That's not fair,” he muttered.

“Look, I just want to test his feelings. If he really is over me, he won't care and he'll marry Elizabeth anyway. If that happens, I'll tell him it was just a wedding joke or something,” I reasoned. Harry didn't look convinced. I gave him my best puppy look and started muttering “please, please, please” until he smiled weakly. It's incredible the power I have over this man.

“Fine. But just for a week,” he agreed.

“Thank you! You're the best,” I said kissing him on the cheek.

In that very moment, Ron entered in the kitchen with the rest of the dishes. He blushed when he saw us. Harry was blushing as well, so I took a little advantage of the situation.

“Ron, you shouldn't have bothered,” I said, receiving the dishes he was holding. “Harry and I were about to serve the dessert, weren't we, honey?”

“Y-yes,” muttered Harry.

Ron was pale when we went back to the dining room. I knew he wasn't pleased with our engagement. My plan was working well, then.

“So...” started Ron, clearing his throat “Since when... When did you... How long have you been... a couple?”

Harry looked at me. This was my story, so I had to answer.

“Well, you know Harry and I have always been close, but this last month we realized that our feelings were much more than just friendship,” I lied quickly. God, I used to be such a bad liar back at school, what on Earth happened to me?

“Why didn't you tell me?” asked Ron. There was a hurt look in his eyes.

“We wanted to surprise you,” I said, aware that my voice was hiding some sort of resentment. “We were planning to go and visit you to the States in September, but you came back before. Isn't it great?”

The only one that nodded was Elizabeth. She seemed thrilled that Harry and I were together.

“It's certainly a surprise,” stated Ron. “I never thought that you, Hermione Granger, would get married,” he added.

What? Say that again. I didn't like how that sounded.

“And why's that?” I asked, suddenly serious.

“Well, it's just that you are the less romantic person I know, and I've always thought that you would put your career above such things like marriage,” Ron said slowly.

I could felt the anger growing inside me. So that's what he thought about me. He's always been like that, you know? That's why we fought so much when we were at Hogwarts. He always knew how to push my buttons. Thanks God, I didn't have the time to answer, because Harry spoke first.

“You're wrong, Ron,” he said calmly “Hermione is very romantic, actually. And she wants to form a family more than anything.”

Ron didn't reply and a kind of awkward silence filled the room.

“So, Hermi, Ron told me that you agreed to be my Maid of Honor,” Elizabeth said. How she dares to call me Hermi? I hate that nickname.

“Yeah,” I said a little harshly.

“It's so cool! Then you can come with me tomorrow to the dressmaker. I'm sure you'd like to try your dress. It's beautiful, you're going to love it! It will be just you an me, you know girl stuff.”

Perfect. Just what I needed. A lovely day out with Princess Barbie.

3. A Bad Day

Chapter Three - A Bad Day

I swear to God, that Saturday could be remembered as one of the worst days of my life. I tried to avoid going, but Harry gently reminded me that this was Ron's fiancée and if I couldn't do it for me, at least I should do it for him. I hate when he's right.

So, there I was, sitting in a café in Picadilly, waiting for Elizabeth, who was already half an hour late. I had the sense to brought my sunglasses, in that way I could gave her death glares and roll my eyes at her, and she wouldn't notice it. I had already drunk three cups of coffee. I felt I would need all the caffeine to stand this day.

I had asked Harry to go with me, but he refused. He was going to pick his own tuxedo with Ron. Which of course, was making me very nervous. Knowing Ron, he would ask all the questions that he wouldn't dare to ask me. And Harry was a really bad liar. I didn't know if he would be able to put up with the story of our engagement.

“Hi, Hermi, I see that Ron was right when he said you are always on time,” said that annoying voice, coming from behind.

“Hello, Elizabeth,” I greeted her, politely. I decided not to mention anything about her lateness and I followed her through the boutiques while she was chatting without interruption.

In less than ten minutes, I learnt that, although she was American, she traveled to England every year, so she knew London like the palm of her hand. Her family owned a manor in the outskirts of the city, and that's where Ron and her would live for a while. The worst part of it was when she kept mentioning how fantastic Ron was, how charming, cute, lovely. . .

She make it sound like Ron really loved her. She was so naïve. I mean, Ron couldn't possibly love her for real, he was just infatuated or something... Dazzled by this new beauty. I bet she was pressing him. The Ron Weasley I knew would never marry a girl knowing her that little.

Too bad for you, dear Elizabeth. I'll make sure Ron realizes that he's making a mistake.

Finally we entered in the boutique, where a French dressmaker started taking my measures.

“You have a slim waist and long legs,” the dressmaker commented, writing some notes down.

“Hermi, what color would you like?” asked Elizabeth, looking at cloth samples.

What did I care about the color? I was going to try on a dress I wasn't going to wear.

“I think blue would go lovely with your skin, hair and eyes,” suggested the dressmaker.

“Sure. I like blue,” I said, not interested at all.

The modiste nodded and started working with her wand. Two minutes later I had a beautiful strapless blue dress on. Elizabeth clapped happily and I looked at myself in the mirror. It was an incredible dress, I'm not going to deny it, although I thought it was a little too tight.

“Nonsense,” said Elizabeth when I pointed this. “You look amazing. My other maids are wearing a regular pink dresses.”

“Why?” I asked, confused.

“Ron and I decided that your dress should be special, because you're the most important maid. You're my Maid of Honor!” she said with a warm smile.

OK, I have to admit I did feel flattered, but I wasn't going to show it. Instead, I looked at myself in the mirror again.

“Do I have to use high heels?” I asked, suddenly horrified. I truly hate those shoes, honestly, I always trip when I use them.

“Please no, we don't want you falling in your way through the altar,” said Ron's voice.

I turned around to face him. He was grinning, like he always did when he teased me. I didn't realize he was in there.

“Ha-ha, thank you Ron,” I said, scolding him playfully.

“By the way, you look really great in that dress,” he said. I started to feel nervous with his stare. I'm pretty sure I was blushing, so I turned my back to them.

“We'll take it,” said Elizabeth. With a flip of my wand I was wearing my plain clothes again.

“Did you two had fun shopping?” asked Ron when we got out of the boutique.

Sure.

“Oh, honey, we had such a great time!” exclaimed Elizabeth, excited “Hermi is such a funny person.”

“Of course she is,” nodded Ron, winking at me. “That's why she's my best friend.”

Ron and Elizabeth were holding hands and that was making me uncomfortable... And angry. I had to leave.

“Well, it's been lovely to share this morning with you, Elizabet,.” I said. Didn't that sound weird? Even I can't be that formal. “I see you later, I guess.”

“What? You're not going to have lunch with us?” asked Ron, looking a bit disappointed.

“Ehr... I'm sorry. I can't. I have to be somewhere else.”

“Where?” he demanded. Gosh, why can he ever take no for an answer?

“Work,” I said, biting my lip.

“It's Saturday,” he argued “I know perfectly well that my Dad's policy is that no one works on weekends.”

Right. His dad's my boss. “Uhm, well...” I started, trying to find a good excuse, but his piercing gaze was blocking my mind.

“Oh, I know,” said Elizabeth, giggling.

“You know what?” I snapped involuntary.

“You're going to meet Harry, aren't you? A romantic lunch just for you two. We can certainly understand that, can't we Ronnie?”

But “Ronnie” didn't seem very pleased at Elizabeth's theory. So, I decided to follow her.

“You caught me,” I said. “Well I don't want to make Harry wait...”

“You say hi to Harry for me,” said Ron in a whisper. I nodded and I was about to dissaparate, when he spoke again “Oh, Herm, we'd like you and Harry to go out with us tonight. You know, a double date so you can get more acquainted with Lizzie.”

I would have loved to say no, but the pleading look in his eyes got the best of me.

“That would be great.”

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

“Come on!”

“I told you, I can't.”

“Please Harry!” I was almost begging him.

“Hermione, you know if I could go, I would, but today I can't,” he said, sighing.

“Why?”

“Because... I have something else to do,” he said, blushing a little.

For a single second, my mind stopped thinking about Ron and that night. Harry was hiding something for me, something he never achieved to do. This wasn't going to be the first time.

“And may I know what that something is?”

He avoided my eyes and kept eating.

“You have a DATE, don't you?” I said, accusingly.

Silence.

“Harry.”

Silence.

“Tell me!” I demanded.

“Fine, I do have a date, OK?” he said, frustrated, pushing his plate away.

Normally, I would be delighted at the idea of Harry having a date, but not now, not in the situation I was in.

“I can't believe you! How can you do this to me?”

“Do what to you?” he asked, looking confused.

“Harry, you're supposed to be my fiancé! Can you imagine what'll happen if Ron sees you with another woman?”

“Ok, first of all, what are the odds that Ron will see me? London is a big place, don't you think? And second, I only supported your ridiculous story with Ron because I didn't want you to make a fool of yourself in front of him, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to pretend I'm your fiancé 24 hours of the day. I got a life too, you know?” he said, with his usual calm tone, though I could sense he was a little angry.

“What are you talking about? You never date! Why did you have to start just when I need you the most? Don't you see I need to go out with them tonight? It's going to be a great chance for Ron to notice the big difference between his “I'm-sorry-but I-only- have-one-neuron-left-and-I-don't-know-how-to-use-it” girlfriend and me!”

“Then why don't you go alone?” he suggested.

“That's a great idea, Harry!” I said sarcastically. “I don't want to be a third wheel. How do you think I feel when Ron is all cute with her?”

“I don't see why my presence there would change that.”

“He is jealous of you, I can tell. And besides, you would be there for moral support.”

“Sounds great,” said Harry “But, no thanks.”

“What's the matter with you?” I asked, not believing what I was hearing. Was Harry saying no?? To me??.

“Why? because for once I won't do what you ask me to?” he said. He was starting to become upset.

“You're being selfish!” I exclaimed, standing up.

“I'm being selfish? Hermione, what's gotten into you? You're not like this. You're usually a logical, sweet, fair person, and now you're acting like some sort of psycho. You're obsessed with Ron. Can't you see he's happy?”

“He's not happy. He can't be happy with her. She's just a fling!” I said stubbornly. “Fine, don't help me. I can do this on my own. I don't need lousy friends like you! I hope everything goes well with your date!” I blurted, furiously, getting out of his apartment through the door. Of course I could have dissapparated, but it wouldn't have been such a dramatic exit without the door slamming.

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4. And a Worse Night

A/N:Since you're so impatient, I decided to update the fourth chapter right away... By the way, THERE IS A REASON WHY THIS FIC IS AT PORTKEY! It's NOT an R/Hr fic, I would never do that!!!

***

Chapter 4 - And a Worse Night

Did I already mention how terrible that day was? And you haven't even heard the second part of it.

I had just arrived to my apartment after leaving Harry's when I heard a *plop* coming from my fireplace. Ron's head smiled at me.

“Hi, how was your lunch?” he asked.

“Terrific,” I lied, trying to smile.

“Are you OK? You look a little bit tense,” said Ron, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Tense? What gives you that idea?” I replied. I always evade the question when I can't give an answer, and Ron knew it. Thanks goodness, he didn't press the subject.

“I was calling about tonight,” he said.

“Oh yeah... We can't make it, Ron, I'm sorry,” I said, remembering my argument with Harry.

“What? Why?”

“Harry has this... work thing, he said he couldn't miss it and he was really sorry.”

“That sucks,” said Ron “But you can come alone, can't you?”

What's wrong with men? Don't they understand women usually hate to bee third-wheels? Specially when you're in love with the guy and despise the girl. Ron noticed my hesitation and he put his pleading look - yeah, the very same he learnt in our fifth year and always made me help him with his Potions homework.

“Fine,” I said sighing.

“You're the best!” he said, grinning. “I'll pick you up at 8,” with that his head disappeared.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

It turned out that Ron had decided to show Hogsmeade to Elizabeth, so we went there. They were celebrating the “Annual Hogsmeade Festival”, something that had been established since Voldemort's defeat. We used to attend every year, the three of us, sometimes with a Weasley companion. But this time, Harry wasn't here and I had to put up with her.

The main street was decorated with colorful magic balloons. There were all kind of magic stands. It was some sort of muggle amusement park, but way better. Although I have always loved that Festival, I wasn't having fun. Not only because I had to bear Ron's love demonstrations to Elizabeth, but because I felt guilty for the way I had treated Harry.

I knew he was right. I was being selfish, obsessive and unfair. What was happening to me? You know, a lot of things have changed since Hogwarts. Back then, Harry was the confused one and I was the supportive, mature and rational. But once that Voldemort was gone, Harry was freed of all his troubles, fears and sadness. He became much more mature. He started enjoying life and became a calm, reflexive and extremely wise wizard - some sort of a younger Lupin.

I, on the other hand, hadn't changed that much, despite what you may think for my bizarre behavior. You see, when we were at Hogwarts, I thought that I had to be always strong for Harry. He needed me. But when that ended, I became more relaxed and our friendship turned much more loose and confident. Ron was a different matter. With him I've always been the same, because he didn't need me in the way Harry did. Besides, in our relationship always had been this flirting thing. Not with Harry. Our friendship is perfectly platonic.

I like the way things are with him. He's the only one with whom I can be myself, and he's the only one I'd let witness this little hysterical episodes of mine. I trust Harry more than I trust myself. Especially this year, with Ron away, our friendship became incredible strong. How could I said those horrible things to him? Harry has always been there for me, he has always done anything I asked.

“Did you have a fight with Harry?” asked Elizabeth suddenly, looking at me. We were walking through the main avenue, Ron between the two of us.

I was surprised at the question. “Excuse me?” I said.

“You have a frown in your face. Actually, you've had it all night and you've barely spoke. If you ask me, that could only be a lover's fight do.”

Ron also looked at me, interested.

“Did you?”

“No,” I said, shaking me head “I haven't fought with Harry. I was just thinking about this trouble I had at the Ministry...”

“OK, OK, understood,” said Ron, lifting his hand “For once, I don't want to hear you talking about your job, Herm, please.” He stopped walking, pointing at the Three Broomsticks “What do you say ladies if I invite you to drink a couple of butterbeers?”

“Sounds great, Ronnie,” agreed Elizabeth.

I decided to forget about Harry for a while... I would apologize to him later. This was my chance to make Ron notice me. As soon as we were sitting on the table and Madame Rosmerta had served us butterbeers, I directed all my attention to Ron.

“This place brings back so many memories,” I commented slowly.

Ron eyes lit up. “Sure it does.”

We started to talk about our school years. We remembered the good moments, Quidditch matches, Snape, Fred and George jokes, the time when I slapped Malfoy, the time when Harry and Ron drank the Polyjuice Potion...

An hour later we were still laughing and I had completely forgotten about Elizabeth. Obviously Ron had also, because he didn't even talk to her. Since she didn't understand what we were talking about she just stayed silent, smiling, laughing quietly at some times. Every once in a while she tried to make a remark, but we didn't really pay attention to her. I was in the glory. Ron was mine, again.

“Hey, it took me a month to learn that dancing spell!” exclaimed Ron when I reminded him about our Halloween Ball in seventh year. He had used a dancing spell on himself to surprise everyone, but something came out wrong and he couldn't stop dancing like a maniac all night.

“You've always been a bad dancer,” I pointed between laughs.

“Wrong. I was a bad dancer,” he said, becoming serious, although his eyes were still smiling. “Thanks to Lizzie. She taught me how to dance.”

Lizzie? What did she had to do in our conversation? I looked at her across the table and I noticed she had reached her hand and grabbed Ron's. He seemed to realize she was there and kiss her hand. I shuddered when I saw that.

“Actually that's how we met,” said Elizabeth, talking to me “We were at this party that my Dad had organized for the members of the team. Ronnie was standing in a corner, not daring to dance.”

“So this lovely lady approached to me and forced me to dance with her,” added Ron.

“It took a while for him to be able to follow me-”

“ - but at the end we were the most popular couple in the ball room.”

I looked at them in complete disgust. Now they were finishing each others sentences? It almost made me sick when Ron leaned to kiss her lips tenderly. I felt a rush of anxiety and stood up violently. They snapped their heads, surprised at my violent movement.

“I'm sorry... I gotta go,” I said hastily, grabbing my coat. My hands were shaking.

“Why? It's still early,” said Ron, frowning.

He squeezed Elizabeth's hand. My mind suddenly filled with thoughts of what they would like to do if they were alone. I was obviously bothering them, but Ron would never admit that. I could felt the frustrated tears pushing to came out of my eyes. I wouldn't let him see me like this.

“I'm really tired,” I said, my voice almost a whisper. “I'll see you tomorrow, OK?” I added, smiling sadly. That Sunday we would have to attend to a lunch organized by Elizabeth's parents to meet the whole family. I would have to “become acquainted” with the other bride's maids and all that stupid wedding stuff.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Ron suggested. I knew he wouldn't enjoy doing that. For a second I thought of saying yes, but then my good side came up.

“Ron, have you forgotten I can apparate?” I said, trying to make it sound like a joke. My voice sounded bitter, though. “Bye guys!”

Instead of apparating in my apartment, I did it in the corridor, outside Harry's place. Tears had won the battle and they were running furiously down my cheeks. I felt so stupid, and I hated to be crying. When did I become so... girly? I remembered Harry was angry at me, so it didn't feel right to just apparate in his living room. But I needed a friend, and besides Ron, Harry was the only one I had.

I knocked three times - our signal. I was already sobbing. He didn't open the door. He knew it was me, nobody else would knock at his door like that. Suddenly, I remembered the main reason of our argument. He had a date, how could I forgot? I looked at my watch. It was just 11, he was probably still out. Still crying I turned my back to his door, walking towards mine, when it opened. I turned around and saw Harry popping his head out.

“I'm sorry Harry, I forgot you were busy,” I said. He looked at me and realized I was crying. I could saw his green eyes filled with concern.

“What happened, Herm?” he asked, grabbing my arm to stop me from leaving.

“Nothing, don't worry,” I said, trying to wipe my tears and smile, but failing miserably. I started to sob and Harry pulled me into a tight embrace.

“Come in,” he said gently, his arm around my shoulders.

When I entered in his apartment I saw his date sitting in a couch on the living room with a cup of coffee in her lap. She stared at me, a little bit scared.

“Umm... This is my friend Hermione, the one I talked you about,” said Harry, a little uncomfortable. The girl nodded. She was very pretty. Long, black hair and sparkling blue eyes.

Harry sat me down on the couch and ran to give me a glass of water. I buried my face in my hands. I heard Harry talking with the girl in whispers and then I heard the door shut. I lifted my head and noticed she wasn't there anymore.

“Where... did... she...go?” I asked between sobs.

“Fran went home,” he answered simply, kneeling beside me.

“Oh, I'm so sorry Harry, I ruined your date. If you want, I can leave and...”

“Shht. Stop babbling,” he said. “I'm not going to let you alone in the state you're in.”

I started crying louder. After all I had said to him that afternoon, he was still comforting me, putting me above himself. What would I do without Harry? He hugged me and stroked my hair. I told him between sobs what had happened. How Ron was completely over me, no matter how I tried to get his attention. He was blinded by Elizabeth and I was going to lose him. Harry didn't say anything and just listened. I knew he disapproved my actions, but he had the tact to not mention it. We stayed in silence a very long time, and I must have fallen asleep, because I don't remember anything else about that day.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

5. Resolution

Chapter 5 - Resolution

At first I didn't know where I was. I was on a bed in a big bedroom that it took me five seconds to recognize as Harry's. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the muggle alarm clock that Harry had on his night table. 9 a.m.

How did I got here? I was still wearing the clothes I had worn last night. I made an effort to remember. Images of myself with Ron and Elizabeth in Hogsmeade plopped in my head. I had went to Harry's apartment that night and he had comforted me. I must have fallen asleep.

I stood up and walked to the living room. The first thing I saw was a blanket on the couch. So that was where Harry had slept.

“Good morning.” Harry's voice was coming from the kitchen. I went there and saw he had made breakfast: coffee, eggs, bread and sausages. He was already dressed up.

“Why didn't you wake me up last night?” I asked as a reply, yawning. “At least you should have left me sleeping in the couch instead of putting me in your bed.”

Harry chuckled. “OK, first, I don't appreciate to be scolded so early in the morning, and second, I didn't mind sleeping in the couch. That couch is a royal bed compared with my old cupboard.”

That was Harry. He was always joking about his miserable childhood. I felt like hugging him.

“Well at least you could borrow me a robe or something,” I said. “I feel really uncomfortable with the same clothes I wore last night.”

“Sure, there's one in the bathroom,” he said. “Hurry up, it'll get cold.” I nodded, leaving for the bathroom. “By the way,” I heard him shout, “You should consider combing your hair!”

I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked as if I just had stuck my fingers in the socket. My hair was more bushy that it had ever been. I could have been confused with a Yeti. But, just to tease Harry, I decided to leave it that way. I took off my clothes and put on his big bath robe. It was white and had “Chudley Cannons” written in orange letters at the back.

I had just returned to the kitchen when we heard a knock on the door. Harry looked at me and shrugged, not knowing who could be this early in the morning. He sprinted to the door and I followed him, curious.

Harry opened the door.

I guess you already guess who was standing there.

Ron.

With a bag of donuts in his hand.

“Hi Harry!” he greeted cheerfully. “I was thinking that maybe we could share breakf-“ he had just realized I was there. The smile disappeared from his face and he suddenly looked very uncomfortable. “Um, I didn't know you were busy, I can come back later,” he babbled, blushing and avoiding to look at me in the eyes.

Of course. He must had thought I had spent the night with Harry. After all, I was wearing his bath robe and my hair was a mess. And I was there at 9 a.m. on a Sunday. Harry must have realized what Ron was thinking too.

“Oh no, don't worry Ron,” he said. I mentally thanked him for not mentioning anything about his mistake. “Please come in, we were about to have breakfast, you can share it with us.”

Ron came in, still looking dead serious. Why was he acting like that? He had Elizabeth, he didn't have the right to act that way just because I had spent the night with my fiancé. Or so he thought. Anyway, the look he gave me returned my desire to see him apart from that girl. Damn him. Last night I was so determined to forget about him. But now... Something in his eyes was telling me not to give up.

“Harry, maybe Ron needs to talk to you, if you want I can leave you guys alone,” I said, hoping that it wouldn't be the case.

“No, Herm, actually I would like you to stay... Then we can have breakfast like we used to before I went to the States,” said Ron. He was still a little bit red and I realized my clothing was making him uncomfortable.

“Well, since you two are already dressed, I think I'll go to my apartment, have a quick shower and come back,” I said.

“But...” started Harry.

“The breakfast won't turn cold, Harry,” I said, cutting him off. I used a warming spell that would keep things hot for enough time. “You can use this couple minutes to do your guy talk or whatever.”

When I came back, fifteen minutes later, Harry and Ron were laughing hysterically about something.

“What?” I asked, sitting down and grabbing one of Ron's donuts.

They felt silent for a while. They looked at me for a second and started laughing again. I frowned and gave them my McGonagall look. I hated when they did that. It made me felt left out.

“Don't give us that look,” said Ron, shuddering. “It's scary.”

I realized they weren't going to tell me anything, so I dropped the subject.

“You know, it's kinda weird seeing you two together,” commented Ron suddenly, becoming serious again and shifting his gaze from Harry to me.

Harry cleared his throat. I wasn't going to let this perfect chance pass by. I grabbed his hand over the table and squeezed it.

“Yeah, it was weird for us too at the beginning,” I said. “But now it just seems like it was meant to be.” Wow, that sounded so natural, even I was surprised. Ron took a sip of coffee and looked at Harry, like expecting him to add something.

“Eehr...” Harry scratched his head, not really knowing what to say. “So, tell us about today's lunch,” he said quickly.

Dammit, Harry. Why did you do that? I had Ron's attention over us and you had to ruin it. I felt like strangling him.

Ron grimaced. “Don't even remember me about it.”

“Why?” I asked immediately. He didn't look pleased about having to talk about it, but he put his cup down and stared at us.

“Well, it's not that I don't like Lizzie's family. In fact they are pretty nice people. The thing is...” he made a pause, obviously looking for the right words to continue. “The thing is they are a little bit snobbish. They have a lot of money, and you know I've never felt very comfortable around rich people. They are very conservative as well.”

Yeah, I knew that. Although Ron's family wasn't poor anymore (ever since his father had become head of the Department Against the Dark Arts, his salary had increased considerably. Besides, they didn't have to maintain his children anymore, since they were all grown-ups.), he always felt uneasy around people with high social status. Maybe they reminded them of Malfoy. The truth is that Ron had spent his whole school life wanting to be rich, and now that he was earning a lot of money thanks to his quidditch position, he had realized he never really needed to have that much.

“That's not all,” Ron added “Lizzie's mother can be really annoying - she never stops talking - and his father keeps trying to convince me to stay in the States. He has even offered me a partnership so that I would own half of the team.”

Harry's jaw dropped in amazement. “What? Ron, that's incredible!” he said.

“Yeah, it is, but I don't want to live in the US anymore. I like being here, with my family and friends,” said Ron.

“You're totally right,” I said hastily. I knew Ron was now going to play for Puddlemere United in England and he was very excited about it.

Ron smiled at me (I love his smile!) and looked at his watch.

“Jesus, it's late!” he drank the rest of his cup of coffee and stood up “I have to pick up Lizzie. I'll see you there!” he said. He walked towards the door and I ran after him.

“Ron, you forgot your coat,” I said, giving it to him. He grabbed it and opened the door. He was going to left, but he turned around an did something that knock me off my feet.

He kissed me.

Oh no, it's not what you're thinking!!!!! Come on, he's still engaged for Christ's sake! He kissed me on the cheek. But it was a kiss anyway, and Ron never does that “cute” stuff spontaneously.

I closed the door touching my cheek like a fifteen year old. I must've had a really goofy grin on my face, because when Harry got out of the kitchen and looked at me, he gave me an amused look.

“What?” he asked. “Did you won the witch-lottery or something?”

“Harry, I've made up my mind,” I announced, formally.

“About what?” he asked.

“I'm going to stop Ron's wedding.”

Harry's face fell. “I though after what happened last night you have decided to quit that crazy idea,” he muttered.

“Well, I had, but now I'm really sure, Harry. Ron loves me. Besides, you heard him. He would never be happy with a snobbish wife.”

Harry shook his head.

“Are you going to help me?” I asked sweetly.

“What? No way, I'm not going to ruin my best friend's life.”

“You'll be ruining my life if you don't, and I am your best friend too!” I said stubbornly. Harry sighed. There I was, doing it again. How could I force Harry to get in the middle of this? “Fine, listen, you'll only have to keep pretending you're my fiancé, OK?”

He didn't answer, but since he rolled his eyes like four times, I knew he was going to do it.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The “engagement lunch” was being held in the manor where Elizabeth and Ron would live after they got married. Scratch that, where they would have lived, key word being would.

It was an incredible Victorian house indeed. It must have had at least 20 rooms. But the most impressive part of it, was the garden. It was huge. I think it even had a river running through it.

“Hey Ron, are you sure the Forbidden Forest isn't hidden anywhere in this place?” I heard Fred asking just when Harry and I were arriving. It seemed that Ron was showing George and him around the place.

“Hey look!” said George, spotting us “It's the lovebirds!” he hugged us both.

“I can't believe you didn't tell us!” added Fred, pretending to be angry. “We do know how to keep a secret, you know?”

Harry and his fake grin didn't cover the crimson color in his face.

“You've finally arrived,” said Ron “Lizzie's family are driving me crazy asking about you Harry.” Seeing the disgusted look in Harry's face, Ron shrugged “I'm really sorry,” he apologized.

Poor Harry. I knew he hated that. People staring at his scar and asking million of ridiculous questions that he couldn't answer. Ron led us to a long table with a white blanket, where a big number of people were sitting.

“You're here!!” exclaimed an excited Elizabeth hugging Harry and me. She started introducing us his vast family (and I, who thought that the Weasley's were numerous).

First, there was a tall, fat man, with a cheerful, kind face. He was William Greene, Elizabeth's father. He shook Harry's hand vigorously, muttering praises that Harry thanked clumsily. He then turned to me.

“This lovely lady must be Miss Granger,” he said, kissing my hand. “Ron told us a lot about you.”

A short, blonde, thin woman approached then. She was like a big squirrel, so I guessed immediately she was Elizabeth's mother. She had the same personality that her daughter and she giggled when Harry saluted her. Her name was Eve.

Next we were introduced to Elizabeth's brothers, Frank and Nick. They were nice and flirty and they both filled me with compliments, saying that “Ron couldn't put words to your beauty.” Come on, does anyone say that these days?

Then I met Elizabeth's aunts, uncles and cousins. They were like a hundred of them, but five women who were around their thirties were the bride's maids along with me. They seemed delighted with Harry's presence there and I could see my friend was getting more and more uncomfortable. He grabbed my hand and excused ourselves.

Ron and Elizabeth waved us to go and talk with them when we heard a squeal from behind.

“Harry, dear, you're here!” It was Mrs. Weasley. She ran to us, followed by an amused Mr. Weasley. Through her eyes rolled happy tears. “Ron told us all about it. Why didn't you tell us? I'm so happy!”

“Congratulations, Harry, Hermione,” said Mr. Weasley, politely. “I can't say I'm surprised, though,” he added, winking.

I knew that Harry didn't want to lie to the Weasleys. He had a half smile on his face and gave me an annoyed look. I could read “I'm gonna kill you for this” in his green eyes.

“So when's the wedding?” asked Mrs. Weasley.

“Mom, stop it,” said Ron.

***

Later, during the cocktail, I spotted Ron alone in a corner. It was my chance, since Harry was overwhelmed by two of Elizabeth's cousins that were shameless flirting with him. I knew he was going to hate me for living him alone with them. I walked to Ron slowly.

“Hi,” I said, giving him a glass of champagne.

“Thank you, I needed this,” he said, taking it. “So what do you think so far?”

“About what? The house, your family in law or your wedding?”

“Everything,” he said, after a pause.

“The house it's magnificent. You could put all London's homeless people in here.”

Ron looked down. “I know. I think that as well. It's way too big for just the two of us.”

“Did you tell Elizabeth what you think?”

“Kind of. I mentioned how much it would take just to clean it. She suggested that we could bring two of her house elves.” I made a face and Ron smiled. “I told her that you would kill me if I had house elves in my house.”

“You really told her that? What do I have to do with your newlywed life?” I asked, trying to hide the fact that I was delighted.

“Well, actually she said I was right. But I know how much she likes this manor. She used to spend every summer in here when she was growing up.”

“So, you gave in,” I stated.

“Yes. I mean, I'm not going to make a fuss about something this small. If it makes her happy, I'm OK with it.”

Isn't he sweet? She didn't deserve him!

“What about Lizzie's family?” Ron asked when he saw I wasn't going to say anything else.

“Her father is nice. But her cousins...”

“I know! They're just a bunch of bitches.” I gave him the look I reserved for every time he said bad words and he laughed. “That's why Lizzie suggested you should be her maid of honor,” he added.

I was going to say something but we were interrupted.

“Ronnie, I finally found you!” said Elizabeth, smiling. “I should have known you were hiding among the bushes. Come on, it's time to eat,” she said. “Are you having a good time, Hermi?” she asked, while she took Ron's arm.

I nodded and followed them. Elizabeth took me to a seat beside Harry. We were in front of Elizabeth's parents. Harry shot me a death glare when I sat down.

“I can't believe you,” he muttered in a whisper.

“What?” I asked, innocently.

“How could you leave me alone with them?” he said, pointing the two women who were looking at him and giggling.

“Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you needed some time alone with your fans,” I teased, but Harry didn't find it funny.

“I'm gonna make you pay for this, you know?” he said, frowning.

“Oh yeah? How exactly?” I asked, smiling.

“Just watch,” he said.

“Oh, you two look so lovely together!” commented Mrs. Greene looking at Harry and me. “Tell me dear, how did you manage to catch such a charming man?”

I was going to answer, but Harry did it first. He smiled wickedly at me.

“Actually, Mrs. Greene, it wasn't that easy for her,” he said, casually. “You see, Herm had had this crush for me ever since we were at school.”

I gasped. Ron arched an eyebrow and looked at me in shock. I was aware my cheeks were turning red.

“So, she spent eight years following me until I finally noticed her.” Oh my God! Harry knew how much I hated those girls who crawled in the floor for a guy. I knew he was torturing me. “Didn't you, honey?” he said, smiling sweetly at me and patting my hand.

“Yeah...” I answered, not daring to look at Ron's startled face.

“Well you do make a cute couple,” said Elizabeth. “When are you getting married?”

“We don't know yet,” Harry said, squeezing my knee painfully. “It took me a while to convince her that we should get married. My lovely Hermione wanted us just to live together, but I've always preferred to do things the right way.”

That was it. Elizabeth's mother and her whole family as well looked at me disapprovingly. I had to pinch myself to stop from breaking Harry's neck. He knew I would never suggest anything like that, I actually believed in virginity until marriage! But he was determined to embarrass me in front of that crowd. I could even felt Mrs. Weasley's gaze fixed on me. Harry's revenge was going way too far.

I sank in my seat, wishing that this lunch could be over soon...

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!” I exclaimed, throwing pillows at his head.

“Well you deserved it!” Harry retorted, ducking the pillows. “You involve me in this mess and then leave me alone!”

“Did you see Ron's look? How could you say I fancied you back in school? I went out with him in our seventh year! Now he will think I only did it because I wanted to forget about you or something!” I yelled, throwing him another pillow.

“Didn't you?” He teased with a grin, but it faded when I took my wand. He lifted his hands. “OK, OK, maybe I went too far. Don't worry, I can explain to Ron I was just joking.”

We were back at Harry's apartment. After lunch I had made excuses to get out of there. My face was still red, although I don't know if it was because of the embarrassment or the anger.

“Don't you think you're overreacting a little?” Harry said. “When you told everyone I was your fiancé I didn't throw anything at you, even when you deserved it. What about my embarrassment to have to lie to people who are like my family?”

He was right, again. But I was too stubborn to recognize it, so I made an annoyed sound and dissapparated. I appeared in my own living room. I grabbed a glass of water. It wasn't that bad. I could always told Ron that Harry was mad at me for leaving him alone with those girls. And what did I care about Elizabeth's family? They could thought whatever they wanted to.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

“I see you came for an apology,” I said before opening the door. But it wasn't Harry, it was Ron. “Oh, hi,” I said, smiling and feeling stupid.

“Hi.” I invited him to come in, but he shook his head. “No, thanks, I'm only passing by. I just wanted to invite you to have lunch with me tomorrow. And don't say you have work to do, I already talked to my father. Come on, it'll be just you and me, for old time's sake.”

How could I say no? Ron and I, having lunch together? It was like my dream come true.

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6. A Talk with Ron

A/N: OK, for all of those who keep complaining that Hermione likes Ron. I've read a lot of fanfics where Hermione suffers because Harry doesn't notice her (eventually he does, of course) so I thought it would a break for her to turn the story around. She is still completely clueless, and sees Harry only as a friend... She will see the light some day, but for now, that's not very likely to happen... (specially since she tends to be a little obsessive when she puts her mind in something.)

I got the idea for this fic, because I always wanted Julia Roberts to end up with Rupert Everett... But he was gay. So, here, Harry is not, and I can have the development I want.

Chapter 6 - A talk with Ron

MONDAY

Well, what do you know. There I was, with one of my best friends having lunch on one of the beautiful Wizard Parks in London. We have brought sandwiches and pumpkin juice and we were sitting by a small pond enjoying each other's company.

I had managed to spend one glorious hour without talking about Elizabeth or the upcoming wedding. Instead, we had been talking about Ron's year in the States and my year back here.

“You know, you're very lucky,” I said, grabbing another sandwich from the bag “I usually don't stop working for having lunch with people.”

“Argh, you work too much, Herm,” Ron said.

“What about you? When are you starting in Puddlemere?” I asked.

“I don't know yet. My transfer is still in process. Believe me, it took me a lot to convince my future father in law to accept.”

“What, is that you are so good that he can't afford to lose you?” I teased.

“Well of course!” answered Ron, grinning. “But that's not the main reason. I already told you he wanted me to stay in the US.”

“What does Elizabeth think?” I asked. I didn't want to bring her name up, but since Ron had started the subject I thought that maybe I could find something that would help me to make Ron realize that she wasn't the one for him.

“She says she's OK with living here. She wants me to be happy.”

We didn't talk for a while, staring at some ducks swimming peacefully in the pond.

“I was wondering...” said Ron, all of a sudden. “You never got to told me what do you think about the wedding.”

At first I didn't understand what he was talking about. And then I remembered. He was referring to the conversation we were having the day before, when we were interrupted by Elizabeth.

I shifted in my position, not sure about what I should say. “Uhm... Well... I'm not quite sure...”

Ron, who was leaning against a tree, sat up. “I'm listening,” he said. It was as if he had expected this.

“It's just that... Are you sure you're not going too fast, Ron? All this has been so hasty! I mean, just four days ago you told us you were getting married, and this Saturday you will be married.”

“I know. Sounds crazy, huh?” he said, smiling. “But you know? I don't think I've ever been so sure about something in my entire life.”

“Oh,” I said, not knowing what else to comment.

“I've never felt this way about anyone. Lizzie changed my life,” he said. He wasn't looking at me, he was looking at the grass as if he could find his dear Lizzie in there.

I looked at his smile. He was wrong, why couldn't he understand that? It hurt when he said he'd never felt that way about anyone. What about me? Have he already forgotten about the eight years he spend loving me?

“What's wrong? You're awfully quiet, which isn't normal for Hermione Granger,” I heard Ron saying and I realized I had been deep in thought for too long.

“It's nothing,” I said.

Ron didn't say anything and leaned back against the three, eating another sandwich. I'll never stop amazing at how much he eats. Suddenly, he started laughing so hard that some birds who were near us flied away, scared.

“Ron I seriously hope there is a reason for you acting like a mad man or I'll start to be scared of you.”

He looked at me with tears in his eyes, trying to stop laughing. When he finally was able to do it, he sat up again.

“I just remembered something I had forgotten,” he said.

“And do you plan to tell me what it is in this century?” I asked, annoyed.

“Do you remember our Graduation Ball?”

“Yes...” I had a slight idea of where he was heading.

“I've just remembered that promise we made.”

“Promise?” I said, acting confused. He had just remembered? How could he?

“You don't remember? We said that, if we were still single when we turned 25, we would get married.”

“Oh that. And what's so funny about it?”

“I was just thinking. The idea of you and me, married... Do you realize that if I hadn't met Lizzie, maybe you and me would have ended up together?”

Of course I realize, you git.

“Well, it's not like I'm alone. I have Harry” I said, defensively.

He frowned.

“Right. I'd forgotten about that,” he said. “Is it true you liked him back at school?”

“Ron! You of all people should have realized that Harry was joking when he said that! Everything he said yesterday was with the purpose of embarrass me.”

“I'm glad to hear it.” He started staring at me intensely, which made me very nervous.

“What?” I asked finally.

“I was thinking about you and me,” he said, sitting closer to me. “I think we could have been a great couple, you know?”

Of course we could have. If he hadn't come out with this stupid wedding.

“And to think I spent 7 years of my life trying you to notice me as something more than a friend.” I was going to say something but he put a finger on my lips to shut me up. “For once, Granger, could you let somebody else but you, speak?” I frowned but remained silent. “I know that our short relationship back at Hogwarts wasn't the best. We were still too immature... I should have known that we were confusing our feelings back then. Don't get me wrong, I was in love with you, but you weren't. You loved me just as a best friend. Now I've come to understand that, and I think we are better like this. You're my best friend and Lizzie is the woman I love.”

I wanted to say something but words didn't want to came out of my mouth. I wanted to scream “Don't be silly, I do love you, don't get married!” but I couldn't.

“When you told me you were engaged with Harry, it felt weird,” he said.

“Weird? What do you mean?”

“I don't know... Maybe I was jealous. I know I shouldn't be, you are my best friends and I'm really happy for both of you.”

“Are you still... jealous?” I asked, aware of the tone of hope in my voice.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “We both find the right person to be with,” he said, smiling at me.

I smiled back, holding back the tears.

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That evening, when I got back to my apartment I analyzed my conversation with Ron. He seemed sure about his decision to marry Elizabeth. But, being the obsessive person I am, I started reading between lines. OK, OK, maybe my mind was playing tricks on me, but I felt I had a chance. I was more determined than ever to stop that wedding. I was going to be ruthless. No more Hermione, goody-two-shoes, the fool girl that always accepted things without complaining.

This time I was going to fight.

And I was going to win.

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Three knocks on the door informed me that Harry was outside. I checked my watch. It was 9 o'clock. I was experimenting in the kitchen with a new book of Italian recipes I had bought. I was planning to invite Ron on Wednesday to share dinner with Harry and me. I opened the door. Harry stormed inside of my apartment. He stared at me with his arms crossed. I knew I had flour on my face, but I didn't think he was giving me that look just because of that.

I was in a happy mood, so I smiled sweetly at him.

“Hello Harry,” I said, ignoring his frown. “How was your day?”

“Not as good as yours I guess,” he said. “But I didn't come here to talk about your date with Ron, of which I didn't know a thing.”

“Are you jealous?” I asked, grinning playfully.

“No, I am not jealous,” he answered through gritted teeth.

“Geez, calm down, I was only joking. What's going on with you? Did you have a bad day?” I said, getting in the kitchen. Harry followed me.

“I had my interview today,” he said. “The one I told you about last Wednesday, remember?”

“Yes, I remember. I should have known that was the reason of your frown, which, by the way, doesn't suit you at all,” I commented. It was true.

“That journalist kept me three hours, three hours!!, trapped in my apartment... And you know what was all she asked about?” he said, ignoring my remarks.

“Uhm... Let me guess... Quidditch?”

“Ha-ha, very funny. All she asked about was you!”

“Me?” I asked, not really understanding.

“News fly, don't they? Specially when they concern me! And now that journalist asked me about my engagement to you!”

“Oh...” That was trouble.

“ “Oh”!? “OH?!” That's all you're going to say? Do you know what's going to happen when that article comes up?! Sirius and Remus are going to apparate in my apartment, asking me a million questions, and the first one will be why didn't I tell them! Not to mention that now I'm not only lying to my best friend and his family, but to the entire wizard world!”

“What did you say to her? To the journalist, I mean?”

Harry took a deep breath.

“I appreciate your concern about all I have told you, Hermione. Seems that the only thing you care about is that Ron can find out that you've been behaving like a spoiled brat.”

“I'm sorry, Harry, you're right,” I said, trying to calm him down. “I know it's my fault that you're in this mess.”

“I told that journalist I didn't want to discuss my private life,” he said, answering my previous question.

“Well then you didn't confirm or deny anything, right?” I said.

“She will twist everything I said,” he sighed.

I hugged him. And though he was angry with me, he hugged me back, burying his face in my neck.

“Harry, everything's going to be fine, trust me. I won't let you go through a bad time just because you're helping me.” He nodded. “But please, don't be mad at me,” I pleaded.

“You know I can't be mad at you, Herm,” he said, letting me go. “Well, whatever. It's not like it's the first time the Daily Prophet publishes something about you and me,” he added, obviously referring to all those infamous articles that Rita Skeeter wrote during the Thee Wizard Tournament.

“That's my Harry,” I said, kissing him on the cheek.

He smiled slightly.

“What are you cooking?” he asked, looking for the first time at the mess I had in the kitchen.

“Just a new recipe I found,” I said. “I'm going to invite Ron and Elizabeth this Wednesday to have dinner with us.”

“Did I hear well? You're accepting this?” he asked, not daring to believe it.

“Of course not,” I replied naturally. “Come on, try this,” I said, sticking spoon with the sauce I was cooking in his mouth. His face was expressionless. “How is it?” I asked.

“Very good.”

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A/N: By the way, I wrote this fic before OotP!

7. Trouble in Paradise?

Chapter 7 - Trouble in paradise?

TUESDAY

I had just spent an hour working on my desk - I swear, one day off work and the world falls down - when my secretary, Hannah Abbot (yeah, the Hufflepuff girl) entered in my office.

I was very concentrated writing a report about a Death Eater that had tried to escape from Azkaban. I don't enjoy interruptions when I'm working, so I didn't lift my head when Hanna came in.

“Hermione, someone's here to see you,” she said, leaving some papers on my desk.

“Who is it?” I asked, still writing on the parchment. “Oh, don't tell me, I bet is Harry trying to force me to eat something.”

“No. Actually is a woman. Elizabeth, she said.”

I snapped my head up. Elizabeth? What was she doing there?

“Do I tell her to come in?” Hannah asked when I didn't respond.

“Uhm... Yeah, OK,” I said. Even though I didn't want to see her, I was curious.

Elizabeth came in five seconds later, with her flashing smile. She was wearing a lovely pink dress and looked more stunning that she usually did.

“Hi Hermi,” she said “Sorry if I'm disturbing you.”

In fact she was, but I wasn't going to tell her that... yet.

“Hello, Elizabeth, how can I help you?” I said, leaving my quill on the desk.

“Well, since you are my Maid of Honor, I was wondering if you could go with me to pick up my wedding dress.”

She had to be kidding me.

“Oh... I would love to, but as you can see, I'm working, and Mr. Weasley will cut my head off if I don't give him these reports,” I said with my best smile.

As on cue, my boss came in the office.

“Oh hi Elizabeth! Hannah told me you were here,” he said waving happily to her.

“Yes, Mr. Weasley, I came here to invite Hermi to come with me and pick up my wedding dress, but she's working,” Elizabeth said, sadly.

Mr. Weasley looked at me with an understanding smile.

“Dear child, please go with my future daughter in law. You work too much, you need to have fun,” he said.

“Oh, no, it's OK, Mr. Weasley,” I said, panicking. “I really have to finish these reports and...”

“Nonsense,” he said, dismissing my excuse. “Come on, I know how you girls love shopping. Besides, that reports aren't that urgent.” I was going to protest, but Mr. Weasley cut me off. “In fact, Hermione, I'm going to give you this week off. In that way, you'll be able to help Elizabeth, like I know you want.”

Perfect, just what I needed. I couldn't believe Mr. Weasley was doing something like that to me, but, on the other hand, I know he really believed I wanted to help Elizabeth with the wedding arrangements. I had no other choice but to accept.

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“Isn't this great? We'll have all these days to become best friends!” was saying Elizabeth. She was in the fitting room, and I was waiting outside.

“Sure,” I groaned.

“I know that you don't feel very comfortable with having girl friends, but I'm sure you and I will get along fine,” she said next.

“What?” I snapped. “What gives you the idea that I don't feel comfortable having girl friends?”

“Well, you don't have any, do you? Back at school you were always with Harry and Ron, and now you're still with them,” her voice came.

Who the hell did she think she was? She didn't know me at all. She didn't have the right to come and analyze my friendships... However, I had to admit she was right. I didn't have any girl friends, just Harry and Ron.

“It seems that Ron told you a lot of things about me,” I commented.

“Sure, all he did was talk about you and Harry,” she said, giggling.

“Really? What did he tell you, exactly?” I asked, curious. I wished I could looked at her face right now, but the dressmaker hadn't let me in.

“Well, he said you were a little bossy and some sort of a know-it-all.” Typical from Ron to say something like that about me. “But he also said you were really smart, caring, brave and loyal. He told me you were like a mother to Harry and him when you were at school. You love books above anything else, you're a workaholic, you hate cooking and girlish stuff. You are really scared of heights, so you never even step on a broom. You are really stubborn, and God help us when you set your mind on something, because you don't give up until you achieve it and you can be really dangerous when someone upsets you...”

Geez that girl knew me better than I knew myself. That didn't give me any comfort and I mentally thought I was going to have a talk with Ron about his impressions of me.

“Well, what do you think?” I heard her asking. I hadn't realized she was standing in front of me.

She looked amazing. Her wedding dress was absolutely marvelous and it fitted her like a glove. I couldn't help but thinking that maybe I would never use a dress like that. Some of my anguish must have reflected in my face.

“You don't like it?” Elizabeth said, looking at herself with a sad expression. “I knew it was too much, I should have chosen something more discreet.”

“Oh no,” I said quickly “It's beautiful.”

Her face lit up. “Do you think Ron will like it?”

“How could he not?” I asked, amazed with my kind words.

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“I have a confession,” she said.

We were on a small café in London's downtown. Elizabeth had been staring at me for a while before she said that.

“Shoot,” I said, carefully.

“I was afraid of meeting you.”

Wow, I wasn't expecting that. “Why?” I asked.

“Because... Oh, you'll probably laugh at this... I had the feeling that I would have to compete with you,” she said looking at her cup of coffee.

“I'm sorry, you lost me,” I said, blinking.

“Ron told me all about you and your incredible friendship, and somehow I thought that he would always compare me with you. I came here with the feeling that I would had to fight with you for Ron... It's crazy I know! I mean, I totally changed my mind when I met you and Harry, because it's so obvious you two are madly in love. And I know you were a little cold to me in the beginning because you were afraid I might hurt Ron or something.”

I was trying hard to took in all the things she was saying. I looked into her blue eyes, trying to see a glimpse of cynicism, but I realized she was being totally honest.

“And I swear, for my life, that I could never hurt Ron,” she kept saying. “I truly love him. If I didn't love him the way I do, I would've never accepted...” she trailed off.

I stopped thinking about what she had said earlier and caught the last words. I became really interested in this conversation.

“Accepted what?” I asked, casually. She hesitated and I gave her a reassuring smile “Come on, you can tell me. We are friends now, aren't we?”

She smiled and leaned on the table, speaking in a low voice.

“Well, it's not such a big deal... It's just that it took me a lot of effort to accept to come and live here, in England.” I nodded, inviting her to continue. “When Ron asked me to marry him, he started talking about the offer of Puddlemere and how he wanted to came back to England. He seemed so excited... To tell you the truth, I don't like England very much. I'm so used to live in California, I'm used to the weather and to the people there. Here, I feel out of place.”

I cleared my throat. “Have you spoken with Ron about how you feel?”

She shook her head, sadly. “No. I know he doesn't want to live in the US. He wants to live here.”

Now this was something. These couple had a huge problem in their hands and I just couldn't believe they hadn't realized about it yet.

“I haven't ask you before,” I said, “What do you do for living?” I had the idea that being the rich girl she was, maybe she didn't do anything.

“I'm a teacher,” she said. “I worked in a Wizard School in the States, I was the History of Magic professor. That's another thing,” she added, her face serious all of the sudden. “Here in Europe, all wizarding schools are boarding schools. I know Ron would die if I went all the year away! I love my job and I hate to leave it.”

This was my chance. Elizabeth had given me the perfect tool to stop this nonsense. OK, I admit I felt a rush of sympathy for her and her big sacrifice for Ron, but let's face it, either way, one of them would be unhappy. I just had to make them realize it.

“Elizabeth,” I said, in a solemn tone. “I think you have to tell Ron how you feel.” She shook her head again. “Yes, you have,” I insisted. “The most important thing in a healthy relationship is honesty and communication. If you don't work this thing out now, you'll have troubles later.”

She seemed to consider my advise. “Are you sure? I mean, you probably know Ron better than me. Are you sure he won't be mad if I tell him I don't want to live here?”

“I don't think he would be mad. But you have to find a solution to this,” I said, matter-of-factly.

“You're totally right, Hermi. I have to talk to Ronnie. We'll figure this out somehow, won't we? We love each other and that's all that matters!” she said, smiling. I smiled too, knowingly. Ron wasn't going to like this at all.

We finished our coffees and she asked me to go with her to the flower shop.

“I'm so glad Mr. Weasley gave you the week off,” she said, picking a bunch of red roses.

“Yeah, so am I,” I lied.

“Now you'll be able to help me, because there's so much left to do!” she said, happily. “What do you think about this flowers for the reception?” she said pointing the red roses.

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I hate to admit this, but I was actually having fun with the little princess. She invited me for lunch and I couldn't refuse. Besides it would give me the chance to get more information out of her.

We talked for a while about Ron, and I didn't miss the opportunity to point out some of his defects - casually, of course. That didn't turn out very well, she seemed delighted with his flaws. “If you love someone, you love him entirely,” she said. She then changed the subject to one I didn't want to discuss: Harry and me.

Why I didn't want to discuss it, you ask? Well I don't enjoy lying, I'm not that bad, you know? I just invented that whole Harry thing to make Ron jealous. But Elizabeth though that the fact that we were a couple was the best thing in the world. I had the suspicion she felt safer like that: I was taken and I wouldn't try to steal Ron from her. Wasn't she naïve?

“When Ron used to talk about Harry and you, he never mentioned anything involving you romantically,” Elizabeth said, eating her salad.

“I guess he never expected that we would end up together,” I said, shrugging.

“I can't understand how he didn't. When I met you, I realized in that very second you two were meant for each other.”

“Really?” I asked, not very interested.

“Of course. Anyone with two eyes would realized that Harry adores you! The way he looks at you, the way he speaks to you, everything. If Ron wasn't so dense, he would have noticed.”

I almost laughed. The girl was so desperate to see me away from Ron that now she was making up all that stuff about Harry's behavior towards me. Like I wasn't there too.

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“You look tired.”

“You too.”

“Well, I have been training all day, so it's no surprise I'm tired,” Harry reasoned. “But you had been shopping all day, so I don't really understand why do you have that look in your face.”

Harry had spent the last half hour laughing at me for the `week off' thing and the fact I would have to spent these days helping Elizabeth with the wedding.

“I would be less tired if I had been working in something I actually like,” I said, sighing. I was sitting in his favorite sofa and he was in a chair in front of me. “You can't imagine how tiring is to hear a person like her talk for an hour without breathing.”

Harry just smiled.

“But it wasn't a useless day,” I added, thinking about the plan that was building in my head.

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking at me suspiciously.

“Oh, nothing,” I said. I wasn't going to tell him anything. I knew he could get angry and I didn't want to fight with him again. “You know what that girl said?” I asked, laughing. “She said that it was pretty obvious from the start that you and I were totally in love.”

“Did she?” asked Harry, standing up from his chair and walking towards the kitchen.

“Yes. She said she noticed right away that you adored me. Isn't it funny?” I asked still laughing. Harry was still in the kitchen when he answered.

“Very funny, indeed,” he said, but somehow it didn't sound like he was laughing.

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8. Harry

OK, I couldn’t update before because of this site’s problems. Now that I know that I have to turn this into an HTML file, I’ll post a couple of chapters to make it up for the long wait.

Chapter 8 – Harry’s Concern

WEDNESDAY

“How are my two favorite ladies doing?” greeted Ron when he met Elizabeth and me in the church that morning.

“You’re late,” I pointed out.

“Aww I was hoping you wouldn’t notice,” he said, teasing. He gave Elizabeth a long kiss in the mouth that made me shudder. “How did it go?”

“Perfect, honey,” replied Elizabeth. “I already talked to the priest and everything is set for Saturday.”

“Great,” said Ron and then he turned to me. “Hey, what do you say if we go and get Harry to have lunch all together?”

I agreed immediately. I rather be with Harry if Elizabeth and Ron were going to get all cute and loving. We apparated in the pitch where the Chudley Cannons trained. We arrived a little early, so we sat down on the grass, looking at the members of the team flying above us. I spotted Harry. Although I couldn’t see his face, he looked weird. Usually, Harry flies so fast that you only see a color spot in the sky, but this time it was more like his broom had lost all its strength.

Obviously I wasn’t the only one who noticed that.

“What’s the matter with you Potter?!” yelled Oliver Wood, the Cannon’s manager, when the team landed. “Since Monday you haven’t paid attention in training!”

“I’m sorry Oliver,” I heard Harry apologizing. He was looking at the floor, moving his feet. Ron and I exchanged a confused look.

“You’re sorry? That’s all you’ve got to say!? The season starts in two weeks and my Seeker has his mind anywhere but in the field!!” Oliver’s voice was so loud that I’m sure that every single person in London could heard him.

“Look, it won’t happen again,” muttered Harry.

“You said that yesterday, Potter!!” roared Wood. Geez, I had forgotten what a maniac he was. I looked at Harry’s face. He was serious, not the usual smirk he had plastered when Wood babbled. Oliver seemed to notice that too, because his expression changed and he put a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Are you OK, Harry? You’ve been acting really weird this week. Do you have any problems? Something I can help you with?” he asked, his voice concerned.

Harry shook his head. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. I just have a lot in my head right now.”

“Look, Harry, I’m your manager, but I’m also your friend. If you need to take this week off, I can...”

“No, Oliver, I don’t need a week off,” interrupted Harry. He turned his head and noticed us. His expression changed, and he smiled. Oliver saw us too.

“Hi Hermione,” he said coming to greet me. I knew Oliver was used to see me in Quidditch practices, because I usually brought lunch to the team. “Hey! Weasley! I see you’ve come back,” he said, shaking Ron’s hand.

“Yes and he’s playing with Puddlemere,” commented Harry, approaching.

“No way! You’re in the competence? I can’t believe you!” said Oliver. “Let’s see how you do this season and maybe we could see if you can become a Chudley Cannon,” he winked.

“That would be incredible!” exclaimed Ron, not being able to hide his excitement. He was a fan of the Cannons. “Oh, this is my fiancée, Elizabeth Greene,” he introduced Elizabeth.

“You’re some lucky bastard,” commented Oliver, looking at her. “Nice to meet you, Elizabeth. Well, I gotta go. Harry, go with your friends and don’t come back today OK? It’s an order. And don’t forget about our little chat.”

Harry nodded. He turned to us.

“We came to kidnap you so that you could have lunch with us,” said Ron, “but it seems that it wasn’t necessary. I had forgotten Oliver’s grumbles.”

“I’m sorry you had to hear that,” said Harry, embarrassed. “I’m going to take a quick shower and I’ll join you, OK?”

While we waited for him to came back, I couldn’t help but wondering what was going on with Harry that I didn’t know of. When I saw him at the end of the day, he was always in a happy and relaxed mood, but the expression I had seen on his face today was more like the one he used to have in our Hogwarts days, when he was always concerned about something.

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While we were eating, I tried to study Harry without him noticing. He didn’t seem concerned or unhappy. He kept joking with Ron and making smart remarks every once in a while. One of two: or he was just tired back then, or he was a better actor than I gave him credit for. I was so wrapped thinking about what was going with Harry, that I didn’t even realized Ron was talking to me.

“Hello! Earth to Hermione!” he said, waving his hand in front of my face.

“What... What?” I said, snapping back.

“I was talking to you, but you kept staring at Harry,” Ron said, frowning.

Elizabeth giggled “Well she’s in love, Ronnie,” she said and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

I rolled my eyes. In that moment, a beautiful white owl flew to our table.

“Hi Hedwig,” greeted Harry, taking a piece of parchment that she had brought.

“Who is it from?” I asked, curious.

“Sirius,” he replied. I knew Sirius was in Spain at the time. Harry unfolded the piece of parchment and started reading it.

“What does it say?” I asked.

“Will he make it on Saturday?” asked Ron when Harry didn’t answer my question.

“Yes, he says he wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Harry said, standing up. “Excuse me,” he added, and he walked towards the other side of the restaurant.

I followed him with my gaze.

“I’m going to the ladies room,” said Elizabeth. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

Ron grabbed a piece of bread and stared at me.

“What’s going on with Harry?” he asked.

“How should I know?” I replied before I realized.

Ron arched an eyebrow. “Well, you’re his fiancée after all. If you don’t know, then nobody does.”

“I don’t know, Ron,” I said, exasperated. “Something must’ve happened to him this morning, because last night he was fine.”

“That’s not what Wood said,” argued Ron. “Did you guys have a fight or something?”

I blinked. “What makes you think that?” I asked, hastily.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Just an idea that crossed my mind.”

I was going to reply, but Elizabeth came back to the table and started talking about something I really didn’t hear. A few minutes later, Harry came back.

“Where were you?” I asked immediately.

“I went to write a reply to Sirius,” he said.

It was strange that Harry hadn’t wanted to show me Sirius’ letter. He usually gave me all the messages his Godfather sent to him.

“Well, we should probably go now, we have to meet Lizzie’s parents,” Ron said, after we finished eating. “We’ll see you guys tonight,” he added.

Right. Tonight was Wednesday and I had invited them to have dinner at my place. Ron and Elizabeth dissaparated.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Back at my flat, I went to the kitchen. I had decided I would start cooking the pudding I had planned to serve as a dessert, but when I arrived to my flat, I felt the urgency to talk to Harry. I didn’t even bothered to knock. I apparated in his living room right away, because he didn’t have ward spells concerning me.

Harry was lying in the sofa, reading The Daily Prophet when I arrived. He looked at me and smiled.

“I thought you had gone and buried yourself in the mysteries of the kitchen,” he said.

“I’d rather burying myself in another mystery much more interesting,” I said, sitting in the rug, next to the sofa.

“And that would be...?”

“You, silly,” I said. “I want you to tell me what’s going on.”

He sat up. “What do you mean? Nothing’s going on.”

“Don’t lie to me Harry, you know you’re a terrible liar. I heard what Oliver said to you today. Why have you been so distracted in training?”

“Oh, come on Herm, you know Wood, he always overreact about anything when it comes to Quidditch.”

“I saw your face, Harry. You are concerned about something.”

“I’m just tired, that’s all.”

“Is this because of me?” I asked in a whisper.

Harry stood up from the sofa, and I stood up too.

“You? What would concern me about you? Nothing has happened to you. This is not about you... This is not about you,” he said very fast.

“Oh, now I get it,” I said, with my hands in my hips. “I know what is going on with you Harry Potter.”

“You... do?” he asked softly.

“Yes. You’re feeling guilty about lying to Ron, don’t you? You can’t live with yourself for what you’re doing to help me.”

Harry stared at me, dumbfounded, and blinked a few times.

“I’m sorry Harry,” I said, hugging him. “I’m sorry I have got you into my craziness. I promise you, I’ll work everything out, OK? But please, stop worrying, I hate to see you like this.” He didn’t say anything. “And don’t you ever dare try to fool me again, you hear?” I added, letting him go.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“If I hadn’t seen you this morning, you would have kept pretending nothing was concerning you,” I said. Harry, once again, remained silent. “Are you going to tell me what Sirius had to tell?” I asked, remembering the note.

“Oh... It was nothing, just that he was fine, and he was coming this Saturday. You know, the same as usual,” he replied, grapping the newspaper again.

“Then why didn’t you show it to me?”

“I didn’t think it was important. Besides I’m not forced to show you all my mail, am I?”

“Of course not,” I said “But you always show me Sirius’ letters.”

“Look, I would show you this one now, for you to see that I’m not hiding anything from you, but I threw it away,” he said, opening the newspaper again.

“Did your interview came out yet?” I asked.

“Nope. I don’t know if I should be relieved or afraid.”

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

“Jesus Christ, Hermione, I thought you had worked on your cooking,” said Ron when he first tried my pasta.

Elizabeth shot him a severe look. I stared at him, confused.

“You didn’t like it?”

“Well, no,” he said. “But it’s not a surprise is it? I mean, your cooking has always sucked,” he added with a smile.

I think this deserves an explanation. Ron has always teased my about my cooking and I’ve always laughed along with him, because I knew it was true. But in this past year, I thought I had improved, because Harry always ate it without complains. In fact, he seemed to like it. A year ago, I wouldn’t have mind Ron telling me my cooking sucks, because it was his favorite joke... But now it didn’t feel right.

“I have to disagree,” I heard Harry saying. “I think Herm’s cooking is getting better every day.”

“Yeah, well, you have to say that because you’re engaged to her,” said Ron. “But I can be honest.”

“Ron!” said Elizabeth.

“Baby, she doesn’t mind!” said Ron, smiling. “I’ve always teased her for it, haven’t I Herm?”

“Yes,” I replied, looking at my plate. Was my food really that bad? I couldn’t tell. I looked at Harry and he gave me a reassuring smile. His plate was clean.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m having another one,” he said, serving more pasta in his plate.

“Uhm honey?” said Elizabeth suddenly, shifting in her seat. “I wanted to discuss something with you.”

I realized immediately she was going to mention the US – UK thing. I couldn’t believe she had chosen this time to talk about it, with me and Harry there. But then, maybe she wanted my support. She probably was afraid. I waited in silence for what was coming.

“Sure, what is it?” said Ron, losing interest in the food and looking at her.

Elizabeth looked at me. Her face was pale. Poor thing. “Well, I was thinking... That maybe you could reconsider my dad’s offer.”

Ron almost spitted his butterbeer.

“What?”

Elizabeth trailed off and looked at me.

“Let me get this straight,” Ron said, his face slightly red. I could see his eyebrows furrowing. It looked like he had completely forgotten about Harry and me. “You’re telling me this because you want us to stay in the States, aren’t you?”

“Well... yes?” she said, her voice barely audible.

“I thought we had settled this, Liz,” he said. “I thought you knew and accepted that I wanted to live here, in England. You said you were OK with that. And now you come up with this?”

Elizabeth opened her mouth a couple of times, but didn’t say anything.

“Ron,” I said, feeling sorry for her. He looked at me, as if he had just realized I was there. “I think you should consider Elizabeth’s opinion. She’s giving up a lot of thing to be with you.”

“Giving up?” he repeated.

“Yes. She won’t be able to work here because you wouldn’t like her to go to Hogwarts, which is a boarding school. She’s giving up her profession, among a lot of other things.”

Ron looked at me, then at Elizabeth, and then at me again.

“And how do you know that?” he asked. He turned to Elizabeth. “You’ve been telling Hermione those things and you didn’t mention them to me? Who are you marrying to?”

“She didn’t want to upset you,” I said.

“I can’t believe this,” said Ron, shaking his head. He stood up. “Let’s go, Liz, we’ll talk about this in som other place. Hermione and Harry don’t need to hear this.”

Elizabeth stood up hastily. I could see she was about to cry. Ron grabbed his jacket. “I’m sorry about this,” he said, and dissaparated. Elizabeth muttered a goodbye and she was gone too.

I stared at the spot where they had been, until I felt Harry’s piercing eyes on my back. I turned to face him.

“That was uncomfortable,” I commented.

“Somehow you don’t seem uncomfortable at all,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “In fact, I would dare to say that you were expecting this.”

“I’m not going to deny Elizabeth told me about her concerns,” I said, defensively. “But it’s not my fault that’s an issue between them.”

Harry just kept staring at me.

9. The Building of a Plan

Chapter 9 – The Building of a Plan

THURSDAY

I spent the whole night imagining what had happened after Ron and Elizabeth had left my apartment. I pictured fights and break-ups in all styles, forms and colors: there were dramatic ones, violent, even funny... For me, of course.

Being the curious and impatient person I am, the first thing I did that Thursday morning was go to the Burrow. I apparated in the front door and knocked.

“Hi dear!” saluted Mrs. Weasley, opening the door.

“Hello, Mrs. Weasley. Is Ron here?” I asked quietly. Mrs. Weasley looked as cheerful as ever. Probably she didn’t know yet that there would be no wedding.

“Sure, but he’s still asleep. But don’t worry, this is the perfect excuse to wake him up. Please come in, I’ll send him down right away.”

I waited in the living room, pacing nervously. I had prepared a comforting speech for him. I wondered how he felt. Was he sad? Angry? Relieved? Twenty minutes later he came down. He looked at me with a sleepy face. I searched for signs of any other emotion in it, but I didn’t find any. Well, Ron has never been a very expressive person in the morning.

“Good morning Ron,” I said, serious.

He yawned. “Herm, it’s 8:30 in the morning, please tell me you have a good reason for waking me up this early,” he said slowly, rubbing his eyes.

“Sorry I woke you up. I came to see how were you doing,” I said, sitting down and patting the spot in the couch right next to me. He sat down and stared at me.

“Well that’s very nice of you,” he said, yawning again, “But couldn’t you have waited until it was a more decent hour to ask me that?”

“No, I was worried about you.”

“Worried? Why?” he asked dumbfounded.

“Because yesterday, when you left my apartment, you were very angry, that’s why,” I reminded him.

He widened his eyes, understanding. “Oh! You’re totally right, I had forgotten about that.”

“Well... What happened?” I asked, barely able to restrain my anticipation.

“We talked about it...”

“And?”

“And everything’s fine.”

“What?” What did he mean, fine? What about the breaking up? The fact that there would be no wedding?

“I said everything’s fine. Elizabeth apologized and recognized she was being selfish, then she started to cry. Of course, I told her that it wasn’t such a big deal, I might have had a bad first reaction, but she had all the right to tell me what she thought about this. So we discussed it deeply, and she ended saying she would love to live here, in England.”

That was the one thing I hadn’t expected. How could Elizabeth be so damn weak? Why couldn’t she stand for herself? Why they had to work it out?

“Geez, Herm, you really didn’t think it would be a great fight, did you? When you said “good morning” to me, you looked as if you though that we had broken-up or something.”

“Of course not, I was just concerned,” I muttered. I had been such a git. Of course, no one would broke an engagement two days before the wedding just for a stupid reason like that. “I’m glad you’re fine. I gotta go,” I said, standing up and almost running towards the door. I needed to get away from Ron.

“What? You’re leaving? You make me get up this early and now you’re just going to leave?” he asked, following me.

“I’m really sorry, I just remembered I have something really important to do. See you later!” I disapparated before he could ask me anything else.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Long ago, I had learnt that, to get your mind away from things, the best thing to do was work. So I apparated in my office. I didn’t care if Mr. Weasley had given me the week off, I was going to make so many reports that there would be no Death Eaters left without a registration.

I started writing furiously. I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing. I was angry. I shouldn’t had trusted that good for nothing girl. When you want something done, you have to do it yourself. I was getting nowhere and the fact that I had only two days left wasn’t comforting me.

I don’t know how much time I spent like that. All I know is that I was just cooling down when the door of my office opened and someone stormed in.

The last person I would like to see when I was in my neurotic state was standing in front of me, with his usual smirk. I grimaced and frowned, all at the same time.

“Malfoy. Did anyone teach you to knock?” I said bitterly.

Just because this life likes to play cruel jokes on people, Draco Malfoy happened to work in the same department I did. It’s true that I barely saw him, but maybe that was because I did anything to avoid him. However, on our few encounters he enjoyed to make my life miserable. Not even on the good side he was bearable.

“So jumpy, Granger,” he said, sitting in front of me and putting his dirty feet on my desk.

“What do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy here? I don’t have time to deal with you.”

“I can see that,” he said, smiling. “You’re too busy whipping because that Weasel is getting married, aren’t you?”

“What? Why would I do that?” I snapped. He had caught me off guard.

His smile grew wider.

“Believe it or not, Granger, I happen to know you a lot more than you think. And because of that, I know that you aren’t happy with your little friend’s wedding.”

“Yeah, whatever you say Malfoy,” Was I that obvious? Even Malfoy could tell?

“I don’t blame you. After all these years, anyone would have thought that he would crawl forever behind you...” I picked my wand, ready to hex him. “You don’t have to do that. I came here to help you.”

“Is that so? Then start helping me now and get your ugly face away from my sight, before I remind you how it feels like to be a ferret,” I said.

“Even thought I would love to have a duel with you, I have other things to do,” Malfoy said, not moving an inch. “So, tell me, what’s your big plan to split the happy couple apart.”

“Have you gone crazy Malfoy, or you’re just plain stupid? Get out of here, NOW!” I said, walking to the door and opening it with violence.

Malfoy shook his head.

“That attitude won’t help you. What you need to do is break the confidence between them,” he said, matter-of-factly.

I didn’t say anything.

“Listen, do you want to get Weasley back or not?” he asked, standing up and closing the door smoothly. “Because when you want something, you have to make some sacrifices. Such as forgetting old quarrels and hear a smart wizard with a plan.”

“How do you know so much about...?” I trailed off.

Malfoy chuckled. “Come on, Granger. Tell me what do you have in mind and maybe I’ll be able to help you.”

I don’t know what got into me. Why did I tell him about the US-England problem? What were you doing Hermione? At the time, I was desperate. And Malfoy just happened to be there, to play the part of that little evil side of you that you see on cartoons. He ended up making my white conscience disappear and prepared a plan. A perfect plan that would most definitely end that wedding and Ron’s relationship for good.

“So what do you think?” he asked, when he finished telling me what he thought.

“You’re an evil bastard,” was my reply.

“I know. And you will be one too,” he said, standing up. “Well, I’m off. It was nice talking to you, Granger.”

He walked towards the door and had almost left, when I called him out.

“Malfoy!” he turned around. “Why are you doing this? I know it isn’t to help me. Is it because you want to hurt Ron?” I asked.

He chuckled. “If you really want to know, the only person I’d like to hurt is Potter.”

“What does Harry have to do with this?” I asked, confused.

He just smirked an closed the door.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

I truly had one hell of afternoon. I couldn’t made up my mind If I’d dare to do something like that to Ron. I wasn’t one to play dirty. On the other hand, this was for Ron’s sake. He wasn’t going to be happy with Elizabeth. Right now, he thought he was in love with her, but I knew it was just an infatuation. She wasn’t right for him. Why I was the only one who could notice that?

I couldn’t take this decision on my own. If I did it, I would be risking too much. If things turned out bad, I could lose my friendship with Ron forever. But how could he find out? Arhg! That Malfoy, putting this ideas in my head! How could I even heard him, you ask? I really don’t know myself. I guess I was going through a really bad time and I just couldn’t think straight. But I had let him got into my head and now his words kept sounding in my brain.

I wished I could talk to Harry about this. But I knew he would never approve something like that, being the fair and honest person he is. He would probably convince me that I shouldn’t do it. And somehow, I didn’t want that to happen.

I was now lying on my bed, my face buried in a pillow, trying to make a decision. But a noise coming from the living room startled me. I hastily picked up my wand and slowly made my way towards the living room. There was no one there. Another noise coming from the bathroom... I pushed the door with violence. The person that was inside turned around and screamed at the same time I did.

“Jesus, Harry, don’t ever scare me like that again!” I exclaimed, with my hand still over my chest.

“I’m sorry Hermione,” he apologized, although he looked startled as well. “I didn’t know you were at home, I thought you were out with Liz.”

“No, she had some boring meeting with her cousins,” I said. “Anyway what are you doing here? It’s just 6 o’clock, shouldn’t you be training?” I asked, realizing he had his orange quidditch robes on.

“Yeah, I should... but I had a little accident,” he said, lifting weakly his left arm. In that part, his robe was dirty with blood.

“Oh my God Harry, what happened to you?” I asked, reaching his arm. He winced in pain. “I’m sorry. Let me see.”

I led him to the living room while he explained.

“I came here to look for your magic first aid kit, I don’t know where I left mine.”

“No surprise there,” I teased. Harry never knew where he left his things. “Take your robe off so I can take a better look at this.”

I helped him taking the robe off. Underneath he was wearing a white t-shirt and black trousers. It wasn’t the first time that Harry had gotten injured during training. He never let the Cannons’ nurse to tend his wounds, so I usually did it for him. I had taken a first aid course with Madam Pomfrey on my seventh year and it had proven to be very helpful.

“What happened to you?” I asked looking closely at his arm. He had a deep wound near the elbow. His arm seemed broken.

“I was hit by a bludger,” he said, shrugging.

“Are you serious? That hasn’t happened to you since school.”

“I know, but I was...” he trailed off.

“Distracted. You were distracted again, weren’t you?” I said, accusingly. He nodded sheepishly. I sighed “Harry, I thought you...”

“Yeah, well, I’m tired, that’s all,” he cut me off.

“Then why don’t you ask Oliver for holidays? You haven’t taken any since you joined the team.”

“The season is starting soon, I can’t stop training.”

I went to the bathroom to look for a bottle of Repairing Broken Bones Potion and a couple of bandages. When I came back to the living room, Harry was staring at a photograph I had over the fireplace of the two of us. It had been taken a few months ago, during a celebration party at Oliver’s house.

“You should have let the Cannons’ nurse to have a look at your arm,” I said, startling him. He quickly left the photograph in its place and sat down in a chair.

“You know I’d rather be eaten by a hippogriff than be attended by that woman,” he said. I knew that Harry didn’t like her, and he secretly had confessed me that she scared him, because she looked like Snape.

“You’re lucky I was here,” I said, giving him the bottle of Potion. “You have no idea how to repair broken bones.”

He took a sip and made a disgusted face. I started putting the bandages in his arm.

“Ron and Elizabeth made up,” I announced, not looking at him.

“I know,” he said. I looked at him. “Ron came to see me this morning,” he explained.

“Really? Why?” I asked, deeply interested.

“Because he wanted to see me Herm, we haven’t had many chances to talk,” Harry replied, rolling his eyes.

“Did you talk about me?” I asked immediately.

“I knew that was coming,” he said, sighing. “Not too much. He asked me a few questions about our engagement, nothing else.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything that could uncover your lovely story.” I stuck my tongue out and he laughed. I finished putting the bandages.

“He loves her, doesn’t he?” I asked, sitting in the couch, in front of Harry. He stood up and sat beside me.

“I think he does,” he said, gently.

“But she’s not right for him, Harry,” I argued. “You saw them yesterday. They can’t even agree on where they are going to live.”

“It’s not your call to make them realize if they’re right for each other or not, Hermione. Ron has made a choice, you have to deal with it.”

“But I can’t!” I exclaimed, standing up. “You don’t know what it feels to be in love with someone who is fixed on somebody else!”

Harry didn’t say anything. He stood up and walked towards the window.

“If it’s that important to you, tell him,” he said, after a while.

“Tell him what?”

He turned around to face me. He was extremely serious. “Tell him that you love him. If you’re the one for him, he’ll realize when he knows how you feel.”

“I wish I could tell him,” I said, sighing in defeat. “But I couldn’t... What if he gets angry or he wants to end our friendship?”

Harry shook his head. “Did you end your friendship or got angry with him when you knew he loved you this past years?”

“No, but...”

“Then tell him. You have nothing to lose.”

I studied Harry’s face, thinking about what he had said. His eyes had a weird glint, and looked darker than usual. Maybe he was right. Maybe I should tell Ron. Or maybe, it would be easier to do what Malfoy had told me to.

Harry sat back on the couch. I sat beside him and put my head on his shoulder, as I usually did when I was sad and he was comforting me. He put his good arm around my shoulders. We stayed like that for at least an hour, each one in our own thoughts.

“Do you think that someone could love me above anything else?” I asked softly. “Like your father loved your mother?”

“I’m sure of that,” Harry answered.

“But why? I’m nothing special,” I argued. “I’m not beautiful, I’m not very funny, I’m just a know-it-all, stubborn witch which happens to be a pathetic workaholic.”

Harry chuckled. “You can’t even imagine how wrong you are Herm. I’m sure that more than one man realizes how incredible you are. You’re the smartest witch I know – although you can sometimes act like a crazy woman – you’re beautiful, funny, comforting, honest...”

The word “honest” kept sounding in my ears for a while.

“What about you, Harry? Have you ever been in love?”

Harry seemed surprised. He shifted a little and I leaned back to look at him in the face.

“It’s weird, but I’ve never asked you this before,” I said. “I have seen you go out on a few dates, but I’ve never seen you steady with someone.”

I could see that Harry was blushing. He tried to hide his face from me. I chuckled.

“Come on, answer me,” I said, grinning. “Oh you have!” I exclaimed. “Maybe you’re in love right now!”

“Why would you think that?” he snapped, his cheeks still red.

“Because you’re blushing and avoiding my eyes. You’re doomed, Harry Potter, you’ll have to tell me right here, right now who is the woman who has stolen your heart.”

“I don’t see why I should answer that to you,” he said.

“I always tell you everything! Come on!”

“There’s nothing to tell,” Harry said stubbornly.

“Oh yes, there is. I know you.”

He stood up hastily.

“If you know me that well, then you shouldn’t be asking me that.”

I blinked. Harry muttered an apology and left for his apartment. I kept the next ten minutes thinking about what could have upset him, but my thoughts shifted to another subject that was bothering me.

If I was going to stop the wedding, the next day was my only chance.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

10. Cant Take my Eyes off you

Chapter 10 – Can’t Take my Eyes off you

FRIDAY

I didn’t sleep that night. I’m serious. My brain could well have melted from all the thinking I did. And after 7 hours of restless reflection, I still wasn’t sure of what to do.

What was going on with me? I was Hermione Granger, I would never, ever, do anything like that in a million years. I always stuck by the rules. But what about that rule that says “all is fair in love and war?” That was something that I could apply to my case. This was about love after all, wasn’t it?

That night we had a party. It had been Elizabeth’s idea, and Ron and her had rented a great place in London where they had invited all their friends to have a ‘Farewell-to-your-freedom’ (As the Weasley Twins had named it) party.

Harry had missed training because of his arm, which was completely fixed by the way (I’m a excellent nurse, OK!), but Oliver had forbidden him to even show the tip of his nose in the pitch that day. He couldn’t put up with a hurt seeker, he had said. I wanted to go and see him because he had me a little worried. He had being acting strangely this past few days. And it really bugged me how he had left my apartment last night. I knew he was hiding something from me.

I went to his place and knocked three times. I waited for quite a while, but nobody answer. So, of course, I apparated inside. We were so used to just enter into each other’s apartment that I knew he wouldn’t mind.

It seemed that he had gone out. I inspected the living room and found that day’s Daily Prophet in the coffee table. I took it, and, as I had expected, finally the interview had come out.

The first part of the article was nothing but Harry’s records. His facings with Voldemort and his role as the Cannon’s seeker. Nothing I had never seen in a Harry’s article before. The interesting part came later.

“Rumors that the most wanted bachelor in the wizard world finally found his match are becoming bigger and bigger. We asked him about his relationship with his all time friend Hermione Granger. This reporter has received classified information that Harry Potter and Miss Granger are engaged. However, the famous wizard refused to talk about the subject.

We asked the janitor of the building where they both live. “They are always together.” the old man says. “Miss Granger spends a lot of time in Mr. Potter’s apartment, and sometimes she stays for the night. Mr. Potter has wards all over his place to prevent people for apparating, but Miss Granger is the only exception.”

A lot of witnesses assure that Harry Potter announced his engagement to Granger during a party to celebrate his best friend, Ronald Weasley’s coming wedding. Weasley refused to make any comments.”

The article kept mentioning people that talked about Harry and me, and it surprised me to see how many lies someone can made up just to appear in the newspaper. They had even interviewed Johnny Bell, the Keeper of the Cannons. He said that “Harry always talks about her, it’s almost his only subject of conversation. When she comes to visit him to the pitch, he stares at her for hours. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what it is.”

Geez, I wondered what had been Harry’s reaction when he saw the article. Probably, now he would have a mob of journalists behind him... And probably I would too. And it was all my fault. My stupid ideas... Seriously, how did I ever became top of my class at Hogwarts?

Well, what’s done it’s done, isn’t it? Everything would be fixed once all the craziness of Ron’s wedding ended. I wondered how it was going to end. With Ron getting married with Elizabeth, or with them broken apart and him turning to me?

I went towards Harry’s room, just to check if he was there. The bed was made, but his clothes were scattered all around. I picked up his pants from the floor and two things fell from the pocket: a blue, velvet, small box and a bended piece of parchment.

I opened the box and, as I had expected, it contained a ring. It was beautiful. Made of gold, with small diamonds. What was Harry doing with such a thing? He surely wasn’t thinking of getting married, was he? The idea made me laugh. I examined the ring and suddenly realize to whom it belonged. On the back, in tiny letters I read “Ronald Weasley ~ Elizabeth Greene.” Of course. Harry’s was Ron’s best man, he was supposed to held the rings.

The sight of that ring did something to me. I wasn’t going to let her have a ring with his name on. I just had to stop the wedding. All the hours I had spent thinking about it had come to an end. I had made my decision.

I had almost forgot the piece of parchment, and I was about to read it when I hear the front door, meaning that Harry was back. I didn’t want to see him at that moment, because it could made me desist of my resolution. I put the piece of parchment in my pocket without realizing it, left the box back on his pocket and dissaparated.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Ok, Hermione, you can do this.

You can. You know you can.

Of course. This is for Ron’s sake.

I kept repeating to myself those words, but I still felt awful. But the memory of that ring was stronger than my conscience. I stared at the blank parchment in front of me. After an hour, I finally started writing.

“Dear Mr. Adams. . .”

No, that wasn’t right. I knew Elizabeth’s father and Frank Adams, the owner of Puddlemere United were old friends. You don’t call your friend Mr., do you? I imagined myself writing Harry a letter addressing it to Mr. Potter and started laughing.

OK. Frankie, then. Yeah, that sounded familiar enough.

“Dear Frankie,

How have you been? I’ve been really busy with the arrangements for my daughter’s wedding. As you well know, since you’re invited to the ceremony, she’s marrying a young man named Ronald Weasley, who has recently being transferred from my team to yours. In fact, that’s the reason why I’m writing to you in the first place.

My daughter has begged me to ask this from you. The thing is, she wants to live in the United States after the wedding, but Ron feels he has a big commitment to you, so he refuses. If you just cancelled the contract with him, he wouldn’t have to be obliged to live in England and he could remain in my team.

I know it’s a lot to ask, since he’s a really good player, but it’s something I have to do for my little Lizzie. Please, don’t tell Ron about this, I don’t want him to think that we’re pressing him.

I trust that you would do the best thing.

Yours faithfully,

Will Greene.”

I read through it a couple of times. I had to make sure that it was explicit that this was Elizabeth’s idea. I used a special charm that made my calligraphy looked exactly like Mr. Greene’s.

I took a deep breath. Now, I just had to make sure that Ron found that letter. I wasn’t going to send it to Mr. Adams, I did wanted Ron to play for Puddlemere. He just needed to read it.

The party would be the perfect time for him to see it. I knew Mr. Greene would be there, so I would just have to made it look like this letter had slipped from his pocket or something.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

“Are you ready to go?” asked Harry when I opened the door.

I hadn’t seen him since yesterday. He didn’t seem upset. In fact, he was as calm and cheerful as usual.

“In a minute,” I said, relieved. “By the way, I saw the article today,” I commented, looking at myself in the mirror.

“Horrible, isn’t it? I have a talk with our dear janitor about discretion,” he said, sighing.

“I’m really sorry, Harry. I know I have apologized to you for this a lot of times now, but...” he cut me off with a wave of his hand.

“Then, stop apologizing. I agreed to do this, it’s not like you forced me. Besides, it’s not that terrible to have the world thinking I have the greatest witch as my fiancee,” he said, grinning.

I laughed and gave him a quick hug. Honestly, I don’t know what my life would be if I didn’t have him as my best friend.

We apparated in the club they had rented. Most of the guests were there already. I spotted a lot of our schoolmates: Dean Thomas, Seamus Finningan, Lavender Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil, Neville Longbottom, Colin Creevey, Lee Jordan, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchey, Susan Bones. There were a lot of people I didn’t know too, and I guessed they were Elizabeth’s friends.

“There they are, the happy couple!” yelled Seamus, lifting his glass of butterbeer when he saw us.

“I can’t believe you kept this a secret!” exclaimed Parvati, staring at Harry and me. Knowing her, she had certainly devoured the article. She was always up for gossiping.

“Well, Parvati, it’s not like it was unexpected,” commented Lavender. “We’ve been watching you two for a long time.”

Harry just laughed nervously. I searched for Ron among the crowd and spotted him with Elizabeth talking to Fred and George. The twins had their mischievous grins and I wondered what they were up to this time.

“Hi Hermi!” saluted Elizabeth when she saw me. “I’m glad to see you! I missed you this past two days.”

“Yeah, me too,” I mumbled, staring at Ron.

“Where’s Harry?” he asked.

“He’s talking with the guys, why?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said, but his grin told me otherwise.

“Come here, Hermi, I’ll introduce you to my friends,” said Elizabeth, grabbing my arm. I saw Mr. Greene chatting happily with Mr. Weasley and my stomach made a twitch.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

After a hundred of presentations I was certainly dazed. I felt it was my chance to finish my plan, and I started looking for Ron. We were sitting in one of the circular tables of the club. There was a big stage in the middle. I supposed Ron and Elizabeth had hired a band to play. Harry was sitting beside me. He had gotten awfully quiet for a while.

“Where’s Ron?” I asked.

Harry shrugged. But my question was soon answered as Ron stepped on the stage and lifted his hands up to hush the noise in the room. Everyone turned to look at him.

“Hello everyone,” he said. “I’m glad you could make it. As you know, today is a very special day for me and Elizabeth, since it’s our last day as single people...”

‘Not if I can help it’.

“And that’s way, I’ve decided to have a little show here, tonight.” Ron’s grin grew wider. “Let me introduce you to my brothers, Fred and George!” The twins stepped in the stage.

“I wonder what they’re up to,” said Harry, smiling. Whatever that had the twins involved in, it had to be fun to watch.

“And I, as well, invite my best friend, Mr. Harry Potter to join us!”

Harry seemed startled. The crowd started applauding and I had to push Harry to make him stand up and go there. He was blushing when he reached the stage. Ron leaned and started whispering something in his ear. I saw Harry’s eyes widen in surprise and he stepped back, shaking his head. The twins laughed. Harry looked really scared and nervous, and he kept shaking his head.

I didn’t have the time to wonder what was going on.

“Tonight, my friends, you will witness something unique,” Ron said, amused. “Harry Potter is going to sing for you. In fact, we are going to play for you. We’re the Ridgebacks!”

Now I knew why Harry was acting like that! The Ridgebacks were the name of the musical band that the four of them had formed during one of our summers at the Burrow. It had been just a game, but they made our nights much more amusing. Harry had a great voice, but he wouldn’t admit it. He was the leading vocal of the Ridgebacks (as you can guess, the name was Ron’s idea, to commemorate Norbert). But I knew he would never dare to sing in public. He did it back then, because it was just us. How could Ron ask him something like that? I laughed as I watched how the three Weasleys tried to convince Harry to do it.

“Harry looks cute when he’s nervous,” commented Elizabeth, right next to me.

Yes, he did. He looked very cute, actually.

Finally, after the crowd started screaming “Harry!, Harry!” he nodded in resignation. Ron, Fred and George picked their instruments and they discussed for a couple of seconds about the song they were going to play. Finally, Harry stepped in front and conjured a magic microphone. He was still blushing and his gaze dropped in mine. He shrugged and I smiled at him, to reassure him. He smiled back. I’d never realized he had such a charming smile.

“Ok, I’m only doing this for you, Ron,” Harry said and the crowd fell into silence.

The Weasleys started to play a song I recognized immediately. It was a classic muggle song.

“You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off you

You'd be like Heaven to touch

I wanna hold you so much”

Elizabeth and I giggled. Harry sang quietly and he still looked embarrassed, but he was loosing up. I knew he loved that song. He was looking straight at me as he kept singing.

“At long last love has arrived

And I thank God I'm alive

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off you”

If I didn’t know better, I could almost say he was singing for me. I supposed he was just acting.

“Pardon the way that I stare

There's nothing else to compare

The sight of you leaves me weak

There are no words left to speak,

But if you feel like I feel,

Please let me know that it's real

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off you”

They started with the trumpets and the crowd started cheering and applauding. I didn’t, though. I was staring at Harry. I felt weird. It wasn’t like I’d never heard him sing before... The crowd started to sing along with him.

“I love you, baby,

And if it's quite alright,

I need you, baby,

To warm a lonely night.

I love you, baby

Trust in me when I say:

Oh, pretty baby,

Don't bring me down, I pray.

Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay

And let me love you, baby

Let me love you”

“He’s singing to you!” exclaimed Elizabeth, excited.

“I guess he is,” I said just to say something. I knew that wasn’t the case.

“You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off you

You'd be like Heaven to touch

I wanna hold you so much

At long last love has arrived

And I thank God I'm alive

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off you”

Harry was totally loosened up. He stepped out of the stage and started walking between the tables, but he was still looking at me.

“I love you, baby,

And if it's quite alright,

I need you, baby,

To warm a lonely night

I love you, baby

Trust in me when I say:

Oh, pretty baby,

Don't bring me down, I pray

Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay

And let me love you, baby.

Let me love you”

The crowd started applauding wildly, with me along. Harry blushed again. The twins patted him in the shoulder. I wanted to go there and congratulate him, but something caught my eye.

Mr. Greene had approached to the stage, and he was talking to Ron.

It was time.

I completely forgot about Harry. I took the letter I had written before, and made it fly towards Mr. Greene and Ron. When the old man left to talk to Harry, I let it drop. Luckily, Ron noticed it right away. He picked it up and unfolded it to see what it was.

I stared at him reading it, feeling incredibly nervous and sick. I watched his features changing drastically. His grin faded and a hurt, angry and surprised look appeared in his eyes.

I walked towards them. Harry was being congratulated by Elizabeth at the time.

“Ron, are you OK?” I asked. How cynic could I get?

Ron didn’t even heard me. He walked towards Elizabeth and grabbed her arm. She looked at him puzzled, and he led her to a corner of the place. I stared at them for a while until I realized Harry was looking at me.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his head pointing Ron and Elizabeth who were obviously fighting. Nobody else seemed to realized.

“I don’t know,” I said shrugging. I felt like crying. I felt like screaming. Was I doing the right thing? I looked at Harry again. His green eyes were still fixed on me. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said. He looked somehow disappointed. He started leaving.

“Hey!” I stopped him, “You did great up there,” I said. He nodded and smiled. It was a weak smile, not his usual grins and it faded right away. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said, again. He then looked at Ron and Elizabeth. I looked too. Elizabeth was crying and Ron seemed even more angry. “I think I’m gonna go home,” I heard Harry saying, “I don’t feel very well.” He went out of the club.

I was going to follow him, when I saw that Ron was going right the other way. He went out too, through the back exit. I followed him.

“Ron, wait up!” I said. Ron turned around and waited for me. “What’s the matter?” I asked, putting my best confused expression.

He gave me the letter.

“Oh my...” I said in a whisper.

“I can’t believe it!” Ron said, angrily. He was walking really fast and I had to ran to catch up with him. “All this time... I can’t believe that she’s doing this to me! I thought I could trust her!”

He kept blurting out his frustration for half an hour, until he sat down on a bench in a small park we had reached. The night was cold and the streets, deserted. Ron put his head on his hands. Now he didn’t look angry, he looked sad.

“Ron...” I said putting my hand on his back. But what could I say to him? I was responsible for all this.

“I knew this was crazy. I should have known I didn’t know her well enough,” he muttered. “I would have never expected she could do something like that to me. I thought she loved me. I thought we were OK.”

Now I really felt bad.

“I love her so much and he does this to me! Dammit!!” he yelled. He then turned to me. “I’m sorry, Herm, you don’t need to hear this now.”

“Don’t worry about me, Ron. I’m your friend, I’m always here for you.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I would be lost if it wasn’t for you.”

I swallowed hard. “What are you going to do?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. She said she never asked her father anything like that. But I know the old man. I know he would never do something like this if his little girl doesn’t ask him to.”

I nodded slightly.

“I can’t marry her. I can’t. Not after this. She has betrayed me. She knew that playing for Puddlemere is one of my biggest dreams!”

“Did you tell her that?” I asked quietly.

“Tell her what? About my dreams?”

“That you’re not going to marry her,” I said. The words sounded so unreal.

“Yes. But she said she can’t tell everyone that, now. That I should cool down and that when I can think with my head straight, we would discuss about it. So I guess that leaves tomorrow.”

“But Ron, the wedding’s tomorrow!”

“I know, but it’s tomorrow’s night. I have the pre-wedding lunch at the manor. We’ll break it off then.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah,” he said, although he didn’t sound convincing at all.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

When I arrived to my apartment, three hours later, I didn’t feel happy, as I thought I would feel after knowing that Ron and Elizabeth were history. Actually, I felt the opposite. I was sad and that made me felt frustrated. I should have been celebrating, drinking champagne or something. But there I was, laid down in my bed, feeling down and depressed.

I had gone over Harry’s place before, just to find it empty. Where could he be at this time? He had left the club at the same time I did...

Thinking about Harry wasn’t helping me to feel better. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that something was going on, something that I couldn’t notice. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. I would have time to deal with Harry later, right then I had to fought the guilty feeling that was eating me from inside.

But, somehow, Harry just kept plopping in my head.

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11. Realizations

Chapter 11 - Realizations

SATURDAY

When I woke up that morning, it felt as if I hadn’t slept in days. Well, that was almost true. Ever since Ron had announced his infamous engagement, I hadn’t been able to get a rest.

And now he had asked me to arrive with him to the manor, for the pre-wedding lunch. I had intended to go to Harry’s apartment that morning. I was feeling really uneasy about him. But Ron had pleaded me, and I couldn’t say no.

When we arrived, I realized immediately that no one knew that there would be no wedding. Elizabeth’s family and the Weasleys seemed happy and carefree. Ron looked at me, worried.

“I should go and talk to Liz,” he said.

“You certainly should, Ron. This can’t go on. You’re supposed to get married in a couple of hours!” I said, maybe a little too anxious.

Ron rubbed his temples.

“This is hard... Ok, could you please go and see what Liz thinks about this?”

“What?” I didn’t want to see her.

“Please Herm, please, please, please!” Uh-oh, the puppy face.

“Fine! I’ll go!” I said, defeated.

I found Elizabeth deep in the garden, walking near a small pond. Her eyes were red and puffy and she didn’t look as stunning as she always did. When she saw I was standing there, she threw her arms around my neck and started crying.

“Oh Hermi!” she sobbed, hysterical. I didn’t know what to do, so I patted her back, clumsily.

“Are you OK?” I asked, stupidly.

She shook her head. She looked so miserable... I led her to a bench that was there and she sat down. I sat down beside her. I conjured a box of Kleenex and she blew her nose.

“I... don’t... know... what... I’m... going to... do!” she said between sobs. “I swear I didn’t do it! I didn’t ask my father to do that! And he would’ve never done something like that!” her voice sounded shrilly and the tears kept flowing down her face.

“I believe you,” I heard myself saying.

“You do?” she looked at me, hope reflected in her blue eyes. “Then why Ron doesn’t?”

I didn’t know what to say. I felt so bad that I almost wanted to cry with her. Why was I feeling sorry for her? I had what I wanted. I should be happy.

“Elizabeth... Ron doesn’t want to marry you,” I said and almost hit myself.

“That’s what he said yesterday,” she said, blowing her noise again. “I thought that maybe, if he thought about it, he would change his mind.”

I shook my head.

“Please Hermi! Please talk to him! Please tell him that I didn’t do it! That it’s all a mistake! He’ll listen to you.”

“But I...”

“Please! If Ron breaks up with me I don’t know if I’ll be able to live with it! Please!”

How could I said no? I was feeling sympathy for her! I couldn’t believe it! It was no time to be soft! I had to be mean! I had to be ruthless...

But I couldn’t.

“...Fine.”

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

I was searching for Ron. Suddenly, the manor seemed incredibly crowded. To make it worst, everyone seemed to be interested in talking to me. They kept telling me how a great singer Harry was, how romantic of him to sing like that for me... The only thing that caught my attention was what Bill said to me.

“Hi Herm. Do you know why Harry is so down?”

“What? He’s down? When did you see him?” I asked immediately.

“A few minutes ago. We talked and then he left. He was looking for you,” Bill said.

“Harry came?” I hadn’t seen him.

Bill looked at me, puzzled. “Didn’t the two of you came together?”

“No... You said he was looking for me?”

“Yeah, he said he needed to tell you something really important.”

I thanked Bill. So now I had to look for Ron and Harry. I wanted to talk to Harry, I was worried about him. Somehow I felt like I needed to be with him right then. Maybe it was because of the stress that was causing me my feeling of guilt...

But I found Ron first. He was alone, apart form the crowd, pacing back and forward. From where we were standing, no one could saw us. He was wrapped in his thoughts and it took him a really long time to realize I was standing there. He stared at me for a while and I felt that something had caught in my throat.

What was I going to say to him? If I told him what Elizabeth had asked me to, maybe he would decide to forgive her... If I didn’t, I would keep feeling bad... But I would have my chance with him... But Elizabeth would be devastated... And Harry... Wait a second... What did Harry have to do with this?

“Herm... Did you talk to her?” Ron finally asked.

“Uhm, yes I did,” I said, still struggling with myself.

“And?” he said, getting a little impatient.

“She... said she didn’t do it.”

Ron sighed. “Why does she keep saying that? I was hoping she would admit her fault.” He shook his head. “I guess she isn’t the person I thought she was,” he added, looking down.

“Ron, I...”

“So, that means I’m single again, huh?” he said, smiling sadly.

“Ron...”

“Maybe I’ll never get married.”

“Ron, please...”

“Harry read the letter and couldn’t believe it either...”

“RON!!” He finally looked up. “I need to tell you something.”

He nodded. I took a deep breath, It was time. I would tell him that I loved him and everything would be fine. Wouldn’t it?

“So, what is it?” he asked, when he realized I wasn’t speaking.

“Well, it’s a little complicated,” I started, not sure of how I was going to say something like that. “I... A week ago... The thing is...” My hands were sweating. Ron had his gaze fixed in me and I started losing my nerve. “We have been friends for a long time and... Well, you...” GOD!!!

“Herm, what is it!” he said, exasperated. “Just say it!”

I stared in his questioning eyes and couldn’t say anymore. They say one action is worth a thousand words. Well, in that moment, I decided that phrase was true. So I did something totally impulsive. I leaned and I kissed him.

I’ll try to describe that moment the best way I can, because it was... surreal. My lips touched his. Just that. He didn’t kiss me back, but he didn’t pull away either. It was obviously that he wasn’t expecting that. It was a short kiss, nothing romantic or passionate, as I had pictured in my mind so many times.

The most strange thing was that I didn’t feel anything. Anything at all. No butterflies, no floating in the clouds. I broke the kiss and opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Ron’s big eyes staring at me with a mix of confusion and disbelief.

“Wha-?” he started and he froze. I was going to ask what had happened when I saw something else.

Something beyond Ron’s shoulder.

A pair of green eyes. There was also a mix of confusion and disbelief in them, but also a hurt look. Harry was standing a few feet behind Ron (Ron couldn’t see him) and stared at us with his mouth open. He looked hurt and sad... And it pierced my soul.

It took me less than a second to realize why Ron had frozen. There was also someone a few feet behind me... Yes, you guessed: Elizabeth. I broke my lock with Harry’s eyes and turned around. Elizabeth looked at me, not really understanding. Then, she turned over her heels and started running away.

“Liz!” yelled Ron, but he didn’t move. His hands were still on my waist. Harry was still standing there. He wasn’t even looking at Ron, and he didn’t seem to notice Elizabeth. He just kept staring at me with a look I had never seen before. Not even all those times when he suffered at Hogwarts.

Ron took my hand and seemed to awaken. “Why did you do that?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, I...” Somehow it didn’t feel right to tell him ‘because I love you’ now.

“Well, she doesn’t have the right to be mad,” Ron said, staring at the spot Elizabeth had just been standing. His voiced trembled a little. “We’re not a couple anymore. She betrayed me.”

In that very moment, something changed. It was like the real Hermione had returned to my body. In fact, I think that was exactly what happened. I woke up from the mental condition I had been in the past days and I returned to my rational, good natured personality.

What had I done? I had destroyed Ron’s life, Elizabeth’s life and it seemed that Harry’s as well, and all because of my selfish attitude! I had been blinded by jealousy and my big, stupid, fat ego. I had to do something to mend this.

“She didn’t betray you.”

He arched an eyebrow.

“Ron, I need to confess you something,” he wasn’t paying a lot of attention, but I spoke anyway. “Elizabeth’s father didn’t write that letter. It was...” here it comes... “It was me.”

“What?” he asked dumbfounded.

“You did what?” said Harry, at the same time. Ron turned around and realized for the first time that Harry was standing there.

“Is this a joke?” Ron asked. I shook my head slowly. I thought he was going to ask me why, yell... But he just glared at me and started running in the same direction Elizabeth had.

I don’t think I can describe how I felt at that time. But it wasn’t because of Ron, who would probably never talk to me again. It was because of Harry.

“Harry,” I said, walking towards him.

Harry shook his head, and stepped back. “I can’t believe you were able to do something like that,” he said in a whisper. His voice was cold and impersonal.

“I didn’t mean to... OK, maybe I did, but I’m really sorry about it. I shouldn’t had done that, I feel terrible... I...”

“I don’t believe you anything,” he said, giving another step back. “I don’t recognize you anymore. I would’ve never thought you could do something so low.”

Tears were pushing to got out of my eyes, but I didn’t want to look more pathetic than how I already felt.

“Please Harry. Please don’t get mad at me,” I said, approaching to him and grabbing his arm.

He pulled away violently and looked me as I was the worst scum in the world. “And what do you care what I think? You’ve never had. You’re always too wrapped in yourself to notice what’s going on.”

Never, in the 14 years I’ve known him, Harry had talked to me like that.

“I don’t want to see you again,” he said, before dissaparating.

I stood there, desperate. I had to do something about this mess. But I couldn’t even think straight. Harry’s words had hurt me so bad that my heart and my head ached. The only good thing that turned out from that stupid kiss was a realization: I wasn’t in love with Ron. Never had and never would. I didn’t know what had gotten into me. How could I’ve been so mistaken?

“You’re always too wrapped in yourself to notice what’s going on.”

What did he mean? What wasn’t I noticing? And why was I so sad? It was Harry after all. My best friend. We could work things out. He would forgive me and everything would be like always.

Like always?

Wait, what am I thinking? It’s Harry. Harry... Harry. I was sitting on the grass now, with my head in my hands. Only three minutes had passed since Ron had ran after Elizabeth, two since Harry had left. Just two minutes since I’d heard Harry’s voice for the last time.

Why am I thinking about Harry now? I should be thinking how to get RON to forgive me. His words echoed in my mind again... Why was Harry so mad, anyway? I knew I’d screwed up, but was it that bad that he didn’t want to see me again?

But he was hurt before he knew what I’d done. His eyes had that hurt look when I kissed Ron... Was he hurt for Elizabeth? For Ron? For me...?

Somehow, I had put my hands in my pocket. I didn’t even realize I was grabbing a piece of parchment. I took it out. What was it? At first I didn’t recognize it. It was folded...

And then I remembered. It was the piece of parchment I had found in Harry’s pocket. I opened it for the first time and recognized immediately Sirius’ calligraphy. It didn’t say anything about Ron’s wedding. In fact, it only had a few words.

~~ Harry,

You have to tell her how you feel.

Sirius. ~~

Tell her how you feel? Tell who? Tell what?

Could it be...

No way, no...

But...

"I can't say I'm surprised, though,” had said Mr. Weasley when he find out about our “engagement”.

“Well you do make a cute couple" had said Elizabeth. “it's so obvious you're madly in love.”

“When I met you, I realized in that very second you two were meant for each other." "We both find the right person to be with,” had said Ron

“...If you really want to know, the only person I'd like to hurt is Potter.”

“You can't even imagine how wrong you are Herm. I'm sure that more than one man realizes how incredible you are. You're the smartest witch I know, you're beautiful, funny, comforting, honest..."

“Besides, it's not that terrible to have the world thinking I have the greatest witch as my fiancée”

“Anyone with two eyes would realize that Harry adore you! The way he looks at you, the way he speaks to you, everything. If Ron weren't so dense, he would have noticed.”

“If you know me that well, then you shouldn't be asking me that."

I kept staring at Sirius words for a while.

Harry, my best friend.

Harry, who was always there for me.

Harry, who would cancel his date if he saw me crying.

Harry, who would eat my horrible food and pretend he likes it.

Harry, who would do anything for me, even if it hurt him.

Harry, who blushes when I kiss him.

Harry, who has been distracted all this time in Quiddicth, because of me.

Have you ever heard “hit me like a ton of bricks”? Well, that’s what happened to me. The truth was there, in front of my eyes, and I had been too blind and too foolish to realize it.

Everyone else had, of course. Malfoy, the Weasleys, Lavender, even Elizabeth, who barely knew us. Everyone... Except me.

The had realized... That Harry was in love with me.

And all this time, I had been loving the wrong friend.

It was Harry all along. Funny isn’t it? I had mistaken Ron’s friendship for love and Harry’s love for friendship. And they say I’m the smartest witch ever.

How could I’ve been so stupid? I had to do something. I had to told Harry I was in love with him too. But first, I had to do something about Ron and Elizabeth, or I’d never had the face to look at Harry.

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12. Please, Forgive me

Chapter 12 – Please, forgive me

OK, the first problem was where I would find Ron. I had spent too much time realizing how stupid I was, and Elizabeth and him weren’t at the manor anymore.

Nobody seemed to realize that something was going on. When I started running to look for any of them, some people stared at me puzzled, but most of them kept talking and eating, oblivious to the disaster I had caused.

When I got too tired and realized I wasn’t going to find Ron there, I took drastic measures. There was no point in apparating, because I had absolutely no idea of where they could have gone. So I did something that had worked for me sometimes before. I went to look for Pigwidgeon.

“Hi Pig,” I said to the still too cheerful owl. I wrote “Hello,” in a piece of parchment and tied it to its leg. “Please, take this to Ron.”

The owl parted immediately. Since this magnificent birds always find their addressee, all I had to do was follow him. And that meant that I would have to fly on a broom.

“You deserve this,” I said to myself, picking the first broom I found. I hate to fly. I’ve always been scared of heights. But it was the only way. It was a lucky thing that nowadays, brooms have invisible devices installed, in that way I could fly without worrying for Muggle security.

It was a torture. It seemed that Pig enjoyed to flight in zigzag and do abrupt drops, and since I couldn’t miss him, I had to do the same. So when Pig finally reached Ron, who was sitting on a bench in Greenwich Park looking totally down, my face was literally green and I was totally dizzy.

Ron didn’t look up when Pig flew right to him. His mind was totally away from his body. His eyes were staring the floor, and he wasn’t even blinking. I sat next to him, trying to remain calm. He didn’t seem to notice. I shook his shoulders. When I did it for the third time (rather harshly), he finally awaken. He looked at me and the sad an astonished look in his eyes went away and a furious and disappointed one replaced it. I gulped.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he said.

“Ron, please listen to me...”

“Listen to you? Why should I? You’re a liar!” he yelled, standing up.

“OK, I deserve that,” I said, taking a deep breath and trying hard to keep my voice steady. “But I’m your friend and...”

“Wrong. You were my friend, but not anymore!” He said through gritted teeth.

That was it. I started crying. It wasn’t a loud crying though, but a silent one. Ron had never been comfortable when I cried, and he never knew what to do. That was one of those times. He looked at me, warily.

“All I ask is that you listen to what I have to say. Please. After that, you can do whatever you want about our friendship,” I said, softly.

Ron didn’t say anything, and I took his silence as my chance to explain.

“OK, I guess I have to start from the beginning,” I said, sighing. “And that is, when you announced you were getting married to Elizabeth. I don’t know what happened but, suddenly I got very jealous...” I told him everything about the way I felt, that I thought I was in love with him, that I became desperate and that was when Malfoy put that crazy idea in my head.

Ron listened in silence. When I finished, he sat down beside me.

“You thought you were in love with me?” he asked. I nodded. “But what about Harry? Aren’t you with him?”

Well, if I was going to be honest, I had to tell him about that too. “Uhm... The thing is Harry is not my fiancé, Ron.”

Ron looked at me, not really understanding.

“I made that up to see if I could make you jealous. Harry played along because I begged him to. It’s not his fault. Please, don’t get mad at him.”

“Did he know about that letter you sent?”

“Of course not! All this time, Harry has been trying to convince me to stop this nonsense. I should have listened to him.”

“Yes, you should have,” Ron said, shaking his head. “Damn, I can’t believe this.”

“I’m so sorry Ron. I know I ruined everything,” I said, starting to cry again. “Elizabeth and you are in love, and I tore you apart. I’m an awful person. I deserve all the horrible things in the world happen to me. You should hit me. I would even let you do the Cruciatus curse on me, but I don’t want you to end up in Azkaban because of me.” I gave him my wand. “Hex me. I deserve it. Turn me into a ferret, or petrify me, or...”

To my surprise, Ron started to laugh.

“I’m not going to hex you Hermione. Geez, I don’t remember when was the last time you admitted you were wrong... Maybe that’s because you’ve never had.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re right, though. You’ve done an horrible thing. But I can’t really blame you. I think I would have done something worse if I were in your place. And yes, I have to recognize it’s a little bit flattering to think that Miss I-always-play-by-the rules could so something like that for me.”

“So you forgive me?” I asked.

He smiled. I was so amazed that he took that little time to forgive me, that I hugged him. He sighed again and the sad expression came back to his eyes.

“Too bad that Liz will never forgive me,” he said.

“Of course she will, Ron. You don’t think I’ll leave things like this, do you? I’m going to talk to her, and I’ll explain everything.”

“I already tried,” he said, defeated, “But she didn’t listen to me.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, standing up. “Just tell me where she is.”

“She’s at the manor,” Ron said, after a while.

“At the manor? But I checked everywhere, and I didn’t find her!”

“She’s at our secret place,” Ron explained. “Inside a big tree, in the west part of the garden.”

I was about to leave, when Ron called my name. I turned around.

“Did you came here, flying?” He asked, staring in awe at the broom I had left there.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The tree that Ron had told me about was, in fact, pretty big. It was hollow in the inside, and you could’ve fit at least five people in there. Elizabeth was sitting there. When I stepped inside, she almost killed me with her glare, but she didn’t say anything at all.

“Elizabeth,” I called her quietly. “We need to talk.”

She stood up and confronted me. “There’s no need to. I know all I have to know,” she said.

“No, you don’t,” I said, shaking my head “This is a horrible mistake, I...”

“A mistake? Is it a mistake that you were kissing my fiancé?” she interrupted me.

“Not exactly,” I said, lowering my head. “But it’s not Ron’s fault. I kissed him, he didn’t kiss me back.”

Elizabeth let out a sad laugh. “Listen, Hermione Granger, I know that you think I’m stupid, but even I wouldn’t fall for that.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid.”

“Of course you do! I noticed right away. Or do you think I fell for that crap that you wanted to be my friend? You’ve always thought that I’m stupid and shallow. And the saddest thing is that I tried, so hard, to gain your trust and your appreciation. I thought that if you were so important to Ron, you should became an important person to me too.” She started pacing back and forward. I listened in silence. “But no, that wasn’t enough for miss perfection!”

I started feeling horrible again. Elizabeth stop pacing and looked at me in the eyes.

“Why did you do it?” she asked finally.

I wasn’t sure what she was asking about. Was she talking about the kiss, the letter... I didn’t even know if Ron had told her about the letter.

“Maybe you were right after all. I’m an idiot,” she said, leaning against the tree and sighing.

“You’re not the idiot, Elizabeth, I am. I messed everything up just because I was jealous of you. All this is not your fault, it’s not Ron’s, it’s mine. I mistook my friendship with Ron for love, and I thought that I was doing the best thing for everyone by stopping this wedding. And just now I’ve realized how wrong I’ve been. I’ve been thinking that you’re not right for him, when it’s obvious that you’re the best thing that has ever happened to him.”

Elizabeth stared at me. She seemed to be debating if she could believe me or not.

“The thing is, Elizabeth, that Ron loves you. He loves you so much, that not even my evilness could split you apart. And I know that you love him too. And that’s why you have to go on with this wedding, you have to make my friend happy.”

Elizabeth started crying and she nodded.

“I know I haven’t been the loveliest person with you,” I continued. “And I’m sorry. I was so wrapped trying to hate you that I didn’t realize I actually like you. So, if you still want, I would love to be your friend.”

That was it. Elizabeth’s usual smile appeared again and she hugged me.

“Come on, we have to find Ron,” I said.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The reconciliation between the two was mushy and I couldn’t help but feeling uncomfortable. They hugged for at least ten minutes. I was ready to go and leave them there, when they stopped me.

“Wait, Herm,” said Ron “Where are you going?”

“There’s something else I have to take care about,” I said.

“You’re talking about Harry, aren’t you?” said Elizabeth with her knowing smile.

Damn, why was she so intuitive? I nodded.

“What happened with Harry?” asked Ron. He wasn’t following us.

“He’s angry with me,” I said. “And I don’t know if he’ll ever forgive me.”

“Of course he will,” said Elizabeth, immediately “He loves you. It’s so obvious!”

“I don’t know why I didn’t realize until now,” I said, sadly.

“You love him too, don’t you? That’s why you knew you weren’t in love with Ron,” she added.

I nodded. Ron stared at the both of us, confused.

“You love Harry? Harry loves you? But I thought you were just pretending...”

“That’s what I thought too,” I muttered. “But life likes to play jokes on us and my perfect plan fired against me. And now maybe I’ve lost him for good.”

“Go and talk to him, Herm,” said Ron “You’re not one to give up so easily.”

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

And that’s exactly what I did. I apparated back at our building. I had the feeling that Harry was in his apartment. I tried to apparate inside, but he had put a ward against me.

“Harry,” I said knocking his door. He didn’t answer “Harry, please, I need to talk to you.” I knocked as hard as I could, but it was useless. “I’m not going anywhere until you open this door. Even if I have to knock all day! Open the door, please.” My voice was filled with urgency. “There’s something very important I need to tell you!.. I’m...”

The door opened and left me with my hand lifted, ready to knock again. But it wasn’t Harry the one standing in the door frame. It was Sirius.

“Hi Hermione,” he said. He smiled slightly.

“Sirius! You’ve come back!”

“Yeah, I wasn’t going to miss Ron’s wedding,” he lowered his voice until it became a whisper. “Although it seems that there’s no wedding anymore.”

“Yes, the wedding is on,” I said. Sirius’ smile widened. He nodded in understanding and didn’t ask anything else.

“Sirius, I need to talk to Harry.”

“I know. But he doesn’t want to see you,” he replied. “He ordered me not to open this door.” He winked at me. “Well, who cares about what he says, anyway? Come in, but don’t tell him I let you. I’m going to see if it’s raining in the corner.”

He dissaparated, and I was left alone in Harry’s living room. He wasn’t there. I stayed in the same position, trying to think of what to say to him. Finally, I heard his voice, coming from the bedroom.

“Did she lef...” he froze when he saw me.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing here? Where’s Sirius?” he asked, frowning.

“He went to... I don’t know where he went, but it doesn’t matter. I need to talk to you.”

“I thought I had made myself clear when I told you I didn’t want to see you anymore.”

“Well, you don’t think I’m going to listen to you, do you?” I said, trying to lighten the mood, but Harry’s expression didn’t change.

“What do you want?” he asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

“You have every right to be angry with me. I totally screwed up everything. I was selfish, arrogant, unfair and... Blind.” I looked at him, but he didn’t make any remarks. His green eyes were cold. “And today, I finally realized that I’ve been wrong. I’m not in love with Ron. And I totally humiliated myself to fix what I did. I told him and Elizabeth everything, so the good news is that there will be a wedding after all.”

He was still silent.

“Don’t you even want to know how I found out that I wasn’t in love with him?” I asked in a whisper.

“No, because I don’t care, Hermione. I don’t know how that conscience of yours works and I don’t think I want to find out. I’m glad that your evil plan didn’t work out, though. At least one of us will be able to be happy.” He paused. “Is that what you came to tell me? I appreciate your concern, now please leave.” He turned his back at me, obviously intending to go back to his room.

I didn’t move from where I was standing. I had to ask him. I needed to know from his own mouth. “Harry, are you in love with me?” No beating around the bush, huh?

Harry stopped, with his back still at me. I waited for his answer. He turned around and his eyes looked directly at mine for a second. Then, he looked away and nodded slightly.

“Since when...?” I asked with a tiny voice.

He shrugged. “Sometime between our sixth and seventh year,” he replied.

Wow, I didn’t know it had been that long. Harry was avoiding my gaze.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked after a long and awkward pause.

“Because I’m a coward. I was afraid it would ruin our friendship. Besides, it was too obvious that you’ve never returned my feelings,” he spoke calmly.

I sighed. “You’ve been wrong, Harry, because I... I love you too,” I said, and I could felt my hands sweaty.

Harry looked at me for a moment and his expression changed. His mouth opened slightly and his eyes twinkled, but it only lasted a second. He frowned again.

“Oh, I see what this is about,” he said. His voice was shaking a little. “You want me to keep pretending I’m you fiancé at the wedding, so you won’t make a fool of yourself, huh?”

I widened my eyes in surprise. “Of course not!”

“Then, I’m your consolation prize, is that it? Since Ron picked Elizabeth over you, you’re moving to the next best thing.”

“What are you saying, Harry?” I asked, shaking my head violently. “It’s not that at all!”

But Harry didn’t seem to be listening to me. He took two steps towards me. His cheeks were red with anger. “How dare you!?” he said, his voice raising. It have been a long time since I had seen him so angry. “What the hell do you think I am? How can you play with my feelings like this?”

“Harry...” I whispered, trying to explain myself.

“So that’s it. You finally stopped being so thick and dense and realized that your friend, the pathetic and pitiful Harry Potter, was in love with you. And since you can’t stand to be alone, to lose at something, you come here and tell me that you love me too.”

“I’m telling you the truth. I’m in love with you,” I repeated, starting to get desperate.

He shook his head. “The truth? I didn’t know that word was in your vocabulary.”

I knew that when Harry was mad, he could be even crueler than Ron.

“You don’t have to be mean, Harry. I admit I made a huge mistake, and I’m paying for it,” I said, my voice raising too. “I was too stupid and selfish to understand what was happening to you, and to me, but now I’ve understand! You’ve made me understand!”

Harry shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “Are you trying to say that you’ve just realized that you’re in love with me?” I nodded. A sarcastic smile appeared in his face. “Right, and that was after or before you kissed Ron?” I opened my mouth to answer, but he cut me off. “How stupid do you think I am? I’ve seen you crawling after Ron this whole week and you want me to believe that, all of the sudden you fell in love with me?” He was almost yelling, and he had totally lost his temper.

I could felt hot tears falling down my cheeks. “I didn’t fall in love with you all of the sudden!” I yelled back. “I think I’ve loved you for a long time, but I was too stubborn to admit it to myself!”

Harry groaned and walked towards the window. I approached to him slowly.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

“I’m sorry too,” Harry said, turning to look at me, and I saw the sadness in his eyes.

“What do you mean?” I asked quietly.

“I mean that I’m sick and tired of this, Hermione. I’ve had enough for a lifetime! I can’t see you anymore,” he said, raising his voice again.

“But...”

“It hurts me to be with you like this. God, it even hurts me to look at you, for Merlin’s sake. I’ll never move on if I keep being your friend.”

“But I don’t want to be your friend!” I yelled, now crying my heart out. “Have you heard what I’ve told you! I love you! As in I’m in love with you! I want to be with you!”

Harry’s eyes blurred. His hands and voice were shaking and my crying wasn’t helping. He backed away, as far as possible from me.

“Maybe you’re telling the truth,” he said, slowly. “Maybe you do think you love me. But what’ll happen next week Herm? If you forgot your love for Ron this fast, what will happen to me?”

“It’s different Harry! I was blinded! I was jealous! I’ve never loved Ron, and even when I thought I did I didn’t feel like I feel for you!” I was trying desperately to make him understand.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to keep doing this,” he said, avoiding my gaze once again. “I told you, I don’t want to see you again.”

“You won’t be able to avoid me forever, we’re neighbors,” I whispered.

“I’ll move.”

“But you love this building,” I argued.

“What I loved about this building, was living next to you, Hermione. But not anymore... Not anymore.”

“So that’s it? You’re going to throw away all these years just because you’re too proud to forgive me?”

“Proud? If I were proud, I wouldn’t have done all the things I’ve done for you!” Harry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Hermione, please, leave.”

I was too shocked to move.

“I’ve just told you that I love you, Harry. I’ve never said that to anyone. Not even to Ron.”

“And what were you expecting? That I would hug you, and kiss you and ask you to marry me? That everything would be OK, after all that has happened?” he said, yelling again. I didn’t answer, because that was what I had kinda expected. I felt so stupid. Harry stared at me one more time “Go away,” he repeated.

And I did.

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A/N: I hope you liked it, and I apologize to the ones that maybe will think that this chapter was too mushy, buy it fits what I intend in this fic. I’m trying hard to redeem poor Hermione after all I did to her the past chapters (and she’s one of my favorite characters in the book!)

So, you just have to wait to chapter 13. . . Yes, Ron and Elizabeth’s wedding!

.

13. My Best Friend

A/N: This chapter features another song! Read and find out!

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Chapter 13 – My Best Friend’s Wedding

Elizabeth didn’t need to ask if something was wrong. Just by looking at me, she knew exactly what had happened. That didn’t stop me from telling her every detail about my conversation with Harry. When I finished, I was a mess: my eyes were red, my hair frizzier than ever and the make-up I had put so much effort to apply on my face (so that it would cover my previous crying session) was ruined. Even a blind man would notice I had been crying if he was standing 20 feet away.

“Oh honey,” Elizabeth muttered sadly, stroking my hair. She had her wedding dress on already and I was wearing my maid of honor one. We were in a little room in the church, where she was getting ready. The rest of the bride maids looked at us suspiciously.

“It’s Ok, I deserve this,” I said, blowing my nose. “Geez, I can’t go out like this,” I said, looking at myself in the mirror.

Elizabeth smiled and cast a spell on me. In a second, my make-up was corrected, my hair in the right place and my eyes didn’t reveal I had been crying.

“Wow, I didn’t know that spell!” I said. That wasn’t a surprise, though, because I wasn’t fond of beauty stuff.

“Listen Hermi,” said my new friend, “I’m sure everything will work out, just look at me and Ron!” she laughed happily.

I smiled at her. A few days ago I hated her with all my soul, and now I couldn’t help but loving her.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

My walk towards the altar was like a torture to me. The other bride maids were already in their place. Suddenly the church seemed too crowded and everyone’s eyes were fixed on me while I walked. Why did they have to make this corridor so long? Finally, I reached the altar and my eyes met Ron’s. He grinned and winked at me. Beside him, was Harry, but he was looking at the floor as if I had never entered in the room.

Elizabeth looked absolutely gorgeous in her wedding dress. She and Ron were genuinely happy and, while the ceremony lasted, I forgot about my own problems and felt really happy for them. I actually cried a little.

And then, the reception. It was being held, once again, in the manor. I wasn’t in the mood for parties, but I had to go, because I was the maid of honor and I had to do my speech.

Right, the speech... What was I going to say? With all that had happened, I had totally forgotten to prepare it.

“Herm,” Ron muttered. Mr and Mrs. Weasley, Mr. and Mrs. Greene, Harry and I were sitting in the main table, with the bride and groom. “Could you please at least try to pretend you’re having a good time?”

I realized I had a deep frown and my eyes had been fixed on Harry the whole time. I smiled at Ron sheepishly. “I’m sorry.” I really didn’t want to ruin Ron’s wedding with my problems, so I faked a grin and started talking with Mr. Weasley. Harry didn’t even look at me once, as if I was invisible. If he wanted to hurt me, he was doing a damn well job.

Half an hour later, Harry stood up and cleared his throat. The room fell silent. His speech was very good. Heartfelt, funny, precise, emotive, full of hilarious anecdotes of Ron. He complimented Elizabeth and wished them happiness. I specially recall when he said: “Your love has proven to be strong, and no one will be able to break you apart, no matter what resource they use,” That was obviously directed to me. Touché.

I knew that everyone at the wedding were gossiping about Harry and me. They knew that we had had a fight. It was pretty obvious, because Harry was avoiding me and he didn’t care to dissimulate it. Since they thought we were a couple, they whispered things about “lovers stuff”.

A gentle kick in my shin made me came back to reality. Ron was giving me a significant look. Harry was already back in his seat and he was staring at his plate. I stood up slowly and faced the crowd.

“I have to make a confession,” I started “I didn’t prepare a speech.” I saw a lot of smiles in the table where my former Gryffindor classmates were sitting. “Yeah, I know it must be quite a shock that Hermione Granger, the bookworm who always had her homework done before the teachers even asked for it, didn’t write an academic maid of honor’s speech. So, I guess it’ll have to come out straight from the heart.” I turned my gaze to the happy couple. “There he is, one of my best friends in the world, marrying the woman of his dreams,” Elizabeth smiled. “I have to be honest. I have to admit I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Ron getting married.” Harry made a face and Ron laughed softly. “But I’ve gotten to know Liz quite well...” I realized it was the first time I’d called her Liz. “...and she’s a great person. I’m sure you will make Ron the happiest man on Earth.” the Weasley twins started cheering and most of the crowd did it as well. “Just remember...” I said when they shut up, but this time I wasn’t looking at Ron or Liz. My eyes were fixed on Harry, and this time he wasn’t looking away “It takes one moment to fall in love with someone and one moment to let that love go. Don’t let that happen to you.”

I don’t know why I said that. It just came out of my mouth. Some people exchanged confused looks. Ron and Liz understood, and they nodded. Harry frowned and didn’t say anything.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

It was a tradition that the newlyweds had to open the dance with a waltz. That meant that the best man had to start dancing with the maid of honor. I was nervous about it... What if Harry refused to dance with me? But he was a gentleman after all, and he followed the tradition. We started moving with Strauss’ classic waltz. He was avoiding my eyes and was concentrated on the dance. It was like dancing with a robot.

“Ron has improved his dancing skills, indeed,” I said, trying to make some conversation. It felt so weird to be like that with him, my best friend, the one I could talk to about anything and just receiving a hard stare.

Harry just nodded.

“By the way, your speech was great,” I said, smiling.

“Thank you,” was his dry reply.

I sighed “Harry, we can’t go on like this.”

“Like what?” he snapped.

“You know what I’m talking about. You can’t stay mad at me forever.”

“I’m not mad at you.”

“Yes you are. You don’t talk to me, you don’t even look at me,” I said and then he looked at me straight in the eyes. His green eyes where somehow darker that I’ve ever seen them.

“The only reason I’m even accepting to be in the same place with you now is because it’s Ron’s wedding. I told you I didn’t want to see you anymore,” he said with flat voice.

Tears were threatening to came out of my eyes “Harry, please...”

“Get over it Hermione,” he cut me off and let my hand go.

It was time for switching partners and I had to dance with Ron. Harry was dancing with Elizabeth.

“Hello there,” he said, smiling at me.

“Hi,” I said, and my voice sounded like a whisper.

“I assume you haven’t been able to work things out with him,” he said, pointing at Harry.

I shook my head. “He didn’t believe me when I told him I loved him. He doesn’t want to see me anymore... Oh Ron, what am I going to do?”

He stroked my hair slowly. “Listen to me, Hermione Granger. I’ve known you for 14 years and I know you don’t give up easily. You can’t let Harry go. You have to make him believe you.”

“But how?” I asked

“I have an idea,” Ron said, suddenly grinning.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

I must say, I didn’t like Ron’s idea at all.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” George and Fred were standing on the stage where the orchestra hired for the reception was. “We already had the chance to see our charming best man singing for you... And now it’s the maid of honor’s turn!!” They started screaming and cheering and I felt my cheeks burning.

Everyone knew how much I feared to sing in front of people. I could do it in the shower, but if I knew anyone was listening, no way. It was some sort of trauma. Harry and Ron had tried to convince me among the years to join them on their “Ridgebacks” nights, but I always refused to.

And now I was standing on a stage.

Ron had said I had to made a big sacrifice to prove Harry that I wasn’t playing with him. And since he almost declared his love for me with a song, it was fair that I did the same.

Everyone was staring at me, waiting. Ron and Liz were in the front line, grinning excitedly. I spotted Harry among the crowd. He was looking curiously at me, as if it was some sort of joke.

“I want to dedicate this song to Ron and Liz,” I said, trying to keep my voice and hands steady “but mostly to you, Harry.”

A couple of “ooooows” from the Weasleys, Dean and Seamus were heard. Harry’s face was expressionless.

The orchestra gave me the sign, and I started to sing and old muggle song that I knew Harry liked.

“Only you

Can make all this world seem right

Only you

Can make the darkness bright

Only you and you alone

Can thrill me like you do

And fill my heart with love

For only you

Only you

Can make this change in me

For it’s true

You are my destiny

When you hold my hand I understand

The magic that you do

You’re my dream come true

My one and only you”

When I finished singing, I felt my cheeks burning. Ron and Liz clapped and cheered, along with most of the guests at the reception.

Most of them, except one.

Harry looked furious and with one look at me he stormed out of the room.

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A/N: Sorry for the long update! I’ve been really busy with University. My teachers seem to think I have nothing better to do than read millions and millions of books about politics!

Anyway, I received excellent comments about the last chapter. I’m glad that you liked it. I hope you’ll find this one good too.

I wasn’t sure about to put Hermione singing a song. But then again, this IS a romantic comedy, and this kinda of things always happen in them. I picked “Only You” for two reasons: first, it’s a classic from the Platters (and this fic only includes classic songs ;) ) and the lyrics fit. I didn’t want to put something like “please forgive me, I’m so sorry about what happened” kind-of-song, because, after all, she’s in a wedding and she can’t be whipping her love problems when she should be celebrating her friend’s eternal love. Does this make sense?

14. Thi is It

A/N: Hi everyone! I decided to put the last chapter right away. The sequel of this fic is already on it’s sixth chapter so I’ll put them up too.

Thanks for all the reviews!

Chapter 14 – This is it (My Best Friend’s Wedding, Part 2)

That was it, I guess. That was it when I lost my hope. “Hermione Granger doesn’t give up.” Well, guess what, I was giving up. Harry made very clear when he got out of that room that I didn’t have any chances. If I had achieved one thing with my ridiculous act was losing him forever.

OK, I knew I deserved it. Harry had spent the last nine years silently loving me. He had watched me going out with Ron in my seventh year. He had been by my side, as my best friend, and he had even comforted me when I cried for another guy. He had always put me above him... Seriously, I wanted to hex myself for losing the love of the best guy in this world.

I was still standing on the stage. Some people were staring at me with surprise. Others, with pity. But most of them were whispering, probably about Harry’s reaction and what could have happened between us... “The couple”. Ron started applauding and a second later everybody followed.

I smiled weakly and hugged Ron and Elizabeth. I wished I could have just apparated in my apartment, but I couldn’t. I had to stay in that party at least until the newlyweds had left.

Nobody asked me anything. Harry was nowhere to be seen. The reception went smoothly. I tried to smile and dissimulate that the only thing I wanted to do was cry until there were no more tears left.

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It was half past two in the morning. Everybody was dancing. I really needed a time for myself, away from the cheerful crowd, so I sneaked out and walked towards the pergola that was in the garden. The night was a little cold, but I didn’t care.

I didn’t understand why Harry was acting like that. I knew he was mad, and he had every right to think I wasn’t worthy of his trust. But he knew me, probably better than anyone else. He knew I wouldn’t play with his feelings on purpose. Why couldn’t he gave me a chance?

Well... Maybe someday he would put all this behind us, and maybe we could be friends again... But I didn’t want him as a friend! I tried to picture my life without Harry in it, and I realized I couldn’t stand it. He was too important.

If I hadn’t been so damn blind...

“I’m so stupid!” I said aloud, my voice filled with anger and sadness.

“Yes, you are.”

I gasped. I didn’t need to turn around to see who had spoken. I would recognize his voice anywhere. I stayed where I was, not daring to face him. I thought he had gone home. I felt him coming nearer and he stood by my side. I was leaning against some sort of balcony in the pergola and he leaned as well.

“Sorry about that,” I said finally, with a tiny voice. I still wasn’t looking at him.

“About what?” he asked, after a long pause.

“About that song... It was stupid. I don’t know why I did it. I realize it was embarrassing for you.”

“It wasn’t embarrassing.”

“Then why..?”

“I shouldn’t have left like that. It was a ridiculous reaction.”

I shook my head “No, it wasn’t. I deserved it.”

“If you say so,” Harry, said shrugging. I was looking down, and I only heard his voice. I didn’t know what expression he had.

“Look Harry, I...”

“Shhhh,” he said, silencing me. “Don’t say anything right now.”

“But I need to tell you something,” I said, stubbornly.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Well, you’re going to hear me out, because...”

“For Christ’s sake, Hermione, for once in your life, would you please shut up?” he said, raising his voice. I lifted my head to look at him for the first time. He was looking at me, directly in the eyes. He had a determined look in his face. I shut up immediately, but not because he had told me to, but because I found myself out of words.

Had I ever realized he was that handsome?

“I’m going to do the talking now,” Harry said. He was extremely serious and I felt that my heart was beating faster... Or was it slower? I couldn’t heard it anymore.

He took a deep breath.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since I got away from the house... And I have started to see things with cool head. During the past two hours, I’ve been trying to understand your actions and my reactions. And I think I’ve finally got it.” He made a pause and I didn’t dare to interrupt him. “When I realized you would never return my feelings... A couple of years ago,” he said quickly when he saw I was going to ask him ‘when’. “I made a promise to myself. That I would be by your side no matter what. That I would be happy when you found the man you truly loved. I thought that I’d rather be your best friend that not being anything at all. I just couldn’t stand to be without you, so I said to myself that I had to be strong and bear with everything.”

He smiled slightly, as he was remembering the day he had made that promise to himself. He wasn’t looking at me anymore. I didn’t know where he was going with all that. I wanted so much to say something to him, but I couldn’t.

“And then, about two weeks ago, I started thinking about you and me again, not as friends, but as something more. We had became closer since Ron had left for the States, and I stupidly thought that maybe, if I told you how I felt, you would said that you loved me too... It was hard. Every time I tried to tell you, I chickened out. I was too afraid that I could lose everything I had with you... And then Ron came back. And you said that you had realized that you were in love with him, after all.”

He was looking down. I thought that maybe he wasn’t looking at me, because it would make it harder for him to say what he was going to say. Whatever that was.

“I won’t deny it hurt me. Because that meant that all my hopes were in vain. But I had to kept my promise, and that was why I helped you with that story. And because I couldn’t say no to you. I tried to ignore the jealousy and all that. I wanted you to be happy. Deep down in my heart, I had the feeling that Ron would marry Liz anyway, but I didn’t tell you that, because I wanted that to happen... Does that make any sense?” he asked me.

I nodded.

“But today, when I saw you kissing Ron, everything changed,” he continued, and his voice became softer. “I realized that, after all, I couldn’t kept that promise. I couldn’t be happy seeing you with another guy. And yes, I was surprised when I found out what you have done to split them apart, but that is not the reason why I got mad. I wasn’t mad at you, I was mad at myself for being selfish and naïve, because, you know what? I still had hope. I went to that lunch to tell you what I felt for you, because I didn’t think I was going to be able to kept it inside me any longer.”

Another pause, longer than the previous one followed. Harry had gone through a lot, and I still didn’t understand why I hadn’t seen what was going on. He wasn’t the selfish one. I was.

“I couldn’t be with you like that, so I thought it was better to just not see you anymore. I knew it was going to be hard, but it would be better in the long term for both of us... And then you came and told me that you were in love with me too. And I swear, Herm, that my world fell apart. I had made my resolution, I was determined and you came with that... I didn’t want to believe you... It scared... it scares me to death. It’s too risky for me to accept that maybe you are telling the truth and forget about what I had decided. You understand, don’t you?”

I swallowed hard and nodded again. I understood how he felt. And if it was that what he wanted, to stay away from me, I would have to deal with it... But how? Harry was silent. I didn’t want him to see me crying again, so I turned around. But even though he wasn’t seeing my face, I knew he could heard my sobs.

“Herm,” he said after a while.

“It’s OK, Harry. You’re right,” I started walking away.

“I haven’t finished yet.”

I stopped, but I didn’t turn around. I didn’t want to hear anything else.

“As I said, it’s too risky for me... But then again, I’m Harry Potter, right? When have risks stopped from doing what I want? Not even Voldemort could ever stopped me.”

I turned around slowly to face him. This time, his eyes were sparkling and he wasn’t looking down anymore. He was looking at me. And smiling.

“I... don’t get what you’re saying,” I said.

“I’m saying that, after all, I won’t have to call the newspapers and deny that I’m in love with you,” he said slowly.

I gasped. He laughed at my astonished expression and walked towards me. He took my hand in his.

“Hermione, I love you,” he said, and it was as if I had just realized for the first time. All this afternoon, this wedding... Nothing had happened.

“I love you too,” I said and started laughing.

This was right. This was all I had ever wanted. Harry was the man I loved, and there was no doubt left when he kissed me. Because I felt so many things when our lips touched, that if that wasn’t love, nothing else could have been.

We kissed again and again, never getting tired. Finally, after what seemed an hour, Harry pulled away, and pressed his forehead against mine.

“I have one condition, though,” he whispered.

“What is it?” I asked, a little afraid.

“From now on, I’ll cook.”

~*~ THE END ~*~