Chapter 3
He stood there looking completely dumfounded. "No," he said barely in a whisper.
"Ron," Hermione pleaded.
"No!" he said more forceful this time and held up his hands to ward them off. "Don't....just don't."
How could he have forgotten about Ron? Harry's stomach clenched when he saw the look of disgust on Ron's face. He knew how he felt about Hermione, even though Ron had never told him directly, it wasn't hard to figure out. He didn't plan for this...he didn't plan for these feelings. "Ron, please...."
"Don't even start, Harry!" he yelled angrily. "I just....I can't look at you two, you're not who I thought you were!"
"Ron, please!" Hermione cried as they watched him stalk angrily out of the backdoor. "Oh, Harry, what have we done."
Harry sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "It's okay," he finally said as he stepped back over to her and ran his hands up and down her arms. "We didn't do anything wrong, okay? It just looked bad from Ron's point of view."
She sniffed back her tears. "He looked so hurt."
"I know," he said and then kissed her forehead. "I need to go after him, he shouldn't be out by himself."
She wiped back some tears. "I'm going with you."
"Hermione...."
"I am Harry," she said as she scooted off the table. "He's my friend, too."
Harry tried to think of something to argue with, but the look in her eyes made him realize that no matter what he said would change her mind. "Okay...let's go."
Together they walked out to the back of the Burrow where the garden was, but there was no sign of Ron. "He must have gone farther...maybe to the Quidditch pitch." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out through the gate and headed towards the trees. "Ron!" he yelled hoping it would get his attention.
"Ron, please come out!" Hermione pleaded as she spun in a circle looking frantically for him. "Harry, where could he be?"
"I don't know," he said starting to get worried. "Maybe he...." He never finished his sentence, because out of know where a powerful force knocked him off his feet and to the ground. He felt the wind get knocked out of him when he felt a heavy weight slam on top of him and he soon realized that it was Ron. "Ron," he croaked trying to get his breath.
"How could you!" he yelled as he angrily pounded his fist at his face and was able to get one clean hit, but Harry weakly held his arms up to block the following blows.
"Ron!" Hermione cried as she tried to tug on his arm. "Please don't!"
"Get off!" Ron said angrily as he swung his arm trying to push her off.
Hermione cried in pain as she was toppled over on the grass and Harry exploded. "Don't you dare hurt her!" he yelled and then finally fought back with a vengeance. Who needed a wand when this much anger was adrenaline through your veins. He reached and managed to get a clean hit across Ron's face with his elbow and then flipped him over until he was now on top fighting back. He could hear Hermione whimpering in the background and a part of him wanted to be there for her, but he was so mad at Ron his anger overruled.
"What on earth is going on?!" a familiar voice rang out and only a part of Harry heard it and Ron must have not cared because he didn't stop fighting either. "Stop it! This instance!"
Harry felt something pulling him off of Ron and he struggled to break free, but the force was too strong. He then saw Fred and George picking up Ron by both arms and trying desperately to hold him back as well. He looked behind him to see Mr. Weasley holding him back and Mrs. Weasley was standing there looking shocked and angry.
"What is the meaning of this?!" she cried as she walked over to Hermione who was still crying. "Can someone please tell me why you two were at each others throats and why Hermione here has a black eye?!"
"Ron hit her!" Harry growled as he tried to pull away from Mr. Weasley's grasp.
"I didn't mean too!" Ron yelled back. "If you two didn't go behind my back it wouldn't have happened!"
"We didn't go behind your back, Ron!" Harry yelled back.
"You were kissing her!" he yelled back and everyone grew silent. "You were kissing Hermione....our Hermione! On my mom's kitchen table!"
Harry swallowed hard. He heard Mrs. Weasley gasp and saw Hermione look shamelessly to the ground. He then heard one of the twins say, "Man, am I glad we decided to stay here tonight! Bloody brilliant!"
Silence followed, for how long Harry didn't know. But finally Mrs. Weasley spoke. "I want everyone inside in the kitchen. We're all going to have a little chat."
"Excellent!" Fred boasted.
"Minus to two of you," Mrs. Weasley said firmly as they made their way back inside. "You two go on back to bed."
"Oh mum, you're no fun!" Fred said and then he and George left with no qualm, but Harry was quite sure they would pull out the Extendable Ears and still listen. Harry glanced over at Hermione and caught her eye and they were still swimming with tears. His stomach clenched with anger again at the site of the bruise on her left one. He tried to tell her that everything was going to be okay just by looking at her, hoping to communicate with her through his stare. He kept his eyes on her until they were seated down at the kitchen table where only moments ago he and Hermione were engaged in a passionate kiss. Would he still be holding her...kissing her if Ron never showed up?
"Okay," Mrs. Weasley said breaking the silence once more. "I don't know what exactly happened but your behavior tonight was unacceptable, especially you boys. Fighting gets you know where."
"But Mom..."
"Quite, Ron," she said softly but forcefully. "I am your mother and you are my responsibility, but this situation is out of my hands. Only the three of you can work this out, so therefore I will not get in the middle of it. However, there will be no fighting again. If I catch you two at it again, I will send Harry and Hermione back home and Ron, you will be grounded for the rest of the summer...do make myself clear?"
Ron let out a disgruntled laugh. "Go ahead and send them home now, see if I care."
"I will do no such thing," Mrs. Weasley said. "That is up to Harry and Hermione. I would hope that your friendship would mean more to you than that and I hope that you fix it. Now, with that said, Ron, go on up to bed, I'd like to speak to Harry and Hermione."
"Fine," he grumbled and angrily stood up before stalking out of the room.
Once he left, Harry felt the pressure of Mrs. Weasley's stare alternating back between the two of them. Harry thought of her as a mother and the thought of her being disappointed in him in anyway made him feel sick. He would rather be anywhere else....even facing Voldemort again didn't seem as bad as this.
"Harry...Hermione," she started giving them a forced smile. "Now we're going to have a little chat."
"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked softly after a moment of silence.
"Yes, Harry," she said quietly folding her hands on the table and waited patiently for him to talk.
"Before we talk about this...could you please heal, Hermione? I....I can't bare to look at her eye any longer."
Mrs. Weasley's cold stare softened a bit and looked over at Hermione who was looking across the table at Harry. "Of course, Harry." She reached over and placed her fingers under her chin. "Look at me dear."
Harry watched as Hermione's head lift slowly and Mrs. Weasley waved her wand. He felt much better when he watched the bruise disappear and she was no longer in pain. "Thanks."
"What about Harry?" Hermione asked.
Mrs. Weasley put down her wand. "I didn't heal Ron, I don't think I should heal, Harry. They need to learn from this."
Harry looked at the table and knew she was right. It didn't matter, as long as Hermione was healed everything was okay. He wanted this conversation to be over with so he figured the sooner he talked the faster it will be done with. "I'm not sorry for what happened." He saw Mrs. Weasley raise a brow and he blushed. "Well, I am about how things went down between Ron and me, but not about Hermione."
"Was Ron telling the truth?" she asked both of them. "Were you down here...kissing?"
"Yes, but it wasn't planned," Harry said quickly. "I certainly didn't expect to feel these kinds of feelings for Hermione and neither did she."
She shook her head. "No, I didn't. It was a sudden revelation...for the both of us."
"We never meant to hurt, Ron," Harry continued. "He's my best friend and we both care for him." He shifted in his chair and leaned forward resting his forearms on the table. "Mrs. Weasley, I wasn't happy here....I didn't like how I was being treated."
Mrs. Weasley looked hurt by this comment. "Oh Harry, we were just trying to help. I didn't...."
"I know you were," he said gently. "It just wasn't what I needed. I needed to laugh, I needed to feel normal and....well, Hermione was the only one to give me that. She knew what I needed and she gave it to me."
"Please don't be mad at us, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione pleaded. "We didn't mean any harm."
She shook her head. "I'm not mad at you, dears. I could never be mad, I'm just concerned when I find my son and his best friend in a full out brawl in the middle of the night. It worries me and I hope that the three of you can work it out. As for you two, that's none of my business, but my son's happiness is and I know he had a little crush on you Hermione."
She blushed and looked down at her lap. "I know. I prayed that he'd eventually find someone else, so I wouldn't have to break his heart. I just....I don't feel that way about him, I'm sorry..."
"Don't be sorry dear," she said as she took one of her hands in hers. "You can't help who you fall in love with and tonight's the perfect example of that." She squeezed her hand. "Why don't you two go on to bed....it's getting late."
They both nodded and stood up from the table. "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Harry muttered.
"Night, you two. And please....sleep in separate bedrooms."
They both blushed in embarrassment, but quickly nodded before rushing up the stairs.
"Well, that was fun," Harry whispered once they were in front of Harry and Ron's bedroom.
"Harry," she sighed as she shook her head. "I'm so worried."
"Hey," he said softly as he pulled her in for a hug. "It's okay. Everything will work out, don't for one second think we did anything wrong." He then pulled her away so he could look down at her. "You don't regret what happened between us.....do you?"
Her eyes brimmed with tears. "Oh Harry, of course I don't! I....I care for you so much."
Relief swept over him and he smiled. "I do, too." He then bent his head and kissed her gently on the mouth. "Go on to bed and try to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning. I think we're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get our things."
She reached up and touched the side of his face. "I wish you could come with me."
His heart pounded and he swallowed the large lump that formed in his throat. "Me too," he managed to say with his voice slightly cracking. "You don't know how much."
She bit her lip and looked up at him with temptation. "Maybe....we could...you know....just for a little bit."
Was she purposely trying to kill him? "Hermione," he whispered painfully. "Merlin, I want to, but..."
"I know," she said sucking in a breath as she was desperately trying to hold back. "Stupid, I know."
He grinned. "Not stupid....being with you is never stupid."
"Now, see when you smile at me like that and then say that, it makes it so much harder." She huffed annoyingly. "Just give me a kiss good night and end this so I won't jump you right here in the hallway."
He chuckled and reached up to frame her face with his hands. "Good night, Hermione," he said and then leaned down and kissed her softly, lingering as long as he could. He pulled away before they both started to loose the little control that they have. "Sleep well."
She let out a shaky breath. "You, too." She then gave him another quick kiss and spun around and quickly retreated to her room.
Harry stood there a moment with a silly grin on his face, before finally walking into his bedroom he shared with Ron. However, Ron's bed was empty and he wasn't the least bit surprised. He was so angry with him he didn't even want to share a room. This was definitely going to be a lot harder than he thought.