Chapter 5
"Harry?" Hermione asked as they stopped in front of Ron's closed bedroom door. "Would you mind…if I go in to talk to him…by myself."
Harry didn't like the idea of Ron yelling at Hermione without him by her side. In fact, if he had his way, he would go in there alone and maybe knock some sense into Ron…literally. "I don't know, Hermione."
"Please, Harry," she pleaded with her mocha colored eyes piercing through his heart. Funny really. He always thought they were brown, but that didn't really do them justice. He knew eventually she would get her way, so he smiled as he touched her cheek. "Okay, but I'll be right outside the door if you need me."
She smiled brightly at him. "Thanks Harry," she said and gave him a quick kiss.
He watched her as she knocked on his door, ignoring Ron's protest to leave him the bloody hell alone, and walked right inside, shutting the door behind her. Harry held his ear up against the door as he heard Ron's booming voice. "I don't want to talk to…" Harry lifted his head when Ron's voice was abruptly cut off. Harry scowled. Hermione must have put a silencing charm so he couldn't hear. Sneaky little thing.
So all he could do was wait as he paced back and forth in front of the door. He didn't know how much time passed when the door finally opened, could have been five minutes; could have been an hour. Hermione's face was pale and he could see tears threatening to spill over her cheeks. "Hermione?" he said urgently as he cupped her face softly.
"Well," she said putting on a brave smile. "That didn't go quite as well as I hoped."
"Hermione, what did he say to you?" he asked roughly, but his hands were still gentle as a lamb.
She shook her head and wiped the first tear that slipped away. "It doesn't matter," she muttered. "He hates me."
His heart shattered along with her breaking heart. When she was in pain…so was he. "Hermione…sweetie…"
She sobbed as she pulled away from him. "I need some air," she whispered and flew down the hall.
Harry's jaw clenched as he squeezed his fist tight, while anger for Ron consumed him. "Look out mate," he muttered. "I'm coming in."
With an angry cry he flew open the door with one solid kick of his foot. Ron spun around with wide eyes and then once he registered whom it was, his eyes narrowed. "Bloody hell, Harry, are you crazy? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Good," he said satisfied and then advanced towards him. "What did you say to her?"
Ron scowled at him. "Get out of my room, Harry," he growled.
"What did you say to her, Ron!" he yelled so loud that Ron tumbled back and almost fell on the bed.
"It's none of your damn business, Harry!"
"The bloody hell it isn't!"
"Oh…right I forgot," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Hermione's your girlfriend."
"That's right!" he blurted as anger seethed through him. "Hermione is my girlfriend, Ron and the sooner you stop being a pompous ass and realize that, the better."
Ron glared at him and Harry could have sworn he saw angry tears in his eyes. "I don't want to have anything to do with the two of you!" he yelled back and turned his back to Harry.
"So that's it?" Harry asked quietly after a moment of silence. "You are going to throw away our friendship…Hermione's friendship…all because you didn't get the girl?"
Ron flung around, practically snarling. "It's always you! You always get everything I want! You have money…fame…everyone loves you. Girls want you…guys worship you. Sometimes I think my own mother loves you more. I thought, well maybe I can find love…maybe I can snag Hermione." He huffed out a angry sigh. "But no…you had to go and get that, too, didn't you?"
"I don't have a family Ron!" Harry yelled back forcefully. "I don't have a mum or a dad, ever think about that? You know how insanely jealous I am of you because of that! I would trade all my money and fame just to have that kind of family." He shook his head in disgust as he looked at his friend. "As for Hermione, she's not a bloody trophy! She's not some prize to be won; she's a human being!
"I didn't mean for this to happen Ron, it's not like you plane these things. It's just like your mother told me last night, 'You can't plan on who you fall in love with'." Ron didn't reply. He just shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor. "I love her, Ron."
His head snapped up. "I love her, too!"
"I know you do, Ron," he said softly, but then shook his head. "But not the way I love her."
"Don't tell me how I feel!" he spat. "I've liked Hermione forever, even before you ever did!"
"Liked," Harry repeated his words. "Not love. Ron, you always try to make Hermione something she's not."
"That's not true!" he said defensively.
"Isn't it? You gave her perfume last Christmas…perfume!"
Ron flew up his hands. "Yeah, so? Girls like that kind of thing."
"Girls, yes," he agreed nodding his head. "Hermione?" He shook his head. "No."
"So I did something different," he admitted getting impatient. "I thought I'd give it to her to…you know…show her what other girls liked."
"That's exactly what I'm talking about," he said as he pointed his finger at him. "If you loved Hermione…really loved her the way I do…you would accept her for who she truly is. You would love all the things about her…even her annoying persistence in making us study. Or the way she eats…you know, how she never lets any of her food touch. Merlin, that's annoying. Then there's her knuckle popping, she cracks the bloody things all the time after she's written one of her essays."
"So, you're saying you find her annoying?" Ron repeated slyly, trying to get the upper hand.
"At times I find her extremely annoying," he said with a slight smile. "That doesn't make me love her any less, though, and I wouldn't change that part of her if I could."
Ron stared at him in silence as if he was taking everything in. "She really doesn't let her food touch?" he asked.
Harry nodded as he tried not to laugh. "Yep, she even manages to keep her bacon from touching the syrup from her pancakes."
"I never noticed," he mumbled to himself and then finally turned away from him and walked to the window. "I can't go back to where things were right away, Harry."
"I understand."
"I need time. To get use to it I guess." His shoulder slumped in defeat. "I know you're right…deep down I know, but that doesn't make it hurt any less."
"Take as long as you need, Ron," Harry said to his back. "I'll wait. SO will Hermione. I don't want to lose you, Ron. I need you, especially now…after losing Sirius."
Ron turned around then and guilt filled his eyes. "I'm sorry, Harry."
Harry held up a hand. "Don't. I don't want your pity." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Just promise me that eventually we'll get through this."
Ron smiled so quick he almost missed it. "I promise, Harry." He sighed and glanced back out the window. "As for Hermione…I promise I will apologize to her. Tell her I didn't mean it."
Harry didn't press the issue further; he knew Ron felt guilty about it. Besides, even if Hermione was his girlfriend, it still wasn't any of his business. It was something the two of them had to work out on their own. "See ya, Ron," he finally said and made his way to the door.
He was surprised to see Hermione waiting for him in the hall with a soft smile on her lips. "Hey," he said softly. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough," she said and then threw her arms around his neck, giving him one of her famous hugs. He remembered when he first received one when they were eleven when he was about to face Voldemort. He was embarrassed, but even then he couldn't help but feel a small rush of pleasure. Now, it overwhelmed him. He buried his face in her hair and breathed deep as he held her close.
"So," she said leaning back to smirk at him. "I'm annoying, am I?"
He grinned. "Dreadfully," he said and leaned down to kiss her softly. "But feel free to annoy me anytime."
"Mmm…I'll keep that in mind."
"In fact." Harry sucked gently on her bottom lip. "We can go somewhere private and you can annoy me all you want."
She giggled as she kissed him over and over again. "Lead the way."