Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter 4-

"So he went to see Bianca?" asked Hermione in a discouraged tone. She kept running a finger around the rim of her chipped mug. He nodded, looking down at his as well. A brief silence. "It's all my fault," she said softly. His head snapped up in surprise to look at her.

"Why's that?"

"As his best friend- Err, one of his best friends," she corrected herself, catching his menacing look. "I should have said something about her."

"Don't blame yourself, Hermione. This was never your fault to begin with."

Hermione lifted her eyes to look into his. A slow smile crept onto her face as she reached across the scrubbed wooden table and placed a hand over his. He grinned back.

"Ron, you're a great friend, you know that?"

"I've been told once or twice yeah," Ron replied, his grin turning slightly cocky. She slapped his hand lightly while laughing.

"You're such a prat."

"Ah, so you can smile. That's good to know." Hermione quickly looked back down at her mug, still smiling. Ron continued to chuckle while she drained the last of her tea. "What, you're leaving already?" he asked, watching her stand up. She quickly set her mug in the sink behind Ron and made her way out into the lounge to get her cloak.

"You said he left over a half hour ago. I should leave before he comes back."

"No, you should stay. You and Harry need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to him if he refuses to talk to me and continues to say I'm jealous."

Ron stopped stood up and came behind her as she slipped on her cloak. He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around so she was facing him. She looked up at him, her head tilted one side as she wearily waited for him to speak. She knew a lecture was coming. One always did when he detected something was up between his two best friends. 'Funny,' she thought, 'seems like he's the one who gives advice and lectures these days.'

"Herm-"

"Don't call me that."

"Stay. Look, if he's not back in ten minutes then you can go." Her expression didn't change. "Okay, five," sighed Ron giving in very frustrated. "If he's not here in five minutes, I won't force you to speak to him until you bloody well feel like it." Without a word and her cloak still on for when she's ready to leave, Hermione stepped away from Ron and went outside to the balcony. Ron watched her close the glass door. "You've got three minutes, Harry, or I'll hex you into yesteryear."

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Unbeknownst to Ron or Hermione, Harry was currently pacing around in circles outside the front door to the flat. His mind was too jumbled up with all Bianca had told him that he couldn't think straight.

He loved her. He loved her! And she knew it! His mind couldn't comprehend how someone could use a person the way she used him. From the beginning he'd drop whatever he was doing and go to her. He'd find any means possible to simply spend five minutes with her. When the time came over a year ago, he wholeheartedly gave her his body along with all his love, passion and soul, thinking that she was it for him. But all this time she had already committed to someone else. She had already given herself to another man and was using Harry as if he were nothing more than some quick distraction.

This was killing him.

When she'd said those words, he felt as if he'd fallen well over fifty feet from a broomstick and survived with only the wind completely knocked out of him. All those times they were alone and quiet together. All those times they sat or lay in bed with the perfect opportunity to speak right there. 'My husband...' Those two words kept bouncing around in his head, making it ache more every time he heard them. A sudden thought burst into his mind at that moment.

'Hermione knew. She knew everything about Bianca- And she never told me!'

The sadness he had been feeling was quickly turned into sour disappointment, anger, confusion and disbelief. The only other woman he confided anything and everything in kept this from him. He couldn't understand how Hermione could do that, knowing fully well that one day he'd discover the truth.

His brain kept yelling at him to hate her. But he couldn't. No matter what happened between him and Hermione, he could never hate her. Be disappointed in her, yes. But he could never hate her. Because right now he was too busy loathing Bianca.

"I have nothing to say to him if he refuses to talk to me and continues to say I'm jealous," came a soft yet strong voice from the other side of the door. It was Hermione. Harry stopped his pacing and leaned closer to the door, knowing that she and Ron were talking about him.

"Herm-"

"Don't call me that."

"Stay. Look, if he's not back in ten minutes then you can go." There was silence and Harry could hear Ron's sigh of frustration. "Okay, five. If he's not here in five minutes, I won't force you to speak to him until you bloody well feel like it." Again silence until he heard footsteps fading away.

Harry stood there torn between whether storming in and apologizing to her until his voice was gone or staying where he was until the five minutes were up. "You've got three minutes, Harry," he heard Ron say. Harry jumped trying to figure out how Ron knew he was there. "Or I'll hex you into yesteryear." He didn't. It sounded as if Ron was talking to himself. Unfortunately Harry listened to him and took a deep, calming breath before opening the door.

Ron turned to look at him. Harry's eyes told him all he needed to know. "Sorry, mate," was all Ron could say. Harry nodded and slightly cranned his neck around Ron to catch a glimpse of Hermione out on the balcony.

"I should get this over with, shouldn't I?" asked Harry already aware of what the answer was. Ron nodded and turned to look at Hermione as well. Harry turned back to him. "Listen, Ron. I'm really sorry for blowing up on you like that earlier. It's just that-"

Ron put a hand a protest. "No need to explain. I don't blame you for acting the way you did. I just think you should have heard Hermione out before saying what you did to her." Harry's head drooped in defeat.

"I'm such a prat," Harry muttered to himself.

"Well, you're gonna be a bigger one if you don't go out there and talk to her," replied Ron. "She's getting ready to Apparate."

Harry's head snapped up and he watched as Hermione pulled out her wand. Without a second thought of what he was going to do or say to her, he raced to the glass door and slowly opened it. Upon hearing the door open, Hermione's wand hand froze in mid air. She didn't need to turn to know who it was. Instead she tucked her wand back in her cloak pocket.

"You saw her?" she asked still looking out at a part of Diagon Alley.

"Yeah." Hermione could hear him walking up behind her. She sensed him attempting to put a hand on her shoulder but couldn't bring himself to do it. He only sighed and went to lean beside her on the veranda. "Look, Hermione... I'm..." He didn't know how to say nor explain anything to her.

"You're what?" she asked somewhat irritated purposely turning away so he couldn't see her face.

"I'm sorry- About all that stuff I said about you being jealous." Harry cautiously turned to look at her. He instantly felt a pang of guilt knowing that he was the one that caused the hurt visible in those brown eyes. "I should have listened to you instead of trying to bite your head off like that."

"Yes, you should have," she said now more sternly while looking at him. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes but she held them back defiantly as she straightened up. "Harry, you really hurt me. I was only looking out for you and didn't want to see you get hurt even more-"

"So your way of protecting me is by keeping the fact that the woman I loved was using me. Hermione, you were with me when I bought the ring and you couldn't tell me then?!"

They were both yelling at each other now. Several people down on the street curiously looked up to watch the spectacle. Hermione looked away from him, a tear overpowering her will and streaming down her cheek. "No, don't you dare start crying!" That statement let another tear slip out, followed by a few more. Even though Harry was very angry again, he couldn't help but calm down at the sight of her tears. He hated it when she cried. It made him feel as if he should climb up to the Gringotts roof and jump off. The anger subsided as he reached out and pulled Hermione into his arms. "Shh... I'm sorry. Stop crying..."

"No!" she yelled angry, pulling herself out of his arms. "Don't touch me." Harry kept silent as he watched more tears form in her enraged eyes. "I don't know why I never told you. I came very close on several occasions but couldn't do it. I knew you were going to act something like this. I didn't want you to hate me like you do now because I've..." The words painfully lodged themselves in her throat.

"Because you what?" he asked rather softly, worried of what she might say.

"Because I- I've..." She tried to gulp down the lump to no avail. "I've gotta go!"

Hermione spun on her heels and made for the door, when Harry reached out and grabbed her arm. She quickly looked back at him and saw a look on his face she'd only seen the night before. Grief and sincerity.

"Don't go," he said with pleading eyes.

"Why?" she asked ready to jerk her arm away from him and disapparate. If he was going to say anything about how much he still loves Bianca, she was out of there.

"Because I haven't been completely honest with you." Hermione curiously watched him, waiting for him to continue. "There's no excuse for why I treated you how I did. There's only a reason."

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**A/N: Cliffhanger!! Muahahaha!! This is the only thing I could think of to keep you wanting to read more. Just what's Harry's reason for treating our precious Hermione like crap??? Wait and see.