A/N: I just want to give a big THANXS to all those of you who take the time and energy to write a review. It's really appreciated! J
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FIVE
Hermione was not looking forward to get home that day. She stayed at the Ministry as long as she could, trying to push the inevitable discussion she was bound to face as further away as possible. Still, she couldn't stay there all night.
Two hours later than usual, Hermione got home. When she walked into the living room, she saw Eric was there, waiting for her. She could see he was still upset. Hoping he wouldn't start arguing, Hermione headed to the bedroom. Eric, however, was not willing to let it go that easily. He followed her down the hall and into the bedroom.
"Why the hell did you take his side?" Eric demanded to know in an angry voice.
Hermione turned around to face him, frustration painted on her face. "What do you mean?"
"You took his side, Hermione! You kicked me out of your office and you stayed there with that idiot," said Eric walking closer to her. His eyes were sparkling with anger. Hermione remained silent for a while, having a hard time believing this was happening.
"Did you have lunch with him?" asked Eric before Hermione could speak.
Hermione shook her head. "No, I didn't," she said taking a step away from him. "But not because you didn't want me to. I didn't because I wasn't in the mood."
He looked at her, feeling affronted by her comment. Hermione turned away. She felt uncomfortable with the situation. They had had arguments before, but those arguments had never been because of someone else. Hermione had never seen him as a jealous boyfriend, and he had never yelled at her before.
"What's happening to us Eric?" she asked in a much calmer voice. "In this two days we have argued way more than we did in a year."
"What's happening?" repeated Eric. He was not ready to drop the subject yet. "He's getting in the middle of us. This is all his bloody fault." He walked to her and grabbed one of her hands. "Don't you see Hermione? He wants to take you away from me!"
"You're taking things the wrong way Eric. It's not like that." She looked into his eyes trying to assure him with hers that she was telling him the truth. But in reality, she wasn't even sure of it.
"Didn't you see how he looked at you during the wedding? How he looked at you today?" He let go of her hand and started pacing around. "He thinks that just because he's the famous Harry he can charm you."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You don't know him Eric! You can't assume you know what Harry thinks. Besides, he'd never use his fame for anything like that. He doesn't even like to be famous at all."
Eric made a disbelieving noise with his throat. He stopped in his tracks and stared at Hermione. She realized that no matter what she'd say his mind was already set. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was not willing to keep arguing about the same thing over and over.
"I think we need to take a break," she said looking right at him.
Eric looked down at his shoes for a couple of seconds as if trying to control himself. Then, he looked up and spoke, his voice sounding a bit more relaxed. "Okay." He took a step towards her. "You want to take a walk or something?"
"No Eric. What I mean is we need a break from us." After she said that, she grabbed a bag and started throwing some clothes in it. Eric looked puzzled at her.
"What are you doing?" he asked, panic in his voice.
"I'm going to Ginny's," responded Hermione without meeting his eyes. "I'll be there for a few days."
In two quick steps, Eric got to her and grabbed hold of her wrist. "Are you leaving me?" His gaze was penetrating her, trying to see inside her head.
"No, I just told you," she said pulling off his grip. "I need a couple of days away to think things through." She went to the wardrobe and took her pajamas out.
"What do you have to think about?" Again his voice was sounding upset. "Why is it that now that your friend suddenly appears you need time away from me?" Hermione didn't respond. "You see! I'm telling you. He's coming between us."
"No, Eric. This has nothing to do with Harry," she said throwing a few things inside her bag. "We started having problems way before Harry showed up."
"Oh! Now you're going to bring back that thing about me not being good in bed."
"I never said that!" quickly added Hermione.
"C'mon Hermione," said Eric. "We both know that bloody talk about you needing something more really meant I don't satisfy you." Then with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, he added, "I just never thought you were so demanding in bed."
Hermione looked away, doing her best to ignore the comment he had intended to be offensive. Eric, however, was not ready yet to let it go.
"You just want to go to your friend's so you can see him whenever you want, don't you?" he said standing just in front of her, demanding an answer from her.
"You know what," she said, also getting upset. "You can think whatever you want." She then walked around him to grab some personal items from the restroom. Eric remained rooted to the same spot.
"If you leave," he said once she came back in the room. "It's going to be forever."
Hermione looked at him. His eyes were daggers trying to cut her open. In a second, Hermione thought of all the good times she had shared with him. The Eric she used to know and the one she had in front were two different people. She couldn't believe how things had changed in just a few days.
She finally threw the items she had collected from the bathroom in her bag and placed it on her shoulder. "If that's what you want." And before he could say anything else, she disapparated.
--- * --- * --- * ---
"So, is it over then?" asked Ginny.
Hermione had apparated in her house twenty minutes ago. Both girls were sitting down in the living room. Ginny had just heard all about Hermione's arguments with Eric. Hermione was holding the engagement ring she had received from Eric in her fingers.
"Seems like it," she said, not taking her eyes off the ring. "I reckon I should give this back."
Ginny nodded. She was trying to figure out Hermione's emotions, but she couldn't. Her face was expressionless. Ginny was sure of one thing, though. She was glad for her.
"Well, you're better off without him."
Hermione looked up at her friend. "You make it sound as if being with Eric was a bad thing. You know he's always been good to me."
"Yes I know," said Ginny, grabbing a small pillow from the couch and putting it on her lap. "And I also know things haven't been okay between you. You've never admitted it, but I can see you're not doing good."
Hermione went back to staring at the ring. She hated being lectured, but she also knew Ginny was right. She hadn't talked to Ginny about some of her problems with Eric, but it obviously didn't escape her friend's eye.
"You don't love him, Hermione. We both know that." Ginny placed a hand in Hermione's. "I know you tried, but you can't force love. It doesn't work that way."
"Yeah, I know," whispered Hermione. "It's just that… I had something with him, you know. I felt…"
"You felt trapped!" interrupted Ginny. "Your relationship with him was just a routine. You were with him just for a fake sense of stability. You were just afraid of being alone."
Hermione stood up and walked towards the fireplace. She stood there quietly pondering Ginny's words. It was hard to admit it, but Ginny was right. That was why she had tried so desperately to keep her problems to herself, hoping nobody would notice, hoping they'd go away. Where was all that Gryffindor courage she was supposed to have? She should have made use of it long ago, but now she had the chance. Her life was once again in her own hands. All she had to do was reclaim her independence and take control of it.
Determined, she turned around to face her friend. "You're right, Ginny. I've been a fool trying to ignore it, but it won't happen again."
Ginny stood up and walked up to her. "I'm glad." She gave Hermione a warm hug, then gently pulled apart. "And you're just in time. Now that Luna got married, I need a new housemate."
"What happened to that whole I'm-dying-to-leave-alone-after-all-those-years-in-the-Burrow plan?" asked Hermione teasingly.
"This is what happens when you grow up in a big family," she said smiling widely. "You get so used to the madness, you can't stand a quiet place for too long."
They both laughed.
--- * --- * --- * ---
The next morning Hermione sent a note to the Ministry saying she'd be taking the day off. She planned to go and get all of her things from the apartment. She put on a pair of faded sweatpants, a short sleeve tee, a pair of flip-flops and she tied her hair in a lazy ponytail.
Knowing at what time Eric usually left for work, she prepared herself a light breakfast to kill time. She didn't want to see him and start another argument. After she finished her breakfast, she checked her wristwatch. "Eric should be gone by now" she thought.
Fifteen minutes later, she apparated in her apartment, or better said Eric's apartment. She walked in the living room. All of the things decorating the room, all of the apartment actually, had been chosen by her. She had purchased out of her own pocket many of those things, thinking about the home they would make together.
She looked around the room. She didn't want any of it. Those things didn't matter to her anymore. "I'll just take my pictures and my books," she thought. With that in mind, she went straight to the bedroom. She had just started taking out some clothes of the dresser when Eric appeared in the doorframe.
He was wearing the exact same outfit as the night before. His eyes were glassy and red. His hair was all messy and his hands were shaking. A strong smell of alcohol was coming out of him.
Hermione looked at him and sighed. Without saying a word, she continued what she was doing. Staggering, he walked up to her.
"You're not leaving!" he said. His breath hit Hermione's face making her squint her eyes. Hermione turned around, trying to walk away from him and continue getting out her clothes. Eric grabbed her by the elbow and with a strong movement turned her around to face him.
"You're not going to leave me!" he repeated, this time in a much stronger voice. He quickly grabbed hold of her upper arms and pulled her close to him. "I'm not going to let you go. You hear me? You're mine!"
As he said that, he threw her onto the bed and quickly topped her body with his, causing some of the things she had placed there to fall to the floor. Hermione tried to push him off, but he quickly grabbed one of her wrist tightly and placed it above her head.
"Eric get off…"
He covered her mouth with his, kissing her lips desperately. She pushed him with the one hand she had free, but the alcohol had doubled his strength. He pulled away gasping for air.
"Eric, you idiot! Get off of me!"
But he wasn't listening to her. All the anger he had been feeling the last days was blocking his mind. One of his hands, the other was tightly holding her wrist in place, found its way under her tee. Hermione began to breath in short gasps. She knew yelling for help wouldn't do any good. Nobody would be able to hear her.
Eric licked the side of her face all the way down to her neck. Hermione could smell the alcohol in his breath. He went back to her lips as his free hand found explored her body desperately. Hermione bit on his bottom lip as hard as she could. He pulled back and smiled devilishly at her, tasting the blood on his mouth.
"STOP IT!" she yelled, though knowing he wasn't listening. Her mind was working at high speed trying to figure out how to get out of that situation. She then remembered something, his weak spot.
Eric pulled away from her to undo his pants. Hermione took the opportunity and as soon as she could brought her knee up. Using all the strength she could master, she guided it directly to his groin.
Eric gasped in pain, tightening his eyes. His grip on her wrist loosened. Hermione quickly pushed him and got off the bed, fixing her clothes. For a second, she thought about running away, but she looked at him. He was lying on his side, both hands clasped around his groin, eyes tightly closed.
She wanted to make sure he was okay, but she didn't move closer or talk to him. Finally, he raised his head. He looked directly at her. The seconds were tickling away, but neither one of them spoke. It seemed the pain had brought him back to sobriety. He kept his gaze for a while as if trying to figure out what had just happened.
When his mind cleared of the fog the alcohol had created, he realized what he had almost done. A look of shock appeared in his face. Hermione could see he regretted his actions. There was no need for him to say it, but she was thankful for that. She wasn't sure she'd be willing to accept an apology just yet.
He stood up, once he regained his strength, and looked at her one last time. Then, without saying a word to her he left the room. Seconds later, after Hermione heard the front door being slammed she knew Eric was gone.
Hermione sighed in relief. She hadn't even noticed she had stopped breathing. Her heart had been beating furiously. She sat down on the bed trying to calm down. She could not believe what Eric had tried to do. She had never seen him like that. She'd never even seen him drunk. Eric wasn't used to drinking a lot. A couple of drinks were all she'd ever seen him take.
Thinking it was better to leave as soon as possible, she stood up. With a wave of her wand, her clothes, books and personal items were quickly and nicely packed in her trunk and in a couple of boxes. Minutes later, she headed for the door ready to go, not before leaving the engagement ring on top of the night table.
Before walking out of the front door, Hermione took one last look at what for the last year had been her home. She knew this was the last time she'd be in this place. Reminding herself this was something she should have done a long time ago, she left closing the door, closing the last chapter of her days with Eric as well.