Author's Note: Sorry about that, I had to delete the chapter to fix the formatting. Hope it works this time. Anyway, you asked for Ron, here he is! Hope you like it!
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Hermione sighed, shifting in her seat, and flipped open a book. She needed a distraction, now more than ever. Harry was already distracted, apparently.
"Do you know where we're going or do you need for me to look at the map?"
He shook his head quickly. "No, I know how to get there. Thanks." He reached across the seat and gave her hand a squeeze. "You just enjoy your book and let me know if you need anything."
She smirked back. "Anything?"
"Absolutely. Although I have to tell you, I think it would be dangerous to have sex on these seats. If your arse sticks to the leather, you're going to lose some skin getting it unstuck."
She giggled, reaching over to swat his arm. "Who says it's going to be my arse that gets stuck to the seat? What if I want you to be on the bottom?"
"Then it'll be your knees and not your arse, but same problem."
She grinned. "I'll keep that in mind."
He returned his hand to the wheel and she tried to turn her attention back to the book. She'd read this one a hundred times, practically knew it by heart, but it was the only one she'd had in her shoulder bag. The rest were stored away in either hers or Harry's bag in the back.
Her mind kept drifting. She kept remembering how wonderful it was to be in bed with Harry, to have his hands and mouth on her, to know how perfectly their bodies seemed to fit together. She wanted to be there now, so much so that she could feel her body reacting even to the thought of his touch.
She squirmed again, taking in only a bit of the sentence she was reading. Harold Horkier. Most proficient at control and memory spells. God, I need a memory spell right now or I'm going to be completely spare before we get to the next inn. Read, Hermione. Read, read. Where was I? Oh, yes. Thomas Farrow DeBecko, infamous for crossbreeding--Oh god, no breeding. Moving on. Fredrico Bonnigi, most famous for the theory and practice of bonding spells and their use in strengthening power transfers. I could use some strengthening right now or I'm going to crawl across this seat and jump him right the hell now.
She sighed again, slamming the book shut. Harry glanced over her, eyebrows raised. "All right, Hermione?"
She smiled slightly. "I guess so. I'm just--restless. I feel like I need to--stretch my legs, or something."
"Are you nervous?"
"Why would I be nervous? About going to see Ron, you mean?" He nodded. "Well, a little maybe. It's silly, I know. I see him all the time, but--."
"This time is going to be a bit different, isn't it? I mean, now you're going to have to face him with me."
"True." She shifted again, dropping her book back into her bag. "I'm just-worried. What if he-what if he doesn't want to see you?"
"Well, I'm sure he doesn't, but-we've got to try, don't we?"
"Are you nervous?"
"Not really." He shook his head when she scoffed at him. "I'm not. All I can do is say what I have to say, and he'll either accept it or he won't. There's nothing for me to be nervous about."
They lapsed into silence again, and Hermione found herself planning what she wanted to say to Ron. Something else kept niggling at her mind, however, and she found she couldn't stop herself from bringing it up again. "Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you-are you sure you're okay?" He sighed, and she shook her head. "No, I'm serious. I know you said you were just tired, but-how could you be that tired? You slept pretty well the night before, right? You've been sleeping well this whole trip. How could you just suddenly be so tired that you fall asleep in the middle of the evening and sleep through until morning? It doesn't make sense."
"Is that why you've been digging through your books?" Harry asked, his voice tight. "Trying to figure out what's 'wrong' with me?"
She frowned. "Well, yes. It scared me, Harry. It was just like what happened to you after you fought Voldemort, only you weren't out for quite so long. Something's not right about that, no matter what you say."
"Think what you want, Hermione. I was tired. I wanted to sleep. That's all I can tell you, and if you don't believe me, then I'm not going to waste my breath trying to convince you."
"You're impossible," she muttered, turning her attention back to the road.
He simply grunted in response.
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The tension between them had abated only slightly by the time they arrived at Ron's house, just outside Hogsmeade. Hermione tried to push it aside, knowing that they were about to face even more tension over something far less petty, and she really didn't want to have both weighing on her shoulders at the same time.
Harry pulled the truck to a stop in front of the ramshackle little cottage and looked at Hermione. "It looks like a smaller version of the Burrow."
She nodded, putting on a falsely bright smile. "I guess it's his way of feeling close to home, even when he isn't. It's no so bad, really. Sturdier than it looks."
Harry glanced at the house again. "I would hope so."
"It's going to be okay, Harry," she said, reaching over to squeeze his arm. "It'll be rough at first, I'm sure, but-you two will work it out. I'm quite certain of that."
He looked back at her, holding her gaze for a minute, then nodded. "I'll do what I can, Hermione. That's all I can promise."
She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Ready, then?"
"As I'll ever be," Harry muttered, shutting the truck off and pocketing the keys before opening his door and stepping out. "What do we do if he isn't home?"
"We'll try the shop, I guess. He should be here. He said he's home most evenings. Of course, that was before Mrs. Weasley found out you were coming along." She met him at the front of the truck. "Still, I can't imagine that he would just--."
A loud thump interrupted her and they both turned to see Ron come out onto the front porch. He scowled at them for a minute, then crammed his hands into his pockets. "He's not welcome here. I thought I made that quite clear."
Hermione sighed. "Ron, please--."
"Get off my property."
"Ron--."
"I mean you too, Hermione. If you're going to keep hanging out with him, you're not welcome either."
Hermione froze, her eyes wide. "Ron, you can't mean that. We're your friends."
"He's not," Ron spat, glaring at Harry. "He never was. And you aren't anymore."
"You never change, you know that?" Hermione had to sigh. The first words Harry had spoken to Ron in three years and he was going to start off by insulting his old friend. "You're still the great, hot-headed, stubborn prat you've always been." Ron's eyes flared, but it seemed he hadn't expected Harry to say anything at all. He was temporarily dumbfounded. Harry took the opportunity to push the issue. "You do realize that Hermione is the last true friend you've got, right? Bad enough that you went and shoved me out of your life, but you're a true fool if you let her go too."
"I didn't shove you anywhere!" Ron hissed, through gritted teeth. "You-you took her. You went and screwed the only girl I ever-I ever loved. What kind of friend does that, Harry? You tell me that! You knew I loved her, you selfish prick! You knew it and you still went to bed with her!" Ron was working himself into a rage and Hermione noticed that Harry was still as calm as ever.
"I did. I'm sorry."
Ron faltered. "You're-what?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you. And I shouldn't have said what I did afterward, either. I was wrong. You've never been second rate."
"You think an apology is going to fix this?" Ron snapped, but Hermione noticed that his tone had lost a bit of its edge.
"No, and don't misunderstand me. I'm not sorry that I slept with her. If I said I was, I'd be lying. I'm sorry that the girl that you loved and the one that I needed were the same one. I'm sorry it happened that way. I should have told you, though."
Ron was staring at Harry, his mouth hanging open. "What the hell kind of apology is that? You're not even sorry! You're not sorry that you fucked her! That's what you should be the most sorry for, you arrogant bastard!"
"Why?" Harry asked, just as calmly. "Why should I be sorry for it?"
"Because I loved her! You knew I did. You didn't love her. You just said you didn't. You said you needed her? What the bloody hell does that mean? You needed to fuck someone and she was convenient?"
Hermione blushed as she heard her own thoughts thrown back at her through someone else. She'd accused Harry of very much the same thing just a few days ago. She glanced at him, but his eyes were still firmly on Ron. He was leaning against the hood of the truck, his arms folded casually across his chest. Only his eyes, which were narrowed and burning, gave any hint that he might be angry.
"No. It had nothing to do with convenience. Apparently, I had other girls for that, as you so kindly pointed out that day back at Hogwarts. I needed her. I needed Hermione. I needed someone that cared about me, that knew me, that was with me and not the picture painted of me by the rest of the world. It had to be her. Who else was there?"
"Ginny cared about you!" Ron shouted, stepping off the porch. "Ginny loved you! She knew you! I'm glad that you never added my sister's notch to your bedpost, but even that would be preferable to what you did!"
"Ron," Hermione spoke softly, and Ron turned his angry glare on her. "I think I should tell you something. I-I know you're not going to want to hear this, but-I loved Harry. I had been in love with him for, well, a long, long time when that happened. I should have told you that, but-I didn't want to hurt you. I care about you so much that it kills me to see you unhappy but-I love Harry."
Harry's head snapped toward her, but she ignored him for the moment. "You-but I thought--," Ron stammered, his face paling.
"I know. I should have told you how I really felt, but-I didn't think Harry even knew I was an option back then. I guess I felt I needed to hold onto you, just-just in case."
Ron scowled at her, his eyes holding more hurt than Hermione had ever seen in them. "I was, what-a consolation prize?"
"No, Ron. Never that. I did care about you. But-I'm sorry. I just-I never fell in love with you."
A tear spilled down Ron's cheek and he swiped at it angrily, his breath coming in sharp gasps. "What about him? He doesn't love you. He just said so. You wasted your time."
Hermione shook her head. "No I didn't. Things are-different now. I knew he didn't love me then. But I still loved him. And I couldn't lie to you and pretend we had something that we didn't. That wouldn't have been fair to you. And Harry never lied to me. I knew he didn't love me. I chose to be with him despite that. I knew what I was getting into. It's more my fault than anyone's."
"Hermione," Harry said softly, but she waved him off. "I'm sorry, Ron. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I swear to that."
Ron was staring at the ground, Hermione was staring at Ron and Harry was staring at Hermione. It would have been comical, really, had Hermione not felt like her heart was breaking.
They were all quiet for a long while before Harry cleared his throat. "We should go, Hermione. If he ever wants to talk to either of us again, he knows where to find us."
Ron shook his head, folding his arms over his chest. "There's, uh-there's an inn, in Hogsmeade. It's nothing special, but it's clean. I'd invite you to stay here, but-I'm not really sure I can handle that just yet." He shook his head again, almost as though he couldn't believe what he was saying. "I'd-appreciate it if you'd-come back tomorrow. I think I'll be able to talk to you-then."
Hermione looked shocked, but she nodded. "O-okay. Sure. We'll stop by around noon, then?"
Ron nodded, then went back into the house without saying a word, still hugging himself tightly. Hermione turned back to Harry, her eyes wide.
"What just happened?" she muttered as she climbed back into the truck. Harry didn't answer her though. He waited until she climbed in beside him before starting the truck with a slightly shaking hand. He drove all the way to the inn, parked, unloaded their bags, and walked inside without even looking at her.
Hermione realized what was wrong when he asked for two rooms, and went straight into his, shutting the door behind him, without ever saying a word to her.
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Oops, did I disrupt the "harmony"? :lol: Yeah, you'll want to stock up on those tomatoes right about now!
Thanks, as always, to HarrynHermione4eva. She's helped me immensely with this story! Just remember, it was all my idea, so don't get any on her when you're pummeling me! :lol: