"Ron!" Hermione screams from the ground. But he chooses to ignore her and immediately grabs Harry and begins hitting him anyway he can.
"Ron stop!" she screams again. But again her cries go unnoticed. Hermione scrambles to her feet and rubs the gravel off her palms and knees. She noticed her left knee is dribbling blood. "Ron!" Shiny drops of blood are splattered all over the ground around where Harry and Ron are fighting. Hermione doesn't know who it's from.
Ron grabs Harry by the arms and throws him down onto the ground hard, and lets out a faint yelp. Hermione catches Harry's eye briefly before Ron's fist collides with it again. She can see he has a split lip and his chin is covered with blood. She winces in pain for him. He growls as Ron hits him again.
Harry manages to get to his feet after the second blow to his face and punches Ron in the stomach. Ron grunts but the hit doesn't seem to have any affect on him. Usually Harry and Ron were equal in strength but tonight he is driven by pure fury. Harry punches back again and this time draws blood from Ron's nose.
Ron wipes the blood from his nose and looks up to glare at Harry. He uses his fury and strength to push Harry against the balcony railing and hits him again.
Hermione fears he will push Harry over the edge. She runs in the direction of the battling, trying to stand in the middle of the commotion trying to end it. Everything happens so quickly Ron and Harry don't see her and continue to fight. A fist comes from somewhere and collides with Hermione's nose. She cries out and snaps her eyes shut. She staggers back from the blow and for a moment feels as if she is going to fall, but a firm hand grabs her arms and pulls her back. When she opens her eyes she sees Ron is only a few inches from her face.
It takes her a second to realize it but her nose is broken and blood is cascading down her face, and her hands come up to cover to nose and mouth.
"Hermione are you okay?" Harry asks.
Hermione stares at Ron and Harry who are looking her with their faces full of concern and love. She knows both men love her unconditionally and would go to the ends of the earth for her. She suddenly feels very hurt and confused and begins to cry.
Without saying a word Ron picks up Hermione and carry's her back in then house.
Harry follows without speaking either.
Ron enters the kitchen and sets Hermione down on the counter where Harry had possessed her a few hours earlier. He goes over to the sink and wets a towel.
Harry rubs the small of her back. "You okay?" he asks.
Hermione shakes her head through her tears.
Ron returns with the warm damp towel and gently cleans the blood off Hermione's face.
"Angu," she mumbles taking the towel from him and wiping the rest of the blood away.
Harry steps forward and pulls his wand out of his pocket and makes a move to fix Hermione's broken nose, but Ron grunts and shoves him out of the way and fixes her broken nose himself. He doesn't want Harry touching his girl.
"Better?" Ron asks her?
She nods but silent tears are still streaming down her face.
Ron's soft caring face fades when he sees Hermione is alright. He glares hatefully from his fiancé to his former best friend. He never thought it possible to hate Harry as much as he did now. He walks over to the fridge and pulls out a can of beer and rips the top open with his fingers and takes a large sip. He walks back over to where Hermione is perched on the counter and slams the can down making Hermione jump.
He pulls the crumpled letter out of his pocket and throws it in Hermione's face. "What the fuck is this?" he asks her.
Hermione scrambles to grab the letter that had fallen onto her lap and quickly unfolds it and reads its contents quickly. Ginny has divulged everything about them from when there relationship started during the Horcrux days up until the steamy sex they had that night. Hermione notes that Ginny so conveniently left out the fact she had been cheating on Harry and that there really was no baby.
But still Hermione feels herself filling with guilt. She hates that she has done this to a man who has showed her nothing but unconditional love. She looks up to meet his eyes and can see his and burning angrily into her.
"Ron," she says meekly. There is no point in denying the crime and making everything worse. "I'm sorry!"
Ron's eyes grow wide. "So this is actually true?" He glances back between the two of them.
Harry nods shamefully. And Hermione utters a small, "yes."
"Bloody hell!" Ron cries.
His heart shatters. He had been hoping it was all a lie. But it was true, and now he felt like he wanted to die. He paces around the kitchen unsure of what to do with himself.
Hermione jumps down from the counter and takes a few steps after him, "Ron," she says in a solemn voice.
Ron turns on her and backs her into a corner. His eyes are blazing furiously into hers. "Why Hermione?" he growls. "Tell me why!"
Hermione feels tiny and helpless. "I-I don't know," she says honestly. "Harry and I have this…"
Ron cuts her off in mid sentence and turns angrily on Harry, who is standing silently next to the counter. "You fucking bastard!" he rounds on Harry and is very tempted to pull out his wand and `Crucio' him. He wants Harry to feel the pain he's feeling. "We've been best mates for thirteen fucking years and after all we've been through you have to fucking betray me like this!" He takes a breath. "You're my brother-in-law."
He whips his head around to Hermione again. "Neither of you had the fucking decency to tell me!!" He wails painfully. "I had to find out from my sister through a letter!"
Harry doesn't know what to say. He feels absolutely horrible, but he loves Hermione enough to put Ron through this. "I'm sorry, mate!" he says.
"I'm not your fucking mate anymore!" Ron shouts. "I just want to grab my wand and Avada Kedavra you into the next world."
Hermione takes a huge breath and puts a hand on Ron's arm. She is surprised to find herself hurt when he flinches and pulls away from her. He has never done that before, he's always been a person who would give her unconditional love when she needed it.
"Harry, can you please go outside," Hermione says without looking at him. "I will come find you when I'm ready."
Harry nods and slowly backs out of the room. "I'm sorry Ron, I really am," he says as he exits.
Ron and Hermione stand still and silent, not looking at each other. They here Harry exit the flat, and still they stand in silence. After what feels like hours, Ron goes over to the counter and falls into a chair. Hermione watches him looking around helplessly, then allowing his head to fall into his hands and begin to sob.
Hermione's face crumples; she hates what she is putting Ron through. She goes over to him and places and hand his shoulder and bend over to look him in the face.
"What did I do wrong, Hermione?" he asks pathetically.
She pulls the chair out and sits down next to him and looks him in the eye. "Oh, Ron," she says. "You've done absolutely nothing wrong. You've been so great to me!"
"Then why did you this to me?" he asks. "
"Ron, Harry and I didn't do this to you," she explains. "It just sort of happened and we couldn't stop it. I'm sorry,"
"What about Ginny?" he asks her. "The baby?"
Hermione frowns. "There really is no baby. Ginny made the pregnancy up to try and get Harry back," she says. "And she succeeded because Harry and I agreed to end things tonight."
Ron looks surprised and for a moment she thinks she pities Harry for what his sister did to him. But the look fades quickly when he remembers what Harry has done to him. "Do you love him, Hermione?" he asks her.
Hermione swallows hard and nods. Ron may be her world, but Harry Potter is her entire universe.
"Do you love him more then me?" he prods further.
Hermione closes her eyes and a few painful tears cascade down her cheeks. She nods shamefully, "Yes," she whispers.
A few minutes later she opens her eyes and looks over at Ron and can see the broken man she remembers from the war. He didn't become a man again until they had started dating. It's almost too painful for Hermione to see.
She breaks out into a sob again and drops her head on Ron's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ronald. You have no idea how much this killing me inside."
Ron is silent for a moment then turns his head and kisses her on the forehead. She looks up at him painfully and can see his eyes are brimming with tears again. "I know your going to leave me tonight," he says bluntly. "It's okay."
Hermione stares at him with astonishment; she realizes he is putting her first and is setting her free so she can be with Harry. She smiles weakly.
"I fucking hate this Hermione, I love you more then you know," he looks her seriously in the eye. "But I don't want you to be stuck in a marriage with me being miserable and pining for Harry. I want you to be happy."
Hermione sobs again. "Thank you, Ron."
Hermione gets up to leave the kitchen so she can go change out of her night gown. As she walks down the hall she finds herself crying. She had never felt this before, so happy, yet so heart broken. Her and Ron had happily shared this flat together for two years, and leaving all of that behind would be difficult even if she was moving on to a much happier place.
She entered her bedroom and pulled out a pair of denim shorts and a red t-shirt and quickly changed. She thought about gathering up her stuff, but decided that it would be too traumatic for Ron to have her and all of her belongs gone in one night. She would return in a few weeks for her clothes and her books.
When she enters the living room she find Ron sitting on the couch looking up at her. He gets to his feet as she approaches him.
"I guess this goodbye, then?" he asks painfully.
Hermione frowned. "Not forever, just for a little while," she tells him.
Ron hesitates for a moment then wraps his arms around her tightly and hugs her. "I will miss you," he says. "And I want you to know I love you!"
Hermione hears his chest hitch and knows he is crying again. His tears bring on her tears. She looks up at him and cups face in her hands and kisses him one final time. When she pulls away from his lips, she looks into his eyes. "A part of me will always love you," she whispers.
Ron looks at her and she can't take anymore. She pulls away and rushes to the door and down the hallway to the lift that will take her down to the love of her life. Going down in the lift felt like hours. It finally stopped and let her out on the main floor.
Hermione rushed out the front door and down the grand stone steps. Harry was sitting on a bench across the street sitting under a fluorescent street light, looking like the angel he was. Rushed to him where he greeted her with a warm smile and open arms.
"How was it?" Harry asked.
"Difficult," she said sadly.
"I understand," he said lovingly wrapping his arms around her and starting to walk down the busy city street.
**********
Just as the sun was beginning to rise, Harry, and Hermione went into a seedy looking muggle restaurant from some breakfast. Harry had ordered the French toast and Hermione ordered scrambled eggs with bacon.
Harry is pouring over the Daily Prophet for available flats, as they were both now technically homeless. Hermione is staring off into the distance feeling very tired and emotionally drained. Neither of them had known such a horrible night since the night Voldemort had been defeated.
"Are you having second thoughts, love?" Harry asks kindly, taking her hand.
Hermione is pulled from her thoughts and sees Harry's warm loving smile and she fills with happiness at knowing she is going to wake up to that face for the rest of her life. She grips his hand tightly. "Merlin, no!" she says. "…Just doing some thinking."
"About?" he asks.
Her face contorts. "Harry, I want you to know I love you and am so happy now that we can be together," she says, "But I want to be up front and tell you that a part of me will always love Ron." She looks at Harry. "Is that wrong?"
"No," Harry says. "If you didn't have lingering feelings for Ron, I would think you were mad. You shared a part of your lives together and I understand there was love there. I don't expect that to go away over night, and even then part of that will never go away. The same for Ginny and I. We were together and at one point I loved her. I love you know so much, but a small part of those feelings I had for Ginny with always be there. So don't worry its okay. I understand."
She smiles at him. "You're amazing!"
Harry pays for there meal and the two of them step out into the early hot sunshine and start heading off in the direction of Diagon Alley. They're both going to have to get a room at The Leaky Cauldron for a few days until arrangements could be made for a place for them to live.
Harry takes her hand and they walk hand in hand, enjoying each others company. By now a lot of the muggle shops were beginning to open. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and it was theirs to share together.
They were now walking along the Thames River, and with the morning sun sparkling, it appeared to have a thousand diamonds floating on it.
Harry stopped and looked straight into the water. "Hermione?" he asks nervously.
"Yes?" she replies
Harry drops down onto one knee in front of her, and Hermione gasps happily. He looks up at her and smiles. "I'm sorry I don't have a ring, but would you do me the honors of making my dreams come true and be my wife?" he asks.
Happy tears prickled Hermione's eyes. "Yes!" she cries. Harry stands up and Hermione practically leaps into his arms planting a passionate kiss on his lips.
"I love you, Hermione," he says.
"I love you too!"
In one night they had lost so much but had gained something new and better. Hermione smiled happily to herself, she was helping Harry's dreams come true of having a family, soon they would be married and hopefully one day in the not to distant future, she would be able to give him the son or daughter he always wanted.
This would always be one of the happiest days of their lives.
*****
A/N: Please Review!
I also will most likely write up an epilogue. I hope you enjoyed it.
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