There's a line between friendship and a relationship. Has Hermione just crossed it?
From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/6863/
Author's Note: Just a short drabble that is dedicated to Hannah (Lavender Brown @ hp.moosh.nu). I wanted to have a bit of fun in between writing Together We Are One. I hope you like it!
Please read and review.
The snow was falling gently to the ground, covering the grass beneath with a blanket of white. The pair walked through the great hall timidly trying to avoid any wandering teachers that were on the prowl for innocent seventh year students. Their hands were entwined and their heads were close together as they conversed quietly. The raven haired boy was carrying a jar containing bluebell flames in his spare hand and was trying to keep them warm in the draughty corridors. Unbeknownst to them a white blond boy was in the shadows, watching their every move, timing his prank.
"Harry, I know you're angry but -" said the girl, with frizzy brown hair, quickly and anxiously.
"You just don't want to spend any time with me anymore. You have NO IDEA what it's like being me. You think I don't realise how hard it is to be my friend? You think I don't realise that you and Ron blame ME for YOU splitting up?" he bellowed, as soon as they were outside in the grounds.
Hermione's head was furrowed in thought, her eyes gazing speculatively into the green ones beside her. Her hand was clutched on her wand inside her robes, in case of attack. She thought, rather wryly, how Harry's awareness of his surroundings had spread to her. She loved having him as a friend but at times like this she realised how truly dense he could be, despite his lovable characteristics.
"YOU have NO IDEA why we split up. Perhaps there is a problem because I DON'T JUST WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND! Have you ever thought of that?" she screeched.
They had stopped walking now and were facing each other. Both were struck by how odd the situation was - they had never really argued as friends but something had changed between them. Which was possibly how this scenario, which would have been unthinkable between them before, was actually happening. If there was a line between friendship and a relationship they had just crossed it. Or rather, Hermione had.
"What?" said Harry. His voice was small, defeated almost. His hand automatically shot up into his hair, which he ruffled absently.
"You heard exactly what I said. Maybe the problem is that I don't want to just be your friend anymore," said Hermione quietly.
"But, what about -"
"It's over, Harry, and it shouldn't have started either," she said flatly.
In the aftermath, Harry couldn't clearly state who made the first advance. One minute they were looking at each other with a mixture of confusion and determination, as if they had only just become aware of the others presence. Then caution was thrown to the winds and they began kissing.
"Bloody hell," said the boy in the shadows, pulling out his wizard camera, and snapping haphazardly. "Who would have known.. Potty pothead and the mudblood.."
Notes: I never really intended to make 'Just Friends' a full-length fan fiction and it really only started as a drabble. The reviews, however, convinced me otherwise and I felt that I couldn't leave it hanging anymore. So I decided that before I could go forward in time, I'd have to go back. Thank you for the continued support. If you feel like reviewing, that would be lovely. I love getting feedback.
Canon inconsistencies: This is pure fluff. Forget Voldemort, he's lurking in the background somewhere. This story is set within the seventh book, and in that aspect is consistent to canon information. Harry has still gone out with Ginny, Hermione/Ron did get together and Dumbledore is still dead. However they are still going to be back at school, as is Draco. It's simply easier that way.
Rating: T.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, settings, canon plot, nor anything of the sort. That all belongs to the rather lovely JK Rowling, whom we all adore. This fan fiction is simply for fun and is completely non-profit.
Two weeks before.
Hermione and Ron's hands were intertwined and they lay down on the grass side-by-side. Mrs. Weasley was inside cooking up a storm of a dinner and everybody else had decidedly moved out of her way lest they disturb her and her duties to "feed Harry up". That was how the young couple ended up in The Burrow's rather odd, over-grown, garden. To the outsider they would appear as the prime example of love's young dream. However if the outsider got any closer to the scene they may realise that the boy was beet coloured with embarrassment and the bushy haired girl sat glowering at the grass below them. Their relationship was certainly not perfect, but neither wanted to acknowledge the truth.
"Hermione.." said Ron quietly.
"What now, Ron?" she snapped. "I thought you had made your feelings perfectly clear to me before."
"I want to go looking for horcruxes! I do!" he exclaimed impatiently. "You know I would never leave Harry."
Hermione sat silent for a few moments, looking at him closely with a frown.
"Or you, of course," he added, almost as an afterthought.
"Ron, honestly. Nobody expects you to want to go looking for horcruxes. I certainly don't and I know that Harry doesn't want to either. It's our duty, it's not expected for us to really want to go look for enjoyment -"
"I never said it was, Hermione. You just don't listen, do you -
"Obviously neither of us listen to each other or we wouldn't be in this situation," she replied waspishly.
"What situation? Everything seems just -"
"Do NOT say fine, Ron! You know it's not fine. You barely look at me, it's almost as if you can't bare to be in the same room as me half the time."
"Yeah, well, my family are around all the time! It was YOU who didn't want to tell anybody about us as if it were some awful secret that we should keep to ourselves. What was I meant to do?" he shouted angrily.
"Shush," whispered Hermione. "Do you hear footsteps?"
"Yeah.." he said, looking around the lawn suspiciously. He pulled his wand out of his pocket, and stood in front of Hermione defensively ("honestly, I can take care of myself!").
"It's only Harry!" said Hermione, sagging with relief. "And I don't need you to be my knight in shining armour all the time, Ron. There's nothing wrong with my charms or Defence Against the Dark Arts, you know!"
"But.. Hermione, I was trying to be nice. You always complain about my not making any effort with you -"
"I didn't mean it like that. Have you never heard of feminism?" she shouted.
"Well, it's okay for Harry to have a "saving people thing" but if it's ME, that's not okay, right?" said Ron angrily, stamping his foot slightly in his frustration.
Hermione turned away. "He'll be able to hear everything, Ron.."
"Maybe I want him to know that we argue all the time over him! Sometimes I feel like there is a third person in our relationship, Hermione. I always feel second best to him, like I'm constantly being compared and scrutinised -"
"Ron, he's our friend and that's not going to change just because of.. Us and what we are."
"What exactly are we though, Hermione? Unofficial dating? What is it? You can't even bare to say that we're "going out", can you?" he said, more quietly.
"I'm not comparing you both!" she shouted, exasperatedly. "You have no idea! You really don't. Not everything is about your coming second best! We're in a WAR and you're worried about Harry's "saving people thing". I thought that was the whole POINT of us helping him! He needs to save people, Ron, and maybe even save us half of the time, whether we like it or not! Without him, this, whatever we are.. It'll be gone, Ron. Everything. Everything as we know it -"
"So if Harry's so great, why are you with me?" he whispered.
"I don't know. I really don't," she said looking away from him determinedly.
"It's over, Hermione. I don't really think it even began," he said.
"I know, Ron, I know. It should never have started, should it?" asked Hermione.
"No, it probably shouldn't but we need to put it behind us -"
"For the sake of everybody," said Hermione.
"For everybody," repeated Ron. "But mainly Harry."
Even though she knew she should disagree, she couldn't lie to him. Their relationship had seemed to be a good idea at the time, and they had fell into place beside Harry and Ginny. But it wasn't right for either of them. They had mistaken their arguing and bickering for something else entirely, and they had been wrong. Really, very, wrong. Their friendship had suffered because of it and Harry had determinedly avoided them at The Burrow, always talking to them separately but avoiding being with them when they were together. The trio had suffered, they all knew it, and they wanted things back to how they had previously been. But it wasn't easy.
Ron, although he didn't want to admit it, had liked having something that Harry didn't have. He felt with Hermione and him going out together that they would be a unit and that she would stick by him. To be fair to her, she had done in the beginning and all the times wherein Ron had been in the right. However, toward the end, he had let his emotions get the better of him and had spouted some truly ridiculous theories that ceased to make Hermione smile affectionately. Instead she scowled in his direction and began talking to Harry about.. Quidditch. It seemed almost ridiculous to say it, but she had made an effort to learn more about it so that they, "could talk about more normal things".
That was when Ron knew it was over. She would never have gone to such an effort for him. Or rather, she would have, but talking about Quidditch which she considered, "just a sport" was something else. It was on another plane to all the things she had done for him.
So their relationship ended and the trio was re-established before they returned to Hogwarts. Ron had noticed the shift in dynamics though. Instead of Hermione immediately going to him to discuss her new idea, she would go to Harry instead. She neither avoided him purposely nor sought him out. It wasn't the ideal situation, and he could think of only one way that it would be solved.
But he didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit.
~*~
As they were walking down to the Great Hall for breakfast the next day, Ron stopped still, looking at the notice board.
"Hermione, what does the caption under that picture say?" asked Ron, squinting.
Hermione strained her eyes, and getting impatient, pulled out her wand and magnified the text for them so they could read it easily.
"Oh, nothing," she said in a strangled tone, immediately ended the charm. "I have no idea. Nothing of any importance."
"Is it another one of those bloody Rita stories?" asked Ron, glaring at the parchment vehemently.
"No, you know she can't write anything like that anymore. Plus the public mood has changed," said Hermione with a small smile.
Ron was beginning to get slightly irritated. He wanted to know what the parchment said and realised that Hermione had never kept anything from him before. Why change now? It really must be something disastrous. She probably thought she was being nice by not worrying him. He pulled out his wand, imitated her wand flick and spell, and stared at the parchment speculatively. A few seconds later, he pulled away and looked Hermione straight in the eye.
"Something you want to tell me, Hermione?" he asked.
"Yes. Yes, I think there is," she said, before pulling him into a classroom down the side of the corridor.
Harry, completely bewildered by this turn of events, pulled out his own wand and flicked it in the general direction of the parchment. He scanned it quickly, taking in the headline above the picture, "THE BOY WHO SCORED". Then he ever so slowly lowered his eyes to the picture. There was him and Hermione in the grounds.. Oh God. Who had been there? He thought back to the event but he was decidedly hazy with the details. He had no idea. He hadn't even noticed anybody anywhere near them. How could he defeat Voldemort if he wasn't even aware of somebody taking photos of him?
He turned pale thinking of Hermione having to deal with Ron alone. He could imagine the canaries floating around in the classroom already - He dashed down the stairs, and pulled open the nearest classroom door. Immediately shouting assaulted his ears.
"How could you NOT tell me? Did it just slip your mind, or what?" shouted Ron.
"No! It just happened so quickly. How was I to know that the whole school would find out a couple of days later -"
"Did you not even stop to think about the effect of this on the war? You know who'll be number two on Voldemort's hit list after he finds out, don't you?"
"Ron," said Hermione pleadingly. "Please."
"Harry!" said Ron, turning around, flushing around the tips of his ears. It was always a danger sign but this time Ron seemed to be trying to keep control of himself. He didn't want an argument with Harry. Not now. What if something happened and he never had the chance to talk to him again? Ron felt queasy at the thought of it.
"Ron, listen, I'm sorry.. Please don't blame Hermione. We never expected, you have to understand -"
But Ron also couldn't stand to hear his friends pathetic excuses. Try as he might, he couldn't quite rise above the situation.
"You just have to be the best at everything, don't you Harry?" said Ron quietly, before opening the door and slamming it behind him.
"Well then.." said Hermione. "I think I'll go and do some research if you don't mind, Harry."
"No," he said, "Of course not."
Not for the first time in his life, he felt completely and utterly alone. And afraid. He couldn't do this without both of his friends and he didn't want his relationship with Ron ruined. Not only that but he had his suspicions of who took the said photographs - Malfoy. Oh he knew Malfoy wouldn't be the type to carry a camera on him (he could almost imagine him saying in a smug tone, "servants stuff, that is, not for us pure bloods") but he knew that this time, like the last, he had gotten it right.
And he would pay for what he had done. He had waited so long for the opportunity to seek his revenge for Dumbledore's murder. It annoyed him so that he could do something so despicable and then turn up in the grounds again a couple of months later, slightly injured, and begging for forgiveness and help with his situation. And, like fools, the adults had believed him and his story, stating matter-of-factly that he hadn't killed Dumbledore himself, nor lied to the former Headmaster.
But Harry knew better, and he also knew that he was ready for Draco this time. No more playing around. Not now, not with the consequences of Malfoys actions because if anything happened to Hermione -
He remembered the overwhelming feeling that he had felt during the Department of Mysteries when he had thought that she was dead. He couldn't let that happen again. He wouldn't let that situation happen again.