Confrontation
A/N: Hello! Thank you so much for your reviews! They make my day. I'm so happy you like this story! Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: Nope. Nothing. Zero. Save for the plot.
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None of them said anything; they heard the birds chirping outside and they saw sunlight streaming through the windows. Ron's hair was tussled, he was in his pajamas; Hermione was still wearing the dress and Harry the tux. No, they didn't say anything at first- they just stared at each other.
"So. So..." Ron started; even his voice sounded uptight.
"Ron..." Hermione trailed off, biting her lower lip. Ron nodded, his face inexpressive, and raised his eyebrows. This calm reaction was, actually, far scarier than any other he may have had.
"How does it feel to betray me, Harry?" he asked just as calmly. "How does it feel to stab your best friend on the back? Good?"
"I did no such thing," Harry answered through gritted teeth, his hands turning into fists.
"And what about you, Hermione? Must feel nice to cheat, right? Must make you feel desirable..." Hermione's mouth fell slightly open at this, and felt Harry stiffen even more next to her. She grabbed his arm and mutely told him to calm down; they'd be exploding glasses next...
"What are you implying, Ron?" Hermione wanted to know, trying to remain cool and rational.
"I'm not implying anything... I don't need to." Harry let out a growl of rage and lunged towards Ron, fists raised, but Hermione managed to hold him back. However much Ron deserved it, a fist fight wasn't the way out-
"Let me go, I'll kill him," Harry hissed.
"Harry, please, this is not the right way-" Hermione panted, pulling him back by his coat; Ron smirked.
"That's right, Harry, hit me; after all, I deserve being punched for not realizing earlier that Hermione always loved having lots of, ehem, different wands to grab..."
Harry let out a howl. Hermione blinked and instantly let go of Harry, who threw himself over Ron and lifted him by the collar of his pajamas, slamming him against the kitchen wall.
"Say something like that again and you'll regret it, Ron, I swear," Harry warned him. "Apologize to her!" he roared, tightening his grip around Ron's collar, raising him inches higher... Ron turned to a shade of puce Uncle Vernon would've been proud of and pushed Harry away from him harshly.
"You should be apologizing to me, you bloody bastard!" Ron exclaimed, pointing at him.
"Ron!" Hermione cut in, scandalized.
"Stay out of this, Hermione," Ron replied in a dangerously low voice, his eyes still fixed on Harry.
"Don't patronize me!" She said loudly.
"Hermione, would you mind giving us a few minutes?" Harry asked her, looking back at Ron with equal anger. Hermione frowned, opened her mouth to protest and then decided against it; she'd have her own talk with Ron afterwards. And so, without further ado, she walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs, like Arthur had done earlier. As soon as her steps couldn't be heard anymore, Ron finally lost it.
"Why did you have to go after her?! The one thing I wanted! The only thing you knew I wanted!" He exclaimed, making Harry's blood boil.
"Hermione is not a trophy, Ron! She isn't an object, she's a person, and a damn great one as well!" he spat back. Ron got redder, if such thing was still possible.
"She was mine! I got her first!" he accused. Harry, for a couple of seconds, wondered if Ron was hearing himself and actually meaning it.
"What, are we running a race now? And she's the price, isn't she? The one thing I couldn't get?" Harry retorted heatedly. "Well, let me enlighten you on some points: I never wanted to compete with you, did you ever realize that? It was never about `who would get the girl first'-"
"Are you going somewhere with this?" Ron cut him off.
"You don't deserve her!" Harry stated. "She was -and is- first and foremost, our best friend! It's about time you start acting like you actually care for her-"
"I care about her-"
"What a nice way you have of showing it! Did you care for her when you made her cry on the Yule Ball? When you bring her down because she gets good notes, but then everything's okay when she helps you get high grades? Or even better, when you just recently called her a tart?" Harry shot back. "I could go on and on!"
"I have loved her since third year!" Ron said. "You- You're just on the rebound!" he added.
"Oh Ron, stop it. You'll have an aneurism." someone snapped; Hermione had returned, and few times in his life had Harry seen her look so livid.
"What about my sister?" Ron spluttered, gazing back at Harry.
"Ginny is well aware that we broke up. This does not concern her in any way." he responded icily. Before Ron had a chance to speak, Hermione stepped forwards resolutely.
"Harry, would you mind?" she asked. Harry, still breathing heavily from his outburst, seemed to hesitate for a few seconds but then nodded, turning around and, instead of going to the stairs, went out to the garden. Ron didn't meet Hermione's eyes. "I can't say I'm surprised with your reaction, to be honest," she started coldly. "Explain yourself."
"Oh, I'm sorry if I don't live up to your expectations- That's always me, isn't it? Stupid Ron Weasley, never as perfect as Harry Potter," he retorted bitterly.
"No one has ever expected you to be like him, you know, save for yourself..." Hermione trailed off, and felt a sense of triumph when she saw his face; served him right. "We like you for who you are."
"Couldn't have liked me very much, as you cheated on me with Harry," Ron said.
"Harry already told you that he didn't betray you, just like I didn't cheat on you. We were not dating, Ron." Hermione retorted, keeping her anger and shock at check- It hurt to hear Ron say those things.
"Yes, we were!"
"No, we weren't!" Hermione replied shrilly. "What Harry and Ginny did, that was dating, Ronald! I must've missed the time when you asked me to go to Hogsmeade as your date, or asked me to be your girlfriend!" she argued, her cheeks turning red. Ron frowned at this, apparently at loss for what to say; either that or he hadn't understood what Hermione had just said.
"But- But- Hermione! I thought it was obvious!" he said, his frown deepening. Hermione pursed her lips, her eyebrows knitting in puzzlement.
"What was?" she questioned.
"That I fancied you! Wasn't it obvious??" Ron asked.
"Um..."
"Oh, c'mon- All the bickering and that... When I fought with you about Krum... When I got offended when you beamed at Harry in Potions..." Ron explained incredulously. Hermione smacked her lips together, attempting not to smile scornfully at Ron's definition of romance.
"All our bickering is just that, Ron... Bickering." she carefully told him. "We never could have worked."
"Yes, yes we could have- We still can!" Ron said, stepping nearer to her.
"No," Hermione said. "I'm sorry that I lead you on this past year- I really am. I should've accepted my feelings for Harry, instead of indulging your hopes..." she trailed off. Ron raised his right eyebrow at this.
"Since when you've liked Harry?" he demanded. Hermione sighed and looked down.
"Fifth year," she mumbled, staring again at Ron defiantly.
"Fifth year?!" he echoed. "I thought- I thought that what you had with Harry was a one night-"
Ron was fiercely cut out by Hermione's palm as she slapped him just like she had slapped Malfoy all those years ago; with the same outrage and disbelief... Except that now they were tears shining in her eyes, tears full of pain and hurt.
"How dare you!" Hermione shrieked, as Ron touched the red imprint of Hermione's hand on his cheek. "I thought you were our friend! I thought that six years of friendship would overcome this!" she said with a shaky voice. "We are in the middle of a War- I wouldn't like to lose you over a stupid thing like this, and I'm sure that Harry feels the same." she ended, shaking her head. Ron's brow furrowed and he looked down and away, but did not answer. He was still touching his cheek... At the lack of answer, Hermione huffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Alright then," she started. "Harry and I are going to Grimmauld Place; we'll be there for a while-" Hermione interrupted herself, thinking about the Horcrux, and wondered if she should ask Harry first if they should tell Ron about it... Maybe Harry was too mad with Ron to want him to come with them... "And- And that's it." she added lamely. Ron nodded imperceptibly, but didn't give any other sign of acknowledgement, so Hermione frowned again and simply walked out of the house and into the garden, where she spotted Harry sitting under the tree, were they had first kissed.
The garden was littered with confetti, plastic glasses, multicoloured streamers; patches of grass were missing in the spots people had most danced on... Seeing Harry sitting there alone, staring at the air with a lost look, amid the debris of the party; the soft morning light and the morning breeze, and the fact that they may have just lost Ron made Hermione's eyes brim with tears again. Slowly she walked up to him, trying not to imagine Harry facing the same panorama of finality, but at the end of the War... At the sight of her face Harry immediately stood up, a look of concern in his eyes.
"Hey," he softly said, brushing her cheek with his hand. He always had had trouble when it came to handling crying girls, but with her... He knew her so well that he simply knew how to handle her. Hermione shook her head, closing her eyes, and buried herself in Harry's chest without a word, encircling her arms around his waist. Harry sighed and hugged her, resting his chin upon her head. "It'll be alright, love, you'll see," he told her barely above a whisper, at loss for anything else to say. Despite all the animosity he felt towards Ron right now, the sadness that he had been like a brother to Harry still remained.
"You had never called me `love' before," Hermione stated the obvious, her voice muffled. Harry grinned at this.
"Would you like me to stop?" Hermione shook her head against his chest and moments after she remerged, her cheeks covered in thin, black tear trails.
"Did you... Did you hear everything?" she questioned shakily. Harry nodded.
"Almost. I left when you slapped him..." he responded. "Have you really loved me since fifth year?" He asked timidly, as though not daring to hope. Hermione allowed a small smile to show at this question and agreed with her head. "We could've had a year..." Harry added. Hermione's smile widened at this and she shook her head no.
"Harry, you didn't need me in that way last year... That was a step you had to take alone, I believe. Had you needed me -like you needed Ginny- last year, then you would've realized how you felt for me sooner," Hermione replied. Harry raised his eyebrows at her answer, and used his thumb to rub out the make-up lines down her face.
"Maybe..." he trailed off. "But you're with me now," he whispered, blushing slightly, making her grin and nod.
"Let's go," Hermione told him. "We probably woke up the whole clan, and I don't feel like dealing with them," she explained. Harry chuckled and ducked his head.
"As you wish," he said. Hermione embraced him again and gasped softly at the sight of his smudged white shirt.
"Oh, Harry, I ruined your shirt," she commented, examining the spots. "I'm sorry... I'll Scourgify it-"
"Don't worry about it," Harry said. "If during this war black eyeliner is the only thing that's going to stain my shirts, I'm not about to complain."
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A/N: Hoped you liked this one! I'd like to give credit to mathiasgranger for the aneurism line- I laughed so much when I read it that I decided to include it. And just for the sake of it: if it was not blaringly obvious after this chapter, I really, really dislike Ron. Sorry, but he had it coming since fourth year. I hope that you'll review to tell me what you thought of the chapter!
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