Chapter 13
The third time around
"Potter! I might need you to work late tonight, we really need you full time on the Malfoy case…we're getting absolutely nowhere." Captain Smith said, coming into Harry's cubicle.
"Sir, tonight's my night off, I've got plans." Harry said quickly, looking up from his desk.
"Plans can be rescheduled." Captain Smith said.
Harry shook his head.
"Not these. I'm helping my girlfriend move, and tonight's the last night she'll be able to get all of her stuff out of her old apartment. I'll put in an extra hour, but I can't stay any later than that."
"Fine," His captain nodded, "but make that hour count. Go over all connections to Malfoy…dig up anything."
Harry smiled grimly.
"I don't have to dig up, sir; I went to school with him."
"Then try to figure out his whereabouts…this case has been open for too long, and I'm getting more reports of half-blood murders."
Harry nodded.
"I'll do that."
"Good, oh, and Weasley's back, he'll be assisting you. Weasley!"
Ron appeared at their captain's side.
"Yes, sir?"
"You'll be working with Potter. Try to keep personal issues personal this time, will you?"
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Captain Smith was gone.
"Personal issues? We don't have personal issues." Ron muttered, flinging himself into the chair opposite Harry's desk.
Harry said nothing, but continued rifling through papers on his desk, searching.
"How've you been lately?" Ron asked, peering at Harry, "I haven't seen much of you…haven't seen much of anyone, really."
"I'm fine. Busy, that's all. I'm sure everyone's just been busy, Ron."
Ron nodded.
"Yeah….Hermione especially…" he said, his face darkening.
Harry looked up.
"Ron…I wanted to tell you something…" he said slowly.
"Listen, mate, can I ask you a question?" Ron asked, cutting Harry off; he hadn't been listening.
"S-sure." Harry said, putting down his papers.
"Is there…well…who…I mean to say, Hermione's been…who has she been cheating on me with?"
Harry's mouth went dry.
"I…what?" he spluttered.
"I found out a couple days ago that she was cheating on me; she told me herself, and I just thought that since you lived nearby to her, you might…know who….she…she told me it was someone we knew pretty well at Hogwarts."
Harry swallowed.
"Yeah that's what I wanted to tell you." He said.
Ron looked eager.
"You know who it is, then?"
Harry nodded.
"Yeah, yeah I do…" he sighed, and looked at Ron, "It's me."
Ron looked confused for a second, then staggered back, clutching his head.
Harry moved forward, looking concerned.
"You alright, Ron?" he said.
Ron shook his head, and stepped further away, still clutching his head.
Harry stood there for a moment, watching Ron, not knowing what to do, but suddenly Ron looked up at him and stood straight.
"I…saw you kissing her in the hallway." Ron said.
Harry looked startled.
"Yeah, but…that was last time…" Harry said, "You mean you remember all of that?"
Ron looked at him, his face turning red, and drew back his fist.
"Damn right I do."
And when he was least expecting it, Ron punched Harry square in the face.
Harry had crashed into the wall of his cubicle, and sat there for a second, holding his nose, but then he jumped up and, to Ron's surprise, grinning broadly, Apparated.
o--o
"Hermione Granger," Harry said to a passing Healer as soon as his feet hit the ground, "Do you know where she is?"
The Healer looked at his face, startled by the swelling and blood.
"She's on the third floor." He said, "but-"
Harry was gone.
He flung open the third floor doors, and nearly collided with her.
"Harry!" she shrieked, dropping her charts.
"Sorry." Harry said, and picked them up for her.
"Wh-what happened to your face? It's a mess! Are you alright?" she asked, pulling out her wand and tapping his face.
"Isn't it great?" Harry said, grinning broadly, and gently pushing away her wand.
Hermione arched her brow.
"Your face is a mess…and you're happy about it."
Harry smiled, and put his hands on the sides of her face.
"He knows about us, love. We don't have to hide it from anyone anymore. It's just you and me now."
Hermione looked at him, her eyes widening.
"Ron knows?" She whispered, "Ron did this?"
Harry nodded, and Hermione burst into tears.
Harry pulled her close to him and she rested her head on his shoulder, crying.
"It's okay, love." He said soothingly, "there's no need to cry."
Hermione nodded against him.
"I'm just s-so relieved that it's finally over," she mumbled, and lifted her head, "all of the lying, and…and feeling like I did…it can all disappear now."
Harry smiled down at her.
"It feels great, doesn't it? I love you so much, `Mione…and now the whole world can know it, for real this time."
Hermione nodded, but then gasped, and bit her lip.
"What is it?" Harry asked in alarm.
Hermione looked regretful.
"I…oh Harry, I lost your ring!" she said, "I took it off after…you left the hospital, and…I can't find it."
To her surprise, Harry just smiled.
"I know, love. Our initials were on the inside, and someone found it and sent it to me. It was an anonymous letter, and at first I thought it was you…but I felt sure you'd have signed it."
Hermione sighed shakily.
"Oh, god, I was so afraid I'd lost it. I…not that I'm expecting to wear it now, or-or anything, since our relationship is still new and everything, but-"
Harry looked at her in surprise.
"I still want you to wear it," he said softly.
"You do?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. I still love you as much as I did when I gave it to you, the first two times, and I don't think that just because we're starting over that we should completely start anew. I want to be with you every minute for the rest of my life, and I want that to start as soon as we want it to."
"I want to be with you, too." Hermione said, wiping her eyes.
Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the familiar ring.
"Then I think that this time, this should stay on your finger." He whispered, as he slid it onto her left hand.
Hermione reached for his hand.
"I'll never take it off," she swore.
Harry bent down and kissed her.
"Love, I've got to get back to the office. Captain Smith will kill me once he finds out I took off. He's already making me work an hour over, but I'll try to be by in time to help you move in, okay?"
Hermione shook her head.
"It'll be fine if you're late. Andy called by and said that she and Oliver were going to help. Go to the office, and I'll see you later."
Harry nodded and waved to her as he spun on his heel and Apparated back to his cubicle.
Ron was nowhere to be seen, and Harry was half-way thankful. He sat down at his desk and continued to pour over Malfoy's case. He'd long had the feeling that he'd missed something that he knew of, something that should be right in front of him…
o--o
"I'd like to see Ginny Weasley, please."
Ron was standing at the door to his sister's room at St. Mungo's. He was still shaking from shock, and the guard wasn't willing to let him in.
"Sir, she's a bit frail still, I don't know if that's the best idea…"
"I'm her brother. She needs me, and I need to talk to her, okay?"
The guard relented and let him in.
Ginny was sitting in a chair by her window, and looked up when Ron walked in.
Her long red hair was spilling around her shoulders, and in her long white nightgown, she looked all of about ten years old.
"Hi, Ron." She said softly, "come sit with me."
Ron sat in the chair opposite her. He didn't say anything, just looked out the window, and Ginny stared at him.
"Oh, Ron," she said sadly, "I'm so sorry."
Ron looked at her in surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"You found out about them, didn't you?" she said.
Ron looked at her for a moment, and then looked down at his hands.
"Yeah. Yeah, I did. God, Gin, I…I feel so blind."
Ginny laughed bitterly.
"Yeah, we should have seen it coming, right?"
"I…its Harry and Hermione for Merlin's sake! I always thought that she'd be with me, and that you and Harry-" Ron trailed off.
Ginny smiled slightly.
"It takes some getting used to the idea." She said softly.
Ron looked at her.
"I know this has got to be tough on you, Gin…he's been your bloke for forever…I mean, you've liked him since you were ten years old."
Ginny smiled slightly.
"Yeah, but Hermione's been in love with him for nearly nine years."
"That long, and I never noticed." Ron said, burying his face in his hands, "God, Gin, how am I supposed to get over her?"
Ginny reached out to pat his hand.
"You don't." She said bluntly, "You end up trying and it's too much. Am I over Harry? No. Will I ever be? Doubtful. Will I be able to go on with my life? Yes. It won't be the same, and a part of my heart is always going to ache over losing him, but it'll be like living with a scar on your face. After a while, the scar becomes a part of you, and pretty soon, you won't even notice the ache as much. As horrible as it sounds, eventually that feeling of betrayal and pain will be shoved to the side, and you'll move on."
Ron let out a strangled noise.
"Gin, but I see them constantly. I don't think I can make it seeing them together all the time. Is that going to be my life? Ron Weasley, the guy who stands to the side and stares at his former love being happy with his best mate, and knowing that there's nothing he can do to change her mind? Knowing that for every second that she's happy, I'll be miserable for an hour? Is that my life? Am I really going to be reduced to that? I'm going to…to be the cast aside? They've been my whole life for almost nine years, and now I have to try to cut myself away?"
Ginny shook her head.
"Oh, no. We can't cut away from them. That would be self-destructive. We just have to force a smile and stand there, silently dying on the inside, until we can stand to be in the same room with them and not have to leave at every glance they give each other…every smile…or gesture…or kiss…" Ginny stopped, and turned away.
Ron sighed.
"I know why Harry left, now." He said, "To try to live with this would be murder to him. I'm not going to be able to make it."
Ginny shook her head.
"You will," she said brokenly, "You have to, Ron! I need a reason not to give up, I need someone that's going through this to be with me, or else I'll just give up, and I can't do that. Mum would be devastated, and I just…don't want to have to die because of him."
"You're right. We can't let this kill us." Ron said decidedly.
Ginny sat back in her chair.
"I just wish that…at least if I could…if Malfoy was caught…I might could be okay."
Ron looked at her in alarm.
"You don't need to worry about him, Ginny. We're close to getting him, I promise. Harry's the best, and he's been working himself to death trying to find how we missed him. He'll never hurt you again, I promise."
Ginny started to cry.
"I was such an idiot…I snuck out of Hogwarts and…w-went drinking Ron, and I told him ev-everything!"
Ron looked up at her.
"What did you tell him?"
Ginny shook her head.
"I don't even remember…but he knew about how angry I was at Harry…he kept talking about making him hurt…he said that together we could show him what he did…"
Ron stood up quickly.
"Oh God," he said, "He…he's going to go after Hermione."
Ginny watched in silence as Ron ran out of the room, and then curled up on her bed and cried.
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