Ace of Hearts
Chapter 17
She was quiet for a few more moments, with her hand softly caressing his chest right next to her face, his strong arms wrapped lovingly around her and his scent filling her senses.
"Harry," she said looking up at him "I love you."
He gave her only a small smile though his eyes were practically aglow with happiness. "I love you too."
"But I'm supposed to trust you, right?!" a furious voice yelled.
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Harry and Hermione's gaze snapped towards the living room where Ron was standing his face flushed with anger, his eyes glistening and his hand painfully gripping his wand.
Harry's grip on the woman in his arms tightened at the look of pure rage on his mates face. How long had he been there? He didn't know, nor did he care, all that he knew is that he had to and would protect Hermione from anything that may come and at any cost.
"Answer me!" Ron yelled, his eyes flashing dangerously.
Harry remained silent, his gaze, unblinking and unwavering, holding Ron's.
"It's not jealousy Ron, Hermione doesn't want me, trust me..." he mimicked before scoffing "trust you..." his scowl deepened and he gave Harry a contemptuous look. "I did that and all it got me was a knife in the back!"
His eyes scanned them, before his heated gaze switched to the witch in Harry's arms.
"Gee, Hermione, if I would have realized that you were such a slut I would have let Fred and George toss you that night at the club," his look turned mocking. "But, then again, Aurora was there, so they only noticed you for a second. It seems that unlike some people, my brothers know what a real woman looks like."
Harry scowled "Watch it, Ron," he ground out between gritted teeth.
"Or what," he responded in a low voice, lifting his wand.
Harry's eyes flicked to Ron's wand and he hesitated for a second sighing, he didn't really want to hurt him... well, at least not physically. Ron was his first friend, his best mate; maybe, if he just stayed calm then they could work this out.
"Ron, maybe we shoul-"
"Maybe we should what?!"
His reservations about hurting Ron dissipated some when the other boy made a slight flick with his wrist and Harry heard Hermione whimper as her grip on him tightened. Swiftly loosing her arms and pushing her behind him, so that she was completely shielded by his body, he faced off with is ex-best friend.
"I don't want to hurt you, Ron," he said in a low voice.
"You don't want to hurt me... you don't want to hurt me..." his look was incredulous. "What the bloody hell did you think shagging my girlfriend would do you smarmy prat, make me happy!?"
"No, I-"
"You what!?" he yelled, taking a few steps forward, wand still raised "Let me guess, you didn't mean to, oh, I know... you were just walking to your room when you tripped and fell inside of Hermione! Is that it, boy wonder? Is that what happened? Is that how you want to justify throwing over ten years of friendship down the crapper?!"
"No, Ron, it's not what I was going to say! Look, I'm sorry okay... but, I love her, we didn't mean fo-"
"Don't you even say it!" Ron said heatedly, once again advancing towards Harry, pointing his wand.
Harry's eyes didn't leave Ron's, he could hear his blood rushing in his ears and feel Hermione's warm fingers trembling slightly as they pressed into the flesh on his back.
"Tell me how long you've been doing this... both of you! How long have you been screwing behind my back and smiling in my face, huh!?"
"It's not like that! Look, if you calm down then maybe we can talk."
"If I calm down..." he gave Harry and incredulous look "If I calm down! Didn't I tell you earlier that I would CALM DOWN WHEN I WAS GOOD AND BLOODY DAMN WELL READY TO!"
Ron's nostrils flared and his chest heaved from restrained anger, lifting his wand the rest of the way he yelled.
"Tarantallegra!" Harry dodged the spell, pushing Hermione into the kitchen. Then reaching a hand out of the open doorway he summoned his wand from the living room.
Stepping from behind the shield of the kitchen wall, Harry noticed the look of surprise on Ron's face at what he had just done. He had been able to do wandless magic since he defeated Voldemort, he didn't know the reasons and he didn't try to figure out why. He only knew he could do it, and was glad of it when he saw that it succeeded in distracting Ron.
"Ron, please, I don't want to," he hesitated when the fire returned to the other man's eyes "...harm you."
"Well, don't," Ron said with a twisted smile "However, personally, I would love to do nothing more. Stupefy!"
"Protego!" Harry yelled out, creating a magical barrier around himself.
The red beam from Ron's wand hit the shield and bounced off, hurling into a vase that was on the table and exploding it into tiny pieces that seemed to freeze in mid-air momentarily before hurtling towards the ground and scattering everywhere.
"Diffindo!" Ron called out quickly.
Harry barely has time to regain his bearings; throwing himself against the wall he felt a small sting as the spell grazed his shoulder. Warm blood fell in a light trickle down his wand arm as he once again raised it and shouted out at his friend.
"Petrificus Totalus!" He yelled out, in an attempt stop the fight.
He knew that if he wanted to, he could take Ron out in moments, but he didn't want to hurt him. He suppressed a frustrated groan as Ron ducked the spell that could have ended this whole mess and prepared himself for the counter attack.
"Obliviate!" Ron yelled, sending a magical beam directly at him.
"Protego!" Harry called out again, once more deflecting the spell, however, as Ron became distracted by dodging the spell, he called out again. "Incarcerous!" Several small thick ropes came out of the tip of his wand and wrapped around Ron's. Giving a yank the wand flew to him and Harry caught it with one hand, effectively disarming his ex-friend.
Ron stood in shock for a moment before letting out a bellow of rage, racing across the room he tackled Harry to the floor. His fists came down hard, connecting with his ribs and Harry barely had time to move his head before he felt the cool air rushing by it as Ron's fist slammed into the floor next to it. Grabbing the wrist by his head with one hand, and Ron's shirt with the other, Harry shoved him off using a large amount of his strength and sent the other man flying back. Then, swiftly getting up, he grabbed Ron and quickly turning him around he pinned his arms behind his back.
"Look, Ron. I know you're upset and you have every right to be, but this isn't going to solve anything."
"Gee, Harry, I'm glad to know that you have declared it okay for me to be upset that you shagged my girlfriend," he said between gritted teeth, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Harry replied tightening his grip as Ron began to struggle more forcefully.
"Oh, so now you're telling me what I know."
"No... Ron, you're my best mate," he winced and let out a yell as Ron stomped on his toes.
"Was, I was your best mate," he said, once again facing Harry "fat lot of good it did me."
He glared for a moment before Harry noticed his eyes flick to the left. Brows furrowing, he tried to figure out just what Ron kept glancing at. He knew that he couldn't turn around and look without the strong possibility of being attacked so he continued to stand off with his friend while he searched his mind for the answer. It came to him just a moment later.
'The wands!' He thought, but as soon as the thought entered his mind, Ron shot around him and headed to recover the weapons.
Harry turned and grabbed his shirt pulling him back, while he swung at Harry's face, attempting to get him to let go. Harry tackled him to the ground but Ron pressed on at a crawl attempting to reach his, and presumably, Harry's wand.
"Stop it!" they heard a yell, freezing they looked up and noticed Hermione standing there, face flushed her chest rapidly rising and falling. She had Harry's wand in one hand while pointing Ron's wand at them with the other.
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Hermione was breathing heavily; her heart felt as though it were ready to burst out of her chest and her head was pounding. She couldn't believe this was happening and it was all her fault. Tears streamed silently down her face as she watched them fight first with magic and then fists. She had almost jumped out of her skin when Ron tackled Harry to the floor and began hitting him. Several times she moved to help but stopped herself, she knew that Harry was more than capable of handling Ron and she would probably only get in the way. A minute later, she breathed a sigh of relief when he was finally able to restrain Ron in some type of arm hold.
Hermione was just about to come out of the kitchen when Harry shouted in surprise, her eyes snapped back to the two men as they once again faced off.
"Was, I was your best mate," Ron said, once again facing Harry "fat lot of good it did me." He finished in a scathing tone.
Hermione watched with bated breath as the two stared at one another, every once and a while Ron's gaze would flick in her direction, but not at her. Her brows furrowed, what was he looking at? Trailing her gaze down she noticed two wands lying inches from her feet, just then, she heard the sounds of a scuffle and her gaze snapped back to the two guys, seeing that they were once again wrestling.
Harry had Ron on the floor but the other man continued to lash out at him, pulling his body forward by his elbows is seemed that he was trying his hardest to reach the wands. Rushing out of her hiding place almost immediately, Hermione hastily grabbed both wands, lifting one towards the fighting duo.
"Stop it!" She called out; she wasn't sure that she had said it loud enough until the two froze in their tracks and looked up at her.
Hermione immediately noticed the anger flare in Ron's gaze as his eyes locked on the wand that she was pointing at him. Barely sparing a glance down, she belatedly realized that she was threatening him with his own wand. For his part, Harry gave her a relieved look and disentangled himself from Ron, standing to his full height he ran a hand through his hair.
"You've got to be bloody fucking kidding me," Ron said slowly, standing and continuing to glare at her. "Are you really threatening me with my own ruddy wand?" he asked with a skeptical expression.
"It looks that way, doesn't it," she replied in a voice that sounded more confident than she felt.
"Give me my wand, Hermione." Ron stated quietly, taking a step towards her.
"No, Ronald," she replied, fighting the urge to take a step back.
"I'm not kidding with you, give me my wand. Now," he took another step.
"No, and if you take one more step, I will hex you," he gave her a disbelieving look. "If I can do it to Neville first year, I can do it to you now."
He froze glaring at her and they began a silent stand off; Hermione almost jumped out of her skin when a warm hand encircled her own. She looked over to see Harry standing next to her, and breathed a sigh of relief as he removed both wands from her trembling fingers.
"I got it, Hermione," he said softly not removing his gaze from Ron; she gave him a grateful smile.
"Unbloody fucking believable," Ron said to himself "give me my wand, Harry."
"No, Ron, I don't think you're ready to have it back yet," Ron scoffed at that statement and took a step forward. Harry raised his own wand at Ron, "Petrificus..." he let it hang in the air to make sure the other man knew he was serious.
Ron scowled at them both, turning and running an agitated hand through his hair.
"This isn't over Potter," he glowered at Hermione "for you or your Mudblood." he spat before disapparating.
Hermione felt tears course down her face; did he... did he really just call her that? She leant against the wall and sunk to the floor as her legs finally gave out, her breathing became pained as her body shook with tears. Felling a soft touch against her arm she sniffled and looked up at Harry from beneath watery lashes. He reached out a strong hand and softly caressed her face, a grim expression on his features.
"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said softly "I never wanted that to happen."
She shook her head "It was my fault," she said in a shaky voice "I was the one who initiated it tonight."
Harry sighed, taking a seat in front of her, his long legs on either side of her small form and her toes touching the underside of his thigh. He reached forward and took her hands, giving them a light tug. Hermione looked up at him.
"Hey," he said when he caught her eyes "I don't regret what happened between us tonight, I don't regret anything that we've done." He sighed, looking at the floor for an instant before looking back at her. "I hate the way that Ron had to find out but... I love you and I..." she watched him struggle for words and felt her heart melt at the sight. "I don't regret anything that I've ever done with you, except, perhaps, the time I spent with you fighting what I felt. We -we can…no, we will make this work, Hermione, and we will be happy." He let go of one of her hands and ran his fingers through his hair. "I know that it may not feel like it now, but it'll be okay... It will be." he gave her hand a light squeeze.
Harry said the last part with such assurance that she actually began to feel a bit better, the corners of her mouth even pulled into a small smile. He smiled back at her before leaning forward, his lips touched hers and electricity flowed through her body, curling her toes. He pulled back and caressed her face.
"I love you, Hermione."
"I love you, too, Harry."
The End.
A.N. Just kidding! I would never leave things unresolved like that *grins* stay tuned for the next chapter at the usual update time. I would like to give a special thanks to ToManyLetters for agreeing to beta my fics and the quick turnaround and great suggestions. Thanks again! PLEASE REVIEW and Ja ne!!
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