A/N: I hope you enjoy this one,
Chapter 12 - An Unexpected Meeting
Ron Weasley sighed as he apparated to Hogsmeade. He couldn't believe that he had to do this again. It was bad enough that it had taken over eight years to accomplish his goal the first time. There was no telling how long it would take this time.
You see, as Ron grew up, he learned firsthand how unfair life could be. In school, he was poor, unwanted, and the useless wheel of the trio. And then there was his 'friend' Harry Potter: rich, famous, and a spoiled brat who got everything he wanted, like his Nimbus 2000 in his first year. Not to mention the fact that he always got what Ron wanted. Ron was sick of it by fourth year and only became Harry's 'friend' again after the dragon incident to get his revenge on the 'boy-who-lived'.
Ron had been sitting in the living room of the Burrow when Harry came in nervously. "Hey Ron, do you mind if I ask you something?"
"What is it?" he asked.
Harry cleared his throat. "I was wondering, since you still haven't asked Hermione out, if you would be okay with me asking her out?"
"What makes you say I like her?" Ron asked, disgusted at the thought of liking Hermione.
"Well, you know…fourth year when you got jealous that Viktor Krum took her to the Yule Ball and in sixth year when Cormac McLaggen ," said Harry.
"I don't…" Ron began, then realized that this was his golden opportunity. So he sighed and pretended to look away embarrassedly, when in actuality he was hiding his grin from his 'friend'. "H-how did you know?"
"It was pretty obvious, mate," said Harry, grinning. Merlin, how Ron wished to punch that stupid face in.
"I think I love her," said Ron sheepishly.
Harry's grin turned into a smile and he said, "I figured as much. I feel the exact same."
"Can you give me until the end of the week to ask her, and if I don't then you can?" asked Ron hopefully.
Harry grinned at who he thought was truly his friend. "No problem. You liked her first, so I think it's only fair."
"Thanks, Harry," said Ron with actual sincerity. Now he could put his plan into motion. If Harry wasn't there Ron would have laughed evilly.
Ron had arrived at the castle while he was reliving that happy scene. He thought it would only be a couple years until Harry left from heartbreak. It took a little longer than expected, but it did indeed happen. Ron had thought for sure that Harry would leave the country or something, and for a while it did seem that way. But now Harry was back, and back in Hermione's life, according to his mum, who heard it from Lupin. And despite all the nonsense about Harry proposing to Hannah Abbot, he knew where Harry's heart truly lie. And it was up to Ron to make sure that Harry didn't get absolutely everything he wanted.
"Ron?" came Hermione's voice from the open castle doors.
"Hermione!" said Ron with a big grin on his face, holding open his arms.
Hermione gave him a tentative hug before quickly pulling back. "What are you doing here?"
"Can we go somewhere private?" Ron asked.
Hermione nodded her head, eyebrows furrowed, and stepped into the closest empty classroom. "What is it?" she asked once the door was closed behind them.
"I was thinking…" said Ron. "Thinking about what we had together. I think…I think we should give it another go."
"Ron," said Hermione softly. "What we had was…great while it lasted, but it just wasn't meant to be. We're just…too different."
"Hermione, I've changed," said Ron a touch desperately. "I'm a better man! I can treat you better than Harry!"
"What does Harry have to do with any of this?" Hermione asked.
"Come off it," said Ron. "We both know you never really loved me."
Hermione looked down at the floor in shame. "I did love you…at one point," she finally said sadly.
"I was also there when he confessed to you," said Ron. "I heard everything."
Hermione looked up in alarm, eyes wide. "Y-you did?"
"Yes," said Ron. "And I must say it's a good thing you rejected him. He probably would have left you for some supermodel. And now…now he doesn't even love you anymore. But I…I would never do that to you. I love you, Hermione, and I always will."
"I love you, Hermione, and I always will," said Ron with a smile on his face.
Hermione couldn't believe this was happening and was so confused. Ron loved her, and she felt really sorry that she couldn't love him back. She didn't want to really be with him because her heart only belonged to Harry, but he was right. Harry most likely didn't love her anymore.
What should she say to Ron? She didn't know the right answer!
Calming herself, Hermione took a deep breath. Then the answer came to her.
"I'm sorry, Ron," said Hermione quietly. "I don't love you, and I think you deserve someone who loves you back."
"I don't care if you love me or not! I just want to be with you," pleaded Ron.
"Ron, I…I don't think it's a good idea," said Hermione before walking past him to the door.
When her hand was on the knob, Ron said, "You're trying to get Harry back, aren't you? Well guess what, it's never going to happen. He's over you, you blew your chance. I'm the best you're going to get. So be with me and give up on Harry!" he demanded.
Hermione burst into tears and opened the door, fleeing to her room. Ron's words hurt like a thousand little knives piercing her heart. And she didn't hate Ron for it. He was just trying to save her, to help her. And he did so by telling her what was most likely the truth. Hermione knew most of that deep down inside, but it was much worse and seemed so impossible to deny when spoken by another.
Hermione cried the rest of the night until she finally cried herself to sleep. She knew she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up. It just made it that much worse when she failed.
Hannah was walking through the manor on Sunday, intent on going downstairs to fix herself a snack before she would leave for the day to go shopping. But she heard a noise on the opposite side of the door of one of the guest rooms. Peeking her head in, she saw a pretty muscular and handsome man completely naked, laying on the bed.
The man grinned at her and beckoned her over, and she strangely found her feet moving toward him. His body looked delectable. But then a door slammed and snapped her out of her strange chance.
This was wrong, she couldn't do this, especially not in the house! If Harry found out she would lose all the money! "What are you doing in my house?" she asked incredulously.
"Oh, is someone feeling submissive?" asked the man with a naughty tone to his voice, standing up and stalking toward her. "Don't want the fiancé to find out?"
"No," said Hannah. "Seriously, what the hell are you doing in my house?"
"You're a very good actress," said the man. "But I can see the lust in your eyes."
Hannah did admit to herself that this man was very good looking, but it really wasn't worth all of Harry's money for one shag. So she screamed his name. "Harry! Help!"
"Pretending he's here now, are we?" asked the man seductively, pinning Hannah's body to the wall with his own. "You're so naughty, I love it."
The door burst open to show Harry, emerald eyes blazing and wand drawn. The man's face drained of all color and he stepped back from Hannah. "Y-you were serious?" he asked.
"What the hell are you doing to my fiancée?" Harry demanded angrily.
"Please don't hurt me," the man pleaded, going on his knees. "She sent me a letter asking me to sneak in and so I did!"
"Who are you?" Harry asked dangerously.
"I'm Mark…Mark Roberts," the man said, now crying. He seriously thought he was going to be maimed. After all, Harry Potter was seriously powerful…and currently angry as hell. "Hannah…she asked me to come! I work for the Wizard Gigolo Service!"
"I didn't do it, Harry!" said Hannah, eyes wide. For once, something wasn't actually her fault. "I would never do such a thing! And did it look like I was enjoying what he was doing to me?"
"I believe you, darling," said Harry, his face softening a bit. He had sent out a feeler using legilimency just to make sure she was telling the truth. He also discovered she was absolutely terrified.
"How many times did she tell you to stop?" Harry demanded, eyes burning even more fiercely.
"I don't know!" cried the man. "Three? I thought we were role-playing!"
"Why did you come here?" asked Harry again.
"I already told you! She sent me a letter!" said the man.
Harry discovered he was also telling the truth. It was pretty obvious the letter was forged. He sighed, lowering his wand. "Let me just say that maybe you should stick to clients that aren't married or engaged. It's just the right…and safer…thing to do. Now leave."
"Y-yes sir," said the man, not believing his luck. "Thank you, sir!" he said before picking up his clothes and apparating out.
Hannah let out the breath she had been holding, glad that she had survived unscathed again. Someone was trying to break her and Harry up, and she knew exactly who it was. She just didn't know they would go this far to do it.
The two troublemakers in question were sitting at the window with two other troublemakers, all hoping an owl would arrive in any second. This plan was foolproof, and they just knew Harry would break up with Hannah.
But evening turned to night and eventually they were too tired to stay awake. But they weren't worried. They knew Harry would have to digest the information. The owl would definitely arrive tomorrow.
But tomorrow came and went without any news about a break-up, and the four started to get worried. It should have worked by now…right?
A letter arrived the next morning during breakfast, and Raven excitedly grabbed it and tore it open before grimacing and passing it on to her sister.
Hey girls,
I hope everything is going well at school! And you better not let Quidditch interfere with your studying…trust me, I learned the hard way.
As a side note, do you two want to be our flower girls at the wedding? (Yes Raven, you'll have to wear pink.)
Love,
Dad
It was just a standard letter, and he even asked if they wanted to be participants in the wedding. Which meant that the plan definitely did not work.
They didn't understand how it could've gone wrong. It was foolproof. Leave it up to Hannah to mess up something so easy.
The girls were very surprised at how difficult this was proving to be. Maybe Hannah was smarter than they had given her credit for.
"So what do we do now?" asked Jade quietly.
"I don't know," replied Raven. "I think we-"
An owl landed in front of her and hooted, cutting her off. It was Hannah's owl.
Looking at her sister curiously, she opened the letter.
Dear Obnoxious Brats,…
A/N: Ooh, a cliffie, yay!