Disclaimer: These characters are not the product of my mind; J.K. Rowling takes proud responsibility for that!
“Where have you been?” Mrs. Weasley asked when Ron arrived for dinner at the Burrow. It had been a week since he’d watched Hermione leave him at the coffee shop. He sighed and leaned down to kiss his mother’s cheek.
“Work,” he answered simply as he shoved a roll into his mouth.
“Ronald, don’t spoil your dinner!” Mrs. Weasley scolded. She shooed him over to the table and he held his hands up in defeat before sitting down. He was twenty-two and still getting yelled at by his mother.
“What was keeping you?” Mr. Weasley asked when he entered the kitchen and took a seat at the table across from his youngest son. Ron shrugged.
“Coach wanted to talk. Says he’ll raise my pay by a third if I stay… I said I’d talk to Peter,” Ron explained.
“Son, stay with the Cannons! Who cares about this new team Peter Malcomb is creating!” Mr. Weasley replied earnestly.
“Dad, going with the new team means making myself a title. There was no one before me and nobody to compare me to,” Ron explained. He didn’t actually care about creating a title for himself. He really didn’t care much about Quidditch at all these days. The only reason he did it was because it was the one thing that connected him to Harry and Ginny. It was the only thing they all had in common. Harry, Ginny and Hermione had always had that sense about them that they used when trying to solve another riddle, another question, another problem. He had always been left out of that loop.
“Whatever you say, son,” Mr. Weasley told him.
Ron got up suddenly from his seat and started out of the kitchen. “Be back,” he said. His parents didn’t question him. They knew where he was going because he went there every time he was at the house, for a reason unknown to them.
When he walked through the door to Harry’s and Ginny’s room he took a deep breath in. He loved the smell of the room. It reminded him of the last night all four of them had been in it.
Flashback
“It seems so weird,” Ginny thought aloud to the room. She was laying face-up on her and Harry’s bed with her legs hanging off the end. She was focusing on the ceiling. Harry was looking out of the window while Ron was standing, leaning against the closet door, and Hermione was spread out on the carpet, also looking up at the ceiling. They were all deep in thought.
“It won’t be for long, right?” Hermione asked the room.
“No, it won’t be long,” Harry answered, never taking his eyes away from whatever he was watching out of the window.
“Harry,” Ginny whispered. Harry’s head snapped toward her and Ron looked down at Hermione.
Harry sat down on the carpet with his knees up and spread apart. Ginny walked over to him and sat between his legs, pulling her knees up to her chest and laid a hand on each of Harry’s thighs.
Hermione sat up as Ron came over to her and sat behind her. She scooted back so that she was sitting against him, both of their legs straddled out. She pushed her head back into his chest and he laid his chin on it. He wrapped his arms around her when he felt her tremble with tears.
“You can’t leave me for long!” she cried.
“Don’t cry, love, we won’t,” Ron soothed.
“Yeah, Ron’s right. I mean, we are accident prone! We’ll probably see you soon, Healer Granger,” Ginny giggled. Hermione smiled weakly.
“Thanks, Mrs. Potter,” she said and Ginny smiled proudly.
“Yes, I am! And soon we’ll have little Potters running around this house!”
Harry pulled Ginny closer to him.
“You’re pregnant?” Ron cried. The room laughed.
“No, Ronald! Do you seriously think that I would fight and finish this war if I were?” Ginny asked incredulously.
Ron shrugged. “Never know. You are so damn stubborn! Besides, I was just taking care of my kid sister, even if you are nineteen. If ‘Mione was pregnant, then I wouldn’t let her fight,” Ron explained.
“Well, you wouldn’t have to worry about that if I were, Ron, because I’m not fighting anymore, anyway,” Hermione pointed out.
“True. Ginny, I’m just taking care of you. The best care,” Ron told her.
Ginny cocked her head to one side. “Always?” she whispered.
“Forever,” Ron whispered back before winking.
End Flashback
Ron was crying again. He wiped at his tears and walked over to the desk where he’d found the letters before. He opened the drawer again, to see the other two letters were still there. ’To Harry, Love Ginny’ one read. ’To Ginny’ the other read. Ron decided to take them to the graveyard and read them there. They would have liked that. He put them in his pocket and walked downstairs for supper.
**********
Ron, I was wondering if I could come over to talk. Quarter to six is good for me if you can. Please write back as soon as possible. ~Hermione G.
Ron read the letter quickly before writing ‘See you at quarter to, Ron’ at the bottom of the paper. He rolled the paper up again and reattached it to the small owl’s leg. When it flew away, he looked over at the clock above his desk. It was five already…he looked back down at the two letters on his desk. He had found them yesterday night and hadn’t read them yet, because he was working all day. He sighed and slid them into his desk drawer. He would go to the graveyard in a couple of weeks, when he found the time.
He looked around at his apartment and decided to tidy up a little. He was straightening his room when he heard a knock. Hermione was waiting at his front door patiently when he got there. He offered her a drink, but she shook her head.
“I can’t stay for long,” she told him.
“Me, neither. I’m having supper at the Burrow at half six,” he explained. He sat down at his kitchen table and motioned for her to take a seat as well.
She obeyed. “I can’t stay past six,” she said, and he nodded. “I just wanted to come by and apologize about the other day. I shouldn’t have run off like that. I’m sorry,”
“Don’t be, you were upset. I understand and I accept your apology. I was upset when I found the letters, too.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
The room was silent for a moment, then Ron sighed and put his face in his hands. “What’s going on, Hermione? What is it that you aren’t you telling me?” Ron asked, talking into his hands.
Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Nothing, Ron, please don’t start this again. I didn’t come here to fight,” Hermione pleaded.
Ron looked at her with a look of confusion.
“Just tell me what’s going on!” he yelled.
“You wouldn’t understand!” she shot back.
“Try me,” he whispered.
“I made a mistake two years ago that I can’t take back. I pushed you away. You’ll never understand now,” she told him through her tears.
“Are you…are you pregnant?” he stuttered.
“No, Ron, I’m not. You were my only…”
“Then, what? You’ve got a baby at home that’s mine?”
“No, I don’t have a baby at home that is ours.”
“Did you snog another guy while we were together?”
“No, Ron.”
“Did you change your preferences, then? Are you a les-“
“NO!” she shrieked, sounding disgusted.
“THEN WHY’D YOU LEAVE ME?” he shouted, unable to control his anger any longer.
She turned her head away and wiped at her tears. “I’ve…I’ve got to go. I told you I couldn’t stay past six. It’s five fifty-nine.”
“We’re not finished talking yet,” his voice cracked as he said this calmly, his voice filled with pain.
“I’m sorry. I really have got to go,” she told him. As she turned toward the fire, grabbing a handful of Floo Powder, Ron noticed something drop from her pocket. He walked over to it and slowly picked it up. Before he could give it to her, though, she was gone. He looked down at the paper in his hand. It was a letter. It was her letter from Ginny. Ron smiled as he realized how very closely it resembled his own. Even tear marks stained the page causing smudge marks in the words. Should he? He’d gone through this before when he’d found them. This time was different, though. Then, he was just curious at what his sister would write to her best friend. This time he wondered if maybe it held the secrets he so needed to know about the girl he once loved. The girl he would never stop loving.
He shook his head in an attempt to empty his head of such thoughts as to invade Hermione’s privacy. He cursed himself as he carefully placed the letter into the drawer with the others. He scribbled a note to his parents saying that he would be missing supper. He sent it off before grabbing his coat and going to the local bar down the road, slamming the door behind him.
He really knew how to screw things up.
A/N: Here is the second chapter. It is really short, I know, and I am sorry. Big thanks to leah3467 and Luna Obsessed, my betas. While you wait for my next chapter, check out my other fanfic, Never What it Seems. Thanks for reading, now please review!
Manda*