Hermione lay in bed thinking of the past few years of her life. Where she was at the present moment wasn’t what she had planned when she was younger, fresh out of Hogwarts. By the age of twenty-six, she had hoped to be married (preferably to Ron), with kids, and a nice home, but . . . life just didn’t turn out that way for her. Yes, she was married but not to Ron; nor was she married to anyone of whom Harry or Ron would approve of. She had not expected this to happen; it’s just how things turned out.
Once the trio had defeated Voldemort, they all seemed to go their separate ways. Harry began to work at becoming an Auror, and Ron went off to secure a job in the Ministry with his father. Of course, she still talked to them whenever she saw them, but that wasn’t often. The two were still on non-speaking terms with her after what had happened five years ago.
~*~
It was a beautiful summer’s day, and Hermione was in the kitchen at the Burrow putting a pot of water on to boil. She practically had to force Mrs. Weasley to allow her to do it for herself, and, in the end, she had won the battle. She enjoyed making tea the Muggle way even though it took longer than when one used magic.
“Hermione, are you sure you don’t want me to do that for you? It’s no problem, really,” Mrs. Weasley said from the table. She had her hands placed on the table in a way that Hermione realised made it easier for her to get up before Hermione could answer.
“No, no, Mrs. Weasley, I can do it. I really like making tea the Muggle way.” Hermione smiled and turned to the stove once more. She waited for the kettle to whistle, signaling that the water was ready to be poured. Once it did, she took two small teacups from the cabinet and placed them on the countertop.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and Hermione turned to see who was standing in the doorway.
“Hello, Mum,” Ron said as he pulled out a chair across from Mrs. Weasley. “Hey, Hermione, could I get a cup of that?”
Hermione nodded and reached for another cup, placing it next to her own and Mrs. Weasley’s. She slowly poured the hot water into each cup, placed a teabag in each one, and carried two of them over to the table before going back to get her own. She sat down next to Ron and reached for the bowl of sugar.
“What are your plans for today?” Mrs. Weasley asked, taking a sip from her cup. She smiled warmly at the pair and patiently waited for one of them to answer.
“To be honest, I have no idea. I think Harry is supposed to be meeting us in Diagon Alley soon,” Ron answered.
“Yes, he is,” Hermione replied. She looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was half past twelve. She knew that Harry was to be at Diagon Alley at one o’clock. She quickly drank the rest of her tea, burning her mouth in the process, and got up from the table. “In fact, we should leave now just so we’re there before Harry arrives.”
Ron nodded and got up to put his cup in the sink. He walked over to his mother and to deposit a kiss on her cheek.
“We’ll be home a little later. Harry might come by, too, to see you.”
Mrs. Weasley smiled. “Of course, of course. Ask him if he would like to have dinner with us. He hasn’t joined us for a meal in a while.”
Hermione walked around the table and hugged Mrs. Weasley. “I’ll be sure to let him know.”
With that, Hermione and Ron walked into the living room and up to the fireplace. They were going to take the Floo Network to save on time, so they each grabbed a handful of the powder, threw it into the fireplace, and stepped in. Shouting “The Leaky Cauldron” as loudly and as clearly as she could, Hermione disappeared from the house. Ron followed suit, and appeared in the old pub a few moments after she had.
“Do you want to get a drink first, or go wait for Harry somewhere?” Ron asked as he stepped out of the fireplace.
“Let’s get a drink. I’m sure Harry won’t be here for a little while longer.”
Hermione and Ron walked over to where the bartender was and waited to give the man their order. Hermione looked around the room and noticed that there weren’t many people there even though it was a Friday.
“What can I get you two?” the bartender asked.
“Um, I’ll have a Firewhisky, and I’m not sure what she wants,” Ron answered, nodding his head towards Hermione.
“I’ll just have a Butterbeer, please.”
The bartender nodded and walked away to get their drinks. Ron watched the bartender make the drinks and nodded a “thank you” as he took the Firewhisky. Taking a large gulp, he turned to Hermione who was quietly sipping her Butterbeer.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just a little tired, that’s all,” Hermione replied placing the glass on the counter in front of her. She folded her arms and continued to look around the dirty pub. It had been a while since she was in there: four years to be exact. The last time she was there was to get to Diagon Alley in order to buy school supplies.
“Are you sure that’s all? It seems like there’s more to it than that,” Ron coaxed. He continued to stare at her as he took another gulp from his glass.
“Yes, I’m sure. What is your problem? Why do you keep insisting that there’s something wrong with me?” Hermione snapped, glaring at Ron.
Ron’s face turned bright red, and he was at a complete loss for words. He was used to Hermione getting mad at him, but there was usually a sound reason behind it. The fact that she was yelling at him at this moment for asking a simple question confused him. He didn’t think that it was as big of a deal as she was making it, and, if he was completely honest with himself, she was scaring him.
“Well, I “ I just thought that maybe there was something else wrong. It just seemed like it, that’s all.”
Hermione sighed and finished off her drink. She was tired of arguing. That’s all the two of them ever did now, was argue. Every day it seemed as though it were getting worse. They couldn’t agree on anything anymore, and each time Hermione wanted to just be by herself, Ron would make up an excuse to bother her. She knew that he meant well when he did things like that, but . . . the thing she thought was sweet in the beginning of their relationship now annoyed her to no end.
“Maybe you should stop over-thinking things then,” Hermione said. She jumped down from the stool she was sitting on and started to walk towards the backdoor that led to Diagon Alley. Once she reached the doorway, she turned around to face Ron. “Well, are you coming?”
Ron quickly finished his drink, paid the bartender, and walked over to where Hermione was standing. He nodded for her to go ahead and tap the bricks. He was anxiously awaiting the moment Harry would arrive. He took a quick glance at his watch and noticed that only three minutes remained until Harry should meet them. Harry was never the type to be late to see his friends, best friends at that.
Hermione stepped through the opening in the wall and continued to walk through the streets of Diagon Alley before Ron had the chance to catch up with her. She didn’t know why she was so angry at him for practically nothing, she just was. No matter what one of them did, the other was sure to be angry. The smallest thing would set the other off, and sometimes it would be days (even weeks) before they would speak to each other. It was a good thing that they didn’t buy a house together yet. They had been planning to make that move soon, but neither of them had the money for it just yet.
It was not as if they were looking for a new home, either. Ron still lived at the Burrow, and Hermione was still living at home with her parents. Of course, her parents didn’t mind her being there, but she was twenty-one years old. She wanted to move out on her own and get a good job. She was tired of having to abide by her parents’ rules, even though she knew that once she moved out she would continue to follow them. What annoyed her most was the idea that it was currently mandatory for her to follow these rules, regardless of the fact that she was an adult and thus thought she should be treated as one.
Ron, on the other hand, enjoyed staying at the Burrow. He was used to the many people running around and the loudness of his family as they all spoke at once at the dinner table. There were times when he wished he could get away for a while, but he would always change his mind as soon as George or Ginny asked him to play a small game of Quidditch outside.
The pair knew that they would have to make the move sometime, and it was usually better to do something that big sooner rather than later. Hermione just wanted to wait until they had saved enough money to get them through the first few months (or year) of living on their own, together. She always wanted to wait and see if their relationship got any better. She had a feeling that if they lived together, it may get better, but then there was always the chance that it could get worse.
Seen In a Different Light by TCole
Story Notes:
I just want to say thank you a million times to: Laura (bookofsecrets), Terri (mudbloodproud), and Sammy (MissyQuill) for betaing this story for me. You guys are amazing. *hugs*
Chapter Notes: Just went to say thank you once again to my amazing betas. =D
Chapter Endnotes: So, what do you think? Thanks for reading!