Just Neighbors

Chapter 31

Hermione sat at her desk and filled out various forms of parchment as she let her mind wander. Her chest still had a dull throbbing pain where the wounds had been but it had healed without leaving a scar. She was glad that Ginny had opted to stay the night and pick her brain for information without having to worry about upsetting Harry's delicate sensibilities. It felt good to be able to talk to her friend openly about Draco, about his blood curse and what it possibly meant for her.

For them.

Her stomach fluttered as the thought crossed her mind.Them. Such a simple word but it held a significance.

They established that the curse had grown stronger since Hermione had become intimate with Draco. It was as if magical tendrils had reached out to the other, entwined together, and it had become a knot that was harder to break apart every time.

Even now she felt a dull ache from the loss of his presence, the loss of his magic that enveloped her senses.

They also discussed Ron's behavior from the night before; Ginny had a field day roasting her own brother for being such a hot-headed prat. How he had left to chase adventure -and women- in Romania and meanwhile expected Hermione to wait for him.

How hypocritical of him.

Hermione looked up as her office door opened a crack, and the man himself poked his head in, "Er...Can I come in?"

She set her quill down and glanced at the open Daily Prophet on her desk; the image of Draco and her at the club with his arms wrapped around her waist was splashed across the front page. She cleared her throat loudly and slid it off the table onto the floor next to her as she nodded her head.

He sheepishly sent her a smile and shuffled into the room, his ears red, "I just wanted to apologize for last night. My behavior was..."

"Atrocious? Embarrassing? Uncalled for?" Hermione asked coldly with a raised brow, "Any of those sound right?"

Ron shoved his hands into his pockets, "All of the above?" Hermione didn't respond and he moved closer.

He looked absolutely miserable. Good, she thought to herself.

"I just don't understand why him?"

Hermione rubbed a hand across her eyes briefly, "Will you please just sit down?"

She gestured to the chair across from her and he plopped himself into it. She studied him for a moment, taking in his forlorn expression and the dark marks under his eyes. More than likely caused from having to sleep in a cell for the night, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Ron. But you have no excuse for your behavior. You acted like a jealous prat, and to be frank we haven't dated in years. You've had multiple girlfriends since we broke up. You had no right."

He wrung his hands together in front of him; "I just don't understand why you would want to be with a Dea—" at her narrowed eyes he quickly corrected himself, "Ex-Death Eater. He did a lot of bad shit."

"So. Did. You." Hermione said shortly, "but it was during a bloody war. We all did bad things when we were forced to. He just happened to do them for the wrong side."

"But still..." Ron started but Hermione held up her hand and leveled her gaze on her friend.

"You remember that night at Malfoy Manor? He didn't give us up. He as good as helped us escape. And he was tortured for it by Bellatrix afterwards. Did Harry tell you that? That in that fucked up world he was forced to live in, he had tried to save us- me­? Even after the torture he wanted to protect me. And yes, it was entirely fucked up that I was supposed to be given to him like some sort of mudblood prize, but in the end that would have been better than being handed to the Greyback."

Ron grumbled slightly, "Harry may have left some of the details out when he came to see me this morning."

"Apparently."

Silence fell between them for a tense moment before Ron sat forward in his chair, reaching for her hand across the table, "I am sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just seen him touching you and...all I could see was red."

Hermione let him grasp her fingers for a brief moment, his hand warm on hers. She truly wanted to forgive him. She loved Ron; he was one of her oldest friends. But she had always done everything for him. She had even considered following him to Romania when he had quit the Ministry. But while he wanted the fame-to have his picture flashing on the front of the Daily Prophet- Hermione was content to hide away in a library. She would be perfectly happy to just to disappear into the shelves.

So they had gone their separate ways. He had continued to write to her, and she always responded. Sometimes he would still talking about a future together that she knew would never come.

A future she had been content to spend alone amongst the dusty tomes.

Until Draco had moved in next door.

"You still had no right, Ron." She slowly withdrew his hand from his. She steeled herself against the slight pang in her chest at his crestfallen look.

"Hermione," Ron said quietly as he reached for her hand again but she sat back in her chair, putting distance between them.

"I should have told you sooner, I know. But I doubt it would have made a difference." She kept her eyes adverted from his.

"Let me try to fix this," Ron said hurriedly.

"For starters, maybe you can try to not be such a dick to Draco?"

"I can't promise that," Ron responded with a grimace.

"Or at least not hex him?" Hermione said half heartedly, "Because that hurt like a sonofabitch."

The redheads face twisted slightly, "I'm sorry I hurt you, Hermione. I had no idea about the curse."

"Of course you didn't. You didn't think at all. You didn't ask any questions. You just reacted." Hermione snapped at him as she tapped her fingers on the desk. Her frustration started to rise as she replayed the previous night in her mind.

Ron's ran his hand through his hair as he groaned, "how many times do I have to apologize?"

"Until I'm satisfied you actually mean it," she said through clenched teeth, and her fingers stilled briefly, "tell me how you managed to smuggle your wand into the club. They search everyone."

"I stuck it in Harry's robes," His foot started to jiggle with a nervous energy, "They didn't bother to search him once he identified himself."

Hermione raised a brow at him, "Why would you even bring it along? You know their rules."

"I can lie and say I forgot to leave it at home, or I can be honest and say I had hoped to catch Malfoy outside afterwards," Ron stated simply as he met her gaze.

Her fingers started to drum on the desk again as she stared at him. She always knew Ron was a hot-head. A part of her had expected him to lash out and that's why she had been so hesitant to tell him. A part of her had prayed he would stomp his feet and begrudgingly accept it for what it was. But she didn't think he would boldly attack Draco in a club where magic was prohibited. To risk getting Harry in trouble. To risk their friendship in such a reckless manner.

Hermione held up her hands as her blood started to boil as her thoughts turned over in her mind, "You know what? I'm done talking to you right now. I just can't believe you would act so childish. You should have talked to me like an adult. Please leave. I need time to think, Ron."

"Hermione..."

Her finger pointed to the door and she lifted her brows, "Leave."

"Can we talk about this maybe tomorrow?" Ron asked in a dejected tone, shuffling his feet as he moved to the door. He looked at her with such despondent eyes as he stood in the doorway.

"Bye, Ron." She waved a hand at him in dismissal and with a flick of her wand, the door promptly slammed in his face.