Fulfilling Obligations (Harmione)

Chapter 26: Hard to Believe

Hermione stared blankly at her lap, where her hands were folded as though in prayer. She was presently accompanying Ginny as she flitted over last minute wedding details, which she had been doing for the last two weeks. Not much to Hermione's surprise, she had seen little of Harry despite her involvement in his wedding.

After he had apologized to her and Ron almost a month previously, he had avoided her like the plague - much like she had avoided him in the aftermath of his engagement. However, unlike Harry's response to her evasion, Hermione was content to allow Harry to steer clear of her. Though she knew Harry had not been in his right mind, she was still finding it difficult to completely disregard his words.

She resents the fact that I'm with Ginny...After all, if Ginny wasn't in the picture, all those years of unrequited pining might actually pay off.

Hermione alone knew that this statement was true, but she still resented Harry for speaking them aloud, for verbalizing her most secret feelings in a manner that was practically mockery. She despised feeling weak, and Harry had made her feel like a weak, stupid, love-sick teenager.

The tension Harry had made between her and Ron was also infuriating. Ron had been exceedingly polite to her since the incident, but this was always an indication that he still held a grudge.

Luckily, both Harry and Ron had been busy with Auror preparations and what Ron liked to call "bachelor time" since the engagement party, and Hermione was more than happy to escape the tension for a while. This was partially why she had thrown herself so willingly into Ginny's service, running errands and the like.

"Hermione? HELLO, earth to Hermione!"

Unfortunately, it seemed to be doing a poor job of keeping her mind off the matter.

"What? What is it?"

Ginny stood in front of her, holding her wedding dress. One hand was on her hip and she wore an exasperated expression Hermione had become quite familiar with over the past few days.

"I was just blabbing on for the past ten minutes on how much I love this dress and you've been sitting there like a zombie! Did you hear a word I said?"

"Um..."

"Geez, Hermione, you're my maid of honor! You're supposed to dote on me on my last day as a free woman!"

Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry, Ginny, I know I'm not being the most exciting company at the moment."

Ginny snorted. "No offense, but you've never been 'exciting' company."

"Thanks, Ginny."

Ginny waved her hand in dismissal. "Oh, you know what I mean. I would only consider someone 'exciting company' if they were ridiculously unpredictable - like scary unpredictable."

Hermione gave a snort similar to Ginny's. "Like you, for example?"

Ginny thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so. Why do we hang out again?"

"If you think about it, together we average out to normal."

Ginny laughed. "That's brilliant! Our personalities cancel each other out! But spit it out -- you are acting pretty glum about something."

"It's nothing," Hermione said.

"Yes, it is." Ginny peered closely at Hermione. "You're having love drama, aren't you?"

Hermione swallowed. "What - what do you mean?"

"It's so obvious. I don't know why I didn't realize it before...With all of this marriage stuff going on, you've been wondering about your own relationship."