A Second Look - A Dramione Story

Chapter 28

Warning: This is not my story. It is from RiverWriter on ao3.

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Harry let them have their moment and then he cleared his throat.

"I still don't understand what you mean. How did we make Ron like this?" He gestured to The Prophet.

Hermione turned back to look at him. "More like we allowed him to be like this," she clarified.

He just squinted at her.

"Think about it Harry, whom else would we allow to treat us like this? We demonstrated through our actions that it was okay for him to treat us badly."

"I-" Harry stopped, he was clearly still torn, which was a hesitation Hermione understood.

"Whom else would we have allowed to be so careless with our feelings? And I mean that, we were both vulnerable and he walked all over us. But we didn't allow that from anybody else. Just Ronald."

And then a thought struck her. "You didn't just send him home the other night. You did more than that, didn't you?"

She'd already realized there was more going on here than he'd already admitted, but if she hadn't, Harry's expression would have given it away. He'd never been able to lie to her.

"Why do you say that?" He asked, and she could feel the curious glances of the other three people on her.

"Because he's never come after you like this. He's never dared. I thought he was smart enough to know there would be backlash. And I don't think he's suddenly changed tack because you and Ginny got divorced, he was mad about that, but in the end he didn't really care because it didn't affect him personally. It's not in any way helpful to him to make an enemy of you. So you must have done something that upset him so badly he forgot that and came after you anyway." She pointed to the paper. "This is personal."

Harry stared at his plate as he continued to eat his breakfast. "I filed for disciplinary action against him. And I might have told him if he ever spoke to you like that again I'd remind him how I defeated a dark lord when I was only seventeen."

Hermione was both concerned and touched by his actions. She also couldn't help but let out a little snort of amusement.

His head shot up. "Don't be a bitch, Hermione. You may not be afraid of me, but Ron is."

"I'm sorry," she smiled to herself. "It's just that you basically threatened him with a second year spell."

"Do you think you could pretend to be just a little bit impressed by me? You're killing my reputation," he said with a faux glare.

"As soon as you do something impressive," she quipped but smiled softly at him. "Thank you Harry, that was very sweet. But you didn't have to do it."

"It needed to happen. It was past time. He tried to attack a civilian in the middle of the Ministry- in the middle of the Auror Department- for Merlin's sake. I couldn't just let that slide. And I'm ashamed that I haven't said more to him about the way he treats you. Or, better yet, gone Malfoy's route," he nodded in Draco's direction and mimed a punching motion.

"I-" she opened her mouth to make excuses for Ron, perhaps not for his sake, but for Harry's, but she stopped herself. She had her own family to protect now. And anyway, wasn't that what she'd just vowed to stop doing? "Well, I understand why he's gone after me. But even after hearing that, it still seems a little far with you. These allegations go way back- all this stuff from the horcrux hunt. We've refuted them many times. He should know better, why is he still pushing it?"