The Reason Why (Harmione)

Chapter 19

It was another long goodbye when Harry had to leave Teddy with Andromeda again. The train was beginning to pull away when Hermione finally grabbed his arm and dragged him away from his godson.

They joined the compartment with Ginny, Luna, and Neville, apologizing for being late. Minutes later, Hermione glimpsed Ron through the glass compartment doors. He stopped, looked inside the compartment, then his face fell when he saw Harry there and reluctantly moved on. Hermione frowned, then thought just how badly she wanted the two of them to make up. She would have to talk to Harry about it.

Harry pretended not to notice. Honestly, Harry had no intention of ever speaking to that little prat again. After seeing what he had done to Hermione, he knew he could never forgive him.

~ooo~

Harry and Hermione were in Hermione's room after dinner. Hermione carefully put all of her things away right where she had taken them from, but Harry just shoved his trunk in Hermione's closet. Hermione rolled her eyes at this, but didn't say anything. When she finished, she sat down on the edge of her bed. "Harry, can we talk?"

Harry looked up, then shrugged. "Sure," he said, joining her on the edge of the bed.

Hermione bit her lip nervously, then spoke before she could stop herself. "Harry, I want to talk to you about... About Ron."

Harry tensed up immediately. Just the sound of his name made Harry's blood boil. He tried his best to hide this, but Hermione could see the look in his eye. "What about him?" Harry asked, looking down rather than at Hermione.

"Harry..." Hermione wondered how she could break this to him gently. "Please don't get upset with me, Harry. But I want you to talk to him."

"There's nothing to say," he said curtly.

"Harry-"

"No, Hermione!" Harry shouted, then his heart sank when he saw Hermione flinch. He went on in a hushed voice. "Hermione, he really hurt you. I don't even understand why you want me to talk to him."

"He's your best friend, Harry," Hermione whispered, scared of another outburst.

"Not any more."

"Harry," Hermione said, sitting up straighter and shaking off her fear. She needed to be straight with him. "I'm ready to forgive him. If I can do that, you should be able to as well."

Harry sighed. "Why would Ron do that?" His words came out as a whisper.

"I think it was grief," Hermione told him. "All of the Weasley's were grieving Fred's death. I've made amends with Ginny. I hope by now Ron has gotten better." She paused. "There's a chance he hasn't," she went on quietly. "But can you please just give it a shot?"

Harry sighed again. "Alright. I'll try."

"Thank you!" Hermione told him, quietly but still excitedly. She kissed him quickly, then bade him goodnight and curled up under the covers, ready to go to sleep.

Harry lied next to her, able to hear her even breaths long before he fell asleep. He still wasn't totally on board with the idea. He didn't want to forgive Ron so easily, but when he thought about all the time he'd spent with him, all they'd been through together, he had to admit, it would be nice to have his best friend back.

                            ~ooo~

Harry and Hermione walked into the Great Hall. Harry was nervous. "How should he do this?" He whispered to Hermione.

But this was one of the few times Hermione didn't have an answer. All she did was shrug in reply.

Harry sighed, and decided it was best to do it fast and get it over with. He scanned the Great Hall and soon enough, spotted the bright red hair sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table. Pulling Hermione with him by the hand, he made his way over to where Ron was sitting. After a brief moment of hesitation, he reached out and tapped Ron on the shoulder.

Ron turned around and scowled when he saw Harry. "What do you want?" He snarled.

"I-I was just wondering if... If we could sit with you," Harry stuttered out. He hated how afraid he felt.

Ron scoffed. "After what you've done? Hell no. Go sit somewhere else, Potter."

"What I've done?" Harry muttered back. "It's no wonder Hermione chose me over you, seeing the way you treated her."

Behind Harry, Hermione had gone as white as a ghost. She felt guilty for asking Harry to do this. She should have known that this would happen. It was stupid of her to hope it wouldn't. She had to stop this now. She gripped Harry's shoulder. "Come on, Harry, let's go," she whispered urgently.

But Harry shook her hand away and didn't move a muscle. "I don't believe you. How could you be so awful to somebody you've known since you were eleven? Somebody you care about?"

Ron started to stand up, but then somebody sharply called his name. "Ron!" Everybody whipped around to find the source of the voice.

There stood Ginny, glaring at Ron. "Come with me," she demanded. For a moment, Ron considered  ignoring her. But when he saw the look she was giving him, he immediately stood up and followed her out of the Great Hall.

Ginny walked until she reached an empty corridor where she turned on her brother. "What is the matter with you?" Ginny shouted.

"Ugh, not you, too," Ron groaned.

"Oh, quit your whining!" Ginny snapped. "You know damn well you deserve this!"

"I deserve this? You expect to forgive Harry after he took my girlfriend and cheated on my sister?"

"The girlfriend that you treated like shit!" Ginny yelled. "And I've already gotten over Harry cheating on me, I think it's about time you did, too!"

"I can't believe you, of all people, want me to forgive that bastard."

"Really? I find it hard to believe that he wants to forgive you. Or that Hermione have him the idea."

"What are you going on about?"

"Don't play dumb!" Ginny shouted, exasperated. "We all know what you did to Hermione!"

"You know I didn't mean any of that!" Ron said defensively.

"So why don't you make up for it?" Ginny said, trying to regain her composure. "Apologize to Hermione, make up with Harry, and try to do better!"

Ron fell silent now, leaning against the wall and staring at the floor.

"Right," said Ginny, straightening her back. "Now we're going back to the Great Hall, and you are going fix this."

Ron grumbled, but followed her anyway. He knew there was no use in arguing. And he had to admit, she did have a point.

They returned to the Gryffindor table, and Ron cleared his throat awkwardly to get Harry's attention. It worked. "Harry, um... You can... Er... Sit with us if you like."

Harry hesitated, then looked over at Hermione. Although she had a slightly nervous look on her face, she tried for a smile and nodded. Harry stood up and smiled at Ron. "Sure." Then he followed him over to their seats.

They sat down, Harry and Hermione next to each other across from Ron and Ginny. After a minute of awkward silence, Ginny elbowed Ron and cleared her throat loudly, glaring at him expectantly.

"Oh, right, um..." Ron stumbled over his words and cleared his throat. "Hermione," he said. Hermione looked up from her plate and Harry wrapped an arm around her protectively, giving Ron a warning glare. "Don't worry," he told them, feeling guilty when he saw their reaction. "I just... I wanted to say I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm sorry I was so awful to you when we were together. I want you to know that I didn't mean any of the horrible things I said to you, and I really am going to try to get better. I treated you like garbage, Hermione, and for that, I am truly sorry." Ron said sincerely, anxiously awaiting their reply.

Hermione looked over at Harry, communicating with him silently. Then she looked back at Ron and smiled. "You're forgiven."

Ron smiled and sighed in relief, then looked to Harry. "So," he held his hand out to him across the table. "Are we okay?"

Harry finally smiled then. "We're okay," he said, shaking Ron's hand.

Ginny and Hermione shared a look. Hermione mouthed, Thank you to Ginny and Ginny nodded back. Breakfast was much more enjoyable after that and everybody enjoyed their moment of bliss.