A Mad Reunion ✔️

2|Argued

HERMIONE SAT AT HOME ALONE IN front of her fireplace. She had spent the previous night and most of the day crying, from deafening sobs to a few silent tears. A few minutes ago, she had finally managed to stop the waterworks, and washed the tear-stains from her face with a warm washcloth.

     It was five o'clock in the afternoon, and Hermione had been able to stay at home all day, having scheduled a day off from her work at the Ministry weeks ago for what was supposed to be she and Ron's first anniversary. And, a small detail that made Hermione sick to her stomach, it actually was their anniversary, because Hermione had been too upset to face Ron the previous night and end things.

     As she sat in her comfy armchair, there was a sudden loud crack, and suddenly a furious ginger appeared in front of her.

     "Where have you been all day?" demanded Ron angrily, jabbing a finger towards Hermione.

      "Here," she answered simply, staring into the fire.

     "You didn't happen to forget what today is, did you?" Ron yelled.

     "Today is, apparently, our anniversary."

     "And you STOOD ME UP!" Ron shouted. "I sat on that bench in front of that ice cream shop for five hours!"

     "Good for you."

     "LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Ron yelled. Hermione's head snapped up at that, her hollowness quickly transforming into anger.

     "Don't you dare speak to me like that!"

     "Why didn't you come today? It's our anniversary, Hermione! Our one year anniversary!"

     "Yes, well, I'm sure you and Lavender will have one coming up soon, too. You'll get a special day with her, you already took her to a restaurant last night, which is more than you've done for me in weeks!"

     Ron stared at Hermione wide-eyed for a second, before asking, "What?"

     "What? What? I saw you two last night, Ronald. I saw you kiss her!" Hermione's breathing had become rapid. She stood up. "How long have you been seeing her?" When Ron hesitated to answer, she all but screamed, "HOW LONG?"

     Ron mumbled something incoherent.

     "What?" asked Hermione.

     "Ten months," he whispered hoarsely. Hermione stared at him. That was two more months than she had suspected. That was two months after they started dating.

     "Why?" asked Hermione, her voice also gone quiet.

     "Because... Because, I..." Ron couldn't seem to think of answer, when, suddenly, he blurted out, "It was all your fault, you know!"

     "My fault?" laughed Hermione, a bit hysterically. "How was your cheating on me possibly my fault?"

     "You work too high above your station, making more money than I do! Do you know how hard it is to date a witch who makes more money than you?"

     "So you're angry at me because I'm dedicated and have a high position at the Ministry?" asked Hermione, incredulous.

     "Not only that, you chose school over me! You're so boring, all that you ever want to do is work and read, and you can't even cook. What self-respecting witch can't cook? Nothing interesting ever happens. You don't even care about how you look, going out in public with your hair all bushy like that and not wearing makeup like the other women."

     He caught his breath, and then added in a voice that was a bit dreamy, "Lavender, on the other hand, knows that her main place is at home, so she got a simple job, and she told me that when she gets married, she's staying at home full-time. Lavender cares deeply about her appearance, she looks beautiful, absolutely nothing like you." Hermione felt the tears begin to build up again after the last remark, but blinked them back, refusing to let Ron see how much he had hurt her.

     "Lavender is special, she's the opposite of boring, she can actually kiss. The only reason I never broke up with you is because I'm not cruel, and I don't want you to be humiliated in front of the entire wizarding world. As a matter of fact, until I got that stupid crush on you, the only reason I was ever really friends with you in school was because you were more than willing to do all my schoolwork for me. I'm not sure why I ever liked you, only a few weeks after we started dating did I realize that you are not someone easy to date."

     Hermione stared at him for a moment. And then, "Did you honestly think that I wanted to go out with you in the first place? Are you really that naive, Ronald? I only kissed you because I thought that I was supposed to, only said yes when you first asked me out because I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I only tolerated you because you were friends with Harry." That was a lie. She had actually thought they were friends and had really gotten jealous when he had dated Lavender the first time. But she couldn't let him know that.

     The rest was true, though. "You have no motivation, you didn't even have a plan for the future, you only became an Auror because Harry did. You never tried in school, I helped you because you were honestly like a charity case. You never take me on proper dates, constantly blowing me off. At least now I know why. I can't believe you cheated on me. You don't deserve me. We're through, Weasley. Get out of my house." Ron opened his mouth, probably to retaliate, but before he could, Hermione shouted, "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

     He turned on his heel and Disapparated. Hermione collapsed back onto the armchair, head in her hands, sobs racking her body. She had really thought that she had loved Ron, she hadn't been telling the truth when she said that she had never wanted to be his friend, but apparently Ron had never really loved her. And now she was all alone.

_______________________________
DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.