Quarrels & Loves

A Daily Prophet Relationship: Part I

Summary: Ron's anger is getting the best of him and Hermione's sick of it. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to understand that they've broken up, so she agrees to have Draco act as her temporary (fake) boyfriend until Ron finally accepts it.

TW: the relationship between Ron and Hermione here is abusive.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Hermione growled to herself, flexing her fists at her sides. She had been stupid to think inviting Ron to her flat would end any other way than with her right where she was now, pounding on Harry's front door and yelling to be let in before she started crying again.

It had been a big fight and it had not ended well. She'd expected it in one way or another, but it had gotten dark fast and things had been said by both of them that she was sure they'd regret in an hour.

"Harry! Goddammit!" she yelled, her voice cracking. She stopped hitting his door and dropped her forehead to press against it. "Harry, please," she murmured quietly.

She sniffled and wiped her nose with her—Ron's—sweater sleeve. Taking a deep breath, she pulled away from the door and prepared to leave. Harry had told her to stop by after her talk with Ron, but if he wasn't answering, then he'd probably forgotten.

"Hermione?"

The door was pulled open and Harry stood in front of her with messy hair and syrup sticking to the corner of his mouth. Relieved at the sight of her best friend, Hermione jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly. She had no hope at stopping her tears as she buried her face in Harry's chest and clung to him.

"Merlin, Hermione, are you okay?" he asked. He shut the door behind her then stepped back so he could look at her better. "He didn't hurt you, did he? I thought you were just going to talk."

In the kitchen, Hermione could hear water running but didn't care. She doubted she could care about much other than the look on Ron's face when he'd thrown a photo frame at her.

"We were—We did," she said, breathing shakily. "He got angry. It's not—I tried to ask him if it was true, but he got defensive and started accusing me of being the one who was cheating."

"You should have let me come," Harry said, frowning down at her. "He wouldn't have gotten so mad."

Hermione sniffled and shook her head. They both knew it wasn't true, but it was still nice of Harry to offer. Unfortunately, not even he could keep Ron from getting angry sometimes and this had been one of those inevitable situations.

"Did you break up with him?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded, paused, and then shook her head. Harry frowned in confusion and Hermione let out a frustrated groan.

"I don't know," she said, running a hand through her hair. She hoped Harry didn't see the piece of glass that fell from the knotted mess, but the way he frowned made her think that he had. "I tried, Harry. I said the words, but then he started yelling again."

"He threw something at you," Harry said. Hermione nodded. "Are you sure you aren't hurt?"

"Nothing hit me," she answered. "He threw a photo frame at my head, but it shattered above me."

"Merlin, Hermione," Harry muttered, pulling her in for another hug. "Maybe Gin and I should talk to him. She's on an international tour with the Harpies right now, but when she gets back—"

"That would—That's probably a good idea, actually," she admitted. Ron wouldn't take the news from her very well, but she'd managed to break up with him and that's all that mattered. If Ginny and Harry could reinforce the idea in his head, that would be even better.