Long Gone

Ron opened the front door to his house. He was, in fact, trying to take a nap, but the "knock, knock, knock," was well on its way to driving him mad.

There, on his "Welcome. My name is Mat." door mat stood a woman with brown, wavy hair. Her skin was pale, and she had a practical brown purse. What really caught him was the stick of wood slightly sticking out of her black long jacket.

"Hermione?"

"Oh, Ron! It's so good to see you!" She threw herself against him in an embrace. Quickly, she pulled her mouth up to his.

For a moment, Ron stood completely still. His emotions flooded inside of him. Thankfully the smart side of anger over took his heart full of aged love. "What the bloody hell are you doing!?" He screamed while pulling away from her.

"Trying to kiss you," she said plainly.

He smoothed out his shirt. Flustered, he asked, "Why?"

She rolled her eyes, and said, with a playful smile at her lips, "Because, Ron, I fancy you."

He looked at her with his mouth hanging open like a hungry goldfish. For a moment- just a moment, mind you- what she did to him flew out of his head and he nearly jumped and hollered in joy. But then the last eight years came painfully back to him. "Hermione have you the slightest idea what you put me through? Have you?!" He questioned purposefully. "You crushed my life and my heart, in one swift and ugly stomp!"

Hermione squirmed and opened her mouth to defend herself, but Ron cut her off. "When you chose Harry over me- hell, even if you would've chosen me- I lost my best friend. This way, I just lost both of them. You left me alone with almost no one. I... I even swore off of the wizarding world because I never wanted to lay my eyes on you again."

"Now, Ron. You must admit that was a bit rash."

Ron sighed and looked at his hands. "Maybe. Probably. But it has worked well for me for the past eight years. My mother wouldn't stop talking about the two of you!"

Hermione sucked in a sharp breath as she watched Ron fall apart. She looked at him, and it dawned on her that she hadn't seen this man since he had been a lanky teenage boy.

His freckles had all but disappeared. His hair was a perfect length and- were those actually muscles on his arms? She paused a moment and listened to him talk. His voice was no longer a tenor, but even now, even in his state, he was a deep baritone. But wait, what was that on his finger?

Hermione grabbed his wrist and said, "You're married?"

Ron grabbed his hand back and smiled down at the ring of gold.

"How could you!? How could you be married?"

The smile melted right off of his face, and at this point, Hermione regretted her words. "How could I? HOW COULD I?" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "This isn't all about you, Hermione! I didn't get married to torture you!"

He turned his back to her a picked up a picture off of the table. It was of a girl with a long face, light blonde hair, and baby blue eyes. She was about 25, Ron's age. Hermione took an interest in her feet.

"I didn't wait long for you to realize your mistake, Hermione. I moved on. This is Katie. She's 7 months pregnant, you know."

Selfishly, Hermione couldn't help thinking that this girl must be one dumb chick. She looked like an air head, the kind of girl that Malfoy would have run off with.

Even though she thought that she had convinced herself of Kate's stupidity, she could feel tears stinging the back of her eyes. She didn't ever think that she loved Ron. Maybe she did.

"She loves me, too." He spat at her.

Hermione just felt like she was shot. A tear streaked her face.

"Aw," Ron sighed, "I'm sorry Herm," he hugged her.

"No, Ron, I'm sorry. I was stupid to even pick. I shouldn't have."

"Come on, sit down." Ron guided her into the sitting room.

"I never really loved either of you. I was so stupid. I left Harry because I felt that I didn't love him, and I expected to come here and have you waiting, and I just can't believe what I did. I didn't know!" She cried and cried. Hiding her face behind her hands, she spat out muffled 'I'm sorry's and cried and cried.

Ron sat by her side. He put his arm around her shoulders and just sat while she cried.

She cried and cried...

That night Hermione told Ron of what life had been life over a few cups of tea. She told him about the flat that she lived in, and her wedding to Harry. Ron smiled. He still had the invitation from six years ago. To think how it surprised Kate how an owl flew right into their house like that!

At about two in the morning, Hermione had dumped out her soul enough. She then asked how Ron's life had been.

"Surprisingly well," he spoke softly. "I've actually become accustomed to muggle life."

Hermione blinked and wondered aloud, "Does Kate know that you're a wizard?"

"I had to explain the owl somehow! The fact that it had 'moving pictures' on it didn't help much. Besides," he laughed, "I didn't want her to be to terribly surprised when that letter from Hogwarts comes."

Hermione couldn't help but smile. She looked around. His house was furnished sensibly. Pictures everywhere. Mostly of what she assumed to be Kate's family and friends. But wait...

"Oh, Ron. However did you do that!?" She looked at a picture of Harry and her from graduation. It wasn't moving, not at all. Harry wasn't waving at her. He wasn't even blinking.

"I got a mugg- I mean normal camera from the store," he took the picture off of the mantel. "And I took a picture of the moving one. I've done that more then once. Mostly with my family, you understand."

Hermione nodded. "Ron, I best be off. It was so nice meeting you again. So nice." She showed herself to the door and waved goodbye as she walked out. But then, she took a step back, "Hey, Ron? I think I'm going back to Harry's. I realize now what it feels like to be turned down."

Ron smiled at her, then stood and cleared away the cups. After he was finished, he called up Kate on the phone. "Katie! You will not believe who was just here!"