Tears of Loss, Joy of Gain

It was all his fault.

Surprising, isn't it, that the Boy-Who-Lived blamed himself so much for what had happened? Sorry, my fault, everything that happened that was a little bit harmful to him, but especially to others. This time was no different.

So many years before, he had met them. Yes, them, one of which Ron Weasley, who he met on the train on the way to his first year of Hogwarts. How glad he was that he met Ron first, because Ron was a wizard who knew much about the wizarding world, without having any prejudices against non-purebloods. Imagine if Harry had been Malfoy's best friend.

Harry sighed as he pulled on his new black suit. He wasn't as worried about this because of Ron, but most of his sadness was because of Hemione being involved too. She was his one true love. Don't believe it? Well, you should. It definitely wasn't love at first sight. After all, the first time he met Hermione she struck him as only a bushy-haired, buck-teethed know-it-all who was nothing but trouble for his good times. He got into trouble many times early in his first year because she was involved. That all changed, however, when Ron insulted her, leaving her crying in the bathroom where a troll came in and tried to kill her. Geez, there was a lot of coincidence there. Maybe the fates had smiled on him there.

It's hard to tell just when he fell in love with her. Was it later that first year when she hugged him and told him he was a great wizard? No, that wasn't it. How about second year when she was petrified? He might have felt a little bit of something then, but he dismissed it as worry for his best friend, instead of worry for someone he really and truly loved as more than that.

He found out how much she trusted him the following year, when she rode the hippogriff, Buckbeak, something she hated because she was frightened to death, simply because she trusted Harry not to let her fall. Then, the next year, she believed he didn't put his name in the goblet when no others did, and there was the kiss on the cheek at the end of the year.

By the next year, he had missed his chance. She was with Ron by then, and this might have been when Harry realized his feelings for her, because of jealousy. Sure, he tried to cover it up by going out with Cho, but he really just played her. And she actually believed that she dumped him. This was a thought that amused Harry above all other things.

By seventh year, he knew. Secretly, he had been hoping Hermione and Ron would break up, though he didn't know why, and it dawned on him that he loved her. He really and truly loved her. However, by the end of the year, he had missed his chance, because at the end of the year, he lost her. He really and truly lost her.

Pulling on the suit, Harry walked out the door, and walked into the next room, his knees buckling at the sight of Hermione in that dress. That beautiful white dress he had helped pick out. He walked over to her, seeing her smile at him, which seemed to tear him apart even more than she could ever know. God, he loved that smile, just as he loved the woman who had the smile.

When I said earlier in the story that Harry had lost her, I didn't mean that he had lost her to death. Far from it, actually, as Hermione was very much alive. No, he hadn't lost her to death, but it was something as inescapable as death, something he couldn't bring her out of as much as death. She was as good as dead for his chances of getting her, for who would he be to tell her of his love for her, on this day, or even any other day? What girl, sorry, woman, wants to know of this on her wedding day? Yes, wedding day, as Hermione was indeed getting married to Ron, and three guesses as to who was the best man.

Harry tried to smile back at her but felt his heart breaking and failed. She could tell something was wrong, he knew she could, and so she asked, "Harry, is there something you want to tell me?" You see, Hermione hadn't been the smartest witch at Hogwarts for nothing- she knew of Harry's feelings for her, and actually felt the same way herself. So, why was she marrying Ron? The answer to that was that she supposed she was too chicken to break Ron's heart, and she wondered how she had ever gotten into Gryffindor. She had only followed Ron and Harry back then, she supposed.

Harry shook his head and muttered, "Nothing. I just wanted to tell you how excited-" he broke off at this point, trying to control his emotions-"how excited Ron is about the wedding." With this, Harry realized he had to go into the Great Hall of Hogwarts to wait up there with Ron, as the wedding was about to begin. With a last, heartbreaking smile at Hermione, he left.

Pretty soon, he saw the most beautiful sight he had ever seen- his true love walking down the aisle. It was only after a moment that he realized she wasn't coming down the aisle toward him- she was going to Ron. His heart broke as they met each other. Pretty soon, there was that familiar line-you know which one. You know, the one about speaking now or forever holding your peace?

Let's just say Harry was sick and tired of holding his peace. He spoke then, ignoring the shocked stares of everybody. As Dumbledore, who was performing the wedding, was about to move on to the next part of his speech, Harry said, "Wait." Everybody looked at him, including Ron and Hermione. He took a deep breath and continued:

"I am so sorry to say, Ron, that I do not deserve to be your best man at this wedding at all. I must say that for the past so many years, I have been in love with the woman you are marrying, and it's true love. I'm sorry if this is ruining your wedding day, but I'm not sorry for saying what I just said." With this, Harry left, leaving everybody staring after him.

Ron turned, shocked, to his fiancee and looked at her. She looked back at him, opening her mouth a few times but failing to say anything, before she rushed out of the Hall. She rushed down to where she knew she would find him, at Hogsmeade station, where he was preparing to get on the train. She hopped on behind him, trying to catch her breath.

Ignoring his shocked look, she spoke then. "Harry, you daft git," she began. Harry looked offended by this and started to speak, but with a wave of her hand, Hermione cut him off. "I love you too, Harry, did you know that? I didn't want to marry Ron, I wanted to marry you, and I'm glad your Gryffindor courage came to the wedding, for mine was hiding somewhere."

Harry grinned at this, his first real grin in a long time. "Couldn't let the most beautiful woman in the world get married to someone else without getting my say in," he said. "Let's say we take this train to wherever it goes and then move on from there?" With a nod and a bigger smile from Hermione, the two took their seat, and Hermione knew, without a doubt, that her wedding day was more perfect than she thought it would be. As the two sat on the train this time, they made their plans for the future, starting with their place to live. They couldn't be happier if they tried.

At Hogsmeade station stood a young man who couldn't be sadder and angrier if he tried, for he had just been betrayed. He looked at the train as it pulled away, and a tear made its way down his cheek. He wiped it away angrily, for he, Ron Weasley had seen this event coming. He knew those two had loved each other the most out of anybody.