The Man With The Golden Wand

Chapter 5: Running Home

I smoothed my tousled hair in the mirror with my good hand and looked over my appearance once more. Not too shabby considering just the day before I saved the world and had a bullet hole in my arm.

I shifted the sling around my neck into a more comfortable position. I had been rushed to the hospital and the medi-wizards patched me up best they could, but there was still some residual pain, so the doctor told me to wear the sling for a while longer. I thought it made me look rather dashing, but it was damned hard to get dressed in the morning.

Hermione came into the room, yawning. She was wearing faded jeans and a sweatshirt that had "Red Sox" printed across the front. A present from Trevor I assumed. I resisted the urge to say so.

"Are you ready, Ron?" she asked me. "It´s time to leave, we don´t want to be late."

"I´m just trying to get these buttons," I said. "It´s a bit difficult with only one hand."

She walked over to me. "Let me." She tsked. "I don´t know why you didn´t just wear something you could pull over."

She reached out a hand but I pulled back.

"Because I didn´t bring something like that," I said testily. "I can do it, Hermione. I´m not a child."

She started buttoning buttons anyway. "I know, but you´re injured, so let me help."

We were silent for a minute as her swift and nimble hands worked their way up my shirt. She stopped before the top button and rested her hand gently on my chest.

"Ron?" she said quietly. "Can I ask you a question?"

I was aware that my heart was racing in the general vicinity of her hand. "Sure."

"How on earth did Ginny manage to become involved with Malfoy?"

I relaxed some. "I have no idea. You´re asking the wrong person. I only found out a few days ago and this hasn´t been the best time to enquire into my sister´s love life."

"Doesn´t it bother you?"

"Of course it bothers me, but there´s nothing I could do about it. Ginny is her own person, I have no control over what she does, although why she prefers the Ferret to a stand up bloke like Harry is beyond me."

"Harry?" Hermione said incredulously. "Really? He likes Ginny, too? Since when?"

I snorted. "Likes Ginny? More like is madly in love with her. And since about the time you were last in England, I suppose."

"Oh." Her hand still rested on my chest. I knew she could feel my heart beat. "Ron."

I sighed and removed her hand from my shirt. "No, Hermione."

She took a step back and looked at me in surprise. "You don´t even know what I was going to say."

"Oh, yes I do. The answer is no. You know that, Hermione. Don´t make this more difficult than it has to be."

Her eyes filled with tears. "Why? Why does the answer have to be no?"

I couldn´t look at her. "Because you have Trevor, and I have my work. We live in two different worlds now. It was nice to visit yours, Hermione, but I don´t belong here."

"Ron--"

"No." I rubbed my head with my one good hand. "We can´t. Do you understand? If we did...it would all turn out wrong. It would just be wrong."

She fell silent. Then she turned away. I could hear the sob in her voice as she struggled to speak calmly.

"I should have known you would be scared."

I refused to take her bait. I knew she didn´t mean it, she was just upset and was trying to make me angry so that I´d start yelling and we´d be on equal footing. Hermione always knew where she stood in a row. This quiet refusal had put her off guard.

"We´re going to be late," I said, attempting to keep my tone cheery. "Let´s go, I want to see this baseball."

Hermione bit her lip, but didn´t say anything. Instead, she handed me my coat and took her own. Then she started out the door. She muttered, "Obfirmus," which would keep the door locked against any intruders, and we headed down to the Chudley Mobile.

"`Morning, Car," I said. "How are you?" If a car could roll its eyes, this one would have. I think it rolled its headlights.

"As stated previously, Mr. Weasley, I do not `feel´. However I could use some petrol and my spark plugs will need changing soon."

Hermione glared at me. "Can´t you make this thing shut up?" she hissed. "I have muggle neighbors! And don´t you think it is a bit odd that your car talks?"

"No. The car on Knight Rider talks."

Her jaw dropped. "When have you ever watched Knight Rider?!"

I blushed. "I caught a few reruns once. There was a marathon. Just get in the car."

She got in the driver´s seat and I sat on the passenger side. It was a long and silent car ride. Eventually we arrived at the stadium which was called Fenway Park. It was a zoo. We were jostled this way and that, and Hermione had a difficult time finding a parking place. Eventually I created one (without telling her of course), and pointed it out. It was a long way to the field.

Trevor was waiting for us outside the stadium looking especially stupid in a hat and jersey. I say especially stupid because the had didn´t fit his head and he weighed too much to squeeze into that jersey. Of course, that could just be the jealousy talking.

He jumped off his seat on a bench outside the gate and ran up to Hermione, hugging her. Then he turned to me and attempted to shake my hand. That´s when he noticed the sling.

"Oh, dear, what happened?"

I sighed and brushed the hair from my eyes. I´d need a haircut when I returned to London.

"I had a run in with a brick wall," I said as cheerily as possible. The man really tried my patience with his eager puppy routine.

"Oh." Trevor seemed unsure of what to say next. "Well, you´re here now, so we can go inside. Here are your tickets, I´ve got box seats."

We started inside and gave our tickets to the ticket-taker. I was fascinated. I had met muggles before, of course, but I had never been surrounded by so many before. There probably wasn´t a magical person around for miles. It vaguely reminded me of the World Cup I attended in fourth year with noisy cheering fans. I gathered from the shouts and derogatory signs that the Socks were playing the Yankees. How odd. Weren´t all American´s Yanks?

I was going to ask Hermione about it, but she seemed a trifle preoccupied. I cried out when someone stuck their elbow into my wound and called that person a sodding git. I don´t think he heard me.

"A friend of mine is going to join us later. She got caught up at work," Trevor said in passing.

I grabbed Hermione´s sleeve at this announcement. "She? He´s trying to fix me up, isn´t he? He´s going to fix me up!"

She removed my hand. "Don´t be ridiculous, Ron. I´m sure Trevor has absolutely no intention of setting you up. He barely knows you!"

"He´s going to set me up," I repeated blankly. "I can´t believe it, your boyfriend is going to set me up!"

We were climbing up stairs at this point. I was beginning to wish I had a broomstick.

"Would you shut up?" Hermione hissed. "Come on inside, let´s just enjoy the game."

We entered the sky box. Once again I was impressed. It was well decorated with comfortable chairs and couches, there were platters of food all around and when I looked out the window I had a perfect view of the pitch...the field...whatever.

I made myself comfortable in one of the reclining leather armchairs.

"So, when´s this game supposed to start anyway?" I asked.

"Not for another half an hour," Hermione answered, sitting down next to me. "Trevor, why don´t you go get us some snacks."

Trevor looked surprised. "But we have food up here," he said, pointing to the fancy platters.

"I know," Hermione replied. "But I´d like Ron to get the whole experience. Could you get us a couple of hot dogs and some nachos?"

He nodded and went to go get the food. I wasn´t sure exactly what these `nachos´ were, but they sounded rather interesting.

I took this opportunity to look down in the stadium. It was really quite fascinating. There were men wandering up and down the aisles with baskets. Some were filled with flags and hats, that sort of thing, others had something I think I recognized as candy floss. There were people holding up signs either supporting the Yankees or opposing them. And periodically a beach ball would bounce into view.

Trevor came back shortly and I discovered what a nacho was. I decided that I liked them very much and went down later to get another. He also brought drinks. Strange, pop just doesn´t taste the same in America as it does in England. I suppose I was feeling a bit of homesickness. I wanted a beer, but Hermione refused. She said, "You´re not getting drunk today, Ron Weasley. Honestly, I´d hate to think what your liver looks like!"

I objected to that. All spies drank. It was the only way to drown our sorrows. Not to mention that we had a tendency to get hit in the head, and alcohol dulled the pain.

I was really tempted to curse her, but Trevor was in the room, and I´d get a nasty fine from the Misproper Use of Magic office, not to mention what Hermione would do to me once she was back to normal.

The game soon started. I learned three very important lessons about baseball that day: 1) for a sport played without broomsticks and in very confining outfits, baseball actually wasn´t terribly dull; 2) like in Quidditch, like in any sport really, there are good players and bad players. There seemed to be a lot of bad players on the pitch that day; and 3) nachos are good.

Nomar Garciaparra seemed to be a favorite of the crowd and I noticed that Hermione would stare every time his face came on the giant screen. Great, more competition.

The game stretched on. I wasn´t sure who I was supposed to be supporting, but as Trevor was fond of the Red Sox, I opted for the Yankees. Yes, I am stubborn that way. Hermione took note of my interest and saw this as a golden opportunity to instruct me in the art of baseball. She never missed the chance to lecture.

"Now, the top of the order, batters one to two, are the set up men, they get on base so the blokes behind them, O'Neill, Williams and Martinez, can drive them in. Knoblauch and Jeter are deadly at this, or were a few years ago. Paul O´Neill is most likely to hit the ball for a single or a double to the opposite field, in his case left field as he's a left handed batter. Williams and Martinez both have power, and are probably the most likely to hit home runs. Williams is the most likely to hit to all fields, meaning anywhere in the outfield, left, center or right, because he's a switch hitter who can bat right-handed or left-handed. Martinez mostly to right field as that is his natural pull side. Once you get down to the bottom of the line up, you've got good power, but not too much actually hitting prowess."

I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. "How the hell do you know all that?"

Hermione shrugged. "Trevor loves baseball. He´s taught me a lot. The rest I learned on my own. I rather like the game."

Trevor took this chance to chime in. "The Yankees are bringing in a relief pitcher, Mike Stanton. But he´s got nothing on Pedro Martinez. Yes! They just scored a home run!"

It was the bottom of the seventh inning; at least, that´s what Hermione told me as soon as she could be peeled away from Nomar. I swear, she was never that interested in Quidditch, which, I assure you, is a much more interesting game. Baseball wasn´t bad, but nothing beats flying, Bludgers, Quaffles, and the Snitch.

The game was getting exciting. The two teams were nearly tied with the Red Sox in the lead by four points, or runs as Trevor was endeavoring to explain to me. According to Hermione, this was a good thing. I didn´t really care who was winning seeing as I wasn´t likely to follow either of the teams once I´d returned to London.

Suddenly Trevor leapt out of his seat, examined his pager, and exclaimed, "Oh, she´s here! She´s finally arrived. Hold on just a minute, I really want to introduce you."

I turned to Hermione. "He´s trying to set me up. He´s going to set me up."

She glared at me. "He is not setting you up, Ron. She´s just a friend of his from work. He would not try to fix you up."

He came back shortly with a woman. "Hermione, Ron, I´d like to introduce you to--"

And that´s when I got a good look at her.

"You!" I said loudly, so that everyone turned to look at me. She gave me a look that said, `Please shut up and don´t make a scene.´ I´ve never been one to pay attention to such looks.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I shouted.

Trevor gave us a different sort of look that clearly indicated he thought I was crazy. "Uh, I take it you two know each other?"

Marix smiled. "We´ve met."

I was affronted. "Damn right we´ve met!"

Hermione was giving me a suspicious look, but I don´t think that she recognized Marix. I think that by the time she had come to the bar that night in the Electric Dragon, Callia was already on duty.

"Excuse me, Trevah, Hehmione, I need to speak with Ron fah a moment," Marix said, smiling at the confused pair. I was enraged. "We´ll go get something to drink. Come on, Ron."

Still angry, but also curious, I followed her out of the sky box. We went a ways, bumping into excited fans, until we found a secluded stretch of the hallway. Then I really tore into her.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Have you been following me? How do you know Trevor? Why weren´t you at the club yesterday? Are you one of them?"

She only smiled. "When you ask me seventeen questions at once, it´s a bit difficult to ansah them. Pick one."

I stared. "Who are you?"

"My code name is Marix, that much is true. I´m AA."

"What?" I gasped.

She rolled her eyes. "An American Aurah." She shrugged. "One of the best."

"That´s impossible!" I exclaimed. "Hermione didn´t recognize you!"

"The AA is a rather lahge ohganization, Ron. Hehmione is only a vehy small part of it. I´m closeh to the top."

I was confused. "How do you know Trevor, then?"

Now I had confused her. "What do you mean, how do I know him? I work with him, like he said."

"That´s impossible!" I exploded. I was tired of this game.

"Why?"

"Because he´s a Muggle!"

"Excuse me?" Marix asked, taken aback. Her eyes were wide and questioning as if she had no idea what I talking about.

And that´s when things started to get really confusing.

"He´s a muggle," I said. "That´s what Hermione told me. That´s what he told her."

"Trevah is not a muggle. Trevah is the top man in the AA. The vehy top," Marix explained, shaking her head. "Oh, shit, I probably shouldn´t be telling you this, but I thought you knew!"

"What?" I asked, clutching my head. I was getting dizzy. What was with everyone in disguise? Was no one honest anymore?

"Ron, weah both agents. Hehmione works for us." She sighed and threw up her hands. "I might as well tell you the rest. Look, we weh intehested in promoting heh, but didn´t know if she could be trusted. Trevah assigned himself to heh."

I was so lost by this point. Several people jostled me and I barely noticed. Trevor wasn´t a muggle. He worked with Marix. They were AA. Hermione...she was being lied to.

"What do you mean he´s not a muggle?"

Marix exhaled, exasperated. "Youah really fixated on this, ahn´t you? He´s a wizahd, one of the best. And he wanted to promote Hehmione. She´s good, she´s valuable. But she was displaying a lot of the qualities predominant in a double agent. So Trevah decided to get close to heh, to find out the truth."

Now that was just wrong. It was disturbing.

"He was following her?"

Marix shrugged uncomfortably. "He needed to know the truth. Be grateful, how do you think I got to you in time?"

Perhaps it was Backward day and no one told me. This might explain my semi-permanent state of bewilderment.

"What?"

"Ron, you don´t think you got out of the Dragon by yehself, do you?"

"Kristine helped me."

"And who do you think inspiahed Kristine to mutiny? Who do you think was responsible feh getting Plu to put all heh plans into action the day you happened to be theh? I did. I wielded a lot of influence theh. It had been my undercovah assignment for yeahs. I did otheh jobs on the side, but that was my main concehn, because I knew they were dangerous."

She shook her head. "But I nevah would have even gotten to Kristine in time, if it hadn´t been feh Trevah. When he saw Hehmione run out of heh apahtment that day, he knew wheh she was going and alehted me. I, in tuhn, called Kristine. And it´s lucky feh you that I did! Othehwise you´d be a pile of ash on the floah and Plu would be well on heh way to wohld domination."

"I can´t believe this," I said distantly. "Trevor´s not a muggle."

"Yes, we´ve established this already!" Marix said, exasperated. "Does nothing else intehest you?"

"Hermione doesn´t know," I said, ignoring her. "She thinks he´s just a normal, regular bloke. He´s been lying to her."

"He had to," Marix said forcefully. "It was his job."

"This will destroy her," I said, shaking my head. I didn´t know what to do.

Marix came towards me and looked me in the eyes. "Are you going to tell her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because she´d hate me forever if I did."

I left Marix standing there and returned to the box. Trevor had his arm slung around Hermione. It made me sick. How dare he! Now that I knew the truth, I couldn´t stand looking at him, let alone with Hermione. He was lying to her and no one was allowed to lie to Hermione. Worst of all, all she wanted was a normal relationship. One without complications.

I hadn´t liked Trevor from the beginning. The information that had suddenly come to light certainly didn´t improve his chances.

Tapping him on the shoulder, I requested to talk with him for a moment. Fortunately Hermione didn´t notice anything. She was too preoccupied with the game.

He followed me to the other side of the very large room.

"I have to go," I told him. "Something urgent just came up at work and I´m needed immediately."

"Oh," said Trevor, obviously slightly surprised. "Well, I´m sure `Mione will be sad to see you go. We must do this again sometime, eh, old chap?"

I really hated it when he attempted to imitate my accent, mostly because he was so bad at it. I couldn´t pretend any longer.

"I know," I said flatly. He looked up in shock. "Okay? I know the truth. So stop acting like a complete idiot. You´re not an idiot. You´re a liar and a fraud."

I said all of this in a low tone so Hermione wouldn´t over hear. "Tell her."

"Excuse me?" Trevor returned, small smirk on his lips.

"Tell her what you are, what you do, and that you lied to her!"

"Why?"

"Why? Because she deserves it. She deserves to know the truth. Because you´re a complete prat."

Trevor seemed to consider this. "And if I told you that I wouldn´t? That I couldn´t? Would you tell her? Would you take matters into your own hands?"

"Maybe."

"So you´d blow my secret, as we `Yanks´ would say?"

I growled. He was making secret digs at me. Now that I knew the truth, the subtext of certain comments came back to me.

"More likely I´d break your legs. Tell her and see what happens then."

And I walked away. I went to Hermione, told her I had gotten and emergency owl and that I had to leave. I left. I waited until I was a safe distance from the stadium and Apparated to her apartment.

* * *

I was nearly finished packing. All I needed was my personal effects; my toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream (which I hadn´t actually gotten a chance to use so I was looking rather scruffy), and the like. Then I´d be ready to leave. Oh, and my shoes. The one´s Dad made for me, I didn´t want to leave those behind. They could be dangerous if they fell into the wrong hands, or on the wrong feet.

I was just slipping my brush into my bag when I heard keys in the lock and the front door opened to reveal Hermione, red-eyed and crying, in the hallway. She sniffled a few times and looked up at me, struggling to hold back tears.

"He lied, Ron," she said as she entered. She wiped her eyes. "He lied to me. He´s not a muggle."

"Hermione--" I began; she cut me off.

"I can´t believe he´d do this to me. All the deception, all the lies."

"I have to go, Hermione."

She stopped and turned around abruptly. She came over to me looking perplexed.

"What do you mean you have to go?"

"My job here is done," I said, turning from her. I just couldn´t look at her now. "I have to go back to work."

"You´re leaving? So soon?" She was beseeching me.

"I don´t have a choice."

"Of course you do! Stay! I need you."

At this I spun around and advanced on her. Anger filled inside me, mixed with remorse.

"You don´t need me. You´ve never needed me." The anger slipped. "It´s what I´ve always admired about you. You´re strong and independent."

"Ron--" she said, disbelief written across her face.

I couldn´t look at her. It would weaken my resolve and I knew I had to leave. "I´m going."

"Ron, what about us?" she said in a small voice. "We´ve barely spoken since you´ve gotten here!"

"I can´t. We can´t. We´ve had this conversation before, Hermione. Why do we have to repeat it?"

I grasped at my hair. I was so frustrated at the way my life seemed to be going in circles. This was nothing new. I wanted a change, I wanted to come to some sort of final decision. I needed closure.

"Because things have changed," she whispered.

"What´s changed?" I demanded. There was silence. "Look, I know he lied to you."

"You know?" Hermione said, suddenly angry. "Why didn´t you tell me? Why didn´t you say something?"

"Marix only told me five minutes before I told Trevor to tell you," I said, suddenly on the defensive.

"You told Trevor to tell me the truth?" Hermione exclaimed.

"You make it sound like that´s a bad thing!"

"Why didn´t you tell me yourself?" she asked desperately.

"Because I knew you´d hate me if I did."

"What!"

"Hermione, you know that you´d hate me, that you´d yell and scream at me. You´d accuse me of being jealous if I told you that Trevor was lying. So I didn´t tell you. I made him do it."

"I don´t believe this." She sat down heavily on the sofa and pressed her hands to her face. "What am I going to do?" She looked up at me, she was crying again. "Ron, please, can´t you stay a little longer?"

I hated that tone in her voice. I had to do something, I had to leave. I´d regret it if I didn´t.

"Hermione, I have a life back in England. You have your life here. We both know this. This decision was made for us long ago." I paused. "We are not in control of our own futures."

"It was nice to see you again," I assured her. "And thank you for hitting Liz for me." She was silent. "Look me up if you´re ever in London again. After all, it´s not as if you have to sneak around anymore. Both Harry and Ginny know about you. I wouldn´t be surprised if Sirius knew by now."

I walked over to her, hating to see her so upset. She was shaking, sobbing. I kissed her gently on the forehead.

"Goodbye, Hermione. It will get better, I promise."

And I walked out the door. When I first planned this, when I had planned on leaving, I thought I´d feel good about it. Because I would be the one to walk out. I was the one in control. I was the one to say no. Instead I felt miserable. I didn´t know what to do. It just...it was too difficult. We both knew it, we´d known it for a long time.

Hell. What´s love got to do with it anyway?

* * *

I was back in the Chudley Cave rearranging a few things. I was also wondering what the hell I had done with my laser pointer. Handy little things, I´d picked one up in Boston, and had Dad improve upon it. Now when I pressed the little button, it shot a real laser.

I turned on the telly and hunted around for the American channel I´d come across the other day. It was showing sports--baseball specifically. I looked at it intently, wondering what teams were playing. It was the Red Sox. I should have known. My hand went to the remote to switch it off, but at the last moment I stopped. I wasn´t really sure why, I just suppose I wanted a bit of the memory. But I didn´t need a baseball game to think about her.

It was raining, of course, but I didn´t need the rain to think of her either. I was already thinking of her, I had been thinking about her ever since I had gotten back. It had been four days and there was no word from her. I hadn´t really expected to hear from her, but I had hoped I would. I was worried about her.

I put some popcorn in the microwave and sat down to watch the game. Then the doorbell rang. I had been expecting Harry. He had said he was going to come over later so we could have a nice long talk. Great. I had already had "friendly chats" with just about everyone else. Ginny first, she attacked me almost as soon as I got home. Then it was Sirius who gave me a nice long lecture about keeping my personal life separate from work. My parents and brothers joined in the act; how they had heard about it I didn´t really question since I assumed either Harry or Ginny had opened his or her big mouth.

But I was tired of "chats" about Hermione. I didn´t need their lectures. Everything they told me I already knew. Now it was Harry´s turn, apparently. He informed me I could look forward to a very long evening. Sounded like fun.

So I went to the door. "Password?"

I had expected to hear Harry´s voice on the other side say, "Ron, you bastard, come on, we go through this every time." Instead, it was a different voice.

"Chudley Cannons rule."

In a dream-like state I took out my wand, waved it, and a door materialized. My hand went to the handle, and I opened it.

Standing out in the pouring rain, sopping wet, was none other than Hermione Granger.

"Hermione?" I said in disbelief.

She smiled tentatively at me, and pushed sodden hair out of her eyes. "Hullo, Ron. May I come in?"

I took a step back. I was speechless, I didn´t know what to say. She stepped in, shaking some of the rain from her hair.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, awed. "Why aren´t you in Boston?"

"I quit."

I gaped at her. "What?"

"I quit, Ron, I quit the AA."

"But, but your job--"

"I just couldn´t take it anymore," she said, removing her coat. "The lies, knowing that Trevor was somewhere in the AA, watching me. Ooh, the idea gave me the shivers. I couldn´t do it. After what they did to me? After tricking me like that?"

I thought perhaps her eyes were beginning to tear up, but I couldn´t tell for sure. It might have just been residual rain.

"Ron." I turned and I looked. "He never, never meant to me what you mean to me."

I wasn´t sure I understood what she was saying to me.

"I never, ever, loved Trevor the way...the way I love you." Her eyes were downcast and her cheeks were flushed. I couldn´t remember the last time I had seen Hermione so nonplussed.

I still couldn´t talk.

"Say something, please?" she begged. "I came here because I needed you. Even though we fight, and even though sometimes you can be the biggest prat in the world," here she took a deep breath, "I still love you. The way that I´ve never loved anyone else before."

She was crying now, but she looked up determinedly and met my stare. "And I would do anything to keep you. I realize that now. When I fed you all the bullshit about living different lives, and needing to live a life apart from yours, I, I was wrong."

I moved to interrupt (although I didn´t know what to say), but she was on a roll now and kept going.

"Because all that is just...stuff, it doesn´t matter! What matters is being with you, being safe, being loved. You can give me that, Ron. And I love you."

I just stood there, staring at her dumbly. I must have been completely out of mind, imagining it all. This couldn´t be Hermione standing in front of me, humbling herself like this. This was just all wrong.

"Say something," she beseeched. "Anything."

Slowly, I felt the power of speech return to me. With it came anger and resentment.

"You just waltz in here and feed me some crap about how the life you formed for yourself means nothing and you only want to be with me, and you expect me to just accept that? Hermione, you don´t have a life anymore, you just quit it. But you didn´t quit it because of me. You didn´t give up everything because of me. You can´t tell me that!"

"I should have," Hermione said quietly, standing still, dripping on my carpet.

"Excuse me?" I returned.

"I should have given it up for you. A long time ago." She started to get angry. "Don´t you understand? I´m sorry! I´m sorry for all the mistakes I´ve made in the past. I don´t have anything anymore! I don´t know if I´ve ever had anything that meant anything. Except for what I had with you."

"That was a very pretty speech, Hermione," I said coldly. "But how the Hell am I supposed to believe you anymore? How can I believe anything that you say? You do this to me every time! I´m just a back up to you. I´m a last resort."

Hermione stared at me, uncomprehending. She looked at me as if she had never seen me before.

"How can you say that?" she whispered.

"Because it´s true. You don´t think about me twice. You don´t want me unless there´s nobody else." I was getting so angry I could barely see straight. "You chose a stupid muggle over me."

"I had to," she said desperately. I turned away and went to my microwave; I didn´t want my popcorn to burn. Last thing I needed was a small fire.

"I had to choose someone other than you," she continued. "Or at least I thought I did, because being with you was killing me!"

"Then what´s different now?" I snapped. "Hm? What´s changed? Won´t being with me now still `kill you´?"

She turned her back on me and began to pace around the room. For the first time since she walked in, I took a good look at her. She had cut her hair a little shorter and it was wild with curls because of the damp. Her shoulders were slumped forward and her step was heavy. She was so weighted down with guilt, grief, and anger. My righteous anger slipped a moment and I pitied her.

"Things are different," she said softly. "I´ve got nothing to lose anymore."

The anger resurfaced. "I do."

Hermione was stunned. "Are you saying no?"

"I´m saying, give me a damned good reason."

She gaped at me. "A better reason than `I love you?´"

"How do you know I still love you?" I said haughtily.

At this Hermione laughed. She burst into genuine hysterical laughter. She was doubled over and I was finding myself more and more annoyed.

"Are you joking? Ron, you would follow me all over the world because you love me!"

I growled. "I went to Boston, Massachusetts on assignment, not because I was following you!"

"Oh, excuse me. You could have said no, Ron. You could have said, `No, Sirius, I don´t want to go to Boston. That´s where my ex-girlfriend, whom I never want to see again, lives.´ Not to mention that you were going to Boston to work with an agent from the AA, the very organization I work for! You should have expected you´d run into me! You could have said no! But did you? No, you didn´t."

I was so flustered by this that all I could do was fold my arms and say stubbornly, "So? What´s your point?"

"You also didn´t tell anyone about me," she went on. "You didn´t tell Ginny, hell, you didn´t even tell Harry I was still around. And why? Because I asked you to. I asked you to keep it a secret. And you did. If you really didn´t love me, you´d have told everybody."

"That´s flawed logic. And it´s not good enough, Hermione. What do you want from me?"

She shook her head at me. "I don´t want something, I just want you!"

And suddenly I didn´t really understand why I was still protesting this. Standing in front of me was Hermione, the girl I had only loved since I was fourteen. And she was telling me that she loved me too. That she only wanted to be with me. And that she was willing to do it on my terms.

What the fuck was I hesitant about?

So I leaned forward and kissed her. It wasn´t a particularly memorable kiss. It wasn´t one of those movie kisses where "everything finally fell into place," and it certainly wasn´t an assault on her lips. It wasn´t delicate and tender, the first kiss of two young lovers. This kiss was more familiar than anything else. Showing her that I remembered, and that I wanted what she wanted.

We broke apart. Hermione looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Thank you."

To which I replied, "Huh?"

She smiled and laughed a little. "I meant everything I said."

"Good," I replied. "So did I. Does this mean what I think it means?"

She lowered her eyes modestly, not that Hermione is ever modest.

"Depends on what you think it means."

I wiped tears from her eyes with my thumb and lifted her chin so that she looked at me. "Hermione Elizabeth Granger, do you want to be with me?"

She muffled a laugh. "Depends. Ronald Marmaduke Weasley, do you want to be with me?"

And at the same time, still looking at one another and still smiling, we said, "Yes."

We kissed again. It was still that oh-so-familiar kiss. That kiss that we had kissed thousands of times in the past. The one that showed we knew precisely who we were, that we knew each other better than anyone else ever could, that we were entirely comfortable with one another, and that no matter what anyone else said, we always would be. I think that´s the kind of kiss that speaks a thousand words.

* * *

I opened my eyes the next morning and my gaze fell upon the sleeping figure of Hermione next to me. I smiled because, well, because she was there and she was mine. I put a hand out an touched her cheek gently. She murmured sleepily and her eyes fluttered open.

She smiled at me. "`Morning."

I sat up in bed. "What do you know, you´re still here."

Instead of becoming angry, she only smiled brighter and moved closer to me. I put my arm around her and kissed her forehead.

"Yes I am, and I plan on being here for a very long time."

"Good," I said, kissing her again. "Now move over...you´re hogging the covers."