Complications of a Broken Heart

Prologue; The Breakup.

Hermione curled up on one of the biggest couches in the Gryffindor common room, heaving a large book that was sitting on the table in front of her onto her lap. It wasn't more than a few minutes before she lost herself in the book, so she didn't see the impatient red head standing in front of her, desperately trying to get her attention. Finally giving up all hope of getting her attention, the red head screamed, "Hermione!"

Hermione jumped, startled by an extremely aggravated Ginny standing in front of her. "Oh, hey Ginny. I didn't see you standing there," she said calmly, as she closed her book and placed it back on the table.

"Wow, that's a shocker. Really, I don't think anyone can pull you away from those books," she growled at the curly haired girl sitting in front of her.

"That's not true," she said defensively.

"Yeah, you're right. I know a certain brother of mine that can take your mind away from those books, or anything really." Ginny giggled as she watched Hermione turn a bright shade of red. "So how are you and Ron doing these days?"

"Um, I'm not really sure. I guess okay," Hermione mumbled, looking down at her hands. "I mean, I haven't really talked to him since the night of the battle."

Ginny crossed her arms over her chest, looking bitterly at her. "Why not? Are you thinking of breaking up with him?"

"No,... well maybe a little. It just seems like things have... changed between us since we came back to school. He's just been so distant with me." She didn't let it show by the sound of her voice, but Hermione was very upset at the fact that she and Ron were having problems. She really cared about him and didn't want to lose him, but in a way, she thought maybe it would be for the best. She held back the tears that were brimming in her eyes. She didn't want to let on that she was upset by this.

"Well, have you talked to him about this?" Ginny asked the question like it was the only option Hermione had, but then again it probably was the only real option she had. She couldn't go around avoiding the boy for the rest of the school year. Ginny glared at her, looking for a response when she didn't answer. "So?" she growled.

"No, I haven't talked to him, but I guess it would be a good idea, wouldn't it?" Hermione squeaked.

"Oh, no. It would be much better if you just sat around, wallowing in your own self pity until the problem just magically fixed itself like all problems do." Ginny's words oozed sarcasm. "Now come on. Dumbledore has put on a school-wide picnic, due to the fact that it is such a beautiful day and Harry defeated one of the world's most evil wizards a month ago today." Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand, trying to pull her out of the room, but she had her feet planted into the ground.

She glared at Ginny with pure hate in her eyes. "Ron is going to be out there. You know that." "Yes, I know. That's why you're going. You have to talk to him or this will never get solved," Ginny stated.

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to be bad?" she mumbled as Ginny led her through the portrait hole and onto the grounds of the castle.

"There he is," Ginny pointed Ron out the second they reached the picnic. "Go talk to him," she said, pushing Hermione toward Ron.

"I can't. Look, this kind of thing is hard for me," she said softly.

"Will it make you feel better if I go with you?" Ginny asked kindly.

Hermione stood there for a second thinking about it. She knew she had to talk to Ron eventually. Whatever was going to happen, would happen, whenever she talked to him, so why put it off any longer? She nodded at Ginny's question and followed her over to Ron. Her heart stopped when she saw him. She wanted to run and hide; anything to prevent this from happening, she just had a bad feeling about it.

"Hey," Ron said gravely as the girls made their way in front of him.

"Hello," Hermione whispered. She looked back at Ginny to see if she would allow her to run, but it was no good. If she ran, Ginny would kill her.

"Look, I know you two have been, uh, going through a rough time. I care about both of you, and I don't like seeing you guys going through all of this," Ginny said calmly, glancing between her brother and friend. "Now Hermione, do you still care about Ron?"

She thought about it for a second. Did she still care for Ron? Of course she did. Just because they weren't talking didn't mean that she stopped caring about him. Or did it? "Yes," she squeaked in reply.

"What about you, Ron?" Ginny continued.

Ron stood there silently for a long time. "This isn't going to be good," Hermione thought. Ron looked up from his trainers into her eyes, and as she looked into his beautiful honey brown eyes her heart froze again. "This isn't going to be good," she thought again. Ron began to speak softly, but she heard what he said. "I'm not sure. I think it would be best if we just took a break for now. Sometimes I think we made better friends than a couple."

She could feel her heart shatter as he said those words. How could he do this to her, after two years, how could he just end it like that? She held back the tears she knew were forming in her eyes. She had to appear as if none of this affected her, as if none of it hurt her. The rest of the conversation was a blur, she was too busy trying to prevent herself from crying.

"So friends?" Ron asked kindly, offering his arms for a hug.

"Yeah, friends," she replied bitterly, falling into his arms, the same arms that for 2 years held her in a loving embrace, but now that embrace was just friendly. When they separated, she quickly made her way over to her favorite tree, sliding down underneath it. She began to cry. How could he do this to her? She had been nothing but the "perfect" girlfriend to him and he had thrown her away like yesterday's waste. She began to recall all the good times they had together, and how perfect their first kiss was.