Betrayal

Chapter 12

Harry's ears were ringing and he felt dizzy. He walked back over to his bed and sat down. He had known that Ron was going to be really angry with him, and that he had jeopardized their friendship by sleeping with Hermione, but this knowledge didn't make hearing the ultimatum spoken out loud any easier. Harry didn't know what to do. He could break up with Hermione and still have both of them as friends, but it would obviously be a strained and awkward friendship for a very long time. Or, he could do what his heart was screaming for him to do, which was to be with Hermione and pray that Ron would eventually forgive them. From the moment he realized he was in love with her, he thought that this was what he would definitely do, but now it seemed like a risk that he was not sure he was willing to take.

"Ron, I love Hermione, and I know you do too, so you have to know how hard this is for me to say. To be honest, I kind of expected this reaction from you, but until just now, I thought it would be a no-brainer to immediately choose Hermione and just hope that you would come around." Ron scoffed but still kept his back toward Harry. "I can see that you are serious, and I really don't want to lose your friendship. You've been my best friend for over six years, and I can't imagine my life without you. I can't imagine my life without Hermione either for reasons that are both the same and very different. Please give me a few days to think about this. Please. This is all I ask, just a few days to discuss what you have said to me with Hermione. This is her decision too."

Harry looked expectantly at Ron's back. He didn't know if Ron would be furious at him for not immediately agreeing to break up with Hermione or if he would not have even expected Harry to consider it.

"You have forty-eight hours, Harry. And yes, I am serious. When Hermione told me about tonight, I didn't believe it. I couldn't believe it, because I couldn't see you doing this to me, either of you. I told Hermione that if it were true, then my friendship with you both would be over, but now...I'm giving you forty-eight hours, because I don't want to lose your friendship either." Ron's voice was no longer low and deadly. It was sad and shaky. Harry's heart ached for his best friend.

"Thank you," Harry choked. He was not sure if he should be happy or not that Ron had given him forty-eight hours to choose between two of the most important things in his life.

"Please do not talk to me during this time, and tell Hermione to do the same, okay? I need space and I don't want to hear any more of 'I'm sorry' or 'we didn't mean for this to happen'. I'm not doing this out of spite. I simply can't handle it. Just leave me alone for a while. Please, Harry."

"Okay, Ron." And with that Harry changed into his pajamas, crawled into bed silently, and stared at the ceiling once again.

Ron woke up early the next morning, and Harry was still asleep. He took the opportunity to dress quickly and make it down to breakfast before having to speak to anyone. He found the great hall nearly empty. Ginny was the only one at the Gryffindor the table, so he made his way towards her. She was reading the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 and looked up and smiled as he sat down. She immediately sensed that something was wrong and concern spread across her face.

"What's up?"

Ron looked down at his little sister contemplating whether or not to tell her about the horrific incidents of the previous night. He thought that, on the one hand, she was very young and also his sister, so maybe he shouldn't tell her about his love life. However, on the other hand, the last time he had shared this kind of information with her, he had ended up finally going out with Hermione. He settled on vague.

"Bad night, you know..."

"Did you fight with Hermione?"

Damn, she's good. "Yeah, big time."

"Did you break up?"

Christ, is she a mind reader? "Yes, how did you know? Did she say something?" He thought that had to be it.

"No, she looked a little sick when I saw her this morning, but we didn't speak. You look like hell, by the way. Yeah, like you just broke up with the love of your life."

"Well..." He didn't know what to say. It was completely true.

"What happened?"

He wanted to tell her about Hermione sleeping with Harry so he could hear about how horrible they were to do this to him, but he knew there was more to it than that.

"It's complicated, Gin. I did some stupid things, then she did one really stupid thing, and now she doesn't want to be with me."

"Oh, that's real complicated. What did you do and what did she do?"

"Ginny..."

"Let me help, Ron, I am a girl, you know. I happen to know a bit about our species. Perhaps I could tell you how you could fix it?"

"This can't be fixed."

"Try me."

"Okay, fine." He didn't think she could tell him how to fix it, but he needed to talk to someone. Under any other circumstances, this someone would have been Harry, but...his stomach did a flip-flop. Ron swallowed and began. "Okay, Hermione has wanted to be more...intimate with me than I felt comfortable with." His cheeks flushed under Ginny's gaze, and he looked away. "Remember how Mum's always telling us to respect women, and for you to respect your body?" Ginny nodded enthusiastically. "Well, I guess it sunk in, because I wanted to go slow, much slower than she did. By doing this I accidentally gave Hermione the impression that I thought she was a slag-"

"What? What did you say to her?"

He looked taken aback. "I didn't tell her, that I thought she was one, I didn't mean to-I don't think she's a slag, Ginny!"

"Okay, calm down, I believe you. So this is the stupid thing you did. What did she do?"

"Why was that stupid? Never mind; I did something else too. She tried to seduce me." Ginny's eyebrows lifted and, again, he looked away. "And I got really angry. I felt like I was being tricked, so we got to arguing and I broke up with her."

Ginny let out a whistle. "She must have done something really, really stupid to top that one."

"I was angry! I didn't mean it, and I felt terrible afterwards. I looked for her in the common room, and asked Lavender if she was in her dormitory, but she wasn't. So I went back up to wait for her and...and..."

"What did she do?" Ginny asked slowly, trying to catch his eye. He took in a deep breath and stared at the floor.

"She slept with Harry, and I guess they're in love now." Ron's voice quavered as he fought back the tears

"Wow." Ginny said simply. "That does top what you did, but...they're in love? That was fast, I mean-"

"They both swear that last night was when they first 'discovered their feelings for each other' or whatever, and I believe them, so..."

'Ron, I'm-I know saying that I'm sorry doesn't help, but my heart hurts for you. I know you love her. What's going to happen now? I mean you obviously need time, but..."

Ron looked into his sister's caring eyes and said, "If they stay together, then our friendship is over. This isn't something I can get over, Ginny. I know that sounds drastic..." His voice trailed off at the thought of losing both of his best friends.

"Ron," Ginny began carefully, not sure how to put what she was about to say. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say. You can't end your friendship over this; that's mad." Beating around the bush had never really been her thing. "Be angry, be outraged, be hurt, be embarrassed, take some time to handle your feelings, but don't throw away something as valuable as your friendship with them. And what do you mean by 'If they stay together'? Did you give them some sort of ultimatum?"

Ron looked guiltily at the ceiling and nodded. "I gave Harry forty-eight hours." "But he asked for it!" He added quickly. "When I first heard, I didn't even want to give them that! I felt like I never wanted to see either of them ever again. But listening to Harry talk about how he didn't want to lose our friendship calmed me down a bit, and he practically begged for a few days to think about what he wants to do-"

"You are making Harry, your best friend, choose between you and Hermione, your other best friend?"

"Yes!" Ron shouted in her face. Wasn't she supposed to be on his side? This was his sister for crying out loud. He was beginning to get really mad. His girlfriend had slept with his best friend, and Ginny was trying to make him feel guilty about the whole thing! This was insane!

"Have you forgotten the part about them shagging each other behind my back?" He was yelling loudly now, and since the great hall was beginning to fill up, a small crowd of people was staring at the two Weasleys.

Ginny looked around apprehensively. "Keep your voice down!" She hissed. "I only meant that maybe you are acting a little rash at the moment, and you should think about what exactly you are asking of Harry-"

"Right now I don't really give a damn about what I am asking of him or how he is coping with the situation or what he is feeling! He betrayed me, Ginny! Not the other way around, get it? As my sister, I would have expected a little more sympathy from you, but I guess that's too much to ask!" Ron hurled himself up off the bench and stalked away, ignoring the gawking stares from the crowd, which was now considerably larger due to this last outburst.