The People We Are

Life without Harry was not all that easy though. Ron always expected to walk into the boys' dormitory and see Harry waiting to tell him about some crazy thing he wanted to do. But he was never there. So Ron always went to bed having some thing he wanted to tell Harry. It went like that for a while. Hermione's grades had started to slip because she had been trying to find some way to help Dumbledore get Harry out earlier than two years.

"Harry would not want you, or your grades, to suffer because of him. You're too smart to let your grades slip. I will find some way to convince Fudge to let him out. In the meantime you concentrate on school and your life. I will let you know when I am close to getting him out," Dumbledore had said to her one night as she had stayed up.

But the one thing Ron had never seen coming was the night Hermione said goodbye. It had started in the Common Room after Gryffindor had won against Ravenclaw. They had been celebrating, but the fact that Harry hadn't won for them hung over the room. Ron had been happy to do anything but picture Harry having his happy thoughts sucked out of him. The end of seventh year had been approaching so fast. There had been about a few months to go and nobody wanted to go. Ron had been gulping down his drink and the guys had been cheering him on. The girls rolled their eyes at them. Ginny had just come back from seeing Draco, and that made Ron mad.

"Why are you his girlfriend anyways? Blimey, the guy is no good," Ron whispered to her the same night when no one was watching them.

"It's my life, leave me alone," Ginny had whispered back, and then stormed up the stairs.

Why couldn't she just be Dean's girlfriend? Or bloody hell, even Neville's? If Harry was here maybe she would give up on Draco and go for him. But Harry wasn't here. A few minutes later Hermione had come over and sat by him.

"I can't stop thinking of Harry," Ron told her as everyone celebrated around them.

"Me either. But Ron, you know how Dumbledore told me to focus on my studies? Well, I was thinking that maybe we should take a break from each other.. Just until the end of seventh year," Hermione said, looking down at the floor.

"Who is it? Who do you like more than me?" Ron asked her, slightly disappointed.

"What? No one Ron. I just . . . want to take a break for a while," Hermione said, and then she stood up.

Ron looked away. He had been a fool for thinking it could work out. Ron left the common room to the grounds. If anyone caught him he would be in trouble. He walked down to the lake and threw some rocks in. As he threw one a girl came up to him.

"Nice night huh?" she said, and Ron recognized her as Cho Chang.

"Yeah, real nice," Ron whispered.

"I feel bad about what happened to Harry. I was actually thinking of fixing things up with him. But then it got me to look at the other Gryffindor boys for a while," she said, and Ron saw her look at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, Hermione just sacked me. Maybe it will be for the good. I just can't wait till the end of school," Ron said, and he sat down as she sat down..

"Yes, me too. I'm sorry about you and Hermione. You could do better though," Cho said, reminding Ron of the time Cho had thought Harry and Hermione were a little too close.

"You just don't like her because you thought her and Harry might have something," Ron said laughing.

"I guess so. I am sorry though Ron. Maybe throughout the next months we can be friends," Cho said, standing up.

"I'd like that definitely," Ron said and watched her go. He smiled; all was not lost in the romantic world for Ron. But never with Cho because Harry would probably blow a fuse if he found out. But hadn't Harry said something about Ginny. Ron jumped to his feet and as he ran he slipped but kept running. All these months and he'd never told Ginny what Harry had said!

He told the Fat Lady the password quickly and entered the Common Room where Ginny sat with parchment and writing furiously. She had liked to write in a journal even more this past year. Ron sat next to her and looked at her writing and saw the thing she was writing.

"Gin, you're gonna hate me but when Harry was sent to Azkaban he told me to tell you something. He said to tell you that he'd understand if you didn't want to wait for him to get out and he'd understand if you chose Draco over him," Ron said but not very fast so she could understand what he was saying.

"I'm not mad but I have news for you. I'm finished so just read this and it'll tell you all about Draco and my little breakup," Ginny handing him the pieces of parchment and heading up to the girls' dormitory.

Ron looked at the parchment and started reading.

I walked to the grounds of the school silently where I'd been told to meet Draco Malfoy. I'd really started to like him and being in my sixth year and he in seventh I was beginning to wonder if we would split apart. But Draco didn't seem too keen on letting me go. I'd found him on the bank of the lake and sat next to him.

"Ginny, I wanted you to come here because I need to tell you something important. See, the beginning of this year I really liked you. I still do it's just . . . I've started to like someone else halfway through this year," Draco told me quietly.

"And who is this person?" I asked him, tears welling in my eyes.

"You have to promise not to hate her but its Hermione," Draco had said and it seemed he said it with guilt," I just told you this now because last night Hermione and I . . . we were kissing."

Ron threw the parchment down in fury. That slimy git! Last night Hermione had been his girlfriend! And who was Draco to just put his slimy lips on hers? Ron started to walk up the stairs to the girls dormitory but the stairs suddenly started going down like one of those Muggle contraptions he couldn't think the name of. Then the door opened and Hermione stepped onto the landing.

"Ron what are you doing?" she asked him whispering.

"What am I doing? What were you doing last night with Draco Malfoy" Ron said, trying to whisper but couldn't.

"What? Who told you -" Hermione began.

"Who told me? You should try asking, who told Ginny? That slimy git broke her heart! You broke her heart! I never would've thought this of you Hermione. Usually when two people are happy together, you don't go messing it up!" Ron yelled slightly.

"I never meant to hurt Ginny. I don't even like Draco!" Hermione whispered frantically.

"Yeah is that right? Cuz you did hurt her, and if you didn't like him why were your lips on his last night? Did you fall and just landed like that?" Ron asked her, his face as red as his hair.

"Ron, I'm so sorry!" Hermione said and now she was crying. She hadn't meant to make Ron so angry with her.

"Hermione, I'm not angry at you for dumping me. I can deal with that. But what I can't deal with is you kissing my sister's boyfriend, even though I hate him. She's my sister and your part of the reason she doesn't have a boyfriend anymore," Ron said, now talking quietly and walking over to the boys' dormitory.

"Ron, I'm sorry," Hermione said, but he shut the door to the boys' dormitory silently so he couldn't hear her say how much she was sorry and she'd never meant to hurt him. The truth was, she had. He'd had a crush on her in fourth year, then it had come back in sixth year and he still had feelings for her now.