She Believed

A/N: Hello everyone. Thanks for reading and hopefully reviewing my fic. Sadly, this is the last chapter because the muse that fueled this fic has run out and I don’t know how to proceed without it. So if anyone has any ideas please feel free to leave a comment and I surely will try to start the fic up again. Thanks.

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This was the second night in a row Hermione found it difficult to sleep. It seemed as if every time she tried to close her eyes her mind would flood with dreadful images and thoughts. Determined to get a full nights rest, she eased herself from the bed and headed downstairs to make herself a sleeping draught.

Slowly, she milled about the kitchen gathering the ingredients she would need then she set the items on the hearth and began to brew. She tried to concentrate solely on her task but those pesky thoughts and images she tried so hard to ignore surfaced again. Suddenly the little voice that she had heard the other night was buzzing in her head again.

“Why did you say yes?” the annoying voice in her head asked.

‘Because I love him, and I’m ready to move on to the next step in our relationship.’ Hermione firmly replied to herself.

“Yes, it’s true that you love him, but did you even consider the things that he has done and possibly could do to you in the future.”

‘I have, and I’m not going to let two isolated incidents stand in the way of my happiness. He has apologized and I have accepted it. There’s no more to be said on the subject. ‘

“OK, he did apologize for the first time and he promised he wouldn’t do it again but what happened the second time.”

Hermione closed her eyes and saw flashes of the terrible events that occurred the other night in her mind. Her heart began to race when she remembered the terror she felt when Ron grabbed her hair, the humiliation of his screaming and rough shaking, and the sharp pain in her hip as she collided into the floor. But the one thing that chilled her the most was the cold dead look in Ron’s eyes as he stared down at her.

A single tear broke free from under her closed eye lid and slowly cascaded down her cheek.

Hermione quickly wiped the salty sadness away, mentally shook herself, and repeated, ‘Like I said, those were isolated incidents. I trust Ronald. Sure he can be a bit… high strung, but he’s been under a lot of stress lately. I mean after all this time, he’s still mourning his brother Fred, and he’s been run ragged between helping George at the shop and Auror training. To top it all off, I have to go and bitch him out about issues I know he’s sensitive about.’

“So… are you saying you deserved that?” the stupid voice asked her.

‘Of course not!’ Hermione yelled.

All was quiet for a moment then the voice said, “Well, you made your decision about this, so I’ll leave you alone for now. But just remember that if someone could do this to themselves…”

A picture of her cuddling a very bloody Ron in her arms flashed in her mind.

“Then they could do much worst to you.”

And with that, the conversation she had with herself ended. She sat and stared at the fire blazing in the hearth.

Hermione Granger was a very logical person. Whenever she was faced with a task; she would confront it head on and she didn’t give up until she was satisfied with the results. But when it came to matters of the heart, she always felt lost and inadequate.

Logic and reason told her that if she continued with this relationship, she could be possibly dooming herself to a lifetime of abuse. She should cut her losses now before her emotions become too invested and it would be too hard for her to leave.

However, her heart told her that Ron was the only man for her. He made her feel special and encouraged her to do her best. He truly loved her and he seriously had not meant to hurt her.

And as the sleeping draught bubbled over and became ruined, Hermione realized for the first time in her life, she let her heart overrule her reason.

When her senses returned, she quickly removed the cauldron from the fire and poured the spoiled contents down the drain. She wasn’t disappointed with the outcome of the potion because she actually felt tired all of a sudden. She put the items she used away and crept back to her room.

She quietly opened the door and carefully eased back into the bed as not to disturb Ron. He had been asleep for nearly two days recovering from the injuries he inflected on himself. She lay lightly on the side that wasn’t bruised from her fall and snuggled closer to him.

When she finally settled and began to doze off, her eyes flew open with a gasp because a dull pain shot through her bruised hip. In his sleep, Ron was trying to pull her closer to him. She moved his hand higher on her waist and scooted closer to him.

Instead of leaving his hand in the new spot, he returned it to its original position and gave it a light possessive squeeze. Hermione winced and tried to ignore the pain so she could return to sleep. Surely he hadn’t meant to do that because he was asleep after all. She knew they would definitely need to talk in the morning.

/~/~/~/~/~/~/

The next morning when Hermione awoke, she realized Ron must have been feeling better because he was missing from the bed and she could smell breakfast wafting into the room. She went to the loo to perform her ablutions; she threw on a housecoat and went to join him in the kitchen.

When she entered, he had his back towards her. She snuck up behind him and wrapped he arms around her waist. “Hmmm… good morning Mr. Weasley,” she said in a low husky voice.

“Oi. Good morning future Mrs. Weasley.” He smiled back at her. “Have a seat, I just finished.”

She sat at the table while he brought over the toast, jam, sausages, and juice. They happily ate in silence. Neither of them had brought up the dramatic ordeal that played out a few nights ago.

“Did you take your last dose of Adhaerer Dentes? I left it for you on the nightstand.” Hermione asked.

“Oh yeah, I’ll take it after breakfast. Merlin that stuff is vile.” Ron complained.

“Well, you had better, unless you would like for me to transfigure some silverware for your replacement teeth.” She smirked.

“Using cheap silverware to make dentures over quality metal like gold or platinum. Boy you’re starting to sound like a Weasley already.” He chuckled.

They fell back into silence. Hermione decided to bring up the elephant in the room. However, this time Ron beat her to the punch.

“I’m sorry about the other night.” He mumbled pushing a piece of toast around on his plate.

“Well it wasn’t alright, but I’ll forgive you if you forgive me.” She said.

“Forgive you? Whatever for?”

“Well,” she explained, “last night I realized that sometimes I can be a bit… much.”

“Yeah sure, but that’s how you are all of the time, I’m the one who let it get to me. I should be the only one apologizing.” He huffed.

“But I’m the one who knows about your insecurities, yet I still shoot off at the mouth. I believe we both should try to keep our passions intact so we will not have another blow up, agree?” she asked.

“Agree.” He said and planted a kiss on her lips.

She glanced nervously at him and said, “I do have one more request to make… no matter how upset you get, please don’t ever harm yourself again.”

Ron turned red with embarrassment, looked down, and said, “I promise I won’t.”

Silence consumed them again, then Hermione said, “What were you thinking when you were doing that to yourself?”

Ron sighed and pushed his plate away. His skin began to flush and he looked as if he might become sick at any moment.

“It all happened so fast,” he whispered. “I was shocked at what I had done to you and I went into the sitting room to clear my head; then when I heard you crying I felt like I just wanted to die.” The words rushed out of him.

“When you came out with all of your stuff,” he paused choking back his tears, “When I saw you with all of your things, I knew we were over for sure. A dreadful panic washed over me and I knew I just had to see you one last time. Then when I got to your flat, I felt like the stupid door was the only thing that kept us apart.” His tears were flowing freely now.

“I hope you know how sorry I truly am.”He reached out and took her hand and trailed little kisses up and down her palm and wrists.

Hermione gazed at him with and a new realization came to her. No matter how bad things could get she could never leave him. He had completely fallen apart the first time she left and he almost died the second time. They needed each other and if something bad happened to him because of her, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. Hermione knew she was in the relationship for the long haul and she didn’t care if that stupid little voice in her head thought differently.