How Did It End Up Like This?

CHAPTER ONE

“Why must you torment me so?” Hermione whispered from the corner of the Common Room. She spoke to herself, above all else. A Common Room so deserted left a feeling of anger and anxiety plaguing the blood in her veins and arteries that raced to and fro from her fragile heart. Feeling sway, and sulky she banged her hands against the cool, strong bricks that formed the school from the ground up.

Her hands grabbed at the wall, hoping for comfort that wouldn’t ever be there. Tears streaked hopelessly down her pale cheeks, and past her lips. They were dry, and cracked for all the yelling she had just done moments before wore out her lungs, and lips. She felt she couldn’t cry anymore, other than a silent, hopeless whimper. They had fights, but none so as terrifying as this one. It brought fear to Hermione’s already shattered heart, and chaos seeping into her brain, picking up every fragment like a dry sponge.

“Hermione?”

“Go away!” she cried between gasps. She spun around on her heal and was face to face with Harry Potter, one of her best friends. Her eyes were immediately dried and were replaced with fire. Threateningly, she stepped forward and a counterbalance caused Harry to stumble backwards, and ungracefully bump into the mantel of the fireplace.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered sadly. “I just came up here to see if you were alright. I-I saw Ron storming down the stairs. He wouldn’t say anything, but somehow I had an idea it involved you.” Hermione’s fire eyes disappeared, which was good Harry reminded himself as he stepped away from the dangerously hot flames emanating from the fireplace.

Almost instantly, Hermione collapsed to the floor, once again her face flowed freely with new found tears.. Her head lay against the warmth of the carpet that covered most of the floor in Gryffindor’s common room, while the other part was covered in harsh and unwelcoming stones similar to the ones that banded together to form the walls. Harry looked around the room, hoping for a sign that would tell him how to make her feel better, but found none just as Hermione didn’t receive any comfort from the walls.

Kneeling down and landing on his knees, Harry sat alongside her, she laid on her right side; right arm laying on left arm and the same with her legs as she lay on the floor, breathing slowly and not talking. Harry reached over, and pulled some of the hair off of her tear stained face, and placed her bushy brown hair behind her. His voice was lost inside of his head, and he hoped to find it soon. Harry gently stroked Hermione’s cheek.

He found his voice, though it wasn’t of much use because the only words he could string together were, “It’s alright, it’s alright,” over and over again. Before long, Hermione brushed his hand away and opened her eyes. Though her sight appeared to be a daze. She didn’t move, other than the tremble of her lip.

“I loved him, Harry. Honestly I did, and I still do. One single fight, and everything crashes around my feet and I can’t do a damn thing to stop it.” Hermione whispered, barely speaking loud enough for him to hear her; he had to strain with all his hearing abilities to catch the words.

Taking enough of her moping on the floor, Harry took hold of her hands and brought her to an at least halfway sitting position. Hermione dangerously swayed backwards before Harry caught hold of her wrists, “Cheer up, Hermione. He fought for years to win your heart, I don’t think he’s going to throw everything away in just a blink of an eye.”

A light bulb flickered on inside Hermione’s rather brilliant head, “Will you go talk to him for me?” She questioned quietly, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Please, Harry? I’ll return the favor someday.” Her eyes once again changed to a pleading, hopeful gaze into Harry’s own brilliant green eyes. She rubbed her hands together, fingers laced between it’s opposite, right in front of her nose, almost in a praying manor.

He let out a sigh of defeat, “Alright, I’ll go talk to him, but you have to talk to him sometime too. I don’t feel like being the go between.” Declared Harry, inside of Hermione’s head, the last thing she wanted to do was approach Ron. Ignoring her feelings, she nodded. Harry leaned forward, and pulled himself to his feet. He then reached down and brought Hermione to her own.

“Wait here, I’ll be back soon.” Harry promised, checking to see if his wand was still in his back pocket. He removed it, remembered what the members of the order had once told him about getting his buttock blow off in an accidental spell.

[----♥----]

In pursuit of Ron was a harsh task. Harry knew that if Ron didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t. Years of torture from his older brothers gave him the growing skill of being able to dodge away from people that were in search of him. Harry poked his head into empty classroom after empty classroom, his energy growing lower and lower, and his belief in finding him became smaller and smaller after each classroom went by without any luck.

Soon, after minutes of futile searching, Harry heard the unmistakable sound of someone knocking over one of the decorative suits of armor, and swearing loudly above the clash of the metal against the floor. Harry recognized the voice that spewed off swears every few seconds. Harry tilted his head, and broke out into a run, and bolted around a corner, his robes whipping behind him. The sight of his redhead friend made him flutter with delight.

“R-Ron!” Harry panted, kneeling over and using his knees for support. They were in the Charms Corridor, and the pictures plastering the walls were whispering excitedly. “I was just looking for you.” Ron turned around and tossed the head of the armor to the floor.

“Hermione sent you?”

“Of course.” Harry laughed, trying to brighten the situation, “So what are you doing down here?” He questioned quietly, pulling out his wand, giving it a wave, and having the pieces of fallen armor return to their normal stance. Ron turned away from Harry, keeping his eyes on the rest of the corridor.

Ron cleared his throat sulkily, “So what does she want?”

“You, above everything else in the world.” Harry answered, stepping forward so he was standing alongside Ron’s shoulder. “So what do you want, out of this relationship I mean? Is this really what you wanted to begin with?”

This brought extreme thought to Ron, and he didn’t give an answer right away. His head began instantly flooded with answers that didn’t seem to bring his real feelings justice. “O’course I wanted her in the beginning. She was ‘the girl’ for me, in the beginning. Though, after being together, and actually having the ‘us’ everyone always told me about, I don’t feel like I want her that way anymore. I don’t see the point in our relationship, and now that I think back about it, I never really did.”

Harry nodded his understanding, Ron continued. “I felt like I wanted to do everything in my power to hurt her, to make her leave me first. Then I realized she doesn’t want to leave me, and I don’t’ want to be the one to break hearts. So now, here I am, trying desperately to break her heart, and I guess I did. But, in the end she still wants me.” he sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to man up and break up with her myself.”

“And if you do break up with her? Then what happens? What do you want afterwards?” Harry questioned, looking over to him. “You want it over, but what you do want to do with yourself after it’s all dead and buried?”

Again, Ron thought hard for a moment. Or at least it was to seem he was thinking hard, but maybe deep down he really didn’t want to answer. Harry awaited his answer patiently, while trying to silently comfort him from the side. Ron reached up and scratched at his flaming, ginger hair.

“I want to still be friends with her, of course. Life wouldn’t be as good if we went on hating each other like a lot of exboyfriends and exgirlfriends do. That would just absolutely crush me. But, I guess I’m going to have to say that right now, I want to be with someone else. Really, be with someone else.” Ron explained, running his hands through his hair more, just to keep him from just standing there.

“So who is it that you want so much that you’re willing to drive Hermione crazy?”

“You would laugh if I told you.” Ron answered shortly, keeping his eyes on the floor again. “It’s kind of embarrassing, if you know what I mean.”

“Please don’t tell me it’s Pansy, Cho, or anyone else that we don’t get along with.” Harry said almost instantly. Ron chuckled and shook his head, “Really? Then who could it possibly be? Do I know her?”

Ron sighed, and shook his head, “If I tell you, will your promise to keep it just between us? I don’t want it to get around to everyone.”

“Of course, mate. That’s what friends are for. To keep secrets. So spill, I promise I’m not going to laugh at you or anything..” Harry said comfortingly, hoping that Ron would indeed tell him.

He took a deep breath, and sighed a hopeless sigh, “You see it’s not exactly anything I’m proud of, but I guess¼” he broke off, and suddenly became fascinated with the picture of a unicorn eating a leaf from a heavily wooded forest.

Harry sighed, and gently tapped him on the shoulder, “Back to earth, Ron.” Ron regained his attention, and looked back at Harry. His eyes had an almost pleading nature, similar to the one Hermione had worn during their chat in the common room.


“It’s a…guy.” Ron whispered, “It’s a guy that I like, not a girl. Though I’m scared to actually tell him because I don’t know if he’s into that kind of thing. Him and I are friends, and I don’t want to ruin that friendship.” His ears began to glow an increasingly bright shade of red. “Remember, Harry. This is a secret.”

Harry smiled, “I know it’s a secret. You can trust me, but if you like someone, you shouldn’t just go through your life not telling him. Take a chance, go out on a limb. He may end up liking you too. That’s just the risk you have to take. If he doesn’t like you, say ‘alright.’ and move on with your life. You’re a great guy, Ron. Any girl OR boy would be lucky to have you.” Harry said quietly, but strongly enough to bring a bright effect on Ron’s mood. Ron looked up and forced a small smile across his lips. “Just find this guy, and tell him. What’s the absolute worse that could happen?

“Alright, Harry. I’m going to go tell him right now.” Ron announced strongly. He tried to make his hair look halfway decent, even though he didn’t really have a good idea as to what it looked like before hand, and for all he knew he could have even made it much worse. “Wish me luck, Harry. I’m going to go find him, and tell him. Don’t tell Hermione about this, I’ll… I’ll tell her when I get done with my first task.” Ron said slightly nervously. He straightened his robes out, and set foot down the hall.

Two steps later, he stopped, spun around, and waltzed back over to where Harry stood. Harry gave him a curious glance, and before he could tell him it’s alright, and not to be nervous, that he should just go for it, Ron slowly wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist, and placed his lips across Harry’s own.

Ron’s inside’s clenched and twisted inside of him, but he moved his hands from Harry’s waist and placed them on his cold cheeks. Harry didn’t pull away from Ron’s soft, tender kiss. Ron took a risk, and gently licked Harry’s lower lip, hoping not to cross the line. Harry parted his mouth, leaving plenty of room for Ron to plunge in. Harry wrapped his arms around Ron’s waist, and returned his kiss just as deeply as Ron had been doing. Ron took the opportunity, and let his tongue glide into Harry’s mouth, a small battle ensuing between them. Gasping, they broke away.

“Harry, I fear that I love you.”

AUTHOR'S NOTES
First attempt at HarryxRon pairing, this was originally intended to be a one short, but I sort of liked where the story is going so I guess I plan on continuing it, that is if people actually review it and like it. I didn't see a bunch of HarryxRon so I thought, what the heck? Lets go for it. Though, I didn't list all the story codes because I honestly have no idea where this is going. So if I didn't list it right, don't hurt me. I'll try to update them later. I was also extremely lazy in the sense that I didn't have the energy to edit anything, because I'm tired and hungry. I'll do that later. In the mean time, the declaimer!

DISCLAIMER
Title: How Did It End Up Like This?
Author: FaerieOfTheAwakening
Archived: Not posted any where else, and you can't post it anywhere else, either.
Summary: Ron and Hermione used to be a couple, but Ron couldn't stand to be with her anymore, and decided to try to hurt her emotionally so she'll break up with him so he doesn't have to bear the burden of breaking one of his best friend's heart. Little does Hermione, or even Harry know that the real reason Ron wants to end his relationship with Hermione is something that neither of them expected, that Ron secretly wants to be with Harry!
Rating: NC-17; strong descriptions of sexual acts, fowl language, and other segments of stories not sutible for peolpe under the age of eighteen.
Pairings: HarryxRon is the most common pairing in this story, though others might slip in.
Feedback: A few reviews would be really nice, yes.
Characters: Ron Weasley; Harry Potter; Hermione Granger [the main characters]
Betas: None available
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters mentioned in this story, unless I decide to add an original character later on and I forget to change this. We all should know who belongs to J.K. Rowling, and who came from my rather messed up head. If not, click the little "X" at the top right hand corner of your screen, pick up one of the Harry Potter books, and get to work. As you all know, I'm not getting paid for this story, no matter how cool that would be. I'm just here in my free time to do something I enjoy.