Ch. 3

Hermione's POV

As soon as I got home, I poured the last glass of wine from the night before and texted Ginny that she was welcome to come over as I had decided to come home. She texted back a few minutes later to say that she was in the middle of grocery shopping and would be over just as soon as she was done. I didn't mind though as I turned on the TV and lost myself in a movie.

Ginny appeared with a quiet pop about an hour later, with a bottle of wine in each hand. "I see you've already started."

I raised my glass in a silent cheers as she went to the kitchen to open one of the bottles, returning to sit next to me on the couch. "Harry said he'll be over with dinner after he gets off around five-thirty."

"Oh, he doesn't need to do that," I said.

"Nonsense," Ginny said with a wave of her hand. "You're our best friend and we want to help you."

I gave her a small smile. "You two are the best friends a girl could ask for."

She grinned. "Now, I think you should spend the night with us tonight."

"Gin-"

"No, I'm not taking 'no' for an answer," Ginny said sternly. "You're my best friend and I will not have you spending the night in this apartment by yourself with your thoughts. Especially if my brother continues to hide like this without giving you answers."

"Frankly, Ginny, I don't really want to hear you and Harry going at it," I frowned.

She laughed. "If it does happen, I'll make sure the room is charmed so you can't hear anything!"

"Thanks Gin, greatly appreciated." I rolled my eyes.

"My pleasure!" She said, raising her glass.

"I'm sure it is," I muttered before taking a sip.

She nearly spat out her wine, swallowing it quickly and letting out a laugh. "I'm so happy you haven't lost your sense of humor with all this."

I frowned slightly and swirled the wine I had in the glass. "Well, one has to keep a sense of humor when this happens."

"Have you heard from Ron at all?" She asked, obviously concerned.

Shaking my head, I sighed. "Not a word. Have you?"

"Trust me, everyone would have known if I heard from him," Ginny said in a low voice, "Because he would have been admitted to St. Mungo's by now."

I grinned slightly as she shifted her weight and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure," I said, looking away. "I mean, it was just a kiss. I'll definitely give him the chance to explain himself but I'm hoping it was actually just a kiss."

I could see Ginny giving me an uncertain look as she said, "You're taking this a lot better than most people would. I mean, it was plastered all over the newspapers."

"I don't want to overreact if it was just a kiss," I admitted, finishing off my wine. "If that's all it was and I go ballistic, then it'll make me look awful. I've already had my cry over it; now I just want answers."

"I can understand that," Ginny said, pouring me another glass. Then she patted my knee and said, "Come on, let's talk about happier things."

We polished off the bottle and had opened the second one by the time Harry arrived, nearly two hours later. He had yet another bottle of wine along with a few takeout containers. But as soon as he saw the empty wine bottle on the table and the empty one from last night on the counter, along with the unopened one still on the table, he shook his head.

"Looks like I didn't need to bring this one," He stated as he sat the bottle next to the other unopened one.

"We might need it, you never know," Ginny said, grinning.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I think we'll be taking it home with us tonight."

"That's not the only thing we're taking," Ginny said as she patted my knee again.

Harry looked at me and said, "I suppose you're spending the night with us?"

"Ginny's still trying to convince me," I replied with a smile. "I'm leaning towards it but at the same time, I haven't decided."

"Well, you know you're always welcome at our house," Harry said, bringing over the takeout. "I hope you guys don't mind Chinese food."

"Are you kidding?" I asked, grabbing a container. "This is perfect."

There was a sudden loud pop and Harry whirled around with his wand in his hand as I stood up, grabbing my wand and pointing it at the unexpected intruder.

I lowered it when I saw Ron standing in the center of the living room, holding flowers and a box of pizza. He looked at all of us in confusion and said, "Well if I had known it was a party, I would've brought more pizza."

"We already have dinner," Ginny growled. "You have some nerve showing up here!"

Ron gave her a confused look and then looked at me. "'Mione, I'm so sorry I missed our wedding planning date yesterday, I'd be happy to make it up to you tonight though."

"Are you bloody serious?!" Ginny exclaimed, jumping up off the couch.

Ron took a step back in astonishment. Harry grabbed Ginny and excused themselves to another room, saying, "I think we'll give you two some time to talk."

"Talk about what?" Ron asked, looking between Harry and I as Harry practically dragged Ginny away.

I glared at him and took a sip of my wine, hearing a bedroom door slam around the corner and knowing that Harry and Ginny were in the guest bedroom. Ron set the pizza box down and gestured to the flowers.

"Do you like them?" He asked, smiling as if he were proud of himself.

"They're pretty," I said shortly, not even glancing at the flowers. "Why haven't I heard from you all day?"

I watched his shoulders droop as he sighed. "'Mione, I'm so sorry. I was asleep until noon and woke up with a raging headache; I couldn't get out of bed until an hour ago!"

Rolling my eyes, I stood up. "Forgive me if I don't have any sympathy for you."

"What's with you?" He asked, sounding annoyed. "And why did Ginny yell at me like that? Are you two really that mad that I missed wedding planning last night?"

I stared at him. "Are you serious? Do you remember anything from last night?"

His expression turned to confusion again as he shook his head. "No, why?"

Without a word, I walked into the kitchen where my copy of the Prophet was sitting on the floor, right where I had left it. I stomped out of the kitchen and flung it at Ron, glaring at him. He quickly righted the paper and stared at the front page, his mouth dropping open after a few seconds.

The silence was unbearable. After a few moments I finally said, "Well?"

He looked up at me for a moment and then back down at the paper. I barely was able to hear him whisper, "I thought I was dreaming."

"I'm waiting for an explanation, Ronald," I said in a rather impatient tone. I didn't care though as he looked back up at me, his mouth forming a thin line.