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Ron watched Harry and Hermione from under the shade of a tree. Hermione was clutching tightly to the broomstick she straddled awkwardly while Harry was laughing next to her in the middle of a clearing. There was some connection between Harry and Hermione when they looked at each other, the way their bodies seemed to curve to face each other.
He dug his shoe into the ground, shifting the dirt, his hands making fists in his pockets. Ron knew as soon as he joined them something would happen, a change would come over Hermione. She and Harry blended together, and Ron flowed over them like oil with water, and it hurt.
Harry had everything. All the girls paid attention to him, but he was oblivious. Harry was rich, famous, and not an idiot like him. Ron grimaced to himself. He was being hard on himself, but it was difficult to be reasonable about things when the girl you wanted was a bloody genius. And right at her side was your famous best mate showing you up at every opportunity.
Ronald Bilius Weasley, she's a good one, don't let her get away!
His mum's warnings echoed in his head. Like he could really stop it. Ron knew that if he told anything to Harry he would back off. If Ron told him how it made him feel to see them so close together, Harry as always would be righteous and stop. A part of him wanted to do that, to ask that of Harry. It was almost like a chess game, eliminate the knight, take the queen.
But it wasn't chess, was it? It was his two best mates. Harry's arm wrapped around Hermione when she wobbled and she clutched him, trustingly. They both repeatedly denied what was obvious to everyone who watched them interact. Even Ginny who had told him continuously she wasn't threatened by Hermione had asked Ron repeatedly about their relationship.
They're just friends, right? They have nothing in common! Why they're almost like siblings...
Ron comforted himself that at least he wasn't obsessed with Hermione like Ginny was with Harry. On the contrary, he loved her. Like those rubbish songs that always played on the wireless. Truly, madly, deeply. He loved the way she got after him when she thought he said something particularly stupid. The way she picked on him to do his homework. The gleam in her eyes when she shared her knowledge.
A breeze blew some of Hermione's curls into Harry's face and he sputtered as he turned his face to the side while Hermione giggled and looked panicked at the same time. The sun shone down on them like they were out of some fairy tale. The love story of the wizard who defeated Voldemort with the smartest witch at his side.
The sun highlighted the gold tones hidden in her dark curls and it made his gut twist with want and jealousy. Could he really do this? Wasn't this too much to ask of him, the normal bloke in their bloody fairy tale?
Memories flashed by of the years between them. All the times Hermione had always chosen someone else, and never him. Some of those times, yes, had been his fault, but others? He wasn't willing to shoulder the entire burden of what was wrong between them. Their denials rang so damn false when you looked at the two of them together.
Harry's hands were on Hermione's hips as he threw a leg over the broom, wrapping his arms around her from behind.
I love her like a sister, and I reckon she feels the same way about me. It's always been like that. I thought you knew.
At least he wasn't the only dumbarse. It was a bit satisfying to think Harry was as big a teaspoon as himself when it came to emotions. Ron never would have behaved with Ginny like those two were acting now. Ginny never would have talked about how fanciable he was to other girls. Ron shuddered even at the thought.
Disgusting.
Or the way Harry had stared at Hermione when she came down the stairs in her periwinkle blue gown at the Yule Ball.
"Fuck." He muttered to himself, pressing his palms to his eyes, trying to make the burn go away. He could do this. He could do this. Ron repeated the mantra in his head while the ache in his chest increased.
He hadn't even moved and he already felt the bite of loneliness. Slowly almost grudgingly he took the first steps out of the darkness of the shade and into the light where his two best mates laughed together. Ron knew when they spotted him because they shifted subtly away from each other and their smiles dimmed a bit.
Merlin. Why did it have to hurt so much?
He could do this. He smiled at them, squinting his eyes a bit as they adjusted, "Hey."
Harry hopped off the broom. "Hey, mate! I was helping Hermione try again–"
"You mean fail again?" Hermione quipped, her smile widening briefly.
Harry shook his head. "There is no failing on my broom."
Ron licked his lip. "Yeah, great. Actually, uh I wanted to talk to you guys about something."
"Of course, what's up?"
Ron shifted and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to seem casual. "Well, it's kind of unexpected, but there's a position that went open with Charlie in Romania. Someone got a bit too careless. And the auror thing just isn't working for me, so I'm going to go." He sucked in a breath. "To Romania."
Both Harry and Hermione stared at him with their mouths hanging open for a bit too long and it was almost enough to make him laugh. Not quite though.
"Ron, no–" Hermione started.
"Are you serious? You don't like dragons! Remember the bank! What are you thinking?" Harry cut her off, his brows lowered.
Ron laughed at that. "Yeah well. It is what it is. I need to get away awhile. I already signed a one-year contract."
"A year!?" They both exclaimed in unison.
"I have to leave soon. They need a replacement immediately. I just came–came to tell you guys and say goodbye."
Hermione wobbled as she lurched off the broom and threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. He let himself hold her tight, inhaling to breathe in her scent. Doing the right thing fucking sucked sometimes.
Harry stood back, still looking he was expecting Ron to tell him it was a joke. Ron didn't let Hermione go, just held out his hand to Harry. Harry grasped his hand awkwardly, trying to give it a shake, but Ron pulled him into the embrace, knowing Hermione would wrap Harry in as she instantly did.
"Take care of her." He muttered to Harry.
"No one needs to take care of me, Ronald Bilius Weasley."
