Fait à la Perfection

43

"Order up!" Hermione announced. She rolled out her stiff neck and shuffled her feet. Nicolette looked at her worriedly, "I'm fine."

Before any of her friends could say anything. A waiter told her that someone wanted to speak with the chef.

Exiting the kitchen. She stilled when she saw Ron. She felt a million emotions running hard as she glared at him.

But the main was what she wanted to stab him with a steak knife.

"Hermione," he breathed. Hermione breathed heavily as she slowly walked up to him.

"What do you want?" She snarled softly, "d-do—what do you want?"

He took her in. Hermione wanted to strangle him with her bare hands.

"Hermione?" Her boss asked. Hermione put her hand up to keep her boss back.

"I—I just need a minute..." she whispered softly, "j-just a minute..."

She looked at her sous-chef.

"Take care of the kitchen for a minute," she ordered. He nodded and led Ron out. They stepped into the alleyway. Hermione spun and punched him hard before wincing. Ron groaned in pain as he leaned forward. Holding his face in pain.

"Sodding hell!"

Hermione looked at her hand and shook it slightly as he looked up at her. Neither of them spoke as they stood there.

"Why are you here?" Hermione finally broke the silence, "what else do you want to take? My unborn child? A kidney?"

He sighed and rubbed his chin. His nose was turning red and his eyes watering. She crossed her arms and waited.

"I'm sorry Hermione," he said. She raised an eyebrow, "we're...we're all sorry...it's no excuse but we let our grief consume us and our anger towards you blind us...you were right...we weren't thinking about the kids...we were thinking about us...this was—is their home..."

Hermione scoffed.

"Why are you here Ron?"

"I want to apologize, for everyone and everything that had happened, and not just now but years ago...all these years...we didn't stop to think that maybe you needed help too...losing Fred...it was the hardest thing that had happened to our family, and now Harry and Ginny...but I had a lifetime with them...what happened to your father..."

She clenched her jaw.

"I'm so sorry Hermione," he whispered, "I'm so sorry you lost him like that...and what we did...it's unforgivable and we're not asking you to forgive us...we don't expect you to...but I really am sorry..."

She wiped another tear.

"You did the right thing," he told her, "leaving...I knew that and...and Harry did as well...he actually came to find you a few years ago and he saw you working in the kitchen, he saw how...you, you looked, he didn't want to disrupt that..."

Hermione blinked at him in shock.

"Harry had come?" She whispered.

He nodded and extended a letter.

"He hated himself for what he said," he explained, "loathed himself, and he wrote this for you...I-I know he would want you to read it..."

She stared at the letter. Harry's scrawny writing faded on the envelope.

"Ron I don't..."

"You don't have to say anything," he smiled, "I'm proud of you Hermione, you...you more than anyone deserves a happily ever after so..."