The Letters to No One - Romione

Chapter 11

'Hermione?' Ron asked surprised that she was stood on his doorstep. She was the last person that he had expected to see there when he had heard the knock. He didn't remember ever telling her where he lived, other than that it was on the other side of the village. 'What are you doing here?' Ron asked.

'I needed to talk to you,' Hermione began to say. 'To explain.' She added stepping from foot to foot and nervously looking down at the ground. 'I couldn't just leave things as they were. I needed to explain, at least I need to try and explain.' Hermione looked up but Ron wasn't looking at her, he couldn't bring himself to do it. 

'Look Hermione,' Ron said. 'Now really isn't a good time. Can we talk later?' Ron asked hoping that he would be able to hear what Dumbledore had to say before he had this conversation with Hermione. Half of him just wanted to explain everything to her, but he couldn't risk the future of the wizarding world like that, even if he wanted to. 

'No!' Hermione replied forcefully. 'I can't leave things like this Ron,' she was struggling to fight back tears, doing whatever she could to control her emotions. 'Please just let me try and explain.'

'And I'm asking for us to do this another day,' Ron replied. 'Please.' He added practically begging her but she wasn't listening properly, she ignored what he said as she continued talking knowing that if she didn't do it now then she wouldn't be able to find the strength to come back and explain it all to him another day. 

'I know you must think I'm a freak, but I...I...' she began to explain, not knowing where she was going with her point. 'I don't know why or how it happens but...but...sometimes these strange this just happen and I don't know what...' she trailed off, tears now streaming down her cheeks.

'I don't think you're a freak,' Ron said taking her hand and wiping away a tear from her face. 

'You don't?' Hermione asked. This hadn't been the answer that she had expected at all. If he didn't think that she was a freak then how come he didn't want to talk about this now? 

'No,' he replied.

'Then why don't you want to talk about this now?' She asked, wiping away the few remaining tears with her free hand.

'I really can't explain,' Ron said deciding that it was better to say nothing at all than to have to lie to her or risk revealing the truth.

'Why not?' Hermione asked pulling her hand out of his and looking him directly in the eye. He looked back at her before eventually turning away. 'Why can't you explain?' She asked a few minutes later when he still hadn't replied.

'It's complicated,' he said.

'It's complicated?' Hermione repeated her voice getting louder. 'I somehow make fireworks appear out of no where and somehow you don't think I'm a freak and yet you can't talk about it now because it's complicated?' She continued. 'Ron what the hell is going on?' She almost shouted.

'I...I...' Ron began but there was nothing else that he had to say.

'You what?' Hermione asked not knowing whether she wanted to cry or scream. 

'Look can we meet in town in a couple of days? Or tomorrow if you really want?' Ron tried again just needing more time to clear his head and find out what was going on.

'No!' Hermione replied. 'I'm hear now and I want to talk about this. Do you not understand how hard this is for me?' She asked. 'How you not wanting to talk about it just makes everything ten times worse, nothing you could say will make this any worse than it already is.'

'I can't talk about this right now,' Ron replied turning around to head back into the house.

'If you leave me now then that's it,' Hermione said. She was now past the point of tears but that didn't mean that she wasn't breaking on the inside. 'If you don't want to talk about this now then that's fine,' she said finally with a sigh. 

'Thank you,' Ron said turning back around to face her. She noticed Ron's face begin to soften, he almost smiled, but that wasn't what she meant.

'If you don't want to talk about this now then that's fine,' she repeated. 'But that's it. If you don't talk about this now then I'm not coming back. You won't see me again, that's a promise.'

'Hermione please...' Ron begged but she knew what she had to do. She turned on her heel in such a hurry that she stumbled but she managed to find her balance and carried on walking. 'Hermione wait, please don't leave.' She turned back and took a few steps towards Ron.

'Are you going to explain?' She asked even though in her heart she already knew the answer.

'I...I...' Ron began, every possible answer running through his head, but he knew what his answer had to be. 'No.' He replied.

'Goodbye Ron,' she turned away once more but stopped almost instantly, hearing another voice from within the house. 

'I spoke to Dumbledore and he said that...' a red-headed girl began to speak, stopping when she saw Hermione standing there. 'You're Hermione right?' She asked walking over towards and standing next to Ron. In her mind she made the connection realising that this must be Ron's sister Ginny.

'Yeah,' Hermione replied almost inaudibly. 

'Ginny,' She said holding out her hand towards Hermione. 'Ron,' she replied turning to face her brother with a concerned look on her face. 'Dumbledore, Mum, Dad and the other's will be here any minute,' she muttered hoping that Hermione couldn't hear her. 'Maybe she shouldn't be here for that.'

'I...I...I was just leaving,' Hermione said.

'No don't go,' Ron said. 'Please I promise that this will be all cleared up very soon, just don't leave.'

'You promise?' Hermione asked.

'Yes,' Ron replied. 'But you can't stay here. Why don't you come up to my room?' He suggested. Hermione blushed and Ginny folded her arms raising her eyebrow at him with a questioning look. 'Okay bad idea,' Ron added. 'Let's go wait in the garden.'

'And you're sure everything will be fine?' Hermione asked.

'I hope so.'