`just leave me alone *Ginny/Hermione*

[ron]

"I take it back!"

Ronald finally yelped out as he ducked from another incoming book. He supposed the book throwing was from a lot of pent up anger. She could not seriously be that upset for him blaming her? Could she? Then again, it was Hermione Granger and the way she thought things through were always rather abnormal. A slight feeling made Ron assume that she was pissed off for his ignoring her, and trying to escape, and then he made her burst at blaming him for being hurt. She could not honestly be that disturbed that she was throwing books at him now! That would be insane. Ron had blamed her for many things before that never caused books to his head. He usually deserved any smack, thrown objects, or spells at him because he had gone too far. However, this wasn't too far... This was a simple Ron accusation.

Therefore, his only logical reason was it was her frustration that had been built up after months of no communication. The birds had been sent because of his snogging sessions with Lavender Brown. The dead silence she gave him and the smacking when he returned during the search for horcruxs were of course because he left Harry and Hermione to fend for themselves. Therefore, naturally her losing her temper had to be for bigger reasons then a simple blame her for his damaged hand.

Usually, Ronald would not give in so easy to her commands. However, his hand was throbbing and he did not want to deal with any more books thrown at him. For goodness sake, his hand was already in pain, he did not need any other part of his body in pain... and imagine having to explain that one to the nurse... 'Oh, Hermione got mad at me... so she threw a book at me...' Actually, maybe, he should let her hit him with a book, just hard enough to cause some pain...then maybe the bloody girl would get herself in trouble and think twice before messing with Ronald Bilius Weasley! Bloody, girl!

As she ran out of books to throw, and his plead was heard to leave again, his eyes went wide with her next accusations. Where did she get that from!? How did she know his mind was on drinking at the pub? She could not honestly know that!? Could she? Because Ron had thought, he had been hiding it pretty damn good. Granted, he had been ignoring everyone but that did not mean people's conclusion would be he had a 'slight' drinking problem now. Then again, this was Hermione Granger and she may have not caught on at first but he should have known she would have eventually... she always figured out everything. And, that was why she was a nosy-know-it-all Granger. Uck! Sometimes she just annoyed him to no end.

"N-no!" he stuttered over his words, "You're mad, Hermione!" he shouted out at her, his back to the door, "I want to leave to get away from you because you're psychotic!" he spat out at her, quickly getting on the defensive.

He knew part of her worry was she would never speak to him again... And, she had a part right to be worried about that. But, what could she expect Ron to say?...

He felt like he didn't deserve to even be in her company...let alone alive...

[ron]

Damn Harry Potter wanting to fetch Hermione in the girl's bathroom their first year. Damn that bloody troll that trapped her inside the bathroom. Damn it all! If Harry had not been so keen on helping Hermione and they had not destroyed that troll, maybe she would not have been too keen to befriend Harry and Ron. If this were the case then Ron would not be forced to stand in this locked room with Ms. Know-It-All Granger...

Whom was Ron honestly kidding though? Even if he had never helped Harry and Hermione defeat, the troll Hermione would have wormed herself in their life either way. It was only a matter of time before the three became what was known as the 'trio' And, let's just admit it... Ron and Harry would have been completely lost without Hermione on their sides. She was the smartest witch of their age. She got them out of so many different obstacles that Ron really ought to be grateful. And, he had been, in his own little way. He just sucked at expressing his gratitude often.

If it were not for Hermione Harry and Ron would have never found out about the stone in their first year. If it were not for Hermione, they would have never accomplished much in school. If it were not for Hermione, Harry would have struggled during the Goblet of Fire. If it was not for Hermione Umbridge would have been bothering Hogwarts for ages. If it were not for Hermione, the final horcrux would not have been destroyed. If it were not for Hermione… while, let us just admit, if it were not for Hermione and her intelligence, and just her being her…Ron and Harry would be at a huge loss. They both needed her.

It had been wrong the way he was treating Hermione. Ignoring her after kissing her at the Battle it was morally wrong. It would make anyone assume that he had just been leading her on all these years... got what he wanted then left her. This of course, was not the case at all. Everything that had happened just took a huge toll on Ron and he could not handle all of his emotions. He was Ronald Weasley after all and, he struggled at showing his emotions, even though most could see as plain as day that Ronald Weasley was in love with Hermione Granger… it was really just the two of them that struggled to own up to their feelings, everyone else around them had always known of them. Hopefully, nobody else was taking Ron's mood change as horrible as Hermione was. He could tell he had been hurting her however he just...he couldn't get over Fred's death, and he couldn't get over this utterly horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him he didn't deserve any sort of happiness with Hermione... friends or more...

"I have no idea what you're talking about! You’re mad, Hermione! Bloody, mad!"

He spat out at her, still on the defensive. He hated how Hermione could see right through him...

Ron did know what she was talking about when it came to his liver (even though he still very much so had a working liver! it was not completely damaged...yet...)... However, he did not know what she was trying to get through his so-called 'thick head'

((have fun on baby duty. ;D))

[ron]

"You're crazy!"

His voice echoed the room, as his eyes went to meet hers. This line was easy for Ronald to shout at her. He always found Hermione to be a little bit estranged. Of course, everyone was in his or her own little way. Even Ronald had a little bit of crazy in him. In fact, he was the one being crazy right now, as he attempted to make her think he wasn't drinking, that he was perfectly ok, and him ignoring her was not a big deal, or out of the ordinary. However, Hermione had got a bit 'mad' when she decided to throw those bloody books at his head. A normal upset person would not automatically start throwing things at a person, they would shout sure... but objects being thrown... not all the time, which was more of a Hermione Granger thing and a ... Ginny Weasley thing...

Actually, a Ginny Weasley thing was more spell casting when she was angry. He was lucky Hermione kept Ginny outside of the room or this 'nightmare' would be ten times worse! Ginny would have been acting a lot more aggressive then Hermione was. Hermione only ever cast one spell at him before, and he would take the books to the bird any day. Except with this excruciating pain in his hand he wasn't too thrilled with being stuck in here, books thrown or not.

The moment he heard her express out to tell him he hated her he kept his back pressed against the door. How could he tell her he hated her? It was the farthest emotions from his mind, and heart. Ronald Weasley loved Hermione Granger. Of course, he couldn't say the words 'I love you,' but could he tell her the opposite of I love you at this point? Could he honestly tell this girl he hated her? He did not want to hurt her, and he knew he was by this ignoring her, but he also knew he did not deserve her in his life, and he need to let her go... which meant she needed to let him go as well.

His eyes narrowed away from her, as he let out a low steady breath, "I..." he shook his head. Sure, Ron has said hateful words to Hermione before but he had never told her he hated her before. "You're being insane Hermione!, Just let me out of here!" he shouted out at her, his eyes looking back at her again, a look of annoyance was shown on his face now, as he shook his head at her...

"Let me out! Because there is no way in bloody hell, I am trusting you with my hand!" he expressed to her. "For all I know you would try to break it even more! Or, something much worse!" he spat out at her, his face still that deep shade of red. Even though he knew no matter what state Hermione was in she would never dream of hurting him, unless you counted the books and birds as pain. However, Hermione had also saved his sorry butt more than once, including his life after being splinched on their journey for horcruxs with Harry.

[ginny]

Ginny couldn't hear when Ron and Hermione spoke, but she could hear when they shouted. She couldn't always make out the words, but she knew when they were yelling.

After Ron's initial screaming match the shouting had become less and far between, but it had started to pick up again. Ginny strained her ears to try and hear what was being said, and then felt bad for eaves dropping. But, then again, Ron was her brother, and Hermione had asked for her help. She was in on this two. She was the one who had gotten Ron to the classroom, and locked him in, and if Ron hurt himself she would be responsible.

A few minutes later, and Ginny found she couldn't take it any more. She stood up, and fumbled for her wand, her hands shaking slightly. She didn't want Ron to get out or leave; they weren't done talking yet. Ron wasn't getting out, but she was getting in.

Finally she managed the spell to un-stick the door. She opened it quickly, slipped inside, and closed the door behind her before Ron knew what had happened. She looked at him, forgetting for a moment about Hermione; he looked awful. He had obviously been crying. Had this whole thing been a huge mistake?

Ginny hurried over to Ron and threw her arms around his neck, refusing to cry but unable to stay emotionless either. She hugged him tightly, and didn't care whether he wanted her to or not. Yes, he was in a state, and no he might not want to hug her, but dammit, she was his little sister! He was her big brother, and if she wanted him to hug her, he was going to hug her!

[ron]

This was all starting to become so insane for Ron to handle. He could not handle the atmosphere inside this room. He honestly felt like the room was suffocating him. He felt like the walls were inclosing around him and Hermione. He just wanted out; he wanted to be let free. This was a nightmare....

Ok, in all reality, this was not even close to a nightmare. Ron had faced much worse things in his lifetime. There were no spiders, no deatheaters, no Voldomort in the room, it was just him and Hermione in a locked room. Before everything that had happened, he wouldn't have minded it at all. He had been alone in rooms with Hermione before. However, this all just felt so much different after everything that had happened. He looked across the room at Hermione and frowned, a deep pain was etched inside his eyes. He knew he was not going to be able to tell her he hated her. It just was not possible! He did not hate Hermione Granger. But, he almost felt that he was going to have to lie in order to get her to leave him alone, he knew it would hurt her... and, Ronald did not want to hurt her but sometimes certain things just had to be done…

"I.." he paused, a hand racking through his hair. "I hate you, Hermione," he breathed out, looking at her straight in the eyes before quickly turning his attention away from her. There was not much emotion behind what he told her. However, the look in his eyes, the frown on his face was indication enough that he did not mean it. For a quick second he knew he should feel lucky he was alone in the room with her. That she cared so much about him. He knew those two blimey gits... Krum and Cormac would just love to be in his spot right now, Hermione begging for them to be in their lives. Ack, how he hated even thinking about them bloody gits...

Before Hermione could even say much to him or even finally let him out of here, he felt a pair of small arms wrap around his neck. Immediately he knew who was hugging him and his first instinct was to pull away but something stopped him, as his arms wrapped around his little sister in a hug, and he nearly broke down again,

"Ginny, please, let me out of here, please..." he was now resorting to begging his little sister. He was hoping she had come in to be his savoir now, to let him free from here.

"You.." he choked on his words a bit, "You have to understand why I need to get away from here," he paused for a moment, "From Hermione..." another pause, "Please, Ginny..."

He knew he had not been the best big brother lately. It was not as if he had seen much of Ginny lately. But, when their brother first died he was there trying to comfort everyone. And, it was also not as if Ginny had tried coming to him at all either... she had her own grievance process. And, if she had tried coming to him Ron wouldn't have probably turned her down. Ginny Weasley had all of her brothers somehow wrapped around her fingers.

[ginny]

Ginny was so relieved when Ron hugged her back. She hadn't realised just how worried she had been that he would push her away. She had heard him shouting at Hermione, and Hermione was one of his best friends. Not to mention the girl Ron had been in love with for the longest time. Ever since Ginny had grown up enough to notice the world around her, and how other people felt, she had known that Ron loved Hermione. And she knew Hermione loved Ron. Whenever they all got together, Ginny and Hermione were put in a room together. Over time, that had built a strong friendship. It wasn't easy sometimes, being the only two girls in a large (ok, very large) group of boys. Ginny had known that Hermione loved Ron even before Hermione finally all but admitted it.

It felt good to hug her brother, and have him hug her back. Ginny had avoided any sort of comfort since Fred had died. She hadn't gone to Ron, or any of her brothers, to talk about what had happened. Ginny had been handling the whole thing in her own way, and although that may not have been the healthiest way, it was working for her.

Ginny held onto Ron, not willing to let go just yet. She listened as he begged her to let him out, and told her that he needed to get away from Hermione. "But why, Ron?" she asked, still hugging him. "I won't understand until you tell me." She paused, and then let go of Ron. She knew what she had to say, but if she said it while she was hugging him she didn't think she would be able to hold it together. She kept her hands on her arms, and looked him in the eye.

"I've already lost one brother, Ron. I can't just watch you disappear like this."

She didn't look at Hermione; if she had she would have seen that the girl was nearing the end of her rope. This whole thing with Ron was really taking its toll. But Ginny couldn't focus on Hermione right now, because Ron, her brother, commanded her full attention. But she was still depending on Hermione to be there.

[ron]

His mind was spiraling all over the place. One minute he wanted to break down and cry. The next he was hoping to just get out of this place. He really just needed that drink right about now. Even though he did not want to leave his sister's side, that drink was calling his name. He needed to get to Hogsmead before they were not allowed to go there anymore. He knew that after a day like today he was going to need to buy some pints of firewhiskey to sneak back into Hogwarts. There was no way he was going to last another round of days before being allowed at Hogsmead again without firewhiskey. After a day like today Ron was pretty certain he deserved to drink his sorrows away...

His mind was not far gone from a Ms. Hermione Granger. He knew what he had said hurt her. How could it not? The two had been friends since the age of eleven after an attack of a troll and a major takedown, proving that Harry, Hermione, and Ron would work well as a team. After Ron and Hermione's kiss as well, he was certain it probably effected Hermione a lot more then it normally would. He wasn't sure on her exact feelings for him but he knew she cared about him. Even though the look Hermione gave him after their kiss was nearly a dead giveaway to her feelings as was Ron’s look, however, Ron chose to pretend he forgot all about that interaction. It would have hurt Ron if she had said she hated him as well...

Ron shook his head lightly at Ginny's questions. How was he supposed to answer her right now? How was he supposed to answer anything with Hermione in the room. And, if he had would she even understand? He did not think anyone could really understand his train of thinking not even his baby sister. But, she would be the one person that could get anything out of him... that and his mother. Which reminded him he should probably just fess up everything to Ginny or she would resort to the scariest tactics ever... his mum..

And... Molly Weasley... when she got angry, or didn't understand things it resorted in a very scary scolding Molly Weasley. The two Weasley Woman of the family defiantly had the men of the family wrapped around their fingers. It was rather pathetic really... how quickly moods changed around the Weasley Woman...

He however decided to act as if he didn't hear her questioning him, as he pulled away from their hug.

His heart broke at her next statement about not wanting to lose a brother, and he let out a sigh, staring down at the ground, "I'm sorry," was all he could muffle out, and that was when he heard the noise of the door breaking, and an angry Hermione leaving the room.

"Bloody hell!" he shouted out, slightly jumping, wishing he would have thought of that escape sooner... but he could always run away from Ginny now...

[ginny]

Ginny automatically looked to Hermione when Ron broke their hug. She felt like she was getting through to him, finally, even if he wasn't really opening up. He still seemed reserved. But maybe that was to be expected? Most people couldn't just flip a switch and be ok. It could be a long, slow process.

So Ginny looked to Hermione, wanting to see her reaction, and if she thought this was good. She hoped Hermione didn't mind her barging in like this. She knew that a big part of the plan depended on just keeping Ron locked in here, whether he wanted to or not, until he eventually started talking. Ginny might have just ruined all of that. But really, she thought that she had made the right call.

But when she looked Hermione wasn't standing behind her, and she turned her head just in time to see Hermione leaving the room. Where was she going! They had finally gotten Ron to stop yelling, to maybe even talk. She didn't understand, but she knew Hermione must be really upset to just give up on Ron like this.

Ginny turned back to her brother, biting her lip, unsure of what to do. Then she decided; "Ron," she said "this isn't over, ok? I still want to talk. Promise me we'll talk more later." She didn't wait for Ron to answer. She knew that he would talk to her later, and maybe taking a break would be good for all of them. She didn't know if Hermione would be involved in that conversation.

Ginny left the room hurriedly, chasing after Hermione. She called after her, but Hermione had a good head start, and was moving pretty fast. Hermione lead her outside, and Ginny had caught up enough to see Hermione rip the head girl badge from her chest, and toss it on the ground. "Hermio-" Ginny started to call out, but Hermione had reached the gates. She stepped outside of the Hogwarts perimeter, and disapparated.

Ginny walked over to where Hermione had tossed the Head Girl badge, and picked it up. Frowning, she dusted it off and put it in her pocket. Hermione would want it when she got back. And Ginny knew she would come back; she had to. Clearly she just needed some time to herself. Ginny was worried, but even if she had wanted to do something, she couldn't. There was no way for her to follow Hermione, even if she had passed her apparition test. And if she told a teacher about the situation Hermione would get in trouble. Harry would worry, but there was nothing he could do either. And the only brother she had left at Hogwarts was in no state to find Hermione.

Reluctantly, Ginny turned to walk back up to the castle. Hermione would come back, and if she didn't, then Ginny would worry. Right now Ginny needed a break, and then she needed to talk to her brother.

[ron]

He was not sure if it was a relief when both girls finally left him alone in the room. It still felt like this was going to be a never ending battle. Hermione had taken off in a heap of a hurry. She had been upset and he knew he hurt her. He was certain this was not the end of Ms. Hermione Granger's rampage. He also knew that even though Ginny left him she was not at all done talking to him. Nevertheless, at the same time he was so thankful they were both gone...

This meant that Ronald could finally take the escape he needed. He hoped he would still be able to get to Hogsmead now. Man he was just dying for a drink. He knew after a day like today he defiantly deserved some firewhiskey. Having to deal with both emotions of Hermione and his baby sisters... it was just too much. On top of his own break down… he just needed out of there.

He just really wished that they would understand.

Understand why he needed to get away from everyone, including Hermione. The one person he needed to get away from the most was Hermione. However, they just did not seem to understand. And, Ronald was just not sure he was going to be able to explain. And, even if he could he feared they would find his reasoning’s stupid. But, they were not stupid in Ron’s mind. They made perfect sense… He just wished they would leave it be; leave him be.

He let out a sigh as he racked his hair, quickly exiting the classroom before any more tricks were played on him today. As soon as he was clear from the classroom he took a huge gulp of air. He was so thankful that he could finally breathe again. He swore he felt like he was suffocating in that classroom. It did not matter that the room was plenty big... he still felt like he needed air. He felt more trapped then he had felt in the longest time…

He walked out of Hogwarts and headed to Hogsmead...

Prepared to drown his sorrows in more firewhiskey.

and...

Forget the world...

Even if for only a moment.

((AND END! ))