Roommates || Dramione AU

Finale : The Christmas Ball ( Pt-II )

Ron's grip around his glass of firewhisky tightened. He let the cool air seep through him, calming him down. As he looked up at the sky, he smiled wistfully. It wasn't always like this. He wasn't always the bad guy. 

His red hair , shone a shade of scarlet as they caught wisps of the ethereal moonlight of the night.

His eyes held sorrow, not the determination, pride and loyalty of Ron Weasley. 
His lips quivered as he thought of his brother, smiling down at him. He laughed mockingly at himself. What would his brother think of him if he saw him in this state?

Ron looked back at the mansion behind him. He couldn't believe that he was at the Malfoy Manor again. The very same place where he and his friends had been brutally tortured during their 7th year, on their search for Horcruxes.

Yet it seemed so different now. 

So new. Like all of the past had just disappeared. He had been quite shocked when he had received a letter inviting him and his whole family to the Christmas Ball at the Malfoy Manor from Narcissa Malfoy. She was Lucius Malfoy's wife. She was the wife of a Death Eater. And she was inviting him ,a war hero, to attend an event that was legendary to the Malfoy family.

Ron would've found it quite bizarre ,if he hadn't reflected on the days after the War. They weren't the bad guys anymore. No, they were, on the contrary, trying to make up for lost time. Yet he ,was being an orthodox ,and trying to blame for everything little thing they did.

Ron felt ashamed. He wanted to cry. He wanted to curl up in his mother's arms and cry. He didn't want to be stuck in this web of complexity he had built for himself. He wanted to be simple again, to laugh and joke at the stupidest of things with his friends. He wanted to erase the past year of his life. 

He wanted a second chance. He wanted a second chance with Hermione .To be her friend again. Not anything else. He had seen Hermione with Malfoy. And he hated to admit it, but she was happy. He loathed himself for treating Hermione so cruelly ,when she had always been there for him, through his highs and his lows .Yet all he cared about after the War ,was popularity. He wanted to be at the center of things. Maybe that's why he hurt her. To make her let go of him. Because she was good and kind. And he, suddenly didn't want that. He thought of his mother's sorrow and despair when she would find out that Ron had hurt Hermione . He has fought the War for her. But alas, he lost the Great War.

Ron hated himself more for the way he had been using Lavender. He pitied anyone who would catch feelings for him. Being the vile, gruesome creature he had turned out to be.

No, he would be honest with her. He couldn't go around hurting anyone anymore.

Not only was it wrong ,it didn't feel like him. It didn't feel like Ron Weasley.

The glass in his hand shattered. There, all of his rage, inflicted upon an object, not a person.

As he turned back to return to the Ball, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Hermione.

He felt like screaming in agony when the brunette cast her eyes when she saw him. The look of hurt in her eyes. He could never forget it. Maybe that's what made him call out to her.

"Hermione , please wait..." Ron's eyes pleaded as he stood stoic in his place .His fists curled up in shame.

Hermione waited. Though she would not look at him, instead facing the woods on a nearby hill top.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out.

Hermione's neck snapped towards his direction ,her brows furrowed.
"What?"