If Hermione Granger knew one thing in life it was that her and Ronald Weasley were meant for each other.
She didn’t realize it right away but as years and grades passed it became increasingly obvious to her.
She memorized his voice, his hands, the way he talked. She learned that his red hair was more like Fred’s than it was like Ginny and Georges. She knew what made him angry and what made him sad. He was the person she had learned to look for in every room. And for as long as Hermione could remember all she wanted in the entire world was to get a perfect score on her O.W.Ls and for Ron to love her.
She always just assumed that he would see her eventually. That he would understand that they were supposed to be together. But as 6th year came and Ron fell into his relationship with lavender, Hermione began to doubt. She had held onto hope because Ron got so jealous at the Yule ball and became so angry when any possibility of romance in Hermione's life was ever mentioned. She held onto the hope that Ron just needed more time; more time to grow up and realize that Hermione wanted him, that she wanted him and only him.
Unfortunately the hope didn’t last every long. The doubts were little at first almost like intrusive thoughts that Hermione would brush aside in favor of the glowy picture of her and Ron's wedding day. They would be smiling and Molly would be weeping. She could see the newspaper clipping of them dancing that she would save in a scrapbook. She could see it all, unfortunately Ron never did. Hermione had always known what she wanted, she knew how to play the long game. But as she and Ron got older and graduation came closer and closer it was easy to forget about boys and romance altogether. Then Voldemort was becoming a bigger and bigger threat, it was clear Hermione needed to focus on other things, like keeping Harry alive. Those years that followed were blurred together into one long continues fight. It was easy to forget anything besides surviving.
Now the war was over, she was so busy for so long and now… she had nothing but her mind that ran on an endless loop. She and Ron had kissed at the final battle of Hogwarts. She thought that it was finally time. The pieces were coming together, the storybook was closing. They had both grown so much, she thought Ron would finally see that too. She waited and waited but the summer ended and Hermione was bound for Hogwarts to finish her 8th year and Ron was off to auror training and they still weren’t together. Last she seen him he said that he would write and try to visit. The keyword being try. Hermione found that she wasn’t just doubting her future with Ron, she was doubting herself.
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The blow of the Hogwarts train whistle brought her back to reality. Families were beginning to gather around the station, as she looked upon all the new people she never felt more alone. She wrapped her arms around her self and tried to blink back tears. She was one of the handful of students that chose to finish their eighth year. The rest moving on and trying to forget the war and the others seemed as stuck as her. The train pulled to a stop and Hermione looked upon all the first years with halfhearted jealousy. Magic was still beautiful and good to them, they had never seen the devastation and death it could bring and hopefully they never would. Hermione focused on trying to steady herself and stop the heat filling her eyes.
She would make herself forget Ronald Weasely, it was time to put the illusion of their future down. It was a needed distraction from a time when she desperately needed one. Hermione rolled her shoulders back, she could handle being on her own, she could handle hogwarts. If she had learned anything over the years it was that she was capable, she could handle anything because she was Hermione Granger.