Left to you

Chapter 3- Rehabilitation

Hermione was shocked. Well, she was meant to be. But really at the most she was relieved. A small part of herself wanted to say: "I told you so." But the rest of her was mildly surprised. It was about a quarter of her in truth. She forced herself to look away from Lavender's glistening eyes to Ron. He looked absolutely guilty. He nervously smiled at her, like this was all an accident. Accident my arse, Hermione thought. The guests were gobsmacked. Harry and Ginny were gobsmacked and angry. Mrs Weasley looked like she was ready to write another howler. All expected. Hermione stood there, waiting for something to hit her. Waiting for herself to begin wailing and fall to the ground. For her to be hit by a big bucket of realization. But it never happened. The experience was more like water soaking into a sponge. Except there was no sadness. There was only anger.

Hermione shoved Ron with all her might. He fell to the ground and looked appalled. "Ronald Weasley! You shithead!" she screamed. The guests were stunned at her outburst. Hermione Jean Granger was not normally someone to swear. She threw her bouquet at her feet and ran out of the church, tears running down her face.

She ran to the curb and called a taxi for a few blocks down. It would be too obvious if she got picked up right in front of the church. Hermione didn't want any nosey taxi drivers offering comfort. She wanted time to herself. She wanted to get out of here. While Hermione waited  for the car to pull up she attempted to clean up some of the makeup, regardless if she was still crying. She needed some time to think.

~

Hermione had been sitting in her house for a week. Three of those days she cried. The fourth and fifth day she punched and screamed obscenities at a pillow with Ron's face taped to it. And the last two she watched Pretty Little Liars and ate Ben and Jerry's. After that week, she decided she had fretted over it enough. Hell, Ron probably had already banged a new girl already. Her hair was messy and split ended. She climbed out of her bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. It was time to get back to business.

She picked out a comfy yet stylish outfit. Hermione got in the shower and rinsed all the crumbs out of her hair. She toweled herself off and got dressed. She decided that she should invite someone over to talk. Hermione  was a bit lonely. A week of isolation could do that to you. She called Ginny and asked her over for tea at three. It was only nine. She had enough time to make a pre-made mix cake. So Hermione set out to make cake and tea before Ginny arrived.

When Ginny arrived, she opened the door with a smile. The chocolate cake was iced and on the table as well as a pot of tea. Hermione had her hair smoothed and her clothes presentable.

"Wow Hermione!" Ginny said. "You look pretty good for a girl who just got left at the altar a week ago!" Hermione flinched at the mention of the wedding. Ginny looked horrified at her friend's discomfort.

"Oh Hermione!" Ginny yelped, throwing her arms around her dramatically. "I'm so sorry! I came here to help you not hurt you!"

Hermione smiled at her friend's caring nature. She was always there for her. Ever since Ginny came out of her shell she had always been by her side, even if it wasn't literally.

"Don't worry Ginny, it's fine." Hermione answered. "Now let's get to this cake. I'm starving."

  ~

A few slices of cake and cups of tea later, Hermione and Ginny were laughing like schoolgirls again. They joked about when Ginny was dating Dean and how Ginny felt when her future husband was dating Cho.

"You were so jealous!" Hermione managed to choke out between laughs. Ginny and Hermione wiped tears from their eyes.

All of a sudden there was silence. Hermione realised this was when the conversation became difficult. Ginny looked Hermione right in the eye.

"Well, Hermione what are you going to do now?" Ginny asked. "What are you going to do? Because you're not going to settle down. It's time to go out and do stuff and meet guys!"

"I'm not sure." Hermione said with caution. In truth, she had thought about it but she wasn't really sure what to go with.

They thought about it for a moment. Tea was sipped and cake was nibbled. Finally, Ginny's eyes lit up and she finally spoke.

"I know!" Ginny almost screamed. "You've always loved school Hermione! The school re-opened this year! Why don't you go back to complete your seventh year!"

"That's a great idea  Ginny!" she said, reaching across to hug her friend. "You're amazing!"

Hermione agreed that it was a good idea. She'd always wanted to complete it but too many reasons stopped her. She was attending weddings and getting engaged straight out of school. And even if she wanted to return, she couldn't. Besides, the school had been shut for all this time for repairs.

It seemed like the perfect thing to do. Hermione was going back to Hogwarts.

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*sigh of relief* It took me a while to write this chapter, so it took longer to put it up! I hope you enjoyed this chapter because it was sooooooooooooo long! More to come!

-ash