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"What do you mean you didn't have to do anything?" Ron asked Harry as soon as the later stepped out from the fireplace. "Was she trying to prank us or something? Is that why you're back so soon?"
Harry looked like he would rather do anything else than standing in their shared office explaining to Ron whatever had happened when he had visited Hermione earlier at Hogwarts.
"No, she really is dating Malfoy," said Harry with resignation looking everywhere but at Ron. "I didn't even talk to her but it was so obv-"
"What?" Said Ron getting up from his seat. "You didn't talk to her? Harry, are you daft?"
"I'm not daft, you don't understand-"
"You were supposed to check on her," Ron could feel his own anger rising.
"I-"
"She could be under the influence of a love potion!"
"Ron-"
"Or controlled by the Imperius Curse! We're talking about Malfoy!"
"Ron, I didn't have to check-"
"'Didn't have to'? Harry, that's Auror training 101!"
"I know, Ron! For fuck's sake just let me explain-"
"No! The Floo is still open for the next hour. I'll go check on her myself."
Ron grabbed the Floo Powder and stepped into the fireplace before Harry could argue further with him. He had heard enough and yelling at his best friend wasn't going to solve anything.
He arrived at Professor McGonagall's office seconds later with a light feel of nausea that he couldn't really blame on the Floo trip.
The new Headmistress had agreed to leave the Floo open for them while she was out attending school business and Ron was glad no one was there to distract him.
The situation was dire and he felt frustrated that Harry had just dismissed their plan.
Something wasn't right and now he was regretting storming out from the office before checking for curses on his best friend.
What if Malfoy —or someone working for him— used some sort of dark spell to make Harry believe Hermione wasn't in danger? Now Ron was the one forgetting their basic Auror training: gathering and analyzing all data to strategize the best possible approach before going in the field.
He was basically going blind without any knowledge of what kind of attack to expect.
Before he could doubt himself he got out of the office and marched down the halls of his Alma Mater to find her other best friend who should be —according to her schedule— finishing lunch or on her way to DADA class.
The unsettling feeling in his stomach got worse with the anticipation of seeing Hermione after months of only exchanging letters.
He was a little bummed out when Hermione had informed them about her plan of going back to Hogwarts.
Ron had thought about following her but she'd said she needed time for herself after everything that had happened after the war and her not being able to fix her parents' memories.
He suspected their break-up also had a little to play in her decision and she hadn't denied it.
The truth is they weren't as affected as they thought they would be when they decided to stay friends.
Both of them had agreed that the romantic and physical part of their relationship felt off. And they also couldn't help but compare themselves to Harry and Ginny who seemed like the perfect couple.
Seriously, just looking at them was enough to make Ron and Hermione realize that they weren't a good fit.
Still, they loved each other deeply.
Harry, Hermione and Ron were soulmates with an unbreakable bond. The three of them had gone through all sorts of experiences together that will keep them in each other's lives forever.
Though a break up was nothing compared to some of the hardships they had gone through, it still was hard to find out a person you have such a strong connection to could never be the person you ended up with.
That's why he had gotten mad at Harry who, not only claimed he saw Hermione as a sister, but knew she also meant the word to Ron.
The whole situation was odd.
Hermione had first mentioned Malfoy in one of her letters —sent to both Harry and him to their office— back in September, telling them that Malfoy had apologized to her for everything.
This came as no surprise because Malfoy had sought them out and apologized to Harry and him when Hermione had been in Australia.
The ferret had asked them for "Granger's contact information" so he could write to her and seemed a little disappointed when they had explained she was out of the country attending personal business.
Even when it was Malfoy, Ron could see his intentions were good. It was evident he wasn't the same boy he had been at school so he didn't think anything bad of it.
Oh, how wrong he was. Malfoy was probably planning on taking advantage of Hermione all along.
His motive was unsure. Probably revenge. Probably hate against Muggleborns despite Malfoy's own claims that he had managed to unlearn his prejudice even before the war.
Who knows.
Hermione had written about Malfoy other times when she mentioned they were appointed partners in almost every class.
In her letters there were mentions of them studying in the library or patrolling the halls. They obviously had started a friendship.
But a relationship?
The last time Hermione had mentioned Malfoy in a letter she had dropped a Bombarda on Harry and him by telling them that over the Christmas holiday she and the ferret had started dating officially.
How long had they been dating unofficially Ron didn't want to know.
What he wanted to know was what kind of Dark Magic Malfoy had used on Hermione for her to "start to fall hard for Draco" as she had stated in her last letter.
The unsettling feeling in his stomach grew stronger.
He was already at the end of the hall where the DADA classroom was and decided to cast some protective spells on him so he wouldn't be caught off guard by anyone before he could find Hermione —or Malfoy, to question him.
He stood hidden behind the corner and it wasn't long before he saw Hermione approaching from the other end of the hall.
Ron was... surprised.
There were no other words to describe what he felt when he saw her after more than half a year.
She looked beautiful.
It wasn't her clothes or her hair. She was just wearing her Hogwarts uniform and her hair hadn't changed in years.
It was just her.
Something in the way she walked, the way she moved her hands gesturing and the light expression on her face.
She looked like herself.
Ron wasn't sure when was the last time he had seen Hermione look like herself. It was kind of weird if he was honest.
They all had been so broken after the war that he didn't think anything or anyone could go back to "normal" but she somehow had managed to regain that sparkle in her eye.
Such was his impression that he hadn't noticed she was walking beside Malfoy until they reached the door of the classroom.
It was still several minutes early before class and the door was closed so she just casually leaned her back on the opposite wall.
Malfoy closed the distance between them and Ron held his wand tighter ready to run towards them and hex the ferret.
Except he couldn't move.
It wasn't a spell or someone holding him up. The shock of what he was seeing made him freeze on his spot.
Malfoy got closer to Hermione until he could rest his arm next to her face on the wall but it was in a non-threatening way.
He noticed Malfoy's face and Ron was as stunned —if not more— as when seeing Hermione's face.
He was looking at her with pure and utter adoration. His eyes were soft and shining with something Ron couldn't find words to describe at the top of his head.
His lips were curved into a smile. Not a frown. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile.
Malfoy was looking at Hermione like she was the most precious creature in the universe and Ron couldn't have felt more awkward.
He knew that look. It was the one he saw on Harry when he was with Ginny and they thought no one was watching.
He saw Malfoy put two school bags on the floor and Ron realized the blond man had been carrying Hermione's bag for her.
With his now free arm, Malfoy reached Hermione's hair and tucked an unruly curl behind her ear, his hand now moving gently down her cheekbone and stopping at her chin.
He was being so delicate and the act was just so out of character with the Malfoy he knew that Ron's brain still couldn't function.
The look on Hermione's face was welcoming, willing, eager and equally charged with adoration.
He had never seen that look the whole time they were together.
Their break-up made sense now more than ever.
This was somehow worse than watching Harry and Ginny shamelessly making out in the living room at The Burrow.
Somehow he understood this was a more intimate moment.
And they were barely touching.
They were both immersed in their own world, living inside their little bubble, obliviously unaware of any other soul but theirs.
He saw Malfoy leaning down, eyes closed and Hermione tilting her head up and puckering her lips.
Ron shut his eyes feeling out of place for witnessing such a private moment and turned around towards Professor McGonagall's office.
His thoughts were absent from his head the whole way back to the Ministry.
When he stepped out of the fireplace he saw Harry working on some paperwork at his desk.
His eyes found Ron's and they both understood.
They didn't say anything. They didn't have to. They both knew now.
She was well.