Hermione unlocked the door to their apartment and stepped inside. "Ron, I'm home," she called softly, knowing he was probably asleep. Flicking her wand at the kettle she grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and filled them; straight black coffee for him, sweet milky tea for her. As she was walking into the lounge, she heard an odd noise, like a moan, come from the bedroom. Maybe Ron fell out of bed again, thought Hermione fondly. She decided to go check on him anyway, so she crossed the hallway to their bedroom, mugs in hand. When she opened the door they dropped from her hands and smashed on the floor, the scalding liquid pooling around her feet. But she wasn't paying attention to that.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"

The two people on the bed looked up from what they were doing. "Oh, shit," muttered Ron, pulling the bedcovers around himself and his blonde companion.

"Oh, shit, indeed, Ronald! Really? Lavender Brown? Ugh. You disgust me, both of you. I think you should leave." At that moment she was too angry to cry. Lavender jumped off the bed and scrambled into her clothes, mumbling a guilty apology as she passed Hermione in the doorway. A moment later the apartment door clicked shut softly behind her. Ron quailed under her furious glare. "How long have you been seeing Lavender, Ron?" Ron avoided her gaze and said nothing. Hermione crossed her arms and tapped her foot, which made small splashes in the cold pool of tea on the floor.

"Three months," he muttered eventually.

But we've only been dating for four months, and you moved in last week! Hermione thought. She did the maths quickly. Hermione felt her heart break and sucked in a deep breath to hold herself together. "All that time?" she whispered incredulously. Ron just nodded, ashamed. "Ron, I think you should leave."

"What?" He looked at her disbelievingly.

"You heard me, Ronald. It's over. Get out of my apartment." He sat on the bed staring out the window with a small frown on his face, unresponsive. "Get out! Get out, get out, GET OUT!" When he didn't move Hermione grabbed a fistful of his ginger hair and dragged him through the apartment. Throwing him bodily out the door she chucked a maroon sweater and a pair of jeans after him. If looks could kill, Ron's body would currently be spread-eagled at the foot of the stairs with multiple stab wounds and broken bones.

"Hermione, wait-" Ron pleaded.

"And don't even think of coming back," she spat viciously, before slamming the door in his face.

Collapsing on the sofa Hermione finally allowed herself to release her tears. Huge sobs wracked her body and irrationally she ransacked the medicine cabinet in search of something to ease the pain of his betrayal. She found many potions and salves, even the odd muggle cough-sweet – but she wasn't looking for that. Hermione couldn't find what she was looking for, because it didn't exist. She was looking for something to heal her broken heart.