Two Thirds

Rating: PG (language, but just one word)

Pairings: Hermione/Ron, Hemrione/Harry

Disclaimer: Ron and Harry and Hermione belong to JKR. The song is called “Two Outta Three `Aint Bad” by Meatloaf.

Summary: “She flew away, right past me and out the door. She flew away, and I knew, deep in my heart, that she would never come back. I tied her wings so she couldn't fly. I'd fed her lies, hoping she could live off my love. But I realized she never could, and I let her go. I didn't chase her, I watch her fly away. I watched her fly right to him.”

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“Baby we can talk all night
But that ain't getting us nowhere
I told you everything I possibly can
There's nothing left inside of here

And maybe you can cry all night
But that'll never change the way I feel
The snow is really piling up outside
I wish you wouldn't make me leave here”

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I can't say I'm surprised. I saw it coming, I knew I was just setting myself up to get knocked down, but I did it anyway. Like bowling pins. I knew it was just going to end in heartbreak, that I'd never have my happy ending. I mean, who am I to want her like that? To love her? She's the one that needs her. He's the one that deserves her. I just wish that sometimes… Sometimes I wish I could get the girl.

Sometimes I wish that I wasn't the sidekick, but instead, the hero.

But I can't be the hero. I never will be. He was born a hero. And me? I was born a sidekick. A lackey. The person who is only there to make the hero look good. I made him look too good. I was the fool while he was the king, laughing at me. And why shouldn't he?

I tell her I love her, and where does that get me? No where. No one loves a sidekick. No one loves a lackey. The Princess loves the Prince, not the Knight, nor the Jester, nor the Servant. She loves the Prince. And I am no prince.

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“I poured it on and I poured it out
I tried to show you just how much I care
I'm tired of words and I'm too hoarse to shout
But you've been cold to me so long
I'm crying icicles instead of tears”

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I can't say I'm happy for them. Because I'm not. I'm jealous. I'm angry. I'm sad. I'm a lot of things right now, but I'm not happy. Not for them, not for anyone. Maybe that's why I didn't want to go to the wedding. Maybe that's why they stopped trying to include me. Maybe that's why I'm all alone in my flat, with the lights out, lying on my bed.

I wonder if it was the right thing to do. But I can't stand looking at them. Seeing her glow like that with him. She never glowed around me. But unlike him, he fans her fire, while I throw a blanket over it, smothering it.

She was like a trapped bird. I kept her in my cage, for my own amusements. I kept her so she could sing to me, so I could watch her, behind those bars. But one day, she died. She died, and she knew it too. She stopped singing. So I opened the door to that cage, and she escaped.

She flew away, right past me and out the door. She flew away, and I knew, deep in my heart, that she would never come back. I tied her wings so she couldn't fly. I'd fed her lies, hoping she could live off my love. I asked her to sing, even though her throat was raw. But I realized this was not the way she should have been, and I let her go. I didn't chase her, I watched her fly away. I watched her fly right to him. And I knew it would happen. I knew she would go to him the moment I let her go.

I knew she wouldn't sing for me anymore. Never again, would that little bird sing for me.

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“And all I can do is keep on telling you
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way
I'm ever gonna love you
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad”

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She said she still cared about me. They were still my friends, she said. But I knew that was bullshit. Nothing would be the same anymore. They would be a couple, and I would be a third wheel. I would be the third corner in a love triangle.

I'd be the one who walked away in defeat.

I should've known I'd never be able to beat him. He's defeated every challenge that came his way. I'd never be able to measure up. I'd always be second best.

I've almost got what it takes to measure up. I've got the looks, I've got the smarts, but I've haven't got the girl. But two out of three isn't so bad, is it? She wants me, she needs, but she'll never love me.

She loves him. No matter how much I wish I were, no matter how angry or jealous I get, I have to face the truth. I'll never be him. I'll never have her again. And I'll always be the forgotten third corner. The third wheel on a bicycle. The odd one out.

The ugly duckling that will never grow up into a beautiful swan.

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“You'll never find your gold on a sandy beach
You'll never drill for oil on a city street
I know you're looking for a ruby
In a mountain of rocks
But there ain't no Coupe de Ville hiding
At the bottom of a Cracker Jack box”

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I'm just so ordinary. So average. She needs extraordinary. She needs amazing. Because that's what she is. And what he is. And what I'm not. I never will be. I keep trying and failing. They say you can do anything if you believe in yourself. But you can't. They, whoever they are, lied.

I believed that I was enough for her, but I wasn't.

I was a candle to his sun. I was a stump to his redwood. I was a single scale to his dragon hide. I would never measure up. A candle would never burn as brightly as the sun, a stump would never grow as tall as a redwood, a single scale would never cover an entire dragon. I can't keep lying to myself.

I am never going to have her back. I'll never be able to hold her in my arms again. She was like a phoenix, going up in flames. But she rose in someone else's ashes.

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“I can't lie
I can't tell you that I'm something I'm not
No matter how I try
I'll never be able to give you something
Something that I just haven't got”

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I can't say I blame her for leaving me for him. I mean, who wouldn't? He was by far superior. And me? I'm just second best. Second fiddle. She was always striving to be the best, to have the best. And she got it.

She always got what she put her mind to. Just like him. And me? No, I'll never get what I want. I can't lie to myself. To everyone. To her.

I miss being with them. I miss the carefree days of our youth. I miss strolling down the halls with them by my side, and sneaking looks at her. But it didn't matter how hard I tired. She was always prepared to rush to his aid, while I was left to bleed. But who could blame her?
Who could blame her for wanting the best? For striving for the best? That which I obviously was not. Somehow I had gotten the delusion that she loved me, too. That I was somehow good enough for her. Good enough to deserve her love.

But I guess not.

I guess not.

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“There's only one girl that I will ever love
And that was so many years ago
And though I know I'll never get her out of my heart
She never loved me back, ooh I know
I remember how she left me on a stormy night
She kissed me and got out of our bed
And though I pleaded and I begged her
Not to walk out that door
She packed her bags and turned right away”

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I know that she'll be the only one I'll ever love. The only one I'll ever care about so deeply and truly. But she doesn't feel the same for me. But that's fine. It's all right. Because she deserves to have what she wants. She spent her life working, until she was the best. And now she has it.

I couldn't hold her back. I couldn't keep her wings tied forever. I couldn't stop her from dying. I couldn't stop her flame from flickering out. I couldn't stop her from losing the song in her heart.

And I couldn't give it back. I couldn't help her to fly to the top of the world. I couldn't bring back the life into her voice, her eyes. I couldn't fan the fire inside her into life again. I couldn't sing back the song of her heart, because I didn't know the words.

But I watched and saw him do it. I saw him help her fly to the top of the world. I saw him bring back the life to her voice, her eyes. Her heart. I saw him fan the fire inside her until it roared like a lion. I saw him sing her the song of her heart. And they sang it together.

I didn't believe her when she told me I wasn't right. But now I see. I have seen how right he was. How I just wasn't enough.

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“And she kept on telling me
She kept on telling me
She kep on telling me
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way
I'm ever gonna love you
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
Don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad”

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She wanted me, she needed me, but she didn't love me. I love her with all my heart. But my heart just isn't enough. I'm never enough. I'm just a little short. Of her expectations. Of her love. Of being equal to him.

But that's just because I'm only two-thirds in her eyes. I'm just not enough. I'm a glass filled two-thirds of the way, but why buy that, when you can get a full glass for the same price? Besides, I'm still one-third short.

They're two of the three.

I'm a third.

I'm one in three. And there's nothing I can do to change that. Nothing.

And there isn't a day that goes by that I wish Hermione Granger were still my bird. But now, I can see her glowing with her Chosen One. I can see their happiness like a ray of light into a dark cell. Just like I wasn't enough to go to Slughorn's parties, I wasn't enough for them. I wasn't enough to help them during the last battle. I wasn't enough save her.

But he was.

Two-thirds just isn't enough. But I just wish, maybe, that she would accept two out of three.

Even if I can't make her glow.

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“Baby we can talk all night
But that ain't getting us nowhere”

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AN: Well, this was from Ron's perspective… And… Well… It's Harry and Hermione if you couldn't tell. And… Yeah…

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