Chapter 1: Hermione
Hermione Granger wrote furiously in her notebook, trying to tune out the gossip of the other Gryffindors in her dormitory. She cursed herself at not knowing how to transfigure her limp scarlet curtains into a thick brick wall to block out the noise from the other girls. Perhaps that should be the next thing she should learn to do after completing her advanced Arithmancy assignment.
"Parvati, he talked to me today!" squealed Lavender Brown in such a way that made Hermione cringe and make an unnecessary black scribble on her parchment.
"Eeek! What did he say?" Parvati Patel giggled obnoxiously. Hermione cringed at the noise expelled.
Perhaps instead of conjuring a brick wall to block the noise, I should invest in some magical duct tape to put over their mouths, a kind that stuck to a person for at least twelve hours without a way of removal. No doubt Fred and George Weasley had already invented or are working on it in their little workshop above Zonkos thought Hermione.
"He ran out of ink in his quill during charms and he asked me if he could borrow some!" Lavender sighed dramatically, as if the boy had asked her to marry her instead of borrow some writing supplies.
"But should we be talking about this?" asked Parvati in a hushed tone. "With...you know...in the room?" Hermione didn't have to look up to know that Parvati and Lavender were eyeing her.
Oh no, don't mind me Hermione thought bitterly. I'll just stay inside my curtains, studying and pretending like I don't exist. She smiled to herself thinking about how much she sounded like Harry from his stories of his days with the Dursleys.
"Oh it doesn't matter Parvati, it's not like I said his name or anything!" Lavender giggled in a manner that somehow surpassed the annoying level Parvati had reached a minute earlier. This time Hermione was so taken aback by the shrill outburst that she fumbled her quill and almost spilt her ink all over her bedspread.
Lavender didn't have to say his name for Hermione to know who she was talking about. In fact, she was pretty sure that everyone knew who she was talking about when she was giggling with Parvati. It was Ron Weasley, who of course, was oblivious to her existence besides her being a fellow Gryffindor in his year. Though they were in all of the same classes, Ron never said more than a simple "hello" to Lavender from time to time over the past six years.
Hermione had been in a odd state since figuring out the obvious signs of Lavender's liking to Ron. At first she was overcome with fits of giggles even more violent than Lavender and Parvati's combined, but when the hilarity of anyone liking Ron subsided, she was left with bitter jealously rotting in the pit of her stomach. She didn't even know what she was jealous of to be frank; Lavender hardly interacted with Ron, and Ron had never shown signs of interest for Lavender. What was there to be jealous of?
What does she even see in that pig-headed boy anyways? Hermione thought while putting her books away. Using her thoughts to block out the noise was much less extraneous than using magic to solve her problem. Hermione just couldn't see what Lavender saw in him. Ron was thick-minded, highly illogically opinionated, and almost always had a face stuffed with food.
Nope, she just couldn't see how anyone could come to like that foul-mouthed, rude, greedy, funny...charming...handsome boy. Hermione simply couldn't see how anyone could come to love someone as perfectly imperfect as him.
And on that final thought, she was off to bed for a very sleepless night.
~A/N: First story published! Hope you all like it and review it. I'd really appreciate feedback especially with any grammar or spelling mistakes made (if I have any). Many thanks to my friend Megan who edits and gives me good feedback before posting. Much more to come, I'll try to update when I have the time. Have a lovely day!
