Picturesque
Part One: Perplexing Apex
I'll try and be there today next week, sometime in the afternoon. I have so much work to do if I want to be a prefect, and later on Head Girl. Not only do I have tons of books to read, but I mean to refresh myself on some of the books assigned during previous years. I can't get behind on anything!
Ron smiled faintly. No doubt they'd be hearing various quotes from "Hogwarts, A History" all year long.
Hope you aren't behind on your schoolwork Ron, and hope to see you soon. Will Harry be there?
Love from, Hermione was scrawled beneath those words. Ron sighed and placed the letter down on his night stand. But still the letter echoed in his mind.
Will Harry be there?
The hero gets the girl. That's how things go. The smart, clever, decent brave one gets the girl, not the blunt, foolish but loyal sidekick.
He had hardly even thought of Hermione as "The Girl" before the Yule Ball, hardly thought of her as anything but the brilliant know-it-all, who was so much fun to argue with.
But now she was the girl, Harry was the hero.
And I'm about as much of a sidekick as you can get. Ron thought glumly. It wasn't anyone's fault, certainly not Harry's. It was just the way things were- Harry saved the day, and everything Ron did to aid him was forgotten. Because really, who cares about the sidekick?
Ron sighed. He knew that wasn't what really mattered- what mattered was that Harry was alive, and that Voldemort hadn't succeeded in killing him. As the three headed into 5th year, everything in the wizarding world was considerably darker but still quiet. Like the calm before the storm, Ron thought absentmindedly as he listened to the oddly quiet house. Fred and George were out, and Ginny was contentedly reading a book in the next room. Even the ghosts in the attic were no longer bashing around with the joviality they once had.
Ron heard a tapping at his window. Glad for some noise, he rushed towards the source and found Hedwig fluttering outside.
Ron let Hedwig in. "Finally," he mumbled, giving Hedwig a bit of food in thanks before she flew off.
Harry's letter was messily scrawled and looked rushed.
"Ron,
Sorry about the late response- the Dursley's intercepted Errol and threatened to kill him if I didn't tell them what the letter was about- and yeah, they're as horrible as ever. Dursley has a girlfriend (as unbelievable as that seems) who's been staying here, and if she winks at me one more time I'm going to crack.
So in answer, YES, I want to stay the rest of the summer with your family. I told the Dursley's you'd be here to pick me up in about three days- or two probably by the time you receive this. Hope this isn't too short notice.
-Harry
Ron's thoughts were interrupted as he heard Fred and George come home. Ron placed the letter besides Hermione's, when he noticed the dates at the top.
Harry's was labeled yesterday's date.
Hermione's was labeled six days ago.
I'll try and be there today next week, sometime in the afternoon.
Oh crap. That meant that Hermione was coming tomorrow!
Harry would come a day later.
That would mean he had one day alone with Hermione.
All alone with Hermione.
There was boom in the next room, followed by a scream.
"AAAAH! MOOO-OOOM, FRED AND GEORGE SET OFF A DUNGBOMB IN MY ROOM!"
"FRED! GEORGE! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"
Oh yeah. One day alone with Hermione. Hermione and the rest of his nut case family.
"The opposite of alone," Ron grumbled outloud to Errol, who had come flying into his room, scared off by the chaos "is the Weasley family.'"
Errol hooted in agreement.
~~~
"AAAAH!"
A bloodcurdling scream shook Ron Weasley as he quickened his speed. Was he too late? Oh god, he couldn't be!
He parted the leaves that stood in his way and stepped out to see Draco Malfoy holding his wand to the sky, pointing at something. Ron's eyes followed the invisible line Draco's wand pointed to. There was Hermione, dangling in midair, controlled by Draco. She twisted about in the air.
"Please, let me go Draco! PLEASE!" she begged, losing any dignity that remained.
Draco just laughed and made her do a loop de loop in the air. Her head darted dangerously close to the treetops.
"Afraid of heights?" Draco teased.
"NO!" she screamed. "Afraid and disgusted of being controlled by YOU!"
"Let her down!" Ron yelled suddenly, stepping out passed the trees that had blocked him from view.
"Weasley!" Draco snapped, looking angered. "Oh, all right. If you insist." he smiled and mumbled for the curse to cease. Hermione began to hurtle to Earth in slow motion as the spell released. If she hit the Earth, the impact would kill her instantly, Ron knew.
He reached for his own wand, but it was nowhere to be found.
"Son of a..." Ron cried, cut off only by the fact that Hermione had almost reached them. Ron glanced down helplessly at his empty hands, shrugged, and punched Draco square in the jaw. Draco's eyes widened, and he fell to the ground.
"Damn, that felt good." Ron grinned, feeling strangely confidant. Until he saw that Hermione was only feet away from the ground.
"Harry! Ron! Somebody!" But before Ron could reach her she had hit the ground with a sickening thud.
"HERMIONE!" Ron shouted, running to her side. "Oh God..." He kneeled down besides her, cradled her upper body in an attempt to get her to wake up.
"Are you alive?" he said, and seconds later suddenly found himself leaning down and kissing her, softly and tenderly.
Her eyelids began to flutter, and quickly Ron pulled away.
Slowly, slowly Hermione began to sit up, rubbing her eyes. Ron breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come on," he said, by her side once more "we need to get you to a hospital."
Hermione looked up at him. "Will Harry be there?"
A second later Ron's eyes flew open. It was a dream. That was all.
Right.
---
Ron ran a hand through his hair, trying to slick it back.
It fluffed up.
He patted it down furiously.
It fluffed up again.
He sighed and walked downstairs, into the room where Hermione was waiting, talking with Fred, George and his parents.
"Ron!" she shouted, waving, as she spotted him coming down the stairs.
"Hey Hermione.." Ron said, smiling awkwardly.
"Hermione was just telling us about the fascinating summer she had!" Mr. Weasley said. "And about an interesting muggle device called computers... Please continue dear." Mr Weasley said, turning back to Hermione eagerly.
Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Why don't we let Ron and Hermione catch up a bit before we hound her about muggle objects, hm?"
"Spoilsport," Mr. Weasley grumbled, although he was grinning at Mrs. Weasley.
Ron rolled his eyes. Hermione piped up. "I don't mind, really, Mr. Weasley." she said politely.
"Nonsense," Mrs. Weasley said, before Mr. Weasley could press on. "Come on, all of you. Fred, George, the garden needs some more degnoming before Harry comes."
Slowly the room emptied out. Everything seemed very quiet, and Ron, once again, felt very awkward. He almost wished he could get into a heartfelt argument with Hermione, just so he could try to dazzle and impress her.
"Uh..want to go out for a walk? I mean..the weather is nice and everything."
"Sure," Hermione said, getting up. She started talking about some of the books she had been reading, allowing Ron to lapse into silence and to simply listen to the rise and fall of her voice as the two walked down a curving path. Her voice was so full of energy and life that he almost felt dizzy, overwhelmed.
After ten minutes of Hermione-babble her tone changed.
"So. How's your summer been Ron?" she queried softly.
Ron almost jumped. He was expected to say something...
"It's been okay, I guess. Mum's been super-overprotective ever since the incidents with You-Know-Who, and every member of the family has been a target of at least one of Fred and George's pranks. We went to some lake for a week vacation, but it wasn't very..relaxing. Percy was fussing about this and that the whole time, and Ginny nearly drowned." Ron had added the last part to make it seem like something had happened, even though Ginny hadn't come close to actually drowning, just a little upset. "Basically, it's been the usual boring, stupid, pointless summer vacation. How has yours been?"
"Mine?" Hermione sounded surprised. "You know that I've spent most of it with Viktor."
Of course. Krum. How could he have forgotten, even for a moment, Viktor Krum, and Hermione's constant rambles about him in all her previous letters.
"Well you don't have to look so sullen about it!" Hermione exclaimed, glaring at him. "Honestly, would it kill you to at least pretend to be happy about it? Just because I've been having a wonderful summer doesn't mean you have to be jealous !"
"Jealous??!" Ron's voice grew louder. "Of what?!"
"That you had a dull summer here while I had a marvelous one with Viktor."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Sure, like I wanted to be the one making out with Krum."
Hermione's face turned a crimson shade. "I'm sure you'd like that Ron," she retorted, " but you'll just have to make do with Harry."
"What are you trying to say?!" Ron sputtered slightly as he looked after her walking coolly down the path. She turned around.
"Ron, it was just a joke," she said, a smirk on her face.
"Hah-hah," Ron muttered as he ran to catch up to her.
They had reached the top of the hill the path led to. Hermione gasped- the view was magnificent. Hills and valleys played across the horizon, cozy cottages dotted the view, and the wind hushed any silence there was to hear.
She turned to Ron. He was still staring out at the view, not with the shock Hermione had experienced- of course not, as he must have been here countless times. But he looked...humbled, as corny as that sounded to her. She studied his face. She had never thought of Ron as someone who could be impressed by something like this. She had never known that look of- was it peace on his face? Like for a moment, his critical snapping demanding eyes were fulfilled.
Stop being foolish, Hermione. she scolded herself, and then turned back to the view. Ron and her were silent for long long minutes. Finally he glanced at her.
"You wanna head back?" he said, his voice totally normal and devoid of any wonderment. Hermione gave an inaudible sigh. With that look that he had had in his eyes when he was glancing out at the hills, Hermione had half expected him to break into a series of sonnets, or something equally crazy, like reaching out and...
"Yeah..." she said. "Okay." They started heading back down the hill, neither saying a word. The spell was over.
"Ron?" Hermione said suddenly.
"What?" he asked, kicking up some dust as he walked.
"Thank you for showing me this place," she said. The words sounded uncharacteristically sentimental.
It took a while for the smile to fully form on Ron's face but it did. "No problem," he said.
~~~
You idiot.
The words formed in Ron's mind even before he opened his eyes the next morning.
Up on the hill he had been alone with Hermione. Right next to her, sharing the view, both amazed. Both sharing something special. And what did he do? Kiss her? Tell her how much he liked her? Did he even catch her eye and smile at her to let her know how much he was enjoying this and her company?
No.
Instead he had gotten scared of his own emotions and left. How stupid was that? How insecure was he? Sighing, Ron got up and sat on the edge of his bed. The abrupt shift of weight caused the old mattress strings to creak. Cheap old thing.
Hermione and Ron had spent the remainder of the day with the rest of the Weasley family. Hermione had seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself so Ron didn't dare suggest going somewhere together. Ron had enjoyed himself too, but it was nothing compared to his feeling up on the hill.
And now Harry was coming. The hero returns to find the girl waiting for him.
Rubbing his eyes, Ron yawned. He heard a knock on his door.
"C'min," he mumbled sleepily.
The door creaked open. Hermione stood in the doorway. Ron blinked in surprise. The pale sunlight that reached her made her seem almost unreal.
"'Mione?" he said softly, staring at her.
"Morning," she said briskly, an odd contrast to the dreamy way he had been speaking. "It's beautiful outside," she continued, walking to the window and gazing out.
"Gorgeous," Ron grumbled sleepily. "And I'm sure that it would look just as gorgeous from Ginny's room."
Hermione glared. "I heard you stirring from the other room. I just thought I might be friendly and say good morning... Silly me, won't do that again." She stormed away.
"Smooth," Ron grumbled to himself. Sighing, he flopped back onto his bed.
~~~
"No!" Mr. Weasley repeated. He gave an exasperated sigh at the practically identical faces of Fred and George. "Those muggles hardly trust me, and why should they, what with you two scaring the daylights out of their-"
"Selfish pig of a son?" Fred cut in helpfully.
"Come on Dad, you know he had it coming," George said.
"Be that as it may," Mr. Weasley continued, trying to hide a grin as he remembered the muggle's man huge face, comical in outrage, "we do want Harry back in one piece. Muggles can be quite dangerous." He disappeared in a quick throw of floo powder.
Ron shrugged as his father disappeared. "I told you he wouldn't let you go pick up Harry."
"Oh, shut up," George said, sighing. "What's wrong with you?"
"Huh?" Ron blinked.
"You don't seem too excited about Harry coming," George observed.
"Your best friend of years, the one you haven't seen all holiday," Fred said sadly, picking up his twin's train of thought. "And does he seem excited?"
"Nope," Fred and George said together.
"Well if you're expecting me to be as excited as Ginny, don't get your hopes up," Ron said casually, smiling sweetly at his little sister who had put on her finest robes to meet Harry in. Ginny blushed deeply, and Fred and George immediately started on her. Ron had learned that the best way to get Fred and George off your back was to divert their attentions to something better.
Ginny, who had gotten much taller this year, bit her bottom lip anxiously as the twins continued on. Hopefully, they would leave her alone by the time Harry got here. It wouldn't do to have Harry hear how nervous she was to see him. She stood up straighter. Harry had to realize how grown up she was now. She wasn't the little girl who had fallen prey to Voldemort, or that annoying tagalong sister of Ron's.
Hermione thumped down the stairs to see a good deal of redheads assembled in front of the fireplace. "Santa won't be coming for months, you know."
Sighing, Ginny shook her head, "We are waiting," she proclaimed "for Harry."
"Yes," Hermione answered, smiling. "I know."
"Dad!" the Weasley kids shouted, as Mr. Weasley emerged from the fireplace, brushing himself off.
"Hey kids," Mr. Weasley said, looking pleased at such a warm welcome. "How are y-"
"Where's Harry?" Ron demanded
Mr. Weasley sighed. "He'll be here in a moment. Really, all of you need to grow more patient or you'll only be disap-"
"Er, hey guys," a slightly bewildered voice mumbled.
"Harry!" Immediately all attention was focused on the dark-haired boy near the fireplace. Harry grinned at them, his glasses askew. Almost on cue, Mrs. Weasley came into the room. "Lunch is ready. I- Oh, Harry!" Beaming, Mrs. Weasley moved towards him. "When did you arrive? Never mind, I can see everybody has kept you on your feet this whole time. All of you, shoo. Get some lunch. You too, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, straightening Harry's glasses and tapping them with her wand. "There," Ron heard her say. "They shouldn't come ajar so easily now."
Who needs another son when you have the Great Harry Potter to worry about? Ron thought, sighing. After all, his mother had had five other sons- no novelty whatsoever could lie in him. Any comfort he might have gotten in being the baby disappeared when Ginny was born- the only girl and the youngest.
And his best friends? The famous Harry Potter and the top of the Gryffindor class. That was the only important thing about him. The famous Best Friend of Harry Potter. Might as well change his name to that. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Instead of Best Friend, people could just call him B.F. B.F. Sounded kind of like the word "Beef" if you said it quickly and softened the F. Maybe he could tell people to call him that instead. Of course, red-meat vegetarians would automatically hate him, but some girls might think the nickname sounded kind of sexy, and-
"She kissed me," a voice said, cutting off Ron's thoughts. Ron turned to see Harry.
"Huh?!" Ron said. He couldn't mean Hermione... Right? "Who?"
"Dudley's girlfriend," Harry said flatly. "Right before I used the floo powder."
"No way!" Ron laughed.
"Ooh yeah."
"Tongue?"
"Yeah.." Harry made a face. "Ron you git, stop smiling."
"Was she hot?"
Harry grinned at this. "Wasn't bad. Not up to par with some of the sixth years, but she was-"
"Decent," they both said together. Harry grinned again, and so did Ron.
What had Ron been thinking? He had been so worried about Harry and Hermione being together, he had forgotten that Harry wasn't a 'threat'. Ron Weasley wasn't just Harry Potter's best friend... Harry Potter was Ron Weasley's.
"Ron! Harry! Are you coming down for lunch, boys?"
Ron and Harry exchanged glances, both picking up Mrs. Weasley's annoyed tone- a tone that rarely included Harry as it's source. Smirking, both boys hurried to the others.
~~~
"Watch out Harry. If Dudley finds out, he'll sit on you," Fred warned, grinning as he gulped down his drink. Harry had just repeated his story, due to Ron's begging ("They'll get a kick out of it, Harry! Really they will!).
"What I want to know," George said, shaking his head in puzzlement "is how he could even get a girlfriend."
"Power," Harry said. "Dursley's friends with the headmaster at Dudley's school, and Dudley practically rules the place. Andrea wanted in."
Mr. Weasley sighed. "So many are driven by power. That is the way they go about living: Always wanted more."
"What a sad life that must be," Mrs. Weasley said softly.
Ron exchanged glances with Harry and the twins. Leave it to parents to ruin a good story.
"That's horrible, Harry!" Hermione said in shock. "I mean, Dudley is unsuspecting."
Harry sighed. Leave it to parents... And Hermione.
"Hermione, that's not the point," Ron persisted, as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley finished eating and left the room. "It's not Harry's fault. He wasn't doing the kissing."
"You've never met Dudley," Harry pointed out to Hermione.
"She probably feels obligated to be sympathetic," Fred scoffed. He glanced to Hermione. "Don't waste your time, doll."
"Doll?"
"It's what he's calling every female that passes his way," George said quickly, before Hermione could get more offended.
"Every one," Fred added. "Mom didn't like it..."
George grinned. "Not one bit."
Both boys chuckled over the memory. Hermione raised an eyebrow to Ron, who shrugged. "Don't mind them," Ron muttered to Harry and Hermione.
~~~
"Ew," Ron said promptly.
"Indeed," Percy sighed. Charlie would be arriving to visit tomorrow morning, and Mrs. Weasley had ordered Ron, Percy, Fred, George and Ginny to various areas of the house that needed cleaning. Their mother wouldn't hear of Hermione or Harry helping, and the two were practically forced to make themselves of as little use as possible.
Ron and Percy had been told to clean the attic.
The attic was a complete disaster area.
"How did it get like this?" Ron said, glancing down at an open trunk, which contents were spilled onto the floor. The contents consisted of a deck of "Little Miss Witch" cards, an obsession of Ginny's years ago. Oddly enough, these were mixed with old Bertie Botts Beans.
"Romulus and Remus, I suspect," Percy said, referring to the family's ghosts. "Wreaking havoc on the attic, that's their idea of a game."
"Where are they anyway?" Ron asked warily.
"Hiding, probably. Scared of us, ever since Father used the shock-charm on them. Right then," Percy said sharply. "We better get a move on. This place looks terrible."
Ron skipped his usual sarcastic comment. Although he generally didn't get along well with Percy, he was glad to have company for the heinous chore... The chore which involved spider webs. Spider webs which involved spiders.
"Ahh!" Ron cried, spotting an unusually large spider near the window sill. He jumped back, falling into Percy.
"Ron!" Percy snapped. "You must get over this silly little fear of yours. Conquer your fears! That's our motto at work, you know."
"Yes Percy, I do know," Ron muttered quietly. He had only been told a dozen times.
"Well, don't just stand there! Clear out the spider web."
"With what?"
"Your wand!"
"Oh..." Feeling dumb, Ron pulled his wand out of his robe pocket and found himself staring dumbly at the spider web. "I don't know the spell."
Percy sighed and pushed some spider webs aside with his wand.
"Well gee, Perce, don't get all technical on me," Ron grumbled.
"Oh, shut up," Percy bristled, and knelt down by some of the old chests, throwing random items back inside of them. "And once you clear the spider webs, clean the window."
Ron restrained himself from a 'yes, master'. Smart-ass comments were the last thing on his mind as he tentatively prodded at the spider web. The spider quickly skittered away at this, and with an ill-hidden yelp, Ron took another step forward and cleared the web.
"Ugh," he murmured. "It got stuck to my wand." Disentangling his wand from the spider web, Ron peered forward at the window to judge how dirty it was. To his surprise, it was practically spotless. He was about to turn away to other things, but a second glance out the window caught him off guard. There he could make out Hermione and Harry, sitting together on the Weasley's picnic bench.
Sitting together .
It means nothing, Ron told himself hurriedly. But he kept watching.
They were talking. That was all. Ron let out a sigh of relief. Well what did you expect? he asked himself. A full-blown make out session? He continued watching, finding some comfort in just looking at Hermione, seeing her smile, watching her give a happy sigh.
Presently Hermione turned from Harry, whispered something (obviously lumos, as her wand lit up at her words), and opened a book she had brought outside with her. She read it intently by the light of her wand. Harry wasn't even watching her- he was staring up at the sky.
They were a nice little picture: Two friends sitting near each other, one lost in a book, one lost in thought. A nice picture that wasn't terribly romantic.
Ron turned from the window and to one of the upside down chests. Sighing, he managed to turn it right side up. Hundreds of photos littered the ground where the chest had laid. Ron began sorting through them, placing the happy smiling people back into the chest. The piles grew high. Charlie catching the snitch in a family game of Quidditch... A toddler version of Fred and George, both giving identical mischievous grins to the photographer... Ginny clutching a doll...
"Huh," Ron said to himself as he held up one photo to his face. In the picture he, Hermione, and Harry were waving wildly to the camera and grinning. Wrapping paper could be seen in the background, and turning the picture around, Ron saw Merry Christmas, Mum scribbled on back. He must have sent it as a greeting. Been too cheap to buy anything. He looked more carefully at the picture. It would have been from when he was a second year, maybe third.
They were best friends. They still were best friends after all they had been through. Just because they were older now didn't mean that things had to grow romantic between any of them. Harry knew that. Hermione knew that. They didn't need anything more.
Smiling, Ron placed the photo in the drawer. Mind cleared, he set to work on another tumbled drawer.
~~~
"I believe we're done here," Percy said, scanning over the attic with an annoying look of satisfaction.
"Yeah, okay," Ron said, rising to his feet and brushing himself off. He was actually feeling happy. The many pictures he had had to sort through had put him in a nice nostalgic haze that softened reality. Plus, they had soothed his mind about his feelings for Hermione. She could be just friends with him, and just friends with Harry. There was no reason she had to be madly in love with either of them, thought Ron as he trudged down the stairs.
"Woo woo woooo," a voice hooted. Ron turned to see Fred and George looking out the kitchen window.
"Oh no," Ron groaned as he walked over to them. "Don't tell me you set another joke-store experiment off out there... Did It blow up?" He glanced out the window.
And saw Hermione and Harry kissing on the picnic bench.
A/N: Harry/Hermione fans: Enjoy this while you can. R/H people: The sun will come out...tomorroooow. Hermione/Draco people: Sorry, no Draco here. Oh, and sorry about the 2-d role Draco played in that dream... That was just Ron's subconscious speaking, not my personal opinion. Harry/Ron people: In another fic, maybe. Not this one. ;)
In the next part: Will Ron legally change his name to Beef? How about Mm,
Beefy? Find out! AND... Learn what was going on out there on the picnic bench...
Chaos and angst ensue. More people confess their eternal love for Bertie Bott's
Beans... And more!
Please don't sue the poor broke child. ^_^ I own none of
this, except for Ron's nickname of B.F. ;)
