A/N
Nightmares Under Purple Skies is not update-able just yet. I do intend on updating it sometime during the summer, though.
I wrote this on a Writing Contest on neopets just yesterday. I've been meaning to write this for quite some time. I did not win the round, unfortunately, but I don't mind that I lost. I wasn't there to win, anyway. But I'll tell you more about that at the bottom. Enjoy!
Hermione wrapped her arms more tightly around her new books in an attempt to keep herself warm. She wished she could just Disapparate, but she knew it was impossible to do on a Muggle street just after leaving a Muggle bookstore. Why did she have to run out of fresh reading material on the coldest night of the year? She sighed and looked around, hoping to see a secluded space where she could vanish without being seen.
"Wait for me!" she heard Ron shout at her from the door of the bookstore.
She paused but did not turn back. She knew he had stayed inside longer so he could put on his sweater. She was jealous, as she'd forgotten hers at home. She didn't want to have to look at it.
"I'm sorry," she said briefly when he caught up to her. "I just really want to get home."
"I understand," he said. They took off at a fast-paced walk in silence. She tried to hide her shivers from him; she didn't want him to feel sorry for her.
"Hard to believe that this time last year, we were in a tent, hiding from You-Know-Who, isn't it?" he asked.
She laughed.
"That's because, this time last year, you were sitting in Shell Cottage, blissfully clueless as to what we were going through," she said. "I was in a tent, hiding from Voldemort with Harry, you were nowhere to be found."
Ron flinched slightly at the cutting tone of her voice; she couldn't help but feel a little proud of herself.
"Look, I'm really sorry about that, alright?" he said. "It was mostly the locket's fault, really. By the time I realized I'd made a mistake, I couldn't find you again. How many times will I have to apologize for that before I'm forgiven?"
"A few more," she said, unable to help the sly grin on her face. All those years she'd been wrapped around his finger without him knowing it, she was finally paying him back for them.
She shivered again, more violently than she had been earlier.
"Are you cold?" he asked suddenly.
She groaned internally and bit back her, 'duh,' instead settling for a simple nod.
"A bit," she said.
He took off his maroon sweater, pulling it over her head and leaving his hair in more of a mess than it had been, before.
"Here," he said as he handed it to her. "Think of it as a down payment toward paying you back for what I did, last year."
"Ron, you don't need-"
"Yes, I do," he said simply.
She nodded and took the sweater, watching as he wrapped his own arms around himself to ward off the cold.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"Don't worry about it," he answered.
They walked the rest of the way to the Apparition point in silence.
A/N
Here goes the "more about that at the bottom" part: My dog is very sick, right now. He is a long-haired Chihuahua mix (with possibly some Pomeranian...we don't know all that he has in him because we got him from the pound), between ten and twelve years old. As of this morning, he does seem to be doing better than he was yesterday, but that doesn't mean he's going to be okay. Yesterday the vet told us that he has a 50%-70% chance of being alright, and I don't know if that was his chance of surviving or his chance of recovering without long-term problems due to his illness; I'm not too sure that I want to know. But I've been so worried about him lately. I know you people are just random strangers on the internet, but if you could just keep him in your thoughts, wish him well, even if it's only in your head. You don't even need to review, just think (or pray, if you happen to be religious) about him being alright, and I will be forever grateful to you. You don't have to, obviously, and I'm sure most of you couldn't care less, but I really feel like I needed to say this because I am extra-super worried about him.
Also, because of the above paragraph, I know this fic isn't my best work. Tell me in a review if I've made any grammar/spelling mistakes and I will fix them. I do want you to leave a review, even if you don't mention Buddy in it. I'm still a writer, after all; reviews make my world go 'round.
If anyone wants to neofriend me on neopets, my username over there is cany230, just tell me that you're from this site so I don't think you're just making a completely random friend request. I start and participate in writing contests on the Neopian Writers boards on a daily basis, and I will be glad to neomail you if and when there is one going on.