This is my first story, so let me know what you think! This idea came to me a while ago when I was watching the Chamber of Secrets and I noticed that everyone was congratulating and thanking Harry and I was thinking, 'But Ron did stuff too, it wasn't just Harry! No one is giving him any thanks and he had to deal with spiders and helped just as much as Harry.' I thought it would be nice if Hermione decided to write thank you cards to them, Ron's being a little more detailed ;)
I don't own anything that is related to the Harry Potter franchise/series/etc.
"Hey, hey, I'm comin'!" shouted Hagrid as he was rushing to answer the repeated knocking on the door of his hut.
He opened the door to a very enthusiastic and curious-looking Hermione. "Good afternoon, Hagrid!" she said cheerfully. He chuckled and replied, "Same to you, Hermione! I'm glad to see you out of the Hospital Wing and lively as can be! Here, come in, come in." She came inside, sitting on the small couch next to Fang and proceeding to pet him gently.
"So what brings you 'ere? Anything I can help you with?" he asked.
"Actually, yes. I was wondering if you knew of anywhere that I could buy some stationery. I know it sounds really random but I have a sort-of . . . project I'd like to do, but obviously there isn't really a place in the castle that has it so I need to make a special trip."
"Stationery, huh? I suppose any bookstore will 'ave it, but Flourish and Blotts is all the way up at Diagon Alley. But hey, if you want I can take you there m'self so you can pick up what you want, how does Friday afternoon sound? Well, when you've finished classes, o'course," Hagrid offered.
"Really, Hagrid? Oh Friday would be perfect, thank you so much!" she said as she gave the half-giant a hug. He smiled at his young friend and replied, "No problem at all. Now, what time is it? Don't you have McGonagall soon? Don't be late for class, now!" Hermione smiled and hurried out of the hut back to class.
Hermione's eyes sparkled as she thought that the bookstore might be one of her most favorite places to be. As she walked past the rows of books to where the greeting cards and stationery were shelved, she had to try her hardest not to postpone her mission and get lost in a book or two. Hermione hadn't been able to read for weeks because she had been in the Hospital Wing, petrified from the Basilisk's reflection. She sighed as she turned her eyes away from the myriad of books and started looking through the greeting cards.
She found a nice, simple navy blue card straightaway that she thought would work well for Harry and picked it up. Hermione continued to search through the other cards available, but nothing seemed to fit what she wanted to get for Ron. Some cards were too cheesy, some cards made loud unnecessary noises when opened, and some cards were just too boring. She didn't want it to end up being stupid, and she was conflicted over finding the perfect thing for Ron. She sighed in annoyance, but something caught her attention from her peripheral vision. She was drawn to some fancy paper on a shelf a little way down from the generic greeting cards. It was sophisticated, but bold, and seemed of very high quality. Touching it, she found that it had a nice texture and just knew that it was the perfect thing.
Harry and Ron were in the Great Hall for lunch, tired and slightly stressed. It was a mundane Monday, and the students of Hogwarts struggled to get back into their normal school routines after dealing with the events of the Chamber of Secrets for much of the year. Ron was about to bite into some chicken pot pie when he noticed something blue poking out of Harry's Potions book.
"What's that thing?" he asked Harry.
"What thing?"
"That paper stuck in your book," Ron said, reaching across the table and pulling it out of Harry's book.
Harry snatched it from Ron's hands, "Oh, Hermione gave me a card this morning but I didn't have anywhere to put it at the moment so I just put it in there."
"What did Hermione give you a card for? Wait, and where is she anyway, not hungry?" Ron demanded.
"Well, I don't know where she is! And if you really want to know, you can just read it yourself. It's not a big deal," Harry said, tossing his card at Ron.
Ron paused at the navy blue card with 'THANKS A TON' written on the front in silver lettering. He opened it to find a pre-written blue message saying 'You're Brilliant!' and rolled his eyes. Hermione's hand-written message read:
Dear Harry,
On behalf of myself, the other petrified students, and of course, our peers, thank you for your bravery in discovering the truth about the Chamber of Secrets, defeating the Basilisk, and all that you do to help everyone at Hogwarts. I'm glad to have you as a friend.
Thanks,
Hermione
It was a nice gesture, but somehow it bothered Ron. Why didn't he get a card? Does Hermione think he's that useless? Sure, Ron didn't kill the Basilisk, or face Tom Riddle in the flesh, or speak Parseltongue, Harry did all of that. It might seem that Harry did most of the "heroic" work; Ron thought maybe he doesn't deserve a card. But he did face his fear of spiders, went into the Forbidden Forest with Harry, and helped him uncover the truth about Hagrid's innocence. I was just as 'brilliant' as Harry, yet she gives him a thank-you card. . . Merlin, it's just a card, relax! Ron thought, still feeling uneasy.
Giving the card back to Harry, Ron silently got up as the pair of them finished lunch and went to their next lesson.
Harry had gone to bed for the night, giving up on whatever assignments he had left to do. The Gryffindor common room was gradually clearing as students started to yawn and head to their rooms. Ron, not exhausted yet, remained on a couch half writing an essay and half staring off into space, feeling irked.
Hermione slowly tiptoed down the steps to the common room, somehow feeling slightly nervous and wondering if her plan turned out to be a bad idea. But taking in a breath, she came all the way down the stairs and walked towards Ron's couch.
"Hi."
Ron whipped his head around to see Hermione standing shyly. She wore her red plaid pajamas and was holding something behind her back, blushing slightly.
Ron grumped, "Oh. Hi."
Walking up next to Ron, Hermione handed him what she was holding and said, "I, um, I meant to give this to you earlier, but I needed to spend more time on it."
Ron accepted from her what seemed to be a handmade card. Although, it was more of a folded letter than a card, much different from Harry's. In his hands was thick, soft, gold paper with red and gold designs around the edges. On the top, it read in Hermione's delicate calligraphy-like script: Thank You, Ron. Not knowing what to do or say, Ron sort of just stared at it for a moment. Do I read it with her here? Do I say 'thank you for the thank you'? Ron thought.
Feeling equally awkward, Hermione just said, "Anyways, good night and see you tomorrow. . ."
Hermione went back upstairs and Ron felt conflicted, his appreciation and curiosity melting away his annoyance at Hermione from earlier that day.
He unfolded the gold cardstock to see the page almost full with Hermione's scripted words. Yes, it looked very different from Harry's generic and concise card.
Dear Ron,
While I could say that on most occasions I know exactly what I need to say, I find myself at this moment not knowing how to begin in any way whatsoever. A lot of crazy things have happened this year, I don't even know if I could list them all. But basically, through everything that has occurred, you have always been there and I am so happy that we are friends.
And while loads of people at school are saying 'Yay Harry!' and congratulating him and thanking him, I want you to know that you are a hero as well. You faced the spiders of the Forbidden Forest despite your fear of them (which is completely justified by the way), and helped Harry in every way you could in discovering the truth about the Chamber of Secrets. You even stood up to Malfoy and puked slugs on my behalf. And I also wanted to say thank you for not being mean and teasing me while I was in cat-form and while I was petrified. I know most boys would probably think it's funny and start teasing me about my fur and tail, or how I was still as a statue, or just start being terrible and acting like prats (yes, I said it) so I really appreciate that you didn't do that and you were nice and a good friend.
But most importantly, you helped Hogwarts and everyone in the community. I know you may think that you didn't do much, but it's true and you deserve to feel proud and be acknowledged. You are such a silly and fun boy, and you are also caring towards others which is part of what makes you such a great friend. So I will finally stop ranting and just say, Thank you Ron for all that you do and I am so grateful and happy to have you as my friend.
Sincerely,
Hermione
PS. I got you a chocolate frog, but I was really hungry earlier so I ate it, sorry! But hopefully you can forgive me for that
Ron laughed at that last bit, but suddenly became more serious. He wasn't really expecting much acknowledgement at all, much less this letter! It may sound terrible, but Ron didn't really care too much about whether he helped his peers or not; he felt much prouder knowing he had helped Hermione. It did not even occur to him before that other students might tease her while she was in the Hospital Wing, and just imaging some random boys, or worse, Malfoy, bullying her while she was vulnerable started to upset him, and made him glad that he visited her as much as he did. But Hermione's letter made him feel kind of happy inside, knowing and having proof that she didn't think he was useless at all. It showed that even though they had gotten off on the wrong foot when they first met, and even now as friends they still disagree often, at the end of the day, those things don't matter. Ron smiled and folded the letter back up neatly and put it in his pocket before yawning and going upstairs to sleep.
The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, alongside other Gryffindor peers, ate a silent and sleepy breakfast. Harry was barely picking at his food and started chatting a little with Dean when Ron noticed Hermione slowly get up to leave. He looked down at his plate, stuffed the last bit of eggs in his mouth, then quickly gathered his things to go follow her.
Hermione was on her way to the toilets and had just left the Great Hall when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and was met with a hug from a tall redheaded person. Realizing it was Ron, she said "Hi . . ?" confused by his behavior, when she suddenly heard him say, "You're welcome." The hug stopped and Hermione blushed a little. Ron reached into his pocket and grabbed a chocolate frog. He held it out, offering it to her and just as she went to grab it, he pulled it back and took a bite out of it. They both smiled and started laughing so hard that they were tearing up.