Welcome to my story you wonderful people!
I have some things to tell you:
Most of the time my characters tend to get out of character at some point.
They start out IN character but as the story goes on someone softens or someone does something unexpected.
So, if you're going to tell me that my characters get OOC, I already know you don't need to tell me again.
You could also tell me that what I write would never happen but the books are over…someone already wrote the ending and what I'm going to write will be different.
No need to tell me twice "I just don't think I can do this anymore…" Ron said as he looked to his feet.
He couldn't look her in the eyes knowing that if he did he would be haunted by those eyes forever.
On the other hand!
If you haven't been on my page before, I'm Katy Dane.
I answer any and all questions that you may have and I like to talk to reviewers or readers so send a PM or something.
Disclaimer: Everything is owned by J.K Rowling except for two characters that are my own (who will remain nameless until…sometime :D
Italics indicate two things: thoughts and letters
Bold indicates my words
3 let me know if you like it!
-XOX-
Chapter 1: Letter of Introduction
Song of Chapter: Love Hurts by Yiruma
Hermione just stood there.
It was clear that she didn't register what he had said.
They had been fighting for that past two weeks about absolutely nothing.
Well, that wasn't completely true.
Ron was tired of her know-it-all attitude while Hermione was tired of his sloppy tendencies and his stupid questions.
This is how it always ended where one of them would threaten to break up with the other.
It just meant they needed a day to cool off and then everything would be okay from there.
This was one of those times that she thought they just needed to cool off.
"Okay, we'll just cool off and I'll talk to you tomorrow." Hermione said as she grabbed her purse off the coffee table and headed towards the door to apparate back to her parents house.
She would come see him every day at The Burrow to spend time with him and visit with Harry and Ginny but even the house was tired of their fights.
"No, Hermione…" Ron corrected her before she had a chance to leave.
She stopped in front of the door and refused to turn around.
She had a feeling in her gut where this was heading but she refused to start crying.
"I'm being serious…we can't do this anymore and I refuse to keep fighting with you. We both know it's ridiculous how much we fight and we just can't continue this" He said and with that she whipped around.
"Ron, it's just a little fight! Couples do this all the time…" Hermione was cut off by his sad voice.
"This is little fight number 20 and I'm tired of it." He said and he did what he said he refused to do.
He looked in her eyes and saw the tears starting to form.
"Is it over?" She questioned as a tear slid down her cheek.
She was quick to wipe it away and didn't even wait for his response.
He darted forward to hold her in his arms but she disappeared from sight.
He didn't understand what he had just done but he felt her slip away.
Nothing would be the same from then on.
-XOX-
The train ride to Hogwarts was as awkward as it could possibly be.
Ron hadn't seen Hermione since the day and now, here she was in front of him.
She refused to look at him and avoided any and all questions that he would ask.
Hermione would only converse with Ginny and Harry who were a little baffled by the fact that they would speak to each other.
When the train stopped, Hermione flew out of her seat to get away from Ron as quick as possible.
Ginny was in toe to try and reason with Hermione about the whole ordeal.
"There's nothing to discuss Ginny" she said as she hustled to get to the carriages.
"Then could you at least slow down so I could walk with you?" Ginny begged out of breath since she had practically been running after Hermione since they got off the train.
Hermione slowed down so Ginny could catch up.
Ginny had been more than her boyfriend's sister, she had become quite the best friend for Hermione.
Hermione didn't have a ton of friends due to her sheltered time in the library but Ginny understood exactly where she was coming from.
Ginny knew that what Ron had done was wrong and that the fighting could have been easily fixed.
However, Ron had made his decision and that was good enough for Hermione.
"Did you read The Daily Profit this morning?" Ginny questioned as they dodged all the people coming off the train.
"I completely forgot to pick up my copy…what did it say?" Hermione mentally scolded herself for being so out of the loop.
Normally she would know about everything going on in the wizarding world based on those bound pieces of parchment but it seems that she wasn't thinking clearly this morning.
"Do you remember reading about that secret pen pal thing that the Beauxbaton Academy of Magic was doing to connect the houses and get them to get along?" Ginny questioned as she flagged down a carriage that Hermione quickly got into.
She wasn't quick enough to avoid getting in the same carriage as Ron and Harry but sure as the world they all got in the same carriage.
Hermione tried to avoid Ron's gaze as she said hello to Luna and Neville who had joined their carriage ride.
Hermione tried to focus on what Ginny had asked her.
"Yes, I remember reading about that…" Hermione said, her mind a little frazzled.
"Apparently, because it worked well with the students, other schools are taking up on the idea to get the students to behave as well. Durmstrang Institute for Boys and Salem Witches Academy for Girls have taken up on the idea. I also read that Hogwarts is starting this year off with the same ideas as the other schools to try and get our houses to get along." Ginny informed Hermione and you could tell that it had shocked everyone in the carriage.
Some of them didn't catch the whole story as to what Hogwarts was up to.
As Ginny explained what she read in the profit again to them, Hermione just stared out the carriage window towards star studded sky.
It was too beautiful a night for the way she was feeling.
The thoughts that plagued her head about the red headed boy across from her deserved the rainy and windy kind of weather.
"So, what exactly does having a pen pal entail?" Neville questioned, blushing as his hand lightly brushed Luna's.
It didn't seem to faze to Luna but it shocked Neville.
No one noticed but Hermione who had a half smile on her face.
"Beauxbatons had every girl from every house enter a penname that was to be used for their letters. They couldn't know who was writing the letters and they couldn't discuss it with anyone else at the risk of finding their pen pal early. At the end of the semester they held this huge ball where you could meet your pen pal and they all instantly became new friends. It's a great way to meet people. However, they were only allowed to use school owls so no one could identify who they were based on their owl. It's fascinating, really." Ginny informed them all as the carriage began to move.
Hermione had been paying attention light heartedly as her mind was on other things.
-XOX-
Dumbledore informed the students in the Great Hall over dinner that what was written in the Daily Profit was true.
They were going to have pen pals and there was going to be a Masquerade Ball held before Christmas break so that they could meet their pen pals face to face.
Of course, with any other school there were rules.
You couldn't tell anyone pennames or share names within the letters.
The girls were the first to send the letters and the owls pick a random male for the letter to be dropped off on.
You weren't allowed to insult one another.
No personal information was to be given out.
"I'm not sure what to write in this thing!" Hermione shouted as she held up the piece of parchment.
For the first time, she didn't know.
It bugged the crap out of her that she couldn't think of any questions.
"Just…tell him that!" Ginny said as she folded up her letter.
"Then I look unprepared!" Hermione whined as she put her head on the desk.
"Are you so afraid of being unprepared to ask questions that you deny this lovely young man, whoever he may be, a letter? Come on 'Mione! It's just a little fun, it's not like it's a dating service or Astronomy homework. Let him ask YOU questions!" Ginny said as she handed the letter to the owl outside her window and watched as the bird flew away.
"Maybe I am…" Hermione whined some more.
"I'm going to take a bath and if you have not sent that letter by the time I come back then I'm writing one for you AND I'm stealing your purple parchment that you save for special occasions!" Ginny said as she took her things with her to the bathroom.
Hermione started banging her head on the wooden desk until she could think of something to write.
The guy wouldn't know who she was until later.
By that time she would have thought of some new things to say.
She had to write something …
To Whom It May Concern, Sincerely,
It seems as though we are being forced to obtain a pen pal by tomorrow evening but I look at this as an adventure. I'm not sure what one is supposed to say in a letter but since I can't share my name and you already know I'm female.
What are some things you would like to know? I can't wait to read your penname.
Pardon my handwriting as it is a little rushed.
I wanted to get this letter to you as quick as possible.
Troubled Rose
As she handed her letter to the owl, she became nervous.
The letter was less than stellar and she didn't know what to do.
All she knew was that she would be getting a letter back that told her how much her letter sucked.
She couldn't possibly become distracted by this stupidity.
She readied herself for bed while on the other side of the castle someone was reading her letter.
His cold and large hands held the parchment as his cool gray eyes studied her words.
It had become aware to him that she thought this pen pal business was a stupid idea just like he did but they also thought it could be a lot of fun.
He grabbed his quill and started writing a response to the girl who sent him a letter.
Hoping that maybe, just maybe, they had found a friend in each other.