Chapter 1 - Stupid Blond

Inhaling the air of arrogance engulfing him, he breathed a sigh and tried to maintain his composure. A flame arose in his cheeks, matching the striking red of his hair, and he clenched his fist, glaring at the Slytherin.

"What's the matter, Weasley?" sneered the pale blond, slouching comfortably between two of his goons. "Has the ministry finally grown wise and sacked your father?"

At this, the two bulky goons murmured in compliance and chuckled to themselves.

He felt his face rise in temperature, and trickles of soothing perspiration roll off his brow. He bit his lip to avoid pounding the three gits. Narrowing his sight into a fierce stare toward the blond and feeling an insistent tugging at his right sleeve, he looked into the anxious face of his friend Hermione.

"C'mon," she pleaded in a lowered voice, "They are just provoking you. Let's go."

He gave a curt nod in her direction to agree, and started heading back up the stairs that led out of the dungeons. When they scaled the flight of stairs, a drawl carried up to greet the irritated redhead, "I'm disappointed in you. I assumed even a Weasley could pick up a pure-blood."

Gritting his teeth, Ron Weasley wheeled around, and nipped down at full speed toward the sneering teen, Draco Malfoy. "Bloody git!" he yelled, crashing into Malfoy and knocking him to the ground. After an exchange of confused looks, the goons, Crabbe and Goyle, scrambled to assist their fallen. Goyle seized Ron's flailing arms and tore him away from the whimpering Malfoy, who stumbled back onto his feet.

"Ron!!!" Hermione shouted from the top of the stairs, now hurrying down to Ron's aid.

"Arg!" Ron moaned as Crabbe continuously punched his stomach forcefully. Squirming around, Ron managed to kick Goyle hard in the knee and break free of his hold. Knocking Crabbe on his arse, Ron slammed Malfoy into the hard corridor wall of the dungeons.

"Listen here, you brute. I don't care what you say about me, or even my family. But don't you dare speak to her like that again, you ruddy fool!" His grip tightening, he waited for Draco's response. Malfoy grunted, his eyes squinted narrowly in detest.

"Good," Ron stated in victory, releasing his hold on Malfoy and trekking back up the stairs, greeted by a stunned Hermione.

Once in the soothing breeze by the lake, Hermione gave Ron an inquisitive look.

"Why did you do that?" she started, "You should be used to his rubbish by now."

Fixated on the Giant Squid, Ron pictured the look on Draco's face as he was pinned up against the wall, defenseless and lacking his dumb counterparts. His reminiscing ended as he took in Hermione's question. He had not thought of what Hermione would say or think after what had happened. Merlin's beard, she could not possibly know, he reassured himself, could she? He swallowed and cleared his hoarse, dry throat in preparation for response, but no words came. "Err……," he concluded, still silently praying that she was not that good.

"Ron?" She questioned, now in attempts to meet his gaze. Simultaneously, Ron dropped his gaze and raised his tall, slender body from the ground. He was begging that anything, anyone at all would come to pardon him from this inquisition. He searched nervously, looking for anyone to come his way.

Spotting Ginny, his face dropped. Hermione and his sister shared many conversations and were good friends; she was not the person he wanted to see. One girl was enough to deal with. The Dark Lord would have been better, he thought.

"Ron? What happened?" Ginny asked, now jogging over to meet him. She glanced down at Hermione, and suddenly furrowed her brow in understanding. "Not with Malfoy; c'mon Ron, why would you do that? I know he deserves it, but…"

Ron was now screaming in his own mind. How could he be so stupid to this? Why did he have to be provoked by Malfoy? He was a git as sure as the Dark Lord was evil. He never fought back, until today. Why? Because he had insulted the most important person in Ron's life besides his best mate Harry. But even so, Malfoy has never withdrawn his insults toward her before. The truth was, something happened to Ron when he heard that drawl. I'm disappointed in you. I assumed even a Weasley could pick up a pure-blood. What bothered him about this? Well, the fact was that this Weasley could not even pick up a muggle-born. The only girl that he ever really wanted to date. Ron gave Hermione many hints regarding his feelings toward her, including giving her such presents as perfume. Nothing had worked. All she could focus on was his best mate. He just was not good enough, not while Harry was in the picture. His expression changed from desperation to remorse, as he silently scolded himself for his last thought. He's my best mate, he thought, and nothing will change that. Nothing.

"Ron?" Hermione had now paced back in front of Ron, and he raised his gaze to look into her eyes.

"He's just a bloody git."

"Oh no, what has Malfoy done now?" A very familiar voice penetrated Ron's thoughts as he turned to see Harry's concerned face.

"Harry!" Ron finally found his voice and declared his appreciation for his mate. He shot Harry a look, hoping that the young Gryffindor would sense Ron's desperation. Instead of Harry giving him an understanding expression in return, concern adorned his face. "Ron, wha-?"

"He's a git, Harry. Can we just leave it at that?" Ron pressed on, the tips of his ears now glowing a bright red. He rushed past Harry, and headed toward Gryffindor tower, hoping to find the common room before they caught up with him.

Blinking, he fought in vain against the drowsiness that was slowly taking him. Ron Weasley sat by the fire in the Gryffindor common room working on the projects his teachers had welcomed him back with. After writing a foot and a half about the sad tragedy that he will spontaneously combust on 23 October, he gathered his Divination parchment and the other books that were scattered all around. Careening his head to scan the rest of the room, he spotted Harry and Hermione in deep conversation across the room. Harry leaned forward, his right arm drooped lazily over his knee, and gently whisking back wild locks from Hermione's face. Harry slowly inched closer. Ron rose with a start, hitting his knee on the table, and silently cursing at the throbbing pain. Not so much the pain in his knee, but the betrayal he felt in his heart. Stupid, you're overreacting, he attempted to calm himself. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this. He waited for it to come, staring intently at the pair, but it did not. He snorted, and slouched over to his dormitory.

Resting in his bed, Ron glanced out the window to the moon, and sighed lazily. You probably are overreacting. He rolled over, facing the door of the dormitory, and as sleep engulfed him, silently wished that Hermione did find him out.

"Ron!" She exclaimed, watching the fight that continued between the three brutish Slytherins and the outnumbered Gryffindor. She dashed back down the stairs, just as Ron broke free of Goyle's pudgy lock and pinned the blond against the wall.

"Listen here, you brute. I don't care what you say about me, or even my family. But don't you dare speak to her like that again, you ruddy fool!"

Hermione gasped as Ron dropped his hold on Draco and turned toward her. He sped back up the steps, and she trailed after him. Bursting out of the castle, he stormed across the bridge and finally paused when he reached the lake.

"Why did you do that?" she started, "You should be used to his rubbish by now." She scanned his face for any sign or evidence to guide her to the answer. Sometimes she just did not understand him. He never seemed so effected by Draco, and she certainly never saw him initiate a fight as he did. There was only one other time that could compare to this. When the blond called me a mudblood, she thought, shuddering. But that did not make sense, Ron should be more effected by comments toward himself and his family. What made him so enraged earlier? The only possible connection she could find was that they both involved insults toward her. "Ron?" she continued. She identified the sense of urgency that he raised up from the ground with, and saw that he was deep in thought.

Her thoughts gave way as she heard Harry's low droning voice, "Hermione, I need your help. I…" She looked up to meet his gaze, and a warm smile spread across her face. Wow, this is definitely not another Cho, she thought. Harry, who never had much luck with love, finally set his emeralds on someone else. He was very reluctant, not wanting to fall for another sobbing wreck, and it looked like he succeeded. Now he was crouched over in a cozy chair, asking for advice on how to show his new affection. Guys.

"I just don't know what to do. This is not something that everyone expects from me, you know?" Harry continued, still trying to verbally sort out his issue. "Dunno if the feeling is even mutual."

"Has anything happened that might lead you to believe so?"

Harry pondered for a moment, his brow furrowing in deep concentration. His emeralds shone as his whole face lightened up. A sly grin diffused across his face and he leaned closer, as the common room still held many students.

"Well, there was this one touch," he started, his face changing into a soft red tint. He lifted his left hand, pushing away free-falling locks out of her face. He closed his eyes to recall the interaction but jolted at the loud bang that issued throughout the room. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Ron rubbing his knee and gazing right in his direction, a look of disgust on his face. She read Harry's expression, and peered in Ron's direction. Oh no, she thought, predicting the redhead's aggravation. As he bolted out of the room and into his dormitory, she confirmed her earlier speculation. Turning back to face Harry, she noticed confusion in his half smirk.

"Long story, Harry."