Perfection

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.

(a/n: my first normal/not completely stupid and random fic. Kinda short, kinda generic, but please tell me what you think and I will add more if people actually read it. Thanks!)

Chapter One

The paper on which Hermione Granger had been writing was now soaking wet and tear-stained. Her normally tidy, meticulous print was barely legible through all of the ink smudges. After a few minutes of trying to continue writing her Potions essay, she gave up reluctantly, letting out a huge sniffle and then following it with an equally large sigh. She could barely see what she was writing through her wet eyes, and, besides, she was having trouble focusing on anything…on anything except him.

Him.

Hermione had mixed feelings on the whole situation, really. When she first saw him passionately snogging Lavender Brown in the common room, she was naturally both devastated and disgusted. She and Ron both knew they liked each other. They both knew they wanted each other. So why were they waiting?

But, as she thought about the scene later, she had the greatest desire to laugh. Ron? Snogging Lavender? In fact, she acted on the impulse and ended up in stitches on her bedroom floor for several minutes. It wasn't until Parvati found her and volunteered to fetch Madame Pomfrey that she finally stopped.

However, after she settled down a bit and finally caught her breath, she entered her depressed state once again, and she remained in that very mood for quite some time.

She no longer took part in the weekend Hogsmeade trips, and she dashed up to her bedroom during every free period to let out a big sob. Even her schoolwork was not as top-notch as it used to be; she now only went over the essay requirements by a few inches, not feet.

But why?, she would ask herself constantly, it's RON. You can do so much better. You're a smart girl. You don't need some silly boy like Ron. Ron Weasley. Ron, the boy who you've gone to school with for 6 years. Ron, that immature, incompetent, jealous git. So stupid! So…imperfect.

Ah…but so, so perfect.

She looked up from her parchment and set down her quill. Brushing her bushy hair out of her eyes, she stood up slowly and then flopped down on the bed, trying not to think about him. She tried desperately to focus on something else, like the cracks in the dark stone ceiling—she almost memorized them, too, until she was awaken abruptly from her trance.

"Hermione!" shouted a certain ginger-haired girl, who just happened to be related to the boy who was the source of all of her misery.

Hermione winced, as Ginny's voice was very loud compared to the deep silence in which she had just been laying for hours.

"Hermione, honestly!" Ginny began, "why didn't you come to Hogsmeade today? We all would have had so much fun together. Dean, Harry, I and a few others got into this huge snowball fight, and it was great until Dean accidentally hit Ron in the—"

At the very mention of Ron's name, Hermione burst into tears once more, causing Ginny to roll her eyes in spite of herself.

"Please tell me that you haven't been staying in your dormitory all month, moping around, because my brother has been kissing Lavender?" Ginny asked in a tone that was mixed between pity and disgust.

Of course, Hermione didn't want Ron's very own sister to know about this silly problem of hers. She made up the best cover story that she could, given the circumstances.

"No, of c-course not, Ginny," Hermione lied lamely through her tears, "it's just that, um…i-it's Viktor. He, er, s-sent me a letter the other d-day about his, um, his…h-his cat, she…she died, and, well, I'm very s-sad because well, um, we were, very close, his c-cat and me…"

Ginny's expression was now mostly one full of pity. She looked around the room and then looked at the figure lying on the bed.

"I don't buy it, Hermione," Ginny said exasperatedly, "Jesus, we all know that you and Ron are meant to be. We all know that you two like each other. You both know it. He's just with Lavender to make you jealous! He wants to make YOU jealous! So go for it! What are you waiting for?"

Hermione stared at her, and then buried her head in her pillow again. For once in her life, she didn't know the answer to a question.