I'd Rather Be In Love
Chapter 1
In Which a Bag of Sweets Can Be Lethal
It was that bright Wednesday afternoon in our favourite trio's fifth year when Hermione's hormones took it upon themselves to rage out of control. She was making her way down to the Gryffindor Quidditch changing rooms after their admirable win against Ravenclaw. Harry had caught the Snitch at the exact same moment that he collided headlong with Cho Chang. Neither was badly hurt, apart from Harry leaving the pitch with a rather red face, despite his jubilance about the outcome of the match.
Hermione grinned to herself as she crossed the lawn to the changing rooms. She was holding a large bag of Honeyduke's nicest sweets for the team, just to say "well done" for winning the match. Harry could forget about Cho (for the time being, at least) once he set his eyes on this lot. And as for Ron ...well, she knew there were no prizes for guessing where all the Chocolate Frogs in the bag would end up.
She reached the door of the changing rooms and at the same moment there was an eruption of boys' raucous laughter from inside. She frowned and raised her hand to knock, but froze when she heard her own name.
"...Hermione's lover boy!"
More laughter.
"Shut up, Dean." That was Ron. And that was his "dead serious" voice.
"But come on mate, it's obvious! She's the love of your life, the passion of your boyhood, the flame in your hair, the fire of your loins-"
The laughter became so loud Hermione was sure the windows rattled.
"Dean, if you don't shut your bloody cakehole right now, I'll chuck you off the team!"
There was silence after that, apart from the occasional snigger from Dean and Seamus.
In the meantime, Hermione had slowly backed away from the door, a mixture of emotions churning all the way through her body. She didn't know whether to feel amused, or angry, or surprised. But was she really surprised?
No.
She knew that something had started between herself and Ron; something with potential, something that she found frustrating at times, something different than the feelings shared between, say, herself and Harry. What was going on? She wasn't used to feeling like this. She was Hermione Granger, who could feel either happy, sad, angry, or lost ...but never all at the same time like this. She tried to pull herself together but it felt as if she were flying apart - a massive reaction to some inane chatter in a boy's changing room.
Her thoughts were interrupted and her breath caught in her throat as the changing room door banged open. But to her immense relief it was Dean and Seamus who walked out by themselves. They caught sight of Hermione almost at once and grinned at her slyly. She hurriedly held out the bag of sweets and tried not to look too stunned at what she'd just heard.
"I - I was just - "
"Thanks," said Seamus, taking a Chocolate Frog and some fudge. "The other two are in there," He jerked his head towards the changing room.
"Just in case you didn't know," said Dean with a smirk.
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I didn't," she lied smoothly, but to no avail. The two boys just gave her knowing looks and left.
She made sure they were completely gone before contemplating what she should do next. Leave? Knock on the door? Eavesdrop? She slapped herself mentally. She couldn't eavesdrop; it just wasn't in her character. And yet ...she was curious to see how Ron felt about it all. While she couldn't decide how she felt, maybe Ron would say something to Harry about how he was feeling? Boy-to-boy sort of thing? An internal battle broke out inside Hermione. To listen in or not to listen in, that was the question. But staying standing where she was too risky. That door was going to open at any moment.
Before she knew what she had done, Hermione found herself crouching down behind the changing rooms, right next to an air vent, which led straight inside. She could hear Harry and Ron's voices, slightly muffled, but most words were still distinguishable.
"Stupid gits."
"Pay them no attention, Ron,"
"You nearly ready?"
"Yeah."
"What a totally wasted effort," thought Hermione. "They're just going to go now without discussing it. Typical boys-"
"I really do like her though, Harry,"
"Yeah, I like her too." There was a somewhat teasing note to Harry's voice.
"No - I mean - you know... like like her."
"I never would have guessed."
"Wouldn't you? Well I guess it wasn't - ahem- obvious really, but, you know, the thing is - I just - I don't know, Harry. I just don't know."
"Don't know what?"
"If she - you know - if she - er.." Ron obviously wasn't used to such heart-to-hearts. "If she ...likes me too."
"Ask her."
"Ask her?" Hermione had to smile at the shocked tone in his voice.
"Yeah. Communication is the key to any sort of good relationship, Ron." Since when did he become Dr. Feelgood?
"Well ... I don't know, Harry ...I'll - I'll think about it, yeah?" Hermione heard the sound of the changing room door opening and she stiffened. At that moment, a low buzzing sound filled her ears. She couldn't work out what it was for a second - and then she looked round at the bag of sweets at her feet.
It was black and yellow with wasps feeding off the slowly melting chocolate.
Hermione gasped loudly, forgetting all about Harry and Ron. She got up and stumbled backwards, eager to put as much distance between herself and the wasps as possible. She had hated them since having the bad experience of being stung by one when she was younger.
She had not seen what was lying on the ground just behind her.
It all happened so fast. Her right foot stepped backwards onto something hard, and a split second later something that felt like a long piece of wood sprang up to collide with the back of her head. Pain exploded everywhere and it felt as if her skull was cracked in two. She fell to her knees and was only vaguely aware of the two pairs of feet running around the back of the changing rooms before she blacked out completely.
~
A/N: You may recognise the title as a Michelle Branch song, however this is not a songfic, though I do love her music. :)
Constructive criticism is always welcome and do tell me if it has/lacks potential. Rating could change.
Chapter 1
In Which a Bag of Sweets Can Be Lethal
It was that bright Wednesday afternoon in our favourite trio's fifth year when Hermione's hormones took it upon themselves to rage out of control. She was making her way down to the Gryffindor Quidditch changing rooms after their admirable win against Ravenclaw. Harry had caught the Snitch at the exact same moment that he collided headlong with Cho Chang. Neither was badly hurt, apart from Harry leaving the pitch with a rather red face, despite his jubilance about the outcome of the match.
Hermione grinned to herself as she crossed the lawn to the changing rooms. She was holding a large bag of Honeyduke's nicest sweets for the team, just to say "well done" for winning the match. Harry could forget about Cho (for the time being, at least) once he set his eyes on this lot. And as for Ron ...well, she knew there were no prizes for guessing where all the Chocolate Frogs in the bag would end up.
She reached the door of the changing rooms and at the same moment there was an eruption of boys' raucous laughter from inside. She frowned and raised her hand to knock, but froze when she heard her own name.
"...Hermione's lover boy!"
More laughter.
"Shut up, Dean." That was Ron. And that was his "dead serious" voice.
"But come on mate, it's obvious! She's the love of your life, the passion of your boyhood, the flame in your hair, the fire of your loins-"
The laughter became so loud Hermione was sure the windows rattled.
"Dean, if you don't shut your bloody cakehole right now, I'll chuck you off the team!"
There was silence after that, apart from the occasional snigger from Dean and Seamus.
In the meantime, Hermione had slowly backed away from the door, a mixture of emotions churning all the way through her body. She didn't know whether to feel amused, or angry, or surprised. But was she really surprised?
No.
She knew that something had started between herself and Ron; something with potential, something that she found frustrating at times, something different than the feelings shared between, say, herself and Harry. What was going on? She wasn't used to feeling like this. She was Hermione Granger, who could feel either happy, sad, angry, or lost ...but never all at the same time like this. She tried to pull herself together but it felt as if she were flying apart - a massive reaction to some inane chatter in a boy's changing room.
Her thoughts were interrupted and her breath caught in her throat as the changing room door banged open. But to her immense relief it was Dean and Seamus who walked out by themselves. They caught sight of Hermione almost at once and grinned at her slyly. She hurriedly held out the bag of sweets and tried not to look too stunned at what she'd just heard.
"I - I was just - "
"Thanks," said Seamus, taking a Chocolate Frog and some fudge. "The other two are in there," He jerked his head towards the changing room.
"Just in case you didn't know," said Dean with a smirk.
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I didn't," she lied smoothly, but to no avail. The two boys just gave her knowing looks and left.
She made sure they were completely gone before contemplating what she should do next. Leave? Knock on the door? Eavesdrop? She slapped herself mentally. She couldn't eavesdrop; it just wasn't in her character. And yet ...she was curious to see how Ron felt about it all. While she couldn't decide how she felt, maybe Ron would say something to Harry about how he was feeling? Boy-to-boy sort of thing? An internal battle broke out inside Hermione. To listen in or not to listen in, that was the question. But staying standing where she was too risky. That door was going to open at any moment.
Before she knew what she had done, Hermione found herself crouching down behind the changing rooms, right next to an air vent, which led straight inside. She could hear Harry and Ron's voices, slightly muffled, but most words were still distinguishable.
"Stupid gits."
"Pay them no attention, Ron,"
"You nearly ready?"
"Yeah."
"What a totally wasted effort," thought Hermione. "They're just going to go now without discussing it. Typical boys-"
"I really do like her though, Harry,"
"Yeah, I like her too." There was a somewhat teasing note to Harry's voice.
"No - I mean - you know... like like her."
"I never would have guessed."
"Wouldn't you? Well I guess it wasn't - ahem- obvious really, but, you know, the thing is - I just - I don't know, Harry. I just don't know."
"Don't know what?"
"If she - you know - if she - er.." Ron obviously wasn't used to such heart-to-hearts. "If she ...likes me too."
"Ask her."
"Ask her?" Hermione had to smile at the shocked tone in his voice.
"Yeah. Communication is the key to any sort of good relationship, Ron." Since when did he become Dr. Feelgood?
"Well ... I don't know, Harry ...I'll - I'll think about it, yeah?" Hermione heard the sound of the changing room door opening and she stiffened. At that moment, a low buzzing sound filled her ears. She couldn't work out what it was for a second - and then she looked round at the bag of sweets at her feet.
It was black and yellow with wasps feeding off the slowly melting chocolate.
Hermione gasped loudly, forgetting all about Harry and Ron. She got up and stumbled backwards, eager to put as much distance between herself and the wasps as possible. She had hated them since having the bad experience of being stung by one when she was younger.
She had not seen what was lying on the ground just behind her.
It all happened so fast. Her right foot stepped backwards onto something hard, and a split second later something that felt like a long piece of wood sprang up to collide with the back of her head. Pain exploded everywhere and it felt as if her skull was cracked in two. She fell to her knees and was only vaguely aware of the two pairs of feet running around the back of the changing rooms before she blacked out completely.
~
A/N: You may recognise the title as a Michelle Branch song, however this is not a songfic, though I do love her music. :)
Constructive criticism is always welcome and do tell me if it has/lacks potential. Rating could change.