Hermione Granger glanced at her watch as she exited Flourish & Blott's Book Shop. It was only one o'clock; she still had three-and-a-half hours to spare, and she decided that a lemon sherbert was well deserved after a successful day of shopping.
Hermione was a sixteen year old witch, not to mention Hogwarts prefect and the most brilliant witch of her age, with a steady head on her shoulders. She wasn't considered popular, but was well-known and fairly well liked. She was very bookish, and on this particular July day, she had come to Diagon Alley to get a head start on her school shopping. She was due home to her house at 4:30, and had already accomplished what she was aiming to, so she stopped for a quick break.
She payed for her sherbert, thanked her server, and a found a quaint looking bench under an oak tree on the corner to sit, As she took the first glorious bite of her favourite treat, her mind began to wander. She wondered what she could do, when suddenly, a thought crossed her mind...
Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. She remembered quite clearly the day that she had found out about Fred and George Weasley's new premises for their joke shop, after the two fun-loving twins had created an entire life-size swamp in a Hogwarts corridor... "If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley- Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes." She laughed as she remembered the look of pure horror on the face of Professor Dolores Umbridge, their previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and at one point, headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But she frouwned slightly un approvingly as she remembered where the brothers had gotten the money: her best friend, Harry Potter. But, he was right- it was over and done, so there was no point in nagging him.
Then it hit her...Harry. The Boy Who Lived was locked away at his terrible relatives' house after the tragic loss of his godfather, Sirius Black. She had tried to write him letters, to check up on him, but he always responded by avoiding the subject, and he even seemed, Hermione noticed, a bit distant. She figured he would have been relieved to talk about it, and to relieve his stress (there was alot on him nowadays,) what with the war and all, but she supposed Ron was right, he'll talk when he needed to.
And then her thoughts were completely on her other best friend, Ron Weasley. He was, in her oppinion, as loyal as they come, but at many times, very arrogant. He could be at some points so thick-headed that she almost wanted to curse him into oblivion, but she would never do that, for, she found that when he was most angry was when he was most passionate, and that, to her, was almost intriguing. Plus, she cared about her friends too much...and maybe more than that in Ron's case...'Hermione's you've gone mental.' She thought to herself as she felt a blush creep up her face.
She finished up her sherbert, and decided that she would indeed head to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
As Hermione approached number ninety-three, she couldn't help but be impressed. For, hovering over the building was an enormous sign ('That must have been made with an engorgement charm,') in funny-looking letters reading their logo and as she entered the building, she discovered that the fair-sized room was quite busy. She began to look around, but before she could get past the second shelf-stocked with Skiving Snackboxes ("A New Snack Each Month!"), she was inturrupted by a hand placed on her shoulder.
"Hi, Hermione," came a deep, rather familiar voice. She turned quickly and the first thing that she npticed was the flaming red hair, then the freckles. She smiled instantly. "Ron! It's great to see you! How've you been? Oh, you haven't wrtitten to me in ages! You had me worried!" She said quickly and before she knew what she was doing, she flung her arms around his neck. She blushed a deep crimson and pulled away quickly to see that she wasn't the only one.
"Oh- um, sorry. I was a bit preoccupied." He said as he ran his fingers through his trademark Weasley-red hair nervously. This action had a strong effect on Hermione instantly. It was one of her favorite things about him, beside that lopsided grin of his.
"Preoccupied with what, might I ask?" She said, clearly amused when she noticed that she was making him uncomfortable. He looked at the ground embarrassedly. "Er- things..." He said.
"Like?" She said. "Um...well...you know," He began, but this time, he seemed to have eased up and a grin threatened to appear. "Y- you didn't...you couldn't possibly have...started your homework?" Hermione asked him. And there it was...that lopsided grin. Hermione pretended to clutch her chest as though she was going to have a heart attack. "My goodness...Ron weasley started his homework before the end of August!" Ron rolled his eyes. "Whatever possessed you to do that?" She asked him looking utterly lost.
"Well I was bored practically out of my bloody mind, so desperate times call for desperate measures." He answered, but he had infact been stretching the truth; it was true, he had done his homework. true, he had been bored, but he left out the true reason why. He had done his homework to keep his mind off of his best friend, Hermione Jane Granger. That name, her face...she seemed to appear in his thoughts no matter what he would do. He had known about his true feelings for her for some time before, but this summer in particular, they were all he thought about. He would also have vivid nightmares replaying that terrifying night in the Department of Mysteries last June when he had almost lost his friends, and his own life, and it was the simple memory of that night that had triggered these non-plantonic feelings for her.
"Ron? Are you alright?" Came Hermione's voice, pulling him out of his trance. "Wha- oh, yeah. Fine." He muttered, as the slightest trace of red reaching the tips of his ears, something that happened when he was either embarrassed or angry. He mentally shook off his embarassment and pushed his thoughts of her to the back of his mind, not an easy task, especially with her standing right infront of him.
"Well, look who we have here! Finally decided that some loosening up was in order? Well, Miss Granger, you've come to the right place." Both Hermione and Ron turned around to see Fred and George Weasley, the owners of the store, and Ron's elder brothers standing infront of them with the same mischievious grins on their faces as years before. "Hello Fred, George. It's good to see you again." She said. "Oh, the pleasure is ours." George answered. "Now, back to work. We give discounts to family, and though you aren't family by blood, you are here." Fred said as he and his identical brother placed their hands on their hearts dramatically. Hermione giggled softly. "That's very sweet of you, but actually I just came by to have a quick look to see how you've been doing. And by the looks of it," She said, looking around, "I'd say you were."
"Nonsense! Besides, who couldn't use some lightening up?" Fred interjected. "Uh, Fred, George...lay off." Ron said to his brothers. "Suit yourself, it's your loss, really. But if you ever change your mind..." George began, "...you know where to find us." Fred added as he handed her what appeared to be their business card with a wink, and the two took off to the register.
The two looked down at the card where the twins' faces were beaming up at them, winking every now and then. Ron shook his head. "Sorry about them, all this business talk has gone to their heads." He said. "Oh, that's quite alright. Besides, it's that that's making them so successful." Said Hermione. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. So, I was just heading to Florean Fortescue's, care to come along?" He said. "Acutally, I've just come from there myself, but sure, I'll come along if you'd like!" She answered.
The voice in the back of Ron's head kept screaming Yes I'd Like!, but he made himself force those thoughts away. You REALLY need to get your act together, Weasley. "Sure. He said, and the two headed off.
Once Ron had ordered, he and Hermione sat on the same bench that she had sat on earlier. "So...what brings you to Diagon Alley today? Where're your parents?" Ron asked in hopes to start a conversation. She took a sip of her water before she answered him. "Well, I decided to get a head start on my shopping for school books. My parents are at home, I'm due there in about two hours myself." He froze when she finished, so that his spoon was in mid-air. He lowered it, surveying her carefully. "You came to Diagon Alley ALONE?" Ron asked slowly. Hermione furrowed her brow in confusion. "Er-yes, I do believe that's what I said." He continued to stare at her, as his big-brother mode began to kick in, something that had been happening alot with Ginny lately. It had now started to become a sort of instinct.
"Hermione...that's not safe. Not at this time with everything that's going on. I would think you, of all people, would know that." He said. Something in his last sentence had struck a nerve in Hermione's pride somewhere around her boiling point. Ron watched as her eyes suddenly turned dangerous. One part of him knew completely that he shouldn't have said that and what he was getting himself into, but he knew that he was right. So he wasn't going to back out of this one. He, Ron, would put his foot down this time.
"And may I ask what you're doing alone in Diagon Alley?" She asked coldly, though she instantly felt like an idiot; for she knew that he wasn't alone, that he was infact with his brothers. But her pride took over and urged her onward. "I'm not here alone, I'm helping Fred and George with their shop, and you bloody well know it." He shot right back. "Well, that's not the point. I'm old enough to defend myself, thank you, and I don't need you mothering me!" Mothering? Oh, WONDERFUL! Is it just me or did that make NO sense? Oh, Merlin. She groaned inwardly, but on the outside, showed no sign of weakness. She prepared herself for the worst, and of course, it came.
Ron's attempt to hide his anger instantly vanished at her statement. "MOTHERING you? MOTHERING? I don't MOTHER anyone, thank you very much. If anyone here MOTHERS, it's you! Have you seen the way you order Harry around? Merlin, he's not a bloody child, Hermione!" He snapped. Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Forgetting her pride and letting her anger take over completely, she shot him a look he had only seen her use once before, when Malfoy had called her a mudblood. "HARRY? How in the WORLD did he get pulled into this conversation? What does HARRY have to do with any of this?" She screamed at him. "Well you needed to know some day so I figured, Hey, what the hell, I'll do it now!" He shouted right back. Hermione laughed angrily. "Oh, and a HELL of a job you did! You know what? Forget it, because I'm going home NOW!" She grabbed her coat and stormed off. By then, several people were watching the scene infront of them in awe, for they had recognized the two from the picture in "The Daily Prophet", the wizarding newspaper, of the night in June when it was confirmed that Lord Voldemort was back.
Ignoring the excited whispers from the people around completely, Ron stormed off. "Well excuse me for caring about my best friend!" He yelled after her. She stopped and turned around so quickly at his last remark that it actually startled him. "Save your breath, Ron." Said Hermione. "And why is that, Hermione? Why would I do that? Here I am, trying to protect you, and you're yelling at me.So why? Why don't you want to talk to me? Is it because you know I'm right?" He asked and had to struggle not to pay too much attention to the fact that their faces were only a fraction apart. She glared right back at him angrily as she realized to her horror that hot tears were beginning to fill her eyes. She tried her best to blink them back but they insisted on falling anyway. But she didn't care.
"Because I hate you."
There's chapter number one for you! Please review and tell me what you think so far!