DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter (duh). If I did, Fred wouldn't die and Voldemort would have died in the third book. I do not write for pay (after all, who would pay me?). Whatever else I didn't say (and I was supposed to), pretend I said it and just don't sue me.
Ron was sick of this. Ever since he broke up with Lavender, no, before that even, there had been a sort of distance between him and Hermione. Why couldn't it be normal? Why didn't Hermione fight with him anymore? He enjoyed being yelled at, scolded, fussed over, slapped, and even hit over the head with a textbook as long as Hermione did it.
His feet were up on the table, his arms dangling uselessly beside him, his mouth hanging open and his eyes staring hopelessly at the ceiling. No, there had to be this, this WALL between them, this chain pulling them apart, this invisible barrier blocking their—
"Pondering tomorrow's paper?" Hermione asked wryly.
Ron looked up, startled. His legs jerked off the table and his mouth snapped shut.
"Er, well, umm, you see, it's just, well, uh, hmm, you know, I mean, do you, no wait, ugh, well, it's just this."
"Yes?" Hermione asked patiently.
"Well, ugh, no, I mean, umm, ahh, well, oh, grr, umm, well, YES," he finally burst out, exhausted.
Hermione gave him the Hermione look, rolled her eyes, and pulled up a chair next to him.
"Alright," she said, "but I'm only going to correct your work, not do it for you."
Ron took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. He was NOT going to think about how her chair was touching his, or about how he could feel her warm breath against his cheek, or about how very beautiful she really was, or about the fact that she herself had volunteered to help him with his homework, or about SHUT UP! He told himself. What was he supposed to be working on anyways?
Hermione sighed. "The paper is supposed to compare Muggle flashlights to the spell lumos," she explained, "You could start by pointing out that a flashlight is an object but lumos is a spell.
Ron shook his head, blinked, and jotted down what Hermione had just said. He looked back at Hermione expectantly.
"You fool," Hermione complained, "I said I would CHECK your work, not do it myself."
Ron groaned.
"What." Said Hermione, warningly,
"Why does there have to be this distance?" he complained, banging his head against the table.
"I don't know WHAT you're talking about," said Hermione, icily. "Don't you appreciate my help?"
"Sure," Ron muttered.
"THEN ACT LIKE IT!" Hermione almost shrieked.
Ron half hoped that Hermione would hit him over the head and scold him, but she marched stiffly up to her room without looking back. Ron sat back and sighed. That had certainly gone all wrong. He'd lost another chance to break the ice with Hermione. He even felt as though he might have made the ice thicker. Worse, he didn't have his paper ready yet, and he was almost positive Hermione was not going to help him with it. If only girls had an owner's manual explaining how they work.
Wait, maybe that was it! He couldn't be the only boy in this predicament, and perhaps someone who understood girls had written a book or something about them. He grinned as he thought of Hermione.
"When in doubt, go to the library."
AN: I hope you liked the first chapter, I already uploaded the second. This is my first romione fanfic, so PLEASE review and tell me what you think. What don't you like about it? What do you like about it? Are the chapters too short? Is the story to dull? Please tell me, I can't get better if I don't know. Next chapter is from Hermione's point of view.