For a single moment, everything was quiet, and that sullen silence stretched longer than either thought possible. Hermione took action first, breaking from her confused stupor and running after him, the flap of the tent making the same sound it had when Ron had stormed out, that soft finality, the calm after a storm has ended is gone, but leaves a definite mark in its wake.
"Ron, Ron, RON!" She could her Hermione calling after him, but Rosie could tell from Hermione's voice that any efforts to call to their friend and top him from leaving had failed. Hermione's voice got quieter, and then once again, everything was quiet inside the tent.
Rosie was scared to look outside the tent. Ron was gone, that was for sure. But would Hermione have followed him? It certainly was a possibility. When Ron asked if she was staying or leaving, she hadn't been able to say either. Perhaps it was a bit selfish, but Rosie wished Hermione had immediately told him that she would stay. When she finally did step outside their tent, she saw Hermione gazing at a particular spot just ahead of her. Ron must have apparated away from that very spot. Rosie felt at once both joy that Hermione hadn't followed Ron, that she had stayed with her, and also guilt for feeling the former.
"Hermione," she called to her, friend, softly, just loud enough to be heard. When the taller girl didn't budge, Rosie walked over to her, now looking out over the river wistfully, and pulled her into a soft hug from behind, her face pressed against Hermione's shoulder.
"It's okay, Mione, he'll come around eventually, he always does." Truth be told, she wasn't sure he would come around, but she desperately hoped she could make Hermione feel at least a bit better.
"How can he be such a git?" Hermione asked, not really addressing Rosie, but rather letting the question hang in the air, choking up a bit as she spoke. The two of them sat down and watched the river slowly wind by in silence until long after the sun finally set.
They decided to stay in the same place for a week, in case Ron changed his mind once he was no longer influenced by the horcrux. After all, with no real plan, it wasn't as if they had much else to be doing. The night after Ron left, Hermione woke to the light noises of rocks clattering and occasionally light splashes, barely audible above the slow low mumble of the river. A quick lumos revealed that she was alone in the tent; Rosie's bed was empty.
Any worry she had was quickly relieved when she found the dark haired girl tossing stones down into the river. Rosie surely heard her approach, but didn't turn to face Hermione. Still, she sat down next to Rosie and asked, "What has you up, out here so late?"
"Sorry, Mione, I just couldn't sleep, that's all, wanted to come out here and think about some… things," The shorter girl replied clearly not telling her about something that was on her mind.
"Well, do you want to discuss any of those things, with me?"
She paused, clearly considering it for a moment. "No, I don't think I do right now, sorry Mione."
Hermione was a bit crestfallen, she hoped her friend would be able to confide in her about anything that might be bothering her, but pushing Rosie on this wouldn't get her anywhere. She was stubborn to a fault, and even moreso when she believed that she had to go through something alone.
Still sitting beside her, Hermione pulled her friend into a small sideways hug. Rosie jolted ever so slightly, sitting up straighter at the sudden contact, but kept quiet. "When you're ready to tell me, if you're ready to tell me," Hermione corrected herself, "Just ask me, okay. I hate seeing you so down. Merlin knows you're mopey enough as it is." This got the smallest of giggles from Rosie. If Hermione hadn't known her for so long, or if everything around them wasn't so quiet, it would have been quite easy to miss.
The next night Hermione woke again, and one more found Rosie's bed empty. Following her footsteps from the past night, Hermione sat down next to Rosie. "Still thinking about stuff, huh?" she asked with a slight dash of humor. "Can you let me in on what you're thinking now?" she asked, putting her hand around the smaller girl.
A long sigh was her immediate response. Rosie turned as if she was going to say something, stopped, reconsidered, and another sigh. "Don't be mad at me?" she asked in a weak, soft voice.
"Of course not, I promise. Just tell me what's got you so worked up."
"Well... were you considering leaving, going with Ron?" Rosie asked quickly, seemingly trying to get it out of her mouth quickly and to be done with it. With the issue out there now, she could speak more normally. "You were just standing there, not saying anything and I was afraid you were going to leave too." Hermione just let her go on, but leaned lightly against Rosie's side.
"Ron was right, you know," Rosie continued. "I don't know what I'm doing out here; we don't really have a plan, and even with all the work we've done, we barely have anything to show for it. I was scared you were going to leave because it's perfectly reasonable. But I really don't know what I would have done if you left too." Thankfully for Rosie's sake, Hermione couldn't see the wetness in her eyes, and the couple of tears on her cheek; the darkness obscured them.
"Shh, don't worry about me. I would never have left. I was just so shocked by what Ron was saying that I couldn't react, couldn't move. And don't worry about what he said earlier. We may not have a master plan, but since when do we ever plan ahead? It's seemed to work well enough so far. Now let's go back inside the tent and get some sleep, okay?" Rosie seemed to go along with that, even if she didn't say anything, and the two walked back into the tent and fell asleep quickly.
The next night found the two girls inside the tent instead of looking down at the river. The radio played in the background; the program giving them news from the wizarding war had ended, and now music softly filled the tent. Rosie didn't recognize any of the songs as she sat and stared absentmindedly at the snitch Dumbledore had left her. Meanwhile Hermione was reading through her gift from Dumbledore, likely for the 10th time or more Rosie assumed, poring over the pages for any sign that her book was more than just a collection of children's stories.
Suddenly Rosie sensed that Hermione was in front of her, and she looked up. Hermione has turned up the radio and the slow tune was playing loudly. Unsure, but willing to go along, Rosie took Hermione's hand as she pulled the dark haired girl up to her feet. At first it was a bit awkward, rocking back and forth to the old, slow song, but soon they soon they became more engrossed in the music, and in each other. Soon unsure movements at arms length transformed into animated dancing, spins and then holding each other close as they rocked in time to the music.
For the first time in many months, Rosie felt happy. Nothing to worry about, at least in this moment. The rest of time was forgotten as they danced on the dirt floor of the tent, in the middle of nowhere. The song was winding down, and they slowed down as well. Hermione's face was so close to hers, and she couldn't help but stare. Her eyes caught on Hermione's lips, so perfect. It wouldn't be hard, easy actually, to tilt her head up, stand up on her tiptoes, and press her lips against Hermione's. For a split second, before the passive thoughts could even resonate, she moved slightly to do just that.
Then all at once, the song ended, and she realized what she had been thinking, what she had almost done. Once they broke apart, Hermione went back to reading and Rosie could only stare and watch her, momentarily transfixed. Eventually breaking free of Hermione's allure, she retreated to the sleeping area, and shook her head vigorously, tossing her already messy hair everywhere, as if she could physically shake these thoughts out of her mind.
After many attempts to take her mind off of Hermione failed miserably, Rosie laid down and tried to sleep, hoping she wouldn't dream about how much she wanted to kiss her best friend.
I would be so happy if you guys could leave any feedback, positive or negative (as long as it's constructive). I don't really know what I'm doing at all; this is my first fanfic. I'll try to get chapter two out soon.