Chapter Two: Rude Awakening
Ron went to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. After piling some pancakes and sausage links onto a plate, he sat down at the table. Hermione's parents barely spared him a glance before going back to their plates. Ron, uncomfortable, cleared his throat. "Ahem. Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Granger. How are you doing?"
"We're fine, Ron. My, you're here early. What time did you arrive? We didn't hear you come in." Hermione's mother seemed surprised, but Ron knew her better than that. He knew that they knew he spent the night in the living room on the couch with their daughter. Now, all he had to do was find a graceful way to word it so that they wouldn't think that it was planned for him to spend the night. He and Hermione agreed that he would stay over the night before the start of school, but not let her parents know. What they didn't know couldn't hurt him.
"Well, you see...I...umm...well... we were kinda watchin' a movie on TV and we, uh, kinda fell asleep before it was over. I will honestly tell you that nothing happened. All we did was talk for a little bit, she has a few things on her mind right now that will not make today very easy, and then we sat on the couch to watch the movie. That's all. Nothing more."
"Ron, you don't need to be so defensive. We know that you are a very respectable young man who would never do anything to hurt our daughter," said Hermione's mother. Her father, on the other hand was looking daggers at Ron. If looks could kill, I would be so dead right now. That man could probably be dangerous. As Ron was worrying about what Hermione's father could do to him if he ever pissed him off, Mrs.Granger continued. "How will you two get to the train station? Would you like us to drive you or did you have some other method of transportation planned? And, while we are on the topic of getting to the train, shouldn't you be getting along soon? The train leaves at ten, doesn't it?"
"It leaves at eleven, actually, and we are going to leave as soon as I finish breakfast and take a shower. Hermione is downstairs gathering anything that happened to find its way out of our trunks. When she comes up, I'll go get in the shower and she can eat and talk to you. Ah, speak of the devil. Here she is now."
"Good morning, sweetie. Had a good night's rest? Hope so...you should have a busy day today, what with it being the first day and all. I was just speaking with Ronald about your plans for getting to the train station. Come to think of it, he never answered me. How will you be getting there?"
"We were kind of hoping you could give us a ride so that my car isn't sitting in the parking lot of Kings' Cross for the entire term. That wouldn't be a problem, would it? I don't want to put either of you out." As she was speaking, Ron stole away down the stairs to get in the shower.
Half an hour later, Ron emerged from the shower clean and fully awake. Going up the stairs, he heard Hermione and her parents talking. Not wanting them to know that he was listening in, he stopped on the stairs. Suddenly, he didn't like what he was hearing.
"I know you love him, dear, but don't you think that Harry might like you, too. You said that he was pissed off when you told him the news. I think you should break up with Ron before you lose one of your best friends."
"I have already thought of this, mom. I'm not going to break up with Ron just because it might hurt Harry's feelings. And if he thinks that I would do that, he's in for a rude awakening. I love Harry and all, but I'm happy with Ron and I'm not giving that up for Harry's sake."
After hearing that, Ron felt better. He continued up the siairs and entered the kitchen just as the talking stopped."Aww, you were talking about me, weren't you? You shouldn't have."
"Shut up and get your things. We're leaving," Hermione said as she threw a shoe at Ron.
