Disclaimer: I don't own any of J.K Rowling's stuff
Dedication: To my friends who annoyed me until I agreed to do this. Where would I be without you? I love you all!
Tying up the wrong stringsChapter 2
As soon as Harry had left smiling down at the sleepy Ginny, Ron took a deep breath. He got up from the couch that Hermione lied on, carefully trying not to wake her peaceful sleep. She stirred and rolled over. Ron stopped where he stood; he was frozen like a statue. When he was sure Hermione hadn't woken up from her slumber he exhaled a breath he didn't realise he was holding. He began pacing.
Ron was never good with girls. Whenever he saw one he liked he would choke up and go bright red. Then the girl would think he was weird and he would suffer severe embarrassment. As he was getting older he was getting better at just being friends with girls and getting to know them. Hermione was a different case though.
In the beginning Harry and he thought she was a little crazy and paranoid. Then after the troll they had become friends. It was an interesting friendship considering they were close to 'The Boy Who Lived'. Something happened though; Hermione and Ron had gotten closer. For a few years they hadn't realised to what extent they had grown together. They fought more and had their usual arguments, but what they didn't know was that both of them enjoyed the arguments.
Ron would sometimes sit looking across to Hermione contemplating ways in which he could get her fired up and infuriated. He only did this so he could see Hermione's eyes fire up. When she was angry her cheeks were flushed which made his every muscle tense. She let herself go and he could see almost everything she felt in her chocolate brown eyes. Ron thought Hermione looked beautiful when she directed all her emotions to him.
While Ron thought of ways to push Hermione's buttons, Hermione would be impatiently waiting for Ron to get on her nerves again. That way she could see him fumble for an intelligent thing to say. She loved the way he persevered even when he knew she was going to win the argument. His face would be almost as red as his hair and he would move from foot to foot. She cherished these arguments, even when they did annoy her to no end.
Soon enough both of them realised their feelings for the other and both thought the other didn't like them in that way. Ron and Hermione were ignoring their strong feelings to the best of their ability to avoid awkwardness. Therefore they both wanted each other and they both thought they couldn't get what they wanted. It was confusing and as Harry said it was a never-ending dance.
As Ron paced around the common room Hermione stirred again and he remembered she was there. He was consumed in his own thoughts that he had forgotten he still had to take her to bed. His young boy nerves around girls had kicked in again as he lent over her, unsure of what to do. He had seen Harry lean down to Ginny's ear and wake her up that way. If he tried doing the same thing he could get Hermione to wake up and take her upstairs.
He lent down to whisper in her ear.
"Hermione. Hermione wake up."
There was no answer, so his voice got louder.
"Hermione! Hermione!"
He poked her shoulder a couple of times and when that didn't work he stood back to assess the situation. Hermione was lying on her side, with her eyes closed facing Ron. Her breath was even and constant, so at least she wasn't dead. She was lying in a semi fetal position so there was no way Ron could have lifted her with a secure grasp without dropping her first. He thought the only way he could wake her up was to give her a little shake.
At first it was a slight nudge and then when there still wasn't a response he shook harder. She woke up abruptly screamed and punched Ron in the nose. He stumbled back against the wall next to the fireplace. Hermione was sitting up straight with wide eyes staring at the man who woke her. He was currently holding his nose and choking.
"GEEZ YOU SCARED THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME!"
Hermione was breathing heavily obviously shocked, then she realised who it was.
"Ron? Ron, are you okay. I'm so sorry Ron. I didn't realise it was you. I just…" Ron silenced her with a raised finger.
"Come here Ron so I can see what I have done." Ron cautiously walked back over to the couch and removed his hand. Blood was gushing out of the wound and Hermione bit her lip. Ron placed his hand back over his face.
"I think you broke it." His voice was muffled and nasally
"We have to get you to the hospital wing."
Hermione stood up quickly taking a role as leader and headed Ron for the portrait hole. His face looked pale white and his hand was shaking. Hermione grabbed it for support and gave it a squeeze. He looked at her and she smiled back before moving on.
As Ron walked he wondered what he did to deserve what was happening. He only tried to wake hermione up and he got a fist to the nose. The walking through the corridors around midnight holding Hermione's hand was ok, but he was starting to feel a little dizzy. He wasn't sure whether it was the girl next to him in close proximity or just blood loss. He focused on his nose and made sure his brain took control not his pants.
When they got to the hospital wing and woke up Madame Pomfrey they immediately dropped hands. Hermione told Madame Pomfrey about what had happened and then Madame Pomfrey took Ron to a bed. She stopped the bleeding but he still looked like he was going to be sick. She got a lot of blood replenishing potion and told them they could leave.
Hermione was the white one next. She still couldn't believe that she could have done that to her Ron. They walked back in silence and Hermione apologised again for what she did, before running up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Ron stumbled up the boys' stairs still a bit dizzy but this time definitely sure it was because of the girl. When Hermione got up to her dormitory wide-awake Lavender and Parvati met her.
"You're up late."
"Not tonight lavender."
"Come on tell us Hermione. Who were you with?"
"Ron." She answered by instinct but immediately regretted it.
"Oooooo!! So Ron finally got the guts to go out with you."
"It wasn't a date, he doesn't want to go out with me and I punched him in the nose. Good night."
After saying this Hermione pulled her curtains to a shut and fell asleep almost instantly.
Ron walked through his dormitory and found Harry sitting at the end of his bed.
"Hey mate, how'd it go?"
"Don't talk to me about it, it was a mess."
"Oh, what happened?"
Ron started pacing.
"Well I was thinking of how to wake her up and I saw you whisper in Ginny's ear, so I tried it. I got no response form the bloody girl so I spoke louder and louder till I was afraid of waking people up. Still no response from Hermione. So I poked her on the shoulder and she just kept on sleeping. Finally I got so annoyed that I shook her."
Harry flinched.
"Never shake Hermione awake mate. She told me she has pretty good reflexes."
"Well I wish she would have told me because when I did it she woke up and punched me."
"Hence the blood?"
"Yes. We had to go all the way down to the bloody hospital wing so I could get it back to normal and unbroken."
"She broke it!?" Harry laughed but stopped abruptly when Ron shot him a dirty look.
"Yes but shh. I can't let Gryffindor know that their keeper got his nose broken by a girl."
"Don't let Hermione hear you say that, she'll start about the sexist thing again."
"Yeah I know. Well I'm off to bed 'cause I'm buggered. Night mate."
"Yeah good night Ron." Harry jumped off Ron's bed and hopped into his own. After pulling the curtains closed on his four-poster bed he drifted off to a sleep full of dreams of Ginny.