A/N: Well since some of you actually seem to like my story, I updated as soon as I could. This is my favorite chapter, but poor Harry is left out. I couldn't wait any longer for this chapter (it was one of the first ones I wrote.)
Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter, Microwavable Popcorn, and Sliced Bread.
---"Her-Hermione!" Ron spluttered. "What in the name of Merlin are you doing here?"
Harry quickly hid the notebook and thought with all his might, I wish the diaries were gone, except Hermione's. As soon as he had thought this, the books vanished into thin air. Wow, I wonder if she noticed.
He looked up at Hermione and thought instantly of Cho. Why do girls have to cry and make things difficult? I can't stand it when a girl cries, it always makes me feel so awful. While Hermione was standing there bawling and shaking, Harry noticed that one of the sleeves of her robe was torn and her arm was red and scratched up. Her bushy hair was messy and her eyes were red and puffy. She kept sniffing and then trying not to cry, which in turn only made louder noises. Under her robe she was wearing a shimmering blue top with beads. Her simple white capri pants had small rips in the bottom of one leg, and all in all she looked torn up.
Hermione turned to close the door slowly and quietly and stood there a moment with her back heaving up and down. She still hadn't answered Ron, so he walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, why are you crying?" he asked carefully.
I wonder if she caught us reading her diary.
"Well actually," she began quietly. "There are a few reasons."
Ron had a look on his face that told Harry he was genuinely worried about her. He usually showed the emotional range of a teaspoon, as Hermione had nicely put it. But whenever Hermione showed up, Ron's whole attitude changed. Harry had never noticed that he could be so sensitive, because well, he was usually an uncaring idiot. Even with all the loyalty he had for his best friend, he couldn't challenge the fact that Ron had never showed such a powerful emotion of caring until lately. He also couldn't argue that the change only showed up around Hermione.
"Come on 'Mione. Sit down. You can tell me anything." They sat together on one of the three beds and Hermione started to cry on Ron's shoulder. The bed was shaking slightly, just as was Hermione. Despite the tears pouring out, Ron looked absolutely elated to have her there next to him. Harry wondered if he should leave or stay, and compromised by sitting on one of the other beds and waiting.
She spluttered, "Well…first off…I was having a bad...bad time with Ginny and she… she said some things. I couldn't…couldn't find you two so I … I thought I could come here and … relax a little bit and just…hide from the world. But … you…were here." She tried to smile but the tears in between her words made it difficult.
"What did Ginny say that made you cry?" Ron looked so fierce and angry that anything in this world could make her cry, that even Harry was a bit afraid.
"It doesn't matter, Ron. It was stupid. We got in a fight and we both said things that….that I don't think either of us meant. And…I just broke down." She answered.
"Nothing that makes you cry is stupid, Hermione." He said quietly. Sensing that she didn't want to talk about what Ginny had said, he continued. "What else happened?"
Harry was still watching his two best friends as if they were a movie, which in a sense, they were. He was watching them as if on a movie screen. It's like when you watch a scary movie and you know that the bad guy is coming around the corner or hiding in the closet, but no matter how much you scream at the girl, you really can't help her. Harry was feeling the same about Ron and Hermione, because no matter what he said, he really couldn't interrupt the moment.
"I ran into…Malfoy in the hallway." She began, and as soon as she got the word out of her mouth, Ron looked as if he could kill. Harry himself wanted to strangle his enemy, and the only reason was because his best friend was crying and Malfoy's name was involved. "And he was standing there leaning against the wall. So I saw him and I … guess… I stared a bit." She admitted shamefully. "And as I walked past him, he leaned close to me and whispered something in my ear. But what he said wasn't mean. He didn't even have a smirk on his face or a coldhearted tone to his voice. He just calmly said, 'Hi Hermi… er, Granger.' He had to correct himself, but he called me Hermione, and he was nice about it." She looked shocked. "So then I was dazed a bit and walked after him and I said 'Hi Draco, I mean, Malfoy'. Then the jerk Zabini saw me talking to his mate, and then threw a spell at me and cried, 'Get away, stupid m..'. Well you know what he said." She was apparently unable to say moodblood. "Then he shot a spell at me and tore up my sleeve and pants leg because I wasn't expecting it, and Malfoy grabbed his wand and cursed him to hang by his feet! It was the most shocking thing I've ever experienced! Malfoy was defending me. When I asked him about it, he shrugged and said, 'It was an unfair fight.' And he walked off."
Ron stared in disbelief, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull. Draco, defending Hermione? "Wow." he managed to choke out.
Malfoy? There was no way he would defend her since he so ferociously called her names and made fun of her. Why in the world would he help her? There's something wrong with that."Yeah, I don't know Ron, but I think maybe…he's changed." She sighed, expecting an outburst.
"Maybe…but I doubt that that..." he searched for the right words to describe him, "ferret could change his ways. You never told me…what else made you cry?"
"Oh that." She stood up and slapped him across the face. "As if I didn't realize when I walked in that you were reading my personal diary. You pig, you filthy faced pig! How dare you invade my privacy like that?" she tapped her foot, expecting an answer.
Wow. Can you say mood swings? Harry thought quickly afterwords.
"Hermione, curiosity came over me, and I feel terrible for reading it, although I did learn some valuable things about you." He looked deeply hurt after dishing out all those emotions.
"Well I don't know if I can forgive you for that, but you did say that I was amazing even though I was insecure." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek where she had slapped him. "Sorry about that, Ronald."
"Well Hermione, it was all true. You're beaut…brave and smart." He had obviously meant to say beautiful, but couldn't. "You're…beautiful." He blushed bright red and with his red hair he looked like a Christmas bobble.
Hermione looked at Ron and then cuddled next to him on the bed. "Thanks Ron." She sighed.
Harry laughed at them, and noticed that they obviously forgot that he was there.
I think this is my cue to leave.