A/N: I only own the plot. Now read!
Chapter 7: Intriguing Conversations
"Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain."
A week passed since the visit to the club. I split my time half and half-half the time I spent at home, brushing up on my spell work, reading Hogwarts, A History yet again, watching DVDs with Dad, and baking with Mom. The other half of the time, I hung out at the Burrow, talking to Ginny about the wedding plans, helping Mrs. Weasley out around the house, and, of course, spending time with Ron. The Weasleys were my second family-actually, they had always been my second family, so it seemed.
A lot of times when Ron and I hung out together, it was just outside in the garden, chatting about meaningless things, really; I told him all about my New York life-my friends, my teachers, my dancing. He seemed really curious about Ellie and her drinking habits.
"She can't be very happy, can she?" he inquired as he twisted a blade of grass around his finger.
"Oh, come off it," I scoffed. "She's the one who plays all the practical jokes, takes the biggest-and craziest-risks, sails along in her own glory, and dances in the clubs till the sun rises. How can she not be happy? She's got tons of energy, and she hardly ever gets upset." Except when Madame lectures her, I thought to myself.
Ron stared up into the cloudless sky, thinking hard. Then he looked at me. His gaze was so serious. I was surprised. "Sometimes what's visible on the outside isn't really what's within," he commented thoughtfully. "People sometimes act completely opposite of what they're feeling."
As the words hit me for the first time, I was completely thrown off my guard. Again, when did Ron become so philosophical? Did five years away from Hogwarts suddenly educate him in some crazy way?
Later on, when I was lying in at home in bed, I felt that familiar stab of guilt in my lower stomach. Ron, the "insensitive wart", as I'd labeled him in fifth year, hadn't even met Ellie, and he was sensing troubles in her life. I'd spend five years around her, and I just knew her as the annoying one who called me "Mya" and got drunk at sleazy bars.
I rolled over on my other side and recalled another conversation between us that intrigued me. Just a few days ago, we'd gone over to Diagon Alley for ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. As we sat in the summer sun, I couldn't help remembering how we'd sat in the same spot before third year after finding all our books.
We sat, digging into our sundaes. As I ate, a question I'd been dying to ask him kept nagging me and nagging me. I set my spoon down and watched him devour the rest of his banana split in silence. Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore.
"Ron," I began tentatively, wondering if this was really wise, "erm-I'm not trying to pry or be nosy or anything, but-um, have you been seeing anybody? I mean, girls-women." Arg! I didn't want to blush or be embarrassed, but I felt that heat in my face again.
He looked up at me, his spoon frozen in midair. After a few seconds in shock, he lowered the spoon back into the sundae dish and attempted to gather his wits.
"Er-mostly, no. But," he continued, his ears reddening, "I did date Parvati for about a month a couple of months before you came back."
"Oh." I wanted more information than that. I had to know if she had lied or not. "Um, I mean, was it-um, very, er-serious?"
"Well, I'm still a virgin."
"Ah…oh." Too much information. I glanced at his red face. Why, oh why, had I created such an awkward situation? "I'm sorry, Ron, I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, 'Mione." He tried to smile. "Probably a good thing, really-she blew me off for that millionaire and Quidditch player, to boot-Vicky." He looked disgusted as he spat the name.
It took a few seconds for my mind to connect with the significance of the name. Once it did, I cracked up laughing. I couldn't help it. I clung to the edge of my chair and roared.
"It's not funny!" He looked scandalized. "Why is it so funny that someone I really liked-well, sort of liked-left me for a brainless git with nothing but money and muscles?"
"Oh-oh, no!" I gasped, clutching my side. "Oh, Ron, that wasn't what I meant, honest!" I had to get my giggles out. Thankfully, Ron didn't lose his temper or storm away; instead, he sat and stared at me as if I was insane.
I caught my breath and explained, "It just struck me as funny because, well, I fancied Viktor for awhile, and then he dumped me, and you were dating Parvati, and she dumped you, and now-now they're together!" I relapsed into another giggling fit. This time, Ron finally got it and joined in.
"They deserve each other," he finished, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes. "Definitely."
I licked my spoon. "No kidding." I stopped suddenly as I felt his blue-eyed gaze. I looked up to meet his eyes.
"So, theoretically," he began slowly (since when did Ron use the word "theoretically"?), "if Parvati and Vicky deserve each other, would that mean that you and I deserve each other?"
A chill shot down my spine-and it wasn't from the ice cream.
"I don't know for sure," I began, "but what I do know is that I definitely can't say that we don't."
In my bed, I closed my eyes and smiled. All the musings about Ellie's imagined problems were chased away by a pair of deep, curious, smiling blue eyes.
"What do you think, Hermione, midnight blue or burgundy for the bridesmaids' dresses? And your dress, also."
"Huh? Oh," I pulled my gaze away from Ron's figure in the backyard. He was trying to teach one of Bill's kids the basics of Quidditch.
"Well…" I examined the two swatches of fabric. "I think burgundy; you'd have a sort of Christmas theme with your green dress, Ginny." I grinned at my cleverness.
She sent me an angry look.
"Oh-the color would work with a white dress, too," I added for Mrs. Weasley's benefit. She smiled happily.
The clock on the wall spun into action. Mr. Weasley's hand pointed to traveling and then home as he Apparated next to the table.
"Arthur!" gasped Mrs. Weasley. "It's not even 3:00 yet; what are you doing home so soon?"
"Can't a man take half a day off work to help with his daughter's wedding preparations?" he joked. "Also," he added, "I had to pick something up for Ron; where is he?"
"Outside with Joaquin, trying to teach him the rules of Quidditch," Ginny said dismissively. Mr. Weasley headed over to the doors that led out of the house.
"Now, dear," Mrs. Weasley continued as the door shut behind him, "what about the tuxedoes? I'm assuming that's what you want, right?"
My mind wasn't on tuxedoes. I was watching out the window again. Mr. Weasley tapped Ron on the shoulder and handed him a small, white envelope. Ron looked inside, and a smile spread across his face, lighting up his eyes. I couldn't help but smile too. He always wore his emotions right on his sleeve. Mr. Weasley smiled too, happy that his son was happy. Ron threw his arms around his dad and then came dashing into the house.
"Hermione," he said breathlessly, clutching the envelope, "please say you aren't doing anything tonight."
"No," I answered, surprised. "Why?"
"Look in the envelope." He handed it to me, and I lifted the flap and turned it upside down.
Two tickets fell out. My eyes focused on the four large letters in the center of the ticket. RENT. I gasped.
"How did you know?" I'd been dying to see that show, but the tickets in New York had been sold out for ages. "How did you get them?"
"I pulled a few strings at work….Perkins owed me a favor," Mr. Weasley said proudly.
"So you'll go, then?" Ron looked so hopeful.
"Of course!" I hugged him (yes, right there in front of his parents).
"Great!" He looked excited.
A couple of hours later, Ginny and I were in her room, getting me ready for the show. Thankfully, we were almost the same size, so I could've worn anything she owned, and as Ginny was working at Celestia's Formalwear, she had an uncountable number of fancy gowns.
Even though she had so many dresses, it took forever to find one suitable for a Broadway show.
"Nope." An eggplant-colored strapless gown.
"Nuh-uh." A slinky black number with a neckline that plunged to my belly button.
"Definitely not." She had insisted on me trying a hideous yellow gown with orange and blue beads covering the bodice. I felt like Cinderella-on acid.
"Wait….try this one." She pulled a soft green dress from a hanger. I felt the material between my fingers. It was strong, yet nubby and worn- so different from the flowy, feminine fabrics of the other gowns.
"Leather," Ginny provided, sitting on her bed. "Go on!" she chided.
I slowly put the dress on and instantly knew I had to wear it. The neckline was modest, but the thin straps criss-crossed at least four times in the back, finally stopping at the fabric covering my rear. The dress hugged my curves like it loved them, and the fabric flowed gracefully around my legs.
"Oh my God," Ginny breathed. "Ron is going to die when he sees you."
"It's a nice dress," I said in barely more than a whisper.
"Come here, let me fix the straps."
I obeyed and turned my back to her.
"He really loves you, you know. Ron, I mean."
I sighed and bit my lower lip. "Yeah."
"The family has always talked about how you two would end up together, even when you guys were really young, like thirteen or so. We always just knew, somehow. Especially Mum-she's never imagined anyone else for Ron but you. You should have seen her face when she heard about Ron and Parvati-it was awful. But now it's all right-you're practically one of the family! Turn your head, please." She had proceeded to doing my hair and makeup, even though I hadn't asked.
Her jabbering about Ron and me, rather than making me feel happy, shot uneasiness into my system. I was going back to Julliard in a few days-I couldn't even think about getting married! Sure, I would be back for Ginny's wedding, but that would be for a few days, not months or years.
Once she was done making me beautiful, I took a couple deep breaths and tried to talk some sense into myself. This was just a Broadway show, nothing more than a date with a boy-well, now a man-I'd known for a good ten years. I would just take it one step at a time, and everything would be fine.
A/N: Hehehe…everything's gonna be fine, eh? Anyway…next chapter title…NO DAY BUT TODAY! They see the show together….fun stuff….I'm getting behind on my typing, I have that chapter and the one after that already written in my notebook. I hate typing, it's the worst thing about fanfiction. Ah well….
Shouts:
KateM: She'll realize it eventually…in a BIG way. I love Hermione's dad too! He's the best!
Valentines-hater: Sorry it's taken so long! I've been working on stuff for a drama camp I'm working at, so…updates might be a little crazy right now.
Ilikechicken: Now you know! Stupid Parvati….oh well, now ya know Ron's a sweetie, like he's always been. Actually, I LOVE Save the Last Dance, but I didn't mean to copy it so much for the chapter (I seriously just noticed-scary!). But so they don't sue me, I don't own that movie! It's great, though…
Gil-galad: Thank you! That was one thing I was worried about: the balance between Hermione growing up and acting like a 22 year old, while still being herself. It was hard!
Ally of Pirate's Swoop: It fits together too perfectly? Oooookay…if you review again, could you explain that to me a bit more? I'd really like to know what you mean by that….but I'm glad you like it!
Miss Hogwarts: Amazing, eh? Thanks, that means a lot to me!
Kagome: The general answer to all three of your questions is: I got lazy! After reading your review, I was like, "I don't remember that….". Then I went back and read and noticed that you were right! Anyway, since the "curb question" was the one you wanted answered, I'll just say that I didn't think of it that way, but my "excuse" will be that Ron just got caught up in the moment. You know how those boys can be….rolls eyes But, yeah, I will probably go back and revise that chapter eventually, just to fix that. Thanks so much for pointing that out!
Quidditchcutie07: I love Save the Last Dance too!!
Figgiesblazin: Thanks for reviewing!
Okay, now, kids….review! Please please please….make my day….the more reviews, the sooner the "pivotal" chapters will come!!! Bye bye for now!
