First of all, I want to apologize for taking so long to update, I've had a lot going on and such, hopefully I won't make that a pattern, ok?
Chapter 12
Ron
Harry was becoming worried about Hermione. Everyday, she was more and more distracted, more and more distant. He didn't know if it were because something had happened to her or if she was merely bogged down with her studies; Hermione had always been one to take on more than she could handle.
He and Ron usually met Hermione before breakfast. They waited for her in the common room, but she never greeted them. Finally, Ron went on to breakfast. Harry stayed a while longer. After waiting for nearly forty five minutes, Harry finally decided to go down to the Great Hall without her.
When Harry entered the Great Hall, he expected to see Hermione's disheveled hair and her tired expression. He saw neither of these things. In fact, Hermione wasn't at breakfast at all.
By now, Ron too was getting worried about Hermione.
"Where the bloody hell is she?" he said to Harry.
Harry didn't want to upset Ron even more by answering, "I don't know" but, he had no clue as to what to say.
"I'm sure she'll be down shortly," Harry lied. Something was wrong, he could feel it.
Ron, looking very distraught, stood to go find Hermione. When standing, of course he could see the entire hall. He could see Hermione. She was in the back of the room, hiding from the world.
Ron went to her, not telling Harry that he'd seen her. When he got there, he could see she had been crying, and that she was staring at the Slytherin table.
"Hermione…. What's…?" He didn't know what to say to her, he had seen that look many times before. Not on her face, but on his own late at night in the mirror. Hermione's heart was broken.
For a moment, Ron took his eyes off of her and looked to the Slytherin table. He knew it had to be Malfoy; there had been rumors around Hogwarts of he and Hermione. Because there had been no proof of this, Ron merely took it with a grain of salt. Now he wasn't so sure.
Ron knelt beside her, he took her hand. "It's going to be alright, whatever happened, Harry and me will get him."
Hermione looked appalled. "Get him? For what? He hasn't done anything."
Ron was very puzzled at this point.
"He was a perfect gentleman to me Ron, nothing happened. It's just a little crush is all.
Ron was now angry. "You've been hiding from us, back here blubbering and carrying on over a crush? I can't believe you Hermione! How could you be so inconsiderate? Why couldn't you just tell us if it's nothing serious?"
Ron's rage incited more tears. Hermione's face turned vermillion. "Please Ron, don't tell Harry…." That's all she said before she got up and walked away.
Ron was infuriated. Hermione had a crush on Malfoy, did she? Didn't want him to know about it? Didn't want Harry to know? How could she be so selfish, so childish, so… like a girl? Ron stomped back to the Gryffindor table with every intention of telling Harry everything… yet… by the time he got there, he felt less rage. By the time he got there, he felt he should protect Hermione's secret, should protect her…
His anger at Hermione was replaced by anger with himself. How could he let a creep like Malfoy get close to her, let him break her heart? Ron felt useless.
As he approached the table, Harry could tell something was wrong. "What happened mate?"
Ron knew he had to keep Hermione's secret. "Nothing, didn't find her. I think I'm going to look outside near Hagrid's" then Ron, too, turned around and walked away.
As soon as he was outside the Great Hall, and he knew Harry couldn't see him, Ron broke into a sprint. He wanted to catch Hermione and find out what happened and more than anything, he wanted to apologize for yelling at her.
He ran up the hallway to the library, ran to the common room, he ran everywhere that she could be. There was no Hermione to be seen anywhere. Ron felt very disheartened. He wanted desperately to find Hermione.
He finally gave up; he had to go to class. Since he and Hermione had class together, he had hoped to see her. She wasn't there. Potions class was now over. Next was Transfiguration. No Hermione thereeither.
Ron was feeling very uneasy, where was she hiding? The more the thought about it, the more it bothered him. He wanted Hermione to look at him the way she looked at Malfoy… He shook his head free of those thoughts and went on to lunch.
Well, that's chapter 12. again, I'm sorry this one took so long. R&R!
