The Cruel Irony

Chapter 21: The Calm Before The Storm

After Harry's near departure, things seemed to have gotten better. The three tributes were much closer to one another, having seen how strong their friendship had become. They'd play games, share stories, try to pass the time and forget about the fact that they were getting extremely close to death.

Hermione found it to be one of the greatest times of her life. It felt so wonderful to finally have friends who genuinely cared about her and her safety. She had never expected it to happen, least of all in the Hunger Games, but it had, and all in all, she was grateful for it.

There were only six people left in the games and Hermione was getting nervous. She, Ron and Harry made up half of them. That meant that the next death could very well be one of theirs. It seemed that Harry and Ron were aware of it, too, but they tried not to think about it. Ron in particular, ever happy, ever upbeat, tried to avoid it altogether. Any time things got sombre in the tent, Ron would immediately tell a joke or suggest a game of Cheat or chess.

Currently, that was what Ron and Hermione were playing. Harry had gone out. It had been difficult for Ron to let Harry go out on his own, for Ron was quite convinced that walking about was still dangerous, but Harry and Hermione pointed out that there were fewer tributes out there and less chance of them meeting any of the other contenders. Hermione knew that Ron thought that should Harry run into another tribute it'd be much more dangerous, for the ones remaining were ruthless and determined to win, but he'd said nothing. Hermione knew Ron had a point, but the eleven Harry scored in training meant he'd be all right should anything happen to him.

That didn't mean she wasn't worried for Harry. Quite the opposite, in fact. It terrified her, letting him out, but she knew Harry was right and that really, it was safer going out now as there weren't as many people out there too.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Ron called to her, saving her from drowning in her musings.

"What?"

"I've completely cornered you and you're stuck. Obviously, you'd be worried," Ron said, gesturing to the board.

Hermione glanced down and noticed she was in a bit of trouble. "Oh, right."

Ron smirked at her. "Try moving your rook. If you move it correctly, you'll be fine for the moment."

Hermione's eyes drifted over to the rook as she analysed the different ways she could move it. Nothing seemed to help her get out of the mess she'd placed herself in. She shifted slightly on the floor so that she could get a better view.

Ron chuckled and Hermione's eyes left the board long enough to glare at him. "You look quite nice when you're confused," he said the moment she turned back to the board.

Hermione froze, blushing pleasantly.

"It's sort of cute."

Hermione glanced up at him. His ears were red but he was staring at her unabashedly.

"Are you doing this so that you can get extra leverage over me in this game?" Hermione asked. "I'd like to point out that you don't need any more."

Ron let out a laugh and tilted his head sideways so that it rested on the edge of his bed. "Good point," he said. As he laughed his red hair, which had grown quite a bit since she'd first met him, fell into his eyes.

Hermione's lips curved into a small smirk as she leaned across the chess board, putting an arm down onto the floor so she could balance herself. Once she was steady, she lifted her head up slightly and then she reached up and brushed away the red hair.

She glanced down into Ron's eyes and saw them boring into her. With his hair out of his face, he looked like a little boy, innocent and attentive. She smiled softly at him.

"You're not the only one who knows how to get leverage," she whispered.

Something sparkled in Ron's eyes and his grin returned. His arms wrapped themselves around her so that she would stay right where she was. "You sneaky..." he began, pulling her into him. She let out a laugh as she lost balance and her lower body fell onto the chess board, causing all the pieces to roll onto the floor. Her upper body, meanwhile, found a home against Ron's chest.

"Great!" Ron exclaimed sarcastically, looking at the board, all whilst hugging Hermione to him. She managed to turn around in his arms so that her back was pressed against him, and she laughed at the sight of the floor covered in tiny figures.

"Stop laughing!" Ron exclaimed, trying to have a stern voice. He was quite unsuccessful, as he was laughing with her, too. "I bet you only did that so that you wouldn't have to lose to me again."

"I believe it was your pulling me down that caused me to fall onto the board, therefore, it was your fault. It's perfectly understandable, though. You were finally going to lose to me, and simply didn't want to tarnish your perfect record."

Ron scoffed. "I would have checkmated you in three more moves."

"Yes, well, I would have checkmated you in one move."

Ron raised an eyebrow curiously. "Oh, really? What exactly were you planning on doing then?"

Hermione tilted her head to look at him. Then, she pushed herself up and met Ron's lips. Cupping his face with her two hands, she felt Ron's hands fall lower to rest at the small of her back. As soon as she'd breathed in the sigh he released, she knew she'd won.

She pulled away just enough so that their lips would be separated. All she could see was Ron and his deep blue eyes, his long nose, which was grazing hers playfully, and his many, many freckles.

She tilted her head so that their foreheads met. "I was planning on doing that."

Ron swallowed, then grinned. "You can checkmate me like that anytime, then."

"Good, I plan to," Hermione replied and gave him another peck. Ron heaved another sigh and sunk further back against his bed, pulling Hermione down with him. They snuggled closely on the floor, arms around each other and hands locked together. Their feet grazed a few chess pieces that had rolled further away.

"I'm worried about him too."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. "Pardon?"

"I know you were worried about Harry," Ron admitted. "I am too."

Hermione sighed. "We really shouldn't be—"

"Why not?" Ron asked. "He's out in the forest with some ruthless killers hunting for him."

"Yes, but there's less of them now." Hermione said. "The chances of him running into anyone are much smaller than earlier on."

"But if he does," Ron persisted, "it'd be so much worse—"

"Ron, this is only making me more worried!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ron quieted. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Not only that, but we still haven't established what is happening with Harry in regards to his dreams." Hermione reminded him. "I'm still concerned about that."

Ron shrugged. "We're not any closer now than we were a few days ago. It doesn't really make too much of a difference."

"But I want to know!" Hermione cried, slapping her hand to the cool ground in exasperation. "I hate that I don't know."

Ron chuckled. "Calm down, Hermione," he said, running the hand around her shoulders through her loose, curly hair. "I know it bugs you," he began, voice turning serious again. "I want to know, too. But we can't really do much, can we?"

Hermione sighed and leaned a little further back against Ron's chest. "I guess not." She then tilted her head slightly to look up at Ron. "But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it."

"Of course not," Ron said, smiling, then leaned down to kiss her. Hermione craned her neck further to allow him more space, and whilst it was extremely uncomfortable, she didn't care. Her mind was too filled with all things Ron.

Eventually, she lifted herself up onto her knees, which gave her the advantage of being taller. Hermione wasn't sure if Ron had planned for the simple peck to escalate like this, but she certainly didn't mind.

Ron pulled away panting and with a huge grin on his face. "Bloody hell," he said, and Hermione didn't mind the curse words this time and beamed back at him.

"That was rather nice, wasn't it?"

Ron sighed, his grin only increasing. "Trust you to use the words 'rather nice' to describe a kiss."

Hermione blushed and rolled her eyes.

"Well, I reckon this is a good way to pass the time," Ron said, reaching up and kissing her again.

"Better than chess?" Hermione asked when he pulled away.

"Way better."

Suddenly the ground below them shook and the air seemed to crack as a loud cannon boomed through the arena. Ron and Hermione jumped up, startled and alert.

As the world around them stilled once more, they glanced at each other nervously. With their eyes they asked each other the same question. Who was it?

"I don't know," Hermione said aloud. Ron swallowed nervously and glanced at the entrance flap. "You don't think it's—"

"No!" Ron exclaimed, sharply turning to look back at her and silencing her with his powerful stare. "It's not. It's not him!"

Hermione drew in a deep breath to calm herself. There was a very good chance that it may have been Harry who just died, but Ron, being as optimistic and light-hearted as he was, simply didn't want to deal with that. It was why he stopped her from listing the reasons they shouldn't be a couple, back when they first got together in the forest – he didn't want to deal with such negativity, as real and inevitable as it might be.

"He'll be back." Ron said, glancing at the entrance flap desperately. "He'll be back!"

Hermione bit her lip, trying to stop the tears from forming in her eyes. If Ron saw that she was crying, he'd lose it. Instead, she walked over to Ron and put an arm around his shoulders. "We'll just wait," she said.

They stood and waited, eyes not leaving the entrance flap. Hermione didn't know how long they waited, but it felt like an eternity. In her mind, she heard the tick of a clock, growing louder and louder each second. Tick, tick, tick, tick, TICK, TICK—

"HARRY!" Hermione exclaimed when familiar scruffy jet-black hair appeared, along with a lightning-shaped scar and round, scratched glasses. She immediately let go of Ron and flung her arms around Harry.

Harry weakly hugged her back. Hermione quickly pulled away. "Where have you been? What happened? Are you all right?"

"Stop interrogating him, Hermione, and let him catch his breath," Ron said, going around her and hugging his best friend. "Gave us quite a scare, you did there."

Harry nodded, though he had a grim expression on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine." He pulled his glasses off his face and murmured "Reparo."

"What happened?"Hermione asked, trying not to sound too demanding.

"I got into a fight," said Harry simply. He walked past Ron and Hermione and sat down on his bed, sighing as he did. Hermione noticed his jumpsuit was slightly ripped.

"Are you all right?"Hermione asked again.

"Yeah, I told you, I'm fine." Harry repeated.

"Who'd you get into a fight with?" Ron asked in a low voice.

Harry looked up at Ron. "Terence."

Ron's expression, previously one of apprehension, changed into a neutral one that Hermione couldn't decipher. "The guy who killed Lizzie?" Ron asked, as if checking to make sure they were talking about the same person.

Harry nodded. "The one from District 9."

Ron swallowed. "And?"

"And I won."

Hermione peered over at him. "You killed him?"

Harry nodded again. Hermione noticed that he looked rather defeated, and extremely tired.

"How?" Hermione asked.

"I used the Reductor Curse."

Hermione frowned. "But, doesn't that only work on objects, not people?"

"What's the Reductor Curse again?" Ron asked.

"It's supposed to cause a blast and break the target into tiny pieces," Hermione explained. "However, the target is usually an object. I didn't think it could work with people."

"It doesn't." Harry said. "Or, at least, I don't think it does."

"So what happened, then?" Hermione inquired.

"We were at the waterfall, because I'd gone to get water from there. We got into a fight, a few hexes were shot here and there, and then... he was standing next to a large rock. I cast Reductor, the rock exploded, and I don't know whether he died from the explosion or from a piece of rock landing on him, but a cannon was shot and... and he was gone."

Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "And you're all right?"

Harry nodded. "I feel awful, but I had no choice, did I? It's not a good feeling, killing someone, but... but I killed someone and I've just got to accept it and keep going with all this." He pulled out a small bottle from his pocket. "Here's some water I got."

Hermione shook her head to rid herself of unwanted thoughts. "Right," she said briskly and took the water from him. "Anyone in the mood for some tea?" she asked. "I have a few tea leaves I found a few days ago."

"Yeah, that'd be good," Ron piped up. "It's freezing. I think it's going to snow soon."

"Yeah, probably will eventually," Harry said, looking like he was trying not to think about what had happened to him.

Hermione settled down onto the ground with water and tea leaves and began to boil the water with a spell. Little did she know that the moment she'd shared with Ron before a cannon shook up their world would be one of the last moments of bliss she'd have in this competition.

A/N I'll be posting the next chapter over the weekend! :)