Chapter Five: Know Thine Enemy
"...soooo, why does Carrol of Hufflepuff have it in for me?"Ron asked, cheerfully
making himself a third sandwich.
Choking on her pumpkin juice, Hermione coughed for three minutes in
succession, earning a look of concern from Ron while their companions exchanged worrisome
looks. Ginny turned to Charlie and started whispering furiously in his ear, glancing at Ron
all the while. Making a face at her--she was going to take her own sweet time in forgiving
him for this afternoon--Ron took a bite of his sandwich and looked to Harry and the twins.
Harry only shook his head and the twins said not a word.
"Should I already know? Or...you think I rammed into him on purpose, too? I
didn't. I bashed what-is-name, the Seeker, but not Mr. You-Should-Hold-it-Against-Me
Carrol of Hufflepuff, otherwise known as the Quaffle-hog," Ron replied, waving his
sandwich in the air.
"Quaffle-hog, Ron?" George asked, snickering behind his hand.
"I can count on one hand how many times he let someone else handle it. I didn't
crash into him on purpose--he had just as much time as I did to move."
"That isn't it," Harry put in.
The twins shook their heads in unison. Finishing his sandwich, Ron simply looked
at all of them, waiting for someone to enlighten him.
"It has to do with your try-out," Fred said finally.
Ron still waited.
"Oh, for heaven's sake. Do you remember the 4th year girl who went after you?"
Hermione burst out, having recovered from her coughing fit.
"The sobber? Why?"
"That's Carrol's cousin."
"You're kidding."
Hermione shook her head and Ron gulped.
"They're more like kissing cousins," Fred put in; Harry and George smacked him
at the same time. Ron's eyes widened and he put his hand over his mouth as he leaned back
in his chair.
"I'm going to be sick."
"They spent the entire summer practicing together...I gather she's supposed to be
good when she's not overwhelmed by other circumstances," Hermione added.
"And after what happened...she couldn't help but be upset. Carrol got upset, too,"
Ginny concluded, forgetting that she was not talking to Ron.
"He hit me on purpose. He knew I wouldn't move...he hit me on purpose. That
lousy, stinking Quaffle-hog!" Ron said slowly, raising his head and looking fiercely at all of
them before leaping to his feet.
"Ron!"
"Easy, little brother," Charlie said, easily moving forward and blocking Ron's
path. "You rammed into the Seeker on purpose, remember?"
"That's Quidditch! I didn't do it because of some personal vendetta," Ron retorted,
looking rather ridiculous being stopped by someone who only came up to his shoulders.
"No, but your'e not going to solve anything by storming around looking to fight
him. Right now, he looks the bigger fool of the two of you. Do you want to change that?"
Charlie asked softly, removing his hands from Ron's shoulders.
Heaving a sigh, Ron looked anywhere but at his brother, at the ceiling, the floor,
his feet, and finally nodded. Patting him on the shoulder, Charlie smiled as Ron fell back
into his chair.
"Great. This is just great," Ron muttered, running his hands through his hair.
"At least you know," Ginny said helpfully, the extent of Ron's distress wiping away
any remembrance of her being angry with him. From Ron there was no reply. Looking
helplessly at one another, his companions shrugged in unison--there was nothing they could
possibly do.
"Kissing cousins, two collisions, burned brothers..." Ron mumbled, still raking his
hands through his hair and making absolutely no sense. A wry expression on his face, Charlie
bent down, taking the last cookie from Ron's stash of food and tucking it into his robes as he
said,
"I'm afraid it's time for me to leave."
His four siblings looked at him simultaneously, Ginny being the first to reach him,
and Charlie obligingly put an arm around her.
"You were going to help us with our Hufflepuff buttons," George accused, marching
up to Charlie and standing in front of him with his arms crossed; Fred did the same. Grinning,
Charlie looked at the twins for several moments, and then his gaze drifted longingly towards
the pile of buttons stacked on a table at the other end of the Common Room. There was a struggle
enacted across his feature and he shook his head, the twins turning away in disappointment.
"Now I remember why Bill's our favorite brother," Fred said loudly. Charlie only
laughed.
"You're going to be okay?" Ginny asked, giving him a hug and sighing in relief
when he murmured, "yes." Blinking back tears, the youngest member of the Weasley family
smiled briefly at Charlie before dashing off to join Fred and George. Wistfully Charlie looked
after her, one hand resting across his wounded arm. Harry went next, shaking Charlie's hand
and responding good-naturedly to Charlie's comment on his flying before scurrying off to
join the mournful looking twins now at work on their buttons. When finished, the golden
buttons would read: Horrible Hurtful Hufflepuffs or Horrible Hurtful Carrol, depending on the
twins' success. What the Hufflepuffs would do in retaliation, Harry didn't even want to imagine.
Left with only Ron and Hermione to depart from, Charlie smiled lop-sidedly and
stepped towards his littlest brother.
"Remember what I said, Ron."
"Remember what I said, Char."
Each desperately trying to stare down the other, the two brothers gave up after two
minutes and Charlie shook his head, pointing furiously at Ron as he said,
"You would think being someone's favorite brother would count for something!"
"You certainly would," Ron replied, unable to keep from grinning. Charlie shook
his head again and offered his hand. Pumping it enthusiastically, Ron cried out when Charlie
wrung his hand; Hermione looking on with a decidedly unapproving expression. Chuckling
as Ron vigorously shook his hand to regain some feeling in it, Charlie turned to Hermione and
asked,
"Still worrying, Hermione?"
"Yes," she answered, tilting up her chin in defiance. The elder Weasley burst out
laughing.
"Stop or I'll have to shake some sense into you. Or...maybe Ron can do it in my
absence."
"I'd like to see him try," Hermione retorted.
Ron's mouth dropped open and Charlie only luahged all the harder.
"Alas, my cue to exit. The perils of Percy await. Pity me, please."
"You deserve him," Ron grumbled, shoving Charlie. Feigning pain, Charlie threw
the pair of them a grin before jogging out of the common room. Ron returned to his seat,
fidgeting slightly. Charlie knew too much about Hermione--more than Ron knew himself and it
was unsettling to say the least to have to endure his comments. He was glad Charlie had come,
however, even if his brother had laid a responsibility on him that he absolutely did not want.
Perhaps a part of him did, for it gave him an excuse...an excuse that he couldn't tell anyone,
especially Hermione. Glancing up, he smiled grimly to see that Hermione was still standing in
front of him, her amrs crossed and her expression skeptical.
"You never told me you had a favorite brother," she said slowly.
Ron's brows raised and he shrugged as he answered,
"You never asked. I don't know if you have a favorite sibling."
"I don't have any siblings."
"I didn't know that either," Ron answered honestly.
Hermione fell silent. It was true...he knew next to nothing about her life in the
Muggle world. She hadn't thought that she would want to know, especially after hearing so
many of Harry's stories about the Dursleys. She wasn't worried about his thinking all Muggles
were bad--she knew better--but it had never seemed appropriate to bring up her life at home.
Watching her carefully, Ron kicked aside the remnants of his feast and stretched out his legs
as he asked,
"Are they really kissing cousins?"
Hermione nearly fell over. Catching herself, she looked at him incredulously and
stammered,
"I..don't...really know."
"Don't tell me Fred and George made it up."
"No, they didn't. They're just...close, that's all. Would you get that upset over your
cousins?"
"Heavens, no. My cousins are all squeak-pigs."
"What?" Hermione asked, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Sinking lower in his chair, Ron muttered something that she couldn't decipher and
Hermione let the subject drop. Absently playing with a strand of her hair, she looked at Ron
and started to speak but thought better of it. Embarrassment gone, Ron looked at her again
and said cheerfully,
"Not bad for my first game, eh?"
"That's an interesting way of putting it," Hermione retorted.
Ron grinned.
"Aww, Hermione, is that all you have to say?"
"You expect me to congratulate you on a job well done after you deliberately
caused one collision and almost didn't survive the second?!"
"Uh-huh."
Hermione stared at him.
"Congratulations for almost killing yourself."
"Thank you," Ron replied, bowing at her and starting to laugh at the indignant
look on his face.
"What is so funny?"Hermione demanded, her hands on her hips.
Recovering, Ron tried desperately to keep a straight face as he replied,
"It's just...I didn't know you cared."
"I..." Hermione began, taking one look at him and the insufferably cocky grin on
his face before she screamed in frustration.
Shoving him roughly, she aimed a kick at his shins but missed and turned away.
Hand shooting out, Ron sobered in an instant as he seized a hold of her arm and pulled her back.
"I'm sorry if I made you worry about me," he said softly, the mischief absent from
his eyes.
Despite her efforts not to, Hermione found herself smiling at him and she was about
to reassure him when he released her and continued, "Charlie's right, you know. You shouldn't
worry about us."
"Someone has to."
"But not you."
"I can't help it."
His brows raised and Hermione flushed slightly, her fingers twisting in her robes as
she murmured, "About what I said this morning..."
"I know you didn't mean it," Ron said quickly, the ever-faithful lop-sided smile
stretching across his face.
If he had been present, Charlie would have commended him for his ability to win
her over. Relief flooded across Hermione's face and she smiled shakily, saying,
"But if you knew..."
"Nerves. And my usual feeling of inadequacy that seems to have been born in me.
I don't think I'm ever going to get over it," Ron answered, scowling down at the floor.
"You will," Hermione said.
Ron arched an eyebrow at her but said nothing in reply as he clambered to his feet
and stretched noisily.
"So, what did you really think? Idiotic Weasley, ramming the Seeker?" He teased,
scratching his head and yawning.
Smiling, Hermione shook her head and replied,
"Idiotic Weasley, being too good of a Keeper."
Ron simply stared at her, completely flabbergasted. Laughing, Hermione ran up to
the girls' dormitory, throwing him a look over her shoulder as she went. ZONK!
Whirling, Ron gingerly rubbed at the back of his head, the Hufflepuff button the
twins had thrown at him lying at his feet. Stooping to pick it up, he grinned briefly at the
flashing Horrible Hurtful Hufflepuffs and launched the button back at the twins. Anything
Hermione had said was forgotten as he and Harry teame dup in a button throwing war against
the twins. Some things would never change, but some things did. He remembered Hermione's
pale and worried face and promptly suffered another direct hit from the twins. If something
did change, would he really mind? Scoring a hit on Fred's now, Ron laughed and quickly
dodged George's retaliation. Thinking and throwing buttons did not mix.
That's it, for now :)
Up next... "A Krum-o-ween." Ten guesses as to what that's about.
"...soooo, why does Carrol of Hufflepuff have it in for me?"Ron asked, cheerfully
making himself a third sandwich.
Choking on her pumpkin juice, Hermione coughed for three minutes in
succession, earning a look of concern from Ron while their companions exchanged worrisome
looks. Ginny turned to Charlie and started whispering furiously in his ear, glancing at Ron
all the while. Making a face at her--she was going to take her own sweet time in forgiving
him for this afternoon--Ron took a bite of his sandwich and looked to Harry and the twins.
Harry only shook his head and the twins said not a word.
"Should I already know? Or...you think I rammed into him on purpose, too? I
didn't. I bashed what-is-name, the Seeker, but not Mr. You-Should-Hold-it-Against-Me
Carrol of Hufflepuff, otherwise known as the Quaffle-hog," Ron replied, waving his
sandwich in the air.
"Quaffle-hog, Ron?" George asked, snickering behind his hand.
"I can count on one hand how many times he let someone else handle it. I didn't
crash into him on purpose--he had just as much time as I did to move."
"That isn't it," Harry put in.
The twins shook their heads in unison. Finishing his sandwich, Ron simply looked
at all of them, waiting for someone to enlighten him.
"It has to do with your try-out," Fred said finally.
Ron still waited.
"Oh, for heaven's sake. Do you remember the 4th year girl who went after you?"
Hermione burst out, having recovered from her coughing fit.
"The sobber? Why?"
"That's Carrol's cousin."
"You're kidding."
Hermione shook her head and Ron gulped.
"They're more like kissing cousins," Fred put in; Harry and George smacked him
at the same time. Ron's eyes widened and he put his hand over his mouth as he leaned back
in his chair.
"I'm going to be sick."
"They spent the entire summer practicing together...I gather she's supposed to be
good when she's not overwhelmed by other circumstances," Hermione added.
"And after what happened...she couldn't help but be upset. Carrol got upset, too,"
Ginny concluded, forgetting that she was not talking to Ron.
"He hit me on purpose. He knew I wouldn't move...he hit me on purpose. That
lousy, stinking Quaffle-hog!" Ron said slowly, raising his head and looking fiercely at all of
them before leaping to his feet.
"Ron!"
"Easy, little brother," Charlie said, easily moving forward and blocking Ron's
path. "You rammed into the Seeker on purpose, remember?"
"That's Quidditch! I didn't do it because of some personal vendetta," Ron retorted,
looking rather ridiculous being stopped by someone who only came up to his shoulders.
"No, but your'e not going to solve anything by storming around looking to fight
him. Right now, he looks the bigger fool of the two of you. Do you want to change that?"
Charlie asked softly, removing his hands from Ron's shoulders.
Heaving a sigh, Ron looked anywhere but at his brother, at the ceiling, the floor,
his feet, and finally nodded. Patting him on the shoulder, Charlie smiled as Ron fell back
into his chair.
"Great. This is just great," Ron muttered, running his hands through his hair.
"At least you know," Ginny said helpfully, the extent of Ron's distress wiping away
any remembrance of her being angry with him. From Ron there was no reply. Looking
helplessly at one another, his companions shrugged in unison--there was nothing they could
possibly do.
"Kissing cousins, two collisions, burned brothers..." Ron mumbled, still raking his
hands through his hair and making absolutely no sense. A wry expression on his face, Charlie
bent down, taking the last cookie from Ron's stash of food and tucking it into his robes as he
said,
"I'm afraid it's time for me to leave."
His four siblings looked at him simultaneously, Ginny being the first to reach him,
and Charlie obligingly put an arm around her.
"You were going to help us with our Hufflepuff buttons," George accused, marching
up to Charlie and standing in front of him with his arms crossed; Fred did the same. Grinning,
Charlie looked at the twins for several moments, and then his gaze drifted longingly towards
the pile of buttons stacked on a table at the other end of the Common Room. There was a struggle
enacted across his feature and he shook his head, the twins turning away in disappointment.
"Now I remember why Bill's our favorite brother," Fred said loudly. Charlie only
laughed.
"You're going to be okay?" Ginny asked, giving him a hug and sighing in relief
when he murmured, "yes." Blinking back tears, the youngest member of the Weasley family
smiled briefly at Charlie before dashing off to join Fred and George. Wistfully Charlie looked
after her, one hand resting across his wounded arm. Harry went next, shaking Charlie's hand
and responding good-naturedly to Charlie's comment on his flying before scurrying off to
join the mournful looking twins now at work on their buttons. When finished, the golden
buttons would read: Horrible Hurtful Hufflepuffs or Horrible Hurtful Carrol, depending on the
twins' success. What the Hufflepuffs would do in retaliation, Harry didn't even want to imagine.
Left with only Ron and Hermione to depart from, Charlie smiled lop-sidedly and
stepped towards his littlest brother.
"Remember what I said, Ron."
"Remember what I said, Char."
Each desperately trying to stare down the other, the two brothers gave up after two
minutes and Charlie shook his head, pointing furiously at Ron as he said,
"You would think being someone's favorite brother would count for something!"
"You certainly would," Ron replied, unable to keep from grinning. Charlie shook
his head again and offered his hand. Pumping it enthusiastically, Ron cried out when Charlie
wrung his hand; Hermione looking on with a decidedly unapproving expression. Chuckling
as Ron vigorously shook his hand to regain some feeling in it, Charlie turned to Hermione and
asked,
"Still worrying, Hermione?"
"Yes," she answered, tilting up her chin in defiance. The elder Weasley burst out
laughing.
"Stop or I'll have to shake some sense into you. Or...maybe Ron can do it in my
absence."
"I'd like to see him try," Hermione retorted.
Ron's mouth dropped open and Charlie only luahged all the harder.
"Alas, my cue to exit. The perils of Percy await. Pity me, please."
"You deserve him," Ron grumbled, shoving Charlie. Feigning pain, Charlie threw
the pair of them a grin before jogging out of the common room. Ron returned to his seat,
fidgeting slightly. Charlie knew too much about Hermione--more than Ron knew himself and it
was unsettling to say the least to have to endure his comments. He was glad Charlie had come,
however, even if his brother had laid a responsibility on him that he absolutely did not want.
Perhaps a part of him did, for it gave him an excuse...an excuse that he couldn't tell anyone,
especially Hermione. Glancing up, he smiled grimly to see that Hermione was still standing in
front of him, her amrs crossed and her expression skeptical.
"You never told me you had a favorite brother," she said slowly.
Ron's brows raised and he shrugged as he answered,
"You never asked. I don't know if you have a favorite sibling."
"I don't have any siblings."
"I didn't know that either," Ron answered honestly.
Hermione fell silent. It was true...he knew next to nothing about her life in the
Muggle world. She hadn't thought that she would want to know, especially after hearing so
many of Harry's stories about the Dursleys. She wasn't worried about his thinking all Muggles
were bad--she knew better--but it had never seemed appropriate to bring up her life at home.
Watching her carefully, Ron kicked aside the remnants of his feast and stretched out his legs
as he asked,
"Are they really kissing cousins?"
Hermione nearly fell over. Catching herself, she looked at him incredulously and
stammered,
"I..don't...really know."
"Don't tell me Fred and George made it up."
"No, they didn't. They're just...close, that's all. Would you get that upset over your
cousins?"
"Heavens, no. My cousins are all squeak-pigs."
"What?" Hermione asked, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Sinking lower in his chair, Ron muttered something that she couldn't decipher and
Hermione let the subject drop. Absently playing with a strand of her hair, she looked at Ron
and started to speak but thought better of it. Embarrassment gone, Ron looked at her again
and said cheerfully,
"Not bad for my first game, eh?"
"That's an interesting way of putting it," Hermione retorted.
Ron grinned.
"Aww, Hermione, is that all you have to say?"
"You expect me to congratulate you on a job well done after you deliberately
caused one collision and almost didn't survive the second?!"
"Uh-huh."
Hermione stared at him.
"Congratulations for almost killing yourself."
"Thank you," Ron replied, bowing at her and starting to laugh at the indignant
look on his face.
"What is so funny?"Hermione demanded, her hands on her hips.
Recovering, Ron tried desperately to keep a straight face as he replied,
"It's just...I didn't know you cared."
"I..." Hermione began, taking one look at him and the insufferably cocky grin on
his face before she screamed in frustration.
Shoving him roughly, she aimed a kick at his shins but missed and turned away.
Hand shooting out, Ron sobered in an instant as he seized a hold of her arm and pulled her back.
"I'm sorry if I made you worry about me," he said softly, the mischief absent from
his eyes.
Despite her efforts not to, Hermione found herself smiling at him and she was about
to reassure him when he released her and continued, "Charlie's right, you know. You shouldn't
worry about us."
"Someone has to."
"But not you."
"I can't help it."
His brows raised and Hermione flushed slightly, her fingers twisting in her robes as
she murmured, "About what I said this morning..."
"I know you didn't mean it," Ron said quickly, the ever-faithful lop-sided smile
stretching across his face.
If he had been present, Charlie would have commended him for his ability to win
her over. Relief flooded across Hermione's face and she smiled shakily, saying,
"But if you knew..."
"Nerves. And my usual feeling of inadequacy that seems to have been born in me.
I don't think I'm ever going to get over it," Ron answered, scowling down at the floor.
"You will," Hermione said.
Ron arched an eyebrow at her but said nothing in reply as he clambered to his feet
and stretched noisily.
"So, what did you really think? Idiotic Weasley, ramming the Seeker?" He teased,
scratching his head and yawning.
Smiling, Hermione shook her head and replied,
"Idiotic Weasley, being too good of a Keeper."
Ron simply stared at her, completely flabbergasted. Laughing, Hermione ran up to
the girls' dormitory, throwing him a look over her shoulder as she went. ZONK!
Whirling, Ron gingerly rubbed at the back of his head, the Hufflepuff button the
twins had thrown at him lying at his feet. Stooping to pick it up, he grinned briefly at the
flashing Horrible Hurtful Hufflepuffs and launched the button back at the twins. Anything
Hermione had said was forgotten as he and Harry teame dup in a button throwing war against
the twins. Some things would never change, but some things did. He remembered Hermione's
pale and worried face and promptly suffered another direct hit from the twins. If something
did change, would he really mind? Scoring a hit on Fred's now, Ron laughed and quickly
dodged George's retaliation. Thinking and throwing buttons did not mix.
That's it, for now :)
Up next... "A Krum-o-ween." Ten guesses as to what that's about.