Ronald ½
Chapter 2
"I am not going to go out of this house in a damn dress of yours!"
Hermione ignored Ron's indignant protests as she pulled open her closet door and began sifting through the muggle clothing she owned. "Stop being such a baby," she responded, glad that she was facing away from him so that he wouldn't see her smile. "It's not that big a deal."
"Are you kidding?" Ron cried, tossing his now-long crimson hair over one shoulder. "Of course it's a big deal!" He groaned. "I'm going to be a bloody transvestite now!"
"Believe me," Hermione glanced at Ron over her shoulder, "dressing up in my clothes is the least of your problems."
"I'm quite aware of that—but dressing up like a girl won't help any!"
"What, you want to attract the attention of everyone by looking like a girl in a man's clothing when we're on our way to your house?"
"Why can't we just Apparate?" said Ron, sitting down on the edge of Hermione's soft bed and crossing his legs. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and uncrossed them—it was simply too weird.
"Well, I'm not allowed to Apparate until I take my Ancient Charms and Spells exam," she responded impatiently, tossing several articles of clothing into the air. "And there's no way I'm letting you out of my sight, thank you."
"Stupid exam, caused all this trouble. Besides, you already broke one bloody rule when you turned me into a girl…why not break another one and Apparate, hmm?"
Hermione pointedly ignored him as she got up, a triumphant smile on her face. "Ha, found it!" She turned around and tossed him what looked like a crumpled up blue skirt. She proceeded in tossing him two shirts. "Wear these. We're not going that far anyway; we're just going to be going to my neighbor's house. We can use their fireplace; it isn't nailed shut like ours is right now. We can use Floo Powder there."
"Why do I have to wear two shirts?" Ron asked, holding the three articles of clothing before him.
"Would you like to peer down your shirt again, Ron?"
Ron stared at her for a moment of profound thought. "Oh…oh. Right."
Hermione gave him a goofy smile and a roguish wink. "I'll wait for you downstairs. You'd better not Disapparate."
"I won't," Ron promised.
"I can't do this," said Ron. "I cannot go outside in this."
Hermione sighed impatiently. "Honestly, Ron. We need to go to your house and ask for Ginny's help—after all, she's the one who wants to become a wizarding doctor. She knows her cures even better than I do. Besides," she went on with a laugh, "you look very pretty. Blue is a good color on you."
"Thanks," Ron responded wryly. With a sigh that was, disturbingly enough, one of the most feminine sighs Hermione had ever heard, he walked out of her house, red ponytail bouncing in the air.
What was even more disturbing was the fact that Hermione seemed to have been right; Ron could feel the eyes of many men following himself as he walked down the street, and it was making him nervous.
"Mione," he whispered nervously, "there are people looking at me in…very…strange ways." He paused in mortified horror. "Did you see that? The man we just passed by winked at me!" Ron bowed his head in abject terror. "I can't do this."
Hermione patted Ron's arm lightly. "Don't worry, we're not too far from my friend's house; it's just a 5-minute walk."
"Oh, yay," said Ron sarcastically.
They walked in silence after that, each one contemplating their respective thoughts, until someone pushed past them. More than one person, actually—three men, all of unimpressive statures, were shouldering past them rather arrogantly.
"Excuse me," both Ron and Hermione said indignantly.
Almost simultaneously, the three men turned around. Each one of them had nasty smiles on their faces as their gazes swept from Hermione to Ron.
Ron shuddered. The feel of people from the same gender checking him out and flirting with him was disgusting.
"Good afternoon, ladies," the man in the middle said.
Ron gave him a very sardonic smile. He wasn't in the mood to be bothered. Hermione did not bother to respond.
"Ooh," the guy on the left shivered mockingly, "Ice Ladies."
"Let's go, Mione," Ron took her by the arm and began to lead her away.
"You're not leaving," the man in the middle spoke again. "We need to teach you some manners."
I'll teach you some damn manners, thought Ron menacingly, cracking his knuckles in a very unwomanly fashion. Only Hermione's placating hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Hermione," a familiar voice spoke from behind them. "Are these guys bothering you?"
Oh, God. I know that voice Please don't let it be him. Please don't let it be him. Please, God, don't let it be—
Horrified, Ron turned around. Hermione spun around as well. She held back a wince as she felt Ron pinch her arm in terror.
Draco Malfoy's cold gaze swept over the three men. "Go," he ordered coldly.
Muttering, the three men, who, as Ron had guessed, were absolute cowards immediately backed away.
"Good afternoon, Hermione." Draco gave her a smile that was somewhat wintry.
"Hello, Draco."
Ron kept silent, holding back a scowl. Sure, they may all have been more civil—even friendlier—towards each other since they defeated the Dark Lord with each other's help, but that didn't mean he liked Malfoy anymore.
Well, maybe a little more. After all, there were some things you just couldn't go through with some people without becoming friends, and defeating Lord Voldemort just happened to be one of them.
"…so, what brings you here?" Hermione was now making very polite conversation with Draco.
"I was on my way to your house, actually," Draco responded, his gaze briefly flickering towards Ron. "I was supposed to give you the forms you need for your Ancient Charms and Spells exam. The head of the board gave it to me to deliver to you." He handed Hermione some rolled-up parchment. He turned back to Ron with a suave smile. "Who's your friend?"
"Hmm?" Hermione turned to Ron, and faltered. "Oh. Um. This is Kari. Kari…uh, E-Eudemon. She's…from a wizarding school in Ireland. She just moved there. And now she's here. Visiting me."
Draco gave 'Kari' a very wide, rather flirtatious, smile. Weakly, Ron returned it.
Don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit, was the only mantra that was echoing within his mind.
"Well, Kari," said Draco smoothly, "I hope to see you around then."
1 Don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit…
"Right," Ron managed to choke out.
"I'll be seeing you, Hermione." Draco gave both of them another suave smile, before Disapparating.
2 Don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit…
"That," Ron said loudly as soon as he disappeared, "was the most disgusting, traumatizing event that has ever happened and will ever happen to me."
Hermione dissolved into another fit of giggles. "I can't believe he was flirting with you. Who knows, he might even ask you out!" At the thought, she leaned on Ron for support as the laughter overwhelmed her again.
"It's not funny!"
Hermione straightened up and gave him a wink. "It is when it's happening to you."
Draco Malfoy shimmered into being in his house, tossing his rather uncomfortable muggle shirt off.
Pretty girl, that Kari Eudemon, he mused, as he settled himself down before the fire. Strange name, but she's very pretty.
She's got the bluest eyes, he couldn't keep the thought out, expressive, blue eyes.
A/N: Yes, you all know where this is going. ;-) Sorry Malfoy fans!
A very short excerpt from the next chapter:
"You're very pretty, Kari," Malfoy said. "Did anyone ever tell you that?"
"Please," Ron answered, clapping his hand over his face, "please shut up."
Bwahahaha…
Chapter 2
"I am not going to go out of this house in a damn dress of yours!"
Hermione ignored Ron's indignant protests as she pulled open her closet door and began sifting through the muggle clothing she owned. "Stop being such a baby," she responded, glad that she was facing away from him so that he wouldn't see her smile. "It's not that big a deal."
"Are you kidding?" Ron cried, tossing his now-long crimson hair over one shoulder. "Of course it's a big deal!" He groaned. "I'm going to be a bloody transvestite now!"
"Believe me," Hermione glanced at Ron over her shoulder, "dressing up in my clothes is the least of your problems."
"I'm quite aware of that—but dressing up like a girl won't help any!"
"What, you want to attract the attention of everyone by looking like a girl in a man's clothing when we're on our way to your house?"
"Why can't we just Apparate?" said Ron, sitting down on the edge of Hermione's soft bed and crossing his legs. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and uncrossed them—it was simply too weird.
"Well, I'm not allowed to Apparate until I take my Ancient Charms and Spells exam," she responded impatiently, tossing several articles of clothing into the air. "And there's no way I'm letting you out of my sight, thank you."
"Stupid exam, caused all this trouble. Besides, you already broke one bloody rule when you turned me into a girl…why not break another one and Apparate, hmm?"
Hermione pointedly ignored him as she got up, a triumphant smile on her face. "Ha, found it!" She turned around and tossed him what looked like a crumpled up blue skirt. She proceeded in tossing him two shirts. "Wear these. We're not going that far anyway; we're just going to be going to my neighbor's house. We can use their fireplace; it isn't nailed shut like ours is right now. We can use Floo Powder there."
"Why do I have to wear two shirts?" Ron asked, holding the three articles of clothing before him.
"Would you like to peer down your shirt again, Ron?"
Ron stared at her for a moment of profound thought. "Oh…oh. Right."
Hermione gave him a goofy smile and a roguish wink. "I'll wait for you downstairs. You'd better not Disapparate."
"I won't," Ron promised.
"I can't do this," said Ron. "I cannot go outside in this."
Hermione sighed impatiently. "Honestly, Ron. We need to go to your house and ask for Ginny's help—after all, she's the one who wants to become a wizarding doctor. She knows her cures even better than I do. Besides," she went on with a laugh, "you look very pretty. Blue is a good color on you."
"Thanks," Ron responded wryly. With a sigh that was, disturbingly enough, one of the most feminine sighs Hermione had ever heard, he walked out of her house, red ponytail bouncing in the air.
What was even more disturbing was the fact that Hermione seemed to have been right; Ron could feel the eyes of many men following himself as he walked down the street, and it was making him nervous.
"Mione," he whispered nervously, "there are people looking at me in…very…strange ways." He paused in mortified horror. "Did you see that? The man we just passed by winked at me!" Ron bowed his head in abject terror. "I can't do this."
Hermione patted Ron's arm lightly. "Don't worry, we're not too far from my friend's house; it's just a 5-minute walk."
"Oh, yay," said Ron sarcastically.
They walked in silence after that, each one contemplating their respective thoughts, until someone pushed past them. More than one person, actually—three men, all of unimpressive statures, were shouldering past them rather arrogantly.
"Excuse me," both Ron and Hermione said indignantly.
Almost simultaneously, the three men turned around. Each one of them had nasty smiles on their faces as their gazes swept from Hermione to Ron.
Ron shuddered. The feel of people from the same gender checking him out and flirting with him was disgusting.
"Good afternoon, ladies," the man in the middle said.
Ron gave him a very sardonic smile. He wasn't in the mood to be bothered. Hermione did not bother to respond.
"Ooh," the guy on the left shivered mockingly, "Ice Ladies."
"Let's go, Mione," Ron took her by the arm and began to lead her away.
"You're not leaving," the man in the middle spoke again. "We need to teach you some manners."
I'll teach you some damn manners, thought Ron menacingly, cracking his knuckles in a very unwomanly fashion. Only Hermione's placating hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Hermione," a familiar voice spoke from behind them. "Are these guys bothering you?"
Oh, God. I know that voice Please don't let it be him. Please don't let it be him. Please, God, don't let it be—
Horrified, Ron turned around. Hermione spun around as well. She held back a wince as she felt Ron pinch her arm in terror.
Draco Malfoy's cold gaze swept over the three men. "Go," he ordered coldly.
Muttering, the three men, who, as Ron had guessed, were absolute cowards immediately backed away.
"Good afternoon, Hermione." Draco gave her a smile that was somewhat wintry.
"Hello, Draco."
Ron kept silent, holding back a scowl. Sure, they may all have been more civil—even friendlier—towards each other since they defeated the Dark Lord with each other's help, but that didn't mean he liked Malfoy anymore.
Well, maybe a little more. After all, there were some things you just couldn't go through with some people without becoming friends, and defeating Lord Voldemort just happened to be one of them.
"…so, what brings you here?" Hermione was now making very polite conversation with Draco.
"I was on my way to your house, actually," Draco responded, his gaze briefly flickering towards Ron. "I was supposed to give you the forms you need for your Ancient Charms and Spells exam. The head of the board gave it to me to deliver to you." He handed Hermione some rolled-up parchment. He turned back to Ron with a suave smile. "Who's your friend?"
"Hmm?" Hermione turned to Ron, and faltered. "Oh. Um. This is Kari. Kari…uh, E-Eudemon. She's…from a wizarding school in Ireland. She just moved there. And now she's here. Visiting me."
Draco gave 'Kari' a very wide, rather flirtatious, smile. Weakly, Ron returned it.
Don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit, was the only mantra that was echoing within his mind.
"Well, Kari," said Draco smoothly, "I hope to see you around then."
1 Don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit…
"Right," Ron managed to choke out.
"I'll be seeing you, Hermione." Draco gave both of them another suave smile, before Disapparating.
2 Don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit…
"That," Ron said loudly as soon as he disappeared, "was the most disgusting, traumatizing event that has ever happened and will ever happen to me."
Hermione dissolved into another fit of giggles. "I can't believe he was flirting with you. Who knows, he might even ask you out!" At the thought, she leaned on Ron for support as the laughter overwhelmed her again.
"It's not funny!"
Hermione straightened up and gave him a wink. "It is when it's happening to you."
Draco Malfoy shimmered into being in his house, tossing his rather uncomfortable muggle shirt off.
Pretty girl, that Kari Eudemon, he mused, as he settled himself down before the fire. Strange name, but she's very pretty.
She's got the bluest eyes, he couldn't keep the thought out, expressive, blue eyes.
A/N: Yes, you all know where this is going. ;-) Sorry Malfoy fans!
A very short excerpt from the next chapter:
"You're very pretty, Kari," Malfoy said. "Did anyone ever tell you that?"
"Please," Ron answered, clapping his hand over his face, "please shut up."
Bwahahaha…