another day of teachers, homework, and worst of all, Hermione.
He dearly dreaded having to look Hermione in the
face after the whole fat thigh fiasco the night before and was seriously
considering whether or not to
just stay in bed the rest of the day.
Ron assumed it was time to get up judging by the sound of voices and the smell of bacon wafting up from the kitchen below, but just pulled his covers over his head in response.
"Hey Ron, you getting up?" Harry asked as he started to brush his untamed hair.
"In a minute." Came the muffled voice of Ron from beneath the quilt.
"It has been a minute, Ron." said an agrivated Harry when he saw this was going to be one of those days when his hair rebels against him and layed the hair brush back down on the nightstand.
"Okay, then. Two minutes."
Harry sighed and sat down on the bed near the big lumb he guessed was Ron.
"Problems in Ron World?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"No."
"wanna talk about it?"
"No."
"Why don't we try expanding our vocabulary, hmm?"
Silence. Then, "No."
"Come off it Ron. What's bothering you?"
"Nothing, I'll be out in a minute."
"I thought you said that a minute ago."
"Yes, but you used my minute by talking to me, didn't you?"
"Maybe."
"No, the correct answer is yes."
"I thought it was maybe."
"Well, you're wrong."
"How's that?"
"You said maybe when the answer is yes. You didn't say yes, you said maybe. Therfore, you are wrong."
"I said maybe?"
"Yes, you did."
"I thought I said no."
"No, you said maybe, which is wrong. Even if you had said no, though, that's wrong too. The right answer is yes."
"Oh... are you sure?"
Ron threw the blankets off him in exasperation. "Have you been licking toads again Harry?! Really though! You've completely fallen off your rocker!"
Harry smiled at the sudden appearance of his friend. "Awww.... there's that lovely face of yours! So, ready to get up?"
"I still want my minute."
"I thought it had already been a minute."
"It hasn't."
"It hasn't?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"I don't think you are."
"TICK TICK TICK POTTER!!!" Ron shouted angrily.
"Fine, fine, I'll be downstairs eating my lovely sausage links. See you in 'a minute'.
With that, Harry hopped off Ron's bed and bounded down the stairs leading to the common room.
Ron sat there for a little while longer, staring up at the underside of the scarlet canopy above him before finally climbing out of bed and started to get dressed.
He quickly threw on a clean robe, gathered his school supplies, and, in a hurry, dashed down the stairs, running his hands thrugh his hair to try and make it lie flat, before remembering Hermione's homework he had left behind in his trunk.
Ron hurriedly turned and headed back upstairs to his trunk and grabbed the rolled sheet of parchment which had Hermone's complicated potions homework on before leaving the common room for the last time that morning and started running through the corridors, heading toward the Great Hall.
Left.
Right.
Right.
Left.
"...Got to get to the Great Hall..." He thought. "...I need to talk to Hermione..."
He smiled to himself.
Just five minutes ago he hadn't wanted to look Hermione in the face let alone have a conversation with her.
Now, however, he dearly wanted to clear things up with her, and it had to be now.
First class today was potions.
Ron cringed.
Snape definitely would not allow a young red headed, freckle faced wizard groveling for forgivness from his best friend in the middle of explaining a rather complex shrinking potion and Ron couldn't bear a whole period of sideways glances and angry glares. That's why he had to do it this morning, before classes.
Ron thought of the angry glare Hermione could emit from her heavenly face.
"Was Hermone angry?"
He pondered the question.
"She didn't actually act angry... more shocked really. Perhaps.... flattery?"
He thought back to the face she had made when he said she had shapely thighs.
"No... couldn't possibly be flattery... definitely shock."
Ron quickened his pace as he passed the statue of 'Pickney, the Portentious piglet'. He was almost there.
He looked at the gold plated wrist watch Harry had given him his last birthday.
"7:38 A.M." Ron thought. "Only twenty-two minutes until double potions."
Finally, the aroma of the Hogwarts breakfast feast became stronger and Ron entered the Great Hall.
He immediately sought out the beautiful, witty girl he had befriended in their first year, and had started feeling something more than friendship for her since their fourth.
Ron almost instantly noticed her sitting beside their friend Harry, just staring down at her plate of eggs.
His heart skipped a beat and he instinctively held his breath. This had been Ron's normal reaction to his best friend for some time now and apparently it hadn't stopped, despite the letter from Annabelle.
Ron stiffly strode over to the Gryffindor table, struggling to stay calm.
As Ron approached, Harry looked up and smiled. "Nice of you to join us Ron, sausage?" Harry asked, holding up a plate of sausage links to Ron.
"Er... no thanks Harry. Actually, I need to speak to Hermione."
Harry raised an eyebrow questionally.
"Alone." Ron added when he saw Harry's hesitation.
Harry looked back and forth between the two a few times before shrugging and went back to his breakfast.
"Hermione?"
"Hmm?" she asked without looking up.
"Will you come with me?"
A few moments went by as Hermione apparently considered the request as Ron shifted nervously awaiting her answer before she finally stood up, brushed the wrinkles out of her robe, and waited for Ron to lead her away.
As he quietly btreathed a sigh of relief only he could hear, Ron turned on his heel and headed out of the Great Hall.
Hermione obediently followed Ron, but never looked up once and kept her eyes lowered to the ground.
After a few turns here and there Ron finally arrived at his destination: an old storage closet.
Ron opened the old, sqeauky door and stepped aside for Hermone to enter first.
Hermione looked inside. It was a rather large closet, more like an abandoned classroom really. It was filled with wooden chairs and stools, some borken, a few desks scattered around, an ancient wardrobe in the far corner, five or six stained rugs off to the side, and an inch of dust on everything that inhabited the room.
She tentively stepped inside and watched as Ron took one last look up and down the hall before walkng inside and shut the door as quietly as he could.
He immediately shoved his hands in his robe pockets and became fascinated with his feet.
There was a few minutes of awkward silence before Hermione figured she had waited long enough.
"Ron-"
"Just a second Hermione, I just need to gather my thoughts."
Hermione rolled her eyes and said rather snobbishly "That really will take just a second, won't it?"
Ron glared at her.
"Don't look so hurt Ron. You of all people should know you aren't exactly the sharpest knife on the table."
Ron turned bright red and tried to muster up some of his best insults.
He started off well enough.
"You have a bit of brown mess on your nose Hermione. Tissue?" Ron said with a smile as he pulled a crumpled white cloth out of his pocket and brandished it at Hermione.
Hermione gasped at the accusation that she was a brown noser, but quickly recovered and furrowed her brow at Ron.
"I don't suck up to professors to get 'A's Ron," she said with her teeth clenched. "I actually have a brain and yes, I actually use it. You would like to have a brain, wouldn't you Ron?"
Ron was now incredibly angry now that Hermione had practically called him thick, and the crimson in his face now seemed to bleed into his hair. Even so, Ron couldn't come up with a new comeback. He just couldn't bring himself to fight someone he cherished so deeply.
"Well..."
He struggled fo the next few words that would combine to make an amazing insult and send Hermione into a frenzy, but just couldn't find them anywhere inside his head.
"at least I don't like girls in that 'special way' like you do!"
Hermione smiled.
"Damn! Oh bloody hell Ron! How could you say that!!?" Ron thought angrily.
"So you don't like girls, eh Ron?" Hermione snickered. "You like little boys?"
Ron narrowed his eyes into little slits as Hermione's snickers turned into laughter.
"Do you- fancy- our Harry?" She managed in between guffaws.
Hermione was now convulsing under the intense laughter that was taking her over and could no longer speak.
Ron, however, was not very amused. He was mad at Hermione for laughing at him and even angrier at himself for making the huge mistake that caused it all.
Ron decided that they'd discussed the matter enough and was going for the door before he remembered something else he had brought Hermione to up there for.
He started rumaging through his bag for Hermione's homeworkshe had left in the common room the night before, but when he finaly found it near the bottom by his favorite quill, Hermione was doubled up in laughter and wasn't paying any attention to Ron.
"Here!" Ron practically yelled. "Here's your damn homework!"
He then threw it at her feet and stomped out of the room.