A/N: I'm at 39 reviews! I was sooo tempted to do my own review to get it at forty, but I thought that might be too pathetic. Do you think we could get it to fifty after this chapter? Oh, please say yes!! I'll even take all critiques and (some) flames to get to that number ;-)
Disclaimer: Ms. Joanne Rowling gets all the pleasure of saying that all this is hers (and most deservedly too), while all I get is to reviews. So please review! Let me get something out of this!
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As he came closer she could tell he was muttering to himself under his breath. She still didn't know what he was muttering about though.
He finally stopped a few paces away from her.
"Hermione." She winced inside. Her name was said in such a clipped tone that she had never heard from him.
"Hello Ron," trying to make her reply as calm as possible. She had decided then and there that she'd try to explain everything to him before he went into a tirade. "Ron, I…"
"How was your week with Vicky?" he spat out.
"His name is not Vicky, Ron! I would have thought that you stopped that by now. Or haven't you grown up at all these past couple of months?" she snapped back at him.
Her words stung. She could see it in his eyes. Biting her lower lip, she immediately began to regret her words. It was one thing to insult him, but it was another matter to express a disappointment in him. Before she could say another word though, his eyes narrowed at her.
"Well, maybe you grew up a little more than I did while you were traipsing around Bulgaria with Vicky. What exactly were you doing with your boyfriend all this that is making you feel so overwhelmingly grown up?"
She gasped and felt her face drain of colour. "RON WEASLEY! How dare you! How dare you insinuate such a thing?! I've told you before Viktor is NOT my boyfriend. And even if he was, none of what we do is any of your business." She took one step closer to him, eyes flashing. "You are not my boyfriend. You have no hold on me. None whatsoever."
And with that, she turned towards the Burrow and ran sobbing leaving the three boys stare at Ron, while he stared at the place in which Hermione stood just seconds before.
~***~
Hermione found her way to the den and found Ginny working on her Potions essay.
"Hermione!" Ginny stood up to give her a hug, but stopped when she noticed her friend's eyes all puffy and red. "What happened?"
She just shook her head and looked down at the ground. She felt Ginny place an arm around her shoulders and lead her to the sofa.
"Let me guess, it was git of a brother, Ron"
Hermione looked up and slowly nodded. "I don't know what to do Gin. There's nothing between Viktor and me. We're just friends, and yet your brother keeps pestering me about him."
Ginny sighed. "You know how Ron is. I can try to talk to him if you'd like."
"No. It's not fair for you to get involved. We'll resolve this. We always do, right?"
Ginny, probably thinking back to all the infamous Hermione-Ron fights that have occurred throughout the years, laughed and agreed.
Standing up, they strode over to the kitchen to say hi to Mrs. Weasley and make a cup of tea.
~***~
"Hermione dear! How pleasant it is to see you again!"
Hermione smiled at Mrs. Weasley. She was still as matronly as ever, but she felt very safe and secure bundled up in Mrs. Weasley's arms.
"Hi Mrs. Weasley. It's nice to see you too." She glanced around the kitchen. "Are Mr. Weasley and Percy here too? I haven't seen either of them yet."
Mrs. Weasley let go of Hermione and took a look at their clock. Sighing, she replied, "No, both of them are at work still. Arthur has been working longer shifts now that Dumbledore and Cornelius have had their difference opinions about You-Know-Who's return. Arthur now has to do two jobs and he rarely comes home at a decent time anymore." At this, she picked up her wand from the table and pointed it at some eggs. She might have been a little too energetic because the eggs were cracking in the bowl at a furious rate, and some of the yolk could be seen flying up out of the mixing bowl and onto the counter and floor. Exasperated, she pointed her wand again and said a cleaning spell.
Hermione and Ginny ducked as a wash cloth, a mop, and a bucket came flying over there heads to where the incriminating eggs lay.
Ginny turned to Hermione and whispered, "Why don't we have the tea after dinner?"
Hermione took one glance over her shoulder at the now overly excited Mrs. Weasley and whole-heartedly agreed.
~***~
Both Ron and her rather pointedly ignored each other throughout dinner, and then he fled the dinner table claiming he had to do homework. Fred and George grinned at each other, knowing that the reason was just an excuse, and they chased after him to stir up some trouble.
Mrs. Weasley took one look at her departing twins, and said rather despairingly, "Ginny…"
Ginny nodded once and ran after her brothers to keep them out of trouble.
Hermione grinned at Harry. They were obviously viewing a recurrence of a routine situation that occurred in the Weasley household. They entered the den after Mrs. Weasley shooed them out of the kitchen and sat in two comfy armchairs in front of the fireplace.
Neither of them said anything for a while and just stared at the flames. They finally looked each other in the eye.
Hermione decided she'd go first. "Harry, I just wanted to let you know that there is nothing between Viktor and I except friendship."
Harry nodded, "I know. He doesn't though," jerking his head towards Ron's room upstairs.
"But what can I do about that? He won't listen to me. He won't even give me a chance!" her voice sounding a little indignant.
"You know how Ron is like Hermione."
Hermione snorted, "Funny, that's almost exactly what Ginny told me."
He smirked at her, but quickly wiped that expression off his face and continued. "However, you do realise that Viktor likes you more than a friend though, don't you?"
She cursed herself as a blush started to creep up her face. "Yeah, I know," and she quickly looked up at him, "but I told him that we could only be friends."
"Well, maybe you should tell Ron that."
"I TRIED! But he wouldn't let me finish, and then he assumed I was having sex with Viktor when I was in Bulgaria!"
Harry shrugged, obviously lost for words, and they sat once again in silence looking at the flames.
~***~
After four days, Hermione finally got fed up between the silence and hostile looks between her and Ron. It didn't help that Fred and George were trying their very best to cheer Ron up with their numerous surprise attacks, which only caused Ron to be in an even bitterer mood on the whole.
When she woke up on the fifth morning at the Burrow, she decided that she was going to settle this right now. She put on her dressing robe and left Ginny's room, which she and Ginny shared, and then headed over to Ron's room. Knocking once, she opened the door with a determined look on her face, and stepped in without waiting for a reply.
"Ron Weasley, we are going to talk right now!"
Ron's head poked out of the covers, "HERMIONE! You can't come in here! Mum will kill me if she finds a girl in my room in the morning!"
"Too bad." She looked at Harry who was reaching over to grab his glasses. "Harry do you mind waiting for us in the kitchen? Ginny's up too"
"No problem Hermione," and with a smile of relief on his face he scurried out the room.
"Hermione…" Ron had moved into a half-sitting position on his bed and had his bed sheets up to his shoulders.
Hermione shook her head at him before he could continue. "No, Ron. You are going to listen to me once and for all. I do not like Viktor. I mean, I do, but as a friend. And only as a friend. Viktor is not a deatheater. And he is most certainly not going to give me over to You-Know-Who. Do you understand?" The last sentence was almost in a shout as her voice kept getting louder and louder.
Ron's eyes were wide awake now, and nodded his head dumbly. He opened his mouth, but since all that came out was a squeak, he quickly shut it.
Satisfied, she continued. "Good, now why don't I leave so you can change out of your Chudley Cannon pyjamas, and I'll meet you downstairs in the kitchen with Harry and Ginny." She swept out of his room leaving him blushing to the roots of his hair that she had seen his childhood pyjamas that he was trying to hide.
~***~
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A/N: So what'd you guys think? I had a lot of different scenes playing in my mind, with Mrs. Weasley being mad at Hermione (for, again, she was dating Viktor), etc. So tell me what you all think of this.
Now onto replying to your reviews:
Weasley-Gurl: I'm glad you liked the twins and the letters. I had lots of fun with the letters ;-) The hockey game ROCKED – both of them! Our country went nuts. You couldn't go anywhere without seeing red, white, maple leaves, flags, and people were high-fiving everyone everywhere. We will definitely see you again in 2006! ;-)
Jiki Arosakka: Well, there was no cliff-hanger here, so I hope you're happy! Hope you liked this chapter too!
The Wandering Blue Andalite: I liked the name "Athena" for the Granger's owl too. Sorry chapter 4 was a little too obvious for you, this is my first fiction, so I'm still muddling through this all! Thanks so much for reviewing! Especially reviewing each chapter! That was awesome of you to do that1
Madison: Lol! That would have been funny if it was from a tan, especially as red-heads don't tan well. But you wouldn't want to see a Ron in the later chapters with his skin peeling would you? shudders
Rally-as-Twiddle's: Hmm, that's an interesting thought about butterbeer. It makes sense though. Butterscotch + beer = butterbeer!
HermioneM: Sorry the last one was short, I tried to make this one slightly longer.
MusicalRose: Let me guess…Cedric? Bill? Unless it's Penelope Clearwater! LOL! I couldn't keep Ron angry for 2 chapters, so I stopped it in this one. I agree with your list of the things that should be wiped off. Let me add one more though: rudeness and/or rude people. That's my pet peeve! Anyway, thanks for the review!
I'll try to write soon, but it may take me a while. I wanted to upload this today as I have a midterm tomorrow and my big, long, yucky lab report is due on Friday. So, I'm hoping to see lots and lots of reviews. Let's aim for the big five-zero (50) this time! That's only 11 more folks!
See you soon!
shalara