Forgive Me, Hermione (New)

=Alanna the Lioness=

A/N: I'm back, and I've reached a decision…I won't be continuing the old "Forgive Me, Hermione". I'm really, really sorry to those of you who really DID like it. It has 270 reviews as of now…I suppose that should tell me something, but I just can't continue writing a piece that *I* don't like. Maybe if I'd had the time and finished it when I was still 14, I would have found it satisfactory. But again, I really am sorry. I just…don't see how I can make it better. I've read over the first chapters a couple of times, and it all sounds so awful and amateur to me now. In other words, I've changed the plot and evil character (formerly known as Alexandra) to something that I like.

So I'm re-doing it. I've taken out a few things and added some others. This one will be much different, and in some ways the same. The characters will be acting and talking differently. I belong to one Harry Potter role playing group, where everyone is an awesome writer. You have to "audition" to play the part of a canon character. Somehow, I ended up playing Hermione Granger, and for some reason, I feel as though I can portray her much better in fan fics now. All the character development and interaction with other characters helped me a lot with my fan fic writing skills….or at least, I think so…so let's give it a try. ^^;

The RP group I belong to is called Harry Potter: The Lost Chapters. It's based on book five. All of us would really appreciate it if you're a good writer and you'd like to join. Here's the link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPTheLostChaptersHP .

By the way, my fic title sucks. *gags* Time for a re-naming process. Um…I really don't know what to call it as of yet. I'm kinda hoping it'll come up sometime while I'm writing this…o.o;

By the way, the ONLY ship of this fic is R/Hr, to come up later. There may be a few Ginny-stuttering-around-Harry incidents, but although I don't see anything wrong with it, I'm not a big Harry/Ginny fan.

-Elena-

CHAPTER ONE: The Burrow

Hermione Granger lowered the rather large Transfiguration book she was pouring over and eyed her two friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, with obvious disapproval. It was the seventh week of summer break, and the three were outside the Weasley's house; Hermione under a large, shady tree; Harry and Ron playing chess nearby.

"Sorry, mate." Ron grinned at Harry as he gave his bishop a nudge to a square on which Harry's queen was standing. The queen, although she protested loudly, retreated to the side of the chess board before anything further could happen to her, where she sat muttering complaints and nasty things about Harry's chess skills.

"Yeah, sure." Harry winced. He wasn't in check yet, but he'd been relying on his queen to get him through this game. He turned to Hermione. "Any suggestions?"

Hermione snorted. "Honestly, Harry; even if I COULD give you any…"

"Which she can't," coughed Ron.

Hermione ignored him. "…then they wouldn't be much use, would they?" She pointed at the board. "You're already in danger of being checked, and your pawns are blocking your king's way out."

Harry sighed and told his rook to move three spaces forward. Ron grinned and slid his same bishop forward to close in on Harry's king.

"Checkmate." He yawned and stretched. "Want to play Quidditch, Harry?"

"No." Hermione interrupted before Harry could open his mouth. "You both have homework to do." She scowled at them. "You've been putting it off for days. And you can't expect to get a head start on your O.W.L.s if you don't start studying."

Ron gaped at her. "On our O.W.L.s? Hermione, have you gone mad? The O.W.L.s aren't until June! That's almost a year away!"

Harry grinned. "Come on, Hermione…" He tried to put on his best serious face as she glared at him. "We'll teach you how to ride a broom!"

Hermione blinked. "What makes you think I don't know how to ride one already?"

"Yeah, right." Ron snickered. "Then why haven't we seen you on one since first year?"

Hermione flushed bright red. "Because I've got better things to do than play Quidditch!" She snapped. "You wouldn't be on a broom half as much either, Ron, if you even *tried* to learn your school work!"

Harry was trying hard not to laugh. He didn't see why Hermione was so upset all of a sudden. "What's the matter? Are you afraid you'll fall off?" He teased.

"No," she returned huffily.

"Were you afraid your skirts would fly up?" Ron wanted to know.

"No!" She snapped. "Why can't you just leave me alone? If you MUST know, I….I don't like heights." She looked away, the blush deepening.

That shut them up. Harry and Ron looked at each other. Hermione Granger, admitting she was afraid of something other than getting anything other than a 100 in a Hogwarts class?

"Er….why are you afraid of heights?" Ron ventured cautiously. He could tell they were upsetting her, and it had been fun for a while; they had only been teasing, but she really seemed like she was about to explode at any moment.

Hermione wouldn't look at them. "Because I just am! Viktor tried to take me flying once, and I didn't want to go because I was afraid of…" She trailed off. "I really don't want to talk about it."

Harry suddenly got a flash of recollection from their third year. The two of them, Harry and Hermione, had been riding Buckbeak in a last attempt to free Sirius Black from the clutches of the dementors of Azkaban. He remembered how Hermione had clung to him until he had felt as though his ribs would crack, and how she had muttered 'Oh, I don't like this. I really don't like this,' over and over. "Do you want to learn?" Harry inquired. "Ron and I could teach you. Er…maybe it sounds stupid, but isn't the best way to get over your fears facing them?"

Hermione looked down at her book. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she admitted softly. "I do want to enjoy it. It's terribly embarrassing to be afraid of heights." Something glittered from her Muggle jeans pocket, and Harry just caught sight of the prefect badge before she tucked it away again.

Ron had seen it, too. "A prefect?" He yelped, getting to his feet. "You're a prefect?! Why didn't you tell us?"

Hermione bit her lip. "Yes. I got my letter yesterday. You don't have to yell, Ron!"

"I can't believe-" Ron broke off, shaking his head. His ears were scarlet. Hermione was a prefect?! Not that it surprised him, of course, and in a way, he was proud of her, but…a prefect? How was she supposed to come along with them if she was a prefect? She'd just take points off Gryffindor, and with his and Harry's history of breaking the rules, the situation certainly didn't work well.

"Congratulations, Hermione." Harry smiled at her. His tone was slightly strained, as he was thinking the same thing. Still, this couldn't be too bad…

"Going to take points off, are you?" Ron snapped at her. "Say I 'accidentally' turn Goyle into a fluffy rabbit. Are you going to take points off?"

"Ron, she can take points off MALFOY!" Harry interrupted. This seemed to stop Ron's tirade for a moment.

"Hey, yeah…" His eyes widened. "You can take points off Malfoy anytime you want to! And if Snape is a bastard and takes two hundred points off Gryffindor because Neville was a prat, you can take two hundred off Slytherin!" He grinned madly. "Bloody brilliant, Hermione! Congratulations!"

Hermione closed the book and stood up. "I'm going inside," she informed them tersely. "See you at dinner." And with that, she turned and headed back to the Burrow. They watched her enter through the kitchen door and slam it shut.

"What's her problem?" Ron goggled at the door.

Harry sighed. "I think you upset her."

"*Me*?" Ron demanded.

"Yeah. With that last bit." Harry raised his eyebrows. "The one about taking two hundred off Slytherin because Snape did the same to Gryffindor."

Ron gaped. "What's wrong with that? I was only joking!" Truth be told, Ron was fully aware that Hermione would do nothing of the sort. She would see it as against the rules and immature. Still, he had no idea why she'd gotten so upset that she'd gone off like that.

"Maybe you should go after her," Harry suggested. "Seriously, Ron. Patch things up now before she finds even more reasons to get angry."

"Yeah, yeah, fine." Ron sighed and headed for the kitchen door.

__________*__________

Ginny Weasley looked up as her youngest brother entered the kitchen. "What did you say to Hermione?" She demanded. "Did you two have a row?"

Ron looked irritated. "Why is it any of your business?"

Ginny glared at him. "It's my business," she said huffily, "because she's my friend, and she was crying."

"She was crying?" Ron was shocked. He heard the screen door close behind him as Harry arrived after him.

"Yes." Ginny looked at Ron threateningly. "You'd better go and say sorry. It's really mean of you to yell at her all the time."

"What?! I didn't-" Ron threw up his hands and gave up. He stormed toward the foot of the stairs. "Where is she now?"

"Where do you THINK? My room, you stupid great prat!" Ginny rolled her eyes at Harry, who shrugged helplessly. "Where else is she supposed to go?"

Ron didn't answer. He had already started up the stairs, a funny feeling in his stomach. He hadn't meant to make Hermione cry! And he hadn't yelled. He'd only expressed his disbelief that she'd gone and turned into a prefect without telling him or Harry. Okay, so maybe he had raised his voice a bit; maybe he had gone a bit red in the face. But he hadn't yelled…..

/Yeah, right, Ron,/ He chided himself. /You were a complete git./ He had reached the floor on which Ginny's room was located. He hesitated for a moment before approaching the door and knocking softly.

"Yes?" Hermione's muffled voice came from behind the door.

"Hermione, it's me." Ron swallowed a bit. "May I come in?"

"No. Go away!" She snapped.

Ron was about to retort, but he stopped himself. He'd come up here to talk to Hermione, not to fight with her. He waited a few moments, then spoke again. "Please?"

"No." Ron could sense the tears behind her voice. He felt awful. He hated it when Hermione cried; especially when it was his fault. He ignored the reply and turned the doorknob, stepping inside. It took him a while to get adjusted to the pastel pinks and purples that made up Ginny's room before he strode over to Hermione, who was sprawled out on the bed, her face buried in the pillow. He reached out and gently shook her shoulder.

"Hermione…"

"I said, go away!" She sobbed. Ron sat on the edge of the bed and awkwardly placed a hand on her back.

"Hermione…I'm sorry."

There was a pause, in which Hermione's muffled sobs were the only sounds to be heard in the room.

"I'm sorry," Ron said again. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I feel awful." He looked down at his feet, burning with shame. He couldn't remember the last time he'd apologized to Hermione…maybe he never really had.

Hermione stirred and sat up, attempting to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Honestly, Ron, you're such an insufferable git sometimes," she sniffed. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. The tears kept coming, and finally, she gave up and let them fall.

Blushing noticeably, Ron reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a maroon handkerchief. "Here…" Awkwardly, he reached out and dabbed at the tears. "It's something that Mum gave me. I never used it, though." He studied her face intently. "I'm really sorry."

"I didn't ask to be a prefect," Hermione whispered tearfully. "I've always wanted to be one, but now I'm not so sure. Ron, as much as I'd like to, I'd NEVER take points off of Slytherin for no reason!" She glared at him. "As prefect, there are certain rules I have to follow, and I can't favor anyone, or…"

Ron sighed. "I know. Or you won't be a prefect anymore."

"Right." Hermione looked away. "I suppose I overreacted a bit."

"So did I." He suddenly became very interested in Ginny's quilt.

Hermione swallowed. "Why were you so upset?"

Ron began to pick at a loose thread on the quilt. "I….I don't know." He sighed again. "I reckon it's…it's because I don't want things to change."

Hermione was silent.

Ron continued. "I mean, it's always been you, me, and Harry. Well, after that night with the troll, that is," he admitted, blushing. "And if you're a prefect, then you're going to have to do all this extra lot…and you won't have time for us anymore."

Hermione looked at him then. "Of course I'll have time for you!" She protested sharply. "How could you think that?"

Ron smiled a bit. "Right, then. Your turn. Why did you overreact?"

Hermione broke their gaze and looked at the floor. "I didn't want to tell you, or Harry." She rested her chin in her hand. "I knew you'd find out sometime, of course….I just didn't think you'd like it." She paused to sigh a bit. "Ron, the last thing I want you and Harry to do is avoid me. Just because I'm a prefect, it doesn't mean I'm going to be waiting for one of you to break the rules. I'm not Percy, you know." She bit her lip. "Please don't be angry with me for being a prefect."

Ron was smiling. He was so relieved that he actually managed to touch her arm without blushing. "Of course you're not Percy," he replied, giving her a look of mock-horror. "You're Hermione Granger. And even though the differences are only slight…okay, not really there at all…." He laughed and ducked as she swatted at him with the pillow. "Only joking…we're not going to avoid you. I promise." He looked at her seriously. "Will you let us teach you to fly a broom now?"

Hermione broke into her first real smile in days. "All right, then. But you'd better not laugh at me!" She added sternly.

_________*_________

A/N: That's it for the Burrow. The next chapter will take place at Hogwarts.

Let me know if you like it…blarg, I really need to go to bed now. O.O; Insomniaaaaaac.

Cherry mistmas! Mwehahahaha…I am odd.