"The Incentive" by Quidditch, Anyone?
Hugs
Any idiot would be able to figure out that within 10 minutes of entering Hogsmeade, Ron headed straight to the Shrieking Shack to spy on Hermione. That's why Harry, who obviously had a slightly higher level of intelligence than your typical idiot, was already waiting for him.
"Come to do some investigating, have you?" Harry asked with a smirk. He uncrossed his arms and walked towards Ron as he came into view.
"No! No, of course not! I've just, er..." Ron bit the inside of his lips. No, hopeless; he would never fake an excuse.
Harry sighed and turned Ron around. Not really sure of what to say, Ron kept quiet as he and Harry started back down the hill.
"Ron, I'm not stupid. I know you like Hermione," Harry said. They followed the deserted dirt path back down to the main parts of the village.
Normally Ron would have denied such a claim, but this time Ron felt the need to just keep quiet.
Harry took Ron's silence as embarrassment. "It's okay. I don't think she knows, so you don't have to tell her... now."
Ron shot him a look. "What d'you mean, now?"
"Well, you do plan on telling her, don't you?"
"No," Ron said flatly.
Harry rolled his eyes to the sky. "See, this is why you're miserable about her. You're so stubborn."
"I don't need you lecturing me about how stubborn I am!" Ron kicked at a small pile of dirt. A dense cloud of brown rose up and swam in the air.
"Ron, how long have you liked Hermione?" Harry said this as though annoyed instead of merely asking a question.
"I dunno-"
"Three years. I could tell ever since she was Petrified."
"No!"
"And you're going to keep liking her until you say something, you prat, so why don't you just get it over with?"
"Because I can't! She's dating that stupid ass Terry now!" Ron shouted. Harry motioned for him to be quiet, as they were now just beginning to join the crowds on the noisy streets.
"I can't," he admitted again to Harry.
Harry wasn't really in a position to preach to Ron on how to tell girls when they fancy them, when he himself could barely ask Cho to the ball last year. Still, it was frustrating to watch it from this point of view.
"Well, I guess you really wouldn't be up to it. But just... don't do anything stupid, all right?" Perhaps he shouldn't have included that last part. Ron swelled up like a great red balloon.
"I won't do anything stupid, Harry, as long as you keep your nose in your own business and out of mine!" Ron spat.
As insulting and cold as this was, Harry overlooked it. Ron stuffed his hands in his pockets and muttered quietly, "All right. I won't act like a prat."
Easier said than done, but he was willing to give it a shot.
·~··~··~·
"Hermione-" Ron pulled at her shoulder inside an extremely crowed Three Broomsticks later that same day. She was alone, which pleasantly surprised him.
"Yes?" You'd think she'd learn not to blush, since she did so much too often around him.
"I-I just wanted to say," he mumbled as he started fingering a bottle cap on the bar nervously. "Well..."
Without any sort of warning, he quickly grabbed her in a rough, tight hug. Hermione didn't have the slightest idea what to do, so she waved her arms stupidly, not really sure of where to put them. Ron didn't have much practice in this area, keep in mind.
"I'm, er, happy for you and Terry. I'll leave you alone now," he told her when he had let go. Totally speechless, Hermione couldn't say much of anything before Ron turned away. After a few seconds, she quickly remembered she was getting two butterbeers and was supposed to meet Terry at a back table.
"Took you a bit," Terry smiled as she pushed her way through the group of students.
"Met someone," she said simply, purposely being blunt and vague so Terry wouldn't press further questions.
Terry chuckled one of his classic movie-star laughs that 'just makes every girl melt', which was more phony than his bleach white teeth.
Hermione smiled meekly back and sipped her drink. As Terry droned on and on about his 'future goals' and 'life accomplishments' (or in other words, making comments that dripped with sarcasm and lies that were supposedly aimed to impress her), her mind was still trying to figure out what Ron had said. More of a mystery, why he had said it.
Fluff to come. This chapter was just a filler, so don't whip out those lightning bolts until the next one's posted. Then you can take out your frustration all you want. Come on, hit me! I'm ready!