Chapter 4 – Boys and detention
"Brilliant! Just brilliant!" Ron complained as he and Hermione made their way back to Gryffindor tower. "Oh shut up, Ron," Hermione said surly. "This is all your fault anyway." Snape had given them both detention the very next day, and taken fifty points from each of them for being out of bed. He would gladly have taken more, but Gryffindor only had 125 points, as it was still quite early in the term.
"My fault?" Ron argued. "Yes," Hermione said. "If you could just learn to control your temper." "Oh that's rich," Ron muttered. He speed up, and reached the portrait before Hermione. The pink lady was sleeping, and Ron coughed loudly to wake her up. She opened her eyes, and looked grumpily at him. "Butterbur," Ron muttered, and ignored her inquiries as to where he had spent the past few hours. Hermione hurried after him. "Ron, I still want to talk to you about," she started. Ron turned to look at her, but he didn't look angry any more. "Still don't wanna talk about it," he said quietly. "Not today, not tomorrow. Not next week. Not ever. You got that?" "But Ron," Hermione started, but he wasn't listening. He was already on his way to the boys' dormitories. She watched him go, again puzzled that he had seemed more sad than angry.
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Harry sat up in bed when Ron entered. "Thank God," he said. "I was beginning to worry about you." But Ron ignored him, and Harry decided he would leave any further conversation for the next day. He didn't want to risk Ron having another outburst and waking up the other boys.
Ron lay down in bed, closing the drapes. Was Harry really so daft that he thought Ron would cool off this fast? "I'm not forgiving him," he muttered. "Not for this."
When Harry woke up the next morning, Ron had already gone down to breakfast. Entering the Great Hall, Harry saw him sitting alone a few seats away from Ginny and Hermione. Harry made his way towards him, but Hermione's hand stopped him. "He doesn't wanna talk to anyone," she said quietly. "Trust me, I've tried." "We both have," Ginny added. Harry sighed, and sat down next to Hermione.
"How long d'you think he's planning on staying mad?" he asked Ginny, but she just shrugged. "I dunno," she said. "This isn't like him. He usually just throws a punch and then calms down enough to be spoken to." "And the detention isn't exactly helping either," Hermione pointed out. "Detention?" Harry asked, confused. Hermione nodded. "Yeah, Snape caught us last night. Took 100 points from Gryffindor and we've got detention tonight." "I'm so sorry, Hermione," Ginny said. "Yeah, we never meant for you to get in trouble," Harry added. Hermione just waved a hand at them. "Don't worry about it. The most important thing is that we got Ron safely back inside." Harry and Ginny exchanged grins, and Hermione rolled her eyes at them. "Oh please," she muttered. "So, you'll be serving detention together?" Harry teased, and Hermione went flushing red. "Yeah, why?" she said hastily. "Oh, nothing," Harry smiled. "I just figured that'll give you time to talk about… stuff…" "If Grumpy over there calms down by then," Hermione said quietly, glancing over at Ron.
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Ron was furiously buttering the same piece of toast he had been for the past 10 minutes, and watching his three friends out of the corner of his eyes. 'Two friends,' he corrected himself.
What was Harry doing smiling at her like that? Ginny was smiling too. 'I bet she knew all along,' he thought miserably. 'If you can't even trust your own sister…' He put down his toast, which apart from a tick layer of butter, was untouched, and left the hall, careful to avoid eye contact with anyone.
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Harry watched Ron leave. "I'll try to talk to him again tonight, if you like," Hermione offered when she saw the look on Harry's face. "Thanks," he muttered, stirring his porridge. He doubted it would do any good.
The three ate in silence for a while, but that was broken when Fred and George joined the table. "What is with Ron today?" George asked, dumping himself down next to Ginny. "He looked like he'd been fed lemons for breakfast," Fred joked. "And when I asked him what was wrong he just told me to bugger off and mind my own business." Harry shifted nervously in his seat. He and Ginny exchanged looks, and she shook her head slightly. Even though she was convinced that Fred and George would be thrilled by the news, she doubted this was the time to tell them. It was best to sort out Ron first. Luckily, the twins didn't pick up on the nervous mood at the table. They were already deep in discussion about who the victim of their next prank should be.
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Ron planned to avoid both Harry and Hermione all day, and his plan worked perfectly right up to his Potions class at the end of the day.
"Miss Granger, Mr Weasley." Ron looked up at Snape, who was wearing the smirk he always did when he had the pleasure of punishing Gryffindors. "Your detention is to be served here, tonight," he said. "7 o'clock." "Damn," Ron muttered. He had forgotten all about his detention. He had hoped he could avoid the others by staying in the dorm that evening, but clearly that was not going to happen.
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Snape's classroom looked even gloomier at night, and both Ron and Hermione were reluctant to go in. But they weren't too keen to find out what would happen if they were late either, so they hurried in, closing the door. Snape sat at his desk. "You're late," he remarked. Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but the look Snape gave her made her stop mid-sentence.
"Over there," Snape said, pointing to some large crates in the corner. Ron walked over and looked into them. His stomach turned violently. Both the crates were full of huge, slimy slugs. Ron's mind flashed back to his little accident in his second year, and for a moment he was worried he was going to vomit. Behind him, he heard Hermione gasp. "They need to be pickled," Snape explained, ignoring their disgusted reactions. He pointed to a table full of glass jars. "I will be in my office, grading essays, but don't for a second think that means you can slack off. I'll know." He turned, walking away, and Ron stuck out his tongue at his back. "Five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley," Snape said quietly, not even turning around. "I suggest you restrain yourself from further gestures if you don't want your house to end up with a minus." Ron stared after him. "How did he?" he started. Hermione shrugged. "He's Snape," she concluded, helping Ron lift one of the crates over to the table.
Pickling the slugs was nothing but disgusting. They worked in silence, Ron trying hard not to think about what he was doing. Instead, he cast glances over at Hermione. 'I bet I know who she'd rather be spending the night with,' he though, but thought against making a remark about it. He didn't want it confirmed.
Finally, it was Hermione who broke the silence. "Are you
feeling ready to talk yet?" she asked. "No," Ron said shortly. "Ron, this isn't
like you," Hermione said, and Ron could have sworn she sounded worried. "You
usually just get angry, but I've been getting the impression that you're
depressed." "Your point?" Ron asked wearily. "Well, he is your best friend,"
Hermione pointed out. "Shouldn't you be happy" "Best friend my arse," Ron
interrupted. "If he was any kind of friend at all, he wouldn't." He stopped
himself. "He was afraid to tell you, you know," Hermione said. "He was certain
you would beat him up." "He's bloody lucky
I haven't," Ron muttered. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Have it your way, Ron,"
she sighed, returning her attention to the pickling.
They worked for nearly two hours, and the first crate was almost empty when Snape came out of his office. "That will do," he said, and both Ron and Hermione let out a sigh of relief. "But don't let me catch you on any more nightly outings," Snape continued. "Or I assure you, you will have worse things than slugs to deal with. Now get out of here." They hurried out, eager to get away from both the slugs and Snape.
They'd only gone a few paces, though, when Ron stopped Hermione. "Listen, I need to know," he said quietly. "Harry…is he in love with…" He couldn't make himself finish. "Yes, very much," Hermione said, and Ron's heart sank. "Then I'm happy for the two of you," he said sadly, and started walking away. 'The two of us…' Hermione though, confused. Then it all dawned on her. "Ron, wait!" she called, hurrying to catch up with him and cursing herself for not figuring it out.
Ron stopped when he heard her, and she caught up with him. "You've… got it… wrong," she panted. "Me and Harry aren't together." "You're not?" Ron asked, baffled. "No, not at all," she assured him. "I mean, I like Harry. But between you and me, he's a bit dull." Ron could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Besides," Hermione continued, blushing, "I can't go out with him when I'm in love with someone else." She wondered where she got the courage to say it. Ron went flushing red as well. "And do you think this someone else is in love with you too?" he asked, not daring to look at her. "I think so, yeah," Hermione said, moving closer and taking his hand. "I mean, nothing says love like belching slugs, right?" "You noticed, huh?" Ron muttered. Hermione nodded. "I've been waiting for you to make a move." "Oh," Ron said. He was suddenly feeling very nervous. Hermione smiled. "This is where you kiss me," she whispered. "OK," Ron nodded, but made no sign of actually doing so. Hermione looked expectantly at him. "Well?" she asked carefully. "I'm working on it," Ron muttered. "Well, work faster or Snape will catch us again," Hermione said quietly. "Don't push me," Ron snapped. "Well," Hermione huffed, "if you had any resolution at all, you wouldn't need." She didn't get any farther because at that moment Ron did kiss her. Hermione looked at him, surprised and lost for words. "Well, at least I've found an effective way to shut you up," Ron grinned, and Hermione punched him on the shoulder. "You are such an idiot," she said furiously, but Ron just laughed. "You're worse off then," he whispered, putting his arms around her. "You're the one who's in love with the idiot." Hermione just kissed him.
"Just one question though," he said, and she nodded. "If you and Harry aren't together, what was he afraid of telling me?" "Oh," Hermione smiled. "Him and Ginny. They're a couple." "A couple of what?" Ron asked, and Hermione laughed. "They're together, you goof." "WHAT!?" Ron thundered. "That's it! This time I really am breaking his nose!"
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Thanks for all the lovely reviews. Someone mentioned blood-shed. Well, the next chapter is called Boys and Broken Noses:) And I hope it'll be up Saturday at the latest