Darkness
By Jules
Chapter Six
Inky blackness pressed thick against the frosted windows of the Hogwarts Express. Ron watched listlessly as the last bits of the English countryside ebbed away from the small sliver of the waning moon. The train jerked incessantly beneath him, causing the fluids of his stomach to slosh uncomfortably from side to side. He took a deep breath of the frigid air as he pulled his tattered cloak around his shoulders, nestling into the quivering upholstery of the seat. A single lantern flickered dimly within the cabin, barely strong enough to make out the person who sat across from him: a slight figure, her neurotic fingers pulling needlessly at her frazzled hair as she stared unflinchingly into a book in the pitiful light.
"Hermione?" Ron called out immediately, his mind free for a brief second of the horrid feelings between them. For but a moment he loved her entirely, his soul brimming with want for her presence. But the beauty of the single moment ended all too quickly, and he was pulled rather harshly into his current situation.
"What?" Hermione answered, her voice simply icy with annoyance as she slammed Crime and Punishment shut.
"S-sorry.nothing," he stammered, embarrassed at his forgetfulness. Tidings between Ron and the rest of the human race had reached a point of utter desperation. Every minute of contact with another was unbearable, so for the last few days of the term, Ron shut himself up in the dormitory entirely. Conversation led to thinking, and thinking was simply far too painful for him to deal with. He had been able to dodge dealing with his problems with Hermione and Harry for years now, but now they knew something was wrong.they knew something burned within him. But how to tell them? How was Ron going to tell them about countless years of suppressed anger? He couldn't. He couldn't deal with that now, or maybe ever. He told himself repeatedly that time would change things, that time would glaze things over. Yet he'd been telling himself that for months now, even years. Therefore, as he always did, time and time again, Ron decided to simply push the problem out of his mind and decide to think about it later. No sense worrying myself about them now, he thought, not when I won't have to see them for three straight months.
Beyond the curtains of his four-poster bed, however, the usual happenings of Hogwarts raged onward. Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup, as expected, and the wonder and glory that was Harry Potter was worshipped even further (if that was possible). Ron watched for three days straight as Harry's wasted body rolled itself into bed at 2 AM every morning, drunk and blubbering from excessive partying with what McGonagall thought was butter beer. People threw themselves repeatedly at the feet of the "conquering hero", and Ron didn't have to worry about any chance meetings between he and Harry. Since their disastrous encounter in the hallway the night before the Cup, Ron had only spoken with his best friend twice. Yet even the simple "good-mornings" that were uttered were laced with tension.
And with Hermione.Ron hadn't spoken with her until this very moment. He felt the ache that accompanied thoughts of her start to well up inside of him once again, tearing at his heart and ripping at the tattered remnants of his soul. Don't think about it, he pounded repeatedly into his brain. Don't think about it, he thought again, gazing out into the void of darkness outside the frozen glass pane of the window.
* * * * * * *
NOTHING BELONGS TO ME
A/N: Okay, does anybody else friggin HATE school with a passion??? I sure do, and unfortunately I have to return to it in two days. So.I'm trying to cram in a bit of a new chapter before I return to that-which-makes-me-want- to-vomit-profusely: school. I have exams in a week, so there won't be any bit of a new chapter for at least a few weeks (sorry, to all three of you who read this fic, why don't YOU try to concentrate on your fic when you have 40 chapters of AP Bio to read?). Now, more than ever, I'd really, really, like it if you guys would review, PLEASE. I think I've FINALLY established character traits in this story, so the real complications will come in the next chapter. I'm serious this time. I'm just a sleep deprived little honor student with a heroin-like addiction to Harry Potter, and I'm guessing so are the rest of you who are reading this. So help out a chick in crisis and review. Lates ~ jules quintessentialhappenstance@yahoo.com
By Jules
Chapter Six
Inky blackness pressed thick against the frosted windows of the Hogwarts Express. Ron watched listlessly as the last bits of the English countryside ebbed away from the small sliver of the waning moon. The train jerked incessantly beneath him, causing the fluids of his stomach to slosh uncomfortably from side to side. He took a deep breath of the frigid air as he pulled his tattered cloak around his shoulders, nestling into the quivering upholstery of the seat. A single lantern flickered dimly within the cabin, barely strong enough to make out the person who sat across from him: a slight figure, her neurotic fingers pulling needlessly at her frazzled hair as she stared unflinchingly into a book in the pitiful light.
"Hermione?" Ron called out immediately, his mind free for a brief second of the horrid feelings between them. For but a moment he loved her entirely, his soul brimming with want for her presence. But the beauty of the single moment ended all too quickly, and he was pulled rather harshly into his current situation.
"What?" Hermione answered, her voice simply icy with annoyance as she slammed Crime and Punishment shut.
"S-sorry.nothing," he stammered, embarrassed at his forgetfulness. Tidings between Ron and the rest of the human race had reached a point of utter desperation. Every minute of contact with another was unbearable, so for the last few days of the term, Ron shut himself up in the dormitory entirely. Conversation led to thinking, and thinking was simply far too painful for him to deal with. He had been able to dodge dealing with his problems with Hermione and Harry for years now, but now they knew something was wrong.they knew something burned within him. But how to tell them? How was Ron going to tell them about countless years of suppressed anger? He couldn't. He couldn't deal with that now, or maybe ever. He told himself repeatedly that time would change things, that time would glaze things over. Yet he'd been telling himself that for months now, even years. Therefore, as he always did, time and time again, Ron decided to simply push the problem out of his mind and decide to think about it later. No sense worrying myself about them now, he thought, not when I won't have to see them for three straight months.
Beyond the curtains of his four-poster bed, however, the usual happenings of Hogwarts raged onward. Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup, as expected, and the wonder and glory that was Harry Potter was worshipped even further (if that was possible). Ron watched for three days straight as Harry's wasted body rolled itself into bed at 2 AM every morning, drunk and blubbering from excessive partying with what McGonagall thought was butter beer. People threw themselves repeatedly at the feet of the "conquering hero", and Ron didn't have to worry about any chance meetings between he and Harry. Since their disastrous encounter in the hallway the night before the Cup, Ron had only spoken with his best friend twice. Yet even the simple "good-mornings" that were uttered were laced with tension.
And with Hermione.Ron hadn't spoken with her until this very moment. He felt the ache that accompanied thoughts of her start to well up inside of him once again, tearing at his heart and ripping at the tattered remnants of his soul. Don't think about it, he pounded repeatedly into his brain. Don't think about it, he thought again, gazing out into the void of darkness outside the frozen glass pane of the window.
* * * * * * *
NOTHING BELONGS TO ME
A/N: Okay, does anybody else friggin HATE school with a passion??? I sure do, and unfortunately I have to return to it in two days. So.I'm trying to cram in a bit of a new chapter before I return to that-which-makes-me-want- to-vomit-profusely: school. I have exams in a week, so there won't be any bit of a new chapter for at least a few weeks (sorry, to all three of you who read this fic, why don't YOU try to concentrate on your fic when you have 40 chapters of AP Bio to read?). Now, more than ever, I'd really, really, like it if you guys would review, PLEASE. I think I've FINALLY established character traits in this story, so the real complications will come in the next chapter. I'm serious this time. I'm just a sleep deprived little honor student with a heroin-like addiction to Harry Potter, and I'm guessing so are the rest of you who are reading this. So help out a chick in crisis and review. Lates ~ jules quintessentialhappenstance@yahoo.com