A/N: Howdy all. I survived my mid-terms, thank God! Matchbox 20 is an awesome band. I've been a fan for a long time now. This is from their new album; you should buy it. Anyways, I really like this chapter. I think it's the fact I have been writing them like grown up teenagers, and I think now, at least one of those characters have crossed the border into adulthood. This is 10 pages worth reading, because…I wish I could tell you what I am going to do. Dang! It would ruin it all! Thanks to reviewers: The Dark Elf Chick, Luna Writer, horse-girl, GoldenWeasley, and Dannie7. Have a good day!
Chapter XVII- The Difference
"in the quiet moments while the city's still dark/sleep walking through the summer rain/in the tired spaces you could hear her name/when she was warm and tender/and you held her arms around you/there was nothing but her love and affection/she was crazy for you/now she's part of something that you lost/and for all you know/this could be/the difference between what you need/and what you want to be…and everything that was your world/just came down/day breaking on the boulevard/feel the sun warming up your secondhand heart/light swimming right across your face/ and you think/ 'maybe someday, yeah maybe someday'…"
Matchbox 20, The Difference, More Than You Think You Are
Draco woke up slowly to the smell of bangers (sausages) frying. He rolled over, feeling for Ginny, but found nothing but an empty space. He slowly got up, pulling on a pair of boxers and an old tee shirt. He went to the bathroom, briefly brushing his teeth before heading to the kitchen, finding Ginny dressed in the same thing as him. He chuckled at her, leaning on the door frame.
"Good morning sleepy-head. Glad you decided to rejoin the world of the living!" Ginny joked, turning over the bangers in the pan.
"What time is it? What day is it?" He asked, rubbing his eyes a little.
"Why it is Saturday, August 28th, at precisely 9:30 in morning. I feel like a newspaper." Ginny said, looking at him, rising his eyebrows.
"Yes, but your much better in bed than a newspaper." Draco reported.
"Why thank you, that is a very nice comment, being compared to a newspaper!" Ginny said, still smiling. 'Imagine waking up to this everyday for the rest of your life. Merlin knows I'll be the happiest dame in the world.' Ginny thought.
Draco laughed. "I'm glad your making breakfast, because I don't feel like getting dressed for a while."
"Me either. Come on, get plates out for us." Ginny said calling him into kitchen. Draco followed directions, pulling to plates down from the kitchen unit beside Ginny.
"I've got French toast in the stove, warming back up, if you were wondering if I was just giving you bangers for breakfast."
"Whatever you made is prefect." Draco replied gratefully, giving her a peck on the cheek, and pulled some silverware from a drawer.
"Do you know I stole most of this from a bunch of trendy Muggle restaurants in London?"
"You go to Muggle restaurants?" Ginny asked surprised, bringing the hot bangers over to the table in the frying pan. She tipped several on Draco's and her own plate. Draco poured them glasses of orange juice and brought the maple syrup from the refrigerator. He sat down as soon as Ginny set the plate of warm French toast on the table.
"Yeah, I went a lot when I had an even smaller flat than this in Muggle London. I did it mostly to annoy the living shit out of my father. It worked too. Mother doesn't mind, she has a liking for Muggles she had always curbed from my father."
"Are they separated?" Ginny asked, knowing she was pushing a bit, but Draco didn't seem to mind.
"Might as well be. They never loved each other, they had an arranged marriage. Mother stays in one side of the Manor, father stays on the other. I never go back there. Mother begs me 'Draco come home for me, just for a few hours?', but I always say no, because it isn't home any longer. This is home. You are home Ginny." Draco replied, reaching across the table, clasping Ginny's hand.
"I will always be here Draco, you know that." Ginny said, a smile on her face. She squeezed his hand slightly. "Come now and eat, don't want for it to get cold." She replied, sounding very much like her own mother.
"Of course! You make the best breakfasts. How did you learn to cook like this?" Draco said, stuffing a piece of syrup bathed toast into his mouth.
"My Mum always needed help in the kitchen, and my brothers were all useless, so when I got old enough, I was always right by her side, doing what needed to be done. I take pride in it really. Hermione can cook, but she was never home in time, so I always started dinner. I get heaps of practice between you and Hermione!" Ginny replied.
They continued eating, and when they were finished, Ginny moved to take his plate.
"Don't you even! You make breakfast, so it's proper that I wash up afterwards."
Ginny rolled her eyes "Oh come off it! It's only three plates and a frying pan-"
"That you slaved over for an hour-"
"30 minutes really-"
"That you slaved over for 30 minutes that you could be sleeping. You go do whatever while I wash up quickly, and then we can…I don't know, go somewhere." Draco replied, shrugging. Ginny stood in place dumbfounded. She never expected Draco to share the responsibilities. She always thought he would get up and leave for the shower, steal all the hot water, and then take the last clean towel.
"Go, before I change my mind!" Draco said laughing.
"If it's alright with you, I just want to sit here and watch." Ginny said with a happy smile.
"Whatever lights your wand…" He replied, turning from her filling the sink up with water, then went to the table, collecting the dirty places and flatware.
"We stole heaps of things from the Three Broomsticks, Hermione and I. Mostly glasses, sugar and sugar containers. We eat soup from them. We laugh hysterically when do, thinking of how we would resort to Muggle ways of stealing them. I would bring my big messenger bag, and before the server came, I would dump the sugar in small pouch, and then throw the container in my messenger, and Mione would put the sugar in her pocket. We were horrible at it because we would always be laughing, and we couldn't help it!" Ginny said, chuckling at the memory.
"I've done my fair share of Muggle stealing, shoving forks and spoons in my coat pockets, marmalade packets in money bag. I was an expert by the time I moved out here!" Draco said, looking behind his shoulder at Ginny, whom was still sitting at the table, watching his back. Draco turned around after giving her a slight smile, returning to his work. He continued on in silence, only the clanking of the dishes filling the air.
"Draco?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, doll?"
"Why are you washing the dishes with out magic?" Ginny asked seriously.
His messy mass of light blonde hair fell into his unusually calm gray eyes. They were the same shade the sky takes right after a dangerous lightening storm, right before the clouds clear.
"I really don't know..." Draco turned fully to her, his arms wet up to elbows, soap suds sliding down to his fingertips.
Ginny's giggle rang out though the kitchen. "You didn't have to do them the Muggle way you silly prat!"
Draco shrugged, turning back to sink again, pulling the drain plug, the water going down the drain. "I never thought about getting my wand out. I don't mind. Besides I don't know the spell. I never had to wash dishes before. I always go out."
Ginny pulled out her wand from the front pocket of Draco's shirt.
"Lavas platnos!" She said, pointing her wand the sink. "There. Was that hard?"
"Hey, I need some work before I can be filed under the 'Best Boy Friend in the World' list!" Draco said, coming behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"I think you can be filed under that now." Ginny replied dreamily.
Draco smiled a genuine smile. "I haven't been this happy doing absolutely nothing in my whole entire life."
"You're doing something, Drac. You're making me the happiest girlfriend in the world." Ginny's lips curled up into to a content grin. She leaned her head against his forehead. Draco kissed her flame hair.
"Come on, let's go get a shower." Draco replied.
"Together? We won't fit!" Ginny laughed.
Draco raised his eyebrows "So it will be a tight squeeze, who cares? We'll have fun."
Ginny giggled for what seemed the seventieth time that day. "Fun…sounds good to me."
Ron pulled open the large, heavy doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, his trunk floating behind him, his new briefcase given to him by Percy clutched in his hand.
"I feel so damn old!" Ron thought fleetingly, memories of his own school days bubbling up from the pits of his brain where they have been stored undisturbed for several years. He walked through the entrance hall, looking around, taking it in like a first year all over again.
"Feels first year, huh?" A voice said behind him. Ron turned around briskly, his trunk falling to the ground with a loud 'thud!'. The person the speech came from stood near the door, kicking the mud of her shoes. She had dark brown hair to her waist, which was tied back away from her face in a long braid, the strands weaved together in an intricate style Ron had never seen before. She donned a robe of deep purple setting off her light violet eyes. He complexion was tanned like the women Ron saw America, though not tanned by the scorching lights of the tanning bed, but by genetics.
"Did I scare you? I'm sorry." The woman said, and magicked up Ron's trunk again.
"Just startled me is all, got lost in my own head." Ron replied, looking down at his own muddy feet, which he had forgotten to scrape.
"Are you teaching this year, Ron?" She asked.
"Uh, yes, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and you?" He asked, even though he had not a clue who this woman was.
"You have no idea who I am do you? It's quite alright, I didn't really expect for you to remember me. I was younger than you, in you sister's year. I had such a silly little crush on you. Hated Hermione Granger for dating you your fifth year. I was in Gryffindor too…and I'm carrying on like a ninny…" She said, confusing Ron more, her dark tanned face flushing a little. She had a simple type face, devoid of any make up, except for a small red dot on her forehead. 'A bendi…' Ron thought quickly.
"I'm sorry, but you do look familiar." Ron said scratching his head,
"I'm Kali Samar. I'll be teaching Astronomy." She smiled and Ron felt like he was in a jewel store. Her smile was like a sparkling diamond.
Ron shook her hand. "I'm Ron Weasley. Do you, uh, know where we are supposed to be going?" He asked her, his heart pounding nervously. 'Why am I nervous? My first day on the job is all…' Ron thought, dismissing his jitters came from the appearance of Kali Samar and her exotic beauty.
"I'm sure in the letter I received said to put our things in the Great Hall, then go to Albus Dumbledore's office, which I have no idea where it is-"
"I know where it is. I was there enough my seventh year." Ron interjected, and turned the corner to the Great Hall, where several trunks were stacked in the near corner of hall, underneath a Hogwarts banner. Kali shadowed him, her trunk following her, the same way as Ron's had. They set their trunks down next to the pile, directing them with their wands.
"Follow me, I know the way." Ron said shortly, walking out of the Hall, Kali following him. They walked in silence up the main staircase, Ron's mud encrusted feet making tracks on the stone.
"So, how's Ginny?" Kali asked.
"She is doing rather well, she's working for a new magazine as an editorialist, she likes it." Ron said, not mentioning Draco.
"That's good. Haven't seen her in ages. She was a nice girl." She replied offhandedly, trying to keep the conversation going.
Ron's curiosity was piqued by Kali's whole personage, her name, her exotic look, her history at Hogwarts.
"Where are you from?" Ron asked.
"Born and raised in Calcutta, India, until I was five years old, and my family moved to London. I am half blooded, my father is the ambassador to Great Britain from India's Bureau of Wizardry. He enjoys it very much, my mum misses her motherland. We went back during the winter and spring breaks that I had during my school years. I suppose I can go back again now." Kali said as they arrived at the entrance of the office. Professor McGonagall said the password "totalis!", which turned the bird statue around, which revealed the long twisting stair case of moving stairs. They stepped on silently, Ron nodding to McGonagall, whom smiled back, pride flashing in her eyes.
"Harry…Harry. Wake up, it's noon, and you need to eat." Hermione's voice floated into Harry's dark sleep, pulling him out unwillingly.
"Wha? What is it?" Harry groaned, pulling the covers over his head, lying in the bed in Hermione's spare bedroom.
Hermione laughed a bit. "You'll sleep the afternoon away! I'm tired of sitting up alone anyways, there is nothing on the Muggle TV Saturday mornings besides news and cartoons. Come on, I'll make you coffee and lunch." Hermione said, sounding quite mother like, pulling the covers back down to reveal Harry's thin, naked torso.
"Come on, let me sleep for an hour more, Mione! It's Saturday, and we don't have to go to work. You had me up until three A.M!" Harry grumbled, but gave in and allowed Hermione to pull him from bed by his arm.
"You get a shower, smelly boy, and by the time your finished, I'll be done with lunch." Hermione said laughing, pushing Harry down the hall to the bathroom.
Ginny sat at Draco's kitchen table, scribbling away, the quill scratching against the paper was the only sound in the apartment, other than the shower running, Draco currently occupying it. Ginny stopped for a second, thinking ahead to her next paragraph. A sound caught her off guard, furrowing her eyebrows at it.
"Is Draco…singing in the shower?" Ginny thought. The voice stopped for a moment, Ginny just shrugging it off. Then just as she put the quill to the paper again, it began, a male voice singing what seemed to be "She's Always a Woman to Me", by a Muggle singer, Billy Joel. Ginny tilted her head towards the hall, a smile playing at her lips. She got up quickly, before he stopped again, she stood close to the door, hearing Draco sing her favorite part of the song.
"Oh/she takes care of herself/she can wait if she wants/she's ahead of her time/oh/and she never gives out/and she never gives in/she just changes her mind/she's frequently kind/ and she's suddenly cool/she can do as she pleases/ she's nobody's is fool/and she can't be convicted/she's earned her degree/and the most she will do is throw shadows at you/but she's always a woman to me…" Draco sang, turning off the shower, so he was louder. Ginny sang along with him, opting for a higher part, harmonizing with him. Draco opened the door at the end of the song, smiling at her.
"I didn't know you could sing, Drac."
"I didn't know you liked Billy Joel, Gin." Draco said back to her, chuckling.
"Seriously, you sing well." Ginny said, following him to his room.
"He's one of my favorites. That part reminds me of you."
Ginny smiled widely. "Ever since I heard that song, I wanted to be like that woman, though not break any hearts, of course. She is independent, speaks for herself, ambitious, determined."
"I think you embody her well." He said, rubbing his hands in his hair, causing droplets of water to fly everywhere, hitting Ginny in the face.
"You amaze me some days." Ginny said, gazing at him as he pulled a pair of nice blue jeans from the drawer.
"You amaze me always." Draco said simply, immerging from his closet with two different shirts. "Which one?" He asked, holding out the hangers. One was a navy blue button down, and the other, a dark orange tee-shirt.
"The navy one with your khaki jacket. You know, the one that has the style of a jean jacket, but it's made of khaki material?" Ginny said going to the closet and pulling out the exact article of clothing.
"How did you know I had this? I've only worn it twice."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Girls pay attention to things like that. Where are we going? You wouldn't have opted for such a nice outfit if we weren't going anywhere.
"Oh didn't I tell you? I was planning to take you out to dinner, with my mum."
"You're mum? You expect me to wear beat up old jeans and a Quidditch shirt to go out to dinner with your mother? Ahhh! I think I'm going to strangle you! We need to go back to my house before we leave! I can't believe you didn't tell me! What am I going to do with my hair?" Ginny said frantically, and hurried down the hall to the bathroom to try and fix her hair from a curly frizz ball to some semblance of a hairstyle.
"Ginny, don't worry about it! I was planning on letting you go back to your house we left. I'm going to get dressed and then we can go over to your house so you can do what ever you need to get done." Draco shouted down the hall stark naked.
Ginny poked her head out from the bathroom. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to roam around the house in your nudey pants?"
Draco mined deep thinking. "No…the topic never came up."
Ginny rolled her eyes and disappeared back into the bathroom.
Draco immerged from his room to find Ginny pacing the living room and chewing her fingernails.
"Hey, you'll wear a hole in the floor if you don't stop!" Draco laughed, taking a hold of her.
"I know, I know. I'm just nervous. Why couldn't you have told me this last night so I would have had some advance notice? Is there anything I should know not to do that will make you mother hate me? Does she even know about us? What about your father? Will she be upset because I'm a Weasley? What am I going to wear? Should I wear a skit? Should I put my hair up or down? Should I put on make up? What will-"
"Ginny, get a grip! She is just my mum. She isn't the Queen of Muggle England. Calm down will you? It will be fine... you will be fine. Don't wear too much make-up, and don't fuss up your hair too much. She hates when woman put a face on for her because she's a Malfoy. Do wear a skirt, but not anything to short, and nothing to elegant. No she doesn't know about us, but that's why I'm taking you to meet her. I could give a rat's ass about my father. He could rot into nothing and I could care less. She won't be upset because of who you are. More than likely she will be glad that you are not from some ex- Death Eater's family. She is really nothing like my father, please don't treat her like she is." Draco said, taking Ginny's hands, answering her frantic questions truthfully and patiently. A lopsided grin flicked on the Ginny's face.
"This is that day all girlfriends hate; meeting their boyfriend's mother. For the guys it's always the father that poses the greatest threat. But mothers, man they can vicious!" Ginny said.
"I promise my mother has had her shots, I she doesn't bite…usually." Draco joked. Ginny allowed herself to give in and melt into a bit of laughter. Draco folded her into a loving hug.
"You'll do fine, I swear. She'll love you, because I do."
Harry stood under the spray of the showerhead, feeling tired and sick.
"I must have caught the flu from someone at work." Harry thought, shutting his eyes as he soaped up his unruly mass of hair.
He finished is shower, wrapped a white towel around his waist, and peeked is head into Hermione's potion cabinet. He pulled out a bottle of medicine Hermione had created herself that he had taken before.
"Hey Mione!" Harry shouted, making his head pound, he squeezed his eyes shut and steadied himself on the counter's edge in a momentary dizzy spell.
"I'm coming Harry!" Hermione shouted. He heard her thunder up the steps, and soon arrived in bathroom.
"Harry, you look horrid, are you sick?" Hermione said, her face reflecting pity,
"I feel just a little off. How much should I take of this stuff you make?"
"Oh...for you I'd say a full goblet, considering you look like death warmed over."
"Gee thanks. You're really into insulting me lately aren't you?" Harry managed to chuckle a bit and poured his potion.
Hermione walked in closer to him and felt his forehead. "You feel a bit fevered. That's odd, you hardly ever get sick."
"I know, I'm not used to it, so when I do get sick I feel like I'm dying." Harry said and downed the potion, which felt like a mouth full of snow and chilled his whole body as it went down.
"I wasn't planning on going anywhere today, and I am not letting you go home sick by yourself. You should feel less fever-y and achy after you took that. Come down when ever you want, I made us beef stew, Muggle style!"
"You mean from a tin?" He asked, his stomach growling.
"Yeah, tinned beef stew. Ginny and I live on the stuff. There's a spot on the couch that has your name written all over it!" Hermione said.
Harry laughed. "I think I'll take your couch up on that offer. Good thing it's Saturday. I couldn't go into work like this." Harry said, went to the spare bedroom to put on his clothes from the night before and slowly walked down the hall, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. He walked into the small kitchen and flopped down in a seat.
"Hello influenza man! How are you feeling now? Any better?" Hermione said, setting a steaming bowl of stew in front of him. He eagerly dipped his spoon in and ate.
"You act like you never eat when you are at your apartment!"
"Might as well not. I order in a lot, or go out somewhere in Diagon Alley. I eat a lot at work, because the house elves will gladly give you anything you ask for. I can always count on a good meal either here, or at the Burrow. But I somehow have a feeling I won't be welcome at the Burrow for quite a long time." Harry said.
Hermione sighed. "Neither will I. But Ron has some things he needs to work out with himself before he can work things out with us." Hermione said, sitting down across from Harry with her own bowl.
"I'm sure the Mr. and Mrs. would still feed us though." Harry replied and stuffed another spoonful in his mouth.
Ron decided it was quite odd being in Hogwarts, and not sleeping in Gryffindor tower, but on the opposite side of the building, near Ravenclaw's dormitories. His class was the same room used by most of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. His office was next door, which was quite convenient, and his bedroom behind a tapestry at the back of the room. Ron chuckled when he learned this bit of news. As a student he just thought the ugly tapestry of some prince wooing a young maiden in a garden was there for decoration and the teachers never had the heart to take it down, because it was probably made circa 500. He climbed in and out of it, throwing the thick cloth open, feeling like it was his first time in Hogwarts again, and once he realized how horribly stupid he looked, he stopped.
He was busy all day, putting away his things in his new home, and organizing his first week of lessons. He used the updated version of the texts Professor Lupin used, although he wasn't planning on using them much. He wanted to be his student's favorite teacher, fun but fair, and reliable. Ron smiled when he realized that he was a real adult now. Not legally, but emotionally, and swore his last dumb fit of anger and mopping was two days before. He reprogrammed the clock his mother gave him when he went to America to read the appropriate things at the right time. The hour hand hovered closely to where the six was, which now read 'Dinner'. He closed his lesson book and headed for the Great Hall to eat. Just as he stepped out of his door, he spotted the woman he met on the way in. He watched her for a minute, as she walked down the steps from the Astronomy tower, her nose in a book. Small whips of her sleek black hair had escaped her tight braid and framed her face. Ron blinked hard as she turned the corner, to the corridor where he was standing, gaping at her so obviously. He shook his head and turned on his heel, and started off.
"Ron!" Kali shouted. Ron stopped, turning around to see her hurry to him. She smiled her gem of a smile.
"Hi Kali. What are you reading" Ron asked, gesturing to her book.
"Oh this? An ancient poem about some of the gods and goddesses in Hinduism, called the Mahababarata. I'm challenging myself. I'm reading it for the first time. I probably should have read it before, considering it's just part of India's history."
Ron looked down at the book, and it's foreign language. "Is this in Hindu?"
Kali gave him a funny look. "Of course. Why would I read it in English when I am fluent in the language it was written in? It makes it better, and Hindu it such a beautiful language. At least I think it is." Kali said, as they continued down the steps, where some of their fellow professors were walking into the hall.
"Hello Severus!" Kali sang out, tucking the book under her arm. Ron fought back the urge to cringe openly.
"Ahhh, Kali Samar, such a wonderful thing to see you teaching. You were always a good student potions, you should have been in Slytherin, I say. My dear girl, I see you have made a friend here…Mr. Weasley."
"Hello." Ron said, not putting any emotion in his voice.
"Surprised to see you here, I never thought of you as a teaching type, considering you struggled in most of your classes. So young, no experience in the Dark Arts-"
"Oh, and you have had so much experience, being in You-Know-Who's inner circle!"
"Ronald, Severus! That is enough." Dumbledore said loudly behind them. He had witnessed everything. Both of the men turned to the aging man, who looked at them harshly behind his half-moon spectacles.
"We are adults here, and I refuse to have fights and rivalries between members of my faculty. Ronald, you know the truth, and you are one of the few, do not add more to the lies. Severus, I am fully confident in Ronald's abilities as a teacher, and you should not question them any further. Now, gentlemen, and lady, will you please join the rest of us in the hall for dinner?" Dumbledore said, and gestured to the large open doors. Snape mumbled something about 'being too young', and swooped into the hall, his long black ropes billowing out behind him.
"Come on, Ron, just go." Kali whispered, and went into the hall, cracking the book open again.
Ron made a move towards the door, but Dumbledore stopped him. "I knew you wouldn't be alone here." He said, tilting his head slightly to Kali, walking down the long aisle. Ron smiled, although in his chest he felt a slight pang of hurt, thinking of Hermione, and how she would chastise him for the silliest things, even though she was smiling, and her voice had no harshness to it. He sighed, and entered, Dumbledore following him.
After dinner, the headmaster handed out the schedules to the teachers, and held a brief staff meeting. Afterwards, Ron walked slowly back to his quarters, still brooding over Dumbledore's mention of not being 'alone at Hogwarts'.
"What did he mean? Does he mean that Kali and I will be friends, or something more than that? Wait, Ron, you're being stupid." Ron thought, scrunching up his nose was he crawled through the tapestry. He took a look outside his window into the night, where the rain came down for the second consecutive day in a row. He cocked his head as he looked out over the lake, the water rippled all over due to the sheets pouring down upon it. He blinked hard, and then gulped. Rain. Ron turned around right back where he came, retrieving his cloak from the hanger in the corner of his classroom. He hurried out, his foot falls echoing against the empty corridors. He walked fast, out of the doors, and into the weather, his face automatically being washed over in the water. He slowed his frantic pace as soon as he was outside. As he walked on the path to the Quidditch pitch, memories flooded back to him in a great tidal wave.
"Ronald Weasley! Answer me!" Hermione called angrily, casing him. He was squelching down the sloping path as fast as he could. It was spring, and the rains had been falling for weeks strait, leaving the grass a mass of mud and wetness. Ron stopped dead, and turned around. Hermione slid down the path, gracefully regaining he balance before knocking over Ron as well.
"Answer me. I know you are keeping something from Harry and I. Ron, so many horrible things are going on, and our friendship needs to last though this…for Harry's sake, for all our sakes. Ron, tell me what's going on." She said, looking him in his eyes with a stare he couldn't break.
"Hermione, please, it's nothing. Please don't." He said, begging her to drop this, but her face stood still and didn't reflect any pity.
"I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me. Ron, please, if not for Harry…then for me-"
"That's the problem, Hermione! It seems everything I have been doing lately has been for you, weather you know it or not. Hermione, you just don't get it do you? I like you Hermione, and it kills me to know that you don't feel the same way. That's why I have been avoiding you, and even Harry! Is that what you wanted to hear? You have it now, you can go and tell me what a prat I have been, and then tell me it would never work out, for some stupid reason or another-"
Hermione hugged him tightly, surprising him, and cutting off his sermon.
"Ron, we need each other right now. I need you, so please don't storm off, because you haven't been a prat, but just another boy, living in extraordinary circumstances. Please don't leave me here, chasing after you, and worrying about you. Merlin knows if we are together, you'll at least get better marks."
"So what does this mean?" Ron said, hugging her back, speaking into her hair.
"We are together…like we should have been this summer." Hermione said softly, squeezing her eyes shut.
Ron smiled. "Good, this is good."
The wind whipped at Ron's cloak, causing it to billow out, and the rain soak into his trousers. The trees of the forest moaned in the wind, pulling Ron from his own mind.
"She's the difference between what I need and what I want to be…I want to be with her, but what I need is to fix things so that we are all friends again, and not…pretending to be." Ron thought clearly. "I am always known as being stubborn and not so clever, and maybe I am. But I am making a decision for Hermione and Harry, not for me. Maybe someday I have her back, but I doubt it. Hermione is my past, part of something that I lost, and I will never get back because I made a bad decision. I deserve all I get. But for now, I am caught in the middle, caught in the middle of my own life." Ron stopped halfway down the slope, and looked back up at the huge castle before him. He smiled an odd smile. "I am not alone at Hogwarts…I have my memories, and that is all I need to get me through."