Chapter ten
Ginny stared into a space somewhere between Hermione's head and the ceiling. She couldn't believe this was happening. Suddenly, Harry spoke up.
"Ginny, it isn't your fault, you know that. It was a mistake, and there's not much we can do about it. But I wonder, are you sure you were the one supposed to drink it? I mean, what if it was for the person next to you? It's not completely implausible you know…"
But deep down, Harry knew that it really was for her. He just had the feeling. Now it was even worse. Because someone either hated Ginny and wanted Harry, or hated Harry and wanted Ginny…
Ginny must have sensed what he was thinking, because she walked over to him and held him tight. Harry was upset, but was starting to feel a little better. He felt even worse for Ron, because it felt really painful imagining hearing ginny say those things about Harry. It made him feel cold inside.
Meanwhile, Hermione was sitting on her bed suffering a mixture of horrible feelings: her head was still hurting, although not as much as before, her stomach was rumbling from her lack of dinner, but most importantly she felt absolutely horrible about this whole situation. How could she have done something so callous to her best friend? She couldn't even begin to try to fathom what was going on in his mind right now. He probably hates me...what have I done? How can I possibly fix this?... No matter what, she knew that she had to talk to him, right that second. She jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs to the common room, leaving Harry and Ginny behind, and sure enough, there was Ron, still hidden in the chair in front of the fire. She hesitated, then took a deep breath and walked right in front on him.
"Ron Weasley, will you go to the ball with me?"
For the first time in hours, he looked away from the fire and into Hermione's eyes, and she could practically feel them burning into hers as she anticipated his answer with baited breath.
Ron looked at her like she was an angel sent to save him. He was so astounded by the words that had just come out of her mouth. Did she just say what I think she said? He must not have been conveying his thoughts into his expression, however, because Hermione suddenly went into defnesive mode.
"Look, I know I've got a LOT of explaining to do, and it won't make very much sense, and I know you probably hate me right now, which of course is perfectly understandable, and I'm so sorry about everything that happened today, I could explain what happened, but the I don't really understand it myself--"
She hadn't really noticed that Ron had gotten out of his chair until she felt his arms close around her. Everything she had just planned on saying seemed to evaporate into the air, and her legs felt like jelly. Ron held her tightly and couldn't let go. Hermione felt warmth rush through her body as she looked up at him. She simply whispered "I'm sorry", and Ron's heart couldn't help but forgive her. He looked at her with an surprising grin on his face. Anyone who had seen Ron earlier would have been in shock at how quickly he had recovered.
"Yes," he whispered. She dug her head deep into his chest and smiled.
Hermione spent the next 20 minutes trying to make sense of the whole ordeal to Ron, and he was so shocked, but so relieved at the same time. He had been so worried that that was how she really felt, and he had been empty inside all that time... they spent the rest of the night in the common room, laughing about everything that had happened. It was amazing how, even after knowing each other for six years, they were just now finally able to really open up to each other. They talked about everything, from Ron's secret desire to play Quidditch to Hermione's fear of heights. They were both stunned at how much there was to know about a person, and more at how much they had taken for granted by assuming they knew everything about each other.
For the second time, they fell asleep next to each other, but this time, when they awoke in the morning, neither of them was ashamed or embarrassed. Just glad to still be in the other's arms.
The ball was in only two weeks, and for those two weeks Hermione was as smitten as a newlywed. They weren't even officially dating, but going to the ball was enough to satisfy Hermione, at least for now...
It seemed lately that Malfoy was in a particularly rotten mood. Everywhere Harry, Ron, Hermione or Ginny turned, there was Malfoy, ready to shoot them down. Harry couldn't have cared less, if it weren't for the fact that he was becoming the evil version of Fred and George. He was under constant attack from stinkbombs, water balloons, you name it, he'd been hit with it. It got so bad to the point where Harry actually walked up to Malfoy during a Potions lesson and attempted to strangle him. No doubt he got detention and lost 50 points for Gryffindor, but Harry didn't care. He only thought about somehow repaying Malfoy the favor.