A/N: Wow! I think this is the fastest I've gotten the next chapter out.
It was a lot faster than five months, anyway. ^^ I'm not sure, but this
might be the longest chapter yet: eleven pages written. Much better than
chapter three, ne?
Disclaimer: Random fact... Did you know that 5,999,999,999 people out of 6,000,000,000 do _not_ own Harry Potter? Given those odds, do you think I do?
And now, without further ado...
-----
True Colors - Chapter Six - Ron's Violent Side
-----
The remainder of the summer passed by quickly and Ron-less, but many times did thoughts of him fill my mind. Despite his physical absence during the summer, I knew that the day would eventually come when we would all meet again on our trip back to Hogwarts.
That day was today.
Today all the Hogwarts students would load the train for the trip back to school, where we would spend the next nine months studying to be better witches and wizards.
So this morning we got up early in order to have time to shower and eat a good breakfast. _I_ finished packing last night, but Harry decided to wait until now to start. I was happy about returning to my school, and I inhaled my scrambled eggs and gulped down my mile, Harry ate his food quickly as well, but so he would have enough time to get all of his belongings together. It had been really fun having him stay with us for the summer, and part of me was sad to see it end.
Minutes passed, and I yelled for Harry to hurry up, or we'd miss the train. He shouted that he was almost done, and about half a minute later he was lugging his suitcase out the door and down the stairs. However, he tripped near the top and fell down, which in turn caused him to drop his luggage, sending it crashing to the floor with him. I feared for him, for it looked to be quite a painful fall, and I asked him if he was hurt. He gave me a thumbs-up from under a pile of clothes, which was such a funny sight that, in that instant, all my fear vanished and I could do nothing to contain my laughter. At this, the heap emitted a grumble and started to shake as Harry arose from within, which only made me laugh harder.
"It's not funny!" he shouted at me. My laughter continued to prohibit speech on my part, so I pointed at the pair of white briefs perched atop his head. His hand moved upward, and when he saw what he was sitting upon his cranium his face blossomed the deepest shade of crimson, and he quickly grabbed them and hid them behind his back, out of my view. Of course, this could only make me laugh harder. I watched through tear- filled eyes as he hurriedly stuffed all of his garments back into the suitcase and dragged it the remaining distance to the car.
We all loaded into the vehicle, and were ready to depart, when Harry gave a huge gasp and shouted, "HEDWIG!" He unbuckled his seatbelt and bolted into the house, returning a few milliseconds later with a squawking Hedwig fluttering furiously in its cage. He wedged the bird into the one remaining opening in the trunk, and then, panting hard, he hopped into the car.
"*Huff* Re-a-dy *puff*" he managed. Dad started the car, pulled out of the driveway, and drove off down the street. I turned in my seat and looked back at the house behind us, and I felt a soft sadness at leaving it. I felt my inertia shift and watched my home vanish around a corner. I swiveled my dead caught Harry looking at me. I felt myself blush slightly, and I quickly turned to look out my window into the cloudy grey sky above. Weather like this has always been my favorite; when it's about to rain and air and water are woven together in a pattern of intricate beauty; how, just before it rains, the air becomes so calm and peaceful. I rolled the car window down and let the car fill with the sweet aroma of rain, which, in my opinion, is the most wonderful smell on Earth. I took a deep breath of the amazingly refreshing mist and exhaled it slowly; it felt magnificent.
"H- Hermione, can you close your window please? It's c-cold outside." The voice came from Harry. I complied, albeit unwillingly. Harry can't seem to appreciate something so simple yet so powerful like the smell of an approaching storm. I let a soft sigh escape and gazed again into the beautiful grey abyss.
--
"Here we are," said Dad, awakening me from me daydream. He stopped the car and turned off the ignition. As we unloaded our luggage, it began to rain ever so softly, droplets lightly sprinkling everything in sight. It was a wondrous sight to behold, but Harry and my parents ran ahead quickly to avoid getting wet. I, however, took my time and slowly pulled my suitcase across the parking lot, enjoying every moment of it. By the time I got there I was quite damp, but my spirits were higher, and it was well worth it.
We traversed the train station speechlessly for the most part until we finally reached platform nine and three quarters.
"Goodbye, Mom; 'bye Dad." I hugged them both. "See you in nine months. I'll be sure to owl you."
"Bye sweetie," Mom said, her eyes watering slightly. "I'll miss you. And goodbye to you to, Harry. Try not to get attacked by any more dark lords, okay, dear?"
He chuckled a little. "I'll try. 'Bye Mrs. Granger, Mr. Granger." I went ahead and ran through the barrier, where I waited for Harry, but a minute passed and he still had not emerged, so I left my suitcase and walked back through the to the other side. Harry was standing there, his back turned to me, so, puzzled, I walked toward him, when I saw...
Ron. He was standing in front of Harry, and Harry was futilely attempting to start a conversation with him. I thought it to be best for me to make my presence known, so I jovially said, "Hi, Ron!" His eyes brightened faintly as he turned away from Harry and said,
"Hi there, Hermione! How was your summer?"
"It was awesome! Har-" I cut myself off before I could tell him about all the fun things Harry and I did together over the summer, for I feared it would anger him. Unfortunately, I suspected I had failed in my attempt at covering up my would-be faux pas so I quickly said, "I left my luggage on the other side so we should probably hurry up and pass through." I walked briskly through the barrier and emerged on the other side to find that my suitcase was still perfectly intact, even though I had not been overly worried. Next to appear was Ron, who started to head for train already. Aggravated, I shouted at him, "Ron! Will you please wait for Harry? I don't know what's going on between you two, but can't you at least let us all walk up together?"
I saw a flash of anger tinged with shock pass through his eyes, but it faded as soon as it appeared. "I'm just going to go save us some seats. Why don't you come with me, Harry will be able to find us; he *is* the boy who lived, after all." His last comment was said with more than just a hint of sarcasm, and it made the wheels in my head begin to turn rapidly.
Could Ron be jealous of Harry? It was a possibility that I had not considered before, but now that it was made apparent to me it seemed logical.
"Hermione?" His voice startled me, and I was made aware of his presence again.
"Oh, uh, sure. Go ahead," said I skeptically. I didn't believe him for a nanosecond, but I did not want to propagate the dispute. Seconds later, Harry appeared, looking confused. "Ron told me that Seamus was around somewhere and asking Ron about my whereabouts," he told me, "but I looked around and didn't see him anywhere." I had no reason to doubt this, especially after my recent conversation with him, and his sarcastic remark about Harry's fame. I noticed Harry looking around and then he inquired, "Where _is_ Ron, anyway? Shouldn't he be here?"
"Ron went to go 'save us a seat'," I said, putting finger quotes around the last phrase. "Harry, there's something serious going on with Ron." I looked into his eyes and said with the utmost seriousness, "I'm worried about him."
"I agree," he responded, "but I hardly think that we should be discussing it here and now. Let's at least get on the train. Maybe we can ask Ron about it then." I acquiesced, but I highly doubted that we would encounter him on the locomotive; he definitely wanted to get away from Harry, and it seemed as though he wanted me to come with him.
We boarded the train and my suspicion proved true; there was a presence of seats but an absence of Ron. I motioned at one of the seats for us to sit down, but Harry refused. "I'm going to go find Ron. He's not getting away from me that easily. Will you take my suitcase?" I assented, but on the air I smelled a dangerous, black trouble.
After taking care of our luggage, I sat down and waited for Harry and, hopefully, Ron. A few minutes later the train started; and, shortly after, the car door abruptly slid open; and Harry entered, pulling a struggling Ron along by the arm. If Ron was already jealous of Harry, I knew that having Harry drag him into the car would *definitely* not heal those envious feelings.
"Unhand me!" he shouted, loud enough to attract the attention of the whole car.
"No!" Harry shouted in return. "Sit! Now!" He thrust Ron fiercely into the seat facing mine and sat next to him, blocking his exit. Against my better judgment, I stretched my legs across the seats to further blockade him. Perhaps it was more that I wanted him to be with us than that I wanted to talk to him about his problem.
"Ron, we just want to know what's going on with you," I began hesitantly. "You've been acting very strangely as of late, and we're both worried." Ron only sat scowling in his little corner. "Will you please talk to us?"
"Ron?" tried Harry after a while. Suddenly, Ron sprang up from his seat and shouted, "_Stupefy!_" sending a bolt of light at Harry, which temporarily stunned him. Having done this, he ran out of the car.
Harry eventually regained control of his senses, and immediately jumped up and asked which way Ron went. I jerked him firmly back down into his seat.
"I don't think you should confront him, Harry; it'll only make matters worse." He grumbled a little, but I felt his anger subside a bit. I sighed a sigh of relief, and leaned back in my chair.
For the rest of the ride to Hogwarts Harry didn't say two words to anyone, and I, as I'm sure he did, too, spent the entire time thinking of Ron and his sudden outbreak of violence and, more importantly, the cause. If Ron were indeed jealous, as I convinced myself of further throughout the train ride, it would perfectly explain his strange behavior. The only thing that left me clueless was a solution.
Disclaimer: Random fact... Did you know that 5,999,999,999 people out of 6,000,000,000 do _not_ own Harry Potter? Given those odds, do you think I do?
And now, without further ado...
-----
True Colors - Chapter Six - Ron's Violent Side
-----
The remainder of the summer passed by quickly and Ron-less, but many times did thoughts of him fill my mind. Despite his physical absence during the summer, I knew that the day would eventually come when we would all meet again on our trip back to Hogwarts.
That day was today.
Today all the Hogwarts students would load the train for the trip back to school, where we would spend the next nine months studying to be better witches and wizards.
So this morning we got up early in order to have time to shower and eat a good breakfast. _I_ finished packing last night, but Harry decided to wait until now to start. I was happy about returning to my school, and I inhaled my scrambled eggs and gulped down my mile, Harry ate his food quickly as well, but so he would have enough time to get all of his belongings together. It had been really fun having him stay with us for the summer, and part of me was sad to see it end.
Minutes passed, and I yelled for Harry to hurry up, or we'd miss the train. He shouted that he was almost done, and about half a minute later he was lugging his suitcase out the door and down the stairs. However, he tripped near the top and fell down, which in turn caused him to drop his luggage, sending it crashing to the floor with him. I feared for him, for it looked to be quite a painful fall, and I asked him if he was hurt. He gave me a thumbs-up from under a pile of clothes, which was such a funny sight that, in that instant, all my fear vanished and I could do nothing to contain my laughter. At this, the heap emitted a grumble and started to shake as Harry arose from within, which only made me laugh harder.
"It's not funny!" he shouted at me. My laughter continued to prohibit speech on my part, so I pointed at the pair of white briefs perched atop his head. His hand moved upward, and when he saw what he was sitting upon his cranium his face blossomed the deepest shade of crimson, and he quickly grabbed them and hid them behind his back, out of my view. Of course, this could only make me laugh harder. I watched through tear- filled eyes as he hurriedly stuffed all of his garments back into the suitcase and dragged it the remaining distance to the car.
We all loaded into the vehicle, and were ready to depart, when Harry gave a huge gasp and shouted, "HEDWIG!" He unbuckled his seatbelt and bolted into the house, returning a few milliseconds later with a squawking Hedwig fluttering furiously in its cage. He wedged the bird into the one remaining opening in the trunk, and then, panting hard, he hopped into the car.
"*Huff* Re-a-dy *puff*" he managed. Dad started the car, pulled out of the driveway, and drove off down the street. I turned in my seat and looked back at the house behind us, and I felt a soft sadness at leaving it. I felt my inertia shift and watched my home vanish around a corner. I swiveled my dead caught Harry looking at me. I felt myself blush slightly, and I quickly turned to look out my window into the cloudy grey sky above. Weather like this has always been my favorite; when it's about to rain and air and water are woven together in a pattern of intricate beauty; how, just before it rains, the air becomes so calm and peaceful. I rolled the car window down and let the car fill with the sweet aroma of rain, which, in my opinion, is the most wonderful smell on Earth. I took a deep breath of the amazingly refreshing mist and exhaled it slowly; it felt magnificent.
"H- Hermione, can you close your window please? It's c-cold outside." The voice came from Harry. I complied, albeit unwillingly. Harry can't seem to appreciate something so simple yet so powerful like the smell of an approaching storm. I let a soft sigh escape and gazed again into the beautiful grey abyss.
--
"Here we are," said Dad, awakening me from me daydream. He stopped the car and turned off the ignition. As we unloaded our luggage, it began to rain ever so softly, droplets lightly sprinkling everything in sight. It was a wondrous sight to behold, but Harry and my parents ran ahead quickly to avoid getting wet. I, however, took my time and slowly pulled my suitcase across the parking lot, enjoying every moment of it. By the time I got there I was quite damp, but my spirits were higher, and it was well worth it.
We traversed the train station speechlessly for the most part until we finally reached platform nine and three quarters.
"Goodbye, Mom; 'bye Dad." I hugged them both. "See you in nine months. I'll be sure to owl you."
"Bye sweetie," Mom said, her eyes watering slightly. "I'll miss you. And goodbye to you to, Harry. Try not to get attacked by any more dark lords, okay, dear?"
He chuckled a little. "I'll try. 'Bye Mrs. Granger, Mr. Granger." I went ahead and ran through the barrier, where I waited for Harry, but a minute passed and he still had not emerged, so I left my suitcase and walked back through the to the other side. Harry was standing there, his back turned to me, so, puzzled, I walked toward him, when I saw...
Ron. He was standing in front of Harry, and Harry was futilely attempting to start a conversation with him. I thought it to be best for me to make my presence known, so I jovially said, "Hi, Ron!" His eyes brightened faintly as he turned away from Harry and said,
"Hi there, Hermione! How was your summer?"
"It was awesome! Har-" I cut myself off before I could tell him about all the fun things Harry and I did together over the summer, for I feared it would anger him. Unfortunately, I suspected I had failed in my attempt at covering up my would-be faux pas so I quickly said, "I left my luggage on the other side so we should probably hurry up and pass through." I walked briskly through the barrier and emerged on the other side to find that my suitcase was still perfectly intact, even though I had not been overly worried. Next to appear was Ron, who started to head for train already. Aggravated, I shouted at him, "Ron! Will you please wait for Harry? I don't know what's going on between you two, but can't you at least let us all walk up together?"
I saw a flash of anger tinged with shock pass through his eyes, but it faded as soon as it appeared. "I'm just going to go save us some seats. Why don't you come with me, Harry will be able to find us; he *is* the boy who lived, after all." His last comment was said with more than just a hint of sarcasm, and it made the wheels in my head begin to turn rapidly.
Could Ron be jealous of Harry? It was a possibility that I had not considered before, but now that it was made apparent to me it seemed logical.
"Hermione?" His voice startled me, and I was made aware of his presence again.
"Oh, uh, sure. Go ahead," said I skeptically. I didn't believe him for a nanosecond, but I did not want to propagate the dispute. Seconds later, Harry appeared, looking confused. "Ron told me that Seamus was around somewhere and asking Ron about my whereabouts," he told me, "but I looked around and didn't see him anywhere." I had no reason to doubt this, especially after my recent conversation with him, and his sarcastic remark about Harry's fame. I noticed Harry looking around and then he inquired, "Where _is_ Ron, anyway? Shouldn't he be here?"
"Ron went to go 'save us a seat'," I said, putting finger quotes around the last phrase. "Harry, there's something serious going on with Ron." I looked into his eyes and said with the utmost seriousness, "I'm worried about him."
"I agree," he responded, "but I hardly think that we should be discussing it here and now. Let's at least get on the train. Maybe we can ask Ron about it then." I acquiesced, but I highly doubted that we would encounter him on the locomotive; he definitely wanted to get away from Harry, and it seemed as though he wanted me to come with him.
We boarded the train and my suspicion proved true; there was a presence of seats but an absence of Ron. I motioned at one of the seats for us to sit down, but Harry refused. "I'm going to go find Ron. He's not getting away from me that easily. Will you take my suitcase?" I assented, but on the air I smelled a dangerous, black trouble.
After taking care of our luggage, I sat down and waited for Harry and, hopefully, Ron. A few minutes later the train started; and, shortly after, the car door abruptly slid open; and Harry entered, pulling a struggling Ron along by the arm. If Ron was already jealous of Harry, I knew that having Harry drag him into the car would *definitely* not heal those envious feelings.
"Unhand me!" he shouted, loud enough to attract the attention of the whole car.
"No!" Harry shouted in return. "Sit! Now!" He thrust Ron fiercely into the seat facing mine and sat next to him, blocking his exit. Against my better judgment, I stretched my legs across the seats to further blockade him. Perhaps it was more that I wanted him to be with us than that I wanted to talk to him about his problem.
"Ron, we just want to know what's going on with you," I began hesitantly. "You've been acting very strangely as of late, and we're both worried." Ron only sat scowling in his little corner. "Will you please talk to us?"
"Ron?" tried Harry after a while. Suddenly, Ron sprang up from his seat and shouted, "_Stupefy!_" sending a bolt of light at Harry, which temporarily stunned him. Having done this, he ran out of the car.
Harry eventually regained control of his senses, and immediately jumped up and asked which way Ron went. I jerked him firmly back down into his seat.
"I don't think you should confront him, Harry; it'll only make matters worse." He grumbled a little, but I felt his anger subside a bit. I sighed a sigh of relief, and leaned back in my chair.
For the rest of the ride to Hogwarts Harry didn't say two words to anyone, and I, as I'm sure he did, too, spent the entire time thinking of Ron and his sudden outbreak of violence and, more importantly, the cause. If Ron were indeed jealous, as I convinced myself of further throughout the train ride, it would perfectly explain his strange behavior. The only thing that left me clueless was a solution.