All is Full of Love
by Hildigunnur
Chapter 5
Love Bites
Author's note: I must thank Zsenya for her beta-reading and Miss Pince for being nicer than everything that's nice. My reviewers and readers deserve many hugs.
Hermione sat in her favourite corner of the common room, writing an Ancient Runes essay on how the futhark rune alphabet was incorporated in Nordic magic symbols. It was hard to concentrate, there was too much noise. Everyone had grouped around the Weasley twins inquiring them about that New Year's Eve party they were promoting. Apparently Mr and Mrs Weasley wouldn't be present at the Burrow on New Year's Eve, for they themselves had been invited to a feast and it looked like they had no idea that their children were planning. When she had voiced her concerns to Ron, he had been annoyed. 'Can't you lay off all this Prefect stuff for just one minute?' he had asked and she had been hurt. It wasn't like she was trying to be a spoilsport, she was worried that something bad might happen in a party like that. They were living in uncertain times. It was a matter of when, and not if, the Death Eaters would make their first attack. She felt that the twins should have more sense, especially since they had just barely escaped unharmed from that Flint girl. Hermione wondered what had become of her. Was she still at large with the Death Eaters? What about her brother, was he biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to use violence or even kill? Hermione remembered all too well how brutal he had been when playing Quidditch at Hogwarts. She shuddered at her thoughts.
A Filibuster fire cracker came flying in her direction and she had to duck so it wouldn't hit her. She looked over to the group around the twins and saw Ron laughing. He was still tall and lanky, but she had noticed that his shoulders and chest were beginning to broaden. Why was she thinking about that? He was still Ron, immature and headstrong. Maybe she was just thinking about this because Lavender and Parvati had been talking about how fit their classmates were. Those two could prattle all day long about boys and Lavender was always announcing what she and Seamus got up to. 'He took his shirt off,' she had said last night and then pressing her face to her pillow in a fit of giggles. Hermione rolled her eyes at the recollection. Never would she behave this way over a boy. Besides, she was still too young for such things or that was what she had told herself last summer when she made her mind up about Viktor. It was aggravating that her heart was starting to disagree, it seemed to skip a beat every time Ron looked her way and he did that a lot.
Her eyes travelled over the common room in search of Ginny. Maybe they could have another chat. The last one had helped her though she refused to believe Ginny when she'd said that Ron liked her. It was odd that she was saying such things. Hermione would never dream of telling Ginny that Harry liked her if she wasn't absolutely sure he felt that way. This was probably something most girls did, telling each other stuff like that so they would feel better about themselves. Lavender and Parvati certainly did. She was the one who was different. A girl who had only boys for friends, she had been deprived of those girl-talks. Girls were always grouping together and she had the evidence right in front of her – Angelina, Alicia and Katie chatting animatedly and a group of second year girls were huddled together and whispering. Was she missing out on something? Harry and Ron were the best friends she could have had and when she had started at Hogwarts, she hadn't looked for any girl friends. Other girls never seemed to have liked her or that was what her experience had been in primary school. She had been teased and even bullied there. The old taunts still were clear in her head: "Brainy Grainy", "The Boring Little Bookworm" and many more she couldn't bear thinking about. Ignoring insults soon had become an art form for her and she had been very surprised how hurt she'd become when Ron had called her a nightmare in their first year. Probably because she had thought that Hogwarts would be different, she might not gain loads of friends but at least people wouldn't call her names. When she had become friends with Harry and Ron, she had finally understood the beauty of friendship. She loved them both to pieces. It was difficult, of course, not to love Harry; he was the most genuine person she had ever met. His heroic streak was almost poetic. She wanted to protect him, shield him, and without doubt she would risk her life for him. Ron, on the other hand, was … why had it become so difficult to think a straight thought about him? He had always managed to push her buttons, aggravate her tremendously but somehow nearly always remain her friend. Now she found herself staring at his lips, and thinking about what it might be like if he kissed her. The heat rose in her cheeks as she recollected the dreams she sometimes had about him. Supposedly it was normal to have those kinds of dreams at her age. Nevertheless it was hard for her to look Ron in the face in the morning after having dreams about touching and kissing him the night before.
Her eyes kept scanning the common room and finally settled on Ginny, who was whispering something to Harry. They were sitting together alone near the fireplace. Hermione's eyes widened. What was that about? Maybe this was the reason why Ginny had become so secretive lately, although if things were progressing between her and Harry, she wouldn't keep it a secret. No, Hermione was sure it was something else, something which caused Ginny and Harry look suspiciously around the common room every once in awhile and then return to their frantic whispering.
"What are you doing?" Hermione was startled. She hadn't seen Ron approach.
"Oh, just homework," she said, flustered.
"Yeah, right. You were gazing into thin air, since when has that become homework? It could be your Arithmancy assignment though," Ron said and looked over the piece of parchment strewn over the table.
"Maybe I was thinking."
"About what?"
"Oh, the party your brothers are throwing. I'm a bit worried."
"Hermione, it's okay. You don't have to take responsibility for it," he sat besides her. "Aren't you coming? I thought you had asked your parents to stay over the last days of the holiday."
"Yes, I did and I'm coming, but what about your parents? Do they know that the Burrow is going to be full of kids on New Year's Eve. What if something happens? I mean, we can't know if the Death Eaters strike or not." She looked at him for a second and looked away quickly.
"Hermione, first of all, I think the wards at the Burrow are strong and then there will be fully-licensed wizards at the party. Oliver Wood is coming and we might expect Percy and Penny though I hope not, Percy probably doesn't approve or something. I also think that Fred and George were planning on inviting Serafina McQueen who was the Gryffindor Seeker before Harry. She's very cool, I've met her. They're probably inviting some other people who have left Hogwarts," Ron was obviously excited about this party and she just smiled, it was no point in arguing this further. All she could do was to attend this party and try to prevent trouble.
~~~~
Ron sighed. It didn't seem like Hermione was planning on having much fun at the twins' party. He really wanted her to; he wanted to have fun with her. Laughing and saying jokes, maybe dance a bit. Not formal dances like some people had been dancing on the Yule Ball last year. She should have fun, loosen up a bit. That was something that she needed once in a while and they had learned that the hard way in their third year. The fifth year schedule was demanding and she also had the Prefect's duty and whenever she had free time, she was working on S.P.E.W. He was also working hard; it was no easy feat being on the Quidditch team.
Hermione had got back to her homework and Ron decided to leave her to it. The common room was clearing; most people were off to bed. He searched for Harry and saw him talking to Ginny. What was that about? They were laughing merrily while Ginny was gesturing wildly. Hopefully she wasn't sharing an embarrassing story about him though he wasn't very worried that Harry would tease him, at least it wouldn't be any worse than what Fred and George usually gave him.
It felt awkward to go and break up the conversation his sister and best friend were having. Best get to bed, he thought, I can ask Harry later what that was all about. As he climbed the stairs to the dormitories, he wondered when Ginny had started to act like herself around Harry. She had always gone weird around him. Maybe she was outgrowing her crush. What did he know?
Neville was already snoring and it seemed like Seamus and Dean were also asleep. Ron was glad – he didn't feel like having a repeat of last night, when Seamus had returned from a rendezvous with Lavender, looking very smug and keeping them all up late talking.
"What's with the grin?" Dean had asked and Seamus had grinned even wider, pulling his jumper off and pulling the collar of his t-shirt down to reveal a reddish bruise right under his collar bone. Ron had recognised what it was right away but he kept quiet.
"Why are you bruised?" Neville had asked. Dean had snickered while Seamus had pulled his t-shirt down.
"That, my friend, is a lovebite," Seamus had replied, "Lavender and I got … err … passionate in the Arithmancy class room." Harry had chortled while Dean clapped Seamus's back.
"How does one get a lovebite? Did she really bite you?" Neville's eyes had become very wide.
"No, dungbrain," Seamus had said, "she just kissed me a bit hard. That can cause bruises." The rest of the night, they had educated each other about what you could get up to when alone with a member of the opposite sex. No one of them had much experience, Seamus's lovebite was as far as it went.
This had ended of course in Dean and Seamus asking Harry and Ron if either of them had kissed Hermione. They had looked at each other and Harry had answered, "nothing more than a good-bye kiss on the cheek."
"I bet Krum got more than that," Seamus had remarked, winking at Dean. Something had snapped inside Ron and he had told Seamus to shut up in an angry voice.
"Down boy," Seamus had laughed, and Dean, Neville and Harry had looked very amused.
Ron groaned, he didn't want to think more about it, though he knew that Hermione wasn't about to leave his mind. He knew that when he fell asleep, thoughts about her would be replaced by dreams about her.
As he slid under the warm bedcovers, he couldn't help but think of the house-elves. Was her propaganda starting to have an influence on his way of thinking? She was so enthusiastic about it and it really meant something to her. He could try and support her, she deserved that for being such a good friend to him and to Harry. She took pride in being as supportive as possible to Harry and he tried to follow her example. The argument between himself and Harry over the Triwizard Tournament still left a sour taste in his mouth. He turned in the bed and decided to concentrate on something else, like her.
He was pretty sure that money didn't matter much to her, but that might have changed since she met Krum. Maybe she preferred boys who had smart clothes and could give her something more than impersonal books and sweets. This Christmas would be different, he wanted to give her something special and he was determined to use the last Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas break to find it. It was another story with the smart clothes, he couldn't afford to have new and he was out-growing nearly every hand-me-down from his brothers. In fact, only Bill's old clothes fit him properly now.
Then he remembered – his new dress robes! Finally he could possible wear something that might look good on him. He would wear them at the party and show her that English boys could be just as good as Bulgarians, or even better. Thinking these thoughts, his eyelids dropped and he started dreaming about being at a party, all dressed up in his blue dress robes, twirling Hermione and she was dressed in those robes she had been in at the Yule Ball. Slowly the dream changed and he was sitting with Hermione in his lap, kissing her fiercely. He sighed in his sleep and turned on his other side.
