It's been awhile. And I know it has. I've just been extremely stuck, I need
filler, and hopefully this works out. I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting-
it's not like me to abandon one of my stories for as long as I have. So
here goes.please read, review, and make suggestions, because I'm pretty
much going on nothing lol.
*~*
After Madam Pomfrey came into Hermione's cubicle and pronounced her healthy, she and Ron left without a word said between them. Her head, along with feeling tiny pricks of pain from the Puff-Cheeked pins, was spinning with emotion. Had Ron really meant what he said? And if he had, why?
It was near lunch when they made it to the Great Hall, which was filled with students jabbering away between mouthfuls of food. Hermione spied Harry and made a beeline to a chair next to him.
"Where were you guys? It shouldn't have taken nearly that long," Harry said, a knowing smirk spreading across his face.
Hermione and Ron exchanged identical looks of awkwardness across the table. Ron's face was full of ham sandwich and was pretending to not have heard Harry.
"Oh - if you must know, the pins took awhile to fall out. With my allergic reaction and everything, it's a miracle they're not still in there," Hermione said very quickly.
She hurriedly jammed a sandwich into her mouth, so Harry was left to talk to Ron about Quidditch, which was very hard considering Ron was talking with his mouth full of bread.
Twenty minutes later, both boys pushed their chairs back from the table and stood up.
"Ah, well, off to Divination. We'll catch up with you in the common room later, Hermione," Ron said, and walked off in the direction of the North Tower.
Harry was about to follow, but Hermione grabbed his arm with such force that he was planted right back into the seat he had been sitting in.
"Ow! What was that f-," he started, but before he could finish shouting, she clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Shh! I need to talk to you tonight, without Ron around," she said in a low voice so no one would overhear her.
"If that was all you wanted, why couldn't you have just told me without the vice grip?" he asked, massaging the spot she had dug her nails into.
Hermione snorted.
"And they say women are weak to pain," she said loftily, and headed out the doors of the Great Hall to Arithmancy.
*~*
Class went rather well for Hermione, considering the Puff-Cheeked attack from this morning was quite literally written across her face. Once she blocked out the strange feeling on her face from her mind, she was able to concentrate. She was working so well, in fact, that Professor Vector had to call her name three times before she realized that the bell had already rung.
She was rounding the corner of a hall when a voice made her come to a halt.
"Her-my-own-ninny!" Krum called to her from the other end of the corridor.
Hermione groaned inwardly. It wasn't everyday an International Quidditch player gave you the time of day, and it just so happened this day she had an unnaturally puffy face. When she turned around, she saw Krum striding towards her in the near-empty corridor. However, his expression went from delight to concern once he got closer to her.
"Vat happened to your face?" he asked with a worried look on his own.
"Oh, I wasn't paying attention in Herbology, and I - well - needless to say, one of the plants sprayed me with its quills, and I had an allergic reaction to them," she answered hurriedly, as if getting it out all at once would make her face turn a lesser shade of pink.
"Vell, you look just as pretty as you did before," Krum said, shuffling his feet and smiling shyly.
'That's funny,' Hermione thought. 'Where have I heard that before?' She thought for a second, and then what she remembered made her brain jam.
Just a few hours before, Ron had reached over her hospital bed, gently turned her face, and had said those exact same words. It was strange, though; when Krum had said it, her heart hadn't stopped like it had when Ron did.
Hermione looked around in the corridor. She had expected to see a dozen eyes on her, but was shocked to find that the hall was completely empty.
"Er- Viktor, I have to go, I was supposed to meet Harry and Ron in the common room awhile ago," Hermione said awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to what he had coincidentally told her.
Krum looked at her, and she thought she detected a hint of hurt behind his dark eyes. "Ah. I vill be seeing you, Herm-my-own-ninny." He said, and without a second glance at her, slouched off down the hall he had come.
Hermione waited in the hallway for a few minutes, giving herself time to think. What were the odds that two out of three of her closest male allies would have identical remarks about her? And again, what was Krum playing at? They had both agreed to keep things on a friend's only basis, but it seemed like he had a disregard for the rules.
Realizing again that she was late for meeting up with her friends, she dashed down the corridor to a staircase that would lead to the Gryffindor common room. Before she could get there however, she had the rug she was running over pulled out from under her by an invisible force so that she was sent flying through the air and hit the ground with a thud, sprawled out in a haphazard fashion.
Suddenly, Peeves the poltergeist materialized out of thin air.
"Someone's smitten with a Durmstrang teacher," he cackled evilly.
It took Hermione a minute to get her breath back, as it had been knocked out of her by the fall. Once she regained it, however, she spoke to Peeves with such language that the Weasley twins would have been proud.
"Such language, from a prefect, nonetheless," the poltergeist said, impressed. "Just don't let old Peevesie catch you two, if you know what I mean," he snickered, giving her a large fake wink and speeding away.
By the time Hermione finally reached the common room, it was well near dinnertime. She entered the portrait hole just as Ron, Harry and Ginny were about to leave.
"What took you? We've been waiting for you for nearly a half hour," Ginny said, eyeing her friend with concern. "And what happened to your face?"
"Long story Ginny, I'll tell you at dinner," Hermione said.
"Good, we're just about to go. Are you ready?" Harry asked.
"Actually Harry, I needed to ask you about something. The - erm - Herbology that I missed after I left for the hospital wing," she said slowly, giving him a look that meant for him to lag behind while the others went to dinner.
Harry looked at her intently, clearly not knowing what she meant. Hermione nodded her head a little in the direction of Ron, who was eyeing them suspiciously, as was Ginny. This went on for about ten more seconds, until Hermione finally gave up.
"Oh for heaven sakes, Harry! I need to talk to you alone!" she exclaimed a little louder than she meant to.
Comprehension dawned on Harry's face, as did Ginny's.
"Oh, hold on, I left something in the girl's dormitory. I'll just go fetch it and I'll meet you at dinner, okay Ron?" Ginny said to her brother.
Ron looked from Hermione to Harry to Ginny.
"I don't know what's going on here, but I don't like it," he said darkly. He turned quickly on his heel, but before he could realize that the portrait hole had long since closed, he walked head-on into it with a dull thud.
Ron cussed some five or six different words that Hermione knew his mother wouldn't approve of before giving his friends a sheepish glace, uttering the password and climbing out the portrait hole.
"Okay then, so what are you two saying that Ron can't know about?" Ginny asked with the ease of one having a conversation about the weather.
"You mean you didn't really have something to fetch in your dormitory just now?" Hermione asked, looking at Ginny impressively.
"Nah, I figure I know what this is all about and I could be of some assistance," she said, grabbing the end of her long auburn ponytail and absentmindedly twirled a lock of her hair around her fingers.
"You're going to be just as good as your brothers," Harry smiled, referring to the Weasley twins. "I'm sorry, did I just say good?"
"Anyway Hermione, what is it that you wanted to say?" Ginny asked.
Hermione told them everything from the time she and Ron had left the greenhouse up until a few moments ago. To her surprise, she was met with looks not of confusion and perplex like her own, but of what looked like they were hiding an extremely humorous joke from her.
"You mean you don't know?" Harry asked, sounding amazed and entertained.
"Don't know what?" Hermione asked, still completely confused.
"I thought you would have at least suspected something before now. I mean, it's entirely obvious," Ginny said with awe in her voice.
"Listen, if this is some stupid joke," Hermione started before she was cut off by Ginny.
"Oh Hermione, don't you see? Ron fancies you," she said, looking at her as if she were a lost little kitten.
For the umpteenth time that day, her brain became jammed once more. She looked from Ginny to Harry, then back to Ginny once more. 'This has to be some stupid trick,' she thought to herself, but could tell by the looks in her friend's eyes that they were telling no word of a lie.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Okay, I left it with a huge cliffhanger. I'm completely tired out.I started writing this around 8:45 and it is now 11:37. hopefully, I'll be smarter next time and either A. do this at a more reasonable time, or B. do it at this time, but hopped up on caffeine.
So could you all please please PLEASE read and review? I really appreciate all the words of encouragement that I get; I've never ever had this type of reaction from any of my work. Maybe if you do it fast enough, I'll write another chapter during my winter break (
Also, suggestions are always welcome at anytime. I believe my email address is in my user lookup, so feel free to contact me via that.
*~*
After Madam Pomfrey came into Hermione's cubicle and pronounced her healthy, she and Ron left without a word said between them. Her head, along with feeling tiny pricks of pain from the Puff-Cheeked pins, was spinning with emotion. Had Ron really meant what he said? And if he had, why?
It was near lunch when they made it to the Great Hall, which was filled with students jabbering away between mouthfuls of food. Hermione spied Harry and made a beeline to a chair next to him.
"Where were you guys? It shouldn't have taken nearly that long," Harry said, a knowing smirk spreading across his face.
Hermione and Ron exchanged identical looks of awkwardness across the table. Ron's face was full of ham sandwich and was pretending to not have heard Harry.
"Oh - if you must know, the pins took awhile to fall out. With my allergic reaction and everything, it's a miracle they're not still in there," Hermione said very quickly.
She hurriedly jammed a sandwich into her mouth, so Harry was left to talk to Ron about Quidditch, which was very hard considering Ron was talking with his mouth full of bread.
Twenty minutes later, both boys pushed their chairs back from the table and stood up.
"Ah, well, off to Divination. We'll catch up with you in the common room later, Hermione," Ron said, and walked off in the direction of the North Tower.
Harry was about to follow, but Hermione grabbed his arm with such force that he was planted right back into the seat he had been sitting in.
"Ow! What was that f-," he started, but before he could finish shouting, she clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Shh! I need to talk to you tonight, without Ron around," she said in a low voice so no one would overhear her.
"If that was all you wanted, why couldn't you have just told me without the vice grip?" he asked, massaging the spot she had dug her nails into.
Hermione snorted.
"And they say women are weak to pain," she said loftily, and headed out the doors of the Great Hall to Arithmancy.
*~*
Class went rather well for Hermione, considering the Puff-Cheeked attack from this morning was quite literally written across her face. Once she blocked out the strange feeling on her face from her mind, she was able to concentrate. She was working so well, in fact, that Professor Vector had to call her name three times before she realized that the bell had already rung.
She was rounding the corner of a hall when a voice made her come to a halt.
"Her-my-own-ninny!" Krum called to her from the other end of the corridor.
Hermione groaned inwardly. It wasn't everyday an International Quidditch player gave you the time of day, and it just so happened this day she had an unnaturally puffy face. When she turned around, she saw Krum striding towards her in the near-empty corridor. However, his expression went from delight to concern once he got closer to her.
"Vat happened to your face?" he asked with a worried look on his own.
"Oh, I wasn't paying attention in Herbology, and I - well - needless to say, one of the plants sprayed me with its quills, and I had an allergic reaction to them," she answered hurriedly, as if getting it out all at once would make her face turn a lesser shade of pink.
"Vell, you look just as pretty as you did before," Krum said, shuffling his feet and smiling shyly.
'That's funny,' Hermione thought. 'Where have I heard that before?' She thought for a second, and then what she remembered made her brain jam.
Just a few hours before, Ron had reached over her hospital bed, gently turned her face, and had said those exact same words. It was strange, though; when Krum had said it, her heart hadn't stopped like it had when Ron did.
Hermione looked around in the corridor. She had expected to see a dozen eyes on her, but was shocked to find that the hall was completely empty.
"Er- Viktor, I have to go, I was supposed to meet Harry and Ron in the common room awhile ago," Hermione said awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to what he had coincidentally told her.
Krum looked at her, and she thought she detected a hint of hurt behind his dark eyes. "Ah. I vill be seeing you, Herm-my-own-ninny." He said, and without a second glance at her, slouched off down the hall he had come.
Hermione waited in the hallway for a few minutes, giving herself time to think. What were the odds that two out of three of her closest male allies would have identical remarks about her? And again, what was Krum playing at? They had both agreed to keep things on a friend's only basis, but it seemed like he had a disregard for the rules.
Realizing again that she was late for meeting up with her friends, she dashed down the corridor to a staircase that would lead to the Gryffindor common room. Before she could get there however, she had the rug she was running over pulled out from under her by an invisible force so that she was sent flying through the air and hit the ground with a thud, sprawled out in a haphazard fashion.
Suddenly, Peeves the poltergeist materialized out of thin air.
"Someone's smitten with a Durmstrang teacher," he cackled evilly.
It took Hermione a minute to get her breath back, as it had been knocked out of her by the fall. Once she regained it, however, she spoke to Peeves with such language that the Weasley twins would have been proud.
"Such language, from a prefect, nonetheless," the poltergeist said, impressed. "Just don't let old Peevesie catch you two, if you know what I mean," he snickered, giving her a large fake wink and speeding away.
By the time Hermione finally reached the common room, it was well near dinnertime. She entered the portrait hole just as Ron, Harry and Ginny were about to leave.
"What took you? We've been waiting for you for nearly a half hour," Ginny said, eyeing her friend with concern. "And what happened to your face?"
"Long story Ginny, I'll tell you at dinner," Hermione said.
"Good, we're just about to go. Are you ready?" Harry asked.
"Actually Harry, I needed to ask you about something. The - erm - Herbology that I missed after I left for the hospital wing," she said slowly, giving him a look that meant for him to lag behind while the others went to dinner.
Harry looked at her intently, clearly not knowing what she meant. Hermione nodded her head a little in the direction of Ron, who was eyeing them suspiciously, as was Ginny. This went on for about ten more seconds, until Hermione finally gave up.
"Oh for heaven sakes, Harry! I need to talk to you alone!" she exclaimed a little louder than she meant to.
Comprehension dawned on Harry's face, as did Ginny's.
"Oh, hold on, I left something in the girl's dormitory. I'll just go fetch it and I'll meet you at dinner, okay Ron?" Ginny said to her brother.
Ron looked from Hermione to Harry to Ginny.
"I don't know what's going on here, but I don't like it," he said darkly. He turned quickly on his heel, but before he could realize that the portrait hole had long since closed, he walked head-on into it with a dull thud.
Ron cussed some five or six different words that Hermione knew his mother wouldn't approve of before giving his friends a sheepish glace, uttering the password and climbing out the portrait hole.
"Okay then, so what are you two saying that Ron can't know about?" Ginny asked with the ease of one having a conversation about the weather.
"You mean you didn't really have something to fetch in your dormitory just now?" Hermione asked, looking at Ginny impressively.
"Nah, I figure I know what this is all about and I could be of some assistance," she said, grabbing the end of her long auburn ponytail and absentmindedly twirled a lock of her hair around her fingers.
"You're going to be just as good as your brothers," Harry smiled, referring to the Weasley twins. "I'm sorry, did I just say good?"
"Anyway Hermione, what is it that you wanted to say?" Ginny asked.
Hermione told them everything from the time she and Ron had left the greenhouse up until a few moments ago. To her surprise, she was met with looks not of confusion and perplex like her own, but of what looked like they were hiding an extremely humorous joke from her.
"You mean you don't know?" Harry asked, sounding amazed and entertained.
"Don't know what?" Hermione asked, still completely confused.
"I thought you would have at least suspected something before now. I mean, it's entirely obvious," Ginny said with awe in her voice.
"Listen, if this is some stupid joke," Hermione started before she was cut off by Ginny.
"Oh Hermione, don't you see? Ron fancies you," she said, looking at her as if she were a lost little kitten.
For the umpteenth time that day, her brain became jammed once more. She looked from Ginny to Harry, then back to Ginny once more. 'This has to be some stupid trick,' she thought to herself, but could tell by the looks in her friend's eyes that they were telling no word of a lie.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Okay, I left it with a huge cliffhanger. I'm completely tired out.I started writing this around 8:45 and it is now 11:37. hopefully, I'll be smarter next time and either A. do this at a more reasonable time, or B. do it at this time, but hopped up on caffeine.
So could you all please please PLEASE read and review? I really appreciate all the words of encouragement that I get; I've never ever had this type of reaction from any of my work. Maybe if you do it fast enough, I'll write another chapter during my winter break (
Also, suggestions are always welcome at anytime. I believe my email address is in my user lookup, so feel free to contact me via that.