"What about this color?" Hermione Granger asked holding up a beautifully hand-crafted muumuu.
"'Mione, it's a muumuu. It's a horrid creation," Ronald Weasely responded before stretching in the chair outside the dressing room. "And besides, we've been here for two hours, two. If I don't qualify for boyfriend of the year, I don't know who the hell deserves it."
Hermione glared at him before putting the muumuu on the rack and pulling on her coat. "Oh all right. You have been more than patient through this excursion." She grabbed his hand and they practically ran out of the store into the main streets of Hogsmead. He turned around and looked at the sign about the shop: Modern Clothing.
"How is that stuff modern?"
"It's not…I
think Hogsmeade is behind the times," Hermione
giggled. Hermione took a deep breathe
and sighed humming a tune. "Isn't it
exciting?" she asked Ron as he led her into Three Broomsticks. He gave her a questioning look before
ordering two butter beers.
"What?" he asked. They sat down at the nearest table. "What is so exciting? It's snowing out…it
can't be that."
"No, you dolt, I'm talking about our trip to America over holidays!" she squealed, her eyes getting bright and a 100-watt smile on her face.
"Oh," Ron said simply looking down and taking a sip of his butter beer. Hermione reached across and put her hand over his before asking why he had such a sour face. "Mum owled the other day. I can't go." Shock crossed Hermione's face and she pulled back as if she'd been slapped.
"What?" she asked softly completing ignoring everyone else in the room. Ron lifted his eyes slowly and he could see hurt in her eyes. He hadn't meant to hurt her, it was just as much of a shock to him. "Ron…please, explain."
He sighed. "We don't have enough money to send both Ginny and I. So, I told Mum to just let Ginny go." He shifted his eyes above her and felt his heart pang as she grabbed hold of his hand tightly squeezing it. "It's no big deal." He faltered for a moment before adding almost painstakingly, "You'll enjoy yourself with everyone else."
"No I won't Ronald Weasely!" Hermione said vehemently. Ron looked at her square in the eye and he could see tears forming in the corners. "Ron, you have to go. I'll...I'll pay for you! I've been saving up for years! Oh Ron, it just won't be the same without you!" She was pleading with him now. He could tell she was serious about her vocations.
"You can't pay for me Hermione. It wouldn't be right. I can go to the Burrow and spend Christmas with my parents," he told her and she could tell he'd been thinking about this for days. "The plane leaves next week anyway, there's no way I could get a ticket by then."
"Ron-,"
"No Hermione. I am really sorry, there, just isn't possibly a way I could go with you now," he gave her a half-hearted shrug and squeezed her hand lightly. She immediately recoiled it and stood up, toppling her chair over. Her eyes were ablaze, and she looked fit to kill.
"I cannot believe you Ronald Weasely! You're letting your pride get in the way of going somewhere amazing with your girlfriend and your friends. Well, I hope you're happy with yourself," she spat at him before storming out of Three Broomsticks leaving a bewildered and miserable Ron behind. He whipped out some money and ran after her. Immediately when he reached the streets he knew he'd have a hard task. Snow was falling heavily, and although the streets weren't crowded, the snow made everything difficult to see.
"Hermione!" he screamed, but his voice just got carried off with the wind. He ran across to Flourish and Blotts, and looked frantically around to see if she was in there. She wasn't. "Hermione, please," he whispered.
During their first few years of school Hermione was slightly adventurous, but now that they were in their 6th year, she had grown into a very sneaky girl. Numerous times after they'd had major fight she'd run off to some unforeseen part of the castle and he'd spend countless hours trying to find her until he did after hearing her cries. They hadn't had many fights within their two-year relationship, and strangely enough people told them that they missed it.
Shaken out of his thoughts, Ron trudged down the street looking in all the windows of the shops. He turned down a street that lead out of Hogsmeade and saw a small bundle of a person huddled next to a building.
"Hermione!" Ron screamed. Hermione looked up and scowled at him before putting her head back down. Ron ran forward anyway and crouched in front of her. He tried to pull her towards him, but she wouldn't budge.
"Go away," she said icily.
"You're going to freeze out here!" he screamed at her. She looked up at him, and he could see the tears that had frozen to her cheek.
"What do you care?" she finally asked, her voice hitching and breaking. He pulled away from her slightly.
"How can
you ask that?" he asked. He looked at
her painfully and added, "How could I not
care?" She looked taken back by his
statement and stared at him for quite a while before she heard him whisper,
"I'm sorry." That was all it took for
her to completely break down and she threw herself at him, immediately feeling
his warmth engulf her. He pulled her
tightly to him and tried to send as much warmth as he could to her.
"Oh Ron, I'm sorry too. I overreacted," she whispered into his ear
before kissing his cheek. "Can we go
back now?" she asked pulling away from him.
He nodded his head and they both stood up and huddled against each other
before starting the long trudge back to Hogwarts.
A/N:
What do you think of it so far? Should I continue? I'm not entirely sure where this is going, but I've had loads of ideas for a long time, and I figured I'd write them down. Please, please comment and give me any suggestions you might have=)
