Disclaimer: You know the drill. Obviously I don't own Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and company. They all belong to the lovely and talented J.K. Rowling. I did, however, create Juliana Greenwald and Steven Blake. They're mine. Don't take them, because I love them so! The spells are J.K.'s as well.
Author's Note: Thanks to my lovely beta Miles. Sorry this took me so long! I was in a play that just ended. So now I have time! This chapter is my baby thus far, so I hope you enjoy it! And I'm glad you love Steven as much as I do. Anyway, I know that they learn "vera vetra" in their 2nd year. But for lack of creativity on my part, we're going to say it's something they do in 6th year. Oh. And for some reason my tabs are screwed up. I don't know what's up with FFN, but just...pretend the paragraphs are indented...or something. I think that's it. Review please!
Chapter 3/The DA Meeting
It was during their break before dinner when Ron and Hermione were in the library. Hermione had grabbed every Transfiguration book she could think of. She was determined for Ron to pass his classes this year! Currently the books were being used to keep the mouse Hermione nicked from McGonagall's office from running off the edge of the table. Ron was sitting at the table, propping his head up with his hand, staring sleepily at Hermione.
"Vera vetra!" Hermione said as she effortlessly waved her wand and the very scared mouse turned into a teacup in an instant. "Reverso," she said plainly and the cup turned back into the mouse.
"I don't understand how you do it!" Ron stood up and stared at the mouse. He lazily waved his wand. "Vera vetra." Nothing.
"Okay, first of all. Put some oomph into it, Ronald! And second, it's more of a flick of the wrist and then a wave instead of it just being a wave."
Ron put on a fake smile and in a mock cheerleader tone, waved his wand again and said, "VERA VETRA!" The mouse turned into a fur covered teacup.
"Well…at least you got the oomph…" she said helpfully.
"You know what? I'm not going to get this. I might as well be a Squib."
"Oh, shut your face!"
"I'm not perfect like you! And I never will be. So don't tell me to 'shut my face'!" Ron could feel his temper and bitterness rising.
"Ron, so help me, I will MAKE YOU PERFECT!" Hermione slammed a book shut and angrily put it back in its place on the bookshelf.
"SHHHH!" Madame Pince poked her head around the shelves and glared at Ron and Hermione. And just as quickly as she appeared, she was gone. They stood in an awkward silence.
"Here. I'll…I'll show you." Hermione went over to Ron, stood behind him and put her hand over the hand that was clutching his wand.
"Hey, loosen your grip, will ya?" he said calmly.
"Sorry," Hermione blushed. She cleared her throat. "Okay…it's, uh. It's more like this." She slowly raised his arm, trying to hide the fact that inside her calm exterior, a whirlwind of emotion was going on. "Alright, say it with me. I'll do the motion for you."
"Vera vetra!" they both said as Hermione flicked Ron's wrist and waved his wand. In a tiny poof of smoke, the mouse turned into a teacup.
"See? Try it without me." And sure enough, Ron did the spell perfectly.
"I knew you could do it!" Hermione said excitedly.
"Thanks to you…" Ron blushed an incredible shade of red. He stood there awkwardly as if trying to make up his mind. Finally, he bent down and kissed her on the cheek, turning into a deeper shade of red.
"Oh, Ron, don't be silly." Hermione stood on her tip-toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her lips to his. Ron staggered backward and grabbed a chair for support. A second later, when he came to his senses, he put his hands on her hips and kissed back with such a fervor that allowed six years of tension to flow free. There was a loud crash from across the room. Neither one of them seemed to notice, nor did they care…
Juliana had dropped two heavy volumes of The Ghosts' Revolution along with her parchment, quill, and bottle of ink (which completely shattered and left a seeping black puddle at her feet). She stood there in stunned silence with her hand covering her mouth. She could feel tears burning to be released.
"This isn't happening…it can't happen…I didn't even get a chance…" she muttered quietly to herself, shaking her head with wide eyes. She blinked and a tear fell, staining her blank parchment. Directly across from her on the other side of the library were Ron and Hermione.
Juliana couldn't remember how she got back to the dormitory. She was completely numb. Tears were silently streaming down her face. She threw herself on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. She didn't sob; she just closed her eyes and let the tears come. She felt a hand on her back and jumped. Looking through her teary and blurred eyes, she tried to determine who was invading her dramatic depressed moment.
"…Steven?! How? —But—boy's can't—the stairs—"
"Evidently have gaydar," he said without missing a beat and pulled her into a hug. "Hun, I'm so sorry. I just found out and then I saw you run through the common room. Do you want to talk?" He pulled away and held her by her arms.
She sniffed and tried to smile. "It seems silly now, doesn't it?" Steven shook his head. She continued. "I don't know…somewhere in my disoriented mind…I hoped…I thought…that maybe I had a chance, even if it was just a glimmer of a chance. But I know that was bloody stupid of me. He didn't even know me." Steven conjured a box of tissues.
"Here," he said handing her one. "And you're not stupid. But you do know that Ron and Hermione have been scalp over soles for each other, ever since first year when they insulted each other on the train."
Juliana sniffed again. "I know…I just…" she trailed off.
"Don't worry about it," he hugged her again. "And besides…there's always the possibility that after they deal with their tension that they just get bored with each other and it only lasts a week."
"Yeah, but I don't want to think about how they're releasing the tension. Just makes it worse," she said with a half smile.
"Well, I still think you should go to the DA meeting tonight."
"Oh, I don't know if I could handle that."
"I know you. You're strong. You can handle it. And maybe you'll dazzle Ron with your defensive talent!"
She couldn't help but laugh a little and roll her eyes, which were still red from crying. She was grateful for having a friend like Steven. Whatever the situation, he could always calm her down and make her smile. He stood up and started to walk toward the door.
"Why don't you rest a bit? Let your mind stop buzzing. I'll get you when it's time for the meeting."
Juliana half-smiled. "Thanks…"
"Anytime, luv."
Juliana closed her eyes. Half of her couldn't believe what she saw, but the other half told her that she should have seen it coming. She took a deep breath and slowly her thoughts died down and she returned to the lake. It was another perfectly sunny day. Ron's lips against hers felt like heaven.
"Jules!" She was once again shaken out of that dream. She whined incoherently and rolled over. She heard an exasperated sigh and felt her arms being pulled. The next thing she knew she was sitting up. "The meeting starts in 15 minutes! Come on, Jules! Let's go!" Juliana finally opened her eyes. There was no longer light outside. She realized that she slept through dinner.
"15 minutes?" she said trying to wake herself up. "How long was I asleep?"
"A few hours. Bloody hell you're hard to wake up. Now, get going!"
"Wait—what? You're coming with me, right?"
"I wasn't exactly planning on it…"
Juliana's eyes widened in panic. "Steven, you have to come with me. Please!" She begged. "I absolutely can't go alone! If I'm alone, I don't know what I'd do! I mean, I'm about to go and get the shit kicked out of me by love and I need my best friend there to back me up because you care about me and my well-being!" She took a breath. "And besides. You're always talking about how hot Harry is."
Steven stared at her, debating the idea in his head. "Alright, fine! I'll go! But, come on! It's about to start!" he grabbed her hand and together they ran out of the girls' dormitory, through the common room, and out the portrait. They reached the Room of Requirement out of breath. When they entered the room, the usual DA members stared back at them. Harry greeted them.
"Oh, hey, Juliana! Steven!" He nodded at each of them.
Juliana smiled, "Hello…" she was quickly surveying the room. And then she saw them. Ron and Hermione were sitting in a corner, their hands interlocked, whispering and briefly stealing a kiss when the opportunity presented itself. Juliana felt her heart drop well below her already nauseated stomach. She tried her best to keep her smile on and moved to an open space in the room with Steven.
"It'll be alright…" Steven nudged her and offered a smile. She nodded and she suddenly felt a twinge of anger and jealousy course through her.
"I think that's everyone," Harry said looking at the eager members' faces. He looked at Ron and Hermione in the corner, "Oy! Are you two joining us or are you getting a room?"
They blushed and got up. Juliana felt her heart beat faster seeing that they continued to stay hand in hand. Once again, her eyes were burning as tears begged to be released. She looked down and blinked them back, feeling anger come over her again.
"So," Harry shifted a little uncomfortably at the attention he was getting. "I thought we could review the Reductor curse—"
"But Harry…we did that last year!" Ron whined, his arm draped over Hermione's shoulders. Juliana felt it again, each time it grew stronger.
"Yeah, but this is this year. And we have new members. So we're reviewing. For those of you who are new, the Reductor curse blows whatever is in your path…well…out of your path."
"Oh, this is gonna be bloody boring," Ron muttered and rolled his eyes. Hermione gave him a look and Juliana didn't know whether to laugh or feel rotten again.
"So split up into pairs," Harry said, ignoring Ron's comment. "The incantation is Reducto. For the person who is on the opposite end of the curse, I have these pillows that the curse should hit instead of you." As Harry said this, a number of large pillows, that when held up would shield half of your body, appeared by each group of two. Soon pillows were flying about the room and the incantation could be heard sporadically.
Juliana held the pillow up as Steven tried the curse again and again…each time failing. She sighed and picked a piece of fuzz off her robes. She had already successfully done the curse 15 times.
"I don't get it!" Steven whined and stomped his foot. "I'm perfect at everything! Why not this?!"
"Well, O Egomaniacal One," she said pretending to bow. "It could be that you're not concentrating hard enough. And it's also all about emotional control."
"Emotional control? This coming from the girl who's an emotional rollercoaster?"
She shrugged. "Maybe that part of magic has become a habit for me. But you really aren't concentrating, I can tell."
"Well, it's not my fault that Harry's so h—"
At that moment Harry appeared next to them. "All right? Do you need help with anything?"
Steven started nervously twirling his wand between his fingers. He tried to subtly smooth his robe. "Ye-yeah, I think we're good. Right, Jules? Yeah, it's going good." He smiled. Juliana raised her eyebrows at Steven's sudden strange behavior.
"Okay, great! I just wanted to be sure that you two are caught up to speed, so that's great! Just let me know if you need anything, I'm going to go check on Neville. He's quite scary with these kinds of curses." And with a laugh he left. Steven's currently tense form relaxed.
"Oh…my…G—" It dawned on Juliana.
"Don't say it."
"You…" She moved closer. "You fancy him!" she whispered excitedly. Steven bit his lip. "It's not like you just think he's dishy or anything! You actually fancy him!" She hit his arm angrily. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Oww!" Steven whined and rubbed his arm. "And I don't know…slipped my mind, I guess." But Juliana wasn't paying attention anymore. Standing ten feet away from her were Ron and Hermione.
Hermione was giggling uncontrollably at something Ron said to her. Funny…Hermione never really struck Juliana as the giggly type. And then the two girls locked eyes. Something flashed in Hermione's eyes, something that looked like triumph. Juliana and Hermione used to get along fine until Hermione figured out that Juliana fancied Ron. Ever since then there was tension between the two girls. It was almost like an unspoken competition to see who could win the boy over. It may be safe to say that Hermione had the advantage. The look in her eyes didn't settle well with Juliana. It was as if Hermione was taunting her saying, "I win. You lose." The amount of emotion Juliana felt course through her was blinding.
"Jules?"
Her head snapped back to Steven. "I'm getting nowhere with this. Why don't you do it a few more times? Maybe I'll catch on from you."
Juliana nodded and switched places with Steven, who held up the pillow. She looked back at Ron and Hermione just as they broke a kiss. Hermione looked back at Juliana with that same look of gleeful triumph and everything after became a blur.
"REDUCTO!" Juliana heard a voice shout that sounded an awful lot like her own.
Hermione flew back across the room and hit the wall.
There was a unanimous gasp and all sounds in the room stopped. Juliana could only hear her heart pounding in her ears.
She looked at Steven who clutched the pillow with wide eyes. She looked around the room and everyone was staring at her the same way. Neville was even trembling.
Hermione sat up cradling her arm. Her nose was bleeding.
"Bugger," Juliana simply said. "Hermione, I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't mean—it was—I don't know how—bad…aim," she finished lamely.
Hermione said nothing. She just nodded and pinched her nose.
Juliana turned to Harry. "I don't think this is my thing. I'm just gonna go." She pointed to the door and started to walk toward it.
"What do you mean this isn't your thing? That was a powerful Reductor curse!"
"Bad aim," she said again. She looked at Hermione. "Someone should get her to the hospital wing. Thanks for the welcome and all, Harry. But this isn't for me." With that, she left.
Everyone looked Steven who immediately got offended. "Well, I didn't do it!" They still stared at him. He sighed. "I'm just gonna… follow the redhead," he said weakly, taking one more look at Harry. When he left he saw that Juliana was already making her way to the Gryffindor tower. He jogged to catch up with her.
"Emotional control, eh?"
Juliana said nothing.