Fire and Rain Chap. 6
The following weeks passed quickly. Ron felt swamped due to his responsibilities as Head Boy and Keeper on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He woke up early and he went to sleep completely drained. Practices, patrolling, and lessons were completely time consuming. Therefore, Ron was thoroughly happy when their first Hogsmeade weekend hovered in the horizon. Several days before, Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat at a table in the library. Ron looked down at his Potions essay.Ron groaned loudly, "I'm never going to finish this!" He and Harry had just been through a grueling practice session and he felt exhausted.
Snape had required 4 feet of parchment on the effects of a Thought Purifying potion. But Ron only had 3 feet completed. Hermione looked over at him. She knew that he was under a lot of pressure and that he was constantly tired, she had even stopped badgering him about his studies.
"Let me have a look," she said leaning over and reading over it quickly. "All right, right here you need to expand on this, and here, you need to mention this-" Hermione had taken his parchment and was writing furiously. Ron had never been so grateful towards her before.
"Thanks Hermione," he said with a look of gratitude in his eyes.
"It's okay Ron, but don't get used to this," she said with a smile.
Harry finished his essay and rolled it up.
"Whew, finally! I'm done," he said with a satisfied smile. Suddenly from the shelf behind Harry, a book fell loudly, making the trio jump with surprise.
Harry turned around to see what it was, "Oh, hi Cho," he said, stunned.
She had definitely been the last person he expected to see. Ever since their fifth year, Cho Chang had rarely spoken to Harry anymore; only sometimes, she threw him a smile in the hallways. After her graduation, she had decided to stay at Hogwarts an act as a teacher's assistant.
"Hi, Harry," she said, smiling brightly at him. She looked slightly embarrassed.
Harry picked up the book and handed it to her, "I think you dropped this," he said grinning.
"Yeah, thanks." She hesitated when she took the book from Harry. "So a visit to Hogsmeade is coming up this weekend. Are you going with anyone, Harry?" she asked him, blushing.
Harry's eyes widened. "Well, I was just going to go with Ron and Hermione." He distinctly remembered the last time he had visited Hogsmeade with Cho.
"Oh, well I was wondering if you'd like to have a butterbeer with me at the Three Broomsticks," Cho said hurriedly.
Harry didn't know what to say. His crush on Cho was long forgotten, but there was an urgency in her face that made it hard for Harry to outwardly say 'No'.
"Um...Well, I guess that would be okay," said Harry resignedly, shrugging.
"Cool Harry, that'll be great," Cho said smiling, before turning and leaving the library.
Harry turned to look at Ron and Hermione, who had been watching the scene with great interest.
"So, you're actually going to meet with Cho?" asked Ron, his eyebrows raised.
"I guess so," said Harry with a small frown. He felt like he had been backed into it.
"So are you still going with Luna?" Harry asked, trying to get the attention off of himself. Hermione looked up swiftly at Harry's question.
Ron's eyes opened widely and he smacked himself in the forehead.
"Oh my goodness, LUNA! I completely forgot! I've been so busy, and I haven't really seen her around lately--" he said rapidly.
"So you're not going to go with her?" asked Hermione, coyly.
"NO! Of course not! I've got to find her to tell her!" said Ron before picking up his things and leaving the library in a rush, leaving Hermione and Harry to stare at his retreating figure quizzically.
Once out of the library, Ron had no idea where to search for Luna. After dropping off his books quickly in his dormitory, he walked around the entire school looking for her. He even went out onto the grounds to see if she was perhaps sitting out there, under a tree. Immediately it had started pouring and he felt his entire Quidditch uniform, which he was still wearing from practice, grow wet. Once inside the school, until Mrs. Norris slinked by him, looking at him frigidly, did he realize that he had stayed out looking for Luna well past midnight. Giving up, he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower, soaked from head to foot.
Once inside the portrait hole, he sat on the couch in front of the fire. He was dead tired. His body felt sore, and his brain hurt. To top it all off, he was drenched. Even his socks felt wet. But he was too tired to remove them. Slowly Ron felt his eyes closing as he watched the flames from the fire dance around.
Ron felt something warm being draped over him. Opening his eyes slowly, a face came into focus. Immediately he knew to whom those caramel eyes belonged to. He opened his mouth to speak, but a finger was quickly placed on his lips. Ron smiled in appreciation. His clothes were still soaking wet, but he now had a warm throw placed over him. He felt fingers gently brush over the damp hair on his forehead. His eyes closed again, despite himself.
"Sleep well, Ron" Hermione whispered before turning and walking back upstairs to her dormitory.
