A.N. Long time no update. I was extremely uninspired for a long period of time, but then I borrowed my friend's copy of MGI and MGII! That was more than enough to encourage me to keep writing this fic, especially now that I've seen the series again I have a better understanding of the main characters.
Review replies:
trixie009 –
Brooke Monica – What they do eventually is up to me to decide and you do find out grins.
punkbanana13 – Thank you.
absentmindedgenius – Wow...to hear that from somebody who doesn't like different fics makes me feel really honoured. Thank you!
UnderAppreciated – I agree. I don't think I've done Ron well enough as his sweeter personality doesn't seem to be coming out very well. However, I am planning to 'refurbish' this fic and hopefully, improvements will be made.
SarahLou - winks They kissed in this chapter but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to get together...keep reading!
nishatk2000 – Wow thanks! Finally here's an update. Enjoy!
thaoton – To be honest, because I didn't have the VCD of MGI when I first wrote this fic, I wasn't sure of every exact detail. Seeing as I had watched one year ago, I couldn't even remember some of things that happened in between. The episode summaries and I looked for on fan websites were simply too general and weren't detailed enough. I came across 'The Boy who Loved Lily' and used it as a rough guideline as the plot included details that the episode summaries did not. I wasn't conscious of the fact that I was stealing her plot, but once I read back and compare the two, they are rather similar. However, like I said before, I'm planning to redo this fic sometime in the near future and make it more original.
kwazy4kun – Thank you.
Aimz – Thank you!
karina – Ah...the meteor rain shower. That element should be included but I'm not exactly sure how though. Keep reading!
Harrymeteorluva – Yes, Cho does seem a better choice than Ginny. However, at the end of the fifth book it stated that Harry no longer liked her and she went off with Michael Corner. Although a lot in this book is very out of canon I would still like to keep it as close to the plot as possible.
doriansportrait – Date...here you go. gestures to this chapter Have fun!
stvgirl – Yes...it is very out of character. I'm really glad that you like it, and I'll put in more effort to keep it as close to the original story of HP as possible. Also, I'm planning to redo this fic and improve everything that is unsatisfactory. So keep reading and enjoy!
butterflies-are-scary – Yes I've noticed that as well. However, like I said to the reviewer above points I WILL redo this fic in the future.
Original Mercedes Benz – Of course it's not the ending. There are about 30 or more chapters to go!
Chapter 10
It was a...nice Friday morning. Well, the weather was pretty good outside and Hermione felt reasonably happy. Until something, or rather, a someone approached her in the corridor as she was heading for breakfast.
It was Ron, hands tucked into his pockets, looking very casual and...well...looking like he normally did. He didn't bother to greet her, and merely said, "This Hogsmeade weekend at 2. Outside Honeydukes. Don't be late."
And with that he turned and walked away, leaving Hermione feeling very puzzled. What on earth was he on about? Shrugging a little, she proceeded down to the Great Hall and thought nothing more of what he said.
Saturday came, and Hermione was safely inside the Three Broomsticks with Ginny who seemed to have forgotten about the whole Harry incident, a tankard of Butterbeer in one hand. If it hadn't been raining heavily outside, all the students would have been in Hogsmeade enjoying the weekend. She glanced down at her watch and noticed that it read 16:30. Was Ron serious when he approached her yesterday morning? "He was probably speaking nonsense again," she muttered to herself angrily.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Huh? Nothing! Sorry...I was just thinking aloud. Don't worry." She returned her gaze to her watch again. What was he doing yesterday? Was he actually...asking her out? No, that was impossible. They hated each other. It was...an agreement. Something that went unspoken between the two. But did she still hate him?
"I've just remembered that I need to go somewhere really urgently. I'll see you later, Ginny. Bye!" Racing out of the warm pub with the umbrella she brought, she gasped a little when the rain hit her, reducing her vision. But she knew the general direction of Honeydukes anyway, and half ran towards it, one hand on her forehead to keep most of the rain away from her face. "If he wasn't being serious I am going to kill him," she muttered as she stopped in front of what she thought was Honeydukes.
Ron WAS there, and Hermione approached him in order to apologise until she realized that he was yelling at a girl – a crazed fan girl no doubt – who wanted to lend Ron her umbrella. Looking afraid, the girl walked away as Hermione stomped towards Ron who was extremely wet.
"You didn't have to be so rude, Ron!" she yelled at him, appalled at his actions.
"Rude? Me? I'm not the one who is two and a half hours late! Do you have any idea how long I was waiting for you out here?"
"I never said you had to wait for me. Why didn't you just leave when I didn't turn up?"
"Leave? How could I? What if those idiots attacked you again? What if you, being the idiot you are, got lost or something? I had to wait!"
Hermione opened her mouth to say a thing or two about being called an idiot, but shut it again when she saw that his clothes were extremely wet and that he was coughing a little. Hastily putting one arm around him, she dragged him into the Three Broomsticks. Luckily Ginny had already gone, which was a good thing. She didn't really want to be told off for leaving her brother outside in the rain for over two hours.
"Ron...are...do you feel slightly better now?"
He sneezed. "Yes."
"I'll go and get us some Butterbeers shall I?" she asked, getting up. However, Ron had grabbed her wrist and was standing up as well, his hair dripping.
"No, it's OK. I'll go and get them."
"I'm not so poor that I can't afford two tankards of Butterbeer, Ronald Weasley. Now let me go and behave yourself."
She looked up and grinned a little at the sight of Ron's mouth opening and shutting like a goldfish. "You...you're telling me to...I'm not letting a girl treat me!"
"Tough," she said simply and tried to walk forwards again, only to be pulled back by him. "What?" she asked, raising her voice now. Why couldn't he just cooperate with her once in a while?
"Why are you shouting?!"
"You're telling me? Look who's the one who's shouting! You want a fight? Well...we...then go out there and argue!" she yelled, pointing a finger outside. By now most of the customers were watching them with amused and annoyed expressions on their faces.
"Fine!" he retaliated and followed her outside but not before he glared at another student who he knew was younger than him. "What are you looking at?" The boy immediately stopped looking and turned the other way, seeming to be extremely interested in his drink and the table.
"What was the point of yelling at that boy? He didn't do anything to you." They were outside now, both rather red in the face from yelling so much.
"I...I didn't yell."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes," he answered with the air of a young child who was denying that he had stolen a biscuit from the cupboard. Hermione couldn't help but grinning a little at him which just about nearly got rid of all her frustration at him.
Ron, sensing that she seemed to be happier now, took a look around. There didn't really seem to be anywhere to go, in his opinion. After all they had been going for nearly four years now and had probably explored every inch of the village. They had even gone up that hill in order to visit Sirius in fourth year. "Where do you want to go now?"
She looked to her right slightly in so the pub came into her line of vision. They couldn't exactly go back in there now that they had yelled at each other. "Just...stroll around?" she asked, saying the first thing that came into her head. Exercise was good in a way she guessed.
"Alright then," he replied and started to walk, heading in a random direction. He presumed that seeing as they had been here so often they would easily be able to find their way back. Looking over his shoulder to check that Hermione was still there he slowed his pace, making sure that she was walking beside him and not behind like he offered right at the beginning of the school year. That...was embarrassing.
He glanced nervously at her. "It's really cold, Hermione."
"Hmm?" she asked, looking up at the sky where the rain was still pouring down in buckets. "Oh I see..." How come she didn't notice all the rain? It was rather confusing, not to mention that she was pretty much soaked through and yet she felt rather hot. She stopped walking, noticing that they were currently outside the entrance to Honeydukes. Had they gone around in a full circle then?
Ron's grin was a little lopsided. "Hermione..."
"Oh fine," she replied as the Head Boy jumped up and down in glee like a young child as he entered the sweet shop. She shook her head and followed, wondering how a violent person like that could appear so immature at that moment.
The shop was extremely full. It seemed as if everyone had the same idea as Ron and decided to wait inside Honeydukes for the rain to stop. Sighing, she was about to wait for him to marvel at all the sweets when he grabbed hold of her hand, dragging her along to wherever he went.
Feeling rather uncomfortable, she wanted to pull away when somebody got in the way, causing her to let go anyway. Ron turned his head back, giving her an exasperated look. "Can't you even walk properly now?" He stretched his hand out again. "Hold my hand."
"I don't wand to hold your hand," she mumbled as she walked in front of him and pretended to examine a range of sweets that unfortunately were a variety of tastes that she disliked. Confused, Ron walked up to her and peered over her shoulder.
"I thought you didn't-?"
"I don't!" she said, too quickly and loudly to be plausible. "I was just...I mean...they look quite nice." However, the face that she made when she said that was much too obvious. Looking at him nervously, she averted his eyes and looked down again. "So...why don't you go and choose something to buy so we can go back?"
"Huh? Oh yeah. Alright," he replied before walking off, seeming to have forgotten all about the sweets in front of Hermione. Slightly relieved, she returned to staring absent mindedly at the display of sweets in front of him, confused by everything that had happened that afternoon.
Examining a lollipop without any idea of what she was doing, she went over the events in her head. Did he really wait for over two hours outside in the rain? He seemed so...small. Just standing there by himself in the rain. What happened to all the times when he was pranking her?
A rustling bag of sweets broke her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see a grinning Ron. "I bought loads! Come on!" With that he took her hand again and started to head in the direction that wasn't the lane outside, but further into the shop.
"Uhh..." she said hesitantly, unsure of where exactly he wanted to take her. Maybe all that rain got into his eyeballs or something. "Where are you going? The exit is that way," she said, indicating the right direction.
Ron, however, scoffed. "We can't go out. It's still raining. Let's just eat all these..." he replied, grinning and holding up his bag of treats.
"Ok...so...why don't we just stop here and eat?" she asked with a confused expression, attempting to make him stop walking. However, he was a lot stronger and he merely dragged her forwards.
"It's so crowded in here. Everyone's here."
Extremely confused, Hermione could only follow him as he stopped casually beside the counter and pretended to be interested in a box of chocolates. Before she could ask anything he had tugged her along again, lifting something up from the ground. It revealed a set of steps that probably led to the Honeydukes' cellar.
"Why are we going in there?" she asked, whilst being pushed gently down the stairs.
"So we can be alone. I don't want everyone else crowding around us."
Hermione froze, unsure of what Ron meant by 'alone'. She turned around to face him. "I don't think this is such a good idea after all...I mean...we can always go to the Three Broomsticks or something, right?"
"No," he answered firmly before looking around for somewhere inconspicuous to sit down. "Come on," he added and ushered her towards a dark corner.
"Ron..." she said in a worried tone whilst he sat down, leaning against the wall. He didn't say anything as Hermione sat as far away from him as possible, unsure of his intentions. So they stayed there for half an hour or so until she finally got tired of simply sitting here without doing anything. The rain had hopefully stopped anyway.
Before she could get up though, Ron shifted his position and started to move towards her. "Hermione..." he mumbled before falling onto his front in front of her.
"Get away from me!" she yelled shrilly as she jumped up, circling him so she was behind where he was lying. He had now turned to his side and had once again stopped moving. Slightly frightened, she moved towards him cautiously kicked him. Gently, of course. Then she bent over prodded his arm. No reaction. She started to shake him rather vigorously before realizing that his entire body felt extremely hot.
"Ron!" She felt his forward. "You're getting a fever..."
"And yet you still decided to kick me." It seemed as if he could still argue even when getting a fever. He tried to get into a sitting position and succeeded after a while.
"I didn't mean to...I mean...you looked rather..." Scary? Yes, that was the word that she was searching for. However, she chose not to share that piece of information. She wasn't about to admit to him that she found him scary.
"Hermione...?" he spoke a little groggily.
"What?" she asked softly.
"Can you tell me a story?"
Hermione nearly fell off her seat. "What? You want me to...what?!"
"Any story will do..." he mumbled whilst his head fell onto her shoulder, his eyes half closed. Exasperated, she shifted his position and allowed him to lie on her lap instead. "The story..." he reminded her.
Rolling her eyes, she tried to think of something interesting. "Once upon a time, there lived three bears. A Papa bear, a Mama bear, and a baby bear. One day, Mama Bear made three bowls of porridge-"
"I've already heard this one before," he interrupted. "I want you to tell me your story...one that you made up."
Hermione was about to snap back at him but she was so taken back by his innocence that she found herself desperately trying to make a story up. "Well...once upon a time there was a girl who lived a very normal and ordinary life with her parents and sister. You wouldn't have looked twice at her if you met her on the streets. But one day, something very strange happened to her." She paused to think of something.
"Go on..."
"Well she got lost in the woods. She walked for what seemed like ages but she couldn't find her way out. The sky started to grow darker and darker and yet she still couldn't see any sign of a clearing or road. So she simply sat in a spot underneath a tree and started to cry, extremely afraid that she would never find her way back home."
"Then what happened to her?"
She was rather taken back at how interested Ron was in her little 'story' but she continued nevertheless. "Well, that was the strange part. She was so afraid that she shut her eyes and refused to notice how dark the forest was getting. But suddenly she heard the sound of zooming cars so she opened her eyes to see what was going on. And she found herself sitting in the same position by a very familiar road. She was extremely happy and immediately knew her way home, so she...went home," she finished rather lamely.
A loud snore told her that Ron had already fallen asleep. Shaking her head at him, she leant back against the wall whilst trying not to move her legs so much that she would wake him. She yawned and tried to go to sleep although leaning against a wall in the Honeydukes' cellar wasn't the most comfortable of places.