Author's Note: First of all, I would like to give my thanks to those of you who have read and reviewed my first fic, A Written Confession. I'm dreadfully sorry to those who want to know what happens next, but honestly, I don't know myself. It was initially supposed to be a one-shot after all. But thank you so very, very much for liking it! It means so much to me! I hope you will enjoy my second fic as well! This one, hopefully, will not be a one-shot. ;
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For You
By Yufariza Y.
Disclaimer: I'm not sure how important these are, but everybody has them, so here goes. I do not own any of the characters in this fiction. There, did I do it right?
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Chapter 1
The girl with thick brown hair smiled with exasperated amusement as she watched her two best friends rush towards her, who had been waiting for them by the giant entrance of the Hogwarts castle. One of them, a bespectacled boy, was putting on a black cloak sloppily while holding his wand in between his teeth. As soon as his hands were free, he took the wand from his mouth and tucked it into his cloak. The other boy, gangly and freckled, rubbed his eyes furiously and gave a hearty yawn.
"Sorry for the wait, Hermione," Harry said, lazily attempting to flatten his naturally messy jet-black hair.
"You shouldn't have gone to bed so late," lectured Hermione as she voluntarily straightened Harry's shirt collar. "Why'd you two stay up, anyway?" she asked curiously – and suspiciously. She was about to smoothen Ron's cloak when he turned the other way.
"We – uh – talked," he said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Hermione. "About Quidditch – I mean, classes – I mean, Snape," he continued, ignoring how strange he may have sounded to her.
Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron's odd and hostile behaviour was not unusual to her; he had been at it for the past few days and she had learned to let it go. "Well, come on, let's get going!"
The trio departed for the village of Hogsmeade, along with the rest of the school. The familiar sights, sounds and feel there brought all three of them such contentment only this magical village could offer. They shivered slightly as a cold breeze fluttered by and quickly entered a shop with a sign bearing the words, "Honeydukes."
Hermione instinctively headed towards the shiny round jars of Toothflossing Stringmints, no doubt getting them for her parents. Harry was about to obtain a handful of Special Effects sweets when he felt himself being tugged by the arm and dragged behind a shelf filled with sweets that strangely resembled strands of human hair.
"Ron!" he huffed, but was quickly shushed by his best friend. "What is it now?" he asked in a bored whisper.
Ron, however, looked troubled. "I don't know, Harry. I'm having doubts."
Harry sighed, as though about to say something he had mentioned a hundred times. "Look, Ron, I don't think this is a good idea –" Ron's eyes widened with distress. "– But if this is what you want to do, then I'm on your back a hundred percent."
Ron forced a small smile. "Thanks, mate." He gave Harry a soft punch on the shoulder then inhaled and exhaled in a dramatic fashion before they returned to the crowded area of sweetshop.
"There you are," Hermione said once she spotted the boys, a bagful of freshly purchased sweets in her hand. "I thought for a moment there you two left without me."
Ron unconsciously forced a fit of fake laughter before stopping at once and settling his eyes on his shoes.
"Um, why don't both of you get a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks first?" Harry suggested. "I'll be there in a second, just have to get a few things first. I'll get your sweets too, okay, Ron?"
Ron nodded, though his eyes were still on his shoes.
"All right," said Hermione. She turned to Ron and asked him to come on. He followed her – still trying hard not to look directly at her – to the warm inn.
As usual this time of year, Hogwarts students occupied most of the Three Broomsticks. Ron and Hermione made their way to a small table at the end of the inn. Hermione placed her sweets bag on top of an empty chair to save a seat for Harry. She sat on a chair opposite of Ron's, who was now uncomfortably ruffling his vibrant red hair.
There was an awkward pause of silence but all of a sudden Hermione said impatiently, "All right, that's it." With her voice slightly raised, she started, "What's wrong, Ron? What did I do this time? Did Crookshanks 'eat' Pigwidgeon? Did I forget to lend you my homework? Did you not like the present I gave you for Christmas? Did you like my present too much and you're trying to make me feel guilty for getting it for you? Did –" and kept going, her patience growing more scarce with every implication.
"Hermione!" Ron beckoned her to calm down. She piped down at once and stared at him sharply, waiting eagerly for his explanation. "See, the thing is…" he started to say, choosing his words carefully. "I – well, how should I put it?" His ears were turning scarlet at every word, a reaction that occurs whenever he felt angry or embarrassed. "Hermione, do you think that we – as in, you and I – would ever… to put it simply, I mean, if you – have you ever considered – that maybe we…"
At this sentence he locked his eyes on to hers. "…That maybe we could be more than just friends."
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Author's note: I hope you like it so far. It's really short but I'd like to get a few reviews before proceeding to the next chapter, so I'll know continuing it will not be a complete waste of my time. Oh, and I'm not very sure about the title. I might change it after a few chapters. So yeah, be nice! Fanfic-writing is still very new to me. xD Thank you for reading!