Thanks for the great reviews...yea I loved making the last chapter
This one was fun too... =) WARNING: some alcohol use. Don't forget, Ron and Hermione are now 17 and will be acting the way most 17 yr olds act in these situations...;) --wink wink--
Chapter Three: Maturity is Highly Overrated
It had been a week since they'd babysat the so-called "deadly duo." Lord, Hermione exaggerated. Either way Ron had gotten over the mushy feeling very quickly; he was only too glad, though, it was unnatural. On Saturday morning, he woke up to the sound of running water and...humming? He sat up on his bed and raked a hand through his hair. Hermione's parents were at work and she was the only other one in the house...water plus humming...Ron laughed out loud to his own empty room. Hermione sang in the shower. He quickly freed himself of his bed, opened his door and looked down the hall. Sure enough, the bathroom door was closed, a single strip of light shining through the crack at the bottom. This was too good to be true...Silently he crept down the hallway and pressed an ear to the door. It was unmistakably Hermione. Ron still couldn't hear too well so he lay flat on the floor, his ear pressed to the crack under the door.
"I can't see me lovin' nobody but youuu for all my liiiffee..." He clamped his hand over his mouth to conceal his laughter. "When you're with me, baby the skies'll be bluuue for all my liiiffee..." The water stopped. Still heaving with laughter, Ron scurried back to his room, grabbed a towel and stood back outside the bathroom door. Minutes later, Hermione emerged wrapped only in a towel, her hair clinging to her shoulders in wet curls. "Ron!" she squeaked. "What're you doing up so early?" she asked, turning around to shield herself from Ron's view.
"Oh, you know...just enjoying the performance." She whipped back around to face him.
"What per- what- you heard me?!" She looked completely mortified.
"Relax...you're not that bad." It was the truth. Although she hit some pretty sour notes, all in all she had an unusually good singing voice.
"I can't believe you heard me...I didn't think you'd be up this early." Her cheeks were now on fire, though Ron couldn't see why; he'd seen her do worse.
"That doesn't matter...who were you talking about?" He smirked and arched an eyebrow at her.
"What?"
"In the song...who were you talking about?"
"Oh that...Well, I was thinking of you, but- the song- it was just kind of general..."
"I see..." He took pleasure in the thought that she was thinking about him, and in the shower of all places! She was now shivering slightly, having obviously forgotten that she was standing stark naked under a towel in the hallway with Ron staring at her. "Erm...aren't you going to get dressed?"
"Dressed. Yeah, sorry, I- I'll go get dressed." Ron shook his head and laughed quietly to himself as he watched her scamper down the hall and into her room, shutting the door quickly behind her. She was so self-critical of herself at times. He sighed, pushed the door to the bathroom open, walked in and shut it behind him.
-
Ron rummaged through his trunk looking for something to wear. His clothes were wrinkled and thrown pell-mell into his trunk every night that he was finding it hard to tell what was clean from what was dirty. He pulled out a t-shirt that looked thoroughly used and abused; it stirred something in his memory. He remembered the conversation he had with himself in the garage the previous week. Ron threw the shirt back in his trunk, pulled a fairly neat one out and threw it on. It was time to confront Hermione. He trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen to find Hermione bent over the stove, one hand on her hip and the other stirring a large wooden spoon in a pot. Her hair was still a bit damp but its unruliness was still incredibly noticeable. "Hello, my little vocalist," he said approaching her.
"Don't you ever mention that again," she said sternly, not looking up from the pot. Ron sniggered.
"Your secret's safe with me."
"Thank you." She glanced at a cookbook beside her and continued stirring. "There's salt in the cupboard above you, you can't miss you grab it for me, please?" Once again, Ron found himself doing exactly as he was told.
"Hermione?" he said passing her the salt.
"Hmm?"
"Do you-" God, this is hard to ask. "Are you-" Using me? Say it. Say it! "Am I your-" Servant? Play thing? A friend with benefits? Say it! "Are you- sort of- using me?" He quickly averted his eyes and stared at the ground. She swiveled on the spot and gazed at him.
"Using you? What on earth gave you that idea?!"
"Oh- nothing. I mean, you just- I dunno you seem a little, erm- bossier than usual lately."
"What?"
"All I'm saying is, well- I feel kind of..." he mumbled the last part, "neglected."
"Neglected?" Ron nodded. "Oh. My. God." He looked up at her. "Could you be any cuter?"
"It's not funny."
"I'm sorry, but- heavens, Ron, don't ever hide stuff like this from me again." She put down her spoon, walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Never in my life would I dream of using you." She laughed into his shirt. "I am so sorry I made you think that." He hugged her back.
"It's ok..."
"Good." She placed a quick kiss on his lips before turning back to her pot. "Could you grab me the- oh, I'll do it."
"Hermione, I'll do stuff for you. God, I would do anything for you...I just want to know that that's not the only reason you're with me." She rolled her eyes at him.
"Do you honestly think I'm that shallow?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"That sounds familiar."
"Do not."
"Right. Well, what do you feel like doing today?"
"Don't care."
"We could...or we- there's always..." She put a hand on her hip and stared at the ceiling. "There's really not much to do around here."
"We could- erm-" THUD.
"What was that?!"
"Came from upstairs." Ron stared at the ceiling. "I'll check it out." He ran up the stairs two at a time and into his own room. In the middle of his floor was a thin brown package with a barn owl sitting on top, a letter in its beak. "What the-" He took the letter and tore it open as the owl made its way out the open window.
Dear Ronniekins,
Mum told us you were staying with Hermione. You dog, you! Couldn't have her at the Burrow, needed some time alone with your girlfriend. How sweet. We thought you might need a little- erm- well, something to do, so we sent you a little gift. Come visit us in Diagon Alley soon.
Your favourite brothers,
Fred and George
Ron threw the letter on the ground. Bloody mum can't keep her mouth shut. He sat on the floor, picked up the brown package and examined it. He shook it a bit; it was definitely something liquid. He ripped open the wrapping to reveal, who would've guessed, a box. Curious as to what was inside, he pulled the lid off to find: One chilled bottle of Firewhisky. "You devils..." he muttered tossing the box and wrapping aside.
"Ron? What was it?"
"Oh, just...mail." He stuffed the bottle into his trunk and ran back downstairs.
"What was it?"
"Secret," he said simply, approaching her.
"You're not going to tell me?"
"Nope." He slid his hands around her waist from behind while she continued to stir the contents of the same pot. "Exactly what are you making?"
"Soup."
"Soup?"
"Yes, soup."
"In the summer?"
"Yes, Ron."
"Err- don't you think it's too hot?" She turned to face him, his hands still on her waist.
"Try: Hermione, you're an idiot; don't make soup. That's much more concise."
"But I don't think you're an idiot." She laughed and turned back to the stove.
"Did you think of anything to do today?"
"Er- sort of."
"Sort of?"
"Well...later tonight."
"And what might that be?" she asked, turning back around. He smiled and shook his head.
"Not getting it out of me." She sighed.
"Please?" she sulked. He pressed his forehead against hers.
"Be patient, Miss Granger."
-
Knock, knock. "Ron, it's me. Look, you've been making me crazy all day; why'd I have to wait for my parents to go to bed? Ron? I know you're in there, open up you're driving me mad and-" Ron opened the door.
"Could you be a little louder?" he whispered. He let her in and shut the door.
"So what's this big secret surprise?" she huffed.
"You are demanding, aren't you?" he said, raising his eyebrows at her. She folded her arms and stared at him. "Alright, alright. D'you mind if I- err- get something from the kitchen?" She shook her head and sat on his bed. "Right, be back in a minute." Ron had been waiting for this moment all day, even though he knew he'd have a hard time getting Hermione to follow through. He reached the kitchen and immediately began searching through the cupboards looking for- Eureka. Two shot glasses. He carried them back up the stairs behind his back and slid into the bedroom where Hermione was waiting.
"What's that behind your back?" He pulled out the glasses and held them in front of her face. She stared pokerfaced at him.
"That's the big surprise? That's what you had planned?" Ron shrugged. "Ronald Weasley I cannot believe you! You're idea of fun is spending the night getting...drunk?!" This definitely wasn't the reaction Ron was expecting.
"It was a present...from Fred and George," he said, pulling the bottle from his trunk.
"I don't care what it was! It's despicable! I'm appalled that you would even think to bring that thing out let alone drink it...and try and talk me into drinking it too!"
"For Merlin's sake, Hermione, it's the bloody summer...have a little fun."
"Fun? Fun?! No, Ron. Watching a movie is fun...going out is fun. Sitting in a room getting wasted is not fun."
"What's a movie?" She scowled at him.
"That's not the point! It's just- ugh! I cannot believe you! How could you be so immature?" Ron snorted.
"Pfft...Maturity is so overrated," he said popping the cork of the bottle and pouring some of its contents into one of the glasses. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. She seemed too angry to string two words together. "Last chance," he said, holding the glass up under her nose. She crinkled it in distaste. He sighed. "Look, Hermione, I never get this freedom at home and I probably never will." She turned her head away from him. "So no matter what you say, I'm going to enjoy myself tonight...with or without you. So, you can either sit back and watch me drink this on my own or you can live a little for once and help me." He stared at her hopefully.
"You are such a git sometimes, you know that?"
"I do. You've told me on countless occasions."
"You're not making me drink that, Ronald Weasley."
"Suit yourself." He downed the entire glass in one gulp and shivered. She shook her head and stared at the floor, whispering something like 'so juvenile.' "Wow, that was...wow. Hermione, seriously, try some," he said pouring another glass. She whipped her head around and gaped at him.
"You are the most intolerable, insufferable prat!" Ron's face fell.
"That was harsh."
"What kind of an example will this set?" He raised an eyebrow.
"For who?!"
"I don't know...younger students at Hogwarts?"
"Do you think I'm so stupid that I would get loaded in the bloody Gryffindor common room in front of a bunch of kids?"
"I hope you're not like this at home."
"Hermione, I just finished telling you that I never get to do any of this stuff at home and I never will. Look, Fred and George sent me a present. I just thought it would be a bit of fun because it never happens. Clearly I was wrong but I'm not going to let this go to waste. I told you you didn't have to watch." He took a small sip from his glass.
"Hmph."
"Fine. If it's bugging you that much, then I'll stop."
"Really?"
"Yep." He pushed the cork back in the bottle with his mouth and set it down on the bedside table.
"Good." Her eyes traveled to the still half-full glass in his other hand. "What about that?" He looked at the glass then at her.
"Want?" he asked, holding it up in front of her.
"No."
"You sure?"
"...What does it taste like?" A devious smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He pushed the glass up to her lips.
"Taste." She whimpered.
"...No."
"You know you want to; I can see it in your eyes. You may be a prefect, Hermione, but you don't need to act like one in front of me. I know the respectable student you really are." She let out a small whine and took the glass from his hand. Shutting her eyes tight, she pressed the glass to her lips, opened her mouth and dumped the entire contents in. Ron stared at her as she trembled on the spot. "Good?"
"I think I'm going to be sick..."
"Relax. You're fine." He pulled the bottle back off the nightstand and poured another glass. "Another?" he said, gesturing the bottle towards her. She shook her head. "Fine." He downed another glass and cringed.
"How can you stand that stuff?" she asked, frowning, one hand grasping her neck.
"I like the aftertaste." She turned away and breathed deeply. "One more and that's it...we'll stop." She nodded. He poured two more glasses which they tossed down incredibly quickly. "I think that's enough." He popped the cork back on the bottle and made to put it back in his trunk when Hermione's hand caught his wrist.
-
Ron woke to find himself sprawled across his bed empty Firewhisky bottle in one hand and a glass in the other. He felt awful, but then, he hadn't had as much to drink as Hermione. Her rebellious behavior actually surprised him. They had not, in fact, stopped at 'just one more' but continued to drink until the bottle was deprived of every last drop. "Hermione?" he mumbled. Ron sat up on his bed to find that Hermione was gone, the door was open and his head felt unbelievably heavy. "Hermione?" he said to the empty room, this time louder. No answer except a horrible retching sound coming from the bathroom down the hall. Silently, he got up off his bed, crept down the hall and knocked on the door. The toilet flushed and Hermione opened the door with a towel in her hand. She was extremely pale. "Er- I guess you had fun last night?" She didn't laugh or even crack a smile.
"You, Ronald Weasley," she pointed a threatening finger at him, "will never mention last night to anyone and you will never, ever talk me into doing something that stupid again."
"Er-" He didn't get to say anything, for at that moment Hermione clamped a hand over her mouth ran back into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
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I know what ur all thinking right now "Hermione would NEVER do that!!!" I know she would never but I figured my story could use something a little spicy to liven things up so don't complain...if u don't have anything nice to say don't say it. Thnx ;) next chappie comin soon
School started today so it might be a little while until the next update but ill try my best I promise!