Hi! Another installment!

I have been so busy with moving lately, and not counting the last two days, I haven't touched my laptops in WEEKS. Anyway, I absolutely love adding moments/characters that weren't in the original, so when this idea popped up, I went for it. A bit of angst in this chapter (I really can't help myself) but don't worry….nothing major.

If you are still reading this, thank you so much!

oOo

"Ron! Wait up!"

Forced out of thoughts about his previous class, Ron turned his head to see Ava Thompson rushing through the crowded school hallway towards him, her arms full of heavy looking books. Ava was new to his school this year and had been his partner in science class for the last several months. The two of them had gotten on well from the beginning, and admittedly she made Ron's least favorite class somewhat more enjoyable. Giving her a smile of acknowledgement, he stopped walking and waited for her to catch up to him.

"Hey, Ava. What's up?" he asked as she drew near.

She was clearly out of breath but still she seemed pleased that he had waited for her and gave him a shy smile. "Oh, not much. I just saw you and figured we could walk to class together." Even though her suggestion was simple enough, there was a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Sure," Ron said with an easy shrug as he eyed the books in her arms. "Um…Do you need help with those?"

The girl smiled again as she let out a visible sigh of relief. "Would you? I feel like my arms are about to fall off!"

Ron adjusted his backpack over one shoulder and quickly took the books from her, his fingers accidentally trailing across the skin of her arms, making her cheeks turn pink. Feeling a little awkward, he let out a small laugh before clearing his throat. "Why don't you have your backpack?" he asked as they started to walk side by side to their shared class.

"It broke this morning," Ava admitted, her expression mildly embarrassed. "I had too many books inside of it and it ripped practically in half right after second period."

Ron couldn't help but chuckle at the mental image. "You sound like Hermione," he said, a wistful smile on his face as he thought about his best friend.

"Hermione?" Ava asked in a slow voice, her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"My best friend," Ron clarified. "She's a major bookworm. You remind me of her, actually. It's probably why we get along so well," he added with another chuckle.

She let out a small nervous sounding laugh. "Is that a good thing? That I remind you of her, I mean?"

He nodded. "Oh, definitely. She's the best."

"Well, great," Ava replied, looking pleased by his answer.

Ron knew, had suspected it for a while now, actually, that Ava fancied him. She wasn't forward about it, of course, but there were definite signs that he couldn't ignore. It was subtle, and because she wasn't the kind of girl that threw herself at boys, Ron had to pay more attention in order to see it. Instead of the lusty, drunk stares he sometimes got from random girls at parties, he would find Ava staring at him with a small smile on her face. She would flush whenever he caught her doing it, something that was happening more and more as of late. She also spoke to him as if she genuinely cared about getting to know him better, asking him a lot of questions about himself and remembering insignificant facts he would share. Ron could tell, especially with the more time they spent together, that Ava liked him for him, something he didn't quite understand because he'd never found himself very interesting. Although his heart was already taken by Hermione, Ron had to admit that it felt pretty good to be wanted like that by someone, though he also felt a fair amount of guilt as well because the last thing he wanted to do was lead Ava on or hurt her. Ron figured that if his heart had been available, he might have even been interested in her the same way she was interested in him, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. However, he was unsure of what to do, so he pretended to be oblivious about how she felt and hoped her crush on him would eventually wear off.

"Hermione," she repeated when he said nothing. "I've never heard that name before. Does she go here?"

Ron shook his head. "Nah. She was homeschooled."

"Oh…" Ava trailed off before speaking again, her voice perkier than before. "So, what are you doing this weekend?" she asked.

"Well, tonight I'm going to the party at Dave's house. I haven't been in a couple of weeks now and he's been pestering me about it."

"I've heard about the things that supposedly go on at those parties," she said warily, a slight frown on her face.

Ron chuckled. "Yeah. There's always plenty of alcohol, and occasionally some weed. But don't worry, there's never any of the hard drugs there, Dave wouldn't allow it."

She frowned again. "I've heard there was…stuff happening upstairs in the bedrooms."

"Occasionally, yeah," he admitted with a shrug. "There's yet to be a huge group orgy or anything, though," he added.

Ava's cheeks darkened as she let out an uncomfortable laugh. "How does Dave manage to have parties at his house so often?" she inquired. "What do his parents think about it all?"

"No parents, actually. He lives with his older brother, Tim- it's just the two of them now. As long as Dave has the house clean, Tim doesn't mind. He's not home much, anyway. He's a truck driver, you see, so he's usually away for long stretches at a time."

"I see," she replied, her eyes straight ahead as she appeared deep in thought.

"Dave's not as bad as his reputation makes him out to be, you know," Ron told her. "He's really a nice guy once you get to know him."

"I guess I'll take your word for it."

"You guess?" he teased. "Am I not trustworthy?"

She laughed. "Fine, fine! I believe you, Ron." She paused. "Is anyone invited to these parties or is there some sort of special invite one must have to attend?"

Ron grinned. "Oh, it's top secret, it is. Special invitation only." Ava glared at him but he could see her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Anyway," he went on. "Why do you ask? You can't possibly be hinting that you would want to attend such a scandalous get together?" He placed his hand over his heart as if the news had shocked him.

"Maybe I want to see what the fuss is all about?" she replied quickly, a hopeful look on her face. "As a teenager, shouldn't I want to experience such a thing at least once?"

"Most teenagers," Ron muttered under his breath, thinking of Hermione.

"What?" Ava asked, now looking confused.

He cleared his throat. "Oh, ah, nothing. So, you really want to come tonight? If you do, I can write down Dave's address for you."

She nodded. "And you'll for sure be there?"

"Yeah."

Her face lit up in a brilliant smile and Ron felt an uncomfortable twist of guilt in his stomach.

oOo

Hermione was set to be working late that night, so Ron left for the party earlier than usual, wanting to be there when Ava showed up in case she was uncomfortable. His nerves had been on edge since their earlier talk, and he had been fretting over it for several hours now. What if she had taken his invitation as some kind of date? He'd never dated before so he wasn't sure how it all worked, but she'd looked so happy that he couldn't help but wonder what exactly she'd thought when he'd told her she could attend. Though he was fairly certain she wouldn't try to drag him upstairs to shag him or anything like that, what if she tried to make it official or tell him she had feelings for him? To Ron, the physical stuff was way less daunting than the emotional stuff and he could feel himself sweat on the walk over to Dave's, even though it wasn't at all hot outside.

When he got there, he helped Dave set up the beer pong table before grabbing a beer, eager to use alcohol to feel less anxious about the situation. It started getting dark and people were now showing up to the party, Ron keeping a close eye on the door so he wouldn't miss it when Ava walked inside.

"Who the hell are you waiting for?" Dave asked as he sidled up next to Ron, handing him a shot of Jack Daniels.

"No one," Ron replied quickly, downing the shot as his cheeks burned in embarrassment.

"Bloody liar," Dave laughed. "Fine, don't tell me, I'll just find out once she gets here." He shot Ron a wink before slinking away, ever an enthusiastic host intent on going from person to person to make sure everyone was having a good time and make sure there weren't any problems.

As the night wore on, Ava had yet to show up so Ron drank some more and played a few rounds of beer pong, easily beating all of his opponents. After a while, he figured Ava wasn't going to show at all, and even though he felt a bit guilty about this, he was more relieved than anything. He even allowed himself to take a few hits of a joint that was being passed around the room, his anxiety fully disappearing as he sank down onto Dave's sofa, the large, comfortable cushions making him not want to move ever again. After a while there was a movement to his left, and when Ron turned his head, he found Padma Patil sitting next to him. He'd hooked up with Padma in the past, but she'd been dating a bloke he didn't know for a few months now so she hadn't spoken to him much.

"Hey, Padma," he slurred. "How's it going?"

Padma let out a heavy breath and for the first time, Ron realized she looked upset. "Casey broke up with me yesterday," she said in a teary voice.

"Oh," Ron said, surprised. "But you two seemed happy. I mean, at least from my point of view."

"I thought so too," Padma said, a scowl now on her face. "But he broke up with me. For someone else," she added, her frown deepening.

"Ouch," he said sympathetically. "I'm sorry. That fucking sucks." He reached out and patted her on the knee. "He sounds like an idiot."

"I just want to make him hurt, you know?" she said, her eyes tearing up. "To hurt him like he hurt me."

Ron nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, though he didn't really understand how she meant to hurt him. "He deserves that."

"I was thinking…or rather hoping…" Padma trailed off. She was biting her lip now, staring at him expectantly. Ron tried to understand what she was getting at, but the alcohol and weed had slowed down his thought process and he just stared at her blankly.

"Hoping what?" he finally questioned.

"Whatever happens tonight will get back to him, you know," she started. "If you and I went upstairs together, people would know what we were doing, and Casey would hear about it."

"Oh," Ron said, finally getting it. "I mean…" He looked around but there was still no sign of Ava. "I was waiting for someone and-" Padma's face fell. "But I guess she's not coming, so…Sure, why not?"

Padma wasted no time in grabbing his hand and helping him to his feet. Once he was upright, she threw herself at him, kissing him hard as the people around took notice.

"Take it upstairs, Weasley!" someone shouted. Padma broke away, a grin on her face. "Gladly!" she yelled, her eyes sweeping over the room. She looked pleased at the amount of people watching the two of them. "See you losers later!"

There were a few whistles as she pulled him upstairs with her, Ron going willingly.

oOo

A bit later Ron's head was less fuzzy as he and Padma made their way back downstairs to the party. He winced as the loud music once again hit his ears and decided that he was going to head home to bed. When they made it to the bottom step, Padma kissed him again. "Thanks for the shag, Ron!" she said loudly before disappearing into the crowd. Ron chuckled in amusement. He didn't get girls. The smile dropped from his face, however, when he spotted Ava, who was standing several feet away from him, a confused and devastated expression on her face.

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath. Before he could even think of what to do next, Ava had turned around and was heading towards the front door.

"Ava, wait!" Ron cried. He ran up behind her. To his relief she turned around, but her eyes didn't meet his. "You made it," he said, trying his best to seem happy about that fact.

"Yeah," she said in a small voice. "Sorry I was late, my mum was working and I couldn't leave my little brother at home by himself."

Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh. Well, late is better than never, right?" He grinned, but she didn't return his smile. "Want a drink?" he offered, desperately hoping to make the situation less awkward. "I'll go get you one."

Ava shook her head. "No, thank you. Actually, I shouldn't have come." She half turned to go, her gaze still not meeting his. "This isn't my thing after all."

"Is this about-?" Ron gestured towards the stairs. "Because I can explain."

"It's not," she replied quickly, but Ron could tell she wasn't telling him the truth. "It's none of my business what you were doing."

"I feel like shit," he blurted. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I didn't think you were coming at all, so-"

"It doesn't matter," Ava interrupted. "Like I said, that's none of my business. I'll um…I'll see you at school on Monday, Ron."

With that, she turned and walked out the front door. Ron stood in the same spot, unsure of what to do, but knowing he had to do something. After a moment, he opened the door and followed her outside, determined to set things right even though he had no idea how. She was almost to her car which was parked on the side of the street but Ron caught up to her easily. "I'm so sorry, Ava," he said, not knowing what else to say.

She turned to face him and he felt sick as he registered the tears that were now visible on her face. "I hate science," she stated, stopping him from apologizing further. "But these last few months, it's been my favorite class." Ron gulped and shoved his hands into his pockets as she went on. "I've been looking forward to it every single weekday, if only because I got to spend some time with you." She shook her head as she wiped at the tears on her cheeks. "At first, I believed what everyone said about you, Ron. I believed you were just a party boy- a class clown that doesn't take anything seriously." Ron didn't know what to say to this, so he just nodded to let her know he was listening. "But you aren't that at all!" she continued. "There's so much more to you than that. You're this really nice guy. You're kind, and funny, and thoughtful. You're not what I expected at all."

Ron looked down and shuffled his feet, uncomfortable with her praise and also ashamed that he'd hurt her, no matter how unintentional.

"And I've grown to really like you-" she paused before taking a deep breath. "And I thought you liked me too. All of our talks, and what I thought was you flirting with me… I mean, was that all in my head?"

He managed to look up and meet her questioning gaze. "I like you too, Ava. You're really cool, and nice, and I enjoy talking to you. It's just-" he sighed. "To be completely honest, it would be downright cruel of me to lead you on when I-" He stopped, unable to say any more.

"When you what?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Ron shook his head. "I just can't, Ava. I'm sorry. So sorry."

Ava didn't seem at all happy over his unwillingness to share more. "Is there somebody else or something?" she pressed. "Was that girl in there your girlfriend?"

"No. I don't have a girlfriend," he admitted.

"You're not making sense. You say you like me, but if you don't have a girlfriend, what's-"

"There's someone else," he interrupted. "I'm not with her but…" he pulled his hands out of his pockets and rubbed at his eyes. "It's complicated," he muttered.

"Oh." To Ron's surprise, it sounded as if Ava understood perfectly. "So you're just going to pine over someone who doesn't return your feelings?" she asked. "How does that benefit you at all?"

Ron dropped his hands to his sides. "It's not like I can help it," he retorted. "Trust me, I would if I could."

"You can try," she insisted. "But I have a feeling you're unwilling to do that."

He scoffed. "That's not true. Like I said before, it's complicated."

"It always is." Ava sighed. "I'm going to go home. This was a huge mistake."

She unlocked and opened her car door and was about to climb in when Ron spoke again. "I really am sorry," he said honestly. "I didn't mean to…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay," she reassured, but the sound of her voice made him aware that to her, it was anything but. Before he could say anything else, she was driving away from him, leaving him standing alone in the dark street.

"Ron!" Dave called from the open front door of his house. "What are you doing? Come play beer pong with us!"

With a sigh, Ron reluctantly returned to the party. He knew if he went home all he would do was lay in bed feeling guilty and he didn't feel like doing that. He forced himself to play several rounds of beer pong, but the heaviness was still in his chest so he called it quits before the end of his fourth game, much to the disappointment of the people who were intent on beating him. Walking away from the table, his eyes landed on the circle of sofas, where several others were sitting around and chatting, including Dave and Charlotte. Deciding to join them, he started to make his way over when a small hand on his arm caused him to stop and turn, and when he did, he was barely able to stop a groan of frustration from leaving his throat.

"What do you want, Lavender?" he asked, not at all in the mood to deal with her right now.

"Want to head upstairs?" she asked, seemingly oblivious to the distaste in his voice.

"Already done that tonight," he said dryly as he continued towards the sofas, hoping Dave would help him out of his new predicament.

Unfortunately for him though, Dave only seemed amused at the sight of Ron walking towards him, Lavender close behind. "That's three girls tonight, Weasley," he teased. "You really are something."

Ron only rolled his eyes as he plopped down onto the sofa, Lavender instantly sitting down beside him. "Ha ha."

"There's only one girl for me," Dave said in a mushy tone before leaning over and kissing Charlotte on the nose.

"We were just talking about that, actually," Charlotte informed Ron. "About marriage."

"One day," Dave cut in, "I'm going to marry this gorgeous saint of a woman."

"You'll probably be his best man, you know," Charlotte added, smiling at Ron.

"Woo hoo," Ron said in a sarcastic voice.

"I have a better idea!" Dave said excitedly. "When we're all older, and once you find the right girl, of course, we can have a double wedding!" He threw his arms up in the air as if he'd just thought of the best idea in the entire world. "It would probably save us a shit ton of money, and it would be epic!"

"Yeah, except for the one problem," Ron interjected.

"Which is?" Hannah Abbott, who was sitting to his left, pressed.

"I'm never getting married."

"Never as in… ever?" Lavender asked, an incredulous expression on her face.

"Never," he confirmed. "In my opinion, marriage is just a giant fucking scam. I don't understand why anyone would want to tie themselves down to one person for the rest of their life." He shuddered for good measure. "Just the thought of it is a right nightmare."

"So you plan to be single indefinitely?" Charlotte asked, her eyebrows narrowed in suspicion.

He nodded. "Yep. Happily. Not even so much as a girlfriend for me."

Lavender looked shell-shocked. She'd gone completely quiet, and although Ron felt a little bad about it, he needed to drive it home to her that he just wasn't interested. In her, or in anyone else for that matter. The last thing he needed was to lead another person on.

"I knew you enjoyed fooling around," Dave exclaimed. "But I never thought you meant to do so for the rest of your life."

For the rest of his life.

And there it was. Ron knew he was only seventeen. He knew he would eventually meet lots of other people, and given time, the chances were high that he would be able to find someone who he wanted to be with, someone who wanted to be with him. But today was not that day, and Ron couldn't even fathom being in a romantic relationship with anyone, not when his entire being was so in love with Hermione.

"I feel sick," he muttered before standing up. "I'm gonna head home."

"Weather channel said rain tonight, mate," Dave said as he stood up as well. "I'll drive you."

Ron held up his hand. "Don't worry about it. I like the rain."

"Are you sure?"

Dave looked skeptical but Ron nodded to placate him. "Definitely. See you guys later."

He left Dave's house, and not long after, it started to rain. Rain wasn't really the correct word. It poured, drenching Ron in only a matter of seconds, making his teeth chatter. It matched his mood, however, so he kept his slow and steady pace, internally promising himself a hot shower once he got home. Three cars passed by him but when a fourth drove by, it stopped and went in reverse back to his side.

"Ron?"

Ron didn't even turn his head at the sound of Hermione's voice. He kept his eyes trained straight ahead as he continued to walk.

"Ron, get in! It's pouring!"

"I don't care," he replied, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the rain and the sound of her car engine. "Go home, Hermione."

"What? What's wrong?" He didn't answer and instead kept walking, Hermione's car going slow and staying at his side. "Stop being ridiculous! Get in!" she demanded.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, he finally obeyed and opened her car door before climbing into the passenger seat.

"What happened?" she asked as soon as the door was closed.

Ron turned to glare at her. "It doesn't fucking matter!"

Hermione's eyes widened. She turned away and said nothing else, her gaze on the wet road as she drove them home. In less than two minutes, they were pulling up in her driveway and she shut the engine off.

"Ron, what's-"

"Nothing!" he yelled.

When Hermione visibly flinched, Ron felt a surge of satisfaction. It was wrong…so wrong, he knew, but right now he wanted a row with her. He was the one who had to go through the daily agony of loving her but not having that love returned. She was the reason he was ruined for anyone else, even if she didn't know it. Tears stung his eyes, and he hoped they wouldn't be noticeable because of the wetness already on his face.

"I don't know what your problem is, Ron," she started in a shaky voice, "but whatever it is, I have done nothing to you."

"Oh, really?" Ron challenged as he matched her glare. "How can you be so sure of that, Hermione?"

Hermione's brows furrowed in confusion. She opened her mouth to say something only to close it a second later.

Guilt unexpectedly washed over him, the fight trickling away into shame. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "You're right, Hermione. You've done nothing wrong." He grit his teeth, self hatred bubbling over. "I'm just a bloody fucking prick."

Hermione studied him as if searching for something. "Why did you blow up on me like that?" she asked in a small voice.

Ron shrugged. "I was upset, and you were just…there." He felt a headache coming on and wanted nothing more than to get away and get in that hot shower.

"What were you upset about?" she asked, apparently not willing to let it go that easily.

"Hermione, I know you're trying to help, but I'm going to be honest, I'm not in the mood alright? I don't want to talk about it, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't push me to."

Hermione's lips thinned and she let out a huffy breath of annoyance. Ron could tell she was irritated, but right now he wasn't equipped to manage her. "I'm going to go," he stated, moving his hand to the handle of the car, not giving her any time to respond. "Thanks for the ride." With that, he got out and slammed the door behind him.

oOo

Ron woke up late the next morning, groaning with the effort to roll out of his bed. It wasn't as if he'd gotten that drunk- it was more of an emotional exhaustion he felt. Walking over to his window he looked at the pulley, hoping the pail would be on his side, but it was hanging in the middle of the rope, clearly empty. He craned his head and saw that Hermione's car was gone as well. He had no idea where she was, but he was fairly certain she was still upset with him.

An idea formed in his head, and wasting no time, he went outside to grab his bike from the garage. He rode to the small, empty field down the street and parked his bike on the sidewalk. There were currently a bunch of multicolored wildflowers growing, and he walked around and picked out a handful of the prettiest ones before heading back to his house. Once home, he stole a small piece of yarn from his mum and tied the flower stems together as neatly as he could before sitting and jotting down a few words to Hermione.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

I was a git last night

Please forgive me

Love, Ron

He put the flowers and the note inside the pail before sending it over to Hermione's side, where she would surely see it when she got home. She didn't return home for several hours, so Ron occupied himself by helping his mum around the house. The day was boring, but he didn't mind. Around four, he had just carried a basket of clean laundry up to his room when there was a tapping on his window. Rushing over, he yanked his curtains open to see Hermione standing there, her body language rigid even as she gave him a small smile. He opened up his window and snatched her reply from the pail.

Thank you for the flowers, but that poem was terrible. It didn't even rhyme.

No, Hermione, I was terrible. I'm so sorry for how I acted last night. I took my anger out on you and I shouldn't have.

You really hurt me, Ron. I'm trying not to take it personally, but it's hard.

I know. And trust me, I will spend however long you need me to making it up to you.

No. Let's just forget it. I want to spend time with you. I was at the library all day and I miss you. Come over and we can watch a movie. Mum and Dad went out so we have the house to ourselves.

Ron let out a breath of relief, his body suddenly feeling light as air.

I'll bring the popcorn.