Chapter Four: A Tough Decision
That night dinner was an uncomfortable experience for Ron and Hermione. They both avoided each other's eyes. Ron was nervous, since he had kissed the girl of his dreams, and she also happened to be his best friend, and was staying in his house for the summer. Hermione was itchy because she was torn. She didn't know what to do. She really liked Ron, and after what happened that day, it seemed that he liked her too; she didn't want to mess that up. But if she turned Viktor down, he would be really depressed. She also knew that if Ron found out she had gone to see Viktor in London, he would be very jealous and angry with her.
Mrs. Weasley did not help their situation at all. When she heard of Ron's excellent O.W.L. grades, she had an absolute fit. She broke down and cried for twelve whole minutes, (Fred and George counted; they were home since it was a Friday night), and they both made fun of Ron so badly that he could only stand to be in the same room with them for half an hour.
Hermione also found that she could not be in the hustle and bustle of that much excitement either. Mrs. Weasley had cooed over her ten (that's every one that Hermione took) passing O.W.L.s. Not only did she pass all ten, but eight of them were Outstanding! Only History of Magic and Astronomy were of E level (Exceeds Expectations). She thought that must have been because of the disturbances of Hagrid being fired, and Harry's dream of Sirius, interupting her otherwise outstanding work. Hermione had been very pleased with her results, but still could not stop thinking about what had happened between her and Ron, and also about Viktor's letter. She had smiled only halfheartedly, and made an excuse to go to bed early, saying she was tired from all the excitement.
Ginny came in to check on Hermione a little later, having noticed her friend's odd behavior when she should have been ecstatic about her grades. She entered her and Hermione's bedroom to find Hermione pacing around the room, looking absolutely distraught.
"Hermione!" she said, alarmed at her friend's mood. "What's going on? Are you all right? You seemed a bit preoccupied at dinner," she said.
"What?!" Hermione looked up, distracted at the interruption on her thoughts. "Oh, Ginny! I'm so glad you're here!" she said rather wildly, throwing her arms around Ginny in a hug that left Ginny breathless and very confused.
"What is wrong with you?" Ginny asked in a concerned but aggravated voice. "You look as though someone has died!"
"Oh, Ginny! I don't know what to do!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands. "I... well, yes... I suppose I have to tell you. Well... Ron and I kissed today." She looked at Ginny as though waiting for her to start yelling. But Ginny just laughed.
"Well, about bloody time!" she said exasperatedly when she saw the confused look on Hermione's face. "I was wondering when you to were going to wake up and realize you both liked each other!"
"What do you –"
"Oh, come on, Hermione!" Ginny said almost angrily. "You're the cleverest person I know, but it took you so long to see something that was right in front of you!"
"Well... I always suspected he liked me, but it seemed so crazy, I never thought he'd like me back... But now I know for sure..." She smiled sadly.
"This still doesn't explain why you're so upset," said Ginny, also grinning.
"Well, after we kissed, your mum called Ron to the kitchen, and a owl flew through the window with a letter from Viktor..." she trailed off and looked helplessly up at her best friend.
The smile slid right off Ginny's face at the sound of Viktor's name. That was jut the thing to mess up what Ron and Hermione had just found. "What... what did he want?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.
"He, he wanted to see if I could meet him in Diagon Alley tomorrow or Sunday," said Hermione looking very upset.
"Oh, dear," said Ginny, very unhelpfully. She paused, thinking for a moment. "Well... what are you going to do?" she asked without thinking.
Hermione looked at Ginny with a look of incredulity on her face. "Well that's the point!" she shouted, almost hysterical. "What should I do?!" She sad down on Ginny's bed and put her face in her hands. "I can't say no to Viktor. You know how fragile he is. If I turned him down he'd probably kill himself," she said through her fingers, so it was slightly muffled. "But I can't just leave Ron and go off to see Viktor when we just kissed. Oh, Ginny," she said, a tear streaking down her cheek as she looked up. "I don't know what to do. What should I do?"
"Well..." said Ginny slowly, thinking. "You're right, you can't say no to Viktor, he'd lose it..." She broke off and sat down next to Hermione on the bed. "But if you tell Ron, he'll lose it too. Just tell Viktor you'll meet him tomorrow. I know!" she said, brightening. "We'll both go! I can write and tell Dean to meet us as well! It'll be a double dated kind of thing!" she said happily, then she remembered Hermione's situation. "Of course, it's not really a date. You can just tell him you'd rather be friends. Tell him you and Ron are going out, or something! That'll work! He can't be mad if you like Ron. Yeah..."
Hermione looked at Ginny. "Yes, that's what I'll do! Ginny, you're amazing!" Oh, what would she do without Ginny? "What would I do without you?" she asked.
"Well, you'd probably sit in your room and read books all day! And never have kissed my brother!" she said happily, now that their situation was resolved.
Hermione just grunted, grinning too, and deciding not to tell Ginny that before she came to the Burrow, sit in her room and read books all day is exactly what she did for three weeks strait.
A/N: Well, chapter five should be out soon... hopefully. Like I said, I start school in two days, and won't have much time to write then... I HATE high school! Oh, well, I'm getting a "good education" yeah right. So if you liked, or didn't like, or have any opinion at all, which you should if you read it, please review. I don't care if you shout at me and tell me I should never write again, just please review. Although constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks!