I've got the second chapter up. I'm amazed by the reviews from this story. I had it up less than an hour and I received three! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
Because I love you all so much, I've added a few more hints into the past of Hermione's sister. It won't be much, seeing as this is only chapter two, but there is lots more coming.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story...yet (BUM BUM BUM!)
After almost an hour with Hermione leaning on him, most of his right arm had gone numb. Ron was left with the difficult task of trying to wake Hermione with only his free arm. He tried everything he could think of to get her to wake up, but she would not budge. Nothing worked on her! The whole ordeal with her parents must have really upset her, seeing as she was out cold.
A little while later Ron smacked himself for not realizing the only possible thing that would actually cause her to rise. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, just audibly enough for her to hear him, even subconsciously, "Hermione, get up! Professor Snape assigned us a potion to work on, and it's due tomorrow! We need to..."
His plan worked, almost as if by magic. Before he could finish his sentence, Hermione jumped out of Ron's grasp and smacked him in the face, accidentally, with her arms sprawling around madly as she struggled to get out of the booth. After a few moments of stupor, having no clue as to why they weren't in the Gryffindor Common room in Hogwarts, she came to the conclusion that everything that had just happened in the past minute had to be caused by the one known as Ron.
"What was that for?" She glared at him as her teeth grounded together loud enough to drown out the noise from the crowd forming around them.
"You fell asleep on my arm, and it went numb." Ron answer bluntly and shrugged his shoulders, indifferent to the noises Hermione was making in her irritation of him at that moment. He knew that this situation that she thought she was in was all because Hermione fell asleep on his arm, and had no reason to be annoyed with him.
"But why'd you bring up school," She huffed at him, "I'm stressed enough as it is!" Her nostrils flared, adding a bit more effect to the fiery glare forming her eyes, and the deafening grounding of her teeth.
"Nothing else worked!" Ron stood up and puffed out his chest in what he believed was a very masculine way, when in reality he just looked like a frog that was dyed red croaking. Back to the matter at hand, he refused to look intimidated by any girl, other than his mother. Any man, no matter how strong looking, was aloud to have a bit of fear when it came to Mrs. Weasley.
Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down, not wanting to have an argument at the moment. Her life was messed up enough, and the last thing she wanted to do right at that moment was to get in a fight with her only ally.
Sensing Hermione's retreat, Ron sat down next to her and smiled, trying to lighten the mood. Although he would never admit it, he felt bad for causing Hermione to become angry, especially at a time like this. Her parents were still mad at Millie for leaving the country and not contacting them afterwards.
Ron did understand where their resentment for Nicholas came from. He basically stole their girl away from them, when she was only eighteen. Then, without even thinking about proposing marriage, as Ron was told through the version of the story Hermione told him, he had gotten her pregnant. What's worse, he just leaves her and dies. Did he even try to protect himself so that he could return to Millie and the baby? Ron doubted it, even though Nicholas didn't know about the child that Millie was carrying he had no reason to leave and get himself killed! In any other situation Ron probably would have cared less about Millie, but since she meant so much to Hermione, even though she never wrote, it meant something to Ron as well.
"So, your parents want us to break up?" Ron mumbled not actually meaning to say it out loud, but not regretting it either.
"Yeah they do. They didn't say we had to, they just believe that it's for the best." Hermione locked eyes with Ron for the first time since their little argument and almost melted to the floor. Oh, how she adored his eyes. It is said that the eye is the most beautiful feature of a person, and that went double for Ron. Gazing into his eyes for only a second made her feel as if every dream she had ever had was in the room with her, only and reach away.
The focus on each other ended almost abruptly, as an owl came into the shop and landed itself on the chair behind Ron, dropping the envelope in his beak on the table and letting out a loud squawk before flying off again.
"Who is it to?" Hermione asked as she and Ron reached for it together, Ron coming in contact first since the bird was on his side of the table.
"I don't know, it doesn't say anything on the outside." He responded to her and ripped open the seal carefully with his wand so that if he smelled or felt a strange presence inside of it, he would be able to disarm it quickly. After the last bit of paper to rip he flipped the letter open with the point of his wand and jumped under the table in case of an explosion.
Hermione, on the other hand, grabbed up the letter and read it. "It's to me."
"What's it say?" Ron asked, lifting his body out from under the table to read the words printed on it.
"I hate when you read over my shoulder," Hermione closed up the letter and shoved Ron away from her, "Give me a moment, and I'll read it to you."
He sat quietly as possible, with lots of fidgeting because of the overwhelming curiosity that the writing in the letter was building up in him.
Right before he burst Hermione pulled him back over to him and read it out loud, "It says, 'Hermione, It's been eleven years. Please take care of Nix.' Does that make any since to you?"
Ron shook his head and took the letter out of Hermione's hands, "Where's the signature?"
"There isn't one, isn't that a bit odd?" Hermione scooted closer to Ron so that she could get anther look at her mystery letter.
"Who's Nix?" Ron questioned the girl seated next to him.
"I have no idea," Hermione shrugged, "I don't think I know anybody with that name."
"Well," Ron stopped and caught a glimpse at the clock on the wall opposite of him, "What time did you say that you needed to be home by?"
"Five, why?" Hermione turned around and saw why Ron looked so worried. "Oh shit! It's half-past three and I haven't gotten any of my books yet. My parents are going to kill me!"
Ron was in partial shock, hearing a word slip off of Hermione's lips that he did not even believe was in her vocabulary. He's known her about five years, and never once was such a word uttered from her lips. Even when she was face to face with death she kept her cool. Either her parents were going to give her a fate worse than death, or she was more stressed then she had been in the previous years.
"I have a suggestion." Ron stood up, grabbing Hermione's arm before she could race out of the store and attempt at gathering all of the books needed, a job that even one such as Hermione could not accomplish.
"What is it Ron?" Hermione whined, trying to struggle out of his grasp.
"I suggest we split up. You get half of your books; I get the other half. I have all day to get home, plus I have to get Harry's stuff as well." He let go of her hand and waited for her approval of his idea.
"Okay, fine!" She tried to run off and was again caught by Ron. "What?" She screamed at him, wanting to get her books and leave as quickly as possible.
"Um, first of all we need to decided which books I'll be retrieving, second of all, I don't have enough money to buy your books, you'll have to hand some over." He put out his hand so that Hermione could hand over the money needed for the purchases. And she did just that, after she took out the paper listing every book she would need for sixth-year. It was at least twice as long as Harry and Ron's. Hermione took the paper and split it in half, handing one side to Ron and running out of the shop with the other paper.
"Wait," She turned around before she was completely out of the door, "When you're done go to the Leaky Cauldron. I'll see you then." And she was gone, leaving Ron with not only the list of books but also the letter that the owl had brought not long before.
"Oh man, today is not exactly the most stress-free." Ron mumbled quietly to himself as he exited the shop and entered the store next door for the first few books on the list.
Hermione was already halfway down the street when he had come out, and she was entering another store for her Arithmancy books.
Ron gathered up all but one book in twenty minutes. He ran down the street to what he hoped would be the last place he would have to enter to find Hermione's books. "I don't know why she had to pick the most complicated classes, all of my books are in just one store!"
"Talking to yourself Weasel?" Ron heard a familiar voice and spun around coming face to face with his archenemy, Draco Malfoy.
"What do you want Malfoy, I'm busy?" Ron rolled his eyes and sighed, praying that this conversation would be over ten minutes ago.
"Nothing from your type. What have you got there Weasley," Malfoy, who was not that much shorter than Ron, peered over the bag Ron was holding and sneered, "Those books look too complicated for you."
"Shove it Malfoy!" Ron hissed at him, "Besides, they're not for me. They're for my girlfr...Hermione." Ron winced; hoping that Draco did not catch his slipup. Hermione had enough trouble with the Slytherins because she was not of pure blood, but add a poor good-for-nothing Weasley to the mix and you'll come up with something that Hermione does not need at this moment.
Thankfully, Draco seemed not to catch Ron's slipup, or he did but paid no notice to it. In either case, he had left Ron alone with less than five minutes to get the book and head towards the Leaky Cauldron.
"Damn!" Ron screamed, "Where's the stupid, oh." He turned around and found a whole shelf full of the last book on the list. He grabbed it, bought it, and ran as fast as he could to the bar. He wasn't anymore than ten minutes late, but he arrived before Hermione.
Ron waited for almost twenty minutes before he got worried; he couldn't find Hermione anywhere. He gathered all the books in his hands and stepped outside. He saw her at the shop across from him with no other than Draco Malfoy. The red-head was only a second away from running to her side before he saw her pull her hand back and heard it come in contact with his face causing a noise loud enough in Ron's ears, and possibly louder in Draco's, to break the sound barrier.
His mouth dropped open and he had to stop himself from dropping all of her books and clapping right there in front of everyone. He did shout, "Bloody brilliant Hermione, give him another!" to Hermione and run over to the two. Draco heard him and glared at the two of them, hissing threats inaudibly.
The rejoicing didn't last long when Hermione realized the time. Tears started forming in her eyes, mainly from stress. Ron put her arm around her and suggested that she just floo.
"Ron, you're a genius! I can't believe I forgot about that!" Hermione smiled and kissed Ron on the check for the first time since they were officially a couple.
Ron blushed and his hand drifted up to his check subconsciously, "Yeah I know!" He smiled and handed her the books he got for her, plus the money left over, two galleons, and a knut.
"You have twenty minutes to get home, you sure you want to leave now?" Ron frowned at Hermione, trying hard to cover up his disappointment.
"Yeah, I don't want them to know I was here with you. Besides, school is about to start, I'll see you sooner than you know." Hermione took his hand in hers and smiled up at him. "I'll see you later Ron."
"Bye." He sighed as she entered the fireplace with the powder and disappeared home.
A/N: Nix is Latin for snow Does anybody think that they have any idea about the letter and/or Nix? Give me feedback on that.
R R & W
