This is originally a sequel to "In love?" but if you haven't read it, you can still read this one. There might be one or two notes from the previous story…
I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other characters… I wish I did, but I don't, blah blah. You know the drill :) So, read and review and, er, enjoy ;)
It had been a little more than two months since Ron and Hermione had finally shared their first kiss. And two great months it had been too – not only to the new couple. It seemed that now, as they had finally admitted their feelings to each other, there were less arguing and quarrelling between the two. In fact, there hadn't been a single one - much to the pleasure of both Harry and Ginny, who so often had come in the middle of these fights.
Now they were all back at Hogwarts, and the trio was sitting in the common room doing their homework. Well, in fact, Ron and Harry were doing homework. Hermione had, of course, finished them earlier, and was reading a book while waiting for the boys to get finished. However, she had been a tad bit distracted; Ron was scratching his head with the pen, obviously trying to figure out the answer to something, and looked especially cute as he wore a rather clueless expression on his face.
"I hate Snape," he muttered. "I bet he's enjoying himself now, as he picture us struggling with the homework he so nicely have handed out."
Harry nodded agreeable. "Rubbing his hands, cackling with glee," he joined in. "Well, that's it! I give up." Then, leaning forward, he added in a whisper. "Hey, why don't you try some sweet-talking to your girlfriend and make her help us?"
Ron smirked, but did as his friend suggested. "Oh, Hermione?" he smiled sweetly as he turned around and looked at her.
Knowing exactly what he wanted, Hermione quickly went back to her book, pretending to not have heard him. Even though she and Ron were a couple now, she still meant they should do their homework on their own.
Grinning, Ron got up on his feet and strolled over to the sofa where she was sitting. "Hermione?" he repeated, in the same sweet tone. He sat down next to her, and when she still ignored him, he grabbed the book from her. "You're not ignoring me, are you?"
"Ignoring you? Why would I ignore you?" Hermione looked at him innocently.
"Beats me. But you know what happens if you do?" Ron said as he moved closer to her.
Hermione giggled. "No, I don't think you have ever told me that. Should I be afraid?"
"Well," Ron grinned mischievously. "Yeah." Slowly, Hermione tried to sneak away, but Ron, noticing this, pulled her back and began to tickle her insanely. Hermione tried to stifle her laughter and pull away, but Ron was too strong and soon she realised she was defeated.
"Fine!" she cried. "I'll help you!"
Ron abruptly stopped. "Thanks!" he smiled triumphal, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I still think you should try to figure it out on your own," Hermione added before she got up on her feet and headed for her room to find her notes.
Ginny had turned up in the common room when Hermione came back. She and Harry were both whispering and giggling amongst themselves, and Ron observed them with a disgusted look on his face.
"Get a room, will you?" he snorted. Then, suddenly changing his mind, he hastily added. "No, wait, don't. Just stay here, so I can keep an eye on you two."
Hermione placed her notes on the table. "Here you go," she said.
"Thanks, Hermione," Ron and Harry said in unison.
Deciding to leave the boys alone with their homework, Hermione and Ginny went outside to talk. The weather was great: the sun was shining and there were no clouds on the sky. They soon noticed that they weren't the only ones enjoying sunshine, and it was almost a shame to think that Ron and Harry sat inside.
"Have I told you how happy I am for you and Ron?" Ginny said, beaming, as they sat down on the grass.
Hermione laughed. "About a hundred times."
"Well, I am. You make a cute couple. Oh, your first relationship!" she giggled, pretending to act rather like the big sister than the little sister. "Of course, that is if you don't count Victor."
"It was never like that with Victor," Hermione said, feeling slightly weary that every time someone mentioned the Bulgarian seeker, they sounded like there had been more to it than it had. "Victor was and is just a friend."
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Are? That means you're still writing to him?"
"Well, yeah. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"No, I don't think so," Ginny answered quickly. "But you know how Ron gets just by the mention of his name."
Hermione bit her lips. "But he knows I still write, doesn't he?"
Ginny shrugged. "Maybe you should talk to him?"
Hermione sighed; Ron could be rather… immature about certain things – especially when it came to Victor, and she wasn't sure that talking to him about it would help. Then again, she couldn't possible hide it from him either.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" They turned around just to see Malfoy approaching them. "One of the filthy Weasley's and -"
"Go away, Malfoy," Hermione interrupted him, her voice calm as if not bothered even a bit by Malfoy. These days there wasn't much he could say or do to provoke her. Malfoy had noticed this, and he couldn't say he was very happy for it.
"I wouldn't be so self-confident if I were you, Granger," he went on. "You're disgustingly happy now, but it won't last for long!"
"Did you want something, Malfoy?" Malfoy turned around; Harry had suddenly appeared, and next to him stood Ron. "Or did you just stop for a chat?" Harry continued.
"As if I'd ever want to talk to you."
"Then what are you doing now?" Ron smirked.
"Wouldn't you have liked to know?" Malfoy replied, sly grin appearing on his lips. He was about to add something, when they heard someone call out his name – it was the usual gang of Slytherins who was waving him over. "This isn't over yet," Malfoy spat, scowling at Ron before marching away.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked the others as they watched Malfoy disappear.
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know," she answered as she got up on her feet and stepped over to Ron, putting her arms around his neck. "And who cares?"
"I don't," Ron grinned before kissing her gently on the lips.
"Oh, get a room!" Harry said, snickering.
"No, wait," Ginny went on, imitating Ron. "Don't. Stay here, so we can keep an eye on you two."
Unfortunately, it seemed that Malfoy had heard a little more of the conversation between Hermione and Ginny than he should have. And when Ron had to use one of the school's owls to send a letter to his parents (since Pig was knocked unconscious after flying on a window), Malfoy spotted him and ceased the opportunity to reveal the little secret he had heard just the previous day.
The others, however, were sitting once again in the common room, clueless of what went on one floor under them. Harry and Ginny were playing a game of chess and Hermione was observing them from the sofa – she had just made a comment on one the moves Ginny had made, when Ron came bursting through the door.
"That bloody git Malfoy!" he said as he flung himself down on the sofa next to Hermione. "I swear, one day I'm going to do something drastic."
"What did he do now?" Harry asked.
"What he always do," Ron muttered. "Making life a living hell. If Snape hadn't showed up…" The last he said mostly to himself.
Harry nodded, and went back to the game. It was not that he didn't care, but Malfoy's remarks happened daily; and right now he was desperately trying to beat Ginny. He had been loosing every game the last three weeks, and was really determined to win this one.
"Eh, Hermione?" Ron began; he let his hand through his hair, looking a tad bit nervous. "Are you still writing to Victor?" He seemed to make an extra effort when he mentioned the name.
Hermione froze; she found it slightly weird that he suddenly brought it up now, especially when she and Ginny had been talking about it only a day ago. "Well, to tell the truth…"
"Great." Ron got up on his feet. "That's just great!"
"So what if I do?" Hermione said, and immediately went into self-defence. "We're just friends."
Ron shook his head. "Malfoy clearly don't think so. Not that that's the point," he added quickly. "The point is that I had to hear this from him. From Malfoy! That bloody…You know I can't stand him!" Ron snorted. "And he seemed, of course, very pleased with himself."
The discussion was getting slightly louder now, as both of them were beginning to raise their voices at each other. Harry and Ginny exchanged looks, and both of them sighed.
"How would you feel if he came to you and told you that I was writing letters to a girl?"
"But you knew I was writing to him, Ron! You can't get mad at me for that! Did you really expect me to just stop writing to him because we got together?" Hermione got up on her feet, trying to follow Ron, who was wandering back and forth.
"So, I thought you weren't anymore!" He paused, taking a deep breath. "Try to picture it from my point, will you?"
"But you're not even writing to anyone! You never write letters – except in the summer perhaps!"
"Well, what if I was now, eh!"
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Like to who then? Who would you write to?"
Ron groaned, feeling that he hadn't quite managed to make his point exactly as he wanted. "A girl," he said eventually. "A girl from… France! Yes, that's right. Sarah from France!"
Hermione tapped her foot. "Honestly, Ron, now you're just being stupid."
"I'm not the one who's being bloody stupid!"
"So I guess that means I am then?" Hermione yelled. "Well, at least that's better than being a jealous, immature and bad-tempered git who should start to think before he speaks!" And with that she stormed furiously out of the room and up to the girls' dorm.
Ron sank back down in the sofa, shaking his head. "I know, I know," he said with a glance at Harry and Ginny. "I'm an idiot."
Hermione felt both angry and miserable. She couldn't understand why Ron had acted like he had. And as she went down to the breakfast the day after, she found herself in the same bad mood she had been yesterday after the argument. She wasn't actually sure if she wanted to meet Ron right now, but she was hungry and she needed something to eat; so down to the Great Hall she went.
Ron, Harry and Ginny were already sitting with the table when she approached the Gryffindor table.
"Hey guys," she greeted. "Ron," she added, slightly more coldly than she had meant to.
"Hermione," Ron said, his voice cracking. He wanted to make an effort to get her to listen to him, and immediately got up in his feet. But in the progress he accidentally managed to knock over a glass with water. "Bloody…"
He fumbled for something to clean it up with, and Harry quickly moved to help him. Hermione, however, ceased this opportunity to grab three of the sandwiches that lay on the table before she hastily hurried out of the hall. Ginny followed after her.
"What exactly are you doing?" she asked, as the door closed behind them.
Hermione stared at Ginny; acting as if she didn't have the faintest idea what her friend was talking about. Ginny, however, didn't fall for it and crossed her arms. "Are you ignoring me brother?"
"Does it look I'm ignoring him?" Hermione replied shortly.
"Yes."
"Well, then I am."
Ginny sighed. "Don't you think you're over-reacting a little? You can't stay mad at him forever."
"Of course I'm not going to stay mad at him forever!" Hermione snorted. "Just until he realises that he needs to do something about that temper of his."
Ginny raised her eyebrows; she wasn't sure exactly who of Hermione and Ron she thought was the most stubborn, but she hoped one of them soon would come to his or her senses and apologise.
"In the meantime," Hermione continued. "I will be in the library."
It was late when Hermione decided to leave the library. She hadn't done much reading, to tell the truth. Deep down she had hoped Ron would come and look for her, but, obviously, he hadn't. Then she had suddenly dozed off, and when she woke up it was passed midnight.
The common room was, of course, empty. As it was a school day tomorrow, it would have surprised her if anyone were awake. Since she had been sleeping at the library for nearly two hours, she didn't feel very tired. She strolled over to the sofa and was just about to sit down, when she realised someone was already lying there. Curled up in one of the corners was Ron – and as she watched him lay there in deep sleep, she forgot for a moment why she was mad.
"Ron," she whispered. He didn't move. As the sleepyhead he was, she should have known that there needed more than a soft touch to wake him up. She gave him a not too hard smack on the head.
"Keep 'em away from me!" Ron cried out. He sat up, startled, and then he noticed Hermione and remembered where he was. "Hermione…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Did you just hit me?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and made a move to leave, but Ron held her back. "Don't go…" he said, and she was reminded of the day two months ago at the Burrow when he had said the exact same thing.
"I'm sorry, Hermione," he continued. "You were right; I was acting stupid. I shouldn't have yelled, and I shouldn't have been so mad. I just…" He sighed. "I just don't like it."
"Why?" Hermione asked. "Why does it bother you that much?"
"I don't know." He hesitated, and ruffled his hair like he so often did when feeling nervous. "Well… I don't like thinking that…" There was a pause, as if he was trying to find the right words. "That someone might take you away from me," he whispered, and for some reason he felt slightly foolish for saying it.
"Oh." Hermione leaned forward. "Trust me, Ron, you have nothing to worry about." She kissed him softly on the lips. "And I'm sorry, too," she added. "I wasn't much better myself."
Ron pulled her closer. "I know," he said, grinning. "But I love you anyway."
Hermione's head perked up. Had he just said what she thought he had said? Ron was stroking her arm, and didn't seem to a bit aware that this was the first time he had said this. Hermione smiled, and rested her head on his chest.
"I love you, too, Ron."
The end -
So, whadd'ya think? Yeah, I know, it's short… But I didn't want it to be longer. Just a cute, little story… So, I hope you liked it. And please review, and in the meantime I will… er… be off and try to think of a new story to write :P
