Not What You'd Expect

Chapter Two: Why Do You Care So Much?

Ron was still fuming to Harry about how inappropriate it was for Ginny to be dancing "at her age," namely, 15, but still too young. However, it was apparently ok for Hermione, who was 16, to be dancing that way. He spotted Ginny and Hermione, closely followed by Dean and Seamus, coming out the back of the stage. "There they are!" Ron shouted.

"Im…to sexy for my shirt.." Malfoy was singing. A whole bunch of Slytherin girls were standing right in front of the stage screaming. Ron pushed the ones on the side away to get to Ginny.

"Ginevra Weasley!" Ron shouted at her. "What in the world every possessed you to do that?" If he had been a cartoon character, at this point, steam would be coming out of his ears.

"Ron, there is no good reason why I shouldn't have. I am 15 years old! I'm not a little kid anymore. You are being way too protective of me. I can take care of myself, and if you haven't noticed, I'm a pretty good dancer!" she answered, now equally angry at him.

Dean came up behind her. "You can say that again, babe!" He wiggled his eyebrows at her and Ginny giggled. He pulled her over closer to him.

"And another thing, Ron. Meet my boyfriend, Dean Thomas," with that, she grabbed Dean's hand, and went to go find a seat for herself.

Ron's mouth dropped. "She has a boyfriend? Merlin, I never knew that! Bloody hell!"

"Ron!" Hermione said. "You know she's right. She IS 15. You really should give her a lot more leeway. But let's change the subject, since you aren't looking very happy. What did you think of the rest of the performance? I would really like your opinion on it."

Harry grinned at her. "It was great 'Mione! I didn't know you liked to dance, or that you were going to be in the talent show. I wish you would have told me because I would have loved to be part of that. That was absolutely amazing. Very unexpected, I must say, but wow!" He gave her a good pat on the back.

However, Ron was seemingly not capable of saying anything. He kept opening and closing his mouth, quite like a fish. Everytime he tried to speak, he must have decided against it.

"If you didn't like it, you can tell me. Ronald, I understand you may not have liked it, but can't you say something," Hermione's eyes started to tear up a bit.

Once again, Ron tried to say something. But this time, he could actually get a word out. "No…it was really good, Hermione," he said quietly.

Her face lit up a bit. "Don't be too enthusiastic now," she answered sarcastically. Her neck was getting really hot so she decided to go wash her face in the bathroom. When she was done, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and reapplied her makeup that had run a little.

On her way out, Seamus stopped her. "Hey 'Mione," he said. "That was really fun, and I um…have a question."

"Yes."

"Would you like to spend the Hogsmeade trip with me next weekend? We can go to the three broomsticks and get to know each other a little better," he was wringing his hands in nervousness.

Hermione seemed thoughtful for a minute. "Yes Seamus, I would love to spend that trip with you. I will meet you in front of the school that day."

"Great," he said and ran off back towards the great hall.

Shortly after, she followed him, a million questions running through her mind. Did she like Seamus that way? Did she want to be his girlfriend? What was Harry and Ron going to say? Hermione quickly made her way over to her friends. "Harry, Ron, Seamus has just asked me to a date in Hogsmeade."

"And you said no, right?" Ron said quickly without thinking.

"Actually, I said yes. Since fourth year at the Yule Ball, I haven't be asked out by anyone. I think that I should go. It could be fun, and maybe I like Seamus. Ron, just because I don't get asked out often, doesn't mean it wont happen."

"But Hermione, why Seamus? Why do you want to go out with him?" Ron protested.

"Ronald Weasley! You didn't like Viktor either! What is your problem with my dates! Why do you care so much!" she yelled at him. Her eyes narrowed and she became very frusterated.

"Why do you have to go give yourself away to any guy who asks you out? Don't you have your eye on someone, one person? And wait for him instead of going out with anyone who asks you?" Ron shouted back.

Hermione began to cry and ran out of the great hall. Ron's eyes followed her until she was out of site. He then looked down in embarrassment.

"Mate, I don't think that was a very good move. You should go talk to her. She is pretty upset," Harry said.

"She'll never talk to me now!" Ron said and ran out of the great hall himself.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day was very uncomfortable for Harry. In each class, he watched Ron and Hermione ignore each other except for Hermione shooting glares at Ron during random intervals. Ginny however, not knowing about the fight, was very happy. She was constantly showing off in front of Ron with Dean. Dean was quite oblivious to this. So was Ron.

Ron was too busy trying to make Hermione see his unspoken apology. Hermione was doing a very good job of ignoring him, and also, flirting with Seamus. Every time she saw him, she would go up and start talking to him intently. Ron noticed this and kept getting more and more depressed each time he saw them together.

By the end of that night, Ron was too upset to go to dinner, which was very unusual for him because he was always hungry. Harry stood outside the now locked dormitory door trying to convince Ron to come to dinner.

"Ron, come on! You are taking this way too far. Do you really want Hermione to know you are upset! Just come down and have something to eat. You can come right back up!" he shouted.

"Tell her I was tired from quidditch practice. Or that I'm sick. Or anything, but I'm not going down there to see her rub Seamus in my face!" Ron replied.

Eventually, Harry gave up and went downstairs. Hermione, for once that day, was not with Seamus. She was sitting by herself, staring down at her plate. "Hermione," he called to her. "Ron is upstairs very upset."

"I don't care," she said, suddenly angry. "He said some horrible things about me! The least he could do was apologize! But he didn't and there's nothing wrong with me spending time with Seamus. He is a very nice boy!"

Harry nodded slowly. "Yes, Ron made a mistake. But I know he's sorry and you know that this is upsetting him a lot! He has missed dinner. When have you ever known him to willingly give up food?"

"Harry, all I know is that he really hurt me, and all I want is an apology. Is that so much to ask?" She looked back down at her food and sighed heavily before getting up. "I'm going to go to bed now. I'm not feeling up to this right now." Hermione walked out of the great hall, her feet dragging.

She walked up to her dormitory and heard music coming from the boys' room. It was green day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

"Check my vital signs,
Yes I'm still alive, and I walk alone
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating"

Ron was singing along softly in his room. Hermione crept to the door and listened. Every so often, she heard him sniffling. She knocked quietly and heard the music shut off.

"Come in," he said.

She walked in. "Ron…"

A/N: Sorry to end it so quickly, but I only have a few reviews on this story. It would be really nice if you could leave me a review. I would love you! I hope you enjoyed it and don't worry, I will be writing more soon! I have big plans for this story and I won't be getting a writers block, hopefully. I'm very excited about this one…and the title suits it because the talent show isn't the only thing that's going to surprise you!