The Aftermath Of Memories
Summary: She rubbed her forehead, closed her eyes, and thought to herself What in Blaises have I done?...Graduation was a real fog to her right now...A summer at Ron's house might give her a chance...he was leaving soon, and the thought made her cry...
Disclaimer: Ok...so If I, Hogwarts-Honeybee owned the Harry Potter characters, I definitely wouldn't be here right now. I think all of you know that without me even writing a disclaimer. So I don't own them, that's it.
Authors Notes: Hey Peeps! Man it's good to be back, I gotta tell you. I still don't know why it took me so damn long to update my fricken stories. Anyhow, here's the next chapter. I'm warning you, it doesn't start of with such a bang, but you'll all like the ending...hopefully haha
Finding a Name, and Playing a Question Game- Chapter 9
The afternoon had begun, letting the sun shine into the windows and spill onto the floor of The Burrow as Ginny sat with Ron inside their comfortably small living room with her brand new owl. Truth be told, Ron was actually taking a real liking to he bird, but he would never admit it. Ginny, on the other hand was madly in love with the thing. She took him everywhere, even if she wasn't planning on writing a letter or sending something. She'd take him to the park and let him fly around, she would take him to the Old pitch and fly around with him on her broom, she'd even take him when she went to visit Llandon. The two were becoming inseparable.
But she still didn't have a name for him.
"Ron, what are we going to name him?" Ginny asked, petting all along the owls red-gold feathers.
Ron just shrugged a shoulder while eating his way through a couple of chocolate frogs, "Hurw Emph I thupoffed to-"
What!" Ginny asked, looking at him. He swallowed.
I sad, How am I supposed to know what to call him? You name MY bird, remember?" he sighed.
Ginny sighed. The two had been thinking of names all day and nothing was fitting. The twittery little red-golden owl was just too unique for any names they could think of. Everything seemed to suit him so...inappropriately. They kept trying.
"How about something like Goldy?" Ginny suggested.
Ron made a face as if to say Are you Crazy? "Gin, the owl is a boy. I'm sure he won't like the name Goldy. Just think of what it might do to the poor guys self esteem."
The owl hooted in agreement, and Ron smiled. "See?"
Ginny sighed, getting up from the couch and pacing the floor. There had to be a name that suited this bird, and Ginny was determined to either find it, or die trying to find it. She had named Pig on the spot, because that was sortof what he'd looked like to Ginny. A small round little Pig bird. Thus came the name, Pigwidgeon. She searched her mind hard, thinking of all the names she could and placing a hand on her forehead in frustration.
"The poor thing needs a name..." she said, still pacing "Otherwise the little sprite wont know when to come, because obviously-"
Ron thought about what she'd said for a moment. Something about what she'd said had caused the wheels to begin to turn, and Ron thought he might have been getting somewhere. "Hey Gin..."
"Obviously we wont' know what to call him..."
"Ginny, listen-"
"And then, he'll be known as the no-named bird! Think of what THAT might do to his self esteem!"
"GINEVRA!" Ron shouted above her constant babbling. "Listen, repeat what you just said...the whole thing."
Ginny gave him a very confused look, but shrugged "I said the little sprite wont know when to come, because we won't know what to call him?..." she repeated.
Ron grinned "Ok, one more time..."
Ginny placed both hands on her hips "This isn't time for games Ronald Weasley. I SAID that the little Sprite-"
"Right there!" Ron said, getting up and slapping a hand over her mouth "There's your name..."
Ginny pulled his hand off, not knowing what he meant. What was Ron getting at. "Look, Ron...all I've been saying was that the little sprite wouldn't..."
She paused. The same thing that had clicked inside Ron's head not nearly seconds ago had clicked in her head too. The name was perfect, and it did suit him very well.
"Sprite?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling. Ron nodded, picking the little twittery bird up in both hands. It seemed to like the name, as it hooted happily in Ron's hands, it's little chest elevating with every breath. Ginny smiled, taking the bird in her hands, letting it perch on her arm eventually.
"You like that name, eh Sprite?" she asked him. Again, the owl fluffed it's feathers and hooted merrily. The other two nodded.
"Right, then! Sprite it is..." Ron said, petting the owl along he back.
At that moment, Hermione walked in drinking something from a bottle. Ron and Ginny raised an eyebrow at the funny green bottle and the foamy liquid coming out of it.
"Hermione," Ron asked "What are you drinking?"
Hermione gave him a confused look, but it quickly turned into and understandable look as she had forgotten that they didn't know of muggle soda.
"Oh, it's a muggle drink. It's called Sprite..." she explained.
Rona and Ginny smirked at eachother from the corners of their eyes. Hermione only looked at them funny.
"What is it?" she asked, taking another sip.
"It's a sign..." Ron explained, turning to Ginny.
Ginny nodded "Hermione, say hello to Sprite..." she said, holding up the little owl.
Hermione raised her eyebrows, but smiled anyhow, as the little owl hooted happily.
It was a short while after sunset , and the day was darkening rapidly, as if Merlin himself was splashing darker shades through the now purple sky. Hermione and Ron sat by themselves, talking about Hogwarts; old friends that they would miss, old teachers they wouldn't miss, and enemies they were glad to be rid of. The conversation had caused the two quite a fit of laughter as they sat in the backyard of the burrow conversing.
"Ok, here's one..." Ron said "Hottest teacher."
Hermione furrowed her forehead at him. Hogwarts teachers weren't hott. They were mangy old blokes who spent time doing quite boring things and not thinking about themselves in the least.
"None of them..." she calmly replied, shrugging a shoulder.
Ron scoffed "Oh come off it! You can't think of one teacher whom you had a crush on during our seven years at Hogwarts!" he asked "I know I can think of one for you..." he hinted, obviously indicating their second year Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart.
Hermione caught on quickly and rolled her eyes, "Well, he's insane now! Don't you think I gotten over it?"
"Hermione," Ron said, mocking her rolled eyes "What Hogwarts teacher would you pick if you HAD to?" he asked, changing the question a bit. Hermione just looked up to the sky in thought.
"I suppose..." she said "If I absolutely had to choose, I'd choose Lockhart...But there would be certain circumstances that would simply have to apply," she said, pointing her finger at Ron.
"One, He would be sane. Two, he couldn't be famous, and-"
"Wait. Why couldn't he be famous?" Ron interrupted, a worried tone in his voice.
Hermione shrugged "I don't think I'll ever date anyone famous..." she stated, matter-of-factly. "They get to caught up in themselves and what they're doing, and getting fan owls up to their elbows, and I just don't think that they would have time for an ordinary girl like me..."
Ron smiled at her, and she thought she saw pity in his eyes. But it could've been something else. "You're not ordinary in the least, Hermione..." he told her, lowering his voice. She just smiled back.
"I know, I know Ron, I'm bloody brilliant..." she said holding up quotation fingers and laying on sarcasm. That's how it always had been. Hermione doing something Brilliant, and Ron informing her of it.
That's all I am to him, and that's all I'll ever be she thought sadly.
But Ron simply shook his head. "No...not just Bloody Brilliant. You're more than that. You've got Gryffindor strength inside of you..." he told her smiling.
Hermione smiled back, but wasn't exactly thrilled by his response. Well, what did I expect him to say? she asked herself, as she stared up at his smiling face. 'I love you Hermione, nothing will ever change that?' Ha! Fat chance of that happening...
She shrugged the thought off as the two sat in silence for a moment longer. Finally she thought it best to break the silence that had been hovering over them for what seemed like hours.
"I have one..." she said, smirking "Best class..."
He smiled back at her, "It would HAVE to be Defense against the Dark Arts, the Year Lupin was teaching." he said, leaning back to remember it all. Hermione watched as his eyes closed, as he was remembering things from the past--the Boggart, The giant Spider on Roller Skates, along with all of the rest of the things Lupin had taught them, not just in the classroom . If possible, she felt even more compelled to kiss him right then and there, and had it not been for the Gryffindor strength inside of her, she might have just done it.
But no. Even in his finest hour -or as fine as the summer hours could get- she still didn't have the nerve to tell him about the thoughts that had been going on in her head for so long now. Oh so long, they'd been there.
"How about you?" Ron asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
She thought about it. "I really liked Transfiguration..." she said, thoughtfully. "But you both had such a hard time in that class...you and Harry..." she smiled.
It was true. She could still remember their first day like it had been yesterday. The two running in late, thinking they wouldn't get caught. And Professor McGonagal turning back into her human form had been the best part of it all. The looks on both their faces had been so priceless, Hermione wished she'd had a camera to capture it forever.
Ron scoffed "Transfiguration was the least of our problems...what about Potions!"
The two rolled their eyes, knowing that THAT class had been the WORST for all the Gryffindors.
"No kidding..." Hermione said, seriously. "I know who'd win worst teacher..."
"Yeah me too..." Ron said. The two eyed eachother and knew exactly who that teacher was.
"Snape!" They said in unison, laughing afterwards.
The two talked for a while more, going through the many labels at Hogwarts that they would pick, such as Biggest flirts in Gryffindor -Seamus and Parvati- Biggest Prat all around -Draco Malfoy- and craziest student they'd met there -Luna Lovegood-. The two were laughing so hard, that they hadn't noticed that it was beginning to grow very, very dark outside.
Ron shrugged "Here," He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the fire pit. There was a flash and Hermione saw a blazing fire before her eyes. She smiled, appreciating the sudden warmth. Turning back to Ron, she continued the conversation.
"Ok...so...who was the most attractive?" she asked, smirking.
She saw Ron turn away for a moment and turn a bit red...or it could've been the flames.
"I don't know..." he said, rubbing the back of his neck, as he smirked back at her. "I guess...well, probably Katie Bell..." he shrugged. Hermione had no idea how to tell if he was lying or not, so she shrugged off her sadness. It wasn't like he was going to tell her that she was the most attractive. And Katie was...ok-besides the fact that she could probably crush Ron with one hand. Who knew, maybe Ron liked tough women.
"Same Question..." Ron told her.
NOW what was she supposed to say! Of course it was Ron! She would admit it to herself, sure. But she would probably never muster up the courage to admit it to him. Thinking momentarily, she shrugged.
"You were all displeasing sights..." she joked, causing both herself and Ron to laugh.
"Oh, come off it! Even Mr. praise-worthy Oliver Wood?" he asked, punching her lightly in the arm.
"You come off it!" she said, punching him harder. "Of course not, Oliver Wood! He was much too old for me!"
Ron raised a charming eyebrow when she had punched him back. Hermione recognized this particular look he was giving her. It was his 'Oh-this-means-war' look. Smirking, he jumped up and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder with great ease.
"Ronald Weasley!" she screeched, hitting him on the back several times. Well, this certainly was less than pleasant. "Let me go, you dense dunder head!"
"Oh, you want to be let go, do you?" he asked, walking dangerously close to Molly's lily pond. Hermione's eyes grew wide.
"Oh no!" She shouted at him, struggling to break free "No! Ron, don't you dare!"
"Don't I dare what?" he asked, his voice slathered with fake innocence and the grin on his face not leaving. "Oh! Oh, you mean the lily pond?" he asked, before taking a step in. Hermione shrieked and tried wriggling out of his arms at the sight of the first step into the icy water, but couldn't. Instead, she caused Ron to descend back onto the grass, just barely missing the pond and hitting the ground with a thud. She was now lying on top of him in dewy grass up to their knees- that is if they had been standing.
She glared down at him, and he returned it with a taunting smirk.
"I hate you..." She told him.
Ron just chuckled "I know it..." he said, not making any attempt to move. She didn't either. The two stood there for a minute more, as she watched the glow of the moon shine upon his gorgeous face. If possible, it lit up his already light blue eyes in such a way, that it made her want to be his even more.
Don't do it... Her subconscious told her. Don't you dare do it.
But she didn't have to. Ron was staring back at her, the smile replaced with a blank stare and he was breathing heavily. Suddenly, she felt the light touch of his hand on the back of her head as he pulled her closer. She let a breath catch in her chest, as he gave her one last stare.
Then it happened.
She felt all the audacity being completely sucked out of her body, as his lips traced lightly over hers. As if instinctive, she closed her eyes. This was almost too much for the violent butterflies in her stomach. Almost more than her body could handle. This was her dream happening in front of her -TO her- and she could hardly believe it.
Then something snapped. She didn't know why and she didn't know how, but for some reason-whether it be nerves or embarrassment, or even both- she broke the impeccable kiss and scrambled to her feet, leaving him in the same position. His eyes were still closed, and she saw them open slowly and look up at her with a mixed look of confusion and abatement.
The two just stared at eachother for a moment, both their cheeks and ears very red. Finally both of them spoke at once.
"Hermione-"
"Ron I-"
Silence again. Clearing her throat, she ran fingers through her feathery brown hair and decided to break the awkward stillness.
"I'm sorry..." she said, not knowing what or who she was sorry for. It had been quite great for her, and he seemed to be enjoying it as well.
But she didn't know what else to say.
Ron, on the other hand didn't say anything. Instead he got up, sighing.
"I'm going to go to bed..." he told her, giving her an eccentric kiss on the cheek and a "G'night Hermione..." before leaving her to stand there alone with her thoughts and the fireflies keeping her company.
How can you sleep at a time like this? she thought, sitting back down and staring into the glow of the fire.
Yes, yes I know...lmao review please!
