The Aftermath of Memories 2- The Aftermath of Four Years Gone
Summary: It seemed like everywhere she turned, there he was...Now was not the time to be thinking about the outcome of things...The return address stopped her dead in her tracks...She'd come to tell him, that she'd never forgotten...but it looked as if he had...
Disclaimer: OMG! If I owned them, I wouldn't be writing this on the computer! Id be partying with Ron and the twins!
Notes: Okay, this one is probably the most fun to read yet! Have fun!
Chapter 5- Is it really you?
"Look, I have the invitation, don't I?"
Hermione placed a hand on her hip as she stared into the eyes of both ugly fat brutes guarding the door. She had come this far, and no one was going to get in her way, especially not a couple of trolls like these ones. She had already wasted a night of paperwork for this, and the anticipation butterflies in her stomach were about killing her.
"Yeah," said one guard, sporting a thick mop of curly brown hair "But you don't look like a Quidditch lover to me. You look too smart and not slutty enough to be a girl that Ron or any of the Cannons know."
Staring at the both of them offensively, she opened her mouth wide showing her fake shock. "I'll have you know that I am one of the biggest teases you'll ever meet." she lied, trying to make them believe it. She had hoped her regular robes would fool them, but just to make sure, she had put together a little something extra. Taking off the top layer of her robes, she revealed to them her decoy outfit of a very exposing hot pink tanktop that had Chuddly Cannons written in a lighter pink across the bosom area, and a pair of extremely high riding shorts with frayed edges. She also wore plain white pennyloafers on her feet, and inside she was feeling the most uncomfortable feeling in the world, wearing this outfit. But without it, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum might have gotten suspicious.
"See?" she asked, placing both hands on her hips, as the few wizards outside trying to get in gave her several wholehearted whoops. The guards looked at eachother then back at her. The second guard nodded and approved of her, letting her inside.
"Thank you!" she said, in an annoyed tone of voice, throwing her arms up hastily. She still carried her plain robes under one arm and planned to change back into them as soon as she'd found Ron's bathroom. Gawking at how big his apartment was, she looked around for a bit, ignoring the whistles that came from the drunken wizards encompassing her. She really wanted to see Ron, but unfortunately, he wasn't the first person she bumped into.
Fred came sprinting around a corner and nearly knocked her flat on her back. Teetering backwards, the two stared at eachother, Fred with a look of shock and awe, and Hermione with a look of utter embarrassment.
"Hermione!" Fred asked, looking her up and down. "Is it really you!" He blinked a few times, as if making sure he wasn't dreaming.
Hermione simply rubbed her arms up and down and smiled weakly. "H-hey Fred..." she stuttered, not knowing what else to say or do.
Fred's smile must have reached each ear when she had concluded that his assumption was right. He ran to her and grabbed her around the waist, giving her a huge squeeze of greeting. She hugged him around the neck too, just happy for his acceptance. At least someone was happy to see her here.
"I can't believe it's actually you!" Fred shouted happily, after putting her down and grabbing her shoulders. he looked her over once more, making her feel very uncomfortable yet again. "Where have you been all my life!" he asked her, hugging her again.
She could tell he was a bit tipsy, but Fred and George were anything but light weights.
"It's a long story!" she yelled over the music.
Just then, George came running up behind Fred and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Fred, come take a gander at this! Two completely boiled girls are making out in one of the guest bedro--" he paused, when he saw Hermione. She smirked and waved sheepishly at the shocked twins. The two still looked impeccably similar.
"Hermione? Hermione Granger?" he shouted, and just as Fred had done, gave her a huge hug "Bloody Hell, is it really you! Look at you!" He said, holding her out at arms length and looking her over just as Fred had done.
"I know!" Fred told his brother "Hermione, you certainly have grown up since the last time we saw you!"
"Don't tell me you're here for Ron." George said, hopefully "Because you know you'll certainly have much more fun with your favorite twins." he said, Fred nodding in approval right behind him.
Hermione rolled her eyes "Actually, as a matter of fact, I am looking for Ron. Might the two of you know where he is?" she asked them. She wanted to see Ron, and knew the twins only wanted her to stick around because she'd 'grown up' and they were too drunk to think straight. Hopefully, Ron wouldn't be.
Responding with a nod, The twins raised their hands to the space behind her, pointing their fingers.
Turning around, she came face to face with the one and only Ronald Weasley. For a moment the two simply stared at eachother, and time itself seemed to dwindle. Hermione's mouth fell open slightly, and she noticed her breathing had become abnormally loud. Her heart felt like it was going to beat itself out of her chest, and the butterflies in her stomach became much worse.
Aside from the fact that he had the most baffled look upon his face, Ron looked so amazing. He was still lanky, but Wizard Weekly didn't lie when they said he was an extremely stunning young wizard.
She watched him move towards her, the slow motion finally speeding up. She was at a loss of words, and part of her was angry at him. But she didn't say a word when he finally reached her. Instead she listened to his sweet voice yell over the music.
"Hermione!" He asked, a look of complete and utter awe written on his face. She took that as a good sign.
She bit her lip and looked down. "In the flesh..." she said, holding out both her arms as if to say 'ta da'.
Ron looked her over the same way his twin brothers had done. Why in Ruddy sakes were the Weasley boys so predictable like that? She folded her arms across her chest, and looked away for a moment. But she looked back at him quickly, clearing her throat.
"I can't believe it's you!" He shouted over the music, placing a hand on her arm "What are you doing here?" he asked.
The question caused her to quickly want to change the subject, but she couldn't think of anything. Instead, she got angry. it was the only thing she could think of at the moment to do.
"I came to tell you something, Ron!" she shouted.
He smiled "Would you like something to drink?" He asked her. She furrowed her forehead.
"No thank you, I'm not a big drinker." she replied.
"Oh, come now! Not a drinker, my arse." He said, taking her hand and attempting to pull her into the kitchen "Come and have a drink with me! I've missed you terribly!"
"Ron, I don't think-"
"Hermione?" Harry shouted running up behind her, his arms wrapping themselves around her waist and hugging her tightly. "Oh Merlin, it's really you! I thought Fred and George were pulling my leg or something! I left the room with the girls making out just to come and see if it was true! And it is!" he shouted spinning her around to face him and hugging her again.
Harry was definitely the lightweight of the group. Hermione smelled the Firewhisky on his breath and smiled weakly. "Thanks, I think..." She said, hugging him back awkwardly. It was good to see Harry too, but he hadn't made any attempts to write to her either. She was happy to see the both of them, but angry that she was the only one who had made any endeavor to find eachother. Already she was beginning to see how big of a mistake it had been to come here. Everyone was drunk, and it made her feel very uncomfortable.
"Harry, how are you?" she asked Harry, glaring at Ron who was staring at her confused, as if to ask Why do you look so angry?
"Oh, peachy keen now that you're here!" He said, hugging her tighter.
She finally pulled away from him and looked at the two with a slight hint of puzzlement about her. They really had changed, hadn't they? For their sake, she hoped with all her might that she'd caught them at a bad time. This was utterly disappointing to finally see the two of them and what they had become over the length of four years. Wild Party and Quidditch loving animals.
This was a bad time.
"Ron! I think I'd better tell you-" She started, but before she could finish a shrill voice was heard from behind her.
"Ronniekins!" a short-haired blonde came racing up to Ron, pushing Hermione out of the way with not so much as an 'excuse me' and hugged him around the neck. Hermione knew from that moment on that she didn't like her. And the feeling was increased deeply when the impudent blonde had the nerve to kiss him on the cheek.
"Ronnie!" Came that shrill hideous voice emitting from the girls throat again. It made Hermione want to wretch. "Why didn't I get an invitation? And," she held up a letter "Who is Hermione Granger, and why did Pigwidgeon send me her mail?" she asked, as Harry disappeared around the corner again, giving Hermione a slight frown. She could tell that this girl was unpleasant to be around.
Hermione quickly interrupted the girl "Oh, so you must be Penny then." She said, holding out her hand, with every intention of crushing the girls fingers if she shook it. "So sorry. You see, I'm Hermione." She explained.
Penny looked at her hand, but didn't shake it, which was a smart move at that point, though very ill-mannered. Instead she flashed a fake smile and threw the letter towards her. "Our owls must have gotten intercepted then..." she said, turning back to Ron and kissing his neck. Hermione stared at Ron, who smiled down at Penny with his charming fake Magazine smile.
"There you are Poppet," He said "I was wondering where you'd been."
He gave her another one of his fake grins. Well, at least this Penny bird wasn't important enough to be truthful to. At least not important enough to smile truthfully to.
Hermione cleared her throat, as Ron strived to kiss Penny, stopping him abruptly. Their kiss made her want to rip out every hair on that stupid Prats head. What nerve did he have to kiss another girl in front of her like that? What was wrong with him? This was definitely a mistake. Ron had obviously moved onto bigger and "better" things. He had changed his mind about her with the coming and going of four years, hadn't he?
She gave the room a single glance, before turning back to Ron and his wench of a friend. "I'm sorry, I have to...well...I have to go..." she said, before walking right past them, choking back tears of anger and sadness. This had definitely been a mistake.
Ron quickly turned and grabbed her shoulder "Mione, wait! Please don't go! Stay and enjoy the party-"
"Don't call me that, Ron...I have a name, and it's not Mione" She said dryly spinning around to face him, gagging at the sound of a putrid nickname. "I'm sorry, I have to go..." she shoved him off and walked towards the door.
"But you haven't even seen Ginny yet!" He protested.
"Maybe some other time!" Hermione shouted back, doubting that Ginny was even at the party. With that, she was gone and out the door.
Walking down the street, she folded her arms across her chest and began to cry. That reunion had been purgatory. Ron was nothing like she had expected him to be. He was being a different person, and she didn't know why.
And it was bloody cold in her decoy outfit! She stopped abruptly, remembering that she'd left her other robes at his house. She shrugged it off, not ever wanting to go back there again anyway.
She could just buy new ones, right? What with the money she made, Hermione could buy a whole new wardrobe.
But money wasn't and had never been the key to happiness, had it?
Yay! fun fun fun...ok sad sad sad, but it gets better bear with me! it WILL get better! I mean, do you really think I'll let it go on like this? HECK NO! review please