Hurricane Hermione struck full force back in the Head Boy and Girl dorms. Not even bothering to talk to Lizzie or Will, she stormed through the portrait hole and proceeded to undo the entire living area. She knocked over an end table, threw pillows halfway across the room, and shoved entire stacks of papers to the ground. She pulled a book from a nearby bookshelf and got ready to throw.
"No," she muttered. "Might damage the book."
Hermione returned the book safely to the shelf and continued to throw things. She was in the middle of her tantrum when Draco emerged, wide-eyed and clearly frightened. He stood absolutely still, not daring to move while Hermione ripped the room from top to bottom. Chairs hit the floor and any small object was sent whizzing through the air. Finally, when every object - except for the bookshelves - had been thrown or in some way tormented, Hermione stopped and collapsed onto a nearby couch frame. She was panting heavily, red-faced from both her anger and the exertion.
When Draco was sure that Hurricane Hermione had lost its steam, he slowly walked down the steps, careful not to startle her. She sat mumbling angrily, clearly not satisfied with the damage she had caused, but all the same somewhat pacified. Draco stood at the bottom of the steps and surveyed the damage. Hermione had done quite a number on their dorm. He muttered a cleaning spell and after a few seconds everything was back to normal.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yes. No. Oh bloody hell, I don't know," she replied, throwing a pillow across the room. Draco levitated the pillow and returned it.
"What happened?"
"Ron and Lavender were going at it in his dorm. Let's ignore, for just one moment, that it's ILLEGAL to have members of the opposite sex in your dorms. And let's also ignore for one moment that it's totally AGAINST THE RULES to be having sex! RON WAS CHEATING ON ME ALL ALONG!" On that note, she threw the same pillow across the room again. Draco once more levitated the pillow and returned it to its spot.
"They were having sex?" Draco asked, wand at the ready.
"YES and lots of it, no doubt! Walked RIGHT IN on them!" She ripped a hole in the pillow this time, sending cotton flying everywhere. Draco sighed and muttered a charm to repair it.
"I guess that upsets you?"
"YES IT UPSETS ME!" she yelled, ripping the pillow and throwing it.
"Well, not to kick you when you're down, but you and I nearly went at it ourselves during the break," he said, levitating the pillow and repairing it as it flew towards the couch. "Makes you kind of hypocritical doesn't it?" This time, Hermione snatched the pillow from mid air and threw it at Draco, who ducked just in time.
"Thank you Draco, I'd thought of that already," she muttered as she glared at him.
"Right, then maybe you'd just better make the decision that you've needed to make all along, and get rid of the slug, eh?" The pillow flew once more back to its spot. Hermione reached for the pillow again.
"And if you don't mind, stop tossing that pillow about, because I'm getting a little tired of charming it every five bloody seconds," he said firmly, and Hermione put the pillow back.
"Sorry," she grunted, just as there was a knock at the portrait hole. Harry came in after he was granted entrance, and asked to speak with Hermione privately.
"Hermione," he began after Draco left. "I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you."
"It's alright, Harry," she said.
"No, no it's not. I've known about this for a long time now. They've been doing stuff all year, I mean it started with just flirting, but you know how Lavender can be. And I found out about them having sex, and I promised Ron I wouldn't tell you. I didn't want to hurt you anyway. So letting you just find them like that last night - well it was my way of telling you without betraying Ron's trust."
"It really is ok Harry. I know that it must have been a tough position to be in."
"What are you going to do about it?" He looked concerned.
"I really meant it this time. I'm not coming back, no matter what he does. I can't stand him, or the sight of him." She decided against telling Harry about what had happened over the break.
"I wish everything had stayed the same between us," he sighed. "Remember when we were just best mates? Those were the greatest times."
"Yea," she sadly replied. They both sat silent for a moment before Harry looked up, putting a fake smile on his face.
"So, about potions..."
The next few days went by without much going on. Of course, before long the entire school knew about Ron and Lavender, so Hermione did get quite a few people telling her to just wait it out, that it was just a phase he was going through, and that they could all tell Ron really loved Hermione. Her response was a dry laugh and a roll of the eye, and the case was closed. However, after five or so days had passed, Ron sent her a letter asking her to please meet him in the Gryffindor common room.
Hermione was reluctant to go, but she did ultimately find herself at the portrait of the Fat Lady. Inside the common room, Ron sat on a couch looking very confident. That was never a good sign for Hermione. He gestured for her to join him on the couch, and the entire room fell silent in anticipation.
"Hermione," he began. "What I'm about to say to you may give you a shock."
"What?" she said. "You're actually going to apologize for once?" Ron ignored the apparent sarcasm and continued on.
"Hermione, you've always taken such good care of me. You do the things that I need you to do and you treat me the way I deserve to be treated. We've certainly had our ups and downs, but overall I'm very satisfied with this relationship. I can't imagine my life without you there to take care of me. Which is what brings me here today."
Ron pulled something out of his pocket and went down on one knee. The look on his face was cocky and arrogant, and it sickened Hermione to know what was about to happen. The rest of the common room sucked in a collective breath as whispers went around the room like hundreds of small fires going out.
"Hermione, I want you to take care of me for the rest of my life. Marry me." He pulled the box open to reveal an engagement ring.
"I don't know what to say," Hermione said, trying to piece together her thoughts.
"Do yourself a favor and say yes," he replied, taking her left hand in his.
Hermione was trying to think of a way to diffuse the situation or a way to answer his command when she looked down at her hand that Ron held. There was something nagging at the back of her head, something telling her to pay attention. Suddenly, she gasped. She couldn't believe it! Hermione knew how to answer the question.