A/N: First of all, NO! I am certainly not dead, but if I was, wouldn't you feel really bad for having said that valentines-hater?? Sorry for the long wait, I had a very busy last few days and I planned on having this out on Monday but it lacked the last few touches.
To my ReviewERs: Just so you know, I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but there is more to come in the Hermione getting back at Samantha department, something in terms or more physical retribution, but I'm not sure when, but the milkshake is NOT the end of it!! rosepetal13 you are a great person and sorry for not responding to you before, but... I'm not sure if I can fit the whole bouncing ferret thing in... maybe I can squeeze it in somewhere just for you! And sorry I made y'all crave ice cream, but it's my fav treat, so I consider it a good thing to crave!! Lykairo I had originally planned on having Hogwarts in this story, but the further into it I get, the further from my original story plan I get, so, I highly doubt Hogwarts will be in my story! WhyDoYouCare36 how can I be almost 100% positive, well, why do you care??
Chapter 11
Ron groaned and rolled over on his side. He just couldn't get to sleep. After the three had arrived back at the Granger house Ron had wanted to talk to Hermione, but he felt so sick that if he opened his mouth for too long he felt like he was going to vomit. The three simply retired to their rooms for the night.
Ron turned back onto his back one more time before getting up, frustrated, he couldn't seem to get comfortable as his stomach still had a dull ache in it. He looked over at Harry who was sleeping rather peacefully and then looked at the clock that told him it was now twelve in the morning.
Angry at his inability to sleep, Ron rummaged through his bag, grabbing the first sweater he found, which happened to be maroon with a large 'R' on the front, and slipped it over his head as he quietly exited the room.
Pausing for a second outside of Hermione's room, he listened through the door for any sounds, but as he didn't hear any, he softly continued down the stairs.
He needed to go somewhere he could think, but it seemed like every room in the house was full and being in the kitchen just made him feel even sicker, so, quickly passing through it he headed out the back door, surprised when he found it was already unlocked.
Ron cautiously looked around as he stepped outside, but when he saw no one, he shrugged it off. Someone probably just forgot to lock it; it had been a hectic night. Sighing softly he looked around the darkness, waiting for his eyes to adjust and searching for a place to sit.
Finally he opted to lie down on a patch of grass in the center of the yard, close to a large tree. He put his hands behind his head and looked up at the clear night sky, a few scattered cloud floated gently by above him and he felt a cool breeze ruffle his hair and clothing, as well as the leaves of the tree next to him.
He allowed his eyes to close as he listened to the sounds of night. Whenever he couldn't sleep at the Burrow, just listening to the natural sounds of crickets and wind always helped him relax. Ron felt sleep tugging at him and just as he was about to succumb to it, a loud CRACK followed by a soft gasp, brought him back to full awareness.
Quickly Ron stood up and he cursed himself for not bringing his wand out with him. Taking a deep steadying breath Ron looked around the ground and grabbed the straightest stick he could find before yelling up at the tree, where the sound had come from.
"I've got my wand out and if you don't come down, I'll have to curse you!" Ron yelled, trying to keep his voice from wavering in fear, holding his stick up at the tree, even though he had no idea where exactly the person was at. Everything seemed to freeze for a moment as there was no direct response, no movement, no anything. Silently Ron stood holding the stick, waiting for the other person to make the next move. Slowly a voice drifted down from the high branches of the tree.
"...Ron...? Is that you?" Ron let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding as he recognized the voice as Hermione's.
"What the blazes are you doing up in a tree at midnight for Hermione?!" Ron shouted back up to her, amusement shining in his voice. Hermione however did not respond, and Ron could hear the tree rustling as she climbed down.
Finally he could see her climbing down the last few branches and as she jumped out of the tree and stumbled slightly, Ron couldn't help but laugh. She was wearing pajama pants with little unicorns, a pink t-shirt, and some trainers, there were twigs sticking in her low wildly curly ponytail.
"Is something funny Mr. Weasley or were you just going to curse me with your 'wand'?" Hermione said with a grin as she plucked the stick from Ron's hand and poked him in the shoulder with it. Ron just shrugged and grinned back at Hermione.
"I may wave sticks around, proclaiming that they're wands, but at least I don't climb dangerously high trees in the middle of the night! What were you doing up there anyway?" Ron asked with a snicker.
"Well..." Hermione looked embarrassedly towards the ground. "The more I thought about it, the more unsure I was that I actually had made it to the top of the tree when I was younger and I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it..."
"In the middle of the night?" Ron asked with a laugh as she continued to stare at the ground.
"I couldn't sleep anyway... Samantha took my bed and I can't sleep very well on the floor..." Hermione said, shrugging and looking up slightly from the ground.
"Figures..." Ron grumbled, "So?" He said as an afterthought with another grin creeping on his face.
"So, what?" Hermione asked questioningly as she finally decided to look Ron in the eye, which turned out to be a mistake, as he asked, "Did you make it to the top of the tree?"
Hermione looked sadly back at the ground, but she couldn't help the sheepish smile now taking over her face. "No, I made it half way up before a limb broke and I nearly fell down."
Ron smirked at her as he sat down in the soft grass. "Don't worry," Ron said, catching her eye and giving her a wink as she sat beside him, "I won't tell Samantha."
Hermione nodded appreciatively. "Why are you up?" she asked.
"Stomach ache." Ron replied simply as he listened to the crickets chirping.
"I got a letter from the Ministry of Magic." Hermione stated nonchalantly.
"Yeah?" Ron asked curiously.
"I got an official warning for using magic outside of school." She said with a smile, in a voice that sounded almost proud.
"Wasn't it worth it?" Ron grinned.
"Most definitely satisfying." Hermione agreed.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Hermione turned to look at Ron. She absolutely adored his Weasley jumper. As she stared at it, she began to frown. Mrs. Weasley had never made her a Weasley jumper, and since she wasn't a Weasley, that really shouldn't matter, but, she couldn't help but fill with sorrow as she thought about how Harry got a Weasley jumper every year for Christmas since first year and she hadn't even gotten one.
"What is it?" Ron asked with concern as he caught her looking at him with a frown.
"It's nothing..." Hermione mumbled looking away.
"Hermione..." Ron said warily, he hated when she did that, acted like nothing was wrong when something obviously was.
"How come your mum has never made me a Weasley jumper?" Hermione blurted out, it had felt sort of good to get that out, it had been bothering her for a long time, and she purposely avoided Ron's confused stare.
"I dunno..." Ron answered, eyes focused on the curious girl sitting before him as she hugged her knees. "What's it matter though, there stupid really." Ron said, looking down at the sweater he was wearing.
Hermione's eyes snapped to Ron, "Oh, but they're not stupid at all!" she exclaimed far too quickly. Nervously she looked away once again as Ron gave her an odd look. "It's just... Harry always gets a sweater, and your mum always sends him all kinds of things at Easter and his birthday..." Hermione struggled to express her emotions, but was having a difficult time doing so. "Your family hates me and I'll never be as good of a friend to you as Harry is." Ron gasped slightly in shock; he had no idea she felt this way.
Ron placed a hand on her shoulder, slowly she turned to look him in the eye and he was horrified to see a tear sliding down her cheek.
"No, no, no, no, no, Hermione, no!" Ron whispered as he quickly moved into a kneeling position beside her. "My family loves you Hermione, they love you, it's just... mum feels really bad for Harry and she tries extra hard to make him feel like a part of the family... he's the only non-Weasley to ever get a Weasley sweater, I swear! If mum knew how you felt, I'm sure she'd make you one next Christmas."
"No," Hermione said, shaking her head in shame, "I don't want you to tell her, I just feel so left out all the time." Hermione finally admitted something that had been bothering her for a long time, something she had been dwelling on all summer and a few more tears rolled down her face.
"Left out?" Ron asked, feeling a wave of guilt crash over him, swallowing hard as a lump formed in his throat. "Hermione, we never meant to-"
"It's stupid of me." Hermione interrupted, shaking her head in anger.
"No it's not." Ron said, but she wasn't listening.
"I'm a spoiled brat." Hermione continued.
"Hermione, stop-" Ron said, ears reddening in frustration.
"I'm a big stupid crybaby who has nothing better to do than-"
"STOP!" Ron shouted. Huffing in anger as the girl looked at him with wide eyes. Both became silent for a few moments, giving Ron a chance to regain his composure before he spoke up once more.
"I'm sorry we leave you out Hermione, because I know we do..." Ron looked at Hermione with piercing sincerity and she couldn't make herself look away. "All the conversations me and Harry have in our dorm without you, my parents inviting him and not you on family vacations. I know we can't help a lot of things that leave you out; most of it's out of our control. I mean, I can't make you a boy... and even if I could, I wouldn't want to, you're really special to me and Harry, even more so because of your differences."
"Thanks..." Hermione said barely audible.
"No, thank you for always being there for us Hermione, even though we're not always there for you. You've never done anything but care for me and Harry, and I reckon we've never really appreciated you like we should. You always try to help us out and tell us what's best for us and we never listen to you, even though you're always right."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but Ron only stared at her more intently. "No, Hermione, you're always right, in third year I was so caught up about being mad at you, that I neglected you even though you were making yourself sick, but you didn't neglect me or Harry or even Hagrid, you still cared for all of us." Hermione sniffled and Ron continued. "In fourth year, when me and Harry got into a big fight, you didn't neglect either of us, you didn't choose sides, you were still there for both of us. In fifth year you were right in warning us not to go to the Ministry of Magic even though we ended up going anyway and in sixth year you were really there for Harry when he was still upset over Sirius's mysterious death."
Hermione started crying once again and she buried her head in her arms. Ron sighed and pulled her into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders from the side.
"Please don't cry Hermione..." Ron said softly as he rubbed his hands up and down her arm. Hermione smiled into his chest. He had certainly improved from his old awkward hug which usually involved her getting patted on the top of the head. She had certainly done her part in giving Ron plenty of hugging practice over the past year and now she was thankful for all the effort she had put in.
Slowly her tears subsided and she relaxed comfortably into Ron's embrace.
"Thank you Ron." Hermione said lazily.
"Just telling the truth Hermione." Ron said, then he slowly lowered his head and softly pressed his lips to the top of her head, directly after doing so, he laughed softly. "You've turned me into such wimp!"
"They say people change for the ones they love." Hermione said without thinking and as soon as she realized what she was implying, her eyes widened and her body tensed against the boy she had more than platonic feelings for.
"You know... I suppose you're right... though I'm not quite sure if change is the right word." Ron said, tightening his grip on Hermione's shoulders slightly. "You definitely bring out a side of me that no one else can, sure I can be sensitive towards other people's feelings and stuff, I'm not a total prat, but you bring something out of me that no one else can, it's not really changing me, it's just bringing something to the surface that only you can." Hermione's heart was pounding in her chest, was Ron admitting that he loved her the way she loved him?
"Odd that Harry can never make me calm down when I'm really angry and bring out that soft side of me like you can... must be because you're a girl." Ron added. Hermione's heart beat immediately returned to its normal pace, Ron still had no clue! After so long he still had no clue... Hermione wasn't quite sure whether to be disappointed or relieved.
"Speaking of ones we love though," Ron started seriously and Hermione's heart beat picked up once more, "Are you going to tell me what's been going on between you and your parents?" Hermione sighed as her heart once again slowed down, he was gong to give her a heart attack if he didn't quit teasing her like this whether he meant to or not.
"So you're not completely clueless..." Hermione muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Ron asked, pulling away from her so that he could look at her properly.
"I suppose it's time I finally told you the truth about my parents." Hermione said, looking him in the eye. "First off, they aren't my real parents; they're my aunt and uncle. My real parents, they got in trouble with the Muggle law enforcement and when they went on the run, they left me behind."
"I'm so sorry Hermione..." Ron said sincerely.
"Don't be, I hate my real parents. I don't remember much about them, but what I do remember isn't good." Hermione shuddered in remembrance as she spoke.
"Cold?" Ron asked, his cool blue eyes looking at her with such worry that she couldn't help but nod. "Here." He said as he pulled his Weasley jumper over his head and slipped it over hers. Smiling, Hermione stuck her arms through the sleeve holes that were much to long for her shorter arms. "You can keep it, consider yourself an honorary Weasley."
"Thanks Ron." Hermione said as she hugged the sweater to her, it smelled like Ron and she could still feel his warmth radiating from it.
"So, you hate your real parents, that's sort of harsh isn't it?" Ron asked, leaning back on his elbows.
"You would hate your parents if they had beaten you too." Hermione whispered.
"They beat you... like, when you did something really bad?" Ron asked. "Not like that's an excuse..." He quickly added.
"No, they beat me when I got on their nerves or when I did something that annoyed them or when they were just tired of looking at me. It was pretty much a biweekly occurrence." Hermione admitted.
"Why didn't you ever tell me before?" Ron asked, looking hurt by Hermione's lack of trust in him. "Does Harry know?"
"Harry found out before dinner, he forced it out of me." Hermione said as she quickly looked away from Ron, she couldn't take the hurt look that was growing in his eyes. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to feel sorry for me... because that was a long time ago. I don't ever want you to feel sorry for me. The reason the rest my extended family hates me is because they think I'm going to turn out just like my birth parents and they think it was a mistake for my current parents to take me in."
Both teenagers, deep in thought, were silent for several minutes before Ron finally decided to speak up.
"Have I ever told you how much I admire you Hermione Granger?" Ron asked. Hermione, surprised at his happy tone of voice, looked at him to find a smile on his face. Unable to suppress a smile of her own, Hermione lay down in the grass.
"Thanks Ron..."
A/N: Well, there it is... I guess it wasn't soooo R/Hr, but I'm going for subtle, at least sort of... ya know? I felt like I was either really confusing, boring or stupid in this chapter so, just let me know if I was and I apologize! Thanks for reading!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Just to get a general poll, if this story took a bit of an action/adventure turn, would y'all lose interest or do you want a bit of a twist and change of pace? Let me know!
AndreA
To my ReviewERs: Just so you know, I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but there is more to come in the Hermione getting back at Samantha department, something in terms or more physical retribution, but I'm not sure when, but the milkshake is NOT the end of it!! rosepetal13 you are a great person and sorry for not responding to you before, but... I'm not sure if I can fit the whole bouncing ferret thing in... maybe I can squeeze it in somewhere just for you! And sorry I made y'all crave ice cream, but it's my fav treat, so I consider it a good thing to crave!! Lykairo I had originally planned on having Hogwarts in this story, but the further into it I get, the further from my original story plan I get, so, I highly doubt Hogwarts will be in my story! WhyDoYouCare36 how can I be almost 100% positive, well, why do you care??
Chapter 11
Ron groaned and rolled over on his side. He just couldn't get to sleep. After the three had arrived back at the Granger house Ron had wanted to talk to Hermione, but he felt so sick that if he opened his mouth for too long he felt like he was going to vomit. The three simply retired to their rooms for the night.
Ron turned back onto his back one more time before getting up, frustrated, he couldn't seem to get comfortable as his stomach still had a dull ache in it. He looked over at Harry who was sleeping rather peacefully and then looked at the clock that told him it was now twelve in the morning.
Angry at his inability to sleep, Ron rummaged through his bag, grabbing the first sweater he found, which happened to be maroon with a large 'R' on the front, and slipped it over his head as he quietly exited the room.
Pausing for a second outside of Hermione's room, he listened through the door for any sounds, but as he didn't hear any, he softly continued down the stairs.
He needed to go somewhere he could think, but it seemed like every room in the house was full and being in the kitchen just made him feel even sicker, so, quickly passing through it he headed out the back door, surprised when he found it was already unlocked.
Ron cautiously looked around as he stepped outside, but when he saw no one, he shrugged it off. Someone probably just forgot to lock it; it had been a hectic night. Sighing softly he looked around the darkness, waiting for his eyes to adjust and searching for a place to sit.
Finally he opted to lie down on a patch of grass in the center of the yard, close to a large tree. He put his hands behind his head and looked up at the clear night sky, a few scattered cloud floated gently by above him and he felt a cool breeze ruffle his hair and clothing, as well as the leaves of the tree next to him.
He allowed his eyes to close as he listened to the sounds of night. Whenever he couldn't sleep at the Burrow, just listening to the natural sounds of crickets and wind always helped him relax. Ron felt sleep tugging at him and just as he was about to succumb to it, a loud CRACK followed by a soft gasp, brought him back to full awareness.
Quickly Ron stood up and he cursed himself for not bringing his wand out with him. Taking a deep steadying breath Ron looked around the ground and grabbed the straightest stick he could find before yelling up at the tree, where the sound had come from.
"I've got my wand out and if you don't come down, I'll have to curse you!" Ron yelled, trying to keep his voice from wavering in fear, holding his stick up at the tree, even though he had no idea where exactly the person was at. Everything seemed to freeze for a moment as there was no direct response, no movement, no anything. Silently Ron stood holding the stick, waiting for the other person to make the next move. Slowly a voice drifted down from the high branches of the tree.
"...Ron...? Is that you?" Ron let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding as he recognized the voice as Hermione's.
"What the blazes are you doing up in a tree at midnight for Hermione?!" Ron shouted back up to her, amusement shining in his voice. Hermione however did not respond, and Ron could hear the tree rustling as she climbed down.
Finally he could see her climbing down the last few branches and as she jumped out of the tree and stumbled slightly, Ron couldn't help but laugh. She was wearing pajama pants with little unicorns, a pink t-shirt, and some trainers, there were twigs sticking in her low wildly curly ponytail.
"Is something funny Mr. Weasley or were you just going to curse me with your 'wand'?" Hermione said with a grin as she plucked the stick from Ron's hand and poked him in the shoulder with it. Ron just shrugged and grinned back at Hermione.
"I may wave sticks around, proclaiming that they're wands, but at least I don't climb dangerously high trees in the middle of the night! What were you doing up there anyway?" Ron asked with a snicker.
"Well..." Hermione looked embarrassedly towards the ground. "The more I thought about it, the more unsure I was that I actually had made it to the top of the tree when I was younger and I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it..."
"In the middle of the night?" Ron asked with a laugh as she continued to stare at the ground.
"I couldn't sleep anyway... Samantha took my bed and I can't sleep very well on the floor..." Hermione said, shrugging and looking up slightly from the ground.
"Figures..." Ron grumbled, "So?" He said as an afterthought with another grin creeping on his face.
"So, what?" Hermione asked questioningly as she finally decided to look Ron in the eye, which turned out to be a mistake, as he asked, "Did you make it to the top of the tree?"
Hermione looked sadly back at the ground, but she couldn't help the sheepish smile now taking over her face. "No, I made it half way up before a limb broke and I nearly fell down."
Ron smirked at her as he sat down in the soft grass. "Don't worry," Ron said, catching her eye and giving her a wink as she sat beside him, "I won't tell Samantha."
Hermione nodded appreciatively. "Why are you up?" she asked.
"Stomach ache." Ron replied simply as he listened to the crickets chirping.
"I got a letter from the Ministry of Magic." Hermione stated nonchalantly.
"Yeah?" Ron asked curiously.
"I got an official warning for using magic outside of school." She said with a smile, in a voice that sounded almost proud.
"Wasn't it worth it?" Ron grinned.
"Most definitely satisfying." Hermione agreed.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Hermione turned to look at Ron. She absolutely adored his Weasley jumper. As she stared at it, she began to frown. Mrs. Weasley had never made her a Weasley jumper, and since she wasn't a Weasley, that really shouldn't matter, but, she couldn't help but fill with sorrow as she thought about how Harry got a Weasley jumper every year for Christmas since first year and she hadn't even gotten one.
"What is it?" Ron asked with concern as he caught her looking at him with a frown.
"It's nothing..." Hermione mumbled looking away.
"Hermione..." Ron said warily, he hated when she did that, acted like nothing was wrong when something obviously was.
"How come your mum has never made me a Weasley jumper?" Hermione blurted out, it had felt sort of good to get that out, it had been bothering her for a long time, and she purposely avoided Ron's confused stare.
"I dunno..." Ron answered, eyes focused on the curious girl sitting before him as she hugged her knees. "What's it matter though, there stupid really." Ron said, looking down at the sweater he was wearing.
Hermione's eyes snapped to Ron, "Oh, but they're not stupid at all!" she exclaimed far too quickly. Nervously she looked away once again as Ron gave her an odd look. "It's just... Harry always gets a sweater, and your mum always sends him all kinds of things at Easter and his birthday..." Hermione struggled to express her emotions, but was having a difficult time doing so. "Your family hates me and I'll never be as good of a friend to you as Harry is." Ron gasped slightly in shock; he had no idea she felt this way.
Ron placed a hand on her shoulder, slowly she turned to look him in the eye and he was horrified to see a tear sliding down her cheek.
"No, no, no, no, no, Hermione, no!" Ron whispered as he quickly moved into a kneeling position beside her. "My family loves you Hermione, they love you, it's just... mum feels really bad for Harry and she tries extra hard to make him feel like a part of the family... he's the only non-Weasley to ever get a Weasley sweater, I swear! If mum knew how you felt, I'm sure she'd make you one next Christmas."
"No," Hermione said, shaking her head in shame, "I don't want you to tell her, I just feel so left out all the time." Hermione finally admitted something that had been bothering her for a long time, something she had been dwelling on all summer and a few more tears rolled down her face.
"Left out?" Ron asked, feeling a wave of guilt crash over him, swallowing hard as a lump formed in his throat. "Hermione, we never meant to-"
"It's stupid of me." Hermione interrupted, shaking her head in anger.
"No it's not." Ron said, but she wasn't listening.
"I'm a spoiled brat." Hermione continued.
"Hermione, stop-" Ron said, ears reddening in frustration.
"I'm a big stupid crybaby who has nothing better to do than-"
"STOP!" Ron shouted. Huffing in anger as the girl looked at him with wide eyes. Both became silent for a few moments, giving Ron a chance to regain his composure before he spoke up once more.
"I'm sorry we leave you out Hermione, because I know we do..." Ron looked at Hermione with piercing sincerity and she couldn't make herself look away. "All the conversations me and Harry have in our dorm without you, my parents inviting him and not you on family vacations. I know we can't help a lot of things that leave you out; most of it's out of our control. I mean, I can't make you a boy... and even if I could, I wouldn't want to, you're really special to me and Harry, even more so because of your differences."
"Thanks..." Hermione said barely audible.
"No, thank you for always being there for us Hermione, even though we're not always there for you. You've never done anything but care for me and Harry, and I reckon we've never really appreciated you like we should. You always try to help us out and tell us what's best for us and we never listen to you, even though you're always right."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but Ron only stared at her more intently. "No, Hermione, you're always right, in third year I was so caught up about being mad at you, that I neglected you even though you were making yourself sick, but you didn't neglect me or Harry or even Hagrid, you still cared for all of us." Hermione sniffled and Ron continued. "In fourth year, when me and Harry got into a big fight, you didn't neglect either of us, you didn't choose sides, you were still there for both of us. In fifth year you were right in warning us not to go to the Ministry of Magic even though we ended up going anyway and in sixth year you were really there for Harry when he was still upset over Sirius's mysterious death."
Hermione started crying once again and she buried her head in her arms. Ron sighed and pulled her into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders from the side.
"Please don't cry Hermione..." Ron said softly as he rubbed his hands up and down her arm. Hermione smiled into his chest. He had certainly improved from his old awkward hug which usually involved her getting patted on the top of the head. She had certainly done her part in giving Ron plenty of hugging practice over the past year and now she was thankful for all the effort she had put in.
Slowly her tears subsided and she relaxed comfortably into Ron's embrace.
"Thank you Ron." Hermione said lazily.
"Just telling the truth Hermione." Ron said, then he slowly lowered his head and softly pressed his lips to the top of her head, directly after doing so, he laughed softly. "You've turned me into such wimp!"
"They say people change for the ones they love." Hermione said without thinking and as soon as she realized what she was implying, her eyes widened and her body tensed against the boy she had more than platonic feelings for.
"You know... I suppose you're right... though I'm not quite sure if change is the right word." Ron said, tightening his grip on Hermione's shoulders slightly. "You definitely bring out a side of me that no one else can, sure I can be sensitive towards other people's feelings and stuff, I'm not a total prat, but you bring something out of me that no one else can, it's not really changing me, it's just bringing something to the surface that only you can." Hermione's heart was pounding in her chest, was Ron admitting that he loved her the way she loved him?
"Odd that Harry can never make me calm down when I'm really angry and bring out that soft side of me like you can... must be because you're a girl." Ron added. Hermione's heart beat immediately returned to its normal pace, Ron still had no clue! After so long he still had no clue... Hermione wasn't quite sure whether to be disappointed or relieved.
"Speaking of ones we love though," Ron started seriously and Hermione's heart beat picked up once more, "Are you going to tell me what's been going on between you and your parents?" Hermione sighed as her heart once again slowed down, he was gong to give her a heart attack if he didn't quit teasing her like this whether he meant to or not.
"So you're not completely clueless..." Hermione muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Ron asked, pulling away from her so that he could look at her properly.
"I suppose it's time I finally told you the truth about my parents." Hermione said, looking him in the eye. "First off, they aren't my real parents; they're my aunt and uncle. My real parents, they got in trouble with the Muggle law enforcement and when they went on the run, they left me behind."
"I'm so sorry Hermione..." Ron said sincerely.
"Don't be, I hate my real parents. I don't remember much about them, but what I do remember isn't good." Hermione shuddered in remembrance as she spoke.
"Cold?" Ron asked, his cool blue eyes looking at her with such worry that she couldn't help but nod. "Here." He said as he pulled his Weasley jumper over his head and slipped it over hers. Smiling, Hermione stuck her arms through the sleeve holes that were much to long for her shorter arms. "You can keep it, consider yourself an honorary Weasley."
"Thanks Ron." Hermione said as she hugged the sweater to her, it smelled like Ron and she could still feel his warmth radiating from it.
"So, you hate your real parents, that's sort of harsh isn't it?" Ron asked, leaning back on his elbows.
"You would hate your parents if they had beaten you too." Hermione whispered.
"They beat you... like, when you did something really bad?" Ron asked. "Not like that's an excuse..." He quickly added.
"No, they beat me when I got on their nerves or when I did something that annoyed them or when they were just tired of looking at me. It was pretty much a biweekly occurrence." Hermione admitted.
"Why didn't you ever tell me before?" Ron asked, looking hurt by Hermione's lack of trust in him. "Does Harry know?"
"Harry found out before dinner, he forced it out of me." Hermione said as she quickly looked away from Ron, she couldn't take the hurt look that was growing in his eyes. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to feel sorry for me... because that was a long time ago. I don't ever want you to feel sorry for me. The reason the rest my extended family hates me is because they think I'm going to turn out just like my birth parents and they think it was a mistake for my current parents to take me in."
Both teenagers, deep in thought, were silent for several minutes before Ron finally decided to speak up.
"Have I ever told you how much I admire you Hermione Granger?" Ron asked. Hermione, surprised at his happy tone of voice, looked at him to find a smile on his face. Unable to suppress a smile of her own, Hermione lay down in the grass.
"Thanks Ron..."
A/N: Well, there it is... I guess it wasn't soooo R/Hr, but I'm going for subtle, at least sort of... ya know? I felt like I was either really confusing, boring or stupid in this chapter so, just let me know if I was and I apologize! Thanks for reading!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Just to get a general poll, if this story took a bit of an action/adventure turn, would y'all lose interest or do you want a bit of a twist and change of pace? Let me know!
AndreA