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CHAPTER 8

Hermione awoke with a pounding headache. What time was it? Hermione sat up and opened the curtains of her bed…eight o'clock. She'd slept for over fourteen hours? And she hadn't eaten since yesterday at lunch…well, she'd had that Butterbeer at the pub. The pub… Tears threatened to spill over by burning her eyes, but Hermione wouldn't let them fall. She had cried in Dervish and Banges, all the way to the castle, up to her bed in Gryffindor Tower, and until she finally fell asleep in the early evening.

All the while, Ginny had been there comforting her without knowing the real problem. Hermione had told her that she was only upset because Ron had laughed behind her back with Susan…which had been the last straw for her will to keep from crying, but it wasn't the only reason she was hurt.

Ron obviously had a liking for this…Susan Bones. He'd been more nervous than she'd ever seen him at the mere thought of drinking a Butterbeer with the girl; he'd bought Susan an expensive present, and he had laughed along with her at the thought of dating his best friend. Hermione's stomach gave a sickening lurch, and she truly thought she might be sick. She stood up slowly and went over to the mirror.

Good grief… her hair was sticking up everywhere, her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and she was extremely pale. Her stomach growled angrily. Well, she couldn't satisfy its hunger. There was no way she could face Ron right now in the Great Hall. Not because of her horrid appearance, she could make herself presentable for the breakfast table, but because she knew when she saw him… it would be awful.

How was she going to endure it if he started dating Susan regularly? What if they held hands in the corridors between classes? What if Susan gave Ron…his first kiss? Hermione squeezed her eyes tight to rid her mind of that horrible image. Grabbing a rubber band and brush, Hermione pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. A shower…yes, that's what she needed…maybe she could wash some of the sadness off of her. She certainly felt like it was layered on.

"So, let me get this straight. You went to Dervish and Banges with your 'date' to buy Hermione a birthday present?"

Ron merely nodded absentlyat Harry. Where was Hermione? She never missed Sunday's breakfast in the Great Hall, but the early rising students were now finishing their food and heading out onto the grounds or up to their common rooms. Surely she couldn't be that upset with him for his slip up. He'd tried to explain to her that his intentions were mostly good when he'd agreed to meet Susan. Hermione could be so righteous sometimes…

Ginny hadn't spoken to him either. Which was odd because she usually recovered fairly quickly from his stupid mistakes. But, she had eaten a long ways down the table with some of her fellow fifth year classmates, and then left without so much as a glance in Ron's direction.

"So, Harry," Ron began. He'd suddenly had a twinge of fear, "Should I wait then? I mean, I thought it would be good to give Hermione an early birthday gift, but she might…I don't know…chuck it at me."

"Well, you know Hermione." Harry began matter-of-factly, "Her bark is worse than her bite. I think you should go ahead and give it to her. I don't think I can handle two weeks of angst from you two."

Ron smiled half-heartedly and stood from his seat. "Yeah. Thanks, Harry…guess I'll go track her down."

"See you later." Harry replied, with a brief wave.

As Ron made his way to Gryffindor Tower, he hoped that there wouldn't be anyone in the common room. Dean and Seamus were still asleep in the dormitory, and boys weren't allowed in the girl's stairwell. Ron briefly wondered what it would be like to use the Room of Requirement for a confrontation with Hermione. There would probably be water and throat lozenges for the loud scolding…heavy air conditioning … maybe a strait jacket … Ron shivered slightly. Maybe he could get Hermione to take a walk with him.

"Chocolate Pineapple." Ron stated to the Fat Lady's portrait as he reached the tower. The painting swung open and Ron entered, a bit apprehensively.

There were a few people lounging around the room, reading and chatting. But, there was no Hermione. Ginny was, however, sitting in a large lounge chair, writing something in one of her class notebooks. Ron made his way over to her and sat down in a plush chair beside her. She didn't look up, although Ron knew that she'd seen him.

"Ginny," Ron began, but suddenly Ginny sighed heavily, her quill stalling, before she looked up to glare at him.

"You have no idea what you've put Hermione through. She must've cried for…I don't know, Ron…two hours." She said angrily.

"She…she cried?" Ron asked quietly. His heart clenched into a tight knot.

"Ron…she's your best friend. How could you?" Ginny said, sadness replacing her angry tone.

"Is this over me asking her to help me out of the date? I mean, when I asked her to walk over with me to greet Susan…I didn't mean to seem like I was using Hermione to get myself out of that mess…I just…" Ron's voice trailed off. Ginny was shaking her head at him.

"Ron, just apologize to her. A simple 'sorry' won't really cut it, but what else can you do?" Ginny said, looking over Ron's shoulder before looking back down at her notebook and mumbling. "There she is…"

Ron turned around to see Hermione coming down the steps of the girl's staircase. He was extraordinarily nervous now. This was going to be harder than he'd thought. Why had Hermione gotten so upset? Hadn't he done something at least this dumb in the past? But, Ginny seemed to understand why Hermione was feeling this way. Was it something that only girl's understood? If that were the case, he'd never be able to apologize properly…

He stood up and began making his way slowly toward her. She had just looked up to peer around the room, and when her eyes fell on him, a startled look came over her and she quickly turned and started to retreat back into the staircase. Ron took five long strides and grabbed her by the wrist just as she'd stepped onto the first stone step. She turned around swiftly with a horribly sad look in her eyes.

"Hermione…" Ron began softly, "Please take a walk with me…"

"I can't talk to you right now." She muttered sadly, avoiding his eye.

"Yes, you can." He said pleadingly. "Please?" She looked at him with her beautiful, yet teary, brown eyes, and Ron thought his heart would implode from the weight of emotions he felt for her. To his relief, she stepped down from the first step.

"Hermione, will you promise not to go anywhere if I run to my dormitory real quick?" Ron said hurriedly. As soon as Ron saw the slightest inclination of her head, he released her wrist and jetted up the boy's staircase and into his dormitory to retrieve the sack with Hermione's present in it. He was afraid if he didn't hurry, she might change her mind and flee back to her room. He grabbed the sack out from under his bed and ran back down the stairs to the common room.

Thankfully, Hermione was still in the same spot as he'd left her. He walked up to her, the sack held loosely in one hand. "Ready?" He asked breathlessly. She merely turned away from him and began making her way toward the portrait hole door. This walk is either going to be really long or really short, Ron thought apprehensively as he followed in Hermione's wake.

Hermione wished Ron would stop staring at her. They were just now exiting the Hogwart's main entrance, and neither of them had spoken the whole way down from Gryffindor Tower. He had just beenwalking along beside her, glancing at her nervously every five or ten seconds. Why was he doing this? What was in the sack? Where was Susan? Why wasn't he with her?

It was a beautiful day. There were absolutely no clouds in sight, and the sky was the most radiant sapphire blue, Hermione's eyes began playing tricks on her. The sky looked so close, yet so far away. Hermione glanced over at Ron, who was staring at his feet as they continued to walk down toward the lake. So close…yet, so far away… Hermione rolled her eyes at the irony.

Ron suddenly turned slightly right toward the shore of the lake and a cluster of Weeping Willows. Their leaves and branches were hanging all the way to the ground in a beautiful mass of green. It made Hermione want to cry… More irony…

Ron was leading her under the willow trees. Why? A sudden surge of anger went through her. Was he trying to go somewhere, in whichSusan wouldn't have the chance of stumbling upon them? Hermione stopped in her tracks. Ron stopped as well, and turned around to cast her a confused expression.

"I don't want to go under there." Hermione stated glumly. Ron looked at her curiously for a moment and then simply shrugged, walking back toward her. No, Hermione thought. She didn't want him to comply that easily. She wanted him to refuse or physically drag her under the trees…anything that would give her cause to scream at him.

He went down to the very edge of the lake and sat down. He then squinted up at her, the sun in his bright blue eyes, as he gave her a small smile. Why did he have to look at her like that?

"Are you going to sit with me?" He asked plainly. Hermione walked up to the water's edge, but remained standing. He looked up at her for a while, awaiting her response. When he didn't receive one, he hoistedhimself up to stand beside her.

"We'll stand then." He said calmly. Hermione really wanted to scream at him now. How could he be so perfectly…perfect? She was trying to be difficult and it wasn't fazing him at all.

Ron let out a long sigh. "Okay, Hermione. Will you please tell me why you're so angry with me?" He asked sincerely. Hermione shrugged, looking out over the glittering water.

"What's in the bag?" She asked blandly. Ron sighed again.

"It's something for you, but I'm not giving it to you unless you tell me what's wrong."

Hermione looked up at him in disbelief. "Sorry, Ron…but I'm not selling forgiveness today." She spat angrily, turning to walk back toward the castle. He caught her by her wrist, causing her to jerk backward.

"I wish you would stop doing that!" She cried, trying to wring her hand free. It didn't work.

"Hermione, listen…I'm sorry, but I just don't understand why you're acting this way." He said earnestly. Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but he tightened his grip on her wrist and continued, "Madam Bones asked me to befriend Susan; Susan asked me out; I panicked. What else do you want me to say?"

He sounded completely desperate, and his eyes looked so sincere. Hermione's heart rate quickened with anger as she realized that he was actually managing to pull her in with that horrid stare! It was only for a second, but she had felt it…that stupid urge to kiss him… Now he'd given her a real reason to scream.

"WHAT DO I WANT YOU TO SAY?" She shouted at him. He flinched slightly, his brows becoming more furrowed. She felt the tears spilling over and she didn't care. "Let's see…possibly that you don't think I'm absolutely REVOLTING! That would be a good start! And then…then…maybe you could follow up with an apology for BETRAYING MY TRUST! Don't I mean ANYTHING to you? I've known you six years, Ron! SIX! How could you just…"

His hold on her wrist had become so loose; Hermione was able to wrench her hand free. He was staring at her in frightened astonishment, completely speechless. Good! Hermione thought. There's nothing he can say anyway. She wanted to be in her bedroom, but not in Hogwarts. For the first time since she'd begun attending this school, she wanted her mother. And, since her home was not a choice, for whatever reason, she wanted to hide beneath the willow trees.

Hermione ran past Ron, to the shade underneath the tallest of the willows, where she sank down beside its heavy trunk. Once she'd sat down on the soft, mossy ground, she just collapsed the rest of the way to sob, curling her knees up to her chest, and resting her face in her hands on the ground. She heard the snap of a twig and the slow approach of footsteps. Just go away, she wanted to shout, but she didn't have the strength.

She opened her eyes to peer out from between her fingers, her vision blurred by her tears. Ron was slowly kneeling down in front of her. He started reaching a tentative hand toward her face and Hermione suddenly found the strength she needed to shout once more. She pushed herself up to sit before him and look him in the face.

"I was there!" She shouted, a little less loudly this time. Ron was just staring at her with intense worry, and suddenly Hermione could only whisper. "I was there when you were buying her that gift…"

"At Dervish and Banges?" Ron asked quickly, sounding surprised. Hermione nodded, suddenly feeling numb.

"She asked you if we were dating, and you laughed…you just laughed...I heard you." She finished lamely. A look of comprehension spread over Ron's face.

"Bloody hell, Hermione. I wasn't laughing at you." He said softly. "Susan helped me pick out this birthday gift…" He reached into the sack lying by his knees and handed her a large, blue book with silver writing. "…for you…and she…she couldn't really believe that I would spend so much on a friend."

Hermione rubbed her hand across the engraved lettering, Unicorns: Myth vs. Reality by Monica Fascaux. "Unicorns?" Was all she could say. Ron took the book from her gently and opened it to the first page.

"See, if you read here…" He said pointing to the first line of the first chapter. "…it says that Unicorns are fierce, yet good … selfless, yet solitary … and always mysteriously beautiful …" He said quietly, handing her the book. She read the words once more before looking up at him. He turned a bright pink. "I just…it…reminded me of you."

Hermione felt air rush into her lungs until she was lightheaded. She needed to apologize; she'd been so terribly wrong. But, all Hermione could do was set the book down gently on the ground beside her and lean forward to rest her head on Ron's shoulder. He immediately embraced her, sitting withhis legs to one side andhers to the other…their chests flush against one another. Wrapped warmly in his arms… After that night in the common room, six nights ago, she thought it might never happen again. Had it only been six nights ago?

Hermione didn't realize until she felt Ron's hand glide up her back to rest on the nape of her neck, that she was sobbing uncontrollably into the cotton collar of his shirt, soaking it through. Slowly, she took some deep steadying breaths until she was able to stop the tears from falling. Once she had, Ron just continued to hold her, rocking back and forth slightly. Hermione opened her eyes to their shady haven. There was a green-tinted glow around them. The branches of the willows were so thick, Hermione could barely see anything outside of them.

What if they could just stay under here forever? They could pretend like there was no ensuing war, that their lives weren't in danger…They could eat birds and tree frogs and only leave to go to the water's edge and drink. Hermione couldn't contain a small breathy laugh at this thought. Ron's arms loosened and slowly left her, as he pushed himself back from their hug to look down at her.

"Was that a laugh?" He asked with a small smile. She nodded slowly, rubbing her damp eyes and cheeks. Her face felt raw from the salt of her tears, and she was suddenly very thirsty. She coughed into the back of her hand before returning his small smile.

"It's really gorgeous under here, isn't it? I was just thinking about what it would be like to live under here. Like a Dryad." She said before looking down at the mossy ground to pick at a blade of grass…she plucked it from the ground, for some reason, and just started rolling the cold bit of flora between her fingers. Ron chuckled low in his throat and she glanced up at him. Her heart expanded just slightly as she looked at his face. She felt as if she now had another small piece of him in her heart.

"Wouldn't a tree nymph refrain from pulling up the grass?" He asked smartly. Hermione pursed her lips to keep from laughing; if she started, she might not be able to stop.

"Actually," Hermione said, plucking a fresh blade of grass and discarding the other, "Dryads are only found in oak trees. The prefix 'drys' in Greek signifies 'oak,' from its Indo-European root, 'derew.' So, we would actually have to be some other type of tree creature…maybe Hamadryads."

When Ron didn't respond, Hermione glanced up to see him staring at her with his mouth partway open. He began shaking his head before looking down and plucking his own blade of grass. "You know, Hermione … sometimes I wonder if there's only a certain amount of knowledge that any one person can hold…because if there is, I think you may be close to your limit." He said with part admiration and part humor.

Hermione smiled for a moment before shaking her head and frowning at her earlier stupidity. "Misunderstandings are so horrible. I feel absolutely ridiculous." She said glumly.

Ron patted her on the knee a couple of times, before saying with a sly smile, "Maybe your brain is so close to its limit that your perception can't function properly."

Hermione laughed a little, "Yeah…maybe." She had to look away from his sly smile because it only gave her that urge to kiss him again. 'She knows I don't like you like that…' Hermione sighed, that statement wasn't quite as hard to digest knowing that Ron didn't like Susan, either. Maybe she and Harry were such great friends that Ron didn't feel the need for a girlfriend. What if she could continue to keep him emotionally satisfied? Could she kid herself into believing that she might at least prevent him from falling in love with someone? That was a horrible thought…very selfish. Ron deserved to fall in love.

"I think I reached my limit a long time ago." Ron said suddenly, leaning back on his elbows to look up toward the top of the tree. Chills spread over Hermione's face and calves…two very odd places to receive chills… But, for a moment she had thought he was somehow responding to her thoughts on him falling in love with someone. She quickly realized that he was speaking of his intelligence.

"That's not true, Ron." Hermione said firmly. He tilted his head down to look over at her. Her stomach fluttered madly…she wished he would sit up from that…attractive position. "You don't understand how smart you are." She said. He scoffed at her and looked back up toward the shielded sky.

"Really, Ron." Hermione continued, "It's actually quite frustrating to me that you can pass all your classes without cracking a book. I mean, I study for hours and my marks really aren't that much higher than yours."

"Hermione…that's mental talk. Your marks are almost always perfect." He said plainly.

"Yes, but do you know what grades I would receive if I didn't study?" Hermione shook her head in disgust, "Oh…I'd fail every class."

"Hermione…" Ron said looking at her with a 'you've-got-to-be-joking' stare.

"My point is that you don't realize how intelligent you are." She said matter-of-factly. To her surprise, he laughed at her.

"Well, maybe we should start a club then….Misjudged Understanding of Genuinely Generous Learning Expanse." He said jokingly.

"Ron! That spells out Muggle!" She said between giggles. Ron's eyes got wide for a moment before he fell back onto the ground, clutching his stomach as he laughed. Hermione couldn't help but to do the same.

Once their laughter had subsided. They both remained on their backs, a mere two feet apart, looking up to the top of the willow. She turned her head to the side, and saw that Ron was actually looking at her with a silly grin. Hermione forgot to breathe for a second, but took a deep breath when her chest started hurting. Suddenly remembering her book, which was lying on the moss between them, Hermione sat up so quickly that her head felt funny for a second.

"Oh! Ron, I didn't thank you for the book!" She exclaimed apologetically. He grinned a bit bigger, before rising back up on his elbows, his smile fading.

"Yes you did." He said simply. Hermione blushed slightly and reached down to pick up her book, avoiding his eye. Was he referring to their hug?

She looked up at him briefly, "Well, thanks again then." She said before looking back down at her book. Suddenly, Hermione felt awkward, so she began thumbing through the pages without really paying attention or even seeing the words or pictures…she could only see that silly grin and the look Ron had had in his eyes. Before she could stop her memory, it had burned that image into her heart… Hermione breathed a deep sigh. Ron had such a talent at distorting her reality.

An unexpected thought suddenly occurred to Hermione. Maybe she could take a small page from Luna Lovegood's view of reality. Maybe just with Ron, she should see whatever she wanted until the time came when he found his true love. And maybe, she would allow herself to dream every once in a while, that when Ron found that someone … it would be her … just maybe…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to everyone still sending in reviews! I hope you enjoy this new chapter; I really had a blast writing it... I've got a good headstart on Chapter 9 already, so I may get to post it later tonight... Thanks again!