XXXXXXXXXX

Chapter two: Never lie on an empty stomach

XXXXXXXXXX

I was feeling very nervous as green flames erupted in the fireplace and a beautiful girl stepped out.

"I hate Flooing!" she sighed and started wiping soot off of her travelling cloak.

"I didn't know that," I grinned. She looked up and gave me a surprised smile.

"Ron!" she shrieked and ran at me, embracing me fiercely. I couldn't help enjoying the hug, since I so rarely got one from her.

She smelt like orchids, soot and something that was just Hermione. Probably books. "It's really good to see you."

"You too," she said, her voice muffled against my chest.

The fireplace turned green once again, and another person stepped out. My best mate. "Hey Harry!"

Hermione let go of me and stood next to me instead. "That took a while," she said. "Did something go wrong at the Three Broomsticks?"

Harry clapped the soot of his knees. "Nah, I just got caught up. Bloody Tom wanted my autograph."

I grinned at him. "You loved it."

"Every second."

I walked up to him and embraced him warmly. It wasn't every day I got to hug my best mate, better make way with the few times I could. It felt really good to see him so healthy.

"I bloody missed you," he said, clapping my back.

"Me too, you prat," I laughed.

Hermione stood next to us. "Don't swear." But I saw that her eyes were misty. Harry and I abruptly let go of each other, coughing and mumbling manly.

Hermione snorted at us. "Where's Ginny?"

"Up in her room, I think."

She smiled at me and left the living room. I watched her leave, smiling slightly. Harry walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Ron, you're drooling."

"I know," I sighed.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next couple of days are somewhat of a blur. I remember being surprised with all the new things I noticed about Hermione. She really is extraordinary.

I know what you're saying. Is he really kidding himself that he doesn't fancy her?

Well, I'm not. I knew that I fancied her, and I had known for a long time. But it's not exactly as if I had much experience with this sort of thing, is it? I mean, what was I supposed to do? Jump her and probably scare the living cra-… daylight out of her.

I didn't know what to do. So I decided to give the Theories a shot. After all, what did I have to lose?

As I had decided to go through with it, I was surprised when I suddenly found myself in an incredibly embarrassing conversation with Hermione.

We were sitting in the kitchen late one night, everyone else had gone off to bed except the two of us, and I felt like this was my chance to get at least one bloody Theory done before bedtime.

"And I know the NEWTs will probably be a real fright, but if we just band together, I know –"

"Hermione," I interrupted her school-related rambling about tests we wouldn't be taking for a year and a half. She looked startled that I was still in the room.

"Yes?"

I swallowed. "What do you think is my best personality trait?"

"What?" She looked surprised at the blunt question and I felt like jumping out a window. Why did I have to do ask her?

I blushed deeply when she just stared at me. "I just… wanted to know…" I mumbled, feeling my ears burning. Damn ears. The worst thing about being a Weasley is probably the ears. Or the poorness. Nah, the ears are worse.

"Well, I'll have to think about it for a second."

I nodded. Merlin. Why am I doing this to myself? Looking back, I can't believe that I didn't faint. Maybe I did faint for a second, but couldn't remember it afterwards. I certainly blacked out in any case. That's how pathetic I was.

The silence stretched over a minute. I was beginning to get angry. Couldn't she name one good thing about me?

"If it's too hard for you, we can just forget about it," I barked, crossing my arms over my chest. She looked perplexed.

"Well, excuse me if I can't think up a perfect answer to such a willy-nilly question!"

I wanted to kiss her just for using the phrase 'willy-nilly' seriously, but I didn't. That's evidence of my strong resolve.

"Hermione, I really think that you should be able to say something good about your bloody best mate without having to ponder it for an hour!"

She gasped. "I wasn't even quiet for a minute! You can't just sneak up on me with such an inquiry when I'm talking about education, you know that!"

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm looking for a nice word from my best friend," I said coolly. "Good night."

I sighed as I threw myself onto my bed, not caring about changing into pyjamas or climbing under the covers. Then I hit my poor pillow a few times - not that I did it any serious harm since my arms are like tooth picks - just out of frustration.

This wasn't a good beginning.

XXXXXXXXXX

The following morning could be described with one single word – torture. Hermione was ignoring me so well that I to this day don't really know if she noticed me in the room. I haven't asked.

So yeah, it was coldness. Both Harry and Ginny picked up on it and stayed clearly out of harm's way - but I knew they kept a close watch on us, just in case one of us would 'accidentally' slip some rat poison into the other's juice.

I didn't understand why Hermionewas so furious; I was the one who were supposed to be angry with her. She couldn't even recall one good thing about me, her bloody best friend. I am fully aware that I don't have many good sides or any nice manners at all, but still! She's one of my best mates, for Merlin's sake!

As I was about to storm out of the kitchen in a most dramatic manner, I managed to stumble and fall, hitting my toe viciously against a chair. I started using some really foul swearing words, and Hermione didn't even reprimand me!

This was when I realized that, in some odd and twisted way, I would have to be the one to apologize if I ever was to borrow her History of Magic notes again.

Women.

I decided on taking the calm and regretful approach, and started to walk to her as she arranged the dishes. In the corner of my eye, I could see Harry and Ginny looking terrified and quietly leaving the tension-filled kitchen. I took a deep breath to assemble a bit of courage.

"Eh, Hermione?" My voice broke awkwardly, so I coughed a bit into my fist. "Hermione?" I repeated in my usual deeper tone.

She sighed and whipped around to face me. "Yes?"

"I'm… I'm…" I looked down at my old trainers. Suddenly, anger overcame me. "This is bloody ridiculous!"

"What?"

"You!" I almost shouted. Hermione's eyes widened dangerously and she took a step towards me.

"Me?" she hissed. "You're the one who completely overreacted!"

I mumbled something even I myself couldn't decipher. Hermione sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter in a very attractive manner. I swallowed and tried to look at her eyes and not… anything else.

"I'm so tired of this," she said suddenly, looking down at the floor.

"Me too," I muttered quietly, even though I usually enjoyed rowing with her. She looked up with a face that made me think that she didn't mean the rowing. My mind began to spin. I drew a sharp intake of breath as she tenderly put a hand on my cheek.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked quietly, and I noticed her cheeks going a bit pink. That was really unfair; I get red as a tomato anytime I feel embarrassed; she just gets a cute little rosy tinge. What was I thinking about? I couldn't tell her the truth; that I wanted to press her against the counter and snog her senseless until one of us pass out for lack of oxygen. So I said the first thing I could come up with.

"Er, food."

Hermione sighed and took away her hand. "You want more breakfast?" she asked, and did she look a bit disappointed? Nah, it was probably only my imagination. You should never get your hopes up, you'll just be more crushed when the truth is eventually revealed.

So I answered, "Sure," surprised that I felt out of breath, like I had just run a mile or two.

She smiled and began searching for some toast in the cupboards.

"So," I said carefully. She turned to me with a… was that an expectant expression? Nah, probably that darned imagination of mine again. I shook my head slightly. "Er, are we… you know, okay?"

Hermione looked at me silently for a second, and then she smiled, nodded and turned to the cupboard once again. I didn't know why, but I felt somewhat disappointed.

To sum everything up, my first Theory could've gone better, but it could also have gone much worse. And bravo to me for succeeding in not making Hermione understand that I fancy her! That's more than I hoped for, let me say. But still, today's Theory isn't very impressive.

This is the conclusion I made today: I'm terrible at lying.

I mean, food? Come on!

XXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to review this story! It really makes my day brighter.