Chapter Nineteen: Once on Patrolling
"What are you doing, Ron!" yelled Hermione with indignation.
"Patrolling, what else?" he answered with the same tone.
"You call this patrolling! You just walk in the hallways, whistling. That's what you are doing!"
"And you, Miss Head Girl, know exactly how I must patrol, right?"
"Of course, I know. I was a Prefect also and I know the Prefects' Rules by heart," she stated proudly.
"If so, maybe you can tell me if there is a point that concerns arguing all the time between patrolling partners, because I'm already sick of it!" Ron snapped.
"Well, it's not my fault that Dean got sick and there was no one else to accompany you!"
"So you are only fulfilling your duty, hah? Maybe you'll say that it's my fault you are stuck with me today instead of reading another book that no one has interest in!"
"If you don't read, then don't say that others don't have a right to do so!"
"Now I am a fool!" Ron rolled his eyes. "Who else? A barbarian? A good-for-nothing drip?" He paused for a second, and then said calmly, but with pain in his blue eyes. "Remember Hermione, you are to live with people not books." Ron turned away from her and started walking away, returning to his patrolling route.
Hermione stood openmouthed for a few seconds, and then almost automatically began to follow him deep in thought. Her thoughts were about Ron's last sentence. He wasn't the first to say them. Her parents gave her a big lecture last year about socializing with other people. She was eighteen years old and had neither girls she can hang out with and gossip nor a boyfriend. She didn't have time for them, all she did was reading, learning and researching something she wanted to know, but had nobody to share her knowledge with. Of course she had Harry and Ron, but with years they started to grow apart.
To her mind, it started when Cho appeared on the scene. She was an outsider, who had intentions to become a member of their Team. Well, she didn't want that exactly, but still Harry wanted to be with her and the connections in their small circle began to weaken. It wasn't noticeable then, but from that time something began to tear them apart. Hermione began to feel a weakening of their friendship and she knew the cause of it: the future of the Dream Team, not of the heroes, who every year save the world, but of Ron, Harry and Hermione, who won't be together forever, each of them will have a life of their own.
After Ron's last words she suddenly became scared. Really scared for herself; what will she do without Ron and Harry? Who will she be? Know-it-all Granger with only books around her? Of course, Ron and Harry have all rights to have private lives, girlfriends and whatever, but what about her? How can she stop this?
'Why the heck was I bickering with Ron again? He wasn't doing anything. Well, that practically was the cause; he didn't follow the rules, as he always does. So what? Why must our relations be spoilt and crushed by some rules? I need to learn to live with humans, my life depends on it. And the first step will be my promise not to argue with Ron so much, as less as possible.'
Her lofty thoughts were interrupted by a sudden scream and racket from falling stones. Hermione and Ron immediately ran to the corridor the scream came from. When they reached the source of the noise, the picture before their eyes was far from pleasant: in the middle of the hallway was a pile of rocks, which were part of the ceiling before the accident.
In between two stones, a hand was visible. Without thinking about the situation, Ron rushed to the pile and began to move rocks to free the girl barred under them.
"What are you doing, Ron?" asked Hermione, surprised by his actions.
"Fulfilling my Prefect's duty: saving a student, who suffered an accident," Ron snapped.
"But you can't just move those stones, they must weigh a ton!"
"Surprisingly, they don't. She must've put a lightening charm, when she saw them falling."
'Why put a lightening charm on stones which are falling on you? The first that comes to mind is a blocking or shield or even blowing up charms, but lightening? Must be from shock.' Ron continued to sweep aside the obstruction until he could take out the body. He took the girl into his hands and started to walk away. "Where are you going?"
"I am fulfilling my duties," Ron said coldly without stopping.
"But we must do the investigation and write a report…"
"Then do it, you are the Head Girl. This girl might die, while you do the paperwork. That's why I'm taking her to the Hospital Wing, leaving you with the most fascinating work in the world. How can human's lives be compared with a clean report and praise with points for it?" Ron shook his head and walked away, leaving Hermione deep in thought and hurt.
'Why is Hermione always like this? I know that she can be a better person, caring and kind towards people. Towards Harry to be exact, but still she has it in her. Why does she hate me so much? Always argues with me? Oh, I'll never understand women,' he sighed and in the first time looked at the girl he was carrying and almost dropped her from shock: the girl looked like Hermione herself! The same bushy, long hair and slender figure and small snub nose. He couldn't see her eyes because they were closed, but could bet they were brown. Still there was something different in her features; they were more feminine, more sweet and sensitive so to say.
Ron thought about Hermione more like a 'steel lady'. Maybe there were some sparks of emotions, but only under the extreme circumstances. 'Why can't she be a normal girl with no difficulties to understand? But then, she won't be Hermione Granger, just an ordinary chick.'
Why does he even like her so much? At first he thought that it was just hormones. She was the only girl around, so why wouldn't he be interested in her, but after time went by, he fought with his crush or attachment or anything it could be, but in vain. He liked her for what she was, but still lacked this soft part of her.
Two weeks later. First days of February
"Hi, Herm'! What's up?" asked Harry, happily sitting down on the sofa beside Hermione in one of the winter evenings.
"Nothing special," Hermione answered lost.
"Why the sad face? Your marks are falling?" he asked joyfully and pushed her with his elbow playfully.
"My grades are fine, everything if fine," she said with false cheerfulness.
"If you are fine," which he hardly believed knowing Hermione," Tell me where Ron is. I've hardly seen him these two weeks, only at classes, but he seems to be in some other world all the time, he doesn't even talk to me!"
"He must be with his new girlfriend," she said indifferently.
"New girlfriend? When did this happen?" Harry asked surprised. Such an important event in his best friend's life couldn't have just passed him so easily.
"It happened two weeks ago, when we were on patrol. There was an accident in which a girl was buried under rocks and Ron took her from under them and to the Hospital Wing. She had only a few bruises, that's why she was all healthy next morning. Right away she found Ron to thank him for his heroic in saving her. As I understood they've been dating ever since. All I know is that she is a ravenclaw, seventh year," Hermione recited in the same indifferent tone, but a hint of sadness was there.
"You've never even seen her!" Harry yelled in disbelief.
"No, I haven't. I am not his nanny, he can date whomever he wants," she spat and her quill snapped in two from pushing so hard.
Harry looked at her then at the quill, then back at her: Hermione was trying to find another quill in her bag, but everything was falling from her hands.
"Uuuh," she yelled in frustration and threw her bag on the floor, missing Harry by an inch.
"What the hell has come into you, 'Mione!"
"Nothing, Harry, everything is fine," she said calmly. "No, everything is not fine," she exclaimed with a sob, looking at her knees with lowered hands in defeat.
"What is it, Herm'?" Harry was confused. He'd never seen Hermione in such a state. She looked so pitiful. "You can tell me."
"I miss him, Harry, I miss him," she sobbed in his shoulder. "At first it wasn't that bad, I was even happy that he'd finally found someone, but after a few days I started to miss him. Our arguments, his asking me to help with his homework again, his jokes, simply his very face with his freckles, his smiling to me during meals, oh I don't know, I miss everything about him, I can't help it!" she finished her tirade with uncontrollable tears which were falling on Harry's robe, but he didn't pay any attention to it, he was so dumbstruck.
He didn't know what to say or to do. Well, he had encounters with crying girls, but that wasn't the problem, he couldn't place the reason of Hermione's behavior, but then it struck him and dancing sparks appeared in his eyes. "You are jealous, 'Mione," he stated.
Hermione sat up abruptly, and looked at Harry with big eyes. "What?" she asked frowning.
"Of Ron, who else?"
"Are you nuts! I just miss my best friend, that's all," she said casually.
"Yeah, and I am Godric Gryffindor," he mumbled. "Well," he started in a normal voice, "I think we have all rights to see who this mysterious girl is. I'll ask Ron to introduce us. What do you think?"
"Sounds like a good idea to me, you can ask him when he returns from his date," the last word was spat.
Surprisingly to both of them, when Ron returned almost at midnight he was outraged by even Harry speaking to him. Harry's request was the reason Ron snapped that if Harry was so eager to pry into others private affairs, he could see her at the stands during tomorrow's Quiddich practice.