Chapter 11
Harry and Ron with Hermione still tossed over his shoulder, walked to the living room.
"You want to eat here or in the dining room?" Harry asked.
"Yeah sure, why not." Ron was once again eyeing the painting curiously. Harry caught his gaze and abruptly said:
"I'll…go…find Niles."
"'Mione?"
"Mhm?"
"Why do you think Harry has a picture of Gin in his house?"
"Well I wouldn't know. Maybe they are…just… very… good….close… friends?" Hermione said, grasping the point Ron was getting at.
"Um…Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"Want to put me down now?"
"No. You might just escape and get away with eating healthily." He said, still deep in thought, staring at the painting. Nevertheless, he seated her on the couch.
"Who do you think painted it? I mean… You know our family couldn't afford an artist and Ginny has never modelled to anyone. And that dress…she doesn't have any that would look even remotely as good on her."
"Ron!"
"Well we're poor, right? And that thing must've cost a fortune." He examined it for a while longer. "You know something about artists, don't you? I mean, you know something about everything. Who painted it?"
"Well at the moment I can only say that you are wearing Diesels."
How could I just say that? '…you are wearing Diesels.' She felt a blush creeping up onto her cheeks.'You know something about everything.' Was that a compliment? Then again, he had called her a know-it-all before so there was a slight chance (knowing Ron, more than a slight chance) that he was just being sarcastically mean. Argh! I can never figure out if he is being serious or is just joking around to piss me off.
"What?" Ron said, not realising what him wearing Diesels had to do with the picture.
"Well you are blocking my view, if you still haven't noticed, you buckethead!"
Ron chuckled and obeyed. He turned his gaze toward Hermione and, as little as he wanted to admit it to himself, found Hermione far more interesting. She stood up, walked to the painting and studied it more closely, brow furrowed. She suddenly got a strict expression on her face, examining it even from a more immediate distance. She mumbled something that sounded upsettingly like 'library'.
¤
Niles thought his eyes were deceiving him and blinked, before he could once again recover his seen-it-all-done-it-all expression and said in a dignified voice: "Your junk food awaits you."
"Thank you…?"
"…Niles. And you Sir might be?"
"Ron, Harry's friend from Hogwarts."
"And the Madam?"
Niles got no response from Hermione, who was desperately searching for clues like colours, brushstrokes and stile.
"Herm? You wanna answer the poor man's question?"
Still, no reply from the curly haired girl, standing in front of the fireplace hypnotised.
"Is she having concentration problems of some kind, that I am not aware of?"
"Yes. They most often occur at the time she is studying. Boy you should have seen her before N.E.W.T.- s! Let me just spell it out for you: I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E! Or the time when she was trying to launch spew! Wow! I mean…"
"Sorry for interrupting you like this Sir, but I'm just curious… Were you in love with her at the time or did you just fall for her now?"
Ron was looking quite bewildered. "Um…a….um…. Come again?" To be more exact he was looking very much like a fish, pushed out of the nice homey ocean by an unexpected wave.
"Is lunch ready? I have no idea who painted this beauty here, but it seems familiar. I mean… I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'll be sure to flip through some books later." It was Hermione, awakened from her studying daze.
"Yeah, lunch is ready." Ron was wondering just how much she had heard, but gathered himself in no time.
"May I escort you my lady?" Ron said, offering her his hand.
"Well why I'd be delighted."
Niles rolled his eyes and showed them to the dining room where an anxious Harry was already waiting for his chance to destroy the huge pile of food that lay in front of him.
"What took you so long? Ended up on the floor once more?" He said smirking.
"'Mione got carried away."
"With doing what? Was it a solo activity or were you in it together?"
" Yes we were tearing each others clothes off just as Niles walked in. Too bad though. We'll have to continue later." Hermione said, smiling her sweetest smile to Harry. "Besides I am thinking that a bed would be far more comfortable, don't you think so Ronald?"
"Do not call me Ronald!" The young man sitting next to her hissed.
"Oh aren't you adorable!" She said, then gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek and turned to Harry. "So what's for dessert?"
" Today there is no course called dessert. All is dessert!"
There were Harry's all-time favourites Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, pumpkin juice, Sugar Quills, Butterbeer and Honedukes best (and probably biggest) bar of chocolate Hermione had ever set eyes on.
"Special order," Harry explained.
¤
"… and remember that time in our third year…."
"Yeah. Fred and George…."
"…. Humongous Bighead! I won't forget that as long as I live!"
All three burst into laughter. The candles had burned low and the shadows had grown longer, revealing that Harry's castle was not such a cosy place to wander about, late at night. At least, that was how Hermione felt. There was something about this house, maybe it was just this room, she didn't like. She had the constant feeling someone was watching her. Maybe, it was just the amount of wine they had drunk. Harry said he had to go and check with Niles about the rooms and she didn't feel comfortable in this room, even though the fact that Ron was sitting next to her made her feel safer in some way.
She felt someone watching her, from a close distance. The hair on the back of her neck rose, as she studied the room about her. Harry gone, Ron sitting next to her, the door closed, no danger from there… You are perfectly fine. Wait! Ron was NOT sitting next to her. Where was he? Possibly she had dozed off and he had left. No! Ron would never do that.
She got up, the floor swimming underneath her feet, and tried to walk. One step, two steps…the third one is about to come…She tried to take the third step, but her feet refused to carry her body and she fell to the floor.
The person watching had the excellent chance! She was, unarmed, lying on the floor and obviously drunk.
When was the floor last so soft? And smelled this well…. Just like Ron… Harry had the best carpets!
"Okay princess. Let us get you to your room before you try to walk there. That, by the way, would probably take all night."
"No! Let go of me you evil…Ron!"
"Yeah well, no need to thank me. The pleasure is all mine."
I thought…I thought…"
"…that I was the evil monster from under your bed, just waiting for the perfect moment to launch at your feet?"
"Yeah….something like that…"
"Well, I figured when your fist was coming dangerously close to my face."
"So, I am pretty drunk, huh?"
"Yeah, you could say that."
"I never thought this would…."
"…Happen to an educated person like you?"
"Mhm."
"Well, there is a bright side."
"Really? What's that?"
"If you were sober, you'd never let me carry you to bed."
B
