Why Am I The Only Bloke?
"So," Ron began his matinee performance, pausing to think about which details to leave in, or cut this time around. Listeners joined the fray as he settled into his seat by the fire.
"Hermione and I were walking alone in the corridor. We turned the corner and BAM! We see them! Cho Chang and Fleur's kid sister are surrounded by merpeople. Somehow, they'd grown disgusting grotesque pimply legs from where their fins once were. Immediately we ran to help. Cho was doing her best to ward them off, but there were too many for her to handle alone, stunning spells went flying as they approached nearer and nearer. So they took Hermione first—"
"Why do I get taken first?" Hermione interjected, rather insulted by the part she played in Ron's fabrication of the day.
"I don't know, Hermione. You tell me-you were there." Ron shot back through gritted teeth, as his credibility slipped away. Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to ignoring Ron and his groupies. It wasn't worth starting the row.
"So where was I? Oh cheers! Hermione was taken first," He began again brightly, "she swooned with fright." He added pointedly staring at Hermione across the way. Hermione hurumphed and sunk further into her seat to glare at her book, "Cho ran to try to save her but, then she left the girl, Gabrielle, unprotected and they quickly grabbed her too, as the group took her in she screamed bloody murder," he paused for effect, "I would have saved her," he then said in a huskier voice that made Hermione suppress her gag-reflex, "But they seemed to be multiplying by the dozens and before I knew it those merfreaks had taken Cho too. I knew I could have probably fought my way through them but then suddenly they sprung into the air and backed me into the corner and snatched my wand. Right out of my grip," this made Hermione lose all control and her head fell down to the table she was reading at and her shoulders shrugged up and down in silent giggles, "SO," Ron still had to give his last spine-shivering line, "with no other alternative, I let them take me."
Hermione had stifled her laughter and was once again slightly resentful at the serious attention Ron was getting for his storytelling abilities. A part of her would like to crusade the truth and call Ron on his fib. Of course, as much as she disliked Ron's fraudulent hold over the limelight, she held higher contempt for the attention she was receiving for being Viktor's lost person.
While the sentiment was endearing, the pressure of Viktor's attention was mounting. He had kissed her at the ball. At the time, it had seemed like a good idea to let a boy that liked her kiss her. A perfectly logical step to take, if for no other reason than to get the milestone of a first kiss out of the way, and done. And it was fine. It was nice, even.
But then, he had asked about her summer plans. She understood that the invitation was given with more than the intention of acting as her tour guide through a foreign country. Again, it sounded lovely in theory, but every time she seriously considered accepting she thought about the time that she would miss at the Burrow...with Harry and the Weasleys...with Ron.
Not that she could talk to any of them about this. She was thoroughly committed to letting Ron believe whatever he wanted about her relationship with Viktor. He had made up his mind already and wouldn't listen to reason. Why waste her breath explaining. And it was pretty much the same as the rest of the school.
She abhorred the judgment, but Ron had been right in a sickening way. The entire school felt it was their right to weigh in on her 'betrayal to Hogwarts'. Their fellow Gryffindors were not above cashing in their 2 knuts on the matter. It all brought her crashing back to the fact that she had the attention of a very nice young wizard whose only fault was not being the young wizard she wished to have the attention of.
At the end of it all, Hermione took solace in the fact that Ron was happy with his 15 minutes of fame. supporting him as a friend was worth it, even if it meant glossing over the awkward details of the night of the Yule Ball.
The real shame of it all was that the true events of the eve of the second task were just as strange as the "Merfreaks" from Ron's tale. Just as Hermione was contemplating Ron's new found popularity, his group dispersed and he wandered over to the chair across the table from her's. She watched him with a smirk.
"What?" he questioned her amusement.
"I was just thinking," she said, a cheshire smile blooming, "You must have told that story so many different ways you probably don't even remember what really happened."
"I do, too," Ron protested, but then he waved his hand to quiet her, " Now hush up, before the girls hear you."
"Git," Hermione rolled her eyes, and they both quietly set their minds back to that night's events those so few days ago.
…."Who on earth wants to grow their nose hairs into ringlets!?" Hermione cried, frustrated by her own uncharacteristically poor research results.
"I wouldn't mind," Fred interrupted them suddenly, "Be a talking point wouldn't it?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned at the voice to see the twins coming out from around the bookshelves.
"What are you doing here?" Ron said, squinting. He was having trouble focusing on his brothers' identical heads of red hair after spending an hour reading the smallest of texts.
"Looking for you," George informed them, "McGonagall wants you, Ron," he stopped and gave a small grin, as if in amusement of whatever he was thinking, "And you, Hermione."
Hermione pursed her lips in an effort to not give the twins the satisfaction of seeing her frazzled. But she felt her eyes widen in terror, and her heart begin to pound.
"Why!?"
"Dunno, but she was looking a bit grim, though," Fred was now having immense fun as Hermione internally spiraled in distress.
"We're supposed to take you down to her office," George said.
Ron and Hermione immediately looked to Harry, as if needing to be excused, but he only seemed preoccupied with fear.
"We'll meet you back at the common room," Hermione said, getting up with Ron and collecting their things to go with the twins, "Bring back as many books as you can," She instructed carefully before retreating from view with the three Weasleys.
Once out of Harry's sight, the concern overtook Ron's features.
"This isn't good, Hermione," he said, running his hand through his hair, "She's going to tell us off for helping him. McGonagall loves to win, but she's a real sword in a boulder about rule breaking."
"Well someone has to be," Hermione muttered.
"Hermione this is no time for jokes." Ron scolded, "She's going to bust our heads together, we're getting detention, Harry's going to drown tomorrow and what's worse Krum's going to win the tournament!"
'And he thinks I need my priorities set straight!' Hermione glared at him in thought. Ron continued to wrack his brain for any other 'terrible' consequences.
"Ron don't be stupid," she tried to convince him, and a small part of herself, "She's probably calling us in about extra credit work or a missing test grade."
"Or maybe she's just as damn tired of watching these love birds bicker after four years," George muttered only within ear shot of Fred, who snickered.
"What?" Hermione snapped indignantly.
"Hermione, seriously what the hell kind of chance is there that she chooses tonight to ask us for a chat about our grades?"
"Well, I'm just thinking of every possibility, Ronald," Hermione argued frantically, "Would you rather be expelled for cheating with Harry?" she exclaimed, escalated to hysterics.
"EXPELLED!?" Ron's face paled in new terror, "Who said anything about being expelled!?"
"You know that has happened before," George said, sending a wink in Fred's direction.
"Yeah, some bloke years ago, before it was canceled," Fred picked up George's aim and continued, "They caught him tinkering with the tournament. They snapped his wand," He clenched a fist on the word 'snapped' and startled Hermione.
"Family completely disowned him," George added loudly toward Ron.
"Lived off the streets, a poor-forgotten-nobody!" Fred shook his head in shame.
"Well good luck!" they said in off beat unison of cheerfulness, as they ushered the two thoroughly horrified fourth years to the door of the transfigurations classroom. Ron and Hermione shared one more lip quivering look of worry before pushing through the doors.
"You're late," McGonagall's stern voice echoed in the emptied classroom. Ron and Hermione looked up nervously. McGonagall stood at attention, fingers poised on her desk, but she wasn't alone. Professor Dumbledore was standing dutifully in front of the black board, and two other students were standing before him. They turned to the new comers as well. The taller of the two students was immediately recognized as Cho Chang. The second, Hermione suspected, was related to Fleur Delacour, because, being perfectly frank, she was a 4'8" replica of the half Veela.
"Come in, come in," Dumbledore entreated them, "We have much to discuss. Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger." Hermione and Ron glanced at each other in uncertainty before approaching the rest of the impromptu party.
"You already know Miss Chang of Ravenclaw," The HeadMaster gestured with pride, "And this is Gabrielle Delacour, of Beaux Batons." Dumbledore nodded to the youngest witch in the room.
"With Introductions out of the way let's move onto the reason we've called you here tonight. As you well know, the second task is to take place tomorrow morning. And you four are here on a serious matter."
"Alright. What's the punishment?" Ron cracked, unable to handle the suspense. Hermione grasped her wand in her robes pocket, subconsciously protecting it from its future snapping.
"Punishment?" Dumbledore parroted Ron, bemused.
"You know, for hel—OUCH!" Ron began to explain himself but was caught off guard by a sharp shock to his foot. He limped in place as his foot spasmed. He eyed Hermione suspiciously.
"He's joking!" Hermione corrected with a shaky laugh, as she slipped her hand out of her robes releasing her wand, and shot Ron an visual apology for sending him the shock.
"Ah, ha, ha, yes, yes of course," the old Professor softly chuckled, with a knowing smile. "Well, this is certainly no punishment, Mr. Weasley. You have all been selected to participate in tomorrow's task!"
"You mean we'll be working alongside the champions?" Cho asked with hope.
"In a sense," the white bearded professor weighed his answer carefully, "You'll be acting as the champion's motivation, shall we say."
"Albus, it's best I think that we don't beat around the bush," McGonagall advised.
"Yes, yes, quite right. All of you may have noticed that each of you is connected to at least to at least one of the champions. Tomorrow's challenge, if you aren't aware, is within the hour the champions must go into the lake and retrieve what the merpeople have taken-"
"Yeah, what is that going to be," Ron interrupted, thinking out loud, "Is that what you need us for? Are we picking the thing they'd 'miss the most'?"
"You're close, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said with a sage smile. He strolled away from the chalkboard and paced the room, "No, We've already chosen what's to be taken," The professor had made his way to stand directly in front of Ron, "And I'll tell you, that in Mr Potter's case, his missing item is something that he truly could not manage without…" Dumbledore put a wizen hand on Ron's shoulder, and his serene smile made his eyes twinkle.
"So, what?" Ron asked, lamely, "…Like his glasses?"
"Ron!" Hermione hissed as she slapped him on the other shoulder, "He's talking about YOU!"
"Oh!" the statement quickly dawned on him with warm pride, and then his face fell once more with fear, "WAIT, YOU'RE TAKING US!?"
"Vaht!?" The small French girl squeaked with a frightened pout, Hermione reached a hand out to her for comfort. Even Cho gasped at these words.
"Don't be alarmed," Dumbledore brought order back to the small crowd, "I've discussed it with the officials, and the merpeople of the lake. It's very simple you will all be put under a powerful charm that will suspend your consciousness, and the merpeople will take you to the decided location, where tomorrow your respective champions will hopefully find you!"
"Hopefully?!" Ron's voice cracked. Dumbledore raised his hands to signal the students to yield their questions.
"In the unlikely event your respective champions return to the surface without you, the merpeople will escort you to the surface." Dumbledore explained calmly, "The Merfolk, while somewhat ornarary, are very good natured and they will see to it that you won't be harmed while in their care. I'll be performing the sleeping spell, you'll be unconscious the whole time underwater, and you will wake up when you break the surface of the water. Mr. Weasley if there was anything that I saw unfit to your safety we would not be here discussing this. So are there any more questions?"
Ron, now at ease, turned to the ladies with a content nod for Hermione, but then furrowed his brow as he appeared to count the three of them. He turned back to the teachers and raised his hand, tentatively.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley?"
"Why am I the only bloke?"
"What?!" Hermione sent him a withering look for the simple stupidity of this question.
"An excellent query, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore congratulated Ron. Ron looked smugly back to Hermione. "You see, ever since the tournament's establishment, it has always been something of a tradition that the second task includes the champions' peers and loved ones. It raises the stakes and it makes the schools feel more involved in the tournament," Dumbledore divulged, "It was also the original reason for the Yule Ball," He added the fun little fact avidly.
"The ball's a set-up?" Ron paled. Hermione also silently grimaced as she realized she would be Viktor Krum's most missed item, all because she accepted his invitation to dance, "So why isn't Parvati here, or Davies?" Ron whinged, indignantly.
"The Ball was a set-up, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore clarified, "Some years after the event began, there was a terrible tragedy…" He shook his head in mourning, "Well, the methods of choosing participants-and the laws of wizard's tug of war-were changed after that," Dumbledore paused in reflection, as the rest of the group simply gaped.
"Now we use the Ball more as guidelines, if you will, to lead us to the choices. So you see, Mr Krum's fondness for Miss Granger," Hermione looked to the headmaster to stop explaining Viktor's attachment to her, he obliged and quickly moved on, "-And Cedric Diggory's enchantment with Miss Chang were rather convenient circumstances. Conversely, Miss Delacour may have been escorted to the Ball by Mr. Davies, but was reported to have been seen accompanied by other young men in the night," Dumbledore left the rest of that situation to the students' imaginations. "Regardless, Madame Maxime indicated the Delacour sisters are much more closely bonded than any relationship Fleur has forged in her time here. Likewise, Mr. Potter may have arrived and danced with Miss Patil during the ceremony, but it was seen that afterwards he spent the majority of the night with you, Mr. Weasley."
"Oh, this is terrible for Harry." Ron thought out loud in horror.
"That he has to save you?" Hermione snorted.
"Well, think of it! Krum comes up with you," Ron groused, Hermione shied away at his disgusted tone, "Cedric comes up with his girlfriend, Fleur comes out with her sister, and Harry comes up with me!? What kind of image do you think that's going to give the audience? Hermione," He continued in an urgent whisper, "They're going to think we're a couple of poofs!" (Unnoticed by the children the transfigurations teacher gave a pointed look at the HeadMaster).
"Ron! Don't be so offensive!" Hermione admonished him with a blush.
"What's it matter?!" Ron called out, with reckless abandon, "It's not like there's one in here!" Ron announced to the rafters, "I'm the only bloke! Remember!?"
"Ron you are overreacting. Nobody's going to think anything of Harry saving you."
"What about that Skeeter woman? She's got it out for Harry," Ron snipped, suspiciously.
"Rita Skeeter already wrote her rubbish article about Harry dating me," Hermione blurted out, embarrassed to remind the room of that article.
"Exactly!" Ron called out, as if Hermione had proved his point, "The way she sees it, you chucked Harry for Krum. What's to stop her writing about Harry's tragic rebound... to...me?" Ron swallowed vomit at the thought of being a couple with Harry, "This is just the type of thing she'd love to twist in one of her little exposees!"
"Mr Weasley, Rita Skeeter has been banned from campus grounds and she is not at liberty to report on tomorrow's task." Dumbledore promised, earnest and sober.
Ron nodded, somewhat bolstered by Dumbledore's authority.
"See, Ron," Hermione sniffed, "Anyways, Nobody should be interested in the things she says." She said sternly, "Besides, everybody knows you and Harry are best friends, and that Harry fancies-" Hermione snapped her mouth shut to rephrase her planned statement, "A-a girl..."
Silence gripped the room for a moment.
"Smooooooooth," Ron elongated the word to fit it with as much sarcasm as possible. Hermione stared at her shoes in shame. The rest of the eyes in the room drifted over to the blushing Ravenclaw, who was studying a ceiling buttress with forced fascination.
"I only mean," Hermione trying to backtrack, "It would be exactly the same if I were Harry's hostage."
"That's another thing!" Ron jabbed a finger in the air, "We're both Harry's friend. What if he thinks to save you instead of me?!"
"Ron, that's preposterous." Hermione countered with half her heart. This was Harry they were talking about.
"What's preposterous about it? You just said we're equals as Harry's friends." Ron pressed, using her sound logic against her.
"Well, because Viktor will be saving me-"
"OH!" Ron scoffed in hysterical disbelief, "So now Krum's automatically beating Harry to you?"
"That's not what I meant!" She screeched back. Hermione paused to take a deep breath before continuing in an even tone, "I was trying to say, when Harry sees his choices he's smart enough to see, through the process of elimination, that you're his only possible hostage."
"Get real," Ron shot back cynically, "Harry will probably cock this whole thing up and try to save the lot of us." He gestured to the four participating hostages, "Even so, what if he thinks I'm for someone else?"
"Oh my goodness," Hermione was beginning to feel a headache, "Which of the other champions could Harry think you belong to? Fleur?" She sneered.
"Well, I don't know…I did ask her to the ball," Ron defended sheepishly.
"Yes, and she said no," Hermione said, biting back her jealousy.
"Oh! You are 'zee cute leetle red 'ed'!" Gabrielle realized with a giggle.
"See, I'm Cute!" Ron bragged to Hermione.
"Little redhead." Hermione completed the title with condescending finger quotes.
"Maybe she'd think about giving me another shot. Davies obviously didn't hold her attention…"
"That's really rich, Ronald," Hermione shot back, too furious to care about her professors watching their row, "Fleur can go about with any boy she fancies?"
"Well," He contemplated, "Beaux Batons is a Girls' only school so…"
"RON!" She trampled his response as he had missed the point…again, "You jumped down my throat for politely accepting Vikto's invitation and now you have nothing to say about her behavior?!"
"No, it's totally different." Ron said testily.
"Why?!" She yelled, trying not to sob in front of Professor McGonagall.
"Because Fleur's not my friend!" Ron exploded. His response silenced the room for a shattered moment. Hermione and Ron stared at each other, stunned by his outburst.
"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger!" McGonagall stepped between them, jolting them to stand at her attention. "Merpeople are known to be rather impatient creatures; I think it best you continue this discussion later."
"Yes, Professor McGonagall is right, the Merfolk do not like to be kept waiting," Dumbledore joined in to placate the quarrel. "However, these sleeping incantations work best on rested minds at peace. Miss Delacour, Miss Chang, if you are ready, we can begin with your transformations." He leaned toward the young ladies to murmur an aside, "Give our hot-tempered Gryffindors a chance to recenter."
"I...am not so sure I will be at peace until I see this conversation to the end," Cho quipped. Hermione and Ron averted their eyes from the rest of the group.
"Now, Miss Chang," Professor McGonagall said, wryly, "There are better uses for that Ravenclaw perception. I believe I have some chocolate to calm your nerves. If you ladies will follow me. Miss Grange and Mr Weasley, we will return for you shortly."
The other two girls reluctantly trailed behind the teachers out of the classroom.
Alone, the two friends stewed in the awkward silence.
"Look, Ron" Hermione began, wanting to be the bigger person. If only perhaps to spite him more.
"Hermione," He cut her off, "I reckon you'll do whatever you want," Ron said in defeat, "But you've just been acting really different. First you change your teeth with magic; making the front page as Harry's fake girlfriend, and next you're talking to weird sods that can't even say your name properly."
"It's one so-" Hermione began to protest, "boy. And he is making leaps and bounds learning english every day." she touted. Internally, she groaned, "Nevermind. I know you don't understand what he sees-"
"Er….I suppose," Ron's brow furrowed. He looked as if he was unsure of what he was agreeing with. "He's quiet...and odd...and hasn't known you very long...he can't possibly know you the way I-I mean-Harry and I do."
"I wouldn't say that he does," Hermione conceded, "Doesn't mean you shouldn't trust I don't know what I'm doing, or that Viktor hasn't got good intentions."
"Sure," Ron said, tersely, his face reddened significantly. He shuffled his feet as he mumbled, "I'm probably a proper prat for saying so, but I just don't want you getting in over your head. People talk. And you...don't deserve to be the center of some gossip or the brunt of a bad joke. And you say you can handle it, but what kind of friend would I be if I just let that happen."
Hermione's cheeks pinked as she looked up into his eyes. His backwards way of caring moved her to gather Ron up into a hug around his waist. Ron faltered as she settled her head on his chest. He placed his arms around her shoulders gently returning the embrace. Hermione smiled against his nervous heartbeat, imagining what the last few months might have been had she just told Ron she would have liked to have gone to the ball with him when she had the chance.
Perhaps it would be good to tell him that, now. They thoroughly ruined that evening for each other over this misunderstanding. She had never wanted to be in the spotlit role on Viktor Krum's arm...
Plucking up the courage, she stepped out of the hug to look up and tell him. He peered down at her.
"And Fleur…" Ron contemplated, "Fleur can go bugger off with one of my brothers for all I care. She's got her own friends to talk her out of bad ideas."
A good humored grin bloomed between them, but Hermione could only half heartedly chuckle, mostly laughing at her own expense. She remembered the way Fleur bewitched Ron in the halls, just before she was going to suggest they go together. How could she ever be naive enough to think Ron would see her as anything beyond his bookish friend. Confiding in him now might only confuse him.
The moment of courage passed, Dumbledore emerged from the classroom entrance and surveyed the situation.
"Misses Chang and Delacour's enchantments have been successfully placed," He announced, "If you both are ready to begin, you may follow me."
"Er..Professor Dumbledore, I recall McGonagall saying some about chocolate." Ron perked up with the reminder.
Dumbledore laughed politely. "Quite right, again Mr Weasley." The professor winked behind his half moon glasses, "Miss Delacour needed a bit more calming down, but let me see what I can do," Lifting his wand, Dumbledore conjured a single bar of chocolate between the two Gryffindors.
"Brilliant!" Ron grabbed the bar from the spot it floated, "Cheers, Professor!" Ron thanked him, tearing the foil away from the sweet. Throughout this exchange, Hermione continued rolling her eyes again and again, wondering how she could have managed to develop a crush on the most single minded boy in all of creation….
"Hermione?"
Hermione blinked. Ron was prodding the bar of chocolate towards her with a small kind smile.
" 'Going to be a long while before breakfast in the lake..." He reasoned. Hermione felt her knees weaken in sight of his crooked grin. She managed a friendly nod back and snapped off a few squares of chocolate from the bar.
Ron raised his half in a small toast, before taking a large precise chomp into the bar and lazily followed after the HeadMaster. Hermione followed suit, biting into the rich smooth treat. At that moment, however, she felt like she had already eaten 6 bars of chocolate; her stomach twisting and the warmth in her chest growing more and more.
"Especially," Ron muttered discreetly over his shoulder for only Hermione to hear, "Since Harry will probably bugger off with Cho Chang on his first dive down, and need to come back for us."
Hermione choked on the last of her chocolate holding in her laughter.
They followed after Dumbledore, snickering to each other.
The last things they remembered was the HeadMaster instructing them to stand still and take one deep breath, as he waved his wand.
"...Fancy a game of chess?" asked Ron idly, from his spot across the table.
"Fancy what?" Hermione shook from her mental visit to her memories, "hmm?"
"Chess?" Ron repeated, amused to catch her off guard, "A game or two before dinner?"
"Oh," Her eager smile betrayed her attempt to nonchalantly accept his offer, "Yes I-,"
"Oi, Weasley!" They both looked for the person calling from across the room, "Where's your boyfriend?" Cormac McLaggen quipped, strutting past their table as he headed for the boys' dormitory, "I reckon you'd fancy a game with Harry Potter more!?"
Ron's mouth was a very thin line, while Hermione's jaw dropped at the complete oafishness of her upperclassmen's comment.
"Yeah-well-you-!" Ron started to say, but, try as he might, he could not string the words together for a proper retort. The moment past, McLaggen had thromped up the stairs and out of sight, "Sod!" Ron mustered mostly for himself and Hermione to hear. For once Hermione didn't have the heart to admonish Ron for his apt yet crude assessment of Cormac.
"I told you," sniped Ron knowingly, his mood thoroughly soured.
"Does what he said truly bother you?" Hermione leaned toward him across the table.
"Nah," Ron shook his head, he glanced around the room self-conscious to know if anyone else was discussing the outburst, "Cormac is a tit, and everyone knows that."
"Then why were you so worried everyone would think that about you and Harry."
"I told you," Ron urged, rummaging through his bookbag for his chess set, "That Skeeter woman finds a way to make everything sound….sorid." He wrinkled his nose over the stench of the word. Hermione frowned in agreement, at the thought of Rita Skeeter's last published work disgracing Hagrid.
"Even if we were...that way...I still wouldn't appreciate having it announced on our behalf by one of her 'articles'," Ron fumed as he set up the chess board and shoved the living chessmen into place with his finger.
"Unprofessional to say the least," Hermione chimed in, finding it hard not to enjoy Ron for once being the one to crusade an injustice, even if it was hypothetical.
"I should say so," Ron nodded back, indignantly, "In anycase, I think we handled everything quite well." Ron stretched overhead, His untucked shirt lifting to reveal the hint of his midriff.
"Oh?" Hermione attempted to stay engaged in what he was saying but let her head tilt as she watched him flex muscles he had developed over the previous summer. She wondered if she was the only girl to notice them so far.
"Well, I dunno," Ron, unphased by her staring, slumped back into his chair and continued his thought, "Most of the school thinks I helped Harry save Fleur's little sister."
"Hmm, I wonder where they might have gotten that idea." Hermione said with stoney sarcasm as she quirked an eyebrow at Ron.
"Erm...yeah, might have got a bit carried away." Ron admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, "But it sure does distract the connection between who got taken in the lake. Who knows, maybe Skeeter got bored of picking on Harry," He shrugged with hope and then called the first chess move on the board in front of them.
"Yes," Hermione concurred, shaking herself to look down at the chessboard and stop staring at Ron. She politely requested her pawn to move. "Harry has enough to handle without people thinking he fancies you."
Ron chuckled at the notion and pondered his rebuttal on the board. Hermione watched him again. Her stomach twisted and heart warmed as she studied his face.
Fancying your best friend is so taxing, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
A/N: Hi and Hello, I hope you enjoyed this revamped story. Thank you to everyone that Reviewed/Favorited/Watched it's previously published version. This concept is an old idea that has bounced around my head for many years inspired by a very humorous brainstorming with my sister what this missing moment might have looked like.
I very rarely write from Hermione's perspective so that was a bit of a fun challenge, but I quite like writing them just as friends with the hormonal bubbling of feelings getting in the way. Everyone tends to take for granted that Hermione knows how Ron feels about her, and that he's the one with all the confusing emotions and is the only one that is self-conscious and self-doubting, while she was just cooly waiting for him to make a move. Granted, I think I am guilty of this too, since a bunch my work is Ron angstily doubting how someone so perfect and lovely would like him. But never too late to try something new! Hermione is still very human, and I hope I touched a bit on her internal conflicts here.
Likewise, I wanted to make Ron a bit more self-aware. Looking back through the fourth book especially, Ron's has a lot of intuitive moments. He points to a lot of things that do have serious repercussions. True, some of these revelations come at the expense of his pride, but it doesn't discount the fact that he sees a bigger picture.
Anyways, Thank you everyone that has read this far, I really appreciate it! Reviews are always welcome!
Cheers! ~Cute