Author's Note: Ok, I'll be honest. I am really not a huge fan of the first part of this chapter. But it is a necessary evil to get where we are going. Just think of it as filler and move along.
Also, I have no idea if British kids say "Eww!" when disgusted by things. However, when I was writing that section, that was my automatic response, so I put it in. If I was wrong and she sounds "too American," I apologize. Anyone that can correct my British is more than welcome to do so in the reviews. ::hint, hint::
And we are finally, finally getting somewhere…
The Hogwarts students were enjoying an early fall day. It was a bright Saturday afternoon, and unseasonably warm. Some of the Gryffindors decided to take small rowboats out onto the lake. In an effort to enact their new resolution to spend more time with their usually missing best friend, Harry and Ron had been able to drag Hermione away from her books for a few hours. They piled into one boat while Dean, Seamus, and Lavender got into another. They rowed around the lake, enjoying the sunshine.
"Well, this is nice," said Hermione strangely, "Let's go back."
"We just got out here, why don't you calm down?" replied Ron from the other end of the boat. Harry sat in the middle, rowing while facing Hermione.
"But look, we are halfway out already, we can go back now," Hermione continued nervously, holding onto the edge of the boat for dear life.
"Hermione, are you alright?" asked Harry.
"I wonder what's going on over there," said Ron, looking off to the right. Harry turned his head. In the center of the lake, the other Gryffindor boat was alongside another boat in which sat Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and Pansy Parkinson.
"We had better go over there and find out," said Harry, turning the boat. Hermione made an unhappy noise and tried to get herself as low into the boat as possible.
"What's going on here?" asked Harry as their boat neared the group. Now Dean was standing, holding an oar in his hands like a weapon.
"Nothing, Potter, just congratulating Miss Brown on her excellent skill in your last match," answered Draco cruelly. Lavender was the new chaser on the Gryffindor House team. In the last match she had gotten hit with a ball and had developed a nice bruise. Madame Pomfrey was able to erase most of it, but her skin still held an embarrassing tinge.
"Why don't you shut it, Malfoy? I never see you doing anything special up there," said Ron.
"Weasley, I didn't know you were so chivalrous as to defend your girl."
"Hey!" replied Dean.
"I'm defending my teammate, Malfoy. Slytherins don't understand teamwork, do they?" answered Ron with a side glance at Hermione.
"Just shove off, Malfoy," said Harry. He looked at Hermione. Her face was as white as Malfoy's hair.
"Oh, why should we?" asked Draco. Suddenly Zabibi stood, also holding an oar. When he did, Ron jumped up. The boat teetered and Hermione made more unhappy noises. Blaise swung his oar at Dean, who dropped to his seat, missing the oar. The momentum continued and the oar hit Ron in the forehead. Knocked unconscious, Ron feel backwards out of the boat and into the water.
"Ron!" cried Harry, who dove into the water to get his friend.
"Harry, no!" cried Hermione miserably as their boat capsized and she, too, fell into the lake.
"Oh shite!" said Malfoy, pulling off his shoes and robes.
"What are you doing?" Lavender asked him.
"She can't swim, especially with those robes on. And Potter won't be strong enough to get them both," he answered before diving into the water after her.
The water was freezing. Unhappily, Draco slowly opened his eyes. It was so cold that he could barely see. Suddenly, he glimpsed Hermione's scarlet and gold tie. He swam to her, grabbed her and started for the surface. He reached air a few seconds before Harry and the catatonic Ron. The two lifeguards swam the victims to shore. Harry dragged Ron up the bank while Draco hit Hermione on the back to get all the water out of her lungs. She coughed and looked around.
"Ron!" she said, crawling over to him. He had a bloody gash on his forehead. She pushed some of his hair out of his face. Luckily, Madame Pomfrey appeared, having been summoned by Dean. She conjured a floating litter for Ron and took all of them to the infirmary.
Inside, Hermione was given some tea to calm her down but she refused to leave Ron's side. Harry and Draco sat in the outer room, waiting for McGonagall. Everyone else was sent back to their dorms.
"Why did you dive in after us?" asked Harry.
"I didn't go in after you, dearie," said Malfoy, "I went in after Granger. And before you get any stupid ideas, it was because she can't swim and I knew that you were far too weak to drag both her and Weasley's carcass up to the surface. That was really great of you two to drag her out onto the water when she is so afraid of it."
"How do you know she can't swim? She's not afraid of the water."
"Oh, please, it was incredibly obvious. She was holding onto the sides of that boat so tightly, her knuckles were white. And the whole time she was in the boat she looked like she was going to cry," Draco replied, smiling while he sat down to pull on his now dry shoes, "Besides, she told me that she couldn't swim."
"When did she tell you that?" asked Harry, "And more importantly, why would she tell you?" He was getting upset.
"Why do you care, Potter? Jealous?" Malfoy was enjoying Harry's discomfort entirely too much.
"Just tell me," said Harry, already beginning to tire of their immature games. Malfoy's face fell.
"We had a little Head Boy/Head Girl bonding session. We got to talking and she told me."
"But why didn't she tell us?" asked Harry, more to himself than to Draco.
"Would you even have cared? Or would it have just been something else for you to tease her about?" Harry stared at Draco in disbelief, "She's odd-man-out in your little group. You and Weasley exclude her, a lot. Why should she tell you anything?" With that, Malfoy left the Infirmary. Harry sat back against the wall. Is that true? Do we always exclude Hermione? He got up and went in to see her and Ron.
Hermione sat right next to the bed. She kept watching Ron, waiting for him to wake up. She didn't even look at Harry when he walked in.
"He could have died, you know," she said quietly.
"You could have too," answered Harry, "Why didn't you tell us that you couldn't swim?"
"Why should I? So you could exclude me from something else? What difference does it make?"
"Hermione…"
"No, Harry, this has gone too long without being said. And today, today Ron almost died," she turned to face him, tears glistening in her eyes, "You and Ron are the best friends I have at Hogwarts, or at least you were. We used to do everything together. But lately,…lately you two have been doing everything you can to leave me out. I know that you need time to do guy things. And I know that I'm the third wheel, but it still hurts. Ever since the car ride to the train station…," she closed her eyes and tears fell down her cheeks. Harry sat in another chair opposite her on the other side of Ron. He was also getting very upset. And to be honest, feeling guilty. How could he have ever questioned her loyalties? She had almost died for him once, and would do it again without question.
"And what would I have done had I lost him?" she asked through her tears. "You may be the famous Harry Potter, but you're no Ron Weasley." Harry just stared at her blankly. What did that mean? Hermione reached forward and pushed Ron's hair away of his wound. The look on her face was so miserable. She wiped away some tears, silently got up, and left the room.
"Hermione…Hermione!" Harry got up and followed her.
The door closed with a soft thud. The room was dark and silent. And the bed in the center of the room remained perfectly still. But Ronald Weasley did not.
Very slowly, when he was certain he was alone, Ron opened his eyes. He crossed his arms behind his head and frowned. He had a lot to think about.
It took him almost 45 minutes to find her. She could move quite fast and knew the castle better than any of them, probably. What Harry wouldn't have done for that Marauders' Map at the moment. He found her in an empty corridor near the Head suite. She was still soggy and looking out a window at the grounds, a lost look on her face.
"Hermione." She started when he said her name. "I want to talk to you."
"What do you want, Harry?" she finally turned to look at him, defeated, exhausted.
"I want to tell you I'm sorry." That surprised her.
"For what?"
"Well, the short version is, 'for everything.' But it's a bit more complicated than that." Curiosity getting the better of her, she turned her whole body to face him, giving him her undivided attention.
"You're right. I have been a selfish, insensitive git for the past,…well, probably two years. I am really frustrated with the way things are going. I want the war to be over. I want it to be done. I want everyone to be able to go on with the rest of their lives."
"Everyone but you, you mean?" she asked pointedly.
"That's a different discussion. And don't try to distract me."
"No, it's this discussion too. You aren't going to cease to exist just because you kill Voldemort, Harry."
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do."
"How are you so sure that he won't kill me?"
"Easy. We won't let him."
"We, huh?"
"Of course."
"Meaning you and Ron?"
"And others, including Ginny. And don't make that face!" she scolded when Harry grimaced at her name being included. "She's in this as much as the rest of us."
"So how are you so sure that we'll win?"
"Easy. We're the good guys."
"And it's that simple, is it?"
"Yes."
"You sound more and more like Ron everyday."
"hmm…" she responded sadly, looking at her shoes.
"Which brings us back to my original point," Harry added quickly.
"Which is?"
"That you are right, in a way. Ron and I have been excluding you. Although it's more me than Ron. We don't have the opportunity to see you as much anymore, what with different classes and responsibilities and Quidditch and all. But it goes a bit deeper than that. When I saw you over the summer, when you told me about Malfoy, I felt as though you had betrayed me…wait, let me finish!" he had to add when she looked as though she would burst into tears.
"I was and in some ways still am angry at everything, at the world. I want to be able to finish this and I feel as though everything is holding me back, the ministry, school…it makes me a dangerous person right now. You know that I am hotheaded and act without thinking. I didn't want to deal with what you were telling me, so I lashed out at you, to make it easier on myself. If I could get you angry at me, and make you stay angry, then maybe you would remove yourself from the fight. Maybe I could deal with losing you now and not have everything hit me all at once." He looked at her face and saw the tears.
"Harry, you aren't going to lose me. And you can't push me away, either, you dumb prat!" she laughed tearily, "that didn't work with Ginny and it sure as hell isn't going to work with me." She hugged him, hard, and patted his head when she felt him hug her back.
"There's no way to talk you out of it, then?"
"Of course not."
"Too bad I'm such a selfish bastard that I am almost happy to hear you say that." Hermione chuckled slightly, but didn't let go of him.
"So what happened in the hospital wing with Ron?" Hermione pulled away slightly so that she could look at him.
"Nothing happened with Ron, you were right there the whole time," she responded, looking confused.
"You like him…"
"I always have."
"No, I mean, you like him…as something more than a friend."
"Yes. I always have."
"Always?"
"Apparently," she said sadly.
"What about me?"
"What about you?"
"You never fancied me at all?"
"Eww!" Hermione pulled away from him abruptly. Harry made an insulted face.
"I didn't expect you to be disgusted by the idea," he smiled at her.
"Eww, Harry, that's just wrong," answered Hermione, still looking as though she might be sick.
"Not once?" he teased.
"No! Never."
"Really?"
"Oh my God, how self-absorbed can you get?"
"I'm just curious," he laughed effectively breaking the mood.
"And I assume now that you are going to tell me that you fancied me?"
The face he made caused Hermione to wish she had a camera.
"Yeah, that face, that's how nauseated I felt when you suggested it. It would just be…unnatural."
"Let's never EVER discuss this again."
"Ok." She said, finally laughing.