Disclaimer: I only own the plot.
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Special thanks: to all of you that read this and review, and also to those who don't.
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Chapter 7- I wish it was that simple
"I was starting to think you weren't coming…" a female voice said when a red-haired boy closed the door behind him.
The boy stood emotionlessly, observing the girl attentively, waiting for her to speak again. However, the brunette didn't speak; she sighed and locked her brown eyes with the boy's blue ones. Realising she was expecting him to say something, he opened his mouth, but no words escaped his dry lips.
"I was hoping we could finish our previous conversation, since we are completely alone at the moment", the brunette commented in a casual voice, resting her head over the palms of her hands, never breaking the eye contact.
The blue-eyed boy cleared his throat and licked his lips before replying, "You called me here, so you're the one who's supposed to say something." He leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms, at the same time dropping his gaze into the floor. He just wasn't capable of facing those brown eyes; he felt like his mind was being scanned.
The girl sighed again, but this was a disappointed sigh. "You will never grow up, will you? I'm tired of playing these games, of pretending nothing is going on between us… I want to make things right, but I can't do it without you… "
He finally raised his eyes, and the serene expression on the girl's face made him gather the courage he needed to open his heart. "Let's make things right, together." And with a shy smile playing on his lips, he started to walk towards the brunette.
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A brunette girl was staring at the blue sky; her hands were clutching a thick blue book open in an empty page. Beside the girl were a corked ink bottle and a white feather; the girl's eyes finally fell upon these objects, and she grabbed the feather hesitantly. Then, with swift moves, she uncorked the bottle and damped the tip of the feather in the blue ink.
As the first words appeared on the page, the girl totally forgot what surrounded her; nothing else mattered, besides what she was writing. The only sound that could be heard was the scratching of the feather on the paper.
'Dear Diary,
Sometimes I just feel like screaming everything that is stuck in my throat… why does it have to be so complicated? Why do I keep denying this feeling burning inside of me? I wish I could talk to someone; Ginny would understand, wouldn't she? I mean, I tried so many times to talk to her, but in the last minute I couldn't bring myself to do it… please, help me! And to make things worse, I think he is upset with me, 'cause he barely talks to me ever since that night. Oh, this is so frustrating…'
"Hermione, can I come in?" Ginny asked in an intrigued tone.
"Just a second, just a second!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping at once and throwing her stuff into her trunk; she was in such a hurry that she forgot to lock the trunk. Next, she walked over to the door and pulled it open, only to see a suspicious Ginny staring at her.
"Why did you lock yourself in my room, Hermione?" the red-haired girl inquired, entering her room and glancing around to see what the other girl had been doing. The brunette shrugged, with a guilty expression on her face. "Look Hermione, I thought we were friends. If something is going on, and you need someone to talk to, I'm right here; you can trust me."
"I know I can Ginny; you are my best girl friend. Don't worry about me, alright? Nothing is going on", Hermione declared in a reassuring voice, that yet wasn't enough to convince Ginny.
"Do as you wish, but don't forget what I said; friends are supposed to help each other, no matter what. And now come with me, Mum needs help cleaning the kitchen", Ginny said, exiting the room.
Hermione nodded and followed the other girl out of the room and into the kitchen; it was good to know Ginny was there for her, even though she didn't feel ready to talk yet. When they arrived at the kitchen, she breathed in relief when she saw only Mrs. Weasley was there.
"There you are, girls. I'm going to bake some cakes now, so I need you two to wash the dishes", Mrs. Weasley instructed, pointing to a pile of dishes beside the sink.
Both girls folded their sleeves and promptly started to wash the dishes. After a few minutes in silence, Ginny asked: "Are we going to have visits, Mum?"
"Yes dear. Your father is going to bring Nymphadora and Mad Eye Moody to dinner with us; I thought it would be nice to have cakes for dessert", Mrs. Weasley answered distractedly, while reading a recipe from a book called '1000 cakes for every occasion'.
Ginny rolled her eyes and said in a low voice, so that only Hermione could hear: "In other words, piles of dishes to wash. Watch this." The brunette controlled her laughter, and watched as Ginny composed an exasperated expression. "This is not fair, Mum! Hermione and I always do more tasks than Ron; don't you think he should wash the dishes tonight?"
"Hum… you're right, dear. I'll tell him to do that", Mrs. Weasley replied, her eyes still scanning the book, making it impossible for her to see her daughter's victorious smirk.
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"Hello Rronny", Fleur Delacour greeted, sitting beside a red-haired boy, who looked rather pale. In fact, the boy looked so miserable that for a moment, the French girl thought he was feeling sick. "Arre you feeling alright?" she asked in a solicit voice.
"Hnn... what?" the boy replied, absent minded. At last, he raised his eyes and saw Fleur eyeing him with an awkward expression. "Oh, it's you…" he mumbled, disappointed.
"Where you expecting zomeone else?" the blonde girl inquired, noticing for the first time that he was holding a picture on his hands, though she wasn't able to see who or what was in it.
"Have you ever felt like you've done something you should regret, but no matter how hard you try, you know that was the right thing to do?" Ron muttered in a mysterious voice, putting the picture inside his pants' pocket.
"I'm not surre I underztand what you mean", Fleur replied, confusion clear in her voice.
"Ron sighed, and as he rose from the bench, he stated: "I didn't expect you to understand. Sorry for bothering you." And then he walked away, humming a song.
"He must be rreally ill", the blue eyed girl whispered, shaking her head, "he didn't even blush."
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As the night started to fall over The Burrow and stars appeared in the sky, Mrs. Weasley started to shout orders right and left, almost driving Ginny and Hermione insane. Taking advantage of a moment of distraction from her mother, Ginny seized Hermione's arm and dragged her into the garden.
"So much fuss because of a dinner! Honestly, it looks like the Queen is coming over", the red-haired girl commented in a sarcastic voice.
"You know your mother, Ginny, she just wants everybody to have a good time", Hermione replied, looking at the sky, a small smile playing on her lips. "Ginny… if you liked someone, but that person was a friend of yours would you confess your feelings?" she asked, a hint of hesitation clear in her voice.
Ginny blinked at her friend's words; was Hermione really willing to confess her feelings? "Well Hermione, I guess it would depend of many things. If you explain the situation, maybe I-"
"Forget it", the brunette said hastily, shaking her head in denial. "Just pretend I didn't say anything, alright?" she added dismissively.
"No, I won't forget", Ginny retorted suddenly in a loud voice. "I told you before, you can trust me. It's not healthy to keep things only to yourself; you'll feel much better after sharing it with someone."
The brown-eyed girl sighed deeply, and turned to face Ginny. "It's just… I have never felt like this before, and it scares me. Around my books, I always feel so safe… But this feeling is unpredictable, is overwhelming, is impossible to control. It's like you have something burning inside you…"
The red-haired girl smiled comprehensively, and said in a mysterious voice: "That, my friend, is called love…"
If darkness wasn't surrounding them, Ginny would have easily seen Hermione blushing ten shades of red, before staring dreamily at a small lighted window, at the very top of the house.
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"What now?" a red-haired boy bellowed when he felt something being placed on his lap. As he opened his eyes, a ginger cat leapt to the floor and sat at the boy's feet, observing him attentively. "Not this bloody thing again!" Ron whined, jumping quickly to his feet, so that a blue book fell into the floor.
The boy's blue eyes stared cautiously at the book, which simply stood there, looking as harmless as any ordinary book. "That's it?" Ron mumbled slowly. "No red letters flashing, no threatening chains? Are you not gonna do anything at all?" he asked to the book, which obviously didn't budge.
Crookshanks continued observing him closely, almost as if waiting for the boy to pick up the book.
"If your owner finds about this, you're doomed; actually, we're both doomed", Ron said at last, curiosity taking hold of him. He grabbed the book carefully, half-fearing it would start flashing in red; however, that didn't happen. "Alright Crookshanks, here we go…"
He opened on a random page, and started reading; his legs trembled and he sat on the bed for support. 'Dear Diary, I still don't know what to do… Every day, I wake up with the same confusing thoughts. Should I or shouldn't I tell him the truth? Sometimes I want to do it, but other times I'm not so sure about that. What if I ruin everything? What if he doesn't feel the same way about me?'
At this point, the blue eyed boy was so focused on the words he was reading, that he failed to notice steps approaching his room. His eyes were locked with the page, so he didn't notice someone entering his room; then, completely out of the blue, he felt like he was being hit by a truck, and the book flew from his hands.
"How dare you? Have you no shame at all? Oh, I'm so mad right now, that I could kill you!" Hermione exploded, her eyes flashing dangerously. She looked so furious, that Ron actually thought for a moment she was going to kill him.
"Sorry, I'm sorry!" Ron apologized clumsily, stepping out of the girl's way, that had went to retrieve her diary with harsh moves.
"I will never forgive you", she hissed, tears dwelling on the corners of her eyes. "I bet you had so much fun with the rubbish I wrote!"
"I only read something about 'confusing thoughts'- nothing that big, really!" he replied reassuringly. "Anyway, it was not my fault, Hermione, Crookshanks brought it, and I- I couldn't-"Ron tried to explain, only to be edgily interrupted by the brunette.
"Oh, really? So, you wouldn't mind telling me where is Crookshanks, will you? Because frankly, I can't see him anywhere; unless he has the ability to turn invisible or Apparate…"
The red-haired boy glanced franticly around, and felt his heart sank when he realized she was right; the ginger cat had probably sneaked off when the commotion had started. "I swear he brought it! He must've sneaked off when-"
"Oh, shut up!" Hermione ordered firmly. "Besides having no respect for the other people's privacy, you're also a great liar! Blaming poor Crookshanks… he learnt better from his punishment! Lucky you I have only a small cage… brat!" And with this final burst, she stormed out of them room, slamming the door hard.
Ron collapsed on his bed, hiding his face on his pillow. "What have I done? She will never forgive me!" he muttered miserably, his words muffled by the pillow.
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Everyone inside the Weasleys's kitchen seemed to be having a good time; the dinner was very good and now they were waiting for the dessert.
Billy, Fleur and Mr. Weasley were discussing some new measures the Minister had taken, while Mrs. Weasley and Tonks were serving the cakes. At one end of the table, stood Mad Eye Moody, his magical eye spinning in every direction at an alarming speed.
Ginny and Hermione were deep in conversation, even though the brunette would glance occasionally at the tall boy standing by the window. He didn't seem to notice these glances, since his eyes were fixed on the starry sky; what thoughts were on his mind, remained a mystery to the others.
As everybody started to taste the desserts, the boy crossed the door which led to the garden, hoping that no one had seen him going out; unfortunately for him, someone did, and waste no time in following him. Just a few seconds later, the tall boy heard someone calling his name, "Ron!"
Turning around slowly, he found someone he did not expected to see. "Tonks?" he said wearily, watching as the young woman came closer.
"Wotcher, Ron", she greeted in a low voice. "So, did you come outside to see the stars?" she asked conversationally, stopping at his side and crossing her arms.
"No, not really. I guess I just needed to be alone for a moment", he answered sincerely. As he saw the apologetic look on Tonk's face, he added, "Its ok for you to be here."
The young woman nodded and turned sideways to stare at him. "You look sad", she stated simply.
Ron shrugged and replied, "We all have bad days, and this was definitely not a good one to me."
"I see", Tonks said in an understanding voice. She stared at the sky, and silence embraced them.
After a while, the blue eyed boy turned around to return to The Burrow; he felt a wand wrapping around his arm. "Listen Ron, if you have something to tell her don't waste your time. I did that once, and it was the not the smartest thing I've ever done. If you really care for her, stop giving excuses to yourself and go for it. Not everyone has the chance to be happy, but if you do, don't think twice", the young woman said in a faint yet resolute voice.
"I'm not sure I know what-"Ron tried to say, but Tonks didn't allow him to finish his sentence.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." And with this enigmatic reply, she let go of Ron's arm and started to walk away. The red-haired boy genuinely considered he words, and despite the fact they made absolute sense, he knew he wasn't remotely prepared to do it. 'I wish it was that simple…'
To be continued…