Well apparently a few of you were narked 'cause I ended the chapter when I did...very sorry, hence the quick update. I would have done it yesterday but I needed to get chapter 11 of Heartfelt Dream written, but I'm gonna do chapter 9 of this one next and get that one down first before anything else gets done. Quite gutted that I haven't got as far on with this one as I would have liked but I'm enjoying this one and it'll all be fine and dandy soon! lol
Cheers, Step ;)
Chapter 8
Hermione walked into the bathroom, stood in front of the sink and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes weren't as red as she thought they'd be but they looked tired. As she stared at herself she thought about what Ron had said, and the way he had apologised.
Yes, he should have actually said the word 'sorry' earlier, but she knew he was working up to an apology, he just lost track.
She hated fighting with Ron, mainly because she knew how well they got on when they were friends. He made her laugh, sometimes she thought she might pass out because she couldn't breathe for laughing so hard, but other times he made her cry, not that he knew he did, well, not until today anyway.
She didn't even mind when they bickered; it was the norm now. Ron would do something childish and she would tell him to grow up, she would go on at him for not doing his homework, and he would tell her to stop nagging and relax. But a few minutes later, their disagreement was forgotten and they were friends once again.
A thought that she had been pushing to the back of her mind for a few weeks now resurfaced. It was concerning for Hermione that she hadn't been able to figure what to do about this little problem she had stumbled upon one night in her dreams. She had tried to defy it with logic, but that didn't solve it, it left too many gaping loopholes in her answer. She tried to tell herself she was getting carried away and that dreams weren't real, they were just dreams. Finally after a few days of puzzling over her problem she decided she had better and more important things to worry about, so it got unceremoniously shoved to the back of her mind. But the fact that she was seeing Ronald Weasley in a new light resurfaced as she stood in their bathroom.
If she was honest with herself, she could see why he had said those things to Lavender, she was his girlfriend, not that she could see it as much of a relationship, all they seemed to do was wrap themselves around each other with the same amount of grace Hagrid had when he was drunk. That's why she wasn't exactly surprised when he had let slip that he was glad it wasn't her he was in this predicament with.
So, did she accept his apology? Maybe, was all she could come up with.
She left the bathroom without fulfilling the reason she had gone in there in the first place. When she emerged she saw Ron had copied her earlier action and drawn his curtains around his bed. She walked up the gap that separated them and perched on the edge of her bed, once she had undrawn the curtains around her four-poster.
'Ron?' she said tentatively, not knowing if he was asleep, or pretending to be.
After a few seconds without answer she sat down on her bed and pulled her knees up to her chest. She shut her eyes and rested her head on her knees.
'Yeah?' Ron answered, as he pulled his curtains back.
Hermione looked at Ron and forgot everything she had thought to say to him.
'Er…hi,' she said uncertainly.
Despite everything, Ron chuckled quietly, Hermione couldn't help but smile.
'Hi,' he replied.
'Okay, that wasn't what I wanted to say, you just caught me off guard. I thought you were hiding away.'
'Like you did, you mean?' he asked quietly.
'Yeah,' she conceded. 'Like I did.'
'That doesn't solve anything you know.'
'I know,' she replied defensively. 'I just…never mind, that doesn't matter.'
The two of them fell silent and stared at points in front of them, both trying to think of what to say.
'So er…did you want something?' Ron asked eventually.
'Er yeah…yeah I did…'
'Well, do I have to guess or are you going to tell me?'
'No you don't…sorry…I guess I just…I just wanted to say I accept your apology…I know you were only saying those things to keep Lavender happy, but they still hurt when you said them. Things have been…strained between us recently and sometimes I can't really…well I…I don't know if you're being truthful or not. We've both said things we don't mean, so I'm just a bit…lost at the minute, when it comes to knowing how you feel. I'm sorry if that seems harsh…but it's how I feel.'
She fell silent and felt slightly uncomfortable about what she had just said. She had, near enough, called him a liar to his face but she didn't really mean it like that, or did she? Merlin, she thought, even I don't know what I mean, how the hell is Ron meant to?
She sighed, a little louder than she meant to.
'I didn't mean to hurt you,' Ron said quietly. His brow was furrowed as if he was concentrating on every word he said.
He looks how I feel, Hermione thought.
'I know,' she replied.
'I just wanted Lavender to leave me alone; it was the easiest thing to say to shut her up. I guess that's just me, I take the easiest way out without thinking…without thinking about what will happen when I do.'
He looked disappointed in himself. Hermione turned and put her knees down so she was perched on the edge of her bed opposite Ron.
'We all do it Ron. We don't always do the right thing, as much as we want to, sometimes our courage fails us.'
'But I'm a Gryffindor! I'm supposed to be courageous!'
'And you think just because we're put into a specific house it rules our entire personality for the whole time we're here? It doesn't Ron. Do you think that because the Ravenclaws are branded as intelligent, they don't make mistakes sometimes? And as much as you probably don't want to hear it, I don't believe every single Slytherin would save his own skin and not help a friend if it put them in the slightest bit of danger. Just because they're branded selfish doesn't mean they are.'
'I'll believe that when I see it!' Ron replied.
Hermione smiled, 'Ron!' she said reproachfully.
'So I shouldn't feel too bad if I take the cowards way out occasionally?' he asked, looking at her eyes.
'No, you shouldn't. Just make sure you apologise to me straight away the next time you have a brief lapse!' she said with a smile.
Ron smiled in return. 'I will.'
'And I'm sorry too.'
'What for?' Ron asked, looking thoroughly confused.
'For being awkward and distant.'
'You don't have to apologise for that. Look, Hermione, can we go back to normal?'
'You calling me abnormal?' she asked seriously, but broke into a laugh when Ron turned pink and started spluttering, trying to rephrase his question. 'Ron, I'm joking!'
'Oh,' he said, relieved. 'That's just mean. So can we?'
'You mean, bicker constantly about homework, Quidditch and House Elves, and ignore Harry when he goes on about Malfoy being a Death Eater?'
'Yeah, that sounds about right.'
'I think we can manage that. But…'
'But what?'
'I can't make any promises I'll be overly chatty with Lavender though.'
'Oh, okay. But…why don't you like her?'
Because you chose her over me! She thought, the words almost falling out of her mouth.
'Oh, er…just a personality clash, that's all.'
Ron didn't look overly convinced at her answer, but he wasn't going to press her.
At that moment Hermione was reminded that she hadn't used the bathroom to it's full potential earlier. Her eyes widened slightly and she hopped down off the bed.
'Where are you going?' Ron asked.
'To the bathroom.'
'But, you just came out!'
'Ah, well, I didn't actually…go before. I got distracted.'
'By what?'
'You!'
Hermione turned and went into the bathroom. Ron watched her walk away and smiled. He mentally sighed and flopped down onto his bed.
Well, he thought, that went well!
Please let me know what you think about how I resolved the issue :D Thank you :D
