Penance
Chapter 4: Wrath//Hermione
Her bushy hair crackled, as if infused with electricity. When angered, Hermione was as unpredictable as a bolt of lightning.
Fury would travel through her veins like a current, changing her so that she couldn't recognize herself anymore. It was as if her wrath created a mask for her, a disguise, in which the rational Hermione protected herself until the psychotic one disappeared.
She always prided herself on her brains, her unerring devotion to knowledge and the logical approach to any given situation. She was even logical when furious, coming up with counter-arguments and rebuttals while her voice became more and more shrill, and her eyes and hair grew more and more wild.
She was like a volcano, slowly becoming more and more agitated and pissed off until she exploded. When she had reached her limit, she would go off on anyone and everyone, stomping into rooms and slamming doors, and leaving the people she had just blown up at bewildered and fearing for their lives.
Ron was the one who always got to her. They say that those who love you the most are the ones who can hurt you the most. In Ron's case, he knew just what to say and which buttons to push to set her on a slow boil.
He had insulted her just before the Yule ball, finally realizing that she was a girl, and then acted like a surly git the entire rest of the dance, effectively ruining her night with Viktor.
It was he who had infuriated her so much in their sixth year, going around with Lavender Brown after ignoring her for a week straight. She had been distraught, and in an act of fury had injured him with her spectacular yellow birds. Their fight had gone on for months, both making fun of the other, and leaving poor Harry smack in the middle.
And he had walked out on them. When they had needed him most, he had walked away, convincing his stupid self that she had chosen Harry! She loved Harry as a brother, but he had let his jealousy turn him into something resembling a monster. When he had returned, she had attacked him, and hadn't spoken to him for a week.
After her explosions, she would then become cold; her silent treatment and cold shoulder would leave her victims with frostbite.
Her wrath always got the better of her, and never more so than she was around her ginger-haired lover. Their fights were spectacular, and left the neighbors wondering how the hell they hadn't killed each other yet.
Of course, they'd then hear the newlyweds "making up," and they knew: Ron brought out both the worst and the best in a thoroughly vocal Hermione.