Disclaimer: J.K. owns all, including the first two quotes from this piece. They are straight from H.P. and the Goblet of Fire, as they were the perfect place to break into my plot. Ch. 26 The Second Task.
Hermione glanced quickly to Ron, an uneasiness taking over her as Fred and George waited to bring them down to Professor McGonagall's office. What could she possibly need with the two of them so late at night, and only hours before the second task.
"We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione said, standing up along with Ron. "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?"
"Right," Harry replied uneasily, and with a sigh, the two turned to follow Fred and George out of the library.
Ron and Hermione lagged a bit behind the twins, who had begun whispering to each other as soon as they were out of the library. This wasn't really unusual; the twins had taken to whispers and mutters for months now. Ron had stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and was walking with his head down, but Hermione was wringing her hands and biting her lip, her stomach in knots as to what the Deputy Headmistress could possibly need them for.
"She didn't say anything to you two?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence as the quartet took a left and began walking up another corridor.
"Come again?" Fred asked, breaking his conversation with George to glance behind at Hermione. "Oh, for Merlin's sake, Hermione, calm down. It can't be that bad," he replied upon taking in her appearance.
"Yeah," George cut in. "I'm sure it's nothing to be getting so worked up over."
"But… it's just so late in the day," Hermione began. "And… and we haven't even done anything to break any schools rules lately," Hermione added, glancing quickly at Ron. "Harry was the one wandering the castle after hours last week, not us."
"Blimey, you're right. I think we need a good spot of trouble," Ron replied with a smirk.
"Listen to this," Fred teased as the four began to climb a staircase that led to McGonagall's floor. "Hermione Granger, admitting to breaking school rules?"
"Do my ears deceive me?" George added in with a chuckle.
"Well, I only break them for important things… like you know, helping save Harry's life and such," Hermione answered sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. She sighed as they reached McGonagall's office. George leaned up against the wall, and Fred poised himself to knock on the door. "Wait!" Hermione said in a loud whisper. " Y-you really don't know what this is all about?" she asked the twins, her eyes as wide as saucers.
"No, Hermione. I promise I'd tell you if I did," Fred replied.
"Yeah, it's not like we want you to have a heart attack," George added.
"It'll be alright," Ron said, rubbing her arm gently as Fred knocked on the door. There was a muffled, "Come in," and they entered the office.
"Here're the trouble makers, professor," George said upon entering, earning a glare from Hermione and a jab to the arm from Ron.
"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," professor McGonagall replied with a small smile. "The two of you can show yourselves back to the common room, if you don't mind."
Fred saluted, and George gave a quick ruffle to Ron's hair before the two exited, closing the door behind them.
"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, please, take a seat," the professor began, indicating the two chairs in front of her desk. Hermione took a deep breath and sat down swiftly, resting on the very edge of the seat, her back rigid. Ron sat down in the seat next to her, slouching slightly.
"If you don't mind, Professor, I think Hermione's about to have a breakdown, so…," he trailed off, looking quickly to Hermione's pale face and rigid posture.
"Yes, well, you can relax, Miss Granger. You aren't in any trouble."
"But then, what is going on, exactly?" she asked, sliding back in the chair until she was sitting in it more comfortably.
"As I'm sure you know, from Mr. Potter no doubt, the second task involves the four Champions to swim down into the lake to retrieve a treasure that has been taken from them. They'll have an hour to retrieve this treasure. That's where you two come in."
Ron and Hermione looked at each other with curious expressions before turning back to professor McGonagall.
"I'm sorry, but… are you saying that we, Ron and I, are the treasures that are going to be taken?" Hermione asked.
"That is correct Miss Granger."
"But I thought it was only one treasure to be taken. How is it Hermione and I are both here?" Ron asked. Something wasn't adding up here.
"You are to be Mr. Potter's treasure, Mr. Weasley. Miss Granger here is the treasure of Victor Krum," McGonagall replied easily. Hermione paled again, and in direct contrast, Ron's face became very red.
"What happens if they don't find us in an hour?" Hermione asked, not even daring a glance at Ron. "The song makes it sound… grim, to say the least."
"You'll both be perfectly safe, I assure you. Professor Dumbledore will be putting you all into a bewitched sleep, and if an hour passes and your Champion has not yet retrieved you, we have magical means to recover you from the lake, unharmed. Now, if you have no more questions, I'm just going to collect Miss Chang and the young Delacour girl, and I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will be along not too long after that." She looked expectantly at the two Gryffindor's, and when neither spoke up, she stood swiftly and left the room.
Hermione and Ron didn't say anything for a few minutes, but Hermione could hear Ron's breathing. It sounded loud and harsh, the way it got when he was particularly angry. Hermione smoothed her skirt out, just for something to do with her hands, and chanced a glance at him.
"Ron…," she began but trailed off. They hadn't spoken of their fight at the Yule Ball, and now it was coming back to bite them.
"Of course," he said in a more controlled tone than Hermione would have believed him capable of. "Of bleeding course."
"Ron, it's not like I asked to be his… treasure," Hermione answered, ignoring his cursing. She could tell now was not the time to get into an argument of that particular bad habit.
"Doesn't rightly matter what you want, does it? Doesn't he have a mate here or something? How is it you'll be what he'll sorely miss? He's known you for all of two fucking minutes!"
"Ron, I'm really sorry," Hermione said calmly, playing with the edge of her skirt now.
"For Merlin's sake… He's way too old for you, for one. What a slick, greasy git. Coming in here, preying on young, unsuspecting girls…," he muttered the last, breaking off into an angered silence.
The room fell quiet again. Ron was still fuming, and Hermione had to find a way to calm him down before McGonagall came marching back in with the others in tow, demanding to know what the problem was. It wasn't as if Hermione could explain the problem, anyways, because neither she nor Ron had really admitted to anything, at least not to each other. She could only assume his angry jealousy was coming from the same place as hers when he fawned over Fleur, and not that dreaded territory known only as 'Friendship.'
"Just because he fancies me, Ron, doesn't mean I fancy him," she said quietly. Ron turned to look at her, eyebrows raised, almost begging her to continue. "I mean, all right, so I matter to him. So, at this point in time, if I were to vanish off the face of the earth, he'd sorely miss me. It doesn't really mean a thing because I know without a shadow of a doubt if I were in this contest and not Harry, Victor Krum wouldn't be my treasure. Sure, he might like me now, but in a few months, he's going to go back home, and yes, perhaps we'll write each other a bit, but… well, life will go on, won't it? And it doesn't matter anyways, because he's really not going to get anything other than friendship from me, so I don't really see what you're getting yourself all worked up for. He isn't what I want."
Hermione took a large breath, and began playing with her hands again once she'd finished. Neither said anything for a few more minutes, and the silence was thick enough to cut with a knife, as was the tension.
"Look…," Ron began, placing his hand on her arm, "Hermione-."
Ron broke off as the office door opened to reveal Professor Dumbledore, followed by Cho Chang, Gabrielle Delacour, and Professor McGonagall. Ron withdrew his hand from Hermione's arm as if he'd been burned, his face a burning red to rival his hair. Hermione's eyes grew wide as what he could have said rushed through her mind. She sighed and dropped her gaze back to her own lap. Obviously, whatever this was turning into between them, they weren't prepared to deal with it.
Yet.
"All right everyone, gather round," Professor Dumbledore said, standing behind the desk with the Deputy Headmistress. "I trust all has been thoroughly explained to each of you at this point, so if you have no further questions, I say we get this hippogriff in flight."
Ron and Hermione sat by and watched as first Gabrielle and then Cho were put into a magically induced sleep. Professor McGonagall was levitating them, and they would be brought to the infirmary where they would all stay until being put in the lake before the task began.
"Are you two ready?" Dumbledore asked, his inquisitive blue eyes going from Hermione to Ron with a knowing smirk. The two looked at each other carefully, Hermione biting her lip, Ron still slightly flushed.
"Um…," Ron stuttered out, looking into Hermione's brown eyes.
"Not nearly," Hermione replied, breaking eye contact with Ron to give her Headmaster a small smile. With a flourish of his wand, Hermione closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Ron never took his eyes off her.
"Not nearly," he whispered as he, too, fell asleep, carrying Hermione's face into his dreams.
A/N: This seemed a natural end to it, as I think we can all agree, Ron was nowhere near ready to make any kind of confession in Goblet of Fire. Review, let me know what you think. PM me any prompts you may have, or any ideas you'd like to see me do.