xii: Für Elise

It had been days since Kreacher left to search for the locket, and Ron couldn't remember the last time things were so tense between him, Harry and Hermione. Grimmauld Place had been unoccupied for over a year now, so there wasn't much to entertain them; all they could do was wait, and it had been a worryingly long time already. All they'd done that morning was sit in silence in the dusty drawing room. Ron was almost afraid to speak for fear of being snapped at.

"Going to get food," he mumbled, getting up, more out of the desire to do something than actual hunger.

"How can you be hungry already?" Hermione demanded. "We've only just had lunch."

Ron shrugged. "Just am." Hermione raised her eyebrows, but Ron ignored her and crossed the room, opening the door with a creak and emerging onto the staircase.

He understood why Sirius hated the house. It was so stifling. All of the curtains were open, and the sun was shining brightly outside, but none of that light seemed to be present inside. Even without all the dust, the dingy furniture and the dreary walls would still have been enough to ensure that Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was a thoroughly depressing place.

On arrival in the kitchen, Ron saw a collection of ingredients set aside - presumably Hermione's plan for dinner. He therefore searched the cupboards for something else that looked remotely edible. Most of the food they had was far past its sell-by date; he didn't know where Kreacher got his supplies from, but he sincerely hoped that he would arrive back soon and restock. Ron ended up settling for some bread that looked rather stale, but at least wasn't mouldy.

Starting back up the stairs, Ron could have sworn he could hear the faint tinkling of a piano. Hermione must have found and resurrected an old wireless or something and tuned it to the classical station. He hadn't known that Hermione had a fondness for classical music, but he supposed it suited her. As he got further up the stairs and nearer to the source of the music, he was able to distinguish the tune. It was vaguely familiar, somehow, and despite his limited exposure to classical music, he liked it. It was... soothing.

He re-entered the room and froze in the doorway. It wasn't a wireless at all. He hadn't even registered the fact that there was a piano in the room, but there it was. It wasn't huge, but it was made of dark, elegant wood and like everything else in the room it was covered in a layer of dust; it blended right in. And there was Hermione, sitting with a serene expression as her fingers glided over the keys, drawing out the soft, sweet melody. He didn't understand why he hadn't immediately come to the conclusion that she must be the one playing, because it looked like the most natural thing in the world. He watched, fascinated.

The piece came to a close, and Hermione's hands lingered in position for a split second before she relaxed them, looking as if she'd just returned from an out-of-body experience. She started slightly when she saw Ron in the doorway. He realised that he'd been gaping at her.

"What's that you were playing?" he asked, although he knew that the answer would mean nothing to him.

"Beethoven," Hermione replied, looking at him suspiciously. "Für Elise."

As he suspected, the name bore no significance to him, but he nodded anyway, hoping to cover up the fact. "Very nice," he said; that seemed like an appropriate response. "You never told me you played the piano."

Hermione shrugged. "It never came up. I haven't played in years; I had to stop lessons when I started Hogwarts, so I didn't learn for long enough to get good," she said modestly.

Ron goggled at her. "You mean you don't think that was good?" he asked incredulously.

"You're sweet," Hermione said, laughing, "but it's really basic stuff. It's the only piece I can remember without the music."

There was a pause. "Teach me," Ron demanded.

Hermione looked unsure whether to take him seriously or not. "What... now?"

"Well I don't know about you, but I don't have anything better to do."

"Okay," she said doubtfully, moving up to make room for Ron on the piano stool; their arms touched for a moment, and Ron's breath caught in his throat at how close they were.

Stay calm, he told himself firmly.

"Try the first bit," Hermione instructed. "Just the right hand for now." She reached over him and played the first phrase again more slowly, and Ron couldn't help admiring how elegant her hand looked rippling over the keys at the slower tempo.

She withdrew her hand, inviting Ron to have a go. "Start with your little finger on E - that's this one here," she prompted when he looked a little lost. He noticed that she was speaking in her teacher voice; she was completely adorable when she tried to teach him things.

Taking a deep breath, Ron positioned his hand above the keyboard and tried his best to mimic Hermione's movements, but he couldn't get the right notes - the jarring intervals seemed to echo around the room as he hammered at the thing.

He could tell that she was trying her best to restrain it, but Hermione let out a giggle. "Be a bit gentler," she told him patiently.

Sighing, Ron made a second attempt, but he'd completely lost track of where on the keyboard he was supposed to be, and it sounded even worse than before.

Hermione nudged his hand out of the way to demonstrate again - she made it look effortless. But the pattern of notes seemed so complex - this was seriously basic stuff? He was about to question this when he saw that Hermione's attention had been diverted.

She was staring towards the other side of the room, where Harry was sitting in exactly the same place as he had been all day, tossing the Snitch up into the air and catching it. It was an irritating habit; Ron wished he would stop it. Hermione seemed worried about him, though. She got up and walked towards him with barely a second glance at Ron.

They were talking, but Ron was tuned out of the conversation. Jealousy burned inside him. No doubt they were talking about another one of their theories, and of course they wouldn't bother to include Ron in the discussion. Maybe he would have something to contribute. But they didn't even bother to ask him.

A/N: This is for "fascinated" on the OTP Boot Camp and also for the Instrument Competition. I couldn't resist writing an extended version of the scene from DH part 1 - normally it annoys me when they add things in, but being a) a musician and b) a huge Romione shipper, what's not to like about this bit? ;)