Chapter Twenty: Summer Boredom
It was two weeks later and Hermione had gone on holiday with her parents. Dorea was still grounded and had not been allowed out of her room except for meals and to use the bathroom. Ron, meanwhile, had been given the job of going over to the Grangers' house to water plants and picking up the post. Ron was missing her more every day, but knowing she was going to be away for another two weeks was tough on him, however, he was taking his jobs at the Grangers' seriously. After all, he had already finished his summer assignments from school, and along with Harry and Hermione they had done them in the first few days of the holiday.
When the time came for Hermione to leave for her holiday with her parents, she had hugged Harry and Ron goodbye. Although, during the hug Ron and Hermione shared, which was longer than the hug between Harry and Hermione, he had whispered in her ear.
'If I don't let you go, you can't leave.'
'Is that your plan, you hold me for dear life and my parents go without me?' she whispered back.
'Yeah, but it's a bit lame, though,' he said.
'I'm guessing you didn't really think it through,' she said.
'No, not really,' he said.
He had then had to watch her leave and that was a week ago.
Harry had accompanied him the first couple of days as he went to the Grangers' house and did his jobs. Another thing that Harry and Ron were doing together was their Karate. They were attending their classes four times a week. Ron was also doing chores around the Burrow. He de-gnomed the garden every other day, he was doing as much as he could to keep busy so time would fly by until Hermione returned, when he wasn't doing anything chore related, he hung out with Harry, Charlus and his own siblings.
It was a week until Harry's birthday. Harry was looking forward to it, despite his sister's attitude and he too was missing Hermione. Harry spent his time flying on his Nimbus 2000 with his brother alongside him, trying to have as much fun as possible. His parents had been very pleased with his exam results. So much so they offered to buy him the new Nimbus 2001, however, he declined saying he was happy with the broomstick he already had.
When Harry and Ron weren't doing chores, they were in the gym at Potter Manor. They were sparring, working out or meditating. Of course they were not allowed to use the weights without supervision. So, with their schedules full, it was thought that they did not have time to miss their friend, yet they still did.
When Harry's birthday arrived, he received clothes from his parents and uncles, and from everyone else he received assortments of sweets and chocolate, except from Hermione, she had left her gift for him with Ron and she had gotten him a book about legendary Seekers. Harry found a quiet corner and began to read the book while eating a few sugar quills. When it was time to eat his cake, he saw it was the shape of a snitch and that there was plenty of it to go around for everyone, who included the Weasleys, Longbottoms, Tonkses, and the rest of his extended family. All in all, it had been a good but quiet birthday, despite Fred and George's best efforts to prank everyone.
Another thing that Ron had begun to do while he was at Hermione's parents' house was that he would read. Before leaving for her holiday with her parents she had given Ron permission to go into her room and help himself to any of her books to read as she had quite the collection. She had also got him to promise to return any book he took to the correct place. So after he had finished collecting the mail off of the floor and watering the plants, he would go and grab a book to read before making himself comfortable on her bed. However, when his eyes got tired he stopped to close his eyes and fell asleep hugging her pillow that still had her scent.
This was how Lily found him one evening after he had been asleep so long.
'Ron, sweetheart, wake up, your mother is wondering where you are,' she said as she roused him.
'Lily!' he exclaimed, 'what time is it?' he asked.
'Just after five,' she replied.
'Oh bugger, mum's going to have kittens because I fell asleep!'
'Relax, Ron, now come along, you can stay and eat with us at Potter Manor,' she said kindly.
'Thanks,' he said in return.
Ron got to his feet and put the borrowed book back where he found it before tidying Hermione's bed and leaving the room with Lily.
As he walked down the stairs with her, Ron asked her a question that had been on his mind for a while.
'Lily, are you disappointed that I don't like Dorea the same way she likes me?'
'No,' she said immediately, 'no, Ron, not at all, why do you ask?'
'Well you have always been really nice to me and I really appreciate it, you and your family have given me so much, and I don't want you to not like me anymore,' said Ron.
Lily turned to face Ron and said, 'You've been Harry's best friend since you were four, Harry would be lost without you and you without him, also, there's the fact that we love you to bits, Ron, and that will never change, I promise you no matter what happens between you and Dorea and you and Hermione, you'll always be welcome at the Manor.'
'Thank you, Lily,' he said quietly but she still heard him very clearly.
'You're welcome,' replied Lily.
Ron grabbed his shoes from near the door mat before Lily took him back to the Manor, landing in the empty hallway.
Lily turned to Ron and said, 'Hermione means a lot to you, doesn't she?'
'Yeah, she does,' Ron answered.
'If ever you need to talk or ask anything you're not comfortable asking your parents, you can always come to me, okay?'
'Okay, thank you again, Lily, you are too good to me,' said Ron, before giving Lily a long hug and then went to eat dinner with Harry and the others.
The following day when Ron Flooed to Hermione's house, Ginny accompanied him, she had been suffering with acute boredom due to the fact her best friend was still grounded.
When they arrived and stepped out of the fireplace Ron told Ginny to remove her shoes so she didn't traipse soot and crap around Hermione's house. Ginny did as she was told as Ron removed his own shoes before going to check for post.
'So, this is a muggle house?' asked Ginny.
'Yeah, it's pretty big, too,' replied Ron.
'What does this do?' she asked him as she pointed to a switch on the wall.
Ron turned to see what his sister was pointing at and said, 'Switches on the ceiling light.'
Ron walked back towards her and flicked the switch to demonstrate.
'How does it work?' she asked.
'Electricity, you see there are wires in the wall that run all the way up to the ceiling and where the light is fitted. According to Hermione the current travels along the wires and powers the light,' he explained. He then switched the light off again as it was still broad daylight and went into the kitchen to get water out of the tap for the indoor plants. Ginny followed and watched Ron as he used a watering can to water the indoor plants. Once that short and simple task was complete, Ron poured away the excess water and returned the can to its place under the sink.
'Is that it?' she asked.
'Yep, job done for the day,' he replied.
'So what do you do now?' was her next question.
'Well, I normally go up to Hermione's room to read a book,' he answered, 'come on, she's got loads, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you borrowed one to cure your boredom.'
Ron led the way to her room and opened the door to reveal her room to Ginny.
'Yeah, no Quidditch posters on Hermione's walls,' he said.
Ginny chuckled before seeing the vast amount of books on Hermione's bookshelves.
'Bloody hell, she's got her own library!' Ginny exclaimed.
'Yeah, you could say that, but I must tell you that if you do take a book off the shelf, make sure you put it back exactly where you found it, trust me, she'll know if a book is in the wrong place,' Ron told her.
Ron then took the same book he had started two days ago and waited for Ginny to choose something. Eventually, Ginny chose a book to read and then the two of them went back downstairs to read on the couch in the living room.