~Chapter Two~
"Shit. What time is it?" Ron woke groggily. He was back in his bed in the boy's dormitories. He and Hermione had said goodnight at about 1:00 earlier this morning. Exhausted, he'd drifted off after less than five minutes and he knew that he was going to wake late, but not this bloody late.
The time was eight thirty. He was an hour late for breakfast, and half an hour late for History of Magic. He wasn't really bothered about class, but how was he going to make it through the day without some food?
Groaning, he leaped out of bed. Why hadn't anyone woke him up? He dressed quickly and, expecting he common room to be empty, he was shocked when he saw Lavender waiting for him.
"Lavender?" Ron said in disbelief. "Aren't you late for class?"
"Won-Won!" Lavender exclaimed, throwing her arms around Ron's neck and kissing him passionately. "I was so worried when you didn't wake up? Do you want some toast? I saved you some from breakfast?" She looked up at Ron's tall frame lovingly. Ron wondered vaguely how she managed to make every sentence come out sounding like a question.
"Thanks," Ron said gruffly. He took the toast in Lavender's hand and chewed quickly. Despite her annoying demeanor he was grateful for Lavender's kindness. "Walk to History of Magic with me?" he asked.
"Yes!" Lavender agreed. She leaned heavily into him and Ron awkwardly put his arm around her. After making it out of the portrait hall and walking down the stairs like this, Ron gently pushed her away and kept Lavender satisfied by holding her hand.
When they arrived in class, Professor Binns was droning as usual, and he somehow didn't notice them arrive. Ron made angry eye contact with Harry, and Harry shrugged and lifted an eyebrow as if to say,Whatever.
Ron tried to navigate his way to where Ron and Hermione were sitting, but Lavender's hand tugged him to where her friends were sitting. Not only did Ron have to endure Professor Binns' monotone for the next thirty minutes, he also had to listen to Lavender and her friends giggle every time he looked at them.
Ron looked to his left and saw Hermione looking at him. He tried to say with his expression, What can I do? But Hermione just tightened her chin and concentrated on her quill and her notes. Ron sighed in defeat and placed his chin in his hands.
For Hermione, her morning classes flew by way too quickly. Quickly the sun rose to the middle of the sky and it was time for lunch. After watching Ron and Lavender cozy up together right after Hermione and Ron had shared a wonderful evening, Hermione just didn't want to endure another period of watching them. So Hermione hurried away, leaving Ron and Harry to meander their way to the Great Hall.
Now Hermione was in the library. Having finished her lunch, she was getting some homework done early. The library was blissfully silent and Hermione felt as though she could stay there, alone, forever.
Hermione looked back down at her Potions book. It was describing how to mix in some wolfsbane and lavender…
Lavender. Hermione swallowed painfully. She pictured Lavender feeding Ron some lunch in the Great Hall. Wiping his face gently and kissing him. She remembered the way they snogged when Gryffindor won the Quidditch match. Hermione remembered the pain, the thought that maybe what she thought she shared with Ron was all her imagination.
And then she realized the enormity of her situation. She was secretly meeting her best friend who was in a relationship. She had agreed to degrade herself by sneaking around and avoiding Ron's girlfriend. This time she really had turned into a scarlet woman. And for what? Because Ron was too much of a coward to tell his girlfriend he didn't want to see her anymore.
Hermione dropped her apple with a bang, disturbing the silence. Her mixed feelings of anger, misery, and shame boiled over and caused her to cry. What had she become?
She watched tears pool on her textbook and soak the pages. Hermione wiped her face and dried her book with her wand.
"Hermione, are you okay?"
Hermione whipped her head around and was face-to-face with Ginny. "What are you doing here?" Hermione asked her.
"Well, you weren't at lunch, and Harry told me you were here, so I just wanted to see if you were okay." Ginny gathered her long red hair and transferred it to one shoulder. Her expression changed with concerned when she saw Hermione's red face. "Are you okay?"
Hermione sighed. She had been battling with herself about whether to tell anyone. Ginny was really her only good girlfriend and she knew Harry would never understand. But Ginny was Ron's sister. She could either get angry with Ron or be disgusted with Hermione. But Hermione couldn't deal with this on her own.
"I'm not that great, honestly," Hermione finally said. She started nervously twirling her hair.
"Why?" Ginny sat down on the desk Hermione was working at.
"I kind of got myself into a situation I can't get out of," Hermione said to her textbook. "If I try to end it I'll end up with an awkward problem with my friend, and if I don't end it I'll ultimately be the victim of harassment."
Ginny's eyebrows pushed together in confusion. "Hermione, you can't expect me to understand what you're talking about."
Hermione breathed in deeply and tucked her chin into her chest. "I've been seeing Ron in secret for about a week now. I told him that I was confused about my feelings because he was going out with Lavender. He told me he felt the same way and we just started meeting in the prefects' bathroom last Monday." She didn't dare look up to see Ginny's reaction because she was too afraid.
Hermione heard Ginny sigh. "I knew this was going to happen eventually," Ginny murmured. "I just didn't think in these circumstances." She looked at Hermione. "Didn't you feel your moral compass go off atall?"
"Yes," Hermione insisted. "All the time. But I can't pretend that I don't have overwhelming feelings for him." She took the chance and looked up. But the only thing Ginny's expression gave away was that of disgust; Hermione couldn't figure out if it was digust with her or disgust that anyone would have feelings for her brother.
"You know what?" Ginny said. "I have no idea how to solve this, Hermione; I'm just glad you were comfortable enough to tell me. What you need to do is tell Ron how you feel – again – when you meet tonight. Hopefully he'll have the guts to break up with Lavender." Ginny gave Hermione a weak smile, and then enclosed her in a supportive hug.
Hermione spent four sleepless hours tossing and turning in her bed, checking her watch, and shivering. Tonight was significantly colder than yesterday. She figured she'd have to show up in with Ron in her dressing gown.
She checked her clock again. She wouldn't have to leave for about half an hour, but Hermione couldn't take the restless waiting any longer. She had an outpouring of feelings that she needed to let out to Ron. So Hermione jumped out of bed and pulled on her sweatpants instead of shorts. It was just too cold. She kept her worn tank top on anyway though.
She examined herself in the mirror. Her eyes were puffier and bags hung under her eyes. Her stress was showing evidently in her expression. Without a second thought, Hermione took her wand and quickly used a spell to hide her tired eyes. She threw some water in her face, and brushed her teeth.
Sighing, Hermione spent the next ten minutes staring at herself, wondering how on earth she got herself into this situation. It seemed that honesty was the worst way to go. If she hadn't been concentrating too much on her face and less on noise, she would have noticed one girl in her dorm wake up. And she would have noticed that girl quietly step downstairs. As Hermione made her own way downstairs, she didn't even hear the gasp of the girl hiding behind an armchair.
Ron was late. Again.
He was meeting Hermione at midnight. It was now five minutes past midnight. He'd only just rolled out of bed and he had zero time to make himself the least bit presentable. He carelessly thundered down the stairs and was almost through the portrait hole when he heard the dreadful sound.
"Won-Won?" Ron froze. "Won-Won, where are you going?" the normally sweet voice of Lavender Brown was now laced with suspicion.
"I'm not going anywhere," Ron lied. "Why are you down here?"
Lavender crossed her arms over her graphic tee and tapped her foot under her long flannel pajama pants. "Why did you look like you were going to leave the common room? Were you following Hermione?"
"Hermione?" Ron's voice cracked. He had to think of an excuse, and fast. "You saw Hermione?"
"Stop avoiding the question!" Lavender was close to shrieking. "How could you cheat on me?"
"What?" Ron would've been outraged if her accusations weren't true. But even though they were, it was annoying that she was assuming something when she had seen no proof. "I'm not cheating on you!"
Lavender's lower lip trembled. "I don't believe you."
Sighing, Ron leaned forward and kissed Lavender briefly on the lips. Then he kissed her hand. The short contact was enough to convince Lavender he was telling the truth. She kissed him more passionately and apologized earnestly for her irrationality. All Ron could think about was how the hell he was going to explain why he didn't show up to Hermione.
Every step he took up to the boys' dormitories was heavy with guilt.