Warnings: References to Violence.
Chapter 18: Interludes Part VI
Ron sat broodingly in his Magical Theory class during second block. Ron decided that eight in the morning was too early to have classes. He was at least glad that he didn't have Potions this morning. All of his brothers had been right when they said that Snape disliked the other houses and hated Gryffindors. The twins had been lucky that they were in the House of Snakes on that point, but the two certainly had detention all the time.
With a sigh, Ron thought about how his mother had reacted to what his brothers had done to Draco. Everyone else had spoke with the headmaster before the Weasley family had been called into the office more than a month ago. The twins had taken their mother's screams in stride. They were certainly used to being yelled at.
Ron however, shrank against the chair he had sat in as terror became the only thing he had to hold onto. Most of the yelling had been similar to what Harry's dad had said. About not taking things into your own hands and such. After that, she said it was commendable that the three of them went to their friends aid and she said that she was proud of them, but added that if they ever did something like that again they could say goodbye to school.
The red head distractedly drew circles onto his parchment when he was supposed to be taking notes. Professor McGonagall had given Ron the customary two weeks of detention for fighting to both him and Neville. He didn't know what kind of trouble the twins got into, but he was certain that they weren't pulled from the Quidditch team.
Another cloud formed over Ron's head. Harry had been made Seeker, just like he knew he would. Harry was the best flier Ron had ever seen, aside from professional Quidditch players when his father had gotten the money to take him to see a professional match for his eleventh birthday. Ron let out another sigh. There was no way Gryffindor could win if Harry was on their team. If it had been just the twins maybe, but not with Harry.
Harry was good at everything…Ron thought gloomily, jealous even. Neville wasn't good at everything like Harry was, but Neville was good at a few things and the teachers seemed to favor him a lot more than any of the other students. Then there was Susan, who by all rights should have been a Gryffindor but ended up in the house Ron was sure Neville was supposed to be in. Susan, like Harry was good at everything she did, with the exception of flying and Charms. To his friend's credit, he had seen her work painfully hard to keep up with her friends. Compared to his friends and his brothers, Ron felt like he couldn't do anything.
Ron sighed again, and tried to focus on his Professors lecture. Not that it helped any; Ron liked to think that he learned better by doing rather than listening, which was true. The more Ron actually practiced spells, the better he got at them. The problem was that he didn't practice very often. At least I'm good at chess, Ron thought as he decided his time would be better spent sleeping, rather than trying to pay attention.
The class that Ron liked the most was Charms, because Professor Flitwick was always very kind to those who didn't grasp spells in any shape or form. Some of the other professors, like Snape, would get frustrated or simply tell you that you needed to practice, or were just plain stern, even if they didn't mean to, like Professor McGonagall.
Ron was currently struggling on getting the combination of the wand movement and the pronunciation right. When he focused on one he'd get the other wrong, and the red head was quickly becoming frustrated. Ron peeked over at Harry who was helping Sally-Anne again. He was always helping her. Ron wished that Harry was a Gryffindor so the dark haired boy could help him. The youngest Weasley boy scowled at the thought. He wanted to do this with his own. Ron tried to focus, but when he tried to perform the spell again, he pronounced it all wrong.
At least he was doing better than Seamus, who always managed to light things on fire. Ron tried one more time, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Wrong again. Ron suddenly wished that he could light his feather on fire like Seamus had. It didn't help matters that Hermione was his partner. She always did everything perfectly, well, except for flying which she was terrible at, worse than Neville.
"You're saying it wrong," Ron couldn't tell if Hermione was trying to be helpful or not, because she always managed to sound like a know it all. It didn't help matters that after their first flying lesson she had been going on and on about how Harry shouldn't have been allowed on the Quidditch team. Maybe it annoyed him to hear someone else say it. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
Annoyed at being helped, Ron snapped at her, "If you're so clever you do it."
Hermione rolled up her sleeves, "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather rose halfway to the ceiling. Professor Flitwick congratulated the girl and gave her points. Ron knew that it was childish, but he couldn't help but resent her in that moment. She got what he had always wanted: recognition.
Recognition for doing something before anyone else could. Recognition for being their own person. Ron was put in a perpetual bad mood for the rest of class. He couldn't stop thinking about how since he had come to Hogwarts he was always referred to as Bill's brother, Charlie's brother, Percy's brother, Fred's brother and George's brother. All he wanted to be was Ron. Was that too much to ask.
"It's Levi-o-sa," Ron mimicked. It was childish, he knew, but Hermione managed to get on everyone's nerves in the last few weeks. "It's no wonder no one can stand her."
Suddenly, Seamus fell into Ron and a bushy haired girl was practically running away. He saw her face and heard the small sob she had let out. Ron's heart dropped. She had been crying. The red head felt like slime as the girl sped away.
"I think she heard you…" Dean said.
"She'll be okay," Ron said more to himself than to them, but even he could hear the worry in his voice.
Hermione was absent for the rest of the day. She wasn't in the common room, the Great Hall or the Library. Which Ron had to steel himself to go there. The girl hadn't even gone to lunch. Ron told himself not to worry that she was just avoiding him. When sixth block came around Ron was actually anticipating Herbology. He desperately wanted to say sorry to the girl he had hurt earlier.
Ron felt terrible, because he knew what it was like to be made fun of like that. The twins did it all the time to him. Ron should have been the one to tell her that it was okay and that she would make friends in no time when everyone talked about her behind her back because she was a know it all. Some of the students who had lived in the Magical World their entire lives were annoyed with how well Hermione was doing.
When Ron first met Hermione on the train, he was fascinated by the fact that she was Muggle-born. He had wanted to ask her so many questions, but he was being held down by his brother. A brother who the bushy haired girl said had hurt Neville's toad, which was probably true in one sense or another. But what had really gotten to Ron was the fact that she was super smart. So smart that it intimidated him. Ron was tired of being around geniuses. He had just wanted to be around someone who was average like he was.
Ron kept his eyes trained on the green house door until everyone but Hermione entered the humid building. Ron's worry shot up ten fold. No matter how badly hurt Hermione could get, he was sure she would never miss a class. Ron grabbed Susan who was talking to a Hufflepuff that's name always escaped him.
"Have you seen Hermione?" he asked.
"Hermione…oh, no, why?" Susan asked.
"Okay, don't get mad at me but-" Ron was interrupted by Professor Sprout. "I'll tell you after class." he said quickly. Hermione didn't even show up late to class, so when it was over Ron was ready to grovel.
"So, I may have made a nasty comment about Hermione without knowing she was walking behind me," Ron winced out the words like they were burning his skin.
"Ronald Weasley!" Susan was angry. "Have you apologized to her!"
"I haven't seen her since third block. I think she's avoiding me, and no one else has seen her either…" Ron said.
"What did you say?" Susan hissed.
"I- I said she didn't have any friends…" Ron was completely put out.
"Ron!"
"I was angry and frustrated with everything and- and I finally snapped okay! I shouldn't have said what I said, but I did! So help me find her so I can apologize!" Ron snapped at his friend.
"I'll help you look, but I only have about an hour, then I have class. Let's just try to find her before tonight's feast okay," Susan's tone softened a little.
The two looked until Susan had to get to class, but the bushy haired girl really seemed to have vanished. Ron was on the search alone again. Ron eventually gave up and sat brooding in the fluffiest chair in the Gryffindor common room. The chair also happened to face the Fat Lady's portrait, so Ron would know immediately when Hermione came into the Tower.
In that time, Ron once more found himself reflecting on his life. This is getting too heavy for me… Ron thought. He knew that he was just angry that he wasn't progressing like his friends were, and that he felt like he was being left behind. The youngest Weasley male shook his head. He was starting to think like Harry.
Ron steeled himself, thinking that once he apologized to Hermione, he would concentrate on the important thinks, like catching up on the latest Quidditch news or homework (or at the very least, pretending to do homework) or maybe even investing time into a hobby. With much lighter thoughts, Ron waited for Hermione; and waited and waited and waited. He waited until it was time for the Halloween feast.
His last hope for redemption was squashed like a thief that had stolen from goblins. Hermione wasn't sitting at the Gryffindor table when he arrived. None of the Gryffindor girls had seen her, and neither had Susan or Padma Patil, Parvati's twin sister. Ron bucked himself up and even asked if Harry or Sally-Anne had seen her, as she was the only Slytherin girl that he knew.
Everyone was lively around Ron as he ate feebly. The bushy haired girl hadn't shown up at all to dinner. Which was saying a lot considering the Halloween Feast was an event that all students were required to go to. Ron shoved a large spoonful of pumpkin pie into his mouth in anger. When the red head got through three biscuits, a piece of cake and a piece of roast, a voice spoke to him.
"Ron, are you a stress eater?" Anthony Holiday asked him. His twin brother, Andrew, was looking at him as well.
"It's just that I feel really bad about what I said about Hermione," Ron paused and hung his head. "I'm a jerk…"
"If it makes you feel any better, all of us have been looking for her," Anthony said kindly. He paused and then said in a whisper, "Okay, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone, but I heard that there has been a girl crying in one of the bathrooms all day. I don't know if it's her, because there is a ghost that cries in one of the bathrooms all the time too."
"Did you just tell him about Hermione?" Andrew glowered at his brother. "I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone. Jeez, Anthony, you need to learn to keep your mouth shut!"
"Just because she doesn't want to see anyone doesn't mean that she doesn't need to talk to someone," Anthony argued at his brother. The two stared each other down, until Andrew sighed and looked at Ron.
"Okay, I was told by…one of the ghosts that there was a Gryffindor crying in one of the bathrooms near the dungeon. I went to see if it was Hermione. She said that she didn't want to see anyone, so I went into the bathroom to make sure that she was okay.
"Judging by the stinging hex I got for going in, she was doing fine. I told her that she should come to dinner, but it looks like that was a bust…"
"How long have you known where she was?" Ron said, he could feel his face start to turn red.
"Since after Herbology," Andrew said. "I was going to tell you, but you probably would have been hexed worse than I was. I had to go to the Medical Wing to get a pain relevant." Ron felt even worse than he did before. He also saw Andrew in a new light. The twins had kept mostly to themselves since school started, but they both seemed nice. And Andrew just proved that he could be a good guy.
"I'm gonna bring her a plate of food-" Ron was cut off by Professor Quirrell bursting into the Great Hall screaming troll. The rest of the hall became deadly quiet, and several of the professors jumped to their feet.
"Troll- in the dungeons- thought you ought to know." was what the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had to say, before promptly fainting. He was no good for a defense professor, Ron thought as the entire Great Hall roared to life. Students were screaming and trying to leave the hall as fast as possible. It wasn't until several purple snaps exploded from the Headmaster's wand that the chaos stilled.
"Prefects," Dumbledore's voice was strong and loud, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
"Follow me, and stick together! Just listen to me, and you will have nothing to fear! Quickly, now first years! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!" Ron heard his brother Percy say over the crowd.
"Percy," a Hufflepuff wearing a prefect badge said next to him, she sounded nervous, "do you know where Elodie or Max are?"
"No why?" Ron and the Holiday twins had gotten close to Percy.
"The Hufflepuff and Slytherin dorms are in the dungeons. We can't take our houses there. We need somewhere else to take our Houses. Tell the other prefects that the Slytherin and Hufflepuff prefects are looking for them and that we can't go to the dungeons." the prefect said. Ron shook his head, the Hufflepuff was right. It would be like walking into a dragon's nest full of hungry hatchlings, if they went to the dungeons. Dungeons.
Ron spun around to look at the Holiday twins. They had come to the same realization that he had. Hermione was in a bathroom near the dungeons, and she had no idea about the troll.
"Percy!" Ron called to his brother. Percy was ushering Gryffindors out of the Great Hall. "Percy!"
"Ron, hurry up! You don't want to be left behind!" Percy said, completely ignoring Ron's attempts to tell him about the only Gryffindor that wasn't anywhere near the Great Hall. A tall blonde girl that Ron knew to be the Head Girl, because of Harry and Theo, stepped up to Percy.
"Percy, where are the Hufflepuff and Slytherin prefects?" she asked, and Ron was getting increasingly frustrated.
"We're going to have to go get her," Ron said at the same time Andrew said:
"We need to go get her. Anthony, go to the Tower. When they realize that we are gone, they need to know where we are going. We're headed to the girl's bathroom next to the dungeons closest to the upper year potions labs. Did you get that?"
"Yes, but I'm not letting-"
"Girl's bathroom, upper year potions labs." Andrew said firmly as Ron grabbed his hand and the two left the Great Hall. Ron shoved past a familiar form, but kept running toward the dungeons. The red head heard on of his brother's hiss out his name, and then he could hear Anthony calling his brother as well.
The two first year Gryffindors sprinted to the dungeons as fast as they could. The closer they got, the quieter they had to be, and Ron told Andrew that the troll would most likely be attracted to noise. At least that was what he had hoped, because that was what all the stories he had been told said.
As the steps quieted, they heard more steps following them. For a panicked moment, the two Gryffindors thought that the troll had somehow managed to get behind them, and the two hid in the nearest alcove they could find. Instead of a threatening, grotesque troll, Professor Snape whisked past the two first years.
"Where the heck is he going? The dungeon is further down the hall." Ron said.
"That staircase leads to the third and fifth floors…" Andrew observed. The two looked at each other before continuing. Not even five feet from the alcove a rancid stench filled the halls. Both boys gagged at the smell. Low growls started penetrating every corner of the hallway. Ron's eyes went wide, and he pointed to the very end of the hall. A monstrous shadow was heading towards the far end of the hallway.
"Please tell me the girl's bathroom is no where near that direction," Ron whispered. Andrew shook his head. Ron took a deep breath. "Let's go!"
The two sprinted towards the troll. The screaming of their fellow Gryffindor pushed them faster. The two burst through the girl's bathroom doors only to see the Hermione Granger plastering herself against the far wall. The troll's arm was brought back and in it's hand was a club that easily could have been the trunk of a tree. Hermione screamed, just barely getting out of the way in time. The wall and sinks were destroyed.
"Distract it!" Andrew said while banging a pipe to the ground.
"Oy! Pea-brain!" Ron yelled as he threw rubble at the troll's head. The troll looked between all three first years. It seemed confused on who it wanted to attack. When a particularly well thrown rock hit it in the eye, the troll swung it's club at Ron. The red head dove to the floor as fast as he could. The club missed him by mere inches.
"Grab Hermione!" Ron yelled at Andrew who was already trying to coax the girl to move. The troll brought it's club down again, and Ron dove to the left. When the troll brought its club back again, it hit the wall that Andrew and Hermione were on, and the girl screamed as debris hit the two. The troll spun around and advanced on them. Both Andrew and Ron pulled their wands out.
Andrew was quicker to the draw when he yelled out, "Locomotor Wibbly!" causing the troll to stumble.
Ron yelled out a moment later, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The club flew from the troll's hand and went all the way to the ceiling. As the troll tried to find its footing, the club hit it a top its head. A sickening crack resounded throughout the bathroom. The troll fell to the ground with a loud thud that shook the entire room.
The three first years looked at each other in near disbelief. For Ron, Hermione had just become his newest favorite person. Ron's mood dropped as he realized that she wouldn't have even been in this mess if he hadn't made fun of her. Before anyone could say anything the sound of footsteps permeated every inch of the bathroom.
Three professors burst into the girl's bathroom, wands out and ready. Two of them look furious and one of them looked about as frightened as a rabbit in a Hippogriff nest. Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell stood at the bathroom door, or what was left of it anyway.
At the sight of the troll, Professor Quirrell had to lean against the only sink still intact. He looked rather pale. Snape was looking over the troll. His eyes scrutinizing the slow breathing of the creature. And Professor McGonagall was someone Ron did not want to look at. He was still in shock that they had actually taken down a troll. When he did put his wand down and looked up at his Head of House, Ron immediately regretted it.
She was the epitome of anger. It rivaled his mother, Ron thought desperately. He then groaned internally. He was going to get detention for sure now. His mother was going to wring him, if Professor McGonagall didn't do it first.
"What on earth did you think you were doing!" Ron flinched at her tone and kept his eyes on the floor, afraid to look anywhere but at his shoes. "You could have been killed! Why aren't you in the Gryffindor Tower!" Ron stuttered, but he was mercifully cut off by a small voice.
"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall. They came looking for me."
"Oh, Miss Granger!"
"I went looking for the troll." Ron's head shot up to look at the girl whose legs were still shaking. "I- I had read about trolls and thought that I could face one on my own."
Ron tried not to drop his jaw to the floor. Instead, Ron looked at Andrew who was masking his surprise as well as he probably was. Never in a million years would Ron have begged Hermione Granger to lie to a teacher.
"If they hadn't come when they did, I would be dead," Hermione said in a barely there whisper. She was trembling again. Andrew knocked it off balance and Ron hit it over the head with its own club. They didn't have time to get anyone. It would have killed me if they arrived a moment later."
Ron breathed deeply to try to clear his face at his shock at her lying. None of the professors spoke for several moments.
"Be that as it may," Professor McGonagall said. Her sharp eyes scanning over all three of her students. "That was a foolish and dangerous lapse of judgment, Miss Granger. A mountain troll is not something one should challenge lightly. Five points will be deducted from Gryffindor's points. Now, if you're not hurt go to the Tower. The students are finishing the feast in their respective houses."
Hermione left with her head hung, but there was something uplifting about how she walked.
"As for the two of you," Professor McGonagall turned to Andrew and Ron. "Sheer dumb luck helped you today, but not many, if any, first years can bring down a full grown mountain troll. Five points will be rewarded to Gryffindor from you both. Professor Dumbledore, and your parents will be informed of this. You may go."
Hermione was waiting for the two just down the hall. Ron looked away from her embarrassed. He had inadvertently caused all of this. Aside from the troll. The troll was weird, but that wasn't the point.
"Hermione, I'm really sorry about what I said earlier," apologized Ron. "I shouldn't have taken out my frustrations out on-"
Hermione threw herself around her rescuers. "Let's call it even," she said. The trio smiled and left for the Gryffindor Tower.
A very heavy weight lifted from Ron's shoulders. Too bad that adventure with his new friends just got through their easiest bump, and that greater hardships were just over the horizon.