Cappuccino After Eleven
Sorry for the long wait, but I hope I can make it up to you with this long chapter! I finally moved, said goodbye to so many great friends that I will miss a lot, and went both windsurfing and partying with my closest in my home country. Life is good.
I'd also like to dedicate a huge thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter - you helped me push myself a little extra to finally get this chapter done.
liak3: You made me smile reading you comment, thank you so much!33 I'm really happy you enjoy this story, and I hope you receive this update - it's for you!
GidgetteLover: I love how reflected your thoughts are about Lavender. Totally agree with everything you say there!
Also thank you to merendinoemiliano and chemrunner57! You're awesome!
About future updates: Currently, I'm working, but I will try to keep a sensible schedule for updates.
Until then, here goes, the new chappie fresh out of the oven! Love ya!
Chapter Eleven
The Effects of Caffeine
She had just gotten the last tangle out of her hair when the doorbell suddenly rang.
At first, she'd jumped at the sound – high, piercing, and ringing so loudly that it echoed in her head afterward.
Hermione took a deep breath and looked herself over for the umpteenth time in the mirror. She didn't look bad. Quite the contrary, especially keeping in mind that she was feeling slightly nauseous still.
Though, she thought, she really wanted to impress him today. It would be the first time Ron would see her properly up close when not just in a passing, or under the influence of alcohol, or from several yards away. The pores on her nose suddenly felt bigger, like gaping holes in the dirt.
She shuddered, then shook her head to clear it from her own self-doubt.
The bell rang one more time, which had been patiently waiting after the first ring.
Hermione grabbed her keys and hurried down to the front door to open for him.
The door creaked open, bringing with it a smooth breeze of wind.
He was stunning in the midday light.
To her, he looked as if touched by the gods – auburn hair blazing and eyes blue, even with the tired wrinkle underneath. He looked at her with clear eyes, so awake that it felt like she was being doused in water just being underneath his attentive gaze.
"Hi," she said.
"Hey," he replied, voice raspy.
"Come in," Hermione gestured for the stairway leading up to the flat and he followed. Her heart hammered in her chest.
She gave him a quick tour – the hallway, the shared kitchen, and what not to touch (Pansy's room, Pansy's cupboard, Pansy's favorite chair), before ending up in front of the door to her own room.
"This is my room," she said, a blush creeping up on her cheeks. She wanted to say but don't expect anything from me just because I'm showing it to you, but held her tongue, mostly because what she would have said would be untrue.
After the short tour, they both ended up on her balcony, huddled on a chair each, sunglasses on, and with a frothy cappuccino in each of their hands.
The breeze swept over them, warm as a carpet.
"Thanks again for the coffee. And for letting me come over," he said, voice a little wavering, his pinky drumming rhythmically on the cup, "I really enjoyed hanging out with you yesterday,"
Hermione's eyes followed the rhythmic movement of his fingers. On the cup, in a maroon color with a faded design, there was a text that said 'you're so capricorny'.
"Me too," she replied with blush on her cheeks, "Thank you for inviting me in the first place. I honestly never thought I'd ever be invited to a party by a neighbor," she laughed.
Ron laughed merrily, then winced and grabbed his head. Then, he took a long sip of his coffee, sighing as the soft drink loosened the rasp in his voice, like rusty machinery being oiled until smooth release.
"Did it go alright with Lavender following you home yesterday?"
Hermione's smile paled slightly. He didn't know they had talked about him…right?
"Uhm…" she said, "Yes,"
Ron gave her a long look, then laughed heartily as red crept up under his freckles.
"Did she tell you more gossip?"
She was about to answer.
"Never mind," he interrupted her before she had the chance to reply, "She talked about me, didn't she?"
"She said you guys used to be … involved," she told him at last, trailing off at the end in a pathetic mutter.
"Oh, that," he said, his eyes flickered to her from the top of his dark sunglasses. They glinted in the sun. A lock of fiery red hair had fallen over it, and he pulled it back with long fingers while he let his eyes glide in a final look over the backyard.
He continued, "It was nothing, really. Only a brief thing before we realized we were meant to be only friends. We just weren't compatible, but no hard feels there,"
His eyes landed on her when he said the word 'compatible', and pride swelled in her chest.
"No problem, it's not my business anyway," she said quickly. A little too quickly.
He gave her a look, then laughed amicably.
"So, what more did Lavender tell you? Any big dark secrets?" he asked, the ghost of mischief still lingering over him.
Hermione cringed.
"Well, uhh," Hermione was embarrassed, broke away from his gaze, face littered with a blush, "She did tell me about… I'm sorry about your brother,"
Ron looked shocked for a second, eyes widening, then darkening before the mask slipped back on, giving her a small smile, as if to tell her it wasn't her fault.
"I'm sorry that I heard it from her," she apologized immediately, feeling stupid for even considering slapping him in the face with the reminder of his dead brother that was obviously very dear to him, "I'd rather hear it from you when you would be ready to tell me,"
He waved his hand at her, "It's fine, it's just how she does things. I appreciate your honesty though, Hermione,"
"I'm sorry,"
"Forget about it," Ron said, his happy expression back on his face, but his finger drummed erratically on the capricup of cappuccino, and there was something behind his eyes that didn't quite click right.
"You know what?" Hermione said, and instantly saw how he lit up at her perkiness, "If you want us to start over, I'll forget everything about it and we can talk about it another time,"
He sent her a small smile, hooking his red-socked foot under the chair, "It's okay, don't think about it,"
Jokingly, she made a hand movement and said, "Consider the memory…wiped,"
He laughed.
Then she cocked her head, "Think about what?"
He laughed harder, and at some point, they were both laughing together, and his hand found her shoulder. It was a light touch – the touch of intimacy.
They sobered up, both wincing as the sun snuck around their sunglasses and their hangovers reminded them, once again, that they in fact had been drinking the day before.
"There is one thing she did mention that I would love some clarification of though," she said, pensively this time.
He looked at her with big, interested eyes and leaned forward.
"And what was so that?" he asked her, and she could count the wonderful freckles on the bridge of his nose.
"Well," she dramatically fanned out her arms and leaned forward too, "Seemingly there was an incident involving a flying car and a whomping willow,"
Ron groaned and put his face into his hands.
"I'm never going to live that down, am I?"
Hermione grinned.
"Nope!" she exclaimed, popping the 'p'.
And that's how she came to know Ron's spectacular story of how he and Harry, and the flying family car, had ended up in the bristle clubs of the whomping willow at Hogwarts.
After that, the conversation flowed like honey. At a comfortable pace, and with a considerable sweetness.
She got to know a lot more about him in their conversation too, and it all soothed her inner thirst to know him better – the so far more-than-magnificent Ronald Weasley.
He was pureblood, but Hermione thought he didn't quite seem so. He didn't take any pride in it, and that made Hermione take pride in him.
"The backyard looks very different from your angle," Ron said after having surveyed the view from her balcony for a while.
"I was going to say the exact same thing to you," Hermione grinned.
They were silent for a moment. It was a comfortable silence. A silence Hermione wasn't used to having with anybody besides Luna back at Ilvermorny.
"I –," Ron started, then his eyes flickered away, "I might have to go back to Hogwarts for a while soon,"
"Oh?" Hermione asked, a nervous tingle in her stomach. Suddenly, she felt worried, "But you're coming back?"
"Yes, of course," he beamed, but she saw the unease in his face.
"When are you leaving?"
"Next week," he replied pensively, "It's a family thing, but I'll be back as quickly as I can. And I'd love to meet up more when I get back if you'd like to,"
He meant to say it as a statement, but it came out more like a question. She found it kind of charming.
His eyes flickered to his wristwatch, worn at the edges so that the layer of silver had been replaced with the red-tinted metal underneath.
"Oh, shit," he cursed, "I have to get going, I promised the roomies to clean up before two,"
He hurried up, thanked her for the coffee and talk, then she followed him out to the front door.
"I had an amazing time," he told her, then turned to leave. For a moment, he hesitated, then he turned back around to face her again.
She looked at him expectantly, hope blooming in her chest.
"Harry and I are having a movie night on Tuesday. I mean … err … Would you like to join?" Ron asked her, blue eyes brilliant in the dim corridor light.
"I'd love to," Hermione beamed back.
There was a short pause, before they went in for a hug. Her arms fit perfectly around his waist, and she could feel his lean muscles through his thin-worn shirt. He smelled nice, a small part of her noted.
"Until then," he saluted jokingly afterwards, smiling brilliantly again.
"Until then," she said, heart on fire.
The door shut behind him, and she were catapulted back into a deafening silence. She put a hand over her racing heart, warm and bubbly with joy.
Hermione smiled to herself.
Never before had she experienced such a strong effect from merely drinking a coffee. However, a part of her knew that it wasn't just the caffeine that had made her feel this way.
Ron had his own effect on her, that much was very clear.
A/N: And BOOM!, I'm back! I'll try to update again next week, but as always, reviews motivate me a lot in my writing, so if you like this story, please leave me a little comment down below!