Chapter Seven
The days following did not get any easier. Ron and Lavender were officially a thing and were more than happy to flaunt that at every chance. At this very moment they were currently squeezing into one of the armchairs in the common room, wrapped around each other in a rather disgustingly loud make-out session. Hermione was doing her best to ignore them and focus on her Charms work. She felt a nudge in her ribs and turned to Harry, "Do they ever come up to breathe?" He muttered under his breath, she glanced over to the couple and grimaced. "It's so inappropriate." she said "I wish McGonagall had made you a prefect instead of him." Harry pondered this for a minute "I don't think she could have." Hermione raised her eyebrow, "I'm pretty sure there's a rule about how many times a prefect is allowed to have a near death experience, and I would've far surpassed by the end of our second year." Hermione couldn't help but laugh at that. The two glanced back to the couple, "They really don't come up for air do they?" She said. Harry suddenly stood up and pulled Hermione up with him, "C'mon, let's go raid the kitchens. I'm sure Dobby will have something for us."
"So..." Ginny started. The two girls were walking around the grounds, taking a break from constant volume of the castle. "I know it's still a ways away but I'm thinking of asking Harry to go to Hogsmede with me." Hermione looked over to her friend, who was obviously trying not to make eye contact. "I think that's a great idea, Gin." She responded, prompting the red head to look at her with wide eyes. "You do? Are you sure?" Hermione shrugged, "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"
"Well Ron's going to go with Lavender, so if I go with Harry you'll be all alone." Hermione thought about it for a moment. "I'll go with Neville, he's been wanting to go look at the plants at the Deathcap nursery and he'll definitely need to be babysat." Ginny laughed and the girls continued their walk to the lake.
That evening Hermione was sitting in her bed reading a letter from her parents, her curtains were partially drawn and she was tucked against the headboard with Crookshanks in her lap. She heard the door to the room open and voices from the hall. "-and then he did that ear nip thing and I swear I melted." Lavender said. Hermione realized she must have been talking about Ron. She heard Parvarti collapse onto her bed and sigh. "You're so lucky Lav," her voice was wistful. "He's almost a total package, tall, athletic, easy on the eyes." She sighed again "I wish I could find something like that." Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. She was just about to pull the curtains back and let the girls know she was there when Lavender started talking again. "He's taking me on a real date when we go to Hogsmede. We're going to Madame Pudifoots," The blonde girl said. "I think things are getting pretty serious." Hermione suppressed another eye roll. Serious? They'd been together less than two months. The only serious between them was the serious need for a reality check. "He said that after our date we an come back to the castle before the others. He suggested we go up to the old D.A. Room for some... alone time." Hermione felt nauseous at the insinuation, honestly the last thing she wanted to think about was that. "I think this will be the time we, you know, go all the way." Lavender finished. Parvarti squealed in response. "No way!" she yelled, "Is he planning something? Are you going to wear something special? Has he done it before?" Lavender scoffed at the last question. "Of course he hasn't done it before. The only girls he hangs around are his sister and Granger, and Granger is far to much of a prude to give Ron what I've been giving him." Now Hermione felt like she was going to vomit. How dare she. "That's why no one is interested in her." Their conversation might have continued but Hermione heard none of it. Her ears were ringing and her eyes burned with angry tears. She heard the door shut as the girls left. She set her letter down and proceeded to leave the room after she was sure the two girls were really gone.
The next morning was rough. Hermione left the room before the other girls were awake. At breakfast she sat between Harry and Neville instead of her normal seat across from them. Harry gave her an odd look. "Don't ask." She said as she started preparing her breakfast. When Ron finally joined them he stopped short before them and took a minute to take in the new seating arrangement. He looked slightly offended as he sat next to Harry and started piling his plate with food.
Throughout breakfast Hermione did her absolute best to ignore Ron, only really talking to Neville. "'Mione, can you pass me the sausage?" Ron asked at one point. She ignored him and focused on her toast, leading him to ask again. After the second time he asked Harry picked up the tray from in front of her and passed it to Ron. Both boys gave her a questioning look, which she also ignored. A few minutes later Ron tried again, "'Mione, can you help me with my potions essay? I'm a foot short." No answer. "'Mione?" Nothing. "Hermione!" He yelled. With that Hermione stood up, grabbed her bag, and left the Great Hall, leaving her dining companions confused.
Ron continued his attempt to talk to her in between and during classes. Each attempt was met with the same result though, complete silence. Ron even went so far as to rather loudly insult Professor Snape in the middle of a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, (Costing Gryffindor 100 points in the process.) Even then she didn't reprimand him.
"'Mione, 'Mione, 'Mione, HERMIONE!" Ron yelled as he reached out a grabbed her arm as she continued to walk away from him after Care of Magical Creatures. She turned quick a ripped her hand away from him. "Leave me alone, Ronald!" she yelled. "What is your problem?" He asked. "My problem? Maybe it's the fact that the second someone showed the slightest bit of interest in you, you ditched your friends. Maybe it's the fact that we can't sit in the common room with out having to watch you two try to suck each others tonsils out. Or maybe it's the fact that you let your girlfriend go around and say horrible things about the people that used to mean something to you." She was breathing heavily after letting all that out. Ron just stood there and starred at her. She could feel the burn of tears and she turned around and stalked off towards the castle. Ron turned and looked at Harry, "What the bloody hell was that about?"
That night at dinner Ron didn't sit with Harry and Hermione. Instead he chose to sit with Dean and Seamus. As Hermione entered the Great Hall and walked passed them she heard him muttering to the others, "She's obviously just jealous." She pretended she didn't hear him and took her seat like nothing had happened.
A/N Hello again! The next few chapters are going to be a bit shorter as we progress to the main plot line. So please be patient I promise it's temporary. Also I got a puppy, his name is Winston.