Chapter 8

Chapter 8: An extra long chapter this time. Enjoy!

- Hermione -

It was strange. It seemed like Ron was ignoring her all of a sudden.

He didn't walk up to her during the day anymore to have a chat. He also didn't join her for lunch anymore, which he had done occasionally in the past few weeks.

He didn't even dare to look at her. Whenever she tried to catch his gaze in the Great Hall, he would quickly look away, although Hermione was pretty sure each time that he had been looking at her just a few seconds before.

"Tell me again exactly what happened," Parvati said one morning when she saw Hermione looking at Ron again, who turned his head away again.

"Do you want to hear it for the fifth time?" Hermione asked, slightly irritated.

"Yes. Just tell it again, but make sure you include all the details in your story," Parvati said in a confidential tone. She leaned a bit more forward on her elbows.

"I've already done that the previous four times."

"But now in even more detail."

"Not possible. But fine. So, we were standing on the edge of the pool, he had just thrown me into the water so naturally I wanted to get back at him."

"Romantic."

"I know. I started pushing and pulling at him, but I couldn't get him into the water."

"He's also much heavier compared to you."

"Exactly. But at some point, I kind of stumbled. And that seemed to be the turning point. He caught me, let me go after a few seconds, and then made off."

"But what exactly happened at that moment?"

"I just told you! I fell against him."

"You're probably skipping something."

Hermione sighed. "I swear I'm not skipping anything. He just suddenly disappeared."

"Maybe he panicked," Parvati suggested. "You never know what's going on in a guy's mind."

"Or maybe he realized that I might actually like him, and he wanted to prevent giving the impression that he likes me." Hermione quickly glanced back at Ron, who was starting on what seemed like his twentieth sandwich a little further away.

"Hmm. That's a theory, I admit. But there are two things wrong with it," Parvati said firmly. "One: Why did it seem like he was trying to flirt with you at first? And two: Why does that boy keep sneaking glances at you?"

"He's not keep…" But at that moment, Ron looked their way again, this time a bit longer, before returning his gaze to his plate.

"Forget it," said Hermione.

- Ron -

It wasn't easy to avoid Hermione. Suddenly, she seemed to be everywhere. Eating at exactly the same time in the Great Hall. Reading a book by the lake when he was there with his friends. Walking around the grounds with Parvati when he was on his way to ask Hagrid for a favour.

And it was harder than ever not to look at her. His eyes were automatically drawn to her, wherever she was. Ron felt like she had become more and more beautiful over the years, which had seemed impossible when he was fifteen.

He knew he couldn't just avoid her without explaining. It must have seemed very strange to Hermione. But he just couldn't assume that he wouldn't do anything stupid if he was around her.

There was a small problem: the Summer Ball was in a week. He had to go with her because they had agreed to it, and besides, he needed a dance partner. So, he would have to get his thoughts together next week. How could he pretend they were just friends and that he felt nothing more than friendship for her?

That's what he was pondering one morning. For the first time this holiday, he was alone, in a shady spot under a tree, instead of having all his friends around him.

But, as always during the holidays, it didn't take five minutes before someone joined him.

"Hey mate," said Harry as he leaned against the tree next to Ron.

"You're interrupting my thoughts," Ron replied. But he grinned.

"They can't be that deep, knowing you," said Harry. "So, what are they about? Food? Swimming? Girls?"

"I was actually thinking about how best to sneak into your room at night and draw a moustache and a beard on your face."

"I already have a beard!" said Harry, rubbing the stubble on his cheek.

Ron looked at him thoughtfully. "If you call that a beard, my mother has a moustache."

"Very funny. But seriously, if you go through with your nighttime plan, I'm honestly more worried about you accidentally cursing an ear off my face or giving me a pink eyebrow."

"Hey, I'm pretty good at Transfiguration these days! But actually, you were right, I was thinking about a girl," Ron confided to Harry. He had decided that if he could talk to anyone about his problem, it was Harry.

"Hermione," Harry said immediately.

"How do you know that?"

"Because Hermione has been the subject of your thoughts for the last ten years."

"Bloody hell, that's nonsense!"

"Oh, come on, you dallied with Lavender for a bit. But even then, you were thinking about Hermione, admit it."

Ron squinted at him. "Can I tell my story now?"

Harry nodded, grinning unsubtly. "Sure."

"I, uh... may have been a bit clumsy."

"Oh boy, here we go again." Harry slouched against the tree trunk. "I'll make myself comfortable. Go on then."

Ron briefly recounted their rekindled friendship, which Harry already knew, and then he told him about the awkward moment at the pool. He left out a few details mainly related to his physical reaction to Hermione.

"And then I ran away. Well, I swam away. And now I'm trying to avoid her because she surely thinks I'm trying to flirt with her."

"But you are, aren't you?" Harry asked in a half-serious, half-provocative tone.

Ron turned his head to Harry, annoyed. "Don't you understand? What I want doesn't matter! Hermione doesn't think of me that way, and if I were to try to flirt with her, it would be the end of our friendship. And I definitely don't want that, especially now that things are somewhat normal between us again."

"So you're ignoring her? Because that's a normal friend-thing to do."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. But I needed some time to think."

"By the way, how can you be so sure Hermione doesn't think of you that way?"

"Man, I flirt with her sometimes, but I think she just sees it as a funny game and doesn't take it personally. When has she ever shown that she sees me differently than she sees you, for example?"

"Countless times," said Harry, now in a serious tone.

"How so?"

"It was always different between you and Hermione than between me and Hermione."

"How?"

"Hermione and I could always get along effortlessly. Like we were brother and sister, siblings with a good bond. You and Hermione were always bickering."

"What's your point?"

"You hardly dared to touch each other, let alone give a hug. That was never a problem for me and Hermione. Because that's easy for people who just see each other as friends, you get it?"

Ron was silent for a moment. "I've never looked at it that way."

"I bet Hermione noticed, but just didn't dare to do anything about it. And now you've completely confused her by ignoring her."

"Oh man, I am so bad at this..." Ron leaned his elbows on his knees and rested his head on his hands.

"You can still make it right easily," Harry remarked. "Better today than tomorrow."

Ultimately, it turned out to be more difficult than expected to find Hermione. Ron searched in all the logical places: the library, the Great Hall, around the lake... But she wasn't there.

Eventually, after dinner, he went to Hermione's room. He stood in front of her door for two minutes, nervously considering what to say, before he dared to knock.

It took so long that he was tempted to walk away. Apparently, she wasn't in her room after all.

But then Hermione opened the door. She looked at him strangely. She somehow looked different. Her eyes seemed a bit red as if she had been crying.

"Hey, uh... sorry, I... can I come in for a moment?" Ron stammered. Jeez, why did he so often lose his words when he was in front of her?

"So you want to talk to me again?" Hermione asked sharply as she crossed her arms. But she took a step back to let him in.

"I'm sorry," Ron blurted out when he closed the door behind him. He stood there, near the door. He felt particularly uncomfortable.

"For what?"

"For avoiding you a bit this week. That wasn't my intention, I needed some time to think about something that... is happening in my life. That's why I was a bit absent this week."

Hermione looked at him with a deadpan expression, as if she didn't believe him at all.

"I won't avoid you anymore," Ron continued. "That's why I came to your room."

Hermione was silent for a moment. "Ron," she said then, "I don't think you can just shut out friends when you need some time to think. You could have at least said that you needed that time."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that too," Ron said, nervously running his hand through his hair. Shit, he really hoped Hermione could forgive him. "But it was something I couldn't talk to you about."

Hermione looked at him strangely. Darn it, he was not making it any better. "I mean..." he said quickly, "that it's very personal. I haven't really talked to anyone this week."

Hermione's gaze softened a bit. She hesitated for a moment and then took a step closer, still crossing her arms. She looked him straight in the eyes, and in her eyes, Ron read a mixture of resignation and forgiveness.

"Okay," she said. "Apology accepted. Just don't ignore me next time."

"Promise," said Ron, his voice a bit hoarse with relief.

"And Ron..." said Hermione as she took two more steps closer. Ron's heart started beating ridiculously fast because she was now standing right in front of him, so close that he could smell her shampoo and perfume. "You know you can tell me anything, right? If you need someone to talk to about something, just let me know." She placed a hand on his upper arm, undoubtedly a friendly gesture, but Hermione had no idea of the sensation it caused in Ron.

The whole idea that had arisen in his head earlier - that Hermione might like him more than he thought - was no longer in Ron's mind. The look in her eyes was so familiarly friendly that Ron was sure she always smiled at people this way; he was no exception and therefore not special to her.

"I know," he said, instead of "You're exactly the one I can't discuss this with because I love you and it kills me that I can only be friends with you."

- Hermione -

When he said those words, "I know," he had a look in his eyes that Hermione didn't quite recognize. She had seen that look before, but she didn't fully understand it. It seemed as if he regretted something deeply or saw something that he didn't like. She didn't know how to feel about it.

To mask her discomfort under his gaze, she said, "Do you want more dance lessons this week?"

Ron looked at her with a crooked grin, a grin that always made her feel like she was losing her stomach. "Of course," he said. "We don't want to look foolish next week, do we?"

With a flourish of his wand, he turned on her record player and then tucked the wand into his back pocket.

Hermione placed a hand on Ron's shoulder and with the other, she took his hand. When Ron placed his other hand on her waist, the familiar butterflies shot through her stomach again. But contrary to the cliché that they gently fluttered, the butterflies in her stomach actually seemed more like tiny fighter jets darting back and forth and crashing into each other and her stomach wall.

And to make matters worse, Ron pulled her a bit closer than usual. He grinned flirtatiously again instead of nervously and seemed to have decided that everything was back to normal.

That made Hermione feel somewhat more relaxed, despite the butterflies.

"Do you think we can maintain our reputation next week?" Ron asked as they swayed back and forth.

"I think so," Hermione smiled. "Unless it's very obvious that I'm the one leading."

"I don't care," said Ron. "As long as I don't trip over my feet, or yours, it's already beyond expectations. Besides, we live in an emancipated society, right?"

"I'm glad you think so because there's no way I'm letting you lead," Hermione grinned. At that exact moment, she was so distracted by the conversation that she let Ron take one step too far to the left, causing them to bump into her desk together.

"Oops," Ron said, rubbing his ankle. "What were you saying again?"

"Oops, sorry," Hermione said guiltily. "Let's hope there aren't too many tables in the Great Hall next week."

After an hour, Hermione's feet started to ache, and she suggested they stop.

"Are you sure I've learned everything already?" Ron looked at her sternly, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure you'll make quite a good impression for a beginner," she replied diplomatically.

"I feel like we're overlooking something," Ron said thoughtfully. He chewed on his lip. "What's that dance where everyone moves so slowly to boring music?"

Hermione looked at him for a few moments, unsure if he was joking or not. "You mean slow dancing, right?"

"I think so." He was serious, she thought. He really had no clue.

"That's not really a dance," she said. "There are no steps. You just have to stand close together and sway a little."

"Show me anyway. If everyone starts doing that again, I don't want to be one of those guys sitting on the sidelines watching other guys have a beautiful girl in their arms." Ron grinned again in that particular way.

"Oh, so it's about your reputation?" Hermione chuckled. "Who are you going to ask to slow dance then?" She held her breath.

"You, of course, clever girl," said Ron. "Who else did you think? I'm taking you to the ball, after all."

Hermione blinked a few times. "Oh, well... okay then. I mean, I like that." She felt herself blush a bit. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Somehow, she had assumed they would only do the opening dance together, and then they would be 'free'.

"Did you really think I would dance with someone else?" Ron asked. "After all the effort you're putting in for me?"

"I, uh... I just hadn't really thought about it..."

"Well, think about it quickly," Ron said a bit... grumpily?

Hermione took only a few seconds to realize why Ron seemed agitated.

"Ron, sorry for what I just said. It's not like I only wanted to do the opening dance with you, quite the opposite. But I just thought that maybe afterwards you might want to dance with other girls."

"Why would I do that? I'm going with you. And I don't even like dancing! I hardly ever danced during those Summer Balls."

"No, I know. But still. I just mean, you don't have to be stuck with me for the rest of the evening if you don't want to."

"What on earth are you talking about? We're friends, aren't we?" Ron asked, still visibly grumpy.

"And you still have other friends, right?" Hermione didn't understand why Ron was making such a big deal out of it. "You can certainly go to them that evening too."

"You can just tell me if you don't want to be with me the whole evening," Ron took a step back and suddenly seemed very unreachable.

Hermione knew there were two things she could do. She could continue with this argument, which might lead to a fight. Or she could try to be clear. She chose the latter.

"That's not true," she said softly. "I think that would be very nice. In fact, I might be a little nervous about it, you know?"

"No?" Ron asked, clearly interested.

"Because I feel the pressure to do well."

"What? The dancing?"

"Yes, that. But also being sociable all evening. I don't want you to be bored."

Ron now began to laugh in relief and stepped closer to her again. He briefly put his hands on her shoulders. "'Mione," he said, then took his hands off her shoulders again, "I'm always bored during the Summer Ball, every year. I can't dance, my friends are always off with some girl, there are girls around me who I don't want to dance with, and the evening lasts way too long. The only positive things are the snacks and drinks. This year is the first year I actually feel like the Summer Ball is going to be fun, and that's because of you."

"Really?" Hermione asked surprised, feeling warm inside.

"Really. And please don't be so unsure about whether you're fun to be with, I always have fun with you. Besides, it's just as much my job to make sure you're having a good time."

"That's true," Hermione said with a smile. "If you dare to bore me..."

"I'll make sure to bring a book for you to read, just in case," Ron said jokingly.

"Then it should be fine."

"Exactly."

They looked at each other for a moment, both with a warm smile on their face.

"Oh, time to sleep," said Hermione then, glancing at the clock next to her bed.

"Dance lesson again on Wednesday? The last one?"

"That will do."

"Great. You still have to teach me how to slow dance."

"Okay, out with you, you idiot," Hermione said laughing as she pushed Ron back by his shoulders.

"Goodnight, 'Mione," Ron said as he opened the door.

"Goodnight," said Hermione, impulsively standing on her tiptoes and giving Ron a peck on the cheek. Very softly, but still. Her cheeks turned red again when Ron grinned at her.

"Now I can definitely sleep well," he said. And he stepped out and closed the door behind him.