(Untitled)
Date: 24th November
Time: Noon
Location: The Phoenix
Characters Involved: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger only
Rating: PG
( Duck and cover... here it comes )
Time: Noon
Location: The Phoenix
Characters Involved: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger only
Rating: PG
( Duck and cover... here it comes )
And then he was blushing. But... Ron always blushed, well he did quite often anyway, at least that hadn't changed. There was only a small amount of time you could fiddle with tea and cups until all that was left was waiting for the water to boil.
"Happy to be home?" Hermione asked, pushing her hair out of her eyes, forcing her eyes to remain on the stove top. It was already awkward enough; the edition of her blushing over his half nakedness wasn't going to be a very nice edition.
So instead she crossed her arms and looked anywhere but him. Hugging him would be even more awkward, even if it was something she really did want to do. So she stood, looking like a complete lunatic pyromaniac, not letting her eyes stray from the flame.
Words. Talking. Something... ANYTHING!
"Er, so, seen Harry around?" Hermione asked, her eyes flickering up to meet his, in hope of looking like less of a complete mental case. "Haven't seen Harry or Draco in a while. I've been busy."
Bugger.
So much for the ‘I’m here all the time this is perfectly natural for me to just walk in and make tea I’m really not here to see you really I’m not why would I do something like that you’re a silly fool and I’m leaving’ approach.
Well at least the feeling of complete crippling awkwardness hadn’t slipped away, because she’d be sure to miss that.
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Even without any of my housemates apparently being here, and of course the welcome home was brilliant. Ron frowned and the lines deepended as Hermione seemed to read his mind. "Nope, haven't seen either of them, really, since I got back." He completely missed the significance of Hermione's having been busy and yet still find time to make him cups of tea - that just seemed natural to him. Instead he just commented neutrally, "Ah. Not in the house much any more then, any of you?"
Honestly. He was beginning to wish he was back at work.
It was all so strange, this coolness between the two of them. Hermione had been one of his best friends for years and ... just before he'd gone away, they'd seemed to have been - that is, they'd grown a lot...
What if the trip to Scotland had meant Ron had sacrificed what he'd always wanted most? He cracked one set of knuckles with the other, a bad habit. Fred and George would pay if they'd cost him that, bonus or no bonus.
Ginny had said something about the two of them (along with her heart-stopping mis-interpretation of their relationship). What was it? Ron tried to remember. That he'd asked for the argument - he remembered that because it just seemed so unfair. And what else?
Oh right. Hermione's birthday. Well, he could attempt to put that right, at least.
Food finished, Ron threw the empty wrapping in the bin and then stopped with a chair between himself and Hermione. He couldn't look at her, let alone reach out and touch her as he wanted to. Just a simple hand on the shoulder - a friendly hand, nothing more. But he couldn't, especially not while he was half-naked.
"Um." One large hand rubbed at the back of his neck. "Look. I'm - I'm sorry about your birthday. Gin said - well, it doesn't matter what Gin said. I'm sorry, and I mean it." He paused, casting his eyes around for the room, anywhere but her. "I did get you a present though, and I meant to send it! Only, I lost track of time and then it was too late, and I was on North Uist at the time, which made it difficult-"
His voice trailed off, and the hand at his neck pushed forwards over his hair. "I'll just - I'll go and get it, shall I?"
Without waiting for a response he turned and headed up stairs, grabbing the small tissue-paper parcel from his desk and a jumper from the pile on his floor. Back in the kitchen, he handed it over gruffly, muttering, "I was going to just get you a book but - then I saw that, and I thought you might like it. You don't have to wear it or anything."
He pushed a hand through his hair again and then said, looking for anything to distract them from the gift and spotting a plume of steam, "Has the water boiled yet?" and moved over to the stove to pour it onto the tea.
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Sometimes she was awfully glad he wasn’t on the ball. “I work, plus all the extra study if I want to do well in the NEWTS…” Hermione shrugged, realizing she didn’t need to make excuses for not being home, he was the one who needed to make the excuses, who should be the one feeling guilty.
Hermione cringed at the sound of his knuckles cracking and raised an eyebrow in silent irritation. Usually she’d have nagged, but she didn’t really feel it was her place, that the ground they stood on was shaky enough without her telling him what to do. So, she held her tongue and looked away. Before, well before things had been better than ever and Hermione wished for a moment they could just pick up as they had been, but knew too much was different and too much had changed.
When he started talking, Hermione leant back against the counter, listening to his apology and doing her best to be fair. But truthfully, it had hurt too much not to be upset about it. He’d just… Forgotten her, like she was completely irrelevant and nothing seemed to be able to stop the sting.
Having a few moments to herself, she took a few deep breaths, just trying to keep it calm and knowing explosive anger was too close for comfort.
“You know, presents don’t really make things better…” Hermione said quietly, accepting the gift as it was handed to her.
There is something about shiny and pretty things that makes a girl melt. It was a universal understanding that any man in trouble should go out and buy the angry woman something pretty and it looked like Ron had done just that. Hermione would have appreciated anything, but… Oh it was pretty…
Emotion welled up, the kind and stunning gift almost fuelling the hurt as she forced herself to swallow a few times. “Thank you, I really love it.” Hermione managed to make her voice as steady as usual and hoped it didn’t sound as uneasy as it felt.
Looking up at him as he busied himself with the kettle, she let out a sigh. “I’m glad you’re home.” Hermione felt a smile tugging at her lips as she turned the stove off and grabbed hold of his wrist. Rather glad he had a shirt on now; she tugged him closer and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I bloody well missed you.”
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How could he not? He’d missed Hermione’s birthday without even a message. At the time Ron had been feeling angry - upset and let-down. He’d been shipped off all the way up to the dead end of nowhere and had there been any notes? Any odd Owl with some home-baked goodies, or just a message to say they hoped he was all right, that they were thinking of him. He’d seen the bracelet in a small jewellery shop off the beaten track in Edinburgh’s Old Town. The shadow of the castle minimal compared to the shadows of the gathering storm-clouds and a glint of blue and silver in artificial light. It was plain and simple, the kind of thing Ron liked (and more importantly, liked Hermione to wear) but it hadn’t cost very much in the grand scheme of things and he was surprised to hear the swell of emotion in her voice. Surprised and embarrassed and to hide his uncertainty he busied himself with the tea, pouring and stirring, adding extra sugar to Hermione’s in hopes of quelling that sentimental touch in her voice. It was what his mum would have done, he thought.
A slight slump in his shoulders acknowledged that he knew the gift wouldn’t solve all of their problems (although he couldn’t deny he had hoped it might). He cheered up a little when she said she liked it - no, loved it - and he turned to her with a small grin on his face, like a penitent schoolboy; his height making the expression a bit ridiculous. “Like I said, you don’t have to wear it.”
The hug was definitely a surprise and it was more on reflex than conscious thought that Ron’s arms moved to Hermione’s shoulders and he hugged her back. In fact, his thoughts were more along the lines off, “Holy hell, Hermione’s hugging me. Why the hell is she hugging me? I thought she was angry with me!” and as soon as his brain properly processed what was happening, his arms began to stiffen.
To Ron, it didn’t seem all that long ago since the two of them had been embracing under completely different circumstances; not that long ago and yet also another lifetime, given the reception he had received on his return. Ron loved her and he had missed her, and the awkward feeling in his stomach and the nervous tension in his arms didn’t stop him from holding Hermione close and resting his chin on the top of her head, wispy bits of hair dangerously close to sticking in his mouth.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I bloody well missed you too.”
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So sure that snogging... Good snogging would mean... More.
But no... Kissing and looking into his eyes had taught her a great deal and not even Kir or Oliver would ever make her forget what she'd learnt. But that'd been so long ago, things had clearly changed for them and she couldn't help but feel it hurt.
Unfortunately, thinking about Kir and Oliver only served to increase the guilt. She’d felt guilty at the time, but now standing in his arms… Ugh, she was a completely terrible person. Who did that sort of thing? When they were… What were they? Why should she feel guilty… There was no ‘us’ or ‘them’ it was just.
Confusing. Bloody well confusing.
"It's perfect. Of course I'll wear it." It was wrong to enjoy the closeness on the level she was and Hermione gave him one last squeeze before she took a step back.
"Help me put it on?" Hermione asked as she quickly removed it from the package, holding it out to him.
Was jewellery the kind of present you got a friend? No, she didn't need to be thinking about that. Harry didn't hold her that close... Did he?
"Glad we're in agreement then."
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