Argument Challenge Fic
Author: pili204
Title: Broken Dishes
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ron/Hermione
Word Count: 1537
Summary: Hermione goes a bit irrational over some broken teapot.
Hermione couldn’t remember being this furious over something that, on the surface, seemed so trivial. But it wasn’t really trivial, and Ron should have known it.
He should have.
She loved Ron deeply, but learning to live with him wasn’t easy. Not one bit. Despite knowing each other for years, living with Ron made Hermione realize that there was a lot more to learn about him. When he had suggested moving in together, she had been thrilled. Perhaps she had romanticized the whole idea. Perhaps she thought it would be a breeze.
What could be better or simpler than living with the bloke she loved? That’s what she had thought as they had moved boxes, decorated the flat, and made love that first night on their bed.
If it were only that simple, that easy. She sighed, thinking back to how they had begun this new adventure. The first few weeks had been heavenly.
Every morning, she would drink her tea and read the Daily Prophet while Ron ate eggs and toast. He had made a habit of interrupting her reading every five minutes with a silly comment or with a suggestion for their weekend plans. Instead of finding it irritating, she secretly found it adorable. And after rolling her eyes playfully, she would steal a long kiss and Apparate to her job at the Ministry.
Most days, Ron would take a midday break from the shop to bring her lunch to the office. It was something she looked forward to and would be disappointed when a busy day or a meeting didn’t allow them to meet for lunch. Back at their flat, Ron cooked every night while she tidied up what had been left astray during the morning rush. And afterwards they both relaxed on their comfortable sofa, her feet on his lap and his hand playfully caressing her legs.
It was nice. It was comfortable. It was perfect.
Only that it wasn’t really perfect. At least not for long.
It didn’t take long for Hermione to get easily irritated with empty milk bottles on the fridge, dirty socks scrunched up and hidden behind the sofa’s cushions, or wet towels left forgotten on the bathroom floor. Really, how hard could it be to perform a quick drying charm and hang the towel back on the towel rack? Did she have to teach or remind Ron everything?
So they exchanges snippy comments (Hermione calling him lazy and careless and Ron complaining that she was exaggerating) that lead to rows and angry stares that then lead to her favorite way of making-up.
Focus, Hermione, don’t get distracted. You have every reason to be upset, remember.
Fortunately, their rows now didn’t last weeks or months as they did when they had fought during their time at Hogwarts. Over the years, they had learned the best way to row and get things quickly resolved. That was something new for them, but it worked for the best now that they were a couple living together.
Except that Hermione had a feeling that their upcoming row wouldn’t be solved as fast. She simply wasn’t going to make it easy on him; especially not after they way he had left hours ago, making it seem that Harry and the Cannons were more important to him than her and their broken tea set. A tea set that he had broken not caring what the tea set meant, what it represented.
You’re being irrational, a little voice inside her head advised her. But Hermione chose to ignore that annoying voice of reason. Irrational or not, Ron would hear about it.
He didn’t know about the tea set, or how you went with Molly and your mum and chose it as the first thing you bought for the new flat, the voice of reason stubbornly remind her.
“He should have known it was important after the big deal I made when I brought it home,” she said out loud, clearly having a warm-up argument with the voice of reason that refused to shut up.
Ron is clueless… well, all men are, but Ron more so than others. He probably didn’t pay attention to the tea set or why were you so excited over it.
“Shut up. Ron isn’t clueless,” she quickly and impulsively defended Ron from her own voice of reason, but then remembered how upset she really was and feebly added, “Not all the time.”
Besides, he didn’t break it on purpose and he did try to repair the teapot.
“Repair it? As if a simple Reparo would do the trick. He was in such a rush to leave in time for the match, that he didn’t even pay attention as he tried to fix what he had broken.”
But her back and forth argument with herself was cut short by Ron’s jubilant return. He had just Apparated to the flat, a huge smile covering his face.
“We won! We won our seventh game in a row!” he said effusively as picked her up and spun her around the room.
Although his joy was contagious, and she really did love to see him so happy, there was a row in the making and he wasn’t going to wiggle out of it. “Ron, put me down. Put. Me. Down!”
He must have caught her angry tone because as he put her down, he looked at her questioningly and even a little cautiously. “What’s wrong?”
“You broke the teapot from our new tea set,” she said simply.
“Yeah, and I fixed it.”
“Well, you didn’t do a good job of it. You can still see the crack where it broke in half.”
“Is that what you’re upset over? Hermione, you’re a brilliant witch, just cast some spells and be done with.”
How dare he dismissed her anger. “That’s not the point!”
“Then, what is the point? Because I don’t get it. What are you really so bent out of shape over?”
“You broke it, and didn’t even care!”
“I fixed it!” he bellowed, obviously getting as upset as she was. “And it’s only a teapot, and a new one at that. Why would I care? It’s not like I’ve broken a family heirloom.”
“It could have been.”
“What? You’re making no sense at all. I know we’ve argued over some silly thing in the past, but are we really arguing over some broken dishes?”
“They’re not just some broken dishes, Ron. That tea set, it was the first thing I bought for our new flat. I wanted to invite our families over and served tea and have it be on something we would keep and make memories over it.”
“But you can still do that. The teapot, it can still be used,” Ron said bewildered.
Hermione couldn’t believe how dense he was being. Didn’t he get how the teapot being broken meant something horribly wrong? If their first real piece of dishes had been broken and then sloppily put together, what did it mean for them? Is that how they were going to fix everything, without a care in the world?
“You’re blowing this way our of proportion, love.”
“Don’t call me love.” She picked up the cracked teapot. “Look, it’s cracked. It’s been tempered with. It’s no longer perfect. And I wanted it to be perfect. I want us to have a perfect tea set. Plus, it was our first tea set. It was supposed to be special.” She was winning; she knew it, but didn’t care.
Ron sighed. “It is still special. It is still our first tea set. A little crack, which is barely noticeable and which you can fix, won’t change that.”
“But it won’t be the same. It won’t be perfect,” she said stubbornly.
“Look, I’m sorry that I broke it. I’m sorry that I didn’t realize how special it is. But nothing is ever perfect, love. We certainly aren’t, but we’re petty happy, aren’t we?”
“I guess.”
“You guess?
“Okay, we are,” she admitted grudgingly.
“Yes we are, even when you go all irrational.”
“I guess I overreacted just a bit.”
“Just a bit?”
“Okay, a lot. But you have to admit I had a reason to be upset?”
“I guess I could have been more careful.”
“Yes, you could.”
“Okay, now that that’s settled. How can we fix the teapot so it looks like new? he asked, picking up the teapot and carefully looking it over.
“Maybe we could try Reparo again? If we cast the spell together, it’ll be stronger and maybe it’ll work better.”
“Hermione?” he said, wand in mid-air.
“What?”
“I’ll still love our tea set, perfect or not.”
And with that, Hermione was no longer upset. Ron was right, nothing was ever perfect. She had blown all of this out of proportion. The cracked teapot had nothing to do with their relationship, with how they would face future challenges. And if she was honest, she was going to love their tea set no matter what. In a way, the cracked teapot was like Ron… a little rough around the edges, but completely wonderful. In her eyes, Ron was as close to being perfect for her as anyone ever would… and so were their new broken dishes.
Title: Broken Dishes
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ron/Hermione
Word Count: 1537
Summary: Hermione goes a bit irrational over some broken teapot.
Hermione couldn’t remember being this furious over something that, on the surface, seemed so trivial. But it wasn’t really trivial, and Ron should have known it.
He should have.
She loved Ron deeply, but learning to live with him wasn’t easy. Not one bit. Despite knowing each other for years, living with Ron made Hermione realize that there was a lot more to learn about him. When he had suggested moving in together, she had been thrilled. Perhaps she had romanticized the whole idea. Perhaps she thought it would be a breeze.
What could be better or simpler than living with the bloke she loved? That’s what she had thought as they had moved boxes, decorated the flat, and made love that first night on their bed.
If it were only that simple, that easy. She sighed, thinking back to how they had begun this new adventure. The first few weeks had been heavenly.
Every morning, she would drink her tea and read the Daily Prophet while Ron ate eggs and toast. He had made a habit of interrupting her reading every five minutes with a silly comment or with a suggestion for their weekend plans. Instead of finding it irritating, she secretly found it adorable. And after rolling her eyes playfully, she would steal a long kiss and Apparate to her job at the Ministry.
Most days, Ron would take a midday break from the shop to bring her lunch to the office. It was something she looked forward to and would be disappointed when a busy day or a meeting didn’t allow them to meet for lunch. Back at their flat, Ron cooked every night while she tidied up what had been left astray during the morning rush. And afterwards they both relaxed on their comfortable sofa, her feet on his lap and his hand playfully caressing her legs.
It was nice. It was comfortable. It was perfect.
Only that it wasn’t really perfect. At least not for long.
It didn’t take long for Hermione to get easily irritated with empty milk bottles on the fridge, dirty socks scrunched up and hidden behind the sofa’s cushions, or wet towels left forgotten on the bathroom floor. Really, how hard could it be to perform a quick drying charm and hang the towel back on the towel rack? Did she have to teach or remind Ron everything?
So they exchanges snippy comments (Hermione calling him lazy and careless and Ron complaining that she was exaggerating) that lead to rows and angry stares that then lead to her favorite way of making-up.
Focus, Hermione, don’t get distracted. You have every reason to be upset, remember.
Fortunately, their rows now didn’t last weeks or months as they did when they had fought during their time at Hogwarts. Over the years, they had learned the best way to row and get things quickly resolved. That was something new for them, but it worked for the best now that they were a couple living together.
Except that Hermione had a feeling that their upcoming row wouldn’t be solved as fast. She simply wasn’t going to make it easy on him; especially not after they way he had left hours ago, making it seem that Harry and the Cannons were more important to him than her and their broken tea set. A tea set that he had broken not caring what the tea set meant, what it represented.
You’re being irrational, a little voice inside her head advised her. But Hermione chose to ignore that annoying voice of reason. Irrational or not, Ron would hear about it.
He didn’t know about the tea set, or how you went with Molly and your mum and chose it as the first thing you bought for the new flat, the voice of reason stubbornly remind her.
“He should have known it was important after the big deal I made when I brought it home,” she said out loud, clearly having a warm-up argument with the voice of reason that refused to shut up.
Ron is clueless… well, all men are, but Ron more so than others. He probably didn’t pay attention to the tea set or why were you so excited over it.
“Shut up. Ron isn’t clueless,” she quickly and impulsively defended Ron from her own voice of reason, but then remembered how upset she really was and feebly added, “Not all the time.”
Besides, he didn’t break it on purpose and he did try to repair the teapot.
“Repair it? As if a simple Reparo would do the trick. He was in such a rush to leave in time for the match, that he didn’t even pay attention as he tried to fix what he had broken.”
But her back and forth argument with herself was cut short by Ron’s jubilant return. He had just Apparated to the flat, a huge smile covering his face.
“We won! We won our seventh game in a row!” he said effusively as picked her up and spun her around the room.
Although his joy was contagious, and she really did love to see him so happy, there was a row in the making and he wasn’t going to wiggle out of it. “Ron, put me down. Put. Me. Down!”
He must have caught her angry tone because as he put her down, he looked at her questioningly and even a little cautiously. “What’s wrong?”
“You broke the teapot from our new tea set,” she said simply.
“Yeah, and I fixed it.”
“Well, you didn’t do a good job of it. You can still see the crack where it broke in half.”
“Is that what you’re upset over? Hermione, you’re a brilliant witch, just cast some spells and be done with.”
How dare he dismissed her anger. “That’s not the point!”
“Then, what is the point? Because I don’t get it. What are you really so bent out of shape over?”
“You broke it, and didn’t even care!”
“I fixed it!” he bellowed, obviously getting as upset as she was. “And it’s only a teapot, and a new one at that. Why would I care? It’s not like I’ve broken a family heirloom.”
“It could have been.”
“What? You’re making no sense at all. I know we’ve argued over some silly thing in the past, but are we really arguing over some broken dishes?”
“They’re not just some broken dishes, Ron. That tea set, it was the first thing I bought for our new flat. I wanted to invite our families over and served tea and have it be on something we would keep and make memories over it.”
“But you can still do that. The teapot, it can still be used,” Ron said bewildered.
Hermione couldn’t believe how dense he was being. Didn’t he get how the teapot being broken meant something horribly wrong? If their first real piece of dishes had been broken and then sloppily put together, what did it mean for them? Is that how they were going to fix everything, without a care in the world?
“You’re blowing this way our of proportion, love.”
“Don’t call me love.” She picked up the cracked teapot. “Look, it’s cracked. It’s been tempered with. It’s no longer perfect. And I wanted it to be perfect. I want us to have a perfect tea set. Plus, it was our first tea set. It was supposed to be special.” She was winning; she knew it, but didn’t care.
Ron sighed. “It is still special. It is still our first tea set. A little crack, which is barely noticeable and which you can fix, won’t change that.”
“But it won’t be the same. It won’t be perfect,” she said stubbornly.
“Look, I’m sorry that I broke it. I’m sorry that I didn’t realize how special it is. But nothing is ever perfect, love. We certainly aren’t, but we’re petty happy, aren’t we?”
“I guess.”
“You guess?
“Okay, we are,” she admitted grudgingly.
“Yes we are, even when you go all irrational.”
“I guess I overreacted just a bit.”
“Just a bit?”
“Okay, a lot. But you have to admit I had a reason to be upset?”
“I guess I could have been more careful.”
“Yes, you could.”
“Okay, now that that’s settled. How can we fix the teapot so it looks like new? he asked, picking up the teapot and carefully looking it over.
“Maybe we could try Reparo again? If we cast the spell together, it’ll be stronger and maybe it’ll work better.”
“Hermione?” he said, wand in mid-air.
“What?”
“I’ll still love our tea set, perfect or not.”
And with that, Hermione was no longer upset. Ron was right, nothing was ever perfect. She had blown all of this out of proportion. The cracked teapot had nothing to do with their relationship, with how they would face future challenges. And if she was honest, she was going to love their tea set no matter what. In a way, the cracked teapot was like Ron… a little rough around the edges, but completely wonderful. In her eyes, Ron was as close to being perfect for her as anyone ever would… and so were their new broken dishes.