A/N: I would like to thank my wonderful Beta, Lex, for all of her hard work and helpful pointers. You're AWESOME!!!!!
Chapter One
Hermione suddenly woke up to a crash of thunder outside her bedroom window. Lightening flashed brightly and the rain pounded like a stampede of horses on the glass panes.
Where am I? she thought.
A little dizzy, she pushed the covers down and crawled out into the cold air. With a shiver, she slipped her robe over her shoulders. It felt soft, like a familiar hand.
Wait! Did I really just think that?
The stairs leading to the first floor felt ice cold beneath her bare feet as the flashes of lightening blazed across her path. Hermoine's toes soon found a soft hearthrug. She looked around at the brilliantly decorated room. From the angry strikes, she could see colors of burgundy and gold everywhere. Snoring portraits hung on the walls and the fireplace seemed alive, dancing with yellow and orange pinpricks of fire.
As soon as she realized she was at Hogwarts, her gaze fell upon a certain ginger-haired boy sitting by the fireside.
Wonder what's going on, Hermione thought, as her sleeping legs carried her uncomfortably toward the opposite side of the room.
He seems to be sleeping; maybe I’ll just head back to bed.
She turned around and started making her way back towards the staircase.
All too suddenly, a clap of thunder made Hermione jump and she let out a surprised shriek. No sooner had she realized what she'd done, than movements behind her made her turn around so suddenly, her neck cramped.
The ginger-haired boy had awoken and was sitting bolt upright in the cushioned chair.
Oh gosh. I hope I didn’t wake him! Hermione told herself, massaging her neck muscles where they had cramped.
As she watched, he stood clumsily and rubbed his eyes clear of the blurriness his eyelashes had kindly provided.
Should I say something?, Hermione wondered, while still deciding if she should sneak up to her dormitory anyway. She could say he'd seen a ghost if he asked tomorrow.
She decided against the latter.
"Ron?" Hermione whispered.
The flame-haired boy named Ron jumped and looked around, those blue eyes, wide with fright. His eyes found Hermione, she was standing at the bottom of the stairs crinkling her rosy red nightgown as if she was scared.
"Oh, hello, Hermione. What are you doing up so late?" Ron asked with a puzzled expression.
"I was going to ask you the same thing," she said with an awkward smile.
She stumbled across the common room hitting objects and stubbing her feet until she found her best friend sitting in his favorite armchair. She took a seat across from him, and gazed at the embers in the fireplace. Hermione was so entranced with their flickering and popping, she forgot the question still lingering upon her lips.
"Ron, what is going on? Why are you down here, alone, in the dark?"
Ron stared at Hermione for a brief moment before answering. He drew a deep breath and explained his story. "I couldn't sleep."
"That's all?" She encouraged him to continue.
"No. Harry followed me up to bed last night; I was trying to get away from all the noise of the party. I know we won against Slytherin, but I was getting annoyed. I could tell he knew there was something wrong with me. He kept looking at me like he wanted me to talk. I told him about the huge row that we had had about Vicky after the Quidditch match."
Hermione mustered up the rudest look she could manage. Which was easy in her present sleepy state.
"I guess I was still angry about that, but I accidentally let slip his death. You know, Sirius?"
Hermione nodded knowingly and looked sadly down at her hands.
Ron continued. "I was so caught up in the moment, that I told Harry he should just forget him and move on."
"Oh, Ron. You didn't!"
"Well, I found out that wasn't the right thing to say. So, here I am, sitting by the fireside just thinking about how thick I am." Ron finished with a grimace. He glanced at the window just in time to see a menacing fork of bright yellow lightening flash across the sky.
Hermione was at a loss for words. Her eyes were tired and heavy, but she did not want to leave Ron when he needed her most. She looked at him and realized that, in certain lights, he could be rather handsome. She knew he meant well enough, but he had a bad sense of judgement when it came to words that would just flop out of his mouth. She shook her head at the whole situation.
"Well," she yawned unintentionally, "The only thing to be done now, is wait until morning. We can mend everything then."
The rest of the night, they sat in their chairs. Slumped back, they took the opportunity to let the echoing drips lull their minds. No one would know when, or how, but they both fell asleep to the sound of the heavy rain upon the windows.
The Great Hall seemed packed to its fullest capacity this gusty October morn. It was breakfast, and full of people ready and anxiously awaiting the first Hogsmeade visit of the new school year.
Harry ruffled up his black untidy hair as Ginny sat down across from him at the roaring Gryffindor table. Ginny and Harry conversed with each other before Hermione unexpectedly turned up looking like she had not slept a wink in three weeks.
She immediately started loading her plate full of scrambled eggs and toast.
“Hey, Harry; Ginny. What’s up?” Hermione said as she buttered her toast.
Ginny looked up from her own plate. “You look tired, Hermoine” Ginny noticed. “Did you get enough sleep last night? I saw you weren’t in your bed this morning.”
Harry looked up rapidly with his widened green eyes full of interest.
“What?” Hermione and Ginny both questioned at once.
All around people looked up from their breakfasts and conversations to gawk at the unusually loud trio. Harry could hardly contain himself.
“It’s just that-” Harry started, looking uncomfortable for asking.
“Well, if Hermione wasn’t in her bed last night, and neither was Ron, then…” Harry cut off and leaned towards Ginny. He whispered something not at all audible to Hermione into Ginny’s ear; she let out a squeal and looked over at Hermione in utmost shock, but with a mischievous grin on her face.
“Hogsmeade visitors to the entrance hall, please,” yelled a voice over the Great Hall. Harry and Ginny stood up without delay, talking hasty to each other, and walked swiftly out with the already flowing students. Hermione, however, sat silent in her seat just staring after them and thinking.
What in the world was that all about? she thought. Do they think that Ron and I were”that we”how could they think such a thing!
Hermione instinctively made up her mind and scrambled out of the Great Hall in search of Ron.