~End of last chapter~
CRASH! BAM!
"Harry!"
"Take them to the hospital wing," he demanded. Shaking his head and talking to himself again he whispered, "A good waste of practice right there." He flew down to the ground and headed out of the stadium to the showers.
*
Chapter 7
*
'How'd this happen?' Harry asked Ron. They were standing in the infirmary watching Aaron and Bethany, both laying in hospital beds, laugh at a story Ginny was narrating.
'I guess those two started going after the same bludger, but didn't realize it because they couldn't see through the rain. Next thing there was a heap of body limbs and brooms,' Ron said shaking his head. 'Ya know Harry, I really don't think we should have been practising in that weather.'
Harry's face went red. 'Ron, you know as well as I do, that Wood would have made us practice!'
'But that was Wood! Not you. You're more level headed than that. Or at least I thought.' He said the latter part under his breath, so Harry couldn't hear him. 'But Harry, I need to talk to you - privately.'
Harry got a quizzical smirk on his face. 'Is it about Hermione?'
Ron's ears turned red as he left the room with Harry.
*
Ginny barreled into Hermione's dorm room, tossing her Quidditch belongings onto one of the beds. Hermione, the only other person in the dorm, was calmly lounging on her own bed, reading a very thick novel.
'Hermione! You'll never guess what happened at practice,' Ginny rapidly gestured.
'What, Ginny, what?!' Hermione cried out trying to replicate Ginny's own voice while chuckling to herself. Ginny gave her a stern look that looked a lot like her mother's and carried on. 'Thanks to Harry's wonderful idea of practicing in that wicked storm outside, Aaron and Bethany are now in the hospital wing!'
'What?!' Hermione exclaimed.
'Yeah, but they're fine. Just a few bumps and bruises here and there.' Ginny combed through her long, red hair with her fingers.
'That's good,' Hermione sighed. 'As long as they are not seriously injured. But Harry really does need to be more careful. He's the captain, and everyone looks up to him -'
'Hermione, calm down. Don't get yourself all riled up,' Ginny interjected. Hermione closed her mouth and looked down at her book to resume reading. A loud crack of lightning followed by a thunderous boom startled the two Gryffindors. Unable to stand anymore silence between them and to quit thinking about the storm, Hermione glanced up to Ginny, asking her, 'So - is Ron out of detention yet?'
Ginny raised one of her eyebrows. 'Do you really care that much?'
'Gin, just because he's your brother doesn't mean that you can't care what happens to him. Besides, he is one of my best friends, you know - and...and I really do feel sorry for him because it was my fault and all . . .' Hermione stumbled on her words growing pink in the face- something unusual for her.
'Sure . . .' Ginny gave her a wink. Sensing Hermione's discomfort, she decided to take advantage of the moment. 'Urghhh!!! Just tell me already! You like my brother, you've always had. Admit it!' she pressured.
'Ginny! Why are you accusing me of liking Ron in that way? Of course I like Ron, but -'
'I knew it! Ha!' Ginny laughed, relieved that she'd finally tricked Hermione into telling her. Hermione, though, blushed a rosier pink and gave a resounding sigh. 'Gin, I have a few confessions to make.'
A few moments later, Ginny's squeal echoed in the Gryffindor common room.
*
*BOOM! CRACK!*
Hermione jolted up with a start. The thunderstorm raged strong with force, belting against the glass windows and whistling through the treetops of the Forbidden Forest. She could hear her roommates snoring, which meant they were unaffected by the loud noises. Hermione pulled the silky covers up over her head to try and drown out the sounds outside, but the crashes of thunder were like cymbals smashing against her eardrums.
Giving up on the idea of sleeping, Hermione snatched her book off of her bedside table and fumbled towards the door. Once inside the stairwell, she could see the faint orange gleam of the last embers in the fireplace. Reaching the common room, she climbed into a squishy armchair and began to read her book. A few minutes later, a stifled yawn from a corner startled her.
Sitting, staring out at the storm through the frosted window, was Ron.
"You can't sleep, huh?" she whispered across the room.
Turning to look at the voice, Ron mumbled back, "No. You?"
"No, not a bit." Hermione replied. "I just thought I'd try and finish my book. This storm seems relentless." Ron nodded in agreement and then turned back to watch a bolt of lightning strike a tree in the forest and ignite it.
"Oh my!" Hermione started.
"Let's go take a look!" Ron said with excitement, as his blue eyes reflected the gold flames.
"Ok," Hermione replied, hesitantly standing up and following Ron through the castle.
Taking Hermione's hand as they ran, Ron led her through the sheets of water lashing from the dark purple clouds. Hermione, although frighteningly entranced by the flames, couldn't keep her excitement from rising as her hand held intertwined in Ron's.
"We'd better not go any further," Ron finally said coming to a halt. Hermione dared a glance towards Ron's direction; he looked mystified. 'He looks . . .' she thought, trying hard to find a word to describe his reaction, but none seemed to describe correctly how she finally let herself feel about him at that moment. All the feelings of hope and a first love bottled up in her for almost six long years were emblazoned in her glossy eyes. Time had frozen yet again, and the only thought that tingled across her brain was one of Ron. It was, she agreed to herself, all thanks to Ginny's persistent nagging that she took the next step.
Gathering every ounce of courage and bravery within her, she stepped in front of Ron, took hold of his shoulders and lifted onto her tiptoes locking lips with, who she thought was, the most wonderful guy. To her amazement, he leaned forward into her and placed his arms around her waist.
Hermione felt like she was being lifted into the air, floating on mystical clouds. A variety of memories came floating back to her as she stood kissing the man she knew she loved. Memories of the first time they had met on the Hogwarts Express, the night of the Yule Ball when she had a massive row with Ron; the night she found him in the common room where she tried to help him with his problems with Harry; and, of course, the day she had fallen off of the stool down in the kitchens because she had been too entranced by his icy blue eyes. They pulled away from each other to gaze into one another's eyes.
"Ya know," Ron said quietly with a grin on his face. "Harry did say this was going to happen." Hermione chuckled.
"Funny, so did Ginny." Ron too started laughing. A few minutes passed as they stood there taking in what had just happened, before a strike of thunder and the crack of a branch falling to the ground from the burning tree reminded them of the dangers they were in outside in a thunderstorm.
Ron spoke up, "We'd better head back in before something bad happens."
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Hermione replied with a slight smile.
Ron took hold of Hermione's hand as they strode back up to the castle. Hermione glanced one last time up at Ron before walking inside the castle; and yet again, she became entranced in his icy blue eyes.
~Fin~
A.N. I hope some parts of this story satisfied all of you; I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. Please leave your comments, I love to hear what all of you have to say. I am thinking of writing again. What do you think? Once again, thank you for everything! Please keep reading and writing!
Icy Blue Eyes by Kate Mari
Chapter Notes: I have had a blast writing this fan fiction. I'm sorry it has taken so long to finish. Keep reading and writing!
~K.M.