Two weeks ended quicker than they began, and today was Hermione's birthday. She sat in the library looking up information for Astronomy for the midnight session the following weekend. As she scrambled through her notes, she noticed out of the corner of her eye Ron and Beatrix walk in. She thought of any excuse to ignore them, but her eyes kept wandering their way.
I bet he doesn't even know what day it is. Don't talk to him. Don't even look at him.
"Hi, Ron," she said as the two walked by.
Idiot! What did I just tell you?
Ron gave a welcoming smile, walked on, and turned into an aisle. Hermione sighed and went back to work.
In the Great Hall during breakfast, Hermione saw Harry already eating with Ginny. She walked up and sat down as the two continued their conversation.
"There's nothing to worry about. As long as you study you'll do fine," Harry assured Ginny.
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked.
"The O.W.L.s," said Harry. "It’s ages before she'll take them, and she's already nervous."
"Ginny, just make sure you study."
"I know," Ginny exhaled. "Just the fact that they're close is nerve wrecking. By the way, Hermione, happy birthday."
Hermione smiled at the comment.
"Thanks, Ginny."
"Yeah, Happy Birthday," Harry added.
She sent a smile towards him as well.
"At least you two remembered," Hermione huffed as Ron and Beatrix entered. "Not like him over there."
"Ron?"
Hermione nodded.
"Ron didn't remember? Wow, that's a first," Harry exclaimed.
"Yeah, he's been having a lot of 'firsts' this year," she proclaimed, looking over at him.
The two made their way to the Gryffindor table.
"Ah Tuesdays...glad they're not Mondays," Ron said tranquilly.
Hermione glared at Ron as he continued talking.
He doesn't remember. He doesn't bloody remember. Incompetent prat!
"Ugh!" Hermione groaned, standing up, and stomping out of the Great Hall.
"What's her problem?" Ron sneered.
"You," Ginny sternly said.
"Me? What'd I do?"
"Do you know what today is, Ron?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, the nine—oh," Ron said, dropping his jaw.
"What is it?" Beatrix asked.
"Oh no..." Ron moaned as he repeatedly hit himself in the head.
"Ron, stop! What the matter?"
"Today is Hermione's birthday," Ginny informed with a bit of irritation to her tone.
"It is? Well, what's the problem with her and Ron?"
"Ron never wished her a happy birthday, did you, Ron? He's usually the first person to tell her."
Beatrix looked over at Ron.
"Why didn't you tell her happy birthday?"
"It just slipped my mind. It's not like I wasn't ever going to?"
"Not unless we reminded you," Ginny added harshly.
"It would've come to me eventually!"
"When? Three months from now?"
Ginny and Ron were both standing on their feet.
"What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is you're too busy—" Ginny took a quick glance at Beatrix. "—with your head in the clouds, you're forgetting things more important!"
A few people now had their eyes on them.
"More bloody important? Beatrix is my girlfriend! Hermione is a friend—"
"That you dropped like yesterday's tabloid! If I was dating Harry, would you see either of us ignoring her or you?"
"I'm not—wait, what? You—and Harry?"
Ron looked at Harry and then back at Ginny, who rolled her eyes.
"It's just an example. I'm telling you, she's really upset."
Ron, now having an innocent look upon his face, said, "But—there's a lot on my mind with school and such."
"Save it, Ron. Honestly, excuses won't help you."
Ginny grabbed her bag and left the Great Hall. Harry gave Ron a you-know-what-you-should-do look, grabbed his books, and left as well. Ron looked over at Beatrix, and she seemed to know what he was thinking. She nodded in approval, and the two stood up and went to class.
The day seemed to drag on, and Hermione tried her best to stay focused on the subject of Arithmancy, but Ron popped in her mind—trailing her off towards the window…up in the clouds…wrapping herself up in the sun's rays…
"Hermione! Wake up! You've got to come downstairs!"
"Leave me alone...I just want to sleep."
"No, come on. Just for a second."
"Ugh, all right."
I crawled out of bed and slipped on my slippers. The unknown girl who had woken me up grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the dormitory to the common room. My heart skipped a beat as I saw the small lot of Gryffindors surrounding a table of gift boxes and a cake with the words: HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERMIONE on it. Among the crowd, I saw the one person I hoped to see. Ron. He smiled and walked over to me.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," I replied.
"I just wanted to say happy birthday, and I hope it's great."
"Thanks, I—”
Something stopped me from continuing. A figure started to appear.
"Beatrix?"
My blood started to boil, and I flung myself towards her, but as I stepped closer to her she disappeared.
Hermione woke up with a startle, as the professor continued talking. She picked up her quill and began writing again.
They day finally took to rest, and Hermione rushed up to the Gryffindor common room to drop off her knapsack and went to the Great Hall for dinner.
As she continued on her way to the Great Hall, she passed up Ron and Beatrix, ignoring them as much as possible.
The Great Hall shimmered with candles and the ceiling illuminated the full moon. Hermione took to her seat at the busy Gryffindor table and began eating. Soon after, Harry and Ginny joined her.
"It's been over a week and the professors are still blabbering about the O.W.L. exams," Ginny huffed.
"They do that the entire year," Hermione explained. "They just want you to be prepared and be aware of how quick they come."
"Not to mention left baffled if you don't study," Ron added, sitting down at the table across from Hermione. "Er—hi, Hermione."
Hermione didn't answer. She just looked up at him and glared.
"I've lost my appetite," she said. "I'll see you later in the common room—Harry."
She stood up, giving Ron one last glare, and left.
"Nice going, Ron," Ginny sarcastically said.
"Bloody hell, what does she want me to do?"
"Oh I don't know...SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HER!"
Ron stood up, beginning to leave when Beatrix asked, "Where are you going?"
"To talk to Hermione," he answered.
"Ron, no, that's not a good idea. She doesn't want to talk to you," Ginny informed.
But he didn't listen. He left the Great Hall and rushed to the Gryffindor common room.
"Mettamaloma—what is the matter with you?" Ron shouted before entering passed the Fat Lady's Portrait. He walked in with three fourth year girls staring back at him.
"Sorry," he muttered as they made their way up to the girls' dormitories. He caught the outline of a bushy haired person sitting in the shadowed corner.
"Hermione, what is your problem?" he asked walking up to her.
"Whatever do you mean, Ronald? Nothing is wrong. Just go back to your Bea, I'm sure she misses you," she said, continuing her reading. Ron stood there for a second, then walked up behind her and grabbed the book beneath her nose.
"Excuse you, Ronald!" she yelled, turning around and standing up. "What is your problem exactly?"
"My problem is you’re not bloody talking. You've been secluded since my house!"
"Wow, you actually noticed," she mumbled, looking at the empty grate as he stood staring at her. "Just forget it, Ron. I'm just not having the best day."
"Why," he asked rudely, "because I didn't wish you a happy birthday?"
"Could you be any more conceited? But, maybe! Maybe I've been waiting all day for you to tell me happy birthday! But did I get it? NO! That's pretty shallow of you considering you've known when my birthday is for five years!" Harry, Ginny, and Beatrix entered the common room, and a few students hung out of the dormitories. Hermione took a quick pause and looked around, but then went back to their row as if everyone had vanished. "And another thing, since Bea is so intelligent, you copy her homework from now on. I'm sure she'll have no problem with that since you two hang all over each other anyway! If not, you might want to try and pay attention in class rather than falling asleep!"
Ron's ears turned red as he looked around noticing people had their eyes set upon him.
"Oh yeah—well..." Ron began. Hermione just shook her head and walked through the small lot of second years to go into the girls' dormitories. She opened the door as Ron rushed over to get in the final word. "Well you can forget about me wishing you happy birthday at all then!" he shouted as he climbed the stairs of the girls' dormitories.
Hermione looked back at him and said, "Goodbye, Ronald. Have a nice fall."
She slammed the door, and Ron realised what she was talking about. The stairs suddenly shifted into a slide and he tripped, sliding backwards to the common room floor. He lied there for a few moments as the second years walked over him and back into the dormitories. Harry, Ginny, and Beatrix walked over and looked down at him.
"She is so...stubborn," Ron gritted through his teeth.
"I don't blame her," Ginny said coldly and walked into the dormitory. Ron sighed, standing up.
"Lets go for a walk," he said to Beatrix as he looked around, noticing them turning their heads as he looked at them.
"That's okay. I've got loads of homework. You can go," Beatrix sympathetically said, walking into the dormitory.
Ron turned to Harry and asked, "Why am I the bad guy?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders and answered, "Because you can't be Widdle Ronnikins your whole life."
"Shut up."
The two walked into the boys' dormitories, closing the door behind them.
Back in the girls' dormitories, Hermione lied in her four-poster bed wiping the tears from her eyes. Beatrix sat at her bedside table working on her Muggle Studies assignment. Hermione glanced up from her book and looked over at Beatrix, giving her a nasty expression behind her back.
It's all her fault! If it wasn't for her, Ron would've remembered my birthday, he would be paying attention to me, and he would be dating me!
Beatrix gave out a groan and exclaimed, "I can't think with all this noise!"
She stood up, grabbed her books, and left. Hermione stared at the door in the lifeless dormitory where the air was so still, one could hear a pin drop.