Chapter 8 - What
“Ron!” Hermione exclaimed. She ran over to Ron’s bed and grabbed him, crying loudly. Ron was a bit surprised.
“Uh, hello Hermione,” Ron said awkwardly, patting her on the shoulder, “it’s good to see you again. You too mate.” He looked at Harry and smiled.
“Same, so are you feeling better? You gave us a scare,” said Harry.
“Yeah, I’m feeling alright. My head hurts a bit, but not much. How much of break have I missed? I haven’t missed Christmas, have I?”
“No, it hasn’t been Christmas,” Harry laughed, “it’s Tuesday, you’ve been out since Saturday. Do you remember anything?”
“A bit. I remember skating and being on the ice with you and Hermione. I remember slipping, but that’s about it. Are you ok Hermione?”
Hermione was still clinging onto Ron. She was so relieved he was alright.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, wiping her eyes from the tears, “I’m just so happy you’re ok.” She let go of Ron and sat on the end of his bed. Harry came and sat next to her.
“Thanks Hermione. So, what have you two been up to since I’ve been, you know, gone?”
Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous glances. They still weren’t sure what to tell him.
“Um well, we went to Hogsmeade, and uh, just hung around the castle,” Harry said slowly.
“Oh come on, how was Hogsmeade? I’m sure it was really brilliant looking, being the holidays and all.”
“Ron, you see, at Hogsmeade, me and Hermione, kind of, um....” But before Harry could finish Hermione began to spit out everything that had happened.
“We were at Hogsmeade and we went to buy some butterbeers. Me and Harry decided to go out side because it was so crowded. We sat under this tree and I began to feel really guilty about you being hurt. I started to cry and Harry comforted me, like he always does. Then well, we kind of, um, kissed.”
Hermione saw Ron’s mouth drop open.
“We didn’t mean for it to happen mate, it just kind of did. And I liked it. I’m sorry,” Harry said, seeing the reaction in Ron’s face.
“What!? Did I just hear what I think I heard? You guys kissed! I can’t believe it. And after you made me promise not to tell Harry about when I kissed you, Hermione!? Some payback. So you guys really didn’t miss me, did you. You had a grand old time snogging while I was laying here out cold in the hospital wing.” Ron was a bit upset, to put it mildly. Then again, he kind of knew it was coming sooner or later. He had seen the way Harry looked at Hermione. But what got him the most is that Hermione had made him promise not to tell Harry about their kiss. And now Harry had gone off and kissed her. So maybe there just a tad bit of jealousy. He wasn’t sure.
“I’m so sorry Ron.” Hermione was crying again. She knew Ron was hurt and shocked by this.
“What are you sorry about? I’m sure you loved it,” Ron snapped.
“Ron, look, it happened. There is nothing we can do about it,” Harry said, trying to put some reason into him.
“What do you mean it “just happened”?! I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at her ”“ but before he could finish, Madame Pomfrey came bustling in.
“How dare you work up my patient like that. He needs his rest. Out! Both of you out!” She shoved Ron down in his bed and stuck a piece of chocolate in his mouth. She pushed Harry and Hermione out of the hospital wing.
They stood outside the hospital door and Hermione began to walk away, her head down. Harry went after her and put his arm around her shoulder. She pushed away.
“No, don’t do that. That is what made this whole mess anyways. Just leave me alone for now.” Hermione had stopped crying. She looked so sad standing there. Harry wanted to do something to comfort her, but he knew that she needed a chance to be by herself.
“All right, I guess I will see you around then.” He turned and walked the other way down the hall, having no idea where he was going.
Hermione sank down against the wall onto the cold stone floor. She had seen the hurt in Ron’s eyes and knew he still cared for her. But she didn’t care about him in anyway except as a friend. She put her head in her hands, needing to think. She got up and began to walk the opposite direct that Harry had.
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Harry had found his feet carrying him to a room, a room that he knew quite well. He pulled open the door and a sight of smiling faces met him. This was the Room of Requirements and he took a step inside. The faces that were laughing and smiling were his, Ron’s, and Hermione’s. There were picture frames everywhere, each one holding a different image of the three friends.
Harry took a seat on a big brown couch and picked up a picture of them during the summer of their fourth year. It was while the three of them were at the Weasley’s before they left for the Quidditch World Cup. They were sitting outside in the Weasley’s backyard drinking lemonade, laughing about something or another. We look so happy, Harry thought. He didn’t want the happiness to end.
Slowly he got up, knowing what he had to do.
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A/N - Hope everyone liked it. I know it was a bit on the short side, but considering I posted 2 chapters at once, will you forgive me this one time?
The story has now more or less moved out of the fluffy "what should we do" phase, if that makes sense. Oh well, all I know is that you guys seem to be liking it. I hope these two chapters sustains you all for a while.
-Jaislin