Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except for the plot. Mandy Brocklehurst, if you are wondering, is from Ravenclaw. If you've read the first book as many times as I have, don't worry about it. She was mentioned I think like, ONCE, so I decided to take it upon myself to populize it.
Dedication: I dedicate this to Ashley, Wendy, Danielle, Courtney, and everyone. Big smooches! Plus, I add this too my favorites... and those who gave me those great, encouraging reviews for "Christmas Cookies".... You know who you all are!!!!! (I do realize my mistake, and I would please ask you to dismiss it)
I'm tuggin' at my hair/
I'm pullin' at my clothes/
I'm try to keep my cool/
I know it shows/
Hermione Granger was not daft. Actually, she was quite smart. Top of our class, not only taht, but she was also my best friend. Beyond that even; she was my crush. Sometimes, when she would look at me, I would get this tickley feeling in the pit of my stomach, and it grows, and it fills me up with warmth like warm butterbeer from Three Broomsticks on a cold winter day. And then she looks at me with those soft cinimon-brown eyes, all that warmth makes me feel weak, like I've gone and melted. But it hadn't happened yet. Sometimes, when she would say my name, just simpley Ron, to get my attention, I can't help but crumble.
Yet, somehow, we always end up fighting. And the subject of our pitfalls were usually the same person. Viktor Krum. The one person standing in the way of me being with Hermione (other than my utter lack of confidence, and the melty-thing). He was handsome (sort of) and a wonderful Quidditch player. I actually admired him once, before I found out that he was going to the Yule Ball with Hermione. She was just too good for him (he couldn't say her name right). When I found this out, I crushed the small figurine I had of him (that was from when I liked him, during the World Cup).
And then, the night of the Yule Ball... She looked gorgeous, but not Hermione. She was trying to be someone that wasn't her. Somethine special. But she was just so special already... She made me feel bad that I wasn't the lucky guy taking her. I would treat her like a princess, the one that she was, when if she were my girl. But she wasn't, and the night ended on a sour note. We ended up fighting (as usual) and I couldn't believe the fool that I was. There she was, and there I was. Why couldn't I say anything to her about how I felt? I would run my hand through my hair, open my mouth then close it a few times, making myself look like a fish.
Then there was the Second Task, when Harry had to save the people in the water. Hermione had been saved by Krum, and it was something that made me glad and quite disapointed at the same time. I just wish it could have been me saving her. Or Harry for that matter.
But it was Vikky who did. And I don't have one chance with the girl that I've fallen truly head-over-heels with, because she is infatuated with the Bulgarian guy that calls her Her-mo-ninny.
Witness me gagging.
****
I'm staring at my feet/
My cheeks are turning red/
I'm searching for the words/
Inside my head/
It was soon going to be Christmas break, and I just knew something was to happen. Things were going all together quite too well. Except, the huge fight that I had just gotten into with Ron Weasley, the boy I happened to be in love with. Truly and deeply, but no one knew. Because everyone thought that I was in love with Viktor Krum, my boyfriend. And I know that you're supposed to love your boyfriend and everything (not that I would know from experience or anything) but I had been love with Ron since the first year, when he and Harry saved me from the troll in the girls bathroom.
But at that point in time, I did't realize that I liked him. Actually, I thought that I liked him more as a friend. But as second year drew near, I realized that the warm, fuzzy feeling that tickled me from head to toe was not the friend thing (I didn't get that from Harry, so why Ron?) and I didn't know if he felt the same way. But, I still don't know. I've been stuck at base one from day one (two, actually) and now I still don't know.
But he probably thinks I'm very stupid, that I'm just a girl. I'm not as beautiful as Fluer whats-her-face or anyone else at the school, but what I lacked in the beauty department I made up for were my brains. I was first in my class, and that was positively killing some people (er... Malfoy....) and their parents. I did not only get happiness from that, but sometimes, when Ron would grin at me for winning five or ten points for answering something, every voice and sound would go quiet (except this whooshing thing in my head) and only he would exist. With his floppy red hair, big blue eyes that were clear and glittery, and freckles that had somehow switched to my face rather than his, he made my knees become quite a bit like my grandmother's jelly (which was very yummy).
He was the most handsome boy I had ever seen in my life. He was like sunshine on a rainey day, and lit up the common room with his antics, and sometimes with his rants. But then again, he lit up every room he was in (even Professor Snape's classroom). I sometimes couldn't control myself around him, and that was how we ended up in fights. I oddly enough found myself defending Viktor, even though I really wasn't in love with him.
But for some reason, I didn't ever stop defending him. If only I had a reason to break up with him. But what could I say?
***
If I could say what I wanna say/
I'd say I wanna blow you... AWAY.../
Be with you every night/
Am I squeezing you too tight/
If I could say what I want to see/
I want to see you go down... on one knee.../
Marry me today/
Guess I'm wishing my life away/
With these things I'll never say/
On the first morning of our Christmas vacation, I woke up cheerfully, hoping to settle my fight with Hermione and hopefully get to have a fun snow-ball fight with her, Harry, Ginny, Fred and George, but slightly doubted it. I didn't know how to apologize about what I said. But for some reason, while I was fighting with Hermione, she gave me this helpless look.
Maybe there's something wrong in paradise.
I hurried down the stairs after tugging on my robes, checking the common room for Hermione or Harry. They both had taken off early I guessed, to do some last minute homework or something. Maybe to have a rendezvous, even though I would kill Harry if he did. I doubt that, because recently he became quite taken with a girl from Ravenclaw named Mandy Brocklehurst. She was slightly intrested in him, but hadn't said anything really.
I hurried down the corridors after climbing through the portrait with a 'hello' to the Fat Lady in the pink dress. She was cheerful as ever, with the holiday spirit. Everyone seemed to have it this year.
I found Hermione sitting by herself in the Great Hall, reading a very thick book that was yellow with age. She was picking at her breakfast unintrestedly, and I wordlessly sat down across from her. I piled food on my plate, even though I lost my appetite around Hermione (the melty-thing) and didn't need to eat it all. But she would notice if I didn't eat it all.
Harry came and sat down beside us a few moments later, his cheeks red and a grin on his face. He poured himself some pumkin juice, and waited for either one of us to say something. I figured he would be waiting for a while, because I wasn't going to talk first. I wanted to be friends again, but I wasn't about to apologize for saying that Vikky was slightly on the femmy side. He stared at himself in the mirror for an hour everyday when we were holding the Triwizard's, so I was pretty sure that he wasn't straight as an arrow like some of us.
"Is this all we're going to do?" Harry asked suddenly, startling Hermione. "Sit here and not talk to eachother?"
"Probably," she and I said at the same time.
"Well, I'm sick of it. Ron, just apologize for whatever you said about Viktor, and Hermione, don't be so sensitive. I'm not going to deal with my two best friends fighting over ridiculous things. Ron should learn to keep his trap shut, but -- eh, hold on Hermione, let me talk. Hermione should learn to loosen up about Viktor." Harry sat in silence for a moment, waiting for one of us to speak.
I broke first. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I won't say that Viktor is, you know." I crossed my fingers under the table, hoping that she didn't notice.
She didn't. "Oh, Ron, I'm sorry too. And I forgive you." She offered her hand over the table, and I shook it, getting an electircal charge up my hand, shooting from where our fingers touched through the rest of my arm, setting me on fire nearly.
The next moment was one of the worst in my life.
A small own flew through the window, dropping a letter on Hermione's toast. Nothing for me though, I noticed.
Hermione carefully openned the letter. The wide grin on her face told me that it was from Vikky. She pulled the parchment out, and read the messy script carefully. Her eyes bulged, and she glanced up at me quickly, then back down at her letter. She let out a breath of air with a whoosh, then handed the letter to Harry.
"Hermione --" he broke off, and I knew that something was wrong. From the way he looked, I knew that it was bad news for me. "Is being proposed to."
***
It don't do me any good/
It's just a waste of time/
What use is it to you/
What's on my mind/
I cradled the letter my chest after letting Harry and Ron read it. I felt really torn, actually. What was I supposed to say? Ron, I love you, don't let me marry Viktory? I don't think so.
Ron looked like he had drank some particularly bad milk, and I felt like I was going to faint. Harry was torn between being happy and being mad, and then some anxiety was mixed in there.
"Congradulations," Ron said hoarsely. He gazed at me with a sad look in his darling blue eyes, then stood up. "I -- I think I need to go. Somewhere. Else." He nodded, like that explained it, and got up. He hadn't barely touched his breakfast. Something was wrong.
"What's wrong with him?" I asked, and I felt something bad in the pit of my stomach.
"Hermione --" Harry said, breaking off. He looked a bit like Ron (with the milk thing) and then he sighed. "Do you want me to be blunt (I nodded). Good. You see, Ron likes you. I mean, he seriously, seriously likes you. He has had the biggest, most outrageous crush on you since forever. And you know, I thought you knew at first. And then, it hit me. You have no idea that Ron Weasley has been struggling not to kill any guy that so much as looks at you wrong for like, two years. And, he doesn't even like to fight with you. How do you think he feels now?" Harry finished with a flourish, and I couldn't believe it. I shook my head, my eyes wide. This couldn't be true.
"No," I tried to say. But my heart was telling me something totally different to say. My heart was saying to jump up and chase after Ron, tell him the way I felt. Tell him that I didn't want to marry Vikky, or Viktor, or anyone else. I wanted to be with Ronald Weasley, and now that I knew he loved me, I was going to be with him. Thoughts of kissing him and hugging him, holding his hand as we went to class, sneaking kisses when Snape wasn't looking.
"I think you should go find Ron," Harry said. I nodded, unable to do anything else.
***
It don't do me any good/
It's just a waste of time/
What use is it too you/
What's on my mind/
If it aint commin' out/
We're not goin' anywhere/
So why can't I just tell you
that I care/
I sat down in a place where Hermione would never expect me to go. I went to the library, and sat down by myself. It was near empty (except for that Mandy Brocklehurst girl) and quiet. She looked up at me from across the room, and I found that she wasn't bad looking. She had brown-blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a bit of freckles. She was poring over some homework (or obsessing over stuff like Hermione).
I sat with my head down on the table, thumping it a few times. I didn't know what was really going to happen. I didn't want Hermione to marry Viktor, and I definately did not want him to show up in a week (that's what the letter said; Vikky was graciously giving Hermione that much time to think about it). I didn't want to think about what would happen.
"She's going to find you, you know." Mandy spoke softly, glancing up at me from her book. It was heavey and aged, like most books in this library. "She's not stupid."
"Thanks so much," I mumbled. Mandy stood up, coming to my table. She sat down, leaning on her elbows, gazing at me intently. "Anything I can help you with?"
"Actually, I was thinking I would help you." She tilted her head to the side. "Harry's told me all about this dilema. Ok, you like Hermione. She likes you. You see her coming, whisk her off her feet with a searing kiss, and ta-da, she realizes that you like her, and she doesn't have to marry Mr. Krum." Mandy voiced the plan that had been playing through my head about a million times. I didn't know what else I could do.
"Should I really?"
"Probably not. You should probably have a mature, adult conversation with her about how you two would be perfect together. And, also, drink coffee, without sugar or milk. And be serious." She nodded her head. "If you want to bore her."
Standing up, she picked up her library book. "Think about it." Then she disapeared behing the stacks.
And then Hermione appeared through the door, face flushed and out of breath. She was clutching her side, as if she had been running for a while. She stared at me for a moment, before smoothing her hair over. She sat down beside me, and we both looked straight ahead of eachother. And I was getting the melty-thingy going on inside of me, and then before I knew it, I had turned to face her. Her eyes were soft and warm. I could just imagine how her cheeks felt, soft and smooth like silk.
And before I knew what I was doing (I couldn't control myself as of late) I was pressing my lips to hers very gentley. I felt her gasp against my lips, and I grinned. She threaded her hands through my messy red hair, and I deepened the kiss.
***
/Chorus Repeats/
What's wrong with my tongue/
These words keeping slipping away/
I stutter/
I stumble/
Like I've gt nothin' to say/
"Wow," I mumbled, grinning. Ron was grinning too. I didn't know what I wanted to do more; kiss him again or tell him I loved him or stay in his arms forever. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?" he asked. He was grinning, and his blue eyes glittered. I felt like throwing my arms around his neck and hugging the life out of him. But I doubted that it would be very fun to kiss him after he was dead.
"Make me feel... So..."
"Warm and fuzzy?" he asked, and I nodded. "I don't know. I should ask you the same." He pressed his lips against mine again, and I giggled silently. I didn't know what else to do, and I didn't want to do anything else.
"Does this mean...?"
"Do you want it to?"
"Do you?"
Ron stared at me for a moment, then said, "Do I even compare to dating Viktor?"
"Oh, old Vikky? He's old news." I smiled, and Ron leaned his forehead against mine, so we were gazing into eachother's eyes.
"So you want to go out with me? Be my girlfriend?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows. He looked a little nervous. I chewed on my lower-lip in thought. Is this what I wanted? To be Ronald Weasley's girlfriend? Need you even ask?
I kissed him in reply boldly, and lost myself in the kiss. But not so lost that I didn't hear the applaud from someone in the doorway of the library. Harry and Mandy were standing shoulder to shoulder, grins spread from ear to ear. They really did look good together. But that was not what I was thinking. I blushed red, and the tips of Ron's ears went red.
"So? Are you together yet?" Harry asked, his voice full of smugness.
"I have only one word. Yes." I grinned, the thoughtfully added, "I wonder just what I'm going to tell Viktor..."
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