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TITLE: Least Complicated
AUTHOR: The Elder Wyrm
AUTHOR E-MAIL: [email protected]
RATING: G
GENRE: Angsty Romantic Fluff (featuring I-Screwed-Up!Ron, and Forgiving!Hermione)
OTHER SHIPS: None
SPOILERS: None
SUMMARY: Ron, in an effort to live up to his brothers' reputations with the women, tries to be "cool" and blows it with Hermione. In the end, he learns a valuable lesson. A songfic based on the song "Least Complicated" by the Indigo Girls. The story doesn't so much parallel the song as it just pulls several elements from it.
DISCLAIMER: All characters, settings, song lyrics, and melodies are the property of their respective Copyright Holders. The idea was mine, applying it to paper was mine, but I make no money from this, nor is any copyright infringement intended.
A/N: This is a cookie I originally put up at fiction alley park. I just thought I'd share it around a bit. It in no way relates to any of my other stories.
I sit two stories above the street,
It's awful quiet here since love fell asleep.
There's life down below me though,
Kids are walking home from school.
So long ago when we were taught,
That for whatever kind of puzzle you got,
You just stick the right formula in,
Solution for everything.
I remember that time I came so close to you,
Sent me skipping my class, and running from school,
and I bought you that ring 'cause I never was cool.
Chorus
What makes me think I could start clean slated,
the hardest to learn was the least complicated.
I just sit up in my house and resist,
And not be seen until I cease to exist.
A kind of conscientious objection,
A kind of dot in the drab.
A boy and girl are holding hands in the street,
And I want to but I think 'you just wait,'
Its more than just eye to eye,
Learned the things I could never apply.
I remember the time when I came so close with you,
And let everything go, it seemed the only truth,
and I bought you that ring, it seemed the thing to do.
Chorus
I'm just a mirror of a mirror of myself,
All the things that I do.
And the next time I fall,
I'm gonna have to be cool,
It isn't love, it's only something new.
I sit two stories above the street,
It's awful quiet here since love fell asleep.
There's life down below me though,
The kids are walking home from school.
I remember that time when I came so close with you,
Sent me skipping my class, and running from school,
and I bought you that ring 'cause I never was cool.
Least Complicated- The Indigo Girls, 1994
As he did on so many other occasions, Ron sat watching Hermione. He was sitting on the castle catwalks and watching her run from the Greenhouses to the main castle. If he remembered right, she would be heading to Arithmancy meaning he should be heading to Divination; but there was no way he could face anyone else right now. "You really blew it this time, didn't you Weasley." He sighed and rested his chin on his knees; he was reduced to talking to himself.
"Yeah, I did. What was I thinking?" He asked out loud to no one in particular. She was sprinting across the courtyard now, her hair streaming out behind her like a banner. Ron glanced at his watch; there was no way she was going to make it to class on time. He felt bad about that; it was his fault. She had been hesitant to come out of the green houses, she was probably worried that he was going to pop out from behind a bush and ask her out again.
He thought back over it again, where had he gone wrong? Yule ball, the answer came unbidden in his mind. That had been just one of many marks against him. He'd been botching things with Hermione for as long as he could remember, and lately it seemed the harder he tried the worse it got. Playfully pinching her bum at King's Cross as he commented on how hot she'd gotten over the summer had been the beginning of a long downhill slide for them.
The slide had hit bottom that morning between breakfast and Herbology. Ron had walked up to her while she was talking with several other prefects. He had walked up behind her and kissed her neck without permission as he tried to drape necklace around it. She had turned around and slapped him at that point. That wasn't the worst of it though. She had told him right front of everybody to stay away from her and that she thought he was a creep. Ron had run from her screaming tirade then, not wanting to hear anything more. That was when he had found the half-open door that led out here, hidden behind a portrait of a dragon fighting a group beleaguered knights.
Ron let out a sigh and hung his head. He should have known better than to take advice from Fred and George. "Tell her she's sexy, tell her she's beautiful," they had said. "Be bold, don't be afraid to make a statement. Surprise her. Buy her gifts, jewelry is always good." He should have known Hermione better than that.
"That's what I get for trying to be cool," he said to the pigeon that perched a couple of feet from him. It cooed at him then went back to picking at the stone. "Who was I kidding, I'm not my brothers. Why did I try to be my brothers?" The pigeon continued to ignore him as it strutted along. He leaned forward, resting his forehead against the railing. "It's not like I had to be cool when we were friends."
Something began to tug at the back of his mind, there was something about that statement that was significant, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. As he sat there trying to figure it out the rain began to gently fall. The rain quieted everything around him as the pigeons scattered to find shelter. It also flushed out a pair of fifth year students that had been hiding in the shadow of the wall. Hand in hand they ran for the shelter of the castle. Ron suppressed a self-depreciating laugh, unwilling to break his silent solitude.
By the time the bells chimed signifying the end of class, Ron was soaked to the bone, but still he didn't want to leave. As he looked to his right he could see the divination class exiting. They walked past the large plate glass window, talking animatedly. As usual, Seamus was walking between Parvati and Lavender; Dean was chatting with Neville; and Harry brought up the rear. Harry stopped in front of the window and looked down over the courtyard far below. Hermione joined him then; the two of them talked for several minutes.
Ron wondered briefly if they were going to kiss as they put their heads together over something. He was sure it would explain a lot, not to mention being the perfect cap to the day. Ron turned away, unable and unwilling to find out if his fears would be confirmed. This would be so much easier if he hadn't screwed it all up to start with. If he hadn't tried so hard to be like his brothers. If he had just told Hermione that he liked her in that way.
Ron sat bolt upright, that was it. All he had to do was be Ron, her friend. Then he could tell her how he felt, and everything would be okay. Then his head sank again. He'd already blown all that. How could he think he could go back and start all over given everything he had done in the last month? He couldn't just ask for a clean slate, he'd already committed his errors. He looked over at the window again; they were no where in sight now. No doubt they had gone down to lunch. He sighed and watched the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first years coming across the courtyard, headed to lunch from Herbology.
"Ron," her voice came from behind him. He jumped, and had the railing not been there he probably would have fallen to the courtyard several stories below. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay. I'd offer you my cloak to sit on, but it's wetter than the stones." Hermione, ever the practical one, cast a drying charm on the stones and sat down with her umbrella.
"Care to share?" She tipped the umbrella toward him.
"Nah, I'm cool." Ron could have slapped himself for that one. Hadn't he just had this conversation with himself?
"I'm sorry I called you a creep earlier." She waited expectantly, but Ron didn't say anything. "Ron, what's been going on with you lately? You've been acting really weird since school started."
"I thought I was the clueless one in this group." This time he did slap his palm to his forehead. "Forget I said that." He turned to face Hermione. "Look, Hermione, I like you."
"I know, but you've been acting really weird. You're not...you. You've been like a parody of yourself."
"Yeah," he took a deep breath. "I wanted you to think I was sexy and cool. I wanted you to think of me in the ways I think of you. I wanted you to see me as more than just...Ron." He couldn't bring himself to look her in the face.
"All I've ever wanted is for you to be Ron, well maybe a little more serious about your studies, but I like you too." Ron glanced up; she was blushing ever so slightly. Ron exulted, his heart leapt in his chest.
"Really? Wow." Ron realized that his statement probably made him look extremely uncool, but it didn't really matter; she liked him too. "Tell me, if I had asked you to be my girlfriend the first day back, would you have said yes?" She nodded her head. "If I ask you today, will you say yes?"
"Depends, are you asking me?"
"Yes." The silence stretched out between them as the rain plastered Ron's hair to his forehead. "Well?"
"I'm still waiting for you to ask." She gave him a knowing smile, almost laughing at his discomfort.
"Hermione, w-w-wi," Ron could feel the color rising in his face, Hermione laughed as his ears turned red. "I can't believe this." Ron took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Hermione, will you be my girlfriend?"
She leaned over, covering the two of them with her umbrella. "Yes," she said simply as she placed a single kiss lightly on his lips. "What so funny?"
"I think that was the least complicated thing I've done all year." With that he leaned forward and kissed her again, perfectly at ease with not being "cool."