Out of the Hell Hole
~~~~~
‘You’ll do fine, stop worrying, you’re not going to fuck it up,’ Ron muttered to himself. He was getting increasingly nervous. It was the last day of his and Hermione’s bet, and her last day in the hospital. Almost losing her had freaked him out so much that he decided he was going to tell her how he felt tomorrow. If he didn’t wet his pants first.
“Um, Ron, you okay?” Harry interrupted. “You’ve been acting kinda funny all day.”
“Yeah. I’m fine” he responded, in a voice suggesting that his head was somewhere else.
“Oh, I recognize that face, you’re thinking about Hermione!” Harry said with a laugh.
“No I’m not!” Ron said, red in the face.
“Are you sure?”
“YES!” Ron shouted, “I AM SURE!”
“I think the man doth protest too much,” Harry said with a grin.
“Oh, stuff it Harry,” Ron said before he walked off, still muttering to himself.
~~~~~
Hermione was sitting up in her hospital bed a little impatiently. She wanted Madam Pomfrey to stop fussing and just let her leave. Like that would ever happen.
She looked up and saw Ron walk in. She gave him a warm smile.
“Can I go now, Madam Pomfrey?” Hermione said, exasperated. “I’ve got a friend here to escort me back so I won’t have to walk all that way alone.”
“But, dearie, what if you faint?”
“Well then, he’ll catch me before I hit my head. Can I please leave?” Hermione said, with some barely checked anger in her voice. Ron was surprised. He’d never seen her talk to an adult at Hogwarts that way, except for maybe Snape and Umbridge. She really wanted to get out of this hell hole.
“Fine. But walk slowly, and have this chocolate before you go.”
“Alright,” Hermione agreed with a reluctant sigh. ‘Wait a minute,’ she thought. ‘Why am I protesting about getting to eat some free chocolate? It must be the potions she’s got me on.’
She gulped the chunk of candy down quickly and went to stand up. She wobbled slightly, as though she was about to faint. Ron put his arm out to steady her and happened to touch in an. . .er. . .not so friendly place by mistake. He quickly moved his hand.
“Thanks,” she said with a blush. “For stopping me from falling,” she quickly added.
“No problem,” Ron replied, his cheeks also reddening.
They slowly walked out of the hospital wing and headed towards the library. She insisted on getting the extra books she would need to make up her work right away.
~~~~~
“I’m glad you’re back, Hermione,” Harry said as they walked back into the common room after nearly an hour in the library. “I was beginning to think I would have to finish all of this homework myself.” He shuddered.
She laughed. “Don’t worry, Harry, I’ll tell you all the answers. Just let me sit down first. I’m still a little weak from the concussion and all.”
“Really? Every answer?”
“I was kidding, Harry.”
“I know.”
~~~~~
After what seemed like a hundred questions, they were starting to get very bored. Even Hermione only had so much tolerance for the History of Magic.
“Okay, last one,” Ron said with relief. “Who was the wizard that helped Giberick the Goblin escape from his cage in 1257?”
“I don’t know,” Hermione said.
“You don’t know!” Ron said, panic in his voice. “You’ve never not known the answer to Binns’ questions before! That concussion better not have taken away your insanely large memory, or I am absolutely screwed for the rest of the year!”
“Relax, Ron,” Hermione said after he finished his outburst. “I just haven’t read that whole chapter yet because I was too tired last night. I can look it up if you’ll just give me a few seconds.”
“Oh,” he said sheepishly, going back to the question.
~~~~~
“Ron, what are you doing up so late?” Hermione said as she came into the common room from the girl’s staircase. She walked over by the fire where he was sitting and plopped into the next armchair.
“I just couldn’t sleep.” he replied. ‘I was thinking about how I’m going to tell you that I love you, so I was just a little too nervous to get any rest’ he added in his head. “Why are you awake so late? I thought you were supposed to still be ‘fragile’ according to Madam Pomfrey”
“Oh shut up. I just wasn’t tired after laying in bed twenty-four hours a day for the past week.”
“You know, Hermione, it’s almost midnight.”
“So?”
“Our bet’s almost over. This was the last day.”
“Oh, really? I forgot.”
“Okay, I seriously think this concussion is getting to you. That is twice in one day you didn’t know something.”
“Ha, ha,” Hermione replied dryly.
“It’s actually too bad the bet’s over already. I wish you would have given up. I have several evil tasks in mind that I could have made you do.” Ron said with a grin.
“Like what?”
‘Oh crap? What can I say that’s not dirty?’ he thought. Out loud, he stated, “Like not letting you study for the N.E.W.T.S. for a whole week.”
He actually saw her face turn pale at the thought of having to do that. She’d even been keeping up on the N.E.W.T.S. while she was in the hospital wing. Even though she really shouldn’t have been reading that much because of the bet, he let it slide. She had almost died, after all.
“You wouldn’t,” she said, eyeing him suspiciously.
“Oh, I would,” Ron said, the evil grin still on his face.
“Well, good thing I didn’t give up then.”
‘It’s actually a shame,’ Ron thought, looking at her. ‘There’s SO many things I could have made her do...’
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Hermione said with a confused expression on her face.
Ron shook his head to try to get rid of the not-so-nice images he was having of his best friend. “No reason. Sorry, I just spaced out for a minute”
“Okay,” she replied, giving him a strange look. After a few moments’ pause, she said, “Well, I’m getting a little tired now. I’m off to bed. Good night Ron.”
“Good night.”
She started to walk away. “Wait-“ he said. He was going to tell her how he felt and he was going to do it now, or. . .
“Nevermind.” he found himself saying.
Or he was going to chicken out and put it off some more.
He watched her go back up the stairs to her dormitory.
“Dammit!” he said once she was out of hearing distance. “I wimped out! This is ridiculous. And, she caught me checking her out. If she tells Harry. . .I don’t even want to think about that. She just better not tell Harry.”
After a few minutes of sitting in the quiet by the roaring fire, he too went to bed.
~~~~~
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