Ronald Weasley (spidersbegone) wrote in riddikulus,
@ 2008-02-21 19:14:00

WHO: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger
WHEN: (11/13/97) Thursday evening, after dinner
WHERE: Gryffindor Common Room
SUMMARY: Hermione helps Ron catch up with classes but he's distracted. And then... the moment we've all been waiting for.
RATING: PG-13?
STATUS: Complete

Ever since the ball, Ron had been having a harder time than usual concentrating in classes and it was Hermione's fault. Well, okay, not intentionally but it was still because of her. Tensions were running high and he was finding it harder and harder to keep his feelings for her a secret. She was becoming a bigger distraction to him than usual lately. He found himself staring at her quite often and wondering if some kind of big, daring, chivalrous act would make up for the fact that he wasn't nearly good enough for her. Just sitting next to her in classes was driving him mad and then he had gotten sick and missed several days and that didn't help him either.

He was glad she had agreed to help him catch up--he probably wouldn't be able to do it without her--but he wondered how on earth he was going to concentrate on schoolwork with everything he was thinking about her floating around in his head.

Grabbing his textbooks, parchment and quills, he took a deep breath and bounded down the dormitory stairs to the common room. Spotting a free couch with a table for their books, he snatched it quickly and sat staring into the fire as he waited for Hermione to arrive.

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spidersbegone
2008-02-22 03:25 am UTC (link)

"Doesn't it usually?" He asked with a lopsided smile, looking over at her in the process. She could spend hours in the library alone. He'd never know what she did for all that time she spent there. She'd probably read through almost all the books the library had.

Grabbing one of his books as well, he placed it on his lap and then reached for a piece of parchment and a quill. He looked over at her while she turned the pages of the book and found that he couldn't stop. He only snapped out of his reverie when the fire crackled loudly bside them, startling him. Blushing slightly, he wrote the date on the top of his parchment.

"So, what's first then?" He asked, already, not even having started studying, unable to concentrate.

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athenaspupil
2008-02-22 03:42 am UTC (link)

Rolling her eyes, Hermione couldn't help but agree with Ron's assessment on how the Library usually distracted her when she meant for it not to. "That's hardly the point," she said matter-of-fact, though there was a smile on her face.

Clearing her throat, she reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she searched for the pages she thought she had memorized when she did her Charms work.

"What's first?" she asked, glancing up at him, her eyebrows knitting in confusion. "You mean you haven't even read the assignment?" Before even giving him the chance to answer, she pulled the book in his lap to her and flipped a few more pages to the right one - that had been the one she memorized the page numbers for.

"We're doing shield charms now." Something they were already partially familiar with given everything they had gone through last year. "Before we're even allowed to Practice them, Professor Flitwick wants us to know the properties behind the charm, the incantation, and the wrist movements for it in an essay that's no less than a foot."

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spidersbegone
2008-02-22 03:51 am UTC (link)

When Hermione tucked her hair behind her ear, Ron's eyes were immediately drawn to the movement and he felt the blush come back. He was glad for the heat of the fire and the soft glow of the room because at the moment it was masking the steadily rising colour of his cheeks. God, why did he have to feel the way he did? And why did his face have to betray him every single time?

"A foot?" He groaned, realizing just how behind he was and knowing he hadn't been able to and wasn't going to be able to concentrate fully. "Merlin..." He said, half about the assignment and half about the situation he was in. All the feelings were bubbling up inside him and had been for ages but the ball had turned up the heat and now the feelings were bubbling even more.

Damn Hermione for sitting there, looking beautiful, being nice to him and helping him. If she wasn't so bloody wonderful he wouldn't have this problem.

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athenaspupil
2008-02-22 03:58 am UTC (link)

"Yes, a foot," she replied, handing the book he had originally had back to him. She cleared her throat. Really, he needed to pay attention if he really wanted her help. Looking down at the book, she pointed to a section with her wand, underlining it momentarily with blue lines.

"Do you remember last year when we used the Protego charm?" she asked, highlighting that word in the text for him. "This is exactly the same charm as that only in scientific terms right now. Later, we'll do the actual charm in class once we've learned the underlying methods to it and the history behind it."

Pointing to the text with her finger this time, she tapped his book. "Read this section and the marked section that I'll have in this book and it should be enough to get you started on several inches."

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spidersbegone
2008-02-22 04:04 am UTC (link)

Ron nodded along with everything she was saying, listening to it but not really hearing it. He was horribly distracted by the way her lips moved when she talked and how the firelight was framing her face in this fantastically wonderful way. He really needed to snap out of it! He needed to but he couldn't. He just couldn't. God, why was love so damned hard?

Sighing loudly he took the book she had highlighted for him and brought it closer to his face to begin reading. It was slightly dim in the room so he had to read closely. His eyes roamed over the words on the page but he didn't retain anything he was reading.

He could feel her leg touching his. It was right there and it was warm and everytime she moved, he could feel it. Damnit. Damn it all to hell.

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athenaspupil
2008-02-22 04:09 am UTC (link)

While Ron read the selected material she had prepared for him, Hermione turned her attention back to the book in her lap. Consciously, she was aware of their close proximity and that their legs were touching, but it didn't distract her from what she was doing. Ron needed her help after all and any silly thoughts were a distraction.

Underlining the text that he'd most use in her book, she turned the page and skimmed over it to make sure she wasn't missing any valuable information. Things were quiet; the only noise was the fire next to them and the occasional conversations drifting down from up in the dormitories.

"Thank you for the brownies earlier," she finally said a minute later, breaking the silence. "I'm not sure that they were entirely necessary given that all I'm doing is helping you with your homework, but I appreciate them nonetheless." She gave him a smile and squeezed his arm gently in thanks. Then it was back to the book.

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spidersbegone
2008-02-22 04:17 am UTC (link)

With only the sound of the crackling fire and the turning pages, for the first time that night Ron realized how empty the common room was. There were only three or four other students in there at the moment and they were off in a corner reading and playing chess. This didn't help his concentration issue, however, not at all. Because now he was consciously aware of how alone they were.

After reading the same sentence about twelve times, Ron let out a breath of frustration and looked over at Hermione just as she began to speak. Merlin, she was beautiful. The way her hair curled around her face and the firelight lit up her features. When she thanked him for the brownies, he blushed and nodded, smiling at her slightly and extremely relieved that she'd liked them. "No problem." He said softly.

Then, when she touched his arm and squeezed it, he nearly choked on his own air. Bloody hell. Kill him right there, why didn't she? He went bright red and immediately ducked his head, hiding his face from her gaze. His gaze went back to the book but he merely stared at it, not taking in anything at all.

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athenaspupil
2008-02-22 04:41 am UTC (link)

Right away, Hermione noticed how uncomfortable Ron seemed to be when she touched him. She pulled her hand away slowly, tucking it back in her lap, and frowned. Either she was repulsive and he didn't want her to touch him or it was the same way it was with her - it was unnerving each time he did.

Curling her lips between her teeth, she watched him for a moment before leaning back against the couch and looking at the book in her lap. She gave him several more moments to read and take everything in before she spoke again.

"I think it'll be good for Harry to start the DA again," she said offhandedly. She had been thinking about it all day and was admittedly excited about it. "It'll provide him a necessary distraction and give him a sense of purpose again."

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spidersbegone
2008-02-22 04:54 am UTC (link)

"Yeah," Ron answered when she mentioned the DA. He was looking forward to it as well. "Yeah, it'll be great." He was sincere in his words but he was hardly paying attention to anything but the goosebumps on his arm where she'd just touched him. It had never been this intense before. The feelings, the reactions, the nerves. He didn't know how much longer he could take it.

Turning his attention back to the page on the book, he managed to get through a few sentences but even that weas becoming difficult. He was about to burst. He just wanted to tell her everything but he knew he couldn't. He was terrified of what might happen, could happen, would happen. They were friends. Friends, that was it. He could deal with that.

Couldn't he?

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athenaspupil
2008-02-22 05:23 am UTC (link)

Hermione nodded too, taking note of the sincerity in his voice. She had finished marking the passage for him in the next book and was now sitting back, waiting patiently for him to finish with the first one.

Several minutes passed and though she did have a lot of patience, it was waning already. Why hadn't he at least turned the page and read the information she had marked on that side. "Are you stuck?" she asked finally, wondering just how something she, Ron, and Harry were so familiar with could be difficult for him. "It's really not that hard."

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spidersbegone
2008-02-22 05:28 am UTC (link)

"M'not stuck." He said softly, blushing faintly when she noticed he hadn't done anything for several minutes. Merlin, he really needed to stop letting her distract him. Everything she was doing was mesmerizing him. How was he supposed to handle being so close to her like this and having to read from a textbook at the same time? It wasn't possible.

"Just can't concentrate." He said, not looking at her still. He kept his eyes down on the page but didn't read it. Just stared and thought about how her leg was still touching his and how pretty she looked in the firelight and how she was being so nice to him when he'd done nothing to deserve it. Damn it, Hermione.

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athenaspupil
2008-02-22 05:43 am UTC (link)

What did he mean by he couldn't concentrate? There was hardly anyone in the common room with them and everything he needed to know was sitting right in front of him. It was easy; he could be finished with his essay in an hour or less if he really put his mind to it.

"Oh, honestly, Ron," she sighed, not meaning to sound exasperated by it, but that was how it came out. "Really, it's not that difficult. It's all there in front of you if you'll just concentrate on the task at hand."

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spidersbegone
2008-02-22 05:49 am UTC (link)

"Yes, it is bloody difficult!" He snapped, looking over at her as he slammed the book shut. "It's pretty sodding difficult when you're sitting so close to me looking so damn beautiful!" He blurted out, not being able to take it anymore.

When he realized what he'd said, he instantly turned as red as insanely possible, his ears burning and his cheeks hot. He jumped off the couch as if he'd been burned and stared at her, open mouthed and wide-eyed. He looked at the ground then, feeling more embarrassed than he ever had before in his life.

"I... I mean..." He stuttered, trying to find a way to fix this. But there was none. The damage was done and his secret was out. Taking a deep breath, his hands shaking, he chanced it and looked up at her, his expression entirely shy and nervous.

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