by Chelsea
Plus, I was having these little breakdowns from going three
and a half days without the following:
1. A Shower.
2. My boyfriend. (I wuv woo Clay-ie)
3. Television.
4. Ya'll!
5. Junk food. (Too...much...carrotidge...)
6. My E-mail. (ehem!)
7. A matress that was more than two inches wide.
8. Music.
So you see, I was in need of civilization. I came home,
took a shower, went to my boyfriend's house and watched
music videos on TV while pigging out on all the junk food I
could get. I then went home and started typing this after
checking my E-mail. What is that you're saying? Where's
the freaking story? Oh, not freaking? Watch your
language!
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After class, Hermione followed Harry reluctatly to the
front of the room. She hated detentions. She was always
wondering what it said in her permanent record about them.
The first thing on her mind, however, was Ron. Where was
he? Did he even come back from his and Ginny's meeting
last night? Hermione was sure he would have woken them up
before going to bed.
"Potter, Granger, you will be scrubbing the floor on the
the first story of the castle with Mr. Filch at eight of
the clock tonight. Do not be late, or you will be
answering to both myself and the Headmaster. Now, rid me
of yourselves and go to lunch. Oh, yes, must've slipped my
mind, you wanted to see Professor Dumbledore, didn't you?
I forgot to tell you, he went to visit his cousin in
Albernia. Too bad." Snape sneered, not at all looking or
sounding like he was sorry.
"What!?! He's out of town? Now?" gaped Harry in surprise.
"Potter, please take care to not raise your voice in my
presence. Off to lunch with the both of you." They left,
but with all hate towards Snape. As they arrived at lunch,
Harry glanced over at Hermione to see her reaction to their
missing friend and saw her beaming as though in happiness.
"What're you on about? Why're you smiling?" he asked,
his voice cracking. Stupid puberty, Harry thought.
"Harry, I've only just thought, Ron was to meet Ginny
outside the Trophy Room, right? The Trophy Room's on the
first floor! We'll be mopping it tonight! We can look
for...clues. Oh, clues isn't the right word, it's too
naive. Um...I don't know. You know what I mean, right?
We can investigate. First, though, I think we need to ask
Ginny what happened after she and Ron met." Hermione said
all of the in one breath very fast, and Harry had a
fleeting impression of the slightly chubby, bushy-haired,
buck-toothed Hermione from the trin ride to Hogwarts in
their very first year. He and his new and first friend Ron
Weasley had thought she was quite intimidating and very
dorky.
The very same Hermione stood in front of him. This
time, though, her teeth were staight and white, and she was
skinny in a gorgeous way, and her hair was in silky,
controled curls.
"Harry? Harry! Why are you staring at me with that stupid
smile on your face? You look like a first year staring at
their first crush." said Hermione, bringing Harry back to
the present.
"Well, I feel like a sixth year staring at their second
crush." Harry retorted.
"Harry, I'd flirt back, but I'm all caught up on thoughts
of Ron. We really need to-"
"You're caught up on Ron? Are you...going to dump me?"
said Harry, putting on an obviously fake pouty face.
"Really, Harry, come on. I love you too, but we need to
concetrate on Ron. Please do this now and I'll give you
something...later." Hermione teased mischeiviously, "Let's
go ask Ginny." They headed over toward a shock of
brilliant-red hair, and Harry felt a pull on his stomach.
It wasn't Ron he was heading for...
"Hey Ginny, can you come here? We need to talk to you." he
said, suddenly dropping the playful look and assuming a
grim one.
"What's the matter, Harry? You look like-" Ginny tried to
say something worriedly, but she was interrupted.
"I know. Listen, what did you and Ron do after you met
last night. Only, he didn't show up to class today." Harry
rushed.
"After we met last night? I didn't meet with him, Harry."
Ginny said, obviously hoping this was a sick joke.
"W-what? What do you mean, you didn't meet with him? He
got a letter yesterday morning from you. You were asking
him to meet you outside the Trophy Room. You needed to
talk to him. Y-you even wrote back. Saying th-" Harry
sputtered, in shock.
"Harry, I haven't sent a letter since summer."
"Ginny, are you quite sure that y-" Hermione cut in.
"Quite. Look, did you check his bed? Make sure he wasn't
writing to himself as an excuse to get away with some
chick? I mean, that's totally like Ron, he's all about the
*ladies*" Ginny spat.
"Actually, he's a virgin." Harry breezed matter-of-factly.
"Really?"
"Harry!"
"Sorry!"
"Oh, well, that's not important now. Ron's life is more
important than his sex life, right? Right. But we really
need to tell a teacher about this. Professor Dumbledore's
gone, so maybe Professor McGonagall? But, wait..."
Herione's face fell and her eyes were suddenly lacking
their signature twinkle, "We can't tell a teacher. Ron'd
get in trouble. And so would you, Ginny. I know you
didn't lead Ron out," Hermione went on, acknowledging
Ginny's looks of portest to Hermione's words, "But we
can't prove that, can we? There were noo witnesses that we
know of, and it was after hours, anyway. You'd get
expelled." she finished. Harry's stomach sank as he
thought of where Ron was. He wished he could send Ron an
owl.
A thought hit him like a truck. "Hermione, do you remember
what kind of owl delivered that letter?" he asked, now
ignoring Ginny, who was walking back toward her friends.
"Um, let me think. Oh, yeah! It was an eagle owl. Really
pretty. I was wondering where Ginny got it."
"Let's got to the Owlery. We've still got twenty minutes
before class. We need to find that owl."