A/N: This is the last chapter, yay! I just want to thank all of my wonderful reviewers: mt-threat (we miss you guys too! hope the concert was fun!), neespence, drlover, Aqb Dk, ILoveRon91, xonlyx3xashesx, goblin monkey, legolascrazy17, cmpbtdudethe, and MistressEmilio (it definitely would be nice if we all had friends like Ginny to push us together with the one we fancy...and yes, they get to have an interesting detention together ;) ). I really appreciate all of your reviews, especially because I got an awful and uncalled for flame recently. You guys are great. Thanks a lot for taking the time to read and review. Now, enjoy!
I showed up late for my detention. It wasn't my fault, really. And the truth was that I didn't even care. I was glad to be alive and in the castle.
This was what happened:
I'd been just sitting there alone on a fallen tree branch and experiencing the end of my life as I knew it, when I heard the sound of a tree rustling to my left. And then a roar. And then I remembered that my bookbag was still sitting outside Gryffindor Tower under the painting of that seamstress. With my wand inside.
So I did what anyone would do in that sort of situation.
I screamed...and ran.
Which made me realize that I really should start running on a regular basis as exercise, considering that I always seem to get into these death-defying situations and don't practice Quidditch all the time like Harry and Ginny and Ron.
Ron.
I tripped and fell into a ditch of mud and leaves. Great.
After getting up and trying to wipe mud off of my face and clothes, I looked around. And realized that although I'd escaped the monster, I had no idea where I was.
I looked at my watch. Quarter to seven. I had fifteen minutes to get myself out of the forest, to Gryffindor Tower to get my wand, and back to the Potions dungeon for detention. It was impossible and so I decided to have a mental breakdown right in the middle of the forbidden forest.
After that little episode, and once I became sane enough again to figure out my way out of the forest (which I'd like to say was by some clever means, but was really just lucky wandering), I was somehow able to make it to the dungeon by 7:22. Which was still, mind you, 22 minutes after I was supposed to arrive. I even considered not going to detention and faking that I'd gotten sick. With everything that had happened, I was feeling horribly awful.
Responsibly, stupidly, I opened the dungeon door instead.
"And here's the student we've been waiting for. Gone for a roll in mud, Miss Granger?"
Ron's head whipped around at my name and he stared at me as if his entire world had gone topsy-turvy. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before getting out a feeble, "Hermione?"
I nodded and went to sit down at the same table as Ron, as far away from him as I could. I looked straight at Professor Snape and tried not to feel Ron's eyes on me. It's just a detention. The way he was looking at me it was as if he'd just heard that I'd decided to drop out of school and do divination on the streets.
"I'm sorry that I'm late Professor," I said as dignified as I could. "I was unavoidably detained."
"You get another detention two days from now Granger." I nodded. Professor Snape walked in front of the table and threw down a pair of dragonhide gloves and two scrub brushes. "For detention tonight you will be cleaning all of the cauldrons over there."
He waved his hand in the general direction of a massive pile of grimy, oozing cauldrons. It would take forever to clean all of them.
"And my bad week just gets worse," I heard Ron mumble. My stomach plummeted as I remembered my part in his bad week. Oh God.
"Most of them are from your class today and the rest are from the fourth years' potions. I suggest you use the gloves Mr. Weasley, unless you wish to visit the hospital wing twice in one day."
Ron nodded and continued looking straight ahead. He obviously didn't want to be here with me. He wouldn't even look in my direction.
"I'll be back in four hours. I expect all of those cauldrons to be spotless."
With one last glare, Snape swept out of the dungeon, leaving Ron and I in an awkward and incredibly silent situation. He wasn't even moving or blinking. Turning away, I got out my wand and whispered the spell I'd memorized earlier. My hand glowed green for a moment and I let out a sigh of relief. I wasn't allergic.
"What are you doing here?"
I'd gotten so used to the silence that Ron's voice shocked me. I turned to face him.
"What do you think?" I said a bit harshly. "I got detention."
"You?"
"Yes."
"But, it's you!"
"Don't act as if it's some impossible event for me to get in trouble. I got a detention in first year too if you don't remember. And the detention's all your fault anyway." It felt nice to argue with Ron. Normal.
"What in hell are you on about?"
"The only reason that I've got this detention is because you landed yourself in the hospital. Snape was being a complete jerk about the whole thing and I guess I lost my head a bit. I yelled at him."
"You yelled at Snape and got a detention because of me?" His eyes went wide as if he couldn't quite believe it.
"Yes, well."
"But I thought - "
"That I thought all teachers were saints and would never say an ill word against them?"
He looked at me oddly for a second before responding. "Er, yes?"
"Well, I don't think that Professor Snape is a saint," I said firmly, "And if you recall, I didn't bloody well think that Umbridge was a saint either, did I?"
"Hermione," Ron said softly, "you swore."
He was looking at me strangely again. It's his own fault if I'm acting out of character. He's just so distracting. I just take one look at his bright blue eyes and his ruffled hair and the unshaven and out of sorts look he's sporting now and I just can't concentrate. So what if I swore?
"Yes," I finally said, "I happen to do that when you're being particularly frustrating."
"Well," Ron started as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. He seemed to be thinking of a good response.
"Let's just get started," I said finally. "Take the gloves, I'm not allergic."
Ron took them and put them on. We both grabbed the cleaning brushes went over to the sink. I saw Ron glance hesitantly over to the pile of cauldrons.
"Yeah, it's disgusting."
"We could've gotten worse," Ron said with a shrug.
We both went to grab a cauldron and our hands brushed. We both dropped the cauldron and it fell to the floor and rolled away, echoing in the dungeon. He didn't even want to touch me.
I should've pretended to be sick.
"Hermione, about earlier, when Ginny said...er, what she said..." Ron's voice stumbled. I didn't want to do this now. I picked up the fallen cauldron and started scrubbing it, careful not to touch any of the potion inside.
"I don't want you to feel that..." he continued awkwardly, "I mean, I don't want us to not be friends."
"Don't worry about it. We both know that Ginny didn't mean what she said. You don't fancy me, you fancy Lavender and I don't fancy you."
"I know you don't," he said angrily, "and what about Lavender?"
Ron glared at me and grabbed the cauldron off the floor and started to scrub it harshly.
"That you fancy the superficial slag, you prat!"
How dare he actually make me say it, I thought as I took out my anger on the already clean cauldron. How horrible could one person be?
It took me a minute to realize how silent the room was and that Ron was standing still beside with his hands frozen in position holding onto the cauldron and brush.
"Hermione," he said in a wondrous tone, as if he'd realized some deep mystery. "How can someone as smart as you be so incredibly daft?"
Daft! I was the top of our class!
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Ron had the nerve to smile as I swore again. And then laugh.
"What in the world would make you think that I fancy Lavender?"
I dropped the cauldron and glared at Ron.
"Because you said so!"
Ron continued to laugh and finally choked out, "Since when do you listen to me?"
I was tempted to throw something at him, but I didn't want to drag him to the hospital room and everything around us was covered with that dratted potion. Instead, I just crossed my arms and frowned.
"Why are you being so cheerful anyway?" I asked petulantly. "We're supposed to be in the middle of a fight."
Ron suddenly smiled and gave a loud sigh. "Because I thought I didn't have a chance before, you know, until you started acting like me."
What?
"I don't act anything like you."
"Oh yes you do," he said confidently. "You're acting about Lavender the way that I did about Vicky."
"His name is Viktor," I responded out of habit. "And I'm not acting any particular way about Lavender." I ground out her name.
"Yes you are," he replied cheerfully. "And I know why, because I know why I acted the way I did."
"Oh really then," I said haughtily, "Why were you a complete and utter jerk?"
"You're jealous," he said, his tone wavering a bit.
My eyes widened. So he knew. He knew that I fancied him.
"I am not!" I shouted.
"Then why do you care?" Ron took a step closer to me and I backed into the counter. "Why'd you yell at Snape and get a detention all because of me?"
I hated feeling cornered. I couldn't just tell him. He couldn't know. Well, anymore than he already suspected. Our friendship could recover from this, but what would happen if I actually told him?
"Because well...er..."
I decided what I was going to say. I was going to say that I'd simply done it because Snape was being an irresponsible professor and someone needed to say something. And Ron was my friend. I'd do anything for a friend.
I could stick to that story for life. I was prepared to and stubborn enough to actually do it. I closed my eyes, trying to find the strength to lie confidently to my best friend.
Suddenly, a sense of warmth spread over me and the words that came out of me weren't at all what I was expecting.
"Because I love you."
I clapped my hand over my mouth, but it was too late. The truth was out. I couldn't hide from it anymore. Nervous about seeing Ron's reaction, I opened first one eye and then the other.
He looked disbelieving.
"Really?" he whispered. I nodded because I couldn't think of anything else to do.
And then, just as I was about to walk away, Ron pulled me into a hug. With his arms around me, I finally felt complete, like I was the whole person I'd been trying to be my entire life.
Ron pulled back and brushed a wisp of hair away from my face. He was smiling. It was a broad, blinding smile like he'd just won the Quidditch World Cup. I felt like I was in a dream. Ron didn't seem upset that I fancied him...no, loved him. He seemed happy...ecstatic. I loved him! And it seemed like he, maybe, hopefully...
"Hermione," Ron said in a low tone of voice that I knew was meant only for me. He paused and then grinned before leaning towards my ear. "Ditto."
I laughed and pushed him. I'm sure my smile was as big as Ron's.
Ditto.
He loved me. Even my inner voice sounded dreamy.
"You're going to have to actually say it sometime, you know," I teased as he reached out an arm and pulled me back.
Ron's blue eyes sparkled mischievously and for a second I was reminded of the twins. Until, that is, Ron leaned down and whispered against my lips, "I'd rather show you first."
And he did.
THE END!
A/N: I really hope all of you enjoyed it! I know that I enjoyed writing it. And for those of you who would like to see more of Harry and Ginny (and a bit of R/Hr from Harry's POV), I'll be posting the first chapter of 500 Ways to Make Things Right soon. It's the last installment in the series, and be sure to expect a few more twists and turns!