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Author: RinnaMarie Story: The Favour Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-DH Status: WIP Warning: None Reviews: 7 Words: 17,912
Ron paced frantically about the lobby, careful not to tread on the toes of passing guests. How could he have been so stupid? He’d expected the worst all day, but he couldn’t possibly have imagined that his big slip-up would come in the form to trying to kiss Hermione. I don’t even want to know what she must think of me, he thought, finally sinking into a nearby armchair. He’d always thought Hermione was pretty terrific, but to decide to announce it to her, in a garden, after she’d been crying her eyes out and after he’d told off her aunt, was just foolish. And the kiss! What on earth had possessed him to do that? It had to have been the setting, he decided. Honestly. A beautiful garden. At sunset. With a fountain. After a wedding. It sounded like a scene taken straight from one of the witches’ magazines that his mother got ‘for the recipes.’ And Hermione really was a wonderful person, but he hadn’t spent any decent amount of time with her in five years. And here he went, buggering up their first real attempt to rekindle their old friendship by being stupid. He stood angrily and started pacing again. Hermione and her mother had returned to the reception to say their goodbyes and to collect Hermione’s grandmother. Ron was not looking forward to what was sure to be a long and awkward car ride back to London. Being in such tight quarters with Hermione’s parents and grandmother was not an ideal situation under normal circumstances, as Grandmother Granger still had no idea her granddaughter was a witch. But after the incident in the garden, Ron just knew that the close quarters and lack of anything else to occupy their attentions would make the drive seem that much longer. He heard heels clicking against the polished floor and turned to see Hermione hurrying toward him. She looked agitated, and he wondered briefly if she was going to tell him off for his behaviour. “Bad news,” she said, pulling him into a corridor off the main lobby. “We can’t leave.” “Why not?” he asked, hoping that he wasn’t required to go back in to the reception and face dreaded Auntie Rania. “Apparently, there’s been an accident on the A-23. Some kind of spill, from the footage on the news. The police have closed down the entire road. We can’t return to London until they open it back up again.” “What?” Ron said blankly. “A lorry that was carrying some kind of chemicals or something turned over, and spilled all over the road,” Hermione said patiently. “I just heard about it from the news. There was some kind of accident, apparently. I don’t know the details; all I know is that the police have closed down the entire road until they can contain the spill or clean it or whatever it is that they do in these situations.” She took a deep breath, pushing a loose lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m really sorry about this.” Ron’s mind raced. He was effectively trapped in this hotel with Hermione and her family. He hadn’t prepared for this. How on earth was he supposed to interact with Muggles for an entire evening? “Look,” Hermione continued, drawing his attention. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll make an excuse for you, and you can go up to the hotel room and Apparate back to London. My parents will understand.” “What about you?” he asked. “What are you going to do?” “I have to stay,” she said, sounding miserable at the thought. “Everyone in the family knows that the road is closed, and they’ll get suspicious if I disappear all evening.” Ron thought for a moment. This was his chance to escape – but he didn’t want to leave Hermione to fend for herself with her awful aunt. “No,” he said. “I’ll stay.” “You don’t have to,” Hermione assured him. “Honestly, I know you’re uncomfortable, and I really appreciate you being here. I don’t want to put you out or anything. And Grandmother Granger told me that Auntie Rania is currently in a sherry-induced stupor in her hotel room. I’ll be fine, I promise.” “I know that,” Ron said. “But it’s not fair for me to duck out and leave you alone. I will need to get back to London for a bit, though. I didn’t bring any pyjamas or anything like that, and I need to check in with the office.” “Are you sure?” Hermione asked, her eyes hopeful. “Yes,” he said. “As long as we don’t have to go back in to that awful reception.” ************ Ginny stirred a cup of mint tea absentmindedly at her kitchen table and flipped through the Daily Prophet. She loved her lazy Saturday evenings, on the rare occasions that she wasn’t called away on some emergency from the office. Her hair, still damp from the long bath she’d taken earlier in the evening, fell heavy on her shoulders. A soft breeze danced through the open kitchen window, ruffling the corners of her paper as she read. From somewhere in the distance, a faint birdsong caught her ear. The whole evening was very quiet and peaceful. Which made the sudden and unexpected appearance of her youngest elder brother all the more alarming. “Ginny?” Ron called, stepping toward the table. “Where are you?” Ginny sputtered indignantly, wiping spilled tea from her hands as she untangled herself from her chair. “What on earth was that for, you prat?” she said, struggling to right herself after tumbling to the floor upon his arrival. “Sorry, Ginny,” he said, rushing over and righting the chair again. She scowled at him, cleaning up the tea with a wave of her wand and Vanishing her now-soggy newspaper. “Well, what is it, then?” she asked, impatiently. “Oh, hang on a minute,” she said, sitting back down and glancing at the clock on the wall. “Shouldn’t you still be with Hermione at the wedding? How did everything go?” Ron groaned and buried his face in his hands. “It’s a mess, Ginny. The whole thing is just a mess.” “What happened?” Ginny asked, Summoning the teapot and pouring a cup for her brother. “Nothing. Everything. Merlin, Ginny. I knew that going to this stupid thing would be a mistake.” He looked at the tea in front of him. “Got anything a little stronger?” Ginny raised her eyebrows. “There’s some wine on the counter, and Firewhisky in the cupboard above the icebox.” Ron immediately stood and made for the whisky. “It didn’t start off badly,” he said, pouring himself a healthy glassful. “I mean, the drive up wasn’t bad.” He drank deeply from his glass. “But then… I don’t know, it was just a reflex or something.” “What was?” Ginny asked. “This kid was picking on his sister, and he was going to throw her doll into the fireplace, and I just couldn’t let it happen. I Summoned the doll.” “You didn’t,” Ginny said, staring at Ron. “I did,” he said, grimacing at the memory. “And then, at the reception, I told off Hermione’s aunt…” “You what?” Ginny cried, dropping her teacup and spilling tea across the table again. “She was being awful, Ginny. But I didn’t mean to, honest. I just couldn’t listen to her tear into Hermione like that, especially after she started crying.” “She was crying? And you told her off? You prat,” Ginny said, smacking the back of her brother’s head. “No, Hermione was crying. Her aunt made her cry, and after she ran out of the room I told off her aunt.” “Oh,” said Ginny. “Sorry for hitting you, then.” “Anyway,” Ron continued, taking another deep pull on his drink, “Hermione ran out crying and I went after her, and…” he lowered his head into his hands again. “Merlin, I’m such an idiot.” “Oh, please,” Ginny said, Vanishing the spilled tea yet again. “You can be the world’s biggest prat sometimes, but I think as your sister, I’m required to think that. You’re not an idiot.” She poured her third cup of tea. “What happened when you went after her?” Ron groaned. “I couldn’t help it. I mean, she was so upset and I was trying to make her feel better, and then she just looked at me with those eyes, and they were all sparkly, because she’d been crying… and it was just the two of us, and I just… I mean…” “Ron,” said Ginny. He looked up. “You’re rambling. What happened?” She looked at him expectantly, raising her teacup to take a sip. “I almost kissed her.” Ginny choked, dropping her teacup a third time. Ron buried his face in his hands again as his sister struggled to regain her composure. “You what?” Ginny screeched, ignoring the burning sensation at the tea dripped from the table on to her lap. “I know, I know,” Ron groaned, replaying the incident in the garden in his head. “I’ve totally buggered everything up, Ginny.” “What happened?” asked Ginny, Vanishing the dripping tea and casting a quick drying spell on her robe. Ron told Ginny everything, from the car ride to the hotel to the near-kiss in the garden. “And now, it seems, there’s been some kind of accident on the road back to London, and we’re probably going to have to stay the night. What am I going to do, Ginny?” he asked, reaching for his glass. “How could I have been so stupid?” “Don’t beat yourself up, Ron,” said Ginny, placing a placating hand on her brother’s arm. “I think your standing up for Hermione like that was quite chivalrous, actually. Romantic, almost.” Ron cast a scathing look at her. “Well, it was,” she said. “And anyway, it sounds like Hermione’s aunt totally deserved it. What a nightmare. Almost makes me glad all of Mum’s family is either dead or boring. That woman makes wretched Pansy Parkinson sound like a tea party.” “I know,” said Ron. “You know, I’m starting to think that maybe it’s just something with Muggle aunts. I mean, Hermione’s parents are lovely. But her aunt… and we all know Harry’s aunt was a stroppy old cow, too.” “Good point,” said Ginny, grinning. “So tell me about this almost-kiss.” Ron groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it.” “Of course you do,” Ginny said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have come here. Was it going to be like a friendly, how’s-your-mum type kiss, or a serious, let-me-sweep-you-off-your-feet type kiss?” “How on earth would I know that?” Ron asked. “I didn’t actually kiss her.” “Do you fancy her?” Ginny asked. Ron sighed. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I know you did when we were in school,” Ginny said. “Why didn’t you do something about it then?” “Are you serious?” Ron asked. “Please, Hermione wouldn’t have fancied me in school. Not unless someone slipped her a love potion or something. And besides, she was with Krum, and then there was the whole Lavender fiasco. And then…” Ron trailed off, not wanting to bring himself down further by talking about the final battle. Ginny nodded sympathetically. “And then she took off for Egypt to intern with Bill, and she’s been all over the place since then. I haven’t even seen her for more than a couple of hours at a time in five years. How am I supposed to fancy someone I don’t even see?” Ron paused, drinking the last of the whisky from his glass. “And besides, Hermione loves her work. She loves the travel, the lifestyle. She’s been to places that I’ve only ever read about in books. My work, my life – it’s all there,” he said, gesturing to the faint city line visible through the kitchen window. “Even if I did still fancy Hermione, which I don’t even know if I do, it would never work. I would never ask her to give up her life for me, and I can’t imagine doing anything other than what I’m doing now. And it’s been five years, Ginny. We’re both completely different people.” Ginny nodded thoughtfully. “You may be right, Ron,” she said. “Lord knows you’ve learned a thing or two since our school days.” She poked him playfully, and he grinned. “But first, you need to work out how you really feel about Hermione. It’s completely possible that you’ve outgrown your crush on her, and that the near-kiss in the garden was simply a throwback to how you would have behaved the last time you were around her. Or it could be that you do still fancy her. I can’t tell you which is right.” “I know,” Ron said, staring at his empty glass. “The other thing,” Ginny said, pouring herself another cup of tea, “is to talk to Hermione. You two have been friends for far too long to let something like this go unspoken.” Ron nodded. “You’re right. Thanks, Ginny.” “Anytime,” she said, smiling. “Now, do you have any other bombs to drop on me? Because I’d really like to actually drink my tea this time.” “Yeah, sorry about that,” Ron said sheepishly. “I think I’m finished. I have to go via my flat and get some things, anyway. I didn’t expect to be spending the night.” “Alright, then,” Ginny said, rising to hug her brother. “Let me know how everything turns out, okay?” “Sure,” said Ron. “And thanks again, Ginny.” He waved his wand and Disapparated with a pop.
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