"Charms is so freaking boring!" Pansy complained. Hermione laughed.
"Really? I think it's quite fun." Pansy sighed.
"Of course you do! You like every class! Well, except Divination." Hermione laughed again.
Hermione sighed as she and Pansy passed another group of students that were obviously whispering about them. Pansy noticed and playfully shoved her.
"Hey! What was that for?" Hermione asked as she rubbed her arm.
"Ignore them, 'Mione." Hermione chuckled.
"It's not exactly that I'm embarrassed. It's just getting annoying." Pansy sighed.
"Tell me about it." Hermione and Pansy kept talking when suddenly someone roughly ran into Hermione.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, git," Pansy exclaimed as she helped stabilize Hermione.
"Oh! Sorry, 'Mione. I wasn't watching where I was going." Hermione scoffed and looked up at her bumper buddy.
"Ron?" Ron smiled idiotically. Though it seemed as if he smiled more with his lips than with his eyes. "Since when do you walk so fast? You basically knocked me off my feet." Harry laughed.
"Yeah, Ron. You started walking faster right before you ran into Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes.
"Are you accusing me of purposefully walking into her?" Ron accused. Harry laughed.
"Of course not!" Hermione laughed halfheartedly.
"We'd better get going. We're going to be late to class," Hermione muttered. Pansy and Hermione started to walk away when Ron suddenly grabbed Hermione by her arm. Out of instinct, she flinched away. Ron either didn't notice or didn't care.
Ron leaned in towards Hermione's ear. "Meet me on the Quidditch field during lunch." Hermione involuntarily shivered. And with that, Ron and Harry left Pansy and Hermione alone in the hallway.
"What did he say?" Pansy inquired. Hermione shrugged.
"He asked me to meet him on the Quidditch field during lunch." Pansy arched a brow.
"Asked? Or told." Hermione didn't answer.
"C'mon. We're going to be late." Hermione started to walk away. Pansy sighed and went to catch up with Hermione.
"Ron just seemed... different." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You wouldn't even know if he was acting different. You two hate each other's guts. Hated?" Pansy snickered.
"Nope, still hate. I admitted that I've always thought you were cool, but I really do hate them."
"Harry too?" Pansy thought for a moment.
"Not really sure yet. He seems okay." Hermione laughed.
"Yeah. Ron has seemed distant and cold-shouldered all summer. He's been better ever since we found out we were coming back to Hogwarts."
"Did you two break up yet?" Pansy asked. Hermione sighed.
"I think we have. It's kind of like an up spoken break up, but he might say it out loud soon. I mean, he just asked me to meet him somewhere. He's probably just going to clarify that it's over." Pansy sighed.
"Finally! You deserve someone so much better than him." Hermione scoffed.
"I don't remember asking you for relationship advice." Pansy rolled her eyes.
"Just be careful. He seemed, just, I don't really know. Angry? Basically, he acted like a right out git." Hermione looked down at her feet.
"He was being polite," Hermione murmured.
"Polite my ass. He was just trying not to act out of the ordinary. Anyone could see that. Right?" Hermione kept quiet. "Right, Hermione?"
Hermione looked down at her feet. Pansy sighed.
"Can you not to the stuff that's right in front of you, 'Mione? He was acting like a sociopath. Other than a fake smile, he showed almost no genuine emotion."
"He's just depressed about Fred," Hermione whispered. Pansy sighed. Hermione was about to say something else when she was suddenly almost knocked to the ground. Again.
"What's with everyone bumping into me today?" Hermione muttered as she stumbled to the ground.
"Dude, what the hell is with everyone running into you today?" Pansy snickered as she helped Hermione to her feet.
"Excuse me." Hermione looked up and found Draco looking down at her. Pansy sneered at him.
"What? No name calling? No sneers?" Pansy asked mockingly. Draco let out an empty laugh. Hermione and Pansy shared a shocked look.
"Well, I'll see you two around." And with that, Draco turned and strode off. Hermione and Pansy watched him until he disappeared around the corner.
"What in the hell just happened?" Hermione asked in disbelief after a minute of silence.
"I don't know. But let's go. We're going to be late to class again," Pansy muttered. Hermione brushed off her robes. Pansy then grabbed her arm and led them both to their next class.
~After Class~
"You're really going?" Pansy asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure he just wants closure," Hermione muttered. Pansy sighed.
"Closure? Yeah, right. I could come with you if you wanted," Pansy offered.
"No. He made it sound like he wanted me to come alone." Pansy rolled her eyes.
"You're so naive! Maybe I can watch you from a distance," Pansy said quietly.
"Fine! If it will give you satisfaction, then go ahead. Just please don't make it obvious and please, please, don't be seen by Ron." Pansy nodded.
"But before we go, can I please grab something to eat? I'm super hungry," Hermione asked.
"Yeah, sure. But let's hurry. We wouldn't want to keep Prince Charming waiting." Hermione rolled her eyes.
Hermione and Pansy walked into the Great Hall.
"Well, at least the whispers have more or less died down," Pansy whispered as the two friends made their way across the room. When they reached the Eighth year table, Harry stood up.
"Hermione? What are you doing? I thought you were meeting Ron," Harry asked as Hermione sat down.
"I am. I'm just hungry. I'm going to eat a little and then head down there." Harry sighed.
"Just hurry. He seemed very antsy to see you." Hermione kept eating.
"Let the girl eat, Potter. It's not like Weasel gave her any chance to agree anyway," Pansy ordered. Harry nodded.
"I guess you're right." Hermione shot a look of thanks to Pansy and continued to eat. When she was finished, she stood up.
"I'm going to head down there. He's probably waiting." Pansy sighed and stood up too.
"I'm going to go too. I've got some stuff I got to do," Pansy said as she stood. Hermione and Pansy both walked out together and started heading towards the field.
Hermione snickered.
"What?" Pansy asked. Hermione didn't answer. Instead, she laughed harder.
"What, Hermione?" Pansy demanded. Hermione pretended to wipe a tear from her eye.
"Stuff? Is that the best excuse you could come up with?" Hermione asked while still laughing.
"What's wrong with that?" Pansy asked.
"'I've got some stuff' is the most cliche phrase in the book," Hermione mocked as she finally stopped laughing.
"Whatever. We're almost to the fields. Let me walk out a different way so that I can watch you unnoticed," Pansy offered.
"Sure," Hermione said as she nodded her head. Pansy waved a goodbye and left Hermione to her own thoughts.
Author's note
I did it! Two updates in two days! Are you proud of me? I thought that since I waited so long to update last time, I might as well post a little more for the next few days. You might even get an update tomorrow. That was a maybe. But hopefully I can work up enough willpower to update more and more. After this update spam, I think I'll start updating this story at least twice a week. I don't really know... Anyways, thanks for reading! Kiss Kiss!