Kiss the Girl

Kiss the Girl

Chapter 8

In Which Ron is Hearing Voices

***

Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

-Franklin P. Jones

***

Luckily enough, Hermione and Ron were not in the Common Room to hear Harry's ominous declaration. It's not that Harry was morbid, you see, just used to disaster. Disaster on a large scale, too. One might mention the time when Hermione got petrified, or when Ginny got possessed and dragged into a big sewer-like tunnel. But perhaps we've traveled down this road before.

Ron rocked from front to back, hands in his trouser pockets. Hermione was staring at the Fat Lady suspiciously, as if the portrait knew the reason for Harry's odd actions. Eventually, Ron cleared his throat. "I'm sure Harry's fine, Hermione, but we should probably go if we want to make it back in time for the feast." Ron looked at his watch, "The feast is starting late because of the Hogsmeade weekend...so we have two hours until we have to be back here at eight o'clock."

'Ronald Weasley, everybody, with a brilliant rendition of Big Ben,' a voice echoed through Ron's head. The redhead thought back to when he had told Harry that hearing voices in the wizarding world was a bad thing, and gulped. It seemed he was being paid back for the comment now. 'Yeah, karma's a bit--" Ron shook his head, temporarily clearing out the voice.

"Are you okay, Ron?" Hermione was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

Ron fought back a blush. "Yeah, just anxious to get going, is all," he lied.

Hermione and Ron started off, both still pretending that what they were doing was in no way resembling a date. If Fred and George had been there they would have stated that 'denial' wasn't just a river in Egypt. The couple, or two friends, as they would have called themselves, walked down the dirt path towards the village, casting surreptitious glances at each other as they went. When one managed to catch the other they would both look away, blushing, making the new friend Ron possessed in his head quite exasperated.

'This is pathetic, just kiss her already,' said the voice.

'I certainly will not!' thought Ron. 'No matter what Harry says, this is not a date.'

'And I'm not making you think you've gone bonkers, whatever gets ya to sleep at night, buddy.'

Ron fought back the urge to throw himself onto the ground and flail his arms and legs. No, he didn't think that would help anything, but it was tempting all the same. Hermione seemed oblivious to Ron's inner-voice, which Ron felt was just about the only thing he had to be thankful for. That, and the way she had just blushed when he looked at her.

'Maybe she does like me...' Ron thought.

'Give the guy a prize!' came the unheard voice. 'At this rate, he'll be tying his shoes by Christmas.' Ron wondered if was possible for one to dismantle their own brain. 'Not so much, no,' the voice had taken it upon itself to answer Ron's question.

"Ron, where do you want to go?" Hermione's voice cut through Ron's pensiveness like a knife, causing him to blink.

"What did you say?" he said.

"Honestly, Ron. Maybe if you just paid more attention you wouldn't be having so much trouble with your History of Magic essay."

"No, but maybe if that class wasn't where I caught up on all my lost sleep I wouldn't," Ron quipped.

Hermione didn't reply, afraid Ron would bring up the few times that she too had succumbed to the melodic lullaby of Professor Binn's voice. It was the perfect thing to get a person to sleep. Ron was smart enough to keep his mouth closed though, which prevented what would certainly be a fight. It would not have helped that they had just stepped on to the village's main road, and were in a swarm of people, a very bad place for a proper fight.

'Good thinking,' Ron's head told him.

'Don't you ever shut up?' was Ron's reply.

'Not with that kind of attitude,' huffed the voice. Ron got the mental image of a tiny Ron pulling out a beach chair and umbrella, lounging about as if he was not going anywhere any time soon. 'Did I just get myself mad at myself?' he wondered. The voice, angry at him, chose this comment to stop replying. However, this was the only break Ron would gather all night, so he should have enjoyed it. Too bad it only made him scared.

"Well, we could go get a drink, if you want to," Ron stammered, hoping that she would indeed want to.

"I'd like that, Ron." Hermione blushed.

It was true that Ron and Hermione had gone to The Three Broomsticks together many a time, especially during their third year when Harry was unable to attend the visits, but this particular expedition seemed nerve-racking somehow. Hermione handled this stress by babbling ceaselessly, talking about everything under the sun. Ron even heard her mention S.P.E.W., something she rarely did anymore (this was probably because the house elves had threatened to shrink all of her clothes in the beginning of September, during another one of her futile efforts to make them ask for a salary.)

Ron heard only bits and pieces of the many topics, losing himself in the way her body moved as she walked and talked. She had a habit of speaking with her hands, using them to indicate what she was feeling. However, once she had made a hand motion a bit too flamboyant, and the back of her hand brushed up against Ron's chest.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, pulling her limb back as if it had been burned. Ron wondered if he had spilt the hot chocolate he'd had that morning on his shirt.

'Yeah, that's just what happened, smarty,' the voice was back with a vengeance, causing Ron to groan.

"Are you okay, Ron?" Hermione asked, misinterpreting the sound. Of course she had barely touched him, but that didn't make a difference.

Ron made it a mental note to avoid the voice inside his head, in case Hermione took a notion to having him committed. "Er...yes, I was just thinking."

"So you groaned?" Hermione looked confused.

'Well, it is a bit hard for you,' said the voice. This comment made the redhead wonder if Draco Malfoy had literally gotten inside his head.

"No, I was thinking about the essay I have to write on the origins of astronomy, is all."

"Oh, well, I could give you some pointers in the pub," offered Hermione.

"Okay, we'll start with the opening paragraph, then the body, and then the conclusion," kidded Ron, who knew full well what kind of reaction this would create.

"Ronald Weasley! You know perfectly well that I will not write this essay for you..." Hermione carried on until they reached the door of The Three Broomsticks.

"Yeesh, I was just kidding, Hermione," Ron finally interrupted.

"It wasn't very funny," said Hermione. At the same time the voice in his head uttered the same thing.

'I think the whole world is against me!' Ron thought to himself, not surprised when the inner-voice only laughed. He pondered if Dumbledore could kill the little bugger, causing the voice to give a low growl.

'Just hold the door open for her!' the voice hissed. Ron, thinking that this wasn't a half-bad idea, did so. Hermione looked at him quizzically, unaccustomed to the newfound chivalry Ron had picked up.

Inside the pub everything was a mix of orange and black. Carved pumpkins lined the large window shelves, blissfully unenchanted, and therefore silent. Sparkly gold letters hung over the bar, reading "Happy Halloween!" A skeleton sat at a nearby booth, drinking ale and not caring that it passed right though his body, splattering on to his seat and the floor below him. Hermione shivered at the sight, she hated skeletons. Ron, noticing this, put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Hermione looked up at him and then back down at his hand. Ron wondered if she was going to make him move it. Or maybe just break it while she did it herself. Though the two had never been cautious of causal touching before, tonight was a different story. Thankfully, Hermione did neither, just nodded and walked to a booth on the far side of the room. Ron shrugged, hopelessly clueless.

'But that's why you have me!' a voice piped up--though only in Ron's head of course. Ron suppressed another groan, then followed Hermione back to the table.

***

"Ginny! We can't go spy on them."

"This, coming from you! Absolutely precious," Ginny grumbled.

"What are you talking about?"

"Are you not the same boy who has spied on countless people in your five years here?"

Harry looked at her nervously, unaware of what she knew about his adventures. "What are you talking about, Ginny?" he said seriously.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist," Ginny waved her hand as if dismissing his concern, "I only know what the rest of the school knows--though I'm sure there's plenty more--which basically consists of the whole mess with the Philosopher's Stone and..." she trailed off, the playfulness in her voice gone.

"And what, Ginny?" Fear that his secrets had leaked out was replaced by worry. "You mean the Chamber of Secrets?" he asked quietly. She only nodded, then shuddered.

"I don't want to talk about it." Ginny got up from couch she and Harry were sharing. Harry followed her, then put a hand out on her shoulder.

"Ginny?"

"What?" Ginny didn't turn around. In truth, her emotions were in uproar. The way Harry had just touched her seemed painfully cruel. She'd waited a long time to have him with her like this, and now all it brought was agony. He was her friend, that was all. She briefly considered if it would be better to end their newfound friendship then let him continue torturing her with his kind words and gestures. However, Harry's next sentence caught her by complete surprise, and vanquished the idea from her mind.

"How about...how about one day, I'll tell you my secrets, and you can tell me yours?"

'I suppose that if all we'll ever be is friends, that's good enough for me,' Ginny told herself, not completely sure that she telling herself the truth. It's awfully funny really--the way human beings can lie to themselves, the only person who can actually know everything about them. Very funny indeed.

Ginny turned to face him, "I'd like to do that one day, Harry. One day," she started up the dormitory stairs.

Harry, feeling sorry for bringing up her second year, let his guilt get the better of him. "Ginny!" he called. She turned to look at him questioningly.

"Let's go spy on Ron and Hermione," his words caused her to give him a big smile before going up to get her cloak.

***

Harry and Ginny walked to Hogsmead without the use of the Invisibility Cloak, planning to just keep in the shadows while near Ron and Hermione were nearby.

"I feel like James Bond," Harry told Ginny at one point.

"Like James what?"

"No, not what, who. James Bond. He's a British spy from the movies."

"The what?"

Harry shook his head, hoping Ginny hadn't inherited her father's fascination for anything that had to do with non-magic folk.

"Harry, tell me!" Ginny insisted, very put out by Harry's lack of a reply. Harry went on to explain the whole process to her, and later the entire plot behind James Bond. When they were done, Harry waited for her response.

"Okay, so, I get to be a 'Bond Girl' or whatever that is, since you're James Bond?" she asked him.

"Er...if you want, I guess." Harry had never known Ginny to be so quirky, never having been subjected to her actual personality, only the clumsy stuttering act she lapsed into when she happened to notice his presence.

"Alright then, James. Let's go." Harry followed her into The Three Broomsticks, where both spotted Ron and Hermione immediately. They depended largely on the flock of Hogwarts students that surrounded them to make them unnoticeable. The pair slid into a booth opposite the room from Ron and Hermione's, making sure that they could see their friends, but their friends couldn't see them.

A band was set up, Harry noticed, looking towards the front of the pub. Indeed, a witch was singing prettily, and couples both young and old danced on a newly erected dance floor in front of her.

Hermione and Ron never noticed Ginny or Harry's entry, and continued chatting for the better part of half an hour. That is, until Ron noticed the way Hermione was watching the other couples dance.

The voice in Ron's head decided there was no better time for a pep talk. 'Alright, buddy. This is it, the chance you've been waiting for since the first time you set eyes on her.'

'But I didn't like Hermione the first time I met her!' argued Ron, who wanted nothing better than to shut the voice up.

'Sure you did, you just didn't know it. You were only how old? Eleven, wasn't it? Of course you didn't know you liked her then! Honestly.'

'What's your bloody point,' Ron mentally grumbled.

'Ask her to dance, Ronald. Come now, you're a big boy, use that head of yours.'

'How am I supposed to do that when you take up so much space up there!' Ron rebuked.

'Ron, just do this for yourself, and I promise to leave you alone, for the time being that is.'

'Any deal that would make you stay away longer?' tried Ron.

'Don't bet your galleons on it.'

Ron sighed, facing the inevitable. "Erm...Hermione," he began.

"Yes?" she asked.

"You wouldn't want to, oh I don't know..."

"Yes?" Hermione repeated.

"Dancewithme," finished Ron in one quick word.

Hermione smiled at him. "I'd love to Ron, but I'm really an awful dancer."

"You didn't dance awfully with Krum last year," grumbled Ron, forgetting that he probably shouldn't bring up the Bulgarian Seeker.

"I wasn't very good, Ron, and you know it," huffed Hermione.

'No, you were beautiful,' said the little voice in Ron's head.

"No, you were beautiful," said Ron.

Both he and Hermione were astounded. For you see, Ronald Weasley didn't say things like that...things that made Hermione's face turn crimson and a hesitant nod overtake her head. Ron, afraid to speak for fear of saying anything else that was hideously embarrassing, held out a hand to her. She accepted it, and they walked out onto the floor.

"He did it!" squealed Ginny, jabbing Harry in the ribs.

"I know, I can't believe it," replied Harry, staring wondrously at the sight from the dark table.

"I wish I could go out there and dance, too," Ginny said, more to herself than to Harry.

Harry kept staring at his best friends. "I'd take you, but I don't want them to see us." Harry hadn't even realized that he had said these words, but Ginny surely did. The bottle of Butterbeer she had brought to her lips was just sitting there in her unresponsive hand, perilously close to spilling all over her.

Ron was much to wrapped up in Hermione to check on the actions of his best friend and little sister. After a brief moment of confusion, the couple had their arms in the appropriate positions, but had yet to begin dancing.

"Maybe we should start?" tried Hermione.

"Er...I guess that's a good idea."

Suddenly the girl on the makeshift stage cut the music, causing Ron and Hermione to jump apart. "Don't leave just yet!" the singer said. She had long ebony hair that hung to her waist, and very pale skin. Pale pink lips and dark eyelashes complimented her pale blue eyes, but Ron didn't notice any of this. He just stared at Hermione, hoping he would still get to dance with her. "This next song," continued the singer, "is one of my father's favorites. He's a Muggle, you see, and one wrote this song as well. I know it's not what you all are used to, but I thought I'd give it a try."

Just then the new song began to play. It reminded Hermione of the songs her father liked to listen to, and she laughed, wondering perhaps if it was one he did listen to. Ron placed his arms back around her body, tickling her as he did so, she shivered. They started to sway to the happy tune...

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy;
Make just one heart the heart you sing to.
One smile that cheers you,
One face that lights when it nears you,
One girl you're ev'rything to.

Fame if you win it,
Comes and goes in a minute.
Where's the real stuff in life to cling to?
Love is the answer,
Someone to love is the answer.
Once you've found her, build your world around her.

Ron leaned in, not caring that the song they danced to wasn't the most romantic he'd ever heard. The song made him want to kiss her, and the voice in his head cheered him on.

Literally. 'Go Ron, go Ron, go Ron, it's your birthday!' it cried.

Harry smiled to himself, thinking that he was very happy that he wasn't jealous of his best friends' budding romance, as it certainly seemed to be coursing full-speed ahead.

Ginny bounced up and down in her seat, unable to keep a goofy smile off her face as she watched the couple on the dance floor. Ginny, being quite the romantic, was in her glory.

Hermione realized belatedly Ron's intention, when his lips were only a few centimeter's from her own. Then she did something that shocked everybody.

"No, Ron--don't." Ron pulled away immediately, a hurt look in his eyes. His first "kiss" was a failure, and the girl he wanted to give it to had rejected him.

Hermione was crushed by the look in his eyes. "Ron...I'm sorry..." a tear ran down her face as she ran out of the pub, leaving Ron standing quite alone.

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy,
And you will be happy, too.