The Beauty of First, Er, Second Love

The Beauty of First, Er, Second Love

Ch. 7

Hermione refused to even acknowledge Ron's presence around her at all the next few days. She steadfastly ignored him, often talking only to Harry, who, as usual, found himself between yet another argument. He could only take so much, and after two days of Hermione and Ron's behavior, he began talking more to Seamus, Dean or Neville. When Ron approached and confronted Harry, he said simply, "No, Ron. I'm not going to be in the middle of another one of yours and Hermione's arguments. You two settle it, or else... well. You can enjoy being miserable for as long as you like. Just leave me out of it."

Ron had been ignoring both Harry and Hermione ever since. He often talked with Seamus, Dean or Neville as well, whenever Harry wasn't with one or more of them. And as far as he knew, Hermione spent every waking minute in the library. He began missing them, but there was no way he was going to be the first one to admit he was wrong. Hermione needed to apologize first, as far as Ron was concerned.

Hermione had taken on an entirely new approach to this separation from Harry and Ron. She had spent the first couple days buried up to her ears in books, but on the third, an idea blossomed in her head. She began noticing that Daphne was often in the library as well, usually with her nose stuck in some novel. She wasn't in every single day, but she could be found at odd times at one table or another. It was after seeing this that Hermione's idea began to take shape, and she decided to try it out.

On Wednesday after classes were out, she made her usual trip to the library, hoping against hope Daphne would be there. Stepping in the huge doors, she made her way over to her usual table, her eyes surveying her surroundings. No... wait! Yes, there she was, over by the window. She almost never sat there, but today she was. Squaring her shoulders, Hermione took a deep breath and made her way over to Daphne's table. She cleared her throat and said feebly, "Uh... excuse me. Daphne?"

Daphne looked up, her blonde hair swinging in her face as she did. Daphne swept the wayward strands behind her ear and looked squarely at Hermione. When she saw whom it was, a blush spread over her face quickly. She ducked her head and said, "Yes?"

"Erm... well, can I sit here?" Hermione stammered, shifting from one foot to the other. Suddenly she stood straight, thinking to herself, Why am I acting so nervous? Daphne has the crush, not me... although, I am Ron's best friend. She's probably just as nervous, if not more. She shook herself and saw Daphne nodding her head. "Sure, Hermione, you can sit here. I mean, if you want to."

Releasing a sigh of relief, Hermione quickly set her things down at the other side of the table and sat. She made a show of getting all her homework out. Finally, she had it all out, and began working on her Charms essay. Suddenly, she threw the quill down and said, "Oh, bloody hell. Who am I kidding? Look, Daphne, I actually wanted to talk to you."

Daphne nodded. "Yes, I thought as much. You Gryffindors never really make a show of sitting with us Slytherins unless there's something in it for you. So, what can I do for you?"

Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but closed it quickly. Daphne had a point. No other house except Ravenclaw really associated with Slytherins on a regular basis. Shrugging the thought out of her head, she spoke.

"Umm... well, all right, I do want something from you. See, the thing is, Ron and I kind of, um, figured out that you are his Secret Admirer, and now he's saying that just because you're Slytherin he won't date you, and now Harry won't talk to either of us until we work it out, so I thought that if I could just show Ron that not all Slytherins are like Malfoy and his cronies..." Hermione said all of this in a rush, her cheeks flaming by the time she finished.

Daphne's mouth dropped open as Hermione trailed off. She looked as if she was about to rush out of the library. Hermione, seeing this, said quickly, "Oh, Daphne, don't run off! Please! I think you and Ron would make a fabulous couple! It's only that he's so thick that he thinks all Slytherins are Muggle hating, V- Voldemort worshipping Death Eaters! And I know that isn't the case. At least, I'm hoping so."

Daphne studied Hermione thoughtfully, finally speaking. "Yes, all right, Hermione. I'll be perfectly straight with you. You figured it out; I am Ron's Secret Admirer. But you're just proving exactly what I said in my letters to him- he won't date me because of the simple fact that I'm a Slytherin. In spite of the fact that I'm only a half-blood, which makes the rest of Slytherin hate me as well. I was always truthful in my letters- I never lied once. Well, only the time I said I'd already had Care of Magical Creatures. But I did that to throw him off, simply because I wanted him to get to know me before he found out I was Slytherin, and therefore in his eyes, unworthy. But your finding out ruined it. Ron is just like all Gryffindors; he hates Slytherins because he bases all of us on one person- Malfoy. That's exactly like Malfoy basing all Gryffindors on one person and saying that you all are bigoted, rule breaking idiots and that Dumbledore will let you get away with it."

"But that isn't true!" Hermione protested. "In fact-" she halted as she saw Daphne's point. "Yes all right," she conceded. "I see your point. But that's why I'm here!" Hermione cried. "I want to make Ron see that not all Slytherins are like Malfoy. I know you aren't. I'm not going to base one house on one person, or one person on a whole house. I thought that if I could make him see that you're not Malfoy... don't you see?" Hermione was pleading.

Daphne studied Hermione as she spoke. "But don't you see Hermione? If you have to make friends with me just to make Ron see, then what's the point? I don't want him to like me because you show him he's wrong. I want him to date me because he wants to, and because he realizes that not all Slytherins are like Malfoy. And that won't work, because Ron is so stubborn and stuck in what he believes to be right. That's actually one of the reasons I like him; his stubbornness." Daphne smiled as she spoke.

"I know, Daphne. But you misunderstand me. I don't want you to make Ron see what he's missing. I want you to let him see what he can't have." Hermione's eyes sparkled a tad maliciously. "He can't see past ridiculous House prejudices, and I want to prove him wrong. That's why I need your help. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

Daphne nodded slowly, saying, "You want me to become friends with you and make Ron see what he can't have, since he never gave me a chance. Is that it?"

"Exactly," Hermione said, her eyes gleaming. "I want to prove to him what an idiot he is by just following House prejudices instead of really getting to know you. So what do you think?" Hermione bit her lip nervously as she waited for Daphne's response.

"Hmmm..." Daphne mused. "Well... damn. As much as I hate to admit it, you make a hell of a lot of sense, Hermione. All right," she agreed. "I'm in. It sounds like a good idea to me."

Hermione rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "Good," she said. "Now, first, I thought we could..."

****

When Hermione traipsed her way down to the Great Hall for dinner that night, she wasn't alone. Daphne was walking beside her and telling her about when she had fallen off of her first broom when she was nine.

"... Yeah, so my dad ran out and started asking me was I all right and had I broken anything. My mother, brother and sister were there as well, and they kept telling me to quit crying, that everything was ok. I actually did end up breaking my arm. They took me to St. Mungo's and fixed me right up!"

"Did you ever ride a broom again?" Hermione asked.

"Of course!" Daphne said. "Actually, right after that, I fell off again! Only this time, I managed to land in our orchard on one of the cherry trees! Mum was furious,said I'd ruined the orchard that year. I went to bed crying, but when we woke up that morning, all the trees were fine. You should have seen my mother's expression. She looked like she'd swallowed some Skele- grow!"

Hermione was laughing, picturing Daphne's mother's face. She had shown Hermione a picture of her family that she used as a bookmark. It was a family picnic shot that showed all of the Greengrasses laughing as Alexia poured water over Michael's head. Michael was trying to wrestle the pitcher away from Alexia as the rest of the family egged them on.

Daphne was going on about another story, something involving Michael, Alexia and their mother's favorite bubble bath soap when they entered the Great Hall. Hermione was laughing as Daphne said, "...all over the floor! Bubbles were in the bedroom too, all over Michael's bed! I don't think I've ever seen him that red before!"

Hermione was gasping for breath, she was laughing so hard. Daphne was actually a lot of fun, Hermione realized. She knew how to tell a story, that was for sure. And her family sounded absolutely wonderful.

Her laughter died as she noticed Ron, Harry and pretty much the entire Gryffindor Table staring at her in shock. The Slytherins weren't faring any better at their table. Daphne had already said that she was a social outcast in her House because she wasn't a pure blood, and right now, they all looked as if she wasn't even worth sitting at the table. Hermione, seeing this, said, "Daphne, would you like to eat with me at the Gryffindor Table tonight?"

Daphne's eyes widened, but as she looked at the Slytherins, decided it was probably a good idea. She knew they'd get her sometime and demand to know what she was doing, but right then, she didn't care. Hermione was a very good listener, she realized. And if she ever got a chance to tell one of her own stories, she'd probably have loads of adventures to share.

"Yes, all right," she replied, making her way with Hermione to said table. Seeing most of her friends were in the middle of the table, she and Daphne sat on the far right end. As soon as they had sat, Daphne said, "So, come on, Hermione. I know you have some stories, right? Let's hear them."

Relaxing, Hermione began, noticing that most of the students had begun eating again as Daphne spoke. A few, however, were staring still. She turned her attention back to Daphne, and ignored the rest of the tables, her concentration focused solely on Daphne and telling her about her parents reaction when she received her acceptance letter to Hogwarts.

****

"Hermione, what the hell are you playing at?"

She looked up in surprise to see Ron towering over her menacingly.

Feigning innocence, she asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Ron said, gesturing, "this thing with Daphne! What the hell are you playing at?"

"I'm not playing at anything, Ron. I saw her in the library and we got talking. She's actually a very nice, interesting and funny person. But you wouldn't know that, now would you?" she said, her eyes narrowing in anger as she spoke.

Ron's ears glowed red, but he only said, "Damn right! I don't associate with Slytherins. Unlike you, I don't betray my House's honor."

"Yes, all right, Ron. I'm betraying House honor by befriending a Slytherin, and by doing so, bringing about a little bit of unity and peace. How dare I?!" Hermione's voice was rising to a shout. "Merlin forbid that Houses actually try to interact with something other than spite or hate, right? I mean, we wouldn't want to actually start being friends with Slytherins or Ravenclaws, would we?!"

"Yes!" Ron shouted back. "Well, okay, Ravenclaws are all right, but Slytherins? Why would we want to be friends with Muggle hating, poncey gits like Malfoy?"

"How do you know all Slytherins are like Malfoy?" Hermione screamed back. "You've never even tried to talk with one! Daphne isn't anything like that!"

"She is, you just don't know it yet!" Ron yelled. "But you'll see! When you least expect it, she'll backstab you, just like every other Slytherin!"

"No she won't!" Hermione shouted, tears of fury streaming down her face. "She won't because in case you didn't know, the other Slytherins don't even like Daphne because she's a half blood! They hate her as much as they hate you or me! And now it's probably worse because she's friends with me!"

Ron opened his mouth, but quickly shut it again. "She- she's a half blood?" he asked.

"Yes!" Hermione said. "Did you forget that in her letter? Why do you think she was hiding her identity? Because she's Slytherin, and she knew exactly what you'd say if you found out before she wanted you to know!"

Ron looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Hermione, don't you see? She was put into Slytherin for a reason!"

Hermione shook her own head in disgust. "Just... just shut it, all right, Ron? You don't know anything about Daphne because you're so thickheaded that you don't want to see that not all Slytherins are like Malfoy or Parkinson. And Daphne knew that, which is why she didn't tell you who she was. You basically just proved Malfoy right."

And so saying, Hermione made her way to the dorms without another word to Ron. She passed Harry on her way, but she didn't say anything to him either, even though he had obviously heard everything said.

Harry looked as if he was going to say something, but she sped up so she wouldn't have to hear it. She wanted to talk to Harry because she felt bad about putting him in the middle again, but feared that if she did, she'd only yell at him. So she resolved to wait until morning.

She got ready for bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, fuming about what an idiot Ron was. As she drifted off, her last thought was how glad she was that she and Daphne had decided to become friends.