Seven Days

Seven Days

Hermione stared across the living room of the Burrow, at all of the Weasleys, plus Harry, who were all crowded around the Christmas tree, ready to open presents. She hung in the doorway, reluctant to join them. Her gaze fell on Ron, who was sitting right next to the tree, grinning at a joke Fred had just told, but his eyes looked withdrawn.

"Well, let's start!" said George, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"But Hermione's missing," Harry and Ginny said together, looking quite cozy together.

"Who the hell cares?" said Ron loudly, and he looked like he regretted saying so. His whole family turned to stare at him in disbelief.

"Ronnie boy, you never have good timing," said Charlie, and everyone turned to look at Hermione in the doorway. She was leaning against the doorway, her arms crossed, her eyes void of emotion. She felt hurt, deep inside, but over the past week, she had built up an immunity to showing Ron, or anyone else for that matter, her feelings.

Ron turned to the door, reddened, and opened his mouth to apologize. "Just forget it," said Hermione, and her voice held no anger or pain. She was extremely tired, and she just wanted to go home. In fact, she had never wanted anything more. "I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas," she said, "I'm going home for a change. Mrs. Weasley, do you mind if I borrow some Floo Powder, I recently had my parent's fireplace registered."

"No, I don't mind, dear," Mrs. Weasley said quietly, and Hermione could feel ten pairs of eyes on her.

Hermione smiled very briefly and then turned to Harry and Ginny, who looked sad, then to Ron, who looked...well, she couldn't quite detect the emotion. "See you at Hogwarts," she said, taking her Floo Powder, stepping into the fireplace with her luggage, and yelling, "Granger Residence!"

She instantly was greeted by her mother and father, who gave her huge hugs. "I have missed you, pumpkin!" her mother said through her tears. "I thought you were going to stay at the Weasley boy's house for the holidays?"

"I decided to come here instead," Hermione said, smiling and handing her trunk to her father. "I'll go get washed up and then, we can celebrate Christmas--as a family." Her eyes welled up at the thought.

She bounded up the stairs to her bedroom, flung herself on her bed, and damned Ron Weasley to hell. How could she hate him so much? And love him at the same time? It just wasn't fair! Before she knew it, she was sobbing hoarsely into her pillow.

Their friendship was over--over. It could never be repaired. After going through this entire week with him, they both had destroyed each other. And, now no chance stood for them to make up, let alone profess love. Living with him (alone) for seven days had been enough to drive her insane.

Seven of the longest days of her life. Seven of the most irritating, frustrating, annoying, horrible, confusing...

There was a knock on her door. Hermione looked up from her pillow. "Daddy?" she said. Her mother never knocked.

"It's Ron."

THE DAY BEFORE DAY ONE

Hermione Granger was sitting at the kitchen table of the Burrow, completing homework assignments for the winter holidays, when her friend Ron Weasley walked in. She was just admiring how handsome he looked in his plaid shirt and jeans when he sat down next to her, took one look at the page she was reading, and closed the book. So much for that handsome thought. She was supposed to be angry at him anyway, for what he had done to her last night.

"What did you do that for?" she said angrily, rolling her eyes and opening the book again, trying to locate the page she was on. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to mark it with a bookmark. Ron merely grinned as he watched her flip the pages frantically. "It's not funny," she said through gritted teeth. How dare he do something like that! Especially when he was already on thin ice with her! Did he seriously think that shutting her book closed would be a way to get them back on good terms?

He seemed to have not heard a word, and if he did, he ignored. "We're playing Quidditch in the field, do you want to watch?" he asked.

"No," said Hermione shortly, finding the page. "Since when have I been interested in Quidditch?"

Ron looked taken aback, but she didn't see because her eyes were skimming the page of her textbook. "It's more interesting than reading," he retorted, "and much more interesting than having a conversation with a person who won't even look at you as you speak to them." He stood up and paused. Hermione didn't raise her eyes from the book. He stalked away.

Trust Ron to ruin a perfectly good day, she thought bitterly. He had the nerve to insult her passion of reading.

She put Ron out of her head, and for the next two hours completed all of her homework. When she was done, she leaned back in her chair and gave a triumphant sigh. Then, hearing no noise inside the house, she wondered, Are they still out there playing Quidditch? Aren't they cold? The weather had been quite chilly lately, to the point where Hermione had had to place heating charms over herself for the past weeks.

But just as she asked herself this, the Weasley clan (and Harry) came into the kitchen. Their cheeks were red from the cold, but all of them looked happy. "Finished your homework?" asked Harry, as Mrs. Weasley started to make hot chocolate.

"Would have finished a little earlier if it wasn't for certain interruptions," she muttered bitterly, but it was loud enough for Ron to hear, unfortunately.

"I came in to ask you a bloody question!" he said, the red patches on his cheeks getting redder.

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at Harry. "Yes, and in order to that, he had to shut my book," she said heatedly.

"I really wish the two of you would stop bickering like a married couple," said George, looking exasperated.

Hermione and Ron flushed.

"Well, that shut them up," said Fred, grinning.

"That's enough," said Mrs. Weasley, handing everyone a mug of hot chocolate. Hermione declined, and went up to the room she was sharing with Ginny, after piling her books into her bag. Once upstairs, she carelessly threw it onto the floor and flung herself onto her bed.

She was just thinking how irritating Ronald Weasley truly was when Ginny came into the room. "You missed a really good Quidditch game," she said. "Fred fell off his broom."

"I wish it could've been Ron," Hermione grumbled, and then, realizing she had said that out loud, clapped a hand over her mouth.

Ginny grinned. "He really can be a prat sometimes," she said. "But he never does it intentionally. All Weasley boys are daft."

Hermione sniggered at this, and looked over at Ginny. "We're just always arguing," Hermione said, annoyance coming back into her throat. "And I don't know why! Best friends are not supposed to argue like that--I don't with Harry."

"You also don't fancy Harry either," Ginny said quietly.

Hermione sat up and looked over to Ginny, who was sitting on the other bed. "What did you say?"

"SHE SAID YOU DON'T FANCY HARRY!" bellowed a voice that sounded like Fred's, from outside the door. Ginny started shaking with laughter, and had to bury her face in her pillow. After briefly thinking that it would be such a shame if Ginny suffocated herself, Hermione ran to the bedroom door, and swung it open.

Fred stood there, with cocoa spilled down his front, looking very innocent. "Honestly, Hermione, you should see a doctor about your hearing," he said, adopting a concerned expression.

"One of these days, I'm going to--"

"Snog me to death?" Fred suggested innocently.

"You insufferable--"

"Stud?"

"Fred! Honestly!" said Hermione, flushing angrily, and she went back into the room and slammed the door in his face.

"Hey! I deserve better than that, Hermione Granger! That door slam was so weak! I deserve an eleven on a scale of one to ten, not a bloody six!" said Fred, sounding truly offended.

"Frederick Weasley, watch your language!" came Mrs. Weasley's indignant shriek.

The Harry yelled up the stairs, "Who doesn't fancy me?"

"HERMIONE!" yelled George, from the top floor of the house. "HONESTLY, NO ONE HAS EARS AROUND HERE!"

"WELL I DO, AND I AM TRYING TO WORK IN PEACE!" came Percy's high-pitched scream, which caused almost the whole house to laugh, with the exception of Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Percy of course.

Hermione could hear Ron's voice outside her door talking to floor. "Cauldron thickness, I expect," he sniggered.

"I HEARD THAT!" yelled Percy again, sounding ruffled.

"GOOD!" Ron bellowed.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" screamed Hermione, so loud that she thought she'd never be able to speak again. For a moment, she thought she had shaken the house.

The house grew strangely quiet, but the sounds of Fred chuckling were still there. "A true Weasley temper..."

Ginny looked at Hermione in shock. "I-I think you've busted one of my eardrums," she said quite seriously.

"Oh, Ginny! I am so sorry!" Hermione said. "I didn't mean--"

"Calm down, Hermione, I was just joking."

Hermione was annoyed. "Does anyone ever take anything seriously around here?" she said, and she stormed out of the room with Ginny muttering, "Percy does."

She made her way down the stairs, nearly knocking over Fred and Ron, who were still lingering outside her door, and walked into the kitchen, grabbed a cup of cocoa from the counter that had HG on the side, and hurried out of the house, walking away just as quickly she could.

"Hmph!" she said to herself, as she broke into a sprint. Ever since she had arrived at the Weasley's house two days ago, it had been in utter chaos. Normally, she liked the change of scenery; being an only child in a house with two dentists could get quite dull. But, now the Weasleys were truly beginning to irritate her, especially Ron.

She didn't know why, but Ron had suggested (rather loudly to Harry, I might add) that it was, "probably that time of month", in the middle of dinner last night. This had caused the twins to snort, Bill to look at his plate and push it away from him, and Charlie to bite his lip, as though not knowing exactly what to say. Mr. Weasley had just stared at Ron, mouth wide open, while Mrs. Weasley opened and closed her mouth, growing scarlet. Percy had said, "You dare say that to a lady!" Ginny had grown extremely red, and called Ron a prat, Harry had turned pale, and Ron looked ready for the kitchen floor to swallow him whole.

He had looked at Hermione, who had been sitting across from him, and she had felt the other's eyes on her as well. She had been ready to slap him, and her eyes must have shown that because she saw him wince. "You," was all she had been able to say, and then she had turned to Mrs. Weasley. "May I please be excused from the table?" Then, without waiting for an answer, she had stood up abruptly, causing the family to jump, thrown her napkin down on the table, and bustled out of the room, letting out a shriek of frustration.

Hermione looked around at the empty field, and let out that same shriek of frustration. No one ever understood; hell, she didn't even know why she was feeling this way. The Weasleys had always been kind to her and treated her like their own daughter.

"Why?" she asked aloud, and looking around, she found that she was deep in the woods back behind their house. Hermione vaguely realized that she had been either walking for a long time, or walking rather fast. Ten minutes later, she could see the sun setting through the trees, and it was beautiful. Magnificent colors of deep blue, hot pink, and even slivers of gold lit up the sky.

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks, but she didn't want to believe it. She suddenly knew why she was acting so cruelly toward the family, but she didn't want to admit it, not even to herself. Hermione shivered, but it wasn't because of the cold.

Ridding herself of all negative thoughts, she sat down on the hard forest ground and clutched the cocoa mug firmly in her hand. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she closed her eyes and rested her head against the large tree behind her. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

The next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake. Not wanting to wake up, she gave a little sigh and tried to wave them off with her hand. "Go...away...dream..."

"Wake up Hermione, you dumb girl!" she heard a very exasperated person say.

Her eyes flickered open and she gasped as she saw that Ron's face was about an inch away from hers. Angry, she found the strength to shove him away, and he fell to the ground. She then realized that Harry, Fred, and George were standing nearby. It was pitch black outside. Ron stood up, and shook off the dirt in his hair. "Are you daft?!" he roared at her.

Hermione felt cramps in her neck, her lower back, and her legs. She was in no mood to be hurled insults at. Grunting, she stood up. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite stable, and she fell backwards, and into George's arms. Feeling highly disgruntled, she pushed him away, and righted herself. "Daft?" she repeated, squinting at Ron in the darkness.

"Yes, daft! D-A-F-T!"

"I know how to spell it! I'm not stupid, you cretin!" All the anger she had been feeling for him came rushing back.

"You could've fooled me, running off and telling no one where you're going! You're miles from the house! Missing for five hours! You tell me who's stupid!" said Ron angrily, kicking at the crinkling leaves on the ground. With that, he stalked off in the direction of the Burrow.

Fred, George, and Harry walked Hermione back to the house. "Hermione, we had to send search parties for you," said Harry quietly. "We were all worried. We thought that Vold--"

He cut off sharply and stared straight ahead. "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry," said Hermione, feeling incredibly stupid. She had made him think that Voldemort had taken her or something. "I didn't mean to, I just wanted to get out of the house! Away from--"

"All of us," said George for her, and there was a seriousness in his voice that Hermione didn't like. He sounded sad and Hermione's heart went out to him.

"I didn't mean..." she started, but her voice trailed off. She wasn't going to lie to them.

The walk to the Burrow after that was completely silent.

When they walked into the house, Mrs. Weasley threw her arms around Hermione and cried into her shoulder. "I thought...oh dear, I thought..."

"I know," said Hermione, feeling ready to cry herself, "and I'm so sorry. I am so sorry."

"Come, you need something to eat," said Mrs. Weasley, and she led her into the kitchen. Percy, Ron, and Ginny were sitting at the table. Ginny stood up and threw her arms around Hermione, just as her mother had done, and led her to a chair next to hers.

"Where's--" Hermione started, just as Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie Apparated into the kitchen.

"Oh thank God," said Mr. Weasley, looking relieved, and he went to help his wife with dinner.

"Er...what time is it?" said Hermione, staring at the table.

"One in the morning," Bill said, sitting at the table.

"Oh," said Hermione.

There was silence, except for the sounds that was Mr. and Mrs. Weasley cooking dinner.

"So, Ron, do you want to play that game of chess you promised earlier?" Charlie said awkwardly, and everyone looked at Ron. His face was pale, but once Charlie spoke to him, red patches grew on his cheeks.

"No," he said shortly, and he walked out of the room without another word.

"Ron, get back here!" said Mrs. Weasley, as she began to set down plates of food in front of everyone. He ignored her. "Oh, I have had enough!" she said, as they heard Ron's footsteps on the stairs. She hurried out of the kitchen, and yelled, "Ron!"

The footsteps suddenly stopped. "Mum," he acknowledged.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me, young man! You come back into that kitchen and stop acting like you're spoiled," she snapped.

"Somebody's in trouble," Fred whistled.

"I don't think I will," said Ron coolly, at which point, George whistled as well and Mr. Weasley silenced him with a glare.

"Your best friend had just gone missing for five hours! I thought you would have been more worried about her!" Mrs. Weasley's voice had gone high and concerned. "Especially since--"

"Don't! She was the one who got herself into her own mess! Ever since she's been coming here, she's been acting like we're all locusts, and you want me to be worried about her? I'm more worried about the chances of the Giant Squid swallowing Harry, to tell you the truth. Leave me alone please."

"FINE!" she yelled, and a few seconds later, she appeared in the kitchen, her ears glowing, her eyes flashing. She stared at the others at the table. "Well, tuck in!" she said brightly, and, not wanting to disappoint her, they all began to eat.

Hermione felt sick, like she'd burst into tears at any second. She thought that Ron Weasley was her friend, but obviously from that splendid outburst, he didn't care at all. She didn't want to admit why this hurt her so much, but she knew it was because she had feelings for him. Ever since she had seen him on the train, she had known, but she had only let herself believe it in her fifth year. And for awhile, she thought that he felt the same way...

But it was so obvious he did not.

After several moments of just picking absently at her food, Hermione heard Mrs. Weasley clear her throat. "Arthur and I have an announcement to make," she said.

"What is it mum?" asked Ginny, looking grateful for the conversation.

"Well, one of my friends from my childhood recently wrote me a letter. We got together for lunch last week, and she offered to let us stay in some cabins she has by the mountains for some of the holiday. There are five cabins there, and we thought it would be well...nice, if we joined our families for a few days. We weren't going to say anything until tomorrow, but due to the...er...tension that's been building up in this house for the past couple of days, I thought it best to get away for awhile." She said this all very quickly.

"I think that's a great idea, mum!" said Bill, a little too enthusiastically.

"Marvelous! Now, Bridgett's family will be staying in one cabin, of course, since there are only three of them, but we haven't quite arranged the other living arrangements. I really don't want to put any girls with boys in case of any..."

"Snogging?" said George.

"Shagging?" added Fred.

"That's enough," she said, with a small chuckle. "Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions?"

"Well," Percy spoke up, "I would be willing to share a cabin with Bill and Charlie, of course."

"How absolutely corking of you, Perce," said Fred.

"Indeed," said George, jutting out his chest.

Hermione didn't think now was the time to make fun of Percy; after all, he had only come back to the family a couple of months ago. He had probably felt unwanted, and the twins weren't helping matters any.

"Mum, you and dad could share another cabin, then Fred and George could have one, and Ron and Harry, and then Hermione and I could share."

"One problem, there are only five cabins, not six."

"Well, then Fred, George, Harry, and Ron could all share a cabin," said Ginny, eyes lightening up like they always did when she got an idea. "Or you could have me share with Fred and George, and then Harry, Ron and Hermione could have a cabin..."

"I don't think so!" said Hermione sharply, and everyone stared at her. She flushed. "I don't think Ron will want to see me at all, let alone sleep in the same room." She turned bright red, as Bill's fork clunked to his plate--that had come out wrong. "What I mean..."

"We understand," said Mr. Weasley. He stood up, went into the living room, and drew up a plan, and then he passed it around the table, after making a copy for each of them.

Cabin One Cabin Two Cabin Three

Bridgett's family Arthur and Molly Bill, Charlie, Percy

Cabin Four Cabin Five

George, Fred, Ron, Harry Ginny and Hermione

"There," he said, as he handed them out. "And Harry, make sure Ron gets one."

"I will," said Harry, pocketing both of them, and giving Hermione an odd look.

"We leave at nine," said Mrs. Weasley. She was met with groans all around the table.

"Mum, it's almost two now!" said Ginny.

"Then, I suggest you go to bed!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Off with you!"

Hermione saw Ginny roll her eyes, and walk out of the room, yelling, "Goodnight!"

Fred and George clapped Hermione on the back--their way of saying goodnight. George leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Forget about what I said earlier. I was being rash." He walked out of the room.

Oh, George, Hermione thought. You weren't being rash; you were exactly right. And I am so sorry, but it's better to push away your family than love them, since I know at least one of you will die when Voldemort turns up this year, which of course he will. He does every year.

She sniffed, and realized that she and Harry were the only two people at the table. "Are you okay Hermione?" asked Harry. "Because you know Ron doesn't mean half the things he says."

Hermione stood up and gave Harry a weak smile. "I know," she said as they climbed the stairs, "but what about the other half?"

Harry seemed lost for words, and he said good night to her. She sighed and climbed a few more steps until she found the landing that Ginny's room was on. She opened the door, and saw that Ginny was fast asleep, and her clothes were still on. Then, without getting undressed herself, she got into bed and fell asleep, hoping that this trip would patch things up between her and Ron.

She didn't know then that things would only get worse.