If I had to rely on my imagination alone, I’m sure my characters would not be quite as fun.  I thank Jo Rowling for putting so much life into her characters and creating such a vivid world for me to romp in.  I wish I had the talent to have written them first.

 

A million thanks to my beta, Ara Kane, for your corrections and comments.  Don’t worry your “prom secret” is safe with me!

 

I would like to thank all who reviewed My Stupid Mouth for your lovely comments and the encouragement to write this piece, a companion story told from Hermione’s POV.  This is my third revision, I hope it won’t disappoint.  I highly recommend reading Ron’s version first.  Don’t forget to review!!!!

 

 

 

 

As if fifth year wasn’t hard enough, Ron just complicated it a little more.  She needs some advice.  Mum’s not around, no access to a phone…who will Hermione confide in?  She must become a girl with a plan.

 

 

 

 

A Girl with a Plan

by

Muggle Molly

 

 

What an idiot!

 

 Me this time…not him.  How could I just sit there and say nothing? 

 

I will admit my mind wasn’t totally on my conversation with Ron in the Great Hall last night, as I was trying to mentally outline my Potions essay before heading back to the common room and putting it to parchment.  Well, you know, this was just Ron; it was not as if I needed to pay full attention for his usual drivel between bites of his supper.  On Friday nights, he is rather prone to making rude remarks about all the couples that linger in the Hall, all that hand holding and sitting closer together than usual.  But last night he kept going on and on about that boy and girl we came upon while on Prefect rounds.  They were sneaking out of an empty classroom and looking very guilty.  I’m still not sure if any rules were broken, but I gave them a stern lecture anyway.  Ron had wanted to dock points!

 

 So, with all that on my mind, it took a few seconds before my brain could register what he said, but the reaction in my stomach was immediate…a feeling somewhat like that jerking sensation from using a Portkey, but not exactly like anything I had ever felt before.

 

I froze with a bit of chicken halfway to my mouth.  Well, at least I wasn’t taking a huge sip of pumpkin juice at the time, I’m sure I would have sprayed that everywhere.

 

I thought to myself, Did Ron just say what I think he said?  Did he just mumble some comment comparing our being the only two at the Gryffindor table to being on a… date?  Oh my goodness, I think he’s about to ask me out!

 

My mouth went dry; I could feel a blush rising on my face and my pulse was throbbing in my ears. 

 

All sorts of thoughts started racing through my mind, but for some reason, as the seconds ticked by, I could not speak or move.   After a bit, I remember slowly lowering my fork with the intent to turn toward Ron and respond, but as I caught a brief glimpse of him in my peripheral vision I found myself looking in the opposite direction, out the window instead. 

 

The tips of his ears seemed to be turning a brilliant shade of red!

 

Ginny’s words came back to me, as I recalled a late night conversation we shared at Grimmauld Place over the Christmas holiday, talking about boys and things in general.

 

“He likes you, you know,” she had said.  “He’ll get around to letting you know one of these days.  The perfume was a big step for him, very personal.  We Weasleys normally display affection by teasing and maybe casting the occasional hex.  Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed!  But you should watch his ears; they’ll give him away sooner or later.  It’s a Weasley male trait!”

 

Time was still ticking away and at this point, Ron was nervously rearranging things on the table.  The little voice inside my head was screaming, Do SOMETHING, look at him and smile, touch his hand…say SOMETHING!

 

But I did not say anything.  Realizing that too much time had passed at this point for a witty reply, I started to eat again.  Yes, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear him, I remember thinking.  It seemed like a good plan at the time.

 

Even with Ron eventually changing the subject, the rest of the meal was very quiet as we rushed to leave this awkward moment behind and hurry back to the safety of the common room.

 

So here I sit on my bed in my deserted dormitory on a cold winter Saturday morning, replaying the whole thing over and over and wondering if he was really trying to ask me out or just making a joke.

 

I need another girl’s opinion on this.  Ginny comes to mind, but she is on the Quidditch pitch right now at practice, same as Ron.  Thank goodness Lavender and Parvati had something else to do, I’m not sure I want to confide anything to those two giggling, gossiping busybodies.  Harry is the only other person I feel close enough to open up to, but he would really be useless in this situation. He’s so touchy this year, and just look how pathetic he is about Cho!

 

I wish I could talk to my mother.  Mum would help me sort this out.  It would open the door for one of those “girl talks” she tried to engage me in, and I tried to avoid, during my brief holiday at home last summer.  In my opinion, Mum and Dad were overly concerned because Viktor is a bit older than I am and his invitation to visit over the summer was not well received by them. 

 

“The topic of Viktor Krum is just not an issue,” I had told them repeatedly. “He is only a friend!” 

 

Well, now I have another “topic” to discuss.  I never told Mum I had a crush on Ron, it might come as a bit of a shock!  Oh, if I could just get to a telephone!  Mum would know just the right thing to say.  I need to hear her voice; I don’t think a letter will do this time.

 

Do you realize I have been waiting for Ron to make a move for a whole year, ever since that row we had after the Yule Ball?  I vowed that night that I would never bring it up again.  Once he realized I’m a female and not just “one of his mates”, I knew he would initiate something.  Didn’t I make it clear enough that all he had to do was ask me?  But lately, I must admit I’m beginning to think that Ron is not interested in me as more than just a friend.  We’ve spent a lot of time together without Harry this year, with our Prefect responsibilities and all, so he has had plenty of opportunities to let me know if he wanted something more than friendship.  I’m just not sure if that was what he was trying to do last night. 

 

He caught me off guard, that’s all.  That’s why I acted like an idiot!  I was totally unprepared, very unlike me…too distracted by O.W.L.s and Umbridge, I suppose.

 

I need to form a plan of action before I run into Ron again. 

 

Yes, that’s it. I’ll wait for the next opportunity and …but this is RON, that could take until seventh year!  Well, no matter how long it takes, I’ll just have to be ready when it does happen again.  It won’t do for me to point out that he should “just get on with it because I know he likes me”…that might come across a bit too bossy.  No, it would be better to be patient and wait for the next right moment, give him just the right spontaneous reaction...a well rehearsed spontaneous reaction.  I WILL be ready next time!  I’ll just need to make a few notes… maybe an outline.

 

Crookshanks, you’ve been such a dear, thanks for listening as you always do, but get off that parchment and stop chewing on my quill, I’ve work to do!