Emerald Eyes - HP one-shots

Idiots In Love

This story takes place in The Half Blood Prince. AU.

"What?" she pauses in the doorway. "What're you doing here?"

Ron's gaze slips; up, down, and then instantly up again, surprise evident. "Detention." He uncrosses his arms, pushes off slightly from the table he's leaning against. "Just waiting on Professor Slughorn. What're you doing here?"

Cheeks warm, a strange tingle down her spine at the way he stares. "Detention too."

"You?"

"I've had detentions before, you know."

"I know, of course, I-" He swallows. "What for?"

"I…uh, lost my temper." The dungeon feels stuffy, the uniform slung on her suddenly heavy. Or perhaps it's his gaze on her. She rubs her palms down the black robes. "Hexed someone. Professor McGonagall saw."

There's a smile on his face. "That doesn't sound like you, Hermione."

"Don't know me all that well, do you, Ronald?"

Tension frosts over the muscles of his face, smile gone in a flash. "Yeah," he whispers. "I suppose not."

Something in that tone sends her heart racing. It feels strangely like accusation sits on his voice, in the stiffness of his jaw, which makes absolutely no sense because she's not done anything to be accused for. It's Ron who's really brought them here, brought her here, in this awful aching plain where nothing feels right, nothing feels good. The constant lump around her throat is all she's known since seeing him with her last week, pressed against some storefront wall in Hogsmeade for all the world to witness their snog.

It doesn't help that Lavender Brown is stunningly gorgeous, and most importantly not like Hermione who's always a little too late, a little too good at losing everything and everyone.

"Well, well, this is quite the surprise!" Professor Slughorn's voice is a jolt back into the present, images of Ron's hands in Lavender's hair and waist evaporating, thankfully. "Both the Gryffindor prefects getting into trouble on the same night?" Slughorn laughs. "Good, good! This is the age to have fun. Though not too much fun, of course."

She smiles politely, allowing him to step inside the room before she follows.

The caustic truth that hexing other students for being absolute pricks is not her idea of fun sits on the tip of her tongue, but she swallows the bitterness down.

"And I must say, Wallenby, that hearing you got caught by Mr Filch with certain…contraband in your possession sounds like you're certainly having too much fun."

Slughorn's jolly tone slides from her attention entirely as she turns to look at Ron. It seems like her heart has dropped from throat to stomach, because that's where it beats when she finds his eyes already locked onto hers.

He doesn't look away.

And she suffers.

"What can I say, Professor?" His words are throw-away, not for her, but entirely for her. "I've been having a rough week."

She shifts her gaze, plants palms onto the desk closest to her, and almost immediately finds her eyes jumping back to him. The words fall, uncontrolled: "You got caught getting Firewhiskey?"