Hand in Hand : Romione

12- Wind (1)

Kate sat on Hermione's bed, watching her do her homework. Hermione was slightly annoyed someone was watching, but she was too busy and stressed out due to the report due the next day.
"Hermione, have you ever not liked Ron?"
"Hmm?" Hermione managed to reply. Her eyes were still focused on her report.
Her hand was scribbling in perfect cursive as she wrote across the parchment.
"You know. I mean there must have been times when you must have been really mad at him," Kate asked again.
"Yeah, there were times like that. Especially during the Yule Ball and when he left us at the Woods before the War," Hermione answered briefly before returning to her parchment.
Kate thought and replayed Hermione's words carefully as she tried to catch any detail that could be helpful to her.
"I heard about the Yule Ball. I've actually seen you in your dress. It looked really nice," Kate said, observing Hermione carefully.
"Thank you,"
"I heard how Ron ruined your night and all," Kate continued.
Hermione was still focused on her parchment. Hermione dipped her quill into the ink as she replied, "Yes, I was extremely annoyed. He was such a rude....urgh, I don't know anymore,"
"Rude jerk?" Kate suggested.
"Yes. I still get annoyed when I think about it. I forgave him though,"
Kate smiled as she asked.
"How about at the woods?"
"He was scared. He was a coward. But I mean, he came back, so I guess that doesn't matter too much,"
Hermione grabbed another parchment since she wrote a full 4 feet long parchment.
"I remember when you were a thing with Krum. Hogwarts was crazy about it,"
Hermione paused for the first time as she glanced at Kate, her cheeks flushed,
"That was really long ago," she said, returning to her report.
"Still, I mean, he was your first 'date'. Nobody forgets their first date," Kate teased.
"He was a really sweet boy. It was annoying he never got my name right. But, as you probably heard of, the reason I went with Krum was because I was sort of mad at Ron. I hope I made him jealous," Hermione said.
"But no offense, I really enjoyed my date with Krum. I still contact him here and then. We're good friends," Hermione added quickly.
"Does he still like you?" Kate asked.
"Well, until really recent, but I think he has moved on," Hermione smiled.
"Alright," Kate smiled mysteriously, as she bid Hermione good night, leaving Hermione alone to finish her report.

Hermione slept in late till noon the next morning since it was a Saturday. Ron was gone to a Qudditch tournament with his Qudditch group. Kate was there too. She dressed and went to the common room. She said good morning to her fellow dorm mates but the mood was cold.
Sensing something was wrong, Hermione grabbed her stuff and headed to the library where all the gossip could be heard.
People, especially girls, looked at her in a horrified way.
"I can't believe she would do that to Weasley,"
"She's so selfish,"
"Weasley deserves better than her,"
Confused, Hermione sat behind the shelves.
"What happened?" A girl asked her friend.
"Apparently, Hermione Granger is cheating on Weasley,"
"With who?"
"Krum. Viktor Krum. The Qudditch player?"
The girl gasped, "Isn't he the one who got awarded the MVP last tournament?"
"Yes. He participated in the Triwizard Tournament with Potter couple years back. He asked Granger to the Yule Ball," her friend replied.
"So she's been dating him since then?"
"Apparently, that's what they all say,"
"Poor Weasley. He deserves so much better than Granger."
"I've been shipping Kate Olney with Ron these days. Have you seen them? They are so cute," her friend continued.
"I did. They look so adorable together. I wish Ron would move on,"
"Apparently, Hermione told Kate to stay away from Ron but accidentally said Viktor Krum's name. Sine Kate and Ron are really close, she told Ron what happened this morning,"
"Oh, that's why Ron was so angry this morning. I was wondering why he was making such a racket,"
"He didn't believe Kate. He thought she was lying to him. But then Kate told him to follow her and Ron came out devastated. And then they had to go to the Qudditch tournament,"

The girls continued to gossip as Hermione's brain paused.
She wasn't sure of what she just heard. Ron thought she was cheating on him. That wasn't true. Krum wrote her letters once in a while as friends and they were completely innocent.
Hermione ran up to her room and dug up her letter box. The most recent one sent to her was few nights ago. Rereading each of them, Hermione prayed there was nothing was going on between them. She hoped Krum didn't think of her that way.

There was nothing. They were just basic things. He had told him he would wait for her, but Hermione always rejected firmly, telling him she loved Ron and was dating him.

All she could do was wait for Ron. According to the gossip, Ron was devastated. Hermione knew how much Ron disliked Krum since the Yule Ball. She wrote a short note and owled it to him,

'Trust me.'