Anyone But Me

Chapter Fifty-Three

"Be careful Ronald Weasley. I might not come back again. You know... Since you are no longer interesting, being on the mend and all." She said with a playful smirk as she stared over the top of her Potions book at the boy. Every chance that she had gotten from the moment Harry had told them about Lavender's presumption she had teased him. It was quite amusing to watch the blush creep up his neck and the attempts at distraction that would immediately take place.

As if on cue his cheeks turned a bright pink and he looked down at the scroll that covered his copy of the book in his lap. "I wouldn't blame you. It's bloody dull bein' stuck here. So... Thanks for keepin' me caught up on lessons, I guess. Breaks up the boredom."

"Of course..." Hermione could feel her own cheeks heat up at the unexpected recognition. She ducked back down into the safety of her book and acted as if she was totally immersed in finding the fourth practical use of Galpalott's Fifth Law.

They were still quite clumsy with their newly rebuilt friendship. Always checking to make sure they had not crossed some unspoken boundary and offended the other. The hypersensitivity was exhaustive but worth it. In some ways, it was like nothing had ever changed and she found herself grateful for the times when the past few months melted away and they were allowed to just be.

Which was made all the more convoluted by the fact that she hadn't found the right time to talk to him about everything. The morning after the attack when he had woken up to see her standing there with his family, his smile had broken her heart. So she had put it off, only to continue to come up with reasons on why she should wait.

Draco would tell her that she was overthinking again, but then he also wouldn't care if Ron recovered or not.

She let her gaze wander up from the single word she had been staring at uncomprehendingly to find that the familiar set of blue eyes looked back at her. His steady scrutiny was at odds with their recent fragile camaraderie and it made the hair on her arms stand on end. To distract herself from the weird reaction she leaned forward and asked. "What? Do you need help paraphrasing?"

"No. I was wonderin'..." He faltered and then cleared his throat before continuing. "What were you thinkin' about a minute ago?"

"Nothing, why?"

"You looked really happy for a second and then... And then you looked right pissed."

"I did? Hmmm... If I was in your position, I would just be grateful it wasn't directed at me." She said with an off-handed shrug.

He chuckled under his breath before mumbling. "So it was a person!"

"I didn't say that..."

Ron shook his head at her before giving one of his cheeky smiles. "You didn't have to. Besides the fact that you are not denyin' it, tells me I am right."

Disconcerted by the unusually astute assessment, she narrowed her eyes in a fraudulent glare, hoping to throw him off the topic at hand. It was near impossible that he would react kindly if she told him the truth and she wasn't too keen on adding more lies to have to keep track of. They were piling up much too fast the way it was.

Her crack at intimidation was pointless because he sat there and stared back. Apparently resolved in his quest for more details. When neither of them budged, unwilling to be the one who broke eye contact or the silence first, he leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. She had no doubt that if his lap was not occupied he would have crossed his heels as well, mimicking a stance straight out of the imaginary Sirius Black handbook.

The attempt at bravado was amusing and tugged at the corner of her lips. Before she could stop it a hushed chuckle left her throat, causing a smile to break out across her face. Cursing under her breath at how quickly she had lost, she turned back to the book in front of her to glare at the same word she had read a thousand times already.