Merry Christmas Mr. Malfoy (Book 1)

Chapter 2 : Unreasonable Reasons

Unreasonable Reasons

Ronald Weasley was livid. He could not believe what he had heard this morning, let alone the words she spewed out yesterday afternoon.

He resisted the urge to grab the nearest desk and flip it over, clenching his fists to the point that his knuckles were as white as the parchment before him and he began to lose all feeling in his hands. He could care less; all he wanted to do was throttle that curly-haired brunette who refused to spend the holidays with him.

What a bloody bitch.

Yesterday he had thought that she'd been joking, testing out to see how he would react if she planned on staying for the holidays, wondering if he acted like he would miss her.

Staring at the parchment in front of him, ignoring Professor McGonagall's droning voice as she explained what their pre-Christmas exam would be on, his mind flitted from thought to thought. He needed to find out exactly why Hermione was staying at Hogwarts.

It was nonsensical; she would not be staying because she felt bad for Malfoy – Malfoy, of all the bloody people! He was a Death Eater, he tried to get them expelled on several occasions and, as Ron had reminded her last night, nearly killed him and Lavender back in sixth year.

There was no way she would be staying for a prat like Malfoy. No possible way.

There had to be something else...something more, something hidden behind her mixed signals and sudden, erratic thoughts.

While Ron was quite adept at strategizing battle plans – evident in his skills at chess – he could not, for the life of him, figure out complex puzzles like Transfiguration, Potions, and the opposite sex.

He was rather useless when it came to figuring said things out.

Maybe...maybe he was taking this the wrong way. Maybe, he thought gleefully, she was lying, pretending that she was going to stay at Hogwarts and would surprise him on the train.

That would be brilliant!

Maybe on the train, she would talk to him alone and then tell him how she felt! There was no mistaking her signals; he knew that Hermione Granger was madly in love with him and he was only waiting for her to fully accept it.

Why wouldn't she be in love with him?

Hanging his head, he accepted the reality of the thought; he was Ronald Weasley, second to last child of the Weasley clan, completely useless in all aspects of life and nowhere near as good as Harry Potter or – should he dare? – Draco Malfoy.

Hermione, all the while, was amazing. Yes, so what if she never claimed any responsibility or glory for the defeat of Lord Voldemort. So what if he and Harry got all of the praise and glory while she stood back in the shadows? She liked it there, didn't she? Besides, he knew that she was awesome, and so did Harry, that was all she needed to know, right?

She was too kind, he sighed inwardly, the way she allowed him to take the limelight with Harry, doing something he had never been able to do in his entire life. No, she was far too kind.

That filthy bitch better not be staying because of Malfoy!

His thoughts were erratic, darting viciously from kindness to malevolence as his mind moved about rapidly, thinking of her beauty and then thinking of their argument yesterday afternoon. One emotion was masking the other, but which one was it?

Could it be that his anger was simply a reflection of his possessiveness? Was he jealous that Malfoy already got to live with her and now spend the holidays with her? Could it be that he always thought kindly of her and, through his kindness, was becoming slowly frustrated and impatient?