Pornography

Disclaimer: I don\'t own the characters of J.K. Rowling, blah blah blah.

The start of a multi-parter that will hopefully take you to places these characters have never been before, even for FanFic. Well, I\'ll try, anyway. Reviews strongly encouraged!




P O R N O G R A P H Y

* * * * *

One more day like today and I\'ll kill you
A desire for flesh
And real blood
I\'ll watch you drown in the shower
Pushing my life through your open eyes
- The Cure, \"Pornography\"

As he walked back through the cold, dark halls of Hogwarts, Ron Weasley fumed inside. It had happened again, like it always happened. The long dungeons that lurked beneath the building looked lonelier than ever as he stalked to the Gryffindor dorms. A million questions ran through his head as he ran it over and over in his mind like a bad rerun...

* * * * *

\"Shit, Snape gets more annoying every lesson,\" said Ron with a grin to Hermione as they came out of Potions class. \"I really can\'t stand to be around the bastard.\"

\"Join the club,\" said Hermione as she began the walk towards the Gryffindor dorm as usual. But suddenly, Ron put a hand on her arm.

\"Uh...gee, \'Mione,\" he said after a short silence. \"I was wondering if maybe you\'d want to go outside of the school for a while, you know, for a walk. I mean, it\'s such a nice day and all, and besides, after a class with Snape, I feel as if I\'m going to explode if I have to stay inside any longer.\"

\"Oh, come on, Ron, we\'ve got to go see Harry!\" Hermione replied. \"We don\'t see each other so often now that seventh year has started and we\'ve got all these different classes...we should really just go and see what he\'s up to.\"

Ron hesitated. \"Well......yeah, okay, I guess,\" he mumbled, running a finger through his red hair. Giving him an odd look, but satisfied, Hermione continued the way she had originally belannlanning to walk.

As they passed through the bottom of Hogwarts, up into the main floor, Ron couldn\'t help but think again about Hermione. He had had a crush on her for a long time, but she always seemed so oblivious to him, so unaware. Sometimes it drove him crazy. But today that was going to change, for today Ron planned to finally, at long last, make a move on Hermione. He was a little unsure of exactly howwas was going to do this, but he knew he would have to take firm action this time. No more farting around, hoping things would work out on their own. Time to take matters into my own hands, he thought.

He took a glance at his friend as they wandered up towards Gryffindor House. She had become so beautiful in the last few years...her bushy brown hair had become more tamed, softer and more alluring. Her body had developed into that of a very attractive young woman, he noted with longing as he gazed at her lilting curves, her large, firm breasts. He could feel his hardness while he took her in, hoping she wouldn\'t notice his lustful stares, but at the same time hoping that she did, just so that she wouldn\'t be so damn oblivious.

Soon they came to the doors of Gryffindor. Hermione said the password at once and they were ushered into the main room, where some of their friends were gathered round the fireplace chatting. Harry looked up from a book on Death Eaters he had been reading. \"Well, well, well, well, well,\" he smiled as he looked up at them. \"Another bunch of cheerful survivors from the Snape Hour. How goes it, then?\"

Hermione sighed as she walked over to him. \"The usual...5 tonnes of homework, and Neville had to stay after class so that Snape could show him how to clean the leech tanks as punishment for...well, being Neville, really. Harry, what are you doing?!\" she giggled as Harry took her onto the couch and begin playfully wrestling her. Ron watched them silently. He hated it when they did this. He knew it was just a bit of playfulness, but it never failed to remind him that Hermione tended to pay more attention to Harry then she did to him. She probably wouldn\'t touch me with a ten-foot wand, he thought gloomily.

Ron coughed loudly.

\"Oh, sorry, there, Ron,\" said Hermione as she pushed Harry away and got back up. \"Did you want something?\"

\"Uh, so, do you still want to go to the park?\" he asked.

\"Yeah, of course!\" she smiled. Ron\'s heart took a small leap, and then crashed and burned as Hermione added, \"You coming, Harry?\"

Harry yawned and scratched his stomach. \"Actually, I\'m a little hungry right now. Do you mind if we head down to the Great Hall and catch a bite to eat first?\"

\"Not at all,\" replied Hermione. Ron muttered something under his breath.

\"What did you say, Ron?\"

\"Um...I said, uh...\'bucket\'. Yeah, like, I hope they have...buckets...of chicken,\" he finished lamely.

* * * * *

\"Hermione? Really?\" Harry asked in disbelief. Ron nodded. \"How long have you been after her?\"

\"For a couple years now, actually,\" said Ron.

\"Well, tell me more, Ron, tell me more.\"

Ron gave a weary sigh. \"I don\'t know what I\'m gonna do, mate. I\'ve fancied her for so long, but I don\'t really know how I\'m gonna do it. Maybe I\'ll just tell her how I feel about her, straight up. Short and simple. What do you think?\"

Harry stroked his chin. \"Yeah, that could quite possibly work. The direct approach, eh? Just might do it, Ron. I don\'t know, it\'s been a few months since I\'ve gone out with anybody.\" He noticed Ron\'s glare. \"What?\"

Ron slammed his fork down onto the table. \"See, that\'s just it!\" The loud noise caused a dozen other students around them to glance in their direction with odd expressions, but then just as quickly they went back to their food. Lowering his voice a little, Ron moved closer to Harry. \"Listen here, Harry, it\'s all well and good that you seem to be quite a bit of the ladies man. But some of us aren\'t quite as lucky.\"

\"That\'s not true!\" Harry protested. \"Remember Cho Chang?\"

\"Yeah, that was, what, two years ago?\" Ron shot back. \"You seem to have gotten more than your fair share of witches since.\"

Harry was silent for a few seconds. His eyes slowly moved away and stared for a minute into the distance. Turning his head around to see what he was staring at, Ron followed his gaze to see Hermione, standing at the other end of the Great Hall. She was talking animatedly to Ginny about something or other.

\"You and Hermione have been friends for a long time,\" Harry said slowly. \"You\'re both very close. I think whatever you do, \'Mione will be very receptive.\"

\"We have been friends forte ate a while,\" Ron agreed thoughtfully. \"The only thing I\'m wondering is, going into this, will that be a good thing or a bad thing?\"

Harry began to reply, then looked away.

* * * * *

\"Are you sure you don\'t want to come, Harry?\" said Hermione as they stood around the doors of the school. The bright sky of the day had long since clouded over, and the cool grey interspersed with the red evening sun beginning its descent. Ron shivered a little as a brisk wind broke out over them. The day had been relatively warm, but now the cold autumn once again began to reassert himself.

\"Yeah, I\'m kinda tired...I think I should go and get a little rest,\" said Harry.

Ron\'s hopes began to lift, but then Hermione replied, \"Well, then, I guess we might as well go back in, too. Come on, Ron, let\'s go.\"

Harry waved his hand. \"What, are you kidding, \'Mione? There\'s nothing to do up there, except sit around and read books.\"

\"I like reading books,\" Hermione snapped.

\"But you should really get out anyway, live life a little,\" Harry said soothingly. \"Come on, \'Mione, you and Ron go and enjoy yourselves. I\'ll see you tomorrow morning.\"

\"Well....okay,\" said Hermione, reluctantly. Ron gave his friend a grateful look, to which Harry grinned.

\"Have fun!\" he said, giving Ron a covert thumbs-up signal before disappearing once again into Hogwarts. Then it was Ron and Hermione. They looked at each other and then began walking. The grass whispered under their feet as the two friends strolled down the hill in silence.

\"So....\" said Ron desperately, trying to break the silence. \"...good meal, wasn\'t it?\"

\"Yes, it was, really,\" said Hermione. There was another uncomfortable silence, before she suddenly asked, \"Ron, what are you planning to do after you graduate from Hogwarts?\"

\"Me?\" asked Ron. \"Actually, I was thinking of maybe doing something related to Quidditch. Or if that doesn\'t work out, maybe doing something in the Ministry of Magic, like Percy. What about you?\"

\"I\'ll probably head to London Magic U to further my studies,\" she replied. \"So you say you want to go into the Ministry of Magic, eh?\"

\"Or Quidditch. Don\'t forget...\" he grinned, \"Weasley is your king.\"

She laughed at that. \"Yes, I suppose so. I\'m a little surprised that you didn\'t say that you wanted to become an Auror, like Harry.\"

Ron\'s eyes flashed suddenly. \"What\'s that supposed to mean?\"

Hermione looked a little taken aback. \"Nothing...it\'s just that you two always seem to do stuff together.\"

\"I\'m not just Harry\'s loyal sidekick, okay?\" he snarled. But seeing Hermione\'s hurt expression, he softened. \"No, no, I just...I want to follow my own dreams, you know? Do my own thing.\"

The smile returned to her face. \"I can understand that totally, Ron.\" The sun lay on the horizon, getting a last glimpse at the world before settling back down into its bed of infinity. As Ron gazed at Hermione, his feelings for her began to make themselves known again. The conversation flowed as they came to a large tree by the cool, crystal lake by Hogwarts. After Ron suggested they stop there, they both collapsed under the base of the tree and gazed upwards, watching as the stars began to come out. They talked on for an hour, ranging from the injustice of Potions class to whether any of them had crushes oncherchers. But the more Ron enjoyed his conversation with Hermione, the more the looming task he had assigned himself made itself known. He had to tell her...it was driving him insane....

\"So, Ron?\" Her voice shook him out of his thoughts.

\"Wha?\"

\"Do you like any of the teachers?\"

\"Uh...no, no, not really,\" he said. The things he was talking about made no more sense to him than Hagrid wearing vertical stripes to make himself look taller. All he could think about was Hermione...he wanted her so badly...

\"Come on,\" she said encouragingly. \"You have to like SOMEONE.\"

Ron turned to her. If there was a time, it was now. \"Actually, I do like someone, \'Mione. And it\'s you.\" He studied her facial expressions intensely, looking for something, anything, that would give him a clue as to how she felt about him. There was silence for a second, and then -

\"What?\" Hermione said. She giggled. Ron stopped breathing. No, it shouldn\'t happen like this, it couldn\'t. As he stared at her, Hermione\'s expression suddenly became more serious. \"Wait...you mean...Ron...\"

He was on autopilot now, and there was nothing stopping him. \"\'Mione, I\'ve wanted you for so long...I love being friends with you, but I want to be more than friends now. You\'re so nice and so smart and so beautiful, and I really, really want us to go out together.\" He stopped to take a breath. Hermione looked as if in shock, but there was nothing that could be done now...the deed was done.

After a few seconds, Hermione stuttered, \"Ron...I, I don\'t know what to say.\"

Tentatively, Ron reached out for her hand. But when he touched her, her warmth leapt into him, and he suddenly grasped her hand more assuredly. \"Just say yes.\"

\"But I don\'t know what you want...\"

\"I just want you,\" Ron said. He looked at her with a mix of anticipation and fear. His fate was in her hands now. Hermione\'s face was still in shock, but words began to come out slowly.

\"I...I...\"

\"Yes? Yes?\" asked Ron. He needed her to want him, to love him, the way he did her...

\"I...can\'t.\"

Ron\'s world stood still. She suddenly seemed very far away. \"What...what did you say?\"

\"Ron, I can\'t,\" she repeated, somewhat less timidly this time. \"We\'re friends, Ron, you know that.\"

\"I know, I know,\" said Ron, \"but I want to be more than just friends.\"

\"Why?\" asked Hermione. \"What\'s wrong with being just friends?\"

\"Well, because...I guess, because...I\'m attracted to you,\" he said finally.

Hermione looked at him. It all seemed to be happening so fast. \"Really?\"

Ron nodded desperately. \"Yes, yes, Merlin, yes! You\'re beautiful and sexy and I want to have you so badly...\"

There may have been a small change in Hermione\'s expression, but Ron wasn\'t sure. \"What do you mean by that?\" she asked.

\"What are you talking about?\"

\"So, really, what you\'re saying is, you want to have a shag, and you picked me.\"

Ron gaped at her. How could this be happening? He had such feelings for her, and now it was coming to this. \"WHAT? No, no, \'Mione, it\'s not like that at all!\"

She still looked confused. \"Ron, I don\'t know what to tell you.\"

He squeezed her hand tighter. \"Tell me how you feel about me!\" He needed her answer.

Hermione looked at Ron, looked down at their hands together, and then looked away, gazing toward Hogwarts. Ron needed to know what she was thinking. All of a sudden, she turned back to him. \"Ron...\" she said carefully. \"I really like you.\" His face brightened. \"But...\" she began, and Ron\'s heart caught in his mouth, \"I think we should be just friends.\"

Ron stared at her in shock. \"What? Why?\"

\"Ron...you\'re a really nice guy...but I don\'t think we could have a romantic relationship. It would just be too weird...we\'ve been friends for so long...I don\'t think it would work.\"

He stared at her for a while, and then she slowly let go of his hand. Ron looked at her, and then said, \"But I need you.\" He began to move closer to her, moving his hands onto her arms. \"Hermione...please...\" he pleaded. He felt a tightness in his pants as he thought of having her right there, the way he had always wanted...

\"Ron, no...\" she managed as he continued to fondle her. She tried to move away, but he held her closer. She could feel his hardness through his pants as he moved closer and closer to her. Hermione tried to push him away, but he maintained his course.

\"Hermione...I need you, please, think about this...\"

\"No, Ron, I\'m sorry.\"

\"\'Mione, please...\" he pleaded as she struggled. Suddenly she pushed him away.

\"NO!!!\" she screamed finally. The word echoed into the encroaching darkness and faded into silence. Ron lamented that it was the loneliest sound he had ever heard. He fell backwards from pus push onto the ground, hitting his head on a small rock behind him as Hermione stood up, adjusting the clothes that Ron had grabbed at. She gave Ron a look of betrayal, and then turned on her heel and ran back to the school. That was when the rain started.

Ron lay there in shock as the drops of water began to fall on him, slowly at first, then harder, until a downpour pounded down on him with all the vengeance of one who has just been betrayed. But I didn\'t do anything wrong! his mind screamed. He had loved her...he knew that now. But she acted as if he was merely some horny little pest that she had to get rid of. She had pushed him away...he had wanted to give her more love than ever, and instead she took back that which the two of them had had in their friendship the whole time.

Standing up, his clothes completely soaking him, Ron glanced up in the dark at Hogwarts, looking forboding in the rain. He thought of Hermione...she had been all he thought about for so long, and now she was gone, never to be his. Ron couldn\'t bear the thought.

He ran.