21Author's note:
Wow. I've got nine reviews now! sigh I wish I had more! lol. I really want to thank all of those who bothered reading my story.
THANK YOU…KEZIAH (ngotskIthEgreaT)- of course you'll read it, mate. This story was made FOR you. Aw! Thanks for everything!
xxxCheexItxxx- thanks for the review! Hope you like the next chapter!
LaNi-GoLDfiSh - here's chapter three, enjoy! Thank you very much for the review too!
nehimasgift- you reviewed twice already, thank you SO much!Lunacatt- the weird pairing… I hope "he" shows up soon…thanks for the review!
Jwoods- thanks for reviewing and all the encouragement! You're a great role-model! A great big sister and a terrific writer!
Thank you very, very much to one of my best mates, ANGELICSORCERES for giving me a great idea, which I could use in my next chapters. I don't know how I'd be able to write the following chapters without you! (She was the one who told me to register in this website. That's why I'm a fanfiction writer now!) She's also a really good fanfiction writer too. A great friend!
Thank you LOUIS, for helping me all the time and answering my questions about Harry Potter. Thanks for the three suggestions you gave me, and thank you for reviewing the story as well. I owe you a lot. Lol.
Thank you also…(I shouldn't forget) to YOU-SHOULD-KNOW-WHO, my one and only Ate! (Big sister). She's the best Ate in the world! The only Ate I've ever had! She was the one who took time to edit this chapter. I really appreciate her help. (I really love her stories! She's one of the most brilliant writers ever! You should read her stories too!) THANK YOU ATE!
Well, I'm sorry I have a really long author's note. There are just so many people I want to thank! (Including my family, my friends, and the Lord. I love you guys!)
Er…here's the story. Please don't forget to leave a review!
(The story focuses on the trio's train trip to Hogwarts…)
Chapter Three
Cheering Her Up
Hermione, Ron, and Harry had gotten bored waiting for the train to reach Hogwarts. There was nothing to do! The boys knew that Hermione had gotten slightly more cheerful after they had given her some sweets, but still, they hadn't heard Hermione laugh during the whole trip. It was Ron who wanted to do something about it.
"Alright, let's play a game. Hermione, I want you to hold these beans, and try to shoot them in my mouth," Ron said, winking at Harry. "Harry can be the referee."
"What?"
"I said: take these beans, and all you have to do is throw them at my mouth. It's up to me to catch them. It's that simple. It's just like that game dad told me about once; the one that Muggles play. What do you call it? Bucketball?"
"It's basketball, Ron. Not bucketball." Harry corrected.
"Er…yeah, I knew that."
Listening to their conversation, Hermione chuckled a bit. She stopped immediately after catching Ron's eye. Ron then turned pink. She gave him a rather confused look.
"As I was saying," Ron continued. "I get a hundred points if I can catch the chocolate flavoured one, ninety points if I get toasted marshmallow, eighty if I get bubble gum and well…we'll settle the points later.
"What kind of game is that anyway? The points aren't stated clearly!" Harry said, waving his hands in the air, winking back at Ron. Harry could already sense that Ron was up to something. He decided to play along too.
"If ever I get dung, vomit, dirt, earwax or booger," Ron said, ignoring Harry, "and I hope I don't, you minus thirty points, okay? And, if my score adds up to lower than three hundred, I lose." He finished.
"Yeah, fine." Harry said, grinning.
"So, let's play!" Ron said, getting more excited. He shoved a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans onto Hermione's lap. But this girl wasn't easy to convince.
"No, we won't. We are not going to make a mess of ourselves and the compartment. This place doesn't belong to us, you know. Besides, we're already in our robes!"
"Well, you kept nagging us to dress up, so we did it. You made us do it! It's still a long trip away!" Ron said.
"Hermione, come on! Just this once?" Harry begged.
"Please, don't go acting like my Mum now!" Ron joked.
"You two are behaving childishly! I expect you to act your age by now. You're not twelve year-olds anymore! For goodness sake, we're in seventh year!"
"Hermy! Please! Please!" Harry said, pretending to look woeful.
"No."
"Pleeeeeease!"
"No."
"We just want to make you happy!" Ron blurted out. He really did mean what he said—wanting to make their best friend happy. Hermione was had gotten a bit upset.
"Why can't you just stop being so miserable? We just want to help!" Ron looked down and was shocked himself for saying it out loud. "You know, we don't want seeing you sad b-because…" He started blushing again.
"You mean a lot to us," he finally said, his voice barely a whisper. His skin was now as red as his hair.
Hermione almost felt like crying. She knew her friends cared for her and they would stop at nothing to make her feel better. (She loved them so much!) Her eyes did water a bit, but she didn't cry. Instead, she smiled weakly at both of them. A voice inside her head was speaking.
See, you do mean a lot to them.But-
Must you act like a mother all the time?
That's not true.
Give them a chance, Hermy-Should I?
You know you want to…
She glanced up at them, looking unsure for a few minutes. She saw the two boys, both seated in front of her, both silent, both waiting for an answer. You know you want to… The voice inside her head said again. Then, she sighed, and said, "Harry, Ron…"
"Yes?"
"Let's play!"
"Hey!"
"Bleurgh!"
"Ow!"
"Ouch!"
"Ha!"
Beans of different colours flew from all directions. Ron managed to catch seven different flavours of beans, namely: pepper, (twenty points) cinnamon, (fifty points) dirt, (minus thirty points) watermelon, (also fifty points) lemon drop, (sixty points), cherry, (also sixty points) and booger, (minus another thirty points). Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get chocolate.
One-hundred and eighty points. That was all Ron got.
"Aw. You invented the game yourself, and you lost, mate!" Harry said, laughing hysterically.
Hermione covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling too much. Ron wasn't annoyed. In fact, he was happy Hermione was enjoying it.
"So," Ron spoke, pretending to look grumpy. "At least I caught cherry and lemon drop, and they're worth sixty points each, that's still something!"
"Right. And coincidentally, they're both Hermione's favourite flavour." Harry answered back.
Ron blushed—again. Hermione eyed him suspiciously. Why is he blushing? What's there to be ashamed about? Maybe it's because Harry was teasing him a while ago. But Ron isn't always this shy around us… that rarely happens. Something seems to be bothering him… What is the matter with him? I wonder what it is…
"And because you lost," Hermione heard Harry say, "you have to be given…a punishment."
"Hey! I didn't say anything about a punishment!" Ron complained.
"You didn't? Really? We're giving you a punishment anyway." Harry replied.
"Ha ha ha, very funny, Harry. Really witty. Okay, okay, what do I have to do?"
"You mean, what do we want you to do?" Harry teased.
"Urgh! This game's really unfair!"
"You made the rules!" Harry said, roaring in laughter.
"So Hermione, what do you think will be a good enough challenge for our mate here?" Harry asked.
She didn't answer. She had opened her trunk, had started reading A Book of Spells Grade Seven, and was concentrating, itching to turn the next page. Why did Harry have to disturb her now?
"Could you put that book down for a second?"
Still no answer.
"HERMIONE!"
"Arrgh! What did you do that for?" she complained when Harry picked up one of the beans on the floor and threw it strongly to her head.
"I didn't do it, Won-Won did!" Harry said, blaming Ron who was completely innocent.
"Did what?" Ron asked.
Hermione picked up beans as well and started throwing them at Ron. Ron, who was staring out the window, yelped as one of those beans hit his eye. Before they knew it, they were already throwing beans at each other non-stop and laughing until they couldn't breathe and had tears in their eyes. This was so much FUN! They were acting like…like children!
"What are you three doing?" They heard an unfamiliar voice speak.
They instantly stopped what they were doing and turned their heads. They were having too much fun that they didn't even notice when the train stopped and the tall, moustached conductor opened the compartment door.
"The other students have gone. You're the only students left in this train."
"WHAT?"
"Better hurry up. You kids might miss the Sorting Ceremony."
They ran out the compartment…but came back almost at once.
"We left our trunks…" Harry explained.
Hermione thanked the conductor and also used a vanishing charm to clean up the scattered beans on the floor. ("We're really sorry, sir!")
Luckily, they were just in time to catch the last carriage that would take them to Hogwarts Castle.
"What about Ron's punishment?" Harry came up with the topic again after they had seated themselves inside the carriage.
"You should write a fifty-page essay on the history of the Every Flavour Beans; that should teach you." Hermione said, grinning.
"Are you guys trying to kill me? Have you forgotten that we're friends?"
"Alright, I dare you to ask a girl out for a date on our next Hogsmeade trip." Hermione said, making it sound final.
"To make it harder for you, mate…" Harry added.
"Oh no!" Ron said, hitting his forehead.
"…the girl must be from Slytherin!"
Ron looked horrified. He looked like he was about to faint.
"Anything but that! Please not Slytherin! I can't imagine myself on a date with Pansy Parkinson!"
"Only joking, Ron."
"Then ask any girl out. It's still going to be hard for you, since you've never done it in your whole life." Hermione said.
Ron stared at her. Both his eyebrows were raised.
"Well, it's better than Ms. Pug-faced." Ron said.
"That's settled then." Harry concluded.
"We're glad you're feeling better, Hermione," Ron said, smiling. Hermione smiled back at him.
"I dunno how I'd be able to live without you!" Hermione said, pulling them into a group hug.
"Er…Hermione? Just one question," Harry said.
"Okay, what is it?"
"How did you reach Platform nine and three-quarters anyway?"
"I went alone."
"You said you left your things with a lady. How did she give them back to you if you had already crossed the barrier? Did she follow you? How did she know the way through?
"Um…to be honest, I don't know…"
A/N: That was the longest chapter I've ever written. (Yay!) If you have any questions…you can always ask me! Please review!
P.S. I was wondering if you guys think the title's okay? I was supposed to entitle it "Raining Beans" or "Ron's Helping Hand" but well, this sounded better, for me at least. What do you think?