Know-It-All

Summary: Hermione had been called a know-it-all many times but it never really affected her until that insufferable Ronald Weasley said it.

Hermione had been called a know-it-all plenty of times. Her mother said it when Hermione could spell a word she couldn't, but it would be said fondly. Her cousins said it on a daily basis in many ways. From a bighead to a nightmare, she'd been called everything but it usually bounced off of her. Kids at school always made fun of her for being smarter than they were. Hermione didn't have very many friends but she really didn't want to be friends with people who called her names anyway. Yes, Hermione had been called a know-it-all many times but it never really affected her until that insufferable Ronald Weasley said it.

1st year:

"It's leviosa, not leviosa. She's a nightmare, honestly! It's no wonder she doesn't have any friends!" he had said. She brushed passed him, running to the bathroom.

Why should what he said bother her? She'd been called nightmare before and by people she actually cared about.

Still, it bothered her. She stayed in the bathroom the entire day, trying to sort things out. She felt like one of those annoying girls in books who cried over every little thing.

Then the troll came.

She was horrified until Ronald came in, and then oddly she felt better even when it didn't occur to the idiot to use his want to fight off the troll. She couldn't explain what she was feeling but she knew she wanted to be friends with Ronald, however grotesque he could be.

2nd year:

"You know-it-all. Only you could've pieced everything together that fast," he said. This time it was with relief. He was relieved she was awake again, no longer petrified. He had to make fun of her. Ron had to make himself believe that everything was normal. So she teased back.

"Well this know-it-all just saved your life."

"But seriously – you're okay, right?" he asked. She smiled and nodded. That was alie. She was still jumpy. Hermione was always checking around her and every little noise made her leap into the air but she knew that was what he wanted to hear, so she told him.

On some level Ron knew she was lying but he felt so happy that she was feeling good enough to talk he'd believe anything she said at that moment, eve if it was something as unbelievable as "Snape is in love with Harry's mom."

3rd year:

This time, it wasn't Ron who said it, but his reaction to it.

"Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all," Snape had said coolly.

Hermione could feel the anger radiating off of Harry and Ron. She looked over and half expected Harry to stand up and hex Snape. Please don't be an idiot, she thought. But it was Ron that retaliated and got a detention for it and a cruel one at that. They sat together later in the common room. Harry had fallen asleep over his Potions essay (not that he wrote much anyway). Hermione turned to Ron.

"Why did you do it?" she asked.

"Why did I do what?" He looked at the paper forlornly, knowing he could never come up with enough to satisfy Snape.

"Defend me. You had to have known he was going to give you a detention!"

"He went to far. It's one thing for me to call you a know-it-all because when it comes down to it, you usually wind up saving my ass by helping with some piece of homework so it evens out. He was just trying to get a rise out of Harry and me," Ron said.

"You still shouldn't of done it, but thank you." she mumbled. She returned to her Ancient Runes essay.

"You shouldn't let people put you down like that. Just because I do, doesn't mean it's okay," he grumbled.

"I'm used to it."

"Well…if someone does it again…I'll…I'll send Fred and George after them," he told her. She laughed.

"Thanks Ron."

"No problem."

She smiled to herself. Maybe the day hadn't turned out so bad after all.

4th Year:

"Goodnight Herm-own-ninny," Viktor said. Hermione blushed then smiled.

"Goodnight Viktor," she said happily. She climbed through the hole and into the common room.

"Hermione!" Lavender yelled. She ran up to her roommate. "So?'

"So…"

"Details! Come on, you just went to a dance with Viktor Krum!"

"Don't you mean Vicky?" someone nearby grumbled. Hermione groaned. She didn't want to face Ron. Honestly, she would have much preferred to go with him but the domnoddy hadn't asked her until after Viktor.

"Oh come of it Ron. Don't be so bloody jealous!" Lavender scolded, walking away.

"Who said anything about being jealous? I'm not jealous!" Ron yelled.

"I'm tired Ron," Hermione said softly, "and I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"He's just using you to get to Harry!"

"Ronald! Did you ever think that maybe he asked me because he likes me?"

"No!"

"Oh really?" Hermione asked, her voice steely.

"Well…I didn't mean…I mean of course…but…he's a…" Ron babbled. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Besides I don't think that's your problem."

"Oh really?"

"Really."

"You think you're so smart don't you?"

"Ronald stop it before you say something you're going to regret."

"You're such a know-it-all!"

"RONALD!"

"I can't believe you would go with him! He's a Durmstrang! That's worse than going with a Slytherin!" Ronald yelled. His face was red and Hermione could feel her tears coming. She knew how to end this fight quickly.

"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the answer is, don't you?"

"Oh yeah! What?" She took a shuddering breath.

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!" She ran upstairs and sobbed into her pillow.

"He spoils everything!"

"There there," Lavender mumbled, coming over to sit on Hermione's bed.

"I did everything I could to hint to him that I'd much rather come with him but did he listen? NO!"

"Boys are stupid Mione," Lavender said, putting her arm around Hermione. "He'll come around."

"I hope so."

5th Year:

"Neville, Neville, stop, you're doing it all wrong," Hermione groaned. Neville blushed.

"Gee, that sounds familiar," Ron muttered, walking by. Hermione shot him a look and turned back to Neville.

"I'm sorry Hermione," Neville muttered. Hermione noticed the look of disappointment on his face and softened her look.

"You're doing pretty good Neville, it's just you're pronouncing the word wrong," Hermione corrected. "In Patronum, the a is more of an uh sound, not a long a sound. I'm sure you'll be able to do it once you can say it correctly," Hermione encouraged. Neville looked doubtful, but took his wand back out all the same.

"Puh-trone-num?" he asked.

"Exactly." Neville took a deep breath and pointed his wand.

"Expecto Patronum!" he yelled. A silvery mist shot out of his wand. Neville's face lit up like a sun. Hermione smiled happily.

"See? I told you!" Hermione exclaimed even though she was very surprised.

"Alright we should start cleaning up now. We'll work on these again next meeting. Colin, great job, you got that on your second try!" Harry yelled. He walked over to where Neville and Hermione were standing. "Neville, that was excellent, really excellent. You did brilliant," Harry said, smiling and patting Neville on the back. Neville turned a deep red and muttered thanks.

"Come on Neville!" Luna's dreamy voice floated over to them. Neville walked off and Hermione noticed that he walked pretty tall.

"Hermione, you're my hero. I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to get around to helping Neville. Thanks so much," Harry said. Hermione smiled.

"My pleasure." Hermione looked behind Harry and saw Cho Chang walking out, looking a bit disgruntled. "You should go after her. I'll clean up," Hermione said brightly. Harry nodded, looking nervous, and ran after Cho. Hermione walked through the room picking up the cushions.

"You really are brilliant Hermione," a voice said from behind her. Hermione looked up and saw Ron standing there. It registered that Ron had grown up over the summer, in more ways that just emotional. He had gotten taller and bigger and...a bit cuter. Not that she would ever tell him this.

"I was just helping out a friend is all," she said, turning back to the cushions.

"Need help?" he asked.

"Sure. Thanks." They worked in silence for a while until they both reached for the same pillow. Her hand brushed his and she pulled back quickly. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She groaned inwardly. This is just like one of those corny movies. Please don't let that be my life, she thought.

They finished quickly and got ready to leave when they got to the door Ron sighed.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Dobby still hasn't taken the decorations down. There's er...misteloe right above you," he explained. She looked up. Merlin, my life is a corny romance movie, she groaned. She looked back up at Ron and figured at that moment she didn't care very much. He looked into her eyes and she could tell he was nervous. There was something else there though...happiness? She wasn't sure.

He leaned in and kissed her cheek softly. Hermione blushed and looked at her shoes. A moment of silence passed between them.

"We should probably...er...get...er...going," Ron stuttered. Hermione smiled and they left. She felt like she had to say something, anything, to get over the silence. She could feel useless information bubbling up but tried to hold it in. However, it came up anyway.

"Did you know that there's a whole legend surrounding mistletoe?" Hermione couldn't help but asked. Ron smiled.

"No I didn't." He looked at her and smiled wider. "You want to tell me." He didn't ask, he stated it, because he knew her that well.

"Well, there was this goddess, Frigga, and she ruled over Earth with her son Balder and one night he had a horrible dream about his death. Well, Balder had to be alive in order for the Earth to live so Frigga went to every god and goddess of the Earth and asked for them to make sure that none of their creations would kill Balder and of course they said yes. Well, Balder had an enemy, named Loki, and Loki realized there was one plant that Frigga looked over, and that was mistletoe. So he had someone shoot Balder with the mistletoe on the tip, so it killed him," Hermione rambled.

"What an arse," Ron mused. Hermione nodded.

"Right? So anyway, the Earth started to die and Frigga held her son's body and cried her heart out. The tears she cried turned into pearly white berries on the mistletoe plant, which is why mistletoe looks the way it does," Hermione continued.

"Wait, doesn't her son ever come back?" Ron asked, confused.

"Shh, I'm getting to that part! She finally managed to heal him and everything was great. The thing was that she was so ecstatic that her son was alive that she kissed every person who walked by, which was how the legend of kissing under the mistletoe got brought up," Hermione finished. Ron nodded.

"That was a good story but..."

"But..." Hermione prompted.

"You are such a know-it-all."

"Oh shut-up."

6th Year:

Hermione looked up from her book, enjoying the seemingly wonderful day. The sun was beating down hard, but under the shade of the trees, it was bearable. The birds were out, chirping happily. Butterflies were darting around, fighting for a spot on a flower with the bees. The lake looked beautiful with the sun shining off of it. It was the perfect day.

Except for the fact that the greatest wizard of all time had just had his funeral that morning, killed by someone he loved and trusted. The ceremony was a beautiful one, with so many people and beings there, including the mermaids and centaurs. Hermione just wished the ceremony could have been beautiful and about something happy, like a marriage, or a birthday, not Albus Dumbledore's death.

Hermione could feel the tears swell up and returned to her book, not that it was a happy one. She was re-reading Animal Farm by George Orwell or the hundredth time. Not the happiest book ever, but one of her favorites.

Hermione heard a rustle in the bushes next to her. She tensed up, not sure who it would be, then relaxed when she saw the patch of ginger hair.

"Hey Ron," she said.

"Hi. So...this is where you go when we can't find you, is it?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's nice." Ron stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. He decided on sitting down next to Hermione, but he kept quiet. She had hidden out here for solitude and he wasn't going to bother that.

Ron thought that Hermione had gone back to her book, but in reality, she was really looking at him. She was watching him watch her. At first, he stared at the ground in front of her and looked at her face for a second every once in a while. Then, he shifted his gaze to her foot, and why, she wasn't sure. She could feel his eyes slowly travel up to her face and was sure that he blushed a bit when he felt he had lingered to long on her chest. After about 45 minutes, he had settled on her eyes. He was staring into them, not knowing that she was staring right back at him.

"Um..." She broke the silence. "Do you want something to read? I've got a few books here," she offered.

"Sure," he said, surprising her. She looked over her books. She always had the same 6 books with her and carried them basically everywhere she went. They were Animal Farm, Hogwarts A History, Loser, Demon In My View, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and The Giver. She looked them over, wondering if Ron would like any of them. Well, she thought, Where the Sidewalk Ends is good. It's funny, and sad, and sweet. She picked it up out of her bag and showed it to him.

"It's a poetry book. It's one of my favorites. It's by a Muggle author, but it's still amazing," she said. He took the book and looked it over. "Unless you finally want to read Hogwarts, A History?" she asked, smiling. Ron gave her a look.

"But you would feel bad. You see, I would know all these facts about Hogwarts, and then I wouldn't need to come to you when I want to know something. You would feel so bad and it would hurt your feelings so much so what's the point? I'm doing this for you Hermione," he said, looking very sincere. Hermoine rolled her eyes and went back to her book.

They sat in silence, just enjoying each other's company. After about an hour, Hermione looked up at Ron.

"Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I'm...I'm just worried about the war and all that, you know? I mean, what if something happens?" she said, her fears finally bubbling to the surface.

"Like what?"

"Like..."

"I'm not going to leave you Hermione," he said softly. "I'm sticking with this. With you." Hermione beamed at him. Ron's ears turned scarlet when he realized what he just admitted. "And Harry too...you know...because he's my best mate...and all..."

"Yeah, sure."

"Well...I mean...you can't leave either. Not for any reason. Not...just..." Ron trailed off, but Hermione understood his meaning. He wanted her to stay safe, to stay, well, living.

"I promise." She leaned into him and went back to her book. He put his arm around her.

Again, they lapsed into silence until Hermione started to feel a bit hungry. Hermione looked up to focus her eyes and saw a beautiful sight.

"Ron," she breathed.

"Huh-"

"Shh! Look!" He looked up to see a magnificent, fiery red bird next to the lake.

"Whoa. Is that..."

"Fawkes."

"I thought Fawkes left...after...er...Dumbledore's..."

"I thought so too. Look at him Ron. He looks miserable," Hermione said.

"Why is he still here?" Ron asked.

"I don't know...wait!" Hermione pointed. Fawks had flown up to the top of the gate on the borders of Hogwarts. Hermione could see that Fawkes was crying over the gate.

"Don't...don't phoenixes have healing powers or something? Their tears?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded. "Why is he crying?"

"I think...he's..." A rush of warmth flooded Hermione's heart. All her sadness was drained out of her. She felt whole, like she had never been hurt ever in her life. She felt hopeful and happy, feelings she hadn't felt since her 4th year. She grabbed Ron's hand and when he squeezed it back, she knew he felt the same way. Fawkes seemed to nod his head, then flew off silently. The feeling grew faint, but Hermione still felt it a bit.

"What was that about?" Ron asked.

"He...healed...us. Our, hearts, I guess. He gave us the feeling of hope to look back at when things get harder, because they will," she said.

"Oh." He paused a minute, then bumped her shoulder lightly. "Know-it-all."

"Oh shut up! It's not my fault you have half a brain," she shot back.

"Oh, that was cold Hermione," he whined.

"But they will get better. They have to," she said. He smiled and Hermione's heart fluttered just a bit when she thought that maybe that "better" part he was thinking about included her.

"I know they will too," he said. They smiled at each other, a secret smile that no one else understood.

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Okay, so this will be a two-shot. Maybe three, depending on how nice I feel. I really hope you like this. Sorry about any grammar mistakes, but my ABC check died.