Ficlet for ajaxbreaker

[in_the_blue]

Boys.

Hermione knew they were insufferable. They always had been and most likely always would be. She sat in the Gryffindor Common Room glaring moodily into the fire, as if it would give her the answers she sought. But all that came back to her was this:

Love and hate are flip sides of the same coin.

When she saw Ron and Lavender together she didn't know whether to laugh out loud or run away weeping. On the one hand, they were so awkward and silly and so... just so... so laughable. But on the other hand, it was so... so... so wrong. She wondered what Harry thought about it, but seeing as how he was a boy and therefore one of them, she'd not asked him for his opinion, although she did catch his looks of mild amusement whenever Ron and Lavender were horizontal which, she reminded herself, was far more often than not these days.

Boys.

The worst part was that in addition to Ron making a complete and utter fool of himself -- Won-Won, for heaven's sake -- Harry was being another typically stupid boy by using Dark magic, and one would have thought he'd learnt his lesson after the business second year with the diary. It was patently obvious that his Potions book was full of evil, but could he see it? For one angry moment, Hermione wished that if Voldemort was going to pick anyone to be his adversary, it should have been someone who recognised Dark magic when he saw it!

"Oh. For. Heaven's. Sake." She tore off a piece of parchment and crumpled it, throwing it into the fire where it disintegrated into a thousand sparks and ashes. Ron and Lavender were making far too many little succulent noises within earshot; Hermione stood and marched immediately out of the Common Room and towards the library, where people at least paid lip service to the "no talking" rule.

Lip service.

Why was Ron so bloody stupid?

It was all so maddening. Finally at the library, Hermione opened her overstuffed book bag and drew out a fresh piece of parchment, smoothing it on the table before her. She dipped her quill into her favourite cobalt-blue ink and began to write to the only person in the world in whom she could confide, the only one who stood a chance of understanding her and what she was going through. She had to get it all off her chest, and she couldn't talk to either of her best friends about because...

Well, because they were boys.

Stupid boys.

She wrote.

Dear Mum, I have a question to ask you. When you were my age, did boys drive you insane with their stupidity? Here's why I'm asking...

Comments

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

I thin kI' mgongto cry. its' jstu weird torealize hermioen is somehow abit lonel yeven with two best friends. its' jstu aamtter of when wil they really start figurign otu how strong teir bonds actual yare.

eh. i know .i shoudnt' red stuf lek this on pms. {Hugs}

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I love this. :)

Nice job!

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

I like that bit about 'succulent noises'. ^_^

And now, if you've got time to go look, you'll find Dr. C's comments pretty synchronous with your concept.

[(Anonymous)]

This is great! I really like the reminder that Hermione's parents exist and that she has a good relationship with them, given that they get so little mention in canon.

[ajaxbreaker.livejournal.com]

Oops, that was actually my comment - I must have forgotten to log in. Thanks for the reminder, though :)