Chapter 2
Ron had never run so fast in his life. He reached the edge of the lake nearest to Hermione just as he head went below the surface. He jumped in feeling the icy cold water against his skin. He pulled out his wand shouting 'Lumos,' choking on the water. He stuck his head out above the water taking in a deep breath before plunging back down into the dark waters below. The light from his wand quickly helped him spot Hermione, who was struggling to fight back.
Casting any spell that came to his mind, Ron managed to free Hermione from the tentacles of the giant squid, dragging her body to the edge of the lake. Hermione gasped for breath, her head laid on Ron’s lap. He stroked the hair off Hermione’s face as she smiled up at him, not fully aware as to what had just happened.
‘Thanks for saving me,’ Hermione choked.
‘It’s ok; I couldn’t just let him drag you under could I?’ Ron smiled, feeling quite heroic
‘You’re really great Ron, you know.’ Hermione smiled back at him.
‘I know,’ Ron laughed, helping Hermione to stand, before taking her hand and leading her back towards the castle before anything else could happen to them.
Hermione felt safe walking hand in hand with Ron. She felt as though nothing could ever harm her, and most of all she felt happy, happier than she had ever felt in her whole entire life, even after just almost drowning.
They walked together into the great hall and sat down opposite Harry, who stared curiously at both of them who were dripping wet.
'What happened to you two?' Harry asked.
They sat through the feast, then dessert, explaining to Harry exactly what had happened in the lake, how Hermione had been dragged into the water by the giant squid and how Ron had swum in after her, risking his own life, to save her.
Ron exaggerated a few of the points but Hermione just smiled at him, without a care in the world.
Hermione fell asleep easily that night, beaming the whole night as she slept, knowing that when she woke up in the morning she would be able to see Ron again.
The tale of what had happened with the giant squid had spread quickly and everyone was treating Ron like he was a hero. Hermione listened to thousands of different stories, from one extreme to the other, but never correcting any of them.
Hermione noticed that Harry seemed upset, maybe it was because everyone usually talked about him and everything he'd done, and now Ron, his best friend, was suddenly getting all the attention. Well it was something that Harry would have to get used to.
Hermione had been getting a lot more attention recently as well, and not just because of the giant squid. Hermione had heard the girls in her dormitory talking about her, when they thought she was asleep, about how she was always with Ron and how they thought he really liked her and how they were jealous of her.
Jealous? Hermione was confused. No one had ever been jealous of her before. Not even about her cleverness. Hermione was enjoying the attention just as much as Ron, and after a couple of days realised that even the boys in her year were talking about her, and they would ask her out, if she wasn't already going out with Ron. These feelings were so strange to Hermione, but she was happy. Happy to be best friends with Harry, happy to be the girlfriend of Ron Weasley and happy because tomorrow would be the day that they went to Hogsmeade together.
