Say what now? - Delilah

[Ron Weasley]

Ron quite enjoyed spending time down by the lake. He failed to admit this to anyone, even Harry, at the risk of sounding like an emotional 14 year old girl. He has been called as such for other reasons in the past, but he didn't want this to be another one. Hermione, in particular, had on many occasions, more than Ron cares to remember, compared him with persons of apparent lower maturity levels than him, and more commonly, animals. Ron was planning on having a relatively enjoyable day - to achieve that, he needed to stop thinking about Hermione.

But lately, he was finding that easier said than done. When she is around, he sometimes wishes she wasn't, and when she isn't, he finds himself stupidly wishing, deep down, that she was. Like now, for instance. Harry, Ron and Hermione often came down to the lake as a trio, so naturally, the general memory of the Black Lake has Hermione in it, making visiting the lake by himself feel slightly strange. Shaking his head and dumping his shoulder bag on the ground, Ron slumped down and lay on his back, eyes closed. Already, with one thought of one person, his day was ruined.

He brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes as he moaned to himself. He had homework to do, a potions essay and defence research. He couldn't remember when they were due, so it made it difficult for him to plan his procrastination time. Trying to take an active assault on his studying, he had hopes that the Lake would provide some kind of studying stimulation, but the moment he lay down on the ground and remembered the reason he had come, he realized how foolish he was being. This was Ron Weasley after all...

[Ron Weasley]

The sun was warm today. Ron was comfortable in the grass, under the sun, not caring at all about any of the work he was supposed to be doing. He would rendezvous with Harry later and they could pop blood vessels over it then. Right now, the weather was too good to miss, a sunny day, and he had a chance to think straight about things. The peace and calm he felt was shattered when someone tripped over his legs, kicking him in the shin so hard that he had no control over the curse words that were spat from his mouth. He shot up and grasped his leg, glaring at the person who had ignored the acres of empty ground surrounding Ron and instead chose to walk over his legs. "Bloody hell!" He looked at the girl, who looked back with an awkward expression. Just the fact that she was a girl had Ron immediately regret swearing and getting ready to insult her face off. She seemed familiar to him, but Ron wasn't very observant so if she knew him, he couldn't say the same at this stage.

He rubbed his leg where she had kicked it. His shin was still throbbing with waves of pain up his leg. He had quidditch practice the next morning. Great... She seemed pretty put out that she hadn't seen him there, and Ron looked around at all her stuff that had scattered all over the ground upon impact. At least she wasn't overly apologetic - that would have annoyed Ron regardless of her gender. "It's...fine. Are you okay?" He grunted as he slowly and awkwardly got to his feet. His leg still hurt but it was okay to walk on at least.

He began to pick up some of her things. "Just, what were you doing that you couldn't see someone lying on the ground plain as day?" He wondered why he was picking up small jars of potion ingredients. He took a quick look at her robes. Ravenclaw. Of course, she was probably studying. She probably knew Hermione pretty well, then. Maybe they were in one of those weird girls study groups that Ron didn't understand. It was a simple enough concept, he just didn't get why every time he asked to join, Hermione ignored him and walked away.

[Ron Weasley]

Ron couldn't decide whether this obtrusive situation had ruined his day or in fact made for an interesting one. No doubt it was interesting, but Ron didn't find very many things interesting, so it was saying a lot if he found intrigue with this. On the plus side, as he stole glances at the familiar, seemingly older girl, he couldn't help but admit she was quite the looker. The red hair was a bit of a turn on, but no doubt she was probably way out of his league in the first place. Downside, he had probably just volunteered himself to be a nice guy/social person with her, and Ron wasn't feeling quite in the nice guy mood. He blamed Hermione, naturally.

As she spoke and tried to explain how oblivious to the world she was, Ron concluded that she was indeed, a nerd. Well, he wasn't calling her a nerd in a nasty way, but the way she talked about experimenting and always carrying heaps of stuff, probably and most likely books, just had the nerd radar going off in Ron's head. It wasn't a problem for him really. Hermione was a nerd, and they were, kind of friends, but she was also a know-it-all, so that changed things slightly. Hermione seemed a lot more annoying. Stop bloody well thinking about Hermione when there is a cute nerdy girl standing right in front of you!

He gave her back the things he had picked up that she dropped and put his hands in his pockets, smiling sheepishly. She introduced herself as Delilah and then made it very clear that she didn't have difficulty deducing who he was. "Yeah...Ron Weasley. Bet it wasn't too hard to figure out... uhh. It's nice to meet you." The name Delilah seemed to ring some small and distant bells, but nothing resounding, so he still had no idea who she was. "So...experimenting, huh?"