Woodgreen Academy Archive

Summary: Ron’s world is turning inside up. Pansy is hitting on him. Females are more manly. The males look pretty. Welcome to Woodgreen Academy.

Woodgreen was known for its well-maintained landscape. Practically each tree had been uprooted from some other state or country before it was replanted in the campus fields. All of the surrounding area was someone’s grand master plan, not necessarily the director’s because his colleagues definitely had had their hands on some places. For one, the Giant Penny fountain at the center of the driveway by the administration building was not something that would fit Treize Kushrenada’s layout. The rose bushes that lined the main roads were definitely his touch, no doubt.

And said rose bush was the main reason why Hermione would walk at a leisurely pace — painfully slow according to Ron — because she wanted to appreciate everything from the view, to the scent, and the sheer perfect order of how they were arranged. After six years of walking like this, Ron knew better than to comment on Hermione’s tendency to be obsessively compulsive herself. No wonder she swooned over the mention of their director’s name.

Ron, being who he was, felt everything to be too artificial. All the roses didn’t have thorns, which was something that always disturbed him. It felt incomplete. But he knew a few places in the academy that had untamed roses. Nonetheless, he would bet his next pay that even the seemingly out of place or wild grass of the school grounds was planned. The director was just like that. He could feel the control of that man even when all he did was sit in the office and let the students run all over the place.

Hermione was currently running her fingers on the rose bushes as they walked in companionable silence. He glanced at her every now and then, simply appreciating the company and wondering for the hundredth time why he agreed to end their year-long relationship. She had said she felt controlled because she could no longer talk to him the way they used to. She probably had a point because he could be very possessive and overly sensitive. Just like how his usual reminiscing ended, it ended with a sigh. The sigh caught her attention and she caught his stare then he looked away.

Hermione kept staring, however. She briefly admired how Ron had changed over the summer. He was about six feet now and she wondered if next year, he’d grow taller still. She remembered trying to stop the betting pool the previous year between Lavender and her friends over Ron’s development. He had been a subject of speculation ever since his sudden growth spurt from when he was fifteen. He literally changed every year, physically, but deep down he was still the same cuddly and insecure Ron - which she found rather cute. She couldn’t help but smile at that thought. Then she frowned, remembering the deep sigh, “Anything wrong?”

“Just wondering how long before we actually reach the main gate. You’re really slow.” He grinned when she scowled.

“I was admiring the view. Besides, it’s almost sundown. This place is beautiful during sunset.”

He laughed good-naturedly and continued walking. They stopped when a white limousine pulled by the curve and Pansy’s face peeked out of the window.

“Going back to The Lodge, Ron?”

Somewhere behind her, someone muttered, “There’s no room.”

After a brief shuffle and shove, Pansy opened the door to let Ron in and she just looked hard at Hermione as if resentfully extending the invitation to an unwelcome guest. A look Hermione responded to with a glare.

For a while, Ron speculated what happened to the real world he was living in and why a nightmare took its place. It hadn’t been an hour yet since he last saw Pansy and Draco and here they were again.

Ron didn’t want to take the invitation but Pansy’s grip on his wrist wasn’t letting up. And he’d be damned if he left Hermione alone. But he would be equally damned if he went inside the car with the two demons of his life. And trice damned if he and Hermione both went in.

In the end, Ron didn’t really have a choice as he was yanked inside. All he could do was grab Hermione so Pansy wouldn’t have the opportunity to close the door and just say oops while they drove away.

The whole ride was silent, as was expected from the company. Pansy was content enough to snuggle with Ron and Ron didn’t have the heart to shove the girl off his shoulder because she was asleep. Meanwhile, Draco glared at him and Hermione glared outside the window the whole time. Life was just so wonderful. Maybe in his next life, he’d be a minister or something equally great. He was surely suffering in this life already.

He couldn’t take it anymore so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind, “Stop the car.” The flat he shared with his siblings was just around the corner and he and Hermione could walk the rest of the way.

The chauffeur looked at the back through the mirror, silently asking his employer if he should follow. Draco didn’t say anything but simply nodded.

Ron slowly eased his way out of the car, settling Pansy to lie down on the seat. Out of courtesy, he grunted a thank you to the blond prat then closed the door. He looked at Hermione and tried to smile. She just shook her head.

“I can’t believe Parkinson. Is she just trying to be more annoying than usual or does she really have a thing for you?” Hermione started when they resumed their walk towards his flat.

“Trying to be more annoying than usual.” Ron just shrugged. “And here I hoped it would be a peaceful year.”

“Not when you’re prefect of the South.” Hermione laughed softly. “To be honest, I really was surprised they chose you… but maybe I shouldn’t worry too much. You’re everybody’s friend. But, seriously, how will you be able to maintain order?”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” Ron’s reply was laced with sarcasm and a touch of hurt.

“And you know…”

Ron sighed, preparing for a lecture on how to be a prefect.

“I never asked this before but I’ve always wondered how you were able to afford a place at The Lodge.” She looked at him, eyes slightly wider than usual. “It’s not an insult or anything but The Lodge is an expensive village and the houses and buildings here are for housing university students. The primary and junior high students are here, too, but with their families or guardians.”

She really did look curious so Ron decided not to take it as a jibe to his poverty. Besides, with his father’s promotion and the business of his twin brothers, they weren’t that much into subsistence living anymore. And every single one of his siblings, including him, had work. “You might be forgetting we all have trades now so the money isn’t posing much of a problem as it used to.”

“I know that, Ron, but The Lodge? And not to mention Woodgreen’s tuition fee, add in the housing at Wings, plus books and supplies and uniforms. It gets more expensive every year! Now that we’re seniors and prefects too, I just know that our expenses would double. You know you can ask Harry or me for anything, right?”

“Stop thinking too much, Hermione.” Ron patted her bushy hair and gave her a disarming grin. “The flat here is family property, distant uncle of sorts. I think I have relatives in every country by now. And don’t worry about books. Percy took good care of his books and the twins, crazy as they seem, knew there are still two other people who’ll use it so they didn’t vandalize too much. Ginny and I can take care of ourselves, ‘Mione.”

“Oh, Ron. But don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything, okay? We’re your best friends.”

“I don’t forget.” He grabbed her hand and started pulling her to the double doors of the building. “Come on. Did I ever mention we love it when you’re staying over? You cook great.”

Upon seeing the blush, Ron knew the previous topic was dropped. He loved Hermione, but sometimes she was too much like his mother.

Two other people were waiting by the lift. Normally, Ron would just ignore them but he had heard part of the conversation and couldn’t help listening to the rest of it. Thank God for their required Japanese language course. Woodgreen had had a long list of Japanese investors and proposed the language to be a requirement in the primary up until college level to prevent the development of isolated cliques amongst students. The same goes for non-English people; they were required to study English. Hawaii, for a United States territory, had more Asians than Americans. He should really stop being surprised at Woodgreen’s population and courses.

He couldn’t converse without making a fool of himself with his lousy accent and preferred to keep to his English tongue but he could understand just fine. Mandarin, on the other hand, was the bane of his existence. He had to drop learning the painful language in favor of German. All in all, every student in Woodgreen who started from primary was likely fluent in at least four languages, including their mother tongue.

“Naruto’s not even graduating this year. It’s always about Naruto with you. Why don’t you just tell your club to shut up and wait if Naruto even graduates on time.”

“The club looks into potential candidates even in the Junior High department.”

“Well, Naruto said he wouldn’t join your club. You freak him out. He’d rather stay in school dormitories than bunk with us here.”

“You make it sound like it’s my fault he isn’t staying here.”

“Excuse me,” Hermione interrupted, much to Ron’s dismay, “I couldn’t help but overhear. You’re staying in this place?” She inquired, looking at the shorter of the two. “Aren’t you Sasuke Uchiha?”

Ron almost slapped his forehead. No wonder the boy looked familiar. He should have known, after seeing the boy with Naruto the previous year. It was hard to tell the Japanese apart when they didn’t have anything strikingly distinct like the others who had gravity-defying multicolored hairstyles. Sasuke was one of those gravity-defying haired peoples, but black hair and black eyes were very normal Japanese features and he automatically blended with the rest of the Asian crowd in their school.

Sasuke seemed surprised that an English speaking non-Japanese woman just told him that she had overheard and obviously understood. “Yes? And I am,” He replied in English, his accent thick.

“You’re not supposed to.” Hermione straightened up, getting in gear for fact mode. “All the secondary students are staying at Wings as a requirement because of the concentrated environment. The academy has high expectations from its high school before they are allowed to proceed further to the university, here or elsewhere. It is social training as well and the discipline…”

Sasuke didn’t let her finish, “But I’m a sophomore and I stayed here last year.”

“Oh.” She frowned, forgetting that she had been interrupted mid-sentence. “Hmm..ah, I remember now. You were a transferee, like Naruto and Sakura! New students are always given the choice to stay in a private village. Moving in with about four hundred people can be very overwhelming, after all.” She frowned, her features darkening as if recalling a long forgotten unhappy past.

Sasuke just stared at her indifferently.

“But since you’ve had a year in Woodgreen already, it is expected that you adjusted and have found your niche — for lack of a better term. Everyone has a room and Wing assignment. I can take you to Wings right now and give you a copy of the HS constitution. I’m Hermione Granger, by the way.” She extended her hand with a smile.

Ron didn’t speak the whole time, letting Hermione take the floor as she was wont to do. Besides, he wasn’t in the mood to argue earlier but the idea of going back to the campus grounds was a very bad one. “Hermione, it’s almost dark and we still have to meet up with Harry for dinner.”

“It won’t take long,” She dismissed him with a huff and shook hands with Sasuke. “I think you’re in North Wing if I remember the name listings correctly.”

Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

“Big brain. Large memory,” Ron grunted as way of explanation, still not happy that Hermione would likely be late for dinner because of this boy. She slapped his shoulder.

“Go ahead, Sasuke,” the silent entity behind Sasuke finally spoke. Ron almost forgot there was someone else in the room.

“I didn’t know you had a sister, Sasuke. Naruto only mentioned a brother.” Ron tilted his head, looking at the petite girl behind Sasuke. Her eyes were slightly lighter than Sasuke’s, a slight shade of burgundy that Ron almost thought it was dark red.

Those eyes suddenly shifted and focused on Ron’s blue, a glint akin to amusement lingering on them. Ron just stared on, not exactly sure what prompted the change from bored senseless eyes to this. He noted the pale skin and the long straight hair tied in a low ponytail. The straight hair was very tempting to touch. He wondered if it was naturally straight or it was one of those rebond wonders that had been very popular lately.

He did recall she spoke in a low voice, too low to be female. Then again, he had already met girls with deep voices — one in particular beat him senseless in a racing game at the arcade. ‘Haruka Tenou was more a man than some of the male population,’ he thought grudgingly.

Sasuke looked amused. He opened his lips as if to say something then shifted his eyes to Hermione at the last second. “Alright then…”

“I’ll see you later, Ron.” Turning to Sasuke, she offered a polite smile, “You don’t have to move in until next week but if you’re curious to know, Naruto already moved in today.”

That was the last Ron had heard before the two left the building. He glanced back at Sasuke’s sister and noticed, for the first time, the flat chest. ‘So she’s flat but…’ his train of thought was interrupted when a pale hand with manicured black nails tilted his chin up so that he was looking at the face of the pretty girl once more.

“The face is up here.”

Ron blushed in shame and embarrassment.

“Itachi Uchiha,” a pause and Ron noticed the strange glint in the eyes had returned, “Sasuke’s older brother.”

The blush was now redder, Ron knew. He had just been caught checking out a bloke. He didn’t know what to say, or do, for that matter. So he did what he did best — stare.

“Your name?”

“Ah…uhm…” Ron bit the inside of his cheek and forced his mind to focus, “Ron Weasley. Senior. Secondary school.”

Itachi nodded and said nothing more.

They both stood there in silence. Itachi seemed undaunted but Ron was still flushed and silently hoped the floor would open up and swallow him already.

Ping!

The sound of the lift had never been so good in Ron’s ears and he was very glad that he could now go back home and away from this she-male. So happy was he that he had forgotten Itachi was also waiting for the lift and now, he was with the she-male in the cramped space.

Ron cleared his throat just to hear something while he stared at the flicking numbers that seemed to be so slow, slower than normal.

“You mentioned Naruto. Are you his friend?”

“Huh?” Ron blinked and backtracked to the question. “Oh, Naruto? In a way, yeah. I’m his prefect for the whole year.”

“I see.”

Too curious for his own good, Ron pried a little, “What was the club you’re trying to recruit Naruto in? Also… I don’t remember seeing you around the grounds at all.”

“It’s a martial arts club,” Itachi simply said. “And I’m a university student, incoming Sophomore.”

Before Ron could stop himself, he gasped the words out, “You look so young!”

Itachi actually cracked a smile and Ron found himself staring once more.

Ping!

‘Just when we were actually talking, too.’ Ron snorted then mentally kicked himself for the thought.

Itachi stepped out without a word of goodbye or anything. But before the doors closed, Itachi said, “Say hello to Naruto for me,” then he turned to face the stunned redhead, and smirked like the devil incarnate, “Ron.”

“You stay away from Naruto,” replied Ron, glaring at Itachi until the doors finally closed. He decided he didn’t trust that she-male one bit.

TBC

notes:

1. Giant Penny (Batman) = This is Harvey’s (Two-Face) Penny that is being kept inside the batcave as one of Batman’s trophies

2. LEMONed (hide) = This is from the other chapter. LEMONed is a real store found in Japan and a tribute to one of the best guitarist/artist I’ve ever came across.

3. Haruka Tenoh (Sailormoon) = The girl who can pass off as a guy and is Michiru’s lover XD and “cousin” in the American version of the anime