Summary: Malfoy finds a piece of parchment that belongs to Hermione and wants to talk with her. After this incident, Hermione starts acting weird. Harry and Ron want to know what's going on..
Categories: Ron/Hermione Characters: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: Series: None
Chapters: 2
Completed: Yes
Word count: 5635
Read: 5616
Published: 06/19/05
Updated: 06/26/05
1. Nowhere by Solika
2. Wanna learn Hogwarts’ news? by Solika
I don't own the characters/sets/etc, they're all J.K.Rowling's, in case you don't know it already!
Special thanks to bobin221 :o)
***Harry and Ron were sitting in the common room, sighing. They had to make a second dream diary for Trelawney’ s lesson and they had decided to make up some dreams, along with their explanations. Full of injuries and deaths of course, since those where the kind of things that their professor liked to read. Everything for her was an omen of death.
“What will we write this time?” mumbled Ron.
“I dunno,” Harry answered, playing with his quill.
“Open your inner eye!!!” Hermione yelled, imitating Trelawney’ s voice. She was sitting neat the fireplace, reading one of the many books she had borrowed from the library. She was chewing a sugar quill.
“Yeah, right. I’ll just explore my imagination.” Ron said.
Harry agreed. “Now, then… I’ll write that on Tuesday I saw myself playing Quidditch and catching the Snitch, which obviously means that I will be hit by a bludger and I’ll be unconscious in the hospital for five days.”
“That’s good. I’ll write that on Wednesday I dreamed about a candle flickering, which means that the candle of my life will soon blow out,” Ron said dramatically.
“No, you can’t. You had also foreseen your death the previous week.”
“Oh, right,” Ron said disappointed. “Then… um… I can write that I’ll be seriously injured by… a giant pumpkin that will fall on me!”
“A giant… How did you think that of?? How can a giant pumpkin fall on you??”
“I don’t know. Accidents happen.”
Harry tangled his hair.
Ron gave a look at Hermione.
“Hermione, d’ you mind if we foresee your death in a dream?” he said.
Harry was trying to keep a straight face, but eventually he laughed.
Hermione stared at them surprised, with a disapproving look on her face. She got up and said in a strict way, “Don’t you dare mix me up in your stupid imaginary dreams! I am going to the library to give back the books.” She took her books and left.
“We wouldn’t do it anyway,” Ron said blankly.
“No,” Harry agreed.
***Hermione was walking quickly along the corridor, heading to the library. Suddenly, she stumbled on the carpet and the books fell of her hands. “Great,” she mumbled. She picked them up and began to walk again, when she heard a voice.
“Hey, Granger! What’s this little piece of parchment here?”
She turned around and saw Malfoy, having a sardonic smile, holding a piece of parchment that had fallen through Hermione’s books.
She wondered how thick she could get. She should have remembered to leave that on the dormitory. She blushed. “Give it to me. It’s mine.”
“Of course it’s yours,” Malfoy said and unfolded it.
“Don’t!” Hermione yelled.
Malfoy read it and his smile got wider. “Oh, is that so, little mudblood? That’s an interesting piece of information… Is it known yet?”
“Yes,” she lied decisively.
“S’pose that means that if I say it aloud right now, nobody will go ooooh and aaaaah?” said Malfoy, who of course hadn’t believed her and he put the piece of parchment in his pocket.
“DON’T!”
“So, it’s not known.”
“No. No one knows. Now, can I have it back, please?” she said defiantly.
“Of course not! You have to be very careful with these things… You have to make sure that they won’t fall into the wrong hands…”
“You mean to your hands!”
“Yes, and that…”
Hermione didn’t know what to do. Malfoy now had her in his grasp.
“Come. We must talk,” he said and Hermione followed without protesting.
***Harry and Ron were going to the Great Hall for dinner.
“How didn’t we think of that earlier!!” Harry exclaimed. “We should have foreseen Voldemort’s death!!”
“Voldemort’s?” Ron said in surprise, shuddering. He still couldn’t get used to that name. ”Yeah, why not... From now on, that’s what we‘ll do. Foresee the death of a black-haired adult with red eyes and evil dispositions.”
Harry agreed. “And the one of Wormtail’s. It will be some kind of revenge.”
“We ‘ll beat the Divination hollow!” Ron said happily.
They saw Hermione sitting on the table. They sat opposite to her.
Hermione looked at them surprised. Then, she looked at the Slytherin’s table. Malfoy was smiling at her with significance. Hermione immediately went to sit near Neville and Lavender.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances.
“What’s wrong with her? Did we irritate her or something?” Ron asked.
“I don’t think so. She’ll probably be… in a weird mood.”
Hermione left before them.
*** “Maxima Concordia.”
Harry and Ron went into the common room and found Hermione writing furiously.
“What are you writing so passionately?” Harry yawned.
“Huh? A-an assignment on the potions,” she answered without looking at him.
“On potions? For Snape? But you finished it yesterday!” Ron said.
“So? I am writing it again! I can do whatever I want, do you have a problem?” Hermione yelled irritated, but without stop writing.
“No, I just… I…”
“I care about you, I love you?” Harry whispered.
“It’s that I…”
“I want to come there and kiss you?” mumbled Harry.
Ron hit him on the shoulder. “I just think that you study too much.”
It was true that he actually wanted to tell her all the things that Harry was mumbling, but that was not the right time. In fact, it was never the right time to tell Hermione something like that.
Ron had fallen in love with Hermione. He didn’t need to tell Harry since he had noticed it by himself, but he shivered in the thought of telling it to her. Judging from Lockhart and Krum, she would never look at him in the way he wanted.
“I’ ll study as much as I want!!!” Hermione yelled, being almost in tears.
Harry and Ron thought it was wiser not to continue this conversation.
*** “McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout,” Malfoy said.
He and Hermione were standing outside the Great Hall. It was still very early; they didn’t want anyone to see them.
“They ‘re too many! I can’t,” she said.
“Where did I put this piece of parchment…” Malfoy pretended searching.
“All right, all right! I ‘ll do it.”
“I knew you were clever enough to do the right thing, you little mudblood. At night. But you must come to Slytherin’s common room. I want to supervise you.”
“What? I can’t come to Slytherin’s-“
“Saying something?...”
“No. I will come,” Hermione said.
“Pleased. At 9:30. Go now, people are coming,” he said leaving.
Hermione looked to the stairs. Among the students getting down were Harry and Ron. They went to her.
“What were you talking about with Malfoy?” Harry demanded.
“Oh, he was just offending me, again!”
“I can punch him if you want,” Ron said indifferently, but he really meant it.
“No, Ron, I would appreciate it if you didn’t,” Hermione replied coldly and they went for breakfast.
*** At night, the common room of Gryffindor was full of people.
Ginny was teaching a friend to play wizard chess.
Harry and Ron were chewing their sugar quills.
“How d’ you think Voldemort should die this time?” Ron asked.
“I dunno. I think I’ ll write that on Tuesday I saw a butterfly flying near him, which will mean that he is gonna be stung by a giant butterfly with genes of acromantula, and ... he’ ll die,” Harry answered in boredom.
Ron giggled.
Then they saw Hermione going down the stairs silently and heading towards the portrait, holding books.
Harry looked at a watch. 9:20.
“Hermione, where are you going?”
“Nowhere,” she said and left.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know,” Harry answered. “Maybe she’s going to exchange books with the Ravenclaws…”
*** “Luna?? That young Hufflepuff we saw yesterday is thinking of dating Luna??” Ron asked bewildered. He, along with Harry and Ginny were at the Great Hall, eating breakfast.
“Yeah,” Ginny said. “It’s weird, I know, but we don’t all have the same tastes…”
“But…But he seemed... too normal for Luna! I mean… she surely needs someone more special. Not to offence the guy, I don't even know him, but…”
“I see what you mean, Harry, but it’s a matter of taste. Think of it this way: Hermione is not very popular with the boys because she’s bossy and stuff, but there’s a certain red-headed here, who happens to be my brother, that fancies her a lot…”
Ron blushed. “… Hermione! Where’s Hermione?” he asked looking around.
“Oh, she’s not coming for breakfast. She went to bed very late last night, I don’t know where she was. She’ll go straight to classes,” she answered.
*** In History of Magic, which was their first lesson for the day, Harry and Ron (mostly Harry, because Ron had fallen asleep) tried to chat with Hermione, but she was keeping notes. Her attention was distracted only when Malfoy sent her a message and she gave him an angry look. This one Ron saw it, he had woken up.
*** Later, in the library, Hermione didn’t pay attention to none of them. She was pale and was furiously making notes from the books she was reading.
“Hermione, you just wrote down the properties of the red pea from another book, a minute ago!” Harry said.
“I want to write it in other words, too. So simple.”
“Why?” Ron asked. “There’s only one assignment you ‘ll do, yours. You never let us copy, anyway.”
Hermione bit nervously her lips.
Then, Malfoy came around.
“Granger, little mudblood, a word with you?”
He whispered something to her ear.
*** “Honestly, I cannot understand what could possibly Hermione talk about with that ferret, Malfoy,” Harry told Ron as they were returning from the Quidditch practice.
They went up the stairs to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Before they had time to say the password, the portrait opened and there came Hermione, holding books.
“Hermione! We were just talking about you! Where are you going again?” Ron said.
“Nowhere,” she answered and left.
“Nowhere!” Ron yelled.
“Isn’t she acting a little weird?” Harry wondered aloud.
*** The same thing went on for a few days.
Hermione was spending all her free time in the library and each night she left from Gryffindor, holding books and saying she was going nowhere. She was always coming back late. She hardly spoke to anyone, Harry and Ron couldn’t get a word from her on what she was hiding from them, whereas day by day she seemed more and more pale and tired, until one morning she showed up having scratches. She simply said that she slipped on the stairs.
*** “We have to know where she’s going,” Ron said to Harry.
They had just seen Hermione leaving, for once more.
The time was 10:30.
“Yeah,” said Harry. “If you only consider that we ‘re not allowed to go round the castle’s corridors at night and Hermione keeps braking that rule, that means she must have a serious reason.”
“Yes! She may even have a problem that can’t tell us! She might need help!”
“Exactly! She’s our best friend, we have to know! Besides, I’m starting to worry.”
“Me too.”
“See? We have to know.”
“The map,” Ron said.
“What map?” Harry marvelled.
“What map, Harry, the Marauders map! That’s the only way to find out!”
“Right!”
Harry ran fast to the dorms and brought the map.
Moments like these, he was feeling great gratitude towards the three Marauders. He didn’t consider Wormtail as a marauder anymore, though, or at least he didn’t feel gratitude to him!
No-one was in the common room at the moment, so they could open the map undisturbed. They watched Hermione’s steps…on the stairs…on the corridors…
“Look, Dumbledore’s pacing again,” Ron said.
“Concentrate!” Harry snapped.
“For Merlin’s name!!” Ron yelled, “Hermione just entered the Slytherin’s house!!”
Harry saw it, too. He was as confused as Ron.
Why did Hermione go every night in Slytherin?
“Mischief managed,” Harry said quickly to the map, as steps were heard.
From the boys’ dormitory came Seamus.
“Ron, can I eat a chocolate frog, from the ones you have on your bed?”
*** Hermione was walking along the dark corridor. She had a big bruise on her hand and scratches everywhere.
I’m going to tell them, she thought. I’m going to tell them, no matter what happens. Things are getting on top of me. This can’t go on.
She reached the portrait. As soon as it opened and Hermione saw Ron playing chess with Harry, she immediately changed her mind.
I won’t say anything. Not a word. I can’t. It would be a disaster, Hermione thought. It was too difficult for her.
“Hermione!” said Ron.
“Goodnight,” she answered blankly and went to the dorms.
*** “I was thinking what Ginny said once- not only once, no, she kept repeating it to me on The Burrow the whole summer!- that I fancy… you know…”
“Hermione!”
“Yes, shout it in the bargain so that the whole castle will know!” Ron said annoyed and his ears went red. “Yes, I meant her… How could Ginny know? I mean, I thought you were the only one who knew it…Or that’s what I used to believe… How did she know?”
Because it’s so obvious, maybe? Harry thought. He had already tried a few times to convince Ron talk to Hermione for his feelings, but since Ron kept denying, he had stopped the efforts.
“I was thinking, we have to know what Hermione does in Slytherin. I don’t believe she turned to their side… Huh?” Harry said worryingly.
“No, she would never… Would she?”
“And what are all these scratches that she lately has? And the fact that she doesn’t sleep? And that she almost fainted in Snape’s class!”
“Well, many people would faint in the sight of Snape…”
Harry gave him a strict look.
“But not Hermione. What if she really needs help?”
“The invisibility cloak,” Harry whispered as they entered into the Divination class.
*** On the same night, Harry and Ron were prepared.
When Hermione left at around 10:00, they put on the invisibility cloak and followed her.
It was hard to walk behind her, both being under the cloak, since now they had become taller and they had to duck a little.
When they reached the Slytherin’s portrait, they waited a few minutes and then it opened.
Malfoy, after checking that no-one was round, let Hermione go in.
Harry and Ron achieved to go in before the portrait had closed, although they almost fell on Hermione.
She sat on a table, put the books in front of her and Malfoy gave her a quill, ink and a parchment.
“For who?” Hermione asked coldly.
“For Snape,” Malfoy answered.
Hermione began to write.
“Write more clearly! I won’t be able to copy it later if you keep on writing like this!” he said strictly.
Hermione bit her lips.
“He asked the properties of pixie’s cry as well, don’t forget them!”
“I won’t.”
Malfoy was standing over Hermione, supervising.
“Why is she doing his homework?” Ron whispered.
Hermione raised her head abruptly.
“What?” Malfoy asked.
“Nothing, I just thought I heard… Nothing.”
“Voices? They ‘re from the dormitories, now keep writing!”
Hermione began to write again, when Malfoy shouted “Expelliarmus!” and the quill flew away from Hermione’s hand.
She, without saying a word, went to take it.
Malfoy shouted another spell immediately and threw the quill to Hermione, scratching her.
“These are the scratches,” Harry whispered.
“Could you please stop doing that?” Hermione said strictly.
“No! I like doing that! And I like throwing things on you,” Malfoy grinned and with a spell he threw a book to her.
“Well, I don’t!” she yelled.
“Did you say something that I didn’t hear, filthy mudblood? Where was that piece of parchment…”
Hermione sat down and went on with her writing.
Two hours later, Malfoy let her leave.
Just when she had gotten out from Slytherin’s common room, Harry and Ron took of the cloak.
Hermione screamed.
“Hermione, what d’ you think you‘re doing??” Harry said strictly.
“Why are you doing his homework, what’s the matter with you??” Ron yelled.
“That’s why you were taking double notes!” Harry added.
“Wha- What did you do?” Hermione yelled. “You‘ve been in there all this time? Did you see everything?”
“Everything,” Harry answered.
“Especially the parts that he was throwing stuff on you!” Ron growled.
“Why did you do that, you mustn’t have done that!” she said, both in anger and despair. “Never do that again!” she said leaving fast.
“Has she gone completely mad?” Ron said. “We are trying to help and she-“ He stopped.
Flinch ’s voice had been heard. “What is it, Mrs. Norris? Is anyone there? Let’s go check…”
Harry and Ron went under the cloak and ran behind Hermione.
When the three of them had gotten into their common room, Harry and Ron made themselves visible and Hermione, who didn’t know that they were behind her, screamed again.
“What is going on with you?” Harry shouted.
Hermione was almost in tears.
“Are you intending to follow a Death Eater’s career?” Ron asked sarcastically.
“Of course not!” Hermione said loudly, her voice trembling.
“Then what?” he yelled. “Is there anything going on between you and Malfoy? Any affairs maybe?”
“Surely not!! And now you ‘ll excuse me,” she said and went to the dormitory.
“I can’t understand,” Ron said while they were going to their dorms. “She goes into hysterics when we ask to copy from her ever a tiny simple sentence and now she’s doing Malfoy’s homework?”
“Sush… Not so loud, we‘ll wake everyone up,” Harry whispered.
There was definitely something wrong with Hermione. They just couldn’t understand what.
*** Harry heard someone crying. At first, he though it was in a dream or something, then he realized that he wasn’t sleeping any more. He kneeled on his bed and tried to see. It was quite difficult, since it was too dark. He saw a figure sitting on the floor… crying.
He put on his glasses. “Hermione?”
It was indeed Hermione, staring at Ron (he was asleep).
“Are you all right?”
She raised and wiping her tears she said a proud “Fine.” Then, she left.
Wanna learn Hogwarts’ news? by Solika
I still don't own any of the characters/sets/etc and I never will, since they all belong to J.K.Rowling.
Thanks to bobin221 and ky_chick42431 ;)
*** “Have you seen the way she looks at me?” Ron asked Harry, turning over the pages of a book, in the library.
Two or three days had passed and Hermione kept refusing to discuss her visits in Slytherin’s Tower. She occasionally sat with them, but without talking. Every now and then, she looked at Ron and seemed like she was about to cry. However, Harry hadn’t told Ron about the ‘other’ visit that Hermione had done in their dormitory, the night she was staring at Ron and crying.
Hermione approached them and sat.
After a while, Harry spoke.
“Hermione… you‘ve been acting a little…”
“Very,” Ron interjected.
“Very weird lately and-“
“Love can be found everywhere!” Malfoy’s voice interrupted Harry.
He was talking to Crabbe and Goyle, loudly on purpose. “The cow falls in love with the ox! The rooster with the chicken! The mudblood- …Oh, sorry, who did we say you fall in love with, mudblood?”
Hermione left crying.
Malfoy signed to Crabbe and Goyle to follow him, while Harry was trying to restrain Ron from rushing at Malfoy.
“Well, she might be weirder now, but she’s still Hermione!” Ron excused himself.
*** Next morning, when Harry and Ron went down to the common room, they found Ginny, Parvati and Lavender chatting.
“Good morning,” Ginny said.
“’Morning. Er…”
“Hermione won’t come down, don’t wait for her,” Parvati said, while Ginny was brushing Ron’s hair with her hand.
“She won’t? She‘ll come straight to class again?” Harry asked.
“I don’t think she‘ll come down at all today, she’s feeling awful.”
“Why?” Ron said.
“She had been trembling all night, she must've had a fever.”
“She didn’t want me to stay with her, though,” Ginny shrugged.
“Yeah and she didn’t want to call Madam Pomfrey either,” Lavender observed.
“You would not look so well either if quills and books and things were thrown-” Ron mumbled.
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing, just a private joke of ours,” Harry said quickly.
Truly, Hermione didn’t come down all day and Harry with Ron couldn’t go up to the girls’ dormitory’s stairs to see her.
*** “Hey, Ginny, why in a hurry?” Ron asked his sister when she passed quickly in front of them. He and Harry were in the common room, studying “or at least, trying to!
“I have a message for Hermione.”
“From who?” Harry wondered.
“From Malfoy. He asked me to tell her to go fast she-knows-where or else she “knows- what “will- happen. I didn’t make any sense.”
“Don’t you dare speak to Malfoy again!!” Ron yelled, blushing.
“I didn’t, he came to me! Don’t worry, I don’t like him any more than you do,” she said calmly and went to the girls’ dormitory.
*** “Harry… Ron… Wake up…” Ginny was trying to wake them up.
“Geroff me…” mumbled Ron.
“In a minute…” Harry said sleeping.
It was still very early, it had just dawned, why did Ginny want to wake them now?
“Ron… Harry… C’mon… Wake up…”
“WHAT????” Ron yelled harshly. His yell made Harry rose in fear. Fortunately, the rest were in deep sleep. Only Neville mumbled something but didn’t wake up.
“Hermione is in the hospital wing… I thought you should know… Lavender called Madam Pomfrey, an hour ago…”
*** Hermione was lying on a bed of the hospital wing. Lavender had called Madam Pomfrey when, after Hermione shook with ague for many hours, she threw up.
She now was pale but her cheeks were pink. Harry and Ron ran to her.
“Hermione!” Ron said.
Hermione didn’t look at them for she was too ashamed.
“Did you go yesterday?” Harry asked.
He didn’t need to tell where, she understood he meant in Slytherin and shook her head.
Ron wanted to hug her but he didn’t. Hermione wanted Ron to hug her, but he didn’t. Harry wanted to ask more, but he felt it was not the right time to push her on the subject of Malfoy.
And speaking of Malfoy…
“Hey, Granger,” he shouted, approaching with Crabbe and Goyle.
“Now they‘ve done it,” Harry murmured.
“You know when, you know where!” he yelled at her.
“I can’t,” Hermione said without looking at him. “Madam Pomfrey forbade me to set a foot off the bed for today. She said I don’t get much sleep and that I’m very tired and depressed. I’m supposed to get some rest.”
“I don’t care! You didn’t come yesterday either!”
“She was sick!” Ron yelled and his ears went red.
“He knows?” Malfoy asked surprised.
She shook her head.
“Oh. I don’t care if you‘re sick or not! You must come! Otherwise, you-know-who will learn about you-know-what!”
“You-know-who?” Harry said baffled.
“I don’t mean the Dark Lord, Potter!” Malfoy defined annoyed.
“I can’t!” Hermione said in tension.
Malfoy left laughing with Crabbe and Goyle.
Ron stood up. “I’ll beat him.”
“No!” Hermione said.
The rest of the day, Ron and Harry were sitting with her, keeping her company. They didn’t ask her anything about Malfoy and she was not in the mood to say much. She was just hearing them talking about Quidditch or commenting on the teachers (Snape is a git, Binns is so boring, McGonagall gives us a lot of homework lately…)
*** The following day, their first lesson was Transfiguration.
Ron sat with Harry; they were having a discussion on the new Quidditch’s practice plan. Hermione was throwing worried glances around the class. The students were chatting.
“Hey, guys!”
The whole class turned to look at Malfoy.
“Wanna learn Hogwarts’ news? Who fancies whom?”
Hermione blushed and looked at the floor. Her nightmare was coming to life.
“I have here this little piece of parchment,” Malfoy showed everyone, “that belongs to Granger. It’s full of hearts with a name in them, the name of-“
“Evanesco!!” shouted Hermione and eliminated the parchment.
“Anyway, you all saw it actually existed… The hearts were around the name ‘Ron’.”
Hermione turned purple.
“Front page! Mudblood Granger has a crash on loser Weasley!” Malfoy said loudly.
“WHAT?” Ron shouted, staring surprised at Hermione.
And then… McGonagall came. Silence fell.
“Good morning, class.”
Hermione stood up. “Professor, may I go out?”
“Is there something wrong, Miss Granger?”
”Please, I must go out!”
“All right…”
Hermione left quickly.
“Did you hear what Malfoy said?” Ron whispered to Harry.
“That’s why Hermione must have been doing his homework and that’s why she was letting him to do anything he wanted! He was blackmailing her! He was threatening her that everyone would learn that-“
“She has a crush on me?” Ron interrupted. “I’m not sure if it’s true…”
“Don’t be a prat would sound better! It is true!” said Harry in an undertone.
“But-“
“Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, can’t you make an effort to wait and chat after out lesson?”
“Sorry,” Harry said quickly.
“Sorry,” Ron was smiling widely.
*** After classes were over and Hermione had been nowhere to be found, Harry and Ron searched for her in the common room, the Great Hall, and the library. They’d searched everywhere and still could not find her.
“What will you tell her when we find her?” Harry asked.
“Um…” Ron hadn’t really thought of that. “I think I’ll make sure that what the ferret said is true… And… then… Er…”
“You will confess her your love and live together happily ever after,” Harry grinned.
Ron smiled. “Where can she be?”
“Ok, listen. I’ll search outside and you search the castle. If I find her, I’ll bring her to you even if I have to bind her.” He was sure that Hermione wouldn’t be very willing to go to Ron.
*** Hermione had spent all her day at Hagrid’s.
For the time being, she was in the Room of Requirement. Ginny had asked her to meet her there, as it was the only place where no one would interrupt them. She had heard about this ‘little incident’ and thought that she might have been able to help Hermione, in some way.
Ginny arrived some minutes later. Her cheeks were pink. “Wow, that was a run! Filch almost saw me coming here and we wouldn’t want that, would we? So! Will you tell me what’s going on? I mean, I obviously know you like my brother, the whole school does…” she said softly. “But I think you have some more things to explain… Malfoy, for example, and his messages… Or why you are hiding…”
Hermione hesitated. Truth was, she wanted someone to talk to, someone to advise her, someone female whom she could trust.
“Er… Ginny, I don’t know if this is a good idea, I mean you are Ron’s sister and-”
“Oh, come on! You can trust me or don’t you know that already? And I really want to help you if I can, I’m not stupid, I can see that something is wrong!” Ginny said as calmly as she could.
”All right… Well, here it goes…” Hermione sighed and started telling her everything.
While reading, she had drawn some hearts around Ron’s name. When that parchment fell of her books and Malfoy found it, he started to blackmail her. Either she would agree to do his homework or the whole school would learn about her ‘secret love’. She couldn’t say anything to Ron or Harry, because then she would have had to tell them about the parchment as well. She was embarrassed to admit it to Harry. Malfoy started practicing some spells on her… When she got ill and couldn’t do any homework, Malfoy shouted in front of the class that she had a crush on Ron.
Hermione looked at the floor nervously. Her face was scarlet.
“Oh. Er… Right.” Ginny was thinking what Hermione had just told her. “Um… Wow, Malfoy is such a jerk! I would have jinxed him… But then again, I wouldn’t be as shy as you are…”
Hermione thought about the time that Ginny was in love with Harry; she couldn’t exchange not even one single word with him without stammering or reddening. However, Hermione didn’t think it would be very nice to mention this now, especially when all that Ginny wanted was to help.
“I’d really want to know who he fancies, to do the same on him… What an idiot… Anyway, to the point. Don’t get me wrong, but I think you are making your life hard for no reason…”
Hermione looked at her bewildered.
“Well, yeah!! Why did you have to endure that git? Seriously now!! My brother is a good person. Are you ashamed of your feelings or something?”
“No… It’s that I’m afraid that Ron… It’s that I just can’t admit it… And I’m afraid that he won’t feel the same towards me and he‘ll push back…”
“Right, like he is that stupid!! Hermione, Ron knows very well what kind of person you are, he won’t push back! Besides… I think he likes you too.”
“Yeah, right.”
“But I really think he does-“
“Stop it!”
“Ok, ok, even if he doesn’t like you, he won’t push back! You should not be afraid of what you are feeling, go admit it! Talk to him! After all, he has the right to know! Er… just forget that last sentence, he already knows.”
Hermione smiled faintly.
“Come on! Go! Now! You can’t be hiding for ever, can you?” Ginny grinned.
*** Harry and Ron reached Hagrid’s hut on the same time.
“You didn’t find her?” Ron asked.
“Nowhere. Hagrid told me she was here earlier, though. Let’s go back to the castle”, Harry tapped Ron on the shoulder. “She‘ll come, soon or later.”
*** “Oh, no, not again!”
In the common room, Harry was playing wizard chess with Dean and he beat him, again. Ron was pacing.
“Enough for tonight. ’Night Harry, Ron.”
“’Night”.
Dean went to the dormitories.
“Where on earth is she?” Ron yelled impatiently.
*** Hermione was heading to the Gryffindor Tower. She was thinking what Ginny told her. Although Ginny hadn’t been so brave with Harry when she was in love with him, all her advices where right. She had to face Ron; there was no point on hiding. She said the password, the portrait opened…She saw Harry playing with the chessmen and Ron standing, staring at her.
Oh no, I’m not ready for this, she thought and went towards the stairs without talking, when…
“HERMIONE GRANGER! Sit down, now!!” Ron yelled.
Hermione didn’t have much of a choice. She sat slowly at the couch and stared at the fire. She was feeling so embarrassed that falling in the flames didn’t seem such a bad idea.
Harry stopped playing and waited to listen with interest.
“Is it true what Malfoy said?” Ron demanded.
Hermione took a deep breath. “That’s a hard thing to do, Ron, but… Yes. I am in love with you, I suppose you have already figured out how the story with Malfoy goes, please don’t laugh-“
“You‘re in love with me!” Ron smiled widely.
“Don’t make fun of me!” snapped Hermione.
“I’m not making fun of you, it’s just that you should have already told me!!”
“Um…W-why?”
“Because, I would have done this earlier,” he said and kissed her.
“He is in love with you too,” said Harry, who for some strange reason felt the need to put subtitles.
“Wh-wha- Ron!! Why haven’t you told me?” she smiled.
“Because… I was afraid, I guess”, his ears went red. "In any case, tomorrow I'll punch Malfoy. He shouldn't have-"
"Um... He was actually the one who made you two get together," Harry interjected. "Even he didn't intend to."
"Yeah, ok, I'll punch him anyway."
Ron and Hermione started kissing again.
“You guys, get a room,” Harry smiled and left.
THE END
---------------------------------------------------------------
That last bit (the "I'll punch him tomorrow" thing) was written for Therinian, who wanted Ron to punch Malfoy!!
I hope you all liked the story! Thanks for reading :o)
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.