Ron's head was swimming with thoughts of this one thing… about only one girl. This girl was his best friend, Hermione. He felt in his head that she could never feel the same way about him, but he wanted to know for sure. He planned on talking to her that evening in the Common Room, after everyone else had gone to bed.
Later, in Gryffindor Tower around 1 in the morning, the room was finally deserted except for two people. Ron glanced over at Hermione, who was as usual, absorbed in her homework. As Ron was staring, Hermione looked up suddenly and caught Ron's eyes. He quickly looked away as she smirked, and she began to read again. Ron took the risk of looking back up a minute later, and this time, it was Hermione's eyes that looked back at him. She closed her book, walked over and sat down next to Ron.
"Hey..." she whispered, smiling.
Ron smiled back at her as he rubbed his nose.
"Rough night?" she asked.
"Nah, just bored I suppose."
"Is my face that boring?" she questioned.
"No, of course not,” Ron replied hastily.
You have the most beautiful face I've ever seen he thought to himself.“Oh, good to know,” Hermione responded. “Listen, Ron, I was wondering… by any chance… do you umm…”
“Yes?” Ron asked a little too hopefully.
She looked into his eyes for a moment before saying, “Do you have any spare parchment? I’ve used all mine up.”
“Yeah sure,” Ron told her, very disappointed. He reached over to his schoolbag to find some parchment. As he handed her some, their fingers slightly touched. They looked into each others eyes, and Hermione looked embarrassed.
Ron knew this was a good chance to tell Hermione his secret, when all of a sudden, Harry came down the stairs.
“Ouch!” Harry called out, stumbling on a step. Hermione took her parchment hastily, and went upstairs.
“Thanks a lot Harry!” Ron yelled as soon as Hermione was out of earshot. “You just ruined a moment between Hermione and myself."
“Really?” Harry said grinning. “Well, you’ve got my undivided attention. Spill your guts,” Harry commanded.
“Oops.” Ron muttered, knowing he couldn’t get Harry off his back until he told him everything. Ron began to tell Harry about when he first fell in love with Hermione. A few minutes later, Harry gave out a long sigh. Ron then knew he was in for it deep because of keeping this all a secret from his best friend, but Harry let him off easy by saying, “That’s quite a story, mate. But I’m glad for you, and I wish you all the best.” Harry then slapped Ron on the back.
“Very funny Harry. This is serious! How can you even think that Hermione would have any interest in me at all? She doesn’t care about me.”
“You don’t know that Ron, think positive. To tell you the truth, I’ve actually seen Hermione steal glances at you while you aren’t paying attention. I believe she fancies you.”
Yeah right… thought Ron.Harry and Ron continued their conversation for a bit longer, and then went to bed. What they didn’t see was a girl sitting on the steps on the other side of the room, hidden from their view. When she saw that the boys had closed the door to their dormitory, Ginny quietly followed suit and went to bed, trying to remember every detail to tell Hermione the next morning.
Ron was up all during the night, tossing and turning in his bed. All he could concentrate on was Hermione.
Why did I let it happen? Of all the girls in the school, it had to be her.