Hermione sat cuddled up in a chair next to the welcoming fire. But her mind wasn't on the words in front of her. She was thinking about someone who made her heart leap and her stomach fill up with butterflies when she was with him. She was thinking about Ron Weasley.

After having many disputes with herself about the topic, she had no choice but to admit to herself that she was in love with him. She loved his red hair, she loved every freckle on his face, she loved his sense of humor, and she loved the little arguments they would constantly have. But even though she knew she loved him more than anyone in the world, she knew she could never tell Ron, Harry, or anyone else for that matter about her love for him if she wanted to keep their friendship.

She looked up from her book. There he was, sitting at a table across the room playing a game of wizard's chess with Harry. Ron had just destroyed Harry's queen, when Harry looked up and caught her eye on them.

"Hey, 'Mione! Come over here and watch me actually win this game for once...I hope," Harry called out.

Hermione hesitated, but decided that she wasn't interested in the book anyway. She set it down on the table. "All right, I'm coming. Wouldn't want to miss the first time someone beats Ronald Weasley at chess."

"Yeah, he'll beat me in his dreams," Ron retorted, then hesitated. "Do you want to play with me after I win in a few seconds 'Mione?"

"No, thanks. I was never good at chess anyway," she answered, slightly blushing at the offer.

Harry noticed and smiled. He had always know that his two best friends loved each other, and he was perfectly fine with it. He only wished that they would tell each other how they felt about each other. He decided to make another attempt.

"So have either of you found dates to the Winter Dance yet?" Harry asked the two innocently.

"No," both Hermione and Ron answered in unison. Their eyes met and they stared at each other for a moment, then turned away, blushing. Harry sighed. It was no good. Ron was as stubborn as the rest of the Weasleys, and Hermione was too shy to say much about it. He decided to let fate take it from here.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Ron lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He could hear Harry's deep breathing beside him, along with Neville's occasional snores. He was the only one awake. He was very tired indeed. He had a rough Quiddich practice that day, and Fred had worked them to death. He wanted to go to sleep more than anything, but he couldn't. Not as long as thoughts of Hermione Granger kept drifting through his head. He sighed.

"Oh 'Mione, why can't you be mine?" he mumbled to himself.

"That's because she doesn't know you want her to be," came the response from his right.

Ron turned his head. Harry had been awake, at least for the past few moments.

"What are you talking about, Harry? You know if she ever found out, it would be the end of our friendship."

"But Ron, can't you see that she loves you too?"

Ron turned his back to Harry. "Goodnight, see you in the morning," was Ron's reply.

Harry sighed and wondered if his two friends would ever be together.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Meanwhile, Hermione lay awake in her bed, also staring at the ceiling. She was thinking about how Ron blushed when they looked at each other at the mention of the Winter dance. She really wanted him to love her like she loved him, and for him to ask her to the dance, but she knew he would never do that. Would he? She pushed that thought out of her head. Still thinking about Ron, she finally fell asleep.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Ron opened his eyes. The dream he just had made him determined to go through with his plan. That day, he was going to ask Hermione to the Winter dance. He looked at his clock. It was 4:16. Ron sighed. He knew it would be impossible to go back to sleep, now that he was thinking about Hermione. He got up and showered. Then he went down to the common room and sunk into a chair by the fire, waiting for it to be morning so he could talk to Hermione.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Hermione sat up in her bed, sweating. She had a horrible dream. Ron had just proposed to her, and Voldemort came along and killed him. She checked the time. It was 5:02. She decided there was no point going back to sleep since she would get up soon anyway to get ready for classes, so she got dressed and went down to the common room. She plopped onto the couch. "Why can't I be with Ron?" she asked herself.

"You are with me. I'm right here," came the reply. Ron turned around in his chair and smiled. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"

Hermione turned beet red. "Umm...why are you up so early?" was the only thing that came to her lips.

Ron's smile faded a little. "Is that all? Well if you must know, I had a dream about...wait, why are you up so early?"

"Same as you...a dream," Hermione blushed.

Ron sighed. This was the perfect opportunity to ask her but he was very nervous. He finally got up the courage.

Ron came over to Hermione and took her hand into his. "Hermione, there is something I had been meaning to ask you for a while now. Will you, I mean, do you want to go to the Winter dance with me?"

Hermione gasped. She wanted to scream out, "Yes! I had been hoping, wishing, and praying for you to ask me!", but instead she said, "Let me think about it, ok?"

Ron's smile faded a little, but he just replied, "Sure."
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
After Hermione left her Arithmancy class, she headed up to the common room to look for Ron. She had been thinking the whole day, and she finally decided to say yes to him. He sounded like he really wanted to go with her, and she liked that. The reason that she didn't say yes right away was because she wanted his feelings for her to get stronger. She smiled and increased her steps toward the common room.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Mirna Stella," Hermione replied.

The portrait swung open and Hermione stepped in. She heard someone's voices coming from ahead. One was Ron's and the other was a girl's...Hermione got a funny feeling in her stomach.

She put down her books and snuck into the common room, ducking behind the couch. Slowly, she looked over the edge. It was all she could do from crying out. What she saw shocked her beyond tears.

On the couch, Ron and Lavender were kissing. But they weren't just kissing...they were making out. Hermione couldn't take it anymore.

"Ronald Weasley, I'll be damned if I go to the dance with you! I never want to speak to you again!" and with tears streaming down her face, she ran up to her room, leaving Ron and Lavender in each other's arms. Ron looked after her, guilty beyond belief.