This is a story based on the play Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare, and I thought it would be a great plot for Ron and Hermione, and Harry and Ginny. Tell me what you think please!
Juliette4
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley sat in the Gryffindor common room playing chess. As always, Ron was winning.
It was their sixth year at Hogwarts, and their year so far had been totally boring. Nothing to do, just school, school, school. Not that they really wanted it any other way. Because when it wasn't boring, it was usually dangerous.
"Dangit Ron, why do you always take my Queen?!"
Ron grinned. "Because then I win. Checkmate."
At that moment, Hermione Granger came tumbling down the girls' dormitory staircase at top speed and grabbed their table, knocking Harry's King over before he had a chance to. "Where're my books?" She gasped. "I need my Arithmancy book, there's an important piece of information in there that I need."
Ron gave her a disgusted look. "You got that excited over homework? You really need to get a hobby, Hermione. Oh wait, homework is your hobby. How pathetic."
Harry reached down and gave her her Arithmancy book which she had left lying on the floor. "Here you go, Hermione."
"Thank you Harry." She glared at Ron. "Ronald." She turned around and marched up the girls' dormitory stairs, obviously irritated.
Harry turned back towards Ron and shook his head. "Do you always have to start a fight with her, Ron?"
"It's not my fault she's so bloody obsessed with homework!"
"That has nothing to do with the fact that you could've - should've kept your mouth shut."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I couldn't help it! She needs to get out more. She has made me make up my mind about bloody girls." He said girls like they were a piece of rotton meat.
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really? How is your mind made up about girls?"
"That they're annoying, really annoying, and that I never want to get married. Or even have a girlfriend. Girls may like me, but I don't like them, and I never will!"
"You'll change your mind about that, Ron. I know you will."
"Never. I'll kiss Draco Malfoy before I like any girls."
Harry grinned. "I'll remember that."
Just then Hermione came down the stairs again, at a trot this time and went back over to their table. "Harry, is my other Arithmancy book down there?"
Ron rolled his eyes and Harry raised his eyebrows incredulously. "Your other Arithmancy book?"
"Yes, you gave me Edition One of the Great Book of Arithmancy. I need Edition Two."
Harry rummaged through the pile of books on the floor and pulled out another Arithmancy book. "Here, Hermione."
"Thank you again, Harry." She opened the book and started flipping through the pages. She pulled up a chair and plopped her book on their chess set.
"Excuse me, no one invited you to sit down," Ron said with a hint of anger in his voice.
Harry kicked Ron under the table. "Ron!" He hissed.
Hermione looked up. "It's a wonder you keep talking, Ron, nobody even pays any attention to you."
"Well, obviously you did, otherwise how would you know I said something?"
"I heard you Ron, I wasn't listening to you."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I was just telling Harry about how, because of you, I have decided that I don't like women and never will. I have resolved never to date or get married. I'll live and die a bachelor."
"Thank goodness for that! Resolving to be a bachelor forever is a great gift to women everywhere Ron, because none of them would want you anyways."
Ron's mouth dropped open, and Harry stifled a laugh. "Actually," Hermione continued, "I'm quite inclined to agree with you on that. After knowing you, I never want to date a man. Being held down to a relationship especially to someone like you does not excite me in any way whatsoever."
"Good thing too," exclaimed Ron. "Because then some poor guy can escape being attacked and having his face clawed up!"
"No amount of scratching could make a face any worse, if it were as bad as yours Ron."
Ron's eyes narrowed. "Your wit is about as sharp as a broken whip."
"A broken whip can still lash out," Hermione said smugly. "I'm going to go study." She looked at them pointedly. "As you two should be doing." She stood up and walked away, leaving an angry Ron and an amused Harry.
"Did you hear what she said?!" Ron asked.
"Yes, Ron, I heard."
"I can't believe her."
Harry sighed.
The portrait hole opened and Ginny stepped in. She walked over to their table. "Hello Harry, Ron. Have either of you seen Hermione?"
"Yeah she just went upstairs," Harry said, smiling.
Ron folded his arms. "Yeah, she'd better stay away from me."
Ginny rubbed her forehead. "Why, what happened? Do I want to know?"
Harry started to put the chess pieces away. "He and Hermione just had an arguement, and Hermione won."
"Of course she did," Ginny said knowingly. "I'll go find her, I'll talk to you two later. See you, Harry!"
Harry waved. "Bye Ginny." He watched as she went up the girls' dormitory staircase. When she had disappeared, he turned towards Ron, who was taking out his homework. "Ron, if I tell you a secret, do you promise that you won't get mad and you won't tell a single soul?"
Ron dropped his books and leaned forward eagerly. Oh boy, did he love a secret! "Sure Harry, what is it? Why would I get mad?"
Harry looked at the table top and put his fingernail in a scratch. "Well, um, you see...Ok, Ron, I'm telling you this because I have to tell somebody. I can't keep it a secret any longer. But you can't tell ANYBODY. Especially not Ginny."
"Why especially not Ginny?" Ron looked confused.
"Because, Ron, I like her. Ok?"
Ron's eyes bugged out. "You what?! Why didn't you tell me before? Sheesh. And here all this time I thought that you thought she was annoying."
Harry looked suspicious. "You mean...you don't mind?"
Ron looked annoyed. "No, you're better than some of the guys that she's gone out with. I don't understand how you can want to go out with girls at all though. You're out of your mind!"
Harry laughed. "We don't all share your views Ron. But anyways, do you think she likes me?"
Ron stared at him. "Harry, are you forgetting second year? Major crush? Singing valentine?"
"Yeah, but that was just a crush."
"She likes you Harry." Ron opened his Care of Magical Creatures textbook.
Harry shook his head. "Maybe I should say something to her." He sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes before starting on his homework.
Later that night, when it was time for dinner, Harry and Ron made their way down to the Great Hall and stopped in front of the doors. "I have to ask Seamus something, Ron, I'll meet you inside in a few minutes, ok?" Harry said.
Ron nodded. "Ok." He went inside and Harry went up to Seamus who was trying to straighten his robes.
"Hey, Seamus, can I ask you a favor?"
Seamus looked up. "Oh, hey Harry. Yeah, sure, what is it?"
Harry looked around and lowered his voice. "I was wondering if you could go up to Ginny Weasley for me and tell her that I like her and want to talk to her."
Seamus raised his eyebrows. "Sure thing Harry!"
Harry smiled. "I'm going into dinner. Remember what I said." Seamus nodded, and they both went into the Great Hall.
After they were gone Vincent Crabbe stepped out from behind a pillar and ran into the Great Hall behind them, having heard everything.
"You're just not smart enough to come up with a good come back, Ron. That's why you always say: 'you're stupider.' " Hermione satisfactorily stabbed her mashed potatoes.
"I say it because it's true!"
"Ron, if any one of us is stupider, it's you, because you never study."
"The real wisdom comes from the heart, Hermione!"
"And how would you know anything about that, since you don't have a heart?"
Ron's mouth dropped open, and instead of answering, he got up and walked away.
Crabbe walked up to Draco and grabbed his arm. "I've got something to tell you, Draco."
Draco yanked his arm away. "Not now, Crabbe!"
"But it's about Potter!"
Draco looked at him and turned to the boy he was talking to. "I'll be right back." he went over to a corner with Crabbe. "Now, what is it?"
"I overheard Potter talking to Finnigan, asking him to talk to the Weasley girl for him, to tell her that he likes her and that he wants to talk to her."
Draco looked excited. "Are you sure?"
Crabbe nodded.
Draco grinned. "Good! This provides an excellent opportunity to get back at Potter for all the things he's done to me. I have a plan." He leaned over and whispered in Crabbe's ear.
Harry crept over to where Seamus and Ginny were talking. He was close enough to see them, but he couldn't hear a word they were saying. He leaned forward and strained his ears. he thought he vaguely heard Seamus say: 'Like you.'
Just then Draco and Crabbe walked over behind Harry and talked in voices loud enough for Harry to hear, but no one else.
"Are you sure, Crabbe?" Draco asked.
Crabbe nodded. "I'm sure."
Draco sneered. "I had no idea Seamus liked Ginny. He can do better than that!"
"I heard him swear he loved her and that he was going to ask her out."
Draco looked over towards Harry, who hadn't turned towards them. "Yeah, that's probably what he's doing now. Come on I want to get some more roast beef." He and Crabbe walked off, snickering, leaving Harry alone.
He sat down behind a potted plant. "Seamus is telling Ginny that he likes her? Friendship is good in all things except business and love. I thought Seamus was my friend. Goodbye Ginny!" He watched as Ginny flung her arms around Seamus' neck. He got up and stalked away, not wanting to see anymore.
Seamus grinned at Ginny who had just flung her arms around him in happiness. "Yes, Harry likes you!"
Ginny spun around. "I can't believe it! This is so wonderful, Seamus, thank you!"
Seamus shrugged. "No problem, I'll go get Harry."
Ginny suddenly looked nervous. "Ok."
Seamus looked all around for Harry, but couldn't find him. He came across Hermione, who was borrowing a Hufflepuff's pen. "Hermione, have you seen Harry?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, why?"
"Ginny wants to talk to him. Can you please go find him for me?"
Hermione nodded. "Sure, I'll be right back."
Ron stalked away from Hermione. "Bloody idiotic woman!" He nearly ran into Harry, who was marching the other way. "Harry?"
Harry turned around. "What?" He asked a little irritably.
"What's wrong with you?" Ron looked at him.
"Nothing, just leave me alone."
"Did something go wrong with that little plan you and Seamus cooked up? I saw him and Hermione talking."
Harry shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it. If he wants to go out with Ginny find I just wish they would leave me alone."
"So something did go wrong! Do you really think Seamus would do something like that to you?"
"Look Ron," Harry said, "If you won't leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. Goodbye!" He stormed away from Ron.
Ron walked over to where Seamus was waiting with Ginny.
"Hey, Ron," Seamus greeted him, "Have you seen Harry?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah I just saw him. Upset as a garden gnome without a hole. He was all upset thinking that you liked Ginny!"
Seamus groaned. "Oh no! What made him think that! Oh well, we'll just have to wait until Hermione finds him. I heard you were mean to Hermione again."
Ron, already heading back for more food, turned around. "Oh! She was mean to me! You should have heard what she said about me! Of all the mean things to say she said I didn't have a heart!"
Ginny snickered.
"She is the most vicious, horrible person I have ever had the displeasure to know! I would rather be attacked by fire crabs then be near her! Whenever she comes around, you're bound to either get your temper up or run away in tears!" By now, Seamus was laughing along with Ginny, and that only fueled Ron's anger. "I can't stand her!"
Seamus looked over Ron's shoulder. "Well, here she comes."
Ron turned around and groaned. "Oh, no. I really do not feel like talking to her right now. Is there anything I can do for you Seamus? Anything at all! I'll dive down and kiss the giant squid if you want me to! Anything!"
Seamus snorted. "No, just to have my good buddy Ron here with me."
Ron looked at Ginny. "Ginny?" He pleaded. Ginny shook her head, hardly able to control her giggles. "Fine, I don't care if I look like I'm a coward. I'm out of here!" He turned and sprinted away from them and out of the Great Hall.
A moment later, Hermione, Harry, and Neville walked up to Seamus and Ginny.
"You've broken Ron's heart, Hermione!" Seamus grinned.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. As if he could care less what I say about him. Besides, it's not like he's never said mean things about me. Here, Seamus, I brought Harry." She pushed Harry forward, and Harry turned around and glared at her. Who knew how she managed to get him to come.
Seamus looked at Harry. "What's wrong Harry? Why are you sad?"
Harry looked at the floor. "I'm not sad," he mumbled.
Seamus tilted his head. "Are you sick?"
"I'm not sick either," Harry said.
"No, he's not sad, or sick, he's jealous," Hermione said firmly, earning a glare from Harry.
Seamus smiled. "Look, Harry, there's no reason to be upset. I told Ginny what you told me to tell her." He nudged Ginny, who stepped forward and smiled shyly at Harry.
Harry looked up incredulously and smiled at Ginny. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, then Ginny threw her arms around his neck and he squeezed her tight.
Seamus grinned. "Now you two can go out."
"Come on Harry, say something!" Hermione said. "It's your cue!"
Harry looked up, a wide smile on his face. "I'm so happy I can't speak!"
While he and Ginny gazed into each other's eyes, Seamus leaned over towards Hermione. "Despite what Ron says I think you really are a nice person, Hermione."
"Thanks Seamus. Although I can't understand all of this dating stuff. Everybody has a girlfriend or boyfriend, except me, because nobody likes me. I could walk around with a sign that said 'boyfriend wanted' and nobody would care. That's why I'm not interested in having a boyfriend. It's just full of pain."
"Aw, you know you want a boyfriend, Hermione. I'll get you one." Seamus said, laughing.
Hermione wrinkled up her nose. "No thanks."
Seamus looked at her seriously. "Would you ever go out with me, Hermione?"
She looked at him just as seriously. "No, Seamus. Boyfriends are like wands. You have to have just the right one to fit you, and then you make a perfect match. I'm sorry Seamus, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
Seamus smiled. "Nah, you'd hurt my feelings more if you didn't tell me the truth. And anyways I was just asking out of curiosity."
Hermione studied him for a moment. "Oh, ok. You know, I'm glad we're friends, Seamus." She smiled at him and turned to everyone else. "I'm going to go to bed now. I'm happy for you, Harry, Ginny." She smiled warmly at them both then walked over to get her things. She walked out of the Great Hall, turning once to wave.
Seamus got up and walked over to Ginny, Harry, and Neville. "Hermione won't even listen to me talk about her getting a boyfriend."
Harry laughed. "Ron's the same way."
"Hermione would make a good girlfriend for Ron," Seamus said thoughtfully.
Harry and Ginny's mouths dropped open, and Neville laughed. "They wouldn't even be going out one week before they talked themselves to death. They can't stand each other!"
"Well, I'm determined to get them to fall in love. If they aren't already that is." He looked at them. "Will you help me Neville?"
"I'll help you even if I have to stay up all night for ten nights, I'd love to see them get together."
"Me too!" Harry laughed.
Seamus looked at Ginny. "And you, Ginny?"
Ginny laughed. "I'll do anything to get Hermione and my brother together!"
Seamus rubbed his hands together. "Good. I have a plan. Let's go back up to the common room, so I can tell you all about it."
The next day, Saturday, after breakfast, Ron was wandering around the gardens, muttering to himself. "I can't believe that Harry has fallen in love. Of all the people! He said once that he didn't care about girls. Especially after Cho Chang. And then after all of this time, I find out that he loves my sister! Ew! No girl would affect me that way. I mean a girl can come to me, and be beautiful, but I don't care. She could be smart, and I don't care. She could be hard working, and I don't care. Kind! I couldn't care less. Not until I find a woman who has everything will I fall in love." He started to count on his fingers. "When I find a woman that is beautiful, smart, hard-working, and kind, will love make a fool out of me. She should love music and be able to sing. And be a good cook. And like to do a lot of the things I like to do. What color hair should she have?" He thought for a moment. "I don't care what she looks like. The point is I will never fall in love! Never! If I do then I'll turn in my broom!" Just then he heard voices and ahead of him on the path he saw Harry, Neville, and Seamus turn the corner.
"Oh, great, here comes Seamus and Monsieur Love." He sneered. "I don't feel like hearing about how wonderful Ginny is. I'm going to go hide." He ducked into another section of the garden and climbed up a tree. He settled down in a crook of the tree, quite comfortable. He heard Seamus, Neville and Harry come onto the path he was just on and sit down in the grass, talking and laughing.
"Did you see where Ron ran off and hid?" Seamus whispered to Harry and Neville.
Harry grinned. "Yeah, very well. He doesn't hide very well does he?"
Neville snickered.
"Ok," Seamus said. "Now's the time we should start our trick. I'll start it." He waited a moment then said loudly, "What did you say Neville?! Hermione loves Ron?! No way!"
Ron sat up quickly and fell out of his tree.
Neville, Harry, and Seamus looked in the direction of the thump and grinned, but didn't say anything.
"Yeah," Neville said. "Ginny said so. She said the Hermione is head over heels for him!"
"I can't believe she loves him!" Harry exclaimed. "I mean she always seemed to hate him, not love him!"
"Does she plan on telling Ron?" Seamus asked.
Neville shook his head then said aloud, "No, that's what drives her crazy. If she told him, he would make fun of her."
"I think she should tell him! Who knows what he might say?" Seamus exclaimed.
Harry snickered. "Keep going, he bought it!" He said in a low voice so only they could hear.
"Ginny says that Hermione wants to die. She'll die if she and Ron never get together, she'll die if Ron ever finds out, and she'll die if he loves her back! There's no hope for her," Neville said.
Ron who had jumped up and sneaked closer to listen, leaned against the bush he was behind, his eyes wide.
"I suppose it is a good thing Ron never found out," Seamus said. "He would make fun of her wouldn't he?"
"Horribly," Harry agreed.
"If he wasn't so stupid, poor Hermione wouldn't want to die!" Said Neville.
Ron's mouth dropped open. "Oh!" He exclaimed indignantly, before he could stop himself. The three boys looked up and grinned at each other. Harry gave the others a thumbs up. Ron looked around wildly then grabbed a garden gnome that was running around and he squeezed it making it shout out at him.
Harry, Seamus and Neville looked at each other and raised their eyebrows, trying to keep from laughing. Ron dropped the gnome and listened carefully.
Harry stood up. "I'm hungry. Want to go get some more food? Besides I want to go see if Ginny's up yet." They started to walk out of the gardens and turned to each other snickering. "Ok," Seamus said quietly, "Harry, you told Ginny to do the same thing with Hermione, right?"
Harry nodded and grinned. "This is going to be great."
Ron plopped down on the ground, his mouth wide open. "This must be a trick," he said to himself, "it's got to be. No way does Hermione loves me! But they were serious about it, and I don't think Neville would lie. And they said Ginny knew it! Hermione would rather die than tell me. Am I really that mean?" He rubbed his forehead. "Hermione loves me." A smile broke out on his face. "She loves me! What am I so excited about? Who cares? It's just Hermione. Right?" He stood up and walked over to a fountain. He looked towards Hogwarts. "Ah!" He shrieked. "Here comes Hermione! What do I do, what do I do?" He turned around and quickly stood next to the fountain looking nonchalantly into the water, unnaturally nervous.
"Ron!" Hermione called. She reached Ron. "Ron."
Ron turned and pretended to look surprised. "Oh, hello Hermione." He stuck his arm out and leaned over as if to lean against a wall but forgot he was by the fountain and with a splash fell right in. He came up spluttering with a red face.
"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked, concerned.
Ron nodded, embarressed. "Yeah, what did you need?" he asked, giving up trying to impress her.
"Harry asked me to tell you that he wants to talk to you." She held out her hand and he grabbed it. Much to his surprise when he touched her, he gave a little shiver, and he pulled his hand away as soon as he was out of the fountain.
"Thanks Hermione. I'll be inside in a minute."
Hermione nodded. "Ok." She turned around and walked back towards the castle, leaving Ron to wring out his shirt.
Ron sat down on the edge of the fountain. "'Ron are you alright?' There's a double meaning in that. Maybe she meant: 'Oh, Ron my love, are you alright? I would never want you to get hurt!'" He thought for a moment then shook his head. "Nah!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "Hermione loves me? It seems so impossible. But sometimes...sometimes maybe she could love me. Like when I tickle Pig, and she smiles at me, like I'm so nice or something. And when she smiles her eyes crinkle up and...what am I saying!" He smacked his head. "No, Ron, you do not like Hermione! No! Yes! Yes I do! Ok, fine! I like Hermione!" He looked at the sky. "I like Hermione." He whispered. "Alright? Are you happy now?" He covered his face with his hands. "How can anybody feel so happy and so aggravated at the same time? If anybody finds out how I feel, I'll never live it down." He stood up. "Well, all I know is that I'm going to be nicer to Hermione from now on. As nice as I can be. I might be teased a lot, since I said I was going to a bachelor forever. But every man has a right to change his mind, right?"
Ron headed back to the castle and found Harry, Neville, Seamus, Hermione, and Ginny in the Great Hall eating what would appear a second breakfast. Harry and Ginny were sitting next to each other, and they were giving each other furtive shy glances that made Ron want to roll his eyes. Ron sat down next to Hermione and smiled nervously at her. "Hello, Hermione."
The table was suddenly silent, expectant.
Hermione's eyes moved back and forth. "Hello, Ron. You're still wet. Aren't you going to change your clothes?"
Ron looked down at his clothes. He'd completely forgot. He flushed. "Oh, yeah."
Ginny looked amused. "What happened to you, Ron?"
"He fell in a fountain," Hermione supplied.
Harry laughed. "Why'd you do that, Ron?"
Ron glared at him. "I didn't jump in, Harry, I fell in."
Harry just kept his eyebrows raised and didn't say anything.
Ron stood up. "I'm going to go change."
"Oh, Ron," Seamus spoke up. "There's supposed to be a party in about a week, Dumbledore just made an announcement."
Ron looked confused. "A party? What for?"
Neville grinned. "He wants to have a party to celebrate the making of Hogwarts. Apparently, in one week is the day that it was founded."
Ron nodded. "Oh."
"Actually, it's a bit of a dance," said Harry. He glanced at Ginny. "Gin and I are going, aren't we, Gin?"
She intertwined her hand with his. "Of course we are, Harry."
Ron didn't hesitate to roll his eyes this time. "I'm outta here."
Not long after he left, Hermione stood up too. "Well, I'm off to the library."
"What for?" Ginny asked. "I know for a fact that you did all of your homework already."
Hermione smiled. "Of course I did, but just because I don't have any more homework doesn't give me an excuse stop learning."
"It's a good thing Ron wasn't here to hear that," Harry said.
Hermione frowned. "Ron is a knucklehead."
Ginny looked at Harry. Harry looked at Ginny. They both grinned.
"I'm off. I'll see you guys at lunch!" Hermione shouldered her bag and walked out of the Great Hall.
Ginny jumped up. "I'll go get Susan, and we can start our part of the trick! It's the perfect time!"
Harry pulled on her arm. "Not yet, Gin, if you go up there now, Hermione will think you and Susan purposely followed her so she would hear. Wait a couple of hours so it will seem like you've forgotten where she is."
Ginny sat back down. "You're right, Harry, I'll wait. Susan's busy anyways." She looked over at Susan Bones who was giving her boyfriend a kiss, and giggled.
Harry looked over at Susan and Howard too, then looked back at Ginny. "I can keep you busy if you want, Ginny," he teased, then blushed.
Ginny turned pink and smiled. "Well, sure Harry, I'm definitely going to be a little bored!"
Harry grinned and took Ginny's hand. "Come on Gin, let's go for a walk."
Forgetting Neville and Seamus, they stood up and left the Great Hall, going who knows where.
Seamus glanced at Neville. "Look at us, Neville, two old bachelors with nothing to do."
Neville shrugged. "We could always eat more breakfast."
Seamus pulled a serving bowl towards him. "Now that's what I like to hear!"
Ginny and Harry walked out of Hogwarts and sat down on a bench, not far from the very fountain where Ron had fallen in moments before. Harry looked at Ginny sweetly before leaning in and giving her her first kiss. It was sweet and short, but mostly sweet, and when he pulled away, she scooted closer so he could do it again, and he did.
After a couple of hours, Ginny found Susan Bones who wasn't busy anymore and they headed up to the library. They quietly hunted among the shelves until they found Hermione in a secluded corner, reading a small paperback book, different from her usual thick hardbacked books. Ginny nodded to Susan and beckoned her to come closer. They were close enough to Hermione that she could hear them and see them without them raising their voices, but in such a spot that they could pretend that they didn't see her, since they were a shelf away.
Hermione looked up from the romance novel she was reading when she heard giggling coming from behind the shelves. That was Ginny's laugh. She turned her head and spotted Susan Bones and Ginny not too far away from her.
"Oh, did I tell you what Harry told me about Ron, Susan?" Ginny said.
Hermione perked up.
Susan shook her head. "No, what'd he tell you?" She leaned up against the shelf as if preparing for a good story.
"He told me that Ron is in love!"
Hermione's stomach flipped.
"There's absolutely no way! With who?" Susan said eagerly.
Ginny lowered her voice a fraction. "With Hermione Granger, that's who."
Hermione's book fell out of her hands. Ginny and Susan noticed but they continued.
"Are you sure, Ginny? I mean, I thought Ron hated Hermione, not loved her."
"I'm positive. Harry wouldn't lie to me. He said that Ron thinks about her all of the time. That he's always talking about her. And that Harry can see it by the little things Ron does."
"What little things?" Susan looked expectantly at Ginny.
Ginny was at a loss and her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she said, "Like how he's always trying to protect her and watch out for her. And how he always wants to spend time with her. You know, 'stop doing homework Hermione and play chess or something.'" Ginny attempted Ron's deep voice but failed miserably.
"What else?" Susan asked eagerly.
Ginny was on a roll, now. "Like how when Hermione insults him, he gets so fired up. Terribly defensive. He's not that way with me, if I tease him. And when they have little moments of smiling at each other, Ron turns bright red! And he gets so hurt when Hermione insults him, he can't stop thinking about it for days!"
"But has he actually admitted that he loves Hermione?" Susan asked.
"Not aloud, but Harry looked at his journal and it said he had 'confused feelings' about Hermione." This was a true statement, and Susan looked at Ginny, not sure what to make of it. Ginny nodded. "It's true! It really is! The horrible thing though, is that poor Ron is tortured."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he can't tell Hermione because he's afraid that she'll laugh at him, and she probably would. I feel so bad for him. Unrequited love is an awful thing to have to deal with. I should know, I've loved Harry forever and it's only now that he likes me. Ron's going crazy not having Hermione's love, but if he told her, and relieved the feeling, she'd laugh at him, probably to his face. You have no idea what that would do to him. It could kill him!"
"Really Ginny! I don't think it would kill him!"
"Well, almost. He'd be so depressed. Like that time when Hermione got petrified in first year. I was too busy-" Here Ginny shuddered - "to notice, but Harry says that he was so restless, and all he wanted to do was be in the hospital with Hermione." This too was true, and Susan nodded, because she remembered it.
"Do you really think Hermione would laugh though? I mean I don't think she's that spiteful."
"She might not do it to purposely hurt his feelings, but since she doesn't like him, can't stand him practically, the absurdity of it would make her laugh. She's so mean to him sometimes! And she has no idea how much it hurts him."
"But Ron's mean to her too!"
"That's only to cover up his true feelings. If he weren't mean she'd figure out how he really feels. That would be awful."
"Poor Ron," Susan said sympathetically.
"Yeah. Well, we'd best go back," Ginny said, "I promised Harry I'd play chess with him before lunch. Come on!" The two girls turned and left the library. When they were out of Hermione's earshot they turned and dissolved in giggles. "Did you see her face!?" Ginny held her side.
Susan giggled. "She dropped her book!" They howled and left the library and Hermione.
Hermione was frozen. It couldn't be real. Her heart was beating so fast. She stood up and started pacing back and forth. She could barely digest all of the information. "Calm down Hermione," she told herself, "calm down. Let's think about this systematically. Ok, Ron loves me." She stopped. That was enough information to make anybody stop in their tracks. "Ron loves me." She whispered. "And he covers it up by being mean to me because he thinks if I knew, I'd be mean to him. What a twisted world. I thought Ron wanted to be a bachelor forever though. Of course Hermione! That's just to cover up because he's afraid I'll refuse him. And doesn't he have a right to feel that way? I would wouldn't I?"
She stopped.
"No. I wouldn't," she whispered. "I wouldn't. If Ron came up to me and told me he loved me-Well I wouldn't believe him. But if for some reason I did believe him I wouldn't laugh at him. Never! I can't believe they think I would! I'm not that mean. I would let him down easily- no I wouldn't."
Her heart beat faster.
"Oh, if Ron loves me, truly loves me..." She clasped her hands together and a giant grin graced her face. "Oh, I love him too! I love everything about him! Yes I admit it! I just kept denying it! Oh, Ron."
She picked up her book and held it to her chest. "What am I going to do? Forget what I'm going to do! Ron loves me! And I love him back!"
She spun around the table holding her book. "I can hardly believe it! But Harry told Ginny and Ginny told Susan, and I think I can trust both Harry and Ginny. And all of the proof. Why didn't I see it before? He wanted to spend all of his time with me when I was petrified? And he does get so upset when I insult him..."
She sobered up. "I'm not going to be mean to him anymore. Never again! Poor Ron. All of this time I thought he hated me, and I thought it was ok to be mean to him back. I thought he was only friends with me because I was friends with Harry and so was he. In reality all of this time he's been tortured because he thinks I hate him! Oh, Ron...This is the dawning of a new time. I've got to go see him!"
She hurriedly packed her bag. But as she walked out of the library, she mused. "What am I going to say to him? What will he say to me? What if we get into a fight? No, I refuse to fight with him. I will be so nice to him. I have to find some way of letting him know that I love him back. I'll just love him with all of my heart. Ron, oh, Ron!" She spun around once in the hallway and continued on her way.
Crabbe and Goyle ran up to Draco who was in the Slytherin common room staring into the fire. They plopped down on the couch and panted, obviously having just run from some place or other. Draco looked up at them. "Where have you two been, why are you breathing so hard?"
Crabbe glanced at Goyle. "Oi, Draco we found out more about Harry and Ginny."
"I know," Draco said bitterly, "my plan didn't work and they're dating now."
"That's not what we found out," Goyle spoke up. "We found out that there's going to be a party next week, and that Harry and Ginny are going. Crabbe and I made a plan."
"Yeah," said Crabbe, "I can grab Susan Bones and kiss her!" He looked triumphant.
Draco stared at him. "Why do I care?"
Crabbe started. "Oh, yeah. Tell him Goyle."
Goyle smiled. "Crabbe can grab Susan Bones and kiss her, and we can make Potter think that he's kissing Ginny."
Draco sat up. "You two might have a plan."
"Yeah I know we did-" started Crabbe, but Draco waved him off.
"No, I mean a good plan. We'll put it into action the night before the party. Make Potter really mad. This is great." He grinned, and evil grin if you ever saw one.
Ron tapped his chin. "Knight to G5." His knight moved, taking out Harry's other Rook.
Harry slapped his forehead. "Dangit!"
Ron grinned. "Hehehe."
Just then the portrait hole opened and Ron, Harry, and Ginny, who'd been watching their chess match, (Rooting for Harry of course,) looked up to see Hermione come through lugging her bag filled with books. As soon as she saw Ron, she turned pink. And as soon as Ron saw her, he turned bright red and looked down at the chessboard. As suavely as possible, Hermione made her way to the table and dropped her bag on the floor. "Hello everyone!" She said brightly, glancing at Ron. She'd thought of several possible greetings on the way to the common room, and that seemed the best in her opinion.
"Hey, Hermione!" Said Ginny.
"Hi." Said Harry.
"Hi, Hermione." Ron said giving her a quick glance.
"Hi." There was silence for a moment, then Hermione sat down in the only chair available, coincidentally next to Ron. Or was it coincidental? Hermione wasn't able to look anybody in the eye so she looked at the table.
Ron couldn't stand the silence so he cleared his throat. "Uh, Harry, it's your turn."
Harry started. "Oh." He studied the board and Ron looked at Hermione.
"Where've you been, Hermione?"
"At the library," Hermione said cautiously, expecting Ron to try to engage her in an arguement. But he only nodded.
"Oh. Read any good books?"
Hermione nodded. "Yeah." 'Oh boy, this is going to be a long weekend,' she thought.
The next Friday, after all of their classes were over, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Seamus, and Ginny went to the library to study. They'd been doing that a lot more lately, especially because Harry and Ginny were so into each other they didn't really notice what they were doing, and Ron didn't say anything about going to the library anymore, like he would've before he found out that Hermione loved him.
Harry tickled Ginny and she giggled. Then she sat up, and Harry leaned forwards until their noses touched.
Ron rolled his eyes at the pair, but smiled a little and glanced over at Hermione, who was writing her Potions essay. Ron twirled his quill. He couldn't concentrate. He sighed and looked out the library window at the quidditch pitch. He was content to sit here by Hermione forever.
Ginny stood up. "I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back." Her hand lingered in Harry's before she pulled away and headed towards the library's bathroom.
Seamus stood up too. "I need to go find a book," he said.
Goyle ducked away from where he was watching the group, and gave Crabbe the thumbs up. Susan Bones was sitting not far away. It was Goyle's job to keep Ginny busy so she wouldn't come back to the table, and Draco's job to get Harry to get up and come look for her. And when Harry walked by, Crabbe would grab Susan. Goyle was supposed to nick Ginny's sweater from the chair she had been sitting at and give it to Crabbe so that he could wrap it around Susan to make it look like it was Ginny.
It was time to put their plan into action. Goyle rushed by the Gryffindor's table so fast, they didn't notice that he'd grabbed Ginny's sweater.
Hermione glanced up. "What was that all about?" Harry shrugged.
"Dunno."
Goyle passed Crabbe the sweater and ran over to where Ginny was exiting the bathroom and grabbed her arm. "I need to talk to you," He growled.
"What-ah!"
Draco sauntered over to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. "Hey Potter!" He sneered. "Seen your girlfriend lately?" He walked away, laughing.
Harry leapt out of his seat. "What is he talking about?" He ran away, searching for Ginny. Then he found her. Or so he thought. As soon as Draco gave Crabbe the warning that Harry was on his way, Crabbe grabbed Susan spun her around and pressed his lips to hers before she even knew what happened. He wrapped Ginny's sweater around Susan's shoulders and kissed her harder, trying to make it look as passionate as possible. Harry rounded the corner and stopped short. There was Ginny. His Ginny. Kissing Vincent Crabbe. He knew it was her. It was her red hair, her blue sweater. Harry backed away horror-stricken. He turned and ran out of the library as fast as he could. Seamus who had been heading back towards the table with a book in his hand, stared with his mouth open, seeing everything. He dropped the book and ran after Harry.
Susan pulled away from Crabbe and stared at him, breathing hard. "Who do you think you are!?" She gasped. She slapped him hard. Crabbe reeled back and nearly fell into a bookshelf. "Stay away from me, you pig!"
She turned, and gathering her books, left as quickly as she could.
Goyle stopped wrestling with Ginny when he saw Draco's signal and she glared at him. "Leave me alone!" She turned and ran back to the table.
Goyle met up with Draco and Crabbe, who was still rubbing his cheek. Draco was smiling. "Excellent," he said, "excellent." He put his arms around Crabbe's and Goyle's shoulders. "My friends, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful broken relationship."
When Ginny got back to the table, she looked around for Harry. "Where's Harry?"
Hermione looked up. "Oh, he went looking for you. Maybe he went back to the common room, I dunno."
Ginny nodded. "Ok." She sat down. "I'm so excited about the party tomorrow. Harry and I decided to meet in the Great Hall and dance all night long." She grinned. Then she noticed Ron. "Oh. Are you still here?"
Ron, who'd been doodling, looked up. "Huh? Yeah."
Hermione glanced at him and stifled a giggle.
The next day, Saturday, Ginny invited Hermione into her dorm to look over her clothes. Hermione normally wasn't that interested in clothes, but she did want to look good for Ron, so she decided to wear a long maroon skirt and a black blouse underneath of her open robes, and she helped Ginny choose a knee-length floral print dress to wear. They looked at each other side by side in the mirror and grinned. Ginny applied some lip gloss. "It's too bad that you don't have a date Hermione."
Hermione shrugged. "It's alright." Although really she was wishing that she could be going with Ron. They'd been nice to each other all week. In fact, perhaps they had been a little too nice. But to the amazement of their friends, they hadn't had a fight all week long.
Ginny and Hermione made their way downstairs. "Come on, Hermione, I told Harry I'd meet him in the Great Hall." She frowned. "Strange though, I haven't seen him since yesterday at the library. I wonder what he's been up to."
Hermione smiled. "Maybe he's been getting ready."
Ginny giggled. "For over 24 hours? Even Harry wouldn't do that!"
They passed through the common room, and Neville and Seamus passed them on their way out. Neville smiled and waved, but Seamus gave them, particularly Ginny, a mean glare.
Ginny looked at Seamus. "What's wrong with him?"
Hermione shrugged. "Dunno. Come on let's go to the Great Hall. Where's Ron?"
Ginny gave her a knowing glance. "He's downstairs. Come on, let's go!"
They made their way down to the Great Hall, and Ginny spotted Harry. "There's Harry, Hermione. I'll see you later." She walked over to Harry and smiled. "Hey, Harry!"
Harry didn't smile. "I need to talk to you Ginny."
She nodded. "Ok."
"Have you ever kissed anybody besides me?"
Ginny looked confused. "You know I haven't, Harry."
"Don't lie to me, Ginny!" Harry suddenly yelled, making Ginny and several other people jump. almost immediately, the entire Great Hall was looking at them.
"What are you talking about Harry?" Ginny whispered, alarmed.
"Don't play dumb with me, Ginny! I saw you!"
"Harry-"
"I saw you, saw you kissing Crabbe!"
Ginny stared at him. "Harry, please, I don't know what you're talking about!"
Harry shoved Ginny, right into Neville's arms, and she burst into tears. "I can't believe you Ginny! You liar!" He shoved some plates off of the Slytherin table, the plates crashing satisfactorily onto the floor. "I can't believe you would do that to me, Ginny! You of all people!"
"Please, I don't know what you're talking about, Harry! I swear! I never kissed anybody!"
Seamus stepped forward, his face hard. "I know you did Ginny, I saw you too. Harry isn't lying."
Ginny cried harder, and Hermione rushed over as if to protect her.
McGonagall and Dumbledore came over as quick as they could. "What is going on over here?" McGonagall asked.
Harry and Seamus turned and walked away, and after appointing someone to clean up the mess, and not finding out anything about what happened, the two adults left too. Neville, Ron, and Hermione knelt over Ginny.
Ron was speechless. He didn't know what to think. Neville looked at Ron and Hermione then looked at the crying Ginny on the floor. "Is what they said true, Ginny?"
Ginny sobbed. "No!"
Ron glared at Neville.
Neville nodded. "I thought so. Something doesn't seem right here. That doesn't sound like Harry at all. I have an idea. Why don't we pretend that Ginny got really sick because of what Harry did to her? Harry will feel really guilty and he'll come to apologize."
Ron nodded. "That's a good idea. Did you hear that Ginny?"
Ginny nodded, and the three helped her up and gave her a big hug. "Come on, Ginny," Neville said, and started to walk with her towards the Gryffindor common room.
Hermione headed in the other direction, outside of the castle. Ron looked in Ginny's direction and then deciding that she was in good hands ran after Hermione, who was standing out side.
He stood beside her and looked at her. "Hermione, are you crying?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"I don't like it when you cry," Ron said softly, gazing at her.
She turned to look at him. "Oh, Ron, Ginny didn't do anything! I know she didn't!"
"I know." Ron said. "She's my sister. I know she didn't do anything wrong."
Hermione sniffled, and wiped her eyes.
Ron didn't take his eyes off of her. "I love you, Hermione. Isn't that weird?"
Hermione turned and looked at him. "I could say I loved you too, Ron, but I'm not saying I do, and I'm not saying I don't." For some reason, she didn't want to admit it.
"You love me too, Hermione!" Ron said, in a clarified type of voice.
"Don't bet on it," Hermione said, turning away.
"I will bet on it! I love you Hermione."
She turned towards him again. "Then I should be punished!" She managed a small smile.
"What for?" Ron asked, he too, smiling.
"I was going to deny that I loved you."
"Then you don't deny it?"
"Never."
Ron put his hands around her face and drawing her close, put his lips over hers. Hermione sank into him and kissed him back. A moment later they pulled apart and looked at each other.
"We can't tell anybody," Hermione said. "They're only guessing anyways."
Ron nodded. "We'll find some way to break it to them. And we have to find some way of righting the wrongs against Ginny!"
Draco roared. "That was great!" He laughed. "Better than even I expected. Well done you two! That was great!" His mouth turned upwards in his typical evil smile. He and Crabbe and Goyle had just witnessed the scene in the Great Hall and had laughed until they were sore. Draco's plan had worked better than perfectly.
Neville had helped Ginny to the foot of the girls' dormitory stairs then went up to his own dorm, in which Seamus and Harry already resided. "Alright," Neville said, sitting down. "What's going on? Harry, Ginny feels so awful! She's in bed sick." Neville could see Harry swallow hard at this news, but Seamus flung his book aside.
"Neville, Ginny only got what she deserved. I saw her, Harry did too. It was Ginny, Neville."
"Fine, whatever." Neville started to change out of his pajamas.
"Where's Ron?" Harry spoke up a moment later, after Neville was in bed.
Neville shrugged. "I dunno. I haven't seen him or Hermione since...since earlier in the Great Hall," he finished. The room was quiet. And it stayed that way.
The next day was tense and uncomfortable. Harry moped around all day, worrying about Ginny, who didn't show up, consoled by Seamus, who was the only one who believed him, and not noticing the glances that Ron and Hermione were giving each other. Neville, ever the mediator, tried to talk to Harry and Seamus, but they didn't feel like talking, and Neville didn't bother with Ron and Hermione, because they weren't paying attention to anything, except maybe each other. Ron wasn't worried about Ginny's health at all, since he knew that she was only pretending to feel sick. But he did take Hermione aside to ask her how Ginny felt emotionally. The answer of course was awful, and that didn't make Ron feel too good. He couldn't understand why Harry would do such a thing to Ginny and he was torn between his sister and his best friend so he decided to stay out of it altogether until things were clear.
The five of them were sitting in the library, reading and talking and writing.
Ron was trying to write a poem. Hermione so sweet and kind, I love you beyond everything I've ever known. If I could be with you forever I would jump at the opportunity... Ron stopped his scribbling. It was no use. He couldn't put his feelings into words. They didn't even rhyme!
Hermione was trying to write Ron a letter, explaining all of her feelings for him. Dear Ron, I don't know how to say this, but I love you so much. Ever since second or third year. I didn't really start realizing it until fourth though. I love everything about you, everything! I wish I could somehow tell you... She sighed. She hoped Ron never saw this. It sounded so stupid! She was looking at Ron when Colin and Dennis Creevey ran up with Susan Bones, out of breath and excited. And what happened next was so exciting that Hermione didn't even see Neville grab her letter, and Ron didn't see Seamus take his poem.
Colin took a deep breath and started babbling about how he'd seen everything and how he could prove they were wrong and how Susan would tell them and on and on, until Harry held up a hand. "What are you talking about, Colin? Stop babbling."
Colin took another deep breath. "I saw what happened with Ginny and Crabbe."
Harry looked at the table. "I don't want to talk about it," he said.
"But I took a picture, Harry! It wasn't Ginny! See!" He slapped a picture down on the table in front of Harry, a perfect snapshot of Susan Bones slapping Crabbe with Ginny's sweater around her shoulders. Harry's breath caught. "See, Harry?" Colin said eagerly. "It was Susan!"
Harry looked at Susan, who was pink. "I'm sorry, Harry!" She squeaked. I wasn't at the party, Howard was sick. Otherwise I would have stopped you and told you the truth. I really am sorry. When Colin told me what happened I felt so awful! Crabbe just jumped on me! I think Draco and Crabbe and Goyle planned it out."
Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Neville stared at Susan with their mouths hanging open. Harry stared straight ahead. His adam's apple bobbed. "Ginny," he whispered. He jumped up out of his seat. "I have to go talk to her." He started packing his books away, and Seamus, Neville, Hermione and Ron got up too. Harry turned around his bag on his shoulder, and he grabbed Susan and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you Susan!" He headed out of the library, thanking Colin over his shoulder and followed by all of his friends.
They all ran to the Gryffindor common room, where Harry dropped his bag and ran over to the foot of the girls' dormitory stairs. "I wish I could get up there to talk to her," he murmured.
Hermione sprinted up the stairs. "I'll go get her!" she called, and disappeared.
Harry paced back and forth, wondering what to say to Ginny, while everyone else watched quietly. Then Ginny appeared at the top of the stairs. Harry turned and watched her walk down, and when she reached the bottom of the stairs, he rushed over ot her and grabbed her hand. "Ginny, I'm so sorry, I honestly thought it was you, I should have talked to you. I'm sorry I didn't believe you, can you ever forgive me?"
Ginny laughed. "Yes, Harry, I forgive you."
Harry looked happy. "Really?" He threw his arms around her and squeezed her tight.
"Yes really!" When Harry let go of her she looked him in the eyes. "Just one thing Harry. Next time something like this happens, please don't assume anything until you talk to me, ok?"
Harry nodded. "I won't. I promise! Never!" He hugged her again, and she laughed.
Everyone kind of let out a breath and looked at each other, relieved. Seamus walked over to Ginny and held out his hand. "I'm sorry Ginny. I truly thought it was you. Turns out it was Susan-"
"I know," Ginny interrupted. "Hermione told me everything. Don't worry about it Seamus, it was an honest mistake." Seamus gave a weak smile.
Ron glanced at Hermione and nodded almost imperceptably, and she winked back. Suddenly Hermione turned to Ron. "Do you love me, Ron?"
There was universal gasp and everyone's attention immediately shifted to Ron and Hermione. Ron looked around. "No!" He said. "No!"
Hermione looked at Ginny. "Then Ginny and Susan are liars, because I heard them say that you loved me." Ginny smiled weakly.
"Do you love me?" Ron asked, putting his hands on his hips.
Hermione's mouth opened. "No!"
"Then Harry, Seamus and Neville lied, because I heard them say that you did!"
"Come on, Hermione, you know you love him," Neville said, glancing at Seamus.
"Yeah and You love Hermione, Ron," Seamus said.
"No way!" Hermione and Ron said, glancing quickly at each other and then away, folding their arms.
Neville pulled out Hermione's letter and gave it to Ron. "Here you go Ron, a letter written by Hermione to you!"
Hermione's mouth dropped open and she grabbed for the letter. "Give me that!" Ron grabbed it from Neville and hurriedly unfolded it.
Seamus ran over to Hermione. "And here's a poem written by Ron about you, Hermione!"
Ron's eyes widened. "No!" But it was too late. The two stood side-by-side reading, occasionally glancing at each other to judge reactions, their friends watching, smiling.
When they were done, Ron held up Hermione's letter. "Well, here it is, our paper against our mouths." He shrugged. "Whoops. Oh well. Well, I guess I can love you, Hermione, since if I don't, you'll die. But remember, it is only out of pity."
"Well I suppose I'll just have to love you back, because I was persuaded to, afraid that you would go into depression."
"Be quiet!"
Hermione opened her mouth to retort and Ron shook his head and laughed. "I'll just make you be quiet. Come here!" And he pulled her towards him and kissed her.
Harry grinned and looked at Ginny. She smiled sweetly, and Harry leaned down to follow Ron's example.
A moment later, Harry looked at Ron and grinned. "How do you feel, Ron, the NONBACHELOR?"
Ron flushed and smiled at Hermione. "Human beings are subject to change at any moment. And that's all I have to say." He leaned down and kissed Hermione again. He looked up at Seamus. "Why are you sad, Seamus?"
Seamus smiled weakly. Ron grinned. "Get a girlfriend, Seamus, get a girlfriend!"
They all laughed.
"What do we do about Draco?" Neville asked.
Ron waved his hand. his other around Hermione's waist. "We'll worry about him later!
They all agreed, and happy, plopped down on chairs and couches to enjoy the last of their weekend, finally together and well.
THE END
'Sigh no more, Ladies, sigh no more.
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea, and one on shore.
To one thing constant never.
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe,
Into hey, nonny-nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no moe,
Of dumps so dull and heavy.
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leavy.
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe,
Into hey, nonny-nonny.'
- From Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare.
Juliette4
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley sat in the Gryffindor common room playing chess. As always, Ron was winning.
It was their sixth year at Hogwarts, and their year so far had been totally boring. Nothing to do, just school, school, school. Not that they really wanted it any other way. Because when it wasn't boring, it was usually dangerous.
"Dangit Ron, why do you always take my Queen?!"
Ron grinned. "Because then I win. Checkmate."
At that moment, Hermione Granger came tumbling down the girls' dormitory staircase at top speed and grabbed their table, knocking Harry's King over before he had a chance to. "Where're my books?" She gasped. "I need my Arithmancy book, there's an important piece of information in there that I need."
Ron gave her a disgusted look. "You got that excited over homework? You really need to get a hobby, Hermione. Oh wait, homework is your hobby. How pathetic."
Harry reached down and gave her her Arithmancy book which she had left lying on the floor. "Here you go, Hermione."
"Thank you Harry." She glared at Ron. "Ronald." She turned around and marched up the girls' dormitory stairs, obviously irritated.
Harry turned back towards Ron and shook his head. "Do you always have to start a fight with her, Ron?"
"It's not my fault she's so bloody obsessed with homework!"
"That has nothing to do with the fact that you could've - should've kept your mouth shut."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I couldn't help it! She needs to get out more. She has made me make up my mind about bloody girls." He said girls like they were a piece of rotton meat.
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really? How is your mind made up about girls?"
"That they're annoying, really annoying, and that I never want to get married. Or even have a girlfriend. Girls may like me, but I don't like them, and I never will!"
"You'll change your mind about that, Ron. I know you will."
"Never. I'll kiss Draco Malfoy before I like any girls."
Harry grinned. "I'll remember that."
Just then Hermione came down the stairs again, at a trot this time and went back over to their table. "Harry, is my other Arithmancy book down there?"
Ron rolled his eyes and Harry raised his eyebrows incredulously. "Your other Arithmancy book?"
"Yes, you gave me Edition One of the Great Book of Arithmancy. I need Edition Two."
Harry rummaged through the pile of books on the floor and pulled out another Arithmancy book. "Here, Hermione."
"Thank you again, Harry." She opened the book and started flipping through the pages. She pulled up a chair and plopped her book on their chess set.
"Excuse me, no one invited you to sit down," Ron said with a hint of anger in his voice.
Harry kicked Ron under the table. "Ron!" He hissed.
Hermione looked up. "It's a wonder you keep talking, Ron, nobody even pays any attention to you."
"Well, obviously you did, otherwise how would you know I said something?"
"I heard you Ron, I wasn't listening to you."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I was just telling Harry about how, because of you, I have decided that I don't like women and never will. I have resolved never to date or get married. I'll live and die a bachelor."
"Thank goodness for that! Resolving to be a bachelor forever is a great gift to women everywhere Ron, because none of them would want you anyways."
Ron's mouth dropped open, and Harry stifled a laugh. "Actually," Hermione continued, "I'm quite inclined to agree with you on that. After knowing you, I never want to date a man. Being held down to a relationship especially to someone like you does not excite me in any way whatsoever."
"Good thing too," exclaimed Ron. "Because then some poor guy can escape being attacked and having his face clawed up!"
"No amount of scratching could make a face any worse, if it were as bad as yours Ron."
Ron's eyes narrowed. "Your wit is about as sharp as a broken whip."
"A broken whip can still lash out," Hermione said smugly. "I'm going to go study." She looked at them pointedly. "As you two should be doing." She stood up and walked away, leaving an angry Ron and an amused Harry.
"Did you hear what she said?!" Ron asked.
"Yes, Ron, I heard."
"I can't believe her."
Harry sighed.
The portrait hole opened and Ginny stepped in. She walked over to their table. "Hello Harry, Ron. Have either of you seen Hermione?"
"Yeah she just went upstairs," Harry said, smiling.
Ron folded his arms. "Yeah, she'd better stay away from me."
Ginny rubbed her forehead. "Why, what happened? Do I want to know?"
Harry started to put the chess pieces away. "He and Hermione just had an arguement, and Hermione won."
"Of course she did," Ginny said knowingly. "I'll go find her, I'll talk to you two later. See you, Harry!"
Harry waved. "Bye Ginny." He watched as she went up the girls' dormitory staircase. When she had disappeared, he turned towards Ron, who was taking out his homework. "Ron, if I tell you a secret, do you promise that you won't get mad and you won't tell a single soul?"
Ron dropped his books and leaned forward eagerly. Oh boy, did he love a secret! "Sure Harry, what is it? Why would I get mad?"
Harry looked at the table top and put his fingernail in a scratch. "Well, um, you see...Ok, Ron, I'm telling you this because I have to tell somebody. I can't keep it a secret any longer. But you can't tell ANYBODY. Especially not Ginny."
"Why especially not Ginny?" Ron looked confused.
"Because, Ron, I like her. Ok?"
Ron's eyes bugged out. "You what?! Why didn't you tell me before? Sheesh. And here all this time I thought that you thought she was annoying."
Harry looked suspicious. "You mean...you don't mind?"
Ron looked annoyed. "No, you're better than some of the guys that she's gone out with. I don't understand how you can want to go out with girls at all though. You're out of your mind!"
Harry laughed. "We don't all share your views Ron. But anyways, do you think she likes me?"
Ron stared at him. "Harry, are you forgetting second year? Major crush? Singing valentine?"
"Yeah, but that was just a crush."
"She likes you Harry." Ron opened his Care of Magical Creatures textbook.
Harry shook his head. "Maybe I should say something to her." He sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes before starting on his homework.
Later that night, when it was time for dinner, Harry and Ron made their way down to the Great Hall and stopped in front of the doors. "I have to ask Seamus something, Ron, I'll meet you inside in a few minutes, ok?" Harry said.
Ron nodded. "Ok." He went inside and Harry went up to Seamus who was trying to straighten his robes.
"Hey, Seamus, can I ask you a favor?"
Seamus looked up. "Oh, hey Harry. Yeah, sure, what is it?"
Harry looked around and lowered his voice. "I was wondering if you could go up to Ginny Weasley for me and tell her that I like her and want to talk to her."
Seamus raised his eyebrows. "Sure thing Harry!"
Harry smiled. "I'm going into dinner. Remember what I said." Seamus nodded, and they both went into the Great Hall.
After they were gone Vincent Crabbe stepped out from behind a pillar and ran into the Great Hall behind them, having heard everything.
"You're just not smart enough to come up with a good come back, Ron. That's why you always say: 'you're stupider.' " Hermione satisfactorily stabbed her mashed potatoes.
"I say it because it's true!"
"Ron, if any one of us is stupider, it's you, because you never study."
"The real wisdom comes from the heart, Hermione!"
"And how would you know anything about that, since you don't have a heart?"
Ron's mouth dropped open, and instead of answering, he got up and walked away.
Crabbe walked up to Draco and grabbed his arm. "I've got something to tell you, Draco."
Draco yanked his arm away. "Not now, Crabbe!"
"But it's about Potter!"
Draco looked at him and turned to the boy he was talking to. "I'll be right back." he went over to a corner with Crabbe. "Now, what is it?"
"I overheard Potter talking to Finnigan, asking him to talk to the Weasley girl for him, to tell her that he likes her and that he wants to talk to her."
Draco looked excited. "Are you sure?"
Crabbe nodded.
Draco grinned. "Good! This provides an excellent opportunity to get back at Potter for all the things he's done to me. I have a plan." He leaned over and whispered in Crabbe's ear.
Harry crept over to where Seamus and Ginny were talking. He was close enough to see them, but he couldn't hear a word they were saying. He leaned forward and strained his ears. he thought he vaguely heard Seamus say: 'Like you.'
Just then Draco and Crabbe walked over behind Harry and talked in voices loud enough for Harry to hear, but no one else.
"Are you sure, Crabbe?" Draco asked.
Crabbe nodded. "I'm sure."
Draco sneered. "I had no idea Seamus liked Ginny. He can do better than that!"
"I heard him swear he loved her and that he was going to ask her out."
Draco looked over towards Harry, who hadn't turned towards them. "Yeah, that's probably what he's doing now. Come on I want to get some more roast beef." He and Crabbe walked off, snickering, leaving Harry alone.
He sat down behind a potted plant. "Seamus is telling Ginny that he likes her? Friendship is good in all things except business and love. I thought Seamus was my friend. Goodbye Ginny!" He watched as Ginny flung her arms around Seamus' neck. He got up and stalked away, not wanting to see anymore.
Seamus grinned at Ginny who had just flung her arms around him in happiness. "Yes, Harry likes you!"
Ginny spun around. "I can't believe it! This is so wonderful, Seamus, thank you!"
Seamus shrugged. "No problem, I'll go get Harry."
Ginny suddenly looked nervous. "Ok."
Seamus looked all around for Harry, but couldn't find him. He came across Hermione, who was borrowing a Hufflepuff's pen. "Hermione, have you seen Harry?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, why?"
"Ginny wants to talk to him. Can you please go find him for me?"
Hermione nodded. "Sure, I'll be right back."
Ron stalked away from Hermione. "Bloody idiotic woman!" He nearly ran into Harry, who was marching the other way. "Harry?"
Harry turned around. "What?" He asked a little irritably.
"What's wrong with you?" Ron looked at him.
"Nothing, just leave me alone."
"Did something go wrong with that little plan you and Seamus cooked up? I saw him and Hermione talking."
Harry shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it. If he wants to go out with Ginny find I just wish they would leave me alone."
"So something did go wrong! Do you really think Seamus would do something like that to you?"
"Look Ron," Harry said, "If you won't leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. Goodbye!" He stormed away from Ron.
Ron walked over to where Seamus was waiting with Ginny.
"Hey, Ron," Seamus greeted him, "Have you seen Harry?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah I just saw him. Upset as a garden gnome without a hole. He was all upset thinking that you liked Ginny!"
Seamus groaned. "Oh no! What made him think that! Oh well, we'll just have to wait until Hermione finds him. I heard you were mean to Hermione again."
Ron, already heading back for more food, turned around. "Oh! She was mean to me! You should have heard what she said about me! Of all the mean things to say she said I didn't have a heart!"
Ginny snickered.
"She is the most vicious, horrible person I have ever had the displeasure to know! I would rather be attacked by fire crabs then be near her! Whenever she comes around, you're bound to either get your temper up or run away in tears!" By now, Seamus was laughing along with Ginny, and that only fueled Ron's anger. "I can't stand her!"
Seamus looked over Ron's shoulder. "Well, here she comes."
Ron turned around and groaned. "Oh, no. I really do not feel like talking to her right now. Is there anything I can do for you Seamus? Anything at all! I'll dive down and kiss the giant squid if you want me to! Anything!"
Seamus snorted. "No, just to have my good buddy Ron here with me."
Ron looked at Ginny. "Ginny?" He pleaded. Ginny shook her head, hardly able to control her giggles. "Fine, I don't care if I look like I'm a coward. I'm out of here!" He turned and sprinted away from them and out of the Great Hall.
A moment later, Hermione, Harry, and Neville walked up to Seamus and Ginny.
"You've broken Ron's heart, Hermione!" Seamus grinned.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. As if he could care less what I say about him. Besides, it's not like he's never said mean things about me. Here, Seamus, I brought Harry." She pushed Harry forward, and Harry turned around and glared at her. Who knew how she managed to get him to come.
Seamus looked at Harry. "What's wrong Harry? Why are you sad?"
Harry looked at the floor. "I'm not sad," he mumbled.
Seamus tilted his head. "Are you sick?"
"I'm not sick either," Harry said.
"No, he's not sad, or sick, he's jealous," Hermione said firmly, earning a glare from Harry.
Seamus smiled. "Look, Harry, there's no reason to be upset. I told Ginny what you told me to tell her." He nudged Ginny, who stepped forward and smiled shyly at Harry.
Harry looked up incredulously and smiled at Ginny. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, then Ginny threw her arms around his neck and he squeezed her tight.
Seamus grinned. "Now you two can go out."
"Come on Harry, say something!" Hermione said. "It's your cue!"
Harry looked up, a wide smile on his face. "I'm so happy I can't speak!"
While he and Ginny gazed into each other's eyes, Seamus leaned over towards Hermione. "Despite what Ron says I think you really are a nice person, Hermione."
"Thanks Seamus. Although I can't understand all of this dating stuff. Everybody has a girlfriend or boyfriend, except me, because nobody likes me. I could walk around with a sign that said 'boyfriend wanted' and nobody would care. That's why I'm not interested in having a boyfriend. It's just full of pain."
"Aw, you know you want a boyfriend, Hermione. I'll get you one." Seamus said, laughing.
Hermione wrinkled up her nose. "No thanks."
Seamus looked at her seriously. "Would you ever go out with me, Hermione?"
She looked at him just as seriously. "No, Seamus. Boyfriends are like wands. You have to have just the right one to fit you, and then you make a perfect match. I'm sorry Seamus, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
Seamus smiled. "Nah, you'd hurt my feelings more if you didn't tell me the truth. And anyways I was just asking out of curiosity."
Hermione studied him for a moment. "Oh, ok. You know, I'm glad we're friends, Seamus." She smiled at him and turned to everyone else. "I'm going to go to bed now. I'm happy for you, Harry, Ginny." She smiled warmly at them both then walked over to get her things. She walked out of the Great Hall, turning once to wave.
Seamus got up and walked over to Ginny, Harry, and Neville. "Hermione won't even listen to me talk about her getting a boyfriend."
Harry laughed. "Ron's the same way."
"Hermione would make a good girlfriend for Ron," Seamus said thoughtfully.
Harry and Ginny's mouths dropped open, and Neville laughed. "They wouldn't even be going out one week before they talked themselves to death. They can't stand each other!"
"Well, I'm determined to get them to fall in love. If they aren't already that is." He looked at them. "Will you help me Neville?"
"I'll help you even if I have to stay up all night for ten nights, I'd love to see them get together."
"Me too!" Harry laughed.
Seamus looked at Ginny. "And you, Ginny?"
Ginny laughed. "I'll do anything to get Hermione and my brother together!"
Seamus rubbed his hands together. "Good. I have a plan. Let's go back up to the common room, so I can tell you all about it."
The next day, Saturday, after breakfast, Ron was wandering around the gardens, muttering to himself. "I can't believe that Harry has fallen in love. Of all the people! He said once that he didn't care about girls. Especially after Cho Chang. And then after all of this time, I find out that he loves my sister! Ew! No girl would affect me that way. I mean a girl can come to me, and be beautiful, but I don't care. She could be smart, and I don't care. She could be hard working, and I don't care. Kind! I couldn't care less. Not until I find a woman who has everything will I fall in love." He started to count on his fingers. "When I find a woman that is beautiful, smart, hard-working, and kind, will love make a fool out of me. She should love music and be able to sing. And be a good cook. And like to do a lot of the things I like to do. What color hair should she have?" He thought for a moment. "I don't care what she looks like. The point is I will never fall in love! Never! If I do then I'll turn in my broom!" Just then he heard voices and ahead of him on the path he saw Harry, Neville, and Seamus turn the corner.
"Oh, great, here comes Seamus and Monsieur Love." He sneered. "I don't feel like hearing about how wonderful Ginny is. I'm going to go hide." He ducked into another section of the garden and climbed up a tree. He settled down in a crook of the tree, quite comfortable. He heard Seamus, Neville and Harry come onto the path he was just on and sit down in the grass, talking and laughing.
"Did you see where Ron ran off and hid?" Seamus whispered to Harry and Neville.
Harry grinned. "Yeah, very well. He doesn't hide very well does he?"
Neville snickered.
"Ok," Seamus said. "Now's the time we should start our trick. I'll start it." He waited a moment then said loudly, "What did you say Neville?! Hermione loves Ron?! No way!"
Ron sat up quickly and fell out of his tree.
Neville, Harry, and Seamus looked in the direction of the thump and grinned, but didn't say anything.
"Yeah," Neville said. "Ginny said so. She said the Hermione is head over heels for him!"
"I can't believe she loves him!" Harry exclaimed. "I mean she always seemed to hate him, not love him!"
"Does she plan on telling Ron?" Seamus asked.
Neville shook his head then said aloud, "No, that's what drives her crazy. If she told him, he would make fun of her."
"I think she should tell him! Who knows what he might say?" Seamus exclaimed.
Harry snickered. "Keep going, he bought it!" He said in a low voice so only they could hear.
"Ginny says that Hermione wants to die. She'll die if she and Ron never get together, she'll die if Ron ever finds out, and she'll die if he loves her back! There's no hope for her," Neville said.
Ron who had jumped up and sneaked closer to listen, leaned against the bush he was behind, his eyes wide.
"I suppose it is a good thing Ron never found out," Seamus said. "He would make fun of her wouldn't he?"
"Horribly," Harry agreed.
"If he wasn't so stupid, poor Hermione wouldn't want to die!" Said Neville.
Ron's mouth dropped open. "Oh!" He exclaimed indignantly, before he could stop himself. The three boys looked up and grinned at each other. Harry gave the others a thumbs up. Ron looked around wildly then grabbed a garden gnome that was running around and he squeezed it making it shout out at him.
Harry, Seamus and Neville looked at each other and raised their eyebrows, trying to keep from laughing. Ron dropped the gnome and listened carefully.
Harry stood up. "I'm hungry. Want to go get some more food? Besides I want to go see if Ginny's up yet." They started to walk out of the gardens and turned to each other snickering. "Ok," Seamus said quietly, "Harry, you told Ginny to do the same thing with Hermione, right?"
Harry nodded and grinned. "This is going to be great."
Ron plopped down on the ground, his mouth wide open. "This must be a trick," he said to himself, "it's got to be. No way does Hermione loves me! But they were serious about it, and I don't think Neville would lie. And they said Ginny knew it! Hermione would rather die than tell me. Am I really that mean?" He rubbed his forehead. "Hermione loves me." A smile broke out on his face. "She loves me! What am I so excited about? Who cares? It's just Hermione. Right?" He stood up and walked over to a fountain. He looked towards Hogwarts. "Ah!" He shrieked. "Here comes Hermione! What do I do, what do I do?" He turned around and quickly stood next to the fountain looking nonchalantly into the water, unnaturally nervous.
"Ron!" Hermione called. She reached Ron. "Ron."
Ron turned and pretended to look surprised. "Oh, hello Hermione." He stuck his arm out and leaned over as if to lean against a wall but forgot he was by the fountain and with a splash fell right in. He came up spluttering with a red face.
"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked, concerned.
Ron nodded, embarressed. "Yeah, what did you need?" he asked, giving up trying to impress her.
"Harry asked me to tell you that he wants to talk to you." She held out her hand and he grabbed it. Much to his surprise when he touched her, he gave a little shiver, and he pulled his hand away as soon as he was out of the fountain.
"Thanks Hermione. I'll be inside in a minute."
Hermione nodded. "Ok." She turned around and walked back towards the castle, leaving Ron to wring out his shirt.
Ron sat down on the edge of the fountain. "'Ron are you alright?' There's a double meaning in that. Maybe she meant: 'Oh, Ron my love, are you alright? I would never want you to get hurt!'" He thought for a moment then shook his head. "Nah!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "Hermione loves me? It seems so impossible. But sometimes...sometimes maybe she could love me. Like when I tickle Pig, and she smiles at me, like I'm so nice or something. And when she smiles her eyes crinkle up and...what am I saying!" He smacked his head. "No, Ron, you do not like Hermione! No! Yes! Yes I do! Ok, fine! I like Hermione!" He looked at the sky. "I like Hermione." He whispered. "Alright? Are you happy now?" He covered his face with his hands. "How can anybody feel so happy and so aggravated at the same time? If anybody finds out how I feel, I'll never live it down." He stood up. "Well, all I know is that I'm going to be nicer to Hermione from now on. As nice as I can be. I might be teased a lot, since I said I was going to a bachelor forever. But every man has a right to change his mind, right?"
Ron headed back to the castle and found Harry, Neville, Seamus, Hermione, and Ginny in the Great Hall eating what would appear a second breakfast. Harry and Ginny were sitting next to each other, and they were giving each other furtive shy glances that made Ron want to roll his eyes. Ron sat down next to Hermione and smiled nervously at her. "Hello, Hermione."
The table was suddenly silent, expectant.
Hermione's eyes moved back and forth. "Hello, Ron. You're still wet. Aren't you going to change your clothes?"
Ron looked down at his clothes. He'd completely forgot. He flushed. "Oh, yeah."
Ginny looked amused. "What happened to you, Ron?"
"He fell in a fountain," Hermione supplied.
Harry laughed. "Why'd you do that, Ron?"
Ron glared at him. "I didn't jump in, Harry, I fell in."
Harry just kept his eyebrows raised and didn't say anything.
Ron stood up. "I'm going to go change."
"Oh, Ron," Seamus spoke up. "There's supposed to be a party in about a week, Dumbledore just made an announcement."
Ron looked confused. "A party? What for?"
Neville grinned. "He wants to have a party to celebrate the making of Hogwarts. Apparently, in one week is the day that it was founded."
Ron nodded. "Oh."
"Actually, it's a bit of a dance," said Harry. He glanced at Ginny. "Gin and I are going, aren't we, Gin?"
She intertwined her hand with his. "Of course we are, Harry."
Ron didn't hesitate to roll his eyes this time. "I'm outta here."
Not long after he left, Hermione stood up too. "Well, I'm off to the library."
"What for?" Ginny asked. "I know for a fact that you did all of your homework already."
Hermione smiled. "Of course I did, but just because I don't have any more homework doesn't give me an excuse stop learning."
"It's a good thing Ron wasn't here to hear that," Harry said.
Hermione frowned. "Ron is a knucklehead."
Ginny looked at Harry. Harry looked at Ginny. They both grinned.
"I'm off. I'll see you guys at lunch!" Hermione shouldered her bag and walked out of the Great Hall.
Ginny jumped up. "I'll go get Susan, and we can start our part of the trick! It's the perfect time!"
Harry pulled on her arm. "Not yet, Gin, if you go up there now, Hermione will think you and Susan purposely followed her so she would hear. Wait a couple of hours so it will seem like you've forgotten where she is."
Ginny sat back down. "You're right, Harry, I'll wait. Susan's busy anyways." She looked over at Susan Bones who was giving her boyfriend a kiss, and giggled.
Harry looked over at Susan and Howard too, then looked back at Ginny. "I can keep you busy if you want, Ginny," he teased, then blushed.
Ginny turned pink and smiled. "Well, sure Harry, I'm definitely going to be a little bored!"
Harry grinned and took Ginny's hand. "Come on Gin, let's go for a walk."
Forgetting Neville and Seamus, they stood up and left the Great Hall, going who knows where.
Seamus glanced at Neville. "Look at us, Neville, two old bachelors with nothing to do."
Neville shrugged. "We could always eat more breakfast."
Seamus pulled a serving bowl towards him. "Now that's what I like to hear!"
Ginny and Harry walked out of Hogwarts and sat down on a bench, not far from the very fountain where Ron had fallen in moments before. Harry looked at Ginny sweetly before leaning in and giving her her first kiss. It was sweet and short, but mostly sweet, and when he pulled away, she scooted closer so he could do it again, and he did.
After a couple of hours, Ginny found Susan Bones who wasn't busy anymore and they headed up to the library. They quietly hunted among the shelves until they found Hermione in a secluded corner, reading a small paperback book, different from her usual thick hardbacked books. Ginny nodded to Susan and beckoned her to come closer. They were close enough to Hermione that she could hear them and see them without them raising their voices, but in such a spot that they could pretend that they didn't see her, since they were a shelf away.
Hermione looked up from the romance novel she was reading when she heard giggling coming from behind the shelves. That was Ginny's laugh. She turned her head and spotted Susan Bones and Ginny not too far away from her.
"Oh, did I tell you what Harry told me about Ron, Susan?" Ginny said.
Hermione perked up.
Susan shook her head. "No, what'd he tell you?" She leaned up against the shelf as if preparing for a good story.
"He told me that Ron is in love!"
Hermione's stomach flipped.
"There's absolutely no way! With who?" Susan said eagerly.
Ginny lowered her voice a fraction. "With Hermione Granger, that's who."
Hermione's book fell out of her hands. Ginny and Susan noticed but they continued.
"Are you sure, Ginny? I mean, I thought Ron hated Hermione, not loved her."
"I'm positive. Harry wouldn't lie to me. He said that Ron thinks about her all of the time. That he's always talking about her. And that Harry can see it by the little things Ron does."
"What little things?" Susan looked expectantly at Ginny.
Ginny was at a loss and her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she said, "Like how he's always trying to protect her and watch out for her. And how he always wants to spend time with her. You know, 'stop doing homework Hermione and play chess or something.'" Ginny attempted Ron's deep voice but failed miserably.
"What else?" Susan asked eagerly.
Ginny was on a roll, now. "Like how when Hermione insults him, he gets so fired up. Terribly defensive. He's not that way with me, if I tease him. And when they have little moments of smiling at each other, Ron turns bright red! And he gets so hurt when Hermione insults him, he can't stop thinking about it for days!"
"But has he actually admitted that he loves Hermione?" Susan asked.
"Not aloud, but Harry looked at his journal and it said he had 'confused feelings' about Hermione." This was a true statement, and Susan looked at Ginny, not sure what to make of it. Ginny nodded. "It's true! It really is! The horrible thing though, is that poor Ron is tortured."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he can't tell Hermione because he's afraid that she'll laugh at him, and she probably would. I feel so bad for him. Unrequited love is an awful thing to have to deal with. I should know, I've loved Harry forever and it's only now that he likes me. Ron's going crazy not having Hermione's love, but if he told her, and relieved the feeling, she'd laugh at him, probably to his face. You have no idea what that would do to him. It could kill him!"
"Really Ginny! I don't think it would kill him!"
"Well, almost. He'd be so depressed. Like that time when Hermione got petrified in first year. I was too busy-" Here Ginny shuddered - "to notice, but Harry says that he was so restless, and all he wanted to do was be in the hospital with Hermione." This too was true, and Susan nodded, because she remembered it.
"Do you really think Hermione would laugh though? I mean I don't think she's that spiteful."
"She might not do it to purposely hurt his feelings, but since she doesn't like him, can't stand him practically, the absurdity of it would make her laugh. She's so mean to him sometimes! And she has no idea how much it hurts him."
"But Ron's mean to her too!"
"That's only to cover up his true feelings. If he weren't mean she'd figure out how he really feels. That would be awful."
"Poor Ron," Susan said sympathetically.
"Yeah. Well, we'd best go back," Ginny said, "I promised Harry I'd play chess with him before lunch. Come on!" The two girls turned and left the library. When they were out of Hermione's earshot they turned and dissolved in giggles. "Did you see her face!?" Ginny held her side.
Susan giggled. "She dropped her book!" They howled and left the library and Hermione.
Hermione was frozen. It couldn't be real. Her heart was beating so fast. She stood up and started pacing back and forth. She could barely digest all of the information. "Calm down Hermione," she told herself, "calm down. Let's think about this systematically. Ok, Ron loves me." She stopped. That was enough information to make anybody stop in their tracks. "Ron loves me." She whispered. "And he covers it up by being mean to me because he thinks if I knew, I'd be mean to him. What a twisted world. I thought Ron wanted to be a bachelor forever though. Of course Hermione! That's just to cover up because he's afraid I'll refuse him. And doesn't he have a right to feel that way? I would wouldn't I?"
She stopped.
"No. I wouldn't," she whispered. "I wouldn't. If Ron came up to me and told me he loved me-Well I wouldn't believe him. But if for some reason I did believe him I wouldn't laugh at him. Never! I can't believe they think I would! I'm not that mean. I would let him down easily- no I wouldn't."
Her heart beat faster.
"Oh, if Ron loves me, truly loves me..." She clasped her hands together and a giant grin graced her face. "Oh, I love him too! I love everything about him! Yes I admit it! I just kept denying it! Oh, Ron."
She picked up her book and held it to her chest. "What am I going to do? Forget what I'm going to do! Ron loves me! And I love him back!"
She spun around the table holding her book. "I can hardly believe it! But Harry told Ginny and Ginny told Susan, and I think I can trust both Harry and Ginny. And all of the proof. Why didn't I see it before? He wanted to spend all of his time with me when I was petrified? And he does get so upset when I insult him..."
She sobered up. "I'm not going to be mean to him anymore. Never again! Poor Ron. All of this time I thought he hated me, and I thought it was ok to be mean to him back. I thought he was only friends with me because I was friends with Harry and so was he. In reality all of this time he's been tortured because he thinks I hate him! Oh, Ron...This is the dawning of a new time. I've got to go see him!"
She hurriedly packed her bag. But as she walked out of the library, she mused. "What am I going to say to him? What will he say to me? What if we get into a fight? No, I refuse to fight with him. I will be so nice to him. I have to find some way of letting him know that I love him back. I'll just love him with all of my heart. Ron, oh, Ron!" She spun around once in the hallway and continued on her way.
Crabbe and Goyle ran up to Draco who was in the Slytherin common room staring into the fire. They plopped down on the couch and panted, obviously having just run from some place or other. Draco looked up at them. "Where have you two been, why are you breathing so hard?"
Crabbe glanced at Goyle. "Oi, Draco we found out more about Harry and Ginny."
"I know," Draco said bitterly, "my plan didn't work and they're dating now."
"That's not what we found out," Goyle spoke up. "We found out that there's going to be a party next week, and that Harry and Ginny are going. Crabbe and I made a plan."
"Yeah," said Crabbe, "I can grab Susan Bones and kiss her!" He looked triumphant.
Draco stared at him. "Why do I care?"
Crabbe started. "Oh, yeah. Tell him Goyle."
Goyle smiled. "Crabbe can grab Susan Bones and kiss her, and we can make Potter think that he's kissing Ginny."
Draco sat up. "You two might have a plan."
"Yeah I know we did-" started Crabbe, but Draco waved him off.
"No, I mean a good plan. We'll put it into action the night before the party. Make Potter really mad. This is great." He grinned, and evil grin if you ever saw one.
Ron tapped his chin. "Knight to G5." His knight moved, taking out Harry's other Rook.
Harry slapped his forehead. "Dangit!"
Ron grinned. "Hehehe."
Just then the portrait hole opened and Ron, Harry, and Ginny, who'd been watching their chess match, (Rooting for Harry of course,) looked up to see Hermione come through lugging her bag filled with books. As soon as she saw Ron, she turned pink. And as soon as Ron saw her, he turned bright red and looked down at the chessboard. As suavely as possible, Hermione made her way to the table and dropped her bag on the floor. "Hello everyone!" She said brightly, glancing at Ron. She'd thought of several possible greetings on the way to the common room, and that seemed the best in her opinion.
"Hey, Hermione!" Said Ginny.
"Hi." Said Harry.
"Hi, Hermione." Ron said giving her a quick glance.
"Hi." There was silence for a moment, then Hermione sat down in the only chair available, coincidentally next to Ron. Or was it coincidental? Hermione wasn't able to look anybody in the eye so she looked at the table.
Ron couldn't stand the silence so he cleared his throat. "Uh, Harry, it's your turn."
Harry started. "Oh." He studied the board and Ron looked at Hermione.
"Where've you been, Hermione?"
"At the library," Hermione said cautiously, expecting Ron to try to engage her in an arguement. But he only nodded.
"Oh. Read any good books?"
Hermione nodded. "Yeah." 'Oh boy, this is going to be a long weekend,' she thought.
The next Friday, after all of their classes were over, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Seamus, and Ginny went to the library to study. They'd been doing that a lot more lately, especially because Harry and Ginny were so into each other they didn't really notice what they were doing, and Ron didn't say anything about going to the library anymore, like he would've before he found out that Hermione loved him.
Harry tickled Ginny and she giggled. Then she sat up, and Harry leaned forwards until their noses touched.
Ron rolled his eyes at the pair, but smiled a little and glanced over at Hermione, who was writing her Potions essay. Ron twirled his quill. He couldn't concentrate. He sighed and looked out the library window at the quidditch pitch. He was content to sit here by Hermione forever.
Ginny stood up. "I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back." Her hand lingered in Harry's before she pulled away and headed towards the library's bathroom.
Seamus stood up too. "I need to go find a book," he said.
Goyle ducked away from where he was watching the group, and gave Crabbe the thumbs up. Susan Bones was sitting not far away. It was Goyle's job to keep Ginny busy so she wouldn't come back to the table, and Draco's job to get Harry to get up and come look for her. And when Harry walked by, Crabbe would grab Susan. Goyle was supposed to nick Ginny's sweater from the chair she had been sitting at and give it to Crabbe so that he could wrap it around Susan to make it look like it was Ginny.
It was time to put their plan into action. Goyle rushed by the Gryffindor's table so fast, they didn't notice that he'd grabbed Ginny's sweater.
Hermione glanced up. "What was that all about?" Harry shrugged.
"Dunno."
Goyle passed Crabbe the sweater and ran over to where Ginny was exiting the bathroom and grabbed her arm. "I need to talk to you," He growled.
"What-ah!"
Draco sauntered over to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. "Hey Potter!" He sneered. "Seen your girlfriend lately?" He walked away, laughing.
Harry leapt out of his seat. "What is he talking about?" He ran away, searching for Ginny. Then he found her. Or so he thought. As soon as Draco gave Crabbe the warning that Harry was on his way, Crabbe grabbed Susan spun her around and pressed his lips to hers before she even knew what happened. He wrapped Ginny's sweater around Susan's shoulders and kissed her harder, trying to make it look as passionate as possible. Harry rounded the corner and stopped short. There was Ginny. His Ginny. Kissing Vincent Crabbe. He knew it was her. It was her red hair, her blue sweater. Harry backed away horror-stricken. He turned and ran out of the library as fast as he could. Seamus who had been heading back towards the table with a book in his hand, stared with his mouth open, seeing everything. He dropped the book and ran after Harry.
Susan pulled away from Crabbe and stared at him, breathing hard. "Who do you think you are!?" She gasped. She slapped him hard. Crabbe reeled back and nearly fell into a bookshelf. "Stay away from me, you pig!"
She turned, and gathering her books, left as quickly as she could.
Goyle stopped wrestling with Ginny when he saw Draco's signal and she glared at him. "Leave me alone!" She turned and ran back to the table.
Goyle met up with Draco and Crabbe, who was still rubbing his cheek. Draco was smiling. "Excellent," he said, "excellent." He put his arms around Crabbe's and Goyle's shoulders. "My friends, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful broken relationship."
When Ginny got back to the table, she looked around for Harry. "Where's Harry?"
Hermione looked up. "Oh, he went looking for you. Maybe he went back to the common room, I dunno."
Ginny nodded. "Ok." She sat down. "I'm so excited about the party tomorrow. Harry and I decided to meet in the Great Hall and dance all night long." She grinned. Then she noticed Ron. "Oh. Are you still here?"
Ron, who'd been doodling, looked up. "Huh? Yeah."
Hermione glanced at him and stifled a giggle.
The next day, Saturday, Ginny invited Hermione into her dorm to look over her clothes. Hermione normally wasn't that interested in clothes, but she did want to look good for Ron, so she decided to wear a long maroon skirt and a black blouse underneath of her open robes, and she helped Ginny choose a knee-length floral print dress to wear. They looked at each other side by side in the mirror and grinned. Ginny applied some lip gloss. "It's too bad that you don't have a date Hermione."
Hermione shrugged. "It's alright." Although really she was wishing that she could be going with Ron. They'd been nice to each other all week. In fact, perhaps they had been a little too nice. But to the amazement of their friends, they hadn't had a fight all week long.
Ginny and Hermione made their way downstairs. "Come on, Hermione, I told Harry I'd meet him in the Great Hall." She frowned. "Strange though, I haven't seen him since yesterday at the library. I wonder what he's been up to."
Hermione smiled. "Maybe he's been getting ready."
Ginny giggled. "For over 24 hours? Even Harry wouldn't do that!"
They passed through the common room, and Neville and Seamus passed them on their way out. Neville smiled and waved, but Seamus gave them, particularly Ginny, a mean glare.
Ginny looked at Seamus. "What's wrong with him?"
Hermione shrugged. "Dunno. Come on let's go to the Great Hall. Where's Ron?"
Ginny gave her a knowing glance. "He's downstairs. Come on, let's go!"
They made their way down to the Great Hall, and Ginny spotted Harry. "There's Harry, Hermione. I'll see you later." She walked over to Harry and smiled. "Hey, Harry!"
Harry didn't smile. "I need to talk to you Ginny."
She nodded. "Ok."
"Have you ever kissed anybody besides me?"
Ginny looked confused. "You know I haven't, Harry."
"Don't lie to me, Ginny!" Harry suddenly yelled, making Ginny and several other people jump. almost immediately, the entire Great Hall was looking at them.
"What are you talking about Harry?" Ginny whispered, alarmed.
"Don't play dumb with me, Ginny! I saw you!"
"Harry-"
"I saw you, saw you kissing Crabbe!"
Ginny stared at him. "Harry, please, I don't know what you're talking about!"
Harry shoved Ginny, right into Neville's arms, and she burst into tears. "I can't believe you Ginny! You liar!" He shoved some plates off of the Slytherin table, the plates crashing satisfactorily onto the floor. "I can't believe you would do that to me, Ginny! You of all people!"
"Please, I don't know what you're talking about, Harry! I swear! I never kissed anybody!"
Seamus stepped forward, his face hard. "I know you did Ginny, I saw you too. Harry isn't lying."
Ginny cried harder, and Hermione rushed over as if to protect her.
McGonagall and Dumbledore came over as quick as they could. "What is going on over here?" McGonagall asked.
Harry and Seamus turned and walked away, and after appointing someone to clean up the mess, and not finding out anything about what happened, the two adults left too. Neville, Ron, and Hermione knelt over Ginny.
Ron was speechless. He didn't know what to think. Neville looked at Ron and Hermione then looked at the crying Ginny on the floor. "Is what they said true, Ginny?"
Ginny sobbed. "No!"
Ron glared at Neville.
Neville nodded. "I thought so. Something doesn't seem right here. That doesn't sound like Harry at all. I have an idea. Why don't we pretend that Ginny got really sick because of what Harry did to her? Harry will feel really guilty and he'll come to apologize."
Ron nodded. "That's a good idea. Did you hear that Ginny?"
Ginny nodded, and the three helped her up and gave her a big hug. "Come on, Ginny," Neville said, and started to walk with her towards the Gryffindor common room.
Hermione headed in the other direction, outside of the castle. Ron looked in Ginny's direction and then deciding that she was in good hands ran after Hermione, who was standing out side.
He stood beside her and looked at her. "Hermione, are you crying?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"I don't like it when you cry," Ron said softly, gazing at her.
She turned to look at him. "Oh, Ron, Ginny didn't do anything! I know she didn't!"
"I know." Ron said. "She's my sister. I know she didn't do anything wrong."
Hermione sniffled, and wiped her eyes.
Ron didn't take his eyes off of her. "I love you, Hermione. Isn't that weird?"
Hermione turned and looked at him. "I could say I loved you too, Ron, but I'm not saying I do, and I'm not saying I don't." For some reason, she didn't want to admit it.
"You love me too, Hermione!" Ron said, in a clarified type of voice.
"Don't bet on it," Hermione said, turning away.
"I will bet on it! I love you Hermione."
She turned towards him again. "Then I should be punished!" She managed a small smile.
"What for?" Ron asked, he too, smiling.
"I was going to deny that I loved you."
"Then you don't deny it?"
"Never."
Ron put his hands around her face and drawing her close, put his lips over hers. Hermione sank into him and kissed him back. A moment later they pulled apart and looked at each other.
"We can't tell anybody," Hermione said. "They're only guessing anyways."
Ron nodded. "We'll find some way to break it to them. And we have to find some way of righting the wrongs against Ginny!"
Draco roared. "That was great!" He laughed. "Better than even I expected. Well done you two! That was great!" His mouth turned upwards in his typical evil smile. He and Crabbe and Goyle had just witnessed the scene in the Great Hall and had laughed until they were sore. Draco's plan had worked better than perfectly.
Neville had helped Ginny to the foot of the girls' dormitory stairs then went up to his own dorm, in which Seamus and Harry already resided. "Alright," Neville said, sitting down. "What's going on? Harry, Ginny feels so awful! She's in bed sick." Neville could see Harry swallow hard at this news, but Seamus flung his book aside.
"Neville, Ginny only got what she deserved. I saw her, Harry did too. It was Ginny, Neville."
"Fine, whatever." Neville started to change out of his pajamas.
"Where's Ron?" Harry spoke up a moment later, after Neville was in bed.
Neville shrugged. "I dunno. I haven't seen him or Hermione since...since earlier in the Great Hall," he finished. The room was quiet. And it stayed that way.
The next day was tense and uncomfortable. Harry moped around all day, worrying about Ginny, who didn't show up, consoled by Seamus, who was the only one who believed him, and not noticing the glances that Ron and Hermione were giving each other. Neville, ever the mediator, tried to talk to Harry and Seamus, but they didn't feel like talking, and Neville didn't bother with Ron and Hermione, because they weren't paying attention to anything, except maybe each other. Ron wasn't worried about Ginny's health at all, since he knew that she was only pretending to feel sick. But he did take Hermione aside to ask her how Ginny felt emotionally. The answer of course was awful, and that didn't make Ron feel too good. He couldn't understand why Harry would do such a thing to Ginny and he was torn between his sister and his best friend so he decided to stay out of it altogether until things were clear.
The five of them were sitting in the library, reading and talking and writing.
Ron was trying to write a poem. Hermione so sweet and kind, I love you beyond everything I've ever known. If I could be with you forever I would jump at the opportunity... Ron stopped his scribbling. It was no use. He couldn't put his feelings into words. They didn't even rhyme!
Hermione was trying to write Ron a letter, explaining all of her feelings for him. Dear Ron, I don't know how to say this, but I love you so much. Ever since second or third year. I didn't really start realizing it until fourth though. I love everything about you, everything! I wish I could somehow tell you... She sighed. She hoped Ron never saw this. It sounded so stupid! She was looking at Ron when Colin and Dennis Creevey ran up with Susan Bones, out of breath and excited. And what happened next was so exciting that Hermione didn't even see Neville grab her letter, and Ron didn't see Seamus take his poem.
Colin took a deep breath and started babbling about how he'd seen everything and how he could prove they were wrong and how Susan would tell them and on and on, until Harry held up a hand. "What are you talking about, Colin? Stop babbling."
Colin took another deep breath. "I saw what happened with Ginny and Crabbe."
Harry looked at the table. "I don't want to talk about it," he said.
"But I took a picture, Harry! It wasn't Ginny! See!" He slapped a picture down on the table in front of Harry, a perfect snapshot of Susan Bones slapping Crabbe with Ginny's sweater around her shoulders. Harry's breath caught. "See, Harry?" Colin said eagerly. "It was Susan!"
Harry looked at Susan, who was pink. "I'm sorry, Harry!" She squeaked. I wasn't at the party, Howard was sick. Otherwise I would have stopped you and told you the truth. I really am sorry. When Colin told me what happened I felt so awful! Crabbe just jumped on me! I think Draco and Crabbe and Goyle planned it out."
Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Neville stared at Susan with their mouths hanging open. Harry stared straight ahead. His adam's apple bobbed. "Ginny," he whispered. He jumped up out of his seat. "I have to go talk to her." He started packing his books away, and Seamus, Neville, Hermione and Ron got up too. Harry turned around his bag on his shoulder, and he grabbed Susan and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you Susan!" He headed out of the library, thanking Colin over his shoulder and followed by all of his friends.
They all ran to the Gryffindor common room, where Harry dropped his bag and ran over to the foot of the girls' dormitory stairs. "I wish I could get up there to talk to her," he murmured.
Hermione sprinted up the stairs. "I'll go get her!" she called, and disappeared.
Harry paced back and forth, wondering what to say to Ginny, while everyone else watched quietly. Then Ginny appeared at the top of the stairs. Harry turned and watched her walk down, and when she reached the bottom of the stairs, he rushed over ot her and grabbed her hand. "Ginny, I'm so sorry, I honestly thought it was you, I should have talked to you. I'm sorry I didn't believe you, can you ever forgive me?"
Ginny laughed. "Yes, Harry, I forgive you."
Harry looked happy. "Really?" He threw his arms around her and squeezed her tight.
"Yes really!" When Harry let go of her she looked him in the eyes. "Just one thing Harry. Next time something like this happens, please don't assume anything until you talk to me, ok?"
Harry nodded. "I won't. I promise! Never!" He hugged her again, and she laughed.
Everyone kind of let out a breath and looked at each other, relieved. Seamus walked over to Ginny and held out his hand. "I'm sorry Ginny. I truly thought it was you. Turns out it was Susan-"
"I know," Ginny interrupted. "Hermione told me everything. Don't worry about it Seamus, it was an honest mistake." Seamus gave a weak smile.
Ron glanced at Hermione and nodded almost imperceptably, and she winked back. Suddenly Hermione turned to Ron. "Do you love me, Ron?"
There was universal gasp and everyone's attention immediately shifted to Ron and Hermione. Ron looked around. "No!" He said. "No!"
Hermione looked at Ginny. "Then Ginny and Susan are liars, because I heard them say that you loved me." Ginny smiled weakly.
"Do you love me?" Ron asked, putting his hands on his hips.
Hermione's mouth opened. "No!"
"Then Harry, Seamus and Neville lied, because I heard them say that you did!"
"Come on, Hermione, you know you love him," Neville said, glancing at Seamus.
"Yeah and You love Hermione, Ron," Seamus said.
"No way!" Hermione and Ron said, glancing quickly at each other and then away, folding their arms.
Neville pulled out Hermione's letter and gave it to Ron. "Here you go Ron, a letter written by Hermione to you!"
Hermione's mouth dropped open and she grabbed for the letter. "Give me that!" Ron grabbed it from Neville and hurriedly unfolded it.
Seamus ran over to Hermione. "And here's a poem written by Ron about you, Hermione!"
Ron's eyes widened. "No!" But it was too late. The two stood side-by-side reading, occasionally glancing at each other to judge reactions, their friends watching, smiling.
When they were done, Ron held up Hermione's letter. "Well, here it is, our paper against our mouths." He shrugged. "Whoops. Oh well. Well, I guess I can love you, Hermione, since if I don't, you'll die. But remember, it is only out of pity."
"Well I suppose I'll just have to love you back, because I was persuaded to, afraid that you would go into depression."
"Be quiet!"
Hermione opened her mouth to retort and Ron shook his head and laughed. "I'll just make you be quiet. Come here!" And he pulled her towards him and kissed her.
Harry grinned and looked at Ginny. She smiled sweetly, and Harry leaned down to follow Ron's example.
A moment later, Harry looked at Ron and grinned. "How do you feel, Ron, the NONBACHELOR?"
Ron flushed and smiled at Hermione. "Human beings are subject to change at any moment. And that's all I have to say." He leaned down and kissed Hermione again. He looked up at Seamus. "Why are you sad, Seamus?"
Seamus smiled weakly. Ron grinned. "Get a girlfriend, Seamus, get a girlfriend!"
They all laughed.
"What do we do about Draco?" Neville asked.
Ron waved his hand. his other around Hermione's waist. "We'll worry about him later!
They all agreed, and happy, plopped down on chairs and couches to enjoy the last of their weekend, finally together and well.
THE END
'Sigh no more, Ladies, sigh no more.
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea, and one on shore.
To one thing constant never.
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe,
Into hey, nonny-nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no moe,
Of dumps so dull and heavy.
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leavy.
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe,
Into hey, nonny-nonny.'
- From Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare.