Disclaimer- I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's characters.

Harry walked down Diagon Alley happily. He was ready for his 7th year of school, determined that it would be his best. Ron and Hermione were at his side and it seemed that nothing could go wrong. Ron indicated that he wanted to duck into Fred and Georges joke shop so they stopped inside.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Come see the new products!" called Fred who whisked them away to a crowded corner of the room.

"Here is our latest," he said gingerly picking up a long wand, "Give it a wave then Ron, it won't bite…"

Ron eagerly waved the wand but nothing happened.

"err… Fred… Nothing happened," said Ron. But Hermione began to tear out into uncontrolled laughter, and taking one look at Ron and tried hard not to laugh, but he thought he might fall apart.

Fred, who looked quite hysterical at this point handed a mirror to Ron. Sure enough Ron saw his new complexion was a vibrant shade of red.

"OOH, Looks like Ronald's a little red in the face!" cried Fred as tears dripped out of his eyes from laughter.

"FREDDDD! Change it back!" yelled Ron angrily.

"Sorry little brother, but I can't. You have to wait for it to work its way off. Perhaps in about 3 hours or so."

"THREE HOURS!GAH! come on now…" said Ron who turned and began to make way for the bathroom.

"Ron WAIT you don't even know what the product is yet!" called Fred after him.

"WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" cried Ron angrily.

"Well all the more reason for me to tell you. It's a mood wand, a wand, that, when waved can interpret what mood the waver is in. According to what color their face turns, you can know their true feelings."

"Wow, I've never heard of a charm like that before…." Gazed Hermione as through no charm in the world could ever be created without her knowing.

"So what does red mean then?" asked Harry, but he thought he already knew.

"LOVE!" shouted a chorus of Weasly twins as George joined Fred in matching burgundy robes. "RONALD'S IN LOVE! RONALD'S IN LOVE!" they chanted.

Hermione brushed a deep pink when she realized that she had been standing beside Ron at the time, and Ron became an even redder red and dashed for the bathroom.

"Oh Ron, look out not to close the stall doors too tightly, there's a sticking charm on each one! Oh well… Good to see you Harry how was your summer?" asked George.

"It was fine," Harry lied through his teeth and forced a smile. Dumbledore's death still haunted him and seemed to be the black cloud hanging over his head for weeks.

"Great, great… Here Harry have some of out newest products," said Fred shoving a large basket containing several mood wands beyond other items. "oh I'd better hurry up, there's mum."

"FRED! GEORGE!" Mrs.Weasly cried as she hugged her boys affectionately. "How's business?"

"Oh, it's great! Let me show you some of our new products…"said George and lead her away, not unlike a salesman. Leaving Hermione and Harry standing alone beside an enormous basket of freebies.

"You had better go check on Ron… He seemed….. Err… upset," said Hermione, "I think I need to go see, what's over here…." And she pretended to busy herself with some trick wands, but it was obvious that she didn't want them.

Annoyed at his friends' immaturity, Harry stalked off towards the bathroom, determined to fix matters between his friends once more.

Sure enough, there in front of the mirror was Ron, scrubbing desperately at his face, but alas to no prevail. The scrubbing had actually made his face redder from irritation.

"Harry! What am I going to do! I can't face Hermione now that she knows that I like her…" said Ron, then suddenly clapped his hand over his red mouth. "and you weren't supposed to hear that last part…" he whispered and then started to run.

"Levicorpus" said Harry and Ron flew un into the air as if an invisible thread was pulling on his ankle.

"HARRY! That's one of the Half-Blood Prince's spells! Wha?" cried Ron but the blood was falling to his head so he didn't dare complain.

"Well it just kind of slipped out. Besides, it's a pretty useful spell, even if I do hate the person that created it… Now, what's all this about liking Hermione and such rubbish?" said Harry, wand pointed at Ron.

"I'll tell you if you let me down… I suppose," Ron sighed.

"Liberacorpus " said Harry tiredly and flicked his wand as Ron fell into a heap near the sink. "It's just horrible when hormones have to rear their ugly heads isn't it Ron?" Harry said mockingly. "So how did this all start anyways? All this love…"

"You say love like it's a bad thing Harry. But yes, I think I started liking Hermione in the 6th year…" sighed Ron sheepishly.

"So I noticed," commented Harry.

"Well, I have always wanted to know if she felt… You know, the same way about me…But I never thought one of Fred and George's stupid "mood wands" would be the way to do it."

"Well it isn't really very romantic," Harry admitted, "But if she likes you then that shouldn't matter. Now, I want you to come and talk to her with me."

"WHAT! NO!" screamed Ron.

"Well then I will," said Harry stonily, "but just think of it this way, it can't be any harder than facing Vold….."

"OKAY I GET IT! No need to be unrational…" said Ron and he slinked off after Harry.

They found Hermione no where other than Flourish & Blotts with her nose stuck in a book.

"Well, where did you expect her to be?" Harry asked Ron as they entered.

She looked up breathlessly, "Yes?"

As cheerfully as possible, Harry spit out, "Umm… Ron here has something he'd like to say to you…"

Ron shakily stepped forward, "Umm, Hermione? There's something I've been wondering about………"

Ooh… cliff hangers… I love 'em.

I will do an update a day… hopefully