Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
BASED ON PAGE 302 (HBP)
Set in sixth year:
"Oppugno!" came a shriek from the doorway.
Harry spun around to see Hermione pointing her wand at Ron, her expression wild. The little flock of birds was speeding a nail of fat golden bullets toward Ron, who yelped and covered his face with his hands, but the birds attacked, pecking, and clawing at every bit of flesh they could reach.
"Gerroffme!" he yelled, but with one last look of vindictive fury, Hermione wrenched open the door and disappeared through it. Harry thought he heard a sob before it slammed.
Hermione ran back to the common room and up to the girls' dormitory as fast as she could. Harry tried to chase after her, but as she ran up the spiral staircase, he gave up.
Harry didn't know what to do. Hermione was now in bed, and Ron, of course, was snogging Lavender. He walked over to Ginny, who was getting butterbeer , and said, "Hi, Ginny."
"Hi, Harry! Great game today, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, er- you did a great job."
"Thanks. So did you, of course," Ginny said, blushing slightly.
Harry smiled, and turned a little red too. "Want to come sit with me?"
"Sure!" Ginny said happily, and they sat down on a couch together with plates of sweets and goblets of butterbeer. They ate together and talked about Quidditch, laughing at their memories, until...
Harry saw Hermione dashing out of the portrait hole and down the corridor. "I'll be right back, Ginny. I have to - er- go to the bathroom."
He ran out of the common room and followed Hermione as she went into the Room of Requirement. He ran as fast as he could, and made it just in time to get inside.
Harry gasped as he looked around. The place was simply beautiful. It was like a giant garden, with the peaceful noise of birds and waterfalls. There were many plants, including many different types of colorful flowers that gave the room a wonderful fragrance. There were windows that seemed like they looked out onto a starry sky outside. There was a massive fountain in the middle that glowed as the water poured out of the top peacefully. There were beautiful benches that circled around the fountain. Harry saw Hermione sitting in one of the seats, crying silently as she watched the fountain, not noticing that Harry was in there.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked her quietly.
She jumped and looked away as Harry sat down next to her on the bench. She wiped away her tears and tried to stop crying. Harry put one arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder, tears pouring out of her eyes.
"Hermione, can you tell me what's wrong?" he said again.
"R-Ron," she said. "H-he's snogging L-Lavender." Then she added in a whisper,"I love him, Harry."
Harry let her cry on his shoulder when she finished. He knew that this would happen sooner or later; he had always thought that they liked each other.
"It's okay, Hermione, calm down," he said, but she only cried harder.
When Hermione had finally calmed down, Harry said, "Come on, let's go back to the common room."
Together Harry and Hermione walked out of the beautiful garden, down the corridor, and into the common room.
When they got back to the common room, it was deserted. The sweets and drinks had been left on a table by the couch.
Hermione sat down in a chair and cried silently. Harry was about to go upstairs, but instead turned around and said, "Are you going to go to bed, Hermione?"
She just shook her head and motioned for Harry to come over there. He walked toward her, and she whispered in his ear, "Please don't tell Ron. I don't want him to know."
Harry nodded and was about to go back to the boys' dormitory, when someone came down the spiral staircase.
It was Ron. "What's going on down here, Harry? I thought I heard people talking." He completely ignored the fact that Hermione was also there.
"Oh, well, I was just talking with Hermione," Harry said.
"Oh," Ron said, glancing at Hermione. Noticing that she was crying, he said, "What's wrong?"
She jumped off the couch, wiped away her tears, and gave Ron an angry look. "What's wrong?" she said, so angry that she didn't even know what she was saying. "What's wrong? You've just been snogging Lavender, did you think I wouldn't notice? You didn't exactly keep it a secret!"
"So?" Ron said angrily, "What's that got to do with you?"
"I love you, Ron!" she yelled, so upset that she wasn't even embarrassed about it. "I love you, and now I know you obviously don't love me back!"
"What?" Ron said, so surprised that he forgot to sound angry.
Hermione burst into tears and tried to run away, but Ron blocked her from the spiral staircase and kissed her. Harry just stood back, extremely confused about everything that had just happened.
Harry wondered if he should go back up to bed, when Ron and Hermione finally broke apart. They were both shocked, but still smiling.
"I love you too, Hermione," Ron said, and gave her another kiss.
"What about Lavender?" Hermione said when they had stopped kissing.
"I don't really love her. She just- she just had a crush on me, and Ginny wouldn't stop bugging me about not having a girlfriend, so I thought, why not? I've always had a crush on you, even in first year, I was just too afraid to tell you."
Hermione smiled and said, "I had a crush on you too, I just didn't want to say anything, because I thought that you would never love me back."
They kissed again. Harry tried to quietly go up the spiral staircase.
"Harry! Where are you going?"
"Er- up to bed," he said.
"Well, thanks for being a good friend, Harry," Hermione said.
"Don't mention it," Harry said, and smiled as he went to bed.