A/N: This is my first fan fiction. Feel free to criticize but don't be to hard on me. Love ya all! R/R! Sorry about the length.... I thought it would be much larger than in Microsoft Word.

The Underlying Truth

Chapter 1 – The Small Intro

(Hermione POV)

"Ron, don't leave me! Wait for me." I screamed running as fast as I could, my heart pounding in my chest.

Ron yelled an answer to me... it was faint, yet strong enough to hear, "I'm not going to leave you."

Despite the comforting answer he was getting further and further away from me. Ron was running up ahead of me. We were being chased by a group of Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, along with more even more Death Eaters, were right behind us.

"Hermione, I'm right here and I'll never leave you."

I opened up my eyes and came face to face with Ron. I was so close that I couldn't even see his freckles anymore. I sat up, still pretty close to his face, and told him that we were being chased by Death Eaters and that he had left me behind.

"You know that I would never leave you behind and it was just a dream, my dear... 'Mione." He paused just before saying 'Mione' just to make sure that the nickname didn't bother me. I giggled when he said it. We then looked into each other's eyes and I pulled him into a hug but instead he leaned into kiss me.

I thought happily, 'This seems so unreal.'

Well, I spoke to soon. Why had I been so stupid? Why was I stupid, because the next thing I knew I woke up. I yelled at myself ' I HATE DOUBLE DREAMING!'

Today was the day that I would see the 'real' Ron because we were meeting, with Harry of course, at Diagon Alley. Harry seemed to be like a brother figure, which was a good feeling, for not having any siblings at all that is. Ron was a different story. I hadn't thought him as anything until probably about our third year. In our third year, I had developed a crush on Ron and thought it was cute when he argued with me. So to not make it obvious that I was crushing, I did the next most natural thing, argued back. I thought that this was a little schoolgirl crush and that it would go away but instead it got stronger.

By our fourth year, I was in denial of my feelings for him. Ginny had assured me that it was 'love.' She told me to confess my feelings for him, even though she thought he was bloody good-for-nothing bloke. I gave Ginny a reproving look because she didn't seem to realize what a hypocrite she was being; she hadn't done the same for Harry. Her voice pounded in my head throughout out most of my fourth year. When we received information about the Yule Ball, I thought it would be the perfect time for Ron to ask me. When I realized he wasn't, I agreed to go with Viktor. I still hate the way Ron had to find out about Viktor wanting me to visit him during the summer. He kept asking and asking me what my answer was to Viktor's invitation. It was all because of Rita Skeeter, she has to ruin everything. I thought I saw his jealousy, but in a flash it seemed to be replaced with annoyance. I'm not exactly sure what he thought.

I looked at the clock in my room and realized that I had spent the last fifteen minutes dwelling on Ron. I ran downstairs and found that my bags were missing. They had probably been put in the car already since I had taken so long. I ran to the kitchen, grabbed myself a slice of toast, and skidded to a halt by the car, where my parents looked just a tad annoyed at my having kept them waiting for so long.

When I saw them (Ron and Harry, of course, {not Harry and Ron because Ron kind of hates being a second, I kind of see it in his eyes} anyway), I had planned to sneak up on them, but they saw me, and the surprise was ruined. I went to Harry and gave him a big hug and a small kiss on the cheek. Ron was a different story though, as much as I wanted to do the same, he seemed uncomfortable so I gave him a slight hug (let me try and put it into words... invisible, unsubstantial, so to say). We gave each other an awkward stare and turned away. , (how I wish it could be different but Ron is just so thick sometimes and I seem to have misplaced my Gryffindor courage. I mean, I care about Ron too much to do something that could possibly ruin my friendship with him. {and Harry, as he probably would have seen it from Ron's point of view. Then things would get awkward... and I think I should stop this tirade now, as people are beginning to think I overanalyze}).

It took Harry a quite a few uncomfortable seconds to break the silence. "Well, lets not stand around here all day. We should get our school supplies."

Off we went on what was sure to be a long day from my point of view. Though I love spending time with those two dolts, it can be a bit tiring. Our agenda for the day was to buy our schoolbooks, for Ron and Harry, go to Quality Quidditch Supplies, (for as short a time as possible I hoped), stop by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and maybe stop for some ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

Please review once you have read to see how I can make it better for the benefit of you, the readers......

P.S. Special thanx 2 my beta LunaLovegood831