The Secret
It was early Saturday morning and Ron Weasley had just awoken from a very detailed dream about his best friend Hermione Granger. It was the sort of dream not uncommon among boys his age, but that wasn't what startled him. He was startled by whom the dream was about. "Hermione?", he thought to out loud with an unmistakable look of disbelief flickering across his face. At this point Ron's very best friend Harry potter rolled over on his side to face Ron. "What about Hermione?" Harry asked. (Hermione was Harry's best friend also) Ron's face reddened. "Harry! What are you doing awake this early? Err...uh...who said anything about Hermione? " Ron exclaimed, quite embarrassed, even though he knew there was no possible way Harry could know what was on his mind. "Good morning to you too!" Harry mumbled as he sat up in bed and placed his glasses on the bridge of his nose. Ron was glad that Harry hadn't been able to see his face burning earlier and forced himself to calm down. " I'm sorry Harry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I didn't know you were awake, and you surprised me, that's all." Harry sighed and climbed out of bed. "That's all right. The Dursleys snap at me all the time. I'm used to being insulted" Harry and Ron both laughed at this, but Ron could tell that the Dursleys insults did bother Harry, even if he was too tough to admit it.
Ron climbed out of bed and proceeded to pull on his school robes and a rather shabby black pointed hat, thoughts of Hermione and his embarrassing dream long forgotten. "So, how 'bout some breakfast?" Ron asked. "I'm famished and they're serving Madam Tierce's special oatmeal today." " Ron, you eat too much!' Harry teased. But followed him down the stairs to the common room anyway. Ron ignored Harry's comment and approached the portrait hole at the front of the large room, tripping over Crookshanks ("ruddy cat"), Hermione's beloved ginger tabby, along the way. Ron was about to push the portrait of The Fat Lady aside, when Harry asked whether they should wait for Hermione or not. "Uh..." The dream instantly found its way into Ron's mind...The dance floor...the kiss..."I don't think Hermione.." "What about me?" A somewhat attractive girl with bushy brown hair, Hermione, interrupted Ron. "Oh hi Hermione! We were just talking about you!" Harry said. " I noticed." Answered Hermione, looking slightly hurt. " Oh! Nothing like that! Ron exclaimed. We where trying to decide if we should wait for you this early in the morning. We could have waited ages before you woke up" "Oh, well that's much better" she answered with a joking tone and a sparkling white smile showing two rows of perfect teeth. 'She smiled at me!' Ron thought excitedly to himself. 'Of course she did. She's smiled at you loads of times.' he told himself. ' What's so different about it this time?' Ron sighed and followed his friends through the portrait hole.
The great hall being a little ways away from Gryffindor house, Ron had a little time to think about Hermione. Butterflies were fluttering about madly in his stomach. Ron thought back to the very first time he had realized he wanted to be more than just friends with Hermione: They were at the Yule Ball and Hermione looked beyond gorgeous. It had hurt him deeply to find that she had really cared about her date, Viktor Krum, seeker for the national Bulgarian Quidditch team. (He was more than happy to find that Hermione had declined Krum's invitation to go abroad with him the following summer.) He had never felt this way about anyone before. Though it was a slightly unpleasant feeling, he liked it. The hardest part was figuring out what to say and do without sounding and looking stupid. You see, Ron hadn't had much experience with girls, and didn't completely understand the whole "just be yourself " thing. He was planning how to show Hermione how much he cared, when he was abruptly pulled back to the real world by Hermione's screaming.