The Things That Can Be Revealed

Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling has more imagination than I do. So, all hers.

Author's Note: Nothing to do with my earlier HP Fanfics. 6th year.

"Look out!" Hermione screamed, jumping out of the way. With a loud crash, chunks of rock fell to the floor. Ron quickly covered Hermione as the last of the rock came crashing down. A loud, resonating boom filled the tunnel.

When it was over, Ron stood up, dusting off his robes. He used Lumos to light the place. He went over to the pile of rock, as high as a wall. When he touched it, a few smaller ones fell from the stack. "Can't go back that way. Look's like we'll have to—".He turned around. He was about to say, "Go  to Hogsmeade," But it appeared that the other side was also completely blocked.

"Well, that was just brilliant, Ron!" Hermione shouted. "You just had to blast the spider off the ceiling!"

"Hey, I didn't know the whole damn place would cave in!"

"Ron, this place is ancient! You can't just go doing things like that!"

"What would you have liked me to do, let the spider just fall on my head?!"

By Hermione's look, Ron supposed she had wanted that. He immediately shut his mouth. Hermione went over and inspected the wall.

"Can you blast it away?" He asked.

"No," She replied, sadly. "It's too big. Not even the redactor curse could do it."

"Too big? Too big! Hermione, you're the best witch in our year!!!"

A bit of dust fell from the ceiling at that comment.

"Let me remind you, Ron, that it's not my fault that we're stuck here!!!"

"Oh, blame it on me, will you!!!"

"It's your fault!!!"

"If you keep yelling like this, we're going to run out of air!!!"

"Me? You're the one who's yelling!!!"

"Again, blaming it on me!!!"

"Will you shut up!!!" Hermione bellowed. "Circon", and a slight breeze filled the chamber. "There, are you happy?!!!"

"How come you can know a spell to replenish air, but not know one to get us out of here?!!!"

"I don't know everything, Ron!!! And if I recall, You're the one who wanted to come!!!"

"What?! All I wanted was to do a little Christmas shopping!!"

"But we just had to go during lunch!!!"

"Hey, you agreed to come along!!! I thought we could be done before lunch was over!!!"

"We're going to miss Potions!!!"

"You would rather be stuck in Snape's lair?!?!"

"It's better than being stuck in here, with you!!!" Hermione then sat up against a wall.

Ron sat against the opposite wall. "That hurts."

"I can't wait 'till we get out of here." She said.

"How long will that be?"

"Well, it might be soon if Harry finds the note."

"What note?"

She sat straighter. "The note? The one I asked you to write to Harry!!!"

"Ummm...."

"Great. We are definitely missing Potions."

"Well, what do you suggest we do to pass the time away?"

Hermione opened her bag. She tossed a book at him. "Make yourself useful."

It hit him hard in the chest. Since it was heavy, he supposed that Hermione must have built up muscles carrying the books. He looked at the book. It was called, Extremely Hard Transfigurations That You'll Probably Never Use. "Hermione, you can't be serious!"

Hermione looked from out behind Hogwarts, a History. "It's a book. And it's very interesting."

"Maybe to you, but not to me."

"You can read, can't you?"

"Of course I can!"

"I mean, can you read anything besides those comic books of yours?"

"Yes!"

"Well then, you have to admit, its better than looking at the wall, staring at the spiders..."

Ron flinched. "I'll read the book."

"Smart boy."

Ron settled down with the book, but he could not stem the thoughts of This is stupid going through his head. After reading for a while, he put down the book. "I just can't do it! Why would anyone want to learn how to turn something into a ...wa-atch?"

Hermione shot a frown at him. She pulled out her wand. "Montre!" Then a rock inches from Ron turned into a watch. Ron made a small jump. She walked over and picked up the watch. "And we missed Charms!" She cried.

"What is wrong with you today?" Ron asked. "Is it that time of the month or something?"

"Of course not. If it was, you would be in two pieces now." Ron decided never to ask that question again.

She gave it to Ron. "Anyway, it's 'watch', Ron."

"This is how you muggles tell time?" He said, turning it over. "Weird!"

"Yes, it's quite accurate too; it always tells you what you want to know..." Her eyes lay on Ron for a second, and then she looked back at the watch.

"You keep it; you can give it to your dad for a Christmas present."

"Really? Thanks Hermione!"

She shrugged. "I have plenty at home." Like she was suddenly realizing something, she went back and sat against the wall. She drew her cloak up around her. She again thought of the way the day was turning out. "I've missed Potions and Charms...I missed two classes...I'm never going to be valedictorian..."

"Is that why you are so uptight about schoolwork?" Ron asked. "You're trying to be valedictorian?"

"It's always been a dream." She replied. "At least I do something better than goofing off all day at school."

"It's school, what do you expect me to do, learn?"

"Yes."

"Well, you have to loosen up, Hermione. Seriously, you need to settle down and have some fun."

"How can you have fun when there's so much work to do?"

"It's easy. Harry and I do it all the time."

"Besides that moronic sport, I mean."

Ron gave a mock gasp. "How dare you insult the great and almighty sport of Quidditch!"

"But that's it, why would anyone want to fly on a broomstick fifty feet in the air, chasing after balls?"

Ron sighed. "Someday, when you least expect it, Harry and I are going to get you on a broomstick."

"No way." She said.

"C'mon, it's not that hard. Even if you can't learn it by studying books."

"No, its just...I'm afraid of heights."

Ron stared. "You're afraid of heights?"

"I fell down the stairs when I was three, okay!" She said. "I can't get too high after that."

"What about the astronomy tower, and the time we were in the top box?"

"That's when, I was really afraid up there, but I tried to hide it. That's why when you and Harry nearly jumped off, I grabbed you. You...you must think I'm terribly silly."

Ron shrugged. "No more silly than afraid of spiders." Hermione laughed, and Ron gave a small smile. Then it faded. "I'm hungry."

"Do you see any pile of food in here?" Hermione asked. "And there's no spell I can do that can make food."

"What about in here?" He asked, holding up the transfiguration book.

She shook her head. "Nope. I've never read any magical cookbooks."

"Great." Ron said, holding his stomach. "I've never been so hungry in my life."

"Well, don't blame me. I didn't think to bring food. I didn't know that we'd be stuck here."

"Yeah." He replied. "What should I do, eat rocks?"

"If you excuse me for saying so, how can you eat so much?" Hermione asked.

"Good metabolism. Doesn't go out, I just go up." It was true. He was nearly 6 feet tall now. She remembered when she had seen him again on the train, since she couldn't see him all summer due to the recent Voldemort attacks.

"Well, one day you're going to go out, so you better get used to it."

"You're just jealous."

"Of what? Why would I want to be an Amazon? I just can't understand how you got so tall. Remember in first year, you were under the 5 foot mark!"

Ron remembered what she had looked like in first year too. A short, bossy girl with the bushiest hair he had ever seen. Now she was also taller, and her hair was tamer. But he couldn't help but notice that her chest had done a lot of growing since then. Especially since last year.

"I just hope that they can find us here soon." He said. "Then we can go back and—"

"Eat, I know." Hermione interrupted. She had picked up Hogwarts, A History again.

"Actually, I was going to say, go back and get our make up work."

"Hermione lowered her book. "You think they'll just hand us the work and that's that? We'll get detention, I'm sure of it. By now, we're probably in for a week. And I'll be surprised if they don't deduct house points."

"Why would they? We didn't plan to be stuck here!"

"Ron, we snuck away to Hogsmeade during lunch so we could, 'avoid the crowd.' And we used an underground passage. Now that I think of it, we're probably in detention for a month, and we'll probably be deducted at least a hundred house points."

"You're too pessimistic. You just gave the worst case scenario."

"Actually, that was the best case scenario. At worst, we'll be expelled."

"D'you really think Dumbledore would do that?" Ron asked, now clearly worried.

"He might. He can't just pick favorites you know."

"Maybe we should just stay in here." Ron replied.

"By the looks of it, we're going to. Who knows how long it will take Harry to check for us on his map, and even then, we might not show up on it."

"Uh oh." Ron said.

"Uh-huh. Now you're getting it."

"No, I mean...I have to go to the bathroom."

Hermione got annoyed. "Go over there." She pointed to a wall. She buried herself in her book, but she still could clearly hear the sounds of his zipper. She tried blocking it out, but she could not. Then a thought came, What am I going to do when I have to go?

Ron gave a small "Ahhh..."

"Men." Hermione grumbled, as she busied herself with her book.

A little while later, Hermione shivered. She realized that being underground in the middle of winter was not the best idea if you did not like to get cold.

"Make a fire." Ron said, his breath coming out in a mist.

"Ffine." She said. "Fflammarrree Inncanntarrtemm." She recited, under chattering lips.

"You're too cold." Ron explained. "If you're too cold, or hot, magic doesn't always work."

"Howw wwould yyou knnow tthatt?" She asked.

"It's an easy concept to grasp. It's those paper thin clothes you girls insist on wearing instead of a wool sweater." He then showed her his last year's Weasley sweater.

"Why don't you do it?" She asked.

"Can't." He showed her his wand, which was still lit with Lumos. "And one rule mum always taught me was never attempt magic in the dark; you can never know what you will hit." He pulled off his sweater. "Here, you take it."

Hermione blushed. "No Ron, really...it's yours. Keep it." She yawned. "I think I'm just tired."

Ron looked at the watch. "It's late, but no more late than we usually stay up."

"I'll just sleep." She said. She curled up against the wall, but her teeth were still chattering.

"Come here." Ron said.

"What?" She came over.

He pulled her down beside her.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Body heat." He replied. She stared back. "Look, I'm just making sure you and I don't freeze. It's a survival technique."

Technique my ass!  I am not going to act like a slut!"Ron, but..."

"Look, Hermione. I don't know how long we're going to be here, but it's better we're warm then you getting frostbite!"

Hermione didn't even ask how he knew about frostbite. She said, "Alright." She lay on the cold floor, beside him, with their backs turned against each other. She ignored her pounding heart, as she drifted off to a wonderful sleep.

Ron awoke, but he kept his eyes closed. He saw a faint light shimmer through his eyelids. What a weird dream, He thought. He suddenly realized he was not in his bed.

His eyes snapped open, to reveal the same rock chamber he had been in. His wand still shone with Lumos, and he thanked Hermione for showing him the spell to keep it longer. Wait...Hermione?

He moved his eyes. Hermione was leaning against him, lost in sleep. Her arm was on his chest. And he noticed that his arm was around her waist. He pulled his arm away quickly, praying she would never know. He also got up, hoping that she wouldn't notice.

When he went down to pick up the watch, Hermione woke up. "Ron?" She yawned. "What time is it?"

"Breakfast." He replied.

"I'm hungry now too." She said. She then slapped her head. "Oh, I am a git!" She ran to her bag. "I hope it's still here!"

"What's going on?" He asked.

She threw things out her bag so fast that Ron had to dodge two quills, a couple more books, some parchment, and an ink bottle, which he cought.

Hermione pulled out a box.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Your Christmas present. It arrived at breakfast yesterday, and I put it in my bag, forgetting about it."

"What is it?" He asked.

She pulled off the brown paper. "A deluxe box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans."

"Wow, Hermione!" He exclaimed, grabbing the box. "I am going to get you an even better present than last year!"

She raised her eyebrows. "Better than perfume?"

His ears went red. "Better than...that perfume, I guess."

"Whatever. Let's have breakfast."

They sat down, next to each other, and Ron opened the box.

"I'm always afraid of these." Hermione said.

"I think it's brilliant. You never know what you're going to get." He put a bean in is mouth. "See? Sugarplum."

Hermione put a bean in her mouth. She smiled. "Raspberry jelly."

Ron had another. He started coughing. Hermione laughed when he said, "Cayenne pepper."

They spent a while sampling beans. It was enjoyable when they got some of the sweetest, (Strawberry, ice cream, maple sugar.) and they would laugh whenever the other would get something nasty. (Brussels sprouts, spinach, vinegar) Hermione even laughed when she got sardine. They ate half the box right there.

"We really should save these." Hermione said. "We don't know how long we're going to be here."

"One more?" Ron asked.

"Okay, one more."

He reached into the box and pulled out a heart shaped candy. "What's this?" He asked.

"It's a muggle Valentines Day candy." She replied. "I-it must have gotten mixed up with the other candy or something." She said, trying not to notice that it was in the shape of a heart. She hoped that Ron would not notice that it said, "Love you" on it.

"This is weird!" Ron held it up like a scientist studying an unknown.

"Aren't you going to eat it?" Hermione asked.

"No," He said. "I'm keeping this. This is interesting."

"Oh, okay." I hope he doesn't think that I put it in there. The box was sealed! Oh, I forgot. There are ways of resealing things with magic. I bet he does think I put it in there!

"I can't believe that we've been in here so long." Ron changed the subject.

She nodded, and she got up to go look at the wall of rock. "You'd think they would have gotten us out by now."

Ron nodded. He stretched his aching legs. "I'd wish they would hurry up. Today's the—"

He stopped when he saw Hermione eye him suspiciously. "It's the Christmas Dance, isn't it?" Hermione replied. Ron nodded. This year, to ease the minds of the children after the recent coming out of Voldemort, there were a few dances to be scheduled.

"Oh well." Ron said, "It's not like I had a date."

"Me neither. It doesn't look like we'll make it though."

"Right." He said. Just tell her, you twit! It's the perfect time; you'll probably die in here anyway. His other part of his brain said, But could you abide her crying and trying to avoid you until you die?

Hermione settled back into her place on the wall. She thought of what would be happening if she wasn't stuck here with Ron. I could be in the common room right now, deciding what to wear. Or playing exploding snap with Harry and...Ron. But instead, you're just here, waiting for the roof to collapse. You don't know when that will be. Just tell him! She thought a second, and decided against it. No, he's my friend, nothing more.

"Too bad we'll miss it."

"Too bad."

"Yeah, it would have been nice." Seeing Hermione look as good as she did two years ago. He had a small smile on his face.

Hermione saw it, and she knew what it meant. I might as well ask. "There's a girl, isn't there?" She asked.

"What?"

"You heard me. You like someone, don't you?"

She thinks I like someone else? How much more can this go wrong ."Well, yeah..."

Hermione laughed. "Oh, Ron I knew it! You're always daydreaming in class. It's of her isn't it?" He likes someone else. My fantasies will never come true.

"Maybe..." His ears glowed a bright red.

"Who is she?"

Great. She hit the spot. Should I tell her? No. "Well, she's smart and pretty, and funny. Oh, and great to hang around with."

Who is it? Lavender, Padma, Cho, Fleur? I never knew I had so much competition.

"What about you? Are you still dating Krum? But I doubt he could break his Quidditch schedule for this."

Hermione didn't even realize she was blushing. "Krum and I were never dating!"

"Then who is it this time?"

I can't tell him. I want to, but he likes someone else. "He's cute, funny, and I've liked him for a while."

"Is it Neville?!" Ron demanded.

Neville! He could never be farther than the mark! Besides, Neville's dating Ginny. "No, for your information, He's a Quidditch star!"

A Quidditch star. Who do I know that's a Quidditch star. Fred, George, no. The new beaters? No. Charlie, no. Oh god. Oh my god!

"You like Harry, don't you?"

Harry? Why the hell would I like Harry? How could he think such a thing! "No, I don't!"

She's lying. She's blushing. "You do. All your descriptions are right, and your blushing."

Hermione grabbed her cheeks. Curse you, cheeks! "I don't! How dare you say I like him! He's dating Luna!"

"Hermione, it's kind of obvious. I mean, when Harry and I were fighting..." Why doesn't she just admit it and get it over with?

How dare he say I like Harry! "I was only with him because you were acting like a git!"

He jumped up. "Git, was I? Why don't you just admit the truth!"

Hermione also got to her feet. "Truth? I'll admit the truth! You were acting like a selfish spoiled brat!" I can't believe I said that to him!

"Hermione, why don't you just—"

Suddenly, the roof started to shake. "It's collapsing!" Hermione yelled.

Ron grabbed on to her, and he pulled her out of the way as a stone fell. He pulled her against the wall. "Hermione, no matter what happens, remember this..." I can't believe you're actually telling her! "Before we die...I want you to know...that girl...that is you." Ron, you are such a stupid prat.

The shaking stopped. Hermione looked at him, her eyes wide. Did he really say it? Ron bit his lip, silently cursing for what he had done. He stood up, but Hermione came up too. "Ron..."

"It doesn't matter okay? It was...I was just afraid we were going to die."

"Ron...I..."

He turned around. "What?" She's going to say that she doesn't like you, you know.

"You're...that boy."

What? Am I dreaming?Did she say...?

Is this real? Could he possibly...?

Just snog her, you idiot!

"Hermione...Mione..."

"Oh, Ron!" She said. He put his hands around her waist, and he kissed her on her lips. Hermione let her hands go around his neck, and she held on, or she would have fallen over. Hermione's heart pounded so loud she swore Ron could hear it. Her thoughts went blank as she let Ron, her dream, kiss her.

They pulled apart as they heard the rumble start again. They ran and flattened themselves against the wall, waiting for the tunnel to cave in and for them to be crushed, but no thing came, instead they heard a chuckle. "Took you two long enough."

They turned around. There was Harry, Fred and George, all having giant grins on their faces. The rocks were all gone, and the tunnel was as it was before.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked.

"We set you up, mate." Fred said. "Though I have to say, no one could guess it would take you two days to figure each other out."

Ron looked like he was about to curse them all. "You did this? The cave, everything?"

"The candy heart?" Harry said.

"And we watched you, too. It was quite a show." George replied.

"How did you do that?" Ron asked.

Fred pulled out a small thing that looked like a pebble. "Or newest invention. You put the watcher in one room, and you view with the special glasses." Harry held up the glasses.

"They'll be in every pranksters hands by the end of this year. Useful for when you can't see how well your prank was." George explained.

"Of coarse, we thought we were going to lose back there, so we started the quake." Harry said.

"Let me guess." Hermione said, "More of your merchandise?"

"Bingo. Weasley's earth shockers." Fred grinned.

"Well leave you here to finish up that lovely scene." Harry said, while Fred and George walked out.

Ron said, "I could just—!"

Harry looked over at Hermione.

"Kiss you all!"

"Well be out in a minute."

Harry left, giving Ron a wink.

"Hermione, there's something I have to ask you." Ron said.

"What?" She asked.

"Go to the dance with me?"

She smiled, and kissed him again. "I need to get ready!" She then ran out back to the Common Room.

The Christmas Dance was a lovely gathering. Tinsel glistened everywhere. Trees were icy with fake frost. And the weird sisters played a slow tune. The students were best dressed in their dress robes, and cheer hung in the air. They danced under the moonlight of the great hall roof.

But this year, one couple was on everyone's eyes. It wasn't Harry and Luna, Ginny or Neville, or even Draco and Pansy. The couple that kissed under the moonlight was Ron, Quidditch Keeper Ron, and his Hermione.

Author's Note: That was long. But I wanted to do it in one chapter. Please Review!!!! Please!!! Plllleeeaaasseee?!?!