Chapter Two: Just A Dream

Ron jumped up out of his bed, breathing deeply, scared to death. 'What the hell was that?' That wasn't a dream he had had in the past, and it felt so real, like it was happening as he slept. He wiped the sweat off his forehead. 'It couldn't be! I'm not the one who gets dreams of You- Know-Who...unless it was like...a premonition.' These thoughts ran through his head as he scanned his dorm. He heard Neville snoring two beds away, as well as the movement of sheets, which could only be Seamus, but Harry wasn't in his bed!! This startled Ron and all the thoughts of his dream began to fade as he got up to look for Harry. Just as he stood, the door burst open.

"Harry!!! Where were you??"

"Ron? What are you doing up? Get back to bed!!" he whispered.

"Where the hell do you get off talking to me like that?" Ron yelled.

Harry motioned to silence him as Neville gave a large snort. The movement of sheets that Ron heard coming from Seamus's bed had stopped which could only mean that he either fell asleep or was listening in on their conversation. Ron nodded.

Harry whispered to him, "I'll tell you in the morning." He didn't seem that angry that Ron had yelled.

"Fine!!" Not as annoyed as Ron thought he should have been, he couldn't help but feel so tired. 'How is that possible? I'm never been this tired when I wake up in the middle of the night. I feel like I haven't slept in days!' All his thoughts began to fade away as his head became heavy and he fell back to sleep, completely forgetting about the dream that had woken him up in the first place.

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Ron woke up the next morning, feeling a bit more rested than the night before. He looked around his dorm, and noticed that yet again, Harry was not there. But, this time, no one else was there either. Ron looked over his shoulder at the clock by his bed to see that it was... noon! He jumped out of bed and attempted to run down to the common room before realizing he was still in his pajamas. He changed and decided to go find Harry to give him a piece of his mind!!

'Noon?? How did I oversleep? Shit, now, I've got less time to prepare for Quidditch practice.'

As soon as he landed at the bottom step, he was greeted by Hermione. She sprang up before he even saw her.

"You're certainly up late!!!" Hermione said, playfully.

"Where's Harry? I'm really upset with him right now and if I don't get to punch something within the next ten minutes, I'm going to....." he was just rambling on and on, not paying attention to what he was saying, until Hermione interrupted him.

"I don't know where he went, but he got in a lot of trouble. Lost Gryffindor 50 points!!"

"What the hell did he do to lose Gryffindor 50 points?"

"I...really think he should tell you that, it wouldn't be the same coming from me..."

"Is that where he was last night?"

But, before Hermione could answer, Harry came walking through the Portrait Hole, looking incredibly overjoyed for someone who was apparently in such major trouble.

"Harry!!! What happened exactly??" Ron yelled.

"Calm down, Ron! What are you so worried about?"

"Where were you last night? What did you do to get in such trouble? Why the HELL didn't you wake me up if we were going to take a midnight stroll through the castle?? And what the HELL are you so happy about?" Ron yelled trying to let off some steam. He had expected someone to interrupt him, but no one did. They seemed to be enjoying watching him yell at Harry. And, when Ron thought of it, he couldn't figure out why he was so mad at him.

"Are you done?" asked Harry, rather rudely.

Ron couldn't help but laugh. All throughout 5th year, if you wanted to be depressed, you could just hang around Harry and you would surely begin to feel some of his pain. It was the same thing a couple months ago. But, now, Harry was like a totally different person. He seemed to be transformed. Ron could see it in his eyes. He felt this odd surge of bravery every time he looked into them. It was like they sent a message to him about courage and hope.

Something was definitely going on with Harry that was being kept a secret.

"Are you going to tell me where you were last night?' Ron asked, much more calmly.

"No!! Not right now!! But, I have Detention all month! Would you believe that? She's excusing me from Christmas Day, but all through the rest of the Break, I've got to go to Snape's room and do whatever task he gives me!"

"What the hell did you do?"

"That doesn't matter!!!! It's Snape!!! When has he ever given me a fair punishment for something I've done?"

"Why are you trying so hard to get around telling me?"

"I just don't want you to know the details, that's all!"

"Why exactly not?"

Harry just looked at him. Their conversation was pointless. Harry wasn't going to tell him and Ron wasn't going to give up. It wasn't going to go on forever, until somebody stopped it.

"Well, then, what can you tell me?" Ron asked becoming more and more annoyed as the words came out of Harry's mouth.

"I was with a girl," Harry shrugged.

Ron felt completely offended. "Then why the HELL wouldn't I be the first to know?? You should ALWAYS tell me those things!!! Why the HELL WOULD YOU...."

"Ron, my goodness, calm down," Hermione soothed.

"Like I said, I don't want to tell you the details."

But, Ron had a pretty good idea. He couldn't have been doing anything that wasn't...extreme, in order to land losing Gryffindor 50 points, as well as getting detention DURING Christmas vacation. But, what Ron didn't get, was why he would hide something like that from him. Harry was his best mate and he didn't care if he had a girl or not!!

No one spoke for a couple minutes, and Harry, feeling uncomfortable, went up to his dorm. Ron was staring at Hermione in an expectant way.

"I would like to tell you Ron!!!! But, I can't! I gave my word."

"So??? I won't tell anyone I heard it from you!!"

"Look, I really think you have the right to know, but that's not for me to decide. All I know is, Harry wants to tell you to, but.....that girl.....doesn't want you to know."

"What girl? You mean I know her?

Hermione just stared at him, feeling she may have told him too much.

Ron wasn't about to give up!!! Unfortunately, he wasn't going to break those two and there was no sense in trying!! But there were other ways to find out without them telling him. If Harry had lost his house 50 points, then, the girl had probably lost her house 50 points as well. Not to mention, he was sure she would have the same detentions. He just had to do some investigating.

He had totally forgotten that he was still standing in front of Hermione. She was looking at him as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"What?? If you're not going to tell me, I'll be damned if I'll just let it go. I'm GOING to find out!!!!" Ron yelled.

Hermione's expression wasn't what he expected. He would have expected her to be annoyed and say something like, "Ron, just let it go, it's their secret." But, she looked extremely pleased.

"I know that, overall, Gryffindor lost 100 points," she shot a hand up to her lips to cover her mouth, but she couldn't hide the smile it formed, and looked away.

Ron couldn't help but love her, and smiled, "You rock, Hermione!!"

"Like I said, I think you have the right to know."

Harry wasn't the only one who had changed. Hermione had too, but Harry had a very visible change in him. He was suddenly much happier. Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to have changed rather slowly over the years. She had matured so much, but he didn't notice it until now. Something else about her had changed, too, but he couldn't put his finger on it. However, he wasn't disappointed at all in Harry getting detention during Christmas vacation. He, now, had an excuse for getting rid of him. Not only was he determined to discover Harry's secret, but he felt that Hermione may have one, too. There was no way he was going to rest until he found out!!

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Author's Note: Thank you so much to those who reviewed. So far there were only three, but I appreciate them, nonetheless. Thank you Gwen, Aus, and Line-from Denmark. I hope you like this new chapter, and please review!!!!! Once again, thank you Lily!!!!