Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns everything Harry Potter. Please don't sue me.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/story alerted! As this is my first published story I really had no idea what to expect but so far it has all been positive so I am beyond happy. I'm sorry if my replies were just incomprehensible gushing but that was all I was capable of at the time. If my head swells up and I become an egotistical mess then you will have been the cause. Again, thank you.

And so we reach Prisoner of Azkaban. Apologies for the terrible pun included in the chapter title; I couldn't help myself. I promise this will be the last one. Until chapter 4 anyway. After that there will be no more dodgy puns, which is a crying shame really.

The Start of Something Sirius

(Hogsmeade: Hermione Stumbles / Gryffindor Courage Versus A Crying Girl / The Beginning: Hermione Falls)

Hermione stepped out into the wind and wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck. Even though she had gotten used to the cold air before, now she had stepped out of the Hogsmeade Post Office it was back in full force.

"Did you see those tiny owls?" Ron yelled over the sound of the wind. "They're a nuisance!"

"They're just excitable, Ron," she replied as they started heading further up the street, through the many Hogwarts students, Hogsmeade residents and a large black dog that had a newspaper in its mouth.

"They're like the owl version of that Creevey kid," Ron scoffed. "I don't know how Harry puts up with him."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron had always wanted an owl of his own. Pure jealousy was the reason he was currently ranting up a storm. Hermione was tempted to get him to admit this but she knew how not being able to afford the things that Harry had bothered him. She could never see why; she was never concerned with how much money people had or didn't have. Just look at Malfoy! He was horrid while Ron, whose family wasn't as well off, was lovely.

"Why is that dog following us?" Ron asked with his nose wrinkled in disgust. "It smells like a sweaty hippogriff."

Well, most of the time he was lovely.

Hermione turned just in time to see the massive dog bound away from them and around the corner. She stared after it for a while when Ron started speaking again.

"So, where do you want to go next?" he asked with a shrug.

"Oh, can we go to Scrivenshafts?" Hermione said brightly. "I heard they have this parchment that-"

"Are you being serious?" Ron laughed. "Scrivenshafts? Your first trip to Hogsmeade and you want to look at quills? Can you not stop working for five minutes?"

Hermione frowned at him. Just because she was out of the castle didn't mean she was going to start running around throwing dungbombs. "They don't just sell quills. They sell-"

"Alright, alright," Ron half-shouted. "Scrivenshafts is incredibly interesting and I'm sure we will have a splendid time there, I get it. But George said it was at the other end of the high street so is there anywhere else you want to go first?"

Hermione thought only for a split second before she thought of the other place she was desperate to visit. "The Shrieking Shack!"

Ron groaned. "It's just a shack, Hermione! Can't we go to Zonko's?"

She knew this would happen. Ron would of course want to stuff his pockets with jokes and sweets while she would want to do something worthwhile like visit all the places of historical interest. It was times like this she wondered how she and Ron had been friends for nearly two years without falling out for more than an hour or so. The whole thing reminded her of a conversation she had with the girl she sat next to in Arithmancy, Lisa Turpin, in the second week of term.

Hermione had been the only third year Gryffindor to pick Arithmancy so when she had attended her first class she had no idea where to sit. The two Slytherins had sat together and the few Hufflepuffs that she was friendly with had also bunched together. The majority of Ravenclaw were there and one of them, who turned out to be Lisa, was sat on her own so Hermione pushed away the familiar 'first day of school' nerves and sat next to her.

Lisa had turned out to be far nicer than Hermione could've hoped for and at no point did she start nervously start reeling out facts like she did when she normally first met people. At first she seemed shy and couldn't believe that Hermione could talk about 'The Harry Potter' so casually. By the end of the second week Lisa felt comfortable enough in Hermione's presence to tell her that everyone in her house had been asking her what 'Potter's Girlfriend' was really like. Hermione had laughed when Lisa had said that they didn't believe her when she had explained that Hermione and Harry weren't together.

"Is that really what the rest of the school thinks of me?" Hermione had asked at a whisper, while flicking through her text book.

"Most of them," Lisa had shrugged.

Hermione had never really considered how the rest of the school thought of her. She just assumed that they saw what was actually there – three close friends.

"Who do they think Ron is? Our chaperone?" she chuckled.

"Actually they think he is Harry's friend who puts up with you," Lisa stated without looking up from her work.

"Wait," said Hermione stunned. "They think Ron and I aren't friends? We just spend time together because we're both friends with Harry?"

Lisa considered this summary for a moment, sucking on the end of her quill. "Yep, sounds about right. I think it's because in Ravenclaw we've all heard about your academic record and as for – Ron, did you say his name was? – Well, aren't those twins a couple of years above us his brothers?"

"The Head Boy is his brother as well," huffed Hermione defensively.

"Really," said Lisa, wide eyed. "Well, it's always seemed like you and Ron don't really have that much in common."

As she and Ron fought against the wind, Hermione thought about Lisa's words. Yes, her and Ron were very different people but they could still hold a conversation when it was just the two of them, couldn't they? When Harry had Quidditch practise they spent time alone but there was usually piles of homework to keep them from being bored. Since that conversation with Lisa, Hermione had been worried about today. Surely she and Ron could spend a few hours and not get bored or start to hate each other.

Hermione had been wrong to doubt her friendship with Ron. As soon as they had gotten to Zonko's he had bounced around from shelf to shelf with a look of pure joy like a five year old that had had way too much sugar. Hermione got caught up in his enthusiasm and found his wide smile was highly infectious. While she didn't buy anything and disapproved of everything Ron had, she still had to admit that that spending time alone with Ron had been the most fun she had had in ages. There was no Time Turner, no homework and, though she felt guilty for thinking it, none of Harry's Sirius Black troubles.

Laughing, she finally managed to drag Ron out of Zonko's.

"C'mon! I didn't even look at that section! Can't we go back in?" Ron pleaded, fighting playfully against Hermione's grip.

"No!" she chided. "We've still got lots of places to go and you'll just spend the rest of your money and I know you want to raid Honeydukes by the end of the day."

"I've got plenty of money left," Ron grumbled, his ears turning red and looking at his shoes.

Hermione's stomach dropped. To try and make up for her inadvertent error she rubbed his arm and said "I know. You're just likely to spend it all in one place."

Ron grinned at her guiltily from under his ginger fringe. Hermione suddenly became aware that her hand was still resting on his elbow and she hastily pulled it away hoping he didn't notice. "So can we go to Honeydukes now?" he asked hopefully.

Hermione turned around and started heading up the street again and rolled her eyes.

"I heard that!" he shouted as he jogged to catch up with her. "So where are we going?"

"Well, it's my turn to pick so it's the Shrieking Shack."

Ignoring Ron's groan, Hermione carried on leading them to the shack, telling him all sorts of interesting facts about it in the hope he might be able to see how it wasn't boring after all. When they eventually got there, the two of them stood looking at the decrepit dwelling. Hermione continued teaching Ron the history of the place while they studied the cracked windows and untamed front lawn.

"You don't actually find this fun, do you?" Ron inquired after a few minutes, looking as though he was scared of her reply.

Hermione bit her lip. While learning about it had been fascinating she had to admit that staring at the empty house wasn't living up to her expectations. Telling Ron this was not an option.

"Well, maybe not fun exactly, but it's still- I mean to say that I find it-" she stammered.

"You're bored!" exclaimed Ron, with a sly grin inching its way across his face.

"No, I'm not," protested Hermione. "It's just-"

"Oh, come on," chortled Ron. "You've been reciting your History of Magic textbook just to keep yourself from falling asleep! Admit it."

"Fine!" snapped Hermione, crossing her arms. "I'm bored. Happy?"

Ron's answer was written all over his beaming face. "So I was right about Zonko's being more fun than this grotty old place?"

"Yes, Ron," Hermione sighed, scowling at him. "You were right!"

Ron threw his hands up in the air and starting cheering. "FINALLY! Brilliant Mind – one billion, ninety thousand, seven hundred and ninety three. Ron Weasley – one!"

Hermione's huffy mood dissolved at the sight of Ron mock celebration.

"You're catching me up then?" she laughed as they started heading back towards the main street.

When they reached the main shops Hermione turned to head towards Honeydukes but Ron pulled her the other way.

"What? I thought you wanted to go to Honeydukes?" wondered Hermione as Ron continued to drag her away from the sweet shop.

"Yeah, but Scrivenshafts is up there and we can just go to Honeydukes on the way to the Three Broomsticks," Ron explained with a shrug.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "You-you want to go to Scrivenshafts?"

"I need some more ink and besides, I hear they have this parchment that lets you write on it!" he added in mock excitement, flailing his arms around dramatically.

"Prat," Hermione muttered, pushing him slightly.

As they braced themselves against the harsh wind that was turning their cheeks pinker, Hermione once again reflected on the rest of the schools assumption that she and Ron were only friends because of Harry. It wasn't until she caught Ron laughing at a bottle of novelty ink that exploded if anyone but the owner tried to use it and he agreed it was now one billion ninety thousand seven hundred and ninety four to Brilliant Mind, that she realised how stupid she had been to ever doubt herself. She and Ron were just as close as friends as they were with Harry. So what if they were different? Or that their pets hated each other? Or if he wanted to slack off while she wanted to actually do her homework on time? The muggle saying, in this case, was right, that opposites do attract.

Well, not attract, thought Hermione as they left to go to the Three Broomsticks, more spend time together and enjoy it. She wasn't attracted to Ron. That would be absurd…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ron looked out the window at the snow falling on the grounds and idly reached for the almost empty pack of chocolate frogs in front of him.

"You have just had breakfast," snapped Hermione over the top of the book she had been reading. "You can't seriously be considering eating sweets already!"

"I'm still hungry though!" he protested.

Hermione rolled her eyes, slammed her book shut and sat back in her chair with her arms folded. Despite still wanting a chocolate frog, Ron sat back as well and continued looking out of the window where he could see Hagrid making his way rather slowly back to his hut. Only Hermione could get so worked up over something so unimportant on the first day of the holidays.

He turned back to look around the deserted common room and saw that Hermione was staring at him with a strange expression her face.

"What?" he said defensively, "I'm still growing! I need-"

"Ron, I don't care about your stomach." She paused and unfolded her arms, her expression changing. She suddenly looked very nervous. "I- I'm worried about Harry."

Ron glanced at the door leading to the boy's dormitories where he knew Harry was currently sleeping despite it being nearly midday. He knew this was something to do with the conversation the three of them had overheard yesterday in the Three Broomsticks. Finding out your parents had died because of their best friend's betrayal wasn't exactly pleasant but Ron knew Harry was made of stronger stuff than most. He was sure he was going to be fine.

"After we got back yesterday he was clearly upset," Hermione continued. "I- I'm scared he might, well, try and do something."

"Like?"

She tutted at his response. Ron couldn't see what Harry could do about it.

"Put yourself in his position." Hermione sounded as though she might start crying which Ron found a bit disconcerting. "The man responsible for your parents' deaths is free-"

"But-"

"- and he is trying to hunt you down," Hermione pressed, "while everyone you know is patronising you and telling you to stay safe-"

"No one is patronising him!" Ron protested.

Hermione shook her head. "You know how independent Harry is! He is going to see it that way!"

Without further ado Hermione dissolved into a fit of tears and buried her head in her hands.

"He's g-going to t-try and do something stupid," came her muffled voice. "I-I j-just know it!"

Ron gulped. Crying girls made him uncomfortable. What were you supposed to do with them? Running away, while tempting, was probably frowned upon. Should he say something nice? He scrapped this idea when he tried to think of something to say and came across only a strange buzzing sound.

Ron had never been so grateful that Ginny wasn't a crier (well, except for the beginning of this summer, Ron reasoned) or he'd have to deal with these water works all the time. He was sure he had seen Hermione crying before… What usually stopped Hermione crying? With a jolt Ron remembered the only previous time he had seen Hermione in this state was two years ago on Halloween when his unkind words had been the cause. There weren't any stray trolls wandering around the castle to save him this time.

He watched with increasing panic as Hermione's shoulders continued to shake. Getting desperate, Ron reached over and grabbed the bag of chocolate frogs and was shocked to see he had eaten all but one of them. Ron took the wrapped chocolate out of the bag and considered his options. He could either keep the chocolate and find another way of calming Hermione or he could offer her the chocolate and hope she stopped crying. He hesitated before eventually holding the Frog out to her.

"Her-Hermione?" he said, thinking that at least Lupin would be proud of his actions.

Sniffing, she looked up at him and he gave her a small smile.

"But it's- it's your last one?" she mumbled, glancing at the now empty bag. Her red-rimmed eyes were wide with shock.

Ron shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Why was she making this so hard for him? Resolving that it would be cruel to retract his offer now, he shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

Hermione tentatively reached out and took the Chocolate Frog and murmured her thanks. While tears were still slowly running down her red cheeks she was at least able to speak properly now. It was a definite improvement.

"We're his friends," she whispered, looking at the Chocolate Frog she was twirling in her small hands. "We've got to look after him. I'd never forgive myself if-if he-" Hermione broke down in tears again and was unable to finish her sentence.

"Eat the frog, Hermione," Ron pleaded.

"Chocolate doesn't solve everything, Ron!" she spat. Her hair was all over the place making her look truly terrifying.

"Maybe you're just upset because there's a dementor nearby?" he suggested weakly. The death glare she gave him was enough to make him cower in his chair. Somehow he'd made the whole situation worse by introducing Angry Hermione into the mix. If Bossy Hermione made an appearance Ron was definitely going to throw himself out of the window.

"He is your best friend," she growled at him. "It's like you don't even care!"

"Look," said Ron in a voice that he hoped was placating and not scared. "Why don't we just talk to Harry? Tell him he'd be stupid to go after Black and then just keep an eye on him. I'm sure he'll listen if it's both of us."

"You mean gang up on him and force him to see sense?" asked Hermione, her expression unreadable.

"Um, yeah."

Ron waited with baited breath while Hermione chewed this over.

After a few minutes she sighed and started unwrapping the Chocolate Frog. "That's actually not a bad idea."

Hermione bit the head off her Frog and stared off into space, undoubtedly working out the best tactics of cornering Harry into not getting himself killed and Ron let out a sigh of relief. It had been a close call but the danger had been averted; Hermione was now nowhere near exploding or being overly emotional. Ron picked up the bag of Chocolate Frogs in the hope of having some chocolate to celebrate his victory with when he remembered he had given Hermione his last one. He had some peppermint toads left in his bag but it just wasn't the same.

Frowning slightly at Hermione munching on his last piece of chocolate, Ron found that he didn't really regret giving it to her that much. In fact it had been worth it to stop her crying.

"By the way, have you started on that Charms essay yet? I hope you're not planning on rushing through it the night before like last time."

Well, almost worth it anyway.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Harry, don't you have practice?"

Hermione watched as Harry checked his watch and the panic saturated his eyes.

"Oh no," he muttered hastily, gathering his things from the table and shoving them unceremoniously into his bag. "Wood'll kill me if I'm late."

"Well, he is currently on the verge of killing anyone so it wouldn't be personal," reasoned Ron, looking up from his book.

Harry swung his bag over his shoulder and snorted. "I think I'm on the verge of killing him. If he tells me about being sixty points in the lead one more time…"

As Harry left the library Hermione turned back to the book she was reading. It was a very difficult book about laws involving magical creatures. Some of the laws were barbaric and biased and Hermione was struggling to concentrate on Buckbeak's appeal when she was in half a mind to research whether or not the laws had been updated since the book was written but Hagrid needed her. Plus she had quite a bit of homework to do after this.

It wasn't just the complicated words or indignation that Hermione found distracting, however; for the past minutes since Harry left them, Ron had been staring at her for reasons she couldn't begin to think of. She chanced a glance at him to try and gage his expression. He looked concerned and a prickling sensation erupted on the back of her neck. Hermione rubbed the back of her neck to try and make it stop.

"What, Ron?" she snapped, when her neck still refused to act normally. He looked scared at her tone of voice. She didn't mean to be annoyed with him but her temper was always on edge at the moment.

"How're you doing it?"

"What?"

He waved his arms at the large pile of books in front of her.

"My homework? I find paying attention in lessons tends to help-"

"You know what I mean."

Hermione bit back her reply. Ron sounded angry. Overall she had found it fairly easy to hide the Time Turner from Harry and Ron. At the beginning of the year she decided that instead of making up a story that she might struggle to keep to, she would simply be vague and defiant and hope that the boys would be as inattentive as usual. Sometimes she was grateful for Black taking up so much of Harry's attention. Unfortunately, Ron seemed to be getting more and more interested in her unusual timetable. It was always him who noticed that she looked extra tired or suddenly disappeared. It was annoying but it was sort of nice that he was paying attention.

"Hard work doesn't hurt you, Ron," she said scathingly and started to read again. She heard Ron scoff.

"Well, at least let me handle Buckbeak's case so you can do your homework. You've got loads. Surely you can't afford to have a night off."

"I'm doing just fine with my homework, Ron," she replied through gritted teeth. "I can do my Arithmancy essay tomorrow."

In actual fact she knew that a future version of herself was currently sat on her bed with the hangings drawn, doing the essay. Nine months ago this sort of thing had been hard to grasp and gave her a headache to think about, now it was second nature. When she was desperate she would go to the library to do one essay and then, when she had finished that, pretend to go to bed, go back in time a few hours and do another essay while everyone thought she was sleeping. It was a great plan, as she was always careful not to be seen but it did mean she had to have a few sleepless nights. She was handling it fine though.

"Look, Hermione," Ron whispered, leaning forward. She met his gaze and saw tiny flecks of brown mixed in with the blue of his irises. How had she never spotted them before? "I know you're up to something. Your timetable makes no sense. You do more homework than is physically possible-"

The Time Turner seemed to twitch under her jumper.

"-and you never sleep! You're going mad, Hermione. Admit it."

There was too much truth in his words for her to deny them. He was going to try and make her give up but she wasn't going to. Giving up meant failing and Hermione Granger did not fail.

"I'm fine, especially after dropping Divination," she replied in a voice of controlled calm.

Ron sat back and started laughing. "Exactly! You would never walk out of a lesson normally!"

"Divination is hardly a lesson…" she muttered as she picked her book up again to start reading.

"And the whole Malfoy thing?"

She froze. She had lost control but who could blame her? Malfoy deserved it, even if Hermione was slightly ashamed of herself. Dreading the gloating expression she was sure to see, she slowly looked back at Ron. Instead Ron was smiling at her and she felt herself blush.

"I don't think I've ever been so proud of anyone in my life," he said. "But still, just tone down the crazy, yeah? I'm scared to be in the same room as you sometimes."

Hermione chuckled and felt some of the tension leave her body. She hadn't even noticed it was there. If there was one positive of having Ron as a friend it was his ability to lighten the mood and make you feel better without really trying.

"Talking of scaring you," Hermione frowned. "I know you haven't done that potions essay. Shouldn't you be doing that instead of the appeal?"

Ron shrugged. "This is more important," he said simply. "Hagrid's our friend and we can help him so we should."

Hermione was suddenly nearly overcome with the urge to hug him again like she had when they had made up. The memory made her feel uncomfortable. While she had been upset about Buckbeak, she was just so relieved that Ron had offered to help that she had lost control of her emotions. She had just missed him so much when they weren't talking. She had missed Harry as well, of course, but it was different with Ron somehow. For one Harry spoke to her a bit during their estrangement. For another Ron seemed to never want to speak to her again so it had shocked her when it was he who had volunteered to help. A nice shock, but a shock nonetheless.

"What? No reprimand for saying something is more important than homework?" Ron joked, eyebrows raised.

She gave him scathing look. "No, you're right. Friends are more important."

Ron flashed her a brilliant smile and clapped her on the back. "I knew me and Harry-"

"Harry and I."

"Harry and I were having a positive effect on you."

Hermione hit him gently with her book and went back to reading. After a few second she glanced back at Ron, who was reading again as well, still with that big smile on his face. He really does have a great smile, Hermione reflected.

Ron looked up at her and laughed. "Don't look so shocked. It was bound to happen eventually."

Hermione coughed and hid behind her book, not reading. She was shocked, but not because of what he said, but because of what he had done. In fact it was more to do with how she had reacted to it. When he had smiled at her she had felt as though she had missed a step going down the stairs. Her cheeks had heated up and her heart and thumped out of rhythm.

"I-I've left my-my other book in Gryffindor Tower," she stammered, standing up. "I'll j-just go and…"

She walked out of the library with the rest of her sentence unsaid and headed to her dormitory.

When did Ron smile start doing that? It was like when Lockhart had complimented her sonnet on 'Travels with Trolls' but that was because she, foolishly she now knew, fancied him. This was Ron. She didn't fancy Ron. It was illogical. It was impractical. It was…

The truth.

Hermione lied down on her four poster bed and stared at the scarlet canopy above her. She fancied Ron. Ron. This wasn't happening. There had to be some other explanation. Maybe Ron was right, maybe she had gone mad from stress?

Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

She was a fourteen year old girl. It was normal for her to fancy boys. Her hormones were in full force so this was bound to happen sooner or later. It was pure, unlucky coincidence that it was Ron. It was just a phase and it would pass. It was just a phase.

Hermione breathed out. Reason and logic had been restored to the evening. One day she would look back at her over reaction and laugh, possibly with Ron. Ron, who would tell her a similar story of his teenage hormones making him fancy her…

Hermione felt a smile crawl onto her lips and hope skip through her chest. Her eyes snapped open, horrified. It is just a phase, she thought, nothing more than a stupid, school girl crush. Ron Weasley is hardly the love of your life. It's just a phase.

Hermione continued her mantra until she eventually fell into a fitful sleep, all thoughts of Arithmancy essays and Time Turners forgotten.