I was in the same dorm as last year, but as I now was the only girl from Slytherin in our year, I had it all to myself. It made things a lot easier for my plan, as all I had to do was write the letters, there was no necessity to hide them from the others. I had already put my things away, this also being a lot easier as I had all the space I needed. Though, being the silver girl, there had never been one who had had the guts, or rather been stupid enough, to occupy space I may need. I may not have been the best witch in our year, that was one Hermione Granger, but, other than me, she was not lazy. My skills may not exactly have been enough to rival hers, but it was a close call.

So I sat down at the desk that stood in one corner of the dorm, and started to execute my plan. I put my quill in the ink pot, then back on the parchment, and started to write.

Dear Hermione,

I had contemplated a moment about the greeting, then decided to use a common one and her first name, given the fact there were few people who used her surname and she would easily find out I wrote the letter. I bit my quill trying to find a good way to continue. It took several minutes till I did.

I am writing to you to tell you you deserve better. Ron may be a nice guy

I inwardly shuddered. I would never say something like this otherwise, but if I said he was a prick she would not listen.

but he is not made for you. Do you really love him in a way you would want to wake up to him every morning? Live in a house just the two of you, only you and him? Can you be by his side without feeling bored one day and wishing you were somewhere else? Who is he to you? A lover, or a friend? If he is a friend, you have to end it. You do not date a friend for convenience, it destroys the friendship. You have to know whether you want to love him as more than a friend. Whether you even can love him as more than a friend. I am fairly certain you cannot, but that is up to you to decide. But remember what you lose if you make a wrong decision. I would like to know you better myself, but what I said above is born out of concern, not egoism.

Difficult to find a more shameless lie.

Please think about it.

A secret admirer

Corny, but I could not think of a better title. It was good in some way, too, as she certainly would not expect that from me. I grinned, and after a few flicks of my wand the parchment, now in form of a robin, made its way to Granger. Stage one completed. Now all I could do was wait for the results.

H/P

Hermione

I was just on my way to the library, the only place I had some privacy without anyone else looking over my shoulder (I loved my friends and roommates, but they became a little bit much to handle for me from time to time) when suddenly a little bird made of parchment landed on my left shoulder and looked at me expectantly. I was surprised. There were certainly not that many people in Hogwarts who were able to pull off such a spell. My curiosity was piqued, but I resolved not to read the letter before I had found a quiet corner of the library to read it in silence and without someone to interrupt me.

Two minutes later, I had settled in a comfortable living chair in a far off nook of the library, took out my books and then grabbed the bird from my shoulder. The moment I touched it, it became a sheet of parchment again. I was once again impressed by the skill the one who made it obviously possessed. My fondness of the writer vanished the moment I started reading. Ron and I, not made for each other? Ridiculous! Where did that guy even get that idea from? Of course I want him by my side the rest of my life. I huffed at the name with which the writer had signed his letter. A secret admirer. There were some after the war was finished who were interested. For all I knew most of them were just interested in getting in my pants, and the rest worshipped me for being Harry's companion in defeating Voldemort. It was annoying me to no end, but I could hardly tell some second years to piss off. I did so with the older ones, though. I did not believe a single thing about anything the letter said.. Certainly not that it was solely out of concern, not out of egoism, that I got this letter.

I sighed. That was just my luck. I came back to school after a war, and the first thing I had to deal with was a "secret admirer". Who did not even know what he was writing about. After all, it was way too early in our relationship to think about waking up in the same bed. It was perfectly natural to feel uncomfortable about that right now, was is not? And of course I had never thought about living with him or marrying him, that was something to think about for the future, but certainly not now. I stuffed the parchment in the back of my bag and pulled my books out. I had some work to do, but no matter how much I tried, that damn parchment slipped back into my mind, along with a whispering voice that asked persistently whether there was not something about what the parchment read that was very much true. It was extremely unnerving really.

H/P

It was already a week ago by that I had received that goddamn letter, and it was destroying me. I knew I really should not even dare to believe what the letter said could be true, but somehow I could not stop it. I was growing irritable, especially concerning Ron, and I knew he had done nothing to deserve it, but I could not stop it. After once more yelling at him for no apparent reason I came to the conclusion that there was only one way to end this whole nonsense without me bashing Ron anymore.

At lunch, I kept an eye open looking for Ginny. I could have asked Harry, too, but I was not sure how much guys acted and felt the same way as girls on such things, and to be frank it felt a little odd to talk to Harry about those problems. He was my best friend and all, but still. I would rather confide in a girl on this. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Ginny. Now I could finally get rid of this odd situation. She would tell me she had never thought about it either, and I would know it was perfectly normal, so I could forget about the letter. I waved at her, and beckoned her over with a brisk movement of my hand. She raised her eyebrow at that, but came over and sat down next to me with a smile.

"Hey 'Mione. I suppose you did not ask me over for a chat, but for something more serious?", she questioned me. Usually, if we wanted to chat, we did that rather in the common room after classes that in the great hall during lunch, so it was quite clear I had something more pressuring to talk about.

"Yes. No. Well, I have some questions I wanted to ask you", I began rather timidly. Ginny nodded at me encouragingly. "Have you ever thought about waking up next to Harry in the mornings?" I had a hard time to keep my voice level and to avoid blushing. Alas Ginny did not know what was coming and blushed fiercely, but still managed to mumble an embarrassed:

"Yes, many times." It was not exactly the answer I had hoped for, but still I was glad she was willing to answer such awkward questions for me.

"Since when?", I pried. She was definitely uncomfortable with this line of question and I hated to embarrass her, but I needed to know some more.

She fiddled with her napkin, her gaze downward. "Since the day we got together, more or less. A little bit in before already." I had hoped she would say it took some time, but this was anything but. I could not help but think once again maybe the letter was right and I saw Ron only as a friend, nothing more. "Why are you asking?" Now it was Ginny's turn to pry.

"I'll tell you in a moment. Just one more question in before", I answered. "Have you ever thought about what it would be like, you and Harry living together?"

A dreamy look spread across her face, and she nodded. "It would be marvelous, I am certain", she said. I could see she was serious. "Now shoot, what is the reason for this?"

"Well, I don't", I said, as if that was an answer to her question. "I never thought about those things, and the thought is, frankly, rather frightening than pleasing to me. To answer the obvious question, how I came to think about it: This", I pulled the letter out of my bag "reached me about a week ago." I handed it to Ginny who read it. With every second the frown on her face grew.

"This is outrageous! How dare that "admirer" say something like that!", she seethed.

I nodded. "That's what I thought at first, too. But lately I came to think there might be some truth about it. What if he is right and Ron really is nothing but a friend to me?" I grew nervous when she looked at me like I was crazy, but after a moment's hesitation, her face softened.

"You gotta know what you want for your future, 'Mione. If it is with or without Ron is something you gotta decide yourself." She smiled at me encouragingly. "Whatever you do, it'll be just fine. But decide before it is too late." I knew she wanted me to stay with Ron, so I was even gladder she was willing to let me decide on my own what was best.

"Thanks, Gin", I said smiling, and hugged her gratefully.