Chapter Four – PASSING NOTES

Inside their lecture, Declan scrawled something on a piece of parchment and passed it over to Hermione. Rolling her eyes, Hermione unfolded it and read:

Ron Weasley loves you.

Hermione looked at him, stunned, before writing back:

You're insane, you know that?

Declan suppressed a laugh and wrote:

Did you see the way he looked at you when I was tickling you? He was so jealous. The only logical solution is that he loves you.

Hermione read the note. A smile crossed her lips as she read it. She replied:

You're making a mistake using Ron and logic in the same thought

She handed the note back to Declan and continued writing her class notes. But her mind was suddenly absent. She was only just back into her class work when Declan handed the note back. It read:

Hermione, seriously. He was totally upset when you said you were going with me. I don't think he realises that I am gay.

Hermione smiled and wrote back:

There are lots of things that Ron Weasley doesn't realise, Dec.

Declan read the note and then looked at his friend. She really had no idea how Ron obviously felt about her. And she really had no idea about how she felt about Ron. It was adorable. Her naïveté was one of the things he loved about her. It would never have crossed her mind that Ron would be interested in her. She was always surprised to discover ANY man was interested in her. Realising that it was his mission to make her and Ron both realise the attractive, desirable woman that Hermione was, Declan wrote back:

Ok, but I won't say I told you so.

Returning to the apartment after their class, Hermione was pleased to see that Ron and Harry were both working on their assignments. She and Declan were going out that evening to buy a dress for the ball. The Autumn Ball was muggle themed, and the organisers had even arranged a muggle-like big band and singer for the entertainment. Hermione knew her dress robes wouldn't be suitable, so on the walk back to the apartment, she and Declan had decided that they would both go shopping for killer outfits.

"Can you read over this and see if it's ok?" Ron asked Hermione, knowing she was tougher on him than any of his lecturers were, and that if it was deemed ok by her that it would be ok for the lecturers.

"Sure." She replied, and turned to Declan saying, "Dec, honey, could you make me a coffee?"

Declan set about making coffee for everyone as Hermione read over Ron's paper. Ron paced up and down, nervous to know what Hermione thought of his work. Her opinion was important to him.

"Well?" he asked as she accepted the cup of coffee from Declan.

"I'm not finished, Ron. Relax." She said, smiling at her red haired friend, and continued to read.

Hermione had to admit to herself that Ron had outdone himself this time. His work had been constantly improving, owing in most part to the hard work she had done to teach him researching and writing skills. But this particular work was really quite good.

Finishing reading the work, Hermione turned to look at Ron. He looked so nervous.

"It's dreadful, isn't it? I mean, it's rubbish right?" He asked, agitatedly.

"Wrong. It's actually quite good. There are a couple of places that I could suggest some minor changes, but in general, it's really very good." She replied, handing the parchment back to a relieved looking Ron.

"Thanks, Mione." Ron said, looking down at the parchment he was suddenly so proud of having written. "Maybe we could go to the library or something, and you could suggest those changes. You got some time free now?" he asked.

"Now? I'm about to head off to buy a dress for the ball. Declan needs a new suit, too, so we were just about to go shopping." Hermione said, tentatively.

"No worries." Ron said, sounding dejected.

"But I'm off class tomorrow afternoon, and you don't have a class then either, so I could meet you at the library then if you wanted" she suggested and his face lit up.

"That'd be great. My other class finishes at 12pm, so maybe I could grab a quick bite to eat in the dining hall and be at the library by about 1pm." Ron said, smiling at his friend.

"I finish at 12pm too, so maybe I'll meet you in the dining hall and we can have lunch together. Maybe Harry, Dec, and Olivia can join us?" Hermione suggested looking over at Harry and Declan who were playing the role of spectators in the drama unfolding in front of them.

"Olivia's gone to her parents place for a few days, so she won't be there" Ron said.

Harry and Declan exchanged a knowing glance. "I've got a meeting with my professor after class tomorrow" Declan said, far too quickly.

"And I have an interview with the Dean about the Quidditch game on the weekend. Sorry guys" Harry said, and Declan smiled knowing that he and Harry were reading the same page of the book.

"Looks like it's just you and me, kid" Hermione said as she turned back to Ron.

"No worries." Ron said, quietly, wondering why that made him so happy.

Hermione and Declan left shortly after. As they walked out, Declan called out "Don't wait up for her".

As they walked down the stairs, Hermione turned to her friend and said "That was an interesting performance."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about" Declan said with feigned innocence.

"Oh come off it, Kennedy. A meeting with your professor? Couldn't you have been a little more creative?" she said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Well it was better that a meeting with the Dean about Quidditch" Declan protested.

"You're right. Harry is slipping these days. Why wouldn't you just come with us?" Hermione asked.

"That would totally defeat the purpose of him asking you to help him." Declan said.

"What do you mean? We're going to the library." Hermione said, not understanding what Declan was implying.

"He wants to spend time alone with you, Hermione Granger. That's why he mentioned lunch before going to the library. It was clear he was asking you to have lunch with him as well as helping him out with the assignment. You should have seen the look on the poor guys face when you said the paper was good. He lit up like a Christmas tree. The guy is totally in love with you." Declan said, knowing he had once again cast out an undeniable bait.

"He is not totally in love with me, he's totally in love with Olivia. And he did not want to ask me to lunch. If he did he would have just said it." Hermione argued.

"Whatever you say. Just remember that I have no intentions of saying I told you so." Declan replied as they made their way across campus to grab a muggle taxi and head off to a evening wear store that was not too far from the campus.