Harry needed a plan. When you were about to do something so daring it was best to have a plan, unfortunately it was Hermione who usually came up with the best plans and this would definitely be her area of expertise. He had Ron onside, after much persuasion, and they had discussed their tactics but he still needed an opening gambit. The trouble was that all he could come up with was "Hermione, you seem so happy and relaxed and we were wondering: are you under an Imperius Curse?" and even he knew that was not a good way to start. Also they needed the right opportunity, so they'd simply have to work off the top of their heads when it arose.
It arose before he'd had any time to think of a better opening gambit. Lavender and Parvati were off dealing with some crisis of Padma's, the Common Room was relatively quiet and Hermione was actually there, reading a Muggle novel, rather than studying in the Library. All the elements were in place. Harry really wished he had a plan but he wasn't one to over-think a good opportunity. He nodded to Ron and they crossed the room to the secluded corner where Hermione was curled up in a high-backed chair. They pulled over chairs, sat across from her and waited. At the end of a page, she registered their presence.
"Before you say anything, we need to talk to you" Harry started. He continued before she got a word out "Ron has agreed not to say anything but I'd like him to be here for support and I'd like you to agree to a truce with him while we talk." She looked unconvinced but was still sitting with them. Ron nodded to her and looked away.
"Please Hermione, just listen to me" said Harry in his best serious tone.
"Fine" she said sitting back and folding her arms thinking to herself that this had better be good.
"We're concerned about you. You've been behaving...differently. You started a Common Room party, you're spending a lot more time with other girls, I don't know where you are lots of the time and don't say the Library because I've looked for you and you're not there."
Hermione's attitude hadn't softened at all yet. She had started tapping her foot a bit with impatience and Ron was still looking away from his two friends. Harry was getting to the end of the acceptable things he had to say and he was getting flustered.
"You've changed your habits." he continued "You wear your hair differently and you've changed your clothes and it's like you're dancing all the time. It's... it's..."
"Dead sexy" said Ron in a dreamy way, still staring off into the distance.
Harry and Hermione stared at him, aghast. It seemed to take a minute for him to work out that he'd said that out loud. A deep blush grew slowly up his neck and onto his face. He couldn't look back at them. The gnome was well and truly out of the shrubbery now.
Hermione started shaking, she took in a massive gulp of air and then released a powerful belly laugh. She laughed and laughed until she could barely breathe. Harry joined her and Ron decided to brave it out and shrugged his shoulders. This couldn't get much worse as far as he was concerned. He'd said what he thought and she'd laughed like he'd always thought she would. He felt oddly relieved.
"Well you are. Everyone's noticed." he stated as if he hadn't just embarrassed himself more than he could have possibly imagined.
"You don't...ha...you don't speak to me for months! And when you finally do that is what you say?" Hermione sniggered wiping her eyes and trying to get her breath back.
Ron shrugged again and Harry, now that he was able to speak too said "Ron's right: you are very attractive and that's part of what we're worried about."
"Worried?" Hermione queried.
"Well it's not how you normally behave. Your whole attitude is different and we don't know why. It's difficult not to be worried."said Harry.
"But why are you worried, it's not like I'm unhappy or doing something dangerous?" Hermione said, perplexed. She suddenly wondered could they possibly know what was going on in the stacks? Were they worried she was there so often?
"Well no... but it is different behaviour and we have to be extra careful these days. Dumbledore did say to tell you everything I know, that makes you an obvious target. So we have to worry, even about things that might look innocent, if we can't explain them." Harry was pleased that he'd managed to avoid the words Voldemort, imperius, and polyjuice in that statement.
Unfortunately Hermione was a good deal more intelligent than he was.
She bristled "So, let me get this straight: I've become 'dead sexy' and the only explanation you two can come up with is Dark Magic? Priceless! You're the best friends ever, aren't you?"
When she put it like that it did sound awful.
"I came up with loads of explanations!" Ron responded forcefully. "I can think of fifty reasons and each one has a first name and a surname! I think there's a bloke. Harry's the one obsessed with Death Eaters."
"Ron! The Death Eater thing was your idea!" Harry protested.
"Yeah well, in fairness to Harry, Moody does say constant vigilance" said Ron as if this was some sort of concession.
"Oh yeah? Well where's Harry's theory that Lavender is some sort of spy trying to get information out of you?" said Hermione, also ignoring Harry's interjection.
"Harry knows I don't talk to Lav...about that sort of stuff" Ron added when the knut dropped as to how bad not talking to his own girlfriend probably sounded.
"Well I don't talk to him either!" exclaimed Hermione.
"So there is a bloke." said Ron. He was completely calm. This and the admission she'd inadvertently made were aggravating Hermione further. Harry glanced between the two nervously wondering if his worst fears for this conversation were about to be realised. He tried to think of something to diffuse the tension but before he even had a thought formed Ron spoke again in the same calm tone.
"Look Hermione, I know we didn't go about this very well" Hermione harrumphed her agreement "but Harry's just worried about you. There's a bloke. Why wouldn't you tell Harry about him? And I know we're fighting but I care about you too. I know you don't want to tell me anything but if he's a good bloke, nothing to worry about, tell Harry. I'll leave now so you can."
"Don't go" said Hermione quietly. She didn't look up. There was a long silence, really long. Harry started to wonder whether both the conversation and the argument were over when Hermione spoke. "There isn't really anything to tell" she said softly, her eyes glued to the Common Room carpet.
"But Ginny said there was a romance" Harry blurted out wincing, that might get Ginny in trouble.
Hermione gave a small snort and simply commented "That's a good word for it." with a little smile.
"So there's a bloke, a romantic bloke." Ron summed up the situation in a flat sounding voice.
Hermione looked up for the first time since the long silence. "Yes, there is" she admitted just as flatly. Harry was confused: how was a boyfriend not really anything?
Hermione exhaled slowly, giving herself time to think of a way to explain things.
"It's complicated" was what she came up with. Once again it seemed that the Common Room carpet had the most riveting pattern in the whole wide world.
Harry was about to ask how it was complicated, he'd even opened his mouth when Ron flicked him with a finger and gave him a look that clearly said shut-up-if-you-want-to-live. When did Ron become an expert on talking to girls? Maybe having a girlfriend was better for him than Harry had suspected.
"I like him, a great deal. I feel wonderful and special when I'm with him, like that's all that matters and I can forget about everything else. He makes me happy" she said smiling and still looking down. She continued as if to herself "that's it. I'm happy and that's why I'm more attractive now."
Ron hadn't known it was possible to feel this awful. Someone else had what he wanted: to make Hermione feel wonderful. He thought he might be sick. He had to know who it was.
"Who is it Hermione?" said Harry gently, looking at an alarmingly pale Ron out of the corner of his eye.
"I can't tell you that bit" said Hermione
"Bloody Hell Woman!" shouted Ron finally, totally losing his remarkable cool.
Harry, trying not to laugh at Ron's reversion to type, looked at Hermione and said "he can't be that bad if he makes you feel so great. We'd give him a fair chance. Hang on, it's not Malfoy is it?"
Hermione's face was a picture of baffled disgust. "How on earth would I end up in a romance with Malfoy?"
"Well you won't tell us who it is and you say it's complicated" blustered Harry. "I thought maybe you were ashamed of him."
"I'm not ashamed of him but I can't tell you who it is. As I said it's complicated." She was staunch in her evasiveness.
"How complicated can it be Hermione?" asked Harry kindly " You like him, he likes you, you're not ashamed of him...is there something you aren't telling us?"
Hermione was truly stumped. What could she tell them? She didn't want to lie to them and she knew that they wouldn't be asking anything at all if they could possibly avoid it. What could she say? 'I'm going out with the Library' didn't seem like an answer that would end this inquisition. Suddenly she thought of the truth.
"He has a girlfriend" she admitted.
The look of shock on the faces of Harry and Ron was almost worth being told that if she was attractive they suspected a Death Eater plot. They had not expected that.
Ron recovered first. "What? Are you saying that there is something going on between you and some other girl's boyfriend? Harry I think we were right the first time, we should tell Dumbledore and we should check if hell has frozen over while we're at it! I can't believe you'd mess around with some bloke Hermione!"
"It's not like that Ronald" Hermione said icily.
"How? Sounds exactly like that!" Ron shouted. They were back to their usual arguing style any second now Hermione will leave in tears, thought Harry.
"I told you there wasn't really anything to tell. Nothing improper has happened" Hermione said. She was really embarrassed. She'd gone from scarlet woman back to naïve schoolgirl in less than a minute.
"So it's just a crush?" asked Harry. He wasn't sure why he added the 'just', crushes on unavailable people were a serious business and he should know.
"Yes...no...it's difficult to explain. There is something more there." said Hermione, she was even confusing herself at this stage.
"Has he told you he likes you?" asked Ron, he was trying really hard to keep calm.
"No" said Hermione miserably. "He's not into words."
"But he's done something that makes you think he does?" Ron prodded.
Hermione looked at him. She could see that he hated this conversation but not in the same way as Harry. Harry was mainly embarrassed to be talking about feelings at all. She finally answered him with "Yes, many, many little things."
"Tosser" stated Ron.
"He isn't. He hasn't done anything wrong" she said as a reflex. This was ridiculous! She was defending Ron to Ron.
"Yes he has Hermione. He's messing you about. And he's messin' his girlfriend about. You're sure he likes you, aren't you?" demanded Ron.
"Most of the tme I think he does but sometimes I'm not sure" Hermione mumbled. She wasn't sure why she was staying in this conversation but she couldn't see a way out and it was so good to be talking to Ron again even if this was the most uncomfortable interaction of her life. Though it was awful it was also unstoppable with ups and downs like a rollercoaster.
"You're the cleverest person in the school, if you sometimes think he likes you then he does. So why isn't he with you?" he pushed for a third time.
"I don't know. I don't know why he's not with me" said Hermione making a supreme effort not to let the tears burning at the edges of her eyes spill out and down her face as Ron asked her, what had to be the question of the year. "I used to think he just saw me as a friend but now I know he finds me attractive." Her voice was audibly shaky.
For Harry it was like watching a tennis match. He wasn't sure how he'd become an observer in a conversation he had to force on the other two but he wasn't even sure they knew he was still there.
"It's not good enough" snapped Ron.
"Maybe it's wrong but it doesn't feel wrong" Hermione returned.
Ron looked annoyed and said "I mean for you. It's not good enough for you Hermione. You're clever and loyal and brave and lovely." Ron's face heated up again, in for a knut in for a galleon he thought "and dead sexy. You deserve all of this bloke's attention not just what he has left over! Don't you think you are worth a proper boyfriend, not this bollocks?"
Hermione's expression had changed several times during Ron's little speech. It finally settled on rage. She stood up as if she'd been stung and in a voice that was clearly having trouble not shouting said "You are absolutely right, Ron! I deserve loads more that this...this...nonsense! This conversation is over, and so is the truce!" With that she stormed away from the pair of baffled and bemused boys and found herself once again slamming her dormitory door furious with the whole situation.
Down in the Common Room Harry looked at Ron and said "Do you know I really thought she was going to swear?"
A/N: Phew that was long! Thanks for sticking with this chapter. There is more to come, one or perhaps two chapters if it continues to run away with me like this. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and followed. I really appreciate the encouragement.
