A/N: Hey! Sorry for the very late upload. It's just that I graduated from Uni this summer and I am now working (buried under a lot of paperwork). I also don't have any other chapter written so it might take a while before I can post the next chapter. Please, bear with me. Read and review!

CHAPTER 10: Secrets are out!

Weeks have passed since the event the students were now calling "the mysterious face-off". Considering the tension between the Gryffindor princess and the Slytherin queen – the titles were conjured by the Hufflepuffs – people expected at least one of them to be heavily injured. It was quite baffling why neither one of them showed any sign of a fight at all.

Harry Potter found it quite amusing that he started using it on Hermione. She didn't mind when it was him who called her that. However, the same could not be said for others. Anyone who dared to call her Slytherin queen or even just say queen when she was around received a death glare and left frozen in their spot.

"My queen, I have arrived," Harry announced as soon as he entered the Room of Requirements.

He saw Hermione sitting in a sofa in front of the fireplace, her feet were propped on the table, and she appeared to be reading a book. There were three bookshelves lined up directly on her right, hiding the bed he know was there behind it. This was their room. The walls were covered with dark green paint, there was a fireplace in the center of the room, a rectangular mahogany table was in front of it, and then the comfortable ruby sofa Hermione was sitting on. The shelves were full of magic and muggle books. The queen-size bed behind also had dark green linens and golden pillows. It was simple and it was theirs.

His eyes traveled from her feet to her long legs, then to her uniform-covered yet very alluring body, and finally, to her beautiful face. Even though he could only see half of her from his position, the smile on Hermione's lips was still very visible. She knew he was watching her.

They've been together for almost three months now. The highest level of intimacy they've reached was snogging for hours. Harry had no complaints. He didn't want to rush Hermione and he was scared to death himself. It wasn't like he has had a real girlfriend before; Cho doesn't count. Besides, he was busy trying to get information from Slughorn but to no avail. He couldn't think of how it would be to be really intimate with Hermione; to be one with her.

"Well, what are you doing just standing there, my faithful servant?" Hermione said playfully without looking up from what she was reading.

Harry shook his head and cleared his thoughts. He shouldn't think of being intimate with her when they haven't had a real date. He was planning to take care of that soon. He walked towards Hermione, plopped down beside her, and planted a soft kiss on her lips while taking the book away from her.

"Hey, I love you," he said, moving back just to say that.

"I love you, too," Hermione replied, looking deeply into his emerald eyes.

He still couldn't believe that Hermione loved him. The first time she said it, he felt so happy he could have casted a patronus and it would have protected them from a million dementors. And every time she said it, although not often, still made his heart skip a beat.

Hermione leaned forward and deepened the kiss. Harry fell back, Hermione was on top of him. After a few minutes, he managed to stop both of them before it turned into a full blown snog session. They were still lying down, side by side, barely fitting on the sofa.

"Hogsmeade visit is this weekend," Harry whispered, "Do you want to go?"

"Together? As a couple?"

Harry felt Hermione stiffen beside him.

"I… I could just hide under the invisibility cloak and we could still go together without people noticing."

Lying on her left side, Hermione used her right hand to touch Harry's face. "There's no need for that. We could – no, we should go," Hermione whispered softly.

"R-really?"

"Really."

"But the Goodhearts," Harry said, suddenly remembering that there's a lot of people who would make Hermione's life a living hell more than it already is, including her parents, if they found out he and Hermione were dating.

"Don't matter," said Hermione, not allowing Harry to finish his sentence. "If anyone in the dark lord's circle asks, I would just tell them I'm doing it to get information from you."

Thinking it through, Harry thought Hermione's plan was not a bad idea at all. What did he expect from someone as brilliant as her anyway?

Feeling his heart sore from the prospect of going on a date with Hermione, he kissed her with all the love he could muster.

Harry left the Room of Requirements a few minutes before curfew. Hermione decided to sleep there because she was not in the mood to deal with her roommates. Passing different shortcuts Harry learned after years of using the Marauder's map, he quickly made his way to the Gryffindor common room.

As he came nearer and nearer to the Fat lady, it also became clearer that there was a commotion in the common room. He could hear people shouting but he could not understand any of the words they were saying. With piqued interest, Harry immediately gave the password to the Fat lady.

After a few steps, Harry saw Ron, whose face was as red as his hair, shouting at someone he couldn't see yet. His voice was really loud, as if a Sonorus spell was used.

"This is absurd! I swear Ginevra Molly Weasley, I will tell Mum if you don't stop this nonsense!"

Harry's heart stopped after hearing Ginny's name. For Ron to be this angry, he could easily guess what set him off. Draco Malfoy. There is no way this would end well for Ginny. Or him.

"Go ahead, Ron! I don't care. You will not tell me what to do!" Ginny shouted back just as loud.

The common room was fully packed. Everyone, from first year to seventh year students, appeared to be there. Gryffindors would never pass up seeing a fight between the two hot-headed Weasleys. Once he was in a clearer view, behind the first year and second year students, he saw a very annoyed Ginny who was just as red as her brother.

"I am your brother! I can stop you from doing stupid things. And right now, you are being very-"

Ginny glared at him dangerously, hand in her robes, prepared to take her wand out the moment Ron finished his sentence.

"Ron!" Harry interrupted him from being hexed. No one calls Ginny Weasley stupid and gets to leave unharmed. "What's going on here?"

"Some first year students saw the bloody ferret's tongue down her throat!"

Harry flinched. Although he already knew about Ginny and Draco, he didn't need the picture Ron painted into his mind. Gross. To him, Draco was still a slimy ferret. But he did respect Ginny's decison, the same way Ginny supported his.

"Come on, Ron. They could be mistaken."

"She admitted it!"

Harry turned to Ginny. He hasn't talked to Ginny about Draco but this time is as good as any. No matter what, there was no going back anyway.

"Ginny, do you really know what you're getting into? Are you sure about this?"

Harry tried to convey to Ginny through his tone and look to think about what he was truly asking. Does she really know what it would mean to date a Malfoy - for her, her friends, and her family? Is she sure what she feels for him is worth all this trouble? Is she shure she's ready for this and whatever consequences it might bring? Is she sure about him and her?

"I do and I am," Ginny replied without missing a beat.

She was not stupid. She already took everything she could into consideration. She was not sure how this will all turn out but she did know that no happiness and love could

compare to what she feels when she's with Draco.

Her reply was not unexpected. If she was as serious with Draco as he was with Hermione then, those questions were no-brainer. And yet, he had hoped, for his best mate's sake, that she answered differently. Harry sighed heavily.

"Then, I guess there's nothing we could do anymore, Ron. Ginny's old enough to know what's right and what's wrong. She's certainly old enough to make her own decisions."

"Why are you taking her side?! We're talking about Malfoy here. A few months ago, you were convinced he was a death eater!"

Gasps and murmurs erupted in the room. The rivalry between Draco and Harry or the Slytherins and the Gryffindors were common knowledge but accusing a fellow student of being a death eater was in a completely different level.

Even so, this was not the main thought running through the mind of The-Boy-Who-Lived. He knew that sooner or later he would have had to tell Ron about him and Hermione. This was just not the setting he imagined it to be. He wasn't ready to answer Ron's question in front of the other Gryffindors. He would not tell Ron that the reason he could understand Ginny was because he was in the same position as her - in love with the enemy. He was saved by Ginny's response.

"Well, he's not. I would know if he is. I would have seen the mark." Ginny's voice dripped with intentional malice.

Unfortunately, Ron's brain chose this instance to function properly. As the implication of Ginny's statement dawned on him, the murderous look on his face would have made anyone facing him wish they were facing Bellatrix Lestrange or other death eaters instead. However, Ginny was not one to back down. She was just a volcano waiting to explode as well.

Harry made a quick dash between the two, his back was to Ron so that he could give Ginny a pointed look. The situation was already bad enough as it is. The least she could do for herself was to not make things worse.

Without taking his eyes off of hers, Harry said, "I'm sure Ginny's only trying to piss you off, Ron. Isn't that right, Gin?"

After taking a calming breath and when Harry was sure she wasn't going to do or say anything reckless, he moved aside so that the siblings could see each other.

Seeing Ron's clutched hands, she had to admit she didn't like seeing her brother this way. Ron's hands were considerably pale compared to the redness of his face. It seemed like the blood flow to his hands were cut off.

Rubbing her face with her hands, Ginny said, "I am trying to piss you off, Ron. But I'm not lying; he's not a death eater. I have nothing else to say to you, Ron. I will not stop going out with Draco."

She did not give her brother a chance to respond. She quickly turned around and made a dash to the girls' dormitory.

"GINNY! COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANCE!" Ron bellowed as he tried to follow her. Harry managed to grab him just as the stairs turned into a slide.

Fuming, Ron went to a table, grabbed the nearest quill and parchent he saw, before he plopped down on the nearest chair to write a letter. No doubt it was for his mum.

"Show's over!" Harry shouted.

Immediately, all students left the area to go to their own rooms. Harry liked to think that his fellow housemates decided to give him and Ron some privacy. But in reality, they were probably off to gossip some more about the scene. By tomorrow, all of Hogwarts will know about this.

"Ron," Harry said as he made his way to the chair right in front of Ron.

"I will deal with you in a moment. What the bloody hell were you doing anyway?" Ron said without looking at him. He continued to write hastily.

Harry decided to let him finish writing instead. He was mentally preparing himself for what he was about to tell Ron and for how he might react.

Ron was his best mate, the brother he never had. He was that important to him. He avoided telling him about his relationship with Hermione because he expected Ron to react the same way he reacted with Ginny's relationship with Draco. When that happens, he's almost sure that Ron would hate him. He wasn't ready to lose the greatest friend he ever had. He never will. But he can't hide Hermione forever and he doesn't want to.

A sound of quill hitting the table brought Harry's attention back to the situation. By the time he looked at Ron, he was already putting the letter into his bag that he grabbed from a nearby chair. He was mumbling his promise of sending the letter as early as he could tomorrow. After securing the letter and his bag, Ron plopped down again to the chair in front of Harry.

"So, what the bloody hell were you doing?" Ron aked. "Why were you taking her side?"

"Ron, I-I..." Harry stuttered. Taking a deep breath, Harry continue, "I was planning to tell you some time this week. I've always wanted to tell you. I was just afraid of how you would react, mate. But I'm... I'm dating Hermione and I'm taking her to Hogsmeade this weekend."

"WHAT?! Hermione as in Hermione Granger?!"

Harry nodded.

"Since when?!"

"About three months ago."

Ron visily became red again. It was as if steam would come out of his ears and nose any moment.

"I'm your best mate and you never bothered to tell me that? You're dating the enemy!"

"She's not an ene-"

"What about Ginny?" Ron cut him off. "Did you know about her and the ferret?!"

There was no point in lying and it would only make things worse so Harry just nodded.

"Some friend you are, Potter!" Ron spat his name before angrily standing up to go back to his dorm.

Harry stood up to stop him. As he did so, Ron whirled around and his fist connected to Harry's face, making Harry fall on his back. His head hit the chair and his lips were bleeding.

"Years of friendship for a girl? A slytherin, no less, Potter. I hope she's worth it." Ron hissed as he turned his back on Harry.

Harry did not stop him this time. He knew it would be futile to talk to Ron. He could only hope that Ron would cool down enough in the next few weeks for him to be able to talk to him. For now, there was nothing he could do. He might have just lost his best mate.

Picking himself up from the floor, Harry made his way back to the portrait. He would not be able to stay in the same room as Ron anyway. So, he decided to head back to the Room of Requirement to tell Hermione. He didn't think Ron would tell anyone about him and her but he could also be wrong. He just hoped Hermione would not kill him.

If he had checked the room before he left, he might have noticed a girl standing at the top of the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories. A girl with gleaming eyes, excited to tell everyone about what she heard.

A/N: What do you guys think of this chapter? Tell me what you think. ^_^ I still need a beta if anyone's interested. ^_^ Please, read and review!

THANK YOU AllWasWell07, hhrforever, pawsrule, EndlessChains, and WarthogHerme for the support! You guys are awesome! ^_^