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I'm not sure who made this ring, but I met my beautiful wife because of it. I don't have any more use for it after meeting the love of my life. It's time to pass it on. The brighter the aura around the person, the deeper the romantic feelings they have for you. There are other things this ring can do, but I'll leave it to you to discover. I wish you luck and hope you find happiness just like I did.

Harry reread the note one more time and scolded himself for being stupid. He found this accompanied with a ring in the room of requirements. The smartest thing to do was leave it alone and forget it ever existed. Harry knew that putting on an unknown magical artifact was asking for trouble… but the temptation of knowing who loved him was too much. Merlin knows that he couldn't be trusted to know that naturally after the disastrous kiss with Cho.

And so Harry found himself sitting in the great hall while playing with the ring. He hadn't found the courage to actually put it on his finger yet, but Harry knew he had already decided on doing it. He was sick and tired of watching happy couples form around him and wanted the same thing for himself.

"Harry? Where did you get that ring?"

Harry's back straightened at hearing Hermione's voice. If he answered her question truthfully, Harry had no doubt that Professor McGonagall would soon seize the ring from him in the name of safety.

"It's just something my dad left me. I found it in my Gringotts vault."

Hermione's eyes softened as she nodded before turning back to criticize Ron for his eating habits. Harry sighed in relief and figured this might as well be the best time to wear the ring. After glancing at Cho, Harry slid the plain silver ring onto his index finger before staring at Cho again.

He didn't expect much, especially since they only shared one unsatisfying kiss together, but seeing Cho unchanged was highly disappointing. In fact, Harry couldn't see any of the girls in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff have the 'aura' that the note spoke off. Either he was unexpectedly unpopular, or the ring was a complete sham. For Harry's peace of mind, he firmly chose to believe it was the latter.

Harry took off the ring and put it in his pocket with a disappointed sigh. It was honestly too good to be true anyway.

The next few days flew by with Harry almost forgetting that the ring existed. If Cho hadn't come up to him to ask him out to Hogsmeade, the ring still would have been forgotten. Luckily, Harry had his hands in his pockets while being asked the question and felt the ring he left in his pocket days ago. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Harry slipped the ring on, never expecting it to work, and finally saw the 'aura' that the note spoke about.

No wonder Harry couldn't see it before. He had imagined it would be visible to the naked eye, but it was so dim that anyone not looking for it could miss it. The faintest of pink light was outlining Cho's body. It was no wonder that Harry didn't notice anything in the great hall. The only way to see the aura was to be standing as close to Cho as he was right now.

The weak light was disappointing, though. Harry initially thought that Cho would not like him that much, but then again, all the auras could look like this. Or maybe it simply wouldn't get brighter until Harry went on more dates with Cho. That was the optimistic in Harry speaking, but either way, he wasn't in a mood to go to Hogsmeade with Cho anymore.

"I'm sorry, Cho. We should go together to the next one. I have something that came up that'll keep me busy right now."

Cho wasn't happy with that answer, but she had no choice but to agree. As she walked away, Harry's mind was already debating on which girls to test this ring on. The easiest ones to access were in Gryffindor, and two names came to mind.

Ginny and Hermione.

Those two could set baselines for what the aura should look like. Ginny for her barely hidden obsession with the fantasy of the boy-who-lived, and Hermione for the clear platonic feelings that emanated from her. If Harry had to guess, Ginny's should be one of the brightest he should see in Hogwarts, and Hermione's should be nonexistent. The brunette bookworm was so obviously in love with Ron that it was almost disgusting.

Harry was still toying with the ring on his finger as he stepped into the common room. A quick glance told him that Hermione wasn't there, but Ginny was working on something in the corner of the room. A smile appeared on Harry's face as he walked toward the redhead before a problem was quickly realized. The aura around Ginny was barely brighter than what was around Cho.

It was then that Harry remembered Hermione mentioning something about Ginny having given up waiting for him and started to date Micheal Corner. Even then, Ginny's aura was still slightly brighter than what was around Cho. Harry wasn't sure what it told about Cho's feelings when the girl he was potentially going to date liked him less than a girl dating someone else.

Harry wanted to silently leave after discovering what Ginny's aura looked like, but the redhead's newfound ability to speak to him without stuttering stopped him.

"Harry? Is there something you need?"

"Sorry, Ginny. Just wondering where Ron and Hermione are."

The usual disappointment wasn't there in Ginny's eyes as she said, "I couldn't tell you where Ron is, but Hermione should be about to come down."

Harry took a seat near Ginny and decided to wait for Hermione. The brunette could give Harry an idea of what to expect when a girl wasn't interested in him. He also planned on eventually letting Hermione know about the ring, even if there was a danger of the ring getting turned in. She would have probably figured out how it works within a few hours.

"Ron's been missing often recently," Harry said idly, "You think he found a girlfriend in another house?"

Ginny's face twisted in disgust, "Ron? I doubt it, and I don't want to think of my brother sucking face with anyone, thank you."

Harry laughed, "Fair enough. How about you then? Hermione told me you started dating Corner recently."

Ginny blushed, but that wasn't what caught Harry's attention. Her pink aura started to pulsate like a heartbeat before dimming slightly to a fainter color. Harry had no idea what caused that, but Ginny interrupted his thoughts before he could think about it too much.

"Yeah, I started seeing him last month. He's... really nice."

Harry hummed in reply and didn't pay too much attention to her lukewarm description of Corner. He was more interested in why her aura changed.

If Harry looked at Ginny fairly, she was a rather stunning girl. The label of Ron's little sister still tainted her in Harry's mind, but if he shoved that label away, Ginny was just as good-looking as some of the most attractive girls in Hogwarts. It still didn't mean Harry was salivating after Ginny, but he could now see her as objectively attractive.

"You don't sound as excited as someone with their first boyfriend should be."

Ginny's eyes lingered on Harry for a little too long before she looked away, "I can already tell it won't last for long. I think he knows that too, so I guess we're just having fun until it ends."

Harry wasn't sure what that even meant, and he didn't care to know more, to be honest, but Ginny's aura brightened again. It was back to the original level of brightness, but it still didn't give Harry any clue of why it was changing. He grimaced and leaned back in frustration at still being clueless.

While Harry was in his own world, Ginny thought he didn't like what she had just said. She looked away from him and hid the smile that appeared on her face by looking at the book in her lap. Ginny thought that Harry might be a little jealous at hearing that she was with Micheal for fun. She was trying to get over her crush on him, but if dating other people made Harry jealous, Ginny wouldn't complain.

While the redhead's mind was filled with hopes, Harry was looking at her aura brightening even more. It was almost a solid pink color at this point.

"It's a little too early to give up, Ginny. Maybe you'll see that you two fit better than you thought."

The solid pink aura immediately dimmed back to a more transparent look. A lightbulb in Harry's head turned on. So it looked like it changed according to how Ginny felt about him, which was beyond obvious in hindsight. But it was surprising that it changed so significantly with a sentence or two from Harry. It might be a Ginny-specific issue, so Harry intended to give it a try with another girl that liked him soon.

The only thing that he would have liked even better was if there was a way to gauge where he stood with a girl. Going with the aura's pinkness level didn't seem too reliable. It's not like Harry could ask each girl to stand next to each other and compare the colors directly to get an accurate idea of who liked him more.

By this point, Harry had completely zoned out and left Ginny to stare at him in curiosity. She had never thought that Harry Potter would be someone that would have offered her dating advice. From what Ginny knew about him, it was very much out of character to talk about something so personal with someone that wasn't Ron or Hermione. She found that she didn't mind, but it threw a little wrench in her plan to give up on Harry and move on. Of course, Ginny still wouldn't say no to being friends with her personal hero... or more if he wanted it.

"Ginny! Sorry for being late," a flushed Hermione hurried to Ginny's spot, "Lavender decided now was the best time to drag me into boy talk."

Ginny giggled when Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation at the end of her sentence.

Hermione had already settled in when she noticed one of her best friends sitting with Ginny. She also noticed that he was staring at her like she was the second coming of Merlin.

"Harry?"

Hermione waved her hand in front of Harry's face and looked at Ginny when she got no reaction. The redhead shrugged at her, just as clueless about what was happening with Harry.

He was staring at Hermione like he had never seen her before. In a way, that was correct. Harry had always seen Hermione as a non-sexual being, mainly because he was under the impression that she wasn't interested in things like that. That was only in the earlier years, though. After the yule ball, it was evident that Hermione was interested in Ron. That worked just fine with Harry, who was blissfully in love with Cho. Even though his focus was elsewhere, Harry knew that Hermione was desirable. Just like Harry recently realized with Ginny, he knew that Hermione was objectively attractive after seeing her dressed up at the yule ball, but that honestly didn't change how their relationship worked.

Or so Harry had thought.

Cho and Ginny had transparent pink auras outlining their body, and what he expected to see around Hermione was nothing. If not that, then a neutral color, like white, indicating the absence of romantic feelings. That wasn't what Harry saw. In fact, he could confidently say that it was exactly the opposite of what was expected.

Around Hermione was a bright red color that seemed as transparent as Ginny's aura. The noticeable difference was the color. Harry might be clueless about romance, but even he knew what the color red signified. Apparently, not only was he completely wrong about who Hermione liked, but it also looked like the brunette felt much deeper for him than either Cho or Ginny.

Harry was shaken out of his daze when Hermione cupped his face and looked into his eyes in concern. Harry idly wondered if her eyes were always so beautiful before.

"Harry! What's wrong with you? I've been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes!"

Harry opened his mouth before closing it wordlessly and glanced at the red aura surrounding Hermione. He had to get out of here and think about what he had just discovered.

"I have to go!"

"Harry!" Hermione called after Harry in concern as he escaped to his dormitory. He ignored her calls and settled into his bed after closing the curtains to stop others from disturbing him. Harry had to decide if he should just pretend that he never knew how Hermione felt or if Harry should follow what his repressed feelings told him. The latter would permanently change his relationship with his best female friend.