A/N: Hey! It's the third chapter!!! Yay! This one is kind of long, well, longer than the last one. I hope you are all enjoying the story! I read over the last one and it had a lot of grammar mistakes…sorry 'bout that! I hope you liked it anyway. I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. I have had so much homework that I have no time. Oh yeah, and I'm also sorry about the whole time range on the story. It goes kind of, er, fast. I guess Ron and Hermione haven't known each other long (ha, only for a day) and they already like each other. This chapter has a lot of Hermione OOC. Well, I think it does. You'll see. Please review and thanks to everyone who reviewed last time! You guys are great!

Disclaimer: I cry, I weep, I cannot sleep but still I don't own Harry Potter (or Sleeping Beauty for that matter!!) Sorry to disappoint you… and sorry to force that terrible song on you.

Characters: Sir Harry, Prince Ronald, Princess Hermione, Virginia, the King, and a milkmaid named Elizabeth (who does come back in later chapters).

Setting: Hogsmeade, the cow barn, and the castle library.

Rating: G

Summary: It's the next day. Harry makes Ron get ready to see Rose (Hermione) while Herm and Virginia have a talk. Ron does something sweet and (finally) the two get to meet again. Hope that didn't ruin it for you!!! Enjoy…

Don't forget that Rose is Hermione!!!!!

Sleeping Beauty-Harry Potter Style

Chapter 3

Harry smiled down upon Ron. It was very early in the morning and Harry was all too eager to wake him up. Ron always woke up late but Harry, being the 'good friend' that he was, wanted to make sure that Ron didn't miss his chance at meeting his 'true love' again. This was why Harry was in his pal's bedchamber at five o'clock in the morning, holding a large candle and smiling over Ron's sleeping figure.

"Ron, wake up! You have to get ready to see Rose!" Ron turned over in his sleep, completely ignoring what Harry was saying. "Ron!" Harry sighed, thinking of what he could do to wake Ron up with out receiving any physical pain. An idea came to him.

"Ron, you might want to know that there's a spider crawling down your nose." Harry told him casually. Not a second later Ron was up, rubbing his hands over his face and yelling.

"Get it off! Kill it! Where is the spider?"

"Ron, calm down. There is no spider. I was just trying to wake you up."

Ron, now wide-awake, glared at Harry. "Well, thanks a lot. Do you know what time it is?! I'm going back to sleep now and don't expect me to get up again." Ron lay back on his pillow and closed his eyes again, mumbling something about insane friends.

"That's too bad Ron. I'm sure Rose will miss seeing you. I had something really nice planned out. I guess these roses will be of no use now. I'll just go throw them out." Harry said, beginning to walk out of the room, indeed carrying a few small pink roses.

"Wait!" Ron shouted. He sat up again quickly and tried to get out of bed. His legs got caught in the blankets and two seconds later, Ron sat sprawled out on the floor. He had landed flat on his chest and he now sat, supporting his head with his hands, his elbows resting on the floor. Harry turned back toward Ron and burst out laughing.

"Need help there Ron?" He asked, trying to keep a straight face. Ron just scowled back at his friend as he came back and helped him out of the bed sheets. Ron ran to the large closet across from his bed. He began rummaging for the nicest clothing he had, pulling out a nice pair of pants and a white shirt, and showing it to Harry.

"Didn't you say that she had no idea you were a prince?" His friend asked. Ron looked down at the nice clothing that he had pulled out and sighed. He put it back into his closet and looked for a grungier outfit.

"Those are nice roses Harry." Ron commented as he pulled on the brown shirt he had taken out. He finished pulling on the pants and was looking down at his clothing with distaste. "I wish I didn't have to wear something that looks so ugly. It's too bad I didn't just tell her I was a prince in the first place. I'd really impress her if I could wear better clothing."

"Don't worry about it Ron. I doubt she's the type of person who would care about such things. She doesn't sound like that from what you've said, and you have said a lot. Trust me, it will be fine. Your father isn't here. He went out on another quest so we can go and eat breakfast now if you want. I asked the house elves to start making some food so everything should be ready by the time we get down there."

"You know what Harry? You're amazing. I'll never complain about you being my friend again." Ron stood up and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Well, you know me. I might complain but I never mean it." And with that, the two friends walked out, laughing, and ready to surprise Rose as best they could.

An hour and a half later, Harry and Ron headed out of the castle. It took forty minutes to walk to Hogsmeade (Ron took as long as possible) and it was past seven o'clock when they finally arrived. Ron dragged Harry along, showing him certain spots that he liked to visit in the city. He talked a lot about 'Rose' and he rambled on and on about how kind she had been. All this time, Ron still didn't realize why he seemed so keen on talking about her and Harry was finding this very amusing. When they reached the well, they stopped and Ron recounted, for the umpteenth time, almost every word that had been spoken between himself and Rose.

"Ron," Harry said in an annoyed voice, "I know. I've heard it. I'm happy for you but can we please, please, just find her now? And do try not to talk this much when you see her. We don't want her to fall asleep." Harry said this slowly, trying not to offend Ron, who had a history of having a bad temper. Ron, however, was in too good of a mood to be angry. This didn't stop him from being embarrassed by the fact that he had been talking so much. A blush crept over his ears and over his cheeks.

He recovered quickly, smiling brightly and clapping Harry on the back with one of his hands. "Ok old chap," Ron said, the sunny smile still spread across his face.

"You are very strange Ronald." Harry said laughing. Ron either hadn't heard Harry or chose to ignore it.

"This is our mission. We go in, seek out Rose, and give her these flowers." He stated bravely, brandishing the flowers violently at Harry, causing two petals to fall of. "Oops. I better be careful with these." Harry rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Your plan is great, but it's wrong. We will go in, and you will do all the other things. I'm no part of this. I'm only here for moral support." Harry told the prince.

"But," Ron said.

"Nope. She doesn't want to talk to me anyway. I would just be a nuisance if I did go with you." Harry explained with an air of finality. "Now, come on. Off to find you're maiden."

****

Hermione was now in the sewing period of her day. This was the time when she had to 'learn' how to sew. Of course, Hermione had known for years. And, for years, she had thought it was a big waste of time. She didn't understand how sewing or embroidering something could be so important. She would much rather read than do something that not only did she hate, but had already mastered.

The other ladies-in-waiting that Hermione had, the ones other than Virginia, always hung around Hermione when she was embroidering. She really was talented at it when she put the effort in. Some very large, very difficult embroidery hung about the castle, displaying the landscapes of Hogsmeade or portraits of ancient family members that she had now forgotten the names of.

Hermione stared blankly down at the image she had been sewing onto her cloth. She had used a bright orange colored string, one she had never remembered using or seeing in her life, as the Hogsmeade landscape only had deep brown and red colors. She had certainly been working on autopilot because Hermione hadn't remembered where this image had come from. At the moment, she wasn't even sure she knew what it was supposed to be. She stared at it another second, her mind at a loss, and her thoughts went back to Ron. She was about to start the project again, when her hand, still holding the small silver needle stopped immediately in midair. Virginia looked up from the clothing she was mending and stared at Hermione. She had never seen her look so dazed before.

"What are you doing an embroidery of this time Hermione?" She asked, hoping that would bring the princess back to reality.

"I-I don't know. I really don't know Virginia." She still looked bemused as her sewing hand dropped onto the cloth listlessly. Hermione sat quietly and it seemed that she had lapsed into deep thought again. Virginia placed the clothing that she had been fixing aside. She looked sympathetically at Hermione for a second before she stood up and walked behind Hermione's chair so that she could get a look at the cloth lying in her lap.

"Well, whatever it is, it seems to have red hair." Virginia said when she saw it. Hermione's cheeks went from milky white to cherry red in less than a second. She dropped the pin onto the cloth, and put her head in her hands. Hermione was mumbling something to herself but Virginia couldn't understand what it was through her hands. "Hermione, I didn't mean to embarrass you. Is this supposed to be that Ron fellow you were telling me about?"

Hermione didn't answer her question directly. Instead, she launched into a long speech that resembled a lot of rambling strung together. "I didn't do it consciously. My mind wasn't on the task as usual. I just realized that I had done something with my orange string. I've never used it before so I don't know why I decided to use it now. I'm sure that I must have been making an orange or a-a flower of some sort. It isn't someone's hair color. The only people I have ever met who have red hair are you and Ron and I don't think I would have made it of him because after all, I haven't even know him for two whole days and we only talked once. I'm sure that-"

"Hermione," Virginia said. However, Hermione didn't pay attention as she continued to rattle on.

"…doesn't mean anything. This defiantly isn't Ron. I've just met him. Why in the world-"

"Hermione." Virginia tried again, and again it didn't work. Hermione sure could talk when she got started.

"I would never do a tapestry of a peasant. Mother and Father would never allow me to put something like that up on the wall! They're always worrying about me. They are such great parents sometime but they can be very-"

"Hermione!" Virginia shouted, suddenly feeling very ashamed at herself. Even if Hermione was her best friend, she was still a princess and it was very improper to yell at a princess. Hermione didn't mind that she had been shouted at and she stopped abruptly, staring at Virginia.

"Yes?" She asked simply, oblivious to the fact that she had been talking constantly for at least two minutes.

"Hermione, calm down. I'm sure it isn't Ron. I won't even mention his name again. You must calm down though. Now, is there something bothering you?" She stopped, hoping Hermione would tell her something.

"Well, I suppose I'm disappointed in myself for acting like such a fool. I am not acting anything like how a princess should. I was even thinking of sneaking out to see him. I wanted to break a rule to see a boy! And he's a peasant boy! I think I'm going insane! Am I just terrible? I don't even know why I'm beginning to do these things. Then of course, there is that feeling of utter loneliness. It's even when you're here with me. I'm obviously not truly alone but I just feel very empty inside. What is this? I feel so ridiculous for acting like this. I really shouldn't be doing things like this." Hermione took a deep breath and looked at the cloth resting in her lap. She looked back at Virginia, worry and helplessness in her eyes.

Virginia laughed. She couldn't stop and she knew that Hermione would be angry but Hermione had made Virginia think that she had some terrible problem. She was very happy that Hermione wasn't dying or something dreadful like that, but it was extremely hilarious that she was so worried about such a minor dilemma.

"Virginia! This isn't the least bit amusing at all! I don't see how you can laugh especially when you know how humiliated I am for even talking about this."

"Oh Hermione, I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to laugh, but you worry so much over such little things that I couldn't help it. Hermione, your problem is simple. I can't believe that I hadn't realized that you would go through this when you started telling me about Ron yesterday. You obviously care about him a lot and this is why these things are happening to you. You simply have to talk to him again. I'm sure you will feel perfectly fine after you do." Hermione tried to object but Virginia wouldn't let her. "Hermione, you have to trust me on this! I've been through this before. Don't you remember Thomas?"

Hermione thought for a second. Thomas had been one of the stable hands that had worked in the castle two years ago. Virginia had been very smitten with him. She had talked Hermione's ears off about how handsome and kind he was. They had become friends and Virginia talked to him a lot after her work was finished. Every time she would return from talking to him, she would be simply gushing with happiness. If she didn't speak to him for a few days, it seemed as if her heart had broken into a million pieces and Hermione had to comfort her and tell her that they would be able to speak again very soon. However, by the end of the year, he was courting one of the chambermaids and Virginia was left behind.

Hermione nodded to show Virginia that she remembered.

"See? I've done this before. I know how it feels. I think Ron is a sensible young man and if he really is all that stuff you keep saying, he'll seek you out sometime so that he can speak with you in private. And don't worry about sounding dumb when you're talking to me about this. I'm a good friend. I won't make fun of you about it. Well, at least not right now." Hermione smiled and, putting her sewing on the floor, gave Virginia a giant of a hug.

Hermione was about to reply when they heard footsteps on the stairs. Virginia quickly rushed back to her seat to continue mending the clothing while Hermione picked up the cloth again and went about finishing Ron's hair. They exchanged a last glance and a smile across the room at each other before the door opened.

"Hermione dear," It was the king, "oh, you're working on another embroidery? That's good. I'd like to see it when it's finished." He seemed to be trying to avoid talking about something. Hermione tried to help.

"Was there something you wanted to ask me father?" Though her parents had always been a little distant from her, Hermione still tried to love them and treat them with the respect they deserved.

"Ah, yes, I did actually want to speak to you about something. Would you mind following me? Sorry to take you away from your conversation with your lady-in-waiting." Hermione cringed at his informality toward Virginia, who her father had known for many years, as he stepped back out the door.

"Sorry Virginia, I suppose I will have to talk to you about this later. Try not to miss me too much." Hermione put her embroidery away and, giving Virginia a kiss on the forehead (she was almost a sister to Hermione after all), she left the room and followed her father down the stairs.

"How have you been lately? I have not had a chance to speak with you often enough." The king said, treating Hermione very formally, not at all like a daughter. She supposed this was because he had never learned how exactly to be a true father. He had always been too worried about protecting her.

"I've been fine. I think I may need some new books soon. I'm almost finished reading the 'History of House Elves'. You know father, it's a very sad thing that those elves had to go through. Did you know that in the year 700 A.D.-"

"That's nice dear." The king said quickly. Hermione looked very miffed but decided not to complain about not being listened to. "I really wanted to talk to you about marriage." He started again. They had reached the dining hall. When Hermione heard what he had said, she stopped suddenly, not believing that he had said the word marriage. He couldn't have meant that he wanted Hermione to get married.

"Marriage?" She asked weakly.

"Yes, your eighteenth birthday is coming up in two weeks and I felt that I should inform you about your marriage status."

"I have a marriage status?" Hermione asked, thinking that she'd probably rather not know.

"You see, honey, darling," he was defiantly avoiding the subject now, "when you were first born, your mother and I decided that the best thing for your future would be if you were put into an arranged marriage. We wanted to make sure that you chose a decent person. After all, when I die, this man that you marry will be king and if you happened to make the wrong choice-"

"I can see you have a lot of faith in my ability to act like a normal human being." Hermione interrupted tartly.

"Pumpkin, you didn't let me finish. We never thought that you would be unable of choosing for yourself. It just occurred to us that-"

"Father what if I fell in love with someone?" The comment had slipped out of Hermione's mouth. She hadn't been meaning to say it. It had crossed her mind for a split second and before she could stop herself, she voiced her opinion. She decided that the blank expression on her father's face meant that he didn't know what to say. He would listen to her now. "Well, what if I did fall in love? What would you do? Is it or is it not my choice to decide whom I will get married to? I will always respect your opinions but I will not always agree with them. I refuse to marry someone that I can not love and that is final."

"But Hermione, dearest, honey, your mother and I were in an arranged marriage and look how we turned out. We love each other and we love you. What more could you ask for?"

"Maybe I would believe in doing an arranged marriage if you showed your love for others more often father. This discussion is over." And with that, Hermione left the hall, storming outside, not completely sure of where she was headed.

* * * *

Harry and Ron were still standing outside the castle. Ron hadn't gotten the nerve to even cross over the drawbridge yet. He had been very eager to go across but then he had started thinking of all the things that could go wrong and he held himself back. It hadn't been long since they arrived so he hadn't wasted too much time but the longer he waited out here, the more courage he was losing.

"Come on Ron, remember the plan?" Harry reminded, trying to encourage his friend. "Go in, find Rose, and give her the flowers! There can't be too many milkmaids named Rose so it should be easy to find her." When Ron mumbled something incoherent under his breath and didn't move, Harry was forced to take drastic measures. He grabbed one of Ron's long arms and pulled, hard. Ron was forced to stumble along behind Harry. He didn't object to getting pulled along. Harry was, after all, doing this for him.

"You're sure that she'll like these flowers?" Ron asked for the millionth time, now walking voluntarily.

"Ron! I'm positive!" Harry said in an exasperated voice. They walked toward what looked like the milking barn. "Remember, just go in, look confident, and talk to her!" Ron looked pale, very pale but he nodded anyway and, taking a deep breath, stepped forward.

The barn was huge. There were hundreds of stalls, each with a cow that was either eating or being milked. Ron sighed. Now the problem wouldn't be what he would say to Rose when he found her, but how in the world he would find her in this place. He decided to ask the nearest milkmaid he saw. This happened to be a young girl of about thirteen. She appeared to be working very hard but Ron was in desperate need of help so he decided to risk getting smacked for bothering her.

"Excuse me fair maiden," he said, his voice shaking. The girl turned from her work. When she saw Ron her eyes grew as wide as saucers and she began to blush. Being a thirteen-year-old girl and being called a fair maiden by a handsome man is a big deal.

"Y-yes sir?"

"I was wondering if you knew a pretty lady who works here and goes by the name Rose." Ron hadn't noticed that the girl had a glazed happy look on her face as he talked to her.

"No sir. I am not sure who that is sir." She said, her voice misty. Ron frowned, his hope dropping a little.

"Maybe I heard her name wrong. I'll describe her to you. She has brown hair that is kind of puffy, and deep chestnut eyes. She's much shorter than I am. She's very kind and," Ron realized how little he knew about Rose. "Er, are you sure there isn't a Rose here?" This was when the girl noticed the flowers in his hands and her heart seemed to sink. The girl shook her head sadly.

Ron finally realized why the girl must have been acting so weird around him. He smiled and blushed a little himself. No one had ever found him attractive before and the thought that someone might was a little odd. He smiled down at the flowers. Rose wouldn't miss one flower from the bunch that Harry had gotten. He pulled the most elegant and beautiful pink rose out. He then bent down next to the cow, which mooed loudly, and extended his hand to give the flower to the girl.

"What's your name?" He asked, as she stared at the gift he was offering. She seemed to have forgotten the answer as her ears began to burn red.

"Um, Elizabeth sir." She said finally, taking the flower from his hand gratefully. "Thank you sir."

"Call me Ron." Before she could say anything else, Ron had leaned in and given her a kiss on the cheek. "And thank you for your help. I'm sure I'll find her somewhere in here. If you see a girl that looks like her, it would be kind of you to direct her my way." Elizabeth turned bright red and he smiled, turning away. He was very happy to have done something nice for someone and he was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't pay attention to who was inside the barn along with him.

"Ron?" A small voice called from behind him. He turned around and there, standing very still and looking as if she had tears in her eyes, was Hermione. She had witnessed the scene that had taken place and she was very touched by it.

"Rose. I'm so happy to, er, what I mean is," Ron closed his eyes and tried not to hit himself for sounding like such an idiot. "Good morning, Rose."

She smiled. "Good morning. What you did for her was very sweet Ron." She said, stepping forward so she could see him better in the poorly lit barn. Her voice still sounded thick. Ron blushed and looked at his hands where he noticed the flowers.

"Oh, Rose, um, these are for you." He said quickly, stepping forward to give her the flowers.

* * * *

Elizabeth watched silently from her stall. Her eyes were wide with surprise. The girl he was talking to certainly was not called Rose. Being the smart girl she was, Elizabeth didn't say anything to the two. She wasn't supposed to be listening to their conversation after all. Besides, she was sure that Ron didn't know of Hermione's true identity and she wouldn't want to break his heart. Peasants simply couldn't fall in love with nobility. It just wasn't right. She turned and went back to her work, hoping that no one else would notice whom the princess was conversing with.

* * * *

Hermione looked at the small pink roses in Ron's hand and she felt very sad indeed. She knew she would have to talk to her father about her 'marriage status' some time and Ron wasn't helping her feel better about the situation. If he just wasn't so darn sweet and cute and nice. Hermione sighed. She still hadn't taken the flowers from Ron and he was beginning to look a little worried.

"Ron, they're beautiful." She took the roses finally and smiled at him. "Thank you." She said, her voice getting thick again. She probably wouldn't even be able to talk to Ron if she got married to someone. He wasn't a noble after all. Her husband would probably get jealous if she liked to talk to Ron more than him, which would probably be the case.

"Come with me. I wanted to speak with you." Hermione gently took his hand, pulling him out of the barn. She brought them to a large building made of light gray stone. They walked inside and Ron instantly realized that it was a library. He briefly wondered why she didn't have to work right now but he didn't say anything. If he got to spend more time with her, he wouldn't complain.

"I usually don't come in here because I, er, have to work a lot but I simply adore the library. It's peaceful and quiet, just lovely. Besides, no one ever comes in here so we will be able to talk in peace with out being interrupted. So, um," Now that she finally had her chance to talk to him, she wasn't all too sure of what to say. She really didn't know much about him at all besides the fact that he lived in Ellia, he was a peasant, and his name was Ron. None of these things were very important.

"How have you been for the last, er, day?" Ron asked awkwardly after a while.

"Oh, I've been fine. My father is making me a little angry but it isn't that bad. I'm sure everyone becomes a little cross with their parents once in a while." She said cheerfully, though Ron could see in her eyes that she wasn't telling him something.

"If you don't mind me asking," Ron said, "what made you so angry at your father?"

"Oh, he informed me today that I am already in an arranged marriage. I won't be able to choose who I marry now and the worst thing is he doesn't seem to care what I think about the situation."

"I thought only royals were in arranged marriages. I think that's terrible. I never knew that happened in our class. I've never talked to my father about it. Well, I've never really talked to my father about much of anything, come to think of it." Ron said, a little disappointed with his father for not being as good of a dad as he should have been.

"You don't talk to your father?" Hermione asked. Ron shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's terrible not to be able to talk to your parents about things. My parents are the same way with me. Well, if you can't talk to your parents, you can always talk to me. We should set up a certain time and place where we could meet each other. It would be much easier to do this if we got organized. I'm sorry I came late today. I would have been in the barn early but the king was speaking with me." This wasn't entirely false and that fact made it easier for Hermione to lie, though she still felt terrible about doing so. She wanted to be truthful with Ron but she knew that now wouldn't be the right time.

"That's a good idea. You're sure that won't have to work during the time we set up?"

"I'm positive. I'll work something out. Is your mother nice? Mine isn't as good as I felt she should be but she tries as hard as she can." Ron smiled sadly.

"I never met my mother. She died in childbirth. She was a beautiful person though. When my father used to talk to me he would tell me all about her. You know," Ron realized suddenly, "I've never talked to anyone about this except for my best friend, Harry. I didn't notice until right now."

"I'm happy that you told me. I like listening to you and I'm happy you don't mind me talking so much. My father doesn't like listening to me go on about the books I read. A lot of them are interesting if he would just let me tell him I'm sure he would be happy that he hadn't interrupted me." Hermione sighed.

"You can tell me about the books you read. I'd be glad to listen. I don't read much myself so whatever you talk about will be new to me. I'm sure it's very interesting."

"Oh it is!" Hermione took a risk and decided to tell him about the house elves. "The book I'm reading right now is a history about house elves. Did you know that in 700 A.D. the house elves got their name? They hadn't worked in houses or anything like that before. People started capturing them and making them their slaves. Now, it's just common place for them to work for humans."

"That's very sad. I never knew that." Ron said, actually very interested. (A/N: He's only interested because he hasn't heard her rave about it for days on end…otherwise he'd be groaning right now)

"Yes, and they don't get paid for their work either." Hermione responded with sadness in her voice. "It's really terrible what those poor little elves have to go through." Ron smiled. 'Rose' was so kind hearted, always thinking about others before herself.

Ron suddenly remembered what Hermione had told him about very early in their conversation. She was already arranged to marry someone, not like this bothered him in any way. (A/N: yeah right) He just didn't want her to have to marry someone mean. Or, so he told himself. Either way, he wanted to bring up the subject again.

"Do you know who your father is going to make you marry?" He asked. Hermione was surprised by the abrupt change in subject but she didn't hesitate in responding.

"No. He didn't tell me. I wouldn't let him. I simply won't marry someone that I don't know. I suppose I'm old fashion but I would like to fall in love with someone before I marry him. I assume father will be calling me to talk to him about it soon though."

"Oh, yes." Ron's heart sank a little. "I'm sure the man you marry will be fine. Once you meet him, you'll probably be happy that he was the one chosen for you. I guess it is fate. Maybe you're supposed to fall in love with him and you don't even know it."

"Maybe, but I don't really believe in fate much. It's not practical to believe in fate, or destiny, or any of those things. You can't prove-"

"But how do you prove love?" Ron asked quickly, knowing he was interrupting her and hoping she wouldn't get angry. She was listening so he went on. "I mean, if I understand what you're saying, you only believe in things that can be proven and it's impossible to prove that love exists? How do you know it's there?"

Hermione smiled, he was good at arguing his case all right. "You have a point Ron. Maybe fate is real but until fate shows itself to me, I won't believe it. If you show me something that helps prove fate is real, I'll believe you."

"You've got a deal. What do I get if I win the bet?" Ron grinned.

"Oh so this is a bet now Ron? I didn't know we were betting anything on this. But if you win, I'll let you have the satisfaction of-" There was a knock at the door, very unusual for a place that was hardly ever visited. Hermione turned to see if anyone was coming inside. If it was her father, she would be in a lot of trouble for not only talking to a peasant in an empty library ('Who knows what they could have been doing.') but for also leaving halfway through their conversation. No one entered but whoever it was knocked on the door again. She got up to see who wanted access to the library.

Before she reached the door, Ron said, "We'll meet here, at half past noon tomorrow. If that's alright with you." Hermione nodded and opened the door. Elizabeth, the milkmaid, stood behind it, the rose she had received was tucked delicately behind her ear. She looked apologetic, knowing she must have interrupted them and began to speak.

"Rose, the ki-I mean, your father is looking for you. He might get angry if he sees that you are not working. You know he'll report you to the king. I didn't want you to get into trouble." Then, she did something that surprised Ron, she bowed to Hermione and left the room quickly.

"I'm sorry Ron. I'll have to go. I'll see you tomorrow at half past noon." She quickly walked back to Ron, kissing him on the nose and said a quick goodbye before leaving Ron to see himself out. Ron smiled. Tomorrow couldn't come too soon.

A/N: I'm done can you believe it? I am so sorry this took such a completely long time to get out. I tried and tried and tried to get this out sooner but ideas weren't coming and I had plenty of homework to do. I hope this suffices for a while. I'm not sure when the 4th will be out. There should only be a few more chapters until the end. Again, sorry to make you wait. Until the next chapter, happy reading and r2r!!