AN: What do you think so far? Am I making them suffer too much? Should there be hentai? I'm thinking of it, but I don't know...I've never written a Harry Potter fanfic with hentai before. In fact, I've never FINISHED a Harry Potter fanfic before!

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AN: Chapter 2! Yay! Okay, not really. Hehe...prepare for more suffering! Mwahahaha! And this isn't really chapter 2. It's part of chatper 1. ^^

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine, but please don't sue.

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Ron trudged to the Gryffindor common room just as the feast ended. Hardly anyone noticed him as he walked in with a sullen look on his face. When the houses separated and he said the new password (fiddlesticks) to the portrait of the Fat Lady, everyone noticed him. They gave him looks as they went into their own rooms. Ginny said good night to Colin and walked over to her brother. Harry followed.

"Do you mind if I talk to him alone?" Ginny asked Harry quietly.

Harry gave Ron a look and nodded. He walked away. Ron looked up with a small smile at his sister. "You're okay?" he asked.

Ginny nodded. "Yes. But no need to change the subject already, Ron. What happened? I know it has something to do with Hermione."

Ron sighed and raked a hand through his had-been-tidy red hair. Then he launched into an explanation of all that had happened in McGonagall's room. "So," he began to conclude, "she's not speaking to me."

"That's not much of a change," Ginny muttered. But she looked at him sympathetically and put a comforting hand on his. "You have to tell her, Ron, sooner or later."

"I know, but the words just get stuck. I can't say it to her..."

"Yes you can. Don't worry, you'll find the words someday."

"Yeah, but will it be too late?" Ginny and Ron sat in silence, then Ron stood up. "I'm going to go to bed. Good night."

"You, too," Ginny said. Ron stood up and walked into the dormitory. Practically all the boys were still up, including Neville Longbottom.

"I'm not in a mood to talk right now," he told them. Everyone nodded and then got into bed, building conversations of their own. He saw Harry give him a look, but chose to ignore it and went to sleep.

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Later that night, Ron found he couldn't sleep. He sat up in bed, then stood up and walked outside. Apparating (though he wasn't allowed to yet), he managed to arrive outside in Hagrid's garden. Knowing that Hagrid would understand, he picked two small flowers. A red rose and a pale-pink tulip. He apparated again...but this time into the seventh-year girls' dormitory.

Ron found Hermione sleeping in the corner in a four-poster bed. He knelt and set the flowers in her hand and she unconsciously closed her fingers around them. Ron lowered his head and kissed her forehead after brushing a few strands of brown hair away. "I love you, Hermione," he whispered. There was no smile on his lips. His eyes were forlorn as he stood up. He apparated back into the boys' room before one of the girls could wake up and find him there.

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"Flowers from a secret admirer, Ms. Granger?" Snape asked coldly as he saw the two flowers in Hermione's hand as she read through the first chapter of their book for Defense Against the Dark Arts, where Snape finally was able to teach. (1)

Hermione remained quiet and gave him a glance, then turned back to her reading. He glared at her, then walked up and down to make sure everyone was reading. He hissed at the Gryffindors every now and then, but otherwise left the entire class alone.

Hermione glanced at the flowers. She had woken up in the morning to find them in her hands, though she didn't know how they got there. 'Surely not by Ron. He isn't allowed in the girls' dormitories...' Then she remembered who she was thinking about. Since when did Ron Weasley have a regard for rules. But he wouldn't leave flowers for her...would he?

She resumed her reading, looking every now and then at her floweres, but remaining otherwise completely focused.

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Ron looked back down at his book after Snape spoke to Hermione. 'Secret admirer...' That phrase seemed to make sense, though. He admired her and she had no idea it was him who left the flowers for her.

Harry gave him a look, but he ignored it, yet again, and continued reading. He didn't want to get on Snape's bad-side, right now. Actually, the problem was he did, but how far that would get him he didn't know. Besides, as much as he hated to admit it, Snape was a pretty good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"Mr. Weasley," Snape's voice barked. "Perhaps you would like to enlighten us on the first paragraph you read?" he asked.

Ron gulped.

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"Just because I answered one question wrong doesn't mean he has to give me a detention," Ron muttered to Harry as they left class.

Hermione had been extremely quiet. She averted her eyes from Ron's constantly whenever he looked at her. Harry had noticed, as well. He, too, remained quiet about it. "You did have a full fifteen minutes to read," Harry pointed out.

Ron scoffed. "So? It's not as though I don't know what I read. I just didn't remember the one question he asked."

"He asked you to tell us what you read," Harry said.

Ron's ears turned pink. He scowled. "And I did! But I forgot to mention ONE thing and he got mad!"

"Snape's always mad," Harry muttered. "C'mon, Ron. Enjoy the day. Winter Masquerade's coming up."

Ron felt his stomach tighten as he looked at Hermione, who had yet again looked away. Harry realized his mistake, because he began stammering about how boring it would be. "It's okay, Harry. Look, I have to get to class. See you later, eh?" He walked off in another direction.

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When Harry mentioned the Winter Masquerade, Hermione felt a sharp pain in her chest. 'Get over it, Hermione,' she scolded. But she couldn't. Despite their many arguments and ten breakups over the past three years, she had never missed a Masquerade with Ron. She couldn't stand to miss the next one. But she knew she would.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She did her best to smile. "I'm going to go talk to Professor McGonagall about our project. See you later, Harry."

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"Hey, idiot!" Seamus said, hitting Ron upside the head with his Divinition book. "How stupid can you be?! Why haven't you told her yet?!"

Ron rubbed his head and glared at Seamus, looking up from his notes. He was studying for their upcoming test in Potions. (They had a new teacher named Serpencia.) (2) "Ouch! Seamus!"

"You haven't answered my question. Why didn't you tell her?"

"I did!"

"Then why is she still mad?!"

Ron sighed and got into the details of the time he spent with Hermione in McGonagall's classroom. Then he explained what happened afterwards. "See? I did tell her! Or at leat I tried to!"

"You told her, but she didn't hear you. You're hopeless, Ron! How stupid can you be?"

"Shut up," Ron muttered. He stood up. "You don't understand."

"I understand enough! How could you not tell her that you love her?!" he practically yelled. Luckily, only a few Gryffindor boys who already knew of Ron's dilemma were there. They all gathered around to look at the two boys.

By now, Seamus had already stood up and was standing toe to toe with Ron. Both had fire in their eyes.

The Potions Master entered. "Please take out your quills and a piece of parchment and prepare for our test," he said, not looking up from a book he was reading. Ron and Seamus glared at each other and finally sat down.

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AN: Okay...shorter chapter. Actually, VERY short chapter. Maybe I should just combine those two. You know...maybe I will. Okay. Consider those two part of the first chapter. Hehe...hold on. I gotta make adjustments to the last few author notes then. ::types away making adjustments:: Done! Anyway...what'd you think so far? Oh, ya! Footnotes will be included at the end of this. It'll explain a few reasons for why I think what I think. Well, jya!

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