Author's Note: Hi everyone! Here is your 12th chapter!  I hope you enjoy it! Thank for the reviews!

                   I apologize for getting Ron and Hermione in a little tiff again … since they've probably gotten in a about a thousand this year already … but every relationship HAS to have a fight sooner or later. That's just what makes it stronger.

Summary: It is now sometime in APRIL. Hermione receives a letter from a certain boy and Ron gets a little miffed over it. 

Secrets Kept

Chapter 12

(Hermione's POV)

by happythoughts

~*~*~

          It was in the afternoon on a perfect, sunny April day.  Hermione was sitting in the window seat next to the open window, and a soft breeze was playing with her hair.  Occasionally, she would glance up from writing and look out of the window.  Here she had a perfect view of the Quidditch Field, and she could see the Gryffindor team practicing vigorously.  She continued scribbling in her diary. 

          Dear Diary,

                   It is absolutely beautiful outside.  I know I should be out there, but there are just so many people lolling around that I wouldn't be able to concentrate.  The common room is completely deserted and I am taking my chance at using its vacancy for some privacy. 

                   Ron and Harry are out at the Quidditch Field having practice. They're last match is coming up in May.  I'm so excited that they are in the final again! I've missed Quidditch so much.  Ron is an absolute asset to this team, since Wood has been gone.  He's incredible as a Keeper, I swear.  And for his first year on the team, he has done wonderful.  I'm so proud of him.

                   Wow.  I just realized how long it's been since the Valentine's Day dance. About two months. It's quite an accomplishment, don't you think?  That's when we started going together.  February 14th.  It's the easiest date to remember.  It's kind of a perfect day, isn't it?  That way we'll be able to celebrate our anniversary on the most loving day of the year.  That is … if we even make it … wait … stop it, Hermione.  You WILL make it. 

                   But now that I think about it, Ginny and Harry have been together since SUMMER! And there's about 3 or 4 months until summer! Well, if they can get that far, so can Ron and I.  It's wonderful to think about it.  And also, I remember that when Ron and I officially announced that we were going out, some people even muttered things like, "About time," or "Finally."  Have we really been that obvious about our feelings?  I hope not!

                   Well, I'm going to take a walk outside now and wait for Ron and Harry.  Talk to you soon. 

~Hermione

          Hermione shut her diary and walked over to her bag to place it back in there.  She stretched her arms and walked out of the common room. 

          As she walked out of the castle, she saw Ginny and Colin sitting together on the steps.  They were talking quietly.  Hermione knew not to disturb them, because she had an idea of what they were discussing.  Just a few weeks ago, Harry and Ginny had gotten in a fight for about two weeks about Ginny and Colin's relationship.  It seems that Harry had felt a little jealous (not that he was about to admit it) about Ginny spending more time with Colin than with him.  Ginny had been helping Colin every other day of the week with Charms, for he had been struggling with it for awhile. 

          So when Harry and confronted Ginny about it, she had gotten angry and told him that there was nothing to worry about, and that she was only helping Colin with his studies.  Even Colin had told Harry himself about it when Harry didn't believe Ginny.  It was only then when Harry started to believe him.  But it took him awhile to ask Ginny for his forgiveness. 

          Those were probably the hardest weeks for Ginny.  Almost every night she would come into Hermione's room and rant on and on about how Harry was being a prat and inconsiderate, and then afterwards she would dissolve into tears.  Hermione had had to use many drying spells on her robes from Ginny's tears.

          Hermione found herself in front of the lake by a tree.  She plopped herself down and stared at the lake, remembering last year how she had been saved from it by Viktor.  Now that she remembered about Viktor, she reminded herself that she had to write him back soon.  He had owled her about three days ago, apologizing that they hadn't been able to write each other, for he was busy with Quidditch. 

          "Hermione, wake up," said a voice in her ear.  She nudged him or her away from her shoulder and muttered something that sounded like, "Shut up."

          "C'mon, up you get," said the voice again.  This time, Hermione opened her eyes as she was hoisted to her feet.  Almost involuntarily, she placed her arms around him. 

          "Hey … Ron or Ginny wouldn't like this, now would he?"

          At these words, Hermione's eyes snapped open.  She found herself looking at Harry, who had a smirk on his face.  She let her arms fall off of his neck.  "Sorry, Harry. I didn't know that I had fallen asleep."

          "That's okay.  Ron just ran back up to the common room to find you," said Harry. "C'mon, let's go and find him before he starts panicking," said Harry exasperatedly. 

          Hermione nodded and followed him towards the steps leading to the oak doors.  When they arrived, Hermione sucked in her breath.  Ginny was still sitting with Colin and talking animatedly.  She felt Harry stiffen a little, but he was polite all the same.  "See you back up at the common room?" he asked her tentatively.

          "Yeah, sure.  I'll be up in a minute," said Ginny.  She waved at the two and went back to talking with Colin.  Hermione and Harry opened the doors and walked into the cool hallway. 

          "How was practice?" Hermione asked Harry.

          "It was great.  I think we've really got a chance at the cup again this year, with Ron on our team now," said Harry excitedly.

          "Yeah, he's wonderful, isn't he? I can't believe you're playing Slytherin again though.  I hope it's not too dirty," said Hermione with an afterthought.

          "Don't worry.  If Malfoy does anything I'm sure Ron'll do something drastic … as always," said Harry. 

~*~*~

          Ron took two steps at a time as he ran towards the common room to find Hermione.  He hadn't been able to see her all day; for she had unusually slept in and didn't attend breakfast was he was there.  Their practice had started right after lunch. 

          He reached the Fat Lady and breathlessly said the password (Win the Cup).  He trampled into the room and his eyes scanned the room for any sign of his girlfriend.  His grin fell when he noticed that she wasn't there.  She's probably in her dormitory, he thought to himself.  He debated whether or not to go into the dormitory, but he didn't think that Pavarti or Lavender would like that very much.  Instead he quickly ran upstairs to his own dormitory and changed out of his quidditch robes. 

          He ran downstairs again and looked for Hermione.  Again, she was not there. Where IS she? He thought.  He was beginning to panic.  Suddenly, he heard a rap at the window nearest him.  There was a brown owl tapping at the glass. Ron walked over to it casually and let the owl in. He took the letter from its beak and looked for the name on the envelope. 

          He was surprised to see it was for Hermione.  Who could be owling her? Then he remembered … Probably her parents. But when he examined the handwriting more closely, he noticed that it was a messy scrawl and he assumed that her parents probably had neat handwriting just like Hermione.  Who else could it be?

          He looked up when he heard the portrait door open and people talking.  He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Hermione, with Harry coming in behind her.  He saw him mutter something in Hermione's ear and then run upstairs.  Ron ran over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. 

          "I haven't seen you all day," he said to her.

          "I know.  I don't know what made me sleep in that late! I need to finish some homework--,"

          "Hermione, it's Saturday.  Can't you just take a break?" asked Ron hopefully.  He put on a pouting face.

          "Ron … I can't … stop with that face … who's that for?" she asked him, noticing the envelope in his hand. 

          Ron looked down at his right hand.  "Oh this? It's for you.  An owl just came here with it," he said.

          He saw Hermione's eyebrows arch in surprise.  "What's today? Saturday? That's odd… my parents don't usually send me mail except on Sundays," she said.  She took the letter from him and walked over to a chair in the corner of the room.  Ron followed her and sat down in front of her in a different chair.

          He watched her facial reaction as she read the letter. It went from bewilderment to blushing. WHY is she blushing?

          "Who's it from?" he demanded.

          Hermione looked up.  "Er … no one."

          "No one?" asked Ron.

          "Mmhmm! No one.  Nothing important."

          "Then why can't I see it?" he asked her.

          "Because. It's nothing, really, Ron.  Don't worry," said Hermione.  Was it his imagination, or was she avoiding eye contact?

          "Lemme see it," said Ron, while trying to grab it from her.

          "Ron, stop!" she argued.

          "C'mon!"

          "No!"

          "Yes!"

          "No!"

          By now Ron had Hermione's hands behind her back and he ripped the letter from them.  Unfortunately, he got only the bottom half the letter.  Very strong from quidditch training, he held her hands together with one hand and attempted to read the letter with the other, and Hermione screaming and kicking madly. 

          Ron could feel himself getting heated up.  "Ow, Ron! Stop, that HURTS!" said Hermione in pain.

          He felt himself let go of her, but he crumbled the paper and threw it at her feet.  "So. Writing love letters to each other, are you?"

          "What are you talking about?" asked Hermione, rubbing her hands.

          "That!" said Ron angrily, pointing at the crumpled piece of paper at her feet. 

          "It's just a friendly letter from him, Ron. Nothing to get hyped up about," said Hermione reasonably.

          "Oh yes, that's it. Just a friendly letter. 'I miss you,' , 'I miss our intimate conversations,' , 'I want to see you again this summer'," said Ron in a false high pitched voice. 

          "Ron … he's just a friend.  And the word intimate doesn't mean anything.  It means personal … I mean, they could be about anything.  Family problems … anything," said Hermione. 

          "And what's he talking about, I want to see you again this summer??" questioned Ron angrily.

          "He misses me Ron. It's just like one of your family members would want to see you over the summer because they haven't seen you for a whole school year," said Hermione.  She was sounding irritated by the second.

          "He obviously wants to do more than just SEE you this summer," said Ron hotly.

          "WHAT are you talking about, Ron?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

          "Tell me.  Has he sent you other letters like this one?"

          "What do you mean, like this one?"

          "It's obviously hinting something.  And you don't seem to be exactly disgusted by it either.  It seems to me that you would actually enjoy it," said Ron.

          "If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, Ron Weasley, you have one disgusting and foul mind," said Hermione in disgust. She crossed her arms.

          "I'm not the one who's giving you hints about it! For god's sake, you're only 15 years old!" exclaimed Ron angrily.

          "No Ron.  You're the one who is thinking of this friendly letter like it contains profanity.  I recall you telling Harry that he was sending your sister profanity by simply saying the word 'love' in it? Ah yes … that definitely is what I call profanity!" said Hermione.  She was beginning to get red in the face also.

          Ron mouthed wordlessly.  "That's DIFFERENT! I was surprised that my BEST FRIEND was going out with my little SISTER and both of them had decided not to tell me for a month! But now I find out that my girlfriend is sending love letters to her friend … or boy friend who lives in Australia!"

          "Kyle is NOT my boyfriend.  You're my boyfriend!"

          "Oh okay. So this is one of those flings, is it?" asked Ron.

          "What is your definition of 'fling', Ron?"

          "You're going to … you've become a … you're a scarlet woman!"

          To Ron's outrage, Hermione looked like she was about to burst out giggling.  Just then she had pursed her lips shut and he could see her shaking silently.  Her face was getting redder by the second. 

          "What?! What are you laughing at?" he asked her in fury.

          "Nothing! It's … it's that … WORD! Scar…scarlet wo … woman!" she said between breaths and laughing.

          Ron was furious.  How could she be laughing when they were getting in a fight? It was rude, really.  Very rude.  And what was wrong with the words 'scarlet woman' ? His mom said it all the time with girls that dressed badly or did bad things like this Kyle kid was implying. 

          "Hermione! Stop laughing! We're … we're supposed to be fighting! Hey … hey where're you going?" asked Ron.  Now she was walking away from him, up to her dormitory, still laughing.  Ron dropped his arms and looked around the room.  To his embarrassment, he realized that he had the attention of everyone in the common room. 

          "So what? This is none of your business. Go back to work!" said Ron angrily, and shooed them away. 

          "It's SATURDAY!" Ron heard Fred call out.

          "Shut up Fred!" he called back to him, and walked up to the boys' dormitory.

~*~*~

(Hermione's POV)

          Dear Diary,

                   You won't believe this.  Ron is really getting angry over nothing.  Not angry … mad is more like it.  Yes, that's it.  He's gone mad.  Really.  Wait until you hear this story.

                   I had just come back from my walk with Harry and Ron came up to me and gave me a letter.  At first I thought that it was from my parents, but it couldn't have been because they usually only mail me on Sundays.  So, I took it from him and walked over to a chair and he followed me. 

                   Well, you'll never guess whom it was from.  Kyle! Can you believe it? I still can't.  I can't even believe that he remembered me! Well, when I read it, I was flattered really.  He was ever so nice, telling me how much he missed me and how much he thought of me and telling me that he hoped to see me this summer. 

                   I guess it must have shown on my face because Ron started asking me whom it was from.  And when I wouldn't tell him, because I knew he would get upset, he started getting impatient and tried to grab it from me.  Well, I never knew he was as strong as he is because he grabbed my two hands and put them behind my back so I couldn't do anything! He ripped the letter from me (how rude!) and then read the end of the letter, where it just happened to say all of those flattering words. 

                   I never knew that he could get worked up over just a friendly little letter! You should have seen his face! It turned from the color of parchment to red faster than a traffic light! Then he started yelling at me and telling me that Kyle was HINTING something from the letter! It was quite disgusting what he was thinking, and I'm not going to waste room in this diary by telling you it, but he told me that I was too young! I mean, I know I am, but I don't need him telling me what to do! The thought of him actually thinking that Kyle would imply something like that makes me sick! I wonder if he does wonder about it? OH GOSH HERMIONE! EW EW EW!

                   Anyway, then he called me a "scarlet woman" and I just couldn't hold my laughter in! I mean, really, scarlet woman! That is so bizarre! He told me in fourth year that that is what his mom calls woman or girls like that, but I just think it is the funniest term I have ever heard! So he noticed that I had started laughing and he was getting mad and he said, "Hey, stop it! We're supposed to be fighting here!" He actually said, "We're supposed to be …" like he planned it out or something! How weird.  So I just walked up here and started writing in you. I keep breaking into giggles every now and then. 

                   So tomorrow I'm just going to act like I'm ignoring him.  He's going to have to apologize to me for accusing Kyle of implying that, which he most certainly was not trying to do.  I hope. Scarlet woman.  Honestly.

         

~*~*~