NOTE: I'm going to be away for a few days, and so unable to update, but I'll leave with this sneak preview of Chapter Five.  Upon my return, the whole Chapter Five will replace this small bit of it.

*          *          *

"H-hi, Hermione," Ron said nervously.

            "Hello, Ron," she replied dryly.  Ron gulped.

            "Is something the matter?"  Hermione asked; Ron seemed upset about something, but it was difficult to say what exactly.

            "N-no…." Ron said, fidgeting with his hands.  "Well, actually, now that you mention it…yeah, yes, there is something that's been bugging me."  Hermione sat expectantly for a moment, then spoke.

            "Well…?"

            "Well?"

            "Well what is it, Ron?"  Hermione thought she came off a bit harsh, but Ron's beating around the bush was starting to annoy her.

            "I…D'you think it might be ok if you, I don't know, turned around, or something, while I spoke—so I couldn't see your face?  I have a lot to say, and I need as few distractions as possible."  Hermione sighed and nodded her head, wondering this could possibly be about and feeling slightly uneasy about the whole matter.  She turned her chair around so that she faced the room's walls; Ron continued.  "Thanks."

            "No problem.  Now, I don't mean to be rude, but will you kindly get on with it?  I do have some Prefect materials to look over…"

            "Yes, I'm sorry," Ron said, turning pink.  "It's just…well…this is so unbelievably difficult…ok, here goes.  Hermione: I fancy you.  And as more than a friend, I mean."  Hermione's mouth dropped; never in a million years would she have even dreamed that that's what this talk was going to be about.  She started to turn around, but Ron stopped her.  "No!  Stay where you are!  If you face me now I'll never get this out.  Good, that's it.  Right.  Yes.  I fancy you.  I care for you deeply as a friend—you know that—and I would never intentionally do anything to harm that friendship…I mean, you know, outside of that Scabbers business…" Ron started turning a darker shade of red.  "The point is, I don't want to mess up what we have.  But I feel how I feel, and I can't help it—you're everything I could ever want, you're beautiful and brilliant and… every girl I see, I can't think of her without first putting her to a measuring stick with you as the perfect ten.  You can turn around now, or get up and leave, or whatever," Ron said to the ground.

            But Hermione did not move; she did not turn around, and she did not get up.  She sat there, motionless.  How was she supposed to react to an announcement like that?  Was she supposed to fly into his arms?  Was she supposed to turn up her nose, disgusted at the idea?  She didn't feel like either of those two were right, and yet could not decide on a decent alternative.

            "I… Wow, Ron, that sure was something," she said as she turned to face him.

*          *          *

            Ron's head was throbbing; he could feel the blood rapidly thumping across his temple, burning up with embarrassment and nervousness.

            "I…Wow, Ron, that sure was something."  Hermione turned her chair around again; Ron smiled weakly in reply.

            "Yeah…"

            He was half hoping Hermione would jump into his lap, half hoping she'd slap this foolishness out of his head, and half hoping he found some way of pretending like this was all some joke before things got too far out of hand.  As he was realizing this made three halves, Hermione spoke.

            "I…I don't know, Ron…what to say, I mean, I don't know what to say…you fancy…me?"  Ron could hear his heart beating in his chest; it sounded almost like it was outside the room.

            "Yes," Ron replied.  The banging inside Ron's head was growing steadily in volume.  But Hermione then made an odd sort of face at him, like she was concentrating on something.

            "Do you hear that?" she asked.

            "Hear what?" asked Ron, the clanging of his head now nearly deafening.

            "You mean you don't hear that awful noise?" she asked incredulously—and then Ron realized that the reason the banging had sounded like it was outside of the room was that it was outside of the room.

            "No, I definitely hear that.  Let's go check it out."  Ron sprung up, and Hermione followed him.  They quickly made their way out of the room, towards the source of the clatter—and when they found it, they stood traumatized in utter shock: the Gryffindor Common Room had been utterly smashed, looking more like a shack destroyed by a category-five hurricane than the stately lounge it had once been.