Disclaimer: Not one single bit of anything related to HP is mine. It's all J.K. Rowling's. No one sue me.

A/N: Well, here it is folks. The last chapter. I was going to wait a little longer, since I just updated recently, but since I love you guys, I decided to finish it. Consider it an early Christmas present.

Quick Re-Cap: After Harry and Hermione were able to patch things up, and Harry convinced Hermione to talk to Ron. But he also told her something else...

Chapter 14: Happily Ever After

Hermione sat in shock, blown away by what Harry had told her. Harry on the other hand was grinning like an idiot, apparently very pleased with himself for delivering this bit of news. Finally, Hermione managed to speak.

"W-w-what did you just say?" She croaked.
Harry grinned even wider. "Why are you so surprised? It's a wonder you never noticed it before now. Ron loves you Hermione. He's loved you for a long time now. Can you really say that you never noticed it?"

"I-I-I had thought that possibly- maybe- once, but I thought that it was only because I-" She stopped in mid-sentence, realizing that she had said too much.

"Because why?"

"Because I had hoped that-"

"You hoped..." Harry, said, egging her on.

"Because I had hoped it was true!" Hermione said in a rush, going a lovely shade of pink.

"Ha! I knew it!" Harry shouted jumping up out of his seat. "I knew it!"

"Shhhh! Harry! Shut up!" Hermione squealed, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him down. "Please!"

"You like Ron too, don't you Hermione?! I knew it all along. All your bickering since our first year. And the Yule Ball last year. And now this! It all fits!"

"Harry, shut up! Look, let's go back to the common room and talk."

"Okay, okay, fine. Let's go," Harry said, grabbing Hermione and dragging her all the way back to the Gryffindor common room. Once inside, Harry marched Hermione over to a chair, pushed her into it, then sat across from her and said, "you have five minutes before I go try to find Ron and tell him this."

"Why are you going to tell him? Why can't I?"

Harry gaped at Hermione. "You-you mean you're going to tell him?"

"Of course I am. How can I not? I was being so horrible to him without even realizing that he was just trying to make it all right. I mean, you said it yourself, Harry. This all fits. It explains why we've been picking on each other since we started coming to Hogwarts. It completely explains the Yule Ball episode. And most importantly, it explains why he spied on me. He thought that I liked Krum instead of him and he wanted to prevent it. So-"

"Do you?" Harry interjected.

"Do I what?"

"Like Krum?"

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "The only reason that I had been seeing him was that I thought that I would never have a chance with Ron. Only when I was in Hogsmeade, all I could think about was Ron! It was when we began to leave that I decided that I had to tell him. But then-"

"-Then we spied on you." Harry said slowly and Hermione nodded.

"I guess you didn't here me from where you were hiding. I had just told Krum that I couldn't see him anymore, and he had said he understood...next thing I know I find you and Ron in a bush. How am I supposed to react to that? I-I panicked. I thought that maybe you had overheard me and I was so afraid that Ron wouldn't care that I had feelings for him, that I got upset with you two so he wouldn't have to think about it. To throw suspicion."

"Well, it worked," Harry said breathlessly. "Probably more than you figured it would."

Hermione nodded. "That's for sure." She said, then fell silent.

They were quiet for a minute, both thinking about what would come next. Finally breaking the silence, Harry asked, "So...you're gonna tell him?"

Hermione looked up at Harry, smiled, then slowly nodded. "Where is he now?"

Harry shrugged. "He could be anywhere really. This is usually the time of day where he wonders aimlessly through the castle."

"Then I better go find him," Hermione said getting up.

"Yeah," Harry said, standing up as well. The he smiled and said. "Go get him Hermione."

"You got it," she said laughing. "And Harry-" she stood still for a moment then threw her arms around him. "-Thanks."

"No problem," he said, hugging her back. "You know me, always ready to help my friends."

Hermione laughed as she let go. "Well, wish me luck," she said turning and walking out of the common room.

"You won't need it-but good luck!" Harry called after her.

Smiling to himself, Harry started up the stairs to his dormitory. He felt like he was walking on air. Hermione was his friend again, she was going to try to patch things up with Ron, and he had the feeling that there would soon be a new couple walking around Hogwarts. Suddenly, Harry had an idea. He raced up the last flight of stairs to the dormitory and ran over to the trunk at the foot of his bed. After opening the lock and shifting the contents inside around, he found what he was looking for- his Invisibility Cloak.

"I've already spied once," he said aloud as he slipped on the cloak and pulled the hood over his head. "What would it hurt to do a little more?"

**********

Moving quickly under the cloak, Harry was able to catch Hermione before she got too far ahead of him.

Hermione began searching for Ron, with Harry trailing behind. Since dinner had just ended, Harry had to be extra careful not to knock into anyone and cause confusion.

After an hour of looking everywhere from the Kitchens to the Astronomy Tower, Harry began to grow tired. Where was Ron? It was getting late and Hermione still hadn't found him

"Where could he be?" Hermione wondered aloud, coming down one of the staircases. She stopped halfway along a corridor and leaned against a window ledge to look outside. Harry was ready to give up and was just sneaking past Hermione, when suddenly, Hermione straightened up and gasped. For a split second, Harry thought she had heard him, but then he realized that she was squinting out the window. Then she turned and began to run down the hall. Bewildered, Harry gazed out the window was well and then he began to chase after Hermione. Even though it had been getting dark and hard to see outside, Harry had seen what Hermione had seen. A figure that both of them would know anywhere. So he and Hermione went out to get Ron.

**********

Ron was over by the lake, leaning against a tree and looking out at the dark water. As Hermione and an invisible Harry grew closer, they were able to see him more clearly. Ron had his eyes closed and looked somewhere between loneliness and depression. It pained Harry to see one of his best friend's look like this and he could tell by the look on Hermione's face that she was upset by it also.

As they got nearer, Hermione slowed to a walk with Harry creeping closely behind her. She stopped about five feet behind Ron and just watched him intently.

"Ron?" She whispered, so quiet that even Harry barley heard her.

"Ron?" She called out a bit louder, taking a step forward. This time Ron heard her, turning his head slowly and double-taking as he saw who it was.

"Hermione?" Ron breathed, as he turned to face her, his eyes wide. He was clearly amazed that she was there.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione moved closer to Ron, who just looked on in disbelief. Forgetting that they already couldn't see him, Harry hid behind some nearby trees.

"As long as I don't make a career out of this," he thought to himself.

Hermione stopped in front of Ron and looked closely at him. Then she reached out a hand and gently touched his cheek.

"Is that where I-?" She asked, referring to the bruise on Ron's cheek that was finally fading since the night she struck him.

Ron smiled a bit and nodded. "Yeah. Looked a lot worse last week."

Hermione grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

Ron shook his head. "Don't be. I deserved it."

"No. No you didn't. You haven't deserved anything that I've done to you this past week. I shouldn't have been so hard on you."

"But I shouldn't have been so stupid. I really should have trusted you. I'm sorry Hermione. If I had known what spying would've gotten me, I wouldn't have done it."

Ron took a small step forward and looked Hermione straight in the eye before continuing.
"And had I known how much I would've hurt you, I definitely would've thought twice about it. Because I never, ever, want to hurt you, Hermione. That's the last thing I want to-"

"Shh," Hermione said quietly, putting a finger to Ron's lips to stop him. "It's okay, Ron. Really." She smiled at him. "You can stop rambling now."

Ron's ears went pink. "Sorry," he said, embarrassed. "Just trying to get my point across."

"And what exactly is your point?" Hermione whispered devilishly.

"You really wanna know?" Ron said, cocking an eyebrow at her.

Hermione nodded.

Ron stared at her a moment before he found the nerve and grabbed Hermione's hand. They quickly weaved their fingers together. Ron reached out for Hermione's shoulder with his other hand and leaned in toward her mouth. Her empty left hand came in under his arm and intercepted his head.

"No! Don't stop him!" Harry thought frantically, still watching eagerly from behind the tree.

Instead, Hermione held Ron's chin softly and guided him toward her lips. She kissed him softly. Slowly, she moved from his lower to upper lip. Her hand let go of his chin and she brought it up to the back of his neck, running her fingers through Ron's hair and leaving her thumb on his ear. Then she backed away.

From behind the tree, Harry had to stifle a laugh- Ron was smiling pretty big.

"So," Ron said, "I take it you're not mad at me anymore."

"No, I'm not mad anymore," Hermione said smiling up at him.

"Ok, good." Ron said grinning, as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again, this time a lot harder. And with a lot more passion.

"Oh, I wonder how I'm going to get used to this," Harry said aloud, stepping out from under the cloak and over to Ron and Hermione.

Surprised and embarrassed, they quickly pulled apart at the sound of Harry's voice.

"No, no, don't let me stop you two," Harry said laughing.

"Harry! What are you doing out here?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "Just wanted to see that everything would work." Raising an eyebrow, he added, "and I can see it did."

"Come to spy on us, did you?" Ron said in mock outrage. "I should slap you for that."

They all laughed as Hermione hit Ron on the arm, and as Ron grabbed Hermione around the waist and kissed her again in retaliation.

"C'mon you love birds, there'll be plenty of time for that later." Harry said rolling his eyes. "Let's go back to the castle."

"Coming, Harry," said Hermione, squirming in Ron's grip.

"Right behind you, Harry." Ron added.

As he turned, Harry heard Ron say to Hermione, "I love you."

Harry stopped in his tracks and turned back around to see Ron smiling at Hermione, who was back in his arms with her eyes wide. Hermione glanced quickly at Harry, who gave the thumbs up, then looked back at Ron.

"I love you too," she said smiling.

They grinned widely at each other for a moment, kissed, then walked up to join Harry, who slung an arm over both their shoulders, and together the three of them began to walk back up to school.

"So, is everything okay now?" Ron asked, looking at Harry and Hermione. "I mean, is everything back to normal?"

"What do you mean by normal?" Hermione asked from Harry's left.

"Well, are you done being mad at us for no reason?"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"What?" You didn't have to get so mad at us," said Ron, leaning over to look at Hermione.

Hermione stopped walking, shrugged off Harry's arm, and stood in front of Ron.

"So, are you saying that I was being unreasonable?" She asked heatedly.

"Maybe," Ron said crossing his arms. "What are you doing to do about it?"

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do about it Ronald Weasley," said Hermione, poking him in the chest. "I'll- what are you laughing at, Harry?" She asked distractedly.

Harry was clutching his side and was almost on the ground, he was laughing so hard.

"What's so funny, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Seeing you two arguing again," Harry said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"What about it?"

"Now, everything's back to normal."

-:- THE END -:-

A/N: ::Takes a bow:: I'd just like to thank the academy...and all of my reviewers! You guys were the best. You really gave me the support and courage to keep this story going. Thank you so much! And because I love you, I promise I'll start working really hard...and try to make a sequel to this story. Or maybe I'll try something else. Whatever it is, I hope you like my writing enough to read any more of my stories...if I make them. Thank you again! That's a wrap!