Ron and Hermione had found the statue hiding the secret passage that led to Hogsmeade shortly after leaving the wonderful dream scene that was so rudely interrupted. They traveled down the long corridor for a while, when they came to the basement of Honeydukes. They then put on Malfoy's invisibility cloak, which they picked up on their way out. Once they were in a corner of the store, and made sure no one was watching, they removed the cloak inconspicuously.
"Shall we go find Harry then?" asked Hermione.
"Sure."
So they set off, first looking briefly in the candy shop, then went out into the village and looked around. Not surprisingly, they found him in a new Quidditch supply shop. Harry looked over as the two were moving closer to him.
"Hey! Where have you guys been? Wait..." said Harry. "Don't answer that. Hey Ron, look at this little gadget here. You put it on the end of your broomstick, and its supposed to start flashing and beeping when a Bludger is coming near! Isn't that cool?"
"Yeah. Harry, you should get one, since you're the seeker and all." Ron suggested. "That way you wouldn't have to worry about watching out for them yourself, and can focus on finding the Snitch!"
"Hey, that's actually a great idea. Thanks Ron."
"No problem." Then Ron saw the look of disinterest on Hermione's face. As much as she liked watching the game, she didn't really mind much talking about different strategies and such. "Why don't we go to the Three Broomsticks and get some butterbeer?"
"Sounds like a great idea!" Hermione said, relieved to be done with that conversation.
"Right. You guys go ahead, I'll meet you there. I'm going to buy this thing."
The two lovers made their way to The Three Broomsticks. They walked in and unfortunately saw a group of Slytherins at a table, deep in conversation. Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances, but shrugged it off, and found a table near the back.
"I'm telling you! I saw those two Gryffindors alone in a bathtub!! No lie!" said Draco, although he had taken some Polyjuice Potion and now looked like Crabbe, who was back at Hogwarts taking Draco's place. "There's got to be some way I can prove it! I don't think that Mudblood-loving Dumbledore believed me at all. And McGonagall won't want to lose points from her house, so she'll refuse to believe me too. All she was worried about was punishing me!" Just then, Professor Snape walked in, and walked over to the table of Slytherins.
"Hello students. How is everything going Draco, er, Crabbe?" he said with a sly smirk.
"Quite well, Professor. This is working excellently. But I will have to leave in about ten minutes," said the disguised Draco.
"Now, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" asked Snape.
"Well, you know the rumor going around about a guy and a girl being in the Prefects' bathroom?"
"Yes, of course."
"Well, the reason I had to use this diversion is because I got caught spying on none other than Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger soaking in a tub full of bubbles in a locked up room in Gryffindor tower. When McGonagall caught me, she called for Dumbledore, and neither of them believed that I saw them in there! I need to know how I can get them to confess both their being in the Gryffindor and Prefects' bathroom!"
"Draco, Draco, Draco," said Snape, shaking his head. "I'm highly disappointed in you. Were you not listening in class the other day? You need only to use the Confession Draught."
"Of course!" said Draco, almost forgetting he was in a secret conversation. "I'll just slip it into their drinks. Better yet, I'll have one of those stupid house elves do it."
"Exactly," said Snape coldly.
"Now, I better get back to Hogwarts before this stuff wears off. See you everyone. I'll send Crabbe back in my place."
"Oh no!" whispered Ron to Hermione. "What were Snape and the Slytherins discussing?"
"I don't know," Hermione said. "But I bet they're up to no good, as usual. Hey, here comes Harry. Harry! Over here!"
Harry found his way through the crowd of students and sat down with them, when Ron and Hermione filled him in on what they just witnessed.
"That can't be good. And you said Snape was talking to Crabbe? Now that's quite odd."
"You can say that again," said Ron.
The rest of the day at Hogsmeade was wonderful and just as fun and normal as ever, and when they went back to Hogwarts, everyone was exhausted. Ron, Harry, and Hermione stayed in the Common Room for a while, just talking about what normal teen-age wizards talk about. Because he felt sick, probably from eating too much candy, Ron went up to his dorm early, after giving Hermione a little squeeze on her knee. Harry and Hermione were left on the couch in front of the fire. They talked about their lessons for a while, but they soon ran out of things to talk about. The two friends sat in an awkward silence. Hermione was the one to break it.
"I'm sorry you had to see me and Ron… well, you know," she said to Harry.
"Oh," Harry said, shifting awkwardly in his chair. "I guess it was really my fault."
"I just want you to know though," she continued, "that we've decided to cool it down for a while. So you don't have to worry about that kind of thing anymore, okay?"
"Right, that's good to know," Harry said shortly. "So how are things between you two anyway?"
"They're just wonderful, Harry. I've always felt a little bit closer to Ron than I have towards you, no offense of course."
"None taken." Harry smiled.
Smiling back, she went on. "I guess this is why. I never realized the extent of my feelings for Ron until he kissed me that night. It just felt right, like that's the way it should be. And it's all thanks to you, Harry."
"I don't know about that," Harry replied, Hermione's eyebrows lifting in response. "I think you two would've gotten together sooner or later. I always noticed that you acted like you were married. You're always bickering." Hermione blushed at this. "But it's not fighting, more like, like trying to outdo each other, like it was a sport or something. And you just seem to fit together so well, you two clicked from the moment you met. I probably shouldn't be the one to tell you this, but once Ron told me that even though he seemed to be annoyed by you our first year, he was really very impressed, and didn't know exactly how to express this. He's liked you from the beginning."
"Wow. I didn't have the slightest idea," Hermione said with a smile on her face. "Anyway, enough about Ron and me. How's your love life Harry? Any pretty girls you fancy?"
"Ha ha! That's the funniest thing I've heard all day! Me – and a love life! Hermione, I don't think those words are allowed to go in a sentence together!"
"Oh c'mon Harry! You can't tell me you don't have a crush on anyone. You can trust me!"
"Well," Harry pondered for a minute, then decided that he could indeed. "I really think Cho Chang is pretty. You know that girl from Ravenclaw?"
"Oh," Hermione said, expecting to hear someone else's name "That's nice."
"Yeah, I guess." Said Harry, frowning. "It's too bad she doesn't give me the time of day."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry."
"That's all right. Not your fault. Besides, I just said she was pretty. The girl I really fancy is, well..."
"Oh come on Harry! Just spit it out!"
"Okay, okay, but you can't laugh. It's Ginny." Harry blushed, but then smiled at the sound of her name.
"Why would I laugh?!" shouted Hermione. Oh that would be splendid! We'd all be one big happy family!"
"Whoa, who said anything about marriage? I just said I fancy her!"
"Sorry, I got a little carried away I suppose. Oh this is so wonderful, Harry!"
"Yeah, yeah, but you have to promise you will not tell anyone! Especially any of the Weasleys!!"
"All right, I won't. Right, I had better get up to bed. Sweet dreams Harry."
She hugged him in a very sisterly manner and went up to the girl's dormitory. She pulled on her nightgown and pulled back her covers, to reveal a small square piece of paper. It had a little note on it. Hermione read:
Dearest Hermione,
Please do me the favor of meeting me in the same room we were in earlier today. I'd like to ask you something. I miss you, please meet me there around 1:00 a.m.
Love, Your Ron.
Already excited about what exactly he wanted to ask her, Hermione slipped into her bed, pulled up her covers, and lay in bed waiting those next few hours, unable to sleep. When the clock on her bedside table read five to one, she got up, put a robe on over her nightgown, and shoved on her slippers. She walked quietly down about ten stairs, and opened the door to the room that had been the arena for their dream. But what she saw wasn't hardly what she expected to see.