A/N: More action in this one, I promise. Sorry about the two first ones, they were a bit… short. But this is where the fun starts!
Chapter 3
Ron puts 2 and 2 together… and gets 5
Ron lay on his bed, staring at the window where a fly was desperately trying to make its way out. He wasn't looking at the fly though. He wasn't even aware he was looking at the window.
'Why won't Harry tell me what's on his mind?' he thought. They had after all been best friends for 4 years. Surely Harry could trust Ron… Maybe Ginny was right. Maybe it was something Harry didn't feel comfortable talking about. Like love. After all, no matter how hard Ron had tried last year it had been impossible to make Harry admit that he fancied Cho. But he had been ever so obvious about it all the same, and this wasn't like that. Ron sighed. 'OK, so Harry fancies someone,' he concluded. 'Why isn't he telling me who?' 'Maybe it's because he knows you're not gonna like the truth,' a little voice in his head suggested. 'Who could he possibly upset me by fancying?' Ron thought. Then it hit him. Of course, it was so obvious. Why hadn't he seen it before? And it would explain the sudden increase in Harry's visits to the library.
"Hermione!" Ron said aloud.
"No, I'm Harry. You loosing it mate?" Ron turned to the door where Harry stood, a wide grin on his face. "Or were you just off in your own little world," he asked teasingly. "Shut up, Harry," Ron muttered.
"I don't see why you won't admit to fancying her," Harry shrugged, dumping himself onto his bed. "You're so obvious it's a marvel she hasn't figured it out herself." "You're all about Hermione today," Ron said grumpily. "You'd almost think you fancy her." "Honestly, you started it," Harry argued. "Gees, what is with you today?" "Me?" Ron snapped. "How 'bout telling me what's been up with you for the past couple of months?" Harry froze. "Nothing," he said quickly. "Are you sure?" Ron interrupted. "Because I've been putting two and two together, and I'm not bloody stupid Harry!" The colour drained from Harry's face. "Then you… you know?" he said slowly, more to himself than Ron. "You're damn right I know!" Ron shouted. "You're bloody lucky I don't break your nose!" "Listen, Ron," Harry started, but was interrupted. "Forget it!" Ron yelled. "As of now, I'm not speaking to you." Before Harry could attempt to explain again, Ron was out the door. Harry lay back in bed. 'I've done it now,' he thought grimly.
Ron rushed down the stairs, hardly noticing where he was going. In the common room he spotted Hermione. "Ron? What's the matter?" she asked when she saw him. Ron opened his mouth to snap at her, but found he couldn't. He couldn't say anything. It hurt just looking at her. He rushed out of the room, Hermione shouting after him.
Standing in the empty hallway, he had no idea where to go. It was really too late for him to be outside the common room anyway. If Filch caught him, he was sure to face detention. But somehow he didn't care.
He couldn't go back anyway. The very thought of facing Hermione, or Harry, made him sick. He couldn't believe Harry would do something like that. 'He's supposed to be my best friend,' Ron thought gloomily. Sure, Ron had never really admitted to fancying Hermione… But Harry knew. He'd said so just a few minutes ago. And Ron knew how obvious he was. The memory of the Yule Ball last year was all to clear in his mind. Seeing Hermione with Victor Krum had been pure torture. And even then he hadn't been able to bring himself to telling her how he felt. He was lucky he hadn't lost her to Krum. Hermione had seemed quite taken by him, and he'd even asked her to come stay with him over the summer. Thankfully, for Ron, Hermione's parents thought she was a bit too young to spend her holiday visiting an 18-year-old boy. Ron had learnt all this from Ginny, who had become quite good friends with Hermione over the last two years.
Ron walked aimlessly through the halls. He had no idea where to go. In the end he found himself standing in front of the doors in the main hall. 'Hagrid,' he thought. 'It's not that late, I'm sure he wont mind.' He pushed the doors open with a creak that Filch must have heard no matter where in the castle he was, and made his way out into the cold evening.
Harry was still lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, when both Hermione and Ginny stormed into the room. "You told him?" Ginny asked, though it sounded more like an accusation than a question. Harry sat up in bed. "No, he already," He stopped, remembering Hermione was there. "Told him what?" he asked, trying to smoothen things over. Hermione just smiled. "It's OK, Harry. I know." Harry stared at her. "I thought you said you hadn't told anyone," he said, turning to Ginny. "I haven't," she assured him. "Hermione saw us in the library." "And for what it's worth, I think it's great news," Hermione said carefully. Harry sighed. "Ron clearly doesn't. Did you tell him?" "No," Hermione said. "Well, someone must have because he knows," Harry sighed. "At least the cats out of the bag," Ginny said, sitting down next to Harry and putting her arm around him. "I mean, he'll calm down in a while." Harry shook his head. "You didn't hear him. He threatened to break my nose." "I'm sure he didn't mean it," Hermione said helpfully. "You know Ron, he's pretty hasty." "Yeah, well this was a whole new side of Ron," Harry said. "He was furious." 'That's funny,' Hermione thought. He had seemed more hurt to her.
"Well, if you think it will do any good, I can talk to him," she suggested. "He's probably not mad at me." Harry grinned. "No, you've always had a way with him," he teased, and Hermione went red. "I'll go look for him then," she said, hurrying out of the room.
Ginny giggled. "How long d'you think we have to wait for those two to get together?" she asked Harry. "The way Ron behaves?" Harry smiled. "About two to three years."
'Summath on yer mind, Ron?" Hagrid asked. Ron nodded. "Yeah, but I don't really wanna talk about it." Hagrid motioned for him to come in. "Sit down then," he said. "I'll make you a cup of tea and you can not talk about it." Ron nodded, and dumped himself into one of Hagrid's large, comfortable chairs.
"Now, what is it?" Hagrid asked, passing Ron a huge cup. "Nothing," Ron said grimly. "I see," Hagrid said. "And would this nothing have something to do with Hermione?" Ron stared at him. "How do you?" he started, and Hagrid smiled. "If there's one thing you're not good at, Ron, it's hiding your feelings," he said, and Ron blushed. "What did she do this time?" Hagrid asked, and Ron sighed. "She and Harry… they're together," he said gloomily. Hagrid stared at him. "Are you sure?" he said, and Ron nodded. "That's odd," Hagrid said. "I thought Harry fancied…" "Fancied who?" Ron asked curiously. "Well, to be honest," Hagrid admitted, "I always thought he fancied yer little sister." "Ginny?" Ron laughed. "You've gotta be joking. Thanks, I needed a laugh." Hagrid scratched his beard. "I could be wrong, of course," he said thoughtfully. "When it comes to those matters, Harry doesn't exactly tell me much." "Join the club," Ron muttered.
Hermione stopped in the common room. Exactly where should she start looking for Ron? Since he wasn't exactly the kind to run off when he got mad, she had no idea where he might have gone. She just knew she had to find him before Filch did, or he would be in major trouble.
She pushed open the portrait-hole and peered into the dark hallway. It looked deserted enough, but Hermione had been on too many nightly outings with Harry and Ron to know that just because it looked empty, it didn't mean it was. In fact, they'd often found it meant the complete opposite. 'Why didn't I ask Harry to borrow the Invisibility Cloak,' she thought as she quietly made her way out into the hall.
"Up a bit late, aren't we?" Hermione turned to face the picture of the pink lady. "I need to find my friend," she explained, and the portrait nodded. "Ah, the red-haired boy." "You've seen him?" Hermione asked hopefully. "Did you see where he went?" "If you can wait a few minutes, I'll ask around," the portrait offered. Hermione nodded and watched her disappear out of the frame.
Hermione sat down in a corner, pulling her robes around her. It was so typical of Ron to pull a stunt like this. He didn't care if people worried. She glanced at her watch. She was worried. Hogwarts might be one of the safest places in the world, but that didn't mean there weren't dangerous thing there. According to Hogwarts – A history, the school was so large, and had so many chambers, that if was impossible to account for what was in all of them.
While she sat there pondering what terrible monsters the school might hold, the pink lady came back. "There you are dear," she smiled. "Now, Lord Faddington in the entrance hall said he saw your friend go outside, and he hasn't come back in." 'Hagrid,' Hermione though, silently cursing herself for not thinking about that. "Thanks," she said to the portrait, and hurried down the hall.
"There you go, Ron," Hagrid said, stopping outside the main doors. "Thanks, Hagrid," Ron said. "But you didn't need to walk me." "Course I did," Hagrid insisted. "You're not even s'posed to be out this late. You'd better hurry back to the tower before Filch catches you." Ron just shrugged. "Who cares if I get detention," he said miserably. Hagrid put a large hand on Ron's shoulder. "I wouldn't worry too much about this Harry-Hermione thing," he said helpfully. "I'm sure it's all a big misunderstanding." Ron sighed. "Probably," he said distantly. "G'night Hagrid."
Hermione looked desperately around in the empty hallway. She was sure she had heard footsteps, and now she was looking for somewhere to hide. She ducked behind a suit of armour, and just in time as Snape came around the corner. He looked surly around himself, and for a second Hermione was scared he could see right through the armour at her. But a second later he walked past her, not even looking in her direction. Hermione didn't dare breathe until she was certain his steps were gone.
Ron wasn't bothering to not make any noise. He had already had a miserable day, and any punishment Filch would give him couldn't possibly make it any worse. He turned a corner, and walked right into someone. "Hermione?" he said, surprised. "What are you doing here?" "Looking for you," Hermione whispered. "Have you any idea what time it is? Filch will skin you alive." "Why do you care?" Ron asked, pushing his way past her. Hermione followed him. "Look, Ron; I know you're upset," she started. "Hermione, I don't want to talk about it," Ron said wearily. "But Ron," Hermione said softly. "If you just listen." "No!" Ron shouted, his voice echoing in the halls. "I don't want to talk about it, peridod!" "Shhh," Hermione hissed. "I just passed Snape on the way here, and if he finds us we're in worse trouble than you can imagine."
"Indeed you are." Hermione and Ron turned at the sound of Professor Snape's cold voice. "Having a little midnight rendezvous are we?" he smirked. "That will cost you. Come!" Gloomily, the two followed Snape to his office.