Chapter 10

Hermione stuffed her face into her pillow and cried through the remainder of the day. There were so many thoughts going through her mind. Parvati tried several times to talk to her and comfort her but she just wanted to be alone to deal with her unbearable feelings of guilt that were running inside her.

Harry and Ron snooped around the castle for clues but could not find anything. Both boys were highly distracted, lost in their own thoughts and be rather silent.

"Ron, we're best friends right?"

"Of course Harry"

"So we should be able to talk about anything right?"

"Right"

"Alright, sit. There's obviously something bothering both of us and I think it's time we talked to each other, you know, like we used to."
Ron smiled to himself a bit. He had noticed that he and Harry had drifted and things weren't the same as they'd always been between them. Then again, that's always a part of growing up. And girls weren't always so involved in their lives. But he was glad that they were finally going to sit down and chat about things. Although he wasn't too sure that he should tell Harry about Hermione and Malfoy. He would wait and see how in depth Harry would want to get into conversation.

"So, mate, what's been bothering you?" Ron asked first.
"Promise not to hate me?"

Ron thought about that for a moment and wondered if he really wanted to know this.
"I suppose" he smirked at Harry.

Harry decided to tell Ron everything from beginning to end. Leaving out no details and feelings about each situation.

"Wow" Ron said aloud when Harry was finally finished. He was trying to think of something else to say or advice to give but he could not think of anything. Although he was surprisingly not mad at Harry for all the Ginny parts of the story. Plus it seemed as though Harry's situation was causing him enough stress without Ron being mad at him on top of it all.

"Well?" Harry asked, waiting for Ron to say something, "Do you hate me?"
"No, of course not Harry. In fact I think you're handling it well… I mean it's important that you're there for Ginny, but don't pretend to feel for her what you don't"

Harry smiled, feeling relieved that Ron understood but he didn't want to push the subject any longer in case Ron decided to change his mind and be the protective big brother that Harry knew he could be.

"So, Ron, tell me what's on your mind"

Ron put his head down and wondered if he should tell Harry. He decided that he had a right to know. He told him only what he knew and saw as far as the Hermione and Draco situation went.

"I don't know what's going on now. I mean I don't think he got very far with her but she hasn't told me what went on and I don't think she's come out of her room all day. I mean she's probably still upset about it but she wont let me near her. I think she's mad at me for leaving her there in the hallway, subjected to Malfoy's attack. But how was I supposed to know?"

"This just happened today?"

"Yes, this morning"
"Well, Ron, maybe she's a little ashamed, I mean she probably feels dirty and violated. You have to give her some time but at the same time you cant stay away from her either, or she might think that you don't want to be around her any more because she has been tainted by Malfoy… I mean there could be so many things going on in her head right now and you're just lucky that you were there in time, cause Malfoy would have gone all the way through with it and you know it."

"I know, I don't even want to think about it… I just wish I knew what her feelings were toward me now… I just want to comfort her but she doesn't want me near her".
"Do you want me to talk to her?"

"Could you Harry? I mean… just let her know that I still want to be with her and I wish she would talk to me"

"Of course… I'll go do that now actually, this needs to be cleared up… poor thing"

"Thanks Harry, I'm really glad we talked… getting older sucks"

"Haha, I second that"

***

Harry made his way into the girl's dormitory and knocked on Hermione's door. Parvati answered.
"Hi Harry, I was just about to go get some lunch, you want to come?"

"Actually I came to check up on Hermione…" he whispered to her.
The two went out into the hall for a moment so they weren't talking about Hermione right in front of her.
"She's in an awful state, what happened? Was it something that Ron did?"

"No, not exactly, she hasn't said anything all day?"

"No, she's just cried and slept"

Harry noticed that he and Parvati were quite close as they were talking, leaning up against the wall. This intoxicated him and he feared that he should step away but Parvati grabbed his hand.

"Will you meet up with me later then Harry?"

"Yea, sure I will"

She leaned in and for a moment Harry thought she was going to kiss him right on the lips, but she came to his ear.

"See you later" she breathed hot breath into his ear and kissed him softly on the cheek.

'Oh boy' Harry thought as he stood against the wall for another moment before entering Hermione's room.

He couldn't tell if she was sleeping or not, and he made his way over to the bed and sat on it.

"Hermione are you alright?"

She shook her head "no" but didn't remove it from the pillow.

He began to rub her back with his hand and tried to think about what he would say without revealing that Ron told him what happened.

"Ron's awful upset that you're not talking to him, do you wanna talk about it"

Hermione sat up and Harry could see that she'd been crying for a while.
"It's not Ron" Hermione said silently.
"Well what is it?"

Hermione gave Harry a brief summary of what happened and he did his best to try and act like he already didn't know. But Hermione told Harry one thing that Ron didn't, what Draco had said to her about kidnapping.
"Does Ron know this"

"No, please don't tell him, I'm afraid he really will kill Malfoy."

"Alright, I wont, but I promise you that we will get to the bottom of this."

"Thank you Harry."

Hermione leaned her head on Harry's shoulder and allowed him to continue to stroke her head, it made her feel somewhat better.

"So why wont you talk to Ron, Hermione? Are you mad that he didn't come soon enough"

"No, that's not it… I don't know Harry, I…"

"Go ahead"

"I think I just need some time"

"He'd do anything for you, you know… he loves you so much, he'd die for you Hermione, you have to understand that your pain is his pain, even though he may not show it well."

"Harry don't be silly, we're 15 years old, we don't know a thing about love. And as far as I'm concerned we know far too much about death."

"Agreed. But love isn't something you learn about, it's something you possess. And Ron? He loves you, I've seen it in him since our first year. He doesn't talk about his emotions much but I can see it in his eyes."

"This is all so strange to me Harry, things were so much less complicated when we weren't filled with raging hormones"

"Haha, that's what I've been saying all along! … Oh well Hermione, we just have to adjust!"

"Humph… I suppose".

"Now, come on, what do you say we go down stairs, maybe get a spot to eat, and maybe you and Ron can go talk things out somewhere…?"
"Alright… I guess we could do that"
Hermione smiled at Harry, he always seemed to know what to say and how to make her feel better. He was truly the best friend she would ever have.

~Alright well that's on a lighter note… but there's more to come… !! Please review or I might not be encouraged to write tonight! :-O Thanks to all those who reviewed, I love all your ideas and support, keep it coming!

~Hogwarts Hoe