This chapter is just transition, but the next has allot more adventure!
Chapter 13 Awkwardness
The next morning Harry woke up and late, but even at the late hour most students were still asleep. Harry looked around and saw that the hangings around Ron's bed were closed, and Dean, Seamus, and Neville were all still asleep. It took Harry a minute to remember what had happened the night before, but when he did, he couldn't help but smile as he got ready to go down to breakfast.
When Harry reached the Great Hall, he was surprised to see Ron sitting there. He looked like he hadn't slept and he wasn't eating, He also wasn't alone. Next to him was a very frustrated looking Ginny and next to her was an equally tired looking Hermione.
Harry walked up to them and sat across from Ginny. Upon closer examination it seemed Ginny had tried to get them to talk and they wouldn't and now she was getting very angry with them. When Harry sat down across from her, she looked up at him, with an exasperated look.
Harry looked at each one of them in turn and said "Good morning," very cheerfully to no one in particular, neither Ron nor Hermione answered, but Ginny snorted. Harry began to eat, and a few minutes later Ron got up and walked off without a word. Hermione who hadn't looked up at all watched him leave the Great Hall, and then turned back to Harry and Ginny, she looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't.
"Well, I guess I could be doing some homework." Said Ginny, and she stormed out of the Great Hall. As soon as she was out of earshot, Hermione moved over to sit across from Harry.
"Harry," Hermione began quietly, "Can I tell you something?"
"Of course" said Harry, thinking she was going to tell him about the kiss.
"Do you promise not to tell anyone, especially Ron." She said nervously.
"Sure, you can tell me anything, Hermione, and I won't tell anyone." Said Harry now very curious.
"Well. I think, no, I know I like Ron." Hermione said so quietly, Harry almost missed it.
Harry smiled, "I know, but how did you find out?"
"What do you mean, 'I know'?" she asked.
"Well it was pretty obvious, I knew you liked each other." Harry said in Hermione's usual matter-of-fact tone.
"Well, I really found out from Viktor." She said quietly.
"What does Krum have to do with anything?"
"I guess I'll tell you the whole story. I went to Viktor's house over the summer, and all I did was talk about Ron, and he asked me about it, and told me that it sounded like I liked him, and I thought about it, and I realized it was true. At first I didn't want to believe it, I couldn't like my best friend, but." Hermione trailed off.
"But what?" Harry asked eagerly.
"Last night, Ron and I."
"I know"
"What? You know? Did Ron tell you?" she said sounding very urgent all of a sudden.
"No. I.um.saw you. Ron wouldn't talk about it at all."
"You saw us?" Hermione said leaning back, looking terrified.
"It's OK, I don't think anyone else saw you."
This news seemed to calm Hermione down, but she still looked nervous. "What am I going to do?"
"Well, I know you won't like what I'm going to say, but you should tell him." "Your right. I didn't like that." She said and she got up and walked quickly out of the Great Hall, and left Harry, still smiling.
Harry left the Great Hall a few minutes later, and was walking back to Gryffindor tower, when he saw Ron. He ran up to him, and tried to get him to talk.
"Where'd you go?"
"Um.nowhere." Ron said simply.
"So." Harry prompted, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Ron stopped dead in the middle of the corridor, and looked Harry right in the eye, "No" he said, before entering Gryffindor tower.
'What am I going to do?' Harry asked himself, as he followed Ron inside.
A few days later the rest of the school returned, though most of them had stayed to attend the ball, and classes started again. But Ron and Hermione still hadn't spoken.
Harry never realized how much of a difference their behavior was compared to any other time before. They had never been like this, just not talking, not like they were mad, but just not friends. It was very nerve racking for Harry, and he didn't like it at all. Harry was really starting to miss their fights.
Harry also never realized how much their fight's blended in with everyone's regular schedules. Many people would come up to Harry in the Gryffindor common room, and ask him about them, most people he didn't even know. Harry had no idea what he was going to do.
Not only were Ron and Hermione acting very distant from each other, but from everyone else, including Harry. They hardly spoke to him, either. There seemed to be only one other person who had almost the same problem as Harry, and that was Ginny. Since she was Ron's sister, she too, seemed concerned with Ron's unusual behavior, and thought they were his brothers, Fred and George weren't any help. Because of all this Harry found himself spending more time with Ginny, and they were becoming friends.
Most days you could find Ron sitting in one corner of the common room, Hermione in another, or the library, where she spent most of her time. Harry and Ginny were usually sitting in some neutral spot, doing homework or discussing how to get Ron and Hermione to talk to each other.
Harry hadn't told Ginny what Hermione had told him on January 1st, or about the kiss, but she, like most of the school, knew they liked each other.
"Harry, I'm going mad!" Ginny said one Thursday night while they were in their usual routine, sitting between Ron and Hermione doing homework. Ginny threw down her quill, and threw her hands in the air in frustration. "We've got to do something."
"What?" Harry asked dully, the same way he answered every time Ginny got determined.
"Well, maybe there's some way we could force them to talk, even if it's not anything, just talking."
"How are we going to do that?"
"Oh, I don't know.this is hopeless! We need to lock them in the broom closet or something."
Harry laughed at Ginny's suggestion, and noticed two people, two identical people approaching them.
"Hey Gin." Said Fred to Ginny then they turned to Harry. "Harry we've got practice this weekend, and our next game is in 3 weeks, the Saturday before Valentines Day"
"Who do we play?" Harry asked.
"Ravenclaw," said George, then he spotted Katie and he and George said they had to leave.
'Ravenclaw' Harry thought. 'Cho.'
About two hours later, Harry went up to bed. He and Ginny were the only one's still up, so about 12:00 they each went to their separate rooms. Ron and Hermione had each gone to bed, only a little while before.
Harry went up into his room to find all of his roommates sleeping, well three of them were Ron had the hangings around his bed closed, and he couldn't tell if he was awake or not.
After Harry changed his clothes, he got into bed and almost immediately fell asleep.
It seemed like only a few minutes when someone shook Harry awake.
"Wha - " Harry asked confused. It was Ron. Harry looked over at his alarm clock after he put on his glasses; it was 2:30 a.m.
"Harry, hurry, come here." Ron said urgently. He ran over to the window, and Harry followed him and looked out. "Look right there, they came back."
Harry squinted into the darkness; he could see a shadow moving into the forbidden forest.
"What is that?" Harry asked.
"I think it's people, they've been here almost every night, since last year."
"Is that the same thing you saw last year?" Harry asked turning to Ron.
"Yeah," said Ron, "I've stayed up almost every night to see if they came back."
"We need to tell Dumbledore about this again, and we should go now."
"But it's the middle of the night."
"I know, but what if it's." Harry trailed off. They were both thinking the same thing.
"Well, your scar hasn't been hurting, so I don't think its Voldemort." Ron said plainly.
"OK," said Harry looking back at the window. "We'll tell him in the morning."
Both Harry and Ron got into their beds, but didn't go to sleep for a while. Maybe it wasn't Voldemort, but it could be someone connected with him, a Death Eater, maybe.
'Wait,' Harry thought, sitting strait up in bed, 'Ron said Voldemort's name'
The next morning Ron and Harry got up very early inspire of their late bedtime. They walked into the common room, and there was only one person in there, it was Hermione. Hermione was half hidden behind a stack of books, reading a huge bright blue book, entitled 'Advanced Arithmancy anything and everything you could possibly want to know about Arithmancy, and more'
Harry decided that Hermione should know about what Ron had seen, even if Ron didn't want to tell her, she was just as much a part of the 'save the world routine,' as he and Ron were after all.
Harry didn't think Ron would really object, but he decided to ask her, before asking him anyway.
"Hermione." Harry said cautiously, she looked like she was near a nervous break down.
"What? Oh Harry." She said jumping a few feet in the air, she hadn't noticed that anyone else was up yet.
Harry looked over at Ron, who was glaring at him, telling him not to tell her, but he ignored it and spoke again. "We need to tell you something." He said in a serious tone. Well, last night, Ron and I saw something." Hermione looked confused. "Ron woke me up and we looked out of the window and we saw someone out there by the forest."
Hermione looked stunned. "Just like before?" she asked Ron, though she didn't look at him, all he did was nod.
"You need to tell Professor Dumbledore." Hermione said.
"Were going right now." Said Harry; "Do you want to come with us?" He asked before Ron could stop him.
"Yeah," she said. She got up and they walked to the Great Hall, where they hoped to find Dumbledore, and they did.
They walked up to him, where he was eating breakfast at the teacher's table.
"Professor Dumbledore -" Harry began and he told him the whole story.
"Well, you say this has happened many times before, I'll look into it, I'd better let the Order know, thank you for telling me." He said and he left in a hurry, to go send some owls, but they all got the impression that he was worried.
"Well, I'm going up to the Astronomy tower tonight to see if they come back." Said Ron as they walked back to the common room.
"I'm coming too, and we can take the invisibility cloak."
"Wait, you saw Dumbledore, he looked worried, it's too dangerous to get involved." Hermione said looking nervous.
"I didn't think you were afraid of anything, Hermione." Said Ron, failing to suppress a grin.
"I'm not, its just.I'm coming too." Hermione said determinedly, sticking her chin in the air. "Snickerdoodle" she said as she walked into the common room, Ron followed.
'Well, It's not a closet, but it's working' Harry thought as he too followed, smiling.
Next chapter more adventure! Thanks for reading, and please review.
Chapter 13 Awkwardness
The next morning Harry woke up and late, but even at the late hour most students were still asleep. Harry looked around and saw that the hangings around Ron's bed were closed, and Dean, Seamus, and Neville were all still asleep. It took Harry a minute to remember what had happened the night before, but when he did, he couldn't help but smile as he got ready to go down to breakfast.
When Harry reached the Great Hall, he was surprised to see Ron sitting there. He looked like he hadn't slept and he wasn't eating, He also wasn't alone. Next to him was a very frustrated looking Ginny and next to her was an equally tired looking Hermione.
Harry walked up to them and sat across from Ginny. Upon closer examination it seemed Ginny had tried to get them to talk and they wouldn't and now she was getting very angry with them. When Harry sat down across from her, she looked up at him, with an exasperated look.
Harry looked at each one of them in turn and said "Good morning," very cheerfully to no one in particular, neither Ron nor Hermione answered, but Ginny snorted. Harry began to eat, and a few minutes later Ron got up and walked off without a word. Hermione who hadn't looked up at all watched him leave the Great Hall, and then turned back to Harry and Ginny, she looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't.
"Well, I guess I could be doing some homework." Said Ginny, and she stormed out of the Great Hall. As soon as she was out of earshot, Hermione moved over to sit across from Harry.
"Harry," Hermione began quietly, "Can I tell you something?"
"Of course" said Harry, thinking she was going to tell him about the kiss.
"Do you promise not to tell anyone, especially Ron." She said nervously.
"Sure, you can tell me anything, Hermione, and I won't tell anyone." Said Harry now very curious.
"Well. I think, no, I know I like Ron." Hermione said so quietly, Harry almost missed it.
Harry smiled, "I know, but how did you find out?"
"What do you mean, 'I know'?" she asked.
"Well it was pretty obvious, I knew you liked each other." Harry said in Hermione's usual matter-of-fact tone.
"Well, I really found out from Viktor." She said quietly.
"What does Krum have to do with anything?"
"I guess I'll tell you the whole story. I went to Viktor's house over the summer, and all I did was talk about Ron, and he asked me about it, and told me that it sounded like I liked him, and I thought about it, and I realized it was true. At first I didn't want to believe it, I couldn't like my best friend, but." Hermione trailed off.
"But what?" Harry asked eagerly.
"Last night, Ron and I."
"I know"
"What? You know? Did Ron tell you?" she said sounding very urgent all of a sudden.
"No. I.um.saw you. Ron wouldn't talk about it at all."
"You saw us?" Hermione said leaning back, looking terrified.
"It's OK, I don't think anyone else saw you."
This news seemed to calm Hermione down, but she still looked nervous. "What am I going to do?"
"Well, I know you won't like what I'm going to say, but you should tell him." "Your right. I didn't like that." She said and she got up and walked quickly out of the Great Hall, and left Harry, still smiling.
Harry left the Great Hall a few minutes later, and was walking back to Gryffindor tower, when he saw Ron. He ran up to him, and tried to get him to talk.
"Where'd you go?"
"Um.nowhere." Ron said simply.
"So." Harry prompted, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Ron stopped dead in the middle of the corridor, and looked Harry right in the eye, "No" he said, before entering Gryffindor tower.
'What am I going to do?' Harry asked himself, as he followed Ron inside.
A few days later the rest of the school returned, though most of them had stayed to attend the ball, and classes started again. But Ron and Hermione still hadn't spoken.
Harry never realized how much of a difference their behavior was compared to any other time before. They had never been like this, just not talking, not like they were mad, but just not friends. It was very nerve racking for Harry, and he didn't like it at all. Harry was really starting to miss their fights.
Harry also never realized how much their fight's blended in with everyone's regular schedules. Many people would come up to Harry in the Gryffindor common room, and ask him about them, most people he didn't even know. Harry had no idea what he was going to do.
Not only were Ron and Hermione acting very distant from each other, but from everyone else, including Harry. They hardly spoke to him, either. There seemed to be only one other person who had almost the same problem as Harry, and that was Ginny. Since she was Ron's sister, she too, seemed concerned with Ron's unusual behavior, and thought they were his brothers, Fred and George weren't any help. Because of all this Harry found himself spending more time with Ginny, and they were becoming friends.
Most days you could find Ron sitting in one corner of the common room, Hermione in another, or the library, where she spent most of her time. Harry and Ginny were usually sitting in some neutral spot, doing homework or discussing how to get Ron and Hermione to talk to each other.
Harry hadn't told Ginny what Hermione had told him on January 1st, or about the kiss, but she, like most of the school, knew they liked each other.
"Harry, I'm going mad!" Ginny said one Thursday night while they were in their usual routine, sitting between Ron and Hermione doing homework. Ginny threw down her quill, and threw her hands in the air in frustration. "We've got to do something."
"What?" Harry asked dully, the same way he answered every time Ginny got determined.
"Well, maybe there's some way we could force them to talk, even if it's not anything, just talking."
"How are we going to do that?"
"Oh, I don't know.this is hopeless! We need to lock them in the broom closet or something."
Harry laughed at Ginny's suggestion, and noticed two people, two identical people approaching them.
"Hey Gin." Said Fred to Ginny then they turned to Harry. "Harry we've got practice this weekend, and our next game is in 3 weeks, the Saturday before Valentines Day"
"Who do we play?" Harry asked.
"Ravenclaw," said George, then he spotted Katie and he and George said they had to leave.
'Ravenclaw' Harry thought. 'Cho.'
About two hours later, Harry went up to bed. He and Ginny were the only one's still up, so about 12:00 they each went to their separate rooms. Ron and Hermione had each gone to bed, only a little while before.
Harry went up into his room to find all of his roommates sleeping, well three of them were Ron had the hangings around his bed closed, and he couldn't tell if he was awake or not.
After Harry changed his clothes, he got into bed and almost immediately fell asleep.
It seemed like only a few minutes when someone shook Harry awake.
"Wha - " Harry asked confused. It was Ron. Harry looked over at his alarm clock after he put on his glasses; it was 2:30 a.m.
"Harry, hurry, come here." Ron said urgently. He ran over to the window, and Harry followed him and looked out. "Look right there, they came back."
Harry squinted into the darkness; he could see a shadow moving into the forbidden forest.
"What is that?" Harry asked.
"I think it's people, they've been here almost every night, since last year."
"Is that the same thing you saw last year?" Harry asked turning to Ron.
"Yeah," said Ron, "I've stayed up almost every night to see if they came back."
"We need to tell Dumbledore about this again, and we should go now."
"But it's the middle of the night."
"I know, but what if it's." Harry trailed off. They were both thinking the same thing.
"Well, your scar hasn't been hurting, so I don't think its Voldemort." Ron said plainly.
"OK," said Harry looking back at the window. "We'll tell him in the morning."
Both Harry and Ron got into their beds, but didn't go to sleep for a while. Maybe it wasn't Voldemort, but it could be someone connected with him, a Death Eater, maybe.
'Wait,' Harry thought, sitting strait up in bed, 'Ron said Voldemort's name'
The next morning Ron and Harry got up very early inspire of their late bedtime. They walked into the common room, and there was only one person in there, it was Hermione. Hermione was half hidden behind a stack of books, reading a huge bright blue book, entitled 'Advanced Arithmancy anything and everything you could possibly want to know about Arithmancy, and more'
Harry decided that Hermione should know about what Ron had seen, even if Ron didn't want to tell her, she was just as much a part of the 'save the world routine,' as he and Ron were after all.
Harry didn't think Ron would really object, but he decided to ask her, before asking him anyway.
"Hermione." Harry said cautiously, she looked like she was near a nervous break down.
"What? Oh Harry." She said jumping a few feet in the air, she hadn't noticed that anyone else was up yet.
Harry looked over at Ron, who was glaring at him, telling him not to tell her, but he ignored it and spoke again. "We need to tell you something." He said in a serious tone. Well, last night, Ron and I saw something." Hermione looked confused. "Ron woke me up and we looked out of the window and we saw someone out there by the forest."
Hermione looked stunned. "Just like before?" she asked Ron, though she didn't look at him, all he did was nod.
"You need to tell Professor Dumbledore." Hermione said.
"Were going right now." Said Harry; "Do you want to come with us?" He asked before Ron could stop him.
"Yeah," she said. She got up and they walked to the Great Hall, where they hoped to find Dumbledore, and they did.
They walked up to him, where he was eating breakfast at the teacher's table.
"Professor Dumbledore -" Harry began and he told him the whole story.
"Well, you say this has happened many times before, I'll look into it, I'd better let the Order know, thank you for telling me." He said and he left in a hurry, to go send some owls, but they all got the impression that he was worried.
"Well, I'm going up to the Astronomy tower tonight to see if they come back." Said Ron as they walked back to the common room.
"I'm coming too, and we can take the invisibility cloak."
"Wait, you saw Dumbledore, he looked worried, it's too dangerous to get involved." Hermione said looking nervous.
"I didn't think you were afraid of anything, Hermione." Said Ron, failing to suppress a grin.
"I'm not, its just.I'm coming too." Hermione said determinedly, sticking her chin in the air. "Snickerdoodle" she said as she walked into the common room, Ron followed.
'Well, It's not a closet, but it's working' Harry thought as he too followed, smiling.
Next chapter more adventure! Thanks for reading, and please review.
