A/N: I'm so happy that you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am! I absolutely adore this story (It's my favorite one to write!), so it means so much when you guys review and say you're liking it.

This chapter was basically written because I always get pissed off that Hermione and Ron seemingly never have birthdays even though we all know when they are. I mean, I understand that the books are written from Harry's POV, but you would think he would at least acknowledge his best friends' birthdays, now wouldn't you?

Disclaimer: I own none of them, obviously.

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The next week passed quickly. Everyone was still in a frenzy over the now legendary fight that had pursued outside of the Potions classroom, and Ron and Hermione found it difficult to walk down the hallway without being stopped and congratulated by a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. The whole of Gryffindor was absolutely elated with the fight, and they were quite willing to participate in the all-out war that resulted between themselves and Slytherin in the days following the fight. Tension was higher than it had ever been between the two houses, and everyone was getting in on it.

The middle of September came and passed, bringing with it Hermione's birthday on the 19th. She awoke to the sound of Parvati and Lavender "Awing" over something. Sleepily, she raised her head and looked at her roommates who were both sitting on Lavender's bed, and they looked up when they heard Hermione sit up in her bed.

"Hermione, come look what you've got!" Parvati cried out instantly.

It took a couple of seconds for the fact that it was her birthday to register in Hermione's brain. "What is it?" she asked groggily as she climbed out of her bed and crossed the room to join the other girls.

"Look what your parents sent!" Lavender was nearly beside herself with glee.

One glance at her bed, told Hermione exactly why. Sitting between her roommates was the most adorable baby owl she'd ever seen. She was a tawny color and was just beyond words to describe its cuteness. "Awe!" Hermione couldn't contain her own excitement at the sight, and she instantly reached down to pick the baby bird up and cuddle it. "Awe!" It was all she could think of to say as she snuggled the bird under her chin and giggled at its softness. She was even smaller than Pigwidgeon, making her the tiniest owl she'd ever laid eyes on- not to mention the cutest.

"She's so adorable!" Lavender and Parvati were both gleaming with joy at the sight of such an animal.

Crookshanks suddenly appeared at Hermione's feet, and she looked down and giggled. "Look, Crookie," she said sweetly as she bent down and held the baby owl out to her cat. "Isn't she precious?"

Crookshanks sniffed the bird cautiously and then purred softly indicating his acceptance of the new pet. Hermione laughed and looked up as Parvati and Lavender grinned one last time at the new animal and left the dormitory in the direction of the bathroom.

A knock at the door drew her attention, and she looked curiously at it. "Come in," she called, turning her attention back to the bird she was still cuddling.

"Happy birthday!"

She looked up, startled to find both Ron and Harry standing in her room. Jumping up and glancing around, she said, "You're not supposed to be in here!"

Harry shrugged. "You can't do anything about it. You're not a prefect." He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes.

"You'll get in trouble," she said seriously.

"Not if we don't get caught. And we know for a fact that Parvati and Lavender take a long time in the shower." Ron said all of this with a shrug of his own shoulders.

Hermione, however, raised an eyebrow at the two boys. "I'm not even going to ask how you know that…"

They laughed, and Harry gave their explanation. "Seamus told us."

This was more than enough explanation, and Hermione chose not to think too hard about it.

"And anyway, we had to come up here and tell you Happy Birthday," Ron said, grinning. "Baby Hermione's finally fifteen." He said this with an air of reminiscence, as though he were her great-uncle or something.

"Took you long enough," Harry added, smiling.

"Yeah," she said, rolling her eyes. "Two whole months longer than you…"

"Hey," Harry said seriously. "Two months is a long time!"

Shaking her head, she finally smiled at them. "Look what my mum and dad sent!"

Ron and Harry crossed the room to study the tiny bird Hermione was babying. They both laughed at the sight, and Harry said, "She's cute."

"That owl's smaller than Pig!" Ron said in amazement as he gently poked at it.

Hermione beamed at them. "Isn't she sweet?"

"What's her name?" Harry asked, gently stroking her feathers.

Hermione bit her lip and shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't named her yet."

Ron grinned wildly. "Name her Quaffle!"

Hermione's smile faded, and she shook her head slowly. "No. But you know? I could name her after you, Ron." She turned her attention back to the bird and said in a baby voice. "Would you like to be called Idiot?"

Harry burst into laughter as Hermione shot Ron a quick smirk before ducking out of his range when he lunged at her. She quickly passed the owl to Harry and raced to the other side of the room, Ron close on her heels. He cornered her, of course, when she hit the wall, and without warning, grabbed her around the waist from behind and swung her around quickly. She let out a huge shriek, but he quickly used one of his hands to clamp over her mouth as he set her back down to the ground, his other hand still tight around her waist.

"Are you trying to get us caught or what?" he asked, grinning.

Hermione couldn't answer him, as his hand was tightly over her mouth. She just raised her eyebrows and shrugged. Then, with a gleam of the eye, she let her tongue slip from her mouth and lick the inside palm of his hand.

"Ew, gross!" Ron shouted as he jerked his hand away and looked at it. Hermione laughed but quickly started screaming, too, when he wiped his hand on her bare arm. This, of course, set both Ron and Harry into hysterics. "Now, what were you saying about 'Idiot'?"

Hermione glared at him. "Oh, shut it."

Ron continued to laugh. "So, the bitty owl's named Quaffle, huh?"

"No!" Hermione went and retrieved her new pet from Harry.

"Awe, c'mon, Hermione," Ron said playfully. "You get to name my little sister, so I get to name your owl."

"I don't get to name your sister, and anyway, I thought you said it was going to be a boy."

"It will be," said Ron assuredly. "But that's beside the point."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't know what I'm going to call her," she said as she stroked the soft feathers on its tiny head. "Maybe Persephone," she said thoughtfully.

"Persephone?" Ron raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"She's my favorite mythological character." Realizing Ron probably didn't know the story and not sure if Harry did, she explained quickly. "She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and the god of the Underworld, Hades, stole her to make her goddess of the Dead. But Demeter was so upset at the loss of her daughter, that she was called back to Earth. Hades made her eat a pomegranate plant, the food of the Dead, so that she would have to return to the Underworld for 1/3 of the year. Whenever she was gone, the earth would die, but upon her arrival everything would begin to blossom again. The myth explains the seasons," she finished.

Ron's eyebrows did not descend from his forehead after her explanation. "And what does this have to do with an owl?"

Hermione shrugged. "Nothing. I just like the story." She held the owl up to her face. "You like Persephone?" The owl hooted softly in response, and Hermione smiled. "Persephone it is, then!"

Ron rolled his eyes quite briefly at Harry when Hermione's attention was on Persephone. Harry had to stifle a giggle by speaking. "We came up here to give you presents," he said grinning.

"Presents?" Hermione, too, grinned and set Persephone back into the small cage that her parents had sent to accompany her. "You guys really didn't have to get me anything…"

"Oh, shut up, Hermione," Harry said, rolling his eyes and handing her a heavy box. She knew instantly that it was a book, and she smiled as she took the paper off and opened it.

'Arithmancy, A History'

Hermione found the humor in the gift and joined Ron in laughing. "And just what kind of a book is this, Harry?" she asked, slightly shaking her head.

"It tells about the history of Arithmancy, of course! It's got the complete history and origin of the subject, not to mention detailed biographies of every-known Arithmancist to date." He said all of this very seriously, but his smile was showing in his eyes.

"Well, thank you, Harry," she said, still giggling as she set the book down beside Persephone's cage, then turning to give him a friendly hug. "What did you get me?" she asked, turning to Ron with a roll of the eyes. "House- Elves, A History?" She was being sarcastic.

Ron laughed. "No, but I looked for it. There's no such book."

"You actually looked for it? Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief.

"Completely," answered Harry. "We spent two hours searching Flourish and Botts while you were with Ginny. We really wanted to find it, too. Figured you'd love that."

Hermione had to laugh out loud. "Well, thanks anyway," she said dryly.

"Here," Ron held out a box much smaller than the one Harry had given her.

She eyed it carefully. "This isn't something Fred and George told you to give me, is it?"

"Do you really think I'd do something like that to you?" Ron asked innocently.

Hermione just raised her eyebrows. "Okay, I won't answer that question…"

"Just open it," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay…" Hermione pulled the paper off of this box, too, and took the lid off. She was more than surprised to find something much more personal than the box of Sugar Quills she'd been expecting. Inside the box was a beautiful, thin, silver-chained bracelet with a tiny violet jewel hanging from the bottom of it. "Wow," she said quietly as she lifted it out of the box and held it up to admire it. "It's… beautiful." She didn't know what else to say.

"I know," Ron said quietly; Harry noticed that he was carefully averting his eyes away from Hermione as he spoke. "That's why it reminded me of you."

Hermione instantly looked up at his words, her face set very seriously. Ron, on the other hand, turned the deepest shade of red possible as he desperately struggled to save himself.

"Uh… Um… I mean… You know… I just thought you would like it because it's so pretty…" He was looking extremely nervous, and Harry didn't know whether to be amused or sympathetic for his friend. He settled on amusement. Ron deserved this stuttering for being stupid enough to let something like that slip.

Hermione, too, was looking quite nervous, but she smiled shyly at Ron and quietly said, "Thank you." Ron looked up just in time to see her wrap her arms carefully around his neck and hug him. Harry watched Ron's face turn even redder, if that was at all possible, before he reluctantly wrapped his own arms around her middle. The tank top that Hermione had worn to bed raised up when she raised her arms, and Ron's hand managed to come into direct contact with the bare skin of her back, and Harry saw him quickly move his hands higher to cover a part of her back safely covered with the material of her shirt. Yes, this was rather amusing. But then Harry studied the hug, and, for the first time, pondered whether or not Hermione had the same feelings for Ron that he was sure Ron had for Hermione. She certainly hadn't hugged Harry the same way she was hugging Ron; that was for sure. The hug she had given him had been the same type that Ginny gave her brothers- quick, tight, and almost jokingly. The way she was hugging Ron was different somehow.

It took them much longer to pull apart.

When they finally decided to break the hug, they were both quite pink, and neither of them looked at each other or Harry. They simply looked around the room, seemingly studying it carefully, though Hermione had lived there for five years now, and it really looked no different from the room Ron had spent five years in, except for the obvious pink and purple color scheme that Parvati and Lavender had worked out.

Harry let them wallow in their awkwardness for several minutes, quite honestly because he was a bit pissed off that they were giving themselves reason to be so nervous. Finally, he grew bored and said, "Well, it's almost time for breakfast. We better go down, Ron. Anyway, Hermione needs to get ready."

It was true, Hermione was still very much in her pajamas, and she really needed to get ready. "Okay," she said quickly. "I'll meet you there."

Harry nodded and motioned with his head for Ron to follow him out of the girls' dormitory. Ron did so without further hesitation, and they left Hermione alone in her room. They successfully snuck down the stairwell without getting caught and exited the Common Room silently. Harry was debating whether or not to ask Ron a very personal question as the walked the distance to the Great Hall.

He wanted to know if Ron would admit to liking Hermione.

On one hand, Harry thought that he might. Ron had never lied to him before, and he didn't know why he would start now. On the other hand, though, he and Ron had never really discussed girls before- not seriously anyway. Ron knew that he liked Cho only because he'd admitted that he asked her to the Yule Ball. Harry knew that Ron had a thing for Veelas, but then again, so did every guy who came into contact with one. This would be sort of weird. Back on the first hand, though, they were supposed to be best friends. Didn't that mean they should have some "guy talk" once in awhile? They were fifteen years old after all.

"Ron?" he said, slowing their pace.

Ron looked up at him. "Huh?"

Harry ran everything over in his head quickly. "Um… What do you think the House-Elves made for breakfast?"

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They'd been sitting at the Gryffindor table for awhile, and all three of them were done eating. Thankfully, the awkwardness that Harry was positive would be surrounding Ron and Hermione hadn't lasted through breakfast. They were actually laughing quite loudly at a joke Harry had somehow missed. He was just about to ask what was so funny when a flurry of owls soared into the Great Hall, dropping packages and letters all over the four tables.

Hermione's parents had already sent her presents ahead, of course, but a package dropped onto her lap, nonetheless. It had come from a large owl that Harry recognized immediately. It had been the same owl that had been popping into the Weasleys quite often before they'd returned to school. However, it hadn't shown up at Hogwarts until that day.

It was Viktor Krum's owl.

Hermione looked at the package and then glanced up at Harry and Ron, more specifically at Ron. Her face turned a little pink, but she just gave them a half smile and opened the letter that was attached to the package. She read it quickly and tucked it into the pocket of her robe before picking up the package and leaning down to tuck it into her bag.

"Open it." It was Ron who had spoken. His face wasn't flushed, but it was rather serious. His tone of voice, too, was completely devoid of emotion.

Hermione glanced down at the table. "I'll open it later," she said quietly.

"Let's see what you've got," Ron pressed on. "Let's see what the wonderful Viktor Krum has sent you." The emotionless voice was now laced with a trace of sarcasm.

Hermione looked up at him. "I don't want to open it here," she said calmly.

"Why not?" Ron asked, his voice getting a bit louder. A few people around them looked up. "Want to open your boyfriend's present in private, do you?"

Harry let out a low sigh. He could already tell that this was not going to be pretty.

Hermione's eyes narrowed immediately, and her face flushed- Harry couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or from anger. She struggled to keep her voice calm. "It is none of your business what I want to do," she told him evenly.

Ron let out a derisive laugh. "I guess it isn't, is it? It's not like I'm your best friend or anything."

"Ron, just shut up," Hermione told him finally. It was obvious that she really didn't want to fight with him, but Harry knew that a fight would inevitably be dragged out of her.

Ron ignored her order and continued on. "Just open it. What's there to be embarrassed about? Afraid Viky might have sent something too personal?" He was testing her, and Harry knew she wouldn't back down against him.

"Fine!" she finally exclaimed, loudly enough to draw the attention of several more people around them. She reached back into her bag and withdrew the gift hastily. She unwrapped the present without even looking at it, as she was glaring dangerously across the table at Ron. When the paper was discarded, she finally looked down long enough to open the top of it and pull out the gift.

Her angry expression quickly changed as she saw what she was holding.

It was a silver bracelet much different from the one Ron had given her. Whereas his had been simple and sweet, this one was flashy and expensive, thicker with small diamonds encrusted all the way around it.

All three of them fell silent as the looked at the bracelet in Hermione's hand. Harry saw Ron and Hermione raise their eyes to each other at exactly the same time, and he noticed that neither of them seemed angry anymore. Hermione looked like she wanted to cry, and Ron was wearing an expression that Harry really didn't recognize.

"Wow! Let me see it!" Parvati's voice broke the silence as she reached for the bracelet and grabbed it from Hermione's clutches.

"Hermione, it's gorgeous!" Lavender squealed as she leaned over to examine it with Parvati. "You're so lucky! It must have cost a fortune!"

At this, Ron quickly stood up and left the Great Hall without another word. Harry watched him go and debated whether or not to go after him. He looked back across the table at his other best friend and immediately felt awful for her. Hermione had her face in her hands, and he couldn't tell whether she was actually crying or not.

"Hermione…" he said cautiously.

In response, he got Hermione's head shaking and no glimpse of her face.

Knowing not to press her, he once again debated whether or not to run after Ron. He decided he better because he knew how Ron's temper could flare, and he didn't want it to get him into any trouble since they had classes in a little over an hour.

"I'll see you in class," he said to Hermione, watching as she gave him no reply. Hesitantly, he got up from the table and finally hurried to the door.

It didn't take him long to find Ron, as he was visible through the doors of the lobby. He was sitting on the front steps, and Harry joined him, sitting beside him.

Ron looked up when Harry sat down and then quickly started speaking. His face was already very red, and it seemed to grow an even darker color as he spoke so quickly. "Look, if she sent you out here, then just do me a favor and don't speak to me. I don't want to hear anything that she has to say right now, and if you start telling me a bunch of shit, I'm very likely to punch you."

Harry took all of this in. Would Ron really punch him? Stupid question- of course, he would. Ron would punch anything that wasn't female, and Harry knew this well enough- best friends or not, it didn't matter. "She didn't send me out here," he said carefully.

Ron just looked at him suspiciously. "Then what are you doing?"

What was he supposed to say? "Uh, I just thought that maybe you'd want to… talk… or something…" Okay, so maybe this "guy talk" wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

"Talk about what?" Ron asked incredulously. "I don't want to talk."

"Oh." Harry looked straight ahead. "Um, okay. Well, I guess I'll just…" He got up to leave but was interrupted.

"Why does he have to be so bloody rich?" Ron said loudly.

Harry froze and hastily sat back down. "Er, don't worry about it, Ron." Stupid, stupid. But what the hell was he supposed to say?

Ron just looked at him and shook his head. "I thought she would like the bracelet. I should have been smart enough to realize that her stupid boyfriend would send something better!" He literally spat the word 'boyfriend.'

"She did like it!" Harry said quickly. "I know she does!"

Ron just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, maybe she liked it until she unwrapped a diamond bracelet from Bulgaria that probably cost more than my whole family's house." He was speaking very sarcastically and very bitterly. "I hate being poor." Ron looked down at the steps in front of him as a scowl covered his face.

Harry didn't know what to say. He hated when Ron started talking about his family's financial situation because he never knew what to say, and he always felt guilty for some reason. "Ron, do you like her?" The words were out of his mouth before he even realized he was thinking about asking him.

Ron immediately looked up at his best friend and narrowed her eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Well, he couldn't take it back, so… "Do you like Hermione? I mean like more than a friend?"

Ron's eyes now widened. "Have you lost your mind?"

Harry instantly wished he hadn't asked it in the first place. "Uh… Well, I just thou…"

"Why would you even think that?" Ron wasn't screaming which was a big surprise to even himself.

What could he say? "Well, because… uh, you know… Ginny and the twins and everything…"

"They're stupid," Ron said simply. "No, I don't like her. That's gross!"

"Why is it gross?"

Ron just looked at him as though he really had gone mad. "Because she's… Hermione!"

"But it wouldn't be so bad, would it?" Harry realized he was sounding stupid, but he didn't know what else to say.

"What wouldn't be so bad?" Ron was shaking his head slightly as he spoke, as though Harry wasn't making sense.

"You know… Liking Hermione."

"Why?" Ron asked suddenly. "Do you like her?" Ron's eyes were wide.

"No!" Harry said quickly. "No, I don't! But if you did…" he let his voice trail slightly, "it wouldn't be so bad, would it? I mean, she's really pretty."

Ron shrugged. "So what? So she straightened her hair and put on some lipstick. Big deal. She's still the same person she always was."

"And you liked that person enough to be best friends with her," Harry pointed out.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Harry, think about what you're saying. It's Hermione! She's driven me insane for the past five years of my life!"

"And you've done the same thing to her, so don't blame it all on her," Harry said, surprising himself for being so forward.

"Exactly! Why would I like Hermione when I can't even say two words to her without screaming?!" He was extremely close to screaming at the moment.

"Well, I just…"

Ron cut him off. "Look, Harry. Just do yourself a favor and shut up about it. I don't like her." He said this with a very clear sense of finality before standing up and disappearing back into the castle somewhere.

Harry was left on the front stairs rolling his eyes.



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