Chapter 5

Disclaimer: okay, enough is enough. JKR owns EVERYTHING, as I'm sure you all know. I won't be putting this on any future chapters, although it holds true for them also *"duh" says author, rolling her eyes*.

One of my reviewers brought up the Dean dating Ginny issue, and I'd like to point out that I have addressed it several times in the story, though only in passing. It will become a bigger problem when term starts and. . .oops! Don't want to give away too much(=

Another was Harry's character. Yes, I know, he's a little. . .fluffier then the real thing, a little OOC, and this is mostly to make things easier on myself. (A little fluff never hurt anyone^_^) I'm trying not to be too out there, but this is how I sort of see Harry if all this crap didn't keep happening to him. Kind of like Harry on anti-depressants(: Plus, I think of him as having matured a little more, maybe, at least to the point where he's no longer taking his problems out on other people. I didn't set out for the story to be totally believable, anyway- I'm just trying to have fun with this(:

Thanks to all the reviewers who answered the mickey question!(= No more, please, I'm good-lol. Also thanks to all my reviewers in general- I really didn't expect this story to do this well, and all the interest is making me try to get it out faster! I might make it a little longer then I thought I would, too(:

I'm really sorry it took me longer then usual to get this chapter out; I've been sick and I really should be catching up on my practicing and homework rather then writing this (damn summer school, why did I want to get my GenEds done early?), but. . . this is more fun(: From now on I'll be updating every 3-4 days.

And now that I've gotten all that over with, here's your chapter. There's some more making out in this one, which a lot of people seem to like *grin*, and a little bit of swearing, just to warn you. . .Let me know what you think! ^_^

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Hermione, I need your help," Ginny said early the next afternoon, setting down an impressive pile of books that was dwarfed by the mountains weighing down the table occupied by Hermione. "I was wondering-"

"One sec," Hermione said distractedly, cutting her off. Ginny huffed and began tapping her toe impatiently as Hermione scanned down the last page. Finally, she closed it with a loud thump and sighed contentedly, then turned to Ginny. "Yes?"

"Well," Ginny said, sitting down, "Last year I had a lot of trouble with astronomy, and I figured since we still have a little extra time before classes begin, maybe you could help me start to catch up a little. I mean, I have OWLs coming up this year and I'm getting a little nervous-"

"Say no more," Hermione said, picking up one of the books in Ginny's pile. "Ah, I remember this one, quite interesting." Hermione opened the large book and jumped right in, flipping to chapter four. "I think we'll start here. . ."

And so Hermione rambled on for nearly half an hour to a very confused looking Ginny, until finally Hermione closed the book and said irritably, "I don't understand why you're not getting this Ginny, it's really not all that complicated."

"I know," Ginny said dispiritedly, "I wish I had a telescope, I do much better when I'm looking at the real thing."

"Well, that's it then!" Hermione said brightly, "Why don't we camp out in the astronomy tower tonight? That way you could see what I'm talking about."

"What a brilliant idea, Hermione! Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all, it'll be fun! What time do you want to meet? Is eight all right with you?"

"Ummm. . ." Ginny appeared to be thinking. "How about nine? I have some. . .things I need to do."

"All right. Fine with me," Hermione said, packing away a massive pile of books, and carrying what wouldn't fit in her bag. "I'm going to bring these up to the room; see you at dinner then."

"Yup, see you then." Ginny said, watching her leave. She sat down with her astronomy book and waited.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Close by, Harry was trading cards with Ron in the common room. "Listen, mate, I probably won't be back till late tonight."

"Why?" Ron asked, looking up from his newly acquired Leopoldina Smethwyck. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, I just. . .have something I need to do."

"Oh, come on," Ron said irritably, "you can't do that to a person. What's going on?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Harry grinned, "I just didn't want you to come looking for me. I don't know when I'll be back. Could be past your bed time, didn't want you waiting up."

"Prat," Ron said, organizing his cards and putting them away with an uncharacteristic neatness. "Fine, don't tell me what you're up to. Like I even want to know, anyway."

"Oh, yes you do," Harry smiled, and Ron smacked him upside the head jokingly. Harry got up, saying, "I told Ginny that I'd let her borrow some of my quidditch books, so I'm going to meet her in the library. I'll see you later."

"I don't know, I might 'have something I need to do'!" Ron called after him and Harry grinned.

He found Ginny waiting for him in the library as planned, and he sat down next to her as she set down the astronomy book she had been flipping through.

"So, how'd it go?

"Good. I made her think the whole thing was her idea." Ginny frowned. "I really don't like lying to Hermione like this."

"Ah, no harm done. It's not like we're doing this maliciously. I think the whole thing is quite funny, actually."

"Still," Ginny said, chewing her bottom lip. Then she grinned. "It was fun pretending to be an idiot, though. I actually did quite well in astronomy."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Ready to go?" Hermione said, looking up as Ginny entered the room later.

"Yeah," Ginny said, scanning over the pile of overnight supplies she had prepared earlier, "I think it's all here, lets go." She lugged her sleeping bag and a pile of books down the stairs. She knew that the common room would be empty, she had checked to make sure Ron was upstairs a couple minutes ago, and they could hear him playing some music on his muggle stereo up in the boys' dorms.

Five minutes later, they were laying out their sleeping bags in the Astronomy tower, and Hermione was chatting happily about hoping to see some constellation or another. Ginny, swallowing a wave of guilt at what she was about to do to one of her best friends, slapped her hand to her forehead, as if amazed by her own stupidity.

"I can't believe it, Hermione, but I've forgotten one of my texts. I'll be back in a couple of minutes, all right?"

"Take your time," Hermione said, adjusting the many knobs on one of the telescopes and looking through it periodically.

Ginny walked hurriedly out of the room, and met Harry halfway back to Gryffindor. "Harry, I don't know if this is such a good idea."

"Oh, come on, Gin, this is for the long term good. They might be upset with us at first, but when they see our intentions are in the right place, they'll get over it," he said, a little irritably. When Ginny still looked unsure he sighed, patting her back, and said, "If you really don't want to go through with this, we don't have to."

Ginny thought it over for a second, and then shook her head resolutely, "No. I can't stand their arguing one more day. Let's get this over with."

"Excellent," Harry grinned, "Do you have what you need?"

"Yes," Ginny said, holding up a small candy, "This better work as Fred and George said it would."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Harry said, "I'm going to get out of the way now, so that Ron doesn't run into me, but I'll meet you back up there soon. You put the extendable ears in place, right?"

"Everything's set, just go. I need to do this before I lose my nerve."

"Okay, good luck," Harry said, and headed in the direction from which Ginny had just come.

When Ginny made it to the portrait leading into Gryffindor, she stopped and took a deep breath, preparing herself. She then took the candy and bit off one half of it, chewing quickly and swallowing. For a second everything was fine.

Quite suddenly she started crying hysterically, great sobs wracking her entire body. She stuttered the password, and the fat lady looked at her strangely before swinging open. Ginny's hands were shaking as she crawled through the portrait hole. She was stumbling towards the stairs to the boys' dorms when she heard a voice behind her.

"Ginny? What happened Ginny, what's the matter?"

She turned and saw Ron sitting on the couch. He had obviously come down after they had left before. He stood up and made as if to come toward her, looking very alarmed. Ginny ran towards him and threw her arms around him.

"Oh Ron! I just d-don't know what to do! I n-never thought that anything l-like this would happen. How c-could he do this Ron? How?"

"Ginny, calm down, what did who do?"

"H-Harry. H-he. . . No, I shouldn't t-tell you, I don't want you to h-hurt him. . ."

Ron stiffened. "What did he do to you?" he said quietly.

"N-nothing, it's just th-that. . .it's just that. . ." she was sobbing so hard that she could barely speak. "It's just that I st-still l-love him, and I guess I j-just d-didn't want to think about him e-ever being with someone else. And HER! She's my f-friend. How c-could they do th-this?"

"Do WHAT Ginny?" Ron asked urgently, but he was afraid that he already knew.

"W-well," Ginny said, and tried to wipe away some of the tears that continued to pour down her face, "I w-was going to the astronomy tower to use a t-telescope, and I saw. . .I s-s-saw-"

"WHAT!" Ron almost shouted, becoming frantic, gripping her arms and shaking her slightly.

"Harry and Hermione! I-in the Astronomy tower. A-And you know w-what goes on up th-there. . ."

Ginny stopped at the rage she saw in her brother's eyes. For a second the only sound in the room was Ginny's heavy sobs, and then Ron let go of her abruptly and said, almost calmly, "I'll kill him."

He turned and walked purposefully from the room. Ginny called after him, "Please, Ron, d-don't h-hurt anyone!" but she had a feeling that he didn't hear her.

She sat down on the sofa and, still shaking, took out the other half of the candy and swallowed it hastily. Almost immediately her tears stopped. She sat for a few seconds, collecting herself, and then got up and started walking hurriedly after Ron toward the Astronomy tower, still sniffling.

She just hoped that Harry had done as he said he would and gotten out of the way, because she had a feeling that they might have pushed Ron over the edge.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ron thought he might very well be capable of committing the murder he had just claimed he would. Just then, he wasn't remembering that Harry was his best friend; that he thought of him as a brother. Harry was nothing to him right now but a man who was taking something that belonged to him. 'I have something I need to do.' The prick. 'You know what goes on up there. . .' Ginny had said. He certainly did, and poor Ginny had probably come upon them going at it. Harry was a dead man.

And Hermione! He had thought that she was better then this. But no, they had gone sneaking behind his back, like rats. His hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides, and he very much would have liked to have Harry's neck between them. He didn't even try to calm himself down, but instead he felt the rage inside him growing infinitely, and was sure that at any second he would explode. Walking up the stairs to the astronomy tower, he wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do, but whatever it was, he knew that Harry wouldn't be walking away from it whole.

He stopped in the doorway and looked into the room, breathing hard. He saw Hermione, sitting on the floor in her pajamas, a book open in her lap, and was struck by how innocently gorgeous she looked. He shook the tender feelings off with little trouble, thinking of what a betraying bitch she was, acting like she was better then everyone else. And he had believed it. But no more.

"Where is he?" Ron asked quietly walking slowly into the room, slamming the door behind him, and scanning his surroundings with a deadly calm. He was hiding somewhere, the sneak.

"Ron!" Hermione said, acting as if she was glad to see him. Obviously they had found out he was coming, somehow, and she was trying to act as if nothing was wrong to throw him off. "What are you doing here? Have you come to join Ginny and me? We're studying-"

"Oh, shut up," Ron shouted in disgust, unable to listen to anymore, and advancing on her menacingly. "That won't work with me. Ginny just came to me and told me everything, you little slut."

Hermione was shocked into silence, and then she stood up, shaking with anger. "How DARE you! How dare you say such a nasty thing to me, completely unprovoked-"

"Unprovoked, HA!" Ron shouted, and gripped Hermione's arms violently, "Well, your actions speak differently, Miss High-and-Mighty. Did you really think I wouldn't find out? You better tell me where he his now, Hermione, or-"

"Where WHO is?" Hermione shouted desperately. She had never seen Ron like this. "Ron, you have to tell me what's going on, obviously there's been some kind of misunderstanding! Ron, please let go, your scaring me-"

"You should be scared," Ron said, squeezing her arms harder.

"Ron, you're hurting me! You have to calm down and tell me what's going on! I don't know what Ginny told you, but-"

It happened so fast that neither of them knew what was coming. Ron had just wanted to stop the lies pouring out of her beautiful lips, and suddenly he was kissing her violently, shutting out whatever lie she was about to throw at him, pulling her tightly against him. She struggled, trying to bite his tongue when he stuck it in her mouth, and pushing against his chest urgently. But he was much taller then her, and quidditch had made him stronger, more muscular, when before he had just been lanky, and he had little trouble holding her still. For several moments the kiss was hot and violent. But then it changed.

Ron had lifted one of his hands to her cheek, to hold her head still, and was brought to his senses when he felt tears there. He suddenly remembered that it was Hermione that he held in his arms, who was struggling to break away from him. Hermione, who he cared for, who he loved, despite what she had done. He pulled away slightly and looked into her eyes, and was ashamed at the pain and hurt he saw there. His grip gentled, and she looked as if she would pull away.

Hermione stilled when she saw the tender look in his eyes. A thousand times she had imagined how kissing Ron would be, but never had she imagined anything as awful as this. And she didn't even know what had brought it on. He was wiping the tears off her face, and he brought his other hand away from her arm to smooth down her hair, which had come loose from its braid as she had struggled. Through the haze of emotional pain she was suffering, she could see the hurt in his eyes as well. She didn't know what to think, and that was a first for her.

He was cupping her jaw gently, his lips only inches from hers. She gazed into the face of the one who was so precious to her, and he whispered, "I'll make you forget about him." Before she could stop him to ask what he was talking about, he was leaning into her again, and she forgot to think at all.

This was how she had imagined kissing Ron would be, and yet it was so much more. His arms came around her, holding her close to him, and she felt herself fitting perfectly against him. Their passion ran high in their anger and confusion, yet there was tenderness there, and the kiss was gentle at first; nothing more then the soft touch of their lips brushing together, their breath mingling as they gasped for air. Hermione's arms came up to circle around his neck, and she weaved her fingers through his hair, pulling him down to her as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss, opening her mouth to him. This time, when his tongue entered her mouth, she did not bite it, but instead welcomed it by sucking gently, and she felt him shiver in response.

Ron backed her into the wall and held her there by pressing himself firmly against her, while letting his hands run down her sides, grazing the sides of her breasts and over the womanly curve of her hips. She moved her hips against him instinctively, their kiss becoming more passionate by the second, their teeth scraping against each other in their anxiousness to become closer.

Where had she learned to kiss like this?

As the thought ran through his head Ron pulled away from her suddenly, and she almost collapsed without his weight there to support her. He let out an anguished yell, and punched the wall next to her, trying to release some of his frustration. Hermione, surprised, let out a small yelp and jumped, covering her mouth, giving him that wide eyed, frightened look.

He walked away from her, and tried to calm his heavy breathing. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, and didn't turn around when a few moments later she said, softly, "Ron, tell me what's wrong."

He went to one of the large windows and leaned against the sill. He said bitterly, "You learned to kiss that way from HIM, didn't you?"

"Ron, what are you talking about? Who is 'he'?"

"Oh you know who," Ron said, turning around, "Ginny told me she saw the two of you up here, and it didn't take much imagination to figure out what you were up to."

"Ron, WHO?"

"Harry!" He spat as if it was an epithet. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

"But Ron, I don't!" Hermione said urgently, approaching him. "I don't know why Ginny would say something like that, but I haven't even seen Harry since we left the Great Hall tonight. I came up here to tutor Ginny in Astronomy, not to meet Harry, of all things."

She put her hand on his arm, and though he flinched a little at her touch, he didn't pull away. He stared fixedly at his feet as Hermione continued, "Ron, I've never, NEVER felt that way about Harry. Even if I did, do you think that I'd sneak around behind your back? Do you really think Harry would?"

"He might, if. . ." Ron stopped, swallowing hard, and looked into her eyes. "He might if he knew how I felt about you."

Hermione's breath caught, and she couldn't tear her gaze away from his. "And how's that?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

Ron didn't know what to say. Should he tell her, should he finally say it out loud? Could he believe her, believe that she was innocent as she claimed to be? He wanted to, but. . . "Let's go find Ginny. I need to know what's going on."

Hermione looked away, disappointed, but nodded. This needed to be settled. She followed Ron to the door, and he turned the handle. When it wouldn't open he twisted it back and forth impatiently, but the door wouldn't budge.

They were locked in.

"What the-" Ron started to curse, but was interrupted by a voice on the other side of the door, a little muffled, but very clear.

"Sorry, Ron, we had to lock you in, this is for your own good." It was Harry.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, confused, when Ginny spoke up from the other side of the door as well. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Ron, Hermione, please forgive me, this was all Harry's idea," there was a pause where they could here Ginny shushing Harry's protests. "Look, Ron, everything Hermione said was true, so don't be angry with her! She didn't know anything about this. You didn't hurt her, did you? It sounded like you were wrestling before, and I tried to open the door, but Harry stopped me and said that you would never hurt her, that it sounded more like snogging to him, but he didn't see how you were when you came up here. Was he right? Hermione, are you okay?" she asked urgently.

Hermione was speechless for several seconds, then she called out, looking at Ron, who seemed to be in a state of confused shock, "Yes, I'm fine, Ginny. But I would really like to know what's going on."

The two on the other side were quiet for a minute, and then Harry started to explain, "Well, Ginny made you think that she needed tutoring in astronomy, to get you up here tonight. Then she said she forgot something, and came down to Ron, saying that she saw you and me up here, and sort of implied that we were. . .well. . .whatever, and since I've been acting like I'm interested in you for the last couple of days, the idea was understandably not all that unbelievable to Ron. And then he came up here and, well, you know the rest."

"Please, you guys, I'm sorry I lied to you both, but Harry and I couldn't stand your fighting anymore, and this was the quickest way we could think of getting results."

Ron was opening and closing his mouth, and it was clear that he was still speechless. Hermione ran a hand through her hair. "I don't understand, how was this supposed to stop Ron and me from fighting?"

"By making the two of you admit that you have feelings for each other," Harry said simply. Hermione looked quickly at Ron, who glanced back at her. They blushed and looked away from each other.

Finally Ron spoke. "Look you guys, just open the door. We're going to get out whether you unlock it or not, we have our wands."

"No you don't," Harry said smugly. "Ginny nipped Hermione's when they came up here, and she took yours when she was crying on you. So there will be no alohomora-ing your way out of this. You two are going to stay in there until you've come to grips with what you feel for each other. It'll also give you time to calm down; I understand that you might be a little angry with us-"

"A little!" Ron shouted. "I swear, Harry, you better hide, because when I get out of here I'm going to beat the shit out of you. Do you know what you made me think? I could have seriously hurt Hermione!"

"No you wouldn't, you love her too much." Harry said dismissively. "Now, Ginny and I are leaving, so you two behave yourselves. We'll let you out in the morning."

"Bye you guys, I'm really sorry about this!" They heard Ginny call out, along with the sound of their retreating footsteps.

"Harry! Ginny! Come back, let us out, this is ridiculous!" Ron said pounding on the door, but it was useless- they were gone.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other, neither knowing what they were supposed to do. Hermione walked over to the sleeping bags spread out on the floor, and sank down onto one of them, staring absently into space, seemingly preoccupied with something.

"This is un-frigging-believable," Ron muttered, massaging his temples. He looked at Hermione and began to approach her. "Hermione, I'm really sorry for the way I acted, if I had known-"

"Was what Harry said true?" Hermione interrupted quietly, staring at him intently.

Ron tensed and although he already knew the answer, he asked, "Was what Harry said about what true?"

Hermione swallowed, "What Harry said about you loving me?"

Ron sat down next to Hermione and, taking her hand, was surprised to find that it was trembling. "Do you want it to be?" he asked quietly when she finally met his gaze.

For a second she said nothing, and then she whispered, almost imperceptibly, "Yes."

Nothing in the world could have stopped Ron from kissing Hermione just then. He cupped the back of her neck with one of his hands and gripped a handful of soft curls with the other, pulling her towards him. Their lips met softly as they tumbled back onto the floor, Hermione's head landing softly on a pillow as Ron leaned over her. Her arms came around his back and she gripped his shirt tightly, kissing him back with all the love she felt in her heart. Nothing should feel this good, this perfect. She pulled back and Ron looked at her questioningly.

"You didn't answer me," Hermione said, a slight smile curving her lips.

"Do I even have to?" Ron asked, grinning back at her.

"No, but I'd still like to hear it," Hermione said, brushing his hair off his forehead, where it lay roguishly.

Ron's smile widen, "Hermione Granger, I love you more then I thought it was humanly possible to love anyone on this entire earth. I love the way you get wrapped up in a book. I love how you know everything. I love your messy hair, and I love your expressive eyes. I love it when you're bossy and your concern for others. I even love the way you argue. I love everything about you, and just the thought of you with someone else," his voice thickened with emotion, "is enough to make all the light go out of my world. I need you, Hermione. I can't breath without you."

Hermione started crying, "Wow," she said, "That was really good." They laughed together, kissing each other lightly.

"Isn't there something you'd like to say to me?" Ron said, smiling as he kissed her.

"Oh. I guess I love you too," Hermione said grudgingly, and he chuckled, kissing her once more before pulling her down to rest her head against his chest. They lay there like that for awhile, Hermione spooned against his side, neither saying anything, neither needing to. Hermione thought there was no way that she could possibly sleep that night; too much was running through her mind.

Not ten minutes later they were both asleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the Gryffindor common's Ginny was pacing nervously. "Maybe we should go back and let them out Harry. Goodness, what were we thinking?"

"Stop worrying Ginny," Harry said as he got up from the couch. "Everything went off without a hitch. Will you just accept it and stop torturing yourself over it?"

"I just feel so guilty Harry," Ginny said, stopping in front of him and looking at him desolately.

"Of course you do," Harry said to her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders, "You're a good person, and you feel bad about lying to your friend and your brother. There's nothing wrong with that. But they were lying to themselves, Gin. We just made them face the music sooner then they might have planned to."

"I suppose you're right," Ginny said, smiling at him and feeling a little better. "Ron's going to be really mad when you let him out of there. I think he just might rough you up a little."

"It'll be worth it to see them happy together." Harry said absently. She smiled at him. He didn't know what came over him, but suddenly he was saying, "You know, Gin, I'm glad you got over your crush on me. You never used to be able to bring yourself to talk to me before."

Ginny blushed furiously. "I was so awkward, you must have thought I was a complete freak."

"No. I never thought that. I just never realized how wonderful you really are."

Ginny stood there, breathless, surprised at what he had just said. And then they were leaning into each other, and Ginny's eyes closed, her lips slightly parted, waiting. . .

She opened her eyes when she felt his lips touch her forehead. She looked at Harry when he pulled back, a little confused, but he just smiled at her and said, "It's been a long day, you should get some sleep. I'll meet you down here in the morning," and then walked up to his room, leaving her to stare after him.

As she walked up the stairs to her bedroom, she wondered if things would ever be clear where Harry was concerned.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The End - haha. No, just kidding! Wow- that chapter took forever to write(=

^_^ Hope you liked it. Leave a Review! ^_^

BTW- this will be the only chapter where I write from a Ron/Hermione point of view (or at least I think so. . .) the rest of the story will focus mostly on Harry and Ginny.