Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.or do I? Bum bum bum. No, really I
don't.
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Sparkles, Harriet Potter, Spaced Out Space Cadet, Kendra1117, Steven the Demon, and Olivia. Thank you for your fabulous reviews! This is also dedicated to Harry, because I just read part of book 5 again and it made me so sad. I love you, Harry!
I'm happy with how this chapter came out. Well pretty much. Beware! There are raging hormones! Ahh! Head for the hills! Sorry, too much sugar. (Don't worry, I wrote this chapter before all of the sugar.) I am so happy with how many reviews I'm getting for this story. Thank you everyone! I'm so glad that people like it. Actually, in an email that I got, someone compared me to the great JK Rowling, herself! Wow! How flattering! But I'm not that good. (Thanks, though, Harriet Potter!) Maybe I'll put a bonus chapter in at the end of this story. Hmm.I just want to say that I'm having so much fun writing it. Lots of foreshadowing! Well, I won't say anymore. So, here's the story!
*****************THE MYSTERY OF STONE MANSION*******************
Chapter 5: The Search
"Search the house?" Gabbla asked quietly.
"Well, if there's someone else here, we need to know about it," Harry insisted.
"That's right," Hermione pressed on. "So, I suppose we'll do it in pairs."
"Why in pairs?" Ron asked nervously. "What if someone is with the murderer? What if they're partner's attacked?"
"Well, then we would know that the victim's partner is the murderer," Hermione said. "So, I suppose we should draw locks. Gabbla, do you have any matches or anything?"
"Gabbla will go and get some," and he bustled away and returned within a minute with six matches. Hermione then broke pairs into three different lengths. After mixing them in the palm of her hand, she grasped them and held out her fist.
"The person with your length match will be your partner," she said. "Gabbla, we'll need your help since there are now an odd number of us. Would you do the honors?"
Hesitantly, Gabbla reached a long-fingered hand and drew one of the two of the longest matches. In turn, everyone in the room drew a lock. Harry picked a match slightly shorter than Gabbla's. Ron was next and drew the shortest. Just after him, Hermione drew the second small one, and to Harry's great pleasure, Malfoy picked the longest. That means that he would be searching the house with - Cho. His stomach did a summersault.
"Malfoy and Gabbla can take the cellar, Harry and Cho - you can take the ground floor, and Ron and I will go upstairs," Hermione directed. "So, let's get going."
Hermione, Cho, Malfoy and Gabbla all stood up and left the room first. When Harry got to the door, someone grabbed his arm. He turned around to see Ron whose face was rather pale.
"It's Malfoy," he said.
"What?"
"Malfoy. Malfoy attacked Ginny."
"How do you figure?" Harry asked.
"Think about it. Ginny - Miss whatever her name is - sold sweets. Malfoy wants to be the top in the business. It all fits. He killed her off so he could make more money," Ron explained in a hushed voice.
Thinking it over, Harry realized that it did make sense. There was only one problem. "But where's the wand?"
"Well, it's probably in his room somewhere. I found Ginny on the floor, so Malfoy could have done it any time. Then he could have run up to his floor."
"Yeah," Harry said, thinking it through.
"I think that we should steer clear of him just in case. I'll tell Hermione."
"Yeah, you're right," Harry said. Without another word said, they exited the study to go to the entrance hall with the others.
As soon as they were grouped with the rest, Hermione said, "Okay. Let's split up then. We'll meet back here in an hour." A disgruntled Malfoy retreated downstairs followed by Gabbla while Ron and Hermione went upstairs. Harry and Cho were left together.
"So," Harry said, feeling an odd sensation in his arms, "where do you think we should start?"
"Well, we know that there isn't anyone in the study. Should we try the library?"
"I guess."
They walked cautiously to the spacious room that was filled to the ceiling with large volumes of books. After looking behind several books in silence to see if there was anything suspicious, Harry noticed a curtain flapping gently on the other side of the room. Cho seemed to notice this, too.
"Do you think that there's someone behind those curtains?" she asked tentatively.
"I don't know," Harry said. "I'll check it out."
Very slowly and cautiously, Harry proceeded toward the curtain. When he was about a foot away from it, he noticed that his heart was pounding hard against his chest. He turned to look back at Cho who appeared to be very anxious. He found himself facing the curtain once more. He reached out his arm and pulled the curtain. Cho gasped. There was nothing there.
Breathing deeply, Cho said, "Well, I don't think there's much in here. How about we try some of the other rooms?"
They searched through the study and the dinning room before entering the kitchen. It was a bright white room full of marble counters and old- fashioned stoves and refrigerators. There was a chandelier with white candles in it hanging from the ceiling. They looked through several drawers, though with no success. Then Cho climbed up on the table and reached up, trying to get to the chandelier.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked.
"Well, it would be the perfect place to hid a wand, wouldn't it? Out of most people's reach?"
"Here, let me help you," Harry said, climbing onto the table himself. He was a lot taller than Cho was and he reached the chandelier easily.
"Harry, I just wanted to say thank you for what you did when I fainted," she said.
"Oh, well, it was no problem," Harry said. He found that his heart was beating faster than it was in the library.
"You know, you're really brave, Harry," she said, blushing.
"Err.thanks." Heat was rising in his face.
"It's so amazing how you can react under pressure like this. I really admire that."
"Thanks.I wish I were as smart as you, though," he said, feeling his face go red. "I wouldn't have thought to look up here." Hastily finishing his search, he added, "Nothing."
"Oh, well," Cho said, looking away. There was a clock on the wall. "It's nearly time for us to meet in the entrance hall. Shall we go, then?"
"Err.yeah.okay." With that, they left the kitchen to meet the others.
**********
Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione were upstairs, searching the halls for anything suspicious.
"Well, I don't suspect that anyone would be hiding in someone's room, but there could be a secret passage somewhere here," she said, tapping the wall gently.
"Right," Ron said, looking around to see if there was anyone else around them. "Look, Hermione, I think that Malfoy is the one who attacked Ginny, so watch your back, okay?"
"That actually makes sense," Hermione responded, reaching behind a lamp. "Darn. Nothing. All of the clues do point to him, but I think that it is a bit obvious. I expect that there would be more hints to find."
"Well, I guess you're right," Ron admitted. "Just, be careful - okay?"
"Okay. Thanks," she said, turning around to face him. They caught each other's eyes, and then hastily turned away.
There were several minutes of strained silence while they closely examined a statue at the end of the second floor. Searching his mind to find something to talk about, Ron's thoughts strayed across the last holiday. "So.err.how was your summer?"
"Good, and yours?"
"Fine. Did you go anywhere?"
"No, I just stayed home. I was working hard on O.W.L. studies. Then I went to see you and Harry."
"Wait, I thought you were supposed to go Bulgaria," Ron said, remembering a certain boyfriend of Hermione's.
"Oh, well, that didn't work out very well," she muttered, looking down at her feet. "I would have had to spend the entire summer there; I wouldn't have time for anything else." She placed her hand on the statue's arm.
"Really?" Ron asked, looking stunned. "Well, why didn't you go?"
"Well, I just thought that there were other places that I would rather be." She looked up at him with a meaningful look on her face. Suddenly, Hermione nearly fell backward because the statue started to move. It slid to the right to reveal a staircase that sloped downward. "A secret passage," Hermione breathed, staring down the passage. "I wonder where it goes. Do you think we should follow it?"
"Err.yeah," Ron said. "I'll go first." He stepped into the dark annex hesitantly. "I can barely see anything." An instant after he said this, the passage was illuminated with light.
"Wow," Hermione muttered. "This must be full of magic. It's probably a voice sensitive charm."
"Err.right." They walked down the stone stairs slowly, straining their ears for any possible noise. Before long, they reached the end where they came face to face with a solid stone wall. "Now what?"
"I don't know," Hermione said, pushing against the wall. "Oh, I wish it would open." With these words, the stone slid down to reveal a bright green room in front of them.
"I knew it. It's Malfoy's room! He's Mr. Emerald!"
"No, this is on the ground floor," Hermione said, crossing to a window and looking out of it. "It must be the study. Do you think the wand could be hidden somewhere in here?"
"Yeah," Ron said, walking over to a cabinet and opening it.
"I mean, it makes sense. Whoever the murderer is could have attacked Ginny, came in here, and then walked upstairs to go back to their room without running into anyone. I mean, I doubt that there is anyone else on this island because we haven't found any evidence of it. I don't think the others have either just because we would have heard about it." She now began to examine the mantle.
After several fruitless minutes of searching, however, they concluded that there was nothing to find in the study.
"Well, shall we go and find the others?" Ron asked.
"I guess," Hermione answered, though she did look rather put out.
When they opened the door to the entrance hall, they found that Harry and Cho were already waiting for them. Harry looked around, slightly puzzled, when he saw them. "Aren't you supposed to be upstairs?"
"We found a secret passageway that led us down here."
"There was nothing to find, though," Ron added. "Did you have any luck?"
"Nope. Didn't find a wand or an intruder," Cho answered.
"Where's Malfoy?" Ron asked.
"We're still waiting on him," Harry said.
Just then, there came a screech from the end of the hall where the staircase leading downstairs was located. Gabbla suddenly flew over their heads and landed at Harry's feet.
"Gabbla, are you alright?" Hermione asked, running to the spot where he lay.
"Gabbla is alright, miss. Gabbla is alright," the elf muttered while straightening up slowly. Hermione still looked worried. Moments after Gabbla appeared, Malfoy came trudging into view. Hermione stood up.
"What did you do that for?" she yelled, apparently outraged.
"He got in my way," Draco sneered. "Now please don't ask me anything else, Granger. I don't need to waste my time talking to a Mudblood."
Ron and Harry both completely lost control. They started to run forward screaming, "You piece of filth," and other non-audible insults that got blurred in there somewhere. Cho and Hermione caught both Harry and Ron by the collar of the robes just in time.
Malfoy laughed. "I can't wait to see what you do when there's no one to hold you back."
"Let's just go to bed," Cho suggested. "I don't think we're going to find anything else tonight."
"Okay," Harry muttered, still glaring at Malfoy. "We should make sure that everyone goes directly to their rooms, though, so no one's wandering about in the middle of the night. Someone could get attacked."
The six of them ascended up the staircase in silence. When they reached Malfoy's door, Hermione spoke up. "Everyone should lock their door behind them, just in case," she said. She glared at Malfoy while he closed his door behind him and locked it. They dropped off Cho who smiled at Harry before disappearing into her room. Then they proceeded to the next floor.
When they got to Hermione's room, she looked up at Ron, then turned away and said, "Goodnight."
"G-Goodnight," Ron said.
"'Night. Gabbla," Harry said, turning back to the elf, "I think we can make it from here."
"Yes, of course, sir. Goodnight," and Gabbla trotted back down the stairs.
Ron walked into his room looking at the floor, lost in thought, and Harry strolled down to his. He opened it and locked it behind him. It was true. If someone wants to murder him, he didn't want to make it easier for them.
He got changed and then fell into bed. It was unreal. Less than two hours ago, he had caught Cho and held her hand. 'Well, she was unconscious at the time,' he reminded himself, but still. Then, later, she had told him that he was brave. It felt like a balloon was swelling inside his chest. He smiled.
There came a knock from the door. Harry sat up quickly. Who could it be? Everyone was supposed to be in bed.
"Harry, it's me," came Ron's voice.
Harry crossed the room and opened the door. Ron was rubbing the back of his neck and looked extremely worried. "Are you okay?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, I just need to talk to you." Harry let him in and Ron started pacing the room. "She didn't go to Bulgaria."
"What?" Harry asked, a little confused.
"Hermione. She didn't go to see Krum. She said that there were other places that she would rather be. Then she looked at me, and - and - I don't know. I think that I might actually," he took a deep breath, "like Hermione. Am I going crazy?"
"Wait, what?"
"I think that I might - like Hermione," Ron repeated wearily.
Harry's mind was spinning. Ron and Hermione?
"I don't know what to do," Ron muttered, still pacing.
Harry didn't know what to say. Ron and Hermione? His two best friends? Why was Ron asking him about this? If Harry needed advice on girls, he would have gone straight to Sirius, but then again, they were on the island and couldn't talk to anyone outside of the house. What should he do? What should he say? He was still so shocked that he wasn't exactly thinking straight. Finally, he decided to just say whatever came to mind first.
"Well, maybe you should.err.tell her," Harry muttered.
"Really? Do you think I should?" Ron stopped pacing now.
"Err.yeah. Why not?"
"You - you wouldn't mind?" Ron asked hesitantly. Then a thought came to Harry's mind. Over the summer, he had been left alone at the Dursley's for a month. They hadn't sent him one letter. They were probably writing each other every day. They were excluding him purposefully. Well, if they wanted to leave him out of everything and go off snogging somewhere, he wasn't going to stop them.
"No, why should I mind?" he said. Ron failed to catch the edge in his voice. "I'm not stopping you."
"Oh.well.I guess, maybe. What if she doesn't like me, too?"
"Just take a chance," Harry said turning away. "I'm sure you two will be really happy."
There was silence for a minute. Finally, Ron said, "Well, thanks Harry." He opened the door and walked out. When Harry heard Ron enter his own room, he turned around and slammed the door closed. He fell onto his bed, breathing heavily. He tried to get to sleep, but he couldn't.
"Why do they have to do that?" Harry asked out loud. "Things were fine before." He had been mad at the pair of them when they didn't write at all, but he eventually forgave them. They were just doing it all over again. Well, if they wanted to be together without Harry there, that was fine. Like he said, he wasn't going to stop them.
~*~So, what do you think of the couples? Who do you think the murderer is? Next chapter will be a little more surprising, I think. I'm still working out how long it's goingto be. Oh, I have all of these great ideas! I'm so excited! Okay, so really, please review, because they're like oxygen. Any comments, complaints, ideas, suggestions, and predictions are more than welcome.
Lots of love,
Carmen
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Sparkles, Harriet Potter, Spaced Out Space Cadet, Kendra1117, Steven the Demon, and Olivia. Thank you for your fabulous reviews! This is also dedicated to Harry, because I just read part of book 5 again and it made me so sad. I love you, Harry!
I'm happy with how this chapter came out. Well pretty much. Beware! There are raging hormones! Ahh! Head for the hills! Sorry, too much sugar. (Don't worry, I wrote this chapter before all of the sugar.) I am so happy with how many reviews I'm getting for this story. Thank you everyone! I'm so glad that people like it. Actually, in an email that I got, someone compared me to the great JK Rowling, herself! Wow! How flattering! But I'm not that good. (Thanks, though, Harriet Potter!) Maybe I'll put a bonus chapter in at the end of this story. Hmm.I just want to say that I'm having so much fun writing it. Lots of foreshadowing! Well, I won't say anymore. So, here's the story!
*****************THE MYSTERY OF STONE MANSION*******************
Chapter 5: The Search
"Search the house?" Gabbla asked quietly.
"Well, if there's someone else here, we need to know about it," Harry insisted.
"That's right," Hermione pressed on. "So, I suppose we'll do it in pairs."
"Why in pairs?" Ron asked nervously. "What if someone is with the murderer? What if they're partner's attacked?"
"Well, then we would know that the victim's partner is the murderer," Hermione said. "So, I suppose we should draw locks. Gabbla, do you have any matches or anything?"
"Gabbla will go and get some," and he bustled away and returned within a minute with six matches. Hermione then broke pairs into three different lengths. After mixing them in the palm of her hand, she grasped them and held out her fist.
"The person with your length match will be your partner," she said. "Gabbla, we'll need your help since there are now an odd number of us. Would you do the honors?"
Hesitantly, Gabbla reached a long-fingered hand and drew one of the two of the longest matches. In turn, everyone in the room drew a lock. Harry picked a match slightly shorter than Gabbla's. Ron was next and drew the shortest. Just after him, Hermione drew the second small one, and to Harry's great pleasure, Malfoy picked the longest. That means that he would be searching the house with - Cho. His stomach did a summersault.
"Malfoy and Gabbla can take the cellar, Harry and Cho - you can take the ground floor, and Ron and I will go upstairs," Hermione directed. "So, let's get going."
Hermione, Cho, Malfoy and Gabbla all stood up and left the room first. When Harry got to the door, someone grabbed his arm. He turned around to see Ron whose face was rather pale.
"It's Malfoy," he said.
"What?"
"Malfoy. Malfoy attacked Ginny."
"How do you figure?" Harry asked.
"Think about it. Ginny - Miss whatever her name is - sold sweets. Malfoy wants to be the top in the business. It all fits. He killed her off so he could make more money," Ron explained in a hushed voice.
Thinking it over, Harry realized that it did make sense. There was only one problem. "But where's the wand?"
"Well, it's probably in his room somewhere. I found Ginny on the floor, so Malfoy could have done it any time. Then he could have run up to his floor."
"Yeah," Harry said, thinking it through.
"I think that we should steer clear of him just in case. I'll tell Hermione."
"Yeah, you're right," Harry said. Without another word said, they exited the study to go to the entrance hall with the others.
As soon as they were grouped with the rest, Hermione said, "Okay. Let's split up then. We'll meet back here in an hour." A disgruntled Malfoy retreated downstairs followed by Gabbla while Ron and Hermione went upstairs. Harry and Cho were left together.
"So," Harry said, feeling an odd sensation in his arms, "where do you think we should start?"
"Well, we know that there isn't anyone in the study. Should we try the library?"
"I guess."
They walked cautiously to the spacious room that was filled to the ceiling with large volumes of books. After looking behind several books in silence to see if there was anything suspicious, Harry noticed a curtain flapping gently on the other side of the room. Cho seemed to notice this, too.
"Do you think that there's someone behind those curtains?" she asked tentatively.
"I don't know," Harry said. "I'll check it out."
Very slowly and cautiously, Harry proceeded toward the curtain. When he was about a foot away from it, he noticed that his heart was pounding hard against his chest. He turned to look back at Cho who appeared to be very anxious. He found himself facing the curtain once more. He reached out his arm and pulled the curtain. Cho gasped. There was nothing there.
Breathing deeply, Cho said, "Well, I don't think there's much in here. How about we try some of the other rooms?"
They searched through the study and the dinning room before entering the kitchen. It was a bright white room full of marble counters and old- fashioned stoves and refrigerators. There was a chandelier with white candles in it hanging from the ceiling. They looked through several drawers, though with no success. Then Cho climbed up on the table and reached up, trying to get to the chandelier.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked.
"Well, it would be the perfect place to hid a wand, wouldn't it? Out of most people's reach?"
"Here, let me help you," Harry said, climbing onto the table himself. He was a lot taller than Cho was and he reached the chandelier easily.
"Harry, I just wanted to say thank you for what you did when I fainted," she said.
"Oh, well, it was no problem," Harry said. He found that his heart was beating faster than it was in the library.
"You know, you're really brave, Harry," she said, blushing.
"Err.thanks." Heat was rising in his face.
"It's so amazing how you can react under pressure like this. I really admire that."
"Thanks.I wish I were as smart as you, though," he said, feeling his face go red. "I wouldn't have thought to look up here." Hastily finishing his search, he added, "Nothing."
"Oh, well," Cho said, looking away. There was a clock on the wall. "It's nearly time for us to meet in the entrance hall. Shall we go, then?"
"Err.yeah.okay." With that, they left the kitchen to meet the others.
**********
Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione were upstairs, searching the halls for anything suspicious.
"Well, I don't suspect that anyone would be hiding in someone's room, but there could be a secret passage somewhere here," she said, tapping the wall gently.
"Right," Ron said, looking around to see if there was anyone else around them. "Look, Hermione, I think that Malfoy is the one who attacked Ginny, so watch your back, okay?"
"That actually makes sense," Hermione responded, reaching behind a lamp. "Darn. Nothing. All of the clues do point to him, but I think that it is a bit obvious. I expect that there would be more hints to find."
"Well, I guess you're right," Ron admitted. "Just, be careful - okay?"
"Okay. Thanks," she said, turning around to face him. They caught each other's eyes, and then hastily turned away.
There were several minutes of strained silence while they closely examined a statue at the end of the second floor. Searching his mind to find something to talk about, Ron's thoughts strayed across the last holiday. "So.err.how was your summer?"
"Good, and yours?"
"Fine. Did you go anywhere?"
"No, I just stayed home. I was working hard on O.W.L. studies. Then I went to see you and Harry."
"Wait, I thought you were supposed to go Bulgaria," Ron said, remembering a certain boyfriend of Hermione's.
"Oh, well, that didn't work out very well," she muttered, looking down at her feet. "I would have had to spend the entire summer there; I wouldn't have time for anything else." She placed her hand on the statue's arm.
"Really?" Ron asked, looking stunned. "Well, why didn't you go?"
"Well, I just thought that there were other places that I would rather be." She looked up at him with a meaningful look on her face. Suddenly, Hermione nearly fell backward because the statue started to move. It slid to the right to reveal a staircase that sloped downward. "A secret passage," Hermione breathed, staring down the passage. "I wonder where it goes. Do you think we should follow it?"
"Err.yeah," Ron said. "I'll go first." He stepped into the dark annex hesitantly. "I can barely see anything." An instant after he said this, the passage was illuminated with light.
"Wow," Hermione muttered. "This must be full of magic. It's probably a voice sensitive charm."
"Err.right." They walked down the stone stairs slowly, straining their ears for any possible noise. Before long, they reached the end where they came face to face with a solid stone wall. "Now what?"
"I don't know," Hermione said, pushing against the wall. "Oh, I wish it would open." With these words, the stone slid down to reveal a bright green room in front of them.
"I knew it. It's Malfoy's room! He's Mr. Emerald!"
"No, this is on the ground floor," Hermione said, crossing to a window and looking out of it. "It must be the study. Do you think the wand could be hidden somewhere in here?"
"Yeah," Ron said, walking over to a cabinet and opening it.
"I mean, it makes sense. Whoever the murderer is could have attacked Ginny, came in here, and then walked upstairs to go back to their room without running into anyone. I mean, I doubt that there is anyone else on this island because we haven't found any evidence of it. I don't think the others have either just because we would have heard about it." She now began to examine the mantle.
After several fruitless minutes of searching, however, they concluded that there was nothing to find in the study.
"Well, shall we go and find the others?" Ron asked.
"I guess," Hermione answered, though she did look rather put out.
When they opened the door to the entrance hall, they found that Harry and Cho were already waiting for them. Harry looked around, slightly puzzled, when he saw them. "Aren't you supposed to be upstairs?"
"We found a secret passageway that led us down here."
"There was nothing to find, though," Ron added. "Did you have any luck?"
"Nope. Didn't find a wand or an intruder," Cho answered.
"Where's Malfoy?" Ron asked.
"We're still waiting on him," Harry said.
Just then, there came a screech from the end of the hall where the staircase leading downstairs was located. Gabbla suddenly flew over their heads and landed at Harry's feet.
"Gabbla, are you alright?" Hermione asked, running to the spot where he lay.
"Gabbla is alright, miss. Gabbla is alright," the elf muttered while straightening up slowly. Hermione still looked worried. Moments after Gabbla appeared, Malfoy came trudging into view. Hermione stood up.
"What did you do that for?" she yelled, apparently outraged.
"He got in my way," Draco sneered. "Now please don't ask me anything else, Granger. I don't need to waste my time talking to a Mudblood."
Ron and Harry both completely lost control. They started to run forward screaming, "You piece of filth," and other non-audible insults that got blurred in there somewhere. Cho and Hermione caught both Harry and Ron by the collar of the robes just in time.
Malfoy laughed. "I can't wait to see what you do when there's no one to hold you back."
"Let's just go to bed," Cho suggested. "I don't think we're going to find anything else tonight."
"Okay," Harry muttered, still glaring at Malfoy. "We should make sure that everyone goes directly to their rooms, though, so no one's wandering about in the middle of the night. Someone could get attacked."
The six of them ascended up the staircase in silence. When they reached Malfoy's door, Hermione spoke up. "Everyone should lock their door behind them, just in case," she said. She glared at Malfoy while he closed his door behind him and locked it. They dropped off Cho who smiled at Harry before disappearing into her room. Then they proceeded to the next floor.
When they got to Hermione's room, she looked up at Ron, then turned away and said, "Goodnight."
"G-Goodnight," Ron said.
"'Night. Gabbla," Harry said, turning back to the elf, "I think we can make it from here."
"Yes, of course, sir. Goodnight," and Gabbla trotted back down the stairs.
Ron walked into his room looking at the floor, lost in thought, and Harry strolled down to his. He opened it and locked it behind him. It was true. If someone wants to murder him, he didn't want to make it easier for them.
He got changed and then fell into bed. It was unreal. Less than two hours ago, he had caught Cho and held her hand. 'Well, she was unconscious at the time,' he reminded himself, but still. Then, later, she had told him that he was brave. It felt like a balloon was swelling inside his chest. He smiled.
There came a knock from the door. Harry sat up quickly. Who could it be? Everyone was supposed to be in bed.
"Harry, it's me," came Ron's voice.
Harry crossed the room and opened the door. Ron was rubbing the back of his neck and looked extremely worried. "Are you okay?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, I just need to talk to you." Harry let him in and Ron started pacing the room. "She didn't go to Bulgaria."
"What?" Harry asked, a little confused.
"Hermione. She didn't go to see Krum. She said that there were other places that she would rather be. Then she looked at me, and - and - I don't know. I think that I might actually," he took a deep breath, "like Hermione. Am I going crazy?"
"Wait, what?"
"I think that I might - like Hermione," Ron repeated wearily.
Harry's mind was spinning. Ron and Hermione?
"I don't know what to do," Ron muttered, still pacing.
Harry didn't know what to say. Ron and Hermione? His two best friends? Why was Ron asking him about this? If Harry needed advice on girls, he would have gone straight to Sirius, but then again, they were on the island and couldn't talk to anyone outside of the house. What should he do? What should he say? He was still so shocked that he wasn't exactly thinking straight. Finally, he decided to just say whatever came to mind first.
"Well, maybe you should.err.tell her," Harry muttered.
"Really? Do you think I should?" Ron stopped pacing now.
"Err.yeah. Why not?"
"You - you wouldn't mind?" Ron asked hesitantly. Then a thought came to Harry's mind. Over the summer, he had been left alone at the Dursley's for a month. They hadn't sent him one letter. They were probably writing each other every day. They were excluding him purposefully. Well, if they wanted to leave him out of everything and go off snogging somewhere, he wasn't going to stop them.
"No, why should I mind?" he said. Ron failed to catch the edge in his voice. "I'm not stopping you."
"Oh.well.I guess, maybe. What if she doesn't like me, too?"
"Just take a chance," Harry said turning away. "I'm sure you two will be really happy."
There was silence for a minute. Finally, Ron said, "Well, thanks Harry." He opened the door and walked out. When Harry heard Ron enter his own room, he turned around and slammed the door closed. He fell onto his bed, breathing heavily. He tried to get to sleep, but he couldn't.
"Why do they have to do that?" Harry asked out loud. "Things were fine before." He had been mad at the pair of them when they didn't write at all, but he eventually forgave them. They were just doing it all over again. Well, if they wanted to be together without Harry there, that was fine. Like he said, he wasn't going to stop them.
~*~So, what do you think of the couples? Who do you think the murderer is? Next chapter will be a little more surprising, I think. I'm still working out how long it's goingto be. Oh, I have all of these great ideas! I'm so excited! Okay, so really, please review, because they're like oxygen. Any comments, complaints, ideas, suggestions, and predictions are more than welcome.
Lots of love,
Carmen