XD Finally a new chapter!!! Aren't you all thrilled?! :D
Arrrgh. Harry is seriously and horribly irreparably out of character.
Ah well. That's okay. It makes the story more interesting, and the canon Harry would
never do this sort of thing in a million years. :P I actually think he's acting a bit like his
father...without the arrogance and all. :D
Once again, I apologize to everyone for the long wait. I've already got the next chapter
written up, I just have to type it. :D I made some alterations to the ending I previously
had written out, so now it's going to be somewhere around six or seven chapters instead
of four or five. XD What's going to be hard is completely finishing it. :D I hate endings...
they always seem to come out stupid when I write them. _ Oh, well. I promise I'll do
my best :D
Also, this chapter ends with a lovely cliffhanger. :D You'll be waiting precisely one week
from the 30th of November for it. I'm so evil. XD That means the 7th of December, just so
you don't have to go and look it up. :D
Anyways, enjoy this chapter! Once again, please review and tell me if you think something
could be fixed/altered/added/etc. etc. etc.
Much love to you all!!!!! THANKIES FOR ALL THE COMMENTS!!! They're lifesavers!!
Oh, and by the way, I know you all really, really, really want italics and things instead of
asterisks, but unfortunately, I can't figure out how to do that. Whenever I try html, it all
shows when I put the document into fanfic.net. So unless someone would like to help me or
something, you have to deal with the asterisks... Sowwy. :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm sorry for being such a prat before. I hope you can forgive me because I love—
scratch 'love' out—like you," Harry dictated, pacing in front of the desk where Percy sat,
carefully writing his words in Ron's messy scrawl. "A lot. Please tell me—and then just
stop there. It'll be like he started it, left it, and forgot about it." Percy nodded and folded the
note in half twice. He then reopened it and looked it over, holding it up for Bill to see.
"What do you think?" he asked.
Bill squinted at it scrutinizingly and shook his head, grinning slightly. "It looks just
like he wrote it. They're perfect. Excellent job, Perc."
Percy smiled blushing slightly, pleased. "Good. I haven't done this in a while…"
Ginny grinned and asked curiously, "Where will we put them, Harry?"
"I think I'll just say I found the one for Hermione, I don't think she would read it if I
didn't. We don't have to worry about Ron. He's nosy," Harry said with a grin.
Bill grinned as well. "You've got that right. I'll go put the one from Hermione on the
kitchen floor. You take the one from Ron to Hermione, all right?"
Harry nodded, "Great. This had better start working soon."
Charlie agreed, "Yeah it better, or things are going to get drastic!"
Harry laughed, took the note for Hermione, and went out to find her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And not five minutes later, he did just that. He discovered her sitting with a book
on the rope swing in one of the trees near the side of the house. She was gazing at the
book with a saddened expression and from the lack of movement on her eyes part, Harry
could tell she wasn't reading. He walked up quietly and before she noticed him, he got a
brief glimpse of what she was looking at. It was a photo that appeared to be of Ron and
herself. Then she snapped the book shut, looking up at him, startled. "Harry!"
He smiled and sat down coolly on the grass, looking up at her. "Hi Hermione…
What are you reading?"
"Huh?" she looked puzzled for a moment then she suddenly remembered the
book sitting in her lap. "Oh! This. It's just a book I picked up at Flourish and Blotts for
some light reading…"
Harry nodded and grinned a little, "Actually…I have something that might interest
you a little bit more than…" He tilted his head, peering at the spine. "Thirty-Seven
Thousand-Three-Hundred-and-Six Ways to Transfigure an Ugly Old Pig." He smirked at
her. "Fascinating, is it?"
Hermione blushed. "I think it's interesting. Besides, it might be helpful—"
Harry grinned and held up a hand, "Whatever, Hermione… If you like it, by all
means…"
She rolled her eyes. "You could listen at least sometimes, Harry…"
He grinned again. "It's not one of my strong points."
She smiled fondly at him. "I know. What is it you wanted again?"
"Oh!" Harry reached into his back jeans pocket and pulled out the folded up note,
showing it to her. "Look at this!"
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "It's a piece of folded parchment, Harry…what about it?"
Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation. "It's a note Hermione."
Again she looked nonplussed. Harry sighed loudly and unfolded it, turning it so that it was facing her. "Look! It's
Ron's… He left it lying around on the staircase. It's about you!"
Hermione flushed, her eyes averting from the 'Dear Hermione' scribbled at the
top, to Harry's face. "S—so what?" she stammered, flustered and curious all at the
same time.
"Don't you want to read it?" Harry asked, pushing it closer to her.
She shook her head, "Oh Harry, I couldn't. It's Ron's…"
"But it's written to you. Meaning he meant to give it to you at some point. So
technically, you're reading what was already yours anyway. It's just not quite finished,"
Harry replied logically. "Come on, Herm, you know you want to read it." He grinned at her
mischievously.
Hermione smiled slightly. "Oh *Harry*…"
"Don't thank me. Just read it," he put it in her lap on top of the book and watched
as she reluctantly began to read it. After a moment or two, as her mouth proceeded to
nearly drop to the ground, she looked up, gaping at Harry.
"Th—this is *Ron's*?" she suttered.
Harry gave her a look. "Can't you tell? His writing is horrible."
Looking back at the note, dazedly, Hermione murmured, "I think it's charming…"
Harry grinned. "Do you now?"
Hermione immediately flushed. "Oh! I didn't—I mean—Harry—I—ohhhhh!" she
cried in frustration.
Harry chuckled, "Isn't this a good thing Hermione? You like him too, don't you?"
Again, her face pinkened considerably. "I—how—what—when did you *know*…?"
she whispered.
He smiled. "I've known since the end of third year. Hermione, honestly. It's so obvious."
She sighed, looking rather miserable. "I wasn't trying to be obvious… I didn't want
anyone to know… Oh, Harry, what do I do? What if it's fake? What if it's from the twins? I
can't handle that…!" She began to look near tears and Harry knelt beside her, alarmed.
"Hermione, it's all right! Honestly! I know Ron wrote it… I've seen him writing
something on a piece of parchment the last few days and whenever I got near him, he
wouldn't let me see it. It's all right!" he bit his lip, worried for just a moment that maybe
this wasn't such a good idea. Then he remembered Ron's reaction when he had been
eavesdropping and he grinned slightly, banishing that thought entirely.
Hermione looked at him a slight ray of hope on her face. "Do you promise,
Harry…? Are you sure?"
He smiled and squeezed her hand lightly. "'Mione, I know you two better than
anyone else… Of course I'm sure!"
She grinned a little and looked back down at the parchment in her hands,
skimming it again. Her grin widened and she lunged forward wrapping her arms about
Harry's neck. "Oh Harry! This is so wonderful… I'm so happy!"
Harry grinned, amused and said, lightly pushing her away. "Maybe you should go
find him and have a chat."
Hermione smiled, "Thank you so much Harry…"
He winked roguishly. "No problem."
She sighed happily and, tucking the note into her jeans shorts pocket, she headed
for the house to search out Ron. Harry watched her go and grinned to himself, pleased.
*Now* they were getting somewhere…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Shhh! You're making too much noise you two!" Bill hissed at the twins from their
hiding place in the kitchen closet. Charlie had managed to cast a spell on the door that
made it so that they could see through it easily, but from the other side it was still as solid
as a door. "He'll hear us!"
George glared at him from where he was pressed up against a shelf of jars and
cans. "Shut up Bill. No one asked you!"
"You're making just as much noise, anyway," Fred said irritably, pushing a broom
away from his armpit.
"All three of you shut up! Here he comes!" Charlie whispered, leaning close to the
door. The others quieted down and turned to watch as Ron shuffled into the kitchen,
heading for a cabinet and pulling out a box of biscuits. He looked quite as miserable as he
had when George had freed him the night before. Bill, being the ever perceptive older
brother, noticed that his eyes were dark and lacked the usual glimmer they held. He
looked as though he'd spent the night tossing and turning. He sighed softly, wanting to tell
him that his misery would be over sooner than he thought, but it was too late now.
Ron sat down slowly at the kitchen table and began nibbling at the biscuits,
apathetic to their taste and texture. His mind was other wise engaged, despite his wishes.
He dropped his eyes to the floor to study the paneling he knew so well and then noticed
the note lying conspicuously on the floor.
"What's this…?" he murmured to himself and set the biscuits on the table,
bending down and picking up the note. He opened it curiously and sat down at the table
as he began to read quietly to himself.
"Dear Ron, We've known each other for four years now, almost five. Five in
September actually, on the first. But anyway. This isn't about that. This is
about our relationship."
Ron paused in his reading, staring at the letter almost suspiciously. What was all
this 'relationship' nonsense about? What was there to talk about? They were friends.
What more did one need to know? Sighing and shaking his head at her attempt to keep
from rambling on about technical things, he continued, murmuring the words aloud to
himself as he paced the kitchen.
"I believe it's time to come clean. After three years, I can hardly stand to hold it in
any more, and hiding it is becoming more and more difficult. I'm afraid of how you
might react, but I'm also afraid that I'll go mad if I don't tell you what's going on
inside of me. I also find it rather hard to believe that after all the hints I've
practically thrown at you, that you still don't understand."
Ron frowned. She always had to get in something about how stupid and thick
headed he was. Why couldn't she ever leave well enough alone? Even in her
letters she nagged at him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From inside the closet, Charlie whispered nervously to Bill, "You don't think he'll
put it down do you? He looks rather irritated…"
Bill shook his head, peering closely at Ron and the letter. "Nah. It's caught his
interest. We insulted him a little, just like Hermione would do, but it's not bad
enough to make him want to crumple it up and throw it away. Reading it is too
alluring."
Charlie nodded. "I hope you're right…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"…So I've decided this is the next best thing. I'll write you a letter, give it to you,
and then just simply wait. Oh I wish it were that simple…"
Once again, Ron's reading stalled. What was she going on about? This was
beginning to sound serious. What if something was the matter? Merlin, he hoped
there were nothing wrong. He didn't know what he'd do if she said something
about how she couldn't stand him any more and she never wanted to see him
again… He continued reading, and with the next line, his heart skipped a beat
and his breath caught in his chest.
"I might as well quit rambling. Ronald Weasley, I love you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The four in the closet exchanged secretive smiles and turned back to watch Ron
once again, pleased.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron's eyes skimmed over the words again, then again, once again, and then
another time, until he'd read that single line more than ten times. He was stunned.
Hermione was confessing, after all they'd done and said to each other, that she loved
him. Him. Ron Weasley. As it finally began to sink in, his heart swelled in his chest and
he grinned broadly, not even bothering to finish the letter. She loved him. Hermione loved
him! He had to find her, to tell her how he felt, confess his feelings for her. He then
quickly read that line again, and then dashed out of the room, elated, to find Hermione.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A moment later, four brothers crept out of the closet, grinning broadly. "I'd say
that went perfectly," Charlie said pleasantly, grinning.
Bill nodded, equally thrilled. "Finally something's going to happen!"
"We'd better not miss it then!"
"Yeah, come on, this'll be brilliant!"
And so the twins led the chase to find Ron and Hermione where they met.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just as Ron was starting out the back door to search for Hermione outside, she
was heading in the door to search for him inside. They smashed into one another and
Ron instinctively grabbed her round the shoulders as she began to stumble backwards.
"Ron!" she cried breathlessly.
"Hermione!" he echoed, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest.
"I need to talk to you!" they blurted simultaneously.
"You first—"
"No, you—"
Ron finally put two fingers to her lips, exasperated. "I'll go first, Hermione."
She nodded silently and gently led him to the porch steps, where they sat down
together, side by side. "What is it Ron?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The others arrived just in time to see Ron and Hermione begin their talk through
the screen door. Harry grinned at Charlie and Bill who grinned back, and the twins knelt
near the bottom, fighting over the best position to watch. Ginny stood quietly by Harry,
watching, but also smiling gently at Harry, ignoring a light blush on her cheeks. She
could hardly believe how sweet he was, doing all this just for his friends. Of course, he
was getting a bit of entertainment out of it, but nothing too bad. And both Ron and
Hermione would benefit immensely from the end result… Speaking of Ron and
Hermione, she tore her attention away from Harry and peered out the screen door,
listening intently.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron took a deep breath, and squeezed a fist as he looked up into Hermione's
woody brown eyes. "Hermione… I found your note, and I read it… I…" he paused,
biting his lip nervously.
Hermione's reaction was different. She looked at him suspiciously. "Found my
note?" She thought back as far she could, trying to think of what note he could be talking
about and the only thing she could think of made her gasp in horror. "You found my
*note?!*"
Ron frowned a little, "It was lying on the kitchen floor… I picked it up and…I
accidentally read some of it…" he said, half in truth.
Hermione could hardly believe what she was hearing. He had read her note. The
note she had written angrily a few weeks ago, after one of their fights. She had rambled
on and on about how horrible he was and how she wished he weren't so attractive and
how she wished he liked her and how even *Malfoy* could be better at times. She had
never ever intended it for his eyes…some of the things in that note she never wanted him
to know about. "Ron! You read my note?" she cried, horrified.
Ron looked a little startled, "I—yeah—it was on the kitchen floor—It was
addressed to me, Hermione…"
Hermione began to get angry as her horror and embarrassment welled up inside
her. "Ron! How could you do that? How could you read my notes?! That was
something private! It was never meant for you to read!" she cried furiously.
Ron's defenses immediately sprang up. "Wait a minute Hermione! It was
addressed to me! I figured you were going to give it to me anyway! It's not my fault you
left it lying around on the floor!"
"I don't know how it got there! You had no business reading it though! How could
you do that Ron?! How?" she shouted.
As she yelled at him, Ron noticed the note clutched in her fist, with her name
scrawled in his messy script. He immediately recalled the love poem he'd been writing
just after hearing Harry, Bill and Ginny talking and turned scarlet. How had she gotten to
it? "What about you Hermione?" he shouted back, glaring furiously at her, his face
crimson with mortification. "You've read my note but I have no right to read yours? Aren't
you being a hypocrite?" he demanded.
Hermione looked down at the note in her hand and blanched. "That's not fair!
Harry gave this to me!"
Ron jerked back as though he'd been slapped. "He *what*?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arrrgh. Harry is seriously and horribly irreparably out of character.
Ah well. That's okay. It makes the story more interesting, and the canon Harry would
never do this sort of thing in a million years. :P I actually think he's acting a bit like his
father...without the arrogance and all. :D
Once again, I apologize to everyone for the long wait. I've already got the next chapter
written up, I just have to type it. :D I made some alterations to the ending I previously
had written out, so now it's going to be somewhere around six or seven chapters instead
of four or five. XD What's going to be hard is completely finishing it. :D I hate endings...
they always seem to come out stupid when I write them. _ Oh, well. I promise I'll do
my best :D
Also, this chapter ends with a lovely cliffhanger. :D You'll be waiting precisely one week
from the 30th of November for it. I'm so evil. XD That means the 7th of December, just so
you don't have to go and look it up. :D
Anyways, enjoy this chapter! Once again, please review and tell me if you think something
could be fixed/altered/added/etc. etc. etc.
Much love to you all!!!!! THANKIES FOR ALL THE COMMENTS!!! They're lifesavers!!
Oh, and by the way, I know you all really, really, really want italics and things instead of
asterisks, but unfortunately, I can't figure out how to do that. Whenever I try html, it all
shows when I put the document into fanfic.net. So unless someone would like to help me or
something, you have to deal with the asterisks... Sowwy. :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm sorry for being such a prat before. I hope you can forgive me because I love—
scratch 'love' out—like you," Harry dictated, pacing in front of the desk where Percy sat,
carefully writing his words in Ron's messy scrawl. "A lot. Please tell me—and then just
stop there. It'll be like he started it, left it, and forgot about it." Percy nodded and folded the
note in half twice. He then reopened it and looked it over, holding it up for Bill to see.
"What do you think?" he asked.
Bill squinted at it scrutinizingly and shook his head, grinning slightly. "It looks just
like he wrote it. They're perfect. Excellent job, Perc."
Percy smiled blushing slightly, pleased. "Good. I haven't done this in a while…"
Ginny grinned and asked curiously, "Where will we put them, Harry?"
"I think I'll just say I found the one for Hermione, I don't think she would read it if I
didn't. We don't have to worry about Ron. He's nosy," Harry said with a grin.
Bill grinned as well. "You've got that right. I'll go put the one from Hermione on the
kitchen floor. You take the one from Ron to Hermione, all right?"
Harry nodded, "Great. This had better start working soon."
Charlie agreed, "Yeah it better, or things are going to get drastic!"
Harry laughed, took the note for Hermione, and went out to find her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And not five minutes later, he did just that. He discovered her sitting with a book
on the rope swing in one of the trees near the side of the house. She was gazing at the
book with a saddened expression and from the lack of movement on her eyes part, Harry
could tell she wasn't reading. He walked up quietly and before she noticed him, he got a
brief glimpse of what she was looking at. It was a photo that appeared to be of Ron and
herself. Then she snapped the book shut, looking up at him, startled. "Harry!"
He smiled and sat down coolly on the grass, looking up at her. "Hi Hermione…
What are you reading?"
"Huh?" she looked puzzled for a moment then she suddenly remembered the
book sitting in her lap. "Oh! This. It's just a book I picked up at Flourish and Blotts for
some light reading…"
Harry nodded and grinned a little, "Actually…I have something that might interest
you a little bit more than…" He tilted his head, peering at the spine. "Thirty-Seven
Thousand-Three-Hundred-and-Six Ways to Transfigure an Ugly Old Pig." He smirked at
her. "Fascinating, is it?"
Hermione blushed. "I think it's interesting. Besides, it might be helpful—"
Harry grinned and held up a hand, "Whatever, Hermione… If you like it, by all
means…"
She rolled her eyes. "You could listen at least sometimes, Harry…"
He grinned again. "It's not one of my strong points."
She smiled fondly at him. "I know. What is it you wanted again?"
"Oh!" Harry reached into his back jeans pocket and pulled out the folded up note,
showing it to her. "Look at this!"
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "It's a piece of folded parchment, Harry…what about it?"
Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation. "It's a note Hermione."
Again she looked nonplussed. Harry sighed loudly and unfolded it, turning it so that it was facing her. "Look! It's
Ron's… He left it lying around on the staircase. It's about you!"
Hermione flushed, her eyes averting from the 'Dear Hermione' scribbled at the
top, to Harry's face. "S—so what?" she stammered, flustered and curious all at the
same time.
"Don't you want to read it?" Harry asked, pushing it closer to her.
She shook her head, "Oh Harry, I couldn't. It's Ron's…"
"But it's written to you. Meaning he meant to give it to you at some point. So
technically, you're reading what was already yours anyway. It's just not quite finished,"
Harry replied logically. "Come on, Herm, you know you want to read it." He grinned at her
mischievously.
Hermione smiled slightly. "Oh *Harry*…"
"Don't thank me. Just read it," he put it in her lap on top of the book and watched
as she reluctantly began to read it. After a moment or two, as her mouth proceeded to
nearly drop to the ground, she looked up, gaping at Harry.
"Th—this is *Ron's*?" she suttered.
Harry gave her a look. "Can't you tell? His writing is horrible."
Looking back at the note, dazedly, Hermione murmured, "I think it's charming…"
Harry grinned. "Do you now?"
Hermione immediately flushed. "Oh! I didn't—I mean—Harry—I—ohhhhh!" she
cried in frustration.
Harry chuckled, "Isn't this a good thing Hermione? You like him too, don't you?"
Again, her face pinkened considerably. "I—how—what—when did you *know*…?"
she whispered.
He smiled. "I've known since the end of third year. Hermione, honestly. It's so obvious."
She sighed, looking rather miserable. "I wasn't trying to be obvious… I didn't want
anyone to know… Oh, Harry, what do I do? What if it's fake? What if it's from the twins? I
can't handle that…!" She began to look near tears and Harry knelt beside her, alarmed.
"Hermione, it's all right! Honestly! I know Ron wrote it… I've seen him writing
something on a piece of parchment the last few days and whenever I got near him, he
wouldn't let me see it. It's all right!" he bit his lip, worried for just a moment that maybe
this wasn't such a good idea. Then he remembered Ron's reaction when he had been
eavesdropping and he grinned slightly, banishing that thought entirely.
Hermione looked at him a slight ray of hope on her face. "Do you promise,
Harry…? Are you sure?"
He smiled and squeezed her hand lightly. "'Mione, I know you two better than
anyone else… Of course I'm sure!"
She grinned a little and looked back down at the parchment in her hands,
skimming it again. Her grin widened and she lunged forward wrapping her arms about
Harry's neck. "Oh Harry! This is so wonderful… I'm so happy!"
Harry grinned, amused and said, lightly pushing her away. "Maybe you should go
find him and have a chat."
Hermione smiled, "Thank you so much Harry…"
He winked roguishly. "No problem."
She sighed happily and, tucking the note into her jeans shorts pocket, she headed
for the house to search out Ron. Harry watched her go and grinned to himself, pleased.
*Now* they were getting somewhere…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Shhh! You're making too much noise you two!" Bill hissed at the twins from their
hiding place in the kitchen closet. Charlie had managed to cast a spell on the door that
made it so that they could see through it easily, but from the other side it was still as solid
as a door. "He'll hear us!"
George glared at him from where he was pressed up against a shelf of jars and
cans. "Shut up Bill. No one asked you!"
"You're making just as much noise, anyway," Fred said irritably, pushing a broom
away from his armpit.
"All three of you shut up! Here he comes!" Charlie whispered, leaning close to the
door. The others quieted down and turned to watch as Ron shuffled into the kitchen,
heading for a cabinet and pulling out a box of biscuits. He looked quite as miserable as he
had when George had freed him the night before. Bill, being the ever perceptive older
brother, noticed that his eyes were dark and lacked the usual glimmer they held. He
looked as though he'd spent the night tossing and turning. He sighed softly, wanting to tell
him that his misery would be over sooner than he thought, but it was too late now.
Ron sat down slowly at the kitchen table and began nibbling at the biscuits,
apathetic to their taste and texture. His mind was other wise engaged, despite his wishes.
He dropped his eyes to the floor to study the paneling he knew so well and then noticed
the note lying conspicuously on the floor.
"What's this…?" he murmured to himself and set the biscuits on the table,
bending down and picking up the note. He opened it curiously and sat down at the table
as he began to read quietly to himself.
"Dear Ron, We've known each other for four years now, almost five. Five in
September actually, on the first. But anyway. This isn't about that. This is
about our relationship."
Ron paused in his reading, staring at the letter almost suspiciously. What was all
this 'relationship' nonsense about? What was there to talk about? They were friends.
What more did one need to know? Sighing and shaking his head at her attempt to keep
from rambling on about technical things, he continued, murmuring the words aloud to
himself as he paced the kitchen.
"I believe it's time to come clean. After three years, I can hardly stand to hold it in
any more, and hiding it is becoming more and more difficult. I'm afraid of how you
might react, but I'm also afraid that I'll go mad if I don't tell you what's going on
inside of me. I also find it rather hard to believe that after all the hints I've
practically thrown at you, that you still don't understand."
Ron frowned. She always had to get in something about how stupid and thick
headed he was. Why couldn't she ever leave well enough alone? Even in her
letters she nagged at him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From inside the closet, Charlie whispered nervously to Bill, "You don't think he'll
put it down do you? He looks rather irritated…"
Bill shook his head, peering closely at Ron and the letter. "Nah. It's caught his
interest. We insulted him a little, just like Hermione would do, but it's not bad
enough to make him want to crumple it up and throw it away. Reading it is too
alluring."
Charlie nodded. "I hope you're right…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"…So I've decided this is the next best thing. I'll write you a letter, give it to you,
and then just simply wait. Oh I wish it were that simple…"
Once again, Ron's reading stalled. What was she going on about? This was
beginning to sound serious. What if something was the matter? Merlin, he hoped
there were nothing wrong. He didn't know what he'd do if she said something
about how she couldn't stand him any more and she never wanted to see him
again… He continued reading, and with the next line, his heart skipped a beat
and his breath caught in his chest.
"I might as well quit rambling. Ronald Weasley, I love you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The four in the closet exchanged secretive smiles and turned back to watch Ron
once again, pleased.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron's eyes skimmed over the words again, then again, once again, and then
another time, until he'd read that single line more than ten times. He was stunned.
Hermione was confessing, after all they'd done and said to each other, that she loved
him. Him. Ron Weasley. As it finally began to sink in, his heart swelled in his chest and
he grinned broadly, not even bothering to finish the letter. She loved him. Hermione loved
him! He had to find her, to tell her how he felt, confess his feelings for her. He then
quickly read that line again, and then dashed out of the room, elated, to find Hermione.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A moment later, four brothers crept out of the closet, grinning broadly. "I'd say
that went perfectly," Charlie said pleasantly, grinning.
Bill nodded, equally thrilled. "Finally something's going to happen!"
"We'd better not miss it then!"
"Yeah, come on, this'll be brilliant!"
And so the twins led the chase to find Ron and Hermione where they met.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just as Ron was starting out the back door to search for Hermione outside, she
was heading in the door to search for him inside. They smashed into one another and
Ron instinctively grabbed her round the shoulders as she began to stumble backwards.
"Ron!" she cried breathlessly.
"Hermione!" he echoed, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest.
"I need to talk to you!" they blurted simultaneously.
"You first—"
"No, you—"
Ron finally put two fingers to her lips, exasperated. "I'll go first, Hermione."
She nodded silently and gently led him to the porch steps, where they sat down
together, side by side. "What is it Ron?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The others arrived just in time to see Ron and Hermione begin their talk through
the screen door. Harry grinned at Charlie and Bill who grinned back, and the twins knelt
near the bottom, fighting over the best position to watch. Ginny stood quietly by Harry,
watching, but also smiling gently at Harry, ignoring a light blush on her cheeks. She
could hardly believe how sweet he was, doing all this just for his friends. Of course, he
was getting a bit of entertainment out of it, but nothing too bad. And both Ron and
Hermione would benefit immensely from the end result… Speaking of Ron and
Hermione, she tore her attention away from Harry and peered out the screen door,
listening intently.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron took a deep breath, and squeezed a fist as he looked up into Hermione's
woody brown eyes. "Hermione… I found your note, and I read it… I…" he paused,
biting his lip nervously.
Hermione's reaction was different. She looked at him suspiciously. "Found my
note?" She thought back as far she could, trying to think of what note he could be talking
about and the only thing she could think of made her gasp in horror. "You found my
*note?!*"
Ron frowned a little, "It was lying on the kitchen floor… I picked it up and…I
accidentally read some of it…" he said, half in truth.
Hermione could hardly believe what she was hearing. He had read her note. The
note she had written angrily a few weeks ago, after one of their fights. She had rambled
on and on about how horrible he was and how she wished he weren't so attractive and
how she wished he liked her and how even *Malfoy* could be better at times. She had
never ever intended it for his eyes…some of the things in that note she never wanted him
to know about. "Ron! You read my note?" she cried, horrified.
Ron looked a little startled, "I—yeah—it was on the kitchen floor—It was
addressed to me, Hermione…"
Hermione began to get angry as her horror and embarrassment welled up inside
her. "Ron! How could you do that? How could you read my notes?! That was
something private! It was never meant for you to read!" she cried furiously.
Ron's defenses immediately sprang up. "Wait a minute Hermione! It was
addressed to me! I figured you were going to give it to me anyway! It's not my fault you
left it lying around on the floor!"
"I don't know how it got there! You had no business reading it though! How could
you do that Ron?! How?" she shouted.
As she yelled at him, Ron noticed the note clutched in her fist, with her name
scrawled in his messy script. He immediately recalled the love poem he'd been writing
just after hearing Harry, Bill and Ginny talking and turned scarlet. How had she gotten to
it? "What about you Hermione?" he shouted back, glaring furiously at her, his face
crimson with mortification. "You've read my note but I have no right to read yours? Aren't
you being a hypocrite?" he demanded.
Hermione looked down at the note in her hand and blanched. "That's not fair!
Harry gave this to me!"
Ron jerked back as though he'd been slapped. "He *what*?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~