A/n: Yay, I got great feedback for the last chapter...thanx, guys...I'd really like to thank Night Zephyr...it was soooo awesome to here from you! Well, I really like this chapter...jealousy from our favorite couple is great, isn't it? Enjoy...

Disclaimer: They all belong to the brilliant genius who started this all...

Chapter 3: Just Plain Ron

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked, her nose buried in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6. "I haven't seen him since breakfast."

Ron shrugged. "He's been a bit quiet ever since...well, you know what he did last night." Ron shifted in his seat. He had never seen Harry cry...much less into his and Hermione's shoulders. It had been quite frightening, to be frank. His brain had gone more numb than it had ever been. He doubted very much that patting his back while he sobbed was much help, but that's what he had done at the time. He knew Harry had pent-up feeling, emotions that hadn't been resolved through the years, but he hadn't expected to see his best friend seeking shelter from turmoil in them. I mean, he was Ron. Advice wasn't at all his forte.

Ron glanced up at Hermione. She was gazing at him, her lips slightly parted. It was as if she understood what he was thinking—and feeling, which was extremely unnerving. She knew him too well...oh, Merlin, if only her eyes weren't so round and brown and bright...He looked away. Here he was, sixteen years old and still unable to look his other best friend in the eye. His very pretty best friend.

Well, truly, Hermione wasn't gorgeous. Not when you first looked at her. She looked somewhat plain at first sight; short, with rather big hair, and staggering under the weight of at least 8 books more often than not. But when you got to know her like Ron did...well, he really did not mind being her best friend. He knew that when the right amount of light hit her eyes flecks of gold were visible around the pupil. He knew that whenever she looked up from her tedious working, her long eyelashes fluttered irresistibly. He knew that he loved seeing her bite her lower lip. He knew that her cheeks flushed whenever she was frustrated or embarrassed. He knew that she had the most gorgeous smile ever. All these things were enough to make him overlook her diminutive size, towering hair, and obsession with work. Actually, he not at all minded those qualities in her either. The fact that she was so short was great, in his eyes, because she had to look up at him and he could gaze down into the pools of brown that were her eyes. He had grown fond of her hair because it represented that she was not selfish, superficial, and arrogant. She didn't fuss about how she looked; she just let her hair be. And the books...they were an excuse for him to help her with something.

No, there wasn't any aspect of Hermione Granger that he didn't like. Which was horrible.

Who in Merlin's name fancied their best friend? Especially when she deserved the world, not some poor guy she happened to choose as her buddy. Ron shook his head. He had to stop thinking about Hermione like that. It was just lack of spending time with other girls that had made him start thinking about her like this. Yeah, lack of female company. This would all end the minute he set foot in Hogwarts again, a place full of other girls.

"Ron, what is wrong with you?" Hermione said, biting back a grin. "You've been sitting there staring into the abyss for like 10 minutes! Are you going to get that Charms essay done or not?"

"Eh?"

Hermione's scoff turned into a laugh. She leaned back, grabbed a pillow from behind her, and whacked Ron on the head with it. "Maybe that rattled your brains to get you concentrating again?"

"What brains?"

Hermione gave him a don't-start-that-rubbish-with-me look. "Ron, you are not stupid. You wait and see, I'm sure you did well on your owls."

Ron snorted. "You have too much faith in me Hermione." She gave him a withering look. "It's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong...it's just that there's no way in hell I'm going to get more than 2 O.W.L.s. I mean, look at Fred and George! They're so much smarter than me and they got 3 O.W.L.s so the chance that I get—"Ron couldn't continue. Hermione had clapped her hand over his mouth. He couldn't help but notice she had placed her other hand on the nape of his neck to prevent him from backing away. She grinned.

"You know, sometimes I think you Weasleys, especially you, should come with a remote. Seriously. Look, I could use volume adjustment on you every day! When you're bellowing at me, I could lower your volume. When you speak in class, I would raise your volume so you would sound more confident. When you are being stubborn, I could just make you stop. And at times like these, when you're ranting and raving, I can click mute."

Ron looked at her for a minute. She was barking. Right about now he feared for her mentality. But then...he grabbed her hands and burst out laughing. When his laughter subsided, he held her hands tighter and said, "You know I could say the exact same thing about you?" Hermione raised an eyebrow in pretend skepticism. "Yeah," Ron continued, nodding. "When you're screaming bloody murder at me, I would just jump to putting you on mute instead of wasting time lowering your volume." Hermione opened her mouth to retort but Ron kept speaking. "When you're giving me lectures, I would just fast forward to the end of your lecture. And when you compliment me," he gave her a sly grin, "I would rewind it to hear it over and over again."

"Yeah, to inflate your overlarge ego!"

"Aww, come on, Hermione, you don't wanna hurt my feelings, do you? Your poor ickle best friend..." He blinked at her in a way he had done many times before; he knew this made her blush like mad and look away. Sure enough, a pink tinge started to make its way up her cheeks and she looked away. She was motionless for a second and then she tried tugging her hands out of his grasp. She glared at him. "Let me go," she said. Ron grinned.

"Why so angry, Hermy?"

Her eyes widened. "Don't you dare call me that!"

"Heh. Okay, Hermy."

"Do you have a death wish?!"

Ron's grin widened. "No. Why, would you really kill me?"

Hermione was trying not to smile. "Don't make me find out."

Ron laughed. "It would be like a fun experiment, Hermy!"

She let the smile escape. "You are DEAD, Ronald Weasley." Without hesitating, she pounced on him, throwing him on his back. He kept laughing as she playfully glared down at him, her hair falling around her face. "What are you gonna do, Hermy? Strangle me with your hair?" he asked.

"No, I was thinking of suffocation," she said, playing along. "What can I use for that?"

Ron knew one thing he would like her to use to "suffocate" him...but that was not about to happen was it?

Before Hermione found a proper way to kill her best friend, two owls flew side by side into the room. One was an odd color—something between auburn and red—and the other was brown. They seemed fond of each other because the auburn one kept ruffling his feathers and the brown one was hooting cheerfully. Hermione glanced at Ron, jumped off of him, and headed to his bedroom window, where the owls stood. Ron was standing up when she emitted a sound that sounded like a shriek and a squeal mixed together. When she turned around, she had her hands over her eyes. She didn't have to tell him what letters the owls had brought were. He knew.

O.W.L. results.

Ron walked over to her. He took her hands away from her eyes. "Don't worry," he said softly. "Damn, Hermione, you know you must have gotten a perfect score...I'm the one who should be worried for his future, you'll see. Now come on. Let's take these results." Hermione bit her lip and nodded.

Ron looked at the owls. "Hard to guess which one is mine, huh?" The auburn owl was looking up at Ron curiously. Hermione gave a shaky laugh and reached out to untie the letter attached to the brown owl's leg. Ron did the same, ogling at the auburn owl. The letter said:

Dear Mr. Ronald Weasley,

Enclosed in this envelope are the results of the Ordinary Wizarding Levels (O.W.L.s), the examinations taken this past June. The examinations are graded with the following marks: O (Outstanding), E (Exceeds Expectations), A (Acceptable), P (Poor), D (Dreadful,) and T (Troll).

There was another paper in the envelope. Ron braced himself as she took it out slowly.

Your O.W.L. examination results are as follows:

Astronomy: Exceeds Expectations

Care of Magical Creatures: Outstanding

Charms: Exceeds Expectations

Defense Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding

Divination: Dreadful

Herbology: Outstanding

History of Magic: Poor

Potions: Exceeds Expectations

Transfiguration: Exceeds Expectations

Congratulations on achieving 7 O.W.L.s. We are pleased to tell you that this is certainly above average work, Mr. Weasley!

Ron had achieved 7 O.W.L.s! He had failed History of Magic with a P—that was no surprise, since he rarely ever paid attention to Binn's class and couldn't concentrate on the notes he borrowed from Hermione—and Divination with a D, and who could blame him with that old bat for a teacher. This was one of the times he actually felt his heart swell with pride for himself. 7 O.W.L.s! This had to be some joke. He couldn't possibly achieve 7 O.W.L.s!

He looked up at Hermione. She was staring at her paper in disbelief. Ron grinned. "Can I see?" he asked tentatively, although he already knew what her results were. Hermione merely nodded, her mouth hanging open, and passed the paper to Ron. With one glance at it, his assumptions were confirmed.

10 O.W.L.s.

She was so bloody amazing. 10 O.W.L.s was some feat. She could do whatever she wanted for the next two years at Hogwarts. She had done it. All this time, she had been working and striving for this, and she had accomplished it. She was brilliant.

Ron looked up at her. She was staring at his results in disbelief. Then she met his eyes and beamed. "Seven, Ron! SEVEN!" Ron nodded.

"Well, that's nothing compared to yours...ten! That just goes to show how fantastic you are and...er...yeah..." Ron realized the impact his words could have—a second after he said it.

Hermione's smiled widened. She suddenly gave a very high-pitched squeal that was very unlike her. She lunged forward at Ron, wrapping him in a very tight embrace. The force of her hug knocked Ron over and they both landed with a thud on the floor. He felt Hermione's laughter next to his ear as she lay on top of him. Despite the surge of embarrassment pounding through him, he joined her in their laughter. A minute later, she let go of him and pushed herself up off him, still laughing. Ron prayed that his face was not as flushed as hers was. Hermione tucked miscellaneous strands of hair behind her ear and gave Ron a huge smile. Then she picked up her results parchment from the floor, turned, and bounded out the door.

Ron sat up, rubbing the back of his head where it had hit the floor absentmindedly. He was reveling in the feeling of having Hermione lying on top of him, her arms around his neck and laughing with him. He had loved it. Despite the odd churning of his stomach and the steam that was surely issuing from his red ears, it had been one rather pleasant experience.

Standing, he traced Hermione's steps out the door. He couldn't wait to see what Harry had gotten.

END POV

Was there nothing they could do for him? Ginny's brown eyes flashed up from the pages of her book. She was unaware of what book she was reading and she had no idea even if she'd gotten past the one sentence. She had been glancing up at Harry, sitting across from her in the living room, every now and then. He was so distant. He had barely moved all day. When an owl had flown in with his O.W.L. results, he had looked down at the parchment quickly, smiled a little, and tossed it aside. He hadn't even said a word.

It was really frustrating, this situation. She was his friend. Granted, not his best friend, but his friend nonetheless, and she cared about him. But to Ginny it seemed that Harry was refusing to receive the love and attention of others lately. He hadn't spoken to Ron and Hermione, and Ginny knew it must have something to do with his breakdown the night before, which Hermione had told her about. She knew why he had been avoiding them. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew all right.

He didn't want them to be harmed.

She could see it in the way he was acting that he was blaming himself. He probably thought that Sirius's death was all his fault, that he could have somehow done something to stop it from happening. Now he had his godfather's demise heavy upon him, on top of feeling guilty about his parents and Cedric. Why he blamed himself she did not know but she knew nothing any of them said or did would convince him that he was not to blame. His eyes had lost a sparkle they had had, and it was impossible to deny that Harry was no longer a child. Harry Potter was growing into a very fine young man. If only he stopped berating himself.

She was sure that he didn't want any of them in danger, especially not Ron and Hermione. Ginny was like a sister to him, but Ron and Hermione's connection with him was so much more. She herself couldn't understand it and often found herself feeling jealous that they could be so different yet so close. So it was no surprise that Harry didn't want them injured, physically or emotionally, like he had been. And still was.

She wanted to make him understand that whatever happened would happen and there was nothing they could do to change it. She wanted him to know that if Ron and Hermione were hurt during this war it wouldn't be his fault. She wanted him to see that they loved him and would give his life for him, something she herself would do as well. But she knew if she tried bringing all this up, he would think her a silly little girl for trying to understand the enormity of matters like these. He wouldn't say it to her face, he was too polite for that, but he would definitely think it.

For some reason, Harry looked over at her. She smiled, since the book she was holding concealed every part of her face except her forehead and eyes. This reminded her of when she was younger, so taken with Harry. She had to suppress a giggle at the thought of what her eleven-year-old self would say or do if Harry Potter looked at her in the eyes. Present day fifteen-year-old Ginny didn't break eye contact with him too soon. She didn't blush or squirm uncomfortably. She did feel an odd churn in her stomach, though, but she ignored it.

After minute of staring at each other, Ginny sighed and set her book down on her lap. She looked back up at Harry and gave him a small smile. "How were your exam results?" she asked.

Harry kept looking at her with hollow eyes. "How come you didn't ask before?" he asked in a monotonous tone his voice had taken lately.

Ginny chuckled. "It doesn't matter, does it? I'm asking now." She couldn't stand to see him like this. She imagined the gaping whole in his heart where Sirius had been and felt a pang of pain herself. She blinked and looked away. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..."

The statement had meaning on different levels. On one, she could simply be talking about the O.W.L. results. On the other, she meant his feelings and the emptiness she knew must be devouring him. Or the guilt.

Or both.

Harry seemed to catch the clever meanings of the statement and Ginny caught a flicker of some light in his eyes before they went back to their lifeless state. They were gazing at each other again when they heard pounding footsteps on the stairs. She quickly looked away and picked up her book.

"SEVEN!" came Ron's gleeful voice. Ginny grinned behind her book. Her brother was a smart guy, even if at times he horribly contradicted it. "Isn't that great, Gin? Seven O.W.L.s!" He ran over to her pulled her to a standing position. "And Hermione got TEN!" He hugged his sister and turned as Hermione bounded down the stairs. She was wearing a huge smile but when she glanced down and caught Harry staring lifelessly at the triumphant scene unfolding before him, she looked at Ron and bit her lip. Ginny could tell, although she could not see his face, that Ron's smile had vanished.

Ron sat down next to Harry, who barely acknowledged his movement by glancing at him out of the corner of his eyes. "So, mate...er, did you get your O.W.L. results?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course I did. You two got them so naturally I would too," Harry said, rather snappishly. Ginny bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything that would start a row with Harry.

"Yeah...yeah. So, er, what did you get?" Ron asked, looking up at Hermione, clearly saying, "Help me!" Hermione's eyes were wide as she looked from Ron to Harry. Harry was now scowling slightly, looking as if he wished he could be alone. He shoved his parchment into Ron's hand. The red head again looked up at Hermione. She gave him a for-heaven's-sake-just-look-at-it look. Ron scanned the parchment quickly and gave Harry a small clap on the back. "Six is great, mate!"

As Hermione took the parchment from Ron's hand to examine the results for herself, Harry muttered, "Yeah, well, don't act like you're not happy that you beat me at this. Prefect and O.W.L.s, you're ego must be full to the brim, Ron." Ginny closed her eyes, praying to Merlin that she would have enough patience to prevent herself from making Harry understand that they cared and he should let them care. Hermione had looked up from the parchment and was staring at Ron. Ginny knew she must have expected him to look angry, because she herself had expected the same.

But Ron looked hurt. He looked like he could scarcely breathe. He looked at Harry for a long time, Harry avoiding his gaze all the while. When Ron finally spoke, it was in a cold voice. "I'm better than you at another thing, Harry. Know what it is? It's actually being a friend!" With that, Ron stood and ran up the stairs.

Hermione laid the parchment on the table before Harry. She sighed, one hand rubbing her temple. She shook her head and said, "Please try to understand. We can't make him come back. We can't take away all your pain and anger, no matter how much we wish we could. But we can care about you. Why don't you let us? It's like you'd rather have us not love you. I used to think I could understand you fairly well, Harry, but right now, I don't know what to think." Harry was staring at the parchment, not looking up at her or Ginny. Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder, "You're my best friend, and I'd do anything for you. I don't care if you find me annoying or bossy or nagging, and I don't care if you wish you could make me disappear sometimes. All I ask you is not to exclude us from your life, Harry, because I can't deal with that." Hermione bit her lip and walked towards the stairs. "I'll see you later, Gin," she murmured.

Ginny nodded and looked back at Harry. He had the parchment in his fist. Suddenly he slammed it down on the table, crumpled and torn. "Why do they put up with me? They all just end up dead. I don't deserve them. Why do they stay?" he said softly.

She could think of no words to answer his question. Maybe it was because it was impossible to answer, or maybe because there really were too many words to use as a response. She did the only plausible thing that came to mind. She dropped her book on the couch and walked over to Harry. She knelt before him, looked into his eyes, and said, "Because we want to stay." And she hugged him.

END POV

Sunlight flooded Ron's vision as he awoke the next day. He rubbed his eyes and did what he had done every morning for the past week; he looked over at Harry's bed. Empty. Why did he wake so early? What the hell did that boy do?

They hadn't spoken since the day before in the living room. Ron had spent the rest of the day locked up in his room. He only talked to Hermione once. She had tried to pry him out of there, but he said he had to finish his Charms essay and that he would see her tomorrow.

He had been upset by Harry's words, although he didn't know exactly what was it that made them so unbearable. It was natural that Harry be angry that he, Ron Weasley, #1 No-Talent Nobody, was better at him in more than one area. Of course he should be irritated. He was Harry Potter, for Merlin's sake. He wasn't used to standing in second place to a poor git like him.

Ron got dressed and proceeded downstairs, guided by the smell of bacon. Halfway down the stairs, when he was passing Ginny's room, the door opened and Hermione peeked out. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she had already changed into day clothes. She smiled and said, "Good morning."

"Hey," he answered sleepily. She giggled a little at his groggy response, and stepped out onto the narrow staircase, shutting the door carefully behind her. "Let's get so-o-o-ome breakfast," Ron said through a wide yawn. Hermione's smile widened and she nodded.

Upon entering the kitchen they noticed they had visitors. If Hermione hadn't been standing right behind him and there had not been the chance of knocking into her, he would have turned around, raced up the stairs, and spent the rest of the day locked in his room yet again.

Bloody hell.

Ron hitched a strained grin on his face. "Hi, Bill," he said in a voice much squeakier than his normal voice. "And..."

"Oh, zis is Harry's friend, Ronald is it?" Fleur Delacour flashed him a flawless smile. "Zis is a pleasure!" She tossed her blond hair over one shoulder. Ron noticed large hoop earrings hanging from her ears. She had the bluest eyes he had ever seen. Her perfect neck was adorned with a necklace ending with a sapphire in the shape of a tear. He had forgotten how gorgeous she was.

"Ah...whaa? Oh, yes, yes, nice to see you again, Fleur," he said clumsily. He chanced a glance at Hermione, who had come to stand next to him. She was wearing a sour smile on her face and was looking at Fleur with a look of intense dislike covered by fake delight.

"And is zis your...?" Fleur asked, winking at Ron. His knees felt like a pair of Canary Creams.

Hermione stepped forward. "I'm Hermione Granger. You'll remember me, I went with Viktor Krum to the Yule Ball." Ron's blank mind momentarily lapsed into a furious state before going blank again. Hermione shook Fleur's hand as Fleur giggled cheerfully.

"Oh, yes, 'e is such a nice boy...'e spoke about you often," Fleur said, grinning at Hermione, who was blushing slightly. She gave Fleur another quick fake smile.

"Bill, it's great to see you again!" she said, now turning to Ron's older brother. Bill grinned and gave Hermione a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. Again, Ron's attention was turned away from the beautiful veela to his best friend.

"Ooh, my my my, you know her, Billy?" Fleur said with interest.

"Yeah, she's been my brother's, er, best friend since they were eleven," Bill replied, giving Ron a sly look that made his ears turn pink. Why'd he have to pause? Now Bill would give Hermione the idea that he thought of her as more than that. Well, it wasn't an idea, since it certainly was true, but he did not need Hermione going around suspecting that.

Hermione opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again to say, "Yes, I've known and argued with Ron for a while now." She glanced back at him and then looked back at Fleur. "I know him better than most people do." Bill roared with laughter, Fleur looked confused, and when Hermione returned to his side, Ron saw she looked smug.

What was she trying to do? Better yet, what the hell was she on? So what if she knew him like the back of her hand? Fleur was going to think he was a silly little boy with a hopeless crush on his best friend. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Hermione standing a little closer to him than before, practically like both their shoulders were Spellotaped together. She was avoiding his eyes and looked determined to look nonplussed.

"BIIIILL!!!" came a high squeal from the door of the kitchen. Ginny was a blur as she flew in and threw herself on Bill, hugging him tightly. "Ooh, I missed you soooo much!" She glanced at Fleur and smirked, making her resemblance to Fred and George uncanny. "And, look, you brought a...let's say friend..." Fleur giggled girlishly and Ron saw her slip her hand into Bill's. However, he was still more interested in how close Hermione was standing to him.

"Yes, friends, almost exactly like Ron and Hermione," Bill said, obviously fighting the urge to laugh. Ginny looked around at Ron and Hermione. She apparently noticed how close Hermione was standing to him because she smirked again and turned back to Bill.

Ron didn't hear what she was saying. They were all in this Weasley conspiracy against him. All of them. Trying to do him in. They wanted to point out that he really was falling for his best friend, Hermione Granger of all people, and they wanted to bug the shit out of him. My, wasn't he the popular one.

"Where's Mum?" Ginny was asking.

"She went out to de-gnome the garden. She didn't know I was bringing Fleur," Bill said; Fleur beamed.

"Zat is no problem, really! Your muzzer is such a nice lady, Billy," Fleur said. Ginny bit her lip, obviously to keep from laughing at Fleur's pet name for Bill.

"Yes, she certainly is...well, I think we'll come back down later for breakfast, we're not really hungry right now, are we, Ron?" Hermione said, grabbing his arm behind his back. Ron saw Bill and Ginny exchange knowing looks and he narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, okay, let's come back later," Ron said. He turned, broke free of Hermione's grasp, and walked out to the backyard. He heard Hermione walking behind him.

"You might wanna wipe the drool falling from the corner of your mouth, Ron," she said sarcastically once they were out of hearing range. Ron turned around, making her almost knock into him, and glared at her.

"Shove off, Hermione," he said.

She glared back at him. "You know, I don't understand you!"

"Oh, REALLY? Didn't I just hear you tell Fleur that you knew me better than most people?"

Hermione looked like she couldn't come up with a nasty retort, but a few seconds later she said, "Well, I'm surprised you tore your eyes off her long enough to pay attention to anything else going on around you."

"Don't talk to me like that!"

"Oh, please, Ron! Don't deny that you would spend the day walking after her, drooling in her wake!"

"What the hell am I, a dog?"

"No, you're just insufferable!"

"I'M insufferable?! When all YOU do is talk about that Bulgarian git! Nice of you to show off in front of Fleur like that."

Hermione smirked at him. "Oh, don't give me that rubbish. You know perfectly well that Viktor is just my friend."

"Then why'd you mention the Yule Ball specifically? And why did you blush when she said he talked about you?"

"I—"

"You're not backing out of this one!"

"You know what?! You're just a jealous prat! You're so infuriated that it's Bill that got the veela, not you! A Weasley certainly got her, but it wasn't you, and that just makes you soo mad, doesn't it?!"

Ron looked taken aback at her insult. His eyes widened, but soon enough, they were narrow slits again. "Yeah, go ahead, think what you want! This is great, just what I need! Harry finally realizing I'm worth a pile of dragon droppings as a friend and you thinking I'm some stupid little boy with a crush! Just-just leave me alone, Hermione!"

Hermione's mouth had fallen open when he had mentioned Harry. She bit her lip and said, "Ron, I—I didn't mean—"

"Leave me ALONE, Hermione!!"

Hermione nodded. "All right, Ron. Whatever you want." She turned and walked away from him, back into the house.

"I don't wanna HEAR from you today anymore, Hermione!" he yelled at her retreating back. "Go—go and snog the shit out of Krum for all I care! I don't need you OR Harry!"

Ron threw himself down on the ground. He knew Hermione must have heard him but he didn't want to turn around to check if she was looking at him. It was true that Harry had finally woken up and realized what a useless and pathetic friend he had. He probably didn't even want him as a friend anymore. Whatever. He didn't care. And Hermione—he should just forget about her. She was never going to like someone like him. Maybe she and Harry had agreed to open their eyes and see they could do better than him.

Who had he been kidding? He had always been just plain Ron.

A/n: So?? Leave feedback please!