With that last thought in his mind, Harry had abruptly stood up with a dawning expression on his face. He then grabbed Ron's shoulders and started shaking him saying, "Ron, Ron, I know it, I get it now, I get it!" He was so happy now that he understood what it all meant that; his emotions were at a high. Ron, meanwhile, thought Harry was going insane.
"Er- Harry, what the bloody hell are you talking about?" asked a very confused Ron.
"Hermione - the key - it all makes sense now!" said a still quite exhilarated and satisfied Harry.
"You're not going all Professor Trelawney on me now, are you?" Ron asked uncertainly, "This makes no sense mate, what is 'the key,' what does it have to do with Hermione and -"
Harry had now cut off Ron out of frustration that Ron didn't make the connection, without realizing the he had never explained his dreams to Ron.
"The key, my dreams... remember? You have to," Harry said with a look of confusion that matched Ron's, yet contained a different reason for its purpose, "I have them every night."
"Erm, no Harry, I don't - I have no idea what you are talking about..."
"Oh, Oh yeah - I never told you about my dreams did I - w-well I'll tell you now then, I guess."
Harry then explained his dreams to Ron, in hopes that then Ron would make the connection. Yet, although Harry could see the connection, apparently Ron still couldn't.
"And what the bloody hell does that have to do with Hermione?" a very impatient and confused Ron cried.
Harry sighed out of exasperation; he figured that Ron should have made the connection by now. Honestly, why couldn't Ron see what he was seeing?
"Okay," said Harry talking slowly, as if he thought that would help Ron understand the concept better, "Remember how in my dreams I had always been reaching out to the key?"
"Yes," Ron snapped back, irritated.
"And how I could never quite get it..."
"Okay..." Ron said clearly getting more aggravated by the moment, but trying to keep his cool.
"And do you notice how we now suddenly very much so need Hermione..."
"Get on it with it, mate!" Ron screamed out of frustration, now standing as well to face Harry.
"For heaven's sake, Ron, Hermione is the key!" said Harry with a face of anticipation, now hoping that Ron would finally get it.
Right after Harry had finished off his sentence, wheels had finally and visibly started to churn in Ron's head, showing that he had finally made the connection and then confirmed it.
"Oh..." said a slightly embarrassed, but now understanding Ron.
"Finally!" Harry said amusedly, whilst rolling his eyes jokingly.
Harry had now plopped back down onto one of the very comfortable chairs in the Gryffindor Common Room right before Ron had done the same thing. Both of them had pondered this thought for awhile now in silence before saying anything, one of them was clearly satisfied with himself and the other one seemed oddly focused on the table right in front of them right before one of them had broken the silence.
"I get what you are saying Harry, but what does this have to do with that prophesy?"
A brief silence had followed this question, which was then followed by Harry's disheartened expression: one minute he thought that he had solved all of his problems - the next, he was stuck in a rut again. The smile slowly slipped right off of his face.
"I wish I knew..." he whispered so softly that Ron could barely even hear him.
"It's all right mate; at least we have half the problem solved, right?"
"Yea..." Harry responded while wearing one of the glummest expressions Ron had ever seen him wear.
"Well, I'm going to bed for the night - I'm a bit sleepy right now..."
"Alright, I think I'll stay here for a little bit longer, see you tomorrow..."
"Uhhh... right," said an equally disheartened Ron, "see you tomorrow."
While Ron had wandered off to the bedroom and gone to sleep, Harry remained awake - thinking, for hours. Harry was convinced this all had something to do with the prophecy and knew that it had to, but in the way it would connect with the prophecy - he didn't know.
"But how," he muttered aloud, "but how?" were the last words Harry had spoken for the night before unintentionally drifting off to sleep.
There he was again, in the same dream, the dream that started it all. He was reaching, stretching, aching to be able to have that key, he needed it so badly now - more so then ever.
'It was like a snitch almost,' Harry thought within his dreams. 'That's it, just pretend it's a Quidditch game, you are after the snitch - and you need it to win the game, you just have to beat your enemy to it,' he said to himself again. He had always reached short of the key, but this night he was determined to break that record and finally grab hold of it. Next thing he knew, Ron was shaking him awake and looking at him with a very concerned expression.
"What did you do that for?" Harry asked angrily.
Ron was speechless momentarily at Harry's anger, and gave Harry a look that told him he was either scaring Ron or off his rocker.
"Mate, you don't even know what you were doing in your sleep, do you?"
"I know perfectly well what I was doing," Harry replied, still very angry and irritated.
Ron ignored his comment and continued, "You were thrashing violently in your sheets, and you were muttering to yourself about something or other - and you had just started to shout aloud before I woke you up..." Ron continued on in a whisper. "I-it wasn't about you, you-know-who, Lord V-Voldemort," Ron said pausing shortly to shudder before continuing on, "was it?"
"Maybe..." Harry replied, now wearing a defiant face. Ron just shook his head, seemingly flustered, returned to his bed and pulled the sheets over his body and lay there extremely frightened, staring at his bed frame. Harry could tell from this that Ron was deeply shaken about all of this: Harry's daily dreams, Hermione missing for what seemed like forever, Lord Voldemort on the loose, and now it was finally all mounding up on him with extreme stress. Ron just couldn't handle all this fear anymore - he remained in his bed, shaken.
