Chapter 6

Sad silence enveloped the room again. But only for about ten seconds.

Ron seemed to have decided that it was time to come out of his daze, and make his opinion on the subject known.

"NOTHING?? My sister just poured her f------ heart out to you, you bloody git, and you aren't even going to do anything about it? You just f------ admitted you felt the same f------ way!!"

Harry looked shocked that Ron had decided to come out of his reverie, and tried to pacify him – unsuccessfully. "She told me she never wanted to see me again – ever! I don't believe that translates to 'come back here and sweep me off my feet.'"

For someone who never seemed to know how to deal with girls, Ron suddenly had knowledge on the subject (it seemed that Hermione was finally rubbing off on him). "YES IT DOES!" And he continued to rail on about how stupid the two of them were, etcetera, etcetera.

Harry was, by then, exhausted, and sick of fighting with anyone. All he wanted to do was forget, but realizing that figuring out what to do required having all his wits about him, he decided to opt for sleep, and not for the liquor cabinet. After Ron had been going on for some time, he ran out of breath, and Harry used the opportunity to butt in and make his excuses – or lack thereof. "I'm going to bed."

"But it isn't even six yet!" Hermione, who had not said anything for a surprising amount of time, was desperate to keep him from leaving, and wanted to solve all this before Ginny had left and it was too late.

Harry was adamant in his decision. "I don't care. Goodnight."

And he stalked quickly into his room, shut, and locked the door.

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Much later that night, as Harry was lying awake in his bed thinking, still not able to either forget or fall asleep, Ron and Hermione lay in their bed, pondering all that had happened that night. Hermione sighed, and broke the silence.

"Ron, I know I shouldn't be thinking about this right now, but I just wanted to say that I'm so happy you finally told me how you felt. I love you so much, I don't know what I would do without you, or what I would have done if you hadn't accidentally let it slip four years ago." She smiled at the remembrance of that night.

Ron couldn't help but smile too, and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, too, 'Mione. I will never leave you."

Knowing the answer already, Hermione grinned and asked him something she had been asking him for years. "You promise?"

"I promise."

They fell asleep that night, worried, yet otherwise content in each other's arms.

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Harry woke up the next morning at around eleven in the morning, yet he felt as if he hadn't gotten more than six hours of sleep, despite having gone to bed at six the evening before. He dragged himself out of bed to take a shower, and then after throwing on an old pair of jeans and a green t-shirt, he wandered out in search of coffee. He found a full steaming pot of it sitting on the table, and after downing one scorching cup of it immediately, poured himself another to drink more slowly while sitting on the couch and reading the Daily Prophet.

Much to his dismay, instead of seeing the newspaper sitting on the sofa he found the two of the three people who he least wanted to see right at that moment.

"We need to talk Harry." Hermione looked him straight in the eyes. "Now."

Though tempted to just walk back into his room and hide under the covers, Harry quickly realized that doing so would only incur Hermione's wrath, which he did not need right now.

So, Harry sat resignedly in his favorite chair, and waited for them to lecture him.

"Ron and I were talking last night-"

"We were?"

"Shut up Ron! Anyway, yes, we were talking last night, whether you were listening or not, Mr. Weasley, and we came to the conclusion that if you don't tell her now, you will just continue being as depressed and alone as you've been since the end of school." Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Hermione was too quick for him. "Think about it Harry. Perhaps your subconscious buried it deep inside you, whatever, but somewhere you know too that you've been hiding behind something just like Ginny has. I know that you know you loved her, but I mean that like she's been hiding behind alcohol, you've been hiding behind... well...." Hermione stuttered to a stop, her cheeks beginning to redden.

"Behind, in front, on the top or bottom... there are a number of places where and how Harry could have chosen to hide his d-"

"OH-KAY, Ron! I think we all get the general idea!" By now she was blushing madly from Ron's tactless insinuations. Against his will, Harry smirked at Hermione's discomfort – it wasn't often he got to see her like this, and he was going to enjoy it, even if he couldn't enjoy anything else right then.

Hermione cleared her throat, her face still tinged pink, and continued. "Any how... you can't just let this lie, Harry. You have to do something before she leaves and it's too late."

Harry knew she was right, but also had no idea what to do – there was a reason why he had never told her how he felt (well, the first being that he was afraid she didn't feel the same, but he certainly didn't even consider that now)... he could never think straight around her, especially not making important speeches. Somewhat helplessly, Harry begged Hermione "But what?"

"Tell her how you feel."

"But...."

"Everything. If comes from your heart, she'll know it's the truth. That's the only thing that can save you now."

Hermione sat back and watch Harry ponder this. He stood up suddenly and stated to no one in particular, "I have to go...." And then apparated away with a CRACK.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other and smiled with hope for their friends.