Disclaimer: This is getting old . . .

Author's Note: Once again, this chapter is in Ginny's POV, just for the purposes of the story. If it bugs you, oh well. It makes for something a bit more interesting than just talking about poor old Hermione.

Twenty-Two

Ginny awoke the next morning, her head spinning. She had just had the most romantic night of her life with the guy she loved. They had lain there and looked at the stars, making wishes on the falling ones. She remembered this one star that had been shining brighter than the others.

"Look, Harry," she had said. "See that big, bright star up there? That's our star."

He clasped her hand tightly as she gazed up into the night sky. "It may be your star, but it's not mine." She looked back at him, his bright green eyes searing through her soul. "I'm looking at my star."

She couldn't help but kiss him. She knew that her mother always said, "Just because a guy knows the right things to say doesn't mean there's any feeling behind it." She knew she always said that. But there was something about the way he looked at her, the way he kissed her that made her realize that there was more to that look than just a handsome face.

But not only did she remember the sweet things he said to her, she remembered the note that she had received from Hermione earlier in the night. Ginny couldn't imagine how horribly she felt at the moment. She knew she had to give the note to Ron.

After dressing and fixing her hair (Ginny never wore make-up – she thought it was a pain, and Harry said she looked beautiful without it anyways), she ran down to the Common Room to find Ron. She didn't find her brother, but she did find her boyfriend.

"Good morning," he said, yawning. "You as tired as I am?"

"Yes, but we've got more important things to worry about. Where's Ron?"

"I dunno. I woke up this morning and he wasn't there. I have no clue where he could be, though," Harry said quietly. "You want to give him the note, don't you?"

"Yeah. I think he needs to see it. We both know he likes Hermione, and we both know she likes him. They're both just too angry at each other at the moment to see it for themselves," Ginny said.

"Let's use the Map," Harry replied. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out the old piece of parchment.

"C'mere, so no one can see . . ." he whispered.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her under the invisibility cloak. He kissed her – long and deep. When they pulled away, she asked, "Was that all?"

"Well, no – I don't want anyone to see the Map. But if I hadn't wanted to kiss you so badly, then I would have just done it in the open," he said, smiling. He tapped the Map and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Instantly, small dots appeared on the surface of the parchment. Two pairs of eyes searched the Map for a name they both knew. They found it, standing next to a wall. On the other side of the wall, a dot reading Hermione Granger sat on a bed.

"He's outside the Head Girl Dormitory. What the hell is he doing there?"

"I don't know," Ginny replied. "I suppose he's waiting for Hermione to come out so he can strangle her or something. Come on, let's go."

The two took off the Invisibility Cloak and headed over to where Ron was standing on the other side of Hermione's Door. Sure enough, there he was, his hand in his pocket, closed around a square-shaped box.

"Ron, what are you doing here?" Harry asked quizzically.

"Honestly . . . I dunno," Ron replied, shrugging. "What's the use?"

"Ron, we thought you should see this – it's from Hermione," Ginny said, pulling out the note. "She left it on my bed last night. It was meant for me, but I think you should read it."

"Why?" he asked, taking the piece of parchment and turning it over.

"It concerns you," Harry said slowly.

Ron shrugged and began reading the note. The farther he got, the wider his eyes became. Once he had finished, he said, "She wrote this about me?"

"Well, sort of. I mean, she wrote it about herself, but it concerned you," Ginny said.

"But . . . I thought she hated me."

"She thought you hated her. No offense or anything, but when you guys get angry, you're kind of scary. And you seemed like you were angry a lot this year. You guys said some things to each other that shouldn't have been said. We're just . . ." Harry trailed off.

"We're just nervous because we don't want to see the perfect couple destroyed," Ginny finished.

"The perfect couple?" Ron asked.

"Of course. Everyone thinks so. No one ever believed that you hated Hermione. You guys have had a thing for each other for years. We're all surprised you haven't gone out yet," she said.

Ron bit his lower lip and said, "Well, actually Ginny, there's something you don't know . . ."

Ginny's eyes grew larger as she said, "When? When were you guys dating that we didn't know about it?"

Harry looked at her and said, "Well, I knew about it . . ."

"You knew about this? Why am I always the one in the dark about everything?"

"Because I made Harry promise not to tell anyone. I told him that if he told, I would personally slit his throat. So he didn't."

"When?"

"Third year. We broke up, though, because we were fighting constantly," Ron confided. "You can't tell anyone either, shorty."

"I won't, but . . . I just can't believe it!" Ginny cried.

"The point it is, we think that you shouldn't be mad at Hermione. She did say some things and do some stuff that was mean, but she only did it to make you jealous. She really didn't mean anything by it," Harry added.

"I . . . I'm not really mad at her, I just . . . I'm just worried for her. There's nothing worse than a broken heart. Trust me, I know. And she's probably feeling it about ten times worse, since she thinks I hate her now, and she knows Malfoy doesn't like her anymore, and half of the school thinks she's a slut . . ."

"I'm a what?" Hermione asked, popping out from behind the door. There was no mascara leaking down her face, no indication that she'd been crying at all.

"Hermione!" the other three said in unison.

"Oh, um, Ron wants to speak with you for a moment," Ginny said. Ron turned to her and threw her a dirty look, but she just grinned.

"Look, Ron, in case you can't already tell, I'm not really in the mood to talk to anyone right now. I just want to get along with my day and not interfere with anyone. I'm sure that's how everyone else wants my day to be, as well – they don't want to talk to me, since I'm such a slut," Hermione said, glaring at Ron. With that, she turned around and left.

"Wait, Hermione!" Ron called, but it did him no good. She was already gone, her books under her arm. But Ron was determined. He wasn't going to give up without a fight.