Love is Chapter 3: Love is maddening, a harry potter fanfic

"The ball will be held on New Years Eve, culminating promptly after we bring in the New Year," Dumbledore finished, sitting down gracefully and surrendering the podium to Filch.

"I should remind all of you troublemakers, that there will be very tight security after the end of the ball, to make sure there are no students out of bed. Punishment will be severe. Any students found out of bed will help Hagrid clean out the Hippogriff pen, which may I add, has not been cleaned in quite a while," he said with a wide smile on his grimy face, allowing his yellow, crooked teeth to be in plain view and causing a few third year Hufflepuff's to snicker at the site.

"He's obviously taking a bit too much pleasure in this," Harry whispered to Ron, turning around in his seat to face back towards the table.

Ron nodded mutely in reply, but he wasn't looking at Harry. He was gazing openly at a certain bushy-haired bookworm down the table, who was talking animatedly to a couple of fifth years down the table, badgering them into buying S.P.E.W badges, no doubt.

"Why don't you ask her to the ball," Harry asked nudging him.

"After last year, she'd probably laugh in my face! I just had to go and make a bloody idiot of myself," Ron said, his voice rising and getting louder and louder as he got more worked up. Harry tried to push him back in his seat, which he had vacated, and failed miserably, "I just couldn't let the bloody thing go! I don't even remember what the bloody argument was about! It was about some guy or another I got mad and flew off the handle. We were dancing, too! We were having such a nice time, then some wimpy Hufflepuff asks her to dance, and instead of just saying 'No' for her, I have to go berserk and get all jealous! I'm just a bloody idiot who doesn't bloody know how to keep his bloody mouth shut," he ranted, by this time his voice having achieved yelling-volume.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out again in a loud sigh, his shoulders slumping as he sat down heavily in his seat, he reached toward the center of the table for an apple. He leaned back in his seat, and as he was polishing the apple off with the cuff of his right sleeve, he looked up and saw the majority of Gryffindor table staring at him.

"Er, Harry, is there something I missed," he whispered to him out of the side of his mouth, keeping his eyes on the people staring back at him, their eyes wide and their mouths open, at the same time.

"They're staring at you because you just broadcast to the entire hall that, let's see, what did you say again, oh yes, that you were a 'bloody idiot who doesn't know how to keep his bloody mouth shut.'

He lay his head down on the table with a groan, proceeding to pick it up and drop it again onto the wood of the table, resulting in a loud, deep, Thud! sound every second.

"Ron," Harry said warily, grabbing a fistful of his hair at the back of his head and preventing him from banging it down onto the table, "get a hold of yourself mate! It's not that big of a deal, I'm sure people are used to your rantings by now."

Just at that opportune moment, Seamus came up. Patting Ron on the shoulder he said in a pathetic rendition of a sympathetic voice, "Cheer up mate, as soon as you realize it and admit your problem, you can start onto the path of fixing it."

"And just what is my problem," Ron asked angrily, bodily shoving Seamus' hand off of his shoulder.

Chuckling he replied, "Ron, Ron, Ron, I feel sorry for you. You don't even know what your problem is, you're so dense. I should just walk away and let you find out on your own, you'll get more, what was that thing Trewlaney said, self fullness, no, self fulfillment! Yeah, you'll get more self fulfillment out of it if you find out for yourself. But I'll take pity on you, because you're one of my treasured friends, and I care about you, look out for you, you know, because I'm such a nice guy, " At this Harry snorted, and Seamus shot him an ungrateful look before continuing. "So I'll tell you what your problem is. Your problem," he paused dramatically, "Is that, are you ready for this? Your problem is that there's some serious sexual tension going on between you and your chick over there."

"My chick," Ron questioned.

"Hermione. Your girl? The one you love? The one you stare at whenever you think nobody else is looking? The one you were just ranting about?"

"What? How do you know I love her? Who else has seen me stare at her? How do you know what I was ranting about? Oh no," he said, his face paling as a new, obviously horrifying prospect dawned on him, "did everybody hear what I was ranting about? Does everybody know that I love her now? What if she knows! My life is ruined," he moaned, dropping his forehead to rest on the same place on the table it had just vacated and resuming his head-banging activities.

"Great, thanks," said Harry in a mock cheerful voice. "Now you've got him moaning and groaning again!"

Rolling his eyes Seamus slipped a hand under Ron's forehead to cushion his fall, and grabbed his shoulders, hauling him up to sit straight in his chair and making him look at him

"Mate, calm down. I didn't say everybody knew," at this Ron tried in vain to bang his head on the table again. "Only the guys in our dormitory know, and a few girls, too," he broke off, cringing.

Seeing this Ron demanded desperately, grabbing Seamus' collar, "Like who?"

Seamus mumbled something inaudible.

"What? Didn't hear you, say it again," Ron said, his voice dangerously low.

"Lavender and Parvarti," Seamus said softly, wincing as Ron released him and cowering away.

This time, Harry anticipated it and grabbed the back of Ron's robes before his head reached the table. "How long have Lavender and Parvarti known Seamus," Harry asked calmly.

"At least a year."

"See Ron," Harry said, slapping him on the head as he did so to make him pay attention, "It's now so bad! If they were going to, they would have told her a long time ago!"

"Or they've already told her," suggested Semus brightly.

Shooting him a withering look, Harry hissed to him as he struggled to keep Ron's head up, "Your not really helping!"

"Well fine then! I know I'm not wanted here anymore," he said as he got up and stalked in the other direction.

Turning back to Ron, "Mate, don't worry, she doesn't know," Harry assured him.

"How do you know," Ron asked sulkily.

"Because she would have said something," Harry reasoned. "You know she would have, at least to Lavender or something, and Lavendar would have told one of us, or Seamus, and Seamus would have told us."

"I guess," Ron conceded, though clearly not convinced.

"Exactly."

"Oh my gosh, a ball." Lavender squealed painfully into Hermione's ear.

Wincing and rubbing it, she replied, in a much more subdued tone of voice, "Great."

"Aren't you excited," Parvarti questioned upon hearing her less than enthusiastic reply.

"No I'm not," Hermione replied indignantly. "I mean what's so special about them anyways? All they do is get your expectations up, and then something happens, and nothing goes right, and the ball is a horrible failure, and you're sad and depressed."

Shooting each other knowing looks they patted her arm and Lavender said soothingly, "Well maybe it will be better than last year this time."

"I doubt it," she said resentfully, adding in her head, Considering the only person that I want to go with will never ask me. Oh no, I made sure of that last year when I had that ridiculous argument last time.

"Well is there anybody special you want to go with," Lavender asked innocently.

"No," Hermione exclaimed, a little too quickly.

Oh no, I hope they didn't noticed how quickly I said that!

They did. Shooting each other another sly look, they trained their infuriatingly blameless gazes on her.

"Are you sure there's no special person? Say, oh I don't know, a redhead," Parvarti inquired leisurely.

"I do not like R-" She broke off as she heard what could only be Ron yelling about something at the other end of the table. As she swept her gaze up the table to him, she noticed the majority of Gryffindor was staring at him, with his arms gesturing wildly, his hands pounding the table to accentuate a point, his face red.

She was able to hear over the clink of silverware and the chatter of students a few words. "I'm just a bloody idiot . . . doesn't . . . bloody mouth shut!"

She watched him slump down in his seat and grab an apple, completely oblivious to the strange looks everyone was giving him.

She sighed and turned away. She looked up from her buttering her toast and saw both Lavender and Parvarti staring at her suspiciously.

"What," she asked, alarms going off in her head.

"You just sighed," Lavender stated.

"Your point being?"

"I was just wondering if you sigh every time you look at him," she replied sweetly, feigning a look of innocence that Hermione didn't believe for a second.

"Every time I look at who?"

"Ron."

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about," Hermione exclaimed.

"You looked at Ron. Then you sighed and looked away, with this dreamy look on your face," they said slowly, as if she were a toddler and they had to explain it to her.

"I did not," she protested, but her flaming face gave her away.

Exchanging meaningful looks, Lavender and Parvarti flounced out of the Great Hall, stopping to throw her a wink and the door before turning the corner.

Letting out a frustrated scream she dropped her head onto her arms. Stupid, stupid, stupid! You really have to learn an Anti-Blush charm. Now they're going to think I like him! I mean I do, but I just don't want them to know. And it's just, Argh!

Before she could continue her tirade she felt a tentative tap on her shoulder. Looking up she saw a third year boy behind her looking down at his hands.

"Yes," she asked.

"Umm, you were, um, talking to yourself, and I was just wondering," he said meekly, chancing a glance up at her face and quickly looking away again. "I was just wondering, if you were, um, okay."

"Great, just great, I'm going mental," Hermione groaned. Realizing the boy was still there she said quickly, "Yes, I'm fine, now go to your class before I take points away."

She watched the little boy scurry away then gathered her things and walked out the door towards her first class.

The weeks before the ball went by quickly from there. The majority of the school was staying to attend the ball and all the students were in a flurry of excitement while the teachers were in a flurry of homework. The girls flocked the hallways in large groups, talking excitedly about what each one of them was going to wear, tittering and blushing whenever a boy walked by, and squealing in excitement whenever a boy asked a girl in the group to the dance.

Hermione was thankful from being spared the chore of having to pick out new dress robes. She had decided as soon as the ball was announced that she would wear the light blue ones that she had picked up in Diagon Alley with Ginny that summer while staying at the burrow. And as for the tittering and blushing whenever a boy came by, well there was only one boy Hermione wanted to ask her, and, confident that he wouldn't, had put it from her mind and focused on the extra amounts of homework the teachers were doling out to make up for the break.

As the ball drew nearer and nearer, she watched both Harry and Ron become more nervous every day, both in their own ways. Whenever Harry was nervous, he would get very quiet and withdrawn, and whenever Ron was nervous, he became clumsy, and stuttered a lot when he spoke.

And though Hermione's Emotion I.Q. was far from being as high as her I.Q., it hadn't failed her notice that whenever she was around, or Ron was around her, he seemed to become increasingly nervous. Whenever he said something to her, or vice versa, he rarely said a sentence without stuttering, and if their hands so much as brushed each other's when one of them was reaching for a quill, his face got frighteningly red and he snatched it away as if burnt.

As much as she wanted to believe that these were signs that he felt something besides friendship towards her, or that he at least wanted to ask her to the ball, she firmly told herself not to get her hopes up, and chastised herself for even allowing herself to think these things.

It will never happen and you know it, she told herself over and over again, but in vain. Because there was always, in her heart, the tiniest fluttering of hope, the tiniest glow, whenever he stuttered, or snatched his hand away.

And no matter how many times she mentally slapped herself, or put it to the back of her mind, she still harbored the desperate hope whenever he came up to her, or talked to her, that he would ask her out. But as the days became fewer and fewer before the ball, she finally accepted, in her whole heart, that he wasn't going to ask her to the ball, and that what she had thought of as nervousness, was just a slightly clumsier than usual Ron.

Accepting this fact of course, came with the realization that she didn't have a date to the ball. Although there was nobody else she wanted to go with, she nevertheless didn't want to go to the ball alone. Deciding quickly she needed to do something, she went through a list of boys that hadn't asked any girls to the ball yet, and weren't likely to. Neville, she thought. He won't ask anybody to the ball, and he's nice enough, and he's bound to say yes.

With this made up in her mind, she marched over to Neville and matter of factly asked him if he would accompany her to the ball. Too shocked to utter a real reply, he managed to squeak yes, and she nodded and marched back to her chair and sat down.

A few minutes later she heard a slight A hem off to her side and looked up. She saw Ron standing in front of her chair, shuffling his feet and staring at his hands. As he looked up at her she noticed that his face was bright red. He opened his mouth, "Hermione-" he tried, but stopped as it came out a squeak. His face colored even more, if that was possible. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Hermione, I was er, umm, wondering something."

Her heart started to beat wildly, and she screamed at herself to stop getting her expectations up, and to remember that she already had a date. Upon this realization, her face went pale and she felt a deep sense of foreboding.

"Yes, Ron," she asked.

"I was, er, wondering, ifyouwouldgototheballwithem," he said in a rush staring intently down at his hands.

For a second she felt a fleeting sense of ecstatic happiness. He asked me to the ball! He asked me to the ball! She canted in a singsong voice in her head. Then her mind came crashing down to the ground and she realized the not-as-pleasant reality.

Oh no. Bloody hell no! Please no! Why couldn't he have asked me FIVE minutes before? I would have been free, I wouldn't have asked Neville to the ball, and we'd all be happy! Is there a hole anywhere that I can crawl into? She thought desperately for a way to get out of this, but Ron was blocking her path up the stairs, and she couldn't very well just sit there and not answer him.

Taking a deep breath she said, "Ron, I, I wish I could. Really! I really do, it's just, I, I'm already going with somebody."

"Who," Ron asked quickly, looking very morose.

"Neville," she replied softly staring down at her hands.

She looked up just in time to see him nod stiffly and start to walk off. Following him she said, "Wait, Ron please! I really do want to go with you! If you had asked me just-"

"No Hermione, it's ok. You don't have to try to make me feel better," and with that he walked up the stairs, slamming the door to his dormitory.

Hermione felt tears stinging the back of her eyelids, so she quickly picked up her books and ran up the stairs. She pulled the hangings tight around her bed, and then threw herself down onto her bed and cried herself to sleep.

She woke up with a pounding headache the next morning, wondering what she had done to get it. Then the memories of the night before came crashing down on her and brining forth a fresh torrent of silent tears. To make it worse, she realized with a deep sense of sorrow, that the ball was that night. A sudden wave of anger surged through her, and she decided that she would not cry anymore over this, that she would go to the ball that night, have fun, and not dwell on it.

That night Hermione came down the stairs to the dormitory with the other girls. Lavender and Parvarti giggled as they took Seamus' and Dean's arms. Neville stood waiting at the bottom next to Harry, who was staring up at her with a knowing expression piercing her in his eyes. She turned her gaze away guiltily and met Ron's. He was staring at her uncomfortably, and she turned away from him, too. She looked at Neville, squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and gave him as bright a smile as she could muster. She took his arm, leaning down a bit to do so, and walked out of the common room without looking back.

Hermione had more fun than she expected to. She felt pangs of sadness whenever she saw Ron, at the food table or on the dance floor dancing with other girls. She knew she was being a bad date for Neville, never listening to him and always making him repeat things, constantly stepping on his feet accidentally, though she by far wasn't a graceless dancer, and failing to even try to make conversation. But through it all he was a good sport, and patiently repeated everything he said to her, ignored the times she stepped on his feet, except to give her a small grin, and filling the gaps in the conversations.

Before she knew it, it was the last dance of the night, a slow song, and all the students were pairing up. She turned to Neville but she saw him regarding her with a curious look.

"Go ask him to dance," he said simply.

"Excuse me," Hermione asked giving him a perplexed look.

"Go ask Ron to dance," he repeated, waving off her explanations. "When you asked me to the dance, I knew you didn't like me. I know you like him Hermione, have for a while. Go ask him to dance. You've been watching him all night, no, no, I'm not mad! I know you want to, so just go and doing it. Besides if I'm not mistaken, I'd say that's him coming over here right now."

"Oh no, Colin! What do I do," Hermione cried stealing a quick glance behind her shoulder to confirm that he was indeed making his way towards her.

"Well turning around and saying hello would be a start," he replied and walked away.

Hermione quickly turned around, and came face to face with Ron.

"Ron, hi," she said, kicking herself for sounding breathless.

"Hermione," he replied solemnly.

She waited for him to say something, and then realizing he wasn't, decided it was up to her.

What do I say? Ohh, what do I say, she thought frantically. Then, as soon as the idea came into her mind, she seized upon it without considering it again.

"Do you want to dance," she asked quickly, shocked at herself for having the nerve to do it.

"What," Ron exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"Oh, um, nothing, nevermind," Hermione replied, the bravery she had felt a few moments ago leaving her in the dust.

"Did you just ask me if I wanted to dance," Ron demanded.

"Yes," Hermione said meekly, staring at her hands.

She waited for him to say something, anything. She looked up at him and saw him staring at her with a hard expression. Her face colored and she turned around and took a step away.

You idiot! What were you thinking, asking him to dance like that? What did you think he was going to say?

"Yes."

She turned around slowly, not believing her ears

"What did you just say," she asked incredulously.

"Yes. Yes I will dance with you."

"Really?"

Ron nodded, sending shivers of excitement down Hermione's spine, and a wide smile to her face. He held out a hand and she gingerly took it, stepping with him onto the dance floor. Ron lay his hand tentatively onto her back, bringing her a step closer, and she wound her arms around his neck. It was all she could do to keep from falling, so dizzy was she from being this close to him. She met Harry's gaze over his shoulder, and smiled brightly when he gave her a knowing smirk.

The next three minutes were heaven for Hermione. Being this close to Ron, being able to smell the soap he used, feel his broad shoulders beneath her arms, just be there, made her giddy and solemn at the same time. She wanted to dance with joy, and she wanted to pull his arms tighter around her and burrow her head into his chest at the same time. She lay her head lightly down onto his shoulder, sighing to herself when his arms tightened almost imperceptibly around her, pulling her a few inches closer. She drifted into a dreamlike state, letting her happiness carry her away, content just to be in his arms, even for this short time, even if it was just a dance.

She was startled out of her reverie by the loud cheers of the other students when the countdown began. Realizing that it was almost midnight, and then, realizing with a start, what people did at midnight, she pulled away quickly, trying to get as far away from Ron as possible as fast as possible, so as not to be embarrassed later, only to find his arms still around her, and his eyes trained on her face, locking with her eyes when she looked up at him.

Her heart quickened, beating a furious rhythm inside her chest.

She tore her gaze away from Ron, and saw people moving torward each other all across the dance floor.

She saw Harry, across the floor determinedly avoiding Luna Lovegood's eyes.

She flicked her gaze back to Ron, to see him still staring at her, with a look in his eyes she couldn't quite decipher.

She wound her arms tighter around Ron's neck, taking a step closer as she did so, in a wild moment of recklessness.

She saw his eyes turn to a darker shade of blue, reminding her of the lake on the sweet summer days just before the end of term.

The music stopped, leaving just the shouts and cheers of the people around the hall echoing off the walls.

She should have noticed, but she was too caught up in Ron's gaze. If she had, she could have stepped to the side and avoided it, but she didn't.

The excitement escalated, and Hermione was oblivious to the happenings above her, aware only of the fact that Ron's face was coming closer to hers, or hers was coming closer to hers, or whichever, but that they were getting closer to each other, oblivious to what was brewing just above her head, until it was to late.

"NEW YEARS!"

Cheers went up around the hall, and Hermione's lips met Ron's for the briefest of seconds, not long enough even to be called a brush of the lips, before she felt cold, icy cold water drenched on her. Dripped down her robes, soaking her hair, and making her and Ron jump simultaneously apart.

A/N: Now people, before we bring out the pitchforks here, let's discuss this in a calm.. Hey! I see you there sneaking forward with that torch! SIT DOWN! In a calm, orderly, manner. You see, it's a story, right? So what fun would it be if they just got together? Hmmm. Now come on admit it, you'd go, "Oh that's a suck ending," if they just kissed right there, right? Besides I GAVE YOU a kiss! It may have been, "not long enough even to be called a brush of the lips," but too bad! That's all your getting! : P! And YES I know, it's after New Years, but DEAL WITH IT! Because I just sat down for like four hours straight at this computer to write you this nice long chapter, so be thankful!

Moony128: Heh, your reviews crack me up! I'll take that as a compliment, lol, no need to confuse you anymore. And yeah I know the hints are pretty big, but Ron wouldn't be Ron if he wasn't as dense, and Hermione wouldn't be Hermione if she didn't over analyze everything until she had convinced herself it meant nothing! I hope you like this chapter!

RonandHerm4eva: wipes a tear away You like me! You really, really like me! Lol, sorry! Thanks so much, I hope you like this chapter, too!

Unregistered-Animagus: Thanks so much! I love that you love my story, lol! By the way, I really like your name! Is it referring to the Marauders? If so, go inner Marauderness! Ya!

Legofiance: Thanks so much, I hope you like this chapter, too!

Isnani: Thanks! Did you like all the obliviousness I put in this chapter? Lol, I liked it. I laughed a couple of times writing this, and then I think I got a few tears there, too, lol!

X Odd Egg X: Omg thanks SO much for your review! I was telling all my friends about it, and I came back to it a bunch of times when I need inspiration, lol! This chap is unofficially dedicated to you, lol.

Suck4romance81789: Hey, I love your name, probly because I'm a sucker for romance, too, but SHH don't tell anybody! I tried to make this chapter less awkward, so please tell me what you think!

SinfulColors: Lol yes those stupid teenage hormones! But oh how amusing they are! Lol, mua ha ha! cough cough Sorry about that, I'm still a little out of it from last night.

Thanks to all my reviewers, and to everybody, REVIEW!! I did not sit in front of this stinking computer for four hours and get a humongous crick in my neck just to write a story that nobody reviews! So go review, NOW! . . . Please!