To my reviewer, animerockstar, thank you! I almost had to change what I wrote for this chapter because you guessed RIGHT ON! But I really liked this chapter (it's one of my favorites) so I decided to leave it as is. To my lovely readers, thank you and please review! I LOVE reviews...they make me do this -----> :) So, there might be more to this story...there might not. I haven't decided whether or not to continue (I believe I will). So thanks for your time!

Mortal Peril

Harry was left shivering (Hermione had his sweatshirt) under the tree they had been sitting beneath. After a few moments of stunned silence when she left, he got the sense to get up and start walking the same path she had taken towards the house. He wanted to find her and make sure she was okay…but she had been downright terrifying a few minutes ago.

As he grew closer to the house he began to hear a loud shrieking noise, followed by a few seconds of quiet, which in turn was followed by more shrieking. When he got to the door he opened it as quietly as possible and stepped inside the kitchen. He looked at the clock that showed where all the Weasley's were at any given time. The hands were all pointing to "bed"…other than Ron's, which was pointing to "mortal peril". His heart began to pound as he realized how eerily still it was in the house, just seconds after hearing all that shrieking coming from somewhere in it.

Harry began to run up the stairs to Ron's room (which was where he thought the yelling had been coming from) and saw, to his great relief, that there was still a light on. He tried the knob only to find it was locked, and began to bang on the door. Just as he was about to start figuring out a way to get it open, a very flustered looking Hermione opened it for him. She was still red in the face from screaming and as Harry looked past her, he could see Ron cowering with fear on his bed.

"Just what in bloody hell is going on here, anyway?" Harry bellowed as he took in the scene before him. Outside he thought that he was going to get his happy ending with Hermione, but as he looked around the room he wasn't really sure what was happening between the three friends.

"Harry! How…how're you doin', mate?" Ron asked, clearly more happy to see Harry than he had ever been in his entire life and entirely failing in trying to act like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"This…this…traitor," Hermione broke in, "read my journal…my most personal thoughts! That's how he knew all the things he told you…I never told any of those things to anyone!"

As Harry realized that Hermione was the source of Ron's "mortal peril" hand on the clock, he looked from Hermione to Ron - who still looked scared out of his mind - and did the only thing he could do. He started to laugh.

The look of frustration on Hermione's face slowly changed to shock, then sorrow as she thought, he doesn't care! I thought he did, but he doesn't even care that Ron invaded my most personal space. She pushed past Harry and ran out of the room, already starting to cry for the third time in one day.

As soon as Harry saw her running out with tears on her face, his laughter ceased immediately. "Hermione!" he called after her - but she wouldn't stop. He started to go after her until he heard Ron speak for the first time since Harry had reached his room.

"Good going on that one, mate."

Harry stared at him in disbelief. "Good going? Good going?! How about you and your bloody snooping?! That's what's got us here in the first place!" he yelled uncontrollably.

Ron (Harry noted) at least had the decency to look apologetic as he said what he said next, which was, "I didn't mean to do it! Hermione was here for a couple of days before you, and when she arrived she was carrying this book, which isn't unusual for her, but I overheard her telling Ginny it was her journal, which I guess is a muggle thing her mum got her for her birthday to write all her thoughts down in. She and Ginny were off in town with mum one day…and it was there on her bed…open. I couldn't…I couldn't help myself. I didn't know she'd take it so hard."

"Why wouldn't she take it hard, Ron?" Harry replied. "How would you like it if someone knew all of your most personal, private thoughts? So that's how you became an expert on girls…Hermione in particular!"

"I told you I didn't mean to do it! It's just…once I started reading, I couldn't stop. Do you think she'll forgive me?" Ron asked with a look of fear in his eyes. He didn't know what he would do if Hermione stopped being his friend. True, she annoyed him constantly about homework, and there wasn't anyone more mental than her…but he knew he would miss her.

"I don't know, Ron, and quite frankly, I don't know if I want someone that untrustworthy to be my friend, either," Harry said with finality as he walked out the door.

"Hermione?" Harry whispered as he knocked on her door softly. He didn't get a reply, but he could hear her quietly weeping when he put his ear up to the door. Just hearing her cry broke his heart, so he opened the door without an invitation and found her lying on her bed, facedown, muffling her sobs with a pillow.

It wasn't until he entered the room that he remembered it was actually Ginny's room they were in, and as he looked around wildly, noticed with relief that she was apparently a very heavy sleeper.

Hermione either didn't notice that Harry had entered the room or chose not to acknowledge him - he didn't know which - so he sat cautiously on the edge of her bed and patted her back.

" 'Mione? Are you all right?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Suddenly she flipped over and glared at him. "We can't talk about this here!" she whispered back violently. "Come on!"

She led him out of the room, down the stairs, through the kitchen, out the door, and back outside, to what Harry was starting to think of as "their spot" under the tree. It had gotten warmer outside and the moonlight was shining through the tree leaves to sparkle in her eyes and dapple on her skin. Even though he was positive she was furious at him for laughing before, he couldn't help but think about how beautiful she was…maybe even more so because of how mad she was. It put fire in her eyes and he could see the proud woman she would become.

She just stood there for the longest time, until eventually she asked simply, "Why?"

Harry let out a big sigh of relief - he had been expecting the same treatment Ron had gotten upstairs. He supposed maybe she had gotten tired of yelling for the night. "I wasn't laughing because of what he did to you. I would never make fun of you, Hermione. I know how it looked to you, but I just didn't know what to do. I would never hurt you on purpose…I…I think I'm falling in love with you."

He realized with horror that her eyes were filling up again…he couldn't believe how much water this girl had in her! He was starting to wonder if all girls cried all the time, between Cho and Hermione…unless he was the one that caused all the crying? He grew more and more panicked until Hermione threw herself at him. She was crying, yes, but she was also hugging him and mumbling something into his chest.

He didn't really know what to do, so he just kept holding her and sort of patting her on the back the way he did with Cho. Then he remembered suddenly how Hermione rolled her eyes at him when he told her that's what he did with Cho, so he pulled away from her a bit to see what she was feeling. "Er… 'Mione? I didn't catch any of what you said there."

"Harry," she said with a sigh, "That's all I've wanted to hear from you for so long now. I can't even begin to tell you when it started because it seems I've always felt this way. I was so mad at Ron not only because he betrayed my trust, but because I was afraid I would lose you if you didn't feel the same way that I do. I know now that you were about to tell me outside before, but when you told me about Ron…I just lost it. I'm sorry."

Harry could hardly believe was she had said, it made him so happy. " 'Mione," he said gruffly, "There's something I'm going to do now that I should have done a long time ago." With those last words, he looked down into her beautiful brown eyes, which were getting closer and closer, until at last their lips met and he was kissing her. He hadn't had too much experience with kissing (just Cho and the tearful one) but as far as it went, he had to admit that this was the best feeling he had ever experienced. It was as though he couldn't get enough of her…her lips, the taste of her, the warmth of her body against his…it all sent him through a dizzying set of new feelings.

When he finally broke the kiss he said, "I don't think anymore, I know. I know that I am in love with you, Hermione Granger. It only took one kiss to realize what I've been too stupid to notice all along."

"Oh Harry," she replied as she locked her arms around his neck and looked up into his startlingly green eyes, "I'm in love with you, too. Even though what Ron did was horrible, I might have to forgive him now, because what he learned in those journal entries led you to me now."

With the sudden mention of Ron, Harry was compelled to ask her a question that had popped into his mind the instant the door of Ron's room was opened earlier. "Hermione…why was it I could hear you yelling outside, but as soon as I walked into the house it was silent? You hadn't stopped yelling, I'm sure."

She flushed as she realized Harry had heard her attack on Ron earlier, and said, "Oh no! The window must have been open! I put a silencing charm on the door so no one would hear me…and then didn't notice the window." Harry couldn't help but be proud of the fact that a witch smart enough to put a silencing charm on a door when she was that upset was in love with him.

Then she got a rather mischievous look on her face and cheekily said, "As long as we're asking questions…why did you laugh when you found out what happened?"

Harry grinned as he remembered the clock and told Hermione about the "mortal peril" Ron had been in earlier. She also burst out laughing. "I had no idea I was that scary!"

"Not usually," replied Harry, "But you did a pretty good job tonight. So are you really going to forgive Ron?"

She bit her lip thoughtfully and Harry thought to himself, I can't believe how irresistible she is when she isn't even trying. " I suppose he really did do it in our best interests…and things really wouldn't be the same without him," she said as Harry nodded in agreement, "but I don't see why he shouldn't suffer through the night and think about what he did," she added with a twinkle in her eyes.

"No…I don't suppose so," he said, while pretending to be thoughtful. With that, he tackled her to the ground and kissed her under the stars, talking in between kisses, until they fell asleep in each others arms.