In Which Time Runs Out.

"It's been three days since I wrote Ron that letter, and still nothing!" Hermione complained to Ginny in the Gryffindor common room.

"Talk to him!" Ginny said. "You're never going to get this sorted out unless you two finally talk. Pull him aside after him and Harry get back from Quidditch practice tonight."

"Ok, I will," Hermione resolved. "After all, what kind of couple would we make if we can't even talk to each other?"

Hermione went up to her room to check if she remembered to bring the red tinted lip gloss she bought over the summer, to try and impress Ron. The last couple of days it had been weirder than ever between them. His ears were always the brightest shade of red she'd ever seen them, and he could barely look at her.

Hermione crossed the room to her trunk, where she saw an odd sight. Hedwig was sitting on her bed, a piece of rolled parchment tied to her leg. At first she thought it was the letter she'd written to Ron, but on closer inspection she discovered that it most certainly was not.

Oh, Hermione!
You have made me so happy! I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this to your face, but I can barely talk at all when your around, let alone to you. I even had to get Hedwig to wait until I am at Quidditch practice to deliver this letter to you, in case your letter to me was a mistake. Please don't tell me this was all a big mistake, I couldn't bear it. You are the most beautiful girl I've seen, and I'm so sorry it took me so long to see what was right in front of my eyes.
If you would like to take our friendship to the next level, and be my girlfriend, please meet me at your favourite oak tree next to the lake half an hour after Quidditch practice.
Yours Hopefully, Ron.

Hermione felt her throat closing up as the tears of joy started streaming down her face. She hastily looked at her watch and, with horror, she realised she only had 15 minutes to get down there. Wiping the tears from her face, she sprinted out of the dormitory.

She reached the common room, almost knocking over Lavender, and rushed past Ginny, who called after her, "Hermione, are you Ok? Where are you going?"

Pausing to turn around and show Ginny the enormous smile on her face, she called back, "To meet Ron, oh Ginny, I'll tell you all about it later!" and she rushed through the portrait hole and started sprinting down the hall.

"That was so intense!" Ron exclaimed. "Harry, you really have a great knack for making the most of a Quidditch practice. I think McGonagall knew what she was doing after all, making you captain. That was great! You even had Ginny getting past me in the end!"

"Thanks," Harry grinned. The two friends were walking side by side, broomsticks over their shoulders, on the way to the oak tree Hermione loved to study under in the warm weather. It's over the other side of the lake, making for more of a walk than either of their aching muscles would have liked, but at least it was private for Ron and Hermione to have some much needed time together to sort things out.

"Thanks again, mate, for coming with me to wait for Hermione," Ron said after a few minutes of walking in silence. "I don't think I'd be able to stand the tension of waiting for her on my own. I hope she comes."

"Of course she will! And when she does, I'm clearing off. There's no way I'm going to stand around a watch you to make mushy faces at each other!"

As if we'd want you there, anyway," grinned Ron. "A face like yours would kill the mood, it would."

Harry pulled a face and playfully pushed his best friend. Another minute of walking and they'd reached the oak tree. A look of worry crossed Ron's face when he saw that Hermione wasn't there. Harry, looking at his watch, said "Don't stress, she's still got 10 minutes."

Ron relaxed a little, but began pacing in front of the tree, so to distract him, Harry started asking questions about the Chuddley Cannons last Quidditch match. After a detailed play by play explanation, Ron concluded by informing Harry that their long awaited comeback was just around the corner. The Chuddley Cannons had, of course, lost once again, but not by nearly as much as usual.

At 8:30 on the dot, exactly half an hour after Quidditch had finished, Ron began to pace again, and at 8:45, Ron declared all lost. "It's not like her to be late! She's not coming, I'm such a dumb prat! How could I have even thought that she'd like me anyway?"

Harry tried to reason with him, but nothing he said seemed to help, and just made Ron feel worse, so Harry said "Look, why don't we just go up to the common room to make sure she actually got the letter?"

Ron agreed, thinking he could slip off up to his bed when he got there, and pretend that the whole day had never happened. This was by far the worse he had ever felt in his entire life. He felt like his still beating heart had been ripped right out of his chest, just after someone giving him a good kick in the stomach. As he started to follow Harry, he silently wished that the whole world could turn black, to reflect how he was feeling.

Hermione sprinted down the last staircase and out into the entrance hall. As she neared the doors, she took another glance at her watch. 'Oh my god,' she thought, 'only 5 minutes to get there!' She couldn't believe it had taken her 10 minutes just to get into the entrance hall, though she had spent a lot of time tripping over her robes as she ran. Hermione never tripped over, but she was in such a hurry and all she could think about was Ron, so she just wasn't paying any attention at all to what her feet were doing.

"Miss Granger!" called a silky voice behind her, and she practically froze in mid-stride. Turning around, Hermione came face to face with Snape.

"Yes, Professor?" Hermione said, trying to sound innocent, as well as keep the guilty feeling in her chest from spreading up and on to her face. 'I'm not doing anything wrong,' she told herself. 'I'm a prefect, and I am allowed to be anywhere in the grounds at this time.'

It seemed that Snape was thinking this same thing, for he said, "Tell me, Miss Granger, why is a prefect such as yourself running through the castle at such great speeds, setting a bad example for the lower years?"

"I'm sorry, Professor, I didn't see you there," she said hurriedly.

"That, is obvious," drawled Snape, loathing dripping from his voice, "but not the point. I think that will have to be 20 points from Gryffindor."

"Ok," she replied. Anything, she didn't care, as long as she could still see Ron tonight.

She turned to start walking away, but before she could take another step, Snape said "And you might remind your friend, Mr above-the-rules Potter that he in not a prefect, and as such only has," he took out a silver pocket watch, flipped it open, and confirmed Hermione's fear "25 minutes until I can have the utmost pleasure of spending my afternoons babysitting him in detention. And I'll have another 10 points from Gryffindor for your insolence." He sneered, turned, and walked away.

'25 minutes? That means I'm already 5 minutes late!' Hermione thought wildly. 'Oh no, my watch must be a bit slow, and all that time I just wasted with Snape!'

Hatred coursing through her veins, she was careful to slowly turn and walk out of the entrance hall and down the stone steps. Once on the grass, she started sprinting with all her might towards the far side of the lake. 'Please Ron,' she thought desperately as she went, 'just 10 more minutes. Please don't give up on me. Please don't give up on us.'