A/N: Thank you to all those that have been reviewing. Please continue. I'm open to suggestions to the story so please R/R.

Disclaimer: I wish I could be as good as JK Rowling but I'm not. This is her stuff and not to mention the influence that this story took from various fanfics.

Chapter 13
Ron and Hermione

Harry was in his trunk's library doing his homework alone at night when he heard some loud banging. He went into the sitting room and looked up to see Ron looking down at him and knocking on the edge of the trunk. Harry yelled at him, "What is it that you want Ron?"

Ron asked, "Can I come down Harry?"

Harry said, "Sure, just meet me in my library."

Ron made his way down the stairs and into the library where he saw Harry continuing with his homework. He was thinking, 'Harry has been really busy lately. There must be a reason why he is always so busy.' He said, "Harry, where have you been all the time. We barely see you in the last few days. You seem to run off in a hurry all the time."

Harry looked up when Ron finished talking and said, "I've just been really busy that's all. It's not like it's a big secret or anything. I've just been working on my training. Why do you ask?"

Ron said, "I just have a feeling that you're hiding something from us. I'm sure Ginny and Hermione also have the same feeling."

Harry sighed, took his glasses off, pinched his nose, and wore his glasses again, than said, "The truth is there is something that I know about that you all don't. It is part of the reason why I have been working so hard lately."

Ron asked, "What is it that you're not telling us?"

Harry thought, 'I can't tell them yet. How do you tell your friends that you're going to probably be committing suicide by fighting the worse Dark Lord ever?'

He was interrupted from his train of thought when Ron asked, "Harry, are you listening to what I'm saying?"

Harry looked at him and said, "Sorry Ron, I was just thinking about something."

Ron asked again, "Harry, what is it that you're not telling us?"

Harry said, "I can't tell you right now Ron. It's nothing really." He was trying to find a way to change the subject and asked, "What is it that you wanted to talk about? I have a feeling you wanted to talk about something else."

Ron was thinking, 'I know he's hiding something big now. If he's not talking, it has to do something with his parents, Sirius, or Voldemort. He needs to talk but I guess he's going to not talk about it yet.' He said, "Harry, this matter isn't over but you're right. There's something else I wanted to talk to you about." He paused for a moment and said, "Hermione and me had another fight. Why can't she just admit that she's going out with Vicky? Did you know that she still writes to him?"

Harry asked, "How did you know that she still writes to Krum?"

Ron getting mad again as he was thinking about it said, "We were working on our Charms essay upstairs and my quill broke so I asked Hermione if I could borrow one of her quills. She pulled her backpack onto the table and a letter fell out when she was looking for her quill. I picked it up and it was addressed to her from Viktor. I picked it up and well we just started arguing."

Harry sighed, thinking, 'Ron, you need to hurry up and just snog her already. At least that way the rest of us can finally have some peace.' He said, "Ron, I'm pretty sure that she's not going out with Krum. She told us already and really has no reason to lie about it. Why would she lie about it? Just think about it Ron."

Ron was quietly thinking for a while and asked, "Harry, do you think Hermione fancies anybody?"

Harry said, "I'm pretty sure that she is but she's just too stubborn to admit it."

Ron getting alarmed at what Harry was saying, asked, "Who is it?"

Harry thought, 'I should just tell him that it's him to get this over with but he needs to piece the puzzle together himself.' He said, "I'm not going to tell you who it is but I will tell you that you know him very well."

Getting annoyed, Ron asked, "Why don't you want to tell me? I thought that you were my best mate and supposed to watch my back Harry."

This was Harry's opportunity to get Ron to realize who it is. Harry asked, "Why are you so interested in Hermione's love life?"

Ron thinking that he managed to break Harry exclaimed, "I knew it! You admit that Hermione has a love life."

Harry shook his head knowing that this was going to be a little more difficult to get the point to Ron. Harry asked again, "Ron, why are you interested in Hermione's relationships?"

Getting a little annoyed with being asked the same question asked, "Why do you keep asking me the same thing again? I'm just looking out for her that's all just like I look out for Ginny. I figured you would be also. She is after all our best friend."

Harry said, "For one thing, I do look out for Hermione and Ginny's best interests but in this situation, I think that that she's perfectly safe. The second thing is, do you think of Ginny and Hermione in the same way?"

Ron getting slowly getting more annoyed with Harry's calmness, his knowledge of something about Hermione that he doesn't know, and constantly asking him questions said more forcefully, "Of course I see the both of them in the same way."

Harry immediately followed up by calmly saying, "Are you sure about that or are you trying to lie to yourself?"

Ron yelled, "Yes, Harry, I'm sure!"

Harry still calmly said, "Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying to you Harry! Why do you keep on saying that I'm lying?"

"So you're saying that if I go see Hermione right now and snog her right in front of you than you're not going to get mad."

"You better not do that Harry! I'm warning you right now! So it was you that were talking about earlier than! You fancy Hermione!"

"Why shouldn't I Ron? I figured you would trust me with her."

"Stay away from her! Harry, you better not try anything!"

"Why should I stay away?"

Ron didn't respond. He just stood there and stared daggers at Harry. Harry slowly packed all his books and notes away and placed it back into his backpack. He stood up and wore the backpack and walked towards the door to his library. He turned around and Ron was still staring at him. Harry said, "Since you're not going to say anything, than you can come watch me and Hermione."

Harry quickly left after saying that and Ron in a mad dash rushed after Harry. The two of them left the trunk to go search for Hermione who was sitting in their common room talking to Ginny.

While Harry and Ron were talking in Harry's trunk, Ginny and Hermione were sitting in their common room doing their homework. Hermione was still upset with herself and Ron for the argument that they just went through over Viktor Krum. Hermione said, "Your brother gets on my nerves so much!"

Ginny sighed and thought, 'Why don't the two of you just admit that you like each other. Everybody at Hogwarts would really appreciate it if you two would just become a couple already.' She said, "I guess the same reason that he gets on your nerves is the reason why you get on his nerves."

Hermione asked, "What are you talking about?"

Ginny shook her head and said, "Hermione, I thought that you were the smartest witch at Hogwarts. Why don't you think about it for once without all of the denial?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not denying anything. Your brother gets on my nerves. He jumps all over me every time Viktor is mentioned."

"Hermione, you're my best friend and it's really not easy to watch you two run in circles. Honestly, the two of you are really thick headed."

Hermione was getting annoyed with Ginny for not just saying what she wants to say. Hermione said, "Ginny, why don't you just say what you want to say?"

"You're a smart girl, Hermione. You can figure this out on your own. Don't say you don't know either."

"Ginny, I really don't have time for this. We have homework to work on." Hermione turned back to her books.

Ginny was thinking, 'I should just lock Hermione and Ron in a broom closet and let them settle there business and don't let them out until they do.' She looked over at Hermione and asked, "Hermione, why is it that you were glaring at Susan Bones when she was looking at Ron during lunch yesterday?"

Hermione looked around the room for a bit and mumbled, "She's been trying to hook up with Ron. Good thing Ron is too thick to notice it though."

"Why would you be resentful to Susan for that? It's not like he's dating anybody."

Hermione was mumbling something that Ginny couldn't hear. Ginny asked, "What's that Hermione? I couldn't hear you."

Hermione said, "Susan's a big flirt ever since her body became more developed over the break. Ron doesn't need a flirt right now, just look at Harry and Cho."

Ginny scowled slightly at the thought of Harry and Cho and hoped that Hermione didn't notice it. Hermione did see it and said, "Have you seen all those girls flirting with Harry lately?"

Ginny thought, 'Of course, I've seen all those girls around Harry. At least, he didn't show any interest in them.' Trying to get back at the subject at hand, she said, "Don't try to avoid the subject."

Hermione asked, "What would that be?"

"Ron and Susan, all you said was that you didn't like Susan because she's a flirt. What makes you think she's a flirt?"

In an annoyed voice Hermione said, "She was being hit on by almost every guy that is available at school that's not in Slytherin. About all she does is follow a routine of batting her eye brows, blush, and playfully hit the boys she seems to like on their shoulders."

"It doesn't seem that she did anything wrong. It's the boys that were flirting with her and she was responding."

Hermione said, "It's still annoying."

Ginny got an idea and said, "I wonder who Ron likes?"

Hermione looked alarmed and asked, "Who does Ron like? You know something don't you Ginny."

Ginny said, "I think I know who he likes but I'm not completely sure. I think that he's liked this girl for a few years now."

Hermione was deep in thought about all the girls that Ron would have contact with over the last few years. She said, "Who do you think it is? Is it Lavender? Or is it Susan? Could it be Padma or Parvati? What about Hannah?" Hermione continued to shoot out names of every girl that she could think of.

Ginny said, "Well, I'm pretty sure that she's smart. She looks pretty good also and has a very driven attitude to perform well. Not to mention, she's probably really close to him."

Hermione continued to think for a while and than her face went from deep concentration to that of confusion. Ginny found this funny. Hermione ended up saying, "I'm not sure if I know somebody that fits all of those criteria. As far as I know of, Luna and me are Ron's closes friends that are girls."

Ginny replied, "You're getting really close."

Hermione's eyes started to search the room and said triumphantly, "It's Luna. Ron must like Luna. I'm going to kill that girl."

Ginny asked, "Why do you want to kill Luna? I thought that she was our friend. She even shares a room with us."

Hermione said heatedly, "Because she better not lay a hand on Ron."

Ginny said, "You're avoiding the question. Why don't you want Luna and Ron to become a couple?"

Hermione continued to run the scenario of Luna and Ron together and got angrier with each thought. She couldn't hide her anger and just short of yelling said, "It's just not the way it's supposed to be."

"What is it supposed to be?"

By this point, Hermione was not thinking clearly and ready to burst out. She said, "Because, I'm supposed to be with Ron!" Almost immediately she clamped her mouth close with her hand with wide eyes hoping that she just didn't say that out loud.

Ginny smiled thinking, 'I've finally broken Hermione down to admit that she likes Ron. I wonder what she's going to do about it.' She said, "It's about time you admit it. Everybody around the castle has seen this coming for some time but the two of you are just too thick to believe it yourselves."

Hermione started to blush. She tried to hide it by saying, "What about you? I think it's becoming pretty obvious about who you like."

Not wanting to go down the road that Hermione just took she stood up to leave. Hermione was too fast and grabbed Ginny's hand and dragged her back down to her seat. Ginny said, "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Don't try to hide now Ginny. You try to say that you no longer like Harry but I've seen the way the two of you have been lately."

"What are you talking about? Harry and me are just friends," Ginny said hoping that Hermione would believe her.

Hermione wasn't going to let her off that easily and said, "Ginny don't try to hide it. You're always by him now whenever he's not busy. Whenever you can you try to meet him after class just so you can keep the other girls away. You're like a one person shield that is protecting him from his admirers and I'm saying all of his admirers, which is half the school."

"Look Hermione, I'm just looking out for him that's all."

"So you're also looking out for him also when it comes to Kayla. I see that look on your face when there is a mention about Kayla. Not to mention the look you give Kayla every time Harry and Kayla come back from one of their training sessions."

"Hermione, don't go there. I don't look at Kayla any differently than I look at any other girl."

"Ginny don't lie. You don't like the fact that Harry gets touched by any girl except for me. I heard about that beating you gave Lisa from Ravenclaw in the duel during Defense class after she came up to Harry during lunch and bent over in front of him acting like she dropped something just to show Harry a view of her chest."

"Well, she was just a little slut. I was just giving her a warning to stay away from Harry. He doesn't need distractions like her."

"I'm not sure what happened ever since the end of last year but all I can tell is that you and Harry have been getting close."

"We're really close friends."

"I know you're close friends but I think that it might be more. I see how you and Harry look at each other. Harry always seems to search you out during meal times and not to mention when in the library or just out in the field when he's relaxing."

Ginny didn't really think about it. She asked, "Do you think that Harry likes me? I mean, he has lots of choices for girls."

Hermione thought, 'I'm finally breaking her down.' She said, "I'm not going to tell you until you tell me the truth about how you feel about Harry."

Ginny thought, 'I'm pretty sure that I like Harry. I've always liked Harry and that's probably why I've gone through so many boyfriends because none of them are Harry. But do I want Hermione to know. She's his best friend and she'll just run off to tell him. Wait, Hermione wouldn't do that. She has always been able to keep her mouth shut about things in the past that girls talk about. Should I or shouldn't I tell her.'

Hermione was staring at Ginny and waiting for a response. Ginny's face showed that she was contemplating what to say. Hermione asked, "Ginny? Are you even still listening to me?"

That popped Ginny out of her train of thought and asked, "What did you say?"

Hermione sighed, shook her head, and asked, "Are you going to tell me how you feel about Harry?"

Ginny let out a deep breath and said, "Alright." She looked around the room to make sure that it was empty and said, "Yes, I like Harry. Are you happy now? So are you going to tell me who he likes?"

Hermione smiled and said, "It's about time that you admit that you still like him. And I think that the person that Harry still likes is…"

They were interrupted by the sound of Harry walking into the room followed closely by Ron. Ginny's mind was racing, 'Hell, what perfect timing for these boys to walk in.'

Harry walked straight over to Hermione and pulled her from her seat and wrapped her arms around her waist. Hermione was stunned at what Harry was doing and Ginny was thinking, 'Is he about to do what it is that I think he's about to do? Is Harry about to kiss Hermione? Does Harry like Hermione? Oh, Hermione is cruel, she wanted me to admit that I liked him and than rip him away from me right in front of me. I'm going to get this girl for this.' Tears started to form in Ginny's eyes but she held them back and kept her stern face.

Harry while holding Hermione spun her around so that Hermione's back was to Ron and he said, "Ron, either you admit to what you're trying to hide now or I'm going to do it."

Ron yelled, "Harry, you better not do it or I'm going to hunt you down!"

Harry gave up his calm demeanor as he was getting restless with this game and yelled back, "Fine than, if you're not going to say it than I'm going to just do it. I'll give you until the count of three."

Ron yelled, "Leave her alone!"

Hermione yelled, "What is going on here? Harry, what are you doing?"

At this point, everybody was yelling at each other. Harry yelled, "One!"

Ron yelled, "Potter, get away from her now!" He drew his wand as he was saying this.

Ginny snapped out of her stunned state also pulled out her wand but didn't aim it at anybody and yelled, "What's going on here?"

Hermione was looking at Harry and Ron with a look of confusion. At that point, Harry ignored what everybody was yelling and exclaimed, "Two!"

Ron yelled, "If you kiss Hermione, I'm going to kill you!"

This stunned Hermione and all she could do was stare into Harry's eyes but all she saw was a mischievous twinkle but wasn't sure what was going on. Harry turned to look at Ginny, who had a look of shock on her face, and Ron who was raging with anger. He said, "You made your decision than Ron! Now it's time!" There was a slight pause as Harry yelled, "Three!"

Harry turned back to face Hermione and slowly lowered his head to her. Ron feeling helpless yelled, "Fine, I like Hermione!" After saying those four words, he dropped to his knees while his eyes were still locked on Hermione.

Harry smiled and said, "It's about time you admitted to it." He spun Hermione around to face Ron and she had a stunned face on her also. Harry bent down and whispered to Hermione, "Go."

She snapped out of her dazed state and ran over to Ron and the two hugged while kneeling on the ground. After the hug, Hermione grinned and said, "I like you too Ron."

Ron smiled and lowered his head back to Hermione and kissed her on the lips. She was caught off guard at first but wrapped him tighter in her arms and returned the kiss with just as much affection.

Harry smiled at his two friends as he made his way over to Ginny. He grabbed her hands and said, "Gin, why don't we leave them alone for now. Do you want to come take a walk with me?"

Ginny snapped out of her stunned state as the events of what just happened ran in her mind again. She was happy thinking, 'Harry doesn't like Hermione like that. He only did it to make Ron and her get together.' She asked, "What was it that you said?"

Harry asked again, "Gin, do you want to go take a walk with me so we can leave these two to their own business?"

Ginny nodded and the two of them left and headed off towards the quidditch pitch. The two of them were still holding hands as they made it to the center of the field. Ginny was thinking, 'Who is it that Harry likes? Am I holding his hand? How did we end up here?"

Harry conjured a picnic blanket and the two of them laid down in the middle of the field staring up at the stars. They were silent for a while until Harry broke the silence by asking, "How's everything Gin?"

She said, "Everything is fine. How about you?"

Harry said, "Same here. It's a beautiful night out tonight. Not a single cloud in the sky and the stars shining so brightly."

Ginny said, "It is really nice tonight." There was a slight pause and she continued on by saying, "I wonder how Ron and Hermione are doing right now?"

Harry let out a chuckle and said, "They're probably snogging right now. They do have years of denial to make up for."

Ginny said, "Ewwww, that is definitely not a mental image that I don't need right now or ever. Let's never talk about my brother snogging anyone or anything."

"Deal, that is not exactly something that I want to think about either. Hermione is like a sister to me so let's not talk about anything like that concerning her either."

Ginny was thinking, 'Now I know for sure that Harry does not like Hermione like that. This is good really good. That's one girl down and the rest of the school to go.' She said, "Deal."

They were in a comfortable silence again until Ginny said, "I wish every night could be like this. The beautiful night sky with no full moon and this comfortable breeze that's blowing, everything just feels right." What she was really thinking was, 'I want every night for Harry and me to be together alone under the stars just like tonight.'

Harry said, "Yeah, everything is nice tonight." He was looking at Ginny when he was saying that and thinking the same thing that she was thinking.

She asked, "Harry, since when did you start calling me Gin?"

"I'm not sure, but I hope you don't mind. I know that you don't like people calling you anything except for Ginny."

"You're right. I don't like people calling me anything other than Ginny but only you can call me that."

"I'm honored. I get my own nickname for you. Thanks Gin."

There was another silence than Ginny said, "I wonder how many constellations are there out there."

Harry said, "There are lots but I think most of it is kind of dumb though. You can really just make up your own constellation if you wanted to."

Ginny asked, "How?"

Harry responded, "Well, just like when you look at clouds during the day and see shapes or figures based on how a cloud looks, you can do it with the stars. It's like connecting the dots. Let me show you. What shape would you like to see?"

Ginny said, "How about a cat?"

Harry nodded. He stood up, conjured a block and helped Ginny up. Ginny stood on the block which allowed her to stand as tall as Harry as he ran his right hand along her right hand as he raised her hand and pointed one of her fingers to the sky. He drew out an image of a cat in the sky. They loved having this close contact with each other and continued to draw images from the stars in the sky.

After a while, the two of them laid back down on the ground after Harry banished the block that Ginny was standing on. They continued to lay in silence staring up at the sky with an occasional short subject to talk about nothing really until it was late and decided to head back up to their room. Harry got up first, helped Ginny up to her feet, banished the picnic blanket away, and walked back to their rooms holding hands.

A/N: The following are responses to those who have reviewed since my last posting.

Dancerrdw: Thank you for your review.

Jbfritz: Thank you for the review.

Gaul1: Thank you for the review and I'll let you keep guessing on the admirer.

IamSiriusgrl: Thank you and I hope that you liked this chapter just as much.

Tenolian: Thank you and I'll post as soon as I can get the next chapter written.

Bobboky: Thank you and I hope that you like this posting also.

Sierra Potter-Malfoy: Thank you and I'll try to keep it coming.

Nightwing 509: Thank you and I'll try to continue to stay descriptive.

Santa Claus: Thank you and that was very insightful of you to pick that up. I didn't even think of that but that's all I can say about the secret admirer until he is revealed. You might be surprised.

Professor Scott: Thank you and I do read those two stories that you sent a link from. I agree that they are really good.

Lonsome-love: Thank you and I hope that you like this post just as much. Harry will learn that technique and the fight isn't going to happen soon. Many more events will happen in Harry's life before he fights Voldie.

Hyrufj: Kayla is critical to the story so I will not be getting rid of her. I also like to thank my reviewers because they took the time to do so. Plus, it doesn't take up much space and take away from the story because I answer my reviewers at the end of the chapters.

Moodyboy66: Thank you and I hope that you continue to like the story.