Chapter Seven : Discoveries

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters used in my story

A/N: Omg, I am so sorry for not updating! But due to certain events, I didn't have time.

But I am updating now! Thank you to all the people who have reviewed my story! It means a lot, to know that people actually read it. I hope this chapter won't be too crappy.

) This will be a kind of nothing chapter, so that I can concoct a decent plot. So enjoy the nothing chapter!

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"HERMIONE GRANGER, GET UP HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Everyone in the Gryffindor common room jumped, and stared at Hermione, who had been working on a very long charms essay.

Hermione looked around at the stares, and shrugged. She left her books up on the table, and hurried up to the boys dorm. Harry stayed downstairs, but he needn't feel left out, because the conversation could be heard clearly.

"WHAT IS THIS???????????"

"What is what?"

"MY HAIR IS WHAT!!!!!"

"What about your hair?"

"ITS...ITS....ITS..."

"Well, you said you wanted a little colour put into it."

"YES, BUT NOT PURPLE COLOURING! I WANTED TO MAKE IT A LITTLE LESS CARROT COLOURED! NOW I LOOK LIKE AN EGGPLANT! I AM NOT A VEGETABLE GARDEN!"

"Well, I think it suits you."

"HERMIONE ARE YOU BLIND??? WHY ARE YOU TRYING OT RUIN MY LIFE?"

"I'm not. I think that you're just being a tad unreasonable."

"OH, SO NOW I'M BEING UNREASONABLE? SO WHAT DOES THAT MAKE ME NOW? AN UNREASONABLE EGGPLANT?"

"Ron, you are not making any sense now. I guess I just went a little overboard. Anyway, it's harder to do in the dark."

Everyone in the common room heard noisy stumps coming down the stairs.

Everyone in the common room held their breath as the noisy stumps drew closer.

Everyone in the common room looked at Ron Weasley.

Everone in the common room tittered.

Everyone in the common room let out snorts of stifled laughter.

Everyone in the common room dissolved into uncontrolled hysterics.

Harry barely restrained himself, and as a result, looked mildly constipated.

Ron glared at him.

"What?" he asked fiercely.

Harry had to look away when he addressed Ron.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing! It's just...well...you've got a date with Melanie tonight. And neither one of us payed attention to Flitwick when he was explaining about almost-practically-permanent-colouring-charms-unless-the-person-who-cast-the-spell-un-does-it charm in Charms today."

Ron sighed.

"I know. Hermione has been acting very weird lately. I don't know why she dyed my hair for me..."

Harry considered what Ron's options were.

"Well, you could tell Melanie you tried to dye your own hair at the last minute, but you made a mistake in your hurry to go and meet her..."

"Nah, that makes me sound stupid." said Ron.

"You could tell her what Hermione did..."

Hermione passed by and said breezily, "If you do, I will make that almost-permanent charm permanent."

She climbed out of the portrait hole and disappeared.

"I hope someone poisoned her breakfast." Ron muttered darkly.

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James was having a great time at breakfast.

"Hey Lily, this is so fun! I wink and smile at pretty girls, they smile back. This is the same as in the past Hogwarts! I could hook up with a million girls!"

Lily glared.

"So you have told me, several hundred times now."

"Oh, sorry."

Ten minutes later.

"Hey, Lily, this is so cool! I smile and wink at a pretty girl, and..."

Lily sighed irritably. To her relief, she saw a bushy haired girl walk into the hall.

"Hey, James, there's...there's...Herm-eeone. Let's invite her over here."

"Lily, her name was Her-mi-o-ne."

Lily stared.

"How did you remember?"

James winked knowingly at her.

"Oh, of course. You think she's cute, don't you?"

"Well, she's not that cute, but she is smart and mildly pretty."

"James!" Lily snapped, "You cannot talk about girls like they're a pet. Mildly pretty? It sounds like you're describing your favourite kind of sauce! And hello, I'm Lily Evans, your steady girlfriend! And anyone who you consider smart is obviously too smart for you!"

James gave her a hug.

"Okay, sorry. We can't argue now! We've gotta get married in a few years!"

Lily punched him playfully with one arm, and waved to Hermione with the other.

When Hermione spotted them, and began to walk over, Lily hissed at James, "And you can't like her, anyway. You're technically so much older! And you're also technically dead! It-...Hi Hermione!"

Hermione sat down, flustered.

"Hey guys."

"What's wrong?" asked James. He made to put his arm around her, but was stopped by a killer glare from Lily.

"Ron's mad at me." sniffed Hermione.

"Why?" asked James. He made to put his arm around her again, but was again stopped by one of Lily's magical glares, which seemed to stop expert flirters in their tracks.

"Oh, I don't know. I just dyed his hair purple."

Lily gasped.

"You WHAT?"

"Dyed his hair purple." said Hermione miserably, "I don't know why I did it. He was talking about dying yesterday. He wanted to make his hair look nicer for MELANIE. He would go to the trouble for HER. Yes, he likes her so much, he'd go and...and...kiss the giant squid for her. SHE could get him to do anything!"

Hermione paused to take a breath.

"But would he go to trouble for ME? No. It's just HER that he cared about. It doesn't matter that I've been trying to give off signs for the last six years! Oh no, he wouldn't notice me, not while SHE'S around. So maybe that's why I did it. I want to ruin his chances with her. I want to make him look stupid in front of her. I want to get her stupid, scrawny head and..." Hermione made a violent gesture in the air.

Every head in the hall turned to stare at Hermione.

Lily and James sat there, looking frozen.

"And I thought you were the nice, sensible one." said James, still looking stunned.

Hermione looked shocked with herself.

"Oh my, what did I just say? What did I just say??"

Lily patted her arm.

"You like him, don't you?"

"Well...yes. I guess I do." said Hermione, blushing fiercely, "I mean, Harry had Cho, and now he's happy with Rachel, and I had liked Ron for ages, and then all of a sudden, just as I'm about to make myself tell him, Melanie comes and takes him away!"

Lily looked at her sympathetically.

"I don't know what to do for you. I didn't have a boyfriend until James. And I liked him for ages, too. But I waited until he became a little more...how shall I say politely...less of a total maniac show off. Just wait a while. And it would be a good idea to go and apologise to him about his hair."

"But he hates me!" Hermione wailed, sounding much more like a two year old than the cleverest witch in Hogwarts.

James studied Hermione for a moment, and said quietly, "You know what? Just leave it for a while. Go back, be nice, apologise, and be friends. Something may still happen."

Hermione groaned.

"Okay, I'll go. But if he kills me, it will be all your fault."

Lily and James watched a thoroughly depressed Hermione Granger drag her way out of the Hall.

"You're not planning to ask her out, are you?" asked Lily, eying James beadily.

"No, no...I just have a small hunch about something..."

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Harry met Hermione outside the portrait hole.

"You want to tread carefully around Ron." Harry warned, "He tried to fix his hair, and now it's turned a vomit-coloured green. He nearly bit my head off just now. Anyway, I'm off to meet Rachel in the Hall! I won't be long. Are Linda and Jason there?"

Hermione looked startled for a second.

"Repeat their names."

"Linda and Jason. You know that! They've been here for a while, remember? We went to Hogsmeade, and they're exchange students?"

"Yes, yes, I know..." Hermione's brow furrowed, as if she was trying to remember something.

"No, that's completely impossible." she muttered.

Harry stared.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. I'll just go in and err...and....say a prayer for me, okay Harry? We who are about to die salute you."

Harry looked worried.

"Hey, do you want me to wait for you?"

"NO! I mean...no, it's okay. Thanks anyway Harry."

Harry shrugged, and sauntered sown the corridor.

When he was safely out of sight, Hermione climbed through the portrait hole.

Ron wasn't in the common room.

"Ron?" Hermione called out timidly. She wasn't a scared kind of person, but for some reason, the simple task of going and apologising to Ron was turning her into a mass of nerves.

Ron appeared at the foot of the stairs.

"What do you want?" he said coldly.

"I...um...I...just wanted to say....sorry."

Ron glared.

"Really?"

Hemione's heart sank at his coldness towards her, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Yes. Really. I'm really sorry Ron, and I'll change it back for you."

Hermione took out her wand, and walked closer to Ron. She aimed at his hair, but Ron stepped back sharply.

"How do I know that you're not going to change my hair black or something?"

A tear fell.

"Don't...don't you trust me?"

Ron pretended to think.

"Well, let's see. You sneak into my room while I'm asleep. You change my hair purple, knowing that I had a date today. You make it unchangeable to anyone but yourself. Now, I wonder why I might be feeling a little apprehensive now?" Ron's voice had risen to a yell.

Hermione, her meekness forgotten, yelled back, but the tears fell anyway.

"Look, I said I was sorry, okay? I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!!!"

Hermione let out a sob, and collapsed into a chair.

Ron looked very guilty, and sat down in a neighbouring chair.

Hermione stared into the empty fireplace.

"I don't know why I did something that crazy Ron, it's just that...well...I...sort of...well...I...I really really like you."

Hermione turned away from him abruptly, deeply embarrassed.

Ron turned abruptly away from Hermione.

So they were both sitting with their backs facing each other.

Ron turned around, and tapped Hermione on the shoulder.

Hermione hid her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry, I know you're with Melanie now, but....I....I had to tell you..."

Hermione turned around, pointed her wand at his hair, and a jet of red light shot out, and hit Ron's hair.

It turned immediately back to red.

Hermione conjured a mirror, and Ron looked at his hair.

He breathed a sigh or relief.

"Oh, that's better. Thanks Hermione."

Hermione just barely managed to squeak, "You're welcome."

They both sat there looking at each other. (A/N: Three guesses to guess what's gonna happen now...)

Then, to Hermione's shock, Ron leaned in slightly.

So she matched his moves.

Then, hesitantly, briefly, their lips touched.

Ron didn't even think about Melanie at that moment.

Hermione and Ron just sat there, neither willing to break the kiss.

But neither of them had heard the portrait open, and neither of them had seen the five figures standing behind them, watching.

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Well, that was a bit crap. Actually, it was terrible. And rushed. Heh, go me. Bagging out my own work...

And it doesn't take a genius to figure out who one of the five figures might be.

This is such a soapie ending....send me a review and let me know how bad (or possibly good) you thought this chapter was. Like I said before, this is like a nothing chapter, so that is why there wasn't too much Lily and James. Even thought my story is meant to be based around them...ah well...slight detour....just to add a bit of something.

Next chapter, I'll be back on the road, I swear! And I totally stink at writing romance. I don't want it to be to sappy, but I don't want it to be too spiky either. I NEED HELP! I NEED MY EDITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Send me a review please! Thanks! And check out my other fanfiction Whatever!