Chapter 19: Pathway of roses

Hermione pushed open the door and climbed out of the common room. The door fell closed behind her as she looked around for someone.

"Looking for something dearie?" The fat lady asked. Hermione spun around. "Try looking over there." She said pointing toward the edge of hall. Hermione followed her finger and noticed a flash of color sitting on the floor. She rushed for it.

"Thanks!"

Hermione realized as she got closer that it was a rose. She picked up it up, smiling and sniffed it. Then she noticed the parchment. She pulled it straight and read:

"Nobody's perfect but some are just perfect enough." -Anonymous
Follow the roses and there you will find your answer.

She smiled and blushed at the same time. She looked up from the note and searched around. There by the corner of the wall by a picture of a young girl sat another rose. The girl giggled as Hermione rushed over to it and picked it up. This rose was just as beautiful as the first. So was the quote.

"I have loved to the point of madness; that which is called madness,
that which to me, is the only sensible way to love."- F. Sagan

From there she looked around again. There at the top of the stairs lay the next one.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return."
-Natalie Cole

The next she spotted half way down the stairs.

"I don't know why I can't take my eyes off of you."-Lifehouse

The fifth one lay at the bottom of the stairs. She rushed down to it.

"Love is coming face to face with the knowledge that you've found the best friend you'll ever have in the world."- Lucy Murray

At this one, Hermione stopped for a moment. Something clicked in her head and she suddenly knew who it was.

She inhaled quickly. "It's Ron." She exclaimed to the empty hallway. Suddenly the events of the day began to come together. The familiar handwriting, his uneasiness, where she had found that last note. "It has to be."

With this she searched for the sixth rose, found it in the middle of the hallway and rushed toward it.

"Love is the wisdom of the fool and folly of the wise."- Samuel Johnson

She smiled. How could she stop? She found the seventh rose down the hallway a few feet.

"Love is when you cry, when you laugh, when you smile. Love is when you dream."
- Anonymous

She looked up and found the next one. She walked towards it. She picked it up and added it to the pile in her arms as she read the note.

"Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that."
- Michael Leunig

The ninth rose just a few more feet in front of her.

"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage."- Lao Tzu

The tenth rose lay at the turn in the hallway. She walked to it and gently picked it up.

"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is not hurt, but only more love."- Mother Teresa

As she read it, a voice spoke.

"You're almost there milady." Hermione turned around and looked into a picture frame at a knight in armor. It was Sir Cadogan. She smiled at him.

"Not much farther?" She asked with a hopeful smile. She was playing it up for him, but she was really excited to see if her prediction was right. She didn't want to stop. She could stop.

"Not much farther. Just down the hall milady." The knight said pointing to the next rose. Hermione thanked him and rushed to it.

"Beware you be not swallowed up in books! A ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge."
- John Wesley

When she finished reading the eleventh quote, she smiled. Her suspension was supported even more. It had to be Ron. It just had to be. He always told her she read too much and didn't have enough fun. It had to be him. She was becoming more and more antsy to find out if she as right.

She put the rose with the others in her left arm and looked around for the next one. Suddenly she noticed where she was. She was in the hallway near the room of requirement. As she looked around, she realized there was no rose. For a minute she just stood there.

Suddenly she knew what she had to do. It was obvious. Her, Harry and Ron had used this back in fifth and sixth year to practice for the D.A. She knew how to use it.

So she walked back and forth three times in front of the wall thinking about the a rose and about the admirer.

Suddenly she turned and saw the door in the middle of the wall. On the floor, right in front of the door, was the rose. The last rose to make it a dozen.

She slowly walked over to it and picked it up. She unfolded the parchment and read it's contents.

"Love is a mixture of Heaven and Hell, happiness and sadness, tears and laughter, and most of all... me and you."- Unknown

Hermione stared at the parchment. She was touched. Who ever it was, even if it wasn't Ron, must really care about her. They had done so much today. Only someone who truly cared would go to all this work, even on Valentine's day.

She was dying to find out who it was behind the door but she was suddenly nervous. Her stomach was doing flips and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. She wanted to know but something held her back for a minute or two.

Suddenly Sir Cadogan appeared in a nearby picture.

"Is something wrong milday?" he asked watching her face.

Hermione thought for a minute then replied. "No. No there isn't."

"Then don't you think perhaps you should go in and find out who your secret admirer is. I know he's waiting." He suggested, pushing her to go in.

Hermione looked over at him. "I know." She said but didn't move. He watched her as she stood there with the bouquet of beautiful red roses in on arm and a single rose clasped between her thumb and pointer finger.

Finally she put the twelfth rose with the rest, took a deep breath and reached for the handle of the door.