A/N: I am SOOOOO sorry! I haven't updated in forever and you all probably hate me. I'm sorry! Here it is!

3

The Specks of Gold

Ron grimaced as the portrait hole swung shut behind Hermione, and his head throbbed painfully.

" 'Mione?" he asked from the sofa he was sprawled out upon.

"Are you all right?" Hermione asked, sitting down by his feet.

"My head hurts like hell, but other than that, I feel fine. How about you? You and Malfoy have good time doing whatever you ran off to do?" Ron asked with a slight bitterness in his voice.

"Um, yes, I suppose so," Hermione said, feeling guilty that she had left Ron with a pounding headache that she had caused.

Ron looked at her and their eyes once again met. They were only about two feet from each other, and Ron could see the specks of gold in Hermione's irises. He felt the openness in his head he had felt earlier. He closed his eyes, not enjoying the feelings he had toward Hermione every time they did that.

"Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah?" Ron replied, keeping his gaze away from her.

"You heard that the Graduation Ball is being held on Christmas Eve this year, right?"

"Yes."

"That really makes no sense, does it? What if one of the students goes to the ball, but they don't graduate? It's really odd."

"Uh, yeah. Are you going with anyone yet?"

"Actually, yes." Hermione turned a deep shade of red.

"Who?" Ron queried, his eyes suddenly looking upon Hermione. His head began to hurt for reasons he would not admit to anyone.

"Why do you always do this?" Hermione asked, "You always ask me who I'm going with even though you know I'm not going to tell you."

"I do not!" Ron said, "And how come you never tell me?" He had her pinned. Why didn't she want to tell him?

"Because it's none of your business."

"But, Hermione, the guy you went to the Yule Ball with, Viktor, I mean, he was-He called you Herm-own-ninny for cripes sake!" Ron exclaimed in frustration, head still pounding.

"Viktor was a nice guy for your information! Much nicer than you anyway," Hermione retorted, breathing heavily.

Ron felt as though he had been slapped. His ears turned red, and he clamped his mouth shut for fear that he might blurt out the words and phrases that were running through his head. A vein pulsed in his temple agonisingly. After a few moments, he was able to speak again. "If you thought Viktor Krum was 'nice,' the next thing you'll be telling me is that Malfoy asked you to the ball, and you said yes," he huffed, his head still throbbing from his earlier headache.

Hermione bit her lip guiltily. Ron noticed the look on her face, and his mouth fell open. "No!" he cried, "You did not say yes to that twit!" Hermione didn't say anything, "Bloody hell, you did!" Ron looked around in anger. He didn't know what to say. How could Hermione do this?

Hermione reached out her hand. "Ron," she said, "I-"

"What's this?" Ron interrupted, taking Hermione's wrist. As she had reached across the couch, her sleeve had been pulled up slightly, revealing the bruises from her argument with Malfoy about a week ago. Ron pushed the sleeve up more, uncovering more purple and green marks on Hermione's skin. He was so flustered he didn't notice how much of an invasion of personal space that was. "Did h-he do this to you?" he interrogated furiously, his voice shaking from the emotion he was managing to keep inside, "God, Hermione, w-what has been going on?"

Hermione pulled her arm away from him and covered her wounds again. "Nothing, Ron," she lied.

"Hermione?" Ron asked, sorrow in his voice, "You know y-you can tell Harry and I anything."

Hermione nodded, keeping her eyes distant. "I know, Ron."

"So, you and M-Malfoy are going to the ball together, eh? Why on earth-I mean, h-how did this happen?"

"Ron, I don't want to talk about it, all right?" Hermione said.

" 'Mione, I w-want you-I want you t-to tell me if he hurts you like this agai-"

"It's none of your business, Ron!"

Ron squared his jaw and looked away sullenly.

"Oh, God. Ron, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"No, I know exactly what you meant, Hermione. Mind my own business, right? I shouldn't meddle in things that don't concern me, even if my best friend may be in danger. If that's what you want me to do, Hermione, fine, I'll leave you and 'your business' alone."

"Ron, I don't want to fight with you."

"Oh? Yes, you're doing a great job of preventing that." Ron's voice was laden with cruel sarcasm.

"Please don't do this."

"Hermione, I just want you to be safe."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry, I'm a big girl," Hermione replied, smiling.

"You scare me sometimes."

Hermione laughed. "I know."

Ron looked into Hermione's eyes, and the connection was made.

'How are we doing this?' Ron asked.

'Do you swear you won't tell anyone?' Hermione asked.

'Is it a secret?'

'Well, yes, sort of.'

'All right, but is it because you're studying legimency?'

Hermione gaped at the boy she had never thought even halfway capable of guessing as correctly as he just had. 'Yes and no. You see, I have been studying legimency-I don't know how you figured that out-but I've also been practicing an art called verotis. Verotis allows two people to communicate through each other's minds. You don't have to make eye contact, but it does make it easier. The side effects of a quickly broken mind connection are headaches and migraines. I'm sorry about that,' Hermione explained, 'You cannot tell anyone!'

'What about Harry? He will get suspicious if we're always staring at each other from across the room, won't he?'

'Which is exactly why we won't do that anymore. I told you, we don't have to make eye contact to communicate.'

'But every time we look at each other, it happens! What're we going to do, not look at each other for the rest of our lives? Yeah, that's real normal.'

Hermione suddenly spoke aloud. "Look, Ron, I don't know, but we can't tell Harry!" She automatically regretted saying that, for Harry stepped through the portrait hole as soon as she had said it, followed by Luna Lovegood. The portrait slammed shut, and Ron grimaced in pain.

"Can't tell me what?" Harry asked.

"We can't tell you," Hermione said, grabbing Ron's leg so he would keep his mouth shut. She glanced at Luna. "Ravenclaws aren't supposed to be in here, Harry. You should know that by now," she said in her usual, all-knowing manner.

Ron froze as Hermione's hand touched his leg. He knew it wasn't an affectionate gesture, but for just that moment, he wished it was.

Harry shrugged, and it was obvious that he could care less about Ron's and Hermione's secret or the fact that Ravenclaws weren't allowed in the Gryffindor common room. He sat down on one of the sofas and motioned to Luna to sit next to him.

Ron normally would have raised his eyebrows at this, but Hermione's hand had not moved from it's conspicuous spot on his leg, and he couldn't seem to find his voice, let alone his smart-ass attitude.

He needed to do something about this; He couldn't just sit there and let his unspoken feelings ravage him in their entirety.

"You all right, Ron?" Harry asked. He glanced at Hermione's hand and smiled mischievously.

"Yeah," Ron grunted, seeing as he could hardly breathe, "Just a little headache is all."

Harry nodded in sarcastic agreement. He leaned over and whispered something in Luna's ear. Luna grinned and took a quick look at Hermione's hand.

'Ron,' Hermione said in Ron's mind, 'don't tell Harry or Luna anything.'

Ron nodded and exhaled in relief as Hermione's hand left his leg.

"Luna," she persisted, "you shouldn't be in the common room. If Professor McGonagall finds out you were in here, she won't be pleased."

"I should be going," Luna agreed. She got up and walked to the portrait hole. She turned suddenly. "Oh! I nearly forgot," she said, "I was hoping we could do this again sometime, Harry. It was fun."

She hurried out of the room with a flourish of her robes.

Ron looked at Harry expectantly. Harry said nothing, but he turned red.

Hermione stood up. "I'm going to the library," she announced.

Ron watched her as she left. Why was he doing this to himself? He had had his chance to ask her to the ball or otherwise, but he hadn't taken the opportunity.

"You and Loony make a good couple," Ron commented when the portrait hole closed, "Have you asked her to the ball yet?"

"No, have you asked Hermione?" Harry replied. Ron looked appalled.

"W-what makes think I was going to?" Ron asked. Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"It's obvious that you fancy her, Ron." Ron didn't know what to say. "You should have seen your face when she grabbed your leg."

"Y-you noticed that?"

"I think Hermione was the only one that didn't notice. You should ask her to the ball."

"I-" Ron looked down, "I can't."

"Why not?"

"She's already been asked."

"What! By who? Did she say yes?"

"Of course she said yes! Why else wouldn't I be able to ask her?"

"Who asked her, Ron?"

Ron looked at Harry, grimacing at the thought of what the latter might do if he found out who Hermione was going to the ball with. "I-I think you should ask her that," he said.

"Is the guy that bad?" Harry queried.

"Worse than you know, but apparently she has grown fond him, so let's just drop it, all right?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know she was taken. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked if-"

"It's all right, but what about you and Luna? Why haven't you asked her to the ball?"

"I don't know how I would say it, and what if she says no, or she's going with someone else? I'm just worried that she doesn't want to get too far involved with me."

"I think you should go for it."

"I don't know if I can. She might say no or-"

"Just do it. What have you got to lose? She already knows you like her."

"You know what, I think I will," Harry said, getting up and walking to the portrait hole, "Thanks, Ron."

"Don't mention it," Ron replied as the portrait hole closed, leaving him alone in the common room yet again. Everyone seemed to enjoy leaving the common room at night.

A/N: Okay, once again, I'm sorry, and thanks to those of you who were especially persistent in reviewing. Please review again . . . . . if you don't totally hate me.