A/N: Well, I suppose all of you do hate me . . . Cept Snicket! LUV ya, girl! Yo my best friend! I think I'm gonna post two chapters this time . . . Maybe coax ya'll into reviewing. Heh heh . . . I'm so sorry about the long wait last time. Please don't let it stop you from reviewing!
5
Chiding
Hermione stepped through the portrait hole, smiling, until she spotted Harry and Ron, that is. Luckily-or maybe not so luckily-for them, no one else was in the room to see them be yelled at.
"RON! HARRY!" Hermione bellowed. Ron looked utterly confused and afraid, while Harry looked the part of the guilty party.
Ron stared at Hermione with big eyes, and it was obvious he had no clue what he was being scolded for. Hermione turned on Harry who smiled at her with a look that begged her not to kill him.
"Harry," Hermione growled, storming up to him so she was a foot away, "why on earth would you tell Draco a thing like that? And you," she looked at Ron, "did you tell him who I was going to the ball with?"
Ron shook his head vigorously.
"How'd you find out, Harry?" she asked.
"I guessed."
Hermione paused and thought about this. "Ron," she said, "did you have anything to do with telling Draco we were dating?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
Ron's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and he shook his head slowly. He then shot an accusing look at Harry, who shrugged in apology.
Hermione's gaze snapped onto Harry. "Harry," she snarled, "why would you say that when it's obvious that Ron and I are not dating?"
Harry opened and closed his mouth many times before decisively clamping it shut.
"You don't have anything to say for yourself?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his head.
Hermione sighed. "If you two don't want me to go to the ball with Draco, just say so. Don't go around telling lies to people."
"We don't want you to go to the ball with Malfoy!" Harry and Ron blurted simultaneously.
Hermione looked at them incredulously. "Draco is not that bad of a person! If you knew why he is the way he is you wouldn't hate him so much!"
"But, Hermione, what about all of the times he called you a-a mublood?" Ron asked.
"He didn't mean it!" Hermione exclaimed, though she knew that was not wholly true.
"Hermione, he's dangerous! You could get hurt!" Harry said.
"He's not dangerous," Hermione said exasperatedly, "I think he's . . . never mind."
Ron shook his head, and Harry's mouth hung open in confusion.
"Hermione-" Harry attempted.
"I don't want to talk about it," Hermione interrupted, hurrying out of the room and up to the girls' dormitories.
Ron looked at Harry expectantly. When the latter said and did nothing, he asked, "What did you tell Malfoy, Harry?"
"N-nothing," Harry claimed, "Just something that I had hoped would keep him away from Hermione."
"I figured that, but what did you tell him?"
"I-uh-I sort of told him that you w-were-uh-dating Hermione," Harry paused to see Ron's face contort in a gesture of anger and then sadness, "and-"
"There's more!" Ron exclaimed, throwing his head into his hands in frustration.
"Uh, yeah, about the next part, are you-uh-sure you want to hear it?"
"Bloody hell, Harry, what were you thinking?"
"Do you want to hear it before you kill me, or shall I just suffer the consequences now?"
"Tell me. I wouldn't want to kill my good friend without reason, not that I don't already have it."
Harry cringed. "A-all right, I-uh-sort of told him that y-you and Hermione were-uh-in love."
Ron froze. He did not speak, or move. He hardly breathed at all during that moment. He looked at Harry acrimoniously, but he could not seem to tell him off.
"S-she didn't say anything about t-that," Ron finally said.
Harry looked as though he had just realised that fact for the first time, "She didn't, did she? I wonder if it means an-"
"How could she not say anything about that!" Ron exclaimed, "I would say something about that! I mean, it's sort of a big issue!"
"It might me-" Harry tried again, only to be interrupted once again by his ranting friend.
"She's gone mental!" the latter yelled, not understanding how strange it sounded coming from a raving lunatic, "She didn't say anything about that! What is wrong with her? She didn't think that-"
"Ron!" Harry raised his voice, cutting Ron off, "Maybe she didn't say anything because she fancies you."
Ron laughed bitterly at Harry's statement, "If you think that's the case, maybe you should ask her," he said critically.
"What? Why should I ask her? I don't even care all that much! Besides, she's furious at me for telling Draco those things. She wouldn't listen. You should ask her. I know you care."
Ron pondered for a moment. "Fine then. I will," he said.
"Great. I'm going to bed," Harry said, and he left.
Ron was alone in the common room once again.
He sat in front of the fire, watching the flames lick the bricks. He began to nod off, and was soon asleep on the hearth.
A/N: Please review! And thanks, Snicket, once again, for that great review in the previous chapter. I shall cherish it forever!