A/N: Well, as I promised, here's Chapter Nine. Ten and Eleven are coming in a small while.

9

Running From Love

Indeed, they had. Behind the pillar, that Draco had suspected of being a hiding spot for prying eyes, stood a surprised, hurt, and somewhat nauseous Ron.

Flashback

After Hermione left Ron in the common room, he hastened up the stairs to the boys' dormitories to wake Harry. He wanted to borrow the Invisibility Cloak and Maurauder's Map.

He got to Harry's four-poster and pulled back the drapes, but Harry wasn't there.

Ron thought that was odd, but he remembered his dilemma. He grabbed a piece of loose parchment off the floor and hurried to find a quill. He scribbled down a note so fast that he was sure Harry would never be able to decipher it, but he didn't have the time to write anything more legible.

He searched through Harry's trunk, trying his best not to damage anything in his rush, and grabbed the desired items.

He flew down the stairs and cloaked himself before running out of the portrait hole. He looked at the map as he ran, not expecting anyone to be up at that hour. He found Hermion's dot. She was in the courtyard. Unfortunately, Malfoy was heading for that exact location.

Ron sped up and ran towards the girl he had been falling for, ever since he had met her. He reached the spot a second too late. He almost yelled as the sight of Malfoy's lips meeting Hermione's filled his eyes. He rushed behind a pillar and stood there, not able to tear his eyes from the pair.

He stood there, clutching the stone and knowing that none of what he had hoped for was going to be at all possible.

He heard Malfoy ask what had happened and watched as Hermione put on what Ron liked to call "her lying face" and told Malfoy that she had been crying because he hadn't shown up as promptly as she would have liked.

"Huh?" Ron accidentally said aloud. Malfoy looked up and seemed about ready to pull his wand out, but Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled him back onto the bench. Ron thought she had pulled him down on the bench in a place that was much closer to her than where Malfoy had been before.

Malfoy tried to say something, but Hermione kissed him.

Ron gaped. He was shocked that Hermione would do such a thing. She didn't normally act that way.

She pulled away, and Ron heard the mutterings about not knowing each other well enough. Malfoy made her look at him and tilted her chin towards him. He kissed her.

End Flashback

So, Ron stood in sadness. He turned and began to run away. He was sure one of the two people in the courtyard heard his footsteps as he ran. He was certain that Malfoy had stood up again, wondering what all the noise was. He was sure about everything except his feelings. He couldn't accept them, and he knew he never would. They were too painful for him to admit and too strong for him to ignore.

He ended up in the common room eventually; he wasn't quite sure which path he had taken, and he wasn't really aware of having uttered the password to the portrait.

He took Harry's things back to the dorms and put them away neatly in Harry's trunk. The note he had left on the bed remained there untouched, so he decided to take it and put it in his pocket; there was no longer any need for Harry to know where his things had been since he hadn't found out about their absence.

Ron walked back to the common room, feeling separated from everything. He sat down by the fire and waited for someone-anyone to arrive.

A/N: I'm sorry for the short chapter, by the way. It's just, with my anxiety and lack of focus, I've been having problems focusing on one topic long enough for the chapters to be long. I switch character revolutions too often. SOORY! I beg for your forgiveness by way of reviewing.