Chapter Three

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. If they were, I'd be J.K. Rowling, which I'm not. Therefore, these characters are not mine.

            Ron left Professor Lupin's office feeling only slightly better than he did before. He now had the knowledge that someone had beaten a situation very similar to his own, but he was still sulking from the argument that he and Hermione had shared. What didn't make sense to him was why he felt so bad. This hadn't even been one of their worse fights. He had never felt this bad after something so minor before, and it made him wonder.

            Harry and Hermione were working on their homework in their usual spot by the fireplace when Ron entered into the common room through the portrait hole. As soon as he sat down, Hermione shifted in her seat so as to not face him. Harry noticed this and groaned inwardly. It was bad enough with all that had been happening the past couple of years. He was now being thrust into a war he didn't want to be in and his two best friends being at war was not helping anything. Feeling that there wasn't anything he could say to make the situation better, he figured maybe his absence would force them to at least speak to one another. Harry got up and mumbled about forgetting something in his dormitory.

            That then left Ron and Hermione alone in the otherwise deserted common room. Hermione made a show of turning the page in her book, as though to emphasize the fact that he was not going to be able to draw her attention. But Ron couldn't help but notice how much longer it took her to read that page than it usually did.

            "Hermione. . ." he began, but she simply turned farther away from him. Fine, if she was going to play at that game, then he was too. Ron shifted himself so that his back was now to her.

            Harry craned his neck around the corner to see his two best friends facing opposite directions. This was not what he had been hoping for. Convinced that all they needed was a little more time he sat down on the stairs and placed his chin in his hands to wait.

            Five minutes later, while Ron and Hermione were still busy trying to ignore each other, Ginny Weasley came in through the portrait hole. She paused for a moment and looked over at her older brother and his best friend. Harry waved to get her attention from the stairs and she made her way over to him.

            "What's going on?" she asked as she plopped herself down next to him.

            "Their not speaking to one another."

            "Again?"

            Harry nodded.

            "Oh, why does Ron have to be so thick?"

            "What?"

            "It's obvious that those two hate fighting with one another."

            "Well they could have fooled me."

            Ginny ignored him. "Look at how miserable they always are afterward."

            "Lost of people feel bad after they've had a row."

            "But not like this Harry. Oh, why do you have to be so thick?"

            "I beg your pardon."

            "It's obvious that those two are crazy for each other."

            Harry knew this. In fact, he was sure that all of Gryffindor, Ron and Hermione excluded, knew this. The twins had even started a pool in Harry's second year to see when they would both realize it. Nearly every person in the tower had put some money into it. But even though Harry knew this, he really did not like to discuss the fact that his two best friends were probably harboring feelings that were more than platonic for one another.

            "Ginny, I really don't want to talk abo-" But Harry was cut off by movement from the room below them.

            Ron couldn't stand it anymore. He really wasn't mad at her. He was hardly ever mad at her anymore. Sure he argued with her, but was never really angry. Arguing just seemed to come naturally to him. Ron had to break this silence. It had been nearly ten minutes since Harry left and neither on had said anything after Ron's first attempt at a conversation. So Ron put part of Lupin's advice to work: he kept his mouth shut. "Actions speak louder that words." he thought to himself. Ron stood up, crossed over to Hermione's chair, and before she could register his presence, Ron snatched the book from her hand.

            Ginny groaned. "My brother is the biggest git imaginable. I don't think I can watch this." She lowered her head and covered her face with her hands.

            "What do you think you're doing?" Hermione snapped.

            "I'm trying to get you to stop reading this bloody book and listen to me!" Ron said, a little harsher than intended.

            "Well, you've succeeded with getting me away from my book, so what?" Hermione was now standing in front of him, hands on her hips.

            Even though Hermione was a sixteen year old witch, she still reminded him of the bossy eleven-year old he had met on the Hogwarts Express.

            The fact suddenly hit Ron that he had thought of nothing to say. "Er. . ."

            "Well?"

            "Don't hate me!" Ron spat out before he could think of anything remotely more intelligent to say.

            "What?"

            "I mean, don't be mad at me anymore, Hermione. I didn't mean what I said earlier. I was being stupid."

            "You were being stupid." Hermione agreed, "And I don't hate you, Ron. You just have a way of pushing my buttons."

            Ginny looked down at them through a gap in her fingers. "That wasn't half bad for Ron, considering how thick he's been."

            Harry sniggered. He had to admit, Ron had done a nice job of not-really-apologizing-but-sort-of. At lest Hermione hadn't bit his head off, as Harry had half expected.

            "I don't think it was your fault that I was doing my homework on a Saturday." Ron continued.

            "So you admit it was your own fault, then?"

            "Now I didn't say it was my fault." Ron's face broke into a smile. Hermione punched his arm playfully. "Ow."

            Hermione rolled her eyes and snatched her book back from Ron. "May I please get back to my reading now?" she asked conspicuously over-nicely.

            Ron motioned to the chair she had just been sitting in, "By all means."

            Harry felt that it was now safe to come out of hiding, and made his way down the stairs into the common room, followed by Ginny.

            "Find what you were looking for?" Hermione asked.

            "Oh. . .er. . . I, um, don't think I need it actually." Harry managed.

            "Oh, okay then."

A/N: Sorry these chapters are so short. I just like to keep to one train of thought and then move on. I'll try to post them two at a time as to give you more to read. So what do you think so far? Is it any good? Should I keep writing? Be exiled for humiliation to the craft? What would you like to see happen next? I SWEAR that I'll get some plot in here soon.