Disclaimer: Not mine, nor will it ever be, darn it all.

Note: Yay! Reviews! And almost instantly too. Mmm.... I feel special.

Chapter 2

The cloaked figure at the edge of the forest echoed Hermione's sigh with one of her own. She wrapped her cloak tighter around herself and debated whether or not it was time to tell her. Thoughtful eyes turned upwards yet again, this time catching a glimpse of Hermione's long curls as she spun to greet her long-time friend and boyfriend, Ron.

The smile she flashed Ron's way quickly made her reconsider. Again. Maybe it was best she didn't know.

-------

"Ron! What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, seeing him slip in through the partially closed door out of the corner of her eye.

"I was going to surprise you with breakfast in bed." Ron said, obviously startled by her wakefulness, although probably more so by her lack of a shirt.

She glanced at him curiously, then down at herself, where his gaze seemed to be occupied. "Oh!" she exclaimed, quickly pulling on the nearest blouse from off her floor. Still blushing, she asked, "And why did you decide to wake up at the crack of dawn to do that for me?"

"Well," he began, setting the forgotten tray down on her cluttered desk and moving to stand behind her. "I seem to recall a rather important event that happened exactly one year ago today." He said, wrapping his arms around her and smiling as she settled into his embrace.

She turned in his arms, smiling brightly. "You remembered!"

He pulled her even closer and leaned down to whisper, "How could I ever forget? That was the best day of my life."

Her smile, now no longer visible to him changed into a pained look at his words. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remember how she felt when he had asked her if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him for the first time.

Even the vivid memory couldn't call up those butterflies and the love that she should be feeling. The feelings she was hard pressed to even feign any more. The feelings everybody expected. She smoothed her facial expression and pulled back to look up at his shining face.

"Want to share my breakfast with me?"

"I'd love to."

------

At breakfast in the Great Hall many people were noticing the absence of half of the usual members of the Scooby gang. There were a lot of winks and nudges going around with the speculations as to what the couple might up to.

One person refrained from the gossip flying through all the tables, her heart breaking. Nobody noticed as a single tear slipped down her pale cheek, and only one looked up from his breakfast when she got up and made her way to the door.

It was much better that she didn't know.

A/N: So? What do you think about this new snarl? And I'm sorry to all those who like Ron, he's not going to get what he wants, and you shouldn't be reading this if you wanted him and Hermione together anyways. Sorry to everyone else, I promise there will be some action, but you'll have to wait for it.