A/N: Thanks again to Missybewitched!

Chapter 5: Library Scene

"Ron," Harry called after his friend as he sprinted to catch up with him, "hey Ron!"

"If you think I'm ever going to talk to you again you're wrong," Ron had stopped suddenly and turned to face Harry. "How could you?" Ron shook his head sadly; his eyes had begun to mist over, "how could you do that to me Harry, your best friend? How could you kiss her when you knew that I had liked her for so long?"

"You've got it all wrong Ron," Harry said quickly, "Malfoy's lying"

"Oh, is he?" Ron said sarcastically. "Then how come Malfoy's not the only one that has been saying it?"

Harry groaned inwardly, this was going to make it tough. If he admitted to Ron that he had kissed Hermione, Ron wouldn't speak to him. He was going to have to think up a plausible story.

"Look Harry," Ron said angrily, he had dropped his broom on the ground, "I don't think he's lying. I saw you get close to her last night, I didn't think you were kissing but now I am not so sure."

"We weren't kissing Ron," Harry explained to his friend, "she was just really close because she was telling me a secret that she didn't want anyone else to hear."

"Yeah right!" Ron snorted.

"Honestly," Harry said, a sneaky plan beginning to form, "she was whispering quietly so that you couldn't hear. She was telling me that she liked you and was asking me if I knew if you liked anyone."

"Whatdidyoutellher?" Ron said quickly, red blotches quickly beginning to colour his face.

"That yeah," Harry said relieved that his quick thinking had worked, "you like some girls. One in particular though, more than the others."

"Did you tell her that I liked her?" Ron asked, the blotchy reds now joining to form one large blotchy red blob.

"No," Harry said, "I thought that should be up to you to do."

"Yeah," Ron said his face revealing that he was thinking things through, "yeah. That sounds good."

Ron picked up his broom and began to slowly walk up the stone steps.

"She likes me," he murmured to himself in a slight stupor.

Harry smiled, trailing behind Ron. He could smell the inviting aroma of a hot lunch wafting through the open doors of the Great Hall.

Harry and Ron entered the library, refreshed after a hot shower and wearing a change of clothes. They each had their bags slung over their shoulders, full of blank parchment, their Potions text, and enough quills and ink to last them for the afternoon. They paused at the entrance, exploring the room with their eyes, taking in all the students studying at the tables under the stern eye of Madam Pince. They were looking for Hermione.

Ron spotted her first. "Look over there," He whispered to Harry while nudging him with his elbow.

They began to slowly pick their way though the maze of tables and chairs. Briefly stopping every couple of steps to say a quick hello, ask a question or return a quick wave. As they got closer, they noticed that Hermione wasn't studying. She was leaning across the table, her face red, whispering waspishly to Ginny Weasley who was just as red, if not more so than the angry girl sitting across from her.

The girls stopped their whispered fight and stared down at their notes, ignoring the two teenage boys who had just pulled out chairs to join them at their table. As Harry retrieved the parchment from his bag, he picked up the tense vibe that the abrupt silence had brought between the two girls.

Harry watched Madam Pince stalk between the aisles of the bookshelves, speaking severely to a group of first years that were giggling in the corner. He was finding it hard to concentrate on the contents of his Medicinal Potions paper when the air around him was charged with emotional turmoil, he could almost hear the crackling of the electricity.

"Eer Hermione," Ron whispered from his seat next to Harry.

"What is it Ronald," Hermione snapped. Her voice was loud enough for the people surrounding them to hear. Two Ravenclaws nearby turned around to glare at her for interrupting their thoughts.

"Uhm," Ron replied feebly, "have you been able to find which plants can be substituted in the Headache Healing Draught?"

Hermione rolled her eyes irritably and snatched Ron's Potions text from his grasp. She flicked it open and turned to page 394. "Here," she said shoving the book into Ron's outstretched hands. "Last paragraph," she snapped.

The group sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Ugh I just can't concentrate!" Hermione wailed, and she slid everything into her backpack, and stormed from the library leaving her chair on the floor.

"I can't study in here either, I've had enough!" Ginny proclaimed furiously and swept from the library, her notes screwed up in her hands, Madam Pince glaring at her flaming red hair as it passed her by.

Ron shrugged and pulled the pile of books that Hermione had left closer to him. He sat for a few minutes flicking through them, page by page, trying to find the ones that Hermione had found useful in writing her paper.

"It's no use mate," Ron whispered to Harry dejectedly.

"What's no use," Harry replied. He was distracted, trying to find out what the properties of Aconite were again.

"Hermione," Ron sighed.

"Huh?" Harry muttered.

"She didn't mark any pages," Ron replied, "these books are so huge, it'll take me hours to scan every page for what I'm looking for."

"Mmmm," Harry said not listening too intently.

A few hours passed before Ron spoke to Harry again. They had both managed to make a little progress on their Potions papers. Harry was staring out the window at the sunset that was starting to weave its red and gold tendrils into the light blue sky above. "I guess we should pack up now and head to dinner," Ron said while he began to pack his things away.

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I guess we should."