Chapter 4

Hermione nuzzled her head on something warm and soft, trying to ignore the shaking on her shoulder. "Hermione, wake up!" A familiar voice half whispered and half shouted into her ear. "Hermione, come on get up!"

Hermione lazily opened her eyes to find Ronald Weasley in front of her. "Hey, Ron," she said sleepily, her voice cracking. "Wait, Ron? What are you doing in my dorm?"

"Dorm?" Ron asked puzzled. "Hermione, you're in the common room." He looked at her, seeing her not fully comprehending what he was saying. "You were sleeping on Harry. Is there something you guys aren't telling me?" Ron asked crossly as Hermione rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked to her right. "The Chosen One" was sleeping soundly, his head drooping off the chair. Ron's shout of, "Answer my question, Hermione!" brought her out of her trance.

"What was the question again?" She yawned widely and rubbed her eyes once more.

"What is going on her?" Ron asked exasperatingly. At that moment, Harry awoke a bit startled from all of the shouting and found his arm wrapped around Hermione. "Oh, good morning, mate," Ron said sarcastically. "You've woken up just in time to help Hermione explain what is going on." Ron glared at the two of them pointedly.

"What are you on about, Ron?" Harry asked a bit confused.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Let's see, you two both disappeared last night, only to be found in the common room, sleeping in each others arms the next morning!" Ron took some deep breaths, his face very red from annoyance.

"There's nothing going on," Harry said removing his arm from around Hermione.

"And if there were," Hermione added, "It would be none of your business, Ronald."

"Yes it would," Ron said defensively. "A guy likes to know when his two best mates are getting together."

"We aren't getting together," Harry said.

"Then where did you go last night?" Ron stared at the two of them as they sat in silence. "Alright, I see how it is." Ron then took his leave, storming back up to the dormitory and slamming the door.

"Should we tell him?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.

"I don't know." Hermione shook her head. "Let's get ready for the day and handle this later." Harry nodded in agreement as Hermione rose from the arm chair and walked up to her dorm.

Hermione pulled on jeans, a crisp white button down shirt and her robes and tie. She quickly grabbed her books and walked out to meet Harry back in the common room.

The two friends gave each other a look and walked out of the portrait hole. "What are we going to tell Ron?" Harry asked. "He definitely thinks we've been snogging behind his back!" From the looks on the faces of the students around them, Harry realized he said that part a little too loudly.

"What if we were?" Hermione asked in a thoughtful voice.

"What do you mean, Hermione?"

"We can't hold up a bunch of excuses night after night, it would be too suspicious. If we told him we were together, then there would be no reason to ask where we were."

"You're right! But how are we going to convince him?"

"Well," Hermione said, "We're going to have to act to act like we're a couple." She replied grabbing his hand. "Starting now."

The pair walked through the double doors hand-in-hand and getting many astonished looks. As they got closer to Ron, who was very consumed in eating his breakfast, Hermione dragged Harry behind her by the hand. "Ron," she said getting his attention, "We came to apologize and tell you, you were right."

"What?" Ron asked and then spotted them holding hands. "Blimey!"

"We didn't know how we were going to tell you and when you found us this morning, we panicked. Isn't that right, Harry?" Hermione gave Harry's arm a gentle tug.

"Uh, yeah. Right, Hermione."

"You didn't have to hide it from me," Ron said offended.

"We just didn't want you to find out that way."

"Alright then," Ron said. "Sit down, you must be hungry."

"So you're okay with it?" Harry asked astonished.

"I didn't say that exactly. It will take some getting used to."

"We understand, Ron," Hermione said sympathetically as she took a seat next to Harry. She made a plate for herself and began eating.

The breakfast continued with Harry and Ron talking about the upcoming Quidditch match tomorrow and Hermione silently thinking. When she finished, she rose from the bench. "Well, I'm heading off." She bent down and kissed Harry on the cheek and his face turned beet red. "I'll see you later."

"See ya," Harry said still blushing madly.

"You really do like her, mate," Ron said.

Do I? Harry thought to himself as he watched Hermione walk out of the great Hall.

Author's Note- Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic so far and I've been working pretty hard on it with some help from my friend Amanda-who I must give credit for the title and help with editing. Keep reading and reviewing! The chapters are starting to get a bit longer as I get used to where I have to cut them off. So review! CC Lovegood