Oo…I actually got to go back to school today! But that doesn't matter! I'm writing yet again during school. This chapter, believe it or not, is actually three pages long! Yay! I'm getting better at this writing longer chapters thing!

The Sensation of Shame:

Hermione didn't know what day it was. She didn't even know if it was daytime or night. The darkness of her cell had consumed her, and she lay there, not knowing when she would be let out.

Or if she ever would be.

(&)

Ron trudged down the corridor, seemingly unaware of the people staring at him, whispering behind his back. Now he knew how Harry felt.

But he did notice. He listened to them whisper,

'He's the reason she disappeared!'

'Shhh! He's coming this way! Remember, he's the reason she was taken!'

Ron glanced at a couple of first years who were just standing there, staring straight at him. The first years whispered between themselves, and when they noticed Ron was looking at them, they only glared and walked away.

What had he done? Everyone knew she deserved it! Still, he couldn't avoid feeling horrible for her, captured by the death eaters and all.

She used to be his best friend. He missed her.

(&)

Ginny could tell Ron was feeling guilty. She noticed the way he was slumped in his seat at breakfast and trudged through the hallways like something was pulling him down.

Had he just now realized how terribly he had hurt Hermione? Ron was her brother, and she could read him like a book.

He and Hermione had a special connection. Everyone knew; it's just that they didn't.

(&)

By dusk, Harry, Ron, and Ginny had had enough of the people whispering and pointing, asking questions they had no idea how to answer.

They had recently received a message from Professor McGonagall: she wanted to meet with them again, to talk about how far the Order had gotten.

"Everyone, please be seated!" Yelled the voice of Headmistress McGonagall over the loud talk in her office. Everyone in the Order immediately sat in their designated seats, including Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

"Let us begin."

"Ron, you bloody prat! How could you say such things! Mum's been crying ever since she got that letter from McGonagall!"

"Fred! I have not been crying! All the time…" said Mrs. Weasley, breaking into wails of sorrow and despair, that her son who she had raised so well, would say something so horrible as that.

"I did not mean that, I meant we should discuss how far we have gotten into finding Miss Granger." At this, Mrs. Granger broke into sobs, with her husband at her side, comforting her.

"I'm sorry about your loss. But I assure you, we will do our best to find her," spoke up Mr. Weasley.

"Thank you for your condolences." Said Mrs. Granger quietly.

"Now; how's the search been going?"

"Well, we know for sure they've probably not taken her to exactly where You-Know-Who is, so maybe one of the death eaters homes?"

"Try the Malfoys," suggested Harry.

"Do they even have dungeons?" asked Ginny, appalled.

"Yeah, I bet they do, and they seem the most likely: after all, Hermione was dating Malfoy before they both disappeared."

"They were not dating!"

"Oh, yes they were!" interrupted Ron. "I mean, why else would she be bloody feeding him every morning at breakfast? It was disgusting!" Ginny fumed at him, got up, and slapped him, hard on his left cheek.

"How thick can you be?" Ginny wailed, running from the room.

"Ron, I think you've just upset our little sister." Said George, melancholy.

"Yes, I believe you have. Sheesh, next time you do something like that to upset a girl, we're gonna tear you bloody limbs off, and cut out your tongue!"

"Boys! Ronald Weasley, I am ashamed of you. This is not how we raised you, to act like a barbarian!"

"Yeah, Ronikins! Don't act like a git all the time!"

"Hey, maybe he's not acting! Maybe he really is one!"

"Boys! Do not torment your brother! I have a feeling he has already realized what he has done."

"Yeah, we can see the deepest remorse in his eyes, as he mourns for his one true love!" chanted Fred and George.

Ron turned redder and redder with every rant of Hermione being 'his one true love'.

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!" he screamed, running out of the office, just like his sister before him.

There was silence, and then…

"Hey, he didn't say she wasn't his one true love."

"Wow…that was just a joke."