Cariluv, just because you asked so nicely, I'll post the next chapter now, rather then late. Now that I'm close to where the story is at Checkmated, the updates will be less frequent over here though. I'm going to post all new material there first, because I get on average 2- 5 reviews here per chapter whereas I get 100 per chapter over there.

Chapter 43

"Hermione?" Ginny called out softly, as she walked down the aisle between the book stacks in the Library searching for her friend. "Are you in here?" she asked, but received no answer. "Hermione?" she called a little louder. It was early morning after all and classes were set to start soon, which meant the room was pretty much deserted. Even Madam Pince was absent.

Probably down at breakfast, she thought, explaining away the Librarian's lack of attendance as she moved out of the stacks to check the more secluded tables located in the back of the Library. "There you are," Ginny said, when she spotted the bushy head buried behind a small mountain of books. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing?" Hermione snapped, slamming the book she'd been skimming closed with a sigh of exasperation. There's nothing about bonding rituals in this one either, she thought, as she heaved the useless tome into the pile to her left and selected a new one from the stack on her right.

"It looks like you're trying to read your way through the Library before classes start," Ginny shot back, eyeing the huge stack of books scattered across the desk. "How long have you been down here?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied, as she flipped through the text in front of her. "What time is it now?"

"Half past eight," Ginny said, glancing down at her watch and missing the startled expression on her friend's face. "You missed breakfast, you know? Ron was worried. Not that he'd admit it. He did ask me to look for you in here though. Don't know why he didn't just do it himself. Did you two have a fight or something?"

"No," her brother answered from behind her, as he emerged from the stacks. "There was just somewhere else I thought I'd look first."

"Was Harry at breakfast," Hermione asked, abandoning her pile of books and rising to her feet.

"Nope," Ron replied, as Hermione approached him. "He must have gone down early," he continued, "because he wasn't in our room when I woke up."

"I was in the Common Room until six. I never saw him," Hermione replied.

"Until six?" Ginny asked, "Meaning you were up before that?"

"You did go to bed, didn't you?" Ron asked.

"Of course I did," Hermione replied. Not that I got much sleep. If only I could ask Ginny about this bonding ritual rubbish without rousing her suspicions. Damned Weasley tenacity. She's just like her brother. Once she gets it in her head that she wants to know something, she's relentless. If I ask her about the Lànain, I'll have to tell her about the potion, and then she'll want to protect Harry, and Ron will go ballistic. Guess I'm just going to have to figure this out on my own.

"We should probably get going, or we're liable to be late." Ginny said, studying to pair closely as she spoke. There was more going on than what she saw on the surface and she knew it. The problem was that her brother and his girlfriend were so astute at reading each other, they could practically communicate without speaking when they wanted to. All they were doing was looking at one another, but that look carried a message Ginny couldn't decipher and she found it highly annoying.

"Right," Ron agreed, grabbing a hold of Hermione's hand as they followed Ginny through the stacks and holding her back just enough to ensure his sister was out of ear shot.

"You aren't going to find what you're looking for in here," he whispered, as they approached the door together. "What you want is most likely in there," he added, nodding his head towards the Restricted Section. "And I doubt Madam Pince will just hand something like that over, not even to you."

DAMN IT! Hermione swore to herself, when she realized that he was right.

"So I guess you're just going to have to take my word on it."

"Oh, I believe you," she whispered back. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to research it anyway."

"Planning to sneak into the restricted section, are you?"

"No," Hermione replied, as a new idea popped into her head. I'll just pay the Room of Requirement a little visit.

....................

As the trio entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the first thing Ginny noticed was that Harry was already seated in the back row. This struck her as odd, not just because he actually showed up for class, but because he normally sat up front. The fact that he'd gone out of his way to sit by himself, as far away from his normal spot as possible, said far more about his state of mind than his crossed arms and silent stare. Obviously he wasn't ready to forgive them yet.

Stubborn prat, she thought with a sigh, as she flopped down in her seat and turned her back to him. Go ahead and be that way then.

Her brother evidently agreed with her, because he didn't even bother to look at Harry as he slid into the seat beside her. His eyes were glued on Hermione, who oddly enough remained standing.

Ginny watched Hermione glanced up at Harry briefly before locking her eyes on Ron once more. That's when she realized they were doing that silent communication thing again, only this time she noticed the subtle way her brother cocked his head in Harry's direction and realized what he wanted. Hermione obviously got the message as well, because she dipped her head once in agreement, gave Ginny a quick smile, then pushed past them both, moved towards the back of the room, and sat down next to Harry.

........................

"All right, I think that's enough practice," Tonks said loudly, making sure all of the students that were dispersed across the D.A.D.A. classroom conjuring patroni could hear her. "You all seem to have a fairly good handle on it now," she added, motioning for them to join her next to the suitcase she'd just levitated into the center of the room. "Let's see how well you lot do against something that will fight back. Who wants to go first?" she asked, taking in the startled expressions on most of her students' faces. "Anyone? Oh come on, where's that infamous Gryffindor courage?"

"I'll do it," Harry said, taking a step forward and separating himself from the rest of the group.

"Not exactly going to be much of a challenge for you now, is it?" Tonks replied, as she stepped behind the suitcase and held up her wand. "But I suppose it might be good for them to see how it works on something that's moving. Pay close attention, you lot," she instructed, as she brandished her wand at the suitcase and the lock keeping it closed fell to the ground, "because each and every one of you is going to have a go before we're through today. Ready?" she asked Harry, who was now standing directly in front of the rattling piece of luggage.

"Yup," he replied, fixing his eyes on the lid and holding his wand out in front of himself with a steady hand.

"Do try and remember that it's not the real thing, won't you, Potter?" Tonks added with a smirk, while she crouched down and grasped the lid. "I don't have time to traipse all over the castle hunting for another Boggart if you dispatch this one," she said, just before she flung the lid back.

The temperature in the room immediately dropped a good ten degrees as a huge figure covered head to toe in billowing black robes rose up out of the suitcase and hovered in the air before them. The only noise that could be heard in the room, other than very audible gasp that came from Lavender Brown, was the raspy sucking sounds the Dementor was making.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry cried, when a slimy looking hand covered in scabby grayish skin slipped out of its robes and reached out for him. The instant the incantation left Harry's mouth, an enormous silver stag shot out of the tip of his wand, but rather than advance, it simply lowered it's head, pointed it's antlers at the creature in warning, a stood it's ground.

"It's as easy as that," Tonks said encouragingly. "So, who's next? What about you, Hermione?"

"Me?" Hermione moaned, unconsciously shrinking back and stepping on Neville's foot in the process. "No...I ... I can't."

"Just focus on your happy thought," Tonks instructed.

"I can't," Hermione said again, staring at the hovering form with trepidation. "That's the problem," she added, knowing that she didn't have to explain herself any further, because her professor already knew why she was distracted.

"If you can't hold on to your happy thought when faced with a Boggart, you'll never be able to do it with a real Dementor," Tonks replied. "I know it's not easy, but you have to put your fear aside."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can," Ron said, nudging Neville out of the way and stepping up beside her. "You can do this."

"No, I can't," she whispered. "I don't want to see it again."

"As long as Harry stays where he is, the Boggart will react to him," Tonks reminded her.

"I'm right here," Ron said, placing one hand on her shoulder and giving her a light shove. "All you have to do is turn around and I'll be right here," he continued in a whisper, as he followed her into the center of the room.

"Harry, move to the side just a bit," Tonks instructed, "and get rid of your stag. As long as it has a clear path, it'll go for Hermione."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked Tonks, stepping to the side, but making sure that his patronus remained between Hermione and the Boggart-Dementor. "Hermione?" he asked, his striking green eyes seeking out hers for a sign of reassurance.

"Just... give me a second," Hermione replied, closing her eyes and concentrating on the memory she'd been using to conjure her own patronus.

She was kneeling on the floor in Ron's bedroom. The room was pitch black, but it didn't matter. She'd just escaped. She was safe. She was in his arms and everything was going to be ok. Ron's hands were intertwined with hers and she finally found the courage she needed to tell him her deepest secret. When she started to ramble on about it, he told her to shut up and then he kissed her.

"All right," Hermione said, pulling her wand up in front of herself as she tried to remember exactly how she'd felt when he pulled away and whispered, 'I love you too.'

Harry studied Hermione closely for a moment, obviously still concerned, then turned his gaze to Tonks, who simply nodded. He glanced at Hermione one last time, then lowered his wand with a sigh, and watched as his shimmering stag vanished.

The hooded figure hovering over the suitcase turned its head and seemed to consider Harry for a moment, but when he made no move to intercede, it disregarded him and refocused its attention on Hermione. She was the one that was afraid. She was the one it wanted.

"Expecto....Expecto Patronum!" she shouted, when the vile creature started gliding towards her.

A silver wisp of smoke shot from the tip of her wand, but the spell didn't work properly. The silver otter she'd been able to conjure since Harry taught her how in their D.A. meetings had abandoned her.

"No," Hermione moaned, closing her eyes and stumbling backwards as the Dementor bore down on her. She collided with Ron, who was still standing behind her, at the exact same moment the loud cracking sound resonated around the room. "No. Please," she whimpered, spinning around, latching on to Ron's robes, and burying her face in his shoulder.

"HARRY LOOK OUT!" a familiar voice screamed behind her.

"No. No, it's not real," she mumbled into Ron's shoulder, her eyes shut tightly in an effort to block out the ominous green light that momentarily lit up the room.

Parvati gasped and Lavender covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a cry when the Boggart Ron fell to the ground in a lifeless heap.

"Ron?" Hermione moaned, when she felt his arm wrap around her shoulder and he pull her closer.

"Don't look," he replied, averting his own eyes while the rest of the class gaped down at the Boggart in horror. Without even thinking about it, his eyes landed on Harry, who appeared to be just as horrified as everyone else.

Harry didn't move. He didn't speak. He just stood there, frozen in place like everyone else, unable to do anything but stare down at his best friend's lifeless corpse with wide eyes. It wasn't until Hermione started to sob that the spell holding him in place was broken.

Harry's head immediately snapped up and locked on his friends, who were still standing together in the center of the room.

"Why don't you take her outside," Tonks said softly to Ron, as she came up behind him. "Help her calm down. Not you," she said to Harry, when the two boys exchanged a look and both started moving towards the door. "You stay here. Ron can handle it."

"To hell with that."

"I need you here," Tonks insisted.

"And she needs me out there," he shot back angrily.

"No, it's all right. I'm all right," Hermione protested, as Ron steered her closer to the door. "Stop shoving me," she said louder, wiping her eyes. "I don't need to leave. I said I was fine."

"You are not fine," Ron leaned forward and whispered, just as Tonks addressed the class.

"Well who's next?" she asked loudly, drawing the attention of most of the students' back on herself. "What about you, Finnigan?"

"Um...."

"I'll do it," Ginny piped in, hurrying forward and latching on to Harry's arm before he could follow Ron and Hermione into the hall. "Let Ron talk to her," she whispered as she dragged him back towards the center of the room. "He knows how to deal with her when she gets like this."

....................

"For someone who claimed to be fine, you've got a mighty firm grip," Ron whispered to Hermione, who had her arms wrapped around his back and was hugging him tightly.

"Shut up," she groaned against his chest.

"Someone might see us," Ron informed her. They were standing in the hallway after all. Anyone that rounded the corner or ducked out of class was bound to notice the two of them locked in an embrace.

"I don't care."

"I don't really care either, but you're going to cut off my circulation if you don't ease up a bit."

"Prat," Hermione groaned, but she did loosen her grip a little.

"It's Friday," Ron said unexpectedly.

"I'm not so traumatized that I've forgotten the days of the week."

"We don't have classes tomorrow."

"And your point is?"

"We don't have to get up early, which means you can...uh... sleep with me. I think you should."

"All right," Hermione agreed, keeping her eyes closed and her ear pressed against his chest so she could listen to his heartbeat.

"Just like that?" Ron asked, taking a step back and looking down at her in astonishment. "You're not even going to try and argue with me about it first?"

Rather than speak, she simply looked up at him and shook her head.

"She shouldn't have made you do that," Ron snapped, closing his arms around her shoulders and pulling her back against him. "You said you couldn't do it. She should have listened. I should have listened. I'm sorry."

"What would yours be?"

"Huh? My patronus?" Ron asked uncertainly. "You've seen it, it's a ..."

"No," Hermione cut him off. "You're Boggart."

"Er... you've seen that too," he replied. "It's a great hairy spider, remember?"

"You were thirteen then," she reminded him. "What would it be now?"

"The same thing."

"You made sure that I stayed between you and the Boggart, even after it... turned into you. It wasn't a spider you were afraid of. It was something else. Something you didn't want me to see."

"You don't...really want to know," he replied faintly.

"I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't want to know."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Is it me?"

"Hermione, please..."

"Is that why you're so willing to take the potion, even though you know it'll ...you know that we'll be...

I'm not going to let those bastards hurt you, he thought, just before he answered her. "That's not the only reason," he replied with a sigh.

"All right," Hermione said, pulling her head off his chest and looking him in the eye. "I'll do it."

"What?" Ron asked, his mouth falling open in shock as he realized what she was agreeing to. "No. Not like this."

"I don't want anything to happen to you either."

"NO!" he said again, releasing her and stepping away. "This isn't you," he said, unwilling to let her make a decision now, only to have her regret it later. "You're just scared right now, that's all. Once you've calm down, things will be different and..."

"You said that it didn't have to be real," Hermione said, studying his face closely as she spoke. "You said when the war was over, we could just let the bond dissolve and no one else need ever know about it. But that isn't what you want?" she asked, noting the pained expression he tried to hide by diverting his eyes to the ground. "Is it?"

"Is it?" she repeated, when he didn't reply. "Ron?"

Ron brought his head back up with a sigh, but refused to meet her gaze. "If it's what you want," he said to the wall just behind her shoulder.

"I want to know what you want," Hermione replied, as Ron continued to dart his eyes around searching for something to focus on other than her. "What do you want, Ron?"

"I... I want you to be... to be..."

"What?" she pressed. "Happy? Safe? You want me to be what?"

Mine, he thought, but he wasn't about to say it out loud.

"You want it to be real, don't you? Don't you?" she repeated even louder. "Just say it. Admit that I'm..."

"ALL RIGHT!" he cried, just to shut her up. "You're right. You're always bloody right. Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now?"

"This is insane," she muttered to herself, but Ron obviously heard her, because his head immediately fell in resignation.

"We're too young," she continued. "We have two years of school left, and then we have to find jobs, and a place to live, and ... I don't care."

"What?" Ron nearly shouted, his head snapping back up in surprise.

"I don't care," Hermione repeated. "I don't care about any of that, because you're right, I am happy and..."

"You mean...you want it to be...to be...?" he stammered, his entire face lighting up.

"I want it to be real too."

"Really?"

"But you're going to have to ask me first."

"WHAT!" he cried again, this time in horror.

"You didn't ask me to be your girlfriend, but you are going to ask me this."

"I already did," he protested.

"Not properly."

"What do you mean properly? What do you want me to do, get down on my bloody knee?"

"Just the words will suffice."

"Hermione!" he moaned.

"Ask me."

"No."

"DO IT!"

"I'm not doing that in a bloody hallway." I'm not doing it at all.

"I won't do it unless you ask me properly."

"I think you will."

"I will not, you smug prat."

"Will."

"Not."

"We'll see."

"Ron," Hermione whined, switching tactics and launching herself at him. "Please," she whispered, as her arms snaked around his neck and she came up on her toes to kiss him. "I want to hear you say it," she pleaded. "It's only four little words," she added, kissing him again. "Just say them for me."

"Not here. Not like this," he protested.

I fell for that once, she thought. I'm not falling for it again. "Please," she said again, stepping back and beseeching him with her eyes.

"Hermione," Ron sighed, glancing down the empty hallway and then back at her. DAMN IT! "Will you...uh..." OH HELL. As long as you're doing it, you may as well do it right. Go on, make a bloody pillock out of yourself. "I love you," he said, reaching down and taking her hands in his. "I want to spend the rest of my life taking care of you. Will you please ...Will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

"Yes," she cried, not even bothering to wipe away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks before she crushed her lips against his. "Yes. Yes. Yes," she repeated, between kisses.

"I'll understand if you change your mind later."

Way to ruin the mood, idiot, the little voice inside his head berated, when Hermione pulled away and shot him an indecisive look.

"I won't."

"But if you do.... I mean you haven't really had all that much time to think about it and..."

"Stop it," she insisted, "or you're going to ruin it."

"I'm not trying to. I just... I want you to..."

"I know what you're doing," Hermione replied, a little harsher than she meant to, "and I know why. Just stop. You don't have to worry. I'm not going to change my mind. I said yes, because I love you and I want this. I thought about it all last night, but that wasn't the first time. I've thought about it before. I thought about it when I was locked up in that cell and last year when we were in the hospital wing. You were lying there asleep, with that goop spread all over your arms, and I realized that I could barely remember what it was like before you were part of my life. It was like... I didn't really even start to live until I got here. I don't know what I want to do after we graduate. There are so many different options to choose from and I'm just not sure yet. I am sure about one thing though, and that's you. I can't imagine my life without you, Ron. I don't want to. You're part of me. You're in my heart; you're in my soul and we haven't even taken the potion yet. I'm not naive. I know this is crazy. I know that my parents will never understand and that yours will probably kill us both, but I don't care. As long as I have you, it doesn't matter. None of it matters."

"It's going to be brutal," Ron said with a shudder. "When Mum finds out. She'll go stark raving mad. She'll probably try and make us... you know..."

"Sever the bond?" she finished for him.

"Yeah."

"That's not her choice to make."

"Bloody hell, Hermione," Ron groaned. "Whatever you do, don't tell her that."

"You won't let her force you into it, will you?" she asked, suddenly feeling vulnerable.

"No!" he said adamantly. "I'll be of age in March. She can't force me to do anything after that. Not that it'll stop her from trying, but legally she can't."

"I don't want her to think badly of me," Hermione admitted, leaning against him and resting her head on his shoulder. "This whole plan was my idea. What if she thinks I tricked you into it?"

"Don't worry about that, love," Ron chuckled. "I'm the one that will bear the brunt of her...eh... attack. And like you said, it's not really her decision to make."

"Er... sorry," Ginny said, as she popped her head outside the door of the D.A.D.A.'s classroom and spotted them standing together with their arms around one another. "Didn't mean to interrupt, but just so you know, class is about to end and..."

Before she had a chance to say anything else, Harry shoved her into the hallway and followed after, making sure he closed the door behind himself. He glanced at Hermione briefly and then at Ron, who immediately removed his arm from around her shoulder and took a small step backward. "All right, Hermione?" Harry asked, focusing his attention on her once more.

"Yes," she replied with a smile, reaching down and grasping Ron's hand.

Harry's eyes darted over and locked on Ron again as he waited to see how he would react. He watched as his friend's face flooded with color, but despite the fact he was uncomfortable, Ron didn't let go.

"OW!" Harry cried, when Ginny elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a pointed look. "Look, I'm...er... sorry," he said quickly, looking down at the ground.

"It wasn't your fault, Harry," Hermione replied, releasing Ron's hand and taking a step towards him. "I just couldn't concentrate on my happy thought. Not when I knew what that thing was going to become."

"Er...," Harry muttered uncomfortably. "That's not exactly what I meant," he added, looking directly at Ron.

"Oh," Hermione replied, glancing over at Ron herself in order to gauge his reaction.

"It's all right," Ron replied rather stiffly. "Hermione is probably going to sleep in our dorm tonight," he added impassively. "Unless you have a problem with that, in which case we'll stay down in the Common Room."

"No, it's ok," Harry replied, shifting his eyes to the floor and shuffling a little. "Just... um... make sure I can't hear anything."

"Do you honestly think she'd snog him in the middle of the your dorm with all of you in there?" Ginny asked with a smirk. "This is Hermione we're talking about, not one of her roommates," she added, glaring at Parvati and Lavender as they exited the D.A.D.A. classroom, followed by Seamus and Neville.

"That was awful," Parvati said, as she came up beside them and gave Hermione a sympathetic look. "You lucky you didn't have to do it," she said to Ron.

"It was sweet of you to come out here and keep Hermione company," Lavender piped in, as she slid up beside her friend and locked her eyes on Ron "You're a really good friend."

"You knew what that Boggart was going to become," Seamus said, glancing at Ron and then Hermione. "Didn't you?"

"Oh, I ...er..." Hermione stammered. "I sorta had a run in with one over the summer."

"In that Government run Safe House," Ron muttered. He hadn't been able to protect Hermione from the Boggart, but he was bound and determined to protect her from Seamus, who obviously wanted to be shirty.

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione scolded.

"He's the one that believes everything he reads."

"So where did you stay then?" Lavender asked.

"With us of course," Ginny answered swiftly.

"Oh," Lavender replied unenthusiastically. "That must have been... nice. Having another girl around, I mean," she amended.

"Nice, yeah," Ginny replied, narrowing her eyes a bit. "I'm starved," she added, looking at Harry and then her brother. "Let's go. I have History of Magic after lunch and there is no way I am going to suffer through that on an empty stomach. What do you lot have next," she asked, as she started shoving Ron down the hallway.

"Potions," he replied, wrinkling his nose up in disgust.

"Rotten luck," Ginny replied.

"Did anyone else do it?" Hermione asked Harry as they followed along behind the pair of redheads.

"Nope. Neville actually came the closest, if you believe that," he said with a chuckle. "But he waited too long. His patronus practically mowed down Snape."

....................

"So," Ginny leaned over and whispered to Hermione as the two of them ate their lunch. "What's with you?"

"Huh?" Hermione replied, so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't really even heard the question.

"You've been smiling for the past 10 minutes," Ginny informed her. "What's that about?"

"Nothing."

"Oh please," the young redhead scoffed. "Something happened while you two were in the hall. Tell me."

"Maybe I'm just happy that Harry has come around and things are better between him and Ron."

"No," Ginny said, studying her friend closely. "That's not it. It's something else. You've been staring off into space since we sat down and you didn't even react to Lavender's snide comment. Why is that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe I ought to ask Ron then," she replied. "He's damn near as bad off as you are. If he doesn't stop staring at you like a daft fool, people are going to notice."

"They'll just think he's worried about me," Hermione said, continuing on with her meal totally unconcerned.

"But he's not," Ginny insisted, "so what gives."

"It's nothing," Hermione replied, despite the fact she was dying to divulge this particular secret. Now that the decision had been made and she knew for certain it was what Ron wanted, she was so happy about it, she was practically giddy. If only I could tell you, she thought, both disappointed and a little frustrated. "He just... he made it official, all right?" she finally whispered.

"So he actually asked you to be his girlfriend?" Ginny whispered back with a smile.

"Something like that."

"I don't know what took him so bloody long. What the hell was he waiting for anyway? You've been together for months."

"Shush!" Hermione hissed.

"You're not still keeping it a secret are you?" Ginny asked quietly.

"No... well, yes, I suppose," Hermione replied, "but just until we're sure Harry is really ok with it. When people find out, they'll start asking Harry questions, and I don't want them putting him on the spot and making him uncomfortable. Not yet. I think it would be better if we held off and let him get used to the situation first."

"I see your point," Ginny whispered. "So how long do you think that will be?"

"I have no idea," Hermione admitted with a sigh. "I guess I should probably tell Ron, shouldn't I? Do me a favor Gin and distract Harry for a minute."

"All right," she replied, turning away from Hermione and focusing her attention on the young man sitting directly across from her. "Oy Harry," she said, effectively drawing his attention. "Can I ask you a favor? Quidditch tryouts are tomorrow," she continued, before he even had a chance to reply, "and Ron and I are going down to the pitch to practice this afternoon. Everyone that's planning on trying out will probably be down there," she said, lowering her voice and glancing down the table. "So...uh... I was wondering, if you're not doing anything else, if maybe you'd come with us and sorta scope out the competition for me and then maybe let me know what you think my chances are, honestly."

"Yeah, ok." Harry replied. "As long as Ron is ok with it."

"Ok with what?" Ron asked, as Hermione resumed eating her lunch.

"Harry coming down to the pitch with us this afternoon."

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

"Then it's all set," Ginny said happily. "Thanks, Harry. I really appreciate it."

"Appreciate what?" her brother piped in.

"Never mind."

"No, what?"

"It's not a big deal."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

"Oh for heaven sakes, will you just drop it."

"Not until one of you tells me."