The Sixth Visitor: Yellow

Hermione was still fuming over the horrible last visitor. She didn't feel like seeing any more Rons, but she didn't feel like going to sleep, either. But suddenly she noticed a yellow light appear through the curtain. She hadn't even heard him open the door. She could barely hear him tiptoe across the room. The only way she could tell he was coming closer was that the light was getting brighter. Soon she was sure he was just outside the curtain. She anxiously waited to see what the yellow one had in store. And she waited for a few moments, but he just stood there.

"Ron?" she whispered.

She heard a faint whimper then a shaky voice said, "H-h-hermione? Can I c-come in?"

"Sure!" she said.

He started to fumble with the curtains then peeked his head in. She noticed the terrified look on his face. She smiled at him. Then he quickly came in and closed the curtain. He still looked nervous.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"It was soooo scary walking from Gryffindor tower to the hospital wing. It was so dark, and I was so afraid we'd get caught."

"We?"

"I made Greeny come with me because I couldn't come all by myself. He's waiting outside the visitor door. I don't know how he can just be there all by himself…"

"Yeah... So, which trait of Ron are you?" Hermione already had a good sense of the trait of this Ron already, but she wanted to ask anyway.

"I'm Ron's shy, cowardly trait. I'm the one who makes him so nervous at during Quidditch games that he screws up. I'm the one who makes him so afraid of the Forbidden Forest. I'm the one who makes him so afraid of…. SPIDER!"

Eyes wide with terror, he jumped backward, pointing at a small spider crawling on the corner of Hermione's bedside table. "Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!"

"Ron, it's just a spider - "

"Kill it!"

"It's not going to hurt you!"

"KILL IT!"

Rolling her eyes and making one of her patented exasperated faces, Hermione rolled over in her bed and gently coaxed the spider onto her hand.

"Ewwww! Don't touch it!" squealed Ron.

Hermione got out of bed and walked past Ron, who cowered away from the spider in her hand. She walked across the wing and set the spider down on a window ledge far away from her bed. Then she returned.

Ron was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, bewildered by his wide eyes.

"You are so brave, Hermione," he said in awe.

"It's just a spider! You don't have to be afraid of it!"

"I can't help it! Ever since Fred and George…" he shuddered to think about the incident.

Hermione was curious to learn about Ron's other fears and insecurities. "So, can you tell me more about yourself? Like, why are you so nervous during Quidditch?"

"I don't know, just the pressure I guess. Hundreds of eyes watching me… What if I miss the quaffle? What if I make a total idiot of myself? I'm so stupid and clumsy…"

"Ron, you know you're really good! You're a great keeper! I've seen you before at practice!"

The yellow specter suddenly looked horrified. "You – you saw me at practice? Oh God!"

Hermione was concerned that he was so scared. "Ron, it's okay! You were good!" She reached out and patted his hand consolingly.

But Ron snatched his hand away in terror. Hermione was taken aback.

"That's another thing, Hermione! I'm afraid of you! You and your – your – girl cooties!"

Hermione burst out laughing. "My cooties?"

"Yes! Your cooties! But I like you so much! But I've always been afraid to tell you, in case you blow me off because you hate me!"

"Ron! I don't hate you! You are my best friend! Besides, I – er…actually… I like you too!"

The yellow Ron looked thunderstruck. He stared at her, then stammered, "You- you like me too?"

Hermione felt slightly embarrassed. "Yes, I really do."

Ron stared for another moment, then slowly smiled blissfully. "Oh, Hermione…"

As they looked into each other's eyes, Hermione noticed something changing about the yellow ghost. He had just been a bright yellow light, but he had suddenly started to fade. Ron noticed too. He held out his arms and watched, wide-eyed, as his hands fade to a fainter yellow. When the fading stopped, he was much more see-through than before. Hermione realized she had just made Ron less shy and cowardly when she told him she liked him!

"Oh my God…" Ron breathed. "You're killing me!"

"What? No!"

"I'm dying! AAHHHH!"

And before she could stop him, he raced through the curtains and across the hospital wing. Still yelling, he wrenched open the door and ran off back to the Gryffindor tower.