A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long! I'm a very busy girl, and I tend to forget about this. I deleted my other story 'Reaching for Love' because I just didn't like it all that much, and I really, really want to focus on this one.

The POV, has once again, switched to Ron.

And sorry if my writing in this chapter seems a bit. . .simple. Most of it is made up of dialogue, and I have trouble not rushing conversations.

Secrets

Chapter IV: Conversations

I hear the gargoyle of the common room opening and see Harry and Hermione step through it and approach me. They join me at the work table I'm sitting at and start to take out their books and other school materials. They were supposed to have been here about twenty minutes ago. We agreed to meet each other here to do homework. Lately the three of us hardly ever get to spend any time together. We're always doing our own thing. Hermione, in particular, is always busy.

Sometimes I think she's avoiding me on purpose.

"Hi Ron," she says, with what sounds like a false happy tone.

Harry greets me too and I notice that he also has the same fake note of happiness in his voice. They probably got into another argument. Lately Harry and Hermione have been really tense during the little time they spend around each other. It started after Hermione's birthday. Sometimes when they're speaking to each other it seems like one or the other wants to scream at the other and tell them to drop it. Drop what exactly, I don't know. I'm not sure I want to, either.

"Where were you two?" I ask, examining them more closely. They both look out of breath. Like they're been running or something. They're a little sweaty, too. Wonder what they--

Oh. . .gross. I feel confusion sinking into me immediately. Obviously they were making out. . .but then why are they so moody?

"Just walking around the grounds," says Harry dishonestly. "We let the time get the best of us."

"Ah," I say, pretending to believe him. I glance at Hermione who is glaring at Harry as he's not looking. She catches me staring and I give her a questioning look. She shrugs. I raise an eyebrow.

"What?" she snaps, irritated.

I feel slightly taken aback. Although, I'm happy that she obviously did not have a fun time kissing Harry, I can't help but wonder why. I know that she's been feeling guilty lately. Sometimes I'll catch her glancing from me to Harry and sigh. She even puts her head in her arms occasionally. During the evenings now and then she looks like she wants to talk about something serious with me but then she'll think the better of it.

"Nothing," I say defensively. "You just look annoyed."

"Well, I am," she snaps. She gets up from the table, leaving all her belongings behind, and storms off to the dormitory.

I look at Harry, who has his eyes rolled.

"What's wrong with her?" I ask him. "Did you get into a fight?"

"I don't even know what her problem is!" he bursts. "She's been angry with me like this for weeks, and she's got no justification for her feelings! I mean, I've been pretty annoyed with her as well, but at least I have a reason!"

I sit there, surprised and bewildered. What the hell is going on?

"Why are you angry with her?" I ask.

He sighs. "Well, not angry," he tells me. "More like frustrated."

"Why?"

He looks at me for a moment. "I don't think she would appreciate me telling you about our private business," he says.

"Oh," I say, disappointed, but somewhat relieved that I don't have to listen to their love problems.

He repeats his sigh. "But I swear Ron, I have to tell someone."

Great. Part of me really would not like to hear this. But then again, if Hermione is getting hurt and angry because of Harry, I want to hear this. It almost feels like it's my responsibility.

I nod, allowing him to continue.

"She should know that if I would confide in anyone, it'd be you, shouldn't she?" he asks, seeming to struggle with the decision of whether or not to tell me.

"I guess," I say.

"But it's just that for some reason I don't think she'd want you to know, in particular," he continues.

I frown at this. "Why do you think that?"

He shakes his head, his eyes in deep thought. "I don't know. It's just a feeling."

"Well, if you're not sure about whether or not it's such a good idea, then just keep it to yourself for now," I say, making the decision for him, "but I just want to know one thing."

He looks at me expectantly.

"You're not pushing her, are you?" I ask.

He frowns. "Pushing her?"

"You know," I say, "putting pressure on her to. . .do something?"

He stops and thinks at this. "I don't think I am."

"You don't think?" I ask. "Aren't you sure?"

He, again, sighs. "Well, I told her last year that I was ready for the next step and that she was free to let me know when she was. On her birthday I brought it up again, and she told me she still wasn't ready," he tells me. "I haven't brought it up since."

I hesitate a bit, not knowing if I should ask or not. What the hell.

"Is that what's been frustrating you?" I ask in a low voice, looking at the dormitory door.

He nods. "It's just that I don't understand her, Ron," he says desperately. "It's not like we haven't known each other for a long time, it's not like we're children, it's not like I've ever hurt her. She says she trusts me and that she knows I would never mistreat her, and says she still isn't ready for it. I honestly don't think that she does trust me with her. . ."

"She trusts you," I say, looking at the floor. "She loves you."

"She tells me she does, but then why is she still unsure? What do I have to do and how long do I have to wait for her to be ready?" he demands.

I shrug, feeling guilty as a murderer in court. In truth, I can't come up with a good reason either. The whole point of her and I getting ourselves into this situation was so that she could supposedly be ready for Harry.

"Maybe she's scared," I say after a while. But why would she be scared if she trusts him?

"But why would she be scared if she trusts me?" he asks, again making me jump slightly as he voices my thoughts aloud.

"Girls are like that," is the only answer I can come up with.

He shakes his head, seeming annoyed once again. I look down at an essay I've been writing and pretend to proofread it. I feel Harry staring at me, but refuse to look up.

"Ron," he says after a few minutes tick by.

"What?" I ask.

He looks at me without saying anything. He opens his mouth slightly and closes it. He takes a deep breath and says, "Do you think she's in love with someone else?"

I swallow and frown. "No, of course not, Harry." I say. "You can trust her."

He looks down, then glances at me again. "I don't know. She's been acting a little odd ever since the beginning of this year."

"Has she?" I ask, genuinely surprised. I thought she was doing a pretty good job hiding everything. Well, before she got so moody with Harry, anyway.

He nods. "Yeah. She's really jumpy sometimes. Like I'm giving her the third degree or something. Like she's got something to hide."

"Oh," I say, avoiding his gaze, "I haven't noticed."

I turn back to my essay and start where I left off.

"Well, she's been like this for a while," he presses on. "You really haven't noticed?"

I shake my head, scribbling out my last sentence.

He's quiet for a few seconds, and I can tell he's examining me again. I try my best not look nervous.

"What about during the summer?" he asks. "How was she acting?"

"Pretty normal," I answer, dipping my quill in ink. I feel Harry staring at me for what seems hours. I look up at him, and am surprised to see that he looks like I just punched him in the face. I frown. "What's wrong, mate?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing," he says in a hollow tone. He gets up and leaves.

(S)C(E)(N)(E)

After my talk with Harry, I feel slightly bewildered. I'm concerned about his sudden departure. I'm also a little worried about his habit of staring at me like I'm a strange portrait. Whenever he does that, I feel like he knows everything.

I get up from the table and walk into the dormitory. I find Hermione lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. She looks so pretty, and I feel a knot in my stomach tighten and the urge to get closer to her surge through me.

"Are you okay?" I ask, forcing myself to stay put.

She looks at me and smiles slightly. "Sorry for snapping at you," she says sadly. "It wasn't your fault I had a bad day."

I nod. "It's alright." I say, accepting her apology. "What happened, anyway?"

She sighs.

Harry and Hermione do that a lot.

"I just don't know what to do," she says, with the same desperate tone Harry had in his voice. They really are made for each other.

"About what?" I ask, acting clueless. I sit on my bed and look at her. She really does look great with her lips all full and her uniform all messy and her hair all curly. A mental picture of her body on top of mine flashes and another jolt of excitement flows through my body.

I feel sickened by myself. This is very serious. And yet all I can do is think about her and me doing stuff. . .

"I just feel so guilty," she says, in a tone close to tears and her hands over her eyes. "I'm a terrible girlfriend. And I'm a horrible friend for bringing you into this."

I shake my head. "I made my own decision, Hermione. Maybe it was the wrong one, maybe it was the right one, but either way I was the one who chose it, and you have nothing to do with it."

She groans. "If I hadn't made the proposition you wouldn't have had to even make a decision!" she uncovers her eyes and looks at me. "And now I've made you a bad friend, too. You should hate me for that. Really."

I get up and sit on the side of her bed next to her and grab her hand. I let go quickly as more electricity races through me. "Listen," I say firmly, "it was my responsibility. Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do, but if I was such a great friend, I wouldn't have picked the wrong decision."

She looks away from me and sighs again. "I screwed everything up, Ron. I destroyed my relationship with Harry, and I tainted your friendship with him, too." she pauses. "I think I ruined our friendship, as well."

"You and me are fine," I say firmly. "We haven't changed."

She looks at me and examines me. Just like Harry. "Really?" she asks, sounding almost amused that I would say that. "You really think nothing has changed between us?"

"Yes," I lie.

"You're a bad liar, Ronald Weasley," she says, putting her hand on my cheek and turning my head so that I would face her. "Everything's changed. And you know that."

I say nothing to that and decide to turn the subject back to my question. "Why are you so upset today? Is it just the guilt? Because I feel horrible too, Hermione. You can talk to me."

"Well, Harry isn't waiting for you to have sex with him," she says. "'Just the guilt' doesn't even begin to describe how I feel and how complicated everything has gotten."

"So what're you planning on doing?" I ask.

"I don't know," she says miserably.

"Do you want to tell him?" I ask.

"Yes," she responds.

"Are you going to?" I ask, feeling a little panicky.

"No."

"Oh," I say, feeling slightly relieved, yet more like a traitor every second.

"I just can't do it, Ron," she says. "If I sleep with him, I'll feel even worse. It would be betraying him further. It would be one of the biggest lies I could ever make him live."

"So what are you going to tell him?" I ask. "I just talked to him and he's at a complete loss as to what to do."

She gives me a disgusted expression. "He talked to you about our sex life?" she asked disbelievingly. "That's low. Wouldn't he have the sense to know that I don't want someone I spend so much time with to know about what he and I do?"

I raise an eyebrow at her. "First of all, you and Harry don't have a sex life. Second of all, why do you care if I know about what you and Harry do? I think I would know more than any guy out there how you are in or out of bed, considering I'm the guy you've gone with the farthest."

She looks away. "You're right." she says, ashamed. "It's not like I can pretend to be more noble than Harry, anyway."

I turn back to the original question. "What are you going to tell him about all this?"

"I don't want to lose him as a friend, Ron," she says. "But it seems like all the solutions available make me take that risk."

"Like what solutions?" I question.

"Well, I can tell him the truth," she says, "but then he would never speak to me. You neither. Or I can break up with him and risk losing our friendship."

"Break up with him?" I ask incredulously. "I don't understand you, Hermione. You were so sure this was such a good idea when you asked me. Now this is causing you to want a breakup? Then what was the purpose of asking me to do that?"

"I didn't think it would end up like this, Ron." she snaps. "I didn't think this would make me angry with Harry for putting me in this dilemma."

We stay quiet. She sits up and rests her chin on my shoulder. Again with the jolt of electricity. She changes her position and buries her eyes in my shoulder instead. It's times like this that really make me want to just screw everything and do it with her again. But of course I can't do that. I wish she knew how she makes me feel. Doesn't she know this is torture?

I shake my head, not believing this is reality. I can't believe life got this complicated. I don't know what goes through Hermione's head anymore. I'm so fed up.

She raises her head from my body and says, "I have a question for you."

"I have one for you too," I say.

"You go first," she says, huskily.

"So you love Harry?" I ask simply. It wasn't hard to make the words come out. I'm sick of not knowing.

She hesitates. "Like a brother," she answer. "Not the way he loves me."

I nod, taking in this new information. I feel so. . . empty. That just makes life more complicated.

"Ask your question," I tell her.

She hesitates much longer than I did.

"Do you regret it?" she asks.

I know what she's referring to. At this point, I don't have to ask.

"No," is my answer.

She puts her arms around me and buries her head in my shoulder again.

A/N: Please review! Sorry this was short, and sorry if the writing was crappy. I have to improve on writing dialogue.