"Oy!"
Hermione looked up. It was Ron, striding towards her with a thoroughly unhappy look on his face. Straightening up and closing Transformations and Tribulations, Hermione put on her best "Who, me?" face and said sweetly, "Yes, Ron?"
"Where were you last night, Hermione? I waited around in the common room forever, and when you didn't come down, I tried to come and get you, but" Ron gestured to the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories, "the damned thing wouldn't let me up! Why didn't you come?"
Hermione's face fell. "Oh, Ron, I'm so sorry! I must've fallen asleep and I completely forgot you had something to show me. I- is there any way I can make it up to you?"
Ron sighed. He should've known this would happen. "Fine. I can show you next month, but please try to remember this time, will you? I really want you to see this. It's important to me, alright?"
"I won't forget, Ron, I promise." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't questioned her story— but how long would he be satisfied with her feeble excuses and half-lies? He was so gullible, but that wouldn't last… She could only hope that he would never find out what she had really been doing. As her red-headed boyfriend walked away from her, Hermione felt a pang of guilt and regret— guilt for what she was doing to him, and regret for what could have been.
As Ron stormed up to his dormitory, he went over what had been said in his mind. Something had been just a little off in what she had told him, and yet he could not quite put his finger on it. Maybe it was the way her eyes had seemed to shift ever so slightly from side to side as she told him that she had fallen asleep, or maybe it was the fact that she had forgotten him. The old Hermione had never forgotten anything like this, especially not anything to do with her best friends— or her boyfriend. Ron just couldn't understand the new Hermione, and he was beginning to think he never would. He could still love her without understanding her, couldn't he?
Flinging himself onto his bed, Ron took out a quill and parchment and began to write an essay that had been assigned the day before. It wasn't due for another week, but having Hermione as a girlfriend had caused him to develop new habits in a way that being best friends with her never had. N.E.W.T.s were coming up, and Harry and Ron were going all out to improve in the subjects they would need to become Aurors.
Ron sighed exasperatedly and rolled the parchment up again. He couldn't concentrate, not with all the things that were going on. He wasn't as gullible as Hermione thought he was, and he knew something was up. When they had first started going out at the beginning of the year, Hermione had seemed to be just as much in love with him as he was with her— but then it all changed. It had been gradual, but Hermione had seemed to just slip away from him, and became more and more inscrutable. These days she didn't even seem to want to touch Ron anymore, and when he kissed her it seemed like something she was putting up with rather than enjoying. She often disappeared for an entire evening without explanation, saying later that she had been in the library, or asleep. Ron didn't know what was going on, but he did know that all he wanted was his Hermione back, like she was before.
Hermione walked up the stairs to her own dormitory, thinking hard. She felt so guilty for what she was putting Ron through, but the cold truth remained: she just didn't love him. She liked him a lot, and he was one of her best friends, but the feeling just wasn't there anymore. Hermione couldn't pinpoint exactly when it had slipped away, or why. She would have broken up with him months ago, but she just felt too sorry for him. It would break his heart to lose her, he had said that many times. If they broke up, Hermione wasn't sure whether he would ever be able to forgive her, and their friendship would probably be ruined. She didn't want to put either of them through that. Ron didn't deserve that. He was so sweet to her…
Deep in thought, Hermione didn't notice the stairs turn to a stone slide beneath her feet. With a shriek, she toppled backwards and slid headfirst back down, nearly colliding with Ron, who had clearly forgotten about the staircase's defense mechanism again. Swearing colorfully, they both got up and righted themselves.
"I was just coming to get you for lunch," Ron said bashfully. "Are you coming?"
"Oh!" said Hermione. "I didn't realize it was time. I'll be down in a minute or two. I just have to do something first…" And muttering vaguely, she dashed back up the newly restored stairs.
Staring after her, Ron shouted, "Well, I'll just wait here then, shall I?" He didn't want her to pull a disappearing act again. As he leaned against the wall, he sighed disappointedly. He wished that boys could go into the girl's dormitories. It didn't seem fair that only the girls could go wherever they pleased in Gryffindor tower. Ron wanted to know what their dormitories looked like— if only to fuel his already overactive imagination. He was willing to bet that the girls' rooms were nicer than the boys'— and there was probably underwear all over the girls' dorms. And the girls probably didn't bother wearing their clothes all the time, since the boys couldn't get in… Ron felt himself go hard envisioning all this, and quickly thought of the most revolting things possible, finally managing to solve the problem just as Hermione came down the stairs again.
Blushing, he asked, "Ready?" Hermione shook her head.
"I'm not hungry," she said. "I think I'll take a little walk by myself around the grounds." And she left, leaving Ron looking unhappily after her.