Hello there...this chapter is one of those which focuses a little more on Draco than in previous chapters, but it is still mainly a RonHermione chapter. I have no other justification for writing about different characters other than I like writing about them :)

I also must take this moment just to apologise for the awful "joke" in the third section of this chapter. If you don't get it I really don't blame you - but if you do get it then yayyyyy! If there is the demand for one I shall attempt to give an explanation of it in the A/N of chapter 9...

Once again: I am JK Rowling and I own all these wonderful Harry Potter related things only in my dreams :(

Well I hope you enjoy...and if you don't, then do not hesitate to let me know...


Draco Malfoy sat on the window ledge in the Astronomy Tower, dangling his legs in the air. It was late; he knew that, but he couldn't tear himself away. Stars twinkled in a velvety sky down below his feet. The grounds of the school were dark and mysterious. A warm breeze drifted over him. Everything is so pretty, he thought. Oh feck I'm turning into a girl.

"Draco?"

"Hmmmm?" He turned his head, "Oh hey Hermione."

"Hi – you don't mind if I sit here do you? I just needed to be somewhere cooler and a little less crazy for a while."

"No, don't worry – here…" he shifted over to give her room to sit.

"Thanks."

Several minutes passed.

"Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"If you thought you loved someone, would you tell them?"

"Er, how d'you mean exactly?"

"Like if – I dunno – say, you love Harry right?"

"Yeah…as a brother…."

"Well would you tell him you love him?"

"Of course – I mean I do tell him anyway, but jokingly – he tends to throw things at me when I say that – pillows, books….once even a gnome when we were at Ron's."

"Oh."

"Are you ok?"

Draco's shoulders had slumped forward and his head hung downwards. He mumbled something inaudible.

"Draco?" asked Hermione, and then more insistently, "Draco!"

The Slytherin boy looked up, his face pale, and Hermione saw tears rolling down his cheeks.

"She…he…they never said…"

"Don't cry…please…" she reached her hand out and touched his shoulder.

"…they never s-said they loved me…" He clambered down and sat on the cold floor.

"Who?"

"Mum…and d-dad"

"I'm sure they do love you deep down, and maybe they just can't express it – not everyone finds that easy."

He shook his head vehemently, sprinkling tears onto the stones.

"Draco, come here," she whispered and wrapped her arms around him, letting him sob into her robes.

Eventually he spoke, "I just wanted them to say it. Just once so I knew and I could be confident that someone loved me…"

He burst into tears again and buried his face in his hands.

"It's ok Draco, it's ok…" she soothed, rubbing his back in a circle pattern, "It's ok, it's ok, it's ok…"


Ginny sighed and opened her eyes. The sun was streaming through her dorm window. It was going to be a beautiful day – perfect weather for Quidditch and thankfully, today was lesson-free, so she would be able to make the most of it. But first things first – she needed some clothes. A quick glance around the dorm told her it was high time she learnt to be a bit tidier – it would make it so much easier to dress in the mornings. Hands on hips, she surveyed the scene. If she was going to find anything, reinforcements were needed...

"Oi Marguerite!"

"You called?"

"Is Hermione in the Common Room?"

"Harry said she was still asleep."

"Damn! Right, guess it's just you and me then?"

"What's the matter? Lost all you clothes again?"

"Erm…kinda…"

Marguerite rolled her eyes and issued a long suffering sigh that was eerily similar to those of Molly Weasley.

"Ginny, have you looked in your trunk?"

"Trunk? Do I have one of those?"

"Uh yes. You always have one when you arrive here, remember? Big brown box thing, nice gold locks, bit like a coffin – ring any bells?"

Ginny's face remained blank.

"Oh for the love of Merlin!"

Marguerite strode over to Ginny's bed, reached underneath and dragged out a trunk covered with an inch think coat of dust. Spotting Crookshanks sneak in, she grabbed the poor animal and ignoring its yowls, used its tail to sweep away the clouds of dust.

"Et voila," she took a bow, donked Ginny on the head and walked out.

"Alriiiight, let's see what's in here," said Ginny, whipping out her wand, "Alohamora!"

The trunk clicked open to reveal several t-shirts, jeans and two knitted jumpers packed neatly underneath several school books, a tin of broomstick wax, some quills, a wooden hairbrush and a number of socks. Ginny grabbed a red t-shirt, some combats and a pair of socks. She pulled on the socks first and felt a tingling sensation. Curious, she passed her wand over her feet and several words showed up, indicating that Hermione had put a midge repellant charm on them. The red t-shirt had been a birthday gift from Charlie. It was a little on the large side and was the official top for the Romanian Quidditch team. Finally, she tugged on the combats and pushed her feet into her Quidditch shoes. She grabbed her broomstick and printed out of the room and into the grounds.

Harry, Ron, Oliver, Alicia and Fred were already outside zooming around when Ginny dashed onto the grass. They played together for about an hour and a half, as a steady stream of other students joined them in the skies. Soon it was quite busy, and Ginny decided to leave – she shouted to Alicia that she was going, and swooped down, coasting her heels along the grass. Ginny ground to a halt at the side of the Quidditch stands to see Hermione having a heated argument with Blaise Zabini. There were wild gestures and tossing of heads, and then Hermione seemed to surrender, holding her hands up in front of her with a look of resignation. Zabini patted her on the back and walked off, leaving her looking dejected. She soon perked up when she saw Ginny heading in her direction.

"Ginny!" Hermione ran towards her, hair flying and arms outstretched, "Finally!"

Ginny nodded, "Good morning to you too, sleepy-head."

Hermione bit her lip, "Yes, well, long night and all that…"

"Don't worry Hermy, everyone needs a lie-in now and then."

"Yes I 'spose…hold on a minute…you just called me Hermy! Gah! You know I hate that…" she lunged at Ginny and cuffed the Weasley girl on the head.

"Yeowch Hermione, jeez – calm down. Anyway, you read them did you?"

Hermione blinked.

"The parchment bundle I gave you…" (A/N see chapter 5)

"Oh. Oh yeah, I did."

"And…?"

"Niiiiice."

"Weeeally?" Ginny batted her eyelashes.

"Yup. So when d'you wanna go?"

"When are you free?"

"This afternoon?"

"Ooh perfect for me – I'll meet you on the bench near Hagrid's Hut at 2-ish yeah?"

"Alright - it's a date."

"Cool…see ya Hermione."

"Where you goin'?"

"Showers. To be quite frank, I stink like a warthog in a sauna."

"Like Harry then."

"Oi! I happen to think he smells quite nice."

"Oh I'm sure you do," grinned Hermione, winking at her blushing friend.

"I'll be off then."

"Okely, 'bye!'


"They're up to something," said a voice in Harry's ear.

"Good God Ron! Do you have to sneak up like that!"

"Well you did look a bit 'gone' for a moment. Had to check there was still a brain up there."

"Yup, still is Ronny, in fact, half a brain more than you'll ever have."

"Oh so true…" chipped in Fred.

Ron glared, "I'm just as intelligent as you!"

"Right," said Fred.

Far away in the distance, strains of "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt…" could be heard – the lone baritone of Dumbledore and the trembling bass of Hagrid…


It was 2-ish in the afternoon and Ginny was sitting on the bench outside Hagrid's hut. Any passerby would have seen a small, red-haired girl, dressed in casual muggle clothes, swinging her legs in the sunshine. But inside, Ginny was a quivering, nervous wreck. Anything could go wrong – what if Hermione had misread the bundle of parchments? What if someone else had discovered them? What if the way out of Hogwarts was blocked? She wished Hermione would hurry up and set her mind at ease. Just as she thought that, a flustered-looking girl, with brown bushy hair appeared from behind the greenhouses and scampered over to where Ginny was sitting.

"So…sorry…I'm…late…" she croaked breathlessly.

"It's alright," smiled Ginny, "We'll stay here a little while and then when you're ready…"

Hermione nodded and conjured a glass of water which she gulped in one go.

"You brought everything we need?" asked Ginny

"Yuppedy."

"Ok let's go!"

The two girls leapt to their feet and dashed behind Hagrid's hut. Their eyes darted from side to side - the coast was clear. They trotted around the edge of the hut and Hermione pulled out her wand. She shut her eyes and whispered a word, and then the grass at the edge of the hut began to glow; and then glow brighter, orange and red, until flames began to flicker.

"Hermione!" hissed Ginny, "Are you sure that's meant to happen!"

The flames were growing higher and were beginning to lap at the edges of the hut's roof.

"Will you calm down! I know what I'm doing!"

"I don't remember burning down Hagrid's hut as being part of the plan."

All at once, the flames died and a ring of ashes formed on the ground. Hermione bent down and cleared them away, revealing the outlines of a trap door. She dug her fingers around the edges and pulled the door upwards, which opened onto a dark underground tunnel. She turned to Ginny.

"Ready?"

"Ready as ever."

With that, Ginny jumped down through the door, narrowly followed by Hermione, who pulled the door shut behind her.


Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts…

"LUNA!"

Luna Lovegood jumped about three feet in the air and hid cowering behind a suit of armour. Ron thundered down the corridor.

"Luna! Come out!"

"There's no Luna here. Oh no, never heard of her. No-one here but a suit of armour. And a sword. And a shield. And a twilight floonkey-scrabber."

"Luna. I'm going to count to ten…"

"Oooh hide and seek! I love hide and seek! Close your eyes and I'll hide ok?"

"NO!" barked Ron, "Luna, I am going to count to ten AND if you're not out of there by the time I finish, I'm going to blow this suit of armour all the way to Diagon Alley. Understand?"

"That's not very nice."

"You're not being very nice either."

"Oh."

"1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…"

Luna stepped out from behind the armour. "Alright Ron, I'll tell you – but only just this once."

Ron's eyes lit up. Luna looked at him thoughtfully.

"Follow me."

"What?"

"Do you wish to find out or are you going to stand there like a paralysed donkey?"

"Fine. I'll come."

Luna led the way up two flights of staircases, onto a landing and then stopped.

"I expect it'll be ok to go in here – no-one will hear us."

"Uh, go in where exactly?"

Luna stepped aside to reveal a door set very cleverly into the wall so that only someone who looked for it specifically would be able to see it. She pressed her hand against it and it clicked open.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't do anything stupid, Ron."

"Stupid as in what?"

"Trying to touch the door or opening the door yourself."

"Why?"

Luna sighed heavily and then recited (with the air of someone who has said it many times before), "This is 'Helga's Hideaway'. Only Hufflepuffs can gain access to it, but even then, only a few have had it revealed to them. Not many Hufflepuffs even know it exists."

"Oh I see. So what will it do to me if I try to come in?"

Luna grabbed his hand and brushed the door lightly with his fingertips. Almost immediately Ron felt his fingers begin to seize up. He looked at his hand, but where once there was flesh was now wood. He tried to wiggle them, but they moved slowly, making creaking noises.

"Oh! That's new!" exclaimed Luna with excitement. She began to tap his fingers on the wall, "Wooow! Exactly like real wood!"

Ron was struggling to comprehend the situation. "You mean…this doesn't normally happen?"

Luna shook her head, "Nopedy. When Beatrix Cairnmoore – you know – that Ravenclaw third year – was brought here by Hannah Abbot, she turned into an ice woman and we had to hide her under the chimney to try and get her to defrost. We're not really meant to bring other students here because of the risks that one day a student from a different house will die. But no-one has yet," she said matter-of-factly.

"But I…I could have died!" cried Ron, indignant.

"When I brought Neville here, he accidentally brushed the door with his foot and all his clothes fell off…" The blonde girl's eyes glazed over and a smile played on her lips, "Such a lovely bottom…"

"Luna! Too much information! Could we maybe get back to sorting out my hand please? And maybe actually going into that room?"

"Oh yes. Sorry Ron."

She muttered several spells and tapped her wand on his hand, while he tried to shake the terrifying mental images of Neville naked from his head.

"Hmmm. Yes. The spells are done. Now you must listen. I am going to go in first and clear away the wards and anti-Gryffindor charms and whatever other Weasley-repelling spells that Professor Sprout has dreamed up. Then I shall call your name and you will walk inside, not touching anything - and the door will close behind you. Oh, and don't sneeze or you'll disturb the doxies."

"Erm right."

Ron stood waiting there, wondering why Luna couldn't have just told him everything in the corridor. He was just about to turn around and leave, when he heard Luna calling his name. Taking a deep breath and trying not to sneeze, he walked though the door. A long passageway stretched ahead of him, lined with flickering candles. At the end he could see a figure waving at him. The door clicked shut behind him and he made his way carefully along. When he reached Luna, she stepped back and proclaimed, "Welcome to Helga's Hideaway…"

Ron gasped. He was standing in an indoor garden. On the far wall, a waterfall cascaded through lush green vegetation, and around the edges of the room stood tall tropical trees. Several branches were thick enough to hold wooden platforms, on which small tree houses had been built. Where the waterfall crashed into a pool, he could see Cedric Diggory lounging on some cushions, chatting to two of his friends who were swimming in the blue waters. More cushions were scattered on a circle of lawn to his right and beautiful, exotic flowers grew everywhere.

Luna smiled happily. "Nice isn't it?"

Ron's mouth was opening and shutting, but no noise came out. Luna, who was used to this by now, grabbed his arm and steered him towards a secluded area of grass surrounded by pink flowering bushes, where butterflies were dancing. She sat down and asked sweetly, "Something to drink?"

Ron, who has regained his ability to speak nodded and asked, "You have drinks here too?"

"Yes of course. What would you like?"

"A nice cool Salamander smoothie would be nice."

Luna stood up and trotted off, returning a minute later with a bottle of Salamander smoothie and a glass of Comfrey and Camomile water for herself.

Ron took his bottle and thanked her.

"Well," said Luna, "What is it you want to know exactly? Harry wasn't very lucid, but I think that might have been because he's found me a little scary ever since I told him that black-haired boys are three times more likely to die in the company of a blonde person than old men. But I thought it was important he should know. All he said was you needed some advice, and scuttled off. That's why I told you I had a secret to tell you…I just didn't know exactly what secret it was. Is it about Hermione?"

Ron choked on his drink. When he had finished coughing, he answered.

"Yes."

"It's ok Ron, you can trust me."

"I think…no…um…I love her, Luna. And I want to tell her, but I'm afraid. She might not like me back and she might reject me or she might think I'm just joking."

"Aha. Well I think I know what secret I shall be telling you now."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Well?"

"Ron. I don't know how you're going to take this. You can shout at me if you want, and don't be ashamed to cry if you need to, but Hermione loves you too."

"Yeah. As a friend."

"No, not just as a friend. She loves you more than that."

"You're kidding."

"I have no reason to kid. I always knew she loved you even before I actually spoke to her and one night a couple of months ago, Ginny, Hermione and I were in the library and Ginny said she had to go. So it was just me and Hermione. At first we were both reading, but then somehow we ended up talking. I think I had asked her a question about an article I read in the Quibbler – about an academy for young girls who are exceptionally gifted at magic. I thought maybe she would like to go there or apply, but she thought not because she likes it here. And she told me she likes the work and the teachers, and she liked the school and its grounds. She said she loves her friends here and I agreed and I said that I love it here because this is where Neville is and I like to watch him when he's growing things in the greenhouse because his face is so serene. And then she smiled and said she likes it here because of you. She loves to watch you play chess and fly on your broomstick. She likes it when you tease her and she even likes it when you argue. She even said that when you fight and you ignore her that it feels so horrible and sad and that she to do more homework than normal to stop herself crying."

Ron leapt to his feet, his blue eyes bright. "Bloody hell Luna! She loves me! She loves me! She…"

He stopped, shoulders drooping, "She might not love me anymore…"

Luna groaned.

"Ron, just trust me, she loves you. All these years she never said a word because she thought she couldn't sacrifice one of the best friendships she'd ever had. Only last week I overheard Dean telling her that it was high time she got her act together and told you the truth…"

"Is she going to tell me?Or am I going to have to tell her?"

"Come on, it's nearly time for dinner – we've been here for ages."

"Luna, do you know if Hermione's going to tell me? What should I doooooo?"

"Hmmmm….I'm sure I had a teapot in here somewhere…"

"Luna! Stop blanking me and give me a straight answer this minute!"

"I have no idea if she's going to tell you….oh here it is…so why don't you tell her when it's the right moment and then everything will be fine and dandy."


Ginny and Hermione arrived back at Hogwarts at around dusk. Footsore and aching, lugging several bags between them. Much to Ginny's horror they had missed dinner, but Hermione managed to scavenge some marshmallows and had taken some cheese and bread from under her bed to share with Ginny. Hermione sat on the edge of Ginny's bed chewing marshmallows while Ginny took everything out of the bags and began to pack them away into boxes. She held up a skirt that she had bought for her mother's birthday.

"Whaddya think?"

"Mmpfner schagoost ghuit cha…"

"Hermione, it's probably not the best idea to try to talk and eat twelve marshmallows at the same time."

"Gafosh awohj…" began Hermione indignantly.

"Shhhhhh…" grinned Ginny, "When you've finished chewing there are some other questions I'd like to ask you. Such as, 'how do you feel about Ron?'…"


So...how was it? Did you verily enjoy it or did you verily unenjoy it? Mayhaps, unenjoy is not a word, but never mind...prithee please let me know...

your humble servant (hehehehe)

die Libelle