-1Chapter 2: Ron's Secret
Meanwhile, Hermione was studying the 9 rune signs of wizards associated with the Illuminati since it was going to be on a test in about a week (and you know Hermione has to maintain her 110 average!!). She was experiencing nothing but bliss, the aroma of dusty tomes, the polished reading tables, the light emanating from the desk lamps, and most of all, it was QUIET. So quiet you could hear a pen drop. It was easy to say that this room was by far the most impressive room in all of Hogwarts to our favorite bookworm of a witch, Hermione Granger. Unfortunately, her sanctuary was about to come crashing all around her as all of a sudden someone came rushing in the room. " Hello Hermione, have you seen Harry?" the person said. Hermione couldn't see the person well since he stood in one of the shadows of the bookcases but she recognized his voice and she could tell that he was quite tall. He was a student last year at the school but became the youngest teacher in all of Hogwarts history as he applied for a teaching post last year and was accepted. " Oh hello, Harry went off with Ron somewhere but I'll tell him you're looking for him when I see him again. I just wanted to add though that you ARE a teacher now and you really shouldn't associate with the other students as friends. Plus, you can't refer to me as Hermione anymore, to you I'm Ms. Granger." " Gee, sorry Hermione but I'm still getting used to this, you know. I mean, I was a student at this school only last year. What else do you expect me to do?"
" I'm sorry. I guess you're right. Well don't worry I'll tell Harry you stopped by ok?" Hermione said. " Ok thanks, Ms. Granger!" the mystery man said jokingly as he walked off. "That idiot!" Hermione said to herself as she smiled and went back to her book.
About 5 minutes later, Ron and Harry came into the library to find Hermione. " Well hello you two, I wondered where you ran off to! Leaving me here to my own devices while you two went off to enjoy each other's company! What about me?" She finished with a mock pouting face. " Well apparently you were enjoying yourself so why bother you in your environment Hermione?" Ron retorted. " What genius you are" he added.
Hermione opened her mouth to argue but stopped. As odd as it was to admit, Ron was right. She DID love to spend quality time in the library and she DID needed to study those rune signs after all. She knew she lost the argument so she simply smiled at Ron. " Well anyway I don't mean to pry but what were you two doing while I was gone?" Hermione asked. "Ummmmm…." was all both boys could come up with in their minds as they were both thinking about what happened in the dormitory and they didn't want to talk about it to the witchy version of Thelma from Scooby Doo just yet. " We were hanging out by the lake and the squid came up and poured water all over Ron. We went back to the dormitory and Ron changed and then we came to see you." Harry answered. See, he didn't COMPLETELY lie. He just cut out the part where he was kissing his best friend, information that Hermione would definitely find more valuable then Ron getting wet by the squid. " Oh by the way Harry, someone wanted to talk to you." Hermione just remembered. " Who?" Harry asked. " Oh nobody in particular, a teacher actually. He wanted to talk to you about something but he didn't disclose anything else. I guess that's for YOU to find out." Hermione replied in her usual mater-of-fact- tone. " Look at you, sounding like a perfect secretary. Using words like "disclose" and stuff." Ron teased. " Just because YOU, Ronald Weasely have the vocabulary range of a teaspoon doesn't mean that nobody else in this school doesn't know how to use a simple word like that in a sentence." Hermione said. " Oh great here we go, Round 2..." Harry was saying under his breath and in his mind's eye imagining Hermione and Ron going at it in a boxing ring, with Hermione getting most of the punches in, eventually knocking Ron out. He even imagined Ron flopping on the floor like a fish out of water with two X's over his eyes like in cartoons upon defeat and he chuckled to himself at the thought. Apparently this woke up Ron and Hermione's alertness to his presence and they both asked him what was so funny. " Oh nothing, just you two going at it. I swear if someone wrote a book on my life you two and your arguing would be added for comic relief." Ron and Hermione both thought about that and laughed at the thought and they left to spend the start of the first weekend of the school year together.
As Hermione went off to bed after bidding good night to both boys back at the common room, Harry sat down by the fireplace with Ron. " So what do we do now?" Ron asked Harry. ( BTW all of the other students are back now so don't expect any raunchy sex scenes you perverts!) " Well we have to tell Hermione eventually about what happened you know. She's a best friend to both of us and she has a right to know, even if doesn't want to" Harry answered. " True, but knowing Hermione she's going to most likely want to know, what with her persistent need to KNOW anything that needs to be known about EVERYTHING." Ron said with a grin. " Well if she wasn't like that we'd probably both be repeating the second year now" Harry said. " Too true, too true." Ron replied. They both sat quietly for a while and looked in the fire. " I want to know something Ron…" Harry began, cutting into the awkward silence between them. " Fire away…" Ron answered sleepily. " When exactly did you first started having feelings…for me?" Harry asked tentatively. Ron was quiet for a while as he looked into the fire. Harry knew this to be whenever Ron was in a uncommon state of thinking and whenever he was about to say something in a serious manner.
" I dunno, I think it was around 2nd or 3rd year maybe? No wait, definitely near the end of 2nd year. Remember the Chamber of Secrets? When we went off to save Ginny from the basilisk? Well, when I was alone with Gilde-Retarded Lockhart, I was thinking about you, wondering whether or not you were going to make it out in one piece. And then I felt that of you didn't make it out and you died, I'd be devastated and alone. I figured with your death and Hermione being a statue at the time I thought that I would be the only one left. I was scared. At first I questioned my own feelings and then I thought, " Could I actually be in love with you?" I wasn't sure. I just chalked it up to being that you were my best friend and that your life, as well as that of my only sister's life, was at stake. I just settled for that. But when we were in Dumbledore's office and you were standing there with the sword and you were all blood-soaked, you looked quite the hero and I couldn't help but admire you and that's when I started to develop my feelings. Then during 4th year when we had that fight, I was jealous I'd admit because you got in the Tournament and I didn't but I also thought you were doing this just for Cho Chang. I already knew you liked her and I just felt cast aside. Then I saw you risk your life again against that bloody Horntail and then you saved me during the 2nd task and then I realized that I was actually something special to you. From that point until today, I just waited until I felt it was the right time to tell you how I felt" Ron finished and went silent again. By now just about everyone, even Dean and Seamus went upstairs and the boys were finally alone. Harry looked around to see that everyone had gone. Ron looked quite put down when Harry looked back, probably because he assumed that Harry wasn't paying attention to his best friend expressing his feelings for him. But Harry looked at Ron and pulled him into a kiss. It lasted for what felt like hours to them. When they broke apart, Harry simply said, " I understand now." He had unshed tears in his eyes and kissed Ron again and said " It's getting late. We should go to bed now" They both departed to the dormitory and went to their beds without another word, all the while thinking of each other.