Disclaimer: Yeah, you guessed it I own absolutely nothing.

Chapter 3: It continues to grow, hiding seems impossible

Ron had thought that this year, his third year at Hogwarts, might actually go smoothly. Yet, as had occurred on numerous occasions before, he had thus far been proven wrong and this year had, so far, been even more hectic then the last two. Sirius Black, a man who had ruthlessly murdered twelve innocent people with one curse, was on the loose and was coming after Harry, he's own godson. Ron was sure that Harry must be going through hell at the moment knowing that his godfather, his parents best friend, had been the person who had betrayed his parents and was the reason they were dead. Not only this but this mad man had escaped from jail to try and find Harry so he could kill him as well. the only thing Ron knew was that this year was shaping out to be more dramatic and more eventful then the last. His best mate was been pursued by a mad mass murderer, the third year was proving to be the hardest academic wise and his feelings for Hermione were growing and growing.

He couldn't believe it when she bought that ruddy cat, if you could even call that monster a cat. The worst part was that the hideous orange monster had eaten his pet rat, Scabbers. He was beyond furious at her; he hated her and that feral cat. Not only had that thing eaten his pet but she, goody- two-shoes Hermione Granger, had told Professor McGonagall about Harry's Firebolt. Bloody Harry gets bloody everything had been Ron's first thought when he learnt that his best mate had received that state of the art broom. Yet he had quickly realised that, with Harry being his best mate, he would be able to use this phenomenal broom as well and was extremely excited about the prospect of actually riding a Firebolt. Now he was mad, more then mad. He was the angriest he had ever been and at Hermione, his other best friend and the girl that he thought he actually fancied. Fancy Hermione, the know-it-all, goody-two-shoes and absolutely mental Hermione, what was I thinking? It was obviously a momentary lapse of judgement. I DON'T, COULDN'T, WOULDN'T ever fancy Hermione Granger, Ron thought to himself as he stood completely silent, face turning the brightest shade of red and hands curling into tight fists, as he listened to Hermione's reasons for dobbing in Harry.

"I was only trying to protect you Harry, honestly you would think playing Quidditch was more important then your safety," Hermione cried in a desperate attempt to justify what she had done.

"Protecting Harry? PROTECTING HARRY?" Ron yelled incredulously as he began to close in on her, "what makes you think Harry needs your protection. Bloody hell Hermione the broom was a gift. It wasn't exactly going to kill Harry," he snarled at her as he stepped threateningly towards her.

"How can you say it couldn't have hurt Harry, Ronald? Sirius Black, mass murderer, is on the loose and he wants to see Harry dead. It is…."

Ron could tell that she was still talking but, for some unexplainable reason, his brain switched off and all he could see was her eyes, those alluring brown pools so full of passion, sparkling at him with each word she uttered. He couldn't help but notice that her hair, still as bushy as ever, had gone static, spraying out in all directions, and that her cheeks had gone the most appealing shade of red. For some strange reason he had the sudden, crazy, desire to lean forward and… he didn't really know what exactly it was he wanted to do but that squirming feeling was back again, stronger then ever. What the bloody hell was that? Ron thought to himself, did I just want to kiss Hermione? He shook his head to try and clear it and tuned back in to what Hermione was saying, but she wasn't saying anything. Instead she was running towards the girls' dormitory, tears streaming down her face. Ron felt a strange twinge in his heart as he saw her bushy head disappear from sight. He turned to see Harry giving him a small weary smile before he headed towards their dormitory.

"You coming, mate?" Harry called from the bottom of the stairs snapping Ron out of his stupor. He nodded before slowly making his way towards the dormitory.

It was Saturday afternoon and the sun was shining over Hogwarts. Ron was sitting lazily against the Golden Trio's favourite oak tree next to his two best friends, just relaxing as they contemplated the upcoming exams. He was just edging towards sleep when his peace was disturbed by Harry rising from the ground and announcing "I've got to go to Quidditch practice. The last game against Slytherin is in less then a week!" as he practically galloped towards the Quidditch Pitch.

"Blimey, he was in a hurry" Ron exclaimed as he too sat up, shaking his head as he stared at the retreating figure of his friend.

"I don't understand how he can dedicate so much of himself to a stupid sport and spend so little time on his homework" Hermione replied in a disgruntled tone, clearly extremely unimpressed. Ron turned to face his other best friend laughing, "God Hermione, just relax a little alright. His just having some fun," Ron said as he rolled his eyes and laying himself back down on the ground.

"I guess your right, Ron" She sighed. This sentence caused him to immediately sit up and look at Hermione, a quizzical expression plastered on his face, to see that she is edging closer to him, bitting her lip.

"Did you…did you just say that I was right, Hermione," he asked feeling totally confused. She nodded, shifting even closer to him, "Sometimes Ron, you make perfect sense. I…well what I mean to say is…I think your perfect," she said, a small blush creeping up her cheeks. Ron wasn't sure what was happening but he saw her getting closer and closer, his eyes widening and heart swelling with every inch she moved forward, until he suddenly, completely unexpectedly, felt her lips coming crashing onto his………

Ron woke with a start and immediately brought his hand to his lips, feeling for… well whatever would still be there if the kiss had been real. What was that dream about? he thought as he stumbled out of bed, why would I dream about kissing Hermione? I don't fancy her… or do I? and with that utterly confused final thought he shook his head and tried, failingly, to think of something, anything, else. I mean Hermione's one of my best mates… well not so much at the moment… but I couldn't have just had a romantic dream about her. Must have been someone else… yeah someone that looks like Hermione, that must be it, he thought as he made his way down to breakfast and, though not entirely comforted by this thought, put the issue of the dream to the back of his mind. I will just avoid Hermione for a while, yeah that'll be easy enough, was Ron's last thought before he tucked into his breakfast.

"What do you want Hermione," Ron snarled as he looked up from his Charms essay to see that Hermione was standing over him. He instantly regretted his harsh tone the second he saw the tears dripping down her cheeks. He wasn't exactly angry with her any more, Harry had finally received his broom back and it still worked perfectly, yet he still hadn't actually forgiven her for the incident, or for her cat killing Scabbers for that matter, so he wasn't exactly on speaking terms with her. Yet, after the dream, he found it very hard to be around her and not feel that squirm in his stomach he was now so used to. His way of dealing with this was to yell at her, ignore her and tease her at every available opportunity. Yet the feeling, which had become even stronger after that dream, was almost impossible to ignore and seeing her upset made him want to wrap his arms around her and protect her from everything.

"Oh Ron, it's horrible they're… they're going to execute Buckbeak. Hagrid just told me and… I don't know what to do to try and appeal the decision. I can't do it… I've tried everything," she said despondently, having ignored Ron's harshness, as even more tears began spilling out of her chocolate eyes.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I will help you with the appeal. We will save Buckbeak together," Ron answered defiantly, feeling ashamed for not helping her earlier and for having ignored her for so long.

"Oh Ron, thankyou so much," she sobbed and she threw herself into his arms. Feeling fairly shocked at first, Ron hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. A pleasurable feeling was cursing through his body and Ron wondered why he had never hugged Hermione before. He was perfectly content with his current position till it dawned upon him that he shouldn't feel so many…sensations while hugging a friend and he quickly moved away.

"It's alright, 'Mione" he replied softly, giving her a lopsided grin, before his eyes widened at what he had just said. She just smiled and turned to go up to her dormitory, oblivious to the nickname Ron had just given her. Did I just call her 'Mione? Ron thought as he headed towards his own dormitory, why would I call her 'Mione? With that perplexing thought Ron drifted off to sleep.

Authors Note: So I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Review or flame away. Cheers!