Disclaimer: Yes, I am J. K Rowling but you can call me Jo. Nah just jking, I'm a no talent hack who write merely for my own enjoyment and own absolutely nothing.

Passion is at the heart of both love and hate- so what is this?

Ron hated Harry. He loathed him, despised him and wished he was dead, or at least this was what Ron told himself. He couldn't actually hate Harry, as after all he was his best mate, but he was extremely jealous of him. Bloody git gets absolutely everything! He's already the Boy- Who –Lived but oh no that isn't enough he has to become a hero in the bloody Tri-wizard Tournament as well, Ron thought as he tossed and turned in his bed, you'd think that he'd tell his best mate that he knew how to get past the age restriction. He knew how much I wanted to get into it… We obviously weren't as good mates as I thought. Well done Ron, wrong again. I'll show him… doesn't deserve my friendship…bloody great prat. His thoughts continued on this track for the rest of the night as he tried, failingly, to go to sleep. His supposed best mate had entered himself into the Tri-wizard Tournament without telling him, his idol Viktor Krum was at Hogwarts and he couldn't even get his autograph and Hermione had been constantly snapping at him. So far Ron's fourth year was going horridly.

Ron was content, relaxed and… completely and utterly confused. He was no longer on speaking terms with Harry, the boy he had been best friends with since they had met on that fateful first train ride to Hogwarts, yet he wasn't depressed like he was sure he should be. He did miss Harry, missed talking to him, playing Quidditch with him and beating him in Wizard's chess. Yet he was enjoying just hanging out with Hermione, getting to know her on a deeper level and becoming closer to her. He was slightly, the smallest bit, jealous of the fact that Hermione was still friends with Harry, even though he was ignoring him. He knew it wasn't his place to tell her who she could and couldn't talk to but he wanted to have her completely on his side, not stuck in the middle between him and Harry. The only thing he wasn't entirely happy about when it came to spending time with Hermione was the amount of time he was now spending in the library, which was where he was currently located. He was sitting next to Hermione, pretending to do his Potions homework, while silently staring at her, turning to look at his blank parchment whenever she turned his way.

"Honestly Ronald, you haven't even put a dent in your Potions assignment. Stop staring into space and do your work," she scolded him for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

"Blimey 'Mione, maybe I could do it if you'd help me out a bit," he responded, giving her his most charming lopsided grin. She simply rolled her eyes and went back to working on her own essay.

Merlin she's beautiful when she's concentrating, Ron thought to himself before he shook his head, clearing away his thoughts, and began to try and concentrate on his essay. He was just starting to get into the flow of his essay when he felt something warm rest against his knee. A strange, rather pleasurable, feeling was shooting up his leg through his body, making him tingle in all sorts of places. He looked down to see what was causing this sensation, praying that it wasn't a spider, his eyes widening when he saw that it was Hermione's thigh, pressed ever so slightly against his. He was unsure what to do so he looked up to see a small smile playing on the corner of her lips, she wasn't moving her leg away and he wasn't going to move away either.

"This is bloody brilliant. Whose stupid idea was it to have a ball in the first place?" Ron grumbled to Harry as they headed up to the Gryffindor common room. After finally coming to his senses and realising that Harry hadn't willingly entered the Tournament, he and Harry had gone back to being best mates. While it was great having Harry back, ever since they had all started hanging out again Ron and Hermione had gone back to the bickering, forever on the verge of crumpling, friendship they had had before, the one neither of them had wanted to return to.

"I'm with you, mate. I hate dancing," Harry said, as the two boys continued their slow shuffle towards the dorms. They walked past a cluster of girls who, upon seeing Harry and Ron pass them, burst into a fit of giggles, batting their eyelids flirtatiously.

"How are you supposed to get one of them on their own anyway?" Harry asked gesturing to the girls, "They seem to always travel in packs." Ron didn't know the answer so he merely shrugged and the two remained in a companionable silence for the rest of their journey. Ron had been thinking about this himself since the announcement of the Yule Ball, not so much how to ask someone but whom he would ask. Maybe I could ask Hermione…but how would I do that without her thinking I fancy her. I don't want her to think it's a date… even though I want it to be a date. Blimey this is hard, he thought, trying desperately to think of a solution. I know, I can make it sound like we're going as mates. Yeah that'll work, he smiled to himself at this last thought as he lay down on his bed and promptly fell asleep.

"This is getting urgent Harry, we need to find someone to go with us," Ron whispered to Harry as they sat down to eat their breakfast. There was only a week left until the Ball and they still hadn't found dates. Ron couldn't summon the courage to ask Hermione, he had been so close on so many occasions but for some reason the words just wouldn't escape from his lips. Since the announcement of the Ball he had only made one, albeit disastrous, attempt at securing a date. Bloody Veela, he thought, shuddering, as he remembered the horrific incident of asking Fleur to be his date. Bloody Harry, he should have told me she was a Veela then I might have been able to stay away from her.

"We should make a pact. By the end of the day both of us will have dates, alright?" Harry suggested, he to was worried about the impending Ball. Ron nodded enthusiastically and continued to eat his breakfast. Then he noticed Hermione sitting across from him and a surge of courage told him that this was it, he had to ask Hermione now.

"Oi 'Mione! You're a girl," he said, regretting those words the second he'd uttered them but maintaining his confident façade all the same. Her head whipped up to face him as her eyes, looking a cold as ice, locked with his in a piercing gaze.

"Well spotted," she spat at him, her eyes daring him to continue.

"Well…um…how bout you come with one of us to the Ball?" he asked, his voice slightly faltering, "I mean it's bad enough for a guy to go alone but for a girl it's just sad," he continued, inwardly cringing at the words leaving his mouth

"I WONT be going ALONE, Ronald" she screeched as she jumped out of her seat and slammed her book shut, "Honestly, just because it took you THREE YEARS to figure out that I was a girl doesn't mean that nobody else noticed. Just so you know, someone has already asked me and I said YES" she snarled as she stormed out of the Great Hall. Ron felt his heart drop. Hermione was going to the Yule Ball with someone else. He couldn't remember ever feeling this depressed, this depleted, this angry. What bloody smarmy bastard asked Hermione to the ball? He thought, his face contorting with the rage he felt, probably just wants her to help him with his homework or something. Ruddy git doesn't know 'Mione like I do. No one know her like I do, not even Harry. I'll get this prat. Ron shook his head in order to clear it and try and maintain the pretence that he didn't care, that he could find someone better to go to this stupid Ball with. He turned to Harry, who was looking extremely confused after Hermione's outburst, and said, "She's bloody mental that one," as he motioned towards where Hermione had been and then continued to eat his own breakfast, while his heart was slowly breaking.

"How'd you get Parvati and Padma to go to the Ball with you two?" Seamus asked incredulously. It was a couple of days before the Ball and Harry had managed to secure Ron and himself dates with two of the best looking girls in the school. They were both nice girls and they were really attractive but still Ron was disappointed, he wasn't going with 'Mione and she wouldn't even tell him who she was going with. Probably doesn't even have a date… just didn't want to go with a great git like you, he though solemnly to himself, feeling thoroughly depressed.

"Animal magnetism," he responded confidently, wearing a fake smirk.

"Good on ya, mate" Seamus laughed as he got up, clapping Ron on the shoulder as he passed. The smile Ron had been holding for most of the week disappeared of his face as he sunk lower into his armchair, staring at Hermione who sat doing her homework across the room.

So far the Yule Ball was going horridly for Ron. His date had left him to go dance with someone else and the girl he was madly in love with was having a tremendous time with her date, Viktor Krum. Ruddy great Bulgarian pumpkin head… who does he think he is all over 'Mione like that, he thought as he saw the girl in question walking in his direction, a smile plastered on her beautiful face. Even though Ron was furious he couldn't help but think just how utterly gorgeous she looked. Her usually bushy brown hair tied up in elegant curls and her brown eyes shining with joy. The light pink periwinkle dress was flowing so gorgeously on her, making her look like a princess and all Ron wished for was to be able to be her prince. She had been talking for a while now, but he wasn't listening and then he heard her utter the word he now hated more than anything, Viktor. He immediately snapped to attention

"Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet," he snarled, glaring at her

"What's got your wand in a knot," she asked, looking completely confused and somewhat hurt by his harsh words

"You're fraternising with the enemy, that's what," he snapped back. He no longer cared that he was hurting her and that he wasn't making sense. His heart was breaking and he wanted her to feel the same way. Their fight continued to grow, the intensity rising with each unforgivable comment uttered by each of them. It was by far the worse argument they had ever had, he wasn't even registering half the things they were saying anymore. Then she said it, a statement that gave him hope. Hope that she felt the same as he did, hope that not all was lost.

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!" she yelled as she ran up the stairs to her dorm room, tears streaming down her cheeks. Ron was lost for words and uttered the only thing he could think of to a frightened looking Harry, "Well…that proves she completely missed the point", even though he knew that she had got it dead right. Harry just shrugged and headed up to bed while Ron stood, still completely bewildered, wondering if maybe, just maybe, Hermione liked him to.

Author note: So that's the Yule Ball for you. It's my longest chapter so far, YAY! Hope you enjoyed it and read and review. Cheers!