.-.-Chapter 3-.-.

This is the day, thought Ron, this is the day. He kept thinking this over and over again as he walked towards the Quidditch pitch. He thought about it as he mounted his broom. He thought about it as he soared through the air. He continued thinking about it as he dived for the quaffle. But as Ron sat on his broom thinking about Hermione's eyes, Harry snuck up behind him.

"Hey! You still there Ron?" asked Harry, nearly causing Ron to fall off his broom.

"Wha—oh. It's only you."

"Who else did you think it was?" questioned Harry curiously.

"Nobody," said Ron dreamily. "No one at all…"

"Hey! Watch out!" screamed Harry urgently.

And before Ron could turn around to see what Harry was talking about, he blacked out and fell to the ground with a thud.

.-.-

"Hermione!" yelled out Harry. "Ron got hit by a bludger in practice and now he's unconscious in the hospital wing!"

As Hermione rushed out of her dormitory, she said "Oh my gosh! What did he do this time?"

Harry smiled mischievously. "He wasn't…er…concentrating. His mind was on…other things."

"That's just like him. How is he doing now?" she asked, obviously concerned.

"He's still out of it. You should go see him. I need to go back to the practice."

"Okay," said Hermione, rushing out of the room.

As Hermione rushed blindly down the hallway, she ran right into her least favourite person.

"Ow. Watch where you're going, Granger. Besides, where might you be going in such a hurry? Couldn't wait to see me again, eh?" smirked Draco.

"Not on your life, Malfoy. Ron just got injured in Quidditch practice. I'm going to see how he's doing," shot back Hermione.

"What a coincidence. I'm also going to the hospital wing to do a favour for someone." Draco grimaced.

"Whatever."

They both fell silent and the silence continued for the rest of their walk. Shortly, they reached the wing. Hermione immediately rushed to Ron's side.

"Oh Ron! What did you do this time?" sobbed Hermione. "Why did this happen? What were you thinking of at the time when you weren't concentrating? What could have been that important?"

Hermione picked up Ron's hand and held it tightly in her own. In a soothing voice, she continued whispering inaudible things to his forlorn figure and gently stroking his face. Hermione's mind began to drift. Drifting away towards her dream. She still spent a long time thinking about her dream. She knew that dreams weren't supposed to mean anything, but she couldn't help but wonder. She turned her head and gazed blankly out the window. It was sunny outside. She yearned to be outside on such a refreshing day. Yet she knew that she shouldn't let Ron down by leaving his side. A door slammed, bringing Hermione back to reality.

"How's Weasley doing?" asked Draco sarcastically.

"I don't know," sniffed Hermione. "I suppose you're done your business in this room?" Hermione said this warningly, like a message telling Draco to leave.

"Maybe," said Draco in a singsong voice. "Maybe not."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Hermione suspiciously.

"What do you think it means?" asked Draco, still using his annoying singsong voice.

"Oh I don't know. Just tell me!" said an exasperated Hermione. "I don't have time to play mind games."

"It just so happens that I know something you don't know," said Draco slyly. "It involves you…and Weasley over there."

"What about Ron and I?" asked Hermione curiously. "What do I not know about Ron that you would know?"

"Oh really?" challenged Draco. "It just so happens that I overheard a conversation between Potter and Weasley one day."

"And what were they talking about?" pressed Hermione. "Just tell me!"

"A bit impatient are we?" Draco snickered. "Ah well. I'll tell you anyways. Weasley seems to…shall we say "value" the friendship between you and him a bit more than you think."

"What do you imply by that?" questioned Hermione, a bit offended. "Are you saying that Ron…fancies me?"

"You could put it that way," said Draco still snickering. "Ha. This must be the first time that anybody has fancied you. Such a shame that it had to be Weasley. So, what do you say about his feelings for you? Anything at all?"

"Ron is my friend and that's it. He's not anything more and he's not anything less," said Hermione blushing furiously. "If you think that our friendship is more than that, you're very wrong."

"Ah. But you don't understand. I heard Weasley say it himself," stated Draco. "What are you going to do if he asks you to be his girlfriend?"

"He wouldn't! It's not possible!"

"But it is. Well, think what you want to think. The truth is out there. It's even staring you in the face sometimes. That doesn't mean that you have to accept it, I guess."

"Even if he does ask me to become his girlfriend," said Hermione shuddering slightly, "I wouldn't say yes since it complicates my relationship with Harry."

"Oh, so you're saying that Potter is secretly your boyfriend?" sneered Draco.

"Goodness no! I'm just saying that he might feel uncomfortable around Ron and I. But still, I can't think of Ron as any more than a friend. He's like a brother to me," finished Hermione satisfied.

"Whatever you say. Don't come to me when Weasley won't ever talk to you again because you've shattered his heart."

"What do you mean by that?" questioned Hermione. "Why would I come talking to you about my problems? Wouldn't I go to Harry first?"

"Nevermind. It's time for me to get going," said Draco, getting up to leave.

Hermione checked her watch. "Me too. I better get going. There's piles of homework that still has to be done."

They both left the room and went into the halls. Hermione started to walk away, but Draco blocked her path.

"One more thing. Make sure you practice your lines and learn them by tomorrow so that you don't end up making a fool of yourself," said Draco as coldly as he could.

"I'll be sure that I do," said Hermione, equally as cold. But, she could not help but wonder why Draco was caring so much all of a sudden. Before she could question him, he had already turned and walked away in the opposite direction. Her gaze lingered on his diminishing figure as he walked down the hall. Suddenly, she too turned around, and hurried towards the common room.

Meanwhile, in the hospital wing, there were tears streaming down Ron's face. He had heard everything. Every single thing.

.-.-

Later in the day, Harry went to the hospital wing to check on Ron. When he got there, he found Ron miserably staring out the window.

"What's wrong, mate?" asked Harry.

"Hermione," said Ron bitterly.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. That's the problem."

"Problem?" said Harry, obviously very confused. "What did she say to you?"

"Nothing."

"Then where's the problem?" asked Harry, giving Ron a strange look.

"The problem is that she came to the hospital WITH Malfoy," said Ron ignoring the horrified look on Harry's face, "AND she actually had a civil conversation with him."

"What did they talk about?" asked Harry, trying to control his temper.

"Me."

"You? Why would they talk about you?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because Malfoy somehow overheard me telling you that I fancied Hermione. And he told her!" exclaimed Ron.

"Well, at least you didn't have to tell her yourself," said Harry optimistically.

"Yeah, well that wasn't the problem. The problem was her reaction," said Ron coldly.

"What did she say?" asked Harry intrigued. "From your reaction, I can tell that she didn't say something that you liked very much."

"Damn straight!" exploded Ron. "She told that git everything that she thought about me. About how we would remain even friends. About how she didn't want to endanger the friendship between you and her! She just told him everything about how she felt!"

"Whoa. Calm down Ron," said Harry reasonably. "Maybe this is all for the better. At least you didn't have to make a fool of herself and severe your friendship with her."

"Yeah, well, it has damaged our friendship," replied Ron simply. "I'll never be able to look into her eyes again without feeling lost. I'll never be able to look at her without feeling pangs of pain. I'll never be able to talk to her without sounding somewhat bitter."

"Stop your whining!" said Harry, somewhat annoyed at having to deal with Ron's problems. "Why don't you just talk to her to clarify what she said to Malfoy. For all you know, she could have been lying to him. Maybe she didn't want to tell him the truth. You never know."

"Yeah! Maybe you're right!" said Ron, suddenly very much awake. "Maybe she really does like me! Wow Harry! You actually said something smart for once!"

"Gee thanks Ron," said Harry, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I never knew you felt this way about me. But now that I've cheered you up, I need to go do some research in the library. I'll see you later!"

"Bye mate! And thanks," said Ron gratefully.

As Harry left, he couldn't help but think about what would happen if Hermione really didn't like Ron as anymore than a friend. That could cause some serious problems. Harry sighed. He didn't want to get caught in the middle. That would turn out really disastrous. Harry continued walking down the hallway. He couldn't help but wonder about Draco. Sometimes he just couldn't understand the guy. He seemed so mean and cruel, yet here he was, actually talking to Hermione! Harry shook his head. No, he thought, that can't ever be. I won't let my best friend befriend the enemy. I just won't! Running his hand through his hair one more time, he hurried to go find Hermione.