Chapter 4 – Heroism and Secrets

He woke up on Sunday morning at around eight o'clock and found the bed next to him empty. He hadn't gotten much sleep, but as he regained consciousness of his whereabouts, last night's events shot him wide awake. Harry eyed the map, which lay spread out on his stomach and saw Ron sitting at breakfast in the great hall. Harry noticed that Hermione was on her way there.

All the other boys in the dormitory had already gone downstairs and some students were already headed to Hogsmeade. As quickly as he could, he put on a pair of Jeans and a jumper, took out his wand, pointed it at the map and muttered "mischief managed." He stuffed the map into the kangaroo pocket of his jumper and made his way downstairs to the great hall.

He arrived and Ron was sitting by himself several seats away from Hermione, seemingly pretending like she didn't exist. Ron was eating cereal, reading a book, which was perched up against a fruit bowl. It wasn't unheard of that Ron read, but he had never read during meals. Hermione was the only one of their friend group to do so. But Ron seemed highly interested in the contents of the book, his eyes peeled to the pages.

Harry greeted Hermione and silently asked her if it was ok for him to have breakfast with Ron. Hermione was ok with it, although Harry could see how red Hermione's eyes still were. She also looked like as if she hadn't slept at all. But Harry sat down in front of Ron, and greeted him. From the corner of his eye he noticed that Hermione glanced over at them several times.

"Morning," said Harry, trying his best to pretend like yesterday had just been a regular Saturday, and like Ron hadn't been missing the whole night.

Ron said nothing and didn't look up from his book.

"Great game yesterday by the way. You were brilliant," said Harry earnestly, trying to jumpstart a conversation.

"Thanks," replied Ron, a sneer in his voice.

"So uhm…what're you reading?" said Harry, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"Cheering Charms," said Ron in the same voice.

"Oh…cool," said Harry, pouring milk onto his cereal.

"And uhm, when'd you get back last night?"

"Before you," said Ron.

"Uhm…and how'd you sleep?" asked Harry.

Ron didn't respond and Harry didn't want to bring up the Marauder's map and that Ron didn't show up on it last night. So Harry tried to steer the conversation to a more cheery topic.

"So…you wanna…head to Hogsmeade later?"

"No. Got some stuff to do. I'll probably be at the library," said Ron.

"Did…did I do something?" asked Harry. This time, Ron did look up at him.

"Stop acting like nothing happened. You think I'm this dim witted? Like you didn't tell on me to Hermione!" hissed Ron, trying to lower his voice so Hermione couldn't hear. But Hermione had heard Ron say her name because she raised her head and looked over. Her eyes were as red and as swollen as yesterday.

Harry looked surprised.

"What? What do you mea-?" said Harry.

"You told her about when we Ran into Ginny and Dean!"

Ron quickly shut his book, got up and began walking away.

"Ron, I—," said Hermione in a trembling voice, tears forming in her eyes again, getting up from the table as Ron strode past her. But Ron ignored her completely. Harry looked over at Hermione, who was staring after Ron as he was leaving the great hall. Harry's worst fear had realized. Ron thought Harry, yet again, to be a traitor to their friendship. But Harry understood why Ron'd think that way. He should not have told Hermione why Ron was upset with her and all that.

Harry grabbed his bowl and made his way over to Hermione.

"D'you hear that?" said Harry. Hermione simply nodded and picked at her scrambled eggs. She had hardly touched them. Hermione lowered her head down to her food and didn't look up, so as to hide her tears from Harry

"What do you wanna do? Hogsmeade or…the library?" said Harry suggestively.

Hermione shrugged. They decided to go to the library and pretend like they were looking for some book, when in reality, they were hoping to catch Ron again. And there he was. Sitting in a corner of the library, an open book leaned against a whole stack, reading and writing into a notebook. Harry knew that they had some homework due next week, but that wasn't due until Wednesday, and usually Ron and him would do their homework the night before. Harry and Hermione were doing their best to pretend to be interested in some books, when Ron glared over at them. Ron didn't look over again and continued working.

Now they care…now she wants to be all nice and talk to me, sure.

Harry realized that it might not be wise for him and Hermione to constantly be seen together, as it might give Ron some form of confirmation that he continued confiding Ron's secrets to Hermione. At noon Harry and Hermione decided that it was pointless to stay cooped up in the castle, waiting for something to happen. So instead they made their way to Hogsmeade. Hermione was reluctant at first, but Harry was going to be bringing the Marauder's map with him, and that seemed to gain Hermione's trust in their Hogsmeade visit. Harry and Hermione were ducked in an empty alley way between two buildings, studying the map. But Ron wasn't to be found on it…odd.

During class the following day, Ron was forced to sit next to Harry and Hermione. He walked into each classroom and pretended the two seats to either of his sides, or one of his sides, depending on the class, were empty. He'd also ignore any attempt any of them made for a conversation that had nothing to do with class materials. After each class, Ron would pack up and storm out of the classroom before either Hermione or Harry could say anything of real substance to him. (Aside from feeble attempts at casual conversation during class)

The same day, as Hermione was making her way to lunch after Arithmancy, she accidentally bumped into Ron, causing several books and loose sheets of parchment to scatter in the hall.

Ron had began picking up some of the scattered parchment, while Hermione collected some of her books. He handed her the parchment without looking at her and left Hermione, still kneeling and collecting some things nearby, as they both heard a sneer.

"Did the Mudblood drop her things?" It was Crabbe, along with Goyle, who was snickering at Crabbe's remark. Ron stopped dead in his tracks and turned on his heel. He swept past Hermione towards Crabbe in a fashion similar to Snape's.

"Say one more thing right now and I'll curse you both," said Ron through gritted teeth, his face turning red with fury. He looked dangerous. As Crabbe and Goyle began snickering, Ron pushed his wand right against Crabbe's throat.

"Calm down Wease-" Ron's eyes were flashing dangerously.

"Give me a reason to do it and I will," said Ron coldly.

"Come on C-Crabbe, let's go," stuttered Goyle, who was visibly frightened.

Crabbe gulped and backed away from Ron's wand, turned, and they both left in a hurry. Ron took a quick glance at Hermione, who was still kneeling next to her bag on the floor. Her mouth stood slightly open and she stared at Ron. Ron swept past her without another glance, and headed for the great hall.

Hermione quickly packed up the rest of her belongings and ran after Ron. By the time she'd reached him he was already in the great hall, sitting amidst several Gryffindors, with no seat next to him available.

Hermione perched her bag onto an empty seat, walked over to Ron and tapped on his shoulder. He turned to face her.

"Ron, thank you, I—"

"I told you to leave me alone, didn't I?" said Ron quickly.

"Yes but what you did just now, I—"

"Just because we're not friends anymore, doesn't mean I don' still lo—,"

love you. Bloody hell i really have to watch what I say…

"lo—look out for you," said Ron impatiently, returning to his food. Hermione stood frozen for a moment, and then took a deep breath, as her eyes began to water. She thought it was sweet for Ron to have protected her, but all she'd heard was "we're not friends anymore." She'd had no idea that's what Ron had meant with "leave me alone." She had thought "leave me alone…for a while," but Ron seemed to want their friendship buried…for good.

Hermione quickly snatched her bag off her chair and rushed out of the great hall, doing her best to not burst into tears.

She swept into a bathroom stall, shut the toilet lid, sat down on top of it and began to sob into her robes.

Hermione later exited the bathroom at the most inconvenient time.

"Hermione!" called Harry from behind her.

"What is it Harry?" asked Hermione irritably, quickly wiping her eyes once more with the sleeve of her robes.

"I heard about what happened in the hallway with Crabbe and Goyle," said Harry. Hermione stopped and turned to face Harry.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" Hermione's lips trembled and she threw her arms around Harry and broke down crying.

"He really said that you guys weren't friends anymore?" asked Harry incredulously, as Hermione had begun to sober up slightly. She nodded. As she did so, she closed her eyes and tears were pushed out of them. They gently rolled down her cheek.

"Should I … talk to Ron?" asked Harry, looking at Hermione for confirmation.

She shrugged and then blew her nose with a tissue she'd pulled out of her pocket.

In the evening of that day, Harry cornered Ron, who was sat by himself in a corner of the common room. Ron looked up as Harry approached.

"You and Hermione aren't friends anymore? What's that all about, Ron?" asked Harry calmly.

"Should go and ask her then, if you want to know," said Ron angrily, scowling at Harry.

"She has no idea w—"

"Yes, she does!" snapped Ron. "Why would I be friends with someone who treats me like I'm some … some buffoon?"

"But you're not a—" began Harry.

"Well, it doesn't feel like I'm not!" huffed Ron. "That's exactly how she treats me! Like I can't do anything and like I need help properly holding my wand. Now if you don't mind…" Ron fidgeted his quill in his hand and returned to his homework. Harry walked over to Hermione, bewildered. Hermione looked at Harry longingly, like Harry was delivering news she'd been waiting months for.

"He said to ask you. And that he didn't wanna be friends with someone who treats him like … a buffoon." said Harry.

Half an hour later, Ron opened his mouth.

"What was the seventh ingredient you've got to add to Hiccoughing Solution again?"

He seemed to have tossed the question into the room. Hermione looked up at Ron and began to feverishly scour the pages in her book for the answer, but Harry, who held the Half-Blood Prince's book in hand, gave him the answer.

Ron gave a cold "thanks", but didn't look at Harry whilst saying it. The next day, Harry and Hermione were studying at the same table, but tried to keep their distance. Harry noticed Hermione glance over at Ron every other minute or so. At one point Ron appeared to be struggling significantly with his homework. Hermione looked at him with a raised eyebrow, whilst biting her lip. She was concerned.

Harry went to bed at some time around eleven, having finally finished his Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. Hermione stayed a while longer and continued to glance over at a struggling Ron Weasley. She wanted to help and couldn't just stand by anymore.

"Do you…need help?" asked Hermione timidly with her concerned look. This was the first time Ron had properly looked her in the eyes after their fight.

"I've got it, thanks," said Ron coldly.

"Oh…ok," said Hermione disappointedly. She noticed a few words he had written down and wanted to give him some helpful information.

"Uhm, a defensive charm of that sort woul—"

"Didn't I just say that I've got it?" hissed Ron. He glared at her. "What? You think I can't do it all by myself?"

"No, of course not! I never said that you couldn't d—" spluttered Hermione.

"I'll sit here until morning to finish this by myself if I have to," hissed Ron. Hermione was holding back tears…once again. She was slightly trembling.

"I didn't mean to, I—a—am—s—sorry—R" she said with a shaky voice. Hermione cut off at the end as her eyes were filling with tears. Ron had ignored her last few words and returned to his essay. He was back to pretending she didn't exist, although Hermione was sure Ron had noticed the tears in her eyes. Hermione ran off and Ron felt his heart wrench as he heard a sob coming from the girl's staircase.

He had just made Hermione cry. Although she had hurt him, he was still in love with her and being so cruel to her wasn't something he was proud of. This whole thing of theirs it was…toxic.

The following morning, Harry told Hermione over breakfast that Ron had gone to bed around 3AM, presumably after finishing his essay. The two looked over at a fatigued-looking, still determined, Ron. He was reading a book as he slowly sipped from his tea. The first class of the day was Transfiguration and Ron and Hermione were paired up by McGonagall. Ron's facial expression remained the same. But whilst working together, Hermione tried her best to reaffirm and encourage Ron.

Ron was displaying quite some skill with the work they had to do.

"Ron, that was brilliant," said Hermione, with an endearing smile.

Ron looked at her, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, as if he was going to smile, but decided not to do so in the same instance because he remembered they weren't speaking.

"I've been practicing," he said coldly. He could help but feel a tear at his heart for what he'd done to Hermione last night. Combined with the fact she was being very nice to him, after he'd made her cry, hurt him even more.

"So that's what you're doing in the library all the time?" said Hermione. She tried her best to keep a normal conversation.

"Well…some of the time. I mean, we do have lots of other subjects. Can't just study Transfiguration all the time," said Ron, who had to mentally scold himself for talking to Hermione too much.

We're not talking! Bloody hell…her hair…that scent…those curls…STOP. She'll never be yours, accept that. You need to get over her. Pining after her and being stuck in this weird position of friendship mixed with ignorance and cruelty isn't good for you mental health. Stop spluttering to her just because she's so fucking enchanting, have some willpower, goddamn it.

Use your rage to hide your emotions…good.

"Time well spent! It's clearly paying off!", said Hermione, sounding genuinely encouraging. For a second she thought his face seemed to twitch a bit and Ron let out an audible breath.

"Not that you needed improvement!" said Hermione quickly in an apologetic tone of voice. "It— you-you were always good, but now you're better!" Hermione's save seemed to have worked.

"Thanks," said Ron, giving her a very small and slightly insincere smile, as if he simply did it to shut her up. Moments later Professor McGonagall came round to their table to check on their work.

"Oh excellent, Miss Granger! Fantastic work! Ten points to—"

"Actually, that's Ron's work, Professor!" Hermione said quickly. Having a teacher give her credit for one of Ron's achievements was about the last thing she needed right now. McGonagall's eyes fixed onto Ron with suspicion.

"Is that so, Mister Weasley? You worked that spell?" Professor McGonagall asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Yes, Professor," said Ron calmly, "I've been practicing." McGonagall still wasn't convinced.

"Well…how do you feel about presenting this in front of the class?"

Ron's face turned slightly sour at McGonagall's words. She was ready to hand over ten points for Gryffindor to Hermione, but insisted on proof when it had turned out to be his work. Hermione's eyes widened as she'd taken in what McGonagall had just said. She opened her mouth as if to comfort Ron or give him a tip for the spell so he'd have no trouble doing it in front of the class.

But Ron ignored her and strode out in front of the classroom, which fell silent at once as McGonagall's eyes flashed into everyone's soul. She was, after all, one of those teachers who could control a classroom effortlessly.

They were revising their skills to turn objects into animals and Ron swung his wand at the stool placed in front of the class. In place of the stool, there was now a German Shepard puppy. A puppy who appeared to be eight or ten months old, however.

Breathing heavily, and his tongue sticking out. The dog got up and walked over to sniff Ron's robes affectionately and Ron bent down to pet the dog. McGonagall's mouth was open, as was the rest of the class.

McGonagall seemed to finally have formed a coherent sentence within her head. "Mister Weasley" she said, her eyes wide open and trained on the dog at Ron's feet. "Twenty points for Gryffindor!" she said, now glowing with joy. Hermione could see Ron's ears turn red. Ron himself however, seemed very happy with himself. "Excellent work, Mister Weasley!"

Hermione could have sworn that Ron was grinning, although he tried to hide it from her. When the bell rang, he left the classroom without saying so much of a "see you later". He was still being very distant, but things had improved slightly. At lunch he wasn't seated several seats away from Harry and Hermione anymore, as he'd left only one seat in between. The seat in between Ron and Hermione had been filled by Luna Lovegood as she wanted to have lunch with Neville at the Gryffindor table. While at lunch, Ron still had his nose buried in a book. Ron, now resembling an inferni more and more, stayed determined.

In the evening they were all spread across the common room. Hermione of course, had already finished her essay for History of Magic, and Ron, so it would seem, as well. He was by himself in a corner, reading "Self-Defensive Spellwork".

At some point during many evenings, Ron would wander off for a few hours before going to bed. Ron closed his book, grabbed his notebook, which he had been carrying around for the past week, got up and climbed through the portrait hole. They had always assumed it was because of prefect duties, but Ron wasn't wearing his robes, nor his prefect badge. And whenever Ron was on duty, he proudly wore that badge, without rubbing it into anyone's face of course. (He wasn't Percy).

When he left, Hermione and Harry looked at each other and Harry dashed up to his dormitory, quickly snatching the Marauder's map. His eyes were glued to the dot with the name "Ronald Weasley". He noticed Ron walking thorough several corridors for quite some time until he came to a stop. Harry didn't take his eyes off the map. He then saw Ron approach the wall and…disappear.

He kept his finger on the spot Ron had vanished, dashed down the stairs of the dormitory, on which he almost stumbled and broke his neck, grabbed Hermione and the two went off looking where Ron had went.

They arrived in a part of the castle that was eerily familiar to both of them. They found themselves at the entrance of the Room of Requirement.