1Note from the author: Hey all! I'm back after a looong break. I'm back in the swing of things, though, and will hopefully keep up my story a bit better. As always, R&R, I'd love to know what you think. Thanks, and enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 7

In the morning, Clara and Hermione walked down the stairs into the common room. Harry was sitting on the sofa, and turned around when he heard them talking.

"Good morning, Harry," the girls said in unison. Hermione looked at him for a moment, then at the empty spot next to him.

"Harry, where's Ron? Is he still upstairs?" Clara looked toward the the stairs to the boys' dormitory, as though expecting Ron to appear.

"He's already gone down to breakfast. I asked him to wait, but he said he had something to do before the start of lessons this morning," Harry said, rubbing his eyes, "Then he left muttering something about 'not so great' and 'I like walks too'. Sounded a bit mad, really." Clara and Hermione exchanged confused glances. Harry stood and picked up his school bag.

"Well, shall we?" he asked. The girls nodded and trailed after him as he left the portrait hole. Hermione and Harry discussed Ron's odd behavior, but Clara remained silent, thinking hard. What on earth had the muttering been about? Walks? She couldn't make heads or tails of it.

The three entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Moments later Adrian and Dean appeared and took the seats across from them. Clara grinned at the pair of them. "Adrian," she said, "I don't believe we've been introduced." She motioned to Dean, who smiled shyly and looked at Adrian. Adrian shot Clara a bemused look, then cleared his throat importantly.

"Clara Edwards, I'd like you to meet Dean Thomas. Dean, Clara," he said, with dramatic, sweeping gestures. "Happy?"

"Yes, very," Clara said, and laughed. Just then she heard Harry speak.

"Oy, Ron!"

Clara turned in time to see Ron shoot Adrian an angry look and then storm off down the table toward the doors. As she looked from Harry to Hermione to Adrian and back to Ron in shock, it hit her. She jumped up from the table, upsetting a pitcher of milk.

"Adrian, you need to come with me right now!" she said, and tore off after Ron. She got halfway to the doors and turned around. Adrian was still sitting at the table looking bewildered.

"ADRIAN MICHAELS!" Clara yelled at him, stamping her foot. Reluctantly he rose from the table, but at the look on her face he hurried toward her. Clara turned tail and ran out the doors, ignoring the stares and whispers from the other students. She saw Ron head down the stairs and out onto the grounds. Adrian caught up with her and together they sped after him.

Clara blinked in the bright sunlight. "Ron!" she called at his retreating back. He ignored her.

"That's enough of that," Adrian said, and pointed his wand at Ron. "Locomotor Mortis!" Clara gasped as, ahead of them, Ron's legs snapped together and he fell face-forward onto the lawn. As Clara and Adrian approached, he rolled over and pointed his wand at Adrian.

"Ron wait, it's not what you think," Clara said. She flicked her wand and Ron's legs sprang apart. He glared from Adrian to Clara, but said nothing.

"She's telling the truth, Weasley," Adrian added, offering Ron a hand up, which he refused. He stood on his own and brushed dirt and grass from his sweater. With another angry glance, he prepared to storm off once more. This time Clara stepped in front of him.

"Honestly, Weasley, have you never noticed the company I keep?" Adrian asked, holding up his wand threateningly. Ron eyed him wearily.

"You're always with Dean, so what?" he shot angrily.

Adrian stared at him, and suddenly it seemed that Ron had gotten the point. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. "You mean...you mean that you and Dean...not you and..." he pointed to Clara. Adrian nodded and Clara smiled. Ron looked from one to the other, completely taken aback. His ears turned bright red. Then, without a single word, he sprinted back up to the castle. Clara stared after him, confused. She turned and saw Adrian shaking his head and chuckling to himself, and punched him in the shoulder.

"What was that for?!" he asked, looking offended and rubbing the spot that she'd struck.

"You laughed at him. You're not allowed," Clara replied, and with that, she trudged back up to the castle.

Back in the Great Hall, Hermione and Harry heard Clara's account of what happened outside. "Well," Hermione said, picking up her bag, "it certainly explains why he's been acting so strangely." Harry nodded, following suit. Their discussion lasted them until they reached the Transfiguration classroom, where they found Ron sitting sullenly alone at the back of the room. He offered them no recognition as they took seats next to his.

And so it went, for the rest of the day. Ron missed lunch ("Completely unlike him," Harry observed), and shared no classes with Clara and Hermione in the afternoon. This left the girls free to speculate more on his behavior. Hermione asked again for the details of that morning's encounter, hashing and rehashing every word spoken and every action taken.

By dinner, Clara was tired of talking. She ate quickly and went back to Gryffindor tower before the rest of them. Sighing, she flopped heavily into an armchair. Over the next hour, the common room filled around her. Finally she heard the familiar voices she was waiting for.

"Ron, just say something, I'm tired of this sulky silence!" Hermione was pleading with him as they entered the room.

"Yeah, come on, mate, cheer up," Harry said. Clara saw him pat Ron on the back, and Ron, as expected, offered no reaction. Hermione and Harry looked at each other, and Harry shrugged. As she watched Ron head glumly toward the dormitory stairs, Clara was suddenly struck with an idea. She stood up from her chair and marched over to him.

"Ronald Weasley, stop right there," she demanded. He turned around to face her, and before he could speak, before he could turn away, before he had a chance to do anything at all, she kissed him. She pulled away, slightly embarrassed, and very surprised that she'd actually gone through with it. Ron gaped at her. Slowly he reached up and touched his lips, as though to affirm for himself that it had really happened. He looked at Clara, grinned, and pulled her in for another kiss.

"Well it's about time," Adrian's voice rang out in the now silent room. Everyone burst into laughter. Ron, laughing with the others, held out his hand to Clara.

"Fancy a walk?"