Pansy

Granger was very irritable at school the next few days. I would not have connected it with the letter had it not been Weasley who was her main punching bag. Whether it was directly caused by the letter or whether it was simply something that had happened anyways, it was a sign for me to go on and to write the next letter. During lunch a week after I sent the letter I saw her talking to Weasley's sister. I casually passed the two of them while exiting the hall.

"… ever thought about what it would be like, you and Harry living together?", I heard Granger say while walking by. So she had thought about the questions I had put on the parchment. I inwardly grinned. Everything was going well. To top off my feeling of satisfaction, I saw Weasley going out of the hall the same time by himself.

"What's the matter, weasel, lost your girlfriend?", I mocked.

"Fuck off, Parkinson", he spat.

"Poor guy, all on your own…" I had decided to taunt him further. Suddenly, he had his wand pointed at me while muttering a spell. All I could do was put up a classic defensive wall charm, but luckily he had had no time to think of a more sophisticated spell either, so it blocked his hex easily.

"Weasley", McGonagall's voice came over from the teacher's desk. Everyone in the hall was now looking at us. "I am very disappointed of you. 30 points from Gryffindor. Come over here."

"Have fun, weasel", I said as goodbye, and exited the hall. I could feel his glare piercing my back, but I did not care in the slightest.

When I reached my dorm I was in the best of moods. I had just had put Ron Weasley into trouble, and my plan was going well so far. Time to send the second letter.

Dear Hermione,

I began in the same stile as last time.

I see you are still thinking about what I wrote. I am glad I was able to give you a little nudge in the right direction. You got to decide one day, you know that, but I will be patient. Take all the time you need. Should you decide to break things off with Ron and are interested in a blind date, just write your answer on this parchment and use the "relinquo" spell on it, it will come back to me so I can tell you where to meet me.

Your secret admirer

Somehow, the letter lacked something personal, so I decided to show her I was not totally ignorant concerning muggle arts, either.

PS: Hope you liked the music.

After a few spells, the parchment robin was in the air once again. I watched it fly away with a smirk and leant back in my chair. Once again, my task was to wait.

Hermione

The parchment robin appeared again when I was sitting in the common room the same day I talked to Ginny. It sat down on my shoulder while I was studying for Defense against the Dark Arts. I did not notice it at first, until it started singing. "The spring" from Vivaldi's "Four seasons". So whoever it was had some knowledge of at least muggle music, and quite some taste, too. I closed my eyes, and listened to the music. When I opened them again once the music had stopped, I could see everyone in the common room staring at me.

"A little gift from a friend", I said, as casually as possible. I seemed to be convincing, for most of the others bought it. Only Harry and Ginny were still looking at me, Harry suspiciously, Ginny knowingly. I was just glad Ron was not here. He was still serving detention for attacking Parkinson in the great hall. I had no idea what she could have said to enrage him enough to attack her in front of the teachers.

Ginny waved Harry away and came over to join me.

"Now", she said in a low voice so no one would think we were hiding something, but no one could overhear us, either, "what is your "secret admirer" writing this time?" I took the bird from my shoulder and once again, it started to unfold. Quite confident he was.

"You have to give it to him, that guy has balls", Ginny, who had been reading over my shoulder, giggled. I certainly agreed with her on that. "You're gonna take him up on that?"

"Certainly not!", I said. "What gives you that idea?"

She grinned cheekily. "Oh, I know you will. you're far too curious to let this slip until you know who he is." And she was right. I would write back and agree to meet him, just to find out who he was. And, I had to admit, the guy interested me.

H/P

I decided then and there that whoever wrote the letters was right about me and Ron. It just felt wrong to kiss him, wrong in a way I cannot explain why, but it did. And it was true just as well that if I continued this even if it felt wrong, the only way it could end was in us both feeling hurt. That was not such a brilliant perspective for the future, and if I ended our relationship right here I might be able to minimize the damage it would do. So the next day after the last class, I pulled Ron around the next corner. He seemed to misinterpret this because he tried to kiss me, but I turned my head to the side.

"We need to talk." The words everyone in a relationship dreaded. Ron however seemed perfectly oblivious.

"What about? Spill it!" He was not going to make this any easier for me.

"Ron…" There really was not gentle way to break this to him. "We're over."

Finally, something like realization dawned to him. "Over? As in: We are no longer an item?" I nodded.

"I am sorry, Ron. You will always be my friend, but never anything more. I wanted to believe we could be more, that I love you, and I know that I do, but I also know that I love you like a friend, not like my boyfriend." An awkward tension filled the room, then Ron said, rather helplessly:

"You have to know what is right for you. It is okay, really." Looking at him, I could see it was not, but there was not a lot I could do to change that. It would eventually be okay in the future, though.

"So", I said, both to ease the awkward tension in the room and because I really had not heard that story in before "what did Parkinson do to make you lose your temper like that?"

He gave a dry, hollow chuckle. "She asked me whether I had lost my girlfriend. Seems like there is actually someone in this school who has the sight, as Trelawney for sure has not." I turned red. Great, I thought, out of the frying pan and into the fire. I certainly had not intended to hurt him by saying something that reminded him of our break up. I should better leave until I could make things even worse.

"Well, I'd better leave now, bye", I muttered as a quick goodbye towards Ron, before I hastened down the corridor. It had been awkward, sure. Still, he had not flown of the handle, tried to convince me I was wrong or something along the lines of that, so I guess I should be happy. It could have been way worse.

H/P

Back in my dorm, my first thought was on whether to respond to the letter I got or not. It was irrational, given the fact I had just broken up with Ron. I guess I needed the distraction. I did not want to think about my failed relationship with him directly after the break up. I would have to later, and I knew I would, because that was the only way to save our friendship. Right now, however, I just wanted to get my mind off it. So instead, I thought about the letter. The invitation to meet the mysterious writer was both tempting and appalling. There was, of course, as Ginny had mentioned, my curiosity. I wanted to find out who he was. It already irked me to no end that I had not found out yet. I could not place the stile with someone, though I had tried. The letters were nice, sure, but there a certain kind of creepiness to meeting someone you possibly did not know that well, and who had not asked you face to face for whatever reason. It was a behavior that, under some circumstances, was rather stalkerish. Still, after the break up I was interested in meeting him with the purpose to get to know him simply to start something new and get over the whole Ron episode as quick as possible. And if he really was as nice as the letters let on, maybe I really could be with him?

Two to one. In the end, it was my curiosity that made me decide to write back, for I knew I would never forgive myself if I could not solve this riddle, but that was where I would end up at if I would not take the offer. So I picked up my quill and took the parchment out of my back to write my answer under the letter.

Dear Anonymous,

I broke things off with Ron recently, and as your letters were quite enjoyable so far I am not opposed to meeting you.

Hermione

Usually, short was not so much my style, but at the moment it seemed sufficient. After all, all that was queried was whether I would say yes or no.

"Relinquo", I whispered while pointing my wand at the parchment. It folded itself again, and, in the form of the robin it had already been once before, took off down the hallway to its destination, wherever that was. I sat back. Now all I was waiting for was a place and a time.