And here we go! The last chapter before we return to the present. As requested, in the next chapter (or few chapters or whatever) I'll get to a flashback of the Yule Ball and the dance I keep hinting at. Then after that I might end this fic soon… I don't really want it to go past 10 chapters since that seems too long. I promise to try to end this well. Thanks to the people who've been reviewing me. I appreciate your input and your support. (:

xxxxx

Hermione couldn't bring herself to believe what Ginny said. Ron was… cheating on her? With Lavender Brown? Was that true? She didn't think Ginny would lie to her, but it was still hard to believe that Ron would ever do something like that. Ron loved her. She ran her fingers over the heart-shaped pendant Ron had given her because he hadn't known what else to give her on Valentine's Day. He loved her. She knew that.

She entered the common room and there he was, sitting in an armchair by the fire. He looked up, saw her, smiled, and held out his hand. She ran toward him and grasped it as he helped her into the armchair next to him. She smiled as she noticed he was trying to read through their latest History of Magic assignment. What was I thinking? This is Ron, she thought, as she watched him frown at the pages. But she couldn't escape the nagging feeling at the back of her mind. Ginny had never lied to her. And if ever she would, lying about Ron cheating on her didn't make any sense. But why…

And then suddenly, Hermione thought of something. Harry. If anything, Harry would know. Ginny confided in him a lot. And he always seemed to be mad at Ron, she realized, remembering all the times she'd caught Harry glaring at Ron. She got up. "I'm just going to go look for Harry, all right? I need to ask him something."

Ron looked up from his struggles. "Harry? I saw him heading down to Hagrid's about an hour ago. He should around there."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks, Ron." She started to get up. Ron reached up and grabbed her hand.

"Hermione, the match is starting soon, remember? Harry's probably preparing or something. I should be, too." He put the book down and got up. "I'll see you after the game?"

"Sure." Hermione leaned in and kissed Ron. "Good luck!"

"Yeah, Ron, good luck," said a voice from behind Hermione. She turned around and found Lavender Brown standing there, a patronizing smirk on her face. Before either Ron or Hermione could reply, Lavender winked and left the common room. Hermione turned to find Ron with a bemused expression on his face. He shook his head and with a smile at Hermione, went up to his room to get his Quidditch things and head down to the pitch.

xxxxx

Author's note: I suck at detailing sports so I'll just skip the Quidditch match and head over to the after, okay? Okay.

xxxxx

"Congratulations, Harry! That was brilliant!" Hermione jumped and hugged Harry. The Gryffindors were celebrating another victory against Slytherin. The game had been tight, with the two teams staying neck and neck until, after hours of struggling, Harry had beaten Malfoy to the Snitch and secured that +150 point victory. The Gryffindors had streamed onto the field screaming. Hermione had run with them, and after hugging most of the Gryffindor team, had surprised everyone by finding Draco Malfoy and giving him a small hug as well. Hermione had to laugh remembering how much happier Malfoy had looked after that.

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said as he hugged her back. Hermione pulled away and looked around.

"Have you seen Ron? I lost him a while ago when I went to get more butterbeer and now I can't find him again."

Harry looked around and felt anger rising in him again. If that git was where he thought he was… He opened his mouth to tell Hermione exactly where he thought Ron was… but then remembered that this was Hermione. Ginny must have told her already. If she was still looking for Ron, that must mean something. He just shrugged. "Haven't seen him since the game."

Hermione bit her lip and looked around the room again. "Thanks anyway, Harry." She smiled at him and walked toward the portrait hole. Another night where Ron was somewhere else. What was wrong? Was it because she'd been too focused on school lately to spend a lot of time with him? Had she been pusing him away? She started heading to the Library, then thought better of it and turned around and started climbing stairs. She wanted to be alone and she knew the perfect place to do so.

xxxxx

Draco Malfoy watched as Hermione climbed out the portrait hole looking rather downcast. He watched as she started off in the direction of the Library, paused, and started heading up. With a smile , he realized she was headed toward the Room of Requirement. He had already seen the Weasel git exit their dormitory, followed a few minutes later by that Brown skank. His Disillusionment Charm had prevented anyone from seeing him, and he was going to use it to his advantage as he followed Hermione up the stairs to the seventh floor corridor. And finally, he watched as she paced back and forth in front of the wall, until after her third pass the door revealed itself, and she opened it…

xxxxx

"You. Complete. Arse. Ronald. Weasely!" Hermione screamed, punctuating each word with a slap.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, I'm sorry! I didn't-"

"Shut up, Ronald, just –shut up!"

xxxxx

And now we're back! I hope my story is still making sense. xD I sort of got lost in the timeline a bit when I was writing the last few chapters, so I hope you guys didn't get lost too. Flashback is coming soon, I promise! I hope you're all still with me and reading this. I'm still figuring out how to end this thing properly, but I think I'll run with that ball thing you people have been suggesting. Review and suggest! Input and feedback are very much appreciated. (: Thanks to all my supporters!