Ron's fourth year was approaching rapidly, but more importantly, the Quidditch World Cup was coming first, and Ron's family had tickets. Mr. Weasley had given Ron and Ginny each one extra ticket to give to a friend, but by now Ron was panicking. He wanted to invite Harry; but that left Hermione out. And he knew Ginny would invite one of her friends from her year. So, he had tried to convince her to give it to Hermione.
"Ginny, who are you inviting?"
"Oh, Ron, you don't need to know. Besides, she's a lovely girl, and I'm sure you'll love her."
Ron grabbed her arm to keep her from walking away from him. "Ginny, you know I need that ticket for Hermione. She'll murder me if she doesn't get to go and both me and Harry do."
Ginny gave him a smirk. "Are you sure that's the real reason you want her to come?"
Ron frowned. "What? Yeah, you know how she is! Please give her the ticket!"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Boys…so naive to the realism under their very noses…anyway, I don't really think Hermione would care if you went to the World Cup without her, she doesn't have a particular interest in Quidditch, or haven't you noticed?"
"Ginny, you don't know her. When she finds out she's not invited, she'll flip out!"
Ginny's eyes seemed to flame up to the color of her hair. "Oh, but I do know her, Ronald. I may know her even better than you; I know some things that she couldn't even share with you."
"No one knows her better than me and Harry," Ron said stubbornly.
"Fine, be that way." And with that, Ginny stomped off to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
This had happened only a few weeks ago, and now Ron was in his room waiting for Ginny's friend's arrival. Tommorow, however, he, Fred and George, and their father were going to floo to Harry's house to pick him up.
"Ron, get down here, I want you to meet my friend!"
Ron rolled his eyes and sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was meet another one of Ginny's million friends. She was so much more popular than he was, and they both knew it.
Despite his urge to stay in his room, he made his way to the bottom of the stairs, where he found Ginny and her "friend".
It was Hermione.
Ron stood at the edge of the stairs, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. "Hermione, what -?"
"You're not the only one who can make a joke." She smiled warmly at him, the smile that he had memorized, only on her, he could never see Hermione's smile on anyone else. And to his surprise, she approached him and hugged him. He stood for only a moment with his arms at his sides, then he wrapped them around Hermione's small waist. When they broke apart, Ron turned to Ginny (who had been watching the scene with mild interest) and said, "You're horrible, Ginny."
Ginny's mouth fell open in mock anger. "I resent that! Hermione was in on it too."
Ron rolled his eyes. He then grabbed Hermione by the arm, and said, "C'mon Hermione, Harry's coming later, let's go out back."
"Hey, she's my friend too, whom I invited by the way!" Ginny yelled, grabbing Hermione's other arm.
"It's alright, Ginny," Hermione said, "We'll talk later."
Ginny glared, then let Hermione go. "Fine," she practically spat. She then stomped upstairs to her own room.
Ron turned to Hermione. "What are you going to talk about with her?"
"None of your business, Ronald. Besides, why would you care?"
"Anything you can say to Ginny, you can say to me," Ron insisted. "You've known me longer, and we've been friends longer."
Hermione turned her back and started for the back door. "Actually, Ron, there are a lot of things I say to Ginny, that I could never say to you."
Ron took three long strides to reach Hermione before she could escape. "Like what?" he asked as he held the door shut.
Hermione sighed. "Ron, if you have not noticed, I am not a boy. I am a girl, who is going to talk to other girls about things she can't talk about with boys, even if they are her best friends. I have things I talk to some of my friends about that my other friends don't know about."
She tried to open the door again, but Ron kept his hand pressed against it firm. Hermione shot daggers through her eyes at him, which made his insides cower, though he did not show it. She took out her wand and pointed it at his chest.
"Don't make me hex you," she threatened.
Ignoring her wand, Ron asked, "Alright, if you talk about different things with all your friends, what do you talk about with me that no one else knows about?"
"Ron, this is stupid –"
"AHA! You can't think of anything! Admit it! Everything we talk about is completely public to you!"
"Ron, STOP!" Hermione now looked like she was very nearly close to tears. "You've never told me anything that you said should be kept secret; otherwise I would've kept it private! And I've never told you anything because…"
"Because why?"
"Well, because I never really had anything to tell you. I only tell Ginny because I know she won't tell anyone! I can't be sure with you, Ron! I can't even be sure with Harry! You boys are always the same, and you can't seem to keep secrets!"
Hermione gave a huge sigh, and fell into a nearby chair. "I don't want to fight with you. I just…I'll tell you things if you promise not to scream it from the rooftops."
Ron snatched another chair, and placed it in front of Hermione's. "When have I ever shouted about anything that you wanted private?"
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. It's not really you or Harry, I just don't feel like I can trust boys."
"Why?"
Hermione sniffed. "When I was five, I had a best friend who was a boy, and I told him everything that I kept only to myself. And one day, I came to school, and I learned he had told everyone my secrets. Life with other people my age was never the same again, and I hated it. That's why I was glad to go to Hogwarts, because I could make a fresh start."
Ron scooted his chair closer to Hermione's, and looked into her eyes. "Hermione, listen to me. I would never do anything like that to you. We may have loads of fights, and there will be more of them, you can be sure of that. But I would never do something so horrible it would scar you for life."
Hermione smiled. "Thank you, Ron. I have to say, I've been unsure about trusting you and Harry in this way. But now that I've known you for three years, I think I can really trust both of you."
Ron grinned. "So, will you tell me your deepest, darkest secrets?"
Hermione laughed. "Only if you tell me your deepest, darkest secrets."
"Please, my deepest, darkest secrets are already public…"
"I wouldn't be too sure of that…"
Ron jumped up and Hermione followed suit. He opened the back door for her and they both strolled to the forest beyond the Burrow.
A few moments later, they were lying on the forest floor and looking up at the sky.
"Okay, you start," Ron said eagerly. "Tell me something not even Ginny knows."
Hermione made a face. "That's hard, Ginny knows almost everything." She put on the face she always made when she was thinking, the face Ron always loved to see. "I've got one."
"Alright."
"Did you know…I've been playing piano for nearly ten years?"
Ron raised his eyebrows. "Are you good?"
Hermione laughed. "Well, I should be if I've been playing that long! I started when I was five, and if I was better in front of crowds, I would've wanted to be a musician. But I've decided I want a job in this world, maybe with the Ministry."
"I did not know this."
"Sometimes you learn things by listening to me, Ronald. Maybe you should try it more often."
Ron smirked. "Ha ha. Tell me more."
"No! It's your turn!"
This was the part of the game Ron didn't want to participate in. What could he tell her? He didn't want to tell her anything that was really secret, that absolutely no one knew about except himself. And anything besides that was completely public. He thought hard, and he was able to remember something.
"I saw you in London before we officially met."
Hermione turned on her side so she was facing him. "Really? When?"
"We were both about five. I was with Mum, the twins, and Ginny and we had gone into Muggle London because…Dad was doing something for work…I can't really remember why we were there. All I remember is seeing you. We had gone into a bookstore, and there you were. I only saw you reading in a chair at the back at the shop, but I don't think you saw me.
"When I saw you on the train for the first time, I thought you looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen you. Then I remembered a few months later, but I never told you, because it just never came up in a conversation."
There was silence between the two of them. Then Hermione said, "Ron, how d'you remember that from when you were five?"
Ron shrugged. He honestly didn't know. Anyway, at the time, Hermione had meant nothing to him, and he had no idea why he had remembered her from simply seeing her in a bookstore. Now, however, he knew he would always remember her, no matter where in the world she was.
"Right, your turn."
"Alright…erm…got one."
"Shoot." He imitated her and turned on his side to face her.
"Did you know you and Harry are the two people I think about the most?"
This sparked Ron's interest. She really thought of him the most? And Harry, of course, but Ron hoped she thought about him a bit more than Harry.
"Why?"
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. I think it's because I worry a lot, and you two are the people I worry about the most."
Ron's head was now raised from the ground so he could hear better. "What do you worry about with us?"
Hermione swallowed. "Well…I worry about Harry and You-Know-Who of course…but with you I worry about school more. I'm so afraid you're going to flunk out any day now, Ron, that's why I help you so much with your homework."
Ron frowned. "Hey, I'm not that bad."
"I guess not. I think it's because I care so much about my own work, I think that anyone else who slacks off only a little needs all the help they can get."
Ron grinned. "You care too much, Hermione. You need to relax."
"Are you sure about that, Ronald? Maybe you just need to keep up."
"Don't worry," Ron said. "I've been trying to keep up with you since the day I met you."
Hermione smiled. "Your turn."
Ron sighed. "Hm…did you know I hate oranges?"
Hermione laughed. "Oranges?"
Ron nodded. "The one food I won't touch. I'll eat anything else before I would ever eat an orange."
"Why?"
"I think it's because it reminds me of my hair. I hate my hair."
Hermione smirked. "I like your hair. Better than mine."
"Mine's alright, I guess." She must have been going mad, she liked his hair. No one liked his hair.
"It's your turn," he said to Hermione.
Hermione looked like she was thinking hard. Then her expression softened, as if she finally understood something.
"Did you know you're my best friend?"
His face whipped around to stare at her. He surely had never met anyone quite like Hermione Granger, so intelligent and secretive…so loving…
"I did know that actually." Ron flashed his lovely grin at her. "Did you know you're my best friend?"
Hermione rested her head on the ground. "I do now."
