Hermione sat down on her bed, hands shaking of adrenaline. A new riddle. Ron sent me a new riddle! She read through it quickly, scanning the lines to get a general idea about it. Like its predecessor, it was short and puzzling. She mentally cleared her timetable, wanting to solve the riddle as fast as possible. She imagined herself sitting in the dormitories undisturbed for hours, working on finding an answer to the riddle. Then, she realized she had accepted Ron's invitation to play wizard's chess around 2 'clock. She checked her alarm clock. It was half past twelve, enough time to start working on the riddle.
"I'm only one away from a flock.
you should call on me if you have the time,
because I've got lots of that in stock,
and with that, I end this rhyme."
Hermione read the riddle over and over, noticing the three hints Ron was giving her. The first was "only one away from a flock". She had no idea what Ron was hinting about there, but some logical thinking might come in handy. The second hint was "call on me if you have the time", perhaps hinting about the item taking a long to use. The third hint, "I've got lots of that in stock" probably hinted about it having some reservoir or container.
Hermione! You've got to think logically! I want to impress Ron by giving him the answer during our game of chess. That means I've got one and a half hour left to get it together. Hermione focused on the riddle. She went about it like every other puzzling problem she'd ever solved. Firstly, she'd look at it globally, not really trying to solve it, but trying to find the 'bigger picture'. After that, she'd look at each line individually, trying to find any hints hidden in the text. Lastly, she'd try to put everything together, expecting to find the answer.
Hermione looked at the clock. She had been staring at the riddle for over twenty minutes. All she'd been able to think about was sheep and telephones. Her mind had been wandering off to Ron frequently too, remembering the passionate and gentle kiss he had given her only an hour earlier on the quidditch pitch. She felt her stomach teaching somersaults to her brain every time she remembered him putting his hand on her cheek. It was blissful, thinking about that moment, but it was rather getting in the way of her finding the answer to Ron's riddles.
One away from a flock, Hermione thought, It's probably not something as simple as 'a sheep', so what does he mean by this? Is he talking about groups of things, or items? Hermione glanced down at the alarm clock on her trunk. It was ticking along merrily; indicating only sixty-five minutes were left. Hermione closed her eyes, trying to block out all thought unrelated to the riddle. One away from a flock isn't about the amount of something, it's about something else. So Ron doesn't mean flock is important, but...
In the next hour, Hermione slowly started to piece things together. She stopped thinking about creatures, and zoomed in on the word flock.
"Of course!" she said suddenly, "He means the word 'flock', not a flock in general! What I'm looking for is spelled almost the same like the word flock."
Hermione picked up a piece of paper and scribbled down as many words as she could that resembled 'flock'. She had written down almost ten words. She looked at her trunk again. The alarm clock's long arm was pointing at the nine; she only had fifteen minutes left.
"If only I had just a little bit more-"
Time!
I'm so stupid. she thought, I can't believe I've been looking at the answer all this time.
She picked up the alarm clock and stared at it for a while.
"You do have lots of time in stock don't you?," Hermione said happily after twenty-three seconds, "and when I need to know how late it is, I'll be sure to call on you."
Hermione stood up. She still had ten minutes before Ron and her would start their game of chess. She walked up to the fifth years' dormitories and knocked on the door. A quick chat with Ginny would help her relax. Perhaps she'll lend me her eye-liner... A brown-haired girl with round, blue eyes opened the door.
"Oh, hello Hermione!" she said cordially, "Ginny isn't here right now, she went out to the library to study for her OWL's."
Hermione smiled as she remembered her own stress and insecurities during last year. She had been learning frantically, trying to prepare as best as she could for the OWL exams. It of course didn't help much, the more she learned, the more tensed she got; causing her to forget most of the things she had learned.
"Thanks," Hermione said to the brown-haired girl, "I guess I'll talk to her later then."
"Ginny told us you've been getting more interested in using make-up," the girl said before closing the door, "I can see it's paying off. You look really pretty."
Hermione wasn't sure, as she wasn't really in the position to see, but she assumed that she was positively beaming in joy. A girl she'd never really spoken to had just told her she looked really pretty. Can this day get any better? It's like in one of those stories. Ron kissed me, I've solved his riddle and people tell me I'm pretty.
Two o'clock. Hermione was sitting in the common room behind an old board of chess. It looked old. There were some deep scratches in the side of the board, probably left by an overly enthusiastic queen or king. They had been there for years. Hermione remembered seeing them there the first time she had laid eyes on the board. The rest of the board was in similar state. It was scratched, bruised and battered. It wasn't in poor shape though, its pockmarked surface merely added to the overall feel of authenticity.
Ron came downstairs. He was carrying his own pieces of wizard's chess. Compared to Hermione's, they looked new. Hermione wasn't very good at chess, only winning occasionally against Ron, and she had the feeling he'd let her win those matches. Ron was a great strategist, planning ahead at least three or four moves. Hermione already had trouble thinking ahead two moves. While Harry and her would try to find some way to get his bishop or queen, Ron would sacrifice it to mate their king. Only when Ron was playing against both of them did they really stand a chance. This had resulted in Ron's pieces staying in quite a good state, while their pieces were often reduced to parts of chalk and stone.
Ron sat down in front of her. He was smiling broadly.
"Hey Hermione," he said, "Good to see you've made it."
"I had enough time," Hermione hinted, "It's amazing how much you can do in ninety minutes."
"I'm sure it is," Ron said while putting his pieces on the board. His knights were waving their swords menacingly. "did you get any work done?"
"Yes, I've been working around the clock to get finished in time."
Ron and Hermione exchanged a silent glance. Hermione was beaming with happiness, knowing Ron knew full well what she was talking about. Ron was looking at her with a knowing glance, confidently making his first move.
"Did you enjoy the riddle?" Ron asked, as his knight moved to square F3.
"Yes," Hermione said, prodding a pawn forward, "It was very good. You're really good at it."
Ron smiled, not taking his eyes off the board.
"Have you got any ideas about where the answers are pointing to?" Ron asked. His pawn moved forward slowly, only taking only one step to E3.
Hermione scanned the board quickly. Then, she looked up at Ron. He was looking at her dreamily, which made her feel twittery in her stomach, yet also highly aware of herself and her appearance.
"Not yet.", she said quickly, avoiding his admiring looks and prodding an unwilling pawn forward, "But then, you can't draw a triangle with only two lines, can you?"
"I dunno. I guess not." Ron said, while moving his bishop from F1 to B5. Slowly, he moved forward, like he was going to whisper something to her. She leaned in too, curious as to what he was going to say.
"Hermione, when can we start seeing each other officially? I know you think it's best to wait, but then, you also thought about S.P.E.W., so not everything you think of is a necessarily brilliant..."
Hermione didn't know whether to be angry at him for joking about S.P.E.W. or to be flattered by him for saying she was mostly brilliant. Before she could react though, Ron looked down.
"Oh, and by the way," he whispered gently, "check."
"I guess I don't have to give an answer that question then," Hermione said quickly, avoiding the subject skilfully.
Ron looked at Hermione's trembling king. "Let's go for a walk. I don't think your mind is really into chess right now."
Hermione agreed. She'd been busy talking to Ron so much, choosing her words so very delicately, that she'd completely lost oversight over the match. Ron had almost beaten her in three turns!
Ron and Hermione passed the great hall on their way out. Draco was standing there, showing off to some Slytherin girls.
"Aww look everybody, it's mister and misses Weasel."
Hermione had expected Ron to send an insult back, like they usually did. Instead, he did what Hermione least expected him to do. He ignored Malfoy completely.
"What's wrong Weasley? Cat got your tongue and your mummy can't afford a new one?"
Here it goes. Ron'll probably explode..
The group of Slytherins was laughing haughtily, probably very amused by Draco's insults. Ron didn't even react. It was as though Draco wasn't even there. Ron walked through the door, and only then did he show any sign of having noticed Draco. He looked over his shoulder, eyeing Draco in a pitying way. It was as though Ron was telling Draco he excused him for being childish.
"Well" Hermione said, "that was rather unlike you. Are you feeling okay?"
Ron chuckled. "It took some restraining, I'll grant you that. I had an enlightening conversation with Dumbledore about Draco a while ago."
Hermione looked at Ron. Why did you discuss Draco with professor Dumbledore?
"I went by his office a few days ago," Ron said while they passed the Whomping Willow, "It was just after our first kiss in the prefect's bathroom."
A pair of Ravenclaw first-years was practising flying on a broom on the grass. One of them slipped off after going up only a few feet, causing his broom to fly off on it's own. It flew directly towards the Whomping Willow that quickly reduced it to splinters. Hermione and Ron walked up to the boy.
"Are you okay?" Ron said while pointing his wand towards the splinters under the Whomping Willow.
"Raparo" Hermione mumbled, causing the broom to mend.
"Accio Broomstick", Ron said aloud, causing the broom to shoot away from the branches before the Whomping Willow could smash it again. Ron snatched it out of mid-air and, after giving the boys some pointers, they moved on.
"So what did you want to speak with professor Dumbledore about?" Hermione asked again.
Ron was gazing over the fields towards the shore of the lake. Firenze was standing there, looking up to the sky.
"There he is, standing there like a living statue.", Ron said, "I've heard that he's been going on about impending tragedies and the like for months now. Something to do with Mercury rising in Pisces or whatever."
"Ron," Hermione said urgently, "I asked you a question..."
"I know, I know." Ron said reluctantly, "I got quite a talking to by Lavender that day. She told of. Said some things that made me feel like- like a loser. I went up to Dumbledore to tell him I wanted out of prefect duty."
"But Ron.." Hermione said, but before she could complete her sentence, Ron continued.
"I guess I've been doubting myself too much. It's the same with quidditch, really. I was just a little unsure about everything. Dumbledore really helped me see things straight. He's a great man."
"So you didn't quit?" Hermione asked.
"And miss out one all those prefect meetings with you? Never"
Hermione smiled. They were coming round the other side of the castle, where the grassy slopes were overgrown here and there by trees. It offered a perfect place to sit and spend an afternoon. Even Trelawny, whom hardly ever left the protection of her tower, was sitting in the light of the early spring. She had laid out a small plaid, embroidered with some obscure runes. She was shuffling a pack of large cards, each about twice the size of of a chocolate frog card.
"Let me see," Trelawny said peacefully, "The first card is The Fool, indicating a life of ignorance behind the subject."
Trelawny seemed to be somehow soothed, like she had expected to see another card.
"The Lovers", Trelawny said in a curious voice, "indicating the subject is currently on a point of making a choice or decision."
"The third card is Judgment, giving the subject the opportunity to correct earlier mistakes and put the past behind."
Hermione and Ron were waking up to Trelawny slowly, both listening to what she was saying. Ron noticed they were the only two students around for quite some distance.
"The fourth card might stop or prevent the next state, if given the opportunity to."
Trelawny flipped the card off the top, revealing a tower, crumbling at the top. Two men were falling from it, one crowned and old, another young and uncrowned. Trelawny stood up immediately, like she'd seen a ghost.
"Not that one again!" she cried hysterically, "Not the lightning-struck tower."
She threw the rest of the tarot cards down and ran back to the castle.
"What was that all about?" Ron said when he picked up the cards on the plaid. He flipped off the top card, revealing card Twenty-One, The World.
"I guess she's just overworked," Hermione suggested, "let's just gather up her cards and give them to one of the professors. They'll return them to her."
Ron and Hermione picked up the cards and shuffled them. Ron took them all and looked at her.
"When can we tell people we're together, Hermione?" Ron said while holding out all the tarot cards like a fan.
Hermione reached out and picked one.
"It's too early Ron," Hemione said while looking at her card, "I don't want people to be offended."
Hermione flipped the card over; it was brightly colored, featuring two figures side by side. Behind the first figure, a woman, was an apple tree with a snake. The card's number was six, The Lovers. Slowly, the card fell out of Hermione's hand. Before it touched the ground, Hermione's lips found Ron's. She pulled him in close, her fingers wrapping themselves into his hair, knowing she wasn't going to let go soon. God! This feels so right... The sun was shining with a pleasant warmth, the plaid was invitingly soft and Ron was unmistakably irresistible. Hermione soon found herself lying on the plaid and in a close embrace with Ron.
"I'm sorry Ron, but we just can't tell anyone yet," Hermione said, after some passionate kissing. She was sitting on his lap, her arms around his neck and her face touching his. The tips of their noses touched and slowly circled each other.
"You know I want to tell everyone too. You know I want to be able to kiss you in a crowd, hug you before going to class or even just hold hands with you in the corridors. Lord knows, I'd love to do a whole lot more. We just have to wait a little longer. Let the dust settle. It's only been a week ago when you broke up with Lavender. She never shows it, but I don't think she's over you yet." Judging by the puffy, red eyes she has when she wakes up in the morning.
Ron nodded, looking into her eyes. "I know, I know. I have that effect on women."
Hermione laughed. She hugged Ron firmly, pressing her head against his. She knew they would be there for a while, making up for all the months they had been too shy to talk about their feelings for one another.
A/N: Don't worry, this is not the end of the story, dark times are ahead.