A/N: If I had to place this in the timeline, it'd be somewhat of a derivation of the events from 5th year. A Harmonious 5th year ;)

(Yesterday's chapter, today's will be posted at the same time)

Chapter 6

The pen hadn't been worth stealing. It had been one of the many stupid ideas he'd had in the past month, trying to get her attention, but it was useless. HE was always there.

It wasn't for lack of a stable, loving family, Ron mused, that he was absolutely rubbish at not only having feelings, but making them known too. When he had started to see Hermione differently, he was at a loss about what to do with that notion. When you liked a girl you made her your girlfriend - so in his head, Hermione would be his girlfriend soon. The problem was telling her he liked her, which he absolutely didn't know how to.

His attempts to get her attention had been fruitless time and time again. He had tried to talk to her, but they had no common themes to discuss except school, and Harry. He had invited her to watch him play a pick-up game of Quidditch, and she had gone, but the praises and concerns at the end fell onto Harry. He was coming to the realization that he had no chance of ever being her boyfriend, because her companion, her constant, was always Harry.

The Great Pen Heist was no different. Hermione had a quirk about this pen, her diary was the only thing she absolutely had to write in with the muggle pen. She called it a Beek? Bick? The name was irrelevant, she just had a preference for that flimsy looking blue pen. His plan was simple, since Hermione always wrote on her diary in the common room, by the fire: 1 - Wait until Hermione is distracted so she leaves her things on the chair; 2 - Grab her pen and hide it temporarily; 3 - Be casually in the area when she starts searching for it; 4 - "Find" the pen, be her hero.

But as always, Harry was there to save the day. They had just started searching, when Harry came through the portrait hole and immediately went to her.

"What happened Hermione? Why do you look so distraught?"

"I lost my pen, Harry. I- I left everything here for a second because a First Year boy fell down a couple of stairs, and when I came back it was gone!" Harry looked conflicted, and he turned to me.

"Any luck Ron?" "No mate," he answered, still trying to make the plan work, "but I'm searching." He turned resolutely, and bounded up the boys' stairs, yelling "Wait there a bit!". Ron stood there near Hermione, their faces with twin confused expressions. Harry came down a minute later, gasping a bit, a gift wrap in hand.

"Here, Hermione." He said, handing her the box. "I found this and thought of you, just hadn't had a good moment to give it to you before now, so... Open it!" His hand ran through his hair nervously, leaving it in even more disarray.

She opened the package to find a single pen, similar to the one he had burning a hole in his pocket, except the outside was golden.

"Oh Harry! It's beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed, hugging him.

As per usual in these moments, Harry and Hermione got lost in their own little world. Ron looked at them one last time as he walked away, thinking he had finally figured it out. Harry knew her, really knew her. Actually, they knew each other, and in a level Ron couldn't comprehend or even aspire to match. Yes, they were all friends, but they were always more. Maybe he liked her, he was sure he did, but what those two had, even if they didn't know it, was probably love. Innocent, effortless, pure love. Maybe one day, it'd be his turn...