CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AND THEN THERE WERE TWO
Harry looked at Ron incredulously. "Where did you get this? Does Hermione know you've got her diary?" He didn't have to ask if Ron had read it or not, it was obvious that he had.
"What I want to know is how long you two have been at it, Harry! Did you think I wouldn't find out? Did you two think it was FUNNY?!" Ron was furious and Harry felt he had every right to be.
Harry got to his feet and brushed his pants off. "First, we're going to talk to Hermione ..." He started.
"Why? That's her writing in that book! We don't need to drag her into this! It's between you and me!" Ron shouted.
"Because," Harry continued calmly, "This is her diary. What she writes in it is none of my business and none of yours."
Ron scowled at him but relented and stormed into the common room. He threw himself into a couch and crossed his arms defiantly.
Harry walked in and looked around the room to find that she was not there nor was Ginny. "Do you know where she is?" He asked tentatively.
"How should I know? I haven't seen her since dinner!" he snapped.
"Well, I'm going to go down to the library and see if she's still there. That's the only place I can think of that she'd be if she's not in bed. If she is in bed, then there's a good chance we'll have to put this off until tomorrow." Harry reasoned.
Ron shot out of his seat completely incensed. "Oh, it's not going to wait until tomorrow! NOT BY A LONG SHOT! And we are going down to the library to see if we can find her, I don't want to leave you two alone!" He stormed out of the common room on his way to the library.
This isn't good. I wonder what he read exactly. Harry looked down at the book in his hands and opened it.
September 1st.
Dear Diary,
Today I met the most wonderful boy I have ever seen!
Harry quickly closed the book before he got any farther. Oh, I hope she didn't write what I think she might have written ... He shook the thought out of his head. No, I trust her. She wouldn't write about that. He looked up and hurried out of the common room after his storming friend.
Harry had to gently shake her awake. Hermione had fallen asleep with her nose in a large dusty tome titled Dreams and their Interpretations: a Logical Study. She looked up with heavy eyes and smiled at Harry. "What time is it?" She yawned.
"It's late. We need to go somewhere and talk." Harry said pointedly with a frantic look in his eyes. "It's about what you've written in here." He handed her the diary and her face went white.
"Did ... Did you read it?" She asked apprehensively.
Harry shook his head quickly. "No, I didn't. But ..."
"I DID." Ron said from behind her. His face still red from rage.
Hermione's expression changed in an instant. "RONALD WEASLEY!" She whispered with rage. "HOW DARE YOU READ THIS?!" She waved the book around as if she were about to beat him about the head and neck with it causing Ron to flinch.
"I think we need to go someplace that doesn't have an angry Madam Pince." Harry quickly put in before the row got too far out of hand. "The seventh floor would be a good place." He whispered.
His two friends turned on him. He couldn't tell which one was the angrier and all he could do was put his hands up as a sign of peace. "It's not good to get into a row in the middle of the library is all I'm saying." He added immediately.
All three just looked at each other for a moment before Ron stormed out of the library. The couple followed shortly after collecting Hermione's books and reading material. It didn't take long to get to the seventh floor where they saw Ron walk up and down the corridor before suddenly blinking from sight. They followed suit and opened the door to the room of requirement.
The place didn't look like they had normally seen it during their D.A. meetings. All the effects that they used in their training sessions were gone. All that remained were three soft chairs and a lot of empty space. Harry closed the door as Ron began pacing the room.
"Ok, we're all here. Now tell me what is going on with you two!" Ron spat at the two of them.
Hermione looked flustered for a moment. "Just what are you talking about, Ron? What do you think is going on between us? It's obvious you've read my diary. What was in it that's got you so angry?"
Harry looked back and forth between his friends with concern but also with curiously. He was worried where this may take the three of them.
"The entire thing is about Harry! Every page! EVERY SINGLE BLOODY PAGE!" He bellowed, tears welling in his eyes.
Harry was on his heels. "This diary is all about me?" He asked weakly.
Hermione's face went pink and she looked to the floor. "Well ... um ... Ever since we met, I had a ... a crush on you, Harry." She admitted. "I-I call this my ... Harry journal. Every time I was worried, I wrote it down. Every time I thought about how you were suffering or feeling, I wrote it down." She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "We've all become so close and I needed a place to collect my thoughts. You know how I am, books, notes, writing. It was easier to put it all down on paper and reason things out."
Harry looked at her tenderly. "I had no idea that I worried you so much. I-I'm sorry." He looked at Ron who had calmed down but wasn't quite convinced.
She looked into his eyes and then walked over to one of the chairs and sat down, motioning for Ron and Harry to do the same. They sat in the two free chairs and waited for their friend to continue.
Hermione looked up at the two of them with tears streaming from her eyes. "I don't know what to do." She said, her lower lip trembling. "Ron, you're a great guy. I-I hoped that if I had you to care for and to care for me, I wouldn't worry so much about Harry. I care for you deeply and I don't want to lose you." She steadied herself and wiped her tears away. "To be fully honest with you, I've been in love with Harry since we met on the Hogwarts Express."
Ron's eyes went wide at the news and just stared back at her with his mouth agape.
"I'm sorry, Ron." She said again looking directly at him. "It's been wracking my brain since the fight at the Ministry. I thought I could do something about it. I didn't think that Harry cared about me in that way."
Harry cleared his throat. Ron continued to stare at his friend in disbelief. Hermione looked at the floor.
"I didn't think I felt that way about her either, Ron." Harry said after a moment. "I realize now that I've loved her since Snape's potion puzzle in our first year." Hermione turned to look at him. "I-I've always put my feelings aside because I knew you liked her. Then everything that happened after that made it hard to even think ..." He trailed off and a far away look settled in his green eyes. "It's been an emotional rollercoaster lately, hasn't it?" He smiled softly to no one in particular. "We've been through so much together. I mean, I love you like a brother, Ron, and I convinced myself that I only loved Hermione as a sister. I've never really felt love before, well not that I can remember."
Harry got up and started pacing the room. "I love Hermione, Ron. That isn't going to change." He looked at them both with determination in his eyes. "If loving her means that our friendship is lost ..." His shoulders slumped as he looked to the floor.
Hermione looked at him, a pleading look on her face.
"If it means that I have to make a choice between the two of you ... It's a choice that I wouldn't want to make, ever." He looked back at Ron. The look on his face made Harry feel like someone had just punched him in the gut. I never wanted this! He screamed at himself. "But it seems like I'm going to have to ..."
"Harry, don't! I'm not worth the friendship you two have!" Hermione was nearly hysterical, her eyes were wide and tears were flowing freely down her cheeks.
Harry looked at her and shook his head. "No, Hermione. You're worth more to me than life itself. I love you and there's only one way I could ever sway in a decision like this ..."
Ron had enough and shot out of his chair. He looked like he was ready to rip the place apart. With one look at the two of them he stormed from the room in silence.
Harry hung his head as his shoulders began to shake. Hermione rushed to his side and caught him as his knees gave out and sank to the floor unable to keep the tears at bay.
"Shh, it'll blow over, Harry." She sniffed as tears began to flow again. "It'll be ok. We've all been too close to give up on each other." She laid her head in the crook of his neck and held onto him with all she had. "I love you too." She whispered and he hugged her back.
They made their way slowly back to Gryffindor tower after the row with Ron, neither wanted to face him right away. They walked in silence and as time always seems to do when there is a task someone is trying to avoid it shrank away to nothing and the couple arrived.
"I'm going to have to talk to Ginny." Harry said quietly, not wanting to go into the room that lay beyond the portrait of the fat lady.
Hermione nodded. "I'll see if she's awake. Let's hope she hasn't heard it from anyone else first."
Hermione said the password and the portrait swung open quietly to admit them to their house's tower. The common room was empty and a suffocating silence lay about the room. "Do you want me with you?" She asked tenderly.
Harry shook his head. "No, I need to do this on my own." He let out a trembling sigh as he took a seat by the fireplace and pursed his lips in thought.
Hermione walked over quietly and kissed his cheek before she turned towards the girl's dormitory and disappeared up the stairs.
Several agonizing minutes later, Ginny stepped onto the carpet in her pajamas. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she looked wide awake.
"Hi, Harry." She said as she walked over to sit next to him. "Is there anything wrong? Hermione said you wanted to talk with me?" She took his hand and waited for his answer.
After a few minutes, he squeezed her hand once and let go. Harry looked into her eyes and he saw her face drop. "What is it, Ginny?" He asked out of concern, putting his own bad news to the wayside.
She looked to the floor and sighed. "You and Hermione are together, aren't you?" She returned her gaze to his surprised face which started to turn pink.
"H-How did you know?" He stammered. It was his turn to look at the floor and he shuffled his feet nervously.
She was quiet for a long time. "Well ... I have seen how close you two have been getting for a while now." She sighed heavily. "Well before you kissed me that night." She shook her head and laughed sadly. "I thought that I had triumphed where Hermione had failed. But I guess I was wrong ..." Tears welled in her eyes but she blinked them away.
"I'm sorry, Ginny." He looked into her face. "I really didn't want to hurt you. I've been pushing my feelings for her away for some time now. I convinced myself that she and Ron were pining for each other when it was actually I who was doing the pining."
"I know this is hard for you to say, Harry." She put her hand on his shoulder. "It's not easy to hear either, but I'll be ok and so will you."
He looked at his young friend. Why is this so easy? He asked himself.
"I am going to ask that you not try to talk to me for a while, though. I need some time." She stood up and walked back to the girl's dormitory. "Goodbye, Harry." She whispered and disappeared up the stairs.
Harry wasn't alone in the room for very long. Hermione had come back down to see if he was alright. He smiled at her through the sadness and relief of the night. "Well, I think that could have gone just a bit better, don't you?"
She sat down next to him and put her arms around his shoulders. "It could have but things will be ok, Harry. Ron will come around and things will get back to normal." She wiped his tears away and pulled him towards her. She could feel him release the pain and hurt that he'd been saving up over the years. She just held him, rubbed his back and whispered that everything would be fine.