A/N: Nothing happens in this chapter. There's a lot of dialogue that I enjoyed writing… and that's about it. Also, be warned, I'm attempting a Ron/Luna pairing. There's something fascinating about the two of them, though this is a H/Hr fic and I probably won't be dwelving very deeply into any other ship.
"Hold on," Harry said frantically as they neared the Transfiguration classroom.
"Harry… what…?"
"Shh!" he said sharply, creeping towards it. "They're talking about us."
"Oh, not again," Hermione sighed. "I'm so tired of gossip…"
"Shh!" Harry hissed again. "I'm trying to listen."
Hermione shot him a look, but approached the classroom slowly.
"….Where did you say Miss Granger and Mr. Potter went? And it had something to do with Hagrid?" McGonagall asked faintly.
"They're working out they're issues," Ron said loudly. "Don't expect they'll be back for a while. Those two have a lot to work through…"
"Betrayer!" Hermione muttered.
"They've been gone for a while now," Seamus said. "I hope no one's been hurt."
"Well, you know," Dean said, snickering. "It's Harry and Hermione."
"First they'll try and talk out their problems," Ron added. "Then they'll try and magic them out. And then they'll both come crying to me."
"I'm never confiding in him again," Hermione said.
"Shh!" Harry snapped.
"My money's on Harry," Seamus went on. "He knows all that Dark Arts mojo that Hermione doesn't it."
"Yeah, but let's face it, Hermione's loads brighter than Harry can ever hope to be," Dean said. "Ron, what do you think?"
"Hermione," he answered immediately. "Hermione has something Harry doesn't. She can cry."
"Very true," Seamus said with a sigh. "The one thing women have that will disarm us men in a second. Harry's so screwed."
"BE THAT AS IT MAY!" McGonagall roared from the front of the room. "We still have class."
"This is ridiculous!" Hermione cried, grabbing Harry's sleeve and yanking them into the room.
Everyone turned eagerly in their direction, taking in their matching red-eyes and frazzled experiences. Harry flushed and stared at the ground.
"We're sorry, Professor," Hermione said, her voice quivering slightly. "We were just…err… there was an errand that Hagrid sent us on to do."
"An errand?"
"Yes," Hermione answered, meeting McGonagall's gaze. "You can ask him if you like. He said that it was all his fault."
"And what was the nature of this errand?"
"Personal, Professor. It would be very mortifying for Hagrid if anyone found out."
"I have no doubt of that," McGonagall said coolly. "Very well. Sit down and kindly stop taking up precious minutes of my time."
Hermione nodded, yanking Harry along. They sat next to Ron, who was grinning at them happily.
"So?" he asked eagerly, as soon as McGonagall's back was turned.
"So what?" Hermione said.
"So… is Harry going to be playing Quidditch in three weeks?"
"Yes," Hermione whispered delicately.
"So you're back together, then?"
"No… not exactly…" Harry answered slowly. "We're friends."
Ron's jaw dropped. "Friends?" he hissed.
Hermione nodded. "We thought that was the best thing for right now."
Ron groaned. "That'll last long…"
Harry shot him a look. "We've always been friends first."
"Friends with benefits," Ron muttered.
"She wants me to give her a sexual favor in return for her homework help," Harry shared quietly. "I'm not joking, either."
"HARRY!" Hermione said shrilly.
Ron and Harry grinned at each other.
"You two are not funny!" Hermione hissed, pulling out her notes and beginning to scribble madly.
Harry was impressed, considering she'd missed the beginning of McGonagall's lecture. She seemed to have a clear idea of what was going on, however, and continued to stare down at her parchment.
When class ended, the three of them happily made their way to the Great Hall. Ron couldn't stop grinning and he walked between them, chatting animatedly.
"Do you know what this means?" he chirped happily as they sat down for lunch.
"I no longer have to get fetch Harry's books from the library! I don't have to walk Hermione to and from her classes! I can sit with BOTH of you in Potions next!" Grinning, Ron decided to celebrate by heaping massive amounts of food on his plate.
Harry shot Ron an amused look as he slid in across from him. Hermione sat next to him, and Harry instinctively tensed, very aware of how close she was. She threw a large piece of parchment at him. "Here," she said. "This is how you'll be arranging your time for the next three weeks."
Harry studied it, his jaw dropping. Hermione had scheduled in everything. Times for when he'd be eating, times for when he'd be taking bathroom breaks, what he'd be studying and when, when he'd be sleeping, she'd even penciled in 'free time.'
"When did you… how did you… do this so quickly?" Harry asked, aghast.
"I did it during Transfiguration," Hermione said calmly, filling her plate with food.
"I thought you were taking notes."
Hermione waved her hand. "I already knew what Professor McGonagall was covering. I'm weeks ahead."
"You are?"
"Yes," she said tightly. "I did a lot of work so I didn't have to think about you."
"Oh."
Ron looked eager to change the subject. He grabbed Hermione's schedule from Harry's hands and hooted with laughter. "Bloody brilliant, Hermione! You even scheduled in times for when Harry and I are allowed to talk!"
"Well," Hermione said crossly. "Clearly Harry doesn't have any kind of worth ethic, or he wouldn't be where he is right now. He wanted my help, so we're doing this my way… or not at all."
"Poor lad," Ron said with a shake of his head. "There goes his life…"
"Oh, don't worry," Hermione said innocently. "I made up a schedule for you, too."
Ron stared at her, his eyes widening.
"Well, you know," Hermione said in a patronizing voice. "I can't help him learn everything. First of all, I don't even have Divination with Harry. Second of all, I have my own work to do, don't I?"
"I don't like where this is going," Ron muttered.
Hermione chucked another large piece of parchment at Ron. "Here's yours," she said with barely concealed glee. "I know you're just as eager as I am to catch Harry up."
Harry tried in vain to stifle his grin.
Ron glared at him. "Just shut up. Shut up."
"Do you get bathroom breaks, as well?" Harry asked lightly, trying to grab at Ron's schedule.
Ron tugged it out of his grasp. "Hey, Harry! I just noticed… your eyes are looking a little red…"
Harry glared at him.
"Don't be silly, Ron." Hermione sniffed. "Why would Harry's eyes be red?"
Ron rolled his eyes. "Because," he said slowly, as if speaking to a child. "Harry's very emotional. He cries a lot over you, you know."
"I do not!"
"Well, fine!" Hermione snapped. "If you don't want to follow the schedule, we can just call the whole thing off. It's not my stupid Quidditch game."
"Hey!" Harry said loudly. "I have no problem with the schedule!"
"You know what?" Ron yelled, completely ignoring Harry.
"What?" Hermione said, standing up.
Ron stood, too, and Harry hunkered down, trying to pretend like he wasn't a part of what was going on.
"I don't need a schedule to help Harry! I've been doing it FINE on my own for the past month, thanks!"
"YEAH?" Hermione shouted. "Is that what you think? Then why is he FAILING ALL HIS CLASSES?"
"WE'RE DOING FINE!" Ron bellowed.
"Err," Harry said quietly, as they continued to shout over his head. "I can hear you guys, you know…"
"Oh, really?" Hermione hissed, completely oblivious to Harry. "Fine, were you? So did he just HAPPEN to RUN into your fist? Is that it?"
"Door…" Harry protested weakly. "I ran into a door!"
Ron's face turned red. "Like you were doing much better!" he scoffed. "Hiding in the library when he CLEARLY needed YOU!"
"Well, at least I was still PAYING ATTENTION! That's more than I can say for some people!"
Harry stood up between them. "Okay!" he said loudly. "I appreciate the concern… I really do. But can you please stop yelling about me in front of everyone?"
Ron and Hermione's eyes ticked to him, as if noticing him for the first time. Hermione grabbed at Ron's schedule and clutched it her to her chest.
"Fine," she snapped. "I'm sorry I suggested it. Ron you can help Harry however you like. However," Hermione fixed Harry with a piercing stare. "If you want to play in your next Quidditch match, Harry, I strongly suggest trying to convince Ron to use my schedule."
Harry shifted uncomfortably. "Err…"
"Yeah," Ron said loudly. "Or you could tell Hermione that our way is fine, thanks, and that we don't need to be told when we can go to the bathroom."
"Err…"
Hermione and Ron stared at him, puffing heavily, clearly awaiting his answer. Harry, for his part, didn't think it was very fair of them to make him have to chose between them.
Slowly he sat back down. "I refuse to chose between the two of you," he snapped. "The three of us can eat lunch together-like normal, or you two can continue carrying on and I'll leave."
Harry let out a tiny sigh of relief when they sat back down next to them. They continued to stare daggers at each other through their eyes, but Harry thought it was quite the improvement.
"I think you guys have U.R.S.T." Harry said abruptly.
They looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about, Harry?" Ron asked.
"Well, you know…" Harry said hesitantly. "U.R.S.T."
"No, we don't," Hermione said. "Or we wouldn't be asking."
Harry sighed, wondering why he'd brought it up in the first place. "Well it's.…" In a rush he said, "Unresolved sexual tension."
Ron's eyes popped. "WHAT?"
Harry shrugged hopelessly. "Arguing… it's one of the most telltale signs of U.R.S.T."
"Harry, don't be ridiculous," Hermione said faintly. "There's nothing unresolved between Ron and I. Especially sexually."
Hermione put a reassuring hand over his own, and the contact sent such a jolt to Harry's system that he jumped and banged into the table.
Ron watched him through narrowed eyes. "Harry, you git. Hermione and I aren't the one's with U.R.S.T."
It took Harry nearly five minutes to figure out what Ron was talking about. He and Hermione were reaching for the pepper at the same time when their hands brushed again. He snatched his away, knocking the pepper into Neville's plate of food as he did so. Ron gave him a knowing look. Harry snuck a glance at Hermione, who looked rather flustered.
"Oh…" he said slowly.
"Yes," Ron said. "Yes. Very good."
***
The Trio was back together again. The news spread quickly through the school. As did the news that Harry and Hermione were not back together, but that they were, however, back on friendly terms. To Harry, things were definitely beginning to look up. Hermione was quickly catching him up on his schoolwork (though Harry found her mere presence to be somewhat of a distraction) and he and Ron had gotten their friendship back to their old familiarity. However, Ron still had yet to bring up Quidditch. Outside of their impending match, of course.
"We're so doomed," he moaned, one morning at breakfast. "We only have one week left. Harry and I haven't made any progress in Divination… his skull's too thick to absorb anything."
"Thanks, Ron."
Hermione sniffed. "You know, you could use my schedule. You'll have to tweak it a bit, of course."
Ron glared at her. "We're doing fine. We'll make it."
Harry was pretty sure that they weren't doing fine and that they wouldn't make it. And, as difficult as Hermione's schedule was to maintain, it was at least working, which was a little more than he could say for Ron's Work When we Have Time (Which Happens to be Never) policy.
"Ron," he said hesitantly. "I think it might be a good idea if we just tried it Hermione's way. Just to see what would happen."
At that moment he and Hermione both reached for the butter, brushing hands as they did so. They pulled away, blushing furiously. Harry resisted the urge to start cursing.
Ron rolled his eyes. "I can see that this 'just friends' thing is working out brilliantly."
"Shut up," Harry snapped, reaching for the butter again. He passed it to Hermione, who was trying very hard not to look at him. "Well," he asked crossly. "Are we going to use Hermione's schedule or not?"
Ron let out a breath. "Fine! We'll try it! But I'm going to the bathroom when I want!"
"Bathroom?" a disinterested voice said from behind Ron. "Bathrooms are nice…"
Ron jumped and swiveled around. "Luna?"
Luna Lovegood smiled faintly and sat down next to him. "People have died going to the bathroom before…" she said dreamily.
Ron just stared at her.
Luna stared right back at him, her large eyes blinking lazily. "I would hate to see you die in a toilet."
Ron looked fairly horrified by the idea. "Yeah," he muttered. "I would kind of hate that, too."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Hermione snapped. "No one has ever died in a TOILET!"
Luna didn't appear to notice her. "It can happen, you know," she said softly, still talking to Ron. "People never pay attention when they're going to the loo… you never know what you could be sitting on…"
Ron shifted a few feet away from her. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."
"Your hair!" Luna said suddenly.
Ron touched his hair in sudden panic. "What? What's wrong with my hair?"
"It's red. That's the colour of love, you know."
Ron shifted a little further away from her. "Err… that's… interesting."
"I like red," Luna said softly, staring at a spot somewhere above Ron.
Ron looked up, arching to see what she was looking at. He scowled, eyeing only the ceiling of the Great Hall (it was overcast). "You're very strange," he muttered.
"Yes…" Luna said. "Yes… people say that about me. It's never bothered me..."
Ron's face heated up. "Erm… that's right. It's not necessarily a bad thing."
Luna chuckled softly. "I don't mind that you think I'm strange."
"Good," Ron said, sounding bewildered. "That's… good, Luna."
She beamed happily at him.
"I hope you do well in your next Quidditch match!" she chirped happily, standing up. She seemed to think over her words and frowned. "Of course, I rather hope Gryffindor loses since you're playing Ravenclaw, but perhaps you'll make many nice saves and it'll be your Seeker who messes up."
"Hey!" Harry said. "I heard that, you know!"
Luna blinked at him in disinterest. "Oh," she said. "It's you."
"Yeah," Harry said. "It's me. The Gryffindor Seeker."
Ron didn't seem to be paying any attention to Harry. He was watching Luna with a slightly dazed expression. "Yeah… it will probably be Harry who messes up. You know, he might not even be playing."
Harry glared at him furiously. "I heard that!"
"You'll be brilliant, Harry," Hermione said softly. "You always are. Now shush and let them flirt."
Harry's head snapped around. "Let them do what?" he demanded.
"Shh!" Hermione chastised again, watching Ron and Luna in great interest.
"I'll sing Weasley is Our King," Luna shared softly. "Before the match… to give you some good luck. Good luck is very important, you know."
"Yeah…" Ron said. "I've heard that it is."
"I know all the words."
"To luck?"
"To Weasley is Our King. I memorized them. Last year."
"Really? You did?"
Luna nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes. It's really quite a beautiful song, isn't it?"
"Well, it is about me, after all."
Luna let out a loud bark of laughter that rang through the hall and caused many students to turn their heads in interest. "Oh, Ronald. You make me laugh…"
Ron's eyes glinted eagerly. "I do?"
"Yes, you do."
Ron grinned. "It's, well… I hope to see you before the game!"
Luna blushed slightly and, grabbing her books, hurried off. Ron stared after her, a slightly bemused expression on her face. Finally, he turned back to Harry and Hermione and shook his head. "Girl's totally mad," he muttered.
Hermione smirked knowingly. Harry and Ron stared at her in slight suspicion.
"Well, what is it?" Harry finally asked.
"She fancies you, Ron," Hermione said.
Ron's eyes widened. "She does not!"
"And she has for a long time, too," Hermione added. "It's a wonder you never noticed."
"Loonie Lovegood fancies me!" Ron yelped. "That's… she's… she's completely off her rocker, Hermione!"
Harry sniggered. "Looks like."
Turning the colour of a tomato, Ron shook his head avidly. "No. No way. She fancies Harry."
"She doesn't fancy Harry," Hermione said coolly. "She fancies you."
"Yeah," Harry jumped in. "I could die in our next Quidditch match, for all she cares. You're getting your own personal cheering squad."
"Really?" Ron said, sounding hopeful. "You really think she fancies me?"
"Yes," Hermione said, sounding agitated. "And you like her, too, don't you?"
Ron shrugged. "I dunno. There's… someone else who I've liked for a long time." He gave a long sigh. "But she's never going to like me back. Maybe it's time to move on."
Hermione looked sad. "I think that would probably be a wise idea, Ron," she whispered.
TBC shortly
A/N: See. I told you. Nothing happens. Don't say I didn't warn you. *g*
References: I, uh, *cough* stole another Buffy/Angel lines for this fic. From Angel's 'I Will Remember You.' Otherwise known as the Most Heartbreaking Episode Ever.
Anyway, when Ron says that Harry and Hermione will first try and talk out their differences, and then try and magic them out, I was really inspired by this piece of witty exchange:
Doyle: "Did you hear that?"
Cordy dismissively: "Yeah, the Angel and Buffy show. First they talk out their differences, then they punch them
out."