Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. I am not fortunate enough to have come up with that idea.
A/N: First, I must apologize for taking so long to update. Time and inspiration have both been fleeting. On the other hand, this chapter ended up with a lot of content so I hope that compensates for the delay. Also, I am sorry for not taking this story in the direction I had originally planned. The way I wrote chapter one and subsequent the bit of rubbish that was the 2nd chapter, I have forced myself to address the relationship issue between the trio more so than I had originally planned. I really wanted to focus on them dealing with the prophecy more. Maybe I just got cold feet about wading into that quagmire, but I feel I may have a retake on the prophecy ahead of me to correct my wayward ways. Anyway, as this story has morphed into some dribble about the Harry-Hermione-Ron love triangle (romance is not my strong suit), I will complete it.
Revealing the Prophecy - Chapter 3
Harry was so focused on trying to remember the details of his kiss with Hermione that he barely noted the strange looks and curious glances of his fellow students as he walked to the Great Hall. It wasn't until he passed Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil returning from the Great Hall that he was brought crashing back down to reality.
"If your grin gets any bigger, Harry, it's going to swallow your ears." Lavender teased.
"Huh?" he started, wiping the smile off his face. "Oh, right."
"Yeah Harry, you're practically skipping down the steps," Parvati giggled. "This wouldn't have anything to do with what Seamus said, would it?"
The warm glow that had been comfortably residing in his chest fled and was instantly replaced with a cold agony that left Harry without air to breath.
"What do you mean 'what Seamus said?'" he gasped.
Parvati and Lavender eyes darted towards one another, smiling mischievously.
"Oh come on, Harry," Lavender said as if she were addressing a child. "You, Ron, and Hermione having a go in the common room over your little love triangle. It wasn't the wisest of places to do it, was it? Half of Gryffindor was talking about it even before Seamus arrived."
Harry felt the agony in his chest harden into a ball of despair. Without another word, he brushed past the girls, picturing Ron's furious face as Seamus' loose tongue let fly about Harry and Hermione. Lavender and Parvati cast a disgusted look at his retreating form as he descended the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Harry's panic increased with each step as he approached the bottom of the stairs, culminating in him stumbling down the last few steps and leaving him sprawled out on the ground with a stinging wrist, torn pants, and scraped, bleeding knee. Several of the students in the Entrance Hall laughed, others asked in he was okay, but Harry ignored them all as he picked himself up off the ground. Forcing himself to calm down, Harry took a deep breath (he had needed a lot of these lately) and proceeded to hobble into the Great Hall.
Ron was sitting at the far end of the table away from the other Gryffindors, shoveling food into his mouth faster than Harry had ever seen him (and that is saying something). The sheer concentration on consuming large quantities of bacon and eggs and doing his best to avoid talking to or looking at anyone would have impressed even Hermione. It seemed he was eager to remove himself from the Great Hall as quickly as possible, breakfast not withstanding.
A few of the younger Gryffindors caught sight of Harry and began whispering to their neighbors. Several of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws seemed to have gotten the news as well judging by the way many of them were staring unabashedly at Harry. He briefly caught Cho's murderous stare before marveling at how fast gossip traveled at Hogwarts, but that was a thought for another time. He had to square things away with Ron before anything else.
Harry mustered what dignity he had given his dusty and bloodied appearance, and proceeded to walk down along the Gryffindor table so that he could sit facing Ron. Dean and Seamus, however, stopped Harry halfway down the table. Seamus gave Harry an appraising look.
"I thought things were good between you and Hermione. What did you say to her to make her do that to you?" Seamus asked, indicating Harry's haggard appearance. Dean's eyes widened as he caught onto Seamus' reasoning.
"Her-, Hermione did that to you?" he said, not believing his own words. "I thought she liked you?"
Harry sighed and rolled his eyes.
"She does and she didn't, I stumbled at the bottom of the stairs."
Seamus and Dean looked at each other completely unconvinced.
"Best seeker Gryffindor has ever had on record and he trips at the bottom of the stairs? I don't believe it." Seamus said sarcastically.
"Seamus has got a point, Harry. Hermione's as talented a witch as they come, there's no shame in admitting she knocked you around a bit," Dean said, oozing the same sarcasm that Seamus had.
"She didn't-, oh, forget it!" Harry snapped as he started towards Ron again.
Seamus and Dean turned back to their meals chuckling merrily to themselves. To Harry's dismay, he heard them mutter something about being 'beaten by a girl,' but chose to ignore it.
Apparently, the exchange with Seamus and Dean caught Ron's attention and had drawn him out of his self-imposed exile. When Harry started towards him again, Ron began gathering some toast and strips of bacon into a napkin. Harry sped up as much as his knee would allow so that he could intercept Ron before he made it out of the Great Hall.
Ron cast a glance out of the corner of his eye at Harry before heading towards the doors leading out of the Great Hall. Harry knew he couldn't make it around the end of the table and catch Ron before he left so he stopped where he was, waiting for Ron to approach. Ron seemed to realize that Harry wasn't going to let him waltz by without a word.
"I don't want to talk, Harry," Ron called over the heads of the second years sitting at the table between them, his voice laced with tiredness. "Just give me some space."
"I seem to recall making the same request last night, but that didn't work either," Harry retorted.
In answer, Ron just dropped his head and resumed his trek to the Entrance Hall.
"Ron!" Harry called. "Ron!" but Ron continued to ignore him.
Ignoring the pain in his knee, Harry dashed to catch up with Ron at the doors. "There's more you need to know, Ron!"
Forced to deal with Harry, Ron stopped and truly considered Harry for the first time since he entered the Great Hall. As he saw Harry's shabby condition, his look changed from confusion to anger.
"What happened? What did you say to her?" he snapped.
It was Harry's turn to be confused.
"What?"
"What did you say her to make her do this?" he growled, gesturing at Harry's ruined knee.
Harry's sigh was audible.
"Nothing, Ron! I was rushing down the stairs and I stumbled."
Ron's relaxed a bit at this, but there was still an edge in his voice.
"Then what do I need to know?"
"Let's talk outside. Between last night and this morning, I think we've had enough eavesdroppers lately."
"Fine," Ron answered shortly before turning and hastily exiting the Great Hall. Harry followed him as he made a straight line for the front doors to the castle. Harry glanced up the staircase leading to Gryffindor tower as he walked to see Hermione paused part way down. She gave Harry a reassuring smile and held his book bag in the air to show that she had retrieved it for him. He returned her smile and stuck out a thumb at Ron apologetically before turning to follow him out.
The autumn air was chill and hit Harry like a bucket of ice water. Ron's anger seemed sufficient to warm him as he showed not so much as a shiver as he headed straight for the privacy of the lakefront. Harry did his best to keep up with Ron's long strides, but could only, at best, remain a few steps behind him.
As soon as Ron reached the edge of the lake, he spun around planting his feet firmly and folding his arms across his chest imperiously.
"Well, let's have it then." His jaw was firmly set, causing Harry to groan inwardly.
Harry hadn't really thought through what he wanted to say to Ron and fumbled as how best to deliver the news that he and Hermione were now an item. Unable to contain his nervous energy, Harry began pacing back and forth in front of Ron.
"Well… you see… Hermione and I talked some more after you, er… departed and well, you know how she is."
"Yeah," Ron huffed, his eyes narrowing.
"Anyway, she always seems to know best and worse yet, she knows what I'm thinking even better than I do. And, well, she said some really great things and I kinda had trouble saying no to her." Harry stopped his pacing and looked up at Ron cautiously.
Ron's arms dropped to his side, but his face was still held firm with his jaw tightening up even more so than it had before. He simply stared at Harry for several minutes before-
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU MEAN 'YOU HAD TROUBLE SAYING NO TO HER'? WHAT ABOUT THE WHOLE 'KEEPING YOUR EYE ON THE BALL' THING?" Ron's face contorted in rage. Harry stepped back a bit as Ron's anger washed over him.
"I know I said that, but-"
"No buts, Harry! I can accept that Hermione likes you! I can accept that you like Hermione! What I can't accept is that you told me you wouldn't pursue anything with her. That you wouldn't risk her life anymore than it already is. And now, you have a happy little chat with her and all of a sudden you've seen the light?"
Harry stood dumbfounded. He had expected a fit of jealousy from Ron; his usual cries of how wonderful it is to be Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, star seeker for Gryffindor house, media phenomenon who graces the Daily Prophet gossip columns, and the guy who stole Hermione's heart. What he got instead was-
"You may be trading her life for your own selfish happiness." Ron spat as he stomped off towards the castle.
Harry was speechless. His mind fought to resolve the churning anger with the overwhelming guilt he felt as Ron's harsh words cut to the bone. Despite Hermione's ability to convince him that there was no increased risk to her and that their being together would be an advantage, Ron had single handedly destroyed Harry's confidence, dragging Harry's paranoia to the surface.
Harry watched Ron return to the castle without leaving the lake's edge. He finally passed through the doors to the castle, leaving one ajar. Harry stared at the darkness of that space for a few moments when another figure appeared in the doorway, waiting. Stifling his anger and guilt, Harry trekked back up to the castle entrance, joining Hermione at the entrance to the castle.
Hermione studied Harry's dark features for a moment before speaking.
"So I guess working on Snape's essay during morning break is off?" she tested.
Harry attempted to smile at her, but it only came out as a cringe.
"Yeah, things didn't go so well." Harry answered sinking to the steps and crossing his arms over his knees. He stared off at the lake with Ron's final words ringing in his mind. 'You may be trading her life for your own selfish happiness.'
Hermione sat down next to him placing their book bags to the side. She put her arm around him, resting her elbow on his back as she played with the hair at the nape of his neck.
"What did he say?" she queried.
"Nothing I didn't already know. It just hits a little harder when you hear someone else say it."
"What did he say?" she repeated earnestly. Harry noted the tenseness in her voice
"Don't worry about it," he said rising. "Ron and I will square things away later."
Hermione wasn't convinced, "Will you?" she asked arching an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Harry said, helping her to her feet. "C'mon we'll be late for Herbology."
Hermione handed Harry his book bag and took his hand in hers. Harry took comfort in her reassuring contact. They walked in silence to the greenhouses, Hermione stealing quick, worried little glances at Harry. Harry let her lead him and focused his thoughts on how to convince Ron when he wasn't fully convinced himself.
Herbology was a difficult affair. Ron arrived after Hermione and Harry and made a point of joining Hannah Abbott and Ernie McMillan instead of taking his usual spot with Harry and Hermione. The normally lively class was subdued as all of the students watched with rapt attention to the silent, but fervent drama unfolding amongst the three Gryffindors.
The bell signaling the end of class rang after an agonizingly long time and Harry watched sadly as Ron all but sprinted from the classroom. Hermione was frowning at his hasty departure as well.
"Double Potions next, I guess that can't be any worse, right?" Hermione said sarcastically.
"At least Ron's not taking Potions anymore. Snape won't have to opportunity to make this worse that it already is." Harry quipped. "C'mon."
Harry and Hermione walked in silence to the dungeons, each lost in their own thoughts. Advanced Potions turned out to another exercise in patience as Snape was predictably, well, Snape. Fortunately, though, Malfoy and the other Slytherins hadn't yet gotten wind of the friction brewing between Harry, Ron, and Hermione and they only had to endure Malfoy's usual taunts.
Emerging from Potions, Harry spent the first half of morning break hunting for Ron, but was unable to locate him anywhere and spent the remainder of his time in the Gryffindor common room frantically patching together Snape's essay so he could hand it in by five 'o' clock while Hermione monitored his progress and knitted hats for the house elves.
As morning break dwindled away, Hermione seemed to grow more and more agitated. Her comments on Harry's essay were progressively more scathing and her knitting needles began to tear through the air at an alarming rate. The click of her needles became so loud and frequent that Harry was no longer able to concentrate.
"Hermione!" Harry barked.
"What!"
"What's the problem here?"
"I don't know what you mean," she said without looking up.
Harry didn't think it was possible that her needles could have moved any faster, but after this comment, they became a blur.
"You're going to put your eye out with those things if you keep this up," Harry said.
Hermione stopped knitting, dropping her work into her lap. She dropped her gaze and began studying her handiwork. With no comments forthcoming, Harry continued.
"I assume this is about Ron?"
"It is," she said softly, still not looking up.
Harry put aside his Potions essay and slid his chair closer to her.
"Tell me what's on your mind," he prompted.
Hermione looked up slowly and regarded his emerald eyes. Seeing no malice there, she continued.
"I really think I should be the one to talk to Ron."
Harry sat there in silence for several moments staring at his shoes while considering her words. After what Ron had said at the lake, he thought she might have a point. He heard Ron's voice echo in his head, 'You may be trading her life for your own selfish happiness.'
"Harry?" Hermione questioned, pulling his chin gently up until their eyes met. Apparently, his dark thoughts were reflected there because her face quickly became lined with concern.
"What is it?" she asked anxiously.
"You're right. You should talk to him. I can't say what he needs to hear."
"This has to do with what he said at the lake, doesn't it?"
"Yeah." Harry muttered, Ron's words reverberating again in his mind.
"Harry, please tell me what he said."
"He has the same worries I do."
Hermione nodded her head in understanding, "I thought we settled this."
"We did. And everything you said made sense, but so does what Ron said," he countered. "I couldn't forgive myself if you get hurt again because of me."
"I won't Harry," she said clasping his hands in hers, sliding off her chair and kneeling at his feet. "But you need to understand too, that I couldn't forgive myself either if I wasn't by your side when you confront him. All I ask, Harry, is that you let me share the burden thrust on your shoulders."
Harry hadn't really considered her perspective beyond her romantic feelings toward him. She was merely asking to be his equal in this relationship, not some silly damsel in distress to be doted upon.
"How do you do that?" he asked, a grateful smile finding its way onto his face.
"How do I do what?" she responded innocently.
"How do you drive away all my fears with the simplest words?"
"It's a gift," she answered with a laugh, rising to her feet and tugging him up with her. "Now, how many times am I going to have to convince you before you stop trying to dump me?" she asked in mock hurt.
"Depends on how you plan on convincing me…" he said with a mischievous grin.
"Well, you just sunk your ship there, Potter," she retorted in a falsely angry voice. "C'mon, we need to get to Care of Magical Creatures."
Hermione left to retrieve her book bag from her dorm room while Harry gathered up his books and quills. Harry was stuffing the last of his supplies into his bag when Hermione returned. They headed out the portal as Harry fought a battle with himself over whether or not to hold Hermione's hand. He missed the touch of her hand in his, but he knew that Ron should be on the way back to Gryffindor tower to collect his stuff for class and didn't want to make things worse than they already were with Ron.
Hermione, it seemed did not share his concerns and snatched up Harry's hand before Harry could make up his mind. The simplicity of her touch was exactly what his body needed. His head, however, had a different opinion.
"Hermione," he began. "Ron should be heading back this way any moment now, shouldn't we, erm, keep a low profile?" He nodded indicated their hands.
"Harry, I may not get to see you alone until after Quidditch tonight. I don't think a little hand-holding will hurt Ron too much. It's not like he's catching us snogging madly in a broom closet."
"Broom closet, eh?" Harry said, contemplating the notion. That earned him a punch from Hermione's free hand.
"Okay, perhaps not," Harry laughed, "but what about dinner? I was kind of toying with the idea that we'd just grab something from the Great Hall and head out to the lake for a quiet dinner alone."
"Mmm, that sounds really nice, Harry, but I should probably talk to Ron before you guys have Quidditch practice. That'll likely eat up our dinner hour." Harry looked disappointed, but knew she was right, as usual. Quidditch would prove to be a painful experience if Ron was still angry.
"A rain check then?" he asked.
"Definitely."
They reached Hagrid's cabin and joined the rest of the students milling around the edge of the forest. Ron arrived about ten minutes into the start of class, puffing heavily from running from the castle. His and Harry's eyes met for a moment before Ron resolutely turned to gaze intently at Hagrid, although Harry was certain Ron was thinking about Hagrid's lecture about as much as he was.
Care of Magical Creatures continued in much the same fashion as Herbology with Ron being the first one to leave class, but he marched off heavily instead of dashing to leave. Defense Against the Dark Arts was more of the same, but Harry got the impression that Ron was a little looser, but that may have just been the fact that Ron was able to exercise his frustrations through his wand.
As the class was dismissed, Hermione gave Harry a trepid smile and a whispered goodbye before rushing off to chase Ron down. Harry followed at a distance eager to have any indication of how things were going. Predictably, things appeared to get heated quickly. Harry couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, but Ron was gesturing wildly and Hermione seemed to be walking a little stiffer.
Unfortunately, the walk from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to Entrance Hall was fairly short and he had to give up the pursuit since he couldn't follow them any further without being obvious. With a sigh, he plodded up the stairs to Gryffindor tower trying to comfort himself with the knowledge that Hermione always seemed to know best, but a dissenting voice in the back of his head told him that Hermione never seemed to handle Ron well.
Harry dumped his books on his bed and headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. He ate quickly hoping to get Hermione's version of her "discussion" with Ron before encountering him alone. Harry kept his eyes peeled as he made his way back to Gryffindor tower. He didn't see either of them and quickly wrapped up the final bits of his Potions essay in the common room before going to turn it in to Snape (not without a few nasty comments). He returned to Gryffindor tower and was changed for Quidditch practice when he began pacing the common room. His brow knitted in anxiety when it was Katie Bell and not Hermione who appeared in the portrait hole.
"Quite the gentlemen aren't you Harry?" she teased, "waiting to escort me to the pitch and all."
Harry smiled despite his worries over how long Hermione and Ron were taking. Fortunately, as the Gryffindor seeker, he practiced somewhat independently from the rest of the team. He didn't want to imagine the misery of practice were he a chaser trying to score on an upset Ron.
Katie ran upstairs and changed for practice and still neither Hermione nor Ron showed up. Katie returned and drug Harry from the common room despite his best stalling efforts. They made their way down to the Quidditch pitch and Harry gave in to debating Gryffindor's prospects against the other house teams. The rest of the team followed shortly and yet again Ron was last getting there. Without a look or word to Harry, Ron mounted his broom and was soon ferociously saving quaffles left and right from Ginny and Katie. Harry sighed heavily to himself and made his way over to the ball chest to retrieve the snitch.
Several minutes later, Harry was well above the half-pitch practice positioning himself above the snitch so he could work out some of the finer points of a new dive he had been waiting to try out. Harry had just initiated his dive when he heard two unmistakable cracks of a beater bat on a bludger in rapid succession, but they hadn't released the bludgers yet, had they?
Harry had to twist awkwardly to avoid the bludgers without getting hit. He pulled out of his dive to see both bludgers strike Ginny in the forearm and hip simultaneously, sending her careening dangerously from her broom. Fortunately, she was flying low and didn't have far to fall. She hit the ground hard with a loud thump before coming to rest in a heap near the base of the goal posts. Ron dove hard and was first to Ginny, landing roughly with Harry not far behind. The rest of the team was investigating the source of the bludgers or corralling the two offending balls.
"Ginny, are you all right?" Ron croaked. She winced as he inspected her arm.
"I think I sprained my wrist," she said, her voice shaky, "and I don't think my leg will support me yet.
"Let's get her up to Madam Pomphrey," Harry said as he and Ron helped Ginny to her feet. Each boy placed one of her arms over their shoulders and began walking her to the castle.
Katie touched down gently next to them.
"I caught a glimpse of who hit the bludgers right before Ginny was hit. It was Malfoy and Goyle… or Crabbe. Actually, I can't really tell the two of them apart so I can't be sure which it was."
"Goyle's the one that looks like an ape," Ron said, but Katie still seemed confused as to who was who.
"Anyway," she continued, "they disappeared before we could catch up with them. We'll have to go talk to McGonagall."
"You guys go talk to McGonagall," Harry said, "Ron and I will take Ginny up to the hospital wing."
Ron, Ginny, and Harry made their way to the hospital wing in silence. Harry was careful to hold her by the elbow so as not to make her forearm injury worse. After an agonizing ten minute walk, they arrived and laid Ginny in the nearest bed. Ron left to get Madam Pomphrey; Harry stayed with Ginny.
"How're you holding up Gin?" Harry inquired.
"Better, now that I'm off my feet," she answered.
"Good. Madam Pomphrey will have you walking out of here tonight. She's had me turning cartwheels after worse than this."
Ginny looked up at Harry with a curious expression. "I'll be fine, Harry. What about you and Ron? You two seemed unusually quiet on the way up here."
Harry looked at her somewhat guiltily. "Yeah, we have some issues to work out."
"Is he still on about Hermione?" Ginny sighed.
Harry nodded as the clink of potion vials announced the arrival of Ron and Madam Pomphrey. Harry and Ron stood back on either side of Ginny's bed to allow Madam Pomphrey to inspect Ginny. Madam Pomphrey huffed all the while about dangerous sports and foolishness of adding bludgers to the already ridiculous game of Quidditch. Harry was used to this due to his many visits over the years, but Ginny seemed to building up a head of steam. Harry knew that Ginny wouldn't blow up at Madam Pomphrey and suspected that Ginny's previous comments did not bode well for Ron. Finally satisfied that Ginny did not have any significant damage, Madam Pomphrey selected a few bottles from the selection Ron had brought over and measured out dosages of each.
"Drink these," she ordered, "and I will check on you in a couple hours to see how you are doing." Madam Pomphrey sidled by Ron and returned to her office. Ginny seemed to be eager for her to leave. She pounded each of the potions in rapid succession, grimacing at the taste of the last one. Ron sat down on her bed.
"You all right, Gin?"
"I'll be fine," she snapped. "But, you need to get over yourself."
This caught Ron off guard. Harry winced and took an unconscious step back.
"Wh-, wha-, what are you talking about?" Ron sputtered.
"Harry and Hermione, that's what!" Harry let his head sag. Why did all the women in his life insist on interfering?
Harry saw Ron's jaw set and knew a spectacular row was brewing between the two fiery siblings. He decided he'd better defuse this bomb before it takes out the whole hospital wing.
"Ginny, don't worry about this. Ron and I will settle this another time."
"No Harry, I will worry about this!" she roared as Harry took another, very conscious step back. "Ron is being a prat and he knows it." Ron stood up to his full, considerable height glaring daggers at Ginny.
"I don't need you lecturing me too, Ginny," he said coldly and turned storming for the door.
"Ronald Weasley!" Ginny shouted at his back," you will come back right now and hear me out!"
When Ron didn't respond, Ginny stuffed her hand into her robes producing her wand.
"Accio," she bellowed, summoning Ron off his feet and unceremoniously dropping him onto Ginny bed. Harry dove to the ground to avoid being knocked over and Ginny had fortunately tugged her bad ankle out of the way right before Ron landed. Harry picked himself up not knowing what to think, Ginny was now dangerously calm, and Ron was dumbfounded.
"Listen to me, Ron." Ginny seethed. "Hermione and Harry are perfect for each other. I realized that last year, you need to let it go." Ron dropped his gaze.
"It's not that," he said softly.
"Then what is it?' she demanded. Ron paused before answering.
"Vv-, Vv-, You-Know-Who will use her against Harry. "She will die because of him" he said glaring at Harry. Ginny erupted into laughter drawing a shocked look from both Harry and Ron.
"Are you kidding me? Can you name one witch that can hold a candle to Hermione? If Harry can fight Voldemort to a standstill time and time again, I am certain that Hermione will be just fine."
Harry was still trying to understand why he was insulted by this statement when Ron started laughing too.
"I hadn't thought of it that way," Ron admitted staring at Harry.
"What way?" Harry asked, not liking the way this conversation was turning.
"Oh come on, Harry." Ginny gasped in-between laughs. "You're an amazingly talented wizard, but, I'm sorry, Hermione could take you any day of the week." Harry was getting a little more than miffed at people saying stuff like this all day long. Ron was clutching his sides and nearly crying at the look on Harry's face.
"You really think… you could take her… don't you?" he sputtered.
Harry knew Ron and Ginny may well have been right, but his fragile male ego wouldn't let him admit it aloud. With a huff, he turned on his heel and left the hospital wing, ignoring Ron and Ginny's calls.
Ron caught up with Harry in the hallway, still grinning. "Harry, I didn't mean to laugh at you. Honestly. But after what Ginny said, I had this vision of you and Hermione dueling and, well… let's just say that Hermione knows quite a few, er-, unique spells."
"Glad I could bring you some entertainment," Harry said dryly, turning to leave again.
"Wait," Ron said turning serious as he caught Harry by the arm. "What Ginny said is important, though. I was always worried that you wouldn't be able to protect Hermione. But what Ginny said made me realize that it's likely going to be Hermione protecting you."
Harry was still smarting from being considered a distant second to Hermione. He thought he had, at least, a fighting chance considering all the things he had accomplished. And, after a moment's consideration of this, his focused shifted to Ron's acceptance of his new relationship with Hermione.
"So you're okay with me dating Hermione?" he asked.
A hurt look flashed across Ron's face for moment before he spoke.
"I won't lie, Harry. I hoped she would choose me, but I can't say that I wasn't surprised she chose you. I guess that's why I waited so long ask her out in the first place."
Harry brightened some at Ron's words.
"I'm sorry I lied to you before," he responded apologetically, "but I really didn't plan on going out with Hermione at the time. I guess I should ask her what my opinion will be in the future."
"Now that is one aspect of Hermione I don't envy you for." Ron grinned.
"Yeah, it's gonna be a challenge," Harry smirked.
"Well, I'm gonna go check on Ginny. I'll catch you up later." Harry nodded and headed back to Gryffindor tower. He found Hermione sitting glumly in the same corner she was sitting in when she overheard his and Ron's conversation the night before. She leapt to her feet and scrambled across the common room to meet him.
"I'm so sorry, Harry," she said quickly. "I tried talking to Ron, but he can so thick sometimes. He won't listen to a thing you say and-,"
"Hermione," Harry interrupted, "its okay. Everything's going to be fine. Ginny had a rather, er, colorful way of convincing Ron that things will be okay."
"Colorful?" Hermione asked vaguely. "What do you mean colorful?"
Harry felt his face redden with embarrassment and wouldn't look Hermione in the eye.
"It's…, er, nothing. Things are all better now and that's what matters. I am going to go get changed," he said quickly moving towards the stairs to the boys' dormitories.
"Hold on Harry," she said with an amused smile. "Just what did Ginny say?"
Harry sighed and related the details of their discussion in the hospital wing. Harry hoped (prayed was more like it) that Hermione would downplay her considerable dueling ability.
"Well, they're just being ridiculous," she said. Harry relaxed at first, but something about her tone made Harry think she didn't really think they were being ridiculous and he tensed up again. He stared at her for a moment before-
"Do you have your wand?" he asked sternly.
"Oh come off it, Harry," she sighed. "I'm not going to duel you."
"Scared?" Harry taunted.
"Of course not. I'm a Gryffindor after all," she retaliated.
"Good, then get your wand. I'll meet you in the Room of Requirement." Without another word he turned and marched right back out the portrait hole.
Hermione stared at the exit to the common room for a moment before grabbing her wand. "Boys," she huffed and marched off after Harry.
A/N: That's the end. I leave it up to you as to what the outcome of the duel was. I hope you enjoyed this story. Please review. All feedback welcome! Thanks!