The Result of Ron's Jealousy

Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, none of this is mine. If it was, I’d be rich, and I wouldn’t be sitting here writing fics, I’d be out spending it. But No. I get no money from these at all. I own nothing. Except this… um… o_0 Yeah.

Author’s Notes: You may find this story a little similar to my last one. The reason being is that it is similar to my last one. The reason for THAT being that I was replaying the last story I wrote in my head… Yeah… I do that… *sad person right here*… anyways, I was replaying it in my head and came up with another plot. Well, not a completely different one, just another one.

Yeah, enough rambling from the crazy person now, I’ll get on with it.

I have no kind of plan for this, just the vague storyline that’s in my head. Then again, I write most of my fics this way, so no worries, I guess.

-x-

Harry looked up suddenly as Hermione came streaking past him, emitting loud, almost screeching wails, her hands covering her face. It was all he could do to watch as she dashed up the girls staircase, all eyes in the common room upon her. Seconds later, the door slammed.

Instinctively, he got up and headed towards the girls staircase. Ron was not around, and Harry had no idea where he was, so considering he was the only one of Hermione’s best friends around, it fell on him to calm her down. Plus, he was worried at what might have caused her to run into the common room crying like that; Hermione was hardly the over-emotional type. Yes, she had been known to cry at times for no reason, but this just seemed out of character even for her.

“Harry!”

Ginny appeared at his side, as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

“You can’t go up there, you remember what happened to Ron last year? You’ll fall right down.”

Harry sighed impatiently. Hermione was crying hysterically upstairs right now, and he couldn’t even get to her to calm her down.

“Well, I need to get up there, Ginny!” He practically shouted in her face, which took her aback. “She’s upset!”

“I’ll have to go up with you!” She stepped in front of him and started to climb the stairs, looking over her shoulder at him grimly, looking annoyed at his rude outburst. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave you alone when we get there.”

Sighing again with relief, he smiled at her. “Thank you.”

They climbed the stairs in silence, and in a matter of seconds they were at an oak door similar to the one for the boys dormitory, except for a gold plaque placed in the middle, which was engraved with the words ‘Girls Dormitory – 6^th year'. Inside there was the unmistakable sound of sniffling and sobs.

Silently, Ginny turned the knob and opened the door wide enough for Harry to slip through, before giving him a dry smile and leaving, closing the door quietly behind her. Harry smiled back before turning towards the middle of the room.

He vaguely registered how much tidier and neater the girls dormitory looked compared to the boys as he looked around, his eyes falling on a small shuddering figure that was sitting on the floor next to her bed, shaking and whimpering. He smiled wistfully.

“Hey.”

She looked up in surprise, and Harry saw that her eyes were red from where she had been rubbing the tears away. Her hair was twice as messy and as bushy as before, and her clothes were rumpled where she had been leaning on her arms on her bedspread, which had a small wet patch where her tears had soaked it. She stared at Harry, taken aback, before sniffing, running her forearm across her face to wipe away the tears, and squeaking very softly, “How did you get up here?”

He smiled at her reassuringly, and walked over to join her on the floor, leaning against her bed as he sat down.

“Ginny helped me.”

“Oh…”

She sat quietly, her hands neatly in her lap, sniffling occasionally. At least she’s stopped crying, he thought.

“So… you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Oh, Harry!”

To his shock, she suddenly flung herself on him desperately, hugging him tightly around the waist as she cried noisily into his t-shirt. Harry’s eyes widened with slight panic, mostly from not having a clue what to do. He settled for gently hugging her back, bringing his arms around her back, embarrassed.

“It was Ron!” she cried, which caused Harry a confused look. “He- he said such horrible things to me! He was be-being really horrible!”

“Ron?” Harry asked, sceptical. “Ron said those things to you?”

She nodded into his chest, and Harry felt tears seeping through his shirt. Confused, the only thing he could think of to do was to hug her tighter.

“Why…?” he started, puzzled, but trailed off as she sat slowly up, wiping her eyes and sniffing loudly. He sighed in compassion, and looked around the room for a box of tissues or something to that effect. He found some, sitting atop another girl’s (Parvati’s, maybe, from the amount of Star Charts scattered on it?) bedside table.

“Be right back.” He said to Hermione, who instantly adopted a panicked look, her red eyes wide.

“Where are you going?!”

He laughed softly. Upsetting though the circumstances were, he couldn’t help but be amused by the way she panicked when he was merely walking 5 yards away.

“Just stay here, I’m only going to get you some tissues…” He got to his feet and strode quickly across the room, grabbing the box of tissues. Flopping down next to Hermione again, he pulled some out of the box and held them out for her. “Here. Dry your eyes, and calm down a little, okay?”

She did not take them. She merely looked down at her hands again, which were lying neatly in her lap again, continuing to cry softly. Harry looked on, not sure what to do.

“He- Ron… he…” She began, now beginning to hiccup slightly as she sniffled and whimpered. Harry’s mouth went thin with empathy, and shyly, he brought the hand that was holding the tissues up to her cheeks. She looked up at him, her brown eyes filled with tears as he gently wiped away the wetness from her cheeks, and smiled. Harry smiled back.

“You okay now?” he asked, trying his best to look comforting. Fortunately, it seemed to have worked, for she gave him a watery smile before nodding.

“Yes. Thank you.”

She looked away at her lap again as Harry screwed up the now soggy tissue and put it to the side. Looking up at her again, Harry waited in expectation.

“He asked me out. Ron, I mean.” She said, breathlessly, and Harry’s confusion grew.

“He asked you out?” he asked, bewildered. “And that’s why he’s horrible and you’re crying?”

She gave a soft laugh, and sniffed loudly again. “No, obviously not.”

“Well, then, I’m afraid I don’t understand-“

“I said no.”

Harry fell silent, expecting more. There had to be more to it than this. Thankfully, she seemed to be about to tell him, as she shifted uncomfortably and wiped her eyes again, sighing.

“When- when I said no, he… got nasty.”

“Ron did?”

“Yeah.”

She moved closer to him tentatively, and surprising him for the second time, she wrapped her arm around his waist again, leaning her head on his chest. Harry decided not to question her at the moment since she was upset. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her and hugged her back, sighing comfortingly.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it, Hermione,” He said, as she began to sniffle once more. Harry wrinkled his nose at the prospect of another wet patch on his t-shirt, but did nothing to stop her. “He’s probably just upset… you know how Ron is.”

“He’s jealous.”

“Jealous?” Harry laid his head unconsciously on top of hers, and furrowed his brow in thought. “Why is he jealous?”

“I told him I couldn’t go out with him because I like someone else too much,” she whispered, as she gripped him tighter. “When I told him who it was, he got angry. I knew he would.”

Harry sighed. He knew all too well how annoying Ron could be when jealous of something, and sympathised with Hermione. However, he did understand how it must have hurt Ron to hear it, but he knew that Ron always came round eventually.

“Don’t worry, Hermione…” He smiled reassuringly, though he wasn’t entirely sure she could see. “Like I said, you know how Ron is. He’ll get over it after a while…”

She shook her head softly, and sniffled again. “It’s different this time.”

“How so?”

He felt her reluctantly relax her grip on his waist and sit up, sniffing louder and more frequently. He gave a dry smile, and pulled some more tissue out of the box, holding it up to her eyes once more, though this time, much to Harry’s surprise, she covered his hand gently with her own, and held it to her face, her eyes closed.

“I think he took it pretty hard that once again, you had something he didn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked densely.

She giggled softly, a small sweet noise Harry couldn’t remember having heard before, though he decided he liked it.

“It’s you, Harry. Ron was angry that I like you and not him.”

Harry fell silent. He understood now, and if he was honest with himself, he couldn’t blame Ron. If he also admitted it to himself, which he was reluctant to do, he would probably be upset too if Hermione had said yes to Ron, whether he liked her or not. Not that he had ever really thought about it.

She was looking at her lap again, and had released his hand, which had dropped unconsciously away. Harry stared at her, not really knowing what to say, but he decided to give it a go anyway.

“Hermione,” he began uncertainly, still not really knowing where he was going to go with this, but ploughing on determinedly all the same. “I… I wouldn’t worry about Ron. I think he’ll see sense… I mean… he did in fourth year, right?”

She sniffed and nodded, and Harry wondered what else to say. He supposed he had to address the issue that Hermione liked him, but in all honesty, he didn’t know what to do. He had never thought of Hermione in that way, there had never really been opportunity. He was always far too preoccupied with Voldemort, or schoolwork, and then there was that stupid fiasco with Cho Chang.

It’s not as if I don’t think she’s pretty… he thought, as he surveyed her, glad that she couldn’t see him staring. She was very pretty at the Yule Ball… and actually… thinking about it, I guess she’s very pretty all the time…

They sat in silence for another minute, while Harry made up his mind. Hermione spent the time leaning dejectedly against her bed, her hands in her lap once more, tears trickling silently down her face. Harry inwardly cringed at the sight, though he smiled. He had finally come to a conclusion.

“Uh… Hermione?” he asked tentatively, not looking her in the eye. He didn’t know why he was nervous… she had already told him that she liked him. “About… the other thing…”

“Yes?”

She was looking up at him expectantly, her deep brown eye wide with hope, and Harry noticed that they were indeed quite pretty. He smiled bravely.

“Um… how about… since it’s a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow, and Ron probably won’t want to go, you know, him being all grumpy and angry and all, and if I’m honest I don’t really want to spend a day with him if he’s going to be-“

“Harry, you’re rambling.”

He stopped his rant and looked up at her apologetically, his face beginning to burn.

“Well… it’ll be just… you and me, won’t it? How about we… we make it like a… date… type thing?”

He stopped to glance at her reaction, which was just how he imagined it. Her eyes were wide with shock, her mouth slightly open, but on her lips was the smallest trace of a smile. He let out the breath he was holding and grinned at her.

With a loud giggle, she flung herself on him again, as he laughed.

“Oh, yes!! Yes, please, Harry! I’d love to!”

“You would?” He asked, feeling a lot more confident now that she had stopped crying and was giggling again.

“Of course I would!” She laughed, hugging him tightly, her arms flung around his neck as she smiled into his shoulder.

Harry grinned broadly, though she could not see. He had decided that even if he didn’t know how he felt about Hermione, he was going to give it a go. So far, so good, he thought, as his stomach gave a strange gurgly feeling as if butterflies would burst from it. If his reaction to her saying yes was anything to go by, then maybe there was a chance that Harry did like Hermione the way she liked him.

They spent a good minute or two hugging and smiling, before she released him and sat back, every trace of tears gone. He smiled, before rising to his feet and stretching.

“I should probably go now, since I don’t want to be up here when Parvati or Lavender comes back. They’ll probably give me horns or something for being in here.”

“Okay,” she replied, as she also started to get up. Harry offered her a hand, which she gracefully took with a smile, their hands remaining linked even when she had got to her feet. “I guess I’ll go to bed. I feel tired anyway.”

“Right.”

They smiled at each other companionably.

“See you tomorrow then.” Said Harry.

“Uh huh.” She was still smiling.

“Looking forward to it.”

“Not half as much as I am.”

He grinned, then turned and left the room, casting her a lingering glance as he went.

Harry flopped down onto the squishy velvet armchairs of the common room, a smile plastered over his thin face, and was immediately accosted by Ginny.

“Harry, I should warn you…”

He turned to look at her lazily, a dim smile on his face, too cheerful to get worked up about anything. However, she did seem rather worried about something, as her ears were almost as red as her hair, which was not a good Weasley sign. His smile faltered.

“What is it, Ginny?”

“Ron’s on the warpath. I… kind of told him where you were, and well…”

“Oh…”

He sighed. The last thing he wanted at the moment was a confrontation with Ron, especially after what he had heard from Hermione. If truth be told, he was a little bit angry at Ron for making Hermione so upset, and if Ron was to start an argument, he would most likely not be able to control his temper.

“Oh dear, here he is now.”

She grimaced, and shot an apologetic look at Harry before retreating quickly up the 5^th year girls dormitory staircase, leaving Harry to look around at the portrait hole to come face to face with an angry looking Ron.

“Hey, where have you been?” Harry started, trying to keep his voice calm. He didn’t want any unnecessary arguments and if he could settle this without shouting, then he would do so. “Listen… Hermione was really upset earlier. You know you shouldn’t have said things like that to her. It’s not her fault.”

“Oh, so she’s told you then?” Ron’s voice was loud and sharp, obviously he did not share Harry’s hope for a quiet talk about this. “Been up there having one of your snogging sessions have you?”

Harry snorted. He didn’t think Ron was this stupid.

“Don’t be thick.”

“Thick, now am I?” He marched around the sofa to stand in front of Harry, his hands firmly on his hips, his ears a deep crimson. “So that’s why I didn’t see you two going at it like Nifflers in Gringotts behind my back!”

“Well, if you think that me and Hermione have been seeing each other behind your back, you must be!” Harry’s voice was rising now, too. “You know very well we wouldn’t have done anything like that without telling you! You’re just being stupid.”

“Oh ho!” Ron threw back his arms in an exasperated manner and rolled his eyes. Harry just stood and glared at him in disbelief.

“Right. So you’re telling me,” he put his hands resolutely back on his hips and stared at Harry, looking him right in his bottle green eyes. “That you can look me in the eye, and you can honestly say, that there is nothing going on between you two?”

“I can look you in the eye, Ron, and tell you that there was nothing going on!” Harry was half-shouting now, he could feel his face beginning to burn. He was only vaguely aware of the rest of the residents of the common room slowly fading away, knowing better than to stay and watch. “But I am going on a date with her tomorrow, Ron, whether you like it or not.”

“WHAT?!”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded, a smirk lining his features. “And you know who did that? You.”

Ron fell silent, his mouth opening and closing like he was gasping for air. Harry sighed, willing himself to calm down. He closed his eyes, more aware of the cold air slapping at his cheeks now that he had stopped shouting. Arguing like this wasn’t going to get anyone anywhere. He didn’t want to do this anymore. He lay his head gently on his hands, his arms propped up on his knees, and ran his hands through his hair, fighting a massive headache. Not five minutes ago he was as happy as a hippogriff with a dead ferret, now he felt like he wanted the ground to swallow him up.

“You know what, Ron?” He said, his voice calm and quiet, not threatening anymore, not angry, merely tired. “There are more important things, you know? I think it’s about time you realised that.”

He stood up, turned away from Ron and started to make his way towards the boys staircase, his head thumping, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. He needed to lie down. However…

“Yeah, more important and your make-out sessions, I guess?”

Harry froze. Willing himself not to explode at Ron, he could feel the blood pumping in his ears. He instantly felt angry at Ron’s words, as if someone had poured a cauldron full of Pepper-Up potion through his veins. If only Ron knew… If he had listened to what Dumbledore had told him at the end of last year…

He turned on his heel and faced Ron with a deadly glare. Ron fell silent.

“Actually, Ron,” His voice was quiet, but it was not calm. It was deadly and heavy with anger, shaking slightly with restraint. “I was thinking more along the lines of the fact that I might not live ‘til graduation.”

He watched Ron’s eyes grow wide, and found that he didn’t care. He didn’t care whether Ron was worried about him or not at the precise moment, all he cared about was that Ron was sorry. For making Hermione cry, and for this.

“Come to think of it,” he continued. “I might not even live ‘til the end of this year. So do you really think that I want to spend whatever time I have left arguing the toss with you over who likes who?”

“Harry… I-” Ron’s face grew red.

“You know what, Ron? I don’t want to hear it. I just thought that 5 years of friendship would mean more to you than who has what or who.”

“Harry-”

“Just save it. I don’t want to talk to you anymore tonight, Ron. In fact… I think you should just leave me alone for a couple of days. I don’t even want to look at you right now.”

Without giving him a chance to reply, Harry spun on his heel and marched upstairs, where he flung himself onto his bed, willing himself to only think about tomorrow and his date with Hermione, and not what a prat Ron was.

He woke up early the next morning and dressed more carefully than usual, even taking the time to try to get his unruly mop of hair to look less like he had some sort of hairy gremlin atop his head, but to no avail. After three fruitless attempts at trying to get it to lie at least flat, he gave up and ran his hands through it, making it look spiky, if anything.

At half 8 he made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast, and found Hermione sitting next to Ginny at the end of the Gryffindor table. She was dressed in a pretty pink sundress, her brown hair looking like she had tamed it a little. Instead of bushy-ness, smooth dark ringlets fell over her back. Harry grinned appreciatively as he made his way towards her.

Seeing him approach, Ginny caught his eye and grinned, then winked at Hermione before leaving. He looked around at Hermione, who blushed pink. Obviously, Ginny would know by now, if not from Ron, then Hermione, who always told her everything. He grinned and took a side beside her.

“You look nice today.” He said, helping himself to toast. “I’ve never seen you wear that dress before.”

She smiled and blushed an even deeper pink. “Well, I don’t wear it very often. Not really a dress kind of person I suppose.”

“Well, it suits you,” Harry smiled as he filled his mug full of Tea. “And so does the hair.”

Hermione blushed almost as brightly as her dress.

After breakfast they made their way out of the castle doors and though the iron gates, talking companionably. It was amazing how well they could still talk to each other like normal even though they both felt that they should be feeling awkward. It was just like normal, they talked about school work, Hagrid and what new creature he was going to bring to their lives next, they laughed and joked like normal. The only thing that didn’t come up in conversation was Ron, and Harry felt just fine with that.

The sun was shining brightly as they walked into the village, and after visiting a few shops (Harry visiting the Sweet-shop for Sugar Quills, Hermione spending half an hour in the bookshop), they decided that it was about time they would sit down for a drink.

“Where do you want to go?” Hermione asked, fanning her face with her hand. It was swelteringly hot and although she had appropriate clothes on for this sort of weather, the fact still remained that it was cooler inside the shops than outside.

“I don’t know,” replied Harry, who was about ready to faint from the heat. He was also wearing summer clothes, long shorts and a t-shirt, but they were not really helping. “I don’t really fancy the Three Broomsticks, might run into…”

“Ron.” She finished for him and they shared a look before skirting round the subject. “The Hog’s head isn’t really a nice place, is it? I don’t really want to go in there.”

“No, me either.”

He racked his brains for another solution: just how many places were there in Hogsmeade where you could get a drink? As he thought, one place in particular came to mind with a grimace.

“Well, I don’t know if it’s really appropriate…” he said, peering up a side road towards a tiny, pokey looking teashop. “But last year… when I came here with Cho we went into this teashop called Madam Puddifoots. It was stupid at the time, because there were all these daft frills and bows everywhere, but it should be okay now. “

Hermione looked slightly put-out, and Harry couldn’t blame her. He knew how he felt when Cho had started talking about her ex-boyfriend while on a date with him; how would Hermione feel if he started talking about his ex-girlfriend while on a date with her? However, it was the only solution to where they were going to get a drink, and after all, it wasn’t as if Harry liked Cho like that anymore. He hoped Hermione knew that.

He led her down the side road and into the cramped little teashop, heading for the table in the corner. Sitting down, Hermione seemed to have forgotten about Cho as she looked appreciatively around at the décor.

“It’s very nice… looks very cosy, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

He much preferred it without all the silly valentine’s day decorations, he decided.

The waitress came over almost instantly and they each ordered their drinks, which also appeared almost instantly and they sat, sipping them happily.

“I’ve had a really fun day today, Harry,” said Hermione, smiling. She was looking a little tanned from the sun and it made her skin glow a little. Her eyes were looking very pretty today, and it wasn’t until Harry looked into them properly that he realised that she was wearing the tiniest bit of make-up. “Thank you for asking me out.”

She blushed and Harry grinned.

“No problem. I’ve had a fun day too. We… Uh-” his grin turned shy. “We should definitely do this again.”

She nodded. “I totally agree.”

Their conversation carried them through three more drinks, Harry deciding after the third that he wanted ice-cream, so they shared a strawberry and chocolate sundae between them. They sat opposite each other, eating out of the large sundae with separate spoons, grinning at each other as they amused themselves.

After they’d finished their ice cream, it was getting late, and they decided that they should head back to Hogwarts. As they left the shop, the sky had turned a dusky sort of red, and the air had chilled slightly, causing Hermione to shiver as they walked lazily back through the streets of Hogsmeade. Harry smiled, and without a second thought draped his arm around her shoulders. She smiled up at him.

As they walked back through the gates in peaceful silence, Hermione snaked her arm around his back. Harry smiled serenely. This was nice, he liked doing this with Hermione, it was easy. He looked down at her, and grinned.

As they reached the castle doors, they stopped and turned to face each other, their faces glowing brighter than the setting sun. Harry linked Hermione’s fingers with his, still smiling. She gripped just as tightly back.

“I had such a good time today, Harry,” she said, and releasing her grip of Harry’s fingers, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his own around her back, pulling her closer.

“Me too.”

They smiled, and their faces moved closer together. Harry closed his eyes, and felt Hermione’s lips touch his gently, just touching, but it qualified as a kiss in his opinion. It was sweet, not the most extravagant kiss, but the feeling he got from it was amazing. It was this that made him realise that he did indeed like Hermione the way she liked him, if not more. They had just spent an amazing day together, and were now sharing such a sweet kiss, Harry felt like he wanted to keep this forever.

Hermione moved even closer to him, and pressed her lips more firmly to his, which he reciprocated without a second thought. They spent at least five minutes standing in front of the doors to the castle, their kisses growing deeper until Hermione’s tongue skirted along the bottom of Harry’s lip, and he happily opened his mouth to her. They kissed until the sun had fully set, when Harry felt Hermione shivering, and he insisted they go inside. They walked back to the common room in comfortable silence, Hermione holding Harry’s hand all the way, and hugging his arm as he smiled at her.

The subject of Hogwarts’ newest couple spread like wildfire throughout the school; apparently the news that Harry Potter was no longer single had dented the hopes of many 6^th year girls. Harry, of course was amazed at this, and wasn’t until Hermione assured him that he was the hottest guy in Hogwarts that he actually started to believe it. However, it seemed that Hermione had become the subject of many girls hatred, and had to live with insults thrown at her out of jealousy, but she maintained that it was all worth it.

“I get to go out with the cutest guy in school,” she said, making Harry grin. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

The news of their new relationship seemed to have reached even the staff, who all seemed to be thrilled, as Harry realised to his surprise one morning as he walked into the Great Hall hand in hand with Hermione. As he caught eyes with Hagrid to say ‘Good Morning’, he was greeted with a line of Professors, even McGonagall, all sticking their thumbs up at him and grinning broadly, Hagrid booming loudly “Knew it would ‘appen, Harry! On’y a matter of time!” Harry grinned broadly and looked past Hagrid to Dumbledore, who was not sticking this thumbs up like the others, but wearing a calm, knowing smile, his blue eyes twinkling. Silently, he raised his glass and nodded to Harry, who grinned and nodded back.

Eventually sitting down at the Gryffindor table, they were accompanied by Ginny, who, like the rest of the Hall, had noticed the Staff display of approval. She was also grinning broadly, and took the seat opposite them, munching on a bit of toast.

“So, how’s Hogwarts newest couple?”

Hermione laughed softly and helped herself to toast.

“You know, all this attention really isn’t necessary…” she said, buttering her toast, though Harry could tell she didn’t fully mean it. She enjoyed the attention really.

“I know, I know, but you know…” Ginny grinned and swallowed the last of her toast, leaning forwards to grab a new piece. “Harry Potter and all that, and people probably had bets on you as well…”

“What?” Harry dropped his piece of toast.

“Yeah,” she continued, grabbing the butter. “We all knew it would happen eventually. Only people who couldn’t see it was you two, and Ron, it seems. Though I think he’s wised up a little now. Whatever you said to him, Harry, it seems to have done the trick…”

After a few more slices of toast, Ginny left them to it and strode over to the Ravenclaw table, where she joined Luna in a cup of tea. Hermione turned to Harry.

“What did you say to Ron, Harry? I haven’t seen him since he yelled at me…”

“I… um…” Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Truth be told, he wasn’t entirely proud of what he said to Ron, whether it was true or not. However, there was also the pressing issue of having to tell Hermione too. Now that he had told Ron, in uncertain terms, he was sure that he would have to explain to Hermione too.

“Well, it’s… kind of difficult. I can’t really explain it here… I’ll tell you later. Okay?”

“Okay…” she replied uncertainly, and finished her slice of toast. Turning back to him, she suddenly laid her head on his shoulder, smiling flirtingly, and before he could realise, she had snatched the last piece of toast right from under his nose, and stuck her tongue out at him.

The days lessons were spent happily holding hands under the tables and smiling at each other, and although they realised they were probably not being very discreet about it, the teachers didn’t seem to mind at all. What surprised Harry the most was when he spotted Professor McGonagall blatantly seeing them looking at each other and holding hands under the table instead of listening, she did not reprimand them at all. She merely showed the faintest trace of a smile, and continued on with the lesson. Harry couldn’t believe their luck.

The only downside to the day was the sight of Ron, sitting either behind them or in front in every lesson, on his own. It pained Harry to see Ron so dejected and lonely, but he was also still angry with him, and his anger still stretched further than his sympathy. Hermione, however merely ignored him. She too, was still upset with him.

At the end of the day, they finished their dinner in the Great Hall, ignoring the whispers and stares they were half-used to seeing by now, and made their way lazily through the corridors, hands linked. The weather outside was still summery and warm, and the sun had set a little to cast a warm pinkish glow over the castle. The light filtered in through the windows and over them both, as they slowly sauntered back to the common room, in no rush.

Hermione laughed softly as she looked out of the window at the setting sun, then turned to Harry, stopping them walking and taking both his hands.

“Sunset again.” She said simply.

Harry smiled. Leaning forwards, he placed his lips over hers in a kiss that was more familiar now and less chaste. It wasn’t an mind-numbing, overblown kiss; they didn’t need to constantly kiss the living daylights out of each other to assert their relationship, though of course the idea was tempting. It was another sweet kiss, little more than the one Hermione had first given him on their date, but the feeling and intensity still remained.

Eventually they made it back to the common room, and climbing through the portrait hole, they were surprised to find it empty. Surely they hadn’t been that long? They had stopped off a couple more times to resume kissing, but Harry was sure they hadn’t taken this long to get back to the common room.

His thought were broken as Hermione led him over to the sofa, a cheeky, flirty grin firmly in place.

“Well, since no one’s in here… we may as well take advantage of- EEP!”

She had made to pull him down onto the sofa, but found that the common room was not as empty as they originally thought. Ron was sitting adamantly on the scarlet coloured sofa, wearing a sour look and red ears.

Harry sighed, realising why the common room was so empty. Ron was almost equally as famous in the Gryffindor house as Harry was for their tempers. Obviously seeing Ron in a mood, which by the look on his face he was clearly in one, they would have naturally retreated as far away from him as possible. He didn’t think that Ron’s temper would have the power to clear a room though.

He didn’t particularly want yet another fight with Ron, not after the great day he had spent. He was feeling far too relaxed and happy to let anything bring him down. Pulling Hermione away, he muttered; “Let’s just go somewhere else, we can go for another walk.”

“No.”

They both looked down at Ron, surprised. His ears were still red and his face still sour. He looked as though he hadn’t said anything at all.

“I want you to stay here,” he said, still wearing the same look and staring straight ahead into nothing. “I want to talk to you, whether you want to talk to me or not.”

Harry looked at Hermione. Her hazel eyes clearly said that she did not want to listen to Ron, and if he was honest, he also had misgivings. However, thinking that it was about time they gave Ron a chance to explain himself, he communicated this to Hermione with a look, and she sighed and flopped down on the opposite chair, Harry sitting gently down beside her, their hands still linked.

Ron sighed, ruffled. Obviously he hadn’t expected them to stay. Harry felt a little annoyed.

“Well… uh…” He started, his cheeks growing red. Hermione gave an impatient huff. “I just… I wanted to say sorry, I guess.”

Hermione looked slightly taken aback, and Harry looked on, surprised. He would have given Ron longer than this to see sense. Maybe what he said to Ron the other night had shocked him more than he thought…

“I know what I said wasn’t right, Hermione, you know I don’t think that way about you. Well, I hope you know…” he said, running his hands through his hair distractedly. Hermione’s expression remained the same, yet her eyes narrowed slightly. “I was just jealous, I guess. Like I said, once again, Harry gets what I don’t get. It’s always been like that, and, well… with five brothers… you can see my point, can’t you?”

He looked at them desperately, and Harry felt his anger ebb slightly. He looked at Hermione. Her expression had softened slightly, though her back still remained rigid and tense.

“So uh… I’m sorry, Hermione. I hope you can forgive me.”

Hermione sighed.

“Of course I can forgive you, Ron. You forget how many years we’ve all been friends. You forget how well I know you and Harry. But you have to understand how much you hurt me, and at the moment, it still hurts. I know you didn’t mean them, but they were still words, Ron, they still had meaning.”

He nodded silently.

Harry relaxed a little, happy now that Ron had apologised. He felt better now that the air was somewhat clearer between the two of them. He snaked his arm around Hermione’s back gently, and gave her a little squeeze, and felt her relax.

“So, yeah… that’s… well…” Ron continued, obviously wanting to talk more but not really knowing how. Harry couldn’t help but suppress a grin. Typical Ron. “I uh.. I wanted to say sorry to you too, Harry. After what you said… well, it scared me, I guess.”

Hermione looked confused and opened her mouth to speak before Ron interrupted her.

“Please, let me get this out. I know how much danger you’re in, Harry, don’t think that I don’t, I’ve been living in the Order’s headquarters, I know how serious this is. I’ve almost lost my dad because of it, and my stupid, stuck-up prat of a brother. But, you scared me when you said those things… I am still your best mate… I hope…” he added, uncertainly. Harry nodded softly, and he continued. “Last term when we were in the Department of Mysteries, I know I wasn’t much help, but I wanted to be. I wanted to be there fighting with you, because well… it was important to you, I guess… and as weird as this may sound… I care about you, you‘re like a brother to me. The thought of you dying… well… it’s… not nice.” he finished lamely, his cheeks blushing a faint red.

Hermione gave a gasp and Ron looked noiselessly at her. Harry also glanced at her with guilty eyes. Her pretty eyes were wide and shocked, and he felt her back go rigid. Ron was staring between the two of them uncertainly.

“Should… should I just go?”

“No, Ron.”

Harry released Hermione, bringing his arm from around her to run a hand through his hair. They were both sitting silently, staring at him with expectant eyes, waiting. Inside, his stomach was squirming.

“I think you both ought to know this… it’s only fair. But, please bear in mind that I’ve only just gotten over the idea myself.”

He let out a resigned breath, and began to explain, his voice steady and determined.

“You know when we were at the Department of Mysteries? Lucius Malfoy kept going on about that Prophecy? Well, it was about me-”

“It might not have been, Harry, no one knew what it said.” interrupted Hermione. “It had a question mark next to your name, it might not have been about you.”

He gave her a wan smile, and continued.

“Well, there was one person who knew what it said; Dumbledore. He told me what it said.”

He looked up at them, reading their expressions. Ron was merely sitting, his face expressionless, appearing as though he wanted to just listen and take it all in before judging how he should feel. Hermione however was on the edge of her seat, looking at him in expectation, her eyes urging him to carry on.

“It said… well… it’s easier if I just say the whole of it. I have it memorised. It said: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives.”

He glanced at them reluctantly, and his heart sank. Their reactions were exactly how he’d imagined.

Ron was motionless. His blue eyes held a heavy sort of sadness, and he was looking at Harry as if he’d never seen him before. His expression was one of complete disbelief. Harry felt even worse for making Ron feel this way again, when he’d done nothing wrong. However he felt even worse when he looked at Hermione.

Tears were streaking silently down her face, leaving trails along her cheeks, and her expression tugged at Harry’s heartstrings and brought a lump to his throat. Her deep brown eyes filled with tears and were full of such sadness and pity that he had to look away.

Rising to his feet, he avoided both their eyes, a burning, prickling feeling growing in the corners of his own.

“I’m… going to go to bed. I’m sorry…”

He made to turn towards the stairs when Ron rose too. Still avoiding his eyes, Harry paused.

“Harry.”

Finally, Harry looked up at Ron, and was shocked to see Ron’s eyes filling with tears too. At that moment, he fully appreciated how much Ron meant to him, and he let the tears fall from his own eyes too.

With no trace of a blush, Ron took a step closer to him and pulled him into a hug. Surprised, Harry blinked, before forcefully wrapping his own arms around Ron, and they hugged tightly, both sniffling. After a moment or two, he felt two more arms around his back, and glanced over his shoulder to find Hermione crying silently into his jumper, her arms wrapped around his waist. He realised with small amusement how odd this must look; Him, Ron and Hermione all standing in the middle of the common room, hugging each other for dear life, all crying.

“We’ll… We’ll do this together, Harry,” Hermione began, her voice breaking slightly. He felt Ron nod into his shoulder and gave a watery smile. “You won’t have to do this alone… me and Ron… we’ll be there with you.”

“All the way,” Ron added, with a squeeze, his voice muffled. “We’re not going to let you do this alone, Harry.”

Harry couldn’t speak. A lump had formed in his throat at their words, but he felt sure they understood.