7. Revelations
Ron and Harry were at the quidditch pitch. Harry had just called off practice. They had only been there for less than an hour, but he hadn't been able to concentrate on the practice at all.
Feeling a little frustrated, the team agreed to reschedule their practice to Friday night instead. Since they had won their last match against Hufflepuff and their next game wouldn't be until March, their spirits were high.
After the team members left, Harry walked slowly to the changing rooms, Ron trailing after him. Once they were inside the changing room, Harry sank in a bench letting go of the snitch he had been holding in his hands. Ron looked at him and shook his head.
"Okay, that's it!" said Ron, a tone of frustration in his voice. "I can't take this anymore."
Harry looked at him wondering whom Ron was talking to. Ron started pacing around the room, untying his quidditch robes.
"You can't keep up like this, mate. You and Hermione need to solve this thing or else... I don't know what I'm going to do with the two of you."
Harry looked at Ron with an expression of shock in his face. "What... what are you talking about?"
"You think I don't know?" asked Ron. "You think I can't see the way you've been eating Hermione with your eyes."
After hearing Ron's words, Harry's face turned redder than Ron's hair. "Have I been that obvious?" said Harry more to himself. If it was possible, he flushed even more when he realized he had said it out loud.
"Yes! You've been very obvious. Haven't done anything to hide it, have you? She has you walking in clouds man. You're more crazy about her than you ever were about Angie."
And so it hit Harry. Ron was right. How could he have been so blind? His feelings had been so obvious that even Ron had noticed, and that wasn't easy since for Ron to notice something like this, it needed to bite him in the face.
"And... Has she? Has Hermione...?"
"No," said Ron guessing what Harry was trying to say. "She hasn't realized anything. She's been as blind as you, or at least I think she doesn't want to see it."
"What do you mean? You think she wouldn't be interested in me like that?" Harry's voice sounded concerned. That hadn't crossed his mind. There was the big possibility of her not seeing him as anything more than a friend.
"You should ask her, not me." Ron was quite sure he had already said too much.
"I can't," said Harry getting up. He started to take Ron's job of pacing around while Ron just stood rooted to the same spot. "I wouldn't be able to stand it if she doesn't feel the same way I do. Besides, I'd never do anything that could mean loosing her as my friend. She's too important to me."
"Believe me mate, that won't happen."
"How do you know? How can you be so sure?" Harry, seeing that Ron was avoiding his eyes, realized Ron knew more than he wanted to accept. "You know, right? You know how she feels!"
Ron tried to walk out of the room, but Harry stepped forward and placed himself in Ron's way. "Tell me!" he demanded.
"I can't!"
"So it is true, you know." By now Harry was raising his voice.
"Maybe, okay." Once again, Ron tried to get away, but Harry wasn't going to let him go that easily. "Listen mate, just talk to her, okay. Trust me."
After taking a few deep breaths to regain control of himself, Harry spoke again. "Please, Ron. I need to know."
"If I say something, she's going to kill me!" Ron's face showed Harry that he seriously believe Hermione would physically hurt him if he'd say more than what he had already said.
"She's not going to do anything to you."
"How long have you known her? You know she's mental." Yelled out Ron.
"Okay, okay… she won't know you told me anything, please Ron," pleaded Harry. "I need to know."
"Alright," Ron finally gave up. He couldn't' stand the look of pain in Harry's face. "Believe me, you should've known this by now, just by looking at her." Then, seeing Harry's look of exasperation, he continued. "She.. she has feeling for you, alright?"
"She does??? Merlin's beard, she does!!" Harry passed a hand through his raven hair, which if possible was wilder than ever after riding his firebolt for a while. "Ron, you know what this means?"
"Yes," said Ron, with a tint of horror in his voice. "She's going to kill me!"
Harry, ignoring Ron's agony, started pacing around talking to himself. "Okay... okay Potter, think!"
Ron sat down in the bench and looked at Harry wondering what was going on inside that head of his.
"How am I going to do this?" Harry continued talking to himself.
"Hey, whatever you do, don't tell her I told you." Since Ron already considered himself a death man (Once Hermione knew he had opened his big mouth), he decided to help Harry out. "Besides, you're going to have to do some serious convincing."
Harry, who had ignored Ron for a while, stopped in his tracks looking at Ron with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean?"
"Well… she has this weird idea of her not being good enough for you."
Harry, who was shocked at Ron's words, sat next to him. "What are you talking about? Not good enough? Where did she get that idea?"
"Look at the girls you've dated man. They're the complete opposite of what Hermione is." Then after seeing Harry's expression, he added, "You just have to make her see that you don't' care about that. Didn't you just told me the other day that you and Angie had nothing in common?"
Harry nodded thinking about Ron's words.
"Can you tell what you have in common with Hermione?" asked Ron after a few minutes.
For a while Harry thought about it. Of course he could. There were plenty of things he could say. "We have so many things in common, I can even make you a list." He stood up and as if talking to himself, he continued.
"We love our friends very much and would do anything for them. We like adventure, even when sometimes that gets us in trouble. We… we're not really what people think. People see her as a know-it-all and me as a famous name. But there's so much behind all that. You may be the only one who knows us that well besides ourselves," said Harry looking at Ron.
Ron smiled at him. "You have to show her how much she means to you."
They both fell silent for a few minutes, each lost in his own thoughts. Then Ron's face brightened. "I have an idea! We're gonna need George and Fred's help, though."
"I also have an idea, and I'll need Dobby's help as well."
"Dobby? What for?"
"You'll see." And with a mischievous smile on his face Harry walked out of the changing room with Ron at his side.
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Right after leaving the changing room, Harry headed straight to the kitchens, Ron trailing after.
Once they stood at the fruit basket's portrait and tickled the pear, the two of them walked into the kitchens looking for Dobby. Harry walked along the long tables, not seeing his elf friend around. For a moment, Harry thought that perhaps Dobby was out of the kitchens doing some chores.
Harry would've had to make use of the Marauder's Map to locate him in the castle, but to Harry's luck, once he got further in the room, he spotted Dobby. He was busy cleaning some food off the floor, which had been spilled.
As soon as Harry got a little closer, Dobby raised his pointed ears, as a puppy would when they hear someone approaching, and turned his face to find Harry standing next to him.
Dobby's face brightened up with a wide smile. "Harry Potter has come to visit Dobby, sir!"
"Hello Dobby," greeted Harry.
"Please sir, please sit down. Dobby'll bring you some tea, sir," said the little elf pushing Harry down at his wrist to make him sit at the bench next to the table.
"It's okay, Dobby. I don't care for tea right now."
"I wouldn't mind," said Ron with a grin in his face. "And perhaps some of those chocolate éclairs we had at breakfast." Harry looked at Ron, shaking his head disapprovingly, but Ron just shrugged his shoulders. "Since we're here… might as well make use of the trip, right?"
Harry smiled at his friend, who obviously would never change. A couple of minutes later, Dobby came back bringing them tea, éclairs, pumpkin pastries, pudding and fruit on a silver tray. Ron's face was shining with delight. After Dobby placed the tray on the table, Harry asked him to sit with them.
"Dobby, I need to ask you for a favor," said Harry. Then looking at Dobby's questioning face, he said, "It's about Hermione."
Dobby's expression changed to understanding as if he could read Harry's thoughts and smiled widely while nodding his head in agreement, his pointy ears flapping.
"Say no more, sir. Dobby'll do anything for Harry Potter's girl."