Unofficial Portkey Archive

Yeah, here's the next installment of this collection. Sorry it took so long, but I've been pretty busy. Enjoy!

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Title: "the expected unexpected"

Rating: PG-13

Words: 3,300

Characters/Pairings: Ron, Harry/Hermione

Theme/Prompt: #099 - open secret

Warnings/AN: hbp au. Uhh, this follows canon up until the canaries scene, after that it's mainly all me.

Summary: It's because of the canaries. In which Ron tries to ignore the big elephant in the room and fails… in rather epic proportions.

Disclaimer: The Usual.

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Preface I

Ron's half expecting her to conjure up those blasted canaries and throw them at him-again. But Hermione does nothing, she just stands there looking at him… no, through him. She's staring at the couch.

Then her eyes snap towards the portrait hole-and she's blushing.

Harry stands there, robes all muddied after Quidditch practice, looking at her intently. Green eyes drift towards him -no, thinks Ron, towards the couch- briefly and snap back to Hermione. He's blushing too.

Without a word, they resume their way; Harry goes to the dorms and Hermione goes to the library.

Ron's left confused. When he asks about it, he only gets a shrug of a shoulder and ominous silence.

Their blushing cheeks when they catch glimpses of the couch tell him, loud and clear, something happened. But Ron doesn't want to acknowledge the big elephant in the room.

Not just yet.

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i.

In hindsight, the kiss oughtn't have been so surprising. Maybe a little unexpected… But then, maybe not.

Because, deep down, around the outskirts of his conscious, Ron has always known it was bound to happen.

The whole Wizarding World had expected it to happen in their Fourth Year and some of the students during Fifth Year. He had been shocked when it didn't happen this summer, he'd been dreading it. But then everything remained somewhat the same and their Sixth Year began and suddenly everyone was expecting them to happen.

Ron and Hermione.

That thought had been a very pleasant one, Hermione turning her attention onto him once school term started made it all the better. All of that had made Ron believe this year could be the year where he might actually be able to act upon his feelings for his bushy-haired friend. Her invitation to Slughorn's party had left him in high spirits and already devising a strategy to get her to be his girlfriend, but…

But.

It seemed fate needed him to go and ruin his chances by deciding to see for himself whether Lavender still possessed her tonsils or not. The "attack of the raging canaries" episode, as he'd so cleverly dubbed it, ended up shoving them -Ron and Hermione- downhill rather effectively and without any apparent remorse.

Harry's and Hermione's behaviour the weeks following that episode only added to his discomfort and growing fear that he had screwed up big time now. Their constant blushing (he was seriously starting to think the rosy hue had been there all along) when they came across each other in the Common Room, their talking in hushed voices or their talking without words at all, the way they now seemed to gravitate towards each other and their apparent need to always have some sort of physical contact, be it his hand on the small of her back or hers grabbing his arms, touching his shoulders.

All of it has helped drill the reality of his suspicions into his head; something had happened between them. Something clearly is happening between them.

This kiss is only a visual confirmation.

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Determined to not let anything (like, say, Lavender's scowling face) ruin this day, Ron keeps passing on the butterbeers in order to celebrate their victory properly. All of Gryffindor are clanking the drinks to Ginny's name, congratulating her for the splendid performance as Seeker during the game that secured the Quidditch Cup for them. Of course there are some people congratulating him for his game strategies, but most keep their focus on Ginny, which is fine with him because Ron knows his sister deserves this moment of glory after the disaster that was her relationship with Dean.

When Harry stumbles into the Common Room, looking anxious and slightly guilty, Ron jumps quickly into actions and starts reassuring his best friend while filling him in on the finest detail of their match against Ravenclaw. All those little details Hermione can't possibly care about. (And now that he is on that topic, how come she wasn't cheering them on during the match? Where was she during the match?). Harry takes it all in, laughing and smiling as he and their fellows Gryffindors give him a play-by-play; the black-haired teen gives a general congratulation to the team as the guilt leaves his demeanour slowly and Ron understand that he's probably been feeling guilty just in case.

So, patting his back, Ron decides to ease his mind. "There really wasn't anything to be worried about, mate! Ginny did a great job as Seeker; beat Cho to the Snitch right quick. If it hadn't taken so long to appear, we would've won within minutes!"

Everyone laughs at his enthusiasm, obviously feeling too happy not to, and Harry smiles gratefully at him before turning to his sister, who stands in the middle on the room, looking ready to explode in happy giggles.

"Congratulations, Ginny. Wish I'd been able to see you catch that Snitch."

A beat later Harry tenses up briefly, jaw clenching and eyes darkening to a forest green as his gaze locks with something ahead of him. Ron only takes notice of this because he is standing right at his side, and when he turns to see what caught his attention there is only Ginny standing there, an eager and pleased look on her face.

And then they are moving.

He winces in anticipation, already dreading the awkwardness that seeing Harry and Ginny together is going to bring into his day-to-day life now, but nearly chokes on his own spit at what happens next.

The scene unfolds itself pretty neatly. Harry starts walking forward and Ginny takes that as a sign to act and runs at him. Only Harry doesn't welcome her with a warm embrace, doesn't acknowledges her at all, sidestepping her as his gaze keeps locked with something-someone standing right behind her.

That someone, standing right behind Ginny, is Hermione.

The silence falls around him like a blanket, his face goes surprisingly lax, and Ginny's gaze hardens before quickly turning to follow Harry and freezes-along with everybody else. Harry manages to corner Hermione against one of the tables, none of them says a word but then slowly, almost seeming hesitant, Harry reaches out and cups her face between his hands gently. Ron can't see his expression, but Hermione's is on perfect display. Her eyelids drop halfway and her lips part slightly, her whole demeanour acquiring an enticing allure as she leans into Harry and it must mean something because he doesn't hesitate anymore.

His hands move, fingers splaying over the back of her neck and thumbs pressing lightly under her chin. She tilts her hear back a little and he closes the remaining distance between them. Hermione closes her eyes in clear abandon and her hands grasp the robes covering his shoulders while a soft sigh escapes her lips, a sigh Harry swallows as he presses more firmly into her.

Their embrace is nothing out of the ordinary, they do it all the time now, but it stills emanates a kind of intimacy that hasn't been there before (has it?). The way she clutches at him, as if he were to slips from her grasp-from her life is she so much as loosened her fingers and the way he lets his hands travel over her back, memorizing her curves and her feel as if there were no tomorrow and, really, for Harry, that might certainly be accurate.

But it's their kiss, the soft touch of lips and the tender way they brush against each other and the obvious content such innocent touch evokes in both, Harry and Hermione, that makes him grab hold of the fabric covering his chest in a feeble attempt to stop his heart from crumbling.

This time, Ron thinks, the wince comes from a deep rooted pain.

But his plight is ignored as all their friends and housemates break into a loud cheer, congratulating the couple as they end the kiss. There are hoots and catcalls and laughter and shouts of triumph and "I knew it!" and "about time!" among other celebratory sounds and happy smiles. Someone yells that they have another thing to celebrate now that "Hogwarts Golden Couple finally stopped being oblivious!" and the butterbeers starting rolling again, turning up the music for good measure.

However, Harry and Hermione take no notice of the uproar they've caused, gone off into their own little world. Something must have gone through Harry's face, a fleeting look, the rise of an eyebrow perhaps, because Hermione smiles tenderly at him (that smile she saves for Harry and Harry alone) and nods almost imperceptibly. Ron knows, he doesn't need to see it, that the delighted grin that follows is only a response to match Harry's.

Whatever that something is, it's clearly significant-important, because his best friend lets out a joyous laugh and proceeds to pick up the girl in his arms and spin around before snogging the daylights out of her. Oh, yes, snogging; there is nothing of the tenderness and innocence of the previous kiss, no. This is a full-blown French kiss. And they finally realize they're not alone when the catcalls begin anew with the usual get-a-room jibs and all.

But it's Lavender's comment that makes them finally release each other, although not completely as their hands remain entwined.

"Why don't you spare us the show and drag her to a broom closet? She can't possibly pretend it to be below her now."

Had she left her words die after the question, Lavender could have passed it as simple teasing, but the following sentence negates that, coming across as painfully, bitterly jealous. Obviously, she still hasn't gotten over the fact that Ron broke up with her-for Hermione.

But, while before Harry usually would have stayed silent or responded violently, now he simply smiles at Lavender carelessly and tugs Hermione forward until they are touching from knees to chest. "Thank you, Lavender, I think I'll do just that. And while you are in part right, Hermione is above broom closets, that doesn't mean she hasn't let me convince her to engage in some… very thorough study escapades… within some of Hogwarts' most cosy broom closets."

"Only because you present such a good case, giving well thought reasons for me to follow you. It's impossibly hard to try and refute your explanations."

Harry doesn't turn fast enough for him to miss the mischievous glint in his green eyes, nor the smug smirk as he faces Hermione once again. She looks very pleased with herself as she grins at Harry and his chuckle rings loud against the silence that had befallen the Common Room at Hermione's admission. Without further ado and amidst shocked stares, they walk hand in hand towards the entrance.

Before stepping through the portrait hole completely, Harry turns to address the instigator to the previous conversation. "Oh, and Lavender? You should really consider your current fashion sense, you see, jealousy doesn't suit you."

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He's been watching them since they left the Common Room.

Not watching them as in following-them-through-the-castle's-corridors watching them, but watching-their-dots-on-the-Marauders'-Map-move-and-dissapear-into-a-wall watching them.

A wall located in one of the seventh floor's corridors. The very one that grants access to the Room of Requirements.

Bloody buggering shite.

Midnight has come and gone and one Ronald Weasley has yet to embark into the lands of Morpheus. He'd left the Common Room unnoticed right after his best friends left, slipping into the boy's dormitories and going right to Harry's trunk, after which he sat on his bed with the curtains closed. The party died, his roommates stumbled into the room drunk and passed out shortly afterwards, but Ron had remained sitting in bed, watching the now deserted corridor outside the Room of Requirements.

Bloody buggering shite, indeed.

And after spending nearly five hours sitting on his bed, Ron sees their dots appear on the Map next to the wall. Seconds later he's following their trail as the dots labelled Harry James Potter and Hermione Jane Granger make their way back to Gryffindor Tower slowly. The walk can't take more than five minutes, but after stopping against several other walls (and he doesn't want to think why they stop but their slightly overlapped dots don't help him), they arrive outside the Fat Lady's portrait fifteen minutes later.

He doesn't know what prompts him, but before the dots slip into the Common Room, Ron mutters a very soft "mischief managed" before making his way to the stairs. He walks down slowly; stopping short when the fireplace burst into life and the light of the fire reaches the bottom of the spiralling staircase, just three steps down from where he stands.

Then, he hears them talk.

"Are you going to tell me then?"

"Hm?"

Their voices are but a mere whisper; however the silence surrounding them provides Ron with enough to listen clearly. Deciding this isn't enough, he steps down until reaching the bend of the staircase and chooses the perfect place to hear as well as see them while keeping himself hidden.

"Harry?"

The couch they choose to sit on is the ban of his existence; that bloody couch started it all-the blushing, the closeness, everything. He should've known, he should've insisted! They've been hiding something since the "attack of the raging canaries". If only he had insisted, but… but.

But he had feared their answer.

After receiving no response, Hermione tries again. The couch faces the fireplace so he can only see their backs, it's a shame, but it's enough to gauge their emotions. After all, Ron knows his best friends better than anyone.

"Tell you what?"

There's a subtle, constant shift on Hermione's left shoulder, like she gently moving her arm, and the absence of Harry tells Ron he's either sitting on the floor or lying on the couch. And as he watches his green-eyed friend sit up and turn to Hermione's pouting face he gets his answer.

"Harry…"

He'd been lying down, his head obviously on her laps and if the hand that still rests on his shoulder says anything, it is that she'd been stroking his hair.

Harry grins at her adorable pout and moves closer to her, draping an arm across her shoulders and leaning into her to nuzzle her cheek. The tips of her ears redden, a clear sign that Hermione's blushing, and Harry chuckles softly before pressing his mouth to her neck. "You'll have to be more specific, Miss Granger."

Hermione moves the hand resting on his shoulder and slides it under his shirt, pulling Harry closer. Her expression is hidden behind the boy's head, but her actions speak for themselves. "Are you going to tell me what prompted you to kiss me in front of our housemates?"

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that."

Briefly, Ron wonders if there is enough time for him to go fetch the Invisibility Cloak, but just before making up his mind Harry pulls back from the embrace, looking unexpectedly nervous. Hermione raises her eyebrows in surprise, clearly not awaiting this reaction.

The green-eyed teen shifts uncomfortably under the girls piercing stare. "I don't really know why, I… I mean, you were just standing there and-and something clicked, you know? Like, suddenly, everything made sense. Our relationship and the way we somehow always know what the other is thinking, this blinding trust I have in you and your unwavering loyalty regardless of how it may lead us right into a trap… and how it's always your voice in my head the one preventing me from doing something reckless."

Her breath catches and she's gasping, but Harry, letting out a shuddering breath, keeps going. And Ron wishes to have enough strength to leave them alone.

"All of that, Hermione-when I saw you standing there, all of that came to me in a rush. You didn't want to hide this," he says, moving his hand to indicate both of them. "You wanted to be upfront and let the whole school know about us, but you accepted my request and kept quiet. I told you I didn't want you to be a bigger target that you already are, and while that is true, it's not the whole truth. And the truth… the truth is that I wanted you to be mine."

Hermione bits her lower lip to prevent the raising sobs from escaping, but her voice trembles still when she says his name. "Harry…"

"Ever since I can remember people has known all about my life before me, Hermione. The Dursleys knew I was a wizard before I did, the Wizarding World has known all about my parents and my life before I do. Always, everything about me is out there for everyone to see ages before I get to see it!" Harry breathes deeply, pulling Hermione closer until their foreheads bump softly. His voice lowers to a soft murmur. "That's why I wanted to keep you, us, a secret. This is one aspect of my life nobody knew of and I wanted it to stay that way. The most important part of my life; I wanted it to be mine and only mine… I didn't want to share you with the world just yet, Hermione."

"Oh, Harry…"

"But tonight, or rather last night, when I saw you all I wanted to do was run to you and snog you silly and scream to the world that Hermione Granger is mine and that I am hers for as long as she wants me. I did just that, sans the screaming and… now you're crying. Merlin, what did I do wrong?"

Hermione laughs softly at his mounting panic and leans more firmly into Harry. "Nothing. You did nothing wrong, Harry. But you can do something right and kiss me now."

Harry can't seem to comply fast enough. After a few tender kisses, they fall out of sight and most likely onto the couch's cushions.

Ron takes that as his cue to go back to the dorms.

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He climbs into his beds, closing the curtains to try and block the rest of the world, but fails as his mind keeps replaying the last several hours. And he wonders where it all went so… awry. Exactly when Hermione got tired of pursuing him and shifted her attentions to Harry (and hadn't it always been Harry?). It probably was after the canaries' episode, but why?

It has to be a fleeting fancy.

Of course, it has to be. Because Hermione is supposed to be the one thing he has that he doesn't have to share with anyone-with Harry. She is the one thing that is supposed to be his. Oh, he knows, deep down he knows Harry feels the same, but he can't come to terms with any of that right now. He saw Hermione first; he staked his claim on the Yule Ball! The whole freaking school knew of their screaming match, it was proof enough! Bloody hell, they have all the tension! Harry and Hermione have none of the passion of their rows and the tension.

They're just friends!

No, they're not. Not anymore.

Ron presses the hills of his hands against his closed eyes and wills himself to calm down. Merlin, he never expected it to hurt this much. He can't just pretend now. He can't pretend their actions mean nothing, he can't pretend to be oblivious to the stares and blushes and light touches. He can't.

Because they won't. They won't hide and keep their secrets. They won't act as if nothing happened, as if last night didn't happen. And all his reasons for pretending will crumble the moment he sees them together at breakfast in the Great Hall.

No, there is no longer any reason to ignore the big elephant in the room.

Not anymore.

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End.

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Next part it's like a companion fic to this, but it's not done yet, so please be patient? And comments are always welcomed!

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