Rating:
PG-13
House:
Schnoogle
Characters:
Hermione Granger Ron Weasley
Genres:
Romance Action
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix Quidditch Through the Ages Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Stats:
Published: 03/17/2004
Updated: 05/16/2004
Words: 108,050
Chapters: 16
Hits: 62,042

Hermione Granger and the Time of Troubles

Ann Margaret

Story Summary:
Ron and Hermione have been together for almost five months now...and haven't told a soul. The war is raging on, Harry is as moody as ever, Malfoy is acting strange--can their relationship stand the test of a troubled time? A much darker, action-packed fic--sequel to Hermione Granger and the Order of the Phoenix.

Chapter 02

Chapter Summary:
Hermione decides give Ron an ultamatim--tell about us or there's nothing to tell. How will he react? And what the hell is with Malfoy? More exposition also given.
Posted:
03/18/2004
Hits:
4,011


Possibly one of the most awkward moments in a young teenager's life is walking into a crowded room and having all conversation halt with your arrival. This can only signal one thing: that everyone in the room was talking about you.

Hermione Granger was unfortunate enough to undergo such a humiliation when she finally emerged from her dormitory after the very public row with Ron the previous night. It didn't help matters that she was already very nervous about giving Ron her ultimatum, so the sight of over twenty pairs of eyes rounding on her disconcerted her more than usual. It also didn't make things easier since none of these eyes were the striking sapphire ones that she adored.

"Hi, Hermione," Ginny Weasley approached her cautiously, but with a sincere, sympathetic smile. "How are you?"

"Fine," she said shortly. She just wanted to get this talk with Ron over with. "Do you know where Ron is?"

Ginny shrugged. "Haven't seen him all morning."

Hermione sighed. "All right, if you see him, will you please tell him I'm looking for him?"

"Of course," Ginny replied. Hermione tried to make a quick getaway, but Ginny grabbed her arm. "Hermione, what's going on? Are you and Ron...?" she trailed off insinuatingly.

Hermione hesitated. She hadn't told Ginny about her and Ron, and if there was anyone she wanted to tell besides Harry, it was Ginny. Ginny was the one she had gone through all of last night whenever she needed advice or comfort on the whole Ron situation or her love life in general. If anyone would be purely happy for them, it would be Ginny.

"I don't know, Ginny, I really don't," Hermione replied honestly. "I have to go talk to him and figure some things out, but I'll let you know, ok?" She hurried out of the common room before Ginny could stop her again, but not before she heard the snickers from bystanders. Hermione didn't know who Ron thought he was kidding; she had a sneaking suspicion that several people were aware of the alteration in hers and Ron's relationship.

She would have thought if Ron wasn't in the common room that he would be eating, but he wasn't in the Great Hall. She decided to check the library on the off chance that he was actually studying. It was a Sunday morning, but Ron sometimes threw himself into his homework whenever he was upset. If he even was upset. Hermione frowned at the thought--Ron had been rather arrogant lately, what if he didn't care about their row, what if he thought it was an opportunity to spend more time with those twits in third-year who enjoyed hanging on his every word.

Hermione jogged into the library, and instantly received a disapproving glare from Madame Pince. She quickly mouthed an apology and immediately went into the back, out of the librarian's line of sight. Hers and Ron's usual table was in the back, near the restricted section.

But it was deserted. Hermione sighed with disappointment; where on earth was he? She turned to exit the library, but halted instantly at the tall figure leaning against the nearest bookshelf. Her stomach lurched more sharply than she cared to admit, but she would never confess that to him. He couldn't know what an effect he was having on her.

She tried just to brush past him without saying a word, but he stepped quickly into her path. She suppressed a frustrated sigh, and defiantly tossed her hair out of her face. "Let me pass, please," she said flatly, eyes averted.

"Oh, come on, Granger," Draco Malfoy said with a cruel smirk. "I just wanted to show you something."

Hermione folded her arm across her chest. She was debating pushing past the Slytherin and leaving the library or just letting Malfoy make his typical Mudblood joke and leaving afterwards. Normally, she would have opted for the former, but she was so exhausted and ill at ease that she decided on the latter. Ever since she had had that run-in with Malfoy at the end of last term, she had been noticeably uncomfortable around him; he had practically given her a death threat, after all. She didn't know why she was letting him get to her this year, but instead of making her usual snappy comebacks, she always just kept her mouth shut and silently endured whatever slurs he threw at her. Ron was furious that she was taking Malfoy's flack without a fight, but she had told him to drop it with such authority that Ron had actually had the good sense to shut up. Hermione glanced about her; she was glad for once that Ron wasn't here to witness her practically allowing Malfoy to torment her.

Malfoy extracted a thin book from the depths of his robes and flipped it open before Hermione could catch a glimpse of the cover. "Allow me," he said with a mock debonair air. He cleared his throat pompously and began to read with a leer. "If a girl looks like she wants to hug you but she doesn't, it doesn't mean that she really doesn't; she could just feel uncomfortable because she fancies you and doesn't want to give anything away." Hermione froze in tense shock as Malfoy turned to the final page. "If a girl fancies you and you're already friends, there is a good possibility she won't say a word to you about it and risk losing the friendship; she'll be willing to sacrifice the relationship in order to keep you in her life in anyway she can."

Hermione closed her eyes. Shit.

"I never knew you were such a brilliant author, Granger," Malfoy scoffed. He closed the book and shook his head with false amazement. "You should publish this."

"Give it back," Hermione's hand shot out, but Malfoy with his damned Seeker reflexes jerked the book out of the way and over his head. Malfoy was over six inches taller than her, so she had no hope of retrieving it without her wand. And Malfoy, already anticipating this, had his own wand out. His smirk grew even wider, and Hermione lowered her arm in defeat. "What do you want?" she said quietly.

Malfoy stepped forward, and Hermione quickly countered. She wasn't that afraid of him. "I just want to help you publish this," Malfoy mocked.

"I'm sure you will," Hermione retorted. "You'll have this all over the entire school."

The malicious grin grew wider. "Well, that depends."

"On what?" Hermione asked through gritted teeth.

Hermione had to step back once again as Malfoy approached her, and she was backed up to the bars of the restricted section. She poised to ram her knee upwards if necessary, but Malfoy didn't make any further movement towards her. "How helpful you're going to be."

"Helpful?" Hermione scoffed.

"You're going to be very, very nice to me," Malfoy told her. "Otherwise, I'll have the pleasure of reading this out loud at the next prefect meeting, in my common room..." He had actually had the audacity of reaching out and toying with one of her numerous curls, which was the final straw. Hermione roughly slapped his wrist away from her face.

"This is not part of the deal," Hermione stated forcefully.

"Oh, please, Granger, as if I would want to touch a Mudblood like you," Malfoy retorted in disgust. "Although," he drawled out, pretending to appraise her carefully. "I have heard once you go Mudblood, you never go back." Malfoy quickly blocked Hermione's knee from striking its intended target, and pushed her leg back down. Hermione then went for her wand, but Malfoy managed to pin her wrists against the bars behind her. "Listen to me, Mudblood," Malfoy hissed, glancing over his shoulder. Hermione knew that they were starting to attract attention with all the noise they were making. She also knew she should just scream and end this, but at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had a feeling it would only making things worse. "If you don't want the entire school and Potter to know that you and Weasley have been sneaking around and shagging the entire school year, you are going to do exactly what I tell you."

"Do you honestly think I'm going to listen to you just because of a rumor you could spread?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"No," Malfoy leered. "You're going to listen to me because I can ruin you, Granger. I don't think McGonagall would like it very much if she heard how her desk is being used by you two."

"We have never..." Hermione protested hotly.

"They don't know that," Malfoy interrupted softly. "And if you two are willing to go at it on the Hogwarts Express, who knows where else you've done it." Hermione flushed crimson; Malfoy must have seen Ron comforting her after the prefect's meeting at the beginning of term. "And with this book," He nodded his head in the direction of his robes, where he had hidden the book within once again. "I can destroy you." Hermione didn't respond; she didn't give a damn what other students thought about her socially, but there was the threat of Malfoy going to an authority figure, and if he revealed that she and Ron were using school property for snogging, she could kiss any chance of becoming Head Girl good-bye. She could even possibly be dismissed from her prefect duties. She would be taking a risk telling him to go to hell. And then there was the idea of Malfoy telling Harry; she honestly didn't think Harry was going to be upset when he found out about her and Ron, but he might be if Malfoy told him and revealed that they had hidden their relationship for almost six months. Harry never appreciated being lied to.

The click of high heels indicated that someone was approaching. Malfoy quickly released her and carefully made sure that his hair was perfectly slicked back. Hermione slipped away so she could collect herself. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see Madame Pince restocking some books. Malfoy nodded to the librarian before starting out of the library, but not before pausing briefly behind Hermione. "We'll talk more later," he hissed.

Hermione continued to face the bookshelf she had walked over to under the pretense of looking for a book as Malfoy exited the library. Hermione bit her lip, suppressing the urge to let out a scream of frustration. Honestly, could things get any worse?

She halfway expected something awful to happen the moment she thought it, but the only thing that occurred was Madame Pince softly padding back to her desk. Hermione shook her head slightly, staring at the rows of books without really seeing them. She knew that she shouldn't let Malfoy get to her like this, and she knew logically that his threats really weren't that awful, but after the awful night she had had, it seemed worse than it really was. And he really could ruin her if he revealed her and Ron's relationship. And what was he going to ask her to do? And when was he going to tell her what he wanted in return for his silence?

A hand closed around her elbow, and Hermione couldn't suppress her scream any longer.

"Whoa, whoa," Ron said edgily, looking just as shocked as she felt. "It's me."

"Oh," Hermione couldn't look at Ron out of her embarrassment, and she turned to Madame Pince, who had come charging back at the sound of Hermione's yell. "Sorry," she apologized, gesturing back and forth between her and Ron. "He..." Madame Pince rolled her eyes, and returned just as quickly to her post.

"I've been waiting for you at our spot," Ron said quietly. "I thought you would have known to look for me there, but then I figured you'd come here," He laughed a tad awkwardly which quickly faded when Hermione didn't crack a grin. "You okay?"

Hermione shook her head firmly. "We really need to talk, Ron."

**

Ron stood in stunned silence, the November wind whipping wildly through his hair. Hermione, on the other hand, had tied her frizzy mane back in a braid upon her arrival at the top of the Astronomy Tower. She stood watching him with trepidation: she had just given her ultimatum.

"So either I tell everyone about us, or we're through?" Ron finally spoke.

"Yes," Hermione couldn't look at Ron's conflicted face, because she knew that she would probably end up yielding to him, and she knew that this was the right thing to do. She stared out onto the grounds instead, awaiting his decision.

Ron quietly came over to stand next to her, leaning against the wall that separated them from empty air. He also watched the view for a long moment before speaking again. "We can't be over, Hermione. We can't go back."

"We may have to, Ron," she whispered in response.

"No," Ron said vehemently. "No."

Hermione turned so she was facing him. "Look, Ron, I know there is some reason that you don't want to tell me the real reason that you don't want to tell people about us..."

"Hermione..."

"No, hear me out," Hermione stepped forward and placed her hands up to his chest, and he quieted. "I can understand if for some reason that you don't want to tell people because you may be a little ashamed of me," Hermione said the words quickly and quietly because she hated that they could be true, but she knew he had to know that was the impression he was giving, "and if that's true, Ron, just tell me, I can handle it, but--just don't lie to me, Ron."

Ron was gaping down at her with shock again. "How could you even think that?"

"Because why else wouldn't you want to tell anyone about us?" Hermione returned sadly. She tried to look down at her feet, but Ron quickly moved his hands up to her cheeks to stop her.

"Hey," he said in a quiet but firm tone of voice. "Don't ever think that, you hear me? If anything, you are too good for me."

Hermione closed her eyes so she wouldn't lose herself in those blue eyes. "Ron, I don't get it," she said. "With me, you're all sweet and wonderful like this, but when we get back to the common room, you'll ignore me completely and go be with those other girls..."

"I have to, Hermione," Ron interrupted. "I have to act like nothing's changed between us!"

"But it has, Ron!" Hermione pulled away. "And I want everyone to know that, because I'm proud and thrilled that we've gotten to this place, and you have to understand that when you tell me that you don't want that, it seems like that you..." Hermione suddenly found she couldn't say the words again. "...well, you know."

"It's not true," Ron insisted.

Hermione studied Ron carefully; she knew his eyes so well, and since Ron expressed his emotions so readily and openly, she could tell in an instant if he was lying or not. And he wasn't.

"Then what is it?" Hermione asked.

Ron glanced over at her nervously, and looked away just as quickly. He pushed himself away from the wall and paced away from her. "What if I told you that Harry fancied you too?"

"I would say you're mad," Hermione said promptly, following him in shock. "Harry?"

"Yeah," Ron revealed. "And after all he's been through, I don't want to be the one to go up to him and say 'Hi, mate, I've been snogging the girl you fancy,'"

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "Has he told you that he fancies me?"

"Well, no," Ron admitted. "But, Hermione, how could he not?" He gestured at her. "I mean, it's you."

Hermione smiled despite the situation. "Ron, it's really sweet that you think that," she said quietly. "But just because you fancy me doesn't mean that everyone does."

"But he always looks out for you," Ron argued. "You saw the way he took care of you when you were in the hospital after the Ministry thing."

"Ron, you were the one who really took care of me," Hermione countered. "You were the one who stayed two extra nights for me."

Ron's ears turned bright red. "You know about that," he said under his breath.

"Yes," Hermione stepped towards him so she could take both of his hands. "And I never thanked you for that." She squeezed his hands, and Ron shrugged one shoulder with a smile. Hermione's smile was rather bittersweet by this point; why couldn't Ron be like this all the time. "Ron, in all honesty, I really don't think Harry fancies me; he has so much going on in his life right now, I don't think he has time for a girlfriend," she said earnestly. "But if he does, I think we're close enough to Harry that if we just tell him the truth, he'll want us to be happy." Ron still looked unconvinced. "I mean, look at it logically, Ron. Harry's fancied Cho until the end of last term. If he did suddenly fancy me, it's only been for a short time, which will make it easier to get over it. We just have to tell him soon." Ron let out a long breath, knowing that Hermione was right but not wanting to admit it just yet. "Besides, Ron, I think he could already know."

"What?" Ron asked sharply.

"That row we had last night," Hermione explained. Ron closed his eyes and groaned. "I think that loads of people could know," she added. Malfoy does, she thought grimly. But she couldn't tell Ron that now; this was about saving their relationship, which was much more important than that prick.

Ron, eyes still closed, leaned forward blindly until his forehead was resting on hers. "I'm so sorry about that," he whispered.

"Me too," Hermione returned quietly. "But Ron, you did really hurt my feelings last night..."

"I know," he interjected. "And I didn't like how you..."

"I know," Hermione wasn't interrupting to be rude; she just knew exactly what she had done to him, and she was sorry for it. She leaned back so she could see his face. "Ron, we can't fight like that."

"I never want to fight like that again," Ron said instantly, eyes wide. A slight smile spread on his face. "We'd run out of butterbeer."

Hermione rolled her eyes but chuckled at the same time before growing somber again. "But I think we will if we keep this relationship a secret any longer."

Ron remained silent for a long time. "We have to tell Harry first," he finally spoke.

"I agree," Hermione replied.

"And--it may take a couple of days," Ron continued nervously.

"This isn't your way of putting this off, is it?" Hermione asked suspiciously, knowing her Ron well.

"No," Ron lied. Hermione just looked at him, and he relented. "Okay, maybe."

Hermione reached up to smooth some of his windswept hair out of his eyes. "We don't have to tell him today," she compromised. "We'll do it tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," Ron repeated. His hands had instinctively gone to her waist to steady her when she had stood on her tiptoes to fix his hair. He kept them there even after she lowered herself, much to Hermione's approval. "So--we're okay now?" he asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Hermione answered with a smile. She knew she and Ron still had some issues, but at the end of the day, she just wanted to be with Ron Weasley, and she was willing to work through whatever problems arose. And the first problem they were going to tackle was telling Harry Potter that they had lied to him for almost six months.

**

Ron's nerves were getting to the best of him by early evening, and although Hermione had offered to just go ahead and tell Harry now, he had refused. Ron decided that avoiding Harry was the best option until he had to come clean. He had managed the feat all day, but dinner had been a tricky situation. Harry had shown up in the Great Hall about halfway through their meal looking pensive as usual, but he hadn't been so distracted that he didn't notice Ron's obvious discomfort.

Harry hesitated before sitting down next to his friend. "You two aren't still fighting, are you?"

"No," Hermione answered for them. "We're not going to fight anymore, are we?" Ron shook his head silently.

"Yeah," Harry laughed sarcastically as he plopped down next to Ron and reached for the potatoes. "Let's see how long that lasts."

Hermione wished she could say something to let Harry know how rude he was being, but she simply took a sip of pumpkin juice. Harry was going through a terrible ordeal now, and she didn't want to make matters worse by telling him that he wasn't being a very good friend at the moment.

But honestly, who could really blame Harry for being so irritable and edgy? There was a war raging on, and he was in the thick of it.

She had been right in her statement at the end of last term that it was only a matter of time before the war started. She had continued to have the Daily Prophet delivered to her home over the summer, so she had remained informed throughout the whole Ministry crisis. The Ministry had fallen into shambles after it was revealed that Fudge and other choice members had been covering up Voldemort's return for a year. A purge had ensued, and all members who knew about Voldemort's return and did not come forward were sacked. Tonks, Kingsley, and Mr. Weasley had come rather close themselves to being sacked, but Dumbledore had been able to prevent that from happening. The purge had left several prime posts open in the Ministry, including the Minister of Magic. Fudge had been furious that he was ousted, and hadn't left without a fight. The Ministry had been divided over the issue of whether to overthrow Fudge or not, and Voldemort had used the turmoil to his advantage.

Everyone had been so riveted to Fudge and the Ministry crisis that no one paid much attention to some Ministry officials not coming to work. They just assumed that those members had chosen not to come into work due to all the chaos. It wasn't until almost two weeks later that Aurors started noticing a pattern: Ministry officials from non-pureblood families were disappearing.

The Aurors were so focused on the problems within the Ministry that there was little they could do when Dark Marks started appearing. The problem was that three, four, or seven Marks would appear at the same time, and only one of them would really signal a Death Eater attack. The rest were red herrings in order to lure Aurors to either an ambush or keep them away from wherever they really were. Those red herrings always led to more violence and even deaths; three Order members had been killed in the summer alone. Hermione didn't know them very well, but Harry must have; he remained even somber than normal during the first week of school. It had turned out that the home Harry had ended up going to after his week at the Burrow was 12 Grimmauld Place to stay with Lupin and the Order. He must have gotten to know the three deceased members then.

Things had begun to look up after term had begun. The Ministry purge had finally ended, and order had begun to be restored with the new Minister of Magic Arthur Weasley himself. Hermione smiled at the memory of when Ron had learned about his father's victory.

**

September 10th, 5:53 p.m.

"All right, Neville," Hermione said patiently. "Let's have another go at it, shall we?"

Neville nodded, brow furrowed as he attempted the difficult charm they had learned in class earlier. Neville had asked Hermione to tutor him after barely managing to pass his O.W.L. in the field; he knew it would be useful if he wanted to pursue a career in Herbology. Granted, Potions would have been dead useful as well, but he had been quite unable to pass that exam, much to his relief. Five years with Snape was enough for a lifetime. The book he was attempting to make dance across the table remained inert. He sighed in frustration and threw his wand down onto the ground.

"Come on, Neville," Hermione said reproachfully. Neville rubbed his face tiredly while Hermione rose from her seat. She stooped down to pick up his wand and it was while she was straightening up when it happened.

Lanky arms seized her from behind and Hermione let out a surprised little shout. Ron Weasley had barreled into the library, and completely ignoring Madame Pince's shush and glare, went straight to Hermione and seized her. He hugged her so hard that he actually lifted her off the ground and spun her around a few times. Hermione by this point was blushing furiously and laughing, despite the fact that she was in the library and making a great deal of noise.

"Ron, put me down," she ordered him, not really meaning it. Ron seemed too elated to make a retort, and promptly set her back on her feet, a huge grin on his face.

"He did it," Ron said happily.

"Who did what?" Hermione asked, but the minute the words were out of her mouth, she remembered what today was. Her eyes lit up, and both hands went to cover her mouth. Ron just nodded back to her, and letting out a very un-Hermione-like squeal, Hermione threw her arms around Ron and hugged him again.

"Did I miss something?" Neville finally spoke up, looking completely bewildered.

"Oh, sorry, Neville," Ron apologized half-heartedly, releasing his grip on Hermione. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"Quite alright," Neville returned in the same dismissive tone, "What are you going on about?"

"My dad," Ron said proudly, darting a look around the library to make sure that everyone could hear him. "My dad has just been named the new Minister of Magic."

Neville's jaw dropped. "Congratulations mate!" He reached out and shook Ron's hand. "That's great!"

"Thanks," Ron returned, still grinning so widely that Hermione thought his face was going to combust with glee. She was pleased to note that most people were nodding their heads with approval and smiling at the news of the new Minister, but of course those two Slytherins in the Divination section only glowered at Ron bitterly. Hermione shot them a dirty look, and turned her attention back to Ron.

"That's fantastic," Hermione began elatedly, but Madame Pince at this moment cleared her throat warningly. The expression on her face clearly conveyed what she was thinking: I-am-pleased-that-your-father-won-but-please-take-your-celebration-elsewhere-or-else-suffer-my-wrath. "Why don't we talk about this later?" she suggested in a much calmer tone.

"Yeah, sure," Ron was too euphoric to remain quiet, and he knew he had to leave the library quickly before Pince carried out her non-verbal threat. "I better tell Harry," he added. "I just had to tell you first."

Hermione blushed once again and used her frizzy mass of hair to shield her flaming cheeks. "Thanks," she returned. "I'll meet you after I finish with Neville."

"Usual spot?" Ron asked.

"I'll see you there," Hermione said in response.

Ron bent forward as if to drop a parting kiss on her lips without thinking, but luckily Hermione was. She took a giant step backwards while laying a restraining hand on his chest. Ron gulped as he suddenly realized what he had been about to do and made a quick exit, ears bright red. Hermione self-consciously tucked some hair behind her ear, a tad embarrassed about what had just happened, but really being too pleased with the good news to care that much. Ignoring the numerous pairs of eyes boring into her, she dropped back down into her chair and smiled at a confused and slightly suspicious Neville.

"Come on, Neville," she said briskly. "Let's try it again."

**

Unfortunately, that had been the only good news they had received thus far on the war front. Mr. Weasley must have a lot on his hands with all the various Muggle attacks and assassination attempts on his own life as well as other Ministry officials'. Voldemort himself had been laying low for this entire time, but everyone knew that he was orchestrating all of the heinous actions against the Ministry, Order, and Muggles. The Order had managed to apprehend one or two Death Eaters, but the captured minions had supplied little information about Voldemort's whereabouts or what he was planning next. Nothing major had happened as of yet, but Dumbledore appeared to be convinced that it was only a matter of time.

Hermione also had a sneaking suspicion that it was only a matter of time before Voldemort turned on Harry again. Harry had had an unusually quiet summer and so far, his time at Hogwarts had been incident free. But it was always calmest before the storm, and Hermione knew that Voldemort had to be lusting for revenge against the Boy-Who-Lived. Why Voldemort had such an overwhelming need to crush Harry was unknown to Hermione, but it really didn't matter. All the mattered was making sure that Harry was safe. She knew that Hogwarts was the safest place for Harry, but that didn't appease her worries at all. Voldemort had managed to get a hold of Harry before, and he could manage it again.

Hermione couldn't keep track of all the people who had already been hurt and even killed by Death Eaters. And everyone who had not been affected was suspicious was everyone; a perpetual aura of distrust and tension pervaded the atmosphere everywhere Hermione went. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before another major blow was struck against the wizarding world, and although they hated the idea that it was going to happen, all they could do was wait and protect themselves. They couldn't stop it from happening, but they could stop it from affecting them personally.

She glanced over at Harry with an ill-concealed concerned look. She had a sinking feeling that no matter what precautions he took, Harry was going to be affected personally by whatever Voldemort planned next. He had such a fierce attachment to this war; even though he wasn't in the Order technically, he followed up on their assignments, knew whatever they were planning next, and did whatever he could to aid in their fight. Lupin had kept him well informed, and Harry in turn had relayed whatever he knew to her and Ron. He was so involved with this fight that he couldn't not be affected whenever things went badly, and that in turn affected her and Ron. Whatever Voldemort had planned, it was going to burn all three of them.

Ron nudged her under the table, and raised his eyebrows worriedly at her. She shook her head, letting him know that nothing was really wrong; it was just her thinking about things. He nodded in commiseration and with a quick look to make sure that Harry wasn't paying attention, squeezed her hand. She gave him a half-smile in return, but for once, his attempt to comfort her didn't work very well.

Harry had been through so much, and now tomorrow, they had to make it even worse by telling him that they had been keeping a huge secret from him for all this time. Now she understood why Ron was so reluctant to come clean to Harry; granted, she really didn't think Harry fancied her, but it was still going to be incredibly difficult to do it. Harry hadn't snapped at her in a long time, and she didn't fancy it happening again.

Hermione glanced over at Harry's blank green eyes, imagining them flashing with anger once again. She bit her lip and looked back down at her half-eaten dinner.

She had sinking feeling that it was going to happen again.


Author notes: Thank you! Please review if you like!

Next up: Telling Harry--and many secrets come out in the process...