The Matchmaker

"Er, I've just remembered something I've got to do," Harry said quickly. He was standing with his two best friends inside Zonko's, on a covert operation assigned by Fred and George to check out their competition. "I'll see you guys later."

He started to hurry away toward the door when Ron called loudly after him, "Wait! What is it? We'll go with you!"

But Harry's unruly mop of black hair had already disappeared. Ron turned to look at Hermione in total confusion. "Where d' you think he's got off to in such a hurry?" he asked suspiciously, setting a box of New and Improved stink pellets (Guaranteed to make your nose shrivel or your money back!) back on the shelf.

"I have no idea," Hermione replied unconcernedly. "I guess it must have been important though."

She knew full well that Harry had plans to meet up with Ginny, as Ginny herself had confessed to her just that morning. However, Ginny had sworn her to secrecy about the matter, stating repeatedly that it was "not a date". Hermione wasn't too sure about that, but even so she was glad of the excuse not to tell Ron. Harry's abrupt departure had left the two of them to spend the day alone, a fact that was not at all lost on Hermione.

"Did he ...do you think," Ron stuttered as realization seemed to suddenly dawn on him. "Did he just ditch us?"

"Honestly, Ron, I have no idea, but that would seem to be the case," said Hermione matter-of-factly. Attempting to change the subject, she added breezily, "So, what do you want to do today?"

"I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it," he answered, the shocked expression still lingering on his face. He couldn't imagine what Harry could have to do that was so important that he wasn't able to tell him about it. He hoped that Harry wasn't getting himself up to something dangerous. It wasn't exactly safe for him to be off on his own now outside of Hogwarts. "D' you think Harry's all right? Should we go look for him, you think?"

Hermione fought to keep the exasperation out of her voice. "I'm sure he's fine. Let's get out of here. It's obvious that anything that Zonko's has, your brothers will have found a way to change, improve, or come up with something a thousand times more disgusting and off the wall. You can owl them when we get back to let them know they have nothing to worry about."

She headed for the door, curly brown hair bobbing behind her. Ron followed quietly, wondering why she was so uncharacteristically unconcerned about Harry. He thought for a moment that she must know something, but dismissed it quickly. There was no way that Harry would've told her what he was up to before telling him.

"Why don't we head out to the forest on the outskirts of town?" Hermione asked as they exited the shop and began walking down the main road. "I don't really feel like hanging around in town today."

Just then Ron's stomach gave a low grumble. "What'll we do about lunch then?"

Typical! Thought Hermione with disgust. Aloud she replied, "Oh, for goodness sakes! Leave it to me."

With a flick of her wand, a picnic basket appeared in her left hand as Ron watched in amazement. Was there anything that this witch didn't know how to do? He watched as she walked purposefully across the street and entered the Three Broomsticks, leaving him standing like an idiot in the street. He did not have to wait long, however, as only minutes later, Hermione returned, still carrying the basket and with a bright smile on her face. Ron was very disconcerted by this as it was very rare that Hermione was happy about something that didn't involve a book. He had known her for a very long time now, and he had a strange feeling that she was up to something, but he chased the thought away quickly. It was just the two of them today, after all.

It was not until that very moment that he realized it. Walking down the street next to her, he nearly stumbled but was able to right himself without her noticing. Ron's brain was racing, trying to comprehend the situation he was now finding himself in. He was spending the day with Hermione. Alone. That had not happened since their third year, when Harry had been unable to come along on Hogsmeade trips. And things were much different now. He couldn't really explain it, but the thought of spending time alone with Hermione was making his mouth dry with panic.

That's not to say that they didn't often spend time together, sometimes even without Harry. As prefects their duties and responsibilities often threw them together. But in all the time they spent together, Ron suddenly realized, it had never involved being alone in the woods on a bloody picnic!

"Hermione," he said suddenly, wincing slightly at the nervous crack his voice. He could see the sun-dappled woods looming in front of them down the path. They kept walking as she turned to give him a curious look. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather just stay in town? Head to the Three Broomsticks and hang around there?"

"Oh, I'm sure," she said coolly. She had gotten him this far, and there was no way that she was going to let him get out of this now. "You're not afraid of going into the forest, are you Ron? It's not the Forbidden Forest, after all. I mean, I'm fairly certain that there are no giant spiders in there. I promise no one's going to try to bite you," she added with a smile.

Ron was not at all sure about that, but it wasn't exactly a spider he was worried about. His pride won out though. "Of course I'm not afraid. It's not like I have a great fear of trees, for Merlin's sake!" That part was true, he thought. It wasn't going into the woods that scared him so much as what would happen when he was sitting on a blanket in the middle of nowhere with Hermione only inches away from him. He had been suffering from an uninvited barrage of fairly insane thoughts about Hermione for some time now. Most of them happily tormenting him at night. He had so far been able to convince himself that they were the product of the mad hormones terrorizing his body. They spent so much time together, it was really inevitable that when his mind turned to certain - topics - that she would be the girl that would spring to mind. He was convinced that Harry had to have suffered from the same type of visions involving Hermione at one time or another, maybe even as often as he did. Not that he had ever asked, of course. The last thing he needed was Harry thinking, well, whatever Harry would be thinking if Ron ever confessed that sort of thing.

No, these things were completely normal. Nothing to worry about. After all, it wasn't as if he fancied her or anything. Having finally convinced himself that he had nothing to fret about, Ron became more cheerful and strolled almost eagerly into the forest beside Hermione.

They found a shady spot not too far into the woods, and Ron helped Hermione spread a navy blue blanket that she had conjured on the ground. They sat down comfortably, and Hermione began unloading sandwiches and other foodstuffs from the basket. She smirked with amusement as Ron began to tuck in quickly, as if he had not eaten for days. They chatted easily as they ate, covering the usual topics of classes, schedules, and how Harry was holding up.

They had finished eating, and Ron suddenly realized that Hermione had somehow come to be sitting very close to him. Unnecessarily close. Not that it was such a bad thing, just - strange. Their conversation had come to a lull, and although he was suddenly very desperate to fill the silence, Ron could think of nothing at all to say.

"Ron," her voice was just above a whisper, but it didn't matter. They were sitting so close Ron could see all the different colors in her eyes. They weren't really brown at all, but a mixture of brown and green with traces of gold, almost a hazel color. He wondered why he had never noticed it before. "I have to tell you something, but I'm afraid to," she continued in a very quiet voice. "I'm afraid it will change things."

Alarm bells went off in his brain, but his mouth didn't seem to check with the rest of him before answering. "Change can be good, right?"

Hermione smiled very briefly and began to lean toward him. They were already so close together. His brain was now in complete panic mode; he wanted this to happen and at the same time he was terrified. If he could have found his voice to laugh, Ron thought he would have. This situation brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "scared stiff". Things seemed to be happening in slow motion. She continued to close the distance between them, and Ron's eyes were drawn to her reddish pink lips and could not look away. She was going to kiss him. Oh gods, Hermione was going to kiss him!

"Well, well, well," said a familiar voice suddenly from behind them. Ron and Hermione leapt quickly away from each other. "What do we have here?"