The Common Room Confession

The Common Room Confession

It was another night in the Gryffindor common room, and no Harry. The rain could be heard battering the roof. Both Ron and Hermione agreed that Angelina was getting a little over-enthusiastic with the Quidditch practices. Hermione was bent over her copy of Ancient Runes while Ron sat in utter boredom. When he couldn't take the silence mingled with the incessant pounding of the rain on the roof any longer, Ron finally pried Hermione out of her corner and separated her from her book. They sat down to play a game of Wizard's Chess, when Parvati Patil began speaking very loudly to Lavender Brown about Viktor Krum. Hermione looked up from their game to listen in on what they were saying. Ron noticed her distraction and scowled.

"Hermione!" he shouted, "Pay attention!" as one of Hermione's knights was ground into a pulp.

"What?" said Hermione, shaking herself as if out of a daydream.

"I don't understand what's so fascinating about a stupid hook-nosed, duck-footed..."

"RON!" shouted Hermione angrily, "When we were at the World Cup, YOU couldn't stop talking about him!"

"Hermione, that was different!" yelled Ron, gaining color.

"Oh really? How?" she cried haughtily.

"At least I wasn't going to Ball's with him, or meeting him secretly in the library!"

"I never met him secretly anywhere! AND, I only went to the Yule Ball with him because YOU forgot I was a girl! And at least I don't go around gawking at him with my tongue hanging out like you do with Fleur! Just because she's good-looking..."

"Ahem, I seem to remember a certain "good-looking," thick-headed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that-"

"Ron!" hissed Hermione, cutting him off.

"What? Afraid of the truth?"

"NO! I think it's YOU that is! Why don't you just admit you're jealous?" said Hermione practically jumping out of her seat and upsetting the chess set, strewing the angry chess pieces all over the carpet.

Ron then stood up too as though threatened, but then he softened.

"Alright," he said quietly. (Parvati and Lavender, who were listening raptly, took a collective gasp.)

"R-really?" Hermione in a baffled, stunned voice.

He nodded.

"R-Ron I...I didn't know!"

Ron stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to act shy and got very red.

"Well, you couldn't have since all I've been doing is having a go at you," he said, appearing angry with himself.

"Ron, I don't like him that way, if it makes you feel any better," Hermione sputtered quickly.

"Isn't he going to visit you over holiday and all that then?"

"Ron I-" she started, then seeing the dejected look on Ron's face said, "I don't want him to visit me, no."

Ron looked up, slightly more cheerful.

"Look, Hermione, I've no right to tell you what to do. You can do what you want."

"That is what I want, Ron. He's a really sweet person, he treats me very kindly and I know he cares..."

At this Ron seemed to realize his mistake and looked angry with himself again.

"But," Hermione continued, "I'd give that all up, to know that you care..."

There was an uneasy moment, and Hermione started to look depressed when Ron said,

"Hermione, I know I give you a hard time a lot...but I'll always care about you."

"Oh Ron!" she said and flung herself at him. Ron looked rather stunned at Hermione for a moment. Then suddenly, he realized that he didn't want her to let go this time. They stood there for a while just holding each other. When they finally separated, they sat back down to their chess game, (after picking up all the pieces) while Parvati and Lavender sat looking utterly flabbergasted.

And that was the state in which Harry found the common room when he finally returned from Quidditch practice that night. The looks on Parvati and Lavender's faces, combined with the way Ron and Hermione were acting towards each other made Harry stammer,

"H-have I missed something here?"

But, much to Harry's dismay, no one answered him.