Snow

Chapter Nine: A Conversation With Sirius

"I'll be back, Mum. I'm gonna go visit the others!" Ron called from the front hallway as he slipped on his shoes and jacket.

"All right, dear. Be good," called back his mother from somewhere deep in the kitchen.

Ron mumbled an answer and made his way outside, to find the cool spring air brush against his face. Stars sparkled like tiny diamond studs against the black blanket of night, the moon a thin sliver against the surface.

He walked the short distance to his best friend's house, contemplating the whole while. He just knew that there was something going on with his two friends. But then his logic would kick in. Why would they keep whatever it was hidden from him? They had no reason, and it was these thoughts that made Ron give Harry the benefit of the doubt.

He realized, at that moment, that he had reached the end of the driveway to Harry and Sirius's house, and as he looked up to one of the windows he noticed that lamps were still lighting up a room--Harry's room, if Ron's memory served him right. As he peered closer he could see two figures silhouetted behind the sheer white curtain that hung over the window. The figures were unmistakable. They were Harry and Hermione.

Ron's eyes widened as he witnessed Harry put his arms around Hermione from behind, and Hermione leaned back. They seemed to be having a conversation. This was a little weird. He stepped onto the lawn to get a closer look and saw Harry turn Hermione around, lifting her face up. Did best friends do that? He--Ron--and Hermione had never done that, so that couldn't be right. Ron gasped as not one-- but two bright flashes of light flooded the room and slowly faded moments later. As the two figures continued talking (he couldn't hear what they were saying, nor could he see the expressions on their faces), he saw Harry, to Ron's amazement, lean down and press his lips to Hermione's.

Ron knew this couldn't have been a first kiss. He knew because it looked so natural. There was no awkwardness about it, no shyness. It was purely natural.

"You might want to step away from there, or they'll see you," said a low voice from the oak doorway. Ron turned bright red as he obeyed Sirius, stepping out of the light of the window.

"I...came to visit before you all went to bed," Ron explained, still in shock over the revelation.

Harry and Hermione were together. Ron suddenly felt an overwhelming anger fill him from head to toe. Why hadn't they told him? Why had Harry lied, time after time? Did they not trust Ron?

As Ron took in Sirius's grin, something in his brain clicked.

"You knew?" he asked, glaring at the older wizard accusingly. Sirius continued to grin and nodded.

"Yes, I knew. But they don't know that I know. They haven't exactly done the best job at keeping it to themselves," Sirius told Ron, glancing up at the silhouetted forms.

"I didn't know," Ron admitted, feeling angrier.

"Well..." Sirius said slowly, "don't forget. I'm a little bit older, a little bit more experienced. I, too, once had best friends who had fallen in love."

"Harry's parents, right?" Ron asked. Sirius nodded.

"You think they're really in love?" asked Ron.

Sirius simply pointed to the couple by the window, who were still completely oblivious to the two wizards below talking about them.

"I do. But I hope for Hermione's sake that they realize it as well," Sirius said. Ron quirked a brow.

"The ring, you mean? Is the myth true?" Ron asked. Sirius didn't answer, but motioned for them to take a walk.

"May as well give them the privacy they need," Sirius explained as he conjured a shirt from inside. Slipping it on, they walked down the gravel pathway to the road.

"There are many complications to the ring, I'm afraid. I do believe the one true myth of the ring is true," he began.

"The spirit, then? There really are three mysteries to the ring? What are they?" Ron asked.

"I don't really know. But it seems Harry and Hermione have figured out the first two. There's just one more..." said Sirius.

"Do you have any idea what it could be?" asked Ron.

"A lot of people have their theories. Just as I do. Just as you do."

"But if they don't figure it out-- doesn't that mean that Hermione could die?" Ron asked.

Sirius sighed, contemplating the answer. It was true that if the spirit didn't find the third key with this couple, the curse upon the ring would end Hermione's life, and the ring would continue traveling aimlessly, searching for the right couple. At least--that was according to the story behind the myth.

"I don't know what will happen, or what could happen," Sirius answered truthfully. "But it seems that with every passing second, the myth is turning out to be truer than anyone ever thought it would be."

"What happens if the spirit is released?" Ron asked.

"Well, no one really knows, right? Since it's never been released. I don't imagine anything bad will happen," Sirius said.

Ron nodded and remained silent, thinking of any reason at all why Harry would keep such an important thing to himself.

"It's nothing personal against you, Ron. Harry was doing it to protect Hermione," Sirius said as though he had read Ron's thoughts.

Ron frowned, unable to control his indignation and anger.

"Protect her from what? Me? What have I done?" he asked defensively.

"No, not you. Voldemort. You do know that Hermione is in a very compromising position."

Ron nodded. "That doesn't explain anything though," Ron argued.

"Because you're not thinking," Sirius snapped. "It's obvious Harry cares more about Hermione's safety than his own. If Voldemort ever got wind of them being closer than best friends, well, we can only guess what that monster would do. I'm assuming that Hermione refused to be pushed away. She's very determined to prove to Harry that she's not afraid of Voldemort, and so I suppose they agreed to keep their relationship a secret. They haven't told anyone. Even me. I just figured it out by paying attention. When Harry gave Hermione the ring, that was my first clue," Sirius said.

"It was my first clue, too. But Harry kept denying it," Ron said.

"I never asked Harry. I knew he'd never admit to it. I'm surprised they kept it a secret this long...I'm very impressed," Sirius said softly.

"I'm not," Ron muttered. "They're my best friends."

"Afraid of being the third wheel, are you?" asked Sirius, turning his thoughtful gaze onto the red head.

"No," Ron snapped, cringing at how fake his voice sounded to his own ears.

Sirius seemed to have heard it, too, because he said, "I once felt like the third wheel. With Lily and James. It was very painful knowing things would never be the same again."

"But you had Wormtail...and Moony. Though Wormtail wasn't worth much, I expect. I have no one," Ron said sadly.

"True, I had the other two. Now Moony's the only one I do have. But my problem back then, before Harry even existed... when Lily and James first started dating, was that I thought things were different. I pushed them away, frustrated and angry, thinking that they had betrayed me. Thinking that they had left me. It took a while for me to grow up, and realize that things had never changed. They still cared for me, and things were so much better when I eventually came to that conclusion. But for you, Ron, if you realize that they still love you and always will, and that they never intended to hurt you, then you'll never have to go through the pain or the anger. You can accept it now, and be happy for them, like a best friend should. Or..."

"Of course I'm happy for them. I suppose you're right. It's just hard," Ron said.

Sirius clapped a hand on his shoulder, and gave him a reassuring smile.

"They love you. That's all that matters," he said. Ron smiled back and nodded, as they turned to head back to the house.

To Be Continued...