A Perfect Love

Chapter 2: Facing Your Fears

Ron and Hermione sat across from each other at breakfast. Ron had slightly gotten over his dream. It had just been a crazy, idiotic dream. Hermione still couldn't believe what had happened in her dream. Could that fantasy be true? She dismissed the thought and went on eating her scrambled eggs.

No matter what he did, Ron still couldn't get that dream out of his head. He wondered if another one would be invading his normal thoughts soon. He hoped not, but in a way he liked those dreams. They made him feel ... happy. That wasn't the word, but it was the only word to describe the feeling.

Harry was shocked to see both Ron and Hermione looking down at their breakfast without looking at anybody or talking. He suspected this to be part of their record-breaking fight, but they looked scared and embarrassed. He couldn't imagine what it could be. He asked Ron. "What's with you this morning? You look like you've just seen a ... well, you look scared."

Ron gave Harry a look that quite plainly said, "Shut up!" Hermione looked up and was kind of shocked. She hadn't been bothered by that fantasy for a while, and she hoped it would never come back.

Harry wondered why in the world Ron and Hermione looked like startled rabbits. It's not as though they ... wait a minute. He knew just what was going on, and he knew just what to do. He got up and went to the common room to prepare.

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At break, Harry encouraged Ron and Hermione to come with him to sit by the lake without telling them that the other one would be there. When they arrived, Ron and Hermione were shocked and a bit angry at Harry.

They both had the same thought. He knew. Why else would it conveniently slip his mind to tell them that the other one was coming?

"Ron, I would like you to meet Hermione. Hermione, this is Ron."

"What are you talking about, Harry?" said Hermione.

"Well, you've been avoiding each other lately, so I just thought you might need to be reintroduced. Also, I have another question to ask you. Why have you been avoiding each other?"

"What do you mean?" said Ron. "We haven't been avoiding each other.

"Of course you have," Harry said, in an "I'm-not-stupid" tone of voice. "Every mealtime you look down at your food without looking at each other. During lessons, you keep your eyes fixed on the teacher or the paper you're writing or the object you're performing magic on. At break or when classes over, Hermione puts her face directly in a book, and

Ron actually does his own homework without objection. Now why is this happening? Do

you like each other or something?"

"NO!" they both shouted instantaneously.

"Aha," Harry said. "So that's it. Come on, what's going on?"

"All right, I'll tell you," said Ron. "I had a dream about Hermione. A very weird and well, erotic dream about Hermione, but I'm sure it didn't mean anything."

"I had a dream about Ron, too," Hermione said. "It was the same kind of thing, and I know that there was nothing behind it."

"I'm not so sure," Harry said. "I think that deep down, you have a secret love for each other."

"WHAT?!" they both shouted, panicking that this could be true.

"You know it's true. You love each other, and I don't blame you. Ron's a nice guy and Hermione, you're beautiful and smart and kind ..."

"So what are you saying?" Ron interrupted. "Are you saying that these fantasies are how we really feel?"

Harry began to feel frustrated. "Do you listen at all? OF COURSE that's what I'm saying! I, for one, think that it wouldn't be bad if you two at least gave it a try. What could it hurt?"

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, then at each other, realizing that this wasn't a bad idea at all.

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That evening, Ron and Hermione sat across from each other in the common room. Harry

had warned everyone to keep away from them and give them some privacy. Hermione

whipped out her wand, pointed to the table and said, "Videor nutriens" and instantly several roast beef sandwiches appeared on the table. Ron whipped out his wand, pointed it at the table, and said, "Videor imbibo" and two ice cold goblets of pumpkin juice popped onto the table.

They began to help themselves to food and drink as they continued with their date.

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The next morning, Harry walked up to Ron and Hermione at the breakfast table. "So how did it go?"

"Not bad at all," said Ron. "Hermione makes some pretty good roast beef sandwiches."

"Well, Ron makes a mean pumpkin juice."

"Sounds like you had a good time. So how do you like each other?"

"We really like each other," said Ron, "but we don't want to carry out our fantasies yet.

We're still not in love. We just really, really like each other."

Harry laughed. "Well, that's a start. So, you better hurry up and eat. We've got Transfiguration in fifteen minutes."

In Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall taught them how to turn people into magical puddles of water. Magical puddles of water were bright silver circular puddles of a liquid that wasn't exactly water. If it was like anything, it was like the inside of a Pensieve, but it wasn't that either. Professor McGonagall told them to test their puddles, and see what happened. Hermione turned Ron into a puddle of magical water. Professor McGonagall told them to step on the water. Hermione was reluctant because she didn't want to hurt Ron, but she stepped into it anyway. Her foot barely touched the water when she heard Ron scream. "RON!" she shouted. She took her foot off the water, and Hermione changed him back.

"Gotcha," Ron said. Hermione screamed in frustration, and burst out laughing in spite of herself. Harry and Ron joined in. Even Professor McGonagall started to giggle. After class was over, Harry saw Ron and Hermione walk to Charms, hand in hand.