Admitting the Truth

The war had ended. Thanks to R.A.B. - who turned out to be Regulus Black, Sirius's younger brother - the locket had been destroyed and hidden at none other than Grimmauld Place. And that wasn't all, he had left more clues before his death; helping them to find and destroy the other Horcruxes.

So now, Voldemort was dead, and the Trio was back to their semi-normal life. Harry was going to graduate, despite the fact that he missed most of the school year fulfilling the prophecy. He, along with Ron and Hermione, were back at Hogwarts to finish their seventh year.

"Ron!"

As loudly and as contentious as ever.

"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione stormed through the Common Room to where Ron was sitting and pretending to read his Transfiguration textbook: A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration.

"Ron, I know you're not reading. Put the book down and pay attention," she ordered.

Ron groaned. "What is it this time?"

"It's you, that's what it is. You skipped Prefect rounds again!"

"Come on Hermione," Ron retaliated, "it's not like you ran into troublemakers or anything."

"As a matter of fact, we happened to find quite a bit of trouble. There were Hufflepuff second years with Dungbombs and some Slytherins were vandalizing several portraits."

"See, it's nothing you couldn't handle on your own."

"That's not the point, Ron. The point is that you're not being a responsible Prefect. You're supposed to set an example."

"I am setting an example," Ron countered.

"What," scoffed Hermione, "one of laziness and irresponsibility?"

"No, one of relaxation and ease," argued Ron.

"So I presume that's why you are copying others' homework or otherwise skipping your assignments," said Hermione, her eyebrows rising inquisitively.

"Oh, sure, bring schoolwork into the issue," said Ron, waving his textbook in the air.

"I'm bringing it up because it's a part of the issue," she insisted. "Just because we're guaranteed graduation now doesn't mean we should be irresponsible," debated Hermione.

"Look, I'm tired of you always ordering me around. Just bugger off, why don't you?"

Hermione's jaw dropped. After a moment her chin drew up defiantly. "Have it your way, Ron." She turned away and walked up to the girls' dormitories.

Angrily, Ron threw A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration to the floor and stormed out of the Common Room.

***

Harry sat in his dormitory trying without much effort to read Practical Defensive Magic and It's Uses Against the Dark Arts, but his mind was wandering. Only a month since the final battle, his thoughts were understandably still on the war. Whenever his mind wandered to the topic, he would become disheartened. At these times Ron would tell him to snap out of it - the war is over! However, Harry couldn't help himself and, besides that, he didn't really have a lot to think about other than that. So today, his thoughts turned to Ginny.

With the war over, one would have thought that Harry and Ginny would have gotten back together. On the contrary, he had gotten over her and honestly was no longer interested in her. She had also moved on. This was due to the fact that one week ago, after finally having plucked up the courage, Neville had asked Ginny out. She accepted, and the date had gone remarkably well. Harry wasn't displeased - the two worked quite well together.

Unlike Ron and Hermione.

They had always fought, but nowadays it seemed more strained. Their fights had gotten more dramatic compared to their usual teasing style. When they had gotten together, it had seemed like a great thing. Now, Harry wished it was over. But it wasn't just the fighting that annoyed him; it was the fact that he was jealous.

During the war, Harry had begun to notice Hermione. Just little things, but he loved each of them. He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed. He loved how she bit her lip when she was nervous. She was intelligent - everyone knew that. She was caring - always willing to help him, even when he didn't deserve it. She had always been by his side, and he couldn't even say that of Ron and Ginny. Ron had deserted him because of jealousy at the beginning of the Triwizard Tournament. Ginny had not been with him during the war, only there for the Order. Hermione had never left his side. She always knew what was best for him. He hadn't realized what all of this meant until recently.

He wanted her.

There was just one problem - Ron.

***

Ron paced down the corridor, seething. Hermione had really gotten on his nerves. Who did she think she was, ordering him around like that? He wouldn't stand for this. He was going to-

"Ronald?"

His head shot up. At first he just stared at her with wide eyes resembling a deer in the headlights, but then he registered the figure before him and said, "Oh, hi Luna."

"Hello," she returned.

Suddenly Ron's anger melted away. He was shocked by his abrupt mood change, but he shook it off. "How have you been?" he asked her sincerely.

"I've been watching for Yellow-Bellied Zappiks," she said soberly.

Ron grinned - he always found Luna's theories amusing. "What does this one do?"

"The Zappiks are deceivers," she said, her eyes protruding more than normal. She continued animatedly, "They make you feel happy, but then you are unknowingly dragged to a great height, from which you are dropped to your death," she finished dramatically.

Ron's mouth was gaping open. He stared at Luna in shock. Then he caught himself. "Is - uh . . . is there - uh," he coughed. "Is there evidence of these creatures?" he asked seriously.

"Why yes, quite a bit," Luna said excitedly. "Remember when Jack Sloper fell off the Astronomy Tower?"

Ron thought for a bit, and then the bell dung. "Yeah! They never did explain how he fell, did they?" said Ron to himself. Then to Luna, "But he didn't die."

"That wasn't the Zappiks' fault," she insisted. "He was saved by a Speed-Reducing Spell, remember? He would have died if it weren't for that."

"Yeah," said Ron thoughtfully. Then on impulse he asked her, "Do you want to go to the seventh year party? The one on the night before graduation."

"You want me to go with you?" she asked, rather surprised.

Not fully comprehending what she had asked him, Ron said, "Sure, we're allowed to bring guests. Can you come?"

"I'd love to, Ronald," she said dreamily, smiling at him.

"Great," he said cheerfully. "I can't wait."

"I'll see you then," Luna waved in parting.

"Yeah, see you Luna," Ron started walking jovially back to Gryffindor Tower, not having felt this happy in a long time.

***

Walking down the stairs that led to the boys' dormitory, Harry could see Hermione sitting in the Common Room. He noticed two things immediately. First, Ron wasn't around. Second, Hermione looked a bit angry. One plus two equals three, which meant Ron and Hermione had fought again.

Harry walked towards her and sat down in the armchair next to her couch. He watched as Hermione wrote her essay for Arithmancy. Her eyebrows were pushing towards each other and her lips were pursed together, making her resemble their favourite Transfiguration Professor-turned-Headmistress.

He wondered what she and Ron had fought about this time, but at the same time he didn't want to know. He decided to venture anyways, for Hermione's sake. He just hoped she wouldn't bite his head off.

"Hermione," he began, "are you okay?"

She stopped writing, but didn't look up. After Harry began to fear for his head's sake, she answered, "I am okay," putting emphasis on the third word.

Harry was startled for a moment wondering what she meant, but then he got an idea, "You're okay, but not great?"

Hermione smiled. Harry smiled too, glad that he'd made her feel better. Then she said, "Yes, Harry, I'm okay, but not great."

Harry laughed. Hermione watched him from the corner of her eyes. He settled, nervous about his head again. She smirked. "You can ask, Harry. I promise I won't bite your head off."

They smiled again, and Harry asked, "What was it about this time?"

Hermione looked into Harry's eyes for a moment, feeling a connection between them. She broke it off, looking away and sighed, "He'd skipped Prefect rounds again." Her volume grew a little and her hands started motioning for emphasis. "I had to handle Dungbombs, Slytherins, and vandalized portraits all on my own. So I came back here to look for him and was ready to blame him for all of it, but after I told him everything, he didn't even feel bad." Tears came to her eyes and her voice started shaking. "The least he could've done was apologize! Instead, he's bragging about leading a life full of ease! He's so frustratingly irresponsible!" She finished, slamming her hand down on her books, which gathered the attention of a few surrounding. She fell silent.

Harry took that as a sign to move on to the couch with her. She tried to gain control of herself and was sniffling like crazy. Harry conjured a tissue from midair for her. She took it, mumbling a thank you. As she wiped her eyes with it, she said, "You must think I'm stupid, getting upset over this." She sniffled again.

Harry put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. "I could never think that. You're the smartest girl I know." He thought for a moment, and then added, "And you're my best friend; I understand why you're upset." It killed him to say it, for he wanted much more than a best friend when it came to her.

"Oh, Harry," she sighed. "I wish Ron was as sensitive as you." She nuzzled closer and laid her head on his shoulder.

Harry's heart was racing. Could he tell her now?

However his mind was made up for him as the portrait opened and Ron stepped in. Harry removed his arm and Hermione's head was forced up. She saw the new arrival and told Harry, "I'm going to my room." She took her half-finished essay and books and started to leave when Ron arrived on scene. The two looked at each other momentarily, but Hermione dropped her gaze and left the both of them staring after her.

Harry heaved a sigh. Ron took Harry's vacated armchair and began complaining. "I don't understand why she's so mad at me. It's just Prefect rounds."

Harry offered some insight, "She said something about being irresponsible."

Ron was about to argue, but backed down. "I reckon I have gotten a bit on the lazy side."

Harry was reeling. A bit? He was going to retort this angrily, but thought better of it. "Let's get started on that Potions essay," he settled on.

"Good idea," agreed Ron, pulling his books out.

As they researched and wrote, Harry wondered if he would ever be able to admit his true feelings to Hermione.