Three Little Words

As the early morning light streamed in through the window and painted a sparkling patch of gold on the floor, Harry Potter sat on his bed with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He was staring miserably the cheery red circle surrounding today's date on his calendar: It was Hermione's birthday. Not only had Harry had totally forgotten, he didn't even have a gift for her!

Harry swore under his breath as he glanced around the room, searching for something he could possibly give her. Harry and Hermione had been a steady couple for about a year now, since the beginning of last summer.

"And she certainly deserved something better than anything I could find in this room!" he thought with disgust as he tossed a pair of Ron's fluorescent Chudley Cannons boxers to the side.

Harry glanced at his watch again and made a decision. He was meeting Hermione in the common room in only a half hour, and they were going to walk to breakfast together. He would make a quick trip down to Hogsmeade and pick Hermione up something there.

Knowing he would have to hurry or he would be late, Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and ran out through the portrait hole. He turned quickly into another corridor and smacked right into some first years.

They had just come from the grounds, probably from Care of Magical Creatures. All of Harry's books that he had been carrying, his sack of galleons, and his invisibility clock flew out of his hands and into the crowded hallway.

"Damn!" Harry yelled loudly, as the first years looked at him in a way the clearly suggested he was quite mad and dodged around him.

As the swish of small cloaks faded off and the corridor was clear again, Harry quickly gathered his books up, but as he reached for his copy of "Hogwarts, A History" something glittering on the floor caught his eye.

Crouching down, his books forgotten, Harry carefully picked it up, dangling it between his fingers. It was a necklace, and a pretty one at that. It had a slender golden chain, and a crystal hung from it, forming a shimmering crimson hollow heart. Turning it over in his hands, Harry noticed that it seemed to be in very good condition, almost as if it were brand new.

He looked around to see if the owner of it was near-by, but the corridor was deserted. Although it seemed odd that such a pretty piece of jewelry would be lying forgotten in the middle of a corridor, Harry's mood lightened considerably.

* * *

About this time, Hermione was sitting or own bed, lost for words as she stared at the parchment in front of her.

Yesterday, Ron had been scribbling furiously in a small book, and he wouldn't let anyone see it. As they were walking to their astronomy lesson, a piece of parchment had fallen out of it. Hermione had picked it up and slipped it into her bottle-green cloak and promptly forgot about it.

It was only when she had reached into her pocket that morning that she had found it. Hermione had absentmindedly scanned the words with mild curiosity that grew as she realized what she was looking at. Ron writing poetry?!

There are things you will never know,

my love

That you do not understand

You will never see your reflection

Etched softly into my mind

You do not know the sweetness

Being with you gives me

I can never explain to you

The way I feel when you look right into my eyes

You will never know

The thrill I get when I hear your laugh

You will never feel the pain

As I watch you with him

You do not understand

There is no one I want but you

Hermione was incredulous as she read the words to a rather, well, touching and quite miserable love poem. She couldn't imagine who it could possibly be about : Lavender? No, no, she and Ron had broken up years ago, defiantly not... Parvati? Ugh, no... Hermione was at a loss.

Then a small speck of an idea began to form in her mind... There was a spell... A spell to reveal the subject of a paper, she was sure she had heard Professor McGonagall use it before.

What was it...? Vis...Visy...? No... Visicus!!! That was it!

Feeling just a little guilty, Hermione pointed her wand at the parchment and muttered," Vivicus." Leaning in eagerly, Hermione eyed the page for a difference. Then, clearly printed on the bottom of the page, appeared a name:

Hermione Granger

Hermione just blinked. "What?!" she thought blankly.

"Me? How could it possibly be about me? Ron...Ron's my best friend, he would never, he wouldn't, he doesn't..."

But then, sitting on the bed at that moment, hundreds of little tiny pieces fell into place as the realization hit her: Ron Weasley liked her.

" How could I never have noticed?????!!!" she thought, thunderstruck.
"Could I really be THAT blind?"

But when she thought back to all of the little things she never paid attention, they seemed to come together: the indescribable look on Ron's face whenever she and Harry were being particularly lovey-dovey, the times she caught Ron looking at her, but he quickly turned away, the almost slight bitterness in his voice when he told her where to find Harry.................... It all made since now.

"But now that I know............" Hermione thought miserably," What should I do about it?"

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!!!!!!!!!!

The shrill sound from her alarm watch made her jump. She glanced at it, and saw the little hand pointing at "Meet Harry".

"Oh, that's right!" she thought with a rush. It was Hermione's birthday that day, and she and Harry were meeting down in the common room, probably so he could give her a gift. S

Standing up in an attempt to clear her head, she pushed all thoughts of Ron away, though they screamed for her attention. Then Hermione stuffed the piece of parchment in her pocket, and flew down the stairs to meet Harry.