Three Little Words

As the sound of Hermione's footsteps faded off, Ron thought to himself:

"What was that all about???"

Hermione had acted really strangely, not herself, but he couldn't think of any reason why.

"Unless...." Ron thought suddenly, as he pushed open the door to his dorm. His heart was pounding as he reached under his bed. His fingers closed around a familiar leather surface.

"Thank Merlin," Ron thought as he pulled his journal from its hiding place. He ran his finger over the metal clasp.

"If Hermione ever read any of this..." He pushed the thought away. He didn't even want to think about what would happen.

Of course, there had been moments where Ron wondered what would happen if Hermione knew how he felt, because at some moments it almost seemed possible that Hermione returned his feelings.

But even if she did, she never made any move to act on them. And then, of course, there was Harry.

As far as Ron could tell, Harry and Hermione were perfectly happy together, and Ron wasn't about to risk their friendships and mess that up. So he was stuck.

Ron sighed and slipped his journal back into its spot. Even right now, Hermione was down in the Great Hall, waiting for Harry.

Harry Harry Harry.

Ugh.

Ron got up and went out the door, down the steps, out the portrait hole, and headed towards the Quidditch field.

He had promised to meet Harry there after Quidditch practice, and as he headed down the hall, he started mentally coaching himself on how to act normal, and fighting the urge of wanting to deck his best friend.

* * *

Ginny Weasley was walking quickly towards the common room when she saw Ron walking through the corridor. She called out to him, and hurried to catch up with him.

"Oh, hey Gin," said Ron. He seemed a little downcast, but Ginny was worried about other things.

It was a good things boys were so clueless, because Ron obviously didn't notice.

It was a little known fact that Ginny had had a very big crush on Harry, almost since the moment she saw him. Although she knew he was with Hermione, it couldn't hurt to be friends with him. She knew that Harry still thought of her as Ron's little sister, and that he probably always would, but she was still waiting for the day when Harry might notice her.

"Yeah, he is meeting Hermione in the Great Hall pretty soon," Ron replied with a touch of barely noticeable bitterness in his voice.

"Look, I have to go. I'll talk to you later."

"Oh," said Ginny, her heart sinking as she watched

Ron walked off.

Of course he was with Hermione. He was ALWAYS with Hermione. Ginny sighed as she stepped into the common room. Hadn't he had enough by now?

* * *

Hermione leaned against the back of the chair in the Great Hall. Students were pouring in for dinner, but she hadn't spotted Harry yet.

Then Harry, with Ron at his side, walked through the door. Hermione spotted them immediately, and she started playing with her necklace.

She looked across the Hall at the two again, and smiled. It was the same old Harry she always had known, with his messy black hair, his confident way of walking, and the sparkle in his green eyes from the exciting Quidditch practice.

And Ron, with his adorable crooked smile, his soft red hair falling in his eyes, the endearing way his robes were always a little too short....

"Whoa..." Hermione mentally shook herself for the second time that day.

"What's with all the extra descriptions on Ron's part?"

By then Harry and Ron had reached the table, and Harry sat down.

"Hey, I see you're wearing the necklace," he observed with a pleased smile and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

The "Of course" got stuck in Hermione's throat at the look on Ron's face.

She suddeny felt a flash of anger at Harry for hurting Ron. But before she could do anything rash, her sensible side came through.

"Harry has no idea he is hurting Ron. He's not doing it on purpose!!!" Hermione scolded herself.

Harry was still looking at her, so she replied:

"Of course I'm wearing it. I love it!"

Harry smiled, and the three of them began discussing the upcoming Quidditch match.

* * *

Later that evening, Harry was sitting by himself in his dorm. He absently ripped today's page off his calendar, and stared at it.

He still couldn't believe how easily he had forgotten Hermione's birthday. Harry sighed and lay back down on his bed.

It seemed like there was something missing from them lately, and Harry didn't know what it was. There wasn't anything he could put a finger on exactly, but still.... It had been so long since they had gotten together. What if the magic was, well, wearing off a little?

Harry sat up. He was just being silly. In fact, he would go find Hermione right now, and spend some time with her.

Desperate to prove himself wrong, Harry took the stairs two by two, and when he reached the common room, he was disappointed to see that Hermione wasn't in it.

Then he spotted Ginny Weasley sitting by herself, working on her homework. She looked up with a start as Harry sat down next to her and quickly pushed a lock of red hair out of her eyes.

"Hi, Ginny," Harry said.

"Oh, hey, Harry!" said Ginny, giving him a warm smile.

Harry continued, "Listen, have you seen Hermione?"

"Yes, actually I have," Ginny replied, rolling up her scroll. "She and Ron went down to the library to work on their Potion's project awhile ago."

"Oh," said Harry. Snape had given them a large project a few days ago, and Ron and Hermione had been lucky enough to get paired up together. "Well, at least I have you to keep me company."

Harry took a cushy chair next to Ginny, smiling at her.

"That you do," she replied. She shuffled the deck of cards in front of her before holding them out towards him.

"Care for a game of Exploding Snap?"

* * *