Some Risks are Worth Taking

The Gryffindor Common room was rather quiet being the time of day it was. There were only two people in it, Ron and Harry, whom sat next to a window with a chess board in front of them.

Neither of them spoke, as though afraid the other might pick up their plans with a simple glance. A smile was playing in the corners of Ron´s mouth as he pick up his queen and rolled her around in his fingers before placing her down in front of Harry´s King. "Check," he announced proudly, grinning from ear to ear.

Harry glanced up for a moment with an evil twinkle in his eyes. Ron´s smile quickly faded as Harry´s mouth twitched with glee and he picked up his bishop then slowly moved it down the board. All the while he was watching Ron´s face pale. He placed his bishop in front of Ron´s queen. Ron´s only piece left on the board, his queen, was demolished right before his eyes. "I win!" Harry shouted triumphantly as he jumped from his chair and threw danced around the common room.

Ron sat back in his chair and folded his arms. "Bout time," he muttered while trying to hide his disappointment.

"Wanna play another game?" Harry asked while he shuffled his pieces off the board. Ron glanced curiously around the room and then out the window as if looking for something. "Ron?"

Ron quickly started to shuffle his pieces back into the box he kept them in. "Where´s Hermione?" he asked, ignoring Harry´s question, trying to sound as if he didn´t care.

Harry folded up the chess board and looked Ron in the eye with a suspicious smile on his face. "I don´t know," he told him "probably with Neville, why?"

Ron stared at Harry in disbelief. "Neville!" he yelled, "Why Neville?! What´s Neville got that I don´t?!"

Harry laughed, "She´s only helping him with his Potions assignment."

Ron, who had turned red with frustration, calmed. "Oh," he said as he straightened his robes. "You don´t think..." he began timidly, cautiously glancing at Harry.

"Think what?" Harry asked, though he knew what Ron was about to ask.

"You don´t think that..." Ron continued awkwardly, "Hermione and Neville are?"

Harry looked repulsed, "Hermione and Neville?" Ron nodded. "Oh god no..." he added with a disgusted look. Ron looked relieved. "Besides," Harry continued, "I think she likes you."

Ron had turned pink and smiled, "Me? You think she likes me?" he asked slowly.

Harry stood and walked over to the fireplace, where there was always a glowing fire burning. Though the walls were thick, the winter breezes still managed to sweep in through the mysteriously invisible cracks in the windows. "Yea, I really do," Harry told him with complete honesty. "And," he continued before Ron could say anything, "I know you like her too."

Ron seemed lost for words, he just stared at Harry with unfocused eyes. "How did you know?!" he gasped.

"As if it wasn´t obvious!" Harry chuckled, "I´m surprised you didn´t tell me!"

Ron looked horror struck, "I didn´t tell you because I thought you liked her!"

Now it was Harry´s turn to look horrified. "No!" he exclaimed, and then smiled, "I like your sister."

Ron´s eyes couldn´t have gotten any bigger, they looked like they were about to explode. He wasn´t angry though, he was actually extremely glad it was Harry that liked Ginny and not someone like Malfoy. "Really?" he breathed.

Harry had begun to twirl with his thumbs and he looked slightly embarrassed, "Yea...I do.."

Harry sat on the sofa in front of the fire, admiring its warmth amidst the freezing common room, somewhat aware that Ron had just sat down beside him. "Harry?" Ron asked and Harry tilted his head to show that he was listening. "Do you really think that she likes me?" he continued quietly, a little afraid of the answer.

Harry was about to answer when a familiar voice came from the top of the girls´ dormitory stairs, "Who likes you Ron?"

Harry and Ron gave each other a terrified glance before Ron decided to answer, "Oh, uh, hi Hermione," he said with a slight stutter.

"Who likes you Ron?" she repeated once she had finished skipping down the steps, "Come on, I promise I won´t tell a soul!"

Neither Ron nor Harry spoke. Ron just sat motionless looking dumb and Harry was trying his hardest, and not succeeding, not to laugh. Hermione walked over to the sofa and stood in front of the two boys´, awaiting their answer. "Fine then, if you won´t tell me then I´ll just find out myself," she told them both swiftly. "And believe me," she added severely with her eyebrows raised in pride, "it won´t be hard."

Ron gulped as Hermione turned away from his stare. Hermione turned to Harry, whom still sat with his face in his hands on submersed in giggles, and sighed, "Harry," she began in hopes of getting his attention, "where´s my Potions book? Neville and I need it, my notes are in it."

Harry looked up at Hermione and then at Ron who seemed to be pleading with him not to tell her that he liked her. "Er, I think it´s sitting on Ron´s bed actually," he told her as he managed to keep a straight face with out laughing, yet still managed to sound like he was choking.

Hermione curiously looked over at Ron who seemed to be muttering unintelligently to himself, then back to Harry. "Why is it on Ron´s bed if I gave it to you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Er," Harry began, and glanced at Ron, who looked like he was about to cry, and then back at Hermione and smiled. The real reason it was on Ron´s bed was because he had taken it from Harry because he wanted to study for his OWL´s, even though they were nearly six months away. Harry figured he really wanted to study Hermione´s handwriting. "Well...err..." Harry stammered, trying to think up a good lie. "Today, Ron wouldn´t wake up so I sorta threw it at him."

Hermione rolled her eyes and made exasperated sound. "You sorta threw it at him?" she asked sternly with folded arms.

"Yep," Harry told her with a fake grin before she stalked off and headed up the boys dormitory stairs. Once she was out of hearing range Harry jumped from the sofa and hurried over to Ron who was standing wide eyed with a slight smirk on his face.

"She´s going to touch my bed, Harry," he said as though he were in a trance.

Now it was Harry´s turn to roll his eyes as he placed a hand on Ron´s shoulder and shook him to bring him back to earth. "Now´s your chance, Ron! I want you to go upstairs and tell her that you like her." Harry told him, instantly bringing him out of his trance.

"What?!" Ron cried as he heard their dormitory door open and close. "Are you mad!?"

"If you don´t tell her, I will," Harry told him fiercely, "Now, hurry up, you don´t have much time!"

Ron, figuring he didn´t have any other choice, scrambled away from Harry and marched towards the steps. He placed his hand on the cold stone wall and glimpsed helplessly back at Harry who stood watching him with his hands in his pockets. "Go," Harry told him in a threatening tone.

"I´m goin´, I´m goin´," Ron replied as he slowly started up the stairs. With each step he thought of something new to say to Hermione to tell her that he liked her. `Hey Hermione, guess what!´ no, he thought that was too childish. `Hiya Hermione!´ no, he sighed, too peppy. `So Hermione, can we talk?´ no, too cheesy. He was going to make an idiot of himself, he could feel it.

Before he knew it, he had reached the door. He could hear Hermione inside, pulling bed curtains open, probably searching for Ron´s bed. After taking a deep breath he reached for the door knob and turned it then pushed the door quietly open.

Hermione was standing with her back to the door next to Ron´s bed. She had something in her hand, and it wasn´t a book. She had a letter he had written to her explaining his feelings. He never intended on giving her the note, but wrote it anyway as a kind of therapy for his obsession.

As e walked closer to her, he saw her reach her hand up and put it over her mouth, and she had tears in her eyes. "Oh, Ron..." he heard her choke.

"Oh god," Ron thought and inwardly kicked himself. He knew the note was bad, but he didn´t it was that bad. He kicked himself again, "I´ve made her cry."

"I had no idea." She whispered and then pocketed the note, grabbed her Potion book and whip around and ran into Ron. She was in Ron´s arms, he had stopped her from falling, and she felt extremely awkward. "Ron...I-I´m sorry, I shouldn´t have...have read the note," she quavered as she stepped away from him and ran a hand through her hair to tame it. She was unable to read the expression on Ron´s face.

He looked relieved but at the same time a little upset. "No...It´s actually better you found out that way I suppose," Ron told her quickly once he came out of his new trance. He felt stupid for leaving the note next to his bed post, but he was still glad she had found it, not to mention he got to actually touch her arms just moments ago, he was very proud of himself. "I came up here to tell you anyway..."

Hermione smiled and put her potions book in her bag. "I have something for you. I wasn´t going to give it to you, it was a kind of therapy I figured it should try," she laughed as Ron´s eyes grew large and he toppled a bit, "but now..." she went up to him and placed a perfectly rolled up piece of parchment in his hand. "I figured nothing would come of it if I gave it to you. It was suppose to relieve me from my obsession," she told him as she started to come back to her normal self. She then walked to the dormitory door and glanced back at him, "I read it in Helpless Cures for the Helplessly Mental," she smiled and then left, leaving Ron standing alone in the middle of the dormitory with her note in his hand.

Ron, with shaky hands, quickly unraveled the parchment. It read:

Dear Ron,

I know you have been very busy lately, and you probably don´t want to hear from me, but I have something very important to tell you. Harry told me ages ago that he thought you might like me. He told me that it was obvious because of the way you acted fourth year during that whole Viktor Krum thing. I hope you´re still not angry about that because it´s over between him and me. I told him I wanted to spend time with someone else. I told him I wanted to be with you. I hope you understand what I´m trying to say...

Love,

Hermione

The letter had been written in red rose scented ink, and she seemed to have taken extra time writing it then she usually did with her potion notes. He read and reread the letter several times, thensomething hit him. Harry knew she liked him the whole time and he never told him!

Ron flew down the dormitory stairs and found Harry stretched out on the sofa with a very satisfied look on his face. Ron figured Hermione had told him what had happened.

Harry had heard his footsteps and looked up. Ron strode up to the sofa and threw the letter at him. "So you knew and you never told me?" Ron asked smiling.

Harry opened the letter and glanced lazily at it. "Yeah, she told me not to tell you," he told Ron and then lifted his eyebrow in surprise as he scanned the letter. "Wow, she actually used a lot of my ideas."

"You even helped her write the note?!" Ron cried, "What else haven´t you told me? And did she-,"

"She´s in the Library," Harry told him as if reading his mind.

Ron picked up his bag and started towards the door. "Where are you going?" Harry asked him, sitting up on the sofa and looking at him with a little concern.

"I, er, have some studying to do it the library," Ron replied as he started to push open the portrait door.

"Jeeze Ron, two risks in one day, that´s gotta be a record," Harry chuckled, yet again falling down into the sofa.

Ron stopped and beamed at Harry. "Some risks are worth taking," he said before walking out the door, shutting it quietly behind him.