An Interesting Term

Next morning, Harry woke up to find Ron fully dressed and almost falling over himself looking for his Transfiguration book.

"Whatimisit?" Harry mumbled as Ron clattered around the dormitory.

"Time for you to be up," moaned Ron, knocking over Harry's water jug in the search. "Can I meet you later? I have to go to McGonagall's to see if I left the book there."

"Sure," answered Harry, reaching for his glasses. "I have the first two periods free anyway." This was one of the huge advantages of doing NEWTS - free periods. Harry was taking DADA, Transfiguration, Potions, Charms and Herbology and got a morning and an afternoon off every week. As Harry got dressed, he heard Ron run - or, a more accurate explanation in Harry's eyes, fall - down the stairs and then Hermione scream.

"Ron! That's all my books and Greta's too you just dropped all over the common room floor!" Harry heard Hermione shout. Harry could hear the two of them bickering all the way across the common room. He grinned; if Greta was going to be hanging around with them for a while, she better get used to it as quickly as possible.

Harry picked up his own books and strolled down the spiral staircase and into the common room. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he spotted a small brown leather covered book lying underneath a desk. Harry bent over and reached for it. On the front, in gold script, was written "Property of Miss Hermione Granger. Do not read." Harry opened the small book interestedly; Hermione obviously didn't mean him when she wrote that on the front, he was her best friend. On the first page was written in Hermione's small neat handwriting 'The Secret Diary of Hermione Granger." Harry closed the book with a snap. He had the distinct feeling that even if he was Hermione's best friend he was most certainly not meant to read this. He put the small book in his bag. He would give it back to Hermione later.

Harry climbed out of the portrait hole and walked down to breakfast. The Great Hall was practically empty so Harry ate alone, all the time thinking about the small brown book in his bag with agitation.

"She probably wouldn't mind all that much if I read it. I mean, I am her best friend. I probably know all the stuff in it already. In fact, I definitely will. Hermione doesn't keep secrets. But wait, what about that Time Turner in second year? She kept that a secret. But that was important. But what if there's important secrets in the diary? Like about Ron, or Krum? She might not want me to know those. But I am her best friend so she wouldn't mind that much..." Harry's thoughts went in circles. He finished breakfast and made his way back up to the common room since he still had a whole hour to wait until his first Potions lesson.

Harry flopped back on the common room couch. He took the diary out of his bag and stared at it hopefully as if hoping it would tell him to read it or not. After a few moments of fighting with his conscience, Harry timidly opened the book. He looked around him as if expecting Hermione to jump out and catch him with it, but seeing no-one he lowered his eyes to the page and began to read.

The date at the top was one during the summer holidays; phew, thought Harry, there can't be much in it if she just started it a few weeks ago.

'Dear Diary,' he read. 'Going to stay at the Burrow tomorrow. I don't know if Harry will have arrived yet, Ron didn't say in his letter. But then he never does say much. I've seen his letters to Harry, huge big long things even if they are full of Quidditch and more Quidditch, but I do wish that once in a while he'd write something a bit longer than one paragraph to me. I mean, Harry doesn't write all that much either, but Harry's got a lot on his mind, right? Anyway, I don't really mind about Harry as much. I mean I do mind, but I don't really.

Anyway, the Burrow tomorrow. Can't wait to see everyone again, it'll be great. Really great. Especially Ron and Harry. Or Harry and Ron. I mean I could have written Harry first, I just wrote Ron first. His name's shorter anyway, that's probably why I wrote it first. Wasn't it? Yeah, that'll be it. Definitely. God, I'm rambling again, aren't I. Why am I so bothered about Ron anyway? He's so annoying. And he's certainly not as good-looking as, say, Dean. Not that I'd tell Ron that. Not that he's ugly, he's very nice looking, actually maybe even nicer-looking than Dean, but that's not the point, is it? What is the point anyway? Do I even have a point? Probably not. Oh god, I've gone on far too long, I'd better go now. Why I am I talking to you anyway, for goodness's sake, you're a bit of paper. Well. Goodbye. Talk to you tomorrow. Wait, write to you tomorrow. Yeah.'

Harry chuckled. He'd been right all along. Hermione did like Ron, that much was obvious, even if she hadn't actually written it.

"Hey, Harry." Harry jumped as he heard Greta's voice from behind him. He hid the diary in his bag and turned around.

"Hermione said you'd show me the way to Potions," she said with a smile.

He smiled back. "We'd better get going; we don't want to be late for your first class."

They climbed out the portrait hole and made their way down the stairs towards the dungeons.

"Er... Harry. Can I ask you something?" asked Greta in a low voice.

"Ask away," Harry replied interestedly.

"I mean, I know it's absolutely none of my business and I've only just met the two of them and so on... but do your two friends, Hermione and Rob? Wait, no, Ron, that's it. Do they like each other? Because it seems a bit obvious to me that they do and well, I was wondering if you could, you know, confirm it."

Harry grinned at Greta. "Spot on. I mean, neither of them know the other does, but they definitely do. Why so interested, anyway?"

"Well..." Greta said slyly, "I'm a bit of a matchmaker, and if I see two people that so obviously need to get it together, I like to, you know, help them along a bit. You up to helping me?"

"Of course I am," replied Harry. He now knew it was going to be an extremely interesting term.