The Unspoken Passion

Ron could not believe what he had just said. Even so, he knew that it was absolutely true. He loved Hermione, loved her deeply, and he knew that no matter how hard he tried to resist it, he couldn't. It was all clear to him now: the dreams, the desire to have been there for her all those times, the way he always got nervous when he was around her. He felt so much more at ease now; he simply wanted to shout it out to the world.

"I LOVE HERMIONE!" he exclaimed to the empty room.

"Of course you do," said a voice from his door.

He whirled around to see Ginny standing there again. She had clearly never left in the first place.

"Ginny!" he snapped at her. "I told you to get out!"

She grinned. "I just thought I'd stick around to see how long it would take you to realize I was right. Three minutes, not bad."

He glared at her. "You didn't hear anything."

"Now, Ron, how could I not hear you? You were shouting loud enough to be heard in London."

"You know what I mean," he said. "You're not to tell anyone what you heard."

"Why not?" she asked. "Are you planning on telling her yourself?"

"I'm not planning on telling her at all," he replied.

Ginny raised and eyebrow. "Ron, you mean your going to keep this bottled up?"

"Yes, and so are you."

"I can't promise anything," she said. "You know how I let things slip."

He stood up and towered over her. "I'm warning you, Virginia Weasley. Keep your mouth shut!"

She didn't say anything more, but merely turned and left the room. Ron glared at her retreat, then returned to his bed to reflect on his new revelation.

***

Of course Ginny wasn't going to keep it a secret. She wasn't very good at keeping them, least of all one like this. She had been hoping that Ron and Hermione would get together since her first year. It had been obvious from the beginning that they liked eachother, and Ginny felt it was about time one of them noticed. The only problem was, now that Ron had finally come around, he didn't want anyone to know. So, Ginny realized that it was up to her to get them together. She would not tell Hermione right away. No, that was not the way to go. She would need help first. Without another thought, she rushed to her room to write to Harry.

***

Harry was cleaning Hedwig's cage when Errol arrived with Ginny's letter. Aunt Petunia had angrily ordered him to do so when the smell began to get out of control. The clumsy bird had crashed onto Harry's desk (lucky the window was open or he would have wound up in the rose bushes), spewing papers across the floor.

"Now what does he want," Harry thought aloud as he went to pluck the letter from the ruffled owl's beak. But when he opened the letter he saw that it was from Ginny. Not knowing what on earth she wanted, he nervously opened the letter.

Dear Harry,

I know you have problems of your own to deal with, but Ron's got a big problem. This may shock or upset you, but it's true. Ron is in love with Hermione. I know it's hard to believe, but I heard him say it. It doesn't surprise me, though. He can't go a day without mentioning her at least three times. I'm just glad he's finally figured it out. The problem is, he doesn't want anyone to know and he needs to tell Hermione how he feels. And maybe I'm crazy, but I think she loves him too. She acts like it anyway. I know it might bother you, but we really need to get those two together. I'm about tired of hearing Ron yell out Hermione's name in the middle of the night. Please send a reply as soon as possible. Don't say anything to Ron, though. I'm supposed to keep it a secret.

Love,

Ginny

Harry dropped the letter to the floor. While he couldn't believe what he had just found out, suddenly, everything made sense. Ron had been dreaming about Hermione because he loved her and was afraid she would die. And, come to think of it, Ron did talk about her a lot, even if it was negative. But how had his best friend fallen in love with his other best friend right under his nose? And was Ginny right? Did Hermione share these emotions? And above all, was Harry okay with this situation? Harry pondered these questions for a long time.

"Well," he said to Hedwig. "They do make the perfect couple, and I want them to be happy, so, what do you think, Hedwig?"
She blinked at him, then gave a soft hoot and pecked at Ginny's letter. Harry took that to mean, "Go with it," and smiled.

Well, he thought to himself, it would be nice to see them complimenting eachother rather than bickering.

So, having decided this, he wrote back to Ginny and said that he would help. According to a recent letter from Mad-Eye Moody, the Order of the Phoenix would be bringing them all back to Grimmauld Place about a week before the start of term. Harry told her that they would discuss it then.

Excellent, she wrote back later. I'm glad to know you're okay with it, Harry.

When Harry read these words, he suddenly began to think he wasn't okay with it. The idea of Ron and Hermione as a couple seemed weird, scary, and lonely all at the same time. If they started dating, would they leave him out of everything? Would Harry suddenly be the odd man out?

No, Harry thought. This isn't about me. It's about them. I want Ron to be happy, whatever it takes. Besides, of Ginny thinks it's for the best, it must be. She does have a good judge of character.

Harry smiled and finally decided that it may not be too bad afterall.

***

"Move it along now, Potter," Mad-Eye Moody growled as he pushed Harry up the cracked driveway of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. "Dumbledore will be waiting for us."

As soon as Harry opened the door, he was practically thrown back out it by Hermione's embrace.

"Oh, Harry! It's so good to see you. I didn't know if you'd make it another summer with your aunt and uncle!"

"I'm fine, Hermione, really," Harry choked. "It's good to see you, too. Where's Ron?"

"Here, mate," came Ron's voice from the stairwell. He grinned at Harry, obviously having no idea that Harry knew his secret.

"Come on you three," said Moody. "They're waiting in the kitchen."

"So how was your summer, mate?" Ron asked Harry as they walked down the hall. Harry noticed that Ron seemed to be keeping a good distance from Hermione.

"Oh, not to bad, actually. The Dursleys were decent enough to me this time. I guess it had to do with Moody threatening him."

"He was a regular coward, that Dursley," came Mad-Eye's grumble from behind them.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Thanks for that. How was your summer, Ron?"

"Not that exciting, really," he replied. "Fred and George dropped by occasionally. They're really making it with that joke shop of theirs. Even said they might be able to get me tickets to the next Quidditch Cup."

"Wicked," said Harry.

They reached the kitchen to find a rather large crowd. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were sitting at one end of a large table. Down one side sat Bill, Charlie, Ginny, Molly, and Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin, and Nymphadora Tonks. The other side of the table was lined with various other Aurors.

"Ah, good to see you made it, Harry," said Dumbledore. If you and your friends would take your places at the end of the table, we will update you on the current situation. Some of us," he eyed Snape," don't feel you should know, but after your incident in the Ministry, I feel you should."

So, Dumbledore filled them in on the current news about Voldemort. News hadn't changed much, other than the Ministry was now acting on the situation. Half an hour later, Dumbledore dismissed Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny and called together the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix.

***

"Harry, in here!"

Ginny was calling Harry into the Drawing Room. Ron was polishing his broom and focusing on the new Quidditch season, and Hermione was working on homework, as always. This left Harry and Ginny free to meet and discuss their plans.

"Are you still in?" she said, closing the door.

"Yes," said Harry. "So what do you have in mind?"

"Well, I know Hermione fancies Ron just as much as he does her. I have no doubt about that. But neither of them wants to admit it. We've got to get them alone somehow so that they'll talk."

"What are you going to do, lock them in a closet until they start making out?" exclaimed Harry.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," said Ginny, shaking her head. "Leave it to you, a boy, to think that way. No, we just need to get them to talk. Now, what's the most romantic room in this house?"

"I don't know, but what's that got-"

He was suddenly stopped by her grabbing him and kissing him hard on the mouth.

"Now," she said. "Any ideas?"

He merely gazed at her, mouth agape. "I-, I-"

"Harry, for goodness sake," she said, kissing him again.

This time he responded immediately. "The study."

"That's perfect!" she exclaimed. "It's very cozy and warm in there, and there's that great view of London through the window. Wonderful, Harry!"

She kissed him a third time. Harry was lost for words.

"Alright," she said, moving toward the door. "You tell Ron to meet me in the study, say, seven o'clock. I'll take care of the rest."

With that, she disappeared out the door. Harry just watched her go, trying to figure out what in Merlin's name had just happened.

***

Ron approached the door to the study. Harry had told him that Ginny wanted him to meet her there around seven. He had no idea what she wanted, but he went all the same.

He entered the study, expecting to just find Ginny, but he found that she was not alone.

Hermione sat on a love seat, carrying on a light conversation with Ginny. Ron gasped at the sight of her, plainly announcing his presence.

"Ron!" exclaimed Ginny. "I'm glad you're here. I need you and Hermione to listen to my History of Magic essay. See if it sounds alright."

"Uh, okay," said Ron, uneasily.

"Good," she said. "Have a seat next to Hermione."

He looked at her nervously, shaking his head ever so slightly. She responded by giving him a do-it look and he complied. However, he wasn't too comfortable having to sit so close to the girl he was in love with, whom, he noticed, wasn't looking too happy about it either. Sitting down, he was no more than an inch from Hermione. He could smell her perfume, sweet, just like her. He wanted deeply to put his arm around her and kiss her, but he resisted. Why was Ginny doing this to him?

"Wait!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I left the paper in my room. You two wait here and I'll go get it."

She dashed out of the room where Harry was waiting.

"Well?" he asked.

"We'll just have to wait and see," she replied, pulling one of Fred and George's Extendable Ears out of her pocket and slipping one end underneath the door and putting the other to her ear.

At first, there was nothing, and then:

"Why do you think Ginny's suddenly so interested in History of Magic?" Ron asked.

"Maybe she wants to do good on her O.W.L.s, Ronald. Ever think about that?"

"Come on, Mione," said Ron. "Nobody but you cares about that subject. It's not like it matters."

"I resent that, Ronald!" she spat. "It happens to be a very important subject. You'd do well to take it seriously."

"Yeah, yeah."

She glared at him.

"Oh, honestly, Hermione," he continued. "Do you really think that on my job resume under 'Date of Birth' it's going to say 'What was the date of the last goblin rebellion?'"

"Well, no but-"

"Just drop it, Hermione. Why do you have to be such a know-it-all?"

The second he said this he wished he hadn't. He had gone too far. She stood up immediately, tears brimming in her eyes, and shouted:

"YOU'RE SUCH A STUPID PRAT, RONALD WEASLEY!"

Ginny managed to pull Harry into the shadows just as Hermione thrust the door open and sprinted off to her room. Ron ran after her,

"Hermione, wait please! I didn't mean it!"

He tried to stop her but it was no use. Upon reaching her room she slammed the door and locked it, leaving Ron kicking himself outside.

"Now you've done it," Harry whispered to Ginny.

"Don't worry," she replied. "This isn't over yet. I'll go talk to Hermione. You take Ron. I hate seeing them like this. They love eachother so much that all they want to do is fight. It might not make sense but it's true. Hop to it, Harry."

She took off towards Hermione's room. Ron had started off toward his and Harry's room. Taking a deep breath, Harry followed him.