Him and I

three

Harry's POV:

When Ron talked about a girl he liked, he tended to never stop. He would just ramble on and on, so I got into the habit of just ignoring him after a while.

"Blimey, Harry! Are you even listening to me?!" He yelled from across his bedroom and threw a pillow at me which hit me in the face, causing me to readjust my glasses.

"Yeah, just repeat the last part again." I said, not that eager to listen to the whole thing over again, but if he didn't, I would have been so lost that it would've been clear that I wasn't paying much mind to him.

"Well, nevermind." he said "Just, you seem to be really close with her, so--"

"With who?" I asked because the only girls I were close with were Hermione and Ginny, and Ron hated Hermione and was Ginny's brother, so...

"Hermione, of course! Are you really that thick that you hadn't noticed all the hints I've been giving her?" He said and I immediately thought he was joking.

"What hints, Ron?" I said, besides the constant nagging her and starting fights for no reason, Ron never said a word to Hermione. Obviously he was mental if he thought that would actually work.

"It doesn't matter!" he said "Just, you and her are obviously very close and if there's anyone who would know how she'd feel, it would be you."

I could understand what he meant. I mean, after all I do consider Hermione my best friend. I think she assumes that I'm closer with Ron because I met him first, or we're both boys, or that we both like quidditch...but in all honesty she is my best friend. Which, had only made me feel worse that I didn't know how she felt.

"Oh, Hermione didn't tell you?" I said, hopefully this lie would sound convincing "She started dating some guy who works at a muggle bookstore."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Of bloody course she is." he said which was enough to irritate me further "Muggle bookstore." he grumbled under his breath

"For Merlin's sake, Ron! How can you claim you love Hermione when you go around saying stuff like that!" I snapped and in all fairness I had no idea why I was so angry about all of this, but Hermione was my best friend and I didn't want her getting hurt.

Before Ron had a chance to respond, his eyes flickered to my right and as I turned around to see what was behind me, I saw Hermione.

"What on Earth are you two yelling for at this time of night?!" she chided and before I could even get my side of the story out, Ron budged in.

"Nothing's the matter." he said "Harry and I were just going to bed, right?"

I knew I should have just gone with the lie, Merlin knows it would've been easier than what happened next.

"Actually, you were going to bed." I said "I was heading to the Leaky Cauldron. It's probably better if I get some space before school starts again."