ron and hermione
Who: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger
Where: The Room of Requirement
When: Late Afternoon/Early Evening
What: Hermione tells Ron that she told Remus Lupin about them being from the future.


It was late afternoon, and the hallways were empty, luckily. Hermione was dragging Ron through the hallways on the second level, trying to find an empty room so she could discuss the truth privately with him. "Not that one...or that one...." She muttered, before a door opened in the wall beside her. She broke into a smile. "Ron! It's the Room of Requirement!"

Ron pulled free from Hermione. "Bloody hell, why didn't you think of that before?" he said irritably. He did not considerably like being pulled around Hogwarts.. well, maybe if it was to find an empty room for snogging. "So what've you been dragging me around for anyway?" he snapped, a bit less angrily but still irritated. He could only imagine what it looked like, the bushy haired girl running along, Ron in tow. He leaned against the wall, a rather childlike expression on his face, awaiting her answer.

She glared at him as she shut the door behind them. Today the room was a red couch in front of a fire that looked suspiciously like a section of the Gryffindor common room, but it was most certainly not. She walked over to the couch and sat down. "Ron, you're going to need to sit for this."

He almost considered objecting, but figured Hermione was going to make him sit and he could use some leg rest.. after Hermione pulling him along and all. He walked towards the couch and flopped down on it ungracefully. He looked at Hermione expectantly. And where was Harry anyway? Had she told him before Ron? He pushed the thought aside and said, "Well?"

"Remember our discussion in the hospital?" She asked, a little excited to finally be telling Ron. She had missed him while he was asleep...although she probably wouldn't admit it. Especially not to Ron.

"About Malfoy?" He felt a twinge of anger at the boy just by the mention of his name. He could suddenly hear a chorus of Weasley Is Our King in his mind. "What about him?"

"Well, it is about Malfoy, though not exactly." Hermione said awkwardly, scratching her nose. "It's about...um...telling someone in the past." She paused. "How did you say you felt about that, again?"

"I reckon they're gonna be shocked when you tell them what happens in the future. Don't you think they're gonna be.. I dunno, pressured?" he asked, although the idea did seem good it occurred to Ron he wouldn't exactly want to hear what happened in the future.. or, well.. maybe he did. But that was beside the point. Did anyone else want to hear?

A valid point, she admitted, but it was too late for that. "But in general, you think it'd be useful? Who would you tell, if you had to tell someone? Just one person from the past...who would you pick?" If he said Lupin, she would probably have to hug him.

As much as Ron would love to be choked to death by Hermione in a bear hug, he said "Er.. I dunno," as he bit his lip. "Someone not dead, I guess. So that kind of rules Sirius out.. and not Harry's parents. I reckon they'd feel really pressured.. and definitely not Snape," his tone darkened as he said the word 'Snape'. That double agent..

"Not Snape." Hermione agreed with a frown. "In fact, let's avoid talking to Snape--but don't forget that he isn't the Snape we know. Try not to hate him automatically when you see him. Can you think of someone else who might work?" Ron was not the brightest, unfortunately.

"He's still a.." At a loss for words, he muttered a word most classy people would not like to repeat. "Er," he said once more. "What about.. er.. maybe a teacher.. like.. like.. er.." Unfortunately, no teachers came to mind, least of all Lupin.

She sighed heavily, shaking her head. "Why don't you just name every professor you ever liked?" She suggested, knowing it would not be a long list. "Then we can do a process of elimination." He still didn't understand why she was asking him this, apparently.

Ron sighed. Leave it to Hermione to assign something eerily close to schoolwork. "Professor Quirrel was alright until we found out he was really You-Know-Who.. Moody too.." He continued on naming the teachers he liked, which was not many. "I guess.. is Madame Pomfrey a teacher? She was alright. Lupin was okay, even though he trusted Snape.. and y'know, what about Hagrid?"

Hermione stared at him, before blinking. "Why didn't I think of that earlier? That's brilliant, Ron. Hagrid...he wasn't even on my list. Maybe we should tell him, too."

Ron beamed at Hermione, a rush of pride overwhelming him for a moment. "Who else was on your list?" he asked curiously. Why hadn't she just told him the list? That'd be tons easier.. he didn't let this down his mood though. After all, his idea was 'brilliant'.

"Well, Sirius and Professor Lupin ended up as my top choices. Harry's parents were on it, Professor McGonagall was on it..." Hermione was a little shocked that she'd forgotten Hagrid--after all he'd done for them, too--but Remus was still a better choice.

"McGonagall! Hermione, I forgot all about her!" Although he didn't really like Professor McGonagall.. she was still a better choice than his best friend's arch-nemesis disguised as a teacher. "Dunno about Harry's folks though."

"We can't let anyone's parents find out, because then they'll feel pressured to have children with each other." She agreed. "And McGonagall...doesn't have enough influence on other students. That's the whole point of telling someone else."

"Then tell me, who should we tell? You obviously already worked this out," he said, leaning his head on his arm, which was resting on the back of the couch. "So if not Sirius, then who?" he asked, looking confused. He had obviously forgotten the list. He racked his mind for the last person.. had it been just Sirius? He swore there had been another.

Hermione cleared her throat, and gave him a slight smile. "Professor Lupin." She said. "I think it should be Professor Lupin." Now to see how he'd react.

"Lupin!" he said, his head shooting up from where it lay. "That's bloody brilliant, Hermione!" he shouted, beaming at her. "And he's not dead, or married, or anything!"

She rolled her eyes, still smiling at him. "I'm glad you agree, Ron. I picked him not only because he is alive, but because I know he gets along well with most people, and because I knew he would take the situation seriously."

"Yeah!" he said, quieting down a bit. "Yeah, that's a great idea!" Laying his head back down and staring sideways at Hermione, he asked, "You think he wouldn't tell James or Sirius?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't." Hermione said. Remus knew how severe the situation was--and he wouldn't risk anything by telling his friends. Plus, who wanted to tell their friends that they were going to die prematurely? "Harry really disliked this idea--I'm so glad that you're okay with it."

He grinned at her. "If you say so," he said. He wasn't sure.. but the news would be depressing.. but if he told them they could avoid it, so maybe he would.. "Since when have you cared what Harry and I thought about your ideas? You carried on with spew even after I told you they were happy.." So maybe this made a nice, happy moment a bit less, but this was a serious question. She hadn't always cared about their opinions.. did she even now?

She glared at him. "They are not happy, Ron!" She said shrilly. "We have to protec--" Hermione shook her head, amazed at how he had ruined the moment. "I just don't want you to be left out! Especially considering that I'm working with Dra-!" She froze, covering her mouth. If he heard that she was working with Draco, he would be so angry...

He resisted the urge to tell her if they were really free, they'd be able to work for who they wanted. Ron scowled at the name. "Draco." He got up from his casual position and crossed his arms over his chest. "First Vicky, now Draco.. you've got terrible taste in boys.. but I guess if he's a good snog it doesn't matter to you.."

She got up angrily. "Ron, that is not why I worked with him! I worked with him because you weren't awake, and Harry didn't want me to tell Remus. Draco agreed with me, though! I do not intend to snog him. Although he did ask me to!" She hissed, putting her hands on her hips.

Ron turned as red as his hair and quite frankly looked like he was going to explode, but instead, he asked in a small voice, "He asked you to.. snog him?" He looked over at Hermione. "And you said no," he asked, seemingly casual, as if to confirm what Hermione had said to the librarian.

"He said that we would make a good team. I asked if he was asking me out, and he said he was. Is that what you consider snogging, Ron?" Hermione asked coldly, annoyed. Did Ron not understand that she liked HIM?

Ron looked as if he was a small child, fighting about who got the cherry popsicle with his hands crossed over his chest and his face twisted in to a childlike scowl. "Well.. if you said yes you would have been snogging." Draco really did live to make Ron miserable.. well.. this was one thing he would never get, wasn't it?

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron, you idiot, I only want to snog you." She said, and then froze. Had she said that out loud? She hadn't, had she? Oh Merlin, she had...

"I'm not an idiot," he said, not completely registering what Hermione had just said. "Just because I need your help on schoolwork.. you what?" he said, the scowl dropping off his face and his head jerking so fast to look over at her a sharp shooting pain shot through his neck. Distracted for a moment, he rubbed at it irritably, sure he had heard Hermione wrong. She had probably said 'Ron, you idiot, I only want to snog VIKTOR KRUM.. oh, do you think he still thinks about me? He promised he would!'

"Er, well..." She scrunched her eyebrows together. It was too late now...she really had to tell him. "I said that I...only want to snog you..." Hermione shuffled her feet awkwardly. "Ron Weasley. You."

Oh. Haha. Real funny. Draco had probably put her up to this. He bet they were really dating, and one night during a snog session he thought 'Let's make that weasel miserable!' His eyes narrowed and his scowl returned again. "You're funny," he said coldly. It didn't sound as if he thought she was funny at all.

"I'm being serious, Ron." She finally told him how he felt, and he thought she was joking. Knowing Ron, he probably thought that she was dating someone totally random and this was a prank.

He glared at her icily for awhile and then glared at the wall straight ahead. "So, Lupin," he said coldly. "You and Draco gonna tell him any time soon?" He refused to look back at Hermione. He instead became suddenly engrossed in looking around the room and trying to wipe off a nonexistent bit of dirt off his chin.

"I already told Remus." She said matter-of-factly, annoyed that he wouldn't believe her about the snogging. Hermione looked down at her nails as she waited for Ron's reaction.

"Good to know," he said, still glaring angrily at the couch's pattern. He had apparently found a way to get rid of his freckles was to rub them off as he began to scratch at one viciously.

Hermione stared at him for a full minute. He just wouldn't believe her...was Pansy right? Did girls have to be pretty to win over boys? Or was Ron just being a naive idiot? Finally, she decided to do something--she gave him a large hug. "It was to make you jealous!" She was tearing up, despite her best efforts not to. "I went out with Krum to make you jealous. But you're a bloody moron and you don't notice!"

Ron was quiet for a long time, and still looked as if he was angry at her. He said nothing, and didn't look at Hermione at all. Finally, after a long pause, he said, "Well, you're a bloody moron if you think I don't notice."

Hermione released him and stared. "Then why didn't you say anything?" She asked, actually crying lightly now. "I've had a crush on you for years!"

"You couldn't expect me to say anything with you pining over Vicky did you?" he said, still coldly. "That was a stupid idea, Hermione." The news should have overjoyed Ron but he just felt angry. She had to go for Viktor Krum.. the good quidditch player.. everyone noticed him.. Viktor Krum! "Bloody hell, Hermione, why would you think I'd say anything if you were with.. him?!" he suddenly shouted, staring at Hermione, stressing the "him". "I would have looked like a dolt and you know it!"

She looked at the exciting couch pattern. "Yeah, it was pretty stupid, wasn't it? Although we can't forget Lavender Brown!" She hissed. "Won-Won!"

"At least Lavender could pronounce my name, 'Herm-own-ninny'!" he said stubbornly, glaring at her. She had looked pretty the night of the ball, though.. and she seemed happy with Krum. Not like Padma with Ron. They didn't even dance. He now wondered if Hermione would have even noticed, anyhow, since she was probably off snogging Krum. "..did you snog him?" he asked quietly, staring at the wall again.

"Did you snog Lavender?" She asked, crossing her arms. Ron was so incredibly stubborn! They were equally guilty, so why couldn't they just let those past relationships go? "Ron, do we really have to do this?"

"Well, at least when I snogged her I was thinking of how I bet you'd be a better snog hands down!" he growled. Maybe one day it would have been a sweet compliment, and then she'd hug him and say it was sooo sweet or whatever the hell she would have done if she hadn't broken the news like.. this, but today he just used it as his defense. It was truth, anyway. So she'd just have to see what she could say to that.

Hermione was a little shocked by that statement. "Well, then, why don't you let me prove it?" She asked, turning red at the very thought of snogging him.

Ron suddenly turned very pink in the face. "W-well, it's been.. what you wanted, isn't it?" he asked nervously. It wasn't as if he had kissed someone before. He had kissed Lavender tons of times. But.. Hermione was.. different. She was someone he had wanted to snog for years.. and apparently he was someone she had wanted to snog for years. He suddenly wondered about the unattractive contrast of the pink of his face and the orange of his hair.. he was sure it looked horrible. Maybe Hermione would take one look at him and run away.. and the next time they saw eachother she would think of his horrible face and - he interrupted the thought. That wasn't.. that wasn't something he wanted to think about.

Hermione coughed. "Well yes, but you ruined the moment by mentioning past loves, Won-Won." She smirked at him. "Although I suppose I could try anyway..."

He wasn't quite sure if he wanted her to try or not as his heart was giving painful twinges every time it beat and it was beating faster than ever. He had an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach that made him feel pleasant and sick at the same time.. he.. "I think you should try."

She smiled, and jumped up to kiss him. The Room of Requirement saw an opportunity, and romantic music began to play as a window appeared to show the sunset. She released him and laughed. "I think the Room approves of this relationship! Although this music...it's awful!"

He grinned. "You can find a way to change the music later, the moment's already been ruined once.." He didn't feel nearly as cocky as he sounded, though. Why were his breaths so shaky? What if he had bad breath? What if he was a bad snog? Well.. Lavender wouldn't have snogged him if he was.. but she wasn't so great either, he thought disapprovingly.

She raised an eyebrow, feeling pretty nervous herself. She cleared her throat, trying to sound confident. "True...I'll have to think of a nickname for you that's worse than 'Won-Won'. As revenge, of course."

"Do you really want to be called 'Hermy'?" he asked, a wobbly smirk appearing on his face. "O-or maybe.. 'Herm-Herm'? Hm, no, sounds like some kind of jinx.."

Hermione half-expected something to explode, but nothing happened. "All right, we can go without nicknames. I was going to try Ronny-poo, for the record." She said casually. "So does this mean we're going to be...um...well, you know..." She bit her lip nervously.

"What?" he asked. "Oh. You mean.. um.." He couldn't really bring himself to complete the sentence. It seemed all too embarrassing.. and anyhow, what if.. what if what she was thinking of was completely different than what he thought? Maybe she meant does this mean they were working on the next school project together.. maybe she meant something else.

"Dating." She finished slowly. "Going out. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Not just friends. Not...making each other jealous by going out with people who don't know our names."

"Oh. Right." His fingers tapped against eachother nervously. "U-um, I dunno.. it depends if you'd rather be snogging Draco and me snogging Lavender.. I'm sure I can try to get her back.. and anyways I'm sure Fred and George's love potions still work.."

That struck her hard. Lavender...the girl she was joking about..."Lavender died." She said quietly. "Millicent killed her. I saw it."

"Sh-she's dead?" he asked, his voice wobbling. He felt a rush of pain. They hadn't ended up on good terms.. he could have at least told her they wouldn't work out.. instead of avoiding her.. "She's dead?" he asked again.

Hermione sat down on the couch again. "Yes." She whispered, looking at her lap. She had seen it, but she couldn't stop it...and here she was, joking and making fun..."I am so sorry, Ron. I...I..." She scrunched her eyebrows together. "I killed Millicent Bulstrode...Lavender's murderer. I didn't mean to, the sword of Gryffindor was in my hands and she just..." She felt lifeless as she remembered. "She ran into it."

"Good. I'm glad you killed her," Ron said faintly. "She's a horrible git for killing Lavender." Ron regretted not calling Lavender "Lav-Lav" now.. regretted using her.. Ron realized it was him that was the horrible git. If he had just led Lavender on until she died.. maybe.. maybe.. wait, this was the past, wasn't it? Lavender wasn't dead.. not right now. He didn't need to mourn. Maybe.. maybe, he hoped, they could change the future. She wouldn't be dead..

"I know what you're thinking." Hermione said, because she had thought the same thing. "We have to save the future...that won't be the way it ends. We won't let it happen like that. That's why I told Remus the truth."

Ron felt utterly and completely sad, but a dry sadness, for he knew even if he tried no tears would come. He felt dead inside.. he wondered how Lavender felt before she died. "Are you sure?" he asked, his voice uncharacteristically unsteady.

"Yes." She replied. "I'm absolutely positive. We're in the past for a reason, Ron...and that is to save those people. We're going to make a difference." Hermione smiled, trying to distract him. "One difference...might be that Ron and Hermione start dating?"

He grinned at her. "Maybe.. if Hermy promises not to leave Ronny-poo sad and snog-deprived?" he asked, smirking. Hopefully.. hopefully he didn't sound like Malfoy when he asked her out.. if he had only been awake he would have.. he would have.. he didn't know what he would have, actually. He just knew it would have been horribly bad.

"Hermy can manage that." She said, and kissed him again--quickly. "But Ronny-poo needs to meet Remmy-weemy. And so does Harry-warry." Hermione paused. "I need to stop doing that." She laughed.

He beamed at her, but did mention "Yeah, you do. When you get back you can give Crookshanks a pet name but I don't think Harry'd be fond of the idea of Harry-warry."

Hermione laughed again. "Speaking of pets, have you met Scabbers yet?" She asked. "Or any of the Marauders, for that matter?"

"Not yet, but I don't think I'll mention to him his future name is 'Scabbers'.. unless I really want to torment him.. and yeah, actually. James and Sirius came up to me when I just got to the common room." He still felt utterly awkward thinking of Sirius.. not.. dead. It was.. strange.

"Weird, isn't it? They suspect us, you know. Most people do...Dumbledore's excuse was hardly the best. Remus has already covered for us...more than once. He's preventing the Marauders from figuring out the truth. It was pretty brilliant to pick him as our confidante." She admitted, proud of herself.

Ron nodded. "What's the excuse, anyway? No one bothered to fill me in.." he said, irritated. Obviously everyone else had been filled in. "Has Harry met his father yet? They are kind of.. y'know. They look a lot alike."

"I think so. I'm pretty sure Remus made up some crazy excuse...but if James is anything like Harry, he won't buy it." Lily certainly was like her son. "We're refugees from a plague-filled village." She said, trying not to laugh. "Dumbledore made it up."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "A plague-filled village?" he repeated. "If you say so.. leave it to Dumbledore to come up with an excuse like that." Speaking of Harry, he hadn't seen him lately.. "Seen Harry lately?"

"Not too recently...I, erm, told him about Remus awhile ago." Hermione replied nervously. "He didn't take it very well..."

"What'd he say?" It always seemed to be the case either Harry didn't like what they were doing or they thought Harry was crazy.. like when he suspected Draco was up to something - well.. he was. But.. still.. Harry was his best friend.. if Harry didn't agree.. what was Ron supposed to do?

"He thought we should get to know them before taking any actions. Doesn't really make a difference, though, because I told Remus around Christmas." Hermione said curtly.

"D'you blame him, though? He has to suspect everyone.. but I dunno if anyone in this time really knows or cares that he's 'The Chosen One'," Ron replied, biting his lip. "But I dunno what goes on in his mind so I'm not going to say I do."

"No, I don't blame him." She said quietly. "But it had to be done...speaking of which, we probably should tell Harry about our relationship. I hope it doesn't bother him." Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Plus, I have to tell Pansy Parkinson that clothes do not make a woman."

"Guess it did.. well, he snogged Ginny and all so.." he said, scowled. "Why would you talk to that git Parkinson? She's one of Malfoy's cronies.. she probably worships him."

"She does. I was a little desperate for a female friend, all right?" She asked, annoyed at his criticism. "Plus, I wanted to give her a chance. Lousy git laughed at me, though. Told her off." She was steaming at the memory.

"There are plenty of nicer girls from.. the 'village'," he said. "She does, huh?" He narrowed his eyes. "Why'd he have to send Pansy back anyway? I'd have preferred Ginny to her.. even though she is bloody annoying sometimes.." Like the time she yelled at me for not have snogging anyone, he thought, scowling.

She smiled. "Yes, I know. Lily's a sweetheart, too. Parvati..." Hermione looked around. "Something's off about her. But they're nice dorm--" She paused. "Ron, you know that you'll be sleeping in a dorm room with Harry, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter?"

"What's wrong with Parvati?" he asked. She was awfully nice to him.. especially about welcoming him back. "Yeah, why?" he asked.. he had figured just as much.

"Just...be careful. You can take that opportunity to talk to Remus, actually." She said with a slight smile. "As long as no one else is around! Except Harry. As for Parvati...I don't know what it is, but she seems...weaker than usual. And something else...something's just off."

"Oh. Alright." He wasn't sure what he'd say.. 'HI! I'm from the future!'? "I'll make sure to talk to her later.." Hopefully, she was alright.

"Just say that you know that he knows, and you wanted to introduce yourself." Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Do you know what a Legens is, Ron?"

"Ah, okay.." He didn't know how that'd go but he figured he'd have to do it someday. "Of course I know what a legend is. It's a.. a.. myth."

"No, a Legens." Hermione said with a sigh. "This magical journal...you can use it to communicate with anyone. Dumbledore gave you one. It's in your pocket." She said, pointing to the book.

"A Legens?" he repeated. "Oh.. huh. So it's like a fellytone?"

"Telephone." She corrected, wondering if all purebloods were this dense about Muggles. Which reminded her...she owed Draco some Muggle lessons. Ron was not going to be happy about that. "And no. You speak through a telephone, you write through a Legens. Did your day tell you about the 'fellytone'?" She asked knowingly.

"Telephone," he repeated. "Telephone." He smirked. "How d'you know so much about muggles anyway? Oh. Right." Telephone. Telephone. Telephone. "So it's not like a fel-a telephone.. so it's like a journal people write back to?" He paused, remembering talking through the telephone to Harry's Uncle Vernon.. "How does a telephone work anyway..?"

"Well..." Where to start? "There are these--I'll tell you later. Point is, you can use the Legens to communicate with anyone. You can even make entries private so that only certain people can answer."

"Wow! That's bloody brilliant! So how do you get the replies?" he asked curiously, leaning forward, eyes wide. "And how does the Legens know if it's private?"

She shook her head. "It's difficult to explain. Look." She wrote something in her own Legens (kept in her robes of course). A minute later, the words faded onto the first page in Ron's book. "Marvelous, aren't they? They'll be banned soon because of the Death Eaters."

"Wow!" Ron said, staring at the words. "That's brilliant," he said again. "That's amazing. That's - that's - fantastic!" When he heard they would be banned his face fell. "Banned? But they're so - so.. fantastic.."

Hermione smiled at his reaction. He was so childish sometimes...but it was kind of (dare she say it?) cute. "We can try to change that too."

"Really?" he asked, his eyes lighting up. "Mum could stop worrying all the time!" And everyone could talk normally.. he could talk to Harry over the summer by something other than owl post or the telephone! No more Dursleys to yell at him.. it was perfect!

"Your mother won't stop worrying." Hermione assured him with a smile. "Now the question is, how do we go about telling everyone about the newest couple on the block?" She was still preoccupied with that.

"I guess you're right, Mum's a worry wart, and that clock always seems to point to mortal danger now." He grinned. "Well, someone's eager, huh?" To be honest, Ron was eager.. if Malfoy really had asked Hermione out.. Weasley Is Our King wouldn't matter anymore!

Of course, Hermione too had an evil reason to announce the relationship--to show that prat Pansy Parkinson that she didn't need any makeup or short skirts to convince Ron--that neither of them was like that. As they discussed Ron's mother, she felt her heart sink. Had...the other Weasleys survived? She turned to look at him, wondering if he knew. But she couldn't ask, of course..."You didn't answer my question." She said with a distracted smile.

Well, of course, they could always go the "Won-Won and Lav-Lav" way, by snogging in public.. but that really didn't seem Hermione's style. "You're smarter than me, why don't you think something up?"

Hermione couldn't deny that. She laughed slightly. "Ron, I'm not the best with relationships. Maybe...we'll just see if they can figure it out on their own." She said. "I bet Harry will notice almost immediately. I could also just write a Legens, asking girls for advice. It'll spread all over the school within hours."

Ron highly doubted Harry would notice anything.. he hadn't even seen his friend for a long while.. he'd lost track of the days. He missed his bud, his pal. "You want to tell that git Parkinson, don't you? Just write a Legens to her."

"Well..." Although that was true, she didn't want to admit it. "Let's just not worry about it. People will notice--couples don't normally announce these things." Hermione said thoughtfully. Did they? She hadn't really dated anyone since...well..."Especially with Valentine's Day coming up...they'll notice. We probably should tell Harry ourselves, though. Have you spoken to him yet?"

All girls really did talk about was "couples", wasn't it? Ron resisted letting his mind wander off to jinxing Malfoy the next time he sung that stupid song. "Um.. ah.." he said, trying to remember what she said. "No, not yet. I reckon I will soon though." Considering they shared a dorm.. he wondered what Lupin looked like as a teen.. his mind began wandering back to jinxing.

Ron looked pretty distracted, and she couldn't even begin to guess what he was thinking about. So naturally, she changed the subject. "But yes, Professor Lupin--Remus--agreed to help us save the future. But only a few of us know that he knows."

"Harry, Draco, you, me?" he mumbled. "I figured that.." Malfoy was crying. A wicked grin appeared on his face but he attempted to snap back. "U-um.. just a few?"

"You, Harry, Draco, and I know." Hermione repeated, using the polite order...almost correcting Ron's grammar. "So you can't tell anyone else. I don't know how the others will react--that's why I didn't tell you with Parvati and Nott around in the infirm--Ron, are you listening?" He was clearly distracted again.

"Sure," he mumbled. "I mean.. I'm listening.." He gave a sheepish grin and attempted to pay attention. "Parvati'd be fine with it, but Nott.. I dunno about him." Nott was a Slytherin.. or.. used to be. He didn't really think Nott would like any of their ideas, no matter how good, though.

"I've been trying to give everyone a second chance, but Theodore Nott doesn't even try." She said with a sour expression. "Even Draco managed to be polite, but Nott just...made fun of us." Hermione was still a little annoyed by his comments.

If Draco was polite, Nott was.. gruesome. "I figured just as much from him, wasn't so polite in the hospital wing, was 'e?" Ron asked, blending the last two words to make "wuzzee". Well, he hadn't. At the time Ron had thought it was just due to him not getting a major welcome, but it just seemed as if that was who Theodore was.

"We never talked in the past...the future...the...back home, so I can't say for sure, but he seems like a royal git to me." She muttered coldly.

"Well, he was in Slytherin, wasn't he? Aren't they all royal gits?" Ron replied, scowling. It sure seemed to him they were all royal gits.. well, they certainly considered themselves superior to lowly Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors.

Hermione laughed. "You have a point, Ron...but we should try to get along with them here. We need all the help we can get--and if they aren't helping us, they'll be working with someone else."

"Big loss, because we all want rotten Nott on our team," he said icily. "You try to get along with them, I'll just stay away from them." Not seeing Slytherins seemed honestly too good to be true, though.

Ron didn't seem too thrilled about including the Slytherins, and she could hardly blame him. "We will see how it goes, I suppose. Maybe they'll change their colors."

Ron highly doubted that. "Yeah. Maybe," he said, rolling his eyes. "Or maybe they'll just hide their true colours and be double agents.. like Snape."

She wasn't so sure about Snape yet, and decided not to respond to that. "Well, it's about dinner time. Perhaps we should head down?"

Ron's stomach was grumbling.. and he could use some food. Not to mention getting his mind off of that backstabber Snape.. "Yeah. Um, if you find out they do change their colours.. use the Legens!" he said cheerfully. He was dying to try it out. He hoisted himself off the couch. "Bye, Hermione!"

"Ron, you idiot--I'm coming with you." She rolled her eyes and ran after him, out the door. The Room of Requirement vanished behind them.