When the end of October rolled around, Harry and Hermione had been spending most of their evenings in the Room of Requirement, which Hermione confirmed by their location on the map when they left, sneaking to the fifth floor after everyone had gone. Hermione frequently complained about how useful this room would’ve been when she had the time turner, because it would have been great for doing homework. Harry did feel bad because he still hadn’t told Ron about the room at all. He knew he’d have to, and he’d been meaning to, the right opportunity had just never come up. He’d wanted to wait for a time when no one was around, which was rare, and he couldn’t just blurt it out, so he was waiting for relevant conversation, which was nearly impossible. He could just see it now - “yeah, Hermione and I have been spending our nights in a secret room that I haven’t told you about because it’s great to be alone”.
But it felt weird to be there without him. For years, it had always been the three of them - the trio . And as much as he loved spending alone time with Hermione, this felt like a weird sort of betrayal to be here without him. Not that he’d have a good time just spending his nights studying, but he had to be careful about this sort of thing. Ron had joked about being their third wheel over the summer, and Harry had promised him he didn’t have to worry about it. With Hermione’s head resting on his shoulder from where she’d fallen asleep in the middle of studying, though, it was beginning to feel like Ron had a point.
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