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Technical Problem With This Chapter?
Author: Shina Laris
Story: Unspoken Feelings
Part: Unspoken Feelings
Rating: Young Teens
Setting: Pre-HBP
Status: Completed
Reviews: 14
Words: 9,413
Updated: December 2, 2004, 10:14pm
Unspoken Feelings
Author's Note: Many thanks to Ada Kensington, my awesome beta-reader, without whose wonderful suggestion there wouldn't be this story in the first place, my CM beta-reader, and my new PS beta, Cera, whose wonderful way with grammar has helped me a lot with this story and whose comments never fail to put a grin on my face. I owe all of you a lot for all your helps.
Unspoken Feelings
by Shina Laris
The bell rang loudly, announcing the end of the last class in the day. Noises began to rise in the normally silent Transfiguration classroom as the seventh years hurriedly stuffed their books, parchments, and quills into their bags. Apparently, none of them could wait to begin their last weekend at Hogwarts. Some had even begun to dart out of the classroom in haste when Professor McGonagall interrupted them with a swift reminder. "By the way, please read the last chapter of Advanced Transfiguration and write an essay on the permanent consequences of a flawed self-transformation. It is to be turned in on Tuesday."
Professor McGonagall turned towards her desk with a small smile, gathering her notes and books while promptly ignoring the groans and complaints following the unwelcomed assignment. In fact, the only person who didn't seem to have anything to mumble under her breath about was Hermione. She had evidently expected it. Ron, however, hadn't.
Completely disgruntled, Ron shoved his Advanced Transfiguration copy into his bag before scurrying out of the classroom, not bothering to wait for his two best friends. Now he had another essay from McGonagall to add to Snape's and Sprout's homework, and it was the week before school ended! Without a doubt, he was not very happy.
It was a minute before Harry and Hermione caught up with him as he rounded the corner to the first floor staircase.
"Would you believe them?" Ron asked his friend in a disgusted voice as Harry slowed down and tried to catch his breath. "Three essays! I mean, it's the final week of school!"
When Harry finally got his breath back, he nodded in affirmation to Ron's question. Hermione, however, was scoffing at them.
Ron glared at her. "What?"
"I can't believe you two haven't expected this," said Hermione impatiently, climbing the staircase and trying to keep up with Ron's long strides. "None of the professors have let us off the last week of the school year before. I'd imagine you would've learned that by now."
"But this is our last year, Hermione!" objected Ron, staring at Hermione as though she were mad—which, he reckoned, she probably was.
"That doesn't change anything, does it?" asked Hermione briskly, pursing her lips in a manner reminiscent of Professor McGonagall. "There's still another week left before the school year ends."
Ron stopped gawking at Hermione long enough to exchange an incredulous look with Harry, who obviously shared his opinions on the matter. Nobody would classify giving students stacks of homework the week before school ended as normal. But then, Hermione wasn't normal, either. She was in a special group of her own.
And that's what makes her Hermione, Ron thought, slowing down a little as he noticed that Hermione was slightly out of breath in trying to keep up with him. He gave Harry a final shrug in Hermione's direction, indicating that she was definitely crazy—to which Harry agreed heartily—before lapsing into silence for the rest of the way back to the Gryffindor common room.
Long stretches of awkward silence existed amongst them a lot lately, despite all the reasons that should have led to happiness. The war with Voldemort was finally over, and the right side had won—something that was quite evident from the beginning. Light always triumphs over darkness. Why the Death Eaters couldn't see that was beyond Ron. But they would have the rest of their lives to ponder about that in Azkaban, a place where they deserved to be, considering all that they had done.
Ron couldn't have cared less about the fates of the Death Eaters. They could rot in Azkaban for all he cared—actually, he would rather like it if they did rot in there. He had no trouble remembering how they had kidnapped Hermione as bait to lure Harry out of the safety line of Hogwarts… and of Dumbledore. Anger flared hotly inside him as the image of a stunned Hermione stumbled onto the earth, with pain evident on every line of her face, flickered in his mind. They all deserved to die for that alone.
Perhaps the most miraculous thing was they all got out of it alive, even when, in numerous times, they had given up hope of ever seeing each other again—at least not in this life. That alone should have been enough for celebration. Plus, they were finally done with their N.E.W.T.s, the one thing that Hermione had looked forward to this entire year (and the one thing that would never fail to nauseate Ron and Harry every time it was mentioned!). Given how Hermione had driven them to study for the tests days and nights, even in the midst of warfare, it was perfectly understandable that neither of the boys wished to hear the word 'N.E.W.T.s' again for the rest of their existences.
When they reached Gryffindor Tower, Ron stepped up to the Fat Lady and muttered the password (Forget-me-not). The portrait swung open and the three of them climbed in as the Fat Lady called after them, "I won't, dears!"
Being the last to get in, Harry closed the portrait behind him, grimacing slightly.
"She's off her rocker, that one," Ron declared, throwing his bag down on the far side of the couch and slumping down next to it.
"Yeah," Harry said wearily, nodding as he sat down next to Ron.
"But she does have a point," Hermione observed, pointedly, choosing the armchair opposite of them and opening her bag. "It is our final year here, you know."
Ron snorted. "Oh, is it now?"
Hermione paused midway in taking her Herbology book out of her bag and glanced at him, eyes filled with annoyance. "My point is," she said loftily, "she's just trying to remind us that even when we've finished with our school years, we shouldn't forget our time here. Neither should we forget all the friends that we've made here despite… despite the fact that we wouldn't be able to see each other everyday anymore." Her tone had softened considerably as she finished her sentence. She stared down at her opened book, not looking at either of them.
There was an eerie moment of silence in spite of the constant, raucous buzzing of conversation in the Gryffindor common room before Harry broke it. "We'll never forget, Hermione," he said quietly.
Hermione looked up at him, the corners of her lips tilting up a little before she shifted her gaze to Ron, who was staring at her rather intently. Quickly, Ron diverted his eyes, feeling himself getting a bit warm, especially at the ears.
He could sense Hermione's anticipative gaze on him, and he knew she was expecting him to say something… anything. But Ron couldn't say it. Words had simply failed him. His mind was still trying to fully grasp the idea of not seeing his best friends, whom he had spent the best part of the last seven years with, frequently from now on.
Sure, the fact that there was another world besides that of Hogwarts didn't escape him, but stepping away from Hogwarts and into it seemed so far away to Ron. He had always known that it would happen 'someday,' but that 'someday' was always a part of a hazy future, existing in an entirely different universe that had no tie to the old castle he had learned to call home for the large part of his relatively short life.
Now, it was merely a week away. After this week, his life would enter a whole new phase—a phase he wasn't at all sure he was ready to enter.
He was excited about his training to be an Auror, that much he wouldn't deny. But his excitement was reduced to almost nothing in comparison to his unwillingness to be separated from his friends. They wouldn't get to see each other everyday anymore, due to their different careers; even if they could Apparate to see each other daily, it just wouldn't be the same…
"Ron?" Hermione's voice asked uncertainly, sounding as though she couldn't make anything out of Ron's silence.
Ron snapped out of his reverie at Hermione's worried tone and glanced over to meet her questioning eyes. What his gaze held, he didn't know, but a crease on Hermione's forehead appeared and her eyebrows crinkled together slightly upon meeting it.
"Are you all right, Ron?" she asked, slightly concerned.
Ron's eyebrow quirked up. "'Course I'm all right. Why shouldn't I be?"
"Well—you looked a bit…" she hesitated, still staring at him anxiously. After a few seconds, during which Ron looked at Hermione reassuringly and tried to convince her that he was absolutely fine, Hermione shook her head. "Never mind," she said with a small smile. "Anyway, how do you think we're going to see each other after Hogwarts?" Despite her optimistic demeanour, her voice held a note of sadness that even Ron couldn't miss.
He shrugged, unwilling to show that he was also unhappy at the prospect of leaving Hogwarts. "Dunno," he answered casually. "I reckon we can always Apparate to each other's flat, can't we?"
"Yeah," said Hermione, but she didn't look any more cheerful. "So—er—are you two going to share the same flat?"
The two boys exchanged a thoughtful glance. "Maybe." It was Harry who answered. "But that depends on whether we both get the N.E.W.T.s we need to become Aurors or not."
Hermione could change from being sad to sarcastic in fractions of second, which she did now. Giving them both haughty glares, Hermione said, "Well, if you had listened to me to begin with, and started studying at the beginning of the year, you wouldn't be worrying about your marks right now! But no, you've got to shirk your responsibilities until last minute possible—"
"Hermione," Ron interrupted pointedly, leaning back into the couch. "We're talking about flats, not N.E.W.T. marks." It must have been the hundredth time that Hermione admonished them for cramming in the week before the N.E.W.T. exams, and Ron was tired of it. There needed to be a set number of times for everything.
After a last glare, mostly at him rather than at Harry, Hermione appeared to have decided not to change the subject away from their living arrangements. "I wish I could share the same flat with you two," she said.
"You could, you know," was Ron's answer. The fact that the three of them could still stay together after Hogwarts by sharing a flat had never occurred to him before for some bizarre reason. It was a brilliant idea too, except, of course, Hermione had already found a problem with it, just as she would find a problem with everything he had ever suggested.
"I was joking, Ron. My mum would kill me if I share a flat alone with two boys, even if you two are my best friends. Besides, my parents have already rented me a flat and paid a year for it as my graduation gift. I couldn't pass it up."
"Yeah," Ron muttered, trying to keep the disappointment in his voice to the minimal. If there was one thing Ron hated, it was having his bubbles burst.
As much as Ron tried to hide it, Harry heard the disappointment nonetheless, and sent a sympathetic look his way, which, from the look of it, had multiple layers. Ron could only guess what one of them might be. Quickly, Harry spoke up to soothe the growing, uncomfortable silence between them.
"I think maybe we should do our homework or something…" he suggested, earning a particularly dirty look from Ron.
Couldn't he have chosen a subject that doesn't involve work? Ron thought disgustedly. There're only a million subjects out there fitting such description.
Pointedly ignoring Ron's glare, Harry turned towards Hermione, awaiting her answer, which Ron could guess in his sleep. Typically, Hermione smiled at Harry and replied, "Good idea, Harry! We really should do it right now, so we won't have so much homework for the rest of the weekend."
"Well done, Harry," Ron muttered under his breath.
"Either that or 'the subject,' Ron," whispered Harry, grinning. It took Ron a second to fully understand what 'the subject' meant, and when he did, he could feel his face begin to heat up again.
"Shut up, Harry!" Ron hissed, throwing a furious glance in Hermione's direction. That won him another significant grin from Harry, to which he responded with a frustrated growl.
Hermione looked up from her parchment, which was already filled with half a foot of tiny handwriting, and frowned at them irritably. "Well?" she demanded. "Aren't you two supposed to be doing your essays?"
After giving Harry a last huffy glance, Ron reached down, opened his bag, and hauled out his Transfiguration book and quills. It was all Harry's fault.
"Half a teaspoon of moonstone powder… two minutes… swirl in counter clockwise direction…" Ron muttered as he flipped quickly through yellow pages of the old, tattered copy of Encyclopaedia of Lesser Known Potions. It had been nearly two hours of frustration, and he was still barely two inches into his Potions essay. If it were Hermione, the essay would have been long since finished with at least an extra six inches for Snape to grade. But now, it was him, Ron, sitting in the common room and unsuccessfully trying to research a very little known potion in a book with more than two thousand pages, so the essay would likely to remain unfinished until midnight. However, it wasn't his fault that he had not the faintest idea in the area of researching—that was Hermione's field!
Something she's definitely good at, he thought, with a fond smile.
True. Through all the dangerous things they'd done, researching and knowledge were always things that Hermione did best. That was not to say that was all Hermione excelled in. No, she was good at so many things that it'd take hours for him to list them all. But those were amongst the first few virtues that would jump into the minds of those who knew Hermione.
The noun? 'Know-it-all' would express all that needed to be said (when it was put in a nice and sincere way, of course). It was the noun that Ron had called her every so often; most of the time, it was spoken out of frustration, but the undertone was something completely different. Fondness and pride were just the beginning of the list almost as long as Hermione's accomplishments. However, frustration was perhaps the only emotion Hermione noticed when he uttered the name, for he had done his best to suppress all the others.
As one of Hermione's best friends, Ron knew well enough that although Hermione sometimes prided herself in being a know-it-all, it wasn't necessarily the nickname she wanted others to think about when her name was mentioned. That was very well; she was proud of them, but she also desperately wanted to prove that she was more than just brains. He knew all this, but it would be a long time before he even thought of telling Hermione such a thing.
"—No way! He's too much of a blockhead to even realise it yet, let alone do anything about it."
"He must have known it to some extent. And plus, it isn't as if he has a lot of time left to do it. He has to do it sometime this week."
Frustrated, part with himself, part with the instigators of the argument occurring nearby, Ron glanced up at them with half the mind to use his prefect privilege and impose upon them to 'shut it!' in order for him to concentrate on his essay, when he found out that 'they' were Dean and Seamus. Had they been anyone else, he'd tell them to shut up right then and there, but with those two, a simple 'shut up' would not do the least bit damage. They'd simply wave it away with a few laughs and continue on. They had never taken him seriously, like they had Hermione.
If Hermione were here, she would, without hesitation, make them write lines of the rest of their lives. However, Ron just wasn't in the practice of making his friends write lines, even if they did disrupt the common room's atmosphere. But he couldn't deny the fact that he was really tempted to at the moment.
Especially when the bickering continued and began to branch off in a direction he didn't like at all.
"—I think she'd be the one to do it," Seamus said, looking very convinced of his opinion. "Lavender says she's becoming a bit impatient, but I don't think they're gonna get together anytime soon."
Dean waved away his friend's argument. "Nah, they're gonna get together soon, all right. It's been four years! Even they would've had it across to their heads by now."
"Uh, it's those two we're talking about? But even if they did get it across, which I doubt, it would still be a long time before either of them does anything about it. If they ever got over being in denial, they'd still be too cowardly to dare to make the first move."
"Just what are you two arguing about?" Ron snapped, at the end of his tether, inadvertently slamming the thick volume shut before remembering what page he was on. He'd have to start all over again.
Dean and Seamus, however, did not seem to have noticed. Instead, they paused slightly in their argument and exchanged a significant look before Dean spoke up.
"We're discussing when you and Hermione are going to get together," he explained calmly.
"You what?"
"Well, isn't obvious that's what we're discussing?"
That was completely beside the point but Ron was too dumfounded to care. "Me and Hermione getting together? Are you two insane?"
"Yeah," agreed Seamus, walking over and slapping Ron on the shoulder. "That's what I told him. But does he listen? Of course not!"
"Just what are you agreeing with, Seamus?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning. "That Ron and Hermione are getting together? Or that we're insane? If it's the former, then I'm the right one. If it's the latter, then please leave me out of it. If you want to be insane, then be my guest. But I'd rather be sane, thank you very much."
There was essentially nothing Seamus could have replied to that, but still he opened his mouth to retort, presumably with something of sardonic content. However, it was never spoken, for he never got the chance to do so.
"Wait a minute!" Ron cut in before Seamus could utter a word. "What do you mean you're right?" he demanded of Dean. "Me and Hermione getting together? That's completely rubbish!"
"Oh, don't even bother to deny it, Ron," Dean said, half sniggering at the look on Ron's face. "It's obvious you're crazy about Hermione."
"No, I'm not!"
"You're not what?" asked a familiar voice from the portrait hole direction. Ron glanced over to the speaker, and realised with sudden dread and acute embarrassment that it was Hermione. He got to his feet so fast that he was sure he couldn't have been quicker had a Death Eater directed sneak attacks at him. Had she heard? He couldn't be sure from the way she looked at him, but she would know shortly anyway from the way Dean and Seamus were acting.
"N-nothing," Ron stammered out. Hermione's face acquired a puzzled look when she strolled towards him, one arm hauling the well-used bag over her shoulder and the other clutching the newly checked out books close to her chest. Quickly, Ron did two Silencing Charms over his shoulders at the two sniggering boys. The sniggers vanished instantly.
"What's with them?" Hermione questioned, eyeing Dean and Seamus with amused puzzlement. Seamus was guffawing without letting out a sound while Dean was trying to say something between fits of sniggers, which were all in silence.
"Did you perform Silencing Charms on them?"
"Well… yeah."
"And why would you do that?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously, clearly intrigued.
Ron felt a bit more uncomfortable—as if he weren't uncomfortable enough already. "They… they were disrupting the common room," he said lamely.
"Oh?" Hermione glanced back at the two boys who were gesturing mutely with their hands signs that all pointed to him lying.
"Sod off," Ron hissed at them out of the corner of his mouth, although Hermione was sure to have heard it. After a few seconds of complete torture for Ron, they left, arms still making gestures and Ron would have given anything just to get in front of Hermione's vision line to prevent her from seeing them right then.
It was not ten seconds after Dean and Seamus left that Harry climbed into the common room and walked towards them. He looked from one of them to the other before asking, "Er—what is it?"
Ron shrugged, not keen upon filling Harry in on what he had missed. Harry would just react in the same way the other two had.
But Hermione, not understanding anything, said, "It's Seamus and Dean. They were acting really weird… as if they were trying to say something."
"Why didn't they just say it then?"
"Ron put Silencing Charms on them," she answered, jerking her head in his direction and still wearing that same amused expression on her face. "From what I've gathered, they obviously knew something Ron isn't keen on letting everybody know."
It only took Harry a second to realise just what Ron was trying his best to keep quiet. However, if Dean and Seamus were already on it, it wouldn't be long before the whole school knew about it.
"Oh really, Ron?" Harry asked with a knowing smile as he sat on the couch.
Ron groaned and flopped down beside Harry, burying his face in his hands, muttering, "Not you too, Harry."
Harry simply laughed.
"Am I the only one who doesn't know what this secret is about?" Hermione demanded when Harry had stopped laughing his head off and had now leaned back to still his quickened breathing.
He pretended to screw up his eyes as if he were trying hard to think. "Yeah, just about so."
Hermione turned abruptly towards Ron, indignation and hurt in her eyes. "Why I am being kept out of this? Am I not your best friend, too?"
"Of course you are!" said Ron hastily, throwing an angry look in Harry's way. "It's just that—it's something I can't tell you… yet."
"Yet?" Hermione queried irritably. "And just what do you mean by 'yet'?" Her voice was getting louder as she spoke. "Everybody else knows about it!"
"But I didn't tell them!" protested Ron. "I swear I've never told anybody about it. I—I don't know how they all figured it out."
Hermione scoffed. "That's a highly unlikely story. How can everybody know about it if you never told them?"
"I didn't make that up. It's the truth! And besides, not everybody knows about it. Only Harry, Dean, and Seamus do."
"There're definitely more than that," muttered Harry from the sideline of the fight that was raging on.
"Shut up, Harry!" Ron hissed at his best friend, beginning to feel panicked. He would not, must not, let her know a thing about it…
"Oh, so now you're lying, too?" Hermione demanded, giving him a pained glare.
"I don't—"
"It's because I'm a girl, isn't it?" she asked bitterly. "If I were a boy, both of you wouldn't have kept me out of it, isn't that right?"
I wouldn't even have this problem if you were a boy, thought Ron. However, he explained hurriedly, "No, it's not!" Trying to make her see the point without spilling out his entire secret wasn't easy. "It's not because you're a girl. Well, it is… partly. B-but it's not what you think it is. It's not because you're a girl, but b-because you're a…" he struggled for the right word, "…a special girl." He couldn't believe he had just said that. What could have been more obvious?
In spite of the obviousness of it all, it didn't seem as if Hermione had picked up on his strange word choice, at least not in the context he intended for it to hold. "Don't bother explaining, Ron," said Hermione coldly, as she hauled her bag over her shoulders before standing up. "I know just what kind of special girl I am. You don't need to remind me." With that, she hurried towards the girls' dormitories without waiting for him to answer.
"Wait!" Ron called after her retreating back. Just what did she mean? "Listen to me, Hermione! I didn't mean—" He never got the chance to finish his sentence, however, as Hermione had hurried out of sight.
Feeling extremely confused, he turned towards Harry, his face begging for an explanation. "What was she talking about?"
"Er—I'm not sure," Harry said slowly, "but I think she took in the word 'special' as a negative form of know-it-all."
"B-but, I didn't mean it that way!"
"I know you didn't mean it that way, but Hermione certainly doesn't." A moment of silence elapsed before Harry continued, "Sorry, Ron. I shouldn't have teased you. It wouldn't have turned out this way if it weren't for me."
Normally, Ron wouldn't have let Harry off the hook, but upon hearing his best friend's apology, he felt he didn't have the energy and the heart to say anything sarcastic back. "That's all right, Harry," he said, miserably. "It would've happened anyway. You know we'd manage to get into a fight even without your help. It's not really your fault."
"I was only trying to help."
Ron gave him a half-hearted grin. "Then all you need to do is stop trying to help me with this from now on."
To his surprise, Harry's answer was, "Maybe that'd be a good idea. But I just want to give you some last advice. You really should ask her out sometime soon, or at least tell her how you feel. It's nearly the end of school, Ron. You probably won't get as many chances to tell her your feelings after next week. Know what I mean? Don't let her get away."
"But how can I let her get away when I haven't even got her in the first place? And what if she doesn't like me as more than a friend?"
"She does."
Ron's full attention was snapped back into place. "She does? How do you know? Did she tell you that?"
"No. That's what I guess from all the obviousness flying around. I guessed your feelings right, so I have as much of a chance getting her feelings right, too."
"But what if you're wrong? What if she doesn't like me? It would be the end of our friendship if I ask her now."
Harry sighed. "You have to take the chance, Ron. Life isn't full of certainties. At least it's better than liking her and not letting her know."
"B-but, I just can't go up to her and tell her I like her!" Ron protested. He felt embarrassed to be telling Harry all this, but once he had got going, he just couldn't help spilling everything out.
"Oh yes you can," contradicted Harry. "Anybody can. I asked your sister out, didn't I? And did it jeopardise my friendship with her? Well, at first I thought so, but it didn't. It only turned out for the better. Just take the chance, Ron. You don't have many chances left to choose."
Harry's steady and public relationship with his sister was something Ron was still trying to get used to after four months since that Valentine's Day. He didn't oppose of it, of course, as he had constituted in the formation of it. Despite what Hermione had told him of Harry discovering it for himself, Ron still thought he had helped Harry a lot. All those tips about Ginny were bound to have been helpful sometime, granted they were told from a brother's and not a boyfriend's view.
However, he didn't answer Harry's questions, even though they were all true. His doubts were too strong for assurance to override them just then.
To the right, he heard Harry sigh again and joke, "Well, if you can't say it out loud, then write something to her!"
But Ron took it as more than a joke and thought that it was a much better idea than all that he'd heard for nearly a month. "What d'you mean, 'something'? Like a… like a love letter?" he asked, shuddering slightly at the thought. How in the world was he supposed to write something as mushy as that?
Harry seemed to be reading his thoughts, for he agreed readily, "No, definitely not a love letter. I don't think Hermione would go for that." He was lost in thought for a moment, then his face brightened. "How about a poem?"
"A poem?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Yes, a poem!"
"But I can't write—"
"It doesn't matter whether you can write a good poem or not; as long as it's a poem that tells her how you feel, it works."
"You're nuts," Ron declared, staring at Harry with the bemused expression on his face.
Harry shrugged. "Hey, it's your choice! That's all the advice I have."
Ron just shook his head and tried to return to his Potions essay, still thinking that what Harry had suggested was well beyond crazy. However, after a while, the craziness of it all seemed to abate and, for once, he thought it wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.
There was absolute silence, and darkness besieged every occupant of the seventh-year Gryffindor girls' dormitory. The only source of light was from the full moon pouring in through the small window that faced the Forbidden Forest, casting a pale strip of light that wavered across the floor, illuminating anything it came to contact with.
For the past few years, ever since she knew about her former professor's transformation each lunar month, Hermione had always thought about him every time the full moon came out. She felt for him, because nobody (at least nobody sensible) would like to be a werewolf, to have to turn into a wolf every full moon. That obviously wasn't inviting. And it wasn't fair that some had harder lives than others, especially someone as nice as Professor Lupin. However, fate doesn't take each person's personality into consideration when dealing out its judgement.
But tonight was an exceptional night. She had not spared a thought for Lupin the moment she slumped down onto bed, feeling decidedly worse than she had felt in days. And of course, the origin of it was Ron, again. It was always Ron. She would be glad if it were someone else for a change, but no one could rile her up and break her heart at the same time the way Ron could.
Before, it was through his words that he had angered her, but now, she was unhappy because he wasn't telling her something. She could always tell when the two of them were attempting to hide some secrets, especially when they acted as suspiciously as that. Normally, after a little badgering, she would get whatever it was out of them, but this time, it seemed that Ron had truly refused to tell her.
Had he told only Harry, then she would've understood it even though she wouldn't have liked it, as it would mostly be 'guy' stuff that you can only share with your best mate. That wasn't the case this time, however, since both Dean and Seamus also knew about it. That fact proved it wasn't a top secret, and why Ron would keep her out of something like that was beyond her. She had proven herself to be as careful as either of them about keeping secrets, perhaps even more so. From the way Ron had obviously showed his reluctance to tell her… well, it hurt.
It hurt so much more knowing that she had fallen for him. Badly. But not only did he not like her (which was apparent), he distrusted her as well, and the knowledge wasn't comforting. Far from it, actually. It was hard to believe that, after seven years of knowing each other and being best friends, he still kept her out of things that any best friends would've been comfortable sharing with each other.
Nevertheless, if he did not trust her enough to impart with her whatever secret he was holding back, it couldn't be possible that he should have any feelings for her, despite what Ginny might think. Although she was his little sister, Ginny didn't know Ron half as well as Hermione did, for her understanding of him was influenced partly by her view of him as a young boy, when they were still very close. Of course, they were still close now, but Ginny didn't know him the way Harry and Hermione did. Or, on Hermione's part, as well as she thought she did.
Suddenly, she perked up slightly, tilting her head towards the dormitory's door and listening intently for a passing sound to reoccur. The sound was very faint, but she could discern it being a distinct sound of shattering glass. And it had come from the common room. It didn't reoccur, however, and after a few minutes, during which Hermione tiptoed out of her bed and put on her dressing gown, she was out of her dormitory and on the staircases leading down to the common room.
Who could possibly still be awake? It was at least two hours past midnight, and everybody should have been sound asleep. Evidently, somebody wasn't…
Before she descended the last steps of the staircase, Hermione could make out the hazy form adjacent to the fireplace, crouching over the table. As she drew nearer, she was surprised to find that the hazy form turned out to be the one person whom she had no intention of seeing at that moment: Ron Weasley.
She stood in silence for a few seconds, trying to choose between approaching him and quietly going back to her bed. Deciding that the latter would be much more pleasant, Hermione tried to creep upstairs noiselessly, but that wasn't possible in the eerily quiet atmosphere of the common room after midnight.
Ron's head snapped up instantly at a very silent noise she had inadvertently made, and his eyes widened in surprise upon seeing her. "Hermione?"
His reaction suddenly turned into panic, and he hastily shoved a piece of parchment he had on the table into his bag. Surely it wasn't any homework that he was doing. She wondered briefly just what it might be.
"What are you doing here?" Ron demanded, still sounding a bit panicked. His expression was composed— except for the slight frown lingering on his face and the flush rising to his cheeks. "How long have you been here?"
Hermione shrugged as she turned around from her retreat and strolled towards Ron. "It hasn't been long. I was only here because I heard, or thought I heard, glass breaking down here and thought I should see if anybody was here. I certainly wasn't expecting you to still be studying."
At the mention of this, Ron's face seemed to flush deeper. Only then did Hermione notice a big, black blot on the floor, still fresh, that was perhaps the result of whatever had just shattered. Her presumption was proven right by the almost empty ink bottle that looked as if it had just been put together by a careless Reparo.
She shook her head to herself and muttered a spell to wipe out the ink before she sat down gingerly on the couch, unsure of whether she was welcome at this particular moment.
"Er—thanks, Hermione," Ron muttered lamely while putting all the Potions books scattered over the table away.
"You're welcome," replied Hermione quietly. After this, she couldn't think of any thing else to say, and neither could Ron, so a long period of uncomfortable silence settled in, stretching every excruciating second out to what felt like minutes. Before the silence became too awkward, Hermione rummaged her mind for something to say, and finally came up with, "So, what were you doing? Your Potions homework?" She thought back to the outstretched books that were lying on the table before he put them away.
Somehow, Ron seemed to turn redder than he had been previously. "No. Not my Potions homework."
Hermione frowned. "Oh. So you're finished with it, then?"
"No—I'm not."
She was becoming more confused by the second. "You're not? Then what were you doing? And why did you put your books away? Shouldn't you be finishing it now?"
Ron merely shrugged, and she couldn't tell if he chose not to answer or he was incapable of answering. He played with the quill in his hand, and his attention soon focused on it instead of her.
"Sorry 'bout earlier."
"What?" Hermione glanced up at Ron's voice, which had abruptly cut into her thoughts. "Sorry, I didn't hear you."
"I—I just want to apologise about what I said earlier," he mumbled, and Hermione had to strain her ears to decipher what he was saying. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that, and I certainly did not want to imply that you're a know-it-all. Well, you sort of are, but hey," he added hastily, "that's nothing to be ashamed of. Know-it-all is a good thing, you know. At least you excel in every subject!"
Hermione glowered at him slightly, but she couldn't deny that something nice was swelling beneath her chest. She didn't want to talk about their earlier fight, and would rather pretend that it never happened, but if Ron wanted to say something about it, at least apologising was a good idea on his part.
"But that's not what I meant by 'special'," he continued. "It—it has to do with what I'm not telling you—"
The swelling in her heart depleted almost completely at that. She did not want to think about him keeping secrets from her, at least not when Seamus and Dean were enlightened as to what it was.
As if he was able to read her thoughts, Ron said hastily, "Please don't misunderstand me, Hermione. It's not that I don't want you to know it, but it's just not the right time yet. And believe me when I said that I never told Dean and Seamus about it. They figured it out themselves."
It was a long second before Hermione answered slowly, "All right. I believe you." Almost instantly, relief washed over Ron's freckled face, and she could tell that he was trying hard not to smile. "However, I want to know just when you'll let me on whatever you're hiding."
That was all it took to prevent the smile from spreading across his face. He suddenly became very fidgety. "Well, I—that—"
"Ron," Hermione intercepted warningly. "I won't wait a year for you to tell me what you're keeping me out of."
In his condition, Ron was obviously trying his best to think of the best solution to the present problem, and finally, a resigned look appeared on his face, announcing he had come to a solution he didn't particularly like. "All right," he sighed, sounding as though he would regret what he was about to say. "I'll tell you on the Hogwarts Express."
That was a week away, but Hermione felt that she shouldn't complain right now. "Promise?" she questioned, feeling a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.
Ron struggled to look sober, but it wasn't long before a smile spread out across his face. "Promise."
For some reason, she couldn't stop grinning at him as though she were a little girl and he had just handed her a huge bag of Honeydukes sweets.
"Do you need to do anything else?"
"No," Ron answered, glancing briefly at his bag. "I reckon we should maybe try and get some sleep tonight."
"That sounds like a good idea to me," Hermione replied happily. She pushed her hands flat against the seat and stood up, walking towards the spiral staircase. She paused slightly and turned around to look at Ron, who was picking up his bag and swinging it over his shoulders. "Good night, Ron," she said.
Ron looked at her. "'Night, Hermione," he said. "And… Errr… Sorry for keeping you up."
She smiled at him lingeringly. "That's all right." She wouldn't have been able to sleep before, anyway, and from the way she was feeling right now, she was sure she would be awake for at least another hour.
The train was whistling loudly as the students rushed to the doors. Ron, Harry, and Hermione stood still and looked back at the castle, which appeared very small on the other side of the lake, partly hidden by the Forbidden Forest. It looked much more worn than it had seven years ago, mostly due to the damage it sustained during the final stages of the war. However, now that the war was over, Hogwarts was returning to normal, both on the surface and in spirit.
Ron thought that, aside from Hermione, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. It was also his home for seven years, and now he had to leave it behind and find a new home for himself. As much as he hated the thought, he couldn't deny it. Luckily, he was also prepared for it.
Saying goodbye wasn't always easy, especially to something so dear to you. But it was a must. And he needed to look to the positive side of the future instead of dwelling in the past. He glanced fleetingly at Hermione. He hoped that she would also be in his future, or else there'd be no positive side to it. A dreadful feeling began to spread from his gut through his body as he remembered that today would be the day that his future would be decided. He hadn't forgotten his promise to Hermione a week ago, the promise that he now wished he hadn't made.
"Hurry up, Ron!" Harry called from the door with Hermione standing next to him.
"All right, all right, I'm coming!" he shouted back, running quickly and jumping on the train as it slowly moved.
After catching his breath, he followed Harry and Hermione to a compartment Ginny had already saved for the four of them. All throughout the journey back, he felt and acted very tense, dreading the moment when he'd have to let Hermione in on his secret. He still couldn't believe he had promised her what he did. Regret filled him as he began to lose the nerves he had worked up the night before.
After the food cart had passed, and after Ron refused to eat the large pile of sweets and chocolates, Ginny made an exasperated noise. "What's wrong with you, Ron?" she exclaimed, with a half-sympathetic, half-annoyed look. "I know you're sad about leaving Hogwarts and all, but you don't have to be that way, you know. Neither Harry nor Hermione is taking it as bad as you."
"Acting what way?" Ron frowned at her confusedly; half of his mind was still in his own reverie.
"You're acting all moody," Ginny pointed out, grinning. "I understand how you feel (No you don't, Ron thought to himself), but this is a bit too much. You haven't spoken once for about a quarter of the journey, and it's making everybody else feel bad too."
"Sorry," said Ron absentmindedly, clearly not heeding a word she'd said. "Didn't mean to—"
"Are you thinking about going back on your promise, Ron?" Hermione demanded suddenly, glaring at him.
That certainly got him out of his thoughts.
"What are you talking about, Hermione?" Ginny cut in before Ron got the chance to open his mouth and explain. "What promise? What did he promise you?"
For once, Hermione promptly ignored Ginny. Her whole focus was on him, and Ron felt himself begin to sweat. "Well—no," he forced out the answer. "No, I wouldn't go back on my promise."
Great, Ron thought darkly. She still remembers it. And I've just found a way to make sure I have to tell her about it. Could I've been any stupider?
"Wait a minute," Ginny spoke up as the room began to fall into silence. "Why haven't either of you answered my question? What's this promise?"
Ron searched for Harry's eyes, pleading for intervention. Ginny was just making this harder than it already was. Luckily, Harry seemed to understand him, as well as understand just what that 'promise' must be.
"Let them be, Ginny," he said quietly, touching her shoulder slightly. When Ginny looked ready to argue, he continued, "You'll know soon enough. I promise."
Ginny glanced at each and all of them for a second before shrugging. "Fine," she snapped. "But you promised, Harry. And you can bet I'll hold you to that promise."
For the rest of the ride, Ron tried his best to act normal, too weary to deal with another episode just like before. However, there were times when he couldn't help lapsing into his own regretful premonitions, hoping that he'd live through today, unscathed.
After what seemed like a very short time, the train slowed down and finally pulled into a complete stop at platform nine and three quarters. The noise level increased tremendously as everybody in all the compartments simultaneously stood up, opened the doors, and poured out onto the platform. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny did the same, but Ron did not move when Harry had passed through the door.
"What is it, Ron?" Hermione asked, turning around to look at him and sounding anxious.
Harry poked his head back in, and both he and Ginny threw Ron confused glances. Ron cleared his throat.
"Er—do you mind staying back for a few seconds, Hermione?" he queried pointedly, implying he didn't want anybody else's presence at the moment.
Ginny opened her mouth to snap back some comments, but Harry was pulling on her arms, saying, "Let's go, Ginny."
Suddenly, it was just Ron and Hermione standing, facing each other in the empty compartment. There was a pause before Hermione asked again, "What is it, Ron?"
Ron swallowed. Hard. He felt all the nervousness he was trying to suppress rush back at him in full force. "I—I just w-want to fulfil my promise," he said finally, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out a folded piece of parchment he had slipped in from the very beginning of the day. His fingers played with it briefly before he steeled his courage and stretched out his arm, giving it to Hermione.
"What's this?" Hermione asked, smiling absentmindedly at the folded parchment as she reached out and took it.
Ron took a deep breath to steady his voice. "What I promised I'd let you on. It's all in there. No—you won't be able to open it, Hermione," he said quickly as Hermione's fingers tried to flip the folds open. "I've put a Sealing Charm on it."
"Why did you do that?"
"Promise me you won't open it until you get home."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him.
"Just promise me."
"All right," she said dubiously, glancing down at the parchment lying in her hand. "I promise, although I don't understand why you've found it necessary. I mean, I'd know it eventually."
"You'll understand when you've read it," Ron muttered under his breath, as Hermione turned on her heels to lead the way to the platform, the way that Ron already knew too well.
"What was it you said, Ron?"
"Nothing," he reassured hastily. "Nothing."
"Well, hurry up!" she called over her shoulders as she disappeared around the door.
"All right," he answered loudly, hurrying after her.
"Good-bye, Harry," Hermione said, hugging Harry and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you soon, all right?"
Harry would be staying with the Weasleys at the present, as there was no need for him to go back to Privet Drive anymore. Plus, the Dursleys wouldn't want him back now that he was of age. They considered their responsibilities for him over the moment he returned to Hogwarts after last summer. To some certain degree, she was jealous of Harry for that. At least he wasn't separated from both of his best friends like she was, although she knew that it was very unfair of her. If Sirius had been alive, Harry would have been able to live with him. Though that was all in the past now…
"Bye, Hermione," Harry echoed, hugging her close. "Both Ron and I will see you soon." After a second, he let go of her, grinning. "Don't worry. We won't try to find a flat before you come. We agreed to let you have the honour of choosing our flat."
Hermione felt compelled to grin back at him, and she did. "Thanks."
Her attention was switched to Ginny. After a long hug, Ginny asked cheekily, "Did Ron tell you whatever he promised to tell?"
She wouldn't classify giving her a note as 'telling,' but she nodded nonetheless. "Yes, he did."
"Ooh, remember to tell me whatever it is he told you when you come over, all right? I don't trust Harry to keep his words about letting me know, especially when it's Ron's secret we're talking about."
"I'll let you know," Hermione reassured, smiling slightly.
"Hermione, dear?" Mrs. Weasley said, waving madly a few metres away. "Your parents are here!"
She glanced in the direction of her parents, who were immediately attacked by Mr. Weasley. Trying to hide a smile, she said to Ginny, "Bye, Ginny," and gave her another quick hug.
"Bye, Hermione! I'll see you soon!"
Next was Mrs. Weasley's turn. "Remember to take care of yourself, all right?" she asked fondly after drawing back from her motherly hug.
"I will, Mrs. Weasley."
Last was saying good-bye to Ron. Unlike others, whose good-byes came naturally, saying farewell to Ron seemed much harder to her than anything else. There weren't any hugs or kisses; they just stood, gazing at each other. Finally, Ron broke the silence.
"I reckon your parents are waiting, Hermione." His voice sounded strangely odd.
"Yeah," she answered quietly. "I should go now. Take care, will you, Ron?" However, she never moved; her feet seemed rooted to the spot. She did not want to be estranged from Ron—not for two days, and definitely not for at least a month.
"I will. And you take care too, Hermione."
She didn't know if she should hug him as she had done with the others or not. It seemed only natural for her to hug him, because they were best friends, and no one would find anything strange about it to comment on. However, she did not think about what others would think, but what Ron would. Mostly, she was afraid that if she hugged him right now, she would be unable to say good-bye, unable to leave him…
He solved it all for her by taking the lead and hugging her close to him. She had never felt safer and better than she was right then, in his arms, separate from the rest of the world. But the hug was too short, and when he pulled away, she felt a sort of hollow spot in her chest. She couldn't bear leaving the warmth of his arms—it was the best place in the world.
Suddenly, like a bliss, she saw his head draw down near her face, and felt his breath on her, before he kissed her quickly to the right of her mouth. It was more like a peck, really, which happened in a fraction of second. However, it still left her in complete shock.
She was only revived back to the present when Ron let go of her and mumbled hoarsely, "Bye, Hermione," in a rush and went to get his trunk, which was held by the twins, both of whom had wicked grins plastered on their faces.
Gosh, tell me they didn't just see that, Hermione thought abashedly to herself. She soon found out that, not only them, but all the remainder of the Weasleys, plus Harry and her parents, had witnessed the episode between Ron and her. She felt her face heat up to the point where she was certain that it must be as red as any Weasley's hair.
If she was embarrassed, she couldn't imagine how Ron must have felt at the moment. She'd bet on her last Galleons that the twins were teasing him right now, and she wanted so much to tell him to ignore them, although she also wanted to have an explanation of his actions just then.
However, she found it to be the wisest to keep her mouth closed and strode through the other grinning Weasleys and Harry to her parents. They both took turn and hugged her, muttering greetings and making no mention of the previous scene.
Being done with saying the last good-byes to everybody, Hermione followed her parents out to their car and, after letting her dad throw her trunk into the car, climbed into it herself, hand reaching into her pocket for the parchment Ron gave her earlier. Now she was really interested in whatever his secret must be, hoping for what she knew was the impossible.
After performing a charm to unfold the parchment, Hermione set down to read it, feeling a bit shaky.
From: Ron Weasley
To: Hermione Granger
For all the years I've known you,
I Love You
- Ron
PS: Will you come over to the Burrow this summer, Hermione? Just come over whenever your parents let you. Owl me first though. And… well, will you go out with me? Because what I said in the poem is the truth. All of it.
She smiled slightly to herself, clutching the parchment close to her chest. Ron loved her! She couldn't believe it! Ron! Ronald Weasley truly loved her! And he had asked her out! That meant she wasn't lonely in her love for him, which was the way she had come to think of her situation for years now. This was perhaps the best thing that had ever happened in her life…
"Hermione?" her mum asked tentatively. "Are you all right? Who gave you that piece of paper?"
"Ron," Hermione answered automatically, still in her ecstasy.
"Oh, that tall, redheaded boy?" her dad questioned from the front, laughter evident in his voice.
Her mother added, grinning, "He's certainly handsome, isn't he?"
Hermione could feel her face blush again, but she gathered her courage and asked hesitantly, "What do you two think of him?"
Her mum grinned at her knowingly, and said, "Well, he's handsome, he's from a very nice family, and from what you've talked of him, he seems to be an exceptionally nice young man. In general, I think we like him."
"Good. Because you're probably going to see a lot of him from now on."
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Are there books or survey articles explaining the subject to a non-expert? To clarify what I mean, here is a couple of issues that I would like to read about. (I am mainly interested in references but would appreciate answers to these specific questions.)
1) As far as I remember, PA do not have a "built-in" scheme for inductive definitions. So I assume that it is not immediately clear how to define things like $x^n$ or the $n$th Fibonacci number. How do they do things like that? One can define some specific coding of finite sequences of numbers and use that, but this is so ugly and so specific to aritmetics, it there a better way?
2) I vaguely remember that there are arithmetic facts provable in ZF but not in PA. Is this indeed the case? Are there simple explicit examples? Is there a way to understand, at least informally, why PA is not enough? (E.g. a proof may use analysis but why cannot it be reformulated in terms of some kind of "constructible" numbers and functions?)
Background: I am as far from logic as a mathematician can be.

subset: commoncrawl


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And not to forget – Creative Commons. It's great that BBC would embrace such technologies. Let's see how it would go.
Like many broadcasters today, the BBC is open to experimenting with online video distribution, allowing viewers to watch shows online. However, due to complex copyright issues people are not generally allowed to share or remix the videos – until now. For their new R&DTV production, the BBC is using a Creative Commons license, giving the viewer the freedom to redistribute and re-use the show.
The BBC is not offering BitTorrent downloads or streams for R&DTV just yet, but they do hope to use P2P-Next (and therefore BitTorrent) for future episodes. This could be done by embedding BitTorrent powered streams in their site or alternatively they could offer regular .torrent downloads. (Source: TorrentFreak)
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Thank you for downloading this footage bundle from the BBC.
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And in true BitTorrent fashion, they distribute with an ASCII art.


text:
Our sexy Chin and Mouth PVC hood will be a great asset to your PVC wardrobe.
Made in super shiny PVC and features a zip at the rear to hold the hood in place.
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text:
Definition: soft slushy mud or snow
Sposh is thought to be a combination of the words slush and posh, but before you get overly excited about the new factoid with which you plan on boring your in-laws to tears, there are a couple of things you should know. First, posh does not itself come from "port-outward-starboard-home," or any other acronym. Second, the posh that sposh is based on is a totally different kind of than the one meaning "fashionable"; this one is an archaic word, meaning "a slushy mass (as of mud or broken ice)."
I enjoy not less what may be called the negative side of spring, — those dark dank, dissolving days, yellow sposh and mud and water everywhere, — yet who can stay long indoors?
—John Burroughs, Birds and Poets, 1895


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Lebron James Calls Ref A "B*tch Azz N*qqa" For Turning His Back On Him While Talking At Knicks Game!
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Ginners may pay thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for a piece of equipment, says John Lewis, but many spend little or nothing on a very important piece of paper — a legal contract.
"This paints a bullseye squarely on them, and could open them up to potentially huge liability," says Lewis, Nashville attorney and professor of contract law, who is working with the Southern Cotton Ginners Association and the Cottonseed Subcommittee of the National Cotton Ginners Association to develop a standardized contract for the sale of cottonseed.
"A contract should be just as important to your business as any other piece of equipment," he told SCGA members at their annual summer conference at Baton Rouge, La.
Sledge Taylor, Como, Miss. producer/ginner and chairman of the NCGA Cottonseed Subcommittee, says, "there are some weaknesses" in the way ginners now handle cottonseed sales and "we're working to come up with some improvements.
"We'll continue meeting with other segments of the cotton industry on developing something that will work better for everyone."
Lewis, who chairs his law firm's Contract Practices Group, noted that changes in the ginning industry place greater importance on effective contracts.
"Historically, ginners have ginned the producer's cotton in exchange for the seed, which was then sold to oil mills under a standard contract used by the mills. You either signed the contract, or you didn't sell your seed."
Today, he says, most gins in the South and Southeast keep the seed as payment of ginning charges, "but little by little we're seeing scenarios in which gins are paying producers something for the seed. In the Southwest and West, many gins are either paying dividends or returning the seed to producers.
"Cottonseed isn't just going to the oil mills — it's going to dealers and being sold directly to dairies and other feeders. Oil mills, merchandisers, and brokers all have contracts, but dairies and cattle feeders usually don't."
So, while there are increasingly different ways of doing business nowadays, Lewis says, "most gins still don't have any type of standardized contract, and they're hurting themselves with regard to legal protection."
Every contract, he says, should have standard terms specifying quantity, quality, price, delivery dates, payment provisions, transportation methods, shipping schedules, and other vital information. It could even include provisions regarding aflatoxin.
A contract should also include a force majeure clause, specifying what happens in the event of failure to meet any of the contract terms. Example: You sell your tonnage in April and then your gin house burns. You can't deliver, so now what?
"You could be facing money damages or having to go someplace else to try and buy seed to meet your contract," Lewis says. "You need force majeure provisions to protect yourself in such situations."
Trade rules and dispute resolution are other items that can be included in a contract.
"If you don't protect yourself on which trade rules apply, you could have to abide by some very difficult rules. For example, the National Cottonseed Products Association has recently adopted some feed ingredient trade rules that could be very onerous for gins.
"Rule 5 in the cottonseed feed agreement rules is more insidious — it says if a dealer or oil mill sends you a shipping schedule and you don't object to it within 48 hours, it becomes part of your contract and it governs. It may be a shipping schedule that's not favorable to you, so you need to be aware of this and pay attention to it.
"If you use brokers, NCPA rules specify that the broker's contract will govern a transaction. Even though you have a contract form and the other party has a contract form, if there is a broker's contract, that contract will govern.
"NCPA Rules 1 and 61 are very important. Rule 1 says if a broker, oil mill, or dealer belongs to NCPA and specifies that NCPA rules will apply, those rules will trump your own contract unless it specifies otherwise. It's very, very important terminology."
Provisions for dispute resolution should also be incorporated into a contract, Lewis says. "If a dispute arises over a transaction, the last thing you want, if you're a Mississippi ginner, is to have to resolve it in a court in Wisconsin, California, or elsewhere. You at least want to say which court will handle your case, or if you'll use arbitration or mediation to resolve a dispute.
"All these things you can do, if you specify them in a contract. The standardized contract we're working to develop will be a basic framework or checklist, and other terms can be negotiated from there."
Generally, Lewis says, all terms must be in writing; otherwise, the contract may not be enforceable in court.
And terms should be defined: "Under older agreements, a carload was 50 tons; under new rules, it's 60 tons, or 85 tons for a double-hopper car. And there's potential for all kinds of confusion with truckloads, which can be anywhere from 25 tons to 50 tons. If you don't have a specific reference to what constitutes a truckload, your contract might fail."
It's important to understand, Lewis says, that "once a written contract is executed and signed, that contract governs and supersedes anything that may have been said orally or otherwise agreed to. Unless you can prove there's been a mistake, fraud, misrepresentation, or illegality, you're stuck with that contract."
With all the changes in the industry, he cautions ginners, "You need to be careful, be diligent, and be prepared. A carefully crafted contract can help you to do that. It's the best shield you can have against potential problems."
Plans are to have a suggested contract available for discussion at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in January, Lewis says. Preliminary versions will be circulated prior to that for industry comment.


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Image & File Manager for WYSIWYG editor TinyMCE and CKEditor
PlugoBrowser plugin was created in response to the need for timesaving solution that would help you reduce time spent in editors managing images and files. We've tried many free and commercial solutions, but none of them met our needs and expectations. Creating web content in TinyMCE / CKEditor WYSIWYG takes time and requires certain knowledge of how it works. PlugoBrowser is TinyMCE / CKEeditor plugin, which helps you to manage all your images and files on website. It is an easy-to-use tool developed to make your life easier.


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- Output Impedance: 0.005 Ohms
- Idle Power Consumption: 15 Watts
- Dimensions: 4.1″ H x 8.5″ W x 13.5″ D
- Weight: 14 Pounds/each
- MSRP: $1,199/each USA
- Wyred4Sound
Class D amplification hasn't exactly gotten the warmest reception in the high end audio industry. In a world dominated by hot and heavy class A and class AB amps, class D has been the ugly stepchild. However, many recent enhancements in ICE power modules have made amplifier designers take a second look into the benefits of class D – cool running, efficient, and very fast. Using a power supply that operates at 100kHz and an amplifier section that runs at 500 kHz (typical class AB amps run on 60Hz power supplies), a well designed Class D amp can adapt to power needs, or musical dynamics, in an instant.
W4S enhances the ICE modules by upgrading the analog section for better low end extension and overall smoothness to the sound. The question is, does their design work? Is a Class D ICE module powered amp capable of competing with the tried and true old school room heating amps?
Design and Setup
I received the SX-1000's double boxed and in excellent condition. Unpacking most amplifiers can be quite rough on the back, but these small and light monoblocks were a breeze to remove from the packing materials. Weighing in at just 14 pounds, you could take these anywhere you go, like say over to a friend's house? Or perhaps there is a speaker you wanted to pair them with at a local store. Absolutely not a problem with the SX-1000's, as you can pick one up with just one hand. The build quality was immediately noticeable when I first handled the solid aluminum chassis. Top notch WBT speaker posts along with both balanced and unbalanced inputs put this in the high-end class. The amps are available in both a silver and black accent finish and I opted for the black so they would blend in with my home theater. A subtle blue LED line lights up on the front and is dimmable via a small dial underneath; a wonderful feature to have in darkened home theater environments.
Setting up was as simple as placing the amps on top of my existing Parasound Halo A-23, a high bias class A/AB design, and switching out the connections. Until I upgrade to a new pre-amp/processor, I am stuck using the unbalanced connections. Since the mono's draw so little power in idle mode, I just left them on 24/7. Immediately I noticed how quiet they are. Not one ounce of hiss emanates from the speakers even when the volume is cranked, these amps are dead silent.
In Use
The Piano – Michael Nyman
"The Scent of Love", a beautiful piece written by Michael Nyman, opens with a piano solo and is a great test of a systems ability to reproduce the piano and sudden dynamics. The first thing I noticed when comparing the W4S to the Parasound was the overall presence of the piano. The sound had more body to it, while sounding a tad more brittle and harsh on the Parasound. I found the W4S could easily hit the loud piano notes, with the same force that player used in the recording. Near the end of the piano solo, the music unfolds with a small posse of string instruments playing at maximum volume, the change in dynamics is quite shocking. Hearing it first on the Parasound, I felt my ears twinge a little, that feeling of sound compression being too much and wanting to turn the volume down. Nothing horrible, as the Parasound is still a great amp, but after hearing it on the W4S it was hard to go back. There wasn't a touch of twinge in my ears, I felt like I could have turned the volume up more and it would have only sounded better. These LS-6 speakers just love to be played loud. Sorry neighbors! One last note on The Piano soundtrack, I usually hate the saxophone track "Here to There" as it can be very harsh, but it sounded the best I've ever heard it through the SX-1000's. The alto's and baritones really took a spot in my room, with plenty of tangible body.
The Fall – Norah Jones
"Young Blood" starts out with a mean bass line that carries out trough the whole song. On the Parasound it sounded strong, but a bit bloated and out of control. At first that added strength to the bass seemed nice, but as the song progressed it grew tiresome. The SX-1000's on the other hand, were a bit more subdued and held the bass line under control. Individual notes were easier to discern and allowed for Norah's voice to stay on top of the soundstage.
"I Wouldn't Need You" is a much different track, very laid back, quiet and subtle. I listened to it first on the SX-1000's and immediately felt like I was in an intimate smoky club setting. Norah sat at the back of the soundstage, like she was sitting on a stool. The effect was great and closing my eyes really let my mind go. This song sounded completely different on the Parasound. Norah's voice was very forward, at the front of the soundstage and a lot of the atmosphere was lost. My ears would occasionally twinge on a dynamic peak as well. Overall, it was not bad, as her voice had a lot of presence and the band sounded clean and spacious, it was just a different sound. Personally, I really preferred the SX-1000's on this album and found myself getting lost in the music with ease.
The Nordic Sound 2L
Mozart Violin Concerto in D Major
First up was the Parasound and my first thought was a big front forward, almost in your face, sound. Peak dynamics again bothered my ears a bit, especially when the violin solo enters the stage. Switching over to the SX-1000's I heard a difference right away. The soundstage was set back a bit, spread out beyond the speakers, and felt more sonically accurate. The harshness was gone and I even turned the volume up a couple notches. I also noticed how planted the musicians are on the virtual stage. I could almost point out the 3rd chair cello player, as if every instrument had its own space and sat there. Through my years of listening to orchestra's through hifi systems, one thing that has bothered me about lower end reproduction is how a solo instrument will move around the soundstage with the change of notes. A violin playing a high 'B flat' might sound a couple inches from center than when the same violin hits a low 'D'. The SX-1000's give each instrument a very solid planting and it leads to a more tangible sound in my mind.
Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time
Since I use my home theater for both two channel music and movies, I like amps to deliver the dynamics of today's lossless audio tracks as well. Prince of Persia turned out to have some great test material. The impact and dynamics of the soundtrack were much more apparent using the SX-1000's. In the scene where Dastan first uses the dagger, the sound field projected by my speakers covered greater area and allowed the speakers themselves to better disappear. The lower frequencies during the siege on the sacred city of Alamo were tighter with more detail and quickness than the A23 could deliver.
Small and light, cool running, dead quiet, tons of immediate power able to drive pretty much any home speaker manufactured today, and impeccable sound quality should make anyone in search of a high end amp take a look and listen. Class D has long had a poor reputation in the high end sound arena, but I think that day is quickly coming to an end. Products like the SX-1000 prove exactly what well engineered class D components are capable of. I was very impressed with these amps, so much so that they will not be returning to Wyred4Sound.
vernicet member since August 2013
|Last 12 months


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A massive wildflower bloom is about to arrive in California's mountains
Business - April 22, 2019, 12:45:20 PM EDT
An imminent wildflower bloom in the California mountains is nature's antidote to super bloom FOMO.
Flower-crazed tourists, Instagrammers cause 'super bloom apocalypse' in California
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Who knew flowers could cause so much trouble?
Texas may see its biggest wildflower bloom in a decade
Business - March 05, 2019, 12:10:49 PM EST
Though it may feel like this winter is going to go on forever, fear not, as spring flowers are well on their way. Especially in the state of Texas.
Why the Northern and Southern Lights look different
Business - February 11, 2019, 3:11:42 PM EST
For the past 10 years, something has been befuddling scientists and world explorers: why auroras look different on the South Pole than the North Pole.
The U.S. leads the world in shark attacks — but those numbers are going down
Business - February 11, 2019, 3:07:59 PM EST
The results of the Yearly Worldwide Shark Attack Summary are in.
The most scenic train rides in the world
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Travel the old-fashioned way for a front-row seat to the world's most beautiful landscapes. All aboard!
Hawaii's volcanic eruption created a stunning new black sand beach
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A lava flow created a brand new black sand beach on Hawaii — along with two new surf breaks — located at Isaac Kepoʻokalani Hale Beach Park.
These are the places you're most likely to catch a virus in an airport
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Between the planes, the bathrooms, the waiting areas, the fast food tables and pretty much every other place in the airport, it can be difficult to avoid getting sick while traveling.


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Open Source: A Way of Developing, Distributing, and Licensing Software
IntroductionSince the beginning of the software industry, nearly every software company in the world has followed the same business model: developed software by the company's own employees, closely held intellectual property, delivered software in binary format to clients, and licensed software to users to run on their own computers. Today, however, that model is being challenged by a new paradigm: open source. Developed and maintained by volunteers, distributed to users at no cost, and available in source code form, it is radically different from proprietary counterpart. Each of the new characteristics of the open source software forces organizations to develop new ways of thinking about how they procure, implement, test, and deploy software.
Accessible without cost, open source software is distributed to users under licensing terms different from commercial software, and created under different conditions from commercial software. Open source software developers take responsibility for the quality of the software towards their user base. This responsibility demands a new model of software procurement, one where the organization is an active participant in creating the complete software, rather than a passive recipient of what the vendor delivers. The new model demands new working methods and practices. In this article, we present on the open source software, the open source community, and the development practices. We explore the various benefits and risks the open source model brings to development practices, and present on possible strategies to support open source in your organization.
- Skip Ahead
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Introduction
- 3. Introduction
- 4. Introduction
- 5. Introduction


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After Eight-Year Break, Blink-182 Premieres New Single, 'Up All Night'
After an eight-year hiatus, Blink-182 are coming back with another album — and fans will be able to get their first taste of the new music Friday.
The band will debut its new single, 'Up All Night,' on Los Angeles' KROQ at 7:30 a.m., but if you aren't within reach of the station's signal, don't fret: the track, which drummer Travis Barker has described as "heavy," will also be available on the band's website.
'Up All Night' serves as the first recorded fruits of Blink's 2009 reunion, which ended the acrimonious split that engulfed the band after they released their self-titled fifth album in 2003. According to the latest quotes from guitarist Tom DeLonge, the new Blink record should be in stores "sometime in September."


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By Vanessa Stevens
On Saturday April 20, Southington's Boy Scout Troop #32 will leave Niantic at 8 am for a work trip to Great Gull Island on Long Island, NY. The 9 mile journey, led by thirteen year scout leader Dan Greer, will start and end on a 42' steam boat towards the eastern end of Long Island Sound.
Great Gull Island is an old World War 1 Army fort with rocky beaches that are overgrown with the invasive plant known as bittersweet, which the boys will be removing to make room for an endangered species of water bird called the Common and Roseate Terns that nest on its shores. Some are more than 1300 pairs, the largest nesting concentration of this endangered species in the Western Hemisphere.
Both species head north from South America to North America and to Great Gull Island and further points north in April through May to nest, and head back to South America again by the end of September.
The boys are excited about this trip, which will earn approximately 6 to 7 service project hours towards their conservation badges. "We are expected to give an honest effort at clearing the beaches," Greer said. "The trip will be fun, however, the boys must understand the expectations."
Certain ranks in scouting require a minimum number of service project hours.
For instance; a Second Class Scout needs a service project that entails a minimum of one hour. Star and Life rank scouts need service projects with a minimum of six hours for both ranks. An Eagle Scout has his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project that has no actual minimum or maximum required hours. All it needs is the amount of hours needed to prove leadership to direct his volunteers to carry out his planned project.
Such hours may be done at their church or a local park.
All they need to do is to ask their Scoutmaster for the approval.
Scouts enjoy the time they spend outdoors, whether camping for the weekend or summer camp.
For the Great Gull Island Project, traveling over the Long Island Sound would be the only concern, but Greer's got that covered.
"We always have more than the required adult leaders on any event or outing," Greer said.
From giving back through food drives in early November to helping out with the environment so nature can survive for many generations to come, Dan feels this is important for the scouts to learn.
He added, "More acts like these would make our communities and the world a greater place today."


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Hubble telescope has captured this incredible, highly-detailed shot of the Tarantula Nebula, which is an enormous, many-legged cloud of dust created by multiple supernovae - one of which was visible from Earth back in the 17th century. Many new, hot stars burn in the heart of the nebula, ionizing its gas and giving it that lurid red glow. The nebula is so bright that it's visible with the naked eye on clear nights here on Earth, 170,000 light years away.
Click here to see the embiggened image!
According to a release from NASA about the photo:
The part of the nebula visible in this image from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys is criss-crossed with tendrils of dust and gas churned up by recent supernovae. These supernova remnants include NGC 2060, visible above and to the left of the centre of this image, which contains the brightest known pulsar . . . Near the edge of the nebula, outside the frame, below and to the right, lie the remains of supernova SN 1987a, the closest supernova to Earth to be observed since the invention of telescopes in the 17th century. Hubble and other telescopes have been returning to spy on this stellar explosion regularly since it blew up in 1987, and each subsequent visit shows an expanding shockwave lighting up the gas around the star, creating a pearl necklace of glowing pockets of gas around the remains of the star.
Find out more about the extraordinary volume of space where the Tarantula nebula resides, with neighbors that include the heaviest known star and ultra-bright star clusters, via ESA/Hubble
Image via NASA/ESA


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Daymar is a small rural community in South West Queensland, approximately 600 kilometres from Brisbane. Located south east of St George, with the closest town Thallon to the south east, Daymar is a lovely little spot to stop and stretch your legs.
The town takes its name from the railway station, which in turn was named by Railways Department on 15 September 1911, and is thought to be an Aboriginal word, meaning red ridge.
The community maintains a tennis court which is frequently used. The closest accommodation option is camping is Thallon.
Note: Information on listed products and services are provided by the operator and were correct at the time of publishing. Rates are indicative based on the minimum and maximum available prices of products and services. Please visit the operator's website for further information. All prices quoted are in Australian dollars (AUD).


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CATIA for Engineers enables Digital Prototyping including Analysis and Simulation for design and validation of function quality and performance at all stages ofthe design.
Mechanical engineering is complex as assemblies are designed to perform a specific task with a specific target performance. Digital prototyping, combined with digital analysis and simulation, allows product development teams to virtually create and analyze a mechanical product in its environment. Mechanical engineers must be equipped with these tools so that they can gain insight into key factors in quality and performance early in the product development phase.
CATIA Flexible Circuit Board
3D design of flexible circuit board, Collaborative work in parallel between ECAD Engineer and MCAD Designers
As today's electronic devices pack more functions into smaller and lighter packages, flexible printed circuit boards (PCB) become more pervasive. Although they provide an optimal solution for these cramped electronic environments, design and prototyping of flexible PCB components is problematic, often relying on expensive physical prototyping, error-prone manual processes and paper drawings for mechanical and Electronic CAD (ECAD) communication.
Now you can eliminate these non-value-add expenses and errors by leveraging the power of CATIA Flexible Circuit Board, which enables the modeling of a flexible circuit board within a virtual mock-up and facilitates the collaboration with electronic CAD systems. Efficient collaboration helps to optimize design by improving or eliminating the errors associated with disjointed handoffs between flexible circuit board, prototyping and manufacturing. CATIA Flexible Circuit Board optimizes design efficiency by leveraging a fully automated, streamlined and cost-efficient process for design and development of electronic devices.
- Full digital and integrated design process
- Product Mock-up Contextual Design
- Downstream applications associative design to integrate continuous design changes
Easy creation of mechanical shapes of printed circuit boardsThe flexible PCB's 3D shape is created in the Generative Sheet Metal Design workbench, within the global assembly product definition, taking the mechanical context into account. It provides a very intuitive and productive environment for the design of flexible circuit boards with dedicated tools like the sketcher that allows rapid definition and edition of flexible circuit board profiles. Its feature-based approach offers a highly productive and intuitive design environment. General features such as cut out stamps, holes and flanges as well as dedicated features for bended part such as wall, wall on edge, bend, extrude… permit the creation of geometry on both folded and unfolded representations of a flexible circuit board. A cutout performed, for example, on the unfolded representation of the part will automatically and simultaneously be reflected on the folded representation.
Creation of Constraint AreaCATIA Flexible Circuit Board allows the creation of Constraint Areas. A constraints area is a specific CBD object based on a planed profile (sketch or 3D curve). Edition and creation of the volume are done through a dedicated command. Constraint areas are the communication channel of specifications between ECAD and MCAD. All the constraint areas are gathered in a body called Constraint Area, which is created on the fly when the Constraint area functionality is used first time.
Electronic components placement on flexible boardsCATIA Flexible Circuit Board enables intelligent placement of 3D electronic components on the flexible board. The component can come from a catalog in the database or can be already in session. The standard component can be placed on the flexible circuit board and constrained to its mechanical environment. By using this command, the placed component will keep its position during Folded/Unfolded view.
Switch to Fold / Unfold ViewAt any time you can fold/unfold your Flexible PCB part to have a folded or flattened view of it. The constraint areas and attached electrical components reposition along with the master part while folding or unfolding. It manages all the sheet metal features and some objects of the flexible circuit board like the components, the Constraint areas, the Holes and Cutouts.
Bi-directional interface with electrical CAD Systems based on industry standard interface (IDF) formatThe Export as IDF File tool is used to export the Flexible Circuit Board (outline, mechanical constraint areas, cutouts and drilled holes, components placement) in the IDF 2.0/3.O format, which can be used in ECAD applications. After placing the electrical components and other ECAD operations, a new IDF file is generated and sent to MCAD. This .IDF file generated after ECAD routing contains the location of the components in the flexible circuit board assembly and the constraint areas.
Synchronization after ECAD modification importTo take into account the modification made by ECAD designer , the MCAD user is able to update an existing board assembly ( initial assembly ) with a new .idf and .lib file, which can contain any changes to the board geometry (profile, thickness, holes, pockets), component placement, component constraints (remove or add) and the BOM of the board. CATIA Flexible Circuit Board offers a fully automated, streamlined and cost-efficient process. At the end of the procedure, all imported components and constraint areas are attached to the master flexible PCB. The fully developed, flexible PCB can be refolded with all of its components and placed in the 3D assembly for final validation.


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Transform your photos into one-of-a-kind, hand painted masterpieces!
646 - Ice And Passion A by Irmgard Schoendorf Welch - 6.375" x 8.000"
Archival Matte Paper
Rolled in a Tube
Assembly Charge
Art Print
646 - Ice And Passion A art print by Irmgard Schoendorf Welch. Our prints are produced on acid-free papers using archival inks to guarantee that they last a lifetime without fading or loss of color. All art prints include a 1" white border around the image to allow for future framing and matting, if desired.
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Fantastic digital work, very interesting and challenging...great unconventional concept too! V,F
Thanks a lot, Marco.
Congratulations on your feature in "Bold Colours"! fav
Thanks a lot, Alec.
Oh, i thank you so very much, Margaret.
Irmgard, your colorful and beautifully merged tones create a powerful design.
Thanks a lot, Mona.I appreciate your comment very much.
I like very much how you conceived this portrait, Irmgard...so beautifully designed and colored! F&V
Ginny, thank you so much for your Fav.
Thank you so much, Iris.
All prints ship in durable cardboard tubes.
Fine Art America is one of the largest, most-respected giclee printing companies in the world with over 40 years of experience producing museum-quality prints. All of our prints are produced on state-of-the-art, professional-grade Epson printers.
We use acid-free papers and canvases with archival inks to guarantee that your prints last a lifetime without fading or loss of color. Paper prints include a 1" white border around the image to allow for future framing and matting. Canvas prints include a 2.5" white border to allow for future stretching on stretcher bars.
Prints ship within 3 - 4 business days in durable cardboard tubes.
Average Rating (4.94 Stars):
D Gregory Smith
April 18th, 2019
Betty Peacock
April 18th, 2019
I was in charge of selecting a wall art as a Memorial for a member of a club. When I saw this picture, I knew it was perfect, as she loved hummingbirds. It is being donated to the Women's Shelter of Long Beach, as she was a victim of spousal abuse. My husband and I own several of John Yato's original watercolors. We love this picture. Is the original available?
* This picture is digitally painted by me with the help of the Graphic-Program 'Gimp'. It is unique and not a reproduction or alteration of somebody else' s work. I did not use a foto as basis and i did not use foreign stocks. It is my own design, my own fantasy. So it is an original and unique work of art. You can buy prints and postcards of it here on FAA. ---------------------- Irmgard Schoendorf Welch all rights reserved.
All work in this gallery is the original work of Irmgard Schoendorf Welch and is protected by US and International Copyright laws. They may not be downloaded, copied, reproduced, manipulated or used in any form, without prior written consent of the artist. Here you can see DIGITAL ART of me, Irmgard Schoendorf Welch. The monitor is my canvas, the mouse is my paintbrush and pencil. I use the grafic-program 'Gimp' and Gimp filters - and my fantasy. I never use foreign fotos or stock-fotos as a basis for my work. You can purchase prints and postcards of my pictures here on 'Fine Art America.' I live in Aachen/ Germany and also write short stories and poetry under my name 'Irmgard Schoendorf Welch' or ...
Our return policy is very simple:
If you're not happy with a purchase that you made on FineArtAmerica.com, for any reason, you can return it to us within 30 days of the order date. As soon as it arrives, we'll issue a full refund for the entire purchase price. Please note - Fine Art America does not reimburse the outgoing or return shipping charges unless the return is due to a defect in quality.
Fine Art America sells thousands of pieces of artwork each month - all with a 100% money-back guarantee. We take great pride in the fact that hundreds of thousands of artists have chosen Fine Art America to fulfill their orders, and we look forward to helping you select your next piece!
All art prints ship from our production facility within 2 - 3 business days of your order.


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Assistant Trust Officer
UNION SAVINGS BANK is looking for a full time Assistant Trust Officer to join our team. Responsibilities for this position are to establish and maintain accounts for trust clients, providing quality service by applying thorough knowledge of the trust accounting systems, applicable securities systems and procedures. Supports Trust officers with daily operations and administration activities and procedures. Contributes to Investment and Trust Department growth and profitability and meets established sales goals. This position is located in Freeport, IL. Education and Experience:
- Associates degree preferred and/or three years of related work experience; or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Trust and investment experience preferred.


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DOE A to Z: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
For Release: October 1, 2003
Commissioner Librera Presents Charter
to Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology
Commissioner of Education William L. Librera today presented New Jerseys newest charter school to the State Board of Education. Commissioner Librera and State Board of Education President Arnold Hyndman welcomed representatives from Patersons Charter School for Science and Technology. The schools charter has been granted through June 2007.
"The granting of this charter is the result of the hard work and diligence of the schools founders and board of trustees, who worked with Department of Education staff to successfully complete their application and their start-up activities," Commissioner Librera said. "I would like to congratulate them on their charter, which testifies to their commitment to providing New Jerseys families with expanded public school choices and opportunities."
"Each new charter school is an opportunity for improved teaching and learning in our public schools system," said Dr. Hyndman to the schools representatives. "We wish you every success as you meet the challenges to provide the children you serve with a superior education."
The Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology has been approved this year to serve a maximum of 178 students in grades six through nine. It intends to serve a maximum of 497 students in grades 6-12 within the next four years. The schools mission is to provide students with a standards and equity-based academic program devoted to all areas of New Jerseys Core Curriculum Content Standards. Special emphasis will be placed on science and technology in both subject content and method of instruction. Through this program, the school hopes to inspire students to pursue increased opportunities for advanced study and/or employment in science and technology.
Assistant Commissioner Richard Ten Eyck congratulated the schools representatives, saying, "You have accomplished the daunting task of creating a new school You may be assured of our support as you seek to provide an innovative, exemplary education to the children you serve."
Charter schools are public schools operated under a charter granted by the Commissioner of Education. Each charter school is independent of the district board of education and is managed by a board of trustees. The State Legislature authorized the creation of charter schools in 1995, and the first charter schools opened in 1997.
A full listing and description of New Jerseys charter schools is posted on the Department of Educations Web site at the following link:
The projected enrollment for the 48 operating charter schools for September 2003 is approximately 14,000 students. Fourteen counties have approved charter schools. The average enrollment in a charter school is 193 students and the average class size in charter schools is 17 students.
In July, the Department of Education received nine new applications for charter schools that would open September 2004 or September 2005. The Commissioner is now reviewing those applications and will announce the results of his review in mid-January 2004.