It was a hot and muggy day in Ottery St. Catchpole and the sticky air outside had the residents and guests of the Weasley Burrow seeking shelter indoors.
It was the summer before Hermione Granger's 6th year at Hogwarts and she had arrived at the burrow the night before. Mr. Weasley had driven to the train station in town to pick her up- seeing as she was still underage and did not yet have the right to any magical means of transportation- in the old beat-up caravan that he had won from an auction in a muggle junk yard that Harry had taken him to just a year prior.
Hermione wasn't the only guest currently residing in the Burrow. Percy Weasley's steady girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, had arrived at the Burrow just 3 days before Hermione had. Penelope had long dark, silky hair and light brown, wide eyes. She was a stunning girl, but Hermione learned at dinner the second night after she'd arrived that Penelope had been a pubescent misfit when she arrived at Hogwarts at 11 years old, and Penelope had the photos to prove it. She had no problem sharing and laughing at the unfortunate child that she had been. Hermione rather liked Penelope. She imagined that the girl's sympathetic and warm personality came from the fact that she had probably been teased a lot as a kid and had grown up treating others kindly to avoid making people feel like she had once felt. Hermione understood that all too well. But, like Penelope, Hermione had grown nicely into her looks.
When Draco Malfoy had hexed Hermione's teeth to grow even larger than what they had been in their fourth year, she'd gone to Madame Pomfrey who shrunk her teeth back to normal size, and then some. Hermione had to admit, while her parents were very excellent dentists indeed, there are just some things that magic can't beat. She had mostly learned to tame her messy hair, but on humid days like this, there was just no controlling the frizz. So she left her hair up in a bun. But all this did was keep it from sticking to the back of her neck and sides of her face with sweat, keeping her cool. It did nothing to hide the mess. But Hermione thought, with her ever- growing self confidence, that her dark almond eyes and smooth skin rather made up for the rat's nest on top of her head. She had been a somewhat slender girl in her younger years, but ever since third year when she began developing breasts, Hermione started to notice a slightly more curvy figure taking it's place that made her feel sort of sexy. But her figure was nothing compared to Penelope's busty hourglass frame. Hermione hoped that nature would take its course in the same way for her.
Days like this often found Hermione, Ginny, and Penelope up in the attic- oddly the coolest room in the house, which Hermione didn't understand due to the few years she'd had of muggle science classes which taught her that heat rises- drinking lemonade by the pitcher full and talking about whatever their hearts desired. Ginny had never tasted lemonade before, as it was a sugary muggle drink that both Hermione and Penelope were very familiar with, but it had quickly become her favorite summer beverage after the long hours spent in the attic. The Weasleys had recently blocked off the small area of the attic where the ghoul lived, so the girls were left alone to talk in peace except for the occasional grunt or moan.
Hermione very much enjoyed the time that she spent with the two of them. It gave her the chance to be a girl. Normally, Hermione couldn't stand gossiping, but she found that when it was just the three of them, it came so naturally. Ginny confessed to them about the long time crush that she had on Harry and that, while she really did like Dean a lot and enjoyed his company, she didn't particularly see it lasting. And she stated also that se had a feeling that it was the same on his end. They were just riding this thing out. Penelope had given them a long, romantic encounter of how she and Percy had come to be together, and Ginny fake vomited when she got to a particularly gruesome bit involving a broom cupboard and a locking charm. Hermione confessed to them that there had been a moment in their first year that she had found Seamus Finnegan particularly charming, but had quickly gotten over that upon witnessing his abominable behavior after their first quiddich match when Harry had won for Gryffindor. However, she didn't dare tell them that the current object of her affection was under that very roof, or rather, in the yard. Ron and his brothers- all of which were home this summer- were currently outside de-gnoming the garden. Just as Ginny was prodding Hermione to tell her who she had an eye for this year, they heard Charlie scream from the garden "Ruddy gnome scratched right over a fresh burn !" and a second later, the guilty gnome smacked face first into the small attic window and stuck his tongue out at the girls, making a very rude hand gesture as it slid down the window and landed with a barely audible thud back in the garden below. The girls erupted into fits of giggles and moved on to one of Hermione's favorite subjects, school. The talk of boys completely forgotten for the moment.
Lunch was ready at about 1:00 that afternoon and all 9 of the Weasleys plus Hermione and Penelope took their seats at the scrubbed table in the middle of the cramped kitchen. Ron took his seat next to Hermione and the usual flirting began as everyone was accustomed to at the Weasley dining table. Ron, sweaty and red from being out in the muggy sun, wiped a hand across his forehead and rubbed it on Hermione's arm. There was a time when this would have bothered Hermione and she would have stormed away from the table, yelling about manners and hygiene, but the last year seemed to really have calmed her and she was a lot less high strung. She would always be a bit bossy no matter what though, it was in her nature. But for right now, she just giggled and swatted Ron playfully on the arm. She took this opportunity to steal a peek at him. His skin was gleaming with the sweat, which sounds like it should be repulsive, but which Hermione actually found very sexy. His hair was becoming a bit messy, he would really need to get it cut soon, but the way it stuck to his neck and forehead was actually a bit endearing and made Hermione smile. Just then, Mrs. Weasley plopped a nice sized portion of lamb onto her plate followed by two scoops peas and carrots and a slice of bread. This took her focus off of the boy sitting next to her and she just barely noticed Ginny smirking at her out of the corner of her eye. But she wasn't concerned with that at the moment, as she was just now realizing how hungry she was.
Half way through her meal, she felt Ron's foot rub against her own. She didn't know if this was an accident, or if he'd done it on purpose, but Hermione was feeling a bit brave today so she rubbed back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him go even redder than he already was from the day's work. She didn't even have time to worry about whether or not her reaction had been appropriate before he rubbed her leg back again and she saw the corner of his lip turn up in a smile. This continued throughout the rest of lunch, but once the plates were cleared and the table deserted, neither of them brought up what had gone on.
That night found Hermione in Ron's bedroom, helping him clean and organize all of his stuff. Hermione was never allowed to sleep in his room as Mrs. Weasley strictly forbade it. Mrs. Weasley's sleeping arrangements were non-negotiable: Hermione and Ginny shared a room while Charlie was forced to room with Percy, leaving his room to Penelope and Fleur Delacour, Bill's fiancée who was due to arrive any day now. And Harry- who was expected to arrive very late that night- always roomed with Ron. Bill was the only one with a bedroom to himself and all of his siblings were jealous of the fact, but agreed that it was reasonable, seeing as he was the oldest.
"Ron I don't understand" Hermione began, picking up yet another candy wrapper from the floor (this time a cauldron cake) "why you don't just get yourself a decent waste bin." Ron's idea of a waste bin was his pewter potions cauldron that sat in the corner of his room and collected dust over the summer. But seeing how A) The cauldron wasn't nearly big enough for the wrappers off all the candy that Ron ate and B) He was often too lazy to get off of his bed, so he just threw the wrappers and let them land anywhere in the general direction of the cauldron, his room was always full of candy wrappers.
"I think it adds character to the room. Don't you ?" Ron retorted, and they both laughed.
After Hermione'd cleaned all the wrappers up and Ron had finished folding and putting away all of his clothes, Hermione organized his books by subject matter (more than half of them being about Quiddich) and alphabetized them and arranged them neatly in his bookcase. As she stood up, however, she realized she'd forgotten one.
"How to charm your witch ?" She read and raised an amused eyebrow at Ron.
"Oh." Ron said as his face turned the color of his hair "Christmas present from Harry." and Hermione stored the book with the others. "Speaking of which," began Ron, glad to have a reason to change the subject. " I have a late birthday present for you. I would have sent it to you for your actual birthday, but I hadn't quite saved up just enough yet at that point." he explained as he rummaged around the top shelf of his closet which he'd refused to let Hermione clean just yet, probably for this exact reason.
Hermione was touched that he'd saved up money to buy her a birthday present. Over the years, Ron's birthday and Christmas gifts had been getting more and more thoughtful and she was excited to see what he'd picked out for her this year. Last year for her birthday, he'd gotten here a beautiful bracelet with green charms that made up for the hideous orange agenda that she used every single day because it reminded her of him, seeing as how his bedroom was so violently orange with all of his Chudley's Cannons posters and bedspread that Hermione had grown to know and love. At last, he'd found what he was looking for and faced Hermione with his hands behind his back.
"Here it is" he said, presenting her with a large camera that looked a lot like Colin Creevy's except that it had her name etched into the side and it was just slightly smaller.
"Ron, I love it ! Thank you so much." She stood up and wrapped her arms around him, and he did the same to her. They stayed like that for a good ten seconds or so before they were startled by a particularly loud bump from the above that indicated that the ghoul must have knocked down the barrier into the rest of the attic.
Hermione took the camera from Ron and held it at arms length away and pointed it at them.
"Say cheese." she giggled and Ron didn't understand why he had to say cheese, but Hermione was smiling at the camera so he decided that he should too. Snap. The camera went off and a cloud of purple smoke engulfed them and they laughed.
"Take another." Ron indicated "So I can add it to my box." Hermione snapped the second picture which would be identical to the first, except that Ron had his arm around her in this one.
"What box ?" Hermione inquired after they'd taken the second photo.
Ron pulled a decent sized wooden box out from the top shelf of his closet as well and beckoned Hermione over to his now nicely made bed to show her what was inside. He pulled off the lid and Hermione saw that it was filled with dozens and dozens of photos, all of which were moving of course. There was one of himself and Harry on Christmas during their first year, noses red and hair soaked with melted snow, sitting in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room and roasting English muffins over the fire. There was an old photograph of a couple that turned out to be Mr. and Mrs. Weasley on their wedding day. There was a picture of Ron, Harry, and Hermione eating lunch out by the Black Lake on a warm spring day during their fourth year while Fred, George and Lee Jordan tickled the giant squid's tentacles. This picture had no doubt been taken by Colin Creevy. And plenty other wonderful school memories and precious family moments captured on film. The two spent over an hour going through them until it was time to finish cleaning, as Harry would be arriving in a few short hours.
They finally organized the top shelf of the closet and underneath the bed. Once Hermione went over the dresser shelves once more, they'd be finished. She went to go open the top most drawer but Ron slammed it shut before she could and said "Do you mind ?" as his face turned pink. Hermione smiled and considered their work done. She had a sneaking suspicion that that was Ron's underwear drawer, and she could understand him not wanting her taking a look around.
They took a seat once more on Ron's bed and talked about everything and nothing. At around 1:30am, Ginny came barging in, dragging Hermione's trunk along behind her and begged Hermione to help her find her bottle of Sleakeasy's hair potion as Ginny was having no luck. Ron was completely befuddled as to why Ginny was worrying about her hair in the early hours of the morning like this, but Hermione seemed to find it completely normal. Must be a girl thing. Ron was not in the loop about Ginny's affection for Harry.
"Ginny, my trunk is organized according to how frequently I use something… or at least it was." Hermione corrected herself, looking down at the jumbled mess that was now all of her belongings in her massive trunk.
"Sorry." Ginny apologized, biting her lip. But Hermione was more than happy to help and got her trunk re-organized in no time flat.
While she was re-distributing the contents of her trunk, Ron noticed 12 fat multicolored sticks and pulled them out of the trunk.
"What are these ?" he questioned.
"Those are markers." Hermione replied, a bit surprised that he'd never seen any before.
Ron took the cap off of a purple on and examined it. It was a bit like a quill, but the ink was stored inside the body. And the part that you wrote with was fat, soft, and wet. He tested it on his hand and drew a line covering up four of his freckles. He decided he rather liked these markers. And then he got an idea. He ran over to his closet and pulled out the wooden box again. He began doodling on the side of it until he'd completed a rather poor drawing of a lion wearing a crown. Hermione picked up the blue marker and wrote "Ron's Photos" on the box in big bubble letters and outlined them in orange. Ron loved it that she was contributing to his box. The two used every single color available and covered the box in words and drawings until the plain color of the wood beneath was no longer visible. And then, without even thinking, Hermione lifted up the corner of one of Ron's Chudley's Cannons posters nearest the bed, and wrote her name on the wall underneath in the same blue marker that she'd used to write his name on the box, and then placed the corner back down again.
The two had just finished hauling Hermione's trunk back into Ginny's room when Ginny herself came running up the stairs asking where Harry was.
"Why didn't anyone tell me he'd arrived ?" She demanded.
"Gin, Harry's not here." Ron retorted and Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Well his owl's here, and so is his trunk."
The three of them had searched the whole house before Harry walked in, soaking wet through the front door. Everyone exchanged hugs and then questioned Harry about his current state.
"Dumbledore apparated me here and we landed in the garden pond." Harry recounted, amused.
"Well where is he now ?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Dunno," replied Harry. "I reckon he's gone back to Hogwarts, to get some sleep and all.
And with that, everyone finally tucked themselves in for the night and fell fast asleep. Even Harry who'd been having terrible nightmares ever since the happenings of his 5th year was so tired that he was out cold by the time his head hit the pillow.
The rest of the summer passed in a happy blur, and before they knew it, the four returning to Hogwarts- Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny- had their trunks laden with all of their new school supplies picked up just a week earlier from Diagon Alley and were finally making their way onto Platform 9 3/4 for another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Ron Weasley lay on his too-small bed in his very orange bedroom back at the Burrow. It was a week before Christmas and he was wondering how he'd gotten himself into this mess. He pulled back the corner of one of his Chudley's Canons posters to look at Hermione's name- yet again- written on his wall in her neat, loopy handwriting, the blue marker just as vivid as the day she'd written it there. This couldn't continue. Ron couldn't handle not talking to her anymore. She was his best friend…
Okay, he knew she was more to him than that, and that his feelings for her had started developing in light of the Victor Krum incident in fourth year, but hadn't really fully blossomed until the beginning of their fifth year. But what could he do ? He had a girlfriend now and Hermione hated him for it and he couldn't fix this mess- brought on by one single moment of weakness after a quiddich match- without hurting one of the two. He decided to write to Hermione. And he would ask Percy to borrow Hermes seeing as how this was important and he didn't want to trust Errol or Pigwidgeon with this job. He didn't know how to apologize, though, that was the problem. Hermione had always been the good one with words. So instead, he wrote down everything else he could think of. He asked her how her holiday was going and recounted his in full detail, leaving out any mention of his many owls from Lavender. He finished off the letter by inviting her over, as usual, for the last 5 days of break so that they could all go back to Hogwarts together. He folded up the note and placed it gently in the envelope. And then a thought occurred to him.
Ron dashed over to his closet and pulled out the wooden box. He dumped all of the pictures onto his bed and searched wildly until he'd found the one that he and Hermione had taken with her new camera over the summer. He took his quill and wrote on the back of the picture "I know that you're upset with me, but please don't throw this picture out or anything. It's one of my favorites." and he slipped the picture inside the envelope, sealed it shut, wrote Hermione's name on the front of it, and sent it off with Hermes. He then began picking up the rest of the photos and placing them in the box, his eyes falling on plenty of himself and Hermione and Harry, all taken over the summer and added to his collection. He wondered if Hermione had kept all the pictures herself.
6 days until Christmas found Hermione sulking in her bedroom back at her house, seeing as how it was the Christmas holidays, and she'd always return home to her parents for Christmas before returning to the burrow for the last few days. But this year she didn't see how that was going to be a possibility.
Hermione was woken later that night by a tapping sound at her window. Startled and barely comprehensive, several horrific explanations to the tapping noise played their way through her head as is not uncommon for sixteen-year-old girls. But coming to her sense, Hermione realized that it was probably just an owl with a message from Ginny or Harry. And she was partially right. She flicked on her light to find Hermes staring at her from the other side of the window. What on earth was Percy doing sending her letters ? Hermione quickly let the bird in, as he looked so cold out in the raging blizzard. She removed the letter from his talon and placed it on her desk, running to get small towel to dry the bird off. She then let Hermes get comfortable on her bed- deciding she'd better let him rest in her warm room for a day or two before sending him back out- and turned the letter over. She realized as soon as she spotted her name on the front of the envelope that this letter had not been sent from Percy, but instead from Ron. Oh yes, she knew that hand-writing. She'd saved every letter he'd ever sent to her and was used to seeing her name in his untidy scrawl. Hermione always kept letters, no matter how insignificant, because she always found that when she was lonely, her old letters always helped to cheer her up. She had dozens from Ron from over the years- some just making casual conversation, some part of a chain of letters back and forth between the two, some invitations inviting her to the burrow- all kept with letters from Harry, the other Weasleys and countless others in a tin box with a painting of a mouse wearing a dress on the top of it. The box had a latch where a small padlock used to keep it locked, but Hermione'd lost the lock years ago.
A mix of bitterness, sadness, and confusion washed over her with just the tiniest inkling of hope. She wondered aloud if Lavender knew that Ron had been writing to her, but then decided she didn't care. She ripped open the envelope and found a long bit of parchment folded up inside. She read the note through and felt a pang of loneliness. There was no apology, but he was writing to her and inviting her to the Burrow, so it was something. She knew Ron by this point and knew that this was the best she was going to get from him, so she decided that she was going to send a note back with Hermes the following night with Hermes accepting his invitation. It seemed that he had been missing her as much as she'd been missing him. Her theory was confirmed when she pulled out the picture and read his little note on the back. She still had hers too, but in a fit of rage, she'd crammed it somewhere amongst her Herbology notes from 2nd year the day she got home for Christmas holiday. Like letters, school notes were another thing Hermione never got rid of. She fished her picture out from amidst her notes that she kept in rows of silver filing cabinets in the corner of her room closest to her desk, and pinned the two pictures side by side to a bulletin board she'd bought a few years back, but had never hung anything on until now.
Ron missed her. And if she could get their friendship back, that was at least a start.
Two days after Christmas, Ronald Weasley eagerly awaited Hermione's arrival at the Burrow. He'd gotten her owl saying that she'd accepted his offer and would be coming to the burrow, as per tradition. So this meant the were talking again. Ron was thrilled. He'd get time to talk to her and just goof around and flirt and bicker like they used to before Lavender. Ron couldn't contain his excitement. He actually cleaned his room by himself in hopes that the time would pass more quickly. And the time did pass more quickly, because just as he'd finished, their was a knock on the his bedroom door. He hadn't heard his dad pull in and Hermione was early, but he didn't think twice on it. He wretched open his bedroom door and his face fell and his mouth went dry and his stomach twisted up in a tight knot.
"Surprise Won- Won !" came a high pitched greeting from the girl standing outside his bedroom door, who was definitely not Hermione.
Ron couldn't move. Lavender threw her arms around him and kissed him full on the mouth, apparently not even realizing that he wasn't responding to any of it. Harry had heard the commotion and come to see what was going on. At the sight of Lavender he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, marching himself directly down the stairs and away from what was sure to ruin a wonderful reunion and friendship.
"What is it Won- Won ?" Lavender cooed.
"What are you doing here ?" he asked, voice breaking. This had obviously not been the answer that Lavender had been hoping for, as she began to pout and march down the stairs just as Harry did, pulling Ron along behind her.
"I just thought my Ronniekins would enjoy a little surprise. We've been apart for so long and I've missed you. Haven't you missed me ?" she questioned him, batting her lashes.
"Yeah, Lav, of course." this had also apparently not been a romantic enough answer, as she continued on, on the verge of tears.
"You know I paid for a train here all out of my own pocket and I walked here from the station in town. At least show a bit of gratitude or happiness to see me or something." she was raising her voice now and most of Ron's family had now stopped dead in their tracks to listen to what was going on in the kitchen.
Ron was almost about to tell her that he never asked her to do any of that when the door creaked open and Mr. Weasley walked in dragging a large trunk behind him with Hermione following along behind. Ron's heart plummeted into his stomach. Everyone left the kitchen in a hurry at that moment except for Ron, Hermione, and Lavender. Harry and Ginny stood half hidden on the staircase nearby.
Hermione's face fell upon seeing Lavender in the middle of the Weasley kitchen. She had half a mind to turn around and walk right out the door, but her pride kept her rooted to the spot.
"What's she doing here ?" Lavender demanded, although Hermione thought that she was the one who'd ought to be asking that question. Ron was speechless and looked at Hermione with wide eyes. Hermione was smart enough to know that with the way Ron had been acting, this probably hadn't been planned. Maybe Lavender was supposed to have left an hour ago and missed her train or whatever the case was, Hermione didn't know, but she was furious.
"I was invited." she declared, not letting any of her anger show through. Harry, watching from a distance, thought this was funny because at the moment, Hermione reminded him of when Hagrid had picked him up from the Dursley's back in his first year and taken him to collect the Sorcerer's stone from Gringotts. The whole time Hagrid had told everyone that he was on special Hogwart's duty that professor Dumbledore only entrusted to him. The same pride that Hagrid had shown was emanating from Hermione at the moment and the resemblance amused Harry.
"Oh yes, I reckon this was your idea." said Lavender, turning to Ginny with a sickly sweet smile, ignoring Hermione completely. Ron, however, didn't take his eyes off of Hermione and silently begged her to understand what had happened, but she refused to meet his eyes. This couldn't go on any longer.
"No, Lavender. I invited her." Ron's voice didn't let on to the fear he felt and he was glad for it. Lavender spun around at him.
"Excuse me ?" she whispered. " You invited HER over for the holidays and not me ?! I'm your girlfriend for god's sake !" She shrieked the last bit of this.
Hermione, amused to hear that Ron hadn't indeed invited Lavender over at all, began dragging her trunk towards the stairs where Ginny and Harry were trying to silence fits of giggles. Hermione's sudden move to make herself at home enraged Lavender further.
"No ! You stop that now ! Get out of my boyfriend's house you have no right being here ! Won- Won tell her to get out !" Lavender screamed. Hermione ignored her and, with the help of Harry and Ginny, carried her trunk up the stairs and into Ginny's room and then the three of them returned to the top of the staircase to listen to how this would play out.
"Lav, Hermione is my best friend. I'm not going to tell her to leave because you don't want her here. I invited her. It's a tradition. Harry spends Christmas here, Hermione at her house, and then she comes over the last few days of holiday and we return to Hogwarts together. It's always ben like that."
"Well, if you expect this to work out, it won't be like that anymore. You have to pick, Won- Won. Me or her."
Hermione wanted to go down there and scream at the wretched girl to leave them alone, they were perfectly fine before she'd come along. But she decided that this was not her battle. It was Ron's. So she waited and listened and left nail marks in the wooden banister from gripping it so hard.
"Lavender don't make me choose."
"That's the only way this can work out." she huffed.
"Well then I choose Hermione." Ron declared.
Hermione's heart soared. She didn't even bother listening to the rest of Lavender's protests or tearful pleas or screeched threats. But she did walk into the kitchen, right in front of Lavender, and put a pot of tea on for herself. She knew this would enrage the girl further, seeing how Hermione fit right into Ron's life where Lavender never would. And it only added to it when Mrs. Weasley walked in, just home from grocery shopping, and welcomed Hermione.
"Oh, Hermione dear you've finally arrived. How wonderful. Now listen, I've picked up a few packs of that raspberry tea I know you like so well. Ah, splendid you've got a pot going right now. Of course I had hoped on returning before your arrival and cooking up a nice turkey for when you finally did get here, but not to worry, you'll only have to wait a little while longer for a warm meal." Mrs. Weasley had just now noticed Lavender and turned to her and asked "And who might you be dear ?"
An hour later, Mr. Weasley had just gotten home from taking Lavender back to the train station and everyone was sitting down at the kitchen table for one of Mrs. Weasley's delicious dinners. Ron sat next to Hermione and rubbed his foot up and down her leg, and she responded with the same motions, both blushing a rosy pink.
After dinner, Hermione found herself once again sitting on Ron's bed (Harry had gone to visit Ginny in her room). Ron was once again rummaging through the top shelf in his closet, and he pulled out a small rectangular parcel and handed it to Hermione.
"Merry Christmas, Hermione."
Hermione opened it to find an elaborately decorated bottle of perfume inside of a small, rectangular cardboard box. She brought the bottle to her nose and inhaled. It smelled sweet but not too strong. Like orange and jasmine with a hint of rosemary.
"I love it, Ron." she exclaimed, and threw her arms around him, just like she'd done that summer. "I have a present for you too."
And with that, she opened up her trunk and pulled out a small envelope. Ron opened it up and nearly fell over when he saw what was inside. Two box seat tickets to the Chudley's Cannons game that would be taking place just two days before they were due to return to Hogwarts. Ron picket Hermione up and spun her around.
"You are brilliant. Thank you so much."
"I figured you'd enjoy that." she smiled. "Anyway, you and Harry could use a boy's day out."
"You don't seriously think I'm going to take Harry do you ?" at the bewildered look on Hermione's face, Ron continued. "For starters, he's already bought two tickets for he and Ginny to go see the Holyhead Harpies this Saturday, so he'll be a bit busy. And secondly, maybe I don't want to take Harry." Hermione smiled. "Plus," Ron continued. "Harry's cool and all, but he's quite an expensive date."
Hermione and Ron broke into fits of laughter at that last comment. And that night, Hermione fell asleep remembering it clear as day. A date. Ron Weasley had definitely referred to it as a date.
Hermione had ended up bringing the bulletin board to Hogwarts with her and kept it just above the headboard of her four-poster bed. She kept the curtains drawn whether she was in it or not, because she didn't want Lavender to see the photos of her and Ron pinned to it. Not because it would upset Lavender- she really didn't care about that- but because ever since the fiasco in the Weasley kitchen, Hermione spent every night in her dormitory listening to Lavender gossip to Pavarti and the other sixth year girls about what a boyfriend- stealing tramp Hermione was. Some of the girls listened intently, some of them told Lavender to shut it and go to sleep. She knew she shouldn't care about what Lavender had to say, but some of the things were just so nasty.
Hermione had also pinned her Chudley's Cannon ticket stub to the bulletin board next to a picture of herself, Ginny, and Penelope (who could be found more and more often at the Weasley home) bundled up in their Weasley sweaters. Another picture on the board showed Harry and Ginny paired up against Ron and Hermione in a game of wizard's chess in front of the fireplace in the Weasley den. She would add more pictures and memories as she collected them. But she didn't want to let Lavender see them. That would just make the night's gossip worse.
On a particularly bad night, Hermione got out of bed, clad in her pajama pants, Weasley sweater, and slippers, and left the dormitory. As she walked out, Lavender hissed something about buck teeth and small breasts.
Upon entering the dormitory, Hermione's spirits lifted as she found Ron alone on the couch in front of the fireplace. To Hermione's surprise, she found that he was going over potions notes.
"Your habits must be sticking to me." he joked.
Hermione helped him finish up his studying and quizzed him on the similarities and differences between a lacewing fly mixture antidote and a bezoar. Once they had finished, Ron grabbed a massive quilt from off the floor and invited Hermione to lay down with him in front of the fire. She obliged directly and she was glad the fire was casting red and orange light over the two of them, so that her blushing was less noticeable. She layed her head on his arm and he rested his other arm just around her waste. She felt so warm. The next part happened so fast and came out of nowhere that she didn't even remember the thoughts that led up to it. All she remembered was that is was around 3:00 in the morning and she was tired and she was lying next to a boy with flaming red hair that she'd known since they were kids. A boy who she'd grown up to admire and love and a boy who was so close to her right now. She didn't want anyone else. He was in the middle of saying something about saving up for a new broomstick when she slowly moved her face closer to his. His words trailed off as he too realized what was about to happen. Before Hermione could move a centimeter closer, Ron grabbed her face with the hand that wasn't underneath her and kissed her very softly on the lips. Hermione's hands lingered at his collarbone before finding their way to his face as well. They kissed well into the morning and fell asleep with Hermione cradled in Ron's arms.
They were awoke the next morning by a high pitched shriek, signaling Lavender's arrival into the common room.