A/N: Dedicated to Chelsea, in memory of Shannon. Hope you like!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
"I hate him, you know." Ginny said suddenly into the silence. She and Hermione were lying on the grass behind the burrow, the summer heat enveloping them in a blanket of warmth. The sky was navy above them, littered with twinkling white, bubbly looking stars. The grass was dewy underneath them and soft, spongy rather than prickly. Hermione let her head roll to the side, resting her cheek on the grass and looking curiously at Ginny.
"Hate who?" she queried. All had been silent ever since they'd both come out here after dinner to escape the bustle and noise inside the burrow. Harry and Ron were inside, discussing plans with several members of the Order, wondering how best to go about destroying Horcruxes and such.
"Harry." Ginny said flatly, picking up a blade of grass and tearing into tiny pieces above her, letting them litter her stomach.
"You hate him, but you've been snogging him senseless for weeks?" Hermione asked, slightly amused. Ginny didn't answer right away and Hermione found herself fiddling with a long blade of grass, twirling it between her thumb and forefinger.
"We broke up…or rather, he dumped me." Her voice had lost its flatness, replaced by something that sounded a little bit like sadness, a little like defiance.
"He what?" Hermione blurted in surprise, forgetting to be sympathetic.
"At Dumbledore's funeral. Said stuff like it was too dangerous for us to keep being us because of…well you know."
"Well, he does have a point doesn't he?" Hermione spoke tentatively, afraid of Ginny's reaction.
"You're taking his side?" Ginny exploded, rolling on her side to face Hermione. Fire blazed in her hazel eyes and Hermione nearly whimpered in fear.
"No, I'm not taking sides, Ginny, really." She assured her quickly, cowering a little.
"I don't know why he thinks he has to protect me. I'm a big girl, perfectly capable of defending myself!" She pounded the grass in front of her with a fist and angry tears filled her eyes.
"I think he knows that," Hermione ventured slowly, "But he cares about you a lot Ginny. He's just trying to keep you safe. The only way he really can."
"Yeah, yeah. I know, I've told myself that a million times already. But it still hurts." The tears of anger quickly turned to tears of anguish and Ginny swiped at her eyes, rolling again onto her back.
"Well, you care about him too. It's allowed to hurt." Hermione said reasonably.
"I want to go with them." Ginny said suddenly, fiercely.
"Me too." Hermione agreed instantly.
"Really?" Ginny asked in slight surprise, rolling yet again to face Hermione.
"Why wouldn't I?" Hermione hissed rather defensively.
"Well, I just thought…you know, you're such good friends that they'd let you go along if you wanted…I thought you wanted to stay behind." She finished rather sheepishly.
"Oh believe me, I wanted to go! But no! Harry and Ron had to be all noble and protecting of poor wittle Hermione." She spat in disgust.
"I hate them both." Ginny decided.
"I second that."
"Hey!" Ginny exclaimed as though something had just dawned on her. "You said Harry and Ron." She pointed at Hermione as she said this, as though this would prove her point.
"Is that important?" Hermione asked, cocking her head in confusion.
"Well, if Harry cares about me so much that he's protecting me by keeping me home…" Ginny trailed off purposely and raised her eyes suggestively, waggling them.
"Ginny! I know where this is going and you stop right there! Ron is my friend." She emphasized, narrowing her eyes warningly. Ginny ignored her.
"Oh come on! Do not tell me you don't see it!"
"There's nothing to see." Hermione repeated stubbornly.
"Ron fancies you, just like Harry fancies me!" Ginny told her, poking her in the shoulder. "And I know you fancy him."
"I do not!" Hermione exclaimed, her cheeks heating in a flush. She busied herself with the strands of grass she was wringing in her hands.
"You know I'm just as stubborn as you Hermione, we could go on all night."
"Alright, fine. Maybe I fancy him a little. But just a little." She conceded, but just a little.
"Now that that's out of the way, we can go back to hating them now." Ginny's voice started out normally, but elevated in anger near the end.
"I don't see why they think we'll be safer here. After all, just as many Death Eaters can find us here as if we're travelling with them."
"They don't think. They just do. Men are prats." Ginny spat vehemently and Hermione laughed.
"They could be gone forever!" Ginny continued, "How am I supposed to sit here day after day feeling completely useless, knowing that Harry and my brother could be out there getting themselves killed?" Tears had reappeared in her eyes. Hermione found her own vision blurring suddenly, at the idea that Ron and Harry might never come back to the burrow again.
"Men are prats." Hermione repeated uselessly. Ginny wiped the tears off her cheeks and looked at the light emanating from the crack under the back door.
"Suppose we just march in there and tell them we're coming too?" Her hazel eyes had regained their fire and she was staring intently at the back door. Hermione bit her lip.
"Well, I suppose we could do that, but would it really help things any? Remember, this is Harry and Ron we're talking about here."
"Well, maybe if we were persistent enough, then they would…" Ginny trailed off helplessly. "Oh who am I kidding? It's Harry and Ron." She threw her hands in the air and flopped heavily onto the grass. The back door opened suddenly and a cone of light escaped into the yard. Hermione's eyes moved to the door and the two shadows standing in the frame of light. The shadows moved towards them suddenly, closing the door behind them. Ginny had noticed too.
"Oh peachy." She muttered.
"Play nice." Hermione mumbled out of the corner of her mouth.
"Hey guys." Harry and Ron sat down cross-legged in the grass. Harry smiled at Ginny. She turned her head pointedly away and stared into the darkness, her mouth pressed into a firm line.
"What's with you?" Ron asked, throwing a clump of dirt at the back of his sister's head.
"Ron!" Hermione gasped, "What was that for?" He shrugged sheepishly. Before she could say anything more, the clump of dirt had found it's way from Ginny's hand to Ron's forehead.
"Don't start with me, Ron." She told her brother warningly, turning her back on the two boys.
"Ginny, don't be mad." Harry pleaded.
"Why shouldn't she be mad?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms.
"It's safer this way. I thought we'd been through this already." Harry let his fingers rest on Ginny's arm.
"Don't touch me!" she snarled, jerking her arm away.
"I thought you understood." Harry looked at her.
"I do. But that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it." Ginny's voice had lost all anger and she was staring at Harry, tears blurring in her hazel eyes. Hermione blinked in shock as she watched. Somehow, in the last five seconds, Harry and Ginny had become oblivious to the outside world. It was as though they were locked within each other.
"Why don't you two go for a walk?" she suggested, hoping to break the tense silence. The two seemed to shake themselves groggily from their trance. As they walked away, Ginny's earlier speech about Ron came back to Hermione and she blushed, realizing the two of them were now sitting alone together in the dark backyard.
"So, uh…why exactly is Ginny angry?" Ron asked cautiously.
"What do you mean why?" Hermione had to restrain herself from snarling.
"Is it cause her boyfriend's leaving?" Ron appeared genuinely confused.
"Oh," Hermione said with sudden realization, "you don't know they broke up."
"They what? He dumped my sister?" Ron snapped angrily, leaping to his feet. Hermione grabbed his arm.
"Ron, no! He did it for good reason." She told him calmly. He sat back down and looked at her.
"Well, obviously if they were going out, You-know-who might try to go after Ginny." Ron nodded in understanding.
"And of course, with you two leaving, they can't exactly have a relationship can they?" It was as she said relationship that she suddenly realized her hand was holding tightly to his forearm. Her gaze darted down to it and his followed. Blushing furiously, she dropped his arm as though he had shocked her.
"Right. Right uh, yeah that makes sense." Ron sputtered into the awkward silence.
"Yes, well, perhaps if you would just let us come, then non of this wou-"
"You can't come and you know it." Ron interrupted.
"And why not?" Hermione asked crossly.
"It's too dangerous." Ron wasn't too eager to get into an argument and it showed in his voice.
"Oh it's too dangerous for me, but it's perfectly fine for you and Harry to go?"
"Well…yeah."
"That's rubbish!"
"It's not, either!" He snapped, instantly defensive, "You could get killed!"
"So could you." Hermione stated obviously.
"It's different." Ron said.
"How?"
"It's just…different."
"You are im-poss-ible!" she snapped.
"I am not!"
"You are.""Not."
"Just give me a clear answer, Ronald Weasley, why can't I go?"
"Because I don't want you getting hurt!" he snapped without realizing exactly what he was saying.
"Oh and you think I want you out there getting hurt?" she yelled angrily. They were both on their feet now and standing toe to toe.
"Who says I'm going to get hurt?" He yelled, offended.
"No one! But it's very likely-"
"So you're saying you don't think I'm strong enough to defend myself?" he shouted indignantly.
"I'm not saying that! I'm just saying how am I supposed to sit here and wonder all day if you're still alive?" She snarled defensively.
"Why would you care?"
"Because I love you, you bloody great prat!" She slapped a hand over her mouth and gasped. "Uh, I mean, well…what I meant was…oh hell."
"You what?" Ron asked.
"You… heard me?" She said tentatively.
"Well…I mean I never…you and…what about…Krum and…well McLaggen and you…and I never thought…you never…we never…Lavender and…are you…do you really…I mean…I suppose what I'm saying…"
"Ron?" Hermione interrupted quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"Oi! Don't tell me to shut up! You started this whole bloody mess!"
"Mess? I blurt out my feelings and you call it a mess?"
"Well, I didn't mean…that's not fair…"
"Argh!" Hermione threw her hands in the air helplessly and stomped away.
"Hey! Where are you going? Hermione?" he called out helplessly, trailing after her.
"Go away, Ron." She told him patiently over her shoulder.
"Now, hold on…I-"
"Look it's fine, you think it's a mess, we'll just forget it ever happened. You can go off tomorrow without me-"
"Would you stop throwing that in my face?"
"No, I will not."
"I told you, you can't go cause you might get hurt and-"
"Why do you care?" she snarled over her shoulder.
"Because I love you, idiot!" She stopped walking and Ron walked right into the back of her, knocking them both to the grass.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"I said…I love you, idiot."
"I could have done without that last part." She told him.
"Sorry."
"Krum and I are just friends and I only asked McLaggen to that party to make you jealous." She told him softly, aware that he still on top of her.
"What? Oh right. Well, that's good I s'pose."
"Yes, I suppose it is."
"So...you understand why you can't come?"
"Same reason Ginny can't. Harry loves her."
"And I love you." Ron finished.
"So you've said…several times."
"You've only said it once." Ron reminded her.
"I love you...but you're beginning to cut off the circulation to my legs."
"Sorry." Ron flushed and rolled off her. She stretched her legs.
"No permanent damage."
"Ha ha."
"So, um…" she trailed off.
"Yeah, uh, Harry and Ginny have been gone awhile…for two people who are supposed to have broken up." His eyes narrowed. "They'd better not be- I'm going to find them." He started to stand. She grabbed his arm again.
"You are not! You are going to stay here and let them have one last night of peace. Before the three of us leave in the morning."
"You are not coming!" Ron insisted.
"You can't stop me!"
"I can too!"
"I'd love to see you try."
"You can't come!"
"You're being ridiculous!"
"I am not! I told you…you can't come cause you could get hurt…and I couldn't stand that." He told her gravely, taking her hands. She pulled away.
"And I've told you…you could get hurt too…and I couldn't stand that." Her eyes had begun to water.
"Oh no…don't do that!" He pleaded.
"Don't do what?" she asked with a sniff.
"Cry! Don't cry! I hate it when girls cry…'specially you."
"I can cry if I want too, Ronald Weasley."
"Why are you always so bloody stubborn?" he demanded.
"Oh I'm the stubborn one, am I?"
"Course you are!"
"Don't call me stubborn, Ronald. If anyone here is stubborn it's you."
"I am not!"
"You are!"
"Not!"
"Are!"
"Not!"
"Are!" She gasped audibly when he did something quite unexpected. It didn't last long though, because his lips were drowning out any sounds that might have come. He pulled away, smirking confidently as she blinked dreamily.
"What was that for?" she asked, in a slight daze.
"Had to shut you up somehow."
"Our first kiss was you shutting me up?" she was instantly on defense.
"No! It's not like that! I mean…I…" he trailed off when he realized she was laughing. "Oi! That's not funny."
"It was." She told him.
"It was no-"
"Ron. Can we please not argue? Not tonight. Not now." She pleaded.
"Yeah, alright."
"Good." She told him, brushing her lips lightly against his.
"That was nice. Can we do more of that?" Ron asked eagerly. Hermione laughed.
"You're a pig."
"Am not."
"Are.""Am not."
"Just shut up and kiss me again, prat."
"Don't call me a prat!"
"Ron!"
"What?"
"Just kiss her idiot!" Ginny and Harry materialized from the bushes behind them.
"Shut up!" Ron requested, his ears bright red. Hermione took instant notice of the way Ginny's blouse was rather cock-eyed.
"What were you two doing in those bushes anyway?" she asked slyly, raising an eyebrow. Ron stiffened beside her, apparently noticing their rumbled appearance as well.
"Yeah, what were you and my sister doing in there Harry?"
"We were just…well, we weren't really…and…"
"Just tell me Harry." Ron stepped away from Hermione, a playful smirk on his face. Ginny stepped away from Harry. The two boys stood toe to toe.
"What were you and Hermione doing on the ground?" Harry countered.
"I asked you first!" Ginny and Hermione laughed.
"Men are prats." Hermione said.
"And we still hate them for not letting us come." Ginny added.
"Just not as much."
"Exactly."