I know, I've been gone for awhile, but I am back with some new writing. I've been having a bit of a rough time lately (details of which are below for anyone who cares) and once again have found that writing is a good distraction, which I need right now.

Anyway...the following is the first in a series of stories I have been writing and working on for some time. They all consist of 5 short one shots (of varying length, unrelated and various timelines) all based upon the same theme...i.e. this particular one is 5 nights in Ron and Hermione's relationship...other themes will follow. I shall be posting each story in each theme as a new chapter weekly (or I intend to)

Anyway, on with the first one...really hope you like this and please read my note below...and perhaps be patient if my weekly posting doesn't go according to plan – things are very much up in the air with my life right now. Let me know what you think anyway. Thank you.

Disclaimer is on my profile page

1.

"Ron?" I called his name as I looked up from the book I was reading in bed, becoming a little concerned when I saw him stood by the window, curtain pushed aside as he looked down onto the darkened alley below. "Ron?" I called him again when he didn't answer me the first time. "Is something wrong?" I wondered if I should be on alert, if his Auror training had picked up on some possible threat.

"Huh?" he looked back at me, letting the curtain fall back into place and fiddling with the forgotten clothing he'd removed that now hung loosely in his hand.

"What are you doing and what are you looking at?" I wondered. He seemed distracted and had been acting rather strange ever since we'd got home tonight.

"Oh, erm, nothing," he muttered and began to fold his clothes – which was totally out of character for him, before placing them neatly on the stool.

"Well, stop messing about and come to bed then," I frowned and marked the page in my book before setting it down on the bedside table.

"Yeah, bed. Right," he nodded vaguely and finally moved towards the bed, pulling back the duvet to climb in beside me.

"Goodnight," I leant over and kissed his cheek before tapping the lamp with my wand to extinguish it and settled down onto my pillows.

"Actually," Ron clicked his Deluminator and light flooded back into both lamps on either side of the bed to reveal that he was still sat up, leaning against the headboard, "I thought I might read for a bit," he decided.

"Read? Now? Oh Ron, I'm tired, it's been a long day," I sighed, making myself comfortable and closing my eyes against the light.

"So? What about all the times you've sat reading when I was trying to sleep?" he snapped back, rummaging around for something in his bedside drawer.

I suppose I didn't have an answer for that, did I? "What exactly are you going to read anyway?" I glanced at his bedside table, knowing the only thing on it you could actually read was a clipping from last weeks Prophet of the current Quidditch league table and this seasons fixtures.

"Erm," he continued to rummage amongst the mess in his drawer, "I just fancy reading this," he pulled out a rather battered and dog eared copy of 'Flying with the Cannons' and showed it to me triumphantly.

"Haven't you read that about a dozen times?"

"Do I complain when you read 'Hogwarts: A History' repeatedly? It's been awhile, all right?" he huffed and made a show of opening the book up.

"Fine, but I'm going to sleep. It's late and you know what your Mum is like if we're late for lunch." I tapped my own lamp to turn it off – he could make do with the one his side and settled down again, leaving him with his book.

However, after a few minutes, I hadn't heard any tell tale rustle of pages being turned or anything. I was aware that he didn't read as fast as I did – I'm not sure anybody else did to be honest, but I also knew that book contained a lot of pictures.

"Ron," I asked into my pillow. "Are you actually reading that book or can we turn the lights out and go to sleep?" I asked him, opening one eye to peer up at him. He was sat, with the book in his lap, but staring into space with an unreadable expression. "Ron..." I poked his thigh with my finger. It might be pathetic, but I had found I wasn't able to sleep as well if I didn't start off cuddled with him.

"What?" he looked down at me. "Oh, all right, we'll go to sleep," he relented and finally tossed his book onto the floor as he rolled over to snuggle down beside me.

"You forgot the light," I reminded him.

"All right..." he mumbled and it took him a few moments before he actually turned it off.

"Goodnight," I kissed his forehead again and sighed gently, content now. He snuggled up close and pulled me into his arms, rather tightly, as though he was clinging to me. Strange, but I wasn't going to push him off me.

All had been quiet for some time, I was just in that stage of knowing you were falling asleep, right before it happens, when Ron suddenly leapt up, shouting.

"What the hell was that?" he snapped the lights back on.

"What?" I asked sleepily, covering my eyes with my hand.

"That noise. I heard a crack...in the flat somewhere."

I sighed and rolled over. "Probably just Harry getting home, Apparating into his room or something," I murmured. Honestly – who did he think it was? The pair of them had their flat above the Wheezes shop guarded with so many wards that the only people able to Apparate directly into it were those two or Ginny and myself.

"You sure?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Yes. For Merlin's sake Ron, just turn out the lights and go to sleep."

He huffed loudly, but did as I asked, though rather unwillingly and shuffled back under the covers to settle down, at least for a couple of minutes. Just as I was beginning to nod off again, Ron's fidgeting in bed disturbed me once more. I opened one eye and through the darkness I could just make him out, lying on his front, with his head hanging off the bed, muttering to himself.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing now?" I asked, sliding up onto my elbow.

"Ssh!" he hissed at me. "There's something in here... I think it's under the bed," he whispered, grabbing his wand and whispering Lumos to light it up. He looked back at me, put his finger to his lips and crawled off the bed, crouching to peer underneath it.

"What are you on about?" I whined, annoyed now as rubbed my eyes and peered over to look at him.

He shot me an aggravated look. "Something is in here, I can hear it scratching," he whispered again, creeping around.

I frowned at him and shook my head. He was behaving very oddly tonight, and I mean even more odd than usual. He crawled, on his belly, further under the bed and I could hear him sliding boxes and items aside under there.

"Ron..." I hissed, wanting him to come back to bed and just ignore whatever it was. He was starting to freak me out and I needed sleep.

"Shh!" he hissed in response, just before he let out a blood curdling scream. Had our room not been silenced, I was quite sure it would have woken the whole building, if not the whole street. He hastily backed out from under the bed, looking terrified, his wand held loosely in his hand as he shuffled backwards against the wall.

"What? What is it?" I asked, worried now myself. Maybe he was right and there really was something in here. Just before I got down beside him, my cat, Crookshanks, darted out from under the bed, hissing at him and sprinted across the room. The cat jumped up onto the windowsill where he glared at Ron with his amber eyes, his bushy tail flicking anxiously. "Oh, honestly!" I sighed and returned to my side of the bed, thumping my pillows angrily.

Ron sheepishly got to his feet, still shaking a bit and set his wand down on the bedside table again. "Well, how was I to know it was just your cat? I heard scratching and..." he faded off, his ears turning red as he glared back at my cat who was now ignoring him and had began grooming himself.

"What in Merlin's name is wrong with you tonight? You've been really jumpy ever since we got home. Anyone would think something had spook…" I faded off. "The film!" I realised.

"What?" he turned to look at me, the red flush spreading from his ears.

"That stupid film we saw tonight at the cinema." I rolled my eyes as his current bizarre behaviour suddenly all made sense. "I knew we shouldn't have gone to see a horror. It's scared you," I stated.

"No it hasn't!" he replied, rather affronted as he folded his arms over his chest determinedly. And just at that moment the window in our room rattled and Ron nearly leapt out of his skin. "What the fuck was that?"

"It's just the wind. Relax," I told him as I patted his side of the bed where he belligerently sat down. "It's okay to admit it freaked you out, Ron. I've been scared by horror films myself before. Although, it was you who wanted to see the damn thing."

"Big bloody mistake that was," he muttered, pulling his feet back into bed, "I just...well, I never expected that. It was so...horrible, with that creepy bloke thing and...the ending," he shuddered. "I didn't think Muggles, well never thought that that kind of stuff happened in the Muggle world." He looked up at me, pulling the covers up to his chin. He looked so afraid, staring into space and I melted, feeling a little sorry for him.

"Oh, sweetheart," I smiled at him and stopped myself from laughing, knowing it would only piss him off if he thought I was laughing at him and besides that wasn't the kind thing to do when he seemed genuinely afraid. "It wasn't real. None of it was. It was just a story, someone made the entire thing up. It was originally a book I believe and someone made a film about it. But the entire story wasn't true." I pulled him into my arms and stroked my fingers through his hair, finding him adorable and yet hilarious at the same time.

"Oh, right," he tried to act brave. "But...why would someone imagine stuff like that? I mean, you've got to have a pretty sick mind to think up things like that!" he looked up at me, meeting my eyes imploringly.

"Possibly," I shrugged. "But, after all the things you've seen and experienced so far in our lives, you know there are some very strange things in this world – both Magical and Muggle. And you know more than most that real evil exists. It's not that unheard of for people to imagine horrible things."

"Yeah, I suppose," he muttered, enjoying my caressing of his head as we lapsed into silence, both rather sleepy. "Can we keep the light on tonight though?" he asked after a few minutes. "You know, just to...to..." he couldn't think of a good enough excuse, other than the fact he was scared.

I smiled at him – there was something incredibly endearing about seeing him so vulnerable. "How about something else to take your mind off it?" I asked him.

"Like what?" he replied sulkily.

I answered him by pulling his face towards me and kissing him firmly on the lips as a hand slid down his body towards his thighs. I pulled back from the kiss to see his eyes, a silent question in my own.

"Yeah," he licked his lips. "Yeah, I think something like that might take my mind off it," he added eagerly, before pulling me back towards him and kissing me deeper.

Our bodies were soon naked and entangled with one another. And Ron didn't have a chance to even think about the silly film as I distracted him completely, before eventually falling into a blissful sleep together.

Thanks for reading, really hope you like it...another to come soon. Feedback is hugely appreciated.

As for more details about my absence. Since I last posted anything, I had an amazing holiday in Florida, in which I got to visit the Wizarding World at Universal Studios and spend a small fortune on Harry Potter merch. However, since then my life has gone downhill. My closest friend stopped speaking to me, I assume because I was unable to afford to go to her wedding. Mum had a fall just before Christmas and broke her foot, so I was busy trying to 'do' Christmas for everyone as well as take care of her. Then, just as she was healing, my Dad was diagnosed with cancer and isn't doing so well. We're all taking care of him right now and trying to get him strong enough for the massive surgery that he needs to hopefully cure him. On top of all that, my mental health hasn't been doing so great.

Which is why I have made myself get back into my writing – spending an hour or so a day lost in the Wizarding World and my imagination is a distraction I need.

But, please be patient if my post updates don't go as I hope to, nothing can be planned in my life right now as we don't know when or what is going to happen. Thank you.

And if you have read all that, I am grateful. Thanks for all your support.