Hey guys! This is the revised version of my old story "Private intimacy". If anything of the Harry Potter universe belonged to me, I would be married to Ron right now, enjoying my millions :-) Kudos to JK. Rowling. I can't wait for the new film next week!

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Chapter 1 - Plans

Hermione closed her eyes and breathed in the soft, warm summer air deeply. Warm sunrays made her body shiver, though she was not cold. She could not remember when she felt like this the last time. She remembered that every inch of her body had longed for this feeling for so long, but never really felt it. It was peace and it finally made her feel whole again.

Ever since the trio had arrived at the burrow, Hermione had tried to sneak out into the sun as often as possible. The dark, heavy clouds that used to cover the sky over the past two years had vanished directly after the dark lord's downfall. That and the fact that she could just lay down in the middle of the garden without worrying how to protect herself from being attacked and eventually just killed, made her long for even more hours in the sun.

Sunlight tickled Hermione's nose and she chuckled silently.

"What is so funny?" a voice asked and Hermione did not need to open her eyes to know who it was.

"Ron, it is not very polite to creep up on somebody. You could seriously scare somebody to death." She did not open her eyes while talking. She knew she sounded like his mother and smiled inwardly. She never did that on purpose, but over the past month she got the impression that he did not despise this kind of tone at all.

Ron started laughing. "You recognized me anyway…" he justified himself. "Plus, I don't think you would have noticed me anyway, even if I had warned you. You are ways too relaxed."

"There is no 'too relaxed'!" Hermione giggled, because she knew that she herself had just started the old scheme of teasing.

"Look at that! You finally understood my way of life!" Ron replied sarcastically and she was glad that she was not the only one who seemed to enjoy their patterns.

Hermione opened her eyes only when she noticed that he had laid down himself next to her. He had placed himself very near next to her, turned on his side, bent his arm, supported his head and sighed.

She carefully watched every move he made, taking in his looks, his facial expressions, every muscle he clenched. Her eyes wandered over his freckled, tanned, sun-kissed skin. She suppressed the urge to reach out and let her hand withdraw circles onto the soft skin right where shoulder and neck met.

She felt the well-known tingling feeling in her stomach. It was probably because he lied so extremely near to her that she could feel his warm breath against her skin.

Though he had closed his eyes she could imagine their exact colour. It has been often enough that she had been staring in those deep sapphire blue eyes.

"Do you have to go?" He asked quietly, never opening his eyes. She was glad he started talking, because she would have definitely had trouble focussing if she had let herself watch him any second longer.

"What do you mean?" she asked though she knew what he meant.

"Well, I know you need to go, but I don't want you to", Ron stated, opened his eyes and met her gaze.

She was surprised. Ron had never been the one who expressed his feelings that openly. Actually their first kiss had been a month ago and they had not spoken about it yet, let alone repeated it. It was the same tiring circle of avoiding the serious talks. There were moments when she just wanted to grab him, shake him senselessly and scream at him. But then again she would not want to rush things now that they had every time they needed.

Memories flashed her mind - the surprised, flabbergasted look on Ron's when she had kissed him. The thought of their kiss made Hermione blush and she looked away.

"Are you blushing?" Ron teased her and chuckled slightly.

"NO! I am not!" Hermione blurted and the shade of her face turned even redder.

"Oh, yes… You ARE!" Ron could not stop smiling, knowing that he was the one who caused her crimson.

"Maybe I am… What does that matter?" She asked offensive.

Inside her head bells were ringing and wheels were clattering. Though she decided not to push him into any talk he was not ready for, the flirty undertone he so often used on her lately was something that was not exactly helpful with these principles.

Hermione had been understanding and supportive the complete past four weeks, because she knew he was grieving. Every single one of the Weasley family had a different way to mourn for Fred. She had blocked out any chance that Ron could make a move.

And now he made his step. And it had been completely unexpected.

A few hours ago she had told him and Harry that she would leave for Australia to search for her parents.

Why did he have to make his move right before her departure?

"You know that I will go along with you, don't you?" Ron asked and Hermione tried to stop herself from smiling.

"No", she disagreed, but when she saw his disappointment she continued immediately.

"No, I didn't know. Now I DO know."

After Ron had understood her teasing he presented his famous lop-sided grin, which Hermione adored passionately.

"When are we going to leave?"

How would she be able to stand him being so near to her, travelling with her, having him right next to her in those emotional times?

"I thought about going the day after tomorrow. Kingsley told me he could arrange a port key taking me to France and from then it will be an easy journey, lots port keys, some apparating… Are you still sure you want to come?"

She looked him straight in the eyes as if to tell him to say no, although it was the complete opposite of what she wanted.
Sometimes even she was surprised about the weird, complicated, twisted way her brain seemed to work. When Ron told her he would come with her to Australia, pure joy had filled her. The vision of having him with her, being able to avoid missing him, had been almost too much for her heart.
However, the nearness of him scared her, too. She could not really picture herself, going on a journey together with Ron without having talked about what they were.

But then again she admitted to herself that it was trip of a couple of days and they would probably be back to England within a blink of the eye. Besides they had been in the woods for months without discussing what they felt.

"I am pretty damn sure about it!" Ron's outburst brought her back to reality. "And you don't have to tell me to stop swearing. Sometimes it's an appropriate way to highlight your point. I'm gonna go pack!"

And with that he left Hermione, who smiled about the choice of words he had just used as well as the cozy feelings that came along with the statement.

So this is it. Next chapters will follow over the next few days! Don't forget to leave a comment!

Oh boy, I missed this. Kisses to Delta ;-)