" Muggle Bound" by crookshanks9

A/N: This story takes place immediately following Dumbledore's funeral. One small change to HPB. The Hogwarts Express leaves the following morning rather than an hour after the funeral as is mentioned in HPB.

Disclaimer: All characters contained in this story belong to the wonderful and thankfully prolific JK Rowling. Plot ideas are my own.

Chapter 1 After the Funeral

It had been their last real afternoon together- he, Harry and Hermione. They had visited all their favourite haunts. The still lake gleamed in the golden summer sunlight contradicting the gloom cast by earlier events of the day. Hagrid's cottage nestled in its cozy glen; smoke spiraling lazily from its chimney reminding the trio of both legal and especially illegal visits. Even the Whomping Willow had its tales to tell of the triumphs of their friendship.

Their shared past bound them with invisible but strong ties while their future loomed and with it, inevitable changes. Changes to the school they loved, changes to their families and friends, changes to the entire Wizarding World. And with those changes came responsibilities that would unite them even more closely or possibly rend them apart forever.

With these thoughts etched in his mind, Ron Weasley watched his two best friends at the lake's edge. Harry was trying to teach Hermione the only foolproof method to skip a stone. It was good to see Harry relaxing after the nightmare and its aftermath. Ron chuckled as Hermione failed once more and good-naturedly accused Harry of jinxing her stone.

" Idiot! Why would I do that? This is a Muggle skill- you should have an innate ability somewhere to do this!" Harry teased, a smile finally reaching his eyes.

Hermione shoved him towards the water laughing. " No, but I do have an innate ability –shove- to get you-shove- wet!"

And with that she attempted a final shove, which Harry neatly sidestepped and then watched helpless with mirth as Hermione plunged into the lake's shining waters. Ron joined in the laughter and rose from his comfortable perch to assist Harry in hauling a dripping and furious Hermione from the lake.

" Harry, that was NOT funny!" the young witch spluttered indignantly. Wet tendrils of her curly hair flew around her sending dewdrop diamonds everywhere. Her robe clung tenderly to her now mature figure. Droplets of water shimmered on her eyelashes and moistened her well-shaped and surprisingly full lips. As the sun caught every diadem and transformed them to iridescent crystals, Hermione formed a vision so lovely that Ron was literally dazzled.

" Come on, mate. Give me a hand with this soggy mermaid," Harry broke in to Ron's reverie giving him a quizzical look. Hermione, who was now trying to wring out her drenched robe none too successfully, missed the exchange but looked up gratefully when Ron pointed his wand and declaimed," Aqua secco!" Immediately the water droplets began to dry of their own accord.

" Thank you, Ronald- you're a lifesaver!" She rewarded Ron with a smile that had him rooted to the spot and then said turning to Harry. "If it had been up to Harry, I would be starting my summer with a raging cold."

" Bloody unlikely with your skill in Potions," retorted Harry unsympathetically. " But still, I haven't seen that particular spell before, Ron. Where did you pick it up?"

" A little Weasley charm born of too many dishes, too many spills and too many brothers named Fred and George," Ron replied grinning at his two friends. Secretly he was thinking that it was a shame that the snug T-shirt that Hermione had been wearing under her robe had dried so quickly. As usual, when Ron had thoughts of this nature, he hastily turned away from his friends so they would not see the telltale blush now creeping up his face and coloring his ears crimson.

Behind him he knew Harry was probably grinning from ear to ear while Hermione would certainly be thinking the worst. He wished, not for the first time, that he could discover a charm that would eliminate the curse of a red-haired blush. He had no more time to contemplate, however, as Harry perhaps taking pity on his friend's state, yelled, " Time for dinner! Last one in has to bring Peeves a gift!"

Harry and Hermione raced past him giving them an ample head start. Ron could easily outdistance them with his long legs and muscular build, but waited until his friends had reached the Castle gate before putting in a solid effort. That way they might interpret his red cheeks as exertion and not the inevitable results of his secret thoughts towards the female member of their trio.

As they were changing for the final banquet Ron glanced at Harry to make sure he was holding up. The afternoon had been a break, but Ron knew that Harry could slip back into brooding and blaming himself at any time. The banquet this evening would be a particularly solemn occasion and not the usual joyous end of term celebration. Ron swallowed as he thought of the funeral and now its aftermath.

Harry noticed the swallow. " I'm alright, Ron, honestly. Thanks to you and Hermione. I

really needed this afternoon." He smiled remembering Hermione's plunge, smirked at Ron and said, " She made quite a splash, didn't she? And you seemed to like what you saw!"

Ron, who had been dreamily reliving the afternoon started. " What did you say?" hesnarled.

" Oh, for Merlin's sake, Ron, who do you think you're fooling? Why don't you just tell her how you feel? " Harry said in exasperated tones.

" And that's rich coming from you, mate, after what you told Ginny this afternoon!" Ron bristled hoping to turn the tables and not have this discussion with Harry.

" OK, I'm not getting into that with you, Ron. That's between me and Ginny but I can tell you that there's one huge difference. Gin knows exactly how I feel about her and why I'm doing what I'm doing but you and Hermione have been dancing around each other for the last three years and you both need to stop and do something about it, NOW!"

With that, Harry, always overcome after giving personal advice especially to his closest friends, whirled around and made a dramatic exit from the dormitory tower leaving Ron alone in a turmoil of conflicting thoughts.

What an unforgivable fool he'd been! There was nothing he wanted more than to make things right with her. There wasn't anything he wouldn't give so that they could be together. But timing had always been against him. He cringed at the thought of all the times that he'd messed up. If he had only gone to that Christmas party of Slughorn's with her but no, he'd acted like a jealous git and made an even worse fool of himself with Lavendar Brown, of all people. He didn't think that Hermione would ever forgive him for that. The most, he thought, he could reasonably expect was some shadow of their former friendship.

In this he had been successful but it was a tenuous victory, one that he had worked at carefully, avoiding quarrels and disagreements that often marred their relationship. Instead he strove to do little things. He worked harder at his studying and didn't slack on his essays. He helped her with the always-increasing load of books she insisted on carrying. He offered her Pig to deliver messages to her parents. Little things. A surprised smile, a thank you as she squeezed his hand, a hug before she departed to the girls' dormitory -all signs pointing towards the success of those little things and the reclaiming of their friendship. To go further he was reluctant to do until the timing was exactly right.

And finally that time arrived – everything seemed perfect. Harry and Ginny were together. They spent hours as a foursome .Ron gained more respect for his little sister with each day. One fateful evening Ron gathered his courage and set out to accomplish his goal. His plan was to spend time with homework and studying after dinner. Harry and Ginny would eventually depart on their ritual "walk to the Library" and back before bedtime. Then Ron would persuade Hermione to accompany him to the back corner of the Common Room behind the ancient carved griffin, which screened a small area from prying eyes. He had it all planned- what he'd say right down to the chocolate frogs that he'd been hoarding for just such a special occasion.

But that opportunity never came except in Ron's dreams. Instead the attack on Hogwarts and the fall of its beloved Headmaster darkened the horizon forever.