A/N: This story takes place during the summer between the trio's 5th and 6th years at Hogwarts.
"Ronnie…"
Ron Weasley grunted and rolled over. "Wake up Ronniekins," said George, jabbing his brother with his wand.
"Go away!" Ron mumbled. "Get out of my room!"
Fred and George grinned. "C'mon Ronnie. Hermione's gonna be here any minute you know."
That got Ron going. He sat up and pointed at the door angrily. "Out! Get out you gits!"
With a snigger the twins left the room. Ron sighed and flopped down on his bed. Hermione had gone home after the end of their fifth year, but now she was coming to spend the rest of the summer at the Burrow. Just thinking of her made Ron smile and his heart skip a beat.
Ron was unsure of how to proceed with Hermione. He knew he was having some very strong feeling toward her, but wasn't sure of her feelings toward him, or whether she had snogged Viktor Krum. Well, thought Ron smirking, at least she's coming here instead of going to Bulgaria. That's got to mean something.
"Ron!" yelled Mrs. Weasley. "Get down here!"
"Relax Mum!" Ron yelled back as he rolled out of bed and got dressed.
"You're father's picking her up, she'll be here any minute," Mrs. Weasley said anxiously as Ron shoveled eggs and bacon onto his plate. "Ginny, did you clean your room dear?"
"Yeah, Mum," Ginny said rolling her eyes, "but it's Hermione!"
"Bye Mum!" chorused Fred and George as they stepped up to fireplace.
"Oh! Goodbye dears!" she said kissing them. "We'll see you soon, don't forget to write!"
"Bye, Gin. Bye Ronnie. Have fun with Hermione," they both sniggered, and, throwing floo powder into the grate, disappeared.
"Shut up, Ginny," Ron said venomously as she giggled.
"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley was prevented from telling him off by the sound of slamming doors and voices. "Oh goodness! They're here!"
Ron swallowed his toast in an effort to keep the butterflies in his stomach at bay. "Good morning!" Mr. Weasley said brightly as he came through the door, dragging Hermione's trunk.
"Hermione!" Ginny squealed, jumping up and running to hug her.
"Hello dear," said Mrs. Weasley, giving her a peck on the cheek.
"Hello Ginny, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione beaming.
"I'll just put this in Ginny's room then?" said Mr. Weasley.
"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said.
By now Ron had gotten to his feet. "Hullo Hermione," he said.
Hermione's face softened. "Hello Ron," she replied quietly.
Ginny cleared her throat. "Well, I'll just go, er, feed the chickens then," she said and dashed out.
"Hermione, you must be starving. Come and eat," said Mrs. Weasley.
She fixed Hermione a full plate, then muttered something about cleaning and hurried out. Hermione and Ron both sat staring at their plates. "So, how're your parents?" Ron finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Oh! Um, they're really well."
"They didn't mind you coming here for so much of the summer?"
To Ron's surprise, Hermione blushed. "Er…no. No, they were fine with it."
Hermione suddenly became very busy with her eggs. But Ron wasn't satisfied. "What about Vicky?"
Hermione stopped. "What about him?" she asked, her voice dangerously low.
"Er, well, I just hope we didn't spoil any of your plans to, you know, visit him…"
"No, I told him maybe another time. Besides, I'd much rather be here with you."
Ron's eyes widened. "I mean," Hermione said quickly, "with your family."
"Oh, yeah," Ron said, disappointed, "my family."
The next morning Ginny woke Hermione early. "C'mon!" she cried. "Let's go to the lake!"
"Five more minutes," Hermione groaned, rolling over.
"No! C'mon Hermione! It's 8:30 already!"
"Oh, all right," Hermione grumbled.
She got out of bed and slipped down the hall to the bathroom in her over-large t-shirt and shorts.
Just as she reached the end of the hall the bathroom door opened to reveal Ron, rubbing his eyes, in nothing but a pair of stripy boxers. The horrified look on her face echoed his own. Ron's ears turned bright red and he dashed past her to his room, slamming the door behind him.
Hermione ran into the bathroom and did the same thing. Breathing heavily she leaned against the door. She was so embarrassed! Well, it was his fault, she consoled herself. He should have realized. Who was she kidding? This was terrible! She'd never be able to look him straight in the eye again!
Sighing Hermione set to work getting ready for the beach.
By the time everyone had gathered downstairs Hermione had decided not to mention the morning's excitement. Apparently Ron had decided the same thing, although his ears did turn bright red inexplicably at the sight of her. They ate their porridge in uneventful silence, even though Ginny kept throwing them suspicious glares. At last they were ready.
"Bye Mum!" Ginny yelled.
"Oh! Goodbye dears. Don't forget, Bill's coming home tonight. Be on time for dinner!"
Hermione followed Ginny and Ron down to a gorgeous, sparkling lake, bordered by a thick forest. By this time they had all grown very hot and jumped right in.
The water was freezing and took Hermione's breath away. She came up gasping for air and watched as Ron and Ginny broke the surface of the clear, blue water. "How do you keep this lake so clean?" Hermione asked.
"Magic," Ginny said. "Dad does it."
"It's wonderful," Hermione sighed, floating on her back.
They spent about fifteen minutes talking and laughing in the water before it happened. Ginny made to splash Ron and got Hermione full in the face.
Ginny gasped and started giggling at the murderous glare on Hermione's face. Before she could calm herself Hermione had sent a great wave toward her. Thus a huge three-way battle ensued.
They had been going at it for about ten minutes when Ginny got Hermione in the face again. As she sputtered and wiped her eyes, Ron snuck up behind her and grabbed her around the waist. Hermione shrieked as both she and Ron went plunging into the lake.
They came up laughing until Hermione realized Ron still had an arm about her waist. Ron stopped laughing and their eyes locked. Hermione swallowed hard. They were close, much too close. Ron reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind Hermione's ear. His hand lingered on her cheek. He leaned forward, closer, closer…
Ginny cleared her throat. Ron and Hermione leapt apart, Ron's ears turning red. Ginny looked at them expectantly. "I can go…"
"No! No it's fine," Hermione protested.
"There was a bug and…" Ron added with a nervous laugh.
"Right," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "Lunch?"
"Excellent!" Ron said, a little too brightly.
They went back to the Burrow around five, avoiding Mrs. Weasley who was in a tizzy about Bill's arrival.
Hermione took a shower and tried to comprehend what had happened earlier. What was going on? Her emotions were raging. She was so confused as to how she felt.
Ginny tried to corner her after her shower, but Hermione chose the less of the two evils and went to help Mrs. Weasley with dinner.
By 7:00 the table was set for seven people and Mrs. Weasley was standing anxiously in the kitchen, stain at the clock. Mr. Weasley's hand flipped to traveling and then to home as he came through the kitchen door. "Hello everyone!"
"Hello!" they all chorused.
"They're coming!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.
Bill's hand had just swung to traveling. Seconds later it pointed at home and they heard laughter. "Mum, who's the last place for?" Ron asked suddenly.
At that moment his answer burst through the door on Bill's arm. "Fleur?!" Ginny, Ron and Hermione cried.
"'Allo," Fleur replied.
"Hello Fleur, Bill," Mr. Weasley said.
"Bill!" Mrs. Weasley hurried to hug and kiss her son.
"Hello Mum, Dad, Gin, Hermione, Ron," Bill greeted them. "I'm starving, when's dinner?"
"What is she doing here?" Hermione hissed at Ginny as they sat down.
"They're dating," Ginny whispered. "Didn't know she was coming tonight though."
Hermione glanced at Ron and couldn't resist kicking him under the table when she saw that very familiar open-mouthed look of awe. This quickly brought Ron to his senses and he cast a nervous glance at Hermione before he began eating.
They were just finishing their dessert when it happened. "Oh Bill, I simply cannot wait any longer," Fleur said excitedly.
"Oh, all right then," Bill said with a smile. "Everyone, we have an announcement to make."
He grinned broadly and too Fleur's hand. "We're engaged."
Dead silence followed. Mr. Weasley was the first to speak. "Well, er, congratulations Son."
"Yes," Mrs. Weasley followed quickly. "Congratulations. Well, I'm going to clear the dishes."
"Ah, I will help you," Fleur said, quickly getting up from the table.
What followed was a rather vehement argument during which Ron, Hermione, and Ginny slipped out and quickly made their way to Ginny's room.
"Merlin's-"
"Beard," Ginny finished for Ron. "Mum's going to kill him."
"There was no warning at all?" Hermione asked.
"Nope," Ginny said. "I mean, she's come round for dinner once or twice, but Bill's had loads of girlfriends. All of whom Mum and Dad liked better than Fleur."
"It's really a shame," Ron said vaguely.
"What is?" Ginny asked, puzzled.
"Tying himself down at this age. I mean, he's so young. Plenty of other women…"
"Oh shut up Ron," Hermione said crossly.
Ron came out of his trance and glared at her before leaving the room.
"That wasn't nice Hermione," Ginny said after the door slammed.
"I don't know what's gotten into me," Hermione sighed. "First the lake, now this…"
"I'm glad you brought that up," Ginny said with a devilish gleam in her eye. "Let's talk about the lake."
"Oh Ginny, I'm really tired…"
"You're not going to get out of this one," Ginny said. "What happened? I turn away for two seconds and you two decided to snog?"
"It's not like that, you know it's not. I don't know what happened. All of the sudden we were just…there."
They were quiet for a moment. A loud crash from downstairs made them laugh and they started making fun of Fleur and talking about other things. Soon they got ready for bed and turned out the lights.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked as she lay in her bed.
"Hmm?"
"Do you wish he had kissed you?"
Hermione was quiet for a moment. And then, in a very small, quiet voice, she said, "yes."
Ron punched his pillow furiously. He was going to kill his brother for bringing that woman into their house. He knew what happened when Ron was around her. And now he'd gone and screwed things up with Hermione for good, just when they were starting to get so close. Now she hated him.
He'd been trying so hard and if Ginny hadn't messed things up at the lake earlier, they might have been a couple by now. Hermione would probably never speak to him again. Stupid girls. He couldn't wait until Harry arrived.
A/N: Reviews make me happy!