Chapter 1

"Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione called. "Ginny? Ron?"

"Why am I third?" her boyfriend replied from the kitchen of the Burrow.

"Because they're usually downstairs and you're upstairs with Harry. Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen."

"Why are they all go-" Hermione started as she walked through the kitchen doorway. "What in the name of Alphabetization is going on here?"

Ron, sauce splattered, turned sheepishly away from the stove. A frying pan of noodles boiled over on the back burner next to the sauce, and meatballs rolled around in a bottom of a kettle. He helplessly held a spatula and a spoon. Hermione laughed, marched across the room, and took over.

"Ron… why?"

"Well, I heard that women like it when men cook for them. And I wanted to surprise you," Ron shrugged, half expecting to be reprimanded for blindly rushing into something completely unprepared. There wasn't a cookbook or even a scrawled note of a recipe.

"I'm surprised all right. Why isn't anyone else home? I've never seen the Burrow this empty."

"Ginny's visiting Luna; Mum and Dad are on vacation still. Harry won't be here for another 3 days," Ron explained.

Hermione turned suspiciously away from the stove, where she had miraculously saved dinner. "And your parents are okay with this? Just us here?"

"Well," Ron admitted, "they don't exactly know. I kind of told them that you'd get here the same day as Harry. Then when they find out that you've been here for days, I'm going to say that I didn't realize I sent you a different date."

" Ronald Bilius Weasley. I can't believe you lied to me and your parents." Her chastising carried no weight as she smiled when she said it. "Dinner's done."

Ron wiped his face with towel while Hermione dished out the spaghetti. They sat side by side at the large table to eat.

"Not bad," Ron complimented Hermione, "considering what I gave you to start with."

"It was very nice of you, Ron, to make dinner for me. Thank you."

"I…you're welcome," Ron blushed.

Despite their pleasant comments, dinner tasted rather awful. Hermione had tried to salvage the meal, but the sauce was watery, the noodles were overcooked, and the meatballs were burned on one side. It took them quite awhile to clean the catastrophe in the kitchen, and by the time they were finished, it was rather late.

"I'll help you get your stuff upstairs," Ron offered awkwardly in the empty kitchen.

"Thanks."

"I missed you all summer," Ron whispered as he hugged Hermione outside Ginny's room.

Using Ron's shoulders for balance, she tip-toed to kiss him. He pulled her closer with one hand on the small of her back and one on the back of her neck and bit back a groan as she shifted against him. They kissed with the impatience of two people who had been apart for two months and then had a dinner-disaster to contend with. Ron slid a hand down to rest on her bottom. She made no motion of protest but broke apart a few seconds later.

"Good night, Ron," she said as she disappeared into the bedroom.

Chapter 2 coming soon, hopefully.