A/N: No these aren't my people. For those of you who read my fics, I'm sorry I haven't been on in forever. I've had a lot of life-changing episodes, all at the same time, and for a while, I didn't even know if I would ever write anything again. Yes, I will continue The Three Fates, and Secret Devotions, and Learning By Doing, and I will post (for the last time) the story named Again to follow Almost. I just am not doing this yet…

Oh, and if Jeanne reads this…I'm sorry I'm failing a loyal reviewer such as yourself.

Ron's Decision

Hermione Granger stomped up the stairs to Ron's room at the Burrow. She knew Harry was up there, and she'd had enough. She was determined to give him a piece of her mind.

"All right, Harry!" she snapped, slamming the door behind her. "You're going to tell me everything, especially why you've been sneaking out in a magicked disguise every day since you've arrived."

Ron glanced at Hermione in surprise, then studied Harry.

"Yeah," he said, just noticing the behavior she referenced, "Where have you been going?"

To their great surprise, Harry actually blushed. "Well, I met someone at Diagon Alley a few days before I came here this year, and I've been going to visit them."

"Who?" both Ron and Hermione asked simultaneously.

Harry studied the floor in front of him. He seemed to think for a moment, then mumbled, "A girl."

Hermione looked horrified and Ron looked livid. Harry, realizing how he sounded, having recently broken up with Ginny, rushed to explain.

"No! Not like that! She's just a friend. I was walking around in the disguise we created, and I accidentally ran into her. She was on an errand for her boss, and she dropped everything she was carrying. I helped her pick it up, and she told me what a wanker I was the whole time."

"Nice way to begin a friendship," Hermione sniffed, still smarting for her friend, Ginny. "Is she pretty?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess so, but I've never really thought of her that way. She's so serious and driven to prove she's mature and responsible, and she hardly laughs at all. I've sort of starting going out of my way to make her laugh."

Ron frowned. "Have you thought of how Ginny would feel about this?"

Harry glared at Ron. "Do you think I ever stop thinking about your sister? I'm killing myself with wanting to be around her, but I'm trying to protect her! I spend every thought wondering if she hates me, if she understands why I'm doing this, if she's trying to move on…I think she'd be ok with me having a friend."

Hermione put her hands on her hips. "I think you're using this girl to replace Ginny, so that you can talk and laugh and make some girl smile because you don't feel like you can do that for the girl you want right now."

Harry sighed and hung his head. "You're probably right, Hermione. But what other choice do I have?"

"What's the other girl's name?" Ron demanded.

"Ev…that is, Evelyn Fairs."

Hermione continued to question Harry about how well he knew his friend Evelyn, but Ron stood and stepped outside the door.

"Oh, bugger," he swore softly. "She'll go spare."

He headed down to the kitchen in search of his only sister.

"Gin?"

Ron found her humming over a batch of cookies she was just pulling out of the oven. Ginny did not look like she was pining over Harry in the least.

"You seem happy," Ron commented, somewhat cynically.

She swung around, her face flushed in embarrassment "Ron, I didn't hear you come in."

"I wanted to see how you're doing with Harry in the house and all," her brother pressed, "I know how upset you were when he dumped you."

Ginny stared quizzically at him, frowning slightly. "Yes I was upset, but not as much as you'd think. I knew why he did it, and he never said it was permanent. Harry doesn't think he'll be around a lot, and he's still not sure if he can defeat Voldemort, so I didn't think it would hold up well, especially after the death of Dumbledore."

"So you don't care that Harry broke it off?" Ron asked, sitting down while Ginny began sliding hot cookies onto a sheet of newspaper to cool.

"Of course I care, Ron," she replied a bit testily. "I'm not going to say I don't. But I understand why he did it, and I have other friends."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that. How's things been going since you took that job at Diagon Alley?"

Ginny smiled, and Ron was struck by how little he'd seen that expression on his sister's face recently.

"Ron, taking that apprenticeship from Mr. Ollivander was the smartest thing I've ever done. Not only did I find a future career that I'm pretty good at and that I like, but I found a friend who's helped me put all the hurt over Harry on the back burner for a while."

He gritted his teeth and asked the question he didn't want to hear answered. "That friend wouldn't happen to be a bloke named Malaki Birch, would it?"

Ginny stared at her youngest brother in shock. "However did you find out about him? Never mind, I don't care how you know, Ron, leave him alone."

"Ginny, I…"

"No!" she cried, threatening him with a wooden spoon. "I mean it, Brother, mine. What ever you're going to say, I don't want to hear it. Ki is a good friend of mine and he doesn't even know my real name. Leave him out of this. I refuse to allow you to play the big brother role. He isn't a threat in any way, shape, or form."

Ron took a deep breath before meeting his sister's eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want to know, Gin?"

She smiled sadly. "Yeah, Ron. Whatever it is, this time, I just don't care."

"Ok then."

He left the kitchen and started back up the stairs, only to run into Hermione on the landing.

"I'm going to see what Ginny thinks of all this," Hermione announced.

Ron was far more mature than most people gave him credit for, and he loved Ginny beyond any other family member. Even his unexpressed feelings for Hermione couldn't surpass that devotion.

"No," he said, thrusting out an arm to hold her back. "We're staying out of this. It's something between Harry and Ginny."

Hermione fumed, "I happen to know Ginny's been seeing someone in secret, we've got to talk to them!"

Ron's voice fell low and even. "It's between Harry and Ginny."

"And whoever else those two are involved with!"

Ron's laughed was mirthless as he shook his head. "Trust me on this one, Herm. This is completely between Harry and Ginny, and I'm not letting anyone..not even you…get involved."

The brunette stared at him in shock. "Why not even me?" she asked in a breathless sort of voice.

Ron sighed and thought of all the confusion between Harry and Ginny that was caused by a lack of honest communication, and met Hermione's eyes with determination.

"Let's go talk."

Ok, there it is. Review!