The next few days passed in a slight blur, and Ron felt as if the weekend couldn't come soon enough. Both Wednesday and Thursday had been busy days due to a local art fair bringing a lot more people to the area and both Ron and Grace had worked all day to ensuring that the customers were served and good was going out. Ron had not seen Hermione since she moved in on Tuesday and if he was honest, he was glad about this. He had no idea what was going on inside his head but he kept imagining scenes where they would bump into each other, become friends, perhaps more. But then if he was really honest with himself, he knew he would not want to settle for 'just friends' and in his eyes, it would be a crime if he wasn't allowed to kiss her whenever he wanted. But all of this thinking was ridiculous, because obviously she was interested in Harry. And why wouldn't she be, he mused. He was a good looking guy, Ron wasn't immature enough to dispute that and he knew her better than Ron did. Indulging in this daydream was only going to cause him to get his hopes up and he couldn't be bothered getting himself involved in something (albeit he was only involved in his mind) that wasn't going to work out.

Friday morning came and as Ron's alarm went off, a frustrated groan escaped from his mouth. He attempted to open his eyes but they seemed to have a mind of their own and fell shut again. Fumbling for his mobile phone on the other side of his double bed, he opened one eye and wrote a quick text to McLaggen explaining that he would be in late, making up some story about having to pick up an order in London. That would give him roughly just under three hours, and satisfied he collapsed back on to the pillow and pulled the blankets tight around him. He could hear the sounds of summer outside and the warmth of the sun was attempting to infiltrate the room through the curtain but he always seemed to get cold when sleeping. Although, he mused as he rolled over and put his head under the pillow, this could be due to his lack of bed time attire and only wearing his boxers to bed.

It seemed as if he had been asleep for no more than a minute when there was a loud banging on the door and Ron sat up at once, convinced it was Cormac at the door demanding he get to work. Managing to drag himself out of bed, he rubbed his eyes as he made his way to the front door and prepared himself for the worst. What he got was in fact the best.

"Oh, sorry-did I wake you up?" Hermione mumbled, averting her eyes from his partially naked body and looking at a spot above Ron's head instead. Ron shook his head to keep from staring at this beauty in front of him and hid his lower half behind the door, fixing his face with a smile.
"Not really. I was trying to convince myself to get out of bed but I'm not really having any luck." He explained and Hermione managed to bring her eyes to his face, returning his smile and it was then Ron noticed the baseball bat in her hand. "Er-what's the bat for?"
"Oh! Of course. I-er-was wondering if you could help me. I have a-er-problem." She replied and Ron tilted his head slightly.
"A problem?"
"Uh-yes. You see, I was just unpacking some boxes and putting some things away in the linen cupboard when a-well, a rat came out." She stated and Ron pulled a face.
"Yeah, the landlord said he'd gotten rid of those. Apparently not, I see." He said and she nodded, her smile fading slightly.
"Well could you er-maybe-well, you can stay dressed like that-I just thought-can you help me?" She eventually got out and Ron laughed.
"Of course, let me get some clothes on."

Leaving the door open (simply because he had recently tidied the house and wanted her to get the best possible impression of him) he moved back into his bedroom and pulled on a pair of track pants that were lying on the floor. Unable to find a shirt that didn't have either a hole in it or yesterday's dinner on it, he settled for the former, the hole being only a small one on the shoulder. Back out in the living area he noticed Hermione had made her way in, the bat lying forgotten by the now closed front door. She stood in front of his couch, gazing at the photos on his wall of his family, her arms wrapped around her middle. His arrival had gone unnoticed and he took the time to admire her...back. Her jeans fit snugly and the red top she had on raised just slightly so that a small amount of skin could be seen. Her top stopped at the bottom of her neck, and the sight of her hair falling loosely over her shoulders made him want to shift forward and move it aside, kissing her neck softly. Shaking his head and mentally scolding himself he cleared his throat and Hermione turned around, an apologetic smile on her face.

"Sorry," She breathed and Ron knew he would forgive her if she had thumped him across the head with the baseball bat. "I love photos. I have a lot I want to put up at home too; I just need the frames."
"No problem," He replied, moving over to stand next to her. The close proximity turned his ears red and he prayed she wouldn't notice. He couldn't believe he was feeling this after only just meeting the girl. Shaking his head once more, he began to point out the people in the photo's.
"That's my younger sister, Ginny-she lives just across the village and coaches the local primary school football team. She comes over quite a bit too-you'll probably see her around. She's over tonight actually. They're my twin brothers, Fred and George. Right jokers, according to them-I just think they're gits," He said and she giggled. "That's my Dad-he's a bit odd, obsessed with crazy inventions. And my older brother's wedding there-that's Bill, Charlie and Percy."
"Is that your Mum?" She asked, pointing to the photo of Molly's recent birthday. The photo was a favourite of his, even if it made him look like a mummy's boy. He nodded and she smiled fondly. "And who is that?"
She was pointing to a photo of himself and the other staff at the cafe, Grace, June and the old owner. He pointed each person out and explained about their new owner and how disliked he was.
"I caught sight of him on his way out, he looked like an idiot," She laughed and turned around, heading back to the door. "So you have a really big family then. You're lucky-I'm an only child."
"Oh, I'd swap with you any day," He said and she looked slightly shocked. "Honestly. There's so much to live up to and anything I do, they've usually already done. I don't mind so much now mind, when I was little it bothered me."

They made their way across the hall and into Hermione's unit and as they crossed the threshold Hermione stopped and gripped the bat tighter.
"I take it you don't like rats?" He asked with a grin on his face and she shot him a look.
"How did you guess?" She replied and Ron enjoyed the sarcasm in his voice. "Now, despite the fact that I have a baseball hat in my hand, I don't want to actually hurt the rat."
Ron laughed until he realised she was serious. "Are you kidding? What am I supposed to do? Pick it up and give it a cuddle?"
She smirked at him and kept a tight grip on the bat. "No, but if you can somehow get it into an empty box, I can take it to the animal shelter ten minutes away-they take them in and clean them up, eventually selling them as pets." She explained and Ron shivered at the thought. "I don't like harming animals like that-they're only trying to get by so why should we kill them for it? I only brought the bat to make myself feel slightly more protected-I would never actually hurt the animal." He looked at her standing there, suddenly defiant with her chin stuck out and realised this was something she was passionate about.
He wasn't about to tell her now, not when she thought he was her hero defending her from the rat kingdom, but he hated rats and mice. He hated them almost as much as he hated spiders. Shivering again, he took three confident steps into the middle of the unit.
"Where'd you last see it?" He asked, turning to look at her and getting a shock; she had crept up behind him, baseball bat still in hand and now stood directly behind him. He smirked at her and she threatened him with the bat. He was loving the light flirting (he was 99.99% sure that's what it was) that was going on between the two of them.
"In the linen cupboard just down the hall there. I'm not sure if I shut it in there or not-oh gosh, I hope I did," She said, the consequences of not shutting the animal inside the cupboard becoming real to her at the moment. "What if it got into my bedroom?"
"Don't be silly," He said, and she threatened him with the bat again. "Even if it has, I'll find it."
"Ooh," She mocked him and he turned to see her grinning. "So you're the big strong man come to rescue the damsel in distress are you?"
"If you wanna do this yourself, be my guest," He said and she stopped grinning. They moved forward together, Hermione sticking close to his back causing his ears to turn red again. As they travelled down the hallway, she seemed to get even closer, and then as they reached the closed cupboard door, she clutched at the back of his t-shirt. Doing his best to ignore the sudden touch, he picked up an empty box from the floor and prepared himself, both physically and mentally. He could do this, it would be easy, he thought. Just open the door, pounce on the rat that hopefully will go running straight into the empty box and then shut the lid so that he can't escape.
Taking a deep breath and steeling himself, he put his hand on the doorknob and turned it, slowly and first but then deciding it was probably best to just get it over with. He wrenched the door open, almost smacking himself in the face with it, and flattened himself immediately on the floor. For a second, he thought nothing was going to happen, that maybe Hermione had got it wrong and that there wasn't even a rat but an instant later a rat that was the size of a cat, although afterwards they would agree that it was smaller than the average size rat, came pelting out of the cupboard at the same time Hermione let out a shriek and seized Ron's shirt even harder. The rat missed the box completely, instead scampered off down the opposite end of the hall and into the bedroom. Ron swore loudly, shaking Hermione off his back and followed the rat. He registered Hermione traipsing along behind him and entered the bedroom, quickly shutting the door behind them to prevent it escaping.

"What are you doing?" Hermione hissed, both of them standing still to try and work out where the rat actually was. "I don't want to be locked in here with it!"
"Well, too bad. You are now," Ron stated and Hermione shot him a filthy look. "Look, if you want to chase it around the house from room to room, go ahead, but don't expect me to help."
"Sorry," She whispered, joining Ron in looking around the room. He gave her a smile to let her know he wasn't actually angry and together they looked around the room. The obvious spot was under the bed, but Ron made sure he couldn't spot it anywhere else first. As they realised that under the bed was where the rodent was hiding, Ron motioned Hermione closer.
"You get on top of the bed," He whispered and she bent her head closer to hear him, her perfume wafting over him and making him light headed. "As quietly as you can and then when I say go, jump and hopefully he'll come straight out the end and into the box."
"Okay, good plan, sir." She saluted him with a grin and climbed as subtly as she could, making almost no noise. Ron positioned the box on the floor then, barely even realising what he was doing was incredibly stupid, lowered himself to the floor as slow as he could so that he was lying on his stomach. The rat was facing away, so his movements had luckily gone unnoticed.
"Go!" He hissed, and in an instant the rat turned, startled by the sudden noise and movement from the bed above. It ran, just as Ron had hoped, straight into the box. Hermione was still jumping on the bed and Ron turned the box upright and shut it quickly. Pulling himself up on to his knees he watched Hermione jumping up and down, her eyes closed seemingly lost in her own thoughts. He cleared his throat and she flopped down on the bed, shuffling to the edge to peer over.
"You got it?" She asked and when he nodded in reply she smiled from ear to ear. "Thank you!"
"No problems, ma'am." He pretended to tip a hat and she laughed softly. He gestured to the box. "Do you want to take care of this? I'm not so fond of rats."
"You're joking? Why did you agree to help?" She asked as he stood up and left the box on the floor. He shrugged and she laughed again. "You should have just said no; I could have got Harry round to get it."
The second she mentioned his name Ron was reminded of the fact that this wasn't some crazy plot thought up by Hermione to seduce him, that she was in face interested in him and had a possible love interest. He gave a short smile and took a few steps back. If she noticed a change in him, she didn't show it.
"No problem, I don't mind helping a fellow neighbour out. Well, I better go and get sorted for work or McLaggen will have my head." He said and walked swiftly out the door and down the hall. As he reached the front door, he heard footsteps as Hermione ran to catch up with him. He turned to face her, his right hand poised on the door handle ready to open it.
"What are you doing tonight?" She asked, a slight pink tinge on her cheeks. His heart did a few leaps but he dismissed it.
"Er-nothing, I don't think. Ginny is coming over for dinner though, why?" He asked in return and took his hand of the doorknob. She took a step back, as if suddenly unsure of what she wanted to say and bit her lip. The sight of it made Ron want to reach out and kiss her then and there. He had no idea what kind of willpower he had but it kept him rooted to the spot.
"Oh, well that actually sort of works then. Harry is coming over for dinner-why don't you two join us? As a thank you for your help today," She explained and Ron forced himself to wait a second before immediately accepting.
"That sounds great, actually. Do we need to bring anything?" He asked and she shook her head.
"Just yourselves," She said and he opened the door. She gave him a smile and he returned it, waving goodbye and heading back over to his own unit.

Twenty minutes later, and a quick call to Cormac to explain he was on his way, he stepped out into the sun and began the walk. When he arrived at the cafe, Grace sent him a smile and the young girl she was training smiled nervously in his direction. He waved at them both, heading into the office to face Cormac.
"Why are you late?" He demanded promptly and Ron took his time replying. "Well?"
"I told you why. I put in an order with Salt n' Pepper last week and they rung me this morning saying their delivery truck had broken down and could I pick the order up-when I was halfway there they rung again saying not to worry and that it would be delivered later this afternoon," He lied with ease, knowing full well that the order in question was going to be delivered this afternoon therefore would add credit to his story. Cormac spluttered for a second before accepting this excuse and going back to the laptop in front of him. Ron dumped his bags and made his way into the kitchen.

"Hey, Kieran," He called to the head chef who was in the corner pulling a fresh batch of bread rolls out of the oven. The smell filled both the kitchen and the cafe, part of the reason why people usually chose to sit inside the cafe rather than the outside. Kieran smiled in greeting and deposited the rolls on to the bench, leaving them to cool.
"Morning," Kieran replied, making a show of checking his watch. "Or should I say afternoon?"
"Watch it, cheeky. You may be head chef, but I'm still your boss. I was busy and it's only half eleven anyway," Ron shot back, and after putting on a clean apron he pulled the fresh salads out of the fridge to set up the salad bar, ready for the lunchtime rush. He noticed they were lacking in tomatoes and pulled an extra bag out, ready to be sliced.
"Yeah, alright," Kieran laughed, pulling out already baked rolls and slicing them. "Where were you then?"
"Uh-I was picking up an order but-"
"Cut it out. Seriously?"
"My new neighbour had a problem with a rat, I was just helping out," He said and Kieran laughed again. Ron could lie easily to his boss, but Kieran was slightly harder to convince.
"A rat problem? You hate rats." He stated.
"Yeah I know I do, but she didn't know that till afterwards," Ron explained and Kieran gave him a look.
"I see. What does this new neighbour look like?" He asked and Ron's ears turned the slightest of pinks. He began slicing the tomatoes, ignoring Kieran's question at first. After he had finished the first few, he turned to face him.
"She's gorgeous," He told him and Kieran laughed loudly. "And I'm going over for dinner tonight."
"What? Well, good on you mate, you're in already!" He exclaimed and Ron shook his head.
"No way, she's not like that. It's just to say thank you for the rat thing. Ginny is coming and her...friend, Harry, is going to be there." The slight hesitation before saying Harry's name told Kieran all he needed to know.
"Ah, sorry buddy. Are they together?" He asked as he began to spread chutney on the rolls and lay lettuce on top. Ron considered his question as he finished off the tomatoes and put them in a container in the salad bar.
"I'm not sure, but I think they both want to be. There's just something between them, you know?" Ron explained and Kieran nodded in reply.
"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, but Ron there's someone here to see you?" Grace said as she entered the kitchen, helping herself to the chocolate brownie that was sitting on the bench ready to be served. "She says it's not urgent if you're busy."
"You'll be okay for a second, Kieran?" Ron asked, wondering who it could be and thinking of Ginny. Kieran nodded and Ron wiped his hands on a towel, not bothering to take his apron off as he walked out into the cafe. It was not Ginny who stood waiting for him on the corner table, but Hermione and he hastily pulled his apron off and stuffed it under the counter.

"Couldn't keep away from me, could you?" He asked her as he approached the table, instantly wishing he hadn't sounded so flirtatious. She looked up, a small smile on her face as he sat down across from her.
"No, sadly, I couldn't, much to my dismay," She shot back and he pretended to look insulted. "Can you spare a few minutes?"
"Go ahead," He replied.
"I know I told you not to bring anything tonight but I was going to do a lasagne and salad and I was wondering maybe if you could bring the salad? Harry said he'll bring some garlic bread-he isn't much of a cook-and he said to say that he's looking forward to it," She explained and Ron smiled genuinely. Despite the fact that he wished more than ever he could be with Hermione, he wouldn't mind another guy-friend to hang out with, aside from Kieran who only ever really wanted to get sloshed.
"Yeah, that's no problem. I can make one from the stuff here," He told her and she smiled.
"Sorry to interrupt," Came a voice filled with mischief and Kieran appeared behind Hermione who turned to smile at him. As she turned back around to face Ron, Kieran gave him the thumbs up and Ron shot him a look. "But are you able to come back any time in the next century and give me a hand?"
"Sorry, I've been keeping his occupied," Hermione gushed, standing up and looking genuinely apologetic. "He's all yours."
"Don't worry, you can have him back later on," Kieran said and made his way back into the kitchen. Ron groaned inwardly as Hermione pulled a quizzical look.
"Ignore him, he's a prat," He said and Hermione smiled.
"I'll let you get back to it," She said and he nodded.
"See you tonight. I'll bring the salad-see you around 7ish?" He asked.
"Sounds great, see you then, Ron," She called and disappeared out the door. Ron watched her walk down the front path, as she paused to smell the daisies growing in the cafes ever expanding garden he had to force himself to turn around and go back to the kitchen. He had a salad to make.

Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you liked it. I'm really enjoying writing it. I hope to have another chapter up soon. Thanks again!