A/N: I LOVE this chapter. Like with a passion. Please R&R. Prettyprettyprettyprettypretty Please!!!!!

Secrets of the Garden

Ron sat on the only bench in his family's garden. It was small, but well managed and brimming with beautiful plants. Ron had picked a rose from one of the bushes and was now twirling it between his fingers. Then he heard the crunch of footsteps on the pebble walkway.

Hermione appeared around the corner of the garden, looking anxious. She wore a nightgown of white cotton and she had let her hair down out of its plait. Over the years it had become less bushy and the curls in her hair had become more defined. Now it hung in ringlets below her shoulders, shining with a silver glow in the moonlight. It was only a sliver tonight, but it still sparkled. When her eyes finally found Ron on the bench, her face broke into a smile and she hurried down the path. Ron stood up and hugged her close. He would never grow tired of her hugs, especially now, when they might be numbered. He inhaled her scent before releasing her. She smelled like flowers and that new book smell that you get when you first crack their spine open. They sat down on the bench and Ron looked into her eyes for a moment before opening his mouth to speak. But she beat him to the punch.

"I like you, Ron, as more than a friend. But if we are going to be helping Harry, I just don't see us getting together anytime soon."

Ron's face fell. She didn't want to get together now? But if not now, when? Didn't she know that there was a war going on?

"But," stammered Ron, trying to string two thought together, "you like me. Isn't that enough? Can't we make something of that?"

"Well," said Hermione, staring down at her hands in her lap now, "I just don't want to be distracted while finding the Horcruxes. Harry needs us, Ron, probably more than any of us knows now. And if we are together, then I think that could distract from the mission. What if we get in a fight? That would create more tension than necessary on this trip and that is just unacceptable."

Ron understood now, but he still just wanted one thing.

"Ok," said Ron, consenting to his girl, "but just give me one thing. Remember that night last year?"

FLASHBACK!

Ron and Hermione were in Gryffindor Common Room. Gryffindor had just won the House Cup and they were both a little hung up on butterbeer and everyone else had gone to bed. Harry and Ginny still hadn't returned from wherever they went and Ron was starting to get worried.

"I should go look for them," said Ron, slurring his words slightly, "I mean, it's Harry, and I trust him with my life, but not with my little sister's virtue. I've seen the way he looks at her. What do think, 'Mione?"

"I think," said Hermione, watching the room spin as she sat up to make her point, "that you should leave them alone. The have both wanted this for a long time."

"No," decided Ron, standing up and swaying tipsily, "I am going to go looking for them!"

"No, Ronald, don't!" cried Hermione, grabbing onto the back of his Gryffindor jersey. He was wearing that and jeans while Hermione wore a Gryffindor t-shirt and jeans. When she grabbed onto the back of his jersey, Ron lost his already limited balance and fell onto his back, taking Hermione with him. She landed next to him and they both started giggling uncontrollably. After a while, they stopped and found that Ron had taken Hermione's hand and Hermione had pressed herself sideways against Ron. Ron turned to face the pretty girl next to him.

"Hermione," he murmured before closing the minimal gap between them and pressing his lips to hers. There was a passion behind the kiss from both sides and Hermione ended up on top of Ron before either of them realized what was going on. Their lips parted and they deepened the kiss, heads tilted, eyes closed. Then Ron realized where they were and broke apart.

"C'mon," he said, holding out his hand and staggering to his feet. Hermione took it and followed him out of the portrait and into a room on the seventh floor. It was small, with a cheerful fireplace and a few bottles of butterbeer on a table in the corner. Hermione looked surprised.

"The Room of Requirement?" she asked, nervously, "Why did we leave the common room?"

"Because," said Ron, kicking off his shoes and going to pour them two glasses of butterbeer, "the common room is way to public to share a moment like that." He brought the glasses over and they both drained theirs. Then, they set the glasses down on the table and started kissing again. Hermione was on Ron's lap this time and his arms were around her waist, holding her to him. She knotted her hands in his hair before she realized something

This is Ron, she thought, still kissing him, one of my best friends. How is this going to affect our friendship?

Hermione broke off the kiss, to a startled Ron's dismay. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and one of his hands was now in her hair too.

"Sorry," she whispered, getting off of him, "drunken accident."

And with that, Hermione left the room, tears already pooling in her eyes

FLASHFORWARD!

Hermione remembered. Oh Merlin, did she remember. She had pictured a hundred different scenarios for how that could have gone better. That was probably not one of Ron's happier memories, but he was smiling now. Hermione saw a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Yes," said Hermione, unsure, "why?"

"Because," said Ron, "I know that you are sober this time, so maybe you won't feel as bad if I do this." And he leaned in and pecked her lips, softly, and then pulled back.

"Or maybe this?" he added kissing her a little longer this time.

"But I like this one best." And he was kissing her like he had that night. There was passion there, like fire in their veins. Their mouths opened and their tongues met in the middle, synchronizing in the beat of the blood pounding through their bodies. Hermione got even closer, pressing herself against Ron and his arms snaked around her waist, climbing up to her hair and around her neck. Her hands were locked around his neck, and she wanted to stay there for forever. People say when you find the one you are meant to be with, you will know it by how you feel when you kiss them. Ron and Hermione knew then that they would be together always.

Ron broke the kiss this time.

"Ok," he said, pulling Hermione up against him, "even if we can't be together, can we still do that when no one else is around?"

"I can see that working," murmured Hermione, kissing him again. Hermione felt renewed energy in Ron and, what seemed like minutes later, the sun decided to rise on a new day and Ron led Hermione back to the Burrow and to her room where he kissed her once more before she went to bed to dream about Ron until she could see him again.

A/N: So, did you guys like the flashback scene? I'm not sure whether that would qualify as before Ron/Lavender or after. R&R!