The Next Step

"Hey, Harry," Ron said a few mornings after the bath in the middle of the night.

"Yes" Harry replied acting like it was the thousandth question he had been asked that day.

"I was wondering, should I take Hermione on a date?"

"Yeah sure. Have you shagged her yet?" Ron gave him a look that said 'no' but replied.

"We are waiting until it feels right. I hear you and Ginny are not the same. You were keeping Hermione up the other night with your lovemaking." Ron chuckled at his own sentence as Harry struggled to find the words to reply.

"Um, Yeah. I kept telling her to keep it down but... Well... I can't help it she's just so beautiful." Ron had a slightly brotherly look on his face.

"Yeah Hermione heard the shushing as well. And what you and my sister do in your spare time is none of business.

"Boys, Breakfast." Mrs. Weasley shouted at them as they stood around doing nothing.

Ginny came down the stairs positively glowing and sat next to Harry pulling him in for an early morning snog. Hermione followed her down and sat next to Ron, attempting to be less obvious in her ministrations she kissed him on the cheek.

"Mum, you do know we're eighteen, right?" Ron said as he tried to ignore what was going on beside him

"Yeh, but your still her little Ronnykins." George said from the armchair across the room as Ron shot him a look of annoyance.

"Oh, hi George didn't realize you were here. You look better." With Harry engulfed in his girlfriend, Ron had to do all the talking.

"Thanks, err yeah I'm staying until dinner." George replied, he really did look much better.

After breakfast; Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and took her outside the back door.

"Hermione, I… I want… no, I wondered if you wanted to go on a date with me?"

"Yes, I would very much like that Ronald." A tingling sensation started at the back of his neck: he did love when she said his full name. They wondered back inside and Ron rushed upstairs to plan the perfect night.

A little while later there was a knock, on Ron's bedroom door, he ran around collecting up all the bits of paper that came together to form his dinner arrangements. With them sharing a room it was difficult to hide all of his plans but Hermione had moved into Ginny's room for the day so she could get ready, so he had some space to himself.

"Come in" He said hurriedly as he grabbed the last bit of paper. He was slightly surprised to see Ginny standing there and let out a sigh of relief.

"I've come to ask about the details of your date, Hermione wants to know as you seem to have forgotten to tell her anything about it." She said rather sarcastically at her brother's forgetfulness.

"Oh yeah. Why didn't she come herself then?"

"She's a bit preoccupied at the moment, in other words she doesn't want to see you or she thinks she might ruin it."

"Wh..." But Ron discontinued this question as he realized it was probably a muggle thing. "Anyway, the date will be tonight in the orchard behind the field, at 7:30."

A day had never passed so slowly; Hermione was desperate to see Ron, but she still had a whole hour before she met him. In her desperation: she had already had a shower, a bath half an hour later, and she was already dressed in her lovely red dress that she wore for Bill and Fleur's wedding the summer before and she had done her hair into a perfect bun. She was just doing her makeup when Ginny walked in…

"You look nice, but you do know you still have an hour, right?" Ginny asked questioningly "Isn't that dress from last summer?"

"I know I still have an hour, but I'm just so excited. I hope he's planned more than dinner…" Hermione's mind started to wonder at what else he may have planned when Ginny butted in with:

"Eww, I'm happy for you guys but please don't talk to me about what you and my brother get up to behind my back – oh talking about behind people's backs, you'll never guess what me and Harry got up to in dad's muggle shed yesterday."

"I don't even want to think." Hermione replied trying not to imagine what those two got up to behind closed doors, but she could hear it most of the time now anyway.

"Oh, it was above the belt." Ginny replied hitting Hermione with the nearest pillow. Harry knocked and opened the door.

"Hermione, you look great. Ron's really overexcited and I came to check on how you were doing."

"Thanks, yeah I feel just as overexcited as Ron sounds." But Harry ignored this as his eyes fluttered over to Ginny.

"I missed you." Harry said staring longingly at her.

"I missed you too." Ginny replied, leaning in and kissing him, Hermione just so happened to glance at her watch at this moment and realized what the time was, she needed to go. A rush of newly found excitement thrilled her as she slipped out of the room leaving Harry and Ginny to their own devices. She also resisted the urge to tell it had only been ten minutes since they'd last seen each other.

Ron was waiting for her in the kitchen and she gasped when she saw he was wearing a suit. He looked very handsome and sexy in it and she found herself biting her lip at the sight of him.

"Where's Harry?" Ron managed to say after his initial shock at Hermione's appearance. She looked amazing as always, but this was different. She had done this for him; she had worn that dress for him and he thought about how he could take it off her. "He was supposed to walk you down the stairs."

"Oh, um he's a bit preoccupied with Ginny at the moment" Hermione replied blushing slightly. This only made him more attracted to her – the dress accentuated all of her curves, it showed off her sexiness.

"Well, we better get going eh?" Ron said trying to break the awkward moment as he thought of Harry and Ginny upstairs, 'preoccupied'.

"Ok" Hermione said as she took Ron's outstretched hand and he lead her through the back door and out into the field behind the burrow, they strolled slowly through the field and towards the orchard; talking about their days as neither one had seen the other since the previous evening, courtesy of Hermione's muggle ways.

When they reached the very centre of the orchard, Hermione noticed how he had decorated it with red roses and in the middle sat a small table set for two. Ron pulled out her chair and she sat down.

"I hope this is alright?" He asked as he sat down.

"It's beautiful Ron." She replied with a little pleasure in her smile.

"We're having spaghetti for dinner, and I know it isn't much but I like it and you like it so. Plus it's my best attempt at cooking so It'll have to do." Hermione was very pleased with his cooking and was excited for the food. She hadn't eaten for hours so any kind of sustenance would have done.

"It's perfect, very you."

"What's me?" Ron was confused but again he was tired so.

"The spaghetti, the fact that you tried to cook and went with something safe so you wouldn't mess it up. It's adorable." Hermione confessed.

"Oh I'm adorable am I?" He leaned over the two bowls of pasta and kissed her. She was surprised and broke the kiss quickly.

"Ron, I'm trying to eat here." The next time he took a bite of spaghetti she kissed him back, making him splutter and give her one of his looks.

A little while later, they had moved onto desert and Ron insisted on putting ice cream on Hermione's nose making her giggle and wipe her nose with her finger. Then she pushed him past his sexual limit for the night and licked her finger turning him on.

"Do have any idea of how sexy you look when you do that?" He asked intrigued.

"No idea whatsoever, would you like me to do it again?" She licked her fingers again, setting him on fire. He liked her flirting as well it emphasised her confidence.

After they finished desert they sat and talked for a bit, before Ron sprung his final surprise on her. He asked her to dance and they stood next to the table and he enchanted a mushroom to play their favourite slow songs. They danced slowly, almost hugging each other. They both loved the closeness and warmth that it brought out in them; they danced for a while but when the weather started to turn they headed in and up to their bedroom.