SECOND CHANCES 4

Author's Note: I don't own any of the characters.

The Burrow-Early Afternoon

She had never had a summer like this before, not even close. Like her preview Hogwarts summers she had diligently read and reread her textbook and any other book that she felt that could possibly hold some clue to helping Harry. Though throughout all of that annoying and invasive thoughts kept forcing their way into her mind, thoughts of a type and subject matter that she had never truly experienced before. She'd been given the talk about sex and had read enough books to know the clinical terms and functions of everything but the emotional aspect of it had caught her completely by surprise. And it was definitely something that she hadn't been able to talk to either of her parents about along with knowing that she couldn't contact anyone from the wizarding world about it either, least of all Ron.

For most of the summer she had been able to keep any and all impure thoughts about Ron to herself and contained to late at night when she should have been sleeping. She'd thrown herself into anything and everything that her parents wanted to as a way to try and tire herself out so that she could sleep at night without her mind and dreams being consumed by him. She'd made a few new additions to her wardrobe and as she packed to go to the Burrow she realized that they had all been made as a direct result of that night in the Hospital Wing with Ron. Nothing was overly skimpy or revealing Hermione thought but for her the clothes were a definite departure from the norm, and that both scared and excited her. Her mother had looked like she had wanted to comment on the new additions but somehow Hermione had been able to head the inquires off and keep them to a minimum.

She had been extra careful to keep her secrets during the summer. Both the existence of the scar across her midsection and the fact that she was dating Ron had been given top priority. Her mother had given her some strange looks when she'd been unwilling to change at the beach both before and after their swim. Her correspondence with Ron though had been a delight, and something that she soon found impossible to read in front of her parents without them getting wind of something going on between the two best friends. She'd wondered what it was and then she'd caught a glimpse of herself in her mirror while reading one of his letters and seen the overly happy grin and definite and pronounced blush on her cheeks. She'd even had to go out of her way to not talk about Ron any more than she absolutely had to lest their secret get out.

Thankfully her parents had not asked that many questions about school as she felt that they had decided that since they were only together as a family for a few short months they were not going to waste them. Much to her surprise the list of new schoolbooks and such had come earlier than she had expected. She couldn't help but swallow hard as she saw the flinch of sadness in her parents eyes when they read over the list. It was clear that they weren't happy about her leaving them again for several months but both knew that they couldn't stop her and that it was all for the best. When the day finally came for her to travel to the Burrow she could tell that she was ready far too soon in their eyes. The trip itself was over before it really began and as her feet hit the ground outside of the Burrow she wasn't sure what would await her, but she was excited all the same.

"Excited for school," Tonks asked aloud, sounding as if she were only talking so that the silence was filled, as she used her wand to levitate the luggage that Hermione hadn't chosen to carry herself.

"Definitely, but is all of this security really necessary," Hermione eagerly answered with a broad smile as she glanced back over at the auror as her hair started changing colors with every step.

"With you know who on the loose you can't be too careful," Tonks reminded her through a tired yawn as she suddenly looked like she had been up all night and was eager to get some sleep.

"That's true but…um…," Hermione nervously started to answer with a warm smile before her whole world got turned upside down in the span of the blink of an eye. The sight that greeted her eyes she felt was quite possibly the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen. Standing shirtless in the garden Ron had his eyes closed and his chin lifted up towards the sky.

Hermione couldn't help but closely study each and every move that he made in minute detail, every line and angle of his chest down his surprisingly toned stomach for a guy that could consume more at one meal than she would eat in an entire day fully captured her attention and showed no signs of ever letting it go. At that moment she couldn't seem to remember when he had gotten so broad chested and perfectly proportioned. The clear glean of sweat across his bare skin only seemed to further her view that much more. Her heart leapt up into her throat and began to beat like mad at the view of how ridiculously low his jeans had slid and she was forced to lick her lips to keep her entire mouth from going as barren as the desert.

"Hmm…enjoying the view as much as I am Hermione," Tonks wondered aloud with a very knowing tone to her words as she walked up behind Hermione and leaned in close, trying her very best to keep from cracking a smile at the brunette's obvious bout of ogling.

"What…I uh…no, I don't know what you're talking about I…ah," Hermione tripped all over her reply as she tried her hardest to tear her gaze away from Ron as she started to not look where she was going out of a need to get away from Tonks and her insinuation.

"You're a terrible liar Hermione Granger, don't ever change," Tonks smirked back softly with a knowing arc of her eyebrow as she set down Hermione's luggage with her wand and then crossed her arms in front of her chest and tried not to laugh as Ron looked over at them and frowned.

"I'll have you know that…," Hermione started to declare with a very set expression as she felt a bit insulted though she was glad that Tonks viewed her as a terrible liar all the same.

"Hey Hermione, I thought that…watch out," Ron called out with a happy grin as he reached a hand up and started to wave at Hermione but stopped on a dime when he saw that she was to close for comfort to the hole that one of Fred and George's inventions had made in the ground the night before and they obviously hadn't bothered to fix it yet.

"Huh…what…ow," Hermione replied as her mind processed what Ron was saying just a bit too late and she took one wrong step and suddenly felt a great pain in her left ankle and she crumpled to the ground, her face contorting badly.

"Hermione," Ron shouted loudly in alarm as he dropped the gnome that he had in his hands and sprinted to Hermione's side even though barefoot, arriving at her side at the same time as Tonks, even though the auror had been much closer to start with.

"It's my ankle, I think it might be broken," Hermione very nearly screamed out as she gritted her teeth in pain and clutched at her ankle, ever so glad in between the bouts of pain radiating from her ankle to feel Ron pull her into his arms. Normally she would have minded very much that he was slick with sweat but just then she more craved the physical contact with him more than what her nose was objecting to.

"You're in luck Hermione, I don't think that it's broken, probably just a bad sprain…I can fix it if you want," Tonks declared looking very relieved after taking several moments to closely inspect a very nervous and jumpy Hermione's ankle before being cut off.

"NO," Both Ron and Hermione shouted out almost instantly with a total combined look of sheer panic as even though both felt that Tonks was more than a capable auror and could take better care of herself in a fight neither was sure that they wanted her trying her hand on healing her ankle.

"Okay…but then," Tonks began to reply looking more than a bit confused as she stood back up and looked around the Burrow, not seeing anyone but the three of them that could help Hermione.

"My mum's inside, she can handle it, I'll take her, thanks Tonks," Ron commented softly, his ears a bright red, as he tried to sound like he had confidence in Tonks' abilities even though he didn't as he picked Hermione easily up off of the ground, one arm behind her back and the other under her knees.

"Um R…Ron…I can…," Hermione tried to object, more out of courtesy than any actual desire to heal herself or get inside on her own, before her free hand came to rest on Ron's chest over his heart and the heat passing between them instantly made her clam up. She tried to immediately then form a concentrated and easily understandable defense of not needing Ron to carry her however she came to the realization that she just now felt far too comfortable in Ron's arms and she found that she couldn't pull her hand off of his chest even if she wanted to as she leaned her head against his shoulder and smiled.

"Don't worry Hermione I won't drop you…besides you shouldn't walk on that ankle anyway and mum will know how to fix it, she can't do any worse than Lockhart I reckon," Ron told her softly with his voice full of concern and love as he turned and carried her towards the house as fast as he could go without overdoing it and making her bounce all around in his arms, with a very nervous Tonks in tow.

"I bloody well hope not," Hermione grumbled under her breath before realizing her slip up and going red she decided then to save her breath to worry about the pain in her ankle and the inevitable litany of questions that Mrs. Weasley would ask her once inside.

"Such language, what would your mother say if she heard you," Ron snickered under his breath to Hermione with a sly grin as he just about got to the front door and then suddenly wondered how he was going to get the door open without putting Hermione down.

"That my boyfriend is a terrible influence on me," Hermione muttered back to him through the pain, though she couldn't help but allow the corner of her lips start to curl up into a grin, as she flashed Ron a quick snarky look in her eyes before the front door burst open and the interrogation began.

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One hour later found Hermione sitting on Ron's bed doing her very best to comb as many of the kinks out of her hair as she could. Mrs. Weasley had fixed her ankle easily enough as it had only been a bad sprain rather than an actual break. Tonks had again offered to do it but the Weasley matriarch would have none of it. Though her ankle was still a bit sore it hadn't kept Hermione from hurriedly taking a bath under Mrs. Weasley's orders and then fully intending to trek straight to Ginny's room to get dressed. However for reasons unbeknownst to even herself she had instead only brought the bare necessities with her to the bathroom and for some reason had grabbed the sun dress that she had bought over the summer to wear.

She had been almost to the doorway of Ginny's room before her feet rebelled against her and soon she had found herself sitting in Ron's room, her dress feeling like a literal second skin as it was the only thing that she had on. Normally she would have thought this scandalous and something that she would never do under any circumstances however due to the increased heat of the day and her sudden obsession with Ron the more logical parts of her brain had suddenly taken a backseat and gone missing for the time being. Most of her brain was more focused on a shirtless Ron and how good he had looked and felt than on combing her hair correctly and more than once she'd been forced to stop and free her comb from one spot or another. Finally she got so fed up that she flung her brush out of her hand in frustration, just coincidentally as Ron stepped into the room and shut the door behind him before locking it.

"Was that aimed at me," Ron asked softly with a noticeable amount of fear in his words as he cautiously took a step towards Hermione.

"Sorry, my hair is just not cooperating," Hermione smiled weakly back before she leaned back up against the wall and took a deep breath, hating how hot it was as her hair was frizzier than usual.

"Looks good to me," Ron offered with hands up in front of him in defeat and a small smirk playing on his lips as he carefully walked over to Hermione, trying his best to not make it completely obvious that he was staring at every inch of her. He had picked up on the fact that she was wearing a new dress the moment that he had walked into the room, but what had struck him was just how good the dress looked on her, fresh from the shower with hair far frizzier than normal, and no makeup on at all. All in all to Ron she looked the perfect vision of beauty. Every curve and fold caught his attention, not to mention the amount of skin that she was showing, which for Hermione was saying something in his opinion.

"Of course it does, that's what you're supposed to say," Hermione snapped back as she did her best to look upset but Ron could see the favorable blush on her cheeks and a twinkle in her eye as inwardly she was glad that he'd said it while she crossed her arms in front of her chest and then suddenly felt very self-conscious.

"That's not why I said it Hermione…and you know it, new dress," Ron pointedly said with a very serious look as he stepped up in front of Hermione and leaned forward enough so that he could lay his hands on Hermione's almost bare shoulders and the two look deeply into each other's eyes. The pair stayed silent for several moments, though not because neither could think of anything to say but rather because both teens took several moments to revel in the feeling of his hands on her shoulders.

"Y…yes, it is…do you like it," Hermione chattered back at first looking less than convinced of Ron's honesty about truly noticing that it was a new dress that she was wearing all by himself but hoped that she was wrong before she brightened up and smiled a smile that she knew that he loved to see her wear, while she then suddenly noticed that Ron was again shirtless and shoeless but this time smelled great fresh from his bath.

"Definitely, so much so in fact I think that you should wear it more often," Ron nodded with an eager grin as he lightly leaned into Hermione a bit before he caught her looking his way and they both leaned into a kiss that truly neither one truly wanted to end anytime soon.

"You know I can't do that…if I do they might figure it out," Hermione replied through a furious blush as she looked away though because she smiled warmly the whole time Ron didn't become concerned about it.

"Maybe we should let them, if it meant that you'd…," Ron started to whisper to Hermione as he reached a hand up cautiously and began to playfully tug at the shoulder strap of her dress, being very surprised that she let him pull it completely off of her shoulder and then give said bare shoulder a quick kiss before slapping his hand away and blushing a darker red than his hair.

"You're terrible you know that right," Hermione tried to respond with as dignified and offended tone of voice and expression though she couldn't keep a straight face for long and her heart was now starting to beat much faster due to Ron sitting so close to her and the amount of physical contact between the two.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway," Ron proudly declared with a triumphant grin as he started to lean back a bit before Hermione surprised herself by reaching her hand out and grabbing his arm, keeping the redhead close to her.

"Heh…yeah…I do," Hermione chuckled to herself in a soft mumble, though Ron was close enough that he heard everything, as she couldn't keep her left hand from coming to rest on Ron's chest, happily feeling his heart beating about as fast as her own was.

"You know if you hadn't locked the door just anyone could walk in at any moment," Ron pointed out with an impish little grin as he let his free hand fall down to her side and smooth out a small fold in her dress.

"Precisely the reason…then again all that they'd see is," Hermione nodded back with a subtle smile as she turned her seat a bit and draped her left leg over Ron's to tease him a little along with the words.

"Their git of a brother or son with the girl that he loves more than anything," Ron shrugged out with a reserved laugh that Hermione could tell hid more than a bit of how he really felt about himself in the beginning before he brightened up at the end of his finishing off of her thought and she jumped a bit at the emotion in his words, so much so that her hand on his chest slid down to the top of his jeans. Without thinking and surprising even herself immensely she slid three of her fingers in between Ron's skin and the waistband of his jeans.

"Er…something like that…yeah, uh Ron….I think you forgot…uh," Hermione finally stuttered out, with a face so red that she looked as if she'd fallen into a vat of paint and a heart beating so fast in her ears that all sound momentarily left her, she allowed herself to extend her features and encounter what she had been dreaming about for weeks.

"Didn't forget, just didn't really have time, just had to wear enough to get back to my room here…looks like I'm not the only one," Ron nervously shrugged lazily at first, as he tried to act like the presence of Hermione's fingers where they were wasn't having a dramatic impact on his physiology, before he couldn't help his face first and then ears turning a bright red.

"It's your fault you know," Hermione shot across to him as she tried to glare at him but given their present circumstances she failed at it miserably and felt that she now looked like a total fool.

"My fault, how," Ron argued teasingly as his blush died down a bit and he was able to at least appear upset for a few moments before the redness returned.

"Because…ever since that night in the Hospital Wing when we…and your…I often have a hard time thinking about anything else," Hermione answered with as dignified and logical of an answer as she could think up right there and then given both their amount of physical contact and the depths to which her mind was already thinking into the future.

"Join the club, course it helps that I can actually touch you now," Ron admitted sheepishly, though proudly, as he took a gamble and let his hand rest on Hermione's bare left knee. When she didn't slap his hand away or pull away he got even more bold and started sliding it up her thigh pausing momentarily when he got to the bottom hem of her skirt. He looked up into her eyes and didn't see any sign that she wanted him to stop so he continued. As his hand glided up her thigh he could feel her shiver a bit again him and her breathing started to become short and choppy, as if she was both scared and excited at the same time.

"Ron…don't," Hermione weakly mumbled with an almost pained look to her making it appear as if she were fighting against herself on exactly what to say if to say anything at all.

"Sorry I," Ron started to apologize as fast as he could get his lips to move, while starting to pull his hand away from her leg, as he tore his gaze from Hermione's face and had barely begun to curse himself for overstepping his bounds before she stopped him.

"Don't stop…please," Hermione almost moaned out as to Ron it sounded somewhat like she was begging him to keep going as her free hand that wasn't down the front of Ron's jeans snaked out and physically kept his hand from moving. Swallowing hard Ron continued to slide his hand up her thigh until he got to his target, being very surprised that he hadn't encountered her knickers yet.

"Hermione, you're not…mmpf," Ron mumbled out as he looked deeply into what of Hermione's eyes that he could see as she seemed to be having a very hard time focusing on anything more than the effect that his hand was having on her senses before she silenced him with a kiss filled with as much passion and desire as she could summon up in the moment. After a few moments in which both felt that they were on the verge of crossing a line that you could never come back from there was a loud knock at the door.

"Bloody hell," Hermione exclaimed loudly as she leapt away from Ron like he'd shocked her and almost fell into the wall as she tried to stand up straight but overcompensated and had to lean against Ron's dresser to keep herself upright.

"Of all the," Ron started to grumble before he realized the position that he was in and snatched his pillow from the head of the bed and pulled it onto his lap just as Hermione recovered enough of her composure to retrieve her wand and take the charms off of the door and slip it open just far enough to peer out into the hallway.

"You two decent in there…a joke Hermione, I swear…you two had better fix yourselves up and get downstairs, Molly's on the warpath about something and Ginny and Arthur should be back any minute…oh and Ron, no need to get up on my account…don't want you putting anybody's eye out," Tonks at first asked aloud with a curious expression that Hermione couldn't quite figure out between it being highly amused or sarcastic before the auror poked her head into the room and couldn't help but grin wickedly at Ron before aiming an obvious wink his way and then heading off downstairs, cackling softly to herself the whole way.

"R…right, thank you Tonks, we'll be right down," Hermione chattered out softly with a clearly very flustered look to her, her hair a total mess and only the fact that her dress was just tight enough to stay up kept everything from going south as she struggled to try to hide her embarrassment at being found out, by Tonks of all people.

"Lousy timing is all," Ron groaned loudly with an impatient sigh as he leaned back up against the wall and closed his eyes, almost wishing that the last few moments had all been a dream.

"For now…but that will change and then we'll have all the time in the world," Hermione replied wearily as she did her best to keep her distance from Ron while pulling the shoulder straps of her dress back up to their correct positions before she appeared to Ron as if she wanted to forget what Tonks had said and pick up where they left off, but she held her ground.

"Promise," Ron snickered with a wide grin as he opened his eyes up just enough to get a good look at Hermione and was pleased to see her smile and blush deeply before she could answer.

"Promise," Hermione finally whispered back after several silent moments that passed between the two before she walked up in front of Ron and then leaned over so that the two could share a kiss that had there not been a loud crash downstairs neither was ready to ever break.

END OF SECOND CHANCES CHAPTER 4

Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing this and the other chapters. As always reviews, questions, and comments are greatly appreciated. This story will probably have about twelve chapters with then maybe a thirteenth epilogue chapter. I began and ended the chapter with Tonks as she knows what's going on and sorry if this chapter was to sexy or maybe awkward sexy though given Ron and Hermione it all fits I guess. I tried to make shirtless Ron in the beginning just what Hermione's overly hormonal mind didn't need to see though I hope that I did Hermione's fantasy of him come to life the proper justice. Yeah it's odd for them to both not be wearing underwear but I just used it as a meaning that neither is fully in their right mind, though in a good way, and that they're both not using their common sense necessarily and just letting their urges take over for a bit. The next few chapters I expect to be fun to say the least. Thank You.