CHAPTER SIX

Ron sat in the living room of the Burrow. Nearly six months had passed since Harry's departure, and life was – for the most part – quite uneventful. Ron stared into the fire, perhaps waiting for a head to bob into the flames, or for and urgent owl to tap on the window. He had been waiting for things such as this a lot lately, even though it had only ever happened twice before.

He rubbed his eyes and stole a glance at his watch; it was almost two o'clock in the morning. Surely he was the only one still awake.

But just as this thought crossed his mind, the door to the dimly lit room slid open and Hermione crept in. She jumped slightly at the sight of him sitting in one of the squishy armchairs near the fireplace.

"I thought for sure I was the only one awake." She said, sitting on the couch and pulling her knees tightly to her chest.

"So did I." he replied with a grin, moving to sit next to her. She cuddled up to him and laid her head on his shoulder, his scent pleasantly filling her senses.

"Any word from Harry tonight?"

"You would've known if there was." He replied. It had been over a month since they had had any contact with Harry at all.

"I got another letter from my parents today." Said Hermione, playing absentmindedly with his hair. "They asked me to come home again." Ron was quiet a moment.

"Are you going?"

"No…this is far too important. I need to be here for Harry…they know that."

"Plus, I'd be awful distraught without you here." He retorted coyly, giving her a brief kiss. Hermione broke from him and smiled, tangling her fingers with his and relaxing against him.

"I just wish Harry would at least let us know he was alive somehow." She said in a worried tone.

"I know it. I've been waiting up every night…just in case. I'm actually anxious to go out and help him again, as foolish as that sounds. There's just nothing better to do without school. And I certainly don't mind helping him out every once in a while."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Replied Hermione, pulling him closer. The Burrow was still quite chilly in February, even with a fire going in the fireplace.

"Cold?" he asked quietly. She gave a small nod and bit her lip, a shiver running through her. She was having trouble deciphering whether it was due to the cold or the red-head sitting next to her.

Ron leaned in and kissed her, slowly pushing her back so that he was lying on top of her on the couch. They continued their kiss, and both had to admit – this felt right.

"Ron…" she breathed, trying to contain herself and he made a small trail of kisses from her cheek to her neck. "We're…we're right out in the open."

"No one else is awake." He whispered to her, inching his hand under her shirt. She arched herself against him, and became suddenly aware of how aroused they both were.

"Ron…Ron, we can't…" she said reluctantly. Ron let out a disappointed groan into her shoulder.

"Are you sure?" he said in a pleading way, his hand still up her shirt. It was so hard to turn him down, but…

"I'm certain. What if someone caught us? Your mother would send me home for sure."

"We wouldn't be caught." He said, kissing her. She could hardly keep herself under control. "Hermione, what if Harry calls us in tomorrow and one of us doesn't make it home?" Ron knew as soon as he said it that it had been the wrong thing to say. Rage flashed through her eyes and her face became very stern.

"Then one of us will have died a virgin." She said in the "Prefect" voice he had heard her use so many times at Hogwarts. She pushed him up angrily and moved away from him, folding her arms across her chest. "I wish you'd stop using this war against me."

"I didn't mean it like that, 'Mione! I'm just-"

"So eager to shag that you'll say anything?" she spat at him, but the words obviously hurt her just as much as they had him. This was the third time they had had this argument. Hermione let out a sigh. "You know my reasoning, Ron. After all, we've only been together for-"

"Six months…I know."

"Then why, why do you keep pushing this? Why can't just being together-"

"I get it." He interrupted. "I'm a git." Hermione relaxed a bit, but still kept her distance from him. "I'm sorry, okay? It's just that… Even if we never had, and one of us died, I'd still be perfectly fine with having never done it…it has nothing to do with the war. I just…I want a way to show you just how much I care about you. How much I love you." His ears went instantly to deep shade of red and he shot her a nervous glance.

"You meant that?" she said, relaxing a bit more.

"Of course I do." He replied, moving closer to her on the couch and draping his arm over her shoulders. She sighed with what he hoped was happiness and cuddled back up to him. He always had a great way for making up for a fight.

"You know, I think I'm starting to understand how Ginny must be feeling."

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm always worried about you. Even now I'm worried about you. What if one of us does die? What on earth am I going to do without you? The thought alone is enough to drive someone mad."

"Yeah, and I don't even want to think of what Ginny would do if Harry died. I think she might actually lose it. For only being together a month or two, in person I mean, she certainly is attached." Said Ron.

"So is he. He's so worried that she'll be hurt that he doesn't even contact her, hardly even talks about her when he doesn't have to – afraid the wrong people might overhear. It's absolutely killing him." Hermione replied.

"Hermione," he said, a sudden look of surprised horror dawning on his face. "Do you think they've…that is to say, Harry and Ginny…do you think they've…you know…" he sputtered. Hermione knew full well that what Ron was implying had indeed happened, but had been sworn to secrecy my Ginny. But even if she hadn't been sworn to it, she wouldn't have been stupid enough to say anything about it anyway.

"I think it's best not to dwell on those things, Ron. All it will do is make people upset. And it probably hasn't even happened." She added as an afterthought, hoping it would be enough to convince him. He (and all of his brothers) had always been very sensitive to the subject of Ginny's innocence. She decided to change the subject. "You know, Ron," she said in a suggestive tone. "There are lot's of other things we can do…besides shagging, I mean." Ron snapped his head around so fast that she could've sworn she heard his neck crack.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a mischievous look in his eye.

"Think about it." She said, giving him a quick kiss and retiring to her bed in Ginny's room.

Hermione loved to torment him like this. She snuggled into her covers, staring over at the lump that was Ginny, and wondered for a fleeting moment what it must be like to be her.