A/N: Here it is, dear readers. Chapter 10. I like the number 10. I also like the number 11. Yes, 11 is a good number.

By the way, "jumped away from me like a thousand bonfires had just ignited between us" is a quote that I shamelessly stole from Gilmore Girls. They're not the exact words but they're pretty close. Please don't sue me, Gilmore Girls People.

Disclaimer: All characters and elements belong to J.K. Rowling.

There was a knock on my bedroom door.

I opened the door and stepped back as a flash of red whooshed past me.

Ginny groaned and flopped back on my bed, arms extended over her head and legs hanging off the edge. "I have the most awful cramps known to anyone, anywhere, ever."

"Anyone, anywhere, ever?" I asked, chuckling.

She propped herself up on her elbows. "This is nothing to laugh about! I am in serious pain!"

"Did you use the potion?" I asked.

She dragged her hands up to rub her eyes. "No, I ran out of it. Do you have any?"

"No, but it probably wouldn't be that hard to make some…" I said, reaching for a book on one of my shelves.

She sighed and curled up in a fetal position while hugging a pillow to her stomach. "Ah, don't worry about it. I can suffer through this—I've done it before."

"Hmm. Well, my mother has always insisted that chocolate cures cramps and, what do you know? I happen to have a bar of the most delicious chocolate ever," I said, reaching towards a drawer and pulling out a bar of Honeydukes chocolate.

"Are you kidding?"

"Well, I figure that if it can help you feel better after a dementor attack, it couldn't hurt to try it for cramps."

"This feels like a dementor attack… Wait, I thought your mother was a dentist," said Ginny.

I rolled my eyes. "Just because she's a dentist doesn't mean that she can't eat candy. Besides," I said, "she always brushes her teeth afterwards." I held the chocolate out to her.

She took it from my outstretched hand. "Sweet Merlin. Bless you."

"Any time." I sat down on my bed. "Where's Harry?" I asked.

"He's working… visiting Azkaban or something. I don't know. It's not a mission so I don't have to worry about him but he had to go somewhere." She broke off a piece of chocolate and popped it in her mouth.

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"Yeah… Gosh. I love chocolate."

I nodded. "Me, too. Break me off a piece.

She paused. "This wasn't your last bar, was it?"

"Would it stop you if it was?" I asked, smiling.

She laughed and handed it to me. "Good point."

"So I had a weird situation with your brother on Christmas," I said, eyeing the piece of chocolate in my hand.

"Which one?"

I blinked at her. "Oh, all of them. They walked in on me while I was doing yoga in the nude. Who do you think?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow at me. "Sheesh… Are you sure that it's me who's PMSing?"

"Sorry…" I said. I pulled my feet up under myself and leaned back against my headboard.

"Okay." She scooted herself up beside me. "What happened?"

"So you know how you and Harry banished me to Ron's room?"

She nodded, blushing a bit. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well we got to talking about everyone and things that had happened and about the Final Battle at Hogwarts."

"What about it?" she asked.

I chewed on my thumbnail. "Well, you know what happened between us…"

"Oh, yeah. So what happened?"

I set my hand down in my lap and exhaled, looking down at my hands. "He… Well… maybe, I don't know, I thought he was going to kiss me."

She squealed and did this little bouncy thing that she does when she gets excited. "What? No way!"

"That's what I thought—I could be wrong. It was pretty dark in his room."

She reached out and squeezed my hand. "Hermione, I'm so happy for you!"

I shrugged. "I'd be happier if he weren't acting so weird lately."

"Even weirder than he had been?" She broke off another piece of chocolate and popped it into her mouth.

"Oh, you have no idea. Right before the almost-kiss, the ghoul in the attic started banging on the pipes, and I guess it startled Ron or something because he jumped away from me like a thousand bonfires had just ignited between us. And he's said hardly a word to me since."

"It's been weeks since Christmas!" she gaped.

"I know!" I sighed and pushed my hair out of my face. "I don't get it. You and Harry just kind of… clicked, you know? I guess I assumed that Ron and I would to do the same."

Ginny smirked. "Well, you know what happens when you assume…"

"Come on, Ginny. I'm being serious."

She sighed. "Look, if you want him so badly, why don't you just come out and tell him? Tell him in plain words and leave nothing for interpretation. That's not completely against the rules, you know."

"I know…"

"And you were the one who made the first move last time."

"More like the only move last time," I snorted.

She ignored me. "We know that he has feelings for you, right? And we've pretty much established that he isn't ever going to take initiative in this situation so you need to be the one who says something. It'd really be disappointing to see either of you go through this for much longer—there's a lot of time that's already been wasted."

"I guess you're right."

"No, I am right. Now," she said, suddenly looking very determined. "When is a good time for you to do it?"

"Do what?" I asked.

She smiled. "To talk to my brother, you twit."

"Why?"

"I'd like to know when you plan to talk to him so that I can make sure that you reach your goal. You need some accountability."

"Oh. Well, I don't know… he's been working all the time recently."

"He doesn't work all night, does he?"

"Well, no."

She threw her hands up. "Then ask him tonight when he comes home."

I bit my lip. "That's a little soon, don't you think?" I wasn't sure that I liked taskmaster Ginny.

"You can handle it," she said.

"Ginny, I don't know…"

She sighed. "Don't worry about it so much, Hermione. I know that I'm making this out to be a huge thing but, really, from what you've told me, he's simply looking for affirmation that you want to be with him. Look, all you have to do is say, 'Ron, I like you,'" she said, holding my hand and looking meaningfully into my eyes. "See? There's nothing to it. Just be yourself and you'll do fine."

"Well, fine," I said resignedly.

"It'd have to be in small sentences, though. And make sure you use words that he'll understand—none of that genius-girl tripe, okay?"

I laughed.

A/N: Reviews, reviews! How I love them!