July 31, 1997 – there has been the tiniest bit of confusion on the dates, but just for the record, I am going by the hints of time in the book, and have not googled or wikied (or whatever the proper term is) any of this, (besides what we get on JK Rowling's brilliant website) and to my knowledge, my dates correspond well with the book's. Still, if you disagree, I would love for you to address your concerns … I could be so very wrong :) Please review, and thank you, thank you, thank you. I greatly appreciate it.
Ron's palm was more calloused than she'd expected, but softer too. Or maybe he was just cradling her face so gently, so sweetly. He was leaning forward now, and she couldn't look away from those piercing, beautiful blue eyes. They were clear, but with dark rims around his irises, and she loved them. His eyelashes were so long, and somehow they were darker than the hair on his head – more auburn, brunette even.
He was leaning so close now, and he was about to kiss her, and she couldn't breathe, but her chest was heaving anyway.
"Won-Won!" suddenly Lavender Brown was standing at the top of the large pile of presents, and as they tumbled towards Ron and Hermione, she slid down gracefully and landed in front of them, steam literally coming from her ears. "Get away from her!"
They jumped away from each other, and everything was wrong, everything was so wrong.
"Hermione!"
Her eyes flew open, her heart was pounding. "Merlin Ginny!" she gasped to the redheaded girl peering down at her.
"I need your help," Ginny replied, as though she hadn't just jerked Hermione rudely from blissful unconsciousness.
"What is it?" She scrubbed some of the sleep residue from her heavy eyes.
"It's Harry's birthday," Ginny moaned, and slapped her head into her palm.
Puzzled, Hermione nodded sleepily, not seeing the connection. It was Harry's birthday. She had a present already, as far as she knew, they weren't expecting a death eater attack, or planning any high-risk operations. There was no logical reason that Ginny should be angry, or that Hermione shouldn't be able to melt back into the warm sheets that she could feel tantalizingly beneath her.
"I … am confused," she finally yawned.
"Don't you see?" Ginny asked direly, hands on her hips. She was so like Molly, and if it weren't for this, Hermione would have closed her eyes by now.
"Not at all," she admitted, trying to smile sympathetically.
"I have nothing to give him," Ginny finally clarified, her tone one of mourning. "I just … I couldn't decide, and it crept up on me."
"Ginny, you didn't have to – "
"But you did!"
Hermione cut off, bemused again. Her head was so fuzzy – she didn't want to puzzle out Ginny's angst anymore. She wanted to fall back into her bed, and she wanted Lavender to disappear and to have Ron's warm hand on her face. Most of all, she wanted his mouth to make it all the way to hers this time.
"Yes, Ginny, I got him a present but – "
"He can't get a present from everyone but me!"
Hermione fell silent again. "Whatever you get him will mean the world, Ginny."
"But I haven't gotten him anything!"
Hermione began to massage her forehead, then her eyes. It was so bloody bright. Heavens how she hated the morning.
"... give him one of your Quidditch posters," she suggested lamely, still thinking of Ron. Ron had lots of Quidditch posters. "Stop it," she muttered, under her breath, so that Ginny didn't hear her. She was too busy sighing dramatically at Hermione's last idea.
"Good idea. I'm sure he'll be right chuffed to get an old poster of his ex-girlfriend's favorite all-womens Quidditch team. He can go ahead and pin it up next to the rest of his vast expanse of useless memorabilia."
"Calm down!" Hermione insisted, chuckling. "Unfortunately, I'm lost at this point. Snog him senseless?"
"That's what I was thinking, though would I seem arrogant?"
Hermione's eyes widened. Ginny seemed serious about the kissing idea. In fact, she was serious. Snogging senseless – it didn't sound like a terrible idea. Hmmm …. Oh she was much, much too tired.
"You honestly want to … I mean, you were..." she struggled to regain the composure that came with safely talking about Ginny and Harry's relationship, and nothing to do with her own mixed emotions.
"Well yes," the redheaded sister of Ron (hem, Ginny, Hermione's thoughts corrected primly) smirked, "He'd certainly remember."
Hermione laughed at this, having to hand it to her friend. She might have been the younger of the two, but she sure seemed to have things more figured out than Hermione did. "I suppose, yes, he would, but are you sure...?"
"No. Not at all."
Huh … so maybe not nearly so figured out as she'd thought.
"Well if you're honestly trying to carry this out," Hermione shrugged, finally, "then I better be there to keep Ron away."
"Ooh, yes, good idea," Ginny nodded fervently, "That wart would love to make sure I never speak to Harry, or any boy for that matter, for at least another twenty years or so."
Hermione smiled a little too fondly, and blushed as Ginny shot her a knowing look.
"And who better to distract him than you?" She wiggled her eyes suggestively, and burst into giggles at Hermione's appalled expression.
"Oh honestly, you're just like him," Hermione sighed, fully awake now. She was feigning indifference, but all of that talk about distractions was sending her mind back to sweet moments behind piles of presents, a rough hand brushing her cheek, and blue, blue eyes. "I'm leaving now." She grabbed the wrapped sneakoscope from the dresser and made her way to the kitchen.
Once breakfast was finished and Ron, Harry and Hermione were heading to the first floor landing – nearer and nearer to Ginny's room – Hermione wracked her brains for something to turn Ron's attention away from his best friend and little sister, and what the latter was about to do.
"I'll pack these for you," she finally said to Harry, thinking of a way to both keep Ron occupied and to free Harry's arms. "I'm nearly done, I'm just waiting for the rest of your underpants to come out of the wash, Ron."
Reacting just as she'd hoped, Ron's eyes widened and by his splutter she knew that she had his full attention. But then –
"Harry, will you come in here for a moment?"
As Ron skidded to a stop, Hermione knew very well that no distraction short of something exploding or dying would distract him. Instead, she balanced Harry's gifts in one arm and grabbed one of Ron's with her free hand.
"Wait!" he demanded as she towed him along. He attempted to see over his shoulder, but the door was already closing behind Harry and Ginny. When it looked as though he was going to insist on turning and forcing it open, Hermione pulled harder.
"Let them be," she insisted, dragging him up the stairs and into his room. She deposited Harry's birthday items on the floor, then rounded on Ron, who was still attempting to escape.
"Ronald Weasley," she snapped. Somewhat startled, he finally turned his attention back to her.
"What?"
"It is Harry's birthday today, and so help me, you will let him enjoy it! Ginny is old enough to make her own decisions now. She's a lot smarter than you give her credit for. It's not as though she hasn't thought this through."
"She never does when it comes to him!" he countered heatedly. "All she ever did last year was snog Dean, then lose him as soon as Harry's decided that it's convenient for him to fancy her after all – after all of those years, and her talking about him non-stop, and him never giving her the time of day! She let him yank her along just so that he could chuck her a month later!"
"He did not chuck her Ron, and you know it."
"He ENDED it!" he roared, "Fooling around with he now is only making it worse."
In a way, Ron was being irrational, and overprotective. Still, Hermione couldn't help but, as she stared at him standing there, furious, get a pang of affection for this boy. His defense on behalf of his baby sister, who happened to be Hermione's best friend aside from he and Harry, was unbelievably sweet.
"Please Ron," she finally sighed, "Let them have another minute to sort things out."
"You mean to get dressed!"
Hermione gaped for a moment at his startling implication, and then couldn't help but burst out laughing. Ill placed as her mirth was, the idea of Ginny and Harry actually …. in the middle of a large, packed house full of Weasleys, no less. However, when Ron's eyes narrowed, and even more color flooded his face, she sobered immediately.
"No – Ron, honestly, that's not even –"
"That's it!" he snarled, and threw upon the door, bounding down the stair cases to Ginny's door in record time. Hermione was moments too far behind him. He was already flinging it open by the time she reached the chaos.
"Ron!" she chastised, trying to catch her breath. Nervously, she looked between Harry and Ginny, who had obviously just broken apart, and back to a fuming Ron. Everyone's getting interrupted today, she thought wryly, and with a sigh, followed the two boys out the door.