The stars were bright the night after Bill and Fleur's wedding, because of this Ron and Hermione had decided to do a bit of stargazing. 'The Burrows' was empty that evening with the exception of Ron, Hermione and Ginny so they'd had to amuse themselves. The newlyweds had departed on their honeymoon the night before, Mr and Mrs Weasley had gone to the Delacours' to get more acquainted with the family, whilst the twins had decided to refurbish their shop. This had become a longer and more difficult task after the twins had miscast a spell and decided to do it by hand instead. As a result of this, they had decided to stay in the flat above it for a few days for easier access.

Once the house had been cleared the three of them had made themselves an evening meal then Ginny had complained of a headache and excused herself from the table to go for a lie down. The other two had accepted it whilst Ginny knew that it was all an act on her part to give them some privacy. Despite Hermione's protests that nothing could happen as they were technically brother and sister, Ginny had not backed down and was determined to get them together.

After they had cast the spell for the washing up, Hermione had commented on what a lovely night it was and in reply, much to Hermione's amazement that he didn't want to play chess, Ron had suggested they went outside and did some star spotting. After getting over the shock Hermione had agreed enthusiastically.

So that was how they had found themselves, on a clear, warm Sunday evening, lying on the middle of the field behind 'The Burrows' staring up at the sky whilst Hermione pointed out random facts about astrology.

'And that one there is Ursa Minor,' she pointed just ahead of them, 'it was introduced in 6th Century BC but was also used as a guide by sailors and travellers for many years before that.'

'Incredible,' Ron stated, lying prostrate on the ground to the left to her, his right arm behind his head. He kept glancing sideways at Hermione every so often, unable to keep his attention on the stars when there was something much more beautiful within his reach.

'Beautiful, isn't it?' she whispered softly beside him.

'Yes, yes you are,' he replied without thinking. Hermione, however, automatically picked up on what he'd said and turned her head quickly to face him, giving his a surprised look. Realising what he had just said, Ron simply looked at her calmly; he was fed up of playing games. The slip of the tongue had been a blessing in disguise for him and he was going to use it to his advantage, there was no going back from what he had just said, not now.

Turning over to face her, Ron propped himself up on his right arm and looked down at her. His soft gaze made Hermione shiver involuntarily; all she could do was look up at him. She felt paralysed, unable to think of anything to say and unable to command her muscles to move. Yes, this was what she had been waiting for, the time when one of them would confront the situation between them, but now it had arrived she was suddenly struck with doubts. What could it do to their friendship? What if they weren't ready to take the steps towards a relationship? She so wanted to kiss Ron but still found herself unable to do anything. Relax Hermione, she told herself, it's ok. This is Ron, the one person you've truly loved for years; he won't hurt you, not like Viktor. You're only afraid because this could be serious, more serious than anything else you've ever encountered in your life. Take a chance. Trust yourself.

'Ron,' she looked up into his deep blue eyes and willed herself to continue, 'I…I…'

'I'm mad about you Hermione.' Ron cut in, his calm disposition seemed to be fading away and was replaced by the uncomfortable anxiety he usually felt around her. However, he still found himself needing to tell her exactly how he felt whilst he still had the strength to, he had started with his admission, the only thing to do now was finish it, 'I think I have been since third year, maybe even before then; I just didn't realise until recently how much you meant to me. All of this brother and sister stuff has been difficult, I always thought that was what we were but after it was made official I realised how difficult it would be to be siblings,' he took a deep breath and mustered all of his energy to ask his final question, 'do you feel the same?'

There was a deafening silence as Hermione took in all that he had said, convincing herself that it was real, it had happened. Meanwhile, Ron just looked at her anxiously, hoping that he had done the right thing. He just kept reminding himself that it was better to have told her and found out her feelings than to have never told her and always wondered about what could have been.

Finally, Hermione opened her mouth to speak. Ron took a sharp intake of breath and waited for her reply, 'yes,' she whispered.

'Yes?'

'Yes,' she smiled, 'a thousand times yes, Ron.'

A wide grin spread rapidly across his face, she liked him, she really liked him. Taking advantage of the situation he leant in and kissed her squarely on the mouth, at the same time Hermione automatically grabbed the front of his jumper and pulled him down on top of her. They kissed more deeply as Ron cupped her face with his left hand and Hermione ran her fingers through his hair. Caught up in the moment, she then placed both hands flat on his chest and pushed him sideways until she was lying on top of him. Ron's arms snaked round her waist and made her feel safe and protected. At that moment there was nothing wrong in the world, no Voldemort, no Deatheaters, nothing; there were just the two of them.

Breaking away from each other, Hermione looked down at Ron happily, they were so close that she could count the freckles on his face quite easily. He smiled back up at her, both could see longing in each other's eyes, they finally knew where they stood. This was something they weren't ready to let go quite yet.

'Hermione, I…' Ron began; Hermione placed a hand lightly over his mouth to stop him from talking.

'I know. I l…'

Hermione's eyes snapped open in amazement as she was awoken from her sleep, how could she dream that way? After all they had been through, after all the thought she had given to the idea of her and Ron being just friends. How could she think like that when she had just convinced herself that it was best to leave their relationship at friendship?

It was four days after the wedding and the house was now full of Weasleys again, in reality the house had been empty except for the three of them the night after the wedding. However, both Ron and Hermione had spent most of the night playing wizard chess as opposed to stargazing. It had been fun seeing Ron in a mood when he realised that she had been practicing, though Hermione had to admit that the dream evening had been slightly more eventful and interesting.

She thought back to the dream she had just awoken from, how it had felt for them to be that close, how much she had wanted that kiss to be real. She had never been kissed or treated like that by Viktor; she shuddered, how could she think of that… that animal after the way he had treated her at the wedding reception?

Reluctantly, she persuaded herself to think of how her relationship with Viktor had been. It had always been so secretive and cold, a chaste kiss on the cheek between her classes, a good distance kept between them at any other time. Other than the Yule Ball, she couldn't remember a time where they had shared more than five minutes together in public. Yes, their relationship had been cold and regimented. Viktor had always been secretly protective and hated if another man happened to even talk to her, he had even accused Harry of being too close to her at one point!

But the kiss in the dream, she remembered how it had felt as she ran her fingers lightly across her lips. That kiss which, if it had been real would have taken her breath away. She had felt his lips on hers, his fingers in her hair, his weight on her chest. It had been so passionate, so loving; it had felt right. It had felt real, and yet it had all been a dream.

At the same time as Hermione had awoken from her dream, Ron had sat bolt upright in his bed. He shook his head violently, what was he doing thinking like that? It had taken him long enough to persuade himself that things could never work out between them and that they were in fact siblings now. Also, he was annoyed at the fact that despite the dream Ron had been rather confident at first, he could never be like that. No! It was better off leaving things as they were. Thank Merlin Hermione hadn't been dreaming the same thing, he though, it could have been disastrous.

Whilst Ron and Hermione had awoken from the same dream, Fred was still tossing and turning. The dream wasn't quite over for him yet and it was about to become a nightmare.

'Hermione, I…' Ron began; Hermione placed a hand lightly over his mouth to stop him from talking.

'I know. I l…'

At this point there was a throat clearing from a few meters away, as the couple looked up at the intruder their eyes widened in amazement.

'Obliviate!'

The two teenagers blacked out immediately as the spell hit them both accurately. As they fell to the floor, Fred stepped out of the shadows looking over the two bodies.

'She belongs to me,' he hissed venomously.

His brother and his crush, how could they? He felt betrayed, she was his and he didn't want them to remember a thing about what had just happened. He wasn't about to let his youngest brother ruin his chances with the one girl he'd ever felt this strongly about.

With one final look he stepped past them and walked towards the kitchen of 'The Burrows'.

Fred's eyes opened wide and he stared at the ceiling in despair and realisation; what if the dream was right? What if Ron and Hermione really did like each other? Sure, everyone knew that there was something between them but they'd never actually do anything about it would they? It hurt him to think that it could be a possibility, but he would never do anything like that would he? He could never use 'Obliviate' on Hermione, Ron maybe but never Hermione.

He rubbed his hands over his face and yawned loudly, he had been having dreams about Hermione since she arrived, not that he'd admit it to anybody of course. They had always been the same, he told her he liked her and she had welcomed him with open arms. Only this one had taken a different route, it had been since he had seen Ron comforting Hermione at the wedding. How could he get so close to her as just a friend when Fred had to stay so far away despite being infatuated with her?

He sat up slowly in bed and bought his legs up to his chest, laying his head on his knees. What was happening? Since when did he care this much about a girl? Maybe the dream had been for the best and he would finally realise what a stupid idea it was to feel this way about Hermione. No! Maybe he should tell her, let her know where she stood in his affections.

If he could get to her before Ron then maybe it wouldn't be too late!

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I know, I know I'm a very mean person making it all a dream but the fluff was a bit too out of character for two teenagers who find it difficult enough just to say they like each other, let alone snog each other senseless!

Little author's note: I, unfortunately, am at a loss when it comes to knowledge about astrology so I apologise if there is some reason why 'Ursa Minor spotting' could not be possible. However, I did pick it at random (as it's one of the only constellations I know) and when I looked it up I was surprised to find that a bordering constellation was called 'Draco.' Spooky, huh?

As always, please read and review, all reviews are welcomed with open arms!

More to come soon

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