Chapter 12 September

Their classes were going rather well; better than expected for the NEWT year courses. They all successfully completed their animagi transformations, so much earlier than Molly had predicted, and even more quickly than Professor McGonagall thought possible. Hermione, as per usual, finished first and Draco even asked her for help with him. Draco seemed to change his act around completely. He, Harry, and Ron got into lengthy discussions on Quidditch and the dark arts; he stopped calling Ginny Weaslette and Hermione a Mudblood, he actually called them by their real names now. Molly had progressed to doing human transformations on each other. Hermione had already successfully completed this when they robbed Gringotts. By the end of one class Ron had a beak, Snape-like, nose, Hermione's eyebrows had grown way out of control and now covered nearly her whole face, Ginny had massive black teeth, Harry had bright fluorescent purple hair, and Draco had floor length red hair. Molly saw them all laughing together and felt a swell of happiness well inside of her.

"So this is what it feels like to be a Weasley?" Draco quipped from behind the wall of hair. Nearly everyone fell out of their seats laughing. That was another thing that the war had changed about him, he now had a great sense of humor. He even took to sending ideas to George at the shop, coming up with new gags and tricks.

Their potion class was going well; they had progressed from Amortentia to Veratiserum. All of these potions were extremely difficult to brew, and very time consuming. Hermione helped Ron and Harry as much as possible but Draco ended up taking her responsibility for Harry, using tips that Snape had given him over the years. Professor Slughorn was quite glad to see that there was still some interhouse unity, especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin, the great rival houses. He complimented them all on their improvement. Harry even explained his predicament with the Half-Blood Prince's book. Slughorn seemed to understand why his outstanding potion ability was rapidly depleting. Slughorn even kept him after class to talk to him about the long standing battle between Severus Snape and his mother in potions class while they were at school; the fond memories brought a smile to Harry's face.

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts class was going fantastically; the teachers made the class extremely enjoyable. They all learned to manipulate their patronesses: making them get smaller, wider, and bigger, send messages, and combine with others to make them even more powerful. Bill was easily becoming one of their favorite teachers; many of the girls were disappointed when he flashed his wedding ring at them inconspicuously. Fleur would drop by for lunch with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Molly. Viktor was still trying to talk to Hermione more and more, not really grasping the concept that Ron and Hermione were dating. He was making it abundantly obvious that he wanted to make their relationship more than just a student/teacher one.

"Hermy-own? May I haff a vord?" he asked one day after class. Hermione stayed. Ron lingered behind, unnoticed by Viktor, and packed up his and Hermione's stuff painstakingly slowly.

"What is it, sir?" she asked.

"You can call me Viktor after class you know," he mentioned.

"Okay, Viktor, what would you like to talk about?" she reiterated, stressing his name, even though she just wanted to get away from him.

"I vas vondering what you were thinking of doing after graduation?"

"Well, I was thinking of working for the ministry, for the Magical Creatures department or something in Law Enforcement."

"That's vonderful," he said. "But I vas thinking…haff you thought about us?"

"Viktor, you and I will be friends, always friends," Hermione said loudly, as if trying to get her message to sink in.

"Friends? Vhy only friends? Ve are connected deeper, I thought, through our letters," he protested. Now Ron was getting angry. He stood up and confronted Viktor. Ron's 6'4" muscular frame towered over the stocky 5'9" Seeker.

"Look, sir, she said she only wants to be friends, back off," Ron said in a dangerous calm, his teeth clenched tightly.

"Vat are you, her body guard?" Viktor scoffed, giving Ron a disgusted look.

"No, but I am her boyfriend," said Ron, putting his arm protectively around Hermione. "If you'll excuse us, we need to start our homework that you assigned." The couple strode out of the classroom. Ron was carrying their books over his left shoulder, his right arm still tightly clinging to her shoulder. They didn't speak until they got to the common room; Ron looked around, noticed there was a fair amount of people still left in there, and led them up to his dorm room.

"Are you okay?" he asked tentatively, as she sat on his bed.

"Yeah," she let out a deep breath that she didn't even know she was holding. "He was never like that before. He used to always be contented with just being my friend."

Ron wrapped his arms around her, drawing her closer to his chest. She listened carefully to him as well as his heartbeat, knowing that it beat for her. "You will never have to be worried about him again; I'll always be here for you. He was too old for you, he's what, like twenty one?"

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"I'll always be here for you," he murmured against her bushy hair.

"To protect me?"

"Yes, to protect you, to be with you, to love you," he stated, looking into her chocolate brown eyes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

All six of the teens noticed how much harder all the classes were; all of the teachers were giving extensive notes and mounds of homework. Their homework was so vast and tiresome that they all had taken to living in the Head's common room. Professor McGonagall said she didn't honestly mind. "It's the Heads' prerogative," she had said. They were there through all their breaks and meal times. Kreacher, and even Winky on occasion, would alternate bringing food from the kitchens when they wanted to eat and not take a break from their studies. Each of them would either do their homework together or help each other out. Hermione and Luna had the busiest schedules and they were about to crack from the pressure.

"Aghh, I just can't take it anymore," Hermione said, falling back on her bed, just finishing the longest translation she had ever been assigned for her Ancient Runes class. She put her hands to her head, pulling her hair and sighing deeply.

"You just need to relax," Ron said from his position on the floor across from her. All of his homework and Quidditch strategies were strewn all over the floor. "Take your mind off things for a while, you know?"

"What do you suggest then, Mister I-have-no-more-homework?"

"I do have to make strategies for Quidditch practices you know," he said pointedly. "Just change into a tank top or something and lay down on the bed, on your stomach." He got up off the floor and headed into the bathroom. He collected a few towels and brought them back to her room. She was in a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top, lying face down on her bed, waiting for her de-stressing.

"You ready?" he asked.

She nodded her head. Ron slipped a rolled up towel under her head, wrapping it so it created a u-shape around her face. He kept it nice and warm with a warming charm. He summoned her favorite lotion and heated it slightly as well. Taking a bit in his hands, he began to massage the cream into her arms. His fingers seemed to emanate magic; he made circular movements with the pads of his thumbs.

"Ohhh," Hermione moaned as he worked his way up to her shoulders. He felt the large knots; most likely from stress and all those books she was carrying around.

"Let me know if I'm hurting you," he warned.

"It's all good pain," she murmured. She couldn't believe Ron knew how to do this. He continued him methodical rubbing. He ended up straddling her hips, working on her back. He thought he pushed too hard at one point, feeling her back crack.

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling his hands away.

"It's okay, don't worry," she said.

"I can't really get this knot out, would you consider taking your shirt off?"

With out hesitation she grabbed and flicked her wand. Her shirt disappeared completely, leaving her bra only. "Keep going."

He did as he was told. His thumbs pressed along her naked spine, allowing the rest of his fingers to splay across the sides of her back, down to her ribs. They felt so good, so comforting to her. Her spine cracked several times before he reached the waistband of her shorts. He traveled down to her feet. When he pressed the heel of his hand into the arch of her foot, a wave of pleasure took over her body, causing her to shiver. He continued his foot massage, tickling her every now and then. Ron moved to her legs, he could feel their softness and slight muscle. He slowly worked his way back to where her shorts started. He muscles tightened slightly as his fingers wandered briefly under her shorts.

"Feel better?"

"Loads," she said, rolling herself over. She leaned up and kissed him in thanks. "Thanks. Where's you learn to do that?" She began to put her shirt back on.

"Dad taught all the boys, saying 'Your wives will thank you later',"

"So we were supposed to be married?" she joked.

"No, but Dad wasn't trying to egg us on or anything."

"Sure," Hermione giggled. "Now, which book did you use for all the transfiguration homework?" Ron handed her a book from his mess of work, stating that his mum must have used this book to create the questions in the first place, because all the answers were in order and very specific to the questions.

"Say, have you noticed a change in Draco this year?" Hermione asked as she copied down an answer.

"You're calling him Draco now?" he mentioned.

"Why not? He doesn't call me 'Mudblood' anymore, or 'Granger'," she reminded him. "And he even called you, Gin, and Harry all by your first names."

"I know, it just seems strange, after all these years of him and his pureblood mania. Now he seems like a regular bloke."

"Yeah, I can't believe it either."

Ron sat on bed with Hermione for a while. She finished her Arithmancy, transfiguration, and History of Magic homework; he helped her as much as he could. He ended up slipping though her CD collection and putting one in the charmed player. He loved Dash Board Confessional.

We watched the season pull up its own stage
And catch the last weekend of the last week
Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced
Another sun soaked season fades away

You have stolen my heart
You have stolen my heart

Invitation only grant farewells
Crash the best one of the best ones
Clear liquor and cloudy eyed, too early to say goodnight

You have stolen my heart
You have stolen my heart

And from the ballroom floor we are a celebration
One good stretch before our hibernation
Our dreams assured and we are; we'll sleep well
Sleep well
Sleep well
Sleep well

You have stolen my, you have stolen my
You have stolen my heart

I watch you spin around in the highest heels
You are the best one of the best ones
We all look like we feel

You have stolen my, you have stolen my
You have stolen my heart

"Oh, I absolutely love that song," Hermione sighed, closing her book; she was finally done with her homework.

"Me too," Ron said quietly. He paused a moment. "Hermione, can I ask you something, and not have you think I'm anancyboy?"

"Sure"

"Well, since we both really like this song, and I heard that um… Muggle couples have 'songs', and I thought this could be our song," he finished.

"Wow," she said softly, placing her hand on his cheek.

"What?" Ron freaked, thinking he did something wrong.

"That's the most romantic thing you have ever done," she leaned over and kissed him sweetly. He grabbed her waist and drew her tightly to his chest. When they broke the kiss, she stayed hugging him close to her, letting her head rest on his chest. She loved to just sit there and listen to his heartbeat. It had a strange effect on her, almost a calming sense. They must have laid there for near a half hour, listening to the rest of the Dashboard Confessional tracks on the CD. Before long, Neville knocked on her door.

"You two want to come out for dinner? Winky's just brought steak and kidney pie."

"Sure, we'll be right down," Hermione called, noting that Ron's stomach growled at the mention of food. She crawled off of him, and straightened herself up. Ron casually ran his fingers through his hair before offering her his large, yet inviting, hand.

"Shall we?" he said, extremely properly, bowing slightly to her. She giggled as she accepted his hand and the two made their way down to the Head's common room. Harry, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Ron, and Hermione dined on the excellent feast, prepared by their two favorite house-elves.

"So, Luna, how are your classes going so far?" Ginny asked after swallowing a large chunk of bread.

"Rough, although I'm really starting to like History of Magic; Binns is really starting to delve into the 1900's and more recent history."

"Same here," said Hermione after swallowing a mouthful. "Maybe by the end of the year, he might get to Dumbledore's greater accomplishments. There was also talk about her making us get Rita Skeeter's book so he could teach us fact from fiction in his life."

"Maybe," Luna said dreamily.

"Luna? Are you going to eat?" Neville enquired. "You're looking a bit thin lately."

"Oh, I guess I just get so caught up in my homework, I forget," she said. Luna was probably one of the only girls in the world who wouldn't get offended when Neville said things like that.

"You need to stay here more then, so you can be reminded," Neville said. "Between Harry, Ron, and I, you'll never forget to eat."

After they all had their fill of food, Harry suggested that they all go down to visit Hagrid. As they left and walked down there, Neville entertained them with stories from his Care of Magical Creatures class; apparently there was still one blast-ended skrewt left. Once they walked down there, Harry knocked on the door.

"One mo', Hagrid's voice boomed from within. A large, rugged, bushy haired man opened the door and a big grin broke out on his beard-covered face. "'Arry, 'Ermione, Ron, do come in. 'Ello Neville, Luna, Ginny!"

"Hey Hagrid," Harry greeted his old friend. "How are things?"

"Rather good, all things considered," he said. "Me and ol' Olympe are on better terms now, now that er'thing's done n' over with."

"You two were fighting?" Hermione and Ron asked in unison.

"Yeah, mainly how I was always puttin' meself in danger fer Dumbledore and you guys."

"But that war must have affected her too, I meanFranceisn't that far," Ron said.

"Yeah, she 'elped ter protect 'er school. It stayed safe enough though," Hagrid said gruffly.

"So, you two dating or what?" Harry asked tentatively.

"You could say that," he said smiling, his beady black eyes twinkling.

All six of them stayed and reminisced on old times, sharing quite a few laughs among all the things they had done around Hagrid and in his classes, until twenty minutes before curfew. Hagrid escorted them back up to the castle and bade them good night. They all headed back to the Head's dormitory, making the common room ready for bed. Hermione conjured three king-sized beds where they could sleep comfortably: Neville with Luna, Ron with Hermione, and much to Ginny's insistence, Harry with Ginny. Harry and Ginny were still just friends, and only the other two couples seemed to believe them now.

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They still had a bit of warm weather, so they went swimming on theBlackLakethat weekend. Hermione hadn't ever gone into the water because she was always studying of always doing homework. This was the last weekend, so she decided to surprise them all by going out. Once they were all down by the lake, the boys ran into the water while the girls finished getting undressed. Ginny was wearing a dark green bikini with boy cut bottoms; Luna had a purple one-piece with such a plunging neckline that you could see her bellybutton; and Hermione was wearing the same bathing suit that she wore when she and Ron went to Australia. All three boys looked at them in disbelief; they didn't know their girls could look so good with such little clothing on.

"'Mione, is that you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, now look at Ginny and stop drooling over me," she chided gently. Hermione had never really heard people tell her she looked good, or had these kinds of reactions to how she looked, it just was different, and she was going to have to get used to it. She waded out into the water, to where Ron was, and she kissed him. When they broke apart, she pushed him back so he fell under the water. Ron surfaced and shook his head like a dog, a tendency he acquired ever since he managed his animagus transformation. The droplets of water splattered all over Hermione.

"Hey, do you guys know how to do chicken fights?" Harry asked. Most of them shook their heads. Hermione, being Muggle-born, knew how to. She and Harry explained to the rest of the group how it was played and what they objective was. Harry submerged himself and Ginny clambered up onto his shoulders. He shot up out of the water and she screamed. Harry laughed but he kept his hold tight around her thighs. Ron got Hermione up on her shoulders, making them the tallest couple.

"Luna and I will face the winner," Neville proclaimed and everyone agreed. With the girls poised on their shoulders, the two men advance on each other. The girls grasped hands and began to maneuver each other, giggling a lot, trying to unseat one another. Ginny thought she could draw on her Quidditch strength to unseat the bookworm; unfortunately for Ginny, she underestimated the bookworm. Hermione knew the logical aspect; she caught Ginny off balance and pushed her back and to the left: angles and leverage. Ginny fell back and Harry went down with her. He grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her above the surface, gasping for air.

"Yeah!" Ron cheered, spinning around punching the air, Hermione still on his shoulders. There were people sitting on the shore, watching this friendly competition.

"Good fight mate," Harry said to Ron.

"Alright, Ron, bring it on!" Neville said, laughing, Luna perched on his shoulders. The usual dream look on her face was replaced with one of pure resolve. Harry started the fight and the girls went at each other. Luna was a bit loony but she wasn't in Ravenclaw for nothing; she knew all the strategies better than the Gryffindor. After only two minutes of wrestling, Luna caused the other couple to topple backwards into the water.

"Yeah!" Neville cheered while lifting Luna off his shoulders. She hugged him while everyone cheered them on from the shore. Neville leaned down and kissed lips gently. He was about to pull away when she began to pull him back, deepening the kiss. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny cheered them on, knowing that this was their first public display of affection, at least in front of a large group of people. Neville broke the kiss when he was becoming short on air. He looked around, looking embarrasses. He shrugged sheepishly at his friends.

They played around in the water for several more hours. After a while they got bored so they got out and lay down on some towels. The girls lay out to tan but the guys were a bit apprehensive about this. They knew that everyone would be ogling their girlfriends. "Ron, we'll be fine," she assured him. "I've fought Death Eaters; I think I can handle a few hormonal teenagers."

"I know, I just don't think I can handle all of those guys looking at you."

"Well, you think I like all the girls who are currently looking at your chest?"

"No one's looking at me," he insisted.

"Then no one is looking at me either," she said.

"Fine," he mumbled.

"Hey Mione," Luna called. "You know what, you should write a book about what happened during the war from our perspective." She looked up from her history of magic book.

"You know what, that sounds like a pretty good idea actually," Hermione agreed. They lay there quietly discussing what would be in it, and Hermione took notes on a spare little notebook that she always kept in her bag.

Once the sun started to set, they packed up, got changed, and headed back up to the castle. After several competitive games of exploding snap between Ron and Ginny, games of chess between Harry and Neville, they finally all went to bed.