They enjoyed the rest of the Winter Holidays without any trouble. They were almost sorry to leave. Harry had become much more comfortable with being a part of a family and having other people to rely on, to laugh and cry with, and even to argue with. He'd almost burst the twins' eardrums with a tirade after they almost blew him up with what they called a 'harmless prank' on New Years, which consisted of tying little rockets to the ends of his robe when no one was looking to have it suddenly shoot over his head. What they hadn't counted on was the rockets exploding, scaring the wits out of him, and causing him to accidentally send an icicle hurtling through a window, thinking he was under attack. All of the Weasleys watched with a sort of pride as Harry basically tore them a new one.

However, the time for holidays was over and it was back to Hogwarts once again. Once they got settled in the dorm, they searched for Hermione to swap holiday stories. When they found her, they were surprised to see their best friend and all around good girl, snogging some guy in one of the chair in the Common Room. It was off in the corner so she hadn't expected to be seen, which was obvious given her reaction to being caught.

"'Mione?'" Ron carefully called out and watched the girl jump so badly he thought she'd hit the ceiling.

"R-Ron! Harry! Good to see you! This is...um this is a friend I was showing around..." She faltered when she saw the boys give her a look that said 'How thick do you think we are?'

"Oh alright, this is my boyfriend..."

"Nicodemus Alexander, but you can call me Nick." He said, rushing over to meet the very famous Harry Potter. He was about Ron's height with deep brown wavy hair. Even through his uniform, you could see he was very well muscled and he spoke with what sounded like an American accent.

"Hello, Nick. I'm..."

"Oh you don't have to tell me, Hermy's told me all about you guys! And of course, you're a bit of a celebrity yourself, aren'tcha?" He turned to Ron "You must be Ron, she said I'd be able to spot you by your hair."

Ron and Harry both chuckled at the bubbly personality of the young man before them. "So, Nick. How long have you been and 'Hermy' been dating?" Ron asked giggling at the nickname.

"Not long at all. It'll be about 2 months this week, right?"

"2 MONTHS?! You haven't said a word! Hermy, I'm surprised at you!" Harry jibed, watching the girl turn a brilliant shade of scarlet.

"Well, you two were being you two, and you were busy and we had just started and I didn't think..."

"Breathe, Hermione!" Ron laughed. "It's all right."

"Yeah! Well Nick, I guess we should go ahead and do this now..." Harry started, giving Ron a meaningful look.

"Do what?" Nick and Hermione both asked.

"Just let you know, that if you hurt our sister in any way shape or form.." Ron started.

"There won't be a soul alive that will save you from the pain we'll inflict upon you." Harry finished.

Nick stared at them. As they were talking, they both had these big grins on their faces and began to glow red and blue, respectively. He just nodded really quickly and backed up a bit.

Hermione stomped over and punched them both in the arm. "Quit it you two!" She playfully admonished, but smiled that they went through the effort.

"Ow!" Ron cried, "What a mean left hook! I think she may be able to handle herself, mate!"

"Yeah, you ever think about boxing?" Harry joked. She just rolled her eyes and pulled Nick back over. "Come on, we've got a lot of catching up to do." She said and the quartet found a table to trade stories of holidays, family and fun.