Author's Note: Whew, I got it out by the end of the week. I felt bad because I told a lot of you I would, and I had a lot of trouble with it, so this one took longer.

Also, I'd like to thank the reviewers whom I cannot send responses back, and all of the reviewers who sent responses back to me! I wasn't expecting that, but it was so sweet of you guys to do! I think I got to all of you, but if I somehow missed out, please let me know. It was an oversight and nothing personal!

I hope you enjoy the chapter! Fluff and happiness, as promised!

~*~

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

"You're doing it wrong," Hermione said, her eyes narrowed as she watched Ron.

"No, I'm not," Ron said defensively, throwing a reproachful look in Hermione's direction. She was standing at the foot of the changing table, her arms crossed as she watched Ron attempt to change Teddy's nappy. Teddy, whose hair was now a bright shade of blue, gurgled up at the two of them, oblivious of their bickering.

"Yes, you are. You've done it too loose. Watch, when you pick him up it's going to fall off!" she said warningly.

"Will you quit bossing me around? I am capable of doing things, you know, I'm not…" he picked Teddy up, and his nappy fell off. "Completely incompetent," he finished through gritted teeth, his ears turning red.

Ron put Teddy back onto the changing table as Hermione stepped around him and proceeded to do it the right way. "You did the right things, you just…see, you have to make sure it's securely around him. That's the first step. The second step is to…"

"You have got to be kidding me," Ron said incredulously from behind her. Hermione handed Teddy, whose diaper did not fall off this time, to Ginny and faced Ron, her arms crossed again.

"What?" she said challengingly, her chin stuck in the air.

"'The first step'?" Ron repeated mockingly. "You've read a book on babies, haven't you?" he said incredulously.

Hermione's cheeks colored. "No, I haven't!" she said, though it sounded unconvincing even to her own ears. From the kitchen, Harry chuckled. Hermione shot him a scathing look and he stopped immediately.

Ron shook his head. "I can't believe it. You actually read a book on how to take care of babies," he said, an ironic smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"So what if I did?" Hermione said, abandoning denial because she knew it wouldn't work. She had read a book on taking care of babies, though she wouldn't admit it right now to Ron. "What does it matter if I have?"

"It's just funny that's all," Ron said, grinning widely now.

"What's funny is that the last time you read a book, your mum was reading it to you," Hermione shot back, her temper flaring up at once.

Ron's mouth dropped open. "That's not true! I read," he said defiantly.

"Quidditch magazines and Chocolate Frog cards don't count," she said contemptuously.

Ron's ears grew red. "I do read, I just don't do it in the excessive amount that you do it in," he said, mirroring her and crossing her arms.

"Should Harry and I leave? Only, this is our flat, so if you two want a room, don't use the bedroom, that would be too weird," Ginny called from the kitchen, bouncing Teddy on her hip.

"Shut up Ginny," Ron growled, his eyes never straying from Hermione's face.

"What was the last book you read," Hermione said, not letting the argument die with Ginny's interruption.

"You wouldn't know it," Ron said coolly.

"Well, according to you, I read everything, so I must know it!" Hermione shouted.

Ron bit his lip, looking around the room. Hermione knew he was trying to buy himself some time. "I read…I read…" Ron stumbled, trying to find a title out of thin air. "I read Hogwarts: A History."

Hermione was taken aback. "No you didn't," she said hotly, though she was a little uncertain. What if he actually had read it?

"Yes, I did. I was tired of hearing you bang on about it for eight years, so I read it to see if it was all that it was cracked up to be. And guess what? It wasn't!" Ron shouted, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration

"What was your favorite part, then?" Hermione asked, not letting this pass just because he could remember a book title.

"I didn't have one. The whole bloody thing was rubbish and a waste of paper," Ron said bellowed, his ears burning. "Why, what was your favorite part?" he asked mockingly.

"The part about enslaved house elves and how they had been employed since the school opened and not one Headmaster or Headmistress has even bothered to free them," she said. She was setting up a trap for him; it was unfair, but she couldn't help it.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Ah, yes. That would be your favorite part, wouldn't it?" he said sarcastically. Hermione smiled; it had worked.

"Ha!" she said, uncrossing her arms and taking a step toward Ron. "I knew you hadn't read it! There isn't one word on house elves in the entire thing! Wouldn't you know that if you'd actually read it?" she screamed; the heat of the fight pushing at her emotions.

But something else was happening well, it was a feeling that was all too familiar. As much as she wanted to hit Ron, as much as she wanted to scream and yell and hate him, there was something else too. And it was much more powerful than the anger that was coursing though her veins. As much as she wanted to flounce out of Harry's and Ginny's flat and slam the door in his face, she wanted to do something else as well. She wanted to kiss him, she wanted to run her fingers nails through his hair, she wanted to feel the taunt muscles of his chest. As much as she wanted to hit him, she wanted to kiss him even more.

It was a curious emotion, one the two of them had discovered years ago, though the feelings certainly hadn't been as strong. She supposed it had started when she was fourteen, when she realized that when she yelled at Ron, other things happened too. She knew he felt the same way; this was why they fought so much. And she knew no one else understood it but the two of them. Fighting was their strange and perverse way of flirting.

She blinked, bringing herself back to the present, back to reality. She crossed her arms tighter, forcing herself not to jump at him. "Well?" she added testily, her voice low and dangerous.

Ron still looked shocked by her trick. "Maybe you missed a part," he yelled back, though they both knew his feeble attempt wouldn't work.

"Oh, yes, that must be it. I didn't read the chapter on house elves that you read," she shouted sarcastically. "Tell me, Ron, what did it say?" she asked loftily.

Her sarcasm seemed to fuel Ron, who rose to the occasion. "It said…it said…it said that you should stop being such a know-it-all," he bellowed finally.

Hermione raised her eyebrows coolly. "A know-it-all? How original, I've never heard of that one before," she screamed, and Ron's ears turned a darker shade of red.

"Yeah, well…" Ron shouted, clearly out of an argument.

They stood there, only a few inches apart, their chests rising and falling rapidly as they stared at each other, eyes glazed in anger, cheeks red with shouting. Harry said something, but he sounded very far away, and Hermione did not ask him to repeat himself.

Ron started to bit his lip furiously, and Hermione realized that he was trying not to smile. She was very aware of the way he was looking at her, and it was not at all in the same way he had been glaring at her before. And she knew, though he did not need to say it, that he was picturing the same things she had been imagining. She knew that running through his mind was the feel of her skin, the smell of her hair, the way she felt when he wrapped his arms around her.

This was how all of their bickering ended, especially now that they didn't have to suppress any of their feelings. One minute they'd be fighting, and the next thing she knew, Ron would swiftly cross the room and, without any explanation, kiss her. Only this time, he couldn't kiss her because they were standing in the middle of Harry's and Ginny's living room, and they couldn't do something like that.

Harry cleared his throat loudly, and the two of them snapped out of the reverie they had been sharing. Ron's ears turned, if possible, even redder as he turned to the kitchen and remembered that his best friend and little sister had been watching their fight.

"I don't want to…er….break anything up," Harry said awkwardly, looking in their direction but not actually at either one of them, "But dinner's ready."

"Oh," Hermione said, and she felt her cheeks turn red with embarrassment. She turned back to Ron, who was still gazing intently at her. His unspoken words told her that what he wanted to do more than anything else was to do exactly what she had imagined. She felt her cheeks grow warmer and she shook her head, saying, not here.

Ron groaned and rolled his eyes, though she knew he had been expecting this answer. Instead, he simply took her hand and they walked into the kitchen. Harry was looking at them with raised eyebrows, holding a babbling Teddy on his lap. Ron shrugged and pulled a chair out for Hermione. She smiled in thanks as she flushed with pleasure.

Ginny, who was bent over in front of the oven, straightened up and set the lasagna on the table. She looked at Harry, who looked surprised.

"It looks really good, Ginny," Harry said, still sounding mildly shocked.

"I told you I can cook," Ginny said defiantly, slapping his arm lightly as she took Teddy from Harry and fastened him into his highchair.

This was a lie, though Hermione didn't challenge it. Ginny had asked her to help make dinner, which Hermione gladly said yes to. The last time they had had dinner with Harry and Ginny, Ginny had burnt absolutely everything, which had caused Ron to complain loudly, and Ginny to throw him out of the flat. This night was special, though, and Hermione didn't want food to ruin it. As it turned out, "helping with dinner" actually meant cooking it while Ginny sat on the counter, moaning over her dismal culinary skills. However, since this was Teddy's first overnight in the flat, Hermione knew it was a big night for Harry, and she didn't tell him that she had, in fact, cooked dinner.

It was all worth the lie though, as she watched Ginny proudly serve everyone, and then watched them intently as they all did not gag on their first bite. Ron sat back, surprised.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, her voice slightly nervous.

"I don't think I'm going to die," Ron said, shocked. This earned him a slap from both Hermione and Ginny.

"Actually, it's really good," Harry said, shoveling more into his mouth.

Ginny crossed her arms. "You don't have to sound so surprised about it," she said, defending something that she hadn't even made. Hermione wanted to laugh at the irony, but she didn't; it would have given her away.

The meal was torture. The unsaid tension between Ron and Hermione was so high she could practically feel it pressing against her. Ron was, unfortunately, sitting opposite her, and every time she would look up, she would find him staring at her, his eyes deep and dark with desire. She would give him a wide-eyed look and shake her head, to which he would respond with a look that clearly said, you're torturing me, can we please leave early?

Even though they couldn't talk in Ginny's and Harry's presence, it didn't stop Ron from doing other things. His foot found hers under the table, and she was doing all she could to say something aloud or standing up and announcing that she and Ron were leaving. Whenever she would squirm in her chair, Ron would smirk, fully knowing what he was doing to her. When she stood up to get something from the counter, Ron pretended he needed more to drink. He pressed the left side of his body against the right side of hers as they stood at the counter, his hand "accidentally" brushing her lower back. Hermione promptly sat down without getting what she needed.

After dinner, Hermione sat listening as Harry and Ron told dramatic stories about Auror training, and the terrible things they had been through. Although she knew it was a grueling process, she didn't believe half of it, like the story Ron told about single-handedly taken out a fleet of mountain trolls. Once they were done telling and creating stories, Ginny told stories about training and practice. She did vivid representations of the other members on the team, most of them uncannily accurate, from what Hermione could tell.

Hermione felt only slightly regretful that she could not join in, for what wildly amusing and thrilling stories could she tell them that could possibly match the adventures they had been in? What was the most exciting thing that had happened to her at work? Not mountain trolls or Dementors or fighting her way out of a ring of Death Eaters. No, the most exciting thing that had happened to her at work had probably been getting a paper cut, she thought wryly.

After dinner, Ginny and Hermione took Teddy into the living room to play while Ron and Harry, against his better judgment, played a game of chess at the kitchen table.

Hermione sat on one side of the rug while Ginny sat on the other, Teddy in between them. They were trying to get him to walk, something he had been reluctant to do. Hermione guessed that with so many people willing to carry Teddy around, he simply didn't want to do it. She couldn't blame him; if she had a dozen or so people practically jumping up and down to carry her everywhere, she wouldn't be bothered about walking either. However, his first birthday had been three weeks ago, and Harry and Andromeda were getting a little worried.

"Come on Teddy," Ginny coaxed. Teddy looked up from the blocks on the floor and grinned at Ginny, a line of drool running from his mouth to the threadbare carpet. He crawled to Ginny, crashing headlong into her legs as he got excited and forgot to stop.

Ginny laughed and picked him up onto her lap. "Silly, you were supposed to walk, not crawl," she told him, brushing her hand over his recently turned ginger hair. Teddy laughed wildly, as if he understood and thought it was the funniest thing in the world.

Hermione and Ginny laughed too, it was the most infectious sound. Hermione leaned forward, and Ginny stood Teddy up, holding on tightly to his pudgy hand.

"Come on Teddy, walk to me," Hermione said in a ridiculously high voice. Teddy's eyes widened with delight at this heightened attention. Ginny kept holding his hand, trying to coax him to walk to Hermione. The plan didn't work though; Teddy promptly crashed to the floor and crawled to Hermione, giggling all the way.

Hermione snatched up Teddy and kissed him loudly on the cheek, which made him giggle even louder with happiness. Teddy wound his thick fingers through her hair, and she winced as she tried to unwrap them.

"I guess he'll walk when he's ready," Hermione said, finally managing to release her hair. Ginny laughed in agreement and stood up.

"Does anyone want ice cream?" Ginny asked, though she was answered with silence. Harry and Ron were so involved in their game; they seemed to be blocking everything out. Ginny turned to Hermione and rolled her eyes.

"I'd take that as a yes," Hermione said, and Ginny nodded, rolling her eyes again. Hermione followed Ginny into the kitchen, Teddy still laughing wildly as she put him on her hip. She sat down at the kitchen table, sitting down as one of Ron's pieces began to assault one of Harry's.

"Ah, bad luck. Mind, that pawn wasn't doing you any favors," Ron said as one of his pieces continued brutally attacked one of Harry's. Teddy grabbed vainly for the small pieces of Harry's pawn, but Hermione puhsed back her chair so that he couldn't reach tnem. Teddy was a magnet for trouble, and the last thing they needed on his first overnight at Harry's and Ginny's flat was to swallow a small piece of marble. Hermione thought the night might get ruined if they ended up at St. Mungo's.

Harry muttered darkly under his breath is response to Ron. Hermione shifted Teddy on her lap to try and tell the two that she was here, but they didn't notice; their eyes barely left the game, they would hardly register her or Teddy.

Harry moved another one of his pieces, and then sat back in his chair looking fairly pleased with himself.

Ron frowned at the board, his eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out the next move. Hermione had never told him this, but she loved to watch him play chess. When she had been at school, it had amazed her. She had never seen him funnel all of his energy into a single thing; she was amazed by his focus and drive. It had been strange, seeing lounging, effortlessly funny Ron stare at a chess board for two hours, barely speaking. She loved how he would run his hands through his hair, trying to figure out the next move and the move after that one. She loved how he would chew the inside of his cheek when he was thinking, how nothing else seemed to matter. It was that passion and drive in such a raw form that marveled her. Now, as she sat at the kitchen table watching the two of them, she saw it in a different light. She saw that unrefined, focused, look of complete and utter care in his eyes before. She saw it when he looked at her.

Ron's eyes grew wide and he ran his hands through his hair again, Harry watching him warily. "Okay, I got it, Queen to E three," he said. "And checkmate," he added jovially.

Harry groaned and dramatically slammed his fist against the table. Ron tried not to look too happy, but Hermione knew that he couldn't help it. This was the one thing that Ron could beat Harry at.

"I don't know why I even try," Harry said theatrically, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

Ron smirked. "Don't let it get to you, I've been playing for a while," Ron said generously. He looked at Hermione and grinned, and she felt her hands and fingers tingle with excitement.

"Yeah, but in eight years, I've never beaten you once," Harry said. "It'd be okay if you usually won but I won the occasional game, but I've never won," Harry said.

"Do you want another go?" Ron asked excitedly, "For practice, I mean," he added quickly. Since he had left the Burrow, there had been few opportunities to play chess; Hermione refused to play with him because she was a bad loser, and they always ended up fighting. It wasn't the good type of fighting either, Hermione took it very personally when she lost.

"Yeah, okay," Harry agreed, and they set up the pieces to play again. Hermione sighed, knowing that Ron would be occupied for another hour. She set Teddy back in the highchair and gave him some toys to play with as she joined Ginny at the counter.

"Don't do it Harry, I don't want to have to put up with you tonight when you lose again," Ginny said over her shoulder.

"That's the spirit," Harry said sarcastically as one of Ron's pieces commenced the game by beheading his knight.

"Is it okay for Teddy to be exposed to this type of violence?" Hermione asked nervously, eyeing Harry's headless knight.

Ron shrugged. "I've been watching Bill and Charlie play since I was about two, I reckon," he said, sweeping the shattered pieces and setting them in a small pile near his elbow.

"Yeah, and you turned out just fine," Ginny said sarcastically. Ron took the pieces of Harry's pawn that he had just captured and threw them at Ginny, who deflected it with a quick flick of her wand. The pieces of white marble turned to a bird in a flash of purple light. Teddy laughed and clapped his hands together wth delight.

"I did," Ron said defiantly. "And anyway, chess is a game of logic, who cares about a little violence, it builds character. I'm going to teach Teddy how to play when he gets older. I bet he'd like that, wouldn't you, Teddy?" he asked, turning to Teddy, who laughed gurgled incomprehensibly. Ron raised his eyebrows at Ginny, as if this was suficient confirmation. Ginny merely rolled her eyes and opened the living room window to let the bird out.

Ginny sat back down at the table. "Great, because what we all really need is another Ron walking around, gloating about how great he is at playing chess," she joked.

"I don't gloat," Ron said defiantly.

"Yes you do, but you won't admit it. Just shut up and eat your ice cream," Ginny said with a note of finality.

"Why? Did you make this too?" Ron asked mischievously. Ginny pretended to dump his bowl of ice cream over his head, but did not answer.

Ron set the chessboard carefully on the counter; food ranked pretty high on his list, even higher than chess.

"Have you ever lost a game?" Harry asked as they dug into their ice cream. Ron shot him a dark look, as if Harry had just asked him to recount his worst memory.

"Once," he said shortly, giving the air that he wanted the conversation to end there.

"When?" Harry asked eagerly, as if he was going to ask the winner for pointers.

"I don't want to talk about it," Ron said quickly.

"He doesn't want to talk about it because he lost to me," Ginny chirped happily, now suddenly very happy to talk about chess. Ron shot her a look that clearly said she had betrayed him, and Harry laughed aloud.

"You're joking. I can beat Ginny at chess!" Harry said.

"Hey!" Ginny cried angrily.

"I thought we weren't going to talk about it," Ron said to Ginny through gritted teeth. Ginny shrugged, and then turned angrily to Harry.

"What was that supposed to mean?" she said, crossing her arms. "'Even I can beat Ginny at chess?'" she asked.

"I…" Harry said, at a loss for words. He seemed very regretful of what he had just said.

"When was this?" Hermione asked Ron intently, ignoring the spat that was inevitably going to develop between Harry and Ginny.

"December 26, 1994," Ron said shortly. Hermione laughed.

"You remember the exact date?" she asked incredulously. "You couldn't remember any dates in History of Magic, but you can remember the date Ginny beat you at chess?" she asked.

"Want to know why I remember?" Ron asked angrily her, and she nodded. He groaned, as if he wished she had said no.

"Because that was the day after the Yule Ball," Ron said irritably. "And she won because I wasn't paying attention," he said.

Ginny coughed something that sounded a lot like "excuses" but Ron ignored her.

"I wasn't concentrating because you were about a foot away, and I had all these thoughts going around my head," Ron continued.

"Like how much of a prat you had been the night before?" Ginny supplied helpfully.

"No," Ron said furiously. "I was thinking about…other things," he said, his ears growing red.

"Things like how awful those dress robes were and how you really should burn them?" Ginny tried again, and Ron merely shot her a scathing look this time. Hermione knew that Ginny knew the real reason why Ron hadn't been concentrating, and she was doing this just to get a rise out of him.

"No," he said again. "I was…I was thinking…bugger it, I'm not saying it in front of Harry and Ginny," he said to Hermione. Hermione felt her heart pound in her chest. She wanted to know what he was going to say.

"But now you all have us on the edge of out seats," Harry said jokingly. Ron rolled his eyes.

"And you're going to stay there because I'm not saying anything. It's private," he said shortly.

They finished the rest of their ice cream in silence, Hermione could practically feel Ron prickling with anger and she knew it would be best to let him burn it out then ask him something and make him flare up again.

Ron and Hermione left soon after that; it had grown uncomfortable after Ginny told Ron's secret, something he clearly believed was base treachery. The evening had started with a fight and had ended with one too, and Hermione was almost happy when Ginny and Harry said goodnight and shut the door behind them.

Hermione turned to Ron, a question on her lips, but she never got to ask it. He took her by the waist and brought him close to her, tilting her chin up and kissing her softly. For a moment, she let herself forget everything and get swept away by the feel of his lips on hers. Then, reason began to catch up and she broke away.

"Ron, we can't. We're in the corridor," she whispered, as if there was someone who could hear her.

Ron shook his head, his eyes dark and searching her. "I've wanted to do that all night long. Ever since you looked at me like that when we were fighting," he said softly. She felt her heart crumble.

"Like what?" she asked, and she knew they were speaking softly for different reasons now.

Ron shook his head, and then looked at her. Something behind his eyes seemed to melt, and his breath came out shakily. "Like that," he said, his voice cracking.

Hermione's heart began to speed up, and she acted without thinking. She jumped at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him deeply and fully. Ron responded enthusiastically, his hand brushing the strip of bare skin that had been exposed when she had jumped.

Ron managed to open the door and they fell into the flat as he tried to walk backwards while kissing her at the same time. The result was a resounding crash that surely woke up their neighbors downstairs. Hermione fell on top of Ron, laughing at their strange position.

He raised his head to kiss her again, but she stopped him.

"Why did you lose the game?" she whispered.

Ron paused for a moment. "Because it was the first time I realized I loved you," he whispered back, and Hermione knew he had been waiting to tell her this for a long time. "It was the night after the Yule Ball," he continued. "You were in the Common Room banging on about Krum, and then, in the middle of the game, it all connected. Why I hated him so much, why I was angry at you, all of it," he said. He sat up, taking her with him as he stood up and shut the front door, then turned to her. "I'm sure you'd had all your feelings worked out by then, but that night, while playing chess with Ginny, I finally worked out all of mine."

Hermione felt her heart beat quickly as he talked, and she felt herself sinking, sinking into the floor at his words. She smiled softly, reaching up and putting her arms around his neck. She did not know what to say to him, what she could possibly say that would match what he had just told her.

He looked down at her, "I remember the date because every night since that night, when you would go off to your dormitory, I would think 'I love you'. I would do it every night, but obviously never out lound. But every time you'd say you were off to bed, I would say good night, then in my mind, I would add, 'I love you'. I guess it got to be a habit, because I still do it every night, even though I can say it aloud too. That's roughly one thousand six hundred and twelve times I've thought it. A date like that sticks with you," he said, his voice breathing into her.

"One thousand six hundred and twelve?" she asked, her voice a faint whisper.

He did not answer but kissed her again, his lips parting hers and his hands warm and familiar on her back as she ran hers through his hair.

When they broke apart again, they did not move away from each other, but stood there in the dark flat, their faces vary close. That look he had given her in the hallway, the one where something seemed to have melted behind his eyes, was painted across his face again.

"One thousand six hundred and thirteen," he said.

~*~

Author's Note: Still don't know how I feel about this one. Like I said before, I had a bit of trouble with it. I wanted to do a lot of dialogue, some bickering between Ron and Hermione (as promised), and a little more development for Harry and Ginny as well. I also like doing dialogue between Ginny and Ron. I don't know though, it didn't turn out as planned. Does the 1,612 thing make any sense at all? (yes, I counted, and I'm almost positive is 1,612)

Also, I'd love to get some requests. I have about nine different options for chapter thirty, so any ideas you guys have would be great! Otherwise, I'll end up writing nine different versions of chapter thirty, have my sister read them, and choose the one that she likes. So...if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them (except for Ron proposing...let him get out of the teenage years first, please!)

Reviews would be fantastic, and once again, I promise I'll respond. I had so much fun writing them for chapter 28...a bit too much fun, actually. I think I wrote back more than some people wanted...

Lastly, and sorry this is getting long, but on a completely unrelated note has anyone been able to see the movie "Cherrybomb"? I've been wanting to see it for ages, but I can't find it anywhere!