AN: So this isn't my usual update day, and I'm very aware of that. But this is such a short chapter, it felt mean making this the main update of the week for Change Your Mind. Plus, I got some scores back for one of my comp fics, a quote back for some work on the house that needs doing and I had to cancel a date I was looking forward to this weekend. So all in all, not a great start to my long Easter weekend.

There's no better way to be cheered up than validation from the strangers that live in my PC though, right?!

Adenei, Cheesy & Be11a continue to work their wonders on this story, which make writing so much easier. If you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know and if you didn't, also let me know but be kind and be constructive. Stay safe xxx

Hermione meets Ginny for dinner after her shift, and ends up spilling all about her and Ron's Saturday morning encounter.

Hey girls are world
We should get what we deserve
And so much more.
Hey boys let's go
We don't need to see the show
We've seen it before.
And so much more

What Good is a Boy, Lanchen (2011)

Hermione

If anyone asked, I would refuse to admit it, but seeing Ron Weasley on my lunch break made my day. The balloon was a genius idea. It made me laugh so hard; Padma was adamant I had been confunded. It was just so obscure and so Ron. And to just turn up with it at the hospital meant he'd had to put some thought into when I was on a break so he could catch me at just the right time. Which implied he had been thinking about me.

I left the balloon tied to my locker for the rest of my shift so that it wasn't bobbing around incessantly and reminding me of him. I did not need any more distractions. Since our romp Saturday morning, I'd found it hard to concentrate on anything but his face towering over me as he made me come. I felt like I was in heat or something. It was completely mental.

I'd already messed up that morning before he had even visited me during a routine sneakoscope extraction—something that I'd done so many times before. However, the poor long-suffering wizard was still having tiny shards of glass removed from his backside after it had exploded. It was dodgy, bought from a shifty-looking guy operating a stall on Knockturn Alley. Apparently, anything can be a sex toy if you have a big imagination and enough lube.

Luckily, my shift ended without any further disastrous incidents, and I hurried to the staff room for a quick shower. I dried my hair quickly with a heating charm then tried my best to style it before giving up and pulling on some muggle clothes. I was due to meet Ginny for dinner in less than fifteen minutes. I was exhausted, but it had been ages since we'd managed to find a clear spot in both of our schedules, and despite living together, we were like ships passing in the night.

I checked my reflection in the mirror. It would do. I patted the balloon fondly, deciding to leave it in the staff room to cheer up the rest of the healer team before heading to the hospital's floo network.

By the time I'd made it to the Italian restaurant Ginny had picked for our meal, she was already there and sat at our table. I slid my wand into its hidden holster, wary of the muggles around me, before pushing open the door. She waved me over, and I forced a smile onto my face before plonking myself down into the chair opposite her with a weary sigh.

"Hi stranger," she smiled and poured me a glass of wine from the waiting bottle.

"Heya!" I accepted the offered glass gratefully, taking a long sip from it. "Work was horrendous!" I returned it to the table and threw her an apologetic glance, although there was no real reason to apologise to her. She was my best friend, after all.

"I feel ya! Training has been pretty gruelling, too! Every part of me aches!"

"But I bet it's worth it, though? Your team is doing so well, or so I hear?" Ginny laughed at my attempt of keeping up with the Quidditch talk.

I hated the sport. The whole wizarding world was obsessed with it and it brought a constant stream of injuries and accidents to the hospital. But still, I tried my best to keep up with Ginny's games, so I knew what she was talking about and could be more sympathetic. Usually, that meant relying on hospital gossip, the Daily Prophet and the snippets of games I managed to grab in between shifts. Ginny wasn't only the top Seeker for the Holyhead Harpies, but she also had a starting position on the English National Squad, and the World Cup had started just the other week.

"Yep! We're doing well, and I reckon we may even make the finals, which would be brilliant since we're the ones hosting it!" Ginny paused to order her dinner. I gave the waitress my choices too before taking another sip of my wine.

"Fantastic! At the moment, I still have the weekend off, so I will be there—magical accidents notwithstanding."

"You better be, Hermione! My whole family will be there, and it's been ages since my mum has seen you!" I tried to ignore the small, pleasant flutter in my belly as I realised if the whole Weasley clan were there, then Ron would be as well. "So it would be weird if you guys weren't there too!"

"No, I'm looking forward to the break! Do you think your parents are going to be able to keep themselves separate for a whole game of Quidditch, though?"

Ginny scrunched up her nose. "Let's just say I'm glad I'm staying with the team and not my family. Even Ron has decided to share a tent with Harry. It's a good job I managed to secure such a big pitch!"

There it goes again. Those small butterflies annoyingly beating their wings in the depths of my tummy at the thought of Ron. I was pretty sure my cheeks were starting to turn red too, and I was desperate to change the subject.

"Harry's coming?" I loved teasing Ginny about this particular topic. She had the most cringe-worthy crush on Harry since she was eleven years old, but like Ron and me, they were always in and out of each other's lives. She would often be able to push him from her mind, sometimes for up to a year or so, but as soon as she spent even the smallest amount of time around him, she couldn't forget about him. For six months afterwards, she could not stop dropping his name into conversation.

"Yeah, Harry will be there." She sighed. "But before you even start, I'm 100% sure he's not interested in me. I am hoping to spend some time with you all. Once the game is over, and we've won, of course."

"Of course," I smirked and sank back happily against my seat. It was nice to just have a couple of hours to relax with a glass of wine and good company.

"So, what happened with my brother Saturday morning?"

Shame that peace didn't last long.

"N-nothing," I fumbled, trying my best to think of something that might distract Ginny from the increased burning in my cheeks.

"Oh, strange, because Padma texted me to let me know that he showed up at work earlier today with a balloon that said sorry. Did he do something to upset you?!"

"Can't a girl have any secrets?!" I shook my head but couldn't stop the laugh that escaped my lips. It was a good thing I loved my housemates. "It was a 'sorry for your loss' balloon." Ginny had me cornered. I could try and make up an excuse, blame it on a private joke or something, but she knew me too well. I thought back about the promise I'd made Ron agree to, then tried to push it out of my head. He wouldn't know.

I summoned up all my courage. "So don't be mad, but I may have slept with him."

I watched Ginny closely, trying to work out what her reaction might be, but I had nothing to worry about. She squealed, her face full of joy, and clapped her hands. "It was about time you found someone, and I'm glad it's Ron. I gave up trying to push you two together years ago. If I'd known eventually you'd gravitate together, I would have never tried! I still don't understand the balloon, though!"

"Well, he thinks that now I've been with him, I won't want to sleep with anyone else! So, he was sorry for the loss of my dating life because he's effectively ruined it, apparently. Not that I plan on dating him. It was a one-off!"

"Why not?" Ginny frowned. "I know he's my brother, but he's a decent guy, Hermione. He has a steady job, he only rents with one other person, and that's for convenience rather than because he has to, just like you." Suddenly, she let out a gasp. "Oh my God, if I finally get with Harry, we could double date!"

"It's not going to happen, Ginny. For one, there's a massive height difference! Your brother is a giant! If we stand next to each other, he looks like he's kidnapping me!"

Ginny was shaking her head, but a smile was on her face. "You always do this! You look for stupid reasons to not be with someone. You want real reasons not to date someone? How about that guy who stole all our credit cards?"

"Oh yeah, Michael Corner. I almost forgot about him! That was not a good choice, Ginny!" I pulled a face.

"And he dared to turn around and say that it was our fault for leaving our purses in the living area. He wasn't even good in bed. Ron isn't like that. He's a perfect guy, and again, I'm not just saying this because he's my brother, but because he's my favourite person in the world. Instead of seeing and accepting this, you're all 'oh it won't work, he's too happy, he's too tall' like either of those are proper excuses."

"Your brother is ridiculously happy. Like all the time. He's a puppy dog!"

"An adorable puppy dog!"

I felt the smile creep over my face as I thought how happy Ron looked as he presented me with the balloon on my lunch break or how blissful he looked post-orgasm. There seemed to be a permanent smile on his face, like nothing in his world was all that bad. Well, apart from when he was sobbing around our flat Friday night. But I wouldn't hold that against him. He did just catch his parents having sex after a very long personal dry spell.

But I couldn't let myself fall for him. Ron was great, and I didn't want to ruin that happy persona of his. Destroying other people's lives was one of my unique skills, and I wouldn't subject Ron to that. It would be like drowning kittens.

"Look, I know at my age I'm supposed to want a relationship with someone. All of my friends, apart from us, it seems, are getting married and settling down. My mother loves reminding me of this every damn time she calls me. But it doesn't matter who it's with. I just end up broken-hearted and with a bunch of old t-shirts and Quibbler magazines."

Despite my protestations, my mobile phone was calling me from my handbag, and I just couldn't resist it. I dug it out as I continued to tell Ginny why I was unsuitable girlfriend material, a story I'd told her five hundred times before and I didn't even have to look up to know she was rolling her eyes at me. Texting seemed to be an automatic reaction, and I had no control over what I was about to do.

"Hermione," Ginny rudely interrupted me. "What are you doing?!"

"Nothing…" I pressed send on the message, just as she pulled the phone out of my hand. Her eyes were wide as she read the screen. I knew there was no point in protesting. The evidence was clearly there in front of her.

"You texted Ron?! Oh no, Hermione, you have it really bad, don't you?"

I shook my head, burying the smile on my face in my glass of wine. There was no way I had the hots for Ron Weasley. But there was also no way I was going to go home, alone, when I felt this horny. After today's turn-up, I was pretty confident he would be down for a repeat performance.