Thanks to everyone who reviewed…I'm glad you like it. Sorry it took so long to post again, but there was something wrong with the site so I couldn't.

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Yes, it was Ron. Her Ron, the one she dreamed of every night. Every night. And now he was here, standing beside her, and grinning at her quite stupidly. As if everything were normal. Hermione couldn't take it. She sat down in her chair and started sobbing. Crying all the tears she had never cried as if her life depended on it.

Everyone stopped dancing and turned around, coming over to see what was the matter. Some of them, looking at Ron for the first time, didn't grasp the concept. The others figured it out right away.

"Ron."

"My God."

"Ron?"

" Ickle Ronniekins!"

" My baby!"

Ron crouched near Hermione and pushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Mione? What's wrong? What did I say?"

" Nothing! Sob! It's just you're back and…" Slowly, everyone left the room and went to bed, thanks to Ginny. Ron and Hermione were left alone in the room.

" 'Mione, it's okay, I'm here now."

" That's not the point! Everybody thought you were dead! They wouldn't believe me!

" I assure you, I am very much not dead," said Ron.

" I was starting to think that maybe-"

"Shhhh. It doesn't matter what you think. Only that you know."

" Sob! "

Hermione fell into his lap and cried against his shoulder. They sat there by the fire, until the fire turned to embers, and until the embers died completely.

" Hermione?" asked Ron hesitantly, as if he didn't really want to know the answer. " While I was gone, you didn't, you didn't go and get yourself married or anything, did you?"

"Ron! Of course not!" she said, sounding more like herself. "Honestly! Why would I ever get married if I weren't marrying-" she stopped and grinned wickedly at Ron.

"Who?" he asked, and by the smirk on his face Hermione could tell he thought it was he.

" Why, Vicky, of course!" she cried. Hermione grinned as she watched his face turn from pleased about himself, to horror, to realization.

"Hermione! You wouldn't!" he said in a false indignant voice. Then he did something he had never done to anyone except Ginny, and even then, had stopped when she was eight. He tickled her.

" Ack! No! Ron! Please! Stop! No, I'm REALLY ticklish! Ron!"

" Hermione, be quiet, you'll wake everyone up! Hermione, stop fooling around! You're going to break something! Hermione! No roughhousing!" he said, laughing.

"In this house! Are you mad! With Fred and George living here for seventeen years?" Hermione gasped. Ron stopped tickling her and looked into her eyes. Hermione used the break to her advantage and sat up from the floor. She looked at Ron too, and slipped her hand into his.

"I'm really glad you're back," she said.

' I know," he replied.

" Oh! Aren't we modest!" she joked.

" I tell myself that all the time," he threw back. Hermione laughed and looked into his eyes. Telepathically, she told him to kiss her. Perhaps it was because Hermione could actually talk telepathically, or because Ron just wanted the same thing, but he leaned in and kissed her. Hermione sighed happily inside herself and closed her eyes. She pulled away first, leaned towards his ear and whispered," Goodnight, Ickle Ronniekins."

Then she went upstairs to her room and left Ron to think about just exactly how beautiful Hermione really was.

The next morning Hermione awoke with the oddest feeling. It felt like she was being watched. She opened her eyes and her beliefs were confirmed. Ron's face was about half a centimeter away from her own, and he was peering closely at her eyelashes.

" It's time to wake up," he whispered. Hermione screamed and leapt positively leapt, out of bed.

" Ron Weasley! Do not do that to me ever again!!!" she yelled, although she couldn't help not being mad at him because he was so positively cute!

" Come on, my mum's made breakfast and everyone is waiting for us."

" For us? Oh no, Ron, they're going to think-" But Ron had grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room.

" It doesn't matter," he said.

" Doesn't matter?" she screeched. " Ron, are you mad? Of course it matters! This is your FAMILY!!!!! And your MOTHER!!!!! What is she going to think?"

" Nothing she didn't think with my other brothers," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Honestly! She's going to think I'm some kind of scarlet woman!"… Hermione continued to rant as she was pulled down the many stairs of the Burrow. Before they entered the kitchen, Ron turned to her and deciding it was the only way to shut her up, he kissed her. And she did.

" Now just act normal, okay?" he asked. Hermione nodded.

" Good morning everyone!" Ron said cheerfully, again, acting as if everything were normal. Everyone replied and Molly pulled Ron over to sit beside her.

" Ron, dear, it feels soooo good to have you back! I couldn't stand not having you here for the longest time! Oh, I've missed you SO much! Hermione, sit down beside me here, you're looking awfully thin. Here, have some bacon…." Mrs. Weasley put bacon as well as two eggs on Hermione's plate, and Hermione also helped herself to orange juice, for once not minding the fact that Mrs. Weasley cooked with certainly too much grease. It simply wasn't healthy, she usually thought. Today, however, she was too happy to mind. Instead, she thought, Hmmm. Mrs. Weasley is SUCH a good cook! Hermione ate and listened to the people around her chatter happily away, a great difference from the first few months that Ron wasn't there. Soon, the topic came up on how Ron was going to make his entrance back into the wizarding world. He figured he would just walk into the Ministry and ask for his job back, or, even better, walk into the Daily Prophet's office, grin winningly at the editor and say, 'Well, I'm back!'

" Erm, Ron, its going to be a bit more difficult than that. Do you want to make everyone cry from the shock of seeing you like you did to Hermione?" Harry said teasingly to Hermione.

" I suppose all my things and my flat are gone?" he asked.

" Well, not all your things, but we sold your flat," Ginny said.

" Your room is the same though, and Harry and Hermione kept a lot of your stuff," Bill said.

" Yes, dear. You should stay here. It would be just like before. Your room is clean, however," Mrs. Weasley said.

" Um, well, I was thinking of maybe renting a place or something. I'm not actually allowed to apparate, you see, and I surmise there's going to be a lot of paperwork, so I'll need to be at the Ministry a lot and I think I should stay near there…." Mrs. Weasley and Ron continued to argue about where he should stay, but you could tell they were both just glad the other was there. Hermione watched them and an idea formed in her head. It took a lot of time though to get the courage to say it out loud.

"Um," she interrupted," Ron could- Ron could, uh stay with me. I mean, it's really close, and my flat is big enough, and there's a whole bed that nobody ever sleeps in and so I think it should actually be used…" She said this all very fast, and looked down at he plate when everyone looked at her and Ron.

Ginny spoke up, " I think that's a GREAT idea. Ron should stay with Hermione. And that's final," she ended. Mrs. Weasley agreed, and everyone went back to their innocent chatter. Hermione glanced up at Ginny and smiled gratefully. Ginny smiled back and mouthed, you owe me. Hermione grinned back. Then she caught Ron's eye and grinned at him. He smiled what he thought was a winning smile and winked, very much like Gilderoy Lockhart. Hermione made a mental note to herself that she should remember this fact in order to use it for retaliation.

The day passed quickly, Ron packed his stuff, and soon they were ready to leave. They all went to bed early that night, since Hermione needed to leave early since she had an interview (for what she wouldn't say) and they needed to catch an early train back to London. She hated to Floo, and anyway, travelling on the train with Ron would be almost like the train to Hogwarts. Everyone else said goodbye to them that night, and Harry and Ron spent long hours in Ron's room, catching up and positively giddy about having their best friend back. Although one would think that Ron and Dean would have become best friends considering what they went through together, Ron would always be best friends with Harry, and Dean with Seamus. Ron and Dean had grown closer, but sometimes two people, no matter how much time they spend with the other person, will never be best friends. Your friendship has to be made exactly right otherwise it won't work. Ron and Harry worked. So do me and Hermione, Ron had often thought, and it was very, very true.