Disclaimer: Harry Potter, etc. are the intellectual property of JKR; no infringement is intended.

A/N: This is probably the second to last chapter in this story. I know that the next chapter will be the last, but depending on its length I might split it into two installments. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who is still reading, and an even bigger thank you to everyone who has reviewed, in particular sunshyndaisies who not only is a great support, but is an awesome person all around; go read her stuff, it's truly amazing! Even though this story has taken me six whole months to post, it's heartwarming to see that you all stuck with me. You guys are the best.

Chapter 8

Things seemed to even themselves out a little after that. Hours passed, and days, and then weeks. The rest of Gryffindor remained oblivious to the fact that we were together, and I admit that I didn't dislike the fact. Quite honestly, it was no one's business but our own that we were dating: Ginny and Harry knew, and they were the only two who really mattered. The others would find out eventually, but it wasn't as though we'd planned on making an announcement of it. Exams were quickly approaching and for the first time in all my years at Hogwarts I was actually studying…voluntarily…as in without you telling me that I should. My grades had improved in every class since the beginning of the year, and I knew that the teachers were all secretly wondering what had come over me. The truth was that I, myself, had no idea what made it that I actually looked forward to getting marks back now, instead of dreading it as I once had.

"Can you pass me that Arithmancy manual, please?" You asked me, pushing your hair out of your eyes for the hundredth time and holding it in a messy bundle. You were resting your head on your hand and looked at me with an exasperated look, no doubt caused by your workload—which was rather heavy, even for you. We'd been at this for almost eight hours, and even I was seriously beginning to wish the day didn't look so inviting. The early June sun shone through the library windows, warming my back where it landed. I could hear students outside, laughing as they played. It was becoming very difficult for me to remember that I wanted to keep my grades up when part of me was reminding me of how this was a perfect day for a pick-up game of Quidditch.

"Do you want to take a breather?" I asked, all the while pushing the heavy book towards you, so sure was I that you'd want to keep working.

You took one look outside, then one long look at me. "Absolutely," you answered, after a second's deliberation, your eyes having rested on my face. The fact that you were actually consenting to such an impromptu study break had taken me utterly by surprise.

"Are you sure?" I asked, and you grinned as you nodded. I was liking the look on your face more and more every second, and recognized what the gleam in your eyes meant: there never was a more relaxing activity than a little snogging in the broom closet. Even a pickup game of Quidditch didn't seem so appealing right then, and any thought I might have entertained of going outside were instantly pushed aside when you slid your chair away from the table, giving me your best come hither look.

It took me very little time to throw down my quill and follow you out of the library, across the entrance hall, and down the staircase leading to the dungeons (on our way to where I remembered the Slytherin common room to be located was an empty side room, which we'd discovered a few months before—the very same room Harry and I had caught Percy leaving, in second year, when he and Penelope had done very much the same thing that we were doing now). Looking around to make sure we weren't being watched, we quickly entered the small room, closing the door behind us.

"Hi," you smiled, turning around and lifting yourself on your toes to press your lips to my own. Your arms reached up around my neck as the length of your body pressed against mine, and my arms circled your waist, bringing you still closer to me so that no space existed between us: a sheet of parchment would not have been able to fit, and short of having been surgically sewn together, it was as close to being one as we could get (fully clothed, anyway). I returned your kiss fervently, shivers running up my spine as I felt the tip of your tongue against my lips, begging for entrance and I barely suppressed a low groan as I dipped my head to kiss you more deeply, every one of my limbs tingling at our proximity.

"Hello to you too," I grinned several minutes later, catching my breath, my arms still surrounding your waist. I thought I'd heard a small click behind us as I looked into your eyes, but quickly dismissed it as you kissed me again. Were my robes on fire, I wouldn't have been able to pay attention at this point. The faint scent of your perfume reached my nostrils and I sighed contentedly against your mouth.

"Have I ever told you how good you smell?" I asked, my eyes closed and my forehead against yours. You didn't answer and I opened my eyes, noticing that you were looking behind me, a steady blush creeping up on your startled face. For a moment I was afraid that Snape had caught us, but turning around—or at least turning my head, for I was still holding you in my arms—I saw that it was only Neville.

"Hullo, Neville," I said, not able to suppress a large grin. You had that effect on me. I just couldn't stop smiling when I was around you.

"Hi, Ron," Neville answered, his hands over his eyes. His other hand was flailing behind him as he tried to find the door handle and make his retreat.

"Anything we can do for you, Neville?" I asked as you groaned and buried your face in my chest. I grinned more widely.
"Er, well, um," Neville stuttered, one hand still clamped tightly shut over his eyes while his other hand had located the door handle, positively twitching to turn it and make his escape from what was undoubtedly an embarrassing situation for the both of you. I, personally, found it absolutely amusing. "I was just wondering if Hermione could help me with potions, er, later, when she's, er, not busy…if that's okay with you, I mean…"

"Muffle, muffle," came your replay and I laughed.

"I think that means she'll see you at the library in a bit," I translated and Neville nodded from behind his hand and left the room as quickly as he could.

"I am so embarrassed," you revealed, your head still buried in my chest. Every time you spoke I could feel the warmth of your breath through the fabric of my robes. It reminded me of the warmth of the sun back in the library.

"It could have been much worst, Hermione," I kissed the top of your head.

"How so?" you mumbled, and I leaned my head next to yours, whispering in your ear. Your head shot up, and I had to lift mine quickly to avoid losing teeth. You looked at me with eyes wide as saucers.

"You don't really believe he thinks—he couldn't possibly—we haven't even—" and your head landed in my chest again.

"Come on, love. So Neville caught us snogging in an empty room. Is it really the end of the world?"

"No—yes—I don't know," you looked at me imploringly as though deciding whether to laugh or cry. You decided to do neither and instead hit me sharply on the arm.

"Ow!" I protested, rubbing the spot gingerly though it didn't hurt nearly as much as I made it seem.

"This is all your fault, you know," you looked at me reproachfully.

"What? How do you figure that?" I asked, frowning slightly. What was it always my fault?

"If you hadn't been looking so adorable, sitting there studying, none of this would have ever happened. Obviously you can't expect me to hold my wits about me when you're looking so pensive and—" you'd whispered the last word and I hadn't caught it.

"Pensive and what?" I asked. I'd long ago learned, before we'd begun dating in fact, that sometimes it was just better not to question you when you rambled like this, though I couldn't help myself this time.

"Sexy all right? You looked sexy!" you practically yelled, looking extremely frustrated. Heh, heh. Now you knew how I felt 95% of the time (that other 5% accounted for those very few hours of the day when I slept and wasn't busy dreaming about you.)

"Oh," I answered, trying very, very, very hard not to grin the grin that I ever so wanted to grin right then. "Is that what it's all about? Hermione, Hermione, Hermione." It was too much; I had to let it out.

"Don't you smile like that at me. Don't think it changes anything," you said. I could tell you weren't really angry, because had you really been mad you wouldn't still have been pressed-up against me.

"Well I'm sorry if I can't help but smile when my girlfriend reveals to me how absolutely irresistible she thinks I am."

"I believe the word was sexy, not irresistible," you said haughtily.

"Whatever the word, you just can't keep our hands off of me, can you?" I teased, an you merely rolled your eyes in response, sliding your hands away from my neck, and crossing them severely over your chest as you gave me a grave look. I was not to be dissuaded, however, and I was still flying high over the 'sexy' comment. "You think I'm sexy" I smiled. "You think I'm se-xy" I repeated, elongating the word as I began dancing n the spot in a most silly manner. I could see the corner of your lip twitch and knew you were fighting hard not to laugh.

"Ron," you started.

"You mean 'sexy' don't you?" I winked as I continued gyrating nonsensically in what I called my "sexy dance" though others would probably refer to it as something resembling a seizure.

"Oh, dear; I think I'm going to go help Neville with his Potions work, now," you said, trying to go around me and reach the door. I stopped dancing and scooped you back up in my arms, instead.

"You are the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on in my entire life, and I couldn't imagine loving anyone even half as much as I love you," I said, leaning down to brush my lips against yours, feeling them curve into a smile.

"Oh, Ron," you sighed, looking up into my eyes. I leaned down until my lips were near your ear.

"Now say I'm sexy again," I whispered, and you burst out laughing. "Oh, come on, Hermione, pleease?" You only extricated yourself from my arms and moved towards the door, though before you opened it to head back to the library you shot me a look over your shoulder.

"If truth be told," you said, a familiar gleam in your eyes, "I think you're a sexy beast" you winked, and left. It was several minutes before I had composure enough to follow you.

~*~

"Spend the summer with me." We'd just ended our last exam of our sixth year at Hogwarts, approximately eight and a half months after we'd begun dating, and were now walking towards the lake for some well-deserved rest from the studying we'd been doing all year. "What do you say? Harry won't be coming until beginning of August, and Fred and George aren't home anymore now that they have the store. Percy's always talking about the Ministry and Ginny has her own friends. It would be dreadful being alone all the time, and I don't think I could spend more than a day without you there."

"You want me to spend an entire three months of summer vacation with you? Ron, your parents must want to spend time with you, you know. I don't want to get in the way of that. Besides, I've barely seen my parents; I didn't go home for Christmas again, this year, and I know they want to spend time with me too."

"Then bring them along for a bit. I know Dad would love having Muggles about, and they'd feel closer to you if they knew more about the Wizarding world, wouldn't they? Please at least think about it, or do you just not want to spend time with me anymore?" I pouted, though the days where I'd felt so insecure about your feelings had long been put behind me. It wasn't that I was always sure, or that I never stopped to ask what a girl like you was doing with a guy like me, but at least I knew that you really did care for me, even if I did act like an idiot most of the time.

"Oh stop it, you big baby. You know that's not it," though you gave me a quick kiss on the cheek nonetheless. Unfortunately for Neville, he happened to walk by at the same moment and, no doubt fearing a replay of the week before, immediately turned on his heels and fled in the other direction. I couldn't help it and let out a chuckle.

"Poor Neville," you defended, though you'd also begun to see the humour in the situation. "I wonder if he'll ever be able to look at us again without blushing."

"Well at least we know the lad can keep a secret. No one else seems to know anymore than they did two weeks ago…although, if you keep with the public displays…"I teased. You rolled your eyes.

"Oh, please," you said, "that could hardly be called a public display of affection; I've done more with Harry and id didn't count for half as much."

"Hold on, what exactly have you done to Harry?" I asked, though you merely laughed me off.

"Don't worry, Ron" you began as we reached the lake and sat on the rocky shore, "Harry is very safe from me and my non-advances. Besides, your sister would hex me into next week if I tried anything," you winked at me, and something in your voice told me I was missing something.

"Where is Harry anyway?" I asked suspiciously, but you merely avoided the question.

"Have I ever told you how sexy you look when you get all flustered and suspicious?" you asked, a clear indication that you were definitely hiding something.

"Is something going on between Harry and my baby sister that I should know about?" I asked, and you kissed my cheek again. This time Seamus and Dean happened to pass by and gave us a very queer look and I heard Dean calling out to Neville who was walking up ahead.

"Ron, I would love to spend the summer with you. If you speak to your parents first, I'll speak to mine."

"You're trying to change the subject, aren't you?" I asked, now aware that Dean and Seamus had accosted poor Neville and were pointing at us.

"Maybe, but does it matter?" you asked, and I decided that it really didn't.

"Does this answer your question?" I asked as I took your hand and pulled you close, dipping my head to kiss you deeply, the sun warming over us. Neville was no longer the only one to have spied me doing this, but it had ceased to matter the moment had touched. If they wanted to talk, I was at least going to give them something to talk about.

~*~

When you sent Pig to your parents, later that night, after I'd gotten word back that you and your family were more than welcome to stay at the Burrow, I must admit that I was more than a little anxious at what their response would be. It was true that we'd spent summers apart before. After all, you'd never stayed at the Burrow until you came with us to the World Cup. It was different now, though, because we'd only been friends, then. Best friends, granted, but communicating solely through letters is much easier to do when one hasn't yet experienced the other, more interesting ways. I suppose I should set things straight and mention that though we did our fair share of heavy-duty snogging, things had never progressed beyond that. I'd thought about it…probably more than you would have cared to know…but I didn't feel the need to go beyond what we'd done so far, not wanting to pressure you, but at the same time just being content in spending time with you.

Harry had been making himself scarce, lately, and though I knew that part of it was because of the undue stress we'd all been put through because of exams, the other part worried that perhaps we'd been too wrapped-up in ourselves and perhaps had given him the feeling that we were excluding him. I especially was just as important to me as our relationship, and I knew that you felt the same. I brought it up that night after he came up to the dorms. It looked as though something was wrong, as though he'd just had a hard go at something or had just finished running laps around the castle: his hair was even more mussed up than usual, and his cheeks were all flushed.

"Harry, what happened to you!?" I blurted at the sight of him. To my surprise, he smiled a rather large smile and began staring off into space.

"Oh, nothing; everything's brilliant. Why'd you ask?" he sat on his bed, facing mine.

"Well look at you; you look as though you've been run over by a Hippogriff! Listen, Harry, I know that Hermione and I…well, we haven't been there as much as we should have. I don't want you to feel as though things have changed just because we, you know," I finished lamely. I suppose that's why he was looking at me as though I'd grown a second head.

"What are you on about?" he asked, wearing a confused look on his face. "Ron, you, Hermione and I spend tons of time together. In fact, we spend as much time together as we used to, the only difference being that when Hermione goes off to the library, you go along with her. Even then I go with you eight times out of ten, but Ron, I can't take much more studying that that, and I don't really want to watch the two of you snogging in the corner between pages. Besides, I've been busy too with school, and Quidditch, and…other things," he said, getting that dreamy look on your face again.

"So you're not mad? You don't feel that we've been treating you horribly?" I asked.

"Don't be silly, you great be git," he answered, throwing a textbook at me and laughing. I joined him and was just about to ask him what he'd meant earlier about being busy with "other things" but before I'd opened my mouth you'd burst into the room.

"They said yes!" you exclaimed, dancing excitedly on the spot before I'd completely realised that you were even there. "Your parents wrote to mine and your father told them how interesting it would be to learn about their lives as ordinary Muggles, and I think they were rather flattered by the fact. I'm to go home Friday on the Hogwarts Express with everyone else and then we'll be driving down to Ottery St. Catchpole early Monday morning. Mum and Dad will be staying for a week—they're taking a week off from their practice—and then I can stay the rest of the summer!" you practically squealed--I too was jumping from excitement inside—throwing yourself around my neck and placing a rather loud kiss on my cheek, then turning around in your excitement, and doing the same to Harry.

"Hey!" I protested, but you simply giggled and kissed my lightly on the lips. I could hear Dean and Seamus protesting loudly in the corner, but I paid them no heed.

"Hi, Harry" you beamed as you sat beside me on the bed.

"Hi, Hermione" Harry chuckled back. "Have you gotten your marks, yet?" he asked you, and you nodded enthusiastically.

"126% in Charms, and I got top marks in Arithmancy and Tranfiguration as well. I was only second in potions, though, with 105%"

"What?" I asked, alarmed. Potions was our most difficult subject but even then you always manage to get top marks.. I'd even studied extra for the exam in hopes that I'd get a good mark. I'd originally thought I'd done all right, but if you hadn't managed to get top marks, then that didn't bode very well for me.

"Who got tops, then?" Harry asked, in almost as good a mood as you seemed to be.

"Ron," you replied, and it didn't sink in. I thought you were addressing me.

"Yes?" I answered, rather dimly.

"No, Ron, you got top marks in potions! I looked at your mark and you got 110%!"

"You're joking," I answered, in shock.

"I never joke about grades," you beamed proudly; it was true, you never did joke about grades.

"Well this calls for a celebration!" Harry clapped me on the back, conjuring up some butterbeer as a great smile slowly appeared on my otherwise very shocked face.