Ron sat gloomily on his Chudley Cannons bedspread, gazing thoughtfully out of his bedroom window at the early evening sky. In each hand, he clutched a folded piece of thick parchment – letters that his two ex-best friends had sent him earlier that week, and, momentarily glancing down at them, he found himself wondering why he'd fought the initial urge he'd felt after first reading them – the overpowering urge to rip them into such tiny shreds, that a saner person than himself would have been concerned about splitting the atom…

Two weeks had passed since the last day of term, when Hermione had delivered her fateful kiss to Harry right under Ron's long nose. Since that afternoon, Ron had suffered a fortnight of sleepless nights, appetite-free meals, bitter tears that drenched his pillow late into the night, blended emotions in varying levels of confusion, and just complete and total lack of caring for anything around him, along with the same stupidity and self-hatred that Hermione's kiss had blasted into him at the train station. If it hadn't been for Ginny's support, and the support he offered her in return, he had no idea where he would be…

A knock on the bedroom door made Ron's eyes jolt off the folded letters and dart to the large poster of Joey Jenkins the Chudley Cannons Chaser, which covered the interior side of his door. A moment later, the door opened a crack and Ginny's head looked in.

"Can I come in?" she asked tentatively.

Ron's serious face broke into a relieved smile and he replied. "Sure, sis, come on in."

Ginny smiled graciously as she closed the door behind her, walked up to Ron and seated herself on his bed, next to him.

"What are those?" she inquired curiously, indicating the two notes in his hand with a jerk of her eyebrows.

"Letters," said Ron glumly. "From Harry and Hermione. They sent me these on Monday morning...they want to come here for the rest of the summer again like they always do…. I suppose they haven't noticed any change in our friendship since you-know-when…"

"Why should they? You've hardly been in touch with them since," Ginny reasoned. "As far as they're concerned, you probably didn't see a thing, and why in the world would you be at all bothered, if you did."

Ron gave a small nod – a silent and bitter jerk of his head, to shake out the comment he was tempted to make.

"And……have you replied?" Ginny prompted gently.

Again, Ron could only nod. Hesitant about Ron's vulnerable mood, Ginny paused for a few moments, wondering whether asking for further details was a good idea, but curiosity got the better of her and she blurted, "And what did you say?"

Ron shrugged blankly.

"I told them, sure no problem. After all, it's not like our feelings matter to anyone anyway. If they'd cared at all about what you and I might think, they might have waited for us to leave the station before sharing tongues in public…"

"But…..why did you…?"

"I've been thinking," Ron interrupted, gazing blankly at the far bedroom window again, "…they didn't mean to hurt me. Or you. And I suppose turning my back on them now that You-Know-Who's back and everything just because they…well, you know…" Ginny gave a small nod, "…anyway, it's wrong. Harry's going to be first on You-Know-Who's Wanted list and Malfoy could be right about Muggle-borns, too. Hermione and Harry'll both be needing our support… so I've decided that I'm just going to forget about my feelings and I'm going to do my best to be truly happy for them. Anyway, I'll…….I'll find someone else…"

Ginny could tell from the badly-concealed bitterness in his tone that he didn't believe the last bit for moment, but chose not to comment. Instead she managed a brave smile and hugged him. Since the last day of term, hugging had become a perfectly normal and accepted thing between them, often acting as the only barrier between their current emotional condition and complete and total breakdown.

"Ron! Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley's voice called from downstairs. "Come down, Harry and Hermione are here!"

As brother and sister broke apart, they exchanged nervous grins, gulped, muttered "here goes," simultaneously and made their way down the rickety wooden stairs to the living room.

Harry and Hermione stood side by side in the small living room, both looking up at the staircase as Ron and Ginny's footsteps thudded down the creaky oak steps. For a fleeting second, Ron thought he saw them holding hands, but a moment later, both post-fourth years had plunged them deep into their pockets.

Ron glanced at Hermione and regretted it instantly. Love, it would appear, seemed to be doing her good, for never in the four years he had known her, had she looked as dazzlingly gorgeous as she was at that moment. There was healthy colour in her cheeks, her eyes sparkled in a strange way Ron had never seen before, and the denim skirt and pale-pink-and-white T-shirt she was wearing had never made her figure look more gob-smacking to any normal boy.

She's Harry's, Ron told himself firmly. So just forget it, okay? She's too good for the likes of you, anyway, even if she wasn't spoken for.

Was fate trying to torture him, presenting her in front of Ron in such mind-spinning beauty? Or was she just making the effort to look her best in her boyfriend's presence? Or did she just appear more beautiful to Ron because she was marked as a forbidden fruit? Whatever it was, Ron found himself, in an almost Imperius-Curse-like state of subconsciousness, clapping his hand together and asking, "So, have you two got anything to tell us?"

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Ginny flash him a searching look that clearly said, "Ronnie, oh dear brother whom I love very much….WHY IN THE NAME OF MERLIN DID YOU SAY THAT?!"

Harry and Hermione froze, as though caught in the middle of a guilty act. Their eyes darted to meet each other in an expression of almost nervous confusion. Then, as Harry opened his mouth to reply, Hermione cut him across before he could get the first word out.

"No. No, nothing at all."

A/N Okay, short chapter by my standards. It was going to be a lot longer, but because of bagruyot (to those of you who don't know, it's the exams we take here in Israel – NEWTS) I've had to cut it down. There will be more, provided there are reviews, though.

Please please please please review!