Hermione was the first of the three to wake the next day. The remnants of a distant dream faded slowly, and realization of where she was dawned. The Burrow. Ron's house. Ron's room, where she had spent the night. She blushed a little, and pushed herself to a sitting position. Glancing down, she saw Harry, lying on his side, and the previously mentioned redhead lying on his stomach. Both were sound asleep on the floor. Harry's glasses were askew, and Ron's shirt was up slightly, revealing his lower back. This made Hermione blush again, though she couldn't say why.

It's just skin, she reminded herself, which, funnily enough, caused her to blush even more.

She slipped off the bed and leaned forward to wake them up, when something caught her eye. On Ron's back there was a thin, pinkish line, much resembling a scar.

That's strange, she thought to herself. Maybe it wasn't a scar; maybe it was a birthmark...

Nervously, she reached out her hand and touched it gently, so as not to wake him. She felt the groove, indicating it was indeed a scar. A thousand unpleasant thoughts flowed through her head, but she shrugged them aside, deciding that it must have been caused by a childhood accident long forgotten.

She decided to change her clothes before waking up the boys. She slipped out of the room and into Ginny's, where her trunk had been placed. She found Ginny's bed empty, which didn't surprise her much. Ginny was a morning person (much to Ron's displeasure because, unfortunately, he was not). Hermione pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, then headed back up to Ron's room.

Rousing the two boys out of sleep turned out to be quite a difficult task.

"Harry, Ron, get up," she said. She was sitting between them, a hand on either shoulder, gently shaking them.

"Go 'way," Harry muttered, turning onto his other side.

"C'mon, rise and shine!"

"Mmmph…" Ron mumbled into his sleeve. Hermione roughly jabbed the two in their ribs.

"Up. Now." She said. Ron lifted his head to glare at Hermione, as Harry half-heartedly pushed her away (which barely caused her to stir). Finally accepting defeat, the boys pushed themselves up, clearly using all the strength they could muster.

"What time is it?" Harry asked, squinting and fixing his glasses.

"8 o'clock. Your mum's probably making breakfast already, Ron."

"Mmm hmm…"Ron rubbed at his eyes. "You know, most teenagers use their vacation as an excuse to, oh, I don't know, sleep in, maybe?"

"Well, I'm not like 'most teenagers'. You should know that by now. Neither are the two of you, come to that. Now, I want you dressed and downstairs in five minutes. Move!" And with that, Hermione was up and out the door.

Ron turned to look at Harry, who shook his head.

"That's Hermione for you," he said simply, and Ron smiled.

Not wanting to upset her, the two began to change. It was when Ron had just tossed his shirt into the corner of the room that Harry turned, intending only to ask him a question. Instead, he stopped. Ron's back was to him, and Harry saw not only the scar Hermione had noticed earlier, but a few others as well. Not many, just 4 or 5 small ones in very odd, apparently random places on his back, along with another, longer one on his lower left arm. Harry furrowed his brow, concern written all over his face. Ron pulled his shirt over his head. Again, it was long sleeved, though Harry now had an idea as to why.

Seeing Ron about to face him, Harry quickly turned away.

"Well, I'm all set. C'mon, before Hermione throws a fit."

"Uh…yeah, ok," Harry answered distractedly.

"You alright there?" Ron asked, walking around to stand in front of his friend. Harry nodded.

"I'm fine. Just half asleep I s'pose." He quickly pulled his own shirt over his head. "Ron, why are you dressed so warmly, exactly? It is summer, you know." Ron smiled, and it seemed natural. So much so, that Harry wouldn't have even noticed the slight strain in it had he not seen those scars.

"The heat doesn't bother me much." Harry eyed him doubtfully. "Really Harry, I'm ok. Now let's get downstairs." Without another word, Ron turned and left the room. Sighing, Harry followed suit.

***

After a lovely (and rather large) breakfast, Harry, Hermione and all of the Weasley's, with the exception of Percy, Arthur and Molly, headed outside. The boys all played Quidditch (Charlie, Fred and George against Bill, Ron and Harry), but Ginny decided to keep Hermione company, seeing as Hermione absolutely could not fly, let alone play a sport on brooms. The girls chatted idly about nothing in particular for a little bit, before the conversation casually changed to more interesting things.

"So, Gin, I've been meaning to ask you…do you still, um, have feelings for Harry? I mean, I know it's none of my business, and you don't have to answer, but I thought-"

"Mione please, it's fine. We're friends, this is the sort of thing friends talk about," Ginny answered, smiling sweetly.

"Sorry. I've just never really been close with the other girls in my year. I guess we're friends, but I don't often have these conversations with them. So, you didn't answer my question. Do you?"

"Is it not obvious?"

Hermione shook her head. "Well, not so much as it was in, say, your first year. Or second, for that matter. O thir-"

"Ok ok, I get the point!" Ginny laughed. "But yeah, I guess I do. I s'pose it's not such a big deal like it used to be. I've gotten to know him more, so he's less 'famous Harry Potter' and more…well, just plain Harry."

Ginny looked up, and watched Harry a moment, smiling. She noticed Ron had worn those long sleeves again, though they were rolled up at the moment. Abruptly, she turned to Hermione, and her smile widened.

"What about you, then?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh c'mon, Mione! Ron…"

"Ginny! He's my best friend, and he's your brother!"

"And? I don't mind talking about it, so long as you don't get into the gruesome details."

"Well, you don't have to worry, because there are NO 'gruesome details'. There are no details whatsoever." By now Hermione was distinctly blushing. Ginny found it rather amusing. She was the younger of the two, and yet she couldn't help but feel older at that moment.

"Hermione, there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, personally, I don't see it," Hermione rolled her eyes, and Ginny grinned. "but you can't really help it, can you?"

"That's easy for you to say, you don't fancy your best friend!"

"So you admit it!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Huh? No! No, that's not – I didn't mean-"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Oh, they're finishing up their game. Listen, we can finish this conversation later on. I assume you'll be sleeping in my room, unlike last night? Which reminds me, where WERE you last night?"

"Ron's room," Ginny raised an eyebrow and giggled. "What? Oh! No, it's not what you were thinking. Harry was there too." This only caused Ginny to giggle harder. Hermione swatted her lightly, but smiled.

"What are you two laughing about?" Harry asked, coming up to the girls. They pulled themselves to a standing position, and followed the boys towards the house.

"Oh, nothing you need to know about," Hermione answered, smiling at Ginny.

"Right. Nothing at all," They started walking a little faster, whispering along the way. Ron came up to Harry, looking curious. He had rolled his sleeves down again. It had been safe up there on the broom…

"What was that all about?" He asked.

Harry shrugged. "No clue. Looks like they've developed quite a friendship, those two."

"Hmmm…my sister being friends with one of MY friends? Sounds like a horrible opportunity to conspire against me," Ron grinned and Harry clapped him on the shoulder.

"I pity you mate, I really do."

***

It was 8 o'clock at night, and Harry and Ron were in Ron's room. Harry had finally decided to ask Ron about the clothes again. He wasn't sure he was ready to bring up the scars. He wanted to give his friend a chance to explain himself.

"So tell me Ron, and be honest. Why are you wearing clothes like that all the time?"

Ron tried to look busy by feeding Pigwidgeon, but Harry wasn't about to be deterred.

"Ron…?"

"Look, Harry, it's really nothing."

"But it doesn't make sense. There has to be a reason," Harry paused, giving Ron his chance. Seeing he was showing no sign of replying, Harry pushed on. "Ron, is there a reason?"

"No Harry, there isn't! Now drop it, alright?"

Harry stood awkwardly by the window. Ron sat down on his bed, and stared at the carpet for a moment. Then, in a much more calm voice, he said, "It's only…it's the reason you never got my letters this summer," Ron looked up slowly, and saw Harry was looking at him quizzically. He shrugged and simpered under Harry's gaze. "That's all I can say right now. Sorry. I just…it's all I know."

Unfortunately for Harry, Hermione chose that moment to knock on the door.

"Are you two decent?"

"Yeah! Come in!" Ron answered, much to quickly, in Harry's opinion.

Hermione opened the door, and leaned on the doorframe. Seeing the looks on their faces, her expression changed from happy to concerned in a matter of seconds.

"What's happened?" She asked.

Before Harry had the chance to answer, Ron said, "Nothing's happened. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go warn the twins about something. I heard mum saying they left a fake wand lying about again, and she didn't seem too happy." Quickly, Ron got up and pushed his way passed Hermione and down the stairs.

Harry gestured to Hermione to shut the door, and she did so, then went to sit on Ron's bed.

"Alright Harry, now what really happened?"

Harry, who was feeling quite frustrated at that moment, took a deep calming breath.

"First, I need to ask, have you noticed Ron's clothes?"

"You mean the long sleeves and all? Yes, of course. How could I not?"

"And have you, by any chance at all, seen any-" Harry stopped himself. He was about to say scars, but thought that if he mentioned it, it might worry her.

"Any what, Harry?"

Harry thought a minute, then decided he had no choice. He was worried, and as one of Ron's best friends, Hermione had the right to be worried as well. "I know it's a long shot that the answer's yes, but have you noticed any scars on Ron?"

Hermione was silent a minute. Then she nodded. "This morning. When you two were asleep. Ron's shirt was, um, up slightly, and I saw one…why? I mean, what's this got to do with-"

"There's more than just one. He had a few on his back, and at least one big one on his arm. I saw them this morning, while we were changing. I didn't see his front, mind you, but…"

"Oh Harry! There were a few?! How many? What is it, do you think? Did you ask? Did he tell you?"

"Hermione please! Calm down alright? I haven't told him that I know. I've asked about his clothes though. All he said was it had something to do with why we didn't get his letters this summer. He said that's all he knows, but he's lying."

Hermione sat silently for a second. She shook her head. "I don't understand."

Harry simply shrugged his shoulders. He didn't either.