I'm sorry for all the spelling errors and such from the last chapter and possibly this one. I'm trying to not make you guys wait too much longer.

Thanks for reviewing...ScotchTapeLvr, Katilina, Julie, bkyougotit, IceLily, Hermione, and tephys!!

And TONS of thanks to DiamondTook and Crazy Girl for adding me to your fav authors list!

All of you rock!

There is mild language in this chapter, but nothing too foul. Just letting you know!

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"Everyone's going early. Y'Know, extending it." Neville gasped. "Where's Trevor? Don't tell me I left him in the Great Hall again..." Neville waddled out of the dorm.

"Should we go early?" Harry asked.

Ron shrugged. "Might as well. I've got nothing better to do."

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Chapter Ten (wow! ten chapters, still like the story?)

Harry and Ron walked into the Great Hall. It looked much different than it usually did. All the tables were gone, and there were just benches along one side of the wall. On another side of the room, there were refreshments. There was soft music playing, and various couples were dancing on the large dance floor. Ron looked around. No sign of Cho or Hermione. He sighed.

Harry grunted. "Where's Ginny? I'm impatient."

"Her and Hermione obviously didn't hear the early news." Ron said. The two sat down on the nearest bench to wait for their dates.

"Oooh, Ronnie!" An obxious voice yelled minutes later. Ron looked up and he saw Cho running at him again.

"Please, don't jump!!" Ron shouted.

Cho stopped right in front of him. She giggled. "Silly Ron. Never wants any spontaneous action." Ron scoffed. "Don't I look fabulous?" Cho twirled to show off her dress. She was wearing a white strapless gown. Her hair was in low pigtails. She was wearing a thick matching bracelet to hide the bruise on her wrist.

"Beautiful." Ron lied. Cho grinned.

"I'm going to get some punch, ok?" Cho asked. Ron nodded.

Harry gasped. "Look Ron, There's Ginny!" Harry pointed towards the door. She was wearing a blue halter style dress, and her hair was in a stylish low ponytail. "See you, Ron." Harry said as he got off the bench and walked towards Ginny. They immediately paired off and started dancing.

More and more people entered the Great Hall. Hermione never showed. The most amusing person was Draco Malfoy, who had six girls on each arm. Ron got sick of waiting for Cho, and started to walk toward her.

"Oh, Hey Ron! Sorry, I was just talking to Leena." Ron nodded. A new song had started blaring through the ceiling. It was a slow one. Cho gasped. "Oh, I just love this song. We must dance to it!" Ron gave a small groan, but then agreed to it.

Cho put her hands behind Ron's neck, and he put his arms around her waist. Throughout the song, he desperately tried not to make eye contact with her.

After about thirty seconds into the song, Cho grunted and posistioned his head to face her. "I'd like to see my date." She said in a catty tone. They stayed like this for a while, until Ron could not help but look beyond Cho.

A vibrant figure was walking into the Great Hall. She was in a red slinky dress, that fell on her perfectly. The straps in the back crisscrossed three times, and at the end formed a stylish bow. Their hair was pulled back in a semi-high ponytail, except for two pieces hanging down onto the sides of their face. It was Hermione.

Ron couldn't help but stare at her. Cho realized this after a while. "Hello?" She said impaitently. "Will you stop staring at that mudblood? You'd think after she was asleep for three weeks you'd forget about her. I should've made the bloody spell stronger."

Ron looked at Cho in disgust. "You did that to her?" He said protectivly. He tooks his arms off her waist, and plucked her arms off him.

Cho scoffed. "Yeah, so you'd pay more attention to me. Stupid Granger's always getting in the way of things. How I hate her." She giggled. "She should be hearing little voices too, if I did everything correctly."

Ron's eyes narrowed in rage. "You bitch." He whispered.

Cho gasped. "How dare you!" She slapped Ron on his cheek. Ron became even more enraged. He frantically looked side to side. On his right, he saw a cup of punch on a bench.

"Here you go, little 'Choie'." Ron said mockingly. He threw the cup towards Cho's chest, where it hit. The cup spilled red punch on the middle of Cho's white gown.

Ron walked away as Cho shrieked. Four of her friends came running towards her. Cho screamed lots of foul things at Ron, but he paid no mind.

He drew closer to Ginny and Harry, who were still dancing. "What just happened?" Ginny whispered urgently to Ron.

Ron told them both how Cho did everything to Hermione. Ginny's face was covered in disgust. "I can't believe she has the nerve physically harm someone like that. What a git..." Ginny said. Harry nodded in agreement.

The three's discussion was inturrupted by a loud shriek from behind them. They turned around to see Hermione floating high above everyone, struggling to hold her dress down. Draco - who had his wand out - and his dates were laughing hysterically. Malfoy was trying to humiliate her, and it was working.

"Where are the teachers?" Harry said with a hint of panic.

Ginny looked at the clock. "We're still too early, that's why they're not here." She also said with panic.

Ron said nothing, but charged forward and pounced on Malfoy. He was cauht off guard, and his spell broke, sending Hermione falling to the ground. Harry and Ginny caught her. She had a look of fright on her face as she kicked off her shoes and ran out of the Great Hall. Ron, not realizing Hermione had left, was in a brawl with Draco. No one was dancing anymore, they were all watching the Smackdown between the two. Ron eventually won the fight after obtaining Draco's wand and threatening to break it.

"Good job, Ron." Ginny said as she patted his back. "Draco really deserved that." Harry nodded yet again in agreement.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked, out of breath.

Harry and Ginny looked all around them. They had forgotten about her because they were entertained with the brawl. Harry shrugged.

Ron's face became pale. His mind was swimming with thoughts. 'Is she okay? Where is she? Why would someone do that to her?'

Ron frantically searched the Great Hall, only to see she wasn't there. He ran out the door and looked from left to right very fast. The Entrance Hall was unusually bare and silent, with not a person in sight. "Hermione!" He shouted. No answer. Tears started to well up in Ron's eyes. He ran outside. It was nighttime - each star was glowing in their own unique ways, and the air was comfortably chilled. Ron couldn't see very well in the dark, so he pulled out his wand. "Lumos!" He whispered, and a bright light appeared at the end of his wand. He looked to his left, and saw a familiar figure sitting down and leaning against the wall. It was Hermione, and her face gave off an aura of sadness.

"Guess you found me then." Hermione said quietly, looking at the ground to the right of her. Ron sat down in front of her. "Cho's probably missing you."

Ron scoffed. "She's not missing me, I'm almost positive." He set his wand down beside him, but it still gave off light.

Hermione blinked twice. "Why are you here?"

"That's a stupid question." Ron chuckled.

"Lots of stupid things happen when you're around me." Hermione cleared her throat.

Ron shook his head in disbelief. "No... No Hermione. Everything's right when I'm around you. It's the total opposite." Ron said, putting a hand on her right shoulder. Hermione turned her head and finally looked him in the eye. Her eyes were bloodshot. Ron smiled. She gave a smirk back. Ron used his free hand to dig in his pocket. He pulled out a gold bracelet with two charms.

Hermione gasped. "What's this?" She whispered.

"It's yours. Take it." Ron smiled as Hermione held the bracelet. It shined brightly from the wand's light.

Hermione's eyes twinkled. "I can't- It's the- You remember that?" Hermione was now examining the piece of jewelry. Two crowns hung from a small gold chain. The two crowns were from two Wizard's Chess pieces, the King and the Queen.

"The Queen put up a fight." Ron chuckled.

Hermione put the bracelet on her right wrist. She looked at Ron's hand that was on her shoulder, and placed hers on it, lacing her fingers between his. The wand's light gave out, leaving everything very dark.

Both Ron and Hermione's hearts were racing. Their faces drew closer and closer, until their lips locked for the first time. Their feelings had been bottled in so long, and this kiss was an outlet. The kiss was a pure kiss, one produced by true emotion. After about two minutes, the kiss was broken. Unlacing and then relacing their hands to a more comfortable position, the two walked back to the Entrance Hall. It was still bare, and the only sound was the music from the Ball being muffled by the walls. The two walked hand and hand up the Grand Staircase, past the painting, and into the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron layed down on the couch, and Hermione layed on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her, and the two fell asleep together.

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That's so sweet! ::cries::

But, this is NOT the end of the story! So don't forget about it! ::wink::

Review please! I hope you liked it!

amaya