"Ron, are you annoying Harry again?"

"How do you do that?" Ron didn't look up, and continued to wave his chocolate frog over Harry's nose.

"Do what?" Hermione asked, crossing the room and picking up a frog of her own.

"Come in the room exactly as I'm doing something a little bit strange with Harry."

"I don't know," Hermione replied, putting her Witches and Wizards card in the pile of cards they were saving for Harry. "Perhaps you just do it so often that I can't help but see you doing it every time I walk in."

Ron said nothing, and nudged Harry's nose gently with the chocolate frog.

"So," Hermione said, again. "What are you doing to Harry?"

 "I was just trying to see if he smiled more when I held the chocolate over his mouth. I want to know if it is sweets he's dreaming about."

"What makes you think he'll know if you're waving chocolate around like an idiot?" Hermione asked, coming over and taking a chocolate frog for herself.

"Well, I do sometimes pay attention in Divination, and Professor Trelawney once told us about how to work out what someone was dreaming about…" Ron went back to waving chocolate over Harry's mouth, and wondered whether it was having any effect.

"Haven't you got something more worthwhile to do with your time?"

"Not really," Ron admitted. "Like I said before, it's so boring round here."

"Do you want to go out flying some more? I quite enjoyed it last time." Hermione smiled.

Ron ate the chocolate himself, with a quick: "Sorry, Harry." Then he turned back to Hermione. "Really?"

"Yeah. There's nothing else really to do, anyway."

"You've finally got bored of the library?" Ron said, with a cheeky grin.

"Well, it's not so fun on my own," Hermione said, wistfully. "I know what you mean now, about things seeming too quiet. And I know you're not going to want to come in there with me, so that's what got me thinking about flying instead."

"You'll come with me to do what I love, even though I won't do it for you?" Ron asked, a little surprised.

"I do like it, a bit." Hermione smiled. "I'm getting used to it, and it'll be good for me to get better at flying."

"I can give you some lessons, if you like," Ron said, standing up and stuffing some of the sweets in his pocket. "In return for you continuing to let me borrow your notes next year."

"Ron!" Hermione said, but she was smiling. "As long as you don't expect me to do your homework for you."

"No, just giving me yours will be fine." Ron grinned, and then ran for the doorway before she could catch him.

*****

Hermione stumbled breathless into the castle grounds, where Ron was waiting, already on his broomstick.

"Climb on in front," he called to her.

"In front?" she repeated, looking nervous. "Aren't you going to control it again?"

Ron shook his head. "I think you should have a go. Like you said, it'll be good for you to get better at flying."

Hermione looked hesitantly at the broom.

"Don't worry, I'll be able to stop it do anything stupid. Just have confidence… you're in Gryffindor for a reason, remember?"

Hermione smiled, and carefully took her place in front of Ron. As the broom started to rock gently, she felt almost as though she hadn't ever flown before. She was reminded of her anxious flights before, the ones that seemed so distant from that time with Ron.

"Don't worry," Ron said, sensing her discomfort, and holding her steady. "It'll be fine!"

"Yes," Hermione said, trustingly, and concentrated hard on steadying the broom.

"If I shut my eyes," she began, as they began to head towards the lake. "Will you shout out directions to me?"

"If you like. But why do you want to shut your eyes?"

"It feels nice when I have my eyes shut."

Hermione closed her eyes, and suddenly felt so much more conscious of every little sensation: the cool wind in her hair, the weightless feeling in her stomach, and Ron's strong arms around her waist.

"I think the sun's going to set soon," Ron said, gazing up at the sky. "It must be later than I thought."

"Me too. Must be because we've been cooped up indoor all day. We should come outside more often. Let me know when it starts looking really pretty, and I'll open my eyes."

"Alright then. Steer left a little bit here, just enough to keep circling the lake."

"Like this?"

"A little bit less… yes, like that."

 Ron continued to look up at the sky. On one side of them, the sky was turning purple, and on the other, it was a deep red. The air was starting to turn cold, and he hugged Hermione a little tighter for warmth.

"What are you doing?" she asked, sensing him move closer.

"I'm cold," he explained.

"So am I, a little," she agreed. "We should bring warmer robes next time."

"It's starting to look really pretty," Ron commented. "You should open your eyes now."

Hermione opened her eyes, and was a little surprised by how quickly the sky had changed. "Isn't it beautiful?" she breathed.

"Yes, it is," Ron nodded.

"It's a pity we're not on a date," Hermione said dreamily. "Or this would be ever so romantic."

"Doesn't stop it being romantic. The sky, I mean. Not us," Ron tailed off, confusing himself.

Hermione didn't seem to notice. "Well, that's true. If you take one of the meanings of 'romantic' as being 'poetic', as many people do, then that fits perfectly."

"It takes all the romance out of it if you talk about it like that, as if it's got rules," Ron argued.

"Everything has rules, Ron, even emotions."

"Well, us being friends doesn't have rules."

"Perhaps that's why we're always arguing." Hermione sounded distant, almost, as if she couldn't quite be bothered to argue anymore when she could be looking at the sky.

"Maybe," Ron said, a little disappointed at the lack of an argument. "You know, I think we like arguing with each other."

"I don't like it!" Hermione laughed. Then she seemed to change her mind. "Well, maybe. I suppose we wouldn't stay friends otherwise."

"I wish Harry could be here, with us," Ron said, thinking back to his sleeping friend. "I think he'd like it."

"I don't know, it's nice just the two of us," Hermione considered. "I think Harry would get bored. Having said that, I didn't expect you to like sunsets."

"And why not?"

"I don't know, you're just always so boyish."

"Only when my brothers are around. Or Harry. It's quite nice to take some time off from being boyish every now and then."

"Are you telling me that I get to see a special side of Ronald Weasley that nobody else does?" Hermione teased. "Aren't I lucky?"

"Don't I get to see a special side of you too, though?" Ron retorted. "How many other people do you apologise to for nagging?"

Ron could vaguely see Hermione smile in the dim light. "I hadn't thought about it like that."

"It's getting very dark," Ron commented. "Perhaps we should go back."

"No… not yet," Hermione said, quickly. "I'm still having fun. We'll be alright… if we keep flying over the lake there won't be anything to bump into."

"Alright then. But I'm still cold."

"Me too, but just ignore it."

The last traces of sunlight disappeared beyond the horizon as the two Gryffindors watched, and Hermione leaned back a little on Ron's shoulder in contentment. Something about the whole thing suddenly made Ron feel very uneasy, and it struck him that having Hermione leaning on his shoulder made him tingle all over. He was a little scornful of himself, he couldn't quite imagine being so romantic as to go all funny over the slightest little thing, and then suddenly some other kind of feeling came tumbling over him, as if it wasn't such a little thing after all, and that it was actually something quite important.

"Sit up, Hermione, it's uncomfortable." Ron nudged her, before he could really make sense of what he'd said or what he was thinking. She sat up quickly, and for a second he thought she was blushing.

"We can go back now, if you want," she said.

"Alright then," Ron agreed, still feeling a bit uncomfortable.

As she turned the broom towards the castle, Hermione couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable herself. The beauty of the sunset had obviously got to her and made her feel a little more romantic, she assured herself. Besides, it wasn't as if she'd attempted to seduce him or anything – the thought of that made her want to laugh – she'd only leaned on his shoulder, for Merlin's sake. He was just over-reacting. Or maybe she was the one over-reacting, she thought suddenly. Maybe he was just uncomfortable, maybe he didn't really think anything of it as soon as she'd sat forward again.

Hermione Granger suddenly realised, for the first time, that emotions didn't always have rules, and even if they did, they were often impossible to work out.

A/N

Thanks to Jo again for beta reading. I seem to be stuck in a creative flow now so that's good! Hope you all like this chapter! A few notes to the people who did the most recent comments…

Hermione: Yes, I know that "badly wrong" isn't a very good way of putting it, but Ron's worried and he's going to word things clumsily sometimes. If it wasn't dialogue, I would have worded it correctly but few people speak 100% correctly, and I try and make dialogue in character, even if that means sounding clumsy. You're perfectly right with your other comment though, about my description of the sky, I did word that wrongly so I've corrected it now. And as for your comment about the Quaffle, well, I don't know. Maybe it flies and maybe it doesn't. The Snitch does, and the Bludgers do, so I decided maybe the Quaffle does if it gets bored. And if it doesn't, well I'll just use my artistic license to say it does and help the story along. Thanks for your comments!

Slap-Me-Silly: I'm glad you like it! Thanks a lot for putting up with my lack of updates, and for your comments! Knowing that people like my story makes me feel creative again.

Codypup, Auroa M, TheSweetestThing, Athalia, The Girl Who Loves To Read, CoffeePleaze:  Thanks! Hope you like the new chapter.

Ron-Is-Mine: I'm glad you liked the Ginny bits. I wasn't so sure about them myself, but it's nice to know that they were alright. Thanks!