"Ron?"
"Yeah, Harry?" Ron looked up from where he'd been searching for his other sock to shoot Harry an annoyed look. "Mione and I are leaving in a few minutes so be prompt."
"I was just wondering . . . how did you, George, Fred, *and* Percy happen to come in on Ginny and I at the same time?" Harry asked casually, pretending as if the question had come out of nowhere.
Ron clicked his tongue at the mention of Harry and Ginny and the reminder of the night before. "I walked in on you first and got the rest of my brothers. Unspoken agreement to protect Ginny from the vile minds of men and all that. Nothing personal."
"Uh-huh," Harry said absently.
There was a moment of silence as Ron continued to look for his sock. Both boys considered the events of the night before. Finally, Ron stopped looking for the sock and sat up straight to tell Harry exactly what he was thinking. It took him a moment to finally come up with the right words. "I really don't mind you."
Harry gave Ron a strange look. "Well, I'm glad to hear it being as I'm your best mate and all."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I *meant* as Ginny's boyfriend, you prat."
"Oh." Harry took another moment before asking, "Then why did last night turn out like it did?"
"Well, for one thing your hands were in places that they shouldn't have been, whether I mind you or not."
"And the other reason?"
"I was mad," Ron said simply.
"But I thought you said you didn't mind me," Harry said, confused.
"I wasn't mad about that; I was mad that you didn't tell me," Ron said as though this were obvious. "Are we best mates or not, Harry? You could have at least mentioned you have feelings for my sister."
"I don't have feelings for her," Harry said indignantly. "She's just Ginny."
Ron raised his eyebrows at Harry. "Whatever you say, mate. Now can I borrow a pair of socks? Mum has been too emotional to do laundry."
Harry nodded and pulled out a pair of socks to throw at Ron. He hesitated for a moment then said, "I was serious you know. I really don't think of Ginny in that way."
Ron smirked knowingly as he put on the socks and stuffed his rather large feet into a pair of shoes. "I didn't say anything, Harry."
* * * * *
After Ron left, Harry found that it was next to impossible to get Ginny alone. He wanted to talk to her, to find out if she really meant what she said. He needed to know if she was really hurt by what he stupidly blurted out; he needed to know if she lied, if she felt something for him. For a reason he didn't know, the answer to these questions was life-altering.
And yet somehow George, Fred, Percy, or even Mrs. Weasley would manage to interrupt them. The closest he could get to Ginny was a game of Wizarding chess. (The twins were casting suspicious glances at the two from across the room, of course.)
"Ginny?" Harry asked quietly, hoping that his voice wasn't as loud as it sounded.
"Yes, Harry?" Ginny asked, looking distracted by the game.
"Did you--?"
But before Harry could finish his question the front door burst open and Hermione came rushing in to give Fred and George a hug filled with many tears. Harry and Ginny exchanged a confused look as Ron came in, looking sheepish with his hands in his pockets and his eyes cast to the floor, a pleased glow about his face.
"What happened?" Ginny asked Hermione.
Hermione let go of the twins and rushed over to Ginny to stick her hand out. On her finger was a thin gold ring; set inside of the gold snugly was a modest yet beautiful diamond in the shape of a heart. There was a small sapphire in the shape of a circle on either side of the heart.
Ginny gasped and brought the ring up for further inspection. "Oh, Hermione, it's beautiful!"
"I know!" Hermione exclaimed. "And it's thanks to Fred and George, the silliest prats I've ever met. But I love them anyways."
"What did you guys do?" Ginny asked.
Fred and George seemed to look embarrassed as they shuffled their feet and blushed slightly.
"They gave me a couple hundred Galleons to buy Hermione a proper engagement ring," Ron said, coming closer to Hermione so he could put his arm around her.
Ginny's face took on the same emotion as Hermione and she rushed over to her twin brothers in order to give them a hug just as fierce as Hermione's had been. "Hermione's right -- you are the silliest prats I've ever layed eyes on!" Ginny exclaimed, voice muffled but still strong with emotion.
"Geroff!" Fred said as the twins tried to get Ginny's arms untangled from around them. Though they pretended to be annoyed, it wasn't hard to see the pleased look on their faces.
Mrs. Weasley happened to walk in at that moment. "Have Hermione and Ron-- oh! Hermione, dear, let me see."
Hermione broke away from Ron with a reluctant gaze and went up to her soon- to-be-mother-in-law for inspection of the ring. Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears and Harry began to ponder why all women seemed to cried when they were happy.
Harry was just about to comment on this to Ron when a hand slipped in to his and he was led backwards. He turned around to see it was Ginny and she was taking him outside. As soon as they were out the front door Ginny broke into a run and Harry had no choice but to follow her.
They arrived at a huge willow tree and Ginny sat down in the grass underneath it.
Harry sat down in front of her. "What was that?"
"I was getting you alone while the rest of my family was distracted," Ginny answered.
"Oh? And what do you want to talk about?"
"Who said anything about talking?" Ginny asked, then proceeded to crawl onto Harry's lap for a fiery kiss.
Harry let himself get caught up in the moment for a few minutes, then gained enough self-control and pushed Ginny away.
"What?" Ginny asked, confused.
"I thought . . ." Harry trailed off, then pushed her off of his lap and scooted slightly away.
Ginny stared at him in bewilderment. "What?" she asked more forcefully.
"You said we were fine," Harry said helplessly.
"We are. I thought that display of affection made it pretty obvious."
"You don't have any feelings at all for me then?"
Ginny hesitated before finally shaking her head no; her eyes round.
"And you?" she whispered hoarsely, looking both eager and afraid of his answer.
Harry couldn't help hesitating himself. He was convinced he didn't . . . But then why had it hurt so much for her to say she felt nothing for him? "No," he finally answered, but he was sure his voice was betraying him. Even he heard the slight crack that made 'no' a two syllable word.
"Good," Ginny said quickly, her voice a little higher than usual. "See, that's all right. We're two friends without any feelings whatsoever for each other who make out occasionally. Makes sense, right?"
Harry shook his head slowly, as if gathering up courage. "Not to me."
Ginny leaned forward to get closer to him. "Maybe I should clarify it for you?" she suggested in a low voice.
Harry shook his head again, this time more fiercely. He was afraid that if she kept saying things like that he'd oblige. "I don't understand. If we don't like each other then why are we doing this?"
Ginny looked taken aback. "I-I don't know. It feels right, though, doesn't it?"
"I guess so. But . . . Ginny, this is pointless."
Ginny sat up straighter and glared at him. "Pointless?"
"Pointless," Harry repeated firmly. He stood up and cast her one last look. "I don't know about you, but I'd like to know that a relationship is going somewhere if we're as hot and heavy as you and I are. What we have is just hormones."
Ginny clenched her jaw and nodded, but didn't say anything.
Harry ignored the way her eyes had shone with tears and walked the little ways back up to the house.
* * * * *
Nobody seemed to notice that Harry and Ginny left, let alone came back, so no comment was made when Harry stepped through the door nervously and Ginny followed a few minutes later, her eyes downcast and her face reflecting misery. The rest of the evening was spent either planning the wedding (if you were one of the girls), or playing chess (Ron and Harry against Fred and George).
Ron let his eyes trail over to Hermione, as it had on more than one occasion, and was surprised to see her wink at him slyly. He was quite confused about this, but when she stood up and yawned slightly he got the point.
"I'm dead tired," she said in a sleepy voice. "You all don't mind if I retire early, do you?"
Ron raised his eyebrows at her and Hermione tried to suppress a smile.
"You do look pale, dear," Mrs. Weasley said worriedly. "We really shouldn't keep you up so late in your condition."
"No, no, I'm fine," Hermione assured her. The fear of being fussed over by Mrs. Weasley yet again shown in her eyes. The woman was dear to her, but she needed some time alone for her and Ron. "Just tired."
Ron waited a few minutes after Hermione left to yawn himself. He thought it was very casual and was about to congratulate himself mentally when Fred caught him on it.
Fred rolled his eyes. "We're not idiots, you know."
"But before you go," George said cautiously.
"We needed to ask you something," Fred continued. "It's just . . ."
"Well, if it got around that we helped you at all . . ."
"We would be mortified! It's really not our style but we rather like Hermione."
"How you got such a good catch we'll never know."
"Anyways, what we're trying to say is that we don't want you tell anyone about us lending you that money."
"It might make people think less of us," George finished. "We are Weasleys after all."
"And though red hair is our first trademark--"
"Our second is to be as horrid to our siblings as possible. Dear God, Fred, what would Lee say if he found out?"
"I quite think he'd disown us as friends."
"I shudder to think."
"So, you both won't tell a soul, right?"
Ron looked back and forth between the two brothers, shrugged, and left without a word. Harry normally would have sent him a look of amusement before he left, but Harry seemed too distracted with something and Ron put it in the back of his mind to ask Harry what it was.
"Hermione?" Ron called out curiously when he got up the stairs and into his room. He looked around for the bushy haired girl, but she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly his eyes were covered from behind.
"Did anyone see you come up?"
A slow, excited smile slid up Ron's face as he knew what was coming next. "No."
"Good," Hermione whispered in his ear, sending shivers up his spine. She released her hands from his eyes and began to use them for things that Ron considered much more important.
"I need to thank you properly for the ring."
"It wasn't all me, you know," Ron said a bit sheepishly.
"You think I should thank Fred and George too?"
Ron laughed and turned around to pull Hermione tight against his body. "I think they're fine. Me, however . . . I'm going to need a *lot* of convincing that you're truly thankful."
* * * * *
"Of course, as a Ginny/Harry worshipper I want Harry to suddenly realize he does have feelings for his best friend's BROTHER and of course they get together . . ."
--Jay, one of my betas, wrote that as part of her comments. Let's just hope she *meant* sister. Unless somewhere I implied that Harry was in love with Fred? If so, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. J
Author's Notes: As you may have guessed with the above comment, I have chosen my betas: Ash, Amy, and Jay. I'm really sorry to all of you who offered and I didn't get to email you. I tried but some of the emails didn't work. And also there was somebody emailing me with three questions that I tried to answer back, but it wouldn't let me. Here are my answers:
1) I don't know if Hermione will have twins. She could, I guess, but I was leaning towards one child. It's always a possibility that I consider. I guess we'll just have to find out!
2) What was question two? I can't remember . . . okay, right! The baby is due in May.
3) How will Ron react? I really don't know. I think he's going to be okay with it, he seems okay with everything else. It usually all depends because I come up with everything as I write it. Sometimes I plan ahead, but no more than a chapter or two. I don't even know what's going to happen or how many more installments there's going to be before Hermione has her baby! (Which is when I figure the fic will end. But I do have a spin off planned)
Also, I was thinking about putting up a seperate chapter about Ron and Hermione's first time that was mentioned in chapter 3 or 4 I think. I could put up a different version that went on through the whole night if you wanted. Go ahead and let me know if that would interest you.
Also, in shameless promoting of my other fics. I rewrote the ending of The Collapse of the Wizarding World which is now entitled 'Changing For the Better', I think. My other fic is titled Midnight Snack and it is plotless and pointless, but if you're a big Ron/Hermione fan you'll like it.
~Haley
P.S. Sorry this got up so late, I was sick all week. (awwwww *wink wink*)
P.S.S. I forgot to thank my betas. Thanks to Ash, Jay, and Amy.
P.S.S.S. I am *so* sorry. When I uploaded I accidently uploaded the fic I mentioned Midnight Snack for this chapter. Please disregard that because, *this* is the actual chapter. Obviously.
"Yeah, Harry?" Ron looked up from where he'd been searching for his other sock to shoot Harry an annoyed look. "Mione and I are leaving in a few minutes so be prompt."
"I was just wondering . . . how did you, George, Fred, *and* Percy happen to come in on Ginny and I at the same time?" Harry asked casually, pretending as if the question had come out of nowhere.
Ron clicked his tongue at the mention of Harry and Ginny and the reminder of the night before. "I walked in on you first and got the rest of my brothers. Unspoken agreement to protect Ginny from the vile minds of men and all that. Nothing personal."
"Uh-huh," Harry said absently.
There was a moment of silence as Ron continued to look for his sock. Both boys considered the events of the night before. Finally, Ron stopped looking for the sock and sat up straight to tell Harry exactly what he was thinking. It took him a moment to finally come up with the right words. "I really don't mind you."
Harry gave Ron a strange look. "Well, I'm glad to hear it being as I'm your best mate and all."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I *meant* as Ginny's boyfriend, you prat."
"Oh." Harry took another moment before asking, "Then why did last night turn out like it did?"
"Well, for one thing your hands were in places that they shouldn't have been, whether I mind you or not."
"And the other reason?"
"I was mad," Ron said simply.
"But I thought you said you didn't mind me," Harry said, confused.
"I wasn't mad about that; I was mad that you didn't tell me," Ron said as though this were obvious. "Are we best mates or not, Harry? You could have at least mentioned you have feelings for my sister."
"I don't have feelings for her," Harry said indignantly. "She's just Ginny."
Ron raised his eyebrows at Harry. "Whatever you say, mate. Now can I borrow a pair of socks? Mum has been too emotional to do laundry."
Harry nodded and pulled out a pair of socks to throw at Ron. He hesitated for a moment then said, "I was serious you know. I really don't think of Ginny in that way."
Ron smirked knowingly as he put on the socks and stuffed his rather large feet into a pair of shoes. "I didn't say anything, Harry."
* * * * *
After Ron left, Harry found that it was next to impossible to get Ginny alone. He wanted to talk to her, to find out if she really meant what she said. He needed to know if she was really hurt by what he stupidly blurted out; he needed to know if she lied, if she felt something for him. For a reason he didn't know, the answer to these questions was life-altering.
And yet somehow George, Fred, Percy, or even Mrs. Weasley would manage to interrupt them. The closest he could get to Ginny was a game of Wizarding chess. (The twins were casting suspicious glances at the two from across the room, of course.)
"Ginny?" Harry asked quietly, hoping that his voice wasn't as loud as it sounded.
"Yes, Harry?" Ginny asked, looking distracted by the game.
"Did you--?"
But before Harry could finish his question the front door burst open and Hermione came rushing in to give Fred and George a hug filled with many tears. Harry and Ginny exchanged a confused look as Ron came in, looking sheepish with his hands in his pockets and his eyes cast to the floor, a pleased glow about his face.
"What happened?" Ginny asked Hermione.
Hermione let go of the twins and rushed over to Ginny to stick her hand out. On her finger was a thin gold ring; set inside of the gold snugly was a modest yet beautiful diamond in the shape of a heart. There was a small sapphire in the shape of a circle on either side of the heart.
Ginny gasped and brought the ring up for further inspection. "Oh, Hermione, it's beautiful!"
"I know!" Hermione exclaimed. "And it's thanks to Fred and George, the silliest prats I've ever met. But I love them anyways."
"What did you guys do?" Ginny asked.
Fred and George seemed to look embarrassed as they shuffled their feet and blushed slightly.
"They gave me a couple hundred Galleons to buy Hermione a proper engagement ring," Ron said, coming closer to Hermione so he could put his arm around her.
Ginny's face took on the same emotion as Hermione and she rushed over to her twin brothers in order to give them a hug just as fierce as Hermione's had been. "Hermione's right -- you are the silliest prats I've ever layed eyes on!" Ginny exclaimed, voice muffled but still strong with emotion.
"Geroff!" Fred said as the twins tried to get Ginny's arms untangled from around them. Though they pretended to be annoyed, it wasn't hard to see the pleased look on their faces.
Mrs. Weasley happened to walk in at that moment. "Have Hermione and Ron-- oh! Hermione, dear, let me see."
Hermione broke away from Ron with a reluctant gaze and went up to her soon- to-be-mother-in-law for inspection of the ring. Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears and Harry began to ponder why all women seemed to cried when they were happy.
Harry was just about to comment on this to Ron when a hand slipped in to his and he was led backwards. He turned around to see it was Ginny and she was taking him outside. As soon as they were out the front door Ginny broke into a run and Harry had no choice but to follow her.
They arrived at a huge willow tree and Ginny sat down in the grass underneath it.
Harry sat down in front of her. "What was that?"
"I was getting you alone while the rest of my family was distracted," Ginny answered.
"Oh? And what do you want to talk about?"
"Who said anything about talking?" Ginny asked, then proceeded to crawl onto Harry's lap for a fiery kiss.
Harry let himself get caught up in the moment for a few minutes, then gained enough self-control and pushed Ginny away.
"What?" Ginny asked, confused.
"I thought . . ." Harry trailed off, then pushed her off of his lap and scooted slightly away.
Ginny stared at him in bewilderment. "What?" she asked more forcefully.
"You said we were fine," Harry said helplessly.
"We are. I thought that display of affection made it pretty obvious."
"You don't have any feelings at all for me then?"
Ginny hesitated before finally shaking her head no; her eyes round.
"And you?" she whispered hoarsely, looking both eager and afraid of his answer.
Harry couldn't help hesitating himself. He was convinced he didn't . . . But then why had it hurt so much for her to say she felt nothing for him? "No," he finally answered, but he was sure his voice was betraying him. Even he heard the slight crack that made 'no' a two syllable word.
"Good," Ginny said quickly, her voice a little higher than usual. "See, that's all right. We're two friends without any feelings whatsoever for each other who make out occasionally. Makes sense, right?"
Harry shook his head slowly, as if gathering up courage. "Not to me."
Ginny leaned forward to get closer to him. "Maybe I should clarify it for you?" she suggested in a low voice.
Harry shook his head again, this time more fiercely. He was afraid that if she kept saying things like that he'd oblige. "I don't understand. If we don't like each other then why are we doing this?"
Ginny looked taken aback. "I-I don't know. It feels right, though, doesn't it?"
"I guess so. But . . . Ginny, this is pointless."
Ginny sat up straighter and glared at him. "Pointless?"
"Pointless," Harry repeated firmly. He stood up and cast her one last look. "I don't know about you, but I'd like to know that a relationship is going somewhere if we're as hot and heavy as you and I are. What we have is just hormones."
Ginny clenched her jaw and nodded, but didn't say anything.
Harry ignored the way her eyes had shone with tears and walked the little ways back up to the house.
* * * * *
Nobody seemed to notice that Harry and Ginny left, let alone came back, so no comment was made when Harry stepped through the door nervously and Ginny followed a few minutes later, her eyes downcast and her face reflecting misery. The rest of the evening was spent either planning the wedding (if you were one of the girls), or playing chess (Ron and Harry against Fred and George).
Ron let his eyes trail over to Hermione, as it had on more than one occasion, and was surprised to see her wink at him slyly. He was quite confused about this, but when she stood up and yawned slightly he got the point.
"I'm dead tired," she said in a sleepy voice. "You all don't mind if I retire early, do you?"
Ron raised his eyebrows at her and Hermione tried to suppress a smile.
"You do look pale, dear," Mrs. Weasley said worriedly. "We really shouldn't keep you up so late in your condition."
"No, no, I'm fine," Hermione assured her. The fear of being fussed over by Mrs. Weasley yet again shown in her eyes. The woman was dear to her, but she needed some time alone for her and Ron. "Just tired."
Ron waited a few minutes after Hermione left to yawn himself. He thought it was very casual and was about to congratulate himself mentally when Fred caught him on it.
Fred rolled his eyes. "We're not idiots, you know."
"But before you go," George said cautiously.
"We needed to ask you something," Fred continued. "It's just . . ."
"Well, if it got around that we helped you at all . . ."
"We would be mortified! It's really not our style but we rather like Hermione."
"How you got such a good catch we'll never know."
"Anyways, what we're trying to say is that we don't want you tell anyone about us lending you that money."
"It might make people think less of us," George finished. "We are Weasleys after all."
"And though red hair is our first trademark--"
"Our second is to be as horrid to our siblings as possible. Dear God, Fred, what would Lee say if he found out?"
"I quite think he'd disown us as friends."
"I shudder to think."
"So, you both won't tell a soul, right?"
Ron looked back and forth between the two brothers, shrugged, and left without a word. Harry normally would have sent him a look of amusement before he left, but Harry seemed too distracted with something and Ron put it in the back of his mind to ask Harry what it was.
"Hermione?" Ron called out curiously when he got up the stairs and into his room. He looked around for the bushy haired girl, but she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly his eyes were covered from behind.
"Did anyone see you come up?"
A slow, excited smile slid up Ron's face as he knew what was coming next. "No."
"Good," Hermione whispered in his ear, sending shivers up his spine. She released her hands from his eyes and began to use them for things that Ron considered much more important.
"I need to thank you properly for the ring."
"It wasn't all me, you know," Ron said a bit sheepishly.
"You think I should thank Fred and George too?"
Ron laughed and turned around to pull Hermione tight against his body. "I think they're fine. Me, however . . . I'm going to need a *lot* of convincing that you're truly thankful."
* * * * *
"Of course, as a Ginny/Harry worshipper I want Harry to suddenly realize he does have feelings for his best friend's BROTHER and of course they get together . . ."
--Jay, one of my betas, wrote that as part of her comments. Let's just hope she *meant* sister. Unless somewhere I implied that Harry was in love with Fred? If so, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. J
Author's Notes: As you may have guessed with the above comment, I have chosen my betas: Ash, Amy, and Jay. I'm really sorry to all of you who offered and I didn't get to email you. I tried but some of the emails didn't work. And also there was somebody emailing me with three questions that I tried to answer back, but it wouldn't let me. Here are my answers:
1) I don't know if Hermione will have twins. She could, I guess, but I was leaning towards one child. It's always a possibility that I consider. I guess we'll just have to find out!
2) What was question two? I can't remember . . . okay, right! The baby is due in May.
3) How will Ron react? I really don't know. I think he's going to be okay with it, he seems okay with everything else. It usually all depends because I come up with everything as I write it. Sometimes I plan ahead, but no more than a chapter or two. I don't even know what's going to happen or how many more installments there's going to be before Hermione has her baby! (Which is when I figure the fic will end. But I do have a spin off planned)
Also, I was thinking about putting up a seperate chapter about Ron and Hermione's first time that was mentioned in chapter 3 or 4 I think. I could put up a different version that went on through the whole night if you wanted. Go ahead and let me know if that would interest you.
Also, in shameless promoting of my other fics. I rewrote the ending of The Collapse of the Wizarding World which is now entitled 'Changing For the Better', I think. My other fic is titled Midnight Snack and it is plotless and pointless, but if you're a big Ron/Hermione fan you'll like it.
~Haley
P.S. Sorry this got up so late, I was sick all week. (awwwww *wink wink*)
P.S.S. I forgot to thank my betas. Thanks to Ash, Jay, and Amy.
P.S.S.S. I am *so* sorry. When I uploaded I accidently uploaded the fic I mentioned Midnight Snack for this chapter. Please disregard that because, *this* is the actual chapter. Obviously.