Hermione bit into another crab cake. There was a whole tray of them in front of her, and she had a feeling that she could easily finish them off. A house elf refilled her mug of butter beer despite the fact that she'd barely taken two sips out of it. She was too depressed to feel guilty that they were serving her like this.

Suddenly the portrait hole to the kitchens swung open. Ron stood at the entrance, panting as if he'd been running. "Hermione!" he called out when he saw her. He rushed to sit down at the table with her. A house elf easily supplied a chair for him.

Hermione glared white hot daggers at him. "Hello, Ron," she said coolly.

Ron grimaced. "Look, er . . . Happy Valentine's Day." He smiled hopefully at her.

Hermione shook her head. "Uh-uh. Too late for that."

Ron looked at his wrist watch. "No. I'm actually two seconds from being too late. See, now it's too late. But when I said it, it was still Valentine's Day . . . You're not buying this." Ron sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm a complete git. Happy?"

"No," Hermione said curtly. She picked up another crab cake. "And neither is your unborn child. We're both mad at you."

"Uniting against me already, huh?" Ron attempted to joke.

Hermione looked at him blankly.

Ron sighed again. "I'm having trouble understanding here, Hermione. You never care about these types of things. Is this the hormo--no! I didn't say it! I'm sorry!"

Hermione decided to let it pass. She shrugged as she looked away from him, carefully contemplating the brick wall to her left.

Ron leaned closer. She scooted her chair away. "Fine, be that way," Ron snapped. "You're being a complete idiot though. If you want something, you're going to have to just tell me."

Hermione's head snapped back around towards him. "I shouldn't have to do anything. You should know."

"Come on, Hermione, we both know that's never going to happen. I'm never going to understand all of your motives. It's just the way I am." Ron wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Isn't that why you love me so much?"

Hermione bit her lip. "I suppose," she had to admit. His cluelessness was often endearing. When it wasn't severely irritating, that is. "But . . . Tonight was supposed to be special."

"Why didn't you tell me you wanted it to be special?"

"You're supposed to know!"

"Right. And why was it supposed to be special? Besides the obvious, I mean. We have thousands of Valentine's Days ahead of his, Mione."

"No, we don't," Hermione said softly.

"Ah, so I've hit on the real problem. Why don't we, Hermione?"

"Are you dense or what?" Hermione demanded.

"I think we covered this," Ron pointed out.

Hermione made an aggravated noise. "It's just . . . Having a kid is a big responsibility, Ron. For the next eighteen years, at the least, we're going to be tied down. We're going to have to put this kid's life before our own." She sighed. "And we never got a chance to just be . . . Us. Y'know? We didn't get to be married then have a few months at the least to just spend time being together. We're never going to have that time. I just thought we should enjoy holidays like today while we still can. Next year we sure as Merlin will be so exhausted that a nice quiet evening with a full night's rest will be romantic. Can you imagine?"

Ron felt guiltier and guiltier as she went on. "I'm sorry," he said quietly when he was sure she was finished. He took her hand in his own. He smiled slightly. "If I had known that, I would have planned you a nice big surprise."

"I'll bet you would have." Hermione squeezed his hand. A sudden thought struck her. "How did you learn that it was Valentine's Day? You were completely dense all day. Did you not notice that all of our food was dyed pink? Hint hint."

Ron sniggered. "I know. Actually, I found out due to most interesting circumstances. You'll never guess who finally got together."

"Harry and Ginny," Hermione said dryly. She rolled her eyes. "Took them long enough. Sometimes the tension was so think you could cut it with a knife."

"Yeah. I was ready to give them both bloody noses at some point. Despite the fact that he's my best friend and she's my sister."

"I'm sure we all felt that way," Hermione said. She stood up, scooting her chair. Then she took Ron's hand that she was holding and pressed it to her stomach suddenly. "Feel that?"

"Yeah," Ron said slowly in awe. He still wasn't tired of relishing in the feeling of the baby kicking. He was certain there was no better feeling in the world.

Hermione caught Ron's eyes, and they shared a tender moment that completely made up for his idiocy in Hermione's eyes. She laughed and took his arm again. "Come on, let's go."

* * * * *

The next morning, Hermione walked down to breakfast alone. She'd told everyone else to go ahead of her because she hadn't been feeling too well. When she got down to the Great Hall, she noticed that her three best friends were all whispering and giggling together. She rolled her eyes, wondering what it could be this time.

She sat down next to Ron and stole a piece of bacon off his plate. He grinned at her. "Look at the Slytherin table."

Hermione glanced over at the table. She immediately saw what must have been amusing her friends so much. Draco was sitting alone at one corner of the table, eating slowly, a depressed look on his face.

Hermione felt her heart strings began to tug. Would she ever want her son or daughter to be that alone? No, of course not. Then why should she watch as others persecuted the poor boy.

"I don't see why you're laughing at him," Hermione sniffed.

"You don't?" Ron's jaw dropped. "Hermione, this is Malfoy we're talking about. Remember Malfoy? The one who starts fights and makes fun and is severely annoying?"

Hermione looked guiltily over at the Slytherin table again. "Well, maybe if we hadn't always been so unaccepting, he wouldn't be so bad as he is today," she whispered.

"Oh, my wand." Ron enunciated each syllable with exaggeration. "Your hormones are completely out of wack. This is insane! That's Malfoy for bloody's sake."

Hermione glared at Ron. "Shut it, Ronald, or I might very easily remember how much of a git you were last night."

Ron raised his eyebrows, but he shut his mouth compliantly.

"What did happen last night?" Ginny asked as she buttered a slice of toast.

"I forgave Ron," Hermione said simply.

Ginny snorted. "Like he deserved that."

Hermione's lips tightened. "Is it any of your business, Virginia?" she asked sharply.

Ginny looked up, surprised. "Er . . . I suppose not," she mumbled. She quickly looked back down at her plate.

Harry sent Hermione a nasty look. Hermione sent him a nastier one. In the end, Hermione's look won out.

* * * * *

Hermione sighed heavily later on in the day as she set her books down in the common room. She had a ton of homework to do, and NEWTS were fast approaching. She started to dig through her bag for a quill and some parchment when Ron put a hand on her arm.

"No, you don't," he whispered in her ear, coming up close behind her. "I have something special planned for you."

"Really?" Hermione couldn't help from grinning. She turned around in his arms and accepted a kiss.

"Get a room," Hermione heard Harry mutter from where he was sitting on the couch. "You're scaring the first years."

Hermione blushed as she pulled away from Ron. "He's right," she told Ron. She took Ron's hand in her own and squeezed tightly. "Where are we going?"

"Hogsmeade," Ron said matter-of-factly, leading her out of the common room before she could start to make sense of what he'd said.

"What?" Hermione demanded when they were in the hallway. "Hogsmeade? We can't go to Hogsmeade! We'll break at least fifty rules!"

"When has that ever stopped you before?" Ron pointed out.

Hermione bit her lip. He did have a point, and what he had planned was intriguing. She sighed heavily. Then she glared. "If I get in one ounce of trouble, Ronald, I'll eat you alive."

Ron laughed heartily. "That's my girl."

* * * * *

Hermione followed Ron out on Hogwarts property until they reached the edge of Hogwarts. Ron stopped her just before they entered the village. He pulled out his wand and muttered an incantation. A second later he had a red rose in his hand. He handed it to her, blushing.

Hermione took the rose delicately and inhaled its scent deeply. She smiled at Ron, unable to stop the sappy grin from overcoming her face. "And you claim not to be romantic," she whispered.

Ron shrugged, but Hermione could tell he was pleased. He coughed slightly. "Er . . . Yes, well. There's more. I just reckoned I'd better make up to you for missing Valentine's Day. It was such a big deal to you and all."

Hermione's grin grew wider. She leaned forward and kissed him quickly. "I love you."

Ron's eyes brightened. "Yeah. Me too."

Hermione laughed, and Ron shook himself out of his stupor. He took her hand in his. "I decided we could go to The Three Broomsticks for some butter beer. Mind you, I don't have much money for anything else. I don't exactly have a job yet."

"If you do well on your NE--"

"Hermione, please," Ron interrupted. He squeezed her hand. "Not today, all right?"

"All right," Hermione agreed softly. She let Ron drag her down the main road in Hogsmeade. She could see that today meant a lot to him, and that made it even more special. Her heart felt light and full at the same time. She felt like an idiot, but she couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

Ron and Hermione spent an hour or so drinking butter beer and chatting. The talked about anything and everything: from Harry and Ginny to the upcoming baby to Fred's socks last Christmas. By the time evening started rolling around, Hermione felt content and happy -- happier than she'd felt in a long time.

Ron reached for her hand across the table. "Have I yet made up for last night?" he asked shyly.

Hermione nodded, glancing at the rose. He'd long since made up for it. She would never tell him though. "I suppose," she said reluctantly.

Ron rolled his eyes. "You're such a prat sometimes, Mione."

"Oh, and you're not?" Hermione shot back. "Need I remind you of last night?"

"Are you going to start bringing that up now?" Ron asked. "I told you--"

Hermione burst out laughing. "Listen to us!"

"I don't notice anything different," Ron said, irked.

Hermione smiled softly. "Isn't that wonderful? We haven't changed a bit in seven years."

"Isn't change supposed to be good?"

Hermione put a hand on her slowly extending stomach. "Yeah. Change is good. But I'm glad to know that we can still argue over stupid things. You know, when I'm not all hormonal. I feel free for the first time in months."

"What's different about today?"

"I don't know . . ." Hermione trailed off, shrugging. "I just feel at peace. I feel happy. Thanks, Ron."

Ron ducked his head. "Aw, shucks, Mione."

Hermione rolled his eyes. Maybe change was good. Ron certainly could use a little more maturity. But Ron looked up and met her eyes, and Hermione saw the sparkling humor in their. She decided not to bring it up. She would just enjoy spending time with him for the time being. She wouldn't be able to get enough of it in a few months.