A/N Thank you my reviewers! If you read this, please review. I want to know what you think! Well, enjoy. Here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Almost forgot to say that I don't own any of these characters, they belong to JK Rowling, but the plot is original and all mine. :)
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Hermione glanced in the mirror one last time. She decided she was satisfied with her appearance. She had straightened her hair again, just as she did for the Yule Ball. It looked gorgeous. She had put on her new dress robes, which were deep purple and had the appearance of velvet, and did a simple charm to take all the wrinkles out of them and to make the robes flow when she walked. She had learned how to apply Muggle make up from Parvati, and with all of those factors combined together, she was stunning. She smoothed her hair one last time and started downstairs.

She grasped the handrail and looked at the most unpleasant site she wanted to see at this moment. By the couch in the common room, she saw Ron and Lavender. Lavender was trying to flirt with Ron. She was giggling (as usual) and trying to wrap her hands around Ron's neck. He had been pushing her away. He looked like his mind was on something else, or perhaps someone...This made Hermione wonder if...no, she quickly pushed that thought from her head.

Lavander had also applied make up, but hers was layered onto her face and looked like you could cut it with a razor blade, as opposed to Hermione's mellow tones. She was dressed in bright pink robes, probably to attract attention to herself. Ron, on the other hand, looked amazing. He had saved enough money to buy himself some new dress robes. They were plain, just plain dark navy blue dress robes, but they made Ron look extremely hot. His hair was gelled, but not as much as Malfoy's. It had the look of wind-blown hair, yet it was very neat.

Ron looked up when Hermione entered the room, but so did the rest of the Gryffindor house. It suddenly became silent when Hermione walked toward George. Harry broke the silence.

"Hey, 'Mione! You look great!" he said. This broke the trace, and the rest of the students continued talking.

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione smiled. She noticed Ron staring at her and quickly walked up to George. "Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah...damn, 'Mione, you look so beautiful," George gaped.

"Thanks," she replied, but she really wasn't flattered much. She couldn't keep her thoughts from wandering toward Ron.

"Shall we?" George interrupted her concentration, maybe for the better, she thought.

"Oh, um, sure." She hooked her arm under his and they started toward the Great Hall. I wonder if Ron will show up? she asked herself. Or maybe he'll spend all of that time in the common room with Lavander? She pushed all thoughts from her head except for one. She kept thinking about how she would have fun, Ron or no Ron.
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"Come on, Ron, don't go out there yet. We could stay in here a while and maybe..."

"Lavander, I want to go. I promised Harry I would be there in 5 minutes." Ron was getting annoyed by Lavander. She was trying her hardest to flirt with him, but he only wanted to see Hermione. He grabbed Lavander's hand and dragged her out of the common room.

As they walked, Ron noticed that they were one of the last ones to get to the celebration. He started to walk faster.

They soon arrived at the Great Hall. It was breathtaking. There were about 15 giant Christmas trees around the Hall. They were much bigger than usual. Above them, large snowflake-shaped crystals hovered. Everything was sparkling. Ron spotted Harry and hurried over to him.

"Finally, there you are," Harry exclaimed. "I'd thought you decided to skip it," Harry teased his friend.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked in a hushed tone.

"Over there, with George," Harry pointed to the dance floor where Hermione and George were dancing.

Ron felt his heart sink. He didn't know why Hermione loved George. He really wanted to get closer to the dancing couple.

"Come on Lavander, let's dance." He roughly grabbed her and they began dancing. Slowly, but surely, Ron had managed to edge toward Hermione. It seemed like Hermione had been moving toward him as well. Ron looked to his left and saw Harry standing beside him with a mischievious smile on his face. He winked at Ron, and then...

"Oh, so sorry Ron! I can't imagine how this could happen," George apologized, smiling at Harry. Harry had pushed Lavander into Ron and caused him to fall back, knocking Hermione and George apart.

"Hey, George, can you please come with me? I need to show you something. It's important..." Harry said.

"Sure, Harry," George answered, and then too obviously asked, "Lavander, will you come too? There is something I must tell you."

Lavander sighed, and decided she wasn't having any fun anyway, so she left with the two boys, leaving Ron and Hermione alone together. There was an awkward silence. Both of them just stood there, avoiding each other's gaze, but they couldn't pretend not to notice that a slow song had begun to play. Ron sighed. This was his only chance.

"Um, Hermione? Will you dance with me? I mean, that's only if you want to." Ron blushed and looked down. A moment later he felt Hermione's hands lock behind his neck.

"Of course I want to. You should know that." Hermione whispered. Ron looked up into Hermione's smiling eyes.

"I have to ask you something. Do you--do you really like George?" Ron felt his heart flutter as he crossed his fingers.

Hermione laughed, but seeing the hurt look on Ron's face, she replied, "No! I mean, he's my friend...but I went to the dance with him because I had no one to go with and...and I wanted to make you jealous." She blushed.

"Really? So do you like me, Hermione?" Ron felt his hopes soar.

"No," came the answer. Ron's hopes fell again. "I don't like you. I love you, Ron."

Ron smiled like he never smiled before. "I love you too, Hermione."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, and both of them saw the hunger for each other in their eyes. They moved closer until their eyes were right across from each other. They stared for another moment, and then finally moved in to seal the kiss. Hermione felt warmth spread throughout her body as she felt Ron's lips pressed gently against hers. They stayed like that for what seemed like only moments, but it really had been a while. They would have continued for even longer if they hadn't heard some clapping and...

"Woaw! Hermione! Ouw!" It was Harry. Beside him was George. Both were cheering.

"Way to go Ron! My brother is finally a man!" George teased.

Hermione and Ron stood for a moment, blushing, then looked at each other. "Hey, 'Mione? You wanna go talk in the common room?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I was hoping you'd ask that." Hermione smiled.

They took each other's hand and walked up to the common room, leaving the glittering dance behind them, but as far as they were concerned, they had taken the best part of it with them...each other.
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Here it is! Hope you liked it! I'm gonna work on the next chapter, but it might take a little while, cuz I'll be busy again. But please keep checking back! Love you guys! *muah* ~*Vicky*~ aka Ms. Weasley/Grint