Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, we all know who they do belong to.
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By the time Hermione had showered and dressed the Gryffindor common room was full of excited students preparing for their first lesson of the year. As she walked down the spiral staircase she pulled her uniform robes on over her jeans and v-neck and hastily tied her hair back into a pony-tale. She suddenly realised that she didn't have her book bag with her and began to panic. "I must have left it down here this morning," She said under her breath, scanning the room eagerly for any sign of it.
She made her way over to the sofa that she and Ron had been sitting on (It was now occupied by Seamus and Dean) and kneeled down to see if it had been pushed beneath it.
"Looking for this?" Harry's voice laughed from behind her. He too was fully dressed in his school robes and had an unusual buzz about him for the first day of school.
"Morning Harry," She said turning around. He was holding her bag, and had an enormous smile on his face.
"Ron noticed it on his way out, he asked me to give it to you" He handed her the bag "said he was in a hurry and wanted to get to class early."
"Thank you" She put the bag over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow questionably "Did Ron say anything else before he left?" she knew Ron and Harry shared a lot, after all they had been best friends for the past six years "Did he say anything about me?"
"Well." He paused and looked up as though he were trying to look around his head for the memory "He did say something about you….but I didn't quite catch it." In all the years Hermione and Harry had been friends he hadn't lied to her once, so she believed him. But that just meant that Ron wasn't sharing his feelings with Harry, it didn't mean that he wasn't having second thoughts, or regrets.
She began to chew her lip, nervously and fell silent avoiding Harry's eye.
"Got something on your mind that you want to talk about?" he asked putting a brotherly hand on her shoulder.
"Not right now, Harry," She said thoughtfully "I'm not quite sure if I have anything to be talking to you about…." She sighed dramatically "I mean maybe I'm just being silly but-" she shook her head "Forget it, it's our first day back, you should enjoy yourself." She pressed her hand over Harry's and squeezed it gently "Besides, you have your own problems without having to listen to my petty worries….Come on let's get to class it starts in ten minutes."
"But it only takes five to-,"
"You don't want to be late on your first day back to you Harry?" She said with a look that reminded him of McGonagall.
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The defence against the dark arts classroom was only half full by the time Hermione and Harry got there, and sure enough sitting at the back of the classroom was Ron, his hair still in as much of a disarray as usual . He was quickly scanning the chapter of the book they would be studying, a sight Hermione though she would never see.
Ron didn't notice they had entered the room until Hermione sat down in the seat next to him and placed a small hand on his thigh beneath the desk "Hey," she said in a small voice.
"Hey 'mione," He said smiling shyly, running his hand through his hair.
"About this morning…." She said nervously, taking her hand away from his thigh and folding them neatly in her lap "I just wanted to tell you that-"
"Okay okay class settle down…" The new defence against the dark arts teacher descended the steps from her office looking very elegant in robes of deep purple "My name is Professor Dracaena and I'll be teaching this class for the next year. I expect extremely high standards from my N.E.W.T classes, so I will take no straggling, only the best will pass this class." She moved to stand behind the large desk at the front of the classroom "I will ask you all to turn to chapter one of 'How to un-hex hexed hexers' please."
Hermione gave Ron an apologetic look and turned to her book, eagerly scanning the pages to remind her of what they would be studying.
Before the professor had opened her own copy a handsome barn owl soared through the open door and dropped a small piece of parchment onto Dracaena's desk. "Oh," she said in surprise picking up the note and scouring the class "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley," They both stood up and Hermione prepared to join them, but her name was not mentioned, she looked up at Ron with a look of dismay "You are to report to Professor Mcgonagall's office, she says not to worry, it's good news." Ron shrugged and hurriedly threw his things into his bag, giving Hermione a sympathetic look before joining Harry and disappearing down the corridor.
Hermione slumped onto the table, resting her head in her hands. Sitting alone in class always reminded her of the times when she had been separated from her friends after a feud. She was especially upset because she really wanted to talk to Ron, she needed to know if he felt the way she did, or if he was kissing her just because he could.
She thought dreamily of the way his lips felt pressed against hers, the way his hair felt entwined in her fingers. She found herself idly curling a ringlet around her finger when she was pulled back to reality.
"Miss Granger? Miss Granger?"
"What-Yes!" She said quickly pulling herself out of a daze.
"10 points from Gryffindor for not paying attention." Professor Dracaena said sharply giving Hermione a scowl "and I had heard such great things about you…." She seemed a little disappointed that the classes star pupil had failed to even listen to her.
"Sorry Professor…." She said praying that the new professor hadn't got a negative profile of her after only ten minutes in her class.
Dracaena soon returned to giving a mildly interesting lecture about the dangers on hexes and what can happen to those who are ill prepared to un-hex if their spell backfires. Hermione had read the chapter twice and so felt a little better that she wasn't paying attention.
The class ended after what seemed like an eternity and Hermione quickly gathered her things and made for the door. She got all the way back to Gryffindor tower in record time, but found it almost empty with no sign of Ron or Harry.
Dean Thomas came down from the boys dormitory just as she was making her way over "Dean, have you seen Ron or Harry?"
"Sorry Hermione haven't seen them since this morning." He waved over his shoulder and hurriedly disappeared out of the portrait hole.
Hermione threw herself into a large comfy chair that faced the entrance to the room and brought her legs up underneath her. They would have to come back at some point, and she was free from class for the rest of the day.
Every now and again the portrait would swing open and Hermione would lean forward in anticipation, but so far she had only been greeted by Gryffindor students milling around between lessons.
After two hours of staring at the back of the fat lady, Hermione left to get changed. She had been sitting unnecessarily in her uniform whilst waiting for Ron and Harry to reappear, but decided that changing would at least give her something to do whilst she waited.
She gave the portrait on last glance before slowly ascending the stairs, walking to the far end of the corridor to her prefects bedroom. She angrily pulled her robes off and instead of folding them neatly, threw them onto the floor.
She flung open the doors to her closet scoured the contents; sometimes she wondered if she should be a little less prim with her clothing. In some ways she still dressed like a little school girls with her plaid skirts and her pressed blouses. There were a few more modern items in the back, but she very rarely favoured them over her trademark bookworm look.
She hadn't realised however, that over the past year, her body had changed so much that when she sat cross-legged in the library she looked less like a prim bookworm and more like a teasing nymph.
She pulled out a red skirt and a black jumper and hurriedly changed into them. Just as she threw the jumper onto the floor there was a sharp knock at her door. She span around to face it quickly pulling the tank top over her head "Come in…."
"Hermione?" First she saw a flash of red hair, but she knew it couldn't be Ron because the voice was soft and feminine. Moments later the door fully opened and Ginny appeared an excited smile on her face.
"Ginny." Hermione said tartly "I don't suppose you've seen your bloody brother have you?"
"That's what I came to talk to you about 'Mione," Ginny said, stepping into her friends room "Ron's got something really important to tell you, he wants you to meet him by the lake," Ginny had a great smile on her face, but her voice seemed sad.
"Oh…" Hermione suddenly felt very flustered and self conscious of how she looked "Ummm, okay. I'll just do something with my hair and I'll be right down to him then." Ginny smiled and shook her head.
Hermione took her hair down and brushed it quickly, to try and make it resemble anything other than the mass of bushy curls she had only recently tamed "Do I look okay, Ginny?"
"Always," The redhead said reassuringly "Hurry up, you can't keep him waiting…." Ginny took her arm and began shooing her out of the door.
"Okay, okay….I'm going."
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Ron waited nervously on the banks of the Lake. He paced up and down for a while, but then decided that it didn't look too cool, so decided to lean casually against a tree trunk, running his hand through his hair every now and again.
"Ron…." Hermione said. She was tired and upset, but the mere sight of him made her skin tingle with excitement, and she quickly remembered how wonderful it felt to be in his arms.
The sun was still quite high in the sky, making his hair shine like fire and Hermione wasted no time in feeling it between her fingers.
"Honestly Ron," she said, smoothing his hair down "You look like you just got off a broomstick."
Ron gave her a strange look "I have…" He shook his head "Look, 'Mione, I have something important to tell you," He reached a hand out to caress her cheek.
Hermione's heart began to beat faster "Me too Ron, and I didn't realise it until recently, but I-" she started rambling, but Ron quickly silenced her by placing a finger over her lips
"I'm going to be going away for a while." it seemed as though the words pained him thought internally he was brimming with excitement "There this comp-"
"What?" Hermione cut in sharply "Where on earth would you be going?" her face was etched with confusion. She was obviously feeling very left out, she was always chosen for everything.
Ron seemed a little hurt, but still his excitement buzzed through "Hogwarts have been chosen to take part in a tri-school tournament, and as we won the quiddich cup last year, Gryffindor are going." He was doing everything he could to stop himself from jumping up and down in excitement, but he could see that Hermione wasn't happy about it.
"How long?" she knew it had been too good to be true, he had kissed her and now he was going to go away.
"Three weeks, I know it sounds like a long time….and I know it's unfair that you have to stay here on your own…" he put a hand on her shoulder that immediately brought warmth to her bones "But I'm going to miss you…."Hermione sank into his chest, holding herself close against his body.
"I hope you enjoy yourself Ron….and you have to promise to write every day." She put a broad fake smile on her face, and tried desperately not to ruin his happiness. The emotions that were streaming through her head couldn't have been but into words, and she was sure that if she could they would only hurt him anyway "and I just want you to know that….."
"What 'Mione?" He asked absently tucking a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. She opened her mouth but no words seemed to come out, she almost made a vowel sound but instead shook her head and smiled.
"Nothing, I'll save it for another day,"
"I hope I come back to the same girl I had this morning." His sudden forwardness shocked her a little; he slowly began to stroke her back through her robes and moved closer and closer to her lips…
"Ron, whatever happened this morning…let's leave it at that….it's unfair to start something whilst you go away. It's unfair to both of us." She turned her head away from him, but her body remained firmly against his.
"Then at least let us leave with something…" He pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently. She gave a little sigh and allowed herself to fall into his arms. She slipped a leg between Ron's thighs, deepening the contact between them and making him produce throaty moans. .The feeling of contentment she had sampled that morning crept all over her body once more, and she allowed herself to believe, that just for that moment, she would never have to leave his loving embrace.
As they parted from the kiss, Hermione lay her head in the crook of his shoulder. "I'll be back…." Ron's voice seemed shaky.
"I'll be waiting," She pulled away from him a little, and he noticed that her lip was quivering slightly, though no-doubt she had too much pride to cry in front of him. She momentarily looked as though she was going to sink into his embrace again, but instead backed away completely and looked a little more hurt as she said "So I guess this is goodbye?"
Ron stuffed his hands in his pockets and gave her a lopsided grin "Not just yet, we've got a few minutes left before we have to leave and no-doubt you'll want to say goodbye to Harry too…."
It had only just suddenly struck Hermione that the Gryffindor quiddich team not only contained Ron, but Harry and Ginny too. When Ron said he felt bad for leaving her alone, he really meant alone.
"Of course." She said quickly, she didn't want to rain on his parade when he seemed so excited about the trip "But not just yet?" She asked hopefully.
He pulled her close once more "No…" He shook his head "not just yet." It would have been the perfect moment to kiss, but instead Hermione sank into his warm embrace and they spent their last few minutes together with only their eyes to describe how they were feeling.