Wow! Would you look at all those reviews? How amazing! Thank you thank you thank you thank you so very much! You're all so awesome for reviewing! Special thanks to Ruth3, Lady Starlight so kiss my ass, dragonbrat, yummy, Sidhe, lily, kiki-sweets222, Ramy, Irish Phoenix1, Bachy A, fist of dark, the_unnamed, cyberfrogX, chicklet72, Danski, llevan, Jen (aka Potter Girl!), Amanda, ears91, lelie, orlando's # 1 lover, Harry Potter Lover1, Dietpepsigurl and Gabby, who all reviewed chapter four, as well as Secoya, who reviewed chapters one, two and three. Thanks again everyone! Sorry if I missed anyone.
Good news: I've planned out this story in a lot of detail, which means that the following chapters should be posted more consistently. Yay for planning!
Disclaimer: I am not, though I wish I was, J.K. Rowling and therefore don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it. Also, I am not Emerson Drive (not a big country fan) so I don't own the song Fall Into Me.
Hope you enjoy the chapter, and if you want to, please r&r!
~*~
Ron opened the door of the flat, completely exhausted. It had been a tiring 24 hours. He'd gone back to the Burrow to take part in planning the upcoming wedding, but he'd had no idea how little they would accomplish.
"Hey, guys, I'm home," he called out, trooping into the living room and flopping on the couch. "Hello?"
He heard Harry's door creak open. "Ron? Is that you?" Harry's voice called out.
Who else would it be? "Yeah, it's me," Ron replied, closing his eyes and pulling a blanket over him. He was good and ready for a long nap.
Ron heard footsteps draw near. "How'd the wedding planning go?" Harry's voice asked from nearby.
"All right. We didn't get much done," Ron answered, sitting up with a sigh. Opening his eyes, he looked around the room. "Is Hermione home?"
"Um, she's around somewhere. Gone to do some laundry, I think. So, what went wrong this weekend?"
"What didn't?" Ron countered. "Charlie had to work at the last minute, so he couldn't come, a whole bunch of Angelina's cousins insisted on being in the wedding, George and Mum got into a big row and we got an Owl saying that the Great Hall would be booked at the time of the wedding."
"That's too bad. Where's the wedding going to be?"
"We thought of using the Quidditch pitch at the school."
"That's perfect," Harry said with a grin.
"I know. Mum's writing back to the school and asking the Headmaster if we can use that instead. If not, we're going to have to find somewhere in Hogsmeade. What'd you and Hermione do last night?" Ron asked, switching topics.
"Oh, um, nothing much, really," Harry replied quickly. "Just, you know, a quiet night. We stayed in. Lavender and I broke up, though."
"Sorry to hear that, mate. What happened?"
Harry made a face. "She met some bloke that is apparently going to help her get famous."
"That's a tough break."
"It's not so bad. I'm fine with it."
"Ron! You're home!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed. The boys looked up to see her coming into the living room from the direction of Harry and Ron's rooms.
"Hi, Hermione. What were you doing on that side of the flat?" Ron asked curiously.
"Oh, uh, I was looking for something in Harry's room that he borrowed," she replied.
Ron glanced skeptically from one to the other. "But Harry was just in there and said he you were doing laundry."
Hermione's eyes widened slightly. "I was," she said tersely. "I mean, I am. I'm going to do his laundry. And yours, if you want."
"You just said you were looking for something in his room that he borrowed," Ron reminded her. Something very strange was going on.
"I was looking for some…socks."
"For the laundry," Harry added quickly.
Ron looked back and forth between his two best friends, positive something was going on. "What happened while I was gone?" he demanded.
"Nothing," the two replied in unison.
"You're both acting even weirder than usual."
"No, we're not. You're just tired, Ron," Hermione said. "You ought to have a nap."
Harry nodded in agreement. "Good idea. Then we can all go out for dinner afterwards."
"We'll treat," Hermione added.
"Well, I can't say no to that," Ron admitted with a grin. "And a nap does sound like a good idea." Ron pushed off from the couch and headed for his room. He noticed how relieved the two looked. "But you two better tell me what's going on when I wake-up!"
*
Harry waited until he heard Ron's door close when he turned to Hermione. "That was close," he said in a low voice.
"Way too close. Next time, think of a better story, will you?"
"Next time, listen better before you come out, will you?" Harry retorted.
Hermione tsked, but she didn't defend herself. "We'll just have to be more careful from now on."
"Yeah, like no more using my room when we're expecting Ron to come home," Harry suggested. "Even if he comes home earlier, at least the bathroom's on your side of the flat. I can always say I was using it."
"Good idea," Hermione said with a nod. Then she scrunched up her nose slightly. "I don't like lying to him."
"We're not lying to him, Hermione, we're just not telling him the whole truth."
"That sounds a lot like lying."
"Well, it's different."
Hermione pushed him playfully. "If you say so," she said, giggling.
He pushed her back in the same playful way. "I do," he insisted.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." The shoving match turned into an intimate hug.
"But seriously, we've got to be more careful in the future," he told her in a soft voice.
Hermione sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "I know, but it's half the fun of this, isn't it? Sneaking around, trying not to get caught."
"Yeah, and we nearly got busted on the first day," Harry pointed out.
Hermione laughed and stepped back from the embrace. "And it's costing us a dinner," she added. "Oh, well, it's worth it, right?"
"Right." Harry kissed her. "Let's get ready for dinner."
*
"Well, that was a complete disaster," Hermione stated casually. It was pretty late in the night, and the trio had gotten back from dinner not long ago. When Ron went off to bed, Harry and Hermione holed up in her bedroom to talk about what had happened at dinner.
"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad," Harry said, though Hermione could tell he didn't believe himself.
"'Wasn't that bad'? Harry, do you even remember what you said when Ron asked what was going on?"
"Yes," Harry said with a sigh.
"'Chicken.' Chicken, Harry!
"I remember," Harry replied with gritted teeth. "And for your information, I was referring to the fact that we ordered chicken."
Hermione nearly screamed with frustration. "So? We didn't give him an answer, Harry! I bet he knows something's going on between us."
"So? Maybe he should know. He won't care."
Hermione made a face. She didn't exactly like the idea of Ron knowing their business; at the same time, she didn't think they should exclude him from such information. "Maybe we should just forget about this," she said, gesturing around the room. "It's too much of a hassle."
There was a pause. "Fine," Harry said coolly. He slid off the bed and started for the door, but Hermione found herself stopping him.
"Wait. I didn't mean that, really. But it is a little frustrating, you have to admit."
"I know it is, but it's only the first day. We should give it a little time."
"All right," Hermione agreed.
"You don't really want to give this up, do you?" he went on, crawling back onto the bed.
"No," she said with a smile.
"Neither do I," Harry said, matching her grin. They sank more comfortably on the bed as they kissed.
Suddenly the door swung open. "Hey, Hermione, do you—Harry?"
Harry and Hermione bolted upright. "Ron!" they exclaimed in panicked unison.
Ron looked shocked. Then, as he realized what was going on, he started to laugh.
Hermione glanced at Harry, who looked just as taken aback as she felt. "Ron?" she asked tentatively.
Ron's laughter quieted down slightly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt," he said with a smirk. "I knew something was going on between you two. You're too obvious." Ron chuckled, then said, "How long has it been going on?"
"Since this morning," Harry admitted.
This caused Ron to nearly explode with laughter. "This morning?" he repeated. "You got caught on the first day? That's pathetic."
His laughter was so contagious that Harry and Hermione joined in—though they were also relieved that Ron wasn't angry. After a few minutes, their laughter subsided and Ron said seriously, "I'm happy for you two. You're a good couple."
"Oh, we're not—" Hermione began.
"We're just—" Harry said at the same time.
Ron smiled. "Yeah, I get it. It's just a fling, right? No strings attached?"
They nodded.
His smiled widened. "Yeah, that's what you say now."
*
Weeks went by, and Harry and Hermione were still together. Ron hadn't minded the change in their relationship; all he asked was that they waited until he had left the room before they "did anything," a rule that Harry and Hermione agreed to.
In Harry's opinion, his life couldn't get much better. His Quidditch team had never played better, he was as close to his friends as ever, he had Fred and Angelina's wedding to look forward to and he was having a lot of fun with Hermione.
Harry knew the only danger of his situation with Hermione was love. He knew that if he let his guard down, he could easily fall for her—something he didn't want. She's my best friend. This is a rebound thing—no strings attached. This is only for fun. He said this every time he found himself thinking about her.
However, Harry wasn't even worried all that much about falling for her. He was having too good a time to have doubts, and he knew if he had doubts, he could ruin a good thing.
*
It was a dreary Saturday afternoon. Several weeks had passed since Harry and Hermione had started their fling, and neither had any intentions of stopping anytime soon.
The trio was sitting on the couch, watching an old movie that was playing on the movie network. It had their undivided attention.
Which was why they all groaned as someone knocked on the door. After a moment passed and nobody made a move to answer the door, Ron got up off the couch. "I'll get it," he grumbled.
He came back into the room a few moments later, his face pale and shocked. "Harry," he said in a low voice. "It's for you. It's Lavender."
~*~
Surprise! Lavender's back! Hehehe. That last bit was fun to write. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed that. If you want, please review, and I will love you forever. Next chapter coming soon!
