A/N: Be prepared for major Chick-Fic-y-ness! And a bit of Hermione OOC. (Just a bit). Oh, and more Faerie action.....wait, you should just read. AND THEN REVIEW! (Please? Don't make me beg.) I would love for you all to forget my American-isms, ok?



To being missed. It's awesome.





Chapter. 4



~Ron~

Walking into the library, the smell of mildewy books and ink mingled together creating it's familiar odor. As much loathing as I sometimes had for this place I couldn't help thinking fondly of it. It would always remind me of midnight excursions to the restricted section, unbelievable potions essays, and undoubtedly, I would always have this picture of a stack of books, on the lonely little table in the corner, surrounded by neatly-taken notes, with a head a bushy hair sticking up over the top. Hermione was a permanent fixture in Hogwarts' library.

"Is that Hermy...uh..Hermonei...Herm....is that the girl?" I heard the tiny little voice ask from her perch on my shoulder.

"What girl?" I whispered.

"The one you need to say sorry to. What happened? Did you get angry or upset? Did you say something you didn't mean?" she was questioning me with rapid-fire as we approached Hermione.

"Yeah, I did. And then I tried to say sorry, but I think I did it wrong." I said, as she swing herself around to look at me face, while still perched on my shoulder.

"Do you like her? Is she your friend? Or your wife?"

I snickered, "NO, no, she is definitely NOT my wife. But, she is my friend, and I miss her. She always gives great advice." I paused. It was true, I missed her and not because of her homework, or even her advice. I just missed talking to her and having her around to just be. It was a strange revelation actually.

"Tell her you miss her. I hate to be missed." she screwed up her little face, but then smiled, "I bet if you miss her she misses you."

"You know, I think you might be right." I reached over and patted her on her tiny golden head.

She cooed and whispered, "Will you take care of me?"

"Yeah, sure." I said, trying not to grin like a fool. I liked this midget.

"What do you want Ron?" she had spotted me, and without even looking up!

"I wanted to try apologizing again. But could you look at me for a second?" I sat down opposite her.

She lowered her book to the table, closed it and gave me an icy stare, "Go on then."

"Well, I was thinking and I think...no, I know that I need you to forgive me-"

"You aren't doing very well Ron." she glared.

"Just hear me out. I can't stand this, I miss talking to you, I miss sitting across from you when you read the *Daily Prophet*, I miss your advice, and your manic determination, and the library index that has permanent residence in your head, and I can't stand the fact that you aren't talking to me. It drove me crazy when we fought third year, but I didn't really know how to apologize back then, but I'm seventeen now and I'm almost an adult, goddamn it, and-"

"Don't swear, you know I hate it." I looked up at her, having dropped my head through my speech. When I lifted my head I saw Hermione, with her head resting on one fist with a tiny tear rolling down over her fingers. Damn.

" I miss that too, you keep me in line you know?" I said, hoping that this tear was a sign of forgiveness.

"I think you made the pretty girl cry, Ron," the midget whispered in my ear.

Hermione, seemed, suddenly, to notice my little faerie and she smiled joyfully.

"Does this mean that I'm forgiven?" I asked slyly, trying to produce my most winning smile.

"Yeah, you're forgiven. And, thanks. If it's any consolation I missed talking to you too." she smiled and wiped her eyes. Watching her, I noticed how rosy her cheeks were and I got a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I shook my head to clear it.

"So, a Faerie of Pure Joy?" She asked clearing her throat.

"Yeah." I reached up and patted her on the head and then held my hand out so she could step down into it with her little pixie toes.

"Hi. I'm glad you aren't sad anymore." she said, stepping over Hermione's book and standing in front of her.

"I wasn't sad, I was....touched, happy, you see? What's your name?" Hermione asked her.

"Actually, um..." I interrupted, "That's what I was going to ask you. What do you think I should name her?"

"Well Ron, I don't know. You *found* her in an Aramis blossom didn't you?" I nodded my head, "Well, maybe you should name her something like that. Blossom, or Flower, or Flora."

"No, she's too wild for one of those flower names. What about Maggie?" I asked, my ears turning red.

"Oh! That's a wonderful name. Where did you get it?" she asked.

"I don't know. I've always liked it, I guess. Ginny was bothering me about baby names for Penelope the other day and I like that one. It's not like I sit around and think about baby names all the time or anything." Hermione gave me an incredulous look.

"What do you think? Would you like to be named Maggie?" Hermione asked.

"What?" she asked, peeking out from beneath a page that she'd crawled under.

"Ron wants to give you a name,"

"Are you giving me a name?" she asked, clasping her tiny little hands and bringing them up to her cheek, grinning.

"Do you want to be called Maggie? 'Cause I could think of a better-" but I didn't get to finish that sentence because Maggie launched herself at my face and grabbed on, hugging it, her little hands barely reaching my ears.

"Matggif! Gerof' meh!" I yelled into her round tummy.

"Oh Ron! Thank you! No one has EVER given me a name before!" her yelling began to draw attention to our little corner. Heat was seeping up into my neck and face. I reached up and grabbed her by her little arm and pulled her off, letting her hang in mid air.

"Maggie, " I said, in a tone of warning, " don't *do* that, okay? It hurts my face."

Her nose flushed pink and a tiny tear ran down her cheek, "I-I'm s-sorry," she whimpered, pitifully.

"Oh, please don't cry Maggie. I'm not mad. It just hurt, but I'm still your friend."

"Will you still take care of me? P-please?" her eyebrows raised hopefully and she held her breath.

"Of *course*, you can live in my room and visit some of my classes and then you can go into the hospital wing and help the sick kids."

"*REALLY*?!" her wings began to flutter wildly and her flew in a little loop, out of my hand and down toward the table, landing on her bum and falling contentedly back so that she finally lay, hands and legs spread out, and sighing in contentment, "Did you here that? In his *room*!"

Hermione laughed heartily, "Well, she sure seems to love you."

"Yeah, I guess she does, but what can I do?" I said a bit embarrassed.

"I guess all you can do is...take care of her, keep your word." Hermione said. At the sight of her looking lovingly down at Maggie, my stomach was suddenly weighed down again, pulling at me chest and making me light headed.

I reached up and smoothed one of Hermione's outrageous curls, "I'll take care of her," I whispered.

Hermione put a hand on my arm and a bout of tingles shot through to my skin, shaking me out of my reverie. I pulled away frantically, scarlet coursing up my face, no-doubt.

"Um..ah...Well, Hagrid wants to see her, " I got up hastily, almost upsetting the table and leaving Hermione looking somewhat....disappointed, "so, I'm going to head down that way. You can come if you want."

Hermione, still looking dazed, shook her head and straightened up rigidly, "No, that's alright, I'm doing research, and then I have to write to Victor."

"*Krum*?!" She *always* had to mention Victor, for some ungodly reason.

"*Yes*, so you can go *alone*," she said, the briskness returning to her voice and her nose returning to the book.

"Alright then, I'll talk to you later." I said, hoping I hadn't just earned to same silent treatment that I'd been enduring for almost a week.

"Goodbye, don't stay at Hagrid's too long, potions quiz tomorrow." she said, giving me a shy smile.

And with that, I picked Maggie up and headed for Hagrid's hut.



*****



~Hermione~



Missed me. He missed me. *Me!* As he walked away I couldn't help but give myself one good look at his slim frame and long-striding legs.

"Oh Hermione, you are in trouble." I whispered to myself, collecting my things and leaving the library to head for the common room before dinner.

A few people were milling around the common room when I entered, but most were heading down to dinner. I started to ascend the stairs, letting Ron's confession consume my thoughts, running carefully over every word. It felt like a million little balloons were trapped in my chest.

"Hermione? Hermione! Are you in there?" Ginny caught up with me, slipping her arm into the crook of my own and trying to knock me out of my reverie, "Colin told me he saw you and Ron talking in the library."

"Yes?" I asked slyly, trying to prolong her starved curiosity.

"Well!? What did he *say*?!" she asked, nearly jumping up and down.

"He said he was sorry," I opened the door to the girl's seventh year dorm.

"Yes, go *on*!" she wrung her hands, stepping into the room and shutting the door.

"And he said I simply *had* to forgive him..."

"*Yes*!"

I turned to her and stood right next to my bed, "And he said....other things too," I smiled.

"You're *killing* me!" Ginny looked anguished.

"Oh Ginny! He said he *MISSED* me!!" I flung myself back on my bed and let my books fall to the floor. Ginny screamed and rushed over to me, flinging her arms around me and lying down on her stomach beside me, ready to analyze the deep confusion of the male brain.

"What else did he say?" she asked.

"Ginny, Oh, he said he missed sitting across from me at breakfast and he missed my obsessiveness and the way I sometimes correct him, and he said.......Oh Gin, he said he just missed talking to me, he said he missed my advice and then...ohhh.," I fell back, disbelieving the most wonderful part.

"*Tell me*!" Ginny nearly fainted.

"Then, he reached over and touched my hair and I put my hand on his arm, but then he pulled away...Ginny is was unimaginable how little he has to do to make me crazy." I was acting silly, like Lavender or Parvati, but Ginny didn't care. And I had to let it out.

"I know. Harry barely says two words to me and I come close to unconsciousness." she giggled.

"What am I going to do Ginny? How should I act around him now that he's said all those....wonderful things to me?" I rolled to face Ginny.

"Well, I think you shouldn't make a big deal out of it, but you should definitely sit next to him at meals. And take interest in that faerie this evening at dinner. He's grown quite attached to the thing in one day."

"Maggie. Her name is Maggie and if I didn't know that there were great size and species barriers between the two of them I'd be jealous of her." Ginny laughed.

"It's time we get to dinner and see the boys. Don't want Ron to keep missing you, now do we?" she giggled and avoided my friendly punch.

I wriggled off my bed and headed for the door, but quickly ran over to look in the mirror.

"Is it nice to be missed, Hermione?" Ginny asked, the smile fading from her pale face.

I looked at her encouragingly, "Yes, very nice. And, someday, when Harry least expects it, he'll begin to *miss* you. I'm sure of it."

"If you're sure. You know, I don't think I've ever seen you really *look* at yourself in a mirror before. You've gotten ready for lots of balls, but you've never *really* looked." she leaned against the doorframe.

"Well, I guess I never wanted to be looked at, by other people, the way most look at themselves in a mirror. Deeply, as if to critique your every line. But now....I don't know...." I gave myself a little pinch in the cheeks and tousled my hair.

"And *now....what*?!

I walked over to Ginny, licking my lips to give them a balmy sheen, "*Now*, I want....to be studied. I want Ron to know every line, every shape, the way that I know his. Now, I want to be looked at by everyone."

"Hermione, you aren't talking like yourself." Ginny grinned.

"I'm not quite feeling like myself either." I closed the door as we descended the stairs.

Suddenly Ginny stopped and turned to me, "Pinch my cheeks, ruffle my hair. Please?" Her eyes were so hopeful. So I reached up, pulled the barrettes out of her hair, gave it a bit of a fluff, and pinched her cheeks.

"I wish I had that...something that you have." Ginny furrowed her brow and her newly-freed hair tumbled over one cheek.

"Something? That's an odd compliment."

" It's just, the way you can be so plainly 'Hermione' one minute and the next, the light.....hits you in a certain way and you look pleasantly tousled and adorable." Ginny looked at my lovingly. Her eyes sparkling with her own "special something."

"You've got it too Ginny, just bide your time. He'll come around. Harry's as stubborn as a hippograph sometimes, but he's not *blind*."

She giggled, "Thanks."

"Let's go eat." she nodded.

Minutes later we walked into the Great Hall and my eyes zeroed in on Harry and Ron, plates pushed aside, playing with Maggie and entertaining a very captive audience of....Lavender and Parvati. Lavender was pushed close to Ron (nearly sitting in his lap, I added to myself), and Parvati giving Harry the same 'friendly' treatment.

"Do I see what I think I'm seeing?" Ginny whispered.

"Yes, and we're going to stop it, right now." I said, "you go on Harry's side of the table and I'll go on Ron's, follow my lead."

I stalked down the table, head up and looking the world in the face. When I got to the foursome, I interrupted loudly, " Well! What did Hagrid say about Maggie?"

Ron looked up, startled and gave a small, confused smile, "He thought she was brilliant."

"You showed her to that so-called-professor?" Lavender interjected, feeling his attention waning away from her.

"Oh yes, " I said, making a swift movement to put a leg over the bench, right between Ron and Lavender. I glanced over at Ginny and she did the same. Then, fully pushing Lavender and Ron apart, I sat firmly between them, and saw a pout appear on Lavender's face. I saw Harry smirk and look over at Ginny who had just forced Parvati to slide down the bench in a little huff, "Hagrid should want to see such a rare and beautiful creature. After all he is the magical creature *expert* around Hogwarts. And anyway, no one has seen one of these things in thirty years, you see, having such a childlike mentality makes it hard for them to understand the concept of mating, *although*, some wizards who are in this field of study think that just *maybe* they can-"

"You know Hermione, maybe more people would *want* to talk with you if you weren't an *encyclopedia* on the subject of magical creature's.....*mating habits*!" she whispered the last two words and crimson blush rose up her neck. And with that she stood, tutted, embarrassed, and stalked off, Parvati close behind and most of the Gryffindor table stunned into relative silence.

"Oh that was a horrid thing she said to you Hermione." Ginny said, hiding a giggle behind her hand.

"What was *that* all about?" Ron asked, looking slightly amused.

"What was *what* all about? She was insulting Hagrid. What did you expect me to do?" I smiled innocently.

"That's *not* what I meant." the side of his mouth slid up into a cocky grin. I *loved* that grin.

"Well then whatever do you mean?" I propped my head up on my fist and raised my eyebrows. His grin widened.

"Well, Lavender was sitting there just a moment ago. But now *you* are sitting in that same spot and I couldn't help noticing the innocent way you simply pushed yourself in between Lavender and I. So what was that about huh?" he asked, sliding a bit closer to me, purposely trying to make me uncomfortable. Instead, I slid a little closer.

"Well Ron, I thought you would appreciate my *disturbance*. It was clear that her invasion of your...*personal* space was bothering you. So I rescued you. You should be thanking me." I said, letting my eyes fall coyly down and back up at him. I felt so silly, it's indescribable. I was very aware of Ginny's controlled giggles and Harry's gapping mouth. But the way Ron was looking at me made the silly feeling go away and it was replaced by a much more tantalizing feeling.

He raised his eyebrows at my explanation and leaned a little closer, "Thank you."

Before I could think, he was moving toward me slowly and my eyes were fluttering closed in anticipation. Right then, Harry cleared his throat

Ron's eyes popped open, as did mine and we were instantly sitting at least a foot apart. There were some whistling from down the table and I flashed Seamus my most deathly glare. My heart was fluttering and I busied myself, straightening my sweater and smoothing my hair.

"I need to finish some homework. I'll see you all later." Ron said, getting up quickly and hurrying out of the Great Hall.

"I'm gonna go too. Bye. I'll see you Ginny." Harry said, patting her shoulder and followed Ron.

"Wow." Ginny said, sliding down to sit across from me

"Oh Ginny, I *am* in trouble."

"Well, I'd give *anything* to be in that kind of trouble." Ginny smirked.





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