A/N: Ha! Another update! I am rocking my own socks. Or… something. Thank you all so much for the reviews! Ahhhh I love you guys! I especially love all your reactions to the fight, heehee! And Karen - you're the only one who actually said "You tell those spiders!" So you get a big hug! Becca gets a hug too, and also a Howler telling her to WRITE HER ASS OF! That is all. Love ya, babes.

Disclaimer: I saw Spiderman 2 today. Spiderman 2 is nothing like Harry Potter, thank god. But this is a disclaimer, so I'll just say, I don't any of it. Kapice? (Whoo, I actually know how to spell that word!)

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All through Double Potions, Ron and Hermione all but ignored each other. Harry, fortunately, did not even notice their coldness, seeming rather preoccupied himself. When they left the dungeons for dinner, Hermione muttered something about needing to do homework in the library and skipped the meal altogether. This did nothing to brighten Ron's mood. He and Harry went up to Gryffindor Tower later and began on a long essay due in Herbology.

"Ron," Harry said suddenly.

"Yeah?" Ron didn't look up from his scroll.

"Um, do you think - do you think it would be okay if - would you mind - I mean - ifIwenttoHogsmeadewithGinny?" Harry rushed.

"Huh?" Ron said. "Hogsmeade? With Ginny? My sister Ginny?"

"Yeah," Harry said, looking very uncomfortable.

"Are you guys - a - you know - thing?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"I don't know," Harry admitted, blushing. "Sort of. Maybe. I just wanted to know if - if you were okay with it."

Ron grinned. "I'm okay with it."

"That's good," Harry said, looking immensely relieved. "Because I already asked her." Ron stared at him and then laughed.

"What would you have done if I'd been upset?" he asked, chuckling.

"Well - honestly?" Harry said. "I probably would have cancelled. If it meant that much to you, mate, I'd never try to date her, and I'd definitely never lie to you about it." He smiled too, seemingly very satisfied with the way he'd just proved his friendship, and went back to his scroll.

Guilt hit Ron hard. Here was Harry, his best friend, all concerned about seeing Ginny in Hogsmeade because he was afraid Ron would be angry. And then there were Ron and Hermione, keeping the biggest secret ever and lying to him all the time.

He winced and went back to his essay too but hadn't written anything at all when the portrait hole opened. Ron automatically looked up, and this time saw that it was Hermione. She looked over at them as Harry raised his head, then turned on her heel and marched directly up to the girl's dorms. Ron narrowed his eyes.

"What's eating her?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"Maybe she had a fight with her secret boyfriend," Ron muttered. Harry shrugged, and Ron was grateful he didn't press the matter. All thoughts of Hermione and the secret boyfriend situation made his stomach clench.

They went up to bed several hours later. Ron listened as Harry, Seamus, and Dean debated the standings of their favorite Qudditch teams, but didn't participate. He finally closed the hangings on his bed, mumbled a curt good night, and buried his head under his pillow, hearing the muted chatter of his friends for only a few more minutes before falling asleep.

"Ron. Ron. Ron!"

"Mmmph?" Ron garbled, startled awake by a soft voice accompanied by a sharp prod to his arm. He opened his eyes and as they adjusted to the darkness, he saw Hermione standing over him. "What the bloody... Hermione? What are you - what time is it?" He shook his head.

"After two, I think," Hermione whispered. "Sorry to wake you."

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted. "I don't like to go to bed fighting." She looked so sad and earnest, with a ray of moonlight falling across her face, that Ron sighed. He pushed himself off his pillow and looked straight at her as she perched on his bed.

"Me neither," he said quietly. "I was a real prat. I shouldn't have called you a know-it-all - you're really not - "

"Yes, I am," Hermione said, giving him a small half-smile.

"No, you aren't - well, yes, you are, sometimes," Ron conceded. "But I still shouldn't have said it." He took her hand.

"Well, I was asking for it - I shouldn't have said you don't know anything about relationships," Hermione said. "I shouldn't expect you to, and really, you're not that bad. I was so upset that you thought I was embarrassed of you - I'd never, ever be embarrassed of you, Ron, I thought you knew that! I'd shout it from the rooftops if you wanted me to, I'd run through the halls screaming your name if I thought that was best for us." She put her hand on his cheek. "You mean so much to me..."

He cut her off with a kiss, and the world righted itself as they warmed each other with their lips, their arms wrapped quickly in that familiar embrace. When Hermione finally made to move away, Ron murmured, "No, don't leave. Stay here with me tonight."

Hermione sighed, a happy and regretful sigh. "As much as I want to take you up on that, I have a feeling it wouldn't be pleasant to get caught in your bed."

"What's anybody gonna do, give us detention?" Ron whispered against her neck. "We're prefects, they won't mess with us."

"Yes, but then there's the little matter that Harry is lying asleep approximately four feet away..."

"Funny how I always forget about that." He kissed her again, sweet and wanting.

"Have you no shame?" Hermione whispered in mock horror. "What would you do if he woke up?"

"He'd pass out from shock," Ron said, sucking on her lower lip. "And you could sic a Memory Charm on him." Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled away unwillingly. "Oh, fine, fine," Ron muttered. He brought his lips to hers one last time.

"Oh, God, you really must stop doing that," she mumbled, looking as if it took all her will to climb off his bed. She smiled and brushed her lips to his chastely. "Good night."

"Night," he croaked after her as she disappeared, shutting the door gently behind her. He lay back down in bed, feeling happy again, and was asleep within moments.

A/N: Sorry this was so short, one chapter left! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

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