Chapter 4

Ron and Hermione made up much quicker than Harry had covertly anticipated, but it didn't really matter. After Ron had finished apologizing to Hermione (Harry assumed that whatever he had whispered into the angry Head Girl's ear must have done the trick because in no time, she was giggling mad and saying "Oh Ron…" in that forgiving kind of way), he stood up and returned to the seat beside Neville on the other side.
But Ginny remained where she was, nestled comfortably in Harry's arms. She seemed to show no intention to move back to where she had been before, which to Harry was more than suitable. Her warm, slender back rested against the side of his now slightly muscular chest and her delicate body rose and sank with his with every breath he took. Her head fitted snug like a piece to a puzzle in the crook of his neck and Harry absentmindedly bent his outstretched arm by the elbow and began curling a strand of her hair around his index finger. He felt Ginny's shoulders tense a bit when he did this, but before he could take in what he just felt, her body relaxed once again and she let out a soft "Mmmm." It sounded awfully familiar to Harry. Before he could remember where he had heard it, his thoughts were distracted by Neville's voice.

"Er…so, guys, I was thinking… Maybe, you know, we can all talk about our current…er…situations?" Harry noticed his ears were pink and he looked a bit nervous. It was Ron who responded first.
"What do you mean by that Neville?" A murmur of quiet "yea"s by Ginny, Hermione and Harry followed. Harry noticed Luna staring dreamily over at Neville, as if admiring him for what he had just declared, but then she always had that sort of look on her face. Neville cleared his throat and spoke again, this time in a bit more confident tone.
"Well, as you guys may have guessed by now…er…me and Luna…I mean…Luna and I are…we're together, right?" Harry wondered if he was telling them this bit of news or asking them. Neville continued. "And well, Ron and Hermione were clearly having some sort of lovers' quarrel just now…"(Hermione let out a soft "Oh!" to this and bit down her lips nervously while Ron simply looked over at Neville with a look that read "lovers' quarrel? Who says that?") Neville didn't seem to notice. Harry watched Hermione for a short while then turned to Ron and grinned. Although he was faintly aware of the attraction between his two best friends ever since the Yule Ball incident during fourth year, it was still all too humorous to think of the pair as "lovers". Before he could congratulate the happy couple, Neville's voice interrupted him once again.
"And…well…it seems obvious that Harry and Ginny hooked up as well…" At these words, Harry's eyes gaped at Neville and Ginny jumped in her seat with a start. She straightened up her back and hesitantly scooted over closer to Hermione, leaving Harry with a lingering feeling of the warmth of her body against his. A tinge of disappointment came across him, but he had no time to sulk. He shot a worrying look over at Ron to see his reaction to what Neville had just said, but Hermione had sprung up from her seat so fast and stood in front of him and Ginny that she blocked his view.

"Oh, Harry! Oh, Ginny!" she exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you guys!" she had grabbed Harry's right hand with her right and Ginny's left hand with her left and was swinging them back and forth.
"Oh, Ginny! You must be so happy! When did this happen anyways? It was while Ron and I was out at patrol, wasn't it? Oh I knew it! Oh Harry, Ginny's been gushing about you all summer!"
At this, Harry stole a glance over at the pretty redhead next to him but Hermione was squeezing his hand so hard that he reluctantly brought his attention back to the hysterical brunette hovering over him.
"Oh Ginny, can I please tell him about that day at the Burrow? Oh you know, when he walked into the kitchen after de-gnoming the garden with Ron? Remember?" Ginny, whose head was still buzzing with echoes of "Oh Harry, Ginny's been gushing about you all summer!" shook her head dazedly. Hermione chose to ignore this and turned back to Harry.
"Oh Harry, Ginny and I were in the kitchen one afternoon having tea and you walked in with your shirt off and Ginny was just so-"
"HERMIONE, NO!" Ginny shrieked in horror. Harry, though very curious to hear the end of that sentence, felt slightly uneasy by Ginny's angry outburst.
"Er…'mione, I don't think Ginny wants this story told…" he said suggestively. Hermione just grinned and shook her head as if he was being downright silly.
"Oh Harry, she's just shy! Anyways, what was I saying? Oh! Right, so you were covered in dirt and sweat and Ginny was just-" This time it was Ron who interrupted.
"Gin, you are too young to have those kind of feelings!" he said in a very older-brother type of way.
"Shut up Ron!" both Ginny and Hermione snapped annoyingly.
Ron scowled and crossed his arms over his chest whispering "Honestly!" mocking Hermione, though only Neville heard.
"Anyways, Harry-" Hermione was sounding very excited and impatient now and was tugging his right hand violently.
"And Hermione you especially!" yelled Ginny as she got to her feet. "PLEASE shut up!" She was glaring down at her with her fists clenched in a ball at her side. Hermione, clearly shocked, let go of Harry's hand and slowly straightened up to meet Ginny at eye level.
"Ginny, what's the matt-" she began but seeing the look on her friend's face thought better of it and closed her mouth. Ginny's cheeks were flushed from embarrassment and irritation.
"Harry and I…Harry and I are not together Neville!" she spat out though she was still glowering at Hermione. Neville simply shrugged to this and said "Oh, I just thought…" but Hermione clasped both her hands to her mouth and gasped.
"Yes, that's right Hermione, NOT together. N-O-T. We haven't even…I mean we haven't exactly…" she lowered her voice realizing she was yelling rather harshly. "Look guys, it's not like that, alright? Not yet…" she let her head drop and barely whispered that last bit so nobody else will hear.

"Oh Ginny, I'm sorry…Oh no…Oh! Oh Harry, I was just joking…before-I mean…no-oh yes!" Harry could hear the desperation in Hermione's shrill voice. "It was me! It was me who got excited seeing you that day with your shirt off…" Hermione was frantically poking herself with her index fingers mouthing "Me! Me!"
"Hey!" now Ron was out of his seat and standing over Hermione. "How come you get to see other guys naked?" he spattered. "That's not fair! You practically bit my head off before for looking at Pansy! Not that I got to see anything mind you…" he said as if this was an offensive thing.
"Ron, not now!" Hermione hissed over her shoulder.
"No, 'mione. It's not fair and you know it! If I only get to see you naked, then you only get to see me naked!" Hermione threw her hands up and grabbed a bunch of her frizzy hair at the sides.
"Urgh! Fine Ron! Fine! I will see you naked later, alright! Just not now! Honestly!" she rolled her eyes and spun back around to face Ginny but Ginny was no longer standing. She had joined Harry back on the compartment seat and the two of them were staring up at her with their necks crooked to the side and their eyebrows raised high.
Ginny's arms were crossed over her chest.
"Look Ginny. I'm so sorry I- wh-what?" Hermione stopped herself. Ginny no longer looked angry, but rather highly amused over something. She glimpsed at Harry. He had the exact same expression. "What? What is it?" Hermione demanded. It was Harry who spoke first.
"You know 'mione…"
Then Ginny followed.
"You never told us how your patrol went…"
Now it was Neville's turn to join the fun. "Yes, the lovers' quarrel!"
Finally Luna.
"It seemed to involve a lot of nakedness."
Hermione whirled back at Neville and Luna, then back at Harry and Ginny. "I- I don't know what you mean…" she stammered though she knew it was no good. She turned to Ron helplessly but he just sat there watching her with that boyish grin she often adored, though at this precise moment she felt like kicking him in the shin for it. He was obviously enjoying this and evidently not going to come to her rescue. Now she really felt like kicking him. Hard.
Then he did something so unlikely that it stunned her along with everyone else in that compartment. He grabbed her left hand with his right, spun her around and pulled her into his lap. She fell into his embrace with a thud. "Come on you guys" he said rather lazily…"Stop picking on my girlfriend."

So with those endearing words by Ronald Weasley himself, Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna never did get to hear what the lovers' quarrel was all about, or how he and Hermione had actually hooked up. All Ron would give away was that Hermione declared her love for him in a way that no man – muggle or wizard - had ever had the pleasure of experiencing before. Hermione, who was still seated contentedly in Ron's lap with his arms wrapped securely around her waist, blushed furiously at this, but didn't beg to differ. Ron did, however, get into very fine details of the other incident that took place during their patrol.
"So anyways," he began breathlessly "I peer in through the window and what do I see? Malfoy and Pansy at it like two hungry wild dogs wrestling over meat!" Ginny gasped and clasped both her hands over her mouth. Neville made a face as if someone had just force-fed him a handful of sardine flavored Bertie Bott's beans. Ron scrunched up his face to do his best impression of a ferocious dog. Everyone except Harry laughed. He was, unfortunately, eerily reminded of Aunt Marge's evil-tempered bulldog Ripper by the sight. Ron continued, his face back to normal.
"Anyways, Pansy was on top of Malfoy humping him like there's no tomorrow and Malfoy, he was slobbering on Pansy's earlobe like it was made out of a chocolate lollipop! Yuck! Oh he did manage to remove her shirt and undo her bra with one hand." Neville let out a quiet "Wow…" Ron faced him and nodded.
"Yeah that bit was pretty impressive. Oh, Pansy's bra was white…and lacey…" he looked directly at Harry when he said this as if Harry would appreciate the info. Ginny seemed to have noticed this too and peered sideways at Harry with a look of mild disapproval. Harry looked back at her innocently and while shaking his head mouthed a silent "I didn't ask!" Ginny stifled a laugh.
Seeing this, Harry smirked and leaned over so their shoulders were touching. "You know," he muttered in her ear "nothing Pansy puts on- or takes off for that matter would be able to turn me on…"
This time Ginny laughed out loud and nodded. "Yea, that's true…not with that face." Harry grinned.

"So, Mr. Harry Potter, what does turn you on?" it was Hermione and she had a very devilish smile across her face. Harry sat up and stared at her in surprise. He didn't think anyone else had heard. "Er…" Harry wasn't quite sure what to say when Ron jumped in.
"I know! A totally naked girl riding a Firebolt!" Ron exclaimed. Neville and Luna laughed at this but Hermione elbowed him in the chest and cried "Ron that's just unsanitary!" Neville took a shot.
"How about a girl wearing nothing but your T-shirt?" This Harry took into consideration as he pictured Ginny lounging in her knickers with his oversized T-shirt on top. He felt his cheeks get hot.
"How about a girl wearing nothing but your T-shirt, riding a Firebolt and the wind blows and lifts up the T-shirt and…" Ron screwed his face trying to complete the picture. "Ron! Are these your fantasies? Because you know I cannot ride a broom even if my life depended on it!" Hermione retorted. Everyone, including Hermione howled with laughter at this. In the midst of all the fun, Harry glanced over at Ginny and suddenly felt bold and daring. He leaned sideways to her and whispered in her ear as he had done before.
"So Ginny, what's your fantasy?" Ginny turned to him clearly taken aback. She remained silent for a while, biting down on her lower lip as if contemplating her answer. Then- "Oh, I don't know…a shirtless guy covered in dirt and sweat after de-gnoming a garden perhaps?"