Author's Note: I got lots of great feedback on chapter 8. Several of you wanted to know why this wasn't going to be a Harry/Ginny story. The answer is that I love the idea of Harry & Ginny together, but to be honest I just didn't feel like putting it in this fic. I have written another Harry/Ginny fic under a different penname and I felt like branching out a bit on this story. I also had a comment about Harry's lack of moodiness, and that's a very good point considering Sirius has just recently passed away. Once again, I just wrote a story where I explored Harry's guilt and loss very heavily; in fact, the angst started to overwhelm me. It's the same fic where I had a Harry/Ginny romance, so if anyone would like to read it, please look up "Summer of the Phoenix" under the penname WickedTeaspoon27. Anyway, in this story I wanted to concentrate primarily on the relationship between Hermione and Ron and mostly on Hermione's character development. I promise the background relationships aren't going to play much of a part. All that aside, thanks for your flattering reviews everybody! Here's chapter 9.

P.S. I've found that while reading this chapter, the songs "I Love You Always Forever" by Donna Lewis and "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel make it a more powerful read. So if you have those songs available, start to play them when you get about halfway through the story!

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The next morning Ginny and Hermione found a surprise when they entered the kitchen.

"Ginevra, my darling little sister, would you like some bacon?" Fred asked her, holding up a frying pan.

"And oh look, dear brother, it's Hermione! Hermione, would you care for some eggs?" George said sweetly.

Hermione smiled at the sight of the twins. "Hi Fred, hi George. What are you doing here?"

She sat down at the kitchen counter with Ginny, who was still too sleepy to retaliate at Fred for calling her by her full name. George got each of them a plate of bacon and eggs and set them down on the counter.

"Well, the flat we're staying in kind of had a…problem," said George.

"A problem?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, a problem," Fred said happily. "George and I were experimenting with a new type of candy this morning and…well, now there's thick black smoke all over the flat."

Hermione and Ginny stared at them, and George took up the reigns of the story from his brother. "We were trying to develop a candy that allows you to blow smoke rings. You know, without the cigarettes. But I think we might have overdosed the Smoking Solution—"

"—And now we can't see anything in the place. So we opened all the windows and came here for breakfast," Fred finished happily.

"Mum will be pleased," Ginny told them. "She loves it when you drop by."

"Yeah, we were thinking about maybe staying for dinner too."

"Good," Hermione and Ginny chorused. Then they devoted their attention to their breakfast until Harry and Ron came downstairs. When the two boys entered the kitchen Fred and George greeted them jovially and fixed them breakfast too, although George tried to slip a canary cream into Ron's eggs.

After breakfast Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny decided to play Quidditch with the twins. Hermione was slightly nervous but still managed to fly okay, and she even assisted Ginny in scoring a goal. They played until lunchtime, took a break, and then started up the game again.

By the time Mrs. Weasley called them all in to wash up at five o'clock, all six of them were very tired, muddy, and elated. Fred, Harry, and Ginny had narrowly beaten George, Ron, and Hermione and it had been an excellent game.

Hermione climbed the stairs with Ginny. She felt very exuberant and proud of herself for competing so well. When they reached Ginny's room she grabbed her clothes and headed for the bathroom to take a shower, just as Ron was coming down the hall with his clothes. She took one look at him and raced for the bathroom door. He made a run for it too.

Both of them flung themselves onto the door, bumping shoulders. Ron had the advantage of being closer to the doorknob and tried to open the door as Hermione struggled against him.

"Ron, come on, I'm going first," she said.

"Oh no you're not…I got here first," he responded.

She tried to shove him with her shoulder but he was a lot stronger than her and rebounded quickly. Hermione tried to push him with all her might and had some success, but then Ron started tickling her. She screamed and laughed even though she was irritated. She dropped her bundle of clothes and collapsed onto the wall.

Ron seized the opportunity to make a dash into the bathroom. Hermione let out a huff of indignation and started pounding on the door.

"Ronald Weasley let me in here right now!"

She heard him laughing. "Sorry, Hermione, but I won fair and square."

She could feel the heat rising in her face. "Ron, why don't you be a gentleman and let me take a shower first!"

"Because you'll take forever! And I got in here first."

Hermione tried to open the door but it was locked. She huffed again, banged on the door one last time, and stomped away. She knew she was acting like a three year old but Ron was being such a prat.

And she had thought things were changing between them. Well, she might as well give up on him. Because Ron Weasley was the world's biggest git.

When he finally opened the bathroom door ten minutes later Hermione stormed past him angrily and slammed the door in his face before he could say anything. She quickly locked it and turned the shower on.

"Oh, Hermione, don't act like this," came his muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"Why don't you try and act like a gentleman then? Honestly…" she muttered.

"You can be really annoying sometimes, did you know that?" he said angrily.

Hermione swore under her breath and ripped the shower curtains open to step in. Ron didn't say anything else and she figured he had gone back to his bedroom.

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Dinner that night was a fine affair, aside from the fact that Ron and Hermione weren't talking. Everyone else was chatting merrily and the twins were entertaining their father by telling him about some of their customers. Ginny and Harry were discussing the Gryffindor Quidditch team for the coming year, and Hermione was surprised that Ron wasn't joining in. He was staring moodily at his steak and stabbing it viciously.

She was still mad at him, but she figured she had overreacted a little bit. However, she was not going to apologize. She knew she was stubborn, but it really was Ron's fault after all. Hermione stabbed at her steak too and didn't look at anyone.

After dessert she was beginning to feel a little bit better. Maybe it was the effects of the chocolate…or maybe it was because Ron was talking again. Not to her, but he was still talking. And it made Hermione feel better for some inexplicable reason.

Fred and George volunteered to clean up so their parents could go listen to the WWN for a little while. Harry and Ginny got up to help them but Hermione didn't rise right away. Neither did Ron.

"What's the matter, Ronnie-kins?" George asked. "You look like you want to bite someone's head off."

Ron didn't answer. "Oh, he's ignoring us now George," Fred said, his eyes twinkling.

"I'll bet this has something to do with the fact that Hermione's upset too," said George. Hermione felt heat radiating from her cheeks but didn't say anything. The twins went back to torturing Ron.

"What did you do, Ickle Ronnie-kins?" Fred said.

"Shove it, Fred," Ron said moodily.

"He always had such a good vocabulary," George said matter-of-factly.

"Well don't you know, George? He's the brightest in the family."

"Actually Fred, I always thought he may be the thickest."

Hermione was beginning to feel angry again, but not at Ron. She could see him going red and was mad at the twins for their merciless teasing.

"Come on Ronnie, what's the matter?" George asked.

"Has someone turned your teddy bear into a spider again?"

Hermione heard Ginny and Harry laugh weakly over at the kitchen sink. That only made her angrier.

"Shut up, Fred," Ron repeated. The tips of his ears were bright red.

Fred and George could hardly control themselves now. They were both laughing incessantly. Their cackling caused something to snap in Hermione.

"Will you stop?" she yelled, turning around to look at them.

"Oh, look, Hermy-kins is standing up for Ronnie-kins!" George laughed.

"Stop calling him that, damn it! Why do you always pick on him? He hasn't done anything to you!" Hermione found herself standing up but couldn't remember leaving her chair. She lowered her head and felt her heart pumping madly. Without looking at anyone she marched quickly out the back door, leaving a silent kitchen in her wake.

She felt her chest heaving as she walked quickly out of the backyard toward the clearing where the swings were. She reached the shelter of the trees and paused for a moment to calm her rapid breathing. But as she did so she felt her eyes clouding.

Hermione hadn't meant to lose her temper. She hadn't meant to correct the twins or to fight with Ron earlier that evening. As she thought about him all her anger was dispelled and she suddenly felt hollow inside.

Why was her plan going all wrong? Up until the shower incident everything had been going right. She had been so hopeful that something might happen with Ron. But she had lost her chance.

Hermione found herself standing in front of the two swings. They reminded her of the other night when Ron helped her up and held her hand…but now he wouldn't want anything to do with her. She had been unreasonable to him and just lost her temper in the kitchen again. She blinked and felt several tears slide down her cheeks.

Plopping down on the swing, she commenced to kick moodily at the dirt. She dug her trainers in deeper and deeper, wanting to release some of her pain. Why was she so upset anyway? Maybe it's because your plan is going all wrong and you'll never be able to have him. And you know it.

"'Mione?" said a quiet voice.

She looked up startled and saw Ron standing just outside the clearing. He looked slightly nervous, as if worried she might start yelling at him. Hermione looked away from him and resumed her dirt-kicking.

He entered the clearing and sat down on the other swing.

"Hermione?"

She sighed. "Yes, Ron?"

"Are you okay?"

She opened her mouth to say, "I'm fine," but changed her mind.

"No," she said quietly.

He paused. "Is this about Fred and George?"

She finally looked up and bit her lip, willing herself not to cry. "My plan is going all wrong," she whispered.

Ron seemed confused. "Your plan?"

Hermione scuffed at the dirt some more. "A few days ago I decided that I was going to try and…soften up a bit," she muttered. "And for the most part it was working—"

"Oooh," Ron interrupted. "Is that why you've been acting so different lately? With the swearing and everything?"

"Yes," she said hastily. "But tonight I completely ruined everything. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you over the shower. And I didn't mean to yell at Fred and George just now."

"I thought it was kind of nice," Ron murmured.

"What?"

Ron shifted in his swing. "I thought it was nice. Just now. How you stuck up for me."

"Oh."

"Fred and George even apologized to me after you left. Said they didn't mean to upset anyone."

Hermione didn't say anything. Ron glanced at her and said, "I'm sorry about the shower."

"No, it's my fault."

"No, you were right. I should have acted like a gentleman."

"But I shouldn't have snapped at you," she said.

"I'm used to it." He grinned.

Hermione gave the dirt a small smile but didn't say anything.

"Er…Hermione," Ron began, "why are you so worried about this plan?"

"Because it was really important to me. I've been trying to lighten up and not be such a know-it-all all the time. Up until tonight it was working."

"Up until we fought over the shower, you mean?"

She nodded. Ron turned away from her and looked at the dirt. He cleared his throat and said, "Er…this is gonna sound mad but…I kind of enjoyed that."

She whipped her head around at him. "What did you say?"

"Well, you've been acting very different these last three days. Not that it's a bad thing," he added hastily. "You have no idea how funny it is to hear you swear. But this afternoon…well, it was just kind of familiar. I mean we argue all the time and it just felt normal, I guess."

"So you're saying that you're glad we had a fight?" she asked him incredulously.

"No. I'm saying I'm used to it. And even though we do fight a lot, and you really piss me off sometimes, there's always a part of me that finds it kind of amusing," he said guiltily.

Hermione turned back to the ground and stared at it in wonder. Ron watched her intently and spoke up again. "Hermione…why are you trying so hard to change?"

"Because I know I'm too uptight and I figure life is short. Especially nowadays."

Ron chewed his lip. "Well, you're right. You can be pretty uptight sometimes…"

Hermione raised her head and opened her mouth but Ron cut her off. "Let me finish," he said. "I was going to say that you can be pretty uptight sometimes, so I think it's a good idea to relax a bit. But don't try and force anything."

She looked at him and frowned. "I'm not forcing anything, Ron."

"I know but…well, you shouldn't feel bad for yelling at Fred and George. They deserved it."

"I know they did, but I shouldn't have lost my temper with them. I decided I wasn't going to be so snappish anymore."

"Hermione, you weren't being snappish," he said in an irritated voice. She glared at him. "Okay well you were, but you had reason to be. You've always been the girl who sticks up for everyone and I don't think you should stop just so people will think you're laidback."

"Ron, I'm not trying to show anyone anything. I just feel like I need to change a bit."

"You don't need to change!" he said angrily. She looked at him indignantly. He breathed heavily and began in a calmer voice, "There is nothing you need to change. Do you think Harry and Ginny and I would be friends with you if we didn't already like you the way you act now?"

Hermione looked away from him again and concentrated on a tree branch. Ron waited for her to speak but she didn't so he opened his mouth again. "Umm…," he said in an apologetic tone, "I guess I'm trying to say that I think your plan is a good idea, but don't force anything just for the sake of the plan. You don't even need a plan, really. Just umm…just let it happen."

Hermione finally tore her eyes away from the tree and looked at him. She saw the concern etched in his face and knew he was right. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "You're absolutely right. I'm being ridiculous. I just wanted to…to be more likeable," she said quietly.

Ron rolled his eyes but smiled. "Hermione, you are very likeable. You have friends, don't you?"

"But don't you think I was much more fun to be around yesterday?"

He thought about it. "Yeah, yesterday was fun. But you were still the same. Just less uptight, I guess. And one hell of a driver."

She laughed. Ron grinned at her and she felt less hollow.

"Thanks, Ron," she said quietly. "I feel a lot better. I'm not sure when you started to be so sensitive, but I think I like this side of you," she teased.

"Oh shut up, Herm-own-ninny," he returned.

She smiled at the name. "Seriously, Ron, thanks. I know I told you this the other night, but you're a great friend."

"So I guess this means we made up about the shower incident?"

"As long as I get to use it first tomorrow."

"Deal," he said. He stuck out his hand for her to shake.

Hermione glanced at his hand quickly before standing up. Ron looked at her in confusion but then she bent down and hugged him. She pulled away and found him smiling at her.

Ron stood up too and started to look very uncomfortable all of a sudden. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Hermione stared at him, wondering what was wrong.

He gulped. "Er…'Mione," he said. "You said we were friends, right?"

"Of course we're friends," she said in puzzlement.

He continued to rub the back of his neck. "So umm…if I did something that was kind of crazy, would you still be my friend?"

Hermione had an inkling as to where this was going. She felt her heart start to beat madly. "Umm…yes, I would."

Ron looked incredibly nervous now. "So er…" he said, trying to sound off-handed, "would it be really weird if I umm…iffikidew?"

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. "Sorry…what did you say?"

Ron let out a breath and stared at the ground, rubbing his neck one more time. "Hermione…can I…"

"Ron?" she said. He raised his gaze to her, looking very vulnerable. She smiled at him. "Ron, just let it happen."

He stared intently at her. She felt a knot in her stomach but somehow found her feet shifting forward, and Ron's face coming closer. She swallowed and tentatively raised her head. She had a fleeting glimpse of Ron tilting his head toward her before she closed her eyes.

She felt their lips touch softly for a moment. Her heart was drumming madly against her chest and her head hurt slightly; she felt rather dizzy. A part of her was very much afraid, but part of her was ecstatic. She knew she had been waiting for this moment for a very long time, and she smiled against his lips.

They broke away after a second and Hermione smiled shyly at him. The tips of his ears were bright red and he had a light blush on his face.

"I've been waiting a while for that," Hermione said.

"I think I have too."

She beamed at him and reached for his hands. She held them tightly and whispered, "That was my first kiss."

Ron looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. Wasn't that yours too?" she asked nervously.

"Well yeah but…I always figured you had kissed Krum."

She shook her head. "He tried but I didn't want him to."

"Why not?"

"Because I fancied you, you stupid git," she said playfully.

Ron blushed more and smiled at her. "Um…'Mione, can I kiss you again?"

"Of course," she said breathlessly.

Ron stepped closer to her again, tilted his head to the right, and opened his mouth slightly. Hermione met him halfway and felt their mouths make contact for the second time.

This kiss was less chaste and lasted longer than the first one. Hermione hesitantly opened her mouth and felt Ron come even closer to her, grabbing her around the waist. She had no idea what she was supposed to do but she just let her instincts guide her.

She was somewhat shocked when she first felt Ron's tongue against her own. It made her so nervous that she giggled, but she could feel Ron laughing too. They both knew they were clueless about this. Hermione carried on snogging him but couldn't stop giggling and soon she had to pull away.

She put her arms around his back and rested her head against his chest. His heart was beating madly too and she listened to it for a moment, trying to calm her irregular breathing. She was still laughing a bit but she could feel Ron chuckling too.

"Ron," she said happily, "that was definitely the weirdest thing I have ever experienced."

"Me too," he said with a laugh. "I didn't realize it was so…wet."

She smiled. "You taste like barbecue sauce."

He let out another laugh. "So do you. But it's a good thing."

"Was that really your first kiss?"

"Yep."

"I can't believe Harry beat us."

"Yeah, but at least neither of us are crying."

She giggled again. "Did you ever wonder what it would be like?"

"'Course I did. I'm a sixteen year old boy."

Hermione bit her lip and said quietly, "I always hoped mine would be with you."

"Hermione, you're completely mad."

"Why?"

"You could have had an international Quidditch player. An international one! Why the hell would you pick me?"

She raised her eyes to his. "Well, for one thing, you know how to say my name correctly." The corners of her mouth twitched. "And I've fancied you for ages."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You're adorable in a very git-like kind of way," she said.

He beamed at her. "Well you're adorable in a very know-it-all kind of way," he teased.

Hermione raised her eyebrows and pretended to be offended. "Fine. See if I kiss you again."

Ron grinned at her and she couldn't help but return the smile. He leaned down and kissed her soundly on the lips. Hermione started giggling.

"Are you gonna do that every time I kiss you?" he asked.

"Maybe."

Ron pulled her closer and she hugged him tightly. His heart beat had returned to normal now and she closed her eyes listening to the rhythmic pacing.

"Come on," she said after a few minutes. "We need to go back inside before they send a search party for us."

"Whatever you say, Mione Jane."

"That's a new one," she remarked, grasping his hand.

"You like it?"

"Yes, I do. No one's ever called me that before."

"So…are we going to tell anyone about—er—all this?" he asked her.

She considered. "No, let's keep it between us."

"Alright." He held her hand tightly as they walked out of the clearing. "That's going to be hard though."

"Why?"

"Because I'm always going to have the urge to touch you and kiss you now. My parents might find that a little weird."

"You'll just have to restrain yourself, Ronnie-kins," she teased.

"If you say so, Herm-own-ninny."

She slapped his arm. "You're a prat."

"I know, but you can't resist me," he said in a voice that sounded remarkably like Lockhart's.

"You're right, I can't." She stopped and kissed him one last time before they left the safety of the trees. He gave her his trademark lopsided grin and squeezed her hand.

The two of them re-entered the backyard of the Burrow and walked to the door. For now, it was their little secret.

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A/n: Yay finally we get to see the snogging session! Haha hope you all enjoyed that. It was kind of weird to write because I wasn't sure if I should include details or not. Anyway, tomorrow I leave for vacation. I will try my best to update while on my trip but don't expect anything for a couple of days. I don't know what's coming next anyway. Originally when I planned this I only got this far. But I'm too attached to this fic to leave it yet so stay tuned a little longer! And please review!