Well here you go, this one is a bit longer than normal AND it's Ron and Hermione. Hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: We all know I don't own it. Need I repeat it?

You're going places, Hermione

!!!

Chapter Nineteen: The plan

"I don't think I can do this," Hermione said nervously, tugging at the hem of her dress and ignoring the jeering looks she was receiving from a few men at the bar. She was already uncomfortable enough as it was.

Ginny smiled comfortingly. "It'll be fine. And Harry and I will be nearby if something should go wrong or if you need help."

"No," Hermione went on, her pitch rising quickly. "I really, really don't think I can do this. I'm a horrible actress. Ron will know something is going on."

"Yeah right," Ginny scoffed, adding sarcastically, "Because Ron's really intuitive."

"Gin-"

The redhead sighed and placed her hands on her friend's shoulders.

"We've talked about this. It's all going to work out in the end. I promise you."

Hermione tried to smile to show that she was reassured but in reality she was terrified more than she could express. Her hands were shaking, all because she was meeting Ron.

Ginny pulled her over to a table with three chairs and pushed her into a seat, before she pulled a hood up over her head to hide her face.

"Okay, now I'll be sitting over there," Ginny pointed at a stool near the end of the bar, "and Harry will come in later after you guys have had drinks to carry out his part of the plan. You okay?"

"Sure," Hermione said disbelievingly.

"You'll be fine. Oh! There his is!" Ginny hurried away and sat down at the bar.

"Who was that?" A voice demanded.

Hermione's eyes looked down at the table and she shrugged. She couldn't look at Ron; she'd fall apart. She heard the scraping of a chair as he pulled it out from under the table and the creak as he sat down.

"Where's Harry?"

Hermione brought her gaze up but looked over his shoulder at Ginny, who gave her the thumbs up. It consoled her but a little.

She took a deep breath. "He's not coming."

"Yeah, well I nearly didn't," Ron snapped. "Especially after you disappeared the other night from the party without saying bye to anyone. Leaving like that was really rude."

Hermione forced herself to look at him. He was dressed in a simple white shirt and jeans, which didn't surprise her. Ron was never one who set out to impress with his wardrobe. His red hair hung lightly above blue eyes, which were looking at her fiercely, and the freckles dancing across his nose made him look a lot younger than he was.

"What?" Ron wondered, frowning at her. Hermione blinked, she didn't realise she had been staring.

"Oh." Hermione smiled shakily. "I'm sorry. About the party."

"Yeah, well…should be, shouldn't you?" Already his anger was fading and he looked at her sidelong. "Where's Harry? I thought he'd be here if you were."

"I told you, he's not coming."

"I got that. But why?"

Hermione avoided his gaze; she could lie, but not while she was looking at him.

"We had a fight. We're…well, having problems I guess."

"Really?" Ron said eagerly, before quickly trying to hide it. "That's…yeah, that's too bad. What happened?"

"I think it was just too much too soon between us. We rushed things," she replied.

"Oh." Ron's expression became indecipherable as he looked around the small inn, thinking. Hermione could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he glanced back at her.

"I knew it wouldn't work with you two," he said in a surprisingly superior tone.

"Excuse me?"

"I knew it wouldn't work. Really, you two never had a chance. I mean, you aren't ready for a relationship and stuff, eh?"

Hermione felt a spark of anger. "You don't know that, Ron! You have no how I feel!"

He shrugged and picked up a nearby menu.

"What's good here?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied huffily. "I haven't been here before."

"That's strange." Ron continued to scan the menu. "Harry told me you were the one that picked this place."

"Oh! Well, I heard it was good," she said quickly. "Where are the kids?"

"Mum's watching them. I would have asked Caddie, but she's working so…"

"Oh."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Hermione pulling religiously at the hem of her dress while Ron continued to look over the menu. He seemed to be avoiding talking to her, and she felt as though he knew what was going on. Either way, his indifference towards her was disconcerting and she couldn't bring herself to start a conversation.

"You look nice."

Her head snapped up, Ron's eyes didn't remove themselves from the menu.

"Did you just say something?" she wondered fervently, hoping beyond hope she had heard correctly.

"Yeah. I said you look nice."

"Oh, well, thank you. That's very nice, I don't usually dress like this but…well, you look nice too." She was flustered beyond reason.

"Calm down, it was a compliment, not a marriage proposal."

"I know that!" Hermione said defensively.

Ron looked over at her, eyebrows raised. "What's the matter with you?"

Hermione sighed. He didn't know the kind of effect he had on her. Also, he didn't even seem to care. The plan was starting to seem fruitless, there didn't appear to be any evidence Ron returned the kind of feelings she had for him.

"Can we just order dinner?" Hermione said sharply.

"Yeah…okay." Ron said slowly, watching her closely.

She told him what she wanted and watched miserably as he walked over to the bar to order their meals. The moment he was gone, Ginny made her way over to their table, making sure her hood remained secure over her head.

"How's it going?" Ginny asked eagerly.

Hermione gave her an exasperated look. "It's a disaster. He doesn't want to be here, or even talk to me! I think he hates me."

Ginny snorted. "I don't believe that for a second. He didn't leave when he realised Harry wasn't coming, did he? He stayed."

"Well he's been horrible. I think he knows Gin, about the plan," she said worriedly.

"There's no way he could…"

Hermione rested her head on her hand and sighed. If he didn't know about the plan, then something was going on that she didn't know about. She had annoyed Ron in some way.

Ginny shuffled in her seat and shook her head sadly. "Do you want to give up?"

"No," Hermione answered half-heartedly. "We've started tonight, and we might as well finish it. But after this dinner, it's over."

"Okay," Ginny stood up, sounding bitter. "Pity."

Hermione watched her friend make her way back to the corner stool, before she shifted her gaze to Ron, who was leaning over the inn counted, waiting for their dinner. He seemed to feel her gaze upon him because he straightened and turned around. Hermione smiled at him, but he didn't reciprocate it and instead turned back around. She wanted to cry.

He hated her, surely he did.

When Ron returned with their dinner, he did so silently. And they ate in silence. Hermione still couldn't bring herself to start any kind of conversation. Twice she caught him looking at her, but the expression on his face was very unusual and she couldn't place it. It was probably some form of contempt.

"Nice," Ron muttered, fifteen minutes after they had started to eat.

"What?" Hermione wondered.

"The food."

"Oh, yes. It is rather nice."

Again they settled into an uncomfortable quiet. But Hermione couldn't take it any more. If Ron hated her, she was going to find out why.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked suddenly. Ron dropped his fork in surprise.

"I don't know what you mean," he replied as he disappeared from the table to retrieve it.

"Did I do something?" Hermione said softly.

"Not that I know of." His voice was muffled from under the table.

"Then…why do you hate me?"

"WHAT!"

There was a bang as he bumped his head from under the table.

"Ron, are you all right?" Hermione stood up worriedly.

"Yeah." He reappeared, rubbing the top of his head. "What was that you said?"

"Oh, that…you don't like me." She blushed slightly; it sounded a lot stupider aloud than it did inside her head.

"I don't not like you," Ron's gaped at her, "Where did you get that idea from?"

"You won't talk to me," Hermione pointed out. "You won't say a word! You won't look at me or anything!"

"I…" He trailed off, his brow furrowing.

"What? Please tell me?" She pleaded.

"I just…it's not that I don't like you, it's that I do like you…a lot, it's hard, it's…" He trailed off again, flushing for some reason. "Do you want a drink?"

"What?"

"I need a drink, you want one?" he repeated.

"Oh, yes, all right then. Water please." Hermione frowned after him. He didn't hate her. He liked her. That was the problem?

Well, maybe that made sense to him, but it simply confused Hermione. And she was smart, usually she understood everything.

She slumped back into her seat, shaking her head. The plan was still seemingly fruitless.

"Hey."

She looked up to find herself gazing into the face of a stranger. He was quite handsome, with thick, blonde hair and hazel eyes, short and stocky and very well dressed. Hermione was taken aback.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" she managed to ask.

"Yeah, it's me," the man said. It took a few seconds, but Hermione recognised the voice.

"Merlin! Harry?" she gasped.

"Yeah." He grinned. "You like? I took the hair off a Muggle in the street this afternoon, he wasn't too happy with me. Slugged me one in fact, but it was worth it. You'd never guess it was me, would you?"

"No." Hermione was perplexed. "I don't understand, what is the meaning of it?"

"I'm supposed to hit on you remember…a good looking stranger in a bar, make Ron jealous and what not." Harry grinned, showing perfectly white, straight teeth.

"When does the Polyjuice Potion run out?"

"I only just took it in the bathroom before, so, you ready?"

"Won't Ron know?" Hermione noted. "He'll know it's you-"

"Not if I talk like this," Harry interrupted, putting on a deep, rich voice that sent shivers up Hermione's spine.

"Oh…that's very good." She smiled. "You know this plan will fall to pieces right?"

"As long as you two get together before it does, it'll be worth it."

"He's coming back," Hermione murmured.

"Right." Harry shifted closer to her. "Here we go."

The nerves Hermione had experienced before the dinner date started returned twofold. If Ron didn't suspect anything before, he'd suspect something now for sure.

"Laugh like I just said something funny," Harry told her under his breath.

"I can't pretend to laugh, I'm not that good an act-"

Harry dug his fingers into her stomach, tickling her as inconspicuously as possible. Hermione erupted into uncontrollable giggles just as Ron approached. He placed the drinks on the table and glanced at Hermione in confusion before looking at Harry with a glare, his face turning a light shade of pink.

"Who're you?!" he demanded.

"Ron," Hermione said sharply, regaining control of herself. "Don't be rude."

"No, no babe, it's okay." Harry looked up at Ron. "Name's Donny Dickson, nice to meet you."

He extended his hand but Ron ignored it, his face growing darker.

"What are you doing here?"

"Ron!" Hermione gave him a stern look.

"No, it's a fair question." Harry looked at Hermione and grinned before returning his gaze to Ron, "You see, buddy-"

"I'm not your buddy."

'Well, I saw this beautiful lady left all alone-"

"She wasn't alone. I only went to get drinks." Ron's voice held a malicious tone.

"Yeah, so she was alone right? And I couldn't help coming over and talking to her. She's quite a catch I've found."

Ron didn't seem to know what to say to this, and he looked at Hermione desperately, who shrugged back at him. She didn't know what to say either. Harry was putting on quite a show.

"And she invited me to join you both for drinks."

Both Hermione and Ron turned around to stare at him. Harry grinned.

"You did?" Ron frowned.

"Er, well, he seems like such a nice person," Hermione blurted out, considering what to say. "And since Harry couldn't make it, I don't really see the harm."

"I'm not hitting on her, so you don't need to worry, buddy," Harry told Ron.

"Oh, I'm not his girlfriend. We're just friends, Ron already has a girlfriend." Hermione said with slight difficulty.

"Really?" Harry wondered.

Ron nodded, looking downcast as he sat back in his chair. "Yeah, I do."

Harry put his arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Most excellent."

Ron glared at Harry again with such intensity that even though Harry was acting, he found he had to remove his arm from Hermione.

"So, you live nearby Herm?" Harry asked her.

"Oh not too far away. I could probably walk there in about twenty minutes."

"I can give you a lift home if you want." Harry offered.

"Oh…that's, that's very nice of you. Thanks but I think I'll walk." She smiled.

"You're very beautiful," Harry continued on. "You ever get told that?"

Ron made a sudden movement out of the corner of Hermione's eye, but she felt she should ignore it.

She flushed, still smiling, and said, "No I don't, thank you, that's very kind."

"So, that guy." Harry nodded his head at Ron. "Has a girlfriend, but what about you? You taken?"

"Oh no, I'm quite single."

"Most excellent." Harry paused. "Do you have a telephone?"

"It's fellytone," Ron interrupted, gritting his teeth.

"Actually Ron," Hermione said carefully, almost apologetically. "It is telephone. And yes, I have one."

"So, could I call you then? One time? Maybe we could go out or some-"

Ron jumped to his feet and yanked Harry forcefully out of his seat by his shirt. Harry's eyes widened in surprise and Hermione shrieked.

"I think you should leave." Ron instructed furiously.

"Whoa, okay, okay," Harry held up his hands. "I didn't know you were in love with the girl. Sorry."

"I'm not…just go!" Ron pushed him away. Harry stumbled for a moment, trying to keep his balance and narrowed his eyes at Ron.

"Fine," he spat out, walking away. When he was nearly out of sight he winked at Hermione before stepping out of the inn looking very pleased with himself.

"Ron, what on-"

"He was a sleaze, Hermione. I was doing you a favour."

"Honestly Ron, I can take care of myself. And plus, I think he was very nice," she argued.

"Well go ahead and marry him then!" Ron threw his hands up in the air.

"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione reprimanded.

Ron looked at her, his eyes blazing. Hermione sighed and moved towards him, one of her hands outstretched.

"Ron, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

He shrugged her off. "Forget about it. I better go home."

He hurried for the exit, and Hermione knew she had no chance of physically stopping him. She made her way over to the counter where she paid for their dinner before she ran out of the inn, looking up and down the narrow street outside the entrance to see where Ron had gone. She spotted him walking quickly away, his shoulders hunched against the cold, and sprinted after him. It was difficult in heels but Hermione eventually caught up to where he was, panting heavily and clutching her side.

"Ron," she breathed. "Ron! Can you stop? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I told you. I have to get home."

"I don't believe that for a second. Why were you so mad at that man?" She held herself up boldly. "Were you jealous?"

"What?" He stopped and faced her, the same indecipherable expression on his face that he'd had most of the night.

Hermione looked at him nervously, gathering all of her courage. If she was going to work things out with Ron and tell him how she felt, now was as good a time as any.

"Were you jealous?" she repeated.

"Why would I be jealous?" Ron snapped, the tips of his ears turning an admirable shade of red.

"Maybe because…because…" Hermione took a deep, shuddery breath. "Maybe because you feel about me the way I feel about you."

She was met with silence as Ron avoided looking at her for a few moments. His ears continued to turn red but his face was now blank, leaving her no chance of guessing how he felt.

"And how's that?" he finally said.

"Love," Hermione murmured softly, watching him intently. "I love you."

He frowned at her, digging his hands into his pocket. Hermione could do nothing but wait, silently pleading he would tell her the same. Each second that passed by seemed to tear at her heart, diminishing her hope. Ron opened his mouth several times before closing it again.

"Ron?" Hermione begged.

"I…" He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm with Caddie, Hermione."

He started to walk away, and this time Hermione didn't go after him. She stared ahead of her, looking at nothing in particular because it all seemed to mould together into a singular, hazy surrounding, a horrible moment frozen in time. I'm with Caddie, Hermione…

"Hermione?" said a voice gently. A blur of red appeared before her and she could just make out Ginny's face.

"Gin." Hermione's eyes filled with tears.

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry." Ginny's voice shook as she enveloped her friend in a hug. Hermione wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, sobbing into her shoulder. She wished she'd never agreed to the stupid plan. She wished she'd decided to go through life always wondering what might have been. It could hurt nowhere near as much as the pain that filled her right now, killing her inside.

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A/N: Okay, yes…er, don't hate me! It's not the end yet! There are still a few more chapters to go!

I don't have time to individually answer every one! But I'll do it with the next chapter!

John Steppenwolf: Well, I can say I'm glad you liked the chapter! And I'm a Neville/Ginny fan too, but because she's with Dean is that really a reason not to like it? Lol, no, you can do what you want! Thanks for the really, really long review!

Lady Phedre: Thanks, I'm trying to add a bit more description? Better? Lol, probably not…

Valentines-hater: No…I didn't die! Lol, here's your chapter! I'm assuming that's what you meant?

Jesika-Jesika: No he isn't…let's just say he's gender challenged!