Holy Schmoly!!! I check my emails and I have 52 OF THEM!!!!!!! Dang! FlyingPurpleCat ( ) I have no idea how you found my story, but woosh, I think you won the contest for having read (and reviewed) the most chapters in one sitting! Excellent work. I was highly entertained by your reviews. I just wished you'd found me earlier so we could have corresponded more. To respond to some of what you wrote: Thank you for naming me the Most Crazy and Screwed Up Brain. I think that is a good thing to be. I'd like to thank my folks, my sister, my friends, and my sister's rabbit. I don't have a cat, so her bunny will have to do. Here in America, an R is like your Certificate 18 , or is that 18 Certificate, I think. Basically, you'd have to have your parents permission to go an R rated film if you're under 17. Like anyone pays attention at the theaters here anyway. Having two middle names is very cool (and yes, I am a LOTR fan). I have just the one, but I go by it rather than my first name. It's sort of weird and gets confusing sometimes, but I always know when someone who doesn't really know me calls my place because they refer to me by my first name. Usually the call involves someone wanting to sell me aluminum siding... I am a huge anglophile...worshiping many things British. I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks in England, Scotland, and Ireland a couple of years ago and fell in love with London, Edinburgh, and Bath. Also new to the party is still momentum ( ) and Call-Sugarhigh-Police, though they only reviewed one chapter so I'm not sure if they've been along for the ride this whole time and haven't reviewed or if they just found me too. At any rate, hello and thanks. Just to restate, I wrote the story while I was waiting for Book 5 to come out. I'd finished it before then, and I'd already invested a lot of time into what I'd written so I didn't feel like doing almost a complete rewrite to have it blend better with OOTP. It took a long time before I got up the nerve to put it up on the site...another reason why the story doesn't swing with the current state of the books. Oh well. Originally, I had only one chapter left. I thought I had more, but when I looked over my stuff, I was shocked to see I had only one small part left. Then I read my email. Since FlyingPurpleCat, still momentum ( ), and Call-Sugarhigh-Police are new, and I haven't focused much on Ron and Hermione in the last few entries I decided to write a whole new chapter as (hopefully) a treat! It may not completely fit with the rest of the story, and I'm doing it off the top of my head for the most part. But, it'll give me another chance to hear from all of you. Enjoy! There's only one more after this....

Chapter 42:

Hermione sat on the grass, her face lifted to the sun. The rays felt warm on her cheeks. She kept her eyes shut and enjoyed the fresh air. Just one more exam to take and she would be done with another year. She'd laid her books out in front of her on the lawn, but after hours of studying, she needed a break. There was someone coming up behind her. Hermione turned and saw Ron walking her way. She smiled as he joined her.

"Still at it then?" He bent to move some of her books so he could sit down.

"Just wanted to make sure I was ready." Hermione closed the rest of the books and placed them all in a neat pile off to the side.

"Hermione, you are probably the only student here who is always ready." He moved his book bag behind him to use as a pillow.

"Thank you, I think. How did your last test go?"

"Divination? They let us off easy because of the whole Trelawney is an evil loon thing." Ron fell silent as he lay back. He stretched out his long legs and squinted his eyes against the sun.

"You okay?" Hermione shifted her body so she could lay on her stomach next to him. She wanted to be able to look him in the eye. She knew as long as she was looking at him he could almost never lie to her.

"Doesn't it bother you, not knowing where...you know, Voldermort is?" Ron had practically whispered the question.

"I don't think he can hear you Ron."

"Sorry, I guess I'm just not as brave as you and Harry. I still have trouble saying his name." He sounded hurt.

"Ron, you are easily as brave as the rest of us. I don't like saying his name either, but we've got to keep doing it. To answer your question, yes, it does bother me. I have faith Dumbledore and Avilas knew what they were doing though, if that helps."

"Not really."

Hermione couldn't help but notice he looked a little lost. A small smile danced on her lips. Ron was usually a big goof, using his sense of humor as a sort of shield. She was always touched when he trusted her enough to be serious with her. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"There, does that help?"

"A little..." his voice was still small, but she could see something sparking in his eyes.

She rose up some more and stretched to kiss him gently on the mouth. "How about that?"

"A bit better..."

Hermione lifted her eyebrow at his response. She rose up to kiss him again. Instead, Ron took her face in his hands and drew her close. Planting short, seemingly desperate kisses on her lips, he rolled their bodies so he was on top. He hesitated to make sure he wasn't crushing her. Seeing no pain on her face, only anticpation with a hint of longing, he kissed her deeply.

Hermione wasn't sure what had brought this on. She had meant to be sweet, but Ron's reaction had intensified the whole situation. She didn't mind really. She was more than happy to be kissing her boyfriend, to be feeling the brush of his fingers on her skin. Still, she guessed this sudden outburst of affection had more to do with something Ron wasn't saying than with their conversation over the last few minutes. Part of her wanted to just ignore her desire to find out what was really bothering Ron. The other part wanted to just ignore her physical desire for him and get some answers. Logic won. Barely.

Seizing the opportunity, when his mouth left hers to trail down her neck, she spoke up, "I know you're not telling me something, Ron."

The words had barely left her mouth when Ron seemed to freeze, his lips on her skin but not applying any pressure. He lifted his face slowly till it was over hers. He was frowning again.

"What if something happens over the summer?" he asked.

Hermione's face screwed up slightly, not the question she was expecting. "You mean with Voldermort?"

"No, with us."

"I'm not sure I understand..."

Ron disentagled himself from her arms and sat up carefully. "You could change your mind over the summer. You'll have time to think."

She pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Think about what?"

"Think that maybe this was a mistake..."

"Ron, I think ALL the time. If I thought being with you was a mistake, I would've let you know by now."

"So you are still okay with this?"

"Ron, I just had my tounge in your mouth...what do you think?"

"Okay, yeah, there's that..."

"Ron, there is nothing that could happen over the summer that would make me stop feeling these big feelings for you...barring a sharp blow to the head I suppose."

"But we won't see each other every day and..."

Hermione interrupted, "I didn't see you every day over the summer before and we were still friends each year. I didn't stop caring about you then, I'm not going to stop now."

"Hold on...go back. Big feelings? How big?" Ron's voice was hopeful for the first time that afternoon.

Hermione averted her eyes, "I don't know exactly...big."

"Hermione, since when do you give vague answers...how big?"

She became more twitchy, "You are going to make me say it aren't you?"

He was enjoying this, "Yes I am." He shot her a crooked grin.

Hermione whacked him on the arm, "Fine." She stared into her lap. "I love you."

"Sorry, didn't catch that..."

"I said I love you, happy now?" She made herself look at him. He was smiling broadly.

"You've gone mental...of course I'm happy!" He reached over and hugged her tightly. Tilting his head, he whispered in her ear. "I love you too." He kissed her once more before releasing her. Standing, he offered her his hand to help her up.

"You know, I was going to invite you to come visit, but I'm not so sure now..." She sounded a little perturbed, but was smiling.

"C'mon Hermione...I'll be nice. I promise."

"Yeah, yeah...you might want to get a haircut first, scruffy..."

"A haircut?"

"Ron, woodland creatures will soon be seeking out your hair for nesting material. You're cute, but I can barely see your eyes."

"Fred and George say I look older."

"I rest my case."