((A/N: Whoops! I posted this a minute ago but forgot my notes so I'm about to post it again! First of all, please bear with me, the people's thoughts should be in italics and I don't have the time to go through now and see where words should be placed in italics. I will have time later, however. I'm sorry, I forgot to remember where to italicize after uploading it, as the file type you have to upload can't have any formatting on it. And I don't think that made any sense, but erm, I'm going to reply to all my reviews now!
caopotter: Thanks! I am going to continue writing. As a matter of fact, I've finished five chapters so far and am starting on the sixth tonight. They frustrate me, too! I mean, it's as if it's completely obvious to everyone else and Hermione, Miss Know-It-All herself can't comprehend it! I'm really glad that you thought it connected with the series. Well, I hope you enjoy the second chapter! Fifth is my favorite so far, but I suppose I'm fond of some of the moments in here as well.
Aikenlicious: I'm really flattered that you loved it! Thanks so much. Also, you're not the first person to get that image into your head: It happened to me and a friend, as well.
Demongirl6381: Thanks twice over, lol. I'm glad I could provide a laugh. I hope that this one will be as amusing as well. I think you'll like chapter five very much (more you-know-what snogging! =D) Enjoy!
Magnolia Lane: Woo hoo! Miss Beta! Miss Alpha! Sorry I feel like chanting at the moment, I'm so happy I got reviews! And yours was especially charming. I tried to make it as enjoyable as possible (although I know that a lot of you did not enjoy me giving you exactly what you wanted: Hermione and Ron together, only to snatch it away! I read your review on that site, and I replied. Also, I know that he's far more romantic in his dreams, but I figure -- It's a dream, you can be however you want, and he'd like to figure he's not such a mess up at this girl stuff in his dreams. I really hope you enjoy these next chapters (even though you've already read several, lol)...
Now, I'd just like to take one more moment of your time to tell you that this fan fic will be appearing on two other sites. One is a forum where I am in charge of the roleplaying forum, and I urge you all to join it. It can be reached do hope that's right!
Also, it will be appearing on my new fantastic site! It's co-owned by me and my friend Piglet! She will be doing all the artwork and she really is brilliant. Also, when I come up with a new chapter, that will be the first place I post it, so you may want to linger around there once in a while -wink- You can view the website (Nothing on it yet, just the main layout, but hey, we just started it today!) at:
Http:snogging-pillows.biz.ly
I'll let you get on with Chapter 2 now! Thanks for reading and reviewing after this chapter! -major hint-))
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Chapter Two
Touchy Little Thing, Isn't He?
Hermione Granger awoke very early, as she always did, whether it was during summer or the school year. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and yawned, rising from her bed and switching off her alarm clock. She stretched as she walked across her room and opened her curtains to let the sun in as it finished rising. She inhaled the smell of her room for one of the last times before she went to Hogwarts for her sixth year. She missed her room terribly actually. Most summers she spent a great deal of time at Ron's house (she blushed slightly at the thought of him), but this year parents wanted to take a trip to Italy and after lying to them about staying at Hogwarts to study last Christmas, she felt guilty enough to comply. She did have fun, and after her trip she was able to sleep in her bed more often than she had in the past several years (she didn't want to suddenly barge in on the Weasleys and it was almost the end of summer when she returned anyway), so she was happy about that. But she had to admit to herself that not seeing Ron for so long made her pine for him far much more than she had ever pined for her room.
She pulled herself out of her thoughts as she walked about, looking for something to wear today. She didn't want to wear the same old things to the station that she did most years. To be quite honest, when she was in Italy, she changed. All the girls there were so skinny and gorgeous! And here she was, boring Hermione Granger. So, she had started looking after herself pretty carefully. She cared about herself before, but now she really looked after her looks instead of concentrating solely on her studies (not that she didn't fully expect to get top grades this year. N.E.W.T.s were on their way!), but she didn't see the harm in choosing her clothing and such a tad more carefully. Her hair was as wavy as ever, but it was no longer frizzy and, although quite far from thin, it wasn't as bushy. She looked at herself in the mirror, scrutinizing herself for a moment before heading to the bathroom to draw a bath.
Awhile later, she emerged from the bathroom, washed up and teeth brushed. She looked through her closet, wondering what to wear. She eventually chose a lilac peasant shirt that she liked very much and a knee length, layered black skirt that spun out beautifully when she turned. As she brushed her hair in front of her mirror she decided that putting her hair up would seem far too odd. After all, she really only wore it up to the Yule Ball and although she wanted to look nice, she didn't want to make it obvious that she was trying to catch everyone's (well, not really everyone's, more like someone's) attention. For her hair she decided to wear a headband. She decided upon violet to accent, but not completely match, the purple. She looked through her very small amount of makeup that she had acquired over the summer and chose a purple-mauve colored flavored lip gloss. She didn't need any blush (for she blushed quite profusely when thinking of Ron and probably much more while she was with him as it were), but she added a hint of eyeshadow. She thought it really made her eyes stand out. She rummaged through her things and pulled out a pair of black sandals. They had a bit of a heel to them, but nothing formal or too extravagant. She looked into her mirror as she gave a little turn, liking the way the dress flared. "Perfect." she said, satisfied. She stepped looked to her dresser, to the right of her mirror, where she saw a picture of Harry, Ron, and herself. They all had their arms around each other. Hermione remembered the day when that picture was taken, a few years back not long after she realized she liked Ron, and the feeling she got as he put his arm around her and gripped her shoulder. She took it out of its frame and touched the picture where Ron's face was. The picture was moving slightly, but not that much. The trio just smiled at the camera, and then looked at each other in turn, grinning. Hermione noticed that after she had looked at Ron, and when Ron turned away to talk to Harry, she blushed a bit. "Perfect." Hermione said again, looking at Ron and sighing longingly.
Hermione heard sounds from her parent's bedroom and tore her eyes away from the picture. She glanced at her clock; it was getting about the time to go to Hogwarts. She rushed out of her room and into her kitchen where she got out a glass and a bowl from the cupboard. She went to her refrigerator and brought out a carton of milk as well as a carton of orange juice. She looked through what they had to eat, but all they had was a plain wheat cereal (her parents were dentists, after all, and rarely purchased any other kind), which she disliked and only ate when there was nothing else for breakfast. She placed the bowl back in the cupboard and the milk back in the refrigerator and decided on having a bagel this morning.
A few minutes later, when the she had retrieved her blueberry bagel from the toaster, she sat down at the table. She sat for a few moments in silence while she chewed her bagel, and then took a sip of her orange juice. As she dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, her eyes glazed over slightly and she appeared to be staring off into space, where really she was just getting wrapped into her thoughts about him again...
It was Christmastime and Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione donned their cloaks as they gathered around the fireplace at The Burrow. They were about to take the floo network to Diagon Alley to do their shopping.
"Alright, children, gather up, and everyone take a bit of floo powder." Mrs. Weasley called out, offering a bowl of powder to everyone.
Ron went first. He tossed the powder into the fireplace and it roared as it turned emerald green. "Diagon Alley!" Ron called, and was gone.
"Hermione, you're next." Mrs. Weasley nudged Hermione?
Hermione took some powder and did the same as Ron. She was spinning, spinning, spinning, past places on her way to Diagon Alley... She noted that the spinning feeling and the warmth was sort of like how she felt when she looked at Ron, except that she didn't love the floo network for one, and for another, looking at the flames didn't hurt her, but it did with Ron, because he didn't know she liked him. She bet that he only viewed her as a friend.
While she had been thinking about this, she had arrived at Diagon Alley. She gasped as she tumbled out of the fireplace, and almost hit the floor when who else caught her, but Ron.
"Woah, there." he said gently.
She smiled up at him but said nothing; she seemed to be frozen. But her mind certainly wasn't. You idiot! she scolded herself. Say. Something. Now! Hermione thought. But she couldn't. She could only look up into those eyes, looking at that crooked smile she saw in her dreams every night.... And then she noticed. Ron was staring back! He was staring back, and... And smiling at her! They stayed there for a moment, Hermione with a huge grin on her face, having a mental freak out inside her head. However, suddenly Ron seemed to notice what was going on and, to Hermione's great displeasure, started helping her up.
"Thanks." Hermione said nervously.
"Er... No problem, 'Mione." Was his reply.
At that moment, Ginny came out of the fireplace, soon followed a moment later by Harry. As Hermione looked at Ginny and realized she had a bit of soot on her, a horrified expression came on to Hermione's face as she realized she must look terrible! She smoothed out her hair nervously and wiped her face.
"Just there." Ron said.
Hermione started, forgetting where she was for a moment, and who she was with, as she worried about her appearance. However, everything flooded back to her and she turned to Ron with a questioning look on her face. Ron explained.
"You've got dirt on your nose, did you know? Just there." Ron said teasingly, reminding Hermione of her first day on the train, heading to Hogwarts.
"Thanks, Ron." Hermione thanked him again, blushing slightly, and blushing even more as one of his hands reached up to her face. A finger wiped the tip of her nose and they both smiled.
"There. All better." He said.
"Yeah, thanks." She said for a third time. She scolded herself. My God, I am an idiot. Ron, however, smiled.
Ginny approached them. "Sorry you two, you'll have to cut this flirting session a bit short, we need to get a move on. The only reason mum let us come alone is because we promised we'd be quick." They walked out towards of The Leaky Cauldron, where the floo powder had taken them, and out to the back, facing a brick wall. Hemione and Ron blushed furiously as Harry opened the gateway to Diagon Alley. As they stepped on to the road, they noticed it had begun snowing! Just lightly, and it had obviously just started. It was a nice touch, though. They started to walk down the street, discussing Christmas this year. They decided that first of all, they'd stop off in The Three Broomsticks to get butterbeer. As they crossed over to the shop, Hermione shivered. Ron looked over at her, a concerned look on his face.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, it's just a bit chillier out than I expected." Hermione replied.
"Here, have my cloak." Ron told her, taking his off. Wow, it was cold, Ron realized.
"No, really, it's too cold out for you not to have one on. Keep it, I'll be fine." Hermione resisted.
Ron shook his head. "No, here, you need it more than me. I don't care if I'm cold."
Hermione smiled as Ron wrapped his cloak around her shoulders and brought her closer to him. She felt warmer now, not really because of the cloak, but because of who she was next to. Ron felt the same way and he tenatively reached out for her hand. Hermione smiled at him and he grabbed her small hand in his large one as they strolled in to The Three Broomsticks. Harry and Ginny were waiting for them when they sat at the table; they had already gotten four butterbeers, so Hermione and Ron sat right down. Harry and Ginny looked from Ron, without a cloak, to Hermione, with two cloaks, and to Ron's and Hermione's hands, which were intertwined with each other. The smiled and then became very interested in their butterbeers. Ron and Hermione smiled at each other, and Ron's ears turned a bit red. She sighed, loving when he did that.
They sat there awhile, chatting about various things, and finishing their butterbeers. Harry and Ginny excused themselves from the table, telling Ron and Hermione that they would meet them outside. Hermione was about to stand up when she heard a familiar voice call her.
"Hermy-own-ninny?" He called?
Hermione turned around. "Viktor?" she called.
It turned out that he was sitting two tables over. He came over to their table and sat down. "Hermy-own-ninny, it's good to see you!" Hermione smiled and nodded, and Ron tensed up. Viktor turned to him. "And Ron, is it?" He asked. "Yes." Ron answered and nodded tersely in a rigid voice. Krum looked at them, and then at their hands, and questioned. "Hermy-own-ninny, vy are you sitting like that vith him? He is just your friend, is he not?" Hermione bit her lip.
"Vy don't you just shove it and get on vith your own business?" Ron asked Krum, imitating him. Krum flushed and Hermione forced back a smile.
"Vy don't you go avay stupid boy, you know nothing of Hermy-own-ninny." Krum said angrily.
"I know how to pronounce her name right!" Ron nearly yelled.
"Ron--" Hermione tried to cut in.
"No, Hermione," Ron said, emphasizing her name, "Krum thinks that he's so brilliant. Prove it!"
And they were off. Ron would fire off a "Did You Know?" question at Krum and then Krum would do the same thing to Ron. Hermione's mouth fell open as they fired off questions continuously for at least ten minutes. Then...
Ron sat, breathing heavily, his face red and showing signs of the utmost hatred for Viktor. "Well..." Ron huffed. "Did you know... That I love her?"
Hermione gasped. Viktor looked like he was about to explode. Hermione turned to Ron, eyes wide.
"Really, Ron?"
"Really." Ron replied.
Hermione had never felt happier, never, even when she scored 112% on her Charms exam years ago. But none of that mattered anymore, because none of it compared. She hugged Ron tightly. So tightly, in fact, she realized that he must need more air.
"Oh I'm so sorry" She said, releasing him.
"I'd rather have you than oxygen." He smiled back.
And then it happened: their first kiss. It was wonderful, it was... Beyond words, so to try and describe it would be absolutely pointless. And then...
No, NOT now! From far away, her mother's voice calling her name gently. "Hermione. Hermione..." She shook her gently.
Hermione reluctantly let go of her reverie. Damn, but that had been so good. So... perfect. She looked up at her mother.
"Sorry mum, what did you say?" She asked.
"Finish your breakfast, dear." Mrs. Granger requested.
"Oh... No thanks mum, I'm full." Hermione replied. She got up from her chair and gathered her mostly uneaten breakfast, throwing her bagel in the bin, and pouring her orange juice down the drain. She washed the dishes quickly and went back up to her room to get her things. If only it hadn't been a dream.... Gosh, she had fallen for him, and fallen hard. She never expected it when they first met, but he was so cute. A prat at time, and defensive, and sometimes easily offended (but she knew she was just the same, probably much more so even). She sighed again. She loved that little touchy thing.
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Ron rubbed his head where his head had been hit, even though the pain had subsided long ago. "Prat." Ron mumbled, getting up and walking across his room in order to retrieve his pillow. He set his pillow back on his bed and went to his small dresser to set out some muggle clothing to wear to the station. He chose a pair of very worn out trousers and a black jumper. He got out his trainers and was looking through his drawers for socks when he opened a drawer and found pages and pages of parchment written in Hermione's neat handwriting. He picked up the stack and flipped through a few pages. He was holding every letter Hermione had ever written to him. He knew when you thought about it, having a drawer only for a girl's letters, it sounded a tad obsessive, but in all fairness, he didn't really even have a lot of things, and had some extra space. As he gazed over her letters, he thought 'God, even her writing's perfect...'
He heard his mum calling him from the kitchen and that brought him back to reality. He gave his head a slight shake, put the letters quickly back in his drawer and shut it, and sat down on his bed. As he put on his trainers, he insulted his family in his head. He hated when they came into his room, especially without knocking! I mean, he had been asleep so Ginny couldn't really knock and expect him to hear it, and -- Wait a minute, who's side was he on?
He walked into the kitchen a few minutes later to find his mum at the stove and Ginny, Fred, and George sitting down at the table. He took a seat next to Ginny as Mrs. Weasley went around the table, giving everyone healthy helpings of eggs, bacons, and sausages. She then went back to the counter and brought them over a glass of orange juice and toast each.
"Now eat up quickly, you don't want to be late!" She said, before walking back to the stove and moving it into the sink, where, with a flick of her wand, the pot began to wash itself.
Ron picked up his fork hungrily and took a few bites of his eggs. Then he turned to his bacon and ate a slice with gusto. It was a moment before he noticed that all eyes at the table were on him. He looked up and notice that Ginny, Fred, and George were smirking at him. He tried asking what was the matter, but his mouth was so stuffed with food that he could even mutter it, so he chewed hurrily and forced himself to swallow it (with a bit of pain as it all slid down his throat rather uncomfortably).
"What's the matter with all of you?" He asked after taking a large gulp of orange juice and returning his gaze to his plate, looking for what to eat next.
"I don't know why you're so hungry, from the way Ginny tells it, when she came in to your room this morning to tell you to get a move on, she had to hit you with stuff to keep you from eating your pillow!" George guffawed.
"I--" Ron began, horrified.
"I would quit it if I were you Ron, you don't want to lose your girlfriend if you keep snogging stuffed bits of cloth." Fred cut in.
Ron turned to Ginny as his skin turned to red. "I. hate. you." Ron glowered.
"Oh, we didn't need her to tease you," Fred said.
"Yeah, we heard you shouting upstairs to Ginny that you loved Hermione." George continued, smiling evily.
"I-- What?! I said didn't! Did NOT. Of course I like-- I meant DON'T like her! That's mad!" Ron said, stumbling over his words. The twins merely grinned at him. "Oh, go back to your joke shop!" He said furiously, getting out of his chair and going back to his room.
"Touchy little thing, isn't he?" chorused the twins.
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((A/N: The faster you review, the faster I'll type and post!))
