((A/N: IT'S HERE! YAY! Heh, I'm not even going to bother with a big note until the end of the chapter... enjoy reading, and I'm sorry it's a tad late!))

Chapter Eight

Consider Them Spilled

"Bloody hell," Ron repeated for the tenth or so time.

That was about all he could say. His mind was whirring with thoughts. He was so confused; what did this list mean? He entertained the thought that this might possibly mean that Hermione was starting to like him. But was that possible? No. Wait! He was dreaming again! Damnit ... But then again, if he was dreaming, where was Hermione? Where was the kissing? Where were the handcuffs? Wait a minute, wait a minute, there were no handcuffs. Were there? He didn't think so. But everything was so jumbled up at the moment that he didn't know what to think. There could be handcuffs. No, there couldn't. Yes, there could. No, there couldn't, because life hates him. And because he was at school. Without Hermione. Well, he was with Hermione, but not in this room, or in the dating sense. Or was he? Hmm, maybe he could go ask her. No, he couldn't! This wasn't a dream! Yes, it was. Why would it? She wasn't here! Where's the furniture shop?!

"I don't know!" Ron wailed aloud.

"Okay Ron, think. Think!" He ordered himself. He mentally bolted himself to his chair while he tried to configure a plan. What was he supposed to do? His dreams about Hermione usually didn't give him a headache, but he was thinking so hard that his skull pounded with every beat of his heart.

"What am I going to do?" he stressed.

Ron decided that love sucked, and that its demise would shortly ensue that of the sun's. First, it makes it so his every thought is devoted to Hermione, so that he can't sleep or do his homework (well, that wasn't one of his strong points anyway, but that's entirely beside the point). It drives him insane; he's so happy yet so miserable at the same time. Then he finds something that makes him more confused than he was before, because he can't decipher it. He doesn't know if Hermione likes him or not, and he can't ask her because that would entail admitting his true feelings and, like, being all mushy and stuff. He wanted to get it out of his system, yet what if he found out that "Ways To Tell Ron How I Feel" was not a list of how she could possibly reveal her feelings of utmost devotion to him as he would so like to think, but rather was to tell him that she wanted to go shopping for couches together? He wanted Hermione, yes, but the rejection? Not so much.

"Okay, so, here's the plan," he thought. "I bolt right now, leaving everything behind. I don't really need my clothes, chocolate frogs, and worldly, one of a kind, priceless possessions with me to get by, do I?" Ron bit his lip. "What the hell am I thinking, I need the chocolate frogs. Okay, so, I take the chocolate with me and go to... Canada. Yeah, Canada sounds good, it's like, small and stuff, right? I think it's an island, actually ... Which is good, because I don't want to live somewhere where it ever snows. I can live in an igloo, have pet beaver, and get a job as a mounted officer. And I'll fit in because I'll learn to speak their language -- eh? See, I'm doing it already. Sounds like a good plan to me!"

Ron was just beginning to rise when he realized what he had just thought. Why would an igloo be on an island? He wasn't quite sure, but he was hoping that whatever type of island his future would be on, the igloo would be warm. He put his thoughts into closing and straightened up, but he had not taken two paces, Harry appeared, traipsing down the steps. He appeared to be in deep thought, but his expression changed when he looked up to see Ron there.

"Oh, hey Ron," Harry looked somewhat startled to see Ron awake at such an hour, especially on a Saturday.

"Oh, erm, hey Harry," Ron replied in a very nervous tone of voice. Harry raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked.

"Wrong? Why would something be wrong? There's no reason, there's nothing, there's no proof. It's not like there's a list that might tell you that something is wrong, or right, or in between, or what kind of couch you should buy." Ron sputtered.

"Alright, spit it out," Harry said, knowing something was up. Ron wasn't right in the head most days, but he could usually form sentences. Except when it came to...

"It's -- It's Hermione." Ron said shakily, leaning back into the chair he had risen to only moments before. Harry took a seat opposite him.

"Go on," Harry pressed.

"I ... I think she may like me." Ron said.

"Go on," Harry repeated.

"... As more than a friend," Ron continued dramatically.

"Go on," Harry said once again.

"Harry, this is serious! You can't just sit there, listening to this kind of stuff giving me the broken record treatment!" Ron stressed.

"Go on," Harry thought that pissing Ron off at times like this was such a fun task.

"Bloody hell, Harry, it's not funny!" Ron fumed. "Here, look, I found this list!" He showed Harry the two halves of the list. Harry studied it, and bit his lip. "Well?" Ron urged Harry to give his opinion.

"I think that it means ..." Harry said.

"Yes?" Ron pressed him, eagerly.

"That ... she wants you to buy furniture with her." Harry concluded, a grin spreading across his lips.

Nostrils flaring as angrily as his hair was red, Ron snatched the list from Harry and stuffed it into one of the pockets of his robes. He was just about to send a retort Harry's way as well when they were interrupted by another's voice.

"Hey," she said, somewhat tiredly.

"Hey Hermione," Harry replied, his grin growing wider. He knew exactly how Ron would react.

Ron snapped his head around so quickly that Harry was surprised he didn't obtain a severe case of whiplash.

"Oh, hey, erm -- Her -- Hermione, how are ... how're you?" Ron stammered.

"Um, hi, Ron. I'm just fine, thank you for asking." came Hermione's reply.

"Yeah ..." Ron said, trying to play it cool. "Yeah, no problem."

Ron tried to ruffle his hair to give it that windblown effect, but he ended up looking slightly pathetic. "What am I going to do?" he thought to himself wildly. He racked his brains, but came up with nothing. "Well, there's only one thing to do, I suppose." He resigned.

"Well, erm, I've got to go! Bye!" He said, darting for the common room.

"Wait!" Hermione tried to stop him, but he had already dashed through the portrait hole.

"What's the matter with him?" Hermione asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Er ... donno" Harry replied, trying to suppress the sly grin that was attempting to creep across his face.

Hermione bit her lip and looked at the floor, thinking. Harry took this break in the conversation to make his exit.

"Well, look at the time. I've got to get going." Harry said, also making his way for the portrait hole.

"What? Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"Erm ... library?" Harry called before he, too, disappeared.

"But the library is what I do!" Hermione groaned.

Why were they acting so weird? If anyone had the right to be acting weird, it was Hermione; she had been dreaming of Ron more than ever recently, which was really saying something. She sighed and walked over to the common room's corner. Last night when Hermione returned to her dorm, she remembered that all of her things were still down in the common room. Not wanting to go downstairs at the moment, she resolved to get her supplies the next morning. Hermione gathered her books, parchment, ink, quill, and her school bag, before she remembered something else that she needed to retrieve. Her list! Thank goodness she had remembered it.

Hermione pushed her hand into the cushion of the armchair that she had been sitting in last night. However, her hand came to meet nothing. The crumpled bits of parchment were no longer there. Her heart quickened; what did this mean? Could someone have gotten a hold of the list? Surely not, why would they go rummaging in a cushion? But if it wasn't there, where was it?

Ron walked out through the castle doors and out into the reach of the newly risen sun. He could feel the list in his pocket; how was it that the small weight of this parchment could weigh so heavily on his mind? He tried to sort out exactly what everything meant and figure out what he should do, but he came up with nothing. How was he supposed to figure out a crisis this big? "Hermione could do it," Ron thought. "But I'm not Hermione," another side of him answered. "Nor am I Hermione's type," Ron sighed. "But maybe you could be. Maybe you are. Maybe she wants you to be. You did see that list. She likes you. Tell her that you like her, too!" Ron pushed.

"Oh bloody hell -- first love drives me mad, and now I've developedTop of Form 1

Multiple Personality Disorder." Ron murmured.

Ron ruffled his hair as he mulled over his options. He was only sixteen, though, how was he supposed to think of a way out of -- or into -- this? "They really should teach us about girls at Hogwarts, you know," Ron thought. "It'd be far more useful than several of the subjects that we are so unfairly forced to endure anyhow (with Divination, Potions, and History of Magic rising to the top of that list)." Ron was sure many people would agree with his reasoning. He wondered for a moment if Hogwarts had a suggestion box or something. He made a mental note to look into that later. Right after he took care of that bloody sun, which was, by the way, attempting to blind him at the moment.

He should really get back to the matter at hand, though. Ron had before him a dire situation. What was he to do in a ire situation. He sighed heavily.

"Hermione would know what to do..."

"What am I going to do?!" Hermione cried. "Oh, God, where is that bloody list?"

Hermione didn't know wo to turn to. This was catastrophic. She obviously couldn't keep this bottled up inside her; she'd have an emotional breakdown. But who could she turn to? She hadn't told anyone about her list or her feelings for--

Wait a minute.

"Ginny!" Hermione shrieked, bounding into the fifth year girls' dormitory

No reply. Hermione scanned the dormitory quickly and found it empty. Where could Ginny have gone so early? She vaguely remembered Ginny saying something about having to study. With her O.W.L.s coming up this year, she was going to have to study on the weekends if she wanted top marks. Hermione walked over to Ginny's bed and sure enough she found Ginny's bookbag missing.

Hermione walked into the library fifteen minutes later (she had been subdued slightly by Peeves, who sneaked up behind her, grabbed her nose, shouted "GOT YOUR CONK!" and was not intent on letting go). She scanned the library quickly and her eyes fell upon the flaming red hair of Ginny Weasley. Ginny's back was to Hermione, but, save for the rest of the Weasley family, no one's hair was as red as Ginny's, so the girl was easily distinguishable from any angle.

"Hey Ginny," Hermione greeted her friend, relieved that she had found her. "And... oh. Harry."

Hermione had been so concentrated on finding Ginny that she had overlooked one of her other best friends sitting across Ginny. He looked up at Hermione, a large grin on his face; he and Ginny had obviously been having a very enjoyable conversation.

"Hey Hermione," Harry said, still smiling.

"I didn't realize you two had an, erm, study date," Hermione told them. "I'm sorry to interupt.

Ginny's face reddened ever so slightly, but it was such a minor change from her already rosy cheeks that it went almost unoticed by Hermione.

"Oh, no," Ginny explained. "I don't have a study date with Harry. I came here to brush up on some reading, and I ran into Harry here. We were just, er, taking a small break."

"I see..." Hermione smiled slightly at Ginny, and then got on to business. "Ginny, can I speak to you for a moment? Erm, alone? In private?"

"Wow, alone and privately, pulling for both synonyms at once." Harry whistled. "You've always been quite the overachiever, Hermione."

"Oh, shut up." Hermione retorted plainly. She then looked at Ginny, who nodded, rose, and followed her to a corner of the library.

"Okay, what's so important and oh-so-private that you can't say it in front of Harry, one of your best friends?" Ginny questioned once they were out of earshot.

"The list's gone," Hermione replied.

"Huh?" Ginny asked, confused.

"The list. It's gone. You know, what list that I was writing to erm... well, about Ron. And, er, how I feel." Hermione told her.

Ginny nodded, a silent prod to continue. Hermione took a breath and realized that her lips were chapped and her mouth was stone dry; all her worrying must have done so. She wet her lips briefly and took a moment to ensure that her voice wouldn't crack when she spoke. Hermione then continued to relate the happenings of that morning to Ginny, including her fears that her list must have fallen into the wrong hands -- more specifically, the hands of Ron or Harry.

When she finished, Hermione expected Ginny to look shocked, wary, or at the very least concerned. Now that she was done, however, Ginny's hands were placed firmly on her hips; her eyebrows were arched, and if Ginny was concerned about anything, she was concerned about Hermione's state of mental health.

"Hermione, did it ever occur to you," Ginny inquired, speaking very slowly and enunciating very carefully, as if she were speaking either to someone very young or someone with the mentality of a very young person -- or rather, she used the voice she usually reserved for Ron," that the Gryffindor Common Room is cleaned nightly by House elves? It's highly likely that one of them picked it up and regarded it it as rubbish. It was crumpled up, after all."

"Oh," Hermione said meekly. For all her brilliancy, this had never occurred to her.

"But it's not like Ron would understand the list if he did find it," Ginny voiced er afterthought. She smiled slightly, straightened her robes, and said to hermione, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to Harry." She started to take a few paces, turned back to Hermione once more, and informed her, "Who is not my date."

Hermione stepped out of the library moments later, idly mulling over the reading she intended to get done that day. She could not help grin widely, though. Hermione would not be quick in forgetting the slight tinge on Ginny's cheeks as she spoke her last remark.

Hermione returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, went to her dormitory, retrieved a book from her vast collection, and began to read. She was so relaxed in the warm comfort of her four poster, so absorbed in her reading, and so relieved to have something to distract her from thinking of Ron again, that she didn't look up all day. When she finally did stop reading New Theory of Numerology (it was her eighteenth reading since she recieved the book from Harry on Christmas the previous year), she was surprised to find that night had fallen, and dinner had already started. She put away her book and brushed her hair before she went down to dinner.

Harry and Ron sat across from each other in the Great Hall; dinner had started ten minutes ago, but still Hermione hadn't shown up.

"Hm, wonder where Hermione is," Harry said in a very mild tone. He had an evil grin on his face, however, as he knew from that day's experience how Ron reacted at every mention of Hermione.

Ron predictably dropped his fork and gave a small yelp. Harry laughed; he knew he was being mean to Ron, but he couldn't help himself; it was just too hilarious.

"I, uh, I haven't a clue," Ron said in a high pitched voice.

Ron picked his fork up again and began to shovel food into his mouth. However, he did so without the relish he normally had at mealtimes; he was merely bolting down his food to get dinner over with and find another place to hide from Hermione. Harry had run into him several times during the day at various places around the grounds, such as the lake, the Quidditch pitch, the boys' lavatories, and even coming down to lunch earlier, where Harry later found out he had been sitting by the ladder below the Divination room on the seventh floor.

Wow, Harry thought to himself, he's more nervous now than he's been all day. You know what? I could have some fun with this.

"Why the rush, Ron?" Harry asked in the same mild tone, referring to Ron's fierce eating habits. "Having an affair?"

It just so happens that there are more than one definition for many words. The word affair happens to have more than one meaning. One is 'A romantic and sexual relationship, sometimes one of brief duration, between two people who are not married to each other.' Another definition of this term is ' A social function.' While Harry would forever claim that he was speaking in reference to the latter definition, Ron, in his current jumpy state of mind, immediately thought Harry was speaking of the former.

"No! What would give you -- the idea -- why would you think -- think that -- think that -- think that -- I'm not like that!" Ron tumbled over himself.

Harry barely contained a loud guffaw and made another attempt at flustering Ron. It worked.

"Fine, fine, be secretive about your engagement," He said, raising his hands slightly with a look of surrender. He was not speaking to the period of time before two people's marriage, as he knew Ron would interpret, but was merely using a synonym for affair.

An interesting thing happened in that moment. As Harry closed his sentence, Albus Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement. As was common, the school immediately quieted down to listen to him. However, in Ron's frustration, he did not notice the headmaster rise, nor the complete silence of the entire Great Hall which provided the unique environment for his next statement.

"I'm sixteen!" Ron exclaimed, his voice growing with every syllable he spoke. Indeed, he was not aware everyone looked to him at once. "Get off my back! I'm not engaged! I don't have a ring! I don't know how to propose! I WOULDN'T PROPOSE! I HAVEN'T CHEATED ON ANYONE!"

Possibly the loudest silence in anyone's memory followed Ron's outburst. Dumbledore was the first to break the stillness of the room.

"Well, thank you for informing everyone, Mr. Weasley. However, if you don't mind, I have an announcement of myself."

Ron's jaw dropped to the floor. Even after he stopped yelling, he wasn't aware of the quietness of the room.

To add to the ordeal, at that moment, Hermione took her seat beside Ron.

"Hi," she said breathlessly.

Ron jumped but managed a somewhat smooth, "Hello."

"Sorry I'm late," Hermione apologized as she poured some pumpkin juice into her glass, "I lost track of time reading."

"Reading, eh?" Harry replied, "Why am I not surprised?"

"Well it's not my fault, I wanted to go over some Numerology a few days back, but I never got the time what with gettting ahead in Transfiguration. Anyhow, what was Dumbledore talking about? When I walked in he was talking about Ron informing him of something." Hermione asked, now helping herself to some carrots.

"Well, Ron here was--" Harry began.

"Doing absolutely nothing! Nothing at all!" Ron interjected.

"Er, alright." Hermione said, now turning to her meal.

"I've got to go." Ron told them suddenly.

"Why the rush, Ron? Don't you want to be here -- with Hermione?" Harry questioned.

"What?!" Ron squeaked.

"I'm sure she'd love to be with you." Harry continued.

"Excuse me?" Hermione's stomach lurched; she hadn't thought about Ron since she had poured her pumpkin juice ... Well, maybe a few times since then, but not many. Maybe two, three tops. Damn Harry.

"I've really got to go," Ron said. "I've got... I've got... Divination work!" And with that, he sprung from the table and traipsed out the hall.

"But -- but we don't have Divination anymore!" Harry called after him, but Ron was already gone.

Harry shrugged, and, turned back to his meal. Hermione, however, looked to where Ron had left, biting her lip. She didn't know what to make of Ron's odd behavior. As she turned back to her plate of food, she heard Harry mumbling; only one word was audible as he was mumbling very quietly: list. This was all Hermione needed, however, to make her heart stop.

"List?" she questioned hoarsely.

Harry's head snapped up, and his eyes grew wide.

"What?" he asked.

"You said something about a list. What list?" Hermione hoped against hope she hadn't guessed what was going on; she prayed Ginny was right.

"Erm, nothing. Just a list of some... quidditch moves I need to work on." Harry told her.

She had no such luck. Hermione knew Harry all too well; she wasn't stupid and she had heard Harry lie to her too many times to believe him now.

"Oh no. God, no." Hermione whispered to herself as her face paled horribly.

Harry swore as Hermione sprang from the table and hurriedly made her way out of the Great Hall. She had to find Ron. What Hermione would tell Ron when she tracked him down, she did not know, but she did know that she could not just sit in the Great Hall, eating dinner, and acting like her life's biggest secret hadn't been found out.

Stepping into the Entrance Hall, Hermione quickly scanned it. She didn't expect to find Ron only this far away, as he had been in quite a rush, but she didn't want to overlook him. As she climbed a staircase, she did the same scanning motion, her gaze looking for the slightest detection of movement, a glimpse of that flaming red hair that she adored.

She found luck shortly thereafter on the second floor. Just as she reached the last step of yet another set of stairs, panting slightly due to her taking the stairs two at a time to catch up to Ron more quickly, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She was sure of it; not a moment before, robes had whipped around the corner to her left. She wasn't entirely sure it was Ron as she had only seen a bit of black cloth, the same all students at Hogwarts wore as part of their school uniform, but she was willing to place her faith in her suspicions. Taking a deep breath, she followed the person as quickly as possible.

As soon as she turned the corner, her thoughts were confirmed; after all, he was the only boy in the entire school who was that tall, with that hair, and that stance that she had longingly gazed after for years. But this was no time to get caught up in wistful thoughts yet again.

"Ron!" she called, her voice a breathless pant, but still loud enough to get his attention.

Ron turned around at hearing his name (or was it her voice that called on such an instant reaction?) and saw Hermione standing not thirty feet away from him. His jaw fell open and his eyes widened; how had she caught up with him so quickly? And why had he followed her? Regardles of reason, however, Ron knew something was up, and he intended to make a quick escape. Glancing behind him, he spotted a very specific door which he had been going into since last year. He quickly turned his body around, and in a few strides, he had reached the door.

"Squeaky clean!" He told the polished wood; a split second later, the door unlocked.

Ron turned the doorknob eagerly and fell into the room. The door shut as he leaned against it; once inside the Prefect's Lavatory, he sighed, relief spreading through him. He took a step away from the door, then another, rubbing his face with his hands. Most unfortunately he was rudely taken out of his brief stage of tranquility when he heard the door open again. He spun around and met Hermione, who had just entered and closed the door.

"Bloody hell!" Ron jumped back a pace; Hermione following him was the last thing he had expected.

"Honestly Ron, being a prefect, do you think I wouldn't know the password?" Hermione questioned, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't wait for Ron's response and continued, "We need to talk. I heard Harry mumble something, and I'm not sure if he's told you about it. See, Ron, I... erm, I wrote this, this sort of list. And I think that Harry found it. Now, it was nothing big--"

"Just really confusing," Ron mumbled very quietly to himself.

"But-- pardon me?" Hermione asked.

"Huh? Oh, the list, it was..." Ron began to reply.

"Wait, so Harry did tell you about the list?" Hermione wanted to confirm her assumptions so that she wouldn't have any guilt issues when she murdered Harry later on.

"No," Ron replied.

"So how did you know about the list?" Hermione questioned.

"Well I sat on it, and then uncrumpled it because it was a bit uncomfortable--" Ron started to explain.

"Wait, hold on; YOU found my list?" Hermione asked.

"Well, yeah," Ron replied, thinking she had known this by now.

"RONALD WEASLEY, HOW COULD YOU?!" Hermione did not take this well.

"Woah -- what?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"YOU WENT SCAVENGING THROUGH MY THINGS--" Hermione yelled

"Woah, hold on a minute--" Ron tried to say.

"--TRESSPASSING BY SORTING THROUGH MY PRIVATE PROPERTY," She continued without heed.

"I found it in a cushion. A cushion!" Ron said, now yelling, too, but not nearly matching Hermione's impressive roar.

"YOU READ MY MOST PRIVATE, SECRET THOUGHTS!" Hermione trembled with rage.

"It was crumpled up, torn up, and tossed somewhere where I thought it was just a bit of rubbish!" Ron attempted to tell her, but recieved no such luck.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS RON, HOW?! DO YOU KNOW HOW EMBARRASSING THIS IS?" Hermione was shouting so loud now that she was breathless, not to mention hurting Ron's ears, what with her voice and the echo of the Prefect's Lavatory. Someone was going to hear them if she didn't calm down soon.

"Woah," Ron said quietly, something dawning on him.

"IT WAS ONE THING THAT HARRY KNEW, BUT AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THAT YOU WOULD FIND OUT! IT WAS THE ONE THING I COULDN'T TELL YOU, AND YOU WENT SNOOPING AROUND TO GET IT--" Hermione rambled on, her eyes now glossy.

Ron was smiling now, despite all of Hermione's accusations.

"DON'T YOU SMILE AT ME, RONALD, I AM ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS! WHAT YOU DID WAS COMPLETELY UNFORGIVABLE, NOT TO MENTION THE MOST LOW LIFE OF A TRICK YOU COULD EVER PLAY ON ME; I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!" Hermione wasn't intent on stopping, now that she had gotten into her stride. Ron was forced to remember a particular time right before second year, when Ron had been caught by his mum coming home from rescuing Harry from captivity at the Dursleys' home; Mrs. Weasley had been furious and yelled for hours until her voice became hoarse.

"Hermione, would you just STOP for one moment?" Ron pleaded.

"OH NO, DON'T YOU EVEN TRY, YOU ARE NOT GETTING OUT OF THIS--" Hermione resisted.

Ron had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as would usually be his customary reply by now.

"Whatever, you wanna do it with your mouth open, FINE BY ME!" Ron told her.

And before Hermione had time to scream another set of ramblings, Ron had taken the few short steps he had taken back from Hermione, closing the space in between them. He lifted her chin gently and, not knowing exactly what to do, but being aware of the general idea and figuring he'd figure it out eventually (he hoped), he gently pressed his lips to hers.

In all truth of the matter, it wasn't the world's greatest kiss. It wasn't the most passionate by far, although both had longed for this occurrence for quite some time. History would forget this kiss in the blink of an eye, but Ron and Hermione would remember it forever, because the kiss was perfect for them.

Ron leaned back ever so slightly after the first few moments. His stomach had gone all tingly and he guessed that no matter how hard he tried to look ... well, suave -- how he looked in his dreams -- he could not for the life of him wipe the large, crooked, goofy grin that had fixed itself to his face. He also assumed that he looked red as a tomato, especially witht

Hermione, on the other hand, looked shocked.

"What--?" Hermione stuttered.

Wait, did he not do it right or something? Or did she not like him like he thought she did?! No, she had to, she said it practically. He shook those thoughts out of his head as he gave his reply.

"I thought that if I kissed you, you'd shut up," he said softly.

And before she had the chance to stutter again or hit him, which is what he guessed she would be likely to do, he kissed her again. After their second parting, Hermione managed a few words.

"What--what are you doing?" she asked.

"Am I that bad of a kisser that you can't even recognize what I'm doing?" Ron answered, a smile playing at his lips again. He had kissed Hermione. TWICE!

"But... But you like... I don't understand." Hermione bit her lip. She did actually look quite stumped, for one of the few times in her life.

TWICE! That's two times of kissing!

"Well, you see, a kiss is this kind of thing that you do when--" Ron was cut off when he had to dodge a light smack aimed his way by Hermione, which he guessed wouldn't have hurt much, but Ron thought it added a nice dramatic effect. "Hey, you could have seriously injured me there!" He told her after her attempt.

"Ron, you like me?" Hermione tried to make sense of the situation.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you not here for the past minute or so? Only I thought I had kissed you, but now that you're so confused, I'm not entirely sure," he joked lightly.

"Ron..." Hermione warned.

"Of course I like you, Hermione," Ron sighed. "How could I not?"

"Because I'm a know-it-all freak who's the bossiest person in the wizarding populace," Hermione answered.

"Yeah, well..." Ron said, "You're cute when you're bossy."

"Ron, I lo--" Hermione began.

"Hmm?" Ron prodded when she stopped midsentence.

"I like you. I really, really like you." Hermione ammended.

Ron smiled and kissed her again. And this time she kissed him back.

Ten minutes later Ron and Hermione walked into the Gryffindor Common Room, fingers laced. It was surprisingly empty for this hour, although there was a group of several fourth years in one shadowed corner of the room studying for an upcoming exam. As Hermione and Ron made their way together to their favorite squashy armchairs right by the fire, they noticed that two of them were occupied. Harry and Ginny were awake, chatting quietly. Harry looked up as they approached; he looked from Hermione's and Ron's intertwined hands, and then to their faces. He looked at their hands again, then their faces. Hands, faces.

"Damn," he said quietly, passing Ginny a gold galleon.

"Thank you," replied Ginny happily, accepting the money.

Ron's jaw dropped. Hermione, on the other hand, didn't seem quite as surprised.

"Ginny, when you made that joke about betting on Ron and I getting together, I didn't say "do it" seriously." Hermione told her, rolling her eyes.

"You bet on us?" He asked Ginny.

"I'm merely enjoying your good fortune, brother," Ginny replied, smiling up at him.

Ron snorted in disgust before addressing Hermione.

"I'm going to go put some stuff away, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes."

Hermione nodded and kissed his cheek lightly. Ron trotted up the stairs and entered his dormitory. Everything suddenly seemed so much brighter. At the sound of the dormitory door clicking shut, he let out a whoop! for good measure, before he succumbed to an overwhelming fit of goofy guffaws and a smile that wouldn't go away. He was with Hermione now, and there was no way that he was going to screw this up. And the best part of it all (or maybe just the most shocking) was that they had kissed.

More than twice!

Way more. This was fantastic. It was wicked. It was oh bloody hell, but in the best way possible. It was -- wait for it, wait for it -- better than chocolate frogs. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he preferred this to chocolate frogs. The thought stunned him, but in a surprisingly bright manner.

Because now everything was perfect.

Ten minutes later, Ron was descending the staircase leading back into the common room when he passed Harry.

"Hey, Ron. You had been gone for so long, we thought you had died." Harry joked.

"I haven't been gone all that long," Ron replied, rolling his eyes. "I needed to take care of some things."

"Yeah, probably like do a victory dance on finally getting Hermione, and editing your shrine to her under your bed. But whatever, I'm turning in. Losing a bet sure does make you want to go to bed more quickly. See you in the morning," Harry told him as he departed up the stairs.

Ron continued down the stairs and made his way over to Hermione. Ginny was having a conversation with her at the time, but when Ron came back she quietly excused herself, saying she needed her rest. Once she had gone to bed as well, Ron sat down next to Hermione.

"Took you quite some time; did you get lost?" Hermione asked mildly.

"Yeah, I knew I should have left a trail of bread crumbs," Ron replied, grinning.

A short silence elapsed, in which Ron gazed intently at Hermione. Her face was tilted downward, a hint of a grin displayed on her lips. Hermione sensed that she was being watched after a moment, and raised her head. When she saw Ron looking fixedly at her, she gave a small, somewhat nervous laugh.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Ron said and continued to stare.

"Then why are you looking at me?" Hermione pressed him. It was rather odd; certainly she had noticed Ron looking at her a few times before, but now it was so obvious. She had looked at him the same way before tonight, but now it was somehow... different.

"Why are you so beautiful? You answer my question, and I'll be able to answer yours," he replied softly.

Hermione ducked her head, her cheeks a crimson glow. After a few moments, she stared him in the eye once more.

"I like this," Ron declared giddily.

Hermione gave a short laugh before Ron interrupted again with an explanation.

"No, really, Hermione! This is... wicked, it truly is. Because before today, I could like you, but that was all. I hd to steal glances at you here and there as opposed to looking at you like I am now. I... I can hold you, I can... like, kiss you... and stuff."

"Kiss me, eh?" Hermione grinned.

"Yeah, and stuff," Ron ended.

Hermione laughed for the umpteenth time that evening (great, she finally gets her guy and she has to be so bloody giddy); his reply triggered her memory... what was it? Oh, yes, September 1st, at King's Cross Station. The memory was so much fonder, now that the initial embarrassment of the situation had passed. It also helped that she had now snogged Ron.

Much more than twice.

"I can kiss you, right?" Ron asked, confused by Hermione's chuckle.

"You are so cute," Hermione told him, before she kissed him several times in quick succession in confirmation.

Soon after, Ron and Hermione parted to go to their respective dormitories, although Ron hardly believed he would be getting any sleep. He thought of the fantastic day that he had just experienced, and marveled in the fact that Hermione could actually like him. Sure, she had only told him she liked him, nothing more, whereas Ron was hopelessly, head over heels, can't-live-without-you in love with Hermione. But is this the point? No, not really no. Ron lay awake until two in the morning contemplating his good luck, when sleep finally caught him, and he drifted off into more dreams...

In the blink of an eye, night had stolen away, and Ron lifted very groggy and reluctant eyelids to find sunshine streaming through the windows of his dormitory. He also found his pillow in his arms.

"Fan. Bloody. Tastic," Ron muttered to himself.

He staggered downstairs after dressing quickly, in the worst mood he had been in for ages. How could he have dreamed that? It wasn't like most dreams. It wasn't as spectacular in show, but it was so much better in... feeling. He couldn't lose that now; it just wasn't fair!

As he stepped into the common room, Hermione came up to him, greeting him with a warm, bubbly smile. God did he ever love that smile.

"Hey," Hermione said.

"Good morning," Ron replied, feeling uneasy; he wasn't sure if whether to believe that he had dreamed last night up or not.

"What, no kiss?" Hermione said, pretending to pout, "Don't I feel special."

Ron exhaled deeply, relief spreading through his veins. It wasn't a dream! He felt like shouting, he felt so good, but he settled on wrapping his right arm around Hermione's waist and pulling her up close to him. Still holding her near, he gently touched her face with two fingers of his left hand, starting high up on her cheekbone and ending at her chin, where he held her face positioned there as he kissed her for several long moments.

Or several long minutes. You know, whatever.

When they finally broke apart (there were some slight lack of oxygen issues to be dealt with), Ron couldn't help but think that he was really starting to get the hang of this.

Hermione seemed to be thinking along the same lines. All of her perfect teeth were showing now; she could not contain her happiness. Hermione thought that she could definitely get used to this sort of treatment from Ron. In fact, she thought to herself, she already was.

Harry came into the room shortly thereafter and they left for breakfast. Hermione and Ron ate together, holding hands, which proved to be difficult as Hermione read during the meal and Ron's usual vigor came back for this meal, but they were both happy to sacrifice one of their hands.

Lessons were not quite as fun. Much to Ron's dismay, Hermione still insisted on paying acute attention in class. As much as Ron would pout, Hermione would stiffen her resolve (he was still working on the perfect 'pity me' face, and therefore wasn't having much luck in affecting most of her decisions).

During the morning break, Ron was quite keen to continue with a snogging session. Hermione obliged, but she seemed somewhat distant. When Ron questioned her, she declined his offer to talk things through. She said she merely had some things she needed to contemplate on her own. This only made Ron more uneasy; as the day wore on, she became more distant, and eventually her eyes became slightly glossy as she apparently came to a solution to whatever was bothering her (Ron has questioned her throughout to day but still had not recieved any clues as to her troubles).

Later on, Ron would wonder why he didn't just let her get on with it and over it by herself. He wondered if he contributed to her answer, or if she was unhappy from the start. Whatever the reason, Ron couldn't stand it anymore when he saw very distinct tears in Hermione's eyes at dinner that night. He requested once more to speak to her about the matter, and this time she consented.

"Can I please speak to you outside?" she asked.

Ron nodded; together they stood up from the Gryffindor table and exited the large dining hall. Hermione led Ron over by classroom eleven, which was on the ground floor and had been used for a portion of the previous year for a Divination classroom.

"What's the matter?" Ron prodded the moment Hermione stopped walking. His heart was breaking in two; several tears made their way down her face and her lip trembled violently.

"Oh, Ron... I'm so sorry," Hermione was barely audible. "I... I have to break up with you."

((A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN! Bwahaha, my first time writing a cliffie! What do yall think of my attempt? Tell me what you thought when you review this chapter please!

I'd like to take this time to thank you for reading my fan fic thus far. Really, it has meant the world to me. I know that I was late on getting this chapter up, but I hope it was worth the wait. Because they kissed!

MORE THAN TWICE!

Tee hee, I donno why I made a big deal out of that, but I liked it. But my opinion doesn't matter nearly as much as yours. Tell me what you think!

Also, I need everyone to tell me something. How far should I take this? I actually could have ended this entire fic with them kissing in the Prefect's Lavatory, but I decided to keep going because I actually do have the next few chapters planned. What I'd like to know if how much you would like to read about this particular scenario. To be quite honest, there's a way I could write it past Hogwarts to include some wedding bells. In fact, I have that plot sort of forming already. But I'll only continue this story as long as my readers are interested.

Like I said, I've planned the next little bit, but if you want me to keep on writing, then I need more ideas! And also, something has really been bugging me.

Is there not enough Voldemort and such in this fic? See, I was so focused on getting Ron and Hermione to "The Moment You've All Been Waiting For" that I completely forgot about ol' Voldy, to be quite honest. Although I didn't forget about other characters; Harry and some other characters will have quite a part in about four chapters.

From now on, I am going to be updating hopefully weekly, and with each update I will recommend at least one fan fic.

This week, I am recommending Telling Ron and There For You by michelleywelley (which you all should have read by now anyhow P). Those fics are both on this site.

Since those two fics add up to fifty chapters of reading, I'll be recommending a short fic (for those of you who have already read michelleywelley's writing). it is called Discoveries and is by steviep. This story can be located on -- there are only four chapters, but they are quite lengthy, and the vocabulary usage is superb and there are absolutely no grammar mistakes, which I loved (heh, I KNOW I make loads of mistakes; I'm so sorry! But I can't really have my chapters beta'd because I'm always writing these last minute. If there's someone who's really up to some hard beta work, then message me on AIM at Purebloodangelz or at my e-mail address,

I'm going to reply to all reviewers from last and this chapter in my next chapter, because I've already delayed this too long. I know that I should have worked harder to get it up, and for that I'm really sorry, but I had a lot of school work to do, and I was in surgery this last week as well. I hope yall will continue to read and review despite my screw up. Thanks!

Toodles!))