Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters, content or plot of the Harry Potter series. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am not affiliated with her in any way.

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"Okay, so you remember what I told you, right?" I asked Anna as we climbed the front steps of The Burrow.

She squeezed my hand and nodded. "Yep. All of it. I promise I'll be a good girl," she nodded her head for emphasis.

I smiled and bent to kiss her forehead. I was glad that she was with me. Even if she was just five, it felt comforting to have her with me. You could call it a type of security blanket, I suppose. I reached out my hand and rapped on the door.

There was a noise in the entryway before the door opened. Ron stood there, seeming to take up the whole frame; he was that intimidating to me. I bit my lip and looked away from his piercing gaze.

"Hello Hermioneâ€and Anna," he said Anna's name with a note of shyness. I almost laughed out loud. Ron was never shy. But I guess when you're faced with a daughter that has aged five years and you've never met her before, you have every right to be shy.

"Hello Ron," I said coolly. "This is Anna," I pulled Anna so that she stood in front of me. "Honey, this is your dad," I said softly, as if I didn't really want to say it out load. I had to take a deep breath to make sure the tears that had sprung to my eyes didn't overflow.

I could feel a moment of hesitation in Anna. Then her face broke out in a huge grin and she bounded forwards, hugging Ron tightly to her. "I've always wanted a daddy," she said excitedly.

I laughed, tears glistening in my eyes. It was a beautiful sight to watch. Ron bent down and hugged Anna back tightly. It didn't seem like he ever wanted to let go. "We should probably go in," I said after a minute.

Ron released his hold on Anna and looked at me. "Right. Well, come on in then." I followed him in, taking off my shoes and cloak as he closed the door behind us. "Anna will be sleeping in the guest room. Mum thought it would be best if she was given her own room and you bunked with me," he explained out of the corner of his mouth as we began to ascend the stairs.

"Bunk with you?" I raised my voice slightly, giving it the impression or a stage whisper. "Why can't I have another room?"

"Because mum thinks it would be better for Anna if we slept in the same room," Ron replied calmly.

"I would rather not fill Anna's head with lies," I hissed back,

"It isn't a lie. We're just pretending to be friendly is all," he stated simply. We had reached the doorway to the guest bedroom. "Here you are Anna," Ron said brightly, pushing open the door to reveal the bedroom.

"Wow," Anna breath and hurried over to the bed, scrambling up onto it. "This is really pretty!"

Ron laughed. "I'm glad you like it. Now, here's your bag," he took her bag from my hand. "I'm going to go show your mum where she'll be sleeping. You can go down to the kitchen if you like."

Anna nodded. "Okayâ€but can I stay here just a bit longer?" she pleaded.

"If you want. Just make sure you're down in time for supper," Ron replied. Anna grinned and bounded over to her bag. We closed the door just as she had opened a book and began to read. "A bit like you I suppose," Ron said.

"What do you mean," I asked defensively.

"The book."

"Well I think it's good that she's interested in reading at such a young age."

Ron didn't say anything more, but instead began walking the path to his room. I followed behind, averting my eyes from his frame and instead pretending to be interesting on the faded wallpaper covering the walls. I was paying too much attention obviously, because when he stopped abruptly in front of his room, I banged into him. "Sorry," I muttered, praying inwardly that I wasn't blushing. Ron looked at me for a moment, something flickering in his eyes. I held his gaze, not wanting him to look away but he did, and my heart plummeted. He doesn't feel the same way you idiot, I chided myself inwardly.

"You'll be sleeping on the cot again," Ron said pointing to the cot that I had slept in only a week earlier. The same cot where I had laid crying when Ron said that our night together had only been a mistake. I felt a lump rise in my throat, threatening me with trees as I dropped my bag on the bedspread.

"Thanks," I said hoarsely. When he gave me a slightly confused look, I hastened with a sarcastic comment, "I thought you'd go as far as making me sleep with you."

Ron just watched me for a long moment before replying. "I would have, but you might have disagreed. You get your on bed on the sole reason of no fights between us," he replied carefully.

I nodded, somewhat glad that he had at least thought of it. "Wellâ€I guess we should go down for dinner." I turned towards the door, but Ron caught my arm. I looked up, puzzled.

"'Mione"

My breath caught as he pulled me closer, bent down and captured my lips in a soft, pleasurable kiss. I kissed him back with the same temperament, and enjoyed the sweetness I received. He's just doing this to trick youâ€I gasped and pushed him away, stumbling backwards into the door. You foolish girl, he felt what you felt! I tried to squash the thoughts that swirled in my head, making me dizzy and lightheaded. Or had the kiss done that? "Listen Ron" I began.

"No. No, it's okay Hermione. I shouldn't ofâ€thought ofâ€never mind. Let's go then," he said briskly. He wrenched open the door and stalked out of it, leaving me alone in the room, extremely confused and ready to burst into tears.

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Everything had gone fairly good at dinner. It was extremely good; Mrs. Weasley never missed a chance to show her cooking expertise. Anna had made friends with Molly and Arthur, having climbed up on Arthur's lap when he reclined in the living room after dinner. Ron sat quietly enough, but allowed himself the pleasure of answering Anna's endless questions and shooting smiles at her. Harry and Ginny came right after dinner was over, and, even though they protested, Mrs. Weasley made sure they had ate at least some of the leftovers.

After I had greeted them, spent a bit of time with Anna and chatted with Mrs. Weasley, I retreated to Ron's bedroom, leaving Anna as she learned to play wizard chess. I now lay on my stomach on the cot, an open book in front of me. Staring down at the pages, I realized with a jolt that I had no idea what was going on in it. I hadn't really been reading the book, but the same paragraph over and over again. Chiding myself, I began to read again, swearing to myself that I would at least understand the paragraph.

When the paragraph became a blur of messed up words again, I gave an exasperated sigh and lifted my head. The orange curtains had been pulled back from the window, leaving a dazzling view of the moon. Judging by the outside, it had gotten pretty late. I looked over to where my candle had sat. The flickering flame was almost engulfed by the hot, melted wax. I let go of my room and shoved the heels of my hands in my eyes, rubbing furiously to clear them.

I froze as I heard the bedroom door creak open. Replacing my hands on the book, I turned my head slightly, expecting Anna to be standing there, demanding that she be put to bed. Instead, the tall frame of Ron stood in the doorway. He glanced at me, shut the door and walked briskly to his dresser. I frowned, marked my place in the book, even though it really didn't matter, and set it on the floor.

"Is Anna in bed?" I asked politely. I had to work to keep my voice at its normal pitch since Ron had just pulled off his shirt, showing off the smooth skin of his back, under which the muscles rippled.

He didn't turn to look at me or even pause as he began to pull off his pants to change them into pajama pants. I turned my head; I knew I wouldn't be able to deal with that sight. "Yeahâ€put her to bed myself over an hour ago. She's a bright kidâ€never seen one like her since you. I think she likes me," he said the last part with pride in his voice.

I turned my head once I heard the bedsprings creak. He lay in bed, his arms under his head, watching me. I bit my lip to keep the tears from pouring down. I had been doing that a lot lately. "Why wouldn't she? You're going to be a great dad," I said honestly. My heart gave a twinge, and pain washed through me. He'll be a great dad even if there is no marriage.

"I'll work on it." He shifted and blew out the candle, leaving the room bathed in moonlight. "Night 'Mione," he said softly. I watched as he closed his eyes. The blankets had only been pulled up to his midriff, and I could see his chest quite clearly. I watched as his chest rose up and done with his breathing, although I knew he wasn't asleep, not yet.

"Ron?" I asked quietly.

"Hmmm?"

I smiled at his response. He was obviously incredibly close to sleep. "Iâ€wellâ€I'm sorry for earlier."

There was a pause before he spoke again, but this time his voice was clearer and he didn't seem to be too happy, "right." Just that one word sent a wave of guilt through me that I shuddered.

I shifted, swinging my legs off the cot until my bare feet hit the floor. I watched as they became lit by the eerie moonlight. Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself off the bed, and walked towards Ron. You shouldn't be doing thisâ€yes, this is what you want...no! You idiot! He'll just hurt you againâ€follow your heartI was definitely leaning towards the second set of thoughts. I pushed back the covers and climbed quietly into bed. Ron's eyes popped open as he felt the change in the bed.

"'Mioneâ€whatâ€?"

"Shhh," I replied, placing my finger to his lips to silence him. As I did, I carefully lowered my head to kiss the same lips, and felt my heart expand with the impact. The kiss was sweet, until we both gave away to the hunger and it began to be more hunger drive, as if we had been waiting for this forever. Ron rolled me over so that he lay on top. He pulled away, those same piercing blue eyes boring into my own.

"'Mioneâ€are you sure?" he whispered hoarsely. I took a deep breath, squashed out the thoughts that told me that this was indeed very wrong, and nodded. A smile flickered across his lips as he bent towards me again, capturing me back into the world of sweet promise.

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Hmm...what will happen? What will happen??? Stay tuned

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