For all you Ron/Hermione lovers, you're gonna like this chapter.

Disclaimer: Last time I'm writing it, standard disclaimers apply. For the rest of the story, Harry Potter isn't mine but the story is. The characters aren't but the story line is. Well… it's Bridgette's and mine. Getting annoyed with writing Disclaimer, this is the last.

Harry and Ron had decided that one of them would stay up with Hermione if she wanted to talk. At first they'd both wanted to do it, but they did still have class in the morning. They had kept pretty much the same schedule though, so as long as someone was lucid enough to take notes the other would be fine. Ron had volunteered to stay up with her that night and let Harry get some rest, and so he was sitting with her in the Common Room.

Hermione had her legs gently tucked under her and was staring at the fire. Her arm was gently resting on the sofa's armrest and her chin rested on it gently. She kept glancing at Ron every so often then back at the fire just as quickly.

Ron noticed her not-so-sly glances and turned to her with a small smile. "Something on your mind?" he asked. "You can tell me about it, if you want."

She looked at him. Then sighed. "It's just… I've missed you a lot," she said softly.

"Yeah? Well, I've missed you too," he admitted, flushing. "It was weird not seeing you all summer. I'd gotten rather used to living with you."

She smiled just slightly. "You're really all I was thinking about… I kept thinking about what you were thinking when I didn't return your letters. I found a stack of them, all unopened and hidden when my dad was at work once. I read a few of them and wanted to write to you but he came home before I could. I was so worried you thought I hated you or something."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... um, I was a bit worried you were mad at me. We do fight a lot and I'm always saying something to get you pissed at me." He shrugged helplessly.

She couldn't surpass the small chuckle that escaped. It felt foreign to her and she couldn't help but smile some. "I know we fight a lot, and sometimes, it's my fault. Most of the time it's my fault." Since the summer, she had been treated like everything was her fault so that was how she acted there.

Ron looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Riiight," he drawled out. "So, every time I lose my temper and act like a jealous git I can blame it on you now? C'mon Hermione, you can tell me I'm a dumb bastard sometimes. I'm thick-skinned. I can take it."

Hermione just shook her head and sat up. "No. You're not a dumb b-- Ron, what do you mean 'jealous git'? I mean, why do you act like one?" she suddenly asked.

"Er..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, you know, seeing you all chummy with other blokes can get a bit annoying sometimes." he mumbled.

"Why though?" she asked softly.

He sighed. "I dunno. I mean, I didn't know. But I guess it's because I... um... well, like you a lot. I really like you and…" he bit his lip, already completely embarrassed and not quite sure this was how he'd ever pictured this conversation going.

She just stared at him with wide eyes then took a deep breath. "I... er… I really like you too." She noticed they sounded like immature first years, but was glad to finally get her feelings for him out into the open.

"I'm sorry! I knew you'd say that and so that's why I never told you and... you do? Really? I mean, you aren't just saying that you like me?" He looked at her skeptically, although Harry always said that skeptical was a cute look on him.

Instead of just telling him, she slowly leaned forward and let her lips meet his. It was clear that she was very worried about what he was going to do back but she it didn't stop her; she had wanted to do this for years.

Ron went still and blinked slightly. Hermione was kissing him. Hermione... was kissing him. Hermione was... kissing him. He rather liked the way that sounded in his head, and liked the feel of it more, and kissed her back softly.

Hermione continued the kiss, even though she was worried she would do something wrong.

Ron settled into the kiss, leaning a bit closer to her, moving his lips gently over hers. He'd never thought he'd ever actually get to kiss her. He'd imagined it more times than he could count, but to actually have his hands resting lightly on her shoulders with their mouths melded was something he'd figured would always be a dream and nothing more.

Her hands slowly slipped around his neck as she continued. Slowly, her tongue slipped out and ran against his lips gently.

He parted them, touching the tip of his tongue to hers as it found it's way into his mouth.

She began to run her tongue gently around his while gazing up at him.

His eyes had slid shut some time ago, but he felt her gaze on him and leaned back, breath choppy and heavy, but he was more content than he'd been in a long time.

Hermione smiled at him, her breath a bit uneven. After a short moment, she uneasily asked, "Was that your first kiss?" She knew she was being nosy but was wondering.

"Er, yeah," he admitted. "I mean, kissed Lavender once, but it was nothing like that. Just a peck really. So... yes and no?"

She smiled and then sighed. "Wish that was my first kiss," she whispered and then suddenly covered her mouth like she didn't want him to hear that.

He smiled at her. "Well, it can be. On a technicality. You can always say, 'Well, technically my first kiss was with Ron Weasley because...' er, well, I'll leave that bit up to you."

She muttered something under her breath that sounded like 'Because the other one was forced.' She looked away with a small sigh.

He frowned. "Do I really want to know who forced it?" he asked.

She sighed. "It was... just some guy that my dad was trying to get some money from. The guy's son seemed to fancy me so my father forced me to do anything the kid wanted or I was going to hurt and then forced..." her voice went quieter as she continued to talk.

His frown deepened. "I shoulda killed him this morning," he muttered. "Did this guy... did he force you to anything but kiss him?"

She was about ready to speak but then whispered, "You don't want to k-know..." her voice was starting to break with each following word.

Ron sighed and took her into his arms. "You can tell me whenever you feel ready," he said.

"Promise not to get mad?" she asked softly.

"Yeah." he said, though he knew he probably would. He'd just keep it from her, that was all. Be supportive and not angry.

She gave a small sigh and said, "He er… made me… erm…" A few months ago, she would have been called prude and now she was telling him something that made her far from it. "He… made me give him a…" she quickly mouthed, 'blow job,' and sighed, letting her head fall back so she looked up at the ceiling. She didn't want to start crying again.

"Bloody git," he muttered, the words a good deal milder than what he was really thinking. "I'm sorry, Hermione. But... it doesn't really count." God, he sounded stupid. "Mum always says that, um, for it to count you have to be willing. So you're not a scarlet woman if that's what you're thinking."

She sighed and leaned back. After a moment, she looked up at him. "Oh yeah. And I kissed Viktor."

"Aw. Did you kiss Vicky?" he asked with a teasing lilt. He smiled. "Well, I guess that's all right. If he didn't force you."

She rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't force me… he more or less worshiped me… sort of glad I caught him kissing that other girl over the summer before last," she said then sort of regretted saying that. She was glad they got off of the subject of her father and the guy, but was sort of regretting being on the subject of Viktor.

"Always knew he was a faithless git." Ron said a bit pompously. "You're well off it, Hermione. And anyway, you have me now. I can worship you too." He grinned at her. "Though," he added. "Maybe not as well as he can. I mean, all that studying kind of worries me, you know? Bet he thought it was brilliant, good ol' Vicky."

Hermione shrugged. "You know… I don't think I'm going to study as hard as I used to," she said softly, and looked away so she wouldn't see his stares of confusion.

"Er... you know, as nice as it is to imagine days and nights not filled with note-taking, you sure you can handle that? You just won't be Hermione if you're not running around comparing notes with Ravenclaws and telling me and Harry to do our homework."

Hermione looked at him for a moment then shrugged. "But after what happened during the summer, I mean, I don't really care about school that much… I'd rather just be around people that I care about than be behind a stack of books bigger than me." She knew she was still going to study but not as hard as normal.

He smiled. "Well, that certainly sounds like a nice way to go about things. I, for one, will enjoy it very much."

She blushed a bit and smiled.

He tightened his hold on her and kissed the top of her head, content with the silence that settled over them.

She leaned to gently kiss his neck with a small smile and closed her eyes, feeling very happy.

Harry made sure to wake himself up early the next morning, and by the time he'd tied the laces of his trainers Seamus had barely started to toss and turn in a manner that suggested he was about to wake up. Grabbing his book bag he made his way into the Common Room to see Ron and Hermione curled around each other on the couch. He smiled a bit, since they looked rather cute that way, but he was jealous as well. Still, he managed to walk over without letting that show. "You'd both better wake up," he said, shaking them gently. "And get ready so we can grab breakfast."

Hermione gave a groan as she buried her head in the crook of Ron's neck. "Five more minutes…" she muttered tiredly without even thinking.

"Now, now," Harry said with a grin at Hermione's reaction and Ron's complete lack of one. "Wouldn't want to be late to class today. And besides, we haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday." What with all the stress they had completely forgotten about dinner and lunch.

"No class," she groaned tiredly and tried to fall back asleep. Ron and Hermione had stayed up late, talking about simple things and had finally exhausted themselves into sleep just a few hours before then. "Three more minutes," she said tiredly. It seemed like she was going to negotiate how much longer until she woke up, even though she was technically up.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll just grab something and bring up here, how's that? Seamus'll never let you live this down though. And Colin will snap tons of pictures and Ginny will have a party."

"Argh, don't even joke about that," Ron said groggily.

"Who's joking?" Harry shot back before leaving the Common Room.

Hermione didn't reply as she was sleeping again for the time being. Most of the Gryffindor girls knew not to wake her because usually, if she didn't have enough sleep or it was a weekend, she's jinx them. Luckily for Harry, her wand wasn't near her and she was too comfortable to do anything anyways.

Ron, for his part, didn't feel like moving again ever. He was still tired and besides, Hermione was really comfortable curled against his chest. He could have slept with her in his arms all day. Of course, there were still the other occupants of Gryffindor Tower to contend with... but he was really comfortable... well, he'd just sleep on it.

Hermione slept for a little while until she suddenly awoke to the sounds of snickering. Slowly opening her eyes, she groaned and saw Ginny laughing quietly but looking happy.

Ron, who was quite used to Ginny's laughs waking him up, simply tightened his hold on Hermione and mumbled something that sounded like, 'the toast is in the oven'.

Hermione looked at Ginny tiredly and groaned, trying to go back to sleep. But the fact that Ginny was sitting there, watching them, was sort of unnerving her.

Ron felt Hermione sit up in his arms and forced himself awake. "What's goin' on?" he asked groggily. "I thought Harry was gonna let us sleep longer."

"He did. It's been two hours," Ginny said as she sat in a chair, reading over a book. She had the hour free so she had come to check on Hermione and Ron. Both had been excused for up till the following Monday from classes if they really needed it, so the teachers weren't fretting over them being gone.

Hermione sighed and then saw food Harry had brought up for them and took a piece of bacon, quickly eating it.

"Well, where's he gone off to then?" Ron asked, rubbing the back of his hand across his eyes. "Figures this whole world's upside down... Harry's off studying and Hermione's sleeping in..."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "He went to class. Said it'd be hopeless to wake you two up." After a short pause, she raised a brow. "Now, question. Why did you two sleep there all night?" she asked with a small grin.

Hermione was slowly feeling comfortable in talking to others but really did not want to tell Ginny, as she knew that she'd automatically think more happened.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Bet you'd like to know," he said with a teasing grin, helping himself to the food Hermione was quickly polishing off.

"Yes I would. Tell me," Ginny said with a small pout.

Hermione ate less than a quarter of the food that was there before she sat back, feeling more than full.

Ron continued eating, sometimes throwing Ginny hints at what had happened, but always laughing and saying, "You're so gullible. Of course that's not what happened."

Ginny finally glared at him and threw the book down in the chair and stormed off to her room.

Hermione couldn't help but smile at Ron softly.

"She's easy to get rid of when you've spent nearly seventeen years doing it," he said with an answering grin.

Hermione smiled softly. "You know… I wasn't really that scared with her near me," she whispered then looked up at Ron. "Did I really make her loose a few teeth?" She had overheard it but everything was fuzzy from when she was on the train.

Ron coughed. "Er, I'm pretty sure Draco lost most of the teeth," he said slowly.

Hermione blinked. "Wait… from Ginny, right?" she could only remember in hitting Ginny, Seamus and Neville but wasn't entirely sure.

"Yeah." Ron grinned widely. "She's an absolute goddess for a Weasley," he said. "Taking on Draco like that will ensure her a place in history books."

Hermione chuckled then gave a sigh. "Wish I could remember it… everything's really fuzzy."

"I bet," he said wryly. "I wish I could have seen more of it. Hell, I wish I could have captured it. Like, on one of those Muggle things? You know, that decord stuff?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "Recorders… video recorders. Your knowledge of Muggle appliances really does amaze me."

He made a face. "Yes, so you say. Anyway, how about we at least get dressed? Lunch is in a few hours, and it'll take me about that long to get off this couch. Better get started."

Hermione smiled and slowly moved away from him, pushing herself off of the couch. She made a mental note to fall asleep as early as she possibly could that night as she yawned softly.

Ron followed her up, a bit stiffly, and then made his way up to the dorms. He always felt... icky after going more than a day without a shower and now was no different. After that, maybe he'd go back to sleep.

Hermione headed up to her room slowly. Once inside, she changed and then looked in the mirror. After brushing her hair, she looked over it with a sigh and grabbed some scissors.

Ron, after a long hot shower and fresh clothes, was feeling decidedly more awake. He was also very happy. No classes, just him and Hermione all day. Yes, he was very happy indeed as he made his way back down to the Common Room.

Hermione came out of her room a moment later, looking down at the ground as she walked down the stairs. She was nervous about what Ron was going to say as her hair was now straightened, and had a decent had cut but was now only about a half inch above her shoulders.

Ron, who had just plopped down on the couch, heard Hermione come in and looked up. "So, what do you want to do now?" He paused for a moment. "Um, stupid question I know, but what'd you do to your hair?"

She looked up and sighed. "I know it looks terrible," It looked positively great compared to before, but she was really scared of what people would say. "I didn't like how it looked… and it was so uneven. I had to cut a lot off to get it even and then it was so short so I just straightened it."

"No, it looks great," Ron said quickly. "Just didn't expect it, that's all."

She shook her head. "It looks terrible but at least it feels better," she said as she sat next to him.

"Nah, it doesn't," he said, knowing she'd probably shake her head again. "But as long as you feel better, that's all that matters, yeah?"

"Not if you and Harry are going to hate it," she said softly and quietly.

"I don't. And Harry won't. Harry hates Death Eaters and dark magic, not haircuts," he said with a small smile.

She smiled a bit. "Well… there's a first time for everything."

Harry left Divinations with a prediction looming over his head that he could have lived without. Ever since fifth year, Trelawney had taken to telling him what a wonderful life he was going to have and today was no different. But he could have done without being told he would have nine children because certain stars were aligned to ensure the fertility of him and his future wife. Seamus would never let him live this down.

Hermione was waiting in the Great Hall for Harry and was eating some lunch, not really all together hungry. A few stares were shot at her because of her new hairstyle but the only one she cared about was Harry. Nervously, she continued eating her lunch.

Ron looked up as Harry approached and sat down across from his two best friends. "So, notice anything different?"

Harry nodded with a smile. "It looks great, Hermione," he said. "I mean, not that you didn't look good before..."

"Watch out, mate," Ron said with a grin. "You're starting to sound like me when I'm nervous."

Hermione smiled slightly. "Thanks but it looks terrible."

"Doesn't," Harry said. "But I won't argue with you. You're as stubborn as Ron, you know."

"And you're not?" Ron demanded.

Harry just shrugged and tossed him a wink.

Hermione smiled some. "So… er… I think I'm going to go to class today." The only class she had after lunch was double Potions but she didn't want to miss it, as she didn't know if she could even catch up as it was.

"Well, I'll be there so you don't have worry about being alone with Malfoy and Parkinson," Harry said with a smile. Potions wasn't so bad though, nowadays. Now that the class was smaller and consisted of several other students from all houses, there was very little to hate about it. Save the fact it was Potions. And taught by Snape.

Ron mumbled under his breath and took a gulp of Pumpkin Juice that he nearly choked on. He was still sore about his OWLs not being high enough to be able to properly snub his nose at Potions.

She gave a small smile at Ron. "It isn't like you're missing anything Ron, except for Snape or Draco… which sort of makes me wish I had dropped it." She sighed then suddenly looked at Harry. "I've been meaning to ask, what exactly did Draco do to get Ginny to attack him?" No one had told her yet except for that Ginny beat Draco up and then was attacked by Crabbe and Goyle.

He shrugged. "Oh, you know, the usual."

"Yeah," Ron added. "Said you deserved what you got and since Harry and I were indisposed, Ginny jumped him. Bloody brilliant's what it was," he said, his face taking on a wistful expression.

Hermione smiled. "Really do wish I could remember…" she said softly. "Oh well… not like I really care." She did but she wasn't willing to let them know.

They nodded, looking a bit skeptical but deciding eating a better prospect than talking. Especially Ron, who was starving, having only eaten two breakfasts and lunch in two days.

Hermione finished and took a book out of her pocket, starting to read it. It was a bit tattered and had what appeared to be blood on a few pages but she just flipped to the page she had left off on.

"Only you would read in the middle of lunch," Ron declared. "What is it, anyway?"

"Just a book that I wanted to read over summer. Managed to read about half of it during the beginning…" by the tone of her voice, it was like she was going to continue but chose not to.

They could both figure out what beginning she was referring to, though, and didn't press the issue.

After about 5 pages, she started to rip pages out and finished after about half were out, like she was incredibly annoyed at it.

They shared a look. "Er, Hermione, what's wrong?" Ron asked slowly.

She shook her head. "I'm not going to read it. I can't... k-keeps making me… just..." she put her elbows onto the table and then rested her face into her hands. After a moment, she took her hands away and pulled out her wand, then muttered a spell that levitated the pieces of paper then lit them on fire. She managed to get her arm close enough to where her sleeve caught fire and before she quickly put it out, her arm was burned in the process. "Damnit." With another mutter of a spell, the newly burned ashes were back on the table and in a little pile on some dirty dishes. Pulling up her sleeve, she looked at the burn that was extremely bad but it didn't even seem to hurt her. Luckily for her, the teachers had already left since lunch was almost over with so no one caught her lighting the papers.

Ron looked at her with wide eyes. "You need to get that looked at," he said. "That's a nasty burn."

Hermione shrugged and lowered her sleeve back down then looked out the window. "Doesn't hurt. Guess I'm used to getting burned." she suddenly wished she hadn't said that because she remembered that she hadn't told them about why her legs had been burned everywhere.

"Hermione... are you sure?" Harry asked. "I mean, it could get infected." He didn't need to ask if her father had burned her as well. It seemed he'd done all forms of torture he could think of and she didn't look like she wanted to talk about it.

"It'll heal. I've already caused a lot of trouble. Not going to cause any more," she said simply.

"Madam Pomfrey won't care if you go to her with a burn, you know," Harry said. "But if you want I can see about getting a salve or something before dinner."

"It's fine!" she suddenly said then sighed and looked down. "Sorry." She really thought she was annoying everyone with her wounds and she wanted to stop.

Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "It's fine. Are you sure you want to go to class today, though? Will you be alright?"

She gave a nod. "I'll be fine… just a bit jumpy probably."

Well… there you go. This story will be, from now on, updated every 4 days after I add the next chapter. So… since it's Monday, then Tuesday (1), Wednesday (2), Thursday (3), and Friday (4).

Hope you liked. And there's another pairing coming up in the next chapter, along with mayhem and long friendships being broken. So I hope you'll enjoy 'Chapter 5: Any Action Can Break Even The Longest and Tightest of Friendships'