Chapter 9

"So, how was it?" Ron asked.

He and Harry were in their dormitory, getting their shoes on. It was early in the morning, and they were getting ready to go down for breakfast.

"How was what?" Harry asked, though he knew very well what 'it' was.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Your date with Ginny, what happened?"

Harry sighed. "Uh, right. Well…I dunno. It was horrible. I felt like I was going to die of embarrassment."

Ron pretended to look shocked. "You? Harry Potter? Get embarrassed on a date?"

"Shove off."

Ron laughed. "Just joking, mate. So, what went wrong?"

"Everything. I mean, it was going great the first half of the date, but then..." Harry cleared his throat. "I took her to Madam Puddifoot's." he mumbled.

Ron's eyes widened. "You took here there?!"

"Yeah. Nothing happened, though, it was just so weird. Sitting there, trying to drink you tea when everyone else in the café was snogging."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "I bet." He stood up. "And did you kiss her?"

Harry stood up too. "Er, yeah. At the very end."

"Heh, finally!" He raised his hand for a high five. Harry smiled and slapped his hand.

"You're okay with it?" Harry asked. He was expecting Ron to throw a fit or something.

'Well, it's only you, right? I know you wouldn't do anything…erm…" Ron cleared his throat. "Let's go down to breakfast."

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Hermione and Ginny were already at the table. Hermione was spreading jam over her piece of bread when an owl fluttered down by the table and set a letter at the end of her plate.

Ginny swallowed her pancakes. "Who's that from?" she asked.

Hermione frowned. She picked up the envelope and turned it around. "It has no address or anything." She started to peel open the side.

"Wait, Hermione, don't open it!" Ron came in behind Hermione and snatched the letter from her. Harry sat down on the other side.

Hermione sighed. "Ronald, may I have my letter back?"

Ron frowned. "I want to be the first one to open it."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Well, it's got nothing on it, right? You can't trust a letter from no one…I want to check and make sure it's ok." He started to open it, but Harry stopped him.

"You know what, if this letter does have something…erm…dangerous in it, than I don't think anyone should have to get hurt from it."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why would there be something dangerous in it?"

Ron stared at her. "Hello? Someone's only been trying to kill you all school year!"

She sighed. Harry set the letter down in the middle of the table. He took out his wand, and pointed it at the letter. Slowly, the seal was undone, and the envelope lay open on the table.

Ron smiled. "There's nothing in there." He started to pick it up, but quickly dropped it when the end of it burst in flame.

Down the table, Seamus gasped. "Ron, Harry, put it out!" he yelled. The entire Gryffindor table looked over and started to panic.

"Neville, hand me that pitcher of water!" Hermione screamed. The entire envelope was on fire now, and the table was starting to burn.

Quickly, Neville lifted the pitcher and threw the water over the fire. It sputtered and was put out, but a long, black stain was left on the table.

Ron sighed. "See, Hermione! See what's happening? Someone's out to get you!" He threw down his napkin in anger.

Hermione's eyes teared up. "But…why? What have I done?"

"I don't know." Ron looked at her, and scooted over. "But I'm gonna find out who's doing it. From now on, Hermione, I don't want you to open any envelopes and I don't want you to walk around alone. Alright?"

Hermione sighed. "Ok." She picked up her fork and played with her food.

Ginny bit her lip. "You know, I'm not really hungry." She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I think I'll go outside. See you guys later." She started towards the door.

Ron watched Ginny leave, then punched Harry in the arm.

"Ouch!" Harry rubbed his arm. "What was that for?"

"Go be a boyfriend, Harry. Follow her."

Harry sighed. "We're not…I don't think she considers us more than good friends."

Ron rolled his eyes. "A kiss usually means she thinks you're more than a good friend."

Hermione gasped and laughed. "You kissed her!"

"Go, Harry." Ron pushed him off the bench.

Harry sighed and picked up his books. He headed outside and looked around for Ginny. Taking a few steps, he saw a long bit of ginger hair waving in the wind behind a tree. Smiling and mussing up his hair, he walked toward the tree.

He stopped, however, a few feet away when he heard Ginny's sniffles and cries coming from behind the trunk. Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps and looked at Ginny. Her legs were pressed against her chest, and she was whimpering softly while looking out on the lake. Tears were falling slowly down her cheeks, but she let them fall. Harry saw a small piece of paper clutched in her hand.

"Um, Ginny?" Harry said quietly.

Ginny looked up. "Harry!" She wiped her eyes and stuffed the paper in her hand into her bag.

Harry sat down next to her and smiled. "I'm always catching you when you're upset."

Ginny smiled. "I'm sorry, Harry. I better go." She started to pick up her things, but Harry stopped her.

He laughed. "Ginny, what the heck is wrong? And I know how to tell when you lie, so you better not say nothing."

Ginny sighed. "Harry…I dunno. I mean, I know what's wrong, but I don't know. I don't know if I can tell you…yet."

"What, am I not good enough to know?" He asked teasingly.

Ginny smiled. "No, Harry, you're a really good friend, it's just-"

Harry sighed a smile. "So, I'm just a friend to you."

"No, I didn't mean…" Ginny bit her lip. They both sat awkwardly on the grass for a minute. "Are we just friend?" Ginny asked bravely.

Harry looked up at her tear-stained cheeks. "Um…well, I dunno."

Ginny laughed briefly. "This is too weird…"

Harry looked back down at his knees. He was about to say something, when he suddenly felt Ginny's lips being pressed on his own. His eyes widened as he looked at her, and his heart started beating faster again. After a moment, he closed his eyes and kissed her back.

Ginny took her lips from Harry's and turned away. "Um…" she said hesitantly. "Yeah…does that answer your question?" She laughed nervously as she kicked herself inside. That was the cheesiest line ever.

"Uh…" Harry rubbed his tongue over his teeth.

Ginny picked her things up. "I gotta go...I'll see you later."

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Hermione knocked on the door to Ron's dormitory. He had asked her to meet her there during lunch, and she wanted to see him, anyway.

"Is it you, 'Mione?" She heard Ron call from behind the door.

"Yeah," she said back.

"Okay, come in." Hermione pushed the door open and saw Ron on his bed, with a piece of parchment and a quill in his hand. She scrunched her eyes and tried to see what was on the paper.

"Could you close the door while you're up?" Ron asked. Hermione shut the door and sat down on Ron's bed.

She picked up an ink bottle and tried to look at the paper. "What are you doing, Ron?"

"I'm making a list." He bit his lip, then scratched a word off the paper.

"Of what?" she asked.

"I'm trying to figure out who's sending you all these anonymous letters and things." He moved over to show Hermione his list. "I've only got two people down right now, but I've got Draco Malfoy. You know, he's just a stupid git and would do anything to hurt muggleborns."

Hermione wrinkled her brow and took the list from Ron's hand. "And Viktor Krum?" She laughed. "Ronald, me and Victor are over! When is this jealousy thing gonna go away?"

Ron's face scrunched up and he took the list back. "I'm not jealous."

Hermione smiled. "Yeah, you are."

"He could be sending this stuff to you! Y'know, maybe…maybe now he's the one who's jealous!"

Hermione sighed. "Alright, alright."

Ron dipped his quill in his ink. "I was also thinking, maybe Dean's getting back at Ginny through you."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Well, maybe he's so mad at Ginny, he's doing things to you, which he knows would make me mad…and maybe he thinks making me mad will make Ginny…mad?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and took Ron's things off his bed.

"Hermione, what are you doing?"

"I'm not really in the mood to talk about who is or isn't out to get me."

"Well…" Ron sighed. "What do you want to do, then?"

Hermione smiled and bit her lip. She took out her wand and put a silencing spell around his bed and drew the curtains. She pushed Ron down on the bed, and kissed him roughly on the lips.

Ron's eyebrows raised. "What happened to Miss We-Can't-Snog-Because-We-Have-To-Study-And-Prepare-For-The-Real-World?"

Hermione smiled and slipped Ron's shirt over his head. She felt Ron tug her shirt over her head, and unhooked her bra. He kissed her chest, and Hermione rubbed his stomach. They held each other's faces, pressing their tongues together and crossing their legs over each other's.

Ron felt his pants sliding off, and saw Hermione pulling on it with her feet. She pushed it off the bed, and started to rub him.

Ron closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt her finger dipping into the waist of his boxers, and to his surprise, felt it also being pulled off, so that he was completely unclothed.

"Hermione," he whispered. It was the first time Hermione had seen him…well, completely naked. It was the first time she had seen any boy completely naked, and she stopped for a moment to take it in.

Hermione bit her lip and moved down toward his legs. Ron was confused for a moment, before he realized what Hermione was going to do. His eyes widened, but Hermione had him in her mouth before he could do anything.

Ron was going to stop her, but he felt so good, and it was so unbelievably nice, he didn't want her to stop, ever. He couldn't think about anything but how great Hermione was. He started to feel faint, and he was breathing deeply. But he could feel himself starting…

"'Mione, stop," he said quickly. She didn't stop, but she looked up. "Hermione…Hermione!" She looked at his face and figured it out, and she let him go just in time. He turned a bright red and tried to clean it up. She smiled and kissed his cheek. Ron blinked and blew his shaggy bangs out of his eyes, avoiding Hermione.

"Ron…hello?" she said in a joking way. "What? You didn't like that?"

"No, no…that was…um, that was great." He turned an even deeper shade of red. "I mean-"

"It's okay, Ron, you don't have to get embarrassed." She smiled and kissed his lips, prying them open with her tongue.

He shifted under her, and she pressed her lips hard against his. Ron continued to kiss her, but he started to tug at the hem of her skirt at the same time.

Hermione rolled onto the bed and turned away.

"Hermione, this isn't fair…" he said and laughed. Hermione smiled. "I know…but…"

Ron reached down again, but this time, Hermione closed her eyes and let him. She took a deep breath as she felt the smooth cotton fall down her legs and off her ankles.

Ron slipped his hands between Hermione's legs and rubbed her thighs. Hermione's eyes shut tight as she felt his fingers brush against her. Ron felt her tense up when he touched her.

He kissed her neck. "S'okay." Hermione took a trembling breath and tried to relax. He slowly started to move his fingers into her. She took a sharp breath and her eyes shut again, and she tensed up. Ron, trying to calm her down, kissed her softly and whispered, telling her not to worry. Hermione shuddered, and he took his fingers out of her. She closed her eyes and smiled, and they kissed again, softly.

Ron stopped and sighed. "Hermione…I love you."

Hermione looked at him, eyebrows raised. Her eyes were filled with tears. Ron had never said that to her, and he said it so seriously, that Hermione was melting inside.

"Ron, I love you too."

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Ginny clutched her books to her chest and stood outside the hospital wing. Taking a deep breath, she pushed down on the handle and opened the door.

Inside, Madam Pomfrey looked up from a potion she was pouring. "Hello, Ginny."

Ginny looked up at her. "Um, hello, Madam."

Madam Pomfrey placed her potion in a small tube and put it in a drawer. She placed her hands on her hips and walked over. "What can I do for you, Miss Weasley?"

"Erm…I want to ask you a question." Ginny walked in and sat on the edge of one of the beds. She bit her lip, thankful that no one was in the hospital wing, still clutching her books.

"Okay, what is it?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

Ginny held back tears that were itching to fall. Blinking rapidly, she looked straight out the window as her lip started to quiver.

Madam Pomfrey looked up. Looking concerned, she walked over by Ginny and stood by her. "Miss Weasley, what's wrong?"

Ginny started crying again. She wiped her tears away with her sleeve, shoulders heaving heavily. Madam Pomfrey took out a tissue and handed it to her. Ginny wiped her nose, and continued to cry.

Madam Pomfrey stood by her, waiting for Ginny to finish her cry. As soon as it started to turn to a soft whimper, Madam Pomfrey lifted Ginny's chin up.

"All right, Ginny, now what's bothering you?" she asked quietly.

Ginny sniffled. "Madam…how do I know if…" Ginny took a deep breath, and her lips trembled as she muttered her next words. "What do I do…if I think I'm pregnant?"

A/N: I am so, so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I just got out of school for the winter break, but for the past two weeks I've been studying and cramming and stressing over exams. But they're finally over! With Christmas, and my birthday, and New Year's coming up, I'm sorry if I haven't been updating. I know when I'm in the middle of a fanfic and the author doesn't update for a while, I'm not too happy, but I hope you'll understand and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry for mistakes. But please, REVIEW! I really need feedback on my stories, so review every chapter if you can! :) Thanks.