Disclaimer: Since you all don't want to hear me mope about how I don't own Harry Potter and the other characters in this story I'm just going to stop here.

I believe some thanks must be given out to people who reviewed!

lindsey-31: I just had to add Harry and Luna in this! They are one of my favorite hp couples! thank you so much for taking the time to read this story!

Bucking: Yeah it is a rather quick-paced story but I'm glad you're open to it! Thanks!

Silver Ice: I feel sorry for Ron too! Seamus really is getting in the way. But that's what makes it so interesting to read and write! Thanks for the review!

airhead14: Interesting prediction lol. It's one that might've even crossed my mind. Any who thanks for reviewing!

Sinful Colors: You know you're right it annoys me when I see the little mistakes when reading my story. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

grace: I'm sorry if I sounded sexist! I do not have anything against boys! I love boys! Since my best friends are ones too. On another note thanks a ton for reviewing!

granger23: I love Hermione and Ron together too. I'm really anticipating to see them get-together within the next two books. Thanks so much for the awesome review!

And for those who didn't review but may have read this story...I'm not angry or anything but I must say...I hope you run into Lockhart, Umbridge and Michael Jackson on the street!

LOL ignore my humor. Anyway please read and review my story!

The morning sun leaked through the curtained window of Ron's flat, causing him to flutter his eyelids. The warmth was welcomed on his skin and he snuggled closer to his pillow. He could distinctly hear the buzz of traffic already apparent in the London air. He blinked and rubbed the sides of his head. A heavy headache seemed to be returning to his throbbing head.

He attempted to stretch his legs under the covers when they banged against someone else's legs. His eyes widened for a second before he calmed down. He turned and came face to face with a rather pretty dark-haired lady. She was still asleep and was breathing slowly. Ron yawned. Finding a good-looking witch in his bed was no reason to be alarmed.

Ron considered what Hermione would think if she knew he was here right now with an impossibly sexy witch.

'She'd be indifferent to it,' Ron thought darkly to himself.

He sat up and crunched over his knees. He was wondering who this particular witch was. He looked over his shoulder and crooked his head. She could possibly be a co-worker. She was reminding him of that witch from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Before he had the chance to really determine who the raven-haired beauty was though, she shifted in her sleep and awoke.

"Morning, Ron," she said softly.

"Uh, morning," Ron said a bit anxiously. It would be rather embarrassing if he didn't remember her name soon. The witch sat up and stretched two seductive arms around Ron's bare chest and began to kiss the brim of his neck mercilessly. Ron tried to relax into the mood, but Hermione kept bothering his thoughts. Her face looked oddly disapproving. Argh, why couldn't she just get up and leave his thoughts? Frustrated, he pulled away from the pretty witch who had moved onto nibbling his ear.

"Erm-," Ron desperately tried to think of some common name she was sure to have, "-Amy, I'll be in the shower."

"My name's Gina. Gina Phelps? I work with you," Gina snapped.

"Yes, quite right," Ron continued, "Well, the shower calls."

And, with that, Ron rushed off towards the loo. Once inside, he locked the door and quickly pulled off his boxers. Gina Phelps. He should've known. Well, it was all Hermione's fault anyways. She was always wrecking things for him.

He stepped into the cool shower and let the water slink down his body. It was so refreshing on a hot day like this. Streaking moist buds of water rolling down his skin was oddly therapeutic.

After waiting an extended period of time, Ron left the bathroom, a towel wrapped neatly around his waist. Beads of water were still in his hair. He was disappointed when he noticed Gina was still there.

"What took you so long?" Gina asked. She had dressed now, although it was rather scantily. Her tousled blouse revealed a bit too much breast. Ron didn't like it very much when girls gave away all the juicy goods by under dressing.

"Eh, I'm slow in the mornings," Ron answered truthfully.

"Well, at least you're here now," Gina said, smiling. She flung her arms around his neck and pressed his lips against hers. Ron could feel her hand loosening the knot in his towel. He pulled away.

"Last night was amazing," Gina added happily.

"Err, yeah," Ron lied flatly. He didn't even remember last night. Then again, he hardly remember everybody's birthday.

"Listen, Gina," Ron went on, "I have to get to work you know. I'm on the early shift and all so..."

"Oh, I don't mind waiting here for you. I have the day off," Gina said.

"No, I meant how about you leave just for the time being?" Ron said and he quickly added, after looking at the angry look at Gina's face, "You wouldn't want to stay here in a man's flat, now would you? Here you should go shopping! Get all gussied up for our date tonight, alright?"

Gina grinned, "You are demanding aren't you?"

Ron made an odd sound which Gina obviously took for a laugh.

"Well, then I had best go pick out an outfit from Madame Malkin's. Pick me up at eight," Gina said shortly and she apparated.

"Thank god," Ron gasped, glad to be rid of her. He went over to his cupboard, picked out a box of cereal, and sat down to breakfast. He didn't really have work today, but he was willing to say anything to get away from that vixen for a couple of hours. Maybe he could cancel the date for this evening?

Just as he was spooning the first mouthful of cereal, he noticed a white owl at his window. He streaked over to the window and opened the window cheerfully.

"Hey Hedwig, what have you got for me today?" Ron questioned. Hedwig held out a leg which had a letter tied to it along with a bag. He opened it and gratefully sniffed it. Warm toast and marmalade. How Luna always managed to send him toast and marmalade across London while keeping it warm was beyond him.

He stuffed a piece of toast in his mouth and held it there between his teeth. He unfurled the letter while feeding Hedwig bits of his other few pieces of toast.

Dear Ron,

Hope you enjoy breakfast once again. Have you gotten a present for Ginny's birthday party yet? Make sure you keep her out of the house from five to seven, alright? Take care.

Yours,

Luna

Ron rolled it up again and munched on his toast before placing it on a plate and heading off to grab a quill and parchment. He quickly scribbled back a reply and tied it to Hedwig's leg. She gave a gentle hoot before flying off. Unlike everything else in his life, Hedwig had never changed. She was just as swift, sleek, and beautiful in flight.

Well, one good thing had come from today's letter. And it wasn't just the fact that he'd been reminded of his sister's birthday and now had the time to buy her a proper gift if he hurried, but he also had a reason to cancel on Gina. Now how was he going to get Ginny out of the house for two hours? There was another rapping at the window. The owl that usually delivered him the Daily Prophet was fluttering just outside. He once again opened the window and untied the newspaper. He turned to give the owl the usual Knuts when it swooped away.

"Hey! You're forgetting your payment!" Ron yelled after it. The owl did not pay him any heed. Rather confused he unrolled the newspaper. He was even more confused when a letter slipped off the front page and onto the ground. He kneeled over and picked it up. He tore the envelope open and his eyes met with a tiny neat scrawl that could only ever belong to Hermione. Seeing her writing on a letter addressed to him was enough for him to sink into the chair behind him.

Dear Ron,

I just thought I ought to write to you because I had clearly stated I would. How have you been? I know it might seem like a silly question to ask because I only haven't seen you for two days. How are Harry, Luna, and the rest of your family? If I remember correctly, today is Ginny's birthday. Tell her I wish her a Happy Birthday. I just had a rather wonderful idea. How would you like it if you and I had lunch in Diagon Alley today, my treat? I'm off at twelve. I'm sorry to say Seamus probably won't be joining us as he's got an extremely important business meeting with some wizard about franchising his store. Well, get back to me about the lunch date.

Love,

Hermione

P.S. You need not worry about paying for your newspaper today. It's on the house.

Ron re-read the letter several times before hardly daring to believe it was true. He would be able to spend an entire hour, possibly more, with Hermione without the bother of Seamus being around. She could even help him pick out a darn good gift for Ginny.

He wasted no time in writing his reply.

Dear Hermione,

I'm all right as always. The whole lot is jolly good. As usual you're absolutely right about Ginny's birthday being today. I've forgotten and still got to buy her a present. Am I not a lousy brother? And on the issue of your offer to buy me lunch, I decided to go for it. I mean who could resist having a free lunch with you breathing down my back for not paying? Twelve and Diagon Alley are just dandy for me. And it really is a shame that good old Seamus can't join us.

Ron

P.S. You're just buying me everything today aren't you?

He had wrapped up the letter and headed back to an empty room where he kept his owl, Zeus. He was a black owl with a snowy patch right where a human's chin would be, making it seem as if he had a beard. Ron shortly fed him an owl treat before sending him off.

He couldn't help but feel lightened by Hermione's letter. Every single thing she said to him seemed special. She was special. Someone like her would never go out with someone like him. She deserved some good-looking, smart, nice, well-rounded, hard-to-hate kind of guy and that wasn't him.

'Well, it's definitely not Seamus either,' Ron thought, making himself grin.

With and prospect of meeting Hermione on his mind, he couldn't help but feel temporarily content.

After dressing particularly carefully, Ron flooed off to Diagon Alley. He stepped out of a fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron and saw it filled with its usual crowd. Tom raised his glass as Ron strolled past and as soon as he reached the cobbled street outside, Hermione swooped down on him wearing extra long robes.

"You're late," she said shortly.

"Yeah, I was getting all pretty for you," Ron replied, only half joking, "So where to?"

"Well, I was thinking about this great restaurant down by Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor," Hermione said immediately as if she'd already thought this through before hand, "It's called Port Key to Paradise, have you heard of it?"

Ron scrunched up his face in concentration.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Ron, you don't have to cause yourself to combust," Hermione said crossly.

"And, you don't have to be so prickly," Ron snapped. He glared at Hermione for a moment and she glared right back. In union, their faces cracked into amused smiles.

"So, how have you been for the past three years?" Hermione asked, leading him down the street.

"Alright," Ron answered, "Bit over-worked at times though."

"Why don't you ever take a break?" Hermione suggested, making Ron arch an eyebrow.

"How do you know if I do or don't take a break?" Ron inquired.

"I'm the editor of a highly read newspaper. I know about almost everything that you do seeing as you constantly get yourself into my headlines."

Ron grinned, "So you think you know everything, eh?"

"Course I do," Hermione replied calmly, "I know that you've slept with over half of the woman your age at the Ministry of Magic."

Ron looked taken aback for only a second before returning to his usual state.

"I have needs," Ron joked.

"You are such a gigantic git," Hermione sighed.

"Well, haven't you ever slept with Seamus?" Ron implored. He'd wanted to ask this subtly and had decided it would be easy to sneak into the conversation about now.

"That is none of your business, Ron Weasley," Hermione responded stiffly. Her face took on the impression of Professor McGonagall.

"Will you relax? I was just joking. I knew you'd never answer anyway," Ron said rolling his eyes.

"How would you have guessed that?" Hermione shot at him.

"Well I know you, Hermione, and I just know you would never tell," Ron explained, hoping he didn't seem too fond of her.

"I don't think you do," Hermione said with a hint of frostiness in her voice.

"Don't think I what?" Ron asked, bewildered.

"I don't think you know me anymore," Hermione said and she turned her head to look at him.

"It's not my fault that I don't, is it? You're the one who never answered my letters," Ron said, a hopeless feeling creeping up on him. He hadn't wanted this one-day with Hermione to be ruined by talk of how they had never been in contact.

"Don't you think there was a reason for that?" Hermione grumbled.

"What is that reason?" Ron asked, wishing to get a straight answer.

"Here's the restaurant," Hermione said loudly. She needn't have as Ron had been hanging onto her every word. She had changed the subject so quickly that Ron was mildly surprised. The Port Key to Paradise was just as fantastic a restaurant as Hermione had promised. A widely spread garden with bright wild flowers splashed the entrance to the restaurant. Once inside, Ron saw miniature fountains sprouting different colors of water. It seemed each color that popped up at a certain time caused certain tingling notes to sound. House-elves were serving as waiters and Ron spun around to face Hermione, shock apparent on his face.

"Hermione, you still like this place even though they enslave house-elves?" Ron said incredulously.

"They don't enslave house-elves. Actually, all the house-elves under employment here are paid the average wage a wizard is paid," Hermione answered, "I've made sure of it."

Ron grinned, "Ho, 'Mione, you really can work miracles."

The biggest surprise came when Hermione blushed upon receiving Ron's compliment.

Lunch had been eaten in almost complete silence except for when one of them asked the other about the semantics of their lives. Hermione had been living with Seamus for two years and had worked at the Daily Prophet since she'd graduated from Hogwarts. What annoyed Ron the most when he heard about how she had spent the last three years was how often Seamus came up. He was surprised that they weren't engaged yet. Which reminded him...

"Oi, I'm sure you haven't heard that Harry and Luna are engaged?" Ron said.

"They are?" Hermione's eyes brightened considerably, "That's wonderful!"

"I didn't know you'd be so happy. It's almost as if you're the one that's getting married," Ron teased.

"Of course I'm happy. Harry and Luna are my friends. Well, sort of," Hermione shrugged, "I suppose they hate me now for not keeping in touch?"

"Not at all," Ron lied.

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, well, maybe Harry's a bit grumpy about it, but Luna's perfectly fine" Ron said with a wave of his hand.

"Really? Well, I wish I could see them again" Hermione sighed, her eyes glazing over. She seemed to have a hunger and Ron wanted it to be fed.

"How about you come to Ginny's birthday party tonight?" Ron suggested. Hermione looked hesitant to accept the offer.

"Go on, you'll be my guest," Ron mustered.

"Well, alright," Hermione said, "If Seamus doesn't mind, I'll definitely come."

"Good girl," Ron smiled. Then a frown fell across his face as a dawning comprehension occurred to him.

"Good grief, I need to buy Ginny a present!" Ron said, face whiter than chalk. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Dear Lord, Ron. Come on, we had best head over to the jewellery store," Hermione said sensibly.

"Jewellery?" Ron said blankly, "What would Ginny want with that rubbish?"

Hermione gave him a look of pity before heading off to the jewellery store, not checking to see if Ron was following or not. He was stood beside her outside the door of a very old looking store with the words Rina & Row, every witch's number one choice for fine jewellery since 456 BC painted on the front glass.

Hermione swept in and Ron stood almost fearfully at the door before heading inside himself. As soon as he entered, he had to blink. Bright jewels shone out at him from everywhere.

"This better be quick," Ron muttered.

"Oh, don't worry it will be," Hermione sleekly, "I've been in here plenty of times and I know just the perfect necklace Ginny would adore."

Ron followed Hermione to where she was standing, near a glass casket holding various pieces of jewellery.

"This one," Hermione said, pushing a well-manicured finger up to the glass, "That necklace down there. Wouldn't that be perfect for her?"

It was a silver necklace with clusters of garnets and rubies, placed decoratively on a white gold chain. It would've been just an average necklace had it not been glistening so brightly. Something about it almost gave the impression that a fire was almost burning within the stone.

"Did you know that there are phoenix flames in each of the stones?" Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Will you try it on?" Ron requested. Hemione looked up at him rather surprised.

"Me? Well I don't know...I suppose," Hermione murmured uncertainly. A nearby witch seemed to have heard what they were mumbling about because she bustled over to them and pulled the necklace out from under the glass. She took it off the case and held it out to Hermione, who took it reluctantly.

"Put it on?" Hermione suggested.

"Sure," Ron said nodding. He faced her back as she pulled her hair forwards. Ron could feel his ears redden as her robe drooped down a bit to reveal some skin. He breathed in rather shakily and wrapped the necklace around her. He almost wanted to reach out and caress her skin, which he was positive would be soft. Instead he fought off the urge and fumbled with the clasp on the back of the necklace.

After he spent five minutes attempting to get the tiny hoop through the other thinger Hermione sighed, "Anytime this year Ron."

"Hey, it's not like I help people put on necklaces everyday!" Ron grumbled. It took him approximately eight more tries before it held together on it's own.

"Yes!" Ron cried, lifting a fist into the air in triumph.

"Oh, don't get all smug, it's not like you won the Quidditch World Cup," Hermione said, straightening the necklace, "So how does it look?"

Ron looked at her carefully. The necklace really brought out the best in Hermione. It almost made her skin glow and it complimented her hair and eyes wonderfully. He almost had a wistful feeling inside of him that made him want to buy the necklace for Hermione instead. Then again, if it looked as good on Ginny as it did on Hermione, it would probably be the best gift of the lot.

"I must say, Miss, that necklace looks stunning on you," commented the stout witch behind the counter.

"And what do you think Ron?" Hermione asked seriously.

"You heard the woman, it looks stunning on you," Ron said shortly, ripping his eyes from the necklace and Hermione. He hoped by now his ears weren't too red.

"I'll take it," Ron said, nodding towards the sales witch.

"Perfect," the witch beamed, "Shall I wrap it up or does your girlfriend prefer to wear the necklace home?"

If Ron could've looked at himself in the mirror at that moment, he would've seen a person with a magenta beet for the head with a rather pleased expression playing on their face. Hermione appeared to be almost the same.

"She's not my girlfriend," Ron answered more quickly than he meant to.

The witch raised her eyebrows, "Sister then?"

"No, she's just-just a friend" Ron clarified, trying to be cool and collected as if he found the whole thing funny.

"Oooh, I understand now. Just a friend, huh?" the witch smirked, "I suppose that won't last long if you're buying jewellery together."

"Listen, could you just tell us how much the necklace costs?" Hermione demanded coolly. By now she had taken the necklace off and was handing it over to the witch.

"And wrap it up, it's a birthday present," she added, eyes hugely narrowed. Ron was almost frightened of Hermione bursting into Professor McGonagall.

The witch didn't say anything else other than "Sixteen galleons, please" the rest of the time they were in the shop. It seemed Hermione had scared her too.

'Maybe she's met McGonagall too,' Ron thought to himself. That'd explain lots.

They left the shoppe in silence and continued to stroll down the street. Occasionally they stopped so Hermione could check out things that had caught her interest. Ron enjoyed watching her face light up every time she found something she liked. A book, a quill, some ancient scrolls. He wanted so much to be part of her life that he pretended to be interested in all of it. Even the book about the history of Mexican Wizard Debates.

"Do you know the time Ron?" Hermione asked out of the blue.

"Erm-he checked his watch-It's about five," Ron reported.

"What? You're kidding!" Hermione gasped.

"Nope, I'm not," Ron said, shrugging. He didn't get what the big deal was.

"Ron, you were supposed to be keeping Ginny out of the house about now! Remember when you told me over lunch?" Hermione exclaimed, frustrated. She seemed surprised at his recklessness and quick loss of memory.

"Damn it!" Ron muttered furiously, "I have to-

"Go," Hermione said, smiling almost sadly, "Yeah, I know."

"Then, you'll come to her birthday party?" Ron suggested hopefully, "Even bring Seamus if you have to."

"I guess it would be alright if we came," Hermione said, "As long as everyone else is fine with it?"

"Err-yeah, yeah, they'll find it peachy keen," Ron fibbed quickly, "Well, I have to get to the Leaky Cauldron and floo over to the Burrow. That's where the party is, by the way."

Hermione nodded, "Bye Ron."

Ron stood there for a minute knowing full well that, if he was any later in getting to the Burrow, his mother would hit him over the head with a frying pan. However, Hermione's eyes were so captivating and he loved it when she smiled at him like that. He hesitated once more before sprinting off to the Leaky Cauldron as fast as his legs could carry him.

Author's Note: I wanted to include the birthday party in this chapter but there was just wasn't even room. I don't like over-lengthening my chapters. Anyways I know still not much of what I promised in the summary yet but it will come! Along with a teensy bit of drama. As always I leave you with the words...REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!