Disclaimer: It all belongs to J.K Rowling (lucky dog). I don't own any of the characters although I'd like to own Ron.

A/N: I really appreciate the reviews I've gotten so far. Yes there will be some Harry/Ginny. I like them as a couple so they will definitely get together. By the way I apologize if I use the wrong terms for anything in the story. I'm American so I don't know what the British call certain things. If you have any corrections for me you could leave them in a review (hint hint). All right so on to the story.

Diagon Alley

Walking down Diagon Alley watching the strange people pass by had always been one of my favorite parts of being a witch. I kept peeking over at Ron, who was walking next to me, but every time I did he was either talking to Harry about Quidditch or looking at the random warlock who passed by. Apparently the hug he had given me was nothing more that a platonic friend hug because it seemed Ron was as oblivious to me as ever. Switching my loaded bags of books, parchment, and robes to my left hand I tapped Ron on the shoulder to get his attention. Rather quicker than I had expected he whipped his head around, asked "What?", and flashed me a questioning grin. After a few seconds of stunned silence I realized I hadn't answered him and to my complete horror I felt my face turning red. I told myself to calm down. I mean it was only Ron after all. I had known Ron for seven years now and he was one of my best friends. Breathing in slowly I tried to grasp for what I had been about to ask him.

"Err...Ron I was wondering if you could tell me what's been going on around here? You mentioned the owl post in your letter and I heard some people talking about a law the Minister had passed," I asked in a breathy voice that sounded ridiculous to my ears.

Ron's grin turned to a frown and he motioned for Harry and I to follow him down a small path leading off the main road. The three of us crowded up against a brick wall and Ron checked to make sure none of the other shoppers would notice us. It would be kind of odd to find three teenagers crowded into a dark alley but Ron seemed to think it was for the best.

In a serious voice Ron said, "Harry already knows the story because he's been staying with us for most of the summer. Dumbledore's orders of course. Cornelius Fudge has taken it upon himself to limit the amount of mail getting out of the magical communities. They've outlawed private owls and now you have to go all the way to the Ministry of Magic office to send an owl. Plus any mail coming in from the muggle world has to be checked by the Ministry so I just got all of your letters a few days ago. Only important things like Hogwarts letters and "official" Ministry of Magic business can get out. Dad had to pull quite a few strings so that your letter might even have a chance of getting to you." He stopped to take a deep breath and I thought to myself that this sounded much worse than I had originally thought.

Ron continued to say, "You-Know-Who has been getting stronger by the day. I know you don't get the Daily Prophet so you wouldn't know that he's already killed upwards of twenty people just this summer. Fudge seems to think that stopping the owls will some how keep You-Know-Who from owling his cronies. Bloody idiotic if you ask me. Fudge is a lunatic if he thinks You-Know-Who is going to follow our laws. Dad says it's only a matter of time before he tries to take over Hogwarts. The Order's been working on something to get rid of You-Know-Who but I haven't a clue what it is." Ron looked extremely agitated and Harry didn't look much better.

"Well once we get back to Hogwarts we'll be under Dumbledore's protection. Plus we're older now so maybe we can be of some help to the Order," I said hoping to cheer the two of them up. The two of them nodded their heads but I was sure they wouldn't forget about it that quickly.

Harry smiled slightly and said in a teasing voice, "Yeah but you should have seen Ron this summer. I thought he was going to go bald from worrying about you so much. Everyday it was the same thing. 'I wonder what Hermione's doing' or 'I hope Hermione's okay'. I worried about you too of course but Ron acted like a mother hen."

Looking over at Ron I noticed he had turned a brilliant crimson color and when I smiled at him he looked down at a candy wrapper stuck to his shoe. He mumbled something that sounded a lot like "I'll get you back Potter".

Smiling broadly, Harry said in an amused tone, "I think I'm going to go find Ginny. I need to ask her...uh...what she would suggest for getting ink stains out of robes...yeah."

Afraid of what I might say if I was left alone with Ron I said quickly, "Well we can go with you Harry."

With a quick grin Harry replied, "No you two stay and talk. Ron's wanted to talk to you all summer. Haven't you Ron?" With that he sauntered off back onto Diagon Alley and left me alone with the boy of my dreams. Ron and I stood there for a few seconds before either of us said anything.

Ron started to talk quickly and it took me a minute to figure out what he was rambling about. "Your hair looks nice. Not that it didn't look nice before...but it looks nice now too. I'm not saying that what you look like matters...I mean I'd be friends with you no matter what. Of course I do care what you look like but...er," and with that said Ron trailed off into silence. Grinning madly I steeped over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. Hoping that I hadn't done the wrong thing I kept my arms secured snuggly around him and waited for his response. After a moment he wrapped his arms around me, picked me up off the ground, and squeezed me tight up against his t-shirt clad chest. Grinning madly into his shoulder I thought to myself that this was a good sign. Surely Ron wouldn't talk about me all summer long and not have at least some "more than friend" feelings for me. After a few blissful minutes I felt myself slide back to the ground and I gazed up at Ron's face. I could feel his breath on my face and just as he had started to lean down toward me a loud bang came from Diagon Alley.

We both whipped apart immediately and looked around us in bewilderment. Once we had dashed back onto Diagon Alley the two of us were startled to see a huge crowd had formed a couple feet away and that the air was now saturated with smoke. We pushed our way forward through the startled on-lookers and I couldn't help but laugh at the scene before me. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, were in the center of the crowd and they looked burnt to a crisp. After quitting school they had gone on to establish a wildly successful joke shop in Diagon Alley. The two of them had apparently been trying out one of their new inventions but it didn't look like they had the new toy quite right yet. Grinning I peeped over at Ron who looked as if he wanted to tear his two brothers limb from limb. Puzzled at his reaction I was just about to ask what was the matter when Harry and Ginny came running up.

Ginny grabbed me into a quick hug and before I could protest she started to drag me off to Florean Fortescue's for an ice cream. Looking over my shoulder I saw that Ron and Harry were deep in conversation. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying but all I could manage to catch was the phrase "...it couldn't have been worse timing." Turning back around I started to wonder what he had meant by that but before I could sink too far into my thoughts Ginny and I had arrived at the Ice Cream Parlor.

A/N: I'm really enjoying writing fan fiction. I was a little nervous about it but it's turned out better then I expected. I know this is rated PG-13 but the story probably won't need that rating. There will be some fluffy/romance stuff (which I enjoy writing) soon. The next chapter should be up soon. :)

Lots of Love - Miss Dissendium