****Here's Chapter Four, I hope you guys are still with me! *******

With a yelp, Hermione physically shoved Ron from on top of her, and tried to scramble up.

Ron wasn't having it, however, and he held tight to her waist. The result was Hermione sitting pretty much in Ron's lap cross-legged, with Ron's arms wrapped around her.

She was mortified.

Ron was pissed.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Ron stared up at them incredulously.

Harry scratched his head for a moment, then exchanged a glance with Ginny.

"Ermmm, rescuing you?"

Ron groaned, and his tone came out more sharply than he had intended. "We were doing just fine on our own, Harry."

Ginny snorted. "Oh, yeah, we could tell, Ron. Sorry to interrupt, but we kind of, well, DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU!!!"

Ron gulped, seeing the beginning warning signs indicative of Ginny's infamous temper.

"Just kidding!" Ron hastily assured. "It's, uh, great to see you guys."

Hermione nodded mutely in agreement, then elbowed Ron sharply in his midsection while his attention was diverted. At his indignant yelp, she shook loose from his grip and stood up.

Rolling his eyes, Ron lumbered to his feet as well, but, unlike Hermione, was quite lazy about it.

The four of them eyed each other warily, none sure of where to start.

Ginny ended the silence with a simple statement. "We thought you'd been kidnapped."

Ron eyes widened considerably. "How di-" His voice was cut off by the force of Ginny's body as it barreled into him and held fast. Feeling her shoulders shake and a small amount of wetness on his chest, Ron sighed and held her tight.

"Stop it, now. You'll get me started, and we can't have that. I'm too much a man to cry."

Ginny snorted, wiped her eyes on his front, and ruffled his hair affectionately.

After looking on at the two of them, Harry turned towards Hermione, his arms open in invitation. Giggling softly, she moved into his embrace and they shared a hug.

"All right?" Harry murmured in her ear.

Hermione drew back and grinned at him broadly.

"More than.  Much more."

"Oy, Potter. Get your own girl!"

Harry and Hermione disentangled themselves from each other, and Harry smirked over at Ron.

"So that's how it is, then?"

Ron and Hermione shared a glance, and a blush, before Ron squared his shoulders and met Harry's gaze.

"Yeah, that's how it is."

"About bloody time," muttered Ginny with a grin. Suddenly, she let out a whoop, and began jumping up and down like a loon.

The rest watched in disbelief before the reason for her actions was made clear.

"I WON THE POOL! TWENTY GALLEONS, MINE!!!!"

"Twenty galleons? You were betting on us?" Hermione's hands were suddenly on her hips, a dark expression on her face as she glared at Harry and Ginny in turn.

Harry was suddenly struck by how very much she resembled Mrs. Weasley in that moment.

Ginny grinned at Hermione, still dancing around, before darting in for a hug.

"C'mon now, Hermione. Gryffindor bets on how many points we'll get taken off in a day. Surely you should have known we'd bet on our favorite form of entertainment!"

Hermione only sighed. She really should have expected it.

Ron and Harry clapped each other on the back in a very manly way, that three back pat  maneuver all males mastered minutes after birth.

Ron sighed. "I don't know, Gin. Twenty galleons won't do you much good out here, wherever here is."

By mutual, unspoken agreement, the four of them sank back down onto the sand.

"However did you find us?" Hermione asked, brows knit in confusion.

"Well," Ginny began, "I was across the room when I heard Ron scream your name. The whole of the shop heard, for that matter. Remus and Tonks had just stepped over to the far wall and were, uhm…talking."

Harry interjected, "Ginny and I both ran over at the same time. All we saw was the book, open and laying on the ground. I told Ginny to get help, but-"

"But I knew better than to leave him there, because I was quite certain he'd grab the book and follow you in."

Harry rolled his eyes and nudged Ginny. "So Ginny magicks a parchment explaining what happened, and then grabs my hand and asks me what I'm waiting for."

Ginny snorted. "He tried, rather pathetically, to convince me that it was too dangerous, and I needed to stay to let the Aurors know what had happened, and blah-blah. I knew, however, that Remus was on his way over and that he would never let us go after you. Harry knew it too, so he gave in rather quickly."

Harry shrugged sheepishly. "We both touched the book, and ended up a few miles back that way." Harry pointed behind them. "We started walking and here we are."

"Have you seen anyone, or anything else here?" Hermione cut in.

Harry shook his head in the negative.

Ron filled them in on the barrier he had encountered, as well as their inability to perform magic.  They sat around for a time discussing possible scenarios.

Harry shook his head in puzzlement.  "It doesn't make any sense. If this was really the work of Voldemort, there'd be Death Eaters surrounding us ten deep by now."

"Maybe-" Ginny's shudder cut her own words off. "Maybe they're just waiting for a certain time to strike."

There was a tense and lengthy silence at that statement.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Ron's rough voice broke the moment.

Hermione grinned over at him. "I'll tell you what we'll do. You and Harry will go grab as much dry wood as you can find for a fire and a shelter, and Ginny and I will forage for food."

"Why can't Harry and I find the food?" Ron muttered back. His stomach suddenly grumbled to illustrate his words.

Hermione giggled in response. "Because you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from eating half the food you find before you got back."

Ron groaned good-naturedly, pulled her to him, and gave her a loud, smacking kiss on the cheek.

"Ah, love, you know me so well!"

"Ugh," Harry's face screwed up in mock horror as he took great pains to look away.

"Shut it, Potter."

Harry sent Ron a snappy salute. "Aye, sir! Shutting it, sir!"

They journeyed inward, towards the sparse tree line that grew denser as they went along, finally settling on a nice, slightly elevated spot with a smooth, flat ground that was shaded by large leafed trees all around. Hermione remarked that not only would it help them avoid the sun, but also provide a second level of protection from any precipitation that might fall.

All in agreement, they broke up by gender and entered the forest, but not before Ron's stern warning to the girls not to venture further than a loud shout.

"Whatever you say, Mum!" was Ginny's tart reply.

The twig Ron threw at her head barely missed her.

Ginny managed not to badger Hermione about the scene she had just saw for about five whole minutes.

They had just climbed over a fallen tree log when she blurted out, "Scale of one to ten?"

Hermione shook her head. She'd been waiting for a comment like that. "How can I answer that, Gin? They were first kisses, which you very well know."

Gin snorted. "What Harry and I walked into was most definitely not what usually encompasses a first kiss. Michael stammered something idiotic about it being a nice night and basically tried to suck my lips into his mouth. Points for effort, but certainly not technique."

Hermione wisely choose to concentrate on the first part of Ginny's statement.

"So it's 'Harry and I' now?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You know it's not like that at all."

Hermione gave a yelp as she spotted several cracked coconuts on the ground. Looking up, she was incredibly relieved to see dozens of sizable brown globes attached to the tree leaves.

She gave an experimental push against the base, and when the coconuts refused to fall, Hermione bit her lip in contemplation and judged the height to the food.

"We'll need the boys, I think. Ron should be able to reach it with a boost. In the meantime, let's keep looking for something a little lower to the ground."

Ginny nodded in agreement and they set off again.

"By the way Gin, how exactly did you come to the conclusion that it's not like that?"

Ginny made a face and spontaneously plucked a pretty little flower from the ground, tucking it behind her ear.

"If he wanted to do anything, he'd have done it by now."

Hermione snorted. "This is Harry Potter, the Boy who Doesn't Understand Girls. Michael or Dean might have made a move by now, but Harry? Gin, I've been his friend for almost six years now, and if there is anything that boy doesn't get, it's the female perspective."

Ginny smiled. "I suppose that's true." She passed a second flower to Hermione as they trudged along. Hermione absentmindedly stuck in her hair, then continued listening to Ginny.

"It's just- well, okay, so maybe I realize that he's never blushed so much around me before, or that today he held the door to the bookshop open for me, which he has never, ever done, by the way, and that he's sat next to me at meals, which had to be on purpose, but that could all be just coincidence. Maybe he just wants to get to know me, treat me like Ron does."

"If that were true," Hermione mused, "Then it would stand to reason that Harry would act the same way towards you that he acts towards me, since I really am the closest thing he's got to a sister. And let me tell you, he's certainly never blushed around me, or held doors open for me, or endearingly stuttered my name whenever we ran into each other by the loo in the morning."

Ginny started. "You saw that?" Her tone was more than mortified.

Now Hermione didn't bother to disguise her amusement. "Yes, although I'm sure that his discomfort had nothing at all to do with the little towel you were wearing."

With a whirl, Ginny nudged Hermione hard in her side. "All this time I thought Fred and George had nicked my dressing gown! It was you, wasn't it?"

Hermione let out a deep, belly laugh. "I couldn't help it, I was dared to."

Ginny's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am going to KILL Ronald Weasley."

Hermione tilted her head to the side consideringly. "At least wait until I've had my fill of him, please."

It took even her superior brain a moment to understand why Ginny had practically doubled over in laughter.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and flicked Ginny on her back. "Honestly, you Weasley's and your dirty minds."

Ginny wiped the small bits of wetness at the corners of her eyes and raised her head. Tossing Hermione a sly look, she remarked. "I suggest you get used to it, it's definitely something you'll have to deal with, if you haven't already."

Hermione wisely choose to ignore that half question, half statement, and resumed her search for food.

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Approximately a half hour later, the girls trudged back to the trees where they had set up camp, berries and edible plants pooled together in their shirt fronts. Hermione and Ginny were both ready, willing and fully prepared to make the boys admit that their scavenging abilities were more than adequate.

What they were completely unprepared for, however, was the site of Ronald Arthur Weasley and Harry James Potter, flailing about in the sand and bellowing like wounded bears. Completely starkers.

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Hahaha.

Review, my friends. Next chapter within the week.

Anyone want to guess what happens next? Disclaimer- It's PG13, so there will be no shagging or orgies of any kind. (Ron and Ginny are siblings, you sick people!)