A/N: hey! Okay, so I know I said not to expect the first chapter for a couple weeks, but tonight I just felt inspired to write, and so here it is, the first chapter of my story. Obviously, it's titled 'Do You Believe in Magic?', after a very good song. Plus, it kid of has one of those little puns to it, seeing as how…well, yeah, you all get it. okay, anyway, please tell me what you think!

Lauren

Disclaimer: in a sense, I'm kind of like J.K. hey, it took me this long to put out the next story, and that seemed almost as long as three years…but no, I'm afraid I don't own Harry Potter. Damn. One can always hope for reincarnation though…

Chapter One

Hard to Explain

(or possibly, The World has Turned and Left Me Here)

The sky was a beautiful clear blue, with only a couple of clouds in the miles of space in front of them, and the leaves on the trees were delicately crisp, in a variety of reds, oranges, and yellows. The water was crystalline and shimmering, reflecting the brightness of the midday sun. The ground was covered in plush green grass, perfect for rolling around in. And that's exactly what was going on, just a little down from the lake…

"Ron, you've really got to stop, I think I'm going to lose my breath completely!!" a voice shrieked shrilly in between desperate gasps for air. But it seemed as though this request had been denied, for the shrieking continued, along with unrelenting giggling. An undoubtedly stronger boy—er, man, as he was just over 17 now—continued tackling his poor, helpless victim, until finally even he was out of breath. With one last squeeze, the shrieking stopped, and gave way to heavy panting. The two of them lay down in the grass, both heaving for air as though their lungs would collapse any second, the still ever-so-boyish one with a rogue grin on his face. They laid like this, in silence, for a few minutes, admiring the sky and taking in every bit of the atmosphere as they could as it dawned on them:

This was their very last year at Hogwarts.

After a moment, a still-very-red-in-the-face Hermione propped herself up onto her elbows and looked over at Ron. As she spoke, he mimicked her movement and propped himself upon his own elbows.

"Ron, can you believe it? We're actually…well, we'll be leaving this year…" she said, a hint of sorrow in her voice.

She had good reason to be sad. Well, they both did. After spending what seemed like a lifetime there at Hogwarts, it seemed strange to suddenly leave and enter the real wizarding world. They had gotten so used to being there so much that it seemed that every day would always be like that. Thinking of how much they had grown up over the years brought a mixed expression to Hermione's face; partly in awe, partly upset.

Ron looked at Hermione, then up at the sky again. It hadn't seemed to have fully sunk in until she had mentioned it, and something in the way she said it made it catch in his throat and hit the bottom of his stomach like he had swallowed a large rock. For a moment, he closed his eyes and felt a little bit of a breeze, and unconsciously ran his hands through his fluffy red hair. (At one point, he had made a conscious effort to tame his hair, but after a while he decided not to care so much any more, and so it simply sat on his head in the manner of a cloud.) He sighed and looked back down at Hermione.

"You act like it's the worst thing in the world. Wouldn't you like to go out there, in the real world? I'd like to think it'd be at least a little exciting for you…" he said, trying to cheer her (and himself) up. Although he hardly (and I mean hardly) showed it, he really didn't like much to see Hermione sad, especially about something as, well, seemingly trivial as that. Besides, Ron thought, they still had the whole year left in front of them…

"Well, yes, part of me would very much like to enter the 'real world,' get a job, make a living, and all of that, but the other part of me… the other part of me is really going to miss this. You know, you, me, Harry, Ginny, and everyone else here. It won't ever be quite like this again…how many chances are you going to get to roll around with your best friend in a tickle fight in the grass? I mean…these are the best memories I'll ever have, and it's sad to think that that's what they're going to end up as, just memories…"

Before she knew it, a tear had rolled down her freckled cheek and landed on the grass. As soon as she felt it leave her chin, she wiped it away, embarrassed. She hated getting so emotional over such a seemingly trivial matter, but somehow this time she hadn't been as careful as she usually was.

Ron noticed this, and suddenly realized how vulnerable she seemed. Without thinking, he reached over and took her into his arms, lightly rubbing her shoulder.

"'Mione, there are going to be plenty of wonderful things that will happen in the future that are going to be so amazing, you won't even have time to think back to this…look, you will always have your friends and family, and as long as you have them, you will always be creating more and more memories. Even though we're leaving, doesn't mean you're leaving all those people behind! And besides, there's plenty of parks to have plenty more tickle fights in, trust me. You won't be able to stay away from me very long," he said, stroking the ends of her hair gently as she snuggled her head into his shoulder and chuckled. She felt much better now, hearing Ron's words, but much more so from being in his arms. It had been quite some time since he had held her like that. In fact, he hadn't held her like that since…

Since they had dated, back in 5th year.

Suddenly, the memory of them together took over her mind, and again she was filled with the mixed feeling of admiration and sorrow. Those had been such good times, yet at the same time, disheartening times. Though, looking back, they seemed much more horrible then than they did now. It was very, very hard to understand, let alone explain. If only I hadn't been so stupid, she thought to herself as Ron continued to run his fingers through her hair. If only…

Wanna find out what happened?? Well, first you'll have to review…I know, it's cruel. What can I say?