A/N: Thanks to all my loyal reviewers! I love yourwonderful compliments, and they inspire me to continue writing at my very best (and quickest!). LadySimone123 (you go, girl!), GinnyPoshSpice, kittykatlucky13, Dwarfed Half Elf, MysteryALASKA, EponineWeasley, suckr4romance81789, Lipgloss, Phillyactress, Moonhawkpebbly, Alli-Baby, scubagirl, violet snicket, Stella Blu, TheDaughterofKings, Roncrazychic, ronlover87, aishteru, and xox breezy- I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! Thank you for such great reviews on the last two chapters, and I apologize for not having individual responses for each of you-there's too many. Anyways, enough of my ramblings. As usual, read, review, and above all else, ENJOY! Oh-I offer a sincere apology for sometimes making my characters do things a bit OOC (honest constructive criticism welcomed on this aspect).

"Er, hello," Harry said awkwardly, puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks still evident. Folding his muscular arms, a faint smile gracing his face, he said calmly, "I assume I've walked into the middle of something."

"You got that right," a mortified Ginny managed to squeak from her refuge behind the worn black leather couch.

"Does anyone care to enlighten me?"

Shaken a bit by his, calm, cool, and collected demeanor, considering what had enfolded about fifteen minutes ago between him and a certain Potions Master, I stuttered, "We were just playing a game of truth or dare." 'Either Harry's an excellent actor or he went temporarily deaf during Ginny's confession,' I thought, bewildered.

"Well, may I join in?" he raised an eyebrow, assuming the answer and plopped down cross-legged on the floor. Ginny, who had finally worked up the nerve to crawl out from behind the couch (God knows how she fit there, seeing as she definitely possesses more curves than I) and I shared a quick, confused glance. What on earth had gotten into Harry? Then realization hit me like the attack of flatulence one experiences after eating too many servings of pork 'n' beans. 'Harry's being a gentleman,' I smiled with pride. "He's pretending that this extremely humiliating situation never occurred.' Good ol' Harry. The Boy-Who-Lived was responsible for saving the lives of the Twins-Who-Lived-And-Were-About-To-Be-Murdered-By-Furious-Sister. I almost hoped Ginny would still get her hands on them, however- I count myself very fortunate not to have ever been on the receiving end of one of her Bat-Bogey hexes. You have simply never seen a real temper before until you have watched the towering inferno of Ginevra Weasley in all of her explosive glory. 'Mount Ginny,' I snickered behind a fist. My unladylike snickers unfortunately turned some unwanted attention onto a certain bookish know-it-all cherishing the feel of a certain adorable redhead's strong calve muscles against her back.

"Hermione," George began casually, as his wand was immediately hovering less than two centimeters away from my eyeballs, "Truth or dare?" The evil glint in his dancing blue eyes was daring me to challenge him by stating, "Neither!"

Phft. As if that should have even been addressed as a question. Being held at wand point by a crazy jokester did not leave much room for negotiation on my part. I mentally weighed my options. Dare? Having to snog Ron for ten minutes? Heck yes. Having to share my first kiss in front of my best mate, the two largest gossipers on Diagon Alley, and a chatty Ginevra Weasley? Heck no. As appetizing as devouring Ron's lips whole sounded about right now (naughty thoughts!)¸ I was totally not in the mood for rejection and complete mortification when he would draw back in disgust five seconds into the kiss. It would have to be truth. Maybe I would have a rare stroke of luck and he would ask a question completely unrelated to my love life (or lack thereof). Maybe Professor Snape would also drop down on his knees and proclaim his passionate love for me, and hungrily press his mouth against mine. Fat chance. (At least, I would hope so for the latter- although Severus does have rather nice lips, when they're not twisted up in that cruel little smile of his-however, this good characteristic of him is often overshadowed by his minor character flaws, such as being a major git in the buttocks 24/7. He is one prat I wouldn't mind stuffing down Moaning Myrtle's toilet- provided, of course, that someone had deposited something rather smelly and nasty just minutes before).

"Truth," I sighed dramatically, awaiting the inevitable words and my painful death.

"Do you like our Ronniekins?"

Do I like Ron? Blimey, I love the bloke. However, I wasn't about to blurt that out. I decided to pursue the "Ginny course-of-action."

"Of course I do," I said indignantly. "Ron's a wonderful guy- and one of my best mates!"

Fred let out a highly exasperated sigh and shared a frustrated look with George that clearly meant "Women."

"Not in a platonic way," he cackled. "You, Hermione, the smartest witch at Hogwarts, know exactly what I'm getting at."

Noticing the sea of smirking faces surrounding me, I barely managed to stutter, "I...I plead the fifth." The multiple blank faces that followed my desperate plea made me remember that I was the only one in the room who actually knew or cared about the US Constitution. "Actually, I change to dare," slipped out of my mouth. Fudge nut.

"Fine." George snickered, failing to keep a straight face. "Then snog Ron for five minutes."

Now this would have definitely been the proper place for me to say a handful of very naughty words forbidden by my parents. However, I did have a reputation to withhold: Hermione Granger never, ever swears. So, I did the only thing a mature, confident young witch such as myself would do in a situation like this: turn the brightest red imaginable and get the heck out of there. Only problem was, the door was locked.

"What the" I growled, ferociously kicking the magically sealed door in hopes that my pathetic attempts would somehow break the door open. Instead, I created some long scratches on the ornate wooden door that would make Sirius's old Mum have a conniption. Taking a very deep breath before I exploded, I whirled around to find that even my gal Ginny, my sole confidante (I mean, seriously, how do you talk to guys about tampons?), the one person entrusted with my deepest, dirtiest secret which wasn't going to remain a secret for much longer, was laughing. How immature. How juvenile. Then again, I had chortled at her misfortune before...Logically, it was only fair.

"Boys," I said my voice dripping with sweetness. "Open the door-NOW!"

"Not until you kiss Ron!" Fred, George, and Ginny reminded me in unison.

Rolling my eyes quite dramatically, knowing there was no way out of this (literally) I sauntered over to Ron's perch on the couch.

"You don't have to do this, you know?" Ron barely managed to whisper in my ear as I pulled him up off the couch. And if I thought my face was red- boy, I had nothing on Ron! The infamous Weasley blush extended from the tips of his ears to the bottom of his neck in a fire-engine shade. 'This is it,' I thought anxiously as I tentatively wrapped my arms around his neck. Butterflies started furiously beating their delicate wings in my stomach as he tenderly ran a finger over one of my cheeks. Heart pounding so loudly I am sure the object of my affections could hear it, seeing as his body was almost pressed up against mine, I noticed Ron was visibly shaking. The poor guy was super-nervous. I wasn't much better, though- nearly lightheaded from such close proximity to the about-to-be the object of my kisses. Only in my wonderful daydreams did I ever imagine this happening- Ron and me about to snog- however, this current situation lacked one certain thing was always included in my dreams: his proffession of his undying, passionate love for me. 'Good Lord, his mouth is moving towards mine!' I gasped as he bent his head down (he kinda had to, unless I wished to snog his chin to death instead of those luscious lips!). I closed my eyes in anticipation, wondering why I wasn't feeling the touch of Ron's lips on mine when it remembered that this was my dare- I had to initiate the kiss. 'This predicament gets better every minute,' I groaned- well, not really. I could feel his hot, heavy breath as my mouth hovered only centimeters from his...I could also feel a wonderful tingle spreading throughout my whole body as I ran a hand through his silky locks of red and prepared to kiss the man of my dreams. But, as usual, there's never a dull moment in life around the Weasleys, and I reckon Ron and I had been staring one minute too long in each other's eyes (did I mention he has hints of green mixed in with the blue?).

"Alohomora," an irritated voice incantated as the door finally swung open, revealing an irate Percy Weasley. Ron and I immediately jumped apart, as though we had been scorched.

"Not in the Order long enough," he grumbled. "Report too top-secret for your ears."

"Let me guess," Fred said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"You were kicked out of the meeting too!" George finished a bit triumphantly, smirking.

"Obviously," a disgruntled Percy snapped. "However, I, unlike many other immature wizards running around this house, am going to make productive use of my time. Hermione, would you care to come with me? I have a book on Animagi that I believe will be of great interest to you."

Percevial Ignatius Weasley. My hero. "I'd love to," I said with relief, shooting the twins a murderous glance and following the older, much more mature Weasley to the library.

Percy shut the door behind him and sat primly on an ancient blue armchair that gave off puffs of dust at the contact.

"Though you needed saving, Hermione," he coughed.

"I did," I said with gratitude. "Thanks, Perce."

"Any time, Hermione. Any time. Now, would you care to tell me exactly what unfolded concerning my brothers?" The sparkle in his eye indicated he knew more than he was letting on.

"Your dear brothers thought it would be highly amusing for me to admit my feelings about Ron and snog the heck out of him," I said very quickly, blushing.

"Ah. My ears did hear something to that extent through the door- thick as it may be, it does not completely soundproof the room."

"An eavesdropper, Percy? I'd never thought you'd stoop so low."

Pretending to be offended, Percy said, "You really believe that I am always such a moral, upstanding Ministry official? I do sometimes break the rules. Now, share with me your true feelings on Ron- or else I am afraid I will have to hex you. A pity, really- I would much rather prefer trying this particularly nasty spell on ol' Snape.

My mouth dropped open in awe for more than one reason. First off, that Percy- goody-goody, perfect Percy- actually had knew how to eavesdrop. Secondly, for a man who only ever had one girlfriend (Penelope Clearwater, when he was in the seventh year) he sure knew a cauldronful about how love works- I mean, I am not that obvious about Ron- am I? Finally, and most impressively, the bloke hated that slimy git of a Potions teacher! Percy is no longer my hero- he's my idol!

"Snape? But I thought you worshipped the ground any Hogwarts professor walked on- no matter how prattish they were," I stammered incredulously.

"Frankly, I was a tad bit naïve in my Hogwarts years," Percy answered breezily. "I've learned since then what a complete a Severus is- though he is an excellent spy for the Order," he added grudgingly.

"Well, yes, I do rather fancy your brother," I admitted softly, figuring that if Percy was confiding secrets in me that could very well tarnish his reputation if they leaked out, then I'd have to do the same.

Slipping a companionable, brotherly arm around me he said smugly, "I knew it, Hermione. I can read you like a book. Speaking of books, how's about we browse through those over there?" He pointed to a large, dusty bookshelf overflowing with hundreds of heavy volumes. It was there, in the library, where Harry and Ron found Percy and I two hours later, both submerged in our favorite pastime: reading.

"Meetings over and dinner's ready," Ron said in one breath, the tips of his ears turning red at the sight of yours truly. Heh heh.

I carefully marked my place in "Dark Wizards in the Last Millennium" and slowly rose to my large (size 9) feet.

"Can you move any slower, Mione?" Ron complained, appearing to be nearly keeling over from hunger. Phft. The wizard with the appetite of a Hungarian Horntail. I reckon that bloke eats 10,000 calories a day- and never gains an ounce! Boys have all the luck.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Percy said jovially. "To the kitchen- and nourishment for our weary souls!"

"Mental, that one," Ron confided in an undertone to me. Funny, I could've sworn he said the same thing about me just that very morning...