A/N: Thanks to my fantastic reviewers: smikies, Lavender Brown 17, LadySimone123, Lara Potter, I AM EOWYN, Ellie, MysteryALASKA, Alli-Baby, trixie009, Loku, woohoo, TheDaughterOfKings, Lipgloss, suckr4romance81789, reviewer 39, AmyChris, kitotterkat, Miss Court-A-Doo, Bella, goblin monkey, N.C. PysChick, aishteru, Pauly-85, and last, but certainly not least, milky way bar (terrible sorry if I happened to forget anyone :-). Twenty-four reviews on this chapter- WOW! It makes me feel very special. THANKS A THOUSAND TIMES to each of you wonderful, magnificent readers. Now I present to you...chapter eight! I was experiencing a writer's block for most of the week, but inspiration finally struck and now I simply can't wait to start writing chapter nine! You have a fair amount of chapters left in this story, my dear readers- I have no intention of finishing it anytime soon! Thanks to those reviewers who gave advice on how many more chapters I should have- 4 or 5 seems reasonable! As always, read, review, and enjoy! A huge, mouthwatering Hershey's chocolate bar to each person who reviews!
Ron slumped on his bed, wrinkling his Quidditch pajamas (Golden Snitches flew over every few inches of the blue cotton material) and buried his face into his hands.
"I believe Ron doesn't feel comfortable discussing this," Ginny smirked, throwing a significant glance Harry's way.
"Ronald," I snapped. "This will only make it look like we actually did something...Merlin, it's nothing to be ashamed of!"
"Hermione's right," Ginny said sweetly, a wicked smile gracing her face. "Mating is a natural, healthy, normal action for a man and a woman who love each other dearly to share."
"Ginny," I said through clenched teeth, feeling the color rise on my cheeks, "Ron and I didn't mate!"
"Sorry," my git of a best friend grinned innocently. "It was just an assumption I made when you said that you saw Ron's bare chest!"
"Has it ever occurred to you," I said icily, peering at a Ron-who-wished-the-floor-would-swallow-him-up out of the corner of my eye, "that there could be other, non-romantic situations where a person could be without his or her shirt on?"
"Oh, so you had your shirt off too!" Ginny shrieked triumphantly.
Dear Lord. Of all of the witches at Hogwarts to befriend, I just had to choose Ginny in the third year ( we didn't really get close until the big fight , involving Crookshanks, Scabbers, a certain daft redhead, and I, had occurred- I had complained for hours to Ginny about what a prat her brother was, and we quickly bonded).
"For your information," I huffed, "I was wearing a light blue nightgown when I saw Ron clad in just his knickers." Eat slugs, Ginevra!
"That would, of course mean," Harry began slowly, "that this situation occurred sometime at night."
Bugger. The suspicious circumstances were piling up.
"All right, I reckon I'll admit it," I sighed, pulling Ron to his feet to stand beside me. "Ron and I..."
"You didn't!" Ginny breathed incredulously.
"We did." I finished quietly.
"Did what?" Harry choked as Ginny gaped wordlessly, her mouth very much resembling one of a fish.
"We..we..."
"You..."
"Ron and I...we rendezvoused in the living room two nights ago," I hid a smile.
"And?" Ginny prompted me with an eyebrow. I could feel that bloody blush of mine rising on my cheeks.
"And, well, I had woken up in the middle of the night from a terrible nightmare, one involving Ron, and I had to check and make sure he was all right. His bed was empty, so I snuck downstairs in hopes of finding him. Eventually I located him in the living room, and he was clad in his pyjamas for that night- boxers and no shirt."
"Bet you liked that," Ginny muttered, quieting with a look from Harry.
"Nothing happened, honest. Your brother just quickly comforted me, and, bam, I was back in my own bed." I conveniently left out the fact that I had sat in his lap, played with his hair, and fallen asleep, waking up in the morning in the arms of the love of my life.
"And?"
"And? Do you want me to give you a blow by blow account of what happened, per say? Because, I do believe we really ought to return to the original point of discussion- the fact that you were spying on Harry in the shower!"
"Right." Ron agreed, finally unburying his beet-red face from his hands. "Although, Hermione, you were also part of the guilty party."
"Oh, that," I said breezily, picking an invisible piece of lint off of my nightgown, "I only accompanied her so her bloody complaining would cease."
"There's only one way to solve this, I'm afraid." Ginny waved her arms dramatically.
"I will take the blame," she said simply. I stared at her incredulously. Where in Merlin was this coming from?
"However, just to make sure that Hermione is completely innocent, we'll have to ask her a few questions. Which do you prefer better, Hermione? Black or red?"
"Red," I shrugged without thinking.
"Blue or green?"
"Blue," I said a bit harshly. "What is this, Gin, the Spanish Inquisition?" The two blank faces that followed my remark reminded me that I was in the presence of two Purebloods who had no clue about Muggle history.
"Whatever that is, no," Ginny smirked. "This is just a test of your innocence, assuming, of course that you haven't lost it to Ron."
"Not funny," I sneered.
"On the contrary, I find this quite amusing," Harry chortled, a smile playing on his lips.
It just dawned on me then what Ginny was getting at. Her insinuation about Ron had shed a new light on her seemingly random questions about my preferred colors.
Damn. I had been describing Ron. That luscious red hair, silky blue eyes...but now it was time to have some fun. Grinning evilly, I rubbed my two hands together and simpered, "Do continue, my dear friend."
"Freckles or no freckles?"
I quickly searched through my ginormous brain for a mental picture of a certain Bulgarian Seeker. "No freckles."
Ginny furrowed her brow. Ha. Her lame attempt was clearly not working on the clever, sly Hermione.
"Glasses or no glasses?"
"No glasses- but deep hazel eyes that seem to pull me in."
"What the bloody hell are you two talking about?" Ron, being the daft git that he is, stared at me as though I was going crazy, his head bobbing back and forth between his sister and I as though he was watching an exciting Chudley Cannons game. Harry was smirking most rudely at the two of us, sending subtle winks our way every few seconds. At least half of the male part of the Golden Trio had some clue.
Ginny ignored the confused looks and glared at my answer. "Seeker or Keeper?"
"Seeker, I reckon," I said, fighting to keep a straight face.
"Let me get this straight- you like a Seeker with hazel eyes?" Ginny asked me a bit suspiciously, for she obviously knew exactly what I was playing at, but had still fortunately left out two of my answers- red and blue. Or, more accurately, red hair and those wonderful blue eyes...
"Vicky. It has to be Vicky," Ron bellowed, now red in the face with anger, as the gears finally clicked in his head. I nearly jumped out of my nightgown hearing his voice, because for about the past three minutes he had been doing a bloody good job of imitating a mute.
"Viktor, Ronald," I reprimanded him.
"All right, Viktor," he spat. "I honestly don't know what you see in that prat, Hermione- he's a GIT!"
I waved this off. "So, Ginny, what was the point of this questioning?" I inquired, twirling a stray lock of hair around my pinky.
"To see whether you fancy Ron or Harry," she sighed. "Obviously, it's neither! You seem to be rather partial to hazel-eyed Bulgarians who don't know how to pronounce your name correctly." (I saw the barest hint of a smile on Ron's lips at those last words). "However, I feel it would be best if I asked you one final question- who would you rather snog- Ron or Harry?"
I had a feeling that Viktor Krum wouldn't get me out of this one.
"Um, er, well, I.."
"This will not be held against you," Ginny said gently.
"Ron?" I said meekly, wishing with every fiber of my being that a Hungarian Horntail would come bursting through the window, with Lord Voldemort riding on its back. 'Anything', I silently told myself, 'would be better than this embarrassment.'
Harry cleared his throat. "May I inquire as to why you chose Ron?"
"He has nice lips," I blurted without thinking.
"And I don't?" Harry said, mock-wounded.
"I dunno," I grinned angelically at Ginny. "Perhaps you could kiss Ginny so she could share the answer to that question with us."
"Damn you!" Ginny swore not so quietly as Harry walked until he was standing shoulder to shoulder with her.
"One question, before I snog Ginny here," Harry said wickedly, as a huge gasp was emitted form the-girl-about-to-be-snogged-by-the-boy-who-lived.
"Just how do you know the quality of Ron's lips?"
"Women's intuition," I blushed and managed a weak smile.
"You don't have to do this, just to prove that you have nicer lips than Ron," Ginny whispered lamely as Harry enfolded her in his arms. Merlin. If only my knight in shining armor would do that to me. 'My knight has seemed to have fallen off his horse,' I snickered, catching sight of Ron once again pretending to be invisible, his carrot-top head currently taking residence in those strong, large hands of his (you know what they say about guys with large, gentle hands- er, getting off the subject here, sorry- I, Hermione Jane Granger solemnly swear to keep my mind out of the gutter henceforth!).
"I'm not looking! I'm not looking!" I heard him mutter to himself. Poor bloke. Pity, really, having to watch your sister share a good snog with your best friend at...I glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. "Seven 'o'clock" read the bright red numbers. Bloody, it was definitely WAY too early for romance!
I suddenly jumped up and ran over to Harry. "You don't have to do this," I whispered very quietly in his ear. "I mean, this is just an experiment of sorts..." I obviously knew how much Ginny would be hurt when she realized the man of her dreams harbored no feelings for her. Then again, Harry Potter was not known for just snogging any random girl -I mean, look at Cho! He fancied her for quite some time before they shared a good snog! He simply wasn't the type of wizard to freely give kisses away.
"Hermione," Harry said seriously, "Love isn't an experiment."
"Love?" Ginny squeaked, stepping back from him. Heehee. Harry said those last few words a tad bit too loud.
"Um, love," Harry stammered awkwardly. I took this as my cue to leave the two alone in the room.
"We'll be leaving now," I cleared my throat significantlyand dragged Ron through the door, closing it behind me.
"What did you do that for?" Ron complained.
I tutted. Honestly. "Do you really reckon that Harry wants to admit that he fancies your sister in front of her over-possessive older brother and other best mate?"
Ron started towards the door. "He fancies Ginny? That bloody prat! I'll tear him from limb to limb with my bare hands! They better not be snogging..."
I pulled him back until his back and my stomach touched.
"The last time I checked, Ron," I said gently in the collar of those sexy pyjamas, "You gave Harry your "blessing" if he ever wished to pursue a relationship with Ginny."
His rage deflated at my calming words (and probably also the fact that we were practically spooning standing up) and he slowly turned around to face me. The tips of his ears reddened a bit (all right, more than a bit) when he realized how close together we were standing.
"I don't want her to ever get hurt, that's just it," Ron said softly, running a hand through his messy hair.
I never fully appreciated the Ron's height until that moment. I shivered as I noticed how much he towered over me- a good six inches. For some odd reason, I've always secretly liked when blokes (specifically Ron) are taller than me; it seems to make them (him) seem so much more romantic, handsome, seductive! Imaginethe things Ron could do to me with that height advantage... (Once again, naughty, highly inappropriate thoughts, Hermione!). (A/N: Don't any of you fellow gals out there agree with the height thing? I personally love it when guys are taller than me...not that I've ever done even close to the things that dirty Hermione is thinking about! I've nevereven beenkissed, for goodness sakes!).
"That's very touching," I sighed, as our eyes met. I wrapped my arms around him and gave the object of my affections a long hug. Now, Ron and I have shared hugs in our earlier years, but recently I've noticed something has changed. Or, more accurately, someone has chnaged- two someones. Wonderful warmth spread from the tips of my toes to my neck as I felt my body mold to his. A jolt of electricity zinged through my body as I realized he wasn't letting go. I made up my mind. I'd been flirting (no pun intended) around this matter for much too long. I had nothing to fear- if I was reading the signs right (not those that that old hag, Trewlaney, teaches) Ron at least felt a little more for me than that of a close friendship.
I took a deep breath. Summing up every ounce of Gryffindor courage, I began.
"Ron, there's something I need to tell you."
Bwahahahaha! Another lovely cliffhanger! Don't worry, loyal fans! The next chapter WON'T be the last!
