A/N: My beloved readers, I'm back! Hehehe… But I'm afraid I had some bad news… I'm starting classes tomorrow so it will probably take me longer to update as they will start setting useless assignments and stuff… :o( I promise to do my best though, so please review!

The first summer of the rest of their lives

Chapter IV: Disco Night

The rest of the week passed peacefully enough and soon came Friday. The girls were very excited about going to a disco, but none was as anxious as Ron. The twins had spent every moment Hermione was not with him teasing him about having to ask her out; but when they saw her coming out of the room she shared with Ginny, they wished it was them who had to do it.

She looked simply gorgeous, she was wearing a plated jean skirt and a light blue top with matching high-heels and Ginny had talked her into putting on some make up so that her brown eyes were highlighted and the final touch was her hair that fell in elegant curls over her back. Even Harry, who considered Hermione to be her younger sister, felt his jaw drop when he saw her. He had barely closed it when Ginny followed Hermione out of the room and this time he blushed as red as big his mouth was open. Ginny had put on a green short dressed that matched her eyes and was wearing a pair of low sandals, she had tied her hair un a pony tail leaving two locks free that framed her pretty face.

"So, are you boys ready to go?" All of them nodded and lead the way downstairs, where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were waiting for them.

"Well, have a good time,and be good... Fred and George, you two are in charge of this lot so, please act responsibly and don't do anything stupid" Said Mr. Weasley. His wife had her lips pursed and a look on her face that left them in no doubt that she was not thrilled at the idea of them going out alone.

The disco was right outside the town, none of them had actually been in a muggle place like that but they figured it couldn't be too different to wizard discos, and in fact, it wasn't, the only difference was that music didn't play of its own accord and that there were no candles floating around in mid air. The place was divided in two parts: there was a pub part with some tables and a bar and at the back was the dance floor.

They found a table and ordered something to drink. As only Fred George and Ron were of age, they had some sodas, just in case. And after around half an hour the twins got up and got lost in the crowd, at this Ginny told Harry something and then leant forward to talk to Ron.

"Listen, I'm going to take Hermione to the bathroom now, when we come back I'll take Harry away so you can do what you have to, ok?" Ron turned a bit pale (although as the light was dim only his sister noticed it) and nodded. "'Mione, want to go to the ladies?"

She nodded for an answer; the girls stood up and left the table.

"How are you feeling Ron?" Asked Harry jokingly.

"As bad as before my first quidditch match" Answered his best friend sincerely.

"Come on! It's not that terrible" But Harry had only said it to encourage him, he remembered how nervous he had felt when he had asked Cho to the Ball, and he couldn't imagine having to ask Ginny now, luckily for him, she had suggested that they should go dancing to leave the other two alone, he wasn't going to refuse, of course.

It took the girls twenty minutes to return (why is it that the women toilette rooms are always crowded?). When they finally managed to make their way to the table, Ginny didn't even sit down, she took Harry's hand and led him to the dance floor, leaving a very confused Hermione behind.

"What was all that about?"

"I have no idea" Said Ron distractedly "So, are you… emm… enjoying yourself?"

"Yes, it's a nice place" She answered, taking a swig of her glass. It was very difficult to talk because of the music and Ron thought that perhaps it would be easier to invite her somewhere if they were closer.

"Do you want to dance?" He said, blushing furiously, his stare fixed on the table.

"All right then" She answered, a bit pink herself.

As you may have predicted, it was even more difficult to perceive any sound at the dance floor, the music was even louder there so it was difficult to hear your own thoughts, let anything else. But Ron didn't seem to mind, he wasn't in a hurry to talk to Hermione and he was quite enjoying dancing with her; but it didn't last long for him, for about fifteen minutes after they had started dancing Fred appeared and made a gesture with his head, clearly asking Ron whether he had doe it already, and when he shook his head, his brother put such an evil face that frightened Ron: he knew only too well what the twins might do if he didn't do it soon. The problem was, he needed a quiet place to be able to talk to her… and no sooner had he thought this, he spotted a staircase that led to an upper floor where the atmosphere seem to be calmer.

"Hey 'Mione" He shouted in her ear "Want to go upstairs for a while? I can't hear my own thoughts here!"

"Yeah, me neither… lets go" She was actually glad he had suggested this, she had never liked loud music much, and she wasn't what you would call a disco girl.

The second floor was full of comfortable looking puff and couches that reminded them of Gryffindor common room, except that they were of different colors rather than red. They chose one that was away from the stairs, so that they could only hear a faint tune coming from the down floor. They spent a couple of minutes in silence, looking around the place, Ron trying to find the right words to say what he had in his mind, and before he could find them Hermione spoke.

"It's going to be weird not to see you every day"

"Yes, it will… But we'll see each other a lot"

"I know, but it's not the same… I'm going to miss you horribly" His heart started beating very fast, who did she meant by you? All or them or only him?

"Well, you could move to The Burrow if you like" He said teasingly.

"Ron…" She said punching him in the shoulder, but he grabbed her wrist and looked at her, he didn't know what had gotten into him, but an inner force had erupted inside him and he knew the moment had come.

"'Mione, I want to tell you something… something I should have told you long ago." He said, not dropping his gaze and looking into her eyes.

"What is it?" She said quietly, looking into his.

"I… I really like you" She began to say that she already knew that and that she liked him too but he interrupted her "No, I mean like you, not only as a friend… and I was wondering if you would want to go out with me sometime, you know, on a date" He said, and this time he was so flushed that you couldn't tell where his hair started and his face ended.

This declaration took Hermione completely off guard, and for a moment she just looked at him, shocked at what she had just heard. "Oh, Ron… yes, I'd like that" She said hesitantly.

"Well, it's ok if you don't… I mean you don't have to say yes only because we are friends"

"No, no, really, I'd like to… you caught me by surprise that's all… I never thought you'd like me"

"So, you want to? Sure?" He asked, and his voice sounded considerably happy.

"Yes, Ron, I'm sure" She said, a bit exasperated, but smiling all the same. He grinned so broadly that Hermione started to laugh. "What do you say if we go downstairs and join the rest? They'll be wondering where we are."

"Sure, what ever you like."

Back at the table they found Harry and Ginny talking animatedly, the twins were nowhere to be seen and all of them thought it better not to go looking for them, just in case. They had already set a time to leave anyway. So Ron and Hermione joined the other two at the table.

"Hermione? Harry? Ron? Ginny? What are you doing here?" It was none other than Stephen Palmer, Hermione's future course partner at medischool. The girls had to raise their glasses to their mouths to hide the giggles and Ron scowled at the sight of him.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley rented a beach house nearby" Answered Harry, who was the only one who seamed to have kept his speech ability. "You?"

"My grandparents live in this town, I'm here with my cousins" He answered, sitting in one of the vacant chairs, next to Hermione. Harry, seeing the hateful look on Ron's face decided to distract him and engaged him in a quidditch conversation that Ginny quickly joined.

"So Hermione, are you excited about starting medischool?" Asked Stephen.

"Yes, I can't wait to start… How about you?"

"Me neither, I hope I get all the N.E.W.Ts required… It's obvious you'll get them."

"Well, you are a very good student too… I don't think you'll have any trouble entering" She answered smiling.

"You know, I'm glad there is someone I know also going… Especially you." He said, smiling back.

"Yes, me too… It would be awkward to start all alone." She answered, deliberately ignoring the last part of Stephen's statement, but she was flattered by it all the same.

"Well, I have to go… perhaps we could keep in touch, you know, to see if we both got in and stuff"

"Sure!" He grinned

"Well" He said to the table at large "It was great seeing you all, bye!" The rest said goodbye to Stephen and Hermione smiled at him one last time, making Ron scowl again, but he didn't say anything so Hermione remained unaware of this.

Fred and George came back five minutes before the pre-arranged time, both walking a bit strangely and laughing more than usual, what made the rest of them giggle in amusement.

When they arrived at the house, they decided to stay in the back yard for a while so that the would-be-in-charge twins could get some air and get over the effects of whatever they had had to drink. Ron put a silencing charm on them so that their voices didn't wake up their parents and the rest sat in the grass watching Fred's and George's silent pirouettes, what was a very funny thing to look at.

Around and hour later, they were fine enough to go inside, and the rest of them were so tired that they were very glad to reach their beds.

At the girl's dormitory door, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand, squeezed it slightlyand gave her a quick peck on the cheek before saying goodnight. Harry grinned at Ginny behind Ron's back and she grinned back said a hurried "Night" and followed her friend inside the room; both of them went to bed in a sort of dreamy state.

To be continue…

A/N: So, there you go… in honor to my future delay I've posted a pretty long chapter…You can't complain, there is plenty going on… And as you come imagine, many trouble ahead… Anyway, thanks to everyone who review and I hope you keep doing so!

A/N2: I'm really tired now, so this will probably have many grammar or typing mistakes… sorry about that:o(

suckr4romance81789: I'm glad you do… keep me informed ;)

Emma-Lynn: HEY! THAKS A LOT, there you have the disco chapter, what did you think about it

Leigh: My pleasure… but I'm afraid Harry and Ginny Hill have to wait a couple of chapters… but there's always space for a bit of ejem interaction.

Dancerrdw: Thank you very much! I'm happy you like it!

I AM EOWYN: Yes, they are… but they can be really cute too… don't you think?