A/N: It's been a while, but I finally came up with something half-decent (although that's for you to judge), sorry about the delay but classes are taking all my time, strength and good ideas… Anyway, hope you like this chapter ;o)

The first summer of the rest of their lives

Chapter VI: The Plan… To Help a Friend?

Next morning, during breakfast, all the kids were puffy-eyed and the lazy conversations were punctuated with many yawns. Fred and George barely spoke and flinched if anyone talked too loudly, they ate hardly anything but drunk several pints of water; their older brothers smiled indulgently, having all been there before, and helped them to keep the noise level as low as possible.

It was a rainy day, so quidditch was not an option, and in the present state of the twins it would have been very difficult to play anyway, so after breakfast they all went to the 'playroom' so they wouldn't bother Mrs. Weasley while she cleaned the house, she was in such a bad temper with the amount of sand that had entered the house during the last days that they were keen not to get in her way while she tried to get rid of it.

Upstairs, Ron had convinced Harry to join him in a game of chess, Ginny had brought up some of her school books (she had decided to take advantage of the bad weather to do all her homework) and Hermione was reading "Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions". Fred and George had gone straight to their bedroom to sleep it off.

After losing the third match in a row, Harry got bored of chess and looking around to check that the girls were busy enough, he asked Ron.

"So, did you do it?"

"Yeah" Answered Ron grinning.

"Judging by your face, I'd say that she said yes" Ron nodded still smiling. "Do you have any idea where are you going to take her?"

"No, that's a bit of a problem, 'cause I don't want to be near the rest of my family, specially Fred and George, and I don't want to have to tell my parents that we are going on a date."

"We'll figure it out somehow… Perhaps Bill and Charlie can help you, they already know, don't they?"

"Yes, maybe… Anyway, we didn't say when we were going out so I suppose I have time to think it through….So, want another match?"

"Is it necessary?" Asked Harry with a pain expression on his face.

"C'mon there's nothing better to do" Answered Ron, and he started to order the peaces to get back to their initial positions.

Meanwhile, Ginny had had enough of school work for one day and she was now trying to get Hermione out of her book.

"'Mione! Please! We need some fresh air" She said insistently.

"And how do you expect to get fresh air when it's raining as if the sky was about to fall onto the earth?" Asked Hermione, not taking her eyes off her reading.

"Ok you got me on that one, but you need a break too…C'mon, you haven't even told me what happened last nigh."

"How do you know something happened last night?" Asked the brunette suspiciously.

"First of all you disappeared with Ron for over and hour and both of you came back smiling rather dreamily" At this Hermione blushed a little "Then, he sat right next to you in the backyard and didn't take his eyesoffof you, and finally before going to bed he kissed you on the cheek, not me, his little and only sister, but you!"

"Ok, ok. Well, he asked me out."

"Oh, Hermione! You have so much to learn… You can't just say 'he asked me out' as if you were pointing out that is raining… You have to put a bit of emotion into it, give all the details…"

Hermione snorted, "You sound just like Lavender and Parvaty."

"Yes, but the difference between themand meis that I know when to stop acting girlishly… But this is not the time to do so, now: speak!"

And Hermione was left with on other option than to tell her everything that had happened the night before, she never told Ginny but she privately enjoined being the center of the conversation and talking about this sort of things.

"And before giving me a small peck he squeezed my hand… That's it, exactly how it happened, happy now?"

"Yes, that was better, but there is room for improvement" Hermione glared at her.

"It's you turn now."

"What do you mean, my turn?"

"You know what I mean, while I was with Ron you are with Harry… alone" She gave a delicate stress to the last word.

"Well, you know Harry, his a complete gentleman (dam it!). Even when we were dancing we were a foot apart." Ginny looked hopelessly towards where the guys were playing chess.

Hermione, looking there too said, "I don't knowif he is a gentleman or a coward, I'd imagine he wouldn't like to have all your brothers jumping at his throat"

"My blessing and curse, being the only girl in a family of six men… more a curse than a blessing, anyway. But when you start going out with Ron, I mean as his girlfriend, you can convince him not to kill Harry, if he ever asks me out"

"Wait a minute, who said I'm going to be Ron's girlfriend?"

"What? Oh, c'mon everybody knows that you two are going to end up together, and now that the first step has been taken is only a matter of weeks…"

Hermione didn't answer, she had a lot to think about. She had always cared about Ron a lot and she really liked him, but what if they started going out and it eventually ruined their friendship; it wouldn't be the first time to happen. She wasn't sure why she felt so uneasy, she wasn't uncomfortable with the idea of going on a date with Ron, and actually she was starting to look forward to it, but all the same… Perhaps it had to do with what Ginny had just said 'everybody knows you are going to end up together', How could she know that Ron hadn't invited her because he felt that was what everything was expecting him to do? And ever worst, How could she know that she had accepted because deep down she felt she was supposed to?

Mrs. Weasley's voice calling them for lunch distracted Hermione of these thoughts, but she knew she would have to go back to them soon.

By the time they had finished eating, it had stopped raining, but everything was too wet to go outside and nobody was in the mood to spend the whole afternoon locked up in the attic, especially the twins who were back to their usual noisy selves (after they drunk a strange poison Charlie had invented to cure hangovers), so they stayed downstairs in the living room, where at least the windows were larger and more light could pour in.

Fred and George had ambushed Ron and had started questioning him about what had happened the night before and Hermione had grabbed her book before Ginny could even open her moth to protest. This left the youngest Weasley and Harry alone and with nothing to do for the second time that week. But this time it was Ginny who took the initiative.

Harry was sitting on a couch watching amused how the twins tortured Ron, when he felt the cousin next to his sunk and found a red hair girl sat next to him.

"I almost feel pity for him" Said Ginny, looking towards where her brothers were.

"I do feel sorry for him, I wouldn't fancy being the subject of a Weasley's interrogatory" This made Ginny blush, as she remembered what Hermione had said about Harry being scared of her older siblings.

"Are you planning to be in Ron's position soon?" Ginny asked turning even redder.

"Perhaps… It's not up to me actually"

"What do you mean?" Ginny was really confused now, for a minute she had thought that the odds were on her side and that Harry liked her the way she liked him, but this answer had puzzled her.

"Never mind… But, you know I think I've found a way to help Ron."

"How?"

"Well, today he was telling me that he didn't know how he was going to take Hermione on a date without having your brothers around and your parents knowing what they were up to… So I thought that we could go on a sort of double date, then we can tell your parents that we are just going to see the city, and they wouldn't suspect because we are all friends… And then when, we get there, we separate and leave the two lovebirds alone."

"Yeah, that could work…But what about my dear brothers? If we told them we are going on a date, you will most certainly we submitted to one of their interrogatories and they will want to come with us to check on you!"

"That's the second part of the plan, we'll tell them that we are going to check on the other two, because we believe there has to be someone there to see how Ron behaves and that none of them can go because Ron would feel too intimidated."

"Looks like you have all sorted out… We should ask Ron though."

"Yes, I'll tell him once Fred and George liberate him."

Ginny grinned at him and crossed her fingers inside the pockets of the coat she was wearing, she could think of nothing better than to spend a whole afternoon alone with Harry. She was exceptionally glad that he had come up with such a brilliant idea to solve Ron's problem, little did she know that he had actually planned that to be alone with her more than to help his best friend.

TO BE CONTINUE

A/N: So, what did you think of it? Please do tell me 'cause I'm dying to know! I know there's not much action in this chapter, but many issues had been raised and I promise some interesting things will happen in the next one. I have it already planned so with a bit of luck I can put it up this weekend, though I can't promise you anything. As usual a very special thanks to my faithful readers and reviewers:

I AM EOWYN: Hehehe Yes, I love Ron too, he's so clueless he ends up being really cute!

suckr4romance81789: Hahahaha I loved your review! Thank you, and do keep telling me what you think!

Leigh: Yeap, He sure will, Thanx!

Dancerrdw: Thanx a lot!

Emma-Lynn: Well thank you! Just to clarify things up, for the time being Ron and Hermione are only going on a date, they are not a couple… yet? You'll have to read to know!