Those of you who have been dying for a little R/Hr will enjoy this one.

CHAPTER SEVEN: Gryffin Life

While Ron had known his Saturday detentions with McGonagall wouldn't be a picnic, he thought at the very least she would be easier on him then, say Snape. But no, she had him washing down blackboards, shining up suits of armour, and scrubbing the floor and sinks clean in the boys loo – all without the aid of magic. Another month of this and the school's caretaker Argus Filch wouldn't have a job. Every so often the Gryffindor Head of House would come check on his progress and once his work was to her satisfaction she would give him his next task. By the time his weekly detention had ended at noon, he was hungry and tired – and in desperate need of a hot shower. He was starting to think that he should've just given Malfoy a good threat instead of breaking his nose. He wouldn't have gotten the same satisfaction out of it, but at least his muscles would have been aching and sore from Quidditch practice not from polishing every set of knight's armour on the third floor, each one cackling at him as he did so.

He was on his way back to Gryffindor Tower to shower before lunch, when he heard a voice call him from behind, making him stop dead in his tracks. Hermione quickened her pace to catch up with him, and Ron used that time to wrack his brain for excuses as to why he wasn't in his Quidditch robes.

"How was practice?" She asked him. The way she said it told him she probably already knew he hadn't been within ten feet of the pitch today. She was giving him an opening to admit where he'd been all morning.

"Ah, it was all right, but I left early. I wasn't feeling too well. I think it must be something I ate." That sounded pathetic, even to his own ears. He should have just confessed instead of digging a deeper hole for himself.

"Ron, I know you weren't at practice," she said matter-of-factly. "I went to go watch and when I asked Harry where you were he said you had detention with Professor McGonagall."

"Traitor," Ron muttered under his breath. She didn't sound upset that he had lied, but he just wished Harry could have kept his mouth shut or come up with some plausible excuse for his absence.

"If it helps, I don't think he meant to tell me. As soon as he had, he looked rather guilty about it."

"I bet he did." Ron could picture the mortified look on Harry's face as he revealed his friend's true whereabouts, but none of that was going to help him out of the mess he was in now.

"Honestly, how long did you two think you could keep this from me?"

She knew about his detentions, but had Harry coughed up about his probation status as well? "Did Harry tell you anything else?" He tried to ask as casually as he could.

"No, he – wait a minute. What else aren't you telling me? Did McGongall suspend you for what happened on the train?"

Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. At least Harry had kept his mouth shut about the most important part. But if he lied she would be able to tell he was hiding something. "Have you eaten? I'm starving, let's go down for lunch," he said and started walking.

"Ron," she said in her most annoying voice as she fell into step beside him, "you're avoiding the question."

"The same way you've been avoiding me all week?" He shot back.

"I was not. I – I was just busy with my classes," she sputtered.

He stopped walking, not buying that excuse at all. It was only the first week. There was no way she could be that buried in schoolwork already because they had all the same classes save for two, and the only thing Harry was struggling with was Arithmancy. But that was only because he had never taken it before. There was another, more obvious explanation that neither one of them had been willing to address before now. "I think we need to talk."

She stopped walking as well and looked at him blankly. "About what?"

"Bloody hell, Hermione, I know you're not daft. You know exactly what I'm talking about." He raked a hand through his hair and began speaking very fast. "I kissed you and I really wish that I could take it back because you won't even look at me anymore. I'm sorry that I screwed up our friendship, but you have my word that it won't happen again."

"Are you quite finished?" She asked when he was done.

His eyes widened in surprise at her tone, but he nodded nevertheless.

"You're right I was avoiding you," she admitted, "but it was because I didn't know what to say to you. In an instant, everything had changed so much so fast that I didn't know what to do. I thought maybe you realized it was a mistake and just wanted to forget about it."

He gaped at her. "So you don't? I mean you don't regret it then?"

She bit her lower lip and slowly shook her head.

He had been waiting for that answer from her for days. He usually wasn't able to go much more than ten minutes without letting his mind drift to what had happened. He was thankful that it was only the first week of class so he had not missed out on much by not paying attention. But if they didn't sort things out soon he was doomed to fail the school year.

Almost unconsciously, they seemed to be closing the distance between each other. It didn't cross either of their minds that they were in the middle of the hallway and anyone could happen to walk by and see them. When their lips connected Ron wished he hadn't waited so long to approach her. They could have been doing this days ago. The kiss was hesitant and somewhat unsure, as if they were trying to gauge if this was really what the other wanted. But when Hermione opened her mouth enough that Ron could slip his tongue inside, he knew with absolute certainty that there was nothing better he could be doing at that precise moment. Without warning, she pulled away, leaving him wondering if he had done something wrong. Or was she having second thoughts?

"So what does this mean?" She asked after a moment. "What happens to us now?"

He rubbed the back of his neck in nervous gesture at having been put on the spot like this. She was expecting him to have all the answers? If she didn't know what was going to happen, how hell was he supposed to? "We're still best friends. That won't change." Even as he said it, he didn't quite believe it. Something told him they would never be just 'best friends' again. "If you're having second thoughts – "

"No, that's not it at all," she cut in. "I'm just scared," she admitted, biting her lower lip. "Aren't you?"

"Terrified," he said grinning, and he was. He did not want to screw this up. He leaned in to kiss her again, but she placed he palms on his chest to push him back.

"Ron, we can't. Anyone could walk by and see us."

"That little fact didn't seem to bother you a minute ago," he said with a smirk.

She flushed. "That was different. I was – I was – "

He silenced her protests with a kiss. She resisted him at first, but soon she was kissing him back just as fiercely.

The one coherent thought that Ron's brain was able to form was that this was going to be a fantastic year.

Harry had eaten lunch in relative solitude. It was typical for the Gryffindor team to eat together on a Saturday after their morning practice. They would usually discuss strategies or areas that needed improvement over lunch – but not on that particular day. Harry felt it would be a waste of time and energy, and it was obvious Katie Bell did too. Ginny hadn't arrived yet for lunch and Ron was presumably still stuck in detention. That reminded him that he had slipped up to Hermione and told her Ron's real whereabouts when she had come down to watch their practice. Ron was not going to be happy about that.

The real reason they weren't discussing Quidditch tactics was that the practice had been so abysmal, Harry figured Katie was trying to repress the memory just as he was. Their two beaters, who were just barely decent in the first place, had quite obviously not practiced during the summer months, and Harry, who had not been on a broom since his lifetime Quidditch ban had been put in place, found himself a bit rusty as well. But neither of that compared to the lot that had showed up to try out for the single vacant Chaser position. Ten candidates had showed up, ranging from third all the way up to sixth year. Out of them, Harry could pick maybe two that were really good – Sam Dennison, a fourth year and Dean Thomas.

While Sam naturally gifted on a broom, he had some difficulties when it came to riding and handling a Quaffle at the same time. Twice, he had almost fallen off completely. Dean had flow extremely well, even landing a few shots in the goal posts from far out, but Harry couldn't even congratulate him on it. Dean wasn't speaking to him, which made practicing together rather difficult. Harry was just glad that with his position as Seeker, he didn't have too many interactions with the Chasers. Ginny Weasley didn't have that luxury. With Harry reclaiming his position as Seeker, Katie had automatically offered her one of the two vacant Chaser positions, not wanting to lose her. That meant having to work intensely with Katie and everyone else who was trying out for the final spot.

After practice, Katie had pulled him and Ginny aside and told them in no uncertain terms that they better work out whatever issues they were having with Dean because he was the best of the Chaser group they had seen that day. They had given her non-commital nods and that seemed to satisfy her. It was beginning to look more and more that whoever took on the Gryffindor captaincy, managed to take on the same Oliver Wood-like insanity when it came to Quidditch.

Dean hadn't said a word to him since his fist had rammed itself into his face, and that meant Seamus wasn't going out of his way to be nice to him either. He had considered apologizing, it wasn't as if Dean had done anything to him, but Ginny was his friend and if Dean thought he could snog any girl he wanted while they were supposed to be together, then he was sorely mistaken. It hadn't hurt that he had some excess frustration to work out and Dean had presented himself as the perfect target.

No longer wanting to endure the glares Dean would throw his way every few minutes, followed by the pointed ones Katie would send afterwards Harry shoveled down the remainder of his shepherd pie and left.

Once out in the main hall he spotted a group of Ravenclaw girls heading in his direction. He would have walked by them without a second glance, but one of them was looking at him. Cho whispered something to them, and her friends gave her a strange look, then gave Harry an equally suspicious one before walking into the Great Hall without her.

"I heard Gryffindor started practices today," she said, walking up to him.

"Well, it's not like we've got a lot of time to prepare since they bumped the start of the season up to October."

"I'm sure Gryffindor doesn't need that much time to prepare."

"You'd be surprised," he said smiling. "Especially considering the Seeker hasn't been on a broom in almost a year."

"Then I guess for once I'll have the advantage when we play you."

He was finding all this small talk rather strange. He and Cho had never had lengthy conversations in the past. They tended to be brief usually because he was too nervous to really converse with her. So he found it quite odd that he didn't feel all that nervous around her now. It was as if he was discovering for the first time that she really was just a girl.

"So when are you going to start the DA lessons again?"

"I'm not," he responded a little too harshly.

She looked genuinely shocked. "How come? Everyone was doing so well at them. You really are a good teacher, Harry."

"There's no point to it now with Umbridge gone and we'll be getting a real Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when lessons start next week." "What's the real reason, Harry?"

"That is the real reason!" He almost shouted, causing the Ravenclaw girl to flinch. "I don't owe you any explanations, Cho."

"You're right, you don't."

The conversation seemed to be over then, ending much like their conversations in the latter part of last year. He was wondering how they could ever have dated when every time they talked they seemed to end up in an argument, when she did the unexpected and pressed her lips full against his. By the time Harry had wrapped his brain around what was happening, Cho was already pulling away from him. He didn't know what to do, so he just stood there like an idiot, with a dumbfounded expression plastered on his face. She gave him an embarrassed smile before turning to join her friends in the Great Hall. He opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out. He turned around and the grin on his face vanished when he saw Ginny Weasley standing at the bottom of the staircase watching him. It was fairly obvious by the look on her face that she had seen everything.

"So, no DA lessons, huh?" She said in attempt to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, no DA lessons," he replied, though with not nearly as much severity as before.

"I never thanked you for defending me to Dean like that."

"I didn't mean to hit him," he said sheepishly.

"That's good, because I'm not so sure he deserved it."

"Ginny, he – "

"I know what he did," she cut in. "And I had it out pretty good with him about it, but now that I think about it it's not like were even really together. Sure, we owled each other plenty of times over the summer, but we didn't really had that kind of relationship."

"That's still no excuse."

Instead of being touched by his words, she said, "Michael Corner is a good guy, Harry," and then left him there, heading for the Great Hall.

Without even having to say the words she had managed to make him feel like the biggest hypocrite in the world. He had just done the same thing that he had hit Dean for doing. It wasn't exactly the same, but the situations were still comparable. What was worse was he was even entertaining ideas of seeing where something with Cho might lead, even when he knew exactly what it would lead to – trouble.

It took little effort for Hermione to finish her Transfiguration essay. Though she would typically finish the majority of her assignments with ease, this six-foot long parchment almost seemed to write itself – when she didn't let un-academic thoughts creep into her mind. She felt almost ridiculous that Ron was able to have such an effect on her. He always had, but until now it had almost always been an infuriating one. It was awkward, strange, exciting, and wonderful all at the same time. Even the sound of Lavender and Parvati entering the girls dorm giggling loudly, which would normally annoy her to no end, couldn't dampen her high spirits.

She was carefully checking through her essay for grammatical or other mistakes when the giggling duo jumped onto her bed.

"You still at that?" Lavender said in disbelief.

"I'm being thorough," she said without looking up.

"I haven't even started mine yet and it's due tomorrow," Parvati groaned.

"You still have plenty of time," Hermione said uncharacteristically.

The two girls looked at her in utter amazement.

"Okay, that's it, spill, Hermione," Lavender ordered. "You've been acting way too relaxed and un-uptight and way unlike you since lunch."

"Maybe I've just learned how to handle things a bit better this year."

"Not a chance," Lavender said immediately. "Two days ago you were all over us for leaving our side of the dorm a mess – "

"I believe the exact words you used were 'hippogriffs are cleaner then us'," Parvati injected.

"And just now you're didn't even bat an eyelash when Parvati said she hasn't started her essay for McGonagall when it's due in less than twenty-four hours. So that leaves two very plausible explanations for your behaviour. Either you've been possessed by something," Lavender said, using her finger ticking off the first option on her other hand, "or it's a boy."

Hermione felt a flush creep into her cheeks. "For your information I have not been possessed by any magical forces and there is no boy."

"So who do you think it is?" Parvati asked Lavender, ignoring Hermione.

"I bet it's Ron," Lavender answered simply.

Hermione willed herself to stop blushing, which was proving to be rather difficult. "What makes you think it's him?"

"So it is a boy! You just admitted it!" Lavender said triumphantly.

Hermione mentally scolded herself for being roped into admitting anything. How had she let these two outsmart her? Now there would be no escaping until their desire for gossip had been fulfilled.

Parvati raised a questioning eyebrow. "Are you going to tell us or are we going to have to go around and ask every guy in Gryffindor?"

"No, don't do that!" Hermione panicked before she could stop herself. The satisfied smirks on the two girls face told her they now had it narrowed down to a Gryffindor. Falling for Ron really had made her lose her head.

"I think that narrows it down to two possibilities," Parvati told her friend.

Lavender nodded in agreement. "Harry or Ron. So which is it, Hermione?"

"You two don't know what you're talking about," she said, making a show of packing up her school things so she wouldn't have to look at them.

"Harry is actually quite good-looking," Lavender said matter-of-factly, "even when he's all dark and brooding. The way he's always putting himself in the line of danger, willing to risk everything, I think it's all kind of sexy

."

Hermione made a show of rolling her eyes. She wondered what Harry would say if he heard them talking about him like this.

"Ron's quite attractive as well," Parvati chimed in. "And he has really nice eyes. Who knew he'd be that amazing at Quidditch?"

Hermione realized she was gripping her essay so tight she was close to ripping it. She had to regain her composure. There was nothing wrong with Parvati saying those things as long as she never acted on them.

"I know, why don't we do our interview with Hermione right now?" Lavender suggested innocently.

"I already told you I didn't want to be a part of your documentary," Hermione said, irritated now.

"It's either the interview or tell us who it is," Lavender told her.

Hermione threw her hands up in exasperation. "Let's do the stupid interview then."

Parvati looked insulted. "It's not stupid," she said, retrieving the camera from her nightstand. "It's a real documentary on what it's like to be a Gryffindor. We're calling it Gryffin Life."

Hermione snorted. The word 'life' was probably a euphemism for the word 'gossip'.

Pavarti turned the camera on and pressed a button on the side. A red light came on to signal it was recording. Lavender started the questioning.

"Tell us your name and give us some information on your family background."

Hermione felt utterly ridiculous but she complied. She stated her name and then talked about coming from a muggle background, where her parents were dentists. She hadn't even known a wizarding world existed until she had received her letter from Hogwarts. When that happened, she read every book she could get her hands on about the subject.

"What was it like when you first started here?"

"My classes were fantastic. I loved all the subjects I was taking, but I guess I was a bit lonely. I didn't really have any friends in the beginning. I was too worried about being the top witch in all my classes that I ignored everyone else most of the time."

"So when did you become friends with Harry and Ron?"

Hermione paused for a moment. It was an innocent enough question, but she wondered if that was all Lavender was interested in. "After they saved me from a mountain troll," she said, smiling at the memory. "I was in the washroom crying, ironically because of something I overheard Ron say about me. I was frightened out of my mind, but he and Harry charged in and rescued me. They took on the troll just the two of them. I guess after sharing a near death experience, you can't help but form some kind of a bond."

"Because the three of you have grown so close over the years, have you ever found yourself having non-platonic feelings about one or more of your best friends?"

Hermione abruptly stood up. "This interview is over," she announced and walked out of the range of the video camera.

"Oh, come on, Hermione. It's just a simple question," Parvati said. "It's relevant to the interview. Remember, we're trying to get the real story of what goes on in Gryffindor."

Hermione stopped in the doorway to their room. "You'll have to get someone else to be your Gryffindor story scoop. My personal life isn't up for documenting."

She walked out of there knowing that it wouldn't be the last time those two shoved a video camera in her face.