Hi everyone. Sorry bout long wait! Here's another chappie tho.

We also feel we needed to explain the point of our story to you. The point of our story is the obstacles and things Ron and Hermione go through before they get together. Its more of how they finally get together (hence name of story) after all this stuff has happened. Once they do get together our story would be practically finished. But don't worry, there's still heaps more to write. Just don't expect them to get together straight away. And there will be-formerly known as R rated- scenes in this story. N Percy has been undisowned

Anyways enough blabbering, read and enjoy. )

Disclaimer: We've never had a disclaimer before but we thought we should start. Nothing from the first 7 chapters are ours. All J.K Rowling except the plot. That's ours.

Chapter Seven

Hermione woke early in the morning and looked up. To her surprise, Ron was there, bending over her with his red hair falling into those deep blue eyes. He was staring at her. Hermione felt the intensity of that stare as she sat up in the bed, shaking slightly with something that could only be called anticipation. She was naked. She felt vaguely that she ought to be concerned about this, but oddly enough she didn't seem to care. Neither, apparently, did Ron. He was shirtless. Hermione wondered why she hadn't noticed how attractive his body was before. She wanted to tell him, to let him know just how beautiful and sexy he was...but the words wouldn't come. She needn't have worried, however. Just as she managed a choked "...gh..." Ron put his hand over her mouth. It was warm. The sensation of his skin against hers made her tremble with hot, nervous excitement. She made to grab at him, to pull him closer, but he held her back.

"One step at a time, Hermione," he breathed softly in her ear. "Take it ...slow..."

Hermione gasped in quiet pleasure as he leaned forward and kissed her, first gently, then harder, hungrily. Their breath mingled warmly as he ran his hands over her back and her breasts, caressing and stroking. Hermione closed her eyes and tilted her head back as Ron slid his hand between her legs, feeling her in slow, gentle strokes, making her breath come in gasps and squeaks. Her hands groped blindly for Ron, stroking his back, pushing his hand into her harder, rubbing herself against his hand, moaning. Ron pulled his hand out from between her thighs. Hermione protested.

"No... please..." but Ron again silenced her, this time with a kiss that sent a pleasurable shiver down her spine, and made her heart beat faster and her palms sweat with the heat of her desire. He kept on kissing her, on her lips, her neck, her breasts, down her chest, her stomach... she could feel his breath lingering near the damp dark triangle between her legs. She trembled with pleasure and opened her legs further as he lowered his head down there... by now she was half wild with wanting the pleasure he could give her... she called out, frantically, gasping. "Ron! Oh, oh...Ron... Ron...oh..." she shuddered in ecstasy and bit her lip as she became aware of another voice, sounding tiny and distant, calling her name. No, she thought, no, go away, I want to stay here... Ron... more...please...

Hermione's eyes snapped open. This time it was Harry bending over her, but he was wearing a shirt, and his expression was one of slight concern and amusement as opposed to one of sensual arousement. She sat up, thankful to see her nightie was back on, and looked around for Ron. She spotted him sitting on a chair near to the doorway, watching her with a bewildered air.

"Morning guys," she yawned. She wondered vaguely what they were both doing in her room. "Did I oversleep? I-"she stopped as the memory of her dream she just had washed over her. Her stomach turned over as she looked from Harry to Ron, who was still wearing the same expression. She felt the heat rising up in her face- had they heard?

Ron suddenly got up and walked out the room silently as if he didn't believe what just happened. The room seemed to have gotten rather awkward and uncomfortable.

"So Hermione, had any good dreams lately?" Harry smirked knowingly.

Hermione threw her pillow at him and chucked the bed covers over herself. She was blushing furiously.

"What did you hear?" she asked but terrified of what he might say.

"Well you were moaning, and calling out Ron's name, and kinda rolling around..." he said turning slightly red himself.

"O-oh god, did Ron hear? Do you think he knows? Oh my god, oh my god!" she was having trouble speaking. She was so embarrassed by this point that she wished the ground would just swallow her already.

"Well Ron may be daft but he's not a complete idiot. I think he worked it out between your hand actions and the moaning/ name calling. You see I came to get you guys for breakfast so I woke Ron up first. While he was getting dressed we heard you moaning from your room, then call out his name. We ran over thinking you were in some kind of trouble but once we got here it was obvious you were just dreaming. When I realised what kind of - ahem - dream it was I went over to attempt to wake you up. Ron kinda started to back away and then just fell into the chair in a daze. I don't think it's sunk into to him yet."

Hermione could feel her face glowing in embarrassment as she looked at Harry. She stuck out her head from under her sheets to look at him and knew that he was telling the truth. 'Oh god so Ron really does know what I was dreaming about.' She face in her mattress in frustration.

She lifted her face up and blurted out, "But it didn't mean anything, I mean, it wasn't as if I wanted to dream about him! I-" She stopped as a thought came unbidden into her head. 'Had I wanted to dream about him? No,' argued a voice at the back of her mindIt was a very small voice. Hermione clenched her fists defiantly as memories of the dream came back into her head. 'No,' she thought, 'Stop it! You're being stupid, I DID NOT enjoy it!' This last part was so loud in her head she was surprised that it hadn't burst through her forehead in flashing neon letters. She clapped a hand to her mouth, afraid for a moment that she might have spoken aloud. She shook herself mentally and tried to regain her composure as she realized that Harry was staring at her again as though slightly worried that she was turning crazy.

"Er... so... you wanna have breakfast anytime soon?" he asked tentatively.

"What? Oh! Yeah, sure, ok. Just, uh, let me get, uh, dressed, and, um, ok?" Hermione babbled, climbing out of bed in a hurry and rushing past him to her wardrobe. Harry left, shaking his head as he closed the door behind him. Hermione leant against the smooth wood of the wardrobe door and cringed in humiliation as she thought about the last ten minutes. 'I am such an IDIOT!', she thought as she pulled her robes from the closet and dressed herself with a hand that still shook. She hesitated a little before going downstairs. Then she gathered herself together and, in some trepidation, went down to the Great Hall.

Somewhat to her relief, Ron had finished breakfast and was nowhere to be seen when she sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry was there, eating toast. He appeared to be absorbed in eating, but sneaked amused glances at Hermione as she poured pumpkin juice and spooned porridge, determinedly not looking at Harry until he spoke.

"Hey," was all he said but Hermione didn't like the sly tone she detected. She frowned momentarily, and then asked, with feigned casualness, "Where's Ron?" She accidentally – on – purpose dropped her fork so as not to have to look at Harry as she asked.

"He went for a walk," Harry replied carefully, trying to sound casual.

Hermione didn't reply. Nor did she eat, but sat silently playing with her spoon until her porridge was cold.

Meanwhile, Ron mooched along the banks of the lake, looking moodily at the soft grass under his feet. His head was spinning. He kept replaying the scene from the morning over and over in his head, trying to make sense of it, but all he came up with each time was a vaguely worried and befuddled feeling which, he faintly suspected, might have something to do with the fact that somewhere deep down, he wasn't exactly upset by it. In fact, his subconscious was hinting broadly that he was downright pleased. But there was so much interference from all the other thoughts he was having that that one was a mere shadow beneath the murky swirling surface of his mind. He sat down with his head in his hands.

'Ok,' he thought, 'It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what she was dreaming bout, but... I don't get it! I guess she didn't mean it... but... its kind of embarrassing, I think...

He gave up, and settled for throwing a pebble into the lake. It sank rapidly, along with Ron's heart as he realised that he couldn't avoid Hermione forever. He sighed, and wished that he could just fall through the ground and keep falling until he found someplace where he would never have to see Hermione again.

The first class that Ron and Hermione had was double potions. Neither one was in the mood to put up with Snape all morning, but they hardly had a choice. When Ron arrived Hermione was already seated inside waiting for Professor Snape. He walked over and sat down next to Harry, who was sitting on Hermione's left. At that moment Snape strode in, slamming the door behind him. They spent the double period learning and making a very comlicated potion.

At one point Hermione was watching Ron, who was about to put in the wrong ingredient. She was about to warn him when he turned around and saw her watching him. She consequently dropped the bowl she was holding, smashing it on the floor and it's contents scattering everywhere. Ron himself accidentally dropped the wrong ingredient he was holding into the cauldron. It started to smoke green, rotten smelling fumes and shoot blue sparks.

"Be careful! This is no time to be making stupid mistakes! Clean it up now." Snape neutralized Ron's potion with a point of his wand. "For not paying attention both of you can stay behind and clean up the rest of the room." Of course this meant that every possible chance they got, Slytherins would accidentally spill something or knock over a bowl of ingredients while Snape was not paying attention.

Both of them were wondering how they could avoid each other while having to remain in the same room. 'Now with his knowing bout my dream and catching me watching him he will think I like him or something which of course is not true.' Hermione thought to herself.

'Oh no, this is bad. Why today? Those stupid Slytherins are making it worse by us having to stay around longer to clean up! But when I saw her watching me it just brought back this morning.' Ron cringed at how awkward and weird it was that morning in her room, let alone embarrassing.

Luckily enough for both of them however cleaning up seem to consume most of their energy and they were able to keep to opposite sides of room without speaking to each other. However they finished at the same time and met at the front door.

"Um, hi, finished? I guess since you're leaving. Well- gotta go. Umm got homework, bye." Ron muttered nervously.

"Yeah me too. Off to the library, have to study. Ah, I'll see you later then." Hermione was looking at the ground.

"Yeah later, bye." Ron met her eyes for a second and they both blushed before walking off in different directions.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Later that day Ron and Harry were in the common room, Hermione having not arrived from where she left after potions detention. They had been sitting in silence for a while. Finally Harry decided to talk about what was really on their minds.

"So Ron, what did you think about this morning?"

"Um what do you mean?" He tried to pretend he didn't know what he was talking about but it didn't work as his face turned red telling Harry he knew exactly what he was talking about. Harry just looked at him expectantly.

"Well...It was embarrassing. It was unexpected and weird because it's not like we like each other or anything. Well at least not in that way." Harry just rolled his eyes and made a frustrated noise.

"How thick can can you be mate? She must think of you that way to be dreaming about you like that. And we all know she likes you."

"No way she does. We're only friends." The way he said made Harry think he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Harry. "It was probably because of what happened last night." As soon as Ron said this he realised he made a mistake. Blushing he mentally cursed himself. 'You idiot, Harry's got no idea what almost happened between you to. And now he probably going to think something has.'

"What do you mean.You guys walked off together to your dormitories, and nothing happened before then, at least I don't anything did, so it must of happened...Wait, did something happen after you two left?" Harry was grinning slyly at him.

"Um Harry, I've got to go. Um some last minute homework I gotta do for umm something?" He dashed off quickly and harry just smiled knowingly to himself.

&&&&&&&&&

The rest of the week Hermione and Ron avoided each other, Hermione used the library because she knew it was pretty rare to find Ron in there. She also had taken to eating meals either very early or very late, at lightning speed so as not to see Ron if she could avoid it. She knew she was being unreasonable, but she also knew she just couldn't face him especially if it were just the two of them.

Avoiding Hermione was something which Ron found reasonably easy, as there was a quidditch match coming up, against Hufflepuff, so he could always make the excuse of needing to practice. As he was rushing off to another practice session he walked past a brightly decorated poster. He back tracked and read it.

Halloween is coming up!

To celebrate we are holding a grand feast

in the Great Hall on

31st of October

Dress up in your most vibrant costumes

Hope to see you there!

'That's the day after the quidditch match. At least if we win we can celebrate that as well. Hmm wonder what I should go as...' He continued on his way to practice thinking of ideas that he could go as.

&&&&&&&&&

The first Quidditch match of the year was fast approaching - Gryffindor vsHufflepuff. With barely a week to go before the match, Harry had booked the pitch for every spare moment he could find. So had the Hufflepuff's, showing a determination usually reserved for the Slytherin team. Of course, it had been a while since they had won a match, so Harry could see why they were so desperate to practice, but it didn't make him any less annoyed. Twicehe was forced, fuming,to cancel practice because of them. When the Gryffindors did use the pitch, the Slytherin team was always there, ready with taunts and insults, watching malevolently from the stands and shouting obscenities whenever someone made a mistake.The Gryffindors simply gritted their teeth and practised hard, doing their best to ignore the teasing. They saw it as completely immature - after all, it wasn't them the Gryffindors would be playing! 'But trust Malfoy to take any opportunity to hurt the Gryffindor team,' thought Harry.

To the pale Slytherin's disappointment, though, his team's usual taunts didn't seem to be working.In particular Ron, who had gained in confidence immensely since his first days on the team, was hardly disturbed at all by their remarks, but concentrated on the game. He found it took his mind off the one thing that had been plaguing it lately - and that could only be a good thing, to him. It meant more time away from Hermione - she had stopped coming to watch their practices, to his relief - and he was still determined to avoid her for the rest of his life.

The morning of the match arrived with startling speed. The Gryffindor team got up early and went to check out the weather conditions on the pitch. The sky was overcast and cloudy, though the day was warm enough. Harry rallied the team around him for a quick pep talk before they went to breakfast. He was hungry, so he kept it brief.

"Ok guys, the weathers looking good, we should be alright... it might rain but we've played in rain before, we'll be fine. Just remember what we practised, ok?" The team murmured agreement. "Right then, I'm starving. Let's go eat." Harry led the way back up to the castle.

During breakfast, people kept craning their heads to look at the two teams, talking excitedly about who they thought would win. The first match of the year was always exciting - even the teachers were jumpy. Harry choked down laughter as he saw Proffessors Mcgonagall and Sprout eyeing each other suspiciously across the table, each one seemingly trying to outstare the other. Beside him, Ron gave a kind of involuntary twitch as Hermione found them and sat down. She had to sit next to Ron; the seats around Harry were filled by excited Gryffindors all jabbering away about the match. She didn't look at Ron. He could feel his ears turning red as he fiddled with his spoon, wishing that she would just go away. He was beginning to feel slightly sick with nerves - and not just about the game. Hermione broke the silence first.

"So - uh - you excited?" she asked limply, gesturing towardshim. 'His eyes look so gorg - wait! Stop!' she commanded herself to get under control. Ron blinked curiously as she shook her head like adog shaking water out of it's fur.

Finally he said, "Er - yeah, I guess so..." he played with his spoon again, feeling awkward. He turned abruptly away to talk to Harry, leaving an equally uncomfortable Hermione wishing that they could just have a normal conversation again while at the same time dreading having to face him at all. She thought the meal would never end. It did though, and at last the school was heading out onto the pitch, to stake out their seats for the match.

The Gryffindor team gathered in the change room, and listened to Harry as they pulled on their red and gold robes. It wasn't a long speech - he'd pretty much said everything he wanted to earlier.

"Like I said, people, we're gonna be fine, the weather's about as good as it's gonna get. Just keep your heads - I don't want to see anyone get angry, ok? Let's get out there and show thoseHufflepuff'swhat we're made of." He put his glasses on and beckoned to the team, striding

out onto the pitch. Ron walked somewhat listlessly, his mind on other things. He looked up at the crisp sound of Madam Hooch's voice.

"Captains, shake hands!" she demanded. Ron watched as Harry shook hands with the Hufflepuff captain, Barry Sacheverall, a rather pudgy 6th year with reddish - blond hair.

"Mount your brooms!" came the command from the sportsmistress. Ron stumbled slightly over his. His hands were shaking. 'Get a grip,' he thought grimly. 'Stop thinking about her. Just concentrate on -'

"Go!" Madam Hooch's whistle rang shrilly through the cool air. Ron kicked off slightly harder than he meant to, and soared quickly up to his position at the far goal posts. He brushed his red hair out of his eyes and tensed himself as the commentary started:

"Gryffindor's off to a flying start - that's Lizzie Simmons with the Quaffle, good work there, passes to Ginny Weasley, who passes to Danny Parker, -OOH - nearly copped a bludger there - passes to back to Weasley - wait for it - yes - GRYFFINDOR SCORE! 10 - 0!"

A mass of Gryffindor supporters let up a huge cheer that carried all the way across the pitch, accompanied by almost equally loud boos from the Hufflepuffs and as always Slytherins. Ron glanced across and saw Proffessor Mcgonagall telling them off. Even from here he could hear her faintly.

"Disgraceful! Such bad sportsmanship!" He went back to the match in progress.

"And it's Hufflepuff in possession this time - Rantroy to Petererf, who passes to Lexer - wow - almost drops it - back to Rantroy, getting ready to score... come on, Ron - YES! SAVED!"

More cheering from the excited Gryffindors in the stands. Ron grinned and steadied himself on his broom and play resumed once more.

"And there goes Max Lanceley- superb beater, that boy - bashes the way clear for Petererf, who passes to Lexer, who - drops it - oh no - " The Hufflepuff cheered as Barry Sacheverall appeared out of nowhere to grab the Quaffle, obviously pleased with himself.

But Ron wasn't paying attention to that anymore. He was looking at the stands. His heart started pumping furiously and his grip on the broom became slippery as he looked. Hermione was sitting in the front row, a redGryffindor scarf around her neck, engrossed in the game. She wasn't looking at him. Ron could've kicked himself. He should've known she'd come. Everybody came! He swallowed hard, trying not to think about how pretty she looked, trying once more to concentrate on the match. He took a deep breath,to calm himself.

Ron was so thrown by Hermione's presence that he didn't see the bludger fly towards him, didn't hear the shouts - he looked round just as -

CRUNCH. The Bludger connected with his chest, hard. Gasps of alarm came from all round the stands as Ron reeled from the impact, struggling to maintain his grip on the broom. He couldn't breathe. He was sure his ribs were broken. It was a miracle that he hadn't been knocked off his broom, but Ron wasn't thinking about that. Wincing in pain, he steered his broom towards the ground. He was dimly aware of Harry signalling a time out as he reached the grass of the pitch and

tumbled off, groaning in agony. There was the sound of feet running towards him, a hand on his shoulder,a voice asking frantically, "Ron! Ron! Are you alright!"

As the rest of the team gathered anxiously around him, Ron realised it was Hermione who had spoken. He blacked out before he had a chance to think about it.

&&&&&&&&

Ron opened his eyes blearily and looked around at his surroundings. He was in the hospital wing. Blinking to clear his vision, he could see Madam Pomfrey near the end of the room, bustling round a table on which lay several bottles of liquid. He sat up, and groaned out loud as pain flared angrily in his sore chest. Madam Pomfrey jumped at the noise, then turned around and walked quickly over to Ron's bed, carrying in her hand a small flask of some vividly orange fluid.

"Now you just lie back there, mister," she admonished him, brandishing a polished metal spoon. "Your ribs have taken quite a bashing."

She plunged the spoon into the flask and brought out a spoonful which she handed firmly to Ron. "Swallow this please, then wait for me to come back."

Ron obediently swallowed the potion, wincing as he felt its hot, sharp flavour on his tongue. He put the spoon down on the table next to him and waited. Madam Pomfrey came back quickly with a purple container filled with a strong smelling substance he couldn't see. She placed it by his bed and opened the lid. Ron recoiled from the overpowering scent that arose from the jar. Putting his hand over his nose, he asked,

"What's that?"

"It's Fuse – Fix Ointment," she replied, spreading some of the thick, greasy, brown goo onto an applicator. "It will help heal your ribs. Shouldn't take long."

"What about that?" Ron asked, pointing to the orange potion with his free hand.

"That was to relieve the pain. Now lift up your shirt for a minute."

Ron did as he was told. Madam Pomfrey spread some of the sticky substance onto his chest and twitched his shirt back down.

"There," she said. "You'll be fine now. I want you to rest for a little bit and then you can go. You need to apply this to your chest every night for 3 nights to heal those ribs. Okay?" Ron nodded and turned his head away from the container of Fuse – Fix Ointment so he wouldn't have to smell it. Madam Pomfrey smiled and bustled away just as the hospital wing door burst open. In rushed the Gryffindor team, full of smiles and congratulations, and gathered around his bed. Hermione was there too, at the back. Ron determinedly didn't look at her and grinned at the team.

"Yeah! We won!" yelled Danny, punching a fist into the air and narrowly missing Harry, who stepped back, grinning. Ron sat up and said, "So how did Hufflepuff take it?" Harry laughed.

"Pretty good, considering," he said."But how are you?"

"Fine," said Ron, thumping his chest and trying not to wince. He met Hermione's eye and looked away. She had not said anything among the excited chatter of the team, just watched as they celebrated their success. Danny was still chattering away like a lunatic, loudly imitating the Hufflepuff team. He was also jabbering on about the upcoming Halloween feast.

"Well what are you gonna go as? I wanna go as Dumbledore!" he was saying, to the laughter of the others. Costume ideas, however, were second on the agenda to discussing their exciting victory.

They continued with their raucous, rambling conversation until Madam Pomfrey came along and hustled them out angrily. "Come back when he's had some rest," she snapped.

Hermione was the last to leave the room. She turned and met his eye again as she was walking out the door. Ron blushed and pretended to be extremely interested in his Fuse – Fix Ointment, despite the fact that the smell was making his eyes water. When he looked up, she was gone. Ron yawned,suddenly sleepy. Laying back on his pillow, he resolved to think about this particular dilemma later. For now, all he wanted to do was rest.

Well thats all for now.

Special shout out to LuthienGranger2004, OfTheWest, lightprincess, Tanya J Potter, Audrey, LALALALALALA LiZ, Yosunto, Snapple Model, Patti Weasley, Carina, Mamoru21, Phoniex, Baby Catjuh, Poky, Hermione4eva1, Ginny Weasley, Meghan Lutterell, xoxgossip-girlxox, myra3, PaulaS, byrd boy, AllisonHill, EternalEcho, DigitHZ, Fan, EmyTheGreat, Crazyinulover, tasha, Gwenwood, Ana-kate, Ron+Hermione, RainDateChick, MidnightRain85, Albino Redneck, Belicia, luv u death, koda-san, SeaFoamGreen576.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review, )